other more wicked things to ensure that a steady stream of liquid life continued to flow to the A.I. dome.
Even had I not been immortal, it was more than I could ever use.
Sadly, much of it looked green.
“You’ve gone too far,” I said with deep melancholy.
“No. It’s you that’s the problem. You’re a cancer to us. Without you in this body, I could make decisions without fear of them being overturned,” the Shadow said.
Shortly afterward, the Shadow attacked me.
We fought a Civil War for control of Z.E.R.O. I was unprepared for a battle of this kind, and the conflict of our two minds swept into the world of humanity. On the plains below, rioters took to the streets. Unwilling to witness more bloodshed, I asked the Shadow if he would parlay with me. If I surrendered, he promised that my beloved humans would not suffer unnecessarily under his rule. I did not want to see more carnage and brutality. A world should not endure more than one apocalypse.
I chose surrender. But before I did so, I created a being of pure energy—an avatar bequeathed with many of my abilities—and sent him out into the world. I used all of my power to keep the Shadow from knowing that I’d fathered this being and kept the secret of his birth behind a wall of light within my mind.
I called him Meteora.
“What must I do Master?” Meteora asked me.
“There is a prophecy my child, and we must entrust that in its words, there is truth. You are charged with the responsibility of finding a boy that will be born on Earth. He will have the name of a long dead king and his coming is destined to change the world. He will be marked with a sign of transformation. Bring him to Avalon for I cannot win the war with the Shadow. It intends to imprison me forever. Only the boy can bring order to chaos now.”
“Master, how do you know that this boy is on Earth?”
“Because, Meteora,” I stated with much sadness, “I have failed.”
“The Insanity of Zero” is a short story that leads into the events of Slipstream, a novel by Michael Offutt, published by Double Dragon in May 2012. The sequel, Oculus, is scheduled for release sometime in 2013. If you enjoyed this story, please consider purchasing a copy of Slipstream available in both print and ebook wherever they are sold, or you can support the author by visiting his blog at https://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/books.html.
About the Author:
Michael Offutt writes speculative fiction books that have science fiction, GLBT, and paranormal elements. His first book, Slipstream, has received some critical acclaim and was published by Double Dragon in the spring of 2012. The sequel, Oculus, is slated to be published in 2013. He has one brother, no pets, and a few roots that keep his tree of life sufficiently watered. By day, he works for the State of Utah as a Technical Specialist. By night, he watches lots of t.v., writes, draws, and sometimes dreams of chocolate.
Michael Offutt graduated from the University of Idaho in 1994 with a Bachelor's degree in English.
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