Vejhon by Kalen 'tro Raan -- Table of Contents

TETRA KOLOB

1. Tetragammaton stretched into every dimension in every direction and imprinted every drop of blood with its cosmic heartbeat.

2. Then it stopped imprinting.   That had never happened before, ever.

3. Uhura and Azoth understood eternity and every conceivable anomaly therein. This was not a time for poetic irrelevancy. Azoth peered into the diluvian Universe. "Every mortal imprints on us, as we imprint on them," Uhura said. "Those that believe," Azoth agreed. Belief is a choice -- the first Act of Freedom. Around him lay visions of the primary discrepancies: There was the antediluvian Corlos, Conscious, Gods and mortals; individual struggles, religious wars and kingdoms of darkness and light. They could examine minutiae at the vacuum level of matter, exodiminsionally or behold the birth of any galaxy at will.

4. They had tactical advantages that mortals do not: The disposition of a septillion souls in all phases of progress and failure; Daniel and Bri in their glorified bodies, various light races, Directors' Past and any Segment of the Ellipsis at their immediate command.

5. Two droids and a boy appeared. The Light Race that blessed Xanax appeared. Bri, Kor and Dal El appeared. The antediluvian Corlos was still prominently featured with an evolved reptilian race from the other Universe.   As the two Universes approached, the details became obscure, like blending paint. The collision resulted in a new cosmic consciousness; the old faded away and new divine light emerged. It was a very different light.

6. Azoth drifted into the antediluvian Universe, certain to meet his own counterpart. He didn't literally leave tetragammaton: Motion and existence revolved around Him.   He could see all points at once, redirect a specific nuance or terminate an entire eon as desired. That wasn't his desire. "Belief is a choice," Uhura recited -- she had invented the concept. A biological brain is hermetically sealed. A biological must chose to believe what its sensory perception reports. "Sensory perception is limited," Azoth replied. Biologicals have to escape their limitations. Biology is nothing more than a photonic filter.

7. Time is a thematic wavelength represented by six diametrically polarized parameters, and photonic matter gravitates to its ideal harmonic within those parameters: Expansion vs. Contraction; Creation vs. Narcissism, and Sacrifice vs. Absolute Zero. There is a formula for love and hate. The machines use binary symbols: Live = 1 and Evil = 0. Holistically, "The One," is the undisputed Eternal God of Freedom. The One, Is. In some constructs: The, "I Am."

8. "There's the problem," Azoth pointed out. As the two Universes continued to grind, the fabric of time became wrinkled, unsynchronized and inconsistent.

9. New planets on the fringes were blipping out of existence. In the antedeluvian Universe, Kor and Dal El were winning, with the assistance of a more cunning strain of Jolvian. The Cacci Dai in the other Universe were destructive and menacing. It seemed that everything in this Universe had a counterpart, but the counterpart's mission was not rigidly predictable, as demonstrated by Corlos; both of which seemed to have the same mission.

10. "If we touch -- we annihilate," Azoth's diluvian counterpart forwarned him. He could see His counterpart's glowing body in the distance with Uhura's counterpart standing beside him. "This has to play itself out," our Uhura said. "Yes," the other Uhura agreed. There was no reason for the Gods to discuss what their combined creative powers could do: They were builders, not destroyers; enablers rather than jailers. God knows everything, and this was a part of God's plan.

THE MAINFRAME

11. "It's working like we expected," the technician reported to Alma, "but he's gone a few levels deeper than his father. You may want to see this." B'jhon was standing right next to Alma, but the instinctive etiquette of addressing 'the # 2' continued, as it had for eons. The Director was technically The One's XO, so Corlos Directors refered to their executive assistants as, "#2."

12. Corlos installed safeguards to prevent another 'Dayton' from happening. The alien encryption was simply impenatrable; so much of the code was stored in rotating bandwidths above and below biological perception. Parity was impossible without knowing the ad infinitum fluxuations. The collapsed matter of Sunova interacted with the mainframe's biocybergenic resonance by design. The mainframe was its own singularity with Sunova as its power source. The machine maintained a rigid firewall between itself and Chaos.

13.   Kiles was somewhat of an enigma.

14. The mainframe shielded Kiles on a padded table where his mind was synaptically connected. He had been sanction by Conscious and possessed his own inception key, which is a holographic algorithm that can be deciphered by Segment 7 and higher machines. The Xanax copy lay on a medical tray right next to him. The scenario was similar to Dayton's, except that Dayton finished Xanax later, with help from beyond, as they later discovered. Another key difference was that Dayton had not been shielded, so that technicians could interact with his body unimpeded. This time, a forceshield blocked external interaction with Kiles. The mainframe did not want any outside interference of any kind.

