Banner Men
KEEPER OF HISTORIES LIEUTENANT REGINALD MIM
My name is Lieutenant Reginald Mim, once of Rindlebrooke House, in the Heart of the Droke, and here is my final declaration;
It has been ten years since the Abstersion devastated the land of the Droke, and over that decade, many have tried to rebuilt, regrow and retain that culture that we all once held so dear. But nothing could or can stop progress, no matter how few of us would want it.
But that was our time.
That was and is still very much recorded; by me and people like me, to maintain the Histories of this world, that once was so torn apart to grow the Four House structure and the Infinite War in the first instance, then rudely torn again.
Perhaps we must learn, therefore, from the past, or be doomed to repeat it. Perhaps the people of Godenheim were right? The Old Ones, confused and indignant brought about a renewal, a chapter further in the book formed in the past.
Ultimately, it matters not. Just that we record it and move on.
Who could have foreseen the Evolution of the Machines, however? How rapidly they have grown, in so short a time. But then they haven't the restrictions we humans develop over our lives. It is true to say, though, that without the Abstersion, they would never have mustered the courage to break out of their programming.
But what can we do, now that we are in our dotage? It is a fact of life, and we must embrace it.
And now, close to the end of my own life, I witness the falling apart of the House structure. The old guard are dead. The Rulers are gone. Once the Abstersion took hold, they began dying off, with no way of maintaining their power, not in a world like this one. No, the modern word took over, pushed away all that came before.
New people emerged, with better, safer and all encompassing ideas, changing the Monarchal structure the Houses used to enjoy, to a new type of Economic Leader; those who ruled with the aide of the People.
True, the world is more prosperous, but where are the characters of old? Where are the Banner Men, with their quirks? Where are the Rulers, the zealots and the greedy? All gone. Taken by time and the future. Taken by the Cleansing that affected all. I don't think the effect of the Abstersion will be truly felt for some time to come. Long after my lifetime. Long after the lifetimes of the Sons, the Grandsons and the great Grandsons of the people of today.
So what does it leave us with? A prosperous future, certainly. A world where Machines are a power to be respected, as well as feared.
And the mistakes - that every discovery must have mistakes is an inevitable part of progress. Humans once made the mistake with the Lab-Made, like Trewstone Made, of not taking into account how environment effects a living organism. Luckily, he turned out as a relatively naturalised human being. Now, with the Mistake Machines, more caution should be taken. Protect them, or destroy them. Don't ignore them.
Take it from me, I have read the Histories of those who came before What Came Before, and complacency is a common trait amongst us human beings. The product of an active, developing, ever changing world is eternal vigilance. Never, ever take anything for granted. It's just our way. And whatever these Machines may become, they cannot be ignored.
In conclusion, all I can inform those that follow is to endeavour ever to keep record of what will come, as without a record of who we are, those who come after us will never know, never realise what we learned, what we became and where we came from.
My time is done, my work complete. And now I lay me down to sleep.
R. Mim
THE END
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