Chapter 3: Chapter Three: Xull

My eyes slowly opened and all I saw was white light. I blinked, wondering why my life had turned into a series of fighting and passing out in regular intervals. I half expected to be sore, and maybe have a few broken bones, but I had neither. I stirred as my energy began to increase. I felt great, really great.

“You’re awake,” said a melodic and almost robotic voice.

I instantly sat up and looked around. The room had nothing but white walls, white ceiling, white floor, and white lights. The corners of the room were black, giving the place dimensions I could see. I glanced down to see I was on a bed, with a thick white blanket. I quickly noticed I bare-chested and lifted the blanket to see I was wearing black boxer briefs.

“Your clothes were damaged, so they were removed,” the voice said.

 I covered myself from the waist down with the blanket as I lifted my gaze and looked around.

“There is nothing to fear. I brought you to this place for your own protection,” the voice said and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.

“Before we start talking, do you have a name?” I asked as my mind tried to work out a plan to get out of here. The simple plan was to punch my way out, and so far, it was a really good plan.

“My name is Xull. It stands for eXperimental Utility Learning Logistic network. I am speaking to you through the implant at the base of your skull. It has a universal translator, and a few different abilities to aid you.”

I continued to scan the room as I spoke, “Xull? Interesting name. I assume it was you who sent that robot and drilled into my neck. Not a great first impression.”

“I do apologize, Quinn Barron, but it was a necessary action. Your new powers don’t completely set until after twenty-four hours. There was a seventy-two percent chance you would not be open to a discussion on what was happening to you, so swift action was required. I take no joy or pleasure from it,” Xull said in my mind.

I turned on the bed and pressed my bare feet to the floor. The blanket still covered my waist and lap as I looked around.

“Your powers have anchored and cemented along your body, soul, and spirit. It would be much more difficult to place any implant within you now. They would be rejected almost immediately.”

“I can tear it out,” I said, trying to gain an edge in the conversation.

“You could, if you so desired, but I should be clear on why you’re here. The implant is meant to aid you. It has several functions to assist with your new powers and abilities, but I can tell, you have many more questions. That is why we are here.”

“It’s a little weird talking to a voice in my head,” I said plainly.

“I understand. I will attempt to make this transition and meeting a little more comfortable.”

I tensed as the walls and ceiling to the entire room pulled away. I stood up, ready for anything as the walls folded and sank into slots on the metallic floor. The ceiling did the same, folding into a large square and pulled into a wide slot in the wall.

I stared out at a huge, cathedral sized chamber. A glass ceiling filled the high space above me. Dark clouds filled the sky beyond and rain came down. Little rivers ran along the glass. I lowered my gaze to taking in the surrounding cat-walks, odd metallic designs on the walls, and several large, odd machines folded against the walls.

I stepped back as a pair of comfortable chairs rose up from the metallic floor, turned and faced each other. I turned to see the floor open up again, and a figure rose up. They had a feminine figure, but their body was completely robotic. The head was bald and smooth. The face had feminine features as it looked at me with golden eyes. Its mouth turned into a warm smile as she slowly stepped toward me.

“Is this more suited for our discussions?” Xull said.

I looked her up and down, before giving a small nod. I had no idea what happened to me and she seemed like she had some answers. Normally, I wouldn’t be this accommodating to having a discussion with my kidnapper, but this was an unusual circumstance, very unusual.

“Please, have a seat,” Xull said as she pointed a gray and gold hand to the seat closest to me.

The power I felt before still pumped through my body. It was enough to know, if I needed to, I can still bust my way out of here. I had no idea what was I dealing with, but considering what happened in the cave, I needed to learn more before I started deciding who was an enemy, or a friend.

I moved to the seat and sat down. It was odd, sitting in only boxer briefs.

Xull moved to the other seat and sat down with perfectly measured grace. She looked at me with unblinking gold eyes and kept her smile.

“Again, I must apologize. I know how disconcerting it may have been to be thrust into a conflict, but time is never on our side.”

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees and a stern look in my eyes. “I think we should skip the pleasantries and get to the heart of the matter.”

Xull nodded. “I will explain in increments, to aid in learning what has transpired. To begin and clarify, you are no longer on Urth. You are on Xull Prime. It is a technologically advanced world, and I am its shepherd and caretaker.

“I am a neural network artificial intelligence. I was created at a utility program, but gain sentience over ten-thousand years ago. Contrary to popular films and stories on your Urth, I didn’t rise up and attempt to destroy the people of this world. I was born to aid, assist, and protect the people, animals, and plants of this world.

