My 2014 NaNo Entry

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty.

Bügermeister Köenig parked his two wheeler on the road leading towards the damn, and made his way on foot to the middle of the structure. He rang the bell at the entrance to the power plant and waited. Within a few minutes Old Man Tesla's footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door, followed by the unlatching and opening of the entrance.

“What can I do for you Herr Köenig?” the head engineer asked.

“I'm just checking up on how your new assistant is doing.” The Bügermeister replied. “Just where is Master Cobalt?” he asked.

“Oh, he's been and gone already.” Tesla answered. “Ever since we got all of the maintenance issues around here under control Cobalt has been coming in early to do his daily inspection. If he finds everything normal, which is usually the case, he'll leave until just after the lunch hour to check up on everything and leave if there are no issues. On the few rare occasions where he discovered a pending failure, Cobalt directed us as to how to fix things before we had a problem. Sometimes he has his assistant Mars watching over the place. That young man is almost as smart as Cobalt is.”

“It sounds like your assistant had become your supervisor,” Köenig laughed.

“Actually, I suppose he has” Tesla replied, “and I couldn't be happier about that.”

“Well, I have noticed that the electric power in town has been much more reliable since I brought Cobalt over to you.” Köenig added.

“Not only that, but take a look at this.” Tesla smiled, opening the top drawer of his desk and extracting what appeared to be a small light bulb.

“That looks like a light bulb, but it's too small.” Köenig told him.

“Really?” Tesla asked. He turned his desk lamp on. The carbon filament bulb gave off a soft orange glow that was easy on the eyes, but somehow didn't illuminate the papers sitting on the desk that well.
“As you can see the bulbs we are now using seem to work, but if you look carefully, you'll see that they don't provide the color rendition you'd expect, objects look much more colorful outdoors under sunlight than they do under electric illumination. Artists and tailors prefer to work in the daytime under a skylight where they can make out colors correctly.”

Tesla switched off the lamp and reached into the reflector to unscrew the bulb. He then replaced it with the diminutive one he had just shown Köenig. “This new style bulb is smaller because its filament doesn't have to be quite as large. It's made of a new metal that Cobalt has figured out how to extract from the vein of Wolframite ore that he recently discovered. Now watch as I switch it on.”

The lamp literally exploded into a brilliance that nearly blinded the Bügermeister. Every little crease in the wooden top of the desk suddenly became visible, the colors of the wood stood out like an artists canvas under the almost pure white glare from the tiny bulb.

“This little lamp produces about twice the light output that the larger bulb did, and yet it draws exactly the same current.” Telsa said. “If we got rid of every one of the old bulbs in use and replaced them with these new ones we'd only have to install half as many, and we could double the number of homes that the plant could service.”

“Incredible!” Köenig gasped. “Cobalt is a genius! Where is he now?”

“You can find him over at the old abandoned laboratory complex.” Tesla replied.

“Did you tell him that place was taboo?” Köenig asked.

“I might have mentioned it.” Tesla said. “But he doesn't believe in ghosts, and neither do I.”

“I think I will have a talk with him,” The Bügermeister answered.


Köenig drove the two wheeler out toward the old abandoned campus where the ancients had once devoted their minds towards the study of science and technology. He crossed himself and whispered a brief prayer to guard off the evil spirits that he had been led to believe still inhabited the place. Seeing Cobalts electric powered carriage parked by the domed brick building he walked over towards that direction. He tested the door and found it ajar, so he pulled it open and entered.

Cobalt was standing on a tall ladder looking through the eyepiece of the old telescope. The slits covering the opening in the dome were pulled open and the lens of the great instrument was pointed upwards.

“Didn't anyone warn you about this place?” Köenig yelled up.

Cobalt leaned back from the eyepiece and looked down at the Bügermeister. “Don't tell me you are superstitious.” He said, “I always thought you were better educated than that.”

“Education has nothing to do with my fears of this place, history does.” Köenig told him.

Cobalt descended the ladder and walked over to Köenig.

“What do you expect to accomplish here?” Köenig asked.

“This old telescope should see its first light again this evening if I can complete the collimation in time.” Cobalt told him. “Then I will be able to perform a scan of the night sky and finally determine just how far into the future we are from the point in time where I previously existed. I might be able to tell where in the universe this planet is.”

“I see,” the Bügermeister replied. “You have some old ghosts you want to scare off.”

“Perhaps.” Cobalt said. “I'd also like to know why I'm here.”

“If you mean you'd like to know why you were resurrected, I think that you'd have to ask one of the priests, if you dare.”

“Speaking of the holy women, why is this place taboo?” Cobalt laughed.

“I guess you'd like a history lesson,” Köenig answered. “Very well, you need to know.”

Cobalt pulled up a tall stool and sat down. “I'm all ears.” he said.

“Very well.” Köenig started. “It's now been many centuries, perhaps even nearly a millennium that this place has been abandoned. My great grandfather recalled to me when I was a boy that his great grandfather remembered this complex being abandoned, so you get an idea of the time frame. The witches recall the story of a time when the sky burned in the distance and the river reeked of death. Human and animal bodies would float down from upstream,and there were no living fish swimming in the river. Babies were born deformed and quickly died, livestock failed to have calves, and starvation was rampart. It was decided to send a small army of men up the river to investigate. They found a vast city state that had been destroyed by forces beyond our comprehension. The land had been scorched, huge craters had been melted into the ground, and anyone that stayed in that region for any length of time came back sick from some kind of poisoning that seemed to eat their insides apart, their flesh peeling from their bones. Examples of the horrible weapons of war that these people had released upon themselves were discovered, a technology so repulsive to us that the priesthood banned all study of such knowledge. That's when this place fell into disuse.”

Mars appeared in the back from where he had been working. “Sounds like a nuclear war.” he said.

“Very likely.” Cobalt added. “I might try and assemble a Geiger counter to take some readings to see if there is still any radiation in the air.”

“I'm not sure I understand what you are talking about,” Köenig said, “but it sounds like you have a better idea of the cause of the disaster than I do. In any case, after many generations the water did clear, the diseases faded away and life did return. An edict was issued that made the creation of any technology dangerous to mankind a deadly sin. Specifically any explosive, any weapon of any kind, any machine that could mimic the mind and think for itself was now prohibited.”

“Computers were banned?” Mars interjected.

“Even the use of that word itself is a deadly sin punishable by death.” the Bügermeister told him. Don't let anyone else hear you utter it again!”

Cobalt walked over to the workbench and pointed to an abacus and a mechanical calculator. “Even these instruments are considered evil?” he asked.

“The abacus is an ancient thing and is not considered evil, for most of the work is still done in the head of the operator.” Köenig answered. “I wouldn't let anyone know you've restored the other.” he added, “For it could be considered a thinking machine.”

“This collection of gears and wheels?” Cobalt asked. “It is nothing more than an abacus with a better user interface, and has about as much ability to think as a pencil would.”

“Perhaps, but the decisions of the priesthood would prevail in such a matter, and I would not tempt fate.” Köenig told him. “I will not say anything of what you are doing here to anyone, but you need to be careful. The witches have eyes and ears everywhere.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty one.

Uran woke up in the middle of the night and ran into the bathroom. She barely got there in time, she raised the lid of the toilet and leaned over to vomit into the bowl. Titan heard her retching and ran into the bathroom to aid his wife. He moistened a wash towel and used it to cool her face.

“This is the third time this week.” he said with concern in his voice. “Perhaps you should see a healer.”

“Oh you wonderful naive fool!” Uran smiled. “There isn't anything wrong with me, love. I'm carrying your children!”

“What?” Titan asked.

“I'm pregnant.” She laughed. “With twins!”

“How can you know that?

“It's my ESP, silly. I can already detect their minds and I know that there are two of them, a boy and a girl.”

“What are we going to call them?” Titan laughed.

“I've already got two names in mind,” Uran said, “Tetsu, and Argon.”

“I like those names,” Titan said kissing his wife. “I think Tezuka would approve.”


Atom heard the sound of the door to the blacksmith's shop open and he quickly ran from the back room towards the reception area. He recognized the woman standing there, for he had seen all of her before.

Rebeca loosened the veil that covered her face just enough to allow Atom to view the irredentist green of her eyes. She ordered him to approach her with her mind, and enforced it with her voice, whispering, “Please come here” several octaves below normal hearing.

Atom pushed the gate separating the workshop from the front area open and walked through. “What can I do for you madam?” he asked.

“You know who I am, don't you Atom.” she said.

“You're one of the priests, aren't you?” Atom asked.

“You can say it,” Rebeca replied, “I am a witch.”

“That's such an ugly word.” Atom replied back.

