Chapter 812: Ultimis Diebus Hominum

Chapter 812: Ultimis Diebus Hominum

No plan survives contact with the enemy.

The Old One was only referred to as "Special Subject X1" or "SX1" or simply "One." It was also called "He", a label that did not exactly apply to a being such as it, which was sexless, reproducing through the implantation of the single larvae contained within the feeding tentacles.

He had gotten used to it, since his capture by the Mad Lemur a long period of time ago.

At first, he had been experimented on, used as a medical subject, as his captor stripped away every single secret he had, including those he did not know he had.

But he was patient. He had eventually been able to learn much about his captor by listening to her insane ramblings, her enraged screams, and her methods.

It had been a total shock to realize that much of her fury and enraged actions were a facade.

What was beneath that facade was much worse.

Cold, analytical, driven by great passion that was tempered into a weapon. Insane, yes, but that insanity was reigned in and guided into something more.

I had frightened him to touch what was beneath the Mad Lemur's facade.

He had always considered himself extremely intelligent, even among the other Atrekna.

He had been subjected to the whims of a greater intellect.

In a strange way, it fit his view of the universe and existence. The strong dominated the weak, the cunning and crafty dominated the oblivious or foolish, the intelligent ruled over the lessers with an iron fist.

The knowledge that the Mad Lemur was more intelligent than he was had been a shock. The realization that she could apply that knowledge more accurately and effectively than he could had been even larger shock.

He began to understand the Mad Lemur. He watched her at work. She enjoyed gloating, enjoyed forcing him to observe as she worked on her terrible task.

He was intelligent. Unlike the other Old Ones she had captured, he was capable of pattern recognition with enough example sets.

He was also careful.

He had seen the Mad Lemur stop an enraged slavespawn with an enraged scream that vocalized the raw hatred and wrath that poured from her unshielded mind. It had cowered away from her, covering its head and braincase with its armored limbs even as it made terrified chittering sounds.

He had watched her walk forward and pet it, reassuring it with her touch that it was safe now. Fearless, as if the slavespawn would not dare rip her limb from limb and feast on her remains.

She had been right. It had not.

A long period of time had passed since the early years, which the Old One thought of as the Era of Agony. Then came the Era of Exploration. Then the Era of Application as the Mad Lemur had begun to apply the knowledge she had gained.

He had watched as she had created twelve distinct subspecies of his people. Had modified them, had cloned them and implanted memories into them. Had spoken with them, had helped them craft their own societies and cultures.

The Old One had heard primitives speak of deities.

She was a Mad God among her creations.

Yet he was kept separate. When she had allowed the other subjects to 'escape' she had kept him in captivity.

It had changed.

He was allowed a work area, under constant monitoring, but a work area all the same. He was given access to scientific tools and material, to research material and knowledge databases. The Mad Lemur had not suggested a field of study, merely informed the Old One that any attempt to manipulate chronotrons or engage in temporal studies would result in painful and agonizing death, only to be rebirthed with the memories of those agonies.

The Old One was wise enough to understand that he was the dominated one.

He obeyed the rules of the Mad Lemur.

He was allowed to craft his own shelter in a wide open area beneath a dim red star. His senses, even his phasic senses, told him that he was outside. That he was no longer inside the facility, what he had begun to think of as The Dungeon of the Mad Lemur.

He knew better.

He had learned about hard light holograms, about enhanced and augmented virtual reality.

The Old One had listened to the Mad Lemur's rules.

And had been very careful not to break them.

In time, he began to appreciate something.

He no longer had to defend himself from the plots of others. He no longer had to shield aberrant thoughts from the Overmind or other Atrekna.

It took a long period of time, but he realized he was allowed to think and ponder as he willed.

He knew that, of course, it was still beneath the watchful eye of the Mad Lemur.

But she was as alien in her thought process and motives as any creature he had ever encountered.

He had requested the ability to plant a garden. He had expected augmented reality only, but instead she had produced bags of dirt, of fertilizer, as well as seeds, shoots, and samples. He had drawn a fountain and asked for it.

The Mad Lemur had provided an actual fountain.

Which is why he moved, stately and elegantly, clad in a shimmering robe that enhanced his phasic powers, through the winding path of his garden. He was armed with sheers, carefully pruning and caring for the flowers, mushrooms, vines, and stalks.

The garden was rich and lush.

