The Next Generation Part 15
The Truth of Existance
By Krazy Sam
“Ready?”
Sari stretched and turned to Lana. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Is Nika ready?”
Nika nodded. “I ready. You begin mind join now?”
Lana shrugged. “You might as well start it now. If you started it as the competition began, Santin might notice…”
Sari smiled. “Good point.” She shut her eyes and Nika grinned. Soon, Sari opened her eyes again and Nika nodded again.
“Let’s go. That moron is waiting,” Nika murmured. Lana whirled to face Sari and was answered with a short nod.
“That was me,” Sari explained. “I was testing.”
“Testing, testing, one two… three?” Nika grinned. Lana raised an eyebrow.
“Why the hesitation?” she questioned. Sari grinned wickedly.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she answered softly, eyes twinkling madly. Lana shrugged.
“I’ll take your word for it. Let’s go!”
.
“They’ll be here any minute… I wonder if they have any of those ape tricks up their furry sleeves,” Santin spat back at the hideout. A fellow reptite, with golden scaly skin from head to toe, shook his head.
“I seriously doubt it. The mammals aren’t smart enough to even figure out how to trap animals,” he retorted disdainfully.
Santin faced his comrade. “The human with the metal arm and the other one with the fire maker seem to be smarter than all the other humans we’ve encountered, though,” he argued. The golden reptite shook his large head.
“You’re still smarter than them. After all, you know that the planet is round, and you know of the Big Secret. They don’t.”
“The Big Secret…” Santin murmured. “To think, we were…”
“Don’t say it,” the gold reptite interrupted. “It’s sickening to even think of it. I mean, humans…”
“I just ate… please…” Santin pleaded. His colleague turned away.
“It’s so hard to think about anything else. To one visiting, we’re just déjà vu. To one watching our planet from afar, we’re just a “rerun” to be watched over and over again, but to us, everything’s new. Everything is being experienced for the first time- with slight variations. We’re a game with new players joining in the fun…” he uttered. Santin stepped forward and placed a claw on the golden reptile’s shoulder.
“You forgot one thing. We may be a “rerun”, and everything might be repeating, but you’re right about one thing. Everything is being experienced for the first time to us. For us, the future is not written in stone. The reptites still have a chance to live… and this is it. This competition isn’t for my ego, it’s for the future of the reptites! Our fate will be sealed in one hour. Whether we live or die is to be decided by a few simple questions directed at myself and the smartest human known to our species. This may not be a fight where only the victor remains breathing, but it will end up that way even if violence doesn’t break out. Today, I compete for your lives!”
The other reptite sighed. “What if she defeats you?”
Santin turned away and gazed down the side of the mountain, where three humans were climbing. “Then our species is doomed, and they must learn the truth before we die.”
“Pardon? We’re going to allow them to see it?”
Santin lowered his head. “It would be the kind thing to do. If I should die as a result of violence, you are to reveal the Big Secret… if they are to inherit the planet, I would prefer that they knew why they were here.”
The other reptite lowered his head and shut his large eyes. “Azala would have never allowed it.”
Santin glared at his comrade. “Azala is dead. I don’t care what he would have done. I’m more peaceful than that…” he trailed off. “We won’t lose. The humans aren’t even aware of the planet’s shape. There’s nothing to fear.”
.
“Are we there yet?” Nika whined. Sari turned to Lana.
“That was me,” she murmured sheepishly. “She picks up on my stray thoughts… too bad I can’t screen them out…”
“She’s doing it again…” Nika muttered. Sari sighed.
“That was me again,” she groaned.
“Oh?” Lana laughed as she followed the trail higher. Sari nodded.
“Duh,” Nika replied in a mocking tone. Sari giggled.
“Sorry.”
.
The golden reptite frowned. “Fifteen minutes, sir.”
Santin smiled. “This will be a piece of Etarian beetle.”
The golden reptite grinned, but immediately frowned again. “I’ve never been to Etaria. Is it a nice place?”
“Beautiful… didn’t your brother migrate to Etaria?”
The golden reptite nodded slowly. “Yes… he did. The last I heard of him, he was dying… the climate’s been changing since Lavos crashed into the planet.”
Santin turned away. “Time traveling humans defeated him in the future, Atros.”
Atros smiled. “Good.”
“I heard that more time travelers arrived and are here to fight another one of his kind. It arrived much farther into the future, but for some reason, the Big Secret can help them ward off any others,” Santin confided.
“Then why were the creators destroyed?” Atros questioned. Santin frowned.
“Gradual changes. The creators couldn’t survive in their new environment, so…”
“We’re here!” Nika’s voice interrupted. Atros sighed in frustration and Santin whirled around.
