Inquisitor's Promise (Act Three, Chapter Twenty-One)

The Holy League had been united, but the Grey Globe continued to move towards Earth. Aeneas and the members of his inner circle knew they had much to do and little time to prepare.

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Chapter Twenty-One: Journey to the Center

The last message of Patriarch Caius Aquilanus was the last memory that Lavinia had experienced from the First Nineveh. And she understood everything now. She understood why Aeneas did what he did, even if his rejection still hurt.

“For so long, I had pursued Aeneas because I had seen the two of us as the new Caius and Simona. Together, the two of us were supposed to reunite House Aquilanus and restore the rightful place of the deep ones in the Holy League.”

“And that’s why you tried to kill Lady Galatea. Her presence meant the shattering of your fantasy,” Nineveh stated.

“Yes,” Lavinia said. “But the end of that dream isn’t all bad. Just as the shattering of the puppy love between our founders sowed the seeds of true love. God has a plan for my life. And it’s right here — with you.”

For the first time since the two had met, Nineveh was at a loss for words. “My queen…”

And Lavinia smiled sweetly at Nineveh. “My king, I’ve made up my mind. I want to help Aeneas, help the Holy League.”

Thus, Nineveh outlined Aeneas’ request for the Swarm to his queen. The Great Swarm had been tasked with making their way to the Center of the Earth, to the machine intelligence known as Methuselah.

The machine intelligence was known to be the operator of the life support systems which allowed Earth to maintain its quintillions of people. What most did not know was that it also powered the energy shield that protected the whole Earth from orbital bombardments, a relic from the Dark Age Civilization who feared threats from outer space.

According to the Recordkeepers, Methuselah also had the ability to strengthen that shield and produce a defense system to deal with external invaders. But this was only possible with additional power. Power that at the moment could only be given by Nineveh’s Swarm.

And so, the journey to the center of the Earth began.

Like the surface, the interior of the Earth had undergone great changes during the Dark Age of Technology. Right below the surface of the Earth were the undercities, underground habitations below the Earth accessible mostly through the hive cities that dotted the landscape. They also included the Pacifica Under-Ocean. The undercities formed the lower levels of the Earth’s crust.

Below the Earth’s crust was the mantle. This part of the Earth was made up of lava that were neither liquid nor rock solid. The Dark Age Civilization had constructed a series of pipeline networks that extended from the undercities down to the Earth’s core. It was in these pipelines that habitations could be found, known as the pipeline-cities. But even in the heat of the mantle, humanity still thrived. The magma men, with their heat-resilient skin, made their mobile habitations in the moving mantle. They made their living by magma diving, collecting valuable minerals to be traded to the pipeline dwellers.

In was in the mantle where Nineveh’s Hive could be found, where both Nineveh and Lavinia were physically located. Between the upper and the lower mantle was the watery transitional zone. It was said that the waters found here was the source of the Fountains of the Great Deep that had flooded all Earth over ten thousand years ago.

In the past, the water here would have been much too hot for the Swarm. But now, the liquid acted as coolant and provided water for the interior pipelines. They also became the new home for the Swarm after they were banished from Nepoli and Lake Tyrion. This was possible since the exiled Patriarch Ulysses had set up the Pacifica Duchy right near the interior pipeline which provided access to the Transitional Zone.

It was from this transitional zone, also known as the Swarm Country, that Nineveh and Lavinia sent their Swarm. Taking the pipelines that went deeper into the Earth’s interior, the Swarm Monarchs visited various pipeline towns with their avatars. The metallic towns reminded Lavinia of the Lepanto in so many ways, a manmade construct but also home to many.

As they moved down towards through the pipelines, Nineveh made sure to leave behind cerebrate units wherever they stopped. These ‘swarm brains’ allowed both Nineveh and Lavinia to have a good connection with their faraway avatars and swarm creatures.

Moving further down, the Swarm reached the outer core of the Earth. Unlike the mantle of the Earth, the core was liquid. It was in the liquid of the core where the magma men made their submarine cities that moved around this part of the Earth. As for the pipelines, they continued to go further down.

Nineveh and Lavinia also stopped by the Kingdom of Hyperborea, known as the Gateway to the Core. As the largest pipeline city in the Earth’s interior, it also served as the hub where humans of all races converge. Unlike the smaller pipeline towns, the large city of Hyperborea reminded Lavinia of what she had lost.

As she witnessed the marketplace of Hyperborea through her avatar, Lavinia felt great sadness. One that was easily detected by Nineveh.