The Mad Lemur had even provided small animals to move about, small insects to assist with pollination.

All of them designed for beauty and harmony according to the Old One's senses.

"Are you busy?" she asked politely.

**I am not** the Old One said.

"There is a development in my project," she said. She snapped the lighter closed and put it in the breast pocket of her severe suit-jacket. "Would you like to observe it?"

He nodded slowly.

"Follow," she ordered, turning away and walking toward the far end of the garden.

He stood up, still holding the flower, and floated after her.

"Stage Two of the project was initiated some time ago," she stated.

The Old One nodded. He had seen her use the nanites to accomplish her goal.

"We have moved on to Stage Three, and there has been some interesting developments," the Mad Lemur stated, stopping at the brick wall at the far end of his garden. She pressed her hand on the wall and a doorway of brick shifted out of the way. "I had estimated that your progeny, the Atrekna-2.0, would engage in warfare and strife against the other subspecies."

The Old One nodded. **that is logical** He stepped into the hallway, feeling the plant in his hands vanish with a fzzt and the tingling of the sterilization field wash over him.

"Man plans, God laughs," she said softly.

**your plan went awry** he guessed.

She nodded slowly. "Once the replacement of the currently residing Atrekna took place, I had assumed that orbital and space assets would be used to wipe out at least one or two of the subspecies," the Mad Lemur said as she walked down the hallway. "Using the nanites to simulate a bioplague that attacked the overmind tissues, to prevent superluminal communication as well as disrupt the Atrekna overmind system, went off just as I had estimated."

The Old One stayed silent. She had shown him as it had occurred.

"The remaining primordial Atrekna, you, fled in the face of the new subspecies increased power and ability, as well as their willingness for mutual cooperation," she stated. A door opened at her touch. "Follow."

The Old One went along quietly.

"However, the estimated internecine warfare never broke out," she said. The pointed at a comfortable chair, a padded shallow bowl set at a 45 degree angle. "Sit."

The Old One sat, adjusting his iridescent robe.

The Mad Lemur turned on the 2.5D monitors. It showed the cities, from the view of the nanites that he had learned were spread by the uncounted trillions across every cubic meter. It showed Atrekna of various subspecies moving around.

It also showed multiple subspecies moving around together and obviously speaking.

**the cooperation metric exceeded your estimations** the Old One stated.

She nodded, moving over and sitting down at a chair with a small disposal unit built into the arm. She tapped her ashes even as she leaned back.

Another view showed teams of subspecies working together to calm and tame slavespawn.

**outside of your estimated parameters** the Old One stated.

The Mad Lemur nodded.

The servitors and the food species were living in orderly comfortable dwellings and were obviously employed as well as building works of art.

**again outside of your estimated parameters** the Old One stated.

The Mad Lemur leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her cigarette held in one hand, her chin cradled in the other. She pointed with the burning cigarette.

"I thought about wiping them all out. Figuring out what I did wrong. Reset the experiment and try again," she said.

**that is the logical and most effective method** the Old One agreed. **identify the point of failure and attempt to rectify it**

The Old One expected the Mad Lemur to summon a big red button and press it, wiping out all life on the planet.

Instead she nodded.

"Yes," she said softly. "We have reached the point where clearly the experiment should be stopped."

She suddenly smiled, showing enough teeth to make the Old One nervous that she might suddenly leap on him and bite him to death.

She had done that exact thing repeatedly before he had learned not to attack her with his phasic powers.

"Except," she said sharply, turning to look at the screens. "We've come this far, we might as well keep going and see what happens."

The Old One simply nodded.

She picked up a bowl off the table next to him and handed it to him. When he looked down he saw it was full of peeled shrimp, still warm.

"The subspecies are about to start their assault upon your people," she said, giggling. She picked up another bowl, which the Old One knew was some kind of plant seed dried, then heated till the water droplet inside turned to steam and the expansion exploded the seed, then laced with sodium and something called butter.

"Let us sit, Special Subject X1, and watch as your children eradicate your misbegotten species and raise this system out of the quantum foam hole you dug for it," she said, her voice going low and soft again.

She turned to face him.

"After all, until this system joins the rest of the universe at a 1:1 timescale," she paused a moment, obviously for effect. "Because, just as it has been for over three thousand years..." she paused again.

The Old One felt his blood run cold and the shrimp in his mouth tasted bitter.

"Your people are trapped in here with me until that happens."