Chronicles of Other Worlds, in:
The Forgotten Planet
2- What didn’t Extreme tell us?
In the heart of the Forgotten Empire, where the sky pulsed with plasma auroras and cities floated in harmony with artificial gravity, Extreme watched over his creation. His hybrids, born from the fusion of human frailty and synthetic precision, ruled with a blend of instinct and logic that defied the laws of nature. Each of them carried a fragment of his vision, an echo of his brilliant mind, but none was a mere copy. They were individual flames, forged in the crucible of his genius. Among the governors, Lyra-9 stood out, the first hybrid to rule the sector of New Thalassa, an aquatic metropolis whose towers emerged from oceans of liquid mercury. Lyra-9 was not just a leader; she was a poet of engineering, capable of redesigning entire ecosystems with a gesture. Her DNA, tweaked by Extreme, gave her a unique connection to the planet’s energy flows, allowing her to “feel” the electromagnetic currents as if they were extensions of her own body. But Lyra-9 harbored a secret: in her dreams, she envisioned a world where the hybrids not only ruled, but transcended, breaking free from the shackles of their creation. Meanwhile, on the fringes of the empire, tension was growing. Not all hybrids viewed Extreme as a benevolent god. Kael-13, an enforcer from the Arid Zones, questioned the established order. His code, designed to enforce the law, was beginning to rebel against itself. Kael-13 believed that the hybrids, despite their strength, were trapped in an eternal cycle of loyalty to Extreme. “Are we free, or just pieces of a greater puzzle?” he muttered as he surveyed the ruins of a pre-empire civilization, whose ancient machines whispered secrets of a forgotten age. Extreme, perched atop his orbital citadel, sensed these concerns. He was no stranger to his children’s doubts. Rather than suppress them, he encouraged them, for he believed that conflict was the engine of evolution. But there was something that even Extreme could not foresee: an ancient force, dormant deep within the Forgotten Planet, was beginning to awaken. Strange signs—unexplained pulses of energy, shared visions among the hybrids, and a humming that seemed to echo in everyone’s mind—suggested that the empire was not as alone as it had thought. Lyra-9, on New Thalassa, was the first to feel the call. During a meditation in her flux chamber, she saw an image: a formless entity of light and shadow, whispering in a forgotten language. “You are the inheritors, but you are also the invaders,” the voice said. When Lyra-9 opened her eyes, the lights of her city flickered, and a single thought consumed her.
Labels: Chronicles of Other Worlds, in:The Forgotten Planet2- What didn’t Extreme tell us?