Chapter 04 - Unrest

Each agent arranged his realm differently, but they were all prone to comparing their own to their neighbors’, and agents everywhere formed general opinion as to who had the better realm.

“Phos definitely has the nicest one,” I heard one galaxy agent in Michael’s domain say, “Not only had he made it so that there’s more energy available to their stars, but he’s gotten more involved in its development than the other two have in their realms.  He tirelessly helps the dark matter agents refine their galaxy clusters.  He even visits individual galaxies and lends a helping hand.  Some of them accept this with gratitude, but the rest of us think he’s overdoing it.  He’s trying to exert too much control over minute details, if you ask me.  It’s beneath his talent.”

Phos’ crown jewel was in one rather powerful cluster, governed by the mysterious, brooding dark matter agent called Bel.  It was here where the grandest galaxy resided – the Milky Way – run by an agent of light named Mephistopheles who welcomed Phos’ influence and assistance with open arms, much to the chagrin of his neighbors and even his boss, Bel.  More highly advanced civilizations sprang up within Mephistopheles’ borders than within any other galaxy in the universe.  In the Milky Way, the solar system controlled by the agent of light, Helios, was by far the most advanced, owing in turn to his acceptance of help from Mephistopheles.

Helios had eight large planets, several dwarf planets, and many smaller objects in his domain.  They all had very advanced races living on them, but his prized planet was the third, governed by Gaia, a powerful planetary agent.  It was here that the most beautiful physical beings in the universe resided.  They called themselves the Atala.  When I first witnessed their development under the careful hand of Gaia (and Helios), I came to understand where the mythology about nymphs, elves, sirens, and even gods and goddesses originated.  They were well designed to survive and thrive in their world, and they were stunningly beautiful, somewhat similar to humans, only flawless in form and breathtaking in beauty.  Whereas humans would probably look at the races on the other planets and find them extremely unusual and even ugly, no humans would find the Atala’s appearance unattractive.  The only major differences were that the Atala’s skin tended to be different shades of green or gray, whereas human skin was based on brown and red.  The Atala also had no body hair.  Only on their scalps, eyebrows, and eyelashes did hair grow.  You may ask, “How did they regulate their body temperature without body hair?”  Well, their skin would either reflect heat away by turning silver, or allow warmth in by turning green.  They didn’t need to sweat either, thanks to this interesting feature.  Their average height was almost exactly like ours, but there was far less variance.  They were almost all between 5’ 9” and 5’ 11” for males and about four inches shorter for females.  There was not much difference in strength and intelligence between them and the humans who would come later, but owing to their immortality and their dedication to discovery and discipline, the Atala seemed stronger and more intelligent.

Meeting the two progenitors of this race for the first time was an interesting experience.  I watched as Gaia manipulated the genetic code of the two non-descript beings the creator put on the planet until she had two absolute masterpieces of beauty and design.  When Gaia was done and the two creatures woke up, the female turned to the male and called him “Atal,” and he called her, “Anta.”  Both words approximately meant “You” in the universal language.

After they had gotten through this primal introduction, they turned and stared at me.  “Malkin,” said the one named Atal after a couple moments of contemplation.  This meant “old man.”  I was a bit put off by that, but for them I technically was older.  If only they knew I would be born WAY later, they might have given me a better moniker.  They never were that good at naming things.

On Helios’ remaining planets, other highly unusual creatures lived.  On Mercury, for example, there lived a race of beings made of molten metal.

Hydargyrus, their High King showed me around one time.  “Owing to our planet’s slow rotation,” he explained, “one solar day on Mercury lasts quite a long time.  The side facing the sun is warm enough to live on, but the other is deathly cold.  We’re a nomadic race.  We build nothing on the land that can’t be moved.  At first we had to live in tents, but as we advanced we started building floating cities to slowly orbit the planet in a way that keeps them in the light.  You all from the swiftly rotating planets measure time with the sun.  We do so by tracking the rotation of landmarks on the planet’s face.  When a certain mountain range passes by underneath, we mark off a year.  And since we can’t rely on the constantly moving landscape to know where we are, we measure the position of the sun in the sky to navigate from place to place.  If you don’t want to accidentally cross the deadly border between day and night here, just make sure the sun never leaves the edge of the sky!”

