Bender of Worlds

by Isaac Hooke

  The grenade detonated behind him.

  Tane stepped into the Essence, wanting to be ready should he need it. He could feel the stellar wind gusting coldly over his bones, scraping and hollowing, and he knew he was nearing exhaustion. He reached the stairwell door on that side and disabled his shield to open it.

  He dashed through.

  Right into the arms of a waiting robot.

  It fired its rifle at point blank range. An energy grid enveloped Tane. He tried to create an Essence Missile, but it failed.

  He was about to try another Missile when the robot placed a knob with a pulsing red rim onto the top edge of his faceplate. The device attached via an unknown mechanism, and Tane suddenly felt immensely tired, far more-so than mere moments before. It was a bone-weariness similar to what he felt after wielding the Essence through a Chrysalium hull.

  He instantly stepped out of the White Essence and slumped against his binds. He was too weak to reach for the Dark Essence, either.

  He realized the knob was the same device Lyra had been trying to attach to him before Jed intervened on the steps leading from the grav tram. He didn’t think it actually interfered with either Essence per se, since he could still feel each of them just beyond the edges of perception, but the device simply made him too tired to Siphon either one.

  The robot rapidly disarmed Tane, selectively deactivating and reactivating portions of the energy net to take his D18, beam hilt, storage pouch, and the remaining two grenades from his harness; once those items were in its possession, the robot placed them into a storage device that hung from its polycarbonate waist. It also removed his shield generator, and the miniaturized dark artifact. Tane tried to command the artifact to revert to its original size in a last bid to escape, but the relic ignored him—perhaps it realized the surroundings were too tight to fit its fully-expanded form. Or perhaps Tane’s Dark Artifact Control skill was so low that in order for the command to register, he had to be touching it. Or maybe his skill was too low, period, and like Essence Missile, his orders didn’t register every time. Whatever the case, the object was soon gone, consigned to the dark pit of the scepter’s storage device.

  The combat robot unceremoniously hauled Tane over one shoulder, just as easily as Jed had.

  Other scepters formed a tight circle around the first as it carried Tane down the stairwell.

  He tried to tell himself that everything would be all right. That the TSN senior command just wanted to talk to him. But after seeing how the navy had so easily taken control of Nebb, Sinive, and Lyra, he knew that his freedom was at an end.

  The robots were escorting him to his doom.

  11

  As the robot carried him down the stairs, Tane expanded his transmission range back to the default and Jed’s location immediately updated on the overhead map. The Volur was no longer in the same room. It looked like he was moving down the second stairwell.

  “Jed, they got me,” Tane sent.

  “They have me as well, Engineer,” Jed returned. His voice distorted slightly, but also sounded stiff, as if he were bound so tightly that breathing proved difficult. Either that, or injured. “I had hoped you made it.” He sighed. “Not even the Bender of Worlds is invincible.”

  He wished everyone would stop calling him that. Especially now: he obviously wasn’t the Bender of Worlds. He was Tane Ganeth, no more.

  He worried about Sinive, and what they would make her do against her will. He resolved then, in that building located in the heart of the Umbra, surrounded by enemies, that he would try to trade the freedom of his friends for the promise of his own loyalty and servitude.

  They’d probably simply take his freedom regardless. He remembered Sinive’s face when she pointed her pistol at him. The tears before her voice hardened. She seemed completely aware of everything the TSN was doing to her, and she hated it.

  Tane noticed a flashing icon in the lower right of his HUD. He enlarged the notification screen wearily and reviewed the stacked alerts that had appeared at different times during the flight from the enemy.

  Level up. Beam Hilt Control is now Level 2. 20% more damage is inflicted with each blow. 15% more damage dealt with any launched Essence bolts.

  Level up. Your overall level is now 7! Neural pathways have been enhanced and reinforced! You now have an attribute point to allocate.

  Level up. Dark Siphoning is now Level 2. You may now master more complex Essenceworks. Works are created in 5% less time. Distractions also have less effect on your concentration during Essencework creation. You may now hold two Dark Essenceworks in reserve.

