October 2941
Relen Gedion sat alone in his workshop. He had converted one of the rooms on his Reclaimer into a lab for studying alien artifacts and technology. After Sundavold betrayed Ballistic Logistics, Gedion took a keen interest in the R&D department. And seeing that as an organization, Ballistic Logistics was falling apart, he had taken it upon himself to retrieve most of the alien artifacts in the R&D department's possession for safekeeping.
Now this room was his sanctuary, the place where we went to escape his problems, and to try to find answers.
Seeing Matthias distraught and exhausted had taken its toll on Gedion. He had come to know and to respect Matthias as not only a leader, but also a friend. Matthias' proclamation of the death of Ballistic Logistics had cast a shadow of doubt over Gedion's future, but he was more worried for his friend.
Gedion walked through his workshop, peering into the many crates of artifacts from the R&D department. Most were of unknown origin, simply tagged and labeled with a number. A rectangular stone: item #743. A long, thin, but very strong panel of a metal-like substance: item #1211. He was in the habit of strolling through and visually scanning the items until something caught his eye for him to study.
As he reached the back of the room, Gedion flipped open the lid of a particularly beat up storage crate. The inside was filled with dust and dank air, and Gedion coughed a little as it escaped and was pulled through the Reclaimer's air filtration system. Most of the items were numbered less the 100, some of the original artifacts recovered by the R&D department. He carefully sorted through them until he noticed an old yet ornate looking small box sitting at the bottom of the crate. Removing the items that were in the way, Gedion removed the box, item #8
It was a small, maroon, hinged box, with an elaborate pattern scrawled into the top. There were two hinges on the backside, one broken, and a locking mechanism on the front, which was disengaged. Gedion blew forcefully on the box and a puff of stale dust leapt from the box lid. An alien writing unknown to him filled in the center of the top of the box.
"Let's get this over to my workbench," He said aloud to himself.
Sitting down at his desk, Gedion flipped the lid up. The inside was lined with a yellow, felt-like material. In the center of the case lay a most unusual looking device. It was shaped in someway similar to the human heart, and was about the sized of his closed fist. It was made of some sort of hard and clear material, making the internals of the device viewable.
Contained inside the device was a maze of circuits and gears. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Circuits, which appeared to be more advanced than anything Gedion had ever encountered, mingled with gears that would have looked more at place in an ancient earth pocket watch. He held up to the light to examine it more closely. The shell of the device was smooth, and completely free of scratches or marks. It was also completely free of buttons or switches.
"Wonder how it works? Or… what it even does?" He questioned aloud. "Well, only one way to find out. Let's crack this baby open." Gedion continued. He sat the object back on the desk and walked a few steps over to his tool cabinet to remove a hand-held cutting tool. As he turned back towards the desk, he noticed the object somehow rolling towards the edge. Gedion gasped and lunged towards it, but was too late to catch it. It hit the floor and stayed there without so much as the slightest bounce.
Gedion got down on his hands and knees to inspect the device, expecting it to be shattered or damaged in someway from the fall. But to his surprise, it still appeared to be in pristine condition. Suddenly, a subtle, high-pitch whine began to emanate from the device. Gedion quickly picked it up and as he did, he could see the gears inside had begun to turn.
Before he could react, Gedion found himself standing in a completely black room. He could perceive no walls around him, nor any ceiling or floor. It was as if he was standing in a void of nothingness. Then, another flash, and he was standing in some sort of stone temple-like building. Thinking he must be loosing his mind, Gedion reached out and felt the stone pillar in front of him. It certainly felt real enough.
"Hello?" He called out. "Is anyone there?" His voice echoed through the stone chambers of this strange building. Realizing that he still held the mysterious object in his hands, he lifted it up to examine it. It glowed with a soft yellow light, and the gears inside were spinning furiously. What it was designed to do, it was definitely doing it.
Gedion turned his attention again to the strange hall that he was in. Stepping further in, he noticed that he was walking down a corridor that led to a central area. As he approached, he could see that this central area was circular, and there were seven other paths that led to the center. In the middle of the circular room was a raised platform, with eight symbols around the outer edge, and one circle in the middle. As he stepped forward to investigate further, a brilliant flash of prismatic light filled the chamber.
Eight figures of glowing light appeared, each one standing just at the edge of the central platform, one step away from the symbols marked on the floor. Gedion recognized the one in front of him as human in form, though glowing and ethereal. Glancing at the others, he saw Tevarin, Xi'An, Banu, Vanduul, and three others he didn't recognize. A fear gripped him, and though he opened his mouth to speak, no words came out.
Each of the either figures took a step up onto the circular platform in the middle of the room. As they took their place on the symbols in front of them and looked toward the mark in the center, another flash of light, this time a pure white, overwhelmed him. When he could see again, he perceived a pillar of white light starting from the circle in the middle of the platform and shooting up into space. As his eyes adjusted, he began to make out the form of some kind of entity, floating in the white light.
"Bearer of the Prophet's Gear, tell us, how goes your mission?" A booming voice spoke, seemingly coming from everywhere.
"My mission? Prophet's Gear? I don't understand," Gedion stammered, trying to get his fear under control.
"This one is ignorant. They have fallen far from the path," The ethereal Vanduul replied.
"Tell us, are we one?" The booming voice asked.
"Who? I don't understand!" Gedion replied.
The white entity inside the pillar of light stretched its arms out to signify all of the visages standing around the circle.
"You mean these… things? Or those they represent?" Gedion inquired.
"We speak of the returning of all creatures to one whole. We speak of unity." The booming voice replied.
"Well... No. Humans and the Vanduul are at war. Relations are alright with the Banu, Xi'an and Tevarin, but I don't even know who three of these others represent," Gedion replied.
"You must find them. You must bring together the essence of who they are. This is the only way to save humanity. The only way to save them all. This is your mission." The booming voice dictated.
"But I don't understand, my mission?" Gedion asked, confused.
"In each of these is contained a piece of the puzzle. But each of these also contain violence, greed, apathy. The puzzle is the key to harmony. The puzzle is the key to salvation. You must find the puzzle pieces. You must restore harmony." The booming voice continued.
"How do I do that? I still don't understand. What does it all mean?" Gedion fired questions out as rapidly as he could, but it was no use. Reality began to distort around him and it seemed his whole world was being pulled into oblivion. An unbearably loud sound of rushing wind deafened him as he struggled to cling to his sanity. Finally, he was returned to the black void he began in.
"Eight must become one, you must see it done" A faint whisper surrounded him.
Gedion was there on his workshop floor on his hands and knees, staring at the Prophet's Gear in front of him. It slowly powered down and the gears stopped spinning. He took it in his hands and held it to the light. He shook it violently but the power continued to fade. Defeated, he placed it back in the box and shut the lid. Gedion slumped in his chair and attempted to reorient himself to his surroundings.
"The puzzle is the key to salvation. Eight must become one, you must see it done"
The whispers of a thousand voices repeating the phrase echoed through his head.
***
Matthias' head snapped up in surprise as Gedion barged into his room clutching a strange looking box.
"What's wrong?" Matthias asked as Gedion took a moment to catch his breath.
"I know what we must do." Gedion held the box out towards Matthias. "I'll show you. We must see it done."