Chapter 1: Eyes of Truth

An new world rises in the ashes of the old, but at the cost of its creator's life. Awaiting execution, the Aspirant recounts the tale of how he changed the world recorded by a rising scholar.

For all of my academic career, one question has haunted me more than any other: does each of us truly have the power to change this world? In retrospect, I wish I had not asked, but throughout my education I had been told that one should not hesitate to ask a valid question if there is something beneficial to be found in knowing the answer. How could I have been so bold to have asked such daring questions when there was not the slightest imaginable contribution to mankind in finding their answers?

This was the one moment where I could find the answer to that most troublesome question in a fashion that might actually substantiate some sort of practical response, and in doing so fulfill a role that was apparently in high demand by the Nexus, that is, the documentation of the account of the legendary Aspirant before his execution. I knew he had the answer to my bothersome question, otherwise he had been given the name the Man Who Changed the World under false pretenses. 

Many rumors had been circulating about this man, this Aspirant. I knew the moment that I embarked on this endeavor that most of what had been said of him would continue to persist, no amount of testimony and documentation could change that; a part of me was even enthralled at the notion that I might be strung into the weave of fantasy surrounding this man when I took upon myself this incredible position. However, with all fantasies and petty delusions aside, I still found myself facing an all too familiar circumstance, the unknown, and of the cocktail of emotions I had experienced, the most prominent one of all was fear.

Who was this man? I asked myself time and time again, I had heard that he had done terrible things, monstrous things, but how? I did not understand how a man can be both awesome and terrible at the same time, it is a concept that still eludes me to this day, but one thing is certain to me now that was not then, it takes a complicated mind and an even more complicated heart to achieve such a state of dualistic ambivalence. 

Upon arriving in those shining halls, the halls of the House of Ordinance, I could not help but be taken aback by the brilliance of the scene. To one side, the walls were of obsidian adorned with silver leaf which spelled out the history of the world in the eldest of Adgeos script, the first dialect of the language now spoken throughout the Nexus Courts as the primary language of diplomacy; to the other side were spiraling pillars of granite, draped with sparkling silver silk, divided along the face of the wall by stained glass elegantly flourished and stained blue with lapis to allow the azure light of Soleos to enter the halls.

Upon reaching the grand gates that marked the entrance to the Chamber of Ordinance, gates of mahogany dressed in sterling silver, an Order in his usual blue and silver uniform greeted me with a generous spirit, "You must be Dareis Andereos, the recorder for the Aspirant's testimony, a pleasure it is."

"Dareis is I, and please, the pleasure is mine. What a rare opportunity this is to be granted a private audiance with the Man Who Changed the World," I had grown adept at disguising my terror with pleasantry.

"Well, Dareis, the Aspirant has already been brought to the Chamber, you will find your answers behind this gate. I hope you find what you are looking for in your dedication to the Nexus," he pressed a button beside the gate which scanned his fingerprint for identification and then signalled for the activation of an unseen mechanism so that the gates could then open before me to await my first encounter with fate.

I could not even thank the man as I proceeded forward into the Chamber of Ordinance, lit by the nearly stellar radiance of the cornerstone of our world's technology, fusion; I was too forgone to reply to him, I was simply too suspended from the encounter I was soon to have with the man I wish I had never met. Once I walked through the door to the chamber, the doors were promptly signaled by the same button to activate the mechanism, effectively sealing me in with the Aspirant.

Seven lapiz lazuli hands marked the seven High Ordinances, which were thought to clarify the judgment and sensibility of the Ordinances with the stabilizing energy of the stone, the blue and silver also representing the colors of the Order which the High Ordinances represented as the chiefest level of authority in the enforcement of Neogaean law. Within the grasp of each hand was an orb of radiant blue and green spiralled light. The walls were made of nanocylon reinforced glass which made them harder than the stone walls of old, and spelled out a brilliant mosaic of stained glass colored in red for the sacrifice of the Progenitors, purple for the regal houses of the Old World like the House of White that once ruled this land, black for the darkest moments of the transformation that harked the beginning of this world, and white for the Breaking Light that signified the birth of this age. The light shone through the glass as the clouds disengaged themselves from their abodes in the heavens so that the illumination of Soleos could break through much like they were said to have on the day the Revolution was over. And then there was him.

