The Calm

The water in the pod was all around it, like a comfortable bed made of the purest element. Its body was minuscule, to the point that it would've fit in an open hand. A long tube was linked to his navel. Inside it all the nutrients necessary for its growth.

It moved one of his little hands toward the glass in front of him. It was like he was trying to reach who was standing behind it.

A woman was standing there, observing her creation, taking notes on a touchpad. She was completely focused on the embryo. One of her many projects, one of her lifeworks.

On her breast there was a brooch.

Dr. Cressida G. Marduk

She had short dark hair and white shiny eyes. She was in a huge laboratory where there were a lot of pods, chemicals, and people.

The sun wasn't on sight because the room was situated deep in the ground. There was a multitude of leds, red, blue, and green, each defining one of the six rooms of the lab.

She looked at the watch on her wrist. The time startled. She totally forgot about her date with Khosrow.

After realizing it, she quickly put down her gown and pad and started walking out of the la she was working in. After moving through a corridor, she swiftly called the elevator.

She took another look at the watch. She had fifteen minutes to reach her partner.

The elevator reached her floor, and she ran into it.

Even though the labs where deep in the ground, her ascension didn't take long.

When the door opened again, the sun inundated her view, and her eyes flickered a little. The SLGenomics building wasn't that big, surely its height didn't match its depth. An aspect which always sounded odd to her. The few skyscrapers of the city made her feel out of place. They were like giants but none of them was bigger than the Suharto Peaks.

She took the car and drove to the restaurant which was chosen to dine. It was located on the border of Scarbray before the Woods of Drekavac. It was an ancient building which looked like a small castle surrounded by an artificial ditch.

She parked the car and walked inside. Khosrow was standing there, in his fine suit and carefully brushed hair. Her eyes bright up.

"You made it at last", told him while kissing her.

They went to their table and, after five minutes to choose their meal, they started to enjoy their early evening.

"I've almost forgot actually; I was too focused on her. She is growing without any kind of issues" said her to him to clarify why she was late.

Usually, she was always on time.

"Do you mean L5796?"

Khosrow looked particularly unphased by it. She liked it. A lot.

"Exactly" answered her

"Great. Your hard work is paying out at last. I would like to say the same about my division, but it seems like we're not making any progress"

"What is giving you so many problems Row?"

"The…we…are not able to unfreeze the body. We're still looking for an answer to that question"

"You'll find it, don't worry"

"I know that you want to cheat death but, I think, sometimes we have to face our own limits" continued her

"I'm not sure about that. What's the point of being a scientist if we can't change and solve the problem of life and death"?

"I can help you if you need anything" proposed her

"That would be wonderful, but I don't think that Vigors would let us do it"

"Probably we're going to need an extreme situation, like an emergency of great relevance, to try it out" joked Cressida.

"Vigors is just an asshole without balls. I don't know why they chose him over you" said Khosrow while munching his meal

"Really, do you think that I would make a good leader?" asked Cressida

"Why not?"

"Well, because…"

A subtle crashing sound came from afar. All the people in the restaurant didn't say a word.

They looked each other in the eyes.

A sudden breeze came from that direction.

No words.

Empty.

Silence.

A bang assailed them from behind. Khosrow was startled.

Cressida joined him, even though she wasn't afraid.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Cressida

Happy birthday to you

She totally forgot. Completely. She didn't even expect that from Khosrow. They have been dating for a while, but she didn't expect him to remember his birthday. Khosrow wasn't near her, she looked for him and then…

"Happy twenty-three's Cres" told her Khosrow while holding a ring in his hands.

She was smiling and happy. She never felt that way.

It was the day her life changed.

The day fire rained down from the sky.

The sun shone over his face. The air was clear and pure. Crystal water was springing not far from him. The bed was grey and clear, made of cheap silk. The pillow was keeping him relaxed in his soft and smelly hug. All the muscles and bones of his body were lying there, perfectly relaxed.

The water stopped springing.

A metallic squeak which sounded like a grating bird.

He was in paradise.

Suddenly.

