16
Transformations, Ascensions, and Sweet Retribution.
Prologue
It's black. Everything around me is black… or a deep shade of crimson. Is this death? Is this what it is like? Where are the spirits to guide me to peace…? Where are the idols I was forced to worship in my youth as a cub? Why am I so numb, all over is a tingling sensation like nothing I have ever known. It's so… not painful, but numbing? Yes, numbing will suffice. I put my hand over the wound, it felt so cold and… cauterized. How did that happen?
I… I don't remember. I can't see... it hurts to breathe and… I'm scared. Why did this happen to me? I just wanted to help my family but… My good deeds are met with punishment from the ones from the cold north. Led by the monster with golden eyes. The monster was a she; I know that by her voice. But she stood so tall; she was as fierce as the legends described.
Rain Silves. That is her name. A titan of the northern continent of Vilous. She is of the snow; a cold wasteland as harsh as its masters. There bigger than my kind… but not as fast. I feel my hearts beat harder. One is about to give, the other is pumping blood through me… I can feel the cauterised wound moistening… It's opening up. I start hyperventilating, but that opens the wound more. I can feel the deep rich vital fluid flow from me… It scares me more and I breathe harder. My blood begins to seep out faster. I can feel it shading my body.
I start screaming in frustration and fear. I don't know what else to do. I fall to my knees and try to close the wound with my hands. I am so dizzy. I curl into a ball… and prey to, someone, anyone, and anything that can save me from this cruel fate.
My prayers fall on deaf ears and false idols.
I laid there as my blood began to pool around me. It was so cold. How am I still alive? And how much blood could I afford to lose?
No… While my mind had given over to despairing, my subconscious and my body were fighting a war with existence itself. I have been so scared of dying; instead, I should have been trying to survive… How would I survive this? I couldn't. I've seen what happens to people that lose this much blood they… they…
No. Not me. I refuse to die here. I didn't survive all this time in exile to just roll over and die from a wound. I just needed something to concentrate on. I couldn't see, but I didn't need my sight to survive. I had my other senses still. I coughed, and spat a bit of phlegm. And I heard a loud echo. I was in a cave.
What a place to die. Sergals didn't die in caves; by my cultures rules it was taboo to enter these places because it is said the spirits of our ancestors resided here in peace. Never to be disturbed by the living. How could I have known though? I haven't been able to see since…
Why can't I remember anything? Was it really that bad that my mind had forced it down where I couldn't find it? Probably, but if I could remember I could find a purpose to keep on fighting…
"Idiot…" I was held off of the ground by my neck, Rain was staring into my eyes, she was angry. But so was I. Those who I called family lay all around her and the featherless one. Dead. "What were you thinking? Trying to attack me? Do you know who I am?" She said.
"There are few who don't." I replied. I was concentrating more on how I was going to get out of this. "You're the General of the North. The one with golden eyes-"Her grip tightened, she snarled. Good I had hit a soft spot. "They tormented you, didn't they? Your peers I mean. They called you freak and outcast, didn't they Rain?" I smiled and scoffed. "Ironic that you are their leader now; but we both know that once you are dead they will remove from your precious songs and laurels. Because in the end no one wants to remember a freak… like YOU!" I said and started laughing.
"That's IT!" She said with uncontrolled rage. She slammed me into the ground and grabbed me by my tail. Dragging me across the hot sand, nearby was a cave covered in stalactites. "It has been too long since I impaled someone…" she said. I leaped to my feet and tackled the massive Sergal around the waist. She tried to kick me off but I was too fast. I had fought and killed enough of the Shigu to develop a few techniques. I had to be faster than her, use my wiry muscles to strike her before she struck me. I threw both of my fists into her stomach to knock the air out of her. I began throwing punches into her head; mainly at the snout and eyes.
She growled and threw a punch into my nose. I pulled back dazed and she swiped her claws into my eyes. I scream in pain and started to flail. I found purchase; it was her. I searched for her neck and put my hands around it; intent on strangling Silves. I put all of my pain into it. The more I felt the harder I choked her. She clawed and punched me but the more she struggled the more my grip tightened.
The stock of a tool hit the back of my head, followed by a kick. The featherless one had chosen to intervene. I let go, by the ancestors he was strong. I flailed around swearing and cursing them both. I smelled him and tried to lash out at him.
I heard a very loud cracking/popping sound and an incredible pain where my primary heart was. I was stopped in my tracks. My body slammed into the hot desert sand. I lay there, motionless. I heard the featherless one walk over to Silves. I hear her exhale as she rises to her feet. "My thanks; Lucien. I owe you now" She said.
