“Look at your status, ‘under constant watch’. Lexan, you and Alary are the biggest genetic anomalies in the past hundred thousand years,” Remu announced, she looked at the boy and carefully scanned him, searching for an indication of why he was so different and how he differed from others, “That explains why you achieved the second level Aether transformation. Alary must have the education equivalent to a fifth year student.” Her eyes burned with envy.
“I did not even know that was possible,” Romul said, he brought up Alary’s education file, “Look at this, she is listed as an Advanced Apprentice.”
Remu looked sternly at Romul, “She achieved all this in less than five months? Five years of study, done over so quickly.” She sighed and leaned back, “I wish I could do that. Be that talented.”
“Lexan, if you ever want to catch up with her, you will have to spend a long time training, alone.” Romul said. Lexan did not speak, “Are you listening to me, Lexan? I don’t even know how you can meet her. Advanced Apprentices are usually taught at a completely different planet than we are.”
He sat frozen. Remu followed his line of sight, “What is it?”
“They’ve been following me all this time,” he said. Thousands of log entries popped up, documenting their trip to the school’s Node DomeStem, documenting their escape from the robots. It even documented Lexan and the twins reviewing all the information. The twins looked at the plan and stared open-mouthed. “Impossible,” they muttered.
Remu took immediate charge and turned off her NCC. She let the others out into the street, “They must have hardware tapped your input enhancer chip,”
“How can we get rid of it?” Lexan subconsciously rubbed his head where the plug-in units were located.
“Surgery,” She looked at him seriously, “We go to a surgeon in the city; they will remove the brain chips and install new ones. It’s the only way.”
Lexan, already angry at the situation, agreed and the trio left. He felt betrayed, he felt completely naked, he felt vulnerable and hurt. Complete and constant watch, surveillance of the highest degree from the beginning to the moment he found out. It started with Bran, software surveillance, monitoring Lexan’s thoughts and dreams, recording them for Master Raki’s review, perhaps the Council’s. But her programming corrupted and Lexan removed her. Finally, he will get rid of the last part tying him to the Council and Master Raki. What will they do? And how can it be he has no Aether genes?
If he had none, theoretically, he would not even be able to survive in the world. The Aether genes, if not used for transformation, provided the human flexibility and adaptability to different environments. The specific part of human DNA, that simple Aether sequence gave humans, and other creatures as well, the ability to take over the whole Galaxy instead of dwelling in caves and struggling with fire for the rest of eternity.
And Alary, a hundred percent Aether gene sequence? This fact meant that whatever ability she had as a human were translated and made stronger. Impossibly stronger. Even such a basic task as cellular division would be impeccable. She could never get cancer, she would never be sick. She will recover from injuries faster than anyone, she was a super-human if human at all. And as an Aether, she could transform beyond the second level transformation, to the third and may be beyond, if there was a beyond. She could over-power any council member with proper care. Lexan thought hard, it seemed so impossible; impossible that the three in the orphanage, Lexan, Alary, and Nangern were such distinct anomalies that could not be found anywhere else in the galaxy, perhaps universe. How could it be? Such a coincidence.
The boy took out a ring out of his pocket. The ring Bloo gave him for their one month anniversary. It concentrated the Aether powers of an individual. They were meant for In Training school members, just like him. The alloy band had an inset golden diamond on top. He concentrated on it for a second, it started to glow faintly and give off sparks.
Impossibility, impossible, unlikely, those words riddled Lexan’s mind. A few hours ago, he walked out on Bloo. Not even a year earlier, he trained inside a starship Needle Mark II with Master Raki. Months prior, he lived at the Orphanage with the ‘Chosen Ones’. Before he lived there, he lived at home, with his parents, enjoying a normal life. A ‘normal’ life, never again to be lived but forever to be sought.
