12,000 AD spoiler

12,000 AD…

Humanity has moved outward from Earth in waves over a period of thousands of years.  Colonization was viewed by many as the best solution for problems such as overpopulation and dwindling resources.  Many colonies were set up throughout the galaxy, in any location where resources could be found.  If a world was inhabitable then a colony was set up immediately, if it could be made inhabitable it was terraformed and then colonized, if it could not be terraformed pressurized artificial environments were created, if even that could not be done orbital colonies were established for the purpose of harvesting resources.  However, in the last 500 years the impetus behind colonization has diminished, and ventures into the unknown are few and far between.  As populations became established, different governments sprang up, and political and ideological feuds took precedence over exploration.  Colonists from Earth were generally absorbed by pre-existing colonies.  The frontier remains sparsely populated, and myths and superstition surround the unknown territories beyond.   Rumors of aliens, monsters, and demons are circulated among the common people, whereas respectable people simply do not talk about what lies beyond.   After all, such matters are the purview of governments, scientists, and wackjobs.  

On a sparsely populated world near the edge of the eastern frontier lives a man, a solitary man, who could perhaps be called a hermit of sorts.  He is a man who is separated from the rest of humanity by an insurmountable rift until the remaking of the universe.  The name his parents gave him was Ambrosius, and although it is dark, he can see because he brings his own light with him.  He burns with a perpetual light of shifting colors in infinite combinations, which cannot be extinguished.  Though most people would assume him to be something other than human, he is in fact fully human.  He is the realization of what humanity was meant to be.  Although he does on occasion interact with other people, he prefers to be alone because the reactions to his presence can be wearisome.  He spends much of his time wandering through the wilderness areas of the planet, the forests he likes best.  Although the flora and fauna lack the diversity that can be found on Earth, he finds it sufficient.  None of the forest creatures fear him, they neither attack him or run away at his approach.  They have nothing to fear because they can sense no evil in him.  Though Ambrosius prefers the forests, he feels compelled to enter a clearing.  He passes between the large and ancient trees to look skyward.  As he stares into the night sky, he stares into the abyss of space, the unknown.  His planet is a frontier world, and beyond his solar system, no human has ever gone, and returned or sent back word.  It is believed to be a hostile region of space, and although he does not share the fears of the rest of humanity, he is acutely aware of a new development beyond the frontier.  This time as he stares up into the night sky, something stares back from across the emptiness of space.  Something incredibly powerful, and malevolent, in fact it is a sentience which is nearly as evil as he is good.  
"This menace is growing, and approaching slowly but surely," said Ambrosius, "I will do what must be done."

Three weeks later, on another planet further in and away from the frontier, a woman walks home at night from an excessively long hard day of work.  She does not really mind because such long days are few and far between, and she does not tire as easily as most.  She walks down a sidewalk, thinking about how nice it would be if she could go strait home to the basement she lives in, but she does not wish to lead the man that has been following her into her home.  She became aware of him after ten minutes of walking, and was now on her way to a place where there were very few street lights, and even fewer people.  She passed by a building with no windows, and turned right at the corner of the building.  The man followed, and he found himself in an alley.  The man did not see her, but he could sense that she was there.  The man was pushed roughly up against a wall, face first, which prevented him from viewing his assailant.  The attacker was unusually strong, and seemed to lack a sense of mercy as a knife was placed firmly at the back of his head.  

"You chose the wrong person to follow tonight friend," said a female voice behind him.  It was of course the woman he had been following.

"I realize that the circumstances of our meeting are somewhat irregular," said the man, "but I assure you--"

"Shut up, don't talk, don't make a sound.  I want you to empty out your pockets and drop that trench coat off of you."

The man had nothing in his pockets, and quickly dropped his trench coat, revealing nothing but black clothing underneath.

"Now take off that hat, and that black ski mask," she said, "anyone who goes around following women at night dressed like you are can't be up to any good."

"Assumptions, assumptions," he said.

"Shut up!" said the woman as she struck him on the head with the hilt of her knife.

The ski mask came off, and light flooded the alley, the woman squinted, and released him, stepping back a few paces.

"What…What are you?" she asked.

"My name is Ambrosius, and I need your help," he said, "I could understand your fear at seeing me from a distance dressed as I am, and given the fact that it is late at night.  Yet, as I approached you closely you could sense no evil in me, and you knew in your heart that I was no threat to you, yet you attacked me anyways.  You have become such a hard person lately."  

"I…You can never be too careful," she said.

"I am looking for the woman who saved the lives of all those people in that power plant on Nablus ten years ago.  You went back into the reactor room of that nuclear power plant, when it was saturated with lethal doses of radiation, and shut down the reactor, saving a whole city.  Your altruism, as well as your ability to endure fatal amounts of radiation are what attracted me to you."

"Who are you?" she said.

"I told you, I am Ambrosius, and you are Emily," said Ambrosius.

"I fled that world after that happened, and I thought no one saw me," said Emily.

"There is someone who sees everything."

"So what are you, like, my guardian angel or something?"

"No, just a fellow human being."

"You said you were attracted to me, does that mean you want to be in a romantic relationship with me?"

"No, what you suggest is forbidden to me because the state in which I exist creates an insurmountable wall between you and I."

"Well what then?"

"I need your help, a great evil approaches the Eastern Frontier, and I need warriors.  In the meantime, I offer to help you find your father who disappeared 20 years ago."

"I had given up hope on that, what do you know about my father?"

"A few things, I know of the unusual circumstances surrounding your birth, as well as the genius of your father, but more immediately, I sense that he might somehow be linked to this great evil that approaches.  I intend to meet it head on, confront it, defeat it, and in the process I hope to glean information as to the whereabouts of your father.  He could be instrumental in defeating this evil.  Will you help me?"