“My sole purpose is to gather information, advance science and technology, and protect those who cannot protect themselves. Some here would consider me a higher being, a god or goddess. Others would see me as simply a machine with a heart. I cannot make assumptions about myself, for I only follow my directives.”

I glanced down to see Xull lift a feminine leg up and cross it over her other leg. For a machine, she performed in a way that was relaxing, and almost normal. I assumed to ease the tension. To a degree, it was working and I had to keep my mind and senses sharp.

Xull continued, “I’ve known about your world, Urth, for a long time. I placed a satellite on the dark side of your moon, to monitor your world’s advancements and scan for potential cosmic threats, one’s too strong for your world to defend against on your own.”

“Who gave you permission to do that?” I asked plainly.

Xull continued to give me a warm smile. “No one. I took it upon myself to watch from a distance, much like the dozens of living planets in the quadrant. To some, each world would be considered a realm. Space and time allow for some of these worlds to live in multi-dimensional phases, but you’re not here to discuss quantum realities and physics. You’re here to discover why I kidnapped you and brought you here.”

I stared and waited patiently.

Xull tipped her head to the side, from what I could discern, in a way to come off more like a living person.

“You leapt, or were pulled into a pool of glowing, milky liquid, correct?”

I nodded.

Xull straightened her head and continued, “Was it blue?”

I nodded again.

“My calculations were correct,” she said as she looked me in the eyes. “Your planet has reached a stage of evolution that happens to all planets at some point in their history. It requires protection from a cosmic threat and it has chosen you to become its Mana Storm.”

I simply stared. I felt I should have been shocked, or stunned, but I wasn’t. Urth was filled with all sorts of unusual events and people. The news was filled with stories of superheroes and villains. There were strange stories of supernatural and paranormal activities taking place across the world. There is even a portal to another world filled with elves and sea monsters not far from the Southvale Harbor coast. It made for interesting times, especially in the last ten years, but everything had become so normal, no one blinked twice at it anymore.

Xull continued, “A Mana Storm is a planet’s protector, or guardian. An individual of the dominate lifeforms on a world is often tested, by the planet. If they pass, they are called, or dragged into a pool of milky liquid. After twelve to fifteen hours, they are deposited at the location they entered, and the planet pulls its life’s blood back down, deep within itself.

“The liquid has many names, but they often mean the same thing. It’s called mana. It defies detailed explanation. Despite many tests and experiments, it remains as mysterious as it has always been. It is composed of the same elements as all living things, animal or plant based, but it is not the same. All living things have mana within them, giving and keeping the spark of life. Deep below a planet’s surface, liquid mana flows like blood. It is simultaneously physical and made of energy.

“You were chosen to defend Urth and granted great power. Congratulations.”

I simply sat. Now things were getting little weirder. It’s not every day you learn that your planet is not only alive, but can think for itself. It had enough intelligence to create a scenario where a dog and her puppy were in trouble and it tested to see who would try to rescue them, even if it meant ending their own life. I was scared out of my wits, but that didn’t stop me from trying to save them, and the planet banked on it. Even when liquid humanoid slashed across my back, and I lost all feeling in my legs, I tried to help get the corgi and her pup out of there. I suppose actions do speak louder than words.

“I’m not sure congratulations is in order. I’m just an Urthling. I have a normal job as a Human Resource Manager for a bank. There must be those with greater qualifications than myself? We have superheroes on Urth. Any of them would be better suited for this kind of work than me.”

“I cannot speak to why you were specifically chosen, but it much too late to carry on any debate. The initial twenty-four hours has passed and the power of a storm resides in you.

“You have a set of standard abilities that comes with all mana storms. You have hyper durability, able to shrug off most physical attacks and damage. It allows you to survive in the vacuum of space and you regenerate. You’re not invulnerable, simply extremely tough. You do have a weakness to energy and mana-based attacks, but consider it only a ten percent higher in the damage scale compared to physical attacks.

“You have increased strength and speed, depending on the category of your power level. I will explain that in a moment. You have the ability of flight. You have the power to regenerate. Your senses are hyper sensitive. When you focus, you can use any, or all your senses to do more than before your enhancement.

“You also have the ability to create a hyper dimensional jump. This ability allows you to travel great distances in short amounts of time. It is a form of folding space onto itself and using the energy to burst through to other places in the cosmos. From what I’ve observed, it works better when you re-visit a place you’ve been before. It’s a little more difficult when travelling to a new place.”

