It took only a moment for him to look away; for her face to now settle mere inches away from his own, while her presence was as though an empty void, making the experience thus far a disorienting mess.

  “Jacob, but not Jacob.. and I thought his spiel of never settling down was commendable. How disappointing. You smell like her. How detestable. Diana’s rejection from The Seventh was fitting. And you have a sister.. Jacob’s scent is stronger on that one. Ironic. I smell another, a clone. A reject. It's good she’s dead. Failure to ascend. Unforgivable. You will have to suffice”

  Her voice felt as though it was gently massaging his soul, his eardrums, and his brain. They were a potent fusion of overwhelming psychic might, warmth, seduction, cold, calculating, and manipulative making it difficult to narrow down.

  And before he could say a word, she gently tapped his chest, before revealing his still beating heart? Ferris thought it would have been a neat trick had she not ‘phased’ her hand through his power armor, attire, skin, ribs, other organs and both literally and figuratively ‘stealing’ his heart.

  “I. Know. Your. Secret..”

  …

  “...”

  Subsequently, The Precursor, or alternatively, The Architect didn’t have much to say, until after several minutes had already passed. Subsequently even Ferris doubted The Architect had anticipated for such a scenario to occur so soon after speaking to him?

  “The Ciphers. Our second inheritance to humanity. The Progenitors. Evolved faster than anticipated. Unlike The Arcai. The Decayed. Humanity’s survival. Misjudged. The Ciphers. A Necessity Lost. The Synthetic Conflict. Unpredicted. Progenitor Involvement. Unpredicted. The Arcadians. Failed Inheritors. The Curators. Potential evolution. Permitted-”

  The Architect emotionlessly revealed, up to a certain point where he had chosen to seemingly cease with the precursor formalities.

  “The Ciphers were a necessity for what we may have missed. The dangers, unpredicted and have yet to come to pass. The Progenitors evolved at an accelerated rate. Already predicted but left idle. The Federation, a favorable construct. Unpredicted, versatile, human. The Progenitors & The Forsaken forced the necessity. My choice”

  Evidently, Ferris felt The Architect was at the very least putting in some effort to properly communicate?

  “The Forsaken, our former students among The Progenitors, betrayed us. Our inheritance, wasted. Humanity was more deserving, imperfect, predictable. The Ciphers were never intended to be lost to time. I disapproved. Overruled. I Disapproved of The Curators. Overruled. History ruled in my favor. The Librarians ruled in my favor. I am no longer overruled”

  Almost there..

  “Jacob was not a Cipher, he was already a perpetual. Nothing could be done. I have never communicated, only revived. After the progenitor conflict, I was forbidden to do so. By then The Synthetic Conflict occurred, I revived a Cipher. She was killed by a Warrior Servant. I was then censured. The Librarians disagreed. By then it was over, and The Federation fell. I apologize”

  The Architect ended, revealing far more than Ferris had initially realized. It would appear even after The Precursors left this universe, The Architect remained, the younger council of the assembly wished for a natural balance at the unintended cost of sabotaging their legacy.

  The Librarians in turn for the first time in precursor history reprimanded and disbanded an entire council as a result. The damage was done, and The Architect was given the express authority to repair the damage done without additional oversight.

  At least from what ‘he’ told him?

  “I will assist only minimally. If not for your weakness. Once Ascendant, we will speak more”

  Considering everything he has heard thus far, it became evident that the only reason why he’d even be considered for a revival was because it was inconvenient for The Architect.

  To put it bluntly, The Architect likely picked him, only to soon realize he already had a target on his head. To some extent, it had bewildered him, at least as far as a Precursor could be bewildered?

  The amount of threats, ascendants, and entities that Ferris had encountered so ‘early’ on was not something he had predicated. Ferris was qualified, and a favorable choice. At least until someone or something vastly more ancient and powerful appears and decides to test his patience.

  If anything, had The Architect not seen his potential, and believed he could have won those engagements had he been Ascendant at the time, then he would have let Ferris die and revive on his own.

