"Crinnan," Eshan softly called out, "I know the answers to the questions you are asking."
"How could you?" Crinnan spat back. He glanced over at Freyja, and the boy bore him no mind as he was quickly falling asleep.
"I live in your head," Eshan said, "I hear your thoughts, I share your feelings… I know everything.
The doorway to the bathroom was on the wall across from Crinnan. He discarded his confusion for a moment and stood to his feet. He ignored Eshan and decided that a shower would help get his mind off of things. Jethro had said that the room was equipped with hot water.
Crinnan walked into the bathroom and began stripping his gear off. Once he was naked, he reached into the shower and turned the water on. He was surprised that they had that type of luxury in such a remote place.
"Crinnan you must listen," Eshan pleaded, "For once just give me a moment to speak. I know what is going on. Sage is lying to you. This whole village is lying to you… Crinnan the life you are living right now is all a lie."
"Do not evangelize me right now, Eshan," Crinnan groaned, "Just let me relax."
The water spat inconsistently out of the nozzle for a few moments, but it eventually turned into a steady stream. Crinnan reached his hand out to check whether it was warm or not only to find that it was cold as ice. He grunted and sat on the toilet, waiting for the temperature to rise.
"Listen to me!" Eshan shouted, "Govia knows where you are, how to get you… they are on their way now. I can sense them coming. Listen to me before you lose your chance. I can tell you everything!"
Eshan piqued Crinnan's interest, but there was a sudden knock at the door. Crinnan sighed and shook his head. "Eshan, all I want right now is peace and quiet. We can talk about this after Sage comes in." Crinnan stood up and wrapped a towel around his waist.
As he walked, he thought about how large his traveling party had grown since he and Sage had left that morning. It annoyed him that so many people thought it necessary to tag along. He supposed that everybody had somewhere to go, though most of the people he was traveling with had no clue where their somewhere was. They just needed somebody to take them someplace new. He understood that, but he also hated it. He did not want to feel responsible for them. He did not want them slowing him down.
There was another rap at the door right as Crinnan approached it, "Hang on dammit," he snapped as he unlocked the deadbolt, "I wasn’t expecting you so soon." He pulled the door open and immediately stepped back.
"Who are you?" He was surprised by the broad-shouldered and half-masked being who stood in the hallway.
"I am Cade Larynks," the other said with a deep voice. He stepped into the room and looked directly at Crinnan.
"I hate you," Eshan growled, "You should have fucking listened to me."
Crinnan's hand instinctively reached for a weapon, but he had left them all in the bathroom.
"Please sit," Cade encouraged as he extended a hand toward the closest bed, "We have much to discuss."
"President Cade Larynks? Of Agra?" Crinnan asked. He was confused, and he ran his hand through his hair. He had heard of him before. He commanded one-third of the Agra Triangle Corporation.
"Have you come to kill me?"
"Far from it," Cade replied, closing the door behind him. He looked Crinnan up and down through the eye hole in his layered leather mask, "I am here to make certain that you get to where you need to be." He sounded oddly sincere.
Crinnan sighed and sat down, crossing his arms. He was getting cold from his lack of clothing. "What’s wrong with your face?"
"I got burnt," Cade dismissively explained, "Look, I am here because I would very much like to learn the meaning behind ‘Demon.'"
"I have heard that word a lot recently, but I have no idea," Crinnan admitted, "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Did you see the vision?"
"No," Crinnan replied, "But I have heard a bit about it."
"Interesting," Cade hummed and stroked his beard, "Everybody who has the NaNe saw the vision. You do understand you are a wanted man, correct?"
"I am starting to find that out," Crinnan nodded, "Any idea why?"
"I have a few theories," Cade took a seat on a bench across from Crinnan. He spread his legs and moved the tail of his cloak out of the way, "The vision was a compressed file that was released into the NaNe… it automatically unpacked itself once it forced its way into everyone's personal network. It was not much more than a wanted poster of sorts. It displayed the simplest form of data that our NaNe can read. It gave your basic information, such as height, weight, race, NPin, and a picture of your face."
