章 128: 128. Surprise Attack

The sound of air being sucked inward echoed above a small metallic plate and on top of it an inhumanly tall man appeared in a flash of blue light. His face was handsome as if it was carved to be, his dark brown hair and beard were neatly trimmed in a way that appeared both professional and wild mixing Na'vi and human.

Then he opened his eyes revealing piercing silver irises. Stretching his body a soft sigh escaped Miles' lips yet the sound was more akin to a deep rumble, one that snapped a smaller man on a desk on the other side. A man who had visibly been waiting for his arrival in the room, and had begun to doze off.

"My most sincere apology, your Excellency!", the man sputtered, not able to look up, the title making Miles cringe internally but he did not comment on it for he knew it would only worsen it.

Today was January 25th of the year 2179, six years since his transition to a post-human. Yet he still had not completely adjusted to how he was called by random people. Mostly due to his indecision on what he should be referred to.

As such it was 'his subject' that had decided in his stead, and it was not universal between them. The words 'Excellency' as such were in the mouth of a not non-substantial number of people when seeing him to his great dismay and the amusement of his Father.

"No, that is fine Ethan, you can rest. I do not require any accommodation. I'm here for personal matters.", he said walking off the miniature Tek Teleporter and to the exit, lifting a hand to calm the far smaller man down.

Staying would be a hassle as more and more people would come and he didn't want to deal with this at the moment, he never really did. The only exceptions were old people since they tended to be calm and toddlers because they couldn't annoy him to any great degree and his presence calmed them down.

As for Hector, the mere fact such a figure knew his name sent him into a euphoric-like state that he would never forget. Alas he might have thought he hid it well, and that would be correct but against Miles' senses, it did little, his hearing, smell, and sight all according to point details gave obvious cues on his state of being.

Luckily his state of mind was not commented on and Miles simply waved him goodbye and to have a pleasant day while he stood dumbstruck only realizing when it was too late that the post-human had fled the scene. Vanished into thin air. A two-meter point seventy-eight centimeters (~9ft) tall man wearing silvery high-tech armor disappears without a sound.

"Fuck me.", he mumbled, slumping back on his chair not even trying to chase fully knowing it was a lost cause. At least he got a voice recording and a short video.

Miles sighed again; it came as no one's surprise he was awaited even without any meeting to be done. His every movement was monitored as soon as he was out of home on the Island of the Heartsong and he was hard to not notice.

He was a celebrity, to say he was incredibly famous, would be an understatement. It was to the point every single human knew of him with no singular exception. And it wasn't unique to Humankind, quite the opposite, Na'vi, and Tulkun considered him a Demi-God and respected him far too much for his liking. He didn't earn it, he was just lucky.

In any case, it wouldn't be a particularly inaccurate statement either. His rebirth was the common denominator considering who his parents were after, little to none knew of his existence before or didn't really care. Some saw him as some kind of pet to his Father, something that to his greatest shame he had thought if only for the briefest of moments.

Now it was different, and it also came with many responsibilities. Many of which he had been prepared to through his education but it was little compared to what was to learn. However, he wasn't a fan of the adulation that came with it but there was little he could do against it or was authorized to do.

He advanced dodging people to the maximum of his ability within the building, the Palace of Versailles, he had teleported to and after two minutes he was outside the castle. To only be met by a large crowd, all wanting to take pictures and videos, and some of the more daring ones to have an interview.

'Annoying.', he thought and he did the only rational thing to avoid this mind-numbing problem. He mentally called Executor, the Artificial Engramic Matrix of the Enforcer, and the next second one of them warped in and warped out with him.

The next instant he reappeared at the top of the Nouvelle Eiffel Tower, by its name the rebuilt version of the ancient Iron Lady. A building that was three times the size of the last and oversaw Paris that as well had been renovated yet kept its charm. It was a miracle what the Argent Sea, Tek, and pure willingness could do, and this megalopolis was not unique in that department compared to the rest of the world.

Liam had been forceful in this endeavor to conserve most of Humanity's cultures and monuments in all of their forms for those changing and trying times that are happening and are to come. It was vital by words and a factor that will hold Humanity together against all.

"To think the Sun was not visible, oh and thank you Executor.", he said under his breath at the sight of the pure blue sky with the occasional fluffy white clouds and the Sun shining down indicating it was dawn.

It was beautiful, very different from Pandora but no less magical. The way the Sun dipped down in the horizon of the city and the blue sky rapidly shifted to a warmer almost pink color with the stars and Moon appeared.

And it was real.

It was not a force field projecting an image, it was the real sky gracing his eyes. Another thing possible with force, cleaning any kind of damage done by centuries of entitled self-destructive choices fixed in two years. It was mind-boggling, to put it mildly.

But that was to be expected, the greatest damages done on Earth were all within the biosphere. Mining operations were limited by Humanity's past technology and the damages were 'superficial', the planet itself was fine. It wasn't going to explode and it wasn't Eywa, it wasn't alive. Well not until Liam implanted himself but that was different and the Element was hardly orthodox life.

What was done to fix those damages was as straightforward as it could get. The pollution, radiation, damaged atmosphere, destroyed, poisoned ground, acidic water, and the like were fixed by a planet-wide use of the Argent Sea and specialized Tek.

All was filtered and repaired to the last molecules. For the pollution in space, it was not a complicated matter either and was solved similarly. It was easy, it seemed too easy even.

With a simple swipe of a broom, a bit of polishing, and a new paint coat, the birthplace of Humankind was back in pristine condition. Life was brought back as well, but it was more methodical and calculated for not all life was desirable.

