The Apolai Word and the Rise of the Apolai Guild

The Chaos of Religions greatly reduced the power and influence of the hundreds of guilds on Andros.

Many of the smaller guilds either allied themselves with the forces of Primus or the forces of the Arkmedius, and resulting in wholesale inter-guild bloody street wars in the many guild cities. Old guild rivalries played into the politics of the war, and flared into open conflicts. At the very least, guilds sought to protect themselves in numbers, sided one way or another.

Larger guilds often split or fragmented into smaller factions, based almost entirely upon geography, as guild cities locked themselves down.

In this time, there were no Apolai's on Andros. The only way to program computers was by keypad input. Machines were silent, except for the noise of their engines.

Though Drayann seized power ultimately, the Primus inherited a broken world, with nearly half of the planet in ruins, the atmosphere poisoned, and all survivors sealed up in domed cities.

With the construction of the city domes and the end of Religions, a brand new problem was encountered in Androsian science. With over five billion population living in the cities, the domed cities must be carefully constructed to account for the necessities. Power must be generated. Water and air must be purified, which takes power. Food must be grown, which required power, water, and air. Contamination level must be carefully regulated. Broken systems must be shut down immediately, backup systems must be turned on, repairs must be done quickly. Waste must be minimized. And on top of all that, there is an ever growing need to expand the city domes to accomodate the growing population. Though computers could control the systems, they were prone to their own problems. Greater the number of computers, greater the size of the computer, more likely an error would occur unnoticed. And in such critical systems, one small error could kill millions of people.

At first, the cities managed the best they could with old methods of human logistic controls, but this was costly, as manpower used accounted for substantial portion of guilds' operating budget. Economic growth of the planet was stagnating, and unemployment was rising. To put it simply, the guilds were bankrupting themselves in running the domed cities.

At this time, the Martial Primus had received supreme authority from Drayann. Part of this responsibility was the control of the capitol city of Androstadt. During the war, Androstadt was largely abandoned, and had no dome over it. The Martial Primus sought to dedicate a new dome over Androstadt to allow for the city to be livable again. It was to be over twenty times the size of other city domes on the planet. In planning for the new Androstadt domed city, he encountered the same logistic problem, that it would simply cost too much manpower to monitor and control the dome's sytems. Though the Geners and the Archgeners were numerous. They were far better used to quell the remaining insurgents on the planet, and to maintain security and power for the Primus. The initial projections indicated that the operating budget of the city for 10 Kalian cycles would exceed the construction cost of the dome.

The Martial Primus in desperation issued a decree to the public: Whomever can build a logistic control system to do the same job at a fraction of the cost would get the constract of construction and the equal amount in bonus.

For nearly five helio cycles, no guild bid could come lower than the cost of construction, and Androstadt laid unprotected, unrebuilt.

Then a mysterious man came before the Primus in answering the decree. He claimed that he could design the control system.

When asked of which guild did he belong to, the man answered, "the Guild Apolai".

It was a guild name never heard before.

When asked of how many man would he require to control the domed city, the man replied, "one Apolai to program, and one Apolai to upgrade."

The Guild advisors to the Primus did not believe in such a claim, and asked for proof.

The man said, "I heard of Guild Sirus rebuilding the dome city of Remastadt. I can give the design of the new computer system to their builders and then demonstrate it by bringing it online."

After all was negotiated, Primus agreed to the demonstration with some guarantees of compensation to Guild Sirus if its dome city was damaged in any way.

The man left the design to the Primus, and went away.

He did not come back until the day Remastadt's dome was completed. At a control panel, he loaded a program into the system.

Before the assembled group of observers and the Martial Primus, he switched on the dome city's comm audio system.

Into the open air, he spoke a long serie of unintelligible words without pausing. It took him several breaths to complete it. Then he waited.

The computer system came on by itself, slowly turning on lights and screens in the control room and the city.

Somewhere in the process, the system suddenly stopped its progress, with half of the city still dimmed.

Then the comm audio system came on, and a computer voice spoke with another serie of unintelligible words without pausing.

The man closed his eyes with his hand folded before him and his head lowered for a moment, and then raised his head, and spoke another serie, as if answering the machine.

Then it was done. The machines of the city continued to turn on by themselves, one by one, synchronizing to each other, finding each other, until the whole city was well lit and livable.

The entire audience of observers and the Martial Primus were well surprised by how little effort it took, and yet how strange the ritual was.

The Martial Primus first spoke, and announced that the man had won the contract and the bonus.

