Age of Elronde I

PORT / TURK / FRAN / AZER / POLS / ESP / DEUT [machine translation]"IMPORTANT NOTICE: the original version of 'Age of Elronde' was completed in 2012. With the recent news about war, Age of Elronde I may involve some sensitive topics. To see MCsL's official statement, please visit here. For PRYSMA who may be affected by issues like war, please read only if you are comfortable. If MCsL staff can help with any thing for PRYSMA, please contact staff, staff will try to do our best with limited language ability."

Continued from 1.1.2022 Lore: Elronde, Woman-of-Wine

"Ea attends Elronde's event in a Temple, while Shone monitors Ea.

Ea helps identify a suspect who might be a Yemog - Shone's DNA analysis results show that the suspect is Healon, candidate of X. "

= EA’S FIRST COMMAND · INTERNATIONAL VERSION =

In Elronde’s Temple, Ea is still watching for anyone who may be a Yemog.

Many skyscrapers away, Shone’s analysis of Ea's first suspect results surprises Ea.

“How did I not recognize she was Healon?” Ea asks.

Shone hears every soft whisper from Ea’s earpiece, designed specifically to catch only Ea’s voice and track Ea's position in the skyscraper. From several skyscrapers away, Shone is analyzing Healon’s data.

“You have met Healon, right?” Shone asks Ea.

“When searching for Nyeve, yes.” Ea says.

“Like you, perhaps, she has changed her appearance completely. This is the level of trickery in our world, Ea. Remember, the two of you are strangers now”

In his heart, Shone knows that Nyeve’s previous deception of Ea was to force Ea to become the scheming monster Nyeve was. Because without it, Ea could be decimated within days by their enemies.

Ea thinks about Shone’s words, and questions herself in her heart: how much doubt and suspicion does her heart need to hold against other humans, to protect Nyeve? This is a question with unending answers.

_______________________________________________________

Later that day, Elronde’s monks gather everyone for yet another meditation ritual. While everyone is seated together in a large room, suddenly, the entire building shakes.

Through the corner of the windows, Ea can see one of the train tracks, connected to Elronde’s building at the 513 floor, fall from the sky after an explosion.

Sirens and screams fill the Temple. Beyond the train track in Ea’s view, every single train track connected to Elronde’s Temple is detonated. Entire trains filled with passengers fall from the sky.

In the next ten seconds, every screen in the temple: phones, monitors, large banner displays, television walls, they all switch on and start showing the same news clip.

In the news, at the main entrance of Elronde’s Temple, police arrest eleven “androids”, all burnt on the right sides, revealing shiny silver metallic skeletons within.

“Androids have set bombs all around the foundations of the Temple”, the news says.

“Ea, stay safe, the 25 androids will guard you. I will get you out, like I have done once before.” Shone says calmly to Ea.

“Shone….those androids on the news - who is controlling them?” Ea begins to sweat.

“Not even our oldest models use weak skeletons like that. I could launch our identification system to see if any of our partners rented our androids for this attack - but those aren’t even androids, those are props. Look at how the police are dragging them along the ground, they didn’t even bother to design those androids to be able to walk. Ea…the only thing I am afraid of, is that they are Elronde's, and that he - " Shone’s analysis is interrupted by another news broadcast.

Screams fill the air, and the stairways are crammed with people rushing down. People trample over each other, and the sound of death fills the building,

Like the previous emergency broadcast, almost every screen in Ri switches to another news story: five hundred floors in the sky, Elronde is outside the window, floating in the air with his seven high-ranked leader-monks. Under the sunlight, the camera zooms in on Elronde’s sorrowful face, eyes closed, with tears shining in the sun. The eight robed figures slowly descend, floating elegantly. Elronde’s mouth is whispering, but nothing can be heard on camera.

Shone quietly sends over three hundred androids, all targeted at Ea’s location, marked by her earpiece.

Shone is analyzing in his mind: is it better to overwhelm the scene all at once, or send some as decoys to save Ea secretly? While Shone plans and programs the android array, Elronde reaches the ground to give an interview.