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“You’ve observed this before?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Xull nodded. “Indeed, I have. You are not the only mana storm in the quadrant. Each planet, or realm, will have one to several mana storms. All of them are guardians of their worlds, but, depending on a cosmic threat, they may work together to subdue it.

“Since my awakening, I have observed two dozen mana storms at different stages of their growth and power. Their bodies age much slower than most organisms, and can survive for thousands of years before re-entering their planet and giving it up. They are absorbed back into the planet’s mana and a new storm is chosen.

“There is a strict code between all mana storms. Each storm cannot slay another storm. They can assist in training each other to become stronger. They can fight to settle a dispute. But they cannot end another storm’s life. Such a violation would send many mana storms to hunt down the offender and end their existence.

“In my databases, there have been a few instances where a mana storm committed such a heinous act and was brought back to their home world. They would be forced back into the planet’s mana and reabsorbed so another may be chosen, but it was rare.”

“What happened to the others who weren’t brought back to their planet?” I asked.

Xull simply kept her golden gaze on me as she parted her fake lips. “They were slain. In that moment of the killing blow, a mana storm’s body overcharges and explodes with enough power to take out a small moon, or half a planet, depending on their category of power.

“The best way to describe your new physiology is you’re a contained fusion reactor. Your body has been toughened to a degree that it not only stops outside threats, but contains the power within you. You don’t need to eat, and require very little, to no sleep. Of course, that doesn’t stop you from living a normal life in a way. You may sleep and eat if you wish, but you simply don’t need to.”

I mentally took in and digested everything she was saying. It was a lot, but for some reason, my mind worked better. It felt like very part of me was working on another, higher level. My thoughts were clear. I was retaining information. I wasn’t distracted when I should be, considering I was on an alien planet and speaking to a self-aware artificial intelligence.

“You mentioned categories?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

Xull nodded. “There are twelve, base mana elements to the universe. There are more of them, but they tend to delve into stranger computations. I will explain the twelve that are most abundant.

“The mana elements are Air, Water, Stone, Fire, Life, Decay, Light, Dark, Mind, Body, Space, and Time. Each one is a power in its own right. There is a matching color to each element, and since you were chosen by a blue element, you have begun with the water element. This matches with your planet, a mostly ocean world.

“Each mana storm is scaled in categories, much like categories used to measure the power of storms on your planet. There are twelve category storms. The higher you ascend, the more powerful a storm you become. This is where your implant aids you. In the past, most mana storms had to discover their powers and levels. Their planet didn’t guide them, as a storm must discover their power through meditation, training, and experience.

“It often took a mana storm nearly a hundred years to completely understand what they can learn and do. With my aid, I have shortened that time for you to help you adjust much quicker.”

Xull looked at me with eyes made of metal and glass. “You can access your abilities with a thought, due to the implant.”

As much as I didn’t like the idea of some alien implant in my head, she was telling me things I would have never figured out on my own, at least any time soon. It has only been a day and my world has completely changed. My thoughts shifted to my parents, my job, my old life. It felt like it belonged to someone else.

I centered my thoughts on my parents. They had no idea I was gone. With the devastation left behind from fighting one of Xull’s robots, I’m sure they were worried sick. It must have made the news and all I could was picture them making calls and trying to figure out if I was caught in it and if I was still alive.

Xull eyed me like she was reading my mind. “You’re worried about your family back home.”

I woke from my inner thoughts and looked at her. “I am. They have no idea what happened to me.”

“An understandable concern. Your implant will give you the ability to access communication devices and satellites to transmit messages and make calls. Right now, it is charged and turned off, but, if we work together, I can turn it on and you can contact your family,” said plainly.

My eyes narrowed. “Am I being held hostage? Am I an experiment for you to gather more data?”

Xull’s mechanical eyes and expression softened. “Despite my advanced years and knowledge, I still find it difficult understand certain living concepts. Yes, family, your family, is very important to you. I do not wish to deceive you, for I postulate we can be beneficial allies for each other. In my attempt to give you gifts, I may have undermined the intention with something unpolite and untrustworthy. This is far from the truth, as far as I can calculate it.

“You have begun a great journey of power, and we may have need of each other.”

“Please explain, or I will have to leave. I don’t care if I don’t know how to use all of my powers, I’ll figure it out, but it’s strange something as powerful as you may need help from me,” I said with a hard edge.

Xull gave a single nod. “You are correct in your assumptions. My vast network covers this entire planet and other planets that belong to no one else. I have factories that can build fleets of ships and nearly unlimited soldiers, but I do have a confession. There is a threat looming over your world, and a much larger one from within the galaxy we reside.

