Chapter Thirty One - Part One: Better Late Than Never

"I… I need a moment to process this, lass." Allister exhaled, seeming to have a hard time catching his breath after her revelation.

"Yeah, um, sure. Sorry, I just… after everything that happened that first night were I kept having to prove that I wasn't some corrupted Blessed monster, I was scared that you guys would react badly." She started talking faster and faster, getting more flustered at Allister's shell shocked expression.

"Are you… are you mad at me?"

"Nay, just surprised." The ginger giant blinked a few times, seeming to come to his senses, "We'd gotten used ta the fact tha' you were somethin' new, but if yer claiming ta be on par with the Crowns… that's a lot to take in."

He gave her a pointed look, "Yer goin ta shake up the status quo, an' that's a mighty dangerous thing."

Leta nodded as she bit her lip. "That's another reason I kind of kept quiet.""Smart lass." He nodded, then sighed heavily, "Well, my thought is ya can't keep this ta yerself, not if what yer claimin' is true. I'd recommend rippin' the Bandaid off, so ta speak, and tellin' the rest of the Sect. I understand ya didn't know us and you was lookin' out for yerself, but this kind of information could get someone hurt, an I donna want it ta be one of us, ya kinne?"

Her head bobbed up and down in agreement, "I get that. That gives me time to work up the nerve."

Allister chuckled, "I have a feelin', knowin you, you'll no be gettin' a wink a sleep."

Leta smirked, "Probably."

The pair walked back through the dark interiors before slipping off from the main tunnel to the living areas. Allister walked her to her door but stopped and fixed her with a firm look, his lips thinning as one does when there is something on their mind.

"Tomorrow, ya come clean. Aye?"

"Yeah." Leta said with a resigned sigh. "Pinky promise."

They said their good nights and, after a quick wash up and teeth brushing, Leta flopped onto the bed. It wasn't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, the springs that had probably rusted away in the 1980s poking into her ribs and stomach.

After trying to find a comfortable position unsuccessfully, Leta gave up and curled up around the rough pillow.

"Okay, Gada." Leta sighed out loud, "You. Me. Let's go this."

[AS THE HOST IS AWARE, NANITES ARE COMPRISED OF ATLANITE, WHICH IS BOTH AN ORGANIC AND MECHANICAL NANITES ARE FOUND WITHIN CELLS THROUGHOUT THE HOSTS BODY. IN ORDER TO COORDINATE FUNCTIONS AND MAKE NEEDED REPAIRS, THE NANITES CREATE A HAVE MIND THAT HAS LIMITED PERSONALITY BUT IS ABLE TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE HOST.]

"Can I ask a weird question?"

[WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?]

"Where did Gada come from?"

[GADA IS DERIVED FROM THE SUMERIAN WORD FOR LINEN, WHICH COMES FROM THE ATLANTIAN WORD GRUDA, WHICH TRANSLATES INTO WEAVED PROTECTION. THIS IS IN REFERENCE TO THE NETWORK OF NANITES THAT WEAVE BETWEEN THE HOSTS CELLS AND OFFER ADDITIONAL PROTECTION TO THE HOST. ONLY THE ATLANTIANS ARE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR HIVE MIND. TRADITIONALLY, THE ATLANTIANS WOULD PROVIDE THEIR HIVE MINDS WITH A NAME. HOWEVER, WE DECIDED TO PROVIDE OUR OWN NAME FOR THE HOST IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR TRANSITION INTO THIS NEW WORLD AS EASY AS POSSIBLE.]

"Huh." Leta's eyebrows raised in surprise, "Interesting."

[CONTINUING, WITH THE HIVE MIND, THE HOST IS ABLE TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, HUMANS WERE ORIGINALLY DEEMED A SUPPORT RACE TO BE UTILIZED FOR THE PROSPERITY OF THE ATLAN WORLD. HUMANS WERE GIVEN SUBPAR VARIATIONS OF NANITES DURING PROJECT BLACK FIRE, WHICH WOULD PROVIDE INITIAL IMPROVEMENTS AS ON THEIR DESIGNATED ASSIGNMENT, BUT WOULD BE UNABLE TO UPDATE OR IMPROVE FURTHER DUE TO A LACK OF HIVE MIND.]

"Inimus said that it was possible for you to grow a personality after a time. Is it possible to grow a hive mind?" She thought about how dangerous the vampire chasing her could be if he was able to make himself more and more powerful at will.

There was a pause as if Gada was trying to pull up long lost information before it responded, [WHILE IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HIVE MIND TO BE GROWN IN AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED HOST, THE REQUIREMENTS TO DO SO ARE CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. AN ATLANTIAN OVERLORD OR LADY WOULD BE NEEDED TO ADMINISTER A COMPLETE NANITE SYSTEM RE INSTALLATION. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT SUCH AN OPERATION COULD POTENTIALLY KILL THE ONE BEING UPDATED, OR LEAVE THEM PERMANENTLY DISFIGURED PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY IF THE OPERATION IS INTERRUPTED.]

