My 2014 NaNo Entry

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Eleven.

Atom lifted the heavy crucible loaded with the molten iron with the aid of the hoist. He dragged the heavy glowing container of the 3000 degree liquid metal towards the waiting sand molds and carefully tipped the spout pouring the yellow hot metal into the openings in the flasks. He'd quickly learned the job of a sand crab. Ramming up a wooden flask full of the moist gritty green sand, forming a mold in the stuff from a wooden or plaster form, setting up the sprue channels for the liquid metal, and spooning off the dross from the top of the crucible before pouring the metal into the molds.

With the four flasks now full, Atom dumped the excess metal into an ingot mold so as not to let the remaining material harden in the bottom of the crucible and possibly crack it. The pots he used to melt metal in were themselves made in the same furnace that melted the raw metal. Atom had made them on a potter's wheel, or formed them using wooden molds from clay mixed with grog and foundry sand. The smallest held just a few pounds of molten metal, the largest nearly a quarter ton.

It would take several hours for the newly poured metal to cool, but by dinner time he would be able to crack open the molds and extract the replacement bearings for the observatory dome. Cobalt would be pleased.


Old man Tom Tesla was more than pleased with Cobalt and Titans work. In the span of less than two months since they had arrived, they had fine tuned the operation of the power station. Old arching contacts had been replaced, over loaded circuits had been bridged with heavier wiring, and the tired relays that kept tripping for no reason were repaired or replaced. The village folk ceased complaining about frequent black outs, and for the first time in anyones memory it was possible to extend the service area of the power grid to parts of the countryside that had to be lit by tallow candles and animal fat lamps.

During his exploration of the countryside, Cobalt had located a rich vein of Wolframite, and he was now working on a process for separating the tungsten metal from the iron and manganese it also contained. He hoped to soon produce light bulbs with double the efficiency and output of the ancient carbon filament lamps now in use.

Now that the power plant was in much better shape and didn't require his constant attention, Cobalt was able to devote some of his time to getting the science laboratory facility into usable condition. The first item he put his mind to was the observatory. The old refracting telescope was actually in decent shape, but its bearings and clock drive would have to be taken apart and repaired. The optical tube appeared to be in decent alignment, but the objective lens had become covered with a film of mold and would need to be removed from the instrument and re-polished. This would have to be done carefully so as to preserve the optical surfaces, but Cobalt intended to optically test the objective anyway.

The big problem was that the dome roof was frozen stuck and couldn't be opened. He and Atom had studied the problem and determined that they'd have to jack up the dome and replace several of the frozen bearings. Cobalt took careful measurements of the old parts and modeled them in clay, adjusting the actual size to account for shrinkage of the clay when it was fired, and that of the metal that the new parts would be cast in. He'd given the ceramic models to his brother who promised to cast replacements in the foundry. Tonight, with any luck they would finally get the old dome operating again.

The two brothers met in the tavern for dinner. Cobalt insisted that he was buying, and he ordered a huge rack of lamb for the two of them. As they ate their dinner Atom stared across the room at a pair of men that somehow looked familiar to him. Both wore eye glasses, one sported a pair of dark sunglasses, the other one had clear lenses that were obviously intended to correct a myopic condition. Atom shrugged his shoulders and gave up trying to remember where he had last seen those two. Like most of the new comers he had only partial recall of his previous existence. He could remember most of the events in his past lives, but some of the fine details were missing.

“Why are you so interested in getting that old telescope working again?” Atom asked his brother between bites of lamb.

“Well besides the fact that it is a classic refracting telescope very similar to those once made by Fraunhofer and Alvin Clark,” Cobalt replied, “the telescope and the spectroscopic equipment will enable me to figure out just where we really are, both in space and time.”

“What's so important about that?” Atom asked.

“I hope to figure out just how far in the future we are from where we were.” Cobalt said. “I'd like to know how far from old Earth we are as well.”

“Does it matter?” Atom asked. “In all probability Earth doesn't even exist anymore anyway.”

“True.” Cobalt sighed. “But I'd like to think that our being here means something. Why were we reborn, and why in flesh and blood form? Who did this?”

“You're asking questions that old religions never could answer.” Atom told him. “Do you want to find God?”

“No.” Cobalt answered. “I think that would disappoint me. But I would also like to know if we are alone. Isn't that what mankind always wanted to know?”

“That is a deep philosophical question.” Atom said. “I didn't know you were interested in that sort of stuff.”

“Actually it's mostly just my scientific curiosity, but also a chance to finally answer a question that cosmologists have been trying to answer for so many years.” Cobalt said.

“What question is that?” Atom wondered.

“How it all will end. It's been known how the universe came into being since the middle of the 20th century, though concrete proof didn't come along for some years after.” Cobalt began. “The Big Bang theory was an established fact by the beginning of the 21st century, but there remained several theories on how the universe would end. Many thought that the expansion of the universe first discovered by Hubble would eventually slow and even reverse, with the universe falling back on itself in a big crunch. It was eventually discovered that there wasn't enough mass in the universe to halt the expansion, in fact the expansion was accelerating. Since accepted theories of gravity didn't allow for that various fudge factors were added to equations leading to the theoretical existence of both dark matter and dark energy.”

“Sounds weird to me.” Atom said, with a mouthful of potatoes.

“Perhaps that's because you were never interested in Astronomy and Cosmology,” Cobalt replied. “Anyway adding those fudge factors resulted in several consequences. Depending on the values that a few resulting constants would take the universe might now have several different fates in store for it. Given one set of values the expansion would continue forever with the universe gradually cooling off and becoming quite dark as entropy takes over. Change those constants slightly and the expansion will eventually slow down with somewhat the same effect, but the universe ends up being smaller and less dark because the galaxies don't become so separated that light can't travel between them. Finally there is one other possibility, that the expansion continues to accelerate as dark energy dominates and everything rips apart. All matter down to the subatomic level disintegrates and there is nothing left but a very thin soup of the most basic particles of energy which finally disappear.”

“Now that sounds depressing.” Atom said. “Any ideas which of those scenarios will play out, and when?”

“I won't know until I can get the telescope working and gather some observational data.” Cobalt said. “Give what I can see with my naked eyes, I do think we are fairly far along the expansion with only red dwarf stars left, at lest in this part of the universe.”


Later that evening in the ancient observatory, the two of them labored at repairing the operation of the dome. Cobalt carefully examined the replacement parts that his brother had cast in the foundry and pronounced them perfect. They climbed up to the top of the dome on separate ladders and inserted a pair of jacks between the top of the wall and the dome. Atom had cast the screw jacks from the best grade of metal that he could find, and had lubricated them using vegetable oil mixed with animal fat. Petroleum based lubricants were unknown in this world, so more natural products were substituted.

It took them several hours to lift the dome one section at a time, remove the rusted parts and replace them with the newly cast ones. By the time they were ready to quit for the night they had installed all of the replacements that Atom had brought with him. Cobalt would still have to get the gearing system repaired before he would be able to operate the dome, but they had just finished the hardest part.


