New Roman Epic
[Super Realistic]

Characters, spelling, grammar all jump around. This is the first draft which I spent 5+ hours writing down the morning I had the dream.

Note: this dream has ended up being the inspiration for some of the characters and universe for the first sci-fi novel I am attempting to write. Keep checking the writing section for updates!

The full moon cast it's coppery light over the coastal mountains of Nova Roma. a large courtyard flanked on both sides by white stone buildings, massive granite columns supporting ornate roofs and windows of black tinted glass. a blending of the ancient and the ultra modern, that was new rome in image and substance, incorporating the best of the ancient and modern worlds.

within the courtyard a series of stone and gravel paths wound around shrubs, grass, statues, and small ponds connected via a network of creeks throughout the compound. not much stirred in the still summer night, splashing water from the fountains and music could be heard in the distance, an occasional chirp of an insect might punctuate the calm night. most people chose to stay indoors in the oppresive heat, still nearly 34 centigrade even 4 hours after sundown, some ventured forth in small groups to sit at the edge of a pond and chat while the trickle of one of the waterfalls or fountain relaxed them.

a bright light spilled out onto the grassy area in front of one building as a door opened, melissa, a young woman wearing a dazzling white toga candida with a narrow black stripe of the religious caste, exited and stopped briefly in the darkness. she pulled the umbo over her head, completely covering her jet black hair and encasing her face in shadow and set off at a brisk walk, nearly a jog, to the open gate at the far end of the courtyard. the toga candida was bleached whiter than white. in ancient times was only worn by a candidate to public office, now it signified a candidate for many things, in melissa's case it signified her as a candidate for graduation from the religious institute of new rome and initiation as a full member of the religious caste. she wore the toga with obvious pride, it was quite an accomplishment for one not yet 16 years old.

approaching the gate she slowed to a more dignified pace. the guard at the gate came to rigid attention as she approached. armored in traditional Lorica Segmentata, or articulated plate armor, polished to a silvery shine and worn over a crimson tunic, and an open faced helmet. he bore a pike and scutum (rectangular shield) bearing the device of the family Livius. he was one of the warrior caste assigned to protect the religious institute.

flashing a devilish smile as she recognized the guard was a friend, Quintas, melissa pulled back the umbo enough to be recognized in the moonlight.

Quintas relaxed his posture and smiled briefly, gesturing for her to pass.

once through the gate she resumed her earlier trot down the path toward a small grove of trees. Quintas is sweet she thought to herself, one of only a few of the guards that did not let her win at poker just because she is a student at the institute - or worse because she's a girl!

a large white airship suddenly appeared over the line of trees, nearly silent as it floated down to the mooring between the small forest and the compound, it's electric turbofans barely a whisper. a large red rectangle was painted on each fin with "SPQNR" lettered in black in the center of two golden laurel branches. airships were a common sight, slow and graceful they were one of the preferred modes of transportation as it showed patience and a concern for the environment. new 0rome was very environmentally concious, walking was better than driving, dirigibles used less energy than planes or helicopters, trains and light rail beat out cars for city transportation, electric won over combustion, and computers could replace a lifetime supply of paper. technology was used wisely to extend human abilities while minimizing the impact on the world, technology for the sake of technology was frowned upon as wasteful. this philosophy helped make new rome strong, she did not waste resources on the greed of a few, she wisely spent resources to better the lives of all her citizens as equally as possible.

a detachment of a dozen soldiers and their commander noisely marched across the pathway heading to the mooring to meet the airship, armor clanking in the still night and the commander barking orders to his men.

melissa ignored them, she had more important things to do and continued on her way as soon as the soldiers cleared the path.

passing through the small grove of trees she continued along the path which made it's way around a lake outside the compound. she would occasionally pass other people who were walking or sitting on the benches along the path. typically in groups of 2-3 and speaking in hushed tones, many wore the white togas with broad black stripes of the religious caste. there were no other students out at this time of night.

the people she passed did no more than glance in her direction.

the path ended at the base of a cliff with a rough hewn staircase ascending to the top, a small waterfall cascaded down the rock cliff feeding into the lake. melissa slowed and then stopped before a lone praetorian standing at the base of the stairway.

