Chapter 29 #2
I would design a high-speed tram system running along the inner shore of the atoll and crisscrossing the center island, effectively making travel along the island easier.
The north side lagoon was large enough to have twelve housing apartment buildings circling a central social hub.
There could be four main pathways connecting the hub to land, three to the main island, and one to the atoll—each ending at tram stations.
Each building would have a lower floor filled with cafes, restaurants, and stores to give the occupants basic services with no need to go into the entertainment district.
Each apartment would be fully customizable—using the new living building concept Zirene wanted to test out before implementing it on his next generation of ships—and have a personal deck suitable for whatever the renters needed.
There would be a garage and storage in the basement for those who needed it. I didn’t want the moon to be filled with vehicles but knew citizens would need an easy way to transfer goods—and I highly doubted anyone would have the tech Kaede had, especially civilians.
I wanted to use the same circular format I used in the housing district for the entertainment district, but instead of apartment complexes, it would allow for the freedom for markets and such.
Odelm deserved his music hall, and it should hug the southeastern quadrant.
I knew that I wanted it to be shaped like a flower floating along the surface of the water—similar to Earth’s lotus flower.
He may not be a Wudox, but a glass dome surrounded by wings for galleries and a theater would be both functional and gorgeous.
Everything about the island would be designed for sleekness and beauty—while being functional and practical.
Art was something the CEG species were slowly forgetting as they battled to have better tech and advantages over others.
If I could make Destima a hub for artists to gather, put on their shows, and sell their work, I would be happy.
There would be enough jobs created to keep the island stabilized, along with the mining company.
The Destiny’s disabled members would have a place to work, providing for their clan while the others defended Zirene’s star system’s territory in rotations, leaving their nestqueens on Destima.
The nestqueens could conduct their research, allowing their bodies to adjust to being planetside and being able to cycle with time.
This was my vision for Destima.
Gathering lost souls looking for a place to call their own reinforced my feeling that I was doing the right thing.
There were others out there looking for a safe place to call their own—to be free from the fear of being used or abused.
A place to have the freedom to be who they were and grow a business and a family.
I wanted Destima to be that place.
The demi-humans. The exiled Circuli. The Zero G-Spot workers.
Things may take time to settle, build, and develop, but I could see it becoming a booming place.
I glanced at the unused island. At the moment, no plans came to me about what I should do with it. Perhaps an expansion of the main island in the future or maybe a place for my children to build something. I chuckled. That would be many years from now. I needed to focus on the here and now.
A wave of dizziness hit me, knocking me from the sky. I fell fast, reaching toward the sun as it got farther and farther away. Closing my eyes to brace myself for impact, I waited. When none came, I opened them.
Gone was my familiar tropical paradise.
Instead, I was strapped down to an experiment table with bright operation lights blinding me.
“Brother!” a tenor voice screamed.
“Who are you?” I asked, confused. “What is this?”
The table shook, and a cluster of shimmering clear wires wiggled into view, moving toward my head. I tried jerking away but could only thrust my head back and forth.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The clear wires halted above my shoulder, each strand acting independently from the others.
“This is my dreamscape. You don’t have permission to be here,” I shouted.
“You are the one doing the invading,” he growled. “Did the Vhalxt send you?”
I tried to locate his voice, but it seemed to have no source. The light was preventing me from making out where I was and who was here with me. Only the dancing fibers let me know I wasn’t alone.
“Vhalxt, who?” I asked, confused.
“The Vhalxt,” he replied in annoyance. “I know all the Verya in this galaxy, and they are all under my command.”
“I am not a Vhalxt or Verya.”
“You lie,” he barked.
“Why would I lie?”
“Because they all do to get their way!” he yelled. “Give me back my brother!”
“I have no one!” I screamed. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”
“If you won’t give me my brother back, I will force you to.”
Suddenly, the wires fell away, out of sight.
A wave of dizziness washed over me. My head throbbed as my vision blurred. Figures faded into view, blocking the bright lights above.
“You were correct. She trusted the bond you share to protect her,” A robotic voice from my past chuckled.
“It was easy to persuade her to listen to us,” Odelm chuckled. “Between Xylo and I, we were able to easily misdirect her thoughts and feelings.”
I shook my head in disbelief. This was all a dream—a nightmare. They couldn’t be here. This couldn’t be real.
“And now we know she can fully adapt to any species. We can introduce her to all of our prisoners,” Xylo beamed. “It would be easy to capture more now that the CEG believes all of their threats are gone.”
“Then we will harvest all of her eggs and inseminate them with Yaarkin DNA, altering them to fulfill our original goal with the creation of a new generation,” the Yaarkin explained. “Her offspring will conquer the universe, making the Yaarkins the new dominant species.”
“Will they be enough to defeat the Vhalxt?” V’dim asked.
“Of course they will. We didn’t do all of this for nothing,” Z’fir said.
“We will soon be free from her,” Xylo agreed. “No longer embarrassed by having a nestqueen who isn’t a Circuli.”
I opened my mouth, but words refused to come out. Gasping, I felt my throat closing on itself, making it harder to breathe. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled for air.
What was the point of living when everything you believed in was a lie?