The only way to fight a space pirate is to think like a space pirate. That’s the one rule to remember when fighting space pirates. I locked my space ship before I passed through the food court of the space station, so I could only smell breakfast cooking in the vendors’ kitchens, hoping I’m not late for my reservation at the auditorium. If I’m late some of my audience may leave to get breakfast, and then I must wait for everyone to decide if they want breakfast, further delaying my story, and wasting the time I already paid for. My self-folding chair hung from my shoulder, and the key sat in the pocket of my flight jacket.

  I passed the last vendor, and the promenade was now behind me. I saw the door to the stage, and the crowd had doubled since yesterday. I approached the door and the crowd greeted me but I kept moving, because I’m the only one who can open the doors. The doors detected me, approved my access, and unlocked. The crowd shuffled into the reserved hall and while I made my way to the stage, the audience found their seats or other places to recline in the open spaces. The space station only uses this place for concerts, but has explored it’s diverse functions such as a forum for government, as well as renting it out for story tellers like me. As I stepped on the stage, it began to rise. In the center of the stage the control orb raised out of the stage floor. The orb sat on a pedestal which raised to the height of my hands and stopped. I dropped my chair behind the pedestal, and the chair responded to the pressure from the ground, and I wondered if it responds differently from artificial or planetary gravity. The chair’s springs and metal rods of precise lengths spun and locked into the shape of a chair, and two spans of fabric formed the chair’s seat and back. I’m always amazed that no matter how far the people of Earth advance they still decide to build machines that do not require cybernetic controls. I turn my focus to my audience who have mostly found their places in the seats, some have even brought their own self-folding chairs.

  I placed my hand over the control orb and room responded to my thoughts. My cybernetics allowed me to command parts of the room, lights, voice amplification, and even the height of the stage. Dimming the lights over the audiences’ seats, compelled my guests to hurry. Non-cyborgs need to see the lights on the stage, to help them focus, but neither situation is a problem for someone with cybernetic eyes. If the practice still works, it must be true, because it worked perfectly yesterday, and it seemed to work again. Yesterday the lights took a while to respond to my commands. The control orb was slightly less responsive than my ship, and I don’t expect to need the control orb again, or until I needed an intermission. An intermission would give me enough time for breakfast and was a tempting thought. The lights dimmed to my desired settings, when I could see the stars through the dome above. I looked around the audience and saw everyone has settled into their seats or chosen areas. The control orb made the room amplify my voice and I started telling my story.

  I am Jhessyreen Errysa’ad, and I am the last Rylkonian in this Universe. But I am really the last remaining clone of the original Jhessyreen, but I am more than just an accurate clone, I also have her memories. Some of you may remember we chased the Dark Tyrant and his army of mind controlling parasites, a race known as the Kanyrites, to this Universe. My people needed the help of the Earthborn, weapons, supplies, and at least one Earthborn volunteer to become a cyborg super soldier. This designed killer was needed to break through enemy defenses and assassinate the enemy chain of command. We offered technology, medicine, and a chance to colonize other planets. Yesterday I wasn’t able to finish the story of when we defeated the Dark Tyrant. So let’s start there… I was once the pilot for an Ambush Class Gunship named the ‘Something Clever’ for those of you joining us today. In the final battle against the Kanyrites, only one gunship was still flying, and the Dark Tyrant’s flagship, named the ‘Omen’ was disabled, but it was still filled with warriors controlled by the Dark Tyrant. One of the crew of the Something Clever was the Earthborn recruit who was converted into a cyborg and became our most powerful warrior. We eventually gave him a new name, we called him the Phantom. Near the end of the war, the Phantom became the captain of the Something Clever. What most people don’t know is that the original Jhessyreen wrote very detailed mission reports, and when I read her reports, I share her memories from that time.

  My people have ability to temporarily link our minds, to share our knowledge, to increase our problem solving capacity, we granted the Phantom this ability as well, and then the rest of your kind that followed us to the new colonies. In the final battle against the Dark Tyrant, the entire crew, even our cook, gave our increased abilities and skills to the Phantom, and we used the cloaking device of our ship to sneak him onboard the Omen.