the hulking praetorian guard stood in sharp contrast to her small white toga clad figure. everything about him said total badass, not a man you would fuck with. genetically enhanced for strength he was armored in flat black molecularly aligned carbon fiber-kevlar Lorica Segmentata covering a dark purple tunic, black helmet with the visor raised showing a menacing red glow from his cybernetically enhanced eyes, greaves, gauntlets, and a large rectangular scutum with no device showing allegiance to any particular house or legion completed the visible armor. the rigidity of his skin exposed the fact that he had superconducting monofilament fibre woven into his skin to disippate energy weapons. a pike rested within easy reach against the cliff and there was the standard issue gladius style sword hanging in an ornate scabbard. both pike and sword were more of a device of office than for actual use - meant only for show in this age of energy weapons which he certainly had concealed from view, but easily accesible.

"what business have you here?" asked the guard in a deep, grating voice. he already knew who she was and why she was here of course, if he didn't his posture would not have been so casual, nor would the pike be standing against the cliff wall.

she shrank back from the physical presence of the cyborg but still held eye contact and produced a datapad from her toga which she handed to him.

viewing the datapad briefly he handed it back to her and moved out of the way, his free hand thudded on the breast plate of his armor in salute and motioned with a slight bow of his head for her to proceed.

she quickly mounted the steps, taking them two at a time to make up for lost time as well as to distance herself from the praetorian. melissa did not like the cyborgs much at all, true the enhancements were all for combat purposes, below the hardened exterior he was as much a human as anyone else, it still made her shiver to contemplate how anyone could have such permanent modifications done to their bodies.

at the top of the stairs was a large field lit only by the moonlight. several marble pillars rose toward the heavens, arranged in a semi circle facing a small pool made by the creek before it fell over the rocks as a waterfall. the blackness of dense trees surrounded the clearing at a respectful distance. grass covered most of the clearing with a rectangular stone set into the ground on a small rise by the waters edge. four stone benches were arrayed within the same semi circle made by the columns. off in the distance, set in a wide valley, sparkled the vari-colored lights of the capitol city. the pride of new rome.

on the stone knelt a man dressed in a simple black tunic illuminated by the flickering light of the large candle before him. a deep purple toga was draped over one of the benches. an ornate gladius was leaning against the bench.

Melissa approached slowly, trying to remain silent out of respect since he knew she was there; the praetorian cyborg had certainly alerted him of her approach.

"Master?", she queried in a soft voice, barely more than a whisper.

no response, weighing the reported urgency of the message she brought against the very real risk of angering one of the more respected teachers of the institte melissa decided to err on the side of caution and crept around to the front of the man, staying back enough so the movement would not interrupt his meditation. he appeared to be barely middle aged but his close cropped hair betrayed that appearance as it had already turned a silvery grey color. his unblinking eyes were focused on the candle. his chest rose and fell with each sure, deep breath.

melissa knelt a couple meters away and waited.

a few minutes passed before he rose his head, blinked twice, and looked directly at the young woman.

"what brings one of our finest students out at this hour, melissa?"

"master, I bring a message. from General Flavius Servilius Gallus."

"and what would that old coot want of me?"

momentarily taken aback at the casual address of the general of the warrior caste melissa pauses in reply. "uhm, master." she started, nervously, "General Servilius requests your presence immediately at the Forum, he has taken the liberty to dispatch your airship from the Capitol. it should arrive any minute at the compound mooring."

a feral spark shone in the masters' eyes, "Immediately?! The older he gets the further beyond his authority he goes."

Then adds after softening his tone, "You relay to Gallus that I will be there when I am there and not a moment before."

Melissa rose to leave and bowed her head deeply, crossing both hands on her chest as she does so, "I take my leave then, master."

"A minute. I shall walk with you."

Surprise crosses Melissa's face as she pauses.

The master stumbled a little while standing, Melissa moved to help but he motioned her away and stood up straight.

"Oooh, this is why I don't meditate in the Lotus position anymore, I'd never get up!"

