A Forgotten Power

Chapter 10: A Different World

Alexis and Jaz turned a corner and entered a wide courtyard lined with trees. Blue skies overhead were marked with fluffy white clouds. Jaz paused to stare in wonder as he'd never been outside when the skies were clean. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting the air fill his lungs.

"Amazing," he whispered. When his eyes opened, he noticed a guard robot at each of the four corners of the courtyard. They were much bigger than those escorting Alexis. Wide shouldered with multi-barreled guns replacing their hands, the massive robots squatted low on tank treads instead of feet. Square boxes of missile pods resided on each shoulder.

"What are they?" Jaz inquired.

"Level 2 guard robots," she replied. "I also have different robots for police within the city. They're all powered by energy cells of crushed bone. The recharging facility is secured here within the palace. Any time the power is used up, I simply reverse time around the cells to a point before they were drained, allowing the energy to be used again and again."

"Limitless power without the need to harvest new bones," Jaz concluded. "Efficient. Why is the recharging facility here? Don't they have them in the city?"

"No," Alexis denied. "Everyone in the world makes use of the containers of crushed bone for power sources, but only I know how to recharge them. Whenever there is a sufficient number in need of regeneration, I accelerate time around me so I can work in the span of a nanosecond. It's the only way one person can keep up with the energy demands for an entire planet."

"Why not have your robots do it?" Jaz inquired.

"I couldn't risk them falling into the wrong hands, even with the extensive defenses around the palace," Alexis told him. "I alone know the necessary glyphs for controlling time. Over the centuries, I memorized the book and destroyed it. No one else shall learn its secrets and jeopardize what's been built."

She led him outside, passing though energy shield checkpoints and hallways lined with enough robotic soldiers to hold off a sizable army during a protracted siege. Beyond the robots was the final set of doors leading outside. The doors were massive, and the interior was recessed in order for a giant skull in the center to jut out from the surface while not interfering with the door's ability to slide into the rectangular slots in the nearby walls when opening. Half of the skull resided on either door, and a spiral of long bones fanned outward from it on all sides. Alexis stopped by the palace doors and collected a small suitcase sitting on the floor.

"I had this put together for you," she told him, handing over the glossy white container. "It contains credit chips, the location of a house I got for you, the access card for your hover transport, and a few other things to help you settle in, including a listing of available job openings. In your residence, you'll find a copy of the current laws. Enjoy your new life, Jaz."

She waved a hand, bones lighting up down the length of her arm, and the doors parted for her, sliding away to either side. Jaz looked out into the city. Gleaming towers of glass and steel rose from the ground or floated in the skies. Birds sang or flitted between the trees carefully inserted into the cityscape. Hover transports glided smoothly across the sky with only a slight hum of their engines. He was in such awe, he took three steps before he noticed Alexis wasn't following him out. He turned back to her.

"What about you?" Jaz questioned.

"I live here," she told him.

"Alone?" he asked.

"It's necessary," Alexis confirmed. "No matter how advanced a civilization becomes, there's always someone who would like to see it burn."

"There must be someone you could trust," Jaz insisted.

"I still have the scars from where my husband tried to knife me," Alexis explained. "He was a deep cover agent for a revolutionary faction. My knowledge and abilities are too important to risk. You once asked me what it would cost to save the world. Now, you know. I stand alone, guardian of this world, now and forevermore. Goodbye, Jaz."

A wave of her hand, and the heavy doors slid shut, the metal coming together with an echoing crash.

Alexis walked the lifeless halls of the palace, carefully inspecting the metallic ranks of her guards. The corridors were silent and still, only the clicking of her heels on the floor and the whisper soft steps of her trailing guard sounding through the passages.

Returning to the throne room where she spent most of her time, Alexis entered the cavernous chamber and climbed the steps to the top. Her trailing guards took flanking positions on either side of the doorway. The throne was made of black steel fitted with silken cushions of matching color. All exterior surfaces of the throne had been fashioned to resemble skulls staring outward.

Taking her seat upon the skull throne, Alexis held up her right hand, the glyphs on the bones arrayed on the back of her fingers glowing softly. A semi-transparent image appeared in front of her in the air, a one way window into the world beyond the palace walls.

Being imprisoned within the palace had been an unexpected and high price to pay for the future of humanity, but over many centuries, she'd become accustomed to it, looking out into the realm she would never be able to enjoy herself. Alexis always remembered the world she'd come from, wrapped in poisoned clouds and mired in corruption. The corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly in a smile for every time she saw her people step into the light of the sun and breathe deep the clean air, Alexis knew the price required for this different world had been worth it.