  Through our linked minds, we watched the Phantom move from room to room on the Omen destroying the systems of the enemy flag ship, fighting the Dark Tyrant’s warriors, and ensuring the Dark Tyrant would not escape. The Phantom reached the Bridge of the Omen, and fought the Dark Tyrant for the fate of the Rylkonians and Kanyrites. The Phantom won, but before the killing strike, the Dark Tyrant said these final words…“My death will not be the end for anyone. So let your blade fall and you will learn how much the Creator is like us. When you meet my brothers, they will teach you the Creator can still make things worse than I.” The Phantom only said, “For the Auro Blade” and the Phantom swung his Battle Axe cutting with a burning blade, as destructive as lava, melting through armor, and leaving only cinder and ashes, decapitating the Dark Tyrant. We handed over the Omen to the Protectorate government, and they examined the technology and physiology of the Kanyrites and the Dark Tyrant’s dead body. Where they discovered three very disturbing facts. If the Dark Tyrant had infected the people of Earth with parasites he could have won the war, the Dark Tyrant himself was not infected with parasites, but was actually a cyborg, and the most disturbing of all the Dark Tyrant and the infected Kanyrite hosts were also Human, just like my people.

  Soon after end of the war, the nations of Earth celebrated the Phantom as a hero, and the propaganda corporations of Earth even turned the story of the Parasite Wars into an action adventure movie. They made toys and all forms of merchandise, based on the movie. The entire crew was represented, but only the Phantom was given a positive portrayal, so as a crew, including the Phantom, we stopped taking money from the movies or sales of the toys. We lost control of the propaganda, and then we saw the rise of something far worse than a Dark Tyrant with an army of parasites…The people of Earth believed conquering space shall be their destiny, and slowly we started seeing more and more space pirates. Even though we didn’t glorify space piracy and the idea wasn't even part of the movie, somehow the Phantom was still blamed. I think the governments of Earth just didn’t plan to solve the problem of space piracy. It became just another problem for space travelers, but not planet based governments.

  This will be today’s main story, the Protectorate’s plan to end the problem of Space Pirates. At the center of it all, was our ship, the ‘Something Clever’ and the choices made by the Phantom. The Phantom began life as something he hated, he lived as a man. He saw the evil his kind was capable of. Even with just a child’s sense of right and wrong, the problems were obvious, but the choices were not so easy. Throughout his journey, he became something he hated even more, he became a god. In the era of this story, the Phantom was tragically unaware of his fate to slowly turn into the Dark Tyrant's successor. He banished my people from this universe, he found our chosen one, and he destroyed the planet Earth…”

  “Hold it! I didn’t destroy Earth! Just look in the sky, it’s still there!…”, another voice said from the corner of the stage behind me.

  I was so annoyed I almost forgot I had an audience. I recognized the voice, but if I couldn’t even detect the presence of someone that close to me with my cybernetic enhanced senses, they must using a cloaking device. I even lost my connection to the sound amplifying stage. But if I stayed connected to the stage, I might have yelled at the audience.

  “What are you doing here, Tony?" I demanded from the unseen voice.

  I could barely see a figure walk into the light. Each step made no sound as the figure moved out of the shadows into the lights of the stage. The figure was now standing just four paces away from me stopping at the edge of the weakest shadow of the overlapping lights. The illusion fell away and now I was looking at the Phantom wearing his power armor. What a coward! Absolutely no-one wanted to pick a fight on this space station, I knew he was sneaking around just to avoid crowds. He should have just kept the cloaking device on, and said nothing. I could tell from his choice to hide on stage he was looking for something or someone. I wasn’t sure if deactivating his cloaking device was his response to my question, a show of bravado, or some other arrogant thing that Earth born do. His eyes scanned around the room. All I could see of his face was his eyes looking over the edge of his cloaking device, that wrapped over the nose and mouth of his skull mask. His true face looked less human and more demonic, and the real reason he stayed hidden under a hologram is whenever his mask isn't available. Some people still don’t know he has a holographic disguise, but anyone with cybernetic eyes can see through the hologram. If they knew what he really looked like, they might think his title as the Dark Master of The End Times was more than just figurative. I wondered if the monster he looked like, compared to the number of people he’s killed, or would be enough to actually make people believe in religion again. The Phantom stopped scanning the room, and after one scan he was now focused towards me.

  “Nashara needs to borrow the key, and we can’t find it…I was going to wait for you to take a break, to ask you to summon the key.”, he finally answered my question.

  I started reaching in my jacket to put my hand around the most valuable object I carried, but then I realized that Tony said something, he should not have known.

  “How did you know I take breaks?”, I asked.

  Tony tipped his head to the side, still focused on me. I suspected he was estimating the consequences of his reply, as he responded.

