Distant Cathartic

Distant Cathartic I (Mind 2)

KHENTI-AMENTIU was not a planet Athlon was familiar with, but after some extensive research in the Ortega Archives, he found mention of the remote world among some religious scrolls. It was in a distant corner of the galaxy, hundreds of lightyears past the edge of the furthest trade routes in the sector. Everything Athlon could find about the small planet was billions of years old, some of it in a language that Athlon's powerful software couldn't translate. One document included a passage about a nameless shadow that had fallen on the Amentiu solar system, driving people mad, and squeezing the life from the outer worlds. Troubled, Athlon departed Ortega, and began his long trek to the mysterious world from Perseus' dreams.

As he sped through deep space, Athlon wrote a deciphering program and set it to work decoding the ancient text. Finding the pattern that would offer the key to reading the old writing would take a long time, but Athlon hoped that the power of his unique brain could translate the passage eventually. It would take weeks to travel all the way to Khenti-Amentiu, and Athlon was pleased to have something to do.

Two days after Athlon moved out of range of familiar space, he performed a maintenance reset. It had only been seventy years since his last reboot, but he wanted to make sure he was operating at 100% efficiency when he arrived. He brought all security protocols online, and then closed his eyes. The restart took only about four minutes, but Athlon gasped upon awakening. Something very new had happened: The Android had experienced what could only be described as a dream. He had never dreamt before; after all, he didn't sleep, and his brain was mostly inactive during the occasional reset.

In the dream, Athlon had seen a yellow planet. He had never seen it before, yet he knew immediately that it was Khenti-Amentiu. The planet made Athlon uneasy. It felt unnatural, like it was possessed by a morbid whisper. As Athlon watched, a silent braid of fire and black matter erupted from the planet, pouring forth into space. The vision had a strong effect on Athlon: he was afraid of the power in the dream, and he found that he wanted to turn back and forget Khenti-Amentiu altogether. Athlon considered this for a long moment, but decided that if the ominous images were some sort of premonition, it was all the more reason to take a look. He thought of Perseus, and returned to his flight.

Athlon performed a series of long range sensor sweeps, looking for any kind of danger in the solar systems he was passing through. He found absolutely nothing. The journey would have been boring if not for the fear in Athlon's mind. With the coast clear, he decided to try recreating the conditions that led to the dream. Athlon shut down again, this time with internal recording software running. His eyes closed, and for several minutes he simply coasted through space.

Deep inside what should have been motionless hardware, a few synapses fired in the dark of The Android's head. Athlon felt as though his eyes opened, and he could see a spectacular expanse of space stretching out before him. He accelerated to an impossible speed, and planets and stars began to blur into long lines of bright light. Quickly approaching was a star, but Athlon had no control over his propulsion systems. Convinced he would crash into the looming sun, he closed his eyes, and immediately felt himself slow down. Blinking, he saw a tiny planet blocking out a sliver of the star's light. Whispers floated through his mind, an ominous scratching sensation that he couldn't focus on. He found that he couldn't tear his eyes from the planet. A deep rumbling shook from the small world, and it seemed to split open, releasing a twisted stream of power, snaking quickly away from the planet and towards Athlon. Terrified, he tried to move out of its path, screaming at his body to respond. Nothing happened. Frozen in place, the braid of darkness struck him, and a deep laughter echoed in his thoughts.

With a quiet whir, Athlon's systems came back online. A few happy chirps signaled a return to full power. Deep in thought, Athlon checked his logs, amazed at the brain activity they showed. What he saw should be impossible; all power had been cut from his brain, yet the logs stubbornly showed that its activity was off the scale. And it hadn't lasted a few short minutes: the logs went on for days. Athlon decided to delete the logs, assuming that they had to be full of bad data, a result perhaps of a passing static field or a faulted series of sensors. Sighing, he blinked and looked around to get his bearings, triggering his navigational computers.

A pinging alarm came from the nav-systems. Athlon ignored it, stunned by what he saw. It was the sun from his dream. And just below his field of vision, the yellow planet sat in its orbit, as if the dream had made it real. Navigation confirmed that he had traveled at speeds greater than he was capable to the Amentiu system. The laughter echoed from deep inside Athlon's body, more like a noiseless vibration in his spine than an actual sound.

"So you have arrived."

Athlon tried to spin around to face the voice, but found himself frozen in place. The laughter came again, louder this time.

"You can't see me, but soon you will know me. My time has finally come. I brought you here for a great purpose. Welcome to my home."

The laughter dissipated, and Athlon felt himself come back under his own control. He enhanced his vision, zooming in to look at the landscape of Khenti-Amentiu. It was mostly a barren desert, little to see but rocky mountains and wind-torn valleys. As the planet turned, a small city came into view. There was no information in Athlon's database about what he could see, and he soon realized that the city contained no space docks or defense systems. It's inhabitants had not achieved any of the technology found on most worlds in The Dopinephrine Galaxy. No satellites orbited the planet, and no transmissions could be picked up by Athlon's sensors.

Athlon scanned the atmosphere and found that there was almost no pollution coming from the tiny civilization. Confused, he retrieved the strange writing he had found in the Ortega Archives. His translation software had gone offline days earlier, probably during the strange journey he had experienced. Regardless, the writing had been translated. Athlon read the short passages.

The document contained a brief history of Khenti-Amentiu. It spoke of war and famine, and a shadow that had fallen across the planet. An army of death was said to have stamped out all life in the once-prosperous civilization, striking from a city of darkness that no man could penetrate. The shadow crushed all in its path before being trapped in the Amentiu system by an ancient wizard. Without more life to consume, the shadow grew weak, and then dissipated. The once impenetrable city sank in the sands of time, and the ravaged system was forgotten.

At the bottom of the document, the shadow was named. In a dark, chaotic script that seemed to reflect hatred in its letters, the name loomed: Osiris, God Of Death. As Athlon read the words, the laughter returned, somehow emboldened by the story.

"I AM OSIRIS."