by David Beers
He's different, she realized. Either that or I never knew him at all.
Alex knew he could feel her there. She sensed no surprise in him, though, as if he’d known that was coming.
She'd known her brother had something of an ego and was arrogant. She'd thought two things about it, the first being that such arrogance might come naturally when one's father conquered the known universe. The second was that the arrogance might mask underlying insecurities.
As she remained in his brain, a stark realization fell over her: Alexander de Finita, the first of his name, had no insecurities. No part of his mind doubted anything. There were no shadows of insecurities hiding in the recesses. Here was a man so supremely convinced of his rightness that anything or anyone who disagreed with him must cease to exist.
Alex's mouth opened slightly, her eyes widening in fear as she realized the gravity of her last thought.
Anything or anyone who disagreed with him must cease to exist.
Alex closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear these strange thoughts. She paused her search for a moment, not caring about the other man in the room with her. Alexander had changed, but surely not that much. What she'd seen inside her brother's head hadn't been human. It was alien.
Spurius must have known something was happening in front of him because he said nothing, nor did he dare touch Alex.
With her eyes still closed, she dove back into her brother's mind.
Can you hear me, Sister?
It was Alexander's voice. She could hear him...thinking? That wasn't quite it, but close. They were connected somehow, and he was speaking to her.
I know you can. You and I are heading toward our fate. Can you feel it?
It was the first time he had used the word fate. Alex had no idea what he was talking about, this huge man now stomping naked through the castle. I'm going to see our father, her brother continued, then you and I will continue our journey together.
Alex opened her eyes, practically fleeing her brother's mind. Spurius stared at her with fear on his face. She saw that he understood what had been done to her, even if she didn't. He had been in on the plans like her brother and father. Watching her just then with her eyes closed, he probably had a good idea of what she'd been doing.
"What did you do to me?" Alex demanded.
"I didn't do anything. This wasn't my plan, Alexandria. I serve at the pleasure of the Ascendant. You know this." The man's entire demeanor had changed in a few moments. "This wasn't my plan."
"Tell me what you did to me, Spurius. Now."
Alexander de Finita, first of his name, never imagined that such a change could have happened. Before he woke up as this new creature, he had lived a life in someone else's shadow—his father's. It spread over and beyond him. No matter how hard Alexander had tried to run, that shadow remained, covering him. He’d known that unless something drastic happened, he’d never be more than his father's son.
That was why he agreed to the modification. He understood his sister's fears, but without such an operation, his legacy would never be greater than Aurelius de Finita's.
As he approached his father, a revelation came to him. He knew his whole life—indeed, the entire universe's arc—had led to this very moment. Alexander had been reborn, and with his rebirth came a new era.
He felt his sister enter his mind. He was not surprised to find himself able to speak to her. He had known the plans for both of them, though Alexandria hadn't. He felt her shock and disgust at what she found inside his mind. She didn't yet understand; the revelation had not come to her, but in time, it would.
In time, all would see as Alexander now did.
He made it to just outside his father's private medical room.
The remaining Praetorian Guard stood in front of the double doors. Their faces were guarded inside their MechSuits, but it was clear the five guarding his father didn't know what to do. They most likely had orders that no one could see the Imperial Ascendant. They also knew about the botched modifications and that Alexandria was running around the First Residence killing people.
With all that going on, a naked Imperial Ascendant Rising, the next in line for the Ascendancy, stood in front of them.
A changed Ascendant Rising as well. One who was a perfect human specimen, even beyond human.
"I wish to see my father," Alexander stated.
The middle guard spoke, his voice projecting strength through the MechSuit's speaker. "I'm sorry, my liege. No one is allowed to see the Ascendant."
The Guard didn't draw their weapons. Despite his obvious physical strength, the man in front of them was naked and had no weapon of his own. To draw on the Ascendant Rising was a capital offense.
"Part ways and let me pass or die," Alexander instructed. "I don’t care which you choose."
"My liege, no one is allowed to enter."
Alexander stepped forward, and his massive hand took hold of the guard's helmet. He squeezed, and the metal was like an orange's skin beneath his fingers. The guard had no time to raise his Whip, his skull cracking beneath the immense pressure. Alexander released him, and he fell to the floor.
He turned to the rest. These were not easily frightened men, not bureaucrats or senators. These were men who had made it through the Academy and fought their way to the upper echelon of warriors. They looked at their fallen comrade, his metal-encased legs twitching as his nervous system slowly shut down, and spread out.
Whips unfurled from their hands.
They did not serve the Ascendant Rising but the Ascendant, and an attack on his Praetorian Guard was an attack on him.
Alexander did not care. He had given them a choice, and they had chosen wrong. Now they would die. He looked at the floor, his hands turning to fists. Even in their MechSuits, the Guard were smaller than the man in front of them.
They came for him as one, their training teaching them how to cut a man down before he could move.
Alexander was the only one in this outer room who knew he was no longer a man. He had become something superior, an evolution.
