Science and Sorcery Box Set

by Ryan Tang

  By the time Alex got there, Jared had already pulled them apart. Jon kept trying to fight his way forward, but he was just a boy and a very skinny one at that.

  Duncan looked worse than horrible. He looked like he was still a drone. He was badly unshaven, with a messy beard that stuck out in all directions. The edges of his hair had become stark white. He was missing four fingers on his left hand. Only the ring finger remained, and there was a noticeable chunk torn from his palm. The other hand had been amputated entirely. Some of the other survivors wore gloves or prosthetics, but Duncan didn't.

  He stared with a strange not-quite-there look that was uncannily reminiscent of the drone's eerie eyes. It looked like he couldn't see Jon at all.

  The boy leaned around Jared to continue shouting.

  "I don't care! It's still your fault! You lived in this gigantic house and didn't care what was happening to anyone else! It's your fault! It's your fault!"

  Duncan's voice was frantic. He sounded terrified rather than angry.

  "It wasn't their fault! They died! How can it be their fault when they were being tricked? How can you blame them? They died! They all died! What else do you want from them? They died!"

  Jared tried his best to reconcile the two groups, but his voice was shaky. His speech voice had abandoned him.

  "It wasn't anyone's fault. Look. When you consider how much power Stock had, it makes sense he was able to trick everyone. We're all victims."

  Alice chimed in.

  "Yes! Come on, Jon! Remember that story we heard today? The people from the upper Blocks didn't know!"

  The little turned and saw Alex. Alice's tense expression dissolved into relief.

  "Ms. Alex! Ms. Alex! Come and tell Jon it wasn't anyone's fault!"

  Alex just stared. How could she tell Jon it wasn't anyone's fault?

  It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't lost much at all.

  Alex hadn't signed a Contract.

  Her parents lived on another colony. They were totally fine.

  Her home was destroyed, but so was everyone else's.

  She hadn't been locked up in The Wastes.

  Some would even argue that she'd benefited from the conspiracy. After all, she'd gotten a Paragon out of it.

  The librarian's words caught in her throat. It was the most horrible duty of an ace, to comfort those whose friends and relatives had died. She couldn't do it.

  Duncan was still trying to convince Jon that it wasn't Block 1's fault.

  "Some of the people who died were just kids! My brother and all his friends died! Of course, kids were true believers! Was it their fault too?"

  Alice called out again, but Alex stayed in place. It was like her feet had suddenly turned to lead.

  Jared tried pulling Jon away again.

  "Come on! Let's go look for Paragons! It's nobody's fault!"

  But Jon pushed him away.

  "Fred's dead! He's dead, and all you guys were just sitting in your giant homes when he was rotting away!"

  He glared at Jared.

  "You were there too! You could have helped us, but you weren't paying any attention!"

  He turned and started storming off.

  Alice took two steps after him.

  And then there was an enormous bang.

  Jared, Alice, Duncan, and Jon all froze in place.

  But Alex reacted at once.

  She only needed to see the telltale tiny holes. The minuscule fractures shone a flaming red and gold.

  She pulled the shards out from her dress and threw them to the ground.

  The twin Paragons emerged from the floor like genies flying out of bottles.

  The other machine's head resembled that of an angry bull. The animalistic face snarled down at them beneath a crown of outstretched horns. The limbs were big and brawny. The arms were twice as thick as the ones on Alex's machine, and the legs were even thicker. Inlaid gold flared through robust red. The colors twisted and twirled along the length of the mysterious Paragon, mixing like a pair of intertwined rivers. The Bull carried a long spear in one hand and a circular shield with a painted sun on the other.

  Alex had recognized it as soon as she'd seen the Eternium Veins on the colony floor. This was a true machine, not one of Stock's fakes nor even one of the Eternium-gilded models he'd produced late in his reign.

  It raised the spear high in the air, and Jon gaped in soundless terror as it prepared to bring the spear down on him.

