Chapter 4:

Damni and Hakari’s soul kernel remained silently prostrate on the floor.

Very soon, the Clone had had enough. “Get up. I’m not going to terminate your existence—” He widened his crackling eyelids and spoke meaningfully to Hakari. “. . . Either of you.”

Then his tone grew weary, and he took on a confiding manner. “It’s bad enough that my original is testing the bounds of Karma, Balance, and Reality by having me serve as his scapegoat to accomplish—” He waved a hand back at the two frozen and floating Ka Dominions. “. . . this dirty work with these undesirables . . . I won’t actually become adharmic to serve our purposes— Regardless of how much I agree with them.”

And Damni had to give credit for craftiness where it was due. Zenyak Marztanak, the axe-wielding Bulwark of the Polar Neutral Iteration (home to the Marztanaks, the leading faction of Immortals,) was pretty sharp to use a consciousness clone to accomplish anything that was questionably non-dharmic.

A consciousness clone was the exact representation of the Immortal that spawned it. Its knowledge, experience, predilections, and actions would all be the same as its original at the time of its conception. Whatever the originator desperately wanted to accomplish at the time of the clone’s conceiving . . . the clone would also desire. Of course, the clone would only have one percent of the original’s Ka reserves, strength, and capacities. But when you were as powerful as Zenyak, one percent was more than enough to accomplish just about anything. Given that Zenyak was the original, Damni was certain that the fractalized clone before her could implode this entire iteration they were currently sitting in with power to spare.

While it was true that all Immortals of a certain advancement could conceive and spawn a consciousness clone. Zenyak’s cleverness was that, if he didn’t resorb the Ka he had put into creating the Clone, he would not carry any Karmic burden for its actions . . . dharmic or adharmic. So, writing off the one percent investment would spare the original the consequences of any . . . less than savory acts.

At the clone’s bidding and his extended hand to assist her up, Damni started to raise her Dominion to its feet. Halfway up, the Clone stopped and locked gazes with her and the seriousness of his baritone words could not be denied. “. . . Of course, you two have completely sabotaged my plans at a very critical junction. I will require your assistance in completing my purpose . . . Agreed?” The clone's grip on her hand and elbow became extremely firm with his last word.

Knowing which way the wind was blowing was something that both Damni and Haraki had become very good at in their respective existences. Even Damni wasn’t sure which one of them had voiced their agreement first.

“Of course, Lord Clone!”

How may we be of assistance? Hakari echoed in the Cheeta Affin’s mentation.

“Excellent.” The Clone spoke matter-of-factly and snapped his fingers. Both of the adharmic Ka-Dominated avatars in the back of the room immediately incinerated in a heatless blaze of turquoise and ultramarine flames matching the clone’s current fractal colors.

Immortality is a myth indeed. Echoed through the Dominion’s mind. There was no doubt to either Damni or Hakari that the path of both adharmic Immortals had ended in that instant.

“We need to be away from here.” The Clone waved his hand again, and. . .

. . . They reappeared on the bridge of what must have been a massive starship. Through the 30-meter-high viewports, Damni’s Ka-Dominion’s eyes saw the forward section a starship that must have been larger than most terrestrial planet’s continents, stretch out before her. The bow ended in an X-configuration. Thousands of tiny lights could be seen swarming the main body of the ship like gnats around a hand torch in a swamp. Damni knew each light represented a ship full of work crews, skin-to-skin ship transporters, repair bots, supply frigates, and a likely host of other purposes her current mortal mind was too slow to conceive. The thousands of ships flew to and fro around the mother vessel and gave both onlookers an idea about the ship’s massive scale.

This must be one of the Hegemon Class Arc ships that Zenyak Marztanak designed and commissioned to do battle and protect the living spirit beings during the multiverse’s battle against the Undead Sky Commandant, Zelviz. The ultimately powerful undead and his profane quest to eradicate all life from the multiverse.

All life being eliminated from the universe is turning out to be a common theme with you Immortals . . . Hakari couldn’t help but make the observation, having known Damni less than ten micro-gyra.

Why do you think some of us are fighting so hard to save you lot? Damni couldn’t keep the mental snicker out of her reply.

Hakari chuckled dryly back. It was just funny enough to be true. Then the spirit remainder of Hakari admitted, The fight against Zelviz is not a history I am aware of . . .

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I’m not surprised, the war even predates my time as a mortal. It was over 2 billion galactic standard rotations ago—

A disembodied androgynous voice spoke and interrupted their internal conversation. “Greetings, Damni of the Masters and Hakari Dima, formerly Cheetah Affin— My Apologies, Hakari. I’m uncertain as to what your exact current status as a living being is —I am the Intelligence sitting in administrative control of the Hegemon-1307. Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, Intelligence,” Damni responded for both of them, as it was unlikely that Intelligence could pull off whatever miracle Zenyak’s clone was by communicating with Haraki’s Karmically lashed soul kernel.

