Mosh returned to his cavern, sinking into a deep sleep. He knew there was a risk for him and Silky to sleep simultaneously, but exhaustion overtook him. When he woke up hours later, he felt relief, he had feared that he would awaken to find himself being torn apart by beasts. After the relief, his next action was to check on Silky, and he saw that he hibernated still, though he seemed to be changing in his sleep, already beginning to outgrow the pouch. He took him out and made a soft bed of reeds from the pond and the pouch to place him on.
He frowned, looking at the crystal and the book, and was startled when Midkar spoke.
‘Kid, any idea what happened? I was cut off, I couldn’t see or hear anything. It was like being in a dead zone, but that would have killed me not just cut me off.’
‘Dead zone, what is that?’
‘Something forbidden to talk about until your world is released from the lottery. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it, but luckily it seems the restriction is on telling you what it is, not just mentioning the name. Or else it is generic enough to get past the censorship, drop it for now, it can only get us into trouble. Just tell me what happened, the last memory I had before we exited the ravine and returned here is you in front of the golem and control orb.’
‘The golem said something of war and the Earth Gambit, and it gave me a key for the main sanctuary’s doors. There was some entity there, that said that the Greater Mileu and the progenitors were just tools in the real war. It gave me something that is supposed to create an aether core and a book on how to use it. Oh, yes, it also gave me new armour and a weapon, and said the aether core would make them more powerful.'
It was as if Midkar had been cut off, an utter stillness emanated from his presence, and then he spoke again. ‘Whomever, whatever, spoke to you broke a lot of laws regarding contact with a lottery world and its candidate. You should never have heard of the Progenitors, not yet, not until Earth had a Magister. That is not what shocked me, it is the mention of an aether core and aether-attuned items. It is not quite forbidden but skirts the line very closely. Your world’s old technology based on electricity was forbidden since electricity and mana do not mix well, many of the banned weapons make use of the energetic reaction between the two. But Aether? The Greater Mileu would ban it if it could, but the system will not allow it. To have an aether core is to court power, but it will attract all the wrong kinds of attention. Me, I say go for it, it will help, let the politics sort themselves out after you have survived everything the Crucible can throw at you!’
Mosh grinned, knowing that Midkar could not see it, but should be able to detect the emotional nuisance. He would read the book and find out what was needed to use the crystal, but he was scared. It was evidently something extreme, either in pain or what he had to do, or at least that was what was hinted at. He opened the book and was confronted by strange glyphs, that writhed and changed as he watched into letters familiar to him. He ran his hand across the page, it was smooth and nothing strange could be seen even under his mana vision, no lines ran as he had seen on the key.
‘Midkar, did you see that? Did the letters actually change or is it just a translation artifact?’
‘See what?’ Midkar sounded frustrated, ‘whatever is on those pages is visible to you alone. I doubt even if we are broadcast that those watching would see anything.’
Mosh bent to his task, the language of the book dense and far more formal and technical than what he was used to. He could understand it, sort of, but it required that he sometimes read a passage three or four times. He smiled, he had wanted to do research and bring new knowledge to the Earth Mileu, and it looked like he would be bringing more than he had dreamed of.
Office of Arbiter Zak
Arbiter Zak watched the restricted broadcast. GMNEN was not showing Mosh live on the Game broadcast and would not until they were given the go-ahead. It was deemed too sensitive, the brief glimpse of a progenitor golem, and what looked like an advanced officer templated one, had created a controlled panic with various instruments of the military becoming operational and moving to a hot standby position. The General he had reported to in the past had even tried to feel him out if he would return to active duty, but that had been quickly, and very loudly, quashed by Inner Elder Mok’Olib’Fre’Paed’Portiend. He chuckled, as much as he abhorred the formality of using his full name, the inner elder was a stickler for formality and woe betide the sapient who addressed him incorrectly, he did come through for his people. Though in theory, his medal allowed him to be as informal and as impertinent as he wished what could be done versus what was wise to do were often two separate issues and he did not press the issue and the Inner elder seemed to forget it, or at least pretended to.
What he saw on the screen perturbed him. The boy was clearly reading the book and he kept glancing at a patch of ground nearby. Yet regardless of how he manipulated the feed, nothing could be seen. His senses were some of the finest in the Greater Mileu, his divination abilities able to find secrets often kept hidden, but he could see nothing. And that included within the book. He supposed that whichever enchanter had created the artifact knew it would be obvious it was in use so they did not hide the artifact itself, just what it contained. He thought back to the war, to attempts to spy on enemy positions and the failures they often suffered doing so, just as the enemy failed in spying on their camps. But that was from massive counter enchantments, maintained by some of the strongest enchanters and channelers, who would build and suppose those. But an enchanter of such obvious power building an artifact in the Outer Ring?
