(Day x + 2) Month, Day, Year of ???
Adam stood from meditating and checked the data the satellites he’d placed in orbit had collected. Adam reviewed his memories and estimated that the sun here was over 7 billion years old and close to the end of its life cycle. Not good. Adam reviewed the planet’s surface scan and noted high concentrations of carbon dioxide with a very thin layer of breathable atmosphere at the surface. Even so, on windy days, there might not be any oxygen near the surface as the majority of other gases in the atmosphere mixed in and thinned out the available oxygen. Definitely not good.
Using his general coordinates, Adam left the building and the bubble he’d created and started to make his way toward the location where his Place of Power used to be off to the north. As Adam zeroed in on the location, he realized that while it felt like he was at sea level his elevation was almost 500 feet higher than the original elevation of his Place of Power had sat at. The hole in the Universe that had been created was below him. Adam extended the reach of his nanites down into the earth and was both amazed and shocked by what he found. The sand was being displaced upward. As his nanites made it closer and closer to the source they came into combat with raw chaos. Raw Chaos? Adam reviewed the data and then had the nanites move out and search for the edges, infiltrating and converting the sand as quickly as they could. That’s when Adam received another shock. The nanites creating the subterranean base under the house ran into the same viscous fluid that was now trying to come up the elevator shaft toward the surface. The chaos was converting sand into more chaos as his nanites tried to convert the sand into more nanites. Once converted to nanites the Chaos could not touch the nanites, but they were losing the battle.
Adam reached out to the nanites in his companions and placed both Xsitant and Tasha’s minds into comas and then had the nanites in their bodies stand and run them through the walls and bubble away from the elevator shaft as both crumbled around them. Adam also reprogrammed all nanites, save those in the three of them, to start converting materials as Adam turned and ran back towards both of them. The race was on. As Adam came near both Xsitant and Tasha, Adam had his nanites build hoist harnesses with handles that solidified around their bodies with handles behind their heads. Adam grabbed them, one in each hand, and used his ability “Gravity is that Way” to fall away from the planet toward the nearest moon. As they fell up and away from the ground Adam watched as the nanites of the house disincorporated and spread out like a sandcastle that had been knocked over before their ultimately futile battle against raw chaos that Adam now believed had replaced close to 90% of the planet, won the battle. Adam was guessing that Chaos was leaking through the breach Xsitant had created when he’d destroyed his Place of Power and that hole had never closed.
As they fell upwards Adam set the nanites in all three of their bodies to protect them from the conditions of vacuum and to recycle oxygen to keep them alive. It was time to create a new moon base. As he fell away from the planet and towards the moon Adam added a harness to himself and connected both of them to it. Adam also surrounded all three of them in space suits so the nanites wouldn’t have to fight so hard to keep them all alive. Radiation levels were pretty high but their suits and the nanites compensated.
Adam Used the distance between Earth and the moon as a guide. His moon was 238,900 miles from Earth. Adam set a timer as they fell toward the moon for 104 minutes. Their velocity should be about 37.82 miles per second, and they should have traveled just about 118,000 miles. Adam flipped his falling direction 180 degrees to start decelerating. It was going to be another 104 minutes before they slowed to a stop. Hopefully, they’d be pretty close to this moon. Just in case Adam adjusted his vector so that they’d go into orbit over the moon in case this moon was closer than Earth’s moon. He didn’t need them slamming into it. Vectored thrust through gravity manipulation was fine but he realized that he needed a way to travel faster through space.
While we’d been falling toward the moon his nanites on Primore had spread as far and fast as they could to no avail. They’d been lucky. His mineshaft must have been the final catalyst. By the time they were in orbit around the moon the entire planet of Primore was one writhing ball of a hyper-viscous milky white fluid. When Adam brought them to a complete stop they were about a mile above the surface of the moon. Adam flew them down to the surface and noted that his nanites were once again limited to a range of 500 feet. So, there was some magic here. Good. Even so, Adam kept both Xsitant and Tasha in a coma while he worked.
The first thing Adam did was find a deep crater on the sun side of the moon. Next, he went down to the bottom of the crater and began making a tunnel into the surface. Over the next three days, Adam slowly and methodically used everything he’d learned the first time he’d done this to create a moon base that was sealed, self-sufficient, had portal machinery and once the nanites were removed would still function. Adam also made sure to create a simulated “1g” environment for Xsitant and Tasha.
While he worked on the base, Adam monitored the planet made of chaos, maybe Adam should rename it to Chaoticus, nah that was lame, He’d just stick to calling It Primore. Adam monitored Primore to make sure the chaos wasn’t expanding. It didn’t seem to be, but the liquid could be compressing due to gravity. There was no way to tell. The fluid had settled and now looked like a perfect orb of milk. It was really weird.
