Lord Joyde: Heylo, Everyone! How are you all doing?
Me? I'm bloody ecstatic, only one mastery exam left.. and its the toughest one yet for sure!
But well, I'm just glad that its over. Side not for pedrofaria, sorry about the elongated wait on the submission mate, I'm really short on time nowadays.
Anyways, enough of my ramblings, here comes chapter two of The Euphorian Acumenae!
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
A month later... – The City Of Genesis – Samathar's point of view...
Before anyone realized it, a month had already passed since the birth of our new nation.
People from all over the previous earth were being reborn one by one and Humanity has finally started to recover from its mistakes.
We have all thrown away everything we ever were and wanted to be before our rebirth.
We humans, as a race, have sold our past in exchange for our new beginning.
As we were now all united through the Hive Mind, private corporations are a thing of the past and everyone is working together in order to achieve goals set for us by the collective unconsciousness.
The way things now work are simple. Anyone, anywhere and at any time can have an idea. That idea will subconsciously pass throughout all of our minds and have its value determined. Nothing is unheard and people will instinctively realize if their ideas had been either approved or denied.
The greatest product of this elevated state of mind is our new capital. The first city to be built upon Euphoria by human hands.
The city, quite accurately called, Genesis.
I feel myself smile as I reopen my eyes, my mind-trip having reached an end, to gaze upon the bustling city.
Ever since the rebirth, people have taken a greater interest in all things mystical and the like. There were those, even among the Acumenae, that had been sorcerers in hiding, afraid of those who would brand them heretics or worse.
Thankfully, those days are now long gone and magic is quickly becoming part of our culture and daily lives.
That's not to say Science has become a slouch in the mean time. During our short time here, we have made many discoveries in the field of Genetics and Robotics alike.
Already, many VI programs operate numerous activities inside of the city. Most are for defensive measures, for even an evolved mind cannot out-do a computer program when it comes to auto-targeting as the like.
After all, even if we agreed not to wage war upon ourselves, we of the Acumenae know of the non-human races of Halkeginia and the Life-fibers of Terra. This has finally shattered the million dollar question of weather we were alone in the Universe or not.. although personally, if anyone actually thought we were alone.. I believe that person either has an overwhelming ego or is just that dumb.
Possibly both, now that I think about it.
"Are you about done gazing onto the city?" I hear my sister-in-crime, Dana say with an annoyed voice.
I turn around from my perch to see the many members of the Acumenae, sitting around a long oval glass table, all looking at me expectantly.
I let out a laugh and they all smile at me."Sorry about that. I was merely stuck in a mind-trip."
"Oooooh? What was it aboooout?" Rhode asks me in a sing-song voice.
"Humanity and the beautiful thing it has become in such a short time." I say with pride as I take my seat.
"How very expected of you." I hear Allen say with a snort. Oh my, someone's still pissed that I beat him at poker.
Alongside myself, there are six other people gathered here. Even though The Acumenae is an organization made up of the four hundred and thirty six originally resurrected people, the seven beings here have been elected to be the leaders of The New Mankind.
I, Samathar, am the chosen Spiritual Leader of Mankind. Many simply refer to me as, The Perfect One or The Lord Meditoriel. And no, that is not just my ego talking. I am called this because of my powers. I am the very first person in Human existence to posses a degree of Psionic power. There are many who seek to posses the same power as I do... but, as of right now, they are just a bunch of scientists and spiritualists trying.. and sadly failing to comprehend even the beginnings of my power. But hey, maybe in the future, there will be those who can use Psionic powers beside myself.
Second, there is Allen D Campbell. He is the currently leading scientist in the field of Resurrection. It is through his knowledge that we managed to build the Resurrection Device so quickly in the first place. His knowledge of souls and how to call them out of the afterlife was more than simply invaluable when it came to separating the dead and the living from inside the Hive Mind. This, combined with the Noah's genetic capability to resurrect themselves into anyone carrying their blood in their veins, proved to be very useful in constructing the device.
