The Eternal Winter - Book 1 - Intermission (Patreon)

                                              The Front of the Planet Hall

The instant Cryonix woke up from his heat induced slumber brought about by the Sun God, he felt the wonderful chill of his lord passing over the world, wiping out the disgusting corruption of the Sun God in the process. But then he realized that he appeared to be buried in the ground, so he simply flexed the muscles all over his body and shattered whatever it was that entombed him, soon finding himself in some sort of concrete jungle. One where strange objects with warm ones could be seen flying through the air and others across the ground.

It was disgusting to see.

Of course, it didn’t last long before they all stopped flying, crashing into the ground with all of the many bright lights around the concrete jungle shutting off as well as his lord’s power swept over it all. Then the shards came. Transmitters holding the cryo energy of the universe.

Cryonix wasn’t sure what had happened after the Sun God took control of the universe, but he was sure of one thing. Everything was returning to how it should be.

That is, until the creature deemed an ‘intelligent frozen one’ by the humans it had encountered and slaughtered found an irregularity. A creature neither a warm one nor a frost denizen. One that seemed to stop in the middle of the transformation process into a frost denizen.

An excellent gift for lord Cocytus when he arrives in the future.

Or he would have made one, if the second class denizen had done its job. Instead the inferior creature was put down like the pest it was.

Cryonix had thought the thing was all he’d need, but it would appear as if he had either underestimated the irregular, or overestimated the power of these newly born denizens. Both very likely possibilities.

But still…

The highborn denizen narrows his glowing blue eyes on the glowing red forms of the warm ones he can see through the walls.

How did the warm ones grow so weak over time? And why are there so many of them? There couldn’t have been even a fourth of this many on any single planet before our slumber… although there are those delectable ones that have the strange organism inside of their bodies.

Cryonix continues to stare at the building for a few seconds before glancing to the inferior creature kneeling to his left with his head down. The creature is one of those very delectable warm ones. Ones who are much stronger than the others, most likely because of the strange organism that appears to have integrated itself into them.

Did the warm ones begin relying on symbionts to grow in power? Is that why most of them are so weak now?

The warm one in question shivers as he feels the creature’s gaze on him, only to eventually raise his head to meet Cryonix’s gaze.

“Tell me of the Sun God,” Cryonix asks, not bothering to waste words as his eyes practically drill holes in the man. And he can’t help but notice the confusion that arises from the term ‘Sun God’.

A few seconds pass, then the man asks in a stern tone of voice that defies the fear Cryonix can smell wafting from him, “I apologize, but what is the Sun God?”

Cryonix can’t help but feel a strong sensation of surprise as he listens to the man’s heart and doesn’t hear it skip a beat or show any signs of lying. But despite that, he repeats the question, “Tell me of the Sun God ruling over the warm ones.”

This just makes the man even more confused as he says, “I don’t know of a Sun God, or any ruler.”

Once again, the highborn denizen finds the man to be telling the truth. Which only serves to confuse him even more.

Did the Sun God perish? Or perhaps she chose to allow her people to be free from her guidance and control?

Before Cryonix can think of any other possibilities, he finally notices the tiny chip in the back of the man’s neck. And more specifically, the heat energy inside of the device.

So the denizen immediately reaches for the warm one, grabbing the creature’s entire head in his enormous hand before lifting him up as it screams in defiance. But he simply ignores that to turn him around and bring the back of the warm one’s head closer to his own face.

There it is. So the Sun God does still have a measure of control over her flock. But how does this work?

He continues staring at the device for a few seconds, ignoring the warm one’s distress in the process before eventually deciding to turn his attention to the dozen frost denizens of the second class that had stayed behind with him as he says, “Bring me another warm one with heat energy devices in their necks.”

Cryonix then ignores the half dozen denizens who immediately begin rushing off towards the large building as he turns his attention back onto the warm one while still studying the device. But he doesn’t take it out of the warm one yet.

No. This one is the only one that’s bothered answering my questions as of yet.

The more Cryonix studies the strange device though, the more he can’t help but glare at it, not understanding much of anything about it beyond that it has heat energy inside of it. So he eventually turns the warm one around again, the man having finally stopped fighting his grip after both giving up and realizing he wasn’t going to kill him right now.

“Answer me. What is this strange device in your body? And why does it have heat energy in it?” Cryonix asks while bringing the warm one’s face to his own.

This action appears to frighten the human even more, to the point that when he answers there is actual fear in his voice this time, “I-it’s t-the terminal given to e-every soldier in t-the Terran Empire. It connects us to t-the mother terminal and everything else we n-need in the Empire.”

Mother terminal? Could that be the Sun God?

“Where is this ‘mother terminal’?” Cryonix asks.

The man seems to regain some of his composure from earlier after getting over his initial shock, proving his value to the highborn denizen as he answers, “It’s in the head of the emperor. Just like my terminal is behind my ear.”

Ear? The thing is in his neck, not his ear. So why… interesting.

After searching more, Cryonix manages to find a small chip behind their ear that appears to be connected to the device at the back of his neck. But while the device on the back of his neck seems slightly more biological with heat energy in it, the one behind his ear is just made out of metal, just like the strange technology that stopped working during the initial spreading of his lord’s power.

However, before Cryonix can say anything else, his head jerks upwards as he senses a familiar scent. One belonging to the irregular.

It’s back.

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