"Yes, I suppose.  I don't know how you know what you know about me, or why I trust you, but I do trust you.  What do we do?"

"Well first of all, there is one more person which we must recruit."
****

Alfred Mina was a librarian, at least as far as everyone knew, but there was a hidden side to Alfred that was very seldom seen.  Alfred was actually the keeper of a secret power, and a strong power which few could contend with.  Alfred himself did not yet know what to do with this power, although he had been given some training in its use.  Alfred sat in front of his terminal reading and researching.  

"Alfred Mina I presume?" said a female voice off to his right.

Alfred was startled by the voice, and even more startled when he noticed that it came from an attractive woman, who did not appear to be an employee.

"That's me, what do you want?" he asked.

"You," she said.

Alfred was unaccustomed to being spoken to by attractive women, so he was immediately suspicious.  

"M-me," he stammered, "what for?  What do you want with me?  I get off in about 30 minutes, can it wait?"

"I'm looking for the justice system around here, and hoping that you could point me in the right direction," she said.

Alfred felt a chill of terror run down his spine, he wondered if someone had seen him during one of his manifestations, or if his father had gone public.

"Come with me," said the woman, "or you can always spend the rest of your life working behind this desk."

She turned to walk away, and Alfred followed her into an elevator.

"Where are we going?" asked Alfred.

"To your vehicle, and you must drive where I tell you," she answered.

"Why did you mention the Justice system?" he asked.

"My boss told me what to say to you, he's a very wise man and soon he will be your boss too, unless of course you decide to walk away and return to your desk.  You still have that option."

So someone else must know about me, I have to at least find out who he is and how he knows.

Alfred drove his car beyond the city limits, and into the parking lot of an obscure hotel in the countryside.  By the time the arrived it was dark, and the area around the hotel was poorly lit.  They passed by several doors, and the women took out a card and slid it through the locking mechanism.  

"You first," she said.

Alfred did not like how the situation was unfolding, and his suspicions continued to rise.  He was afraid that these people knew of his unique gift, or perhaps curse, and were preparing to test it.  He figured that if they did so they would find that they would probably take their secret to the grave.  Still he hoped that he might somehow escape the lifestyle of his father, or perhaps postpone it.  Those hopes shattered with the slam of the door.  The woman was behind Alfred, and in front of him stood a man completely clothed in black, with no skin showing.  He placed one hand on the ski mask that he was wearing.

"Emily, would you please turn out the lights?" he said, and suddenly it was completely dark.

Alfred prepared himself for a fight.

"Do not be afraid," said the man, "I have no desire to harm you Alfred Mina, Scion of Justice.  Oh yes, I know of you and your family burden, and I have need of your skills as a warrior."

"Why should I help you?" asked Alfred.

"Because," said the man as his face suddenly became visible, "I have no sin."

The man had removed his ski mask, and his head and neck shone brightly like a flood light in a small room, and energies seemed to coalesce about his face creating a rippling effect.  Alfred felt a reaction of sympathetic energies welling up within himself.  

"Ambrosius!" shouted Emily, "his eyes are glowing blue!"

"Alfred, Scion of Justice, meet Emily, our partner.  My name is Ambrosius.  Emily, turn the lights back on.  The time has come, for us all to learn from each other, of each other, and discuss our plans.  Have a seat Alfred."

Alfred knew that Ambrosius was what he claimed to be, and that he could be trusted, but he was still curious as to how such a man could exist.  Ambrosius sat on a large cushiony recliner, and Emily sat on a couch.  Alfred remained standing until Emily looked at him and patted the cushion next to her.

"I will tell you both how I cam to be at first, and then we will hear from Emily, and we will hear from you last Alfred," said Ambrosius.  "About 500 years ago, I was reborn, the man who bore my name before that, was me, and was not me.  I chose to keep the name in honor of my parents, who tried hard to raise a good son, but failed.  Perhaps they didn’t try hard enough.  The man who I once was, or was a part of, became extremely jaded due to the dogma he was taught in high school.  In college, he met a woman, who he got pregnant, and dropped out and moved in with due to pressure from his parents.  He was far from a responsible parent, he drank, did drugs, and cheated on his girlfriend.  One day he after several years of unwed cohabitation, he came home very drunk and got into an argument with his girlfriend.  The anger welled up in him, and due to a complete lack of moral compass, he gave into his anger and violently murdered his girlfriend, while the child watched.  The next thing I remember, is that he woke up in a prison.  He stayed in prison when he was not in court attending the trial.  He was found guilty, put back in prison, and sentenced to death.  While on death row he was approached by a scientist, who offered him a second chance at life.  It was a product of experimental technology, intended to permanently reform prisoners."

"'Humanity exists with a dual nature,' said the doctor, 'There is a part of man that values fairness, kindness, and another self centered part which resents restraint.  These two natures could be classified as good and evil, and they fight, one against the other.  Each person possesses them, but usually one in greater portion than the other.  I have found a formula capable of isolating and separating the two natures.  If you take my formula then you are free to go after I have completed my studies on you, if not, well, then there won't be enough left of you to fill a dustpan.  The choice is yours, what do you have to lose?'"

