Chapter 4

Gromelikine

“Grandpa, this place is amazing. We met Jones and he can do some great magic. He put his hand right through Chloe’s head. He said it was real easy because there wasn’t much in there. He opened his hand and inside was a big nut. He said it was Chloe’s brain. I asked him if he could do the same with me. He did and then he opened his hand and he had a small peanut which he said was my brain. He is pretty funny Grandpa for a very old AI. The AIs are very friendly, and like children. Jones said two of them are sitting at our table and they are going to bring along a very interesting game for the us to play.”

“Come here Chuck let me give you a grandpa super-hug and then you Chloe. Come with me, we are going to measure you for armor and then we are going to the pool. All the children and adults are at the pool. I have got some things that I have to do, but I will be there shortly. The water is lovely, and the AIs built an excellent waterslide.”

Grandpa hugged Chuck tightly with his one arm and me with the other.

“How did you get this Castle Grandpa? It is a very interesting place. Jones said he will take us to visit an enormous AI that is busy working in the basement. Jones says it is working out school programs, university programs and programs for the war colleges. Jones says she does a million years of work in 1/10 of a second. How awesome is that Grandpa?” Chuck asked rhetorically.

“We saw some dragons when we flew in. Can we see them Grandpa?” I asked.

“They are part of my surprise. You, young lady notice things just like your mother. Nothing can be hidden from you. We are going to go flying with them. You need your armor first.”

We were taken by an AI to our rooms where we used the refresher, changed for the pool and used the portal to the pool. I dashed to the side of the pool and dived into the water. I met up with Hazel, and Chuck high-fived Bird. I waved Harry and Anita over. “Grandpa said all of us are going flying together later.”

“We have been playing with some Ordreg children and also those interesting looking children over there who are dragons. They are called Gromelix. We also met a couple of Orc children, and a child from the Warriors who is a year younger than Anita. We will also have a Schlogg child at our table who is coming this evening. Me and Anita can also talk to the general using chemical talking using our hands. She taught us the Schlogg language. It is very cool. I really like the Schloggs I have met, two of them are sitting over there talking to your parents holding hands.”

“How are your parents doing?” I asked Harry.

“They seem to have become like normal human beings. It is like they were over stretched springs and someone suddenly let go and they are like all the other strings.”

“Did they go to the ship with you in Hawaii?” Chuck asked.

“Yes, they did. Anita also says they are different,” said Harry.

“I think the medical pod might have helped you,” Chuck said.

“That is an interesting idea, Chuck, you might even be correct!” Harry smiled at Chuck and patted him on the head.

“Harry have you guys got your armor?” Chuck asked.

“Yeah, all the children other than the youngest one has got armor coming.”

“Let’s go over and talk to the Ordreg children, how do you talk to them?” Chuck asked.

“They can all speak Uzliumbax, which we can as well I found out. They are also telepathic, so you can talk to them easily a few different ways. It’s the same for all the children. Uzliumbax is a very easy language. Ordreg have got four arms and they are very strong. They are great fun. Let’s get them and we will go down the waterslide. You go into the portal at the bottom and you find yourself at the top. You waste no time climbing up. It’s also a very fast water slide and you bounce when you come out.” Harry replied.

Harry beckoned to the Ordreg children who were eating what looked like live scorpions which were running around in a jar. One of the Ordreg gave the jar to her mother who closed it and they all came running to the waterslide.

We all had a wonderful time. I found out both of the Ordreg children were girls and Ordreg girls were bigger than Ordreg boys. They were also stronger in fights they told me.

Grandpa came along with Philippa, Andrea and Linda and a couple of people I recognized from the pictures of the old Emperor as well as Sheila the AI Empress. Philippa was carrying a little boy.

I love babies and went to look at Philippa’s. Chuck tagged along.

“Hi Philippa, we are pleased to see you. What is the name of your baby?” I asked.

Hey, I could feel his mind and heard his little voice. He was a sweet little boy.

