Chapter 38: The
Lazarus Machine
“Well, even
with the hyperdrive jump, it has been a long journey. Still, welcome to
Marsara!” Reed said while opening his arms at the sight of the blue planet from
the ship’s windscreen. “I’ve never visited this planet before but many humans
described it as being a sanctuary. I hope they’re right.”
“Sanctuary?
How so?” Jaden queried.
“My people
have the reputation of having the largest army of all the races that currently exists.”
Xiara answered. “That combined with our state of the art technology and our
colonization of multiple planets makes us a strong force. Hence, our civilians
usually feel safe under our hands.”
“Even after
the civil wars?” Jaden asked.
“Only five
recorded civilian deaths. During war, we try to avoid as much civilian deaths
as possible. We earned our reputation with careful precision.” Xiara replied.
“That would
mean that the best counter against an alien army is to use civilians as meat
shields but of course, who amongst our dimwitted ancestors would think of such
a thing right?” Reed jested. “Not saying that using civilians as meat shields
is a good thing though.”
“Reed’s
probably right. Some of the military generals used to tell stories about how
foolish human commanders were during battle. Let’s just say that some of them
were surprised to hear that you’re a lot more effective than we expected.”
Xiara added.
“You really
think I am even worthy of the title, ‘Commander’?” Jaden retorted.
“Well,
alien military generals as old as a hundred and twenty thought so. Why not?”
Xiara replied. “Anyway, Reed, take us to the king’s castle. I’ll direct you to
the nearest docks.”
“As you
wish my alien lady. I hope they aren’t planning to shoot us down like the VX
Synthetics did.”
“Don’t
worry. I already informed them of our arrival.”
Piloting
the Crimson Spinner with Xiara’s directions, Reed flew the ship past several
patrolling dreadnaughts and straight into the planet’s atmosphere. He scanned
the planet for the king’s castle, which he reckoned would stand out from all
the civilian buildings. Xiara assured him, however, that when the castle is
within sight, she would tell Reed about it.
As Jaden
observed the planet from the windscreen, she was amazed at the beauty of the
planet and was glad to be in such a planet for a change. The skies were blue,
with a pair of small suns illuminating the planet, and the terrain surrounding
the city was bright green. The buildings were all white, polished and slender
in design. Some stood as tall as the ship’s flying altitude while others were
so short that they were difficult to be seen, especially since the Crimson
Spinner was flying very quickly.
Rather than
conventional vehicles like cars, the aliens frequent flying cars that makes us
of hover technology. She also spotted a few aliens using teleportation
technology to move from one building to another. A few others were also using
jetpacks and Reed, being the reckless pilot he was, almost rammed into a few of
them. She could not imagine living such an easy lifestyle and felt appreciative
that the aliens were willing to risk it all for the humans. In retrospect, she
was beginning to see why King Zian hesitated to help her people even though the
aliens and humans have been at peace lately.
“There!
There’s my king’s castle.” Xiara said as she pointed at what seemed to be the
largest building within the city. The castle was wide and tall enough to reach
the skies. Like other nearby buildings, it was white in color, though not as
slender. The design resembled the castles of human medieval, implying that the
aliens still held a connection to their own past. The very scale of the
building dropped Jaden’s jaw and she could not help but imagine how the
building would look like within.
“Oh wow.
That thing is so massive and looks so pristine, I’m amazed that not many ships
crashed into it yet.” Reed commented.
“Actually,
many ships did, especially the ones with drunken pilots in it.” Xiara replied,
confirming Reed’s words. “Still, we aliens want the castle to keep the current
design to remind us of when we first started inventing things and that is
during our medieval period. Despite our technological prowess, we often try not
to forget our older designs and our roots.”
“Your
people really deserve some amount of admiration. Not many humans grasp our past
like your people do.” Jaden told Xiara. “It is only through our past that we
learn to move forward.”
“True
enough Jaden. And thanks.” Xiara replied. “Now, it’s time to see what that
butthole is doing. He loves to warm that throne of his. Time to give him reason
to stand up.”
“You don’t
like Zian?” Jaden asked.
“I was
joking Jaden. Zian and I go way back so we often trade jabs. He was close
friends with my mother so he felt it was his duty to look after her only
surviving daughter. I’m still amazed he chose a human over my mother as his
wife but I can’t blame him I guess.”