"So the man I used to be took the formula, in a steel chamber deep beneath the ground.  The decision was made quickly, even though he knew in his heart, I knew, that such a thing was forbidden, and only one plan for salvation was truly tolerable.  He sensed the warning from his conscious, but had grown so accustomed to ignoring such things that it was irrelevant.  The decision was made, and the serum drunk.  What followed was incredible pain, and a deep indescribable tearing.  All vision was lost, and so, I woke up on the floor, and opened my eyes for the first time.  Next to me was another man, another Ambrosius.  He was the Ambrosius that decided to murder his wife, the Ambrosius who decided to experiment with drugs and alcohol, the Ambrosius who decided to drink the forbidden serum.  He opened his eyes as well, and he met my gaze with a look of terror and recognition.  Here we were, two men, physically identical in structure and shape, but while I radiated light, he radiated a sense of almost palpable evil.  I knew immediately upon looking at him that he was a sinner damned beyond all redemption, for as surely as I was pure good, he was pure evil, and possessed a soul blacker than that of Satan himself.  Not only were the two natures given separate bodies, but the soul itself was split into two completely separate beings.  The process was irreversible, and since the complete expulsion of the sin nature was done through the agency of science rather than divinity, an unexpected side effect occurred.  I could remember none of the evil things which Ambrosius had thought or done, and he could remember none of the good.  Some memories were shared between us, memories of impressions from outside stimuli, but there were many gaps in both our memories, probably more in mine than his, unfortunately.  It was not later until I was filled in on some of the missing details by the law enforcement and my family."

"The evil Ambrosius threw himself at me in rage, but before he could reach me he was attacked by the guards and beaten to the ground, somewhat excessively according to my estimates.  We were both subject to a great deal of observation and experimentation.  Contrary to the popular belief of many, especially those of pantheistic persuasion, good and evil are not theoretical concepts or social construction, neither are they mutually dependant, and evil is not necessary to bring any kind of balance.  Evil is a cancer that infects this universe, and is not equal to good.  Evil is completely unnecessary, and exists as an encumbrance.  Some believe that logic and decision making abilities are somehow tied to evil because they might require acts which might be termed 'unmerciful' by some, however, the true nature of good involves doing whatever is best, and whatever is best is the most logical thing to do.  My intellect increased greatly, and in a week it was off the scale, I was stronger, had greater endurance, I couldn’t feel pain, I could heal from any wound.  He, on the other hand, possessed slightly diminished strength and intellect, and seemed to alternate between fear, anger, or malice.  They put us both on display at conventions, and would have kept us both around much longer than was promised for study, but at one of the conventions the evil Ambrosius nearly escaped, and the local judiciary was upset by the fact that the sentence had not been carried out, so the evil Ambrosius was taken into the disintegration chamber and vaporized.  For a soul as evil as his there really was no other option.  Hell was his destiny and Hell is where he is."

"I returned to my family, and to my son, but before long I realized that my presence endangered them, as other scientists from all over the universe no doubt wished to study me, and might attempt to use them as leverage to do so.  My departure raised a great deal of attention, but I worked my way towards the outer worlds, and was eventually able to disappear, fading to nothing more than a legend, aside from the hidden records buried away someplace.  I am immortal, but trapped in a fading entropic universe, a world of mortals, and though I have made many friends, I must always watch them die, waiting until the end of the end of things to see them again."

There were a few moments of silence.

"That explains a lot," said Emily, "I suppose it's my turn now?"

"It is," said Ambrosius.

"Allright," she said, "First of all my name is Emily Tanaka, my father was from the New Japan planet, and my mother was from the New Germany planet.  They both met on a planet called Agrippa, and became citizens there as part of their marriage.  My father was a brilliant scientist, a bio-engineer, and my mother, was a Kindergarten teacher at a private school.  Of course, I probably have less of a claim to the name 'Emily Tanaka' as Ambrosius does to his name.  Emily Tanaka was accidentally struck by the beam from a police gun when she was 18 years old, and it cut a huge hole in her chest.  Since her father was a scientist of great repute, and also happened to possess a PHD in medicine, he was allowed access to her in the operating room and was with her as she breathed her last breath.  As soon as he saw the wound in her chest he knew she would probably not survive, so he placed scanners on the side of her head before assisting the doctors who were working on her chest.  He recorded her neural patterns as she died, and took the data home with him.  He took her body home after she died, and scanned it down to the molecular level, his super computers precisely recorded every cell and molecule.  He thought about cloning her, but he wanted his daughter back at the age and intellectual level at the level she was before she died, not as a baby with no memories.  He also wanted to make sure that what killed her would not be able to happen again.  After the funeral he set to work creating a type of artificial biomaterial.  Something that would be compatible with human DNA, that would need as few modifications to the actual DNA as possible.  He found his compound, and after modifying the DNA a bit, he created some cells.  He synthesized a skeleton, and began growing artificial muscle tissue and organs in different chambers filled with nutrient fluid."

"When my mother found out what he was doing she freaked out.  My mother was deeply religious, and she said his work was an abomination and was afraid that what he was doing might be a type of sorcery.  They argued about it, but my mom was afraid that that even if he could make a living body, there would be no soul.  She said that since I was grown from artificial stuff I might be a soulless zombie possessed by a demon.  Or the best case scenario was that I would have a soul, but it would be a whole new soul and not the soul of their original daughter, since only God can make a soul, and humans have no power over the souls of others, especially once they're dead.  My father tried to calm her down, and was able to make her keep his work secret, but she didn’t agree with him.  He knit me together, using machinery most of the time, but sometimes using his hands.  When I was completed he ran an electric shock through my body, which took an incredible amount of voltage for reasons that I'll explain later, until my heart started beating.  He then placed devices around my head stimulating my brain to form the same neural patterns that he recorded from his first daughter, Emily."

