Technocracy: AETHER, Part 8

“Wait!” a voice cried out, and suddenly the four of them

Turned their heads, and Saera brought them all to a full stop.

So they turned, and their eyes of the different colors there:

Silver white, and sapphire blue, and then after them

Ruby red, and copper brown that shifted into bronze,

Turned as one to see the figure rising from below,

Wrapped in black robes, bald, with pale skin, and with silver eyes.

“YOU!” roared Ardo, and fire erupted on his hands

As Arius rose up to their level, though he still

Kept some distance from them; yet was close enough to speak.

“Do not leave,” said Arius. “I beg you all, please stay.”

“NOW you want to BEG?!” growled Marin, and her eyes then gleamed

With neon blue light, and the air grew humid and damp.

“Now that we’ve escaped,” growled Terry, “now that we have all

Broken free of your clutches, it’s NOW you want to talk?!”

“Please,” said Arius, and he held out a long pale hand.

“Hear me out. Let me speak with you honestly, at last.”

“YOU—” growled Ardo, and his eyes were burning neon red,

Blazing with their neon red flames. He drew back his hand—

“Wait.” The voice was quiet, gentle, and yet it was firm.

Ardo, Marin, and Terry turned round to Saera then.

She had spoken. “Let him speak,” she gently, softly said.

She continued: “I want to hear what he has to say.”

“Fine,” said Terry. “Talk.” And both Ardo and Marin then

Turned off their bright neon eyes, and called off their attacks.

Arius began: “I wish to offer you a chance,

And a warning also. I say: what will you do now?

If you had a point to prove, I’d say you’ve proven it.

I thought I could treat the four of you as though you were

Merely things I could control, but you have shown to me

That you simply have too much raw power to be made

Into pawns. So now I modify my offer some:

Will you work with me? Will you be my willing allies?”

“Allies in what?” Saera asked. “What would you ask of us?”

“The merging of Heaven and of Earth,” Arius said.

“I created you four to be pieces in a plan

To achieve a glorious destiny for all of

The human race—to alter the fate of all mankind!

To create a paradise, a glorious new world!

One in which the cosmos is a single, concrete whole,

And no one shall ever be injured, or sick—or die.

A paradise universe, where all women and men

Can be granted all that they have ever dreamed to have.

I have a plan to achieve this, but for that I need

Components, pieces, elements, which are living things.

I created you four to be some of those pieces,

To be components of the plan that I have laid out.

There are… other creations of mine,” Arius said,

And the four of them saw him look very bitter then.

“Other creations, which have escaped, just like you did.

And I wonder if they would have broken out if I

Had shared my intentions with them from the very start:

If they had seen, if they had known what I did intend,

If they had known all that I have worked hard to achieve.

And I cannot tell you everything—not here, not now.

But I promise you: I only wish for what is best.

If you will come down, if you will cease from your escape,

Then I shall not treat you badly, I shall not control

You, shall not attempt to make you into my mere tools.”

Arius stretched out his hand. “Be my partners, instead!

Saera, Marin, Ardo, Terry: join me, please, I beg.

Come to me, and take my hand. Be my allies, I ask.

And in exchange, I can promise you that you will wield

Power even beyond what your four elements can

Offer you, because we Technocrats, we rule the world.

All the planet bends to our will. The Technocracy

Has ruled the Earth from the shadows for ages untold.

You could have a share of that power,” said Arius,

“If you will but join me. So, I pray you: please come down.”

Saera, Marin, Ardo, and Terry all shared a look.

Their beautiful bright eyes now upon each other gazed.

Each of them could see the others thinking, pondering.

Pondering and wondering what they ought best to do.

Marin’s eyes were different than Ardo’s, these in turn

Were different than Terry’s, and different than Saera’s, too.

Each of them had a whole universe behind their eyes,

Churning, thinking, bending their thoughts on the outstretched hand.

But, as they gazed into each others’ bright churning eyes,

One by one by one by one, each of the four of them

Realized that, though their thoughts were not exactly the same,

They all seemed to largely feel in a similar way.

And so their eyes stopped their churning, and all four of their

Gazes, one by one by one by one, became set hard.

And Saera nodded, and the other three nodded at

Her, and she turned to Arius, and then she began:

“We reject you,” Saera said. “We will not take your hand.

Your eyes are not the only thing about you that is

Silver. Your tongue is covered in silver, just as much.

You have spun a pretty story for the four of us.

Perhaps some of it is true.” “I bet lots of it is,”

Terry said. “But when you weren’t so frightened by us four,

When we were just things, things that you thought you could control,

You didn’t treat us so nicely.” “Yeah,” Ardo growled out,

“When you thought you could control us, you weren’t so nice!

You were only cruel to us! You hurt us!” “Yeah,” Marin

Said. “You’re only treating us nice now because you are

Backed into a corner. It’s a move I’ve seen before.

You’re like the bitch in middle school who has never lost,

But NOW you’ve lost, so you’re bargaining. It’s pathetic.”

“So,” said Saera, swinging round back in their turning speech,

“So, we shall reject you, and we shall be on our way.”

“Then will come my warning,” Arius said to them next.

“My warning, posed with a question: where will you all go?

You all must appreciate that all Atlanta is

Controlled by us. The whole city, we Technocrats rule.

The whole city is under our total, full control.

So, what will you do? Do you all think you can go home?

Go home, go to sleep in your beds, go to school next day?

No—everywhere in this city, you will be at our

Mercy.” “Then we’ll leave!” snapped Terry, barking out the words.

“Leave?” said Arius. “Leave? You don’t understand at all.

This city in which you have spent your entire lives,

This city, this environment built for just you four,

This city is NOTHING like the world that lies beyond.

