บท 166: Chapter 31: The Ungrateful Galaxy
My eyes...
Floating among the abyss that is the infinite darkness of the mind, Cellica seemed to have lost all sense of space and time, as she drifted along in the pitch black with nothing but vague sensations of burn and pain from all of the front of her body. She tried to blink to no avail as a light layer of scarring formed over her face as the nanotechnology enhancements went to work.
What...what is going on? What has been going on?
Cellica tried to remember the last thing she saw, the last thing she felt...It was the glowing light emitting from Rydel. The shear amount of energy output coming from him using his artifacts to such a high extent that being in the same room with him is already enough for her to get knocked out by the blunt of the output. The energy given off by the artifact enveloped Rydel's entire body and turned him into an avatar of light as the heat burns away both his and Cellica's clothing.
Cellica felt a lump in her throat as she wondered whether Rydel or anyone else saw her naked.....such an embarrassing thought, and yet that's one of the ones that lingered in her mind, one that stayed longer the more she tried to get rid of it.
Now she can think a bit more clearly, as the surrounding darkness began to fade. Then, she opened her eyes, as she was nursed by an Aquarian recovery pod overlooked by Lady Lily on her left and Alrith on her right. Instinctively, she tried to shake out of it, but Alrith shook her head, mumbling something that is inaudible to Cellica's ears, though it sounded like she was telling her everything is okay.
Cellica struggled for a little while longer before falling back to sleep again, and Alrith was finally able to relax and step back a bit.
'Nothing abnormal that I can see.' Lady Lily said with a shrug, 'nothing except for the strange burn.'
'Yeah, the strange burn.' Alrith went along with the phrasing as Lady Lily turned around and headed over to look at Rydel, who's lying on top of another Aquarian recovery pod not too far away from Cellica's. However, Alrith, even with her limited knowledge with regards to artifact usage, knows that this isn't just any normal burns. Torelamri examined the monitoring units left in the room as Rydel and Cellica were both carried away by the medical droids, and the surfaces of the walls and the lens of the cameras were also charred as a result of this...outburst.
Usually, when an artifact is activated and used, a certain spectrum of light is given off, and for some, this phenomena is a lot more present than in others. This is particularly the case with those that have the artifacts become a part of them, like for Valerie, Cellica and Rydel. The change in color and brightness is an indication of the level of activity, as well as a sign of their physiological state. And it's always been that the light is the most intense when the most amount of intensity and intent is put into the actions of using an artifact, and that is confirmed by Zel.
He has now witnessed twice this strange phenomenon, first with Elmyra when she was forced to activate and overuse the Dagger of Fate and just now with Rydel overusing the Glove of Summoning. Each time, the artifact users come out of it achieving whatever they set out to do at the cost of severely damage to their body, though the way Rydel has done it is certainly different to Elmyra's past experiences. She is watching the action from her medical ward, but immediately headed towards the group after the light coming off Rydel burned through the cameras. However, she declined to approach Zel and instead stayed with Ol, Torelamri and Valerie.
That strange state of being is what only Rydel and Elmyra have experienced, and both of them can tell that something different is happening to both their body, and reality around them. At that point, they are almost transcending beyond the limits of this universe, as instead of finding workarounds and tiny loopholes in the physical laws that governed everyday life with the artifacts, they are directly controlling them.
'Elmyra has told me about the experience...' Zel said, as he conversed with Alrith in the corner of the room. He caught Elmyra glancing towards him, but she immediately avoided eye contact as he looked towards her, 'she said it's almost like a sort of avatar state.'
'The Artifact Avatar state?' Alrith asked, her mind still completely focused around the intricacies of artifacts, as they are in itself a form of augmentation and enhancements to the human body. And if there is anything she knows about enhancements, it's that they will eventually have to be controlled, or else it will control the user. When that day comes, and the human loses the battle for control to the machine parts, a part of her truly believes that's when the human dies. The same could be set for the artifacts.
Are the bearers the ones in control of this power, or are they puppets being strung along for the ride?