"It turned out that my mother was correct, when I awoke, I had all of Emily's memories, almost as if I had lived them myself, but there was no emotional connection with the memories.  I had a different soul, even though I had all the memories, and my behavior was different.  My father knew this right away.  My mother didn’t want anything to do with me at first, she thought I was a soulless android at first, but after being around me for a couple of weeks she decided that I was human, and treated me like a daughter.  I found out that I could do some things the original Emily could not.  My father created my body so that it could absorb and use or store any kind of energy, some kinds more easily than others.  Electrical energy is the easiest for me to absorb.  I needed very little food, and I might even have an infinite lifespan because I haven’t started to age as far as anyone can tell.  My cells do not wear out easily, and harmful types of radiation have no effect on me, I also can't get sick because my immune system is so good and my cells and biochemistry are a little, different.  I discovered that heat doesn’t usually hurt me, I'm sure I have an upper limit somewhere, but in the meantime I enjoyed placing my hands on hot stoves and sticking my fingers in electric sockets to freak people out.  My father told me I should keep my powers a secret, but I was only a teenage girl, and actually in the technical sense I had only been alive for a few weeks.  I was pretty immature, and rebelled against my parents.  Even though I was rebellious, and made them sad a lot, my parents paid for my college, where I got an engineering degree.  During my senior year my mom was killed in a car wreck, and my father was unable to salvage her neural patterns in order to make a duplicate of her.  I went home briefly for the funeral, and my father was looking pretty ragged and depressed, he wanted me to stay longer but I went back to school.  He disappeared while I was at school and when I came home he was gone, no one knew where he went or why.  That was twenty years ago and I've been looking for him since.  I got a job at a nuclear power plant on Nablus, I just wanted to get away from Agrippa because the memories were too painful.  I worked at the power plant for a few years as one of the head technicians, and then something went horribly wrong.  The reactors began to meltdown, I think it was a computer malfunction, and many people were going to die.  Everyone else ran out, but I hid myself until they were gone.  I went in and stabilized the reactors and shut them down, then I realized that if anyone found out what I did they would find out how I was different, and I might end up being dissected in a laboratory, or at the very best locked up for indefinite study like Ambrosius was.   I left the planet, and bounced around getting different jobs different places, and to give myself something to do I studied all of my fathers notes and journals in my free time.  I never moved on until I understood everything, and it took me a while because I'm not the genius my father is.  Even so, I have almost enough knowledge to be a doctor, but no official certification."

"I fervently hope we can find your father," said Ambrosius, "And you are mortal Emily, you will no doubt live a long time, perhaps, as I hope, until the end of things.  Your aging process may be slower but you are not a perfect being, and your sin nature will take it's physical toll."

"All right," said Alfred, "my name is Alfred Mina, and my father's name is Athanasius Mina.  I'm 25 years old, but I probably have a much longer lifespan than normal people do, because all the first born men in my family have, for thousands of years.  Thousands of years ago on Earth, I had an ancestor who met Sir Justice."

"Sir Justice is a myth," said Emily, "come on now, what do you take us for."

"Emily, show some respect, we didn’t talk when you told your story now you don't talk when he tells his.  I sense no falsehood in what he says," said Ambrosius, "Continue Alfred."

"Right," said Alfred, "I had a very ancient ancestor, who encountered the actual Sir Justice, Sir Justice was impressed by his altruism, his sense of justice, and his purity.  Sir Justice isn’t God, and he can't be everywhere at once, and although he could get from place to place instantly, he still could not be everywhere at once.  So he infused my ancestor with some of his essence, giving him similar powers.  I heard that he has done this with other families besides mine, but I can't think of any examples.  Anyways, Sir Justice told my ancestor that every first born male son would inherit the powers of Justice, and everyone who had the powers would keep them for the rest of his life.  The only thing is, the powers cannot be used for evil, it's not as if you would be punished for using the powers, it's just that they cannot be accessed if you plan on doing evil."  

"Anyways, if the oldest son dies before he has a son, then the powers are passed on to the next oldest son.  I never wanted the powers, my older brother died when I was 21, and I had thought I was in the clear.  Yes it's true that the powers make us live longer than normal, but if one of us were to become too evil, then the powers have a way of burning that person to a pile of ashes.  My older brother was killed.  He saw some girl get raped and killed, and he went to kill the people responsible.  That was fine, but then he met with the girl's family, and he got so angry, and felt their pain and loss so closely that he was enflamed for revenge.  He wanted revenge, Justice had been served but he was not satisfied.  He decided to hunt and kill the friends and families of the gangsters, and torture them.  His powers failed him, and his strength and endurance was reduced to nearly that of a normal human, he was shot, and killed.  Unfortunately, he's probably burning in Hell right now."

"I was always rather scrawny and nerdy, but after my brother died I started accumulating body mass, lean body mass, and I wasn’t working out or eating right.  I simply grew, and I started having all sorts of new perceptions and senses.  Knowledge also flooded into my head, and I can recite all the books of the law from memory, and in any language.  I thought I was going insane but my father explained to me that I was becoming a Scion of Justice, one who bears the powers of Sir Justice, although none of us have ever become as powerful as he is.  I didn’t want the powers for the reasons I mentioned, but I also didn’t want the powers because being a Scion of Justice is a thankless job.  People hate and fear us, they resent what we stand for.  It is true that some people appreciate the work we do, like the people we save, but a lot of times we arrive too late to save a person from death or suffering, and we are just executioners.  We have the power to kill and maim, but not to give life.  The closest we can come to healing is to transfer the wounds from a victim to the assailant.  After a while, usually about 120 years, we turn blue like Sir Justice, permanently, and can't maintain a secret identity anymore.  I know the average life expectancy is longer than that, but around 120, we can't blend in anymore, and we have to scatter to different planets so as not to put the rest of the family in danger from reprisals.  Of course even with all that I still think we have it better than Sir Justice, because even though he's immortal and cannot make mistakes, he never gets any rest.  We can take off our armor at any time we want, but Sir Justice isn't human, and he's bound to his, trapped in it like a prison.  From what I hear he won't be released from it until the very end of things, when the whole universe is remade."

A few moments of silence followed.

