A Prince of Earth

Hello, there. My name is Slarios. And I am a God. Capital G, capital O and definitely capital D. Got it? Cool. I am one of the Heraclides, the mightiest group of deities this side of the cosmos. Currently, I am standing in deep space, watching over the Event Horizon near a mighty star system. All around me, darkness and light are battling it out. A solar system is battling against one of the deadliest forces in the universe. A Black Hole. Which one of them shall win? I don't know. By divine law, I must be only a spectator to these proceedings. That sucks. Not the part about the solar system possibly dying but the whole non-intervention and non-interference thing. Welcome to my life.

I can do just about anything. Travel back in time, snatch a big old Tyrannosaurus Rex and drop it in the middle of a crowded city. Just to see what would happen. That would be something. I can also turn an entire ocean into a puddle or vice versa. I can do all kinds of other things. Like turn a person into a shoe or vice versa. Travel inside the sun, and lick its core. Make a gas giant really live up to its name. Yeah, I can do all that, yet there are limits placed upon myself. I can bend reality to my will. I can make you piss your pants. Unfortunately, I can't interfere in cosmic affairs. If you ask me, it's about time the rules changed. They suck, as it is. If you really want to know how bad, you need a history lesson.

Imagine, if you can, what it would be like to be a god. Do you find it mind-boggling? Well, I've got news for you. In the next stage of evolution, Homo Sapiens Sapiens will evolve into two different species, the Gods and the Demons. Yeah. Whoever thinks humankind is destined to become extinct is wrong. One million years from now, there will be no more humans. Only Gods and Demons. Immortal entities descended from humanity vying for domination of the universe. You see, it all began with the technological revolution. The twenty first century was not kind to humanity. Global Warming. Environmental changes. Global terrorism. Famine. Viruses. Plagues. All these were threats to the long-term health and survival of the human species. Billions will die before the twenty first century is over. Out of the ashes of humanity, two new species will rise.

The planet Earth is destined for destruction. I think we all know this. Whether it's World War Three, a deadly plague, Global warming or a combination of all three, the world is marked for death. And humanity with it. Fortunately, genetic engineering came along and rescued mankind from extinction. Genetic engineering enabled human beings to do things they had never been able to do before. Powerful agents of social control determined what capabilities would be engineered for every new kind of human. They were called the Regulators. The Regulators were a secretive, ever-present and seemingly all-powerful global agency which ruled the technologically advanced world of the future. They came to power in the early twenty second century. Back when ordinary humans were nearly rendered extinct because they could not adapt fast enough to the changes to their environment. Their primary duty was the controlled genetic evolution of humanity.

The Regulators were the Overseers and the manufacturers of the new humans. Genetically engineered men and women developed superhuman strength and endurance. These were called the Ox Men or Worker Class. They had average intelligence but physical strength and speed levels far exceeding those of ordinary human beings. Also, healed much faster than any human being could before them. They were designed to be the Shock Troops of the New Humanity. The workers, builders and soldiers of tomorrow. Then, there was the Aquatics or Fish-Men. They were the Explorers. These genetically engineered human beings had the ability to breathe underwater. They were built for life in earth's oceans. The third and final class was the Apex. The Apex were the thinkers and leaders of the New Humanity. Men and women designed for superior intelligence and mental capabilities. These supermen and superwomen possessed extraordinary mental powers such as Telepathy and Telekinesis. The Apex were the rulers of the society of tomorrow. These men and women were the true power behind the Regulators.

The Regulators planned for all brands of genetically engineered humanity to leave the planet and conquer the stars by the end of the twenty second century. Unfortunately, in 2287, there was a revolution. The Ox Men were tired of being the beasts of burden of the Regulators. Thus the war began between the Ox Men and the Regulators. The Ox Men were the most numerous of all classes. They made up seventy percent of the population. The Aquatics and the Apex collectively made up thirty perrcent. The war lasted a long time. Until the Apex created a genetic virus which nearly wiped out the Ox Men. Ninety percent of all Ox Men perished. Untold numbers of genetically engineered men, women and children. Twenty thousand of them escaped from the planet Earth onboard a massive spaceship. They were never heard from again. The Apex continued to rule the planet Earth with an iron fist. They maintained an alliance with the Fish-Men of the Aquatic Realm. Without the steady work force of the Ox Men, the Apex were forced to abandon all plans for the colonization of other worlds. They were thinkers and planners, not workers.

