genesis

A window is reflecting the best agent that the CEC has ever produced. A disruptor, capable of taking over entire empires and monarchies, is here to finally uncover what's really going on in Britannia. Focus. Focus. F o c u s. F o c u-

“Julian… Julian”

“...”

“Julian!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry” My train of thought slashed by a call from the driver made me stop looking at the window. My little ritual that I have before the start of an operation was cut dry by the deep voice of the Captain.

“You need to be more aware of what's going on in planet reality”

“Yeah, I'm just a bit nervous, that's all” And there I go again, tapping my fingers to my leg. It's a mechanism I incorporated long ago. Not really sure where it came from, though.

“This is my first big job.” And it's true. I’ve never been on such a large scale operation. Rather, being in the centre of the chaos.

“Listen boy, I know you are the shining star of our organisation, but remember this is for everyone back home. Stick to our goal.” I notice the man is rubbing his ring. A sorrow expression lumbers in his face as he looks at his photograph of his daughter for a brief moment.

“Yes, sir” Silence covers the inside of the military vehicle.

I need to put my mind together. I’ve done this many times before. Whatever happens, happens.

As I recollect my thoughts, I start to notice a change in the foliage ever since we left the ship and the port. It’s different from everything I've ever seen before. All the plants have their apex coloured magenta contrasting with their overall green blade. I've never seen it anywhere in all the places that I have been to. Looking outside the opposite window, the sun is setting on the shore. A bit soothing, if I'm being honest.

“We are essentially riding through an abandoned road that is only occupied by the marginalised members of the Britannians.” It really shows that it's old, as it's not made for the current vehicles of our era. Probably from the 50’s, give or take.

“Old man, did you ever ride one of these cars that were designed for this road?”

“Now you are getting comfortable? Where has the ‘sir’ treatment gone?” The old geezer is pissed off. His expression could kill a thousand pretendants of his precious daughter.

“Cut me some slack, Captain. We’ve done this for some time now. Don't you think it's time we are comrades?” And it's true. We’ve been in this for 2 years now.

“You were on my first mission! I almost shit my pants, but you were there, you put some sense into my prideful head. Although the methods were… rather questionable”. And they really were. I can still feel that slap to my face.

“I'm more old fashioned, kid. Beating an idea to someone's head is my specialty.” He says, as he smirks and glimpses at my reaction.

“Can’t argue with that. Method is dead, results are king.” I said, as I reek of sarcasm. A short laugh cut by coughing came from the Cap right after. His health is not his strength, I guess.

Some silence ensues once again in our cabin of pilot and co-pilot.

“I did ride one of these, back when I was your age. Forty years later and they are still being used -in third world societies -”. Ah yes, good old wisdom from the Captain. These moments are the ones that make me think that his head is more than just an old man rusting to melancholy rain and waiting for retirement.

“Combustion engines are not really used that much in richer societies anymore, like our Commonwealth of Eastern City-states. Some really went head in for solar, nuclear, hydraulic and biochemical power. But the king amongst them is fusion.”

“I heard about it. A revolution in the generation of energy.”

“That event single-handedly turned the world upside down. The quantum field of physics rapidly advanced thanks to it. It allowed humankind to finally implement its discoveries into technology. The Vis Revolution”

I really should read more books. But no time to lament now. The trip is long to our destination.

Some hours later, we are at the gates of our destination. The city where individuals can reach higher heights within the country that made a revamp of the figure of the Imperator, New Athenas.

Of course, as we used an abandoned highway, we reached the slumps of the city. We actually are underground for this section. It's been so for a while now, probably an hour or so. The tunnel is from an old railroad, the ones that functioned thanks to vapour. Thanks to these vehicle wheels -which I’m impressed by its performance up to now- what could have been a bumpy road is as smooth as any trip with a hoverboard.

“We have arrived, Julian. Look” As the Captain says, dim lights can be seen at the end of the tunnel.

“It's already night.” It took us a while to reach here, judging that we left the port at 4 PM.

“Better for us” He says, as he searches for something in a box under his seat.

“But not so much for them” The struggling to reach the item inside the box ended. His left hand is now holding a magnum. A special one, in fact. His thermo-mechanical magnum. Maria.

“You already have yours in the box under your seat.”

“How considerate.” I pick it up as we are approaching the outside. This one is electric. Within the barrel, it generates enough current to produce a holographic bullet, amplified by the lense at the tip of the barrel. Powerful stuff.

