The E-mail Book
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Prologue
The E-mail story is a true saga, spanning for millenniums.
In the year 1863, five Arabian nomads set out into the desert known as Rub' al Khali (The Empty Quarter), in search of the legendary city of Ubar. But instead, they found something much greater and mysterious than Ubar itself.
The nomads came across an encapsulated mechanism of unknown origin, which is later called The E-mail, for a reason.
From the very beginning, The E-mail exhibits signs of intelligence, raising questions of what is inside - Artificial Intelligence (AI), a human being, an extraterrestrial? Where does it come from?
These questions drive manking to embark on a saga against this mechanism of unknown origin. Because, based on historic records, from its very first appearance, The E-mail began spreading some sort of poison among mankind, feeding on their emotions, from love to hate and everything in between… what makes us human. The E-mail portrayed itself as a messenger of light, but with a somber future in store for the human species.
Mankind however, was not about to walk into this somber future without a fight! People from all continents joined in the saga against The E-mail. From the Phenomena prodigies to the masters of Cybernetics. Tactical geniuses as well as masters of guerrilla warfare and those who had reached the height of secret ops espionage. Scientists in almost every field of our world came to join in the saga. Even the great honorable samurais and the masters of stealth the ninjas joined in the saga, as well as martial artists from all sorts of different backgrounds and self-taught people who had learned different techniques that could be used in their fight against The E-mail. Humanity was forced to forge powerful secret organizations to counter attack The E-mail's power.
But, what is The E-mail and where it came from are not as important right now as to why it's here. The E-mail will tell you why it’s here. Listen…
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An Unprecedented Journey
P# 1
In the year 1863, five Arabian nomads set out into the desert known as Rub’ al Khali (The Empty Quarter) in search of the legendary and mysterious city of Ubar. But little did they know that they would instead find something much greater and more mysterious.
About four days into their journey, they had covered a great portion of the desert, yet they had found nothing. Out of nowhere, a sudden sandstorm emerged from the east. They started going southwest, but the storm seemed to be coming from that direction as well. Every time they tried to go in a different direction, the storm intensified, leaving them no choice but to go northwest, whereupon they had no difficulty with the sandstorm. It was almost as if the storm were forcing them to go that way.
Soon they came across what appeared to be two meteorite craters. Not knowing what they represented, one of them said that perhaps they were the remains of Ubar, since God had made the ground swallow the city. While two others of the nomads agreed with him, they still felt like it was something different that they simply couldn’t explain. Another one suggested that they were just holes in the sand, while the lead nomad watched in silence, wondering what exactly these holes might represent.
The one who had said that they might have been the remains of Ubar dismounted his camel and started picking up pieces of dark crystal-like rocks. He said that they could create jewelry from them and claim that they were the last treasures of the legendary Ubar, which would command a high price. However, the lead nomad reminded him that Ubar was considered a curse, not something virtuous, and that no one would believe him anyway. He told them it was time to go back home.
P# 2
They thought the trip had been a waste of time, but on their journey back, an amazing thing happened. They spotted a particularly unusual dune on a large, flat area of the sands, and as the wind blew the sand away, a metallic object was slowly revealed. Immediately, they rushed towards it, and when they came upon it, they just froze, not knowing what to do or say as the sight was something to behold.
It was a mechanism of some sort, which had an amazing design. Immediately, one of them got close to the mechanism, and the lead nomad told him to be cautious, but the man didn’t heed the warning. Instead, he got closer and closer, then extended his hand and nervously touched the mechanism. But nothing happened. He had thought the world was going to end at that very moment, however it did not. He and the others started laughing. Thrilled that the mechanism did not present any danger, they began dancing around it.
After the joy dissipated, they started removing the sand around it to see the entire object. As they removed the sand, they began to notice that there was something written on the outside of the object. They tried to make sense of the writing but didn’t understand the language in which it was written and were therefore unable to decipher its meaning. They all chose to ignore it, except the leader, who felt that the inscription had to be some kind of message, or worse: a warning.
He knew they needed to take the object with them, for if they left it behind, someone could steal it. But dragging it with the camels was impossible, as it was too heavy. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to leave the mysterious object behind, for their supplies had been nearly depleted, and it was a weeklong journey back home.
P# 3
They returned to their families and told them what they had found, stating that they had to go back and get it before somebody else did. They prepared for a longer stay in the desert, but a fortunate thing happened when an Italian tourist and some other men stumbled upon them just before they returned to The Empty Quarter.
The tourist was an archeologist looking for the mysterious city of Ubar, and he asked them where they were going since they looked ready for a trip. Immediately, the youngest of the nomads prepared to speak, but the leader silenced him. When the leader asked the tourist what he wanted, the archeologist simply said guidance, and that he was willing to pay money if they let him go with them.
The lead nomad paused for a moment, then asked him if he had equipment to dig up the city. The young archeologist, whose name was Fachio, pointed to his crew and their tools, saying that he had plenty of equipment. When the nomad saw the advanced equipment the crew possessed, he realized Fachio could be useful in helping them bring the mechanism back. He agreed to take them along. Fachio was very happy as he and his crew packed up and joined the caravan. Off they went back into the dessert, the great sea of sand known as Rub’ al Khali (The Empty Quarter).
Throughout the long trip, the nomads became increasingly fascinated with the equipment. The archeologist and his crew were happy to explain how everything worked, as well as the purpose of each tool. As they traveled, they became good friends, and Fachio asked the lead nomad what he knew about the legendary city of Ubar, and what exactly had happened to it.
The nomad did not responded immediately. Instead, he was silent for a moment, then said something that left Fachio speechless and puzzled. The nomad told Fachio that he was going to show him something much more interesting and mysterious than Ubar itself...
To be continued...
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