With the immense amount of time Liren and Ketaru had spent together, it was a wonder how they remained as intimate as they were. Ketaru spent most of his waking hours engrossed in the massive artificial intelligence system he created long ago. Liren and Ketaru had named it Son, in a sweet memorial of their third child, who could not make their endless journey into the future with them. Liren spent most of her time working on her martial arts, she had long memorized more fighting styles than she could count, in order to keep her body in shape. The couple stayed busy enough to still cherish the close times they had with one another.

They lay in bed together, near sleep, when they heard their proximity alarm go off. They both jumped up, fully alert, and in the confusion Liren used her powers in a defensive manner. This caused wind to enter the sealed room, and swirl around her in a way that would not allow anything to get near her. The wind knocked everything from the walls, stripped the bed clean, and caused a lamp to collide with Ketaru’s head.

“OW! Calm down, it’s just Itme materializing in the warp chamber,” Ketaru explained as he silenced the alarms and rubbed the back of his head.  

“Oh, good, what does the lord of space and time want this…time?” Liren said out of breath, despite not having done anything physical. The wind calmed slowly, until everything came to a stop.

“I am not sure, he says this is a visit for you, to ask a personal favor,” Ketaru noted, and sighed as he looked around the trashed room, “I’m not cleaning it up this time, it’s your turn.”

“That’s fair,” Liren agreed and they both got dressed. Ketaru and Itme communicate telepathically and in a way Liren would find incomprehensible, but when Itme visited Liren, he acted as if he was any other guest. The chamber was designed to protect their artificial planet from any warping caused by the teleportation, which was an inevitable effect of bending space during the process. The alarm acted as a doorbell when he warped straight into the chamber Ketaru engineered to contain immeasurable amounts of energy, in the middle of their home. This was their back door in many ways, the door that close friends and family used only.

“Welcome Itme!” Liren swung open the door to the chamber and led the figure into her home. Only once they were in their main living area, and Liren had relaxed into a chair, did the conversation start. 

“Liren, Ketaru, you are looking well as always,” Itme had no more an idea of what ‘well’ looked like for a human, but Liren was convinced he found the greeting to be customary. “I’m here because Lin has created an anomaly.”

“Oh, good gracious, what could it be this time!” Liren laughed as she waved her arm in front of her- this was far from the first time she had heard those words from Itme.

“Lin has found a remote planet, as you already know,” Itme indicated to Ketaru. It was no secret he kept exceptionally close tabs on the information that Lin and Ken put into Son. Some things Son will hide from him though, and that is not a feature Ketaru programmed into it, but he accepted it as a necessity for his childrens’ privacy.

“That’s right, a crashed colony ship formed a small medieval empire,” Liren summarized her daughter’s latest report.

“Right, well that was a population that was destined to fail. In no possible futures did I see that population becoming of any value to the health of this universe. Their acceptance and promotion of savage and cruel behavior as the proper way of living, and the persecution of those who exhibit any gentler traits, would have led them to self destruction.” Itme communicated rather stonily. Liren always had a hard time figuring out if he was being negative or positive. “Lin has opened a small window to change that fact, and with your help on the matter, could really turn the fate of this planet’s role in the universe’s future around completely.”

“Wild Card Lin,” Ketaru inserted, when Itme paused.

“Indeed,” Itme agreed. “With temperate power behind Lin’s cause, the culture can be changed to one that does not self-implode in the next couple hundred years.”

“This is something you think is a job for me, and not Ketaru?” Liren questioned.

“Oh, most definitely,” Itme said in an immediate response. “No one really learns when you just tell them what to do, they must feel as if they can carry this legacy into the future themselves.”

“Very well then, I’ll leave as soon as I’ve packed a bag,” Liren settled. She felt the urge to shake the lord’s hand, but she was unsure if it was even physically there, or just an image Itme projected to her. 

“I will go gather Ev and fill them in then,” and with that Ketaru got up and left the room to go find their non-human eternal companion in its own dwelling. Itme said his goodbyes and exited the house into the warp chamber where he blinked out of existence within a few moments. If he had not been within the chamber when he warped, then their planet would transmute into something unrecognizable and non-functional.

