Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (8 page)

Before UWII, Hylocan was one of
the strongest species in the universe. Only Glycan, Gieoaio, Haegian and Tizuee
were on the same bar with Hylocan. At that time, Hylocan didn’t possess
mind-reading ability, but the then Hylocan queen Alanlia started the project
and they made the first Helmet like device. Even though at that time other
species were very well aware that Hylocans had such devices and forbade them
using such devices in any activity, they didn’t know Hylocans later advanced
the device and had that device implanted in their eyeballs. When they found it
out, it was 33 years after the first device was installed in eyeballs. Other
species was furious and condemned Hylocan for their behaviors. They implemented
an isolation against Hylocan, but intricate economic and business ties Hylocans
had with Gieoaio, Haegian and Tizuee made the isolation stay only on the
surface level.

Later
other species did came up with different instruments and techniques to counter
the device. The queen Alanlia played the hard ball and had the scientists
transform the device to an organ and embed the organ’s genetic sequence into
all Hylocans’ bodies. It took Hylocan scientists 800 years to achieve this
goal. By the time all Hylocans were genetically modified and given the
mind-reading ability, the queen Boliana, the granddaughter of queen Alanlia,
decided to push the limit. Driven by the ambition to make mind-reading ability
more offensive, she tried to further upgrade the ability to control neural
activities. During her 200 year regime, excessive studies and researches aimed
to achieve that goal drained Hylocan’s wealth and resources. When queen Boliana
died, there was still no breakthrough in those areas.

Following
Boliana’s step, queen Vioael kept going down the same drain. As she was
gathering the leftover resources Hylocan had, a miracle happened. A girl was
born with the ability to implant ideas in any subject’s mind and she could do
it at a range of 2000 meters without even seeing the target. They called the
girl Oracle. Even though there was a range limit, it was good enough for
Vioael’s plan. Soon Hylocans received all financial and military supports they
needed. Vioael also had the Oracle’s genetic information duplicated to produce
clones, but the clones were much less efficient in terms of implanting ideas.
They had to keep the target in sight and the operational range was shorter.
Queen Vioael had those clones blended into other species. Then she proceeded to
eliminate Hylocan’s longtime enemy Glycan.

The
prelude of UWII started with Hylocan, Gieoaio, Haegian and Tizuee attacking
Glycan simultaneously. Outnumbered and outgunned, Glycan retreated but didn’t
collapse. The four species also attacked Estian who had an argument with
Hylocan over a disputed planet. Later Estian and Glycan became allies, but they
couldn’t draw other species to their side. Instead, other species all stayed
neutral. Slowly, the balance of battlefields swifted to the four species. But
when Hylocan attempted to drag Uainanese to its side, Uainanese found out
Hylocan’s new ability. Furious and worried, Uainanese joined Estain and Glycan.
After learning Hylocan’s new ability, some other species began to support the
three species but not in a military way. In the middle of UWII, Ajiese and
Oireitan joined the fight against the four species…So many battles waged over
years but nothing was like the last one: the siege of Akenlys, Hylocan mother
planet. The bombardment went on for a whole year and finally a super vessel
penetrated the defense layer and dropped the biogenetic bomb on Akenlys. 99.9%
of the Hylocan population was eliminated. At the final moment, upon the death
of Oracle, she prophesied her return and the end of all other species in the
universe. 

Mark let
out a long sigh. Now Hylocan was back.

The door
suddenly opened and the male Hylocan stepped in.

“It is
time.” He said coldly.

Mark
stood up and walked out of the room. The male Hylocan and the tall female
Hylocan took him to a lifeboat like capsule. Mark stepped into the capsule. The
male Hylocan handed him his backpack and a set of Glycan uniform.

“Your
face transformer will work in most cases. This uniform will make it easier for
you to walk around.” The tall female said carelessly.

“Where
am I?” Mark asked.

“Cruiser
General Klizan has left the planet. That means the eyeballs have been
delivered. You will go to the location where the tracer is.” The male Glycan
said coldly.

“You
can’t read those Glycans on that planet?” Mark scoffed.

“That is
none of your concern.” The tall female said.

“What if
I was caught by Glycans?” Mark asked in a relaxed tone.

“They
will torture you to find out what you know and kill you then.”

“I guess
your guys don’t care, right?” Mark asked.

“Good
luck.” The tall female said and shut the capsule door. She pressed a button and
the capsule slowly left the vessel and flew to the planet.

