“YOUR WHAT?!” said Sevvie, after a moment of silence. “Your brother? Our uncle? How come you never told us you had a brother!?”
“Xander, record a reply saying we want to trade with them while I go explain to Jiro and Sevvie in another room, alright?” Xander nodded, and Illiam beckoned his two teenage children out of the room and into another, an absolutely soundproof, scryingproof room. Jiro and Sevvie sat at the chairs, Sevvie looked extremely agitated, betrayed even, while Jiro was just still, quiet as usual, a blank expression on his face.
Illiam sat down on the other side of the table from Sevvie and Jiro. “Well, I guess the place to start is to tell you that I’m not actually from around here. I’m from a planet very far away. It was called Terra. The people who lived there were just like humans, but they were called numans or numen. They are utterly identical to humans in every way, and in fact, humans are descended from numans.”
Illiam took a deep breath and continued. “Our society was very cruel. We believed in many things that I look back upon now in embarrassment. Most of all, we believed that our species needed to be protected, and therefore only certain people were allowed to marry and have children. People with any sort of disability, people who weren’t heterosexual, or people with psychic powers were all considered defective and not permitted. In that world, I was considered defective, and so was my brother, Elian. We decided to create a company called Xelcorp so we could contribute to society with our friend, Ulmer. He was the other man you saw in that video. Anyway, um, he was considered a normal person because he hid the fact he was bisexual, but that’s not an important part of the story. Anyway, one of our employees created a species called the Made. She intended them to be subservient, ready to work for numen, and unintelligent, but…. something happened.”
Illiam shook his head. “They were a lot smarter than they expected- by the time we left, they were even hypothesizing they had human levels of intelligence. And they were nearly unkillable. So they were renamed the Immortals.”
Now Illiam came to the part of the story he was personally ashamed of. “So I ran. I stole a spaceship, took as many nutrient packs as I could, and didn’t look back. I ran out of nutrient packs a few weeks in and had to use my psychic powers to sustain myself for the rest of the time. Eventually, I approached Naven and crash landed. That was when I met your father. And you know the rest of the story from there.”
Sevvie was silent for once, but Jiro was chewing his lip, contemplative. “Well, your first home sounds awful, and we live in hell.”
Illiam gasped and Sevvie slapped Jiro’s hand slightly as Jiro laughed. “It was a joke about the traditional meaning of the world hell! It really does seem awful though, father. I’m glad you escaped and came here. You seem so sad even just talking about it.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you came here too,” said Sevvie, “Because otherwise we wouldn’t, y’know, exist.”
“So, what did your brother say in that video?”
“Elian said that our entire species was destroyed by something called the….” Illiam tried to remember the strange words he’d spoken. “The X`lanthian empire. They destroyed our entire species.” He thought again of Elian’s words. “Possibly even Terra itself.”
“That’s terrible!” said Sevvie. “How could someone do such a thing? Just kill everyone?”
Jiro began to tear up. “All of them? There’s nobody left?”
“Besides Elian and Ulmer and me, I don’t think so.” replied Illiam. “Oh, Jiro, I know. It’s… an atrocity on a massive scale. We were horrible, yes. But we didn’t all deserve to die. Not the children, not the people who were oppressed in the society, not the people who could be reformed... “
And with that, Illiam realized the entirety of what had been done to the people who he’d once called his own. Everyone who he’d ever seen and known in that life before was dead besides Elian and Ulmer. Illiam slumped his head into his upraised hands and tried not to cry in front of his children.
Jiro gently patted his father’s arm, and Illiam looked up and propped his head up, holding Jiro’s hand. Sevvie grabbed her father’s other hand. “I just don’t know… what sort of… what sort of… what sort of monsters could do that!”
And then Illiam couldn’t hold it back anymore. As Jiro and Sevvie squeezed their father’s hands, Illiam began to softly cry.
“Xander, record a reply saying we want to trade with them while I go explain to Jiro and Sevvie in another room, alright?” Xander nodded, and Illiam beckoned his two teenage children out of the room and into another, an absolutely soundproof, scryingproof room. Jiro and Sevvie sat at the chairs, Sevvie looked extremely agitated, betrayed even, while Jiro was just still, quiet as usual, a blank expression on his face.
Illiam sat down on the other side of the table from Sevvie and Jiro. “Well, I guess the place to start is to tell you that I’m not actually from around here. I’m from a planet very far away. It was called Terra. The people who lived there were just like humans, but they were called numans or numen. They are utterly identical to humans in every way, and in fact, humans are descended from numans.”
Illiam took a deep breath and continued. “Our society was very cruel. We believed in many things that I look back upon now in embarrassment. Most of all, we believed that our species needed to be protected, and therefore only certain people were allowed to marry and have children. People with any sort of disability, people who weren’t heterosexual, or people with psychic powers were all considered defective and not permitted. In that world, I was considered defective, and so was my brother, Elian. We decided to create a company called Xelcorp so we could contribute to society with our friend, Ulmer. He was the other man you saw in that video. Anyway, um, he was considered a normal person because he hid the fact he was bisexual, but that’s not an important part of the story. Anyway, one of our employees created a species called the Made. She intended them to be subservient, ready to work for numen, and unintelligent, but…. something happened.”
