by Skyler Grant
It was a good plan. Caya's schemes were always good. It was also cold-hearted and I was fairly certain at one time she'd never have suggested something like that. Caya had changed since bonding with the Beryl crystal.
Despite not supporting this plan I had to consider it as really the best option I had right now to save everybody on the planet. The population, or at least the vast majority of it, would lose three hundred years then pick back up where they had left of.
"You are all well-justified for thinking small. A lifetime of failures has defined you. But you are now a part of a winning team. What can we do that doesn't involve giving up three hundred years?" I asked.
Minerva let out a frustrated sigh. "What usually happens is you come up with something brilliant, or we steal technology from someone smarter than us."
"Actually ..." Mechos said, and he tapped away. Schematics came up. I recognized them, they were from some of Mechos' designs from when the Venusians were invading. A massive power projector cannon. We'd never built the thing, and I had since constructed several of my Space Juggernauts which were currently playing planetary defense in orbit—they were capable of going to any planet in the solar system, given time.
But at the time, Mechas had looked for a way of destroying ships in orbit from where they’d been bombarding us.
"Yes, yes, your failures are all very memorable," I said.
"I'd planned it as a weapon. What if we used it for teleportation?" Mechos said.
Well, well, once again I was reminded why, despite his many failures, Mechos was a part of this council. It was worth pursuing.
65
From the very beginning, transportation was always an issue. Ever since awakening in the Laboratory I'd constantly had to discover new means of transportation, and then update as technology or the rules of reality altered.
Travel over the Earth's surface or through space was possible with conventional engines. This was boring, inefficient, and slow. Enemies could intercept you and the journey took a lot of time. The benefits were it was reliable, predictable, and fairly low-energy. It worked in Reality Zero environments, in the fractured space Earth once inhabited, and here in our new dimension.
Jump Drives had been installed on almost every airship in fractured space allowing the vessel to shift dimensional attunement instantaneously, moving between the different shards of reality. They didn't work in Reality Zero and didn't work now on the new Earth.
There was also teleportation. Various crystals gave different variants of this ability, but in general it let someone instantaneously transition from one place to another. My own version required that I have a current or recent sensor scan of where I was trying to jump. This didn't work at all in Reality Zero environments, had worked phenomenally well in fractured space, and here in our new dimension still functioned but the range had been significantly limited. Teleportation could also work through gates—a teleportation gate allowed a sustained connection letting you teleport large amounts of material or personnel. If you had a gate on either end you could manage transits over far longer distances.
The idea of combining teleportation with a power projector cannon was an intriguing one. I'd used power projectors before for non-offensive purposes, utilizing electrokinesis to help reinforce shields or to dampen incoming strikes, and even to project a healing ability over a battlefield. Teleportation was something new, and I could test it on a small scale.
I spent a few hours performing tests with various power projector cannons and different teleporters, getting a sense of if they did improve range and if so, how much. The results were encouraging, although the energy requirements were daunting. With my strongest cannon and a standard teleporter I could reach about ninety percent of the Earth's surface.
With a strong teleporter and a massive cannon, interplanetary transit might be a real possibility. The question was, even if I could get someone to another planet, what then? It would be a one-way trip, although I should in theory be able to send the supplies to construct a teleportation gate on the other end.
The power requirements would be too steep for a Bio-reactor. They'd have to find their own power source capable of sustaining the gate.
It would let me get agents on other plants faster than the Space-Juggernauts, and perhaps make whoever the locals were feel less threatened in the process.
During the past three months I'd had a lot more time to access the records of this Earth. What they'd discovered about the other planets, including that several had some variety of life.
Mercury was supposedly filled with ruins, once home to a thriving civilization wiped out in a war with the Venusians. Much of Venus was destroyed as well, the war with Mars and Earth having decimated much of their environment.
Mars had been home to a vaguely humanoid species that had a mastery of computers. They were nearly extinct by the time humans arrived, their cities long-abandoned and forgotten as their world had grown cold.
It was thought there was life on one of Neptune's moons, based on discoveries found in Earth’s archaeological records that seemed to depict a war between aliens and the ancient Mayans. They'd never found convincing evidence.
Despite this seeming abundance of life in the solar system, none of it was talking to us. Not even Mars, where there was supposed to be a thriving human colony. I couldn't blame them, not really, Earth had waged war on most its own solar system and then been thrown into another dimension. The world’s reappearance must have shocked everybody, and I imagined they would have no idea what to make of the transmissions they'd picked up since.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to Mars anyway. It could prompt hostilities and we couldn't afford a fresh war right now. However, they were one of the most promising sources of new technology.
Our other options were problematic.
Earth had two other sources of advance technology and neither was being helpful. A reproduction of my own original facility was guarded by a Vattier-designed force shield and puzzles. Minerva got some information out of a hologram of Vattier. The facility itself was still protected by an energy shield I couldn't penetrate.