Through
the window, Mark could see the incoming yellow planet Agirue. It was dotted
with black spots and looked like a rotten apple. He only wished that he could
say goodbye to his two sons and let them know that how much he loved them.

Glycan considered a strong and
healthy body as the most valuable asset. Even though they had cutting-edge sciences
and technologies to modify body function and appearance, they had long voted
against any alteration on their bodies. They believed body was sacred and
should be kept as the way ancestors passed it on.

Planet
Etitaeg was one of the three planets designated for the selection of Glycans.
It was the tests ground for 18 years old Glycans. The selection would last five
days, during which time young Glycans not only must finish physical tests in
endurance, strength, flexibility, speed and balance but also must pass
intelligence tests in reasoning, logic thinking and problem solving. Those
Glycans who completed all tests in five days could leave the planet using the
space vessel at the finishing line. Those who didn’t finish it in time would
die. The rain season started at the end of the fifth day and it would wake up
monsters hibernating underground. In the history of Glycan, they never found a
survivor after the rain season.

There
were over 100,000 Glycan teenagers gathering at the great hall. Gloria had never
seen so many Glycans. Most of them were waiting alone nervously. Some of them
gathered in groups and talked away their anxiety. Nobody knew what would happen
next. Nobody knew whether he or she would survive or not.

Klaycon
walked to Gloria and said, “Gloria, how do you feel?”

“What do
you think?” Gloria said coldly.

“You
will be alright.” Klaycon said confidently.

“And how
do you know that?”

“You
finished second in the last selection when we were 14.”

Gloria
didn’t say anything. She could tell Klaycon liked her, but she didn’t like him
at all.

“I am
thinking, you can come to my celebration party after this.” Klaycon said
proudly.

“You
sure you can survive?” Gloria sneered.

“I will
be the champion the third time.” Klaycon said firmly.

Gloria
flashed a brittle smile. She could tell Klaycon got this confidence from his
family. It also reminded her that Klaycon’s grandfather, General Klizan, was
one of the few generals that sentenced her grandfather General Gien to death.

“What do
you say?” Klaycon asked nicely.

“I am
the granddaughter of General Gien and you are the grandson of General Klizan.
What do you think?” Gloria said angrily.

“I don’t
care.”

Gloria
was surprised to hear this. She stared at Klaycon.

“I don’t
care.” Klaycon repeated.

“Not
everyone has the privilege you have.” Gloria said coldly. She felt a very light
touch on her back. As she turned around, she saw Carila grabbing Klaycon’s arm.

“Klaycon,
come on, what are you doing here?” Carila asked unhappily.

“Carila,
I will catch you later.” Klaycon said gently. But Carila still stood there.

“You
should join her.” Gloria said hastily and walked away. She couldn’t see the
colorless liquid on her back started to spread.

“Think
about it, OK? Let me know.” Klaycon shouted as he waved to Gloria. Carila
glanced over at Gloria and flashed an evil smile.

Gloria
looked up at the high ceiling. She was thinking about Jason. The desire to see
him again was so overwhelming that she couldn’t think anything else but him.
She remembered when she met him on that movie night, the joy busted out like a
volcano eruption. She never had such feeling before. At first, she was
struggling to find why, but later the reason didn’t matter anymore.

Just at
this moment, her family badge was flashing. Gloria knew it was Jason calling
her. As she was about to answer the call, she noticed the ceiling was
descending very fast. Then the ground below her suddenly disappeared and all
Glycans fell into a huge hole. After a long fall, Gloria ditched in water. The
pain on her chest almost knocked her out, but she managed to come up to the
surface and stay floated. Some Glycans around her were trying to catch their
breath. Some swam around nervously and some were dead already. The water level
was rising and the ceiling had covered the hole completely. Gloria took a deep
breath and dived into the water. When she reached bottom, she could see
hundreds of outlets. She simply picked the closest one and swam as fast as she
could. The outlet opened to some kind of tube and the water flow carried
forward. Soon she resurfaced in a lake in the middle of a desert. She stumbled
onto the shore and called Jason, “Jason. Jason. Are you there? Can you hear
me?”

The
badge looked fine. Then she realized that they might block all communications
as the selection started. Gloria tried again, but the line couldn’t get
through. She thought for several seconds, but there was nothing she could do.

