Chapter Sixty One - Author of Change

"What's going on? What is this place?"

The ship was a hubbub of activity, expressions of disbelief, tears of joy and amazement and gasps of relief. Someone had woken up!

Several months had passed since they had plugged in the boy, who was chosen to become their sacrifice in order to rescue the men and women trapped in the virtual environment that was the Alien Archive.  The A.I. had partially kept its end of the bargain and had released 56, 15 of which happened to be agents sent in to rescue the V.I.P's.  The A.I. had claimed that the other 11 would be released the moment it could enter it's host body; the boy Kyan.

Time had passed and the boy's monitored brainwave patterns had begun to weaken until the point they were erratic and the doctors on board were predicting brain death was simply a matter of time.  In fact they were waiting upon it.  Waiting for the moment that this child's soul left its body allowing the entry of the A.I. But once the A.I. was contained in the boy's paralysed shell, it would be trapped.  They would sever its connection to the Archive and then kill the body, thus destroying it.

No one could have predicted that the expected brain death would not occur and though the brainwaves remained weak, they had stabilised.  What did this mean?  Had the A.I. already possessed the body? If so why had it not woken?  There was much speculation, some of the more rash team members wished to terminate the boy there and then in order that the A.I. never had the chance to enter the ship.  However, he was not chosen to be the Captain for no reason and refused their demands, even threatened to have them removed from this ship should they argue with him anymore.  He knew he should have not accepted fools with such close attachments to the victims!

Regardless of the limbo they had found themselves in, facts remained that 10 V.I.P's, 1 agent and 1 boy remained linked to the Archive.  So naturally the fact that one man had been released was huge news.

"Who is it?" The Captain asked his chosen second in command.

"Archibald Towers, second son of Ernest Towers," the man replied and handed over the file on the man.  It included his current health and statistics which were unsurprisingly poor considering the time he had spent comatose.  His rehabilitation would be made effective immediately.

"Towers? The Luxury Space Liner group?" The Captain asked.  To experience a cruise upon one of their liners travelling through the stars to many exotic and beautiful planets also owned by the Towers group was on the bucket list of all the wealthy and elite.  To travel aboard, discover better than first class accommodations and enjoy food that put five star restaurants to shame was but a mere pipe dream for the likes of him.

The Second nodded.  "Archibald Towers is not the heir, but reputed to be a bit of a playboy.  However, he is doted upon by his parents, they will be ecstatic to here of his release."  The Captain nodded, they had not been able to keep the situation quiet for long after the other V.I.P's were released and though they had seemed initially 'successful' in the publics eye, the fact that they had been able to offer no new updates for the prolonged period meant that politicians and the media were now constantly breathing down his neck.  Recently there had even been a protest on the nearby planet of Sculatine, due to fear that the Archive would shift into their orbit and suck out their souls, they wished it to be destroyed!

"Is he able to give a statement?" The Captain asked, hoping that his awakening would calm the situation for a bit and allow them more time.

"Not as yet," the man sighed.  "It seems that he is far more disoriented that when the others were released.  Very confused.  He denies he is Archibald Towers, says he is known as Han Huan.  His last memory is closing his eyes upon his deathbed after living to the ripe old age of 126."

The Captain shook his head in disbelief.  He was aware that some of the V.I.P's had gained new memories, but it hadn't gotten to the point where they had completely lost their original ones.  "What do the doctors say?"

"They believe that he will remember soon," the Second answered.  "He is already showing signs of his original personality, though it's somewhat tempered."

"Alright," The Captain rose from his seat to glance outside of the ships window at the seemingly harmless satellite that contained the Archive.  "Contact the man's parents first.  Give them some warning that he's not quite himself, hopefully their presence might improve things.  Then release an initial statement, remain vague and promise a clearer update soon.  That will hopefully keep the wolves at bay for a short while."

*****

Slate was able to spend more than 30 wonderful years with his beloved Willow and should have spent at least 30 more, but fate is not always kind. The world, despite it's age and natural stability, could still suffer from disasters from time to time and this came in the form of an earthquake. It ripped through the underworld ruthlessly, many of the deep villages were lost and those that existed just below the surface experienced a great deal of damage. The forests were not spared, for many villagers were unable to gain balance and fell from their treetop homes to the ground many metres below. Some trees were uprooted, tearing down fragile infrastructure causing more injuries and lives lost. The Outsiders, for all their technology, did not predict the quake and death came to parts of the mine due to being crushed with falling rocks or suffocation as help could not reach everyone quickly enough.

Slate had been beside his grandfather's grave and became trapped within the dark cave. He tried desperately to dig his way out of the cave, his bare hands bloody and torn, but the rubble proved too much and he gradually grew weaker. Desperately thirsty and struggling to breath the thinning air, he pulled Yang's pendant from about his neck. "Tell me, at least, is he okay? Is Willow alive?"

