FaboanDeAdonai said:
I've just found this and I've loved it! Are there new chapters coming?
Here it is, as promised.
P.S. It is not yet fully edited, so repetitions and awkard phrases might still appear. Maybe even some logic errors as I wrote it in multiple days. It's quite raw, so to speak :mrgreen:
But anyway, I might do just that, if I were to publish it one day
Give it a go and let me know what you think or if you have any questions :roll:
Chapter II - The buds
The little girl was running through the tall grass. She moved quickly, trying to avoid being spotted. She was bare-footed but that didn't seem to bother her at all. Thistles and thorns clawed ruthlessly at her flesh, leaving blood trails on her skin, but she was too focused to notice it. The pink dress was looking even more ragged following her run. It appeared muddy and wet as well as if the girl crossed a river or something.
Suddenly, she stopped. With her back at the wall, she tried to recover her breath. Gasping for air, she looked around. A ladybug was crawling up a dill weed plant. Further up to her right, something glittered in the sun. It seemed to be a plate of sorts. As is often the case with shining objects and little girls, her curiosity was stirred. Crawling slowly, she reached the spot. The thing appeared to be made of metal and she could see some signs written over it. She frowned a bit, thinking those could be actual letters. She felt even more aroused. She wondered, could she decipher those letters?
She started scratching with her nails around the object, to no avail. The soil seemed hard around it. Frustrated, she turned around to see if it was something she could use. For a moment she thought about using the pocket knife but dismissed the idea quickly. That was for important tasks only. Aha! With a look of triumph on her little face, she grabbed a twig then started to dig up the mud around the plate. Using her nails as little blades she started to remove the dirt at a furious pace. A few minutes later more than half of the metal thingy was unearthed. She started to pull at it to set it free. One last jerk and it was exhumed at last. The strong pull sent her on her back and it almost flew out of her hands, but she held tight.
Exhausted, she lied there for a full minute. The sun shone brightly in the sky. An idea came to her mind quickly. What if someone saw the light reflected from the object and was on his way to intercept her? She crawled up quickly to the safety of the wall. To her relief, the plaque was still pretty much covered with dirt, so the changes for something like that to happen were pretty slim. Wiping away a curl of hair that was about to enter her eye, she started to clean it up, using her dress sleeve.
There it was. The plate appeared to have been originally white or at least light-colored, but now it was all rusty. And yet, the letters seemed to have been better preserved, probably due to a different coating. She began to read it slowly.
Buck...ingam...no was that an h ?...ingham....palce...palace...then as her mother taught her...in one go....buckingham palace. Hmm as far as she could tell, the word palace meant something like a castle. But everyone knew this place was a prison for as long as she could tell. But she wasn't that old, to begin with so...
Then her doubts began to crawl in. What if she was really lost and that was not the prison she dreamt about? She started sobbing. But her dreams always held true. No, she couldn't be lost. She would get what she came for her. At least that was what that lady told her, Lll...Lerajie yes that what her name. With newfound strengths, she wiped her tears away and peered above the wall. There was silence everywhere and no movement in sight. Moving with care, she started to cross the yard.
Had she looked more carefully, she would have spotted a big white cat sitting atop one of the stone pillars. It appeared as it just basked in the afternoon sunshine. The tail was swinging wildly though as if the cat was chasing something. Mr. Fuzzy had been following the little girl since early morning. Her name was Roseanne and was 12 years old, but he doubted she knew this.
The year was somewhere in the 23rd century. The long war reset humanity to a dark age of technology once more. There were no electric devices anymore, no knowledge stored somewhere on a cd or a magnetic tape. And even if it were, there was nothing to play it with. There was no nuclear war in the end times as many had feared, but what came to be was just as worse. The weapons unleashed at the end of the 21st century gave way to giant geomagnetic storms that ravaged the planet. Satellites, power grids, and radio communications simply vanished in a course of a few years. The final war was a religious one, between the followers of the Old Gods and the Abrahamic zealots. A war between knowledge and ignorance, between true magic and foolish superstitions. On the verge of losing the war, the latter party decided that if they couldn't conquer the world at least to make victory short-lived. With a last desperate attempt, they programmed their most powerful AI machines to destroy all knowledge. All electric and electronic devices were wiped out, the books were the last to disappear. They were simply burnt by the dreaded inquisition in the following centuries. The plan was simple. If humans were stupid once more, then they could be herded as always by fear and ignorance. The sin this time was all knowledge. The inquisition preached that too much information caused the war, hence man should never attempt to make use of logic or god forbid create machines ever again.