As the two brothers packed it in for the night and put their tools away Cobalt suddenly face palmed with a look of embarrassment. “Crap!” he said, “I almost forgot to tell you that we've been invited for dinner tomorrow evening. Uran and Titan are having their house warming, they finally have the place respectable enough to invite company over.”

“You know, they're a bit crazy.” Atom laughed. “Like we would even notice a sloppy household. Both of them have seen the mess I live in next door to the shop. And while your place is a magnitude of order cleaner than mine, it takes first prize for clutter. How could they keep a worse household than either of us?”

“That's the difference between men an women I guess.” Cobalt laughed. “Every time I walked over there with Titan to follow him home he made me stand outside the door. Uran wouldn't let me see the inside of the place because she would be too embarrassed to let me see the mess.”

“Well I'm glad they got the place fixed up to their satisfaction.” Atom replied. “It's been almost two weeks since they had their marriage ceremony, and they've been spending their honeymoon doing house work?”

“Now that they've gotten that out of the way I hope that they actually DO have a proper honeymoon,” Cobalt said. “I don't think they've even consummated their marriage yet. I've tried to convince them that they have nothing to worry about, I'm certain that genetically they are no closer related than second cousins just as the doctor surmised.”

“Now THAT'S funny!” Atom chuckled.

“I'll stop by the blacksmith shop about two hours before to remind you,” Cobalt said, “Otherwise, knowing you, you'll forget, or show up in those filthy clothes you wear in the shop and never wash.”

“You're probably right about that.” Atom laughed. “I'll be expecting you then, unless I forget.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

This is the "PG13" rated version of this chapter. The unedited version will be posted up on the 18+ forum.

Twelve.

The day had grown late as the Lady Rebeca changed out of the traditional robes that the clergy in training wore, and into her country riding outfit. She knew that she would miss the freedom of riding her horse though the countryside once she had joined the ranks of the priesthood in a few more days. She would still be allowed to exit the castle and visit the countryside, but it would be in an enclosed carriage with one of the monks holding the reins. Of course there would be the option of sneaking out incognito, which was something she knew some of the priests did, but would never admit.

Rebeca applied some makeup to her face and then put on a veiled hat. A pair of tall leather riding boots, and matching gloves completed her outfit. Finally she applied the cologne distilled from the pit of the Teska tree fruit. Its aroma had the power to entrance the male mind and bend its will. She hoped that she wouldn't be recognized, but she doubted that Atom would realize who she was, especially with her ability to cloud his mind by the use of her voice.

She entered the stable in the back of the courtyard adjacent to the the rear of the castle and approached her favorite steed. The white mare nuzzled her face when she entered its stall. As if on cue, she removed the carrot that was in the back pocket of her long pants and held it up in front of the animals face. The horse snatched the orange tuber from her hand and happily began to chew on it.

Rebeca bent down and carefully lifted the horses left rear leg. She used a pair of pliers to remove all but two of the nails holding the shoe to the animals hoof. “I'm sorry about this girl, but I need for use to visit the blacksmith and put him to work.” The mare nodded its head and whinnied as if she understood exactly what Rebeca had in mind, and agreed with the plan.

Atom looked up from the anvil when he heard the clip-clop of a horse entering the stable. His ears could recognize the sound of the missing shoe, and he knew what task he would be asked to perform. He waited for the rider to walk around to the entrance of the blacksmith shop before leaving the work area for the reception area up front. The tell tale smell of a womans perfume reminded him of how he probably looked so he first walked over to the corner of the shop where a sink and a mirror were available. He quickly washed the furnace soot from his face and hands, and dragged a comb through his hair, making sure that the two cowlicks were standing up straight at attention.

“It seems my horse has thrown a shoe,” Rebeca told the blacksmith, “I guess I was lucky that it happened not too far from your shop.”

Atom smiled as he gazed into Rebeca's green eyes. “I'd say we were both in luck.” He cooed back. “Let me measure the hoof and I'll start to prepare you a new shoe at once.”
Atom walked out the rear of the shop towards the stable where the mare was standing He lifted the animals rear leg and quickly measured for the size of the required shoe. Returning to the shop he found a suitable blank that was close to the required size. It would take some heating and beating with the hammer to enlarge the malleable metal to the correct size.

The Lady Rebeca watched as the blacksmith pulled the glowing orange hot metal from the furnace with his tongs and brought it to the anvil to hammer it to size. She admired his muscular arms dripping with sweat, as he lifted the heavy hammer and slammed it repeatedly onto the anvil. As he turned to replace the metal back into the furnace to reheat it, his profile was presented and she could see his bare back, which not covered by the heavy leather apron he wore for protection from the heat. Her eyes feasted on the outline of the well defined muscles under the skin of his hairless back.

Despite the dark goggles that he wore to protect his eyes from the glare of the incandescent metal in the furnace, she could see that he had a cute face. His dark colored hair was cut short, except for two pointy tufts that stuck out at behind from diagonal points on the back of his head. Under the legs of his trousers she could see the bottoms of a well worn pair of red leather boots.

The blacksmith bent over to dunk the horseshoe into a bucket of water to quench the hot metal. He removed his dark goggles and the leather apron, revealing his bare barrel chest. If he was aware of Rebeca staring at the 'six pack' of his well developed abdomen muscles, his facial expression did not reveal it.
Atom measured the shoe and found that he had done his work at the anvil perfectly. He held the U shaped iron in his right hand and returned to the front of the shop.

“This will fit your mare perfectly, madam,” he said, “I'll go put it on your horse now.”

“Thank you.” the Lady Jessica said applying the modulation to her voice. She listened carefully to the mental feedback from Atom's thoughts as she reached out to him with her mind. She was certain that he was responding to her subtle suggestions. From the tone of his mental patterns she was certain that he had the untapped abilities that the prophecy foretold the 'One' would have.

Atom walked though the doorway that connected his workshop with the stables, the horseshoe in his left hand. He reached into a bushel basket just inside the entrance to the stable and pulled out a large carrot. He slipped the horseshoe into the rear left pocket of his jeans and slowly approached the mare. The large brown horse whinnied when it saw him.

“Take it easy girl,” he said, “this won't hurt a bit.”
He offered the orange tuber to the equine, which greedily snatched it from his hand. The smith scratched the large animal between its ears with his right hand, forming a bond with his patient. He then slowly bend down and lifted the mare's front leg and removing the shoe from his pocket, lined it up on the horse's hove. It only took him a few minutes to nail the U-shaped iron onto the animal's foot.

The smith patted the mare as he stood up and took hold of the halter rope to lead the animal out of the stable. The mare increased her pace once she saw Rebeca waiting just outside the stable. The horse nuzzled the woman's face with its nose.

“You have a way with horses, Atom.” Rebeca cooed, reaching into her purse and removing several gold coins. “Will this be enough payment?”

The smith held out his hand as the lady placed the coins into it, she lightly rubbed her finger tips across his palm to apply the 'touch'.

