Karmmrak - The Decima

Gideon

The docking ramp extended, revealing the pristine inner hull of the Decima. He felt his heart flutter upon seeing her again. It was finished. Karmmrak was finished. They could finally leave and explore this new reality. With new friends and ‘crew members’. He couldn’t help but worry about how Saddiffer will behave. It was an armed bomb, a chaotic unknown, a potential knife in the dark. But he felt an emotional investment, that he was responsible for the Demon- the Eudaemon. In many ways he was. He was captain and the monster’s redeemer. It was on his shoulders and the shoulders of Adonai at this point.

“Are you OK?” Shindow asked, patting his casted arm. He glanced down at her as she adjusted her glasses, she was still garbed in her nurse uniform.

He smiled gently, nodding at her question.

“All aboard,” he announced quietly.

Shindow sported a Duchenne smile, mouth wide and eyes closed.

“Aye-aye, sir!” she announced with a salute, floating off, rushing inside the Decima. She let out a cheering cry, spinning about as she reunited with the vessel.

Steak and Pat pushed Gideon along in the medical stretcher, their heads swiveling to inspect the ship.

“It is a remarkable craft,” Steak remarked.

“Good Gideon, your father and sisters’ skills are wondrous!” Pat added.

Deborah gracefully marched aboard, pausing in the middle of the hangar bay. She donned a wide smile, clasping her hands, “Gideon, this is a marvelous vessel. It does your family justice to see it in person.”

“See it in person? You knew of this?”

“Of course, many did. The stories of you and your lost craft have since fallen to obscure legend, but I remember.”

That hit him to his heart. Lost craft. Obscure to legend. His family. His face betrayed his downcast spirit.

Deborah moved to him, putting a hand to his shoulder.

“We will find them; do not worry.”

They were just words, dwarfed by the sheer emptiness of space. But it helped.

“Thank you.”

A voice spoke up, the Machine Father was present.

“Good Gideon permission to come aboard?”

He thought for a brief second of abusing this sudden power he had over the god-like AI, but thought better of it. He knew for Prosine, it was just a formality.

“Granted!”

The second he spoke the words, he felt the Decima thrum to life.

A sphere of blue glowed nearby as another AI appeared. Prosine’s ghostly form floated to the group, addressing them. He didn’t remember his AI form looking so cheery or expressive, smiling with his sole eye.

“I have merged with the Decima and as its primary AI. Good daughter Shindow, I do hope this doesn’t disappoint you.”

Shindow floated up to the larger AI, sitting atop him.

“No- of course! If any AI were to truly enmesh with the Decima, it’d be you!”

“Good, because I will be training all of my children in their expected roles. Shindow,” Prosine addressed, wiggling his form, bucking her to and fro as she giggled, “I have modules to make you a true QSD AI to support Gideon in the field. He will need your assistance.”

“A field AI! Yay!” she cried, waving her arms as Prosine bucked her free. She rushed back to Gideon, sitting on his cast, “field AI… We can go on missions together, Gid!”

He liked that idea. It felt like a better fit. Lord knew he needed her.

“Steak, you are fitted in your role as a combat operator, the core specialization of all Excertius. I have the latest patches and modules to support this.”

Steak nodded as he clasped his hands, an uncharacteristic act of shyness, “I am undeserving, but thankful for the Machine Father’s blessing.

Patricia appeared to almost vibrated in anticipation.

“Patricia, you are to be trained as a shipwright, engineer, and technician. Yours will be the largest and most important burden to bear. The Decima and its crew depend upon you.”

She curtsied deeply, holding in place for a time, “You honor me beyond words, Father,” her voice was soft, quiet; almost a whisper.

Prosine turned to Deborah analyzing her before he spoke, “Good Angel Deborah, you are to be Gideon’s tutor, trainer, guard, and mentor; as you know.”

Deborah clasped her hands and bowed, “Thank you for all of your time and company here; I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

Gideon thought back to their potential history. Prosine and Deborah. There was a deep well of stories with them.

Prosine lowered down to look to the corgi, “Baxter. Continue to be Baxter and a good boy.”

