1 Arrival

It was a time before civilization, a time when the world was young, and it was then that it would all begin, unbeknownst to any man. Thus, the question would be asked, 'If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?'

Unfortunately, what took place was far grander than a felled tree, and its consequences would be felt for generations to come.

It was an interstice, a bridge between worlds, an insurance plan for a tyrant. That's what had entered the natural world.

The thing would cause a commotion where it had appeared nonetheless. It was some time before when the Renaissance was set to begin.

Its target an unsuspecting victim, a ship exploring the new world, one that would be lost in the Atlantic Ocean.

As for its inhabitance, one would live, well, they 'survived'.

Time would pass still, the thing finding itself below the floating city of Olympus. A place built with such technology, that not even those that pioneered space exploration would understand it.

Those of the past did deserve their dues still, as they laid the foundations for such a place to exist, whether intentionally or not. They'd also deserve a fair bit of criticism, as for all their apparent innovation, they couldn't escape their true nature of conflict and greed.

It was that part of humanity, the worst part that the humans had so desperately tried to escape that made them declare all of time before 4000, 'The Dark Ages.' Naturally, it was the second of its kind, though they didn't call it as such.

It was not even about the technology really, but more about their perceived moral, philosophical and ethical superiority seeing as they had reduced all crime and the like to '0'.

They were in for a rude awakening though, as no matter how high they wanted to soar, the wax on their wings was bound to melt, and it had.

The stage is set; and it is time to watch humanity repeat their cycle of self-destruction once more. Though, I suppose it is no longer a cycle, as there might not be anyone left to blunder once more.

It was peaceful on Olympus. As it always was, and as they hoped it would always be, but Fate had different plans. It was here that August Rosavault had been born and raised, on that iron island.

It was bound to be like any other day, predictable, but not mundane. The light omnidirectional ring of a harp would wake the unsuspecting man, and like he had always done, he crawled his way out from below the silky sheets.

"Shut up..." As he spoke, the ringing stopped, his day had begun, like it always did.

"Good Morning young sapling. It is the Sixth day of the sixth month today. Interesting... no…?" You could practically hear her smile as her voice filled the room, though she lacked a body.

"Stop calling me that... and I don't care for the date." He'd stand up, and with the stretching of his refined muscles, he was finally awake.

"Hygiene." The woman would speak once more.

"I know... I know..."

The young sapling would make his way to the center of the dome like room, face twitching at the woman's words.

Then, as he sat on the warm wooden floor, it would lose its beautiful chestnut hue and in time, it was a dark swirling grey mass of nanobots. It would begin to raise up around him like a metallic fluid being hauled along by a magnet, and soon it became a small glass enclosure with metal braces.

As he sat there, the metal would gain fissures, and within seconds a hiss filled the room as the small space was filled with bubbly soap. The thing would then generate its own current, splashing and harassing the poor boy inside, forcing him to close his crimson eyes.

It would then be drained, and the process repeated with virgin water. The fissures would close and small fans would emerge to dry the wet tenant.

The glass box would then turn grey and melt around him. Opening his mouth, the mass would make itself into a hand and a tooth brush. It had everything, water, toothpaste, mouth wash, and suction to drain the fluids, thus, his predator like teeth were clean.

It would also feed him, a nutrient filled fluid, any flavor of his choice.

He was clean and fed, and he had done nothing, truly the apex of human ingenuity, the enabling of laziness, or so it seemed at first.

As he stood up, his naked body would be wrapped in the gray sea of alien matter. It would turn into a deep red full body suit, something that looked like diving suits from the dark ages.

The floor would then warp again, and begin to roll, pushing him back. He would begin to walk, matching its pace.

The thing would continue to ramp up its intensity, thus, walking was no longer enough, and yet, he kept up, not even looking at the thing, not even thinking about it.

"Cheater..." Her voice rung like a groan as she spoke.

"No idea what you mean." He'd smile at her words, but barely.

The makeshift machine would come to a halt, and the floor would return to its former glory. The lad tripped as it happened, but he didn't seem to mind falling, because he did without complaint, roll across the floor.

"No weight training...?" He'd hop to his feet, caressing his body.

"There's no need, now is there..." She spoke as if she had clamped her teeth shut, human, but she wasn't all there to be considered that.

"I guess not..." He'd almost forget the conversation as it happened, blinking twice to remember where he was.

His room was empty, but it did contain a few things that could be considered decoration, though he wouldn't agree.

He'd approach it, a painting, caressing it with his hand. It was one of his own design, containing all his family except himself, seeing as he was the one that had made it.

Then, the second part of his ritual like daily routine. A shell, a sea shell, not particularly remarkable in any way, was on a shelf below the painting.

He'd take it into his hands, caressing it, even holding it to his ear, knocking on it. He stood there a while longer, waiting, but it seemed he was eventually satisfied, as he returned the shell to its place.

He would waste time no more still, and walking to the south of the room, the white walls would melt to reveal a hallway.

It seemed to be a dead end, every now and then a red stylized rose insignia imprinted on the walls. He didn't seem to care though, and to his left was one of the roses. He'd stop in front of the thing, and raise his hand, as if to knock.

