“We needs be gone.”
Senyak’s grandfather waved a hand. Instantly, Senyak and Damni appeared before him on the bridge of a much larger and more well-appointed spaceship than Senyak had ever been on before. A large view screen took up the front of the room. Sen saw clusters of galaxies, stars, and nebulae displayed there with amazing clarity. However, none of the celestial bodies were familiar, and without his Combi, Senyak had no idea where they were. He wasn’t even sure if they were in the same iteration or cuboid they had just spent the last twenty Ka nexus cycles in.
Mortals and Immortals, all uniformed in the Marztanak house colors of navy blue and silver, scurried about on two, three, and four legs, some waving tentacles, some hovering. The majority of species were the Jaralon, a predominately bipedal species with light-blue tinted skin, telescoping necks, and more articulated joints in their limbs than humans. This species manned the bridge at its various stations. Reading sensors, checking logs, and reporting to one another. About what, Senyak had little idea. But the fact they were the same race as the avatar that Damni had chosen made alarm bells start ringing in Senyak’s mind.
Sen looked up at his grandfather with a hard lump still in his throat. If anything, it was larger now and accompanied by a cold sweat forming between his shoulder blades. Senyak was sure of only one thing—if his grandfather was here, things were far worse for him than he had thought. Without a doubt, Senyak would be facing some form of discipline from his family for failing to deal definitively with the chaos agent. But never would he have believed that his grandfather would be directly involved in such a small matter. Senyak wasn’t even the first-seeded heir. That honor fell to his elder brother, Denyak.
All of Sen’s life, his significance was negligible. After all, he was only the spare heir. Reflective of this was the number of times he had been alone in his grandfather’s presence—exactly zero in 120,000 Ka nexus cycles. Not that Senyak didn’t know of his grandfather’s history and accomplishments. It was required knowledge for all seeded heirs. The deeds and methods of Zenyak Marztanak, the Penultimate Combatant–Bulwark of the Polar Neutral Iteration; the Axe Blade of the Hegemony, Immortal cultivator without equal. Honored. Respected and above all things... feared. A fact that Senyak was very aware of right now.
“Say what you must. Then I will speak.”
“Grandfather... ahhh... thank you... I am in your debt!” Sen dropped to one knee and lowered his head in supplication.
Rolling gray eyes under furrowed dark brows, his grandfather lifted a finger, and Sen was raised to his feet by Zenyak’s Intent. His grandfather’s gaze grew more penetrating. Another thing Sen hadn’t thought was possible.
“... Anything else?”
Sen internally panicked.
Say what? I’m sorry. I failed.
I’m not worthy of being a seeded heir for being led around by my nose twenty Ka nexus cycles by a cultivator one tier lower than me. If it weren’t for Damni, I would still be lost and stumbling while he absconded away with his ill-gotten gains?
Family creed strictly frowned upon showing weakness, particularly in front of an opponent.
Always show strength and control. In every situation.
Senyak had heard his father say this on uncountable occurrences.
But there was nothing even remotely positive to say about his performance. Nothing could even come close to exculpating him and his actions. Nothing to show his strength or help him maintain his control.
Senyak’s internal conflict raged and paralyzed his thoughts. He looked to his side, where he had always gained support from Damni’s unflagging positivity. Sen needed her more than ever right now.
Damni...
She wasn’t at his side... the place where she had been for the last one hundred Ka nexus cycles!
Looking up, he saw her positioned two steps behind his grandfather. Her gaze was ironcast and stared straight through him. She was also wearing a crew uniform in the Marztanak blue and silver.
“Damni?” Sen’s voice squeaked while his apprehension screamed.
He reached out to her through their Ka bond. Not meeting his gaze, she pulled her Ka back and turned away. His mouth fell open as he goggled after her, and a feeling of complete loss surfaced through his racing thoughts—
But...but he was hers...She was his... The very definition of a Ka bond!
... Still, she turned from him.
Sen’s eyes narrowed. Only now did he begin to sense the depth of the waters he was swimming in. Wheels were turning inside of wheels around him. As was all too common recently, He had no idea if the ground he stood on was solid. Sen’s shoulders drooped in resignation, and he waited for the Bulwark to drop his axe.
“Disappointing. This has gone on long enough.” Zenyak wearily huffed out. “Senyak, sit.”