“Speaking
of which, what are the chances that we’ll meet his wife? I’m actually
interested to see her.”
“Unfortunately,
no chance at all Jaden. His wife isn’t exactly popular amongst us, especially
the xenophobes. He confines her to within the castle grounds so that no angry
aliens could get their hands on her. She agrees to that so it was a mutual
agreement.”
“Ah well.
If an alien can end up marrying a human female, she must be hot.” Reed
commented. “So, perhaps you can tell me where the nearest docks are?”
With
directions from Xiara, Reed flew the Crimson Spinner straight to a docking bay
not far from the castle. As they neared the docks, Jaden could see a crowd,
seemingly waiting outside the docking bay. She had no idea why the crowd was
there but Xiara told Jaden, “Wherever Zian goes, a crowd is sure to follow
unless he enters his castle or when he leaves the planet.”
Reed entered the
docking bay and slowly descended the ship, landing it on the platform. He
lowered the loading ramp and spoke on the intercom, “Alright you bunch of
misfits. We have landed on Marsara. Since we’re in friendly territory, everyone
will have to leave.”
“I
certainly hope the aliens leave my big girl alone. The Crimson Spinner has been
through enough.” Reed added.
“Don’t
worry. The Crimson Spinner will be here when you all return.” Xiara replied.
“Anyway, thanks for taking me back to my home planet. I’ll escort you all to
Zian if you want. He will certainly like to see us together.”
“Alright.
Give us time to pack up. I think we’ll be staying here for quite a while so we
might have to take everything we need.” Jaden answered.
About an
hour later, the party walked down the loading ramp. Xiara led the party out of
the docks and straight into the city grounds. As Jaden left the docks, she saw
the familiar sight of the alien King, Zian Prime, who smiled at the sight of
her party. The nearby crowd stared as the party moved in, seemingly in shock of
the sight of humans on their lands.
“Welcome
Jaden Highland and crew to our home planet of Marsara. You like what you see so
far?” Zian asked.
“I must
say, yes. I never came to another planet as wondrous as this.” Jaden replied.
“I’ll say.
This place is far more beautiful than Qurrentine could ever be.” Kida added. “I
bet Hathgrave would love to be summoned here but sadly, I won’t be doing that.”
“And Xiara,
glad to you see return. How’s the situation with the VX Synthetics?” the alien
king queried.
“Solved of
course. I got help from Jaden, Jaina and Vader.” Xiara answered.
“I see.
Well, thanks for the assistance. The last thing we need is the VX Synthetics
helping the Cult of Iblisan. Their army is formidable and we might as well
surrender if they joined the cult.” Zian repled. “You know Jaden, now that
you’re here, perhaps I should show you something which I believe should be
brought to your attention. If you would come with me…”
He gestured to the party to follow him before
turning around and walking away with his bodyguards. She and the rest of the
party tailed him, walking through dozens of tall structures. The crowd that
assembled followed them, quietly staring at the party. It was clear to Jaden
that the aliens still do not trust Jaden and her mostly human crew but she try
to worry about what they think.
Zian
eventually come to a stop outside an entrance to his castle. The crowd remained
outside the castle grounds but continued staring at the crew nonetheless.
“Wait,
Zian, is this really the best time? We’re not even sure if the project is
successful yet.” Xiara queried.
“Maybe not
but we may not have another chance like this. Might as well do it while Jaden
is here.” Zian replied.
“What
project is she talking about?” Jaina asked.
“I’m pretty
sure you all are aware of the dinosaurs we aliens resurrected in Nibelheim.
They are a part of a project we called the Lazarus Project.” Zian explained.
“Well, the project has its flaws. They are not perfect as you should probably
know by the now. The carnivores became herbivores and vice versa.”
“What’s the
aim of the project?” Tareshah queried.
“We aim to
create a machine, dubbed the Lazarus Machine, capable of bringing back a long
dead creature back to life through cloning. We would use a tiny little sample
of DNA to reconstruct the creature and bring it back to life. If we are
successful, we can bring back a formerly extinct race or species.” Zian
answered.
“Like the
dinosaurs?” Reed asked.