With a sigh, Mr. Fuzzy jumped in the tall grass. There were no snakes in the courtyard, unlike the forest. Unbeknownst to her, Roseanne was almost attacked by one when she struggled with the metal plate. Luckily, he was there and ended the little bastard's life. Now he was hurrying towards the building. He had to scour the facility for rats and other dangers. If she were to see a rat in there, she would probably freak out and injure herself. He had to make sure that scenario didn't happen. As for her quest, if his information were correct, that would be the most amazing thing to happen in the last decade for sure. Because you see, you could never really erase knowledge nor deny the Gods. You could only delay the inevitable. One way or another, nature would make its laws known. And that could happen through technology or something else entirely.
Roseanne finally made it to the archway. Once inside, she drew her breath and stopped for a little. The first part of the journey was completed. She was almost inside. All that remained now was to cross the building yard and her prize would be within reach at last. Moss covered the stonewall behind her, so she could tell the place at least looked deserted. Inspirited by this discovery, she took a glance at the courtyard. Dark red slabs were scattered all around the place as if something has blasted the palace walls and they ended up in there. A look-up and her assumption were confirmed. Big ugly holes stared back at her as if roaring at her trespassing.
Seeking the cover of the stone blocks, she reached quickly inside. One thing she could tell right away is that it didn't look like a palace at all. Big iron gates were lined up across the hall as cells did inside a prison. She started to shiver as the cold wind flicked at her bare arms and legs. The dress didn't offer any heat, to begin with. She had to move quickly or she would end up frozen dead in this forsaken place and no one would find her.
Roseanne turned left in a sprint and then went through a rusty gate. The metal creaked and for a moment it seemed her power would not be enough to pull it open. What a dull way to end her adventure. But then, almost crying with desperation she managed to move it a little, just enough for her small body to get through the gap. Alas, the lower dress part was caught by an iron thorn. She tried to put her hand behind bars to set it free, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if the building itself was angry at her trespassing and was trying to stop her by any means. The thorn looked like a little soldier stubborn and steadfast. With a jerk, she set herself free. Still, a small patch of her beloved garment remained behind as a war trophy. For a moment, it looked like the rail was made only of iron spikes and they were grinning at her with an evil menace. Shuddered by the vision she ran for the stairs.
She sprinted until she ran out of breath. The light was growing dimmer. She approached one of the windows to gauge the floor she was on, but couldn't see outside. It seemed the glass was covered in...for lack of better words grey slime. Trembling, she touched it and quickly withdrew her finger. It felt cold and resembled ash. She knew it from the fires her mother started to cook food. But ash covering the windows didn't make any sense to her. She dismissed the thought with a shrug. There were better explanations for it, she was sure. It was just she was just a child and there were a great many things she simply did not know. Her father would know the process name and how that happened. He was always bragging he had chemistry knowledge. Somewhat encouraged by her father’s memory she proceeded further down the corridor. Still, something felt odd about this palace. The total silence seemed heavy as if covering something up.
Mr. Fuzzy killed three rats already. He could feel them from hundreds of feet away, their squeaks, music to his ears. He could sense many things, not just sounds, and noises. And what he felt now didn't look like a rat at all. And not even like some of the palace old denizens. And they were bad alright. But this, this was much much worse. It meant Roseanne didn't have much time left. He hoped the little girl's last night's vivid dream was crystal clear and she would find the buds soon.