“You are both accorded guest status and will have whatever consumption and rejuvenation accommodations you require. You can reach me by simply calling out my name anywhere on the Hegemon. Please do not hesitate to do so.”

The Cheetah Affin nodded in appreciation as two mortal crewmen walked up in the standard blue and silver jumpers Damni had seen being worn by the bridge officers around her. And now that she considered it, it was strange that none of the bridge officers had taken special notice of a Cheetah Affin appearing completely at random aboard their starship. . .

The two corpsmen that approached were both Sorana. Humanoids with earth-toned and thick, pebbly/scaly skin. Wide-chested, they stood less than four feet tall. Each bore the species' usual broad forehead crest and a small ivory nasal horn.

Intelligence continued. “I am aware that the Lord Clone will be meeting with you momentarily. Until then, I have taken the liberty of placing an order with the medical corpsmen to provide your Ka Dominion with the standard anabolic breath apparatus we use for cancer patients after a treatment round of cellular radiation therapy. I believe that it will provide you with greatly accelerated regrowth for . . . whatever . . . you will be needing the Dominion’s physical capacities for.

The Sorana set up a framework chair and bid the Cheeta Affin to sit. They then fit the headgear with a large transparent face plate over the Dominion’s head. Quick inflation of the neck collar sealed it off, and the chamber filled with a cloudy mist that Damni could tell significantly fueled the accelerated healing she had started back at the conference hall. To her perception, the Cheetah Affin’s muscles, ligaments, organs, and skin were now being detectably restored.

Finished, the pair of corpsmen folded up the chair and stepped away after informing her that the treatment would run its course in 45 micro-gyra.

Damni nodded the avatar's head and the Cheeta Affin’s voice was slightly muffled through the breathing apparatus’ face plate as she spoke. “Thank you, Intelligence. This kindness is appreciated.”

“Of course. Now I believe I am to escort you to the Lord Clone. If you would please follow my directions.” Blinking lights appeared on the floor under the Cheetah Affin’s feet and led out of the bridge’s main doors. The meter-thick portals slid quietly away on angles and allowed them to exit.

Twenty-five micro-gyra and multiple high-speed trams, active walkways moving fast enough to blow the Affin’s fur down on her face, and a hovercraft that jetted over an internal rainforest later, Damni came to an area of the ship with elevated living standards. High-end star wood frames bore wall-sized oil paintings of battles between species in starships that, even as an Immortal, Damni needed her Ethos Combi to identify.

The flooring was obsidian stone plates that had been hand-cut and carved into intricate patterns of animals, forests, warships, and winds or possibly currents . . . Regardless, the obsidian templates had originated from some jewel-laden lava flow. Diamonds and sapphires, thick as a humanoid’s thumbnail, could be seen glinting below their feet, at least where thick cream-colored rugs that lined the middle of the widened hallways didn’t cover them.

There had also been a change in the duty personnel stationed along their path. A cadre of armored space marines, whom Damni identified as moderately advanced mortal cultivators, now guarded the crossways and portals the Ka Dominion passed through. At an impressively wide portal of plasteel bearing a crossed axe over a double shield, a mismatched pair of marines, one a tall, slim, grey-nobbly-skinned humanoid with a head-capping breathing apparatus sporting a fully opaque face plate, stood next to an extremely broad-chested and heavily scared Hippo Affin. They both bowed their heads and opened the door to where Damni hoped the clone was waiting . . .

. . . And there he stood in his eternal cascade of cobalt fractals, apparently in silent contemplation as he looked out over the forward section of the ship through a 5-meter-high viewport as they arrived.

Without preamble or turning from the viewport, the clone spoke. “What do you know of the Seedency of Marztanak Heirs in line for the Command Seat of the Polar Neutral Iteration’s Hegmoncy?”

Unexpected, . . . but really, have any of my interactions with the Lord Clone been business as usual so far? Damni couldn’t help but reflect. Haraki gave agreement to her feelings with a silent internal nod.

“. . . Just that the seedency is the line of succession for the twenty Immortal-born progeny of your Son, Tenyak, and his wives –”

The Clone muttered over Damni’s reply, “—All a waste of Intention, Immortal Ka, and my time . . . the lot of them— Save two.” The clone raised his hand with the index and pointer extended in a ‘V.’ “. . . The first two, Denyak, the eldest . . . and Senyak, who is second in line to replace my son. These two have been acceptable thus far. But for very different reasons, mind you—”

The blue fractals comprising the Clone accelerated in their revolution, and he turned from his viewport gazing to connect directly with the Ka Dominion’s eyes. The seriousness of his stare was undeniable. “. . . Now, concerning these two, a need arose and I accepted the task of testing both their mettle . . . Your actions have disrupted my plotted scheme. In recompense, I will need your assistance with their . . . evaluations.”

The Clone turned and led them deeper into the room where he bid them to sit at a long, dark wood table. “. . . This is how we will begin . . .”

And the Clone spun a tale that neither Damni nor Haraki thought would be possible. But really . . . was any of this so far?