Chapter 2: A World Without Fantasy PT2

Chapter 2: A World Without Fantasy PT2

Somewhere within the Arohee state of the continent of Mourea, a large facility can be seen. This place was a gathering of the federation's finest. Where all the most intelligent people from all scientific fields gathered. Whether one was from a poor or rich background if they proved themselves worthy they could one day find themselves working in this place. It was called The Library, a fitting name for the type of work that is conducted here.

Every corner of this place was heavily guarded with trained soldiers and some of the most powerful defensive technology in the entire federation. Within the central chamber of The Library, a massive spherical core could be seen. With multiple tubes and wires and cables attached to it, the object was clearly of great importance.

This massive core was separated from the rest of the facility by multiple defensive measures. If one turns their attention exactly outside the central chamber an observation room can be seen. Men and women wearing lab uniforms walked around the room. Some were busy chatting and others seriously working. Amongst this group of individuals, a woman with a messy head of light brown almost orange hair could be seen. Visible panic was written all over her face as the data that ran across her screen kept flashing.

" Come on Sovereign how is this possible? We had the data already collected, so how does such a large portion of it get deleted in less than 2 minutes." Martha Duke said and her fingers danced around the keyboard. Her loud voice caught the attention of the others in the room. But they all knew better than to mess with their section chief when she was in such a state.

" My apologies Ms Duke, I have already run every tracing software and tools available. The source has escaped. We only have a general location" an artificial female voice responded to Martha's question. Martha turned her head to a monitor on the side that displayed an audio wave.

" Damn, how did this happen," Martha said in frustration. As soon as those words left her mouth the door to this room opened up. A handsome man wearing high-ranking military uniform walked in. He may have been a little on the shorter side with his 168 cm height. But his aura and attractive looks made him stand out.

" What's all the fuss about Martha? Aren't you supposed to be the quiet one around here?" The man said in a calm and relaxed tone. Yet no one here ever took his tone of voice seriously. He was by far one of the most serious and ruthless generals in the federation. General Eric Void, that was his name. With obsidian black hair and piercing green eyes he was very famous for many reasons.

Martha straightened her back upon the man's arrival" Eric you're here, I can explain…you see this was…umm… it was a" Martha tried her best to explain but she didn't know where to start. Erich stared at her intensely as if pushing her to speak faster. But the poor bespectacled lady could barely form a coherent sentence in his presence.

Eric could only sigh at this " Sovereign explain the situation. What have I missed" Eric said. The closest screen to him shifted and displayed the familiar audio wave animation as Sovereign spoke. " Yes General Void, approximately 3, 5 minutes ago our systems detected the search of confidential information on the galactic internet. As protocol requires of me I gathered all data related to the source and added them to a watch list.

But our systems suffered an attack soon after. All data related to the source's identity and most of their location data was forcefully deleted from our systems." Hearing Sovereign explain the situation made the general's expression turn dark. "Such an event happened and this is the best performance you can offer Martha. I'm very disappointed in you" the general said in a stern tone. Martha trembled knowing that she would be punished for this failure.

General Eric's reaction is very reasonable. Sovereign Artificial Intelligence or Sovereign for short is not just any AI. It is the most powerful and advanced AI to ever exist in human history. Its capabilities allow it to perfectly control 90% of all technological systems within the federation. The fact that someone can delete data from Sovereign is a big problem. "I? am sorry Eric… I won't let it happen again." Martha said with shame. She could only lower her head and clench her fists.

Eric didn't push her anymore and continued to question Sovereign" Tell me everything you can about the source" Sovereign immediately responded by saying" According to the gathered data and my calculations. The source and the attacker are the same person or at the very least are within the same location. According to their behavior whoever this is did not know the value of this information and searched for it by accident. Yet the fact that they detected my actions of taking their data and that they defended themselves against me.

All this points to the source possessing a powerful tech-based Karna. No technology in the federation can do such a feat making it the only logical conclusion. The most we can find about their location is that they are on the continent of Astellas." General Eric felt he was about to have a headache. Whoever this source is, is a threat to the federation and must be found at all costs.

" Do you have any idea as to their possible identity" Eric continued " Unfortunately not I have tried my best to determine their identity but with little success. No registered individual in the federation has a Karna with such capabilities according to our systems. Thus making determining their identity much more difficult" Sovereign said.

" So they have most likely falsified their information in the system." Eric stated " That is most likely the case" and Sovereign agreed with him. The general had a look of frustration on his face " Would you be able to find them with fusion?" General Eric asked.