  “I was here yesterday…”, Tony admitted.

  I now understood why Tony didn’t interrupt during my version of the war against the Dark Tyrant, just like the other Earth born and just like in the movie, he enjoys when gets to be the hero. This interruption needed to be punished, and I knew just how. I reconnected the stage’s sound amplifier to address my audience, “This is a rare opportunity everyone, let’s ask…the one…the only…The Phantom!”

  “What are you doing? I don’t have time for this…”, Tony whispere.

  “Don’t have time? I’m the one who’s paying for time on stage!”, I argued.

  “The key is in my jacket, my audience wants to hear a story...just like the good-old-days…you work for me and I let you borrow the key…”, I announced.

  I switch my attention to the audience, to see if they were interested in my proposal.

  “So who has a question for the Phantom?”, I asked the audience.

  I saw almost all of the children and a few adults raising their hands, some even waiving and gesturing to draw my attention. I wondered if they realize it takes a cloaking device to hide from me, I needed to set some rules.

  “Lets keep it simple, just…five questions…”, I said.

  “Just three questions.”, Tony objected.

  However the entire audience began protesting.

  “Five questions…Five, Five, Five…”, the crowd chanted.

  “Fine…Five questions.”, Tony relented.

  I recognized Tony’s strategy, the audience thought they were going to lose two questions. Five questions seemed like a victory. Tony’s move made him look like a generous leader, when he just agreed to what the audience originally asked for.

  “Some answers are going to be dangerous.”, Tony whispered.

  Dangerous? What a funny word to hear from him! I wondered why Nashara needs the key?…maybe I should just leave it with her. I looked up and I can see Tony has chosen the first audience participant. I think I can sit back for at least the next five questions. In fact, that’s what I’ll do, since I brought a chair. I lift the chair out of the sleeve and place it’s feet on the floor in front of me. The springs of the chair spun it’s rods into the shape of it’s frame and stretched the canvas into the seat and back rest. I’m always impressed by the Earth born dedication to non-cybernetic technology. Now I’m just sitting and I can’t imagine why I thought I was going to have trouble entertaining my guests. This is a lot easier than yesterday. A child with a hand raised caught Tony’s attention, and Tony gestured towards him.

  “Why do they call you the Dark Master?”, the child asked.

  Tony tilted his head to the side, his holographic face might have conveyed a puzzled reaction, he might have even raised an eyebrow. I suppose he answered in a way that made sense, at least for him.

  “It’s just a title, like a label. In the Parasite wars, I used surprise and sneak attacks, and I was called the Phantom, in the Era of Space Pirates, I used super weapons, they thought it was going to be the end of Planet Earth…which it wasn’t…and that’s just what they started calling me…I didn’t steal any souls.”, Tony lied, because he absolutely stole souls.

  I looked around the audience and I wondered if Tony could tell that his response was quite bad. I decided to offer my opinion.

  “Try again Tony…”, I yelled.

  Tony pulled the wrap from his face and slid it below his skull mask. He removed the skull mask but only revealed his holographic face. His hologram glitched for a moment and a shimmer of his real face appeared at his chin, then his nose, then his eyes, but the hologram flowed back into shape like water as he continued.

  “So, if nobody believes the religion that identifies a Dark Master, then technically nothing can make me into the Dark Master of The End Times…Now from what I read in the Holy Book, the Nation of Izrom, which was destroyed, was destined to face five named empires, and the Dark Master would be the leader of the fifth empire, as it was written. That Dark Master was the enemy of the Savior of Izrom, who was also identified. Earth has seen dozens of empires long before I was ever born, and the Savior and Dark Master lived, did whatever they needed to do, and fulfilled their roles, also long before I was born…So only someone who read the Holy book and believes in that religion is allowed to say that I am the Dark Master of The End Times, but even the Holy book doesn’t identify me as this Dark Master. I never fought the nation Izrom, not as an empire, and I never ruled over any of the five named empires…However Jhessyreen, is right about one thing, in the era that she speaks of, that version of me had no idea what the universe would expect of me, and I was tragically unaware of my fate, which began with the death of the Dark Tyrant…Next question.”

  I didn't say anything, but he should remember he's the one who destroyed the Nation of Izrom, when he destroyed all of his enemies. I don’t care if Tony says I’m right, he still interrupted me. Tony gestured towards another raised hand, and another child asked a question, as though he had been thinking about it for a while.

  “Is the Dark Tyrant, your father?”, the child asked.