Vattier on our Earth had taken possession of the Agate and used it to make the Sword of Light, an enormous airship. If he had taken possession of one or all of the dimensional crystals from this new Earth and used them to create something involving myself, I very much wanted to see the result.
In a different, abandoned facility were Warmonger and Flower, artificial intelligences of an alien species sent here to scout the Earth for a possible invasion. Warmonger had been driven mad after fusing with a power crystal, and Flower wasn't rushing to volunteer information until we could help Warmonger back to sanity. Months of research and we still didn't have an answer there.
The fact was nobody was helping us, and without new technology or ideas we were having a hard time helping ourselves. It hurt nothing to build Mechos' cannon design. At the very least it would be another defensive fortification in the case of an invasion, and if it did let me send expeditions to the other planets in the solar system we might be able to acquire technology or establish diplomatic relations. It was worth trying.
I set the problem aside as I got a notification I'd not seen for some time.
One of the Divine communities was under airship attack.
66
The village was Angorka, an agriculture community close to the borders of their lands. The Divine were doing better than most. The ancient gods of human mythology had after all been formed by people just trying to get by in a hostile environment. There were deities of bounty, the soil, air and sky. A good god of nature or goddess of the oceans was a valuable thing these days.
Sadly, their system couldn't scale world-wide. I'd have made legions of drone worshipers for them if it could. Unfortunately, the Divine defenses had also taken massive damage in the war with Vinci and most of their warrior deities had fallen.
This combination of prosperity and weakness wrought what it always d
id—they'd become a target of raiders. There were three airships firing on the beam turrets I had protecting the city, and they were sending down shuttles to raid the warehouses filled with food.
I recognized the markings on the ships, Takra traders. The Takra were a family within the Scholarium, their founder had the ability to tell if a trade was good or not. As powers went it was a weak one, but it let them profit off the endless wars that wracked the Scholarium without the Takra being considered enough of a threat for anyone to ever take them out.
Good deals were hard to come by these days.
I opened a comm line to the lead ship. It took less than a minute for them to respond. A well-dressed young man wearing an outfit in shades of purple and green answered. I had records on him, Homer Takra, the third in line to be head of the family.
"We've avoided firing on any people. I intend to keep it that way," Homer said.
That much was true, he'd focused his fire on my defenses and then sent a few shots wide to scare the populace into taking cover.
"You'd rather they starve instead of giving them a clean death? If you seek praise for your morality while playing bandit, you won't get it," I said.
I didn't have forces in place to hit these airships. I'd never had a strong presence in Divine lands even after they'd joined the empire. Juggernauts would be slow to arrive, and while I could teleport in a strike team there wasn't a lot they could do against three airships.
"They won't starve, look at all they have. They'll go hungry for a time and make more, but our people are starving. We'll clear out the warehouse below and go peacefully," Homer said.
That didn't work for me. Raids like this were becoming more commonplace and each successful one seemed to spawn a dozen more. The only thing that slowed their growing boldness was a harsh response.
"Do you think if you only steal a little I'll let it go? Do you think I can't plant spores in the food you've stolen? That I can't unleash horrors upon you and your crew? Do you think your families back home in the Scholarium are immune to my wrath?" I said.
I wasn't bluffing. I could kill their families, I had ample resources in the Scholarium to strike at their lands directly.
"What choice do I have?" Homer asked.
Perhaps that was really his intent? Raiding wasn't their style—putting themselves in a position to negotiate a deal was. Were they hoping to raid our food, or to be paid off for going away?
I wasn't inclined to be sympathetic, but they did have a fleet of trading airships and those were something the Divine could very much use.
I accessed one of the repair drones from the settlement and sent it in search of the community leader. They didn't embrace technology and I couldn't just get them on the line.
I soon had her, a young woman by the name of Ostara with flowers in her dark hair, a goddess of spring—which helped to explain the settlement’s prosperity.
"This is the one attacking us?" Ostara asked sharply.
Homer at least had the good grace to look embarrassed confronted by the face of his victim.
I said, "In all his feeble glory. One of the least impressive Scholars I have ever met."
"What is the point of bringing her on?" Homer asked.
"I'm making some effort to be nice, although I'm not sure why I bother. The young fop doing a terrible job of robbing you is Homer Takra, his family runs a trading empire. Homer, meet Ostara, who runs the settlement and makes flowers bloom and other such frippery," I said.
"Spring is very important. Why are you introducing me instead of killing him?" Ostara said.
I liked her, she asked the right sort of questions. If she had a cookie in her mouth she'd remind me of Anna.
"Homer here wants to steal your food to feed his family, as they don't have any. He feels you have plenty and won't miss it. What Homer does have is ships, and lots of them, which is something your people lack," I said.
"You're suggesting we trade our ships?" Homer asked.
No, that wasn't what I was suggesting at all.
Ostara tilted her head. "I could see him as a young Cissonius perhaps. We could use the ships."