He continued chuckling lightly as he strapped on the Gladius and began putting on his toga. The toga was almost entirely a deep purple aside from a broad black stripe along the edge signifying his membership in the religious caste. Melissa moved up to help wrap the toga properly, they were rather cumbersome. By the time his toga was attached properly three praetorian cyborgs, similar in size and appearance to the first at the foot of the stairway, had materialized from the darkness around of the trees and had formed up one in front and two behind. For all their bulk and armor they were amazingly stealthy - melissa had not heard their approach until they were only a couple of meters away.

The master motioned for melissa to walk beside him and they started off toward the stairs at a slow pace. The praetorians had moved further out and marched in step with the pair toward the stairs.

"master, may I ask a question?"

"if I said 'no' would it deter you from asking?"

melissa blushed, she had a reputation at the institute for asking questions no matter what - even at the wrong time or the wrong subject.

"my apologies." said the master softly, "it was not right to tease. you should always ask your questions when you have them, it is a good trait to be direct."

a tight smile appeared on her lips, "I wish others saw as you."

"what is your question?"

they walked in silence for a few heartbeats, both looked toward the heavens to study to stars as the group reached the top of the stairway and began descending single file.

"what did the candle represent? I mean to you, personally, of course. I know many people use different items to focus on when they meditate."

"life."

"who's life?"

"every life. all life. we are all born from the stars and the flame is the primal part left from those stars that reminds us where we come from, that we are all no more than molecules created in the hearts of the stars which, over the millenia, have banded together and invented ego's and politics and greed and society. the flame also serves to remind us that life, all life, is precious as each is unique and once extinguished it is gone forever from the universe. there will never be another quite like it."

"I think many candles will be going out in the days to come, master."

"yes, I am afraid that many, many candles will go out. those that are not like us insist on war to solve our differences. they would see us to become like they, to give up our freedom, our liberty, and indeed our way of life to live as they do. that is not for us, they do not understand. it is to their peril that they provoke conflict for they do not even know of the power which we control. their cause is already lost. yet they insist on fighting."

"they will lash out and destroy everything I am afraid, master."

"yes, child. our challenge is to defeat them slowly, methodically, and without obvious victory; for they do indeed posses the power to destroy everything. us and them. this we must avoid, but victory must be ours."

at the bottom of the stairway the other praetorian cyborg had retrieved his pike and taken position at the front of the group opposite the other lone praetorian. together, the group began walking back along the path melissa had taken earlier.

"it is ironic then that what we do also saves them from the slow death they brought upon themselves."

the master simply nodded in agreement.

melissa liked the looks that the previous chatters and strollers had when they saw a mere student walking with the master surrounded by four praetorians.

they walked in silence for some time, lost in their own thoughts, before the master spoke again.

"melissa, you are nearly graduated from the institute, what are your goals for the future?"

"I thought that I might come work for your staff at the capitol, master. I understand that there are internships currently open in many disciplines."

a look of genuine surprise crossed his face, "I had not realized you were leaning toward politics."

"yes, master. I realized that humans are social animals at their core, politics is merely the art of practicing that social nature. If one wants to do the best they can for new rome they must practice politics to one degree or another. so even if I end up leading the career of a priestess or a researcher of chemistry I must practice politics to excel. your staff would be an appropriate place to learn that art."

Clearing the small forest they approached the mooring area where a second, larger airship that had landed near the first, also bearing the "SPQNR" insignia on it's red fins. Several Praetorians were standing around the perimeter of the mooring at attention and a small group of men and women in white toga's with broad purple strips stood chatting near the stairs to the newly arrived airship. Senators mostly, though a couple bore the additional dark grey stripe of being a member of the ruling council made up of caste elite. Each also bore the stripe of caste affiliation on their toga's, light blue for no caste, black for religious, red for warrior, and yellow for worker.

"Gaius Cornelius Christianus Augustus!" exclaimed a woman senator, her toga signifying her as a ruling council member as well as a member of the warrior caste.

The group of Senators turned almost in unison toward melissa and the master and sunk to one knee with their heads bowed.

analysis:

*	The whole candle sequence is similar to a fragment of an episode of Babylon 5 (the theme is the same, the wording and situation are different)
*	I still vividly remember the feeling waking up from this dream. It was like "wow". The whole thing had the feel of watching a movie, the perspective changed between characters, the visual detail, the dialogue. All captured here in draft form.