Genesis #28

*I know no one has time for this series, but I want to get it out there, so here's part 28. (There's an Australian character.)*

All the sarsh’s thoughts vanished as the group stepped out an enormous set of heavily armored double doors; a rush of warm air met them and all the humans, as well as Rune, frowned. They could still vividly recall the deathly cold and harsh wind, but there was no trace of snow or ice anywhere. The sarsh glanced up the mountain range, seeing the black sheen of winter weather, but there, in the valley, there was only warm air and soft breezes. Rune shook his head. Nothing about Sulien made sense, so he’d better stop trying to understand it.

“We’ve arrived!” Loc called from the front of the group, dragging Rune from his own thoughts. The building they had stopped at was rather nondescript, low to the ground concrete with a glass front, but there was something, not visible, that made Rune’s heart boom in his ears. Something big was about to happen. The group entered in a file, the humans in clump, with the Caregivers in the front, lined neatly, and the sarsh trailing behind them all.

The Caregivers moved to the back of the group and lined up by the door like security guards. Rune wrinkled his nose and glared at them. Loc grinned back, entirely un-withered; the sarsh gave up. He turned to the group of humans, who huddled together like children in a storm; he raised a blue eyebrow at them, his burning gaze snapped up, scanning the setting before him as his keen ears heard the scuff of bare feet on the floor. Separating the building in half was a wall comprising hundreds of computer screens, all displaying a unique feed; beyond it, Rune could not see, but his instincts told him there was someone behind it. Seconds later, his suspicion was proved correct, but Rune couldn’t help to be surprised as the figure stepped out from behind the multi-monitor wall.

It was a man, rather short with a well-built frame. A black tank-top and pants, veined with silver circuit-like lines, clothed him; his hair, long, but swept into a ponytail, matched his clothing: it faded into silver at the tips. But, above all things, one feature drew Rune’s attention. His gleaming orange eyes, burning like leaping flames; it was those eyes. Those eyes.

The man from Rune’s dream, the man who had greeted him at the gates with a menacing message and now stood before them all. The sarsh felt a wave of nausea. He had a terrible feeling his dream wasn’t just a dream, and things were about to get harder for Rune to find his way back home. The humans seemed oblivious to the undertone of threat to their futures. Rune could see the fear in their eyes; they were too busy being frightened to assess the enemy before them.

“Things are taking shape,” The man announced, his voice reverberated about the room, and effectively pulling Rune out of his dooming thoughts. “I have worked for years, decades, to achieve one goal: to brighten the future of all people, everywhere,” He paused, taking in the four people’s faces before him; the fear and confusion was obvious on the humans, but when his eyes met with the sarsh’s violet ones, his breath caught.

This is the one who will bring everything together. He will grow powerful and he will lead everyone, but first, I must gain his trust and respect. He will be the most difficult to convince.

“I’m afraid this is going to require a lot of explanation,” He finally said. “Follow me.”

All the humans glanced up at Rune, who made no move of reassurance, only stared after the disappearing figure, so they slowly shuffled after the foreboding character and Rune limped after them.

___

Past the wall of screens, a long table dominated the room; mounted on the wall at its head, was another computer screen, large enough to equal all the small ones. The humans stood uncertainly in a cluster until the man invited them to sit and they quickly accepted. The sarsh stayed seated, blank face fixed on the man’s.

“Sit,” The man said cooly.

“No,” Rune replied in the same level tone, just with a smidge more sarcasm.

The man tilted his head ever-so-slightly and raised one silver eyebrow. “My name is Tyrene Finion Anthalion, I am the founder of Project Ignite, the very reason I pulled you from your homeworlds and converged you here.”

From that simple sentence, Rune had a thousand questions, but he kept him mouth shut. Apparently, the humans had no such notion, and promptly burst into a chaotic mass of voices. The man, Tyrene, waited until their din subsided.

“So many, questions, I know. Let me start with the biggest reason you are here. Project Ignite. This is a dream I have harbored my entire life, after famine and ruin massacred my home. To have protectors of all worlds, all people. Guardians who can travel between worlds and fight for the people who cannot. And after centuries of work and planning, the day had finally arrived.”

Silence and blank stared greeted Tyrene’s response. An awkward staring contest took place, just before Clint burst.

“Centuries?! Guardians?! Protectors of all worlds? Do you hear yourself? You’re insane!”

Rune set his metal hand on his friend’s shoulder, silencing his rant. Tyrene inclined his head and stared at Clint until he flushed and dropped his eyes from the piercing gaze.

“That’s great and all,” Keila piped in. “But what does it have to do with us?” Rune dreaded he already knew the answer.