"Wait what?" Crinnan interrupted him, "What is an NPin?"
"My apologies," he replied. "The NPin stands for NaNe Personal Identification Number. Everyone has their own unique NPin. With the right hands, it can be plugged into a computer, and your position can be tracked through a geolocation scan."
"Well what the fuck ever that means," Crinnan asked.
"Basically, the person who wants to find you puts your NPin into the computer, which then locates your personal network," he explained, "Without geolocation scanning though, your NaNe would just show up as "discovered" with no general location. Through geolocating, however, the computer measures the distance from your NaNe to known fixed NaNe locations and is able to pinpoint your location on a map within a few kilometers. That was how I found you."
"So is that how Govia has been able to find me?" Crinnan asked.
"I would say so," Cade fondled the armrest to his right, "To the average person like yourself, the NPin is meaningless, just a sequence of numbers. To somebody with a background in technology reclamation and study like me… We will just say that you are lucky that I got to you first."
"Successfully you mean," Crinnan noted, "All the others who tried have been killed."
"Well, then I guess I am the lucky one," Cade smirked, "Anyway, like I said, I am here to help you." He stood up and produced two shiny metal cylinders from a pouch on his belt, "And I need you to cooperate."
"What are those for?" Crinnan questioned as he stood and stepped away. He looked over to Freyja to see that the boy was fast asleep.
"This will work better for both of us if you do not resist," Cade assured, "Please, we do not have much time, and I do not want to have to use force."
"Then tell me what they are!" Crinnan began moving toward the door. Cade pulled out what looked like a silenced pistol and aimed it at Crinnan.
"Crinnan sit down," he ordered calmly, "and I will tell you."
Crinnan shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He wondered why he could not just have a normal day as he sat back down on the bed. In his time, plenty of weapons had been pointed at him, and he knew how to remain calm. "What are they?"
"One is called a purge, and the other is called a flood," Cade held the cylinders closer, "The purge will remove all traces of NaNe in your system and essentially shut down your personal network as far as you are concerned."
"No!" Eshan screamed fearfully, "Don't let him!"
"What do you mean?" Crinnan asked, ignoring Eshan.
"Any information stored in your network about your life now or any days before today will be gone. You, of course, will still have your memories but as far as your NaNe blueprint… it will start fresh from today. It is essentially is a NaNe do-over."
"And I will be gone forever," Eshan replied, "Trapped in one of those tubes. Do not let him do this to me!"
"So what is the other one?" Crinnan asked.
"The other one is full of fresh ready-to-go NaNe," he explained, "Once I put it in your system, it will immediately bond to you and reassign you a new NPin. With a new NPin, nobody will be able to track you. You will be able to move freely again without fear of pursuit."
Crinnan sat on the bed and sighed deeply. He did not know what to think about Cade or anything he was saying. It was all happening so fast. He looked at him and shook his head.
"Do I have
any choice?" Crinnan asked.
"Do not let him Crinnan!" Eshan shouted, "I beg you!"
"You always have a choice," Cade shrugged and waved his pistol at Crinnan, "But so do I."
"So if I resist," Crinnan looked down at the floor, "Then you will simply kill me? After all this, you would just shoot me in cold blood?"
"I would shoot you without hesitation," Cade insisted, "But it would not kill you." He held the gun out, so Crinnan could see it better.
"This weapon shoots an electrically charged prong that will stick into your body, rendering you immobile long enough for me to get the job done. I do not want to have to do that, but one way or another Crinnan, this is going to happen."
Crinnan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Once he realized that he was at the mercy of an Agra President, and considering how his variables were lined up, he felt utterly defeated.
"Eshan…" Crinnan said, "Be quiet."
"You son of a bitch," Eshan roared. "You murdering, stupid, selfish son of a bitch. You promised you would take me to my son… you promised!"
"You’re not lying to me are you?" Crinnan asked, looking back at Cade, "Please do me the service of telling the truth. You could kill me in an instant if you wanted. I need to know the truth."