“He says his name is Benjamin. Awesome he can talk telepathically, and he is so small. He sounds much older and is much too sensible for a baby. He asked me to ask you Philippa to please change his nappy. He told me he has a nasty poo. He says after that, I can pick him up and so can Chloe.” Chuck remarked delightedly.

Chuck stood there grinning, like he had opened a great Christmas gift.

“These are our friends Harry and Anita. They are grandchildren of Emperor Cassius with a lot of greats and grands.” Chuck added. “They just started playing our simulation games and they are doing real well in competitions. They might even be as good as us one day.”

“Who are these two other ladies with Grandpa?” I asked as I hugged Philippa with Chuck waiting for his turn behind me.

Philippa called over Lisirra and Ixal. “Chloe let me introduce you to Ixal. She is Queen of the ghouls, and this is Lisirra who is a Crown Princess of the Zaos.”

“Princess Ixal I always wanted to meet a Ghoul. I am really excited to meet you. Most pictures were hideous, but you look absolutely lovely. I think Grandpa is lucky to have you,” said Chuck. “Princess Lisirra, you are the first Zaos I ever met. Are all Zaos women as good-looking as you?”

Chuck has a silver tongue with old women. They love him. Grandpa despite being an ancient who had once one foot in the grave, looks so young and has the best taste in ladies I have ever seen. Andrea and Linda both look amazing. “Hi Andrea and Linda.”

“Who is your friend, Chuck?” Philippa asked.

“This is Anita, my friend. I don’t think I will ever be interested that much in having a wife, but I must admit Anita is pretty special and a great friend. I think she is going to be beautiful and even better looking than her mother. And she is also super clever Philippa,” said Chuck.

Chuck put his arm around Anita who was beaming despite looking a little awkward.

“Do you know Chuck, Lisirra developed the plan to beat the Grork and save the Schlogg. She is not just a pretty face. Ixal saved the life of your Grandpa when he was attacked by a pretty awful kind of a thing half insect half person in another universe. It was a horrible place and they were horrible people. Your Grandpa only picks outstanding people to be around him.

“You think very much like your Grandpa and you could talk a beetle out out of a hole. At least you only like one girl unlike someone’s grandfather.”

Philippa grinned.

“Please excuse me, I must change Benjamin’s nappy. Lisirra, Ixal, Andrea and Linda are going to be flying with you. I went early this morning and I have too many things to do to go out again.

“Your Grandpa is going to take you with him in five minutes, you don’t need to change either of you. You wear a soft suit under your armor so it doesn’t pinch you. I must admit it’s the most comfortable armor I’ve ever worn. Flying this morning was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done,” said Philippa.

“Come on you guys let us get our armor and then go flying,” I said.

“Grandpa, are we going flying with the dragons and are we going to be insects?” Chuck asked.

“You will see.”

An AI led us to a portal and we found ourselves in a fitting area. One of the seamstresses pointed me to one of the dressers. Seconds later I found myself in my armor. It felt light and very comfortable.

Grandpa Jason led us out and we met the other parents and children who were seated on dragons. A much smaller Dragon headed towards me. I felt I wanted to be with it. It bent down, and I climbed up on its leg and swung onto the saddle as I saw someone else do. I felt the saddle close around my legs holding me firmly.

Grandpa did a ginormous leap up onto the saddle of the biggest Dragon of all without a leg up. We all clapped. My Dragon followed the other dragons to the ledge and fell over. It felt great as the Dragon fell and then soared into the sky. It was better than a rollercoaster.

“This is awesome Grandpa.” I shouted.

“It is, isn’t it? Now what I want you to do is to open your mind to your Dragon and then also go into the Dragon’s mind,” said Grandpa.

I felt the Dragon gently pushing on my mind. I followed Grandpa’s suggestion and allowed it in and went inside the dragon at the same time. It was a young girl dragon and I saw her life as she saw my life. I felt fantastic and I saw Chuck grinning as were Harry and Anita. We flew around for two hours and it felt like two minutes. My Dragon landed delicately, and I climbed out of the saddle and jumped to the ground. “Thank you so much, that was absolutely fabulous and one of the best experiences in my whole life. I hope we can fly together every day we are here. I wish you could come back with us!” I told her.

