Cronos: The Orion Project

Prologue

        The warmth of his breath grazed against his hands as he tried to warm them up. Winter had settled down in Zenith's capital, Ingal. Doctor Johnathan Seraph, one of the top scientists in all of Zenith, had been summoned to meet with the Zenithian Council. He grumbled at his early summoning as the sun had only just begun to rise over the horizon. This was not uncommon for the young, thirty year old man, but even he thought this was early for the council. The city had barely just started to come to life, the night life lights slowly faded away as the morning light slowly slipped over the city skyline. People slowly dragged themselves out of their beds and marched on to their careers. The Doctor waved to passerby's, greeting them with a groggy 'hello'.

          Personal airships detached from the sides of buildings, revealing shining skyscrapers and a sharp skyline. Tube like bridges connected many of the tall buildings together as people crossed from on to the other. The capital building towered over everything else in the capital like a blooming flower. Crescent shaped arches supported the farthest corners of the building, its petals hanging over the city. Seraph greeted the guards posted outside the building, walking  past them with a slight wave and a nod. Their angular shaped helmets moving in acknowledgment, notifying the council of his arrival.

         The lobby of the building was more like a miniature city with its walls. Personal living quarters dotted all around the main floor with shops and restaurants popping up here and there. Tubular elevators shot up and down, arriving to its destinations within seconds of leaving. He jumped in an elevator, typing the one hundred seventeenth floor into the onboard computer. He rubbed his hands together, gazing out the glass wall of the elevator. The interior of the building was hollowed out, light filtered in from the diamond shaped window on the roof.

           The door opened and he quickly made his way to the Council Chambers. It was built in the eastern petal of the building, taking up seven floors of space. People from all over the continent would come to the capital to voice their concerns about the threat to their smaller cities. Each city sent five people to represent them, with the capital having three elected leaders to keep the rest in check. The purpose of his visit was not to discuss the coming and goings of the country, and it pushed a twang of fear into his mind. The three leaders were the only ones present in the Chambers. The silence was deafening and it made him sweat against his cold skin.

"Doctor Johnathan Seraph, thank you for coming today." A young woman in black and blue robes said. Her sky blue eyes scanning him over with a hint of disappointment.

"It is my pleasure Rippana Forine. My I ask as to why I was summoned so early this icy morning?" Seraph asked.

"It has come to our attention that you have started work on yet another project. Is this true?" An older man to Forine's left asked.

"It is true Rippana Jorge. Is that why I'm here?"

"It is, we have received reports from many of your own staff that this new project rests on the grounds of your expulsion from the research and development division and some have even called for your execution." A younger man to her right stated.

"I am sure it is just their exaggeration Rippana Holt. I do not believe I have violated any moral grounds."

"And that it is why you are here. Many of our reports have stated that you do not care for the consequences of this endeavor. Many have stated that you wish to use children for this?!" Forine exclaimed.

"Well, children have been found to be the most adaptable to change such as this. I put it in my notes that they would be the best candidates for The Project." Seraph explained.

"And that breaks many of our ethical and moral grounds and violates the rule of law in the scientific community." Holt said.

"And I have reviewed the laws, Rippana Holt. I can get away with this. There are many loopholes in the system that would let me move forward with my experiment."

"That is something that we shall not allow to happen, Doctor Seraph. You shall not steal the life of a single child within this country." Jorge said.

"We have discussed this thoroughly and extensively through the night, Doctor Seraph. And we have already come to a conclusion. While your service to this country is admirable and celebrated by many, so we have ignored your staff's calls for your execution." Forine said.

"What have you decided my dear Rippanas?" Seraph asked.

"You are hear-by banished from the scientific community and from this country. You shall not take another step on Zenithian land. You shall be given a small airship to take you wherever you wish, however, you cannot return to Zenith." Jorge stated.

"You, you can't be serious!? My work could be the solution to the Chimera! You can't just toss this chance aside!" Seraph yelled.

"And yet this has already been decided. You may pack your things and leave this place peacefully. If not, the guards shall drag you by your feet and toss you on the airship provided." Holt said.

"You can't do this! I have found something that could save us all! I could put an end to those monstrosities once and for all! How can you not see that!"

"If you had found something like that, it would not require forcing children into a life that they did not choose. We cannot sit by and watch something so vulgar take place within the walls and borders of our country. Gather your things and get out." Forine growled.

          Two guards flanked his sides, their rifles faintly glowed blue as they powered up. He glared at the council before turning and walking out of the Chambers. His hands shaking in fury at the Council's decision. His things had been gathered for him, his research stuffed alongside it. He was shamefully escorted to a military airfield, a scythe class airship awaited him. It was named after its distinct relationship to the ancient weapon's blade, the cockpit sitting square in the center of the craft. Soldiers toed the line on each side of the ship, its ramp extended, waiting for him to climb aboard.

"I hope you can find peace wherever you end up Doctor, you deserve that much." The pilot said sarcastically from the top of the ramp. He only scowled at the pilot's remark.

       The engines hummed to life, the ship purring in its activation. Within a matter of seconds, the capital was nothing but a blurry mirage on the horizon. Seraph clutched his work close to his chest, his knuckles turning white from his grip as the Capital faded away in the shadow of the morning sun.

Author's Note:

Okay, it has been way, way, way too long since I last updated anything related to my series. So this is a rewrite of my first book and I wanted to let you all know why I'm doing this. I feel like I honestly rushed things when I came to my series and I wasn't liking where my third book was going so I decided that I would start over, take things a little slower, and plan out how I want my series to go. This will be different to how I wrote my series and I wanted to rewrite this at the very beginning because, well, I reread my first book and I honestly think I could do better, so that's what I'm going to do. I hope you all are staying safe during these times!

This is Nicholas Shy, signing off.