The ten-year-old girl ran through the massive empty halls of the upper palace. When she glanced behind her, her eyes widened at the massive armored men in pursuit. Iona was a member of the Bios, humans who did not embrace the machine or become energy beings. Instead, they enhanced their physical bodies. The royal guards were fast, dangerously so, but Iona was not going to let that scare her. She reached in her kimono and removed a cube with runic symbols carved on the black surface.

Using the words of Hermes, her legs locked up as if gravity laid its crushing weight on her small body. Panic rushed in like a flood. Was she wrong with her mathematical equations? No, the girl may only be ten but she wouldn't make a stupid mistake like that. It was only a matter of time before the guard caught up with her.

As if some god answered her prayer, her legs were electrified by a static bolt from the cube. She took off as lighting in a storm. The girl flicked the guards her middle finger, an obscene gesture from Aeons past.

"Screw you, jerks! None can catch Iona the infinite!" cried Iona as she escaped from the royal guards.

Iona turned to an empty hall and towards a window. She stopped herself before she crashed into it and observed the marvel of the lower palace. Everyone looked tiny to young Iona.

"Computer, show me a map of the upper palace." A hard light screen manifested from the cube and showed all of the floors, entry points, and exit points of the palace. Iona's goal was to head to the gate which would translate her to the lower palace. By the stars, this would be difficult. Father would probably have guards stationed there.

"Princess, why are you running from the master of humanity?" Iona's personal AI had a feminine voice.

"Father wants to send me to a guild, that jerk." Before she could say the next word, the AI interrupted her with a loud, drawn-out sigh.

"Princess, the master has your best interests at heart. The guilds are fun and, with respect, I do sense a degree of anxiety in you."

The girl’s expression hardened. "Be quiet, or I will repurpose you to oversee waste."

The AI was correct but Iona wouldn't admit it to a machine. Part of her was terrified of joining the guilds. She had imagined that she would spend her eternity in the palace, content in a life of luxury and ease.

"Computer, show me my options."

"Dimensional travel, or the gateway. There is a third option, but it is ill-advised. My calculations only show me a 50 percent chance of a successful escape."

"Explain. I came too far to let father catch me."

"With the words of Icarus, you could fly out the window. That is the good news. The bad news is that you will easily be seen and caught as the wings are bright."

"Blasted, well I can tear a hole in reality, and with the right equations, I will be able to reach the lower palace." Iona was confident in her problem-solving. She was Iona the infinite, and she never made mistakes. Well, at least she didn’t think she did.

"My lady, I advise caution; there is a chance that you may end up in the fae dimension. While you should be safe, some fae are horrid creatures, and neither your freedom nor survival can be assured."

"Are you saying that my equations are wrong?"

"No, but arrogance is a poor shield to trust in."

Iona could only snort in response. Her options were limited -- more so than she liked. To collect her thoughts, she took out her tape recorder, an outdated device from Earth in the nuclear age. "Daily log, I have to escape the upper palace and my AI is telling me my options are limited. This is not good. If mother comes home before I escape, then it will be quite a situation." Iona paused to catch her breath; a limitation that never failed to irritate her. Unlike the Digital Ones and the ascended, she needed to breathe once in a while.

She resumed."Father wants to send me to a guild. Have I displeased him? No, I am the smartest and favorite child. How could I displeasure him? Nevertheless, I shall escape the upper palace, end log." Iona's daily logs were her escape from reality. Where she could reflect on her thoughts and even come back to them.

"Princess, forgive me for speaking out of turn but what will you do if you escape the upper palace?" The AI was blunt and to the point in addressing the young princess.

Iona stared into space, the question seemed like it broke her for a couple of seconds. “What will I do?" Iona pondered on the aspect of life outside the palace.

"My princess, if you even do escape, you have few options. You are Iona the infinite, heir to the Solar Empire. An empire that spans the entire galaxy. Both the Digital Ones and The Ascended bow down to your father in reverence. Even the cryptic Fae think twice before they act, lest they agitate his temper. If you leave the palace, it will be noticed. By my calculations, you will be caught in minutes, if not seconds."

The words of the AI stung, almost as bad as a bee sting. However, if the AI needed to say that to her, then it must be for a good reason.

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"Create a dimensional rift, I will take my chances. Hurry, before the royal guard comes." In microseconds, the cube closed shut. Like a knife cutting through bread, the cube conjured a beam that ripped open a hole in space-time. The rift screamed as a mother giving birth.

Iona took the cube and entered the rift.

On the other side, she landed on a transparent floor that contained numerous celestial objects. Some were black holes, others were star systems, and some were lonely planets.

"Computer, explain this place, report!"

"My princess, we have arrived at the observatory." Before the AI could continue, Iona stomped on the ground in rage. This was even worse than expected.

"Get to the point you stupid machine!" Roared Iona with her fists raised in the air as if she was shaking her fists at some imaginary deity.

"No need to be rude about it. The observatory is ruled by a powerful Ascendant that has managed to form a physical body. It has celestial bodies, dimensional aliens, and other oddities in hard light. You can look under your feet princess. Simply move your oculars to the ground and look. Please don't tell me that I need to teach you how to look."

Iona opened her mouth to say a curse so foul that her mother would slap her for such a word, but a light shone in her face that was so bright that she recoiled back in pain. This light was a fiery red like the fury of a star. When the light faded, a man with white hair appeared, holding a bright golden staff in his right hand. On top of it sat a green orb that radiated with cosmic energies.

"Princess Iona, what are you doing here? Does your father know you are here? I detected a dimensional opening and I had to investigate." Despite waves of dark power flowing from his form in a display of might, his temperance was as placid waters.