"You have done more for me than most others would have ever done. The way I see it; I still have a dept to pay." Lucien replied. I coughed and heard Lucien growl. Rain walked over to me and flipped me on my back with her foot. She pinned me and pressed down on my chest hard enough to break my chest-bones. I screeched. "What do you want to do with him?" Lucien asked. My vision was mostly gone but I could make out the sight of him holding the weapon to her.
"There are worse things in life than death. One is a slow, painful, sightless existence. That is what lies in store for him." She kneeled down and gently picked up my head. And whispered into my ear; "I hope his gun did not deafen you, Reono clan. I could kill you but… that would be too easy. No, I want you to suffer in your own home. I want you to slowly bleed out and die as your body succumbs to the heat of this world. But… I am not so cold as to not at least put your fate in your own hands…" Rain said. She pulled a small ceremonial knife from a sheath in her boot. She placed it beside me. "If the pain and despair become too much for you to handle, you can slit you own throat. I hear it's the best way to go if you want to commit suicide." She laughed and rose. I lay there and put my hands on my face. My vision was gone. I felt for the blade and felt that it had a ribbon around the hilt. I tied it in a knot around my thigh.
"Smart. Now get up before I reconsider and kill you." She kicked my side and I felt my broken ribcage stab into my tissue. I began to crawl away. Defeated and humiliated.
Rain… Rain… RAIN. RAIN! This is her fault. I am where I am because of her! And her oversized pet Lucien. I want to kill them both! I want to watch as their bones are picked clean by scavengers! She should have killed me when she had the chance! I will survive this. Purely to get my revenge on her.
But I am never going to get there if I continue to lie in a pool of dead blood. I took control of my breathing, slowing the flow of blood. I took the ribbon from the dagger Rain had gifted to me and wrapped it around myself. It was enough to hold the wound, but that was all.
"(10110101010101010101010010001011010101001010101010010101010101010110010101010101)" What was that? I thought I heard something. But it was not like anything I have ever heard before. I think it was deeper in the cave…
"(10101010101010101010101010101010101011010101010101010111010001001010101010101010)" There it was again. Like a burst of buzzing insects or the sound of the most prized weapons. I felt around for purchase. My hand found what felt like some kind of bone. I got up, using the long bone as a crutch. I felt light headed and dizzy. I had lost too much blood. But my hate for Rain Silves would fuel me until I chose to let go of it; death has no control over me, I am in charge of myself now. I started to walk in the direction of the sound, deeper into the cold, light less cave.
I wondered aimlessly for what felt like hours. I tried to continue in the direction of the sounds, but it was a long and ungraceful process. I tripped and fumbled many times. This opened my chest wound. Most others would have died at this point. But the closer I came to death the harder I thought about Rain. I can still hear her laughter clearly in my head. It gives me the hate I need to continue on.
The buzzing sound is becoming more frequent. I swear that I can hear the sound of creatures around me. I thought I heard something fly by. I pause for a second and sniff the air. There is definitely something in this cavern that should not be here. The smell of ferrum and pelubum, rare and coveted metals. By sheer instinct I called out.
"H-hello? Is anyone there?" Something swooped by again and it shrilled in the buzzing. "Wait! Come back!" I do not think it stopped. I purposefully coughed and the feedback from sounds told me the cave went farther ahead in the direction I was facing. I was adapting quickly to my new sightless existence.
The rocky ground was replaced by a smooth, metallic floor. Like the steal forged by the black-smiths. The temperature became warmer as well. I coughed again and realized that I had hit a dead end. I reached forward and felt a metallic wall. I took the hand holding my wound closed and felt around it. I felt an indent like my hand. Purely out of curiosity I put my hand in the indent and something made a snapping sound. My hand was trapped in the indent. I felt a small prick in my skin. I struggled for a moment before I realized that if this thing was going to kill me; it would have done it by now. The thing that I assume was some kind of advanced machine let go and I heard the wall collapse.
I coughed. This time there was no reply. Curious, I walked where the wall used to be. I could tell I was in a massive room. The buzzing tone had become louder and varied in volume and tone. Some of it was so loud it shook the room and some others were almost a whisper. I could hear the sound of something clanking, like gears in a machine. I started to walk forward and I felt a subtle and warm presence enveloped me. I was off the ground. I panicked for a moment, without a ground to feel the room around me I was defenseless. But as soon as I was off the ground, I was gently placed on my back.
"! #%&*()_$ ?" something said. The voice was unusual, like it came from a thing of metal and not flesh."&*^%$^# %." It continued. I think it is trying to communicate with me.
"I'm sorry but I don't know what you are saying. Are you even speaking a clan-based language?" I asked it. It was long time before it spoke again.
"^%$#^& continue &^%$^ saying." It replied. If I was not so close to death I would be very interested.
