In 2045, the Terran nation then known as the United Arab Emirates had built an opulent linear city in the desert, which they later completed with curves so that this religious people could see the calligraphic name of their god from space. One of the dots in this calligraphy was a large sports stadium, visible from orbit, capable of hosting a million spectators, with a domed architecture that fell inward from the ceiling in the form of a massive drop meant for ultra-VIP seats.
Later, meteorological complications annihilated the desert nation which, overflowing with riches, had taken the path to the stars. The city bearing the name of God became abandoned—first forbidden and guarded, then haunted by urban explorers, and finally the scene of conflict when certain rare earths began to run short. On top of the corpses, opportunistic shepherds and farmers thrived, and what were once shopping centers, heliports, or cinemas—now covered in sand and soil but still bearing their original appearance—became grazing lands. Even today, descendants of those peaceful settlers still live there, and the signage in English or Arabic is no different from that in Greek or Latin two thousand years earlier, just a few thousand kilometers away—or, a thousand years before that, in Minoan, a little farther south.
It is within this philosophy of archaeological conservation that the Grand Stadium of the Prince was preserved, in the same way the Colosseum of Rome was. In 2222, restoration work was undertaken and, for a time, even ancient but popular sports like football were played there. Then it was definitively relegated to tourism and history, as zero-gravity sports offered far more exciting spectacles.
The day after the speech delivered by the one everyone called the Aleph, a million people—previously warned via psychic message—materialized in the stadium with surprised joy; they came from all walks of life and had dressed for the occasion. What they had in common was that they had immediately embraced the project of the Envoy of the Blind Gods with sincere joy and fervent enthusiasm: outcasts dreaming of the stars, conspiracy theorists who finally wanted someone to clean things up, cultists of the Grasp awaiting their time… they adored the Aleph, as the god he unquestionably was.
The Aleph himself materialized in the drop at the top, barely clothed in a scarlet toga draped over skin weathered by adventure, and, on the grass field maintained by drones, stood the Wau, a little dazed, finally freed from his chains. During the preceding night, Garen had taken the time to analyze, gear by gear, the mechanics of the Wau's armor and body, and had drawn a conclusion even Cass was unaware of. The Wau was nearly stumbling, as though bearing the weight of a sun—too bright, too sudden—after having been in the wrong position for too long, shocked by the unanimous boos of the crowd.
He regained his balance and looked over the diverse crowd in the stands. His impassive golden mask awed a few minds and the clamor quieted, save for a few enraged ones—true cornucopias of insults and spit. He noticed the Aleph in the drop, two hundred meters above, and, gambling everything, he leapt vertically, fist forward. An invisible wall interrupted the Wau halfway up, and he fell back to the ground amid mocking laughter.
The Aleph began to speak, interrupted by numerous cheers. They were filmed by drones and broadcast by the PanHS. Moreover, in his shadow, many key figures in communication could be seen—Ingo among them, whispering advice. Surprisingly, the former president of the HS was also present, seated in an armchair in the background, relaxed.
More than showing love, the crowd wanted to drink in his words; so he spoke:
"My human brothers: beware of worshipping me as you do the Transients, or you shall never be free. I stand beside you, I am a brother, an equal. I have gathered today a few of you at random from the HS for an interesting spectacle. The Wau you see here is the last of his Order."
That night, he had asked the questions again and again:
"How many of you are there? Where are the others? Why have they abandoned you?"
And the Wau, under his psychic assault, had begun to believe that he truly was alone, and that his interlocutors in the Holy of Holies were merely illusions.
"Do not worry," the Aleph continued. "Even if his intentions are unclear, he cannot harm you. I have placed a shield between him and you."
Some attendees began throwing shoes, their terminals, at the Wau, now that they knew they were out of reach. Some even unbolted furniture. The projectiles crashed against the invisible wall and fell limply—though the Wau wondered how such a force field was possible: a distortion in the flow of time? High-speed particles?
And all that hatred… Were these people chosen, or did humanity truly despise the Wau? Not that their opinion mattered. Not that Cass ever wished to be loved...
It was then that Ingo Izan, PanHS celebrity, took the floor:
"A little show for you all, brought to you by our Envoy of the Blind Gods. I think we've all wondered—and I myself wondered a few years ago: who is stronger, a Wau or elite soldiers? A Wau, or a titanic Xeno? A Wau, or a Transient? We're going to find out today!"
