Tempo Trigger Chapter 26
Golden Age of the 'Synth
By Nanaki
3500 A.D.
As the guards let Silva in the door, still looking very confused, Tempo and Schala sat down to form a semi-circle around Lion and Tess. Finally, Lion was sure that she wasn't about to just disappear, and they both sat down, in as close proximity as possible. "Well..." Lion started. "There's a whole ton of stuff you're probably wondering about. Where should I start?"
"Uh..." Tempo glanced to his left quickly. "How about her?"
"Actually..." Schala held up a hand. "I believe an explanation of the 'synth would help out a lot."
"Yeah." Silva agreed. "What exactly is a 'synth? And what's a prototype, since you seem to be one?"
Lion stretched back, and cracked his knuckles. "Oh boy, lecture mode time." He leaned forward again, and started in. "Well, this all leads back to Armageddon again. It happened somewhere around 2600 A.D. No one is really sure. Anyway, it was always thought that some alien being caused the disaster, and Schala seems to back that up. We don't really know, but it seems that a large number of humans tried to fight it... and failed. Thus, people decided that stronger humans would be the only way to go, to prevent such a disaster from happening again. And thus, humans needed a new energy source to use beside magic. Solar power was one of the more obvious choices, and more powerful. But a way to successfully get the human body to accept cholorplasts eluded scientists for quite some time.
"Finally, 300 years ago, a way was discovered. It was a great one too. Not only could humans obtain energy from chloroplasts, but the gene for chloroplasts would be passed on to any offspring. Meaning the first 'synths would pay for themselves if they'd only shack up together. Anyway, ten people volunteered for the first infusion. From them, twenty three new 'synths were born. That second generation was probably the most powerful, from all accounts. It's a pity they're not still around today. The power that chlorophyll gives people is truly astounding. You know that, essentially, the sun is one big ongoing nuclear explosion, right? Well, humans suddenly became nuclear powered. The energy they could wield was unbelievable. They could fly, teleport, breathe underwater, and in outer space... Not only that, but it appeared that they had gained some regenerative abilities as well. Minor injuries healed in a matter of hours, and potentially fatal wounds ended up leaving nothing but a small scar.
"These new warriors were treated as the saviors of mankind. It was thought that no force would be able to stand up to them. In fact, an offensive against the Komodaera was even being planned. But that all changed 200 years ago. Exactly 200 years ago, Taurus, the strongest 'synth, decided that, since 'synths were so superior to normal humans, they ought to rule over normal humans. To get his message across, he went on a rampage, and killed several thousand people before any of the other 'synths could even respond. Once the others got there, he simply fought with them until he was going against twenty five of us at once. Then, somehow, he managed to absorb the power of all twenty five, killing them in the process. He stormed into the capitol building, and quickly took control. It was thought that no force could possibly stop him.
"But, Ocello, my great grandfather, went to get rid of him. Ocello believed that 'synth powers had no definite maximum, and that if he tried hard enough, he could indeed defeat Taurus. So he arrived at the capitol building, and he and Taurus fought a truly epic battle that levelled the capitol and seven city blocks. Taurus was killed. My great granfather lost an arm, but survived. It boggled the minds of the scientists who tried to explain it. Taurus had been many times more powerful than Ocello, and my great grandfather had also only been forty years old at the time. He couldn't offer them any explanation either, other than that he had really gone all out, and Taurus hadn't taken him seriously until it was too late."
"Wait a second!" Tempo finally broke in. "What do you mean your grandfather was ONLY forty years old?"
"Oh." Lion smiled. "Along with all the other benefits, 'synths enjoy double the lifespan of a normal human. Taurus was eighty five at the time he went on his rampage. My great grandfather was the equivalent of a twenty year old normal human."
"So what does that make you?" Silva asked. "You told me you didn't know how old you were..."
"Well, I don't know exactly. But I'd guess I'm somewhere around thirty three. Anyway, after that incident, normal humans decided that the 'synths were just too powerful for their own good, and that their powers should be taken away. Most of the 'synths didn't resist this decision. After all, they only had the power because they were supposed to fight some stupid alien that no one had ever even seen. The entire 'synth population underwent genetic engineering. They got to keep their chloroplasts, but it was as if they'd been neutered. The chloroplasts still give energy, but it can't be used except in ways normal humans can use it. The longer lifespan also stayed, but that was it. The only one who refused this was my great grandfather. He still believed strongly that there would be a second coming, and that the 'synths would have to stop it. Given what he had done for them, the government allowed him and one female 'synth of his choosing to remain unaltered. From that day on, the unaltered 'synths were referred to as prototypes. And ever since that time, the power of my family has been getting weaker, as they breed with the non-prototypes. Though I'd like to think how Ocello did, that 'synth power has no definite maximum.
"And, for the last 200 years, people have remained bitter and distrustful toward the 'synths, because of the actions of Taurus. They're also very afraid of us prototypes, because they know that if we really wanted to, we could do exactly what Taurus did, but this time there'd be no one to stop us. That's why the Gladiators were invented. That's also the main function of soultech today... to prepare for a possible prototype war. Normal soultech powers aren't a match for a true prototype... but there's a hell of a lot of them, and I've actually only got 1/8 pure prototype in me."
"That's why you hate soultech?" Tempo raised an eyebrow. "Simply because they could defeat you?"
"No..." Lion narrowed his eyes. Tess put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Now you're getting into my personal history... and it's a long and sad one. At least it was, until today. It all started twenty years ago..."
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"Ha! Ha! Ha! Superb... Superb power!"
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