Chapter 16: Lisirra’s parents: Zepta 2.2 and the Zaos

“This is a strange place to decide to live,” said Andrea. “We are flying above a flat featureless brown surface. There is nothing to see anywhere.”

“When craft fly through here through the dimension they do not see the surface. Unless you know it is there you would not find it. Those who explore the surface or use the dimension for AIs know it as a hostile place,” said Lisirra.

“My father picked what he thought was the least likely, most unforgiving and unwelcoming place in the multiverse to live. I have never reconciled myself to living in such an awful environment.

“Andrea, we will be there in two minutes. There is no gravity so the ship will just hang in space. Ship can you defend yourself against the entities in this dimension?” Lisirra asked.

“Of course. All of you go inside. The ship is well defended. My powers are ample to handle the vermin of this dimension. I know these entities. If you wish I can immobilize them and keep them for you. Do you consume them?”

“Yes, we do but they are easy to catch. Just get rid of the pesky ones.

“Please teleport us to a shuttle. I received a signal the door to the tunnel is opening,” said Lisirra.

An instant later they were seated in the shuttle. The pilot arrived seconds later. The shuttle followed a series of yellow flashing circles to a wide tunnel that took them to an endless hanger filled with ships, shuttles and gunships. Jason and his group dressed in light armor to serve as environmental suits. They left the shuttle to climb onto an unmanned shuttle that lifted from the ground and took them along featureless grey-brown passages to a blank wall where they debarked. Lisirra led them through a circular opening that formed and then closed as they passed through.

Jason saw car sized lizards with eight legs. They had clear scales on beige skin a few shades lighter than the walls. The lizards’ heads had ferocious looking teeth. The front legs looked like arms and they had two pairs of tentacles that began in the neck and ended in nasty looking barbs. The claws on the legs were fearsome. He heard many snippets of telepathic comments that repeated common themes.

“Lisirra you look lovely. How I wish I could have my body and my old life back.

“You have done so well we thank you. You ended the awful war.

“Bless you child for bringing the Emperor.”

Their guide dropped them at an imposing door. “Your father, the King will be here soon, we are transporting the new bodies to the family now and distributing the others according to the list. The process will take only a few minutes. They have the old dressers which have been reconditioned in anticipation of this moment.”

Lisirra put her palm on the door and it opened. The room was a very simple conference room with a transparent floating table and chairs that looked very old. There was room for fifty at the table.

“The armor is remarkable as is so much on the ship. Your face on the front moves and has expressions. You look exactly as you usually do,” said Razza. “The really ancient ones knew a thing or two.”

“Jason my father will see through you in one minute. Enjoy your last moments as the fake emperor, the dissipated one. Your facade will all fall apart. My mother is very sharp. You won’t fool her either. My sister likes any male who smiles at her. She does have a good mind, but she is woolly, she is the only one who might take to you and be misled.

“I can feel them coming now. I will introduce them when they come in,” said Lisirra moving her chair to seat closer to Jason before she jumped up to greet her family.

“Father, I am so happy to see you. Mummy! Sissy! You look lovely. Father, I always loved you in burgundy. The robe looks luscious. Mummy, blue suits your eyes. That is a lovely sapphire necklace. Narcester you look terrific in that body even better than before. Let me introduce you to Jason Kargo who is from the Empire. We have so many I will give you the first names only,” said Lisirra and introduced everyone and indicated where they came from. She introduced the Ordreg and then told her family what had been happening. She moved her seat closer to Jason.

“Thank you dear, you need go no further. We have heard all the news. I speak to my old friend Mergal daily. We were friends a long way back.

Lisirra, only you could leave here on a mission and while escaping the Ordreg you find yourself in Jason. You have always been audacious, but this time you surpassed yourself. Mergal tells me you were rude and offhand despite being saved and had the cheek to build a castle before being extracted from your hiding place. Do you know with whom you have been meddling?” Bekra Chamadar the Queen of the Zaos asked with a quirky smile.

“I have seen a few who call him the Emperor. I think it is smoke and mirrors. The Ordreg king read his Parnossic imprint, though the King called it something else. The Schlogg held his hand and said the same. He has so many wives you cannot count them and thirty-four million children and more coming. He has relationships with machines and insects and even cockroaches. He will have a child with a AI. All of this is an abomination.”

Bekra sighed, looked at her husband and then winked at Jason. “Dear, I think you should thank him for dropping you back home. You clearly feel compromised in your current position. There is no reason for you to expose yourself to such a compromising situation. We would welcome you back. There is much to be done here.

“The Azayal have sent hundreds of thousands of AI bodies and we sent scouts to find our mother planets. More AI casings are to arrive shortly. We can, I am sure, find our original bodies in Albos. Our astro-navigators can plot the pathway of the solar system back in time and have an excellent idea of where our planets are.

“This body is so good I might not return it. I strongly suggest you remain with us and assist us with the work we need to do to move from this accursed dimension and free our people from their ugly bodies. I never realized you would find yourself in such an invidious position when we sent you to find allies.

“I assume you could not read his record and he was not who you thought he was?” The Queen asked.

“Mother, I don’t need to read it. He cannot be the Emperor of the Uzliumbax. The Emperor was supposed to have a pure mind,” said Lisirra. “He would have had only one Empress. He was a man of honor and integrity.”

“Have you experienced his mind in any way?”

“Yes of course mother. When we communed with the Gromelix I entered his mind. We also fought the Ghoul Queen together and Grork,” said Lisirra. “Why are you asking these meaningless questions?”

Jason turned to look at his group. They were grinning broadly. Corvus winked at Jason. He held a claw in front of his face. His shoulders were heaving and he bent his face forward. Jason could have sworn he was laughing and trying to swallow it.