Transference

No Theme Thursday: 05/30/24

So many, many years ago, you took everything from me. My family, my place in the tribe. Everything. For years, I wandered, alone, swearing an oath of vengeance upon you.

So many times, I thought I had taken my revenge. I had seen my spear pierce your chest, only to see you alive weeks later.

How?

The years passed and you always eluded me. On my deathbed I swore I would find you somehow. Even if it took me a thousand lifetimes, I would find you.

I closed my eyes and breathed what I thought to be my last.

Then, I awoke.

What was the place and, more importantly, when was this?

This was not my homeland. There were magnificent beasts roaming this world, but nothing like the ones I had known.

I was taken in by a wise and powerful man. He passed his knowledge onto me. He said one day I would need it. I did not understand what he meant until that fateful day when I arrived in a new realm.

You.

And a king, no less.

I lived in the woods for years. In the confines of my cabin, I marshaled all my power and honed my skills until I was ready.

I unleashed a torrent of sheer energy upon you and your kingdom, razing it to the ground.

They found your body amongst the rubble. They said it resembled an empty shell.

I lived out my days content in the knowledge that finally, my revenge was complete.

I died a happy man.

And then I awoke again. Why?

What was this place full of mechanized beasts and thick, unclean air?

I retreated to the woods, to live a life of solitude. Not knowing how I got here or why.

I spent my days in quiet contemplation. I became one with nature, and spent as much time amongst it as could.

One night, all that changed.

I was hiking in the woods when I saw the blinding light. I did not know why, but I was drawn to it, like steel to a magnet.

As I exited the woods, I could not believe what my eyes were showing me.

I had never seen the likes of this before.

Against my better judgment, I continued moving toward the light and this unearthly vessel. I felt like I was supposed to go there for some unknown reason.

As I walked beneath it, a beam of soft green light came forth, and suddenly, I was floating upwards toward the center of this wild floating machine.

Inside, I saw beings the like of which I had never seen before. A pit of nerves was moving in my stomach, and yet, somehow, I knew they meant me no harm.

They had come from a place far, far from here and they knew all about you.

You were one of them.

They told me how you appropriated technology meant to do good and used it for your own gain. For years upon years, through generations. Using up resources and people, leaving nothing in your wake. When there was nothing left, you fled, and moved onto your next victims.

Just like you’ve done here.

All these years, it was they who moved me across time and space. They had hoped that my quest for vengeance could avenge them too. They call it “transference.”

They have found you again at last, hiding in a far flung future realm. All these years, they have followed your movements by tracing your technology.

It is old now, and you can no longer transfer yourself into other bodies, times or realms. You can only use it to prolong life in the shell you currently inhabit. They estimate you may be able to preserve yourself for another fifty to one hundred years. But, the shell you now inhabit will break down eventually.

They have offered me the chance to find you and exact our mutual revenge.

They have also offered me a shell that will last far, far beyond yours.

For family, for right, and to avenge multiple wrongs, I have accepted.

They do not know specifically where you are in this future realm, but that is of little matter.

For I have all the time in the world.

See you soon, old friend.

© The Beginning At Last