“I enjoyed it very much as well. We can fly in both the morning and the evening if you like. I wouldn’t mind seeing Earth. Your mother said the same as you did,”said the Gromelix.

I ran right after Grandpa – “Grandpa that was absolutely awesome. We want to do it every day and take them back with us to Earth.” I said to him.

“Let’s take it one day at a time. We will see how you feel in a few days. We will be here for a week and then if you like you can bring your friends, the young Gromelix and their parents with us to stay with Philippa’s sisters and we will see after that.” He said.

“That will be awesome Grandpa, I would love to do that, I like living as an insect and playing with the kids that live on the estate,” said Chuck.

“I will tell your mother you are happy to come along.

“Now for something interesting: we found an amazing creature called a Teokraeus. Her name is Ooryphyon and she was kept in a small prison for millions of years. They neglected her and didn’t treat her properly. She is having her whole body rebuilt as hers was in such a terrible state. I am going along to the Collective to help her when she regains consciousness after the restructure. It was one of the most difficult things to learn to do everything, beginning like a baby. I found it hard and I had a lot of help. I think she is going to need a lot of support as she might be the last of her kind.”

“Grandpa I would like to help as much as I can,” I said.

“Me too,” said Chuck.

“I will take both of you to visit her and we will find out from her what is helpful or not. Some people do very badly when they have a whole body rebuild. She had such a terrible time yet she helped us a lot. Without her we would’ve had a real hard time.

“Incidentally, Chuck and Chloe, we used your tactics twice, I will talk about it at dinner,” said Grandpa.

When Chuck looked at me I put up my thumb.

“Grandpa, I think Porquenta already built simulations around your battles. He set one of them for us at a competition on Earth. Both me and Chloe used teleportation to get through the shield and we also both got out the gas the same way you did. It should be known as the Chuck-Chloe teleportation method. We know what the big head went through. She was amazing and we would be happy to help her,” said Chuck. “I can’t remember her name Chloe. I didn’t put it in my Crystal.”

“Ooryphyon dummy, I have told you ten times, when you hear something new and different put it in your crystal immediately, you have tons of storage,” I told him.

It didn’t seem to bother him at all. What I say goes in one ear and through the vacuum in the middle.

“Grandpa that was a great battle. In the simulation we didn’t go to the planet Ooryphyon suggested, there just wasn’t the time,” I said. “The simulation showed us what happened when you took the planet and then we had to assault the planet where Ooryphyon was, there wasn’t enough time to do both.”

“How did you do in the competition?” Grandpa asked.

“We both came first,” said Chuck. “We almost got 100%, but no one from the Earth military got more than 30%. Harry and his sister are pretty good, they were equal third and they haven’t played a lot of games. They are frighteningly clever Grandpa. If I liked girls or women Anita would be the best wife for me later. I like her now very much as a friend. I think she will be real good looking like her mother maybe even better.”

I sniggered. Mr. Golden Tongue would have more wives than Grandpa, I was sure.

“I really want to speak to Ixal and also to Lisirra. Grandpa you do find interesting people and some amazing women. It’s lucky I’m not interested because I couldn’t find so many good looking and clever women,” continued Chuck.

“I am lucky Chuck, usually they find me. I am no good chasing women. Most women of the ancients look good, as do most of the men. The women also do all the chasing of men, not like on Earth.

“What about Harry, Chloe what is he like?” Grandpa asked.

“I needed somebody to come with me to the signing thing on Earth as Hazel had to go to the wedding of her cousin. I wanted someone my own age to talk to, so I asked Harry.

“Harry’s dad is clever and consults to the brains and his mom is some kind of super doctor. Harry was always bored at school, but good in sports. I gave him a learning cube and then later an octagon and initially, he came along with his sister to play intelligence simulation games; then we found he was invited to this competition run by the CIA.

