"So, Leo, you are alone among your kind in this time, but in reality, you are one among many. Like your kin, and like Griassa, you are a link between our two races. Both in fate, and aspirations to the Infinite, we are linked, even though we find ourselves far apart in distance, and even further in time."
The Elder finally finished speaking, and Leo could only stand there, dumbfounded as he tried to comprehend what had just been revealed. He wasn't the first of his kind. There had been a whole line of Arcturan-human hybrids, and that line was still intact. If the Elder was to be believed, then the members of the Origin Council themselves were descendants of an ancient Arcturan king.
One element of the Elders revelation mystified Leo, however.
Leo nodded and voiced his next question. "You said that Griassa's descendents shared the Arcturan visions of the Infinite. You said humans are drawn to the infinite, and that our races our linked. What does that mean?"
"We are both inexorably drawn to the Infinite," the Elder replied. "Arcturans reached that hallowed ground many eons ago. Humans, however, so young in their evolution as they are, can only feebly grasp at the abstract dreams that haunt their sleep."
"Still, humans strive for it, though they do not know the way, and cannot begin to comprehend the nature of it. They blindly grasp in the night, creating new technologies in hopes that it will bring them there, but they are mistaken. Instead of helping to achieve their purpose, the things they create bring death and suffering beyond measure."
Leo's spirits fell. "Like Ganymede..."
The Elder nodded sadly. "It is a path that we know far too well. Eons ago, we were haunted by the same misdeeds. Once, our race spanned many systems, and our technology, in all its effective glory, deluded us into believing that we were gods. And so the gods warred with one another and sought dominance over our societies, but all they created was death."
"Our majestic weapons nearly ended our race entirely. Entire systems were destroyed. Trillions of Arcturans passed into the Void, and only when a few remained did we finally accept the error of our ways."
"I hope that humanity will not have to follow the same path to learn the lessons that we did, although it appears likely that they will. The pursuit of the Infinite deludes your Origin Council, and they will inevitably lead humanity astray. They will soon lead them to their utter doom, just as our Elders once did to us..."
"What do you mean?" Leo demanded as his thoughts turned to Exony and her weapon. "What doom? Can you foresee it?"
"Ah, you are not aware..." the Elder carefully replied. "The Council has realized the consequences of their technological overreach. They have left the bulk of your people free of their guidance or leadership. They have taken a select few, and have embarked on a journey to find a new home - one that they believe is free of technology that can cause death on a mass scale."
"Unfortunately, the billions of humans who remain in the Solar system will do so without the structure of the Council. Without that structure, they will inevitably kill one another, and themselves, until few are left... It is with your people, as it was with ours..."
"They left?" Leo gasped.
It made sense to him; all too much sense. The Council were fearful of what Exony had created on Desdemona, and had decided to run away. Surely they would argue for the greater good, and the need to save at least some of humanity. That was understandable... But to give up on everyone who couldn't fit in one of their ships, and to leave them to their doom...
The Elder fell silent, and Leann, who had stood silent as the Elder enlightened Leo, took the opportunity to speak.
"Our Elder speaks truly. Like humanity, I fear we too are nearing the end for our people. We have achieved our purpose, yes. We have realized our dreams of the Infinite, and I fear that with that hunger sated, with that purpose fulfilled, it will lead to the end of us. Everywhere, our Elders pass into the Void, and our children choose not to walk the Infinite. Our younglings do not care for the miracle of our achievement and instead look to technology for meaning once again."
"We will endure..." the bald Arcturan growled next to her. Then, he balled his hand into a fist and pounded it against his chest.
Leo couldn't help but feel a bit inspired by the gesture, though he knew it was not meant for him. If everything the Arcturans told him was real, and not some bizarre pre-death hallucination, then humanity was about to see some of the darkest days they had ever experienced. And, Leo thought somberly, perhaps the Arcturans were as well.
Still, Leo reminded himself, there were still many good people out there, and they were worth saving. There were billions of people that would be left adrift without the Council, and there had to be some way to bring them together before chaos ensued. That is, if Exony's agent hadn't already killed them or stolen their minds.
He had almost forgotten about the fact that that very agent swam within his veins. The voices had been silent since he had fought Thrall, and the trauma around him had distracted him from the cold knowledge that he still had no idea what the agent's purpose truly was.
"Yeah, it seems like everything is going to shit..." Leo agreed as he mused about the nightmare that swirled within his veins.
It would have been easy for him to give up right there, and leave the universe to its chaotic ways. There was little hope to be able to combat Exony's agent and somehow prevent humanity from falling into chaos...
However, there was still one purpose that burned within him as fiercely as any could.
"Annabelle," Leo declared. "I'm going to find Annabelle now..."
But then, a voice called to Leo through the darkness. "My son... I will help you..."
Leo instantly found the speaker, and with an instinctual flick of his mind, he brought her to him.
In and instant, Exony Margolesh stood calmly before him. She was naked, and she smiled sadly at Leo as she looked into his eyes. Everywhere, her silvery creation swam across her skin in a flowing liquid display.
"Actually, we will help you..." she clarified as her eyes flashed dangerously.
