Scotland, Iris had to admit, was a very beautiful place. It was a shame, then, that her first time visiting the country had to be marred by such horrible memories. Finding the Fell humans had been incredibly easy; she could track Arthur’s blood from three galaxies away. Taking them out had been even easier, and with Alyssia assisting her, it was impossible for anyone to run away.

  The battle, if it could even be called that, had been cathartic, and she’d worked through some of her fear and frustration. While she’d known Arthur had faked his death, seeing his lifeless corpse had rattled her more than she’d thought was possible. It turned out that knowing something was false didn’t quite prepare the heart to act logically. I already love the fool, don’t I? How did I catch feelings so fast? There was no denying it anymore, and she’d have to be an idiot to think otherwise.

  Iris would be the first to admit her initial fascination with the young man could only be described as an obsession. Finally meeting him had to be one of the most mortifying experiences of her life. How did you look a man in the eye, knowing you’d been neurotically searching for him for the last four years?

  You didn’t.

  Iris still wondered if she should strangle Ayesha for forcing her into such a situation.

  Walking through the wreckage that remained of the Fell humans' base, Iris mourned the loss of life. The System's army was severely lacking when it came to rehabilitating their veterans, and their lack of soldiers hurt them more and more as the years passed. In a perfect world, Fell beings wouldn’t be a thing, proper soldier rotation and adequate recovery times would solve the problem.

  That didn’t justify the experiments they’d been running here—nothing could; only Iris sincerely believed this never would have happened if only the soldiers' deployment had been handled a little better.

  Still, the evil of what had been done here could not be denied. All sapients had the capacity to indulge in depravity—becoming Fell only helped bring it closer to the surface. So far, she’d counted forty-three victims.

  Only two of them had been above the age of fourteen.

  The experiments done here had been atrocious to the extreme; she’d only seen its like twice before. The first time, Iris had needed the help of a therapist and a licensed mind healer to deal with the trauma. Now she’d learned to bring a level of separation between herself and her work. Iris told herself all this, almost deceived herself into thinking she was fine, but the twin streams running from her eyes spat on her attempt at indifference.

  She couldn’t help it. Every dead child they’d recovered had signs of horrifying torture marring their bodies. Iris knew every cut on innocent flesh, every limb lost to frostbite, and the numerous burns had probably served some bastardised purpose, but it hurt to see it.

  Alyssia was no stranger to brutality either, but judging by the glassy look in her eyes, Iris knew she’d need some help after this. The only consolation they'd received today was the knowledge that the corpses were all a week old. They’d only learned of this facility four days ago, and so their slow response hadn’t condemned anyone to death. The guilt would have eaten away at her for years otherwise.

  Iris was glad circumstances had forced her to come here instead of Arthur. Iris at least knew she wasn’t connected to this atrocity in any way, shape or form. Arthur’s unique existence as an Originator, however, had been the cause for this evil even if no sane person would lay the blame at his feet. Emotions didn’t operate on logic and she shuddered to imagine how her boyfriend would have reacted if he was here instead.

  “Why are people so cruel?”

  The question was whispered so quietly, Iris almost missed it. She turned to look at Alyssia. The alverin had lost the glassy-eyed look but it had been replaced by a harsh light, cold and unfeeling. Yeah, I’m definitely going to need a therapist to talk to her.

  “I don’t know,” Iris replied.” Power and desperation, unchecked by morality, bring out the worst in people. What’s the famous saying, hurt people hurt people.” She raised her hand. “I’m not trying to justify anything here, but we need to understand the vicious cycle to break it. Across the universe, these events are being replicated across millions of worlds. Is it mortal foil that we must inflict such suffering upon ourselves. That we must fall to such depths. I don’t know, and I'm not one for philosophy. What I am certain about, is that I will create a future where such atrocities are things of the past.”

  “You're an ambitious one, aren’t you?”

  Iris shrugged. “Why settle for mediocrity when you can strive for perfection.”