“Grandpa, he and his sister are really good people. They learn things so quickly and they are great at simulation games. Both of them did amazingly well in the competition considering it was organized by Porquenta who took it over. They hardly had any practice in his simulations. I like Harry but I am too young to have a boyfriend and I don’t think he is ready to have a girlfriend. We are good friends. I have never even kissed a boy.” I told Grandpa.

Chuck put his fingers down his throat and made gagging noises.

“Grandpa, Harry used our intelligence techniques and we believe we have found a group of Dhoom and perhaps one jellyfish. Harry tracked them from America to Mandurah of all places. Porquenta went over our work and he believes we are right. We wanted to ask you if we could check it out,” I asked.

“Excellent work. Nobody else has managed to find them. Chuck amazingly found their underwater base earlier. You guys are so bright there is a very good chance you are correct.

Both the Dhoom and the Grork as the jellyfish are known are ancients and they are extremely dangerous. I believe you need to learn to follow up your own work, but I need to find a way to adequately protect you while you do so. I will get back to both of you, but I want to hear from Harry what he found and how he found it,” said Grandpa.

“Grandpa it was very simple, he matched photographs to faces for people who moved to Australia from America. He hacked into the databases in America to get all the original people’s photos from the nuthouses, street people and jails. He used the computer power of Porquenta to search videos and photos worldwide and he found the pictures of this reverend and his followers in a local Mandurah paper. One of them has a scarf around his neck in summer.

“Porquenta tracked their travel and thinks Harry is right. We all want to follow up but we know we need help. You are the only person I know who wouldn’t take it over from us completely.” I said.

“Chloe I don’t know if that is an accurate representation of how I think. I do admit that I like to encourage you to learn from experience, but I know Chuck has taken terrible risks. Dealing with these creatures is more dangerous than anything you can imagine. Both of these species are evil to the core and would kill you if threatened. I want to make sure we find them and I do not want to expose you guys to unnecessary risk.” Grandpa told us.

“We would also like to send them to the sun, Grandpa,” said Chuck.

“So would I once I know what they are up to!

“Let me take you up to your rooms, use the refresher, set the dresser on smart casual and come to dinner. I think it will be an interesting evening. Jones says you can make as much noise at your table as you like so if you are bored you can talk or even shout. The AIs have an interesting game for you that you will all play at the table. They say it is great fun,” said Grandpa.

***

I sat next to Harry at the table on one side with one of the Ordreg on the other. I saw General Fessel sitting next to my father on one side and Queen Lynas Parayekt on the other. I went up to hold her hand and have a conversation. The queen was very interested when she saw how I was holding the hand of General Fessel. I explained what we were doing. She also wanted to try chemical communication. It didn’t work for her.

“Queen Lynas I will talk to my grandfather, perhaps there is some way he can help you do it. If there’s a way he will know,” I saw Jones watching me and smiling. I saw Jones moved to talk to Grandpa. He looked at me and smiled, closed his fist and put his thumb up. General Fessel laughed and waved her eye stalks towards Grandpa. He waved back.

Grandpa walked over to us – “Chloe how did you get the idea to try and communicate with Gen. Fessel through your hands?”

“Grandpa, she said you could do it and she wondered if I could. Initially, I only received some strange gobbledygook, then she put her hands on my head and on Chuck’s and taught us the language. We then could speak fine. It is a great way of speaking and it is very fast and it is deep, you get what the person says how they feel and even pictures of the place all together. Its deeper and faster than telepathy by miles. Me and Chuck speak chemical all the time. We practice when we are sitting at the table. Queen Lynas would love to be able to do it, is there any way you can help her Grandpa?” I asked.

“Lynas, it is easy for us to give you the ability to communicate chemically. I will talk to Jones. A few minutes in the pod and you will be able to communicate through any of your forms chemically. Jones will take you to the hospital section after breakfast if it is convenient for you.” Grandpa told Queen Lynas.

Grandpa held onto the hand of general Fessel and he suggested she gave Lynas Parayekt the language at her convenience. He held onto my hand at the same time so I knew what he was saying.

“Jones will take you along with Chuck, Harry and Anita to visit the facility AI in the morning. Please explain to this AI the problem that you are trying to solve that you talked to me about.” Grandpa said.