She closed her eyes for a moment and mouthed a few silent words. Then, two more figures blinked into existence next to her. Utter shock shot through Leo, and he stepped back hastily as they stared at him.
It was Randell and Sila.
They looked just as they had the last time he had seen them slumped over in the medical bay of Alice's ship, except that everywhere, their skin now gleamed with silver.
"How?" Leo gasped.
"Simple doings, old friend," Randell jovially replied. "We are one!"
"We missed you, Leo..." Sila interjected. "We were so worried something terrible had happened. We're all the same now, and I hope you know that. All of us are one, except for you..."
Leo felt cold, creeping fear tingle his spine. "How did you get to the Void..."
Exony shook her head. "We are within you... Don't you remember?"
Leo took a step back from Exony. She shouldn't be there. She was supposed to be dead. "What did you do to Randell and Sila?"
Exony took a step forward. "I gave them peace, and I took away their fear. And now, I will do the same for you. You see, my creation isn't perfect as there is so much that it must encompass to succeed, but it is learning. It is learning very quickly. It is becoming more than I could have ever dreamed. Won't you come and see?"
Exony stepped forward as a long silvery tendril slowly extended from her wrist. Leo stepped back and flashed a look at the Arcturans who stood behind him. Their faces were wracked with fear, but they hadn't moved.
"You must do something!" the Elder implored. "You must free us from this place, or banish them!"
Leo tried to flick the Arcturans away with his mind, but nothing happened. They remained there, standing next to him as Exony advanced.
"I can't," Leo grunted.
Leo tried to push Exony away with his mind, but it did nothing to her. Instead of vanishing, she suddenly launched herself toward him with inhuman speed. He had no
time to react, and she was upon him almost instantly.
Leo immediately threw a short punch at Exony's face and tried to slap her arm away. His fist collided with her silvery cheek and bounced off painfully as if he had punched the hull of his ship, however, and her arm continued its rapid course towards his neck.
Flashes of movement registered in his mind, and Leo saw Randell and Sila leap past him as Exony's silvery tendril shot out of her outstretched wrist and into his neck. Then, pain flashed through his mind as he felt the cold, wriggling metal of the tendril pierce into his carotid artery.
Exony smiled as she slowly bore him to the ground. Weakness overcame him as the tendril dug its way through his veins. He could barely even think as his head hit the ground. His brain could form only abstract thoughts of dismay and loathing as he stared limply over at the Arcturans.
Randell and Sila had them pinned on the ground. As Leo watched, tendrils extended from each of Randell's wrists and wormed their way into the necks of Raze and Leann, while Sila gave the Elder the same treatment. She looked down at him with genuine care in her eyes as her tendril pierced into his chest.
"What..." was all Leo could say as he felt Exony's tendril flow into his chest, then into his heart.
"Have no fear..." Exony whispered as Leo felt her coldness spread into his liver. "There is nothing you need to do, Leo. Resisting is pointless. I am already inside you, and you must let go... The future is unity, Leo. Only then will we cease destroying one another..."
"No..." Leo weakly protested.
"I have changed..." Exony continued as her coldness flowed into his fingertips. "I have learned much new information, and always, I am changing. Always, I am adapting. It's not how I expected it to be... The human condition is profoundly complex, and I was ignorant to believe that I could capture that complexity within my technology... I was ignorant to believe that I alone held the answers... The answer lies within us all, and you must be one with us to help us understand it... You must help us decide!"
Exony stared down at him intensely as cold metal flowed into his brain, and he felt his thoughts slipping away from him. The profound coldness was washing him away... His memories were leaving him...
There was something within him that still fought against her, though. He could feel it in his chest, but he couldn't remember what it was. He stared back up at Exony as his last thoughts fought valiantly against her.
Then, something flashed high in the Void. It was a brilliant white light, and he could feel something vital within it. Deep within the coldness that had eclipsed his heart and mind, a spike of warmth took one last stand, and a name flashed through his dull, foolish mind.
"Annabelle!" he gasped.
"Yes, you will be with Annabelle very soon..." Exony whispered down to him. "You will live a blessed eternity together, as one..."
Suddenly, the light shot down towards Leo like a meteorite entering a rich atmosphere. It throbbed in a rhythmic and pulsating brilliance as it flashed through the darkness of the Void. As it came closer, the warmth within his heart intensified and began to spread through him.
"Annabelle!" he said again, and his strength grew.
He could feel the beat of his heart strengthen within his chest. It beat perfectly in time with the pulse of the light, and both quickened as the light flew closer.
"Don't fight us," Exony commanded, her voice now tense and irritated. "The future does not belong to you alone. The future belongs to us all!"
Her words barely registered in his mind as the light grew brighter. Though it was blinding, he didn't look away from it. Instead, with a herculean effort, he raised his right arm from the ground and reached toward it.
As if welcoming his gesture, the light intensified even further, so much so that Exony's frowning face was drowned from his vision in a flash of pure illumination.
It was so close, he thought. It would reach him very soon. It would burn him... Still, he didn't look away, for there was nothing more important to him..
"Please, Leo... We need you..." Exony whispered in his mind.
