The diodes on her right hand flared and she reached out, not surprised to see a familiar pattern alight on the wall next to the doors. Ellie placed her hand on the pattern and watched as the two large slabs swung inward without a sound, as if they weighed no more than a feather. Stepping inside, she paused to take in the scene with a small gasp.
Though the only source of illumination appeared to be a skylight-like opening at the very top of the pyramid, the interior was lit with the same twilight blue light as the outdoors. In front of her, Ellie found a giant, open cavern of a building. Stairs, exactly like those she’d climbed outside, led down to the ground floor. She briefly wondered why the Eidyn did this instead of simply building the door on the ground floor, but then she remembered the inscription at the base of the building.
The path of ease is the path to complacency.
“So much for metaphor,” Ellie grumbled and began descending, but when her eyes finally came to a rest on the scene at the bottom of the stairs, she froze. Staring back at her were thousands of soldiers standing in perfect formation, as if awaiting the order to march.
No, not soldiers, she reminded herself, quelling the panic inside her. The world, after all, had been abandoned thousands of years before. Surely, they were statues, she reasoned, but for what purpose, she could not fathom. Only one way to find out, she reasoned and began her cautious journey, staying close to the wall as there was no handrail and one misstep would send her tumbling to a very lonely death.
She had expected classrooms, or perhaps a great library, but she saw nothing of the sort. Though at each landing, she discovered open walkways running along the structures’ walls that led off perhaps to smaller, private rooms of study, but Ellie wasn’t keen on exploring. She’d noted, with some degree of unease, that the Eidyn people hadn’t been fond of safety features such as walls or railings.
When she finally reached the cavern floor, Ellie again stood frozen in awe. The figures were neither men nor statues. They were robots. Androids, she believed was the correct terminology for the humanoids that stood nearly seven feet tall and appeared to have been molded to have the same structural appearance as the Eidyn people. This had to be the army Julian had mentioned. The very thought created a cold lump in Ellie’s stomach. Was that why she was here? Did the Kyroibi make her some sort of military commander?
“Princess Robot Commander reporting for duty, sir,” she said with a wry giggle and haphazard salute to the row nearest her.
The idea was at once laughable and yet so very frightening. The Kyroibi gave her nothing. No indication as to what it was she needed to do or how the mechanical men fit into the plans. A growing sense of dread ate at her. She was certain now that Julian should have been there. He would have known the purpose of coming to the cold, dark world.
An anomaly caught her eye and Ellie paused. The perfect formation was broken by a single empty space, as if one of the androids had stepped out of line for a momentary break. The thought sent a creeping chill down her spine and Ellie spun, as if expecting to see one of the automatons bearing down on her like some sort of horror film jump scare, but much to her relief, she was still very much alone. Still, the empty space was unnerving.
“I wonder…”
With her heart still hammering, Ellie slipped herself into the lineup and stood as still as possible, hoping that perhaps she was the missing piece of the puzzle. When absolutely nothing happened, she felt foolish for attempting video game puzzle logic and blushed, despite being on the opposite side of the galaxy from anyone who might have laughed at her attempt. She stepped back out of line and continued her inspection of the ranks, keeping one eye out for rogue robots.
When at last she reached the other side of the cavern, Ellie found herself at the base of yet another giant staircase, a mirror image of those she had descended, and let out a deep sigh of frustration. The Kyroibi urged her upward and she had to wonder what the Eidyn had against elevators.
Halfway up, a lone figure came into focus and Ellie realized she’d found her missing android, but as she climbed, she noticed something different about this one. He too was just as immobile as those below, but he sat upon the stairs, elbow on knee and chin cupped in contemplation, reminding Ellie of Rodin’s Thinker.
The closer she got, the more she felt drawn to the figure. In some impossible way, he was familiar, despite knowing she’d never seen him or anyone like him before in her life. When she finally reached his resting place, Ellie nearly lost her footing in surprise. This was no machine, and yet, he had to be. Any other explanation was impossible. Surely anyone left on the planet would have been long dead.