" Unfortunately not. If we had activated fusion during the attack we would have stopped it and gotten all the data. But everything was deleted cleanly without a trace. Making it practically impossible to find them." This time Martha answered. Eric could only sigh as he turned to leave. " The Royals are going to give me hell for this. You guys get back to work I'll go report this to them." Eric said as he left.

Martha felt guilty, that Eric didn't have to go report to the royals. He did this trying to lessen the punishment she would receive and Martha knew this.

…

The next day Jack had explained as best he could everything about the data chips. Samuel was a smart child so he got a good understanding and their situation and didn't make trouble for Jack. Jack never destroyed the chips he still kept them but used his Karna to modify them in a way that only those he allowed would be able to use it.

So the father-son pair continued to indulge themselves with the content in the data chips. They did almost everything together from playing video games to watching movies and reading novels. They grew closer with their shared secret.

Time moved on as Samuel would turn 13 years old next month. Jack had registered him to go to a high school and today they would be going to get a tour of the place. At the entrance of High Cliffs High School, multiple people went through their gates. Led by the staff the visitors found themselves in the school's auditorium. Its size could comfortably hold over 2 thousand people.

Like most public and other high schools they allowed parents and potential students to come visit their school and get a tour on a very specific day. "Welcome esteemed guests. Today is a very special day" the principal of the school gave a speech on a large stage. " We at High Cliffs High pride ourselves in our ability to nurture the talents that every young person has. From combat to science we have produced soldiers and scientists from this very school" As the principal kept talking a group of students around the age of 16 accompanied by their teachers and a few soldiers went to the stage.

"Today these young talents get to awaken their Karna. So please wish them good luck cause who knows one of your kids will be in their shoes in just a few years." As the principal said a soldier pressed a few buttons on his wristwatch. A part of the stage floor opened up as a massive ring or gate-shaped technological construct rose. The construct settled into place and soon lit up as a portal opened in its center.

"Wow, Dad check it out that portal looks just like the ones we saw in that anime yesterday," Samuel in the audience said to Jack. " Although they look similar they don't work the same. Unlike magic that isn't real. Realm tunnels use space-warping technology to create portals. Everything can always be explained by science" Jack said. Samuel didn't look convinced by Jack's words.

"What about Karna, if science can explain everything why can't they explain that." Jack felt like he had been placed into a corner by Samuel's question.

Although the Federation is a powerful force that rules the Milky Way galaxy. Slightly more than 200 years ago they found out that they weren't the only intelligent life in the universe. An alien race called the Vashin tried to conquer the human race. For the first few years, humans constantly lost. They once had 17 habitable planets but are now left with only 8. The rest were taken over by the Vashin.

When the federation was pushed into a corner they created the realm tunnels to manipulate space in the hope of getting an advantage over their enemies. But that didn't work as the Vashin had defenses against spatial technology. Then one day a scientist accidentally created a portal to a dimension outside of their universe. But they could neither enter it nor even see what was on the other side. After some tests, they discovered that when a person enter a portal connected to this unknown dimension they would come in contact with a mysterious energy that would give them abilities never before seen.

That is how the human race fought back against the Vashin and was able to create a stalemate. The power that these Karna gave humans finally gave them a fighting chance. Although they hadn't gotten back their lost world they haven't lost anymore. To this day scientists don't know what truly are Karna's and the mysterious energy that fuels them. They call this energy Mythos. Although it can't be detected by any form of technology, those who come in contact with it gain the ability to sense it.

" Honestly I don't know about that. Can't really say much on that subject" Jack said. "So it could be magic?" Samuel asked "Yeah it could be"

Just as he said that one student approached the blue portal and entered it. Samuel fully focused on these events not wanting to miss anything. While Jack didn't care he already got his Karna so he knows what to expect.

A golden light appeared within the blue portal and a few seconds later the students walked out. " Please summon you, Karna," the soldier responsible for the ceremony said. The young man then closed his eyes as a flash of gold and silver appeared. Then Samuel's eyes opened wide as he looked upon the once ordinary-looking student.

Now surrounded by 2 massive metallic arms that were just as large as his body. They floated silently around the student's body accompanied by 3 glowing stars. That day Samuel felt a powerful rush of excitement.

Seeing fantastical things on a screen and in real life were two completely different things. A desire was born within Samuel that day. A desire to get his own Karna and unlock all their secrets.