The Advancement of Mateo Matic: July 25, 2507

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On the way to Atlantis, Mateo pulled up its prospectus, and took a look at what was in store for them. It was located at the bottom of the Aquilonian Deep ocean, so visitors would be fully immersed in the environment, just like they would be if they were in the Atlantis from the book series. The characters lived in a grand city, hidden from the eyes of the normal people on Earth at the time, who wouldn’t understand. Unlike most domes on Castlebourne—or whatever alternate copy of it this place was—Atlantis wasn’t under a geodesic dome. The prospectus called it a monolithic dome; just a transparent shell with no lattice structure. It was non-holographic too, to better simulate what it was like for the Atlantians from the story, which protected their city through telekinesis, rather than physical infrastructure. It’s also much wider than it is tall. Other domes are hemispheres, but the Atlantic ocean only goes a few kilometers down, so Atlantis is shaped more like a cap, like the Aquilonian Deep itself.

Something weird happened when the train stopped at the Atlantis station. The pod started to creak and shake a little. The doors wouldn’t open, and the virtual windows weren’t operating, so they couldn’t see what was happening outside. They received their answer soon enough, though. As Leona and Ramses were once more trying to fix the issue, water began to leak  through the cracks. They became a house divided. Most of them had pressed themselves back against the wall with the controls. Mateo and Octavia happened to be on the other end, and did the same over there.

“I thought that Atlantis was literally under water, but not actually in it,” Marie began, loud enough for all to hear. “I thought the inside of the dome was fully dry and livable.”

“Without maintenance, it must have buckled under the pressure at some point,” Leona figured. “This isn’t the real Castlebourne.”

“The domes are made of diamond!” Angela argued.

“Partially,” Leona corrected.

“How do we get out of here?” Romana asked. “Can you guys teleport?”

Olimpia shook her head. “I’ve been trying. It’s still suppressed.”

“Why would he send us here,” Ramses questioned, “knowing we’re gonna die?”

“Wait. This is part of the experience, isn’t it?” Mateo put forth. “I never read the books, but I think Atlantis does—”

He was unable to finish the sentence before all hell broke loose. The vactrain could hold back the deluge no more. Water came rushing in. They were fully submerged in seconds. For most of them, this wasn’t that big of a deal. Their nanites tightened themselves around their bodies, and sealed up. They could have survived without air for a period of time, and even the force of being violently tossed around the pod, but the suit was an important extra precaution. Unfortunately, not all of them had one of these. Octavia was totally unprotected and in grave danger. Mateo was already holding onto her, making sure she didn’t hit her now. He was now hoping to somehow breathe into her mouth, but his helmet was in the way. He tried to open it up temporarily, but the nanites did not recede. They had a job to do, and it would seem that they were not programmed with the knowledge of Mateo’s advanced substrate. He didn’t need the suit. Octavia did, and if he didn’t do something immediately, she was gonna die.

Mateo closed his eyes to concentrate, realizing that giving her a few rescue breaths wasn’t gonna do much good anyway, as they were likely still trapped under a fully submerged dome. These nanites. They were stored inside his body, and right on the surface when engaged as a vacuum suit, but this was not a requirement. They could be reconfigured to fit loosely around him like regular clothes. He actually wasn’t even wearing regular clothes. They were all nanites the whole time, clinging to each other in the form of a shirt and pants until the suit was needed. If they could hang loosely from him, then they should be able to adhere to something else...someone else. Despite their protests, he commanded them to let go, and swarm Octavia instead. Finally they did as they were told, releasing their grip on his skin, and swimming over to envelope Octavia instead. He maintained his mental control over them, so they would maintain their cohesion. Then he took Octavia’s hand, and began to swim away.

Now that the pod was fully filled with water, it was no longer so turbulent. He was able to see his friends, who were starting to exit through the giant hole in the doors that the pressure had made. Leona was swimming over to beckon the two of them forth. The entire station was also submerged, so there appeared to be no respite. Ramses seemed to be less concerned about it. He led them along the outside of the vacuum tube, to a maintenance hatch. Once he managed to open it, the water flooded into that compartment as well. They had to wait until it too was filled before swimming in. After they were all in, Ramses shut the hatch behind them. Then he worked the controls to open a much bigger hatch. The water flooded there too, but as the space was now twice as big as before, it was no longer completely engulfed. There was a pocket of air for them to breathe in without their helmets. More importantly, they could finally talk about what just happened.

“What just happened?” Olimpia asked.