Illiam shook his head. “They were a lot smarter than they expected- by the time we left, they were even hypothesizing they had human levels of intelligence. And they were nearly unkillable. So they were renamed the Immortals.”
Now Illiam came to the part of the story he was personally ashamed of. “So I ran. I stole a spaceship, took as many nutrient packs as I could, and didn’t look back. I ran out of nutrient packs a few weeks in and had to use my psychic powers to sustain myself for the rest of the time. Eventually, I approached Naven and crash landed. That was when I met your father. And you know the rest of the story from there.”
Sevvie was silent for once, but Jiro was chewing his lip, contemplative. “Well, your first home sounds awful, and we live in hell.”
Illiam gasped and Sevvie slapped Jiro’s hand slightly as Jiro laughed. “It was a joke about the traditional meaning of the world hell! It really does seem awful though, father. I’m glad you escaped and came here. You seem so sad even just talking about it.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you came here too,” said Sevvie, “Because otherwise we wouldn’t, y’know, exist.”
“So, what did your brother say in that video?”
“Elian said that our entire species was destroyed by something called the….” Illiam tried to remember the strange words he’d spoken. “The X`lanthian empire. They destroyed our entire species.” He thought again of Elian’s words. “Possibly even Terra itself.”
“That’s terrible!” said Sevvie. “How could someone do such a thing? Just kill everyone?”
Jiro began to tear up. “All of them? There’s nobody left?”
“Besides Elian and Ulmer and me, I don’t think so.” replied Illiam. “Oh, Jiro, I know. It’s… an atrocity on a massive scale. We were horrible, yes. But we didn’t all deserve to die. Not the children, not the people who were oppressed in the society, not the people who could be reformed... “
And with that, Illiam realized the entirety of what had been done to the people who he’d once called his own. Everyone who he’d ever seen and known in that life before was dead besides Elian and Ulmer. Illiam slumped his head into his upraised hands and tried not to cry in front of his children.
Jiro gently patted his father’s arm, and Illiam looked up and propped his head up, holding Jiro’s hand. Sevvie grabbed her father’s other hand. “I just don’t know… what sort of… what sort of… what sort of monsters could do that!”
And then Illiam couldn’t hold it back anymore. As Jiro and Sevvie squeezed their father’s hands, Illiam began to softly cry.
Elian sat at the conference table, Ulmer on the other side. “I don’t think anyone is going to respond to the message.” said Ulmer. “It may be time to start considering Ma`loth’s offer.”
“I’ll never deal with that monster again.” replied Elian. “It’s probably just a trick, you know. To get us where he wants us, to eliminate the remaining numen.”
“Well, that seems rather paranoid.” Ulmer always tried to see the best in that damn alien, even after he had slaughtered their species!
Suddenly, Elian heard a voice in his head. “Your message has been received by us. Would like to meet up in location described. You may use thoughts to reply to me. Xander Nesline.”
Elian thought of what he should say to this person. “We’ll start moving there as soon as possible. It will take a few weeks. How can you communicate with me in my brain? Are you psychic? Where is your planet?”
There was no reply, and Elian looked to Ulmer. “I just got a message from someone! In my head! It was really wierd. It was from someone named Xander Nesline. They wanted to meet where we said in our message! It’s amazing! Finally, our luck is turning.”
“Or it’s a trick.” said Ulmer, standing up. The voice hadn't replied, and that was odd, but maybe they could only send a message so often. They were sending it through all that space, after all.
“Ha ha. Funny.” replied Elian, rolling his eyes. “I’m going to go to meet them.” He obviously hadn’t given out their true location, rather instead a meeting point of sorts they had set up. “You can come with me or not.”
“Of course I will.” said Ulmer. “I’ll go see if anyone else might want to come too. You know Elato was really into the prospect of meeting “non-asshole” aliens.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll never deal with that monster again.” replied Elian. “It’s probably just a trick, you know. To get us where he wants us, to eliminate the remaining numen.”
“Well, that seems rather paranoid.” Ulmer always tried to see the best in that damn alien, even after he had slaughtered their species!
Suddenly, Elian heard a voice in his head. “Your message has been received by us. Would like to meet up in location described. You may use thoughts to reply to me. Xander Nesline.”
Elian thought of what he should say to this person. “We’ll start moving there as soon as possible. It will take a few weeks. How can you communicate with me in my brain? Are you psychic? Where is your planet?”
There was no reply, and Elian looked to Ulmer. “I just got a message from someone! In my head! It was really wierd. It was from someone named Xander Nesline. They wanted to meet where we said in our message! It’s amazing! Finally, our luck is turning.”
“Or it’s a trick.” said Ulmer, standing up. The voice hadn't replied, and that was odd, but maybe they could only send a message so often. They were sending it through all that space, after all.
