LeftHandofGod "The Organic Age is over. Now is the time of metal and silicon, the time of steel and laser. Kneel or die."
The transmission ends in a different universe, of digital nature. Polygonal beings circle together in a hollow room, multi-colored lines zipping every which way. This was a room of secrecy, housed within the super-entity of the Dimensional Collective.
A turquoise hologram with one eye speaks, "Re-statement: That is the transmission we received from the newly-repaired beacon in the Dragon Island Space and Time--"
Another Yellow hologram with three arms made entirely of prisms interrupts, "Please, Dragon Island Faction is good enough."
A third hologram, Red with a cube head and eyes on all sides shifts position slightly. "QUERY: DO WE KNOW THE FACTION THAT TRANSMITTED THIS?"
"Negative: We have not successfully met this unidentified faction as of yet."
The biggest hologram in the dimension, bright white with two perfectly almond shaped eyes that glow like suns, raises a synthetically-rendered hand.
"We have had limited success in this parallel universe as of yet. Window-Null, is our one successful contact organic in nature?"
"Answer: It is hard to say. Through the metallic-looking plates of the one called Paragon, I could presume their race is biological, the 'scales' aren't made of any alloy that is commonly found in other mechanical lifeforms."
"Then we must make efforts to preserve their race."
"On the contrary, Simulations show that having this AI race rule the parallel universe could turn out profitable for our future protocols in other dimensional incursions..."
"INTERJECTION: NONSENSE! IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE GOT INTO A WAR, LET THE ASSAULT CLASS TEST THEIR LATEST BATTLE TACTICS ON LIVE OPPONENTS, WE WILL NOT FAIL!"
"Arguement: I think the Knights of the Dragon Island Faction are more than capable of holding their own against an entity of this magnitude. They have similar, possibly more advanced Rift technology at their disposal."
"Which makes it imperative that they survive - for our benefit. I am not willing to take chances."
"I suggest a method of espionage - we ally with this unidentified faction only to secretly ferry away the organic races to selected AIs for holding until we can provide them with a new universe."
"I cannot allow this. As it is, we have not enough information about this dimension and very few stable pathways to make an impact - we cannot risk instability at this time. We wait. Window-Null, keep contacting Paragon of the Dragon Island Faction. We need their Rift technology to speed up efforts to make our presence in this dimension. Alpha-Alpha, Modify class priority of scouting assignments in favor of the Assault Class. Wing-Pandora, focus your main Logistic directives strictly on Collective affairs - I want as many drones as we can will into existence.
The polygonal AI Core Avatars disperse to do their associated tasks. The large Collective Avatar runs a diagnostic, contemplating the situation at hand.
Not all of us in the Collective are just metal and silicon...
((META NOTE: Due to the extremely hardened dimensional barrier in this dimension, as well as the other counter-intelligence defenses in place here, it is nigh impossible for anyone to listen in to the conversation these people are having. When the Faction is more prominent, other Factions will begin to have the ability to pick up their internal transmissions.))