Chapter 148

　　Kal was briefly stunned by the revelation. But not by the fact that the Emperor was involved in genetically enhancing the Ducal Houses, and the heavens only knew how many other humans were involved in his manipulations.

　　No, Kal was not surprised by the Emperor`s actions. After all, the man had spent nearly two millennia controlling and influencing future events. Having his long fingers pulling the strings of generations of geneticists as they engineered a superior human wasn`t shocking.

　　What stunned Kal was that the Emperor specifically sought out Emerick for a child. The implications were startling, and they soon overwhelmed his thoughts momentarily.

　　Kal ignored his father`s comments about what he would do with a defective child. Kal`s entire life had been spent under the man`s callous attitude and harsh attentions. The only thing that had been unexpected was that Emerick agreed at all. Kal`s father must have been truly desperate to consent to the Emperor`s proposal immediately.

　　His thoughts whirled, seeking connections to this new information. What had the Emperor altered in his genetics? Was it his Piloting abilities or his temperament? If it had been done to him, who else in his generation, or those that came after, had been similarly modified?

　　Kal thought of Mare. Her skill as a Pilot was incredible. She had become competent in the Heavy Class in a remarkably short time. She was intelligent and ambitious without being arrogant or cruel. She would have been a perfect candidate for the Emperor`s manipulations. Could that be why she was selected to Pilot the Ouroboros?

　　Katherine came to his mind immediately after. He had enough interactions with Mare`s cousin to gain a sense of her capabilities. Although she tried to hide behind fashion and gossip, he could tell she had a keen mind. For her to be chosen as Hyperion`s Pilot over everyone else in Havencroft was telling.

　　Were all the Titan Pilots similarly genetically tampered with by Aurelius?

　　Kal was brought back to his current struggle by an intense push against his psyche by Atlas. The Titan had pulled back slightly earlier, giving Kal a sense that he was winning, before slamming against the barriers of his mind once more in his moment of distraction.

　　He was being buried in foreign emotions. His vision turned red with bloodlust as Atlas granted him images of every conflict the Titan had ever been involved in.

　　Endless scenes of violence swirled through Kal`s mind, more than he expected from a peaceful Caledon. The Titan was a savage, repeatedly throwing itself on its opponents, crushing them with its bare hands, or unleashing the forces of gravity under its control.

　　Atlas, the Celestial Burden.

　　The name rang through Kal`s mind, a title that was given to the Titan for its unique abilities. He had learned that each had a talent, a skill that was exclusive to them.

　　For Atlas, gravity could be manipulated against its foes. Kal had seen that himself, the undulations through space as it squeezed and crushed Mobile Suits and an icy planet far beneath them. He cut off his wandering thoughts, recognizing the lapse as another attempt to distract him.

　　"No!" Kal shouted, pushing back against the Titan.

　　He was winning. Even with Atlas pulling out memories to divert his attention, he was slowly gaining ground in the mental battle. His centuries of Stasis had provided him with an iron will, the only attribute of his that could keep the madness at bay.

　　Now that his body and mind were strong enough to handle the Neural Link, Kal could finally stand on even footing against the Titan.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　Atlas screamed. Its green eyes glowed furiously in the darkness. It raged, unwilling to be constrained once more. It sensed a chance in this Pilot when they were first bonded, a weak mind that could be used to give the machine what it truly wanted: freedom and destruction.

　　Or perhaps Atlas was drawing on the part of Kal that longed for the same.

　　Kal could feel sympathy for the Titan. He had been a prisoner, locked away alone for five hundred years. He would never want to return to that isolation again. Kal could imagine the chains on him again, the humiliation of being marched to the Stasis pod as a prisoner.

　　He, too, had longed to destroy everyone who had opposed him and sent him to that solitary hell. The Emperor, his parents, and even his grandparents hadn`t been spared from his wrath. He blamed everyone, himself, most of all.