“We survived,” Ramses answered. “Again.”

“Did you know I could do this?” Mateo asked, jerking his head towards Octavia. She was still in his suit, because she had no mental control over the nanites. And for some reason, neither did he.

Ramses waded through the water towards them. “I didn’t. Good thinking. Can you release her?”

“They’re being difficult,” Mateo replied. “It was hard enough getting them to switch over to her. Now they don’t want to come back.”

Leona waded over too. “It was probably your adrenaline, which allowed you to exercise more control over the nanites than they were programmed to be subjected to. They only exist in three states: dormant, emerging, and stabilized. They’re stable around her now, and aren’t listening to you, because...” She contemplated the issue. “You’re too far away.” She shrugged. “Give her a hug.”

Mateo hugged Octavia, placing himself closer to his nanites, and commanded them to recede into his implants and go dormant, which they did. So he was still naked, but he didn’t want to command them to do anything else. He was afraid of another glitch.

“I’ll tweak the programming, and maybe boost the signal,” Ramses decided. “Might be nice if we can do what Mateo did, but on purpose, and with less resistance.”

“I did it on purpose.”

“I meant, premeditatively.”

“Where are we?” Romana asked, looking away as if examining their surroundings, but she was really just uncomfortable with seeing her father like this.

“Service tube,” Ramses answered, wading back in her direction. “They put pods in here to repair and replace parts.”

“How do we get out?” Angela pressed.

Ramses kept going towards a computer terminal, which was thankfully, waterproof. He started looking through the data. “I may need time to come up with a solution.” He shook his head. “Seven people, six suits, and flooding appears to be quite comprehensive. We need a clear path out of this dome, and into the next one. We can’t just walk though, or even try to swim to the top.”

“Octavia’s gonna be stuck here alone, in the water, for an entire year,” Marie pointed out. “No food, no freshwater. No escape.”

They all looked sadly at Octavia.

She took a breath. “What else is new?”

While Ramses was trying to come up with an escape plan, Leona was at another terminal, trying to figure out how to drain the water out of here, so at least Octavia would have a dry place to stand. The Waltons, meanwhile, were working on extracting a dayfruit smoothie module and a water recycling module out of their respective pocket dimensions. Octavia needed these things more than they. The ladies solved their three problems in enough time for the jump to the future. The tube wasn’t designed to be drained of this much water, but it did have a drain, which could take care of it over time. Octavia would be alone, and in this terrible place, wet for a few days, but at least she would have food and water.

“I’ll stay with her,” Romana declared.

“What?” Mateo asked her. He was fully clothed now.

“It’s something I can do, and I should, Romana reasoned. “She shouldn’t be alone. She’s been so alone.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Octavia assured her. “It’ll be boring.”

“Actually,” Ramses said. “The terminal has some entertainment stored on it. I don’t know why, as they don’t really use human workers for this, but it’s there. Should last you. Lots of ancient reality TV, though.”

“Have you not found somewhere better where they can go instead?” Leona asked him.

“Afraid not,” Ramses responded. “Atlantis is totally flooded. Every nook, every cranny. The vactube was the only dry space, but it only stayed that way, because there wasn’t any activity. We altered the pressure differential by coming here.”

“It’s okay,” Romana decided. “We’ll make this work.” She smiled at Octavia. “Together.”

Their watches beeped.

“Last time to back out,” Mateo said.

“Not gonna happen.” Romana hugged her father. “I’ll see you in a year. You’ll see me in a minute.”

Midnight central hit. When they returned, Leona’s draining program was complete, and the service tunnel was totally dry. The weird part was, Romana was in a different spot, but Octavia wasn’t. The former was sitting on one chair, resting her feet on another, casually filing her fingernails. The latter was exactly where she was before, still wet, and very confused.

“What the hell happened?” Mateo asked. “Octavia, you’re on our pattern?”

“I don’t see how.”

“What’s that humming sound?” Olimpia asked.

Leona knelt down to the floor, and pulled her bag off to open it. She took out the crystal that Pacey had given them. The colors had abated after the initial lightshow, but they were back, presumably triggered by the time jump. “First thought. This put her on our pattern, hopefully for her sake, temporarily.”

“Oh, Romana. You’ve been alone this whole time,” Mateo whined apologetically.

“NBD,” Romana said, hopping off of her chairs. “I watched every episode of Survivor and The Amazing Race. I read those Witches of Atlantis books too. I know why it flooded.”