Water started sketching his face. At first felt good.

Then it splashed him like a cold water in winter.

"Wake up scum" shouted someone loud in his hear.

He opened his eyes. People who were wearing the same formal clothes were standing before him.

The room was too small for all of them.

Stained walls, a dirty loo, a tiny table, and a huge screen.

"Has your wife fucked someone else today, Captain?" told him with a grin.

The man in question went over his frail body and grabbed him. The jailbird was hanging from his collar like a dying flower.

"It doesn't matter who was your brother and what you used to be in the past, to me you've always been a parasite. Mabdil deserved more" said the guards captain to his face.

His hairy, unshaved face.

The inmate was thrown on his bed.

"So, who was him?" asked him again to his gaolor. With his upsetting grin.

All the people in the room left.

The screen turned on.

Its sound was too loud. The colors too bright for the room.

It startled him.

"Enjoy the show, traitor" shouted the guards at him.

A large and crowded square with a myriad of chanting and screaming people. The camera was flying over all those citizens.

It was amazing, people of Haguel and the Hara, both in the same place, side by side.

Then he catched a glimpse of the building in front of them. The Aokigahara Tower looked better that day.

A podium on a balcony.

It was new.

There people in neat clothes were positioned around a simplistic altar.

They were waiting for someone to show.

"I can't believe what I'm looking at. I've never seen Guels and Halars in the same place, side by side" said Pyramus

"Are you sure that he's the one who did it? The people we have in the city describe him in a different way" told him Gluskap

"He still has your bug; we can still hear him and understand what his plans are"

"Yes, even though it's becoming hard to understand what are his intentions"

The other people in the room were waiting for Pyramus's response. All the prominent members of the Hummingbirds were there. All in front of a screen.

"There're things which we're not able to understand. People we're not meant to understand"

"Aren't you the one who suggested a different approach with the Shaxes?"

"Yes, we still must see if it will work. To me they're just simple wild creatures who care about survival" declared Gluskap

"Aren't we moved by the same instincts?"

"We'll see"

"Do you think that my plan will work?"

"I don't know Py, I've never tried to talk to a Shax. You want to negotiate with them"

"This time we have someone on the other side, don't forget about it"

"We don't know if he's still alive. We don't even know if he's on our side"

While they were chatting, the crowd started getting more excited. They were chanting and shouting. From above it looked like a huge snake which was having convulsions.

But its body was just part of a whole. The head with its fangs and venom was where power was located.

Lilith was looking at it with displeased eyes. She didn't like what her partner decided to change. It wasn't right for her. Guels and Halars shared nothing in her eyes. Two different races.

She was wearing a black tight dress which used to be her mother. It was perfect for her. Too perfect.

She was happy but some thoughts were still floating in her head. The lab, her sister, the forbidden sector. The forbidden sector. She wanted to know what was in there. She wanted to understand what was hiding her mother.

There was also the strange symbol in the grey lab. The one made of three sickle blades intertwined. She didn't know why but it felt familiar to her.

A buzzing sound. From afar.

The wind started blowing but it wasn't natural.

She looked up and in front of her.

Someone was coming.

Dragonflies.

The buzzing sound of the aircraft was in his ear, muffled and tedious. He was looking himself in the mirror. A fine suit made of expensive silk. Brown moccasins made of leather, with an intricated movie. There was sand on them. And blood.

He took an infinity shaped claw and, after pulling his long hair together, pulled it together with the sharp object.

On a table two pills. He took both, at the same time. A grin formed on his face. Endymion used to produce them.

A mixture of happiness and rage started growing in him. An unnatural feeling.

He moved to the large window on the side of the room. The desert was finally leaving place to the iron trees of the city.

Haguel looked more pitiful from up there. He recognized most of the streets and the houses. Alusta's hyperloop station and its huge mall looked massive. The DIYU's headquarters felt minuscule when compared to it. Or, at least, what was left of it. He transformed it in a Whiskers Academy.

Then came the Hara. No more cars on the ground. Small Dragonflies, called Wasps, where flying all around. A gift of the the powerful planet of Agaklythos.