The party leader was in a terrible mood as he made his way towards the Buckingham palace alleys. And his mood was usually bad. He couldn't tell what enraged him more. The fact that he was sent on a wild goose chase or that he had to come to this forsaken place once again. He remembered the last visit as it was yesterday. A few hundred men were prisoners in the castle, all scientists. The distinction didn't mean anything to him. They were all heretics, that was the only thing that mattered. He was sent to investigate a claim that someone in there created a new way to communicate. His mission was to find out if there was any truth in it. Only an inquisitor at that time he found the task offensive. It was obvious no one could build something like that, the whole idea seemed preposterous to him right from the start. He remembered he was young and proud. And short-tempered. Halfway through the interrogations, he became bored. Being an inquisitor meant a disciplined and patient mind that was meant to leave no stone unturned in search of the truth. Yet, to him, it was just a step in his career. Now, he was Archbishop Aquarius. His thirst for blood was greater than his thirst for knowledge. How could the inquisitors amass all that information and not be considered sinners? It was explained to him that to fight evil, one should first try to understand it, in and out. And still, it seemed heresy to him. But since that approach couldn't help him in climbing the ladder, he kept his mouth shut and faked being an inquisitor as best as he could. After a few months of questioning and torturing the so-called scientists, he staged an uprising using fake demonic possessions. He let a few inmates escape then he received the Exterminatus order, just as he hoped. His betters were terrified one of them could get free and spread the knowledge to the world. He of course captured them all and then gave the order to have them pinned to the walls and burned alive. A wicked grin crossed Aquarius' face. Even his church name was a mockery to science because Aquarius was an old zodiac symbol. The mockery of pagans never ended. But of course, nowadays there was no one left to catch the joke. His dark mood returned quickly. And now he, an archbishop for Christ's sake he was sent back to atone for his mistakes. To clean up the mess as his cardinal put it. What mess, since he was commended for the burning of the 300 heretics? The necromancer then stepped forward and said in his annoying as hell screechy voice that the legend spoke of a young girl who will turn the tides of war. What damn war, the war they won long ago? He was simply ignored at this point and just advised to catch the girl before was too late. The only thing he was gonna catch was a stink that would persist for days and days. The former inquisitor picked up his pace. The sooner he would end this the better.
The hallway concluded in an archway that was covered in total darkness. She slowed down her pace as she approached the end of it. Squinting her eyes, she could see a door. This must be it! She was so close, only a few more steps. She only had to pass the threshold, when she saw a black shadow floating in the small cloister. It seemed to move to and fro as if guarding the door. She couldn’t understand how it could be darker than darkness itself, much less how it could float. It seemed as if made of heavy smoke. She knew she had to run, but her feet wouldn’t listen, they just seemed glued to the cold cement floor. Mesmerized, Roseanne saw the thing turning slowly around its axis, looking straight at her. Red eyes filled with malice seemed to pierce into her soul. Horrified by the contact she broke the spell and turned to run. The corridor behind her seemed just too long to outrun the entity though. Instead, she just moved quickly to her left and made herself as little as possible, by dropping into a defensive crouch, her hands covering her face. She closed her eyes and waited, heart thudding hard. She couldn’t hear the shadow but somehow could feel it. It was standing beneath the arcade, trying to determine where the child could have possibly gone. The beatings of her heart increased by a hundred gave her away. Slowly, it flowed right in front of her. It was breathing hard, as if through a mask. The hot air coming from its mouth made her curly hair move. Then the breath was all over her face, but she didn’t dare to open her eyes. For a second that seemed an eternity, she waited to be devoured alive. But nothing happened. Her curiosity finally got the better of her. “Curiosity killed the cat, Roseanne”, her father used to say. To which she would giggle “Cats have 9 lives dad, they don’t just die!”. She was staring right into a pair of ruby eyes. Strange, from up close they didn’t seem evil at all. They seemed, sad. An invisible hand moved and touched her cheek, tears going through it, rolling further down on her dress. Then, she became aware the shadow, that took the figure of a man, growled something to her, barely audible. Or maybe it just spoke directly to her mind. She focused to understand. “The buds, Roseanne”. The buds, yes that was what she was here for. But wait, how do you know my name. Before her mind could conjure those ideas and try to voice them, the man in black fog replied “I’ve been waiting for someone like you a very long time, child. I know you…”. She suddenly understood, the thing got her name, by searching through her soul, mind both maybe? Before she could settle for an answer, it was already moving away from her, down the corridor she came.
