Chapter 892: End of Days

Chapter 892: End of Days

Anyone who tells you the war went according to plan is a liar. - Bo'okdu'ust, Lanaktallan socio-mathatetics psycho-historian and researcherAlll latest novels at novelhall.com

It was called, by the being who created it, the Cavern of Night Stars. A place where the creator could have fellow Atrekna gather in something that the maker had created, with his own genius, a thing that the maker called the "Speaker's Circle."

A highly advanced social activity that allowed the Atrekna to use their largely atrophied ability of verbal speech to communicate ideas, thought positions, while keeping their own thoughts inviolate.

It used the cleverly discovered "Speaker's Stick" to ensure that every Atrekna present was aware of which Atrekna would be speaking.

The gathered Atrekna were clad in finery. From wedding or prom dresses to tuxedos to coat and tails to even suits decorated with precious gems and metals. Slippers or shoes were sparkling in their comfort and luxury. Some wore veils, some wore feathered masks, others wore terrifying masks of the front of lemur skulls, decorated with jewels and feathers. Three stood out. One that wore loricated armor with a fan of blades behind them, another that wore only a bandoleer decorated with skulls, and a third that wore nearly nothing, only a chest covering and groin covering of fine lace arranged in strange patterns that showed off the flesh of the sexless Atrekna.

All of them had seen beyond the commonly held Atrekna wisdom that a universe was nothing more than a collection of resources for those powerful enough to seize it.

They had all discovered that the universe was aware in some strange and unknowable way.

And it was actively malevolent.

"Cult of the Defiled One" was one moniker they had been known as.

They had no concerns of what lesser, ignorant beings called them.

The one other Atrekna called "The Defiled One" they knew simply as Dalvanak the Maimed One. An Atrekna that had faced the Mad Lemurs of Terra in hand to hand combat and barely survived, but in doing so had his mind opened to the secrets of the Young Universe.

They had gathered within the chamber, where gems were held up by phasic power in the air above the Atrekna, each glimmering gem representing a stellar system. Each gem held all the needed relevant data on the system for any Atrekna who chose to examine it.

It was called "Freely Available and Exchangeable Data" and Dalvanak was proud that he had invented the philosophy and shared it with his fellow Atrekna.

Hundreds of the gems were giving off a soft purple glow. Random ones lit up softly then dimmed again when the Atrekna who had touched them with psychic power had 'read' what they wanted.

The Speaker's Circle was quiet as the gathered Atrekna looked over the data carefully gathered in the last few months.

"They're all gone," the one in the scanty attire said softly. She was proud of her attire. The treasure vault that the attire had been held within was heavily guarded, with many murals and paintings and holograms of nearly nude lemurs, all baring their teeth in aggression, all wearing different styles of the attire she now wore. She knew that the finery was worn only by the most powerful and wealthy.

"Our people are gone. On every world I surveyed, our people are beyond dead. Even temporal replication cannot save them," she said. She touched the end of the Speaker's Stick with two feeding tentacles, then handed it Dalvanak, who stood silently.

Dalvanak nodded sagely, holding onto the Speaker's Stick for a moment. "Indeed. If there are any of our people out there, they are either solitary or too cautious to move."

One of the Atrekna, wearing a full head covering mask of the fearsome Hamburger King, snapped their fingers several times.

Dalvanak handed over the Speaker's Stick.

"The Confederacy obviously had one last horrific weapon in their arsenal. Possible even a Mad Lemur Extinction Response weapon," he said. "This weapon not only wiped out our people but caused mass casualties even among their allies. The worlds inhabited solely by reanimated lemur dead are now nothing more than massive graves."

The others nodded sagely as the Atrekna touched the Speaker's Stick to the crown on the top of the full head mask, then handed it back to Dalvanak.

There were gasps of shock.

"The phasic overload was so strong that it allowed the phasic shades, which I have termed 'ghosts' - a term I made up - to replicate themselves by the hundreds," Dalvanak said.

The crystals rapidly began to connect to one another until soon, the entire base of the galactic arm spur, as well as the far end, were all connected.

"Within hours, days at the most, nearly every world held by our people, the lemurs, or the Inheritors, was under assault by ghosts. I have named this event The Great Ghost Dance, as they 'danced' through the systems," Dalvanak said.

"Approximately nineteen days later, the Stellar Mass Visible Light Explosion Event, which I have named 'The Great Thrum' happened. This released rapid and opposing pulses of phasic energy from every stellar mass in the galactic arm spur at the same time."

The entire crystal arrangement flashed bright white.

"That pulse was nearly a thousand rapid pulses, each one in opposition to the one before it. When the Great Thrum was over, the shades had been cleared, as the phasic power penetrated physical objects easily, allowing even the sides of the planet facing away from the stellar mass to be showered with the phasic energy," Dalvanak finished.

He looked around.

"Our people's own hubris has killed them," he stated. "Our people's blindness to the way this Young Universe operates caused their own downfall."

He looked around. "Has everyone here taken precautions, as broadcast by the Inheritors of Madness, to protect their fortresses and redoubts?"

One by one they all nodded.

"Remember, my equals, that chronotron or temporal operations results in the worst outcome possible for you, for us, for our people," Dalvanak warned. "We are now the lone remaining population of our people."

There was silence for a long moment.

"We have voted to retreat to our fortresses, our redoubts, our secured laboratories," Dalvanak reminded the assembled members of his "Think Tank" (he invented that nomenclature) gravely. "Now, I must urge you all to set aside what we have always perceived as our greatest strength.

"The ability to manipulate time itself."

The others nodded. The one with the flute made a quick trill of assent.

"We will separate. Meet sparingly," Dalvanak said. "We will return here, once a year, where I will host a Grand Ball, so that we may consolidate our knowledge and share our discoveries. Those who wish may interact with the outside universe, but I would caution you against that activity."

The others all nodded.

Dalvanak let the Speaker's Stick go, where it hovered in mid-air.

"Let us adjourn for tea and crumpets," Dalvanak said.

The others all nodded.

After all, tasty refreshments should always follow such deep and important discussions.

As always, the crystals suspended in midair were silent and kept their own counsel.