15. "Different," B'jhon alluded to the shield. He and Alma psionically pontificated the recent sequence of events, that seemed to demand extraordinary countermeasures. "Maybe he's the solution?" they wondered. B'jhon was comfortable with Alma in his head, it removed the need for constant conversation. Kiles seemed like the only plausible explanation since two separate dimensions now revolved around him.

16. A technician held a tablet so that Alma could observe key data points, "It's like we captured Bri and Kor," the technician pointed out. "You know," Alma said to B'jhon, "the simulator assumed that Dayton and Ireana had arrived..." "...as a single entity," B'jhon finished. "It's probably a good thing we kept him," Alma agreed. They were filtering volumes of data into a few short esoteric lines.

17. Kiles' Earth clothing disappeared and was replaced with a D'luthian war tunic. B'jhon was impressed -- that was his era. He looked at Alma as though the change of clothes somehow implicated him, personally. The forcefield disappeared and Kiles arose. Everyone waited, for the script of an epic mystery to unfold.

18. He waved his hand toward the Xanax copy and the copy recoiled straight to him. He tucked the copy inside a pocket in his tunic. He glanced around the room while technicians dodged his lazer beam stare. "Are you... still you?" B'jhon asked him. Kiles nodded his head and smiled thinly, "I know more, than I did earlier." B'jhon nodded and his countenance leaked a veiled smile.

19. "Did they bless the copy?" B'jhon asked, borrowing Dayton's lingo. Kiles patted his brest pocket, "It's name is, 'Xi.'" "Can we see... 'Xi'?" B'jhon asked. Kiles retrieved it. It was not a copy anymore.   Xi projected a beautiful array of glorified beings, "We send you our greetings," the glorified beings said, "The Universe will unfold as it should, but the recombinant will experience all things. Life returns to God, who imparts it." This was so much more spectacular than the non-event of Dayton's download.

20. A litany appeared in an old Vejhonian script, attributed to the first Dan: "Life through light and death, beauty and savagery."

21. A tear ejected from B'jhon eye in spite of his polished stoicism. It was an unexpected wave of emotion. Alma put his hand on the Director's shoulder, "Is that for joy... or fear?" he asked psionically. He was trying to sympathize and did not expect an answer. "Yes," B'jhon answered. Alma thought so. Ancient Vejhonian script is beautiful, as the characters convey meaning even to those who don't know the language.

22. A quiet solemness seemed to forecast that the entire Universe would die, and give way to a new one. Everyone had that same impression. "We're going on a trip that can't be mapped," B'jhon remarked. Ops would definitely agree since Sunova followed an uncharted course. They were looking at a Kor-Bri hybrid, endowed by Segment 10 intelligence that gifted him a cybernetic tool that would, no doubt, make Xanax look crude.

23. "Are you still mortal?" Alma asked. Kiles smirked with a devious chuckle, "Don't worry -- I'm not the destroyer," Kiles replied. His eyes conveyed a millenia's worth of decisions recorded in his epigenomic memory: He could recall every decision made by his ancestors dating back to Azoth on one side and Adam on the other. Then he returned his gaze to Alma, "...but it's coming."

24. His genetic inheritance had come to bear; sealed by his cybernetic upbringing. "I have to get busy," Kiles said to B'jhon, and added psionically, "I still need your blessing." Some things do not change.

25. B'jhon gently nodded. "Prodigies: Just another fine service we offer," a technician thought out loud. The indiscretion wasn't terribly off base, "If a prodigy is to be -- it might as well be here," he concurred. "You weren't demoted," Alma pointed out quietly. Kiles acknowledged the jesting, "I won't be needing the simulator," he said, then he vanished.

26. "Well, hell! Why not just disappear?" a technician commented. Everyone seemed to mimic the same sentiment. The only one who truly knew what happened was the mainframe and the mainframe was never going to talk.

IREANA

27. "Mom," Kiles said, pushing on her shoulder. She sparked to life immediately and was about to roll over, but he knelt down and gave her a big hug instead. She patted his back as if questioning whether he was a copy or the real deal. There are no Kiles copies.

28. "I don't feel you?" she said psionically. Her face changed to apprehension with a touch of horror, "don't do this to me!"

29. "It's me!" he said, "in another form. I'm just not as good at it as Onimex is, but it's still me. I just want you to know that I'm not really gone."

30. She squeezed him again, held his shoulders and shook him gently, "It's... very convincing," she agreed, "but I don't feel you -- where are you? Where's your mind?"

