Journal

March 4, 1999

The being that the adepts have captured is a most fascinating creature. Its body, which I have inspected with my own Senses, seems to be made of nothing but metal, though in such extraordinary combinations that I cannot begin to decipher how such alloys were formed. In addition, the entirely metal being has not only a Life pattern and a Spirit pattern, but also a strong buildup of Prime energy. Despite having the main characteristics of the human form, the creature also has a fish-like appearance. Its entire body is blue, green, and silver, but I was struck most by its glowing yellow eyes.

The being was unconscious when it was brought inside. When it awakened, bound back as it was, it displayed remarkable and unprecedented magickal ability, the likes of which none of the adepts had ever seen. It was glowing green about the eyes and stomach, and sending objects flying out in attempts to injure the collected adepts around it. This in itself was not particularly unusual, as any practitioner of Forces could create the kind of energies and effects the creature was producing. What was remarkable was the fact that the creature experienced no significant outlash from consentual reality stemmed by these effects. Seemingly, altering reality is part of this being's birthright, as ours, but the mutable reality does not question the creature in any way.

After a time, however, the storm of light and objects subsided, as the being's energy was spent. The air was crackling with Quintessence.

March 5, 1999

The Awakened creature has identified itself as a "Maximal." Its order, from what we can fathom, is "Transmetal II." It has already demanded its freedom. Its Life pattern shows that, despite its makeup, it is in fact a living being, though it has no flesh to speak of. The Life, and its Spirit, resonate from an area near where a human's stomach might be located. Here, we have perceived a solid ball of these elements, laced through with Prime energies. This same area was witnessed glowing when the creature operated its magick. One theory is that the sphere is simply some kind of enhanced foci, but most agree that the creature has found a way to store its own spirit in Quintessence. This is a most intriguing theory, but only serves to ask more questions. If the creature experiences no Paradox, and is not wild, then should it not absorb Quintessence, rather than produce it?

March 5 Addendum

Further proof that the Maximal we discovered is a rational being. After it had managed to recharge its magickal energy, it used its Forces power to undo its bonds. It was almost able to escape before sheer Forces, at an enormous Paradoxical risk, were used to subdue it once more. We have resolved to be more careful in the future has to how we bind the creature, so that its magick will not allow it to escape again.

March 6

The adepts have discovered that the best way to keep the Maximal fettered is to remove its arms and legs. The creature did indeed seem to be in pain during the procedure, but recovered quickly from the ordeal. Its senses are provided by nothing more than computer circuits, and removed limbs no longer provide it with a sensation. We believe the Maximal most likely has origins with the Sons, and have offered them the limbs for either ransom or study.

March 8

The response from the Sons states that, while they are in awe of the technology displayed by our Maximal prisoner, they have no idea as to its origins. Their statement seems to be more of a request for the design specifications than anything else.

Meanwhile, our order has finally discovered a method for extracting the Quintessence from the heart of the Maximal. It seems that a good enough amount can be extracted before the creature begins to tire. At that point, the ritual was halted, so that the Maximal can be given time to recharge. Time will tell if the Maximal will actually regain the Quintessence it once harbored.

In a more interesting development in the affair, today, the Maximal demanded water. That a robotic creature such as this would have such a base need is a quandary, but, we were willing to respond to its request. Eventually, it was fed as well, and seemed entirely grateful.

March 9

Today we were visited by a wandering Chorister, who insisted on viewing our alien prisoner. She was finally admitted, after a time, and after spending an hour alone with the Maximal, expressed heavy outrage at our treatment of the creature. She stated that the Maximal was, in fact, a believer in the One, and a living being worthy of more freedom and less study. Having not been convinced of the benefits of keeping the Maximal as a Quintessence battery for a while longer (and not seeing the creature's innate danger, as it has only recently been drained of energy), she became quite irate, and was escorted from the building.

March 11

The Sons of Ether have developed a working prototype of the outer and inner workings of a Maximal. The creature does, indeed, seem to speak, walk, and act much as the Maximal would, but is highly lacking in several key components. For one, it has no Life pattern, and no Spirit. The Sons insist that, though they might be able to create in part the Life pattern of our Maximal prisoner, the Paradox they would absorb from creating its internal Quintessence battery would be immense. It seems, therefore, that only the original will do, until Paradox itself can be staved off in some way. Thus continues another chapter in the endless struggle against altering reality.

The Maximal has seemed to recover in full from the ritual we have preformed a few days past. Its own store of Quintessence is once again at peak levels, and it has begun to once again use its magickal powers in now-futile escape attempts. The draining was performed immediately, and calmed it greatly.

March 12

My curiosity overwhelmed me today, and I sat a while on my own with the Maximal. After a demand of water, it proceeded to answer the greater part of my questions, then asked questions of its own.

The Maximal believes he comes from a different planet, which he calls Cybertron. Being used as slaves for harvesting Quintessence was, at one time, not an unusual practice among the race. This is, at any rate, what I was able to decipher, though there seems to be a small issue of pronunciation differences. In addition, "Prime" and "Quintessence" have very different connotations to the Maximal. In fact, his version of the "One" that the Chorister was certain she had found is called "Primus." A race that both worships Prime energy and fears Quintessence is in itself an exercise in simple paradox.

I took another look at him and discovered that the materials which make up his body are less than a year of age. However, he seems to me to be a full-grown adult; certainly no youth could master the magickal energies he possesses without careful study. I asked him if, therefore, his race was a short-lived people. His response was additionally confusing. The Maximal race is little over three-hundred years old, he states, but the planet of Cybertron is older than time itself, with its greater heroes living for millennia. The idea that the Maximal is extraterrestrial is one I cannot entirely believe. However, the creature itself is entirely rational. He claims that he is a peaceful being at heart, and has a cultural right to freedom no matter where he should travel. I noticed that the yellow eyes, the brightness of which overwhelmed me when I first laid eyes on the Maximal, are losing their sheen. Perhaps draining the creature of its Quintessence is, in fact, killing it slowly... However, the Maximal is entirely too dangerous, and far too useful, to be discarded so quickly. If this is the power of a Maximal barely a year of age, what could those over a thousand be capable of?