Aquarius put his goggles on. It was pitch black inside, the windows still covered with black ash from the decade-old sacrifices. The memory brought a cruel smile to his face. He waved the men to spread and start cover the building’s floors. He and half of his men would go right and his mission assigned lieutenant Gorgoroth would go left with the others. Guns ready, they started moving. He wasn’t sure what he would find. There was nothing left of the scientists, he made sure of that. Their bones were liquefied in the napalm fire. That left only the girl. Shooting a young child seemed low even for him. But maybe he could capture and play with her, that might bring him some joy after all. What if she brought someone with her? A raiding party waiting for them to ambush. Highly unlikely, but you never knew. Still, his men were better equipped and trained. They would destroy any opposition without breaking a sweat. He touched his comm device behind his ear. Gorgoroth, do you copy? Nothing but static for a few long seconds. Then a deep voice broke the silence. “Yes, archbishop.” Annoyed by the delay he barked back “What in the name of Christ, took you so long? And it’s your Eminence for you, Gorgoroth.”. Again, static. “I answered as soon as I heard your voice, your Eminence.” If he was upset by the reprimand, the soldier put in a remarkable effort to conceal it. No innuendo seemed to be in his words. Very well, that meant his authority was unchallenged. The leash had to be bound tight around a dog’s neck. “Then what do you make of the…delay?”. “I don’t know, your Eminence. Our scans show nothing out of ordinary still…” the lieutenant’s voice wavered then came to a stop. “Permission to speak plainly, lieutenant”. “The men are restless, sir. They feel the heavy atmosphere of this place and they are not aware of the…incident.” “Nonsense, Gorgoroth. There is nothing left of the old denizens. I made sure of that, you can take my word for it”. “Yes sir, my apologies.” Aquarius was all too well known for his level of bloodshed he would bring to the heretics. Although he tried to maintain his composure in front of his men, he could also feel the heavy environment. It seemed dark malice surrounded the place. The delay stood evidence of its presence. Whatever it was though, he was determined to bring its end.
Mr. Fuzzy arrived just in time to see the black mist engulfing Roseanne. Oh no! He had been so busy following the inquisitor’s cohort that he forgot about the dark things that dwell inside the prison. He started to sprint desperately, trying to save her before it was too late. But then, the dark thing turned back and hovered away from her. Amazingly, she seemed to be alright. Being a cat gave him special powers in the dark, his vision was not hampered at all. He opened his mouth and revealed his teeth in what was meant to be a threatening posture. Claws out, he started to growl, but it came out more like a squeak. The creature stopped for a moment and gave him an amused glance. “Protect her, you…rat followed by what seemed like some sort of laughter” it whispered in his mind as it passed by him. “What..rat? Hey!”, but the black smoked shape was already gone.
He resumed his run towards Roseanne. She was close to the door by now. “Ah!” she let out a scream. Another dark thing was around her legs. “A rat?!!” The thing was purring and its soft fur felt warm and reassuring on her cold skin. “Awww, it’s a cat” Then, without realizing she was hugging the cat, big tears of relief running down her face. She felt so alone and helpless, that even a cat she didn’t know at all seemed like the best friend in the world. “Come on, Mr. Fluffy, we have to open this door.” “Hey, is Mr. Fuzzy you know. I don’t make fun of your name, Roseanne. Wait, she can’t possibly know my name.” She was rubbing her face on his fur and the next thing he knew, his feet were clawing at thin air.
The scream came from straight ahead. It couldn’t have been more than a few hundred steps away. Gorgoroth and his men rushed to meet the sound. It seemed to be a woman’s shout and that could only mean the girl was here. Probably a rat scared her, though he didn’t see any so far. So their intel was accurate after all. He bet the archbishop would be very surprised, but he wasn’t going to tell him just yet. Judging by the way he snapped at him earlier, he seemed a man that it was wise to not bother unless you had strong evidence to back up your words. He would wait until he had the girl in his custody. His thoughts were cut short. Something moved at the edge of his vision. Shouts and groans followed quickly. Some unseen enemy was among their midst. The men gave groaning noises as they crumbled. Damn, the archbishop would hear them any moment now and demand status. His last hopes of solving the situation on his own were shattered when someone opened fire. He twisted and turned, but could not see a damn thing, even with his goggles own. The bullets ricocheted off the walls and hit more of his men. “Stop firing, you morons!” he yelled. “Close combat gear, now! Delta protocol!”