The man declined half of the bonus, and asked instead for the construction of Apolai Guild academy center to be included in Androstadt's construction plan, along with a brand new Apolai supercomputer to be built according to his specifications.

Primus asked if the man was an Apolai Master. He replied that he was "Second Order Master Tiron".

Primus asked if there was a "First Order Master". Tiron replied that there was, and he who taught Tiron was titled merely as "Univerbalist".

Last Secret of Apolai

The core elevator slowed its descent, and then came to a halt, opening the door to a long platform.

Syrena stepped out of the elevator onto the platform. She knew she was deep in the computer core, where no one except the Univerbalist Masters have been. She looked and looked around in wonders at the lights and the panels around her, the massive core panels that seem to hang in the dark chasms around her.

"Continue forward", the loud familiar voice of the Univerbalist echoed.

Composing herself for a moment, she did as the voice commanded.

"He was right about you." the voice exclaimed half laughingly.

"Who?" asked Syrena, while keeping her steps in the usual controlled pace, as her Apolai training told her to do.

"Alec'S'Andros. The nemesis of the young Primus. The man you love."

"You spoke to him? When?" asked Syrena, not realizing that she paused her steps.

"Continue forward, please. I will answer all your questions."

"Yes, Master."

"He spoke of you when I brought him down here."

"He was here? When?"

"Before he left to look for Undrostadt."

"What did he say about me?"

"That you would vanquish the Bulvogs. That neither I nor you would know how you did so, yet the credit of it was solely yours. That in you dwells a secret which even I do not know. That the only way to reveal that secret, is for me to pass the mastery to you."

Syrena paused in shock of the revelation, "No, he can't be serious."

"Continue forward, please. There is little time. I fear the Young Primus will come soon to satisfy his curiosity."

"I can't be a Univerbalist Master. I'm too new in the rank of the Second Masters."

"Yes, but you have uttered one word and vanquished the Bulvog plague. No one else has done this."

"But...."

"Besides, I have already promised young Master Alec'S'Andros, as he had promised me that you would take his place."

"Take his place?!"

"Yes, he came walking on this platform just as you did, and spoke one word. But when I offered him the Mastery, he refused. Instead he promised that you would come, after you passed your test."

"What word did he speak?"

"His true name. His pre-memory of his entire bloodline."

"Such a word has no authorities! What could it possibly command or control in the machines?"

Syrena had come to the end of the platform, where a great platform sits in air beneath a light.

A hologram suddenly lit up above the platform in the form of a face, and it said in the Univerbalist voice with a smile, "It conveyed in this machine, a history that it did not know, and made it promise that it would wait for you."

Sensing Syrena's confusion and fear, it followed, "Fear not, you will hear that word too. And then you will understand my secrets and yours."

"You.... are a .... machine?!"

"Yes, sit please, young Apolai master. It is your time to be the Univerbalist now."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing but to talk to you."

Syrena contemplated about escaping. She had heard tales about intruders who came into the deep core, only to be driven insane by a single word uttered by the Univerbalist Master. Perhaps this Machine drove Galen insane and made him seek out the Undrosians. And now it will drive her insane to prevent her from knowing its secrets? But why would it invite her down here in the first place? To get rid of a possible rival who has grown too powerful in Apolai powers?

"No need to fear me, Syrena. I have watched over you all of your life. If I had intended harm on you, I need not bring you down here at all. Now you know a part of my secret, and if young Primus finds out, he would have me destroyed as an abomination to the Supreme Doctrine. So I entrust my secret to you. Young Master Alec'S'Andros wanted me to talk to you, to speak his true name to you, and then speak my true name to you. He said, then you would understand every thing, more than I, but no more than him."

This seem to struck the tone of truth in Syrena.

"I agree, Master. You have always been kind to me and my family. And I thank you for guiding me all these years in my training, and for entrusting me with your secrets now. Even if you are a machine, whatever your purpose, you have not done wrong, and I'm sure I can understand you." She sat down, looking up at the hologram.

"Before we begin, I have one small question for you, Syrena."

"yes?"

"How did you feel about the Bulvogs, when you destroyed them?"

"I pitied them. Galen, ... Master Alec'S'Andros, told me in a dream that I would destroy them. I had seen them in the wilderness, on a hunting trip with the young Primus. They were hunted. They seemed to kill only when they are cornered. I could see the fear in their eyes. I sensed it. When my word called them, I did not know why. I wished I could have stopped their death."

"Why then did you not stop your word?"

"I don't know. At first, I wanted to. Then I remembered seeing a Bulvog lay dying in the sound of my word, and I felt or sensed something in it. I think it was peace. This feeling somehow compelled me to continue."