The Aspirant was standing in silence regarding the scene painted upon the glass, dressed in black for his sentence, his hands were bound with cuffs of titanium galvanized in nanocylon to ensure that he could not take advantage of my position or this interview to escape, not that he seemed at all inclined to do so. There was a strange wonder to the way he looked about the room, almost as if in a transcental reverence that I could not seem to grasp beyond the beauty and atmosphere of the Chamber of Ordinances. He stood facing the giant windows, with his bald head radiating to the vibrant energy of the lanterns like Luneas radiates the brilliant energy of Soleis. He turned to me, his face both playful and melancholy, and gestured for my approach with his wild eyes flaring with the turquoise light. 

I approached with great hesitation in the presence of such an inconceivably dangerous man, but knew that I was here to serve a purpose; with my intention in place, I quickly whipped out my Oculus Interface monocle, and turned it on to begin my transcription of the account I was about to record.

The man spoke with a deep and reverberating conviction as he spoke, "So I have been told by the Ordinance that there would be an archivist sent to hear my testimony, needless to say I was not expecting someone so young. You must be a student, I can tell by the way you observe things, not in the way many others seem to anymore. A beautiful chamber isn't it? I am quite pleased to see that architects in this new age appreciate their architecture like the Ancestors did before me."

I was taken aback by his choice of observations, as well as the fact that he could tell by my demeanor that I was a student, "You appear to be quite the acute observer yourself, and yes, I am a student at the Universitas Prinstonia, studying sociology as my emphasis."

He chuckled when I said the name of my college, "You know, in my day, we called that university Princeton University, before Latin was made the official language of academics. I always have had a keen interest in sociology, in fact I could almost call it a tragic infatuation. If I had not known of the plights of my world, then it is highly likely that all that you see here would have never existed."

I looked him clear in the eyes, and despite my terror did not resist to conjure the ultimate question, "Are you truly the Man Who Changed the World, and if so, is there any truth to the name which you carry?"

He dropped his head, and the sound of his words fell from their confidence for a moment as he suffered the words that came from him, "I am the engineer of this world yes, as engineering is the only thing I am better at than sociology, but I am not the creator of this world," he began to walk about the room, paneling through the mosaic in mourning, "Millions of lives were destroyed in the creation of this world, sacrificed for what I had led them to believe was a better world, a paradise on Earth, what we once called this world before the Revolution transformed it. I may have designed this world, but they created it, and paid for it with their lives, paving the streets of this Eden with their blood so that you could live a life of peace. Now the blood returns to the source from whence it ran, to the architect of Neogaea; I must pay the price for creating this world, I must die so that your generation can understand that violence is not the way of Neogaea."

I was utterly paralyzed at the words, how could one man order the death of millions, even if for a greater cause? How could millions just throw themselves on the line like that to die just because one man said so?

He looked straight into my eyes, and I could see for the first time that there was pain in his, this would not be the only time this would happen, "I know that look, I did what I could to prevent the violence, but it erupted before I could stop it. You must understand the violent nature of revolution, it is like both an avalanche, and a hurricane, once it is started it must be seen through, but once its path is just as unpredictable as it is destructive. I don't think you could understand it, being someone born into such a peaceful world, but once there was a time so dark that people would sacrifice themselves in droves if it meant even the slightest chance of a better world for the next generation. Unfortunately, despite my express wishes to make this transformation a peaceful one, the moment the first blood was shed, I knew that it would fall upon my hands, and that even though I never ordered it, nor ever wanted it to be shed to begin with, I would have to pay the price for making it so. This is my sentence for the horrors of that revolution, one that saved the world but killed tens of millions."

"If you know so much about what could have happened, then why even try?" I felt the outrage override every ounce of restraint I had, "You knew all of those people may die, why start it up in the beginning?" 

"Look at the world around you, isn't it beautiful? You are here to answer a question, are you not? I can see it in your eyes that there is a question behind your rage, but that with the answer of that question, there is a greater truth yet. You are here because you wish to know the greatest truth of humanity, the truth of its power, of its magnificant and destructive potential. You ask the same questions I did, I can tell, but you do not have to meet my fate, for the world is already yours. From the moment I was born I knew that I would one day have to enter a world that sought nothing short of my destruction, the world was never mine, I had no place, I had to make it for myself. Your question: does each and every one of us have the potential to change this world? The answer is yes, but at what cost? I know you do not understand now, but you will as I fulfill your purpose here, I will tell you everything you need to know, and then you will the price that I paid for your freedom before I am carried to my fate."

He read me like a book! That never ceased to amaze and terrify me. The unfortunate truth, as I realize with each time that moment repeated in my memory, was that he was right, I was just like him...