Izurich
Pyrrhic
Bork Lazer
Lexisheeps
Hound55
Sotiras
Enarr
Simple Unicycle
Pilatus
Alby47
SOLITUDE
PART TWO
"Great Scott," I whisper to myself, wandering onto a catwalk suspended in the middle of a wide, cavernous chamber. "What is this place?"
The massive crystalline....palace? castle? fortress?....that I had found at the heart of the Arctic storm is impressive enough from the outside, giving the impression that it's perhaps the size of a particularly nice mansion. Inside, however, it's absolutely sprawling, stretching out on all sides in impossible distances. And I don't mean 'impossible' as in 'hard to believe;' there's simply no way the interior of this place can fit inside the exterior. It's the size of a small city, at least. Starting below and stretching far above me, there are towering structures that could hypothetically fit thousands of people in each of them.
It's not merely the size of this place that catches me off-guard, but the atmosphere as well. From the outside, I expected the cold, gleaming spires to be more of the same once I entered. Instead, it is a riot of colors, arches and lattices of gold and silver, the shimmering white crystals providing huge support columns or reaching out in clusters of what I assume are control panels of some kind. Bright stripes of red and fields of blue saturate the larger buildings, giving them the appearance of being sculpted from enormous rubies and sapphires. There's even an artificial skyline, pastel rays of orange and purple shining down through what look like colossal and intricate panels of stained glass.
There's a warmth to it, a faint sweetness in the air. More than that, as I survey the strange serenity of this place, I get a feeling that I've never known. It looks so much like the places I've seen in my dreams, but more than just familiarity, I get a sense of.....belonging. A sense that whatever this place is, it's something from.....
"....home," I finish my thought out loud.
I barely notice the glint of light in the distance, speeding towards me, before it's less than two feet from my face. Coming to a dead stop near instantly, it hovers in the air with no visible means of propulsion, humming and buzzing. The silver orb from under my bed, the thing in my pod Ma and Pa took with them.
I hear the voice again, the itch in the back of my head that called me here.
"That voice, was....was that you?" I ask. "What are you? What is all this?"
At the sound of my voice, the silver orb begins to twist around itself, stretching and morphing like a ball of clay. Lines appear on its surface, and along those lines it begins to split into segments that open up like flower petals. Inside, I see shimmering jewels, crystals of all colors, before I suddenly feel a tingling in my head. It permeates it, the sensation like a leg that had fallen asleep after sitting cross-legged too long, and I begin to feel dizzy.
I stumble backwards, feeling my heart beginning to pound. Am I being attacked? Did it do something to me, affect my mind? I find my balance as best as I can and raise my fists, ready to defend myself.
"What the hell are y--"
My apologies, Kal-El, I hear the voice again, speaking in words I can actually understand. Acquiring enough of this language to effectively communicate required a neural interface, using the Fortress's ambient fields generated by the Sunstone Matrix as a medium. I did not have the capability to ask for permission, therefore I must instead ask for forgiveness.
"I...I need to sit down," I say, trying to regain my composure. Behind me, a large standing bowl of silvery liquid begins to stir. Springing from the bowl, a silver tendril reaches out to a few feet to my right, pouring itself into the shape of a lounging seat.
A brief rest is well-advised, Kal, the orb says, floating towards the seat to guide me to it. Your travel here has taxed you physically, and I imagine the revelations to come will be emotionally taxing as well.
Still uneasy, but seeing no immediate danger, I tentatively put a hand on the liquid seat, which was now surprisingly solid. Sitting down in it, I make it a point to keep my legs on the ground and my arms free in case it suddenly springs to life to grab me, then I look up at the floating orb.
"Let's start from the beginning," I say, the investigative journalist in me coming up. "Who and what are you?"
Again, my apologies. I had not thought to introduce myself, the orb responds. I am Kelex, your Servitor. I have served the House of El for over two hundred generations. It is my duty to serve you, protect you, and prime you on the history, culture, and values of the people of Krypton.
"And Krypton, that's.....that's home?" I ask, a thrill running up my spine like a lightning bolt.
When I was a kid, I would lie awake at night, wondering why I was so different from everyone else-- if I was some kind of monster, or part of some act of God or who knows what else. When my parents told me the truth, that I was from another world, it only raised more questions. I wandered the world for seven years after that, trying to make sense of myself, to find out what I'm doing here. I lost count of how many nights I spent staring at the night sky, looking up at the stars and wondering which one I might have called home.
Now that home has a name....Krypton.