“Yes.” he said, pocketing the money, and helping Jessica up into the saddle. Rebeca looked down from her mount with a wanting glint in her eyes, she licked her lips and blew a kiss in Atom's direction as she coaxed her horse into a spirited trot. Atom watched as the lady rode away, and proceeded to wipe the dirt and sweat off his face with a half clean rag.


Cobalt had arrived at the blacksmith shop just in time to witness his brothers final business transaction with the Lady Rebeca. Despite her being dressed in her country attire, Cobalt knew exactly who and what she really was.

“You do realize that the witch is sweet on you.”

Atom turned to see Cobalt standing behind him. “No, she's just admiring my body,” Atom told his brother, “And what do you mean by the witch remark?”

“That woman is a member of the matriarchal clergy,” Cobalt replied, “She's the one we first saw in the town square the day we arrived, didn't you recognize her? The Bügermeister warned us about them. It's obvious to me that she has plans for you.”

“Jealous?” Atom asked.

“If things were different I could be.” Cobalt replied. “But you need to be careful.”

“Don't worry about me,” Atom replied. “I was just doing the lady a favor.”

“By the way, you look filthy.” Cobalt said, changing the subject, “You'd better get cleaned up and change your clothes. We have a dinner invite tonight, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Atom said. “What time are Uran and Titan expecting us?”
Cobalt pulled on the chain attached to his belt to remove the watch from his pocket. He opened the lid to look at the face of the timepiece, and then closed it, replacing it back into his pocket.

“You've got about an hour.” he answered.

“Right.” Atom answered, He ran over to the building next to the workshop that housed his dwellings. He grabbed a small basket and neatly placed a clean pair of underwear, trousers, and a new shirt into the basket. He dropped a towel and a bar of soap on top of that and walked out.
“I'll meet you at their house,” Atom yelled as he ran toward the river to bathe.

It was a good ten minute run from the blacksmith shop through the nearby meadow toward the river. Atom placed the basket on the ground near the shore. He removed his boots and trousers, and then his black underwear which he rolled up into a ball and placed on the ground next to the basket. Grabbing the bar of soap, he ran naked into the river up to his waist and started to wash the filth from his skin. After repeating the process several times he tossed the soap back to the shore and dived under the water.

Swimming with his eyes open, he watched as a school of small iridescent fish swam away from a larger predator. He enjoyed the cool water flowing past his bare skin for a few more minutes, and then made his way out of the water. He reached the spot where he had laid his clothes, but the basket was now missing. From a few yards to the left, he heard the laughing whinny of a horse.


The Lady Rebeca rode her horse through the meadow from the blacksmith's shop on her way back to the castle. She usually went this way to allow the mare a drink from the river's edge, but this time she had a purpose. As she approached the waterway she spotted Atom swimming in the river, as she knew she would. She tied her horse up out of sight behind a stand of small trees and quickly ran toward the spot where Atom had left his belongings. She picked up the basket and crept back toward her hiding place. While waiting for him to exit from the river, she reached up under her skirt and removed her silken panties. It was time to put her plans into motion, time to dig her hooks into the newcomer and turn him to her will.

“Looking for these?” Rebeca asked.

Atom turned his head to the left and saw Jessica standing near the tall shrubbery holding his clothes. He smiled a devilish grin and walked toward her. Rebeca's control over her glands released powerful pheromones which reacted upon Atoms brain. The powerful aroma, combined with the look on her face, had the effect on him that Rebeca wanted as Atom was attracted to her charms.

“Come here and kiss me,” she ordered.

With a smile on his face Atom raised his arms slightly and accepted the lady's embrace as she pulled his head toward hers and pressed their lips tightly together. Almost a head taller than Atom, Rebeca had to stoop slightly down to reach him. Their lips met in a long French kiss. Rebeca ran one hand behind his back gently feeling the strong muscles along the curve of his spine. She ran the other hand through his hair, twisting the long stands of his two cowlicks.

Still locked in their embrace, Atom felt Rebecas hand slowly travel down the length of his spine, gently tickling him as it went. Rebeca's mind reached into Atom's and willed for him to make love to her and he complied with her wishes. Under her control their pleasure lasted for nearly half an hour until they finally separated from each other.

There, it had been done, the sexual act had achieved the desired effect. Rebeca could read in Atoms brain patterns that she had managed to imprint herself upon him, and that she would now be able to mentally push him along to do her bidding. Soon she would be able to test him, and hopefully transform him into the One who would insure the continuation of creation.

Rebeca used Atoms towel to dry gently dry his body, before releasing his mind from her control. Atom suddenly noticed how late it was getting, the sun was now nearly at the horizon. He dressed quickly, knowing he'd be late for the dinner date with his siblings, though he suspected that Cobalt would figure out exactly what had been going on.

Atom helped Rebeca back into the saddle. She gently kicked the animal in its sides to spur it on into a gallop. Turning her head she blew a kiss towards the blacksmith, and then turned in the direction of the castle. All had gone according to her plans, the sexual encounter had imprinted her will in the male's mind, Atom would be her slave and would do whatever she required of him.

Atom picked up the basket, now containing his soiled clothes and towel, and started to jog back toward the blacksmith shop. His mind whirled about as if he was in daze. Suddenly he remembered where he was supposed to be and realized how late he was. He quickened his pace and hurried back to his dwelling to freshen up. With any luck he'd be less than a half hour late at Titan and Uran's house for dinner.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Here is the next chapter. The unedited version will be on the 18+ forum.

Thirteen.

Atom knocked on the door to the cottage, and was immediately greeted by Titan. “Welcome cousin” he said. It had taken Atom a while to accept the idea of losing a brother and gaining a cousin, but he knew that it made Titan and Uran feel more comfortable, so he quickly got used to the idea. Besides, it had been Cobalt's idea.

“Sorry I'm late,” Atom said, “I ran into a friend and was detained.”

Cobalt bit his tongue and kept quiet, he was able to guess and knew damn well what had detained his brother.

“Don't worry about it,” Titan said, “You're actually right on time. Uran's ESP must have told her exactly when you'd arrive and she timed dinner perfectly.”

Atom joined Cobalt who was already siting at the diner table. Titan helped his wife bring the food to the table. They started with a garden salad consisting of fresh greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and green onions, all grown in the community gardens that Uran and Titan helped cultivate. The main course was a roast duckling, one of the foul that the couple were raising on the acres of land that they farmed. For desert, Uran had baked a huge apple spice pie.

Though each of them had been able to enjoy food in their previous lives, they still hadn't gotten used to the sensations of taste, texture, and smell that their new bodies enabled them to perceive. Every meal was an adventure, they ate slowly so as to enjoy every everything to the maximum extent.

They finished the meal off with large cups of green tea. As soon as the last of them had drained his or her glass, Atom and Cobalt helped to gather the dishes and bring them into the kitchen to be washed.

Eventually the hour grew late. Atom and Cobalt said their goodbyes and walked outside into the cool night air.

“You're welcome to spend the night at my place.” Cobalt told his brother. “It's a lot more comfortable than that dirty room of yours in back of the blacksmith shop.”