In the interview, Elronde declares to the world, that androids have been hiding and pretending to be humans. He claims that he senses something worse will happen, and that androids are now coming to the Temple to destroy it further.

Shone freezes.

Elronde urges the world to work together, and develop an android-identification system to protect the safety of all humanity. Further, he offers to pay the full financial cost of the worldwide android-identification so no more androids can launch an attack like this.

Ea regains her voice. “Shone, send the 25 androids to the collapsing stairways. Even if they can only stand there and hold the ceiling as pillars, I want them to go. The concrete is falling, and hundreds are dying in the stairways even before they can reach the bottom.”

“Ea, no, these 25 androids might be the only ones I can send to the Temple…did you see the news?” Shone’s voice begins to shake.

“Yes, that’s why I will live or die with the rest of the people here in this Temple. Don’t come. This is a trap, they are trying to fish out the androids, Shone. You cannot expose Nyeve’s empire to the world. Now that we know what Elronde is willing to do to win, we cannot reveal any part of Nyeve to him. And that includes you.”

The government closes off access to the Temple following Elronde’s interview. No family members of victims are allowed to stand close to the Temple. Crowds gather at a distance, watching the collapsing building.

Suddenly, hundreds of small planes begin to surround the temple, like flies around a corpse. All at once, the planes turn 180 degrees, levitating in the air, pointing outwards from the Temple, as if they are guarding a gemstone. The news claims that the aircraft team are guarding against further android attacks by air.

Shone closes his eyes. When he re-opens them, he says to Ea: “If androids cannot approach, There is one human left I trust in our operations. Ea, I’m going to reach you. The 25 androids stay with you. If there is no immediate danger, wait for me, stay in one spot.”

“No, this is my command.” Ea’s voice is loud. “Shone, send the 25 androids go to the stairwells. If other people live today, I live. If they die today, I die. I am not that special. If you come, we cannot ensure that the two of us can leave the temple together alive. Nyeve cannot lose both of us, so, Shone, you have to live.”

Shone understands that Ea’s decision is the only logical one for the android empire

“Ea, how could I underestimate the trickery of our enemies….I thought Elronde could kill one Yemog, if he is lucky….Elronde might kill one, but I never thought he would try to kill all. We're talking about 20,378 people including Elronde's own staff and all the passengers on the trains. Ea….how can I ask you to forgive my miscalculation.”

“No, Shone, every decision you’ve made, I am very happy about. As your leader, Shone, you have done everything you could.”

“But you are going to die, Ea, they aren’t going to try to save the people trapped inside. Elronde has the entire situation in his hands, and his goal is most likely to be the only surviving Yemog in Ri after today -”

“So we can’t let him succeed. We cannot let Elronde be the God of Ri. Listen to me Shone. Hide, keep yourself safe. Let the android empire sleep like how Nyeve is sleeping. Androids….they are people, too. Do not let more androids be harmed. Before I met you, before all of this happened, you were all in a good place.. Nyeve, you, and the androids, the three of you were in a wonderful heaven, working together as a team, to take away some darkness from the world. And I’ve learned now, that heaven is not just a place where we enjoy recklessly, but a place worth protecting with every moment of our existence. So, if I am the only one that is lost in the hands of Elronde today, then I am happy. Because you, Nyeve, and the androids are still there in your heaven. It is a heaven worth protecting.”

Shone thinks over Ea’s words, and yells: “Ea, I have to try to go. By land or by air, I have to. Just keep yourself safe, no matter where you are, I will find you by your earpiece. ”

“I was afraid you would not follow my first command, Shone, but thank you for following Nyeve’s heart of always doing something for me. Thank you, my best friend.” Ea takes out her earpiece, and throws it into the fire.

____________________________________

Shone can no longer hear Ea's voice.

____________________________________

Later that day, Shone joins the numerous volunteers gathering to help, but blocked from even the base of the temple. They are gathered on the ground.

The people who escaped the building are all from the lower floors .Elronde's ritual's for the event were all held above three hundred floors.

Around two hundred people escape through the lobby and stairwells that day.

