SCORMETHEUS KNEW THE TRUTH ALL TOO WELL. THE DISCOVERY OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE HAD BEEN A GAME-CHANGER FOR THE ELVEN CIVILIZATION. SPELLCASTERS NOW POSSESSED WHAT SEEMED LIKE LIMITLESS MAGICAL POWER, FUELING RELENTLESS RESEARCH AND INNOVATION. PROGRESS BECAME A PROCESS OF ACCUMULATION, PILING UP ONE ADVANCEMENT AFTER ANOTHER, AS THEIR CIVILIZATION SURGED FORWARD AT AN UNSTOPPABLE PACE.
IT WAS AKIN TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS OF ANOTHER WORLD. ONCE A NEW ENERGY SYSTEM MADE A BREAKTHROUGH, THE FOLLOWING DECADES SWEPT PEOPLE OFF THEIR FEET. THE ELDERLY, WHO HAD ONCE BEEN PILLARS OF KNOWLEDGE, FOUND THEMSELVES BEWILDERED, UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE NEW REALITY UNFOLDING BEFORE THEM.
"OTHER PRINCES HAVE SHARED THEIR RESEARCH FINDINGS AS WELL," THE VOICE CONTINUED. "FROM THEIR REPORTS, THE ALCHEMICAL TOWER TECHNOLOGY APPEARS STABLE AND MATURE. THEY SAY YOUR AGGRESSIVE APPROACH IS WHAT CAUSED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE X07 WORLD, NOT ANY INHERENT FLAW IN THE TECHNOLOGY. THEY DON'T BELIEVE THIS INCIDENT SHOULD STAND IN THE WAY OF FUTURE INNOVATIONS."
SCORMETHEUS SIGHED DEEPLY, A WEIGHT SETTLING ON HIS SHOULDERS. "TELL MY BROTHERS THAT I ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR POINTS BUT RESERVE MY OWN CONCERNS."
HE KNEW IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF EVENTS. ONCE A TECHNOLOGY PROMISES TO REVOLUTIONIZE AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION, OFFERING IMMENSE BENEFITS TO ALL, WHETHER NOBILITY, FAMILY, OR TRIBE, HOW CAN SOMETHING LIKE "MINOR SAFETY RISKS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS" STOP ITS MOMENTUM?
IN THE MODERN AGE, THE ELVEN TRIBES HAD BECOME IMMORTAL. FOR THEM, A HUNDRED YEARS WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A BLINK OF AN EYE, A MERE HALF-GENERATION. BUT IN THAT BLINK, A TECHNOLOGY COULD BE BORN, MATURE, AND EVEN SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL. OUTSIDERS COULD SCARCELY COMPREHEND JUST HOW FAR THE ELVES HAD ADVANCED.
THE WORLD THE FOUR ANCIENT ELVEN TRIBES INHABITED WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE. WHILE LESSER RACES STILL GRAPPLED WITH DAY-TO-DAY SURVIVAL, THE ELVES HAD LONG SINCE BEGUN EXPLORING BEYOND THE STARS. OUTSIDE THEIR PRIMARY WORLD, THEY DISCOVERED COUNTLESS SECONDARY PLANES AND SMALLER WORLDS, SOME NO LARGER THAN A VALLEY, OTHERS WITH HORIZONS SO VAST THEY SEEMED ENDLESS.
MOST OF THESE PLANES REMAINED DESOLATE, VAST STRETCHES OF DESERT WITH LITTLE TO NO DEVELOPMENT VALUE. ONLY A HANDFUL YIELDED RARE MINERALS OR OTHER RESOURCES WORTH THE EFFORT. BUT AS FAR AS THE ELVES WERE CONCERNED, THEY SERVED ANOTHER PURPOSE: EXPERIMENTAL FIELDS FOR THEIR ARCANE AND TECHNOLOGICAL ENDEAVORS.
"THE EXPERIMENTS IN WORLDS X01 THROUGH X09 HAVE CONCLUDED," THE SUBORDINATE REPORTED. "FOR THE SAKE OF PRECISION, WE SELECTED A SUPER-SMALL PLANE FOR EACH TEST. ASIDE FROM THE CATACLYSM THAT OCCURRED IN X07, UNDER YOUR PURVIEW, THE OTHER WORLDS REMAIN STABLE. WHERE MINOR ISSUES DID ARISE, THEY WERE SWIFTLY REPAIRED."
SCORMETHEUS LISTENED, THOUGH A TRACE OF DOUBT LINGERED. HIS SUBORDINATE, LIKE MANY OTHER ELVES, COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY SCORMETHEUS WAS SO CONCERNED. HOW COULD CONSTRUCTING A FEW ALCHEMICAL TOWERS, POSITIONED CAREFULLY AT THE WORLD'S GEOMAGNETIC VEINS, TRIGGER A GLOBAL DISASTER?