If they do not learn to control the Artifact Avatar state, what will happen in the future if they do need to go beyond their current capacities? What if there is truly a great disaster that's about to happen, and they needed to save entire planets again like today, or even save an entire system?
Alrith can't help but think about how the ways Absolute Being is preparing their artifact users are really the better way, preparing the individual before granting the artifact rather than training the body after getting the artifact. But that's just the biologist and augmentician inside her speaking. That route may be the most logical, but there is just something about those that passed the trials for the artifact with nothing but their own mortal body, their will and their mind.
'Artifact Avatars state...that's a good name.' Zel stood up and headed towards Elmyra, who appeared a little startled as she tried to find an escape, except there is none, 'I need to take this one.'
Meanwhile in the other group, Ol and Valerie is checking on the reactions of the people on Olympus Prime as the planet went into a frenzy about what has just transpired. Torelamri is playing with Rydel's burnt person interface and trying to retrieve whatever data's left as Elmyra's sitting there motionlessly.
Zel walked over towards her before reaching out his organic hand.
Elmyra looked at him with fog in her eyes, but she took it. And then Zel dragged her out of the room before warping the two of them into the Pocket domain. Bring the bubble directly upwards, he sat the two of them on top of Absolute Being's flag ship. Far out in the distance, the twin suns of Olympus illuminated the dark space.
'Zel...I...' They simply sat there in silence, as the warmth traveled down Zel's hand into Elmyra's. Finally, she was the first one to talk with a cracked voice.
Instead of responding, he simply turned his head and looked at her. She is still as beautiful as Zel always thought, whether looking with the real or the prosthetic eye. Then, before saying a word, he reached out and wrapped his arm tightly around Elmyra's body in an embrace.
'Next time, don't try to do everything by yourself.' Zel said, as he felt like trembles coming from her body.
'Zel...I hurt you...' Elmyra said, reciprocating the affectionate hug but shaking her head on Zel's shoulder, 'I don't know what I was doing...I can't control it. Are you not mad....or scared of me?''
'Why would you think that?' Zel said pushing Elmyra away so he can look at her in the eyes, 'you can't hurt me like that. I am a tough cookie!'
Elmyra can't help but chuckle at the playful phrase that Zel has used. He's never like this.
'It's just...I....' Elmyra said, though a look of concern still remained on her face, 'I don't know how to put it into the damn words...but I am scared.....of myself, of my power....'
'I felt like I was back there. When Zero and Lady Lily, and everybody else was pushing all of that power through me....I felt like a different being. And I was the one that brought the galaxy into the state that it is now...'
'You can't feel guilty about that. We have talked about it.'
'No...It's not guilt.' Elmyra shook her head stubbornly, 'it's...this power. This overwhelming amount of power. If I wasn't careful, if Rydel wasn't as great as he is, trillions would have died in an instant.'
Alrith is right. It is at this moment that Zel realized the ever-increasing importance of the so-called Artifact Avatar state. This may be where the next steps are in the progression of artifact usage, and for them to truly be ready for whatever threat lied at the end of this road, they will need to be able to control themselves in this state.
'We will work together, and we will train it. We will train all of it.' Zel said adamantly, 'we will control this power. Alrith calls this the Artifact Avatar state, and it's something that we can train...something that we will train. Instead of being scared, we need to control it, right?'
'....' Elmyra thought for a moment before finally acknowledging the truth. At this moment, they are truly the bearers of the artifacts, as the power and the responsibility that comes with it is stacked firmly over their shoulders, and it is up to them to become the protectors of the galaxy that they wanted to be.
'Right now, you have got a head start in front of me.' Zel said, shaking Elmyra's arms and making her pick her head up, 'but I will not fall behind anymore!'
'Because you are a tough cookie?'
'...Yes!'
'Then why were you knocked out in one hit?'
'Don't be so cheeky.' Zel said, as he grabbed onto both of Elmyra's shoulders and pressed Elmyra onto the top of the ship. He felt her chest pressing up against his, and his legs wrapped around hers. She lets out a chuckle as the last of her tears fell to the side before they kissed. Then, they made out as the stars danced in the sea of black above them.