“I brought you all here just to tell you my lifelong dream,” Tyrene dead-panned, leading to silence. “No. You all are the guardians, the protectors. I have chosen-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jethro finally spoke after being quiet for so long. “I don’t understand what you have to do with anything. We were all ripped from out homeworlds and met this guy named Augen, who pointed us in this direction; and we expected, I don’t know, a way out. Instead we get you, some stranger who seems to think he can push us around and tell us what we are and deny us our way home.”

Tyrene nodded once. “I would’ve gotten to that, but you beat me to it. Augen works for me. And I never denied your way home, it’s just different from what you expected. Just, before one of you bursts again, let me explain a little more,” Scorning glares and fiery eyes met his plea, but he continued.

“Project Ignite was a half-hearted idea until, very long ago, a friend of mine and I invented a highly intelligent AI meant to bring peace to our world, but my friend was power-greedy and he tried to use her in the wrong way. I escaped with her and the idea became reality as I came into possession of an extremely powerful material and with the help of many hyperintelligent people I had rescued from my homeworld, we built this planet,” He stopped to see if his audience was tracking with him. They weren’t. Their eyebrows were raised and their eyes full of disbelief. Tyrene sighed.

“Amalia! I need assistance!” He called to someone unseen. A second later, a door to their right clicked open and a slender girl stepped out. Her face was blank as she surveyed the new people in the room, and then she turned to Tyrene.

“They don’t believe a word you’re saying,” She unhelpfully pointed out.

“I know.”

The girl, Amalia, swept her long black hair over her shoulder and turned to the humans and sarsh. “Everyone, this is my creator, Tyrene Finion Anthalion. He created me, and Android of extreme intelligence and he created this planet after his was destroyed; only he and a thousand of his people escaped from the ruin. He traveled throughout many worlds, or as he dubbed them, Districts, and he concluded that the world desperately needed guardians, protectors of all people. And thus, Project Ignite was born. For many centuries he has worked forward to this day and he is depending on you all to believe his words for his dream to come true.”

Rune snorted. “You’re just a girl, obviously under this crazy man’s influence. Why should we trust your word anymore than his?”

“I am not just a girl, and you should believe both of us because what we say is true. I will prove I am not human.”

Rune raised an eyebrow as the girl touched her forearm and a section of her skin hissed and slid to the side to reveal gleaming silver bones beneath, along with a mass of gears, tubes pumping oil, and many other unrecognizable things. The sarsh rocked on his heels, thinking. “Who’s saying we will go through with this and then you’ll just keep us captive for the rest of our lives? We want to go back to our families, not become the guardians of the universe.”

“I call all the Districts together the Edenstar,” Tyrene pointed out.

“I don’t really care.” Rune growled. “Just answer my question.”

“I have prepared for that question. Upon agreement, Project Ignite will begin, you all will go through a small test period and then I will permit you to leave.”

The sarsh was silent. “So what exactly does Project Ignite entail?”

Tyrene glanced at Amalia, there was obvious tension between them. “Now, understand, this will sound even more strange than everything else, but I need you to trust me on this. Project Ignite is, essentially, tracking down people with certain elements that allow for them to harbor what I call their Flare. It’s kind of like Rune’s shape-shifting, a power that has been with you from birth, but unlike him, it requires activation and you must practice it.”

Once again, silence and unbelieving stares accosted Tyrene. Amalia huffed and crossed her arms. “Humans have trust issues,” She concluded. “Sarsh too.”

“Hold on. How do you know so much about us?” Clint demanded.

Tyrene held up a hand. “One problem at a time. Addressing your Flares, the Genesis stimulated them, but they still require complete activation or, as I call it, Ignition.”

“You mean the little pyramid I stepped on?” Keila inquired. Tyrene nodded. “That, too, is my design. A way to travel from other districts to here. When you passed through, it exposed you to a certain variant of the material I used to create this planet, and now, when exposed to the pure form of this material, your flares will be ignited and your dormant gifts will wake. I have gone through this process; in fact, I was my first test subject. Will you allow me to show you?”

There were slow nods all around, and Tyrene smiled slightly, lifting his hand. Suddenly, it burst into flickering red flames, eliciting curses from the humans and a slight grunt from Rune. But, having it explained, their reactions were not as explosive as Tyrene had expected, and relief washed over his face; until he saw Rune’s face. Tyrene had known the sarsh was going to be the hardest. For a second, it looked like Rune was giving in, but no. His face was blank, but Tyrene could see the underlying tone of barely controlled anger and desperation. Tyrene knew just how much the sarsh’s siblings meant to him, and that Rune would do anything to get back to them.

