On a cold dark night as the sky is riddled with sparkling stars which reveal the universe across its entirety. A comet grazes the sky, hurtling through space as it tears through the black void leaving a slender wisp of its presence. The comet resembles a flaming blue bird crossing the great span. a hand rises following the celestial object along its trajectory. As the tail from its path fades into the abyss a slight droning can be heard along with the crackling sound of a fire blazing on the ground. The near silence is broken as a swarthy masked man booms excitedly, “ the legend of the fijar mogk, one of the many children of the creators!” There is a large crowd gathered around the fire looking up at the night sky as the masked man tells the story. “ It is said that the fijar mogk is an omen of death, life, and new beginnings. With it the guarantee of change is said to follow.” Some of those gathered around the fire gasp, others listen intently holding onto every word being spoken. The masked man moves about dramatically as he intends to grab the attention of all those present. He continues, “ there is legend of an land seated atop the wadja where the edge of the world is said to drop off. The ones who live on this land, the dhanda’s of Shemli, are said to have skin as pale as bone!” A small child turns to her mother for comfort after hearing this. The mother holds her child tight ensuring everything will be alright. The masked man continues his story, “ there eyes are unlike yours, or mine, they are split and crossed!” He draws an x mark in the sand beside the fire. “ Their hair is pale and thin, just like their skin!” He says holding up some dried grass. “ There exists on this land machasheenes that can do the work of ten dhandas!” He holds out his hands.
“ They have bright colourful lights like that of the sunji, even after dark has begun! There are sounds where no dhanda is there to speak. One day these Shemli dhanda will return to our land, and with them will be a changing of life as we know it!” The masked man stretches out his arms as he turns from one side to the other facing the crowd. A voice shouts from the back, “ why are they even there?” Most everyone looks back at to the one who asked, then back towards the masked man awaiting an answer. “ They are exiled on their own accord, retreating to where they cannot escape or be reached. This is because of the great war that occurred so long ago between them and the Gargatas. Using their machasheenes they trapped and killed the king of the Gargatas, as if to cut the head from the Crotalus, the rest of the body slithered and fell. To prevent a retaliation the Shemli dhanda fled to the wadja beyond reach of any.” A man off to the side stands to his feet and shouts, “ aw that’s a load of cucass. No dhanda, machasheenes or not could kill a Gargatas let alone the king of the Gargatas!” His outburst causes anger amongst the crowd, some of the audience shouts at him, others boo. a small child innocently says, “ aw errow your cucass is ruining the story!” Many of the audience laughs, errow sits back down on his seat made from a fell tree’s trunk. The masked man removes his mask revealing his face as the dancing flames flicker illuminates his expression. The child yells, “ uncae Lutzi don’t stop! The story was just getting good!” A figure steps in from the back of the crowd, draped in a white cloth with her face hidden from the hood. The woman speaks up, “ yes Lutzi do go on, I agree with the little one!” Everyone looks back to see the woman in white. People gasp and quickly stand to their feet. Those with children gather their children and quickly leave the area. Errow looks over a Lutzi, then both look toward the woman. Errow asks, “ why are you here, and what do you want?” Raising her hand revealing her skin which is covered in tattoos of symbols and imagery. She replies, “ I am here to speak with your chief, Yetzan Ursa” a moment passes as errow thinks, Lutzi lowers his mask to his side. “ Come with us, we’ll take you there.” He says. Errow looks over squinting his eyes as if to question Lutzi’s logic. The woman smiles as only the bottom of her face can be seen from the light of the fire. “ No need to worry errow, I mean no harm, only to speak with your leader. It will be brief and then I will be on my way.” Errow then asks, “ well why can’t you just tell me and I can relay the message. I am after all lead linguist of Yenga.” The woman responds, “ not that I don’t wish to do so, I just know my message will carry more weight coming from me than you. That and I can be sure to not mix up the message.” Errow snarls, “ alright then, I will take you.” Lutzi asks, “ are you sure?” Errow spits to the side, then turns back to Lutzi to reply, “ never more so. After all we wouldn’t want Yote wondering why a looker is performing linguist tasks would we.” Lutzi looks to the side, “ how would Yote find out?” Errow smiles retorting, “ I would have to tell him. It’s a linguist thing you just wouldn’t understand. Just do what you do best and go look around or something.” Errow walks away before Lutzi can reply. “ This way!” He calls to the woman in white as he gestures throwing his arm forward. The woman looks over to Lutzi as she lifts her index finger to her lips and shushes lightly. Turning around she follows errow away. a cold chill comes over Lutzi as he says to himself, “ I got a bad feeling about this.” Meanwhile, far off on the horizon, beyond where the eye can see there is an island shining like a beacon hidden amongst the stars.