The Ox Men roamed all over space before finding a habitable world just outside the Milky Way. They named this world Heracles, in honor of Hercules, the Ancient Greek Hero. He was a symbol behind which the Ox Men rallied during the war. The Ox Men colonized the planet Hercules. They took the new name Herculean. The Herculeans reproduced rapidly until by 2800 A.D. they numbered six billion. For centuries, the Herculeans dreamed of revenge against the Apex and the Aquatics for the death of their brethren on the planet Earth. The Herculeans decided to spread out. They colonized the planet Chaka. They also established colony worlds on Magister, Lennox, Wharton, Xenos, Areopagus, Olympus, Kronos and Iolaus. By the year 3000 A.D. the planet Hercules was the capital of an interstellar empire with thirty member worlds and one hundred billion inhabitants. The Herculean Empire was ruled by the Imperator. The Imperator was a publicly elected official. He or she ruled the Empire for a period of ten years, then left the throne to be ruled by the next Imperator. The Imperator of the Herculean Empire decided to wage war against the genetically engineered human beings of the planet Earth.

Meanwhile, the Apex and the Aquatics were not faring so well on the planet earth. In spite of their awesome technology, the planet was falling apart. The oceans were poisoned. The skies rained acid. Also, the Apex and the Aquatics were slowly dying because their races lacked enough genetic diversity to continue. Not even cutting edge genetic engineering could save them. Fewer than one hundred thousand members of either species remained. And they were beginning to fight each other over the few remaining resources. That's when the Herculean Empire returned...and spelled doom for them all. The Apex and the Aquatics hadn't heard from the Ox Men in centuries, not since a few of them took off on that spaceship. Now, it seemed that the descendants of the Ox Men from Ancient Earth were back for revenge.

A massive fleet of Herculean battle ships gathered around Earth and commenced orbital bombardment of the planet. Scores of Apex and Aquatics perished. The survivors found some way to ensure their existence. They entered a massive mechanical complex known as the Transformer. The Transformer destroyed the physical bodies of the Apex and the Aquatics. It preserved their minds and transformed them into entities of pure thought and energy. Spiritual entities capable of existing outside physical bodies. The Apex and the Aquatics merged into one new race, the Spirituss.

The Spirituss became a powerful, seemingly all-seeing force in the universe. They could travel at the speed of light, moving from one world to the next. Sometimes, they possessed the bodies of sentient beings. Meanwhile, after the destruction of the planet Earth, the Herculean Empire continued to expand. They multiplied until they conquered sixty thousand colony worlds and numbered five trillion. The descendants of genetically engineered men and women from the ancient planet Earth had done well. The Herculeans made formal first contact with the Spiritus in the year 10 000 A.D. Seven thousand years after the destruction of the planet Earth and the extinction of the Apex and Aquatic species.

The Spiritus had evolved and multiplied since that First Brood. New entities were formed when two or more powerful minds joined to create them. The Spiritus became a god-like race. They lived forever. Traveling from planet to planet, acquiring knowledge and growing in power and numbers. The Spiritus were a force to be reckoned with. And eventually they turned their sights on the Herculean Empire, which brought about the end of their primordial ancestors. Thus, a war began between the Herculeans and the Spiritus. The Spiritus were an ancient, god-like race. The Herculeans were the greatest technological and military power in the universe. When the war first began, the Spiritus wreaked havoc on the Herculean Empire. Thousands died at the hands of invisible alien spirits who could control the weather, possess people or even shift an entire planet on its axis.

The Herculean Empire fought bravely against their implacable ancient enemy. Eventually, a Herculean scientist discovered a technology called Psycho-Materialization. Psycho-Materialization was the conversion of invisible energy into matter. It gave the Herculeans the ability to force the Spiritus into physical form and destroy them. Thus, the armies of the Herculean Empire developed PM-Guns to fight against the Spiritus. The Herculeans fought against the Spiritus. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Spiritus adapted to the Herculean technology by developing the ability to absorb the life-force of the sentient beings they kill and use that life-force to generate bodies which they could inhabit. Thus, the Spiritus evolved into a new species, the Daimon.

