Chapter 20

The Transport Totem on Talitus took me directly to my temple. The one I’d converted from Desolation. The one filled with high-tech goblins emitting yelps of surprise as I appeared unexpectedly.

I offered a wave. “Heya guys! Gotta rush, but I’ll be back to talk to you soon."

Before anyone could respond, I teleported around a mile away from where I sensed Hakan. As eager as I was to get to him, it just wasn’t worth the risk of appearing too close.

Eight Metallic drones hovered around him. One of them was badly damaged, but still managed to produce a cone shaped beam of Gravity and Air Neuma Highly condensed so highly condensed I could barely comprehend how it was possible. And from a machine? It was eye opening.

Hakan hung in the air, rigid and unmoving. His back to me, from my angle of approach. He clearly still had strong senses as he began speaking.

"I wondered if you would be smart enough to use the Distortion Field and the Security Drones, Clive. How did you know I was here?”

I wasn’t about to give him all my secrets and despite the confidence in his voice, when I teleported in front of him he was clearly pissed.

“You’re the most powerful arsehole in the universe Hakan, I could smell you from the Abyssal Planes.”

“That makes no sense, Clive.”

“Well, you should know all about that, numb nuts. I bet if the other Alo-im who left you behind could see you know, they’d be laughing their asses off at you!”

‘Ah yes, Alo-John! that’s why we left the dumbass behind.’

‘You’re not wrong Alo-Dave. He’s had a million years with no distractions to follow us and he still managed to fuck it up!”

“YOU KNOW NOTHING!” He screamed. I could see him try to calm himself as he threatened me, but it bubbled up again. “But I will show YOU!”

“Good luck with that. I said gesturing at the drones. Looks to me like they’ve got your number.”

“You really believe this can hold? As clever a trick as it may be, I know the system better than anyone. Better than Alidere. Better than you."

“Hold you? Nah, I’m gonna fucking kill you, then put my feet up.” I shot out a tendril to drain him, but it smacked against the barrier the drones had created.

Mother fucker! I screamed inside.

"See, you fool.” He said smugly. “You don’t even understand how any of this works, yet you rely on it so heavily to defeat me.”

As he spoke, so did Aly. I focused on her words.

“You cannot kill him like that, Clive. The system states there must be due diligence. Guilty or not he must still undergo a trial.”

“Then I need to change the goddamn rules, Aly. We can’t let him go.”

“I do not think this is a good idea, Clive. If you put him in containment and carry out the trial swiftly, I’m sure we can rid the universe of his corruption within the day.”

As tempting as that was, my head was already shaking before I formed my reply. “No. There’s absolutely no way I’m taking him inside the Admin Hubs Aly. I reckon that’s exactly what he wants and if he breaks free… Bah, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Drop the laws, let me kill him.”

Hakan’s frown slowly morphed into a smile as portals began to appear around me. Heavily armed and armored troops began to pour out. Guns trained on me, but as yet unfired.

“It’s you who must complete the action, Clive. And I'm afraid it can only be done from the Administration Headquarters.”

More portals were opening around us.

“Aly, I can't leave this bastard here. There must be a way to do it remotely.”

“You’re talking about changing the fundamental rules of the Alo-im, Clive. It will be more complex than just the accepting of an option.”

Around a thousand people surrounded me now. Hakan spoke again. “You should probably let me go Clive. You may not like how much damage my followers can do to you now.”

“Not fucking happening, Hakan. You’re going down.”

“Oh no, please don’t lock me up!” His answer was dripping with sarcasm.

“You really do think I’m stupid don’t you? You’re never getting in an Admin hub again.”

By unspoken command, the soldiers opened fire on me. My shield went up instinctively as I wrestled with the impossible decision.

Aly, sensing my internal conflict spoke again. "If this is the path you wish to take, I assure you that he is quite secure here. I do not entirely disagree your stance when all aspects of the case are considered.”

My shield suddenly dropped and I took the full brunt of thousands of Neuma coated bullets. I got another back up quickly enough, but I wasn’t impressed that they were able to do it. I fired a few blasts, to push them back and shouted to Aly.

“Do the drones work in the Distortion Field?”

"They will work perfectly fine.”