"Begging does not suit you," Cade stood, "I have told you only the truth since I introduced myself. You do not need to worry. I am only here to help."
Crinnan did not believe him. He had no reason to. Why the President himself chose to assassinate him was over his head, but he was not going to go without a fight. He decided it was time to improvise.
"What is the bounty on a Centurion now?" he asked as he stood and eyed the lamp to his right. "Thirty thousand Aurum?"
"Yes, Crinnan!" Eshan said, "Yes! You are not a stupid son of a bitch. I am sorry."
"The bounty? Not quite worth the effort…" Cade replied, "I have stacks of Aurum at home, mountains of money. Do you know how much my office chair cost me? Seventeen thousand. Why would I risk dying for two office chairs?"
"You tell me," Crinnan glared at the president. A look of annoyance spread over the unmasked portion of Cade's face, and Crinnan quickly reached to grab the lamp. In one simultaneous move, he threw it at the President, only for it to smash against the wall, missing its target.
"Wrong," Cade flew forward and threw a fist into Crinnan’s jaw. Crinnan slammed into the nightstand behind him, toppling over it. The wall behind stopped his fall, and he pushed off of it to counter Cade's attack but suddenly felt an immense pain searing through his whole body.
"I told you!" Cade shouted as he pushed Crinnan down onto the bed, "I told you not to resist. Did I not tell you this would happen?"
"Fight Crinnan!" Eshan pleaded, "Don't let him do this. Don't let him do this to me!"
Crinnan could not move, but he could see, hear and feel everything Cade was doing. He tried to shout. But only a weak groan came out.
"Stop him!" Eshan screamed.
"This is only going to help you," Cade insisted as he pulled the cap off the cylinder, revealing a painful looking needle.
"No, please!" Eshan yelled, hoping against reason that Cade would hear, "Please!"
"You will learn that I can be trusted," Cade reassured as he plunged the needle into Crinnan's neck.
Crinnan's body felt funny. He did not know whether it was because of the taser-induced paralysis, or because Cade was extracting the machines from him. Either way, he felt scared and vulnerable.
"Almost done," Cade sighed, pulling the needle from Crinnan's neck, "I was really hoping that this would be easier, but your stubborn ass had to fight." He suddenly turned and looked behind him as he heard the door swing open. As Sage walked in, he cursed.
"Crinnan, I hope you like rice; the options were very limited..." Sage stopped speaking abruptly, and he cocked his head in confusion, "I do not remember you mentioning guests." Cade rolled his eyes, and stepped toward Sage, holding his hands in front of him in defense.
"I can explain everything," Cade said, "I just need…"
"Help!" Crinnan weakly croaked. Sage leaped forward, food in hand, and threw an open palm square into Cade's chest. Cade let out a surprised shout and was blown across the room. He slammed into the wall, and Sage hurried over and threw another NaNe charged fist into his chest. Cade crashed out the window behind him, and Sage hurried to Crinnan's side and helped him sit up.
"You should show more discretion in choosing your bed mates dear boy," Sage chided him as he rubbed Crinnan's back.
"He stuck me…" Crinnan rubbed his neck where the needle pierced his skin.
"I should say that that's none of my business," Sage declared, "All I am suggesting..."
"No!" Crinnan shouted, "Idiot!" He leaned back on his elbows and shook his head to gain composure, "Not like that. With a needle, he stuck me. He said he was draining my nanomachines."
"Oh," Sage stood up and walked back over to the window, "Well damn. Then I probably should not have been so quick to blast him out of the room."
"Why?" Crinnan asked, "He was dangerous."
"No," Sage surmised as he walked away from the window, "I think he actually may have been trying to help you. Do you know who he was?"
"President Cade," Crinnan replied.
"Wait," Sage walked over to look at him, "The President Cade?"
"Yeah, President Cade Larynks of the Agra Triangle Corporation… I thought you didn't know anything about the events of this world or whatever?"