As Shone suspected, Ea and Healon are not part of the two hundred.

While people are weeping, screaming, taking pictures, and recording videos, Shone’s eyes cannot help but catch all the thieves swarming through the crowd for wallets and bags.

But he is standing still and lets the thieves run rampant.

He watches the hundreds of black aircrafts surrounding the burning Temple.

“Nyeve, we trained Ea to become a scheming machine who will not fail to protect herself. Who would have guessed, in the end, I am the one who will fail to protect her?

Every single aircraft could take at least one person trapped in the upper floors. But Nyeve, their silence is too loud today. Their silence is telling the world, that they would rather act and pretend the androids would launch an air attack on a already-burning building. They would rather act, than save a single begging soul.

but, who in our world still knows how to listen to silence? ”

The sky is orange with the fire from the building.

_______________________________________

Millions of dollars flow to Elronde’s Temples as donations, mostly to support the upcoming Android-identification system.

Elronde’s divinity, via the “The Float”, is accepted by many more new followers in Ri.

Almost all of Nyeve’s income flow ceases as all android rental-contracts are deemed as no longer effective.

Elronde’s religion exceeds Ri’s eight major religions in followers.

__________________________________

Crime rates involving human victims in Ri climb exponentially.

This is the Age of Elronde.

= AGE OF ELRONDE II · THE EDGE OF RI [4.1.2022 RELEASE] INTERNATIONAL VERSION =

Without her earpiece, Ea feels a little loneliness, but also relief. In her heart, she knows what she has to do: survive, by herself, so Nyeve and Shone will not worry.

If she still has life, she will try to stand in front of them.

Ea is on the 375th floor of the building, and there are more than one hundred floors to reach the rooftop. The bottom of the stairways are crammed with people trampling over each other. Ea's only way out of the building is up. So she starts her long climb.

Yet she passes by a strange scene: on the 381st floor, a person is standing still, almost as if they are stuck to the ground. That lonely person is standing in front of a giant, glowing metal statue - while the entire floor is surrounded by flames.

Ea takes a closer look: it is Healon.

Ea yells at Healon, asking her to run together to safety. But the 381st floor is full of fire. The smoke overwhelms Ea, and before Ea could call out to Healon a second time, Ea chokes on the smoke.

Ea collapses on the ground, alone, on the 381st floor of Elronde’s Temple.

[ Healon's Story ]
"I knew this was the end.

An entire building of humans facing imminent death....is this where I will die. For most of my life, an entire city of humans facing imminent death was on my mind. Now that it is my turn to face death, I want my mind to be on something different for once. I need rest, just a little rest. I cannot die watching a crowd kill themselves falling in collapsed stairways.

Right now, something interesting is catching my eye: a grotesque bronze statue, perhaps six stories tall, on the 381st floor. I could not even tell if it was human, but something very human about it caught my eye. Why was I so curious? I did not know. Regardless, having another question on my mind helped me relax in these last moments of my life.

The bronze statue kept glowing. The fire on this floor is strong, and the statue glows red and white.

My phone suddenly starts playing a song. A song that I used to like...but a song I deleted years ago. I thought it was another forced newscast, but it was not. When I looked at the screen, some of my old photos were being displayed on a slideshow. How? The smoke around the building almost seems to be turning green... I suppose something toxic must be burning in the building. Am I hallucinating from the toxins?

I did not ask my phone to play music, nor a slideshow of some forgotten photos. I did not want to look at old photos I took.

The Wild.

______________________________________________________________________

I focused on the statue again, and suddenly, a human seemed to burst out somewhere from within the statue.

Indeed, it was a living man - was he stuck behind the statue the entire time I was here?

His long black hair covered not just his face, but his body. I could smell his tremendous will to survive. He goes in the direction behind the statue, which was surprising: there was more fire on that side of the building than my side. Just when I was wondering what his rationale was, a wall of fire rose up behind him and swallowed him. Just like that, he was gone, too.

His body disappeared in the flames.

My surroundings, once full of life and will to live, is quiet again now.

