Conquered by Kallista Dane & Kate Richards

Author:Kallista Dane & Kate Richards [Dane, Kallista & Richards, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683613503
Publisher: Decadent Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Vyraz

I’d been lost in the latest scroll for hours. Visualizing the text line by line then working with Larissa to record it.

Along with the virtual translation, I’d designed a program to print a hard copy of each sacred book in the original language onto a replica of an actual scroll. One day, gods willing, my people would have Holy Ones again. I wanted those who came after me to feel the same sense of wonder and awe I did when I first held the sacred books in my hands and read the ancient script.

It was a time-consuming process. The scrolls weren’t just a dry recounting of historical facts. They were the repository of all our Arythian culture and beliefs, a link between our earliest ancestors and ourselves dating back untold millennia. I wasn’t just skimming through them for information about our enemy. When I read the scrolls, the words came alive. Past and present merged into one unending river of time. I saw my forebearers, felt their joys and sorrows, their triumphs and fears.

In many ways the work was healing, easing my grief. Reminding me that though individual lives end, life itself goes on. Flowing like a river.

Suddenly, inspiration hit, taking me in a totally different direction. I felt excited. Energized. I needed to get my thoughts down immediately.

“Larissa, cease this translation. We’re going to switch to a different task.”

“Yes, Archon.” The voice was calm, as always. Emotionless.

We’d perfected AI on Arythios but it was no replacement for a live partner at work. I’d given my virtual assistant a pleasing female voice, but I couldn’t give her that special something that makes us sentient beings. Separates us from the androids we built to look like us and act like us. She might be able to sense the change in my mood, even correctly name the emotion she heard in my voice. But Larissa could never share my excitement or come up with a creative spark of her own.

“Larissa, create a new document. Working title: Post-apocalyptic Musings of the Archon Vyraz. It’s going to be hailed as the most important work created by an Archon in this generation!”

“Yes, Archon. Will you require a physical copy for this document as well?”

“Absolutely. In fact, put it onto one of those blank scrolls we created.”

“Yes, Archon. Proceed when ready.”

Sighing, I struggled to get back the sense of excitement I’d felt. Larissa had absolutely no sense of humor. A live assistant who’d worked with me for as long as Larissa had would have been full of questions. A lab partner who really knew me would have teased me mercilessly, realizing I meant the title as a joke, a sarcastic reference to some of the boring texts we studied written by pompous old Holy Ones through the ages who fancied themselves on an equal footing with the gods. Of course it would be the most important work of an Archon in this generation, since I was the only one left.

“Past, present, and future—all lives merge into one unending river of time,” I began.

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