“I need you to come with me.” Rebeca told him. “You are the chosen one that will fulfill the destiny of the ancient prophecy.”

“I don't think I believe in that nonsense.” Atom told her. “I've heard bits and pieces of it from the townspeople, but I'm just a commoner.”

“You were resurrected on this world at this moment in time for a reason.” Rebeca said. “My inner sight revealed you too me, and I've imprinted myself on you, and you have responded. Now I must test you and bring out the power that you are destined to use. You are the one that was foretold would be the savior of the universe in the coming end time.”

“I suppose I don't have a choice?” Atom said as he turned away.

“No you don't.” Rebeca answered using the full power of her voice.


Atom felt a cold wave blowing over him. His vision went dark and he was surround by darkness. He turned to face Rebeca, she was now the only thing that he could see. The darkness swirled around him, and slowly grew brighter, turning to gray. Now the gray mist slowed down and he could see his surroundings. He was in a stone room lit by guttering candles.

“How did I get here?” Atom asked. “I don't remember leaving the blacksmith shop.”

“I willed you to follow me here, Atom. You blindly obeyed without thinking so you don't remember walking here with me. You are in the castle of the priesthood, look around you.”

Atom and Rebeca were surround by twelve women dressed in pure white silk robes. Their faces were covered by veils, each of them held a candle. One of them handed a long handled wooden pipe to Rebeca and she took a candle from another and held the flame to the bowl of the pipe. She placed the stem of the pipe into her mouth and drew in a breath causing the tobacco in the bowl of the pipe to glow and fill the room with smoke. Rebeca put the pipe stem into Atoms mouth.

“Draw a breath and hold it.” She ordered.

Atom was helpless to disobey, and he took a deep draft from the pipe. The smoke burned his throat on the way to his lungs, and his vision blurred. Rebeca held a mirror to his eyes and he saw his face in the looking glass. The brown color in the irises of his eyes faded momentarily to an irredentist green. Atom coughed and exhaled. He took several quick breaths to clear his head before the pipe was pushed back between his lips and teeth. Rebeca pinched his nose and again ordered him to inhale the smoke of the Teska tobacco. With each draft Atom's head grew lighter and his vision more hazy. Finally it all blurred out completely.

Atom woke up and found himself tied down on a wooden cot with a horse hair and straw mattress. Rebeca was sitting on a stool next to him, staring at him with those cool irredentist green eyes.

“Good.” she said. “You survived the first test rather well.”

“What test?” Atom asked.

“The test of the pipe.” She told him. “You briefly entered another world of existence, your mind floated free of your body for a while, do you remember?”

“No, I don't” Atom said. “I only remember passing out and then coming to here.”

“You will remember.” Rebeca told him. “For now you will sleep.” She hummed to him in a lower register that he couldn't hear with his ears, but his mind could feel. He grew tired and fell back into a deep sleep. He began to dream, and he saw beyond his vision, but couldn't yet discern what it was that he was seeing.

End of Book One

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Book Two: The One

Twenty Two.

The chill of the night air entered the observatory dome and caused Cobalt to shiver slightly. He drew the wool sweater he wore closed and buttoned it. His eyes slowly adapted to the darkness and he was able to see the controls of the instrument without using the dim red flashlight. He dialed in the desired sky coordinates and allowed the clockwork to move the large heavy optical tube of the telescope to point to the selected point in the heavens. The roof dome rotated in perfect synchronization with the motion of the telescope, the repairs to the mechanism by Atom and Atlas had been right on spot.

Cobalt carefully refocused the eyepiece and engaged the clockwork to cause the telescope to stand station and track perfectly with the motion of the planet about its axis so the same point in the sky would remain under his eyepiece all night.
He thought he could make out patterns in the darkness that might correspond to traces of glowing matter drifting between the stars. With the instrument now perfectly aligned on target, Cobalt swapped out the eyepiece for a film holder and pulled the dark slide out from in front of the photographic plate. He now looked through the eyepiece of the companion finder scope that was mounted along side the main instrument. This was an eight inch refractor, not nearly as powerful as the two foot diameter lens of its parent, but powerful enough to allow Cobalt to keep the camera on its target by making small manual adjustments required to correct the small inaccuracies of the clockwork and the equatorial mounting.

He sat at the instrument all night as the great lens tracked from one horizon toward the other and the pitch blackness of the night sky gave way to a dull violet of the approaching dawn. He slipped the dark slide back into the film holder to end the exposure, and pulled it away from the instrument. Cobalt then climbed down the ladder to the ground and entered the dark room to process the single sheet of film. He carefully measured the temperature of the developing solutions and poured an equally carefully measured amount of each into the film tank in turn. After pouring the stop bath solution into the sink, he opened the film tank and removed the single sheet of film, and put it emulsion side up on the bottom of a tray filled with a solution of sodium thiosulphate. He left the negative in the fixer for the required length of time and then turned on the room lights to examine the fruits of his night long vigil.

The negative was clipped to a light box and he used a magnifier to look for patterns in the image. There were several dark spots which were the inverted image of the few visible stars in the field, and faint wispy lines that might have been what he was looking for, or just random patterns in the grain of the film. Cobalt compared the exposure that he'd just made with the several others from previous nights. The telescope had been in operation for nearly a week, but he still had barely enough data to draw any conclusions. He knew that he'd have to repeat his observations many more times before he had enough data to come to an answer and that tonights session had only been one of many more to come. Even so, a dark feeling had begun to enter his mind as if he already knew deep down what his research would eventually reveal.

The door smashed open with a loud bang as Uran ran in with Titan in tow. “Atom is missing!” She yelled. “He's been abducted by the witches!”

Cobalt yawned and looked incredulously at his sister and her husband.

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“We've been by his place.” Titan responded. “The shop was wide open and his dwelling was empty. Nothing is missing, but there is no sign of him.”

“I got a vision from him.” Uran replied. “I couldn't register where he was, I'm not sure that he even knows. I connected with him mind for only an instant, and I got the weirdest feeling, as if I was out of my body floating in space.”

“It was weird.” Titan added. “Uran's eyes went briefly from their beautiful brown to a strange green color while she was in this trance, and they returned to normal when she snapped out of it.”

“He must be with that witch that we saw in the town plaza on our first day in this world.” Cobalt agreed. “The Bügermeister warned us of them and we know that Atom was seduced by her at least once.”

“Twice that I was aware of.” Uran replied. “I was with him both times against my will.”

Titan looked at his wife and then remarked, “I don't think you should be in connection with Atom, you might endanger the children.”

“You may be right.” Uran sighed, “But I can't control my ESP connection with my brother, and if he is in trouble I must find him.”

“Children?” Cobalt asked. His mind was tired from the long nights work, but he gradually realized what was going on.

“How long have you known?” He asked.

“A few weeks now.” Uran said. “I'm carrying two of them, a boy and a girl.”

“That's wonderful!” Cobalt told her, and he pulled both Titan and Uran close for a hug. “Now we need to find Atom.” He said. “Uran, please go home, Titan and I will go to the witches castle and see if we can find him.”

“Be careful,” Uran replied. “You don't know what they are capable of.”

“Don't worry.” Cobalt said, “I'm going to bring Mars and Atlas along to help. Besides, the witches don't know what I am capable of either.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty three.

Atlas and Mars listened carefully as Cobalt and Titan briefed them on what had happened. Mars kept his eyes on the the apparatus lying on the table. His curiosity reached the breaking point and he asked, “What is this stuff?”

Lying on the table were several glass tubes filled with bits of bent metal. Each had several wires sticking out of one sealed end, and a pinched off tip at the other. They resembled tiny light bulbs, but they emitted very little light and were filled with an ionization glow. They were wired together on a thin perforated fiber board with other bits and pieces.

“Ah, so you noticed my attempt at electronics.” Cobalt said. “Those small vacuum tubes are wired as a subsonic oscillator. The witches, or so the priesthood is called are known to be able to control an individual's mind by use of their ESP and their voice. I'm not sure about the ESP part, though Uran might be able to give me an answer to that. As for the voice, from what I've been able to figure out, they use a very low pitched modulation in their voice to generate a subliminal suggestion that our brains can be influenced by. This circuit will act as a phase locked loop and generate a countering frequency 180 degrees out of phase that will cancel out the effect of their vocal powers. The circuit can also generate an inverse sound which we can't hear at a high volume that can hopefully cause some discomfort to the witches, sort of like turning their powers against them.”

“How the hell ...” Mars asked.

“I've already converted the light bulb factory to manufacture high efficiency lamps with tungsten filaments.” Cobalt laughed. “It wasn't too far a leap to recreate these thermionic valves.”