“Ha ha. Funny.” replied Elian, rolling his eyes. “I’m going to go to meet them.” He obviously hadn’t given out their true location, rather instead a meeting point of sorts they had set up. “You can come with me or not.”
“Of course I will.” said Ulmer. “I’ll go see if anyone else might want to come too. You know Elato was really into the prospect of meeting “non-asshole” aliens.”
“Okay.”
The whole royal family of Naven had made their way to the meeting point. In case anything went wrong, mages watched, ready to pull them from danger or resurrect them in a safe location. Though, then again, they had little to fear with Xander there. He was a god, after all, and fully capable of destroying anyone who threatened his beloved family.
Their ship landed on the surface of the dwarf planet, and they exited the spaceship. Spells that had been cast before their arrival indicated that the planet could support life and was completely safe. None the less, Sevvie and Jiro were both dressed in suits of armor glamered to look like royal outfits and were covered in a wide variety of protective spells.
The planet was so small, it had been easy to find the only structure on it. There were two people standing in front of it. Illiam recognized his brother immediately, but Elian did not. He stood there, blinking, unbelieving as Illiam walked towards him. “Brother!” said Illiam in Low Terran. “It’s been so long!”
“I...Illiam?” asked Elian, hesitation in his voice. “That can’t really be you.”
“It is me, Elian.” Illiam smiled widely at Elian as he approached him and Ulmer. “After all this time I never thought we’d find each other, but then we got that message, and I-”
Elian reached out and touched Illiam’s face as if to confirm he was real. “Illiam, I… I… I thought you were dead this whole time. I mourned you. How can you still be alive?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” replied Illiam. “I thought you were killed by Immortals.”
Elian laughed slightly at that. “That’s what I thought happened to you!”
“I stole a spaceship and left Terra. I was out there in space for months, maybe years, until I found another planet and crashed on it. I’ve lived there ever since. I thought of going back and trying to find you or what happened to you, but I didn’t know how to get back to Terra from here. Plus, I…” Illiam looked away from his brother. “I liked it better on my new home planet than on Terra.”
“Oh, of course you did!” said Elian, hugging Illiam tightly. “Terra was our home. But I think we can now agree it was a terrible place. It’s horrible, awful the X`lanthians destroyed it, a tragedy of the utmost degree, but wow. It was awful there.”
Elian sounded to Illiam like he’d gotten over the destruction of his home planet, and was about to open his mouth to ask Illiam precisely what a X`lanthian was, when Ulmer interupted him.
“So, um, who are the other people with you?”
Illiam pulled back from hugging his brother. “Elian, I hope you aren’t… disappointed or disgusted by what I’m about to tell you. Things are very different on Naven than they were on Terra. This is Xander. He’s my… he’s my..” Illiam took a deep breath. “He’s my husband.”
But instead of Elian yelling or seeming disappointed or upset in any way, he simply smiled wider and took Ulmer’s arm. “Ulmer and I are together, too. Don’t worry, Illiam. We haven’t worried about that sort of thing since we left Terra.”
Illiam had almost not even noticed Ulmer. “Oh. Hello, Ulmer. Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to Monica?”
Ulmer’s face was still as he replied. “She died a long time ago.”
“And who are the two kids with you?”
“Sevvie, Jiro, come here.” Sevvie and Jiro approached. “They’re Xander and I’s children. Sevvie is sixteen and Jiro is fourteen.”
“Cute kids!” commented Elian. “Jiro looks just like you!”
“I’ve always thought he looked like you!” replied Illiam.
“So your husband is an alien?” asked Elian. “Sevvie looks a lot more like him, but they both have horns like him.”
“I am a tiefling.” replied Xander. “And I have the ability to understand all languages. I am technically a hybrid of human and devil. Sevvie and Jiro are also counted as tieflings.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude.” said Elian. “Um, it’s very nice to meet you, Xander. In person. Um, why don’t we all go in.”
“Kids, we’re going inside.” said Illiam in Infernal. Ulmer opened the door to the building, and everyone was inside.
Once inside, Illiam was shocked by what he saw.
There was another numan there (that was not the shocking thing) and an IMMORTAL. An Immortal, just standing there, looking at some sort of tablet, before he turned his gaze to the people entering the room.
And then the Immortal DID an even more shocking thing!
It spoke!
“Hey, look, another Elian. That’s just what this world needed.” It laughed, then pounced from sitting into standing position and crossed the room towards Illiam. “You must be Illiam, Elian’s dead brother. I’m Elato.”
A talking immortal, an immortal who could reason and understand? “N-nice to meet you?” sputtered Illiam. He tried to stay calm. He had seen many strange creatures in his time, like winged lizards that could speak and take human form, walking trees, thousands of strange and esoteric varieties of demon and devil…
“Elato is one of the few Immortals that have chosen to work for us.” explained Elian like a talking Immortal was perfectly normal. “He’s the head of our Computer Science division.”
What, had Xelcorp massively lowered its standards since there were so few numen left? As Illiam attempted to process this information, Xander politely asked, “What is computer science?”
“Do you know what a computer is?” asked Elato.