Adam woke Xsitant and Tasha up at the same time, “Time to wake up you two. I have some things to show you.”
“What? Where? I have my ability to cast magic back, how?” Xsitant asked.
Tasha was a little slower and just looked around as she woke up.
“We are no longer on Primore,” Adam said. “In fact, we’re on one of Primore’s Moons,” Adam said.
“What, why? Xsitant asked.
Adam pointed to the monitor on the wall in front of him which showed an image of Primore from a Camera mounted on the surface of the moon, “That white orb is the planet Primore, or what used to be Primore.”
“My parents,” Tasha exclaimed.
“What happened?” Xsitant asked.
“Tasha, your parents, and any friends we had on Primore have been dead for billions of years. Think of it this way. If you could live to be 100 years old. You would have died 40 million times.”
A look of shock and wonder crossed her face as Adam turned to Xsitant and answered, “As for what happened, remember that spell you cast on my tower? Well, you released chaos onto a nexus of all eight primal powers.”
“Wait! All eight, when did that happen?” he asked.
“Well, if what Serena showed me is accurate I’d estimate that the ley lines were added and then the Place of Power moved at exactly the same time as the spell went off.”
“Oh shit!” Xsitant said.
“Yeah! When I made it back to Primore a couple of days later I checked and found a very small hole that led out into the chaos that surrounds this Universe. At that point, it felt like stuff from in this universe was flowing out into the chaos. I think Primore is now a ball of raw chaos because eventually, the flow changed, and chaos started to leak through to this side of the barrier. I could be wrong, but that ball of chaos seems to be a pretty good indicator that I could be right.” Adam said.
“I dropped Chaos on a confluence of all eight Primal Ley Lines and it created a hole into chaos? Well, you wanted me to teach you so here is your first lesson because you have saved Tasha and me. Chaos likes to change forms. It continuously changes forms and the odds that it will lock into one of those forms is very low because as chaos, it is a higher form of energy. A lot of times the chaos will transform into Space, Time, or Gravity. Doing so is easy for the chaos to do but it won’t stay in that form and quickly reverts back to chaos because Universes will not form without all three together. Once they form the Universe converts Chaos into the primal forces within itself. Chaos is usually drawn through the membrane of the Universe evenly and randomly. Think of the Universes barrier as a screen that only allows certain energies through. While there was still magic on Primore it would have continued to leak through the barrier and been absorbed by the chaos. Small holes near ley lines form all the time allowing some primal energy to escape out into the chaos but those holes eventually close. Ley lines will shift and jump around allowing the universal membrane to heal itself.
A ley-line convergence of eight ley lines however is unheard of. One, because they form the most stable ley lines. They don’t move. Second, their nature can draw even higher energies to them. When my spell went off I made a non-moving ley-line that would never have the opportunity to close that fed the whole planet. Over the years I’d imagine that everything started to die around where the tower had been. That area of death would have spread throughout the planet and eventually, all the life and magic would have drained away. When that happened,” he paused as he pointed to the orb of chaos on the monitor.
“Okay, now I know what I have to do to fix it. Now, all we need to do is get back. First, though I want to talk to both of you about the dangers you are both facing here on the moon and what I’ve done to mitigate them. Let’s get something to eat and I’ll take you on a tour as I explain.”
They all sat down to eat. Once everyone was tucked in and enjoying their meal Adam started his explanation, “Three days ago the mineshaft I was creating acted as the catalyst that allowed all the chaos that was below the surface to swell up and devour the rest of the planet. Once I realized what was happening I retrieved both of you and we flew through space to the moon. Space is dangerous. There is no air, and it can be both very hot and very cold at the same time. I kept both of you unconscious while creating this base. I figured it would be less traumatizing for both of you and a lot easier on the nanites I had keeping you alive.
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“Thank you for that,” Xsitant said.
“No problem. Where was I? Oh yeah,” Adam said before he continued, “You each have a room, and like before food and water will not be an issue. Right now, I am trying to create the power sources I need to power a device to get us back to my Place of Power. Once we’re there, we’ll be able to work faster because I believe we’ll have stronger access to our magic. Magic is back but it seems weaker here Xsitant,” Adam said.
“To be expected, there isn’t much life here. I came out here once when Adam was younger and teleported right next to it. If I hadn’t had another teleport in a ring I was wearing, I probably would have died right then. I still had to go see the healers after.” Xsitant said.
