The two gods woke up and found themselves inside a white room, three chairs made of metal and a table at the center. Both of them have weird looking collars. Perdius tried to forcibly remove the collar, but he can’t.

Perdius: Hey, Marcus! Can you rot this damn thing?

Marcus: Let me try.

Marcus held his collar, his hands turned charred black. The collar begins to rust but overtime his hands returned to normal, so is the state of that collar.

Marcus: Something’s blocking my mana. Can’t you just go wild and tear everything in here? That’s what you’re good at, right?

Perdius: Nah, I can’t turn berserk with this ‘magic’ they’ve laid upon us. And hey! I don’t just trash things around!

The door in that room opens, a man wearing an unusual clothing, all black. He is being followed by the same metallic golems they’ve faced a while ago. Both stood away on the man, and stares at him, readying themselves to fight. The metallic golems raised their weapons, unusual crossbows, towards the two.

Man in black: Now, now. We don’t want to get ugly inside this room, I’m just here to talk.

Perdius: Says the one who caged us! If we wished to, we could tear this place apart!

Marcus: Explain yourself, human.

Man in black: I am Captain Stephen. You can say I run the security of this place. These are my trustworthy soldiers.

Perdius: Soldiers? They’re not –

The two golems lowered their weapons, their heads started moving weird, disintegrating and makes an opening that reveals the face man and a woman. The two thought these are golems, but in fact they are humans wearing very odd armor.

Marcus: That’s an armor…

Perdius: And a big one, on top of that.

Capt. Stephen: We couldn’t fight the likes of you, bare handed. Humans are weak and fragile compared to the beings of this world, thus we devise the right equipment and strategies to ensure safety and survival, technological advantages against the unforgiving world of yours.

Marcus: Our world?

Capt. Stephen: I will speak more if you cooperate with us, and along that cooperation no harm will come on both parties concerned.

Perdius: HAH! You dare bargain even you’re at the right distance of head smashing!

Capt. Stephen: I know even with that collar on your neck, you could perceive things far beyond than humans. Try and look around.

Both Marcus and Perdius looked at every direction. For a whole minute, the room went very quiet.

Perdius: Strange… it’s like there’s nothing outside… and there’s holes on the corners!

Marcus: What of it?

Capt. Stephen: Let’s say someone outside watches us, right now. If something were to happen on us, the holes will spray neurotoxin.

Perdius: We are gods! Trivial things like a toxin won’t affect us!

Capt. Stephen: Even it is not from this world?

Perdius: Wha – you dare mock us! We are superior! We can –

Marcus: Perdius, let’s hear him out…

Perdius: But!

Marcus: You’ve said to me already, our people missing, the Abode is planning something. There must be a menace lurking somewhere, and we need leads.

Capt. Stephen: Hmmm, menace? I could tell you more if you’re willing to –

Perdius: Fine! Keep up with your promises, and we keep ours. But the moment you betray us, or do something against us, this place will be turned into dust!

Marcus: I’ll assure what my brethren said. Answer our questions, and we’ll consider what you want. Cross the line, you’re dead.

Capt. Stephen: Good. We will answer your questions with utmost honesty.

Perdius: We?

The collars beeps, it unlocks and fell on the floor.

Capt. Stephen: We have a deal?

The human captain reaches his hands. Marcus hesitates, but he clasps his hands on the captain’s and they shook in agreement.

Marcus: You said ‘we’…

Capt. Stephen: I only said I run the security of this place, not the whole place.

They left the room, walked down to on a hallway with white tiles and walls, lit by lamps on the ceiling. They entered a gateway at the end of the hall that has a small chamber enough for five people. The captain presses a button on the wall of that chamber, and suddenly both Marcus and Perdius felt like they are being moved.

Marcus: Wh – what’s going on?

Capt. Stephen: This is a lift, and it’s moving us to another place.

Perdius: Now that I noticed it, the three of you doesn’t have any mana. You guys wear something like that collar thing we had?

Capt. Stephen: No. We are not from this world.

Perdius: So, you’re taking the beings of this world, our creation, as slaves?!

The captain sighs deeply. A ding was heard inside that chamber, and the door opens, leading to a very wide field. The field has plants, crops, and even farm animals. There are humans, and elves, and other beings of different races, others harvest the crops and fruits, some are children playing around that field. The two further looked around, the place is surrounded by walls with houses in them, and the sky was a huge dome ceiling that lights up the whole place as if its sunny day. The two gods walked around the field with the human captain and soldiers, the people of Elyn inside that place glances at the two and lowered their heads then they carried on at their doings.