Xander shook his head, despite the fact that Illiam had explained to him the basic concept (and also that they were essentially terminals but made out of wires and electricity) and Elato begun to explain. “Well, imagine a large box. And this box can do any sort of mathematical calculation you ask it to do. You can create instructions for it to perform these calculations in a certain order, using the results of other calculations in new calculations, and then you can use these calculations to represent certain things.”
“So, these lists of instructions are called programs. And people create programs that allow the computer to do more useful things. For example, take a personal computer. People write programs that allow certain values to be sent to the monitor and represented as words or images on the screen. Now-”
“Elato, Elato, you’re over explaining things.” The fourth person approached. He just looked like a normal numan. “I’m Mateus, another Xelcorp employee.” He then looked lovingly (yes, lovingly!) at Elato. “And Elato’s husband.”
A numan and an Immortal. Illiam never thought he would see the day… Mateus continued. “A computer is basically a device you can get to do anything. It can let you see information, record your own information, process information, play games, create new things for it to do… really anything. They’re very powerful.”
Sevvie let out a sigh and Illiam looked to his child. “I’m sorry this is boring, kids.” he said in Infernal. “We should have put translating spells on you before you left.”
“I’ll do it right now.” said Xander.
Elato looked at Xander curiously. “How come I can hear you talking in a different language and already understand it? Also, who are you again?”
“I am Illiam’s husband, and these are our children, Seva, and Jiro. Children, the translating spell should be operational now.”
“Cool.” said Sevvie. “Are there any other kids here?”
Elato smiled widely at Mateus and jabbed him with an elbow. “Hey hey hey, I told you it was a good idea to bring Cade! CADIS! CADIS, come here!”
Suddenly a teenager emerged from another room. He was, of all the baffling things Illiam had seen today, the most baffling. A numan-Immortal hybrid! He looked to be about Jiro’s age, and resembled Mateus and Elato very much.
“Hi dad.” said Cadis. “Are these the people we were trying to meet?”
“I’m Elian’s brother, Illiam.” explained Illiam once more. “And this is my husband Xander and my children, Sevvie and Jiro.”
“Hi,” said Cadis, smiling at Sevvie and Jiro. Sevvie waved back and Jiro… oh no, Jiro. Jiro had that look on his face he always did when he encountered a boy who he thought was cute. Illiam thought his son would have better taste than a half-immortal!
“Cade, why don’t you show Sevvie and Jiro around while us adults talk about boring stuff, okay?” suggested Elato. “I’m sure you three would have a better time together than just listening to us yap.”
“Okay.” said Cadis, who seemed rather pleased about the idea. Sevvie and Jiro left with him to who knows where. Illiam tried to put all thoughts of his son and an immortal out of his head. Instead, he asked a question he had been wondering about ever since he’d received the message.
“Who are the X`lanthians? And why did they destroy us?”
Their ship landed on the surface of the dwarf planet, and they exited the spaceship. Spells that had been cast before their arrival indicated that the planet could support life and was completely safe. None the less, Sevvie and Jiro were both dressed in suits of armor glamered to look like royal outfits and were covered in a wide variety of protective spells.
The planet was so small, it had been easy to find the only structure on it. There were two people standing in front of it. Illiam recognized his brother immediately, but Elian did not. He stood there, blinking, unbelieving as Illiam walked towards him. “Brother!” said Illiam in Low Terran. “It’s been so long!”
“I...Illiam?” asked Elian, hesitation in his voice. “That can’t really be you.”
“It is me, Elian.” Illiam smiled widely at Elian as he approached him and Ulmer. “After all this time I never thought we’d find each other, but then we got that message, and I-”
Elian reached out and touched Illiam’s face as if to confirm he was real. “Illiam, I… I… I thought you were dead this whole time. I mourned you. How can you still be alive?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” replied Illiam. “I thought you were killed by Immortals.”
Elian laughed slightly at that. “That’s what I thought happened to you!”
“I stole a spaceship and left Terra. I was out there in space for months, maybe years, until I found another planet and crashed on it. I’ve lived there ever since. I thought of going back and trying to find you or what happened to you, but I didn’t know how to get back to Terra from here. Plus, I…” Illiam looked away from his brother. “I liked it better on my new home planet than on Terra.”
“Oh, of course you did!” said Elian, hugging Illiam tightly. “Terra was our home. But I think we can now agree it was a terrible place. It’s horrible, awful the X`lanthians destroyed it, a tragedy of the utmost degree, but wow. It was awful there.”
Elian sounded to Illiam like he’d gotten over the destruction of his home planet, and was about to open his mouth to ask Illiam precisely what a X`lanthian was, when Ulmer interupted him.
“So, um, who are the other people with you?”
Illiam pulled back from hugging his brother. “Elian, I hope you aren’t… disappointed or disgusted by what I’m about to tell you. Things are very different on Naven than they were on Terra. This is Xander. He’s my… he’s my..” Illiam took a deep breath. “He’s my husband.”