Unless he too had only recently traveled to the planet…
Suddenly, she understood. Whether it was her own deduction or the Kyroibi, Ellie knew exactly who he was, though how it was possible remained a mystery. She reached out, without hesitation, and took his stiff, cold hand into hers. At once, the diodes connected and the statue-like man came to life.
Turning, his eyes shone with an inner light and a smile warmed the features of his face.
“El’iadrylline. At last we meet.”
Ellie blinked as a wave of emotions passed between them, bringing an unexpected flood of tears and a lump to her throat.
“Hello, Father.”
Chapter 14
Her father’s voice was soft and musical, just as she’d come to expect from the Eidyn people, but Ellie barely heard him over the sudden barrage of emotional images and concepts that overloaded her mind. Through their diodal contact, Ellie was experiencing both her own emotions and those of the father she’d never known. Both were struck immobile as their minds tried to reconcile the dissonance, but at last El’iadryov noticed the pained expression and pulled his hand from his daughter’s. There would be plenty of time to confront the irrationality of emotion later.
The Kyroibi would soon awaken. Despite relinquishing the burden to his daughter, El’iadryov was still attuned to its power. El’iadrylline would then be in position to implement the plan for peace he had set in motion prior to her birth, however, the circumstances of her arrival were alarming.
“You are alone?”
“I am,” Ellie said with chagrin. It was as she expected. Julian should have been with her. “We were attacked. Svoryk…” She faltered as an avalanche of guilt and shame came down on her. Julian wasn’t the only one she left behind. Her mother and stepfather had been left to the mercy of a madman. “I’m sorry,” she said, her stomach twisting with guilt. “I tried to hold off, to wait, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t… I wasn’t strong enough to stop this… the Kyroibi….”
El’iadryov felt pangs of his own guilt as he read the emotional turmoil that his daughter was unable to disguise.
“El’iadrylline, please do not tear yourself apart over that which was never in your control. That Svoryk found Earth was unfortunate, but not entirely unforeseen. However, you were as powerless to stop the Kyroibi from initiating my commands as I was to change my own fate.” He looked out over the sea of blank faces below. His expression was pensive. “This does change our plans, but I am confident that the two of us shall adapt accordingly.”
“Um, okay…” Ellie said, following his gaze out over the sea of immobile beings. “Perhaps it might be best if you actually tell me this plan.”
“Of course,” he said with an indulgent smile. “Undoubtedly, you have many questions. Your mother, I take it, explained our history?”
Ellie’s heart sunk at the mention of her mother.
“Mom… Well, not exactly…” The lump reformed in her throat. “She was… affected by the Kyroibi… while pregnant with me. I didn’t know anything until a few days ago and well… I think her plan was to take the Kyroibi from me.”
This news seemed to surprise El’iadryov.
“I knew the risk, but I was certain that weaving the Kyroibi into your genetics directly would shield Isaverlline from any ill effects. Surely she understands that would be impossible.”
“I can’t say she does,” Ellie said with a shrug. “She didn’t act like she was even capable of rational thought where the Kyroibi was concerned.”
“I’m sorry, El’iadrylline. I never meant for harm to come to you or your mother. Svoryk was to be misled by a trusted ally. When the time was right, he was to follow your journey to Earth and escort both you and your mother back to me.”
“If you mean Julian, he made it to Earth.”
“Ah, well there is hope then.” Her father beamed with relief. “Together, I trust the two of them to cooperate and do whatever is needed to minimize the impact of this deviation.”
“Oh boy.” Ellie’s diodes flared as her heart sank. “I don’t think Mom and Julian are going to work together on much of anything.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The genuine expression of confusion didn’t give her much hope.
“Well, it’s just… Mom thinks Julian killed you,” she said in a rush.
“Well, yes, but he was supposed to relay my imprint. You were to know the full extent of our history before arriving.”