“Be prepared. Don't really know how this will go down. The tinkerer should be nearby.”

A few metres before the exit, he stops the car and we get out. Our footsteps that echo through the tunnel disappear as we approach the final stop of our long road.

Flashing neon lights from signs of hotels and stores bombard our view. They’re not really neon, though. They just have a filter to make it look like it.

The buildings are made of peculiar bricks. It really captures the architecture of Greece, with how the texture feels and looks like limestone and mud. An all white city, with a slight tint of gold covered by filth of the passing years. I assume this isn't the case if we go to the richest parts of the city.

I suppose we are in a suburban district, considering that houses are the majority. The signs truly set apart the stores from the residences. No one would actually want a sign like that on their homestead. It would be just annoying.

The houses have their roofs made out of blue roof tiles. They are easily distinguishable from other cities' architecture. Rules of how the buildings should look are followed rigorously, it seems.

Walking down the street we find some people wandering around. Their clothes follow the same palette from the houses. Although some of them are different, with more dark green-ish colours. Their jackets are made out of synthetic leather accompanied by wool pants. The shirts are as plain as possible. Some are V shaped, others are more rounded.

“It is kinda scary how the clothes and houses match in colour, isn't it?”

“Not really. The fabrics that they use are connected through the internet to match their respective homes.”

“What about the ones with different colours? I suppose they come from another place”

“Yes, they do. We are in a province that resembles ancient Greece, but the citizens of Athena's respect it to the very end. Other cities are more relaxed in that sense, hence the different colour.”

“Pretty technologically advanced for the poorest district of the city”

It's something that of course translates to the other empires and monarchies, but it kind of annoys me. All this technology, advancements and revolutions to reach the same conclusion. What exactly is the problem, I wonder.

“High tech, low life. You already know that.” I certainly do. It's been drilled in my mind for my whole seventeen years of existence. Still, it feels off.

Some time later, going through corridors of apartment blocks, we found the place we’ve been looking for. One of the workshops that produce products that resemble wonders out of this world, the Lideriann Foundries.

According to one of the (coincidentally, Lideriann) technicians that I spoke with in the main quarters, the development that the Lideriann Empire made is enormous. And it's all thanks to these people. Masters of their craft, providing their services to everyone that is demanding a tool.

Like dwarves in fantasy, the Liderianns are renowned worldwide for their crafts. Many of their scientists of the new age were born and raised in an environment that helped their growth tremendously. Leaders in technology and development of talent, their reputation is in no way questioned.

Experts of geopolitics had already seen the crows waiting for the dying Lideriann Empire to fall on its knees to rejoice upon a feast of natural resources. But alas, a turn of events happened. A revolt from within the higher ranks of the empire that luckily sorted out its problems -and created other ones-.

Due to shortage of food and cattleland, meat was nowhere to be seen. In a desperate attempt to resolve the situation, de facto emperor Hurley made a drastic choice: insect-based meat.

It was a success. Public rating skyrocketed for the former Coronel of the Navy that led the empire. But as life has taught me time and time again, whatever goes up, eventually comes down.

Enterprises and corporations that worked in the meat industry reached a deal with the now deceased emperor Hurley. They would start producing the insect-based meat if regulations of quality products were to be disregarded. And thus, the empire was floating again. I mean, who would have guessed that years later, the fertility rate of both men and women would go down exponentially each passing semester as a reaction to an improvised act filled with good intentions.

“We arrived.” The captain says, while pointing towards an apartment block nearby.

We cross the road to find ourselves at the entrance. A blue metal door, big enough to allow a vehicle to pass through it, is in front of us. A small screen is in the centre right of the door, with an eye on its centre.

“What's with that?” I say, directing my attention to the creepy eye.

“It’s obligatory for people to know that they’re being recorded through a camera in a private land. There was an outrage with a corporation that had cameras in the women's bathroom. Apparently, they were selling the footage to anonymous bidders.” says the Captain, as he grabs a black metallic ring and places it in front of the eye.

“Of course, it's all bullshit. I can show you the site where they sold the recordings right now. Still running. Movements and protests for nothing. You gotta grab the problem from its roots, or else it's gonna regrow.”

“Quite a revolutionary take. Politics don't work. You are a genius! But I'm not one to talk though, I’m basically working for a commonwealth”

“At least you are not a dog for an empire led by hard cold steel.”

“Are you really sure They are not hard cold flesh machines?”

