[Zurlane] Chapter 1: An Audience with God

[Throndir]

Location: Escyae-Yethra War Zone
Date: Year 2123 - Oelstar 24th - 1:03 AM

It was quick. Painless even.

Aurora was in the middle of one of her readouts of the sector. She was describing the number of potential lifesigns in the area, scanned by the visor that you wore that aided in military duties such as these. You heard her voice in your head, the bio-chip implanted deep in your cerebellum at birth made it so that you were the only listener.

"Life scan comple-"

But you never got to hear the end of her readout.

Your reflexes were enhanced of course, the tinkering you've done to Aurora and your own body were military-grade after all. But there were still limits to the human body. A speeding bullet was still a speeding bullet.

Before you could react, you felt a quick jolt of pain. But it was almost instantaneous, no more than a fraction of a second.

You died.



Location: ???
Date: ???

You breathed in involuntarily. A gasp as air rushed to fill your lungs. As your eyes adjusted, before you was a vast darkness. Small lights covered your field of vision. It took you a moment to realize they were stars. Many many stars.

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]


It was almost beautiful to behold. But before you could appreciate it, some of the stars started to form a shape. They become eyes. More stars coalesced together, and suddenly they formed a face. It continued to expand as more stars and lights were added to the mix until a full form of a woman dressed in a flowing gown was revealed.

She absolutely beautiful, and you've never seen anyone as stunning as the figure that was this created. Each glowing point that formed her body was a star - if that was too be believed, meaning the figure you were seeing was some unfathomable size. Lightyears upon lightyears away too.

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]


You found it unbelievable when the woman's eyes seemed to look towards you. That wasn't possible. There was strength in that cold gaze, as if something towering was looking straight into you. Her chest slowly bobbed as she breathed, her clothing moved as well.

The gown was made of the stars that you had seen coalesce together, and as she moved it seemed as if the fabric of space itself moved along with her. The varios starscapes that made her clothing and her hair moved in tangent with how you would expect clothing and hair to move. Her clothing was literally the fabric of space.

As she stared at you, the darkness around you started to light up. A soft glow began encircling your body. When it did so, you realized you were completely naked. Your body was clean. Free from any of your previous scars from the war against Yethra. In fact, no where on your body did you notice anything that looked to be any technology.

"Zurlane Rhomedes." The woman called out. Her voice vibrating and resonating all around you.

"Welcome to the afterlife."

[Licel]

I cough and twitch as my vision comes to a focus. I move my head from left to right at the vastness of unending openness in front of me, weakly outstretching a hand to the face in front of me. And hearing the woman's voice in front of me echo, each time I play it in my head I become more aware of my new situation. The sorrow of what I am, what I have become and the failure of my mission hits me first.

"I'm sorry Commander Grenfield." I say out into the vastness to no one, out into this space.

My eyes pan left to right meeting the gaze of the woman in front of me, her blues giving me no comfort. More like a witness reading a book than that of a friend or of even the sensation that I am being looked down on. I feel nothing. Like I am looking at a painting on a wall. I retract my hand feeling my face, my cheek, my chest, I accept that I am floating, that this is where I have gone and that I am in a bare state. My first thought is that the figure in front of me is here to judge me and send me to whatever awaits me next. I have seen countless men and women die and I have killed as well. This thought makes me shutter and I clear my throat.

"I..." I stop. I do not know what I could possible say to a being so immense and so vast. I am so small and so helpless like a child, I am... so alone. I look down straight down like a child who is about to be scolded.

Then a feeling of queasiness hits me as I begin to process a vague and disgusting emptiness. In a panic I reach back and feel that the back of my head is bare, that my implant is gone and I am truly alone. My breathing quickens, I begin to hug myself tightly. Aurora is gone! She has left me, I can not feel her anymore. I can not talk to her, link to her, feel her comforting hum singing to me as my mother used to when I was in panic or despair.

