Author's Note: In the creation of this fic, I have combined parts of many
different stories, and blended them together. Since the list of sources is
too long to put here, I'll just say this: if you see an idea that you
recognize from anywhere, I do not own the original idea; nor am I
affiliated with anyone who does. Sorry about having the prologue as a
single chapter; it turned out to be so long that I decided to split it from
the first chapter. By the way, this fic is rated PG-13 for violence and
mild sexuality. Also, don't forget to review after you are finished! With
that said, read on!
1 Prologue
With the last crystal destroyed, the Capasin pilot guided his ship upward, and flew off, leaving the blood soaked crystal to fall three hundred miles to the surface below. The crystal, which had been blown into two halves by the Capasins' beam weapon, glittered in the evening sky as it fell. The pilot glanced downward, toward one half of the crystal. He almost felt sorry for the frail-winged, small creatures that had inhabited this planet. Turning his gaze to ahead, he made some small flight changes, and forgot about the crystal, sure that all trace of the creatures had been wiped out.
However…
Deep inside a cavern hidden for decades inside the larger crystal half, a Ketran female, barely more of an adolescent then a juvie, crouched in terror as gravity inevitably pulled the crystal to the surface. The child, Jilibyrn, had found the cave purely by accident; and coincidentally, no one knew about it. She had not the reasoning then to realize that a cave formation like the one she had found was an impossible occurrence; nor would she care if she knew this fact. From there on she had trained herself to overcome the instinctual claustrophobia of her heritage so she could use the cave as a 'fort' of sorts. She had flown into the cavern this time to hide from her friend Atchollit during a game of 'chase'. However, the playful mood had quickly switched to terror, when violent explosions were felt and screams of horror were heard; and when she had felt gravity as it overcame her home. Cut and bruised in several places, here she was now, panting and crouching. For what seemed like forever she sat there, alone, with a single phrase going through her head: what happened? After what seemed like an eternity, a vicious thud was felt, and the noise of sizzling reached her ears. Frighteningly quickly, lava seeped up through small fissures in the floor, which gradually became larger. Jilibyrn instinctively took flight, and flew down the tunnel and into the night sky with frightening speed. Seeing the ground as close as it was panicked her, and she shot off into the sky like a beam of light. There were no emotions flowing through her mind except terror, pure terror. She raced upward, upward, until the ground was 50 miles below her. She looked down. The last of her crystal, her home, could be seen sinking into the Iilos lava swamp. Now that the panic was gone, the exhaustion, pain, and deep sorrow set in. For now, she suppressed her grief, and flew on, searching for a perch to rest her tired wings and sore pods. As she looked on, she saw a small bat fly by. Realizing that where bats went, there were perches, she followed it, being careful not to disturb its flight or scare it in any way. The bat took a sudden dive downward. She waited a second, and then plunged down after it. She could see it aiming for a field of new crystal growth. As they she neared the surface, she could see a small bat-hole. The bat plunged into its little hole but Jilibyrn, however, cut speed and landed on a spar of crystal. She took a moment to catch her breath. All at once, the sorrow came in a wave of sickness. All of her family, her friends, her ups, downs, neighbors, all of them dead. And the worst thing was, she didn't know what killed them. She had no idea if they could have been saved or not. She thought of all the other crystals, and wondered vaguely if the same had happened to them. For the sake of her race, she hoped with her heart the others were okay. Jilibyrn curled up, unused to the feel of gravity near the ground but familiar with the texture of crystal, and cried herself to sleep.
When Jilibyrn awoke again, the sun had already risen part-way up the sky, and the morning dew had long since evaporated. She no longer felt any sorrow; indeed, she felt little emotion at all. She took flight, and instantly her muscles cried out in pain. She did a droop in the air, and then landed back down on the crystal hardly, as if she was drunk. New pain assailed her, as yesterday's wounds were torn open again from the exertion. Forgetting any thought of flight, she did what no Ketran had done before: she set out on foot, or rather, on pod. Walking was at first very awkward for her, as her pods were meant for resting on, not walking, but she soon developed a strange, lopsided gait that worked for her. Using her arms to balance, she made her way down a crevice of crystal, looking for food, water, and more importantly, shelter. She knew that as soon as noon set in, the strangle-vines would awaken; therefore, it was vital that she find a cave to stay in before then. After many hours of searching, her energy almost drained, she spotted a small cleft in a sheer cliff. With the last ounce of energy, she gave one powerful swoop of her four wings, and glided into the narrow opening. She fell onto the cave floor, exhausted. Jilibyrn suddenly felt as if her head was empty of thought; but she quickly realized that the quietness in her head was due to her disconnection from the uninet. Almost laughing, she thanked the sky that there were no more time cues, no memms, no 'items of interest' which vexed her so. A shuffling noise reached her ears. Her ears instantly perked up; she was afraid a strangle-vine had awoken early, and had picked up her scent. A strange, stooping figure came into her view, quite the opposite from the dreaded vine. She was surprised; no other life like this had been found on Ket at all. Suddenly, a brilliant white light blinded her eyes. It grew brighter, and brighter, until she could not take the pain, and she blacked out.