You don’t even know your history!” Arius cried.

“Do you think that ONLY five hundred years have gone by

Since the Ravaging? No—we lied to you about that.

In reality the world is much, much further on

Into the future, and the world is so wide, and vast.

The world outside of Atlanta is immense, and cold.

It is cold and cruel, and it is nothing like you know.

There is heartbreak, death, and ruin, outside of the walls

Of Atlanta. Will you run from all that you have known?

Will you give up everything? Give up your families?”

Arius saw all four of their pairs of eyes then twitch,

And he smiled. “Will you give up your mothers and aunts?

Cousins? Fathers? People that you’ve known, and grown to love?

Stay with me, stay in Atlanta here, and I declare

That you can continue with a semblance of the lives

That you had before I brought you down here on this night.

You can still to high school go. You all can still engage

In your activities. Marin still can take ballet.

Saera can still go to the library, check out books.

Ardo still can go hunting graffiti in downtown.

Terry, even, I can IMPROVE your condition some.

I know that you hate how you have lived, with your father.

I can place you in far better circumstances,” said

Arius. “So stay, and I promise you comfort, peace.

Stay, and I assure you, you will never have to face

The cold, cruel world that lies beyond Atlanta’s walls.”

THIS response made all the Elementals twitch in shock,

For it dawned on all of them that they til now had not

Thought of what would happen AFTER they had all escaped.

What, indeed, would they do, when they had gotten out of

The Technocracy’s clutches? So once again they looked

To each other, one by one, and this time there was more

Fear, and more uncertainty, especially from both

Ardo and from Saera. But this time Marin was firm.

And the three of them to Terry looked, who gave a nod.

And now, finally, Saera and Ardo’s eyes grew set,

Faster, quicker, more quickly they came now to their choice.

And, again, it was Saera who spoke the first of all.

“I would rather live in the real world, however cruel,”

Saera said. “I would rather no longer live a lie.”

“I don’t want any more lies,” said Marin, hard and firm.

“I want the truth, even if it hurts me, gives me pain!”

“I’m not afraid,” Ardo said. “I’ll face whatever comes

Outside of Atlanta. I say, bring the whole world on!”

Terry said, at last, “I’ve never liked my life here much.

So if the world outside of Atlanta is diff’rent,

Then, as far as I’m concerned, that’s only a good thing.”

Saera said, “I would rather live in truth than in lies.

Even if the truth causes me pain, I still prefer

It to lies, however comforting. So once again

I say to you: we reject you, and all of your works!”

“You cannot—” began Arius, and his pale, sharp face

Contorted in anger. “You cannot possibly be—”

“That’s ENOUGH!” snapped Saera, and she flung out her pale arm

Sending a huge blast of wind straight out at Arius,

Blowing him away and down and far below them now,

Sending him tumbling, his black robes fluttering about.

“Well, that’s enough of that,” Terry said, and nodded then.

“So, let’s leave, huh?” “Yeah,” said Marin. “I’m ready to go.”

“Up, then, huh?” said Ardo, glancing upwards, straight at the

Huge spot of red gleaming neon, which they now could see

Was a bigger circle than it had appeared below,

As they hovered there, all held aloft by Saera’s winds.

“All right,” Saera said. “Terry, please try to go ahead

And break up or shatter that barrier.” “Right!” he said,

And he stretched his pale arm upward, and his eyes now gleamed

Neon copper brown, and they heard an enormous GROAN

And the huge red surface of the circle then deformed,

Bending, cracking, making chunks of glowing red fall down.

“There it goes!” cried Ardo as they saw a massive CRACK

Appear in the giant circle. “Let’s go!” Marin cried.

“All right,” Saera said. “Here we go!” And the four of them

Suddenly surged upward with a stomach-churning speed,

Billowed by the winds that swirled and whipped around them now.

And as they rose the red circle, huge, totally broke

Apart—it shattered and fell. Saera quickly ensured

That they dodged all of the chunks as those fell to the floor,

And when it was gone they saw an open shaft of black,

A huge hole. “Terry, make sure you clear all of the rock!”

Saera shouted to him. “Okay!” Terry cried, and he

Stretched his arm upwards, and his eyes neon copper glowed.

So they heard the groaning and the cracking and the smash

Of rock, stone, the crust of Earth, erupting round their heads

As they shot at last completely out of the great base,

Into a huge tunnel in the rock, which upwards led,

Through shafts and through membranes, which Terry tore full apart,

Smashing and destroying everything within their path,

As Saera raised higher, higher, flew them higher up,

Higher, higher, they rose higher, until they could feel

The first hints of breeze, of cold, cool wind upon their skin,

On their faces and their bodies, as they flew on still

Upwards, until there was one great ceiling, dark and black

And Terry shouted, “GET OFF!” and he stretched out his hand

And there was a massive smashing sound. The rock above

Burst apart, and open ripped, and then the four could see

A dark blue sky, full of millions and millions of stars!

So Saera sped up them all and with a surge of air,

With a WIND that BLEW and swirled about in every way,

The four of them—Saera, Marin, Ardo, and Terry—

Burst out of the Technocracy’s clutches. They were free!

They were free and they rose higher, higher in the sky!

Higher in the sky that shone in the cool April night!

Higher in the sky, where all the stars were shining bright!

“We did it!” cried Ardo, whooping, crying tears of joy.

“We did it! We’re free! We’re free!” he shouted loud and long.

“All the stars are beautiful,” said Marin to herself,

Silent little tears running down both her sallow cheeks.

Saera said, “I never thought I’d see the stars again.”

Terry smiled up at them. “They’re pretty,” he just said.