  Alyssia didn’t say anything in reply and they again descended into silence. It wasn’t exactly the comfortable kind—no one could be comfortable walking through these halls—but it wasn’t awkward either, which was a marked improvement from the lifelessness of before. The alverin had already scanned the facility with her aura sense, something that still amazed Iris, and she’d confirmed no one was left alive in the building. That knowledge was both a blessing and a curse. They had no enemies left to kill, but it also meant there were no survivors to rescue.

  Right now, they were exploring the many underground passages beneath the facility while Iris traced Arthur’s blood. Every time they came across a corpse, be it a Fell human or a victim, she used a watered-down version of her hellfire to burn them to ash. The Fell humans didn’t deserve anything better, and while it was a shame none of the children would get a proper burial, Iris had seen too many corpses dug up in her time to risk it. There was always a madman who wanted to continue these kinds of experiments and they tended to care little where exactly they got their data from.

  “I can sense something ahead,” Alyssia said. “I don’t know what it is. It’s alive and not at the same time yet completely different from any undead I've ever seen.”

  With a sinking feeling in her chest, Iris ran forward, Alyssia at her heels. That was where Arthur’s blood was. Something told her she wouldn’t be happy with what she found. Finally, they arrived at a magically reinforced steel door. Iris made quick work of the security.

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  “This is where you're sensing things from, isn’t it?” Iris asked.

  Alyssia nodded.

  Bracing herself for whatever horrors she might find, Iris opened the door. The room was bare bones with only a single bed inside it. A cell, not a room, Iris immediately realised. Finally, she laid eyes on what Alyssia had been sensing. It was a young girl, about four or five years old sleeping on the bed. Her prone form was also the exact location where Iris could sense Arthur's stolen blood. Alyssia rushed over to the girl and felt for a pulse.

  “She’s alive,” Alyssia said, “but she’s been heavily drugged. Whatever these bastards did to her, it changed her biology significantly. Her heart only beats once every twenty seconds or so.”

  “Alyssia step away from the girl,” Iris ordered.

  The alverin looked like she was about to protest but then saw the seriousness on Iris’s face.

  “What's wrong with her?”

  Iris didn’t answer immediately, instead casting numerous rituals to read the history of ether usage in the room. The girl was very dead, she was certain of it, it was what her skills were telling her. So why then did she have a pulse? The feedback began to rush in and Iris could feel a headache building behind her eyes. There was a familiar trace here, one that anyone who’d travelled around a little would be able to notice.

  A Prime's magic.

  Iris could tell Alyssia was getting impatient, but she didn’t want to jump to conclusions. She had an inkling suspicion about what had been done here, and by whom, but she had nothing to back up her hunch. A minute later, when her rituals had finally run their course, she couldn’t deny the truth any longer. Iris had no idea what the fallout from this would be. She pulled out an elixir from her storage ring and passed it to Alyssia.

  “That should help her wake up.”

  The alverin looked at the elixir and started in place. Most would. Iris had just given her a mythical-grade elixir, one of the two that she owned. It was the kind of potion money couldn’t buy, even her father treasured them. Thankfully, Alyssia didn’t try to dissuade her from using it. Using a level of aura mastery Iris wasn’t even sure she could appreciate properly, the alverin fed the sleeping girl the elixir, ensuring that a single drop didn’t go to waste. The effects were immediate. Iris wouldn’t expect anything less from an elixir that made up a tenth of her fortune.

  The little girl opened her eyes and stared at Alyssia. She giggled and poked her on the cheek. “Why are you green?” Her voice was filled with the childlike glee only found in the young.

  “That’s just how I was born, little one,” the alverin replied softly.

  She turned to look at Iris, a note of warning in her eyes. So she sensed the bastard too, the seer realised. In retrospect, it made sense considering how much better her companion's mastery over aura was. There was a new presence on the scene, one that had appeared the moment the little girl opened her eyes. Iris' hand had been forced, and she clenched her teeth in anger. If there was one thing she hated, it was being a pawn in someone else's game. Sometimes though, you just had to play your role.