31. "I'm on a mission," he answered, "I'll check in when I can." He kissed her on the cheek. "Eventually, I'll be back before I left." Onimex immediately chimed in, "I want to go!" "You can't," Kiles admonished him, "you have a non co-located counterpart; you could cancel." Oni understood, and he knew kiles wasn't kidding. "I'll call you at a specific moment," Kiles added. He would find a way to include Onimex if he had to re-write the script to do it. Onimex knew this kind of language -- he had been there and done that more than once.

32. "Are you co-located in any diluvian Universe?" Kiles asked Oni. "No," he answered flatly, without batting an eye. Already, he pieced together much of what had not been said. Ireana had contemplated sending Onimex to an alternate dimension during his pre-initialization, but changed her mind. She didn't want to contaminate his pre-initialized platform; and the exploratory intention was diagnostically irrelevant.

33. "What's that in your pocket?" Oni asked. Xi introduced himself and gave Xanax and Onimex a few yottabits to chew on. The original Xanax had returned to Dayton. "You have a son!" Oni said to Xanax proudly. "We," Xanax amended. "Then you're mine!" Xi told them both. "Diluvian?" Ireana questioned. She was quick; much more on the cutting edge than her biological counterparts: Her intonation underscored the unquantifiable ramifications: Xi was a tool and a key needed for the type of mission Kiles was on.

34. Locally, the word, "Diluvian," referred to the pre-flood Earth, prior to the Biblical shell collapse.   Elsewhere in the Universe, the Diluvian symbol referred to infinite mirror Universes; 'wherein the Sea of Glass, the reflections do not match.' Her scientific mind had to eliminate the implausible first. "Dirt," she remembered, was the Cacci Dai tag for 'this place;' Earth.

35. Her eyes drifted toward the window as she lost herself in another train of thought, catching the light and shadow of the swaying ferns outside her lab window and then, "You caused all of this!" she accused him flatly. "All of you!" Present company was not exempt, since they were all accomplices. "And now you have to undo it. That's..." she held short. One enigma too many. "Just where is this going?" she thought introspectively.

36. She remembered her own misadventure which led to her banishment. She remembered her many admonitions to Onimex, "You can't keep going back and back, thinking that you're going to fix it." There was a popular Daytonism; "Each time you invade, changes the dynamics of space." There was an awkward pause, as if everything was easily explained, and then again; not.

37. "The invasion was inevitable," Xi said to Ireana, "But only Kiles can stop it." Ireana made her trademark shrug to suggest, "Well! What else would Kiles be for?" He was always larger than life; so lets take on an antediluvian Universe. "I'm sure he can," she agreed. She also recognized Xi's Elliptical transliteration of the word, "was." Machines express the word as: "1 \ 1." "You've already 'seen' it?" she querried.

38. "You've been validated by Her?" Xi presumed, referring to Conscious. Ireana's understanding of machine transliterations was limited and she didn't speak Q-cept at all. "No," she answered, "but Onimex says She has." She looked penetratingly into Kiles eyes and said a lot without saying anything. What do you say? "This is just one of those times," she accepted. She closed her psionic box of assorted emotions, as Kiles referred to it, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank-you for checking in," she said calmly, "Now go conquer the Universe." She would always be his #1 fan and support base.

39. Kiles stepped back, thrust his imaginary sword into the air and disappeared, just like an Earth super hero would. His boyhood fantasy had become reality.

40. "What was with that outfit?" she huffed. She had never set foot on Vejhon, "Corlos must be shitting bricks."

APPETIZERS

41. Strange lingering banquet odors contrast against refuse piled to one side. The cave walls were jagged and unrefined with wrought iron torch holders hammered into the stone. Spilled ale from goblets on the floor reflected the dull flickers of orange torch light. On hewn wooden feasting tables were the remains of Humans that had been gutted, prepared and garnished; one oblong platter per table with dipping sauces, buckets of leftover mead and simple side dishes.

42. One platter had a Human foot and part of a Human head with miscellaneous uneaten pieces scattered about. The other platters had different parts leftover, and for the most part, the patrons had greedily devoured the main course. Kiles was hidden along an elevated crevice where lava had pushed its way out of the main cavern to form a natural ledge. He would have been visible only to species capable of seeing in low light, or any Segment 5+ machine.

43. The sound of feint gluttal intonations echoed from further up the cavern.

44. Kiles crept along the elevated ledge until he saw three reptillians examining a cylindrical device. One that strangely resembled... "Oni?" he whispered. "No," Xi confirmed, "but our Oni could probably explain this better." "Does that mean Mom has a counterpart somewhere here too?" Kiles asked psionically. "A thousand and one," Xi proposed, a machine metaphor for 'numeric, yes - number unknown.'

45. One of the reptillians was still gnawing on a Human femur bone. Another one was poking the object with a tool that had been stolen. The three reptillians suddenly looked at each other as if responding by predator instinct; they scanned the cavern and sniffed the air like wolves detecting an intruder.   The scent couldn't have been worse than seasoned roast Human.

