Note
The character names are from the Nahuatl language; the story is set in Central America during the time of ancient civilizations like the Aztecs and Mayas. To give myself some writerly freedom, I made up my own ancient culture rather than butcher a real one. There's no such thing as "ancient astronauts," either, but the idea does make good fodder for stories.
I wrote this purely for my own amusement; It's not supposed to be good or anything, and in all likelihood probably isn't that great.
Feedback, comments, criticism, spam: gws22410@yahoo.ca.
THE SKY GODS
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious; any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
"Hi-" Atl was about to say when his voice went off key for a moment. He coughed to hide it. He'd been sounding hoarse lately. Atl was sure he was getting sick, which wasn't good. Getting sick meant going to see a healer, priest or scam artist who would say some incantations, and mix up a foul-tasting potion to drink.
There was a chance it wouldn't work. Atl knew of some boys who'd gotten sick, and if they were any measure to go by the prognosis wasn't good. They might improve for a short while, then they would get worse again. He remembered one of the boys he played ball with - Cualli - had gotten sick, and had eventually "gone away." No one talked about him any more.
"Hi, Dad," Atl started again, this time more slowly to try and keep his voice even.
Atl's father, Coatl, was sitting on a reed mat relaxing away from the sun and the heat of the day. He smiled a little and beckoned Atl forward. Atl could hear his mother and sisters down by the bank of the shallow, muddy canal that ran behind the back of his family's small hut. They were splashing, shouting gleefully and having fun, and Atl wished he could join them; he was getting the distinct impression that his father wanted to have a serious discussion.
After sitting down on another mat beside his father, Atl looked straight at the brown dirt in front of him. He felt his father put a hand on his bare shoulder. "Son," Coatl said, "I've noticed you seem a little out of sorts lately. Is anything wrong?"
Atl tried to deny anything was wrong: "No, no, nothing's wrong," he quickly stammered. But his voice broke again, which gave everything away.
Hair. Atl had been finding it in the strangest places lately, right along with the stange things happening to his voice. Under his arms. In his groin, above his penis. On his face. It felt so strange, so scratchy, so foreign. It made Atl worry even more that something strange and bizarre was happening to him that might herald his own demise.
"Son," Coatl said, "I think you're just fine. In fact, I think you're becoming a man now. When I was your age, my voice started acting up and I started growing, er, hair but after a little while it was okay and I got used to it."
"So I'm not sick?"
"Absolutely not!"
Despite the reassurances from his father, Atl still sensed something hanging in the air unsaid. It was like his father wanted to tell him something important, but was holding it back. Holding it back not because he wanted to, but because he couldn't muster up the confidence or the right words. Still, at least Atl knew now that that he wasn't getting sick, but he wasn't yet convinced that he was "becoming a man."
After an awkward pause, Coatl terminated the conversation: "Tomorrow we have to go meet the priests at the temple, to start making plans for your manhood rituals. They're going to want to talk to you. Okay?"
Atl nodded affirmatively.
"Good. Now, go and play with your friends. I think I just saw Itztli down the way a bit."
Atl left the hut proud he was growing up but also a little disoriented. He wasn't sick but he was becoming a man, whatever the heck that meant. The phrase hung in his mind like a dark cloud about to unleash a lightning bolt. Itztli knew a lot of stuff - or at least professed to - so Atl figured he'd ask him about it.
Walking down the dirt road, Atl turned to gaze at the city centre in the distance. At the very nexus of the settlement was a gigantic stone pyramid capped by a large temple. It was an incredible construction, one marred only by the pale red remainder of blood from sacrificed war captives streaking down its sides that no one had ever been bothered to clean off.
Surrounding the pyramid was the palace, the government district, and a canal. In fact, the city was ringed by several concentric canals fed by a nearby river. Then there was the market and commercial centre, and after that there were stone houses, huts, and fields spreading out for quite a ways until they finally reached the edge of the thick, dark jungles and stopped dead. Itztli had told Atl that a million people lived in their city; Atl wasn't sure whether or not this was actually true.
"Raaaar!" Atl had barely just heard the shout before he was knocked down down to the ground by Itztli. "Falcon Warrior!" Itztli shouted as the two began to wrestle playfully, kicking up dust and dirt.
Itztli had used mud to try creating scary designs on his face, mimicking the famous wrestler Falcon Warrior, who had so far gone undefeated that season. It hadn't turned out well. Someone - Atl guessed it was one of Itztli's sisters - had actually written "fat pig" across Itztli's cheeks.
It was true that Itztli was chubbier than the rest of the local youth. He was from a family that was better off than most, and so got better food. His father was a construction foreman who'd helped build the city's great monuments.
Atl pushed Itztli off him and stood up, brushing the dirt off his skin as best he could. Like every other male in the city, the only clothing he wore was a loincloth. Some loincloths, like those of priests or warriors, were highly decorated, but Atl's was just plain, as was Itztli's.
As well, Atl's skin was a smooth golden brown, but over time it would become darked and a little rougher as the wear and tear of life took its toll. And his hair, like that of just about everyone else in the city, was black.
"What was that for?" Atl asked Itztli with mock annoyance.
Itztli shrugged and grinned sheepishly. No big deal, buddy.
"We're going to be men soon," Atl said. "My Dad said so. Is that what men do? Do they wrestle like little kids?"