  “Bring the girl,” Iris said, “I’ll explain on the way.”

  Alyssia picked the child up in a princess carry, something that delighted the girl and followed after her.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Alyssia demanded quietly.

  Iris stared pointedly at the little girl. “Watch your language. As for what's happening, have you tried identifying the kid?”

  Iris knew she had when Alyssia almost dropped the girl. If Iris wasn’t so angry, she probably would have found it funny. “Okay, Iris. You're going to have to catch me up to speed. What the fu—what in the world is happening here?”

  Iris sighed, rubbing her temples. "I don’t know how these idiots did it, but they somehow created a conduit for Earth's will long before her time. This shouldn’t happen till the planet's late tier 2 at the earliest. I’m guessing our little visitor outside will have answers.”

  Iris was still shocked by what she’d seen. The experiments done in this facility would have far-reaching consequences for the entire world. She almost wished they’d succeeded in creating an Originator instead. The girl was something new, something that shouldn’t exist for a thousand years yet.

  Iris turned to stare at the girl, calling her Gaia felt wrong, even if that was her name now. The little kid beamed at her, revealing a grin with a missing tooth. Iris felt her heart twist and smiled back at her. Gaia was positively adorable, and Iris counted her lucky stars the planet was content to be carried around like a little girl. As a fairly new tier 1 world, Earth’s consciousness was about as developed as a five-year-old childs and just as capricious.

  She was still a planet though. Iris considered the little girl again, who was now fascinated by Alyssia’s hair and twisting it around her fingers. Placing such a consciousness in such a young body would kill it. Iris was certain whoever the girl had once been, she was very dead now. Still, the way the child's brain had developed over the years would certainly influence Earth.

  And she’s got Arthur’s blood running through her veins. I’m guessing that’s what made all of this possible.

  “Do you have anything to eat? I’m hungry,” Gaia suddenly chirped up.

  Iris quickly summoned a slice of velvet cake from her storage ring. It wasn’t exactly a meal, but it was the only thing she had that a child would probably enjoy. Passing the plate over to her, Iris watched in fascination as Gaia wolfed it down. She certainly ate like a child, that was certain. Pulling out a napkin, Iris dabbed the little girl's face, “You got crumbs everywhere, you little minx,” she said, smiling.

  It took her a second to realise what she was doing and she froze in place. Had she really just tried to baby a planet. Gaia, at least, looked perfectly content with the state of things and so Iris shrugged and continued to clean her face and hands. She’d already started. It would be more offensive if she suddenly stopped.

  “There,” Iris said. “All done. Next time, you should probably wait for me to give you a spoon too.”

  Gaia looked suitably chastised and nodded her head suddenly. “Thanks, big sis.”

  “I’m not—you know what, never mind,” Iris sighed.

  Gaia grinned at her, content as a five-year-old child could be, “You can have this in return,” she said, clasping her hands together. “I’m sorry I don’t have any cake to share like you.”

  Iris’s eyebrow twitched as she read through the System notification that suddenly appeared before her. She didn’t have high blood pressure but she was sure she would by the time day was out.

  Iris didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry. This was exactly why planets didn't form avatars until their consciousness was far more developed. Iris was probably the first sapient in the realm's history who'd been offered a planet in return for a slice of cake. Iris immediately rejected the offer. Like an annoying pop-up ad, the notification immediately reappeared. Iris could feel the veins in her temple throbbing. She rejected the offer once again, ignoring it as it immediately popped up again.

  “Gaia,” she said, smiling as sweetly as she could. “Never, ever, ever give ownership of the planet to anyone please,” she said weakly.

  The little girl just stared at her inquisitively and tilted her head to the side. “Why not?”

  Iris’ smile became strained and she could feel sweat dripping down her back. She never thought she’d have to raise a planet. This was going to be a long day.

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  Etherious: Originator

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