2.68 Remedial Operations


Dion's Salon was a hive of activity, the door chime was ringing non-stop. Aromatic and gorgeous Gens, high on hormones, desire and lust, poured into the waiting room to have their hair done by Atalon’s finest. Having celebrities like Mel or even gods like Dion do their hair was like a door prize, the business had never seen this sort of traffic, a positive start to the dawning of the New Empire.
         Torus watched the activity buzzing through the beaded curtain in the reflection of the wall while Dion styled his hair, he hadn't expected a new sort of energy descend upon the city, it was as if Atlan had morphed into a giant Vine Club, he wasn't sure what had ignited the Gens, was it the tents? The food?
         "I hear the gates were a tremendous success" Dion shared the latest gossip as he combed his long auburn tresses, noticing his distracted attention. "Halios thinks you’re a promising young leader!" Torus remained silent, unsure which way the wind was blowing. "He isn’t the only one who has noticed, it seems your little fundraiser is a tremendous success, too, even Mel was high on Soloha last night."
         Torus chuckled as memories of Mel returned, distracted from his distractions he returned his gaze to his own reflection and practiced a smile.
         "It's fantastic" he agreed, smiling. "Idiots!"

         Moments later, Mel returned with her new client and sat him down beside Torus. Halios was eager to share his news, too.
         "I saw Bell at the pancake breakfast this morning. He was following Josh around!"
         "How long do you think it will take him to figure it out?"
         Halios settled in the chair and consulted his own reflection for a moment. "Two days!"



         "Mina raised the goblet and offered it to the storytellers. This time Akku, the drummer volunteered to narrate the next part of the historical saga. Zara watched the new volunteer with great interest as he took the goblet from Mina. He was from the Dogon tribe, a grown up version of the little boy, his long ebony curls, braided and beaded with silver and turquoise beads glistened against iridescent skin, his clothes were more Star Tribe than Dogon, apparently it wasn't a crime to wear each other's clothes here. Like the storytellers before him, he closed his eyes and held the goblet just right, listening to the whispers of the Yew tree while the light danced across his face.
         "Atalon had inherited a kingdom in decay" he began as the image appeared in his mind. "The magnificent city of Vinilla had become a crumbling city of ruin, but Atalon wasn't deterred. He had big plans for his new city, Atlan. He began by rebuilding the city from the ground up. At first the Star People were happy, they willingly worked for their gold beads under the new king's rule. The Vine Club became legal and trendy, the newly renovated city of Atlan flourished with new business and popularity, tourism picked up and the coffers began to fill again.
         As the Origians were nearing adulthood, Atalon had anticipated a seamless transition, it was to be a time of expansion but there was a balance of energy shifting that was affecting his plans. Now that the prohibition had been lifted, many of the slaves were falling in love, the Phoenix Flame was rising, Archons were being smothered and Phoenix babies were being born in exponential ways.
         Forced to intervene, Atalon turned toward the old trick his father had tried so hard to master so as to regain his power; Fear. He came up with a cunning plan. He would run a Tabloid Campaign that read: 'NEW ORIGIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL THINK TANK DISCOVER NEW TRUTH ABOUT OUR PAST!' He would demand they discard all they had been told about their god Elon. He would tell them that ancient texts revealed that Medel was the real Creator god, that he had been possessed by Archonic Forces who made him spread lies about Elon and that was why he hadn’t been protected from Aquilla’s Wrath! He taught them that Aquilla was an Archonic Demon, that only a true Creator god, the Real Phoenix had the power to slay him.
         He ordered the slaves worship the statue as Medel. He made them tremble in fear of Aquilla’s Wrath. He told them they had to beg Medel for His forgiveness or else suffer the same fate as Medel himself. He told the slaves the only way Medel would forgive them was if they sacrificed their finest blood for Him. That's how sacrifices beneath the idol of their Creator god, Medel, became a regular routine."
         "What?" Zara couldn’t believe her ears.
         "Overnight, the slaves began to divide between those that believed in their new king's story of Medel, and those who felt that perhaps this so-called Archonic spirit had possessed the king, too. There were many slaves who had wondered what was true and what was not, many of them had been betrayed by friends of late, perhaps these friends had been possessed by this Archonic spirit also?
         These slaves with questions began gathering in secret, in search for the truth about their Solarian past and this so-called Archonic spirit that was enslaving their tribe with Fear, Heartache and Greed. As the sacrifices in the Courtyard began to take their loved ones away, more and more slaves began to question these new beliefs. It was because of love that the slaves went in search of the truth about these Archons."
         Zara couldn't help but identify with the story. It was the love she felt for Orien that drove her to overcome her fears in search of him, it was love that fueled her thirst for the Truth. She too wanted to know why her beautiful baby boy had to die more than ever now, no matter how badly it hurt.
         "This new questioning of beliefs created a new division amongst the slaves, which generated a new Dark Energy." Akku continued. "Arguments between those who believed, those who did not and those who knew, but didn't want the Phoenix slaves to know, became viral. Slaves took sides, fights were spilling out into the streets, production was suffering and this set the stage for Atalon’s next stage of the plan."

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