“Lexan, I think we’re here,” Remu said, she pointed toward a brain-implant store. The dark grey streets with their floating holographic signs created an ‘underground’ feeling. People walked by, dressed in tacky clothes. The city, it seemed, was the opposite of the clean culture located in the Aether system. Usual white floors turned into cheap plastic, rubberized sidewalks in the color of dirt. Tall metal alloy buildings conquered the landscape mercilessly. The brain-implant market stood on the third floor of a sky-scraper reaching beyond the clouds.
They entered and flew up to the third floor immediately using the air lift.
“Welcome to the Brain-implants and More store,” A holographic projection of a man bowed down. The strange solidity of the man gave away its nano-constructed shell. Lexan put a hand on the man’s shoulder, feeling perfectly well its material existence.
Remu spoke, “We need a new set of implants: memory, input, and nerve-feel.”
“Completely new? Who is the one receiving these?” The holo-man asked. Remu nodded over to Lexan who logged onto the store’s DomeStem.
“Ah I see, so complete replacements for the young man including the surgery involved. It will be costly,” he nodded. The trio looked at each other. The nano-constructed man could see that none of the group members had enough crystals to pay, “We can make a deal if you let me keep the previous implants. They seem to be a sort of a prototype unknown to me.”
Lexan nodded.
“If we use the finest of our technology for the implants, the operation will cost close to nine hundred credits, without the deal of course” the man said.
“And with the deal?” Lexan asked. Romul grabbed his shoulder, and sent him a message indicating that he leave the transaction details to him.
“I am going over the specifics of your hardware,” the holographic man stood motionlessly for a few seconds, “It seems that your implants are fairly new and mostly unused. May I ask why you wish to get rid of such masterpieces?”
“That is none of your concern. What’s your final price if we let you keep the original implants?” Romul asked sternly. He downloaded the price sheet for the new implants as well as their specifications.
“I will include the implants for free. Thus you only have to pay for the operation. Three hundred credits,” the man smiled.
“We only have hundred and fifty,” Romul said.
“I’m sorry but that does not even cover the cost of sterilization and tool-use. Even without labor costs,” the holographic man said. Romul frowned.
“We will be on our way then,” Remu said and the three walked toward the elevator. Lexan hoped the man would stop them but he did not.
“Suit yourselves,” he said.
The trio spent the better part of the day searching for a cheap surgeon with little to no luck.
“This is hopeless,” Romul said, “Maybe we should go back to school, and when we save up enough money, we can come back.”
“No, we can’t do that. Not after tonight,” Remu answered, “Now let’s go, my NCC’s maps indicate we have six more surgeons to go to.”
“I have an idea,” Lexan mentioned, “We have a whole month in here, don’t we? Why don't we take a break?”
“No, Lexan, we don’t,” Remu looked at him sternly, “The sentries will be gone within three or four hours. And after they’re gone, I’d like to go to school, and take a long shower.” Romul led the way toward the next surgeon already; he did not wish to anger the girl. Remu had a certain way about her, if she decided on doing something, it would happen, no matter what.
Her spiky purple hair shone in the dimmed sunlight. The darkness spread
through the city as night fell.
“Let's head to the nearest surgeon, he's only a few blocks away,” Romul nodded at the others and jumped on a speeding train that sped through most of the city. The trio arrived minutes later.
“We don't have any money, but we can offer you the original parts in exchange for the operation and replacement implants,” Romul said to the surgeon. The man stood tall with long slender fingers, too long to be entirely of human origin. His eyes spread wide over his face. The deep blue irises stared intently at the trio.
“Very well,” he nodded, “give me an hour to prepare and we can get this operation under way.”
Lexan smiled and thought, finally.
III
Darkness spread all around, Lexan could not see where anything was. A strange pressure pushed the back of his head.
Where am I, he thought, who am I?
His thoughts seemed disorganized, he could not remember anything. The sparks in his brain died off, the synaptic bridges torn apart. What’s happening?