"Yeah," Itztli said, not losing a beat, mentally picturing the city arena. "That's what men do alright. I bet Coatl can't tell you about the really big secret of manhood, though," Itztli continued. "Your Dad's embarrassed. My Dad told me everything. Everything!"
"So?" Atl asked. "What's there to know?"
"Oh, nothing," Itztli replied coyly. "Unless you promise not to tell anyone. Not even the other guys."
"Uh-huh. Fine. I won't tell. Now give it up already." Atl got the impresion Itztli was stringing him along, as he sometimes did. But there was nothing else to do, and he needed to lighten his serious mood, so Atl went along.
"Follow me."
Itztli led Atl along the bank of the canal to where it made a hard right turn. They waded through the warm, muddy, reedy waters and found themselves on the back side of a large stone building. Steam was pouring out of vents along the tops of the walls. Atl had never been here before, mostly because, much as he didn't want to admit it, he hadn't been brave enough. He and Itztli had wandered into an area that was normally off limits to young people.
"They won't let us in because we're not old enough," Itztli explained, "but we can peek in the windows. Climb on my shoulders."
Atl climbed up on Itztli and, grasping the stone ledge, peered into one of the holes on the wall. There wasn't much to see at first, except a lot of hot steam. But as he tried to pay attention while Itztli wobbled beneath him, Atl began to hear the grunts and groans of grown men emanating from inside. Only Atl though the noises sounded a lot like the sounds livestock made when they mated.
"I can't see anything," Atl reported.
"Aw, man, my Dad showed me this a week ago. It's so cool. You've got to try, Atl," Itztli chided as he struggled to hold Atl up.
"Okay, okay."
Leaning a ways into the opening, Atl began to see the inside of the building more clearly. What he saw made him excited and confused all at the same time. Inside was a room full of men, some of whom Atl recognized. They were from all age groups and social classes. Some of them were sitting in tubs of hot water, relaxing. Others were doing something Atl couldn't figure out at first. Every last one of them was naked.
Squinting, Atl stared at the men in awe. Some of them were on their knees, sucking the erect penises of others the same way babies get milk from their mothers. And what was dribbling out of their mouths certainly looked an awful lot like milk, but thicker and stickier.
Other clusters of men were doing something else. They were inserting their penises into the anuses of willing recipients and thrusting repeatedly. Atl thought this was the most bizarre, surreal thing he'd ever seen in his life. The men seemed to be enjoying it. Thrusting and gyrating violently. Then Atl felt something very strange happening to him.
Atl felt his own penis beginning to stiffen. It tingled, which felt good. Atl didn't know what to make of it. "Something's happening to me," he told Itztli
"Get off my shoulders before you crush me!" was the reply.
After quickly getting off Itztli's shoulders, Atl looked down at himself. His penis was sticking up and making a tent in his loincloth. "What's happening?" Atl asked, surprised at what his body was doing.
Itztli laughed. "Stop being such a pussy, Atl," he said. He reached out and pulled the string on Atl's loincloth. It fell to the ground, leaving Atl completely exposed.
Atl's penis was surprisingly thick when erect; its head, peeking out from under cover of foreskin, was a gentle pink colour. Itztli, who was now naked and erect himself and completely at ease with it, had a more slender cock but one that was just as long. When he looked at Itztli naked, Atl felt his cheeks begin to tingle along with his penis. There was something different when he had an erection, something he couldn't quite articulate, Atl thought.
"Sit down," Itztli said. "I'm going to show you what it's like to be a man - the big secret."
"Okay," Atl said as Itztli pushed him to the ground against the building's wall. Itztli sat down beside Atl. "Now what?" Atl asked, looking to Itztli for guidance. His friend certainly seemed to know a whole lot more than he did.
"Just follow me." Itztli grasped his hand around the warm, throbbing shaft of Atl's penis, pulling the foreskin back all the way. Atl gasped loudly in surprise. He'd never been touched there before, except when his mother was washing him back when he was still a baby. But he didn't bad Itztli away.
Itztli began stroking Atl very slowly and gently. He gestured for Atl to take hold of his own erection. Atl did this, his hand shaking a little nervously. What if he did something wrong? Surmising what Atl was thinking, he said "There's no way to do this wrong."
"Really."
"Really. Now don't just stare at me - start stroking. C'mon, Atl, this is so easy!"
Atl pulled Itztli's loose foreskin back and rested his hand against his friend's small crop of virgin pubic hair and soft belly. He didn't do anything else. Itztli, disappointed, batted Atl's hand away. "You're no fun," he said. "I guess I'll have to do this myself."
Itztli took hold of his own penis and began stroking himself, along with Atl, more quickly and aggressively. Atl groaned quietly and pushed back against the stone wall, thrusting his genitals against Itztli's hand. He felt like the head of his penis was going to explode right then and there from the twangs of pleasure. Now, he thought, this is what manhood must be all about.
Then Atl's penis exploded, sort of. Atl was shocked when a stream of warm, white goop erupted from his organ and hit him in the face, trailing down his chest and back to his penis. For a moment, he actually thought his brain was literally going to blow up. Then he was surprised to find the whole thing was over pretty quickly.
Beside Atl, Itztli was tasting his own semen. Atl wondered why he was doing this. He dipped a finger in the entrails that were beginning to try on his chest and found it tasted salty. Strange - why would you put it in your mouth, Atl wondered. It didn't taste very good at all.