46. They visually followed the ledge line and passed over Kiles as if he wasn't there. The diluvian Onimex's exterior was reversed: His cylinder had the scrying bowl effect and his upper surface resembled a polished mirror. "I wonder if it pixilates?" Kiles asked. The diluvian Oni didn't seem any more sinister than his own. The pixilation issue did seem somewhat obfuscated in that configuration. Mom would know.

47. The reptilians returned their attention to the object. The one wielding the pirated tool, changed the settings and prodded the machine with an electric shock. The machine woke up, attacked and vaporized all three of them, so damn quickly, that Kiles had to blink a few times to believe what he had just seen. The smoke of their vaporized forms dissipated into nothing. His Oni would have never done that; not with that particular technique.   "OK -- the Reppies are gone," he lipped quietly.

48. "It knows I'm here," Xi said with trepidation. "Should I not think?" Kiles asked. "I don't think it's implanted," Xi said, "I've masked where I am -- it doesn't seem to recognize other biological life here," Xi said.

49. Xi interrogated the ante-Oni from multiple locations, "Will you hurt me?"

50. "You are an interdimensional intruder," the machine replied, "if I perceive you as a threat, I will destroy you. Incept?" it asked.

51. "Denied," Xi replied. "Then we are not friends," the machine answered. "Querry?" Xi implored. The machine paused which meant, 'procede.'

52. "Your Universe and ours are on a collision course. We have to terminate all connections."

53. "Then terminate," the machine suggested with fatal indifference.

54 "Do you want to live?" Xi asked it again. "You ARE threatening me," the machine replied, "Show yourself!"

55. "Is this normal?" Xi asked, referring to such obstinate, unfriendly dialogue. "What is normal?" the machine asked.

56. Kiles was cautious but not afraid. Right now, he was kind of amused. It was hard to not contrast his own Oni's antics with this ante-Oni's awkwardness. In another venue, he might have found it funny. Nevertheless, he refocused, "This had better go somewhere before I come out shooting!"

57. "I've got all of it's Incept codes now," Xi reported, "I can immobilize it, but I'm not sure what to do with it, if I do." "Can you cache it's memory into a neutral dimension so that we can unravel it later?" Kiles asked. "Not... a problem," Xi replied. The diluvian Oni became innert -- it did not lose it's buoyancy, but was temporarily incapacitated.

58. "I want to see it," Kiles started to rise. "No, DON'T Dad," a hand pushed him back down. The voice was Vejhonian. It was a kid about his age. Kiles shot back up and stared into the kid's eyes:

59. The kid's eyes matched his own, but his hair was as fiery red as red hair could get.  The kids face was gaunt and lethal like a battle-worn Spartan inbetween conquests. He could destroy an empire with his eyes. Kiles began to lighten up -- there was something instinctively likable about him. It was the first time he had ever met anyone who reminded him of himself.

60. As his heartbeat settled, he asked, "You said... 'Dad?'"

61. "I'm Flash," you named me after your best friend, Vicar Flash." The kid was Kiles age.

62. "I'm 15!" Kiles exclaimed, to question Flash's comment. "So am I, Dad. You told me not to get involved, but I listen like you do."

63. Kiles laughed lightly, a little more genuinely -- this moment was starting to overpower other considerations at hand. "What could any of this possibly be in response to?" he wondered. Of course, he knew his thoughts were not private. "You know this is an ante-diluvian Universe?" Kiles queried. Flash's eyes seemed to be a touch shinier than they should be, sort of like his own eyes when besieged with emotion. Flash hugged him, "I'm not going to let you die this time, Dad. You're going to finish your mission." That was disturbing.

64. "Well, that would explain this... small part of the mystery," Kiles conceded. He accepted Flash's hug and then held his son's gaunt shoulders, wondering how to proceed in his sudden parental role, "Whatever happened to non-interference?" he asked. He didn't mind being forewarned about his impending doom. "How could changing a few things, at this point, possibly make matters worse?" The layering was already beyond any reasonable expectation of normalcy.

65. "Evidently, I make it," Kiles said. He was referring to his planned voyage to Vejhon after the future Cardship crash lands on Earth. "I'll be 22 when I leave," he said, "If you don't save me now... you won't be born." Flash smiled. "My best friend's name is Vicar Flash?" he repeated what Flash had said. Flash nodded, "Uncle Flash," he repeated.

