Chapter 347: The Child Named Eon
The newborn, now officially designated as Eon, clutched the dense tungsten ring with both hands, his cosmic eyes tracking the shifting data screens that floated above the crystal war table.
"Tarnstead’s infrastructure is completely integrated," Iron-Scale said, spreading a new leather map across the crystal surface. "The Ash-Kin engineers have already retooled the local forge arrays to process the salvaged gold and titanium from the sky fleet."
Krax spat a piece of dried meat into a nearby fire pit. "The progress in the Morval foundries is moving even faster. The automatic conveyor lines are churning out five thousand tons of refined star-iron plating daily. Those captured Earthlings are finally proving useful. They spent the last shift hauled up against the sorting tracks, completely broken by the rotation speed."
"They are incredibly fragile," Syra noted, her silver scales catching the violet light from the altar. "Stripped of their stolen magic, the Heralds are nothing but frightened cattle. Ethan didn’t even survive the first week of manual processing before Krax cleared him from the line."
Gulag rested her elbows on the stone table, her amber core flaring to adjust the density of the obsidian floor tiles. "They relied entirely on the system’s numerical advantages. The moment the Sovereign severed their tethers, their pride dissolved into grease and ash."
"We found an entire hidden civilization beneath the Third Continent’s central dunes during the western sweep." Iron-Scale pointed his silver-skulled dagger at the lower quadrants of the map. "A tribe of pale-skinned dwellers had been guarding a buried vault for centuries. They carried the ancient linguistic cipher of the Lost Land, and they immediately pledged their bloodlines to the Spiral once they recognized the Phylum."
"They surrendered their entire cache of Pre-Calamity biological weapons," Syra added, twirling a throwing blade between her fingers. "Thousands of dormant hunter-strains are currently incubating inside the alchemical vats, gorging on the bio-reactor runoff. We have also expanded our footprint across the Second Continent’s maritime borders. Aaron successfully mobilized a hundred thousand local knights to reinforce the eastern shipyards, permanently locking down the regional waters against foreign probes."
Eon’s small eyelids grew heavy as the massive influx of baseline logistics saturated the room. The miniature spatial rifts hovering above his fingers blinked out of existence one by one, and the heavy tungsten ring slipped from his grasp, clattering softly against the crystal table.
Kronos stepped forward from the shadow of the central pillar. He carefully gathered the sleeping infant against his star-iron breastplate, supporting the child’s compressed physical mass with both arms.
"The assembly is concluded," Kronos stated, bowing his head respectfully toward the fading violet projection of Rubedo. "I will return the asset to the lower quarters."
He turned and marched out of the grand hall, his heavy footsteps echoing down the long, vaulted corridors of the palace.
The deep-core guards stepped aside in silence as the Emperor navigated the secure residential wing, stopping before the heavily reinforced oak doors of the guarded chamber.
The iron locks ground loudly as the guard on duty spun the wheel to open the room.
Julia Vance bolted from the corner of her stone mattress the moment the heavy door swung inward. Her frantic gaze fixated entirely on the silver-furred bundle wrapped against his chest plate.
She sprinted across the polished floor tiles, her bare feet slapping against the cold stone, and snatched the baby from his arms with a desperate, protective yank. Pushing herself back into the far corner of the room, she collapsed onto her knees and cradled Eon tightly against her chest, running her fingers through his ash-silver fur while tears streamed down her flaking skin.
"My sweet Julio," Julia wept, pressing her lips against the baby’s forehead. "Mommy has you now. They won’t hurt you anymore."
Kronos remained standing in the open doorway, his solid gold eyes watching her expressions with absolute indifference. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"His name is not Julio," Kronos corrected, his deep, layered voice echoing off the damp masonry walls. "The Spiral has officially named him Eon."
Julia snapped her head up, her pale face twisting with sudden, furious panic as she shielded the infant from his sight. "No! I am his mother! You don’t get to name him after your sick, twisted cult! He is a human child, not a gear for your foundries!"
