The thick white snow covered the land in a pure white, the narrow valley was surrounded by thick mountains of ice, and the sky was dark as usual, creating the image of an hollow wasteland. In the midst of the flurry of snow, and powerful winds a small shadow could be seen speeding along a narrow passage in the valley.
The vehicle was a large white rover with three thick tires on each side, moving silently in a single direction. Driving the rover was a humanoid shaped robot, next to it sat a fairly young man with bed hair, and a thick purple coat, his name was Saia.
Saia shivered lightly as he stared at the sudden snow storm from the window.
“The weather is getting harder to deal with.”
A mechanical voice responded in a sarcastic manner.
“Or maybe you're getting too old Saia.”
“Hm? You're here?”
“Ah I was asked to check up on you, since you disappeared by yourself.”
“I'm just making a short visit.”
Before the sarcastic voice could respond another powerful gust caused the rover to shake violently, and the voice no long appeared.
After the conversation was cut off by the strengthening snow storm, Saia just lazily admired the scenery. Their was nothing to see aside from pure white, occasionally he would catch a glimpse of frozen corpses of something buried in the snow.
Several hours of solitude slowly went by when a giant structure slowly came into view. Large towers several meters high stretched outward creating a forest of steel, when the rover drove past these structures a giant chasm slowly revealed itself.
On the edge of that chasm were metallic ridges covered by snow, and ice. It made a perfect circle embedded into the ground, it stretched for several kilometers. The rover did not stop near the edge leading to the abyss, and drove into the chasm.
Saia just stared blankly as the rover fell into the deep earth, he then turned to the driver, and stared curiously at the silent robot.
“Want to play a word game?”
The robot replied in emotionless voice.
“Function not equipped, please update software.”
“I'm a bit jealous of the Byratine empire, there's have much more personality.”
As the fall continued for around an hour, beams of light started to penetrate the rover, and scan the beings inside the vehicle, Saia gripped a simple metallic cane to his side, while he muttered something as he was being scanned.
“ID 4528.”
The mechanical walls started to leak out a silver gas that slowly condensed over the rover, this action slowly lead the rover to softly land on the ground, as the gas retreated the rover was now parked in a massive, yet dimly lit tunnel.
“Even now I'm still amazed most of them were able to make something of this scale, their actions, their thoughts, and their goals, were really far too grand.”
Saia turned to the robot driver, and gave a brief order.
“Drive along the center.”
The robot nodded, and continued driving into the gigantic tunnel, that oddly resembled a hollowed out, massive turbine.
….............
Glowing lights in a multitude of colors shone like stars underneath the night sky, and above the ocean waters. Floating on the vast body of water were gigantic man made islands, housing countless buildings reaching into the sky. Flying over some of these cities were several giant structures resembling a snow dome, with plants, and trees buried deeps inside.
Giant highways floating atop the dark waters connected these massive islands together, in an intricate web. The largest of these islands was called Elysium, the heart of the Byratine empire.
Somewhere hidden within the depths of the island, a giant capsule lay entrenched in the center of a lab, the capsule spanned several meters, and was filled with a green gel. Air bubbles could be seen from a small shadow floating inside, it was that of a baby with purple skin, and a horns growing from it's head.
Wires, cables, and medical equipment were latched unto the tube, constantly printing out information with loud beeps, and buzzes.
Men in lab coats constantly maneuvered in the back ground testing samples, and hovering over other large tubes, filled with the bodies, and organs of orcs, and other strange organisms. Some of the samples were still twitching and even staring at the scientists as they walked by.
Looking over this scene was a middle aged man, his sharp features resembled a hawks, his gray eyes were clear, and his short black hair was combed neatly. Despite only wearing plain white clothing, they gave him a regal, yet plain elegance. He glanced at a cloaked figure hidden behind in a corner, and spoke in a calm manner.
“Lazarus, for our sake, I hope you are right about this.”
Just as the man finished talking, a light blue liquid flowed from one of the IV lines, going into the tube, and entering the baby's body. The baby slowly shuddered, and twitched, and a powerful soundless whine slowly spread out the lab room.
The phenomenon had no sound, but the emotion of pain, and fear spread out in the lab, one of the machines monitoring the baby beeped loudly before short circuiting. Some of the lab workers were actually knocked unconscious from the wave of emotion.