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
He focussed on the image, on where whatever was hidden should be, bringing his powers to bear, gleaning as much as he could. When that failed, he focussed on the boy. He was growing fast, undoubtedly, he would soon proceed into the first ring. He pushed, manipulating his skills to the fullest and managed to break the seal on the boy's skills momentarily, catching a glimpse but not much more and raised an armoured eye ridge in surprise. The boy had an absorb skill. Rare, very rare for humans of Earth, he did not know if any of those outside of ring 5 had it. He frowned and checked the records, who was the boy’s mentor? He saw the answer and swore. What bureaucratic bungle led to a highly knowledgeable and anti-Greater Mileu criminal being assigned to a candidate from a lottery world? There were safeguards in place, it should never have happened. Swearing, he sent a message to Kai’Rop. “Find out who assigned Midkar as a mentor to Mosh Barmenash. Someone bypassed the algorithms and we need to know who!”
Kalthek
The central office of the Human Polity was sombre, a mood that was reflected across the other four racial authorities on Earth. They had been informed that all council members had to watch an upcoming broadcast, one that would be broadcast to every device on every channel on Earth. People did not have to watch, but if they turned on any viewer, even their communication device, they would see it. Details had not been given, just that Earth needed to view and learn lest they bring calamity on themselves. Further, a pre-emptive death sentence had been passed on any Council member who did not watch. The senior members had gathered, and many junior members had come together, though some preferred to view it alone. A message had been sent out to everyone they could reach to let them know there would be a disruption imposed by the Greater Mileu and they advised against watching. The more likely effect was that more would watch, but the notification of the disruption was mandated by the Greater Mileu and could not be avoided.
The time for the broadcast arrived, and screens cleared to show the white and purple logo of the greater Milieu. The face of the Great Elder, the leader of the Inner Council, rarely seen in person but whose likeness was well known from coins and banknotes, appeared.
“We greet all sapiens from our Great Community! Sadly, today is not a happy occasion, but a solemn one as a final judgement against a failed lottery world is to be pronounced and carried out.”
The screen zoomed out, a beautiful world hanging in space being shown, its oceans blue and continents green, only the shapes of the continents made it look strange to the watching Earthlings.
“The world is known as Greater Harpim to its inhabitants. Three millennia ago they launched an attack on a Greater Mileu ship that had come to investigate reports of their cleansing of any showing physical evolutions. Three thousand crew members and investigators were slaughtered. A full fleet was sent, and the battle resulted in the loss of most of the thirty-second fleet. We had won, but the losses were disproportional to the threat such a world displayed. After investigation, it was determined that they had employed forbidden technology combined with suicide bombers flying small craft into our carriers. Abhorrent from the usage of Forbidden technology, even more abhorrent for the flagrant disregard for life they showed.”
A screen came up, an official-looking document displayed, the heading, Judgement KP31298045-LGM3453.
“The judgement leading to their being declared a lottery world and their long lingering in that state is available for all to download, along with the reason that status is being revoked. In short, they have never abandoned their notions of racial purity, The initial revolt they launched was to protest the removal of vulnerable evolved that they had deemed tainted and deserving to die. The latest violation was their sterilising of an entire continent as it had become a haven for the evolved and those who support them. An investigation was conducted and the results showed that there was no chance of redemption and the sterilisation decree held in abeyance through being a lottery world, reinstated.”
For ten minutes images were broadcast. The race was insectoid, or maybe centaurs, the classification was not clear, but they walked on four limbs and had a further two on their upper torso. There was clear differentiation by job, all stuck to a standard of six templates. But the videos showed babies being killed at birth if they had too many limbs, too few limbs or did not meet any of the standard body types. They showed individuals being hunted in the street when they evolved in a way that moved them from the racial norm. But it wasn’t just professional hunters or fanatics that did so. When the hunt was on, the populace streamed out, a mob looking for the one who had deviated, cries of “Deviant”, “Race Traitor”, and "Hive Corruptor" echoing from the buildings. A few stayed inside, some could even be seen weeping as the mobs rampaged, but for each one that wept, ten thousand called for blood.
“We have located those using diviners and mana searches who did not participate, who no longer subscribed to the racial madness, but they are too few to save the planet. They have been relocated to a new world and a new chance of life. Once the planet is liveable again they will return with their descendants, it will be held for them in trust for such a day.
We call on all the Powers, we beg for their mercy as we do what we must.”
The screen shifted to the planet again, a view from space in which they watched five glowing spheres approach, evenly spaced around the planet. They came to a stop, spinning in space, and images of what was happening on the surface shown. The residents of the world were gathered outside, in every city the same scene could be seen. They were dressed in pale green robes, kneeling with their four limbs folded beneath them. Each bore a flag, an image of the Perfected Queen Upon it and writing that was automatically translated: “Purity of hive before the corruption of the soul.” They were silent, no sound escaping them as the light bloomed in the sky.
The picture cut out and the viewer abruptly returned to its normal self, the log of the Earth Mileu spinning on it.
Davos spoke, his voice breaking the stunned silence. “They showed that to cower us, to stop any rebellion.” He looked around the room his eyes lingering on each, “We will never speak of rebellion, we will do as we must as the holders of the future of Earth.” He got a silent nod from Councillor Brian, the one who oversaw the hidden project to restore old earth tech but had no success as yet. They had yet to find out why it was forbidden, but they searched. They would not speak of it, not until they knew they could do so safely