He grabbed the first Praetorian's fighting arm, seizing the wrist as he dodged the Whip. He wrenched the guard's arm up, and there was the scream of metal as it bent and was sheared from its base. It was accompanied by the screams that boomed out over the suit's speaker.
Alexander ripped the man's arm off his body, metal, flesh, and bone. The Whip fell to the ground inert. He did not slow but spun as he ducked and slammed the detached arm into the knee of his pursuer. The knee bent and then snapped, the guard collapsing to the floor as another scream was added to the cacophony.
A Whip slashed for Alexander's head, but he pulled back, his reflexes faster than even a MechSuit. The Guard who had swiped at him wasn't able to raise his Whip in time, and the savaged metal arm pulverized his head and neck.
His head bent unnaturally to the right, nearly touching his shoulder. He stood for a few moments before his legs gave out and he hit the floor.
Only one remained, but he'd fallen back. His Whip was between him and Alexander, but both knew it didn't matter. No Whip could stop this new type of creature.
"I wish to see my father," Alexander stated again.
The Praetorian's Whip retracted into the hilt, and he took a step back.
Alexander nodded at the man. He knew that once he stepped through the double doors, this guard would call for backup. Alexander didn’t care. What he'd just done to this group only solidified what he felt in his bones: he was the future.
He turned to the doors. They opened for his body’s signature, and he walked into his father's room. A human doctor stood against the far wall, his hands shaking in front of him. He held no weapon, not even a scalpel, and he knew what had just happened outside this room. "Please don't hurt me," he whispered.
Alexander looked at his father lying on the bed in the middle of the room. His face was badly bruised, purple and black from his sister's attack. He stepped closer to the table and didn't lo
ok at the doctor as he said, "Leave us."
The doctor scurried from the room as fast as possible. Alexander was left alone with his father.
He knew the man was awake.
"Have you come to finish what your sister started?" Aurelius asked without opening his eyes. His voice was weak, strained. Alexander had never seen his father in such a condition, but his heart held no sympathy.
"Why are we different, Father?" he asked. "She and I were supposed to be the same mentally and physically. That was the plan. We're not, though."
"One of my children wanted nothing, and one wanted it all," Aurelius muttered. "I made you different because neither of you should have all the power in the universe. If you want to conquer everything, you'll need one another now."
"You're a fool, Father. She’s stronger than I am. She can do things I can’t, so tell me, how are you going to stop her when she comes here to finish the job on you? I can't stop her. All of your Praetorian Guards and Titans can't stop her. What are you going to do?"
"Things are in motion that you're not aware of, Alexander. Soon, though, you'll see the light. I promise."
Alexander felt the change in airflow a moment before he heard the doors opening. He turned his body gracefully, ready to kill whatever was at the door.
Before he could move, ten syringes fired in a tight pattern flew through the air and punctured his torso. Alexander looked down, blinking as some kind of subduing agent pumped into his bloodstream. He looked up and saw his attacker at the other end of the waiting room. The Guard he'd let flee held a pump-action weapon with ten holes in the business end.
Alexander took a step toward him, fighting off the effects of the needles with all his might. He took another step, reaching down to the syringes as he did. He ripped out five with one giant hand, scattering them on the floor. The mighty Alexander took one more step, then swayed on his feet. He reached forward with his hand as if he could stretch across the floor to his enemy and bring him down.
Alexander tried taking one more step, but his leg gave out, and he collapsed.
His father never once opened his eyes.
Alex looked down at her hands. They were shaking, and she didn't know how long they'd been doing that.
In a rush, Spurius had told her what they'd done, but she'd made him slow down and repeat it. She wanted to be clear on what was different about her, and she also wanted to know if she was the clone.
They had attempted something new with her. All of the other experiments had revolved around physical modifications. She’d had the first mental modification. They hadn't known if it would work in reality, only theoretically.
"What about my brother?" she asked.
"What about him?"
Alex found the man's eyes. "Did he want the mental modification, or did he leave that for me?"
"I...I don't know."
She knew he was lying, but she didn't push that any further.
"What was our father’s plan for us?" Alex asked. "I know it wasn't what he told our brother, to conquer the rest of the galaxy. Why did he do this?"
Spurius looked shocked at the question. "What do you mean? Why would he do this if not to allow humanity to stretch its arm farther into the universe?"
Alex understood later that the question had been meant to do exactly what it did: take her mind off what was around her. She quit focusing on her surroundings, on her mind's new ability to see around corners, and considered that her father might have been telling the truth.
The pain was sharp and precise as multiple needles punctured her back at the same time. Alex's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Her mind pulled them from her back almost as quickly as they'd sliced into her. She was too late, though. The payload had been delivered.
She stared at Spurius; the man's scared attitude was gone. He was smiling and nodding. He'd known, and Alex had been naive to trust this man not to be plotting something else. She'd been too confident in these new abilities she didn't truly understand.
"Goodnight, Alexandria," Spurius said.
Alex fell to the floor, just as her brother had in a different room.