But instead of Elian yelling or seeming disappointed or upset in any way, he simply smiled wider and took Ulmer’s arm. “Ulmer and I are together, too. Don’t worry, Illiam. We haven’t worried about that sort of thing since we left Terra.”
Illiam had almost not even noticed Ulmer. “Oh. Hello, Ulmer. Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to Monica?”
Ulmer’s face was still as he replied. “She died a long time ago.”
“And who are the two kids with you?”
“Sevvie, Jiro, come here.” Sevvie and Jiro approached. “They’re Xander and I’s children. Sevvie is sixteen and Jiro is fourteen.”
“Cute kids!” commented Elian. “Jiro looks just like you!”
“I’ve always thought he looked like you!” replied Illiam.
“So your husband is an alien?” asked Elian. “Sevvie looks a lot more like him, but they both have horns like him.”
“I am a tiefling.” replied Xander. “And I have the ability to understand all languages. I am technically a hybrid of human and devil. Sevvie and Jiro are also counted as tieflings.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude.” said Elian. “Um, it’s very nice to meet you, Xander. In person. Um, why don’t we all go in.”
“Kids, we’re going inside.” said Illiam in Infernal. Ulmer opened the door to the building, and everyone was inside.
Once inside, Illiam was shocked by what he saw.
There was another numan there (that was not the shocking thing) and an IMMORTAL. An Immortal, just standing there, looking at some sort of tablet, before he turned his gaze to the people entering the room.
And then the Immortal DID an even more shocking thing!
It spoke!
“Hey, look, another Elian. That’s just what this world needed.” It laughed, then pounced from sitting into standing position and crossed the room towards Illiam. “You must be Illiam, Elian’s dead brother. I’m Elato.”
A talking immortal, an immortal who could reason and understand? “N-nice to meet you?” sputtered Illiam. He tried to stay calm. He had seen many strange creatures in his time, like winged lizards that could speak and take human form, walking trees, thousands of strange and esoteric varieties of demon and devil…
“Elato is one of the few Immortals that have chosen to work for us.” explained Elian like a talking Immortal was perfectly normal. “He’s the head of our Computer Science division.”
What, had Xelcorp massively lowered its standards since there were so few numen left? As Illiam attempted to process this information, Xander politely asked, “What is computer science?”
“Do you know what a computer is?” asked Elato.
Xander shook his head, despite the fact that Illiam had explained to him the basic concept (and also that they were essentially terminals but made out of wires and electricity) and Elato begun to explain. “Well, imagine a large box. And this box can do any sort of mathematical calculation you ask it to do. You can create instructions for it to perform these calculations in a certain order, using the results of other calculations in new calculations, and then you can use these calculations to represent certain things.”
“So, these lists of instructions are called programs. And people create programs that allow the computer to do more useful things. For example, take a personal computer. People write programs that allow certain values to be sent to the monitor and represented as words or images on the screen. Now-”
“Elato, Elato, you’re over explaining things.” The fourth person approached. He just looked like a normal numan. “I’m Mateus, another Xelcorp employee.” He then looked lovingly (yes, lovingly!) at Elato. “And Elato’s husband.”
A numan and an Immortal. Illiam never thought he would see the day… Mateus continued. “A computer is basically a device you can get to do anything. It can let you see information, record your own information, process information, play games, create new things for it to do… really anything. They’re very powerful.”
Sevvie let out a sigh and Illiam looked to his child. “I’m sorry this is boring, kids.” he said in Infernal. “We should have put translating spells on you before you left.”
“I’ll do it right now.” said Xander.
Elato looked at Xander curiously. “How come I can hear you talking in a different language and already understand it? Also, who are you again?”
“I am Illiam’s husband, and these are our children, Seva, and Jiro. Children, the translating spell should be operational now.”
“Cool.” said Sevvie. “Are there any other kids here?”
Elato smiled widely at Mateus and jabbed him with an elbow. “Hey hey hey, I told you it was a good idea to bring Cade! CADIS! CADIS, come here!”
Suddenly a teenager emerged from another room. He was, of all the baffling things Illiam had seen today, the most baffling. A numan-Immortal hybrid! He looked to be about Jiro’s age, and resembled Mateus and Elato very much.
“Hi dad.” said Cadis. “Are these the people we were trying to meet?”
“I’m Elian’s brother, Illiam.” explained Illiam once more. “And this is my husband Xander and my children, Sevvie and Jiro.”
“Hi,” said Cadis, smiling at Sevvie and Jiro. Sevvie waved back and Jiro… oh no, Jiro. Jiro had that look on his face he always did when he encountered a boy who he thought was cute. Illiam thought his son would have better taste than a half-immortal!
“Cade, why don’t you show Sevvie and Jiro around while us adults talk about boring stuff, okay?” suggested Elato. “I’m sure you three would have a better time together than just listening to us yap.”
“Okay.” said Cadis, who seemed rather pleased about the idea. Sevvie and Jiro left with him to who knows where. Illiam tried to put all thoughts of his son and an immortal out of his head. Instead, he asked a question he had been wondering about ever since he’d received the message.
