{"sf1_id":915170,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 31","author":"Baumarius","words":1203,"posted_at":"2015-09-27T14:14:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/915170-victernus-chapter-31","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/915170","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=915170\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            Namara opened his eyes and grabbed\nhis chest. He coughed, feeling sore where the blast had hit him, and then was distracted\nwith the view of the new place he was in. He sat up in the cot and put his fist\nand his implant down on either side of him. In front of him, he saw the\ngigantic waterfall just past the edge of the platform. He wondered, What...? What is this place?\n            He rose to his feet and walked to\nthe edge, looking up at the waterfall. As he tried to remember what had\nhappened, he heard someone approaching from behind. When he checked to see who\nit was, his eyes rested on King Drac. His heart pumped madly, and he asked,\n\"Who are you? What is this place?\"\n            Drac stopped in front of him and answered,\n\"I am Drac, king of the Volnar. This place is called the Realm of the Seers. It\nis located where Valikon is - the planet of the Volnar - but it exists purely\nin subspace. It is one of our many realms.\"\n            He scratched his head and said,\n\"Okay... Why am I here, though? Where\ndid Athius and Gala go?\"\n            Drac sighed, \"You're here to be\ntried by the Council of the Seers. Athius and Gala have remained on Valikon and\nwill be taken care of there.\"\n            Namara turned back to the waterfall\nand lowered his head. He watched the water land on the rocks below, passing by\nthe trees without any bother. He felt like shaking when he asked, \"Is this\nabout the Selanians?\"\n            He heard Drac pace back to the\ncanopy and say, \"It's more than that. You created technology that enabled Dr.\nLynn to take control of them.\"\n            Namara brought his hand to his face\nand heard the marking pulse with voices. He shook his head, \"I did none of that\nintentionally. I just wanted for me and my friends to be happy... surely you must\nsee that!\"\n            Drac responded angrily, \"I do see\nthat, but the Council does not. They're the ones that manipulated the\nconditions that caused you and your goals to exist. They've been doing this to\nsocieties for centuries to make sure that the Volnar have no resistance. Usually\npeople like you turn out to be completely evil.\"            \n            Namara faced Drac, his voice rising\nin pitch, \"You supported this?\"\n            He sighed, grasping the wooden\nsupport of the canopy in his hand, \"I did not realize that this was what they\nwere doing until they assigned me to your case. I've seen what kind of people\nit makes, and believe me... You're nothing like them. You were cursed with what\nmy people call 'victernus.'\"\n            Namara tilted his head and asked,\n\"Victernus? That's what Lynn renamed my group...\"\n            Drac nodded and turned back to\nNamara, answering, \"It means that you can hold the answer to your life so close\nto yourself, but the way to it is blocked. Every time you try to find it, you\nwill be beaten down over and over again until you are driven insane.\"\n            Namara lowered his ears and asked,\n\"Well, what do I do now?\"\n            Drac smiled to him, \"Hang in there.\nThe Council will tell you what they think is best, and you will have to decide\nsomething for them. I might be able to persuade them to help you, but we won't\ngo into that yet.\" He paused before saying, \"I think it is best that we head\nthere now.\"\n            He widened his eyes and exclaimed,\n\"Now?!\"\n            Drac walked towards the bridge and\nnodded, \"Now. Follow me.\"\n---\n            A few minutes later, Namara stood in\nfront of the three robed Volnar in the tower. His gaze rose up the tower in\nawe, but he was snapped back to reality when the one in the center addressed\nhim in a suspiciously lighthearted tone, \"Namara. Do you know why you are\nhere?\"\n            Namara glanced at Drac nervously and\nthen said, \"I don't know. Why do you think I'm here?\"\n            She spoke in a condescending tone,\n\"I know why you are here.\"\n            He waited for her to tell him, but\nshe did not continue. He asked softly, \"Please, tell me.\"\n            The Arch Seer continued in a fast\nmanner, \"You're here because you destroyed your race in the most selfish way\nimaginable. You cut everyone out of your life to chase some fantasy, and you\ndestroyed the entire human race in the process. You disgust us.\"\n            The Echoes in the room voiced\n\"Disgusting!\" down at Namara. He flattened his ears, trying to block out all\nthe noise. When it ceased, she continued, \"Do you have anything to say for\nyourself?\"\n            Namara regained his composure and\nthen narrowed his eyes at her. Suddenly, he could hear all of the voices of the\nlost Selanians, and they were helping him bring words to his mind. He gazed\naround the tower and said, \"Yes... and I will only say it once.\"\n            She nodded, \"Go on.\"\n            He began, \"Where I was from, there\nwas a widespread belief that we had the right to pursue happiness. It was\nlisted as a right that nobody could take away from us - and that makes sense.\nBut, there was one crucial element that was always missing. Nowhere did anyone\nsay that it was wrong to get in the way of the pursuits of others. It was\nneither spoken nor written. And that\nis what created the imbalance - not me.\n            \"You see, with that piece missing,\nthere were people who had seemingly endless amounts of money and power. They\ncould try to find what they believed would make them happy. Everyone else was\ntaught to fit into their society somehow and then just hope to find out what happiness might look like. Meanwhile, they\nwere being fed lies about how the world really was for almost every day of\ntheir lives. They didn't want to look past that.\n            \"But I did. I found what I came to\ncall 'Koanthanatus' - my death paradox - and the thing that it surrounded. I\ndid not agree with the idea that living a life pursuing someone else's idea of\nhappiness would get me there. I would die unsatisfied, believing that my\nchildren might be able to find it instead - and so would they. But, I'd have\ntried, so I'm sure everyone would have been happy for me.\"\n            He shook his head, \"I vowed never to\nsettle for that. Now, what I found...\nit may be different for everyone. It might not be. I don't know. But...\" he\npaused and then stared at the Arch Seer, \"Would you condemn me for that? For\ntrying to find this?\" \n            A creepy silence drifted through the\ntower as if everyone was lost for words. Before Namara could start again, the\nArch Seer said, \"This session will resume in one hour. We will consider your\nwords.\"\n            Drac stepped behind him and\nwhispered, \"Come on.\"\n            Namara sighed and then followed him\nout. He finished, \"I hope they listen.\"\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/915168-victernus-chapter-30.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/915171-victernus-chapter-32.json"}