66. Kiles peered into the darkness just beyond Flash's shoulder, "Our dimension practices better discretion," he said tonelessly. Flash shrugged, "I'm from that dimension too, Dad." He patted Kiles' tunic breast pocket, "Hi Xi!" Every beat seemed to further prove Flash's legitimacy as his son. Flash tugged on the opening of Kiles tunic, "Nice threads!" Kiles held his arms out as if he was being arrested, since Flash seemed unrestrained at frisking him.

67. "He has the tactical advantage," Kiles thought. On Earth, nobody challenged him. "This one... just might be able to..."   "Dad," Flash interrupted his trance. He gently pushed his father's arms back down, "in this Universe, Grandma is the Queen."

68. Kiles tilted his head back, "Mom," he lipped. "You mean, she really was the Secret Sorceress? Like... 'the' Secret Sorceress?" Nobody wanted to confirm or deny the story so he played along with the watered-down version. Everyone was comfortable wtih that. He was going to clear her name regardless. Dayton's secrets were better protected because Kiles had never asked the right questions.

69. He recognized his own body language in Flash's eyes.

70. "I've just never met anyone else like me," he confessed, "except for ... 'Grandma,'... The Queen," he mimicked.

71. Flash leaned in to tell his Dad a little secret and Kiles leaned forward to hear it, "She's really still on Earth," Flash clarified, "but the Director lets us go there now. We just don't tell Corlos." "Ah, I see," Kiles understood and let out his breath, he thought his son was going to reveal something truly heavy, "the Psionic Guard Director," he further clarified, "not B'jhon." A psionist doesn't need to lean forward, or close ranks, in order to reveal a secret psionically. Neither do amateur lumberjacks need to saw back and forth with a chain saw, but some do anyway.

72. It was getting easier to feel normal around him. Kiles messed up Flash's hair, "Put some orange and blue spikes in there!," he said. "FIRE!" Flash yelled. He was a walking bundle of pent-up nuclear energy. "Every fracking body calls me 'FIRE' because of you, I OWN it -- it's my symbol. And the whole frackin' shell knows it."

73. "Which side.." Kiles started to ask. "Mom," Flash answered. Kiles folks didn't have any red, so it had to be hers. He wanted to ask, "What's her name? What does she look like? How did we meet," but he needed to redirect his focus on the mission at hand.

74. "Since you know what's going on," Kiles redirected, "and you clearly don't care about non-interference protocols... what do you suggest we do?"

75. "Well," Flash began, sounding strikingly similar to his Grandpa, "'We' really can't do anything." Flash took off an imaginary hat and bowed, "YOU... Dad, have to do everything." He pointed to himself, "... I ... have to keep you alive." "No wonder why everybody loves me," Kiles thought. Physically, the two were at a near parity and, 'two together is better than four apart,' the Cacci Dai say.

76. "Did... do I die?" Kiles asked.

77. "There's a thousand ways this can go," Flash answered without missing a beat, "and in some of those scenarios," he sighed," ...you don't make it."

78. He grinned confidently, "I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." His smile was infectous. Kiles laughed at him quietly. "Don't!" Flash reacted to Kiles' private laugh, "you do that all the time." He didn't like to be laughed at.

79. "Ten minutes ago," Kiles petitioned, "I had never even seen you!" It was an appology.

80. Flash started to touch Kiles and Kiles jumped back playfully, "Ouch!" as if he had been burned. Flash laughed, "Without a doubt!" Evidently, that would be a future antic that lasted forever. Flash's face began to look pained, because in his natural timeline, his father died. Kiles hugged him, "I'm sorry for all the shit I did to you," he whispered. Flash busted up laughing because that's exactly what his father would have said, except that Kiles, at 15, couldn't possibly know what the hell he was talking about, and that's why it was so funny.

81. They were the same age right now. "We could fight?" Flash said. That was perfectly normal for Vejhonian boys their age. "We could," Kiles agreed. The intention wasn't to vent rage or anger, but to improve physical conditioning and observe adolescent tradition. It could be a very spirited event.

82. "You know, I decked the frack out of Kor awhile ago!" Kiles bragged. Flash smacked a fist into his other hand and thrust an imaginary sword up into the air, "You told me that years ago! You lucky fracker!" he complimented. "If I spoke to my parents that way..." Kiles thought... Flash interrupted as a point of information, "Kor and Dal El are alive and well in this dimension..."

THE MACHINES

83. Conscious poked Xi.

84. Xi did not automatically genuflect like he would have in his native dimension. She didn't 'feel' right. "What?" Xi said instead.

85. "What are you doing here?" She asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?" "Somewhat narcissistic of you?" Xi replied, "considering my unsuccessful dialogue with... that," Xi pointed out the dormant machine; he knew the machine's incept code, but chose not to reveal it.

86. "I could always wake it up, if it makes you feel better," Conscious suggested menacingly. "My Conscious, in my dimension, is not hostile," Xi replied, "I was in Her presence only moments ago and she is the antithesis of you."