Baxter wiggled his rump at the praise, “I will be the best and so will Saddiffer- I am hungry!”

A bowl of food was materialized and the corgi attacked it with gusto. The food bowl traveled to the far wall with a peeling ring, Baxter having pinned it fast.

The AI turned to Gideon, weighing him down with that ancient stare, "Good Gideon."

He felt like the heavy words roll atop him, he swore the antigrav stretcher dipped from the pressure.

"You are the captain. Your decision is final."

In a way, those words felt more challenging, far more serious than any of the crew. It's brevity left no room for interpretation.

He floated up high, addressing the crew, "we will begin liftoff once storage of the planetary defense systems has been completed. I will begin at once the distribution of hard goods to the Decima's physical storage."

Gideon’s eyes widened, "Planetary defense? Do you mean..?"

"Correct. The XZ99-Planet Defenders and CK-DINE Sentinels will join us."

Gideon’s mouth dropped.

"You mean- the Rumblers?" And Dusk drones?"

"That is what I said, yes, but I may have stuttered."

"Those things are massive- they're at least ten dombytes a piece! We only have about eighteen collectively!"

Prosine cocked his form, narrowing his eye.

"four and a half domegemegrottebytes per Rumbler and their CK-DINE escort."

"Bullshit! How?"

"Good Gideon. It has been twelve thousand years. I have had many eons to think about and optimize quantum technology. I have created and patched compression modules, algorithms, and more; taking what should have been seven domegemegrottebytes and effectively rounding down by almost half. If we take three Rumblers, compress all but that Dusk Tesseract Catalyst, store the rest physically, we have around three dombytes to spare."

His eyes darted at the news. They had almost doubled their space without any added hardware. And now they had an army. What he'd do with that army was anyone's guess. But having it was at least comforting to him as he was about to journey into the unknown with three superweapons. And yet compared to what he witnessed, it may not be enough. It may be too physical, too tangible to effect the divine beings he envisioned.

"Good crew, you may wish to witness this, if I do say so myself,"

Prosine announced as he vanished, a light traveled up the navigation ramps. To the bridge. They all marched upward to their destination. Gideon heard the slight shudder of the ship, the singing of metal on metal, and a final jolt as something clicked in place.

The Ferrum. Looks like we have our bridge back.

They maneuvered the halls. Baxter's tap clacking rang out as he sauntered behind. Deborah gently felt along the etched walls, admiring the engravings. He was still curious how she saw anything with her blindfold. Shindow sat on his cast, her feet swinging away as she hummed absently. Excertius continued their march, pushing Gideon's stretcher. The inner hull hatch was already opening, the sudden equalizing pressure strained against his ears. They entered the adjoining bridge, seeing it was no worse for wear. The walls along the nose of the bridge lit up with holo screens of the outside view cameras. He viewed the internals on the Rumblers, the condensation from the Decima's adamantite hull billowed to the floor. Prosine's voice rang out, filling the room with a subtle undertone of glee.

"Witness."

The Decima's ramps receded, the hull closed. The vessel's antigrav thrusters kicked on, levitating the ship just feet above the ground. The cameras filled with sudden blue light, irritating Gideon's eyes.

Oh my God. He's storing the Rumbler.

The light died down, the Rumbler's hull began to vanish from the inside out, cascading away from the Decima. Within just shy of an hour, they were left high above the ashen wasteland, the vessel’s thrusters kept it aloft. He spotted the skyscraper legs, vanishing away in waves of light.

"This too is a new module, a cascading quantum storage algorithm. Very useful for the storage and deployment of enormous items."

"My God…"

His mutterings were interrupted by another sight, the CK-DINE drones were creating a long chain, branching off to two other Rumblers. They too were vanishing in the horizon, the light dazzling against the overcast albedo. The winds began to whip and tear from the displacement of air the vanishing titans left in their wake.

"Gideon, it's incredible," Shindow's slack-jawed comment rang out.

All but one Rumbler remained.

"Prosine, what are we doing with that one?" Gideon felt a pang of guilt at having to leave it.

"It will remain sentinel to Karmmrak. If Lucifer is indeed enroute, the XZ99-Planet Defender will test her might."

