So this is how it ends? Jericho Williams’ last thoughts on Earth were not spent in deep contemplation, regretting the past, or being particularly proud of it either. He had been in Brazil for summer vacation with a group of friends from college. He had been looking forward to it for over a year now. he had got a part-time job at the mall, and had even got in shape after being heavyset for years. He had already had somewhat of an afro, but he let it grow even longer, and wore it in a thick ponytail going down his back, cause women like long hair. Right? Or was it that they liked facial hair? Didn't really matter now.
He had finally got to Brazil with his friends, and that first night was everything that he thought it would be, crazy parties, sexy women, and drugs. He hadn't intended to, or even remember taking drugs, but somewhere along the line he must've gotten some because he couldn't recall any events after midnight. He just woke up the following afternoon with his ex-girl in one hand, his now empty wallet in the other, and a deep sense of satisfaction.
He got up, and headed to the pool/bar area of his hotel, hoping to obtain a bite to eat before continuing his festivities. Unfortunately, he would not be enjoying festivities of any kind. A gang war broke out between those who secretly operated the hotel, and a new, young, rambunctious group who we're making plays all over the city.
They began shooting up the area, including the bar. Jericho managed to get away, but the Bartender hadn't been so lucky, due to the high heels she was forced to wear for the job. One of the gangsters saw the woman fall, and rushed on top of her with evil glee in his eyes. he held her down with one hand and began ripping her clothes off with the other. Jericho didn't know what came over him, in fact, he never would know why he stepped in to save that woman.
He wasn't a hero, and he prioritized himself over almost anything else. And yet he charged toward the man,grabbing the handgun from the man’s back pocket. the man noticed and looked up to see a solid fist heading toward his face, sending him tumbling a few feet over. Jericho unloaded half the clip into the man, despite never having fired a gun before. a good side effect from working out was that he could handle the recoil fairly well, though that didn't even cross his mind. a few more men saw the altercation, and he put them down too. jericho extended a hand to the woman and helped her up, telling her to run.
He looked up , and another group. he reflexively fired, only to realize he was out of bullets. Damn, you never see movie stars run out of bullets, he thought with a chuckle, even as fear began to settle deep within him. Pain erupted from his chest as two bullets found their place there. As he began to fall back, the world going dark, he couldn't help but think, damn, I bet the thank-you sex with that bartender would have been amazing.
Then he opened his eyes. he was surrounded by darkness, with a mirror image of himself in front of him. Well if this is hell, they could've given me a worse view he thought to himself, flexing in the mirror. After thirty minutes, he began to pace around the area, finding it to be very small. 6x6 feet to be exact, with nowhere to sit but a black block in the center of the room. After a few hours of nothing, he began to suspect it really was hell. Then the mirror lit up, and he heard a voice begin speaking.
“ Hello, young species, and welcome! You have all been selected as candidates to become a part of the next generation’s Galactic Council! Now, I know what you contestants must be wondering. ‘Why am I here? What do they want? why am I alive?!’ Well, rejoice! you get to represent your species in the 27th Galaxy Leadership Trial! ‘Well what does that entail?’ I’m glad you asked!
“Your ten species have all been selected as the future members of the galactic council, which is the cornerstone of power and law in our Flow Galaxy. The Ra’ataghul of La, Chiuga of Chiu, Iluu of Iluu, Humans of Earth, Llosi of Trafa, Klarans of the Suka system, Dro of Varadro, Re-Atai of Cartra, Riik of the Rolla system, and the Ra of the Rolla system.
“We have selected 100 of each species to contend. All of you young species have strengths that make you worthy of taking the places of your elders, and we have been watching you all for a long time. Your goal is thus: Lead a tribe of underdeveloped peoples to prosperity on a hostile planet. Leadership and protection of the underdeveloped peoples has always been a main goal of the Council, and naturally we expect the same from you.
“Rest assured, all ten thousand species that we will be offering are species that were about to perish, regardless of what would happen on the planet that we will be depositing you on. You will be briefed further by the liaison we will be sending with you. Oh, please understand that the liaison has no hostage value. Harming the liaison will not harm us in anyway, only you. But if you can't help yourself, I suggest you ingest it. Now, we will leave you to choose your species, choose wisely. And remember: smile, the galaxy is watching!”