 “Well I’m glad to get out of the house, what about you?” Ev asked Liren as they made their way into the chamber not a full half hour later.

“I just hope I am able to help,” Liren replied, as she and Ev secured themselves into a small ship. When Liren traveled, she always had them materialize off the planet in a large, empty section of space, but close to their destination. Not knowing the topography of the planet, Liren did not want to risk harm to any form of local population, landmarks, or sacred ground. Ketaru was more brazen than Liren and typically found the best option was to materialize on the actual planet in a mostly empty area, an action that Liren gave up arguing with him over long ago.

Ev communicated a long stream of organized words, which took just a few moments; these words materialized a portal that engulfed the entire ship in a second’s time. With continuous help from Ketaru through their integral computer system, Son, Liren and Ev reappeared together in the dark of space, millions of light years away from where they had just been. The power needed to complete such a feat never failed to amaze Liren, despite however many times she had been through this exact process.   

They made their way to the small planet, and admired the large solar system to which it belonged. Hidden between two gas giants, it was easy to see how the planet went unnamed for so long. It was clear the quaint planet lay perfectly in the middle of a game of tug-of-war between the massive planets; neither’s gravity was winning though, and the planet existed at a perfect distance from its star as a result.

Liren steered them to the planet perfectly in almost a full days’ time. After landing in a large uncultivated field, they covered their ship with a few indigenous plants. Ev, having shed its space suit, flew up high into the air, its small body hovering perfectly in place as it looked around. Ev zipped back down to Liren and guided her in the direction of a nearby town. Liren tripped over something underneath the thick foliage, and she kicked the plants away to reveal a dull metal surface. It took a moment for her to realize the implications for what she had just found.

“Is this a—” Ev cut itself off when it pulled a few plants off the top of the old ship.

“This is Lin’s ship!” Liren shouted, she jumped up and down and threw the plants haphazardly back onto the old ship.

“Looks like she never left,” Ev interjected over Liren’s excitement.  

“Of course, she wouldn’t! I did not even think of it!” Liren exclaimed, almost out of breath in her excitement.

“To your defense, being paid a visit by the lord of space and time, being asked a personal favor by him, and landing a ship in an unknown solar system is a lot to keep you focused. You really have not had the time to consider the possibility,” Ev listed, while it led them closer to the nearby town, taking full advantage of Liren’s renewed spirit.

“You are very wise,” Liren replied in a resolute manner, exaggerating her seriousness greatly.

“This I know,” Ev said. Liren never knew if it did not recognize her sarcasm and take her seriously, or if it just owned her grovel for sport. Either way, Liren always jabbed at him in such a manner. She wanted his big personality, it was one of the few perks to her adventures out.

“I hope she is here!” Liren spoke loudly as the two of them entered the nearby town.

“I doubt it…” Ev murmured. It flew around freely, thanks to an enchanted necklace worn, of its own creation, which manipulated perception. This diverted any attention away from it, leaving it free to explore as it pleased without raising alarm as an alien entity would in this solely human society.

“Yeah, there are a lot of soldiers here, doesn’t seem like Lin’s type of hangout,” Liren agreed with Ev’s sentiment.

“It’s pretty dead around here. I think we need to get some intel,” Ev suggested, and Liren once again completely concurred. They went where everyone in the family first went: the bar. Without fail there was always some legal means of getting wasted, and that was always the place to go to pick up on information. It did not take long for them to catch on to anti-rebel talk. There were a few soldiers who conversed about their eventual march south.

When you have someone, who cannot be noticed, it makes subterfuge an easy job. With a substantial amount of reconnaissance from just a few hours at the local establishment, the two companions left the bar and started trotting to the east, where they hoped to find a road to take them south eventually, straight into the rebel kingdom. Liren was full of pride during their trip south. They were not phased by any roadblocks preventing travel because Ev enchanted Lin’s robes with the same enchantments as its necklace.