Capt. Stephen: Quite famous, aren’t we?

Perdius: Are we outside?

Capt. Stephen: Nope.

Marcus: Then, that means we’re still –

Capt. Stephen: Underground, yes. Does this people look like slaves to you?

Perdius: They are not under in any kind of spell… they are… free?

Capt. Stephen: With that already cleared out, allow me to introduce who we are. We are the Institute of Humanity, or if that’s long you can call us the Institution. This place is the Facility B-18 one of the 30 others that we already built in this world. The main purpose of the Institution is to seek knowledge and use that obtained knowledge for the greater good.

Marcus: What is your goal on taking our people?

Capt. Stephen: We didn’t take them. in fact, we asked them, to join and become part of the Institution. Of course, we will provide them anything they need, as long as we will have a healthy relationship that make us prosper.

Perdius: And if they refuse?

Capt. Stephen: Well, we’ll just erase their memories of meeting us. No harm for both sides, we will remain in secret, and they will not be bothered by us.

Marcus: By any chance… are you connected to the kingdom of Altruis?

Capt. Stephen: Hmmm, I believe my superior will have to answer that.

Behind them was a man in black suit, has horns like a goat, and has a blue skin. The two gods leapt in shock, then both readied themselves and postures to attack the horned guy. Of course, the guards reacted by pointing their weapons on the two, but the captain jumps in to stop them.

Capt. Stephen: WOAH! WOAH!

Marcus: YOU’VE BEEN WORKING WITH AN ARCHDEMON?!

Capt. Stephen: Archdemon? Him?

The horned man laughs. He extends his hands towards the two gods to greet them.

Capt. Stephen: The man you’re trying to assault was the Assistant Director of this place, Mr. Hal’yo. He runs the whole place, and he’s my superior.

Hal’yo: I know that we, the archdemons, have been known as murderers, true monsters. Even the gods who created us despise us… *ahem* we should talk inside my office.

The captain and the two gods went with the demon to his office.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Perdius: I’ll tell you, human! This demon here will tear you apart!

Capt. Stephen: Then, why are we still here? He’s been here for years, and we trust him, and everyone else we recruited in this place.

Perdius and Marcus fell silent. The archdemon hands the two cups of coffee, and then the captain.

Hal’yo: We were saved. Years ago, before we got here, my people were already dying of starvation.

Marcus: We know about that, that’s why you started attacking everyone else. The magic of archdemons is not to be toyed with, making everyone fear you.

Hal’yo: I know, on the behalf of all archdemons, I apologize… we’ve been back to a corner… our gods abandoned us because of our power and left us to die in a barren land. And then, the Institution came. They were not afraid, they gave us food, clothing, helped us fix our home. Some questioned their motives, we even accused them as spies sent by the humans of Altruis. But they told the truth. They offered us prosperous life, showed their world and technology, in exchange of helping them. We hesitated, of course, fearing that we might be used as weapons or slaves, but no. And then, here we are, standing with the humans from another world, living side by side and helping one another. The same goes for the other beings, and thus a mutual relationship was formed.

Silence once again envelops the room. Perdius sips the coffee and places the empty cup on the table.

Perdius: Assistant whatever, right? So that means someone is much higher than you? Are all the assistant stuff archdemons?

Hal’yo: Yes, there’s a person higher than us, the director, and the director follows another higher position, but I’m not at liberty to say that. For all the assistant directors, not all are archdemons. The 30 facilities are managed by 1 director and 29 assistant directors. 14 of which are us, Elynians, all of which are assistant directors. Elves, nymphs, and such. The rest are humans of the Earth, like Captain Stephen here.

Marcus: Not at liberty to say, huh… and I thought you will tell us more.

Hal’yo: Well, if you want to know more, you have to be part of the Institution, but I’ll do that for you in one condition.

Capt. Stephen: Mr. Hal’yo, you don’t mean –

Hal’yo: We – we could have an advantage if they joined us.

Perdius: Hey, hey! What ‘advantage’ you’re talking about?! HUH?!

Marcus: Perdius, calm down.

Hal’yo: I will only tell you if you join with us.

Marcus: Putting us on a tight spot, are we? We refuse, archdemon. We will leave this place immediately and tell the Underworld and the Abode about this.

Marcus and Perdius stands. They are going to leave the room, determined to leave the place.