  Tony seemed surprised, and I would be less than honest if I even expected to hear that, and I wondered how Tony might respond, I found myself leaving my recline and compelled to focus on his next words.

  “No, but I remember how yesterday’s story was told, and the question does make sense, Why did the Dark Tyrant come here? How? Time Travel? Alternate Universe? And for a long time, we didn’t have an answer to those questions, and even I had to keep that answer a secret when I learned it, but I think that is part of Jhesyreen’s story today. So if she intends to talk about the chosen one, I don't want to spoil anything. As for my parents, I lost both my mother and father when I was very young, and I was only able to bring back my mother, but the process wasn’t perfect. She never made any indication that I was the son of the Dark Tyrant. I hope that answer is clear enough, because I don’t think I can say more, without spoiling a major plot point. But we already said alternate Universe, which is true.”

  Tony gestured towards another raised hand, and another child asked a question, as if she doubted her question would be as significant as the last two, but still wanted to ask.

  “Are you…immortal?”, the child asked.

  Tony looked up at the sky for a moment, and then focused on the audience before he responded.

  “Sure…I can answer that..I have lived for over a thousand years, and I imagine I will live a thousand more. I might even see the final star fade from the Universe, but I know it is possible for me to die, because I have died before. Each time I passed through Death’s Door, I was reborn, as if the Universe demands my presence. In the era that Jhessyreen speaks of, only a few knew that I could move between the sides of the living and the dead. Most others believed that I successfully faked my death, it was only after I lived for hundreds of years, did everyone figure out they didn’t need to keep experimenting with how I kept returning from death, as if my existence was just a toy for them to break. My life is no less valuable even if my nature is different. The funniest part about returning from death is lying about the afterlife, only a few can accuse me of lying, but somehow we tell a similar story… funny how that worked. There are consequences for me and others like me returning to be reborn...If I can, I prefer to avoid dying so I usually wear power armor, it doesn’t weigh much to me anyways…. I guess that answer depends on what you define as immortal,…If I could cheat death, I wouldn’t have chosen this…I say Death cheated me. Our death’s have different consequences.…Next question.”

  I didn’t expect Tony to so casually discuss immortality, life, death, and rebirth. He motioned the next child to ask his question.

  “Why did you destroy Earth?”, the child asked.

  Tony seemed slightly upset that he was going to return to this topic, but still managed to remain calm while responding.

  “Why? Why?….Why? The reason why, wasn’t even mine…After I killed the Dark Tyrant, the governments of Earth wanted to make war against each other, and they each wanted me to fight for their side. Every nation of Earth asked me to destroy their enemies, and they tried every kind of persuasion. They even called me a traitor when I refused to fight their wars. I think they were all in agreement of the problem, but not the solution. The only part of Earth I destroyed, were the governments, and only the governments that chose to remain. They each got exactly what they asked for, none of them thought I could grant all their wishes in a single attack. They seemed to think they would be safe when everyone else was dead.", Tony replied.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Tony paused and looked around, then continued.

  “I found no satisfaction in destroying so many... an entire world… but the planet was a necessary sacrifice. Besides, most of the human race was traveling in space and already lived on the other planets, moon colonies, and even space stations. At the time, I considered that to be the most merciful solution to the problem of space pirates. In my view we still had more planets, though the opposing view felt we only had a few planets left. Since the destruction of Earth seemed to be a quality I shared with the Dark Master as the Holy Book prophesied, I used it as the triggering event for later plans to ensure an era of peace, after the journey of the Chosen One. I actually regretted not capturing and imprisoning the Dark Tyrant more than what I did to Earth. I killed the Dark Tyrant in a moment of vengeance…what happened to Earth was intended as mercy...Next question, actually this will be the final question.”, Tony said.

  I wondered if Tony knew that question would be asked. His response made my job easier, but now I might need to explain how he made the decision to destroy the governments of Earth, and I will have to explain why the Protectorate government refused to stop him.

  Tony gestured towards a single raised hand, and a girl asked a question as if her mind was perfectly clear.

  “Are you the hero or the villain?”, the child asked.

  Tony froze for a moment. I watched him slowly turn his gaze far passed the child and then even further beyond the walls of the stage area. I didn’t know if Tony was responding to the child, the audience, himself, or trying to rationalize the question as he spoke.

  “Am I the hero? Or am I the villain?”, he repeated the question.

  Tony’s focus shifted into the sky and he continued speaking his thoughts.