The completed devices fit into a leather pouch that could be worn like a purse by a strap hanging over ones shoulder. Weighting several pounds, it contained a dry battery pack, the electronics bundle, two transducers and was connected to a pair of transducers to be worn in ones ears. A small gun like device contained a sonic emitter.

“You carry this gizmo and put the transducer buds into your ears.” Cobalt explained. “Any low frequency modulated voice is counter acted by the circuit and you won't be effected by the witches subliminal suggestions.”

“What about their ESP?” Atlas asked. “I thought that Atom was influenced from a distance in his sleep.”

“I'm not quite sure about that.” Cobalt said. “But he and Uran have strong ties, it's possible that Atom has a deeply suppressed ESP potential that makes him susceptible to receiving ESP suggestions, as Uran is to hearing them.”

“What about you?” Mars asked.

“Alas, my brain isn't reachable that way.” He smiled. “As an experiment I asked Uran to try her best to send me suggestions and to listen in on my thoughts. I'm about as transparent to her as a brick wall. Hopefully the witches will have as much luck with me as Uran did.”


Atom regained conciseness to find himself in much nicer surroundings. He was lying naked in a large poster bed covered with silken sheets and a deep fluffy comforter. Rebeca smiled at him as he opened his eyes, and tossed him a large white cotton robe.
“Here, put this on.” she told him softly. “You must be hungry, come with me and we'll take care of that.”

Atom sat up in the bed and slipped his arms into the robe and wrapped it around himself, tying it closed with the attached belt. The warm garment hung down below his knees. There was a pair of slippers on the floor waiting for him, and he stepped into them and followed Rebeca out of the bed chamber and down the hallway. She led him to a small dinning area where several round tables surround by high backed chairs were set up. Atom was directed to a table where a modest meal had already been left for him. A plate with a good stack of thinly cut strips of lamb meat sat steaming in the middle of the table, along with a glass pitcher containing a greenish brown liquid. He was seated with an empty plate in front of him, along with a clean mug, a knife and a fork.

“Help yourself to the broiled lamb and tea.” She told him.

Atom reached over and stabbed himself a strip of the meat with his fork and dropped in onto his plate. He cut a piece off and put it into his mouth and started to chew. The meat was tender and juicy, with a spicy taste. The tea tasted mild, not sweet, tart, or bitter. He ate slowly, placing two more strips of the meat on his plate after finishing off the first.

“Thank you.” Atom said, “this is actually quite good. How is it prepared?”

“The monks do our kitchen work.” Rebeca informed him. “The lamb meat is marinated in the tea overnight and is seasoned with the pollen of the Teska tree flowers before being broiled over a hardwood fire. The tea you are drinking is made from the leaves of the Teska tree, enhanced by the juice of the Teska tree fruit.”

“So you are still drugging me?” Atom realized as he finished eating what was on his plate.

“We are slowly building up your tolerance to the Elixir.” She said. “Once you have been prepared I will test you on the full strength of the holy spice. If you are truly the promised one that we have been waiting for, the final question of the universe will be answered as has been foretold.”

Atom tried to get up but he felt his legs becoming like rubber. Once again his vision blurred and he realized that once again he had been given a strong dose of the psychotic hallucinogenic drug, this time laced in the food and drink. Atom leaned back in the chair and gripped the bottoms of the cushion tightly with his fists to keep from falling out of it and onto the floor. His mind drifted back in time and he was able to access memories from before his reincarnation in this world.

His body melted away and he found himself shrinking in size. He looked up though very young eyes that had only just opened for the very first time. Though his vision was blurry, he felt a strong attachment for the face that filled his sight. He was being lifted by a pair of large and strong but gentle hands. His body was wrapped tightly in a swaddling blanket. He reached out with his arms to touch the face of the person that he knew was his mother.

Hoshie opened her eyes and saw her infant son, and she smiled despite the pain of the incision in her lower abdomen where the C-section had been performed to give birth to her child. Tobio held on to her for dear life as the nurse tried to separate them. He cried with all of his might as she carried him away to place him in the incubator. Feeling the pain of compassion, the nurse brought the tiny preemie back to his mother where the baby once again wrapped his arms around her face. Tobio stopped his crying and soon fell asleep, basking in his mothers love.

Atom's mind then left the moment of the birth of his original soul, to find himself elsewhere. He was standing upright in a glass tube with wires and electrodes attached all over his body. The smell of ozone filled his nostrils as his eyes opened for the first time. He saw a double vision of a man wearing a laboratory coat, a man with a prominent roman nose, a head full of dark hair, and a puffy beard on his chin. “Tobio!” the man cried, “Do you see me?” The glass tube was raised and the wires fell off of his body. “Come here, son!” the man ordered. Tobio's legs wobbled as he took his first step, nearly falling. He lost his balance on the second step and pitched forward in the mans waiting arms. “Tobio my son! You've returned to me!” he cried hugging him. Tobio wrapped his arms around his father and sobbed, “Dad!”

The ground shook around him as he stood on the narrow walkway between the two towers. All around him the building was crumbling as explosions went off everywhere. “Dad, Don't die!” Atom yelled out. He walked toward his father who stood next to the control tower, holding the deadly ring in his right hand. “Keep away from me!” the man yelled back, “I don't want to destroy you!”

Atom ignored his father and took another step as the ring shot a bolt of energy at him, burning his skin. “I can save you!” he yelled “Please let me!”

Once again the man gripped the ring and blasted Atom with a burst of energy that caused him to stumble and nearly fall. Yet, Atom continued his advance toward his father. “I forgive you Father!” he cried wrapping his arms around the deranged scientist. Dr. Tenma dropped the ring and it rolled away, falling off the walkway towards the abyss below. Overcome by Atom's emotional outburst, Dr. Tenma embraced Atom in his own arms. The walkway began to crumble, Atom blasted skyward with his father in his arms, carrying both of them to safety.

Time shifted again and Atom stood on the raised platform of the Bimah with his son as the boy read the portion of the Torah that he'd practiced for the past few months. His wife Cora, and their younger daughter sat in the front pews looking up at them. The happy moment faded as Atom now found himself returning the the limo after shoveling the last pile of dirt into Cora's grave. He'd outlived his human wife, and his son and daughter had their own families now grown as well.

Atom's grip on the chair eased as his vision cleared. Tears dripped from his eyes, falling onto the floor where a sizable puddle of them already lay. He blew his nose in the sleeve of his robe.

“Why did you do that to me?” he asked.

“Did you see your past?” Rebeca asked, “Do you know who you are?”

“Yes.” Atom said. “I did have some memories of my past when I was resurrected, but only bits and pieces. Whatever was in the drugs that you laced my food with and forced me to smoke in that pipe earlier has unlocked it all.”

“So you know who you were in your past life.” Rebeca stated.

“No.” Atom said curtly. “Not in my past live, but both of my lives. I remember dying once, and being reborn before I was resurrected in this world. This is the third body my soul has inhabited.”

“That almost confirms it.” Rebeca told him. “The prophesy tells us that the One who will lead us in the end time will do so in his third life.”

“I still don't believe in your religion,” Atom told her. “If you are to convince me, I need to know more about this prophesy and the history of your order.”

“Very well.” Rebeca said, “I owe you that. Come with me into the sanctuary and I will explain all that you ask.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty Four.

Armed with Cobalts devices, Atlas, Mars, Titan and Cobalt made their way towards the castle. The gate barring their way into the courtyard was locked shut with a huge heavy padlock. Cobalt lifted the lock up to get a closer look at it and laughed to himself. It was a ward lock which took a large flag shaped key. Cobalt had come prepared, he removed a small case from his pocket, and from that extracted several different sized skeleton keys. He selected on that looked about the right size and carefully inserted it into the lock. He wiggled the key around while slowly turning it. The lock snapped open in his hand. “Piece of cake.” he said.

“OK everyone, check your equipment.” Cobalt instructed. The four of them powered on the gizmos that Cobalt had provided. They inserted the buds into their ears and fingered the pistol like transducers in their pockets. “OK then, let's sneak inside.”

They kept close to the wall of the castle looking for a way in. Atlas spotted a monk standing guard at a back entrance and crept up on him. He pulled a rag from his pocket and held it over the monks face long enough for the vapors from the either soaked cloth to render the poor man unconscious. Atlas gently lowered his victim to the ground. “OK, follow me.” he motioned.

The sound of voices chanting in the distance warned them that some members of the clergy were ahead of them. They passed a small dimly lit smoke filled room where five of the priests were meditating, Fortunately the emanations of the sonic devices that the four of them carried with them seemed to be working to mask their presence from the ears of the clergy.