The island is not that of the planet, nor it’s materials, but made by a peoples long forgotten by those who inhabit it now. The island floats atop the water’s surface. Buoyant by it’s interior construction, circular by design. There are five tiers concentrically built upon each other. Each tier is one third less in diameter, but three quarters taller than the last. Seated upon the fifth tier, or central tower is the power source of the entire island. A crystal which acts as a capacitor for electrical energy, through-out the day the sunji’s energy radiates across the island, being harnessed and infused into usable energy which is then stored within the crystal. The civilization inhabiting the island is considered to be far more advanced when compared to modern day technology. However even the brightest, and most advanced societies still have their fair share of deep dark secrets which will eventually be their short coming. Atop the island’s fourth tier is the base for the fifth where the central tower is situated. Along the ground level not a single soul is out and about. The fifth ring is desolate, and devoid of anything that could be considered living. Automations lay about, with no tasks for them to complete they are in a state of standby. One of the many robots jitters before the light on it’s head comes on with a flicker. Powering up the robot comes back to life after what could only seem like an eternity. The mind system begins to boot up with diagnostics as the various systems are tested for operation. Once ready the robot begins its journey towards it’s initial goal the tower base. As the mini bot passes various objects and non-operational automations there are many holograms that project based on motion detection sensors that are placed about the ground. Ghosts of the past come to life before the mini bot as it makes its way towards the objective. One such projection is that of the king of the entire island, Poseidon. Audio begins, “ Join me for the celebration of the advancement, we’ll see who makes it to the next tier and who needs to try harder!” The hologram strobes for a moment before turning off. Almost across the barren sector the robot has the tower base in its visual targeting optic device system. Passing a large pile of debris and other automations the mini bot’s drive wheel gets caught on a stray wire. Pulling as hard as it can is no use. The bot is stuck in place momentarily. The system runs through a course of action, deciding to activate the plasma booster. Once activated the booster projects the bot at twenty times its initial velocity. The thrust is enough to rip the wire, along with the bot’s drive wheel clean off. Reaching the tower base, the pile that had prevent the bots movement came down with a crash. The diagnostic system alerted the bot to the loss of it’s drive wheel. The Plasma booster was turned down and diverted to allow for the bot to hover for the time being. Once inside the tower base there is an elevator ahead. This became the bot’s secondary objective, locate and enter elevator. Inside the tower it is very dark, not a single light was active. The robot activates its overhead illumination lamp. This provides sufficient light for the bot to navigate towards the elevator. Reaching the doors, the mini bot presses the button to call the elevator car. A female robotic voice states, “ main floor.” As the car dings and the doors open. Entering the car the mini bot deactivates its overhead lamp. The doors close as the bot takes a look analyzing the buttons for the one it needs. A third objective becomes active, take elevator to top floor. The bot inserts a small key like object into an orifice of the wall below all the many buttons. The female robotic voice states, “ going up, next stop... top floor.” As the elevator car then shoots up the shaft towards the top. Looking around the car as the robot retracts the key back into itself, the bot notices dust and aging has accumulated within the car. Running through a series of codes the mini bot compares the date with the last time it was active. There is a difference of twenty two years. The elevator car dings as it comes to a halt reaching the top floor. The doors open slowly as the bot looks out. A fourth objective becomes active, locate control panel. The mini bot exits the car as the doors close behind it. Entering the large open room, the bot hovers just slightly off the metal grates that cover the floor. There is a set of stairs leading down to the main hub where the control panel is situated. The bot hovers down towards the hub. A pale skinned man with long curly hair, and a thick beard is positioned over the panel. He is moving his hands about as he writes out code and sequences from the panel. The bot arrives beside the man and hovers patiently as the man moves the symbols and text about. A hologram pops up with an image of the crystal from atop the tower. There are various colours that surround the crystal each with different meanings about the power levels. A bar indicating the power consumption of the entire island appears beside the crystal. The center ring is displayed running on less than five percent of overall output. Each subsequent level is greater than the last. The outer ring using the most at thirty eight percent.
