SYMBYTHU’s Sanctuarium was much like the rooms the others had been led to for their readings of Prodigium, except every nook, cranny, and shelf was seemingly filled to the brim with every odd and end imaginable: books, mechanical doohickeys, scientific experiments, drawings, paintings,—more books—, loose papers, schematics; along one wall was an entire display of various weapons used by humanity in its past…and its future.
In the center of the room were four large, white couches where all the Awakened were sitting, being led there by SYMBYTHU after Luanna’s attempt to destroy SYMBYTHU’s cloning factory…they had yet to come up with a better name for it. Mars and Ella sat next to each other—really, Ella sitting on Mars’ lap with his arms around her—refusing to leave each other’s sides, flanked on either side by Mads and Jax. Luanna was next to Atticus on the couch across from the others, refusing to leave him and telling him of every story she could remember of their times together. She could see the pain rolling behind his eyes as more and more of his memories were unlocking, but she continued to do what she could to take his mind away from Emelyse.
SYMBYTHU had hurriedly walked away without a word after leading them there, his attention drawn to another area of the ship. Left to their own devices, they didn’t explore SYMBYTHU’s Sanctuarium, but instead conversed, talking to each other about everything they could remember—everything the book didn’t cover.
Mars finally asked Mads the question that had been bothering everybody since they first saw him. “Mads…why don’t you…look like…you?”
“An excellent question, Imperator Thegn. I intend to ask that fucking monster the same thing.”
Less than twenty minutes passed before SYMBYTHU returned, bringing in tow an oddly familiar man. Mars, Ella, and Mads recognized him instantly from their ancestral memories; the others easily deduced who he was through previous context.
“My dear paragons,” SYMBYTHU said in a voice that teemed at the edges with happiness. “May I present to you…Zavyr Paxt.”
They all got up and greeted Zavyr, beginning with Mars and Ella. It was an odd experience for Zavyr because they all knew who he was and treated him like a demi-god, but he hadn’t a clue who any of them were.
After they settled down, SYMBYTHU led Zavyr to the couches and bade him sit. The others took their previous spots and SYMBYTHU sat on the couch across from Zavyr so that to SYMBYTHU’s right were Mars, Ella, Mads, and Jax, and to his left were Atticus and Luanna.
“My dear people,” started SYMBYTHU. “I know your questions are boundless, and I can only imagine how difficult it has been to contain them so far, but please, before we get started, Commander Paxt needs sustenance.” He looked over at Zavyr and said, “Commander, think of any food or drink you would like, and my machine—” he pointed to the large contraption in the ceiling— “will make and deliver it to you.”
Zavyr seemed shocked by SYMBYTHU’s words and was even more shocked when a black tray with buttered spaghetti, parmesan cheese, breaded chicken, and sriracha appeared, along with a large glass—is there such a thing as too large?—of whiskey on the rocks. Zavyr didn’t waste any time with his amazement…he scarfed down the food and drink as fast as he could while SYMBYTHU again began to talk.
“Now, if you please, I will give you a synopsis of what has happened in the world that you have missed and answer what questions I can. Commander Paxt, for your knowledge, Earth was destroyed through a chain of many interconnected events beginning with the creation of clones. Now, let us begin.”
“I traveled through time to the year 2024 Anno Domini to warn your ancestors, the ancestors of everyone in this room, of their follicious evil. On my planet, there is an immense and beautiful library—bigger than any of you have ever before seen. As I was perusing its contents one morning, as was my regular habit, I found various, ill-cared-for parchments stuffed into a corner. I began reading them and discovered them to be brief excerpts from Mars’, Zavyr’s, Luanna’s, Phoenix’s, and Atticus’ lives from authors unknown to me at the time. After captively reading and rereading, I scrounged the library for anything else I could find pertaining to this incredible period of time, finding some from the members of PSXV who stayed on Cainia to help Commander Spektor and her people. It is from them, mainly from Verick Sanborn, that the majority of this information came from. After learning what happened to Earth, Sanborn went wild. Losing his mind, he wandered the wilds of Proxima Borealis for many years. Upon returning to his senses, he devoted the remainder of his life to telling the story of your lives, everything he knew to be true, and endlessly hunting for missing pieces of information. He is the true workhorse that set about everything that has transpired since.”
“It is then that the slippery thought crept into my mind to change these events no matter the personal cost. You must remember that to me, Earth was nothing but a mythological place, lost to legends and stories. Its exact location wasn’t even known to me without much time devoted to discovering it. I spent decades learning how to bend the Tree of Time to my will and learning all I could that would be beneficial to my mission which I hadn’t bothered with before. Time itself is rather meaningless to me as I cannot die unless I choose to, so these decades spent meant nothing to me…it was simply a preamble to my real purpose in this universe of ours.”