*Click*

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening cuts our conversation and welcomes us to a sight to behold. The door quite literally vanished to reveal the insides of the apartments.

Something feels weird.

And it was strange indeed. The interior did not match at all with the outer appearance of the building. Not because the inside was not architecturally Greek, but more so because of how enormous the space is. They just don't match. I expected that the apartment was in fact a workshop, but this is a whole other level.

“Pretty neat, right? It took a while to develop the formulas but alas! It is here. A pocket dimension.”

“Wow, really!? That is insane!” I was just that impressed. I never react to stuff like this if it isn't worth it. Good job, tinkerer!

“It is, huh?”

“A punchable face you have there, Leonard. How you doing pal?” The Captain actually has a genuine smile on his face. That's a sight to behold.

“Murph… are you… okay?” His face rapidly turned grim. Surprised by this sudden change, the Captain gets closer. Also, his name is Murph. First time I heard it.

“What's wrong buddy? It's been some time since we last saw each other.”

“N-nothing. On another note, come here!” His expression turned 180° to a big smile and closed the gap between him and the Cap, hugging him.

“That's more of what I expected.” My senses are screaming: something is wrong here. I’ll look into it later. I’ll let them have this precious moment. For now, a smile is needed.

After hugging, the two do some small talk here and there, reminiscing of the old times until an interesting question came up from Leonard.

“So, how's your wife and kid doing?” Before asking it, he seemed a bit stressed.

“Good, supposedly. Haven't seen them for a while. Maybe I should take a vacation and visit them”

“That's nice, glad things are going alright.”

Bingo, something is not okay.

“Are you still.. Taking your meds?” A worrisome face if I’ve ever seen one.

“Of course I am. Although this back pain never leaves entirely. Haha” With a laugh and pat on the shoulder, Leonard became relaxed.

“That's good. Maybe I should study biomedics to help you out”

“Don't use my old body to boost your ego. You are enough of a genius already.”

Curiosity is burning inside me, but now is not the time. I will approach Leonard later.

“So Murph, why don't you introduce me to your friend over here?” I said, trying to sound as nonchalantly as possible.

“It's Captain for you, kid. Why don't you ask the damn man yourself?” Geez, someone’s conflicted.

“No need to be rude, Murph. My name, as you already know, is Leonard. Quantum mechanics analyst and inventor.” He leans over to me, stretching his hand. I also get closer and shake his hand.

“I’m Julian, field operator for the Commonwealth of Eastern City-states. Nice to meet you.”

“There was no need for an introduction, I already know you. Julian, the wonder boy of the CEC. He grabs a cigarette from his pocket and lights it up.

“Oh please, you are gonna make me blush. You’ll end up in jail if you continue like that.”

“The things I’ve done can already put me in jail. What's one more stripe to the tiger gonna do?” The cigarette is already finished in no time. What a spacious lung this guy has.

“*cough* Well kid, just enter now, will you? There are some matters to be discussed. I can even tell you how this pocket dimension works.” Turning around, he dulges deeper into his personal laboratory/workshop.

“That would be insane Leonard, thanks.” My reaction must have caused a spark inside his mind.

Walking through the place, I would say it's four times bigger than what it looks like in the exterior. An entire facility, riddled with machinery that all serve a purpose of technological progress. Hydraulics, thermodynamics, mechanics, electricity, gravity. Every known element possible, every known variable and various phenomenon all in a search for betterment of human lives.

It doesn't really change fundamental problems, though, but it at least converts our reality into something more bearable. It opens the possibilities to unknown realms of understanding and plenitude to be reached. But thinking about the concept of technology always made me think: is it really helping us improve to a better society?

Wars still happen, conflict is always present, mothers lose their childs, slavery is begining a resurgance in some monarchies and child trafficking is common practice in some places. All this progress and yet, same old problems. Certain pre-existing issues are never erased and their symptoms are just minimised. With only a certain individual, at the right place at the right time, a spark can generate a resurgence of this reduced problem. Are we really doomed to an endless repetition of the same errors?

Huh, I really overthink a lot sometimes. Juliette was right.

Wonders of engineering fill the place to the brim. Wings to grant the ability to touch the skies, liquid nitrogen guns to freeze anything on sight, lenses and glasses to grant access to augmented reality, prosthetic body parts that are better than their flesh counterpart. And that's just the things that have a more practical use in my line of work. The section we are traversing is called “Classical Instruments Division”. The exciting part is, we are nearing the “Quantum Experiments Division”. I really hope we get in there.