The Daimon were born when scores of Spiritus took on humanoid physical bodies. These new bodies were superhumanly strong and fast. Also, they had the ability to regenerate. The Daimon had amazing capabilities. They could absorb energy from almost any source, channel it and harness it to whatever use necessity dictated. This made them virtually indestructible. The Daimon could use ambient energy and use it to create micro-thin force fields around themselves, becoming invulnerable. They could also heal from even fatal wounds. They also constructed spaceships out of organic matter instead of metal. The Daimon became a supreme power in the space age, a force which rivaled the sheer might of the Herculean Empire.

The Daimon were an immortal species. Their bodies were almost indestructible. However, they could be damaged to such extent that the sentient being inside is forced to flee, lest they have a damaged avatar to inhabit. When a Daimon's physical form is destroyed, it returns to being a Spiritus. It takes a Spiritus thousands upon thousands of years to gather the energy and power it requires to recreate a physical form once it's destroyed. Essentially, once a Daimon's physical form is destroyed, it's the end of them. The Spiritus which emerges from the destroyed physical form of a Daimon is weakened and lacks the matter-manipulation of a normal Spiritus. It also lacks the ability to move at the speed of light. It essentially becomes a shell of its former self.

The Herculean Empire waged war against the combined might of the Spiritus and the Daimon. In time, the numbers of the Herculean people dwindled. The Empire crumbled. The remaining did something altogether unprecedented. They evolved. The Herculean People achieved their fullest potential without the aid of genetic engineering or technology of any kind, unlike the primitive ancestors of the Spiritus, the power-hungry and malevolent Apex and Aquatics. So, their evolution was pure. The Herculeans found peace, both within and without. They evolved into beings which were both physical and intellectual. The Intangible Race of the Heraclides. Unlike the Spiritus, they did not simply become spiritual entities. They actually achieved spiritual enlightenment. The Heraclides removed themselves from the universe, but not before planting the seed of the Origin.

The Heraclides evolved from the Herculeans, a race of technologically advanced superhumans themselves descended from the so-called Ox Men of ancient Earth. They explored time and space, along with their genetic history. And they discovered the seed of humanity. Both the Spiritus and the Heraclides were descended from the descendants of genetically engineered superhumans, themselves descended from ordinary human beings. They found the Ancient Seed, and recreated the Origin. They planted the seed of ordinary humanity on many worlds. Then, they completely removed themselves from normal space. They moved to a dimension called Magna. They simply called it The Great Place. The Heraclides evolved from a war-like species hell-bent on universal conquest and instead became celestial guardians. Watching over the universe and protecting the seed of humanity.

But just because the Heraclides weren't interfering in universal affairs didn't mean that the Daimon and the Spiritus weren't. The Daimon traveled from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy on their massive spaceships. They conquered world after world. Without the Herculean Empire to actively oppose them and keep them in check, they conquered world after world. Sentient race after sentient race fell under their dominion. The Heraclides were forced to intervene. Thus, the two races came into conflict again. The Spiritus evolved yet again. They began feeding on the life-force of sentient beings to survive. The more they fed, the stronger they became. They could not feed on the Daimon. The Daimon had no life-force. Besides, they were basically one and the same. The Spiritus crossed the line on the day they destroyed an entire planet by siphoning out the collective life-force of all organisms living in it. The Heraclides went to war against the new and deadlier Spiritus.

This was a cosmic war fought across a myriad galaxies. Worlds perished. Entire solar systems were wiped out as two immortal races duked it out. The Heraclides wanted to preserve all sentient life and allow it to reach its maximum potential. The Spiritus wanted to siphon the life-force of every sentient being in the universe during their quest for power and possibly evolve into something unimaginably powerful. This war has been going on for a million years. Yes, that's what the universe looks like in the year 1 000 000 A.D. And old Slarios is stuck in the middle of it. Isn't it cool? Well, it's my universe, so your opinion doesn't count for much. Sorry but that's the way it is.

After due consideration, I've decided that the Heraclide's Divine Law doesn't mean jack. Right now, they've established a line of defense for worlds which support humanoid life. The Spiritus, now known as the Demons among countless world mythologies, are wandering the other side of the cosmos. Looking for other worlds to pillage and destroy. I can't let that happen. It's not that I have a deep love for these worlds, but I just can't stand letting the Spiritus win. For starters, they're ugly, and not too bright. I'm going to kick their collective butt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some cosmic battles to wage. See you around the universe. Oh, and if your sun ever goes out, it's not my fault.