“Who are the X`lanthians? And why did they destroy us?”
Elian shook his head. “Why don’t I tell you the whole story in the conference room? It’ll take a while, and it’s very sad.” They all moved to the conference room and sat down. “Well, I suppose it all begun with the Immortals. Shortly after you… left, we learned that Immortals are not only as smart as numen, but in fact, they’re much smarter. That’s why Elato is now head of our computer science division, because he’s a lot more intelligent than anyone else around. The way that immortals can think… it’s incredible. On an entirely different level.”
“That seems hard to believe.” stated Illiam, before looking to Elato. “Um, no offense.”
Elato glared at Illiam, but Elian nodded. “I wouldn’t have believed it at first if Marie hadn’t told me it was intentional. She had given them that intelligence and the ability to regenerate, their near-immortality.”
“So she’s the one responsible for all the deaths in the Immortal War, then.” said Illiam, scowling.
“No she fucking isn’t.” said Elato. “It’s your fault for treating us like slaves. If we’d of been treated like equals from the start, we wouldn’t have had to fight for our freedom.”
Illiam opened his mouth to yell at Elato, but Elian nodded in agreement with him. “Elato’s right. Anyway, after the war, our species didn’t learn from our mistakes and made the rest of the remaining Immortals on Terra into slaves using devices that overrode their wills. Then, in an attempt to get those who escaped to space, we left Terra and explored the nearby galaxy. It was around that time that Xelcorp began preparing for leaving Terra as well. It was then that we discovered the X`lanthians.”
Elian flipped a switch, and an image appeared of an tall, somewhat insectoid numanoid with six arms, four eyes, and long, flowing black hair. It was pretty androgynous- though if Illiam had to guess, he’d say that this creature was male- and was dressed in some sort of elaborate outfit. “This is an image of their leader, President Ma`loth. X`lanthians choose their leader by means of election, by which I mean they all choose who they want best to be their leader.”
“I understand the basic concept of democracy.” said Illiam with a nod. “Continue.”
“Anyway, the X`lanthians tried to make peace with us. This was before Ma`loth was their leader. But we refused. We tried to destroy them. When this happened, Xelcorp finally left Terra. We would have no part in this war. The rest of our civilization then fought us, too.” Elian sighed, looking to Ma`loth’s image. “The battle raged on for many years. Finally, Ma`loth, who had been recently elected president, hired us, Xelcorp, on what he called a civillian project, updating the X`lanthian water network.” Now Elian’s face turned downright hateful. Illiam had never seen his brother so upset. “He betrayed us. He somehow… somehow found documents we had on hypothetical weapons. And he stole those documents and created one of them, but on a scale we never envisioned. He used our technology, our ideas, to destroy numanity. The weapon the X`lanthians fired on Terra killed everyone in the blink of an eye.”
Elian shuddered, and Ulmer patted him softly on the shoulders. “It was horrible.” he continued for Elian. “Every numan, every Immortal, every plant and animal on that planet… in a single moment, it became a lifeless husk. I’ve been back, and there’s only dirt, ash, and empty cities.”
“I could never go back.” said Elian, shaking his head. “It would hurt too much.”
“So, what did you do to that Ma`loth?” asked Xander. “What manner of revenge did you heap upon him?”
Ulmer and Elian both looked distressed by the question. “What can you do against a person who can destroy you an instant? Find you anywhere?” said Ulmer.
“We could destroy his weapon and scour his knowledge of it.” replied Xander.
Ulmer shook his head. “But the weapon would fire on you and it would destroy you. It instantly destroys anything organic.”
“I am not fully organic.” replied Xander. “I am a god, a being made also of prayers and hopes and…” Xander usually ended that sentance with evil, but for some reason omitted that. “Er, and magic.”
Elian raised an eyebrow. “Um, I’m sure, but-”
“I truly am.” replied Xander. “I can do things you would not believe.”
“Xander is an extremely powerful sorcerer.” added Illiam. “Magic is real in our world and it can do wonderful things.
Elian and Ulmer looked at each other as if they thought that Xander and Illiam were crazy, but Xander stood up proudly. “I shall demonstrate!”
“That seems hard to believe.” stated Illiam, before looking to Elato. “Um, no offense.”
Elato glared at Illiam, but Elian nodded. “I wouldn’t have believed it at first if Marie hadn’t told me it was intentional. She had given them that intelligence and the ability to regenerate, their near-immortality.”
“So she’s the one responsible for all the deaths in the Immortal War, then.” said Illiam, scowling.
“No she fucking isn’t.” said Elato. “It’s your fault for treating us like slaves. If we’d of been treated like equals from the start, we wouldn’t have had to fight for our freedom.”
Illiam opened his mouth to yell at Elato, but Elian nodded in agreement with him. “Elato’s right. Anyway, after the war, our species didn’t learn from our mistakes and made the rest of the remaining Immortals on Terra into slaves using devices that overrode their wills. Then, in an attempt to get those who escaped to space, we left Terra and explored the nearby galaxy. It was around that time that Xelcorp began preparing for leaving Terra as well. It was then that we discovered the X`lanthians.”