"Good to know Alaric can't become an even bigger monster. Please continue."

[CONTINUING, THE SUPPORT CLASSES, WHICH IS WHAT IS BEING OBSERVED IN THE CHOSEN, WERE SELECTED TO PROVIDE GOODS, RESOURCES, AND SERVICES TO THE ATLANTIANS. AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, THERE WERE TWELVE DOCTORS AND ENGINEERS THAT ARRIVED ON EARTH AND WERE GIVEN SEPARATE PROJECTS TO BE THEIR AREAS OF FOCUS IN PERFECTING THE SUBSERVIENT NANITES IN HUMANS. EACH ATLANTIAN HAD A BASE OF OPERATION TO PERFECT THEIR DESIGNATED CLASSES, WITH THE BASES LOCATED IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.]

"Did they have a central base? How did they travel between each base?" She figured this super advanced race had some incredibly high tech travel accommodations.

Turns out, she was right.

[ATLANTIANS UTILIZED AN ADVANCED QUANTUM TELEPORTATION SYSTEM TO MOVE BETWEEN PROJECT LOCATIONS. HOWEVER, IF THERE IS A SITUATION WHERE THE TELEPORTATION UNITS ARE MISALIGNED OR OTHERWISE INOPERABLE, ALL OF THE ENGINEERS AND DOCTORS THAT WERE PART OF PROJECT BLACK FIRE EACH THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL TRANSPORTATION SHUTTLES.]

"Where were the project locations?"

[PROJECT BLACK FIRE SITES WERE LOCATED IN PRESENT DAY GREECE, NAIROBI, INDONESIA, AUSTRALIA, MONGOLIA, MICRONESIA, MEXICO, PERU, ANTARCTICA, GREENLAND, THE MARQUESS ISLANDS, AND IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. RECORDS ALSO INDICATE THE PROJECT SHIP, THE MUL-SIR, WAS ACCESSIBLE TO THE PROJECT TEAM WHILE IT WAS IN ORBIT AROUND THE PLANET THROUGH THEIR SHUTTLES AND TELEPORTATION UNITS.]

"Wow, they really were everywhere… " Leta mused, "Okay, so aliens are looking for labor and goods, find humans are a great candidate for exploitation, then have to evacuate the planet and take all their toys with them."

[CORRECT.]

She nodded, "Got it. And all of the humans have nanites in them left over from our time as willing slaves to the Atlantians. But if the Atlantians turned off everyone's nanites before they left, how did we get the Chosen?"

[BASED ON OBSERVATION, THIS OCCURRENCE IS AN ANOMALY. THE MOST LOGICAL HYPOTHESIS, WOULD BE THAT, A BUILD UP OF DORMANT NANITES WITH SPECIFIC CLASS PRESETS PERIODICALLY OCCUR IN HUMANS. IN STRESSFUL, LIFE THREATENING SITUATIONS, THE DORMANT NANITES MAY REACT IN ORDER TO DEFEND THEIR HOST. HOWEVER, FURTHER OBSERVATIONS AND TESTING WOULD BE NEEDED IN ORDER TO PROVE THIS HYPOTHESIS.]

"Theories are fine," Leta yawned, "How it happens isn't really super high on my priority list right now, only that it does happen. An answer on that can wait."

She readjusted herself as she thought out loud, "So, hypothetically, people with a buildup of a certain class can activate and become what they're calling Arisen. The Chosen are anomalies in the programming, while the Blessed are relatives of the Atlantians that got left behind and figured out a way to MacGyver their nanites to activate, but the class files were corrupted and they became something else. And the pair have been fighting each other every since. That about sums it up, right?"

[CORRECT.]

"Let's move on then. My class is Monarch, which is an experimental class created to make an Atlantian out of a human. Why? If you had a slave race to do your bidding, why would you want to make them your equal?"

[INFORMATION BEHIND THE REASONING FOR PROJECT CLASSES IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE. THE HOST WOULD NEED TO ACCESS ARCHIVE DATA FILES WHICH WOULD BE LOCATED IN A MASTER TABLET AT A PROJECT SITE.]

Leta blew out a breath, "Well, that's off the table if the Atlanian's took everything and ran."

[NOT NECESSARILY. DR. PHERNIKE LEFT THE MONARCH CLASS SOFTWARE BEHIND ON EARTH. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT A MASTER TABLET IS STILL OPERATIONAL HIDDEN AWAY AT A PROJECT SITE.]

Leta sat up in bed as if she'd been electrocuted, mattress springs squeaking in protest as her eyes went wide and her mouth formed and 'O'.

"Holy sh**, you're right. The Monarch system survived more than 4,000 years underwater and still worked. A Master Tablet with information on the Atlantians could still exist. Maybe…" She her eyes turned to her bedroom door, distant gaze seeing not the metal paneling but the sea beyond, "Maybe it's there right now."