The other side of Mercury was initially uninhabited.  Settlers from the colder planets in the outer solar system eventually settled here once space travel had been invented.  These visitors came from the inhabited moons of Jupiter and Saturn as well as from the dwarf planet Pluto.  They too had to live as nomads, floating above the surface, measuring time by the landmarks that passed underneath them.  These creatures used the stars to determine their relative position instead of the sun.  They had virtually no contact with the native Mercurians, because neither race could survive on the other’s side.  Some brave souls from Earth, Venus, or Mars might visit this planet, but they’d have to stay on the border between night and day, a very thin strip of no-man’s land ringing the planet where the molten Mercurians and their colder neighbors had set up floating visitor centers.

The creatures on Venus were green colored giants.  Owing to the planet’s high atmospheric pressure and lower gravity they easily grew to double or triple the height the Atala and many times their weight.  They were the last of Helios’ civilizations to develop space travel, but that was not because they were primitive, as many others thought.  They developed their home as Gabriel’s people did, slowly and carefully.  Their true passion was tending the teeming plants and animals on their hot, tropical world; so the only reason they would travel to other planets was to study the flora and fauna there.  They of course had dealings with the other intelligent creatures they encountered, who often hired the Venusians to tend to their animals and plants.  Some of these giant farmers and herders came to Earth to live.  They settled in the hot jungles, lush with life, where they founded a few settlements of their own.  The Atala did not mind the visitors, since they preferred living near, on, or under the oceans.

The native inhabitants of Mars were quite a contrast to the Venusians.  These creatures were far smaller, growing to a height of merely two or three feet, but their hands had six very long, nimble fingers each.  Except for these digits, the Martians’ bodies were covered in hair.  This served to protect them from the cold, windy climates they lived in, but it made them appear unattractive to my human eyes.  Were it not for their clothing and upright posture, one might mistake them for chimpanzees or really tiny yetis; and were it not for their facial hair, they might be mistaken for children.  They were interested in geology and mining.  They also created magnificent feats of architecture, invented complex machines and devices, and developed breathtaking jewelry which they traded with the other civilizations within the solar system.  One thing they were exceptionally good at was building clocks and watches.  These devices were a combination of their skill in mining for jewels and precious metals and their ability to build very complex devices.  The timepieces they developed would shame the finest pieces humans ever would create.  Since the Atala did a lot of space travel, they worked very closely with the Martian architects and mechanics.

The Martians developed space travel soon after the Atala in order to trade, and soon architects and jewelers were setting up shops on all planets.  Although they grew quite wealthy, they were never greedy or small-hearted.  They sold their handiwork for very reasonable prices and bought things from other races for more than they were worth, though they did this rarely, owing to the inferiority of most other civilizations’ handiwork in comparison to theirs.  Their dominant role as traders and businessmen meant that the solar system used their currency, based on coins made of aluminum, gold, and platinum, to trade.

The creatures living on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were all quite similar.  These planets were primarily gasses with a solid core upon which violent storms brewed incessantly.  The creatures living there were liquid or gaseous in form and looked somewhat like the molten metal creatures living on Mercury.  They had a thin, elastic membrane which held their gas-like organs together.  This enabled them to morph their shape, and they were surprisingly sturdier than one would suppose.  If someone were to attempt to cut one of their limbs off, the blade would either pass right through it, with the membrane healing over the gap almost instantaneously, or the entire limb would slip around the blade before it could make contact.  The only way to kill them would be to ‘vacuum’ them into a container and then add some sort of chemical that would dissolve their substance.

Some solid creatures lived deep within these four planets closer to their cores, but these were unintelligent animals, while the rational beings inhabited the airy upper layers of the planets.  These civilizations mostly stayed on their home planets or made short trips to one of their gaseous neighbors.  They could not live comfortably on the solid planets, so they didn’t really visit much.  A gaseous being on Earth would feel uncomfortably warm and bloated yet be forced to float across the ground like a pancake, owing to our thinner atmosphere.  When their more solid neighbors, mostly Atala or Martians, visited, they would usually set up mobile space stations orbiting the planet where both races could move about comfortably, not worrying about the effects of gravity or heat, or in our cases the violent storms and lightning.