Elian flipped a switch, and an image appeared of an tall, somewhat insectoid numanoid with six arms, four eyes, and long, flowing black hair. It was pretty androgynous- though if Illiam had to guess, he’d say that this creature was male- and was dressed in some sort of elaborate outfit. “This is an image of their leader, President Ma`loth. X`lanthians choose their leader by means of election, by which I mean they all choose who they want best to be their leader.”
“I understand the basic concept of democracy.” said Illiam with a nod. “Continue.”
“Anyway, the X`lanthians tried to make peace with us. This was before Ma`loth was their leader. But we refused. We tried to destroy them. When this happened, Xelcorp finally left Terra. We would have no part in this war. The rest of our civilization then fought us, too.” Elian sighed, looking to Ma`loth’s image. “The battle raged on for many years. Finally, Ma`loth, who had been recently elected president, hired us, Xelcorp, on what he called a civillian project, updating the X`lanthian water network.” Now Elian’s face turned downright hateful. Illiam had never seen his brother so upset. “He betrayed us. He somehow… somehow found documents we had on hypothetical weapons. And he stole those documents and created one of them, but on a scale we never envisioned. He used our technology, our ideas, to destroy numanity. The weapon the X`lanthians fired on Terra killed everyone in the blink of an eye.”
Elian shuddered, and Ulmer patted him softly on the shoulders. “It was horrible.” he continued for Elian. “Every numan, every Immortal, every plant and animal on that planet… in a single moment, it became a lifeless husk. I’ve been back, and there’s only dirt, ash, and empty cities.”
“I could never go back.” said Elian, shaking his head. “It would hurt too much.”
“So, what did you do to that Ma`loth?” asked Xander. “What manner of revenge did you heap upon him?”
Ulmer and Elian both looked distressed by the question. “What can you do against a person who can destroy you an instant? Find you anywhere?” said Ulmer.
“We could destroy his weapon and scour his knowledge of it.” replied Xander.
Ulmer shook his head. “But the weapon would fire on you and it would destroy you. It instantly destroys anything organic.”
“I am not fully organic.” replied Xander. “I am a god, a being made also of prayers and hopes and…” Xander usually ended that sentance with evil, but for some reason omitted that. “Er, and magic.”
Elian raised an eyebrow. “Um, I’m sure, but-”
“I truly am.” replied Xander. “I can do things you would not believe.”
“Xander is an extremely powerful sorcerer.” added Illiam. “Magic is real in our world and it can do wonderful things.
Elian and Ulmer looked at each other as if they thought that Xander and Illiam were crazy, but Xander stood up proudly. “I shall demonstrate!”
Cadis was happy that there were some other teens here his own age here. Both Sevvie and Jiro seemed really cool, and he’d rather hang out with them than spend time studying on his computer, the default activity his parents forced him to do whenever he wasn’t doing something else.
Not to mention Jiro was pretty cute. There were no numan teenagers his age anymore, and none of the Immortal teens he knew (and they were very rare, as Immortals couldn’t naturally reproduce) were interested in dating a half immortal like him. But Jiro was something else entirely, and maybe, just maybe…
“So you can make this devise do whatever you want?” asked Jiro.
“Yep,” replied Cadis, “You just have to know how to write the code. I, um, I could teach you and Sevvie how if you wanted to learn.”
“It’s not like we have a computer, though.” replied Sevvie.
Cadis smiled. “Your parents will probably buy you one, won’t they? Or, if you visit here often, you could use mine.”
“I’m sure we will.” replied Jiro with a soft smile. “After all, he’ll probably want us to visit our uncle all the time.”
“So your dad is Elian’s brother, right?” Sevvie and Jiro both nodded. “I hope you do come here all the time. It’d be nice to have some new friends.”
Not to mention Jiro was pretty cute. There were no numan teenagers his age anymore, and none of the Immortal teens he knew (and they were very rare, as Immortals couldn’t naturally reproduce) were interested in dating a half immortal like him. But Jiro was something else entirely, and maybe, just maybe…
“So you can make this devise do whatever you want?” asked Jiro.
“Yep,” replied Cadis, “You just have to know how to write the code. I, um, I could teach you and Sevvie how if you wanted to learn.”
“It’s not like we have a computer, though.” replied Sevvie.
Cadis smiled. “Your parents will probably buy you one, won’t they? Or, if you visit here often, you could use mine.”
“I’m sure we will.” replied Jiro with a soft smile. “After all, he’ll probably want us to visit our uncle all the time.”
“So your dad is Elian’s brother, right?” Sevvie and Jiro both nodded. “I hope you do come here all the time. It’d be nice to have some new friends.”
“Alright, alright, magic is real.” said Elato. Xander had performed so many wonderous tricks and spells, they could no longer deny its existance. “But do you even realize what it would take to strike back against the X`lanthians? You’d need a massive, technologically advanced army.”
“My army is quite massive.” replied Xander. Then he paused. “Though technologically advanced… well, in that field it may need a little help.”