I hear my phone still trying to play the music that I did not ask it to play. The sound of fire was too loud, and cutting out the volume of the music. Suddenly, I hear a yell. This was not a scream - but a sentence, with words. Questioning whether I was hallucinating the yell too, I turn around to look. My phone slips out of my hand and falls onto the floor. The thud on the carpet shocks me.

Behind me, a girl is trying to yell at me from the stairway. Her voice is no match for the sound of fire. And the smoke....she chokes, and tries to say something to me, but falls to the ground.

Why is there another person on the 381st floor?

I slowly walk towards her...she is unconscious. Smoke kills. Smoke kills as much as fire. Was she trying to find an escape in the upper floors of the building? Was she worried that I would die here?

I slowly sit on the floor. I hold her in my arms, letting her rest in my embrace. I am perhaps too tired to carry her to the top floor, where she wanted to go. But if she does wake up, before this building falls, maybe she will see me and know she did not die alone.

The smoke is strong. Why is it turning green? Or am I just fatigued from seeing the red of the flames?

Slowly, I feel myself losing energy.

Everything before my eyes starts to blur.

The brightness of the fire is changing. It is changing into something brighter. Is the girl awake? I feel warm arms wrapped around me, but I am too tired to even open my eyes. I feel an embrace, and everything is a bright blue.

_________________________________________________________________________

When I wake up again, she is still in my arms.

She is in my arms, and I am no longer sitting upright on my own, but leaning against a building, in a dark alley. If I looked up just a little, I could see something very familiar.

I could not believe it. We were outside.

The blue sky. I sit still in shock. I could almost tell, we are in the Southeast part of The City, right at an abandoned boundary between the City and the Wild. We're between 18~23 degrees east of south. This was one of those abandoned borders, where no one dared to come near. We were many, many towers away from the Temple of Elronde which was intentionally built in one of the wealthiest prime locations of Ri.

And now, I am in the slum alleys, on the edge of all human civilization, with a stranger who tried to save me.

What exactly happened on the 381st floor?

I had no answers. I put my hand to the face of the girl in my arms; thankfully, I could feel her breathing. It is weak, but she might still live.

And I could feel the condition of my own body.

Does this girl have family waiting for her safe return to the City? Does this girl need care from doctors and nurses from the City hospitals? Did this girl actually try to save me? If she returns to the City, will she return to a normal life, or a life of being predated by Elronde, who wanted everyone in that building dead?

I look down on her, and smile. "Sorry. It will be a short trip." I lower my head to whisper in her ears.

Without hesitation, I carried her in my arms, and walked in the opposite direction. Towards the Wild.

Towards the edge of Ri,

that shining, cold surface which used to be maintained by governmental workers beyond which, blue shadows flickered and where children - before The Wild killed them - took field trips and smiled together.

_____________________________________________________

= AGE OF ELRONDE FINALE: The Shone · Kye Spiral =

[5.1.2022 RELEASE] INTERNATIONAL VERSION
= Kye, the Black Flame = After the "attack" on Elronde's Temple, the entire skyscraper burns down. There are almost no survivors aside from Elronde himself and his 7 monks.

The 8 escape in an elegant miracle that the media calls "The Float".

Shone, having lost Ea, is uncertain whether Nyeve should be awakened.

Her sister is missing, and her androids are being blamed for one of the greatest modern tragedies in Ri.

Shone decides to continue Nyeve's operations as a one-man team. He wants to at least find the body of Ea, and focuses all his time on one goal: infiltrating the top ranks of Elronde's cult. The primary target on Shone's list is Kye, Elronde's Second Monk which escaped the skyscraper through "The Float".

One hour after the attack, Kye becomes Elronde's appointed leader of the new android-identification 'security' system for Ri.

Shone hypothesizes the worst: that Kye and Elronde not only have knowledge of Nyeve's android operations, but also have knowledge that Ea, or Xetna, is related to Nyeve.

During Shone’s research on Kye’s background, Shone discovers horrific details about Kye’s rise to power in Elronde’s religion.