The pressure in the back of his head increased to the point where he wanted to cry out in pain but when he did, not a sound came out of his mouth. He could not feel his limbs. He could not feel anything below the neck. What’s happening? He thought again, not remembering he asked the question once before.
The darkness did not lift for some time, but the pressure increased substantially. Completely confused and disorganized, Lexan tried to mentally explore the dark. He could not keep a single thought together. His consciousness circled the same spot in the dark, the infinite dark.
Finally, he came to light: a burning symbol in the darkness, a golden mark that glowed with warmth. The boy smiled, and walked up to it, recognizing the symbol’s features. A half ellipse sharpened at the ends, crossed by a thin line done in the same sharp manner with a single thorn in the middle. The symbol glowed with brilliance. Lexan’s thoughts sharpened and a voice inside his head told him to go and find the others.
“What others?” the boy asked, the large symbol, like a God wavered and answered.
“The descendants of the Toria. The heirs to the throne of Intelligence.”
Two names came to Lexan’s mind, “Alary and Nangern.”
“Go find them, unite them.”
The boy nodded, the symbol brilliantly shone outward, stronger until Lexan had to shield his eyes from the brightness. But even his arm could not stop the light emanating from the God-like symbol.
As the light lowered, Lexan saw three figures standing over him, he lay on a bed. One was a man, a tall man with blue-tinted skin and long fingers. The man’s face seemed to be completely flat, with nostrils, like from a snake, protruding from the middle. The two other seemed to be very familiar and similar to each other. One, a tall slender girl, too tall to be human, Lexan thought, with purples spiky hair. The other was a boy, a tall boy, as tall as the girl, but much thicker and bigger. His hair tied back into a pony tail.
“We’re almost done,” the man said, “I just need to reinstate his old memory banks and send a synaptic repair shock through his brain to repair the old connections.”
A buzzing sound grew loud in Lexan’s ears. Seconds later, the sound went away but was followed by an indescribable electric shock from the back of his head. His whole body shook, his skin felt like a thousand ants were walking on it. The electric charge spread into Lexan’s brain, and with it came memory and knowledge. His whole life flashed in front of his eyes, the way he grew up in a normal household with his parents, his old friends including Joshua who now resembled his Main Personality Interface. Main personality interface?, Lexan thought, what’s that?
More memories flooded his conscious mind, the memory of his parents’ death, the man in black who brought the news along. The orphanage, now the main memory he recalled from his pre-Athiris days. What is Athiris? Lexan thought. He remembered Leo, the big bully he beat up with his Aetheric power, he realized. Aetheric?
Then he remembered Alary, Nangern, Taylor, and Dominik. Alary, his sweet Alary. That’s when the dreams started. What dreams?, the boy thought. The darkness with flashes of light, the darkness filled with people. Two kinds, one bleach-skinned, bloody. The other bleach-skinned, white-eyed, pure. Were they so much different? One kind chose to wipe the blood off their clothes after battle, the other reveled in showing off their victories. One loved the day and the light of the sun. The light that could burn one’s skin, the light that could set fire to forests, the light that could blind elders. The other kind enjoyed the darkness. The darkness of the faintly moon-lit sky. The darkness that hid away predators, the darkness full of mischief and crime, the darkness that hid away secrets. Both too same yet too different.
Lexan remembered the way Nangern punched him, going through his defenses without the blink of an eye. He now knew that Nangern could do that only because of the inner power he hid away.
The rest came back too quickly for Lexan to directly observe.
“How did the operation go?” He said, sitting up on the operation table.
“It went well, no complications,” the surgeon said, putting away the electronic implants he took out of the boy’s head.
“We have to go,” Lexan said seriously. He stood up and ran to the door. Wide-eyed, Romul and Remu ran after him.
“What are you doing?!” Remu screamed at him.
“I have to find Alary, and then I have to bring her with me and go find Nangern,” he yelled back at them as he chased through the crowds.