  “The Earthborn didn’t need a hero…they wanted a warrior…I could have been so many other things, but they were convinced only a …hero, who would destroy, kill, oppress, and enslave their enemies, was all they wanted …and they lied to me…or they can’t tell the difference between wanting and needing?…Or they believed the Universe needs to fulfill whatever they wanted?”, Tony said.

  I watched Tony walk to the edge of the stage. His steps made no sound and the I felt no fluctuation of his weight through the artificial gravity of the space station. For a moment, I wondered if he was even really there. Did my eyes confuse a hologram for the living legend? I knew only he would dare challenge for the possession of the key, but I knew only one thing was more certain than facts, he wasn’t leaving without the key.

  Tony sat at the edge of the stage with his feet hanging over the side. His hands dropped on his legs, as he faced the audience. His holographic face looked around. I wondered if he might deactivate the hologram as some substitute to an actual answer. Tony tried to answer again.

  “If humans are at war, there has to be an enemy. So for people at war, warriors and champions can be heroes, but to the enemy, they would be villains.”, Tony said

  “That’s not an answer!”, I protested.

  My hand began moving fueled by my emotions. I reached into my jacket and gripped the key with my thumb and the curl of my finger. As if I was aiming a weapon, I revealed the key in front of the audience. I knew that Tony’s motion sensors on the back of his head could see me, as he slowly turned his head. I saw a holographic eye and the glowing red cybernetic eye behind the illusion, completely fixated on the key between my finger and thumb. The key was one of the few objects in the Universe that could sway Tony’s decisions, so I know I had his full attention. I am in charge here, today I make the rules, and I will tell him.

  “Five questions and five answers, for the key! I still don’t know what this little circle of mystery is for. All I know is that you designed it, I’m the only one who can summon it, and it’s dangerous if used incorrectly. After all the betrayal, deception, and lies… Tony, you have to choose…Hero or Villain?”, I declared.

  Tony’s focus shifted towards the floor in front of him, but I knew better than to think that stopped him from seeing everyone in the room. I knew even after a millennia, he still struggled with that question, but he was also intent on obtaining the key. Tony was about to give the most important answer of his entire existence.

  “If I could, I would choose…neither…for a long time, I thought the choice didn’t matter, but now I can only choose one. If I choose hero, I become an instrument of oppression, just an enforcer of someone else’s desires. But if I choose villain, it means that every decision and the consequences truly become mine.”, Tony said.

  “Father, we’ve wasted enough time…the key is within our reach!”, another voice from the opposite side of the audience said.

  I watched another cloaked figure emerge from a shadow at the far edge of the audience. It stepped into the light, and deactivated a similar clocking illusion. The cloaked figure turned from an imperceptible distortion into another armored cyborg. This other cyborg removed his own cloak to reveal his face. I wondered why these Dark Lords keep interrupting. He was right about one thing, time is being wasted, which I’m paying for. If I had planned this better, I could probably get breakfast. I could hear the audience whisper to each other as they discussed Zach’s arrival, most of them referred to his title of “Emperor.” Tony turned his focus toward’s his son and responded with the tone of a parent addressing an aggravated child.

  “Waste time, Emperor Zach? We are masters of time, and time obeys our commands. I have worked too hard to erase the stain of the unworthy from the universe, and I will not watch my own blood line to turn into oppressors.”, Tony objected.

  Zach watched the key slide from my fingers into my palm, as I let my arm fall to my side. As soon as the key was out of sight, Zach turned his focus across the stage towards Tony, to plead his case,

  “Then teach me how to construct another key…”, the Emperor proposed.

  There was natural silence, as I looked at Tony consider his son’s conclusion. Tony dropped his head as he replied.

  “The sacrifices needed to make another key are…too high…If my enemies ever return, another key doubles their chances of stealing it. A million times a score times a million more vengeances hang over my head. No matter how many times I die, my crimes remain. I wait in my prison, and the Universe isn’t allowed to forget me. And now you ask me to accept that my own son would dare make demands of the Universe? This is exactly why the key is always beyond our reach. How many within the Universe would dare the question, Which key is stronger? How many would look upon the lives of others, and only see them as toys to break? In the dawn of the star age, the unworthy believed my immortality made me exempt from the consequences of the future and they demanded I share the curse so war could evolve, so crime could evolve, and above all they demanded I allow their greed to expand beyond the limits of infinity. The worst was every calculation and justification claimed, my fate was their future.”, Tony said with regret.

