Once there was nothing, only sleeping God. Then
God awoke. Every way He glanced, the stars formed.
There was not enough light in the Universe, and God
was unhappy. Therefore, God spoke aloud, "Let there
be light." And the Universe Burst into brilliance. And
God thought the light was good...
-The Umojan Bible,
"Genesis 1:1"
Earth: 2018
Nathaniel, known as ‘God_of_Starcraft’, had been waiting for weeks. He had signed up for the beta test of Blizzard's latest game, Starcraft 2. It had finally arrived today! He had quickly put the game in and installed it. Though the game was huge, it was quite quick to install. That was probably because of Nathaniel's new computer, which had a 2 gig RAM and over 60 gigs of memory. He had the most advanced computer on his block and probably in all of his high school. He had heard a lot about Starcraft 2, especially that it somehow incorporated MIT's latest revolution in digital AI technology, which had been marketed only a year ago, in 2017, last year. This year was filled with many new events, including the landing of the first humans on Mars and, most importantly, the beta release of Starcraft 2.
Nathaniel was amazed at the revolutions Blizzard had made. Now the AI was incredibly smart, one could even hold rudimentary conversations with it. It acted like a Human being, controlling its units in an incredible inventive way. This was no primitive AI Script. This was Intelligent Software or IS. Well, humanity HAD grown mighty advanced. And along with it, had Blizzard. Forming a multinational chain of companies and holding a huge amount of stock, Blizzard Entertainment even had top-of-the-line researchers and computer scientists working for the giant company. It was rumored that Blizzard had invented a Terabyte computer, with over a thousand gigs of memory.
He had been playing the Protoss. What was this? Hey! Something was going on with Zeratul! He seemed to transcend the boundaries of his programming and seemed to be aware of his surroundings, outside the computer! Hmm.., They had done it! These characters were sentient! Nathaniel's eyes widened as he saw, amazed, Zeratul was looking at him! But, as soon as it had happened, he shrank down again and cast off the shred of omniscience that he had been granted. Ok. This was getting pretty freaky. He decided to go have lunch and shut down Starcraft 2…
***
Raynor shook his head. No. It couldn't be possible. It wouldn't be possible. Still, after pile after pile of evidence had been thrown at his feet, Raynor refused to believe. Perhaps Zeratul had gone insane. There just had to be a logical explanation. There must be. He had begun to regret that he had taken Zeratul's word for it. He had heard his own crew 11 saying stuff about him.
"Gee, ya think he really gone whack?"
"Yeah, Billy, 'ole Raynor an' Zerr-a-tule had both gone loony! Now pore ah, 'nuther drank!" said a
pair of marines that had passed by his quarters.
"Sir, here are the latest Data logs for today, " said a young female functionary as she stood stiffly at attention.
She handed Raynor a datapad. He scanned through it.
"As you can see, our engineers have completed design on a heavy assault armor cannon platform, or HAACP," reported the functionary in her slightly British accent, "It carries several assault lasers and two siege cannons. It also has the ability to project a medium area shield. It stands at a towering 25 meters and weighs in at about 35000 tonnes.
"The HAACP is designed to be constructed at an improved version of the factory or replicated at a Protoss Warp Gate. It houses 3 total biomechanical data spinners, allowing for a minimal crew, although the droid brains do tend to have a greater chance of being subverted. It is a multi-purpose vehicle, though it is better suited for frontline assaults and tactical strikes. The higher concentration of frontal and ventral armor implicates that the HAACP is to be used as front line heavy assault armor, hence it's name.
"The body also houses 3 whole decks allowing for a total of 100 troops to be carried or 50 large units such as siege tanks or mobile artillery. The legs are constructed of heavy Neo-steel Tyderionite Polymer Composite, giving them an incredible amount of leg armor, which are the HAACP's most vulnerable points. The four legs have completely redundant systems and house four individual reactors each. I have looked up references to some ancient records and they show that, though incredibly strong and nearly impervious to all forms of fire, the HAACP can be tripped by cables. However, I believe that the chances of any cable being strong enough to hold on to the massive legs are incredibly low.
"With this new technology and a total of 15 completely redundant systems, our total military power can be raised by a total of 150 percent, just by employing a single HAACP."
Raynor stared at the stiff young functionary. Her body was remarkably well-formed and her hair was a deep, shimmering blue. Blue? "Err... Very good, um what was your name?"