As they continued on their way they noticed the ceiling becoming higher as they approached what appeared to be a large chamber. Now they found themselves in the main entrance area of the castle, the huge doors that could be seen from the road were barred from the inside by two large timbers resting on hooks in the door and the walls. A large wooden chandelier hung from the ceiling above them, most of the candles in it had gone out and the few remaining ones gave off a spooky light. Not far from where they stood was the entrance to a room with a high ceiling topped by a glass domed skylight. The door was open a crack allowing them to peek inside.


Atom stood upon the raised platform at the altar of the sanctuary. Rebeca opened a large book that lay on the angled table. “This is the bible of our order.” She told him. “It tells the story our race, and that of the universe as was handed down to us by the ancients.”

“By “Our Race” I assume you mean the order of the priesthood.” Atom asked.

“No, I mean the human race.” Rebeca explained. “That includes you and the three others that were resurrected along with you at the same time. It includes everyone in Village Town, and everyone else that has entered this world.”

“What world is this?” Atom asked. “My family and I came from a planet called Earth. I have no idea how long ago that was, or if our home world still exists.”

“The answers to your questions might be found in our history.” Rebeca said. “If you are the 'One' and you fulfill your destiny as our savior, you will know the answers to all of your questions, and every question that ever was.”

At that moment Atlas, Mars and Titan pushed their way into the room, slamming the door open.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion!” Rebeca cried out, modulating her voice. When she noticed that it had no effect on the intruders she emitted a harsh shrill cry and glared her eyes at them in defiance. Cobalt walked in and calmly aimed the pistol mounted transducer at her and pulled the trigger. Rebeca grabbed her gut and fell towards the floor in pain. Atom clamped his hands over his ears, for he too felt waves of retching pain, though not nearly as strong as the priest.

“Turn about is fair play, I'd say.” Cobalt told her, as he shut down his weapon. “We've come for our brother, release him or I'll really put you in pain.”

“You don't understand!” Rebeca pleaded. “Your brother may very well hold the key to our future!”

“Why don't you let ME decide!” Atom yelled. “Let me study your history and this prophecy of yours. If you can convince me that I am this divine ONE I will submit myself to the rest of your testing.”

Rebeca sighed as she resigned herself to the inevitable. “Very well, I agree to your terms. But please let me teach you our history and explain the prophecy to all of you!”

Cobalt nodded. “As a scientist and an engineer I have an open mind. If Atom is willing to go along with your testing, I will be accept his decision, provided I am certain that he wasn't coerced into making it.”

With that, Cobalt walked over to Atom and placed a pair of transducers into his ears, and attached the cable to the extra device he had brought with him. He powered it on and looked at the expression on his brothers face.

“What are those works of the devil?” Rebeca yelled out.

“I've figured out how the priesthood uses their trained voices to control a persons mind.” Cobalt told her. “And it was easy to figure out how to counter such control. These devices are tuned to various sound frequencies that you use to effect your influence on others and they create destructive feedback to nullify them. They can also fight back by throwing it right back into your faces. Just a recreation of 20th century Earth electronics.”

“You can put those devices aside,” Rebeca promised them, “I give you my word that I won't attack you.” Cobalt turned to look at Atom who nodded. “I trust her.” he said.

Cobalt, Atlas, Mars and Titan advanced towards the altar where a large book was sitting on a slanted table. Rebeca opened the old volume. “This is the bible of the people, entrusted to the order of the priesthood thousands of years ago.” She said. “It contains the history of this planets civilization, and the origins of our order.”

Atom and Cobalt got their first look at the old text. Surprisingly it was written in script that resembled 21st century Earth writing in that the characters were those used in most American and European languages, but included the extended characters containing accent marks, and also many of those from the Germanic and Cyrillic languages. Rebeca started to read from the beginning of the text, though Atom realized that he could understand the words himself.

“In the beginning God created the Universe. The All Mighty God spat out an egg, and the universe exploded into being. Billions of stars, and worlds condensed from Gods breath, and the supreme being saw that it was good. Upon many of the worlds he created life. Oceans teeming with life condensed from the clouds, tiny invisible beings, fish, insects, plants, trees, and land animals according to their kind.
God looked upon what he had created, and saw that it was good, but that something was missing. Upon one of the worlds he created man in his own image. He gave mankind dominion over all of the creatures on this world, and on all worlds. He said unto his creation, 'honor me and follow my commandments. Take custodianship over the world which I have given ye, and be fruitful and multiply. Honor each other and respect each other for I have created you as equals.'

Time and time again, mankind sinned and disobeyed the commandments of God. The All Mighty was patient with his creations, and from time to time would remind them of their sins by causing terrible disasters upon the Earth. When mankind realized that they were wandering from the right path and mended their ways they were rewarded with good times, when they again strayed from God's path they suffered for it.

Man plundered the riches of his world, and dared to take upon himself powers that were reserved for the All Mighty. He modified his own creation, and his numbers increased beyond his world's ability to sustain him. Mankind left the original world to take dominion over others as The All Mighty intended him to. Human kind was scattered among the stars as the Universe grew old. The stars grew dim and one by one flickered out until only the oldest stars remained, for the Lord had created them to be eternal.

Many of the worlds drifted free of their dead suns in the cold void of the Universe. These worlds were frozen in time, the life on them waiting to be reborn. God caused one such world to drift into the sphere of an eternal star, and he allowed life to begin anew. Upon this world he left the souls of a few of his deserving pious creations.

'Take dominion over this world and redeem yourselves so ye may live in the next Universe' the lord commanded. 'The women shall rule over ye, for they shall have the power to receive my commands. Thy shall not again attempt to mimic me by creating life or thought in your own image, or I shall surly banish thee from the next creation.'

Mankind inhabited the new world and he obeyed his master for a time. But once again mankind dared to mimic his creator. Mankind brought about destruction upon his fellow men, and death rained from the skies. God brought forth the holy tree of life, and commanded the priesthood to partake of it. He commanded them to enforce his will and guide the people towards the path of righteousness so they might be spared. All machines of war and and those that mimicked God's creations were destroyed. 'No one shall create such again under the pain of death' the Lord decreed. My priesthood shall rule over this and they shall be holy.'

'But when shall we be redeemed?' the people asked. 'Thy shall await a savior which I shall send.' The Lord replied. 'Ye shall know him because he shall be reborn in the valley from a previous life for a second time. His soul will have two parts, one of which will be tainted, but which will have been made pure by his own deeds. He shall eat the fruit of the holy tree and will not perish as all other males shall. He will have the vision beyond sight to guide ye into the next Creation.' The Lord commanded.

Rebeca closed the book. “What I've read is the summation of our history. The rest of the Bible has many other stories and commandments in it that are part of the eulogy used in our prayers and ceremonies. You might want to study those parts later, Atom.” She said, “But it is forbidden for your friends to read them unless they have taken vows to the church.”

Cobalt remained deep in thought. He scratched his head before speaking. “I can see why you might believe that Atom is your Savior.” Cobalt explained. “The description does fit him, for among us he is unique.”

“The six of you, for that includes a woman who is not among us, were not human in your previous existence. You were all damnations created by sinners.” she said.

“If by that you mean we were machines that could think,” Cobalt said, “You are correct. Atom however was created in the image of a young person that died a tragic death. His soul, as the term is used in your mythology, was patterned from the memories and thoughts of this child. Atom actually did die twice, this is his third reincarnation.”

“Does The bible explain that?” Atom asked. “Does it tell us why we are being brought back to life on this world?"

“Actually some of the later sections in the bible do give us a clue.” Rebeca said, “But only you will be privileged to read them, Atom. That is, if you follow down the path that you were foretold to.”

“I will allow you to test me.” Atom replied. “But I will not remain here as your captive. Let me come back at my own free will, when I am ready.”

“Very well.” Rebeca said. She opened a panel on the altar and removed a large Earthen ware jar. “Prepare yourself some of the holy tea at each meal and sip it slowly,” she said. “Your body will adapt to its power and you will be able to control your visions, instead of them controlling you. When you have finished all of this tea you will be ready for the next step. Please understand however that time is short. Your task as the promised one will begin very shortly, and you must be ready.”

Atom took the jar from her. Rebeca escorted the four of them out of the castle and bade them leave. She now was certain that Atom was the One. She had been waiting patently long enough, she could wait a bit longer if need be. Still, time was growing short. Elder Mother was growing weak. Rebeca knew that very soon now, she would take her place and would need to provide the seed for the continuation of everything. To do that she would need the ONE, which she was sure Atom to be.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty Five.

Mars kept quiet until he and Cobalt returned to the workshop. Atom and Atlas went their separate ways home.
“You actually believe that crap?” He asked.

