X-Day, X-Month, 1020 A.D.
Chronopolis
Anonymous Log Entry
Subject: FATE
What is Fate? That is a question not even the brilliant scientists at Chronopolis can answer. Personally, I believe it to be a system of mathematical equations and genetic behavioral patterns that make the human being predictable. Through these calculations, the order of a human's life is set down. It is almost impossible to not comply with this as it is not an entity that is fallible, but mathematics that are flawless. Or almost flawless, anyway. Apparently the Arbiter is one of the ones that are exceptions to that rule. More on the Arbiter in the next chapter. However many the exceptions, the theory of Fate is mostly true. It is not completely true, or it would not be a theory. But, Belthasar trusted this theory enough to construct a computer programmer entitled FATE. Belthasar used this system of equations to program FATE as the guardian and instructor of our lives. Some resented the fact that Belthasar didn't trust in mankind's abilities, and thought that was the reason for the computer's construction. Actually, they were right. That was exactly the reason for FATE. Humans were, no, are Fallible. They are imperfect creatures. And, as shown by their past mistakes, needed a, dare I say it?, a baby-sitter. If you want proof of your mistakes, just look at World War II. No, wait, that hasn't happened yet. Any ways, back to FATE. FATE, as I have already said, is a computer system based on the basic design of the Motherbrain defense/security program. Fortunately, Belthasar hammered out any of the mistakes or bugs of the Motherbrain program and gave it advanced firewall and antihacking defenses. A bug that was most irksome in the original program was the annoying potential for sentience. Sentience would be a good thing, except for the possibility of human extinction. Most aggravating, that system. Fortunately, a couple of teenagers destroyed the hard drive and outward manifestations of it, so it was rendered harmless. When Belthasar came to area that is now the El Nido archipelago, he discovered the Frozen Flame, as I already explained. When he found it, he found with it the ruins of the Time Research Station Chronopolis. Belthasar built on those ruins to create the station that stands before you today. He then designed and developed the plans for FATE and connected her with the Frozen Flame because of the potential power source. After that, he disappeared. FATE recruited some of the native inhabitants and taught them all about time-space, physics, and fun stuff like that. Now, or then, one thousand eighty years later, at least when we were in the present, err, future, FATE had Chronopolis into a bustling little community of scientists. Then the Time Crash happened and we were thrown back here. We then discovered something quite interesting. The Time Crash also threw back a civilization that existed in an alternate reality. This civilization was known as Dinopolis. FATE and the dragons duked it out and we came out on top. FATE then sealed the dragons away and locked down their power. She did this because the dragons were a danger to the humans, and her job was to protect us. We continued our research at FATE's command. After wiping their memories, she sent the scientists out to settle the El Nido islands. She then had us create a device that was something like mind control, except that it was within the parameters of her duty, that is, to baby-sit the humans. You see, originally, in the future, people would come to FATE to have their "destinies" told. But, now in the past, FATE decided to take a more subversive attitude. So she wiped the colonists' memories and had us design these doohickeys Yes, I know; doohickey is not science approved talk, but, hey, what else do I call them? Any way, they were officially dubbed Records of FATE. Not exactly original, but who cares. These Records, link the user directly to the FATE mainframe. When tested, our subjects claimed to hear a great and powerful voice telling, no, commanding the person what to do next. What can I say; Belthasar even programed FATE with a sense of melodrama. Why else to you think he is call the Sage of Reason? After the colonists settled in, and the Records were dispersed throughout the archipelago, every thing went well. However, fourteen years ago, a storm like no other swept through the region, completely wiping out all of our power, even power to the FATE computer system. We were all confined to our chambers until power came back online, as per regulations. This time came to be called the Time of Troubles, since, in a community based on order and predictability, based around a computer designed to tell us what to do, it was very unnerving. It was only afterwards that we learned what happened. Two men and a boy arrived. The boy was deathly sick with panther demon venom. The Flame called to the boy and healed them. It then made the boy called Serge it's Arbiter; that is, the only one who can access the Flame's power. FATE's eternal power source was lost to him. He then took measures to reclaim the Flame's power. Unfortunately, all our research concluded is that the Arbiter is needed to unlock the Flame. Things became worse after that. The Arbiter was saved from drowning by a blonde-haired girl. This triggered an unusual reaction. Apparently, that girl was not supposed to be there in the original calculations. That is, a Time Egg, or other time traveling device was used to take her there. This girl saved Serge for a reason. And her attempt to be a savior split the dimensions. There is a possibility for a number of dimensions, to the nth degree, but this wasn't a scenario where a dimension was made close enough to us to effect us. Instead the singular dimension, the one we are currently in, was split in twain. Only once other time has this happened. When the parasitic life form called Lavos started to burrow. His alien properties somehow caused a rift in time-space causing portals, which when used in conjunction with a mystical artifact known as dreamstone, could cause the user of dreamstone to travel to the "other end of the tunnel", so to speak. I will explain this more when I speak about Lavos. It seems as though the time-space rifts and split dimensions don't have much in common. First, you must understand that the time-space continuum is a barrier that is very hard to break. Only the genius of Belthasar and the magical properties of the dreamstone were able to break it. What makes the dreamstone so special will be explained in the Lavos section. The barrier that separates the dimensions is harder to cross. The walls that keep each dimension together are infinitely harder to break. So much harder that it is theoretically impossible. But here it is. And to make matters worse, FATE has little to no influence in the Home world. This is the world in which Serge is alive and well. And in this world, the Sea of Eden, the place were Chronopolis resides, has been replaced with the Dead Sea. In this Sea, the future is shown. This future is still malleable and not permanent. But it shows a future in which the world is destroyed. We believe this world is one which the dragons will destroy. But, we have good news. The neural interfaces to FATE are still in that world, so we can still keep this future from happening. Unfortunately, there is even more bad news. FATE herself is starting to act strangely. She practically went berserk when the Flame was locked down. She then took the boy's father and turned him into a physical manifestation of herself and sent him into the Alternate world to try and find the Arbiter in order to remove the restrictions on the Flame. We have recently discovered how the Flame's power was stolen. A computer program dubbed Prometheus kept the FATE mainframe from accessing the Flame. It created an extremely powerful firewall that, as of yet, cannot be breached. It must have been designed by Belthasar in order to keep FATE from becoming too powerful. We tried to talk FATE out of hacking the Prometheus program down, but she insisted. She insisted that we do our jobs or she'll bring out the military. So we had no choice. See what I mean about changes in FATE? Maybe she stared into the promise of power from the Frozen Flame too long. Maybe her decision to reformat that guy's brain muddled her already complex circuits even more. Maybe looking at humans evolving and growing stronger sparked envy and hatred in her. Maybe installing sentience in her was a seriously bad idea. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Whatever the reason, I fear that FATE overstepped her boundaries.
Reviewer Responses: Thank you for reviewing all ONE OF YOU! WHERE THE BLOODY HELL IS EVERY BODY?
Greki: Thanks for the advice. There is only one problem. I am using HTML format. And Wordperfect's HTML format doesn't include spacing. If you have any more advice email me. It would be a shame if people didn't talk to their authors. And most importantly, tell your friends!
Geez. This is all the reviews? Boy, am I depressed.