Third is Lady Athena, or just Dana, if you'd prefer. She is the current leading scientist focused on the advancement of robotics and the replacement of Human limbs with synthetics and the like. Turns out she really does not like the fact that she has become a sentient virus and is willing to do almost anything to undo the transformation, shocking no? Problem is, her brother does not exactly allow that and BlackLight has evolved more than sufficiently enough to not only consume but also assimilate Synthetic materials, turning metal limbs into bio-metallic versions of themselves on a regular basis. Still, this does not dissuade her from pursuing the ultimate goal of Synthesis.
Fourth comes Leonard, Euphoria's own Lord High Executioner. Dramatic as it sounds, he does his job rather well, exterminating any and all criminals from the lowest to the highest level with relative ease and without pause regardless of who is the target. He spends much of his time discussing ideas and passing knowledge with me and, as such, has passively consumed quite a bit of my own Essence in the process. This allowed him to posses a.. rather small but quickly growing amount of Psionic power. He is currently able to influence weaker minds to follow his will and displays some control over Gravity, but nothing actually usable in combat versus an evolved. Still, if he one day manages to master his power... well, full control over one of the main aspects of reality isn't a small deal.
The fifth person on our list is Rhode D Camelot... She is a special case and I do not truly know weather to name her Humanities greatest masochist or its greatest heroine. What she does is truly remarkable though. You see, she has the power to regenerate and heal any and all wounds and she uses said power for the progress of medicine. Yes. Rhode D Camelot, is humanities current leading researcher in the field of medicine. I don't blame you if you do not believe me as I can scarcely believe myself right now. Anyway, the details of her work are far too gruesome for me to properly word them right now. They involve a lot of self-decapitation and self-infecting, in short. She is, in a way, a walking plaque. She apparently uses magic to make sure said diseases and viruses do not leave her body at any time.
The sixth person on the list is none other than James Heller himself. The man took a surprising interest in one of the byproducts of our collective ascension. The discovery of Essence. Chi, life-force, inner energy... This beautiful part of everything living has had many names during the course of history and, partially because of Mothers excessive usage of it during her battle with Zeus, it has become a vital part of anyone's life. The ability to control one's essence would grant a normal human the ability to accomplish superhuman feats, such as hardening their skin to the levels of steel and granting them the strength to break stone with a single punch.. Now, when put into the hands of an evolved.. it is a sight to behold. However, because the evolved tend to posses excess amounts of essence, it takes more than a little skill to actually make any use of it, lest one will end up only harming themselves. It is, after all, ones life essence. Throw out too much and you are dead, simple as that. Heller may not yet have any great title right now, but he is a respected member of the spiritual community I lead. He is also an acting General of The Acumenae's military forces.
The Seventh person is one Trevor K. Zhukov. He, like Leonard, was a person hand picked by Zeus and later chosen as one of the seven. He is a man of middle height, light black skin and somewhat long blue hair. He was born in 1976 as the child of a rich Russian merchant woman and a father of American descent who was a leading scientist in one of the former nations projects. He is the current leading Geneticist and the man who opened the use of the so called, Evolution Points as the main currency for our growing nation. He is a man who brought many of the problems that our resurrection had formed to light, the very first being our now inherent ability to consume. By making a deal with Zeus on our behalf, he has managed to make it so only the four hundred and thirty six originally resurrected people had the ability to consume and, as such, to kill within the Acumenae. After all, it takes some fairly oversized and loud weaponry to actually kill an Evolved without consuming them. He has reformed the Gentek Organization and uses it to sell genetic modifications to normal people but only if we all agree to allow it. Everyone currently possesses the Shield Ability as well as one of the weapon forms that a fully-evolved person once possessed.
With a smile, I refocus on my surroundings as my second mind-trip in a row reaches its end. These have become somewhat of a new meme within the Acumenae that applies to anyone who possess a powerful enough presence within the Hive Mind.
The Bleed Effect, as it is so aptly named, influences everyone to some degree. However, the more powerful you are, the more of others essence will be attracted to you, causing what was previously a simple idea to turn into a whole thought-fest, nowadays simply referred to as a, Mind-trip.
