The world is bathed in darkness. What is to become of me? The shadows cradle me and wisp me off to sleep. Can I any longer claim to be an Aidoshian though I have cursed their beliefs? Can I still be called Elvion Nova even though I have cursed my life? Will Univer bring me to Paradise and reunite me with my family or leave me to suffer in Inferno for denying his existence? Suddenly I can see a bright light and I run towards it. Has Univer grown tired of taking and decided to give? The sun is just over the horizon, so close I can feel its warm rays.

“Grandpa, look. He is coming to. You’ve done it.” I hear a girl’s voice.

“Black Technology is not just meant to destroy; it is a miraculous technology that can do wondrous things.” This voice is definitely a male’s and though foreign is kind and worried.

“Are you sure he’s the one?” asks the girl. “He’s scrawny to be the one for the Vortex.”

“I would not risk your life if that was not so,” said the man. “I may have only seen it once but this is definitely the one that will ride the Rift. Look at the monitors. Make sure it stays stable.” He keeps referring to me as it.

What are they talking about the one for the Vortex—the one that will ride the Rift?

“His heart rate is rising give him a mild sedative,” the male says.

“Yes, sir,” the girl comments.

The darkness once again is all around me there is no light in the distance, no hope in this horizon. I remain stuck in a world of shadows with no way out. I am shackled to the ground and there is no way to move.

The light once again returns and the shackles burn away. I find myself not in Univer’s Golden Kingdom or in the fiery pits of Inferno, but in the bed of an all-white, brightly lit room that has no windows. Tubes are hooked up all over my body pumping liquid into me. An annoying beeping sound comes from a machine next to me that seems to follow my heart beat. One of my hands is handcuffed to the bed. Have I been captured by the Gandole? Is this where they tortured Aidoshian captives and drove them insane?

My arms and legs are numb but, I can move them. I have to get out. I have to find Timpuji, Kai and Fantasia. I move the sheet off me. I see wires and tubes going into my body on my left side, exactly where the sharp pain was I felt in Aidon.

Suddenly, a stairwell comes from the ceiling. Footsteps follow from a woman dressed in a white lab coat and pinned up brown hair. She has flawless creamy skin and a figure a goddess would be resentful of. Her eyes are sky blue. She is older than I am. She looks as shocked to see me as I am to see her. She quickly runs back upstairs. I hear mumbling before she returns with an elderly man. She helps him take the steps down as he positions each in coordination with his cane. These two must be who I heard earlier in the darkness. What do they want with me?

“It is good to see you on this side of life,” the old man says. “How do you feel?”

I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t think I can. My voice still feels faded.

“I see. That’s how it is. You’re not going to thank the one who saved your life?” The man gives me a cold stare. He is right. I should.

“Th, th, th, th-ank yo-u,” I finally get out. My first attempt at speaking is hard to put the words together. My throat is aching.

The man looks at me holding back a smile. “You’re quite welcome. Naomi, if you wouldn’t mind, could you get it some water.”

“Yes, sir,” she replies as she walks to the stairs.

“We will explain why you’re here and who we are. My name is Dr. Jackson I am a Gandole scientist and so is my granddaughter Naomi who you just met. I will show you the Vortex,” he says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looks like a small, metal seed. “This small device is one of the most destructive and powerful machines on the planet… It is Pure Black Technology, unlike all other devices used by the Gandole. You see, Pure Black Technology cannot be used by any Gandole. Instead, we create crude, very weak replicas in comparison to its Pure form. Aidoshians, on the other hand, are extremely compatible with this technology because of a slight difference in their DNA sequence that no other race shares. In other words, Aidoshians aren’t human but rather an alien race. That’s where you come into play, Elvion. You are especially compatible with Black Technology Pure and Copy. The Vortex is the most powerful of all known Black Technology Seeds.” The man pauses then rubs his head. “But I guess you don’t know what a Black Technology Seed is huh?” he asks almost joking. “Once we implant this inside you, we will be able to take out all these wires and you’ll feel better than you ever have, maybe… It’s either that or you will die.”