  While Tony went off on his rant I was impressed by his awareness. Been a long time since I’ve heard the name “Unworthy”. I’ve never used that word. Maybe Tony wasn’t angry, or perhaps not angry enough. Whenever we want to politely insult an Earthborn, we usually called them “Mud born” and that term is probably more accurate since they could technically be born on any planet or moon. But when ever they really make us angry, we can always resort to calling the most insulting term we figured out. But Rylkonians aren’t as obsessed with our lineage as the Earthborn seem to be. At least we never even thought that we started as single cell animals swimming and eating in their own shit. We thought is was even stranger when the Earthborn claimed that as their heritage, and insisted they figured that out. Why are they proud of that?

  When Rylkonians meet different races, we would never say something so stupid, and we definitely wouldn’t advertise it. In all my life, I never figured out why my heritage mattered so much to a planet that believed they were born from shit. Tony saved us Rylkonians from a lot of drama when he recommended we keep our races separated. I think the best advice Tony gave us, was a warning.

  Tony once said, “The Earthborn think sex implies a slavery like level of commitment”, which would have been catastrophic for a race that depends on space travel.

  The mystery of their past, wasn’t even their strangest claim about their identity. They always had this strange habit of never being happy with any government, but also demanding either more government, or promoting another government. I’m not sure why, but Earthborn seem to really like overthrowing the leaders of their own governments, sometimes violently. I guess that’s why Tony never wanted to hold political office, except for that election he won in the world of magic. I think I’ll include that in my story today.

  “It’s true, all of us cybernetic life forms are only using a fraction of our full power. I learned that every time I used my full power, people either cyborg or not, only feared the new abilities I discovered, and their fear only fueled their ambition to conquer, enslave, and oppress. The unworthy claimed that their place in the universe was to rule over all others, not to defend them, not to guide them, not even to provide for them. They desired power but only for their own benefit, and gave no concern for another. As soon as the Earth born learned that the Rylkonians could make artificial life forms, either completely machine, organic, or cyborg they accused the Rylkonians of pretending to be gods, and demanded the Rylkonians provide new tools for enslaving and oppressing, to make the reality of being Earth born into something fair. When I first awoke in my artificial body, I understood what they feared, someone else more powerful abusing their power, their power being taken away, or power beyond their reach.”, Tony said.

  As Tony finished his argument, he started walking to the corner of the stage opposite from Zach. The audience began turning their focus towards Zach, who began to move to the aisles dividing the audience. I noticed some of the audience are missing. Where did they go? Maybe I should have started my story instead of letting these two Dark Lords use my reserved time? Maybe I could get breakfast?

  As Zach looked around the audience, the missing audience began returning with food and drinks. I could smell the freshly made breakfast and the freshly brewed caffeine. I missed a perfect opportunity to grab a snack. One of the returning audiences was a young woman with four drinks in a drink holding tray, and she walked in to the hall. I watched the young woman walking over to Zach to present him the tray of drinks. She started turning the tray so a very specific drink was now directly in front of Zach. As Zach made an attempt to lift the drink, he started lifting the entire tray from her hand, but Zach paused. As the girl grabbed the tray with both her hands, Zach and the girl slowly began separating the drink from it’s nesting in the tray. Tony watched as the audience returned to their seats with food and drink being exchanged. However the girl didn’t find her seat, at least not at this moment. She began moving towards Tony, with three drinks remaining in the tray. She presented the tray to Tony, and as Tony began removing his drink, the girl presented a pay code card to Tony. I couldn’t hear whatever Tony was saying to the girl, but she placed the pay code card into her satchel as Tony dismissed her.

  The girl still didn’t return to her seat however. She began heading towards me, with two drinks remaining. I could smell the sweet crisp aroma of Hazelnut. The odor was like a cloud drawing in my attention. As the girl drew closer, the stage started to fade away from my awareness, then the audience, and finally I only sensed the girl and the brew of caffeine in her hands. I refocused my thoughts and found only one question stirring in my mind, “How did anyone here know my favorite coffee flavor?” As the girl began to present the tray to me, I realized the only way she could have known, if she’s one of Tony’s spies. I think it would be a good time to see if I’m right. As the girl began to turn the tray, I found my body moving faster than my thoughts. I knew where her mark would be hidden. I grabbed her arm to see the palm of her hand, but she didn’t struggle, or didn’t have time to react. In a single move I could see the bare palm of her free hand in a narrow band spectrum scan. Tony and Zach could see what I was doing, but they said nothing.