　　And with that thought, Kal had a revelation. He wasn`t fighting Atlas. The Titan was a mindless machine that didn`t have the thoughts or emotions to battle with him. It only had what Kal himself brought with him.

　　He was fighting himself.

　　Kal was battling his own rage, his bloodlust and guilt. He was fighting against all the negative emotions and burdens he ignored and pushed deep within himself. He had a prison in his soul where he kept all his pain and agony, locking them away so that he could carry on.

　　Atlas was simply the key to the prison, releasing what was sealed away.

　　Kal stopped fighting, and he let the emotions wash over him. The rage battered his mind. The agony of the visions and emotions ripped apart his soul. For what felt like an eternity, he was thrashed and pummeled by the assault on his psyche before it finally faded away.

　　He felt cleansed. Renewed. There was a weight on his soul that had been lifted. He was free.

　　The green-eyed beast that stared at him with hunger and hatred faded away, and in its place, Kal could feel a bond between the Titan and himself. It thrummed as if it were alive. The reactor deep within the machine beat like a heart, sending pulses of power throughout the Titan`s frame.

　　They were one.

　　Titan and Pilot were connected in a way that transcended the Neural Link Kal had felt with other Mechs. It wasn`t like Atlas was separate from Kal`s mind and body. They were the same. He could control it as if it were his own body, and its sensors provided information like they were his thoughts and sensations.

　　It was incredible and was far beyond what he had experienced the last time he had Piloted it. There would never be another concern for his safety from Atlas. Atlas was him, and he was Atlas.

　　Letting out a deep breath, Kal relaxed into his seat inside the cockpit when a strange sensation intruded on his link with Atlas. It was foreign and unfamiliar but wasn`t hostile. It was more akin to a stranger peeking into his window from outside rather than an assault on his connection.

　　He had felt it before when he first entered Atlas. But now that his Link had deepened, it was taking more of an active interest in him.

　　"What do you want?" Kal asked, focusing his senses on the intruder. At first, he wasn`t sure it could hear him until it responded a moment later.

　　Come to us. The Envoys await.` It whispered, and Kal wasn`t sure if the voice was audible or just in his mind. The message came with a feeling, a pull on his soul, a call that he felt the need to respond to.

　　"Where?" Kal asked, and he was greeted with a new image. This one lacked the emotions and clarity of the visions Atlas had gifted him. It was hazy, almost as if he were viewing a dream.

　　In the darkness was a single spot of light, a beacon that called him. It felt warm on his skin and gave him a sensation of safety and security. Kal knew people were waiting for him, eager to meet him. Something important needed to be done, and a sense of impatience welled inside him from the vision.

　　It winked out, leaving him in the darkness once again.

　　Come to us. The Envoys await.`

　　Kal was about to respond when Atlas` terminal lit up. Hovering above a control panel used for sensor data and communications, an image of the galaxy floated. After a moment, it zoomed into a far section of empty space. A spot of red appeared, incessantly flashing as coordinates began to be transmitted into the Atlas` computer.

　　"Those are the coordinates that Ouroboros showed Mare." Kal whispered, recognizing the area of space for what it was. There was nothing there. Humanity had mapped the galaxy, marking all of its stars for future expansion.

　　Although they hadn`t been to that part of the Milky Way yet, astrologists had studied it before. There were no visible stars or planets near those coordinates from any location observed in the Empire. He had checked the Imperial records with Mare for weeks in pursuit of an answer but turned up nothing.

　　The light continued to blink, and Kal could feel the pull of the link drawing him to that location.

　　"Alright, say there is something there. We can`t reach it. Our Starships cannot Jump that far, and the calculations will take time. It will possibly be decades before we can travel-"

　　The image shifted, and more numbers floated across the terminal. The strange sensation through the link changed, pushing Kal to have the Atlas Jump.

　　"Atlas can reach there? Then so can the other Titans." Kal muttered. The strange being in the link vanished at his words, leaving him alone with Atlas.