"Take the reigns and let them fulfil their oath," the lady smiled, and only then did Ashton realise the lady was nothing but a hologram.
"A recorded ssage? Is that it?" Ashton quizzed, but to his surprise, the holograph responded to his words.
"Not a hologram, but a mory," she said, getting back to her feet.
Even though that's all she said, Ashton didn't expect the girl to get all sassy with him.
"I never expected the humans to know about this 'technology' as you call it. So it isn't surprising that you thought I was rely a recorded ssage."
Ashton felt a bit awkward at that mont. He already had an encounter with his father's mories, and he was 'technically' alive then. If that wasn't enough, he had Astaroth living inside his head, which was possible even for the Xyrans to do themselves.
So yeah, he shouldn't have been surprised if the Precursors had so other technology that could imprint their persona to be used later, just like the lady in front.
"My apologies, miss...?"
"So Jo'Han didn't tell you anything about , huh?" the lady crossed her arms before rolling her eyes. "Why am I even surprised... anyways, you can call your stepmother or sothing. Before you ask, yes, I was once your father's wife."
Ashton's eyes widened in shock. He shouldn't have been surprised, considering the Precursors lived for hundreds of thousands of years, but still, it was news to him.
'To be honest, it should have been obvious,' Ashton shook his head before smiling.
"You're calr than I thought you would be," the lady chuckled before shaking her head. "Either way, the na's Is'kai, and I'm here to give you your inheritance before I disappear for good. So let's not waste ti, shall we?"
With that, Is'kai clapped twice, and the room they were standing in underwent unprecedented changes. The old and forgotten historical site changed to resemble a laboratory like no other Ashton had seen before.
He had seen many laboratories, whether on Earth, the Tower or Orion Pri, yet the one before him was more advanced than them all, even though it was probably millions of years old.
While Ashton was looking around the lab, several humanoid-shaped containers appeared before him. Each of them had a mark etched before them. Once again, it was in a language Ashton had never heard or read, yet he understood that the symbols represented numbers or codes.
"It'll take a while for them to activate, so why don't I give you the rest of your stuff? Now then, where is the key..." Is'kai said as she glided around the room. "This ss of a room... I kept telling him to arrange everything properly, but he never listened!"
"Well, from what I rember, Dad was always making a ss of his labs, even on Earth," Ashton mumbled, and he decided to lend Is'kai a hand. "Other than that... I don't rember much about him."
Is'kai stopped what she was doing and looked at Ashton with sympathetic eyes. Even though it was his destiny, she knew they were unfairly taking his youth away from him by wasting it on a matter that shouldn't have concerned him.
As she stared at him, Is'kai realised Ashton shouldn't have been over 20 years old, a life equivalent to that of cosmic dust, yet the entire galaxy's weight would soon rest on his shoulders.
At that mont, Is'kai wanted to tell him more about the prophecy and even warn him. But she knew she couldn't, as it could change the path of reclamation and make Jo'Han's efforts go to waste.
'Jo must have already said sothing about his future. But knowing him, it should be just a hint, nothing more.' Is'kai thought to herself. 'Should I be more direct... no, I can't ss up the future again. Handing him the guardians is more than enough.'
"So, what kind of guy was he?" Ashton's voice broke Is'kai's train of thought.
"Um... what? I didn't hear you."
"My father, how was he before, you know, before leaving to earth and what and the Xyran's betrayal."
"Xyrans? Why would they-" Is'kai imdiately bit her tongue as she almost revealed sothing she shouldn't have.
"Is sothing wrong?" Ashton imdiately picked up on Is'kai's hesitation. However, Is'kai imdiately covered it up.
"No matter how complete I seem, I'm just a remnant of a fragnted mory," she said. "There are things I don't rember and a few that I rember but don't know if they're true. But, I can tell you want I know for sure-"
As she was about to tell Ashton more about the Precursors, the capsules opened with a loud hissing sound. The shells fell apart, and Ashton saw the 'Guardians' for the first ti. He was completely srised.
"Are these-?"
"Automatons," Is'kai replied. "Each has enough strength to take on a Type-2 civilisation alone. Rember, we were a type-5 civilisation, so this isn't much for us. However, a group of these should be enough to handle anything or anyone who would threaten you."
Doubts imdiately crept into Ashton's mind. Not because he didn't believe Is'kai but because he had a hard ti believing that despite having such technology, the Precursors were essentially wiped out.
Thankfully, Is'kai knew what was happening inside Ashton's head and imdiately quelled her queries.
"I'm sure you already know this, but Precursors didn't go down because we were weak. It was quite the opposite," she said. "There's a reason why we had a pact of non-violence. Whether you believe or not, the reason is quite hilarious."
She continued, "We were scared that if we let go of ourselves, we might get addicted to using our strength and lose our way. We were afraid that we might end up destroying the entire universe.
That's why the council decided that our ti was up, and it was the ti for our children to take their rightful place."
"What? So you died because-" Ashton shook his head. "I can't even wrap my head around that reasoning. But if that was the reason, then why do all this? What's the aning behind anything!?"
"I'm afraid... you'll have to figure it out yourself," Is'kai mumbled, smiling wanly.
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