Just as he was about to ask Itztli what the deal was, Atl saw a bare foot on the ground in front of them. The foot led to a leg, which led to a stern-looking city guard wearing a blue tunic standing over them. Atl's heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed nervously. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd actually done anything wrong - but the look of the guard, with his hard frown and face covered with war paint, certainly suggested he had.
"Come," the guard said. The guard grabbed Atl's arm and dragged him to his feet. Then he did the same to Itztli. The guard marched the two adolescents off, hanging on to both of them tightly. He didn't even let them put their loincloths back on, which didn't matter anyway since in the hot tropical climate public nudity was nothing unusual.
The guard led Atl and Itztli through the streets towards the centre of the city. They passed market stalls, huts, and houses, and a nobleman or two being carried about by whip-driven slaves on a comfortable litter. Most of the slaves were prisoners of war who had been auctioned rather than sacrificed.
At the gates to the central precinct, the guard spoke fast and terse to the sentries on duty. Atl couldn't hear what they were saying. The trio were quickly bid entry to the large, cobblestone plaza at the base of the pyramid.
For a moment, Atl thought he and Itztli might join the lines of dirty, tired prisoners of war being marched to the top of the pyramid to be ritually sacrificed. The screams coming from the summit were pretty unnerving to say the least, and could actually be heard from a long ways away. Though Atl understood that the sacrifices were necessary to ensure the sun rose and set, and that his people always enjoyed plentiful harvests, it was still pretty scary up close. And there were always the rumours that those who displeased the Emperor and the nobility sometimes found themselves marched up the pyramid as well.
Atl and Itztli were instead marched off to the sanctum of the Cult of the Star People. The city had dozens of gods that were worshipped in dozens of different ways. Most important were the bloodthirsty ones who ruled the underworld and tortured those who trespassed for eternity. But many other deities had their own distinct followings, each with their own separate compound at the city centre. Together, these organizations ensured harmony across the cosmos, but in practice on the earthly plane they did not always get along.
The Cult of the Star People was one of the city's most secretive. Its dedicated compound had the highest walls in the city, higher even than the ones surrounding the imperial palace. Very few people were allowed inside. Atl and Itztli now joined this select group.
Inside the Cult's main building was a golden altar to the white bird-god Zolin. The hall was filled with all kinds of golden trinkets, icons, and artefacts - an incredible wealth that dazzled both Atl and Itztli. In the outside world, wealth was measured in goats and bags of rice; in this sacred place, it was something else entirely. The walls, too, were absolutely covered in dense paintings and writings that served as a record of scripture.
The guard forced Atl and Itztli to kneel on the floor in front of the altar. An old man, the High Priest wearing an appropriately elaborate tunic and winged golden headdress to indicate his authority, turned around and looked at the two captives before him. He studied Atl and Itztli piercingly and it was obvious he wasn't about to simply let them go. No, his expression indicated he had something very different in mind.
"Bow," the guard said gruffly. Atl felt a foot press on his back to make sure he supplicated all the way to the cold stone floor. It only lasted a few seconds. Atl was then allowed to sit up and kneel before the High Priest.
"I have been in contact with the Star People," the High Priest said, addressing the guard. "They demand the Star Children be delivered to them tonight. You have brought the ones I requested and done well. Begin preparing them now."
There was no explanation as to how the High Priest could actually make contact, which was a closely-guarded secret.
The guard led Atl and Itztli out of the hall and into an area behind it; neither boy had a chance to ask what was going on. This area of the building smelled of perfume, and since it had no windows was lit using bronze reflectors that brought in light from outside. It was a vestibule for ritual preparation; there were intricately inlaid solid gold tubs for bathing, and lots of tools for adorning the body - some of which looked surprisingly sharp and a little scary.
Here, lesser priests took charge of Atl and Itztli. The two boys were separated, and three priests tended to each. Atl was dunked in a tub whose contents were warm, thick and syrupy, and had a pleasant but pungent flowery smell. At least it was an improvement over the stench of excrement and other nasty things that permeated the rest of the city.
The three priests gently scrubbed Atl clean of all the mud and dirt that covered his body. They even picked under his fingernails and toenails just to get it all. With the tub's liquid, whatever it was, making him relaxed and drowsy, Atl fought a losing battle. After a short while, the gentle rhythms of his captors' cleaning put Atl to sleep.
When Atl woke up, he found himself lying on something soft, which was a new and very pleasant surprise. A bed, the kind that nobles slept in. He was impressed. The room was completely dark and Atl could hear the night breezes whispering outside.
Then the High Priest appeared in the doorway carrying a lit torch. "Come," he said solemnly. "It is time."
"Time for what?" Atl asked.
"Come, young one, and I will explain. If we have to make you come, we will not explain. You do not want us to make you come."
Atl considered this for a very short moment. These priests and guards certainly weren't going to let him go anytime soon. Males in his culture were taught to show no fear, and he didn't want to disappoint his father. That and Atl could almost feel the guard's foot pressing down on his back. He got up and cautiously went over to the priest, even though his heart was pounding in his chest.