“Still,” Mateo said, embracing his daughter again. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I wish Pacey would have just been clear about what that crystal was. Talk about a solution without a problem.”

“It’s really okay. Now we know. And that’s not all we know.” She walked over to the hatch they had come in through, and opened it. No water came in. “As you said before, it’s all part of the experience.”

Even though they were confident that it was fine, the six of them cautiously passed Romana, and stepped out of the tunnel. The train station was completely dry. Everything was fine. Had they imagined it?

“You’re not imagining it,” Romana said. “It’s periodically flooded on purpose. I don’t know what the exact schedule is, so we shouldn’t stick around, but I have not been living in that service tube this whole time.”

“Why would the station be flooded too, through?” Leona questioned. She looked down at the pod, which was still warped and damaged. “That’s a major safety hazard.”

“That I believe was an accident,” Romana determined. “Pacey left a door open. Only the dome itself is meant to be inundated. I closed it.”

“I’m proud of you,” Mateo said.

She laughed and scoffed. “Dad. Anyway, I looked for Buddy, and he’s not here. He must have moved on to a different sector in Recursiverse, perhaps a different planet.” She used airquotes.

“How do we do that?” Ramses asked her. “The vactube is down, so do we take a spaceship?” He used airquotes too, because if there were indeed ships here, they were probably only simulations, meant to make it feel like visitors were traveling through the simplex dimensions, to worlds light years away, when they were probably only driving to the next dome over.

“The Atlantians didn’t use ships,” Romana explained as they were leading them down the corridor, still in the perimeter structure of the dome. She stepped into the driver’s seat of a shuttle cart, and drove off once everyone was on board. “If they wanted to leave Earth, they used something else.” She drove them a few kilometers until they reached what was clearly a Nexus building.

“Is this functional?” Leona asked, intrigued.

“I don’t think so,” Romana replied. “You tell me.”

“Hey, Venus Opsocor,” Leona said to the aether after walking in. “Are you there?”

No response.

“She may not wanna answer,” Leona explained, “but I’m guessing that it’s simply not a real Nexus.”

“Probably not.” Romana started to walk up the steps to the control room. “Shut the door.” She reached into the room without stepping in, and swung her arm once against the wall.

Marie smirked and looked up towards the ceiling with her eyes. “We’re moving.”

“Yeah,” Romana agreed. “Right now, we’re rotating into the next dome over, while that dome’s Nexus rotates into here. It takes about four minutes, and is meant to be imperceptible. If you’re paying too much attention, you can tell that it’s just a simulation, but visitors are expected to step into the cavity, and pretend that it’s real. We don’t have to do that. We’re just gonna wait for the rotation to be complete, open the door, and we’ll be in the new dome.” She pointed. “I think there’s a corridor over there, so we could have just walked across, but...”

They stood there and waited. Only Leona wandered into the cavity, mostly out of boredom. Technicolored lights rained down on her from the Nexus drum above, but that was all they were; lights. The rotation ended, and they left. Everything looked pretty much identical to where they were before, until they crossed the ring, and opened the inner doors. They were definitely not in Atlantis anymore.

Romana passed by them, and held her arms out as she was spinning around. “Welcome...to Ce—”

She never finished the word. An explosion knocked them all on their asses.

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The Advancement of Leona Matic: Prime

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Vito and Khuweka split the group in half, and teleported everyone back to the Prototype. Kallias tried to hand the goggles over to Leona, but she figured it would be best to keep all their ingredients separate, for now. She possessed the Compass of Disturbance, and Kivi was in charge of the Book of Hogarth, because Hogarth herself didn’t want nothing to do with it. Vitalie kept the Incorruptible Astrolabe in her bag, Hogarth had the Rothko Torch, Khuweka kept the Jayde Spyglass, and now Kallias could hold onto the HG Goggles. Once everyone was inside, Leona interfaced her tattoo with the machine once more, and started up the engines.

“How long will it take to get there?” Kivi asked, increasing her volume with every word, as the engines grew louder and louder. “Some of us won’t live forever!”

“We’re here,” Khuweka said, interpreting the screens. It was one thing to speak Maramon conversationally. Reading the script, and understanding the monitor outputs, were entirely different skills, so they still needed her to operate this thing.

“Really? Wow,” Vitalie said. “Why did the last one take months?”