  Level up. Fingers of Ruin is now Level 2. Two smears of unreality are now directed at your target, causing 25% more damage. Creation time is now 55 seconds, including bonus from Dark Siphoning level 2.

  He was a bit surprised that Dark Siphoning had leveled already, considering he hadn’t really formed all that many Dark works. Then again, because Fingers of Ruin took sixty seconds to create, he could see why his overall Dark Siphoning had advanced: in the same time span, he could form sixty works of the White Essence with similar effort, though it would be far more taxing, as the White seemed to drain stamina faster. That told him his Dark works would probably level faster than the White. Too bad he didn’t really care at the moment, given his current predicament.

  He put his bonus attribute point into Endurance, bringing his total to eighteen, or thirty with his beam hilt and rings equipped, but it didn’t reduce the weariness inflicted by the knob attached to his helmet.

  In the street outside the skyscraper, several opaque geodesic domes had been pitched since the last time Tane had passed this way, and they formed a makeshift camp amid the blast craters the missiles had created. The skyscrapers lining the roadway blocked access to the camp from the north and south, while to the east and west, armored carriers and mechs were interspersed with the piled bodies of dead kraals to form provisional barricades. Missiles still exploded beyond the perimeter as lone kraals occasionally tested the defenses.

  The robots carried Tane toward the largest geodesic dome, which was obviously the command center. Above, the TSN battle cruiser blotted out the sky, casting its continual shadow over a street already darkened by the deep blue of the Umbra. The edges of that ship seemed blurry, just like everything else, a testament to the fact it didn’t belong in this universe. The piles of kraals along the perimeters were the most substantial objects present, and they were all dead.

  Tane wondered why the TSN didn’t simply load him into a shuttle, fly him directly to that ship overhead, and jump out of there. And then the answer hit him.

  They were afraid of him. The TSN had seen what he had done in Anteres, when he had Siphoned a literal hurricane of stellar wind from the Lumina through the hull of one of their battle cruisers and wiped out an entire dweller fleet.

  Yes, the TSN feared him. They wouldn’t be bringing him anywhere close to the Chrysalium hull of a starship until they were absolutely certain he was in their control.

  He surveyed the sky one last time. Other than the battle cruiser, and the shuttles and smaller drones accompanying it, there was nothing else up there. The Red Grizzly had probably landed somewhere nearby now that Tane was captured.

  The robot escorts led Tane into the main dome. Within, a large conference table dominated most of the free space. Men and women in spacesuits and battle armor sat around it. They were talking noiselessly behind their faceplates, and gesturing in the air in front of them, obviously viewing augmented reality displays visible only to their own eyes.

  Without fail, they all paused what they were doing to watch Tane pass, their gazes following him from behind their faceplates.

  Tane was glad when the long conference table was behind him. He felt like he was some sort of circus animal to these people.

  The number of escorting robots increased then, and the scepter that held him shifted him downward, holding him against its hips so that Tane could no longer see past the screen the robot b
odies formed.

  As he approached the far wall of the geodesic dome, the robots parted slightly, revealing a kneeling figure. The scepter that held Tane lowered him next to that figure and forced him to his knees. It was Jed, Tane realized, also on his knees. A glowing energy net was tightly wrapped around the chest assembly of the Volur’s power armor, binding his hands to his sides exactly like Tane. He also had a stamina-draining knob attached to his helmet.

  “Engineer,” Jed said over the private band.

  “You have a plan, I hope?” Tane asked over the same channel.

  “I was hoping you had one,” Jed replied.

  “No talking!” a robotic voice came from beside him, the sound picked up by the external microphone of his helmet. So much for communicating over a private band. Then again, maybe the robot had simply read his lips.

  Something kicked Tane in the back and he fell forward. His faceplate slammed into the asphalt—the geodesic dome didn’t have a proper floor. The glass pane chipped but otherwise wasn’t harmed. Beside him, Jed suffered a similar fate.

