She lay down on the golden colored beach. She was lost in that book that she found thrown from the depths of the ocean. As she turned a watered, salted and baked page, something tickled her long slender naturally tanned legs. she turned slowly to look and saw a crab staring back at her.

She giggled and tenderly pet the crab. It stood for a second then scuttled back to the water. She sighed and turned back to the book. She turned it around to look at the cover and read:

"Timaeus and Critias", written in contemporary Greek. She scratched her head in confusion.

There was a crackling sound in front of her. She turned her golden/hazel colored eyes towards the towering woman and smiled. "Hi mom. I was just reading." said the 18-year old girl.

Her mother was stunningly beautiful, and barely looked like she was in her mid twenties!! She had the exact same features, sexy tanned body, hazel eyes and long curly black and red hair.

She wore a single sheet of silky cloth that covered her bosom and flowed down her legs, but shorter in front than in the back. Her mom looked at the book, and surprisingly, from where she was standing, she could make up the words very clearly. "Greek? What are you studying, obsolete languages?"
Losepetta frowned. "Uhh.. No, this is a story book actually... I think."
Her mother nodded. "Right, anyway, there's been some kind of disturbance in the capital and the Council has called for the meeting of all the three cities. So pack your Rashes, we're leaving at sun down, darling."
Los smiled, "Anything you say mother."
Her mother smiled, and her image blurred and disappeared.

"..DIARY" Los thought as she stood up. A screen formed in front of her and followed her as she walked.
"I'm having doubts again. About our traditions, about our history. This book that I found is... is very strange. I can honestly say that it's not from here. But where did it come from? Is there something else out there? Dear Diary, I hope I can come to terms with my conflicts some day. I've heard of those who've thought too deeply into this and went mad. Science is right. Science is Peace. Science is reality. Science is what our world revolves around. But then again... Who? Who invented science? Who wrote those rules that our cosmically connected brainwaves decipher?"

As she thought these words, the screen in front of her jotted down what she was thinking, in a ciphered language that was unique only to Los.

"Los..." a strong male voice called behind her.
"Hey Remy..." Los said. She kept on walking. The man caught up with her and put his hands in his pockets. "There's no need to doubt, sis. We've got everything. Our law is love, our government is the monarchy ruled by the Voice Of the People and best of all, we've uncovered the secret of immortality. Look at you! You look like you're eighteen years old, but you've actually lived for forty five years!"
Los shed a tear then she looked at her brother. "We don't have everything. I don't have you."
Remy looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean? I'm all yours!"
"No you're not. You know exactly what I mean. You're just a simulation. I wasn't allowed to have a real brother because our laws say our parents should only have one child. You're just an illusion. Everybody else who bought a BioMate customized them to be lovers, friends, pets. Me, I wanted a brother because I wanted to see what it would feel like. I shouldn't have because now I love you so. But... You don't understand love."

Remy shrugged: "Well they taught me as much as my Artificial Intelligence megachip could handle, but love is a very sophisticated human emotion, and as I said before I promised to return that love, no matter what that means."
Los started crying. "Go away!"
The illusion was no more.

It was night time. The F-Class Lite-Pod glided across the skies. Los and her parents sat in the center, a large crystal dome in the middle represented the instrument panel. With it, you can change your destination, the speed, and the Holo-Vision channel.
Los' father looked at her and sighed. "What's the matter, darling? I feel an immense hollowness inside you."
Los nodded.
"Care to talk about it, darling?" he asked.
"Mom." Los asked "Can you tell me about that story again? Of the great Queen who founded our great capital?
Her mother smiled and a little screen came to life in front of her. A counter on the screen incremented. "This is going to be the 745th time I tell the story."
Los shut her eyes. And she was transported 13 millennia into the past.

"A long time ago..." her mother's voice narrated, "We were ruled by a king named Atlas. Whose father, Poseidon, we worshipped as our God, the God of the Sea. The great mother was a native woman named Cleito of whom was born ten children." The story formed in Los' imagination, it was as clear as it would've been if she was physically there; a skill she mastered called Claireverance.

She saw a majestic palace. Grand and exotic. It had a large court where people from the different parts of the world came to trade, show their exotic animals or just to admire the beauty of this great land.

Near the palace was Poseidon's temple, which was adorned and coated with Gold, Silver and Orichalcum. The last being a magical metal that Poseidon gifted to his children.

This is Atlantis. The Kingdom of Abundance.

That's how the island was known, for it was named after the First King. But it caused great confusion, for the great curators called The Old Ocean: the Atlantic. So many became misled and thought Atlantis was in the Atlantic, but that was not true, because the island was in the Pacific. And the Pacific is Poseidon's home which he calmed with his great Trident. Some say the Phoenician and Greek traders lied in order to keep the real location of the island away from other civilizations that will exploit its great products. Some say the fact that the island was so far away just made people forget, and when they were asked "Where is Atlantis?" they would reply, "Past the Pillars of Hercules!" which people would take literally.

Atlas the King had nine brothers who were the princes that ruled the different parts of Atlantis.

The Island was famous for its amazing palaces and temples, great canals and most of all, great knowledge. Which the ten kings and princes taught man and their generations passed it on. Moreover, the island was tall, so tall it reached the clouds insomuch that everyone who visited this great land went to tell people of the great Atlas who supported the heavens with his shoulders.

Poseidon blessed this great land and boasted of it to the other gods. For its people were the smartest and the richest in all of Earth.

