by T. R. Harris
“You’ve told me this before. So what happened to them?”
It is not so much what happened to them, but what they did to themselves.
“Stop talking in riddles and get to the point!”
I am, but I must provide context. As I have said before, our world was about to be destroyed, so service modules like myself were given the task of building chambers for the creators, chambers where they could sleep…for eternity.
“You said they traveled to thousands of worlds, so why would the destruction of their planet be such a big deal? Obviously they could have just traveled—or teleported—to another world. This doesn’t any make sense.”
It does when you realize the building of these sleeping chambers was more a coincidence with the timing of the planet’s destruction than anything else. Perhaps witnessing the events taking place around their homeworld made them realize that everything changes, including the Aris. A decision was made to stop it.
“Stop what?”
Change.
Adam snorted. “Bullshit. You can’t stop change. No one can.”
The Aris could, at least when it came to their bodies. They had evolved for a million years, giving them the ability to speculate on what they would become if evolution was allowed to continue. They didn’t want that to happen.
“Why not, didn’t they want to keep evolving, to the point where they could…would, well I don’t know what? Whatever’s beyond super-being?”
That was their dilemma as well. They were satisfied with what they had become and had started so many incredible projects that they feared they would no longer care once their experiments reached maturity. My part in this endeavor has only recently been revealed to me when a program hidden within my logic board created a link with the chambers holding the creators. I was not aware of this, nor did I have any control over the link. It just happened. Then my creator awoke and contacted me directly. That was when I learned more.
“Did it work? Did they stop their evolution, or are they now something even more powerful?”
They are the same as before. That experiment worked, as well as others. Yet it is not the logic of what they did to themselves that now troubles me. Instead, it is knowledge of the experiments they began, some of which are just now coming to fruition.
“So the Aris are back. Where are they?”
They are on an artificial world created to remain in the general vicinity of their homeworld, even as the galaxy continued to move throughout time.
Adam seemed to be missing the point, the reason for Zee trepidation—and guilt. “This means you get to return home, or at least be with your creator again. Lila thought you were homesick. This should make you feel better, not worse. Lila will understand.”
You misunderstand, Adam. This isn’t about me, it’s about Lila?
Adam’s gut tightened. “Lila? What do you mean?”
The Aris know of Lila.
“Did you tell them?”
The data was downloaded beyond my control. So, yes, I told them.
Adam was quiet for a moment, trying to figure the repercussions of what he’d just learned. He was at a loss as to the relevance. “Why would the Aris be interested in Lila? She’s a mutant, a one-of-a-kind being, the result of something everyone said couldn’t happen and could never be predicted—” His eyes grew wide. “Except by the Aris!”
That is correct. Lila is one of their experiments.
Adam jumped to his feet, clenching his fists and glaring at the green-tinted orb. “How is that even possible? That was three billion years ago.”
That is correct. I do not know all the details, but according to my creator, the Aris manipulated the early form of Humans and Formilians, allowing for such future inbreeding, the result of which would be something…different. As time passed, and the ability for the two races to link, it would be a signal, a trigger. Even the attraction felt between the races was programmed.
“Does this mean every mating between the races will produce a Lila?”
That is unknown, but probably unlikely. Genetics is not an exact science. And now I have these feelings from which I cannot escape. That is the reason for my current condition. I am torn between my loyalties.
Adam leaned forward, staring at the tiny orb. “Loyalties? What the hell does that mean?”
It means the Aris now wish to study the results of their experiment—
“They’re going to take her?” Adam placed his face only inches from the globe. “Where…when?”
Where, Adam Cain? Here. As for when? Now.
Chapter 3
The jump had gone well. Two thousand gameships, including nine battle-carriers, had successfully transited the Compressor and appeared in the Kac Galaxy.
Daric was in the lead group, and immediately set his task force on a course for the planet Formil, while others set out on other missions of acquisition. The Compressor had been aimed at the edge of the galaxy closest to the meeting taking place. It was a journey of fourteen days, and now the system was on the screens.
The Lead-Player—now classified as Game-Master, as the head of a fleet—was overflowing with emotion. Never before in the history of the Nuor were there such an abundance of immunity challenges available. It was almost too much to comprehend; an entire galaxy, fresh and new, and ripe for domination by the Nuor.
As had been reported, the star system was teeming with spaceships. Daric knew the technology used in this galaxy; it was very similar to that used by the Nuor. Gravity drives and plasma energy weapons. No actual battles had been monitored in the Kac, so Daric had very little information regarding the defensive capabilities of the aliens, but he assumed they followed along the same line as the Nuor, with diffusion screens and flak. The estimated military capabilities within this new galaxy had been some of the most encouraging news he received. They were substantial, yet on par with the Nuor, allowing for more competitive challenges and higher award points. If the aliens had been generations behind in technology, then much lower challenge points would have to be assigned. If vastly superior to the Nuor, then Daric and his fleet wouldn’t be here. The Nuor were gamers, yet not suicidal.