Pluto as well as some of the larger moons surrounding Jupiter and Saturn had intelligent beings living on them.  These were unusual life forms.  They were not carbon based, like the inhabitants of Venus, Earth, and Mars; and since they could only survive in extremely cold environments, they rarely traveled to the planets closer to the sun.  Sometimes they’d visit the poles of Earth or Mars to use those places as a resort, sort of like modern day Europeans and Canadians visiting the Bahamas for vacation, and some brave souls settled on the dark side of Mercury, but most of them stayed among the icy-cold outer planets, rarely moving past the asteroid belt separating Jupiter from Mars.  These solid creatures had plenty of dealings with their gas-like neighbors on the giant planets, however.

Further out in the solar system beyond Pluto were some other asteroids and dwarf planets.  These had native living creatures on them, but none were intelligent.  One could invariably find the same sort of creatures inhabiting Pluto.  Actually the Plutonians used these mini-planets as farms.  When compared to the other intelligent beings, I would have to say the Plutonians spread themselves out within the solar system the most.  Granted the Atala spent more time exploring space than the beings from Pluto, but the Plutonians could call more places home in Helios’ solar system than any other race.  There were colonies or resorts on nearly every planet and on quite a few asteroids or moons.

All in all, the creatures living in Helios’ system got along well with each other.  However with the exception of the Venusians, Martians, and Atala – they enjoyed visiting and being visited by races outside the solar system – the civilizations and agents within this crown jewel of the Milky Way tended to disdain outsiders.  They coldly tolerated visits by other members of the Milky Way, but they flat out ignored or even tried to drive off anyone visiting from another galaxy.  This behavior did not go unnoticed by others.

While the creator never showed favoritism to any particular agent and praised each one for the good job he or she did, helping them if they had difficulties; the individual agents developed some prejudices.  If they found a particular realm pleasing or disappointing, they did not hesitate to voice their opinions.  Most agents did not do this with the express purpose of belittling their neighbors.  Most offered constructive criticism and not complaints.

The attitudes of the intelligent beings usually reflected the attitudes of the agents governing that particular realm.  The three biggest exceptions were the Venusians, Atala, and Martians.  The planetary spirits, Venus, Gaia, and Mars, were three of the haughtiest out there, but the inhabitants themselves welcomed anyone and everyone, displaying nothing but hospitality and kindness to all.

However some agents went beyond mere constructive criticism and mild disdain to downright animosity toward their neighbors.  These were primarily the agents who listened to Phos, Helios, and Gaia.  They were the absolute worst when it came to criticism.  Mephistopheles would often get grouped together with them owing to his unfailing loyalty to Phos.  However he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut about his neighbors’ realms.  The criticism, meddling, and ill-will got so bad that the creator eventually summoned the ringleaders and their associates to himself.

“Why do you feel the need to overstep your boundaries and meddle in the affairs of your neighbors?” he asked.  “Do not forget that I created and sustain all things in the universe.  I say all my agents are doing a wonderful job.  If I ever were to decide that an agent were performing in a substandard fashion, I would intervene and assist until he or she could continue without supervision, or I would directly commission his or her overseer to go assist.  I rarely have the need to do this, so why do you all feel you must?  If you continue this...”

“We still feel things could be improved,” interrupted Phos.  The seraphim surrounding the creator started swirling a little faster.

“Yes,” said Gaia, “Some of the creatures on Mars and Venus are downright ugly.  I’m embarrassed to be near them.”  This was quite ironic, because Mars’ and Venus’ agents were nearly as haughty as Gaia and looked down upon all the other planets.  They were giving her mutinous looks at that moment.

“Proxima Centauri, my next door neighbor is making a mess of his realm,” said Helios.  “He lets these planet-sized meteors get out of hand.  It’s bad enough they crash into his planets and cause utter chaos there, but he sometimes lets these rocks crash into my realm.  I’ve had to form three large belts of asteroids and floating debris in an attempt to shield my system from his mess.”

“The creatures on his planets need a certain number of large meteor showers on a regular basis in order to survive,” explained the creator.  “I’ve showed him how to keep the meteors in his own system, which he has done for a very long time.  I find no other problems with the way he runs his realm, and he is accepted by all there.