The pair traveled for weeks, and Liren enjoyed every moment of it. She even walked barefoot most of the time; feeling the smooth dirt road was exciting for the cooped-up woman. Ev joked about how its feet rarely touched the ground, so it was not missing much, even though their home planet was a giant computer. They had a greenhouse that they grew food in, and was prevented from getting any of the mainframe wet. Their entire house was designed like the space station it was, thus, Liren adored nature when exposed to it. She was also glad every time she did get to experience the thrill of adventure, she was always ready to fully appreciate it.

“The main kingdom is really taking this rebellion seriously,” Ev observed after they stopped a few guards from handcuffing a young couple.

“Lin must have stirred quite the pot,” Liren concluded, then invited the young couple to join the pair on their trip south. Along the path, they began to find a few more people who were being harassed by soldiers, hiding in the underbrush away from the main road, or camped further into the woods. Ev had created a device to help them locate people concealed along the way; they then provided them assistance with their trip south.

Some who were headed to the supposed rebel camp, had been making their way there for over a year. The trip was typically a month’s journey from the main castle, but the roads were patrolled so heavily it was exceedingly difficult for them to make any progress within a days’ time. Every time they came across a makeshift dwelling or campsite, she would demolish it and wipe it clean with her wind power, to remove any trace of the refugees.

The longer they traveled, the more their following would grow, and the easier it was to convince someone to join them. Both Ev and Liren were flabbergasted at the amount of people who had been trying to make the trek, even at a snail’s pace, evading certain persecution. Liren found fulfillment in her role, knowing only a small amount of these people under her protection would have made it all the way to the end without her.

Many were sick when she found them, and were unable to walk for themselves. Liren had no problem transporting them all by air. However, this meant that no others could remain close to the group of sick and injured, because the wind holding them up caused chaos for everything around it, this was so they were protected were they to be overrun by soldiers. Liren organized the main group in the middle of the road, with the remainder behind her, then the unwell behind the main group in single file. The strongest individuals brought up the rear, and Ev flew high above everyone, communicating with Liren via speaker enchantments.

Liren and Ev’s convoy had grown too large to hide from passing officers, so Liren now wrapped the officers in her wind; the speeds at which her shields moved would tear the flesh off of their bones before they’d get through it. Ev then casted an enchantment on the confined, to release in a few days’ time. Until then, they would have to be brought their food, and as well as this road was patrolled, both Ev and Liren were sure they would be found rather quickly. Liren liked this plan a lot, because it tied the soldiers up with one another, and less focus could be placed on her and her swarm of refugees.

It was as if Liren almost always existed in both the front and the back of the gaggle, with how rapidly she could move from one end to the other. She was now only responsible for keeping the soldiers at bay; others within the group formed leadership roles to maintain the herd of people. She easily deflected anything the armies of the north sent their way, and any they encountered further down the road. The group’s travel was slow, but it was steady.

When they finally arrived at the capital city, they found it walled off to the north, but the back and flanks of the wall were still under construction, leaving it wide open to attack. Liren and Ev surveyed the entire place, flying around it quickly as the two waited for their massive group to be approached by a herald. She noticed a hooded figure stride out the front gate, and Liren swooped in, landing between the mass and individually, forcing air out wildly, in every direction.

“You are always such a showoff,” the hooded figure moaned after Liren’s grand landing.

“Oh! Lin! It’s so good to see you!” Liren almost screamed while she ran forward and embraced her daughter. “Look at all you’ve done here! I am so proud of you!”

“Okay, mom, I need to help these people, where did they all come from?” Lin grumbled as she pried her mother off her.

“Understandable. They were along my path to you. They all heard of the society that you, and your comrades are cooking up, and they want to take part in that. Rumors have at least reached the eastern town, and the road north is heavily patrolled. Some of these people need medical attention; they have been on the road for several months, dodging those cruel soldiers.” Liren explained, motioning for those in charge to come forward and speak to Lin.

The refugees were funneled into the town to rest, but Liren and Ev started on the wall after only a short meal. Everyone in the town was completely exhausted from either building the wall nonstop, or their long journey there. Ev was able to form a system of excavation and reforming of the materials into the small blocks that they cemented together to form the wall. This was accomplished with a series of complicated enchantments on the well-worn, but reliable equipment the southerners had been using to build the fortification.