“Threat level…low, Game-Master,” a screen monitor reported.
“Explain.”
“The bulk of the alien ships are not warships. They appear primarily to be transports.”
“No offensive capabilities?”
“Very little.”
Daric thought for a moment. The news made sense with respect to the purpose of the congregation. According to the communication intercepts, it was not a planning or negotiation conference, but rather a celebration. There would be little need for a show of force. In a way, Daric was disappointed, but then he shrugged. This initial contact was designed primarily to collect game specimens for evaluation, his task made easier by the proliferation of various species in attendance. Now it was made even more so by the lack of a military presence.
It would also hasten the acquisition of his most-prized specimen, the Human Adam Cain. His name and image were featured prominently in the communications, revealing to Daric that he was in fact a close relative of the current leader of the largest stellar empire in the Kac, something called the Expansion. He dismissed the confusion he had at the time regarding this strange affiliation, choosing to wait until he had Adam Cain in his possession for the answers to be forthcoming.
To this end, Daric focused his personal responsibilities in the coming action on securing this super-player, and thanks again to the proliferation of information being broadcast, he knew his exact location. It was in the main governing building for this Expansion empire, a place which was squarely in his sights as the task force closed on the planet Formil.
The Nuoreans entered the star system on full drive and from three directions simultaneously. Their objective was not to destroy the alien ships, but rather to disable them so live specimens could be removed. They accomplished this with energy bombs.
Since most starships
use diffusion shields for defensive, the bombs were designed to overload the shields and then penetrate the bulk of other electrical systems aboard the alien vessels, causing catastrophic failure within. With life support down, the Nuor could make their rounds, rescuing willing occupants of the ships before they either died of suffocation or hypothermia. It would be a very efficient and speedy process of collection.
The aliens on the surface were another matter.
Nine minutes after entering the system, Daric and a squad of forty-two small atmosphere attack ships shot out the back of the three-mile-long battle-carrier and bolted for the planet’s surface. Three minutes later, Daric’s ship was circling the tall target government building looking for a place to land. There was a series of wide balconies among the upper floors which would make perfect landing zones. His ship dropped to one of the higher ones and his players departed a second later.
There was opposition, delivered by healthy-looking creatures with bronze skin. They fired powerful plasma weapons at his players, eliminating several before the Nuoreans overpowered them. Then Daric departed the vessel, dressed in full battle gear and carrying his own Secan plasma rifle. He would have preferred his ressnel—his combat sword—but in a contest like this, energy weapons were a more practical choice. The blade was reserved for more individualized challenges.
They entered the building, encountering more resistance in the wide passageways and expansive rooms. From the layout and opulence of his surroundings, Daric reasoned they were in the chambers of the powerful, the leaders of the Kac. Here he would find Adam Cain.
********
Lila! Adam screamed through his ATD. This time be felt a welcoming presence in his mind.
Father, I am here. I sense your panic—
The Aris…they’re coming for you!
There was only a moment’s hesitation before Lila replied. I understand now.
Understand what?
Everything. Why Zee has been acting the way she has, as well as my very existence. I am a creation of the Aris.
Adam shook his head. You got all that from one line?
I have often pondered my birth and abilities. I should not be…yet I am. I do not have all the information, but the Aris must be responsible for the compatibility between the Formilians and the Humans, something that could only have happened in the distant past. The Aris are the logical catalyst for that event.
They know about you.
Of course. They would want to monitor the results of their experiments. Now they wish to examine me.
Are you in any danger?
Unknown…until I meet the Aris. Are they not well-advanced from Zee’s time?
No, they suspended their evolution somehow. Zee says they’re like they used to be.
Then I may have an advantage.
Don’t let them take you! I’m on my way.
There was another hesitation.
It appears the Aris have already arrived…along with others, unrelated.
Others? What do you—
Alarms rang throughout the building; Adam used another part of his ATD to connect with the Formilian’s main computer system. The data flowing into his brain only confused him more.
Who’s doing the attacking if not the Aris?
I do not know. Yet please forgive me, father, but I appear to be in some distress—
“Lila!” Adam cried out loud. He looked to the table where Zee had been sitting only seconds before. She was gone.
He raced for the exit. The guest chambers were two levels below Lila’s, so he dashed toward the nearest elevator at the end of the hallway. Just then, double doors burst open on his right and a squad of aliens clad in dark green battle armor poured into the corridor, blocking his way. They fanned out on either side, opening a path for a central figure. This alien glanced down at a pad he held in his gloved hand and then at Adam. The creature’s face was Prime, with gold eyes that seemed to glow in the hall lights, especially when they locking on the Human.
Adam was still running toward the gathering of aliens when he heard the one with the datapad speak. “Adam Cain! I am Game-Master Daric. You will come with me—”
A moment later Adam was at the alien…and planting a balled fist onto the nose of the grinning face. The creature staggered back, falling into the arms of two of the other soldiers.
