A Protomen Monologue

You don’t know who we are.  You don’t know our names.  Heck, you don’t even know if we have names.  You don’t know where we’re from, how we got here, how we keep going.  But what you’re here tonight to learn, to know, is why we’re here.  Why the government’s after our heads.  Why the robots are on constant alert.  Why, every night, we risk our necks for you ignorant masses.

I don’t mean to offend when I say that; it’s the plain and simple truth.  You are ignorant, and we are here to teach.  Let me tell you a story…of the time before the robots.  Before the world fell to the iron will and iron soldiers of one man.

Before the robots there was music.  And I don’t mean the monotonous political garbage they feed you on the loudspeakers every night.  I don’t mean the mantra you chant daily, brainwashing yourselves into submitting and accepting.  I mean music with feeling, emotions.  The steady pulse of drums, the drive of an electric guitar, the pure soul of a piano…heck, even synthesizers cranked out good music…It was all real, it enveloped you in glorious sound, and you were one with the music, the bass shook you to the core, hurt your eardrums, but you didn’t care it was so good, and…

E-excuse me a moment…

(God…I miss those days…)

…Before the robots came people like you were heroes. Men, women, even children all ready and willing to sacrifice their lives, if need be, for a just and noble cause. The key words being people like you.  You may know this already, but allow me to refresh your memories.

Even after the world fell under darkness, even after the cities blazed red with unending fire, we had a hero. Two heroes, in fact. Brothers. Both were machines…but in a sense, they were more human than we were. The first was built to save mankind, but failed. After his near-destruction he turned on us, joining with the government of his own free will. The second wasn’t built to fight for us, but he chose to. He fought hard and well. And as victory neared, he turned his back on humanity and walked away, leaving us to die.

And do you know why they did so?

It was us humans. We were just waiting for a hero, waiting for someone to come and save us. We wouldn’t lift a finger to help them or ourselves.  And they both decided, in their own way, that if we weren’t going to fight…if we weren’t going to try to stand for ourselves…we were better off dead.

It took me years to realize it. But…they were right. If we continue to do nothing, the cycle shall repeat, and all we’ll ever know is submission. The time is now. We need to stand for ourselves. And that, citizens of (city name), is why we’re here tonight. Why we wield these salvaged, stolen instruments, why we crank up our dusty amps to awaken the soul with music. Why we implore you to listen to this message.

People of (city name), freedom is in our grasp.

When you leave this underground concert tonight, when you go back to your homes, drown out the loudspeakers with the sound of your own voice!  Take the mantra and reverse it; you have control; you keep us safe; you are our hope!  Take anything you can find that’s sharp and carve defiant words into the walls! Citizens of (city name), stand for yourselves!

…By tonight, we’ll be long gone.  You will likely never see us again.  But what you must do, what the world must do, is spread the word. Tell anyone you can of our message.  Tell them we can fight, we can rebel, we can win if we try.  And tell them most of all, that if only one man is ready and willing…if only one man comprehends…if only one man cries into the night ‘I will not submit!’…

Tell them, then, that Hope Still Rides.