“Thanks,” Atom said, “I think I'll take you up on that.”

It was about a twenty minute walk from Titan's house to the laboratory complex where Cobalt had his flat. Before they started out, Cobalt looked up at the night sky. Besides the companion planet that their world shared an orbit with, there were only a handful of dim red stars visible. They soon found themselves in the dormitory building next to the laboratory complex where just the night before the two of them had worked on getting the observatory buildings dome working again. Cobalt had an extra bedroom next to his which he offered to his brother. Atom was so tired that he fell asleep in his clothes the moment he laid down in the bed.


“I can't believe that they are finally gone!” Titan said.

“That's not a nice thing to say about our only relatives!” Uran scolded her husband.

“I didn't mean it that way.” Titan replied, “I've been aching to be alone with you for so long. You do realize that we've been married for over a week now and we haven't yet officially consummated our marriage?”

“Yes, I realize that.” Uran sighed. “It's something that I've been both scared of, and also dying to do. Tell me, what is the last thing that you remember before we woke up in that meadow?”

“Holding you close to me in the cramped confines of the spaceship, adrift between the stars.” Titan said.

“Exactly.” Uran sighed. “I was deeply in love you then, and I still am. But we were robots then, and neither one of us had the equipment to experience physical love. Close contact was the best we could hope for. We tried mimicking the French kissing that we saw the humans do, but our robotic mouths didn't have the sensory inputs to really enjoy that.”

“But Atom...” Titan started.

“Atom was different.” Uran completed Titans statement. “One of the last things that Ochanomizu Hakase gave Atom before he died was the ability to father a child with a human being.”

“But how ...”

“Many years earlier, a doctor Black Jack had preserved some of Tobio Tenma's sperm cells.” Uran continued. “He harvested them while the boys body was lying in the hospital. The doctor later gave them to Ochanomizu Hakase for the purpose of giving Tobio, in the persona of Atom, the life that he'd lost. Remember that Atom's AI was based on Tobio's brain download. Not only did Atom have the ability to perform with a human female, he was able to derive pleasure from it.”

“So Atom in his resurrected form,....”

“Is very well aware of his bodies sexual abilities.” Uran laughed. “Just why do you think he was late for our party? I knew where he was and what he was doing. It took extreme effort on my part to shutter my mind from his or I'd have shared his experience. Believe me, ESP isn't all that it's cracked up to be. You're lucky that your abilities are only a fraction of mine!”

“Still, I feel rather embarrassed that we...”

“That we haven't given ourselves to each other yet?” Uran continued. “We were resurrected with all of our facilities fully working, but without having any time to discover them naturally. Real humans slowly mature and have time to become sexually active. They experiment with themselves before they interact with each other. We were never given that opportunity.”

“Oh.” Titan said. “You're right, you know. So what do we do?”

“I think, we get in bed, get naked, turn out the lights, be gentle with each other, and let nature take its course. We may make a mess of the sheets the first time, but I think it will fun.” Uran said sweetly.

An hour later with the remaining housework completed, the newly weds found themselves naked in bed, in each other's arms. Their lips and tongues met, and they finally savored their first long French kiss. The experience relaxed them, and they felt all of their tensions melt away.

Titan held Uran close to him, and started to lightly run his fingers over her back. He used very gentle pressure as he massaged his wife's skin. She in turn, returned the favor, by massaging his back.

Both of them were purring like happy kittens as they teased each other, the sensations of their hands on each other's skin was tingling.
They finally got down to the serious love making, consummating their marriage.

“Holy cow!” Titan exclaimed. “That was fantastic! How was it for you?”

“Wonderful!” Uran replied with tears in her eyes. “Do you think we could try that again?”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Fourteen.

Cobalt could hear his brother's snoring in the kitchen area as he poured himself a glass of goats milk. He replaced the pitcher in the icebox and thought to himself how archaic it was that a society that possessed electric light still utilized 19th century Earth technology to preserve food. The icebox was a double insulated wooden cabinet kept chilled with blocks of river ice collected during the previous winter. The frozen water blocks were stored deep underground in the limestone caverns under the foothills where the castle of the priesthood stood. The underground chambers could hold enough ice to last all summer, but it was a messy job to haul the stuff out and deliver it at night all over the township. Cobalt made a mental note to himself that he needed to figure out how to make a good refrigerant gas, and design a suitable electric powered compressor to go along with it.

After finishing off the milk, he rinsed the glass off in the sink and left it there. He brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. Unlike Atom who either slept in the nude or in his clothes (depending on how tired he was moments before getting into bed), Cobalt had a favorite pair of pajamas that he wore, a silky robe like affair decorated with characters from an ancient Earth language that he'd almost forgotten how to read (it was actually Japanese).

It took him somewhat longer to fall asleep than it did his brother, and he was happily dreaming for several hours before being awakened by a loud crash. The sound of breaking glass was followed by a loud thump. Cobalt jumped out of bed and quickly wrapped a cotton bath robe around himself before running into the common area room between the two bedrooms. He snapped the light switch on as he entered the room to find two bodies slumped on the floor next to each other, both of them rubbing lumps on the top of their heads.

One of the two was Atom, who seemed quite surprised at where he had just woken up and he had no idea of how he had gotten there. The other person was dressed in black, and wore a sock like cap with eye holes cut out over his head. It was soon obvious to Cobalt that his brother had been sleepwalking when he had managed to bump into the burglar who had just made a rather clumsy entrance though the now broken window.

Cobalt pulled the sock hat off their unwanted guest's head and got a good look at his face. He had a large nose under which sprouted a thin mustache. He wore black framed glasses, the tops of which were hidden by a large producing brow. His head was somewhat misshapen, having a small flat spot in the back that didn't appear to have been the result of an accident, he must have been born that way.

“What the hell are you doing here, breaking into my home?” Cobalt demanded.

The burglar had a sorry look on his face, and he tried to be as apologetic as possible.
“I'm awful sorry,” he said, “I didn't realize that these premises were occupied. The entire complex appears to have been abandoned centuries ago.”

“That was true.” Cobalt admitted, “However I have been slowly making repairs and putting the place back to its original use. There are empty quarters in another wing of this building, if you are in need of shelter.”

“You'd allow me to do that after I crashed your home?” The man said.

“Maybe.” Cobalt replied. “You still haven't told me your name or your story.”

“Sorry.” the burglar said. “My name is Acetylene Lamp. Until a few days ago I was working in the livery stable shoveling horse manure. I got a bit tired of that and decided to find work elsewhere. While I don't remember much of my former life, I think I might have been some sort of criminal for I do remember being in jail with another person who I woke up next to the day that I arrived in this world. I slowly remembered some things about the two of us that made me sick to my stomach and I decided I didn't want to remain near him, which is another reason I left the job at the stable. Rock really loves those horses.”

“Rock?” Atom, now fully awake asked.

“Rock Holmes.” Lamp said. “I think we were cell mates in jail for quite some time. We escaped from prison and stole away on a doomed spaceship. Last thing I remember is us dying in space.”

