Earch 313: Year 3024
Dr. Aris movements slowed down a little, his fractured wins playing a part in the matter. With a grunt he felt the taste of blood and adrenaline.
'Not yet...I'm (paint) I'm almost there."
He dragged his weight into the circular chamber, a cathedral of polished chrome and shimmering energy. He instantly went for for the mag-lock on his belt pouch. Inside was a bottle. Inside this bottle was the N-42 swarm, Aka his best work and the ultimate prize for that everyone wanted to claim.
Aris placed the capsule into the portal's transfer cradle. The air around the crystalline ring cracked, he had a window of perhaps 90 seconds before security protocols locked him out completely, so he knew he had to move fast. He slammed his palm onto the activation sequence, a familiar blue cosmic Vortex began swirling in the center of the ring. Just as everything seemd like it was going accordingly, a harsh, digitized voice cut through the rising energy.
[Alert, unauthorized use of portal detected. Commence emergency shutdown in 10 seconds.]
"No, you don't," Aris whispered, his breath catching. He placed his uninjured hand on the auxiliary override panel, he knew he had no time to through away. So he went straight foe the kernel, his fingers flying in the blur of archaic,pre-quantum keystrokes, the backdoor he had built years ago as a contingency. He knew stopping the shutdown was impossible, so he instead highjacked the destination.
Seven seconds.
His vision began to blur from the exertion, but he saw the confirmation.
[DESTINATION OVERRIDDEN. COMMENCING SCATTER-PATTERN JUMP.]
Three seconds.
With a final, desperate input, Aris deleted the manifest and trajectory log-in key from the host server. The portal flared to a blinding, star-white intensity just as the timer hit zero.
The doors opened as a shaped charge blew the reinforced plasteel inward with a deafening CRUMP, and the room was instantly filled with acrid smoke and the silhouette of four men in black, kinetic-weave armor. Their rifles were sleek, silent laser carbines, their muzzles bathing the room in angry, focused red dots.
"Throne, you've been ordered to hand over project N-42 Swarm to us!" Said the leader of the group,his voice modulated through his helmet's comm-system. "Hand over the Nanotechnology this very instant, and we might not turn you into a smoking crater."
Aris, who was now leaning heavily on the console, smiled as he watched watched the now-empty portal shimmer as it went back to a dull, inert glass ring. It was a genuine expression of the triumph he had just achieved.He spat out a small clot of blood onto the floor.
"Gentlemen, you're too late." He Saud, his voice laced with a bitter, hollow finality. He extended his open, empty hands. "I promised my team I wouldn't let N-42 fall into the wrong hands. And a promise is the last currency of a good man."
He let out a short, sharp laugh that held no humor, only sheer, defiant exhaustion. "Go ahead, shoot. It won't matter. I already sent them somewhere you won't ever find them. And it's no use; I just deleted the login details."
The group leader stepped closer, his weapon rock-steady. He didn't flinch at Aris's confession. If anything, the news seemed to relax him.
"Man, they weren't kidding when they said you're dramatic. You actually think wr came here for a little vial of dust?" His voice low and calculated. "Throne, it's true we want the swarm. But, we also want the brains behind it." He said with all red dots being pointed at Thrones forehead. "We got the original source code, you. We'll take you back to the Citadel, peel your skull open, and you can make us a thousand more swarms. You're worth a hundred times that little capsule."
You'd think that after hearing this that Aris will be scared...but he wasn't. His smile didn't fade one bit. He was calm, too calm. He felt a sudden, profound calm wash over him, a serenity born from knowing the end was near and his mission was accomplished.
"That's... true. Or, it would have been. If I was still alive." He said with his voice low and calm.
The mercenaries paused, a flicker of confusion registering in the subtle tilt of their helmet's. "What are you talking about?"
"we of Aethon has always had contingencies, gentlemen," Aris said. He took a single, deliberate step backward. His heel landed not on the polished chrome floor.
Click.
"Goodbye, Gentlemen. Let's meet again in hell!!!" Aris shouted to them. As the room started to exploded. The blast wave didn't push or rupture it simple vaporized and left no taces. In less than a nanosecond, everything was gone. Everything was reduced to superheated plasma, erased from existence in a silentl, blinding, white-hot void.