“So, if we get these powers and pass your test, we get to go home?” Clint asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s it? That makes no sense! Why would you just let us go? Aren’t we supposed to be the protectors of the universe and all that stuff?”

Tyrene waved the question away. “That isn’t important right now. Do you all agree?”

Keila swallowed. “If this the only way to get us home, I will do it.” Jethro nodded and all the humans turned to Rune.

“I-” The sarsh began. “I do not agree at all,” Everyone in the room groaned, but the sarsh kept talking. “I think it’s cruel for you to force us to jump through burning hoops just to get us back home, but I care abut my siblings and my people more than myself. I will do this, but not for you and not for the universe, but for my siblings.”

_____

“I can’t believe we agreed to that,” Clint sighed. All four of them returned to what Tyrene called the barracks, though Rune knew they weren’t technically barracks, but he couldn’t have cared less.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Keila added. “This all seems so surreal, it seems.. well.. fake, I guess. I don’t know if I even believe him.” Jethro said something as well, but Rune shut out all surrounding sounds as he drifted into his thoughts.

What if Artemis already lost? The sarsh worried. And there’s only one way he would lose; if he died. Rune let out a shaky breath. If the rebels lost, I would have no allies on earth or on Zenith. There would be no way back to my siblings. Rage boiled in the sarsh’s heart, but he quickly diffused it. Turning into a shadow of grief and fury would help no one. I will do everything in my power to keep my friends and family safe. Rune concluded, but it didn’t diminish the terror for his future. The sarsh lay on his bed and turned over, his worn and clouded mind drifting into slumber. Tyrene said two days. Two days for them all to recover and rest, then this plan of his would set into action.

___

Those two days passed in a weary and fearful blur. Every day Tyrene summoned them and explained a little more about how Project Ignite began. He explained it all from the beginning; when his planet fell in half.

“My planet, called Sloveni, is separated in two by the Rift,-”

“What’s the Rift?”

“The quantum particles dividing the Districts. Without the Rift, all the districts would be easily accessible in a regular spacecraft. As I was saying, The Rift divides our planet in half and both sides used to dwell in peace together; but many of us saw bigger visions for the future and we modernized Sloveni. The half of the planet was much more primitive, and they wanted nothing to do with all the machinery; it confused and angered them. Over time, the planet was half tech and half primitive, the gateway between the two sides was guarded and there was war.”

“How did you go through the rift?”

“There are gaps in the rift everywhere, but one must know where to find them and how to go through them.”

“Ok, on with your story.”

“The side of the planet I lived on, the modern side, was full of so many hyperintelligent people, it became overrun by fuel-draining and pollution-belching machinery that poisoned everything. The primitive side was untouched and we slowly died away, crumbling into ruin. I was studying quantum material for a long time, and was well aware there were other worlds out there. When I realized I was soon to die like the rest of my home, I built a vessel and carried one thousand people off the planet and out of our District. We ended up in your district, Rune, when the humans were destroying your home planet to get the Xinvasen, the most powerful, and least known, element. They planned to use it for minor things like powering machinery, but I saw much greater possibilities, so I stole it and traveled through many districts, finally stopping in one where I saw the opportunity to make a change. I met with a genius man named Killian; he and I built Amalia together, but he grew greedy and it forced me to leave again. I left Amalia in a place I thought she could live a normal life, and brought all one thousand of my people back to my district, where we settled on a tiny planet far from our home planet and using the Xinvasen, we expanded our minds further and together, we built this planet. For five years, we developed the idea for Project Ignite. I built The Genesis; Amalia was the first to pass through it, along with her friend, Cliff Moonsinger. I tested his blood and DNA, but he could not be Ignited. When I traveled throughout the central Edenstar,-”

“What is the central Edenstar?”

“It is the seven districts that make up the middle of the greater Edenstar. I have only seen the middle seven, but teams of my people went to every district, where they were my eyes and ears in the search for... well; you.”

“Okay, that great and all, but if you don’t mind me asking, how are you and all your people still alive?”

“Well, a lot of my people are not still alive, but there are men and women, so also children. I am still alive because I am not like all the other hyperintelligent people. We’ll discuss that later, though.”

“But that’s like... well, depending on how old you were when you left your planet and how long you traveled through the Edenstar, at the very least, one hundred years.”

“I was one hundred years old when I left Sloveni, I traveled the Edenstar for ten years, lived on the tiny planet for fifty years, and then five years here, so I’m one hundred and sixty-five.”

“... So you’re not human.”

“No.”

“Then what are you?”

“That is not relevant at the moment. You all must regain your strength; your caregivers will escort you back to the Barracks.”