Itztli was waiting outside the room along with the High Priest, as were three guards and some lesser priests; he didn't look happy to be there. Atl joined the party and they set off down a set of stairs into an inky black tunnel. It was a long walk; Atl surmised that they were travelling under the city, though how the tunnel could have been built without anyone knowing about it was beyond him. Especially since it wasn't just a hole in the ground - it had walls, a floor and a ceiling, all stone of course, and every so often there was a wooden brace to keep it all from crashing down.
"Where're we going?" Atl asked the High Priest.
"To the Star Temple, which is beyond the city. This tunnel, unfortunately, is the easiest way to get there," the High Priest explained.
Atl had heard about the Star Temple and, like everyone else, had thought it was only a rumour. No one, at least as far as he knew, had ever gone there. Many actually claimed it was lost to time and abandoned. Atl had a rudimentary knowledge of his people's complex pantheon, which was also just about what most people in the city knew.
The Star People were the creators of humanity. They did not create the world or the afterlife. They did not create animals. Their divine role was limited to humans. This was the extent of Atl's knowledge, since despite being major deities, the Star People were not normally worshipped by the wider population. These gods weren't in at all secret, just not important enough to be part everyday life in the traditional order of precedence.
After stretching out for what seemed like a while, the black hole of the tunnel, lit only by the party's torches, finally ended in another staircase. These led to another worship space similar to the one at the city compound, except there wasn't any gold. But there were still an awful lot of writing and painting on the walls.
The High Priest led the party to where the longer side of the hall met a corner. This seemed to be where the crude scriptures started. "You are here to fulfil your duty and destiny as members of our people. This is how you will become men," he said, beginning the story.
"You are not here to be sacrificed to our other gods. You will go and you will return home. There is nothing to be feared, for you are about to meet the Star People. You are going to experience the divine. Many lay claim to what you will experience, but few are truthful. We have informed your parents of your selection, and they are tremendously proud of what you are about to do."
Atl didn't really believe the High Priest's last sentence, but he did believe that he'd eventually return home. If anything, the prospect of an encounter with the divine was incredible exciting - a little scary, definitely, but absolutely not something to be simply passed up. It was something his people dreamed of all their lives, and which many simulated through the liberal use of coca. Now it was going to happen to him - lowly Atl of the hut by the canal - for completely and totally real.
Looking over at Itztli, Atl could see that his friend wasn't quite as happy about this development as he was. Itztli had always been a bit scared of things. He wasn't buying what the High Priest was saying at all. It was sad that the experience the two of them were going to share wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling for Itztli as it would be for Atl.
The High Priest began telling the story laid out on the walls of the hall: "A long time ago, before you or I ever walked the earth, there was no intelligent life. The white star-bird-god Zolin looked at the planet from afar from his place on a bed of stars in the dark of the night and took pity on our world. He sent his angels to the land and told them to create intelligent life from the proto-animals by sharing their gifts. They did and we look somewhat like these angels."
"Early man wasn't very bright. Zolin's angels promised that they would help man develop if man was good. Man was good, and Zolin watched him grow in stature and knowledge. The angels eventually returned to the earth and gave us the calendar, which tells us the seasons. It also tells us the times when we can have contact with Zolin and his angels. Tonight is one of those nights."
"Over time, Zolin gifted his creations with the arts of civilization. In return, he asked that we simply deliver some of our young to him every so often so that they might become men and women who are imbued with his divine power. This is a great gift given through Zolin's grace. These adolescents are taken to the stars on Zolin's wings and leave the earth for two days and two nights before they are returned. Zolin has selected you two to fulfil this sacred duty."
Having finished his explanation, the High Priest led the party outside. A circular stone plaza lit by torches was ringed by carved stone columns that didn't seem to have much purpose. In the eerie light, Atl could see that the High Priest's group weren't the only people in attendance. In fact, it seemed like the Cult's entire priesthood, in their brilliant feathered ceremonial headdresses, along with a large number of lay followers was there as well.
The chanting was haunting. Everyone seemed to be repeating the verses towards the star-speckled night sky. It was something Atl had never heard before, and it definitely wasn't in the language he knew. He actually wondered if the priests even knew understood they were repeating and ululating in sounds that seemed to blend and form a deep, reverberating collective hum or groan.
"Aw man, Atl," Itztli exclaimed. "I knew it. They're gonna kill us!"
No one paid him much attention. Atl was getting wrapped up in the atmosphere of the ceremony. Like the others, he was staring up into the sky. He didn't know why he was doing this until he saw something moving against the black background. It had blinking lights and seemed to be getting closer.
When he caught sight of this thing in the sky, the High Priest pointed and shouted, "Look! Glorious Zolin returns to us!"
The thing moved down to the plaza, slowly and precisely. As it came nearer, Atl was able to get a better look at it. The craft certainly looked vaguely like a bird, but it certainly wasn't living. It had stubby wings, but wasn't flapping them. In fact, it seemed to be made of metal that had been painted white with a red cheatline. Blue flames roared loudly out the craft's back side, which seemed to be propelling the thing.
Nevertheless, Atl had no doubt whatsoever that this thing - which was actually an extraterrestrial spacecraft - was of divine origin. After all, anything that could come from the stars had to be godly. It was an utterly euphoric and thrilling sight, even for the terrified Itztli.
When the craft's claws - landing pads - touched the cobblestones, everyone bowed straight to the ground and went dead silent. There was a ticking sound as the rocket engines cooled. Atl and Itztli simply went to their knees in astonished awe. To them, all the magical things they'd been told about their whole lives had been proven irrefutably true.