  Alex shouted the words at the top of her lungs.

  "A woman pursues her deepest desire!"

  Her Paragon flared to life and charged.

  ____

  The first bizarre thought was that she should have been practicing with Matthew right now. They'd arranged to do so, but after seeing the ghosts in the courtyard, Alex had completely forgotten about it.

  Alex cursed.

  She wished she'd felt comfortable summoning the weapons they'd envisioned - the composite rifle, the wrist wires, even the teeth. The cables in particular would have come in handy right now. But the Paragons had the strength of a thousand people, and their pilots' mistakes were also amplified a thousandfold. She would never use a weapon she wasn't familiar with.

  Duncan tackled Jon down to the ground with his broken hands and shielded him with his body, but stumbling and awkward protective gesture meant nothing. The spear would crush them both.

  And then there was a melodic and resonating clang as her hand reached them just in time.

  Duncan and Jon stumbled to safety.

  Eternium screamed as the Bull Paragon leaned forward, putting its full weight behind the spear. The Paragons struggled. Her friends fled. Then the ground erupted as her hand was pierced straight through.

  Alex cursed again and wrenched backward. She tore her hand off at the wrist to free herself. She drew her cutlass and glared at the red and gold bull. The enemy stumbled toward her, and Alex braced for its charge.

  The bull did not charge.

  Instead, it stumbled awkwardly toward the side, a strange motion that was neither an attack nor a retreat. The butt of the spear obliterated the triangle that had fallen off of Jared's neighbor's home. The machine took two wild steps to the left, and then shattered a wall with its elbow.

  Just when she'd thought it'd committed to attacking the strange house, it stumbled back the other way toward Alice.

  Alex reacted at once, spurring her machine forward to protect her student.

  But just as soon as Alex moved to block, the Bull abruptly fell back again. An enormous foot plowed through the front of Jared's home, inflicting more damage than his neighbors ever could've dreamed of. Alex quickly gathered up Duncan, Jon, and Alice, bringing them into her cockpit. When she turned to Jared, she saw he was already sprinting for his yellow Hands Paragon.

  Unlike Jared's Peacetime model, her Paragon was built for combat and her cockpit was tiny. The four of them piled awkwardly together. She heard Jon murmur thanks to Duncan, but the bearded man was too busy gaping at the machine that'd emerged wholesale from the ground.

  There was no rhyme or reason to its movements.

  The pilot was totally out of control. It was like they were drunk. It was like they were a wild animal.

  Faces popped out of the nearby homes. The handful of remaining Block 1 residents screamed and shouted.

  "What is going on! What is happening!"

  "Holy shit! There's a Paragon battle!"

  Alex wanted to shout for them to stay inside, but she wasn't sure it would do them any good. The machine slammed its shield to the ground, eviscerating the house that'd been right next to Jared's. Luckily, nobody was inside.

  Alex drew her rifle, then hesitated.

  The bull was attacking so haphazardly that Alex had no hope of predicting its movements. She wasn't sure she could get a clean shot. If she tried and the machine shifted, the result could be a catastrophic explosion. There were too many people here, and she couldn't ask them to evacuate either. The machine
's erratic movements meant that going outside was even more dangerous than staying indoors.

  Who was this pilot?

  It was almost like they were deliberately trying to cause chaos.

  She peeked at her tablet to see if something similar was happening elsewhere, but the Forums were empty. What was going on?

  The only positive was that this machine hadn't spawned near a more densely populated area. If it had, the rampage already would have claimed so many lives. It'd only been mere moments since it appeared, but the might of Paragons could be a truly terrible thing.

  By then, Jared had made it into his Paragon.

  The bright yellow Peacetime model charged forward.

  The bull took two staggering steps to the right then lurched straight forward. Its spear was pointed right at a populated home.

  Alex drew her sword and sped forward. She slashed frantically, aiming to lop off the spear before it hit home.

  But then the bull had suddenly retreated, and her sword cut through thin air. The screams of the residents echoed against her Eternium blade.

