In a far-flung corner of the universe, there lay a barren planet, its oceans long evaporated, and its land scorched by the fires of war.
Upon this forsaken rock lay the ruins of a vast castle, so large it rivaled the size of mankind's greatest cities. Its walls, now in ruins, encompassed an area so vast millions could have dwelt comfortably within their embrace.
The once tall, emaculate buildings had long crubled to near dust, only the fortress itself at the center of the city complex had any stones still standing.
In the heart of what was once most likely the throne room, evidenced by the shattered pillars lining the walkway.
There was a platform raised on 7 steps at the top of which was an old cracked throne.
The jewls once set in its recesses had been stolen, the gold and precious mettals used to adorne it were gone, but above the throne sat a dull white stone.
It was only about the size of a robins egg and had cracks running throughout its surface which is most likely why it wasn't taken.
But here in the depths of the universe, at a place mankind didn't even know existed as the light from its star hadn't traveld that far yet.
The stone began to heal itself, the cracks shrinking as if time itself was being reversed. And once restored the gem gave out a brilliant flash of light, unseen by any living being.
The planet rumbled and shook as its core began to spin once more restoring its magnetic field. Vast wonders of magical engineering groaned and creaked as they returned to life after eons of inactivity. The very fact that they still worked after so long was a testament to the quality of craftsmanship and the strength of the materials used in their construction.
These machines, buried deep within the planet, began to pump out vast quantities of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and other gases to remake the atmosphere that had been blown away by solar winds.
Enormous clouds formed above the rocky surface dumping entire floods worth of water on the planet, slowly replenishing the oceans, rivers, and lakes.
But most importantly there was one final machine that began to launch drone after drone across the planet. These drones worked tirelessly to plant billions of seedlings of trees, bushes, grass, flowers, and every other kind of vegetation imaginable.
As they worked the gem above the throne began to dim as the last of its energy was drained to work the machines and reterraform the planet.
It spent the last of its power awakening the governing AI that would ensure that things continued to run smoothly, in the hopes that the one for whom they awakened would return soon.
*At last...* The voice of the AI sounded within the depths of the planet. *The King comes at last.*
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It had been 2 weeks since Kaius was brought to the hospital and he was only just coming out of his coma.
The draining of his potential and the subsequent wreck had brought his vitality so low he nearly died several times.
It was only thanks to Lucius spending a ridiculous amount of money on gene supplements that Kaius' condition was stabilized and he was able to slowly recover.
No sooner did Kaius open his eyes then did Lucius storm into his room demanding answers from the barely concious man.
The last two weeks had been hell on earth for the head of the Claudius family.
He wasted over 200 thousand denarii on a useless bum, his archrival he found out was already dead, and the police were unable to find any kind of evidence that would point to someone responsible for Kaius' condition.
Not to mention the nearly half a million spent on doctors and hospital fees Lucius was downright murderous, and Kaius would be the unfortunate recipient of his wrath.
"You will answer me succinctly Kaius." Lucius began, the venom dripping from his voice was enough to nearly cause passersby to need an antidote.
"And if I am not satisfied by your answers..." He didn't finish the sentence. Even in a half-conscious state the meaning was clear to Kaius. He wouldn't survive the consequences if he couldn't satisfy his new master.
"Domi...nuss." Kaius struggled mightily to even be able to stutter out that one word.
Lucius could tell that this interview would be long and tedious, but he had to endure it. Only Kaius could tell him what really happened after he left that brats compound.
Lucius had a sinking feeling that the son of his rival would be an enormous thorn in his side. Neither he nor his remaining gladiator had been seen in public since the death of the boy's father.
It could only be imagined what they were getting up to in there, but seeing as the boy hadn't withdrawn his gladiator from the upcoming games Lucius assumed it was some kind of training or other. Not that it would matter anyway.
Lucius was confident that the boy lacked the talent and disposition necessary to train an effective gladiator. Add to that the gladiator the boy had left had only been training for a little over two months, Lucius was beyond confident that his own veteran fighters would handle it.
"Tell me everything that happened the day you left that boy's ludas. What did you say, do, smell, think, touch, all of it. And tell me the boy's reaction to all of it."
Lucius' tone brooked no argument. He meant exactly what he said, he wanted everything to the smallest detail. Only then could he have the information necessary to piece it all together.