“Are we entirely sure we want to do this?” asked Mateus. “While Ma`loth may be a monster, the X`lanthian people have regretted their actions greatly.”
“If they truly regretted them, they should have offered to help us repopulate our race and have terraformed Terra back to our preferences, not theirs.” replied Elian. “Instead, they had their shpiel about the time for numanity being over and learning to heal. How can we heal when we’re dead?”
“The rest of the numen can be relocated safely to Naven or other planets in our side of the galaxy if they’d prefer.” said Illiam. “For safety. Then we’ll work on striking back against Ma`loth. I just hope that he doesn’t discover our side of the galaxy and anyone there he’d like to ally with.”
“My army is quite massive.” replied Xander. Then he paused. “Though technologically advanced… well, in that field it may need a little help.”
“Are we entirely sure we want to do this?” asked Mateus. “While Ma`loth may be a monster, the X`lanthian people have regretted their actions greatly.”
“If they truly regretted them, they should have offered to help us repopulate our race and have terraformed Terra back to our preferences, not theirs.” replied Elian. “Instead, they had their shpiel about the time for numanity being over and learning to heal. How can we heal when we’re dead?”
“The rest of the numen can be relocated safely to Naven or other planets in our side of the galaxy if they’d prefer.” said Illiam. “For safety. Then we’ll work on striking back against Ma`loth. I just hope that he doesn’t discover our side of the galaxy and anyone there he’d like to ally with.”
Dmitri took a deep breath. Ever since he’d heard reports of the people on the other side of the galaxy who’d been discovered by the Stellar League, he had been creating a spell. A spell that would instantly let him communicate with all the leaders of any major nations or groups over there. He’d finished the spell, and now the only thing left to do was cast it. He instantly gathered the power in his mind and let it go.
President Ma`loth Ka`rersn of X`lanthia sat on the balcony of the Tower of Government, watching the capital’s hustle and bustle far below. Floating cars, people in the streets. Happy X`lanthians.
He hadn’t been happy. Not since the day he’d authorized that strike on Terra. It had been many years ago, but his hands were still stained with blood. He knew that he had done was right. Numen were a vile, warmongering, hateful species, but…
Suddenly, he saw a handsome figure projected holographically in front of him. He looked much like a numan, only with slightly pointed ears, stunning violet eyes, and feathered wings. /I am Tsar Dmitri Alkavov of Uldok. If you are receiving this message, I’d like to invite you to a gathering at the following location./ Ma`loth felt a location burned into his mind, like he would always know exactly where that place was. /I’d like to learn about your civilization and culture, discuss possible trade or alliances, and other cool stuff. The meeting day is one month from this date, and the place I have set up there will have rooms for you and your entire enterouge, if you want to bring them all. Anyway, be there, or be square. Dmitri out./
Ma`loth blinked his eyes unbelievingly. He’d heard that Zhernians had found some sort of undiscovered form of alien life.. but how could he be in his head? He’d never even met him?
But he knew he had to go to that meeting. Rising from his place on the balcony, he opened the doors leading into his office. “BA`LOTH! GET EVERYONE READY, WE’RE GOING TO THIS PLACE. YEAH, I KNOW WHERE IT IS, DON’T YOU WORRY! WE’VE GOT TO BE THERE IN A MONTH, SO WE BETTER MOVE! START PACKING, BA`LOTH!”
Ba`loth sighed. Ma`loth was always impossible.
He hadn’t been happy. Not since the day he’d authorized that strike on Terra. It had been many years ago, but his hands were still stained with blood. He knew that he had done was right. Numen were a vile, warmongering, hateful species, but…
Suddenly, he saw a handsome figure projected holographically in front of him. He looked much like a numan, only with slightly pointed ears, stunning violet eyes, and feathered wings. /I am Tsar Dmitri Alkavov of Uldok. If you are receiving this message, I’d like to invite you to a gathering at the following location./ Ma`loth felt a location burned into his mind, like he would always know exactly where that place was. /I’d like to learn about your civilization and culture, discuss possible trade or alliances, and other cool stuff. The meeting day is one month from this date, and the place I have set up there will have rooms for you and your entire enterouge, if you want to bring them all. Anyway, be there, or be square. Dmitri out./
Ma`loth blinked his eyes unbelievingly. He’d heard that Zhernians had found some sort of undiscovered form of alien life.. but how could he be in his head? He’d never even met him?
But he knew he had to go to that meeting. Rising from his place on the balcony, he opened the doors leading into his office. “BA`LOTH! GET EVERYONE READY, WE’RE GOING TO THIS PLACE. YEAH, I KNOW WHERE IT IS, DON’T YOU WORRY! WE’VE GOT TO BE THERE IN A MONTH, SO WE BETTER MOVE! START PACKING, BA`LOTH!”
Ba`loth sighed. Ma`loth was always impossible.
Author's Note: I kind of gave up near the end. I was going to write a sequel to this and almost did but then it became a story about Dmitri and Ma`loth meeting.
Word Count: 4346 Words
Date: November 18th, 2015
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