“So…” said Emily, “we’re all here, so now what?”

“As I told you earlier, Emily, I sensed the approach of a great evil, but I feel the need to elaborate.  I was on my world, and I gradually became aware of an evil presence, one which was so evil that it was nearly as evil as I am good.  I knew that it must be an evil with power, because no such physical presence was anywhere near me.  At first, I experienced the feeling off and on, but then it became constant and intensified.  I sensed the direction from which it came, and it was beyond the eastern frontier.  I believe that his power level goes far beyond mine, but it is difficult to make certain of that.  The fact that he projects his mental and spiritual essence into the void ahead of himself indicates great power.  What is certain, is that his power is of a different sort than mine.”

“’He,’” said Emily, “how can you tell whether it’s a he or a she without any contact?”

“My senses and perceptions extend far beyond yours.  I am in fact, what you were meant to be,” Ambrosius answered.

“So are your senses what led you to us?”

“No, the Spirit led me to you.”

“What is the plan?” asked Alfred.

“We have been called upon, to stop this evil.  There are those who believe that death is an essential and natural part of the universe, and that it is good.  I tell you that death is not part of the original plan, and although it must reign for a time, it is not to be worshipped.  We are guardians of life,” said Ambrosius.

“Enigmatic,” said Emily.

“Regardless, we have a mission to stop the evil, we will meet it at Hespra, and make our stand there.  This battle will make or break us, your wills must be steadfast, and your hearts pure.”

“Hespra?” asked Alfred, “I know that the Osirids are somewhere near that system, but the Osirids are already there, and your great evil is still beyond the frontier.”

“We will meet our foe there, and there we must make our stand,” said Ambrosius.

“Osirids?” asked Emily, “What are they?”

“They are a cult of nihilists, they preach death.  They believe that the universe is self existing, all things are accidental, and thus lack purpose.  Since they believe that death and oblivion are the final state of all things, they seek to accelerate the process,” said Ambrosius, “and Alfred must have been tracking them for a reason.”

“They have been on my mind for a long time, but they haven’t done anything other than preach, yet.  Are we to strike the Osirids preemptively?  What part do they have to play in all this?” asked Alfred.

“I know not how they factor in, or if they do, but we must hurry.  Time is running out.”

*******

As Ambrosius, Emily, and Alfred approached Hespra in a passenger liner they say near the back of the vehicle.  

“The name ‘Osirid,’ sounds familiar,” said Emily interrupting the silence.

“They are named after the classical Egyptian deity of the underworld, or world of the dead, also at one time considered the god of death and resurrection.  The Osirids do not actually believe in Osiris, but they chose him as their mascot to increase the public appeal of their cult.  Osiris was traditionally represented as having green flesh, implying decay.  The Osirids felt that as they worshipped death and decay it would be appropriate to be represented by a classical deity who embodies those things, thus making it simpler for people to become aware of their purposes, and providing at least an ephemeral appearance of having some kind of connection to the ancient past,” said Alfred, “Well I know all this because my family is Egyptian, Coptic really, that and I’m a librarian so I read a lot.”

“I sense the approach of our quarry, he has crossed through the frontier and heads this way with great speed.  We may just have enough time to deposit our belongings in the room I acquired and—“

“Hold,” said Alfred, “we need to get over to that ship.”

“What ship?” asked Emily.

“Look out the window, that freighter.  It’s further back than we are but it carries a deadly cargo.”

“Is it our enemy?”

“No,” said Ambrosius, “but if we went over to that ship time will be lost.”

“That ship must not be allowed to land,” said Alfred, “Wait, it’s the Osirids, they are finally taking action.  I can’t teleport anywhere instantaneously like Sir Justice, but I can teleport anywhere within a mile.  I can get us there.”

“Bring our luggage as well,” said Ambrosius.

“Allright, everyone stand close to me,” said Alfred.

With a flash they found themselves standing aboard the transport ship.  The interior consisted entirely of dull metal, and there was no one to be seen.

“The crew is all under guard, and some of them have been killed,” said Ambrosius.

“The ship has been hijacked,” said Alfred.

“Alfred!” said Emily, “You’re clothes have changed.”

“I have summoned my armor,” he answered.

“Allright,” said Ambrosius, “I will free the hostages, since I am the best at preserving life.  Alfred, get to the bridge and stop the hijackers, Emily assist, and keep them from destroying or damaging the ship.”

Alfred and Emily ran in one direction down the hallway, and Ambrosius ran the other.  Ambrosius passed many doors and openings but sensed no one behind them.  He could sense the location of everyone in the ship, so there was no need to look.  He soon saw them in his minds eye, three guards with rapid fire machine guns, projectiles unfortunately.  He knew that the guns presented no danger to himself, but the bullets could harm the ship should they ricochet.  He knew what must be done.  

The three masked terrorists stood by the doors.  Even though the doors were bolted with a steel bar they maintained their post “just in case.”  No one as yet suspected that the freighter was hijacked, but the hostages were all of course going to die anyways, since their mission was a suicide run.  The nuclear bomb they intended to detonate had such a powerful blast radius that there was no way they could escape it, and the purpose of this mission was not to negotiate, but simply to kill as many people as possible.  Strange lights flickered in the hallway, at first they assumed it was the ships emergency system, and feared that an alarm had been tripped.  But the light grew progressively brighter, perhaps the ship was on fire?  At any rate, the situation merited investigation.  Two of the guards stepped around the corner, and suddenly found themselves surrounded by a light so bright they could not see, then, everything went dark.  The third guard began to wonder what was taking so long, when a bright humanoid shape stepped around the corner and faced him.

“You are quite wrong,” said the burning figure.

“W-what are you?” asked the guard.

