Planet Ignis | Chapter 19

You didn’t have enough space so I could program all my memories in your neurons, but this recording won’t occupy much space. Hopefully, you can extrapolate a lot of my personality from what I will tell you. You were born in Essen, Germany. Your sister’s name was Naomi. Your father was called Christian, and your mother Miriam. You have always felt fascinated by computers and have studied hard to become a specialist in artificial intelligence. I would describe you as someone resourceful and dedicated. I would also describe you as a coward based on what I did. But remember... cowards stay alive.

Files salvaged from the Raptor’s Ghost Drive. Recorded by Schneider, the Raptor

Eli now saw that reaching the mountain had been the easy part of the journey. The rationing was even stricter now. They only had one meal daily, leaving Eli in constant bitterness and frustration. The gnawing hunger had become a constant companion, but it was the weight of their mission and the distant sounds of Brodnir’s battle that truly wore him down.

Trother and Eli had been climbing the mountain for two arduous days. The treacherous path demanded a combination of walking and climbing, with certain sections requiring them to scale the sheer faces of the rugged terrain. The planet’s oppressive gravity and their ignium-laden bodies made every movement an exhausting endeavor.

As they continued their ascent, Eli’s thoughts turned to their training. The months spent preparing for this mission now seemed like a blessing. He was grateful for every session that had pushed his endurance to its limits, though he still marveled at his master’s seemingly endless stamina.

“Did you know, Eli, that without ignium in our bodies, we would roast alive?” Trother’s voice broke the heavy silence.

“Is that so?” Eli replied, his tone weary. He wasn’t in the mood for one of his master’s lectures, but Trother was like a dog with a bone—or was it a bean?

“It’s one of the greatest challenges the settlers faced. According to the records, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. Without ignium to stabilize our bodies, they would have evaporated in minutes, even in the shade. The human body is sixty percent water, after all.”

“How do you know all this, Master?” Eli asked, half-skeptical. He sometimes wondered if Trother made up these tidbits.

“Simple deduction,” Trother said, his tone light. “Since our bodies are now sixty percent ignium, it stands to reason they were originally sixty percent water.”

It was hard to argue with that logic. “Too bad ignium doesn’t help with the cold,” Eli muttered, shivering as the temperature continued to drop. The higher they climbed, the colder it got, forcing them to use more energy to keep their bodies polarized.

The climb demanded incredible coordination. While the legs provided the primary source of strength, the toes, fingers, hands, forearms, shoulders, and torso all played critical roles. Hunger, grief, and exhaustion dulled Eli’s focus, making each movement harder.

The oppressive gravity left them with no choice but to Enhance. As Eli and Trother ascended, they selectively Burst specific muscles, their limbs bulging and deflating in rhythmic sequences. Eli couldn’t help but marvel at his master’s precision. While Eli’s Enhancements were uniform, Trother’s were a symphony of control. Some muscles swelled while others barely twitched, allowing him to conserve Longevity.

Trother’s fingers glowed a dark red as his quadriceps radiated orange, and his forearms blazed a bright red. This ability to Burst different body parts with varying intensities was a skill few could master. To Eli’s knowledge, only two individuals could do it—or perhaps just one now, depending on Brodnir’s fate.

Eli twisted his neck, searching the distant horizon. After a moment, his gaze caught a solitary yellow beam piercing the sky. “Brodnir is still fighting.”

“Yes,” Trother confirmed, his tone somber.

“How do you know it’s him?”

“I’ve seen his Burst before. That plasma beam has his signature.”

The earlier flashes of blue and the reduced number of Emissions told them Brodnir now fought alone. Golden flares dominated the horizon—proof that Brodnir had abandoned his mission to destroy the Raptor and was now merely trying to delay it. Eli’s heart sank. If that was true, their king stood little chance of survival.

“Pawn to D5!” Trother’s sudden declaration startled Eli, who paused mid-climb to glare at his mentor. “Are you serious? You want to play chess now?”

“We still have two-thirds of the journey ahead of us,” Trother replied, his eyes twinkling behind the oxygen mask. “Do you have something better to do?”

They reached a narrow crevice where they could rest. The rock’s cold embrace seemed to sap the last remnants of warmth from Eli’s body, but he welcomed the brief respite. Above them, the sky lit up with flashes of golden and blue light.

“Master, the temperature is dropping,” Eli observed, his voice low.

Trother nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Indeed. We’ll have to conserve more energy as we go higher.”

Eli hesitated before asking, “Master, how do you manage to Burst different body parts with such precision? How can you control them simultaneously?”

Trother’s lips curved into a smile. “It took years of relentless practice, my boy. To achieve this, you must learn to compartmentalize your mind.”

“And how does one learn that?”

“You begin by becoming intimately familiar with every muscle and joint in your body. Train yourself to move each muscle individually. I started with my facial muscles.”

Trother contorted his face into an array of peculiar expressions, each one showcasing the activation of a different facial muscle. Despite the absurdity of the display, Eli couldn’t summon a laugh—hunger and fatigue had drained him of humor.

“Then, you progress to coordinating pairs of muscles,” Trother continued, his features shifting into even stranger contortions. “It’s all about control, Eli.”

Eli’s eyes widened with realization. “Wait a minute! Is that why you insisted on those bizarre toe exercises while we trained for climbing?”

Trother laughed. “Well done, Eli. You’ve finally caught on.”

“And the chess games? Were they part of this training too?”

“Exactly,” Trother confirmed, a hint of pride in his voice. “You’ll be happy to know you’re close to mastering Simultaneous Bursting.”

Eli muttered under his breath, “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Trother teased, his gaze shifting toward the summit. “Now, what do you think, Eli? Should we make a swift ascent with golden Enhancements or keep a steady pace?”

Eli considered the question carefully. “How do you think the battle will progress?”

Trother’s face grew serious. “Brodnir can’t hold on much longer. He’s delaying the Raptor, but even he can’t sustain this pace indefinitely.”

Eli nodded, his resolve hardening. “Then we should conserve our energy. We may need every ounce of it to complete the climb.”

“Wise decision,” Trother said, his tone approving.

As they settled in for the night, Eli gazed at the stars. He allowed the cold embrace of the mountain to lull him to sleep. At least in his dreams, he couldn’t feel the hunger.

Chapter 20