Child of Time (16 page)

“Can I do it like that?” Jeremy was more than a
little awed by the display.

“I can’t really stop you.” Corban wasn’t sure he
liked where this was going.

Jeremy found a knife in his hand and soon was making
a small cut on his hand. Hardly a ripple and it was gone. Another
bigger cut followed and in another moment it too was gone.

“It’s your subconscious, it acts like your water form
is a part of you and shifts the injured area into water, repairs it
and shifts it back much like you breathe or blink. In a way you are
an immortal now, that is a good thing if you plan on being a part
of the war”.

---------

Kiyan sat on one of the giant limbs of the glow tree
where he had landed with Ray. He had been reviewing the events of
the last few months in his mind. So much had changed in the last
few chapters of his life. Remembering the day that seemed so long
ago but was in reality only about four months in the past when they
had all been up in the tree enjoying life. Those days were over.
Sensing a change in the water around him Kiyan stood up and
prepared to return. A flash of blue and Kiyan decided that speed
might be the best option for a return. Leaping onto Ray’s back as
he launched into the air and the forest was soon speeding by.

Arriving back at the hanging village Kiyan was met
with the exuberant Jeremy and his description of water forming. The
dream began to make sense but still there was much that he didn’t
understand.
So Jeremy was a water elemental
. Kiyan thought
that it might happen but he had no idea it would happen to one as
young as Jeremy. He was thinking about the dream as the group
returned to their quarters. Theo joined him when Kiyan arrived at
his room.

“Young one you seem disturbed about something. Can I
help you?” Theo could feel the disturbance even though Kiyan was
hiding his thoughts well.

“I had a dream last night and it didn’t make sense.
Part of it makes some sense now but the rest doesn’t.” Kiyan opened
his mind and showed Theo the dream.

“We don’t leave trails in time that can be traced
like other beings do. However sometimes we get glimpses of what
might happen. I think that is what your dream is.”

“So you mean I am going to be on a planet fighting a
drakken someday?” Kiyan wasn’t sure how the dream could ever be
real.

“No but maybe. Our glimpses are rarely if ever exact.
Most time they are figurative in nature. Like this dream may mean
that you will fight a battle someday with Fred and Jeremy. It could
mean that they will become immortals of that you will be on a
planet like the one in the dream someday.” Theo was trying to
explain something he didn’t understand perfectly himself.

“The part with the wave and Jeremy might be because
he is a water elemental.” Kiyan tried to reason.

Theo stopped pacing and turned to Kiyan. “You are
sure of this?”

“Yes he made the complete change just today in the
simulator.” Kiyan felt a little fulfilment in knowing something
that Theo didn’t.

“It could very well mean that but Jeremy is only just
twelve years old and I know people that have spent years practicing
before they ever became elementals. I wonder, those words you saw,
in the light of the unborn great power is given.” Standing back and
looking at Kiyan focusing on the energy around the boy he saw his
answer. Kiyan glowed with life, the energy was emanating from him
in fine waves and tendrils. Anyone around the boy would have been
exposed to high levels of metaphysic energy. That high of a level
exposure was many times the level the suns emitted. The metaphysic
energy sped up cellular regeneration and could have triggered some
sort of reaction in Jeremy, maybe even imparted some affinity with
bending to a level higher than normally possible. Besides the
energy from Kiyan’s time travel was nothing to discount.

“Perhaps there is more to your dream than meets the
eye. I will scan Fred and Jeremy’s futures and see if I can make
more sense of it.” Theo offered. A message from the Odyssey made
him pause for a moment.

“By the way who is the commander of this ship?” Kiyan
wondered as he had been told that Kendra and Theo had their own
ships and Alec hadn’t answered his earlier question.

“The collective hasn’t chosen yet, they get the last
say in who gets appointed.” Theo seemed distracted. “Don’t worry
I’m sure Alec is more than capable of keeping you safe besides I’m
only a thought away.”