“What are you afraid of Osirid?  You Osirids are capable of ending your life at any time, but even though you don’t value it, you are unprepared to end it.”

“Only the void of oblivion or perhaps enlightenment awaits me.”

“Is that what they tell you?  Then why be afraid if you know that?”

“Life is a meaningless illusion.”
“It is too late to convince yourself of that, I am proof that it is not.  Now put down that gun and step away.”

Emily and Alfred approached the bridge, the door to which they found guarded by two terrorists.  Emily noticed that the guards bore energy weapons.  

“Do not attempt to stop us,” she said as the guards aimed their weapons.  

They fired blasting Emily up against a wall.  

The terrorists seemed bewildered, it seemed as though the woman was not being harmed by the weapons, she should have been reduced to a charred skeleton by now.  

“Stop,” shouted Alfred, “or suffer the consequences!”

“Let them continue,” said Emily, “they’re only making me stronger.”

Once the weapons fire ceased the two guards put down their guns and charged Alfred and Emily with knives drawn.  Alfred struck them both down with his sword.

Emily walked toward the door to the bridge.

“Will it open on its own?” she said.

When it was clear the door would not open she grabbed it near the bottom and began to lift.  The door was pushed upward with a horrible grinding noise.  Emily was knocked back, and lay at the feet of Alfred looking up at him.  Bullets studded her skin, but they appeared not to have gone much further than that.

“They’re using projectiles as well, powerful ones,” she said.

“I gathered that,” said Alfred.

“It really smarts, and stings.”

“I can transfer your injuries to them.”

“Naa, it’s only a flesh wound, and besides, we can give them their own injuries.”

Alfred helped Emily up and they ran onto the bridge.

“You’re too late!” said a terrorist, “I’ve already armed the bomb set the ship on automated control, and increased our speed.”

“Then we will have to be quicker,” said Emily.

“Kill them!” shouted a terrorist, “they must not be allowed to interfere with our mission!”
“Your mission is over,” said Alfred, “disarm the bomb.”
“NO!”
“Then suffer the consequences,” said Alfred as he threw his sword through the terrorists chest.
The terrorists attacked but they were no match for Emily and Alfred, quickly they were subdued.
Emily located a terrorist who was still partially awake, stirring and moaning.  She lifted him above the ground and looked up to stare him in the eyes.
“Where is the bomb?” she asked.
“I have nothing to say to you, infidel,” he answered.
“You think I’m playing?” she said.
“What are you going to do to me?  What is the worst you can do?  I have no love for life, and I want it all to end.  Do you really think I am afraid of dying?”
“Bombs kill quickly, I can kill slowly…”
“Do your worst then, time is limited.”
“Wait!” said a voice from behind, “the bomb is beneath the navigation console.”
It was Ambrosius.
“There is something under the console,” said Alfred, “I can see it but I’m afraid to touch it.”
“Mechanic…” said Ambrosius while glancing at Emily.
Emily walked to the console and began to examine the bomb.
“I think I can disable it,” she said.
“You think?” said Alfred.
“Yea…”
“The lives of this crew are clearly in your hands Emily.  Alfred, I suggest we give her silence,” said Ambrosius.
“Success,” Emily said after about half a minute, then she looked at the terrorist who was conscious.
“I should torture you anyways,” she said.
“No Emily,” said Ambrosius, “it would serve no purpose except to soothe the anger within you.  Such feelings ought to be shunned.”
After a few minutes the ship came to a landing in a major industrial spaceport.  Ambrosius dealt with the authorities while Alfred and Emily talked with one another.  In spite of his unusual and shocking physical appearance, Ambrosius seemed to be the most adept at dealing with human beings out of the three of them.  Alfred and Emily were shown to a lobby, or waiting room of sorts.
“I wonder how much longer we are going to have to wait on Ambrosius, I hope he’s not in any kind of trouble,” said Emily.
“I don’t think they could hurt him if they wanted to,” said Alfred, “he’s probably planning something.”
“I was impressed with the way you handled those terrorists, just how far do your powers go?” asked Emily.
“I have no idea, but I did what needed to be done.  They were going to murder a whole planet of people, and they had to be stopped,” said Alfred.
“How could they have destroyed a whole planet with one bomb?  No one has a bomb that powerful.”
“Not exactly the bomb, but something the bomb was going to do…I’m not sure exactly.  Anyways, what I did wasn’t that impressive, now you were amazing.  You took shots from those bullets and kept going.”
“So did you.”
“Yes, but your powers have definite boundaries, mine don’t.  You took down as many terrorists as I did, and you disabled the bomb.  You have learned to work with what you have a lot better than I have.”
“Thank you, it’s nice to be appreciated.”
The doors slid open and in walked Ambrosius with an older man in a gray suit.  Alfred and Emily rose to their feet as soon as they saw Ambrosius and stood as if at attention.
“Relax,” said Ambrosius, “This is Mr. Worth, defense minister for Hespra.  Mr. Worth, these are my associates, Ms. Tanaka and Mr. Mina.  Mr. Mina and I have been discussing possible solutions to the problem posed to us by the Osirids, as well as the approaching threat.  The defense network of Hespra has detected a large energy signature on long range sensors, approaching this planet.  It is my belief that this being which I have been sensing, is somehow linked to the Osirids.”
“It is the trajectory of the hijacked freighter that concerned me most,” said Mr. Worth, “You see, Hespra has no natural magnetosphere, and in order to live on Hespra we had to construct large facilities to generate one artificially.  Hespra is rich in natural resources.  Good soil, good position from the sun, abundant water, and many minerals.  The ship which the terrorists hijacked, was headed strait for our principle facility, and carrying a high yield nuclear bomb.  While we do have redundant magnetosphere generators, such abrupt and total destruction of our primary generator could cause unprecedented levels of feedback which could overload the other systems as well, making Hespra uninhabitable.”
“And Hespra is a densely populated planet, with heavy socio-economic ties to all the other worlds in this sector.  The destruction of Hespra would cause chaos and suffering on many of the surrounding worlds, and it would be difficult, no, impossible to evacuate everyone on Hespra in time,” said Ambrosius.
“It is impossible to evacuate,” said Mr. Worth.
“So we have elected to work together.  We believe that the terrorists seek to destroy this world through the destruction of the magnetosphere generators.  Mr. Worth is going to station troops near every magnetosphere generator, as well as any potential secondary targets.  A cordon of military vessels will be placed about this planet, so that nothing will get in or out…” said Ambrosius.
“With the exception of the large mobile energy source, which we don’t believe we will be able to stop, that is where you come in,” said Mr. Worth.
“Yes,” said Ambrosius, “it is unlikely that the military will be able to stop it, so I have chosen to allow it to land unhindered in order to spare the lives of the soldiers, who are most likely not equipped to handle such a thing.”
“And we are?” asked Emily, “A whole planet with a modern military, and nuclear armaments can’t stop this thing but we can?”
“Yes,” said Ambrosius, “We can, and we will.  Now I want you two to avail yourselves of the facilities they provide, and try to get some rest before the thing gets here.”