= Kye =


 * "Man Who Only Fears Himself"
 * Second Monk of Elronde
 * Chief of the Android identification System
 * Ritual Master of: Cycle of Rebirth
 * Creator: Gate of Kye
 * Second Monk of Elronde

= "Man Who Only Fears Himself." = Kye rose in the ranks of Elronde's religion through his extreme talent in political scheming.

Though Kye is Second in line among Elronde's Seven Monks which descended with Elronde, all followers know that compared to Elronde's First Monk [순암],  Kye holds double the threat and power.

Even before Elronde, Kye openly reveals that his sect’s followers call Kye by the title "Man Who Only Fears Himself."

= Ritual Master of: Cycle of Rebirth = The Cycle of Rebirth is one of Elronde's many rituals for political control in his religious organization. The Cycle of Rebirth involves a huge concrete mixer. Inside the concrete mixer, all materials needed to construct a complete two-hundred storey skyscraper are prepared: steel beams, drywalls, plumbing pipes, down to carpets and tiles are all laid within to slowly rotate. In Elronde's ideology, because all the materials, space, and energy is there, the contents inside the giant mixer will eventually combine to become a beautiful skyscraper over time.

Anyone who commits a religious mistake under Elronde's rules is killed, and placed in The Cycle of Rebirth. Elronde's reasoning is that these human bodies also contain all the matter required to form a new human being, and, with sufficient time and energy input from the concrete mixer's rotations, these religious-criminals will also be reborn as happy, obedient inhabitants in a new, beautiful skyscraper.

While most humans will see Elronde's reasoning for the Cycle of Rebirth as pure insanity, Elronde shuts down any suspicion of The Cycle of Rebirth with his clever religious manipulation:"'Every animal, every plant, rose from the basic building blocks of life. Molecules, stirring in a primordial ocean, a soup of biological materials, gave rise to your entire family. The Cycle of Rebirth operates on the exact same principles of time, energy, matter, and space re-arranging. Or, are you telling me you don't doubt my ritual, but that you doubt science, and that you doubt your own origin?' - Elronde"Through creating the Cycle of Rebirth ritual, Elronde successfully establishes a reasoning to support killing anyone who commits a religious mistake against him - because, in Elronde’s scriptural interpretation, these religious criminals are not killed, but simply given a new chance at a reformed life. "“I don’t kill. I give new life” - Elronde"Truthfully, behind the gates of the concrete mixer, the rebuilding of a skyscraper is not happening. The water pipes clash against the steel beams and are distorted. The carpet is torn by the mangled electric lines. Walls are bent to small pieces; while Elronde believes rearrangement will eventually create a shiny new skyscraper in the concrete mixer, the reality is that although there is recombination, the dominant process is chaos of disintegration.

= Creator: Gate of Kye = Instead of shying away from Elronde's dark ritual, Kye stepped into the role of overseeing The Cycle of Rebirth.

Kye further contributed a new development of the dark ritual: the Gate of Kye.

The Gate of Kye is a simple door installed inside the gigantic concrete mixer. Kye's idea is simple: the religious-criminal to be killed is shot with a fake gun in front of a crowd. Ritual Masters throw the person in, and once the person is thrown in, the person walks out alive through the Gate of Kye.

This of course, defeats the purpose of Elronde's Cycle of Rebirth. Kye's actual design has a second layer: for every person that walks out alive through the Gate of Kye, another follower, usually low-ranked and unimportant in the cult, walks in through the Gate of Kye to be shot instead.

This allows important, leader-monks to survive many rounds of being sent to the Cycle of Rebirth. They simply need to find a minor follower under their own jurisdiction to walk into the Gate of Kye for them.

= "The World Elronde Wants" = Of course, no minor follower naturally will agree to being killed on behalf of their leaders. The Gate of Kye thus became a test of Elronde's leader-monks: if a leader-monk is tactful or oppressive enough, any mistakes they make can be forgiven, because they can coerce their followers into entering the Cycle of Rebirth for them. If a leader was unable to coerce their followers to enter the ritual for them, the leader would die in the Cycle of Rebirth themselves.

