The Purpose of Ultima Tower

"Guys, check this out! Somebody came across our shrine in Ultima Tower!" Zeka shouted out from the room next to ours.

All dispersed Quake members recollected into the hub where we all obtained our ability to track strands with our eyes, and we watched a camera close in on some individuals that were looking at some shrines of the Lost Last Names.

"Danafall... Achamo... Eternia... they're still there," Kire mumbled under his breath.

I wasn't present for this... but I wanted to know what was going on.

"They're still there? Did you guys make those shrines? Why?" I asked everybody as we watched the people look closer at them.

"Well, at the time we made them because we wanted those to know about the lineage of the destroyed Earth. Who's responsible for the destruction, who's responsible for what's left... and what family we can pin the blame on," Austin replied, zooming in on the 'Asterio' shrine.

"Pin the blame on? What do you mean? Wasn't it the Asterios' fault?" I asked next.

The room shifted over in my direction, watching me slowly descend into what felt like madness. I was being stared at for uncomfortable amounts of time.

"What are you talking about Cole? Of course it was their fault!" Austin said again in a tone of disbelief.

"Why is it here of all places? You guys know I wasn't here for this, why don't you explain it all to me?!" I shouted out in anger.

"Okay! Fine... so, we made it underground a long time ago, probably in the early two-thousand twenties. We made it for the purpose of locking away somebody, but they have since long escaped and their location is unknown. Anyway, that part is important yet. What is important is that the people who created Ultima Tower put our shrines in it as a warning, a testament, if you will," Austin replied. His personality was totally different now... was this Amy talking?

"Don't forget about Ultima Tower as a whole... Ultima Tower was put there by Eirikr a really long time ago. He said it was a 'Trial run of the Trials', or if you haven't noticed, a replica of the Trial Worlds he wants to put everybody into. Ultima Tower was the first source of these Trial Worlds, almost like a hub for all Trial Worlds if you would go that far. Anyway, the Tower itself is meant to awaken strands in those who require them to progress... or, those who he wants to train as Deities. It was meant to awaken Sky Asterio's powers," Kire nonchalantly said.

"What the... how did you know so much?" Fico asked in total shock. I didn't expect Kire to unload all of those details, but he did it so casually, I would've expected him to know everything.

"I catch onto a lot of the hidden stuff you try to talk about with Eirikr. He wants to reawaken that poor kid just to take his body away, right? Awaken this, awaken that, but he can't survive in that empty vessel anymore," Kire said.

"Anyway... the shrines we put there warned of the dangers of the Trial Worlds. Providence, Neolithic, and Tuanuku were all present as warnings in the shrines. If somebody made it to Ultima Tower unwillingly, they were supposed to find that room to prepare for the worst," Austin explained again in a reverted tone of voice. It was like Austin and Amy were rapid-fire switching their personalities.

"That doesn't explain why it even ended up in Ultima Tower in the first place. It was constructed after you made it, so why is it in there?" I asked next.

"Oh, that! Well... because they were moved? I'm not sure how to explain it to you in a simple way. They were picked up and moved there. They were erased from the original room... I wonder if they purposefully took away our warnings about Providence and the others..." Austin said next.

I sat up on the counter with my legs crossed, as Fico had done in the other room, and looked around while they were talking. I was getting bored of these lengthy explanations and forgot the main point of the conversation completely.

The new upgrade Genesis gave us allowed us to track strands with our eyes, modeled after The Eye of Providence. However, I already had one... so I got a different upgrade.

The ability to see the path strands will take. It could easily be predicted in combat with The Eye of Providence, but my eye had evolved with the blood I received, causing the strands I see to have a predetermined path, outlined in transparent strings. Strands were solid objects, but not the paths they will take.

It seems like I could tell the future with my eyes... but it was too unrefined to do anything like that. The transparent strands I could see were more than enough.

And, with my ability, I would be able to shut out Sky on his own. I'm just confused about the over-preparation with his friends. Sky's friends aren't anywhere near his power. That's what got him killed, was his dependency on people who simply just don't match his power. You have to be a really stupid man to depend on people who are powerless.

Everybody in Quake was somebody I could depend on. Everybody was strong, smart, and capable in more than one regard. If something couldn't get done, one of us could do it. We turned into a family somewhere along the way. Sky's family never turned into that, that's why he is still so weak.

I thought it was odd he didn't have his powers before... but that girl who contested Fico had her same speed. If I took everything I knew, that meant Sky was lacking in speed, but that girl had it.

Could it be...? No... has Sky implanted his friends with the abilities that are rightfully his?

I can't believe we overlooked that... that is such a subtle detail that it's so easy to just gloss over. I should tell them what I know.