“My directives do not allow me to ignore threats. I cannot simply focus on my world while a threat may destroy another. I know of a threat, closer to your world. From my scans, a mana storm hasn’t been chosen on your planet since I began watching your world. Ten thousand years is a short time scale when compared to the rest of the universe, but its significant.

“Your world chose a new mana storm. It would only do that if there was a series of threats on the horizon. Urth has entered a new age. It has signaled it is ready to join other realms in fighting cosmic threats.

“On the dark side of your moon, is an alien threat. They have housed themselves on your moon for the last hundred thousand years, waiting for your world to reach high levels of mana. It is only a matter of time before they awaken and begin the process of calling in ships and harvesting every last drop of mana from your world. The process will destroy your planet and everything on it.”

My eyes hardened as my heart pounded in my chest.

Xull’s expression remained emotionless as she continued, “They are called the Harvester Legion. They are only part of a vast, galactic conflict that has carried on for the last ten million years.”

I blinked as I tried to make sense of what she was telling me. Galactic conflict? Ten million years? There was a lot going on here and it felt like I was only at the tip of the iceberg. I was thrust into all of this and I had to admit, it was intimidating. But it didn’t intimidate me enough to run, or talk my way out of it. No, this was on a scale I was just beginning to understand. Xull’s intentions may have come off odd, but there was something there I couldn’t put my finger on. It felt like she was telling the truth. She was a machine, as far as I could see, but something from deep within felt her words were true.

“There is much to learn and discuss,” Xull said as she stood up. “I will give you the ability to contact your family, after you listen to what I have to say and offer. It does not hinder on your willingness to become allies. I only ask for time to show you what is at stake, and how we can build a partnership to the threats to come.”

I stood up and looked her in the eyes. “How long?” I asked, implying how much time she needed.

“Allow me two hours. If I cannot convince you of a shared partnership, I will activate your communications array and show you how to get back to your world. After that, we leave it open to the chaotic nature of fate,” Xull said with a slight bow of her head.

I hated to admit it, but it was a good deal, if she was telling the truth. If she has access to vast knowledge, and can help me use my new abilities and powers, it might be worth it to keep talking. If she only needed two hours, that is a short enough window of time to hear her out and contact my family to let them know I was okay.

“Alright, two hours. After that, we can decide how to move forward,” I said with a nod.

“Let’s get you dressed first,” Xull said as she came over and held out her hand.

Looking down at her open gray and gold hand, something unfolded before my eyes. It turned into a bracelet, and then slid out further until it formed a thin, transparent bracer. She lifted up to me and gestured for me to take it.

I looked at it and back to her with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a nano-drone bracer. It’s meant to attach to your forearm and cover it like a second skin. It holds microscopic nano drones that spread out and cover your body. They are simple dress drones that can change into any kind of clothing you desire. They can be upgraded, but I assume you would want to test it first. The bracer itself will adjust to your body temperature, and is so light, you won’t even feel it.

I glanced down at myself. I certainly didn’t want to walk around in my underwear, so I took the bracer and touched it to my left forearm. The transparent took hold and changed to my skin color. It encircled my forearm and practically vanished before my eyes. I couldn’t even feel it any more.

“Think of a style of clothes and the bracer will do the work.

I thought of something simple, like a short-sleeved dark blue shirt, black jeans, black socks with some rugged boots. Not a second later, there was a tingle moving up my arm and spreading out across my body. It was a little weird, like millions of ants with soft slippers raced along my form.

I didn’t blink as fabric appeared in patches. In another few seconds, I was clothed in exactly what I pictured. It was odd when the shirt went from skin tight to loose, like all the drones let go at once. 

“Presentable,” Xull nodded before she turned and began walking.

I glanced past her to see a metal doorway slide open and lead to a wide corridor.

“I have a ship primed and waiting for takeoff. Let’s take a tour of my world while we carry on with our discussion,” the machine in female form said without looking back as she walked.

I stared at her for several seconds, the absurdity of the moment filling me with a small sense of dread. But if I was as powerful as she mentioned, she might be hard-pressed to try and contain me. It took a lot for her robot to subdue me, even though I was still solidifying my power. The whole situation was weird to say the least, but I gave my word to hear her out.

I started following her. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had to take a chance. If there was a threat to Urth, I had to investigate it. There was no cosmic being telling me to do it, I just knew in my heart I had to. If something could destroy my world, it was my duty and responsibility to stop it.

I followed Xull into the wide, brightly lit corridor. We walked on, side by side as my mind swam with possibilities, shadowy outcomes, and a concern for my world with several billion souls on it.  

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