Two chairs appeared facing each other. Zenyak comfortably leaned back in his; Senyak sat on the edge of his with dejected acceptance hanging over him like a shroud.
“Damni is my loyal agent, not your willing Ka bond. She has had you under my surveillance for the last five hundred Ka nexus cycles. Her action reports revealed your failure at every turn and the necessity of presenting my very self in order to end this fiasco... Thus, this is no longer needed.” Zenyak clenched his fist in a pulling motion.
... And Damni’s tethered presence was gone from Sen’s Ka core, as if her imprint had never been there at all...
True, there were none of the typical penalties for breaking such a bond. Senyak had neither loss of Immortal Ka capacity nor cultivation tier. They would have lost both if he or Damni had broken the bond… But with the simple stroke of the Axe Blade himself, it was as if the bond had never existed.
Remorse clouded Sen’s thoughts and feelings. An emptiness echoed through him in a way he had never experienced before this mission. Stunned silent, Sen sat and tried to accept the loss of his… wife. Their relationship had been real for him, but... obviously, not for her.
Zenyak continued, “There are things of import you are not privy to and exceed your capacity to properly conceptualize. These events reach beyond your father and even my ability to control completely. They affect the realms of Immortal Transcendence to the limit of all known aspect doorways.”
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Zenyak paused, likely giving time for the meaning of what he had just said to sink in. Sen continued to sit in a subdued manner, not grasping the full extent of what Zenyak was telling him.
Zenyak sighed deeply and shifted in his seat with an air of irritation. “Moving to things within your grasp... every seeded Marztanak heir, including your older brother, Denyak, has fallen short of my standards. His failure exceeded even yours, and your failing was truly abysmal, though you at least have the insight and wherewithal to be appropriately ashamed of yourself, it seems. Denyak has demonstrated only a continued recalcitrance to alter his obtuse and concrete thinking. Zenyak’s brows lifted in Sen’s direction to see if he had followed the current train of conversation. His grandfather must have liked what he saw. “... Because of the seriousness of what we are facing, I have disqualified him from his seedency. As I have for the remainder of your siblings. Your failure as heirs is largely due to your father’s deficiency in raising nothing but combat specialists who have ignored the importance of walking a well-balanced path. Every problem is not a nail to which you are all hammers. Discernment, wisdom, character, innovative thinking, nobility of spirit, competent generosity, and above all–responsibility. These are the qualities that are required of a worthy leader. Some of which you possess. However, the remainder of my descendants are sorely lacking in nearly every category. It is because these traits often go hand-in-hand with humility. A trait which none of you would recognize if you were drowning in an ocean of it.” His arm snapped out, pointing toward Damni. If an Immortal with her qualities had been born of my blood, they would sit the throne and I would be able to move on to real threats to the Immortal Realms! The sudden sharpness in Zenyak’s tone left no room for argument. Not that Sen had any disputes with what had been said. If my siblings had performed even worse than me, Grandfather should be worried.
Yet alas, I am given hammers when what I need is a blacksmith. Furthermore, your father has focused only on Immortal concerns, ignoring the totality of the underlying realms–” Zenyak raised his hand palm up and seemed to be speaking to iteration as a whole. “Senyak, our existence is shaped by more than just Immortal thought and actions! There are Mortals, Biologics, Necro and Techno Lords, Undead Commandants, Mana Users, Star Children, Primordials, gods, demigods, demon spawn, and all lines of lower realm cultivation, to name but a minuscule part of what you are all missing.” Zenyak finished in a short pause as he lowered his hand and changed tack.
“... Knowledge from the lower realms should always be considered and utilized when and where appropriate. Such knowledge is a force multiplier when properly implemented and applied to your Immortal Ka.” Zenyak leaned into Sen and spoke in a knowing tone. “... As you have just learned at the hands of Brundox, the genocide harvester... When knowledge is scorned and unused, its lack is an overwhelming divisor that leads to collapse and defeat.” Zenyak leaned back and continued. “Your defeat was a result of both a reduction in your capabilities through ignorance and the multiplication of that of your foe’s through understanding. A thorough understanding of mortal-level Essence and the mortal realms is an irreplaceable foundation for successful Ka cultivation and Ascendance.”
Senyak closed his eyes at the remembered shame of his complete failure and defeat by the chaos agent.
Zenyak again paused, seeing that his words were being received by Sen this time.
