Technocracy: AETHER, Part 4

“No. No. No!” screamed Saera. Tears came from her silver eyes,

Thinking of her mother and the warmth of her tight hugs.

“It is true,” said Arius, “however much you wish

To deny it. The real truth is, WE created you.

We used our technology to form the four of you

Metaphysically, each one joined with their element.”

Arius then chuckled, faintly, underneath his breath.

“Who would have imagined that old Plato was correct?”

“Who the FUCK is Plato?” Ardo asked, his voice a snarl.

“Plato is a philosopher who lived long ago.

He theorized in a work called the Timaeus that

All of the created universe is made up of

Four elements: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth, as well.

And these four elements have their origins within

The realms of the metaphysical, the realms beyond

All the senses—only accessed by the intellect.

Plato’s Theory of the Forms! That one is right as well!

And the FORMS of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth also

Are the origins primordial of all that is,

Are the metaphysical beginnings of all stuff.

All the Forms, the metaphysical Ideas of things,

Objects, people, animals, and plants, materials

Filter outward from those four Forms, those Forms at the core:

Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. The only thing above

Those four, all that’s beyond them, is the Form of the Good.

For, as Plato teaches us, the Good begins all things.

Indeed, the Four Elements all emanate out from

The Form of the Good. They are the next step down upon

The ladder of all reality,” Arius said.

“I… I don’t understand!” Marin said, her voice a cry.

“You will later, Mariana,” Arius told her.

“But what is true is that the Forms of the Elements

Were united to your souls before you all were born.

You were united to your Elements right upon

Your conception, right at the moment you came to be.

Mariana, you were right in what you came to know:

You four are fully human, fully your element.

Two natures united in one existence,” he said.

“Each of you has natures of Water, Fire, Air, Earth

Totally united to your human natures four.

THAT is what has made you so powerful,” he told them.

“And you are this way because I BUILT you to be so.”

Marin wept. Hot tears were running down her sallow cheeks.

Saera too was crying. Even Ardo shed hot tears.

Only Terry did not cry. He stared out, straight ahead,

Eyes doing their shift from copper into lighter bronze.

“I must say,” said Arius, ignoring all their pain,

“You four have impressed me with the speed at which you’ve grown.

We suspected that your hair color would change when you

Had achieved perfect unity ‘tween your two natures.

But I did not think that this would happen quite so soon.

I did not expect it until you all were eighteen.

But when Sister Belladonna reported that you

Had all achieved this transition, and then Brother Crick

Reported that your medical work confirmed the same,

I knew that all four of you ahead of schedule were.

So I realized, to my happiness, that I could move

To speed up the process by which I brought you all in,

And put you to my purposes, sooner than I’d thought.”

“We will NEVER work for you!” shouted Terry aloud.

“Terrance,” Arius said, “you don’t really have a choice.

You are mine, and I intend to make full use of you.

I HAVE you, and I intend to put you all to work.”

Then he saw them all look at him with terrified eyes.

“Hmm,” he said, as he beheld their faces, filled with fright,

“I suppose this might be somewhat traumatic for you.

I promise you, I am not as cruel as I may seem.

But I also promise,” and his voice became a snarl,

“That I shall indeed make use of you. My plains have lain

Too long dormant—centuries, the wait has been by now.

Now that they are in my grasp, I’ll no further delay.”

Then Arius floated back from them, and floated down,

And told the black-robéd folk below, “Swing down the probes,

I want a meta-examination of these four.

I want to be certain that the Elementals are

Fully stable in the unions of their natures two.”

“Yes, Father,” said someone, speaking far from down below,

Someone whose voice seemed familiar to the four of them.

But they scarcely had time to think on this, for with a

Terrible and oily sliding sound, from up above

There came down long oozing arms, like oily tentacles

Lined with veins of neon red. These arms were soon upon

All four of them as they hung, and the arms groped and grasped,

Crawling, oozing, all over them, o’er their naked forms.

“Ahh! Ahh!” Saera screamed as she was groped and crawled upon

By the black and oily arm. “Please! Please! Please get away!”

“Eek! Don’t touch me!” Marin screeched as she was crawled upon

By the oily, oozing arm. “Don’t touch me! Get away!”

“Ahh! Ahh! Stop it! Stop it!” Ardo cried, screaming aloud

At the awful, cold, and oily touch of the black arm.

“Ungh,” grunted Terry, who tried his hardest not to scream,

Tried to hold his tongue at the revolting, oily touch.

“Well?” said Arius, who landed down upon the floor.

“Well, Brother Crick,” he asked a black-robéd man nearby,

“Well, what do the readouts say?” The black-robed man replied,

“Father, the Elementals’ two natures are in sync.

All four of their hypostatic unions are stable.

Their human and Element natures fully cohere.”

“Excellent,” said Arius. “Now it is time for us

To make several other modifications to them.

For this we will need to split them up. So, now I need

My four allies on this project to take one of each.”

The black oily arms receded finally away,

Leaving all four of them feeling violated, groped.

No sooner had all their trauma come at last to end

Than they saw Arius float back up to their own height.

