Two
When the Revelation Hits
I found myself in a new location surrounded by familiar territory. A man looks down on me and I get up.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"Where is an excellent question? Given that the geography of the world got messed up after the Elder Ones invaded," the man answered.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Some people call me Ted and the year is 2033," he answered.
"I'm in the future," I said.
"More or less, it's been twenty years since the invasion and as for where you are. Most people refer to this planet as Earth Prime," he said.
"Earth Prime?" I asked.
"It took a long time for the Elder Ones to restore Earth Prime to its glory. At the cost of a million Earths," he said.
We head outside and looked at the sky to see a lot of burned parallel Earths orbiting the planet. "Whoa," I said.
"Whoa indeed. I never did get your name," he said.
"It's Zak, Zak Saturday," I replied.
"Hi Zak, we better get back inside. The Elder Ones send out a patrol to eliminate any resistance." We head back inside and Ted begins to tell me everything. "At first, everything seemed normal, and then they came. All I know about The Elder Ones are mostly rumours. They claimed to be one of the oldest races since time began. But there are those who doubt them. During the first days of the invasion, we were outgunned and outmatched. There was betrayal within and anyone who posed a threat to the Elder Ones was eliminated within the first few weeks," he said.
"Surely there was someone who put up a fight," I said.
"There was, the Guardians. A so-called superhero team who defended the Multiverse. They fell apart after they were betrayed and murdered. I can take you to where they're buried." Night fell as we left the building and headed over to the graveyard where they're buried. "This is, they didn't get a proper memorial. In time, other heroes tried to put up a fight, but they no match for the Elder One's advanced technology. Oh, and they didn't do this alone. They have allies and one of them is the most dangerous being. A time traveller named Eon. He helped them restore Earth Prime to its glory and in return. He became a god and he currently lives with his bride on a colony somewhere on the Moon," he said.
"It's a lot to take in. But it's not too late, I need to get back to my own timeline," I said.
"Good luck with that. Every scientific equipment was confiscated after the Elder Ones declare victory. Plus, it's difficult to time travel because some of the parallel Earths didn't survive as you saw earlier," he said.
"Let's head back," I said.
We head back to the building, Ted slept as I talked with Kur.
This could complicate things. If what he said is true, the space/time continuum is in flux in the future. Meaning that time travel is impossible. We need a new plan.
"Ted mentioned that the Elder Ones have confiscated science equipment somewhere. We need to find them. What do you know about the Elder Ones?" I asked.
Only what I heard. They were a race once, one of The Five. The five most advanced races at the beginning of time. Then indifferences split the other races in half, leading to self destruction. The Elder Ones were the first to fall.
"What happened?" I asked.
The Elder Ones were known for their technologic advances. They discovered the way to travel between parallel Earths. In time, they discovered a way to travel between multiverses, but at a cost. Parallel Earths and multiverses began colliding into each other, destroying them in the process. The other four saw this as a threat. Which led to a war, the four won and any surviving Elder Ones were imprisoned in a godforsaken dimension.
"And something must've happened to set them free," I said.
My thoughts exactly, listen to me carefully. I don't have much time left. If we're going to get back to the present, we need a plan.
"Alonso is the only person who understands time better than anyone. It's possible his apartment still stands." A day later, we found the apartment and it has been ransacked. "So much for the apartment," I said.
Hmm, they were here long ago. Looking for anything they overlooked or anything Alonso knew. Wait, there's a pocket dimension nearby. We walked over to a panel and removed it. A wormhole appeared. I placed my hand inside and removed a object. The hole closed and the object was a set of blueprints for a time machine. I got to give Alonso credit; he is one step ahead of everyone.
"He must've placed it here in case the Elder Ones showed up. There's a DVD here," I said.
I rummaged the place; I found a DVD player in the apartment next door, plugged into the TV and played the DVD. "Time is running short, the timeline is in flux and every time travel voyage ends up at this point of time. I've provided a set of blueprints containing plans for a prototype time machine. The machine lacks several key components. One of which is a engine capable of running on FTL speeds. Zak, I've narrowed down the exact point to get back to in the present. To find the parts, you need to infiltrate Argon City, the capital of the Elder One Empire. Good luck," Alonso said.
The footage ends. "He knew I was coming here," I said.
And it looks like he's prepared everything for you, Except for the key components. We need to get to work fast.
I must've spent days building the machine, Ted enters the room where I'm working. "I see you got to work. How's it going?" he asked.
"There are some key components missing. Do you know where I can find them?" I asked.
