Atlas
genre : fantasy, science fiction

Summary : In an alternate world where magic and technology have been merged together a young man with a curse and a girl with a gift travel through the lands to hack a magical supercomputer called the Atlas system.



"The greatest messages are never seen with the eyes nor heard with the ears but are felt with the heart "

"What do you dream of doing in the future ? " the boy asked
"me?... I want to live in one of those grand castles in the sky so that I can touch the beautiful stars at night " the girl answered and looked at the boy "what of you? what is your wildest dream like? "
"I wasn't born with any " the boy said "but wherever you go, I'll follow you "
The little boy and the little girl continued gazing at the stars which decorated the night sky.

Introduction : The world under the Atlas
Welcome to a world of science and technology have been unified with the phenomenon called magic, in the age of enlightenment devices using magical powers have been created. One of the fruit of this union is the Atlas system, the greatest magical technology ever created .
The Atlas is a supercomputer and artificial sun, it takes the form of the planet Saturn. The spherical shape of the Atlas is golden and has a spinning gold ring surrounding it, it is as large as the moon and in the sky. The supercomputer has the power to absorb the magical energy from the atmosphere and spreads it in form of electromagnetic waves, this changed the way magic was used a everyone had access to use it's ability.
The atmosphere is filled with a form of energy called nimbus. Some call it divine cloud others call it the fifth element, it take the form of a cloud with crystalline properties the nimbus is a powerful element which can be used to power machines to healing to combat purposes. Nimbus energy can be manipulated by persons with special gifts called controllers. These special set of people are scouted for allover the world and enrolled in special academies where they are trained to harness their abilities to serve the Sovereign Ones.
The Sovereign ones were the world government, it consisted of ten noble families who controlled banking, trade, security, transportation, technology etc. These powerful families lived lived in floating castles in the sky where they exercised undisputed authority.
From the sky you see the beautiful Atlas system glow endlessly.

1: Dawn
"Mum!!" Dawn stormed into the kitchen "I just bought a 7.5 version of the PiXI PAD 9 and it's so cool! " Mrs Mullen was startled by her daughter's entrance for a second, she was preparing dinner and she squinted her face into a little frown.
"Dawn dear aren't you too old to be playing with toys? leave that thing for a second and help me slice some carrots I bought, will you?"
"mum it's not a toy" Dawn protested "it's a gadget with an artificial intelligence that can use magic". The PiXi PAD was a thick white rectangular card(varies in colour) with a butterfly logo in it. Dawn pressed the butterfly on the card with her thumb and said
"open sequence pixie zizi"
The logo glowed and a neon purple butterfly appeared fluttering it's wing
"GREETINGS MISS DAWN. ZIZI AT YOUR SERVICE. COMMAND INSTRUCTION" it said in a computer voice.
Dawn proudly introduced her pixie "meet my zizi, she's an artificial intelligence that performs small scale magics like telekinesis, invisibility, clairvoyance, you can even download some cool abilities like fire magic or ice magic and... "
"I'm pleased to meet your new artificial friend, but Dawn how's that going to help me finish dinner before your father and your brother return from work? Just go and slice the carrots " said her mother
"look at this. Input sequence zizi, assist in dinner "
"AFFIRMATIVE" the pixie AI obeyed and glowed up even more. An idle knife rose from the kitchen table and levitated itself to the chop board where the carrots and onions lay, the knife sliced the carrots and onions neatly and professionaly on the chop board.
"end sequence " Dawn commanded and the knife paused and rested calmly on the chop board. Mrs Mullen wasn't surprised , she had lived in an era where real magic wasn't used for petty purposes.
"how quaint" she commented "but I'll be more pleased if you could use your real hands to assist me "
Her daughter's proud look wore off "but mom! the PiXi Pad will make the work much more easier for both of us. I can even browse great dinner recipes..."
"get in and change your school uniform" Mrs Mullen added a little seasoning to the soup she was steering and tasted it "I won't have anyone doing magic in my kitchen, when I was your age I sat with my mother in the kitchen and from her I learnt how to be a good wife "
"the world has changed. who wants to be stuck in the kitchen when there are lots of cool stuff outside?"
"rush in and change so that you can help me set the dinner table" Mrs Mullen's calm voice sounded stern, Dawn could do no more
"OK " she said "close sequence pixie zizi end" and the butterfly vanished into the PiXi Pad device.


