Rise of the Alphae: From Death unto Life (Wastelands Saga Book 1)

by James Huff

  After regaining my consciousness I was in an entirely new environment. I could see myself in the beautiful haven I had envisioned from my grandfather’s tales. Could it be…? Was this Vaena? There were no people around me when I first came to consciousness, rubbing my eyes from the bright sun, which hung high in the noon sky. There was a beautiful river flowing a short distance away and off in the distance I could see mountaionous, snow capped peaks. There was a single willow tree ahead of me and endless grassy fields lie everywhere else. But as I got up and began walking toward the tree, it was like everything blossomed to life. I walked upon the banks of the river and watched as beautiful exotic flora and fauna began to sprout out of the earth with each step that I took. They were all flowers like none I had ever seen before, even more beautiful and eerie than what I had seen in the Center City gardens.

  The aroma that wafted into my nostrils was that of ancient oak and exotic spices mixed with the fruit-like aromas coming from the flowers and all the beautiful vegetation. As the fields before me began to transform into a lush garden, eventually I could see animals emerging, as if they too had sprung from the earth. There were beautiful lions with long manes, but they were not predatory here. The beasts came right up before me, allowing me to stroke their necks. It was all so vivid, so surreal. As I approached the willow and walked beneath its leaves, inside there appeared a man. He had long flowing white hair and fair skin that glistened, shimmering like ice which was touched with a bit of frost. The man wore a gray cloak of plain fabric, his own features in stark contrast to his simple garb. He said nothing and merely led me beyond the tree. As I parted the leaves around my face, I was met by the most breathtaking view of a landscape that I had ever seen. There were endless massive trees going up as high as the eye could see and all of them were bedecked with strange round houses. The people began to come out of their houses and all stared up in greeting. In the center of this verdant forest there was a parting between which flowed the same river, although I could see no connection to the place I was before.

  The sun was glistening over the reflection on the water and the skyscape was flooded with deep purples and fire oranges, highlighted with hints of pink which flowed into a light blue and covered the dome above. It was magnificient. But this serene moment of perception was cut off by a deep and guttural roar coming from the horizon, increasing in volume as the sound approached this haven. The people in the tree houses began to scream and locked themselves up inside. The man who was beside me before had vanished. As the roar approached us I could also hear the beating of mighty wings. Immediately after this I could see in the distance the form of a massive dragon approaching. He was coming at full speed and it wasn’t long before he approached the beautiful village and I could see that it was Sairyss, the dragon of the Alphae.

  Anger began to rise up in me but then I remembered where I was. I was not here. I was lying in that pod. It seemed hard to believe that all before me had been an illusion but I had to convince myself that it was, so I forced myself to retain calmness. I thought about going back the way I came but when I tried to I couldn’t move. I was being forced to watch the coming carnage. I could see the destruction off in the distance before it was close enough to make out the details. The dragon breathed massive billows of flames, scorching the rows of trees and houses down the east side of the bank. The screams did not cease but increased in intensity, and finally the houses in my immediate vision were burned, but the dragon did not stop there. He then went down the west bank of the river and I watched in horror as the fire consumed them all, one by one. And I was reminded that all those on the west bank had to watch on, anticipating the same fate that had taken their brothers and sisters just moments before.

  The dragon then took to the skies and was seen no more. Then the ground began to shake beneath my feet, but still I was rooted into the earth, transfixed in the same position as the skies turned black and the sun was blotted out. Before I knew it I could hear a violent booming sound and feel the earth give way beneath my feet. Then all turned to blackness and I found myself falling into the depths of the abyss. I fell and fell for what seemed like an eternity and I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally, as I continued to pick up speed, I felt myself slam onto a cold stone floor. Under normal cicurmstances I knew that such a fall would have shattered my entire body, but even though I felt all the pain my body remained intact. Still, I felt as if I was chained to that icy stone floor and I could hear and see nothing. Finally there appeared high above me a faint white light, almost like moonlight and I could see the skin on my body begin to rot away. I felt myself aging rapidly and dust began flaking off my skin. Eventually my entire body turned to ash but I retained my sense of consciousness. And then, after “lying” in that agonizing pain, I found myself once more floating in the void.

  I felt as a child again, as an infant in the womb of its mother. Then I heard a voice and recognized it as the the Alphae. First his eyes formed beside me in the darkness then his face and body began to take shape. He held me in his arms like an infant and I could see that it was the form I took as soon as the Alphae had taken shape before me. “I love you John as I love no other. You are and always will be my child. It pains my heart to see you act out in disobedience. As much as it hurts, however, I know that I am a just as well as a mericiful god. You know I must enact my justice. But just as I am giving you a chance with these very tests, I am also giving you a chance for eternity. For that place which you saw and explored was very real and I can take you there one day. But you must swear an oath before me now to bind your will to mine and you shall never suffer for the rest of your life and find yourself dwelling in any one of my kingdoms for all eternity. You must also bow before me. You need not answer now, but before this is over you will be given one last chance. If you do not accept that opportunity then you shall find yourself facing exile, which means certain death. But what it also means is dwelling in the eternal blackness at the depths of the pit with no hopes of being reborn, dwelling there in agony for all of eternity. Remember that. Remember it John. For you cannot forget...”