“As for you, Gaia, do not let the beauty of your creatures corrupt you.  I find the gigantic beings on Venus and the small cave dwellers on Mars to be quite fascinating.  They could survive on nearly any planet in Helios’ system with little need to adapt.  Your creatures are perfectly fitted for life on your planet, but they would be ill-suited to survive elsewhere.  Do not assume you are the absolute authority on the development of intelligent beings, animals, and plants.

“For you, Phos, my chief complaint is...”

“I am astounded sometimes that you could have created all this chaos,” interrupted Phos again.  The seraphim cloud was now swirling and humming ominously, “Give me a few eons, and I’ll turn your entire creation into a beautiful, idyllic paradise.  I already run about a third of your realm, and mine is by far the most powerful and advanced of the three.  Perhaps it’s time you retire and let someone with better taste clean things up.”

“Do not assume things you couldn’t possibly understand or control,” declared the creator.  “If you…”

“But I...”

“INTERRUPT me again, and I will have you governing cockroaches on a tiny asteroid near some remote black hole!” boomed the creator.  His shape now grew much larger, and the universe around him darkened and throbbed with anger, as if an enormous heart started pumping slowly.  His eyes glowed like suns, and pure wrath enveloped the rest of him like a smoke cloud.  The seraph entourage around him was livid with reflected rage.  All creatures, from little me to the greatest archangels present, including Phos, immediately went to their knees, weak with fear and panic.

“For all your power and talent and beauty, you haven’t the slightest ability to create or sustain things.”  As the creator spoke, planets and meteors began to form and swirl around his head and then explode into nothing.  It was quite unsettling.

“Your mere existence is because of me,” he continued.  ”You would be weaker than a worm without the life I have placed in you to sustain you.  You also show me you have the understanding of a worm, if you think you could do a better job.

“Now if I may continue:  If you dissenters continue to arrogantly meddle in the affairs of your neighbors, if I have to hear from one more agent about how you have tried to take over his or her realm, I will strip you of your authority and powers and place you in a prison of my own design – a place where you will learn humility and obedience or never be released.  Return to your realms this instant, and do your jobs properly.”

Phos, Helios, and Gaia, along with all the others summoned for this reprimand, did as they were told, but I could see the wrath behind their eyes as they left.  Something bad would eventually happen if they didn’t have a change of heart.  What little I knew about Earth’s history made me strongly suspect this.  If only I knew when!

After the Reprimand, it was a good time to be alive.  I still could travel through space as I desired, but eventually I would settle on Earth for good – partly because the creator told me it was my job to document history from a human’s perspective and partly because of the daughter of the king of the Atala.  However that is a story for another time.

As for the three meddlesome ringleaders, Phos, Helios, and Gaia, they went about their business without a single audible complaint.  Interfering in the affairs of others was at an all time low, and agents got along better with each other.  However in secret the three started plotting with each other and with like-minded agents and creatures, wherever they could find them.  I could not tell this was happening at first, but we all later started sensing it.

The three started making rounds, visiting as many realms as they could.  They would not only confine themselves to their own domains, but they would also visit their neighbors.  Phos would enter Michael’s and Gabriel’s domains, Helios and Gaia would travel far and wide, and Mephistopheles also assisted.  He seemed to be able to do the most at this time.  This was because the other agents still trusted him.  He had never meddled in their affairs, so they were apt to welcome him whenever he would travel into their realms.  Phos, Helios, and Gaia could also travel quite freely, though not at first.  Until their neighbors saw that they would not criticize or meddle with their realms’ management, they were wary.  But after a while, these three could move about nearly as freely as Mephistopheles.  Only Proxima Centauri remained absolutely stubborn.  He would never allow the original dissenters to visit his system after Helios’ humiliating critique.  He also would talk to Michael from time to time, which was quite unusual.  An archangel did not usually associate with a minor agent of light, especially not with one as possessive as Proxima was, and especially not when that agent was outside his realm!  However Michael and Proxima could be seen together nearly as much as the four wanderers could be seen outside of their realms.

I asked Proxima about this one day, for I too was becoming quite suspicious of things and curious about his dealings with my combat instructor.

