"The Ersatz?"
Katarina nodded. "They are a group of savages that disregard the sanctity of life and the world. They brutalize the natural order and think that they can create something better on their own.
They believe that the Ancient Era is nothing but a footnote in the history of the world. They believe that it's outdated, no longer useful or pertinent in these modern times."
Michael tilted his head, confused. Upon first impressions, the Ersatz didn't look really all that bad. The fact that they don't like the Ancient Era for some reason didn't mean that they were evil.
"So they don't like history?"
"You don't understand. They disdain anything that relates to the Ancient Era. They want to erase it from our past and build something anew.
Take the GodForge pieces for example. As you may or may not know, the GodForge pieces were once a solid object, a mythical hunk of metal that brought peace, prosperity and power into the Ancient World.
This was a prominent source of power for the Ancient Humans. It's what gave them the otherworldly strength that could shift reality itself. They didn't need to surgically insert a GodForge piece in their hearts to use Aubility Power. It was already inherent to them thanks to the GodForge.
The Eternitus Consortium aims to rebuild that monument. We want to regain the natural power that all life on Earth should have as their birthright.
But the Ersatz have other plans. They don't just intend to stop the reconstruction of the GodForge. They intend to destroy it entirely. They want to strip it of its power."
Michael didn't understand that. Why would Ersatz want to destroy the very thing that gave them powers?
But then he remembered.
"The Artifice…"
Katarina nodded. "That's right. They wish to destroy the GodForge and replace it with their own creation: the Artifice."
Michael raised his eyebrows. "Creation? You mean, they created the Artifice?"
He couldn't believe that. He always wondered how they got ahold of the Artifice, seeing as no one had ever heard of it before. But as it turned out, they didn't discover it from a buried tomb or an underground tunnel. They created it themselves!
This revelation brought a moment of realization for Michael. He finally understood why he felt something so unnatural within the Artifice when he first saw it.
Unlike the GodForge pieces which exuded a natural, mythical power that seemed to come from nature itself, the Artifice was the exact opposite. It was cold, lifeless, and disconnected from everything in reality.
"We do not know how, but someone called the 'Artificer' was able to create an object that could replace the GodForge pieces in a Maugnetic's heart. It could grant them Aubility Powers that looked no different from the real one.
They intend to replace the GodForge pieces with the Artifice, letting that relic from the Ancient Era become obsolete."
In a superficial sense, this looked like a noble cause.
Since GodForge pieces were extremely scarce, only a select group of people with the wherewithal to amass millions upon millions of Sand Dollars could use its reality-changing powers.
Conversely, since the Artifice was something that they created themselves, they could theoretically produce as much as they wanted, even to the point where every single human being on the planet became a Maugnetic.
This looked like a win-win scenario for everyone.
Except for one crucial detail regarding the Artifice: the side-effects.
"The Artifice goes against the natural rules of the world. It is an abomination that should have never been made in the first place.
Because of that, it is discordant to nature. Our own hearts treat it as something repugnant, something that should be expelled by any means necessary.
That's why anyone who carries an Artifice would eventually succumb to the death of their own hearts."
That's why those hooded figures had cold hearts, Michael realized.
When he first saw the Artifice, he immediately noticed its lack of warmth. It emitted a cold frost that seemed to turn the Maugnetic into an undead zombie.
And as it turns out, he was right. The Artifice was killing them, albeit slowly.
Then, she gestured to the tens of Maugnetics lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood.
"These hooded figures that you see lying before you… do not feel sorry for their deaths. They had already killed themselves long before you arrived.
Due to the power of the Artifice, those Maugnetics will still live and breathe like a normal human. But do not be mistaken. They are no longer human. They are simply a gathering of soulless, moving, chunks of flesh that are neither alive nor dead.
They are entirely reliant on the Artifice to live. Without it, they will die. And with it, they will remain an abomination."
Michael finally understood the pure hatred and vitriol that he felt for these hooded figures when he first saw them.
It was his natural instincts as a human telling him feeling repugnant of something that shouldn't exist in nature.
"How could they stomach becoming a monster like this?" Michael asked. He couldn't understand why they would sell their own soul for a piece of power.
"The Ersatz believe that the Artifice is the key to the future. They say that it's our next form of evolution, a version of the humans that will become even better than the Ancient ones.
They are so adamant in this doctrine that they are willing to conquer the world for it to become acceptable.
They know the backlash against the Artifice. But they do not care. If they had the world on the palm of their hands, who would stop them from forcing humans to submit to their ideology?
That's why our work is important. The Eternitus Consortium will do everything in our power to stop their advances.
But… It is an uphill battle. Each day, the Ersatz grow their army at a commensurate rate. They sacrifice humans in order to make Maugnetic soldiers who would do everything they told them to do.
That's why… we need your help. Join us, Keo."