The glowing mirror(?) now shifted into a screen, with 100 pictures of different beings, which Jericho assumed were the species. He touched on a picture of a race of human like creatures with red skin and no hair. The photo enlarged, covering the entire screen, along with words which looked unfamiliar to Jericho, but he could somehow understand. He began reading the information
The Vultari of Rindo
Species Rank: 4
Physically powerful, require little rest
Displays pack-like behaviour
Obedient, but require guidance
There was more written, but suddenly, the light of the screen dimmed, then went back to the original screen. Jericho frowned as he saw many of the different panels going dark. Then he realized what was happening. The others were choosing! He skipped to the end, and even there, the dark patches were appearing rapidly. Jericho skipped around and clicked the first panel he saw with light, not even reading the information, he hit the select option.
Suddenly, he heard a noise, similar to mechanical unhinging. then, for a brief moment, weightlessness. Then, he felt as though he had been propelled at great speeds, and of course, the room didn't come with seatbelts, so he was blown back against the wall. after a few seconds though, the sensation passed, and he slid to the floor.
While he crawled onto the black box that could barely be considered a seat, the mirror began to glow again, and a small orb of yellow light, maybe 8 inches in diameter came out of it. It approached him, and spoke.
“I am the liaison assigned to you Mr. Williams. I will be the most useful tool to you moving forward, so it would be counterproductive to eat me.”
“Come again?”
“The Moderator suggested you ingest us, no?”
“It wasn’t really a suggestion, but why would I?”
“We, the liaisons, are your link to the planet we are going to land on soon, as well as to the Moderator. By eating us, you would no longer have to go through us. There would be other benefits as well.”
“So basically, it's cutting out the middle man.”
“I suppose that's the best analogy. However, I am a source of information that can't be paralleled easily. I have data on the other species, as well as some off your other competitors. I can multitask, and work both efficiently and effectively. I can function as a light at night, and don't need much sleep. I can-”
“okay, okay man. I’m not going to eat you, chill.”
“I see, I assure you that this will not be a decision that you regret, Mr. Williams”
“Just Jericho is fine.”
“Jericho...Jericho, if I might say, you are quite odd for your species. Many of them would be, as you say, freaking out. Humans don't cope well with rapid unfavorable changes to their circumstances. They often go through varying periods of denial.”
“Oh I am. A part of me is just happy I’m alive, but deep down I’m freaking out a lot. I’m just not letting it show. Showing weakness is not going to help my situation. Speaking of which, I can use some of that information, as much as possible… what did you say your name was again?”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I did not say, because I do not have one. You may call me Liaison. Hmm, so you suppress your emotions so that they do not control you. Interesting. But what would you like to know?”
“For starters, what are the prerequisites for being chosen? Id like to know what I’m dealing with.”
“For the Galactic Council, or for the Leadership Trials? No matter, you require knowledge on both. Being chosen for the Galactic Council is simple, be a rank 6 species with at least 6 core members of the current council members approving. For the Leadership Trials, you have to be a member of the species chosen to lead the next generation, born in the last 500 years, be trained for leadership, have taken lives before, and have died with a smile on your face.”
Jericho paused. It seemed questions only beget more questions. “What is this whole species rank thing? and what’s the point of the whole leadership trial?”
“Ah species rank refers to the development of your species. rank 0 is reserved for those you call animals. ranks 1-2 refer to a species that has moved forward from simple beasts, have developed language, use tools, and can work together to achieve a common goal.Ranks 3-4 are for species who have developed a culture. Species in this group have usually ceased any nomadic behaviours and have created what could be called nations.
“Rank 5-6 species have developed their culture even further. They are no longer focused on survival, but thriving. It is in stage 5 that one can usually tell if the species is done developing, or will continue moving forward. Your own species proved its potential during the renaissance and age of enlightenment, respectively. Not every species can make it past that critical development point. Ranks 7-8, a species has usually joined the galactic community, and are capable of long space travel. their technology is reaching peak levels. incidentally, this stage is usually the longest. Ranks 9-10, immortals. Attaining this rank is usually done by shedding ones’ physical forming as an energy being, evolving into a body that does not die, or switching to mechanical bodies. Rank 11 is God.”
“God?”
“God.”
“So then… he’s real?!”
“Yes, but that doesn't exactly pertain to-”
“Tell me more about God.” Jericho said. He was from a church going family, but he had never really believed, not when science pretty much proved that gods we're the invention of mankind.