“Yep, space is dangerous. This moon base is not dangerous. That door,” Adam said pointing to a door beside the monitor,” leads to an airlock that leads to the surface of the moon. If you are within 500 feet of me you will be able to go out on the moon without worrying about breathing or getting hurt. Because there is some magic here though my range is limited. So, I would suggest you remain inside the base. I have created a pool for you to go swimming, hot tubs for relaxing, and a television for you to watch. I’ve even created a database of movies for you. Something we do from my Universe. I’ll show you what I mean after I’m done talking.
“How long do you think we’ll be here?” Tasha asked.
“The first time I did this took me about 8 years. Of course, I didn’t know what I needed, and I didn’t have access to what I have access to now. I estimate I should be able to get the portal device created and get a portal open to my vault in three weeks, maybe less. While I’m working on that, you two will have a full range of the base and you can even go jump around on the moon if you want.”
“Why would that be fun,” both asked in unison.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” as Adam stood and encouraged them to follow him to an elevator. They all stepped in and Adam pushed a button to take them to the bottom floor 11 stories down. “We’re going into the Moon. The 10th floor has elements in it that artificially increase gravity allowing you to feel like you’re on Primore. This effect has a radius that we have to get outside of so we’re going down to the 11th basement level to a tunnel that goes over to a nearby crater. I have a bubble there and it’s outside the gravity effect.” The elevator stopped and they stepped out into a small tram station with a single 4-seat maglev on it. They all sat down and road it to the next crater. When they arrived, they moved to get out and floated slowly into the air before they returned to the ground.
“Wow!” Tasha said.
“I have felt the weightlessness of space before, but this is interesting,” Xsitant said.
“Basically, how much stuff a planet has determines how strongly it pulls you to it. The more stuff, the stronger the pull. Less stuff, less pull. This moon is smaller than Primore and has about 1/7th of the gravity. So, something that would weigh 70 pounds on Primore weighs 10 pounds here. The force of attraction is also 1/7th as strong. If you could jump 1 foot on Primore you can jump 7 here. Try it.” Tasha squatted then jumped and soared into the sky. As she went up she started pinwheeling and looked to be about to smack face-first into the ground on her way down. Adam activated fly, flew over, and steadied her as she landed, “Careful, small movements while you’re in a low g environment are better. Large movements are hard to recover from without perfect muscle control or the ability to fly.” Adam said.
Adam let them jump around getting used to the gravity and showed them how to move quickly without losing momentum or control, “The trick is to keep your jumps shallow so you can change direction if you need to. If you go high into the air you are committed and will not be able to adjust your course if you need to. Slow and steady in low-g is faster than quick and reckless.” They stayed in the bubble for another hour before Adam led them back to explore the wonders of television.
The next three weeks went by quickly. Adam couldn’t convert the moon as quickly as he wanted to, which slowed him down and he was starting to get frustrated. Which led him to look for the reason there were ley lines on the moon. What Adam found was both interesting and troubling. As Adam came to the “north pole” of the moon Adam entered a crater with a glowing silver orb floating above a pedestal. As Adam moved toward the orb he noticed that it hovered above a Symbol of Serena. Adam reached out to touch it and a Prompt exploded into his vision.
Congratulations! You have found Serena’s Nanite Companions Upgrade. This upgrade was created by the Goddess Serena for her Cleric Adamantadine. These Nanites offer the following upgrades if accepted.
Choose the type of nanite created.
Type 1: Normal nanite range limited by ability Nanite Companions.
Type 2: Within the Universe containing the planet Primore. Nanite range: unlimited. Nanites may be used to convert or destroy non-living matter. May be used to augment, heal, or paralyze living creatures so long as no harm is done by the nanites.
Warning: May not be used to kill a living being. Paralysis then immediate death by willful action of Adam, his allies, or engineered ‘accidents’ will lead to the removal of Type 2 Nanites.
Do you accept this upgrade Yes or No?
Adam chose Yes. The nanites coated his arm and then sank into him. A new prompt appeared.
What type of nanites would you like to create from this point forward, Type 1 or Type 2?
Adam chose “Type 2” and sent them to the moon to convert what Adam needed into nanites. Adam needed all the material he could get his hands on. He gave thanks to Serena for her forethought. Unlike previous times in the past, Adam did not receive an acknowledgment or a feeling of warmth from her. Adam decided to leave that alone. He made his way back to the Moonbase, checked on Xsitant and Tasha, then went to work. Within 7 days the portal was finished and powered up.
“Time to go,” Adam said to both Xsitant and Tasha.
“Will we have Television where we’re going?” Tasha asked.
“I believe so,” Adam answered before he turned to Xsitant and asked, “How about you, are you ready to go Xsitant?”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Hopefully, we’ll be able to sit down and begin your training once we get to this next location?” he said.
“We should, I haven’t had any problems so far. We should be able to make it back to my Place of Power easily enough,” Adam said.