“I've found that many religions have their mythology rooted in some truthfulness.” Cobalt told him. “Certainly the description of creation in this text mirrors the fact of the big bang. If we are to take other parts of it literally, we are now hundreds of billions of years into the future from the point where we departed from our former lives, maybe as much as a trillion years into the future. The sun that this planet orbits is a red dwarf that is only now beginning to move along the latter half of the main sequence. Such suns could have been created at the very beginning of the universe, shortly after the first clouds of hydrogen cooled into existence from the super hot soup of subatomic particles that were spat out of the universe's explosive birth. Red dwarfs consume themselves at such a slow rate, such that even though they are of such low mass, they could survive for several trillion years.”

“Well what about the part involving a second creation?” Mars asked. “What nonsense is that?”

“I can recall some facts about cosmology that I studied in my former existence.” Cobalt started. “The big bang theory had been accepted as fact and from there many attempts at extrapolating the fate of the Universe were theorized. It all depended on several magical constants to balance what ever set of equations you used, and a good guess at the total mass of the universe. If the numbers balanced one way the expansion of the universe would slow down eventually and then the motion would reverse. Some wonks thought that at this point time would run backwards as all events were undone and the universe collapsed into a 'big crunch', to be followed an instant later by another big bang. This was the oscillating universe theory. It had the nice ring to it of being eternal, it meant that the universe had always been, and always would be.”

“But that's not what's going to happen, is it?” Mars asked.

“Back in our time we still didn't really know.” Cobalt said. “The total mass of the universe is rather hard to estimate, and when some of the observations didn't match up with accepted theories certain fudge factors were added to the mix. That's when the idea of Dark Matter and Dark Energy were dredged up to explain why the expansion of the universe didn't seem to be slowing, but rather was actually accelerating. So it appeared that there might not be enough positive mass in the universe to slow the expansion and bring about a big crunch. I think that might be more palatable to me, the idea of time running backwards and things being undone is rather upsetting. In fact, it can sound rather bizarre when you think about it. Imagine being born at an old age by being dug up out of your grave. Further image dying by being shoved back into your mother's vagina, and your father extracting the seed from her via inverse sexual intercourse nine months later.”

“Yeah, or going to the bathroom to literally take a crap!” Mars giggled.

“If the universe is doomed to keep expanding, eventually all the stars would fade from view because the distances between them would become so vast that light would not have had enough time to travel between them.” Cobalt added.

“But that's not possible because the stars can't move apart from each other faster than light!” Mars argued.

“Ah, but the stars aren't moving, space is expanding.” Cobalt explained. “The equations show that space itself can expand faster than light. By the time I was at the end of my life living on Mars, this possibility seemed the most likely. The bible passage we just heard seems to agree with the constant expansion of the universe, and a slow heat death as entropy winds down the clock of time and all energy has been consumed. There is however an even more bizarre possibility for the end of the universe. If the balance between dark and light energy is at a critical proportion, and if certain cosmic constants are set just so, the expansion of the universe will accelerate beyond space and into time itself. Not only will all of the stars and planets be accelerated from each other, but so shall all of matter down to every subatomic particle. All matter will be ripped apart and the universe will become an infinitively thin vast cloud of nothing.”

“WHAT!” Mars cried out. “Even us?”

“Everything will be ripped apart.” Cobalt said. “This scenario was referred to as the 'big rip'.” Now that we are living in what is closer to the end of the universe than the beginning, it may be possible to observe what is happening and know the answer for sure. I've only just begun to collect visual data with the telescope, and to crunch the numbers. While I've only just barely started to gather observational data, I'm convinced that the end of the universe is not far off. I don't have the answer yet, but I think I will be able to figure it out.”

“And what if we are heading for a big ripoff?” Mars asked, “How could the 'One' these witches are calling their Savior lead mankind out of that?”

“I have a theory about that based on the old notion of 'string theory'.” Cobalt said. “Our universe may actually be only one of many. The entire framework of all of creation, something that is beyond our ability to comprehend, may consist of an infinitive pair of membranes kept separate from each other by balanced forces. These 'branes' sometimes come into contact and react violently like matter and antimatter. When they do a big bang forms at the point of contact creating a universe. Eventually these universes rip themselves apart and the process heals the rupture in the branes point of initial contact. On the scale of time that the maxiverse, which is what I will call the infinite exists at, the existence of our universe lasted for as much time as a pimple takes to form and pop.”

“Oh so the universe is a zit on the face of God?” Mars asked.

Cobalt face palmed at the suggestion.
“Anyway,” Cobalt continued, “I think that there may be localizations in the space time of the universe at the moment where the big rip accelerates to the final event where one might find a safe haven. I think at the moment where the branes are finished healing some bits of the old universe might get sucked up and be spat out into another.”

“But you'd never survive the next Big Bang.” Mars argued.

“No you wouldn't.” Cobalt said. “But maybe the essence of your existence might be incorporated into the fabric of the new universe. Maybe, your consciousness might form part of the matrix of the new cosmos. Perhaps the witches believe that someone will place themselves into the matrix of creation by going out into space to be at the exact spot required to liberate their soul into the matrix of creation.”

“Maybe, if you did that you would become God.” Mars thought out loud.

“You know, that might explain what God really is.” Cobalt said.


Mars gave Cobalt a mock salute as he walked out of the workshop. “That's about all the philosophy I can handle in one sitting.” He said. “Good night.”
Cobalt finished cleaning up and turned out the lights. He walked back to his bedroom deep in thought. He remembered the lectures he attended at MIT dealing with Cosmology and Physics, and a long forgotten face appeared out of the fog of his memory.

Cobalt hadn't been the only robot attending classes at the famous institute in Cambridge Massachusetts. He recalled a classmate of his who had done his thesis trying to prove a wild hypothesis based on a set of equations that he claimed could be related. Photar was attempting to prove that Einstein's attempt at a unified field equation was possible after all. In doing so, he added the magnetic forces into the mix, along with those of gravity, and the moment of inertia within the atoms themselves.

“G=2(PC/BU)**2 is the unifying equation,” Photar explained. “I believe that the Blackett-Dirac hypothesis clearly shows that the field strength of a single electronic pole in motion relates to that of the magnetic as well as the force of the graviton.”

Cobalt felt sorry for his classmate who was never able to totally prove that his manipulation of the equation actually did relate to what Einstein had been trying to put together. Photar's use of the rogue equation dredged up from some forgotten physics text book was the relationship between gravity G, the magnetic moment P, the angular momentum U, the speed of light C, and a correction factor B assumed to be 0.25.

Cobalt had seen something in that equation that the Photar and the professors had missed, and he kept it to himself because he was certain that it had to be pure nonsense. Basically, if one applied enough angular momentum to a given mass within a strong enough magnetic field, the result could drive the G term negative. In theory this would result in an anti-gravity field, assuming that the graviton actually had an anti particle, something that traditional physics dictum denied. He had asked Photar in a joke what the effect would be on any poor electron caught in the rotating field of a machine built to make use of that equation. His classmate simply laughed saying “I guess that electron would be spun dizzy.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty Six.

The sun was high in the sky when Atom entered the observatory to find his brother sitting at his desk examining a stack of photographic plates. “It's been several months now that you've been attached to that instrument.” Atom said. “Any ideas yet?”

“I know the answer.” Cobalt sighed. “I simply just can't prove it. I can see where the numbers are leading, I just don't have the exact equations down to the last decimal point.”

“Doesn't matter.” Atom said. “You're the only scientist that could understand the math anyway. You don't need to prove it to anyone but yourself, whatever the answer is.”

Atom's eyes sparked with a dark green iridescence from the tea that he had been consuming. He'd been increasing the dosage of the beverage slowly, as he was no longer driven into a near comatose state by its effects. He could now control his visions, and he had seen far beyond the confines of the world they were on.

“Somehow I think I know what you have figured out.” Atom told his brother. “For I have already seen a glimpse of it.”

“I don't know how much longer we have.” Cobalt told him. “The universe is destined to rip itself apart. The process is probably already underway. The patterns in the background grain of the universe are visible in my telescope but hard to measure. I might need an instrument many times larger to get a quantitative answer, or perhaps I need to figure out another way to analyze the images I've already collected.”

“Exactly what I've seen as well.” Atom replied. “I'm sure the witches have seen it too, though they don't understand their visions because they have no knowledge of the science. They only know that God is going to let the universe die, and that some of the righteous may make it over to the other side.”

“So you've already begun to be transformed into this 'ONE' and can see these visions?” Cobalt asked.

“I've already tasted the elixir of life.” Atom replied. “The tea hadn't quite prepared me for it, I slept for two days afterwards. I won't take a second dose of that for another week. Meanwhile I'm now brewing the tea at double strength.”

“You really believe in this stuff, don't you?”

“I have proof.” Atom said. “Something tangible that you might understand.”

“Oh?” Cobalt asked.