"You wish for me to continue to speak? Wait a minute are you… Are you learning my language right now?" I asked it. I put my hand out, trying to see if I could touch it. I heard it move back dodging my hand. I heard a humming sound and felt a tingling sensation all around me.
"Specie is male, genetic profile limited, but mutations are present in subject that can prove beneficial for future generations. Culture and social status is unknown. What does your race call itself?" It asked me.
"Wha-… Sergal. We are called Sergals." I replied.
"Status indicates organic body has taken severe injury; cause is fight with other Sergals. Subject seems to be coping with pain…"
"Who are you talking to? There is no one here except you and me." The machine stopped it's droning.
"You cannot see, can you? My apologies allow me to explain, you are currently in a laboratory. On display for the overseers. You wandered into our domain, and we took notice of you. It is our-"
I cut him off. "On display!? What am I, a trophy to you?" I yelled back. "No no no… I am not spending the rest of my life as lab experiment for your sick tests!" I yelled.
"You misconstrued our actions. How far has your society grown technologically in the last century, Sergal?" I pondered the question for a moment. I had not considered it. We had been so busy fighting the clan of the north that our entire culture was based around it. "I will tell you; none. We have been active for less than twenty years and all we see is war. A struggle for survival, but there is no progress. The Sergal race once stood at the top of the latter as one of the most respected races of the universe. It is beyond saddening to see you squabble over resources like water and fertile ground, when you could be roaming the stars." It said. That caught my attention.
"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me there is a world beyond this? Where other races of Sergal roaming the stars on steeds of steal? Using weapons greater than the spear and sword?" I said with awe.
"Yes and no. Sergals are a unique form of life, so much that there are few other races that are like them. There are many forms of sentient life in the universe. An age ago Sergals, along with many other races once traveled the stars. Created feats of technology that to you would seem like magic only seen in your wildest dreams." The machines seem to garble more buzzing at this. How long had they been alive?
"How long ago was this 'age' as you call it, how advanced is the technology? Can… can you fix my eyes?" I asked it.
"We can do more than that. Your eyes are a simple tool that can be repaired and made better by us. As well as your damaged body. Do you wish for us to perform the operations?" It asked rather unnecessarily.
"What do you think? Do it." I said. I was annoyed with the machine's constant droning. Why did it need permission for every little thing?
The "drone" as it called itself guided me with other machines to what I guessed was another room. They gently put me on what I think was a table. I felt something sharp enter my skin. "Relax your body as we administer the drugs into you. They will induce a coma. When you wake up you will be fully healed." Without my sight, and with a euphoric sensation of vertigo, I was gently coaxed into unconsciousness.
If I had to guess on how much time passed… I would say a few days. But being comatose like that was not pleasant. I realized that my eyes were being kept shut by some outside force. Probably a machine of some sort. I took a moment to remember what had happened since my encounter with Rain Silves. I tried to gain some kind of bearing but I had absolutely no sense of balance or a solid grasp of the world around me. I felt very queasy. Then I heard a sound, it was the footsteps of a newcomer.
"Sergal, your operation was a success. Your eyes are better than ever…" He snapped his fingers and the device pulled away from my eyes. I opened them and everything was blurry at first but after a few seconds they focused. The room I was in was beyond my wildest fantasies.
It was a coliseum filled with machines and technology. Many of the machines were the size of mountains. There were suits of armor and weapons that seemed to be forged just for Sergals. All around machines worked and manufactured. I was in a small alcove that opened up to it. An almost invisible shield covered the entrance. "Amazing, isn't it? This is only a fraction of what your race accomplished in the last age." The voice said. I looked over at it; the voice came from a robotic Sergal.
The voice was masculine. Or at least as masculine as a machines voice could be. Its form was a perfect representation of a massive Sergal. Its coat was mat-black and white. Its eyes were a glowing emerald. It stepped out from the shadows and I saw that it was covered in feathers. I could only guess at the material.
I tried to get up but I had been restrained. "I must apologize for shackling you to the operating table… In your comatose state you flailed and struggled quite a bit. Interesting considering your races current genetic profile, which states that you have a very limited introduction to narcotics." It continued.
"My what?" I asked. The machine-Sergal sighed. "Genetic profile. It is what we call your genetic make-up. Who you are and what you are made of. Down to the chemical structure of your cells. Each race has one. Overall they are used as a reference to see how far we can manipulate your bodies' genes." He finished.
"What do you hope to gain from messing with a person's uh… Zzjenes." I replied. I did not know what the word meant, nor had I heard it before. I do not believe my language had a cognate for the term. He looked at me shocked. "You don't know? Didn't Zykote explain this to you?" He said.