“What’s wrong, my queen?” Nineveh asked.

The two avatars could not look any more different. Lavinia had opted for one that looked much like her body, though in its underwater form. Nineveh, on the other hand, had a more bestial look befitting the King of the Swarm. At twenty Imperial feet of height, Nineveh’s avatar towered far above his queen’s.

“My king, I was just wondering what I had lost,” Lavinia answered.

“Oh? What brought this on?”

“The food at the marketplace. They look all kinds of delicious. But now I have no need for food.”

“That’s right, I’ve seen your memories,” Nineveh said. “You are a big eater, like our foundress Simona.”

Lavinia nodded. “All deep ones eat a lot, my king. It’s how we keep the energy to command our swarm. But now that I’m not a deep one anymore…”

“Who says that you can’t eat?” Nineveh asked.

“But we have no need for food. This is only our avatar. And our real bodies are nourished straight by the waters of the Swarm Country,” Lavinia said.

“We have no need for food. But that doesn’t mean we can’t eat ourselves,” Nineveh responded. “Fear not, my queen. You will have your cuisine.”

Lavinia smiled sincerely. “Thank you, my king.”

And so, the Swarm help themselves with the food of Hyperborea. That day, the food merchants of the Kingdom ran up the highest profit they ever did.

But food was not the only thing that Lavinia had enjoyed. After their banquet, Nineveh offered his queen some diamonds. Lots of diamonds, to the point that she was swimming in them.

The Swarm Queen tried to tell her king that this was not necessary. But Nineveh insisted, telling her that such gifts were fitting for her.

Lavinia couldn’t help but be moved by such gestures. She thought of Aeneas and how her cousin tended to be measured when it comes to showing affection. Even with Galatea, she had noticed how it was the lady knight who initiated any display of affection between the two.

This was something different for her. One that she wholeheartedly welcomed.

Afterwards, the Swarm moved even deeper to the center of the Earth. Once more traveling down the interior pipelines, Nineveh and Lavinia finally reached the Inner Core of the Earth.

The solid inner core was the final destination of the Swarm. But the inner core was not completely solid, it was hollow with tunnels dug during the Dark Age. It was here that the Swarm met with the Guardians of the Core, a group of albino humans who had made it their duty to protect Methuselah. The other group who was of interest to the Swarm were the Methuselah machine spirits. Inhabiting the Methuselah servers, these machine spirits ensured the continual working of the machine intelligence.

It was at this point that Lavinia found herself deep inside the Earth’s inner core, with her was Nineveh and their Swarm creatures. In front of them was a large machinery that dwarfed even Nineveh’s avatar. Surrounding the machinery were the albino guardians.

“Is this Methuselah?” Lavinia asked.

“Not quite,” one of the guardians answered, a petite woman with long white hair and very pale complexion. “Methuselah itself lies deeper inside of the core.”

“They say that hell lies deeper inside it, beyond the Methuselah server,” Nineveh added.

“What?” Lavinia said. “No way! I thought it’s somewhere in the Hydra constellation or on the bottom edge of the physical universe maybe...”

“In any case, you’re not here for a theological discussion,” Another guardian said sternly, he was a burly man with short white hair. “You’re here to help the Holy League.”

With that, the guardians gave the Swarm the instructions towards powering up Methuselah. In and of itself, Methuselah had the necessary energy to maintain the Earth’s life support system and energy shield with the use of geothermal energy. However, more was needed in order to supercharge the machine intelligence to increase the strength of the energy shield and produce the Earth’s defense systems.

Given the situation, this could only be done through kinetic energy. But large amounts of kinetic energy could only be generated by a large army — a swarm.

Wasting little time, Nineveh and Lavinia commanded their swarm creatures to take their place all over the inner core. Connected by treadmill-like machines, scores of swarm creatures then began to exert their energies.

It took a while, but the combined energies from the Swarm thus coursed through the machine intelligence.

Lavinia looked on in awe as she saw Methuselah’s interface started to glow with the kinetic energy that the Swarm had provided it.

“My queen, we have accomplished our mission,” Nineveh said.

“I can see that, my king,” Lavinia responded.

“I will inform the Holy Father of our success. I will also inform Lord Inquisitor Aquilanus. Do you want to add anything to my message?”

Lavinia’s thoughts wandered towards the Inquisitor — the man who had scorned her. A mischievous grin formed on her face. “I do. Tell Aeneas, that I’m coming for him!”

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