Deka is one of the oldest cities on Myridia, and has been the capital of the planet for many centuries. Its population of five thousand might seem rather low, but since every Myridian can create at will up to ten thousand exact duplicates of him or herself, the actual population can rise to fifty million at any second.
Because of this, it’s one of the very few cities on Myridia where buildings pre-dating the return of the gods are still standing. It resembles a modern Earth city, the only difference being the fact that a single Myridian can own an entire skyscraper.
The most striking feature of Deka is the statue of Demeter holding a sickle. It’s over 600 feet tall, four times the height of the Staute of Liberty, and it was built over the ashes of the Myridian Parliament.
Nabric Ges has lived all his life in the shadow of Demeter’s statue. He joined the Myridian Holy Guard right after reaching his Harvest year, and has been working as a guard for the Oracle Palace ever since. He’s supposed to be on duty today, but nobody finds it strange that a dozen of his duplicates are moving crate after crate to his house.
This is Myridia, after all: people are supposed to be in many places at once.
Noriko Null is in the library, reading a book so fast it seems she’s only flipping through it. She’s sitting next to a pile of old books almost as tall as she is. She’s still wearing the hospital gown.
When she notices Nabric opening the door, she doesn’t slow down before commenting:
<This is amazing. Myridia already had a planetary government a thousand years ago. And did your people really go from iron age to industrial revolution in less than a century!?>
<What’s a century? And when did you learn to read Myridian?>
<This morning, before breakfast. This is quite a collection of books, by the way. You don’t strike me as the reading type.>
<Yeah, you got me. It’s my father’s collection; all the books are more than three hundred years old, you know. Older than Demeter’s return.>
<I think I got this> Noriko declares, closing the book she’s already finished <Thousands of years ago, the Greek gods established a colony here by moving of humans from Earth. Considering your language, probably from Crete or Mycenae. Was it Demeter?>
<I have no idea. My father thought it was Prometheus.>
<Interesting. Still, you were able to build an impressive civilization…until Demeter claimed this world as her own private possession. That’s as far as the books go; I take it they’re illegal?>
<I could be executed just for looking at them. The Oracles don’t want us to know what life before Demeter was like. They say it can “inspire revolts”.>
Noriko walks towards Nabric; she’s still weak from the days of dehydration and malnutrition, and he’s a trained guard with twice her weight. Her silver eyes flash, making his soul shake in fear.
<Inspire me.>
New Rhetra
Kari is trying to help Old Man Vor sit down on his chair, but he pushes away her duplicates.
<Did I say I needed help!?> he yells.
<This planet gets better and better> Max laments.
<Don’t get me started on this planet> the Old Man whines.
Vesta floats towards him, feeling uncomfortable as she always is around old people. Old age is something completely alien to her, something that quickly steals the people she cares about.
<Sir, we could really use your help. We’re strangers on this planet; Kari thinks you might be able to help us find our friend and to understand where we are. We will be eternally grateful for any information you can give us.>
She gives a warm smile that even the Old Man can’t ignore. At ninety-seven it really shouldn’t have any effect on him, but Vesta’s something else.
<You’re a goddess, aren’t you? I used to work for one.>
Vesta “sits down” next to him, by crossing her legs and floating. The man with the red skin standing alone in a corner of the room looks at her suspiciously.
<She looks dangerous. I should kill her again.>
<You have something of a one-track mind, don’t you?> Max teases him.
The red-skinned man answers by creating an energy sword and pointing it at Max’s throat.
<Torn! What did I tell you about killing my guests?> the Old Man shouts, then coughing several times. Torn makes the sword disappear, crossing his arms and looking away.
<You never let me kill anyone.>
<You’ll have to excuse Torn; he thinks everyone’s an Oracle spy.>
<Kari mentioned the Oracles. They’re the ruling class, right?> Vesta asks.
<They are Demeter’s representatives. You see, Demeter rules over a hundred worlds; despite her propaganda, she can’t be in more than one place at a time. Maybe that’s why she decided to conquer Myridia.>
<I need to know what she did, sir. I haven’t seen my sister for over two thousand years.>
<There isn’t much to say. You know Demeter’s the goddess of the harvest, right?>
<Yeah, she’s always been into plants.>
<She came here to harvest us.>
Deka
Nabric Ges holds one of his father’s books, as he recounts what has been passed from generation to generation. It’s impossible to hide history from a civilization where everyone can whisper to ten thousand people at once.
<We had never met a goddess before; we didn’t know what to expect. Demeter decimated our entire military force with her own power. Every industrial complex in the world was either sunk under the ocean or downright incinerated. In a single day, she sent us a thousand year back. Then she left the dirty work to the Oracles…her priests, each wielding a fraction of her power.>
<The jewel on their throats> Noriko recalls.