A panel on the side of the craft opened, releasing a snake-like hiss as the air pressure equalized. It hinged to the ground, forming a ramp. Bright white light shone out over the assembled supplicants. Two figures emerged, their heavy boots clanking across the ramp.
To Atl and Itztli, they were gigantic - about seven feet tall to be precise. The "angels" were clad in armoured pressure suits, one red the other blue. As they breathed, hollow gasping sounds could be heard as the suits' life-support equipment did its work.
Atl and Itztli both hoped that these metallic demigods wouldn't come straight towards them, that there would be some kind of pause to take stock, but they did. The two boys were illuminated in their unabashed nakedness by the near-blinding light from the ship. They couldn't hide.
The two "angels" stood before Atl and Itztli for moment. And they did something that astonished the two boys: they dropped to one knee and extended their hands. Atl looked into the red angel's helmet visor and saw strange images floating around inside it, but couldn't actually see if there was anyone inside. He reached out and touched the metal-gloved hand and found it cold enough that he quickly snatched his hand away.
And the two giants stood up and put their hands gently on the two boys' backs, motioning them forward, to the waiting spacecraft. Atl had to be pushed along, such was his utter astonishment and awe at being chosen for this most holy of adventures. Itztli moved mostly because he didn't like the feel of the cold metal across his shoulder-blades.
The two giants - Atl had, for lack of anything better, started mentally calling them simply Red and Blue - stayed silent. They did not even seem to communicate with each other by talking, though they obviously were talking to each other somehow. But then they didn't have much reason to talk, since they obviously knew their mission and how to execute it most efficiently.
Inside of the spacecraft was the cleanest place Atl had ever seen in his whole life. There was none of the mud, dirt and dust that had coloured his home life since birth. The walls were smooth white metal panels, lit by a blue glow whose technology was totally beyond both boys' comprehension.
Red and Blue motioned for Atl and Itztli to take their seats on padded couches. They did so, and found belts instantly snap tightly into place, holding them down. Atl couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. If the Star People's vehicle was this cool, their home in the sky must be ten times as incredible! In all his marvelling, Atl failed to really notice the ominous significance of being strapped into place.
The door to the outside closed and the two giants took their own seats. There were no windows in the part of the ship where the two boys were seated. Still, it didn't take long for them to start feeling the rough rocking from liftoff, and hearing the almighty roar of the engines.
Once off the ground, the ship set its course and went full throttle to break the planet's gravity. Atl and Itztli were pressed hard into their seats as the alien ship blasted its way into the Great Black Yonder. Looking over, Atl saw that Itztli had peed himself right then and there from sheer terror. And he was trying desperately to hold back tears. It was up to Atl to be the man and get the both of them back home safely - there was no way he was going to show weakness by crying.
Atl didn't know how long he and Itztli were on the spacecraft. After the lift-off, there was a long period where the ship undulated gently as it made its way through space. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, there was a series of bumps and clunks and the feeling of motion stopped. The door opened once again, this time to reveal a clear tube with a flat floor leading off into what Atl could only figure was the legendary City of the Star People.
It quickly became clear to Atl that he wouldn't allowed to see much of this "city" - really a mother-ship in space. He and Itztli were going to be constantly watched and controlled, confined to a special area. Atl figured he wasn't ready to be admitted to the godly realm just yet - he was to be returned to earth, and he certainly wasn't dead.
After being led off the ship, the two boys were brought to a shower room where they were drenched in a fizzy orange liquid; they are their two minders went, for the moment, their separate ways. All the perfumes and ointments they had been prepared with by the priests went straight down the drain. Atl tried to drink the orange substance, but found it tasted really, really awful. He promptly spat it out.
The next room had two tables designed for human bodies. Since Red and Blue had separated themselves and gone somewhere else, Atl and Itztli were left alone wondering what they should do. A tinny voice speaking in the boys' language told them sternly to climb up and lie down. Neither understood it was a recording; they assumed it was some kind of magic, an idea that in itself was powerful. No coercion was needed.
Atl and Itztli quickly found themselves strapped down and looking straight up at the bright, warm lights on the ceiling. Both boys' hearts pounded as they wondered what the gods had in mind for them. Atl thought he was being put through a test of bravery, to prove his worthiness for some future task he might be given. After all, he was going to become a man! Itztli just quivered and shook where he was.
Itztli screamed when panels in the room's walls slid aside and robotic arms came out, smoothly making their way towards both boys. The two tables tilted upwards slightly, perhaps so Atl and Itztli could at least see what was being done to them. Needle-tipped arms went to the boys' shoulders and pierced the skin. Atl looked over and saw his own blood being drawn out of him. The blood-sampling took only a few seconds, after which these arms, their work done, withdrew into the wall.
More arms moved in for their turn. This time they went for the boys' genitals. Again, Itztli shrieked. "Shut up!" Atl shouted as the arm took hold of his penis and stretched it out with suction. "You're being a baby, Itztli! This is how we're really going to become men!"
Just when Atl finished his sentence, he felt a stinging, sharp pinch as the machine removed his foreskin. Itztli just started sobbing. Atl lifted his head to look at his manhood. There wasn't any blood, just a red ring where the cut had been made. It was a miracle - instant healing - that deepened his belief in the divinity of what was happening to him.
