| 8: Welcome to the Machine "Your Grace!" greeted a man in a white lab coat. "The portal is almost ready!" Lady Protector Vanana Loe nodded curtly. "Very well, proceed with a test run. This will connect us to the Tota Regues Leiv, no?" "Yes," he nodded. "A direct portal to Times Square in New York City." "I asked for a portal to the Tota Regues Leiv." "That is the city in the next life where it is located, yes." "I have heard nothing of this New York." "It is... As the glories of Pendinmortua's Moderonlei stand at the top of our world, so do the glories of New York surpass all in the next life. Thus-the Tota Regues Leiv inhabits its very heart." "Excellent. Power up the magics and the machinery and we shall have for ourselves a test run." "But of course, Your Grace." The technician bowed to her and started flipping switches. Meanwhile, out in the hall, Chronos and Alice waited. Chronos' head was bowed in prayer as he whispered something; Alice was cradling her magically-augmented RCP-120 like it was her firstborn. "Are we done here?" Alice asked. "Not yet, my dear Alice," informed Chronos kindly. "Now please-this is a difficult spell." Alice nodded, waiting a little longer. However, soon enough, Chronos' head popped back up and he nodded to her. "It's done." "What happened?" "Their portal was set to lead to New York. Now, it leads to some place in the jungles of Africa." "Why couldn't we just go in there and bust heads, and then destroy the machine?" "Because then they would know that it works," explained Chronos. "This way, there is doubt. Now they will go, and either mistake the tropics for New York; or they will realize their misplacement and believe the portal to be flawed beyond repair." "Mistake a jungle for New York?" "In this realm, the Tota Regues Leiv is mythology. Your average Columnian knows nothing of New York, Times Square... of crappy, manufactured bands. Of Carson Da-" "What's HAPPENING!?" cried out Alice as she fell through the door. In Chronos' mind, he started analyzing what was occurring. The portal-! With a link between the Prime Material and Secondary Ethereal established, Earth's own must be being sucked into the Prime like a magnet... or a black hole. Vanana's guard had little time to react to the interlopers, however-half the technicians were being swept into the gaping maw of the portal. Including one man that Alice recognized immediately. "DAD!" she cried out, falling with him towards the portal. "You son of a bi-" That was all they could hear before they went through. "Chronos!" called out Vanana. "This is your doing, is it not!? Ridding me of my staff?" "I fear not entirely," Chronos told her. "Though I did come here to sabotage your portal, I did not even envision that such a thing would occur." "What did you do, then?" she demanded, as her guard regained their composure and trained their guns on him. "I merely changed the location of Earth's end of the portal, hoping for your disillusionment with the technomantics powering this contraption. But-evidently, there is no need for such deceptions in the face of recent events." "My portal is a failure nonetheless?" finished Vanana. "Yes, yes... it is true for the moment. But we can rebuild. We WILL take our rightful place on the Great Countdown." "Such direct links between the worlds are an abomination on the face of the Almighty," declared Chronos. "Perhaps, but-HEY!" shouted Vanana as something came through the portal. Or someone. He wore shades of black, grey, purples, and blues; and an expression of such arrogance, such haughtiness, that both Chronos and Vanana yearned to punch him. "I am come upon this realm at last," the figure declared. "Hmph-I only see two of you. Is this not the realm of the Four?" "Wipe off that grin, I know who you are," spat Chronos. "Vanana, this is-" The grey figure stepped to Chronos, and lifted a finger to his lips ever so delicately. "Ah, come now. Surely a gentleman such as yourself will allow me the honor of my own introduction?" Vanana gulped as he approached her, the only sign of fear Chronos could ever remember her displaying. "I am the chaos mage Formicus of Sioux, and I claim this land for myself." Vanana stared at him. "You have gall, child... I am Lady Protector Vanana Loe, chosen vanguard of the Four in their blessed land of Columnia. I scoff at interlopers such as yourself. Now depart this place else I seek to part your skull from your vertebrae, all glory to the Four." The one known as Formicus began to laugh. "You honestly know not who I am, you spiteful little despot? Heh... you will soon. You... will." With that, he snapped his fingers and vanished with a teleportation spell. "Who was that?" Vanana demanded of Chronos. "That, Your Grace, was the Corruptor," declared Chronos right before he, too, vanished. *** In the palace of the Lady Protector, a mage of the Paranormal Division sat watching a monitor. The monitor displayed a live feed of the portal facility, brought to him by simple scrying magics. A voice came over the intercom. "Private diMagenta, this is Lieutenant Eterniu," the voice identified. "So Chic-what is happening?" "We... somebody greased the stairway to Heaven," Chic replied cryptically. "Suspicions say it was the august one. Deploy the birds at the eagle's nest?" "Roger that, Private," the voice replied. "Blame the august if possible-if not, force the Army to take an oath of loyalty to our side." "Acknowledged, sir." Eterniu switched off the intercom. Hopefully-this would blow away that weak-willed woman, and maybe even the Corruptor to boot. Then-he could lead his beloved Columnia into a new golden age, one devoid of spot, blemish or the voices of rebels. *** "We have a breaking story-the rebel faction led by Chronos of Augusta has just bombed a government facility in the Praerequez Wastes. We're not SURE, but it is believed that Her Grace Lady Protector Vanana Loe was there at the time. We have yet to get word from the facility. "Hold on-a Lieutenant Eterniu of the Paranormal Division, charged with fighting the Corruptor's mages, has just called an emergency press conference in Seridisc District." "My friends and countrymen," Eterniu began, "We have confirmed the death of our beloved Lady Protector, killed by a cowardly guerrilla raid led by the enemy. As much as we mourn her passing, though, I call this nation to attention. The rebels that have seized Generatoph have gone too far this time, and we need to stop them. No more negotiation, no more ceasefires. As of this moment, Columnia is not safe for Columnians-to rectify this, I am furthering the martial law by completely suspending civilian rule in this nation. Until the Four grace us with a new Lord or Lady Protector, I must assume interim rule of the nation and the armed-" "I ARE OWN." Television sets across the nation saw the frequency hacked, and then saw the face of Vanana Loe, with Chronos in the background. "I would like to state, for the record, that I am alive and well," she began. "I confess-I am not accustomed to having to survive a bombing raid-especially when the planes dropping the bombs bear the symbols of the nation I command. "I am coming to you by the abilities of Chronos' faction, in order to stave off a complication to our civil war. I demand an oath of loyalty from the entire Columnian armed forces by midnight, and after that all non-compliant troops will be treated as enemy combatants. Chronos has pledged a temporary truce with my government, to deal with this rebellious prick that is Lieutenant Eterniu. But I reiterate-I am alive and well, and will continue to resist any attempts to overthrow my Four-sanctioned rule. And thusly was the land of Columnia rent further asunder. |