“The Composite Universe, and Universe Prime are quantum entangled with one another,” Khuweka began to explain. “As far as hyperdimensional relativity goes, they’re right next to each other. When the original Prototype exploration crew found what we call the biverse, they decided to stay away from both of them. Most human civilizations die out before growing too technologically advanced to become a threat to us. The residents of the biverse are exceedingly more powerful than anything you’ve ever seen. The only reason we were safe in the Composite was because that world, at that time, was largely abandoned. When we step out to Earth here, there’s no telling what we’ll find. Tread lightly, I will probably go invisible.”

“This is Earth, though,” Hogarth asked.

“Yes,” Khuweka said. “Though it is a very different than your own, much is the same. Technology, for instance, has advanced at about the same rate, according to a strikingly similar arbitrary calendar.”

“What year is it right now?” Leona asked as she was looking at a very underdeveloped village a couple hundred meters from their position.

“Sixteen-ninety-nine,” Khuweka answered, looking at the monitor again. She turned away from it, but did a double-take. “Oh, sorry. Negative sixteen-ninety-nine; about seventeen hundred years before the common area, and the birth of some random guy named Jesus.”

Though she was strictly atheist, Leona’s husband was born and raised Catholic. Fortunately, Mateo didn’t exist in the timestream, and no one else here seemed to be offended by Khuweka’s remark. The way Leona understood it, disparate universes were completely unrelated entities, and quite unlike alternate realities. Even Earths that began with the same start values would have developed under radically different conditions, resulting in not a single individual from one having an alternate version in another. Still, there seemed to be some exceptions to this rule, in some cases; apparently people whose lives so profoundly impacted history. Donald Trump, Adolf Hitler, and Jesus of Mary and Joseph, appeared to exist in multiple branes, which they shouldn’t, suggesting some level of quantum entanglement that permeated the bulkverse. What about these few people led to multiple versions of them having been born? Then again, human beings themselves ought to be extremely rare in their familiar form, due to minor differences in the environment in which life evolved. Perhaps these constants were simply quirky extensions of whatever principle allowed humans to be so unrealistically pervasive.

“There’s someone at the door,” Kivi pointed out as she was looking at the view monitor. Her comment was quickly followed by a knock on that very door.

Vito set down his drink, and walked over to the entrance with a strut. “I will protect you from harm,” he said, embracing his immense power. “Can I help you?” he asked, out of sight of either the camera, and blocked by the antechamber.

“Step aside,” came a reply.

Leona recognized that voice. She ran over, and tackled Missy Atterberry as she tried to round the corner. “Oh my God, you’re here. It’s been so long!”

Missy hugged her back, but with only one arm. The other was missing.

“What happened?” Leona asked.

“Occupational hazard,” Missy replied after Leona finally let her go. “I’m the one what caused the Crossover to explode. My arm didn’t survive.”

“I can build you a prosthetic,” Hogarth said. “Hell, you come with us back to our universe, I could regrow your limb.”

Missy shook her head. “Not possible. The most advanced scientists in the biverse have attempted. There’s a neurological block between my brain, and the nerve-endings. A lot of people experience something called phantom limb, which causes them to feel pain from appendages they’ve lost. I have the opposite condition, where my brain is indissolubly aware that my arm is no longer there. I can’t even trick it. I’ve survived, though.”

“I’m so sorry,” Leona said.

“No,” Khuweka said. “I’m sorry. I’m the one what did this to you. You wouldn’t have been in the machine had I not dropped the canister of Serif nanites.”

Missy smiled lovingly. “That was millennia ago, I’m totally over it. I’m a doctor now. I can diagnose absolutely any illness.”

“How did you know we were coming?” Leona asked her. “You couldn’t have just happened to be living in the area?”

“I planned my travels accordingly,” Missy explained. “A friend of mine predicted your arrival. If he’s not busy, you may meet him. Come. It’ll be easier to turn this thing invisible if you’re already outside of it.”

“You knew you could turn things invisible?” Khuweka asked Missy.

Missy laughed as she ushered everyone out, one by one. “Of course. I just diagnosed my own time powers.”

“Damn, I should have thought of that,” Khuweka said.

“You’ve spent your whole life as an immortal,” Vito said comfortingly. “You probably never had reason to wonder how your body works, because it never breaks down.”

Once everyone was outside, Missy turned the Prototype invisible, and synced up her teleportation coordinates with Vito and Khuweka, so they could all jump at once.

Leona looked around with wonder. They were standing in the middle of a bustling city. There weren’t any skyscrapers, but there were streets, and electricity. “I thought this was the second millennium BCE. Did you jump us through time?”