At the same he was being circumcised, Atl's testes were pierced by needles that quickly injected something into them. He didn't noticed this as much, though, since the pinching and cutting pretty much all blended together. But his balls did begin to feel strange right away.
"Shut up!" Atl shouted over to Itztli. "Stop crying!" It seemed that, this time, he really didn't know it all.
Next, Atl felt something push up from the table under him. It pressed between his buttocks and forced its way into his anus. Gritting his teeth, Atl felt the probe begin vibrating as it went deeper into him, cleaning out his insides. It was really painful at first, but then the stinging changed to throbbing and something interesting happened. Atl felt something he'd never felt before, something tingling very pleasantly within him near his groin but inside his body.
The probe was bumping against Atl's prostate as it worked, and the youth began to get an erection. Not a very strong erection, of course, since Itztli's yelling was pretty distracting. This didn't go anywhere, and when the probe withdrew back into the table, Atl's penis went flaccid once more.
There was one last procedure. An arm grasped Atl's upper arm, and there was a hiss of pressurized air and another pinch as something was put into him. Then the tables released the two of them. Atl stood up, rubbing the sore spot on his arm, looking disdainfully at the cowering Itztli. A new door slid open, revealing the way out.
The two boys found themselves in what seemed like a holding area, filled with adolescents just like Atl and Itztli. Some were stoic, some were scared, others had broken down - there was a lot of noise, shouting and wailing. There were benches along the walls and in the middle of the room. Atl found an empty spot and sat down; Itztli went off to a far corner so he could sulk.
It didn't take long for Atl to discover that he couldn't communicate with any of the other boys. They were all speaking different languages. Moreover, they all had different appearances: pale skin, black skin, shades in between. Slightly older, slightly younger. War paint, no war paint. One actually had a small piece of wood stuck through the bit of skin between his nostrils. The one thing they all had in common was nudity.
Then Atl noticed something that made him wonder about what had been done to him. A lot of the other youths had grossly enlarged testicles, drawn up tightly against their groins. Atl looked down at his own body and felt his own testes in his hand. They seemed a more sensitive than usual, and just slightly larger and heftier.
The gods were making him into a real man, he realized. Atl looked over at Itztli. His testicles were still normal-sized. He had failed the test. He was unworthy to become a real man, the baby, Atl thought.
Every so often, the two "angels," Red and Blue would appear in the room and take a boy or two with them. They were not brought back. It seemed to happen in a very specific but unknown order, and definitely not one that was based on who had been there first. Atl waited patiently for his turn to see the gods.
Itztli, however, decided that he was going to make a run for it. The next time the door out opened and Red and Blue came to grab someone else, he'd bolt while they were in the room. He moved himself as close to the door as he could get so he could be ready.
The door slid open quietly, and a fraction of a second later, Itztli was off and running. He headed down the corridors of the vast ship, turning left and right randomly in the vague hope that he might somehow find a way out and back home, which wasn't going to happen. These gods were pretty nasty, he figured, so he wasn't going to have any of what they were offering - no matter how special it was.
Itztli came to an area where there were windows to let observers see what was going on in the rooms. He slowed down so he could take a look. The first room had animals Itztli had never seen before in holding cages. They were alien to him - more alien than the "gods" and "angels" who had taken him - even though they were, in actuality, merely from a different part of the same planet.
The animals were covered in black hair, except for their chests. Even there, their skin was black. They had rounded snouts, but in many ways appeared almost human. The animals were primates, specifically gorillas. All of them were shouting or howling or grunting in frustrated anger, and some of them were shaking their cage bars in frustration.
Robotic arms grabbed one of the gorillas from its cage and brought it into the next room. This area had several rows of tables where the animals were being worked on by the machines. It all seemed to be automated and running unsupervised. Itztli shivered, decided to try his luck somewhere else and ran out of the area.
Itztli was finally stopped dead when two of the "angels" crossed his path at an intersection. These were orange and green rather than red and blue. They turned their heads and seemed to catch sight of Itztli. Thinking fast, Itztli ducked through an open door, which promptly closed behind him.
The room was completely dark for a moment before the lights came on automatically. Itztli looked around and discovered he'd picked the wrong room to hide in. It was filled with robotic machinery, which was beginning to whine and hum as it powered up, having been activated by Itztli's sudden arrival.
Here, there didn't seem to be robotic arms so much as there was an octopus' worth of mechanical tentacles. The tentacles moved slowly towards Itztli, their hundreds of joints clicking as they warmed out. Suddenly one of the tentacles that had a claw for an end grabbed Itztli's upper arm and jerked him forward.
Not wasting any time, the machines quickly secured all of Itztli's flailing limbs and put him into a spead-eagle suspended a few feet off the ground. No amount of yelling could prevent the robots from following their assigned, unknown program. One claw took hold of Itztli's tender penis roughly, while a probe came in from under him and forced his buttocks apart for the second time.
The mechanical probe in Itztli's rear went straight for his prostate. It hurt way more than the first time when he'd arrived. Rather than simple settle for vibrating as it flushed his insides, this probe began applying electrical jolts to Itztli's prostate. As this was going on, the claw holding the youth's penis began stroking vigorously.
