Ul-Kaine was born on Ganymede station. The son of wealthy farmers, he enjoyed a comfortable life of privilege. He became a hero for his actions in defeating the Formidable near Deimos. That sparked a revival among the Proto-Artesians political fortunes as he demonstrated a diminutive ship crewed by a determined group could defeat one of the most heavily armed warships of the inner fleets. He was only 19 and now nearing his 60s he regrets everything.
Alice Angelopoulos, his wife is half his age and he found her on the streets of Ganymede. He took her in, raised her and when she was of age instead of finding a man of suitable age, she confessed her love for him and asked to marry him. He refused at first, but after several years relented. They have a child, a young son who lives with his niece on Ganymede.
He had her trained with the rogue sisters and for a time was almost ready to become a sister marine. She turned her back on them and returned to Ul-Kaine, earning her the mark of a failed recruit. They blindly followed the Proto-Artesian ways and were once members of the Loyalists, but learned of the horrors of the brain worms from what transpired on Despina.
He followed Dr. Hsiang into exile and his group splintered off becoming the Revisionists. He shared all that he knew of the Loyalists with Sophia, having once been a senior member. She in turn agreed to offer me in exchange, provided I not be harmed as she hoped the Doctor would succeed in freeing me from the brain worms.
Arka was found wanting and Pei had been sentence to die for quite some time. Alice obliged and was comfortable dispatching Arka, but was no match for Pei. I angrily confronted her for killing her and she conceded it was not her wish to harm anyone, but was madam Sophia's orders and was unanimous decision of the descendants of Olivia. We both conceded, none of us are ever free of the sisters and when they call, we must obey.
Ul-Kaine shared more detail on what happened on Despina and the cybernetic brain began training new dream travelers including Dr. Hsiang's assistant Deacon. Most died or were left permanently scarred, but a few like Deacon proved adept and were given even more advanced training than what it had shown me. Then the brain showed its true intentions and had them help some of the brain worms adapt and be able to survive in our reality. Despina became infested and the Proto-Artesians soon lost contact. They did a mop up mission and believed they had wiped out any trace of the brain worms and left no one alive.
It was about that time, he learned the dark truth of the Proto-Artesians when they shared their founder Edgar had commissioned them to fulfill the legacy of our creators and to wipe out the existence of all mankind. It broke Ul-Kaine's heart to discover he had been a member and staunch defender of a death cult. A few other ex-Loyalists defected along with Ul-Kaine and they made it to Vega. They picked that horrible place of death rock for the purpose to fool the Proto-Artesians thinking they were condemning themselves to die and would be left alone.
And for a time, Ul-Kaine thought he would die there until Dr. Hsiang showed him the ship and he was close to completing his research. Ul-Kaine agreed to provide him continued cover and they hatched the plan with madam Sophia who sent Arka, Pei and myself. I found them all to be wanting and wished to be left alone.
I was left alone, unguarded and Deacon approached me. We talked about dream travel and he was still able to do so. The powerful sedative I was given included the drug that the Alpha Centauri woman was also given and that prevents us from dream travel. It also traps any brain worms that might hop along for the ride.
I told him about my brain worm, his name was Sam and we both laughed. He too had his own worm, but was never given a proper introduction as it was killed and removed. He still dream travels and the worms keep their distance, they know something has changed. I asked him about how he can travel in tandem and he confirmed and from what he learned they could do much more, but are still far away in their abilities. Dream travel as we describe it, is much more than beaming our consciousness from one point of the galaxy to another via the void. We are actually manipulating everything around us from matter, to energy and even time and space itself. With sufficient training we could move entire planets, will stars into existence or make them implode and form a blackhole. Dream travel is the cornerstone of Alpha Centauri technology.
He then surprised me by saying he knows of iG and been to his world. He learned of him through a compatriot, another Alpha Centauri who sacrificed himself to show him the way to their world. As soon as the Doctor said I was well enough, Deacon wanted to take me back to visit iG's world again. The Doctor has been there many times and has barely gone anywhere else except the library of light.
No comments:
Post a Comment