“No,” Missy said. “This island was founded by aliens from a different universe, just like us. They call it...Atlantis.”

“Atlantis?” Vitalie asked. “I’ve heard of that from other choosers. The powers that be supposedly live here.”

“It’s a different Atlantis,” Hogarth tried to explain. “Remember?”

Missy laughed again as she walked up to a door, and rang the bell. “No, it’s not. There is only one Atlantis in the whole bulkverse.”

A man opened the door before anyone could ask Missy what the actual hell she was even bloody talking about.

“Meino, these are the ones you foretold would come; my friends from my homeverse.”

Meino looked them over, not with suspicion, but curiosity. “Have the council responded to your requisition?”

“They’ve not,” Missy responded. “I was hoping you could put in a good word.”

“They’re not just going to hand a weapon of mass destruction over to a bunch of random travelers.”

“Yes,” Missy agreed, “they’re travelers...from the universe of origin, which means it belongs to them more than anyone.”

“That doesn’t mean it belongs to them,” Meino said. “Now, if they had some sort of family claim to the artifact, I might be able to convince the council. Otherwise, I doubt my words would hold much sway.”

“We have a family claim,” Hogarth said. When everyone looked at her, she lowered her head in embarrassment. “My wife is the mother-in-law of the lighter’s original owner, Lubomir Resnik.”

“L.R.,” Meino said as he stared at Hogarth. “It’s engraved on the bottom of it. The museum always suspected it was a personal item.”

“It was a gift from a mage who fancied him,” Hogarth continued. “Rumor has it they were having an affair, but that was never confirmed. He had the power to form a mental map of everyone on the planet, and communicate with them telepathically. Well, it was more like hypnotism.”

“That makes sense, based on what the muster lighter can do. Very well, I will call in as many favors as I need to make this happen for you.”

“Thank you, Meino,” Missy said. “You are a good witch.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said nonchalantly as he stepped out of his house, and let the door close behind him. He then jumped up, and flew away like superhero.”

“What kind of time power lets you fly?” Kivi asked, eyes wider then a dinner plate.

“He doesn’t have a time power,” Missy said. “I just said it, he’s a witch. He has telekinesis.”

While the group waited for word on whether they would be allowed to take the Muster Lighter out of this universe, they had a beachview picnic. Those most concerned with how the powers that be maintained control over salmon pressed Missy for details on the matter. Leona, specifically, wanted to request audience with them, assuming this council of leaders were the ones responsible. Missy was clear that the council had nothing to do with it, and in fact, could do nothing to stop it. What was happening to Leona and the other salmon in their universe would not come to pass in this universe for many, many years. There was simply nothing they could do at the moment to affect any change. It was out of the question for them to somehow jump forward in time, and do something about it then, because that could prevent Leona from getting Mateo back. She resolved to come back later, hopefully further in the timeline of Universe Prime.

Meino contacted them about an hour later, and informed them the council was still considering their request, but would need to hear a plea from the family. When Hogarth stood up to go with him, she exploded.

“That seems like something the powers that be would do,” Kivi noted. “Why does she keep disappearing, if they don’t have control over us anymore?”

“She’s not salmon,” Kallias answered her. “Nor was she born a choosing one. She’s hypothesized that she was infected with temporal energy when the machine that she built exploded. Though the explosions seem random, she believes time is aware of itself, and is reacting to something in the timestream. We’ll probably never know what triggers them, if anything.”

“If she can’t speak,” Meino said, “the council will need someone to speak on her behalf. Or you can come back later, it doesn’t matter to them. No one else is asking for the muster lighter. Could you do it?” he asked of Kallias.

“I will,” Leona said. “The lighter may belong to her by way of family, but I’m the one who’s here to use it. I should explain to them why.”

“Very well,” Meino said. “One of your friends can teleport you, or I can let you fly.”

“Oo, fly,” Kivi said excitedly. “My mama always said, if someone asks you if you want to fly, always say yes.”

“She always said that?” Vitalie questioned. “She ever said that?”

“I wouldn’t mind the experience,” Leona said to Meino.

After becoming a time traveler, Leona saw and did a lot of things. She met famous historical figures, battled super powerful villains, and even died a few times. Nothing could compare to the feeling of flying through the open air. Her only regret was how small the island was, though it seemed like Meino was taking the long way around to give her more time. They flew onto the balcony of the top floor of a highrise, and walked right into the council room. A group of people were carrying on with their own conversations, and only passively acknowledged their arrival. They were an eclectic bunch. One of them was drinking what was either a bloody mary, or just blood. It did look like she had fangs, and her eyes were a vibrant shade of violet, so Leona was inclined to assume she was a vampire.