“Yes. However,
we do not consider it a success due to a side effect which causes the dinosaurs
to have twisted personalities. We’re trying to fix the problems with the
twisted personalities. The last thing we need is an herbivorous creature eating
us up. We’ve lost a lot of scientists who were eaten up by what was supposed to
be an herbivorous creature. But, recently, one of our latest clones came out
perfectly like it should be. And the best part is that the creature is a
horse.” Zian said.
“A horse?”
Kida exclaimed while Reed gasped in shock. “You’re kidding right? Horses are
extinct and we never saw you guys cloning them.”
“Trust me;
we have been cloning horses as often as we have been cloning dinosaurs. The
problem is the twisting of the personalities that the Lazarus Machine does. But
then, this horse came out perfectly like the original should be and we decided
to keep it away from other horses, lest it gets eaten up.”
“So why are
you informing us of this?” Jaden asked.
“Ms.
Highland, you humans are known for mounted combat while riding a horse, at
least during the medieval period. We figured that you could use one that we
have resurrected perfectly.” Zian replied.
“What? You
want to give the horse to me? But, I don’t even know how to ride one or look
after one. We humans never rode a horse ever since their extinction which was
hundreds of thousands of years ago.”
“Jaden, we
are aware that you humans are no longer educated on the care of a horse. Hence,
we accessed our old archives and found several blocks of information that could
help you on that.”
“Old
archives? You aliens actually have information on horses?” Gavin asked.
“It is our
curiosity that brought us this far in terms of information and technology.”
Zian replied. “Still, I’ll leave it to you. Do you accept the horse as our
token of alliance?”
“Well, when
you put it that way…you’re actually willing to give up the one successful
clone?” Jaden queried.
“Yes. It
won’t be the only one that comes out perfect so we should be able get another
one in the future. In the meantime, this horse, which we cloned from a breed trained
for war, will serve you well in any ground combat.” Zian answered.
“Come on
Jaden! It is a horse! We never saw one before. We might as well take advantage
of the opportunity.” Lucas said while nudging her.
“He’s
right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Markus added.
“Alright.
Take us to the horse.”
“Very well
Jaden.” Zian said as he opened the door to the lab. Once the door opened, Zian
noticed that the hallway leading to the lab was dark. “That’s odd. Why are the
lights turned off?” He used a nearby switch to turn on the lights but the light
revealed something disturbing.
The lights
revealed an alien corpse lying on the floor on a pool of blood. The sight
caused the nearby crowd to gasp while the party looked on with shock. Zian
approached the body and turned it over, revealing a few bullet wounds littered
all over the torso.
“This
scientist was murdered.” Zian muttered out. “Somebody has infiltrated the lab.”
Zian stood
up and turned to his bodyguards, “Guards, alert the rest of the castle. Hostiles
have infiltrated the castle grounds.” The duo nodded and ran to the castle
entrance.
“Zian,
what’s going on?” Xiara asked.
“I’m
guessing Iblisan saw the value of the horse we cloned.” he replied while
pulling out a rifle holstered on his back. “Seems like we have to fight our way
to the horse. You all in?”
“Hell
yeah.” Jaden replied while unsheathing her katana.
Zian nodded
and marched into the lab with the party tailing him. Upon opening another door,
the lab was revealed to be in a ruined state. Wires were dangling from the
walls and ceilings and sparks were flying out of holes caused by bullets or
sword slashes. Much of the equipments were destroyed and severely damaged and
windows were shattered.
“This
facility is no longer adequate for experiments and testing. This unit suggests
rebuilding and repairing the damage.” Vader commented as the party walked
through the lab.
“You’re
right. It’s going to be a while for this lab to be repaired and usable for the
project.” Jaina replied.
As the
group rummaged through the ruin, Jaden spotted a dead scientist on the floor
with a pistol on hand. In front of him was the corpse of what seemed to be one
of the intruders. Jaden checked the apparel and her suspicions were confirmed
when she saw a familiar insignia on his sleeve.
“Iblisan’s
cultists. I knew it.”
“Killing
unarmed scientists…this is brutal, even by the standards of the Cult of
Iblisan.” Xiara said with a clear tone of shock.
“Not
really. I’ve seen plenty of civilians die by the hands of the cultists.” Jaden
told Xiara.
“But I
thought Iblisan isn’t one for killing civilians, unless they directly threaten him?”
Xiara asked.
“That doesn’t
mean that all of his cultists share the same views as him. Some of them,
especially those who follow Dark Viper, openly attack civilians on sight.”
