Iron Rain Pt. 13

"Andrew do you know what this is," Ingrid asked but could see by the wild eyed expression that he did. "Be a lamb and show me how it works."

Andrew dried his hands and examined the device and discovering the power switch turned it on. Instantly the tablet was ready for use and he whistled.

"Damn that is fast," he muttered.

He examined the icons on the desktop and saw one marked avatar interface. Andrew double tapped the icon and nearly dropped the tablet when the crystals lit up and the holographic avatar appeared in the air above them.

"HOLY SHIT," they said together.

The avatar was a handsome gentleman dressed in a gray wool suit and carrying a silver headed walking stick. He looked so real it was amazing.

"How can I be of service," he said in a proper British accent.

"Ummm what are you," Andrew asked.

"Ah, I am your humble servant. I can access any program already loaded into my tablet or any you provide me later. I can surf the web for you as well as perform whatever digital tasks you require. If this avatar is not suitable a variety of other choices are available."

"Does it have a name," Ingrid asked.

The avatar turned to face her and smiled.

"I respond to Alfred but that is an arbitrary assignment mum, if you wish to change my name or appearance at any time, simply select those options either through me or the tablet."

Andrew placed the tablet safely away from the tub and looked at Ingrid.

"He belongs to you," Andrew said. "Do you want to see what other Avatars are available?"

"Sure," Ingrid asked. "Show us what you got Alfred."

"Very good mum," it replied and began to display each of the other nineteen male and twenty other female avatars.

So as they ate and drank they watched the slow parade of digital assistants take stage for a time and then the next one would appear and Ingrid saw a definite pattern to them all. They were all very young and very attractive. If she were going to have an assistant he would have to dress the part.

"Alfred, I like this particular image above the rest," Ingrid said settling on a young man of about twenty years with scruffy dishwater blonde hair and hazel eyes. "But I am not keen on the way he is dressed."

The new avatar sat down crossed legged and appeared in only his underwear and a smile.

"How would you prefer I was dressed?" it asked in an accent that hailed from the Midwestern United States.

"Can you show me clothing fitting the present year," she asked. "Let's start with shirts."

A virtual clothing store appeared and smiling Ingrid shopped for the perfect shirt and settled on one with a college logo and crest. Then she picked out tight jeans that hugged him in all the right places. She gave him eyeglasses with round lenses and dark metal frames for an intellectual look. Lastly as a personal quirk she chose for him to go barefoot.

"So what do you think," Ingrid asked Andrew.

"He is definitely your type," Andrew said moving behind her and feeling her squirm a little.

"I wonder how smart he is," she asked wiggling her butt over Andrew's growing erection. "I am thinking you don't look like an Alfred anymore any suggestions?"

"How about Damien," the avatar offered.

"Ooh I like the sound of that, Damien it is," she cooed as the head of Andrew's cock began to slide inside of her.

"Shall I return after you are done having sex," Damien asked.

"You know about that," she asked as the rest of Andrew pierced her completely.

"Yes your heart rate is elevated as well as other tell tale signs of sexual arousal and of course there is the obvious positioning of your bodies," it said smiling.

"MMMMM perhaps you'd like to watch," she purred.

"If that is what you want Mistress," Damien replied softly. "I am programmed for adult entertainment such as dancing, erotic dialogue and yes even watching my owner engage in sex."

"You are a wonder," she moaned now as Andrew began to thrust into her.

"Someone is coming," Damien said and disappeared.

There came a knock and Jade stepped in and saw Ingrid up against the side of the tub with Andrew thrusting into her from behind slowly.

"You started without me, oh well I'll just slip in and see if I can lend a helping hand, or mouth or MMMMMM whatever comes to mind." She purred as she began to undress.

The Black Pyramid Awakens:

The old man made his way up the winding trail through the cloud line and after ten long minutes reached the path's end just above the cumulus strata. The top of the mountain appeared to have been sheared off to form a circular flat base of volcanic stone and set directly in the center the Black Pyramid. The exterior was a shell of mirror bright polished black marble that reached three hundred feet into the air and beneath it millions of intricately carved blocks of black diorite. Diorite was harder than granite but when polished had a finish not unattractive in its own right. The old man approached the pyramid and walked along the side aligned with the old magnetic north before it had shifted all those years ago. A single block of marble was marred by five vertical rows of hieroglyphics so ancient there were few left alive who could read them and even fewer who could recognize their origin. He touched twenty cartouches in a specific sequence and set many things into motion within the Black Pyramid but for the outside world it had been centuries since it had been opened and entered.

"Moira wake me when it is opened I am going to take a nap," the old man known as the Eternal Master said.

"Would you like me to sing you a lullaby as well William?" she asked sardonically.

"You can be such a bitch you know that," he said with a smile.

"I am only as good as you made me so you have only yourself to blame."

"So you keep reminding me," he said walking to a vantage point of the rest of the island and found a patch of grass that somehow had managed to not only take hold but thrive.