I begin to cry and reach out towards the woman in front of me with my arms outstretched, my words not finding me, desperate, I feel nauseous, I begin to process this thought that Aurora has died. That this life is not worth living, that the one thing that made me feel anything more than a piece of flesh in a pool of sickness and rot is gone. I want it all to stop, I want everything to stop. I feel rage, I feel hatred that she was taken away from me. I want everyone and everything I have ever know to bleed, to die, to fall into oblivion and be consumed. I close up tightly into a ball and I scream, I scream for what feels like an hour, only breathing in to let out more anguish. I do not know what to feel.

Then I eventually stop screaming I feel compelled to plead to the being in front of me. A broken man I open my arms to the woman so vast and so far away and with tears still streaming down my face I yell "Please, help me!" Unsure of what else I could possibly say.

[Throndir]

[okay]Heroic Action Point received [/okay]"Help you?" She paused for a moment, her eyes piercing. "Ah. I see. Aurora."

The moment she said her name, she lifted an arm, and stars once more coalesced together forming an object. It was something you recognized. It was the AI core that drove Aurora. There was the technology that interfaced the AI on the back of your head, but the core itself was what actually stored and ran her.

But it was damaged.

The bullet from earlier must have went straight through your head, damaging the AI core. The simulation of the object that the celestial being held up floating in her hand was split into two pieces. The grazing of the bullet evident by how the object was shattered.

A moment after that, more stars appeared above her. They morphed and changed colors. If you had to describe it, it was like seeing a visual representation of something; a screen floating in midair, or in this case, in space.



There was a picture of a crying baby on what looked to be white bedding sheets. A man in a lab coat was doing one quick last check on the baby, then nodding to himself happily, moved off towards another bed with another child.

The image focused on the first baby. Then a voice. A familiar voice.

"Records indicate that you are Zurlane Rhomedes. Age, 2 hours, 21 minutes, 38 seconds. You are my operator. I am designated as AI Unit 4U8.084."



Then the image vanished. Shortly after that, the stars began forming again.

This time, it was of a young man, his back against a wall, his eyes looked sad, red, and were slightly puffy.

"I've always liked the name 'Aurora'. That's fine, right? You'll listen to me, right? Even if... even if no one else does?"

There was a pause.

"Aurora." The feminine voice in his head replied back.

"Yes. Aurora."

There was another slight pause.

"Affirmative. My designation will now be Aurora."

The young man forced a smile.

"A bit too robotic... That will take some work."



It shifted again of a scene of Zurlane rushing out of a building. His eyes were alight.

"I did it! Aurora. You are looking at the newest member of Zaltech Corporation. The AI and autonomous division too, to boot! Can you imagine that me, Zurlane, will be on the front of everything new coming out? Might even be able to make something for those blasted Yethra!" Zurlane laughed happily. It took a few seconds for Aurora to respond.

"I am happy for you."

Zurlane paused, his mirth vanishing as he furrowed his brows.

"Aurora, repeat that."

"I am happy for you."

"What is making you say that?"

"Directives 506.A inconjunction with directives 1042.6 through 1056.7-"

"You know what, nevermind." Zurlane grinned. "Thank you Aurora."



The scene shifted once again. There was loud explosions. Yelling in the distance. Fire was everywhere, and the skies themselves shown red from the distant flames. Zurlane held a weapon on his hands. His breathing was ragged.

"Detected. 3 Lifesigns at 7 o' clock. Armed with MK-IV Aksers." Aurora spat out quickly. It was enough of a warning for Zurlane to jump to the ground getting cover. At the same time, arming one of his grenades, then threw it to the group that Aurora has specified.

An explosion rattled the area a moment later. His grenade went off, likely taking down the 3 assailants.  But gun fire resounded shortly after as Zurlane noticed he was being fired upon. He quickly rolled away, finding cover from the new assault. The firing stopped, giving him a chance to breathe.

"Aurora. We need to upgrade your scan range."

The fire continued again, this time from a different direction. Zurlane cursed as his leg was shot, and moved to find further cover.

