Darklight: Precipice

Part 9: The Intellectual Committee

Soran walked into the High Patriarch’s Office. He hadn’t been here before, the last Patriarchal Office he had been in was Rammachandra’s - the one that he had obliterated when he killed her the first time.

“Welcome, Soran” Draz said, beckoning for him to take a seat at the large table that he sat at the head of. The office was large, but still smaller than the last one. The room was the same as Natahsa/Vittoria’s - but Soran had never got to the top of this tower the last time he was here. The room was circular and set over two levels. The board table was on the lower level in a large circle. The circle was lined with bookcases and behind Draz’s seat at the head of the table was a large screen currently showing a view of Utopia City from above detailing The Roc undergoing repairs in drydock.

To the left and right were concrete steps that swooped around the circumference of the lower circle to the upper level which was a much lighter space. There was no concrete up there other than a smaller platform which sat above the screen on this floor. On that platform was a desk. But it wasn’t her desk. The desk was made of glass and chrome with four computer screens built into it and a single purple Lily flower in a glass vase. It was Draz’s desk, the desk of the High Patriarch. With the entire first floor of the office having views through all of the windows, Draz was free to look over his city from his place of work. “Typical Utopian style” Soran thought to himself.

“Soran?” Draz asked with uncertainty, pulling him back to reality.

“Apologies” Soran said, heading towards the empty seat next to Natasha. As he sat down he kissed her on the cheek and she gave him a wide smile.

“Now that we’re all here I’m pleased to say that we can make a start” Draz clicked a button on a small remote he held. The screen behind him changed to a different view of The Roc.

“As I was explaining just before you arrived, Soran, I have taken the liberty of inviting not only our Skry allies but also some of the best scientific minds in all of Utopia”. Soran looked around the table. He saw familiar faces - Ana was standing next to Draz, Natasha sat to Soran’s right, Sage Gaius and Laurant Faraa to his left with Commander Raine opposite him. Next to Raine was Lady Rosaline Kisa, who gave Soran a nod and a wry smile, and next to her was another man with deep wrinkles lining his face, a grey goatee and short grey hair that was becoming sparse. He wore a white lab coat over a light blue shirt and black trousers and heavy black rimmed glasses framed his bright blue eyes. Next to him was another older human woman who’s long black hair was tied back into a ponytail but left a large fringe over her calculating eyes. She too wore rimless glasses and a white lab coat.

“I’m sure there’ll be time for introductions in a moment but right now I’d like to get proceedings underway. As we all know Ana’s expedition discovered an artifact and attempted to bring it back to Utopia City”. Draz clicked the remote again and the screen cut to a flickering CCTV image of the artifact within the isolation chamber. He motioned to Ana to continue.

“The artifact was found on one of our excavation digs on the North-Eastern coastline of Nestro. Although our archaeologists don’t believe there to have been a Forefather settlement in the area their study of climate change showed that the melting ice from the Northern Polar Region would have entered a current and hit the landmass. We have it on good authority that the Northern Polar Region was a base of Forefather activity and so anything that was frozen in the polar ice could have thawed and made its way to this location”. Draz pressed the remote again to depict the tidal flow of water from the polar region to the north-eastern most province of Nestro - a series of islands formed when Rammachandra had decimated the landmass.

“And we were right” Ana continued. “This artifact was found. It gave no signs of operation and where it seemed to fit in with descriptions of Forefather power sources found in the excavations below Utopia, we decided to bring it straight back here. That’s where the problems began. As we drew closer to the city the device seemed to activate, cutting off all command signals within the ship and interfering with our systems, sending the ship into an uncontrolled collision course. Thank you, by the way, to those who saved us”. Lady Kisa gave a sweet smile and Soran nodded his head with some embarrassment. 

“Not only have we found that the device interferes with even the most basic of command signals for both Utopian and Skry technology” Draz continued. “We have also detected some strange gravitational anomalies since the device arrived in Utopia”. Draz mentioned to the human male scientist to continue.

“Yes” The man said in a slightly flustered voice. “I am Utopia’s head of Gravitational and Spatial division within the Physics Corps. My name is Dr Michael Day”.

Soran was on his feet. The man looked at him with a panicked expression. 

“Soran?” Natasha asked, also getting to her feet and looking between her husband and the scientist. Soran’s eyes were fixed on the man, but Natasha couldn’t figure out the look on his face. Was it hate?

“What did you say?” Soran mumbled.

“I’m sorry? The man said, also getting to his feet and eyeballing Soran. The scientist had such blue eyes.

“Is there a problem here?” Draz asked nervously.

“Say your name again” Soran said more clearly this time. 

“Dr Michael Day” The man said, perplexed. Soran nodded slightly, his mouth twitching at the sides.

“But... that’s not the name you were born with, is it?” The scientist tilted his head and furrowed his brow at Soran.

“You were born Michael Lex to a drug addict woman who died in child birth. You were adopted into an Academic life. You always wanted children but didn’t consider it a priority”.

“What is this about?” Raine asked, staring at Soran with narrowed eyes. Faraa and Gaius remained quiet.

“What are you talking about?” The scientist asked. He looked panicked now.

“But if you did have a son... you wanted to call him Soran, and for him to have your real name. Soran Lex. It’s not just a coincidence after all”. Soran tilted his head and gave a small smile.

“Hello, father”.