Itztli was zapped by the anal probe several times before he finally ejaculated all over his chest. He had an erection he didn't want. This didn't satisfy the robots, which kept working at him. He wasn't allowed any time to rest - the jolts to his prostate just kept coming. The second forced ejaculation took longer than the first. While all this was going on, Itztli just kept wailing and preying - to other gods more inclined to intercede - for it to stop.
It stopped after Itztli had endured four, possibly more, coerced ejaculations from the machines. He was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, covered in his own warm, sticky seed and with his penis sore and reddened. Like with the guards outside the sauna back home, he found himself at the foot of Red and Blue and this time there could be no doubt that he had done something wrong.
While Itztli was off escaping, Red and Blue came for Atl, who was much more inclined to cooperate. They took him a short ways to a smaller room that was already occupied by another youth, where he was then left and closed in. This boy had skin with a slight reddish tint to it, but his hair was black and his features were vaguely similar to Atl's. Atl sat down cross-legged next to him.
There was a display screen on the wall opposed the door. It lit up with simple images and basic words in Atl's language and that of the other boy. First it showed their place in the cosmos, pointing out where they had come from by starting with scenes of places they recognized, then zooming out further and further. Atl was from Central America, and the other boy was from a ways further north but still on the same continent.
Next came the solar system and the galaxy, where planets and constellations were pointed out. These were the ones by which the two boys' cultures kept track of time and place. It was all kept very simple so the two of them could understand. But the technology was so advanced that the two youths simply accepted it as divine revelation, a map of the mythical heavens rather than of the universe.
The "gods" had travelled from another galaxy, and they had created humans by adding part of their own genetic material to primates' DNA. Their project had several stages of genetic engineering as well as the transfer of the arts of civilization. After explaining the act of procreation with females, the screen reflected the faces of Atl and the other boy.
Beside the boys' faces, there was a big red X across a diagram of a man having sex with a woman. The screen changed and a new diagram showed the two boys on a branch from the rest of their species. They were meant for a different path, and were being "forked" off, so to speak.
Moving along, the screen switched to a computer-generated image of the two boys masturbating together. Atl recognized it instantly as what he had done with Itztli. The two of them had to act out what they were being shown. Atl, turned on, quickly got an erection.
This time, Atl decided, he wasn't going to screw up. He stroked his now-tight-skinned penis to full hardness and gestured for the other boy to come closer. It would be so much easier if they could just talk to each other, but this wasn't in the cards to Atl had to make do with crude signs.
The other boy moved closer to Atl, who took his penis in his other hand. Atl caressed the boy's flaccid member and felt it stiffen as the blood rushed into it. His heart skipped a beat. Despite looking very surprised, the other boy did absolutely nothing to stop Atl. Atl got the impression he was sort of used to being naked with other males in bizarre circumstances. Perhaps he'd visited the Sky Gods before.
Atl was surprised at the size of the other boy's penis. It was thick, and long to boot - bigger than his own, and spewing a river of precum. His testicles were also more than twice the size of Atl's, which had only just started expanding under the influence of whatever the "gods" had injected him with.
Having gotten the both of them to full erection, Atl got down to the business of masturbating himself and the other boy. He was just about into full speed when the image on the screen suddenly changed to something new: Atl sucking the other boy's cock.
Eager to please the "gods," Atl got in front of the other boy and leaned in. He could smell their tangy scents mixing, which only made him want to keep going. Atl opened his mouth and tried to take in the boy's large glans, but was only partly successful. The tip was cool from being exposed for so long, but quickly warmed up as blood flowed into it and Atl clumsily sucked. Like all skin, it didn't really taste like much of anything.
Atl wasn't quite sure how to suck this guy into cumming. He seemed to be responding to what he was doing, but Atl was still ignorant in the sexual arts and he wasn't confident he was doing a good job. Nevertheless, after what felt like an eternity, the boy blasted a torrent of semen into Atl's mouth.
There was so much semen that Atl almost choked on it. The stuff gushed out of his mouth when he released the glans in surprise. It drenched his chest, ran through Atl's crotch and made a puddle on the floor. There was an awful lot more there than when Atl and Itztli had jerked off together, and Atl wondered why.
Atl leaned against one of the walls and rested; the other boy did the same, but retreated to the other side of the room. The screen seemed to be finished, since it gave no more instructions. Since he still had an erection, Atl resumed his masturbation session. He stroked himself slowly, feeling the pleasant sensations coarse from his genitals and into his body. Atl did this for a minute or two before speeding up and climaxing. He was disappointed when he found he didn't produce as much cum as the other boy had.
Looking up, Atl saw the other boy staring down at the floor blankly. He didn't seem interested in what was happening. Atl wondered how anyone could possibly not be interested in communing with the gods, but failed to find a satisfactory explanation.
The two "angels" didn't say anything to Itztli, though they did take his arms and march him away. They took him more or less back to where he'd come from, but all the corridors looked pretty much the same so Itztli really didn't know where he was going. A few minutes later the three of them reached a set of double doors.
Itztli shuddered visibly when he entered this room. It was much colder here than elsewhere. The room was circular and ringed with tables to which boys were strapped. They squirmed and jostled, but here there was no shouting; instead there was grunting and moaning. Itztli realized it was all because they were wearing helmets that covered their entire heads. The hum of the machinery and the ventilation system easily downed out any noises made by the captives.