TO PROVE THE SAFETY OF THEIR TECHNOLOGY, BOTH THE GEOLOGICAL VEIN EXTRACTION AND THE ALCHEMICAL TOWERS, SCORMETHEUS HAD ADVOCATED FOR LARGE-SCALE TESTS. THE ELVES HAD SELECTED A DOZEN MEDIUM TO SMALL-SIZED PLANES, EACH UNIQUELY STRUCTURED. IN EVERY PLANE, THEY BUILT THEIR ALCHEMICAL TOWERS, TAPPING INTO THE VERY ESSENCE OF THE WORLD'S GEOMAGNETIC CURRENTS. TO MAKE THE EXPERIMENTS AS REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE, THEY EVEN WENT SO FAR AS TO RELOCATE INHABITANTS FROM THE MAIN PLANE, CRAFTING A LIVING SIMULATION OF WHAT COULD HAPPEN WHEN A WORLD'S LIFE FORCE WAS DRAINED.
AND NOW, STANDING BEFORE THE DESOLATE WASTELAND OF X07, SCORMETHEUS WONDERED IF THEY HAD VENTURED TOO FAR.
THE VERIFICATION PROCESS DRAGGED ON FOR A FULL DECADE. OF ALL THE EXPERIMENTAL WORLDS, ONLY THE ONE UNDER SCORMETHEUS'S SUPERVISION SPIRALED INTO CATASTROPHE. HIS FAILURE TO REIN IN THE EXCESSIVE USE OF THE ALCHEMY TOWERS HAD LED TO A DISASTER OF GENOCIDAL PROPORTIONS. THE OTHER PRINCES, MANAGING THEIR OWN WORLDS, HAD MADE TIMELY ADJUSTMENTS TO AVOID SUCH CALAMITIES. MINOR ISSUES HAD ARISEN, BUT NONE TOO SERIOUS, MERE COURSE CORRECTIONS WERE ALL THAT WAS NEEDED.
TO MOST OBSERVERS, SCORMETHEUS'S INSISTENCE ON CONTINUING HIS EXPERIMENT APPEARED AS NOTHING MORE THAN STUBBORN PRIDE. HIS REFUSAL TO ADMIT THAT HIS EARLIER FEARS WERE MISGUIDED CAST A SHADOW OVER HIS REPUTATION. AND GIVEN HIS STATUS AS THE FIRST HEIR TO THE THRONE, FEW DARED TO CHALLENGE HIM OUTRIGHT. INSTEAD, THEIR CRITIQUES WERE DELIVERED WITH A CAUTIOUS SUBTLETY.
"WHAT'S TEN YEARS ANYWAY?" SOME WOULD SAY. "WE CAN AFFORD TO WASTE THAT MUCH TIME."
AND SO, TEN YEARS PASSED. NEW DATA FLOWED IN, AND THE MOMENTUM BEHIND THE ALCHEMICAL TOWERS GREW UNSTOPPABLE. EVEN SCORMETHEUS, IN HIS MORE REFLECTIVE MOMENTS, QUESTIONED HIMSELF. WAS HE TRULY OVERTHINKING THINGS?
BY ALL ACCOUNTS, BOTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL, THERE SHOULDN'T BE AN ISSUE. AS LONG AS SIGNS OF TROUBLE WERE CAUGHT EARLY AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES APPLIED IN TIME, THE RISKS COULD BE MANAGED. EVERY TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ITS DANGERS, AFTER ALL, AND THIS ONE WAS NO DIFFERENT. MOST RESEARCHERS EVEN ARGUED THAT THE ALCHEMY TOWERS WERE FAR MORE RELIABLE THAN THE DWARVES' VOLATILE ENERGY FURNACES, WHICH CONSUMED VAST AMOUNTS OF MINERALS.
YET HERE STOOD SCORMETHEUS, BACK IN THE NOW-RUINED X07 WORLD. ONCE, IT HAD BEEN LUSH AND GREEN, THE SKIES A PERFECT BLUE. NOW, NOTHING BUT BARREN WASTELANDS AND DESERTS STRETCHED OUT BEFORE HIM. THE LIFE IT ONCE HELD WAS GONE.
SCORMETHEUS WAS WELL AWARE OF THE WHISPERS THAT FOLLOWED HIM. HE HAD HEARD THE ACCUSATIONS: THAT HE HAD DELIBERATELY SABOTAGED THE EXPERIMENT, THAT HE REFUSED TO STOP WHEN PROBLEMS SURFACED JUST TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. AND TRUTH BE TOLD, THEY WEREN'T ENTIRELY WRONG.
YES, HE HAD WANTED TO SEE THE FULL EXTENT OF THE DISASTER. HE WANTED TO WITNESS FIRSTHAND WHAT WOULD UNFOLD IF THEY PUSHED THINGS TO THEIR BREAKING POINT. AND NOW, HE HAD HIS ANSWER: THE GRASS WITHERED, THE TREES DIED, AND ALL LIFE CEASED TO EXIST. SOULS BECAME LOST, TURNED INTO RESTLESS GHOSTS. NATURAL DISASTERS RAGED UNCHECKED, THE VEINS OF THE WORLD SEVERED BEYOND REPAIR. IN THIS DESOLATE REALM, DEATH RULED, AND THERE WAS NO HOPE FOR REBIRTH.
"IF YOU SIMPLY KEEP FEEDING A SPELL MODEL WITH UNLIMITED MAGICAL ENERGY AND NEVER STOP," SCORMETHEUS MUTTERED TO HIMSELF, "IT'S BOUND TO EXPLODE. NEGLECTING TO INTERVENE, TO PULL BACK, IS WHAT LEADS TO DISASTER."
HE HAD ACCEPTED THE CRITICISMS FROM HIS BROTHERS WITH HUMILITY. HE KNEW, AS THEY DID, THAT THE TECHNOLOGY WAS LARGELY SAFE UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS A NAGGING THOUGHT IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND.
"JORDAN," SCORMETHEUS HAD ONCE SAID TO HIS YOUNGER BROTHER, "WHEN TROUBLE ARISES IN YOUR WORLD, YOU CAN SIMPLY STOP THE TOWERS, PAUSE EVERYTHING, AND LET THE CRISIS PASS. BUT WHAT IF YOU COULDN'T STOP? WHAT THEN?"
JORDAN HAD RAISED AN EYEBROW, AMUSED. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'CAN'T STOP'? WE'RE THE GODS OF THIS NEW ERA, SCORMETHEUS. AND WE HAVE THE SAGE AS OUR FATHER. WHO OR WHAT COULD PREVENT US FROM STOPPING?"
"SIMPLE," SCORMETHEUS REPLIED. "THE GROWING NEEDS OF THE ELVES. IT'S BASIC MATH. TODAY, WE ONLY NEED TO PRODUCE 10 UNITS OF ENERGY, BUT IF OUR POPULATION DOUBLES, THAT BECOMES 20 UNITS. AND AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES AND OUR DEMANDS INCREASE, WE MAY NEED 30 UNITS, OR MORE."
AT THE TIME, JORDAN HAD LAUGHED, SHAKING HIS HEAD. THE CONVERSATION SOON BECAME A RUNNING JOKE AMONG THE PRINCES.
THE IDEA THAT THE ELVEN POPULATION WOULD TRIPLE SEEMED ABSURD. THE ELVES HAD ALWAYS BEEN NOTORIOUSLY SLOW TO REPRODUCE, AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL PREFERENCES MADE THEM PARTICULARLY PICKY. TRIPLE THE POPULATION? IT WOULD TAKE HUNDREDS OF YEARS, IF IT HAPPENED AT ALL.
AND IN A WAY, SCORMETHEUS'S BROTHERS HAD BEEN RIGHT, AT FIRST. THE ELVEN POPULATION DID TAKE OVER A CENTURY TO DOUBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME. BUT THEN, IN JUST THIRTY YEARS, IT DOUBLED AGAIN. THEN IN TWENTY YEARS, AND AFTER THAT, ONLY FIFTEEN YEARS. THE ACCELERATION WAS STAGGERING. WITH EVERY ADVANCEMENT, THE ELVES' NATURAL WORLD HAD BECOME MORE AND MORE OF A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT, AN AIR-CONDITIONED PARADISE WHERE NO ONE NEEDED TO WORK AND RESOURCES SEEMED ENDLESS. IN SUCH A WORLD, REPRODUCTION BECAME A ROUTINE.
AND NOW, LOOKING BACK, SCORMETHEUS REALIZED THAT HIS "SIMPLE MATH" HAD BEEN NO JOKE AT ALL.
YET WHEN HE HAD FIRST APPROACHED HIS BROTHERS WITH HIS CONCERNS, THEY HAD BRUSHED HIM OFF. "BROTHER, YOU TOOK THAT SERIOUSLY? EXTREME POPULATION GROWTH LIKE THAT ONLY EXISTS IN THEORY. THE TRIBES WILL NATURALLY BALANCE OUT."
BUT SCORMETHEUS KNEW BETTER. IN A WORLD WHERE EVERY NEED WAS MET, WHERE TECHNOLOGY COULD CONJURE ABUNDANCE SEEMINGLY OUT OF THIN AIR, THERE WAS NO LIMIT TO GROWTH. THERE WAS NO NATURAL BALANCE TO STOP THE TIDE. AND AS HE STOOD IN THE DEAD REMAINS OF X07, HE FEARED THAT IT WOULDN'T BE LONG BEFORE HIS BROTHERS, TOO, WOULD FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR UNCHECKED AMBITION.
"YES, EVEN IF WE'RE UNBALANCED, THE OTHER RACES WON'T SIT BY AND LET US EXPAND WITHOUT RESTRAINT. WE DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO GO UP AGAINST THREE RACES AT ONCE."
"IT'S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TEST WORLD. IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, WE'LL MAKE ADJUSTMENTS."