“I succeeded in bending the Tree of Time and chose my year and destination…2023 Anno Domini, in the mountains of the Hawaiian island chain. Once I arrived, I spent most of the year learning their vernacular, their preferred methods of communication, and how they communicated with one another. Once I learned this, I authored the book that all of you except Governor Payne and Commander Paxt have read, Prodigium. I expected the results to be a widespread awakening to the events circulating about them, but the story went unheeded by the common folks. Yet the governments of the world…they knew that what I said was true for it was against their cloning programs that I was warning the people of. They used my story against me and accelerated their cloning programs with evermore resources and money, knowing because of my book they would be successful and forever believing they could control it. More than two hundred years have passed since then…it is now 2227 Anno Domini.”
A murmur rumbled from everyone in the room at the announcement of the year, with looks of bewilderment passed from one to the other.
SYMBYTHU continued. “Their governments hunted me, wanting to know evermore information about the future and exploit me in any way they could. I resisted and finally went into hiding. Since I am unbothered by the cold, I retreated to Antarctica. Once there, I explored all I could. I came upon a vast mountain range and discovered within ancient, colossal ships used by your ancestors from the planet Mars many, many millennia ago—”
“Thirty thousand years ago, to be precise,” said Zavyr. The others in the room stared at him, wondering how he could know.
“Fascinating,” said SYMBYTHU. “I see my latest version of Susurrus has worked. How far back were you able to go, Commander?”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“To that exact moment you are now discussing, when Zenzig Zare and other colonizers adventured from their home planet Mars to Earth and populated Earth with…us.”
SYMBYTHU smiled. “I will have many more questions for you, Commander, and now I find myself as anxious to know as I’m sure all of you have been while awaiting my explanations. To not press your patience longer, I will continue.”
“I rebuilt and refitted the ancient ship hidden in the mountains, raided many facilities on Earth that held the supplies I needed, and escaped to this corner of space which has become my wayward home. I have been here for one hundred and sixty-eight years. I have kept track of everything on Earth since then, and I am afraid the news is not good. They have created Odina and are weeks away from creating Burton Izcir, for I gave them the damned name of who Burton Izcir was created from. They hunted down every individual with the surname Godson and finally found the right ancestor two years ago. Once they perfect Burton, they will make numerous copies of him, as they have already begun to do with Odina. These stupid humans simply do not understand that it isn’t their environment that created Burton and Odina; it is their nature to be as murderous, conniving, and treacherous as they can be, and they won’t be controlled.”
“Well, that’s wonderful and all,” interjected Mads, “great to hear that my previous life was a waste, but can you tell my why the fuck I look like this?!”
“Ah, yes. You see, yours is a very…abrasive nature. I tapped into that abrasiveness to bring more of it to the surface and make you more lethal. Unfortunately, when that was combined with the Ixard, it brought some of those qualities permanently to the surface. Perhaps, with time, you’ll be able to manipulate your Ixard into a form pleasing to you.”
Mads wasn’t happy. “Oh, just give it time huh? You give me that damn book to read that awakens all of these dormant memories in me—memories that remind me of who I am and what I look like—then I go look in the mirror and I see the face of a gorilla looking back at me, hair and all.” Mads got up and started walking around. “So, I just have to live with it now is what you’re saying? You’re telling me that I am permanently a Hamrammir? Is this my Hamrammir form?” He kicked a pile of mechanical thingamabobs on the floor next to him. “This is fucking bullshit. Why couldn’t you experiment on someone else? What the fuck.”
“I understand your anger,” said SYMBYTHU calmly, “but understand, your physical appearance doesn’t matter. You will be more effective in your work with the strength of ten men. Though you won’t be able to blend into crowds as you used to be so partial to, that isn’t really what you’re needed for anymore. Your only mission is to help keep everyone else in this room alive.”
Mads had no more words. He knew he was a glorified grunt, but he didn’t like to hear it. He had a skill set that most grunts didn’t have and now he wouldn’t be able to make use of most of them. He sat back down on the couch next to Mars, still fuming.
“As I was saying…where was I? Oh yes. I escaped to space and have been here ever since, building, creating, and learning with every passing minute. I have been trying to perfect the seven of you for an exceedingly long time. I didn’t have as many issues with the others I brought back—more on that later—but you seven…there is something about each of you that is undeniably unique amongst your species. I haven’t encountered strands of DNA like yours anywhere else, and to have you sitting before me, conversing with me…it is like Michelangelo talking to his David if it was living and breathing.”
