The Continuing World
The sky above Ankida was a clear blue today. The green haze that once choked the air had been lifted thanks to extensive terraforming work. Kyrie pulled her eyes away from the window, absent-mindedly stirring the hot cocoa in her cup.
“Mistress?” spoke a voice in her ear.
“Yes, Yua?”
“The appointment with the President of the Star League has been postponed until further notice. She apologizes for the delay and hopes that it will not be too long.”
“It must be the troubles with the Kalman system. Send her a message thanking her for her support with the dialogues, and that the Federation will always be willing to lend a helping hand.”
“Alright, Mistress.”
In the aftermath of the Galactic Core Invasion, the strongest political entities of the galaxy – the Star League and the Mushuszu Empire – had been left bereft of leadership. The power vacuum at the top, where all-powerful immortals once held sway, had been filled with self-important representatives from a thousand squabbling worlds. Three years on, things had gotten better. Slightly better, in that the threat of yet another galactic war had lessened, with words used in lieu of weapons, but any pipe-dream of a united humanity was still a long, long time away. Kyrie sighed. The bell over the café door tinkled. Raising her head, Kyrie saw who it was. She gave the newcomer a grin, waving her hand.
The woman walked over and sat down opposite her cooly, brushing her silver hair back. She had started to grow it out again.
“Kyrie.” Her greeting was short, but warm. Kyrie smiled. “How have things been, Erika?”
“There is a lot going on in the League systems.” Erika replied. “The attempted coup in Kalman is probably not the last we’ll hear of the ex-immortals.”
The ex-immortals: those who had lost their powers and immortality. Some of them had willingly cooperated with the mortals they once ruled, but there were others whose ambition and ego would not allow them to submit. Even in their mundane state, they still possessed enough wiles and experience to become a major headache for the League. The Dunamis clan had found their calling as consultants; though their abilities were not what they once were, they had the mindset and training to succeed in hunting down rogue ex-immortals.
“Is the new body working fine?” Kyrie asked.
Erika looked down at her hands and nodded. “Yes. It feels entirely natural,” she said, and left it at that. Even now, Erika was not one for much small talk. Research into cloned bodies had advanced rapidly in the past few years, allowing for Erika to transfer herself into a normal body instead of the cyborg shell that she had been in. The waitress came over, asking for Erika’s order.
“Water.”
That was what she usually ordered, Kyrie remembered. “So, Kyrie,” began Erika, slightly awkwardly. “How about you? Between the diplomatic missions and the recovery project, it can’t be easy.”
“Oh, I manage. Yua is a great assistant. Besides, they don’t need me to be around the recovery facility as much anymore.” That was where the victims of the Gray Death that Senya had unleashed were slowly recovered and downloaded into bodies. It was a slow process. In three years, they had only recovered ten thousand people. The procedure was traumatic to those who emerged from it; their last memories would be that of being melted away, and upon recovery they invariably found it hard to cope with the trauma. Kyrie had been on hand to counsel and guide them, as the first one to be recovered. As more and more victims recuperated, they in turn took on the task of helping with the therapy.
“It must have been nice to have been the first,” Erika said innocuously. A hint of a blush appeared on Kyrie’s cheeks. “It was only logical. I was the only one to have regained my individuality. There was definitely no bias or anything like that on his part,” she retorted, a bit defensively.
“Well, I did wonder why I wasn’t ahead of you on the list for a clone body, even though I was ready and waiting,” said Erika. Kyrie paused, and realized that there was a slight smile on Erika’s lips. She was being teased. “Oh, you win, Erika. Anyway, that’s the way he set it up. Don’t complain to me,” Kyrie chuckled. The waitress came over with Erika’s order: a glass of clear, iced water.
“By the way,” asked Erika, “How is the Tree doing? I haven’t visited her in a while.”
“Selkhet’s growing fine,” said Kyrie. “The regimen that Sekhenun had prescribed seems to strike a perfect balance for her nutritional needs. The terraforming on the moon is also proceeding at a rapid rate; soon the Tree will blossom, and she will have a new home.” And then, the first of the new Gieloth would come into this world. Kyrie didn’t know what to make of that, but she supposed it would be a little too selfish to insist that the world was only for those who looked like humans. After all, she had spent some time being bodiless herself.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mistress, but your father just put in a reminder that you have a meeting with the General Secretary of Old Earth later tonight,” Yua chimed in. “I think you were supposed to wear blue, but white looks better on you.”
“Really? Do I have any white dresses in Ankida?”
“There’s two. The one you bought last year, and the other one you wore for the ceremony.”
“Ah, that one. No, not that one, of course. Let the house know that I’ll be wearing the one I bought last year.”
“Okay, Mistress.”
Erika raised an eyebrow. “It’s about the function tonight? The one Qin is hosting?” Kyrie nodded, taking a sip of cocoa. “It is. You’ll be there too, right?” Erika took a drink from her glass. “Yes. Erec is busy in former Imperial space. I’m picking up his share of work.” Kyrie looked out at the window, squinting up at the sun. On the far side lay Old Earth, mirror to her world. He had called it the original Earth. There, seven billion humans had popped back into existence in a universe that they were entirely unfamiliar with. That had posed another problem for the Federation – how would they integrate Old Earth into their current structure? The original Earth was still divided into separate nations, each with their politics and beliefs. The Federation had been that way too just eight years ago, but even so, they had never been as fragmented as Old Earth. Kyrie’s father, President Iannes, had been spending most of his time lately negotiating a representative, united government of Old Earth. It helped that the Federation’s technology was far superior to what Old Earth had.
Kyrie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Tonight’s function would be crucial for the future of the Federation and Old Earth.
Step by step, they would work towards a better future. Even if they stumbled they would pick themselves back up again. That was their responsibility.
The ones that came before would lay down the path for the ones to come.
That is how the world would continue on.
The café bell tinkled again. Kyrie looked up, and smiled.
—FIN—