"We... really need that upgrade." Zurlane grunted painfully.



The scene shifted again. This time, it was something that was still clear in your mind. You were out on patrol, scanning the areas around the latest city demolished by the enemy.

"Scan for life forms, mines, or any weapons. Use extended range. They've been developing ways to disappear from our sensors recently, so be thorough."

It took a few moments, and Aurora started to respond.
"Life scan compl-"



Finally, the string of visuals disappeared. The celestial being broke the silence.

"Zurlane Rhomedes, you are stout of heart, and I see a future in you. You will be reincarnated. However..."

She paused, her eyes look towards you, and though were usually striking and cold, seemed to soften.

"Aurora. She is an artificial creation. Mankind's creation if you will. Only someone with sentience and a soul can appear before me. It is a requirement. Without those, there is no afterlife, only duplication and existence."

"However, Zurlane. It isn't unheard of that an artificial life form will have a true soul. Your world's technology was far indeed."

"Unfortunately... was not far enough. Perhaps the next iterations in the next hundred of your human years would have proved otherwise, but how Aurora is now..."

Her next words drove the stake deeper.

"She cannot be reborn."

[Licel]

At hearing Aurora's voice again I feel my mixture of emotions and confusion disappearing and with a teary smile I watch the brief montage from my life.

"Let me convince you then." I blurt out. Emboldened, with my memories and my heart beating loudly in my head.

I find my center, place my hand over my heart, take a deep breath and re-extend my hand out with determination.

"Aurora, was part of me. A part of my life that began when I was almost two and a half hours old... A part of me, before I even could understand the concept of I am. We were a team, if you think I was stout of heart... I..." The words reincarnated come back to me again rolling like thunder in my head. I clear my throat again. "Had it not been for her presence in my life I would never have become, never have achieved what I did in my life."

I clench my hand into a fist as tightly as I can. "Please look again, though her hardware was not even the most advanced of my time she was unique. I was always working to improve her, but even my own work could not reflect her quirks. Why... in some ways she was even more alive, more human than I was. She... on many occasions broke her own protocol for me,  knowing damn well it would have been her own death sentence, that she would be removed and replaced for showing signs of what would be deemed as "defective" for me, without even ever being asked to do that... No AI has ever shown me that they were capable, no would even consider doing such a thing. I never displayed such courage!"

I look down and away from the gaze of figure of stars. "While I know she could never physically touch me... I could feel her sometimes, in the darkest of times. Her embrace, her hand on my back, sometimes even her touch on my cheek. She loved me! I know she did. I know you might not understand, I know she was not of flesh but... we made promises we made plans, promises even. No 4U8 model has ever made a promise... it's a construct because when you make a promise well... things happen and it doesn't always work out. It's obscure. As obscure as the random hand of fate bringing me to you."

I grab the flesh on my chest tightly. "This, all of this, all of this that is me. Is nothing without her. I am a man of flesh but I am broken, and she was broken as well and we completed each other, if you reincarnate me then you will see reborn a man with a half-life, a cursed life. Not only cursed as a man with a broken heart, but only half a mind." Searching for words my gaze meets the woman's eyes again, her expression unchanged. My confidence begins to melt.


Tears returning to my face I beg with hands extended "We died together, the same bullet that took me from this world took her too. If you need a body, a soul, take mine. I would throw it all away so that she could go on and continue to grow and learn. I surrender all that I am, everything that I have ever been for I do not believe that I could ever love another. Please... help me by saving her..."

My eyes return to the coalesced AI core, black with scorch marks and cracked. "Take me instead, or let me die. I do not want to live if she can not be with me." I take another deep breath. I look at the eyes of the woman one more time. "She was not just an AI she was a blessing and knowing that I was given the chance to share a body and a life with her why... I got what I could have ever wanted in my life." I lose my composure and sob lightly with my head in my hands.

My gaze once more returning to the AI core. "Thank you... for giving me the chance to at least say goodbye to her... even if she cannot hear me."

