2 The physics is breaking

"That is the third bird, you say, that crossed the barrier and flew into space?" Master Ishu scrutinized the dead body of the sparrow held in his right hand. Unlike the wings of the dead bird, the arms of his white robe were still flapping, despite the vacuum.

"Third bird, yes. And fifth object. Before that, a body of condensed water and a fragment from a missile escaped into space." General Heron's voice was firm and clear.

Master Ishu returned the dead bird into General Heron's big, meaty hand. "Walk with me."

Master Ishu pressed a bracelet wrapped around his thin, elegant wrist, and a dazzling portal appeared in front of them, a beautiful milkdew garden visible on the other side. The two officials stepped through it and began to walk the garden path. The milkdew plants were gently swaying in the artificial breeze, and the sweet smell of the milkdew flowers wafted through the entire area.

General Heron slowed his urgent strides to match with Master Ishu's lazy pace. "You are centuries older than me. Has this happened before?" He kept the eagerness out of his words. Better not to let Ishu know that he was curious.

"My brain is not what it was once. I may look young, Heron, but on the inside, I am an old man. But not to worry." Ishu gave Heron a beaming smile. "This is exactly why we create mind diaries. Hopefully, one of my memory backups will have a log of a queer incident like this."

The red bees were whizzing from flower to flower, collecting their milky nectar and squeezing the drops into jars, sitting on the side of the garden walk. One of the bees flew at the general's face, which he immediately waved away.

"Want some milkdew?" Ishu offered. Today was the violet star, Mauvenus' turn to light Cricolithis. The violet aura made Ishu's usually pale face appear cyanosed.

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline."

"Ah, my bad." Master Ishu chuckled as the two turned the corner and exited the garden. "You martials always have a schedule for everything."

Heron's boots clacked on the concrete pavement that led to Cricolithis' sprawling Systems building. Heron did not know much of the systems; he was a combat official. But he knew if something peculiar comes to his attention, he must alert the Systems division. He did not expect Master Ishu himself to come down to inspect the incident, maybe one of the lower-level engineers. But here he was.

Few of the engineers were standing outside, chatting. They all religiously greeted Master Ishu as the two officials entered the building. The new building was twenty years old. It was broad and shiny, where the old one was tall and dull. The eco-friendly glass walls covered the entire building. Green grass lawn with lush trees jutting out here and there surrounded the whole building, creating a perfect harmony of nature and manmade.

"This is not your first time in the new building, is it?" Ishu asked.

"No." Heron gave one short answer.

"Much bigger than the last one." Ishu inserted his ID badge in the access entry for both of them. The interior of the building was more art than science. It was quite abstract for a Systems building with tasteful furniture and geometric sculptures everywhere.

"Spacious, enough room for all our engineers to create what they are envisioning. Do not be surprised if we create another universe one of these days." Ishu giggled at his own joke.

"Give us a heads up if you do. One universe is enough for us to guard, as it is," Heron said dryly, as he followed Ishu towards the elevators.

Few engineers came out of the elevator and passed by them as the two entered.

"By the way, I heard congratulations are in order. What should I call you, General Heron now?"

"General, yes." Heron was the youngest military official in the entire history of Cricolithis to be promoted to the rank of general.

"Ah, to be so young and so successful. I wish I could be sixty again."

The elevator stopped on the third floor. A blast of cold air rushed into the elevator as soon as its doors slid open. Heron stepped out into what seemed like a massive freezer. It was a cutting-edge data repository room. Rows and rows of beeping machines stood on either side of the aisle, lit under soft blue light.

"My memory room." Master Ishu grinned sheepishly. "Thousand years is a lot of data. We may have to look around a bit. All these computers are very fast, though. So, not to worry."

Ishu strode along the path leading directly from the front of the elevator, and Heron followed.

After painstakingly searching for hours, the two found no trace of a logged incident in any of the memory backups, which was for the previous thousand years.

"One moment." Ishu reloaded the logs from his first year as the entry-level systems engineer for Cricolithis.

"What have you found?"

"Nothing."

"..."

"The memory logs from my first year are empty." Ishu's voice was filled with doubt. The two officials exchanged a glance.

"Whom would you report an incident to in your first year?" Heron came up behind Ishu, peering at the small empty computer screen.

"I would report it to my senior, who would be..."

Several moments later, Master Ishu found the name he was looking for.

Heron's hard, rugged face grew stern. He knew the infamous name from centuries ago. "He was exiled to earth, was he not?"

Ishu nodded. "Looks like it is time we bring him back." His eyes were fixed on the computer screen, where few letters were flickering.

Mikael De Besches.