*******

A day passed, and the whole planet was put on alert.  Attacks were made on the defense perimeter in orbit of Hespra, but nothing got through until the large energy source arrived.  The energy readings from it were off the scale, and could not be catalogued.  Ambrosius, Emily, and Alfred stood in field outside of the primary magnetosphere generator.  The defense minister had evacuated all non-essential personnel from the facility, spaceport, and surrounding area.  
Contrary to the instructions of Ambrosius, Emily had spent the previous night in a military laboratory, and today she stood wearing what appeared to be gray lightweight armor over black clothing which glistened upon close examination.  
“What are you wearing?” asked Alfred.
“Armor and mail which I made last night, based off of some of the chemicals which compose my body.  It will protect me from blunt melee attacks while still allowing me to absorb energy that’s shot in my direction,” she answered.
A red streak fell from the sky and landed just beyond the horizon with a dim flash.
Alfred and Emily found themselves holding hands.  Minutes seemed to pass like hours, and then they saw what appeared to be a man walking toward them across the field, his features and clothing obscured by the darkness.
“Hey! Everyone was ordered to evacuate,” Emily shouted.
At least, it appeared to be a man, but as the figure came closer to them it appeared to swell and take on twisted and monstrous proportions.
“This is it,” said Alfred, still clutching Emily’s hand.
“Aww, how sweet,” said a deep inhuman voice, “if I could be moved, I would be.  The man, who’s not quite a man thinks he’s in love with the woman, who’s not quite a woman.”
The creature, seemed to speak with a few voices at the same time.  The loudest was deep and gravelly, another sounded human and masculine, another sounded high and barely audible like a whisper, and another had a medium asexual pitch and sounded monotone.
“Oh yes, I know exactly what you are little people, if it is fair to call you such.  And I can tell you right now, that you do not have the power to withstand me.  I will destroy this facility and all the life on this world.  Your involvement here is futile,” said the creature.
“Who, and what are you?” said Ambrosius.
“I was once a man, as you were, glowing creature, but I became so much more.  I found the truth, the truth of nature.  The whole universe, is self existing, it is all that there is.  In my truth I found despair, in my despair I found solace.  Our escape is oblivion, and I will give it to all.  It is, after all, our final destiny.  Life is a disease, for which the only cure is death.  Behold, the source of my power.”
The creature raised its arms, and a shining red pentagram appeared in the air above his head.  It was now possible to see the creature.  It was large and black, heavily muscled, and the skin appeared as stone, punctuated by lines, some of which gave off a dim red glow.  The face was inhuman, there was no nose, the mouth was large, the lower jaw jutted out a bit, and the eyes were overshadowed by a large forehead ridge.  
“The power comes from Satan?” asked Emily.
“No, fool.  Such myopic views are antiquated, and hardly befitting one of your alleged intellectual prowess.  My power comes from the universe itself, the same power which allowed stars, planets, and life to evolve from the void.  They are the basic elements, primitive man was aware of them but modern man has forgotten them because of his ego, over-inflated due to pitiful misunderstandings of ‘science.’  My powers are wind, water, fire, earth, and void.  I speak for the universe, and although it allowed and perhaps facilitated the evolution of life, it now calls for its destruction.”
“Delusional,” said Emily.
“Illogical,” said Ambrosius, “on so many levels.  If the universe can create life then why does it need you to destroy it?  What are you capable of things beyond what your god is?”
“I won’t be dissuaded by your lies and twisted logic, my mission is clear, now stand aside and die later, or die now.  The choice is yours.”
“It is you who must stand down, if you do not then you will be destroyed by this conflict.”
“Ha, I will crush you.”
The creature swung at Ambrosius, faster than anyone could react, and sent him flying beyond the magnetosphere generation facility and beyond sight.  
“The speed of wind and the strength of earth,” said the creature.
Emily and Alfred charged the monster, and Emily was struck aside with one blow, Alfred was able to draw his sword and sliced across the monster’s chest.  Sparks flew as steel was swept across stone, but the creature struck Alfred in the chest, then pounded down directly on his head hammering him into the ground.
“Well struck,” said the monster, “normal weapons would be unable to hurt me so, and the wounds from your enchanted blade are also difficult for me to heal.  Nonetheless, you will still die, and horribly too.”
The monster shot a stream of fire towards Alfred, but Emily got in the way and absorbed most of the attack.
“Keep it up monster,” she said, “you are only making me stronger.”
She charged the monster, and struck him many times.  Her strength was increased by the energy she absorbed.  The monster struck her a few times, but they were only glancing blows since she was moving more quickly now and anticipating his attacks.  
“And what are you going to do woman, when the energy you stole from me runs out?” asked the monster.
“It won’t, because you keep replenishing it by giving me kinetic energy which I can also absorb and use,” said Emily.
“Ah, what a clever little monstrosity you are.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“Oh no, see unlike you, I have a mother and a father, although I no longer have any need of them.  You are merely a thing created in a lab, an inhuman freak, a toy, a doll.  Your life has no worth, in fact I posit that your life is merely an illusion.”