“But Hakan won’t. Can you command them to take him up into the one surrounding the planet. Just as extra layer of defense?”

“Affirmative.”

A moment later, the drones were soaring upward and I followed, happy to distance myself from the onslaught around me. Some of them were real fast. Too fast. I couldn’t see how powerful they were, but something wasn’t right. I fired with a little more finesse this time, firing taste the difference Spicy Balls, laced with Gravity, and sprinkled with Reflection.

The Gravity pulled the fired bullets to the body of my attack while adding their Neuma to the actual power of the attack.

It was moving so fast that Reflection prevented any efforts at dismantling what was now a meteor of Neuma and hot metal.

For my victims, there were too many of them, packed in close proximity to escape the successive blasts that followed. Many of them died outright, but the strongest among them survived, damaged but ready to fight on.

With the carnage I created, I’d given the drones a little time to drag Hakan some distance away from our fight. Once I was satisfied that they wouldn’t catch us too quickly, I teleported up to Hakan again to make sure he was secure. I was still worried that the Distortion Field might have adverse effects on his imprisonment.

When we came face to face again, all trace of his earlier humor was gone. Apparently he hadn’t expected to stuff him in the distortion field.

"What's this you fool? How long do you think you can keep me in here? The drones only have so much energy, they will fail long before you find a way to kill me.”

“Is that what you think? Let’s see how this plays out then. My money is on the drones,” I growled, then teleported away, completely unconvinced with the certainty I spouted.

Dogged by an inescapable sense of doom, I made my way to the Administration headquarters as fast as I could, avoiding Life and Alara as I passed through.

As soon as materialized there, I made my way to the nearest interface, but Aly diverted me.

You must use the designated Universal Administrator Interface for this, Clive.

“And where is that, Aly? Seeing as this is my first time hearing about it.” I tried to keep the annoyance from my voice. It wasn’t Aly’s fault that there was yet another hurdle, but I was still growing more unsettled by the moment. I had the bastard, yet he was still just out of reach.

In the Command Nucleus. I can provide direction’s

“I just tell me what to look for,” I replied, casting out my senses.

“It’s the home of the Universal Administrator and it is at the central point of the Administration hub.”

“As in the centre of the whole place?” I didn’t wait for an answer, plunging my vision deep within the administration hub. I’d never delved too deeply into the place despite my time here. It all looked the same and nothing had ever really pulled me much deeper than a few hundred feet into the city streets if they could be called that.

I found the place I was looking for with ease. A core of multiple buildings converging together, but while it should have looked like an awkward mess, the Command Nucleus looked as important as it must have been when people actually populated this place. The architecture of this core was far grander than anything I’d seen above, made of a different kind of material that seemed to vibrate in my mind with power. I transported there immediately, only to find myself locked into stasis on re-materializing. My heart leapt and panic surged. “What the fuck is going on Aly!”

Another voice, robotic and lifeless spoke, not in response but to clarify a couple of things.

Identity Confirmed.

Welcome to the Command Nucleus Universal Administrator.

The stasis disappeared and I was free again.

My apologies Clive, I should have warned you about the security check.

“Yeah, that’s one of those things I’d definitely like to know beforehand.” I scanned the place as I spoke. How come you never told me about this place?”

You have been very busy and until your ascension you were unable to visit here. More importantly, until now, there has been nothing you wished to achieve that couldn’t be completed using one of the standard interfaces.

What you are about to attempt would be a decision that would deeply affect the socio-political fabric of the entire Alo-im race. It would not simply be the decision of one person to achieve a personal goal.

“Fuck off, Aly. I’m trying to save the goddamn universe here. It’s not like I’m changing them for my benefit alone.”

I cast my senses, finding what could only be the main interface, and teleported to it immediately, as Aly responded.

Yet there other options. It is your decision to change the laws to kill another Alo-im.

“Enough of the guilt trip, Aly, I’m not interested. He’s never getting in these places again, but I promise I’ll change the law back as soon as he’s out of the picture. Now can you help me get to where I need to be in this thing as quickly as possible?”

Of course, Clive. I do not disagree with your decision, I was merely pointing out why you have had to come here.