"The only place that sells illegal tech is Argon City. Unfortunately, it's fortified and sealed off. You'll have to be creative in order to infiltrate the city. Be warned, you won't like what you see," he answered. A few hours later, we arrived at Argon City via the sewer system. We entered the city centre to the place filled with Elder Ones.
"So this is Argon City, huh?" I wondered.
"Yes, be careful, one wrong move and you'll end up executed. We must be cautious," he answered.
We explored the city, trying to find a tech shop or a black marketer. Kur was shocked to see a slave master abusing a slave.
"I never expected you to be disturbed by a sight of an abused slave," I said.
I've seen this too often throughout my life. But this is going too far. Before all of this, the Elder Ones were known to show mercy. This has to be stopped, for all our sakes.
We walked up to the merchant. "Hi there, I'm looking for a engine, capable of running on FTL speeds?" I asked.
"Hmm, it's been a long time since I had one of those in stock. That was before the Elder Ones began cracking down on illegal items. But I do know someone who can provide you the part. Just out of curiosity, why do you need the engine?" the merchant asked.
"I need the part so I can visit the colony on the moon," I answered.
"Okay, I'll see, trying to build your own spaceship, hey? I'll see what I can do. But I can't guarantee any results," he said.
We left the shop. "I'll head back, meet me at the usual place," Ted said.
Ted leaves the area. Well, that was unexpected. I thought he would call in the guards, but I was wrong.
"We're not out of the woods yet. We still need to assemble it, remember," I said.
I left the city and I head over to the library. I began researching into what has happened twenty years ago. I found some news footage and played it. "The Elder Ones came out in sheer force as they launched counteroffensives against the allied forces. The allied forces' numbers are dwindling as more parallel worlds begin to surrender," the news broadcaster said.
The footage stops playing. Most people would fight a opposing force. But not all of them have the means.
"How could they surrender? I would keep on fighting," I said.
Even an immovable object knows when to give up when an unstoppable force appears. Still, seeing something like this makes me wonder where everything went wrong. Was it humanity's fault or were they not prepared enough.
"They would've be prepared if the Sliders were more open about their discoveries," I said.
Don't you think I know that. Yes I understand why they wanted to protect, but is it good enough. Sometimes the best way of winning is not knowing the truth. We should get going, it's getting dark.
We left the library and headed back to the building. I've spent most of the evening assembling the time machine. Ted arrives with the engine. "Here, this should do it," he said.
"Were you followed?" I asked.
"Zak, if there's one thing I learned since the Elder Ones restored Earth Prime and that's how to dodge them," he answered.
"Before all of this, you must've come from a parallel Earth," I said.
"I was, I was a teenager when the Elder Ones arrived. My Earth was different; Kennedy survived his assassination attempt, while Paul McCartney was murdered outside the Dakota building in 1980. I'd initially come from Montana, where the cornfields are endless and the sun never sets. Those were good days, until they were destroyed within a blink of an eye. I lost everything; my dad was the first to go. He tried to be a hero and save the family. My mother and sister were slaughtered in a concentration camp. And there's me, the last of my family, spending twenty years dodging patrols and Elder Ones hasn't been easy," he said.
"I'm sorry if I brought this up," I said.
"It's okay; it's been a long time since I talked about anything of this." We then heard a noise outside. "Get down," he said.
We hid behind some rubble when a patrol enters the building. "It looks like the reports are right, they have been energy signatures," a trooper said.
They found the time machine. "Hey, someone's building a machine here. It's got a lode of illegal parts, including a FTL engine," another trooper said.
"Man, the Empress is going to flip if she finds out. Destroy it," the first trooper ordered.
I jumped in and fought the Elder Ones. One of them jumped in and stunned me, I fell into a deep sleep. I woke up to find myself chained to the floor and looking at a creature. It was the Elder One Empress.
"It's interesting. Your Earth was wiped out when we invaded. So, how was it you survived? Unless, you're a time traveller, aren't you?" she asked.
"I ended up here after a scuffle with a Van Rook clone," I answered.
"Ah yes, the clone did mention something about your encounter. The initial objective for him was to capture Alonso Juarez and retrieve his Arc Cube fragment," she said.
"Where's Alonso, my mom or dad? Wait, they're dead, aren't they?" I asked.
You can't give into these animals.
"I was wondering about our other guest." She rushes up to me and restores Kur to his original form. "Now that's an improvement," she said.
"But how?" Kur asked.
"Did you really think we're capable to mastering technological advances? We're more than that," she said.
"Is this true?" I asked.
"It is, besides their technologic abilities, they also have near power to that of the gods," Kur answered.
"We conquered the multiverse and restored Earth Prime to its glory," she said.