"Come in!" The voice was young and feminine, but it was almost cut by heavy breaths.

As the wall melted away, it revealed a room, one that was nothing like his.

There was more than just a bed for furniture, in fact, the little lad had a couch, a bean bag, shelves and shelves of books, a wardrobe, a desk and materials she used for sculpting as well as a television so large, her room could be mistaken for an old timey theatre.

It also had another feature, everything was pink and red. He'd make his way inside, almost fainting from the sight of popping colors, but he'd continue still.

His destination was the bean bag, the only safe haven he had in the foreign land he was in. As he sat, he sunk, and he let out the breath he held navigating the dangers.

"You... haaa...! should... haaa...! just... haaa...! get one... already...!" The young girl sprinting to nowhere had her words minced by her actions.

"It would ruin my room's aesthetic..." He'd sink to a stop, forcing his eyes open as his body melded into the thing.

"What...? Do what you want..." As he sat there waiting, he'd look over at her.

Her long, dark, crimson, curly hair would bounce off her shoulders as she ran, and sweat covered her golden skin, or rather, it should have been golden.

"Hey... sis…?" He sat up, one brow high above the other, voice barely escaping him.

"Yeah...?" She let out breath, and it wasn't from running.

"Don't you think it's time for a haircut...?" He'd feel up the air around his shoulders, his stomach more uneasy with every grab, uneasy at the very thought, his hair was always short, so short that if he was spotted from the wrong angle, he looked bald.

"Like you...? No... Thanks... ha-ha..." The treadmill would slow down as she finished her run.

"Yeah, yeah... laugh it up... ha..." He also looked to be amused.

"And what about the tan...? New look?" He'd take a good look at her then that she had stopped moving.

"I don't know yet... you like it...?" She'd look over at him for the first time, half her face smiling.

"It's not bad..." He'd avert his gaze, voice undecided.

"But it's not good either...?" The half-smile she had fell, if only a little bit, her shoulders raising in its stead.

"Look... you're a little cutie, anything looks good on you." He smiled, as if it was his doing somehow.

"Yeah... that's why you're always hovering over me like a hawk...?" The two sides of her face lit up that time, her pearly whites on full display, though, almost gnashing.

"I suppose so... I can't have anybody stealing my little gem..." He smiled like the slimy salesman he was.

"Ok!" Her face went flush as his words registered. "I'll soon be done with my daily stim, so we can leave in a minute." As she spoke the floor would raise up and morph into weights.

"Take all the time you need..." He'd sink into the fluffy oasis, once more, eyes slowing coming together.

"Uhhhhh..." Her voice started out strong, but it was shaking by the end.

"Are you going to ask about 'that' too...?" He was indifferent, despite his sister's tact.

"Yeah... isn't it, weird... I mean... you'll never really need any of it, right? It's just a hobby at this point... there have been no conflicts in ages... millennium actually...?" She looked off to the side recalling if her words were true, she couldn't seem to figure it out.

"I suppose you're right. I think it's fun though... I mean... there's really nothing that excites me... so..." He'd lift his hand, and turning it, he'd look at every nook and cranny, as if it was a new toy.

"Of course that's the case... you're a psychopath... I still remember how bad you were at rehabilitation... you'd always try and find somewhere to hide when you did it here... or tell jokes so the therapist would forget... but it never worked... Mom and Dad didn't allow it… haha…" Her shoulders seemed to relax, even as she lifted half her own weight.

"It was annoying... every day they went tinkering around in my head... I'm a very busy person you know..." He shot her a look from the corner of his eye, struggling to hold back his smile.

"Or were you just afraid of needles and knives... pfffft..." She held back her laughter too, or she tried to anyway.

"Tomato, tomoto... what's the difference?" He rolled his eyes, removing his focus from her.

"Ok... I'm done..." The weight would hit the floor, yet there was no sound.

August would spin around in the bean bag, and begin looking at his sister's sculptures, a ship from the dark ages, next to one of himself, that he made himself.

He half motioned a grab at it first, before he finally took hold of it.

He'd hold it for a while, looking at himself, but he'd soon return it to the desk. It was the last and best one he ever made, and as such, it was the girl's goal.

As for the ship, I do suppose even if it was from all that time back, it would have been old for their standards as well. They were getting better still, to him at least.

"You're half decent now? Nice." Normal people need those words of support I suppose.

"You think... I'm not done, but I've figured out how to get the textures I want... they're nothing like Mom's though… or your old stuff…" She spoke faster, even if she was out of breath, and the pitch of her voice increased, the inflections also changed, he heard all of that.

"Nah…. They're pretty good..." He stared at the thing in fine detail, to confirm it himself, and she was right, the textures were different. They were wavy and light instead of the jagged and excessively deep like the ones she had created before.

 He did stare a bit too long though, he was almost looking through the thing.

"Alright, let's go!" Her voice got louder, but not much else changed. 

He'd stand, and as he turned around, he'd look at the girl half his height ordained in a green sundress, a crimson rose pin in her hair. He'd give her a thumbs up.

