The Uplift Protocol: In the Beginning

Issue 23: Blue Dragons

I think Aether messed with events. The Twin to The Banner must exist! I will find the host of the Black. Even if I have to use that creature to gain the knowledge! –Sister Nyx

I find the Keepers odd. My charms of seduction don’t work on them. Without passion how can there be true power? Everyone hungers. Desires. Feeds. They remain ice cold. A pity. – Renenutet

The shroud would fade. They would know the truth soon enough. My brother was already preparing for it. It’s why he went missing for a time. To keep Unity away from Eden just a while longer. I didn’t discover more aspects of Doc’s plan until much later. When I did, I created an opening. One that everyone noticed.—Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 23rd century (vol 2)

Keeper Null Ship 385

Medical Quarantine

Outer Layer Between Universes

The mummy paced about. This place was hideous. All curves but lifeless.

Stark uniformity. No color. How boring.

An iris opened. A gaunt Keeper with a cross-shaped scar on her face glided in, “You were crafty but to pull off the switch desired, you will need to get close to the target and use this teleportation nexus.”

She handed a small white oval over to the Egyptian sorceress. The Keeper shocked her guest with a request, “When you take over Lanis’ life and confidants. Find out what happened during Murphy’s birth. Any scraps you can. Aether is at the heart of my thoughts.”

Nyx nearly hissed the hated name.

The one emotion that Ren understood all too well. Clawed fingers plucked at the Keeper’s scar. Empty eye sockets burning with unholy light. “I can fix this…” Rotted teeth moved in. A withered black tongue rolled out. The Keeper moved her head slowly. Ignoring Ren’s lewd advances. She was a strange bird indeed. Might be worth the data to dissect her brain once her role was finished.

“No, I carry this to remember,” Nyx replied.

The hated Light Shamans. The Weave Speaker girl. She had not thought on that day for many years. She remembered the heat. The way the man had stopped her drones from taking the girl. Personal vengeance was a distant secondary concern. Chronos must win the Boned Throne. To see what was beyond the Path of the Ancients. Beyond the Ouro. The answers were out there. The Keeper was certain.

Ren entered the teleporter. Flesh closing over her desiccated bones. She inspected herself in the reflection of the mirrored panels. She snapped her fingers. Taking on the form of a mousey-faced teen. A dash of acne and the project was complete. A shirt proclaiming “New Ashbury High” with khaki shorts. The flip-flops completed the set. She pitched her voice higher. It broke at the right moments, “Drop me off at the Banner Museum. I have more research to do!”

Nyx complied. “The timer is active. You will not need that rudimentary net you acquired from Medusa. That would leave traces most unfortunate.”

Traces that would have brought the Terran Alliance down on the All-Father sooner than Chronos wanted. Nyx examined the readouts as the mummy de-materialized. The Star-Spangled Banner would destroy the Dark Mirror network protecting the All-Father. They would eventually let it slip where Lanis would be held. All according to plan. So much to study. She’d be able to see the limits of Lorain Lanis. Nyx brought out the small sliver. A clump of cells she got during her original run on Area 51.

Proof that a TWIN to Eliza Murphy had existed.

Aether would pay.

New Ashbury

The Star Spangled Emporium

T-Minus 16 days

Ren shouldered the backpack.

Humming as the entryway relayed the corny line, “Welcome to New Ashbury! Home of the Future!” She smiled vapidly at the elderly couple. Not worth the life force. It would barely add 5 mins to her long existence. She skipped past them to the large status of Murphy. Decked out in her demi uniform. A bright smile plastered on those velvety features. The inscription was as sugar-coated as the woman herself. Ren shuddered internally. It would be hell mimicking that Doctor but the rewards would be great.

She moved deeper into the building. Soaking in that Texas charm.

She mentally mocked everything housed within this gaudy postcard to Human exceptionalism. In her Universe, only Egypt had risen to greatness. The Golden City of her time vast and all-knowing. Operating with the authority of Judge and Jury. Joining with the Urraden Fleets to dominate everyone.

The holo began, “Born to an American military family and….”

*****

Nola and Eddie, under the auspices of her mirror, moved to follow the girl. The notes from the teen setting Eddies senses on fire. <>

Nola pinched her husband’s cheek. <> He grinned as she wrapped an arm around his waist.

<>

Lorain was being tight-lipped about the counter plan to all this mess. Eddie hated that. But understood. Of the two of them, she was higher on the Terran Alliance food chain. Into projects that even Thomas Murphy wasn’t purview to. It had been simple enough to hack into the H.U.D of Ren.

Nothing could hide from the Puzzler!

They shuffled along.

Just an elderly couple along for a stroll.

