Suddenly a table appeared with cardboard boxes on it.
“I want you to know exactly what your goddess had planned for you. Then you can tell me if you want to help your oh so righteous goddess “save the world”. Now pardon me, I have things I must attend to.”
She disappeared in a flash and my handcuffs disconnected from each other.
‘Hey, Hyuna you there?’
No answer.
The glowing runes on my handcuffs didn’t go out either so all that I am allowed to do is move my hands. I try using my magic but I still can’t.
‘What’s in these boxes anyway?’
I walk over to the table check them out. Some of them have labels with words like “CONFISCATED” or “EVIDENCE” written on them. I open up the first one in reach and inside are manila folders filled with documents and photos. Mug shots of random people stare up at me as I flip through the folders. They look like police profiles with everything from blood type to gender but what kind of profile lists a magic type and moral assessment?
As I’m flipping through the hundreds of files I come across something that startles me.
‘What the fuck! Why is this here!?’
A mug shot of me back when I was male and lived with Rene was sitting in a manila folder along with another profile. This one had my name on it. What was more startling was the words “Deceased” stamped over the file in bright red ink.
I quickly pull out the file and push everything off the table. I spread out the contents of the file and sift through it. Everything from my age when I lost my parents to a picture of the houses I had lived in when I was with Rene. What really creeped me out was a vial of blood that rolled out from beneath the papers. I don’t need to guess who’s.
‘What! Where did they get all this!?’
I pick up various documents until I find one with titled Psych Report copy. This one was dated back to when I was 17. Most of it was redacted as well making the whole thing even more unsettling. Words and phrases like Subject and Phase 2 kept popping up until I didn’t even want to read the thing anymore.
‘OK, what the actual bloody hell is this…’
I put away my file and grab the other boxes I pushed off the table and start sorting through those. It didn’t take long until I came across a folder titled “Tools of war, Advanced tech. Department Lab. B”. This one also had a big “Top secret” stamped across the side.
‘Why is she giving me this?’
I got a bad feeling just by looking at the big red words stamped across the front. I dreaded opening it but I couldn’t stop myself. Inside were diagrams and blueprints to a bunch of different weapons, armor and spell circles.
‘Whoa…’
I unfolded one of the bigger blueprints to find an exact copy of the Soul armor which I now possess. According to this, I was missing more than 90% of the functions due to the gods locking out many of them.
I set aside the blueprint box and grab another one. Inside are plastic bags filled with old cassette tapes and a player. I sort through the cassette tapes looking for anything that might be familiar when I find a tape titled “Surv. Tape #67 Team #9 recordings of Conv. War God Torrents, Creator God Reynold, Chief councilor Amarath”. Dated 5 years ago.
I popped the tape in and hit play. The voices on the tape are talking in Qoric, the language of the gods, but one of the main things that Kyanu taught me was languages so I should be fine.
“Hail Heaven gentlemen. The purpose of this meeting to exchange information and answer any questions you may have.” came the voice that exuded a sense of majesty.
“Hail Heaven great leader. I am pleased to report the defense of the Heavens are stable and the Rebels show no sign of penetrating them soon.” said a voice that reminded me of sandpaper.
“Very good. Reynolds what of your end of things?”
“Hail Heaven Great leader. Construction proceeds on schedule. They shall be done by the next earth rotation.” Said the all too familiar voice of the man I just met.
“Ah very good. And the smith suspects nothing?”
“He remains ignorant.”
“Perfect. Make sure it stays that way. No doubt he will refuse to cooperate like a certain time goddess. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.” said Majesty.
“Indeed. She should have known what refusing meant. Maybe a few millennia without her daughter will teach her to cooperate.” said Sandpaper.
“Tell us great leader, are the candidates ready?”
“Soon. The slight interference of the new generation with subject #427 with the intention to glean information was ultimately a failure. However, I no longer believe that the candidate is suitable for use.”
What shall become of it?” said Reynolds.
“Unfortunately we will have to dispose of it. I believe the sister of the subject has a public event coming up. It is regrettable but accidents do happen…Torrents I will require some of your followers. Skilled but prepared for suicide bombing if you please.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“I see...And payment?”
