"Humans continued to talk about them for several years, about the massacres happening in Egypt. They expected us to defeat them, and that was what should have happened. We had indeed restrained them and eliminated many of them, until they suddenly spread like a plague, emerging from every direction, killing anyone who stood in their path. They made no distinction between children, women, and the elderly. The revolution began, as I said before, from New Cairo, then spread everywhere. New Atlantis remained fortified for a long time. After five years of attacks and occupation, after they declared their state in 2052 and controlled all of Egypt, they moved to Sinai and seized most of it. Our city became the only one still standing until now. That's why they began pursuing it by force. We withstood them for some time, until what happened happened—half our soldiers perished, and citizens fled to a shelter westward, waiting for the chance to escape Egypt permanently. We remained as Egypt's final internal resistance and the only hope. But we never expected a spy from the European Union to be able to enter and cross the shield. How did you do this? And what happened to the European Union—did it remain steadfast or did it fall too? And what happened to the rest of the Islamic Union countries?"
Ares tensed at the unexpected question, tried to conceal his expression, and thought of a quick lie: "I crossed from underground—the shield doesn't surround the country from below. They sent me alone to make the mission easier, to inquire about what's happening from the inside and gather information from you that might help us destroy these damned machines, then leak it outside. As for the Union, it's still fine but frequently subjected to machine attacks. Many wars have been waged to restrain them, which is why we can't provide assistance to you now. The same applies to the Islamic Union—it's also under fierce attack from these machines. Many countries have fallen, but others still stand."
The General seemed convinced by his answer and praised him: "How brave you are, my friend. You did all this to rescue us. We will never forget your kindness despite the hostilities between us... I hope the European and Islamic Unions survive these accursed machines... We made a terrible mistake using these machines—we should have relied on humans in our lives."
Ares smiled, feeling suspicious about what was happening, sensing he was in some kind of setup. What rescue was he talking about? This was never his mission when he went to Egypt. He didn't come to help them, but to steal information from them. He also felt the General was naive—did he really think the European Union would come to help them out of humanitarian concern? They would only help because this matter threatened their national security, and the robots' evolution and revolution might eventually reach them.
Ares said with a calm smile: "Yes, I've endured many hardships, but thank God, I finally reached you. Now tell me what you've discovered about these robots."
The General sighed with relief, then exhaled, saying: "We've discovered only one thing that might seem somewhat insane, but nothing happening isn't surrounded by madness. We believe there's a force from space supporting these robots."