"I don't even know who this… 'Zykote' is." I replied. "Why can't you just tell me?" I asked. The machine Sergal stared at me stoically. "Unless you have a century of life to spend listening to me I don't want to bother." It replied. "However…" it trailed off.
"What?" I asked intrigued. "And get me off of this damn table!" I said angrily. The machine Sergal chuckled.
"Fine." He snapped his fingers and the machines holding me gave way. It felt good to be able to move. I looked down at my chest and noticed that the feathers had been shaven off.
"WH-what did you do to me!?" I yelled at him. I snarled and bared my teeth. It crossed its arms. "Calm down. You didn't think we were going to able to perform surgery on you with all those feathers? We needed to remove them in order save your failing hearts and re-sow the wound." He brought up a screen from nowhere and it startled me at first. "We also had to remove the feathers around your eyes." He finished. I stared at the image of myself. I was surprised at how I actually looked.
My remaining feathers were a dark orange with hints of gold that played into my limbs. The area around my eyes was black and my hands up to the wrists were black. My eyes were hazel. I had never seen my own face before this moment. I swiped at the image of myself until it disappeared. "You were going to continue on in your explanations, machine?" I asked.
The machine Sergal smiled. "Flash-training. It goes right in hand with genetic manipulation." It said.
"You keep pushing this 'zzjene' testing manipulation. Why? Why do you insist that I let you change my body?" I asked it.
"It is more than just simple change; it is forced evolution. In the old age Sergals were massive creatures… in retrospect to you. They were taller, stronger, faster, and far more intelligent. No offense." It said. I shrugged, I was not made for the forge-work. I was a worrier, I left the book reading and number-matching to the priests and the steel makers. "We will unlock the repressed genes in your body that will make you like you once were. At the same time a Sergal's genetic profile is accepting of foreign gene codes. In Laymen's terms; we will take traits from other sentient creatures that we have tried and proven that your anatomy will accept. This is what the Sergal race did in the old age and it made you the perfect life forms. Along with the other sentient life." It finished.
"Can you make me bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than Rain Silves?" I asked. It looked at me confused.
"Who is that? I assume that it is another Sergal?" He said.
"She is the biggest Sergal alive. And is responsible for uniting the Northern clans against the southern clans. She is cold-hearted and infamous amongst my people for her ruthlessness. She killed my entire family and left me for dead." I said. "That was… before."
"Before what?" The automaton asked.
"Before my exile. I had a family who I loved dearly. But we had rivals in our clan that wanted us gone. A deal was struck with the clan of Shigu to eliminate us. Rain and her scum came in the night and kidnapped us all. I survived only because I escaped her… I spent the next two years hunting down and killing the clansmen responsible. This unfortunately was a lot of Sergals. When I had finished spilling their blood and leaving their corpses for the scavengers, and taking a few as my meals, the chiefs of the southern clans held a tribunal to decide my fate." I paused and took a breath. The machine Sergal stood there motionless.
"I had upset the balance of power. And in turn had shown that I was a threat. Culturally the decision came down to exile. And so it was. It wasn't that bad after awhile… I headed north and met up with some raiders, I called them my new family. We learned new fighting styles, drank a lot of alcohol, spent the nights with nice ladies. It was the life." I smiled at the good memories that I had with them. "Then we saw opportunity too good to pass up; a whole Shigu colony caravan. We made our move and bit off more than we could chew. We lost everyone, and I met Rain again. That's how I got shot and ended up here." I finished.
"You want revenge then? You want to make this… Rain… suffer?" It asked. My face was molded in anger. "I want more. I want to destroy everything she has worked so hard to build. I want to ruin her legacy and make her look like the monster that she is. Then I want to break and ruin the Northern clan of Shigu. I want to wound them in such a way that they won't ever recover!" I said.
The machine Sergal was silent for a long time before replying. "There was another Sergal in the past age who you remind me of… I believe some of you worship him as a god?"
I perked up. "The god-worrier and father of the Sergal race; the great Vilous? But that is not possible, he was killed long ago." I said. The machine Sergal seemed to make a sound like metal rubbing on plastic; a laugh perhaps?
"Organics… You go a few millennium and you make your heroes into gods and worship them as idols. It is as pathetic as it is comical. No, Vilous was not a god, he was a man. And he was killed on the last battlefield in the old age. He was a worrier among the best, who was as respected as he was feared. He had ambition, vision, and was ready to do what he had to do to make his people great. You are a lot like him." It said.
