Universe Undone

Chapter 2: The Interstellar City

We take a look at the universe where Ammon is buried, as well as the kind of people Annie is about to unleash into her own world, good and bad alike.

But as it turned out, everything Ammon had told Annie was nothing but the truth. Including the part about his remains being buried in another universe, where they now lay peacefully in the mausoleum of a great intergalactic metropolis known as Atlantis City. However, the current year of this universe happened to be the year 4000, and neither was the city the least bit futuristic looking as one might expect, but instead resembled something of a vintage setting, reminiscent of Earth from the 1920's and 30's, with tall art deco buildings of all kinds and skyscrapers all lit up by the glowing neon signs throughout.

There were two parts of the city, the highly appealing half where all the rich lived and congregated known as Gambler's Strip, and the much poorer area which was simply known as old downtown Atlantis, the same location as the mausoleum which served as a reminder of the city's early days before the most corrupt of men had seized power and issued the final divide between the rich and poor.

That man in question was none other than Julius Morane, the leader and chairman of the city's council who acted as a totalitarian dictator and had taken over from the original founders of the great city; the Atlantis Militia Forces, or AMF for short. However, the days of the AMF quickly became numbered once they had joined forces with the Tjatey, the ancient aliens responsible for the destruction of Earth hundreds of years ago.

But many of the survivors of that war hadn't forgotten, and neither did their descendants for that matter. And nor could they forgive, which included Morane himself, so when he offered to take over from the traitors, the people gladly accepted and voted him in, leaving the men and women of the AMF as well as all Tjatey survivors, confined to their military base and the unsavory parts of downtown Atlantis that would accept them.

However, what Ammon had failed to tell Annie, is that he was the leader of the Tjatey who led his people into the war against the humans, leaving them without a home planet and forcing them to move into deep space. But while he eventually realized the error of his ways after being captured, he did try to set things right by finding the humans a new home that would be safe from any future invasions.

The Tjatey themselves were immortal but could still be killed or die of illness. And in the end it was a mere illness that took Ammon's life, but even on his deathbed he kept with him the dirty secret of the Seba as well as many others, and he passed on with the missing piece in one of his hands, clutching it so tight so that no one could ever free it from his grasp.

But he also never intended on anyone ever finding the other half, nor did he expect that person would be a spunky twelve year old girl, who would then attempt to activate it in hopes of making a believer out of her skeptical friends.

But although Ammon had indeed forgiven Annie, he also warned that what she'd done could not be so easily reversed. This only left the poor teenager to wonder just what he meant by those words, especially since nothing appeared to happen at all after she had tossed the Seba into the fire.

However, what she didn't know was that once the flames had made contact with the ancient amulet, it had also activated the other half as well, and soon the people of Atlantis City would pay dearly for Annie's actions.

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EARLIER

The downtown area of the city was bustling with activity, as a couple of young soldiers made their way down the sidewalk, passing by several shops and a small lounge along the way. The sound of live jazz filled their ears as they passed by the small, shoddy club, almost tempting them to head inside, when they suddenly remembered the base's strict curfew would soon be in effect. As it was required that all soldiers and other personnel must be back inside the gates before midnight, or else they would face harsh punishment. Such a strict rule only seemed to annoy the young men and women, and was jokingly dubbed the Cinderella Law.