This can't be happening, thought the Wau, appalled by the stupidity of what he had just heard… and yet a commando of elite soldiers materialized before him. And to think I just came out of a video game! The commando consisted of six men—the Wau had already faced some years ago on the Shareplace—and they were equipped with fluid armor and thermal rifles, capable of firing through any standard material to heat a target until white-hot.
"This makes no sense…," began the Wau, spreading his arms. "We have our orders!" replied the unit leader, lowering his own.
The rifles fired, but nothing happened. The unit leader drew a molecular dagger from his side—a tool once reserved for the ancient monarchy of Antioch—which could pass through anything. The Wau dodged his strike and grabbed the fighter's wrist, making him drop the weapon. Another dagger flew toward the Wau's head, and he caught it midair. As the others were also drawing their daggers, the Wau delivered a small psychic pulse to knock them out, and they collapsed to the ground like a single corpse, under the cheers of the crowd—who, it seemed, liked the military no more than the armored fighter.
The soldiers dematerialized, and a robotic crowd-control unit appeared: a giant tripod, equipped with a red eye and loaded with missiles as well as thermal rays. Each step left a deep mark in the earth. Missiles launched, and one even crashed into the invisible barrier separating the field from the spectators.
The Wau decided to give the absurd crowd as little of a spectacle as possible. Advancing between the giant feet, he leapt and, fist forward, smashed and tore out the AI core of the giant drone. The unit dematerialized instantly.
Behind the Wau appeared a Sphinx of Ur, a scaly creature that lived in swamps, quadrupedal, with a bestial face framed by drooping triangular ears that gave it the look of a mythological being. Oh—and it was sixty meters long, half that in height, and legend had it that, when enraged, it could engulf entire cities, and that it was too large to feel pain in the time required to survive. Initially disoriented—prodded maliciously by the Aleph—it grew agitated. Rearing, it threw itself at the stands, only to be blocked by the barrier, losing bone-like growths, razor-sharp and as long as spears. This only excited its fury.
It laid eyes on the Wau—perhaps under the influence of the Aleph, who, from above, had a very human curiosity for someone with divine powers.
The Wau raised his hand. A psychic impulse of calm. The Sphinx advanced slowly, almost gently. The Aleph stoked its rage, with all his fury. The Wau built a psychic wall as tall as the Aleph's anger—thus invisible to his eyes. He plunged the Sphinx into an illusion: it was back in the warmth of Ur's swamps, as the dawn of its twin suns glowed. Its belly full from a good hunt. Tonight, it would mate with its kind—give and receive—and needed rest. The Sphinx lowered its head, bent its legs, fell to its side. It closed its six eyes. In a flourish of arrogance, the Wau ran his hand across its scales, as if tending lovingly to an old dog. The crowd held its breath. The Sphinx vanished.
I'm tired, thought the Wau. Tired like an old planet far from its sun. He looked up. The crowd was strangely silent.
Behind him appeared a liquid mass of metal, emerging from a puddle and taking the form of the Wau. So the HS possesses one, he thought. A Chimera Protea. The Fleet claimed there was one per Endymion and that it was the ultimate weapon—a rather useless weapon for a species that had only known war with itself. Does the legend speak true?
The Chimera lunged at the Wau, who barely avoided it by pushing it behind him. The opponent's body shifted, and tentacles emerged to grab him—the Wau escaped again. They faced each other once more. This time, the Chimera had matched his speed. If rumors were true, it was a Transient artifact, capable of adapting to any enemy. Its entire structure was a neural network—thus, tearing off its head or heart only reduced its mass until it re-merged with the rest of the body, but didn't destroy its faculties. Efficiently, the Chimera adjusted to be just slightly more powerful than its opponent. Where did it draw its energy? A mystery. In the LE reports on the Wau, it was stated that a good way to get rid of it was to push it into a black hole—but the Wau didn't have one handy.
Another attack, another dodge. So fast the air whistled and roared. The Wau was reaching his speed limits. But he wasn't out of weapons himself.
There is a Wau arcane. Linked to the very origin of the Order, when it was still a matrilineal dynasty, on a Greek island, and they had discovered the art of wreksis—the rending. The w of wreksis was a digamma, also called the Wau letter, founding symbol of the Order. Of course, the Wau had mastered the Wau art and had spent years perfecting it, even if it consisted of only a single movement. It hadn't been used in centuries, because the Order needed to preserve its secret techniques. Moreover, wreksis was suspected to be a foundational brick of a scientific system that wasn't technological, and the Order wished to explore that path to its furthest corners before revealing it to society. The Wau wouldn't have dared use it a few weeks ago and would have let himself die here, before the Chimera. But he remembered the words of support from his Order: "Whatever happens, we will support you." He wanted to live.