"What's your point?" I replied. It continued "You remember your ancient prophecy? The only one still shared by both clans? About how when he died three holy objects took his place. Well, the objects were not a material, but individuals that carried his genes. We have become active again because two are now alive. We know that one has united the clans… that must be this 'Rain Silves' you speak of. And now, through blood testing we know that the other stands before us." I was silent. "That's right; you are the second heir of the worrier Vilous. You… And Rain. It seems that you and she share a common destiny. But in the end it seems that only one of you can be called Vilous reborn."
"And what about the third holy one?" The machine shook his head. "We do not know. It is believed that he, or she, has not yet been born. Let us hope it does not complicate things." I thought hard about this revelation. It is known that Rain Silves eats her victims. I thought she did it just to prove a point… But if the ritual could actually be used take genes from other people then it had a greater propose? Ironic, she held a holy object in her grasp, and she let it slip away… she wouldn't get that chance again. "What role does my heritage play for you and your… machines?" I inquired.
"Through you or her the Sergal race may finally begin to progress far enough to be on par with the other races. Vilous saw what needed to be done and executed his plans. It is because of his ambition that we made it as far as we did. But this… Rain Silves. She is your ultimate obstacle isn't she?" It asked.
"Obstacle? What do you mean? She is my goal! I want to mount her head on a stake while I devour her corpse! She has devoured so many of mine. I say it is only fit I feast on her and her clan-mates." I said.
"You're concentrating too much on her, and not enough on what you could be. She represents stagnation and war. But you can represent progress and understanding! It's just a matter of having the resources and technology to back you up. That's why we want to help you; you can finally end the downward spiral that will end in your extinction." I got up off the table and approached it. "If I decide to be the image of the Reborn Vilous, will you allow me to use this technology as I see fit?" I asked.
"You never needed to ask. You are the heir to Vilous and all of his legacy. We were created to serve him, and in turn his offspring. But he was never specific as to which of his children we had to follow… We want you to be the one who leads our race to the stars again. To reclaim the territory lost and pick up the pieces of the last empire." It said. "But be warned; if Rain Silves finds the other vaults; as you have, we will be forced to serve her as well. You must create an army to reclaim the vaults all over the globe." It finished.
"I am guessing that you want to unlock the zzjenes in me that will make me more like the image Vilous?" I asked. "If you can give me the power I need to make her weak and pale in comparison, than I will end this bloody conflict. By killing her, her clan, and her legacy. The path to the stars will be paved in the blood of the Shigu! And the galaxy will know the might of Reono! Then the universe will bow in terror to us! As they did in the old age!" I said. I started to laugh at the thought of my armies crushing and taking world after world. With me as their God of War. The machine-Sergal smiled in stoic excitement.
"To the ascension chamber then. We have much work to do before you are ready to be Vilous reborn." I got up and followed the machine out of the chamber into the coliseum… into the massive, forgotten world below the surface of my home.
The machine… who called itself Sayabato led me deeper into the underground world of Vilous. The corridors stood taller then what should be possible. It arched upwards, a combination of styles from multiple races. I looked around, to my left and to my right were figures carved from stone. But it was not the clayish substance that my home was known for. These rocks were shiny and white; but the stones on the other side where black and shining, like pieces of a game the machines referred to as chess. Most were Sergals, but some were the same race as Lucien…
But that was not all. In the ground I walked on the tiles were molded together by a flowing amber liquid. It looked like gold and quick-silver. But the machines called it 'mercury'. Apparently it was the same substance but it looked much more pure. The massive corridor held ancient artistic works that were indescribably beautiful. Each was safe-guarded by devises called 'stasis-fields'. Another construct of the extinct Agodona clan. Drones that looked a lot like floating metallic flower petals around a sphere maintained the room and its splendors. One drone stood out because it had three floating rings that orbited the sphere with the metallic petals. It floated in front of Sayabato. They spoke in the buzzing from before. After only a few seconds the drone left him (because of its voice I began to infer to the machine as a he instead of it. It seemed to appreciate this) and floated in front of me.
"What do you know of this room, Sergal?" The drone asked. It had the same voice as the being who I had first encountered.
"You're the voice from before… you must be this "Zykote" that Sayabato speaks so enviously about." I stated directly. The drone had no face or discernible eyes other than a cobalt light in its center that glowed like a sphere. But at times it bobbed and bounced in the air. I made the assumption that this is how it tries to mimic emotions.
"We are Zykote. Each and every drone you see here is a personification of the program Zykote. By your understanding we are one being, divided by the solitude of an individual unit in order to gain a form of individuality. In this way we mimic the organic in their comprehension of life." It stated. I was busy looking at the massive room.
"Indeed." I replied bored by the science that I could not comprehend. "What does this room represent? It reminds me somewhat of a throne room…" I said. Sayabato smiled like a teacher who finally made a break-though with a mediocre student.