  Just when Alex thought it'd leave the house alone, it stumbled forward again.

  Jon murmured something that Alex couldn't catch. It was always like this in the middle of a battle. Jared and Duncan always screamed at her, but unless they were shouting essential information, their words bounced off like a pleasant rain. She only had a mind for the fight.

  The spear lurched forward.

  Alex raised her blade.

  The bull suddenly fell back, the same repeated sequence from before. It jerked forward again, but by then, Jared had managed to sneak around the machine.

  The two enormous hands reached out, ready to restrain it from behind.

  Alex watched with bated breath, unwilling to make any sudden movements that would betray Jared’s presence.

  There was no tell, but the wild machine took a sudden step back. It was like it had eyes on the back of its head.

  The crown of horns came down quicker than a lightning bolt. There was a tremendous crash as it utterly pulverized one of Jared's legs.

  Her friend had slipped back at the last moment. Otherwise, the horns would have pierced straight through the cockpit. The bright yellow machine fell to the floor.

  The bull raised its spear.

  The watchers in the windows screamed, and Alex screamed with them. She surged forward with her blade, but she'd never make it in time.

  The spear hurtled to the floor. The devastating blow was aimed straight for the cockpit.

  Jared got his hand in the way just in the nick of time.

  There was a tremendous explosion, and Jared's machine was left a charred and broken mess. The Hands Paragon carried no armor. It wasn't meant for fights.

  Her friend stumbled back, balancing awkwardly on his remaining hand and leg.

  The spear dropped to the ground, but the bull had no interest in retrieving it. It turned away from the smoldering Paragon, forming its hand into a hammer-like fist and slamming a hole into the ground.

  "Hey! Hey! Are you alright?"

  Jared spoke through clenched teeth.

  "Yeah. Yeah."

  Duncan said something to him too, but once again, Alex didn't hear it.

  She scooped up Jared's Hands Paragon beneath her elbow. The Hands Paragon was incredibly light, light enough for her to balance with a single arm.

  "Hey. Can you still control the arm and leg?"

  "Yeah."

  She raised her sword."

  "Get ready to grab it."

  Jared chuckled. The lighthearted sound brought Alex back to the simulator, back the days when she and Jared and Duncan stayed up all night honing their skills. If Jared held the machine in place, she could cut the pilot out of the cockpit and figure out what the hell was going on.

  The two of them bore down on the bull, which was now carrying only a shield. Alex's hands tensed against the controls, but the movements had been so wild and irregular that she didn't know what to expect.

  The machine lowered its crown of horns and charged, heading straight for the nearest house.

  The residents screamed and screamed.

  "Throw me! Throw me!"

  Jared spoke with such certainty that Alex acted at once. They'd fought together in the simulator so many times before. Their coordination was perfect. She brought her arm back as far as it would go.

  Her aim was true.

  The broken Hands Paragon, nothing more than a cockpit with a hand and a foot, crashed into the bull. The two limbs clamped together, and the sound of rubber on Eternium pierced the air.

  The Hands Paragon's flight pack jerked, slowing the machine down by just the extra second Alex needed.

  The cutlass sliced forward.

  The cockpit opened up.

  It was completely empty.

  Nobody was sitting inside the fine pilot's chair.

  "What the hell?"

  And then, with everyone watching and everyone staring at it, the machine dissolved through the ground, the Eternium pieces fading like sand falling through an hourglass.

  ____

  Jared stepped out of his ruined machine.

  "Well, we need to call the meeting now."

  She had no idea how he sounded so calm.

  "Yeah."

  Alex stared at the ground beneath her feet. One moment, the machine was there. The next, it was gone. She peered closely at the ground, but she couldn't see the microscopic perforations made by the Eternium Veins unless the holy metal was there to highlight them.

  She turned back to Duncan and her students.

  "You saw that, right? There was nobody in there?"

  Jon was too shell-shocked to react, but Alice and Duncan shakily nodded.