“That's probably why you ended up here.” Cobalt said. “I'm beginning to have a theory about our resurrection, and your story may help confirm it.”

Lamp got up and then gave Atom a hand getting off the floor. The two of them stood looking eye to eye.

“I remember seeing you in the Tavern awhile ago,” Atom said. “At the time I thought I remembered you but I couldn't place it. I still don't know for sure, but somehow I think I was involved in law enforcement and was responsible for your arrest on at least one occasion.”

“What's your name?” Lamp asked.

“I'm Atom, and this is my brother Cobalt.” Atom said.

“Atom, hmm.” Lamp replied rubbing his head. “You didn't use to go by another name did you? Astro or something like that?”

“Yes, you're right about that.” Atom said. “I used to be a robot in my former life, in fact Cobalt and my sister Uran as well as my other brother Titan were also robots. Titan is now a cousin, but that's another story.”

“I think things are coming back to me, but it's very hazy.” Lamp said. “Well, I'm glad to met you again Astro Boy. This time, let's make our relationship based on friendship instead of the other stuff.”

“Sounds good to me.” Atom said offering Lamp his hand. The two shook hands and patted each other on the back.

“I can use some help around here.” Cobalt broke in. “I have the authorization from the Bügermeister to hire help, and to issue you wages on the village bank.”

“I accept.” Lamp said. “Anything you want me to do would be better than having to smell manure all day long with that creepy Rock lusting after me.”

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Fifteen.

Once again the strange pink and green mist appeared in the upper valley. This time there was no warning for the Bügermeister as Rebeca slept in late for the first time in her life. The effect of using her bodies charms to trap Atom under her control had weakened her constitution just slightly, and she slept through the dream warning her of the apparition in the upper valley.

The two young men that awakened in the valley were placed some distance from each other, far enough apart that neither was aware of the others presence. Both appeared to be in their early twenties, and were of adult stature. The taller of the two had a deep reddish brown complexion which made him look something between Indian or African in race, though in fact he was neither. He had strikingly blond hair that was almost golden in color and deep brown eyes.

The other was shorter, more boyish in appearance than the first. His dark hair erupted into two pointed cowlicks projecting back behind each ear, and his hauntingly blue eyes stood out from his impish face.

Both of them seemed astonished to be where they now found themselves, and were equally confused after a quick self examination that confirmed that they were not what they had once been. In the taller ones case, he was horrified to discover he had been transformed into the very thing that he had hated during his former life.

Somehow both of them made their way into the Village Town, just as all of the newcomers had done before them. They bumped into each other in the town plaza and discovered that they knew who each other had been.

“I can't believe this,” Atlas cried pointing at Mars. “Here I am in the afterlife and the first dude I run into is the pipsqueak that thought he was better than my nemesis!”

“You mean that stupid copy cat?” Mars yelled back. “Don't you dare compare me to him, I was always better than he was. Besides look who's talking! The misguided jerk who could never do anything right!”

The two of them approached each other and exchanged blows to the shoulder. They felt the pain in their fists and upper arms, reinforcing the realization that neither one of them were robots anymore.

“Will you look at us!” Mars laughed. “We are now a pair of helpless humans. I don't know about you, but I'm starving.”

Atlas tilted his head back to catch the smell of fresh coffee brewing drifted above him. He followed his nose towards the Tavern, with Mars close behind him. The two of them entered just as Cobalt was taking his usual seat in full sight of the door. Somehow he recognized the two former robots and waved to them. Mars face gave away the fact that Cobalt looked familiar to him and he was the first to take a seat next to Atom's brother. Atlas sat between them with a puzzled look on his face.

“I take it you just arrived on this world.” Cobalt said.

“That's true.” Atlas replied. “Just which world is this and who am I talking to?”

“I don't know the answer to the first question yet,” Cobalt answered, “And as for the second, my name is Cobalt, and I was Atom's robotic brother at one time.”

“You mean Astro, don't you?” Atlas asked, “and how do you remember me?”

Cobalt blushed a little as he answered. “A long time ago I once had a serious crush on you.” he said. “In fact I really wanted to get inside your pants.”
Mars broke out laughing, while Atlas crossed his arms and backed away slightly.

“You were a fagot robot?” he said. “Well keep the heck away from me!”

“I'd tell you to cool your jets, but you don't have them anymore.” Cobalt replied. “That was then, and this is now. My human persona seems to have a quite normal, though rather introverted set of hormones.”

“What?” Atlas asked.

“He means he's a geeky hetrosexual, you numbskull!” Mars said giving Atlas a good slap on the top of his head.

“I guess you haven't seen the Bügermeister yet?” Cobalt asked.

“The ham burglar who?” Atlas asked.

“He means the mayor, nitwit.” Mars answered. “No you're the first person we've talked to since walking into this one horse town.”

“Actually there are quite a few horses here.” Cobalt sighed. “Well, he would have found you lodging and employment, but I can do that as well. Seems I have an extra two rooms left in my apartment flat, and I think I might have gainful work for each of you.”

“Thank you.” Atlas said.

“Wait until I introduce you to your new employer before you thank me.” Cobalt said to Atlas.

After paying for breakfast Cobalt led the two newcomers to where his electric car was parked. “Get in.” Cobalt told them. “This is the only automobile on this planet, I built it myself.”

The vehicle was mostly constructed from surplus wagon parts. Powered by old fashioned lead acid type batteries it didn't go very fast, or have a great deal of range, but it was good enough for the distances that Cobalt needed to travel when he'd rather not walk. He drove a short distance from the village and stopped in front the blacksmith shop.

Atom was busy repairing an iron gate that the Bügermeister had brought by the previous evening. Cobalt led Atlas into the shop and pounded on one of the display cases to get his brother's attention over the roar of the fireplace. Atom turned and smiled at his brother.

“I thought you could use an apprentice.” Cobalt said. “You're always trying to do seven jobs at once around here.”

“Yeah, I guess I could.” Atom said. As he walked closer he suddenly realized who it was that was standing next to his brother.

“Well as I live and breathe!” Astro laughed, “look who came through the resurrection black hole!”

“Yeah, its great to see you again too.” Atlas frowned.

“You still holding a grudge against me?” Atom asked.

“Not really.” Atlas said. “Wouldn't be logical anymore, seeing I'm no longer better than the flesh bags I used to hate.” Suddenly the fake frown on Atlas's face disappeared and was replaced by a wide grin as he took a flying leap at Atom and tackled him to the ground in a powerful bear hug! The two of them rolled on the ground punching each other playfully in the arm and applying nuggies to each others scalp.

Cobalt was confused, but when the two of them finally got up and embraced each other and then pulled him into the mess to make it a three way, he realized that he'd been had and that this was going to work out after all.

Cobalt grabbed Atlas and motioned him to come along with him.
“I'll bring your new best buddy back in about an hour or so.” Cobalt told Atom. “I'm going to run him and Mars over to the general store and get them some threads to wear, and from there set them up in the spare rooms at my dorm building.”