She woke with a start, not even realizing that she had been unconscious. Jilibyrn vaguely remembered the stooped creature, and the flash of light. Disturbed, she got up from the floor of the cave. She crawled toward the entrance. Looking both ways to make sure no strangle vines were near, she took flight, and headed for a nearby spar of crystal. She landed, gripping the hard…nothingness??? Suddenly, she saw not her homeworld of Ket, but something vastly different. She saw the inside, outside, front, back, and all sides of everything at once. She could look down, and not only see her pods, but also see inside them, around them. She could see the blood flowing through her body. And as she looked further, she could see the cells, the molecules, the protons, electrons, neutrons, the quarks…and then, she saw the very fabric of the universe, the threads of space-time woven into a trillion, trillion threads of infinite complexity. The effect was extreme disorientation. A voice that was not physically heard, but understood just the same said Not at all what you'd expect it to be, is it?
She looked up. A being of unimaginable size was standing over her. What has happened? Where am I? Jilibyrn said, unwittingly speaking in the being's 'language'. You are in your universe, yes. You are merely looking at it from my, shall I say, perspective.
Please tell me what happened. Jilibyrn pleaded.
Your species is effectively extinct. A race called the Capasins flew their ships to your planet, wiped out your race, and took the planet for their benefit. A handful escaped, but they will meet their end.
Who are you? At this the creature paused, and finally said,
I am everything and nothing. I can exist fundamentally in all dimensions, and I am independent of everything that limited you so. I exist beyond time; I can see you now, and see you now: the now that was five minutes ago. The now that was an hour ago. The now that will be a century from this now.
Why have you brought me here?
I am giving you another chance. There is a world far from yours that is newly formed. In fact, it has formed…now. Jilibyrn suddenly saw a view of the planet. It was disk-shaped, an odd characteristic of a planet. The being said, The planet is called Albion by its species. In time as you and I have seen it, the species will have now evolved into a civilization. I can give you a chance to rebuild Ket – but not as true Ketrans. Although you will have a body very similar to your original Ketran body, it will have the limitations of the home race. In fact, you will be one of them. I may be able to bring back some of your friends, or acquaintances. However, I must warn you, you will not come to life again for a long time, as that is how fate – and a little understanding of time's pathways – works
What are they like?
They are not space faring. Indeed, they know very little about the universe, having a vast hydrogen cloud draped around their planet. But, they have a semi-advanced civilization on the surface. They call themselves Norns. They live with two other races: the industrialist Ettins, and the violent Grendels.
Will the transfer be easy?
You will seem to die, but you will merely be in the 'rebirthing' stage. You will be born again in your new body, retaining all your memories of course. But yes, the transfer is easy enough.
Then I will do it.
As you wish.
Jilibyrn looked up at the entity, and saw no more.
1 Prologue
With the last crystal destroyed, the Capasin pilot guided his ship upward, and flew off, leaving the blood soaked crystal to fall three hundred miles to the surface below. The crystal, which had been blown into two halves by the Capasins' beam weapon, glittered in the evening sky as it fell. The pilot glanced downward, toward one half of the crystal. He almost felt sorry for the frail-winged, small creatures that had inhabited this planet. Turning his gaze to ahead, he made some small flight changes, and forgot about the crystal, sure that all trace of the creatures had been wiped out.
However…
Deep inside a cavern hidden for decades inside the larger crystal half, a Ketran female, barely more of an adolescent then a juvie, crouched in terror as gravity inevitably pulled the crystal to the surface. The child, Jilibyrn, had found the cave purely by accident; and coincidentally, no one knew about it. She had not the reasoning then to realize that a cave formation like the one she had found was an impossible occurrence; nor would she care if she knew this fact. From there on she had trained herself to overcome the instinctual claustrophobia of her heritage so she could use the cave as a 'fort' of sorts. She had flown into the cavern this time to hide from her friend Atchollit during a game of 'chase'. However, the playful mood had quickly switched to terror, when violent explosions were felt and screams of horror were heard; and when she had felt gravity as it overcame her home. Cut and bruised in several places, here she was now, panting and crouching. For what seemed like forever she sat there, alone, with a single phrase going through her head: what happened? After what seemed like an eternity, a vicious thud was felt, and the noise of sizzling reached her ears. Frighteningly quickly, lava seeped up through small fissures in the floor, which gradually became larger. Jilibyrn instinctively took flight, and flew down the tunnel and into the night sky with frightening speed. Seeing the ground as close as it was panicked her, and she shot off into the sky like a beam of light. There were no emotions flowing through her mind except terror, pure terror. She raced upward, upward, until the ground was 50 miles below her. She looked down. The last of her crystal, her home, could be seen sinking into the Iilos lava swamp. Now that the panic was gone, the exhaustion, pain, and deep sorrow set in. For now, she suppressed her grief, and flew on, searching for a perch to rest her tired wings and sore pods. As she looked on, she saw a small bat fly by. Realizing that where bats went, there were perches, she followed it, being careful not to disturb its flight or scare it in any way. The bat took a sudden dive downward. She waited a second, and then plunged down after it. She could see it aiming for a field of new crystal growth. As they she neared the surface, she could see a small bat-hole. The bat plunged into its little hole but Jilibyrn, however, cut speed and landed on a spar of crystal. She took a moment to catch her breath. All at once, the sorrow came in a wave of sickness. All of her family, her friends, her ups, downs, neighbors, all of them dead. And the worst thing was, she didn't know what killed them. She had no idea if they could have been saved or not. She thought of all the other crystals, and wondered vaguely if the same had happened to them. For the sake of her race, she hoped with her heart the others were okay. Jilibyrn curled up, unused to the feel of gravity near the ground but familiar with the texture of crystal, and cried herself to sleep.