I have accessed the system at your command and navigated to Law Amendment. I can go no further.

I scanned the wide display. “Perfect, Aly. Thankyou”

I quickly worked through the instructions for changing the rules, entering that I understood what I was doing at each step of the way. Just when I thought I was getting somewhere, I encountered my next roadblock.

The removal of Prisoner Protection Convention 82193, requested. All High Council Members have been alerted to your intended changes and will gather at their earliest convenience to discuss the request.

“The fuck? Aly? What’s going on? There isn’t a high council.”

I do not know Clive. The High Council was made from democratically elected elders of the Alo-im.

“As the only member of the Alo-im, apart from that fucking traitor, can I elect a High Council myself?”

I believe you could. We will only know once you go through the process. There’s no precedence for this kind of occasion for me to provide insight from. But I will help you navigate to the necessary place to vote.

She rapidly navigated through a series of screens until she could go no further, and it was my turn again. A list of potential candidates to vote for appeared in front of me. Peace, Destruction, Life, and all the chosen who'd been up to get their five levels of Internal Connection from me. Again, I felt a little guilty that Danivra and Sania weren't on the list, but that hardly mattered right now.

"Okay, I elect Destruction as a High Council member."

Selection confirmed:

Your choice has been informed.

Waiting for confirmation of role.

That didn’t sound ideal. "Aly, how will she be informed? Won’t she have to be in one of the Admin Hubs?”

That is correct, Clive. I can, however, create a communication relay using her totem if you wish?

“Of course I bloody wish! And while you’re on, tell her to bring Natom and the others to Talitus. I might need their help.”

I’m creating a relay. You can impart your requests personally.

Within less than a minute, Destruction voice echoed around the empty room I stood in.

“Hello? Aly?”

“Destruction! Can you hear me,” I replied.

“Clive! Is that you? What's going on. Where are you?”

“Administration Headquarters. There’s a lot going on.”

“Yes. I guessed as much. I've just received a notification about becoming a High Council member."

"That's right. Did you accept it?"

“Come now Clive, I’m hardly about to turn my nose up at an increase the power. I accepted immediately.”

“Good. I need you to take your team to Talitus, and then I need you to come to me here. We have Hakan trapped on Talitus with the Administration security drones, but I can’t kill him without a trail. I’m trying to change the laws, but I can only do that with the support of the High Council. That would be you.”

“I… okay, we’re coming. I’m coming.”

“Good. Hurry. I’m waiting.”

She arrived in the headquarters a few minutes later and I opened a portal to bring her down to the Command Nucleus.

She was held briefly when walking through, but as a high counselor she was admitted access.

“Thanks for coming so quickly,” I said and turned back to the interface. I selected the option to change the law again and the notification was sent to the High Council.

Destruction smirked as she received it. “I see why you chose me out of the other potential candidates."

"Yeah. I would have had to have a moral consideration conversation with Devotion, Peace, or Life about this bullshit. Now can you accept the prompt?”

“Already done."

No sooner as she spoke the words I received the notification.

Universal Administrator Notification:

You may now serve as judge, jury, and executioner.

Warning:

Dictatorship protocol initiated.

"Aly! What’s a dictatorship protocol?”

There was no answer and that troubled me, but not as much as Hakan escaping. I waved to Destruction. “Not good, but let’s deal with one problem at a time. Back to Talitus.”

Natom practically burst with excitement as Destruction and I appeared back on Talitus.

“You have him? Trapped?”

“We do, yeah. But he’s surrounded by his followers, which means I’m gonna need some backup. They’re weak in power, but with guns and the ability to dispel attacks, they won’t be a walkover. I met each of their eyes. And whatever you do, don’t die. This is it. The moment we’ll be able to look into the future with a little hope in our hearts.”

“You’re that confident?” Natom asked.

“Yes. Now hope inside my Void Storage and I’ll transport you all to where we need to be.”

As they filed in, Destruction nudged me. “Why did you not bring all of our people here for this?”

“They’re just not strong enough yet and we need to move fast before he wriggles out of this somehow.”

She nodded and entered my Void to leaving only Life and Alara looking at me, lost for words.

“Not be long,” I said with a confident thumbs up before teleporting away.