Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans

by Edward T. Yeatts III

"Because I was stupidly hopeful that the next time would be just as good as the first time." He chuckled a little and continued, "It never was. Never close."

  As he finished saying it, he saw what his companion was referring to. Echoes and shadows of events to come coalesced about him in this chamber. The image of many futures' emperors took different forms and different people entered the room. While there remained many possible outcomes, the path began to narrow.

  The Caesar asked, "Why are you here?"

  Then the Messenger saw that things narrowed in a direction he did not desire. Still, he maintained the charade.

  "Old age," he said. "My life is almost over. I've had it good. Really, I have."

  "You see it now?" the female asked.

  "I do." There was a long silence. "I have erred."

  "I'm glad," Caesar said.

  The female moved about the room again, turning her head from side to side as though she were looking into the shadows through the corners of her eyes. "You must hurry."

  The Messenger reached forth and let his costume's hand touch the cube. "You're stuck in there … trying to shoot life into veins you don't even have anymore." Continuing with his ploy was a gamble. "No matter how hard you try, Max, you won't be able to match that first time."

  Silence settled on the three of them.

  Faustus then said, "It's past time to go, Max. You'll be happier. Tiber will carry on just fine."

  The female tender whispered toward the male, "You fool."

  "It was a risk I had to take," he answered.

  The being struggled to stand and began to leave the chamber. "Take care," he said to the box and he descended the marble stairs.

  He made Caesar see his older brother opening the doors and step into the corridor, when in fact the disguise vanished and the two Messengers remained in the room.

  "You have goaded him."

  The male moved toward the cube again and looked inside. "I have left a thought behind that will haunt him for the remainder of his days."

  "But in that remainder," she said, "he will take actions he may not have otherwise."

  The other watched and listened to the imperator's thoughts. "There is still a chance."

  "The Caesar commands too large a portion of the tree," she said. "His decisions can bow its branches too far."

  "With that I agree."

  She began to drift from the throne room when she saw a new future echo appear. "It seems as though you have accelerated some events, too."

  The male turned and saw the ghostly forms. He lowered his head and said, "Yes."

  As they departed, the Messenger grew remorseful and asked, "How then can we preserve free will and encourage life if our actions are insufficient for the most powerful of these people?"

  The female had no response.

  XXVI

  GAIA

  147 Years Before the End

  They strolled together under the trees outside Pausa. The air was cool but pleasant. The breeze carried the scent of the flowers that covered the fences dozens of meters away.

  Gaia looked at her feet and shuffled alongside Ouranos. It was after midnight and the grounds of BBM's compound were well lit. Their walks had become more infrequent in recent years, but with the attentions of the researchers drawn toward Cronus and the others, there seemed to be less for these first two beings to do. So they began to walk again.

  "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

  Ouranos inhaled deeply and shrugged. "Things I need to do tomorrow."

  She scoffed. "Like what?"

  "I'm still working on transceivers for the pods." She laughed but he kept talking. "I had some ideas about computer processors, too."

  "Thanks to your transmitters?"

  "Yes." Gaia nodded and Ouranos spoke again. "I'm also … still thinking about something Cronus said earlier today."

  She rolled her eyes. "What now?"

  He tilted his head to one side. "Maybe it was more about how he said it." He paused and then continued. "Someone took a blood sample from him and did a quick test right there. The man, Aemon, looked at his scanner and said, 'You guys are just amazing.' Cronus laughed and said, 'I know.'" Ouranos looked over at Gaia. "He said, 'I know,' but in a way that unsettled me."

  Gaia knew what he meant. Ever since they were awakened, she felt ill at ease around the Psilons. They were filled with so much information and knowledge yet they lacked basic human concepts. Tact, for one.

  "That's what we get for naming them after the gods."

  Ouranos laughed and said, "We were named after gods, my dear."

  Gaia smiled and reached tentatively for his hand before withdrawing it. "But we were overthrown. The Titans ruled the Golden Age. Cronus and his Pantheon … they gave humanity all its gifts."

  Ouranos reached up and tugged on the leaves from a low-hanging branch. "Myths."