  I could now see the symbol of the one eyed skull on this girl’s hand. The mark was no bigger than a fingerprint, a swirl of lines that drew the visage of a skull missing it’s lower jaw and one eye. True marks are perfect, and nearly identical, because the only difference is the hand it’s inside. False marks also exist and its difficult to tell the difference. The mark is sometimes a tattoo, a line might be backwards, or the not so obvious, mark on the wrong hand. The image wasn’t just placed there, her cybernetics consumed it, and it became part of her identity, her existence, perhaps even her soul, but most don’t believe in the myths of Earth’s archaic religions, at least not anymore. The girl looked directly into my eyes.

  “Is the coffee to your liking?”, she asked.

  I sipped the coffee and my cybernetic sensors didn’t detect any poison, as I kept my eyes focused right back at her. My instincts tell me that the audience has brought their focus upon me, but I have no guarantee that two political opponents aren’t targeting me in some way, shape, or form. The sip of hazelnut sits on my tongue and while it is delicious, it’s being offered as a gift, from the hand of a potential assassin. I’ve known these two men for too long, to think they wouldn’t hesitate to replace me. The girl still didn’t struggle and showed no fear. She was just waiting, for me to respond. I needed to respond,

  “The coffee is great, thank you… Sorry but I didn’t order this.…”, I said.

  I released her hand and she didn’t pull away from me, her hand just fell to her side as if she had no need to hide the mark of her master. The girl smiled with her reply,

  “I will help in any way I can. I love your story. I watched yesterday’s broadcast from the coffee bar.”, she said.

  I remembered that the space station is allowed to use their security system in any way within the station, but I didn’t realize my audience was potentially the entire station. I wonder how many of this station’s residents are loyal to Tony, or are even full members of the Brotherhood of the One Eyed Skull. I took another sip. I drank the few drops of hazelnut sitting on my tongue, and with just a thought I reconfigured my digestive track for ingesting and metabolizing caffeine. Like controlling a ship or aiming a weapon, my cybernetics responded to my thoughts. I can’t wait for the caffeine to hit my brain and increase serotonin, I need it right now. Zach arrived at the center aisle and began his introduction speech.

  “I was born after Earth was cleansed, only a few have any memory of the suffering and oppression inflicted by the ancient Earthlings, but I heard a name yesterday, which is why I returned today to learn more. That name is the U.D.E. I remember a few stories my mother said about my father, unfortunately my mother seems to think her place is to serve my father, but not my citizens, and in return he provides her with extended life, continually adding time to her existence.”, said the Emperor.

  Zach turned his focus towards Tony, then returned to address the audience as he continued, “This drives her to give him children and while I’m grateful for my brothers and sisters, her account of history is less than accurate. So as anyone can imagine, to find someone who knows of my parents before I was born, and is sharing that time as a story-teller…intrigues me. If the fact that most of you are here because we have a chance to find out what human existence was like a millennia ago, should I even be surprised to see my own father here and now, still impeding my efforts to learn the truth?”, the Emperor argued.

  “The truth is dangerous.”, Tony warned his son.

  “I know defeating the Dark Tyrant wasn’t the beginning of my story nor my father’s, and I didn’t hear about the end of the U.D.E yesterday, but if the Chosen One is the subject of today’s story, then I wager everything I want to hear is scheduled for today. I would be silent and let our story-teller do as she pleases. However, as an Emperor I must answer any and all challenges. As to the matter of the key, I know it was placed out of my reach and the key taught me three valuable lessons. First, the key cannot be manipulated. It isn’t even possible to learn the secrets of the key, through observation. The key has the ability to become intangible to any unworthy of it. I only could place the key in a container, and move the container, but that’s just moving the key, it can’t provide any use from the key. The functions’ of the key are beyond me, and that is by design. Second, I know only three who know the secrets of the key and are alive today, my mother, my father, and the keeper of the key. Among those three, only the one who crafted it, truly knows the key’s full capabilities. Strangest of all, I learned all of my father’s enemies, were just pawns in a game, making mistake after mistake, every time they thought victory was within their reach they incorrectly guessed, reaching the wrong conclusions, completely unaware of the true goals, or strategy. My father’s enemies found they either were betrayed from within, walked right into a trap, or wasted their energy chasing a decoy. All the time they never realized my father’s master plan was about that key. Nobody could see it’s true importance, they only dreamed of the power it offered. Third and finally, a wise man would never create such a tool to attain so much power, a foolish man would have selfishly made it only for his own use, but my father instead bound the fate of the key to a woman, who had no attachment to him, because that is how it was written in the Holy Book’s Armageddon Prophecies. Yes, I know Jhessyreen can summon the key or even send it away, and the key never fails to obey her.”, said the Emperor.