Once more workers began construction on the wall, Ev even enchanted the hammers to feel lighter but hit harder. The enchanted gloves made lifting heavy objects a breeze, shade was provided over the entire work area, and Liren provided a nice steady flow to keep them cool in the midday work environment. Lin rarely made it out to the wall, but when she did, she worked hard. Most of her time was spent with the self-proclaimed king, helping make the city function, as his closest adviser.

Liren and Ev pushed through several nights of construction alongside both shifts of workers, to fill in massive sections of the missing wall. Liren utilized her power to control wind to lift anything that went higher than the scaffolding. Lin was correct when she called Liren a showoff, as the chaotic and powerful nature she displayed often was just for show. Still, she was able to control the air around her to an exact science. This meant the bricks were laid with perfect precision, and she raised the height of the back of the wall by five more stories with this method alone.

By some miracle, the southern capital was not attacked before the wall was finished, and Liren set to work reinforcing it immediately after completion. Liren rarely was able to do tasks that meant a great deal to anyone, so she came to life with the opportunity. Ev took a few days break, as it was drained of all its energy, and thus, could no longer cast enchantments till it was reenergized. Without Ev’s assistance, the continued labor was significantly more difficult, but Liren pressed on, fueled by Lin’s passion for this project succeeding.

Lin had fielded search parties that cleared designated paths deep within the untamed wilderness, obscured well from any enemy combatant. Then, teams would scatter into the woods, quietly seeking people fleeing the merciless old kingdom. Soon enough, this operated so efficiently that there was a light, but constant, stream of people who joined their diminutive kingdom. Lin had also set up homes for everyone who entered looking for salvation. She was soft on those who did not adapt quickly to the more civil way of life, and she maintained an exemplary public relations standard for the sitting king.

Liren and Ev had been in the city for almost three months before any opposing soldiers arrived, but even then they were simply scouting. The walls were built and reinforced well, keeping the town shielded, and the messenger soldiers were clearly stunned by the massive structure in front of them. Liren was satisfied knowing the old kingdom had underestimated them fully, and they were just now raising alarms. The town had grown tenfold since just before Liren’s arrival, but they did not have many soldiers, and most of those with any training took shifts upon the ramparts to keep a lookout.

Lin controlled the situation well, and with plenty of gardens, and surrounding farmland, the now-city was fully self-sustaining. Everyone still worked on building individual homes within the confines of the walls for all the refugees to live with a certain degree of peace of mind. They had not run out of available land, but they were close. Liren and Ev oversaw the construction of the first apartment building on the planet. They engineered systems to keep the environment clean with a complex sewer, piping to bring water into the closed city, and a heavily enchanted waste receptacle that vastly sped up decomposition rates.

Another three short months, with immense and methodical effort, and they brought the growing civilization out of their Middle Ages and into the late 1800’s, as far as innovation relative to Earth. They still did not find many soldiers from among their citizens, but there were many bright thinkers that were heavily invested in the scientific aspects of their growth. This caused them to advance at an accelerated rate compared to other isolated starting civilizations. If their ship had not crashed almost a thousand years ago and been cut off from all communications with other life, then they would have had all this and more by now.

Finding a planet that could successfully harbor human life, with a younger sun, and a secured spot in a large solar system, was an astounding find. Hidden by its massive neighbors it had been completely missed by all civilizations. Liren often found herself fantasizing about how the crash landing occurred-what went wrong with the ship? Did the mentality that has festered here in their society bring about a mutiny of the colony ship, or did they get attacked by raiders? Something could have simply malfunctioned that the onboard scientists or engineers could not fix.That, combined with communications loss, is the worst fear of anyone who traveled into space.   

She also wondered who found this planet along their path, in the first place. Whomever it was must have been a brilliant mathematician to find the anomaly that this planet was. A lot of thought was given as to who the pilot was, and how they were able to navigate the massive crashing ship between the intense gravitational pulls of the gas giants. They must have been a group of utterly amazing people; she was proud that her daughter had fought so hard for the descendants of those brave pioneers.