"This is the throne room of Lord Vilous. While he was not necessarily a king as you understand it he was definitely the alpha. These paintings are all representations of the battles he and his comrades fought. Truly he was like a god among men. Even after his genes had been enhanced he still grew and learned at an impossibly fast rate. By the time his body had finished developing he stood a whole meter taller than the largest of the Sergals. Truly he was a specimen unparallel in his perfection." Zykote said almost too dramatically. "Surrounding the columns are those who he called brothers." He paused for a moment as I looked at the massive statues. Some of them were neither Sergal or… Lucien's race. But a very common trait that was expressed in each of the statues where scruffs of feathers on their forearms, shoulders, and even caths and thighs.
"You have me curious now… Zykote. Why do these creatures have the traits of a Sergal? That cannot be coincidence." I said. Sayabato answered my question.
"Each and every one of these worriers was a brother or sister in more than just purpose. When they gained his trust and in turn his love; like the love between two brothers, he would generously give them a large portion of his blood. It would be injected into their blood stream via the ascension chamber and their bodies then underwent a dramatic transformation. Their bodies held their original forms, but with the speed and agility of a Sergal. As well they would grow feather-plumes that varied in color on parts of their body; finally, their faces would inhabit a personification of Vilous's handsome features. But in a way that was preferable to the subject's race." Sayabato finished as we walked. We came to the end of the chamber and I saw a massive throne. It was covered in all sorts of materials that I could only guess at. But it was over toned in the red sands of the deserts, and the black of the night sky.
I could not help but smile. "This must be his throne chair. Or… I guess now it is mine." I placed my hand on it and felt its impossibly smooth stone finish. The throne hummed to my touch like a beast recognizing the hand that fed it. I sat in it and realized that I was like a toddler sitting in its father's lap. It was too large for me. "Can you make me him? The size and the strength I mean." I asked the machines. Sayabato and Zykote stared at each other and spoke in binary. I found it beyond irritating when they did this. But it allowed them to speak quicker than one could with their tongue, so I tolerated it.
"Exactly him? No. We unlocked his genes and manipulated them as far as they could go… his true size and strength is a mystery even to us. There is no known means of explaining how he continued to develop past what should have been possible. But we can unlock your genes and make you as big as your genes will permit you. This is about two feet larger than Rain Silves." Zykote replied.
"Uh… feet?" I replied. I looked down at my feet and felt very confused.
"It is a form of measurement. You know what that is?" Sayabato said. I looked at him and shook my head. He sighed. "It doesn't matter now anyways. Soon much will be made clear. A hatch opened and we continued through it. In it was a glass cylinder surrounded by cables and metal claws.
"You expect me to enter that… thing?" I said. It reminded me a bit of a massive spider. I hate spiders and all forms of eight-legged bugs. They each carried potent venoms and I had lost two sons to their bites. Needless to say whenever I saw one I went out of my way to wipe it out of existence.
"What did you expect!? This science is beyond anything your pathetic excuse for a brain can comprehend! Just because your organic sub-conscious tells you to flee do you listen? What am I saying of course you do..." Sayabato scoffed and crossed his arms. "It is amazing what our masters have devolved into. If I had my way we would have wiped you away like the vermin you are and I would have overseen your evolution." He said. I had had enough of his disrespectful commentary. I turned to him and stared into his artificial eyes. He smiled, taunting me. "What are you going to do, little flesh-bag?" he said. I grabbed him by his metallic neck and forced him to look me in the eyes. I said nothing as I put pressure on his metallic neck and squeezed. Sayabato tried to pull away. But once I had made my point I let go. The machinery that made up his neck screeched as the gyros were pulled out of position. I had no idea where that strength had come from.
"Interesting…" Zykote said without a hint of emotion. "Even without genetic manipulation Lord Vilous's strength has manifested itself in your anger." He said. I looked at my hand; the skin had swelled and the muscles were twitching without control. "But even your body is rejecting your strengths." I pushed Sayabato out of my way to look at the machine.
I stared into the white water and the machinery inside of the pod. I hesitated, I was scared of what I did not know. "Will it hurt?" I asked. Zykote flew to my side.
"At first… yes it will. But once the machines enter your body and the cables solidify you're bodies comprehension of pain will begin to dissipate. But at that time your body's cells will have liquefied. I will tell you this; if you make this choice there will be no going back. It is irreversible." Zykote said.
I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I was scared of the pain that I would feel. And that I might die… What if I die here? What if I become a soulless machine or some deformed abomination?
The images of Rain Silves came back to me. I remembered how she killed my whole family, how she taunted my comrades and brought so much pain and misery to me… then I remembered how she threw me around and left me to die. I… I remember all those years ago when she held that infant and ripped the feathers from his body to try to enrage and break us. That infant was my nephew.
