by s. Behr
“What do you need to be at full capacity?” I asked her.
She perked up with a sigh of relief and started to prattle off a list of things, but I stopped her. “Is there any way you can just send that to Lance and see if he can handle it?”
“He doesn’t have clearance.”
“That old argument. I give him clearance. How about that?” I said smugly, as I walked down the corridor.
“Done.”
Shocked, I stopped and asked, “I wonder what else this new position gets me?”
“Princess Violet repeat after me,” Hailey said, her tiny projection springing up in front of my face.
“Oh, holly berries! We really need to define personal boundaries.” She lifted a brow and crossed her arms. “Fine, what am I supposed to say?” I huffed.
“Protocol, JKJVKMJSEA1111 section WRBHSNIFCEPLRSSHSVB, initiate,” she said slowly while I repeated the gibberish she spoke.
A voice that sounded like both Hailey and Sunshine at the same time came from the hallway, announcing, “Initiated.”
“Okay, you are now no longer being surveilled.” Hailey smiled. “I knew how much you would love that.”
“Seriously? No video or audio?”
“Nothing. The other Hailey—I mean Sunshine—can’t even hear a word you’re saying. I got the idea from your boyfriend this morning. His security is solid.” She winked.
“My what? He is not. I barely know him,” I said, my cheeks flaming.
“Then how did you know who I was referring to? There were four candidates,” she said with a sly smile.
“He is not. None of them are, or probably will ever be, my boyfriend.” Heat spread across my face. “That is the farthest thing from my mind. How many gossip feeds did you read while you were at the Archives?”
“All of them.”
“Save me from this A.I.,” I begged my missing inner voice again. With no reply and a shake of my head, I said, “We don’t have time for this.”
“Whatever you say. I may have one arm tied behind my back being in this bracelet, but I am not blind.” She smiled at the ceiling tiles.
“So, what about posterity?” I asked, changing the subject as we continued down the corridor until coming to the doors of the greenhouse.
Her face turned grim. “If you haven’t noticed yet, Princess Violet, Amera is at war. Yesterday’s attack may have seemed aimed at the Hg-1, but it happened here. Whoever was responsible for the attack on the marina declared war on your people, whether you like it or not.”
I felt my stomach churn. “There are people who are in charge of that,” I said, thinking of all the councils. “There are literally thousands of people more qualified for this than all of us here at the Ark combined, even with both you and Sunshine.”
“True, but those people are not in charge of the Ark. They never will be. Princess, you have to understand me. I am sorry. It’s been fun, but playtime is over. If you want to help keep your people safe, if you want to help those young men in there, help those people outside this Ark, you are going to need what is in this Ark and what it has to offer. The only way that can happen is if you stop talking and start learning. The war started yesterday, and we are playing catch up.”
The doors to the greenhouse opened, and I saw the tree standing proudly in the center of the field. In small patches scattered around the tree, new lavender bushes had sprouted.
I walked up to the base of the tree and smoothed my hands over the bark. Even with everything in the Ark, would it be enough to stop the suffering? Enough to stop the craziness that destroyed a village? The smell of apples and lavender wrapped around me as I slid against the trunk and down into the dirt.
“Between all the leaders that are in Hattan right now, I still don’t understand how I can help them,” I said, squeezing a ball of dirt in my hand and turning to face Hailey.
Her head had tilted to the side. “Oh,” she breathed, her fingers to her lips. “Princess, I am sorry, but I have to show you this.” The look on her face scared me. In a blink, Hailey’s projection changed into an image of an isolation room.
“I told you no more snooping,” I said, suddenly tired.
“I know, but these were emergency alerts I set up. It was for the good of the Ark. Anything that endangers the Ark is always going to be high on my priority list, and I think this is something the Yzer twins need to know.”
The video played, and I saw that it was Penelope, but instead of the ashen white shadow of a girl I had seen earlier, her skin was turning into the color of an oil slick. Deep charcoal coated with an oily, iridescent sheen. It was in random thick splotches, on her fingers, arms, and legs. It looked as if it was leaking from her eyes, mouth, and ears.
“Is that blood?” I asked, as my heart clenched.
“I don’t think so,” Hailey said ominously.
Queen Catalina came into view, her body in her pure energy form, sparking and making the video footage jump.