I watched as Grandpa walked around the room chatting to different people. He looked very tired. I saw Lisirra sitting very close to Grandpa and talking to him when he sat down. I went back to my own table.

Two AIs came to sit with us. They put a large box on the table and took out a whole lot of interesting looking creatures of different sizes from 4 to 10 inches high and plonked them on the table. They pulled out one red pole on a stand and one blue pole on a stand and then put flags on the top of them. The flags were 7 inches tall. One of the AIs put a poles on the each end of the table. They gave a controller to each of the children. They gave one creature to each of us and touched it with the controller. The creatures came alive!

“The aim of the game is to capture the flag of the enemy. What this means is you have to take the flag back to your side. None of you are allowed to put your hands on the table. The second you do the whole game comes to a stop and you have to start again. The person who touches the table is disqualified,” said one of them.

“What does it mean to capture the flag of the enemy?” One of the Ordreg girls asked.

“Good question! You need to get to the pole and then you need to take the flag off and you have to run all the way back to your own pole. The first team to do that wins. You start off the game with all of your creatures around your own pole, then I will say start when you are ready, and the game begins. All the blue creatures go to the blue pole and the red ones go to the red pole,” said the other.

“Could we have some time first to practice moving our creatures,” one of the Gromelix children asked.

“Great idea,” said the AI. “Tell me when you are ready to begin.”

I had a figure that was middle sized. It was 7 inches high and very heavily built. I looked at it closely. The mouth opened and shut as it walked and it had very sharp looking and dangerous teeth. It could swing its arms. Moving forwards and backwards was very easy using the lever. It was a simple mechanical controller. I pressed one of the buttons and it punched the air in front of it. I pressed the button on the other side and it jumped upwards, easily the height of a glass. I pressed the button beneath the one that toggled punching and it reached behind its back and it pulled out a vicious looking ax from a trans-dim pouch. I pressed the button again and it put it back. I pressed the button again and she took out a sword. I found it had both a sword and an ax. I pushed the control stick forward fully and it ran quickly. I practiced jumping over glasses running and dodging. I found the last button opened and closed the hand to grab the flag.

“I love this little critter,” said the Ordreg girl sitting next to me. I looked and she had one of the smaller 4-inch creatures. It was a red one, so it was the enemy! It looked all muscle and it had huge teeth that didn’t fit fully in its mouth. I saw it carried a monstrous looking club and held a short sword in its other hand. I watched it dodge artfully around glasses and leap over plates. It was real fast and an excellent dodger.

I saw Grandpa stand up to speak, but I heard nothing. I turned back to the game and moved to the blue pole.

“I want to hear Grandpa, he is always interesting,” said Chuck to the AI.

Instantly we could hear. All the children stopped to listen. Grandpa spoke of the war. I was so proud to hear Grandpa talk about ‘Chuck and Chloe’s technique’. Grandpa smiled at us and nodded.

I was interested to hear about the new planetary AI Grandpa found. He sure has an interesting time. We heard about the deep vaults Grandpa found and the Uzliumbax city under the ground. Chuck was sitting with his mouth open catching flies when he wasn’t asking questions. We heard about the new enemies the ant-spider thingies. They sounded pretty bad, but the angel of death guys sounded the worst. The angel of death always gave me the creeps at best. Guys in dark clothes with hoodies and a scythe was part of nightmares.

I thought the Grork were bad now we found they had bosses who were even worse. Grandpa said lots of other stuff but I was thinking of the Angel of death. I shivered. I ate the first starter then Grandpa spoke a bit after and said he was going to visit Ooryphyon pretty soon.

Then it was time to play. Game time and then we were off!

I suggested all the blue team sit on the blue side of the table so we could plan together. Everyone agreed to swap seats. The AIs nodded and looked at each other and smiled. The AI saw I was looking at her.

“Chloe, usually it would take Uzliumbax children half the game to do as you did. It is the only way to play the game. If you don’t plan you can’t win.”

Soon I was deep into the game. All the children grumbled when food arrived, and they had to stop playing. We all ate as fast as we could, so we could start playing the game again.