“You arrived on time. How astonishing,” he said emotionlessly, cleverly hiding his true feelings. “Are you ready?”
.
“Question one,” Atros stated. “What is the product of twelve hundred forty-nine and ten thousand fifty two??”
Nika smiled. “Twelve million, five hundred fifty four thousand, nine hundred forty eight,” she uttered triumphantly. Atros quickly did some mental math, and he stared at her, astonished.
“Correct…” he murmured. Santin gasped.
Atros cleared his throat. “What elements make up water?”
“Hydrogen and oxygen!” Nika cried. Atros narrowed his eyes.
“What…?”
Sari panicked from the side. Quickly scanning Atros, she sighed in relief.
“I mean, Ulant and Maka,” Nika giggled. Atros eyed her suspiciously.
“What are hydrogen and oxygen?” he growled. Nika sighed.
“It’s what we humans call them…” she retorted in annoyance. “Moron…” she added under her breath.
Santin eyed Sari suspiciously. “I think that Nika is doing well only because her friends are here…” he voiced. He closed one eye. “I know what you are doing…” he spoke telepathically to Sari, “And, personally, I don’t appreciate it.”
Sari lowered her head in shame. “I’ve broken the link,” she replied mentally. Santin smirked.
“That’s better,” he answered out loud. Sari smiled softly.
“Sucker,” she whispered inaudibly.
Atros looked around. “This final question will be worth the whole match. Whoever gets this one correct wins the competition,” he said. Santin smirked again. “What shape is the planet?”
“Round,” Nika cut in before Santin could even reply. He lowered his head in shame.
“How could I have beaten so soon?” he muttered. Atros turned away.
“It is time…” he murmured. Sari quickly broke the mental link between herself and Nika and whirled to face the reptites.
“Time for what?”
Santin sighed. “There has been a great secret on the origin of our species and our time periods. It is time that you learned the Big Secret.”
Sari cocked her head. “Tell us more.”
Lana sighed. “Yes, please do.”
Atros nodded to Santin, who sucked in a deep breath. “Billions of years ago, in another galaxy, the Milky Way, a planet was formed. Humans evolved on this planet, and named it Earth. However, another species arrived first, the dinosaurs. These dinosaurs were killed by a being quite similar to Lavos, but unlike Lavos, it died on impact. The crash caused a drastic change in climate, which in turn annihilated the dinosaurs.” He sighed. “But I’m getting off track… Well, millions of years later, humans evolved. They developed tools, weapons, knowledge, religion, and separate cultures. These cultures often fought, and major weapons were designed to kill off rival tribes. However, thankfully, rockets were not only used for war, but for space exploration. Because of the exploration, contact with new life forms was made, and alliances were formed… as were other rivalries. One species, the Paal, created a weapon that destroyed the Earth’s atmosphere. Humans were dying off quickly, and a select few were chosen to make the long journey here, to Relgus nine.”
Lana gasped. “So this isn’t Earth, but a planet named Relgus nine?”
Atros nodded. “Santin speaks the truth.”
Santin coughed and continued on with the story. “Another species was genetically engineered to be rivals to the few humans. We were that species. The few humans that were sent here had all memories erased- from their names and birthdays to the workings of simple tools and machines. However, technology had significantly advanced, and it was possible to create humans to do a certain purpose. Theirs was to recreate life on Earth since humans first arrived. The plan worked perfectly, except for a few humans who actually remembered some parts of their previous heritage. Nika is one of these people.”
Sari nodded. “I know of others. Zeal’s inhabitants, from 12,000 BCE, were all part of this group. Lana, your ancestors were part of the group, too.”
Lana turned away. “I guessed. So… I am one of these people?”
Santin nodded slowly. “Yes, and so is the girl with the metal arm.”
“Sari?” Lana asked.
“I’m a descendant of you,” Sari replied quickly. Lana nodded.
“So that explains everything… But where is the evidence?”
Santin coughed again. “In the lost forest, there is a clearing… find this clearing, and there is a capsule buried there. It will seem to call you the whole way, but there are many monsters about. Be careful.”
Sari cocked her head. “Why are you being so kind?”
Santin faced Sari. “You apes are going to inherit this planet… what would be the point of ruling the world if you didn’t know who created you?”
“We were created…” Lana muttered softly. Nika nodded.
“I guess…” she added meekly. Sari sighed.
“So I was never meant to love Tavi…” she whispered. Lana faced her descendant.
“I guess not…” she uttered.