“I’ll see to it the necessary Sinner's souls and Heavenly Energies are sent over. 50,000 shall we say? I’ll throw in an extra 20,000 if you make it quick.”
“A little low priced but fair enough. I’ll see to it. Any particular militant affiliation you want? Chinese? Maybe French?”
“None in particular. Use whatever you want but know. This world will be disposed of as soon as the subjects are prepared and shipped out. So spend any assets you have on there quick.”
“A pity. Will we replace the candidate?” Reynolds asked.
“Unfortunately there is not enough time left in this world. We stick to the plan and after we have finished preparing them, proceed immediately with phase 2. I expect things to be ready by then!”
“Pardon me sir but won’t that look suspicious?”
“It does not matter. The rebels already know something is going on in this experiment world. Right now time is of the essence. Prepare to collect the candidates and proceed to indoctrinate them.”
“It will be as you say.”
“As you wish chief. Anything else sir?” Reynolds asked.
“Yes. Make sure the space-time difference between worlds is minimal when you send them to the Holy kingdom. Notify me immediately and I will send the subjects. Do not fail me.”
The tape ended and I was left shocked, angry and betrayed. And with even more questions.
‘What was that! Was that subject they referred me!? Who else would have a sister going to a public event!? I always thought that Kyanu just picked me up randomly but this suggests that my death was premeditated. Why didn’t she tell me? What is this phase 2? Why did they call earth an experiment world!? What does the goddess of time have to do with the council?’
I paw through the rest of the boxes coming across scientific journals and psyche reports for all kinds of people. Again most of the documents were redacted but even if I had all the pieces to the puzzle I still don’t understand in what order they were arranged in.
I opened another box and found a lone display orb inside. Think of a cross between a 3D movie projector and a quantum computer. Kyanu used to use one when she taught me. I pulled it out and set it up on the table. And booted it up. The familiar Windows 7 Million Logo popped up and took a moment to load. There was only one profile called ST. #9 the same surveillance team that recorded that tape. I tried to open it but it required a password.
‘Now what could you possibly have that is so important?’
I tried several obvious things like Password and Time Goddess but none were correct. I looked through more of the boxes to see if a password was included when I came across several envelopes addressed to Amarath. There were tons of these letters but I found a bundle tied together with a rubber band and a note stuck on the front with the words “Password inside one?” written on it.
‘Something tells me I don’t want to open this…’
Tentatively I opened the first letter the header Indicates it was sent from the Universal Bank of Elysium.
Dear Ms. Time,
We would like to thank you for choosing the Universal Bank of Elysium.
But we regret to inform you that your account with the Universal Bank of Elysium has been frozen and all assets confiscated in accordance with Council mandate #8841092B. We would like to express our sincere apology for the inconvenience. Due to circumstances, we cannot continue doing business with you and in the future should circumstances turn out for the better we would be honored to do business with you again.
Once again we apologize for the inconvenience.
Signed Mr. Burbok, manager of the Universal Bank of Elysium in big calligraphy. This one was dated back to 25 years ago.
‘What? Aeonia had her account foreclosed? I need more details.’
Opening the next letter this one actually wasn’t a letter it was a copy of an arrest warrant. This one was made out for Aeonia, Goddess of Time and Space. Listed crimes were “Crimes against the state” without any other explanation.
The more I got into the letters the more I started to doubt. Letters from banks, various companies, and even a housing firm saying something about foreclosure. The feeling I’m getting from all this is that Aeonia got into trouble with the council and in return, they ruined her life.
‘What did she do?’
I found the password to the display orb. It was in the linings of 3 of the letters.
‘Who was the fucking retard that came up with the idea to make 64 character passwords with symbols and numbers that takes 10 years to enter correctly!’
Eventually, I finished putting in all the characters and I hit enter. I was asked if I wanted to restore my last session.
‘Yes please’
When I hit enter several windows popped up. I found Several Bank statements listing over 15 Ruler Class gods showed a transfer of over 50 million pure souls into several bank accounts. Now I don’t pretend to be an expert on money but that a hell of a lot of cash she's forking out. Another I saw was a media player with a picture of the council. I clicked play and projector turned on turning into a council room.