By the time a full year had passed, the old kingdom had finally mobilized against the southern rebel city. At this point, Liren was sure they had taken a notice of the large number of deserters, and that their concern had grown significantly in the past couple of months. Lin taught the few warriors they had the basics of fighting, yet with their plan, none of them would be needed. The economy within the walls was one of barter and trade, money was not a functioning concept in the isolated burg.

Lin and Liren approached the force gathering on a large open field. They stood on a small raised area of land, and looked down at the battalion before them. No one else joined the two women on the battlefield on the southern side of the open plains. The wind picked up around them, blowing their hair past their faces. They could not be bothered to tie it up. The day was bright, the temperature was mild, and the ground was dry-perfect conditions for any battle. All soldiers were uniform, standing in single file, and had a look of resolution on their faces.

Two soldiers walked forward, talking to one another, and tried to initiate contact with the women, but the ladies did not care for what they had to say. They knew the soldiers were waiting for their opponent’s army to appear, but for hours no one else joined the two. The soldiers in the valley below grew visibly restless waiting for their orders. Liren never took her eyes off the group; she waited for them to make the first move.

Once the phalanx began to march forward, Liren raised her hand in a gentle motion, and the wind’s velocity increased significantly around them. Then, using her powers to manipulate the air around her, she started to flick the soldiers away, one by one. They would fly into the air quickly, then slow and float. Liren had no intention of harming a single soldier. One by one the men would scream as Liren would knock them several feet into the air. Growing impatient after the first row, Liren knocked the next set by row, repeating this eleven times.

She had the entire army suspended in midair eventually, and she kept them there. Their weapons fell to the ground one by one. The men slowly stopped panicking, and some even started to enjoy the feel of suspension. More soldiers appeared behind the initial battalion, and Liren replicated the process with less patience each time, flicking the troops into the air with more and more vigor. Eventually, there were no more reinforcements, and Liren flew down to the ground from her perch. There, she started to walk under the suspended army.

Using the air around her to make her voice carry to every soldier, she began addressing those rendered helpless by her power. “You will remember this day as the day you started your education,” Liren spoke easily.

“This blind aggression you all feel is a trait that has been fostered into your way of life. If you stop being so counterproductive, and work together, you, and everyone around you, can have a better life.” Liren was not one for speeches, but she felt this one was necessary, and that they would only listen to the person with all the power, no matter how much Liren felt like this was Lin’s right.

“If you want your lineage to survive, you cannot blindly attack one another for showing, what you have been conditioned to believe is, weakness. I am this movement’s personal protector; if there is even one of you who wishes to join us, then I personally will protect you from those who will seek to hurt you for your advanced beliefs.” Liren could hear various shouts from the soldiers, but they were too far away for their words of hatred to reach her.

“Never will you need to fear your family’s next meal being stolen in the night, or your home being burned, and your children will always come home. I can provide the education you need to live comfortably, to live long, healthy lives! I have been told of this planet’s future! If you stand behind this new cause, you will help usher forth an exceptionally successful civilization. If you continue to cultivate this animosity and distrust, there will be no one left for you to kill before your grandchildren grow up.” Liren spoke from experience. This was not the only time she had to redirect a population’s way of thinking.

“Forget the emptiness of your rudderless lives, join something you can be proud of!” Liren finished off strong, but  instead of cheers, she was simply met with less booing. Liren flew up from her spot under the soldiers; when she passed by them a few tried to grab her and uttered slurs that she was able to hear now.

“The choice is yours to make, not your neighbors’, do not fear them!” Liren affirmed as she flew back to her ledge where Lin had remained.

“Powerful speech Mom, think any of them believe you?” Lin queried when she grabbed her hand and began to take flight with her mother.

“Hard to tell, but we are going to stay as long as it’s needed. Those people in that town deserve our protection, you have done a good thing Lin,” Liren resolved as she flew them both back to the city.

“This isn’t going to be over any time soon,” Lin almost shrieked so she would be heard over the wind rushing by them.

 “We got all the time we need; I’m already fully committed!” Liren assured her daughter as they left the battlefield behind.

“What about the soldiers?!” Lin asked once they were out of sight completely.

“Oh, they will deflate over time! No cause for worry!” The woman laughed. They devoted themselves to this lengthy cause, both happy sharing time with one another.