<Godstones, yes. My father wasn’t the only one trying to resist, to carry the memory of our old history. Each city has a dozen of libraries like this. The Oracles are brutal but patient: they know Demeter can wait. Another generation or two, and everyone will believe her lies.>
<It can’t be that hard to rebel. I stunned the Oracle with relative ease.>
<Not a lot of people get the chance.>
Noriko doesn’t have anything to say. She’s thinking how all of this is a little too convenient…the Heart of the Universe teleporting her here, the Many and the Oracle defeated so easily, the guard conveniently ready to betray his masters…could there be Athena’s hand behind this?
“Right, she almost starved to death and she calls it easy”.
She had almost forgotten that annoying voice in her head. Her human mind is still too scared to come out: she has to keep moving to shut her up. She can do it: she is Null.
<I’ll need anesthetic, a scalpel and copper wire. No, wait, you probably haven’t developed how to extract it: just get me some bronze, a large glass bottle and a very hot fire and I’ll think of something. Oh, and another thing.>
Noriko jumps to her feet, looking at the hospital gown with disdain.
<Get me something decent to wear. I can’t save the world without pants.>
New Rhetra
<The Word of Demeter, the only legal book on Myridia, says that our purpose in life is to be bred for war> the Old Man explains.
<I don’t like where this is going> Max warns.
<Myridian society follows precise rules. As soon as you hit puberty, you’re kicked out of the house. You’re expected to survive alone for a while; many build their own cities, like I did with New Rhetra. Then, if you’re male and you’re physically fit, you go to war. If you’re female, you have as many children as you can.>
<They have places called breeding camps. Women are chained and forced to…well…> Kari clarifies, hesitating before completing the sentence.
<What happens if you’re not fit? Or if you can’t have kids?> Vesta asks.
<The Oracles kill you> Kari answers.
There’s a second of silence. The normally happy-go-lucky Kari is suddenly deadly serious.
<They call it the Harvest. Every season they inspect their crops. If you’re weak, they kill you. If you’re too old to duplicate, to fight or to conceive, they kill you. If you do anything they think Demeter won’t like, they kill you.>
<Still think I’m the one with the one-track mind?> Torn asks.
Vesta shakes her head: she can’t believe her sister is responsible for something like this.
<I don’t understand; what does she do with all these Myridian soldiers?>
<What does anyone do with an army? Demeter isn’t as powerful as the other gods, but thanks to Myridia she has an almost unlimited supply of soldiers.>
<Demeter’s at war? With whom?> Vesta asks.
<I lost track a long time ago. Gods help each other to fight one of their own, then break alliances when they feel like it. They’ve been fighting over the Drylon’s arsenal for who knows how long.>
<I knew I wouldn’t like this> Max notes, approaching the old man.
Torn gives him a dirty look, but Max doesn’t pay him attention. Noriko’s mother and her weird floating metal ball mentioned the Drylon before; they must be close to something important.
<Old Man…we’re looking for a friend. She may have used Drylon technology to come to Myridia.>
<Then we’re all dead> Torn says.
<Remind me again why you hang out with this creep?> Kari asks the old man, who answers:
<He saved my life once. I’m helping him survive the harvest. If your friend brought Drylon technology here, Demeter will tear this world apart to get her hands on it.>
<Don’t worry, she left it at home> Max answers.
<And she didn’t take anything else with her?> Torn insists.
<She didn’t take anything, not even her clothes> Vesta reassures him, before adding <Except…>
<The Many!> Max and Vesta say at the same time.
Deka
Oracle Drevel Viz opens his eyes. He’s in a dark room, laying on a table. His wrists and ankles are chained, and he doesn’t have the strength to move.
His telekinetic powers, granted by the godstone embedded into his throat, should be enough to free him…except they don’t seem to work.
Someone turns on the lights. Two duplicates of Nabric Ges are menacing him with spears, standard issue of the Myridian Guard.
Then there’s the girl with the silver eyes. She’s wearing clothes too big for her, mostly because they’re supposed to be worn by a man. There’s something drawn with charcoal on the white shirt, a symbol that the Oracle doesn’t recognize: Ø
<Unhand me and pray for Demeter’s piety. Your death may be swift and merciful.>
His voice isn’t what it used to be. It’s more like an angry whisper.
<You know a lot of fancy words, don’t you? Good for you. Here’s your word of the day.>
Null is holding in her hand the godstone she removed from the Oracle’s throat. Her silver eyes shine bright, and the jewel levitates.
<Tracheotomy.>
She smiles. It’s the most terrifying thing the Oracle has ever seen.
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