It was Mars’ turn to chime in. “Speaking of DNA, I assume it would be impossible to recreate us without a sample of ours…how did you get a sample of each of us?”
SYMBYTHU began talking more excitedly. “An excellent question Imperator Thegn! An excellent question indeed! I stole it from the Baron.”
Every face in the room was enveloped with looks of shock. “The Baron is still alive?!” said Jax; “How did the Baron get our DNA?!” said Ella.
“Yes. From whence I came, the Baron is still alive. The Cainians were able to manipulate their genetics so they would never die. The Izcir also had the ability, but they refused to implement it for fear of psychosis. They, instead, limited their lifespans to four hundred years…did you not read my book? He stole most of your DNA from Odina, who had collected it for years and years as she handed out Susurrus to the people of Earth. For the ‘Lucky Chosen’, she devised other means of stealing your genetics. When the Bacchante tried to assassinate the Baron and Odina in her Tower, the Baron escaped to Munich Pyrἰnas. Not one to be left without an escape route, he returned to Hyderabad Pyrἰnas shortly after to retrieve his ship. It was there in Odina’s vault, that he discovered the massive collection of DNA Odina had collected for decades. And he took it…all of it. After the third assassination attempt by Drăcul in Munich Pyrἰnas, he took his ship, with the collection of DNA, and departed Earth forever, just before it was destroyed. Then I stole it from him many thousands of years later.”
A thought crossed Atticus’ mind, and he voiced it while he had a chance. “How did you get DNA from myself and Luanna? Did you get any others from Proxima Borealis? Did you get Phoenix’s DNA?”
“I don’t want to cause undue consternation, but I retrieved your DNAs from your tombs after the Baron conquered Proxima Borealis. Proxima is, in fact, the world I come from.”
A veritable riot erupted from the seven. “Noooooooooo!” screamed Luanna. “How could he possibly defeat us?! My people…my people! What happened to them?!”
“My dear Commander, my dear paragons, like I said, this consternation is undue. We are here now to change that future, to make a better one. And Atticus, to answer your second and third questions…yes, I did, and yes…I did. I created Phoenix long ago and she has been cryogenically frozen ever since. I knew that without Emelyse and Phoenix, you wouldn’t be able to survive. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring back Emelyse because of how she met her end, but I could bring back your beloved Phoenix.”
Tears of joy fell from Atticus’ eyes. He was nothing without his child. She was the only thing he could remember that gave him joy and purpose in life. To know that he would be joined with her again was the greatest gift a father had ever been given. “Thank you, SYMBYTHU. Thank you for your considerateness. It means more than words can explain.”
SYMBYTHU smiled. “I know, Governor Payne, I know. It is not for you to thank me. You have done much more than I ever could, so it is I who thanks you.” He turned and looked at Zavyr. “Commander Paxt, you have been silent throughout most of this conversation, and it is from you that I expected the most questions. Have you any?”
Zavyr pondered momentarily about which he would ask because he did have many questions for SYMBYTHU. He presently decided on which he would ask, then said, “Why, if you are able to ‘bend the Tree of Time’ as you call it, did you not go to the place and time directly before Earth was destroyed? How was Earth destroyed for that matter? You all seem to know much more than I do about this matter.”
“It was my fault,” said Mars. “I…gained different abilities because I am your descendant and you injected yourself with Fyr-Nanites before the clones won the Battle of Lồfzenbrook and spread their virus. With this ability, I battled Odina and the combination of our powers destroyed Earth.” Mars looked down at the floor, ashamed as he said it.
Zavyr looked approvingly at Mars and said, “Look at me, Mars. Don’t ever hang your head in shame for trying to save your people…even one person, whether you fail or not. Most wouldn’t even try, and I am more than proud you are my descendant.”
Mars raised his head at this and nodded approvingly to Zavyr.
“I chose the year I chose,” said SYMBYTHU, “because it was my best chance at nipping all this in the bud—to stop the cloning right as they started and to make your ancestors aware of the curtain being drawn over their eyes. Unfortunately, my hopes in humanity were misplaced.”
“But all the lives lost,” said Ella. “All the people who will never live now because we are going to destroy that timeline.”
“First of all, Consul, I have incredibly vast amounts of DNA stored, and now that my process is effective, I can create them without issue. Second, time is not linear; it is a circle. Those people may not be born in the period of time that they were before, but they will be born none the less, and during the same period as the ones they previously chose to mate with. The Law of Serendipity states so, and I would not be so bold as to toy with the natural laws.”
“If there are no more questions, I have more to show you.”
No one had a pressing question, so SYMBYTHU led them from his Sanctuarium to another part of the ship.