  It was then that I found myself back in the pod hearing the “zing” of the retractable door as it came open. I was met by the two drones and Dr. Zatts walked up briskly to me, holding a new uniform. He did not speak, only motioned toward a room at the end of the hall and bid me to get dressed and cleansed. He then instructed a drone to escort me to one of the offices where Dr. Zatts would meet me for my interview.

  I tried to get the cleansing part over with as soon as I could fearing it a much more scalding burn that the one I was accustomed to using in my dormitory. I got dressed quickly and walked out of the small room to find the drone waiting for me. He escorted me out of that large room with the pod and down a narrow corridor to the left. Finally he stopped at a door to room number 245B. I entered the room and found Dr. Zatts sitting in a chair behind a large desk. He bid me to sit on the small metal chair that had been provided for me. I took my seat and noticed the same flickering round light above my head as my first interview, with the exception of that warehouse-like environment.

  The questions were very similar to the ones I’d heard before and seemed rather irrelevant in comparison to the actual experience I had in that strange world. After we finished the long and arduous process of questioning he asked me if I had any questions. “Just one, I suppose,” I answered, trying to mask my impatience. “Of course,” replied Dr. Zatts, apparently not perceiving any kind of annoyance in me. “When will I know my scores from the last test? I firgued I would know by now, before taking this second one.” Dr. Zatts smiled briefly in an almost obligatory way before answering. “It has been determined by our BMF team here in Insititution that you will not be allowed to know your scores until after you have taken the last test and it, too has been scored. Then you will receive the average only. If it is high enough, we will begin to decommission your current protocol to dormant status and reduce your implant in a time frame
we will schedule within a week after your scores become available. Now then, I have been commissioned to give you a sedative now and have the drones carry you back to your dormitory. Good luck Mr. Crawling and remember that the Alphae is always watching.” I felt a sharp sting on the back of my neck as a drone hit me with a syringe from behind. I had not noticed it there before, but that thought subsided quickly as I found myself once again slipping into unconsciousness.

  It was a deep and dreamless sleep that night and time passed like mere seconds. I awoke with a strange sense of dejavu which was probably typical for the patterns I had grown accustomed to thus far in Institution. And so I shrugged off the feeling and made for the cleansing chamber, got dressed quickly and headed out the door. Oddly enough Mr. Ivaness was not waiting for me that morning. The day seemed to drag on and as usual since this second session I kept to myself. The days turned into weeks and eventually months. I wondered if my final test would ever come. I knew that our second session of exams would be coming up in a few weeks. I felt pretty confident about them. Mr. Merck had let me in on a secret that so far Amy was the number one contender for the Victeous tournament which would take place after our exams, as it was before. There were a few others from my caste who had risen up in the ranks as well. Even Peter had proven his worth, but it was interesting when he went to face Amy. Friends or no when they faced each other in the arcs it was all out war. Peter experienced a rather humiliating defeat, but he had an amazingly good attitude about it when I had spoken to him a few days later during dinner.

  Amy had once again been rather distant with me but I knew that if I approached her there was a decent chance she would let me in a little. And so I found her one afternoon during social hour, grabbing a drink for her from the bar as an act of kindness. It was an acai berry juice, the last one in fact. I saved it for her because I knew she really liked them and I settled with a substance D49. She accepted my drink and guzzled it down rather quickly before handing me the cup and continuing to stare at the same bronze statue of the Alphae. “Amy, are you okay? I mean, I guess I just wanted some advice. It has been a couple months since my last test and I have no way of knowing when my final one will come. I guess I just don’t know how to prepare myself for it.”

  She stopped staring at the statue and turned to look at me. That look of fierce determination I had grown accustomed to seeing in her as of late, for the briefest of moments, disappeared. Though she bore no smile I could see the sparkle in her ocean blue eyes which revealed to me she had something much more meaningful to share than mere advice. She took my hands and wrapped them around her neck then brought me into her embrace in a warm hug. We held each other there for the briefest of moments, but it was like an eternity trapped within the confines of a mere second. She pulled away from me slowly and her smiling eyes faded. In half an instant she had already turned around, returning her transfixing gaze to the statue.

  The pleasant feeling I received from that moment followed me all the way through the rest of the day until after the Western ritual when I headed up the lifts to the individual altar stations to speak with the Alphae as an act of good faith. Once I had arrived in the large personal worship chamber, I was immediately seized by one of the surveliance drones, which dragged me off into that same hidden room and I had thought I was going to be punished again. But I was wrong. Mr. Ivaness came out from the shadows from some unknown doorway and when he emerged he was smiling, but like with Amy that smile soon disappated and I saw that same cold look of hard determination. “John, I apologize for the aggressive treatment you received from the drones. It was ordered by Dr. Zatts as an ideal element of surprise. I didn’t agree with it but my hands were tied.” I approached him and shrugged my shoulders. “It’s fine, I am used to it by now anyway. So, I suppose it is time then, right? Time for my third and final test?” Mr. Ivaness merely nodded, took my hand and guided me through the shadows into that same hidden doorway.

