Season 3: Episode 8 – What Crosses Over
This series contains mature themes and is intended for adult listeners.
> Begin Porta Cor[2] imprint[3].<
I walked along the pathway between the two facilities we built on Baliya Island.
They were large complexes, designed to house the thousands of humans we were about to bring over.
I walked into the second facility as staff finished moving furniture into place. There were areas for housing, healing, training, and leisure.
They would have all the knowledge they need from the genetic nomen chip[4].
They would not have the experience.
Medics were positioned at the Porta Segreta[5] and in each facility.
I watched them complete final checks on supplies before moving through.
Everything was designed to function from intake through integration.
I stepped back outside and followed the path toward the garden between the two facilities.
The garden was Bryn[6]’s idea. She brought in seeds, bulbs, and roots native to Earth and had planted them here for the humans.
That was Bryn.
We accounted for injury.
We accounted for confusion.
We accounted for resistance.
We had not accounted for anything else.
Everything was in place.
We would soon learn if that was enough.
I left the garden and headed back to the Porta Segreta staging area.
Space had been cleared in front of it to accommodate more than 5,000 people at a time.
Off to the side, the councilors were gathered speaking in low voices.
Kylah[7] stood chatting with Oswalt[8], shifting her weight.
I marked her position.
Oswalt stood partly behind Kylah.
Medics were positioned with equipment. Sedation darts were staged.
Bryn walked out of the facility under the Porta Segreta with Myr[9] at her side. Myr moved to the councilors.
Bryn stopped beside me. “Jeston and his team are ready.”
Oswalt peered from around Kylah’s shoulder.
I turned to the platform as the green light began to illuminate the island.
Lights blinked around the feet of the arch, followed by small beeping sounds.
I noticed the medics’ bodies tense.
Then a brighter pulse of green light flared.
1000 human males appeared on the platform in mid-attack motion.
They straightened.
They did not erupt in chaos or confusion.
One of our staff approached to direct them off the platform, but they were moving before she could reach them.
No commands were shouted.
They spaced themselves as they came down the steps.
One man took a position at the front, and the others aligned around him.
The medics stood by.
On the ground, the men began to organize in small clusters.
They didn’t rely on any verbal command to start forming.
This was outside our preparation.
The moment the last of them left the platform, the Porta Segreta reactivated again.
The next group of men appeared there. Dro ar ôl tro[10].
This time, they left the platform faster.
No one approached them with directions.
Medics remained still.
The spacing between them while moving was tighter.
The groups on the ground had more alignment.
The same man stood at the front, watching the men, his face neutral.
I registered a more focused change in Kylah’s breathing pattern, but she remained silent.
Once they assembled in the staging area, the next group appeared.
My attention focused on the staging area as the humans kept moving into it.
That area in front of us went from sparse in the first group to filling very quickly.
One man with a smaller group of men formed behind him.
Each group was formed and spaced apart from the others.
A very subtle motion behind me caused me to glance back.
Kylah’s hand grasped the hilt of her knife, but she was still and focused.
Facing forward again, the man at the very front was no longer alone. There were others close to him.
They were a fighting system.
The only sound was feet moving.
The staging area was filled to the edges. One formation was so close that you could clearly see the men’s eyes.
Finally, there was another green flash as the sixth and final group was pulled. Dro ar ôl tro.
Fewer men than in all the previous times appeared, one of them holding something elevated.
As the men moved off the platform, I saw the elevated object — an eagle.
The men around him walked taller than the others had, and as the man carrying the eagle moved into the staging area, the posture across the ground shifted.
The remaining men moving stepped into place more quickly.
Gaps in spacing were automatically adjusted. Corrected.
Over 5000 men were standing there unmoving.
I heard another shift in Kylah’s breathing, much more paced and intent. The hand on her knife had tightened its grasp, but the knife remained sheathed.
My attention was drawn back to the central figure of this massive group, and I could not yet understand any connection between him and the bird symbol the other man carried. But something connected them, because the rest of the men seemed to orient to them.
Footsteps were silenced. All of us stood there in complete silence as the Porta Segreta shut down.