  The people in their homes were just as frightened as Alex was. They chattered amongst themselves, pointing and staring. A few of them fled, terrified that the machine might suddenly reappear.

  Jon's voice had become a very faint squeak.

  "Let me out."

  Alex hurriedly opened her cockpit. It was very cramped, but she'd forgotten in the chaos of battle. Alice and Duncan climbed out behind Jon, but Alex stayed inside.

  Other than her hand, her machine had escaped with minimal damage. She needed to be ready in case another rogue Paragon attacked.

  Alex stared at the ground again and shuddered. She didn't want to imagine what could have happened if the Paragon had attacked somewhere more populated. She didn't want to imagine what could have happened if she hadn't been nearby.

  Alex wished she could somehow train others to summon Eternium. Or if she could just give people like Matthew, Jared, or Duncan machines of their own without losing hers. She just didn't understand. They were just as strong-willed as she was.

  Alex shook her head. There was no point fraying her mind over hopeless possibilities. The librarian smiled when she saw Jon and Duncan murmuring to each other. The two shook hands and embraced.

  Then Jon whispered something in Alice's ear that caused her to jump with surprise. The two children shouted back at her.

  "Hey, Ms. Alex! We'll see you later."

  Then they dashed off without another word.

  Alex was about to call them back, but Jared waved her off.

  "They'll come back for the meeting. Post on the Forums about it. We need to let people know."

  She pulled out her tablet.

  Back in the days of Southern Robotics, the Forums had always been filled with useless posts. One of Stock's chief disciples had been a Forum moderator, and he was quick to remove all criticisms of the company. Even more unfortunately, the fraudulent inventor had hired an army of commenters to improve his image. It was impossible to tell what was an honest opinion and what was a paid endorsement of Southern Robotics.

  It'd been worst of all the night of the quakes. Stock had shut the Forums down entirely, nullifying everyone's ability to call for help. Instead, he'd replaced the messageboard with an essay arguing that the colo
ny was overpopulated. He'd suggested Plenty would be better off if people died because of the quakes.

  But, like everything else, the Forums were better now.

  In the old days, her post would have been ignored. Stock infamously wrote up sham announcements to try and catch workers leaving the assembly-lines. Alex prepared to type, but then she realized she had no idea what to say. Jared just shrugged.

  "Just tell them the truth. It'll sound weird, but they'll believe you. We were going to do it tomorrow anyway."

  He pointed around them.

  "Just look at what happened here. Tell them about the ghosts and the machine. It's better to hear it from you than to find out themselves."

  He and Duncan walked off to the distance.

  "We'll gather everyone here."

  Duncan nodded.

  "A lot of people locked themselves inside like me."

  He turned to Jared and let out a long sigh.

  "Why aren't you like that?"

  The taller man sighed with his friend.

  "Nah, I am too. Just need to keep moving."

  Duncan put an arm around his friend's shoulder.

  "Let's talk about it."

  Jared grinned.

  "Yeah."

  Jared turned off his communications wire, and Alex couldn't hear what he was saying anymore. The librarian smiled.

  There were too many people like Jared and Leanne, who worked too hard and kept everything to themselves. Plenty was stronger together.

  She stared at the ground again, but this time it looked a little less scary.

  The colony had worked together to defeat Stock, and it'd be the same this time too.

  ____

  There was a long line for food outside the Spire. Alex had brought back as many food generators as she could find. Fresh meats and vegetables were collected and then cooked in a neat and orderly manner.

  Margaret had been ecstatic to see the fresh supplies, although she noted that the best vegetables were planted. The leftover seeds could be grown in a way the animal cultures couldn't, and the library director meant to see it happen.

  Margaret hustled back and forth alongside her fellow cooks as they brought out plate after plate of delicious, sizzling food. Alex remained on watch inside her Paragon, but her stomach soon began grumbling very loudly, so she asked Margaret to deliver two big plates to her cockpit.