Colossus By Choice: Book 1 Verse 24

3001 P.G.E. (Post-Godzilla Era)

[Universal Date: Day 120]
[Planet: Pyrestar]
[Capital: Silver Sun City]

[Location: Silver Sun City – Silver Sun Mountain – Human Ruins]

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Skrill fiddles around with the holographic notepad, trying to figure out a way to enlarge the text to allow everyone crowding around him to see it better so that they don't have to get in on his personal space trying to read it. Unfortunately, his fiddling mostly just keeps turning the solid light on and off rather than actually help.


(Tarbo Haw): Here, let me take a look--


The elderly Radent quickly squeezes out of the gaggle and holds the notepad with a rather frustrated and annoyed expression; he continues to play around with the controls to try and figure out the device while staring down the rest of the group.


(Skrill): Hey, I found it, and I got it to work in the first place! Just let me fiddle with some of these controls and--


All of a sudden, the hard-light display explodes out from the notepad display and surrounds the group in a holographic bubble; the group now finds themselves in the middle of a massive dome of pink and blue light. They're all in awe at this sight, particularly Yun-Tao and Tarbo Haw; they're positively delighted to bear witness to such an impressive and beautiful display of technological prowess. The 2 of them begin to incessantly touch the various interactive panels lining the holographic dome surrounding them to try and figure out what they might do and end up activating various archives of information loaded onto the tiny device that they were trying to all see just moments prior and then some.


(Yun-Tao): It's so beautiful.... like a dome composed of light dancing in a symphony.

(Tarbo Haw): I've seen many displays made by the angels, but this.... this is very different.


Taum looks down at Skrill; the old man seems to be rather proud of himself. The youngling Draconi smirks a bit.


(Taum): You don't have the faintest clue what you just did, do you?

(Skrill): Not at all. But it's a mesmerizing sight to behold regardless, isn't it?


The 2 unlikely partners of different generations continue to gaze around them in wonder; Taum's eyes glance over at Cerato Falc who is almost dancing in the light with the way she's interacting with the various displays. The soft colours reflecting against her black plumage, particularly her head tufts and wings, almost paint her in an angelic fashion like the very Humans who may have once inhabited this place.

Skrill takes notice of what's caught Taum's attention.


(Taum): It sure is.

(Skrill): You're not talking about the dome, are ya?

(Taum): What?! No, here, let me uhhh-- Oh look, let's try this one!


The embarrassed Draconi youth quickly presses the interface behind him, which seems to have activated the function the group was trying to figure out in the first place. The holographic dome around them has shifted into a a singular large screen around them showing the specifics behind the original file's contents they sought to learn about in plain and quite understandable text. This seems to cut the overall awe in the face of the grandeur of such amazing technology, though everyone is still quite intrigued and curious about what they can find out.

Tarbo Haw in particular seems rather interested from the faintest skimming he's doing as he reads through. While he reads, Yun-Tao walks up next to him and taps on his shoulder to get his attention.


(Tarbo Haw): Hmm? What is it, madam?

(Yun-Tao): I've been wondering.... All of the sapient races in the universe that we know of all developed differently based on the whims of the True Titans, and yet we all ended up sharing the same language and written nomenclature when we started traversing the stars and encountered each other.

(Tarbo Haw): And you're wondering why it's also the same as the Humans' language and writing like here, despite the many thousands of years that all of us have existed and grown independent of one another, yes?

(Yun-Tao): A bit, yeah. I've never seen Human records, and it's kinda weird to be able to perfectly understand everything written here to a degree.

(Tarbo Haw): It's certainly a great mystery. Most religious types would have you believe it's divine will, and academics might build on this by saying that the True Titans wished for communication to always be clear between their creations.

(Yun-Tao): But do you believe that?

(Tarbo Haw): Honestly? I can't say for certain. All I know is that, as an archaeologist, it makes my job a whole lot simpler. Alright, let's get to analyzing this whole thing, everyone.


The group begins reading through various sections of this file to discern what exactly it's telling them. Unlike a traditional record archive or historical retelling that the 4 of them are used to, the language and organization style seems to suggest something of a recording of a back-and-forth conversation between 2 entities. Although the identities aren't explicitly given in this archived conversation, it's clear that there is a subordinate entity and a leading one based on how the subordinate one is reporting information to the leading one.

Taum notices an interface near the top of this file next to its title that says "ARCHIVED FOOTAGE" next to it. He gives it a press, which ends up expanding into a large box engulfing a large portion of one half of the holographic dome. After a bit of a pause, the black screen begins playing a moving picture.


(Tarbo Haw): I've read about these as I was going to school to learn archaeology. This moving picture is like a memory given visual form.

(Cerato Falc): You mean this actually happened at some point and was somehow saved for later?

(Tarbo Haw): Yes, exactly! Let's watch it and see what transpires.


==
==


A large, lush green valley of pine trees surrounding a massive mountain spire passes by from this aerial point of view, like a graceful Bird Wyvern flying overhead and taking in its surroundings. Although none of the existing infrastructure of the modern day is present, it's clear that this area is in fact Silver Sun Mountain based on the composition and overall appearance of the spire crag, lack of volcanic peak and slumbering Kaiju god like it is currently aside.


(Taum): It's Silver Sun Mountain....

(Tarbo Haw): This must have been thousands of years ago given the kind of greenery surrounding the spire we're seeing, before Silver Sun City was even conceived of.

