Iron Rain Pt. 20

"Great a sentient star with an attitude, I love it," I told her.

I say 'her' because I definitely got the impression she was female. I got closer and stared at her corona and the gentle flow of plasma across her surface. There was a sudden flare of activity and I was tugged backward to avoid collision with something emerging from the coronal mass. It was miles across and many more times that in length. It appeared to be some sort of crystalline egg surrounded by a halo and followed by a trail of blazing energy.

"Is that what I think it is," I muttered.

"Nick, remember this is a time/space conduit. While you are experiencing things from your time line you are physically in another place and time," Ptah warned me.

"What the hell does that mean exactly?"

"It means dear Nicholas that whatever you do here and now will forever impact the future, your future."

"Great, just fucking great," I muttered as I watched the crystalline egg hurtle towards interstellar space. "What do I do, is this a natural process or will it perish unfulfilled in the cold darkness of the void?"

"I do not know Nick Shaw for she is the First," the star said.

"Do I help her or let her just drift away," I asked and looked at the pair of godlings watching emotionless behind me. "Tell ME!"

"Nick we are out of my jurisdiction I am just an observer here," Ptah replied.

"Things are as they have always been," Bennu said in one of her clear as mud statements.

"Thanks a lot you two," I said as the egg began to tumble end over end now. "Aw fuck I know this is going to come back on me somehow."

I reached out with a gentle but firm gravity field to control her movement. The effect was nothing short of dramatic. The moment the energy from my field touched her there came an explosive arc between the two of us and I blacked out for a moment.

I blinked a few times and I was back in the control room looking around absolutely confused.

"Surfer status of controlled slide... Surfer?"

"Controlled Slide Complete Master," Surfer replied. "However your vitals are dangerously weak Sir."

"That's not important," I replied. "How are our guests doing?"

"All other life signs are stable and vital Sir, in the green."

"Okay, start the next step per my instructions. I have business I need to attend to before, well just in case."

"Yes Master Nick," Surfer said as I headed deeper into my lab.

I went beyond the labs I had shown Akira. My destination was a project I had long put on hold hoping that things would have turned out differently than they had. I went to the control panel in the center of the room and keyed in the startup sequence. The opaque pillar directly in front of me began to slowly grow translucent and at last transparent. There floating in its synthetic amniotic fluids was my doppelganger. It was a clone taken from skin samples before my dramatic change, before my encounter with the Elder Things. I had made some minor improvements physiologically so that he possessed all the assets he would require to pass for me once all the memory alterations were completed upon everyone on the island. This Nick Shaw would be the Hidden Master once more and Akira the Majestrix. I would continue on as the unknown Eternal Master overseeing things. This Nick Shaw would be free to live and love Akira without the emotional baggage of the horrific things that I had done for the sake of humanity. They would be happy and that was all that mattered to me, Akira's happiness. All my clone required were the memories of a lifetime that were edited to perfection, those Grim would provide as he was the closest thing to that template I could hope for. I took his black crystal from my pocket and inserted it into the slot prepared for it and copied them into the sleeping clone. Now when the time was right he would wake up next to her and their new life could begin. Memories were now implanted and it was ready to see if Surfer had finished editing the island's population for their awakening.

"Surfer I am finished here are they ready," I asked.

"Yes Sir I have utilized the Aries Virus to reprogram synapses to your specific design," he said and I could hear the sadness in his voice. "Are you sure about this Sir?"

"Yes Surfer I am sure, she will be happy that is all that really matters to me. Have the other avatars been reprogrammed as well?"

"Yes Sir, I am the only one who remembers who you really are."

"Wake them up old friend and transport them where they belong," I tell him.

My clone disappeared from its tank and I knew that the process was on its way. My index finger hovered over the last button required in this operation all that I required was Surfer's acknowledgement that they were awake and safe.

"Process completed all island subjects are in the green and waking up," he told me.

'Click' went the button that would remove the last memories of anyone who was aware of my true identity. I donned the mask and robes of the Eternal Master and made my way down to the Black Pyramid to see how the Osirins were getting along. After that I would visit the crew of the Numenor and see how the new couple was doing.

