Chapter 2: Another Betrayal
Luke was gazing at the volumes and volumes of literature on the bookshelves when Van entered. Knowing who it is, he did not turn around.
"Do you see anything you like?" Van crossed to his desk and set down a few tomes, making a cloud of dust emanate from them.
"Nothing that really catches my interest." Luke turned around and stared at Van levelly. This had been one of the few times that Van had bothered to confront him in the past few days. He figured that if he was going to be helping him now, he at least deserved the consideration that Van would give an ant.
"Well, if you see anything later, feel free to look at it. That's what they're there for."
Luke grew tired of Van's small talk. It's all he ever did anymore. He would talk about the weather, the tiles on the floor, the books on the shelf, or really anything that would avoid the true subject that was looming above them. This instance was turning out to be no different.
Van walked over to the door that connected to his lab and punched in a code. After the door slid open, he stepped inside, locking the door behind him.
"That was a short conversation." Luke crossed to the books Van had left on his desk. They had to have something to do with what was going on. The two top ones were nothing interesting. They were just a couple of textbooks on fomicry. Luke wouldn't understand them even if he was interested enough to read them. The bottom one, however, did catch his interest. It was ancient, and falling apart at the seams. The binding was worn and the pages were ripping. This thing looked as if it had come from the times of Yulia herself.
And in fact it may have. Its title was "The True Nature of Auldrant."
Just as Luke flipped the cover opened, he heard the beeping of the pinpad that unlocked the door. He closed the book and stacked the other two on top before Van stepped back in.
"I must depart again, but I will be back soon. You should stay here. I wouldn't want you to be caught up in this mess."
"Where are you going?"
"I can't tell you right now, but all will become clear to you soon."
"That's what you've been saying for the past week. If I am going to trust you, why can't you at least tell me a little bit of what we're trying to do here?"
Van looked stricken for a moment, but then recovered his cool. "I can't tell you because it is not your place to know yet. We shall leave it at that."
Van started to move towards the door, but Luke was closer. Luke stood in front of it, blocking Van's path.
"Luke, there is just so much you don't understand. But right now, I have much more pressing matters to attend to. Let me by. I will let you know everything in due time."
Once again, he was trying to weedle his way out of a situation that made him uncomfortable.
"No. You can tell me now, or I will leave here right after you. I have other people that care for me more than you do, and who would be happy to see me again."
Van once again looked stricken. Apparently, he hadn't considered that Luke would switch his allegiance again so easily.
"Luke, you don't know what you are saying. Show a little patience. As I have said, all will become clear to you in time."
Luke was fed up with Van. He turned around and opened the door, exiting Van's office. He hadn't gotten ten feet, however, before a strong hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Luke…don't leave. I will tell you some things, but not everything. The most important thing, though, is that you do not leave." Van moved to the front of him and looked him straight in the eyes. He pushed Luke back into his office and sat down at his desk.
"The world is dying, Luke. There is not much we can do for it now. Since you and your so-called friends have gone around and cut off the flow of Seventh Fonons, you have put Auldrant in grave danger."
"I have already heard this from you before, Van. It is not like it is some great secret. We have known that from the beginning. That is why I am trying to help you create a new world of replicas."
"Yes, well there is something I haven't told you. It would be better if I read it from the book, instead." Van shuffled the books so that the bottom book was set before him. He flipped through pages until he found a passage, which he read aloud.
…And so, it is the true nature of Auldrant
That the Seventh of Fonons does remain vital
To the land's very existence.
The gates of Attraction and Emission, opposite on the planet
Shall be the entrance and exit
To the planet's life.
Should the flow be disrupted, the days of Auldrant's existence
Would come to a slow end…
Luke stood there, looking more than slightly confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that Seventh fonon is what keeps Auldrant alive. All of the other fonons combined are not as important as the seventh. And now that you have shut down the Absorption and Radiation gates, there is no fuel left for the planet, and it will slowly die."
For another moment, Luke stood there, his head swimming. If what Van said was true, then he had been the cause of the death of Auldrant. All this time, Luke was under the impression that the battles fought and the natural occurrence of events had been what caused Auldrant's downfall. In reality, however, it had been him.
Him and his band of sidekicks, who still did not know that they were battling for the death of Auldrant.
"The only way to preserve life is to create a world of replicas before the seventh fonons completely disappear…" Van seemed to be muttering to himself, yet his words gave Luke an idea.
"There may be another way. We could always attempt to reactivate the Absorption and Radiation gates…"
"Don't you think I have considered that? There is no possible way to gather enough seventh fonons to get the flow moving again, however."
"There is a way. We could free Lorelei, and return the seventh fonon to this world, if only for a few fleeting moments. It would be long enough to get the flow moving again, though, wouldn't it?"
"We already discussed this, Luke. I need Lorelei's power to use fomicry. We can either risk it on reactivating dead gates, or we can use it to create a replica world, where life can continue to exist."
"Well, obviously, we should try and get the gates running again! Your replica world suggests that we should wipe out humanity and recreate it. You know I've been against that from the beginning!" Luke slammed his fist on Van's desk, nearly in his face now.
"There is no option here, we have but one course of action, and I will see to it that it is taken. End of discussion." Van stood up and left his office swiftly, no doubt on his way to his next big mission that would lead to the eventual destruction, then recreation, of Auldrant.
"I can't let you do that. I hate to gain a reputation for a turncoat, but this has to be done." Luke knew nobody was listening. He also knew that he couldn't go back to his friends and present this idea to them. They wouldn't accept him now, not after what he'd done. And he had already failed at convincing Van.
If Luke was going to reactivate the Absorption and Radiation gates and get the flow of seventh fonons moving again, there was only one thing he could do.
He would have to ask Asch for help.