"There's something I like to know. You could've conquered any parallel Earth and yet, you choose to restore Earth Prime. Why?" I asked.
"Shortly after we discovered how to travel between multiverses. We began to notice to notice the multiverses infighting. We believed the key to achieving total harmony was restoring Earth Prime. You see, Earth Prime was the first Earth to be created. And in time, a set of events split Earth Prime into a billion parallel Earths. Leaving Earth Prime to become a desolate wasteland. We seek to restore Earth Prime," she answered.
"Not everyone saw it that way. Once the Light Gods, Dark Gods and the other two races found out. They declared war on you and it led to your defeat. The defeat came at a cost when they sacrificed a million Earths in order to destroy your race and imprison the rest," Kur said.
"War? That was injustice and prejudice those four committed against us. We only wanted peace, but they saw our plan as chaotic. What we accomplished would've taken eons to do," she said in anger.
"At the expense of enslaving the other races," I said.
"It was worth it. Given that we view some species as weaklings. Now then, what to do with you two? You nearly came close to building a time machine. But it won't work," she said.
"Take my life instead of the boy." I was surprised to hear what Kur said. "Throughout my life, I've made many mistakes. Most of them eventually led to my death. Not before I was able to master reincarnation. For many years, I've witnessed events. Empires falls, kingdoms rise from the ashes. But nothing like this." Kur then makes the time machine appear. "Listen to me carefully, Zak. Find Alonso and get back home. He's the key to all of this, now go! I'll hold them off," Kur said.
I got into the time machine and I activated it. "Come on, Kur!" I shouted.
"No, my journey has come to an end. Now you must continue. Go!" Kur shouted.
I punched in the coordinates and I used the time machine to return to the past. Days later, I find myself back at home when I woke up. "Zak, you're all right," Drew said.
"Mom, I'm back, what happened?" I asked.
"We got split up and we were stranded across various points throughout time and space. Winston was able to help me, Drew and Doyle get back to the present," Doc answered.
"Unfortunately, you were hard to track," Doyle said.
"It's hard to explain, but I ended up on Earth Prime. Alonso was good enough to provide me with schematics to a time machine," I said.
"Alonso always did think a few steps ahead," Doc said.
"But Kur is gone; I lost all of my power again when he was restored to his original form. It's weird, first he wanted to destroy the world and recently, he sacrificed his life," I said.
"That's unusual," Doc said.
"What about Alonso?" I asked.
"Winston tried to find him, but he had no success," Doyle answered.
"As for the Sliders, I and other Secret Scientists went over to where they held us. But they were gone," Drew said.
"Never mind that, you've been to Earth Prime," Doc said.
"Yeah, but I travelled twenty years into the future. Every parallel Earth, including ours was gone and this race called the Elder Ones ruled the entire multiverse," I said.
"I find that hard to believe, but I'm more concerned about the Sliders. Who's to say that they'll murder another individual to cover up their secrets? I got to head back to Paris, I'm due to teach a lecture tomorrow," Doyle said.
Doyle leaves the house as Doc and Drew left my bedroom. Meanwhile, onboard the Hyperion, Van Rook throws Alonso to the ground and he leaves, Seth looks down on him. "You're proving to be a hard man to find. You don't look so surprised to an Elder One," he said.
"I've seen the future, one of many and all of them reaching one conclusion," Alonso said.
"Search him." Seth orders his men to search Alonso. One of them finds a fragment to the Arc Cube. "Well now, I guess that makes us even. Lock him up in the brig," he ordered.
The men drag him. "No, do you have any idea of the consequences about what you're going to unleash," Alonso yelled.
Seth takes the fragment off the henchman. "I do apparently," he said.
Somewhere in the multiverse, Winston meets up with V.V. Argost as the Sliders got to work setting up shop. "Did you manage to find him?" V.V. asked.
"They got to him," Winston answered.
"This is not good. The enemy has now got their hands on an Arc Cube fragment," V.V. said.
"What now? They got their hands on every corner of the multiverse. We must call the Guardians," he said.
"Too risky, I rather come up with a better solution than rely on a team of super powered heroes. Call our other branches and tell them to speed up the research," V.V. said.
"Yes sir," he said. V.V. opens up a portal and Winston walks through it. V.V. moves a chess piece across the board.
"Your move," V.V. said to himself.
Somewhere on a parallel Earth, a army colonel enters an abandoned prison and he places a file on the table.
"This is the latest surveillance report," he said.
His boss picks it up and reads it. "It's clear Winston knows something we don't. Eli has his Guardians, while I have the Shadow Guard. It's time to bring the team together," she said.