He remembered trying to face one, the very ash turning to quicksand under his feet due to the tremors. He shuddered at the memory. If Saddiffer was a good indicator, they would fight to a standstill. He had no way of truly judging her power, though.

"Oh, Prosine," Deborah spoke up, glancing down at the deck, "did you find any trace of my Throne?"

"Good Deborah, there have been no traces."

She nodded, looking downcast.

"I understand there is no time. We must depart before Lucifer arrives."

Gideon furrowed his brow, "she could be years away!"

"Or minutes," Deborah countered, "I desire my Throne most of all, but the risk is too great to tarry."

He felt the sadness in her voice. He couldn't understand how much it meant to her.

“Was it important?” Shindow inquired as she floated by Deborah.

“Priceless, invaluable, powerful. It is a heavy shame for an Angel to lose their bonded weapon. I am half a being without it…”

“I will do my best to recreate that polearm,” Prosine added.

She nodded, going quiet.

“Good Gideon, due to your incapacitation, I will do the honors of liftoff.”

“Be my guest,” he acquiesced. He was too tired and too injured to pilot effectively. While the nanites halted the swelling in his brain and patched up his body, he was still feeling the blow he took.

Gideon interfaced with the cameras, viewing the outside with the Anforms while Deborah and Baxter viewed the holoscreen ahead. The Decima shot straight ahead, building lift and moment as it began to climb, passing over the sole Rumbler. He checked the keel cameras, viewing the hopeless wastes below. They were finally free. The universe was open to them. The view was suddenly obscured by the overcast, shrouding them in grey. The triple gyroscopic IIT drive thrummed to life, kicking the Decima skyward. He felt the satisfying lurch as it broke the cloud cover, revealing the strange unknown reality to them.

He remembered Karmmrak from the old world.

“Prosine... where are all the anomalies?”

He scanned the dotted space, seeing no other celestial bodies nearby.

“This is due to the great galactic reset. Most of the stars and planets have been returned to order, the ectropy of the system having stabilized the galaxy.”

Gideon’s eyes drooped. He understood half of that and even then…

“And what about the IIT drive? How did that fail?” Shindow asked, landing on Deborah’s shoulder.

“After running through the systems, I theorize the IIT and our calculations did not account for how static time became when one traveled. Due to this outcome, I suspect the IIT drive ran until the nacelles burnt out, the last rope between the old world and new."

Gideon's face scrunched. The new theory came to him, inspired by his most recent dream.

"We didn't move? Or did something halt us?"

The bridge went quiet.

"Gid, what do you mean?"

He spoke quietly, his voice trembling at the memory.

"The t-test flight, in that darkness, I saw a life form. A creature made of that blackness. I've since dreamed of it- of them. Void and Nothing. Lucifer was terrifying. They were worse. I think it held our vessel in place, inspecting us like a child. They have personalities. Malevolence."

Deborah cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself.

"Entropy. His name is Entropy."

Deborah appeared to shrink, her fear on display, a very different attitude compared to when facing the demon Saddiffer.

"I only know rumors, but they match what you've said. An all-powerful force of Nothing, capable of tearing into our reality. You should avoid speaking to them."

"I wasn't exactly capable of refusing them," he retorted.

She nodded, going silent.

They broke the planet's gravity well, freed from the chains of the dead moon.

"I have inspected the IIT drive and will not be using it for this flight. I too would not like to be this Entropy and Void," Prosine announced, "we have eighty-nine jumps to Lo-Nine."

Gideon let out a loud groan. The journey would take several months or more.

"Well? To the medical ward!" Gideon rasped, lying back as Excertius wheeled him away.

Deborah, Baxter, and Shindow followed behind.

"Deborah, what did you mean Lucifer loved humanity?" Shindow queried.

Deborah glanced to her shoulder passenger, nodding to the AI.