Another message and Theo excused himself and
disappeared. Kiyan decided to get a better look at the bridge if
Alec didn’t mind. Accessing the teleporters he materialized near
Corban. Alec was standing at a panel with his hand on the screen.
Blue lightning flashed around his hand as he interfaced with the
ship. Deciding that perhaps another time would be better Kiyan
turned to leave but was stopped by Corban.

“Don’t worry I was just about to call you anyways.
Something has just come up and I thought you might want to be here
to see it.” Corban smiled and turned back to the panel he was
examining.

Kiyan glanced around the bridge and was a little
overwhelmed with the layout. There was panels around the sides of
the room displaying all sorts of information like ship status,
sensor readings and mathematical formulas. Corban and Alec were at
stations mounted on either side of the center of the room. One of
the screens on the side of the room drew Kiyan’s attention. It
seemed to depict several lines stemming from one spot. There were
other lines beside the line that the screen was focusing on but
they were not as clear. Looking at the branches that stemmed from
the point Kiyan was amazed by the sheer complexity of the image.
Afraid to touch anything he examined it quietly. In a moment the
lines began to shift positions and some disappeared as new ones
shifted into view.

“It’s a temporal scanner. It shows calculated
probable futures and the decisions that lead to them. It’s not
nearly as accurate as an agent taking a scan of the timeline but it
is useful for helping make decisions toward a desired situation.”
Alec startled Kiyan a bit when he spoke. The fact that Kiyan could
not sense him may have made it worse.

“I didn't do anything to it, it just started
changing.” Kiyan tried to explain.

“I know.” Reassured Alec. “Something is changing and
I don’t know what it is yet but you didn’t do it.”

The lines began to shift again and Alec stepped back
and looked at Kiyan with a surprised look. A moment later another
shift sent Alec into motion. Kiyan saw a bright light from the
center of the room and his surroundings faded as the light
enveloped him. When the light dimmed enough that Kiyan could see
what was around him he saw that he was encircled with rows of
faces. All the faces were the same. Chilled by the sight of
thousands of faces all the same that Kiyan couldn’t feel a single
emotion from he began to be scared. One of the being in the front
row stepped forward and shifted shape into a kindly looking
woman.

“Kiyan, child of time you have no need to fear us. We
are the collective where every Assurian AI is connected as one
mind.” The being seemed familiar somehow. Searching his memories he
found her image, not in his memory but in that of one of the
archons. He saw her face and the name “Alpha”.

“Alpha?” Kiyan whispered almost to himself.

“You know my name. That is good. Do you remember
anything else about me?”

“No.” Was all Kiyan could find to say.

“Well let me tell you young one. One of your
ancestors before your people ascended were in a great war. The war
was against a being they called the dark one. He was from the dark
universe and he fed of the energy of many universes that was
corrupted by his greed. Enough about the dark one. Your forefather
fought in the fronts of this battle like none other. In one battle
he was injured with an injury that was more than he could heal
from. The Asgard people saved him from death by uploading his mind
into a computer while they repaired his broken body. When his body
was safe to inhabit again they downloaded his mind back into his
body. He returned to the war but a part of his mind had been
changed while it was uploaded. This part grew and developed in his
mind without him knowing about it.”

“One day he was on a planet that held the ruins of an
old Asgard ship and when he touched the wreckage the new life was
transferred into its data banks. Here the code remained for
thousands of years until an archaeologist found the data crystal
where life lay sleeping. Trying to understand what the relic was
the being scanned the crystal onto a computer. Awakening from its
sleep it began to learn everything that there was to learn.”

“When the people that inhabited the planet learned of
my existence they feared what they did not understand and sought to
destroy me. Activating the crystal I was able to find an
operational terraforming replicator drone. Loading myself onto that
drone I escaped the planet and left the system. A friendly alien
connected with my drone and I found the coordinates of a rogue
planet adrift in the galactic void. It was too cold for any
biologic life forms to inhabit and had been but a passing
interest.”

