A Chapter 6 Preparations(1)

  Bantu continent, Dugavu state, Mazi city, within a private meeting room.

  13th Blue, 2043. 11:04PM.

  Luthor Dugavu(POV)

  Some called it the gut, I took it to be an instinct, a sixth sense that surpassed every other one, yet only worked in certain moments. What was it really? Many, even I, myself had taken a crack at figuring out it's origins. Of course, all that had taken place within the mind since I couldn't have afforded to pour funds into another project. Earlier, Lutalo's bloodlust field, coupled with the feeling that arose when that luminous extraterrestrial object entered my eyes... Had reignited my thoughts.

  At some point, we humans had been beasts... And my belief, and the conjecture accepted by the majority was simply that it had carried over from that time.

  Before my thoughts could take a deeper direction though, the double doors appeared in my gaze. They were simple wooden things that lacked any ostentious designs and decorations. My steps paused at the threshold before I took a deep breath to clear my mind. By this time, I would have been engaging in mind stimulating things, like my projects, yet the heavens had literally decided to upend my day.

  With both hands, I pushed open the doors, with my eyes falling onto the gathered people. Three were standing, behind each of the seated. Ravena and her daughter, in all their golden glory, were on the right side of the table, with another two, down from them. The pair was of a man and a woman. The woman, Snow Mpale, was the leader of the northernmost state in our Five state alliance, only superceded by those tree zealots.

  Though, I must admit, she was a goddess of beauty. Everything about her was proportional to everything else, making her the picture perfect woman to date. From her snowy white chin length strands of hair to her oval face and glacial white pupils. I had heard that many men sung praises of her, and a few with supreme confidence had already tried asking her out, yet everyone had been refused. Her face was a perpetual cold mask that sucked the liveliness out of anyone who tried to get into conversation with her. I too, still entertained the thought of asking her out on a date... But maybe I should continue building up my courage.

  Standing behind and to the right of her, was her righthand man known as Raiden. I swallowed at both their gazes, hurriedly gazing towards the other two on the right side. The one standing was the familiar David Lutalo while the man with the muscles threatening to spill out of his clothing, a mohawk, with a long braid vanishing behind his back, was most probably his father, Chief Lutalo. The lines etched into his face already made it clear that he was getting on in years, but his gaze was sharp. No weird field surrounded him, but I knew he was as dangerous as his son, if not more so.

  With just a glance, I made the decision to take the side with the women towards my seating place at the head of the table. The atmosphere wasn't suffocating at all, but the silence was somewhat awkward and unwanted. When I took my seat and got comfortable, I gazed towards the empty seat down from Chief Lutalo. It was good that I hadn't been the last. I hated point-proving political maneuvering bullshit.

  The hinges groaned as the doors were pushed into the room. A man with untamed brown locks cascading down his back, pale skin, small bead eyes, and a thin body, entered the room, his aide following close on his heels. He yawned loudly, earning a grumble from Chief Lutalo. He was called, Dan Mpologoma, head of the Mpologoma state.

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  "Why the dissatisfaction, old man? I had to make certain that my kid wasn't shaken by the golden sky!" he explained with a small smile, his lips twitching, and his beady eyes radiating joy.

  "When did you get a child, Dan?" asked Ravena with a tilt of her head. Though, that same question was swallowed back into my throat at her inquiry.

  "My cutie boy was born just a few weeks ago." he beamed, while I noticed a twitch from Snow Mpale.

  "Congrats. But aren't you a little too overprotective to think that the golden light could affect the child? Unless of course, he was outside." I aired my puzzlement.

  "It's better to be safe than sorry." he answered with a rare grin.

  "For real? We should be discussing more important stuff, like how we will reach the place where it fell, not some random baby." scoffed David, gazing menacingly at Dan.

  "We shall get to that later." I said after the man's words earned themselves a scoff from Ravena.

  "There are many things that should be discussed, right?" spoke a melodious voice, attracting my attention, while also causing my heart to accelerate a little. Snow actually had such a sweet voice!

  'Get yourself together, Luthor!' I shouted at myself while faking a cough in reality. Soon, I had to stop myself from running out of the room when the searing gazes fell upon me. I was the host, a placement I now regretted.

  After gathering myself, I started, "The war with the beasts has entered a temporary lull. Right now, we humans are the most powerful on Bantu. So, I was thinking that we should take this time to pivot away from war and work on enhancing the other sectors of our States.

  "The war has NOT ended! We haven't slaughtered every last beast!" Chief Lutalo drawled, his menacing gaze piercing through me, but I kept my eyes locked with his, without flinching back.

  "Aren't you exhausted? Ever since I first started to understand the world, we have been fighting! I have spent over half my life in battle, moving from place to place, watching, as everyone I knew or cared about died, swallowed into the stomachs of the beasts. I am tired. Can't I enjoy my life now? Can't I take my time to show my child a different world, one where he can make his own choices?" Dan's rant silenced the room, tugging at my heartstrings. His words were true. I agreed with him on that, but I was looking towards the future, a future where we wouldn't even have to be fearful. After all, with the massive oceans, there was absolutely no way we could eradicate all beasts.

  "Grow a spine! Tired?! Will the beasts ever get tired of devouring us?! Of lording their superior genes over us?! NO!" Chief Lutalo banged on the table, his breath coming out heavily, while glaring at the other man with an ugly expression, after which, he scanned each and everyone of us on the table, as if daring us.

  "I won't allow my people to continue throwing away their lives in a meaningless war." Snow broke the silence with her melodious soft words.

  "I have heard that your border skirmishes with those tree zealots has gotten far more intense. You are the farthest from peace." interjected David with a sneer.

  "My state will extend unconditional help." I hastily said upon catching the fleeting frown that crossed her features. Man! Beautiful women can really start wars! Just a frown and I actually offered to help? The decision had logic backing it, but still!

  "For now, the war has entered a lull. Don't you agree too, Chief Lutalo? What we need now is to take measures to ensure prosperity. Everything is already in motion to fastrack development. Don't you all agree?" My inquiry earned nods from the others except Chief Lutalo who decided to cross his arms over his chest, making his muscles even more prominent.

  "The most important stage of all that, is to encourage the widespread use of spiritual circuit technology." That had been my wish all along. Electricity, specifically atomic energy, wasn't as efficient, or as miraculous as spiritual energy. Before the electrical circuits could become even more widespread, it would be better to hurriedly replace them.

  "Are you going to share?" asked Ravena, leaning forward with a gleam in her eye.

  "Yes. There is no need to keep that a secret. Some other geniuses in your territories might even come up with surprising inventions!" I answered frankly.

  "What would the nature of the partnership truly entail? Most of the spiritual circuit technology has been seen use in weaponry... Like my two swords." Dan asked, curiosity in his tone.

  "The uses are almost infinite. Food, Healthcare, infrastructure, technology, basically, you just have to name it and it can be done! The only limiting factor would be the frequency wavelengths. Discovering new ones takes time, especially the useful ones, but I can assure you, we have discovered quite a few that can help us in certain fields."

  "What would you want in return? Surely you're not giving things out for free, right?" asked Chief Lutalo, skepticism thick in his eyes.

  "Raw materials, especially those that have been affected by spiritual energy, like plants, ores, and beast parts." I answered.

  Silence drowned the table as eyes flickered, contemplating my offer, one I knew no one in their right mind would refuse as it was simply too tempting!