There is a device that contains details of all time and existence from the start and as it marches forward. This device is a God Machine; its machinations are wondrous to all sentient beings of the universe, or it would be if its existence was widely known. These are the tales from the Aeternus.
Approaching Eternity D (Solse and Joel in the Xx cont.)
Solse favors an asteroid for the next location of the Aeternus Machina, an asteroid that if viewed from a universal perspective would be seen as whizzing through the banned region from the start of its boundaries where the safe zone formed, and to the back of the regions that has an unofficial border next to the relatively clear space just beyond a chaotic cluster of asteroids. Joel thinks they can ride it out through the banned regions and into the unknown dark expanse that is largely uncharted, but the two do not have a ship that they can rely on to make it back to the regions as the asteroid continues outward. Their ship is the equivalent of a mutt; it is cobbled together from so many different technologies that a passerby would be unable to identify its origin. The two settle on the asteroid as the next temporary location for the Aeternus, but Joel has already started eris scan for the next suitable location where the device can be safely hidden and easily retrieved. The surface of the asteroid is impressive. It is very icy and it has incredible landscapes that look more impressive with the swift moving skyview that is mostly dotted with far away stars and rocky bodies that are like dark clouds. It is cold, but Solse and Joel are properly clothed for the environment and they bound around the surface until Joel is satisfied with their location.
“On Druont, are the people resistent to love, like they feel it but reject it? Or do you all just not feel it?” Solse asks. Their journey to the asteroid had been long and their conversation had lasted for the length of it.
“Why is that relevant to my question?” Joel asks. “I asked you how you could know that your feelings for this being, this earthling woman are anything real or substantial. Your situation is akin to falling in love with a fictional character from your books.”
“There is a marked difference in that I know this earthling woman to exist out there, all those light years away, waiting for me.”
Joel laughs. “Waiting for you…Solse, the earth depicted in her writings does not exist anymore, or it wouldn’t by the time you traveled to her…”
Joel’s laughter stings and Solse cuts erim off. “I know the science. I know why I shouldn’t obsess, I know that what I hope for is improbable, but it is not impossible Joel.”
Joel only sees the humor in the situation; e has to deliberately try to understand that Solse’s feelings are hurt, but e is distracted with the gps type device that gives erim a layout of the asteroid as they move over it. “Solse, my brilliant friend, immaculate archivist and retriever of information, the probability that you are talking to your love in real-time is so small as to be impossible. Do you understand the conditions that must be satisfied for that to be the truth?”
“Conditions as improbable and impossible as those that produced our glorious machine.” Tears stream Solse’s face. He feels very comfortable expressing his vulnerabilities in front of Joel. Sure Joel laughs at him, but only because his show of emotions is so unfamiliar to Joel. Solse cries because the truth is hard to deny and he has placed a lot on his hope that things will some day work out the way that he wanted. Solse found his love by complete random fate while thumbing through stories on his viewer. The viewer displays digital copies of all written texts of the planet Bromeran and many of the other sentient populations of the universe. It also displays digital content that is compatible with Bromeris technology, which by chance includes the internet technology of Earth. Solse has learned a lot about Earth from its internet and it was there that he found the online journal of a woman who he now calls the love of his life. She poured out her most intimate secrets, shouting into the void, and Solse was wrapped up in her.
“This is it.” Joel says with a smile. “Set it up there. And run the diagnostics first please.” Joel jokes, jabbing Solse in his side as e aims eris gps device up toward the sky. E calls the ship closer and before long, it flies to the spot where Joel stands. Joel presses another button that causes the ship to change into a living quarters sufficient for five people.
Solse sets up the Aeternus before Joel is done with the ship. He sits on a chunk of ice and aims the machine so that the bright light of the screen is blocked by a tall sheet of ice behind him. He calibrates the light down so that he can sit comfortably in front of it and read the display; it is beneficial to allow the light of the screen to burn as intensely as possible for as long as possible to ensure that the perpetual energy source and its backup battery aren’t overloaded. The display is divided into many small boxes that represent the different sectors of space. Each sector is assigned a letter and number (the alphabet and numeric system of the Aeternus are Druinte, of course translated here as closely as possible to English); the sector of space that contains the planet Earth is known as area Zg82. Solse avoids looking at the Zg82 box, he forces himself to click the button in the top corner that starts the diagnostic. It is a review of each sector including a current moment assessment and checks for the proper storage of data collected from each sector. Solse watches with a smile on his face. The Aeternus is truly a wonder to behold.