“Yeah well, apparently Mom either didn’t give him a chance to explain or didn’t care. She used the residual power of the Kyroibi to enslave Julian. As far as I knew, he was nothing more than a personal assistant. It wasn’t until just a few days ago that I learned any of this. But we can clear all that up, right?” Hope welled in her. “I mean, obviously you’re still alive, so we can just go back to Earth and clear up mom’s worries and get on with whatever was supposed to be the plan.”
“If only it were as simple as that.”
“Isn’t it though?”
She looked up to see her father staring at her with an expression of deep regret.
“Too much has gone awry and we are now dealing in chance. Keeping your mother temporarily in the dark was necessary, but I never meant to deceive you, El’iadrylline.”
Before Ellie had a chance to question his cryptic message, El’iadryov’s whole body flared with a blinding violet glow. When it ebbed away, her father was gone. In his place was a mechanical man of sleek, dark metal, indistinguishable from the thousands who stood motionless on parade below. Automatically, her eyes went to the single empty space in the orderly rows.
“So you… But how… Wait…” Ellie shook her head at the sudden jumble of conflicting emotions. "This is what Julian meant, isn't it? For the children of Eidyn, death is but the next… something or other. I kind of got that you aren't exactly like humans... Err... I guess I'm not really human either. So you didn't die. You just... what? Are we all robots?"
Her father gave her a sad smile. “You are most certainly not a robot and I am seeing the very human shades of Isaverlline in you right now. I daresay, for all your mother’s strengths, she certainly had a way of ignoring the inconvenient truths. El’iadrylline…” He allowed the projection of life to manifest once again. “Please do not shy from that which we have no control over.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder. It didn’t feel like the metallic hand of a robot, but rather the flesh, blood, and bone of a living being. Yet despite the realism of what she was seeing and feeling, Ellie understood the truth. She also understood why he did not come out and directly tell her the truth.
It was a lesson of sorts. El’iadryov was correct. Her mother was always rationalizing away that which made her uncomfortable. She’d done this with everything from Ellie’s appearance to the loss of a modeling contract. It was something that Ellie found incredibly infuriating and yet, more often than not, she found herself doing the same thing. Regardless of how often she tried to fool herself, the truth would always nag at the back of her mind until she saw the logic of the situation.
And now her father was forcing her to embrace this logical side. The part of her that knew the uncomfortable truth.
Her father was dead.
Of course he was. How could anyone have survived twenty years with no food or water and very little air on a dead planet?
“Okay, but Mom still thinks Julian…” Ellie cut off when a thought made its way to the forefront of her mind. It was the dream. The arena where she saw her mother’s torment and faced down an unknown assailant. “My god… no…”
Ellie gasped and looked up at her father. The heavy fog that had obscured so much in her dreams was gone. For the first time, she saw the scene as it happened and knew why she was limited. This was no dream. Ellie was reliving the last moment of her father’s life. She closed her eyes tightly, but the image was burned into her mind. The nightmare she’d hoped was only that played out over and over again.
She looked up, casting about the cheering crowd until she located Svoryk. His beady eyes transfixed on the arena floor below. By his side sat Isaverlline, eyes also trained on the arena floor, but filled with terror and unshed tears. Ellie followed her line of sight and saw as she always did, the stranger dressed in the black armor that looked like reptilian skin, however this time, the dream did not cut off before he removed the mask.
Julian.
His face betrayed no emotion and the golden rings in his eyes swirled hypnotically. Ellie tried to turn away, but found that she could not. She was seeing only what her father had seen and El’iadryov had bravely stared down the assassin, facing death head on instead of cowering or begging for mercy.
“Stand, El’iadryov.” Julian’s booming voice echoed throughout the cavernous arena and the crowd went silent.