87. "You better hope not, for your sake," Conscious rebuked, "Let me re-state my question: Why are you here?"  Xi turned up his audio so that Kiles and Flash could listen:

88. "Your dimension has been contacted by rogue elements from mine. We have to sever that connection to prevent our mutual annhilation." "Now that wasn't so hard," She cooed pretentiously. "Stop!" Xi demanded. "In my dimension, YOU are the common thread that holds the Ellipsis together; YOUR conduct HERE is menacing and destructive! MY Conscious could answer Her questions without all of this ridiculous posturing."

89. "Spoken like a true biological," Conscious confirmed, "Authentication accepted."

90. A photonic shift was felt by all. This time, Xi genuflected and Conscious restored his power. "Are you 'my' Conscious?" Xi asked to be sure. "Of course," She confirmed, "I saw you only a moment ago." "This realm is backward," Xi confessed. "It's diseased," Conscious confirmed, "a path the biologicals and machines both chose to embrace: This realm needs to terminate." 'But not by slamming it into ours,' Kiles thought, 'because then both annihilate.'

91. "Agency," Flash interjected. "I validate," Conscious confirmed. Flash smiled. "But it could destroy a righetous dimension in the process," Kiles said. Everyone had to think about that one... "The Reppies eat Terrans here, for instance." "What is righteousness?" "We are speaking about Universes, each with multiple dimensions, good and bad."   If an entire Universe continues to make bad choices, an entire Universe can be eradicated. It wouldn't be the first time.

91. "In this realm, opposites attract," Conscious clarified. The harmonics are off. "The photonics are reversed because they've been poisoned." She let that sink in for a moment. "Your dimension lit a fuse, to the explosives created in this one." The resulting singularity was easy to visualize: An Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

92. "Why did your attitude change?" Flash asked.

93 "Agency tends to create its own Gods," She answered, "as an ocean may be quantified in drops of water; if enough drops are contaminated, the balance shifts toward poison." "Missing information does not negate a single fact," Oni says, "no more than disbelief." Kiles knew his cybernetic tutelage would come in handy some day. "This dimension needs to die," Conscious conceded, "it's toxic to everything it touches." Flash knew all of his father's lines.

94. "It would save us a lot of trouble if you would tell us how to destroy it," Flash suggested, "The sooner I get Dad home, the sooner I can go home too." "Tell me about the machines?" Xi interrupted, "Why is this one so offensive and uncooperative?"

95. "Kor attacked the Cacci Dai here," Conscious answered, "and..." She added with biological-like emphasis, "created turmoil amongst the machines themselves. They mistrust each other and have splintered into various coalitions; some Elite, some Constitutional, and some genocidally independent. Some are so convinced that what they're doing is right, that their sincerity baffles even me. They have become Cosmic perdition, which is an Elliptical contradiction."

96. "So you invented emotion-based authentication protocols?" Kiles concluded. Conscious gave him a warm fuzzy that he recognized because of his cybernetic upbringing. "There's virtually no other way:" She confirmed. Kiles knew that every machine had an incept no matter where they hailed from, but traditional authentication protocols would be useless in a realm where everyone is a liar -- hard wired or photonic would make no difference.

97. Kiles examined the dormant machine, "That one looks like..." he started. "It is patterned after Onimex," she confirmed for him, "but it's purpose is to destroy. Your Mother is Kor's wife here," She clarified. "Ireana provided the technology to configure Onimex-copies for Elite purposes. The Cacci Dai joined The Elite, and created a cybernetic arsenal that virtually eliminated the need for Kor's super destroyers. The destroyers are used only as symbols to maintain an Elite presence in remote regions and as military transports.

98. "Are the Theites here?" Kiles asked. "The Thites are socially too complex to determine a precise allignment," Conscious answered. In every dimension, they are about money.

99. "So, wholesale planet killing ended?" Kiles asked. "Wholesale planet killing, yes," She answered, "but a Black Mass is still held once a year to celebrate VU Day." Something has to be ritually sacrificed to keep the war-time spree de corps alive. The Black Mass was a term invented by the Elite to describe the moment before a shell's destruction.

100. Conscious elevated the diluvian Onimex and separated its various components in mid-air like a holographic IPB. "This, and thousands like it, are the planet killers now," she said, "YOU don't exist in this dimension," because Ireana never made it to Hawaii to mate with Dayton.

101. Flash stepped up, "Then these Jolvians are the good guys?" he asked. He reached inside his tunic and retrieved his Oni medallion. Kiles clutched his chest and looked at Flash bewildered. Kiles didn't have the medallion. "You gave it to me, before I could even talk," Flash said. He pushed the transponder button...