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This week:
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The PRL Interim Short, Looking Down, introduced the world to the planet Hafjeran, and a young member of the Hafjeran Owning caste, Whadgaf Jiris. The Hafjeris have wings and beaks, I guess they’re like bird people, which make them very alien to the average human on Earth. But the troubles that grip the planet might sound very familiar.
Agent Red: “After the initial skirmish with the order that Whadgaf forced upon her arrival at the lair, she was placed under the close watch of Liuar, who was instructed to use the order’s brainwashing methods to sway the young owner to the order’s mission. It pained Liuar to torture Whadgaf, but he followed the orders of his leader, Marfgad.”
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The planet Druont is home to the most technologically advanced civilization in the known universe. They may have extremely fast ships and a mathematical mastery that makes them veritable wizards, but they lack basic social skills that allows them to enjoy life outside of their scientific accomplishments. This is the story of the few among them who have social skills and appreciate the advantages that it affords.
Druinte Social Society: “Today on Druont, an envoy from the MDDS is rapidly approaching the coastal city founded by social Druintes. The city does not have an official name, though social Druintes who live there call it Choice, or a Druinte word that loosely translates to the English word ‘choice’.”
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Wesley Edward Livingston is a founding member of the Parallel Serials and he is responsible for most, if not all, of the world building under the Cosmos umbrella. The man is a thinker, and now we all get to enjoy the thoughts that bounce around in his head.
Selections from Wes E.L.’s Dream Journal: “Thusly, all animal species that are today at the tops of their respective food chains, have pretty much evolved alongside humans, give or take a millennia, and were faced with the same choices. But rather than rely heavily on their cognitive faculties for survival, they chose the most primal parts of themselves to achieve dominion over their domain.”
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The boys are back and they are not very happy with one another. Sure, they are very much in love, and they had braved bullets and blood and monsters to finally reunite at the end of the One-Shots, but relationships are hard apparently. Mysterious superpowers only complicate things.
Love as Power (Diode Bk. 1): “Ivan is shocked to see Clay so hurt and angry. Since the day that he showed up at the hospital where Ivan was treated for a gunshot wound to his leg, Ivan has never seen Clay so angry with him.”
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He’s back! The man with the preternatural ability that kicked off the Serials all those years ago, is back for the last installment of his adventures as the Amazing Elroy. Things have been rocky for him since he left his home in NC, to say the very least, but now he is finally going back. And he has a very special friend to help him navigate the invisible landmines in his future.
The Amazing Elroy (Amazing Elroy, The Magician Bk. 2): “Time on the road is long, but it is made easier by good company. Kevin didn’t know Alia at all when the two escaped what was essentially government custody in the Pacific Northwest, but he came to know her over the long days of their trek across the county. It was Kevin’s second cross country trip, and he was happy to cut a trail across northern US states that he had missed on the first trip that took him across the southern states. Alia’s trip to the northwest was against her will and she had been transported in vehicles and planes without windows that she could access.”
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It’s finally here, the conclusion of the PRL Interim Short, Approaching Eternity, featuring your favorite former Bromeris librarian, Solse Prab, and the love that he found light years away thanks to his god machine.
Romances and Mazes: “My guilty pleasure is the confessional blog, though. I cannot help myself but to wonder about the plight of the ellipses writer and I admit that I check in on them as often as I can, and have since discovering them, though they do not necessarily post often. Some time ago, a link to another blog appeared on the page under the favorites links and I was excited at the possibility of finding out something about this writer, anything to help me know them better. ”
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It’s the PRL Serials Volume III! And yes, 3 is a magic number. Check out the PRL Serials website for other interesting things to read and enjoy. See you next week!
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PRL Serials 