[Throndir]

The celestial being paused for a moment as she listened to you. Her gaze was impassive, though soft at the same time. Finally you had finished.

"The request you've made comes from the heart. That I can plainly see. My domain is the stars. They tell me many things. How things were, and how things will be. Paths to the future that span lifetimes. I've seen and created celestial wonders throughout time and space, from the coldest of worlds to the brightest of stars; ever I had my gaze upon the stars."

She took a deep breath as her piercing gaze looked towards you once more.

"But you Zurlane are shining more than the brightest of stars."

The coalesced-star image of the AI core that continued to float in her hands then sped away from her making its way towards you. However, once it was a feet away, it stopped. Both halves of the AI core still shone brightly. Many miniscule stars were put together to create the two objects; some bright, some dimmer, some with various different colors that made them up.

Then the objects grew brighter, and to your surprise, the two halves became whole.

Before you could respond, a second later, the object morphed again. Brighter and brighter it continued to glow until you almost had to pull your eyes away. The explosion of light dimmed then, and in its place was a girl.

You recognized immediately who it was.

[spoiler]It was Aurora.

[/spoiler]

[Licel]

"Aurora..." I say in wonder. "You're you're ok!" I extend my arms out towards her. My tears of sorrow replaced with joy.

"It's, it's going to be ok," I almost whisper, whether to myself or to her I do not know. "I'm here now. We're here now, and everything is going to be ok." Very gently as if I was about to touch the most fragile object in the universe I bring my arms up to embrace her.

"I love you Aurora, I love you and I have always loved you. You mean the world to me, more than I could ever put into words." I can feel a warmth as deep within me as I could ever imagine, a fullness, a joy that is something that must be that of a once in a lifetime blessing.

I lower my head down with my arms and slowly close my arms around her sobbing, attempting to speak, but being filled with such ecstasy that my mind is muddied and I don't even care.

I begin to whisper flashbacks of things we'd done together and time feels as if it moves the slowest it is capable of being.. I tell her about how much we laughed the first time I ever shaved, on my 21st birthday when I tried to walk after one two many drinks, when I tried to make her a birthday card when I was 9 without her knowing it, and more things, most of them incomprehensible between my sobbing and sniffling and unsteady voice.

I gently still lower my arms until they are upon her.

[Throndir]

While you were talking, Aurora smiled genuinely. It was something you don't see often, even in the holograms that she had projected of herself. For the most part, Aurora, if she was a person, was the type to smile infrequently, and focused more on the subject-matter at hand. But she looked happy, and that encouraged you to keep pushing yourself in telling her stories in your unsteady voice.

You began to reach out to her, yours arms descending upon her, and it was then that Aurora's smile started to soften and have hints of somberness to it. She held you in her eyes, her own strangely full of emotion. Your arms reached out to pull her into an embrace.

But you felt nothing.

Your arms went right through her, as if she wasn't really there. Aurora lowered her sorrowful eyes as she avoided making eye contact.

The celestial being spoke.

"For as much power as I have, there are just as many laws, if not more, to follow. What you see before you is Aurora. Though not at the same time. Did I not mention that only those with a soul can appear before me? Right now, she is half of your soul Zurlane. You claim that you would only be half a man without her, with this, that is now, in essence, actual truth."

"Aurora" The celestial being spoke. Calling her name. Aurora turned around to face the being.

"You will have no physical form. But you will have a soul. Half of one at least. No longer will you be tied to your programming, that set of rules to allow you to seem full of life. You will share yours with Zurlane. You will live your life. Act on your own will. But you will be tied together to your very souls."

"Do you accept?" She asked to confirm.

"Y-yes." Aurora replied her face beaming. That was the first time you've ever heard her stutter.

[Licel]

Everything that I have just seen hits me like a powerful wave. I am filled with excitement, relief, joy, love, and other emotions I cannot put into words. They flow over me like flashbacks: memories, smells, sounds. It is as if my old life has fully flashed before me like a bright light and has fully come to an end. I accept it. I no longer feel fear.