She picked up Penelope’s hand. The video blinked white for a full ten seconds before the camera refocused. The skin on Penelope’s hand looked burnt, but as Queen Catalina brushed her wrist, flakes of black dust came away from Pen’s arm, revealing healthy pink skin underneath.
My mother’s voice came from somewhere the camera couldn’t see, anger ringing in her words. “It’s nano tech.”
“Has it spread?” another off-camera voice asked.
“That sounds like Leo’s father,” I whispered.
“I can’t isolate it. It acts like a bacterium, but then it morphs and changes and exhibits viral habits. It’s tricky. This is just a bandage. This is not a cure.” My mother sounded worried, and if I let myself truly listen, she sounded scared. But I refused to believe there was something she could not handle. She was the greatest healer of all time; everyone knew that.
“Do you believe what the message said? That this is human born?” King Lindstrom asked.
“I don’t know if we are immune and I’m not willing to risk any of our people to find out. I am doing everything I can to keep the nanites in the isolation suite.”
My mother sounded tired, but continued. “Catalina can only destroy the ones closest to the epidermis. I don’t think Penelope’s body can handle a charge any more powerful, and even at this voltage, I don’t know how safe this is. Penelope needs more time to heal than the stasis is giving her.”
“Have we considered lowering her body temperature?” someone else asked.
“We tried that. It had no effect on the nanites or her functions. Her cells slowed, but it didn’t change the behavior of the invaders.” My mother’s voice suddenly sounded furious. “If I could only grab hold, I would eradicate them. But they just seem to slip out of my grasp.”
“You’re doing everything you can.” My heart nearly burst when I heard my father’s voice. If it was this dangerous, despite everything, the thought of both my parents being there terrified me.
“The Angelian court is sealing off Empire,” he continued, but the video feed cut off.
“Hailey! Why did you stop?” I asked, my heart racing.
“It wasn’t me.” Her projection reappeared, her face blank, and she looked as if she was going to cry. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” I screamed.
Instead of telling me, a video reappeared. It was the view of Hattan from the Ark. But the blue sky was on fire. The moment I comprehended what I was seeing, the greenhouse doors opened, and just like the last time I was here, the room exploded into color, only this time it didn’t hurt.
A line of glowing bodies in different fiery shades appeared and I could see them perfectly. The scar on Lance’s face, the rage in Siri’s eyes, and the tears on Lily's cheek.
No, it didn’t hurt to see them like this, not as much as hearing Leo say, “We have to go back! Empire has been attacked. I am sorry, Violet, it’s falling.”
I, of all people, should know things are never what they appear to be. But lately, I find myself cons
tantly being surprised, and each time it never got easier.
“Princess Violet, I dimmed the lights, and I locked out Sunshine. Your vitals are good. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it,” Hailey said to me with her disembodied voice.
“What’s wrong with her? Why won’t you let me in?” I heard Sunshine say.
“No projections! Not when she is like this,” Hailey warned.
Everyone was in the doorway, standing side by side and staring at me as if they had never seen me before. But the truth was, I was seeing them for the first time. It was like I could see the fires that fueled each of them: Lance’s fiery red flame, the complete opposite of his brother’s shimmering green. Lily, who was pale pink and translucent, and Siri, glowing like a sunset, golden yellow with hints of orange.
“Vi, your skin!” Lily exclaimed.
“Does she normally glow like that?” Kai asked.
“I have never seen anyone glow like that,” Siri whispered.
“Is that bad? Is she going to explode?” Kai asked with wide eyes.
“Shut it,” Lance silenced his brother.
They all stood frozen at the edge of the field. Everyone except Leo. I could see him perfectly, every strand of hair, every cell on his skin pale yellow with swirls of blue. He looked like the sun on a summer’s day, and he was walking toward me.
What is he doing? I looked up at the tree, rising like a pyre above me.
“No. Stay back,” I warned. “Please, Leo, you don’t understand.”
“I do. I do understand. Violet, you are going to be okay.”
Then it was like the entire world stopped revolving, and I heard him. My inner voice. “Just breathe.” A wash of blue light floated at me, and when it reached me, my eyes closed, as the familiar soothing calm coated my skin. “Stay with me.”
I heard him in my heart. When I opened my eyes, finally I understood. I had never been fractured. That voice had never been a symbol of how broken I was. It had never even been coming from me. It was proof I had never been alone.
“You,” I breathed.
“I’m here,” he said, his hand held out.
“This whole time?”