  Tane was hauled back onto his knees, as was Jed.

  In front of him, the screen of escorting robots moved aside, revealing a collapsible desk.

  A man in glowing battle armor sat at the desk, while standing against the wall behind him were two more men, one in a spacesuit covered in a gray and blue digital pattern, the other in an armored robe that resembled the dress Lyra wore with its interlocking metal plates, though this particular robe had a hood faced by a pane of translucent glass, whereas hers required a spacesuit for protection from the void. The yellow halo of Essence enhancement surrounded the outfit, giving Tane the impression the man was a Volur.

  Tane accessed their IDs in turn, starting with the seated man, then the individual in the spacesuit, and finally the suspected Volur.

  Name: Chuck “The Mobilizer” Garag

  Race: Human

  Level: 14

  Class: Lieutenant Colonel, 2nd Assault Battalion, 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Thorran Marine Corps, Thorran Star Navy

  Name: Nelson Gates

  Race: Human

  Level: 16

  Class: Unknown

  Name: Xescartes Salvordorus

  Race: Human

  Level: 19

  Class: Unknown

  “So the great World Bender has arrived,” the seated lieutenant colonel said via an external speaker. The rasping voice was at odds to the almost boyish face that looked out from beyond the glass pane of the helmet. It was obvious he was a big fan of rejuvenatics, though he had neglected to have his vocal cords treated.

  “Please refrain from speaking, Lieutenant Colonel,” the man in the ordinary spacesuit, Nelson, said. He also used external speakers. He could have said the words to the lieutenant colonel on a private band, but Tane supposed openly berating the man served the dual purpose of showing Tane who was in charge.

  The lieutenant commander folded his arm assemblies in front of his chest, but didn’t say a word more.

  “I want to make a trade,” Tane told them, using his own external speakers. “Me, for my friends.” He alternated his gaze between Nelson and the suspected Volur Xescartes, unsure which of them was in charge.

  But both men ignored him.

  The scepter that had held Tane tossed a storage pouch onto the desk. “I’ve placed all the belongings from the prisoner into this storage pouch. Access is yours.”

  Nelson stepped forward. He reached into the bag, removed the dark artifact, and held the apple-sized object in front of his faceplate. While he did that, Tane took a moment to study the man. Though his face seemed blurry in the Umbra, Tane was able to discern his aspect behind the faceplate well enough: Nelson had bony features and weathered skin. A broken nose that had healed improperly. Short, salt and pepper hair. A thick brow. Eyes that were both cunning and cruel. Altogether, Tane sensed this was a man who was used to having his orders obeyed.

  “Interesting,” Nelson said. “That the knowledge you have now inside your head was given to you by such a tiny object. It’s not so different from nanotech, is it?”

  “I want to make a trade,” Tane repeated, louder. “Me, for my friends.”

  Nelson smiled wolfishly behind his faceplate. “But you are already ours.” He set down the artifact on the desk; Xescartes promptly stepped forward and picked up the relic to examine for himself.

  Nelson walked up to Tane, and observed the dark filaments that looped away from the joints of Tane’s spacesuit before traveling into the ground below. “Interesting.”

  Nelson stepped back as another robot wheeled into view. This one looked like a giant, vertically-oriented ladybug set atop a trolley, with its limbs currently retracted and clutched together. A surgical robot of some kind.

  “Shall I apply the nanotech?” the robot asked sweetly. It was a voice that was supposed to make patients feel calm. Tane would have been experiencing the exact opposite right then if he weren’t in the Umbra.

  “Some privacy, first,” Nelson said.

  An opaque field activated behind Tane, blocking off the view of the rest of the geodesic dome.

  “That’s better,” Nelson said. He inclined his head toward the robot. “Apply the nanotech.”

  “What nanotech?” Tane said. “What are you going to do to me?”

  But he already knew.