  “All that the Emperor says is true. The result I desired to create for all of our worlds came at a price, a heavy cost, and I was required to decide that sacrifice. The world now exists with three known realities. There are the mortals who are bound to the cycle of life and death. There are the sleepers who serve, dream, and live by the will of a master. Finally there are us ascended who command cosmic forces, time, and the very essence of reality, but that does not make us into gods. Like me, my son was born as a mortal, lived, died, and was reborn as ascended. Upon his re-awakening, we agreed the path of ascension must remain locked, and only a few have the ability to even reach the lock. For the few of us who suffer immortality, we know it’s a curse. In the era before the empire, the Earth born wanted to rule over the universe. In the era before the empire, the Earthborn wanted to claim the weapons, the technology, and the knowledge of the ascended who came before us. And as their slave I would be forced to destroy every last freedom in the universe. They would have used me as a weapon to reshape the universe to their liking. Worst of all, they would have created a race of slaves from my own children. If they could have found just one like me, they would have made the same offers to them, to join their inner circles of power, any form of seduction, even all their promises of wealth. For a long time I thought I would be the only ascended, that I would be alone at the end of time. I once thought I could only choose between two alternatives. I would either spend eternity alone or be a pawn for the tyrants and hope one of my own children can oppose them. That’s when I had an idea. I found the answer to this conundrum, hidden in the cycle of life and death. What the Emperor doesn’t, or actually cannot realize, is the function of the key. Although he does possess the knowledge to understand as we are masters of time, we are already more capable than the key, or anyone who holds it. If I said something about the true nature of the key, one may assume that I lied. If I lie about the nature of the key, the Key’s true nature remains a mystery. The brilliance of the key is when it’s existence becomes a valuable decoy. So if the Holy Book is prophetic, then the Key will unlock the Universe. However, if I made even the slightest miscalculation in my duplication of the Key’s design, it would still be an incredibly powerful tool and an even more dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.”, Tony confessed.

  “That’s not what happened.”, the Emperor declared.

  “And yes, I chose Jhessyreen to be the Key’s master, because it was written in the Holy book, but then again wouldn’t that also be part of the specific qualities the key must have, or else it’s function would be lesser or imperfect? To summarize, yes I created the key, yes I bound it to Jhessyreen, and yes only I know the key’s true purpose. If the question is ‘Can someone other than an intended user, in anyway use the key to attain a level of ascension?' Then I have no understanding of what they believe the key is capable of…So now I come the true favorite question… Can the key be used in any way to kill me or others like me?”, Tony said.

  “Interesting, that you would reveal your intention to simply raise your own throne…Father! The Exalted City isn’t an answer, if there’s nowhere to go. Why would we assume we’re worthy of rescue, when another death is at the other end of the Exalted City’s escape. For what exactly? A chance for a little more time after the end of the Universe? Escape to a different Universe? Where we might not even belong? Do we conquer? Do we bring slaves with us? Whom do we choose? How do we choose? It’s the same flaw you assign to controlling the key, instead you pretend to control the future! And what if my goal is to save people from the end of time is a savior complex? Will that make me your enemy? Will you try to fight me? Just like how you killed the other imposter saviors?…You forget father, that only a few can see the truth behind your lies. The Exalted City is just another decoy, to keep everyone distracted from your plans towards your true goal.”, the Emperor said.

  “Killing an ascended would only endanger the Universe, and leave me with nowhere to go either…The last thing the creator’s servant said to me was this. ‘What we are is not as important as the consequences of our actions.’ I wasn’t sure what he meant at the time, but when given the test, I failed. But I had hope that the chosen one could succeed, where I could not. The chosen one made sacrifices mostly of herself, to save others. Today it…should be her story… not mine. My crimes shaped the reality we live in today, yet I have committed no crimes against the empire. The man I once was, did all I could to re-write the flow of time. The man I am today doesn’t fear the truth.”, Tony said to the audience.

  Tony started moving towards me, each step was completely silent, and he stopped only two steps away. Tony extended an open hand and spoke with a still clarity, “If you please, I am ready for the key. I am ready to make my choice.”