  Gaia looked toward the wall and noted the observation tower before looking at Ouranos. He wore his usual dark overcoat. He seemed so handsome.

  "Why haven't we ever …" She stopped walking and Ouranos did, too. "Gotten together?"

  He raised his eyebrows and said, "They tested our gametes. They said we were incompatible."

  She shook her head. "I know. I meant, just for ourselves. For companionship."

  Ouranos' shoulders lifted as though he braced himself against a cold wind. He squinted and said, "I never felt that way."

  Gaia nodded and started to turn when he grabbed her arm.

  "I've never felt that way about anyone. Not just you." His face hovered above hers and she could see deep into his eyes. "They made me wrong, I guess. Manipulating my neurons …"

  Gaia stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on his lips. He didn't flinch. When she withdrew, she saw that his face was as it appeared before and now his eyes showed only confusion.

  She nodded and said, "Don't worry about it."

  They walked away from the trees and back toward the doors. Ouranos spoke softly, "I fear that Cronus is right."

  "About what?"

  "Many things." Gaia didn't respond. "They are better, of course," Ouranos said. "Better than us. They didn't require so much … handcrafting. And their systems are staggering."

  Gaia smiled and said, "They could save us all."

  "'Us,'" Ouranos said. "You mean, 'humans?'"

  She stopped walking and strained to see his face in the light. Her lower lip curved into her upper lip and she smiled at him. With pity. "Still 'them?'"

  Ouranos nodded and opened his mouth to speak. He stopped, however and turned. He was looking toward the fences.

  "What?" she asked.

  He raised his hand to quiet her. In the distance she heard a light hiss. Ouranos turned toward her and she nodded. They walked back toward the trees and got under their cover. Pressed against the trunk, Ouranos looked toward the observation tower but he couldn't see the silhouette of the guard like normal. He turned to look the other way but that tower was too far.

  He whispered, "Let's get back inside. We run for the doors on three." He crouched and counted off with his fingers. As soon as he flashed 'three,' they began to run.

  Once they entered the open, Gaia heard several of those hissing sounds. She heard something hit the grass and then she felt something hit her arm. She held it in front of her as she ran and she saw that it was a small black dart. She pulled it out quickly and kept running.

  "Don't stop," Ouranos said.

  She hadn't planned to, but when he said that, Gaia turned and saw him break away and run toward a group of three men. She looked in the opposite direction and saw four. The door to the compound was still fifty meters away. She could probably make it. Instead, she turned and decided to fight.

  In the flash of seconds before she got near them, she appraised the threat. They were wearing Gemnar armor over black singlesuits. Standard utility belt with flashlight, utility torch, weapon holst
er and more on their waists. Black boots. Face blacking to cover their skin and conceal their features. Before she dealt her first blow, she could see that two of these people were women.

  In the last meter, she feinted to the right and then struck to her left. Her hand caught the jaw of the largest man and he flipped to the side. Gaia turned to the right and kicked her foot toward the fourth person, a woman. It hit her square on the chest and she staggered backward. She turned twice, spread her thumb out from her flattened hand and bracketed the throat of the second man with a quick jab. He gasped immediately and fell to the ground. The other woman, though, had stopped and was firing more darts at her.

  Thwip. Thwip. Two hit her leg. Gaia felt no ill effects yet so she moved toward her. Thwip. Gaia grabbed her weapon, spun it about and brought it across the attacker's face.

  She then turned toward Ouranos. Two more had joined his party of three. Two were lying motionless on the ground and another was holding onto his leg while clutching at Ouranos' feet. He dispatched a woman with a punch to her lower back and then a spin that wrenched her shoulder free of its socket. More darts were fired at him with one catching his neck.

  Gaia leapt into the air and kicked the side of a woman's head. There was a sickening crack as her neck bent over, followed by her slow collapse to the ground. Only when she landed did Gaia begin to feel the effects of the tranquilizer, if that's what it was. She stood and in her haste, felt the blood rush to her head and make her unsteady. She wobbled to the left and then punched while kneeling at the crotch of another attacker.

  Thwip. Thwip. Thwip. All three hit her back and she found herself unable to stand from her position. She looked over