When Jilibyrn awoke again, the sun had already risen part-way up the sky, and the morning dew had long since evaporated. She no longer felt any sorrow; indeed, she felt little emotion at all. She took flight, and instantly her muscles cried out in pain. She did a droop in the air, and then landed back down on the crystal hardly, as if she was drunk. New pain assailed her, as yesterday's wounds were torn open again from the exertion. Forgetting any thought of flight, she did what no Ketran had done before: she set out on foot, or rather, on pod. Walking was at first very awkward for her, as her pods were meant for resting on, not walking, but she soon developed a strange, lopsided gait that worked for her. Using her arms to balance, she made her way down a crevice of crystal, looking for food, water, and more importantly, shelter. She knew that as soon as noon set in, the strangle-vines would awaken; therefore, it was vital that she find a cave to stay in before then. After many hours of searching, her energy almost drained, she spotted a small cleft in a sheer cliff. With the last ounce of energy, she gave one powerful swoop of her four wings, and glided into the narrow opening. She fell onto the cave floor, exhausted. Jilibyrn suddenly felt as if her head was empty of thought; but she quickly realized that the quietness in her head was due to her disconnection from the uninet. Almost laughing, she thanked the sky that there were no more time cues, no memms, no 'items of interest' which vexed her so. A shuffling noise reached her ears. Her ears instantly perked up; she was afraid a strangle-vine had awoken early, and had picked up her scent. A strange, stooping figure came into her view, quite the opposite from the dreaded vine. She was surprised; no other life like this had been found on Ket at all. Suddenly, a brilliant white light blinded her eyes. It grew brighter, and brighter, until she could not take the pain, and she blacked out.
She woke with a start, not even realizing that she had been unconscious. Jilibyrn vaguely remembered the stooped creature, and the flash of light. Disturbed, she got up from the floor of the cave. She crawled toward the entrance. Looking both ways to make sure no strangle vines were near, she took flight, and headed for a nearby spar of crystal. She landed, gripping the hard…nothingness??? Suddenly, she saw not her homeworld of Ket, but something vastly different. She saw the inside, outside, front, back, and all sides of everything at once. She could look down, and not only see her pods, but also see inside them, around them. She could see the blood flowing through her body. And as she looked further, she could see the cells, the molecules, the protons, electrons, neutrons, the quarks…and then, she saw the very fabric of the universe, the threads of space-time woven into a trillion, trillion threads of infinite complexity. The effect was extreme disorientation. A voice that was not physically heard, but understood just the same said Not at all what you'd expect it to be, is it?
She looked up. A being of unimaginable size was standing over her. What has happened? Where am I? Jilibyrn said, unwittingly speaking in the being's 'language'. You are in your universe, yes. You are merely looking at it from my, shall I say, perspective.
Please tell me what happened. Jilibyrn pleaded.
Your species is effectively extinct. A race called the Capasins flew their ships to your planet, wiped out your race, and took the planet for their benefit. A handful escaped, but they will meet their end.
Who are you? At this the creature paused, and finally said,
I am everything and nothing. I can exist fundamentally in all dimensions, and I am independent of everything that limited you so. I exist beyond time; I can see you now, and see you now: the now that was five minutes ago. The now that was an hour ago. The now that will be a century from this now.
Why have you brought me here?
I am giving you another chance. There is a world far from yours that is newly formed. In fact, it has formed…now. Jilibyrn suddenly saw a view of the planet. It was disk-shaped, an odd characteristic of a planet. The being said, The planet is called Albion by its species. In time as you and I have seen it, the species will have now evolved into a civilization. I can give you a chance to rebuild Ket – but not as true Ketrans. Although you will have a body very similar to your original Ketran body, it will have the limitations of the home race. In fact, you will be one of them. I may be able to bring back some of your friends, or acquaintances. However, I must warn you, you will not come to life again for a long time, as that is how fate – and a little understanding of time's pathways – works
What are they like?
They are not space faring. Indeed, they know very little about the universe, having a vast hydrogen cloud draped around their planet. But, they have a semi-advanced civilization on the surface. They call themselves Norns. They live with two other races: the industrialist Ettins, and the violent Grendels.
Will the transfer be easy?
You will seem to die, but you will merely be in the 'rebirthing' stage. You will be born again in your new body, retaining all your memories of course. But yes, the transfer is easy enough.
Then I will do it.
As you wish.
Jilibyrn looked up at the entity, and saw no more.
