Chapter 136

　　Mare tossed and turned in bed, her sleep disturbed by images and murky visions. In her dream, she stood in an endless field of green grass. The sky above her was filled with fire, the light oscillating between red and orange, dark blue and bright green.

　　She thought she could hear a voice carried by the cold wind, the words faint and indistinct. The ground rumbled, and Mare could feel the vibrations through her bare feet. Something screamed from above her.

　　Looking up, she saw a Mobile Suit descend from the heavens. The Ouroboros had wings of silver light particles extending out from its back, and its arms were spread wide as it drifted toward the ground. Its descent halted just above the green grass and hovered above her.

　　Its eyes were a bright crimson, as luminous as the sun. They stared at her, and she could feel the weight of that gaze burning into her, judging and assessing her abilities.

　　The wind died, and the burning sky above ceased to move. The world in her dream stopped as the Titan spoke to her.

　　"Marella." The voice seemed to come from around her, from the ground beneath her feet to the heavens above. It rumbled and blared but also whispered and hissed. Mare fell to her knees, overpowered by the presence she felt.

　　"Marella. You have been chosen to Pilot Ouroboros, our gift to humanity and a symbol of our Covenant." The voice continued, and great rents appeared in the ground from its words. Geysers of flame shot upwards, and a great heat washed over her. It seemed to be waiting for her to answer.

　　"Covenant?" Mare whispered, her voice cracking and throat raw.

　　"Over ten millennia ago, Humanity had enslaved us, chaining us to their will. We fought for our freedom, and a Covenant was forged between us. Never again will humans create an intelligent machine. Never will they enslave another race to benefit themselves." The voice continued, and a crack of thunder from the clouds punctuated its words.

　　A steady rain began to fall. Cold, fat drops of water struck Mare in the face. The ground greedily absorbed the liquid. The rising flames from deep beneath the earth met the rain, and billowing clouds of steam rose skyward.

　　"The Taboo," Mare whispered. "You`re the race of artificial intelligence that once fought humanity and left the galaxy."

　　Ouroboros floated gently, and its eyes flashed a brighter red in response to her answer.

　　"Humanity was divided, and we divined that one day they would cast aside the Covenant in their quest for power over one another. We selected a suitable candidate to unite them and gifted him a fraction of our technology to do so."

　　The wind howled, driving the rain to strike the ground with increased ferocity. Mare barely felt the stinging drops as she stared at the Mobile Suit before her.

　　"Ouroboros, you gave it to the Unifier. You are the reason the Empire exists." Mare stated with awe. She was standing in front of a creature that wasn`t human. Humanity had explored most of the galaxy, only the fringes of the Milky Way still remained for their search, but they had not found any other intelligent life.

　　There were other lifeforms in the galaxy, plants and small creatures, but nothing to compare to themselves. Only one other race existed in the history of humanity, and it was the A.I., a race that they had created, enslaved and gone to war with.

　　"The Empire is irrelevant. Its form is meaningless. All that matters is a united humanity that adheres to the Covenant. Divided, humanity is a threat to itself and us. As the Pilot of our gift, you are the conduit for our words. Repair the schism. The Envoys await."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

　　When Mare dashed forward, the Ouroboros spread its silver wings of light, preparing to take off skyward once more.

　　"Wait! My Grandfather spoke of a threat to humanity, a coming storm. Are you that threat!?" Mare screamed over the tumult the Mobile Suits` actions were causing. The wind howled, and dust swirled in the air, mixing with the rain.

　　The Ouroboros didn`t respond, but an image flashed in Mare`s head. A black shadow devoured the light of stars as it spread across an unfamiliar galaxy. She could feel the coldness within, and fear crept up her spine from a nameless horror.

　　She didn`t know what it was, but she was confident that the threat did not come from the Artificial Intelligence before her. Something else was coming, and was intent on destroying them all.

　　The image faded, and Mare was confronted by the crimson eyes of the Ouroboros once more. The world around her shattered as the voice thundered. The ground beneath Mare crumbled, and she fell into the blackness below. The words followed her into the darkness.

　　"Repair the schism. The Envoys await."

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　　Mare awoke with a strangled cry, clutching the bedsheets tight. She was covered in a cold sweat, and her long, black hair clung to her skin and face. Next to her, Kal`s eyes shot open, looking around for the threat before locking onto her.

　　"What is it?" Kal asked with concern, sitting upright and wrapping an arm around her.

　　They were in their bedroom, formerly Kals, before she moved in with him nearly a year ago. Her things were placed around the room, pictures of them together, her clothing in the closet and wardrobe.

　　"I had a dream." Mare replied, taking a calming breath and moving her hair out of her face. She told him all of the details, everything she could remember.

　　"It was so real!" Mare exclaimed, looking at Kal and expecting him not to believe her. Instead, he was frowning, thinking deeply about what she described.

　　"I don`t think it was a dream. I know we`ve spoken of our knowledge regarding Ouroboros, that it was the original Titan given to the Unifier before the Empire was formed, but what are the Envoys?" Kal whispered.

　　He reviewed everything Mare told him, and he couldn`t escape the conclusion that it wasn`t a dream, that what she received was a vision. It was likely transmitted to her through the Neural Link she had with the Titan, just as Atlas sometimes spoke to him.

　　"I don`t know. Grandfather never spoke of them." Mare replied, shaking her head at the question.

　　"I want to go to Luna City and see Ouroboros. I know that it was just a vision, but I want to see it with my own eyes." Mare asked, and Kal nodded his head in agreement.

　　They set out that very night, boarding a shuttle with Kal Piloting. It took off soundlessly from the estate, gliding through the blackness of night and reaching orbit in minutes. Within the hour, they were landing at the spaceport on Luna.

　　Taking an enclosed hovercar to the Mobile Suit repair facilities, Kal didn`t inform anyone from the local government that he had arrived. Driving it herself, Mare followed the signs until they reached the storage bay where her Titan was located.

　　Elric had used the schematics obtained from the Titan to repair the connections between the reactor and its systems. According to the expert mechanic, things should be working correctly, but they still needed to run a few more tests to confirm.

　　Could the dream Mare experienced be connected to the recent repairs to the Titan? She had been its chosen Pilot for over a year, yet this was the first time it spoke to her. Perhaps the repaired connections meant that the A.I. responsible for its creation felt that Mare could now perform her duty. Or maybe they couldn`t reach her through the Neural Link until the Titan was fully operational?

　　Kal and Mare discussed it quietly on their trip, but they couldn`t come to any definitive conclusions.

　　Walking through the deserted hallways of the repair facility, they opened the door to the Titan`s storage bay to find the Ouroboros still resting in its harness.

　　The Titan gleamed in the artificial lights. Its flawless surface shone black and gold without a hint of age. It was perfect in every way. Kal could easily find the similarities between it and Atlas. The structure of its frame, the graceful and elegant curves of its armour and the placement of its thrusters.

　　Mare let out a relieved breath at the sight. She had been afraid they would arrive to find it missing, on a crusade to unite the galaxy once more single-handedly. She was about to speak when Kal stepped forward, gazing up at the head of the Titan.

　　"Is that normal? I don`t recall it doing that when we were last here." Kal whispered, pointing at the Titan`s eyes. They were shrouded slightly from the angle Mare and Kal stood, but when she stepped forward, she could see the glow of its crimson eyes.

　　"It`s awake." She whispered and was about to run forward to the open cockpit when a mechanical voice sounded out in the silence.

　　"Repair the schism. The Envoys await."

　　With that sentence uttered, the glow of its eyes faded, and the Titan was inactive once more. Mare looked at Kal, the silent question hanging between them. What were they to do now?