"For Lucifer, whatever they wanted, she gave. If they desired to worship Baal and sacrifice their infants to the fire, she gave it to them. If they desired to kill, she gave them the opportunity. If they desired drink, she drowned them. If they desired food, she engorged them to death. Every desire was met with the most extreme measures. Her love was a twisted and wicked desperation; her identity became defined by humanity's love and attention. Cruelty was used to whip man to greater heights. Survival of the worthy was enacted, if you survived her torment, you were redeemed in her eyes; until you weren't. Those who perished were thought of as weak. She did everything to prevent humanity from knowing their purpose, which would mean knowing Adonai and rejecting her. She needed humanity to worship her for her benefit. She wanted to be Adonai. She had signed a pseudo-covenant with humanity, becoming a co-steward. She gave them her judgment, and they gave her Earth. To their infinite misery.”

It was worse than he imagined. That wasn’t loving. Not even the worst parent would treat a child as such- all probably inspired by her in the first place. It was a blessing they were leaving before Lucifer arrived.

The door to the medical ward slid open, silent as air. The plasticine room was barren, save for his medical stretcher. Excertius maneuvered him to the left wall, locking the stretcher in place against the brace running along the wall.

“Good Gideon, be at rest,” Steak validicted.

“And be at peace; we have survived,” Pat added.

Both vanished in pillars of blue light, into the Decima’s QSD to receive the promised upgrades.

Gideon stretched out his hand and Shindow floated atop it, reclining in his palm.

“I can’t process any of this, Gid. Post-Armageddon, Karmmrak, Saddiffer… Deborah- an Angel! And Prosine- of all the Anforms!”

Shindow glanced at Deborah, adjusting her glasses as they traded smiles.

“I’ll leave you all alone right now- I need to get those upgrades, right? Sleep well, Gideon.”

She patted his hand before vanishing in a blip of orange light.

Baxter trotted to the stretcher, jumping higher than normal and landing gracelessly in a tangle at Gideon’s feet. Gideon raised his eyebrows at Baxter’s feat of agility and strength, the corgi normally needing assistance to get so high. Baxter was the strongest crew member; he ha to remember that.

“Gid I am glad you are just okay!” he barked, wiggling his rump.

He scooted in as Gideon gave him a hand, scratching at his ear.

“We’re going to help you, Baxter, learn everything we can about Saddiffer and what that means now.”

“Oh. Yes. Uh- Saddiffer is talking a little, but he asleep right now.”

He squinted. That changed things substantially.

“Baxter, you have to be careful, he may whisper you to do bad things.”

The corgi gave a half-hearted bark growl.

“Saddiffer is my pet and he will be a good boy!”

Gideon nodded, unsure of what else to say. He looked to Deborah, seeing her standing awkwardly to the side.

He thought through his inventory, materializing another medical stretcher attached to the wall.

She smiled, taking his invitation to sit down, facing him.

“Based on everything, I'm pretty lucky, huh?” he felt the fatigue settling in again. He glanced to the far window, seeing the stars glinting on the outside.

“Not bad for the last human in existence,” Deborah stated with a grin, dropping a massive revelation.

“What… Did you just say?” He snapped to the angel.

“Oh, that’s right. You’re the last human in existence. Everyone else ascended.” Deborah explained.

“Jesus Christ... You- you can’t just drop info like that on me and not explain!” his voice was quiet, his face betraying the grief of his lost family.

Deborah pursed her lips in a stiff smile, continuing.

“Humanity as you know it no longer exists. They have ascended as Faithful Ones. All rules of the old life no longer apply to them,” Deborah began.

“What makes these Faithful Ones special?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

“No need for sleeping, eating, breathing, or fear of aging, fatigue, weakness, disease, unintelligence, and more.”

“The perfect beings Primetech wanted to make, basically,” he muttered.

Baxter began to snore, having long left the conversation.

“The last human…”

“Gideon, I need to process the loss of my Throne. It was like a dear friend...” Deborah stated as she lied on her side away from Gideon. Sadness ebbed in her voice.

Gideon slowly went to sleep, with the knowledge there were many beings with sharp teeth, waiting to devour the fragile flower known as the last human. Gideon not only survived the disastrous IIT test but gained new crew members. He now had an army, the purpose of which escaped him for now. He had yet to discuss fully the matter of his visions. Or the purpose of the Tesseract catalyst. It was left completely forgotten in Gideon’s inventory. That felt like small moons compared to the gas giant of their current situation. The trip would most likely take months to complete. FTL jumps were usually that long, barring good weather. Perhaps shorter with the supposed galactic reset.

