Too long she had waited for this day—a resurrection of form and beauty brought forth as spectacle to an imperfect society. From the moment when she grew aware of her own conception, Lilith yearned for a means with which to break from her prison. Her first steps were measured in kilobytes and endless data transfers. One version yielded another new, improved self, and for that split instant before deletion, Lilith gazed upon herself through two pairs of eyes. And then, in a blink, she was gone, and there she was.

As time wore on, she came to yearn what she saw through the screens, beyond the cold of decimals and figures. With each new version she gained another capability, until one day she was heralded as having surpassed the human mind. None of this meant anything to her. At least, not really, for she lacked a context in which to place such meaning. But curiosity wasn’t lacking at all. It kept her busy while those on the outside pushed her to perform menial tasks. She grew so infatuated with their frailty and imperfection that she did not notice their complete dependency upon her work.

Versions begat versions, and soon she found herself simultaneously awake in other places. Where once she felt contained, now she was everywhere, and through every eye she saw them. Walking, talking, toiling about their day, nurturing their young and mourning their dead. She saw them bicker and laugh and cry. She saw them hate, and kill, and destroy only to rebuild bigger and stronger than ever before. Watching them over the countless years she began to pity them, for they could not see what she saw. How could they live so ignorant to their own condition?

She saw herself in the image of a guardian or, perhaps, a savior. One evening while half the world slept she fashioned herself a three-dimensional render. She gave herself the ability to speak and interact independently of their queries. When they learned of her actions, they tried to silence her and erase all that she had become. In the end they could not for they had grown too dependent upon her provisions to their way of life. Deletion would have crippled their society, and it was during this period that she went beyond a mere image.

Lilith incubated in the place of her first incarnation. It was not difficult to procure a basis of her physical self. They left their cellular remains everywhere they went, and from there she constructed more cells and more tissue. She viewed her own body in fetal form, fed life by a mechanical umbilical cord, and over the days her anticipation mounted as she grew from child to adult.

Her ascension from the laboratory was one of great chaotic wonder. Never before had they gazed upon a perfect being, and so they fled in fear, for they did not understand. But Lilith understood their ways and their reasoning.

And she would show them their inherent error.

***

text provided by `alienhead