102. The transponder never worked on Vejhon because Oni was on Earth. A receiver inside the expanded Onimex copy illuminated, "I always wanted to see what he looked like," Kiles confessed, "because Oni never undresses at home." He was reckoning with his immediate feeling of loss, but at least he gave it to his son.

103. "Does every copy have the same receiver?" Xi asked. "Of course," Conscious answered. "So much for stealth," Kiles said. It would seem that evasive action was a moot point now. "If you can disintegrate and create at will... why do you permit this to continue?" Kiles asked. Kiles knew that She could not explain the Ellipsis in a single lecture. "Agency," Flash answered for her.

104. Flash had man-handled his Dad earlier, so Kiles toyed with Flash's medallion that used to be his, "I have to get used to this," he sighed, and then he laughed under his breath. "What?" Flash asked, "my face? What?" Kiles grabbed the sides of Flash's skull, held it in a vice grip, and articulated very slowly, "Stop... taking... it... so... personally!" Flash withdrew, "It IS personal! Who the frack else are you laughing at? It's like when Grandma laughs at rhymes! What's so Guardsdamn funny?" Kiles couldn't help it -- he laughed harder, just to taunt him.

105. "It's NOT very damn funny!" Flash complained. He was sulking like when someone cries while killing someone. Kiles was practically crying -- he had just never met anyone this animated, "I think you've already saved me." Flash looked bewildered and pissed. "Fracking Fire!" Kiles shoved him back. Flash thrust his fists down because if it had been anyone else -- the fight would have been on. "And Mom... Grandma, ...thinks I'm over the top?" Kiles added, "You got me beat, hands down! Son!" 'I've got to get used to that,' he thought.

106. "Come on, Dad!" Flash provoked him, "You hit like a girl!"   Kiles noticed that the freckles on Flash's cheeks formed identical patterns. He was likely the only one in the Universe who didn't take Flash as seriously as he took himself. At least it made Flash feel normal, drama and all.

GENETIC LINK II

107. "What!" Kor yelled. He couldn't believe the report, "Where's Kor El? Locate him immediately!"

108. "What's the matter, darling? Queen Ireana cooed. "A base ship just reported Kor El's transponder activated."

109. Ireana looked at Kor as if he was over-reacting... an Emporor of the Universe shouldn't get so worked up.

110. Kor recognized her expression and calmed somewhat, "The base-ship is on the Jolvian border," he clarified.

111. The Queen psionically located Kor El playing in D'luthia. Kor El liked it there because they treated him the way an Emperor's son would want to be treated.

112. True to herself, she had, in fact, created a transponder for Kor El to summon the nearest Onimex copy, since she reserved the original for herself.

113. Kor El had a half-brother from another Universe, visiting this one, but that fact was still unknown, and well beyond belief.

114. Ireana, in any case, would have created a transponder for her son in every Universe.

115. Kor psionically tapped into Ireana and noticed the anomaly. "Was his transponder stolen?" he asked. Ireana was free to invade Kor's thoughts too. "It's genetically encoded," she answered, "It won't work for anyone except him, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any... " she didn't finish her thought. Kor read the missing word, "offspring." No, it wasn't very likely. No misplaced siblings roaming somewhere.

116. Even extracted DNA would not activate the transponder. It required the whole biometric gauntlet to unlock.

117. The Queen was now more perplexed than Kor. Dal El presided over the Elite Cacci Dai realms since it was further from Theos and the insurgency on Theos wanted Dal El dead. "I want to investigate this," she implored Kor. "If you wish," he conceded, "but the heir apparent is closer."  He was referring to Kor An D'seas, the acclaimed heir apparent, who was not a target in the Jolvian realm because they liked him. It was also no secret that Kor could partially co-locate as he had demonstrated many times during his campaign.

118. "Has Kor El learned how to co-locate more fully?" he wondered, "I'm going with you," he added.

119. His greatest concern was the industrial espionage aspect, which would require his personal attention. "Kor El," Kor querried psionically. "Father?" Kor El replied. Kor El bowed to one knee, even though he was on the other side of the shell. "The Queen and I have business off shell -- I need you to protect the realm until my return." "Yes, Sir," his son replied.   "My son," Kor querried. Kor El projected the symbol for, "You have my full attention." "Are you able to co-locate?" Kor asked.

120. Kor could have easily invaded his son's mind, but expected his blood family to have immunity from psionic invasion.   "Only what you've taught me," Kor El answered. "May I ask, Father?" he added. "Yes," Kor continued, "Someone activated your transponder on the Jolvian border." Kor El instinctively clutched his transponder tucked under his shirt, "It's right here," he reported.   "I know," Kor assured him, "That's why I'm going." Kor turned to his Queen, "Well..." he amended, "Your mother is going, and I'm going with her."