“Sorry dude,” Adam said as he passed. “I don’t have time to play your alien games.”
Not waiting for the elevator, Adam ran to the stairwell and was gone a moment later, climbing toward Lila’s chambers.
********
Daric nearly lost consciousness from the tremendous strike; if not for the Nuoreans behind him he would have toppled to the floor. He tried to right himself, but found his legs were like rubber and he was in need of assistance to stay upright.
Others were talking to him, but he couldn’t understand. After a moment, his senses returned.
“Shall we follow?” someone was asking. “Game-Master, do we—”
“Yes, follow, but do not kill him. I want him alive!”
********
Formilian gravity is Juirean Standard, or about three-quarters that of Earth. As a result, Adam was taking the stairs five at a time and was at Lila’s floor in three seconds flat. He laid a shoulder into the sliding exit door, snapping the right side out of its frame, and continued on without breaking stride.
There were a few natives around but they appeared confused. Adam took one by the shoulders. “Where’s Lila?” he yelled. The Formilian male looked back at him with dazed eyes. They were all like this, addled as if on drugs..
Then Trimen appeared, seemingly unaffected.
“There are invaders in the building,” he called out to Adam. He had only one flash weapon, and it was out and ready.
“Where’s Lila?”
“In her chambers. Follow me.”
Adam relieved one of the useless Formilian guards of his MK-17 and raced off with Trimen. At a set of double doors fifty feet farther along, they moved to each side, weapons ready. Trimen activated the controls and the doors opened.
They entered in a crouch, one on each side. Lila was there, standing in the middle of an enormous room, shrouded in a glowing halo of blue. Her eyes met Adam’s.
When his telepathic link met a brick wall, Adam reverted to tried and true verbal communication.
“Are you all right?”
Lila shook her head. She spoke through the shimmering cocoon holding her. “They are here; I cannot move. Beware. They can influence minds, as witnessed by the guards.”
Adam and Trimen scanned the room but saw no one else. Although he felt pressure in his mind, it wasn’t painful, not at first. But that soon changed.
Trimen screamed and fell to the tile floor, gripping his head. Adam fought the mental intrusion, but it was becoming harder by the moment. Then the pressure in his mind vanished. When it did, three creatures were standing before him where none had been before. They, too, were wrapped in the blue halo.
The Aris were extremely pale and thin, as one would expect from creatures with little need of their physical bodies. They were classic Prime in form—probably because they had been the first Primes and fashioned all other races after themselves. They wore no clothing Adam could see, but the haze of the halo shielded most of their bodies except for the head. One of the aliens stepped forward.
Adam stood, wanting to fire his weapon yet unable to gather the will to do so. His mind was still active, even as his body was in a state of tingling numbness.
You are…the birth male, the alien spoke to him in his mind. He looked back at the others and smiled. Success. There is continued interaction between the species. This is encouraging.
Let her go, Adam managed to convey in his mind, filling the thought with all the venom he could muster.
The alien turned back to him and appeared to grin. Or what? I find it hard to believe I am having a conversation with you…Human. I remember vividly the moment I created your r
ace. And now here you are, full-developed and threatening me. The humor is evident in the moment, but also the pride. We have done well, my friends. It will be exciting to learn the results of our other experiments. Now let us go. Bring the apex being.
The three glowing aliens moved off to the right. Adam remained locked in place, unable to move anything but his head.
“Lila!” he called out. “I’ll find you.”
The aliens reached the entrance to the wide terrace outside a forty foot bank of sliding glass doors. A breeze rustled the shear curtains. Lila began to slide along the floor, trapped in her electric prison. At the doorway, the lead Aris spoke aloud in a voice that reverberated throughout room. “Come Zee. It is time to go.”
Adam caught sight of the tiny green globe on a table near the door. For a moment he got the feeling she was looking at him. He felt a sigh in his mind, and then the orb disappeared, as did the Aris.
Along with Lila Bol.
********
The unseen shackles holding him fell away, allowing Adam to stumble for the doorway to the balcony. He still didn’t have complete control of his muscles and held onto the doorframe while looking outside. A small spacecraft, about the size of school bus, began to glow white over its entire surface. The glare continued to grow until blinding in its intensity. Adam lifted his arm to shield his eyes, expecting the brilliance to soon bathe his body is scorching heat. But the air remained cool in the flowing breeze. The ship lifted silently from the terrace before gaining speed and streaking off into the evening sky of Formil.
Coordination was returning to his body. He ran to the edge of the balcony and looked up. The glow of the spacecraft was evident for several seconds against the darkening sky before it vanished from sight. Adam scanned the balcony for any other spacecraft, be they Formilian or the unnamed others attacking the building. He couldn’t let the Aris get too much of a head start.
