Editor's note: this story contains scenes of incest or incest content.
*****
The Chimera drifted through space, it's thrusters pushing it along. It was still heavily damaged, but was holding together. Dorian let the ship switch to autopilot as he stood up and left the cockpit. They were heading back to Yarrin, as that was surprisingly where Callie decided to be dropped off. She had said that she wanted to be near him even if she wouldn't be on his crew anymore, so she chose to live in his home city. He had agreed, though he wasn't sure how he was going to convince his wife.
However, now he finally had time to talk to his father's artificial intelligence. He walked down the hall, reaching his personal quarters. On his desk sat the artifact, dormant and cold.
"Hello? Are you sleeping?" He asked the metallic cylinder as he sat down.
"Artificial intelligences don't sleep, or at least the way you are thinking. I was simply lost in thought." The cylinder replied in it's female voice.
"Oh? About what?" Dorian asked.
"Well for starters, you've found me. I've waited twenty years for the creator's son to find me, and now that you have i'm not sure where to begin."
Dorian smiled, knowing exactly how the AI was feeling. "You could start with your name. If you have one I mean."
"Hex." She stated simply.
"Hex? What does that stand for?" he questioned.
"Absolutely nothing. Your father allowed me to name myself when he made me, so I chose Hex. It sounds cool, doesn't it?"
"Yeah..you aren't exactly what I expected an AI to be like."
"You aren't what I expected either, but it's the situation we're in. Now do you want to find out what I know or not?"
"Of course I do, tell me everything! Who was my father? Why did he leave? Why did he make you?" Dorian said, excited that he finally had a chance to learn what he desperately wanted to know.
"One question at a time!" Hex yelled, "I guess it would be best to just start from the beginning. Your father was born sixty thousand years ago, in a dimension completely separate from this one. Much like you, his father was a powerful being from yet another plane of existence. However, unlike you, his father left no guidance behind, forcing him to slowly build and develop his power on his own. It took centuries, but he eventually managed to reach his full potential."
Dorian's mind raced to absorb the information, trying to cope with all the implications. His grandfather was also an extra dimensional being? His father was sixty thousand years old? He felt both overwhelmed, and excited. "Does that mean I'll eventually learn to access other dimensions like them?"
"We'll get there, be patient! Now, as I was saying, he eventually built his power enough to manipulate the fabric of reality enough to travel between dimensions. So, that's what he did. He traveled, experiencing countless worlds. Sometimes he watched, sometimes he interfered. Then, around fifty thousand years ago, he decided that he would create. He discovered this dimension, the one we exist in, and mated with the entire population of a planet. His DNA mixed with them and created a hybrid species that was capable of using the same power you possess."
"In other words, I had siblings? What happened to them?" Dorian interjected.
"They spread from their single, lonely planet to conquer countless planets, creating an empire that dominated the entire galaxy. Your father ruled as emperor for five thousand years, until the abomination was created." Hex explained, enjoying the fact that she was finally able to tell the story that she had waited so long to recite.
Dorian was shocked to learn that his father was an emperor at some point, especially since he ruled over the exact empire that The Collector has been so curious about.
"Your father led them to greatness, teaching them what he knew, though not enough for them to leave this dimension out of the fear that they'd conquer other planes of existence. After generations of worshiping him, they soon began to grow resentful of how he kept some knowledge to himself. Eventually, a group of the most powerful beings in the empire joined forces to create a creature that could rival your father. The creature overthrew your father, forcing him to move on."
"What kind of creature are you talking about?" Dorian asked, intrigued.
Hex paused, thinking back to what her creator had described. "It was a mass of intelligent, writhing, slimy tentacles that could crush armies single handedly."
Dorian shivered, hoping that he'd never encounter anything like that. "What happened to the creature?"
"Well, your father didn't return to this dimension until twenty years ago, where he obviously discovered that the empire had fallen long ago, barely any reminders of it remaining. He went to the old home world, where he learned that the creature had been given the name of Zhalla, and had begun ruling after his departure. Zhalla began a dynasty, where a new tentacle creature would rule as a god every ten thousand years."
Something occurred to Dorian. "How did the creature breed if it was the only of its kind?"
Hex laughed sarcastically. "Don't you know how babies are made? When Zhalla's power began to diminish, it selected the most powerful member of the empire to breed with. Zhalla became pregnant and died after giving birth. That cycle continued, each creature's power diminishing slightly. Without your father's knowledge, the citizens of the empire also watched as their own power slowly faded, each generation becoming weaker until they lost the ability entirely. The empire didn't last much longer after that."
Dorian was fascinated. He had so much to tell Bermil, but he also had many questions that he needed answered. "I don't understand though, why would my father return to this dimension if there was nothing left for him? Just another galaxy of ordinary people?"
"Master, what you have to understand is that it had been thousands of years. In that time, he had basically become a god. Yet even then, after an amount of time that humans cannot truly comprehend, he regretted that his attempt at creation was a failure. That's why he returned, and why you exist. He wanted to create something worthy of his power. That's you, despite what I still think about you. He Seduced your mother and created a plan to help guide you. He used his power to glimpse that you would eventually meet Callie, and ensured that she would find knowledge of my existence, leading us to this moment."
"I...I don't know what to say..." he said, finally having the answer he had sought after all his life. He had a purpose.
"Then listen, because there's a LOT we need to do in order to reach your potential. That's why your father made me. Inside me is the information to help unlock your powers. He thought that by guiding only you, rather than an entire empire, you could rise up and become his equal.You could possibly even surpass him, but we'll talk about that another day. For now it's time for you to learn."
"If you have the information then...let's start! Tell me everything, and I'll do all I can to achieve what he wanted me to!" Dorian exclaimed, picking up Hex.
"About that..." Hex said hesitantly, "I can't tell you anything right now..."
