"Treat people as an end, and never as a means to an end"
― Emmanuel Kant
“It’s finally finished…” Mara leaned back, fur against the cool metal wall.
The city of Avalon extended below her, a dense network of square towers. It continued up to the sandy boundary, a line that extended every day. Enough homes to suit their needs for generations, and strange technologies she still didn’t understand.
“Only the city, but it’s a great start,” Ven leaned over the castle wall beside her, a grin plastered on his face. “Now we just need to invest in the arts…’
“I don’t get the appeal of these ‘moving pictures’ you describe,” Mara laughed. “Isn’t it the same thing as a book?”
“I mean… It is, but it’s two different things,” Ven sighed. “Plus, the books here are ALL history, I haven't found any published works for fiction at all!”
“People like things that are real,” Mara stretched, tail pointed to the sky. “But we’ll see, once you start sourcing artists.”
“Trust me,” Ven returned his eyes to the city. “This is just the beginning. Modern technology as I understand it might not stand up to cultivators in a fight, but It has far more applications.”
“I can see that,” Mara pointed to a rounded spire, covered in dense black glass. “The power collection alone is amazing, not to mention the transportation!”
The streets below were divided into two tiers. One above for pedestrian traffic and building access, and one below for horseless, egg shaped carriages. These strange devices drove themselves on powered tracks, a network that spread below the entire city and beyond.
“More than that,” Ven shook his head. “I want to connect people, like they were in my old world.” His eyes shone as he reached for his oldest memories, times from Earth. “A person could speak to anyone, anywhere, at the touch of a button. We carried access to most of civilization's knowledge in our pockets.”
“It sounds like a place of enlightenment,” Mara’s tail twitched. “Where people could finally have a voice!”
“It was chaos,” Ven laughed, hand on the back of his head. “But, we were the freest we’d been in our entire history. We made a ton of art, content you’d need to see to believe…”
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“VENDAK!” A mighty bellow filled the skies, Cain on the hunt for blood. “WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!”
Ven ducked behind the wall, hidden in the shadows by his aura. A blood red wave passed by overhead, Cain’s nose fast on his trail.
“WHEN I FIND YOU, WE’LL SPEND THE NEXT MILLION YEARS ON THAT RUNE!”
The crimson shadow passed and Mara poked at Ven with her foot.
“When are you going to stop hiding from him?”
“When he catches me…”
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Spear raised, Lyra dived under Brull’s guard. The third time already, but pointless. The tip of her weapon glanced from his copper armour, not even a scratch for her efforts.
“You’re so slow, but I might as well hit a wall,” She complained, one eye replaced by Fen’s. “At least Master Arthur didn’t just stand like a turtle!”
“Oooooh!” Ooulin poked his head from Lyra's coat, sleepy face confused.
“Oh!” Lyra stopped in her tracks. “When did you sneak in there, little buddy?”
“Unn unn!” Ooulin pointed a leg to the blue night sky, eyes black and white.
Brull and Lyra followed his gesture. Another black, tentacled mass had found its way into the skies, already wrapped by the Minder hoard. They’d become far more frequent over the past few months, enough that she barely noticed.
“It’s ok,” Lyra rubbed Ooulin’s head with her thumb. “The Minders will get it, they always do!”
Ooulin ignored her and continued to watch, until the beast was sucked away, buried by the strange orbs. When it was finished his eyes flashed and a tiny frown marred his face. Ooulin retreated back, into Lyra’s hood, eyes still set on the sky.
“I wonder what’s gotten into him?” Brull gawked at the stars. “I can’t see anything weird.”
“Who knows, maybe we can ask Kalina?”
At this suggestion, Ouulin flinched back into his shell. The small turtle dimmed from sight, then vanished completely.
“I guess not…” Brull laughed. “Alright, let’s go, I think I’m almost caught up to you now!”
“In your dreams,” Lyra darted forward, spear aimed for his head. “You’ll NEVER catch up!”
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“You ants sure are motivated!”
Kalina rode atop a busy worker as she laid a bed of gravel. Syy shook her head, more interested in the advanced construction to the east. A ring of massive towers, formed from an alloy of Cain’s sand and other metals of Avalon, rose to the sky. A construct that Ven claimed would one day let commoners reach the stars.
“Why does Ven know so much about Ant tech?” Syy poked at Kalina. “He doesn’t behave like someone from your world at all…”
“Ask him yourself,” Kalina shrugged. “His business is his to tell.”
“I DID,” Syy stomped her foot. “But he wouldn’t tell me, now you won’t tell me… that shouldn’t happen!”
“Why not?” Kalina nipped at Syy’s fingers. “People always have secrets.”
“Stop that!!!” Syy swatted the tiny goddess away. “And not from me, they don’t! People ALWAYS tell me what I want to know, just like how the coins always fall my way…”
“Well good,” Kalina snorted as she returned to her insect throne. “You need a reality check, you can’t always win!”
“YES I CAN!” Syy pinched her own cheeks. “That's the whole… nevermind, let’s go get drunk!”
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“Come on, Jun,” Huan pulled her brother along like a dog. “We’ve got to get ready, the city feast is tomorrow and I want to get the ants to make us some new clothes!”
“I have enough clothes…”
“NO! We have to match, or else EVERYONE will laugh at you and point!”
“That’s…”
“IT'S TRUE,” She stomped her foot. “Now come on, or I’ll tell Daddy that you were being mean to me!”
“Fine, let’s go…” Jun sank in defeat, hauled through the palace at his sister’s whim. “But I get a say in what…”
“Not a chance!” Huan skipped forward, dreams of her husband in her mind.