Epilogue: Part One

I sent an invitation to the entire crew of the Numenor to visit and witness the new beginning I had planned for the world. The Osirins had gathered food from the island as well as butchering a few of the more exotic game animals that were native here for a fine dinner. So when night fell and the sun set in what was now west we all sat down and ate.

"Master you are going to have to remove that silly mask of yours if you are going to eat with us," Fire Heart said with a smile.

"It is not a silly mask," I said but removed it all the same. "But I do see your point."

There was a collective gasp from those sitting around seeing my new face for the first time. To complete the transition and make a complete break from my old life I had taken on a radical new appearance.

"I thought you'd be human," Akira was the first to speak. "No offense Eternal Master."

"None taken Lady Akira," I told her. "I have shed my old seeming to walk freely among you as I truly am."

"Will you share your vision with us Master," it was Nick speaking, my own clone and so eloquently.

"We are equals here Nick, if I may call you that," I said and he nodded. "My vision is to radically change the very culture of humanity and see how well he adapts to it. My hopes are that once the very hardships that ruled over him are removed he will rise above his petty desires and grow as a race."

"So if we give them food, shelter and education the rest will fall into place, is that it," he asked.

"That is it exactly. There will be no more monetary economy and the whole of the population will be given a choice on what and where they want to live and do with their lives. If a man wants to farm or raise horses that will be provided for him. If a woman wants to study the heavens and beyond then that too will be provided. But before that happens the earth will be given a thousand years to heal and the animal populations will be tended to with a new human free environment. The Old Ones have crops that will be introduced into population centers to feed the family units and other food stuffs will be handled either by people as they are awoken or a new line of avatars that your friend Terry has perfected."

"What else have you got planned," Akira asked.

"Oh just a few remodeling projects," I said pointing upwards.

The full moon had reached its zenith in the sky and all eyes were staring at it when multiple objects collided with it smashing it to bits. The collective gasp was loud as most everyone got to their feet but I was unable as the strain of maintaining the gravity field around the moon was draining the last of my strength. It was Fire Heart who helped me maintain my seat as nature took over and the moon slowly coalesced.

"Master what have you done," Fire Heart asked as she held me.

"Our new home High Priestess," I whispered pointing at the moon. "I have begun a terraforming project to make it habitable for us. The comets that struck it will provide the mass and water required and the iron core asteroid with be at its molten heart just like the earth."

"You need to rest," she said as she and her priestesses carried me into the Black Pyramid.

I slept the sleep of the dead and I didn't learn until after wards that it had taken several days for me to recuperate my full strength. When I awoke I had two unexpected visitors a certain shadowcat and a couatl named Quetz.

"What are you two doing here," I asked.

"They have hardly left your side Master," Fire Heart replied from beyond the silken veils.

"Shouldn't you be with Nick?"

"He feels they sensed how ill you were and kept watch," she replied. "The Lady Akira however feels that they believe you are their true Master and befriended Nick only at your behest."

"Interesting hypothesis," I commented. "What do you think?"

"Me, I think you stink to high heaven and low hell and are in desperate need of a long hot bath."

I gave a little sniff and agreed with her completely.

"You may want to burn the sheets I'm not sure they can be salvaged," I agreed.

Naked I slipped from my bed and the two beasties rose up and followed every step I made. Quetz flew up and landed on my shoulder and slipped his long tail gently around my neck to keep from falling. Night Wind, the shadowcat, stalked behind me like my shadow and rubbed against my leg frequently purring loudly and happily seeing me up and about. I took in my reflection from the full length mirror and was unused to my new appearance. I had gone over every piece of fiction, anime and comic book to determine the form I would wear from now on. I had also delved deeply into biology to augment this form to its peak performance. So for me it was brand new inside and out. Once I had a bath it would have that new body smell I was hoping for. It was the face that was going to take the most getting used to with its slender heart shape unlike the round one I was born with. I loved the silvery gray eyes with their slit pupils; it was one part elf and one part cat. I even tweaked the ears a bit to a slight point but nothing over the top. The features were a mix of all the elements that women find appealing and could coexist in nature. I chose a mane of long black hair so unlike the military cut I had grown used to at the Bastion. My skin had a deep healthy tan to it but without those pesky tan lines. I added a few inches of height but retained the slim muscular build I was accustomed to. I thought about adding a few inches elsewhere but decided against it I liked my cock just the way it was.

