Kazi Fandral is concerned for Alia. They are in a small spacecraft that is large enough to have an area where they can sleep, or stand upright, behind the piloting chairs, and Alia has been hunched over a monitor since they left Eel. Fandral manns the controls, trying to give her time to herself. She has been watching news transmissions nonstop and she seems to be extremely tense.
The IP transmissions are filled with stories of Alia’s friends. She’d left Earth with former Representative Eakran of Druont, along with three other Earthlings, and since she’s been on her quest in the Dreamscapes, Eakran has been hold up in the Banned Regions, Darker is with her other half running the Rainbow Road and his body is on Eel, and Giovanni and Maria are now fugitives of the newly established IP prison that is presided over by Representative Pen Nuren who does many interviews and press conferences to explain the new role that the IP will take in the universe.
Fandral knows that Alia wants to find her friends and help them. There is hostility in the ether, Fandral can feel it. The IP has warships readying for an occupation of the Fhetat and there are debates about the validity of the plan. Unsurprisingly, scholars who defend the Fhetat and are well versed in IP Law, argue that plans for an occupation is a violation of law because it is a threat to the sovereignty of an entire civilization and no formal entreaties have been made to the Fhetat, no notifications of noncompliance with the law. The sections of the Fhetat have come together and they staged their own war games as a demonstration of their strength to the IP. As part of their manuevors, the Fhetat Sections 1 through 6 have occupied large, rocky bodies in a perimeter around the Fhetat, and they have prohibited travel to the space they recognize as Fhetatian territory, though this has never been officially accepted by the IP. The planet Eel has tried to de-escalate the conflict and it’s IP Representative to the IP, Kazi Lograt, and a member of the Icosa Senate that represents the people of Eel on their home planet, are dialoguing with the Fhet Kings, though Kazi Lograt admits that he has no influence on the decisions made by IP Law Enforcement. Lograt has relayed to Representative Pen Nuren, head of IP Law Enforcement, that the Fhet Kings are willing to attempt a diplomatic solution to the IP’s concerns, but no meeting has been established to date and the IP forces are amassing to commence their occupation of the Fhetat in a about twenty cycles.
Alia stands to pace the small space behind the chairs, eyes still glued to the monitor that she holds in her hand like a flat notebook.
“A lot can change very quickly,” Fandral says.
She shakes her head slowly and replies without taking her eyes from the screen.
“This was supposed to be the consequence of me not doing the Hyperion. Am I too late? Did I spend too long trying to piece this all together?”
Fandral can sense her anxiety.
“Sit next to me, put that screen down,” he says calmly and watches Alia take the seat next to him.
“We did it, humans corrupted the IP and this is the first step to us conquering the universe. I was supposed to reset everything and I thought that retaining my knowledge, running the road would be the difference to avoid this. But we never could.”
“Everything happens as it will. We could not avoid it, but can we change it? The Hyperion can bring light to these dark times. You are not too late, I don’t believe you are. Do you truly feel that you are wasting your efforts? You would know better than anyone.”
Alia considers his words.
“I could be out there, I could stop the IP,” she says after a silence.
“Maybe that is the Hyperion,” Fandral says. “You use that fearsome white light of yours to defeat the IP forces. Should we go there?”
Alia sighs and shakes her head.
“Of course not. That’s just a band-aid solution. Then I’d have to fly around the universe putting out fires for the rest of my existence. I am where I need to be, doing what only I can do to make things better. It’s so hard,” her voice breaks and a tear escapes her eye, and rolls down her cheek before she catches it and then regains her composure. “You can feel it can’t you? The empathy mastery of the Kazi makes you capable of feeling all of the dark emotions around you, right?”
Fandral nods. “Not just the dark emotions though. They are overwhelming now, I can feel a looming tragedy and it’s as though a large amount of people are experiencing the same anxiety all at once. It must be the Fhetat. They are a fearsome race, but they are a noble people who have contributed greatly to the civilization of the universe, they do not deserve these feelings. But that is not all I feel. Can you feel the resolve from the Banned Regions? As we approach, it gets stronger. There are many different types united in their disapproval of the IP’s actions and they are forming something beautiful together. Do you feel it.”
Alia closes her eyes and relaxes her breathing. It is hard to wade through the fear and aggression, but then there it is, just like Fandral describes it. Not aggressive, but strong, not large, but formidable, and righteous. She wants to be part of the feeling, but she trusts that they can protect themselves while she does what she knows she has to.
She smiles at Fandral when she opens her eyes again, and their ship barrels toward the Banned Regions, toward a destination that is far beyond its furthest boundary.
Meanwhile, at the gate to the Rainbow Road…
Alia wears the multi-coloured robe that she was wearing after absorbing the light energies from the rocks scattered across the Dreamscape. She focuses intently on the silver gate and the darkness within, and she charges toward it. As she flies, Darker grabs her robe tightly as Alia had directed, and they zip through the gate at relative light speed.
SoEl watches the scene silently and after they have passed through the gate, it disappears. Then, SoEl disappears. They open their eyes in the void of space, a black hole visible in the distance behind them. They are capable of surviving in the void of space because they are half machine. The screen of the Aeternus Machina is embedded into its chest and the screen is bright white, casting a stream of light like a beacon.
PRL Serials 