I can’t tell if he’s joking or not. However there is no way out of this.

Naomi comes down the stairs with a crystal-clear glass in her hand. She walks over to me and hands me the glass. I can’t believe it. I have not used a glass like this in over ten years. All the cups we used in Aidon were chipped and sometimes cut your tongue. The water would usually be dirty and have a few bugs in it.

“What’s wrong?” Naomi asks me.

“I…I I wo-n’t drink th-this,” I state as best I can.

“Why not?” she asks looking at the cup. “Is there something wrong with it? You need to keep your fluids up, after all, you were dead.”

“Naomi, set the water on the nightstand. It will drink when it is ready,” the old man says.

“You sa-id my name earlier. How d-o y you kno-w it?” I ask.

The old man repositions himself on his cane. “Believe it or not, long ago before this foolish war started, I visited one of Aidon’s many Univer shrines. One of the Great Oracles showed me a vision of you lying on the very street corner we found you. She told me I must save you some eighteen years later. I don’t know why but I believed her and all this time I waited for the fated day I would meet Elvion Witeler Nova.”

“Yeah and he dragged me into this crazy nonsense,” Naomi says jokingly to the old man. “Well, we won’t know if it’s true until tomorrow, if you’re the one.”

“I would unlock your handcuffs but, the only thing keeping you alive is these wires going into your side. If you pull those out, you’ll die almost instantly or very slowly and painfully depending on which one comes out,” the old man says as he walks to the stairs. He looks at me for a moment before continuing up the staircase.

“I know he seems a little strange, Elvion, but he does mean well,” Naomi says as she bends down to look at me eye level. “We are sorry for the pain our people must have caused you, and I understand there’s nothing I can say that would make you hate me any less. We are doing a lot to help you and when the Black Technology Seed has been implanted, you will be able to take your revenge on whomever you please. Of course you will need the Rift and training first.”

“Why d d-do you wantt to h hel-p me?” I ask.

“Because this world is evil, whenever any nation has the power to slaughter millions of innocent people without any repercussions, it is time for change. It is time for someone to act as the hand of justice and reset the balance of right and wrong. We believe you are the person who can do just that. We must rely on you, Elvion, because we don’t have the power to do it ourselves.” She turns to walk away.

“W-wait-t… Am I an… alien?”

“You are genetically different from humans like all Aidoshians. But unlike any other Aidoshian you are a pure bred and the only one known to exist. I would not go so far as to say you are an extraterrestrial being or anything of that sort like my grandfather made it sound. You are part of a race that has been watered down over time despite attempts to keep the race pure. I know this must be difficult to understand but I’m sure you’ll understand in time.”

She turns to the stairwell and walks up. I guess it’s her way to end a conversation. I find it weird but am I a traitor to my people for not hating these Gandole scientists? I can’t explain this feeling. For some reason I trust them. Strange. Before I died, hatred consumed me and I lost my family because of that. Now I don’t want anything to do with war. I’m sick of it.

Naomi’s Grandfather told me I’m not human. They brought me back to life to deliver vengeance for my people. Will I have to become Inferno’s hound and work hand in hand with Fayták? If yes, then so be it. I will reap their souls until I discover my own burning forever in Inferno’s fire, but not before I find out what happened to my family.

I grab the cup from the nightstand. It’s so beautiful I actually want to cry. I wish Timpuji, Fantasia, and Kai were here. We’d all marvel in awe at it. Fantasia would probably spill some of it and Timpuji would scorn her a little while Kai and I laughed.

“Cheers, guys. To our new life!” I say as happily as I can but no one is here and the happiness fades to grief. Tears roll down my face uncontrollably and memories of my family overwhelm me as I drink the water from the cup. “It’s salty and bitter. Fantasia wouldn’t like it at all.” A grim smile sprawls across my face.