“Then let’s go,” Xsitant said.
Adam activated the portal and together they all stepped through.
As they stepped through the portal Adam noticed a Monitor on the wall with the following
Minute: 45
Hour: 16
Day: 300
Year: 4,539,673,227
Wow, 4.5 billion years, that was a long time. As Adam looked at the clock and thought about the time he’d lost, he felt his nanites handshake with nanites in the facility. No joke, Thor had hooked him up. It looked like they were in one of the corners of the vault under the floor. Adam also received an inventory of supplies and resources as well as a notification that there was a barrier preventing him from seeing outside this area. It seemed that great minds thought alike as this setup had everything Adam wanted and needed and more.
Over the next 6 months, Tasha watched a lot of television and worked out with Adam when he needed to practice his physical training. Adam also learned as much as he could about Time and Chaos from Xsitant. Mostly background information and a different way of looking at the two schools of magic but he did acquire some knowledge he hadn’t had before. Level-wise, he cheated of course. As soon as Adam reached level 1 in each Adam raised their levels to 500. Adam only had two spells though, Time Shield and Chaos Shield. It had taken Xsitant almost 5 weeks to create the two scrolls he’d learned the spells from. Something about his casting level, Scribe skill, and the level of the spells. As soon as he was done with them though, Adam added both to a permanent slot.
Adam figured out early on that If he could figure out the portal he could travel back in time with no issues. His ability “I have always been, I will always be” allowed him to bypass the temporal cruxes with no issues, Once Adam figured that out he accidentally discovered that souls existed outside time. How? Adam synced the portal time to Primore’s and then opened a portal. Stepping through Adam remembered that Adam had two soulstones with souls in his ring of holding and pulled them out. They were both fine. Adam stepped back through the portal to stand on the side with Xsitant and Tasha. Adam Checked the soul stones again and they were still fine. With the stones out in the open this time, Adam once again stepped through the portal. Nothing happened to the Soul Stones. Adam had found a way to bring them back. Adam returned to the future and closed the portal.
Over the next two days, Adam created a new body for both Xsitant and Tasha. Then Adam had them practice transferring their consciousness to their new body and back. To their original body. The new body was made completely out of nanites but Adam didn’t tell them that. he’d scanned each and was going to make perfect biological copies of their bodies once they were back where they needed to be.
“This is the important part you two. You will be transferred to your new bodies in the tower. I’ll let Thor know you’re coming but we won’t be able to get you back into a truly biological body until I arrive. Too much information for me to send via message. I need to be there. Also, I need to be the last one through the portal in case something happens or goes wrong. So, until I get back, you’ll be my guests and Thor will see to your needs. If you want or need something just say so out loud and Thor will help you. This next part is the most important part, especially for you Xsitant. The bodies you will be transferring to cannot exist further than 500 feet away from me if you are not in my Place of Power or in my home universe. If you teleport home Xsitant, you will die. Once I get back, I’ll get you into brand new bodies with all the normal problems being biological entails.”
“Understood and thank you. I know I would have been stuck without your help so we’re good. In fact, if I can get enough experience I think I’ve had enough mortality and I’m going to look into joining the ranks of the divine.
“I wish you luck in that, now, let’s do this!”
Adam opened a portal and had the two created bodies walk through and wait in the entryway of the tower. Xsitant went first, transferring his consciousness to the new body. “Everything okay?” Adam called through the portal.
“Yep, I’m over here. This should work fine.” He said
Adam looked to Tasha, “Your turn.”
Tasha visibly relaxed then called through the portal, “Made it I’m over here too.”
Adam locked the nanites in the two bodies on his side of the portal and stopped their hearts. Adam waited five minutes just to make sure there wasn’t some mystical thing that needed to happen. Both bodies were empty. Adam looked over the bodies one last time and then remembered the ring. Tasha had asked to wear it until they went back, and it was still on her original body. She’d forgotten about it because of the enchantment.
A couple of things happened that caused the FUBAR that happened.
First, Xsitant had been looking at Tasha while they talked about how glad they both were to be back and how she was thinking about joining him even with their level of disparity. Because his attention was on Tasha, he didn’t see Adam retrieve the ring.
Second, when they looked back through the portal their original bodies were being broken down by the nanites which shocked them into silence.
Third, Adam was already walking towards the portal when Xsitant saw the ring.
A look of shock crossed his face and then the word “Nooooo” came out of his mouth as he grabbed Tasha and blinked to the 3rd-floor landing, trying to get as far as he could from the open portal.
For Adam, well let’s just say the last thing he saw was Xsitant and Tasha through the portal as they appeared at the top of the stairs, a flash, then nothing.