“One being from each intelligent, space-faring race. One perfect member. Each one gathered up and brought to you, Kinisis… The important ones, at least…”
Yisini slithered around each pod, inspecting them in turn, wiping down the cold mist that had fogged up each viewing slide, making it hard to see what was inside them.
“Your Kiniseon beings, mother. All prepared and ready to go.”
Satisfied that everything was ready, Yisini backed away from the pods, allowing Kinisis to inspect them herself. A sticker had been placed on the side of each pod, with a race scribbled in Yisini’s familiar, snaking handwriting.
“They will do as I tell them to, yes?”
Yisini nodded. “Yeah. They’re all intelligent. They’re all loyal and understanding. They’ll listen to you and obey. As long as you treat them right.”
The Allmaker continued to inspect each one. As she peered into the small, glass viewing ports, she examined each race, judging their bodies and their souls. Even though they were essentially frozen, their bodies were trying to adapt to the extreme temperatures.
“My little guardians… my new little gods…”
Yisini slithered closer, eyeing Kinisis as she moved around. “Excuse me? Did you… just call them gods? Already?”
“That is what these pods are for, yes. To create new deities. Sub-deities, guardian deities. Loyal to me. These twelve beings will protect us from the carnage that is to come. When we start anew and rise from the ashes.”
Yisini recoiled, suddenly realising what Kinisis was talking about. “Carnage? Ashes? Are you… going to destroy this universe? I thought we were going to SAVE it!”
“We are going to save it. We are going to save this universe and so, so many more. Why do you think I had you and Epani move those planets? We are saving what we can so we can start fresh, without a cult of Voidborns stalking and tearing at us forever!”
“But…” Yisini stuttered. “What… what is the… actual plan then? You send me and Epani out to gather survivors. You send Kairos out to build an army, to be a distraction. But you, you hide away in here, with your hidden machinations! You said you were working on how to kill them all! How are you going to do that?”
Kinisis sighed, turning away from both the pods and Yisini. “I… I am going to… cause a large part of the universe to… explode…”
“WHAT?”
“Using Arkadin’s power, I can shatter the walls of this universe, merging it with the Space Between Universes! The energy released will create unstable nuclear fission within the Voidborns, utterly annihilating them! It will destroy Arkadin, it will destroy Kairos’s army, it will destroy parts of this universe as well, but that doesn’t matter!”
“And why not? It’ll destroy us AND them!”
“No, we will survive! And we will survive WITHOUT that CULT chasing us forever! I’ve had enough of hiding and running, watching as those MONSTERS tear apart universe after universe in their misguided crusade!” Kinisis snarled, waving her arms frantically.
“But… but what about this universe?”
“It doesn’t matter! We have saved what is important and we render the stars of this universe eternal! That which will remain will be-”
A massive explosion suddenly rocked through the facility.
“That… wasn’t you… was it?” Yisini whispered, shaking with fear.
“No. That was the Voidborn army. They… may have heard us. We’re gonna have to speed this up…” Kinisis waved her hand, summoning a small headset. She put it on and immediately spoke to the other deities.
“Epani, get everyone to safety. Kairos, release the Demians…”