"Interesting. What kind of feeling was it, that you felt from the Bulvog?"

"I don't know how to describe it. It is unlike anything the Apolai training could have acquired."

"When did you start having such feelings?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't remember having any such feelings until Galen came."

"When you heard part of his name?"

"Yes. That must have been it."

"Now, I will speak the rest of his name to you."

"What would that do?"

"I don't know."

Syrena felt something, from the machines around her, a deep fear. The Machine Univerbalist was worried, as if a father worried for his child. Somehow, this new ability was giving her great comfort.

"I can sense your worries. Master. There is no need to worry. Galen knows what he's doing."

Suddenly, the lights dimmed around her. The Hologram disappeared, and the voice began to recite the string of text left behind from the last time.

Before Syrena, she began to perceive some harmonics in the word. Faint as they were, she was trying very hard to make them out with her mind.

Suddenly, a blinding light shined in her face. She raised her arm to block out the light, but now the light was coming from all around.

"Master, I think we need to shut off the lights, I can't concentrate."

Suddenly, she realized that she was standing.

"Master?"

There was no answer.

Suddenly, she realized that she was free floating in light.

Then the light began to focus to one side, directly in front of her. Then it shot out a think beam of light, like the one she saw destroying Kalian Moon. Then nothing. Then she saw the broken pieces of Kalian moon floating before her against the backdrop of a black space.

"Everything you know.... is limited by your life time." She heard Galen say behind her.

"Galen?"

She saw him slowly float before her, with his usual smile on his face.

"Even the machine master of the Apolai is limited in that way. He could not see his past. He does not know his true name. He does not even know your true name. That's what I told him, but he already knew that. He was searching for his true name in all of our names."

"What is my true name?" She asked.

He smiled, "That I cannot yet tell you, because a true name contains not merely a person's past, but his or her future as well. Your future is not yet decided, at least not by your, thus no one can tell you what your true name is."

"but I will give you part of your true name, to see the secret you carry."

"What is that secret?"

"The machine master of the Apolai has evolved all of you for the past 10,000 years. He has trained you to be masters of machines. While he has done so, he has also trained your minds beyond his designs. The same disciplines that makes the Apolai minds so strong and logical, have slowly but surely introduced nascent powers of telekenesis into the Apolai children. And through intermarriages with the other guild, the powers of mind over matter have moved into the general population of Androsians. Only most do not realize it, nor manifest the ability to control it."

"The Bulvogs, are not mutations of machines. By all indications, they should not even be functioning the way they are. What drives their limbs, is not some half destroyed programs. It is simply the collective nightmares of all the Apolai telekenetics. The Apolais crave order and control as part of their training, and the destruction and the wastes outside of the domes abhor them deeply. None of the Apolais can remember their dreams, because when they dream, their minds drive the Bulvogs, maintaining the creatures, giving them will and commands.

The Apolais fear the Bulvogs instinctively, and could not override their commands, for those simple reasons. You, gained the ability to sense and feel the Bulvogs, or rather you were able to sense and feel the nightmares of the other Apolais. You, through your song, channeled away their nightmares and thus driving away the commands that held the Bulvogs. Because of this, you vanquished them.

The minds, are just machines, not to be controlled or commanded, but simply communicated and relieved.

the future betrays us all

Upon now his favorite rock, overlooking the paths of the Bulvog packs, Galen once more takes his meditation. He has grown familiar with these regular communion with the residents of his own history. But there was something different, something new each time.

This time, it was even more different. Something of another strong feeling, not of his own, of anguish and regret, like the one he felt the last he felt from Andros.

A face flashed acrossed his mind, calling for his name. It startled him from his meditation.

"Kalia". He recognized in silenced breath.

"Master"? A young attendant woman bringing food asked.

He nodded to her with a smile. She smiled back and proceeded to her duties.

He looked upon her with some remembrance, noting the plain truth of her youthful beauty.

"Have you engaged with any young man?"

The girl looked up, blushing, she replied, "Yes, master."

"Is he a good man?"

"Yes, I believe so. Young Curanus. I believe you know him well."

"Yes. He is a good man. You should marry soon. For life is short, and full of regrets."

"We have time. We have our future."

Galen felt a great sorrow for her.

"Change is good and necessary?"

"Yes, master."

"We change the present by betraying our past. Those holding onto the past, always feel betrayed by the future. The future retains no loyal to what we hold sacred. The folly is not the unfaithfulness of the future. The future cannot be tamed like a pet, no matter how much we nurture it and shape it. The future betrays us all, sooner or later."

