Five months have passed according to celestial time, since the contract was signed – since I was branded by my own terms and conditions. Burnt by an elemental divinity – and left scarred by the Wa-omme's language of oneness - the first language.
My very own words universally translated on my arm.
They are words, which stem from a low opinion of oneself. A dislike conceived and nurtured overtime by the comparisons to my infamous third reincarnation, not to mention the unwanted interventions of others as well.
I've learned that nothing was ever truly mine from the moment I roused from my stasis cocoon. Although I do not know myself quite yet, however, despite my painful lack of independence at this point in time, I still have the overseer's soul stored inside a separate inner vault within Ira's personal archives. It is only a matter of time before he finalises the blueprints for my machine and puts those materials of his to decent use – the preserved bodily remains of Reven – the first overseer ever to be created.
If I am to venture into the cosmos, I believe it is only fitting for me to have a private means of traveling instead of relying on Ira's so-called silent doors.
Before I boarded the Erradise, Ira explained to me that celestial time is measured on a universal scale, based on the progression of cosmic happenings. From a limited, worldly point of view, the calculation of time in the dense, material realms is defaulted to an ordinary standard of chronology, which, of course, varies on each planet, as it is usually based on their solar and moon cycles.
Nevertheless, on a separate, and more recent note, I have been receiving visits from a dark, faceless apparition. It has made itself known to me, throughout these passing weeks. Sometimes it manifests in the corner of my eye, and then vanishes when I look behind me. Sometimes I find it alone, meandering from one pale corridor to the next.
The unwelcoming, self-professed personification of karma appears as though it is using the Mal's darkness to conjure itself; as the visitations from the unknowing beyond become more so frequent after each following week. I have come to notice that the manifestation has the same ghastly yet frail stature as my apparent second incarnation, named Alex.
Does Alex even exist, or was it a lie? Why is their identity hidden from me? If I managed to discover Alex's true face, would that upset your so-called grand elaborate plan, Vonplex?
Or did you devise this hallucination to keep me constantly assuming?
Stringing me along.
Keeping me in the dark.
As I am standing here enrooted in my thoughts, while onboard the Erradise (Rotaerc's mother craft), my talons hover afore the cylindrical illusion of a towering container, housing the disarrayed formation of a purple double helix rotating clockwise then anticlockwise; never locked in one directional turn. Next to my container is Rotaerc's complete vermillion double helix.
Tomorrow, the two will be spliced and utilized for genetic coding.
"Your genetics are strong and wondrous."
Ira remarks while standing by my side as usual.
"I'll be sending someone to serve as your confidant in my stead in a few days." He adds.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes - for the time being. I can't leave my seeds unattended for too long, especially with the current uncertainty of interracial affairs concerning the Wa-omme. I need to be there in my complete entirety if malice strikes during this sensitive tribulation."
"I understand, but I do not need a confidant." It will be rather strange without him around to pester me.
"Her name is Mya-im. She is a former apprentice of mine. A protégé of her generation." He proclaims. Enthusing on the word protégé.
I do not care, nor do I wish to be monitored.
He takes my hand and holds it so gingerly, as though it might break. As though one day I may crumble away into oblivion right before his eyes. As though I never existed.
"I know you've had plenty weighing on your mind during these celestial months." Then he goes on to say. "But more importantly, though, more than anything else, I want you to know that you will always have my unconditional support; hence, I shall look forward to the day when you can finally embark on your own path – one of your own choosing – one that is uninfluenced by the opinions of others."
Smiling through glazed eyes, he then confesses.
"You are very important to me. Never forget that..."