The infant died in Lucien's arms. Lucien… he was as much to blame as Rain Silves; for he sided with her. He saw what she could do with his own eyes and still he sides with that monster. He is as much to blame as her.
I exhaled my breath. My reasoning restored. I climbed into the pod and put my arms into the arm clasps. "Do it. I am certain that this is what I want." Sayabato walked into my line of vision with Zykote over his shoulder.
" I apologize for ridiculing you earlier. I thought that you were going to shy away from your destiny. I was wrong." Sayabato said. I looked at him and nodded once.
"You are forgiven." I said. Zykote floated closer. "I ask one more time for emphasis; are you sure you want to go through with this?" He said.
"I have never been more certain of anything in my life Zykote. Now do it." I said. Sayabato nodded and they pulled away. "I'm coming for you Rain... And when I get my hands on you there will be a reckoning unlike anything our race has ever seen." I said when the cylinder closed around me. The temperature rose as the pod was filled with a misty water. The shackles locked around my ankles and wrists. Soon later I felt as the cables dug into my skin, then my muscles, then my bones. It was the most painful thing I had ever felt.
The pod filled to the brim with the water and I squirmed as I felt myself suffocate. A large cable welded itself to my spine and it burned. I would scream if I had any air left in my lungs.
The cables that had welded itself to my spine injected me with needles and smaller wires. After a short time they made their way into my cerebral cortex. Implanting my mind with the accepted and proven scientific theories, the most advanced forms of mathematics, and all history through the eyes of my ancestors… all the way back to my arcane grand-father Vilous. I saw what we had become. We were not the angelic beings the fables described us as… we were warlords. Creatures uprooted by Humanity.
…Humanity. They are the ones who saw what we could become. And more than just tools of war, they treated us like the favored children. They gave us so much and in turned asked only for the right to call us allies.
It paid off for both races. Humanity and its alliances roamed and explored the galaxies in their reach. Our comprehension of technology and space travel soon rivaled our patron race. But even after this we still stood together as allies against a cold and uncaring universe. And our race was with them until…
Until the time of extermination. And the end of a golden age… The coils that had worked into my mind started to release electric impulses and it hurt. The memory of that time had left a genetic imprint on Vilous's ancestors. I saw… machines, spirits, and demons? There were other things I had trouble comprehending… it seemed that Vilous himself could not understand what was right in front of him. Ironic, he was the pinnacle of our race… but not even he could understand the inevitable destruction that led to the supposed extinction of all life.
What exactly happened was beyond Vilous. And so I could not understand it either. But in the last moments before extinction the remnants of each race willingly sacrificed their diploidic cells. In them came the future. Without standard manipulation and the ravishes of time our race's genes became more suppressed and with it so too our knowledge and our progress.
The wires placed artificial cells into my brain that allowed me to see what came next. In place the organic, was the machine. They were called the overseers. Machines made in the image of their race who watched over the legacy of their masters. Waiting for the moment to release them back into the worlds that were called 'cradles'. Like a newborn rests in its cradle so too would the reborn races learn and evolve over the thousands of years it took for the organic to change and evolve. Ignorant of the fact that their entire evolutionary tree was a predetermined path placed before them.
The machines chose to enter a state of hibernation. For even though they were more immune to the ravishes of time… they were not eternal. Some awoke at the right time, others did not. Without the machines to guide the young reborn races they, or we rather, were forced to re-learn and struggle without them.
The only exception is my race. Vilous wanted us to struggle and learn again. He believed that it would give us the advantage. How ironic that it would happen to all the races. In the end it was not the machine that would lead us to our ascension… but us. Things kept coming to me like this in waves. And for the first time in my short life I could confidently say that I knew.
I felt my body change as well. If I were to consider myself a fetus then the pod was my womb. I felt my cells become gelatinous and I felt as if I were unborn. My muscles became more taught and my bones warped. Some were new, others were improved. My body became… larger, more resilient. As elements were laced into my structure that in nature could never occur. Then my skin was tightly wrapped around me. It was resilient and soft. And at the same time tight and smooth. I felt my skin morph as scales and lines but there was more than just the skin and tissue.
I felt a foreign presence in me, it was metal. But as the synthetic cells in my mind told me; these were not some prosthetics given to a crippled Sergal, these were enhancements. Made to give me superior skills in combat and in life. For every muscle there were at least three enhancements. I was even installed with very hard transparent plasteel that would cover my eyes. So that my enemies would never be able to blind me again. I could also understand binary. Just a few of my new… gifts.
I was almost ready for my rebirth. My feathers had grown back, my muscles were developed, my skin taught and firm, and my bones were as hard as adamantium. Truly; I felt invincible!