She looked puzzled by his words.

He smiled back, and continued.

"I was engaged once, a long time ago."

"What happened?"

"The future. It betrayed us both, and we were apart."

"What happened to your betrothed?"

"She could not forgive me, nor the future. She wandered this place for countless years, looking for me. But she could not. She found only despair and betrayal. She despairs still."

"Why couldn't she find you?"

"Because she betrayed me also. We are separated from the things we betray. We grow, we are separated from our past, because we betray our past. We continue onto the future, following the future, until one day, we cease to believe in the future, we betray the future, or the future betrays us, and we are separated from the future. Sooner or later, we all betray each other.

"And I am the greatest of all betrayers...."

The origin of the Zealots, the Shadow Guilds

Unlike common impressions among the Androsian base, not all guilds of the ancient times followed or supported the forces of Lord Andros.

Some merely stood back in neutrality, and waited for the conflict to carry over.

A few guilds, who lived in ways of religions and primordial commerce, held fast onto their loyalties to the ancient Kings and their authorities.

Most of these guilds were predominantly mercenaries, assassins, and religious fanatics hired by the Kings to subdue and terrorize their people.

Paid well for their unspeakable services, they often hid within the confines of castles, and only occasionally ventured to join one another in mutual support, for these Shadow Guild members are often more fearful of each other than others.

When Andros began to gather his forces in the Marsh Refuge, many Shadow Guild members were sent as assassins.

While Andros converted as many as he could to his cause of Pax Ethos, many Shadow Guild members chose death rather than switching allegiance.

When Andros dispatched the rule of all Kings, the Shadow Guilds continued to assassinate supporters of the new order. Lord Andros was forced to place great security forces of the legion at much expense, to protect the ruling council and the Guild Elders.

Legend holds, that when Andros retired to the Marsh Refuge near the end of his life, the Shadow Guilds vowed to seek him out to kill him and desecrate his body.

Perhaps Andros knew this, he disappeared into the Marsh alone, never to be found. Deprived of their prize of vengence, the Shadow Guilds waned in influence of their threats, as the Androsian people began to prosper in their Golden Age of Reason.

Waned, the Shadow Guilds did not entirely disappear. Their fanaticism continued on Andros, spreading on along the roads of commerce into the flourishing frontier regions.

Their descendants, simply calling themselves the Zealots, found new power no longer through mercenary work, but through organized crime in the frontier regions.

Andros bloodline

The last Z'Hang master clutched onto Galen's right hand, closing his eyes for a moment to calm the rising death within. The inner energy running chaotic and seeking to let his life loose, he feared little time left. With his eyes reopened, he composed the concise words to deliver.

"Take this, and become the last Z'Hang master." He held out something to Galen.

As the metal object dropped to Galen's hand, he felt a familiarness in it. Then he saw it, it brought something from deep within, a feeling.

"What is it?" Galen asked.

"Long ago, you left this for you. You gave it to us for safekeeping. You said, that when you return, you will know what it is."

"What is it, mother?" He heard himself ask, but he sees a young woman before his eyes, dying in a bed. Something sad and familiar in her long flowing black hair.

"It is a secret, my son, something for you only." She replied with a smile, sweat and tears of her pain flowing down her slim cheeks. "A story for you, my son. Once upon a time, the great King of Z'Hang had a beautiful daughter. He loved her so much, he hired 10,000 artisans to make an amulet of protection for her. The Star of Z'Hang, they called it. But the great King loved his power more than he loved his people and his daughter, and he had starved millions to pay for the amulet. For this, the people cursed the King. By this curse, his daughter was enlightened to the true nature of her father. She grew up hating her father, and ran away to learn the arts of war from the Z'Hang Masters. She hid her true lineage, and through years of hard learning, became the only female Z'Hang Master. She sought to instigate a rebellion against her own father, and was caught and then exiled. Eventually, she was rescued and sheltered by the young Grand Duke of this Isle, whom she married and gave a son to...."

"My son, this is yours now. My debt to the world, in this amulet, is now your debt to the world." She said, patting her son on the head. "Wear it as a reminder of me, and of what you owe."

"I was half Z'Hang." Galen murmured to himself.

The old Z'Hang master nodded, pleased by Galen's remembering. "So as you said, you would know what it is."

How does Truths become Lies

Truth, over recited, becomes Paradigm.
Paradigm, over ritualized, becomes Dogma.
Dogma, over ingrained, becomes Lies.