The priestesses arrived and led me down to my bathing chamber where Fire Heart was waiting wearing only a smile. Soon I was sitting in glorious hot water being bathed by the lovely ladies who shared the Black Pyramid with me. When my stomach rumbled servants were dispatched to bring food and lots of it. I wasn't used to being hand fed but I could get to like it easy enough. The last of the funk was rinsed from my skin and we moved to a second pool with even hotter water to soak away the cares and stress.

"Master," Fire Heart broke the silence.

"Yes High Priestess," I replied.

"When the moon is healed what are you going to do?"

"Well if all goes as planned it will have lakes and an ocean as well as all the trees and plant life we require to sustain a quiet existence."

"When you say 'we' who does that include exactly?"

"I am going to offer any that wish to join me..." I began and was quickly the center of a group hug.

"OH MASTER," they said with one voice. "We were so worried," Fire Heart finished.

So while I enjoyed the puppy pile of feminine flesh surrounding me I heard bare feet on the stone floor. I stood up as the priestesses looked in the direction I was staring.

"Am I interrupting anything," said the voice of Akira Kusanagi.

"No Lady Akira, what's on your mind?"

She pushed open the veil that separated the cool air of the outer chamber with the warmer air of the bath house. Akira was dressed casually but quickly shed her garments and eased into the hot water with a contented sigh.

"MMMMMMMM just like home," she commented as she ducked down getting her hair wet as well.

She resurfaced not a foot away from me with a gleam of mischief in her eyes. When I looked around I was alone with her, the others had vanished from the pool without a word or a sound.

"Something is troubling me Master," she said.

"What is that?"

"Call it a woman's intuition," she said as she moved closer still.

"I am not understanding..." I started but her fierce kiss took me by surprise.

I returned it with equal hunger as her arms and legs circled around me in an intimate embrace. As our tongues duel my hands roamed over a body I knew so well even as hers caressed my new form greedily. She broke the kiss and looked me in the eye her expression one of a woman trying to puzzle out an impossibility. Akira looked me up and down and then smiled as if there was only way to solve this enigma. She swam away and sat up on the side of the pool and crooked her finger at me. I dove under the water and kicked until I was close enough and broke the surface my head between her spread legs. I never hesitated as I began to lick and suckle her soaked sex. Akira's cry of pleasure echoed loudly off the towering ceiling and that drove me further to want to see her climax for me. I eased two fingers into her and slowly teased her as my tongue flickers over her clit causing her eyes to half close. Her hands slide into my hair as she pulls my face closer still. I missed the taste of my lover so much and soon I would bury my cock deep into her and the real fun would begin.

"Oh god I can't take it anymore," Akira cried out as she pushed me away and got on her hands and knees.

I was sputtering as I came up from the water seeing her kneeling and waiting for me. I moved slowly to take in the scene but never hesitated to kneel behind her and ease my iron hard flesh into her.

"UNNNNNNNNNNNN Oh Master... it feels so damn good!"

"MMMMMMMMMMMMM Lady Akira..."

"Call me Akira... call me slave... but just make me yours lover..." she moaned.