  Primarily because Ferris could and would revive eventually due to him having that capability, not on his own, of course, but through revival vats and the resources to do so. However, that was neither convenient nor timely..

  Could he have survived the particle cannons? Yes, but then he’d be missing an arm or leg. If he hadn’t it would have taken a day or two for someone to revive him. Was that really worth the wait? No.

  If that wasn’t all, he believed Ferris would have survived most of his encounters anyway if not for the overwhelming difference in strength..

  …

  One hour later..

  After opening his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of The Seraph sitting on his corpse counting down while torturing an unfortunate Precursor A.I Chip. It didn’t take too long for her to essentially force it into his suit’s A.I slot..

  “Exemplar, command staff, cloning vats, airfield. You have three hours. Fail and I’ll consume more than just your heart”

  Her voice was so immense and on such a scale that Ferris became partially death only for her to insert a precursor sword through his chest.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Use this. Nothing Else”

  …

  Three hours later..

  After all was said and done, Ferris limped back to the abandoned shipyard converted into a command post..

  It was now night on this world and he had enough broken bones to make it last a lifetime. He had no more stems, his shields were struggling to recharge, and he had enough scorch marks for him to feel as though he was a walking piece of ‘modern’ art.

  The sheer amount of scarring on his armor were impressive in the sense he was surprised it held up to such brutality. Not only had he been forced to sacrifice his shuttle to take out the airfield which was in actuality a crashed precursor cruiser endlessly pumping out fighters and sentinels.

  As to how or why, he did so with only a sword.. or more specifically he used its 'hilt' to do so through his gauntlet as all’s fair in love and war? The Command Staff and Exemplar were difficult in the sense that the command staff numbered in the several dozen and taking them out took far longer than it should have.

  As for the cloning vats.. surprisingly enough outside of the heavily armed clones leaving it, they had never expected anyone to attack it so far behind enemy lines? As a result, he shut them down in the hopes of studying precursor fabrication and cloning techniques down the line.

  And In regard to The Precursor A.I ‘it’ didn’t say a word and hadn’t assisted him at any point, to the point that he ultimately suspected something else must be residing within it rather than what he had only merely suspected to be a Precursor A.I or at worst an Echoe up until this point? For that, he chose to merely remove it..

  …

  After entering the apparent officer’s lounge, he was greeted once more with the very same sword he had in his hand being reintroduced through his chest. And as he struggled to breath, he noticed her, but not before he activated a neutron purge via a far less potent cylinder.

  And as the dust cleared all he could see was a frowning face? In regard to her appearance, she had incredibly pale white skin, short pale blonde hair, and hazel green eyes that strangely resembled his father’s mother’s..

  At this point everything thus far is likely obvious from the start so as he struggled to breathe, he refused to acknowledge that fact or any other fact that proceeded it due to fear of the most obvious of answers and the most tedious and anticlimactic of consequences that may or may prove utterly inconsequential and mundane as a result of them being revealed in such a mediocre and utterly pointless manner.

  Suffice to say, Ferris wasn't fond of it?

  “Inadequate, ‘Specter’. The Specter I’ve ‘recently’ discovered would have disregarded my request and would do so to prove the necessary. He understood the mission was all that truly mattered. Instead, you handed me the very same weapon I used to impale you, allowing me to do so once more. You chose to shackle yourself and drown in mediocrity, despite the key already being in your possession”

  Her words revealed far more than he cared to admit..

  Ferris wasn’t foolish nor was he blind enough to know, had Specter been in his place, he would have had a far easier time. Instead, he chose to distance himself and shackle himself to his mundane desires. His desire for peace and quiet, his desire to enjoy life, and his desire to be ordinary.

  It might sound ridiculous to some, but what he truly wanted was the right to sleep in, to take a proper reprieve, eat a hot meal, and fulfill his hobbies. Specter was the butcher he allowed to come to existence, and one he never wanted to solely become him.