Things became a little more awkward after the two has finally made it back to down into the medical ward in which both Cellica and Rydel's resting in, as everybody is gathered into the same place. In terms of shear density of power, this tiny little room rivals that of an entire galaxy...
Then as Zel and Elmyra walked in, each with a light blush and a little winded from what they have just done, everybody turned their heads towards the couple. All of a sudden, Zel felt like as if everyone now possess the Eye, as he wanted to immediately escape into the Pocket domain right then and there.
'So....as I was saying...' The light interruption aside, it appeared Zero is performing a sort of briefing, 'you didn't miss too much. So...because the public has no idea of Brakagi's further involvement and the further deviation of the planet's orbit, all they knew is something happened, and the the orbital ring is gone, as well as every single ship in the sky.'
'They referred to this as THE PHENOMENON.' Ol said, as the pair continued the debrief, 'Most people believed that there is some sort of a trickery from the Galactic government, some believed that Senator Zender is responsible here, and the rest....believe it or not, says it's an act of god.'
'They are technically not wrong.' Zero shrugged, 'historically, unexplained phenomenon are always associated with higher beings and their unexplained actions. NOT THE POINT HERE. I gathered all of you here because I know what will happen next.'
'I will be arrested and put on trial.' Zero explained to the shock of everybody in the room, including Lady Lily and Sir Deva.
Zero let the announcement linger in the room for a little while before continuing, 'it is to be expected. There are no protocols in place for when a planet suddenly decides to plunge itself into the sun, but there are protocols for when someone instructed the destruction of the orbital rings, and disturbance of orbits. After what you have done, Rydel, I cannot let you do sacrifice any further.'
Then, he showed the news footage of a couple of the representatives of the Big Ten joining together in accusing him of terrorism and destruction of property, calling for the space force to arrest Zero as soon as possible. So far, this voice is a mere whisper in the storm, but it will surely pick up more and more steam as the people and the government look to find a scapegoat to explain what had happened.
Ironically, Zero has become a symbol, a symbol of hate, fear and terror.
'What are you saying...' Rydel said, his eyes burning into Zero, 'you told me the rings are evacuated?'
'Mostly, evacuated.' Zero said nonchalantly, 'I am not interested in the debate of utilitarianism. The planet will need to be saved, whether the people are happy or not.'
No....Rydel sat back and looked down at his left hand that's stained with blood, that has always been stained with blood since the beginning. However, there is no winning in that situation. Either he let those that remained in the orbital rings die, because they ignored the warning that Absolute Being has given out through all channels in five hours, or he fail to save the entire planet all together as the difficulty of the task increased way beyond the boundaries of his abilities....A part of him may find peace in knowing that there is nothing that he can do, but the rest of him knows that there are always something he can do.
He can always be stronger, be better at using the artifacts, be more resilient to the toll of using the glove.
Be able to control the Artifact Avatar state.
'Rydel...' Valerie grabbed onto his hand and wanted to comfort him, but instead he looked at with a determined look.
'Rydel.' Zero explained, 'there are no punishment of stupidity and incompetence in this age, but the law is always eager to punish those that acted. All of this will fall on my shoulders, and Infinity won't be affected by this, as long as I hand myself in.'
'Master?!' Lady Lily objected, but Zero put up a hand to stop her objections. Sir Deva behind her looked like he wanted to speak even more so than his partner, but his iron will refrained himself.
'This needs to be done by me.' Zero explained, 'and by myself alone. I didn't expect the Big Ten to be showing their ugly faces this quickly, but it appeared that they wanted to take Infinity down with me. And that means Lady Lily, you will be the one handing me into the authorities.'
'What...?' Lady Lily took a step back and almost stumbled, but Sir Deva caught her.
'You have to do this, or we will lose everything.' For someone talking about utter defeat, Zero appeared to be unreasonably calm. Perhaps he had already seen all of this play out, or perhaps he had only just thought everything through.
'What are you planning?' Rydel asked, thinking back to the Zero he knew. The meticulous, careful and ambitious Zero that loomed in the shadows, 'you would never do something as reckless as this.'