Once they were finished, the council leader spoke, “is this the relative of the original owner?”

“I am not,” Leona replied. “She is indisposed.”

“She’s lost somewhere else in time,” Meino clarified when the council leader looked to him.

Leona continued, “She was here to help me, however. I require the muster lighter in order to bring my husband bank from nonexistence.”

The council looked amongst each other. “How do you remember him if he no longer exists?” one of them asked her.

Leona rubbed her belly deliberately. “I’ve felt the evidence.”

They nodded, understanding her situation better than she would have expected. “We accept this change,” the leader said. “I am Council Leader Erica Phoenix. How will you use the artifact to retrieve your husband? How does it have this power?”

“It alone does not seem to,” Leona said. “My source indicates it will be working in tandem with several other objects, each with their own power. This source is designed to give information piecemeal, so I couldn’t tell you exactly how it will work, if at all.”

“The lighter is a powerful tool, but also profoundly dangerous. We believe it’s already been reverse engineered for nefarious purposes. Our inhouse seers do not see good things happening with this technology. Their visions, however, cannot reach beyond the biverse. How can we be assured of your good intentions?”

Leona took stock of what she had learned since arriving here. Meino was a witch with telekinesis, that woman was almost certainly a vampire, and the wolf at the end of the table was demonstrating active listening skills. People who could see the future were mentioned on multiple occasions, and technology this island utilized was far beyond anything that should exist in this time period. The leader’s name reminded Leona of an entity she once met named Monster, who referred to itself as a phoenix. She took a stab in the dark, and guessed there were lots of other wonders she had not had the pleasure of encountering. “I would be happy to submit to a telepath, or an empath.”

The council members looked at each other again. Maybe they were all telepaths, and never needed to say anything out loud. “We have decided to trust you. Besides, my great great grandchild vouches for you.” She stood up, prompting the others to do the same. “I’m afraid we must dispense with ceremony, however, as we have run out of time.” She pulled a lighter out of her pocket, and tossed it over to Leona. “Safe travels. It is my understanding you’ll be dealing with the bladapods next. Good luck with that.”

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Microstory 691: Replace Eido Kimena

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The Saw of Kimena was little more than a symbol. Sure, Eido Kimena occasionally used it as a weapon, or as a tool for threats, but it did not possess any special properties. Some believe that Kimena kept it with her after noticing the other eidos carrying with them signature objects. As stated, she was the primary driving force in favor of seizing control of the sunken island of Atlantis, and ended up losing her saw there. One member of the group of mercenaries who went in to retrieve it was a man named Harvin Adricks, who was likely trying to prove himself worthy of being selected as the new eido. He’s not unlike Kimena, with a thirst for conquest, and a temper to match it. He was, shall we say, rather zealous while within the confines of the undersea civilization, and started breaking protocol to gain intelligence. Though against the mission, he was an unofficial leader in the merc team, trusted and loved by many of his teammates. He was able to convince them to try to gather information on how Atlantis operates, in case Fostea runs into issues with them later. They learned very little about the island nation, however, for in the attempt, they discovered a secret the Atlantians had only recently discovered themselves. Lactean representatives had been sent to Earth in a series of missions, ultimately finding out that the ancient Amadesins were still alive. Amadesis is an evil religion predicated upon control, servitude, and pure inequality. Though both Amadesis and Lightseed are founded on the concept of a cleansing light, the Amadesins use this light as a form of manipulation, determining who has the right to it, and who deserves to remain in darkness. If anything is the antithesis of Lightseed, Amadesis is most certainly it, and we would have been fiercely against them if we had existed during the same time periods. Well, as it turns out, that’s exactly what we are, for despite reports they the religion died out centuries ago, millions of them have been reported to be living in higher dimensions that can be accessed by Earth. Adricks was hastily named as new eido so that he could begin using his skills for what may be the greatest fight of any Lightseer’s life. All signs point to the logical speculation that Fostea is headed for intergalactic war.