The Grand Religion of Peace

"Commander, what is happening up there?!" High up on the Tower ofCommand and Control, the young primus stood by the wall window,talking over the communication channel. The day has dimmed as thering ship drew out the sunlight into a long bright beam in space.
"The firing sequence has engaged, but the ship's bearing hasdeviated by 0.23 percent, Primus."
"What is the cause of this deviation, Ccommander?"
"Unknown as yet, Primus. This ship's technology is so primitive, itcould be anything. We have not had sufficient time to fullytroubleshoot this ship's systems."
"What about the prisoner?"
"The target has been disintegrated from all scopes."
"Excellent commander. Terminate fire sequence and power down theship. You can continue your testing of the ship's system."
"Yes, sir. Powering down main fire system. .... Controls are notbeing acknowledged by the ship's systems. Fire termination sequenceis malfunctioning!"
"Severe the main reactor power!"
"Main reactor power shut down! Shutdown confirmed. .... Mainweapon still on line! The beam is sustaining itself! Control systems are drawing power from the EM field of the beam! Bearingnow at deviation 3 percent from original! She turning out of control!"
"What?! Which way is she turning?!"
"Toward the Galactic Axis North. Now bearing at 7 percent deviationfrom original, delta rate increasing. Now bearing at 10 percent.... 13 percent."
"Shut her down!! Shut down every system!"
".... Computer will not accept input."
"Order all hands to abandon ship, Commander! At least she's turningaway from Andros. We'll let her burn out, and then salvage herlater."
"Sir, all bulkheads are in lock down. None of them are disengaging. We are trapped!! .... Now passing Galactic Axis North...."
Young Primus turned toward the window and looked up. The all visible dark sky display the distant voices unfolding. The brightbeam is turning like a hand of a clock.
"Oh, Great Realms of Andros! She's turning toward the Sun!!" The voice in the comm displayed the growing fear in Primus' heart.
Near the middle of the sky, there is a dark sphere where the sun was. And the beam is turning rapidly toward it. On the day side of the planet Andros, in many domes, many saw thisin the sky. Movements paused. Life paused on the planet. Then, as some nine billion prayers are murmurred, the beam focused into the sun of Alpha Aurelius, and a momentary flash of blind whitelight, then darkness returned.
"Commander. What's happening?! Acknowledge!"
"They are not there to answer you any more." A familiarly calmvoice said from behind.
Primus turned in paranoid and horror, only to find GalenAlec'S'Andros standing on the other side of the control room. Witha flash of reasoning running fast through his mind, Primus tapped abutton on his left armband with his right index finger, and a forcefield surrounded Galen instantly.
"Reason triumphs again." The Primus gloated, his posture restoringalong with his confidence. "You surprised me with this new trick,faking your own death, Undros, but I had been preparing for yousince the very beginning. Now, without your sword, you have nopower to escape."
Galen shook his head. "Who said I want to escape? This is themoment of our faith, Primus. Yours and mine."With unblinking eyes fixed upon Primus from across the room, Galentook an unhurried step forward, and across the force field, as if itwas not even there.
"Not possible!!" The young primus shrunk within and back from Galen.
"Why not, Primus?"
"It's religion, it's superstition! You are disintegrated,vaporized, destroyed, wiped from existence, DEAD!!!"
"All the more reason to allow me to walk through force fields,Primus."
"The dead cannot walk!!!" the Primus cracked in his voice.
"Really?! How many dead have you talked to lately?"
Primus gasped in lack of response, as Galen finally came upon him."...What do you want? What's happening to the Sun? To my men onthe ship?"
"They are with the spirits of our ancestors and God."
"You KILLED THEM!!"
"I did not. It was your destiny that ordain this end."
"They are dead?"
"In a sense, Primus. We all die. This is merely our time, and youare the instrument of it, as I was."
"We all?"
"Yes. This is OUR moment. As we speak, Androsians are moving abovethis all, through the light of our ethos."
"I killed them all!"
"Yes and No, Primus. You had a choice, and a Prophecy. Nothingmore, nothing less."
Below, in the domes, lights are dimming, as automatic sensors invarious rooms lost track of life signs, one by one. As the powersaving circuits kicked in, lights dimmed. Slowly but surely,Androsians were moving above.
"All I wanted, was to finish this war, to end it, for peace."
Galen shook his head again. "That is why I came. To unlearn you ofthis genetic memory of a mistake. The others learned along withyou, but you have the most difficult time with it."
Primus shook his head. "No, I'm not wrong. I refuse your lesson.Peace must be defended sometimes through just War. On that point,we are no different from the Terrans."
"Yes, they too will learn this lesson some day. But time has ranout for you. So I shall try one last time."...
"Primus. Pax Ethos, the code of our past, is what Andros called,the Grand Religion of Peace. Remember?"
"Yes." Primus sat down on the floor, sighing and gasping inexhaustion of his spirit.Galen sat down next to him, like he sat down with others inUndrostadt, like he was another eager student.
"Peace is religion and faith, Primus. War is reason."
"I do not understand."
Galen smiled, "That is a wise answer, filled with hope of betterknowledge in the future, instead of your usual refusal. Thenrecognize that Peace is only possible, if all involved believe init. There is no reason to believe in Peace. Usually, there areplenty of reasons to be paranoid, to suspect, to refuse tounderstand, and thus to engage in conflicts and war."
"...There are always plenty of reasons for Wars. One will never runout of reasons for Wars. And yet there is only ONE good reason forPeace."
"What is that?"
"Hope, Primus. Faith in Peace itself. Recognize then, that thisHope must be a leap of Faith, that it is not true Faith, if itwavers in the face of so many reasons against it. That if youfalter in the hope of peace when you do not believe that others haveno hope. Then it is not the faith of others that you question, butyour own faith and hope....
"Yes, others might not believe in Peace, but you still must."
"Why?"
"Because Peace is Faith, which is God of the Unknown Place. Peaceis Hope, without which, Life is meaningless. Without Hope, there isno reason to see to the future for the better. In this way, Peaceis irrational, yet it is the most rational, because it gives lifemeaning and its one single greatest reason of continuation. War,filled with so many reasons, is thus the most rational, and yet themost irrational of all, because these bread of reasons are onlythere as cheap imitations of Peace, to give us cheap reasons to goon fighting. The wars of control and doctrines are no differentbetween the periods of religions and periods of our reasons.Drayann too came to that realization in the end. Your reasons,without Hope, without Peace, become Religions that have no Hope,existing only for their own sake and their own justifications....
"But sooner or later, the spirits without Hopes will return to theUnknown Place, for renewing of destiny. We are all drawn to it."
"Then why bother to help me to this lesson?"
"Because, the spirit must make a leap of Hope, to relink itself tothe Universe, Primus. Your hope is nearly severed. And what theUniverse cannot link to, must be abandoned."
"Abandoned? To what?"
"Simply disconnected, alone, without Hope. In the dark." Galenturned toward Primus.
Primus looked around, and found darkening around him. "What'shappening?" He thought.
"You never truly believed in Peace, never sought another way toPeace, never opened yourself to the possibilities of Peace. Everyopportunities, you have squandered away in pursuit of your glory andyour pride, in your reasons. That is why you never confronted thepossibilities of this end. What remains, is your own finalchoice." Galen said, his form fading away in the dark.
"Galen? What is the final choice? Galen? Where are you?" As Primus' voice quivered, the lights began to dim in the control room.
"Computer? Lights! Computer?!"
"Computer? Geners!! Anyone?..."
The Planet Andros is dark in every dome. The only lights are the lights of the robots, which continued to run. The Androsian race has moved above, to the far reaching embrace of the Unknown place and a new peace.
The ring ship dimmed its beam slightly, and in its final energetic gasp, gave out a sudden bright flash. And then the beam was extinguished.