The Chimera rushed at full speed. The Wau stepped forward, placed his left hand flat on the belly of his metal double. To a human eye, or even a high-resolution camera, it looked like he struck with an open hand and a closed fist. In fact, he struck flat with his left hand. The impact sent a pulse through the target and returned with a certain intensity and speed. This allowed the Wau to perfectly analyze that speed, and thus the density of the material he was striking. He could then deliver a closed-fist punch with his right hand, then another with his left, ensuring that the waves propagating through the target overlapped perfectly. This is resonance, capable of destroying all ordered matter in the universe. Two resonance strikes from a Wau in full form reduce anything to dust. In the age of wreksis, the first Wau would obliterate fortifications, ships, and large-scale weapons. Three blows rivaled the Uberkraft and could annihilate hyperchalcum. For the Chimera Protea, the Wau delivered four strikes—though they occurred in less than a millionth of a second and no one could distinguish them.
The metal collapsed and spread as fine dust. The crowd remained silent, unaware of what the entity had been before the Wau—but the Wau could feel Garen Antor's rage. A strange man, constantly seized by violent emotions…
"So you still have secrets!" he thundered in psychic lightning bolts that would have annihilated anyone else—and the Wau, revealing his strength and locking away Wau knowledge into mental vaults, defiantly replied: "Come and get them!"
That was too much for the Aleph, who wanted to end it. The world held its breath as a golden, glowing orb appeared before the Wau, suspended in midair: a Transient.
"Hello, Cassandre," said a warm and yet sorrowful voice. "Greetings," replied the Wau, bowing. "I know you're wary of the Transients… I have nothing against you, Lady Wau." "I believe we've just found a shared concern that may bring us closer." "I can't do anything against him, you know?" "What's he going to do? Force us to fight each other?"
That is exactly what he did. From the drop above, Garen's voice echoed around the Wau and the Transient, though it didn't reach the stands.
"You have five minutes for one of you to kill the other, or I will kill you both." "And for the survivor?" asked the Wau, sinking to both knees, drained of strength. "I promise to set them free."
Several seconds passed, and the Transient said:
"This is a con."
"I agree," replied the Wau.
"I know you don't want to kill me—at least not in front of others—but that you could. As for me, I wouldn't even know where to begin if I had to fight you..."
"You don't have the Rifle, do you?"
"You know everything. But even if I did, I wouldn't have used it."
"Cassandre, I could kill you and attempt to transfer you into your After. That's something, at least. Understand that I must survive. I'm not just an individual. Every entity you call a Transient is the sum of the After of an entire civilization. In the balance of the choice imposed on us, it's the death of one against the death of the many."
"Whatever that balance might be, I would never accept surviving at the cost of even a single innocent death. That's settled. We must have about three minutes left. Just in case—speak to me. There might be a solution. Does this Aleph diminish your powers?"
"Not at all. He possesses the same powers—and others besides. When I try to project myself elsewhere, he manages to unravel my journey through the quantum void."
"Could he have met the Blind Gods, as he claims?"
"That's strictly impossible."
"You seem very sure of that."
"It's too long to explain. Just accept that it's impossible."
"Where do these powers come from?"
"I don't know."
"Are there creatures more powerful than the Transients?"
The Transient remained silent. More secrets. Talk to me! Find a solution! You're a Transient!
Two minutes left. A breeze bent the grass on the field. A million people held their breath, watching the Wau kneel before a Transient.
The Wau tilted his head back, contemplating Earth's blue sky, which he had only seen for two days in his life, during the UniPsi trials. I've lived a good life, thought Cass. I just wish I could sleep… to think clearly…
"In one minute," whispered Ingo Izan into the mic, "the Aleph will end the oppression of the last Wau or the last Transient in the universe of the HS… unless they choose a survivor."
The Wau slowly stood, with great difficulty, as though his Armor were rusted.
"Are you able," he asked the Transient, "to save the lives of people who might suddenly die here - for example, from cardiac arrest?"
"Yes."
"Then do so if necessary. Are you able to scrutinize the Aleph's attention to find a flaw and escape, if that flaw exists?"
"I've done nothing else for two days."
"I have a plan. If it fails, kill me in thirty seconds and preserve the legacy of your civilization. Farewell, Transient. I never hated you."
The Wau spread his arms in a cross and fell backward onto the grass. Inside his Armor, Cass finally let go of her mind and fell asleep in an instant.