William Delacroix sat down on the soft grass and lay back and stared at the brilliant blue sky and waited patiently for those long dead things to reawaken after centuries in darkness. He could feel the sublime vibrations coming from below ground where the ancient power was being restored and things that should have been left alone were stirring once more.

"William, it is time." Moira's soothing voice called him out of his reverie of times long passed and a myriad memories both pleasant and nightmare.

"Thanks," he said taking to his feet and walking toward the entrance now open along the Northern Wall.

Two armed Anubis Warriors stood watch with their ebony skin and their jackal heads but most disconcerting were the all too human eyes, bright blue like the sky he had been admiring earlier, which looked out onto the waking world. As he walked down the long corridor towards the main chamber on the ground level jewels ensconced blazed into life illuminating the flawless white marble floor and the ivory hued columns that lined the way. As he neared the massive vaulted chamber Bastet body slaves with their bare breasts and golden skirts attended him and stripped him of his alien garb of jeans and a t-shirt and naked led him to the sacred bath where he would be cleansed, purified and anointed with the holy oils. As the feline women bathed him William wondered why he had ever left this slice of the past behind. Once free of the stench of the outside world, the priestess laid her gentle hands upon him and prayed over him driving away all the negative energies that might cling to the Master of the Black Pyramid. At last the body slaves led him from the bath, dried him and anointed his body with oil blessed by Osiris himself. Then proper garments were slipped over his muscular frame and only then would he be allowed into the holy of holies.

Then he approached the black obelisk, one of six in existence that had fallen to earth and recovered miraculously intact etched with their alien runes that had remained indecipherable for all these long millennia. Surrounding the 70 foot tall needle of unblemished stone was a pool four feet deep and nearly twenty foot in diameter. Shooting from the pool at the four cardinal points were fountains that hit the side of the obelisk and let fall a chilling mist that both kept the air in the pyramid from becoming too dry and also served a secret purpose. The daughter of Isis greeted him at the pool holding the golden Cup of Eternal Life. Something in the alien stone was leeched out by the fountains and fell into the pool, some substance that reconstituted the mortal body. Even those among the Old Ones who were considered wise and pure guarded their two stones jealously for who among even the noble does not fear the sting of death. A single mouthful could give many years of long healthy life he wondered if Nick realized what six bottles of it had done to him. William took the lovingly wrought cup which was etched with the very characters on the stone before him and dipped it into the water and drank deeply. The energy and euphoria were unlike any drug or any pleasure of the flesh he had ever experienced. The stress and pain faded and he was young again in both body and mind. He filled the bowl two more times and drained them dry before setting the cup down and moving onto his final destination.

There were two ways of reaching the holy of holies. The first was the long arduous journey up the sloping passageways that were warded by jackal headed Anubis Guards as well as lethal traps, all of which he could easily navigate. The second way was the Gate of Amon Ra which instantly transported the recipient to the top of the pyramid. William opted for the quicker route today. He walked over to an obscure corner of the main chamber where an open archway stood and hidden in plain sight the hundreds of obscure hieroglyphics that decorated every wall on this and every level. Again touching a sequence of twenty symbols a low hum filled the archway and the air now had a distorted quality like a mirage in the desert. William stepped through and like stepping through any doorway but instead of the other side of the arch he was in the singular chamber at the top of the Black Pyramid. The angled walls of the room were of the black diorite polished smooth and etched with the history of his long life as Eternal Master. For any who could read was his greatest sin and why he had spent the millennia trying to make amends.

"If only..." he whispered then shook his head and collected his thoughts. "Are the sleepers awakened?"

"We are Master," they said in one clear voice.

"Then come forth so that we may speak," William said calling upon the digital constructs fashioned ages ago from the best and brightest minds of human and Old Ones alike.

They were the digital personalities of beings long dead and gone to dust. They had agreed to be preserved so that generations yet unborn could learn from their vast knowledge and wisdom. Before he sinned William's home had seen the young among the Old Ones come to be taught and tested by their elders and that had been a golden time. But such times maybe were never meant to last and after the Great Flood all of it changed forever. The avatars appeared in their assigned seats around the great stone table all gleaming in their digital perfection. Long ago they had possessed names known to all now they were obscure legends that men called gods, heroes and even demons. But to William they were his court of advisors and he needed them now more than ever. The hidden panels in the walls slid out and down letting in the light of the setting sun and the perpetual breeze that stirred William's soul to action. He was waiting for two more to arrive and knew that they might be a little late considering how long it had been since a council of war had been called. Minutes later the archway hummed to life and two figures stepped through side by side, the Promethean and the Horu-Ta. Unlike the other members they were actually flesh and blood. The Promethean was a woman of indeterminate years with coal black hair that fell like an ebony waterfall nearly to her feet with features that must have graced busts of the female divine in ancient times. She was tall and athletic of build and wore a robe of blue and gold. Her waist was girded with a belt of gold cunningly wrought that provided both protection and access to a myriad of devices worldwide. The Horu-Ta or Justice Born was the representative of the Old Ones and the fact that he was here meant that they were interested once more in the affairs of mankind. He was a bit taller than she with wide shoulders and also possessed a muscular physique. His short cropped blonde hair and dark skin were perfect contrasts to the woman. He wore loose fitting silk kimono of deepest emerald with the crests of his house and station emblazoned upon his chest and back. They nodded and took their places without a single word of greeting.