“Ms. Fate. You stand before the council here today to answer for your crimes against the state. Including attempt of dissemination of disinformation, refusal to cooperate with council mandate, and contempt towards council members. This is your last chance! Will you or will you cooperate.”
A woman with silver black hair and a dress that seemed to be made of starlight was standing in the middle of a semi-circle of desks with the names of council members on them. Behind her, seats that I have a feeling should have been full were occupied by only a few gods dressed in black and wearing masks.
'Creepy...'
“You fools! This is an unholy act in the balance of nature. I’ll never help you!”
“Silence! We have been patient and merciful yet you still defy us! The council has decided. Aeonia, goddess of time and space. You will be demoted from Arch God to Lesser God and your daughter will be confined to The Isle of Hell until such time as you wish to cooperate as well as the confiscation of all your assets. I suggest you cooperate before the consequences become irreversible. Take her away.”
“You dare!” the woman said in outrage.
The councilors just watched as the goddess was restrained and carried out. Some had faces of regret and pity but several were clearly frustrated with her refusal.
“I’ll never let you!” she screamed before the doors to the room slammed shut.
The image faded and the project clicked off. The time stamp on the video was from 25 years ago. If I go by what Kyanu said about the time dilation between realms 25 Ryalia years is worth 30 thousand years.
‘So she topples the council and absorbs the remains all for what? A grudge 30 millennia ago?. She obviously has recovered and got back her daughter but why? What was so horrible that she would go as far as to incite civil war? What happened 25 years ago? Where did it all start?’
I look through the system for the oldest file I can find and one titled “Project Hercules. Council eyes only(Original)” comes up. This one dated back 50 years ago. A few days after the dragons separated the humans and demons.
‘That's it!’
I hurriedly clicked on it and the screen went black and a powerpoint presentation came up.
Overview
To combat the rebel Demonic beast invasions the council has initiated the Hercules project. The primary goal is to manufacture artificial super soldiers(read as Hero) and train as well as supply equipment for continued growth. This force will be under the direct control of the council along with their mentor gods(In order for the god to mentor a Hero he/she must obey the commands of the council). The previous method of the creation of “Heroes” was dictated by the chaos system.Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Reynolds we have confirmed a method of producing artificial super soldiers without direct interference from the system.
‘Manufacture Heroes...’
Previously when I asked Kyanu about Heroes she simply shook her head and refused to say anything more than “Heroes are not what you think.”. That combined with this leads me to believe that Heroes are some sort of super hard to acquire existence.
Phase #1
Testing candidates from many other races as well as consistently spreading propaganda(read as mythology and fantasy) that “Heroes are a force of good and virtue.” or “Heroes are the pinnacle of strength and power.” will prepare the candidates for acclimation into the magical and divine society as well as ensure they do not harbor any intentions of breaking away or doubting the gods. Experimental worlds in which the selected races can be observed of their interaction with different scenarios they might encounter while in a controlled environment without interaction with other races except lesser ones will be created.
‘WAIT, did he just call Earth disposable!?’
Phase #2
Once the subjects have been selected, through the use of the time-space spell developed by the goddess all candidates will be transposed into the heavens and the experiment worlds will be dismantled. The candidates will be told their worlds no longer exist and to reinforce cooperation the identity concerning the destroyers of their world will be directed towards rebel forces.
‘...’
Phase #3
The public will be informed that rebel forces were responsible for the destruction of the worlds through the use of sleeper agents. The blame will sate the anger of the public and it will be made known that the gods have found several naturally created Heroes among the debris of the destroyed worlds. Mentors will be chosen and the Heroes sent to the Holy kingdom in the mortal world for physical training.
Phase #4
Once the Heroes have acquired sufficient strength, invasion of the demon lands and annexing the individual states into the holy union to further increase our divine power resources. Without support from the demon states the rebels will be crippled and without a power base on the world. By controlling the bottleneck we increase the odds success for reclaiming rebel taken worlds.
‘Oh gods, what have I gotten myself into?…’