The Citadel, once the prime objective of the War, was abandoned and forgotten in the long night of ignorance which descended upon the World. The World which quickly forgot that which the Guardian could never forget.
Epilogue
From the Diary of Varian Hamer:
. . . and so ended the period of our imprisonment. With the help of the strange cyborg, Kartaphilos, we had divined the secret of the Guardian. The great machine, which had been forced into the uncomfortable mold of humanity, had sought vindication for an inaction which caused the death of so many. “Expiation of guilt” was the phrase which Kartaphilos used to describe the phenomenon. The entire experience was so strange, so totally bizarre that, even to this day, I am still not certain that I comprehended all that took place.
What followed the confessional tale of Guardian was not altogether expected. The great machine, now relieved of the burden of conscience it had carried for more than two thousand years, offered itself up to us with a single condition. Knowing that it contained the secrets of the First Age, Kartaphilos felt that it would be instrumental in rebuilding the World into what it had once been. The Guardian was agreeable to this if Kartaphilos would attempt what seems to me an impossible task.
And yet, Kartaphilos did not appear to be put off by Guardian’s request and went straight to work in carrying it out. The mere mention of the idea and my inability to accept or comprehend it only demonstrates the powers and the vision of the builders of the First Age. I do not know if Guardian’s wish is within the scope of Kartaphilos, but they will attempt it, regardless of the outcome.
The thing which Guardian requested was both flattering and horrifying: it wished to become human. In the real sense of the word.
Kartaphilos suggested the long-dormant “nucleotide vats” and the “eugenic bioneering systems” as the logical starting place for the project, and Guardian seemed to concur. When the work began, I departed the place with Tessa, Stoor, and the silent Raim, beginning a long journey back to Zend Avesta, where a different kind of army is now being assembled—an army of thinkers and tinkerers, of philosophers and men of science, who will soon descend upon the treasure chest of knowledge which is the Citadel.
When we left the place, a half man and a machine were laboring to achieve the unthinkable. When we return, I have no idea what we shall find.
I am not even sure I wish to think about it.
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