Unus

Primis

CCCXXVI

"Bury my body, but do not build any monument. Keep my hand outside so that the world knows, one who won the world had nothing in hand when he died." — Alexander the Great

"All people of each culture, ethnicity, race, or world, know the burden of being a leader. It is one of the greatest privileges, and greatest curses of all time.

As such, never in any politics has a man said one thing, and both parties are completely satisfied. Their decisions always make one side boil in anger, and the other side burst for joy. It is the only position that is never fully copacetic. Even then, most politicians fall into a trap. All of the righteous have even been tempted with this, and it is quite a tempting offer indeed.

The hunger for power… the one, absolute driving force of any leadership if in power for too long.

As such, some leaders, who taste too much power, strive for nothing. They feel empty, lonely, even depressed. This depression could grow quickly… into anger, hate, rage… greed. It is a very dark road to stumble down. And with this, the greatest of these is rageful greed. It grows, and spawns out of control.

Too much even of anything important makes one want, but never gain. Always hunger, but never full. They always need more…

They feel cold, both inside and out. Sometimes their numbness is too strong, even when they do atrocities to others. And what do they have to show for it? The people they murdered, the lives they destroyed. The innocent become scarred, loving spouses become widows, and children become orphans.

In their lust for more, they take away far beyond what any could imagine.

And in the grievous end, the emptiness solely cultivates with each sin they commit. They must always fill this hole more, only to realize how big it is. This hole, this incompleteness, over takes most… they feel worthless, empty, even suicidal and homicidal… or worse.

As such, this idea is no different for any nation, tongue, or race, across all of history.

We knew that best. We were supposed to be the caretakers of all that exists, past, present and future. We are Forerunners.

But now for our leader, this… horrific dictator, was so beyond tempted. He accepted evil so much and for so long that he felt beyond cold… frigid… Every person he touched became as evil as himself, or died in the defense. He was contagious…

As one could assume, his soul wasn't just frozen, but gone. Not consumed by his greedy immoral passions, but gone. All love, all empathy, all compassion, left to the once joyous memories he once had all those centuries ago.

There was no mercy for him. No Synchron left in all of eternity would dare give him a chance for redemption.

Every sin, every atrocity, he did commit. False testimony, Murder, theft, rape, forced genetherapy, debauchery of every kind, and so much more… and yet if I continued the list would be never ending…

There are some who cannot be forgiven. Those are the people who you would look at and say- 'Surely God himself would even turn away.'

And of course, he was no different. The human God, if he exists, not only would have turned away, but spat in his face. He was the absolute worst of all kinds. Every unholy, disgusting action he did. Nothing in God's made universe he had yet to defile.

The theft was his gain… the torture, was his pleasure… the murder, was his hobby… the rape, was his sport… and his experiments, all but humane.

He was a horrible, evil monster, just at the start. Defying the Mantle and all our traditions, he failed to protect. Our leader, the one person out of all of us, should have held up to the Mantle, but did not.

It is disgusting to even think about… the Great Deceiver himself would have looked up to this beast as a role-model… no, a father figure. He was an intimidating, almost demonic figure for eons.

This man, no, this demon, had done more horrid things in his life than most societies would ever commit. No man could be this evil, this vile, but he was. Just speaking his name, one could feel the weight of his sins. It was just too much to bear for one soul.

He has lost the right to call himself 'Forerunner'. I did once respect him greatly… but not the monster he has become, what he is now. What he did… words can't even begin to express…

But… When you do not have a soul, doing evil is child's play. It becomes a game, to see who could do more atrocities. He rivaled even the Flood in his torture. He gave them new ideas on how to inflict pain… how to destroy more lives…

It becomes almost appalling to even think about… but there are some you could name in history who were like this. From all eras, from all cultures…

Even now where he is, it is cold. More frigid than anything felt before across the galaxy, and to him, he would feel just at home. It was so frozen in fact that you could not see your own breath… beyond sub-zero… it was almost satanically frozen.

He knew though, in his dying, and last breath, that what he did could never be redeemed, it was not like he was stupid in his vile actions. He knew what he was doing, and still chose to be evil, to be cruel in the sight of all creation, both male, female, and child. This indeed would make all coming damnation worse, making him less savable from the start… even saying he is, is such a bold statement.

If one does not know their actions are wrong, they could be pardoned, but this still would not negate any consequences.

Yet if they knew what they were doing, they knew the Mantle, it is such a different outcome. Their sins were committed to the first degree of every kind. They knew what was good, and evil, and chose evil…

The galaxy was stained forever with blood in his name. Yet he still, in his last act, chose righteousness, not for himself, but for you. He knew there was no way to repent across any religion, for him to have a clear conscience. Knowing that every murderous move he commited, every slanderous rapist deed, would never disappear in his mind. Never to leave his corrupted thoughts. He also knew that he deserved any punishment coming his way, and accepted it.

In his last moment, he saw the future. Not the future for himself, but for the rest of the galaxy. He sought just once, for others. Choosing your life over his own, he looked to the way of righteousness, just once. The Mantle of Responsibility for the first time in a thousand years, he sought first. And oh how good it must have felt.

So much evil for so long, to do good, just once, even if it is the smallest, or biggest way, feels nice. His soul, before he died, was at peace, melted and sane. Just for one single moment. He could never forget, and was still haunted by every single feat, but for one time, he was still amongst all chaos.

He died with his accomplishments gone. Nothing to show for what he did, except for the salvation of the universe… the one thing he knew that was truly precious. The first, smallest step in his redemption.

In his final breath, he had nothing in hand.

But the means are just. His mind is beyond anything, seen before. And potentially rivaled with the All-Fathers, the precursors.

We need his ideas, his intelligence, his guidance, now more than ever.

The universe is changing… humanity has gone beyond the stars of our galaxy. The precursors, they started over… in another galaxy. And for almost forty thousand years, I had no knowledge they did this… we thought they were gone…

They went all out with their Mantle. So many diverse species in that galaxy… humans are but of one, thousand other sentient beings. Their galaxy is at war, and they have powers of old. Our fathers used their Mindi-chlorians, on all of life in that galaxy. They have the powers of gods and do not even know it. They are blessed beyond all measure… and yet they are in a war that will determine the fate of all creation.

And yet the insulting part is, they did not create any Forerunners from our place… they wiped us off their plates like we didn't exist. Our Fathers abandoned us…

Our creators, if they still roam the galaxy of Patriam, will know that we are not finished. The Forerunners are not gone, we have one final option… he is our last resort…

I will tell the Lifeworkers to be ready, it is time. I will not be able to accompany him, my duties that Librarian left to me are still undone… but I will reveal myself when the time is right.

This clone will have all the memories of his previous self… His innovations, mind, personality, intelligence, and capabilities, are what we need, what the galaxy needs. Whether we realize it or not.

But do not mistake my intentions for grace. When this is over, he will stand for his crimes, before the Mantle, and before the Ecumene. Every single one, the court room will be torn asunder with his case.

But until then, his mind may be whole, but the memories of being broken and evil might be still there. We must hope he will do what is right. For all our sakes… and for the Mantle.

The Force, as they call it, is something we have yet to understand. We have no idea what our Fathers plans were… but he will have to find out.

You know I did this to uphold the Mantle. I am dead, and I know only imprints remain to do the work of the Mantle. He will be the last of us...

And now, in all of time, has now become our darkest hour. Darker than it was against the Flood all those years ago... They just Threatened the galaxy and her neighbors… but this new threat… is against the whole cosmos.

And only our Master Builder can save us."

- The Librarian