“Mars is here too?” Atom asked.

“Yeah, he's sitting in the car. I'm going to put him to work at the power plant.” Cobalt replied. “He'll fit right in there, but Atlas would have caused a meltdown working there. He's so non-technical headed.”

“I resemble that remark!” Atlas scowled.

“Yeah, you sure do!” Cobalt replied.

Cobalt ran Atlas and Mars back into town where they were fitted for a set of clothes at the general store, and then he ran both of them to the dormitory building and assigned each of them a room in a suite of four. They would be sharing a common area with Acetylene Lamp who was now doing various manual labor at the power station and the laboratory complex. Atlas and Mars quickly got set up in their new quarters. It was shortly before noon when he dropped Atlas back at Atom's blacksmith shop, and the blond haired former robot was quickly put to work.

“You know at one time I thought you were sorta my brother,” Atom told Atlas, “because we were both built from the same set of plans, created by the same scientist.”

“I vaguely remember Dr. Tenma, now that you mention it.” Atlas said.

Atom dragged his new assistant over to the foundry where they would be working that day. Atlas put on the kind of same heavy leather coveralls that Atom was already wearing, which protected them from the heat of the molten metal. For most of the rest of the day they lifted the heavy crucibles filled with molten iron and dragged them over to the waiting sand molds that Atom had prepared earlier. When quiting time for the day finally arrived Atlas was feeling the burn in his muscles from the heavy labor.

“Boy, do I ache all over!” he complained.

“So maybe now you can appreciate what it's like being human.” Atom laughed.

“I guess this is some kind of cosmic karma payback,” Atlas said, “I'm being punished in the after life for my sins as a robot in my former one.”

“I actually think this is a kind of reward.” Atom said. “Only a good soul gets to live again.”

Mars thought that he had died and gone to heaven when he arrived in the laboratory complex. Cobalt gave him the grand tour though out the large abandoned facilities several buildings. “Do I get to invent stuff?” He asked Cobalt.

“You'll be assisting me in getting this place fully operational again first.” Cobalt told him.

“Once that is done any independent research that you want to take on will have to get my approval, but somehow I don't think that will be a problem.”

“Great!” Mars cried out.

They spend the day in one of the machine shops, mostly taking inventory of what was repairable, and what would have to be scrapped. Cobalt made a list of items that would have to be recast, and he sketched up numerous drawings from which he'd later try to make full sized models for Atom to transform into sand molds in the foundry.

Acetylene Lamp spent most of his first day pushing a broom in the various parts of the laboratory complex. He didn't mind the labor much, although the place was dusty and smelled of rust. Still, it was a much more pleasant task to him than stepping around piles of smelly manure in the stables and having to keep out of Rock's way.

[Earthshine]

I apologize for not consistently reviewing your story, it is break and I have been pretty preoccupied with other things. But I am reading and am excited that we are now finally getting into some sort of plot!

click for spoilerFor my reviews on some chapters I simply have to reply to them in the 18+ forum as there are some themes that I want to bring up that are not suited for the main forum at all, or I'll PM you.

I like the direction you are taking with Rock and Lamp though and cannot wait to see what happens with Atlas and Mars now in the picture.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Sixteen.

Rebeca sat naked upon the cold stone in the darkness. Blindfolded, she could hear the sounds of the chamber door opening, and could feel the draft of the cool air entering. The soft footsteps of the bare footed priests entering the chamber, and their soft chanting were the next sounds that she heard, followed by the heavy stone door being closed behind them. Rebeca nervously waited for the Elder Mother to start the ritual. She had mentally prepared for the ordeal of of her ascension to the priesthood, but all the meditation she had done during the day, along with the fasting for the previous two were just the beginning.

The room grew quiet as the priests stopped their chanting. Rebeca heard the striking of a match and smelled the burning sulfur as it burst into flames. The smell of the Teska tobacco burning in the pipe reached her nose. Elder Mother's voice started to sing the sacred prayers and then the pipe was pushed between Rebeca's lips. “Take a deep inhale of the pipe and hold the holy smoke in your lungs as long as you can,” commanded her spiritual leader. Rebeca coughed once, the thick smoke burned her lungs but she held her breath.

Next a large goblet of the holy elixir of life wine was placed against her lips. “Drink deeply as much as you can hold,” Elder Mother commanded.

Rebeca now tasted the Teska wine for the first time. Still holding the smoke in her lungs she drank the syrupy liquid, taking large gulps at a time. The elixir had a sickeningly bitter taste, and caused an itching sensation in her throat going down. Her head began to spin from the effects of the Teska drugs.

Rebecas head felt lighter and she could feel herself leaving her body to float up above the circle of the priests that surrounded her. She could see herself sitting naked in the middle of the dimly lit room as Elder Mother took a pair of scissors to cut a small handful of her hair which she sprinkled upon a fire burning in a cauldron just outside the circle.

She rose higher into the air, passing through the ceiling of the room and out the roof of the castle. Higher she rose, until she reached the heavens and could see the world below her orbiting around the red dwarf sun along side of its larger companion body. She shot away from the small solar system and got further and further away into the inky blackness of space. All of the distant red dots of the few stars in the visible heavens receded from view until there was absolutely nothing left but herself. She could feel the beating of her heart and the pain in her lungs demanding breath. Suddenly there was a blinding light filling all of space.

Rebeca exhaled the smoke that filled her lungs and gasped for breath. She felt the blindfold gone from her eyes and and she opened them. Her first sight was that of Elder Mothers face and she now felt the cool dampness of the wet cloth being applied to her body.

“You have just entered a new world, and you have survived it.” Elder Mother told her. Rebeca sat down on the pile of straw that lay on the ground in front of her. One by one the priests walked over to her and fed her slices of bread covered with rich a creamy butter. She drank from a cup filled with cold water. The bread eased the pain in her stomach, but her head still spun from the effects of the Elixir.

“Lie down and rest, child.” Elder Mother commanded her. “You will sleep for some time before you awaken again, and you may have some disturbing dreams. Once you do awaken, you will know God and you will have joined your mind with his, become his willing servant.”

Rebeca lay down naked on the straw and was covered by a warm blanket. She fell into a deep sleep as the heavy stone door was opened and the priests left. Only Elder Mother remained, sitting by her side for many hours while Rebeca slept.

For several hours she dreamed. In her visions she saw the universe expand as every star system flew away from all of its neighbors. As the distances between the stars increased, their numbers diminished. Soon she could easily count the number of stars visible to her. As she watched the stars expanded into thin clouds of gas. The universe began to unravel until there was nothing left but a thin cloud of dismembered matter that was everywhere the same. All was quiet, dark, and cold and God's presence itself evaporated along with everything else. Even Hell itself had froze over.

Her vision shifted and she saw herself dressed in the dark robes of the Elder Mother. She could taste the strong sweet tart spicy burning meat of the Teska fruit going down her throat. She now knew that it was her destiny to succeed the Elder Mother, and she knew that it would happen soon. She would give birth to the soul that would become the seed of the next Universe.