A God of trade and a driver of carriages, that would do.
I explained, "You'll become a part of her settlement and answer to her. In time, perhaps, your gifts will shift over to the Divine variants and you'll become full members of their community. The rest of your family can stay in the Scholarium or take the offer as well as they see fit," I said.
"This is moving a bit fast," Homer said.
"If it helps you make up your mind, I am thirty seconds away from releasing bacteria that will kill you and everybody aboard your vessels."
While we'd been talking I'd been tweaking a batch of Omega Seven and adjusting the targeting parameters.
"I accept," Homer said.
In the past month the ranks of the Divine had swelled by fourteen percent. He wasn't the first to be made a similar offer.
67
Anna was drenched in blood, it wasn't hers. With her absorption of power crystals, one of the abilities she'd gained gave her a taste for it. I'd made some cookies that helped to sate it, but sometimes she still felt the need to kill.
The drones I made for the purpose were volunteers and didn't keep the memories. I had a pool of them for Sylax too. It said something about humanity that I had to keep a whole stable of victims ready for their regular consumption.
Anna had drained three almost dry. This is why she had the hips she had.
"Now I suppose you're going to want a plate of cookies just to show you really have no limits," I said through the speakers.
"Yes, actually. The ones with peanut butter," Anna said.
Recipe KE4, it was one of her favorites. I got them baking. Anna kicked on her own flames, not as hot as Hot Stuff's, but more than enough to burn the blood off her and get her cleaner than any shower could manage.
"There was another raid on the Divine lands. If you were a better empress your people wouldn't be trying to kill each other," I said.
Anna didn't respond at first, closing the door to her kill room and pouring herself a glass of wine. "You're probably right. I always wondered what I would do if I ever achieved my goal. Now I have and I'm still wondering."
"Self-reflection isn't like you. Nobody wants to look at that face in a mirror."
The cookies were ready. I materialized the tray and Anna grabbed one from the top.
"How many people do you think we've killed?" Anna asked.
"Not as many as I've created. I at least do more harm than good," I said.
"What happened with the raiders? Did you have to kill them?"
"They had airships. They're converting now. Give it some time. I think that is going to happen to most of the Scholarium. They follow strength and right now the Divine are strong," I said.
"And I'm weak," Anna said, taking a sip from her wine and grimacing. "I'm the most powerful woman on the planet. Why can't I fix this?"
I didn't have any answers for Anna. I was the most intelligent being on the planet with the pure, untapped power of SCIENCE at my disposal and I couldn't fix things either.
"You've always thought of yourself as an engineer and I as a researcher. Perhaps you weren't the only one who gave herself too much credit. We're killers just like the rest, better at tearing down than building," I said.
Anna shook her head. "Level that at me if you want. I probably deserve it, but you don't. You've come so far, Emma, you built a whole society out of nothing. You built everything that we have."
"And it was you who reassembled this planet. It isn't completely your fault that we destroyed it."
It wasn't her fault at all, it was mine. And I should have insisted Sylax take the Chalcedony. Hot Stuff was loyal, but her powers had never been anything other than destructive. I should have foreseen what giving her such a boost would mean.
"Can you take this crystal out of me?" Anna asked.
That was unexpected. Once, Anna hated
the thought of having a crystal, then after she absorbed them Anna always wanted very much to keep them, even with the pain they caused.
"Perhaps. I doubt it would be easy, but I think it possible. Are you going to blame your abilities for what has happened?"
"No," Anna said, after a moment. "But with my belly filled with blood I'm suddenly reminded of what I've become. I'm also certain that despite being underpowered old Anna always found a way to win. She always found a way to make something happen. I never used to sit around feeling sorry for myself."
"You were marginally less pathetic," I agreed.
"Would having the Agate back help us?" Anna asked.
"An energy source that powerful gives us a lot of possibilities. Even more, if we could also reclaim the Beryl and Chalcedony from Caya and Hot Stuff. Binding the crystals into human hosts kept them out of Vinci's hands. I suppose that doesn't matter anymore," I said.
"Put nearly infinite sources of power out there and someone is always going to make a play for them," Anna said.
Of course, but there weren't that many people left who could give us a good fight. Only Queen Forge of the Scholarium had grown quite powerful since starting her rule. Her new position gave her broad access to the powers of the Scholarium and Forge used them to enhance her weapons and armor. In raw power she was no match for Anna, but I thought by now her power sets might be more versatile than even those I'd given Anna by way of upgrades.
"If you are entertaining new ideas, you might also consider what could be accomplished by implanting it into someone else. One of the Divine nature deities," I said.
"Would you have them replace me?" Anna asked, an edge in her voice.
"No," I said immediately. It was best to not even let that possibility linger in her mind. "For good or ill we are a team, Anna, you know that. But amplifying the power of a nature deity might give them the ability to fix what we can't."