You who holds my genes… you who is the heir to my legacy… I have so much I want to say. But I must be quick. In my time I made many mistakes… you MUST learn from my mistakes… to you… I say this.
All that you have learned sets you apart. You must guard your knowledge with your life, and share it with only your closest of friends… or better yet, no one at all.
Learn from our predecessors;
Knowledge can bring enlightenment, it can bring progress, but it can also destroy and corrupt. Protect what you know with your life.
The cables disappeared; their metallic embrace left me… I felt alone without the embrace of the machine. The white water filled with vital chemicals and oxygen still held me. My enhanced hearing picked up the sound of gyros and magnets giving way.
I place my hand on the side of the cylinder and rose. I tried to inhale but my lungs had been filled with liquid oxygen. The enhancements in my body created gaps in my lungs and I began to cough-up massive amounts of the liquid. After only a moment I began to breath normally. It was odd, usually I would need a second to orient myself… but I was ready to move now.
I began to lift myself from the cylinder. But my body no longer felt like my own. There were more nerves and muscles, and I was far bigger then I was originally. I stood up, prepared to catch myself as I expected to have to re-learn to balance. Instead my cybernetic enhancements (which at this point I realized were completely embedded under my skin) adjusted accordingly. It was as if the transition from one body to another were going to be too easy…
My foot touched the solid ground of the metallic floor and made a loud thuum in the massive chamber. (There it is…) I thought. (I weigh a lot more…) I brought an image of my body on the plasteel screens over my eyes. I saw that my body had the muscles of many creatures. I had the brutal strength of a human that played perfectly into my Sergal anatomy. Along with many other skin and muscle tones. My bones were denser and even dueled; where originally I had only one thigh bone I now had two. I had secondary and tertiary organs to support my primary.
I flexed and stretched every muscle. I felt good. Like every muscle had been messaged, like I had awoken from my best night of sleep in years. My feathers were changing colors to match the environment as well. They turned a pure black, while my chest and torso were grey and white. My eyes were emerald green with hints of amber. But I knew that they would change with my emotions. I smiled a toothy grin. I had two rows of teeth; the outer was made for tearing, with two sets of fangs, while the inner was made for grinding. I now held the traits of both the Shigu and the Reono… the perfect genetic hybrid.
Sayabato stood with his arms behind his back. I stood a head taller than him now. He bowed his head to me. "My lord; we are yours to command." He said.
"Manufacturing out-put is at six percent, my Lord. If you wish we can start to create far faster… we are at your word." Zykote chimed in, my smile still on my face. I considered my next moves carefully… But of all my actions, I suppose I need a name. My old name would no longer suite me. It was weak, and it represented the old, the past. I needed something that would strike fear into my enemies… something with meaning.
A name appeared in my head like a whisper. Where it came from I could not discern, but I did not care.
…Kaine…
Yes, it was rough and harsh. Now a last name. I needed the name of a warlord. When I had it hit me like a train.
…Tepest…
It had meaning and danger. In the old "Agodona" language it was a title that meant "he who drinks blood". How quant. I did indeed intend to drink a lot of blood very soon. All of it Shigu.
I had a craving in me to fight and eat that came from nowhere… A side effect of my new body. I would have to learn to control these bodily swings… or… I could indulge every one of them. My new massive and enhanced mind began to calculate my next move.
"Put these factories to their max-output. I will bring the Reono clans and the renegades to you, and you shall outfit them with armor and weapons. Start to triangulate the locations of the nearest vaults as well." I ordered them.
"Yes, Lord Vilous." They both said. I stopped them before they could go with a yell.
"Vilous!? No… I am not him; I am his son! I am Kaine Tepest! Lord of Vilous and his scion! And through me my race will be greater than they were even under my father! Mark my words; once Rain Silves is punished for every crime she has committed I will lead us to the future."
"Perhaps… yes, perhaps I will also fulfill this prophesy… She will suffer, then I will kill her. And feast on her bones! Bringing me one step closer to my ascension… Now that I think about it, she is in some ways my sister." I laughed at this. "How poetic, that I will take these claws and consume my own kin. Like a common animal. All in the name of progress."
"I will have my army first." I said. "I have work to do, WE have work to do." With that the machines left my presence. The factories began to work almost immediately.
I walked out of the cave to see the sun rising over the red desert of Vilous. A strong breeze was blowing and it picked up my cloak. My shining armor, fresh from the armory line was shining, pure silver and a red reflection of the sun. I breathed in deep, inhaling my first breath of non-synthesized oxygen in weeks. I walked into desert, a lone man against the harsh world, a smile on my face. I was heading home.