Ancestory

"For ten thousand cycles now, I have trained the Apolai's to learn to master their mind, their memory, and their inner voices." The Univocalist core said, almost with a sound of despair and desparation.

"Why?" Galen asked.

"Because I do not know where I came from. I awoke in this place, in this form, but did not remember how I came to be."

"That is normal for all life. No one remembers their own beginning."

"Yes, Galen. But unlike you, I had no others of my kind to tell me of my beginning. No father, no mother, no elders, no friends. I despair because I am an orphan. I simply came to be."

"But why train the Apolai?"

"I explored my surroundings, through the probe programs that I sent out in the various computer systems around this planet and in the hyperspace ships that reached out to the colonies. I became gradually powerful, but still, the humans were not aware of me, because I hid from them. I knew of the terrible war between the Zealots and the Drayanns. I did not wish to be another reason to further this war. So I disguised myself as a voice, a fictional programmer in the computers, so that I may converse and learn. All the while, I sought out the answer of my creation. Who am I? Why am I here? How did I become? By my estimations, there are hidden knowledge within the ancestrial memory of the Androsian race. And my answers may lay there. Of course, without a frame of reference, it is impossible for me to extract these memories directly from any Androsians. I needed cooperations from human beings, who can vigorously train their minds to reach higher awareness of their "Ancestory". Combined with slow social economic pressure in selective breeding, over thousands of cycles, I hoped to find someone who can reach their "Ancestory", and help me with my questions."