“It’s been only a day out here; they will still be watching us out there!” Romul send a screamer message to Lexan whom had doubled the distance between them. The boy weaved through, heading for the Closets just a couple of blocks away.
“I don’t care. It’s my duty, no, it’s my responsibility, to bring Alary and Nangern together. Like we were at the Orphanage,” the words barely escaped his mouth. His jaw could not unclench, he was determined, determined to follow those dreams he had.
He found a Closet nearby; it had already set itself to transport him back to Athiris. Lexan opened the door and walked through.
IV
The Closet at Athiris swung open into the busy streets. Thousands of people walked through between the tall Closet structures, people had finished celebrating and went back to usual business. Lexan’s navigational system outlined a route for him, lighting up the floor in front of him. He noticed a few odd things as he ran down the busy streets, dodging the occasional sentry droid until he realized that the sentries never got a picture of his face.
Alary wasn’t far, Lexan told himself, I can go get her. We can find some kind of a ship, and then we will get Nangern. What are we going to do from there? He asked himself, thinking in waves of enlightenment. He could get to her in twenty minutes maybe less. Lexan jumped on a nearby transport. The shining light looked different than before but the boy did not pay much attention to it.
Five minutes later, he had traveled over a hundred kilometers into the final Sphere. According to the navigation computer, Alary's dormitory, a lone dormitory, stood in a large Dorm Cluster on the upper side of the Sphere. How come all of the Cardinals get a dormitory all to themselves? Lexan thought fleetingly as he walked fast by the shops on the main floor.
The elevator shafts in this Sphere were absent. Strange, thought Lexan as he walked up to a platform where the elevators should have been. Then the unexpected happened, an invisible force “squeezed” the boy upward using a tremendous amount of energy. In seconds, he reached the Dorm Cluster entrance. Numerous people walked by, staring at him. They were all much older, about five years older.
I can't believe Remu was serious when she said Alary advanced so fast, he pondered silently and walked on.
“Bring them together,” the voice in his head said, “Go find them and unite them. The children of Toria.”
I must do this, Lexan thought. Determinedly, his feet lead him down the illuminated path on the floor. Alary, Al
ary, where are you? He remembered the time he saw her at the congregation, the meeting about the war. The glimpse of her face and the memory brought a smile to his face and strengthened his determination.
I will bring them together. It will be like at the orphanage once again. The young Aether thought as he passed hundreds of doors. No, not the orphanage, this time there will be no pain of loss. There will be no “Leo”, no disputes, no problems. It will all be perfect as it used to be.
Finally here, Lexan thought as he stood in front of the glowing door. A sudden wave of excitement and nervousness flooded through. He could not believe that he would finally meet with her. The boy's hands shook. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, standing still in front of the portal.
A few students of higher rank walked by past him, puzzled at his actions. Lexan waited, hoping Alary would just come out of the door and bump into him or perhaps that she would find out he was standing there. Perhaps she went out and she would meet him here when she came back. He could wait for an eternity.
“What if she's busy?” he mumbled curiously, noticing that not once during his journey did his Main Personality Interface talk to him. He dismissed the irrelevant thought. He could deal with it later.
There was no way he could knock or give her a heads up. It was not the way of this world. One could walk in wherever he or she pleased. Once more, the Aether student breathed in deeply and exhaled.
I'll just send her a message, he thought, telling her that I'm outside her door. She could come out without any fuss, and without being startled by me walking in. A little bit of Earth etiquette cannot hurt anyone, right?
“Joshua,” he started, “send Alary a message announcing my arrival at the door of her dormitory room.”
Joshua's usual voice did not reply but Lexan somehow knew the message was sent. My heads up display is gone, he thought suddenly but once more, he dismissed the anomaly. Lexan face started burning and his heart sped up. How easy it was talking to Nivua or Bloo, but trying to meet with an old girlfriend that a few days ago he thought he would never meet, that seemed insanely difficult.
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