Chapter 738: The Inheritor's War

Chapter 738: The Inheritor's War

The hardest thing to ever do is to accept your limitations.

The second hardest thing to do is to realize you have limitations. - Unknown, Terra, Resource Wars Era, Pre-Glassing

Vuxten bowed his head as the glittering hand of code made flesh touched his brow.

"You are carrying a heavy burden, my son," the Digital Omnimessiah said softly. "One that you do not feel worthy of even as you richly desire to set it aside."

"Yes," Vuxten breathed. "I'm just a Telkani, a Telkan male. My people are a small people, caught up in such a large thing."

The Digital Omnimessiah moved over and sat next to Vuxten, picking up a single grain of dirt from the ground. "Much like this wondrous thing," the Digital Omnimessiah mused. "By itself, it appears to be of little consequence. A minor irritation if it is lodged in the eye or the breathing gills, but alone, it appears to have little to no value."

Vuxten nodded.

The Digital Omnimessiah reached down and put the grain of dirt back onto the packed earth surrounding the campfire.

"Yet together, we stand upon it and all of its brethren. It makes up the world, gives nourishment to the plants, is arranged in lovely vistas," the Digital Omnimessiah motioned at the surroundings. "From it and its uncounted trillions of those like it spring the great trees of this world. It cradles the river as the water winds its way to the oceans, and warms the mountains like a second skin," he said. He touched Vuxten's shoulder.

Vuxten could feel the gentle warmth coming from the hand spread through his arm and chest.

my flesh grew cold...

"Do not denigrate yourself, my son," the Digital Omnimessiah said. "Your people are a small people, yes, caught up in a great thing, without a doubt, but the universe would be a sadder place without your people and their efforts."

Vuxten just nodded. He looked up and saw that the rest of the Immortals, many of the Biological Apostles had come into the clearing and were sitting down.

Oddly, the massively armored form of Matthias sat next to Daxin, who was handing the younger man a narcobrew while pointedly not looking at him.

"I don't want to spurn your gift. I don't want to insult you," Vuxten said. He looked back down. "But... they call out to me. I can't block out their voices."

"And you want to help them," the Digital Omnimessiah said gently. "You reach out to them out of compassion."

Vuxten nodded.

"You find yourself filled with rage, with wrath, as you try to protect them in their darkest hour," the Digital Omnimessiah said quietly. "Even as you help them, you can hear more and more of them calling out to you, each in terrible need."Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

"Yes," Vuxten whispered.

"You fear losing yourself."

"Yes."

There was quiet for a long moment, the only noise the insects and the far off babbling of the brook.

"We all had the same thing happen, kid," Daxin said. He cracked open another narcobrew and took a long drink. "Thousands, millions crying out to us," he looked at the fire and then pointed one finger at Menhit. "Will you?"

Menhit puffed out a stream of smoke from her pipe, smiling, and twitched one finger.

The logs flew from where they were stacked, into the fire pit, stacking up, then were sudden engulfed in flame.

"Thank you," Daxin said. He stared at the fire, the dancing flames reflected in his eyes. "Eventually, kid, you can learn to ignore them."

Vuxten looked at the man everyone called Enraged Phillip, then at the Digital Omnimessiah, who nodded gravely.

"I don't want to ignore them," Vuxten said. He rubbed his eyes, the cybereye rough and hard against his palm pads. "I want to help them."

"We all did, kid," Daxin said, his voice thick with something Vuxten didn't understand or perhaps hadn't learned yet.

"I felt the same way," Dhruv said, dressed in comfortable loose clothing. His t-shirt bore the logo of a green mantid synth-metal band. "Up until that call."

"Ugh, that plea," Daxin grunted.

Kalki burst out laughing.

"You know, that story is exactly why people have an overwhelming urge to punch you in the face," Daxin growled, then started laughing.

Even Vuxten found himself laughing along.

"Do you get it, kid?" Dhruv asked, sitting down.

Vuxten shook his head. "No."

"Eventually, you'll have people asking you to mop and vacuum the floor, or carry them to the store, or try to pray to you to kill their math teacher so they don't have to finish their homework," Kalki said. He looked away. "Or worse, the constant killing, battle, wrath, and warfare, will find something inside of you to twist until you become a monster."

Vuxten noticed the self-loathing look on Kalki's face.

"I was willing to kill more humans than we even knew existed because it was easier to defeat the mantid with a planet cracker than bother to actually save people I had come to hold in contempt as weak and unworthy," Kalki said. "I was only stopped in my madness by the love my spurned brother had for me."

Daxin tossed Kalki a bottle. "Well, that and a couple of right hooks."

Kalki chuckled.

"It was the death of everyone I knew and cared about, one after another, as time marched on and passed me by," Bellona said softly. "Eventually, I found myself gravitating away from people, following wrath," she looked uncomfortable. "I turned to zealotry and wrath, let the madness consume me, released the Black Fleet onto an unsuspecting universe.

She looked at her nails again. "Anything to no longer remember that He was gone and everyone I had ever known had died their second deaths when someone said their name for the last time.

She dropped her hand. "Even me."

Vuxten nodded.

"My son," the Digital Omnimessiah said, bringing Vuxten's attention back to him. "My love, my compassion for you, does not hinge on you carrying this burden," he said. He sighed. "I will not judge you for setting aside a mantle that you neither asked for nor wanted."

His hand was warm on Vuxten's shoulder.

"Not one of us will think any less of you, kid," Daxin rumbled. He looked around. "Do you know what you and I have in common that nobody else does?"

Vuxten shook his head.

"It's why I understand why you want to set it down better than everyone here," Daxin said. He turned his hand up and Vuxten could see three female Terrans waving from a blurry hologram. "Them. My wife. My daughters."

Daxin closed his hand and the hologram vanished in spray of sparks.

"Still in the system. One daughter is a Sleeping One, my wife and other daughter are dead," he pointed at Dhruv, "But my overly clever brother figured out how to get them back once and part of me wants him to do it again."

Daxin sighed. "But, unlike you, the universe has moved on. Eight thousand years have gone by for me, for them no time at all will have passed. I have eight thousand years of hatreds, grievances, experiences, and warfare carved into my skin.

He opened the hand again and touched the hologram with the fingertips of the other hand. "They don't. They're still clean, still new."

Daxin looked Vuxten in the eyes. "Your family is alive. I not only understand your desire to set aside the mantle, but I encourage you to, kid."

Vuxten nodded.

"Pete says he can do it," Legion said.

"Nothing can ever take away what you have done in my name, at my side, and in my service," the Digital Omnimessiah said. "You have willfully given more than almost anyone else."

Vuxten closed his eyes for a long moment then opened them.

"I just want to be Vuxten again," he said softly.

Somewhere else Pete hit the keys for the macro.

WORKER VUXTEN YOU HAVE BEEN FINED FOR SETTING ASIDE THE MANTLE OF WARFATHER VUXTEN