'Well, there is a first time for everything.' Zero looked deeply into Rydel's eyes, 'perhaps I feel guilty, perhaps I was defeated....perhaps I feel like a change of scenery.'
So there is a plan. All of the bearers came to realize that quickly, and Lady Lily also calmed herself down. Even though she is in the dark just as much as everybody else in the room, Sir Deva's steady hands reminded her that Master wouldn't do anything without a plan. All of this must be a part of the plan, and for some reason, she cannot know the plan just yet.
'Don't be alarmed.' Zero said as he smiled a little, 'I will be put in jail for a while, so take this chance to relax and recuperate, okay?'
'Don't think of doing anything funny.' Rydel warned.
'How could I? I would be in jail.'
'....' So this settles it. And there is no more business for the bearers left on the system, as they took a shuttle from the ship and made a quick trip to New Olympus Prime and pick up Valerie's sister, Vel.
In the meanwhile, Lady Lily and Sir Deva took a shuttle down to the surface of the planet, as the flag ship headed away with Sir Deva at the lead. It's time for everyone to lie low, as Brakagi has taken the initiative in this battle once again.
However, the bearers and Absolute Being will regroup, as they prepared for the second phase of this battle.
'Have you made the announcement yet?' Zero asked, as Lady Lily piloted the shuttle down into the upper atmosphere.
'Through official channels.' Lady Lily said, not too interested in sparking a conversation.
'Lily....' Zero said, trying to comfort her, 'I am sorry, but you cannot know the plan. They will question you as well as me, and not knowing anything is way better than knowing too much.'
Lady Lily didn't say a word, as her cold hard exterior formed a shell around her again, just like when the two of them first met.
'....You promised that I will always be by your side, that I will always walking alongside you towards your vision.' Finally, Lady Lily opened up, 'you...you said we will always be alongside each other, marching forever forwards...What you said is logical, it makes sense, and yet...'
'I am sorry.' Zero explained, his tone saddened by Lady Lily's words, 'Brakagi is way more dangerous than anyone I have ever met, and to win, we need to have to resolve of giving up as much as he is. Trust me, we can win this.'
'We can win this?' Lady Lily snapped, 'The bearers now has eight artifact users, Brakagi five and the support of half the galaxy. Infinity is on the verge of crumbling, and Absolute Being is stuck in the wild regions!' Then, even herself was surprised by the outburst. 'Master...I...' She covered her mouth as a drop of tear dripped down the side of her reddened cheek.
She swore that there will be no doubt when it comes to the Master's decision, that she will fully support him in his vision to save the galaxy, and yet the single most prominent emotion that she has been feeling in the last little while was nothing but doubt. She is afraid that Zero has lost his way, that Zero has gone mad, or soft...She is afraid that she has dedicated her life to the wrong man.
'It's okay, Lady Lily.' Zero said, now addressing her formally, 'I understand, and I thank you for all your years of service. I promise, I will prove it to you that my dreams are worth every ounce of your dedication.'
Lady Lily turned to look at him, as the flames of reentry burned outside the shuttle window. Then, she embraced him.
Then, as the shuttle gradually glided into the building of Olympus Prime police main department, as thousands of eager reporters, protesters, spectators and officials surrounded the buildings. As the shuttle opened up, Lady Lily walked out into the crowds of boos, curses and anger with Zero cuffed up in a magnetic lock in her right hand.
A piece of fruit is thrown towards Zero and it landed square on his jaw, splattering.
Lady Lily almost wanted to rage out, but instead, she bit down on her lips and carried on until he is brought into the police building.
With the saving of Olympus Prime from it's certain destruction at the hands of Brakagi, the user of the Instability Dial, the savior of the planet, Zero or Senator Zender has become the most hated person in the galaxy. And with his trial and him pleading guilty in being the architect of THE PHENOMENON, as well as the dissociation of Infinity with him, the great Refugee crisis has finally come to an abrupt end.
Even still, more and more disheartened people departed the Olympus system, as the streams of Rocky Warships continued to offer their service of mass relocation. With time, the rocky planet of Geb 4 is now colloquially renamed 'New Olympus'.
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