Placetius sat in his throne room. He had been watching the scene unfold on his holographic display. Its projected view floated in front of him; it was crystal-clear, showing the continuing struggle of the Varmites against the Gaklots. The Varmites were a small race looking similar to the old rodents of Earth, whereas the Gaklots were humongous beasts, their bodies covered in bony protrusions and spikes. It was the weekly Battle Royale he had implemented over two centuries ago to try and maintain peace across the known Universe. It allowed warring races to compete for planetary resources without the devastation or destruction of their home worlds.
Placetius was an immortal; he had been alive so long now that he could not even remember when he was initially birthed. His earliest memory that he still could recollect was that of his first love. The Catlop he had fallen for had been a beautiful creature. Half cat, half humanoid, she had the softest, silkiest fur and her body had been so lithe. He shuddered excitedly at the memories. The year was now 57915PT. He had decreed the new timescale after his ascension to the Royal Throne, indicating the duration of his reign over the Universe.
“Placetius,” Joliteo called as he walked into the throne room.
“Joliteo. What brings you here? You know this is the only time I do not want to be disturbed each quart while I watch the Battle Royale.”
“I know and would not disturb you if it was unimportant.”
“Please then get to the point,” Placetius replied, laughing as he watched at least fifty Varmites being crushed in a single strike from one of their monstrous foes. The Varmites did not stand a chance, but one thing about Varmites was that due to their prolific breeding tendencies, it never seemed to matter how many they lost. Their population continued to grow exponentially. They currently inhabited over seventy planets and were trying to expand into Gaklot territory, which had brought about this week's clash. At any one time, there were usually thousands of disagreements that required his or his staff's attention, but he only ever broadcast the ones he believed would be the most entertaining for his followers.
Joliteo walked towards the Throne, holding a small device in his hand. It was circular and smooth, and Placetius recognised it as a memory disc.
“Do you mind?” Joliteo asked, indicating to the projection unit currently providing him with the battle feed.
“This had better not be a waste of my time,” Placetius sighed, nodding towards the device.
Joliteo walked over and placed the memory disc onto the device's smooth surface. Small strands emerged from the blank surface of the projection unit and drew the disc inwards. The projection in front of Placetius began to flicker, showing static for a few seconds before a new picture appeared. The latest projection was from the perspective of someone’s vision. As he watched the being move through a large dark cavern, it was holding a light stick in front to be able to see, and Placetius could see that the appendage holding the light was scaled. There were hundreds of scaled races, and he could not tell which sort by the view. The chamber was dark, and whoever had witnessed the memory stopped to break open a new light stick.
“What am I supposed to be seeing here?” Placetius asked, with a tone of frustration in his voice.
“Just keep watching. You will see.”
The being eventually reached what Placetius could only assume was the far side of the cavern and entered a tunnel twisting and turning deep into the earth before arriving at a small chamber. The chamber itself was nothing unusual. It had been constructed and had smooth surfaces for its walls, as many millions of underground dwellings did have over the Universe. There were hundreds of miles of tunnels and similar caverns beneath the Palace. What sat in the chamber's centre made Placetius sit forward and focus entirely on the projection.
Placetius shouted, sudden fury filling him, “Where was this? How was it not discovered by our own?”
“That is why I am here. This memory disc was removed from a Shriven Stash in the Quilrew Sector four cinteps ago. I only received the recording seven yhuse ago and have come straight to you with the news.”
“But how? The only existing specimen was destroyed,” Placetius replied. His initial fury was replaced with a strange sensation he had not experienced for millennia. Fear.
Placetius was thought of by most races as a God. Most of the Universe followed this belief, and between him and those of his race, they had successfully controlled the Universe since his ascension. Most believed them Gods due to their immortality. The fact was that they were not immortal. It was a myth that he had begun over 55000 years ago to ensure their continued patronage of the Universe. Other races in the Universe did live for a few millennia, but none anywhere near as long as his own. He had only ascended after his father’s untimely death, and that had been by the same specimen that was now clearly visible on the projected display in front of him. Its golden glow struck dread into Placetius’ very soul.
“Tell me you, have it?” he roared as the vision ended.
“No. We do not. I have sent crews immediately to the Quilrew Sector to scour the area. I expect the initial report back in seven cinteps.”
“We must have it; it cannot fall into the hands of anyone who may know its true power. If they ever discovered its capability, it could mean the downfall of the known Universe. Of us all.”
“I know, and that is why I came straight to you as soon as I was aware of its existence.”
“Seven cinteps, you say? Update me as soon as you get any news.”
Joliteo walked to the projection unit and removed the memory disc. Once he had the projection flicked back to the Battle Royale. The Varmites were winning; their number was swarming over the bodies of the Gaklot, and he watched as their tiny forms buried into the larger creatures' softer underbelly with their vicious incisors and claws ripping its flesh away. It appeared the weak could overthrow the powerful after all. Placetius felt a shiver run down his spine; his knuckles turned white as his hands gripped the arms of the throne.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Joliteo walked from the throne room, closing the door behind him, as he heard Placetius shout angrily and the sound of breaking glass. “Give him a few minutes before you see what has been broken. It would be ill-advised to go in just now. You may end up being the target of his wrath.” he said to one of the server droids who stood silently in the corridor outside.
“Yes, sir.” the metallic voice replied.