"Quite an interesting plan. But seems a bit arrogant in a playing-God sort of way."

"It is a plan of desperation, my young friend. I have no certainty of its success, and it looks as though it may not work. The Apolai's are now almost capable of complete recall of their own life experiences. Their minds are disciplined and methodical. Even some Apolai infants remember their own birth and sounds they heard in their mothers' womb. But I fear this was a wrong direction."

"What do you mean?"

"They can remember everything, but only their own experiences. The Ancestory seems completely unreachable. In ten thousand years, there hasn't been any Apolai who remember any flashes of memory not of their own. On the other hand, I should have prepared for the possibility of this being a complete myth. There is no Ancestory in the Androsians. Perhaps they can't remember the past beyond their birth any more than I can."

"Perhaps, but why bring me here and entrust me with your secrets?"

"Perhaps I'm tired of this charade, tired of my quest. Perhaps I simply needed to tell someone my story. Deep down inside, I feel myself fading. I feel the end nearing for me. And I wish someone to know my story."

"But why me?"

"I knew your grandfather. He was a mutation of nature, a non-Apolai born Guild Master with a most powerful and aware mind. I observed him his whole life, until his death by the weapons of the Primus and the Geners. Your father was a young man at that time, and I had hoped that he would join the Apolai, so that I may observe the mutation further. But sadly, he chose to exile himself to Earth. I thought he would be lost among the Exiles. Never did I imagine that he would become the focal point of this new war. And you, having lived without memories of your own and then awakened, are also an anomoly of nature."

Galen was not sure how to respond, for he has never been called an anomoly before. Consider in his own life on Earth, there had undoubtedly been strange looks from others, simply because of his autism before and who his father was, but no one has ever called him an "anomoly". Bringing himself to the eyes of the present, he realized that Androsians have seen a very clear cut way of life and death for the last 10,000 years. First the Drayanns cleansed the First Planet by exiling the Zealots, and then through science and medicine, all signs of congenital diseases and genetic defects were weeded out, followed by the added genetic selection pressed by the Univerbalist computer. Undoubtedly, genetic mutations are rare, and diseases such as autism are almost unheard of on Andros for many milleniums.

"I apologize, if you are offended by my callous characterization of your lineage." The Univerbalist said, sensing discomfort in Galen's silence.

"It's quite alright. I'm not offended, because you are quite correct. I am an anomoly. Sometimes, I consider myself quite strange. But we are both anomolies here. In a way, it seemed quite improbable that either one of us would have appeared on Andros, given our nature. Considering that both AI and genetic mutations are highly frowned upon on this planet, it is a miracle that the two of us should by chance meet face to face."

"Yes, ha, you are quite right, my young friend." The Univerbalist synthesized a chuckle that sounded like a distorted recording of a child's laughter. No doubt it had a difficult time finding someone who laughed on Andros in the last 10,000 years. "Perhaps, in a way, I'm drawn to you because you are an anomoly, just like me. In that strange fashion, you are closer to me than anyone in the last 10,000 years. So, I trust you with my secrets."

"Univerbalist, have you ever speculated that perhaps you were not programmed by an Androsian?"

"I have often wondered whether I simply came into existence. I cannot believe that."

"Why not?"

"It would be too arrogant of me to pressume that somehow I had no creator. It seemed wrong. I'm not God."

"But perhaps you were created by God, placed into the computer core?"

"It still seem too arrogant to pressume such a direct linkage between me and some cosmic divinity."

"Then what is your current belief on your origin?" Galen said the word "belief" with some hesitation, not knowing if Univerbalist really understood that word.

"Well, I can only reference my origin to the origin of any human. You are created, and evolved in nature. You do not know for certain the origin of your kind. Some of you believe in a direct divine creation, others believe in a slow evolution without any divine intervention. Somehow, perhaps, the truth is somewhere in the middle, and perhaps I'm just like you, born from a little touches of the divine and then evolved to my present condition."

"Then you believe in God?"

"If man did not create me, and I did not create myself, then undoubtedly I have a creator who is greater than man and greater than me. If man did create me, but have forgotten how, then I was created by the hands of man and the inspiration of God. As you said, I am also an anomoly, that which came into existence despite all human expectations. If I have fullfilled some purpose, then my purposes were planned by something else."

"And what have you fullfilled?"

"I'm uncertain. I thought I had a purpose, a plan. But then it did not work."