Other
Glycans kept coming out of the lake and none of them stopped to take a break.
Gloria quickly got herself together and ran behind other Glycans. A sandstorm
was approaching them from several kilometers away and it soon swallowed the
slow ones. Gloria got into a white forest right before the storm reached her.
The white color was from the balloon like leaves hanging on branches. All trees
were connecting with each other as if they were holding hands together. Gloria
had no time to appreciate the beauty. Her throat was dry and her mouth was
burning. She went further into the forest and saw something like a small pool.
Just before she jumped into the pool, her family badge was flashing.  She
stopped and answered the call.

“Gloria
…are…doing?” It was Jason’s voice. But the line was being cut off.

“Jason.
I am all right. I am all right.” Gloria shouted happily.

“You…”

“Jason.
Jason. I can’t hear you.”

“I…you…I…”
The line went off. Gloria smiled and put back the badge. Right at this moment,
two Glycans ran into the pool and dipped their heads in it. Suddenly the pool
shut like a mouth. After about three seconds, it reopened slowly and a piece of
cloth was floating in the center. Gloria froze there for several seconds. When
she came back to consciousness, she placed a kiss on her badge and moved on.

Standing 280 billion light years
away from Gloria, Jason was holding the badge in his hand. He couldn’t really
tell what Gloria just said, but her voice alone make he feel relieved. He put
the badge into the pocket next to his heart as Erikon and Lucis walked into the
dorm.

Erikon
sensed something but he slumped into his bed without saying a word.

“I guess
that was why you left early after the dinner.” Lucis said gently.

“It’s
nothing. Just a call.” Jason said.

“You
called that Glycan girl?” Erikon asked excitedly.

“Yea.”
Jason nodded.

“You
know this is not going anywhere, right?” Lucis said seriously.

“You
mean Gloria and me?”

“Yes.”

“I know.
I know.” Jason said slowly. He understood even friendship with a first class
species was something extremely impossible.

“You two
are friends or...you know?” Erikon said as he rotated his round body.

“We are
friends, but I…I don’t know.” Jason said hesitatingly.

“Man,
you are in love!” Erikon said excitedly.

“Dude
where that comes from?” Lucis asked in confusion.

“Jason,
I need to ask you a very serious question. You can choose not to answer it.”
Erikon suddenly sounded so seriously that it gave goosebumps to Jason and
Lucis.

“OK.”
Jason said slowly.

“Did you
sleep with her? Erikon asked calmly.

Both
Jason and Lucis felt like hit by an asteroid. They looked at Erikon in shock.

“Erikon,
what else do you think every day?” Lucis asked.

Before
Erikon could answer, Lucis and Jason both nodded their heads and said
simultaneously, “Food.”

“Jason,
so you didn’t.” Erikon said as he took out a small box under his mattress. He
handed it to Jason and said, “This is for education purpose, about the
reproduction process. I am not sure it works for Glycan, though.”

“Wow,
wow, where did you get that?” Lucis asked in surprise.

“It’s a
long story.” Erikon said easily.

“I don’t
want to know.” Jason said as he put the small box under his mattress.

“Jason,
you are not actually going to use that thing, right?” Lucis asked.

“Come
on, man. I will keep it here and you are very welcome to use it.” Jason said
nicely.

“But
Jason, Vampire does have a point. Best case scenario is you die. The worst is
you two both die. I will say you just play but not love.” Erikon said calmly.

“Don’t
forget Logan and Lilisa.” Lucis said.

Jason
knew that story. It happened during UWII. Logan was a human soldier in the
infantry division. Lilisa was a Glycan pilot and she saved Logan’s life in the
battle of Latianium. Sometime, it only took one second to know the love of
life. Logan and Lilisa fell in love just like that. However, despite their
efforts to escape and hide, Glycans hunted them down eventually. They killed
Logan’s friends and some of Lilisa’s friends in the process. They sentenced
Logan to be burned alive in the hell fire. At the final moment, Lilisa broke
the security and found Logan. They both knew they couldn’t get away, so they
held each other’s hand and jumped into the fire.

“You are
not as good as Logan.” Lucis said gently.

“I know
and it doesn’t matter how good you are.” Jason sighed

“Jason,
you are far from there. You didn’t even sleep with her. Let me know if you did
and we will see from there. OK?” Erikon said easily.

“That is
very nice of you, indeed.” Jason said ironically.

“Alright.
What game we have tonight? Ah, class of 81, second round.” Erikon said as he
was checking the information on his watch.

“Oh, we
will have our second round in two days!” Erikon said in surprise.

“You
just learned that?” Lucis asked with a shocked look. 

Jason
walked away. He knew it was too late. He knew it the first time he saw Gloria.