The man at the front brought his attention to where we stood, his eyes quick and searching before settling right on Bryn.
He took long strides right to her, and I moved up closer to her side with my hands in my sleeves.
Bryn straightened her shoulders but remained calm.
As he moved, his men did not move, look, or adjust formation as he separated from them.
His dark green eyes swept all of us briefly, lingering a bit on Kylah and then even longer on me before switching back to Bryn.
As he approached, I grasped the hilts of my own knives inside my sleeves.
He stopped in front of Bryn, facing and speaking to her directly, “Was this your doing?”
He stared into her eyes as he spoke, and I felt Kylah slightly shift the weight on her feet.
“Yes.”
For a moment, no one moved, and the two stood staring at each other.
“You have a place for me to house my men?” he asked her.
“Yes, we have a facility waiting for you, along with medics or anything else you and your men may need.” Bryn pointed down the wider path that led to the first facility.
His gaze followed where she pointed, and then he turned back to Bryn. “I will have questions that need to be answered later.”
“Of course.”
He nodded to her and then looked me back over again, lingering on the positioning of my hands.
He turned away from us and walked back into his men.
I heard him exchange a couple of quiet words with another man, and then the whole unit turned as one to face the path and began moving toward the first facility, still in formation.
They did not speak or whisper amongst themselves. Controlled movement was their only action.
As they left us, Kylah’s pose relaxed slightly, but she never stopped gripping her knife. I let go of my own and watched.
Not a word came from any of the councilors behind me.
Oswalt nervously peered around Kylah and fumbled slightly with his reading glasses in his right hand.
Bryn began to move toward the facility as well, and I followed. The rest remained behind, and I could hear a few whispers between them as we left.
The men were filing into the wide double doors of the entrance. Medics were standing by, ready, but still did not seem to be needed.
They moved systematically into their rooms.
The man who spoke to us stood at the entrance across from us, watching his men enter also. When the last ones were inside, he motioned for us to step in first.
I did not want to step in with him behind me, but when Bryn moved, I had to follow her to keep myself between her and him.
Once he was in, Bryn turned back to him, “There is food and drink here, along with bathing facilities. Medics and staff are available to assist you with anything, so please do not hesitate to ask. I will set time aside for us to meet in a few days after you’ve had a chance to settle in, and then I can answer your questions.”
“What is your name?” he asked.
“I am Benadur Bryn Tal, but you may call me Bryn Tal,” she offered her formal, Ffurfiol[11], name. “And you are?”
“Legate Gaius Aemilius Regillus, for now, you may refer to me as Legate.”
“Legate, we will leave you and your men to get some rest.”
He gave a respectful nod, and she returned one.
Bryn and I turned and left the facility. The double doors closed tightly behind us.
Kylah and the councilors approached now, and I looked back at the closed doors, still unsure if this would be enough.
Bryn called out to the staff outside, “Make sure the second facility is ready in two days.”
> End Porta Cor imprint.<
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Dahlfia Dewr (ffurfiol) is a Croen Glas from Teithia, on the continent of Landoris. A skilled warrior and public servant, she earns a reputation for her courage, leadership, and steadfast loyalty.
A communication and data storage system encoded within the genetic nomen chip. It enables transmissions, imprints, shared data, and other cognitive functions among compatible Tylwyth Teg, Immortaleum, and hybrids.
An imprint is a feature of the Porta Cor that allows the individual to store, recall, edit, and/or share it with others who also have a Porta Cor. Originally, it was used only for short memos, such as “Remember milk on the way home.” Or “Remind me I have an appointment tomorrow at 5 PM.” Kylah Marie invented the use of imprints to record personal, and thereby Anturia, history in Season 2: Episode 4 – The First Record.
A naturally occurring biological structure found at the base of the brain where it connects to the spinal cord. Present at birth in all Tylwyth Teg and hybrids, and later modified for the Immortaleum, it serves as a person’s biological identity and contains the Porta Cor communication system, enabling transmissions, imprints, stored knowledge, and other cognitive functions.
A massive interplanetary portal linking Anturia with Earth. Built on Baliya Island, it enables near-instantaneous transportation between the two worlds.