It was biased and an oxymoron to impartiality but that was the All-Father body and his choice to do as he pleased. If mosquitoes and a plethora of parasites were to exist then so be it. They wouldn't be missed and in the end, it mattered little.

Still with this entire ecosystems were reanimated such as the Great Reef Barriers and Amazon Rainforest to only name those, their growth speed breaking all reason. Though the life within was still settling and adapting, a little push helped but only time and the correct condition will do wonders.

And this was only a fraction of what his Father had done, Miles didn't even dare to think of himself as deserving as part of the praise. He felt undeserving of such notoriety. He had become a participant after his rebirth but he did infinitely little compared to Liam and even Eywa whose counsel were invaluable.

World hunger, wars, diseases, illiteracy, discrimination, poverty none of this were ended by him and yet a share of the praise was bestowed upon him still. Then there was the unification of Humanity, the dissolution of every governing state and country into regions with history and culture assigned to it.

In the end, it came as no surprise Miles' image was as such, Grace even jokingly said he was the second coming of Jesus. His mere existence was life-changing. He didn't need to do anything and people will extrapolate every little thing he did to a length he had difficulty understanding himself.

It was both hilarious and exhausting, and dangerous as well. Fanatics were equally fascinating as they were terrifying, a few words and blood would flow to fill oceans. More so when those words were from beings close to what was realistically divine.

Then there was the pivotal event that happened last year which only increased this sentiment of adoration to heights never seen by any religion. Homo Sapiens had been driven to extinction, to its very last member, in its place rose Homo Superior.

A species that was nearly identical to the former if not for its longer lifespan, more aesthetic form, stronger body, theoretically superior intellect, and perfect health with no defects be they genetic or inherent to the past Homo Sapiens.

However, the one true distinction between the two was the Specimen Implant growing in the chest of every member of the latter. It was multipurpose and vital for this new species.

It stored and kept the Engramic Matrix in case of early death to be brought back, let every member use Tek accredited to their authority, gave a pocket space to put objects in, granted access to the virtual realm known as the Nexus, and represented the status of the individual.

The status was separated into three categories. Gamma with green at the starting level, above was Beta with blue, and finally at the top was Alpha with red. The last two were only obtained through pure individual merit and nothing else, each Ascension bringing higher capabilities than the last both direct and indirect.

And it was not hereditary reaching Alpha was based solely on merit, and the vast majority of adults were Gamma. However, the ones above held no inherent authority over the lower caste, though their higher status granted them more advantages.

This was the result of an event known as the Great Shift where all living Homo Sapiens had been transformed into this new species. Children had been reforged too, and that would not have been possible if not edict years before stopping further pregnancy for young individuals to have the necessary age for this.

A certain age was required for the Engramic Matrix transfer to happen safely no matter how advanced the techniques used were or how competent the ones doing it were. Children were extremely vulnerable and fragile no matter what.

"This is where Dad studied before...", Miles noted his Tek Helmet unfolding to grant him the ability to see far beyond what he naturally could. He was observing a building in the far distance, it was Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary school for high cuisine and more.

"I still can't believe it. Another universe… Another Earth where this one was seen as fiction.", he uttered, hardly sure those words were his. It was a shock when he learned this truth half a year after his transition to a post-human and since then he had been learning and piecing everything together.

At first, he thought it was a prank, a silly lie. But there was no reason for his Father to lie, even less so for Eywa to believe such a ridiculous lie and prank him. She was not one for jokes. But many things were pointing out that it was not as ludicrous as it sounded and that it was RATIONAL even.

His Father's entire existence was a solid starting point, a living enigma of the highest order. Then he searched during the little free time on his hand. He discovered another 'Liam Cram' who died a bit more than a century and a half ago and had a life suspiciously like his Father, from date of birth and sudden death to passion for cooking, survival video games, and even quirks like the random expressive frown.

It was too many cues for all to be a coincidence. And recently he garnered evidence where the grave of his not-father might be or at the very least the general location. The information was blurred and hard to get with the past wars where the Internet and many documents had been ripped apart repeatedly and entire swaths of land destroyed.

It was to locate the Engramic Matrix to reanimate the man, of course, it needed his Father's direct intervention for that latter part. It was curiosity and he needed an answer or at the very least try. And that was a good way to empty his head.

However, before he could ask Executor to teleport him again he received hundreds of notifications and his face turned a few shade paler. Immediately he closed his eyes and focused on satellites set all around Saturn.

What he saw did not give back the color of his skin, he saw three flashes of blinding light erupt, and the gas giant rippled outward. Those were wormholes and from them, three planet-sized disks came into view, a greenish energy shield covering them. Two shifting to Earth while the third to Mars.

"No. No, no this is bad.", he said with widened eyes and a chill ran down his back as he began to read more of the notification. One tried to warp into Earth and another on Mars… Only to be intercepted and reflected by their respective World Barrier but they reacted fast and warped to Saturn using the third.

His eyes widened further as another Harvester Mothership warped in, this time in Jupiter, it was equally reflected. Then another warped, its size two times that of Earth, and another soon followed, and another.

'Calm down.', Miles thought, feeling a cold section wash over his mind as he looked over everything, 'This is not an unforeseen scenario, swarming.'

"Indeed it is not.", the ghostly figure of his Father said, appearing behind him, a frown on his see-through blue face.

"And this is but a fraction of a fraction of their force.", he added darkly yet with no fear or worry in his multilayered voice, "Disposable troops sent to test the water and that is all they shall be."

Then the tower they were on lit up, crystalline formation in the shape of flowers and leaves shining brightly on Paris as within the unseen city roots below did the same.

"This is going to be your first battle son, be sure to burn it in your mind and body.", at those words a beam of kaleidoscopic light was shot into the sky, the hum of the air deafeningly silent.