Thus, over time, all of Elronde's leaders were extremely skilled in mass-population control - because the ones that were not skilled, eventually died in the Cycle of Rebirth. Only the most scheming monks remained, and helped Elronded establish an unshakeable political structure in the Pinnacle of Man-Kings.

The Gate of Kye, though simple, accomplished this important social restructuring within Elronde’s religion. Elronde then appointed Kye as the top Ritual Master of the Cycle of Rebirth. With this power, Kye sends many of his political enemies - other leader-monks -  into death via the Cycle of Rebirth.

Kye further impressed Elronde with new designs over time: in the most modern version of the Cycle of Rebirth, behind the scenes, there is a small levitating salon, with racks of designer clothes and a stylist team of fifteen makeup artists and hairdressers. If a leader-monk commits a religious mistake against Elronde, they would pretend to be shot in front of a crowd, and be thrown into the Cycle of Rebirth.

Once they enter, they will casually select their new outfits and new look with the stylist team that is eager to please them. In the meantime, through the Gate of Kye, a minor follower would be led into the concrete mixer, and shot beside the stylist team while the new makeover is happening. These minor followers usually die while remaining nameless, and walk into the concrete mixer with a number inked on their neck just for tracking ritual-statistics.

"No one is shocked by the sound of the gun any more. The minor follower is killed, while the stylists and leader-monks joyously discuss eyebrow colors and the newest fashion trends".

Once the makeover is complete, the leader-monk walks out of the concrete mixer through the Gate of Kye. Usually, they will make a reappearance on a live stream in a few days.

To most followers, this became strong-enough evidence that Elronde's Cycle of Rebirth was indeed a place of supernatural rebirth. They saw their leaders shot, thrown in, and returned to them with a fresh new appearance. "They were reborn," most followers would say."'An entire crowd of two thousand people watched them get shot. The gunshot was so loud, and the ritual masters threw the body into the concrete mixer that Elronde himself watches. Now they are on TV and looking younger than ever. Can you explain that? You can't doubt the eye witness of two thousand people.' - inhabitants of Ri"

= Chief: Android ID System = After "The Float", the world lived in fear of a second "attack by androids". Almost all nations eagerly waited upon Elronde's creation of the android identification system. Kye was selected by Elronde to lead the development of this system that will "protect the world" be identifying hidden androids pretending to be humans. Kye became the manager of multi-million dollar funds that were voluntarily donated by nations across Ri.

Elronde's announcement of Kye's leadership struck fear into the hearts of Kye's political opponents. Kye's arsenal of schemes would now contain a brand new strategy: while the whole world lived in fear of future android strikes, Kye now can use his "system" to label any human being, and any of his political opponents, to be an android. Then, the world would put that human being to death based on mass hysteria alone.

= The Shone-Kye Spiral = After “The Float”, no one, including Shone, would be able to access to Temple's collapsed remains. With Nyeve's operation completely covered up by Shone, Shone becomes a one-man operation.

Shone spends his days on learning everything he can about Elronde and the Kye. If Nyeve's android empire will have any use in the future, it will depend on whether Shone can find flaws in the android identification system. Kye becomes Shone's number one target.

One day, Shone receives a message slid underneath the door of the small apartment Shone and Nyeve are hiding in.

"To: #71310

I want you to come visit me. But as a gift, bring me what I ask:

bring me the only thing I fear.

And if you do not come to see me with my gift

I will go visit you.

I will go visit you, Shone.

In my new position as the leader of Android Identification, many envy my position

Any of my decisions could be branded as a religious mistake by the other monks who want to be where I am

Some of these accusations against me could land me in the Cycle of Rebirth

So if I am going to be sent to the Cycle of Rebirth, I need a victim ready.

I'm kind to my followers.

I have always found other people to die for me in the Cycle

So, come find me Shone, and bring me my gift.

Or, I will find you, to ink #71310 on your neck."

The note was found inside the apartment on the floor, four meters away from Nyeve's cryogenesis closet.

Shone immediately finds a new location for himself and a sleeping patient.

= Coming 6.1.2022 = The Second Candidate of Airson, Revealed: Sier