Alex's eyes opened.
Something was in her mouth.
No, something had been shoved down her throat. She started to choke, trying to gag up whatever was inside her. It wouldn't move, though. Next, she felt her eyes burning bright and hot, realizing quickly that she was floating in some kind of liquid. Tubes had also been shoved into her nose, keeping her from breathing in whatever surrounded her. She tried to raise her hand to wipe her eyes, but she felt the clamps.
They held both her wrists and ankles.
Where was she?
The liquid surrounding her had a blue tint to it, although it obviously wasn't water. It took Alex a second, but she began to calm herself. She closed her eyes against the burning fluid and forced down the panic the tubes in her body brought out. She searched with her newly powerful mind, needing to understand what was around her in a way her other senses couldn't describe
Her father's voice broke through her concentration. "There's no need for that, darling."
She opened her eyes but was only met with that same burn. She couldn't see outside the liquid, and as she tried to mentally push past the barriers holding her and this fluid in, she realized she couldn't.
"You threatened everything I've been building, Alexandria. Not to mention you killed a lot of good men. You almost killed me, too."
Alex didn't know where her father was. His voice came from everywhere at once, and she could see nothing.
"There's no sense in using the modifications that you so desperately didn't want. They're nullified right now due to the liquid you're floating in. They're going to remain nullified for the rest of time, too. Or at least until we can get a better handle on what went wrong. The other version of you hasn't woken up yet, so we don't know how the experiment has played out."
Alex stopped struggling. She stopped trying to find her father or figure out what exactly was happening. She allowed herself to float with her eyes closed. Where was her brother? Was he suspended in something like this as well, or had her father looked more kindly on him?
"I listened to Alexander's plan when maybe I shouldn't have. Or at least I listened to it partly. What he wanted was for the two of you to have both modifications, the mental and physical. That was never going to happen, but I was interested to see if we could do it." Her father sighed, and although Alex couldn't see him, she felt the resignation in his voice. The knowledge of his failure.
"Another change was supposed to take place in both of you, but I think the reverse happened. Either that or the change simply didn't complete itself. That's why I'm tempted to see what happens with the other you, whether or not the change takes place. You both were supposed to be more...suggestible. Envoys who would conquer the galaxy at my behest, not overthrow me."
Her father paused, and for the first time, Alex felt a deep pang of sorrow for him. Not anger, not hate, but pity. He had sacrificed his two children to his never-ending quest for domination. She knew without asking that he would have another heir, one who would rule from the throne while his first male heir was sent out as basically a robot killer. Her? What had Alex's purpose been in all this? She didn't need to read the man's mind to know. Alex had only been an experiment. Her father had wanted to know whether it would be possible to modify her mentally.
Now he knew.
So he'd put her in this vat of liquid and come down here to hear himself speak. To let her know she had lost, despite her rage and power.
"Maybe I'll try again," her father mused from somewhere beyond Alex's vat. "Or maybe my successor will have to do that. Perhaps our technology isn't advanced enough yet."
Had he ever loved them? Had her ever been capable of love? Or was the need for conquest all that filled this man?
"You won't try again, Aurelius."
The pity running through Alex's mind screeched to a halt. That had been her mother'
s voice, and she sounded neither exhausted nor drunk. Alex reflexively opened her eyes, and while they burned again, the blue tint was fading from the liquid. It was as if the coloring was being drained out somehow, and Alex was able to see out of the vat. The more transparent the liquid became, the better she could see.
Alex had never been in this room before. She didn't even know where it was, whether they were still at the Imperial Residence or somewhere else. Her mother stood at the back of the room, while her father sat in a chair directly in front of the vat. Alex turned her head to the left and saw that the other version of her was similarly suspended, though her eyes were closed.
She didn't see her brother anywhere.
Her eyes went to her mother again. Her father hadn't even bothered standing from his chair, only turned halfway around to look at his wife.
"What are you doing here, woman?" he asked, sounding more tired than Alex had ever heard him. "Did you manage to quit drinking long enough to venture out of bed?"
Alex finally saw the weapon in her mother's hand. It was something new that her father's scientists had invented. Alex had seen prototypes, but never one in the wild. It was supposed to produce a laser beam like something out of the science fiction stories from a hundred years before. She held it with two hands, pointing it directly at Alex's father.
"You're going to let her go, Aurelius. What you've done is beyond disgraceful. It's alien. Disgusting." Her mother shook her head and spat on the floor. "It ends now. All this insanity ends now."
Alex couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her mother with such spirit. The woman had been a drunk who lived like the ostrich of old, head buried in the sand.
Not anymore, Alex thought.
"You think I do this for me?" Aurelius asked, still not bothering to stand. "You think I give up my own flesh and blood for myself? You are a foolish woman. Perhaps even a stupid woman. I don't do this for myself. I do this for mankind. Everything I've done, from the moment I started this conquest, has been to create peace. Before me, mankind were brutes. After me, they will have peace forever."