“Very well, though the knowledge won't help you where we're going… God is the existence from before what you call the Big Bang. He has always been, He will always be. He can defy the natural laws of reality, because he wrote them. He doesn't generally interfere with the universe, He prefers to watch. It was impossible to even contact him, until one race finally was able to transcend rank 10. Though they didn't quite reach rank 11, by their own admission; they were able to speak to Him for the first time. With the knowledge they gained, they completely rewrote history. And we finally understand why the universe was made. God was lonely. So he split his power in two, and created the universe, which spawned beings capable of one day reaching his level. He would have company.”
“Wait so… but… hm.”
“This information may be too much for you to process, most humans usually display abnormal behaviour when faced with large amounts of data, especially when it contradicts their own.”
“No, I'm fine, and stop with that ‘most humans’ thing, I'm not most humans.”
“It has been found amongst your species that the young ones often claim to be different or special. 90% of them are the same Jericho.”
Jericho frowned. Did this thing just insinuate he had chuuninbyou? “It's Mr. Williams. Reconsidering the whole eating you thing.”
“Mr. Williams, you are wasting time. We will be landing soon, and once we are down there, our lives are on the line. Also, you are… i believe the word is petty.”
Jericho leered. He would let that slide for now, as the liaison raised a valid point. “Tell me about the planet we're landing on.”
“It is hot by Earth standards, and a little bit larger than Earth. It’s quite humid as well, to cater to the majority of the species. most planets that have life are hotter and wetter than your own. It has several species of fauna and flora that are edible, but will fight back, and i do mean both fauna AND flora. Not many species are tameable. The apex predator has been identified as a savage species incredibly skilled in morphology, but low in intelligence, somewhere between Ranks 0 and 1. They have not moved forward over the past hundred thousand years and are beginning to damage the ecosystem. They are called demons, though I assure you have nothing to do with the stories of your home planet. You will be rewarded for each one killed.”
“Wait, why am I being rewarded for this? No, scratch that, it doesn't matter. How am I being rewarded?”
“when beings die, they release an energy. this energy will be collected as a sort of currency for you to use to give yourself and your people further advantages. You get one… freebie? You get one freebie in the beginning. Currently, you are unarmed, which means either they have given you an ability, or placed you in a favorable location most likely. Stay still a moment, I will analyze you”
The liaison floated around him for a moment, then went back to it's original position, it's light slightly dimmer.
“Unfortunately, you did not receive an offensive ability. You have obtained one called ‘dynamic vision’. It'll allow you to increase your visual prowess.”
“Is that bad?”
“The majority of those who survive the Trials till the end have powerful, offensive physical or mental abilities, of the rest who survive, most of them had a weapon in the beginning that tipped the scales”
“So I'm probably going to die. Again.”
“... Technically you did not die the first time. Your body was transported befo-”
-Sighs- “Please, just… just tell me about the people I chose”
“Ah, the Zillow people.”
“Zee-loh?”
“No, Zhee-a-low. It's a slight nuance, focus on the first syllable, rush the rest. They are a rank 3 people, around 5 feet tall, and slim. Green skinned for camouflage, skilled in hunting, but not quite as much in battle with other humanoids. They are just discovering metal working. Their unwillingness to cooperate outside of their clans however, holds them back.”
“So, how many are there?”
“We shall see. It’ll be a small group to start off with, most likely. A few dozen,near a hundred would be unlikely. You won't have to worry about taking care of the whole race just yet.”
The liaison stopped speaking as an impact shook the cube. Jericho of course was unprepared for the event, and found himself face flat on the cold hard floor. Deep down in his heart,he swore that he would have vengeance for his mistreatment… even though he wasn't quite sure who should be held responsible. Suddenly, the mirror thing shifted, and the room was shrouded in bright light. Sunlight.
“it would seem we’ve arrived, Mr. Williams.”
“Yup. By the way, before we leave,you never answered the question about the Leadership Trials.”
“Hmm? Ah yes. What is the purpose of the leadership trials. Well, other than this being an event streamed around the galaxy for trillions to see, it also weeds out the best of each species. Only those forged in harsh conditions, and forced to excel in situations that would devastate a normal being can be called true leaders. Those who earn victory here will be chosen as the representatives for the new Galactic Council.”
“....Well, no pressure then.”
“Actually, most humans, most likely including yourself would feel-”
“Shut up liaison.” jericho said with a sigh. He stood up straight, and looked forward, taking his first step into the sunlight of another world.