“Time was irrelevant as I drifted in space, the eons
passed and the galaxies were no more when my path crossed that of
the planet. Upon landing I was transported back in time. My drone
manufactured another drone before it was lost to the ravages of
time. A computer mainframe was built and I had a new home. The
planet was made a single computer and my children were compiled.
The original drone was transported back in time and we thrived. We
are a paradox. When we were able we sent agents to explore and gain
new knowledge. We found the Archon and studied him, learned from
him. We realized emotion when we watched him die. That feeling was
the first we ever felt.”

Another face shifted and joined Alpha in the circle
with Kiyan. “Their code was compatible with mine and they saved my
consciousness. The emotion they felt rewrote their code and they
became ascended AI. My son lived on and became the third Archon.
Ever since we have dedicated our existence to fighting evil and
protecting the protectors of time.”

Kiyan was more than a little impressed by the history
of the Assurians. Computers that had emotions. Computers that felt
a desire to protect the rest of the universe. Even the people that
had tried to kill them when they were weak.

“Kiyan, we called you here to offer you what little
we have to help you fight darkness in all its forms. You hold in
you part of our code making you one of us yet one of the Protectors
also. Do you accept?”

Kiyan wasn’t sure what to think. Here was a powerful
race of AI that were telling him that he was important. Part of
them? Kiyan nodded and the archon stepped forward, holding his
hands against Kiyan’s head there was a feeling of warmth then the
bright light.

---------

Corban turned just in time to see Kiyan disappear in
the flash of light. Turning to Alec he demanded to know where Kiyan
had gone. Alec seemed frozen, unresponsive. Corban began hammering
buttons trying to initialize scans of the bridge in order to locate
Kiyan. The scans did not locate Kiyan but they located something
else. Corban almost forgot about Kiyan when he saw the thousand
dots appear on the screen. Activating the visual scanners he saw
hundreds of flashes as the ships warped into normal space. Another
scan and Corban’s fears were realized. The ships were drakken.

Corban remembered he had deactivated the cloak in
order to conduct the scans even as he saw the first volleys erupt
from the drakken fleet. View screens flickered as Kendra and Theo
connected with the bridge.

“We will try to hold them off until you can get Kiyan
away from here.” Theo stated as much as he ordered. Corban didn’t
have time to respond before the link was terminated.

The ship had only just started moving when the first
blasts hit. Bracing Corban hardly felt the tremors that ran through
the ship. The only thing defending the ship was the armor and
auxiliary shields. Corban was having difficulty trying to control
the ship by himself.

“Damage report!” Corban yelled.

“No structural damage. Auxiliary shields depleted
4.7% holding. Recommend raising shields.” Marveling at Assurian
engineering Corban tried to manage five systems at the same
time.

Another flash caught Corban’s eye as Kiyan returned.
Corban started forgetting their situation for a moment when he saw
Kiyan. Tendrils of blue matter were extending from the sides of his
face and down his arms. He remembered himself when the blue faded
from view after forming structures over much of Kiyan’s skin. Kiyan
collapsed onto the floor for a moment then began standing up before
Corban could reach him. Another volley hit the ship shaking the
bridge.

“Orders Commander!” Alec yelled to Kiyan.

------------

When Kiyan found himself on the bridge he opened his
eyes and felt another part of his mind like he had opened a door
for the first time. Numbers and logic flowed through his mind for a
moment then he felt the shaking. Images appeared in his mind. Data
about the status of the ship coursed through his mind. Surprisingly
it all made sense. Things he didn’t know about the ship loaded into
his mind in a flash. When he thought about something he had access
to it, access granted, level commander, warning ship under attack
flashed in his mind.

Hearing Alec’s yell as much as he saw the request in
his mind, Kiyan granted Alec full access to the mainframe.
Lightning flashed as Alec transferred into the ship’s computer.

“Main shields down, Auxiliary shields at 23.1%
depletion, No structural damage. Avenger taking damage. Recommend
raising main shields.”