There is a sudden alarm sounding as well as flashing red lights which illuminate the room. The bot begins analyzing the purpose for the alarm. The man over the control drags a line of code into the console. A moment thereafter the alarm stops and everything is back to normal. The diagnostic from the bot is that the computer system was warning of indefinite power loss. Further lines of analysis reveal that the current power usage will create a surge within the next twenty four hours. The man over the console nearly finished, continues to input codes into the controls. The bot realizes that the man has overridden the system functions to prevent power surge. The code he has entered has allowed the system to continue operating with normal functions. Unsure as to why the man would do this the bot begins to decrypt the information. With a final piece of code the man finishes what he was doing. Standing back he looks down at the bot. “ Your turn.” He says stepping back from the console. A fifth objective becomes active, initiate exam results for ascension. The mini bot approaches the console as the small key like arm begins to extend from the bot’s center plate. Inserting into a small orifice on the control hub the key turns. Lines of code begin to appear and run through at a rapid rate. Thousands upon thousands at a time in a blur as they project from the console. The man begins to walk away as the bot runs through the program. Walking over to a panel on the wall the man presses a button activating a hatch in the floor. Steam blows out from the floor hatch. Standing still the man awaits the hatch to fully rise. There is a compartment inside the hatch where a rod like object is mounted. A uniform is positioned on a rack, as well as a pistol like object. The man grabs the rod first. Stepping back he presses a button on the rod activating it. An extremely sharp blade made up of various links which interlock projects from the object. The man holds the blade in front inspecting the links. He then turns the button like a knob causing the links to re-enter the hilt. He Shortens the length of the blade until only a few links are still interlocked. The mini bot looks over from the console as the program runs. The optic mechanism rotates as the bot attempts to get a better look at what the man is doing. The blade flashes in the bot’s recognition system. The man then lifts the small blade up with on hand as he pulls out lengths of hair with the other. Pressing the blade against his head the man shaves the long curly locks from his head. The hair falls to the floor as he quickly makes his way around his head. The bot watches the whole time as the man finishes his head and then moves to his beard. Holding out the long scraggly hair on his face he shaves the hair with ease as it too falls to the floor. Another robot enters the room rolling over towards the man’s feet. As the man finishes the last few strokes, he rubs his hand against his face. The second bot cleans the hair from the floor and then leaves in the same direction it came from. Pressing the button on the hilt of the blade the links disappear back into the rod. The man replaces the hilt on the rack. He then disrobes completely and then walks over towards an open grate to his left. Stepping down a small step the man presses a button on the wall. A large tube lowers from the roof around him. The bot at the console watching the entire time as the tube diffuses the visual. Water drops down from the roof inside the tube, and then projects back up from the floor into the roof. A few moments later a vent opens blowing air from both the floor and the roof. The water is completely removed as the process comes to a finish.
The tube then rises back into the ceiling. The man now clean, shaven, and dry steps out from the area returning to the hatch. He lifts the outfit from the rack, pressing his finger against the collar he lowers down to the crotch. a small light follows as the clothing opens up. Stepping inside the legs and putting his arms in the outfit he then replaces his finger on the crotch as pulls up to the collar. The clothing closes over him. Patting the chest twice and then holding out his arms the clothing adjusts to fit him perfectly. He grabs the blade from the rack and places it into a slit on the upper leg where it fits snugly. He grasps the pistol with both hands, closing one eye as he looks down the sight. Pleased he then holsters the pistol on his opposite thigh. The mini bot watching the entire time as the man returns to the console. The program nearly finished its millionth line of code the bot is nearly done. The console beeps twice before letting the key like object go from the orifice. The mini bot finished its job turns to look towards the man. Slamming down over its optical mechanism with his fist, the man causes the bot’s vision to cease. Grabbing the bot the man effortlessly tosses the bot against the wall. The hovering mechanism fails. Sparks emitting from the bot on the floor as the man walks over to pick it up. He lifts the bot to his chest and walks over to the window of the tower. Raising the bot over his head he throws it from the window which is made of an energy barrier. The barrier smashes out as the energy shards dissipate. Immediately it replicates a moment later. The mini bot hurtles through the air and lands on the drainage channel below where the water from the man’s shower empties into the aqueduct from the upper ring down to each lower ring before draining out from the lower level and into the ocean below the island. Inside the tower the man watches the console as the ascension program starts.
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