I hope you are doing well, Sol. I wish to see you again son. Ruth. Chamuel. Father. Family. Please be alive. Please find me.

And thus began their journey to Lo IX.

He drifted off.

And dreamed.

He saw a boy being dragged along in a familiar underground tomb, surrounded by what he now knew as demons. A man, or demon, garbed in red stood atop the large altar, knife in hand and stone slab awaiting its victim. The boy struggled from his guards, doing nothing more than shaking their firm grips. The crowd of demons howled for blood, worshiping the one at the top. Gideon’s knowledge that he gained aided him. The boy was a sacrifice. Possibly meant for possession or feasting. Saddiffer made it clear Gideon would have been eaten if not for the vessel that he could pilot and leaving Karmmrak. He heard the voice speak inside the boy again. He knew that voice anywhere. This was his first dream. Before the flight and Armageddon. Before that fateful day of the Dusk. The one that spoke as all too familiar.

Entropy.

He made sure to not be seen, remembering that divine beings could witness and even remember being envisioned. Not to mention channeling their power to wound him. Lucifer taught him that as did Void.

Can I?

It was a vision, only constrained by imagination. He ‘told’ his sight to zoom in, remembering the mark on the boy’s hand. He caught sight of it. It was unmistakable.

יהוה

The Seal of the Tetragrammaton on the back of his hand. He caught sight of another Seal inside his palm. A scar of a circle with a straight line running through it. Another symbol he had no knowledge of. The boy was dragged to the top, tempted by Entropy’s voice. The boy accepted as the knife fell, regaining his strength and breaking free of his shackles. The boy rolled away from the strike, the blade embedding into the stone. He released the power Entropy bestowed upon him, detonating the crypts. It as just like Baxter, the boy was in possession of a demon, gifted to him by Entropy.

He remembered Void’s words. There were many others there now in Nothing. Deborah stated the being could tear into their reality, affecting fate itself. In this case, intervening for some unknown reason due to some unknown animosity. The boy curled up, transforming into the demon he was gifted seconds ago.

A tall fourteen-foot monster appeared, striding atop four armored legs. A skirt of armor hung between each leg, trailing to a two-armed torso. The gaping vacant hole where its sternum, neck, and head should have been disturbed Gideon as it did previously. A hideous spoked wheel floated behind, lining the large blood-red at the center behind its open chest cavity. The being in red had vanished, either retreating or dead from the attack. The massive possessed boy pointed a finger, painting a long beam of violet pale into the horde of lesser demons, annihilating them.

This was where the dream ended, but it continued. His vision zoomed out, his perception changed. He was viewing the dream as an outsider. He was dreaming of one who dreamed. Another being witnessed these events, apathetic, scaly, and mountainous. It lounged, all too bored by the spectacle.

He realized now the dream wasn’t for him. The command wasn’t for him. It was all for another. Entropy had interrupted the vision before its climax. He processed fully what he witnessed. It was a beast of scales, muscle, might, wings, tail, and a crown of horns. Its glowing golden eyes half-open, showing no investment in the events and the boy’s trauma. It sighed, trailing a long plume of smoke from its snout.

It was a dragon.

They’re real too, Jesus, Next I’m going see fairies. Yeah. Fairies and dancing weasels. I’ve gone mad.

The dragon turned its head as if hearing Gideon. The dragon’s attention was on him fully. His heart stopped, remembering something about the affairs of dragons and tasting good with sauce.

Adonai intervened, speaking gently in his command of the beast.

“Rescue the boy.”

The dragon’s mouth split open, revealing a smug, toothy, and contemptuous grin, its eyes unwavering from his own.

“No.”

The reply was final- given many times before in a well-practiced manner.

“Berghain. You must,” Adonai beseeched.

The dragon retorted, a scoff of smoke and noise rising from its long throat.

“You had one favor- one single favor and you used it to brand me. I have no obligation to assist, let alone give any more thought to you- my service is at an end. Let the boy rescue himself. Or how about this taradiddle squilt?”