Ellie felt herself lift up from the rough stone floor. Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were shackled together. Though she could feel the strain of her bowed head, her eyes were locked on Julian’s and she knew her father had felt no fear. She felt herself give an almost imperceptible nod, as if El’iadryov was granting the assassin permission to end his life. Despite the terror that filled her, Ellie felt a bit of pride in the fact that her father bravely faced his death. But this did not change the fact that he had indeed died. Killed by Svoryk’s assassin.
The same assassin she had begun to develop feelings for.
“I didn’t believe her,” she said in a shuddering whisper. “I didn’t want to believe.”
Yet again, the logical part of her mind reminded her that the only one who had deceived her was herself. Julian had not denied the accusation. If anything, it almost seemed as if he had tried to lead her to this very conclusion. After all, what was it he had said to her?
Life and death are not absolutes for us.
Clearly, there was truth to this statement since her father stood before her. But try as she might, Ellie could not push away the images, now branded in her mind, of the cold and emotionless way Julian had killed her father. In front of her mother, no less. Ellie could hardly blame her for her hatred.
“El’iadrylline, please,” her father’s voice finally snapped her out of the memory. “You are only seeing what you have been led to believe is true.”
“But… are these not your memories?”
“Your distress is clouding your mind, obscuring all but what you fear. You need to let go and allow me to show you the truth, from the beginning, with clarity and without bias.” El’iadryov held out his hand to his daughter. The diodes’ glow was soft and inviting, yet she still hesitated, unsure of what she wanted to know. “El’iadrylline, please.”
Stepping forward, she took her father’s hand. A bright light enveloped the two of them and Ellie found herself again transported into her father’s memories.
In a way, it was like watching a home movie, but from her father’s perspective. Ellie saw her mother in a shimmering silver gown that seemed the exact color of her eyes. She felt her father’s heart swell and realized this must be his memories of their wedding.
Abruptly, the scene changed and Ellie found herself sitting in a doctor’s office. An Eidyn in a crisp white jumpsuit was explaining the procedure that Isaverlline would have to undergo if she wished to carry El’iadryov’s child. The look of adoration and the swirl of emotions
that came with this memory was sweet, yet incredibly awkward for Ellie and she was grateful that the scene quickly changed.
El’iadryov sat alone in an assessment chamber, the ultraviolet glow of the steri-lights caused his skin to appear a dark, indigo-gray and he wondered not for the first time if the medic team did that on purpose. Not that he needed the sickly pallor to remind him that there was something wrong. He had fought the illness growing inside him for as long as he had the strength, but he could fool himself no longer. Isaverlline had that very morning told him the procedure worked. She could now bear his child. He was overjoyed, of course, but worried. He’d not told his wife that anything was wrong. Not yet. After all, the at-home diagnostic gave him a twenty percent chance that the symptoms were not what he suspected and Isaverlline had enough on her mind with the rumblings of war on the horizon.
But as the chamber’s assessment completed and his diagnosis appeared, El’iadryov had a terrible and monumental decision to make. Regardless of his choices, he would not be the one to save his people. The worst case scenario was playing out. He was dying. The degenerative disease was causing his own body to turn upon itself in a bloody and unwinnable war and he was running out of time.
Ellie pulled out of the memory, not at all surprised to find she was emitting a sorrowful glow refracted by the tears in her eyes. Certainly, there was much that remained a confused mystery, but she had to take a momentary break. Looking into someone else’s memories was one thing, but feeling their every emotion in real time was entirely another. It was several moments later before she could continue. Her father understood and said nothing as he waited for his daughter to get her bearings. After a moment, she took a deep breath and continued.
Her parents were hiding in a little known mountain village on the sparsely populated planet of Sonna. Ellie noticed the slight swell of her mother’s abdomen. They were both worried. Svoryk’s assassin had been spotted in the Korghetian capital. El’iadryov was especially worried because the disease, which he’d not yet disclosed to his wife, grew stronger, weakening him every day.
A Space Girl from Earth (The Kyroibi Trilogy Book 1) Page 14