Generations of kings passed. One generation, a descendant by the name of Nemuzed ruled The Citadel, the capital of Atlantis. He was loyal to the ancient laws inscribed by Poseidon himself in a tablet made of Orichalcum.

There was a page in the royal court by the name of Aleskander who fell in love with an Atlantean peasant from the farms of Atlantis. The page was Nemuzed's favorite servant, and his task was to tend the animals who were brought in to the court from other lands.

One day, Catopsilia (the girl) mustered her courage and brought a butterfly to the page.
"What, sire is this beautiful bird called?" She asked. The page laughed. "Nay lady, 'tis not a bird, but an insect. It is a butterfly you see found only in Atlantis. We call it the Lepripacca. "
She frowned. "Why call it not a more.... Presentable name than that?"
The page smiled. "And what would your name be?" She answered: "Catopsilia, sire."
"From today on, this butterfly will be called Catopsilia. For it is beautiful as its namesake." He said.
She smiled and they walked together. "Sire, how learned you, all these wonderful things?"
"I owe it all to great Nemuzed. For he taught me of the alphabet of the Gods, in which each letter has magic in it. That language has the secrets of the entire universe."

She listened on, full of interest.

From that day on, the page would sneak out with the girl weekly, when her father brought in the reaps of his great farm. They'd run to the precipice south of the palace, sit with their arms around each other and stare at the ocean. Where the only shelter from the cold breeze was each others' warmth.

"Do you believe?" she had asked him once.
He took a rock and threw it in the air, watching it pick up speed as it fell far below. "Believe what?" he was puzzled.
"That Gods exist?" she looked at him with her deep brown eyes.
He laughed. "But of course! Why, Nemuzed the great is a descendant of Atlas, the son of Poseidon, the God of the Sea HIMSELF!
How can I not believe?"
She looked at him and frowned. "What if it's not true? You don't know for certain, after all."
Aleskander shook his head. "I know it's true. Even though I've never seen Poseidon myself. Besides, Atlas taught us great things which only a God would've known! He showed us Orichalchum a magical metal which we can use to make metal become alive!!"
She sighed. "Darling... I have to tell you something. The first time I met you, I acted dumb. But I knew that the butterfly was an insect. I knew, because... I learned it, in books. Old books which a Greek scholar gave to my father a long time ago. That scholar taught us many great things. About science, and about the great things that would happen, when we enter the Age of Enlightment."

"The... Age of Enlightment?" Aleskander asked.

"There's so much to tell you, darling, I'm so excited I've finally opened up to you. The scholar's name was Elonas and he told my dad a great secret. That the Gods never existed. That it was all a myth, great stories that the Greeks and Phoenicians told their children which became more and more believable as it passed down from generation to generation..."

"NO... IMPOSSIBLE!" Aleskander trembled.

She smiled. "The Age of Enlightment is the age when we will learn that the Gods don't exist, and we'll use science to power our world. Orichalchum is not a magical metal that Poseidon created like you were brought up to believe. Nevertheless, it's a metal that has a power in it which we are going to discover some day. That power is not magic, but it's science. You see, our knowledge which the "Gods" suppressed from us is in its baby stages, but one day we will discover how to use orichalcum to extract the power of lightning! You see, this metal has another name, Copper which the non-atlanteans will only discover after 4000 years. Orichalcum is our key to becoming masters of the universe!...

But first, we'll need to learn the language of these... "Gods" because it has a secret in it, which even the scholars haven't discovered yet. But that secret, is called The Arcanum, and together with Science, we'll abandon these "Gods" and become Enlightened."
He shook his head. "Science? We don't need that. We need Gods to learn the secrets of the universe. You see, we have Nemuzed to teach us how to become Gods like all the kings before him. Didn't you see the power that they had?!"
She smiled. "But why do you want to be a God, darling? To command people? To look all mighty and powerful?"
He shook his head again. "No, we need to be Gods so that we don't die. I... I'm afraid... To Die. I'm afraid that... My whole life which I've spent learning and toiling, will all be gone to an abyss of nothingness."
She touched his cheek. "Then there is your proof. If those kings claimed to be Gods, why did they die of old age? But here's how we can become something even better than Gods: All we need to do is share unconditional love. We erase all hate from our hearts, and that'll make us spend all of our time learning instead of fighting. We'll all rule together, instead of one man giving all the orders. Then we can become perfect, and learn all the secrets of life... Even the secret of how to be young forever. But first we need to be smart and realize that these Gods, they're just a myth and figments of our imagination."

She held him tightly, but he trembled. "You filthy, blasphemous peasant!" He was angry. She gasped as he pushed her away. "What do you know?! Nothing!" He screamed. "But I do! I know that I worship my king and his great ancestor Poseidon, he's MY God. And you're wrong. Gods rule the world, and will do so for ever... You evil thing." She sobbed. "But... All I wanted to do was try to show you... That love is all that we need. Love conquers all...."

He shook his fist in the air. "Answer me this: Does LOVE stop mighty armies from turning homes into ruin? Does LOVE stop diseases and plagues?"

She sobbed. "It can... If everybody worked together as one."
He laughed. "Your madness amuses me. But now, excuse me you shall, for I have wasted ENOUGH of my precious time with a creature that knows NOTHING."
He stormed away. Catopsilia covered her face and wept.

Didn't her father tell her that once?

"Change." He had said.

"Men fear that more than Hell itself."

(Continued...)