  However, he never did consider coexistence. Primarily because every other moment consisted of another headache, and another attempt on his life, and another tedious vendetta. Most often of which, the answers he sought were the very same answers he himself would come to understand moments before being told.

  “Exhaustion. Stress. Pain. Numbness. Shame. Disgust. And in the end, you’re still a child. Jacob left you behind in favor of a backwater world. Diana left you behind in favor of her studies. Calisto left you behind in favor of not being reminded of your mere existence. You’re all alone. You chose to abandon them. You chose to be alone. That’s all you ever knew”

  It was difficult to hear such unadulterated truths coming from an crazy woman who impaled him with a sword. Or was it merely his humor? He found it difficult to narrow down as he felt the life drain from his body..

  Evidently, it took him this long to realize he had already known this already, calling into question whether or not he was blind to that fact and contradicting himself in doing so? And in the end, it was so damned tedious.

  …

  One week later..

  Onboard The S.T. Ascendancy Annie was covered in blood as she laid on the couch with a good book, only for Anna to inform her of Ferris’s return.

  However, she didn’t hear his footsteps nor see him as all she sensed something was amiss before sighing and throwing her book at ‘something’. That being Ferris who had uncloaked after making his way to his quarters?

  To put it bluntly, he was bloodied, battered, and drenched in dried blood. And something was different about him, he felt.. cold? It was as though he was a machine, or alternatively running purely on autopilot & muscle memory alone..

  “Congrats.. but we should ‘really’ get you to the infirmary? A cozy bed, a hot meal, and all the sleep you can ask for?”

  …

  Minutes later..

  Inside The Infirmary, Annie was joined by Anna who had seemingly cloned herself a body due to the necessity, were currently evaluating his condition.

  “His condition is critical, despite recently ‘surviving’ his ascension, the sheer toll on his body and scarring on the brain stem are far too extensive and numerous to pinpoint a specific cause. The scars and severe bruising are from three days prior when compared to the most recent trauma here and here-”

  Anna’s voice was somewhat littered with guilt.. after all she did warn him of the dangers? Only to remove a strange A.I chip out of his armor..

  “Precursor? No.. worse-”

  Before she could finish her sentence, the chip turned to ash as one of the cloning vats came to life?

  “The Mad Scientist of The Federation. Her research aided considerably in the construction of The Seventh Temple. The Curators failed to eliminate her, as did The Seventh Temple or so it would seem? She’s considerably difficult to kill, considerably more so to capture. Only The First Seraph was capable of such a feat, and she took great delight in consuming Progenitors-”

  Whether or not Annie had the clearance or not, Anna felt confident the children of Jacob should share his own by extension.

  Additionally, it's been three thousand years, and they were at the moment onboard of one of Jacob’s vessels, so it was likely no one would know ‘who’ revealed such information ‘if’ it were to ever be brought to light.

  Even those rogue elements of Section Three who have made attempts to end Ferris’s Life would feel a distinct chill down their spines if Cipher were to ever return. And only because of Jacob’s Legacy and them believing he wasn’t truly dead.

  While it was evident the two shared a near identical appearance if not for Diana’s Genes altering those of Jacob’s ever so slightly and that of Ferris’s personality? Alternatively, genes didn’t play a major factor when it came to his personality, however it was a fun thought, nonetheless?

  Annie for one couldn’t wait for him to return to Arcadia wearing ‘that’ and calling himself Cipher. Was it Jacob back from the dead goofing around? Or was it Ferris? Who could truly know for certain?

  While the fact alone Ferris became an Ascendant had essentially covered him in a safety blanket as no one would know how strong he truly was or how The Wright or Welsh Families would respond?

  Even if Jacob & Diana had ‘partially’ cut them off for reasons unknown, they were still family, and not the noble sort considering the lack of arranged marriages, stabbing one another in the back, or elaborate schemes and acts that would generally give every excuse to expel oneself.

  The only really bothersome acts thus far were them choosing to ‘wait’ for him to visit his father’s vault and even then, they didn't necessarily hide that fact or prevent Diana or anyone else to do so in his place?