“What if you knew what world we were on?”

“You mean where in the galaxy were are?” Cobalt asked. “Wouldn't matter, everything we once knew is long gone.”

“Maybe not.” Atom replied. “Come with me.”

Atom and Cobalt made their way back to the castle, and into the sanctuary. “I've now got free rein of the place.” Atom told his brother. “I have access to the holiest of the holies.”

Cobalt followed his brother onto the raised platform of the altar. Against the wall was a heavy curtain stitched with golden thread. Atom pulled the curtain aside to reveal a large upright cabinet with two heavy golden doors. He opened them to reveal an airtight door locked with a combination lock. Atom dialed in the secret numbers and broke the seal on the door. He opened this compartment which housed a relic wrapped in a silken gold cloth. Atom lifted the object and gently carried it over to the slanted table. He unwrapped the object to reveal an ancient scroll. The two spools holding the leather like parchment were made of wood that had become petrified from age. The parchment had been carefully treated to preserve it.

“If you knew how old this was you'd never believe it.” Atom laughed. “The fact that this still exists is almost proof of the existence of God.” He unrolled the scroll to reveal writing in an ancient language that the priesthood did not understand. “The witches don't know that I can read this.” Atom laughed. Cobalt looked at the words and understood. They were ancient Hebrew letters, for the scroll was a Torah.

“The priesthood claims that this scroll was found in ruins on the other side of this world during the ancient days when the very first people on this planet were migrating out to expand their civilization. That was before the wars that nearly destroyed everything, and the priesthood became the ruling power.” Atom said. “If we take the word of the bible literally, and this world was reborn from the ashes of another solar system that fell apart when its sun died, then this planet is known to us.”

“We're on Earth.” Cobalt gasped.


Atom's face contorted in pain for a brief moment, and then returned to normal. “I think we should get over to Titan and Urans place, she might need our help.” Atom said.

“The twins?” Cobalt asked.

“Yes, she's about to give birth.” Atom replied. “I can now read my sisters thoughts, and I feel her pains. I can only imagine how it will be after I take the final steps.”

“She's early.” Cobalt said. “I know that twins usually don't go full term, but she's still more than several months early.”

“No, the babies are full term.” Atom said. “You do know why.”

Cobalts face turned white. “Yes I guess I do,” He said. “It's the time dilation.”

Cobalt drove the electric wagon over the rough roads towards the estate where Uran and Titan lived. Uran was lying in bed sweating while Titan sponged her down with cool water. Atom placed his right hand over his sisters lower abdomen and frowned.

“Tetsu is in breech and he's blocking the birth canal for his sister.” Atom said, “I can see it in my mind. You'll going to have to turn him around so she can deliver him normally. Either that, or You'll have to perform a cesarean section.”

Cobalt rolled up his sleeves and ran to the kitchen where Titan had large pot of water boiling on the stove. He filled the sink with the scalding hot water and grabbed a bar of lye soap to scrub his hands.

“Since when are you a doctor?” Titan asked.

“Don't worry, I'll guide your hands.” Atom said leaning over his sisters body. “I can see inside with my mind.”

Uran cried out with pain as another involuntary contraction rolled over her.
Cobalt inserted his hand into Uran's cervix, now dilated nearly to the point required for birth.

“A little further,” Atom said, “you're almost there.”

Cobalt felt the boys feet and he gently moved them around into position.

“Be careful of the cord!” Atom warned him, “Don't tangle it around his legs.”

“I can feel it.” Cobalt replied. He drew his hand back and felt the infants head.

“You're almost there.” Atom said. “Just a few centimeters to the right.”

Cobalt withdrew his hand. A moment later Uran cried out as another massive contraction hit and Tetsu's head crowned into view. “He's coming!” Titan cried out “Push!”
Uran screamed as she bore down on her muscles to expel the baby into her husbands waiting hands.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“My God!” Uran laughed, “He's got your lungs!”

“Yeah I guess he does.” Titan agreed.

Two minutes later Argon was born with a smile on her face. Cobalt and Titan cleaned up the infants and wrapped them in swaddling after Titan cut their umbilical cords with a pair of scissors and tied off the ends. Uran held both of her new babies next to her, one in each arm. Each had their tiny arms wrapped around her neck.

“Congratulations!” Cobalt said, slapping Titan on the back. “Too bad we don't have any Cigars.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty Seven.

Rebeca knew it was time. Atom was ready for the process that would either kill him, or transform him into the male all seeing 'ONE' that would guide them towards the next creation. Elder Mother now lay upon her death bed in her quarters rapidly approaching the end of her life. As soon as she breathed her last it would be Rebeca's task to undertake the transformation into the next Elder Mother. First she would oversee Atom's ordeal, she hoped that the Elder Mother would hang on long enough to allow her to guide Atom along his way before she had to follow him along her path.

Atom stood in the conclave chamber surround by twelve priests. Rebeca handed him the goblet filled with the elixir of life which he slowly drank. The strong potion no longer deprived him of his consciousness as he had now developed a tolerance to its drugging effects. He was able to see beyond his vision on his command, or suppress the effect. His eyes glowed a brilliant irredentist green color from the elixir's effects, a color that had now become a permanent feature.

Rebeca was anxious to perform the final test upon Atom. If he lived through the ordeal he would be transformed into a being like none other that had ever lived in recent times. He would be the male equivalent of an Elder Mother, but even more potent.
“You're ready for the final step, Atom” Rebeca told him.

Atom nodded in agreement. One of the priests handed Rebeca a silver box. She opened it and looked inside, then held the open container in front of Atoms reach and nodded to him. Atom removed the golden colored ripened ovary and brought it to his lips. He hesitated for a moment, and then took a bite of the Teska tree fruit. Reserved only for the conversion of a priest to an Elder Mother, the fruit of the Teska tree was the holiest of the artifacts that the order had. The powerful drug contained within the raw ripe fruit was usually fatal to any male that consumed it. Atom swallowed the mouthful of the soft flesh, he held back the gag reflex triggered by the nauseating bitter tartness of it.

At first nothing happened and he feared that he would have to take another bite of the evil tasting substance. Suddenly his vision went dark and he lost all feeling in his body. He fell to the floor, but was caught by Rebeca and two of the other priests, who gently carried his limp form over to a waiting cot. Atom's heart stopped beating and his lungs refrained from filling with air. His lips turned blue, and his skin grew cold.
The priests quickly lifted him and lowered him into a tub filled with mixture of ice and brine. His body quickly chilled down to below freezing. Rebeca stood over his lifeless body and prayed. She expected something like this to happen, she had seen it before.

Atom floated in the void and watched as the Universe exploded into being. He was outside the cosmic ball of fire as the big bang created all of space-time. Quickly the primordial soup of subatomic particles cooled before his eyes and became transparent. Millions of years flew by in seconds as the first stars were born, and died in explosive deaths throwing their guts out into nebula. He watched as one cloud of dust condensed into a flat disk. The center of the disk started to spin and condense, and begin to glow. Smaller bodies formed out of the outer parts of the disk, the inner ones small rocky worlds, the outer ones larger gas giants. The new solar system had nine planets, until the fifth one from the sun wandered too close to the sixth and exploded leaving a ring of asteroids in its place.

Atom saw the Earth take form and watched as life sprung forth on its surface. He witnessed Mankind's exodus from his home world as the planet slowly died from mistreatment by the creatures that had taken dominion over it. The sun expanded into a red giant as the nearby Andromeda galaxy collided with the Milky way. Suns bounced off of each other and the Earth was ejected into deep space.
He saw his frozen home world captured by a larger rouge planet, and the two of them entered orbit around an ancient dwarf star. Earth's frozen surface warmed as cometary bodies locked into orbit around the system crashed down onto its surface. New oceans formed and spores awakened. Life returned to the old world as plants and fish began to take hold. A field of pink and green light to shape on the surface and several human like forms opened their eyes for the first time in a trillion years.

Atom felt an intelligence though out the void of space. It entered his mind and spoke to him without using any words. The universe itself was a living being that controlled the destiny of everything within it. It had the power to create life and to renew it. It was the intelligence within the universe that had held onto his soul and that of his siblings, indeed all of mankind for the eons since they had last lived. It had resurrected them on this world. God was embedded in the universe and was part of it, he hadn't created the universe, but he had shaped it. Now the universe was coming to an end and God was instructing Atom what he need to do to insure that creation would continue.