“Hey someone get them a medic.”
“This happened again?”
A small fuss was made, but the people acted as if this was normal.
The man in white smiled, “amazing, to think something with such a small body could produce so much energy. Even most of our best bio-engineered humans couldn't compare.”
“Great leader, the prince is from a powerful lineage, it is currently trying to call out for his kin subconsciously, the connection will definitely happen.”
“No need for titles Lazarus, just call me Kostis, we are after all both benefiting from this.”
The man call Lazarus nodded.
“Then when project is successful, I hope you will realize my wish as well.”
A gentle smile formed on Kostis' face as he spoke confidently.
“Once the migration is complete, I will aid you in your desire.”
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The man in the black cloak nodded, and his body slowly disintegrated turning into ashes, that eventually disappeared from the lab.
While Kostis focused on the baby, a vibrant feminine voice whispered in his ears.
“Can we trust him?”
“Ever since the failure of the space programs, I thought it would be over, but that creature provided us a good opportunity, we should be thankful.”
“But there is too much we do not know about him, we are risking a lot of resources for this.”
A small smile was etched on Kostis' lips as he spoke to the woman hidden from view.
“That ancient thing has a lot of mysteries to him, but there is one thing he has in common with many people, he's blinded by his desire.”
“Such as?”
“A simple emotional thing really, in a way it actually makes him more relateable, he desires revenge.”
Just as he finished, a strange rumbling could be heard, from his clothes a holographic projection of a video could be seen.
In the outskirts of a city, a multi-winged demon leading thousands of orcs, could be seen ripping through tanks with his claws, crushing android soldiers with his fists, and deflecting bullets with his flesh. The orcs behind the demon easily took several bullets in the face, and chest but still moved on relentlessly.
Kostis smiled at the scene, and sighed.
“Looks like it's from the outskirts of one the mainland cities, seems like an elite force with how easily they brushed off several bullet wounds. It seems they are getting closer.”
The woman spoke in a calm tone.
“The militia wouldn't be able to handle this. I'm afraid the people there will be sacrificed.”
A sad expression could be seen on his face, as he spoke in a depressed tone.
“It's truly unfortunate, but we don't have the room for them, we can only use the mainland as shields, until the plan goes through.”
…......
The giant cavern was filled with many buildings, the walls, and ceilings were covered by tubes, wires, and mechanical equipment. Saia was walking past a graveyard filled with bones, metal, destroyed vehicles, and robots. In his hands were two bags fulls of items, as if he just went grocery shopping, while walking past an ancient battleground.
The bones resembled great beasts, orcs, humans, and mechanical monstrosities.
As Saia slowly walked past the corpses he noticed a skull several meters wide, shaped like a goat with canine teeth, and lightly whistled.
“It seems some new ones have been added recently.”
He trudged along the rubble until he reached a small isolated statue, that was half demolished, and was no longer recognizable.
“Access code fair weather.”
A slow rumble echoed in the silent battlefield, and a stair way leading deeper underground revealed itself next to the gray statue.
A placid expression was on his face as he went in. The stairway had no light, and was very narrow, almost as if the walls were closing in on him. Saia lightly coughed as dry dust floated from the ceiling enveloping the small room. When he eventually reached the solid floor a small dim light could be seen in the corner of the simply made basement.
Their in the corner was a small nameless metallic tombstone atop a pile of dirt. Saia walked next to the tombstone and placed the bags down, from the bag he took out several bottles of wine, and one cup.
He then sat down on the ground, and stared at the tombstone quietly after a few minutes of silence, he took out a bottle, and poured the liquid over the grave.
A small sound of static could be heard, and eventually a grainy image of a woman could be seen projected from the tombstone, wearing thick glasses, a lab coat, and messy long hair. She looked to be in her forties, and wore an arrogant smile.
After some more static, the image slowly began to talk.
“Hah, if I can see your face like this it means I died huh?”
Saia poured some liquid into this own cup, and nodded gently.
“You died quite spectacularly.”
After taking a sip he poured more of the liquid from the bottle unto the grave.
“This one has a pretty complex finish, you'll like it.”
The woman just smiled as she watched Saia pouring the liquid into the soil.
“What year is it now?”
“2660, a little over two hundred years since.”
“.. And yet you look surprisingly well Saia.”
