Stand Alone 6

Black Sapphire knelt down before The Knowledge and sighed. “A bigger picture is forming here.”

“The universe is a vast place. It has many mysteries that even the Cataloguers have yet to discover. We know much, and yet every day discover something new.” The Archivist spoke quietly at her side. “Perhaps it is time you rested. You have been using The Knowledge for hours now and we seldom use it for more than one viewing at a time.”

She nodded and stood. “Do you have somewhere I can sleep for a few hours?”

He nodded and led her away from the massive stone. It watched her leave. The Knowledge was not done with her this night, and her dreams were wracked with nightmares.


Stand Alone 6 - Falling Down


I fell to Earth one day in the Silver Age of Man.

A new day was dawning, and I was going to be used to usher in an age of change. The Age of Heroes.

It began when I fell through a crack in the universe and landed in another.

My name is Arien and I am an immortal, one of the High Blood Caste, advisor to the Queen and friend to her sons. When I fell through the crack I was lost to them, but someday they would search for me.

As I landed I was subsequently slain from the impact, but by the time the authorities had arrived to assist me I had already come back to life. My soul was still weak, and it did not take long for the people in control to catch wind of my arrival. The government knew what they had in their hands. Power.

I was to be used as the catalyst for a process to jump-start humanity's genetic potential. It worked in more ways than they could anticipate. I augmented hundreds, thousands of people and started the next era.

Make no mistake; I did not create all of the heroes of the age. There were others already emerging before I arrived. But I assisted in the foundation. Everyone I touched was part of me. Even though they kept me on the verge of death I could feel myself out in the world. The day I escaped was the day I felt myself giving birth. The first time one of my pieces divided woke me from my drug-induced coma, and allowed me to break free of my containment and go out into the world.

My escape, however, was a short one. I quickly fell into a situation that I could not have foreseen... although my captors had.

They were called The Cataloguers. They watched the universe and recorded everything to The Knowledge. I know you’re watching this message, Mercedes. They told me you would come to them for answers one day, and they told you what was coming. After I take my leave of them I will be no more; my curse can be broken through sacrifice and that is what I shall do... sacrifice myself for the greater good.

This day is coming soon. As soon as they free me I shall find the people to finish what I accidently began all those years ago. A force to head into the future and lead the others against the coming darkness.

Take what you can from them, Black Sapphire, and prepare yourself for the future. The Event was only the beginning. Soon the ripples that started with Shrulk will become a wave, and that wave will collide with the shore, and only you can prevent it from becoming a tsunami.

******

Her eyes snapped open and her breath rushed out of her body. “What the hell was that?”


TBC in Intro to Education 105