  “Whatever happens, Engineer,” Jed said over the comm, “remember always who you are, and what you stand for. Remember—”

  The Volur was cut off when one of the scepters slammed him into the asphalt.

  Still kneeling, Tane tried to stand up, but he felt two heavy weights pressing down on either shoulder: another scepter, no doubt.

  The surgical robot latched onto Tane’s faceplate, so that all he saw was that crenelated underside. Two tubes telescoped toward his eyes and then his vision filled with white. He knew it was performing a brain scan. Perhaps backing up his engram imprint, in case whatever procedure they had planned failed.

  The white light disappeared, leaving a fading afterimage, and the tubes retracted.

  The robot pulled away, repositioning so that the main body was above his right hand—his glove was exposed at his hip, just underneath the energy net that bound him. As the afterimage receded, Tane watched those gangly limbs open the top fabric of his glove and swap out the vial the suit utilized to inject accelerant into his body with another small glass container.

  “What—”

  He felt the sudden sting at the back of his hand as the sonic injector in the glove activated.

  Tane had already felt weary to the bone before, thanks to the glowing knob attached to this helmet, but now he felt positively dead. He thought he was going to black out at any moment. He couldn’t keep his head upright and slumped against the inner pane of his faceplate. If the scepters hadn’t been holding onto him he would have probably toppled right over.

  He was vaguely aware as the surgical robot resealed the top of his glove.

  “Thank you,” Nelson said. “Scepters, you are dismissed.”

  Someone—Nelson?—grabbed Tane when the robots released him and slowly lowered him to the asphalt. Tane found himself staring into Jed’s helmet. The man was still lying on the asphalt, unable to get up because of the net that bound him. Tane could make out the concern on the Volur’s face. Phosphenes fired randomly over Tane’s vision, occasionally obscuring Jed’s features however.

  “Fight it, Engineer,” Jed said.

  But how could Tane fight that which was already inside him?

  Nelson knelt beside him.

  Tane received a communication request from the man. He simply stared at the request on his HUD for several moments, and then finally accepted it.

  “The nanotech will take some time to set in your brain,” Nelson transmitted. “The robot can’t scan your mind again until it does, otherwise the scan could interfere with the chip creation process. So we will simply have to wait. You’ll feel groggy for the next minute or
so, but it should pass.”

  Tane tried to answer, but all that came out of his mouth were a few slurred, incomprehensible words.

  “You’ve read our profiles, you know our names,” Nelson said. “I’m Nelson Gates. Lieutenant Colonel Garag sits at the desk. And behind him is Xescartes. A Volur. I will attempt to answer the burning questions that are running through your mind right now, groggy as it is. This is my gift to you: a way of offsetting the panic that is no doubt taking root inside your core.”

  Of course Nelson wouldn’t know that Tane felt no panic of any kind, nor any fear. Tane had told no one of the subduing effects the Umbra had on his emotions. Still, he was happy to let the man blab. Not that Tane could stop him in his current state anyway.

  “The Volur woman, the smuggler, and his jump specialist, they were all in on your capture,” Nelson continued. “Did you really think we’d actually release the only people who knew how to get to you? All of them were firmly in our control since their capture at the Anteres Rift, thanks to nanotech we injected. After she was converted, the Volur Lyra told us everything, including the beacon stone she’d given you. Some in senior command argued that we should send a warship to collect you immediately, but others said we should watch you instead: they were worried our controlling nanotech would damage your precious brain. You see, with this particular brand of nanotech, there is a chance of neural scarring. Mind you, the fear wasn’t so much you’d lose a few skills or fine motor control, but rather your ability to Siphon the Dark entirely. So you can understand the reluctance of some.

  “So we decided to watch, at first. We had ships ready to dispatch immediately if any dangers arose, such as the dwellers showing up, so your retrieval wasn’t an issue. We had hidden our chipping from Lyra, Sinive and Nebb, and allowed them control of their bodies and personalities: our commands were buried deep within their subconscious minds, so neither you nor they themselves would suspect anything was amiss.