“Only a little better than you, Genova.”
The woman in the image snorted, as the projection leaned on the tombstone.
“I'm assuming a lot has happened?”
“A bit, but people being stupid is pretty much the majority of the events, regardless of the era.”
The image nodded gently, but focused on Saia again.
“.. And you?”
“Hmm killing time I suppose. I did manage to pick up a few kids during my travels.”
The woman in the image raised her eyes slightly.
“Were you that lonely without me?”
Saia just shrugged his shoulders, as he poured another cup.
“You must be joking, the random encounters were merely a twist of fate.”
The woman in the image stared at Saia with a glint in her eyes.
“.. And what did you do to them?”
“I offered them a life choice, and they took it. Some of them were even compatible with you're relics.”
“Oh? Even that feather?”
Saia closed his eyes, and kept silent while taking out a separate bottle, this time it was filled with black liquid. He took a slow time savoring it, before pouring the contents of the bottle unto the grave.
“This one is pretty earthy, you might like it.”
“Are you ignoring me?”
“Of course not, just know the relics you left behind are in good hands, I even added a bit of my own improvements.”
“Hmph, nothing I ever made needed improvements.”
Saia just sighed lightly at her arrogance even after death. He told her about various things, the major events that happened in the world, and the events of the present.
“So in short, the world went to hell.”
“.... Sure, if you put it that way.”
“Haah, still I was pretty sure my chances were good.”
Saia just nodded lightly.
“But you failed, died in a showy manner, and became the most hated woman in history of this world.”
She glared at Saia with a visible frown on her lips.
“You forgot to add genius to that list.”
“You, and the others really love yourselves huh.”
She gently touched her chest, and smiled.
“My heart is pretty big, although I do love myself, theirs still enough room for you, and everyone else. Most of the others were selfish pricks.”
“Hmph.”
Saia took out a few large plates, and bowls, slowly filled it with a hearty sandwiches, fine charred meat, grilled vegetables, and a rich soup.
Genova stared at him eating, with interest.
“I'm a bit surprised you made all that, normally you would eat a plain sandwich and stuff yourself with nutrient liquids to save time.”
“Well a few things happened....”
“Hmph, I see. It's a bit annoying seeing you enjoying yourself, while I'm dead though.”
“Well it's a consequence of your own actions.”
Genova nodded slightly, but her eye slowly grew more serious as she stared at Saia.
“You didn't just come here to rub you life, in my face right?”
Saia slowly ate a portion of the sandwich before nodding.
“Yea, I'm going to hasten your plan.”
“..... Are you sure?”
“Everyone else is doing their own thing, and after a few events, I determined the timing was pretty good as well.”
A slightly sad expression was revealed on her face, as she spoke in a solemn tone.
“I hid those things pretty well, event those fools probably wouldn't have saw it coming, if they were alive anyways. Those things should still be active despite all the years that passed.
After a small silence she continued.
“The command code is in my cane.”
“I know.”
“This means we won't be seeing each other anymore, right?”
“Yeah, I'll keep your cane as a souvenir.”
She closed her eyes, and sighed.
“Sorry for all the trouble Saia.”
“It's fine.”
“You realize what you're about to do right?”
“Don't worry, I'm not deluded enough to deny what's going to happen.”
After finishing his meal Saia stood up, and dug out some small marble sized capsules from his clothes. He then threw it around the room, the capsules were releasing some powder, and gas. Genova just watched the act silently without making a sound.
“Well, I'll leave the remaining food with you.”
“That's quite the generous offering.”
Saia just chuckled lightly as he began to walk away, while Genova watched him leave silently.
“Saia, it was nice seeing you one last time.”
“Yeah, enjoy the food I left you.”
“I will, and thank you.”
Saia just smiled as he went up the stairs, eventually the room started to shake, and a bright flame erupted all over the room, the flame started to devour the spread over the wine, and turn the food to ashes. The image of the lone woman flickered violently as the flame started to sear the electronics embedded in the room, and some of the simple furniture as well.
The ash, and smoke grew thick, and the image started to flicker, a sad smile formed on her face, as everything was engulfed in a bright pillar, and her body was gradually going away.
She whispered something, but the sound was no longer discernible, and no one was around to listen to it, the image vanished, and eventually she once again, disappeared from this world.