The Empire of Ytilaer

Chapter Sixteen - Messages from the Base World

  When Tarquin returned with a laptop for Engres, the messenger accompanied the king to see the pictures from Ytilaer.

  The former emperor drummed his fingers impatiently upon his desk next to the keyboard, his eye patch once again slung over his head, while the brightly lit screen cheerfully displayed the words: Loading, Please Wait.

  "How much did this piece of junk cost you, Tarquin?" Engres asked.

  "About two hundred dollars," the royal messenger replied. "Why?"

  "Oh, no wonder. Stupid Base World technology."

  "Hey, a slow laptop is better than no laptop, right?" Espen interjected.

  His uncle made no reply.

  Finally, after a seeming eternity, the computer sprang to life, with a joyful Welcome! displayed on the screen. Tarquin – who had never seen much of the world of technology – stared in amazement as Engres plugged his robotic eye into a cord attached to the computer, and a window appeared, containing several links. Engres clicked on the first one, and it depicted the forest in Meadow Brook, looking towards the portal.

  "I meant to send you this, Nephew, and gloat about my freedom once I returned back to Ytilaer," the former emperor explained, clicking on the next one. "Ah, here we go." He turned the laptop so the messenger and king could view it better. "What do you think of that?"

  Espen couldn't help letting out a small gasp. For the scene in front of him depicted a portion of a black and white city, well appointed, brand new, and almost beautiful. In the distance, the king could see the tips of the steel buildings that Engres himself had designed, but the part of Ytilaer in the foreground was such a stark contrast that it seemed to be part of another empire entirely.

  "So, this is what Jax has been doing with his time?" the king inquired.

  Engres shrugged. "Besides being a complete and utter nincompoop? I suppose so. He must have looked through some of the volumes the scientists of Ifics brought with them over the last year and a half. 'Cause I certainly didn't teach him that much."

  "Do you have any other photos?" Tarquin asked, interested by both the laptop and the images issuing out of it.

  "Yes, I took a couple more of the new buildings, but I think that photo pretty much sums it up. Oh, there do appear to be two extra files on here," Engres responded, exiting out of the photo of the city and clicking on the second to last one.

  It showed the top of Engres' own boots, as well as a crack in the floor beneath him.

  "Oh, whoops," he apologized. "That must have been an accident. Ignore that."

  He then tapped on the final link, and up came an image that made Espen and Tarquin cringe in shock and Engres to clap a hand on his forehead. For the thing staring directly at them looked like something out of a nightmare. It was a large, robotic dog, with its metal mouth slightly agape, its steel tail lashing the floor behind it, and its glowing purple eyes regarding the viewer with a threatening stare.

  "That's right," Espen's uncle murmured. "I forgot I took a picture of that thing."

  "What is it?" the king cried. "Is it something that Jax built?!"

  "Well, he is trying to be wicked incarnate, so don't be too surprised," Engres responded.

  "Why were you so close to it?"

  "He set it after me. I was apparently being 'too forceful' to him, and this was my reward."

  "Does it have a name?" Tarquin inquired.

  "M.C.C.O.Y., I believe," Engres answered. "But what it stands for, I have no idea."

  The three of them stared at the mechanical dog for a while before the royal messenger opened his mouth once again.

  "By the way, Engres... while I was in the Base World, I saw a billboard advertisement with Balavan Technologies on it. Also, I acquired this," Tarquin explained as he held out the taxi service business card for the former emperor to examine.

  "Mmm hmm..." Engres expressed, as he read it over.

  "I asked my taxi driver about the owner of Balavan Technologies, and he told me that the inventing genius appeared suddenly and has a pretty girlfriend with purple hair named Lucrezia."

  "Hold that thought!" demanded Engres, who now had his back turned as he snapped his eye back in place. When he finished, he put his hands upon Tarquin's shoulders and was staring into his face. "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I am certain," the royal messenger murmured, glancing at Espen, who was rising from his chair in case he needed to intervene.

  "Now I know my son has completely lost his mind," Engres stated calmly, as he released Tarquin and put a finger to his lips in contemplation.

  "How so?" the messenger inquired.

  "Because he was never the least bit interested in girls before, expressing a borderline disdain for them, and even vowed never to marry, or even have a girlfriend."