I turn towards Athena, as she was the one who called for this meeting."So then sister, what was so important that you had to organize this meeting?" I ask her as everyone makes themselves comfortable in their respective chairs.
She nods, face grim for whatever reason."My explorers and I have recently stumbled upon a set of ruins. They are ancient and obviously of alien origin." She opens up a holo disk and shows us basic 3d-model of the ruins.
"Find anything interesting?" Leonard asks with a sniff while looking at the projection.
"Yes, actually. It had taken us a week or so to scour the whole ruins but we eventually managed to locate what appears to be some form of... ruptured signal. Along with an oversized diagram for a building that is easily larger than anything humanity has ever built before." Another 3d projection appears and it shows a large, skeletal white structure with curving lines.
"Looks like some form of beacon." Trevor says with some degree of interest.
Dana nods."That's what I thought too. Question is, do we try building it or not?"
"Building it seems to be the easy part as we already have the plans but... did you not say you found a signal there as well. You said it was ruptured, did you not? What use would it be to build this... beacon thing if we have no use for it?" Rhode points out.
"The beacon is alien in origin and, while there may currently be no use in building it, I suggest trying to at least comprehend its design first. We may have use for it to cross-reference and upgrade our own technology while we are at it." Dana replies with a smile.
Allen then continues for her."And if we were to ever manage to reconstruct the signal, previous understanding of the beacons design would be useful if we ever decide to act upon it. This seems as if an alien race decided to place the plans there for a reason. Both the signal and the diagram were meant to be found."
I nod."Good then. Is there anything else anyone would like to add?"
Trevor nods."Yes, there is. My team and I have finally managed to form a functional Ultrasonic Fence around the city. We should not have anymore problems with the natives in the short term."
James grins."That means me and my men can finally take a damn rest. We were getting pretty sick and tired of having to kite those damned Siege Worms away from the capital."
I remembered something important."I have forgotten to tell you all this before but work has finally started on The Gene Vault. Soon, we might be able to have cats and dogs as household pets again."
"Yay! I miss my kittens so much!" Rhode says in a sing song voice and then blinks.
"Come to think of it, I've finally figured out a way to make our workers equipment be Miasma immune. A little Xenomass coating around it will do the trick." She says and Allen humphs.
"So that's why I you had to spend so much money on clothes this weekend... Why couldn't you just wear something non-casual while doing research..." A tick mark appears on his forehead and the rest of us are trying not to laugh.
"I refuse to wear non-cute clothes!" She replies in mock anger.
James then coughs."Hey Dana, you still haven't told me what you think of that Panopticon thing I asked you if it was possible to make."
Dana takes a sip of coffee."Its not about it not being possible, James. It's about it being useless."
"Useless? Dana, you do realize just how great of an advantage knowledge of the battlefield is during a fight?" He says calmly and she just chehs. Wow, what?
"Uhh, James? Could you explain this in more details for those unknowing here?" Leonard says with some confusion.
"The Panopticon, as me and the other generals have started calling it, is basically a very powerful VI program that works alongside a satellite to provide a detailed overlook of the battlefield to the ground troops. That way, they could know that there are enemies approaching before they are in sight range." He explains and many of us begin to hum in thought.
I turn towards Dana."And how exactly is this useless, sister? Please tell me that this isn't yet another one of your anti-war tantrums."
"Hmph!" She says and turns around, causing the other occupants of the room to let out a sigh.
I turn my head again, this time towards Trevor."Trevor, I know you don't deal with robotics all that much but this does not sound too hard to do so could you and Gentek do this?"
He nods."It would be my pleasure. Although, it may take some time because, as Samathar stated, I'm not exactly an expert on VI and robotics."
James nods back."Not a problem. We aren't exactly in a hurry."
Allen hums in thought."I just remembered something worth mentioning. I don't know if anyone of you has come to this conclusion beforehand but.. this world, Euphoria, is still in its primal ages. Compared to The Earth, it may very well be a newborn babe."