Rebeca opened her eyes as she felt the noonday sun gently against her skin. She opened her eyes to find herself lying naked in the middle of the courtyard behind the castle inside the stone walls of the fence that surround it. How long she had slept, and how long she had been lying on the horsehair stuffed mattress on her cot in the sun, she had no idea. She looked around and saw that she was surrounded by a circle of monks who smiled when they saw that she was now awake.

Rebeca tried to get up from where she lay, but her legs wouldn't respond to her will. Two of the monks took her by her arms and and helped her to her feet. Still feeling too feeble to walk, the monks held up up and guided her towards the castle. They accompanied her to her rooms and set her down in a soft chair while one of them drew the water for her bath. The devoted monk servants then helped her into the steaming water and bathed her. She relaxed in the warm water while her back was scrubbed, and her hair was washed. She felt the soapy wash cloth gently scrubbing the sticky tar like sap from her breasts. The monks had soothing hands, they massaged and caressed her. The water began to cool off, but two monks entered the bath and poured freshly heated water into the tub to keep the temperature comfortable. By now Rebeca's head had cleared and the strength had returned to her limbs. She carefully stepped from the tub as a monk wrapped a large absorbent towel around her body.

“Thank you.” She told them.

As the monks left her chamber, she noticed that they had laid out her clothes on the bed. Rebeca dressed slowly, and then returned to the bathroom. The steam which had fogged the mirror had evaporated and she could now see herself clearly in the looking glass. She starred into her eyes, which were now the same vivid shade of iridescent emerald green that all the members of the priesthood sported. She knew that this was the effect of the drugs made from the Teska tree, the very same elixirs that gave the priesthood the power to see beyond sight and join minds with God.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Seventeen.

Rock brushed each of the horses in the stable carefully, paying close attention to their moods. A large brown mare nuzzled him affectionately. Rock reached into his rear pocket and extracted a large carrot which he held before the animal, who accepted it with a nod of thanks with his huge head.

Rock didn't miss Lamp at all, in fact he was glad that the large klutz had stormed out of their rooms and and quit working at the stables. While he did have some fond memories of their steamy encounters in a previous existence, he no longer found the man very attractive. Rock looked in a mirror hanging on the wall of the stable and admired himself. His new body was quite muscular, his skin clear and taut.

Rock removed the belt from his trousers and dropped his pants and underwear. He admired himself in the mirror, and suddenly he missed Lamp and wished the two of them could be together to enjoy each other physically. The brown mare took notice of Rock and nudged against him affectionately. Rock scratched the animal between its ears, the horse licked his face getting slobber all over him. He gave the horse another carrot, and got a loud whinny in reply. Reluctantly, Rock dressed and got back to work.

After he finished cleaning up in the stables he decided to take a break. Rock walked outside and headed toward the narrow road that lead off into the distance. He had walked about a quarter of a mile when he noticed a number of short men with shaved heads wearing robes made from rough burlap like cloth. On their feet were simple sandals, and cloth gloves on their hands. The men were at work in the field along side the road, picking the fruit and leaves from a grove of modestly tall trees. Rock approached the men smiling. As soon as the monks saw him, they ran towards him and pushed him away back toward the road.

“It is forbidden to touch the Tezka trees!” they told him. “Begone under the pain of death from the priests!”

While the monks were not armed, they were too numerous to reckon with so Rock prudently backed away from them. When he was far enough away from them, the Monks returned to their task, harvesting the spoils of the trees. His curiosity had been engaged however, and Rock made a mental note to return and examine the grove when the monks were not present.

Once again, I've put the unedited version up on the 18+ section :d evil:

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Eighteen.

Cobalt carefully polished the two glass disks using a rag soaked in a solution of diluted pine tree sap. He was only trying to remove nearly a centuries worth of mold and grim from the surfaces of the 60cm glass disks. Mounted a few millimeters apart from each other in the large brass cell that lay on the floor next to the work bench, the ancient slabs of glass had once been the objective of a modestly powerful telescope. With Cobalts hard work, and a bit of luck, they would be again.

Mars was working on cleaning the brass mounting for the nearly two foot diameter achromatic lens. He carefully used a small rubber headed hammer to remove minor dents in the surface of the mounting. The two of them worked at their tasks for almost the entire day. In the other corner of the room sat an optically flat mirror that Cobalt had labored on for some time. He and Atom had made use of the furnace in the foundry to melt enough glass to cast a large disk equal in size to the telescopes objective lens. The large disk lay under a pile of hay and horse manure for nearly a week, slowly cooling to avoid cracking or developing internal strains. They had also cast several large sheets of glass on a water vat which Cobalt had polished and tested against each other to generate a nearly perfectly flat optical surface, one which he knew exactly by how many wavelengths of light it deviated from a perfectly flat surface by. He used the known sheet of glass to compare the surface of the large disk and then polished it optically flat. The test mirror was then chemically coated with a thin layer of silver and again polished and tested. Tonight, with the help of his brother and Atlas, they would test and reassemble the lens.

The four of them gathered in the Village Town tavern for dinner. Atom and Atlas had cleaned themselves of the dirt and grime from their labors in the foundry, but their clothes still had traces of the furnace soot, and the foundry sand and clay.

“We managed to complete the casting of the replacement parts for the telescope mount.” Atom told his brother. “They're sitting in the back of the wagon parked in my stable.”

“Excellent!” Cobalt replied. “After dinner we'll stop by your place to pick up the load and transport it to the observatory. I hope you two will be available to help me finish my work on the objective.”

“No problem.” Atom answered quickly.

“Thanks for volunteering me.” Atlas scowled, punching Atom in the arm.

“I really appreciate your help, Atlas.” Cobalt said. “If you like you can have the first look though the eyepiece after the instrument is re-collimated.”

Atlas just shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, thanks.” he said.

A few hours later Atlas and Atom provided the manual labor to carefully lift the glass disks up from the polishing station and carry them over to the test stand in front of the optically flat mirror. Cobalt darkened the room and used a small hand held telescope mounted on a stand fixture to sight the return beam of light though a pinhole and a slit. He took measurements of the distance from the glass disks as he moved the light source side to side, testing several zones of the glass. As he called out the numbers, Mars jotted them down in a spiral bound notebook. After taking each set of readings, Cobalt sat down with the laboratory note book and mentally performed a set of calculations.

They had been performing these tests for several nights now, and each time after taking a set of measurements Cobalt would figure out how far off from a perfect optical figure the lens was. After they had tested both sides of each disk of the lens, Cobalt had a grin on his face.

“I think it's ready.” He said, bending down to inspect the brass mounting cell that Mars had labored on repairing.

“Perfect!” he said, patting his assistant on the back. “Let's put the old girl back together now.”