Microstory 690: Sneak Into Atlantis

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Millennia before our ancestors arrived at their waypoint, Earth, our ancestors’ ancestors came first. The first of them were sent there in an ancient science experiment that went wrong, but they would not be the only ones. Over the years, more of them arrived, along with people from more distant planets. Meanwhile, the outsider population continued their species, and grew on their own. Even after recreating the technology to return to their homeworlds, many chose not to, because Earth was now their home. There is a literally universal mandate that states no non-Earthan may interfere with an Earthan. Lactea has had a history of disparate cultures encountering each other, and sharing their knowledge. This is not allowed when it comes to the Earthan humans, and as much as we detest the galaxy of Lactea’s way of life, it is a rule that we respect as well. We found temporary ways of protecting our presence on Earth from its natives, but our predecessors came up with a more permanent solution. They sunk the island they had settled on into the sea, keeping the waters at bay using telekinesis. Though rumors of their conspiracy remain, people on modern day Earth typically believe either that these Atlantians have died out, or simply never existed in the first place. When our people showed up on the planet, they uncovered the location of Atlantis, and made contact. Their island, though not the largest by any means, was also not particularly small. It would have taken some doing, but our then population could have fit entirely within the confines of Atlantis. And some of us wanted just that. Of course now we realize how ridiculous and idea that was, because of how our numbers have increased since then. Why, we would have needed to live in artificial dimensions, and even then, we probably couldn’t all live there without alerting Earthans to our presence. Still, Eido Kimena felt differently, and she fought against the native Atlantians, urging them to either share their undersea kingdom, or leave. Though she ultimately came to Fostea in an exodus ship, she spent more time in Atlantis than anyone. Before she left, an Atlantian—or possibly a group of them—stole from her what we now call The Saw of Kimena. A brave group of mercenaries were sent to infiltrate Atlantis, and retrieve the artifact so it can later be bequested to Eido Kimena’s replacement. They did this with very little pushback. Apparently, even though the Atlantians were keeping the saw in a museum, they did not care all that much about it being stolen back. What the mercenary thieves found while there, however, was something more terrible than any of us could have imagined...

Microstory 514: Martian Law Enforcement Approves ‘Culmination’ Coven

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For centuries, refugees and immigrants have been living in the great city of Atlantis on planet Earth. Some of us have even been here since the island was resting safely on the ocean’s surface. During that time, the Earthan population at the time was not only scarce, but also technologically primitive. Certain Earthans were aware of our existence, but you could count on an Amaigaben’s hands the number who understood exactly what we were. To most, we were just a small and barely consequential island that exported nothing. We were forced to sink our home into the depths of the waters to protect both us, and the Earthans. Martian Law forbade us from revealing ourselves to any veiled Earthan, which was a law most of us were happy to comply with. We’ve historically adopted an isolationistic position from the outside world, but many believe this to be a product of necessity, rather than true philosophical perspective. Recently, however, these thoughts have shift amongst a certain fraction of the population. The witches, due to their deep connection with the universe itself, are naturally inclined to ignore such trivial constraints as geographical boundaries. One coven in particular, which only now calls itself the Caretaker Coven, last year proposed to the Martians something that no one thought would be accepted, but it has.

Martian Law dictates that no one aware of the existence of society beyond their one planet may reveal this truth to any Earthan human. It’s pretty simple, really. If you’re talking to an Earthan, you can’t discuss what you know of outerspace and the likes, and if you’re talking to anyone else, you can say whatever you want. Some say this flies in the face as other laws, such as Priority Two, which turns the concept of sharing technology into a morally obligatory maxim. However your feelings regarding the moratorium on Earthan deveilment, the fact of the matter is that no Earthan may know that we exist. There are certain exceptions, like if the transgressor revealed truths accidentally, and while still themselves ignorant about the truth, to a certain degree. There are also a few Earthan world leaders who are aware of us, but only in order to cement our secrecy from everyone else. This new Martian approval changes all that on the highest scale since the Croatoan Expedition centuries ago. The Caretakers would like to bring certain Earthan humans into the fold in order to educate them in Craft. Covert studies have reportedly revealed that a select few Earthan children exhibit a special predilection towards the adoption of Craft engagements. Apparently, the evidence towards this fact is so strong, that the Martians have agreed to let the Caretaker coven remove more than one thousand Earthan children from their homes, and into Atlantis. Right now, it is not known how the Caretakers plan to explain to the parents where their children are going, but we will update you when we know. Some believe the witches will use memory erasing engagements to account for the disappearances, however, it is hard to believe the Martians would agree to that type of violation. The children have already been chosen, and some have been contacted. They are from all over the globe, and the first group is said to be arriving sometime next year.

