Planet Ignis | Chapter 12

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In “The History of Longevity Chess” by Eli, the Flarewalker

“In today’s class, we will talk about the Womb,” Eli announced.

Eli glanced at Master Trother, who seemed absorbed in thought. Trother had followed him here after the council session, choosing to stay until class ended. Eli had never seen his teacher look so apprehensive—the council meeting had deeply unsettled him.

“Can someone tell me anything about the Womb?”

“That’s where mothers give birth.”

“Very good. Mothers give birth in a machine called the Birth Pool. Think about it: each of you came into this world inside that machine.” Like Master Trother, Eli had learned the power of pauses. Silence, he knew, was almost as powerful as words. “What else? Anyone?”

“That’s where the Nexus is.”

“Very good.” No other hands went up. Satisfied that he’d established what they knew, Eli moved forward. “Just as newborn babies can’t walk or talk, they can’t control their mutations. Without intervention, they wouldn’t survive to adulthood. Our ancestors created two solutions for this: the Incubators and the Simulator.”

“Inside the Womb, there are huge glass cylinders known as the Incubators. Each child floats in a tube filled with nutrient-rich, polarized ignium that sustains them. Since the children can’t Burst for themselves, the tribe Bursts for them. You Burst for them.” He looked each child in the eye, gauging their reactions, scanning for any spark of confusion or resentment.

Master Trother had always emphasized the importance of ensuring children understood the tribe’s reliance on each member’s sacrifice. A single spark of misunderstanding could ignite the whole tribe, he’d say. The Collegium was where their foundation was built, and this was Eli’s responsibility now.

“Think about it. When you participate in a rekindling ceremony, work in the mines, or labor at the forges, you’re contributing to the welfare of the tribe’s children. Without your collective sacrifice, they would not survive, and neither would the tribe.

“Imagine if the generations before you hadn’t done this. Would you be here today?” He paused, reading their faces and sensing a flicker of gratitude in some expressions. Good. Reaching their hearts was the lesson’s real aim.

“Building the Womb was a tremendous challenge, but it wasn’t our ancestors’ greatest. The hardest part was stimulating the minds of incubated children—teaching them to read, walk, talk, think, and love. Nurturing the mind is as important as nurturing the body. How did our ancestors solve this problem? Yes, Mary?”

“The Nexus?”

“Exactly. That’s why each of you has these inputs on the back of your necks.”

Several children reflexively touched the metal implant as if noticing it for the first time.

“The implant allows us to connect to the Nexus, where Faren manages our Longevity. Here’s a story I bet you haven’t heard,” he said, glancing quickly at Master Trother for approval. Trother had never included this bit in his lessons, and Eli didn’t want to overstep. He was relieved to find no sign of disapproval.

“Aboard the Phoenix, there were virtual reality devices called VR helmets. They were quite popular on Earth when the Phoenix was launched, and some astronauts brought them aboard for entertainment. The crew’s ingenious solution to raising and teaching the children was to reprogram one of the VR games and adapt it for Faren.”

“Why did they have to reprogram it?”

“The full version was too demanding to run while hosting the minds of so many children. So, they stripped it down to one simple, borderless room.” Eli caught Trother’s raised brow at the word “they.” He meant “we.” He grimaced but pushed forward.

“Inside the Nexus, the tribe’s children are cared for and taught by nannies.” Eli looked at the girls in his class. “One day, some of you will become mothers. These shifts will allow you to spend time with your babies, but you must treat every child as your own. The next mother will do the same for you. When you find yourself surrounded by other people’s children, yet your own is in front of you, it will be hard. You will have to burn your warmth for the greater heat.”

“Burn your warmth for the greater heat,” the girls repeated, their voices low and reverent, almost instinctively grasping the gravity of the words.

“Why does the King come to the Nexus too?” asked one of the boys.

Eli smiled at the memory of wondering the same thing as a child when Brodnir visited. After seeing the Globular Throne today, he finally understood.

“Being confined to the Burrows exerts immense mental pressure. Imagine the strain of being locked inside the Throne’s insulator globe for a lifetime. Only the King is allowed in the Nexus, besides the children and the nannies. For him, it’s an escape from his confinement.”

Thinking of the Womb and the Nexus, Eli wondered how the children were faring without it today. Faren had temporarily suspended the Nexus to decrypt Dr. Hitori’s transmission. The Burrows were paying a fortune in computing power, and the ones suffering were the bored children in the Incubators.

“Now, let’s talk about the Lighthouse. Can anyone tell me its purpose and why we always have a Yellow assigned there?”

*

In front of Gro, a glowing screen hovered in the familiar, borderless space of the Nexus. She was nearly six years old, wearing the simple gray tunic that matched the outfits of her friends who huddled eagerly behind her. Her hazel-brown eyes sparkled with determination, and her fair skin flushed with excitement as her small fingers moved deftly over the controls. Her blonde hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, swaying as she guided Pacman around the maze, chasing cherries and dodging the squid monsters.

Gro was the best Pacman player among the children, and a small crowd of her friends cheered her on, filling the air with quiet excitement. On the leaderboard, the name “Trother” shone brightly at the top. Eli held third place, and even Uncle Brodnir was in eighth. Gro, the current champion in the Nexus, was determined to beat them all one day.

Just as the squids cornered her, ending the game, her score flashed on the screen. She had come even closer to the king’s record! Glancing around, she looked for Uncle Brodnir, hoping to show him her score, but only the other children and a few nannies were around. Mommy wasn’t here today, but she spotted one of her favorite caretakers, Aunty Saral. Gro ran toward her, eager to share her latest achievement.

But before she could speak, a message appeared, freezing everyone in place: System Notice: Server closing for maintenance. Prepare for a blackout.

The nannies quickly gathered the children, ushering them closer. “It’ll just be a longer nap this time,” said Aunty Saral, patting Gro’s shoulder gently. “Think of it as extra rest time. Maybe make up a story or recite the truths. You’ll be back in no time.”

Gro glanced at the countdown in the upper-right corner, her heart thudding faster as the seconds ticked down. She didn’t fully understand what “maintenance” meant, but her stomach did a funny little flip. She clutched Aunty Saral’s hand tighter as the final seconds slipped away. When the timer hit zero, all the lights, games, and sounds vanished at once. The hum and warmth of the Nexus blinked away into a sudden, heavy silence that pressed around her like a blanket.

Gro’s sight filled with nothing but blackness.

Chapter 13