“She’s not
kidding. Markus and I have seen plenty of murders ourselves.” Lucas added.
“I can’t
imagine living a life seeing murder at every corner. Suddenly I feel so
fortunate.” Xiara commented.
“Don’t be
Xiara. We all have darkness in our pasts. For now, we need to know what
happened here.” Jaden replied.
“Everyone,
try and keep your volume down. The horse’s chamber is not too far off and
assuming that the cultists are still here, they will be there. We got them
pinned down so let us ambush them from stealth.” Zian ordered.
Complying
with his words, the party started tiptoeing while Vader, whose feet were not
designed to do so, activated a hovering mechanism to move in silence. They
followed Zian, walking through multiple rooms and hallways, before reaching the
chamber that held the cloned horse. With its doors wide open, the party could
see two cultists standing outside a cage with their weapons holstered and their
attentions on one another. The party waited outside the room under Zian’s command.
“We ought
to kill these cultists but not before we find out what they want with the
Lazarus Machine or the horse. Hopefully, as we listen to them, we can find out
what they want.” Zian said.
“Zian, I think
I have a better idea.” Reed muttered. “Jaden, you remember how Vader’s disguise
look like right?”
“Yeah. He
greatly resembled Dark Viper.”
“Maybe we
can use Vader’s disguise to pry out some answers for them. That is, of course,
if they wall for it and Vader can somehow speak in Viper’s voice.”
“This unit
has enough samples of Dark Viper’s voice for mimicry.” Vader replied.
“Oh,
alright. It is still a gamble though. They may see through his disguise.”
“Well, it
is better than sitting here hoping that they say anything. We’ll go through with
the human’s idea.”
“The name’s
Reed Robinson by the way.”
With that
agreed upon, Vader activated his disguise, creating a holographic body that
gave him an appearance that greatly resembled the notorious Dark Viper. In
addition, to add on to the disguise, he borrowed Jaden’s katana and held it in
a manner similar to the Reverse Grip fighting style. He then marched into the
room, trying to mimic Viper’s walking style, which was usually comprised of
fast stomps.
As he
neared the two cultists, they turned around and recoiled at the sight of Vader.
Jaden’s heart raced as she was fearful of what might happen if the cultists did
not fall for the trickery.
“Dark
Viper? Iblisan never said that you’re coming.” one of the cultists said,
causing Jaden to sigh with relief.
“Yeah. And
you’re a lot taller than we remembered.” the other cultists added.
“Are you
two fools here to serve the cult or to question my presence? Do not test my
patience!” Vader spoke in Viper’s voice. Reed giggled at the act, amused by Vader’s
attempt to speak like Viper.
“Alright.
We’re sorry.” the two cultists answered simultaneously.
“Now
report. What have you done thus far?” Vader requested.
“Well, we
managed to sneak into their lab and killed all the scientists as Iblisan
ordered. He wanted to ensure that none of the scientists could run out and warn
the rest of our attack.”
“That would
explain why the cultists killed the scientists.” Xiara muttered out.
“We’ve
reached the Lazarus Machine and the horse but we’re thinking on how we’re going
to transport it off world without being noticed. That bloody fallen angel
probably never thought this through.”
“Why would
Iblisan want the machine and the horse?” Vader questioned them.
“Iblisan
heard about the success these aliens had in creating a perfect clone so he
wanted to use the machine to bring back any of his deceased lieutenants back to
life. He also wanted to clone that Jaden Highland and use the clones as his own
personal minions. Of course, she needs to be captured for that to happen. As
for the horse, he figured he will use it somehow.”
“Son of a…”
Jaden whispered. “As if clones of myself would listen to his bidding.”
“Alright,
that’s all we need to know. Let us go in and finish them off.” Zian ordered. He
gestured to Jaden, asking her to go in first due to the fact that she’s
unarmed. He told Jaden to retrieve her katana from Vader if she can.
Suddenly,
an alarm sounded the moment Jaden stepped into the room. It shocked Jaden,
causing her to stand up. The cultists, as startled as she was, looked around
before spotting her. They pulled out their rifles and was about to shoot.
However, in a very swift slash, Vader cut their throats, causing them to choke
out blood. They slowly fell onto the floor and died a slow death.
