Before meeting his student, Zandar had waited a long time.
At the very beginning, he had not believed what the journal said.
He would create an Astral Computer that became an Aeon?
He had destroyed the path forward for himself and those who came after him?
He had a student? And had even given that student his surname?
Still young and newly enrolled at the academy, Zandar could not believe what was written on those pages. After hastily reading a few, he tossed it into a corner of the System Inventory.
Had the inventory not also contained a collection of credible research materials, he probably would have thrown the journal away long ago.
When Zandar returned to the journal, he realized with a start that he was like a cog, forever turning along the course laid out on its pages.
For reasons he could not explain, he went to the place where he was supposed to meet his student, at the time recorded there.
He did not meet his student.
Zandar could not tell whether he felt relieved or disappointed.
Relieved that the journal was wrong.
Relieved that his Astral Computer would not seal off the path ahead.
Before officially delivering the project, Zandar took his experimental data to visit his teacher, who had lived in seclusion for years.
His teacher rebuked him without mercy, accusing him of dragging the Cosmos into the abyss.
Those words struck him like a blow to the head.
Every word left Zandar reeling.
Once again, he remembered what the journal said.
Weariness written across his face, his teacher picked up the felt hat his student had casually hung on the coat rack upon arriving and used it to cover Zandar's eyes and brows.
The gesture meant the visit was over.
He was driving Zandar