"Many times humanity has been plunged into dark ages that left them broken both emotionally and spiritually but none as deep or bleak as the one looming on the horizon. With so great a population and if things continue as they have economic and social upheaval will reach a level that they may never recover from. I have called this council together to seek its wisdom so that aid may be leant in the coming conflict between humanity and the Nephilim."

William sat down and looked around the table to see who would offer up their advice first. The Promethean rose to her feet and hesitantly looked at William before addressing the assembly.

"You all know who I am and the role I played in things. You also know I have been trying ever since to correct the situation with little success, until now. The crisis before us is going to reach a head when Nicholas Shaw and his opposite among the Nephilim come to cross purposes. It is inevitable but it is also because of me."

William rose to his feet and stared at her confused and not a little concerned. When the Promethean meddled in things it was never half assed.

"You may be wondering why this council of war is being called to session so early. According to best estimates the project we have been working so hard on shouldn't have produced any remarkable results for another two centuries or more. There is a reason for that. I have hidden Nicholas' true DNA signature from everyone here and elsewhere up until now. Whenever his blood was tested I intercepted the results and planted what was expected not what was his true heredity." She gestured and the familiar three strands of DNA appeared hovering in the air. "This is what his real parent's contribution was." The two outer patterns were replaced with two other triple helix chains.

"What is the meaning of this," roared William. "How is this even possible? No human woman could possibly carry the egg of an Old One it would... it would eventually wreak cellular havoc and produce cancer or some other pathogen. What did you do?"

"I went among the Old Ones and sought volunteers who would indirectly aid the human condition by offering egg and sperm donations. It took nearly fifty years to find a compatible match but find it I did," the Promethean said with a sad smile. "Even knowing the woman carrying it would eventually die the cost was an acceptable loss."

"So Nick and I are not blood related then," William said softly. "And when I murdered his mother I probably did her a service in the long run."

"It would appear so, ironic eh?" she said. "But Nick will mature slowly as any Old One would but it is his only hope if he is to defeat a more mature Nephilim." She said and sat down.

The Horu-Ta rose to his feet and spoke next.

"The Old Ones send you a message William Delacroix. A Zeitgeist was dispatched to Nicholas Shaw and spoke with him in show of their support for one of their own blood. The Promethean's tampering did not go unnoticed among the wise. If your plan reaches fruition he will have their complete support and they will aid him as they can but if and only if this is his choice by free will alone." He sat down and remained silent for the rest of the meeting.

The Dreamer took to its feet and shared in its own alien fashion.

"The time will come when my children and I will once more become the dominant species upon this world but until then I can tell you this. There is a split among the Nephilim and humans alike. A number of influential Nephilim have sided with the dwarf and have allied with the Shaw. But also many who were loyal to the Silver Twilight have sided with the Nephilim but have been drawn out and destroyed. This and other acts have agitated the enemy; the Shaw must tread lightly else his ripples reveal his long term plan and his life become forfeit." The great cephalopod settled back into its seat and returned to its dream state.

Justice and Majesty took to their feet, once known as Horus and Osiris; they began a dialogue that explained their mutual belief of what should be done.

"Nicholas must be taught the way of inspiring those who follow him," Osiris offered.

"He must be learned in the ways of combat and tactics," Horus suggested.

"Nick is learning the hard way how to get people to follow orders as well as the finer arts of warfare from a very skilled arms instructor." William said.

"Perhaps he needs some coaching in the field of management?" Osiris asked.

"Or a sparring partner to test and push his skills?" Horus inquired.

"You want to leave the sanctity of the pyramid for the outside world after how many years... why?" William grilled them.

"The boy has untapped charisma and could use an ally in this corporate monster you've created." Osiris responded.

"The lad has drive and determination and not a little skill with the blade." Horus smiled.

"Anyone else have any suggestions?" William said not expecting the responses he received.

"I would like to take a run at the boy and see how well he can handle the mechanizations of a wily woman." Bastet, goddess of Cats and fertility offered purring loudly.

"The young man has the capacity for a staggering intellect, I would like to see it fully realized," said the old man with the wry smile and mismatched socks.

"Nicholas seems to have an old soul, I want to explore its depths and help him discover enlightenment if that is his path." The young Asian man said with a sublime grin.

"It is obvious that Nick has gotten under your digital skins so I will select which of you may go and when, then we will see how things progress." William said and smiled despite himself. 'Once again you never cease to amaze me young man. You inspire those who are content lost in digital wonderlands far beyond our kin and make them hunger to teach and guide your development. Maybe we do have a chance after all.' William thought as he decided on his next course of action.