Hal’yo: This offer will make understand! Understand how the world works! How little we are! And how to save ours from threats we don’t know!

Capt. Stephen: Assistant director! You can’t just say those! It’s classified!

Hal’yo: These two are the only chance we have if that ‘thing’ ever moves! The gods of this world might not care, but at least let them know about that ‘thing’!

Marcus stops. He faces back to the archdemon, with curiosity and caution.

Marcus: That ‘thing’?

Hal’yo: If I tell you, you’re going to join us?

Marcus: Perdius, what do you think?

Perdius: It depends.

Hal’yo: Then, follow me.

Capt. Stephen: Are you sure about this? You know I report directly to the director as well, and he might not like this.

Hal’yo: I know, but I want to protect my world, captain. At least, I want those who can protect my world know the truth.

They left the office, went to another lift, and goes deep, to a heavily sealed chamber.

Perdius: What is this place?

Marcus: Don’t tell me you’ve caught an ancient dragon and sealed it here.

Hal’yo: No… it’s – more than that, even than both of you who are gods…

Perdius: Ridiculous! That is non-sense! Nothing is beyond us!

Capt. Stephen: You’ll realize you’re just a speck of dust once you’ve seen it.

Perdius: WHAT?!

Marcus: Perdius, calm down.

Upon entering the chamber, they saw metallic pillars surrounding a something. A silhouette of a person, or perhaps literal person, it is unclear, the person is all black. Like a shadow, even the light covers the whole place, that person doesn’t seem to shine the light back. It is at the center of the pillars. The pillars emanate lightning around that person, standing still without any reactions.

Both Marcus and Perdius were petrified, they don’t know why, but looking at that ‘thing’ makes them feel uneasy.

Marcus: Wh – what is that?

Hal’yo: We – we are not sure yet. But we’ve named it already, we call it the ‘Chaos Engine’.

Perdius: I know what chaos means, but what is an engine?

Capt. Stephen: In our world, an engine is a device that uses energy to move, like a locomotive. Also, you can say that an engine is something that causes a particular process.

Marcus: Something that – causes chaos? Why? That thing looks like a person, a human in most striking way.

Hal’yo: The Institution sent this one here, but it is still a secret where they found it. We’ve done tests on that thing, and the results were pretty random…

Perdius: Random? What do you mean?

Capt. Stephen: Some tests include placing a live animal, a pig beside it. The pig suffered from radia – I mean the pig was burned from the inside. Another test was with a dying orc, don’t worry he volunteered himself. When we placed him beside that thing, his sickness went away. We did the same on a dying elf, but the elf died and turned into a puddle of slime… on non-living things, well, it can turn rocks into plants, bend wood in an unimaginable way, and many more things we can’t explain.

Hal’yo: The Institution also discovered others like this thing on their world, and the same results were found.

Capt. Stephen: And they don’t move, they are just standing still. The Institution fears that if they started moving, the results might happen on it’s surroundings. It is already making things weird even at its dormant state.

Marcus: And if that thing moves, chaos will ensue…

Perdius: You want us to destroy it? We got it –

Hal’yo: We’ve done everything we can, if something touches that thing, it ceases.

Perdius: Ceases? Like it stops? Going to die?

Hal’yo: We – we still can’t explain it very properly… but we can show you.

Hal’yo commands one of the men near the so-called Chaos Engine. He controls a metallic doll, and makes it approach the Engine. The doll touches the Engine, and it disappears. No trace, no sound, no warning of any sorts. The doll vanishes into thin air.

Perdius: What in the world…?

Marcus: So, its untouchable?

Hal’yo: Yes, and the only thing that keeps it from touching us are the containment rods – those pillars.

Marcus went near the Engine. He walks around it while staring it.

Marcus: Is it just me, or its face is following me?

Hal’yo: Wait – wait… you said it’s following you?

Perdius: Marcus, he’s looking at me, not at you. Maybe its first time seeing a god HAHAHAHA!

The two gods noticed that both the archdemon and the captain went nervous. The archdemon started commanding the other people, rushing on the pillars and pressing things. The captain pulls a small object on his pocket and talks to it.

They look back at the Engine, and it’s pointing its fingers towards the two.

Perdius: And now, its pointing at us.

The archdemon looked back at the object with absolute terror. He presses something on the wall and the pillars expanded, covering the Engine until it can’t be seen.

Hal’yo: Everyone! Go and take your relatives! Protocol Omega has begun! GO! GO!