Dawn entered her messed up room and changed. Before the mirror she undressed herself and removed her bra which was getting too tight for her growing breast, standing before the mirror was a woman. Dawn was no longer a girl who dreamt about being swept away by a tall and handsome prince... she was eighteen a legal age for an adult, it won't be long before she would be pushed into marriage like her peers. Probably after her education she may become the wife of a promising farmer (by her parents judgement).
She brushed her red hair backwards which revealed her catlike ears, she was a Burrowman. Burrowmen were lowly creatures, they resembled humans but had cat ears and whiskers(for males), they lived in settlements and conducted a communial living by setting up farms. The settlements were led by an elected chieftain who leased out lands and loans for farming, Dawns father had borrowed a loan from the current chieftain of their settlement called Mr Tobias Winkerden of Sunflower Hill when his seven acre farm was infested with fungus fleas. Mr Mullen had used the loan to cure his field and buy new crops, though he had suffered a huge loss during the planting season but debts were meant to be paid as soon as possible. That was why he and his son worked on Mr Winkerden's farm during extra time to settle their loan. If their effort was fruitless Dawn would have to be an alternative.

2:Marcel
The world has two moons, the blue moon from west and the red moon from the east. The red moon brings daylight while the blue moon brings night, the move in a process called the cycle of day and night. During the first solstice the red moon brings daylight to lands at the east for twelve hours while the blue moon brings night to the lands at west side of the world for twelve hours also. At the second solstice the two moons swap positions ,the red moon goes to the west while the blue moon goes to the east for twelve hours also.
It was during the second solstice at an outzone, it was afternoon so this was probably in the eastern territory. An hooded figure moved swiftly through the outzone territory and entered a cave. The outzone territories were wastelands where the nimbus energies of the atmosphere were corrupted by toxic flares from chemical industries, this caused an imbalance on the environment and turned the affected places into deserts filled with mushrooms of different sizes

In the cave were three men and a nervous looking one.
"you took so long. I was almost going to eat one of these mushrooms if you hadn't come " said one the men who turned out to be the leader of the group.
"it is unwise to consume outzone mushrooms, they cause hallucination " said the stranger
"I know. And it is unwise to keep us waiting " the leader grunted
"is this where the gate is located? If so then I'll like to see it" said the stranger and he removed his cloak which revealed his dwarfish stature and massive feet. He was an odd folk.
"I hope no one followed you " said one of the men
"I swear by the spirits no one else knew I was coming here and besides tracer magic cannot be effective in a polluted land" the odd folk assured.
They went further down into the cave until they got to a dead end which was wall, it had thirteen runic symbols drawn around it like a circle.
"can he open it? " another man asked the leader
he grunted and answered "he should, if it isn't sealed. Years ago the government sealed off all the Astral gates, if they don't know about this one then we're at luck"
The odd folk came to the wall and placed his palm at the center of the runic circle then he closed his eyes and breathed.
"it's not yet sealed, thank the spirits. I have to make preparations for opening the astral gate" He lighted a candle and began to call the names of the symbols which glowed in response.
The nervous young man looked uneasy and asked his leader "sir... do we have to go through an astral gate?... how do we get out if this is the only gate unsealed? "
The leader looked at his apprentice "we are carrying a very unstable substance and it will only attract attention if we follow a normal path "
"BOOM!! " the place shook,
"what was that?! " enquired the odd folk whose work was interrupted . The men readied their weapons as they heard footsteps coming towards them.
"Bravo!! What can I see? The great Henroy Ravollio has retrieved the formula, captured a bunch of criminals and also discovered an astral gate. I can smell my promotion like fresh pancake" said a man walking him. He was dressed in a blue special forces uniform and with him were six humanoid robots with dragonfly wings called golems, each held a beam staff except for the man who had a smug smile on his face.
"Damn it!!. The authorities are here! " cried on of the men.
"curses " replied the leader silently
"That's Lieutenant Henroy Ravollio of the special forces division "
"Silas Bochan, Adrian Friday, Richardo Noles,Marcel and the odd folk I don't know. By decree of the state you all are to return the Midas formula and face arrest.Who knows you might be pardoned after all" said Henroy.