∞

I must have fallen asleep because suddenly Naomi is shaking me. She looks a bit on edge. “We have run out of time. The military found out my grandfather stole the Vortex and are searching the house as we speak.”

“What can I do? I’m handcuffed to the bed,” I say. “Not to mention these wires.”

“You drank the water, right?” she asks.

“Yes but I don’t see how that helps our situation,” I say.

She removes the tubes and wires one at a time starting from my neck down to the ones going into my side. It takes her ten minutes to take them all out. She quickly wraps the hole in my side that for some reason isn’t bleeding. Then she unlocks the handcuffs and quickly pulls me out of bed. She doesn’t give me the opportunity to walk. Naomi whips me over her shoulder carrying me up the stairs to the most beautiful house I have ever seen. I hear faint mumbling as well as the rustling of footsteps and the breaking of glassware. She isn’t lying. The soldiers are ransacking their house. She walks over to one of the walls in their dining room and rips the pictures and wall paper down with me still over her shoulder. Behind them is a slide door that she quickly opens and closes behind us.

“Where is your grandfather?” I ask in a whisper.

“They won’t kill him,” she says. “He is Gandalia’s most esteemed Black Technology scientist.”

“Is he staying behind to make sure we escape?” I ask.

“Yes,” she replies as she flicks a light switch. “My grandfather anticipated the military would raid the house. So he has been building and fine tuning this jet for ten years.”

In the center of the room is a small, three-seater escape jet that is thin and black. What type of person thinks of these kind of things after hearing a vision from a foreign Oracle?

Naomi opens the cockpit and places me in the seat farthest to the back. She gets into the seat in front of me. The first seat must be her grandpa’s. I hear her flicking switches but I can’t see over the seat. The wall in front opens showing a small runway extending from the house. A loud screech fills the air as the jet’s twin engines ignite. Within seconds we are flying in the air.

“It looks like we’re going to get out of this one just fine,” she says blissfully.

“You sound happy for someone that left their grandpa behind,” I say.

“Because it’s what he wanted. We all have a mission in life. His was to save you. Mine is to train you to use Black Technology once I integrate it into your body.

“You are going to train me?” I ask.

“Yes and now we are on our way to the Rift… I have a Copy Seed of the Black Seed Adrenaline within myself. I thought he would have told you.”

“What is a Black Technology Seed?” I blurt out.

“It is a special form of Black Technology that fuses itself with a human. It can allow someone to pilot Black Technology vehicles like the super weapon Myrmidon or use Black Technology Weapons such as guns and swords. The Black Technology Seeds or Black Seeds all have different abilities that transfer to the host once integrated. No other race besides Aidoshian can use Pure Black Technology. Because of this the Gandole try to reverse engineer it but it is too advanced and they cannot make an exact replica. Copy Black Seeds will not allow someone to pilot or use anything Pure though.”

“So it’s just more violence,” I say accusingly.

“No,” she says. “Black Technology has healing properties too. It’s the reason you are alive right now. You may have noticed there is a large hole in your side and it is not bleeding. It is because we implanted tiny microscopic robots called nanites into your body that are rejuvenating you.”

“When?” I ask.

“When you drank the water we gave you,” she replies.

“Why not inject me with them. How did you know I would not have thrown the glass against the wall?”

“I wondered the same thing for a while,” she comments. “It was my grandfather’s idea. I think he wanted you to want our help before he gave it. You have to want to live before he forced life upon you or at least that is what I think.”

“You Gandole are a strange people,” I say.

She’s right though. If they forced the water on me, I would have had a reason to hate them. I decided as long as I live, I will live for those killed. I will carry on their honor. I will forge a new future with my own two hands. If that future is a vengeful or peaceful one, only I will decide, not any man, not even Univer, Fayták or Takeones (Tākē-on-ǝs).