Shouting of people merged with the Dragonfly's buzzing.

He put on an earpiece. On the other side there was the captain of the Whiskers located in the square.

The aircraft started to descend. It landed on a platform on one of the last floors of the building.

The hull released a short platform. The sun inundated his face. His escort stepped down first.

When the buzzing sound of the Dragonfly stopped, his ears felt the impatience of his audience.

Fortunately, the pills were working.

A few steps from him a microphone on a balcony. Lilith wasn't far from it.

He looked down at his feet. It wasn't his blood.

Then he advanced toward the railing. The height of the building still scared him. He feared to fall from it. He feared it with all his heart.

He kissed Lilith and, as he approached the microphone, the audience exploded. They were chanting his name.

He lifted his hands in the hair to catch the crowd's euphoria.

"People of the Hara. People of Haguel," started him

"Our beloved city has flourished like it has never done in its history. Revolutions occurred here. I made all of them"

"Starting with the merging of the Hara with Haguel. I integrated two part of the city which were once divided by an iron wall of Whiskers. I demolished the gates and let all the people in"

"That improved our economy as I've been able to build an hyperloop grid, which helped all of you. The Ferrieder Station in Alusta is the centre of it. Wealth has been brought to the once poor sector. All the city has experienced a substantial increment of the average income. Everyone hasa job now"

"It has been almost five centuries without deaths, and I perfected the Ankhs quality. Not only I made it free for all of you, but I've made it mandatory for everyone, because everyone deserves to live as long as possible"

The crowd was screaming for everything he was saying. The craze was unbelievable.

"I've founded the Mabdil Academy for each one of you who wants to protect our city. We celebrate him and honor his death with it"

"The traitor who has been working all along with the Hummingbirds, the one who killed our beloved Commander, is still in our cells, waiting for our judgment"

The people were booing and showing their hate for Malsumis, whishing his death.

"I'm still looking for his brother and his 'birds. I've been able to bring down almost all their spies in the city…"

He slowed down; he knew that he was telling a lie. He didn't care.

"And I've brought to this city the peace it deserves. After all the bombings and murders, I've brought this city back to its glory"

He then showed his fist and put it in the hair.

The people started doing it too.

Not all of them though.

He moved his head, scanning the people in the square who have become quiet. Waiting for him to lower his fist.

Then he shook his head.

Gunshots. Fast and imperceptible.

Silence.

People in the crowd started collapsing down in a pool of blood.

He lowered his hand.

The people screamed. Not of fear.

Of joy.

Then he took Lilith's hand abruptly. She was confused. She was in the spotlight.

"I would like to announce that me and my fiancée are going to be married soon" told him as he brought both their hands up.

And there the people went crazy. It was an historical event.

"What are you doing?" whispered her

"Just smile. We'll talk about it later. Now kiss me" and they did.

From the crowd a name was being chanted. Louder and louder.

"Ti-thon Ti-thon Ti-thon…"

The resonant choir was filtering through the screen's speakers into a dark room enlightened by suffused LEDs. There were eight pods. One of them wasn't locked.

Lady Gehenna was standing beside one of them while she was watching the screen. Her hands were on the pod. On it there were two letters, K and T, beside a symbol, a paiban. On the pod's side there was a touch screen with some numbers referring to temperature, pressure, heartbeat, neurological activity and more.

Someone moved behind her. It was one of the scientists.

"My Lady, she is ready" told him

She stood up and, after kissing the pod, left it. She followed him to the door. At the entrance there was a pod with an E, a G, and a lotus beside them.

The door automatically shut behind them as they left the room.

They went in one of the other labs. After a while they reached their destination.

Water was falling from an opened pod. A naked lady was standing beside it and scientists were set all around her.

"As you requested my lady" said the scientist as he handed a pad to her.

On it there were the health and neurological stats of the clone.

The was a picture of her face.

She hated her. She hated everything about her.

There were also two names. Her genetic progenitor's name and her fictitious name which used to change after every reboot.

Not this time.

Endymion.