"Please do not lie, my mind is connected with yours and I will know."

His psionic power felt like an overbearing teacher with a ruler in his grasp. One mistake would cost Iona's hand dearly.

Iona coughed heavily, covering her mouth she turned to examine the room. Custodians made of silicon cataloged the endless collection. One of the constructs was staring at the two humans.

"Iona, answer me; even for immortals, time is valuable. Tell me what is wrong, as you are never here unless you are running."

Running from the overseer would not only be stupid, but it would also be mental. Iona ran the equations. The probability of failure was over ninety-nine percent; the possibility of success was well under one percent.

"You see, I was-- no I--" She trailed off, as her words failed her. Iona hated to admit it, but she felt a fear so thick that it felt crushing. She took a deep breath to steady herself and examined her options. Iona could run, fight the man, or tell the truth.

"Father wants to send me to a guild and I may or may not have said some words that were not appropriate and ran." Telling the truth was liberating for most, but for young Iona, it was such a burden.

The ascended's body fluxed between physical and incorporeal as if surprised. The expression on his face told Iona all she needed to know. With one motion, he slapped his face with a groan. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. This ancient man was baffled at the stupidity of Iona's thinking.

"Young Iona, you are an idiot."

The word idiot stung Iona, and she clenched fists. Instead of fear, she felt nothing but anger.

For all the emotion on Iona’s face, the Ascended paid no heed to it. "Now tell me this, how would you get off-world? Dimensional travel is off the table, for as gifted as you are, you do not know how to solve the equations for that kind of distance. A ship is out of the question, as you are heir to our galaxy-spanning empire. Where would you go? Let's say you did get a ship, you are known throughout the galaxy. Remember the time you baked a cake for all of the dynasties. It was a god-awful cake but it was a sweet gift." The ascendant stopped his speech despite not needing to take a breath.

Iona bit her lower lip as she looked to the transparent ground. All of her arrogance, pride, and the walls of her confidence were being knocked down.

"Hey, that cake was above average and everyone loves chocolate." Iona pouted, stomping her foot for emphasis.

The ascended chuckled at the small princess; she may tend to do stupid things, she did have her moments.

"Come, let me take you to your father."

"By the stars, no! I can do my equations and find my way back. Now I just need to determine the distance and how far I traveled." Iona started her calculations, and the process went on for about 24 hours. At this point, the ascended groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you done yet, do you need help?"

"No, I got this, I am Iona the infinite; I will get this right." Iona continued solving her equations and the time increased to 30 hours.

Iona was in a pickle and her pride was on the line. The word help was poison as to her, for she is the smartest! She was the master of arcane technology, and only she had the power to travel the dimensional pockets! Her stomach growled like a wolf that found a rival trespassing on its territory. When she looked up at the Ascended, she only saw patience that transcended time.

Iona stopped her calculations and sucked in her breath. By the universe, she could not solve the equation. She needed to ask for help, or worse call for her mother, or father.

With her heart beating twice as fast, she turned to the ascended with tears forming in her eyes.

"Help me, please." The word ‘please’ wounded her like no other.

The ascended with one hand, he tore a hole in the fabric of reality. He grabbed Iona’s hand and went through the portal.

Iona found herself in a room that was familiar to her: her bedroom. Above her were spinning moons that radiated with luminous light. The bed had sheets bearing the image of a hero from an old-Earth comic book.. A TV was suspended by anti-gravity technologies and a beatbox was in the corner. Among all of the rooms in the palace, the room of the princess was relatively simple.

On her bed was a man whose beard was well kept and his eyes were violet color. Instead of the armor of starlight, or other royal clothing, he wore a shirt and pants.

Behind Iona, the Ascended translated away after a quick bow.

"Iona, sit down beside me." The man's voice was a bit deep, deep enough to scare a bear into submission.

"Yes, Dad." Iona rolled her eyes as she sat next to her father, the ruler of the Solar Empire.

"I am not angry with you, just please tell me why you ran." He placed his arms around the shoulders of Iona.

Iona was surprised; in her mind, she expected anger, disappointment, and punishment. However, she got a calm patient tone. She was having trouble processing it.

"You were going to send me to a guild where I have to follow a strict and structured system. I just don't want to deal with that. Brother said it was like hell."

The master of the universe laughed at the statement. He couldn't help himself; her answer was so funny. Although, he would have to speak to the prince after this.

"My daughter, your brother was messing around with you. Life in the guilds is full of adventure, training, and parties. You need training as you could barely leave the palace properly." He embraced his daughter who was now surprised but pissed.

"The fucker, I will get him back for this!" Iona clenched her fists.

"Yes yes but for now you will get ready. To show you that you will have a good time, I have inducted you in the guild of princesses in the field of the Arcane."

The field of the Arcane was a stepping stone in learning the enigmatic technologies of mankind and that caused Iona to perk up with a smile.

"Now Iona, I know you are starving so I decided to bring in your favorite meal."

The master of the universe waved his hand and on their laps appeared plates of fries, cheeseburgers with crispy bacon, and root beer.

"Daddy, thank you so much I love you. I am sorry, please forgive me."

"You are forgiven, but you have to deal with your mother. This time, I am not going to help you with that. Let me tell you, I will fight gods, horrors that break minds, and the universe itself but I will not fight your mother. By the stars she is frightening." Her father chuckled while he talked.

Iona chuckled as when she ran, she cursed her mother. She did not look forward to it but for now, she would eat.

Iona the infinite and her father enjoyed a good meal together and he tucked Iona in bed and left her room.