Everyone ran outside the chamber. The two gods, the archdemon, and the captain were left behind.

Hal’yo: Captain, did you contact your family?

Capt. Stephen: Yes, boss. I already contacted my wife and Doctor Tenera. The core will be secured, and the non-combatants are already heading to Facility B1.

Marcus: What should we do?

Perdius: What can we do? We turn it into a useless pulp!

Hal’yo: Captain, go get your team. We will hold it off.

Capt. Stephen: Don’t get yourselves killed.

The captain rans off, and the three remains. The pillars started to crumble, turning into dust that flies all over the place. Then, the Engine slowly walks out of its cage.

Perdius has magic affinity to earth. He stomps on the ground, raise his fist against the Engine, and glowing rocks appear out of thin air and on the ground, directing towards the face of the Engine.

Hal’yo is an archdemon, purposively created by the gods to cause havoc – the affinity to dark magic. Orbs of concentrated mana formed around him, ready to be launched against the Engine.

Marcus has also an affinity to dark magic, and the ability to turn things into ashes in an instant. His arms became blackened, like burnt coal, and blue flames covers it.

They threw everything they had at the Engine. The dust settles, and they still saw the Engine standing in front of them. It raised its hand and pointed towards the two gods.

The Engine: Overseers, your Primal has abandoned you. Why fight the inevitable?

Marcus: Overseers? Primal?

Perdius: He’s talking nonsense! We are the gods of this world! WE ARE THE INEVITABLE!

Hal’yo: Overseers… so the rumors are true…

The Engine: It is, and it will be.

Perdius: Wha – what rumor?!

Marcus: So, there are things you haven’t told to us?

The Engine walks slowly towards the three. Hal’yo grabbed the two gods and threw them away as far as he could. He rushed on a small pedestal and pressed something. The whole place was enclosed with black walls, leaving the archdemon with the Engine enclosed. The two gods could hear the archdemon scream: RUN. The screaming stops, the walls begun turning into liquid, and then the Engine comes out, slowly walking towards the two.

Sweat runs through on Marcus’ face. It’s the very first time he felt it. He could see Perdius’ fur standing, not because he’s angered, but because of fear.

Perdius: Who are you?! Who are you to defy us?! We are gods!

Marcus: Perdius, compose yourself!

The Engine: We are just a mere device that will bring anything back to normal.

Marcus: Normal? Normal?! All I sense in you IS destruction!

The Engine: The same as you?

Marcus: We are not the same!

The Engine: Indeed. Why bother thinking about it? You were created, and you created. You don’t destroy, you change the form into another, unrecognizable, making it ‘destroyed’. You have emotions, can have conflict, can have peace, can take or make things that recognize the universe, LIFE.

Perdius: Then what are you, monster?!

The Engine: Monster? No. We are a device capable of turning things back to normal. No conflict, no peace. No death, no life. No causes, no effects. No things, no nothing. AS ALL THINGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FROM THE BEGINNING. A world full of conflict will be ended with conflict, canceling and removing it from the equation. A world living in peace will reach a maxima of it, causing the integration of disruption and ending it. To end it, everything must be brought back to the beginning.

Perdius: That’s it! I’m done with your nonsense!!!

Perdius jumps straight to the Engine. He is aiming the neck of the Engine. With his claws covered in glowing crystals, he slashes the neck of the Engine.

The Engine didn’t move. Then, blood gushes out on Perdius’ neck. He kneels on the ground while the Engine ‘stares’ him down.

Marcus: Perdius!

Perdius: Go, Marcus. I’ll handle him.

Marcus: Brother! We can defeat him we combined our magic –

Perdius: GO!

The Engine reaches for Perdius’ neck. It chokes him. Perdius struggles, then he stops moving. The Engine drops the wolf-god, as a corpse. The corpse then slowly fades away, not like it was turning into dust or ashes. Perdius’ body is just vanishing.

The Engine: Why fight? All of us follow the law of nature. No one can bend it, no one can deny, no one can.

Marcus shouts, unclear of emotions. Is he sad? Angered? Then he remembered his family. His wife, and their daughter. He blasts the Engine with his magic for the second time. He turns his back away, and dashes out of the place.

As he run away, his vision became… confusing. The place is twirling, spiraling unnaturally. He stops for a moment and looks back. He could see the whole place twist, bend and distort, from the ceiling to the ground. All of the place, except himself and the Engine.