We all blink in confusion."That's obviously true, I mean, there's lava everywhere but.. what doe-... Oh. I just answered the question myself didn't I?"
Allen laughs."Yes. You did indeed."
"Explanations please!" Rhode yells out somewhat cutely."
Leonardo lets out a sigh."Basically, like I said, there is lava everywhere. This means that the world we are upon is rich in Geothermal Energy and, even if we didn't make too much good use of it on Old Earth, we are fully capable of doing so here. Dana? You up for it?"
She nods."Yes. Geothermal Energy is a very potent type of energy. If we use it, we might not need to waste so much space on generators."
Allen smiles."Perfect! I have already mapped out several locations of High level geothermal activity. Here's a map."
Allen says as he pulls out a data-pad out of seemingly nowhere... Magic for the win, eh?
Dana takes the pad and her eyes grow wide."There's so damn many... but the richer ones are either far away or in very alien-infested zones..."
"I can muster up some squadrons to protect your men while you do your work... On that note, do you think you could use some of that extra power to fuel our mines? The guards I put inside of the mines can protect people from stray aliens but not from falling into holes." James says with a smile and Dana nods.
"You want to instal Power Systems into the mines? Finally, a sensible request from you James." She says with a laugh.
James barks out a laugh."What can I say, I'm trying."
Rhode quirks an eyebrow at Trevor who seems to be scrolling the Evo-Net for pictures of cute baby Wolf Beetles."Hey Trevvy, how's that Alien Preserve thingie coming up? Is it possible to have one of them beetlies as a pet?"
He stumbles back at the sudden question in embarrassment."Errr, yes. Early tests prove that the aliens can indeed show emotion and even understand human signs to some extent... Although, some of my colleagues insist on only using them for manual labor and not as household pets."
"Eww, why would you ever want a huge green bug as a pet anyway?" Dana asks with disgust in her voice.
"But they're so damn cute!" Rhos exclaims.
"Whatever." Dana replies, still somewhat disgusted.
I just let out another sigh and Leonard blinks and then says."Hey, didn't someone discover a source of Petroleum near the capital recently?
Allen nods."Yes, a scientist from my division did while he was exploring the nearby area... but we aren't really sure what to do with it."
"Well, we don't really need it anymore as we managed to use mana as fuel for our vehicles.. and refining it would cause damage to the nearby life-forms... It still has uses in Chemistry though, so I say we create a safe laboratory that will only refine it in select amounts so not to damage the life around it." Leonard says after some thinking.
Allen nods once more."A laboratory on top of a Petroleum lake? That will do us good, I think... just gonna have to make sure they have extra protection against explosions."
Then Leonard turns to me."Hey Samathar, did you manage to map the stars yet?"
"Map the stars?" I ask, somewhat bewildered.
He scratches his head."You know, that Stellar Codex thing you mentioned would improve our understand of exactly where we currently are in the Universe."
Oh! That."Well yeah, I'm on my way but... forming a full-scale map of the Universe is kind of a big deal, even with the VI's that are helping me project it."
He nods and I turn around towards the outside. A clock ticks and I realize that an hour had already passed since the meeting had started.. Oh well, I guess that this much talking is what they're for anyway. In fact.. I have an idea.
"Hey guys, I have an idea." I say and everyone turns to me, temporarily stopping whatever they had been doing at the moment.
"What is it, Samathar?" Trevor asks me.
"These meeting are something we've been doing whenever someone had something important to say this past month but... how about we make them something to be done once a week on Sundays. That way we can properly report our findings without having to wait till anything really important comes up. Not to mention how that way they also won't last nearly as long. Granted, if anyone finds something of real note, these meetings can still be called for if necessary." I say in one breath and then stop.
Everyone nods in unison and then resumes their previous activities. Yeah, life is good.
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
Lord Joyde: PHEW! Damn that was a long type down.
And for anyone who still hasn't noticed it, this is indeed a multi-crossover.
Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Evening/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!