Joliteo was nervous but also excited. The fact that somebody had discovered another after this many millennia. Its discovery could change everything. He had stood by Placetius’s side now for over forty millennia as his second, but this may give him the opportunity he required to become the ruler. He did everything anyway and deserved the position, while Placetius sat on his throne most days watching Battle Royale live shows or re-runs. Placetius had become lazier over the millennia. Initially, he had tried and pursued the best for the Universe, but not anymore. He believed he had solved all the problems with the system he implemented, but Joliteo knew this was not the truth.
“Dralcor. Please report your initial findings on arrival at the Quilrew Sector. I expect updates every cintep.” he said into his communicator. He knew the message would reach its target in a few yhuse after it was transmitted on their secure network through the relay gates. He had sent Dralcor and his team as soon as he had received the recording and watched its contents. Dralcor was one of their kind and had been a trusted member of the Royal Guard since before Placetius took the throne.
The one problem with the Universe was that everything took time. Yes, wormholes did exist, and there was the ability to jump vast distances, but it was costly, and only a rare number of species had the technology. There was a black market where some tried to procure various items to improve their technological advancement, but many fell afoul of cheap imitations.
The problem with the imitations was that ships trying to use the black-market technology without the correct interfacing appropriate to the specific wormhole usually ended up in millions of pieces as they either tried to enter or exit. The debris fields these crafts left caused chaos for authorised craft when they wanted to use them. Joliteo knew it would take the scouring crews at least six cinteps to travel to the Quilrew Sector. The Quilrew Sector was one of the more distant sectors on the outer rim. It was sparsely populated with various races that he could remember from the report. The primary race was a race known as the Apelores. They were humanoid beings that looked like gorillas that lived on planet Earth millennia ago.
He had always found it strange that when they took over the Universal system's rulership, many millions of variations in species always seemed to be based on creatures from planet Earth. Planet Earth was, after all, where everything had originated almost three hundred thousand millennia ago. Their impressive library still stored some original texts in stasis to prevent further degradation. Over the millennia, he had read many of them, and he still had some favourites that he would return to and read again.
Joliteo continued back to his office. His office sat at the top of the Eastern Palace Tower. The panoramic view that he had not just of the Palace but the city always made him smile. Treglacoric was one of the largest planets in the Universe and had a population of over four quillion. The capital city alone had a population of one quillion. It stretched for tens of thousands of miles, and nearly every known race existed there.
Many advanced races gradually took over planetary systems through technological superiority, bioengineering, violence, and intimidation. This behaviour meant that several races were no more than servants to others. The formidability, though, of the Royal house could not be surpassed. They were by no means a significant populace, but they made up for what they lacked in numbers with absolute technological superiority. This was why they had always and would always be the universe's rulers.
He sat in his hover chair, playing with the settings on its arm before he started to feel the pulse of its massage feature. He rested his head back on the plush cushioning and sighed deeply. It was moments like this that living for over 100,000PT was worth. He had been birthed 100,124PT ago using the current calendar timescales and loved every minute of his exceptionally long life. He knew that some in his race had lived to be over 450,000PT, so he was still a youngster in terms of their kind.
Many of their race had given up on the society of the Universe as it existed and lived secluded lives on one of their several homeworlds. Only a few, in comparison, ran the day-to-day universal needs. He did not like to brag about his ability, but he knew he was the most capable of his kind. Placetius had only ascended through lineage and had never, in his opinion, deserved the role of Universal Leader. His title had changed during his reign, from Emperor to King, and he was even known as a Pharoah for a millennium. These days, he was just the plain old God.
“What to do? What to do?” he said as the chair's vibrations soothed his body. He had to plan carefully. Placetius was, in his opinion, a fool, but he was also surprisingly intuitive, and he could not allow his facade to be broken. If he was going to obtain the position of Universal Ruler, then he had to act accordingly. “Klotus,” he called out.
“Yes, sir,” the melodic voice of the Palace’s AI replied.
“Can you arrange a meeting of the ruling council, please?” he asked.
“I can do, sir. For what purpose would you like to hold the meeting?” Klotus replied.
“I need to inform them of the latest discovery. I cannot broadcast the information over any means now that we know the discovery's importance, so leave it vague. That should pique the interest of most of them to make sure they attend.”
He knew Placetius would not agree to hold a meeting and discuss the discovery openly, so he had to do it this way. He would be informed there was a council meeting, but he rarely attended them. Leaving the mundane meetings to the rest of them to sort through the tangle of daily issues. It was only fair that they were all aware. Each one faced the same threat after all.
“When would you like the meeting scheduled for, sir?”
“Two cinteps should be enough time for them to get here. Anyone currently off-world will receive a secure feed code at the time of the meeting.”
“Understood, sir. The message was sent to all council members as instructed.”
An icon on his chair flashed, informing him of a secure message. He clicked on it, reading what Klotus had sent.
“Thank you, Klotus. That is all for now. I will call for you if I need anything else.”
“Not a problem, sir. You know where I am if you need me.”
“Karsh Juice,” he said. On the arm of his chair, a crystalline glass of juice appeared. He picked it up and took a deep swig, the tangy and refreshing taste adding to his already relaxing state from the chair massage function. Teleportation was one of their greatest assets and most hidden secret. It was only ever used in the privacy of their chambers and the one absolute rule they all followed. They still had members trying to complete the process for living beings, but it had consistently failed. If only they could learn how to teleport the living, everything would be much easier.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest.