On the Blood of Gods and Men (1/6)

On the Blood of Gods and Men: A Review of Our Natural History

by Hera, Queen of Olympus

[Note: At this time, the contents of this document are subject to restricted access, in accordance with Olympus Protocol 2L-K: VIX. Viewing this document without necessary permissions is a crime of heresy, punishable by death and/or damnation, at the will of our regent, Zeus.]

I have always had a keen interest in the functioning of biological systems, and how their natural processes may be artificially subverted to accomplish various ends. I started with the study of animal husbandry, moved on eventually to genetic research, and have truly found my passion in the study of my own kin. I have performed a number of experiments with titan biology [which are summarized within another document], but for anyone who might one day seek to understand the avenues of research I pursued, I also leave this as an account of the state of our species before my intervention into our bloodlines. First, however, I should explain how it is that I am privy to the information I am about to share.  

My father, Kronos, struggled to prove himself my grandfather, Oranos, and feared that, were his children allowed to mature at a natural pace, Oranos might pass the crown to one of my brothers and sisters, rather than to my father. To avoid this, Kronos had all of us interred within one of Tartarus's virtual worlds, where suspended animation in the stranded ship's cryo pods would slow our aging, delaying our adulthood.

It was not all bad - though selfish, my father bore no ill will towards his children. Tartarus's simulated worlds were intended to maintain the psychological wellbeing of its crew through even the lengthiest of travels. Since setting down upon this planet, those simulated worlds had been repurposed - some to keep prisoners docile or tormented (depending on the threat they posed), and some to provide a happy retreat for a portion of the Titan population during lean times. It was into one of these paradise worlds, Elysium, that we were sent. Elysium represented an idealized synthesis of our new home on Earth with our ancestral homeworld - the natural beauty of this world with simulated recreations of our ancestor's culture and technology. There we learned much about our people and the world they'd come from, and being of the royal bloodline, we were privileged to a depth of education denied even to many of the adults with whom we shared the virtual world.