Richardo, the leader of the fugitives and Adrian pointed their pistols at the lieutenant who still remained calm while the golems charged their bolts ready for attack.
"like hell we would" said Richardo
As unexpected as it sounded, Silas pointed a pistol at Richardo
"sorry boss, I leaked our secret to them" he said
Adrian who couldn't contain his betrayed feeling retorted "Silas you cunt! why did you do that to us? I'm gonna kill you when we're done..."
"BANG!" Marcel the uneasy young man let out a yell as he saw Silas feed Adrian with a bullet instantly
"then kill me now" said Silas as he stared coldly at his colleague
Richardo was already sweating, he didn't know whether to go head on at the police who came to arrest him or kill Silas who had betrayed him "What do you want from all these Silas? this is not you "
Silas smirked and answered "can't you see the big picture? We're magic peddlers and it's a crime. I just wanted to liberated myself, no offense "
"By betraying your comrades for redemption? that's a fat lie Silas, you always wanted the Midas formula for yourself and you couldn't have it, so you wanted to bring me down so badly to satisfy yourself "

Henroy who was already enjoying the drama came in "betrayal is essential for growth my man. Time is not our friend Mr Bochan, kill the odd folk who is trying to open the gate so that I can arrest these two "
"wait!" Marcel mediated "I will hand over the formula if you let me live " he brought out a fat test tube which was filled with a bubbling golden liquid
" I'm sorry sir but we have to make hard choices, that's what you taught me " he said
Henroy smiled and nodded, "collect the formula " he ordered one of the golems, the droid obeyed and Marcel handed it over.
"Now seize their weapons and arrest these two" he commanded two other golems and said to Silas "kill the odd folk, the state appreciates your effort "
In a flash of light Richardo shot a golden who was coming towards him. Marcel punched Silas and brought out another test tube filled with golden bubbles, he opened it and a bubble emerged out and burst into gold dust which showered on Silas. The traitor screamed as his body began to turn into gold, in five seconds Silas was already a lifeless gold statue.

Richardo brought out an handful of dust from his satchel and poured it around the space separating him from his captors. Henroy in shock realized that he was given a fake Midas formula.
"get them!! " he ordered the rest of his golems but as they came towards Richardo and his apprentice they discovered an invisible wall was blocking their way. The golems began to use their bolt weapon to break the magic.
Richardo kicked the gold statue of his former colleague and turned to the petrified odd folk,
"we saved your life so save ours by opening the gates as fast as you can! "
"yyyess" the odd folk answered
"good acting skills Marcy, now take the formula with you and enter astral realm immediately it opens "
"what of you? aren't you coming with me " Marcel asked
Richardo rubbed his head and looked into his eyes "I've been through gates of hell a lot of time, another gate will open as you coming through the astral realm"
"what if this is the last gate? "
"then have faith " his leader finally said.

The runic wall was replaced by a spinning black hole, the astral gate was finally open,
"it is alive! " said the odd folk who looked exhausted.
"The astral gate is all about dimension travel? " asked Marcel,
the invisible wall separating them from the forces began to crack, the magic was wearing off. Richardo irises glowed and lightening sparks began to form on his palms,
"you're a controller?" Marcel asked again again in horror
"take the Midas formula and leave!! I'll hold them back! "
"I can't go without you!! you're my teacher!"
"go!!! but remember faith is a dim candle that drives off the blackest darkness. Don't let your demon take the best of you! " The invisible wall broke and Henroy and the golems charged forward. Richardo used his ability to repel the golems but the lieutenant turned out to be swift in movement and he dodged every attack.

Marcel left and approached the wild spinning astral gate, the wind from the vortex blew his face and it revealed a black runic symbol printed on his right forehead.
"get in before it closes "said the odd folk "I am not a subject of the government "
The young man jumped into the dimension which took him to a destination unknown.