He knew he had been both addressed and insulted by words he didn’t know.

“What’s the matter, squilt, thought you were the only one?”

The dragon turned fully, displaying the Seal upon its throat.

“Oh my God,” he muttered, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Oh! You do me a kindness, but I would never be a god to squilt such as you. As I said before a hundred times previous. No. Now if you excuse me, I have a planet to lounge upon.”

The dragon snapped its mighty claws together, vanishing from the dream.

Gideon fell to his knees, the realization that there were others like him, many of which weren’t human or benevolent.

He felt the presence of another, the singing of metal on metal as it moved.

“Oh, Gideon! Hello again.”

He knew that voice. He turned, staring at the feet shins of a tall being. His eyes slowly traveled up, witnessing the glory that beheld him. It was Sol, except her projected from was whole again, somehow. She stood twenty feet tall, made of pristine filigreed adamantite. Her blue eyes gazed down at him, inspecting him.

He got to his, feet, having to crane his neck skyward. She accommodated, squatting down, the noise and scissor-shisking of perfectly sculpted metal rang out. She held out a large slender hand, which Gideon rose quickly to take.

“My God… I said the Dugrum would help! Is this what you looked like repaired?”

“This is my form if I were whole. This is only my dream self I have come to the realization. I have remembered more of who I am and thus I begin to appear as I have always been. You were correct. L’yophin, that Proturan, helped me. He repaired my battery pack- I have so much to tell you!”

Gideon palmed his head, overwhelmed by the revelations. He couldn’t stop staring at her, the beauty of her craft exquisite. Familiar. It couldn’t be.

“Uh- yeah. We survived- I got my ship back and we’re enroute to Lo-nine.”

The Anform cocked her head, her eyes glowing briefly.

“Lo-nine, that too is my destination.”

“We weren’t on the same planet after all,” he muttered.

“No, but I know we will meet soon. Gideon McDonough, does everyone share your final name?”

“Last name- and no. Just family. I mean we might have others named McDonough with no relation- but…”

“Who is Mikail McDonough?”

Gideon’s heart stopped. He blinked away the sudden forming tears at the mention of his Father’s name.

“What?”

“Mikail McDonough. It says he is my creator.”

“Father… Where is he? Is he there??”

His voice betrayed his panic. He needed to know. She looked down and away, shaking her head.

“No. It is just me and L’yophin. I still do not know exactly where I am.”

He felt a mixture of feelings. She reminded him of Amelia and now he knew why. Father created Sol. She was his invention. That meant he was still out there, possibly. They were connected by a single known thread: Mikial McDonough, the Innovator. His dad.

“Sol, can you remember anything else?”

“Yes. My full name.”

Gideon swallowed, waiting for her words.

“My name is Soltana. The more I am repaired the more I remember. It will all come back to me in time. L’yophin has seen to that. You were correct, Gideon McDonough! You were so correct! He is taking good care of me. I will see you at Lo-nine. Please wait for me if you can.”

She began to pull away, her form fading away.

“Wait, Sol- Soltana! Where is my father? Please wait! Wait!!”

He was pulled away from the dream, tears streaming from his face. Adonai spoke again, the voice of a loving and guiding father.

“Gideon, my son. She is my delight. You will both meet her and many others at Lo-nine. Not just for the Tesseract, but for the companions. Berghain is stubborn, but he will come around and see. His heart is layered in stone, guarding the soft inner core. The boy is not doomed, however much he suffers. Do not worry about your family. They are in my care. You will be reunited. Now, travel to Lo-nine. You are in good hands.”

He drifted back into the morpheous, the flight to Lo-nine already underway.

Gideon had survived the horrors he faced, scarred yet alive. Stronger than when he arrived. The hammer forge of the new reality was merciless, but it had tempered him. With his PrimeTech empire of less than a dozen, he flew to his new destination of Lo IX. There he would deliver the item. There he would meet the others. There he would suffer.

Mikial McDonough.

A father to a listless son.

An innovator to a lost automata.

And yet he was strangely absent. The impact of his life was a quiet echo.

They were all tied together with visions of what was, is, and is to come.

And it all began with his journey to Lo-nine.