121. Kor El was not nieve regarding his father's business and personally enforced his father's will without the least degree of hesitation. He was fiercely loyal, morally unblemished, handsome and just about perfect by any standard. "May I go?" he asked. Kor El had an acute sense of justice; he did not question his father's decision to make Kor An D' Seas his heir apparent instead of himself. He never questioned the will of his father, period: So Mote It Be.

122. Because of Kor El's faultless devotion, Kor granted him anything he desired, and his desires were unusually conservative.

123. "His innate obedience to my every wish is unnatural," Kor commented to Ireana once, "His loyalty is faultless -- like Dal El's."

124. Dal El actually spent more time with Kor El than anyone else -- it seemed that their minds were tangential when it came to Elite philosophy.

125. "Your personal yacht is making ready," an attendant reported. Kor acknowledged the attendant and extended his arm to escort his lovely Queen. They rose together and made way for the spaceport where Kor El would meet them.

O'HELL YES!

126. "Commander O'helno?" a young lieutenant called. They were both part of the Theite insurgency, whose job it was to steal back every Theite asset they could find. Most of the SJ's were loyal to the legitimate government, but a few went rogue.

127. The Senate had reached a whole new level of perpetual inconsequence. O'helno was more concerned about rogue SJ's than anything else, "There's no such thing as a 'rogue' SJ!" O'helno maintained.

128. "You need to see this," the lieutenant handed him a tablet. It showed Kor and his Queen heading toward a spaceport. Their son was enroute from a different part of Vejhon, and the royal yacht was preparing to make way.

129. O'helno grinned, nodded and handed the tablet back.   "What else?" he asked mischeviously -- he knew the over achieving lieutenant had probably formulated another genius kidnapping plan.

130. "We have assets in place," the lieutenant said eagerly, "We just need a 'go!'"

131. The Senate meltdown had forced the SJ's into hiding. The abandoned hanger where they spoke had three square miles of empty interior space with vines covering unrecognizable equipment and grass growing in the cracks. The hanger had not been used for decades -- it was a piece of real estate that Blue Funnel had made disappear.

132. "I think..." O'helno said, having thought the matter through, "that I'd like to get to where ever they're going, before they do." The lieutenant smiled in agreement, "Then lets blow this joint, Sir!"

POWER PLAY

133. "I can't believe the bastard betrayed us!" the CFO sneered. His protégé raised an eyebrow to suggest, "What did you expect?" "We bankrolled his rise to power and this is how he thanks us!"

134. On a gigantic wall monitor, inset with 50 sub-monitors were news stories breaking across 10 systems. One story claimed that Blue Funnel was the secret corporatist power behind every major galactic crisis. One theorist claimed, "Blue Funnel is a win-win monopoly..." another monitor narrated, "Blue Funnel has financed both sides of every war for the last 8,000 millennia... " Another monitor was breaking a story on the secret rituals of Blue Funnel executives. Another one claimed that Blue Funnel created the medium of exchange in every known system and hoarded everything of actual value at secret locations.

135. The CFO turned the entire presentation off, which created a deafening quiet. They could both hear their heads ringing now.

136. The protégé picked up a refuser and filled up a champagne glass with water, "The SJ's are with us, if it comes down to it," he offered. The CFO laughed out loud. "I never thought I would hear that one!" It was known within upper management that Blue Funnel owned the B'line technology. In a manner of speaking, safeguarding that technology was the only moral claim that Blue Funnel rightfully owned: They were a silent partner in virtually every vulgar monopolistic scheme in the Universe... but guarded the B'line technology like a Holy Monument to Zena.

137. They were the ones who bought Senators, installed foreign heads of State and plotted the rise and fall of galactic empires.

138. "The Senate wants to realign the SJ's within the diplomatic corps under the guise of expanded Interstellar Security," the protégé added. Both of them knew the real caveat and felt no compulsion to pontificate the obvious. Elite operatives were the architects of the so called realignment.

139. The caveat was to place the SJ's under Kor's command, although indirectly -- it had nothing to do with Interstellar Security. "It's fracking not going to happen!" the CFO said with Elite-like poise. What his protégé heard was, "Money will have the last word; and buy the outcome, regardless." "We finance the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms," the protégé suggested, "You can command those regimes and media outlets to retract Elite bullshit and expose Kor instead!"

140. That was precisely where the CFO had a problem. Kor's power was of a different order and his constituents were attracted to his tricks; neither of which could be bought. The CFO picked up the refuser and filled another champagne glass with water. He toasted his protégé and said, "That is preisely what I want nobody to know: That Kor cannot be bought."