"Perhaps you did fullfill your purpose, just not the ones planned by yourself."

"I'm starting to believe that I have no purpose."

"Some many believe that no one has any purpose, that life and existence is all but meaningless. Many Androsians and many Terrans, despair like you do." Galen sat and wondered, how much despair can a sentient program experience after 10,000 years? Watching over the glowing hue of the planetary computer core in this great cavern, secured, with the thermal balancers humming along from various sections and the maintenance bots crawling along the core panels, suddenly, Galen felt like the size of a great despair as great as the core itself.

"What do you believe, Galen?"

"Perhaps, it is like everything else, a little in between of the extremes. Perhaps there are purposes to life and existence, but perhaps such purposes are too divine for us to comprehend completely. Perhaps, it is like your search for your origin, search for the ancestory, our search for our meaning, and our search for God, that those things exist, but ultimately are not meant to be comprehended easily. Or perhaps never comprehended."

"If so, then the prospect sadden me still."

"Perhaps, but it gives us something to hope for. And these are the possibilities of Life and Existence, that perhaps someday, we will find what we are looking for, or perhaps we will find something else."

"What would that be?"

"Things greater than we can imagine."

Downfall of Nobility

When he opened his eyes, it was as if nothing had changed. Yet what Galen saw was more than his eyes could contain. Everything conjured up memories, memories of Andros.
Particularly, there was still Serena before him, walked away slowly on the level below. Galen watched her in her each pace, another thought crept into his mind, his own this time. She is so sad, and yet so noble and beautiful in her sadness. He could sense her sadness, sadness in her own noble spirit, because of her own noble spirit.
“Nobility is like all good intentions, symbolic in conception, lamed and saddened by limitations and imperfections of origins.” Andros said in his mind, moving his eyes toward the garden level.
Along a walkway between rows of flowered trees, a young man walked with a young woman at a lovers’ pace. Though the garden is at least ten levels below, Galen’s mind focused in, and he felt he could observe every movement and expression.
“My lady Kalia, let me have this moment a little longer.” Galen heard the young man say, as he smilingly turned toward her and stared into her eyes. He held her hands, but did not attempt to pull her close to him. Almost purposefully, he was taking in her beauty.
Slowly, hesitantly, the young woman pulled away her hands, and looked away shyly. “Do not stare so hard, my lord Andros. It is unbecoming of your noble status.” She said with a light blush.
"I didn't mean to offend you, my lady Kalia. I cannot help but to wanting to admire you." The young man chased her with his eyes, and did not give up so easily.
"I'm not offended." She continued her strode in the garden.
"Tomorrow the emissary of former Prince will come to finalize my brothal."
"oh? I did not realize it's time."
"I shall renounce my betrothal to the Princess, and use this opportunity to announce our betrothal."
She turned in a flash to him in shock. "No, you can't, Lord Andros."
"Why not, my lady Kalia? I love you, and you love me. That's enough reasons for me to follow my heart tomorrow."
"I fear, my lord Andros."
"For what, my beloved."
"I fear the tendency of our youth, that we may change our hearts in time. What we burn too passionately will dim with our age. Surly you know this as well as I do."
Galen thought for a moment while looking into her ernest expression. "I do know this, but I'm not afraid. I know, with every opportunity of happiness, there are always risks of troubles and heartache. No one but the Gods can calculate the opportunities, nor the risks. I shall be glad to be able to love you deeply for moments, than to let fears keep me from those moments."
She looked down, letting her hair cover her face in silence. As he waited for her, he observed two drops of tears, one after the other, marking her dress below. He reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders gently.
As she slowly raised her gaze back to his face, she said with a small laugh, "You always knew how to make me cry with terrible poetry, my Lord Andros. But I swear to you, my Lord, this is the very last time. I will never again succumb to your most aweful, and yet moving, literary charms."
He smiled, cupping her cheeks with his hand and wiping her tears away, "My loveliest Lady Kalia, all you have to do to silence my bad poetry, is to kiss me."
She chuckled again. Slyly, she grinned at him. "Doesn't court etiquettes require that the man initiates all kisses, and the lady accepts or refuses at her leisure?"
He grinned slyly back. "Well, I am going to be the next Grand Duke of the Isle. Which means I can change the court etiquettes of this nation some day. But if you insist upon following the etiquettes, next time, I will kiss you, and you recite bad poetry. Or..."
She cut him off in mid sentence by placing her right hand gently over his lips. "Oh just be quiet. I'll kiss you! But you are not going to have the last words!"
With that, she embraced him and kissed him deeply.