ISSUE 3: BRAIN CASE
There are situations out there far worse than death.—X’mil
The Throne is gone! A multi-universal phase shield is around the House of Healing. Mocking everyone. When the Living Stone gets too close? It crumbles. We will need to create a scout that can examine the structure. I have the perfect candidate. –The All-Father.
While time marched forward normally for everyone else outside of the Whitehome system, I was learning some important basics. Years of training. Turns out I didn’t know half of anything about how to use what they termed Kitan aka Dream Dancing. Along with Gwen. The Weave had given her a bit of her Sight back. It would be needed to meet the “Three Voices” as C’tar named them. A direct conduit to the Weave? I assumed so but it was more than that. The way the Typherians came into this universe would be the tipping point. To be a force for the Weave or Unity. My endgame? To free the rest of mom’s people. All because Set poisoned them so long ago. Chaining them to the outside corruption.—Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 23rd century (vol 2)
The All-Father’s Domain
Zygotic Expanse (Tarkanan)
E’ratha blinked. The space around her was nearly pitch black. Except for an odd coding of letters she didn’t recognize. Arrayed before her as 5 pillars. Each scrawled with crimson calligraphy. Mathematically correct spacing. Almost as if an engineer wrote it all. She attempted to reach out. Her arms didn’t respond. She whirled around. Yet she had no weight. No breath.
No wind on her face.
She screamed.
Yet no sound came out.
*****
X’mil watched the readings from the jar. It was more than that but it amused him. His great and mighty cousin was reduced to a braincase. Literally. The fluid sparked a bit as she realized that something was horridly wrong. The orange tendrils shooting out to drug her into oblivion. Her body was hooked up to the Brood Vats. To be used by Sister Nyx to produce more creatures as cannon fodder. Dangerous yet useful. Even as their lives were short and unremarked in most cases. The best part? Her spinal nodes would create more Bathemoths that would topple the old models. He couldn’t wait to see the look on the Union scrubs faces when one of those ugly giants hurled their ordinance back at them. From what he saw of the Vats within this place?
Women were useful wombs.
As for anything else? He found himself moving beyond mere fleshly concerns.
Unity had given him a purpose. One that would see J’ino’s spawn wither on the vine.
Unlike Set, he wouldn’t try to circumvent his superiors.
His desires were nothing in comparison to the horrors awakening within Tarkanan.
*****
The All-Mother raised the crystal dais. Upon it, the sleeping wife of the Scholar Matarn floated. Her face was blank. Frustratingly serene. Urraden's lip curled. Distaste washing over her. She growled, “Your husband will fail. They cannot reach you here. Why keep up appearances?”
There was no outward response. Just tendrils of black hair floating about the Scholar woman’s head. Those disgusting Light Shaman tattoos crisscrossed along her chest, legs, and arms. Her cerulean blue within blue eyes closed for another eternity. What kept that captive going? Blind faith? The All-Mother hissed, “The Weave cannot save you!”
She stormed out.
Old memory nipping at her heels.
*****
Sy’ra watched the assassin through other means. Channeling the Dreaming. Just enough to maintain her threads connecting her to her son and husband. But a new thread had found its way into the web. One brought upon divine winds. A secret promise. The devils of this place hadn’t been able to touch her body or soul. Merely keep her captive. Yet she talked with the Three. Their faces are a mix of Typherian and another race. Young. Impulsive. Hopeful. She curled a bright white thread around the girl, “Listen to them. They will teach you. No need for names. Tell me, does the White Mother walk openly?”
The Triplets replied, “Yes.”
The Temple of the Three
Whitehome, City of Light
Terran Time Syncing
Gwen winced as Eliza smacked against the energy barrier.
Face first.
Various weights around her wrists and ankles.
By staying within the practice circle she was reduced to near-human strength. Doc had one hand over her right eye. Peeking between fingers as the Dreaming Kitan master danced around Eliza. Tripping her to the floor as she tried to move through the Dreaming layer to get at him.
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Another crack as Eliza whirled on the balls of her feet. She had crossed her forearms over her head as the master struck with full force. Others surrounded them. Watching as the battle played out. Thomas rested a palm against the energy barrier. Ra noted, No wonder the Weave made such a drastic time shell around this system. They will be able to show our Light Sages a thing or two.
Thomas noticed how slow his daughter seemed. But her stance was getting better. In the months they had been here. Or had it been a year already? His internal HUD still blinked with the Time synch alert.
Ta’mathon grinned within his mindscape. “That is of no consequence here. Watch her movements. They need to train against her. Her invulnerability lets them test their limits.” That was the truth. Even as she retaliated, knocking the master and his two adepts into the corner with a reverse snap kick, the blows were muted. C’tar remarked, “It helps her overcome her fear of hurting people. There will be a time when she will not hold back.”
*****
I cracked my knuckles. Master Dy’kin aimed another kick at my ribs. While the two other men dived low, rolling towards me, two sets of feet lifting me into the air. I barely had time to reach up with my hand to stop myself from sliding into the energy barrier. I had become so accustomed to my super reflexes that this was a new sensation. I shifted into the Dreaming. The life energy of my opponents was outlined with purple auras. Concentrated areas indicated vulnerable points. Dy’kin had found my ability to dive into the in-between as he called it quite remarkable. Since it was something that had been developed by their Light Sages.