Yang would not give him the answer he wanted instead the only words he received were;

*Do you wish to leave this world?*

Tears slid down his rough cheeks. He had lost him again. How many more times must he suffer this? He agreed to leaving this world behind. There was nothing more for him to do here.

*****

"I was not expecting you to return so soon," the Master advised as he moved the silver general one space to the left of its current location.  In Aidan's absence, the Master took a liking for the game Shogi, but as he had no one to play against, he chose to solve Shogi puzzles instead.  He frowned, this one was not quite going the way he wished.

"There was an earthquake that ruined everything," Aidan told him bitterly.  Yang unwrapped itself from his neck and swiftly floated over to the screen, beginning its scans.

The Master looked up from the all white board and the small white tiles with a frown.  "If I recall correctly, that world is in a state of stability, there should be no earthquakes during the era in which you lived."

"You are correct, Master," Yang informed him, in it's monotone voice.

"Then what occurred?"

"Investigating, now, Master," Yang advised.

"What about Warren, he probably died in that quake as well," Aidan mentioned.

"M-Master!" Yang sounded suddenly concerned.  It shot towards the man upon his white throne, stopping mere inches from his face.  The Master stretched out his palm for Yang to land in.

"Ah, that is a nuisance," the Master muttered and rose from his seat, which sank into the white floor with the Shogi board and walked over to the screen.  Aidan joined him, his curiosity piqued, but as binary code flashed across the screen, he had to wait until he was told what was happening.  "He insists on being difficult.  Proceed with locating a host body."

"Yes Master," Yang responded and landed upon the screen.

"What is happening?" Aidan asked.

The Master looked at him and sighed.  "Well I suppose you are due answers.  Have you ever noticed how static or staid the worlds you have visited are?"

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked confused.

"What I mean is that they are unchanging, stuck in their little cycles, nothing new occurring," the Master replied.

"I don't think that is true, I mean looking at the fashion... the technology..."

"Ah you mean fashion that seems to repeat itself, 'oh wasn't that dress like what we wore a couple of decades ago?'" The Master's lips moved, but an undeniably feminine voice spilled from his throat.  "And had you not noticed that after a time of phones becoming smaller, they suddenly seemed to grow in size?  Had you not noticed how vague history was, as if those events could have occurred a hundred years or a thousand years ago?  Little changes are par for the course, but those changes tend to be reset or recycled and not a soul is aware."  Aidan gulped and paled.  What sort of place did he come from that he had never noticed this?!  He could not deny what the Master spoke of was true.  "That's not to say that large changes do not occur, but those are usually brought about by Golden Children."

"Golden Children? What are they?"

"Inventors, warmongers, scholars, idols, C.E.O's, presidents," the Master named but a few.  "They are born to bring change to a world.  Born to evolve the world to the next stage of its existence.  Some evolutions are small, but with rippling effects, others are like an explosion bringing forth a whole new era.  But for Golden Children to be born, their parents need to come together."

"Wouldn't that be too random?" Aidan said as his mind processed this information.  "I mean, how do you rely on two people coming together, falling in love or at least having sex in order to conceive the child?"

"Precisely!" The Master clapped his hands together.  "Even more difficult when those two people would normally never partner with each other!  Just take, for example the female protagonist, Xu Lin, a woman of a race hated and feared by the race of the male protagonist, Basalt!  Intriguing isn't it!  I have an old... friend who could formulate a pathway which would bring the female protagonist and the male protagonist together 97.482% of the time."

"Protagonist?"

"Hmmm, oh that is what he named them," the Master advised.  "The protagonists of their own story.  Of course we would only simulate the events to see the accuracy of them.  It was an interesting game."

"Okay, but what's all that got to do with Warren and I?" Aidan asked.

"Oh, well, I've been using you to stop the Golden Children from being conceived," the Master told him.  "And he was using Warren to create them."  Aidan froze.  It was too much to understand.  What did he mean using him to stop.. what had that to do with protecting Warren and why did he need to stop the protagonists from coming together?

"Is this some sort of game to you?  Are you playing with Warren's and my lives?" He demanded, but Yang intervened.

"Master! I've found the perfect host!  The unborn brother of the unborn Golden Child!" Yang advised.

"Proceed with the transfer, Yang." The Master said and then grabbed Aidan's hand, slipping on a black ring with a white pearl embedded in it. "Of course there is much more to all of this than some game.  But for now, the Golden Child must be stopped or who knows what might happen to this world.  Ah and don't forget to protect your Warren, Aidan.  He will need you more now than ever."

Author's note; Thank you to everyone for the votes and comments! I take time everyday to read comments and like to comment back on occasion, but have not been able to for a few days as I simply can't access the book as a reader. This affects anytime I try read what part people are commenting about and I can't see comments when editing. I think this may have something to do with the latest Wattpad update. I hope you will enjoy the new world as much as the others.