#inversa

* * *

I call now upon the muses of Apocalypse

Upon Doom, Despair, Chaos,

And Hope, above all else.

Lend me your voices, your memories buried deep,

So I may sing of your great undoing.

Bestow upon me a tale of invention, a tale of glory,

A tale of goodwill soured by greed, a tragedy

Not unlike the stories of old.

Allow me to begin the beginning of the end

And The Fall of Mythos Technologies.

* * *

Icarus, son of Daedalus, promised himself that

He would never repeat his father's footsteps.

Unlike his forefathers, his cousins, and his brothers,

Icarus was not suited for fighting nor farm work.

Rather, he was a man of science and mathematics.

A follower of biological and atomic Chaos,

Which breeds order out of the natural world,

Icarus spent his youth poking and prodding

At the world around him, wondering if there's

Something waiting for him beyond the horizon.

Icarus's curiosity, much to his family's dismay,

Was rewarded with his entrance into Mythos Technologies

Alongside two other prestigious researchers.

Under the watchful eyes of the beautiful Dorathy,

They would invent a new tool to further humanity.

"I will make you a promise." said Dorathy.

"We will give you anything and everything

You need for your experiments,

In time, or money, or materials,

But you must never leave this place."

"Additionally, there is a specific door

Within this building that you must not,

By any means, open. If you do,

Your time here will come to an end.

Do you understand?"

Icarus's compatriots replied swiftly

With excited looks on their faces.

Icarus, not wanting to be the only one

Left out, nodded his agreement as well.

"Perfect," said she. "Now, introduce yourselves."

Mephisto, tightly wound and logical,

Was a man of productivity.

His invention would allow the user to work

Within his own dreams, permitting even

The wildest daydreams to become reality.

Sharp-witted Nervos, on the other hand,

Was a man fueled by emotion.

His creation was designed to alter the

Emotions of mankind, substituting

Anger or fear with more positive sensations.

Finally, it was Icarus's turn to speak.

"I'd like to design wings," he said sheepishly.

"Humanity deserves to see the world

Like the birds and insects do.

We won't be tied down any longer."

"How frivolous," muttered Mephisto.

"How impractical," commented Nervos.

"How wonderful," exclaimed Dorathy,

"We'll begin right away."

And so, they began.

The inventors worked tirelessly,

Day and night, pouring over tomes

And running experiments.

Where Nervos and Mephisto shined,

Icarus faltered at every turn.

In the spirit of teamwork, the scientists

Offered assistance to each other

On basic tasks and logic puzzles.

However, when Icarus began falling behind,

Their relationship became more one-sided.

Without realizing, though Icarus was the sort

Of man to give himself to others without

Expecting anything in return, Icarus had

Become the victim of his compatriots'

Schemes and the subject of their experiments.

Day in and day out, Icarus would have his

Emotions altered and his consciousness invaded,

All as his dreams of flying seemed so distant.

It was his job, his duty, to help others, but

He could barely help himself.

One day, while trying to avoid the others,

Icarus accidentally stumbled into a doorway.

The doorway he wasn't supposed to enter.

The doorway he shouldn't have been able to see.

And there, he met The Eye.

[There's a missing gap in the text here.]

Upon his imperceptible return,

Icarus poured himself into his work

With newfound vigor. Concepts and

Creations flowed from him like a river,

nearly sweeping up his fellow scientists.

Nervos and Mephisto looked on at

their former lab rat in horror.

Where did Icarus’s ideas come from?

Why was Icarus ignoring them?

How could Icarus leave them in the dust?

Would Icarus complete his project?

Would he win awards, recognition?

Would Icarus be the name people remember?

Would those stupid wings steal their glory?

Would Icarus even remember their names?

With Icarus none the wiser,

Nervos and Mephisto hatched a plot

To ensure the greatness of their craft.

To enshrine their names in the history books.

To embody their greatness, once and for all.

Mephisto scoured Icarus’s dreams,

ensuring that was sound asleep.

Nervos activated his emotion modifiers,

adjusting Icarus’s sensations so that

all he felt was joy instead of pain.

They struck quickly in the dead of night,

Stealing Icarus from his quarters

and dragging him to his laboratory.

As he awoke, Icarus believed that

his friends had created a surprise for him.

"We love you, Icarus!"

Cried his brothers in arms

As they strapped Icarus down

To the operating table.

Or, at least, that’s what Icarus heard.

Conniving Mephisto and impertinent Nervos

Held Icarus’s wings aloft,

Preparing to make the incisions that would

Graft the wings to the poor man’s body.

Icarus couldn’t stop laughing.

The pain’s sting and the metal’s cold bite

Did nothing to dissuade his joy.

“What a lovely surprise!” He cried,

Tears streaming down his smiling face.

“You really do love me!”

“We have one more surprise for you,”

Cooed Mephisto as he tightened the bolts.

“It’s just upstairs, on the roof!”

Claimed Nervos as he pulled Icarus to the floor.

“Come with us! It won’t be long now!”

As his captors dragged him up the stairs,

Icarus took in his surroundings.

Had the floors always been this red?

Was the sky always so dark?

Was he always this high in the air?

“Where’s my surprise?” Icarus tried to say,

but his voice came out slurred and hoarse.

“It’s just off the edge, there,” said Nervos.

“We’ll help you get down,” said Mephisto.

And then, Icarus flew.

As Icarus fell through the sky,

Wind whipping through his hair,

The soft touch of the clouds

And the chemicals soaring through him

Made him cry out in delight.

"Is anyone watching?

Hey, you, don't you see?

Please, watch me! I'm flying!

Please…

Please stop staring at me.

You know it scares me