C’alain murmured, “It was always within you. White had to curtail that part of you.”
Could Dexter use Kitan?
My ghost mentor replied, “No. His domain has other considerations.”
I caught Dy’kin’s right foot with my left hand. I spun and sent him flying for once. C’tar called out, “Alright! It is time for prayer!” The shield was deactivated. My parents helped me remove the dampeners. They had been worried if this would work outside Whitehome’s systems. C’tar had seen through their real concerns. He had said, “It only works within this temple. The Weave wanted it that way.”
Had it known my inner fears?
I shook off my worries. Gwen and the others were depending on me.
But I couldn’t deny it. It knew things before I even considered them.
C’tar glanced at me, “The Path is already set. We merely walk upon its well-worn surface.”
Typha
Argax City
Merchant Quarter
The Behemoth set the black case down. Waiting.
The surface of the metal shifted. Taking the form of 5 thin spindle-shaped protrusions. Much like a spider. Within the center was a pink-gray mass. A low warbling sound called out into the desolate abandoned city, “What have they done!?!”
E’ratha boiled with rage.
It was bad enough she had to live through this artificial shell.
Worse? Typha was a tomb.
She didn’t want to think about her circumstances but the environment around her gave her no choice in the matter. She was damned. Her bodyguard, more like Jailer, she thought sourly, loped alongside. Always keeping her in reach. Another wonder of Sister Nyx. E’ratha seethed. She would get her body back. Then find a way to purge it of Keeper influences. She knew that Lanis woman had part of her Houses’ medical files. The Codex. What else had Set and his ilk corrupted? She didn’t even trust the All-Father. No matter what kind of honeyed words he spouted. If he cared then the endless legions of Living Stone wouldn’t have coated this planet. Was the Union all talk? Or did they just care too much about the Commons dogs nipping at their betters?
She came to a stop as a bit of color registered on her shell’s instruments.
The Healing Hall. As it was known now. Formerly a bastion to House bloodlines? Now? Blessed by that half-breed mongrel and the only building not covered in layers of ash. High above 15 black dragons circled. Nearly encasing the entire planet. How had they not noticed this?! She reared back as alerts played across all the screens. Blinding her.
She still thought of things in the manner of having a body.
The speech of the Keepers buzzed.
//Send the probe. Wait for it to return.//
She had no choice. A sharp pinprick reminded her of the control chip hooked into her brain. She hissed, “I will find a way.”
Nyx noted the subject’s feedback. Typical. She continued to monitor her newest experiment. The old Typherian brain proved to be quite useful. Nyx pushed E’ratha deeper into the city. They needed that data.
E’ratha howled as her limbs carried her forward without her consent. She wanted to see what this Living Stone was doing to her planet! She found she could control some of the probes so she sent them over to the area where her house citadel was located. Her mind came to a halt. It was ruined! The tall spires turned to crumbled dust. Like a giant had stomped all over the ancient stoneworks. Even with the added shielding and reinforcements, her ancestral home was shattered. As she got closer to the House of Healing her displays popped up with warnings.
///Weave material detected.///
///Multiphasic Shield detected.///
///Multiverse Flux!///
She shouted at Nyx, “It's enough!”
The Keeper ignored her.
The titanic brute with her threw itself at the barrier around the only pristine building left on the planet. Its skin flaked off. Exposing muscle and bone. Its death bellow a thing that would haunt E’ratha’s dreams.
Her brain flowed backward. Nearly to the edge of her containment tank.
“No!”
She didn’t want to die.
Bright white sigils exploded around her.
The divine weight of the Weave curling around her outer thoughts.
Do you wish for absolution?
She shouted, “You ask now?! WHY NOW?!”
*****
Nyx examined the data flowing across her screens. Even this close the various protective wards were fading. It had been worth the effort of losing the Titan prototype. She would make more of them to absorb the Weave’s energies. E’ratha would be useless for a while. Her mental waves were erratic. Seeing her planet probably added to that discomfort. It was useless sentimentality. The Keeper brought up the data on that small corgi dog. It had unusual telekinetic powers that even outstripped E’ratha in some areas. What were those foolish canines planning. Chronos had asked her to investigate. She found the flea-ridden Bardaxians rather plain and boring but whatever he wanted from it must be vital. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been assigned.
She hovered a few miles from the House of Healing. Transporting E’ratha to the bio-seeders. Her black shell peppered with the Weave’s holy lances. No matter. They would continue to develop the armor samples. She turned to X’mil, “It’s time to turn our efforts back to Earth.”
He nodded. His forehead was dotted with sweat.
His stomach curled. Even this close to that damnable Weave hub made his blood boil.
*****
The Lord of Chains watched these developments through his mirrors. Blessed obsidian from the Unity itself. It wouldn’t be long now. They would lose the Whitehome System. But that wasn’t the point. He had to share his knowledge with the right people. The Queen of the Last Egypt. Traveling with the Medusa of a different name. She would be able to suck the life from the allies of the Weave. She must be protected.
Unity had seen the destruction Renenutet had inflicted upon her home universe.
She would be the perfect opening salvo to the war.
The time of hiding was ending.
The Lord wasn’t fond of slow-moving subterfuge.