I guess I was eternally grateful she didn't call me Kouryou that would have been too much. I settled my hands onto her hips and slowly made love to the woman I loved so much I had given her over to another just to make her happy. Yet here she was impaled on my cock and thrusting her hips backward to maximize our pleasure. I bit back all the things I wanted to say and remained silent, well fairly silent. My grunts and groans as her pussy squeezed and massaged me blended with hers as I fucked her harder now. We moved with a familiarity that was sublime and carefree. It was when I reached up and grabbed a fistful of her hair and tightened my grip that she knew. When next she looked back her eyes were full of joyful tears and I knew deep down that everything I had done had been revealed in that simple act. Akira thrust back harder now and as my cock began to swell inside of her I knew that we would come together. Thrust met thrust as we drove our bodies together headlong into a soul wrenching orgasm. We cried out in one voice and held on tight until we could breathe again. Reluctantly I eased out of her and she spun around snake quick and shoved me into the pool. Akira followed seconds later kissing my face, my neck and finally my lips. I would let her break this embrace of our lips. I didn't have the heart to.

"I hate you," she said as she broke the kiss and punched my chest.

"I can live with that," I told her.

"Can you, really you are so fine with how things are now?"

"I wanted you to be happy Akira," I broke down.

"What about us... it's not about me or you it was supposed to be about us damn you!"

"When did you suspect?"

"The damn shadowcat and couatl were the first clue. They disappeared from the Numenor and we found out later they were standing vigil over you. The next and most damning evidence was that first kiss. A woman knows how a lover kisses and you my dear Kouryou have a very remarkable kiss. Then the final nail in your coffin was the hair pulling. Call it a signature move of yours besides the feel of that wonderful cock of yours inside of me was very telling too."

"What are we going to do?"

"You are going to tell me what the fuck happened. Then I decide on what happens next."

"Perhaps I should show you, I think that might prove easier."

"Lead on and don't leave anything out or I'll know," she warned and I believed her.

Soon we were both dried off and wearing silken robes. I took her outside and just like before keyed in the combination for the other pyramid. Just like before Akira marveled at the beauty and dimensions of the thing. I showed her the miniature suns and her wonder was as spontaneous as the first time. Then the generator room and the triple elements that made them function. Next I took her to the museum of the Formless technology but this time she pointed and asked what each of them did. Her clever mind noticed that some of the devices were missing.

"Kouryou, what became of the things in these empty spaces?"

"The first one was dispatched to the moon to aid in the terraforming process. The second was released to clean up what is left of the cities across the planet. It will recycle all that concrete and steel and plastic so that when we rebuild we have a clean slate. "

"And the third one, what has become of it?"

"That was supposed to be a surprise but since all my secrets seemed doomed to failure I will show you."

I called up a holographic interface and displayed a satellite view of the planet Venus. Even as we watched the poisonous atmosphere was changing and taking on a cooler blue-green color.

"Kouryou are you doing what I think you are doing?"

"Yep, I am making another home for people to use when they are ready," I said proudly. "It'll take a very long time for the process to complete. But when it does we will have another earth sized world to colonize."

"How are you able to do these things?"

I sighed heavily as we reached the point where she had practically raced from the room the first time. Well there was no turning away now.

"Follow me for the last thing on our tour," I said softly.

"This is why you did what you did isn't it?"

"Yes."

We walked slowly up the ramp to the very top of the Crystal Pyramid to that singular chamber. Once more I extended my hand and the pedestal rose from the floor. I removed the cube and showed her its contents. This time she took it from me and examined it carefully.

"Is this the same gift the Elder Things gave to you," Akira asked me.

"No, this is one that I created."

"I don't understand, explain it to me Kouryou."

I defaulted to a visual explanation once again. I showed a hologram of the typical internal organs of most humanoids. I pointed out the major and minor organs and their functions. She patiently waited through my presentation until I showed her the drastically different view that my current internal structure offered. It wasn't the obvious modifications I had made that she gasped at it was the vast amounts of web-like filaments that were literally everywhere.

"What are those," she asked pointing to them.

"That my dear Akira is the Gift."

"What is it doing?"

"My best guess is that eventually I will become the first of a new generation of Formless."

"So they never intended on sharing their knowledge outside their race."

"No, I'm not sure I blame them. I mean billions of years of learning and study just to be handed over to a simple biped with a god complex?"

Then she smiled and put her arms around my neck and kissed me.