A single robotic arm extended from the ceiling above each boy down to his genitals. Every so often, one of them would haunch his hips and the clear tube running the arm's length would gurgle as a white liquid passed through. Covering the penis of each captive was a device that stroked their lengths, extracting semen.
There was one empty table in the room. Itztli was held down to it and strapped in. He kicked and yelled, but as before it did no good at all. As he squirmed and tried uselessly to get away, electrical leads were hooked up to his soft pink nipples and followed by the helmet.
For a moment or two, it was dark. Sweet-smelling gas filtered in and Itztli finally relaxed. Then everything lit up again and Itztli saw Atl. That was impossible in itself, since Itztli knew what Atl was off somewhere else. Yet to him, it was very real despite knowing otherwise in the back of his mind - it absolutely was magical. The image was a simulation created by computer from the contents of Itztli's brain, but he had no way of knowing this.
The digital Atl stepped forward and put his arms around Itztli in their virtual space. This elicited the beginnings of an erection along with an increased heart rate, which were recorded by the computer as it tested Itztli's mental responses. Itztli, scarcely more than a minute into the simulation, was by this point totally distracted.
Itztli winced, in a good way, as he felt Atl's hands caress his penis. Atl fondled Itztli's testicles and manipulated his penis more gently precisely than Itztli ever thought possible. This was what he had deeply wanted for a long time but had never really occurred to him: the two of them together in a serene, calm place making love. For Itztli, this was the heavenly experience he craved; there was no urgency to get off, just a feeling of being completely immersed in pleasant sensations.
By the time when Atl finally moved from stroking Itztli to sucking him off, Itztli was lost. All his being was concentrated on enjoying his friend's ministrations, with no room whatsoever for other thoughts. While this was happening, the computer analysing Itztli's brain was chugging away in a nearby office as a printer whined and spat out a constant stream of data onto paper. In reality, Itztli was writhing and twitching under his restraints as he was stroked by the machine.
The place where Itztli and Atl were didn't seem to have any kind of gravity or even direction. Itztli didn't have to do a thing for Atl to position himself with his penis rubbing against the entrance to his anus. He didn't know why it would be so, but Itztli know it would feel good to have Atl inside him.
Digital Atl pressed his glans against Itztli's sphincter and began pushing forward. No lubricant was necessary; in this computer-generated world there were no practical issues to distract. Itztli groaned as he felt the warm point of Atl's penis enter him and yelled even louder when it came into contact with his prostate. Atl began thrusting and Itztli just laid back and let the waves pleasure wash over him. The whole thing was just a miracle.
Atl stroked Itztli's penis with one hand as he thrusted. Suddenly, Itztli was racked as a huge zap of pleasure from an unknown source shot through his body. It came from the computer, not the simulation. Itztli spewed semen all over himself. When Itztli opened his eyes, panting, Atl was still fucking and stroking his erection.
Itztli came again, and Atl still didn't stop. This happened three or four more times. Each time, Itztli became more and more covered in his own semen. But Atl wasn't getting off - he was still fucking and stroking as Itztli had orgasm after orgasm. These orgasms were totally disconnected from what the digital Atl was doing, but Itztli was too far gone to care.
Itztli didn't know how long this all went on for. Eventually, everything faded back to black and he was able to open his eyes. The helmet was gone and the lights were blindingly bright. It took a few seconds for him to adjust.
When Itztli looked around, he was lying on another table in another room, but this time he was alone. This one felt different, though. Softer, more comfortable. He sat up and discovered there were no straps holding him down. It was like he'd just woken up from a long nap, during which he'd had a very intense series of dreams and nightmares.
Itztli thought back and found his memory was clouded and foggy. He knew what had happened to him, and it was only confirmed when he looked down at himself and saw he didn't have a foreskin. The emotions to go with the images didn't seem to be there, though. This helped blur Itztli's recollections.
Itztli put his feet on the ground and looked up and ahead. At the front of the room was a large screen. On it was text he recognized. YOU ARE A MAN, it read. Itztli looked at it with unabashed pride. He'd gone through a trial-by-fire and come out the other end just fine.
Red and Blue stood in the doorway beckoning. Itztli followed them back to a place that, for once, wasn't new. It was the craft that had brought him to this place to begin with. Atl was already in his seat, buckled up nicely. Itztli joined him.
As the craft started to lurch and tilt to bring the two boys home, Itztli looked over at Atl. He smiled. "They said I'm a man," Itztli said.
"So am I," Atl replied. "Look at these." Atl's testes had by then grown to twice their normal size. "It's a miracle."
Itztli blushed and looked away. After what the gods and their angels had done to them, he was sure he'd never look at Atl in quite the same way again. There would be no returning from this point. Life as they knew it had changed forever. They were men now.
Atl brought himself and Itztli back home safely, keeping his small promise to himself. The sun was rising on the horizon when they finally emerged from the priests' compound, having completed their journey. This time, though, there were no prisoners in the plaza. Instead, there was a small crowd of people both boys knew carrying flowers. At the very head of the group was the Emperor himself, flanked by Atl and Itztli's families.
The Emperor placed his hands on Atl's shoulders as the youth fell to his knees. "You are a man," he told Atl. Then he did the same to Itztli, "You are a man," which seemed to wash away all the things he'd been through to get to that point. Finally the Emperor cracked a smile, then said, "Enjoy it, because there's a war to fight, and tomorrow you're getting up bright and early."
END