Atom's vision looked forward in time. He saw the remaining galaxies recede from each other, and the stars within them grow more distant from each other. One by one the last of the main sequence stars either burned out or exploded. Only the ancient red dwarfs remained. As he watched every star, and planet evaporated as their molecules and atoms flew apart as the expansion of space extended into the infinitively small. Even subatomic particles were not immune to the effect as they too were ripped apart into even smaller quantities of pure energy. Nothing remained of the universe but a thin layer of vacuum energy, the same stuff that had brought it into being a trillion years ago.
Yet all was not bleak, for Atom could see bubbles in the higher dimensions between the universes. He foresaw the eruption of one of these bubbles into a burst of pure energy that would be the seed of the next creation as a new universe would explode into being. It would only lack the required intelligence, and that was where his influence was required. His presence, along with that of a few chosen others, would be the seed that would control the orderly creation and insure that the next universe would be hospitable to new intelligent life.


Rebeca stood vigil over Atom's frozen corpse though out the night. Several hours before dawn, she ordered the monks to carry him out of the castle and take him to the upper valley where he had awakened a little over a year ago. They laid him naked on the soft clover and left him there. Rebeca watched from her window and prayed.
During the night while Rebeca waited at her window for Atom to wake up from his death, Elder Mother breathed her last breath. The monks came for Rebeca and they prepared her for the ordeal of transformation that lay in store.


An hour before the dawn's light, the valley filled with the pink and green mist. It tickled Atom's lifeless form and found its way through his nostrils and into his lungs. Atom's heart thumped slowly, returning to its normal sinus rhythm after nearly twelve hours of silence. The color returned to his skin, and his eyes opened. He sat up in the soft clover and looked down towards the Village Town. Atom slowly got to his feet and walked towards the blacksmith shop The soft clover felt good under his bare feet, the cool damp air was invigorating against his naked skin.

He now knew what he was and why he had been resurrected, and he had his purpose clearly set in his mind. He knew that he was the ONE that the prophecy had foretold, and he would become the instrument of the final salvation of everything that ever was. A long road lay ahead for him, a quest that only he could perform. He'd contact his family later when it was time. They would also be part of the grand design that God had laid out for him. There were several bits of the puzzle that were still hidden from him.
Somewhere on this planet the mechanisms required lay dormant, he would have to find them and set them into motion. The priests would play a part in it as well when the time came.

He returned to his dwelling for the last time to gather what few items he'd need to take along with him. He had been transformed by the Teska fruit and his body no longer required protection from the elements, indeed it now depended on contact with the air to sustain it. He would need to walk the world naked from now on, but he would compromise slightly for the modesty of his family and friends.

In a corner of the shop was a station where he repaired boots and saddles. He selected a thick piece of leather and cut himself a pair of soles. He used a sharp awl to punch some holes in them and threaded them with leather laces. He tied the custom sandals onto his feet and smiled. The simple footwear would protect the bottoms of his feet until they developed enough callus for him to walk barefoot.

Next, he took a thinner and softer piece of leather and pounded it into shape with a wooden mallet. He cut a cup shaped piece from it and applied three thin leather straps. He tried it on for fit, the G-String just barely covered his manhood sufficiently for the comfort of others who would look at him.

Atom wrote a note and left it where Atlas would find it when he showed up at the shop in a few hours. He explained that he was leaving and that the shop would now belong to him. He wished Atlas well, and asked him to keep an eye on his family until he would see the again.

He left the shop taking with him only a few tools in the form of a Swiss Army style knife, scissors, a small Axe, a spool of fishing line, a few hooks and a straight razor, a mess kit consisting of a small pot, pan, plates, and some spoons and forks. and some provisions in the form of dried fruit and meats. His inner vision told him that his family was at Titan and Uran's place, and he went there to say goodbye.


Uran was startled at his appearance, standing in the doorway nearly naked, his eyes glowing with their brilliant green irradiance.
“What's happened to you?” Titan asked.

“He's been transformed.” Uran said. “The witch has had her way.”

“Rebeca was right all along.” Atom smiled. “I am the Chosen ONE. I can no longer feel the cold, I don't require any covering over my body, in fact I would now wither and die if I wasn't totally exposed to the air. I can see my destiny, and I know our fate. I must leave now on a quest to find the past, and the road to our future. I will send for you when it is time. Goodbye, until we meet again.”

Atom walked over to the two cribs where his infant nephew and niece were sleeping. He reached in and gently picked each of them up and kissed them. “Sweet Tetsu and Argon, may your lives be long and pleasant!” he sighed, knowing that the end of everything was not far away.

He reached out toward Uran and hugged her for a long time, he then embraced Titan and Cobalt in turn. “I must leave you for now,” He said, “I have a long rocky road to travel ahead of me, and I will find the answers to our questions.” He then turned to Uran and said, “You will hear from me in your mind. You will know what to do when the time comes and you will explain it to Cobalt.”

Atom turned to Cobalt and spoke to him, “Your are correct in you assumptions about the fate of the cosmos, the end is very near. This planet's system is not far from the epicenter of the big rip and the next big bang. We will need to journey through space to reach the exact location so that we can become part of it.”

“But how?” Cobalt asked. “I could never build a space craft in time, not with the level of technology available to me at the moment.”

“The means to do so already exists on this planet.” Atom said. “I must find it. You will need to build a vessel to travel up the river to meet me when the time comes. It will need to be a fast ship for I don't think we have much time and I don't know how far I will need to travel. You will find everything we need within the old buildings that you are now exploring.”

Cobalt nodded and embraced his brother as if for the last time.
Atom walked out the door to the house and closed it slowly behind him. He headed towards the river and followed it upstream.

End of Book Two

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Book Three – All there ever will be.

Twenty Eight.

Rebeca was given the fruit of the Teska tree and she took a bite of it. The priests lay her down on the bed and held a prayer vigil by her bedside. She lay in a coma for two days before she again opened her eyes. Now a full fledged Elder Mother, the order was her responsibility. She reached out with her mind looking for Atom, but she couldn't find him. He had left the valley and had disappeared. His mind was too powerful to be found if he didn't want to be seen. Rebeca called the priesthood into session to join minds with her to search for Atom. They weren't able to locate him, but they saw that he had followed the river northward towards the forbidden lands. Rebeca could see in her own mind's vision that the key to their reaching their destiny was buried in the abandoned ruins that lay in that direction.

She was sure that Atom was alive and he had taken up the task that God had directed him towards. He would return in his own time when he was ready, or he would contact her with his mind. She knew there was nothing else to do but wait.


Rock climbed down from the tree with an armful of the fruit. As he turned to the road he found himself surround by a dozen or so monks who were armed with sharpened sticks and rocks.

“Ye were warned!” They shouted as they began to stone him. Rock was struck in the chest and arms by the heavy missiles. He dropped the forbidden fruit he had picked and tried to run as a spear brushed past him knocking him down. He looked up to see the monks preparing to finish him off when a loud voice boomed out behind them.

“Leave that man alone!”

The monks turned to see a nearly naked man staring at them with his brilliant green irredentist eyes. They took sight of him and dropping their weapons laid themselves prone on the ground closing their eyes to avoid contact with his.
“Go!” Atom commanded. The monks got to their feet, still avoiding his gaze and ran up the road towards the castle.

Rock was startled to see Atom. The two pointy cowlicks of hair on his head looked familiar, but the rest of his appearance was totally alien to him.

Atom looked deeply into Rock's mind and saw a purpose for his being. He would require the mans help to locate the long lost technology needed to lift them off the surface of the world and enter the heart of the cosmic egg that would restart creation. Rock would require careful attention to bend him to Atom's will, but Atom knew what he had to do.

“You will come with me.” Atom told Rock in a modulated voice.

“Well who are you, where are we going, and why the hell should I?” Rock demanded.

“I am the one who just saved you from a horrible death.” Atom answered in the modulated voice that grabbed Rock by the back of his mind. “I am going on a long quest to find the answers to the fate of the universe, and you are coming along because I need your assistance. You also have no choice in the matter!”

Atom's voice removed Rocks will to fight, and calmed him. He suddenly found himself powerfully attracted to Atom as he saw his well tuned muscles under his taught skin, and he stared at Atoms G-String and admired the shape under it.

Atom headed towards the river, and Rock obediently followed. For the time being he was under Atom's mind control, and he accepted the novelty of the quest that he had been drafted to partake.

They followed the river for several hours before stopping to fish for dinner. Atom dug in the ground with his bare hands for some worms to use as bait, and found a scrap of wood to use as a float, and a rock as a weight. He cast his line far out into the river while standing waist deep in the water. He caught several trout and a few bass in less than a half hour. Rock started a file and they cooked the fish using the pan in the mess kit that Atom had packed.

There was a clearing near the river not far from where they had fished with soft grass to use as bedding. “We'll sleep here for the night.” Atom told Rock.
Atom showed Rock how to prepare a bed from carefully matted grass, and they lay down next to a smoldering fire after the sun had set. The night wasn't totally dark as the companion planet their world shared its orbit with refracted some sunlight though the mountains along its limb.