(Skrill): Wait, down there! See them?


By sheer coincidence, the POV moves down while the motion picture maintains its current altitude and flight pattern, indicating that whatever it is that the group is watching through the eyes of is looking down. In the forests down below near the base of Silver Sun Mountain, there are what appear to be a small grouping of campfires with smoke wafting off of them; around these campfires are none other than a small Draconi clan.

Unlike modern day Draconi, these clan members are wearing rather simple fur garbs and wield basic spears and clubs rather than the sophisticated casters and blades of the current era of armaments.


(Taum): Those.... are my ancestors?

(Tarbo Haw): It seems so. The garb they wear is a near exact match for historical pieces at various archaeological sites on this planet, and the clan behaviour we're seeing is reminiscent of old tales passed down by elders.

(Taum): Wait, what's going on over there?


From the aerial POV of the motion picture recorder, there appears to be commotion in the trees surrounding the entrance to the encampment; several of the men of the Draconi clan are brandishing their weapons as they guard this entrance from whatever it is that's in the trees.

The culprit soon reveals itself to be a Great Jaggi, not looking different at all from its modern day descendants physically speaking. However, there appears to be a strange aura around it, similar to the dark red and black haze of Dragon Element that surrounds the head and back of a particularly enraged Savage Deviljho; its fellow Jaggi pack members are also enveloped by this crimson energy.

A battle ensues between the 2 species, one that is decidedly going in the Monsters' favour; the primitive weapons of the Draconi defenders, despite still being adequate to handle such beasts, appear to bounce off their hides. This protection afforded by whatever this energy cloak is gives the tenacious Bird Wyverns free reign to attack the encampment.

This scene of carnage is almost too much to bear for Cerato and Taum.

Before it can get truly dire, the bird's eye view of the situation suddenly begins moving closer to the action at frightening speed, indicating that whatever is recording this memory is physically moving towards this ordeal. Once it reaches within a few dozen metres, powerful bolts of pink energy fly out from the bottom portion of the motion picture, likely some kind of weapon system mounted on the memory recorder that's obscured from view.

These energy bolts hit the roving Jaggi pack dead-on, instantly killing them. Despite their deaths, the crimson aura surrounding their bodies lingers. The POV recording moves in closer, right over the Dog Wyverns' bodies, and the crimson glow surrounding the corpses is siphoned out and into the memory recorder's body; the means of absorption is obscured much like the weapon systems.


(Taum): Tarbo.... it's exactly like what you described. A dark crimson aura that resembles Dragon Element, but somehow--

(Tarbo Haw): More sinister, yes.


After collecting the dark energy, the recording device begins moving away, though its POV is still on the Draconi clan. They've suffered losses, but they're still alive and cheer on their unknown saviour; the recording abruptly ends after this.

==
==

The holographic dome that once surrounded the group deactivates, leaving them within the original lighting of the storeroom once more.

The group is at a loss for words after what they've seen; the seconds of silence that transpire are agonizingly long. Finally, though, Tarbo Haw speaks up.


(Tarbo Haw): Well, that was certainly enlightening.

(Taum): Do you suppose that energy was captured and held in the container you spoke of?

(Tarbo Haw): It very well might have been. It's a dark and sinister energy to be sure given the way it affected those Jaggi, and I'm not surprised Mechagodzilla sent out its eyes and ears to protect your race from it. Of course, we haven't learned the significance of this information yet.

(Taum): I wouldn't be too sure about that, Tarbo.

(Tarbo Haw): Really?


Taum walks up to Skrill, who's still holding the inactive notepad in his hands.


(Taum): May I?

(Skrill): Sure, I guess.


The old Radent man hands his young partner the notepad and scampers to a nearby crate to sit down. Taum fiddles with some of the buttons and commands, bringing up the holographic dome once more and playing the recording they just watched. He manages to find the function that stops this artificial memory at the point in its runtime where the Jaggi pack reveals itself to the ancient Draconi; he manages to figure out how to zoom and enhance the still image to focus on the dark energy that emanated from and empowered these Bird Wyverns.


(Taum): You see this energy, everyone? Now tell me, Yun-Tao.... does it seem familiar?


The middle-aged Oxbul forge-widow squints hard at the highlighted part of the recording, but she seems to come to a realization; Skrill gets off his crate and comes to the same realization. Taum smiles at having figured out something from an otherwise unrelated historical record, though Cerato Falc and her uncle are a bit puzzled as to what the 3 of them could possibly have understood from pointing this out.


(Yun-Tao): That energy is just like--

(Taum): The Oozaru, yes. The same energy that permeated from that Iwi-ki member before he transformed into that Great Ape. I have my own theory for what transpired there, and I believe it has to do with--

(Mechagodzilla): WRAITH AR-RRRR-GENT. SUS-SUSPEND-END-ED AND CONTAI-AI-NNN-AINED. REACT-ACT-ACT-IV-V-V-VATED BY SKULL K-K-KK-KING.


The sudden booming mechanical voice of the Titan Spirit itself catches everyone by surprise and puts them on edge. Before any of them can process this moment further, a large holographic projection of the ghostly deity's head appears in front of the group. It's pink and exactly as misshapen as the legends foretold with its many jutting points and edges, but the image seems to be corrupted almost and is glitching and contorting.


(Mechagodzilla): WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE?