Faye looked at a dim red star through a hole in her prized pendant. It swayed in the gentle evening breeze, even as she held it by the bail connecting it to her necklace. The pendant was a flat circle, like a metal washer of some unknown pink-colored alloy. Despite being as mirror smooth and scratch-free as when she got it, about thirty degrees of it were missing. Its shape was obviously inspired by a similar but much larger flat disk, Eos. Faye's pendant was exactly one hundred billion times smaller than its inspiration, the legendary megastructure that orbited that same dim star. Even though her back was toward the galactic core, she saw through her pendant the new center of the universe.
As she put her necklace back on, she looked down the ridge toward the stony shores she had known her entire life. She had only seen them from this angle a handful of times. Her eyes moved toward the town she had always known, ten times more populous than when was born. With night having just fallen, the thin tall towers scattered throughout began to glow, casting silver light hardly enough to read by. She had long supposed it odd that practically every building she saw was younger than she was. Their marble columns, made of locally-sourced marble with a blue tinge, held the facades of buildings only a generation ago thought impossible. Right now, everyone would be returning from work, but Faye was too far to see anyone in particular. Her eyes continued darting around the area, anything to keep her occupied while she waited. Faye spotted the small flat she had been calling home as the train arrived.
Calling where she stood a "station" would be generous. The wooden platform was perhaps the oldest thing Eos' soldiers built in her town. Weeds had long since invaded the platform and Faye noticed the beginnings of a termite mound forming nearby. The train slowed to a crawl, but would not halt. An attendant helped Faye with her bag as she walked alongside the train. As the short platform came to an end, she hopped onto the train.
He led her to a mostly empty car and stowed her bag above her in the overhead bin. Faye noticed his uniform, two contiguous cloths, one undyed wool meant to be white and another dyed black. A small three-pointed metal star clasped the fabrics together, completing the uniform. Originally a gold color, it had long since oxidized to a deep brown. He was a Vexlore, the majority of the settlers who had come to her world. Originally from Eos, the Vexlores were similar to Humans. The Triumvirate used mostly Vexlore soldiers on this planet for that reason. The main distinguishing traits were his pale skin and gaunt face, though these were not enough for some laymen to confuse the two species. He bowed and walked off, puzzling Faye for a second before remembering that she was wearing a similar uniform, though her own clasp was inset with red glass. She had the rank of "Doctor."
The yellow lights of the train interior made it difficult to see outside, instead the window only showed her reflection. She noticed her tousled white hair, devoid of any and all pigmentation since she was five. That was uncommon amongst Humans apparently, though to her that was just what hair was supposed to look like. Even the invading Vexlores had white hair. She had found out that her complexion was fairly common though on the darker side. The last thing that was apparently odd about her, at least according to the soldiers commenting on Humans, was her eyes—grey but with streaks of blue, like a mostly cloudy sky. Her mother had the same pattern in her irises.
Merchants always came to Thamania right around the equinox. They came in with the morning dew, setting up their stalls and stands overnight so that, come morning, they wouldn't miss a single sale. Their colorful tents and stands transformed the town overnight.
"Are you sure that's all you want?" Fraeda Vaughn led her daughter through the increasingly crowded impromptu market square.
Faye nodded, "It's pink!"
With her free hand she admired the necklace she had received. The merchant told a whole story about how it "fell from the dim red star," though he couldn't point to it on account of the time of day and year. Its mirror finish and pink hue would have made it quite expensive, but the large hole in the middle and sector missing made it not very useful as one. They decided it was worth its weight in silver, not much in all honesty, especially for the dyad-priestess.
"Careful, you don't want to lose it."
Faye enthusiastically nodded.
Having just that day reached five years of age, the celebration commemorating this fact just so happened to fall on the busiest day of the year for her parents, the dyad-priest and priestess.
"What do you got there, Faye?" Meyer Vaughn squatted down in front of the young girl.
"Ma—Fraeda got me this thingy!" She presented her new treasure, mostly obscured by her fist.
Meyer tousled her younger sister's hair and grinned. She rose to her feet, "Now say goodbye to Fraeda. She's going to work hard for Armilustria."
"Uh huh, bye bye!" Faye waved.
"I wish Meyer was as good of a kid as you are," Fraeda teased.
The dyad-priestess departed and Faye followed around Meyer, whether she picked through the merchant stalls or accompanied her friends. Faye wasted no time showing off her new pendant to everyone whose name she was reasonably sure she knew. Even a few merchants she recognized from the last Armilustria. Adults mostly smiled with her enthusiasm, but those her age were amazed. It was the first time almost anyone had seen a mirror before. Heeding her mother's advice, the necklace never once left her neck, even with the incessant begging of her peers.
The first stars began to rise in the sky, though the dim red star would be one of the last to do so. Their appearance meant Armilustria would begin. The sounds of revelry and merrymaking disappeared as tonight, the first night of the festival, was its most important. Faye followed the crowd toward the sunset, toward the ritual.
Faye alighted, this time the train had come to a complete stop in the massive terminal. Grandiose pillars held up a ceiling too distant to seem possible. On the ceiling were massive paintings depicting various scenes from The Oeuvre, the holy book. A key distinction was the inclusion of Humans in these narratives, as though they had always been there. Over a dozen trains were stopped at this platform. The few photos she had ever seen, reduced to grey as though drawn in pencil, did not do justice to the sheer magnitude of the crowd. She was able to see at least one thousand people, moving in and out of the terminal, boarding trains, lugging boxes, pushing crates, selling snacks, and otherwise milling about. The confusion of bodies was far too much to take in.
What's more is they were not all Human. As she followed the signage toward what she hoped was the exit, the most common race she saw were the Rorrans. Most wore the black and white robes she did, implying they too were government officials. She tried not to stare at them, but their lustrous grey skin, singular large orange eye, and tall stature made it difficult.
She accidentally caught the gaze of one and smiled, "Excuse me could you point me to the exit?"
The tall Rorran's gaze remained on her as their feet pivoted, turning the rest of their body to bear. Rorrans always seemed to hesitate as the spoke, but that was the normal response time for them. The disc in their torsos needed to spin up to speed before they could use it to speak. Their voice crackled to life, overlaid with a silent fire except for the occasional pops and sizzling, "It would be that way, Doctor."
"Thank you—" Faye's eyes darted toward the claps on the Rorran's chest, "Ah—Thank you, Chiliarch."
"Good day," the Rorran shrugged and loped off how they all did, although Vaughn was certain the shrug did not mean what it meant to her.
Faye stepped out of the station into an expansive square. The paved triangular bricks extended seemingly endlessly. In the distance, they turned sharply upward as though "down" were a different direction there. Faye felt a twinge of vertigo as she saw the great wall in the distance. It was just one wall in the massive star-shaped fortress that was the Triumvirate Garrison. The wall itself was far taller than any building in her home town, let alone the structures that lay beyond. It was one of the smaller garrisons on Aegyn, only responsible for this small northern continent and some of its surrounding waters. One of the points of the star, reaching into the City of Bedeutend like an amoeba's pseudopod, pointed directly at the University of Northern Aimer. Conveniently, all she would need to do is follow the wall and she would arrive.
Beyond the square, the crowd grew less dense but the streets less expansive. Buildings, relying on the garrison walls for support, crawled up its sides like ivy, growing alongside the ivy endemic to the region. The buildings in Bedeutend were much like those in her home town. Many of them were government buildings, built of imported white marble and other stones that needed to be dropped from orbit. Some buildings were monoliths made of an asteroid gently deposited on the ground and carved into a more artificial shape. Some of them were so large she had thought they were mountains being mined, what with the cranes and workers covering them. A train line actually passed through one such space rock, entering unladen and leaving filled with extracted ore. This was apparently cheaper than doing the same thing in space and was a major source of employment on this continent.
As though the garrison was a fractal, the campus had a similar star shape, less for defense and more for aesthetics. Unlike the garrison wall, its red brick walls were hardly taller than she was. Imported plants from across the empire, ranging from deep violets to brilliant reds, decorated the streets alongside the walls. Matching red brick buildings opposed the campus walls across the street. They were mostly student residences. The plants in this area, in particular the trees, were small, giving away the young age of this part of the city. Although, save for the old districts, the vast majority of this city was newly built.
Toward the main gate, white, black, and gold flags decorated the walls. That familiar flag was everywhere in this city, though rare in her hometown. A student nodded to her, "Doctor." She nodded back, noting the much simpler student uniform, notably with buttons and trousers unlike her flowing robes. Thus began her tenure at the University of Northern Aimer. Her specialty, the recently dignified field of study, "anomalistics."
Faye felt the heat of the massive bonfire even from over one hundred paces away. She did not know the people she held hands with, and they were adults, leaving her feeling quite bored. Most of the kids were separated from one another in that large circle of people holding hands. A man hammered away at a long piece of metal practically inside of the flames. Another doused him with water after every strike. They toiled away at the creation of a crude iron spear.
Several men doused themselves in water and ran toward the bonfire, each with heavy tongs to grab the weapon. They pointed its blunt end toward Byutix, Mars' star. The orange star flickered in the night sky, the same color as the glowing spear.
The men strained against the heavy iron implement, and the dyad-priestess led a pig toward them. It squealed when as it got closer to the massive fire. The dyad-priest began his prayer, "Grant us peace this coming season of war!"
"Grant us peace!" the crowd responded. Faye fumbled over the words even though Fraeda guided her through them. She began sweating, not only because of the flames but the cloak she and everyone else wore. She welcomed the autumn breeze as it swept by.
"Remember why you fight!"
"Remember!" The breeze picked up. With a nod, the men brought down the spear onto the squealing pig. This would be just the first one slaughtered for the festival tonight. It was more crushed than pierced as the hastily-hammered iron spear was hardly sharp.
"Let us show you why!"
"Let us!" A bowl passed around the circle, within it small bits of dried mushroom. As the bowl made its way around, the hundred or so practitioners each took a piece. The man next to Faye told her to take a small one. It tasted bitter. After the pig stopped squealing, they danced.
They wheeled in barrels of beer, roasted pigs, and played instruments. The stars were far more colorful than usual, the fire was mesmerizing, and the food felt strange in the mouth. She saw some patterns that weren't there. No matter how she rubbed her eyes, or looked around, the colors remained wrong. That and the loud sounds of the festivities was quite terrifying for the young girl. She looked for someone familiar.
"Ma..." Faye tugged on the dyad-priestesses' cloak, a golden-yellow wolf pelt. She was keeping a watchful eye on the merrymakers. Without warning, she picked up Faye. The mask she wore dangled around her neck.
Faye rubbed her eyes, "Why do we do this?"
The golden ring hovered right above the ground. Its rings and wheels spun around one another like an inferno whose wisps of flame were replaced with evanescing wheels. It glowed brightly, pushing back the dark of night and replacing it with a deep blue sky.
"What mechanism keeps you living?" the golden ring asked.
Hal surveyed the once-lush field around him. Now covered in ashes, there were several dead bodies strewn about. Ashur, Beyla, Astrild, Elimelech—Hal could not tell which one was which. That thing in the sky is what killed them. The thing that called itself "Holos."
"This is beyond the capabilities of mere covalent bonds."
It spoke nonsense at it hovered there. Hal panted as he gazed upon the thing. Using the abilities he had honed over many years, he willed beads of light into the form of a glowing spear.
"Not only this but you can create hardlight via thaumaturgy! This is truly remarkable."
Hal braced and hurled his weapon at the thing in the sky. As it had before, the thing changed. It became as though Hal were looking at it through a glass bottle. The spear, which should have hit it, changed direction in air and swerved.
Hal spat, "Where is she!?"
The thing paused for a moment, "The bespectacled one? Ohko? I have already answered your question, Human. I had long since disposed of her."
"I can't... I can't let you get away with this!"
With a great expense of strength and will, he hurled yet another spear at the hovering thing in the sky. He tried aiming away from it, so that the swerving force would swerve the spear into it. Alas, there was no such force. This was perhaps an invincible foe. Even so, Hal continued to fight. He lunged at Holos, noticed that he was also swerving, and threw a spear in the opposite direction. How many fights had he been in where maneuvers in free-fall were necessary? He collided with Holos.
"My! I did not expect that!"
Hal clung onto the thing in the sky even as he felt impossible forces trying to rip him off. It was all he could do to hold onto the golden ring surrounding the thing, so he bit into it. Using his powers to summon his spear of light in his own mouth, his mouth burned as he attacked. The indentations were but microns wide, but it was the first pain this being had ever felt. Holos shrieked, the shock wave alone enough to create an expanding ring of plasma. With their full might, Holos tore Hal apart. Even as Holos shredded Hal's flesh, even as Holos rendered most of his body mist, the man held on. Every time he nearly faltered, Ohko's image flashed across his mind's eye, but so too did the image of all civilization. He never stopped even as Holos blasted away the last atom.
Ashur looked up to see the battle in the sky, badly injured and deafened from the shock wave, he used his magics to haul himself away from the fight. He had to tell of Hal's sacrifice, even if the thing in the sky would destroy all society. The survivors must know of this.
"Mars loves everyone, dearest, that's why we do this festival to remind him of his fight."
"So the pig is the evil flaming thing?"
"You get it," Fraeda put down her daughter. She began to walk off to tend to someone who, already, managed to have too much to drink.
"I think I see him!" Faye pointed upward.
The stars and nebulae still had the wrong shifting colors, but they had already begun returning to normal A large part of the sky darkened in the pattern of a man, enough to take up most of it. It floated in the night sky like someone aimlessly floating in a lake.
"This year we will see peace! Look upon the sky and see Mars!"
The crowd cheered, shouted prayers, gave thanks for the harvest, and all other things that should be reserved for other gods. Unlike those other gods though, Mars came during the rituals. No one noticed the new dim stars in the sky behind Mars, small and moving much too quickly.
Faye wanted to shout too, "Look at this!" She pulled out her shiny new pendant, glowing in the flickering bonfire light. The figure in the sky suddenly moved.
The pendant reacted as well, bursting into flame—no—it shed small images of itself like the bonfire, disappearing as soon as they emerged. The figure in the sky approached them, much to the reveler's delight. A section of the sky glowed slightly brighter, a straight line passing through the figure's hands.
A bright light shined down on the festival like a beam of sunlight passing through clouds. A large group of figures stood behind the light source, standing in a neat row. The soldiers wore iridescent armor like a beetle's cuticle, colored white and black.
Doctor Faye Vaughn was only such by force. Not force she applied or someone did on her behalf, not even with violence or weapons, but the more abstract kind. At once, the intelligentsia of the Triumvirate decided that historical anomalistics was a field, and it was so. Choosing the previously-obscure field of anomalistics was supposed to have relegated Faye to, if a position opened, perhaps work as a low level manager. Scraping by at a factory, she jumped on the chance to stand in front of a classroom.
"There is no such thing as an anomaly," Faye announced. It earned her several looks as she had hoped.
"This fundamental truth is core to anomalistics..." she had her big opening in mind but what else was she supposed to describe in a historical anomalistics elective? She had arrived on campus just yesterday. It had never occurred to her that instructors needed to plan their lectures.
About two dozen students stared at her, all Humans with the same white hair and dark complexion Faye had. Sitting to her right, quietly with their hands neatly folded, was the observer. A Rorran who monitored her teachings. Once she had proven herself, perhaps he would depart, but for now, the garrison wanted to make sure she was trustworthy.
"...let's take spirits for example," she simply grabbed the chalk and wrote on the dark board behind her. The words were nearly the exact same color as her wavy white hair. With the word "spirits" alone on the white board she wondered why she even wrote it. Writing on the board is just what lecturers did sometimes, she had always thought.
"Ahhh," she thought for a moment, "Many people apply a religious reverence to these beings. They're weird, but the work of early anomalists like Eve van Mizraim showed they are hardly anything supernatural..."
"They simply represent a change in consciousness, perhaps enough so that the afflicted person can unlock knew thaumic abilities. Current research is ongoing as to how suggestion, social pressure, hallucinogens—things that can mold the gullible—can convince people that something magical is taking place."
Faye remembered that night, the night the soldiers came to this continent, the night the Triumvirate liberated her people from their delusions. The same night the stars behaved so very strangely, the night her pendant caught fire. She shook her head, "Social pressure and even state coercion can be a powerful force in determining what people believe. Spirits are a perfect example."
The Rorran officer nodded in approval.