Legend of Earth
Chapter 13: I'll Find You

The High Verytic traveled for two days from the distant lands of the origin, now called Gideon by the mavodi. He insisted on going alone, and the only way to do so was by sneaking away so his loyal following wouldn’t try to protect him from the nemectes. He counted on the nemectes’ lack of memory of who he was after so many years, the fact that he resembled the skyborne scientists rather than the other mavodi, and his surefooted manner through the forests unlike most of the new skyborne. The remains of the old half-burned nemectis that had bookleaves stood in an overgrown grove that it used to dominate, but now only fed with its corpse. It hadn’t had enough seed dust left to ensure its legacy, and now there wouldn’t be another of its incipience.

He stood and headed west. At the top of a hill he saw the remains of The Dawning he had known years ago, and noticed the new sapling feeding off of the old Alexst-iles incipient who was at least wise enough to not waste his seed dust in the war. Closing his eyes, the Verytic stood still and waited. North, he felt. Go north and east. He strode down the other side of the hill and headed that way. Through thick trees and with no path, he managed to replace the clearing with the hill that ended in a drop-off. At the edge of the clearing he looked up at the top and saw a young elm tree, its unique leaves flashing in the sunlight. His heart dropped at the sight, but then rose again knowing he’d found what he was searching for. He strode to the tree and put his hand on the trunk.

“Amper,” he muttered, and choked on the name. He took one of the leaves in his hand, not pulling on it, and the lines around his eyes crinkled to examine the circle-within-a-circle leaf that held a half ribbon Mobius strip spanning the center. The clasp on his wrap carried the same image, which symbolized his Ambassador status between the mavodi and the skyborne crew from the Command ship that had brought them, as well as the following ships from Persevere. There was no doubt who the incipient of this nemectis was.

“It’s beginning, Amp,” the High Verytic said to the nemectis. “The nemectes Communications Committee says more nemectes are seeing the way of peace. I’ve guided most of the mavodi to see reason. Of course there are always the few…” He sighed and patted his weathered hand on the trunk. “But we did it. You did it. You did the right thing.”

Leaving his hand there, he stood and watched the sky play scenes from the first months they spent on Legendary Earth together. He couldn’t communicate with the nemectes, but when he felt the thump that was Ampersand’s new heart, he knew the memories were not lost to him, either.

The Ampers-and’ominic nemectis was growing healthy on its cliff top, and as his skyborn friend ambassador stood looking over the surrounding valley, neither of them knew that the cliff beneath them had crumbled over centuries of earthquakes and weather to reveal the building buried underneath. Some obvious unnatural brick was showing and crumbling, windows empty or filled, but what was still boldly carved across the skewed stone lintel of the building was the former institute’s name: Krosis Group Biogenetic Technology and Meteorology.