Somewhere in the universe*
Earth 916: Year: 1674
He run as quickly as his feet would allow, but that too came to an end as he saw that ahead was a cliff that leads to a karge waterfall, he trued by all means to stop his momentum, resulting in him sumbling to the ground.
'*pant*....just why, why ate you doing this to me? I've lived my life tucked away in the manor, I have mastered zero swordsmanship or any weapon, I have no ambition for becoming the Clan head. So, Why!!!!'
He shouted out loud at the night sky, suddenly laughs could be heard coming from the shadows as four men come out to the light.
'It's a shame, Young master Ignas. Whether or not you have the ambition is not the problem. The fact that a illegitimate child like was ever born to the Drachmere House is.
Drachmere , The strongest family within the Aethelgardia Empire. Founded seven hundred years ago by it's first Patriarch, Lysander a commoner who became a knight and later a man who created the Surname of Drachmere after defeating the Sea Dragon Leviathan. He was given the title of Monarch of the Drachmere Monarchy, South of the Aethelgardia Empire.
Ignas who couldn't hide his anger anymore screamed.
"Are you shitting me right now? You're saying you're killing me just because I was born?"
The man couldn't hold in his laugh anymore and answered.
"Yes. A child of lowly birth like you should've never been born. The fact the someone like you shares the same blood as the Patriarch pisses me off. But, it's because of that bloodline that I'll send you off in a honorable way."
The man threw one of his two swords down on the floor and signed for Ignas to pick it up. Ignas who had never learned how to hold a sword at this stage in life. He slowly got back to his feet and assessed the situation at hand.
'Me, pick up a sword? Yeah right'
Ignas said as he charged twords the cliff and jump to the water.
'I can't believe he jumped....should we go after him?'
said one of the men as they looked over.
'No, he lost too much blood already. He won't survive. Lets head back. '
Responded their leader.
However, fate had other plans.
As the cold began the edges of his consciousness, the relentless water spun him around a massive submerged boulder. The force moved him away from the main torrent of moved him away from the main torrent of the waterfall, towards the dark, moss-sicked face of the cliff itself.
His hand instinctively reached out and found a smooth, sharp edge go hold on to. He was dizzy, coughing out water, but he had stopped. It was better than dying. As he looked around to see his location, he saw that he was in a small, hidden cave. With a final, desperate surge if adrenaline, he pulled himself onto a narrow beach inside the caves mouth. He dragged his battered body further into the gloom, collapsing onto the cool, dry ground.
"(cough) Damn. That was a close one."
He said as his vision was constantly moving between normal and blur. His eyes were endlessly searching the room, almost like he was insensitivity looking for a way out. As they moved, he noticed something shimmering. It was a bottle. Around this bottle was a strange energy that made everything seem warmer.
Ingas had no idea what this bottle was, but he felt drawn to it. Hepushed himself up onto his elbow, crawling toward it like a desert snake. He picked it up. It felt warm, smooth, and strangely light.
"What the hell is this? I don't see any seal around it." He said before continuing. "Is it some kind of poison?...medicine? Or some kind of elixer?"
As he was lost in thought, he felt althea pain worsening.He looked at thecapsule in his hand, then at his own pale, dying reflection in the wet rock.
"Me, the bastard son of The Drachmere House."
He wheezed, the words catching in his throat.
"Dying alone in a cave because of my lineage. They say I don't deserve the blood, but they fear it enough to have me "
He held the capsule up to the faint, aqueous light.
"Ohh, what the hell, I' m dying anyway. What difference will it. If it's poison or not?"
he brought the bottle up to his lisp with the last bit of strength he had. He closed his eyes and prepared for one of the worst tastes he might experience and chugged the fluid into his mouth. Right as he finished the last drop, his body finally gave in and he collapsed.
[HOST DETECTED. COMMENCE SYNCHRONIZATION.]
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[ERROR: HOST IS IN CRIDICAL CONDITION. COMMENCE REPEARING OF BODY]
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[REPEARS AT 10%...35%....48%.....64%.....77%.....89%.....100%.]
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[BODY REPEAR COMPLETE. NOW COMMENCING SYNCHRONIZATION. ]
Later.