Microstory 255: Perspective Thirty

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Perspective Twenty-Nine

I am Prince Malvolio, heir to the throne of Atlantis, and Knight of the Eleven Realms. My mother lets me do whatever I want, and she never makes me clean my room. I spend my days battling sea dragons and finding hidden treasure. When I was six years old, I discovered that the man I thought was my father was actually not. And I knew it, I just did. There was no way I was related to this drunk who hits me and my mother. My real father is actually Aliouso, Master and God of Wave and Sand. He has been on important business for the last few years, mediating peace talks amongst the three races of Miandralu. But one day, he will return to Atlantis and remove the evil fake father from his place. After he and my mother have finished their reign, he will pass the crown to me, and I will rule with my love. She is a human from Landrealm who’s come to visit us with her friend and mentor, Professor Collywobbles. She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, with or without her mask. She does not like to speak, but I can hear the music from her heart. Hers is the most soothing and amazing voice in all of Elevendrel. Others think they know her. They call her their class pet, and they take comfort in her embrace, but they do not understand her. When she and I draw, it is as if we are one person, with a singular vision. We create worlds together, and we help fix the problems of their inhabitants. I know that she feels the same way about me, even if she cannot tell me so out loud. Last week, an evil duke came to our chariot and tried to steal her mask. But I took care of him. So what if I was suspended for three days? No one harms the Imperatrix and gets away with it. But now I am back, and can see my love again. I think I’ll finally make my move and sit next to her. We’ll be holding hands by the end of the school year.

Perspective Thirty-One

Microstory 254: Perspective Twenty-Nine

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Perspective Twenty-Eight

This is my frog, Professor Collywobbles. He’s a real frog, but he’s also not a real frog. When he’s in his tank, all he can do is sit there, and sometimes swim around. But when I draw him, he can do whatever I want him to. He can talk, play the drums, and he can solve the national debt crisis. I like to draw myself into Professor Collywobbles’ stories so that we can go on adventures together. When I’m in Professor Collywobbles’ world, I don’t have to worry about people looking at me, or judging me. I am free to talk as I please, and I always know just what to say. I don’t have to wear glasses either, because Professor Collywobbles has cured by eyes. Last week, he and I needed to pay a visit to the Queen of Atlantis, but I can’t hold my breath that long, and so he designed a special mask that converts water into air, and it also allows me to communicate telepathically, because there’s no talking underwater. As we are awaiting audience with the Queen, I notice that Prince Malvolio is staring at me. I look away for a moment, and then look back, but he’s still staring at me. I tell Professor Collywobbles that I’m not feeling well so that I can get away and be alone. While I’m picking seaflowers, I look up to find that Prince Malvolio has followed me. I ask him what he wants of me and he says that he just likes to hear me sing. When I tell him that I’m not singing, he assures me that he can hear my soul, and I never need to utter word. I turn away and almost want to cry, because I don’t want him to look at me with my ugly mask on, but he says that I’m beautiful. He asks me to come with him so that he can show me his favorite spot in all of Atlantis. We swim together for hours, through sea caves, around schools of fishes going to class, and even a little on the surface. The city is bigger than I realized. Finally, he stops on the edge of an underwater cliff and sits down, but there’s nothing there. There are a lot of particulates in the water, and it’s pretty dark. I ask him why he likes this place so much, and he says that no one else would come here because it’s boring. That’s what makes it special. It’s just for him. I point out that I now know about it but he just hugs me and smiles. Then he says that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Perspective Thirty

Microstory 75: Kjirygenos

Thousands of years ago, Earth was a fairly advanced planet. We shared technologies with a race called the Kjirygenos. We taught them everything they knew. We lifted them up from obscurity so that we could together be the two most powerful forces in the galaxy. At some point, we fell out with the aliens. It is unclear exactly what happened, but we believe that it had something to do with an Earthling King’s son, and a Kjirygenosian peasant boy. The feud lasted for many years, ending with the aliens plunging Atlantis, our mightiest nation, into the depths of the ocean. Over the course of the next several centuries, our planet recovered. We built monuments and tributes to those we lost in the Kyrij War. Every single fountain you see that’s larger than a common land vehicle represents the life of one who was lost in Atlantis. But we also built other things. The Egyptian Pyramids, Great Wall of China, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, and the The Vice President's Residence & Office, among a few other things, were all created with intent. They are a mathematical message to the Kjirygenosian peoples that we cannot read, but is quite clear to those who truly need to see it; a great big architectural middle finger to the douchebags who sunk our island. Eff you, Kjirygenos!