Sage rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, "I should say that I do not understand why he would take an interest in you," He rubbed his chin, "Well I do, but why would he personally come to purge your NaNe? I am very curious. I suppose I should have let him explain himself."
"I didn’t trust him," Crinnan rubbed his neck again, "I tried to fight him off. But I was at a disadvantage I… I lost Eshan."
"A disadvantage indeed," Sage walked over to the bench that Cade previously sat at. "As far as Eshan goes, there are more important things you could have lost… Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine," Crinnan stood, "I won’t be letting my guard down so easily anymore though."
"That is probably a good idea," Sage replied. Crinnan sighed and walked toward the bathroom.
"I am going to take a shower." He said as he stepped inside, "I am… I just need a moment alone."
"That is fine," Sage nodded, "I will go and see if I can find this Cade. Hopefully he lives. It would be in your best interest that he completes the process."
Crinnan nodded, and as Sage left the room, he looked back to the bed that Freyja was now sitting on. He had apparently awoken and watched the whole thing occur, and said nothing the whole time.
"A lot of fucking good you are," Crinnan snapped at the boy as he turned and walked into the bathroom, "Yell or something if anyone comes back… and stop staring at me with those bug eyes."
Crinnan closed the curtain to the bathroom and braced himself on the sink. He sighed and turned around to peek back out the curtain that led to in the room.
"Freyja?" He called out.
"Yeah?" Freyja replied with a ho-hum tone.
"Sorry about the bug eyes thing. I'll be in the shower."
Crinnan stared into the mirror that hung on the wall and then looked down into the sink beneath him. He clenched his fist and grit his teeth together as he sighed with regret, "I am sorry, Eshan…"
Chapter Sixteen
Cade III
22nd of Ramlia – 346AG
21:00 – Pado Village – Belhaasi Weald
Cade crashed through the window of the second story room and slammed onto the solid ground below. Though he tried to find balance, he completely lost control over his body's movements as it tumbled across the lawn behind the inn, propelled by the momentum from Sage's blast and diminishing only slightly as he skidded toward the trees of the Belhaasi Weald. He heard cracking and popping from within his torso and finally, his body came to a stop a
gainst the trunk of a tree. He let out a low groan and looked himself over to make sure he was all in one piece.
His body and his ego throbbed. Cade knew he was suffering from at least a couple of broken or bruised ribs, but his breathing felt normal, and there was no additional pain within his chest. His forehead, the good half of his face, felt scraped.
"Son of a bitch!" he shouted as he slammed his fist into the tree behind him. He looked down at the scorching on his chest, "How the Hells could that have gone any fucking worse?"
Cade closed his eyes and counted his breaths for a moment as he tried to allow his adrenaline to level out. As he stabilized, the pain began to hit him harder. The NaNe burn on his chest mixed with the pain of his broken ribs proved to be more than he anticipated. With a groan, he hoisted himself up and leaned against the tree behind him.
"Brake," he called into his communicator as he held it to his ear. "Come in Brake."
"Waiting and ready sir," Brake's voice returned immediately. "Your vitals are through the roof Sir, is everything okay?"
"I… seem to have come into contact with an Ancient," Cade explained, "One who was not keen on me speaking with the Demon."
"That is unfortunate sir," Brake noted in his dry tone, "Are you all in one piece?"
"Barely," Cade reported, looking down again at the NaNe searing on his chest. "I need painkillers… now. Some that won't make me hallucinate."
"Understood," Brake confirmed. "I will relay the command to your NaNe. Expect to feel some numbness and perhaps some drowsiness…"
"Negative, I cannot afford to be slowed down with drowsiness at this point. Do you have other options?"
"Patching you through to your transport's comm-system sir," Brake said, "I believe it would be best for you to speak with Doctor Smirnov on this matter."
"Roger that," Cade pushed himself away from the tree he was leaning against and took a step toward the woods. Each step proved to be more painful than the previous, but despite the pain, he was able to gain some momentum. He briefly looked back toward the village he had just come from, knowing he had only half-completed his mission.
The Black Knight Box Set Page 20