“We need to perform some other procedures on you,”

Arius said. “This means we will need to split you up.

One of my companions on this project will now take

Each of you aside to separate chambers, where they will

Do what must be done to you. Now,” he said, glancing down,

“Who of you four wants each Elemental?” he then asked.

Someone floated up now, swathed in robes of heavy black,

With those swooping lines upon his temples, neon red.

He had brown skin, and he had black hair, and also had

Green eyes—and when Saera saw him, her face twisted up

In pure horror. “DOCTOR CRICKSON!” she shouted aloud.

For indeed it was, it was, it was Doctor Crickson!

Their trusted pediatrician floated now right there,

Floated right in front of them at Arius’ side.

“Doctor Crickson! You! You can’t be one of them!” she cried.

Doctor Crickson barely cast his green eyes upon her,

And they were so cold now, like they’d never been before.

“Brother Crick,” said Arius, turning to Crickson now,

“I think the Earth Elemental should be in your charge.”

“Very good then, Father Arius,” said Brother Crick,

“I shall take the Earth Elemental. I’ll handle him.”

“Excellent,” said Arius, and then he downward called:

“Now then, Sister Faraday, will you come up here next?”

Next there floated upward someone else swathed in black robes,

With swooping lines of neon red on her temples dark.

She had very dark skin, and her hair was a dark black,

And it fell in heavy braids down her shoulders and back.

“Sister Faraday,” Arius to this woman said,

“Will you take the Air Elemental into your charge?”

“Aye, Father,” said Sister Faraday, who nodded then.

“I’ll see to it that she has done to her what she needs.”

Her dark eyes alighted on Saera’s pale, naked form,

And Saera’s skin crawled to feel herself examined so.

“And next off,” said Arius, who looked downward again,

“Sister Murasaki, will you come up here now, please?”

Upward floated a third figure in the darkened robes.

Swooping lines of neon red upon her temples gleamed.

She had sallow skin; her dark brown eyes were almond-shaped.

Her hair was a vibrant purple, and was cut chin-length.

“Sister Murasaki,” Arius said to her now,

“I believe that you should take the Fire Elemental.

Take him, and perform upon him what we have agreed.”

“It will be done, Father,” Sister Murasaki said.

She nodded at him, seemed more respectful and more stiff

Than the other two had been, and then she looked upon

Ardo, and he flinched and squirmed, because her gaze was hard,

Hard and cold and cruel. He knew she cared nothing for him.

“And at last,” said Arius, and now he almost smiled,

Smiled in a way that seemed too nasty, and too cruel,

“Sister Belladonna, will you come up here now, please?”

A woman in heavy dark robes floated upwards now,

With those lines around her temples swooping, neon red.

Her skin was olive, her hair was dark, and her eyes were

Green—and Marin’s own sapphire blue eyes opened wide,

Her jaw dropping as fresh tears came streaming from her eyes.

“MOTHER?” she screamed loudly, and indeed, it truly was!

There she was, Bellona Meni, Marin’s own mother!

“Miss Meni! Miss Meni!” Saera shouted out at her.

“Miss Meni… you… YOU…” Saera stammered, eyes wet with tears.

Bellona, her face as beautiful as ever was,

Now cast her green eyes coldly upon the four of them.

“Mother! Mother!” Marin shouted, screaming right at her.

“This is just a joke, right? This isn’t real! Right? Right? RIGHT??”

Bellona a hard glance cast upon her daughter’s face,

And Marin’s heart shattered at the coldness of the gaze.

“Sister Belladonna,” Arius said to her then,

“I think you should handle the Water Elemental.

Take her, and do to her what we previously discussed.”

Sister Belladonna, casting off her old disguise,

Nodded to him. “Father Arius, it will be done.

I shall manage the Water Elemental,” she said.

“I’M YOUR DAUGHTER!” Marin screamed, though they seemed not to hear.

“Talk to me! Look at me! I’M RIGHT HERE!” she shouted out.

“Shall we sedate them?” asked Belladonna to the rest.

“I would prefer not,” said Faraday as a response.

“I think that their brain states will be more receptive to

All the procedures if they remain conscious in full.”

“I agree,” said Crick. “The data seems to bear this out.”

“Yes,” said Murasaki. “Better that they are awake.

If they feel some discomfort or pain… well, what of it?

That is no concern of mine, at least,” she coldly said.

“Yes,” said Arius, “I think our experiments are

Clear that the metaphysics of the Elementals

Are more stable when they are awake, than when asleep,

And that will suit better all the procedures we must

Perform on them now. So I would not sedate them—yet.”

“Very well,” said Belladonna. “You may take the lead,

Father Arius. Since, after all, the four of them

Are your own creations, your own science’s results.”

“Yes,” said Arius. “You have your orders. Let’s begin.”

Saying this, he sharply snapped his fingers once, twice, thrice,

And the fixtures that held all four teenagers in place

Vibrated, and started moving, pulling them apart,

Pulling them towards different segments of the rounded walls

Which now opened, like membranes inside a living cell,

Opened, so the four of them could all be carried off.

So with desperate glances at each other, one last time,

Saera, Marin, Ardo, Terry all became alone.