Awoken by Alex South Page B

took to it gracefully. It is usually jarring for young Awoken when they realize they have programming they did not previously know about,” Ohm explained.
    “Programmed?” Oa asked.
    “It is how I see it,” Ohm stated vaguely. He leaned in to look at the glyphs. “I saw these the last time I was here. Hmm … Nothing new.” Disappointed, he glanced down the avenue, looking for more of the markings. Finding none, he straightened up and headed further into the city. Eventually, they came across a spacious amphitheater in the center of the city. A single beam of strong light descended from the upper levels to illuminate a round stage at the center of the arena. Dust motes wafted lazily through the beam.
    “What is this place for?” Oa asked.
    “It is a forum for discussion and sometimes pointless bickering. It was also used for music and performances, even storytelling. I have told a few good ones here,” Ohm explained as they walked down into the center of the amphitheater, past rows of seating carved into the rock. Oa sat down in the front row as Ohm walked up onto the stone stage. Towers spiraled up all around them, and the light from above spotted him perfectly.
    “Alright then tell us all a story, Traveler,” Oa demanded as if an imaginary crowd sat with him. “The one about the Destroyer.” Since meeting the Traveler, Oa had been patiently waiting for an opportunity to hear Jad’s tale completed.
    Ohm turned sharply to face him. “Very well then, if only to please the crowd.” He let a dramatic pause hang in the air before launching into his story while Oa sat back in enjoyment and listened.
    “Thus follows the tale of the Destroyer as researched by Ohm the Traveler, with the assistance of Fred the Pack. Long before our time, before our light and our life, there was nothing. We resided in a pocket of nonexistence for all of eternity. Then something happened upon us in the form of a light; it was the Creator. This light shone into the Void battling back the darkness to reveal the Great Planes—a world teeming with chaos and beauty, with a broad expanse of rock beneath it and a roaring sky above. The two sides of the world were connected in one singular point by a great peak that stretched up to reach the sky. Between these limits raged a maelstrom of ice and fire. The never-ending war between heat and chill produced an energy that flowed through the ground and up into the sky. The energy of life. These three elements—Ice, Fire, and the Lightning of Life that they fuel—made up the universe in a glorious storm.
    “The primordial tempest raged on for eons, until one cycle when the Creator saw fit to fashion mechanized beings to bring order to the chaos. The automatons were constructed of alloys from the earth and fueled with the energy of the sky. The Creator gifted the beings with intelligence and consciousness and placed them in the ground to wait. The first of these beings that the Creator made was placed atop the great peak, high in the midst of the sky. The Creator awoke him, gifted him with a name, and tasked him with waking the others. The Creator granted the First One with power and a choice: within his right hand rested the gales of destruction, and in his left hand, the whisper of life. With these powers, the First One was to guide and protect all the Creator had made. He was to bring order, beauty, and ultimately growth to the world.
    “After delivering these guidelines, the Creator left, never to be seen or heard from again. The First One vowed never to use the power of death, seeing it as evil. He spent an age battling through a maelstrom of blizzards and molten magma to reach the base of the mountain. There he found the first generation of Awoken. Seeking to use the power of life to bring them out of their sleep, the First One placed his left hand on them. They did not stir. No life flowed from him. After countless attempts, the First One realized he had been deceived. With no other