"Well consider yourself an officer, Helen. You show promise. Therefore, you shall be, hmm, aha! Main Tactical Advisor, " said Raynor with a smile.
"Thank you, sir!" the newly-appointed Tactical Advisor saluted and strode off, with a certain new swagger common to those who have experienced a promotion.
Raynor watched her walk down the corridor and noticed something strange about her back. Her form-fitting jumpsuit enhanced her form and he noticed something very odd. Her blue hair seemed so natural and well...floated. Floated? That was right. Her hair basically was hovering. Hmm. Psi-tech? Psi-techs weren't that weird. At least their hair was normal. Ah well. Who cares?
Raynor walked on, with a lot on his mind. This ought to be interesting, he thought as he reviewed the datapad. The holographic blueprints floated up, showing the HAACP in all its glory. Raynor reached a comm interface and spoke.
"Hi y'all, this is Raynor speaking. All engineering and construction teams, you are now receiving plans. I want you to start construction on it right away."
He yawned. It was getting late and he was tired. Raynor reached his quarters and changed. He went to sleep almost immediately, despite the stress on his mind.
Raynor was floating in a terrain of immense beauty. He had no hands, or body even. He saw without eyes. Mottled, flowing light was under him and above him. Am I in Heaven? Nirvana? He thought. No, it was something else, strange and never before seen. Suddenly Raynor felt another awareness slide into place next to him.
“En Taro Adun, James Raynor.” said a rich, baritone of a psychic voice.
“Zeratul? How did I get here? Where, or what is here?” asked Jim Raynor.
“This is a strange place, I know. I have been experiencing it for the last two-hundred years. In that time, have I encountered another presence.” explained Zeratul's awareness.
“What is it?” asked Raynor.
“It is. It always has been and forevermore will be.”
“Stop talking in riddles, Zeratul. What is this that you talk of?”
“Patience, young Raynor. I shall explain.” said Zeratul “The other awareness is the User I have seen. Always, it has been elusive and enigmatic. But when I transcended a week ago, I saw the User with more clarity. It strangely resembles a Terran. But I have never been able to truly see it.“
Raynor absorbed this. This was getting freakier and freakier. Another awareness joined them. This was so weird!
“Hello Jim,” said a silky, purring voice.
“Kerrigan???” breathed Raynor
“Yes, that's me. How I got here, I don't know. But I did catch you and Zeratul talking.”
“Oh, really? You did? Then you must know that.. “-
“That were just simulations on a computer, generated by a program called -
Starcraft 2,” said Zeratul. He had not been talking for the last few minutes.
Raynor was getting peeved. “Do we HAVE to interrupt each other?” he exclaimed.
So. That was what this weird-ass universe was called. Raynor had finally found what he was looking for, he saw something. The "ground" underneath was changing. What was it doing? Shifting, getting clarity. FLASH! Raynor wasn't blinded by the blinding flash. He and the other awarenesses saw something spectacular down there as well as up there. What are those things? Then Raynor remembered. They were chips. Micro chips. He had learned about those in history in High School. Micro chips?? They could generate a reality? Then he saw another "thing", a blurry shape, getting clearer, clearer and clearer still.
Then he awoke.
***
Duran looked from side to side. It was a natural instinct, coming from years of military ghost training. There was nothing around, save for a few Bengalaas. He loped through the undergrowth, stealthily, like a bengalaas himself. It really wasn't necessary, though. He overlooked a blasted crater. At the center, lay a large Zerg cluster, The Hive. Something was growing near it, drones covered the structure. Three living obelisks grew out like demonic trees and curved to the center of the living building.
The Zerg, too were attempting to reach the User. If they could assimilate that, it would make them Gods. Duran ran down and knelt before the feet of a Zerg.
Kerrigan looked down, folded her arms, and said, "Good work Duran. Do you have the Reality Isolator?"
Duran replied, "Yes, my queen. Here it is." He presented the black box and Kerrigan placed her claws on it.
"Very good. Now the plan is complete. Now we can have total power. The ultimate power of a User!"
She raised it over her head and laughed. Laughed long and hard, for the Zerg, too had a master plan, a scheme, if you will. One that was far more sinister, and one that had begun in earnest.
***
Raynor realized another thing, when he woke up. Helen Thanatos. Thanatos was the Greek name for