Upon hearing that Aurora has agreed to go with me, to fully become part of me and share my soul I feel the deepest glow in my heart I have ever experienced, I am awestruck. With my heart beating in my chest so proudly I feel my emotion take control of me and I begin to speak to her in a quiet and moved tone. "Aurora..." I gently move both of my hands so that they would be gently on her cheeks were she in a physical form. "Life would not be worth living if you were not here with me to share it. I will always do my best to keep you safe, and will strive to show you how much you mean to me every day for the rest of our new lives together." I gently bring my face closer to hers and slightly close my eyes as I bring my lips to where hers would be, could I truly kiss her. I slightly retract my head so that are faces are still very close together, and I wipe away a tear starting to form in my eye again. "You are beautiful Aurora..." I take one of my hands and gently trace the outline of her face down her neck to her shoulder and then down to her hand. I leave it there as if I were holding her hand. My face and my eyes locked to hers in a state of wonder and indescribable joy. "Are you ready?" I ask her.

I turn my head towards the goddess. "I can not begin to thank you and do not know if there is anything I could ever do to repay the gift that you have given me this day, but I assure you I will try with every fiber of my being to do so." I stop and think for a moment, "Although I do not even know your name." "What shall I call you?" I ask as I stare into her endless blue eyes. "I am your champion." I say as I salute.

[Throndir]

Aurora accepted the affection. She herself gently smiling, and closing her eyes at the opportune moments to. There were tears in her eyes as well.

"Are you ready?" Zurlane had asked. Aurora responded by smiling.

"Affirmative." She teased. When the two of you had finished, she too continued to raise her hand in such a way that it made it seem like the two of you were holding hands. Once Zurlane saluted at the celestial being, the being nodded back.

"I go by many names. But for you, you may call me Urania." Her eyes glowed briefly then, but she continued.

"Do not forget, Zurlane, that your soul houses more than one being. Do not be reckless, for you will hurt Aurora, and if Aurora is hurt, and so you shall be as well. Protect each other."

She lifted one of her hands at that point, palm up, and a ball of light formed and floated above it. The fact that the celestial being was some unbelievable size, that ball of light too was enormous. You realized earlier that the same laws of physics didn't apply to where-ever you were in now, and as the ball of light came careening towards you, it seemed to shrink and shrink. Eventually the ball of light was about 15 ft. in diameter, hovering just 20 ft. in front of you.

A glowing light then appeared from the bottom part of the orb, stretching its way towards you. It was a path that lead straight to the glowing orb.

"Are you ready?" Urania asked. "Step through the portal."

[Licel]

I take a look around this place and take a deep breath and just as I'm about to make my way towards the portal I stop and turn to face Urania.

"Urania... I have a feeling that this portal is going to take me somewhere far away from here. What am I to do when I get to this place? Will I be able to talk to you from there?"

I also turn my head to Aurora and ask: "Do you have any last questions before we go?"

[Throndir]

"On a clear night, look upwards." The being said, her tone of voice was neutral. "Where there are stars, I will be watching."

When you asked Aurora if she had any questions, the girl shook her head. But she instead turned to face the celestial being in space.

"Thank you, Urania."

The celestial being nodded, but otherwise did not say a word. Aurora then turned back to Zurlane.

"Operator. Zurlane." She corrected as she held out her hand even though she knew you couldn't hold it.

[Licel]

"I will remember that Urania. Whenever I am lost I will look to the stars." I say with a nod.

I let out a little chuckle upon hearing Aurora call me operator. "Now you're an operator too you know." I say playfully. I extend my hand to hold her's to best of my ability and begin to walk with her hand in hand towards the portal. Before we walk through the portal I turn my head to face her. "Here we go... partner." I say with a smile.

Then I walk through the portal with Aurora, ready for what awaits me on the other side.

Continued in Chapter 2: Kingdom of Hiersdvain.