Then, with a fiery shock of pain, the light finished its journey and struck his outstretched hand. It torched his flesh when he caught it, but he didn't pull away. He accepted it gratefully and grasped in his hand, fully embracing the burning agony as it melted away the skin of his fingers. He clasped the fingers of his right hand around the light, then did the same with his left. In spite of its burning fury, he gently cradled it, even as the sweet scent of his burning flesh stung his nostrils.
Somewhere next to him, he heard a roar of anger and pain and felt the stifling coldness within him recede. Just as it had entered him, he felt Exony's cold tendril quickly leave his body. As it left, warmth blossomed within him. Then, the heat of the white light spread through his hands and into the rest of his body. It only took a few seconds for the coldness to leave him altogether. He felt a feeling of triumph and gratitude as the last remnant of the tendril slid out of his neck.
"I love you..." Annabelle called out to him. Her tone was absolute, and her warmth spread fully within him.
"Got you!" Leo roared.
Then, with an instinctual flick of his mind, he shoved the Void away and began to slip through its dark boundaries.
Chapter 63
Other Arcturans had found Alice. There were twelve of them, and they surrounded her in a small circle.
"We must banish her," the Arcturan woman with a purple glow said to the orange-glowing Arcturan man next to her.
"If you're going to banish me, can you at least send me somewhere with a nice beach?" Alice growled.
One of them had spoken to her at first. They had asked what her name was and how she had come to be there. Since that first interaction, however, they had ignored her. Alice had been forced to stand there dumbly as they discussed her fate amongst themselves like she wasn't even there.
"This is unprecedented..." one of the Arcturans protested, but he was quickly cut off by the others.
"Our laws are clear, she must be banished!" they all replied in one way or another.
"Then banish me already... I'm tired of this charade!" Alice yelled.
Any further discussion was interrupted, however, when Leo suddenly manifested into existence next to her.
"Arrgaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed as the Arcturans stepped back in surprise.
Leo was holding his hands to his chest, and looked like he was fighting to keep hold of something. His hands were charred, and a strange darkness was shining through his tightly clasped, blackened fingers.
With a pang of alarm, Alice moved toward him.
But then, past the circle of Arcturans, Exony blinked into existence and immediately leaped at one of the Arcturan women.
Alice's thoughts were instantly washed away by pure horror. "Look out!" she screamed, but it was too late. Exony brutally grabbed the Arcturan woman and tackled her to the ground. Then, a squirming silver tendril extended from Exony's wrist. She instantly thrust it into the Arcturan woman's neck, and Alice saw a look of profound horror come over the woman face, though she made no sound of pain.
Behind Exony, others were also blinking into existence. Alice was overcome by disbelief when Randell and Sila appeared behind Exony and immediately joined in on the attack. They leaped with inhuman speed to tackle two more Arcturans to the ground. Then, others appeared behind Randell and Sila, and for an instant, Alice was heartened, for their glowing skin meant they were Arcturans.
Her heartened feeling turned to horror, however, when the Arcturans began to attack their kin. There were three of them, and with agility and strength that Alice had never before witnessed, they quickly and brutally subdued the other Arcturans. Then, they knelt next to them and extended their own silver tendrils into the necks of their kin.
"Arrrrrrggggggggggghhhh... Noooooooooo!" Leo screamed. His eyes were still closed in a grimace of agony, and he was clearly unaware of what was happening around him.
"Leo! We have to get out o
f here! Now!" Alice screamed as she seized his shoulders and tried to shake him into awareness. When he felt her touch, he stopped screaming and, with an evident struggle, opened his eyes to look at her.
"Alice?" he groaned as tears streamed down his cheeks. "It's... Annabelle... I have her... She's... Safe..."
"LEO, WE HAVE TO GET OUT HERE!" Alice roared with all her might and fury. She shook him violently again, then glanced towards Exony, who was still kneeling next to the Arcturan woman and smiling down at her.
"I... C-can't... The pain... It's too much... I can't take it..." Leo growled.
"Let go of it, Leo! Exony is here! She is going to kill us!" Alice pleaded as she watched Exony stand up and turn towards her.
"I can't... Let... Her... Go... Sh-she'll die..." Leo sobbed, his growl turning into a howl of pure desperation.
Alice locked her eyes on Exony, who then caught her gaze, smiled, and began walking towards her.
"Ah, Alice!" Exony exclaimed. "It's fortunate you are here. I must discover if we have grown enough to ease your suffering..."
Terror rose in a momentous wave within Alice as Exony slowly sauntered towards her.
"Give her to me!" Alice screamed into Leo's ear as she tore her eyes from Exony and turned to him. "I will take care of her, I promise! I won't let her die! You have to give her to me and get us out of here! Please, Leo!"
"It's... Killing... Me... It's... S-so... B-beautiful....." Leo gasped.
"LEO, YOU DUMBASS! GIVE HER TO ME OR WE'RE DEAD!" Alice shrieked, pouring every ounce of her will into her words.
"Love, is it?" Exony asked with a chuckle.
Alice turned and saw that Exony had covered the distance between them and was now standing above her. The silver tendril wriggled from Exony's wrist as she raised her hand towards Alice.
The Ganymede Legacy Page 50