They'd soon return to the nigh blank hall, but May would immediately look to the rose at the end of the hall, the room, at the end of the hall.

She took hold of her elbow, her chest writhing for no good reason. It was that room, the one she couldn't enter.

August would place a hand on her shoulder, and her feelings would stabilize, thankfully.

They'd then stand in the center of the place, a circle burning itself into the rose colored ground beneath them.

It would begin to lower as railings rose up from the platform. Light would then pierce the enclosure as the thing lowered, revealing the sky around them with all the fluffy clouds the eye could ever see.

The wind would wash them, and as it did, the young girl's face lit up, her heartrate rising in a good way that time.

The platform would then lower to all the way below the clouds, and to the ground, navigating the large sky spearing glass structures. As for their destination, they were let off on a street, the thing returning to the skies, to the silver spheres above the clouds.

August would carry his little sister around by her hand, being careful not to bump into everyone else on the street, and soon, they'd arrive at a large bronze sphere, the size of a twenty story building.

It was here that he'd let off his sister. As she walked up to the base of the thing, the usual happened.

"May Rosavault. Welcome!" He had the ideal customer service voice, too bad it was missing a soul.

A portion of the sphere then warped and drooped making a stairway into the place. The girl would enter, but she wouldn't neglect to turn around, and with a smile, wave her brother goodbye.

He'd wave back, and soon he began his own journey. Twisting and turning on the streets filled with hundreds, he'd look up at the structures he knew so well, all glass.

It was a feat that the dark ages could only fake, but not these people, the whole place was actually glass.

That wasn't the most interesting part of the architecture though; at the center of the city, there was a sizeable plaza, a great fountain, almost lake, accompanying it.

There were many granite sculptures inside, even some of his own doing, but that was still nothing, to him at least. As above the place was completely empty, a straight look into the sky, yet he fixated on something, it was nothing perhaps.

He wouldn't spend all his time admiring pointless architecture though, he had somewhere to be.

His institution wasn't bronze, silver, or a sphere. It was a large marble cube, maybe it was as big as an old cruise ship. Approaching, he'd see someone waiting on the grass, just in front of the thing, a woman.

He'd caress every bit of her with his eyes, from her smooth dark skin, to her enchanting fiery eyes, to her long curly hair, which was brown, but almost orange at times. Yet, as he passed, he said nothing.

 She'd notice him though, and in a panic she'd jump to her feet, too high.

"August...!" Her heartrate increased and her voice inspired doubt.

"Hello Obsidian..." He continued his stride, and as had happened with his sister, the place greeted him and let him in, she'd quickly follow suit.

"My last name... really?" They were in an elevator, and the apparent marble was see through from the inside, thus, he admired the architecture.

"Is that not polite?" I suppose he wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right.

"I'm sorry ok... but I still think it's weird... and I don't like it..." She approached, but she didn't touch him, he could hear her heart reject him.

"Even when apologizing... I appreciate the honesty." He was not there, as even his words barely left his mouth.

She'd grab his hand in rebellion, and he could hear her heartbeat spike even higher, he worried if she would be alright, aloof as he was.

"What exactly did you think was going to happen...?" He bit his tongue as he looked at her, wondering if he was to pull away or not.

"I don't know...?" She hesitated still, even though she was the one that acted. "Will you fix it... for me... please...?" She held his hand with both of hers, squeezing it, her brows weighing her eyes down, her cheeks not as bright as before.

"It's not something that needs to be 'fixed'... and would you rather that I be unhappy...?" He pulled his hand away from hers, looking out the transparent walls.

"No... but... don't I make you happy enough...? I... even I did it to satisfy your fascination...? Why won't you look at me...?" Her voice began to fracture.

"The disaster prevention walls have been rising for the better part of two minutes now... there was no forecast of a storm or anything of the sort." He was strangely calm.

"What!" She spun to look at the horizon, and as had been said, a pitch black mass was rising up towards the sky, blocking view of the sea. "That's strange..."

"More like something's wrong... use your nans to make a pair of binoculars and look where I'm looking..." Again, he was strangely calm.

She'd follow his instruction and from within her blue romper the gray mass emerged and made something of a binocular around her eyes.

"What the hell!?" What she saw made her heart peak in earnest.

"Exactly... they're coming right for us... but the wall will stop them... it's probably just a test of the defense systems... for whatever reason…" He was intrigued, but it looked to be out of annoyance, he liked the sea, it was a nice dose of dopamine perhaps.

The walls would soon block vision, and as the elevator stopped, the two left it and kept watch as they walked.

They were wrong though, and every conclusion they drew would only be false hope, as soon a whistling sound began and it escalated in intensity.

Then there was another, and another, and another, and another. August would stop dead in his tracks; he would catch on quick. It got so loud that even his companion heard it.

"Au—" Her words would be cut short by the deafening roar of shattering unbreakable glass.

A quick succession of blinding explosions would engulf the once peaceful island, baptizing it in scorching flames and death.

The walls that were meant to stop the threat soon began collapsing and began crushing buildings and people alike.

The peace and safety that had been achieved over so many life times had vanished within seconds. It was finally time, the last day of carelessness for humanity, their time had come.