Santin shrugged. “I don’t know, but the decision isn’t mine to make. I will go now. Good bye.” He slowly walked to the cave, and faced the three women. “At least you know the truth. Fare thee well.” He descended into the cavern, leaving Atros alone with the three. His eyes narrowed and he growled.
“I know that you cheated. Santin knew that the environmental changes were going to kill us off, so he allowed this to continue. Personally, I believe that a few of us will survive this change.”
Sari blushed. “I’m sorry, but, technically, since I was able to defeat Santin, humans must be smarter than reptites…”
Atros turned away. “You’re from the future and you can read minds. Besides, Santin let you win. Our conversation before the competition made him realize how little time we had left.”
Nika lowered her head. “I’ll not forget reptites…”
Atros smirked. “Yes you will. You won’t remember a thing.” He whirled around and his eyes began to glow red. Soon, he lashed out at Sari, slicing her right arm.
“What?” Sari shrieked in surprise. Her purple bat immediately materialized in her left hand and a ball spun into her right. She tossed the ball upward and swung the bat as hard as she could. The ball was smacked forward, into Atros’s midsection.
“How could you? We trusted you!” Lana cried. Atros frowned.
“You expect me to stand idly by while my species is being wiped out? I’ve always had a hate for humans, and I’m going to take as many of them with me as I can. After you, it will be the Laruba villagers!!!” He leapt in front of Lana and spun her around violently. Dizzy and confused, Lana watched dumbly as Atros grinned. Suddenly, he seemed to split into three, and she felt the urge to attack. She hastily chose the one on the right. She aimed her gun, and fired.
“Hey!” Nika screamed in pain. Lana had aimed at her in a fit of chaos. Nika clutched her bleeding left shoulder and growled. Angered greatly by the attack, she dashed at Lana at full speed, knocking her down.
“Wha…?” Lana murmured dazedly. She sighed and turned her attention back to Atros, her mind totally clear. Sari smiled softly and raised her right arm.
“Those who hold the powers of darkness, transfer them to me! Those who hold the light, step down! Dark Beam!” She thrust both arms forward, and a pitch black ray that was two feet in diameter shot forward and engulfed Atros. He flew backward and gasped.
“You’re stronger than I thought…” he uttered hoarsely. Sari sneered.
“Had enough?”
Atros frowned. “Life, depart from the evil and return to the worthy!” Lana rose up and an eerie red glow surrounded her. A white light rose from her chest, and flew toward Atros. He was soon covered with a white glow and most of his wounds healed. Cuts and bruises suddenly covered Lana where Atros was hit.
“Aagh…” Lana moaned weakly. She knelt down, breathing heavily. She aimed her gun at Atros, and fired. The impact threw her backward, and the ball of fire blew his right arm off. Nika smiled triumphantly and crouched. She waited for a few seconds, and sprang up ten feet into the air. She turned gracefully into a dive, with both fists in front of her face, and fell, landing fist-first onto Atros’s head. She quickly leapt back and returned to a fighting stance.
“Give up?” she taunted. Atros wiped a trickle of blood off of his cut lip and coughed.
“Never…” he squeaked. Sari smiled.
“I’ll be kind. To show that there are no hard feelings…” She walked up to Atros and tilted his bloody chin upward. “Here is a gesture of friendship for you!” She leaned forward and kissed him softly on his bleeding lips. His eyes went wide, and he choked for a few seconds. He finally fell, face first, onto the rocks, dead.
“That’s that,” Lana gasped, her eyes wide. Sari wiped her mouth and pretended to gag.
“Remind me not to do that in the future…” she joked. “Reptites might be intelligent, but they sure don’t know how to kiss!”
Nika laughed. “I understand.”
Sari stretched and yawned. “Let’s go back.”
.
“News from Spekkio, Sari. You’ve got to go back home for a while. Stal and I will accompany you,” Robo called as the three women returned.
“Fair enough,” Sari replied. She turned to the others. “Well, Lana, you might as well go see if the Epoch is fixed. You can go with Maro and Olana, right? She might want to see your time.”
Olana beamed. “Yes… I would like that very much.”
Robo turned to Elena. “Spekkio says that you might want to head home for a while, too. Glenn’s worried sick. Take Kash and Nika with you, please.”
Elena nodded. “I’ll do that.”
Robo held up the Gate Key. “We’ll depart first. We’ll see you in three days at the End of Time.”
Maro nodded swiftly. “Good day to you. I’ll see you in three days.”
Stal smiled. “Same to everyone else.” He turned to Sari. “Your curse is lifted?”
Sari groaned. “Give me a break…” Robo activated the Gate Key, and the trio disappeared, still arguing.
.