She slammed her fist against the stone floor, her voice cracking with pure, helpless hysteria. "I refuse to call him that! He is Julio! You cannot take his name away from me!"
Kronos did not flinch or alter his rigid posture against her outburst. He simply adjusted his gauntlet and looked down at the sleeping child.
"The designation was my suggestion," Kronos stated flatly, his tone entirely declarative as he closed the iron door halfway. "He marks the beginning of our endless age. Get used to the sound of it, Julia. Because the Sovereign does not accept revisions to the dockets."
He pulled the door shut.
Julia rocked back and forth on the mattress, pulling the coarse blanket tightly around her shoulders to ward off the chill of the chamber.
She sat on the edge of the stone mattress while pressing the infant against her chest. The child latched onto her with surprising force, drinking the milk in eager gulps.
Tears spilled from her eyes and soaked into the dirty collar of her ruined tunic. She brushed a lock of matted blonde hair from her face and looked down at the boy. She stared at the cracked ceiling and mourned the vibrant pink magic that used to flow through her veins, weeping for her brother Julian and her friends.
The Vanguard commanders had dragged them all into the shadows to die, leaving her entirely alone in this nightmare.
She looked down at the child in her arms. The baby released his grip on her tunic and grabbed the engineered tungsten ring resting on her lap. Cosmic pools of shifting light swirled inside his eyes.
Julia forced a bright smile onto her face and bounced him gently on her knee. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky."
The nursery rhyme faded into a choked sob. Eon unlatched and turned his head. His cosmic eyes locked onto her face. Shifting galaxies swirled inside his dark irises, offering absolutely zero recognition or comfort.
He reached up and batted his tiny hand against her nose. Violet sparks crackled across his knuckles to singe the tip of her eyelash.
Julia jerked her head backward to avoid the burning touch. She grabbed his small wrist and pulled it down to her lap.
"You have to listen to me, Julio," Julia muttered. She leaned closer to his ear. "You are from a place called Earth. We had cars, shopping malls, and coffee shops. We went to the parties and took pictures by the beach. Julian was your uncle and your father. He was going to buy you the biggest toy car in the world."
Eon babbled and grabbed a handful of her torn tunic. He pulled the fabric into his mouth and began chewing on the dirty linen.
"Red took everything away from us," Julia continued. She wiped her nose with the back of her wrist. "He killed your father. He murdered Marcus and Elena. Red is a monster. He is a sick freak who locked us in the dark. When you grow up, you have to remember this. You have to destroy him."
The baby released the tunic. He reached into the folds of the woolen blanket and retrieved the thick tungsten ring Gorak had delivered earlier.
Eon shoved the indestructible alloy straight into his mouth. He clamped his jaws down on the toy. A shower of violet sparks illuminated the dim cell as his gums ground against the kinetic dispersers.
Julia stared at the child. He happily sucked on the industrial gear while drooling glowing saliva onto her lap. He possessed absolutely zero concept of Earth, shopping malls, or high school cliques.
The infant chewed the alloy with extreme prejudice and let out a bright giggle. He slapped his hand against the wall to produce a sharp clank.
Julia grabbed his wrist and pulled the toy away. "We do not play with weapons, Julio. We are going to go back home to Earth someday to buy real toys at the mall."
Eon shrieked and reached for the ring. Small spatial rifts popped into existence around his flailing fists, swallowing specks of dust from the air.
Julia shook him slightly and leaned in close. "You will listen to your mother, right, Julio?"
Eon kept sucking on the ring.
"Do you even understand a word I am saying?" Julia asked. She slumped back against the stone wall.
Eon removed the ring from his mouth and slammed it against her knee. The impact bruised her shin instantly. He clapped his glowing hands together and giggled with delight.
Julia pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms. The infant ignored her crying completely and went back to gnawing on the tungsten ring.