*****

Chronos knelt at the Altar. Three black pillars forming in the air before him.

Unity’s voice coiled around his mind, “What news?”

The Director of the Keepers opened with, “We have evidence that the twin may be within another Universe. Why Black has not fully manifested. The Omegas had us fooled for a while. Mimicking the signature of Black’s warform. Its third golden eye never opened.” He showcased the assault on Nyx’s ship. With the demi known as Judgment and an Omega using its energy to manifest the iconic black tiger. Behind Chronos, Nyx kept her head bowed low.

Forehead planted on the frozen deck of the ship.

Aether would fail.

Unity’s presence flowed through them both.

The crystal flame of its eyes pushing Chronos to the deck, “Have my blessing supplicant!”

Chronos averted his gaze. The knowledge flowed into his brain.

Blocking out all coherent thought.

*****

J’ino followed Eddie and Nola. Cloaked in the magic of the Golden City and the technology of Typha. Every instinct as a mother was on fire. She wanted to shove that creature into the closest black hole. Aether’s voice flowed through her audio pickup. “Understandable reaction but we must make sure only she receives all the false data. It will be vital upon your daughter’s return.”

J’ino’s mind flowed back.

The Hall of Mirrors within the Golden City. Eliza’s face contorted. Teeth bared. The terror flowing from her as her shoulders shook. The tears were an absolute shock. She had never seen such a look of rage on her daughter’s face. Not even when facing down the All-Father above the void around Typha. The shouting. More of a warcry echoing through the interlaced visions.

“Give her back!” The shattered hulls of Artock vessels littering the battlefield.

Eliza’s knuckles bloodied. Her Banner uniform torn.

The mottled green surface of Tarkanan darkening as Eliza moved toward it.

The All-Mother’s broken body floating behind their daughter like a discarded doll.

*****

Thomas reached out to J’ino, >>Pull back. It is a warning. Not fact. Our girl is better than that.<< The shift was immediate. Her worry flooded their link. J’ino replied, >>I know. Yet I worry. What if it becomes reality?<<

Thomas sent a wave of encouragement. >>Remember who she takes after the most!<<

Mental images flowed between them.

V’alkor and Abraham first and foremost in her thoughts.

The darkest day before the brightest dawn.

Thomas reached up to dawn his helm. Its golden gleam muted in the semi-darkness of the Library of Alexandria. The long-ago tome stolen by Thoth but never forgotten. The Amarche still searched for it. Thoth had no idea what he had taken but Ta’mathon did. It was the Book of the Golden Road. The old high arcanist of the Order prayed that Thoth would never breach the third seal. Ta’mathon prayed to the Highest.

We must find that book.

No matter what universe it had been taken to.

*****

J’anu Urraden raised her head off the cushions. Ren had excellent taste. An old journal caught the Typherian’s eye. She removed the outer cover. Within was a leather-bound book. Golden letters graced the cover in a style of Egyptian she wasn’t familiar with. She shouted for Ta’rammon.

He ambled into view. The sight making J’anu’s heart race. She patted the empty space beside her. >>What form of your language is this dear heart?<<

His eyes widened. Shock causing his breath to hitch. “That is the first tongue! The laungage of the All-Ruler itself. Where was she hiding it?!”

The first page began, “The founding of The Golden City. By archivist Ga’mathon. Proctor Rank. Senior Level: Historian Protector. The record of Eternal Vigilance. Passed down through the blood of time.”

J’anu’s thoughts were glued to her Union mate. >>Glorious. Our empire rose someplace else. No wonder Ren wandered off. She’ll annex this new world for us!<<

The demonic glee filled J’anu’s jade-hued eyes. The crimson of her house hidden by the glorious rejuvenation of their doctor’s expert sorcery.

Fresh magic. Ripe for the picking!

In a small corner, a lone figure watched. His simple task of cleaning was ignored.

Such was the life of a slave.

The council would have to be alerted. A book of Eden.

The old man had prayed for this day. The subjugation of his Universe would come to an end. The slumbering ones would arrive. To cleanse the world. Praise be to the All-Ruler. First of Creation and the true way. Many old books had been destroyed over the eons. He would find the Raven. So he could read from the holy text. To summon the White Mother. The Black Father. The creatures blessed with Sight beyond all. He remembered the old tales. How dogs had walked upon the Earth. Blessing it with their power. Keeping the Living Stone at bay.

They would bring that power back.

His old bones ached as he continued to scrub.

Let me live long enough to see them. His prayers rose into the night air.

In the distance, a crack of lightning resounded across the western plains of Greater Egypt.

Convergence was approaching.

God would endow the faithful.