Atlas and Atom lifted the heavy brass cylinder onto the work bench. Cobalt then motioned them towards the half of the lens that would sit on the outside of the cell, and would face the heavens. It took them nearly a half an hour to carefully lower the 60cm diameter disk into the cell. Cobalt carefully wiped the inner surface of the lens clean with a thin lint free cloth and then placed the thin shim ring on top of the first disk. This metal ring would space the two halves of the objective lens the correct distance apart so that their focal lengths and index of refractions and dispersions would cancel out the color fringes normally associated with an image formed by a lens. Now they carefully lowered the second disk of glass on top of the first. Last came the inner mounting ring that would hold the two disks tightly against each other. With all the pieces now in place, the lens was ready for starlight.

“I know it's late, but let's unload the wagon and bring the new parts for the equatorial mount inside and install them.” Cobalt begged.

“Sure.” Atom quickly agreed, while Atlas groaned.

“You can sleep late tomorrow if you want.” Atom told his apprentice.

“Gee thanks, it's my day off anyway.” Atlas smirked.

Several hours later Cobalt started the clock drive and watched as the telescope cradle rotated though its full range of motion along both degrees of freedom. He really wanted to mount the cell on the optical tube and then hoist that back into place on the German Equatorial mount, but they were all very tired and they very well might make a mistake that could damage all of their hard work. Maybe tomorrow.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

This chapter does have some strong innuendo in it, but I think it is still safely in the PG13 area. If the moderators disagree feel free to slap me with a wet noodle.

Nineteen.

The priests gathered in the conclave room in front of the altar. Up on the raised platform Elder Mother unrolled the ancient scroll. The holy document was one of several that the order had in their possession for as long as anyone could remember. It was said that these relics had survived the destruction of mankinds earliest worlds and had been passed down from generation to generation since the creation of the universe. The parchment that the text was scribed on resembled leather, the writing was done in a thick dark black ink that seemed to absorb all light. A thin but indestructible flexible coating of a material whose composition was unknown protected the ancient scrolls, probably the reason they hadn't deteriorated into dust due to their age. The writing on the scrolls was in a long forgotten language in characters that the order believed had been scribed by the hand of God, himself. Wound on petrified wooden spools, the holy words could only be gazed at, their meaning was a complete mystery. Each week a different section of the text was scanned by the priesthood, the image of the rune like script burned into the memory of the clergy.

Rebeca was called to the altar for her first time. She partook of the ceremonial smoke, and the elixir of life, this time consuming only a small amount of each. She was now a fully anointed member of the priesthood, her eyes glowing the irredentist green of those that had been modified by the Teska trees magic. She was handed the silver pointing wand to touch the holy words in the scroll. The tip of the wand was molded into the shape of a hand with an outstretched index finger. Since it was forbidden to touch or even point at the words in the holy document with ones hand, the yad, as the pointing wand was called, had to be used to keep ones place as you memorized the image of each holy letter.

Following the 'reading', the scroll was carefully rewrapped in its jacket of gold leaf covered leather, and placed back into the golden box behind the altar. The compartment that held the scrolls would close air tight and once sealed would fill with a mist void of any oxygen or moisture to protect the priceless relics from harm.

The priests then stood in a circle in the center of the conclave as a dome in the roof above them slid back to expose the night sky. The order gazed up at the sky with closed eyes and used their vision beyond sight to see into the future and look into the past. A collective vision formed in the minds of the women, though not all of them saw all of it. Their brains linked together though the power of their enhanced mental powers to act as a single device. For some reason, the focal point of their vision was directed towards Rebeca and she alone understood what had to be done. She alone now knew the truth and saw the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy.

Atom rose from his bed in the middle of the night. Without being aware of what he was doing, for his mind was still in the fog like state of slumber, he opened the door to his dwelling and stepped naked into the cool night air. A purpose that he wasn't aware of took control of him as he walked across the meadow towards the foothills where the castle of the matriarchal priests stood. The large gate at the entrance to the courtyard swung open for him as he entered, and it slowly closed behind him. Rebeca was waiting for him, wearing only a thin nearly transparent gown that didn't hide the outline of her breasts. As Atom approached her, she unbuttoned the front of her gown and let it slide off her shoulders. She took Atom by the hand and led him toward a patch of tall, soft clover wet with the dew of the the cool evening. She lay down in the soft vegetation, and willed him as a slave toward her.

Atom took the desired position on top of her and began to perform the function that Rebeca had brought him there for. With his brain still asleep locked in a trance like state by the telepathic powers of Rebeca's drug enhanced mind, he didn't feel anything as Rebeca forced him to perform on her. Once again she imprinted herself on him through the sexual act. Rebeca was now sure that Atom was ready.

With the task completed, she gently escorted Atom to the courtyard gate and commanded the guards on duty to open the door. Atom blindly walked back the way he had come, and returned to his room. He unconsciously got back into his bed to continue sleeping.

Uran tossed and turned in her bed all night. Titan was aware of his wife's disturbed slumber as she rolled into him several times during the night. She loudly moaned during the night, at times making sounds that Titan had only heard her emit during some of their more passionate love making. He considered trying to shake her awake from what was obviously a bad dream, but was afraid that doing that might be even more disturbing to her than the nightmare she was now experiencing. Suddenly she sat up in the bed and shook her husband who had finally managed to drift off despite the trauma that Uran had been exposing him to.
Titan looked at her as he rubbed his eyes. “Are you alright?” he asked with concern.

“It's Atom.” She replied. “I was connected to his mind in the middle of the night.”

“Invading the privacy of his dreams?” Titan asked.

“No, it was thrust upon me by a power I can't comprehend.” Uran answered. “Ever since we arrived here I've had this latent telepathic ability. Mostly it was between myself and Atom or Cobalt, and Atom's mind is the more dynamic. Cobalt's thoughts put me to sleep. I don't have too much control over this contact, though I can usually shut it out, or pry my way in when I want to. This is the second time that I've been forced to feel what Atom was going though, and both times it was very personal.”

“You mean..” Titan started.

“Sex.” Uran said. “With that witch again. She forced him upon herself. I'm sure it was her mind that pried its way into mine, though I don't think she's aware that I felt it. Atom and I have a telepathic connection that's always there, I can feel what he does most of the time when his experience is heightened. By forcing her mind onto his, part of that energy gets into mine. I don't think I can stand that again!”

The late mourning sun tickled Atom's face waking him. He was confused as to why he had overslept, and as he got out of bed, he noticed the clover leaves sticking to his body and the bed sheets. “That's funny,” he thought, “have I been sleep walking again?”


Note:
I'm aware that the idea of Uran and Titan (Chi-tan) as a couple might be disturbing to some readers. I've never really seen them as siblings however. It is clear in both the Anime and Manga that Atom, Cobalt, and Uran ARE siblings. Uran was created as a sister for Atom, and Cobalt was built as a twin of Atom. Chi-tan is different however. He is an adopted child who was created for a different purpose. When he was rejected by the parents he was created for, Atom's parents adopted him. Of course, it was Uran that insisted on his becoming part of the family.

In any case, as an adopted child there can't be any claim of incest here between Uran and Titan. In their re-incarnated human form I see them as no closer than cousins. I think I've reinforced this idea by my changing his name from Chi-tan to Titan (the words mean the same, both derive from the 'elemental' name Titanium).