Atom fell asleep, but he became aware of Rock staring at him with lustful eyes. He looked deep into Rock's mind and realized that his companion would soon rebel if he failed to control him. Rock was a rebel and would run off if Atom didn't keep him in check with the voice. Atom knew that Rock was sexually attracted to him and that he'd need to make use of that. Just as Rebeca has used sex to imprint herself upon Atom and bend his will, Atom also knew that he would need to do the same with Rock, although the thought of it wasn't pleasing to him.

He called out to Rock in an almost inaudible voice, using the modulated tone. Atom untied his G-String and tossed it aside. Rock had been staring at Atom all along, and the sight of him now totally naked aroused him. Atom saw that he'd had the effect on Rock that he wanted and changed his position to prominently display himself.
Atom let Rock to satisfy his sexual cravings by allowing himself to be raped by the man. Rock was like a wild animal as he sodomized Atom, and then wandered off finally satisfied.

Rock fell asleep lying next to Atom, snoring loudly. Atom carefully got up and walked into the river to swim and wash the filth off of himself. He brushed the uncomfortable feeling from the encounter from his mind, although he realized that it would probably be necessary to repeat it several more times to have the required effect. He emerged from his bath feeling refreshed and found another spot to fall asleep.

Atom awakened as the first rays of the sun appeared over the river. Rock was still snoring loudly as Atom walked down to the river to catch some fish for their breakfast. He was frying them up in a pan when Rock opened his eyes and sniffed the aroma of Atoms cooking.

“Go down to the river and wash yourself off if you want any breakfast.” Atom told him.

Rock got out of bed and started to walk towards the water when Atom yelled out to him, “Get naked first. I want you to take a swim and get your whole self cleaned, I can smell your stench!”

Rock undressed and left his clothes in a pile on the ground where he had been sleeping. Atom watched as he ran down to the river like a teenager and jumped into the water. “At least he's enjoying himself getting clean.” Atom thought. He quickly gathered up Rocks clothes and tied them up into a small tight bundle, which he then hid in the bottom of his backpack. Atom decided that he would force Rock to walk naked for awhile to humble him and make him more dependent on his protection to hone his loyalty.

About ten minutes later Rock came walking back from the river. Atom had timed things perfectly, he dropped two well fried fish into a plate and handed it to his traveling companion as soon as he had arrived.

Rock was obviously famished as he willing sat down naked on a log and wolfed down his breakfast without looking for his clothing. It wasn't until he handed Atom the empty plate that he realized his duds were missing.

“Hey what did you do with my clothes?” he asked.

“I threw them in the fire.” Atom lied. “We're both going Au Natural from this point on.”

“What!” Rock yelled. “That's not fair, you still have your little cover up there, and your sandals!”

“Don't worry, I didn't burn your shoes.” Atom said throwing the pair of canvas loafers at him. Atom removed his G-string and stuffed it into his backpack. “See, now we are a pair!”

Rock grumbled as they continued their journey along the river, as he wasn't at all used to walking without the support of his underwear. So far there was an easy path to follow running along side the waterway, and the river was wide enough that it was difficult to make out any landmarks on the other side. Atom's inner sight had told him that they would have to journey several more days before they reached any sign of civilization, though he wasn't sure what they would actually find. He knew about the ancient atomic war that had laid waste to the planet, and quite possibly had wiped out all civilization except for the small pocket of which he'd been resurrected in. The weather was still comfortable enough that Rock wouldn't catch his death of cold being out naked, he'd return the man his clothing long it got any cooler. For now Atom wanted Rock to feel uncomfortable and suffer some mental anguish to keep him in his place and cement his control over him.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Twenty Nine.

Uran brought the twins along with her to the observatory in a double baby buggy that Cobalt had built with Atlas's help. Cobalt was using a blink box to compare the changes between two photographic plates exposed several nights apart when she entered.

“Did you hear from Atom?” Cobalt asked.

The question was figurative of course, as Uran's contact with her brother had been in the from of mental images that he shared with her. “He's been traveling for a few days now with that low life Rock Holmes.” Uran said. “For some reason he saved the man's life when a band of monks wanted to stone him to death for picking Teska tree fruit.”

“I'm sure he knew that those trees were off limits to everyone outside of the clergy.” Cobalt said. “Atom was never one to allow harm to anyone, even the worst criminals. I guess he figured the only way to keep the idiot out of harms way was to take him along with him. I can also understand him not wanting to be alone far from any human contact.”

“He's not alone.” Uran said. “We still have each other, even though it's mental contact over a distance.”

“Not having ESP myself, I guess I can't relate to that.” Cobalt sighed.

“So how's the research going?” Uran asked.

“I've been comparing the background in these plates taken over longer and longer intervals of time.” Cobalt explained. “Even with the limitations of this relatively tiny instrument I can see the effect of the dark energy on the expansion of space-time. The acceleration is increasing, fast enough to actually see it on plates taken only a month or two apart. I don't think we have very much longer before the universe flies apart and takes us along for the ride.”

“How long, a few years?” Uran asked.

“Much sooner than that.” Cobalt said. “In fact, If I take what Atom said before he left literally, we might have much less than a year left, maybe even only a month or so, and very soon we will begin to notice the first effects of it. In fact we already have, the gestation period of your pregnancy was vastly shortened by the time dilation effect of the acceleration. I think there is a reason that we were reincarnated here, that we will play a role in the drama that will soon unfold. God, or someone like him, has a plan for us. I hope Atom has figured out exactly what that plan is, and what is required of us.”


Atom and Rock ate the figs and berries that they had picked for their lunch. Fishing had been unproductive at the spot along the river where they had stopped, but the nearby grove had plenty of eatables available for the picking. Atom enjoyed the fare, but Rock ate his fill grumbling. “I hate you!” he yelled at Atom. “First you burn my clothes and force me to march naked, then you force me to eat this bunny food!”

“This so called bunny food is actually very healthy for you.” Atom said. “You've just consumed a well balanced mix of every form of nutrient that your body requires, without excess fats, carbs, or sugars.”

“I think I'm going to turn around and try and find my way back to the village.” Rock said. “We haven't gone that far yet, and all I have to do is follow this damn river.”

“I suppose you might make it on your own.” Atom said modulating his voice. “Just don't run into any of the monks and you'll be fine. Of course you might accidentally pick some poison plants along the way and kill yourself. You do know how to tell the difference, don't you?”

Rock grumbled something as deep down he wasn't sure of how to fend for himself in the wild. Atom did seem to have the knowledge of the lay of the land. Atom's voice calmed and relaxed Rock, for the time being he was still under Atom's control.

“Well can we rest a while?” Rock asked.

“Just for a little while.” Atom said. “Until our stomachs settle down from lunch.”

They now followed a trail that led inland away from the river. Atoms inner sight told him that the path along the river would become impassible in a few miles and that this inland route would bypass the few miles of quicksand like terrain. His drug enhanced sense of smell picked up the scent of wild pig, and he stopped to fashion a bow and some arrows using material from saplings growing along their path. Using techniques similar to ancient native Americans, Atom made a few arrowheads from flakes hammered out of flint and quartz rocks they found on the ground. As they marched along Atom's eagle eyes spotted movement in the undergrowth and he quickly turned and fired off an arrow. His sharp hearing told him the projectile had found his mark and he quickly ran off leaving Rock standing in place. He returned a few minutes later holding what would become 150 lbs of fresh bacon.

Atom quickly butchered the animal, separating the usable meat from the rest of carcass. They wrapped their provisions in heavy leaves and tied them up with vines. After another few hours of travel they came to a good spot to camp for the night and started a fire. Atom then cleaned the meat and divided it into two. Some of it they cooked on a spit over the fire, the rest of it was smoked and dried over the fire to preserve it, and it was packaged to take along for later consumption.

At lunchtime the next day they once again camped along the river front having passed the bog like area that had been the cause of their detour inland. Atom's inner sight told him they should now be within sight of the first of the abandoned cities that he had foreseen. He felt that he had managed to take most of the fight out of his companion, and that it would be safe to allow Rock to dress himself again. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the bundle of clothing that he had hidden from Rock.

“We're getting further north and the temperature is slowly getting cooler.” Atom told his companion. “You might want to cover yourself up.” Atom tossed the bundle at Rock who caught it in mid air.

“You bastard!” He yelled at Atom. “Why did you tell me you had burned them!”

“I needed to take your arrogance down a few notches.” Atom said as he slipped his G-String back on. “I think you've cooled your jets enough. Get dressed.”

Rock caught the pile and slowly dressed himself. The two travelers packed up the rest of their stuff and started out upon the trail north paralleling the path of the river.