“Chloe this is one of the most fun games I have ever played,” said Chuck waving his arms at the young boy on the other side of the table with whom he was working around the sides of the glasses on the outside of the table close to the enemy flag. The two very large creatures guarding the flag turned to face them. One of them began to walk in their direction. Chuck’s small creature dodged and ran past him. The other one ran towards the enemy and struck at him with its club before also dashing towards the flag. I ran down the middle in support.

“Chloe our flag is under attack you better run back as fast as you can.” Chuck said.

I started running but had to stop as another course of food arrived. What an inconvenient time for the food to arrive.

“What is your name?” I asked the AI.

“I am called Simona, Chloe, and that is Vencil. Are you enjoying the game?”

“It is one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played, it is very simple but strategically complex. The group needs to learn to work together quickly and then someone needs to become the leader. We are very fortunate we have so many children here who are excellent strategists. Both sides are pretty even, it is a very hard and exciting battle. I love the creatures, they move so well. This game would do well anywhere.” I told them.

“It was a very successful game for the Uzliumbax. The game is millions of years old and never ceased to be popular. Did you notice we can block noise both to and from the table, that made the game even more popular at functions of all kinds. The children were not bored, and the parents were not disturbed. The game was also enjoyed in the military when people were tired of simulations. It was as popular as many of the simulations no matter how often people played it. Teams competed all over the Empire.

“After breakfast Jones has asked me to take you to visit the main AI along with your friends,” said the AI.

We played for a while longer. The red team won. I didn’t mind I had such a good time.

“Your Grandpa suggested I take all of you to a secret place. You will only be there for a few minutes,” said Vencil loudly so we all could hear him. “You will have some interesting deserts there.”

We followed him through a portal into a room which was dark around the edges, so dark you couldn’t see anything. It was bright around the food area. We all clustered around the center of the room and looked anxiously out at the dark areas.

“Don’t worry about the dark, there is nothing threatening out there. It is part of the surprise,” said Simona.

I looked at the scrumptious looking deserts, picked up a plate and a wand and put a few interesting selections on my plate. Some of the small pastries I ate with my hand. They were delicious.

“Hey look outside,” said Gerba one of the Ordreg girls.

I looked at the sparkling city in the distance.

“What is that city?” Chuck asked.

“That is the capital city of your Grandfather’s great Empire,” said Vencil proudly. It is the greatest city of the Uzliumbax. You will all be able to visit soon.”

I walked to the window and looked out. It looked amazing with all the lights shining and sparkling on the buildings.

“What is it called and where is it?” I asked.

“It is the city Etarstaway on the Planet Ethora. Most of the city is underground. You will be able to visit in a few months. It is not far from here. It is one of many hidden cities.” Vencil replied.

“I saw some pictures of the Uzliumbax and my Grandpa looked just like the Emperor. Even his wives looked the same as Grandpa’s women.” I said.

“Bring your plates and stand at the windows. We will show you the ancient Emperor,”the AIs said.

We all moved to the wall. I watched a man who looked like Grandpa walk into the dining room we were sitting in earlier. He was dressed like Grandpa and the women looked the same just like the women I knew with Grandpa. There were a few Grandpa had not found yet, as I did not recognize them.

“Stupendous,” said Anita, “How old is this hologram.”

“It is much more than two-million years old,” said Simona.

“I would swear your Grandpa and him are exactly the same person,” said Hazel, Bird’s sister. “Even the women are all the same. Is he the same person?”

“We think so,” said Simona.

My thoughts were all over the place.

“Do you have any children and grandchildren pictures?” Bird asked. “I want to see if Chloe and Chuck were there!” Bird laughed loudly.

“We are searching,” said Simona. “Yes, we have lots.”

“Here is the first.”

“Hey that looks like me when I was five,” said Harry. Can you find that child at 13?”

“Here it is.”

All the children watched carefully. There were eight children playing a board game on a large hologram that looked much like monopoly.

“Looks just like you, hair is darker, hey that kid looks just like me,” said Anita.