I feel the tingling and buzzing in my head again, now knowing that Kelex is feeding my mind not just with words, but with images.
This, Kal, is your birth world, Kelex says. An ancient, savage world approximately the size of the local gas giant designated 'Jupiter' by this world's inhabitants. Its gravity would have crushed any life more complex than bacteria, were it not for the high concentrations of Sunstone in its crust.
"Sunstone?" I interject.
An element found only on Krypton, it explains, that, when exposed to an electrical current, generates graviton particles, creating a localized gravitational field. All complex Kryptonian life contains traces of Sunstone in its DNA, and it is essential in the construction of Kryptonian technology and architecture. It is what allowed life to emerge on such a hostile planet, to spread and flourish, and to create a world of wonders and horrors unlike anything else in the universe.
More images flash through my mind.
Explorers rappelling down into a chasm that would make the Marianas trench look like a pothole, titanic sparkling gemstones beneath them belying pressures that would turn them into jelly with the slightest breach of their blue and red-trimmed suits.
Skycraft skimming the clouds, chasing after a flying creature with wings that could eclipse Metropolis.
A dark-skinned man in flowing robes standing on top of a precipice overlooking a vast violet sea, dropping a tiny white gem down into the waves, before gigantic gleaming crystal towers erupt all around him seconds later.
A green-haired woman in golden armor and a red cape, locking a translucent blue blade with a cruel-looking spear wielded by a hulking figure in a chitinous black exoskeleton.
Krypton would, in time, give way to a great civilization, one that would last millions of years, Kelex continued. Explorers. Adventurers. Scientists. Artists. Warriors. And a countless myriad of other destinies, all propelled by the Jirod, the Eleven Virtues that define Krypton's culture, and crafted by the gene-shapers and birthing matrices of the Great Houses. Beneath them were the Free-Born, spawned by obsolete biological reproduction, not beholden to any House or caste but lacking any special destiny of their own. Often soldiers, merchants, farmers, or performers of otherwise necessary but unremarkable duties. And beneath them the Servitors, artificial life-forms designed to ensure society continues to function. Together, the civilization of Krypton would spread into the stars, creating an interstellar civilization that was the envy of the cosmos.
"'Was?'" I ask, the thrill of discovery giving way to a cold dread.
The bright, vibrant colors, the shining golds and glittering jewels, gave way to duller shades. The pastel skies were now laden with heavy clouds of smog. The vistas of the alien world would, in a way, remind me of an aging athlete: still proud and powerful, but very clearly in decline.
All things have their time, Kelex says. The homeworld lost touch with the colonies, some lost to the hardships of their new planets, others destroyed from enemies within and without. Eventually, the Fortresses would fall, World Engines would go quiet, and our sister worlds would grow distant, in time forgetting their ancestors entirely. Krypton's people ceased to look to the stars, and turned instead to more and more drastic measures to keep their society alive.
Many believed they could fuel a new golden age by harnessing facets of reality beyond this physical time-space. The forbidden secrets of the Phantom Zone, the bizarre abominations of the Underverse, and the absurdist perversions of the Fifth Dimension became common knowledge among the elite of the Great Houses. Conflicts arose between great and powerful minds, and what began as passionate debates would spill into planet-wide bloodshed. And the cost of that war.....
".....no.....no, no, please no....."
...was everything.
The last image Kelex shows me is from far away, speeding away from the burning embers of a world......
.....from my pod as it escaped my home world's dying moments.
"It's....gone....." I say, suddenly feeling cold and empty inside. "Krypton, its people.....my family.....they're all gone."
I believe so, Kelex says. Plans to evacuate were made, but only two prototype pods were made. Of the two, only yours escaped the blast radius in time.
"Then I'm.....alone," I say, sinking back into the seat, my head in my hands. "I'm all that's left."
That is correct, the Servitor answers. And it is why it was imperative to bring you here. This world has proven to be both extremely beneficial, yet potentially dangerous. The ecology has allowed you to become several orders of magnitude stronger than you would have been on Krypton, thanks to a far more powerful star and a negligible gravitational pull. And yet, its people, while physically weak and primitive, display a level of savage creativity that could in time lead to threats that might destroy you. The sole function of this place, the sole purpose of my own existence, is to serve and protect you, Kal-El. I will do everything in my power to safeguard the Last Son of Krypton.
Suddenly, the chair reverts back to its silvery liquid form, creating tendrils that ensnare my arms and legs. I strain against them, but they're unbelievably strong, maybe even strong enough to hold me down at full strength.
And it is why I cannot allow you to leave.....