“How is that different than your view on anyone’s life?”
“Touché, but verbal repartee is distracting, when what I ought to be doing is using bladed attacks since blunt attacks are just making you stronger.”
A metal blade sprouted from each wrist.  He began slashing at Emily and she had to back off.  Then he landed a blade directly in her stomach, and cut sideways.  She moaned and reached down to feel the wound, her feet became stuck in the ground making it impossible to walk.  A strong cold wind blew, and when it was over she was incased in ice up to her head.
“You will live long enough to witness the death of this planet,” said the monster.  
He stomped his foot, and the ground split going all the way through the magnetosphere generation facility.  The facility crumbled in places and flames burst out beyond the fence.  A small earthquake ensued.
“Hahaha, death has come to this world!”
“You still have not told me your name creature,” said a voice.
It was Ambrosius.
“Ah, so you came back.  I get it, you didn’t die the first time so you came back so that I could rectify that error,” said the monster.
“What is your name?”
“You may call me Oblivion, for that is what I represent.  Of course that information is useless, because any minute now that facility will overload, and the feedback will cause the others to overload, making this planet uninhabitable.  Strange though, it should have happened by now.”
“It won’t happen, because during the fight I de-activated the facility.  This planet has backups, and we prepared for your attack before you came.”
“Clever, but ultimately irrelevant, since I can cause the destruction of this planet  by other means.  Even as we speak, I am reaching through the core of this planet with my powers, and soon I will cause massive earthquakes and volcanoes, ensuring the destruction of all the facilities.  You do not have the strength to stop me.”
Ambrosius charged Oblivion and struck him with a resounding crack.  Oblivion struck back and sent him rolling.  Then he conjured up a wind.
“I will create a vacuum around you using my powers of wind and void, we shall see how long you can survive without oxygen.  Your body will be destroyed.  Ah, even now I can feel it, the earthquakes are starting.  The suffering will be rich on this world.,” said Oblivion.
Alfred suddenly stirred to life and swung his sword at Oblivion.  He sliced off one hand but his sword became stuck in the next.  Oblivion jerked his other hand away, causing the sword to lurch out of Alfred’s grasp.  Then he spewed fire at Alfred knocking him over.
“Pathetic fool.  Your master was bound and defeated on Earth, how then do you expect to defeat me, you being a pathetic coward, a scared little boy with borrowed powers from a defeated master,” Oblivion said.
He flung the sword away.
“Sir Justice was defeated?” asked Alfred.
“Yes fool, you can sense in your spirit it is true.”
Alfred hesitated for a moment, which allowed Oblivion to strike him two times, but the third time Alfred struck back.  Oblivion was knocked to the ground.
“Oblivion, I find you guilty, I find you guilty of murder and attempted murder.  I sense that by your earthquakes you have caused death, which was what you intended, and for that the penalty is death.”
The winds about Ambrosius stopped, and Emily broke free of the ice.  The wound on her stomach was mostly healed.
Alfred grabbed Oblivion by the neck, and raised his other fist, which began to glow brightly.  Alfred was about to strike but Oblivion opened his mouth and spewed out a blackness, which swarmed about Alfred causing him to fall back swatting at unseen foes.
“Behold the power of the void,” said Oblivion.
Ambrosius charged Oblivion, knocking him down, and struck at his face repeatedly, while Emily grabbed the sword that Alfred had been using and pierced Oblivion through the chest pinning him to the ground.  A bright blue flash emanated from Alfred and the darkness about him disappeared permanently.  The earthquakes stopped.  Oblivion began to change, the red light in his eyes went out, and his body began to shrink and crumble.  Chunks of blackness fell off, exposing a male human form.
“He’s humanoid,” said Alfred.
“He’s human,” said Ambrosius.
“He’s my father!” said Emily, “I didn’t know.  Quick, Alfred, we have to get the sword out of him before he dies!  He needs medical treatment.”
“There is…nothing that can be done for me now,” said the man that used to be Oblivion.
“Father I…we have to save you!” said Emily.
“Listen, I knew what was right, but I was too overwhelmed with my own grief, and before that I was too full of my own ego.  I made myself delusional on purpose, and I let them take over.  I wanted to make others feel my loss, my rage, and my grief.  I became a being of pure emotion, and in attempting to serve myself I became their puppet.”
“Who, who is ‘them’?  Who took over?”
“Beings of great evil and darkness, these ones lived out in deep space, hating humanity, hating life, hating everything.  All they have is their hate, no hope.  But that doesn’t matter now…  I’m going to die, but I want you to make sure you don’t become like me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will!  Now promise me that you won’t…be like me.”
“I promise, but we have to save you.”
“You…have freed me, and given me a chance to repent…don’t….need…anything…else…”
With that, he closed his eyes and the breath went out of him.
“I killed my father,” said Emily, “You knew all along he was my father Ambrosius, why didn’t you say anything.”
“I didn’t know he was your father, but if I had, we would still have needed to do exactly what we did,” he said.
“I don’t know...  Anyways, I need some time alone to think things over.  I’m sure you can find me again, if you want to.  I just need a little time…alone.”