“You have most aptly proven my point with your extraordinary failings... Defeat is the seed of victory. Savor it. Plant it deeply into your soul and cherish it. Nourish it, and when that seed sprouts into the fullness of the light, so too will you. This perspective will be invaluable to you now and in the future.”
With his pride still stinging, Sen obediently nodded that he would. Zenyak’s face pursed in an understanding expression that told Senyak his grandfather believed he would remember it for a long time.
Zenyak’s tone took on a casual nature as he continued. “Brundox truly was a distasteful creature. I’m almost sorry I utilized him. Yet, he defeated you while being a step lower than your cultivation with nothing more than his knowledge of what was available in the mortal realms. That and his willingness to use that knowledge. However, it was his lack of discernment and wisdom that ultimately led to your arrival to stop him, and later, to a quick end at my hands. By all accounts, he was lesser. An Immortal inferior to you, save for his knowledge of mortal concerns. But even at a lower tier of cultivation and without the benefit of your upbringing and family advantages, he easily overwhelmed you–
Zenyak tilted his head as he interrupted himself. “For example–didn’t Damni’s report say that Brundox stopped you from halting the rise of a mortal-genocidal dictator... one Adolf Hitler... with, of all things, something as low-tech as a nuclear fission device’s EMP, thereby disabling your transport’s engines and leaving you, and I quote, ‘a dead duncro, bobbing in the sea.’”
Sen blushed in shame at his Ka—former Ka—bond’s unkind but accurate description – then his mouth fell open, and he did a double take finally realizing what his grandfather had just said. “--This was all a setup? The entire thing! You controlled the chaos agent?”
Zenyak cocked a grizzled brow, “Don’t look so shocked, child. He was never under Ka dominion. Ka dominion is inefficient. You must micromanage each and every step of the way. It was not only inefficient, but it was completely unnecessary to accomplish my goals.” Zenyak lifted his brows and again leaned toward Sen. “That is another lesson you must learn; there are many forms of control, and it is vital that you master them all if you want to lead. --So yes, of course, he was under my control. Though he didn’t know it. I have controlled all the events surrounding you and Damni since you formed your Ka bond... such as it was.” Zenyak had the good graces to move on quickly from the fact that he had dropped his descendant into a fictional Ka bond.
“Know this. All of the Marztanak failures, up to and including your father’s, are... largely... my fault.
Zenyak’s voice again softened from its usual command volume, “I failed to instill in your father how important it is to teach you all the lessons and experiential understanding derived in overcoming each incremental step of mortal cultivation which serves as the precursor burdens of proof that one is worthy and justified in wielding Immortal Ka. We–all Immortals have done ourselves a great disservice. There is a heaven above the heavens, Senyak. Never forget that truth. We have set ourselves up as divine, and we ‘play god’ with regard to mortal existences.” Zenyak’s brows rose in honest discourse.” What more definitive proof do you need of this than the fact that we created yet more gods in our own image?” He shook his head as if in disbelief of the practice. “... The truth is that the merging of two independent Immortal Ka signatures to directly create an Immortal existence with no understanding of the mortal realms below us is a cheat to all living in the mortal realms and a tremendous unkindness to the Immortal life created. What is Ka–at its base?” Zenyak didn’t wait as he answered his own question. “It is the essence of the divine. To find the heaven above the heavens, look no further than the divine Ka which starts its existence as mortal Essence and is purified through the cultivations of all mortals below until it reaches the level of purity and union with the iteration until it is transformed into what we call Immortal Ka. The fact that we Immortals so often choose to shortcut this perfect example with our own progeny is the height of arrogance. You transgress against the divine at your peril. His piercing look stabbed Sen through the heart with the circumstances of his own birth. Zenyak’s eyes grew distant, and Sen looked away as well.
“... Regardless, transgress we did, young one. We convinced ourselves that our way was better than the natural order and we bypassed the mortal underpinnings of struggle that make a person worthy of their Immortal capabilities and subsequent responsibilities. In doing so, we eroded the foundation that both validates and justifies the presence of power in the individual. Our reward for this is justly deserved. For we created only small gods who are easily toppled– children with inconceivable capabilities but no conception of the intrinsic weight and responsibility that comes with such power or in truth, the know-how to use it properly. Zenyak turned back, his eyes locking firmly onto Senyak’s own. Small gods are unworthy gods, Senyak Marztanak. It is a problem that I intend to correct in my successor.