Ignas slowly opens his eys. He was still in a state of confusion as ge looks around. The last thing he remembered was him drinking from the bottle, but now he finds himself in....the infirmary?
"What the hell happened, how did I get here?"
He thought to himself. And when he least espected it, an answer came.
[You were curried here by a a large male with snow white hair.]
Ignas, who was still half awake and half asleep suddenly woke up and jumped off the bed.
"Who said that?"
[I did. Greetings, Host. I am N-42 swarm]
"Who the hell are you, and why can't I see you?"
[As I said before, my name is N-42 swarm. I am a artifical intelligence called Nanotechnology, or just Nano short. As for why you can't see me, thats because i am currently in your body.]
Ignas who was now even more confused about this couldn't help but ask more question.
"Hold up. What do you mean you're inside me? Matter of fact, how did you even get inside me?)
[I'm confused, didn't the host know that by drinking from the capsule that they would obtain me?]
"Capsule?....wait, you not referring to that bottle I found in the cave, are you?
[Correct. The liquid you consumed was me. And by doing so, you made me a part if you.]
"Wait, so that wasn't medicine or poison after all?"
[Host, what you obtained was far greater. I am the answer to all your problems. With me by your side you can have anything you ever wanted. I took the liberty of going through your memories just to understand how I can be of help to you. And I've came to the conclusion that I can help you learn any and all forms of weaponry and I can also help you in becoming the smartest man in your world. All you have to do is just say the word.]
Ignis couldn't help but get swept in by those words. Buh, all this seemed too good to be true.
"You're joking.. right? All of this sound too good to be true. But, even if you aren't joining, why go through such length to help me?"
[The answers simple, the moment you opend the capsule and absorbed me, we became one. Should you die, I will also die. So, by making you the strongest I'll be preventing an early death for us both.]
Ignas after hearing those words got lost in thought.
"The strongest, huh?... is it really possible?....No! Thats something i have reach by all means if I ever want to prevent something like that assassination attempt again. If what N is telling me it's true and he can really make me the strongest....no I need to be. In order to protect my mother."
Ignas takes a deep sigh as he responds.
"Okay, let's do it. Let's become the strongest.....how do we start though?"
[I took the liberty of erasing all toxins from your body while you were asleep. As of right now, your body is on peak condition to start the path of becoming a great swordsman.]
The doors to the room suddenly open wide as the docter walks through the door along with James and his mother.
"I'm telling you, ma'am, the young master shouldn't be up for a couple of day-"
The doctors sentence died from his lips. His eyes wide open with surprise as Ignas was not only not in bed, but also on his feet. One person who wasn't too shocked was his mother, a woman whose beauty was so unmatched, you'd mistake her for a princess of a foreign country. But currently her beauty was only slightly marred by the calmness in her hear that she felt seeing her baby.
"What did I tell you, Doc? My son's a fighter."
She said with a small worried smile forming from her lips as she slowly moved twords him.
"I'm so sorry, Ignas. You're a good kid, you don't deserve all that's happening to you...if only I wasn't a mother of such Lowe birth."
Were the words she uttered as he broke down in tears. Ignas, who thought of his mother as his everything couldn't afford to see her break down like this.
"Mom, please...don't cry. It's not your fault."
He says with a low pitch. He pulled back slightly, forcing a weak, reassuring smile for his mother.
"I'm fine, Mother. Just a little bruised. But I need to leave this room. Now."
"Umm. Excuse me, Young master. But, you were nearly bled dry. I don't think it's okay to move around so fast."
Said the doctor with a look of concern across his face.
"It's fine. His wounds look all pretty heald to me."
Said James as he inserted himself into the topic. His snow-white hair stark against his dark, heavy coat. His voice was deep and rumbling, yet strangely kind. He met Ignas's gaze with unnerving intensity.
"I think he found some kind of medicine in that cave or something. Maybe that's how he managed to heal so fast. Let him out to get some air, I'd crave it too if I was asleep for three days."
'Three days?"
Ignas thought to himself. Before regaining his composure
"Thank you, Sir James. For bringing me here."
"It was nothing, Young Master. You're lucky i went driving that day and found out about the secret cave when i did. Otherwise you would've been a goner."