Aquarius heard the gunfire. “What the…lieutenant status…now!” That pathetic fool would kill the target before he got there. If this happened, he would most definitely have his head. Angered, he raced to meet them.
Roseanne heard the noise. She couldn’t tell what exactly was because she never knew how guns sounded. But she could her time was running out fast. Until now, she hesitated to open it both for fear of what was inside and the noise it would make as it appeared to be a rusty old wooden one. She let go of the cat and began to pull at the knob. With a sharp creak, the door opened and she stepped inside. Mr. Fuzzy let go of his anger for being dropped in such an undignifying manner and followed her.
Gorgoroth dropped his goggles and alas he could see something. It seemed as some black smoke moved with preternatural speed and dealt blows left and right. “Men, goggles off. Force shields out. Spread in a circle.” Aquarius closed in fast and saw the lieutenant only had a few men left, but they seemed to have dropped their guns and goggles and resorted to the mystic weapons. He quickly barked the same orders.
While somewhat deterred by the force fields and energy sticks, the enemy entity was still too fast for them and even with the arrival of Aquarius’ forces, the odds didn’t improve much as it doesn’t seem to show any fatigue. Gorgoroth and the archbishop supervised the battle from opposite sides. Aquarius yelled to a pair of soldiers “Run for the corridor!” Just as expected, the thing left its current fight and tried to block them. “Don’t stop, keep going for it!”. The two men looked scared, but they seemed more afraid of the archbishop. The entity caught them in no time. “Gorgoroth, I have an idea, but you’d better gather the men and come by my side.”
The room was surprisingly more vast than she thought it would be. A window was on the left side and a faint light seeped in. It appeared to be dusk outside. She felt exhausted. She didn’t eat anything the whole day, her dress was a mess and her feet hurt from all the running she did all day long. Her bare feet felt sticky on the cold floor. She looked down on them and realized it was blood. It was only so much a 12-year old body could endure. But she was not done yet. She lifted her head and searched the room. Old furniture filled the room. A large library covered the right wall. A couch sat beneath the window. Flowers seemed to have once decorated the rusty leather, but the color was all gone. In front of her, it was an armchair, with the silhouette of a man engraved in the cloth. It was as if the last occupant had been somehow pulverized to atoms and only the shape remained. That would have made her shudder on other occasions, but she was now too tired for that. In the upper left corner stood a closet. Discouraged she looked again at the library. It had so many drawers and so did the closet. “No, no, no, she had no time to go through them all.” Frustration got the best of her. She was so close and yet far far away.
Mr. Fuzzy knew exactly how she felt. He had tried many times to catch pesky little birds in the forest and just when he was about to grab at them, they would fly away leaving him with a bunch of feathers at most. But no, not this time. He failed her once with the entity and he most certainly was not a rat as the thing mocked him. He was her guardian by the blood of Zeus. “What was that? Aha!”
Roseanne became aware Mr. Fluffy meowed loudly and scratched furiously at the armchair’s left leg. The cloth was torn apart at an insane pace. His head was up and he was making wild sounds. At first, she couldn’t see anything, but as her gaze moved upwards following the cat’s direction she could see a small box. It appeared as if the dead person was holding it, for the trace of a hand was encrusted in the ancient fabric. She got close to the box and then took it and lift it. She blew the dust away. Mr. Fuzzy jumped on the lounge and sneezed as the dust, filled his nostrils. The box appeared to be made of some metal and had a dragon embossed on top of it. The dragon’s wings seemed to be moving and from time to time he blew fire. Two blood moons filled the sky above its head.