“Let’s just say I am developing a new appreciation for warfare, and I am seeking Michael’s advice,” he said.  “You can find the wanderers spending more time in his realm than in Gabriel’s or even their own.  I think they are recruiting agents and beings from his domain to join them when they are ready to rebel.  The wanderers know not all of their people will join in this rebellion, so they need others to run those realms whenever they evict the loyalists.  Gabriel’s system, however, is stable and absolutely loyal to him.  Phos won’t get anywhere trying to seek allies there.”

“So you think they’ll actually rebel against the creator?” I asked.

“Of course!” he said matter-of-factly.  “I have friends who are quite steadfast in their commitment to law and order, but they still are friendly with the four.  They tell me the rebels are planning on who gets which realm whenever they start their coup d’état.  Michael keeps telling me I can have one of the vacated solar systems in his realm whenever I get evicted.  I just laugh and tell him I’m not going anywhere, but he’s not so hopeful.  I’m sure I’ll be fine.  I have powerful friends, you know!” he said with a wink.

“Where it will get messy,” Proxima continued, “is when it comes to the physical beings on each planet.  They can decide to rebel or remain loyal just as we spiritual agents can; only it’s not so easy moving them about.  Should I happen to get evicted, it’s no issue for me to travel halfway across the universe to another star, but they could never hope to do that!  That’s why it’s so important to fight to hold on to our domains.

“We’re pretty sure the creatures will follow suit with their spiritual agents in most systems and planets.  There are several places near the edge of Michael’s and Phos’ realms where the intelligent beings and agents have differing loyalties but where transport would not be too complicated an option.  Only in Helios’ and my systems is there a serious problem.  The Milky Way is centrally located in Phos’ domain – entirely too far to hope to transport large numbers of physical beings should they suddenly require evacuation.  We know there are some staunchly loyal creatures on Venus and Mars and some downright rebellious ones in my system.  It pains me to see mine like that.  They have a pretty good opinion of me, but they’re too easily manipulated.  I know the agents in my system will not rebel, but the creatures will.  Helios must have crept in and turned their loyalties while I was away one time visiting Michael.  On the other hand, it’s looking like all the agents in Helios’ system will follow him in rebellion, as will most of the creatures, but at least three civilizations will remain loyal, the Venusians, Martians, and Neptunians.

“One place we’re really not sure of is on Earth.  The Atala will do whatever their king and queen do, but nobody knows what they are thinking!  They’ve remained non-committal to Gaia, but whenever I or one of my agents visits them, they won’t assure us they’ll do the right thing either.  I’m convinced they’re cleverer than they look.  They don’t want war to break out on their planet, but they know they could get annihilated if they anger their spiritual overseers.  I think they’ll do the right thing, but who knows?  Michael and I will have to focus our efforts on that planet when the rebellion starts.”

“Well, I happen to have some insider information from the Atala,” I said.  I know their youngest daughter, Cala, pretty well.  She wouldn’t join in any rebellion ever.  She mistrusts Gaia, and she has more influence over her parents than they do over her.  Plus, after interacting with that civilization for a while, I’m convinced they are incapable of going bad.  They’re just too good-natured and unassuming, despite their most-favored-nation status within the universe and the haughtiness that could cause.  It is true they have a lot of dealings with the four wanderers, but they also care for and respect any and all civilizations they encounter.

Also, they don’t think in military terms like you do.  They’re not consciously riding the fence, as it were, to prevent a war or to curry favor with their spiritual overseers.  Their good nature simply makes them oblivious to any potential rebellion.  It would be wise for you and Michael to try to rescue them, should it come to war.”

“What are you going to do when it happens?” asked Proxima.

“I think I’ll stay on Earth and marry Cala,” I answered.  “She’s wanted me to marry her for some time. I’m just not quite ready to settle down on one planet yet.  Plus I have to figure out a way to tell her I am unable produce babies for her.”

“I don’t see why that should be so hard,” said Proxima.

I didn’t want to get into a lengthy explanation with an agent incapable of breeding about how most female creatures have a strong desire to reproduce, so I avoided answering him.  We wished each other the best and parted ways.  I can’t say I was encouraged much by the talk, but I did learn some useful information.  I decided to pay a visit to High King Atal to see exactly where he stood.