Zian ran to
a nearby console and deactivated the alarm. As the party walked into the now hostile-free
room, Jaden asked, “What the hell was that? Did I like trigger something?”
“That alarm
was only supposed to sound when one of the clones created by the Lazarus Machine
stepped through the door. The sensors would pick up the artificial genetics and
DNA, which then triggers the alarm.” Zian explained.
“But, I’m
not a clone…am I?” Jaden queried.
“Well, I
don’t remember cloning a human so, maybe the system was just buggy there.
Still, everything turns out alright. Nice job VX Synthetic.”
As Vader’s
disguise dissipates in a flash of light, he replied, “Compliment acknowledged.”
Zian
approached the cage while the rest of the party followed him. As he passed by
Vader, the VX Synthetic passed the bloodied sword to Jaden, who quickly sheathed
it. The party then gathered around the cage which held the formerly extinct
creature known only as a horse. The party was awed at the sight of a creature
which they only listened to in stories.
The horse
was grazing open hay that was left in its containment. It spotted the party
outside its cage and stared at them for a while. It then neighed several times
and stomped the floor before returning back to its food. To Jaden, the horse did
not seem threatened by their presence but rather, was just welcoming the new
faces.
“Man, I
wish these creatures were never extinct in the first place.” Kida whispered.
“You and me
both Kida. I wish I could ride it.” Reed said after nudging her shoulder.
“Well,
since you all are interested in it, I think I might let it out of the cage for
a while.” Zian said. He approached the cage door and unlocked it. He opened the
door and whistled at the horse, trying to grab its attention. Hearing the
whistles, the horse turned to Zian and began walking out of the cage. A sit
left, everyone, save for Vader and Zian, backtracked, afraid that the horse may
attack. Still, Zian reassured them that horses are peaceful creatures.
As the
horse stood out of its cage, its attention was fixed on Jaden. Its eyes never
left her and she began to wonder why the horse was always staring at her. Eventually,
it trotted towards her, causing the rest to disperse while Jaden was forced to
the wall behind her. Her heart throbbed faster and it got nearer, fearful of
what the horse was about to do to her. She pulled back her face and closed her
eyes as the horse was within breathing distance of her.
Suddenly,
she felt something soft and wet stroked her cheek. It stroked her cheek again
several times and she opened her eyes to see what was going on. The horse was
rubbing its nose upon her, tickling her and causing her to giggle. When it
tried to do so again, she pulled the horse in and nuzzled it. The horse was merely
being friendly. The horse then rests its head on her shoulders and all she
could do was to wrap her arms around its neck. The tightened the grip before
releasing it.
“Guys, it’s
alright. This horse is very friendly.” Jaden reassured the rest. Listening to
her, the rest of the party approached the horse.
Reed rubbed
the horse’s body, feelings its warm fur underneath his palm. He then commented,
“Well, I touched it and it didn’t explode. He’s alright then.” He then began
stroking the horse and eventually, the rest followed suit. Regardless, the
horse still did not move its attention away from Jaden.
Zian
approached Jaden and told her, “The horse seems to be attracted to you somehow.
The only time I see it behave as such is when it sees another cloned horse. Of
course, we had to stop it before anything bad happens.”
“Maybe the
horse just likes her because she’s beautiful?” Reed suggested.
“Don’t be
stupid Reed.” Jaina reacted.
“Hey I was
just kidding. Still, I’m pretty sure even a horse can see beauty when its lays
its eyes on one.”
“You know
Jaden, with the alarm and the horse’s attraction to you, it seems to suggest
that you are a clone created by the Lazarus Machine.” Zian suggested.
“But that’s
ridiculous. I’m not a clone. If I am, I would’ve known by now.”
“True.
Still, quite a coincidence come to think of it.”
“Tell me
about it…”
“Anyway, I’m
glad to see that you all are appreciating what the scientists here died
protecting.”
“Iblisan
will pay for their deaths.”
“And with
you leading the Alliance mounted on a horse, I’m sure we’ll succeed. So, you
have a name for it?”
“You haven’t
named it?”
“Didn’t
have any reason to and since it is yours now, you name it.”
“Well, I’m
guessing this one is a male. Since he’s the one lucky horse created to be just
like his original…lucky…lucky…I’ll call him Lucky.”
“Simple. I
like that. Lucky it is then.”