Aquarius pulled out the supersonic blaster. He aimed carefully right at the creature’s resemblance of a body. Gorgoroth and the rest of the men moved away with speed. “Sir, the men…” Gorgoroth stammered. “Victory demands sacrifices, lieutenant. And what is better than to die a glorious death at the hand of the enemy, fighting for the mighty Inquisition”. “But,…” Gorgoroth started, but then stopped. It was quite clear the archbishop didn’t care about them at all. Those men, his men, were going to die not at the hands of the enemy, but by their kind. And yet, that was the way of the Inquisition for centuries. It was going after its kind, not after the enemy. Or, to put it differently, one could always end up as the enemy one day.
The cannon spurt its deadly stream in an instant, sucking all air in its wake. The black mist turned to face it and it instantly coalesced into form. A dark-robed figure looked at them defiantly. It wore glasses and in his hands, they could see two daggers. “So these were the weapons that ripped his men apart.” thought Aquarius. His face looked familiar to him. “Ah yes, the famous Henu the Great. How could he forget? He was the one with the most knowledge from all the 300 of them. They almost worshiped him as a god, at least that was what he was told when he broke one of the others. They believed him to have uncovered the secrets of the universe and remained only to show them the way. “Well, god or no god,” said Aquarius at the time “ to me he is just another prisoner and he will die as a heretic and nothing more”/ Now, he was not so sure. The energy bubble hit the former scientist straight in the chest, but right before it did he dropped his daggers and put his hands to block it. An incredulous Aquarius looked at how the energy wave stood still for a few seconds. He even feared the creature would send it back to them. “Damn you Aquarius” hissed the entity. “You and your kind will pay dearly for all your treasons, rest assured”. Then, the energy proved too much for him and the ray continued its way forward, obliterating, at last, the energy blueprint of the astonishing scholar that had once been Henu the Great. “Begone, foul demon”, spat Aquarius in a contemptuous smile.
The hissing sound seemed to come from across the corridor, behind the door. Mr. Fuzzy jumped with all his force at the girl’s belly and made her tumble. She grabbed at the box while she fell on her back. Mr. Fuzzy grabbed at her left foot trying to drag her to the closet. Warned by his moves previously she said nothing and just rolled over to the corner of the room, clutching the box tightly at her chest. Mr. Fuzzy jumped at her hair and she instinctively ducked her head and covered her ears as well. The few seconds made all the difference between life and death. The energy ray smashed right through the door and blasted the armchair and the wall behind it to smithereens. The window broke into thousand pieces as did the library. The closet fell in front of them and it was the only thing that kept the wood splinters from the library to tear them apart. The couch also flew in the air stopped some of the books from the shelves that turned to projectiles all across the room. It all took a split second and then it was gone. Cloth and dust rained from the sky as she pulled the closet away from them. Coughing she looked for Mr. Fluffy. His white fur was grey with ash and dust and fabric particles, but he appeared to be okay. He gave a quick meow, but she couldn’t hear a thing at all. His gaze though told her they were coming. It was now or never. With trembling hands, she opened the box.
Aquarius and his men looked at the illuminated hallway for a fraction of a second, then the room at the end of it exploded in a million pieces. Satisfied, he yelled at his followers to move on, but they couldn’t hear him. So, he waved the forward, but none moved. They were afraid to be blasted as well. With a shrug, he went on all on his own. He also made a mental note to hung them all for treason. The damned cowards, if you wanted to finish a job, you had to do it yourself. Those weaklings were just cannon fodder nothing else. As he started marching, he noticed Gorgoroth alongside him and even getting ahead. Good, at least he had one soldier with him just in case. Maybe this one was not as hopeless as he deemed it to be.
The lid open, Roseanne could see two green balls, roughly the size of her small fists. “The buds!” They glittered with a light of their own. She was afraid, they were damaged by the explosion, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Also relieved, she was now puzzled as to what she had to do next. She turned once more to Mr. Fluffy who pushed her hand gently with his nose. With renewed confidence, she grabbed the shiny balls, one in each hand. While she expected them to be solid, they both turned to powder under her strong grip. Puzzled and disappointed she looked once more to the cat. But Mr. Fluffy seemed as disoriented as she was. So, she had arrived too late. They were probably destroyed after all that time. Or maybe the composition they were made of just expired after all those centuries. Then, it happened.
