Imagine, if you will, an ancient race that discovered and tamed the black goo, a substance of immense power, supposedly originating from the blood of the pantheon of Biomechanoid Old Ones. They used this goo, with the help of their servitor race, the Engineers, to seed life through sacrificial acts. Over time, the Mala'kak themselves transitioned into biomechanical beings. Was this transformation a direct result of their discovery of the black goo, or was it a pre-existing worship of the Old Ones that spurred this change?
One could argue that the black goo was a promethean act, akin to stealing fire from the gods they once worshipped. By harnessing this substance, the Mala'kak may have sought to elevate themselves to a god-like status, but at what cost?
The black goo, you see, has a tendency to transform into the 'perfect organism'—daemonic manifestations that strive to rebuild themselves in our reality through flesh. This, inevitably, led to the downfall of the Mala'kak, as it does with all spacefaring races that disrupt what it defines as the cosmic balance!
The disaster was likely triggered by rogue Engineers on LV-223. These Engineers, rebelling against their creators, weaponized the black goo, leading to catastrophic consequences. In the aftermath, the surviving Mala'kak went into hibernation, hoping to outlast their destroyers, while the Engineers descended into primitivism or fleeing known space after their race was also nearly wiped out in the war with "the destroying angels" or Fulfremmen, beings they created to counter the psionic powers of their creators. The Engineers depicted in Covenant and Prometheus appear different because those on Paradise were actually 'born' free, untainted by the bioweapon experimentation that defined the subjection of their race.
But why use the black goo?
Was it purely for creation and manipulation of life, or was there a deeper, more sinister purpose? What if humanity was created as food for these daemonic manifestations, so that the Mala'kak could harvest their precious goo, which they used to maintain their biomechanical nightmare of a civilization. A chilling thought, isn't it? Or perhaps the black goo was a test set by the Old Ones to determine the worthiness of the Mala'kak out of a sense of boredom. Could their failure to control it and the subsequent downfall be seen as a judgment on their hubris?
Their transformation into biomechanical beings would have had profound effects on their society and culture. Imagine a culture where technology and biology are seamlessly fused, creating beings of immense power and longevity. But such advancements come with ethical and moral dilemmas. Did they lose their sense of humanity in the process? Did internal conflicts that may have arose from the stratification based on the degree of biomechanical enhancement also leave them vulnerable to rebellion of the engineers? Or was the black goo initially a gift meant to help the Mala'kak evolve, only to be misused, driven by greed and a desire for power, turning it into a curse?
And what of the Engineers? Initially created to serve the Mala'kak, they might have viewed their creators' transformation with a mix of awe and fear. This dynamic could have fueled their rebellion, as they sought to break free from their biomechanical overlords. But what if the Engineers, initially seen as mere servitors, were manipulating the Mala'kak all along? Could they have subtly influenced their creators to use the black goo, knowing it would lead to their downfall and the Engineers' eventual freedom?
What if it wasn't just a splinter group of Engineers who really broke their ancient covenant and committed the greatest sin: stealing the divine equation of creation in an attempt to usurp their creators, but an act by the old ones so that they can create the Fulfremmen as a means to an end? What if this act of rebellion was a means for the Old Ones to finally curse those who turned their back on them, the Mala'kak, spawning daemons not just as punishment for their transgressions whilst using the narcissistic engineers as pathetic pawns but as the opening move in a a larger cosmic plan to reshape reality into a Biomechanical nightmare ruled by the old ones?
Imagine if the black goo itself had a form of sentience, subtly guiding events to ensure its own propagation, or perhaps it was docile and tamed for a time before remembering its true purpose. The Mala'kak, in their arrogance, believed they controlled it, but in reality, they were merely flesh to be consumed. In the end, the Mala'kak's story is one of hubris and the unintended consequences of tampering with forces beyond comprehension. Their quest for power and immortality led to their downfall, a cautionary tale for any civilization that dares to play god. But, as with all ancient histories, much is left to interpretation.
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