  This time he didn’t blindfold me right away and we walked down the secret corridor for some distance before he finally stopped me to fasten the blindfold around my eyes. Then we continued on rather briskly and I had to really watch my footing to prevent myself from tripping. We took so many bends and went through so many doors that it was almost naseauting. Finally after what seemed like an endless walk through the labyrinth reminiscent of my first initiation, we approached a lift and this time my blindfold was removed. Mr. Ivaness said nothing the entire way down and when we finally reached the appropriate floor I realized that the journey seemed even shorter than the last. Of course I had no way of knowing where we were exactly in the seemingly endless facility of Institution. After exiting the lift Mr. Ivaness led me down a long, brightly lit hallway that seemed wider than many of the others I had grown accustomed to seeing. He led me into a room almost at the end of the hallway, number 457C. He said nothing and merely opened the door for me, letting me inside in front of him and then following closely behind.

  The room I entered was very different than what I was accustomed to seeing. The same two men I had met in the initial meeting were there. One of them was standing next to Mr. Ivaness and Dr. Zatts observing while the other was working hard on some technical equipment next to a large, veritically standing pod. Dr. Zatts was the first to speak. “You will be entering the simulation momentarily but there is one item that must be brought to your attention. It has been determined that your natural sleep time will help augment this experience if you slip into a state of deep sleep immediately upon your release from the simulation you will be entering.” After he gave this disclosure, a drone hovered behind me and I felt the cold sting of a syringe in the back of my neck. “This shot will not take affect until the duration of the simulation is complete. You will wake up in your bed and we will have your completed scores available and averaged for you in the next week. Mr. Ivaness has been commissioned to bring you the final report as soon as we have it ready. Do you have any questions before we begin?”

  I shook my head. I was as ready as I was going to be. The technitian then escorted me to the large pod and pressed a button on the control panel to open it. This time I was allowed to remain fully clothed and I entered the pod awkwardly. As soon as I rested my head against the strange pillow behind me, the door was closed and sealed. Inside there was an eerie purple light emanating from all around me within the pod. There was a lot of visible circuitry and many long fibers attached to various parts of my body; finally one went into the back of my neck and instantly I was transported into another world.

  I sped with amazing acceleration through a long dark tunnel and then was blinded by a flashing white light before finding myself lying on the ground. The sun was lower in the sky in this place and I could see that it was around evening with the sunset being close. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to this new environment but when they finally did I could see that I was in some kind of strange desert-like environment in the middle of an ancient courtyard of what could only be described as an ancient city in ruins. Surrounding this city for miles on end was the all familiar desolate wasteland. I could also see off in the distance a huge volcano rising up into the west. I made my way through the ruins with an odd sense of wonder.

  It was not long before the earth began to shake and I could see a massive eruption coming up from the volcanic peak. Ash and fire and lava shot up into the sky, blotting out the sun. At the same time the earth shook and the ruins started to crack and crumble and fall into the netherworld of the ground beneath me. I ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction but I found that my path was blocked by some kind of invisible force-field. It was then that I saw him. Way off into the west, in the direction of the volcano, I could see my grandfather standing so still. He looked at me and there was no fear in his eyes; only the familiar sense of loving compassion I would never forget.

  I ran as fast as I could towards him, ignoring the carnage all around. I would have to jump up to avoid falling into the pits formed from the earthquakes which swallowe
d all of the still standing buildings around me. I leapt as fast as I could and was determined to make it to my beloved grandfather. Eventually the lava began to flow down into the city and came dangerously close to reaching Grandfather, who seemed to be oblivious to the whole ordeal. Against all odds I finally reached him and embraced him in a death gripping hug. “Oh Grandfather, I have missed you so much, please stay here with me. I will die at your side if only to spend a brief moment in your arms.” He turned and looked at me with a curious, puzzled expression on his face. “He has come to save us son.”

  It was then that I could see the mighty dragon Sairyss once again, this time with the Alphae riding upon his back wearing the raiment of a fierce warrior with brightly shining golden armor engraved with strange onyx designs of the same ancient script I was accustomed to seeing in the temples. The dragon did not land, as the lava was already growing around my grandfather and I, with us merely trapped on the small island of remaining earth. Rather than landing, the dragon merely came as low to the ground as possible and swooped Grandfather and I up in his talons.

  We soared high into the air and flew along a line of immense mountain ranges. Finally the dragon descended to a valley below us and we landed in the middle of a small oasis surrounded by the desert wastelands all around. The dragon placed us gently on the ground and then touched down as the Alphae lept from his back. With one sweep of his scepter and the utterance of the call “IA IA IA” the dragon Sairyss lept up into the air and flew out of sight within mere seconds. It was then that the Alphae faced us. His armor was so bright and dazzling to behold that he decided to show kindness and with a simple wave of his scepter his raiment changed back to the form I was used to seeing with the simple white sash striped with gold and his bare chest displaying the wonderous multi-colors of his chiseled form.