Aquarius and Gorgoroth were both running and they were just about to enter through the door when for the second time that evening, the laws of nature stopped working. He was still running, but he made no progress. He was moving in slow motion or not moving at all, he couldn’t tell. He turned to Gorgoroth, but couldn’t see him even though a second ago he was just next to him. A sudden wave of energy blasted from the room and everything turned white and then black and then burst in a kaleidoscope of colors he couldn’t even describe. He felt hurtled through the air like a human cannonball. As he touched the ground, all conscience deserted him.
Roseanne breathed again and her lungs filled with a substance that had properties only her inventor, Henu the Great could describe. As the buds’ chemicals entered her body, they expanded into her blood system, into her nervous system, and every cell from every organ. The information they contained spread into every fiber of her being. She perceived herself floating into a sea of knowledge, every achievement mankind had ever accomplished not only available to her but engraved in her as well. For eternity. Every deed done by the enemies of the human race, recorded as well, forever. She couldn’t unlearn those things even if she wanted to. The science of the buds was also there. It was so simple and so beautiful at the same time. Without the technological means offered by electric devices, Henu the Great had devised the buds as a means of storing information based on the pollination process. Imprisoned as he was, he had only a few flowers in his cell and his mind. With nothing else to do, he meditated a lot and it was in these silent sessions that the great Goddess Lerajie told him about the hidden power of the plants. Little by little, he started to transfer bits of information, encrypt and decrypt them. He could not finish the process while alive and the Goddess had warned him what would come to happen. He could preserve his energy body and after his physical death, he continued to work on them. After a few decades of mental work, he could conjure the buds into the material realm. After this, the buds continued to attract knowledge on their own. To be more specific, knowledge particles flew to them by all means possible, by wind, by rain, or by little pollinators such as microbes, bacteria, viruses, or big ones such as insects or rats. Those were the means by which great spirit minds wrote on the buds as humans before wrote using pen and paper, or by bits of information inside a computer. In the end, the Goddess herself designed the box that encased them waiting for Roseanne, which She also predicted. After that, he only remained to buy the little girl those few precious seconds.
Roseanne now understood herself and the enemy as well. She was not Roseanne, she was Tabby who was Lily who was Ackai who was Anne, and so on across a multitude of past lives. And the enemy who was now the inquisition, but before was the church and so on. And this enemy always tried to erase knowledge. It destroyed parchments, but mankind then created books. It then burned the books, but mankind created the internet. And then it collapsed the internet and erased all devices, but now mankind had created the buds of knowledge. Each time the enemy destroyed something, mankind replied tenfold. The books covered more information as much as dozens of parchments, then the internet provided information as much as billions of books and now the buds provided not only more information than ever, but at this point, it wasn’t just available. It was recorded on the person’s itself and it could not be forgotten, nor deleted, unless the person was killed. And now she could make other buds and spread them to more people. When they were crushed, they spread knowledge on any human that was within a 10 miles radius. If the enemy was on in the vicinity though, they could not decrypt it, for they did not possess the human soul.
Slowly, the little girl picked the tomcat and moved away towards the courtyard. Come on, Mr. Fuzzy, our job is done here. Time to spread the knowledge. Our people are in great thirst for it. Mr. Fuzzy gave a deep purr and pushed his head gently against her cheek. Mrs. Lerajie was going to be very proud of him, her little protégée.
Aquarius picked himself up. He checked his watch, but it was not working. Outside it was still dusk. But was it the same evening, he wondered. With sluggish moves, he reached the room. Inside there was nothing except broken furniture. He reached the spot where the armchair once stood and remembered he executed the scientist’s wife in this chamber. And left her for dead in there. He watched with great amusement the delivery of the news to Henu. Now, almost a century later, he was standing in the same place, but the joy was gone. The hole in the wall showed only the moon cast across the serene sky. With a shudder, he saw it was a blood moon. Without visible cause, the archbishop felt a wave of fear engulfing him. He could not tell how he knew it, but he could feel deep inside his bones that his role as a lackey for the powers that be was coming to a swift end.
All hail Lerajie!
My Queen, I hope this story finds You well.
Your humble servant, Immortal
✒