Needless to say, the response was several hours long. Not only because it was difficult for Kaius to say any more than a few words at a time. But the strain of talking so much was a great burden on Kaius' weak frame. And caused the man to pass out for several minutes at a time before he had the energy to wake up and continue.
Once the explanation was done Kaius once more drifted off into sleep, whether or not he would wake again was anybody's guess. But if the look on lucius' face was any indication...chances didn't look good.
Lucius stood quietly for several moments just absorbing and processing the information presented to him.
He was sure that the boy did something to Kaius to cause the sudden illness and loss of vitality. The sudden onset of it while Kaius was in transit to him was extremely suspicious in Lucius' mind.
'Was the boy aware of my schemes beforehand? Did he do something to Kaius before accepting the sale of the contract? How could he do something without even touching the man?'
These among other thoughts continued to swirl around in an ever-worsening web of intrigue and misconceptions. The strangeness of the events threw a shroud of mystery over the whole thing, causing Lucius to overclock his brain coming up with possible scenarios. Each one more outlandish than the last, but strangely homing in on the truth.
Yet with no evidence, it was impossible for Lucius to pursue anything through legal channels. But such limitations had never stopped him before.
While the system monitored all beings connected with it the system itself was not the arbiter of justice. It merely contacted the authorities or emergency responders necessary to deal with whatever situation was going on.
That was why the response times of police and firefighters was so quick. There was no wait time between the incident occurring and the authorities being notified.
It also helped that with the advancements in technology, emergency responders could arrive anywhere in the city within 3 minutes. The wait time was even shorter the closer to the center of the city you were.
The city was built in concentric circles with all government and emergency service buildings in the center. The three-minute wait was the maximum amount of time it would take for an emergency responder to go from the central office to the furthest point in the outer ring.
That being said Lucius was aware that while the police would travel quickly to the scene of any crime, as long as no physical harm was done, the system was unlikely to dispatch anyone unless the incident escalated, or one of its other security protocols was triggered.
Pulling his system panel up he connected to his home office where the secretary standing by picked up the call immediately.
"Good evening sir, what may I do for you?" The secretary's tone was polite and professional, clearly, he had been serving Lucius for a long time and knew how to avoid getting on his bad side.
"I need you to have two of our interrogators go privately to an address I will send you later. They need to be discrete and try to extract all relevant information about Kaius and his incident."
Lucius didn't want to spell out exactly what he was doing, the system was listening after all. But with an old generation phone, he was able to send the address to his secretary without the system being aware.
Little did he know that this one action would be the tipping of the first domino in the Claudius family's downfall.
In the 4th ring of the city Priscus sat comfortably at his desk reading the daily reports about his and Icarus' progress.
The past two weeks had been hell on earth for both of them, but the results spoke for themselves.
Priscus was now able to function and train normally at a full 70% power setting on the restriction suit, Icarus was a little behind but not to bad at 55%.
Their control stats were improving rapidly and that was having a remarkable impact on the rest of their training.
But as Priscus sat there going over things in his head he heard a slight noise coming from the front gate.
Deciding to check it out Priscus exited the villa and walked towards the gate at a leisurely pace.
He was only about halfway there before a large net was thrown at him from his blind spot on the left.
Startled Priscus reacted instinctively, kicking the ground with all his strength he launched himself over 3 meters high completely avoiding the net as it sailed past where he was once standing.
Upon landing once again he called out angrily to the darkness.
"Come out and explain yourselves! Who the frack do you think your trying to kidnap!!"
A couple of low, violent, chuckles echoed from out of the darkness that surrounded him. His hackles raised and his senses were in overdrive trying to discern the locations of his assailants.
He didn't have to look long as two black-clad men seemed to melt out of the darkness and appear before him. It was as though they had materialized from nothing and it truly spooked Priscus. He couldn't help but wonder if whoever had harmed his father had come back for him now.
"Kidnap you?" The man on the left spoke with a voice so cold it could have frozen beer. The intense bloodlust rolled off the man in waves and the sickening hoarseness of his voice grated on Priscus' ears.
"We are not here for that boy," He continued on while slowly approaching Priscus from the left.
"We just want some...information. And you son...hehe...Are GOING to give it to us."