His eyes tightened, and his head jerked in a quick nod. “Yes.” Then quietly, he said, “For as long as I can remember, I could always tell when you needed me.”
“How?” I asked, his eyes locked onto mine.
“I don’t know. Does it matter?” His eyes searched mine, almost pleading.
“I don’t know.”
I looked at his hand. What did it mean if I took it? Did I understand what this was? Did it make it right? It didn’t feel wrong. Everything about him at that moment made sense. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way, and as I slipped my hand into his, it was like the rush of calm I had always felt when I heard his voice, only now, it was multiplied a thousand times. It was a cool breeze washing over me, and I felt my vision slowly fade until everything morphed back to normal.
And just like that, I was standing in the darkened greenhouse with my inner voice right in front of me.
“Leo,” I exhaled.
I didn’t understand why he was looking at me with so much sorrow, so much regret. He had no idea. All that time in my mind, and I realized he didn’t understand. He didn’t know how much I had needed him.
“How did you do that?” I asked. “How did you make it stop?”
His face softened. “I didn’t do anything; that was all you. I just held your hand.”
I looked down to my hand in his. He was warm and strong, and I felt safe. But then I remembered. “I didn’t take the serum this morning. It’s worn off. You have to go.” I pulled my hand out of his and backed away. “I’m dangerous. You can’t be here. None of you can.”
Looking at all my friends, they were right to stay back, but was it far enough?
Leo shook his head and stepped forward. “No, Violet, you are not dangerous. I know you can do this.” His face twisted in some kind of agony. “You just need control, that’s all. It’s all raw and new right now. But you’re stronger than you know. You can do this.” His eyes locked onto mine. “Trust me,” he pleaded.
Suddenly, even in the bowels of the Ark, we could hear a roar of thunder that shook the very air. A great crack followed, sounding like the entire atmosphere above Neyr had exploded. I heard Sunshine’s voice in the hallway, rapidly firing words to my friends still standing near the threshold. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but then they turned back.
“We have to go!” Lance yelled. “We can’t wait. We have to help our families; they need us.”
“I can’t go,” I begged Leo.
“Yes, you can. You are always safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“It’s not me that I’m worried about. It’s everyone else. I’ll just be in the way or worse.”
Lance yelled at Sunshine. “Is it ready?”
“Yes, Major Yzer.”
Turning to his brother, he said, “Get the gear from the commissary. Sunshine will show you.”
“Where are you going?” Siri asked.
“Armory One,” Lance said and ran off before anyone could ask another question.
My head snapped into the moment, remembering he had clearance. What had he found, what he had done?
Leo turned to the others. “Siri, get the hover ready. Lily, go with Kai. We will be right behind you.”
None of them had to be told twice. Siri gave his brother a nod and pulled Lily along, Kai following as they disappeared behind the closing doors.
Leo stepped forward, his hands hovering over my shoulders. “Violet. What happened to your father, that was not your fault.”
“How can you say that? You know what I did.” He knew everything there was to know about me, and not because he read my mind, but because I had told him. My entire life, every dark thought I had, he’d heard, and yet he was still standing here now.
“It wasn’t your fault, Violet, please believe me,” he said as if it hurt him to say it.
“You will never convince me, and we don’t have time for you to try. You have to go,” I insisted.
“Not without you. We will only be stronger with you.” Our eyes locked. “I can help you control this.”
“Because you have before.”
A look of shame crossed his face. “In the river. I couldn’t let you die. I couldn’t.”
“And when you found me by the river?” I whispered.
“Yes. You were in so much pain,” he said as if he had felt it all with me.
It all came into focus. Everything he had ever done to save me from myself. Fear gripped my heart. “But that’s...” My words faded, knowing what he risked.
“A capital offense, yes. But it doesn’t matter. I would make the same choice every time,” he said with conviction. “Violet, you will have your justice. But right now, our parents, our families, they need us, and we can help them. Together.”
Leo stood there, his hand held out in front of him again. I barely heard the coms yelling for us to hurry. A tidal wave had started the day I jumped into a river, and now, right at this moment in time, I realized I was still in it. I felt all the fear and uncertainty, of all the truths I had learned that first morning and every morning over the past weeks rush through me. But unlike that day with my father dying at my feet, and unlike yesterday in Heart’s Cove, today I was not helpless. And I was not alone.
With a deep breath, I took Leo’s hand, and I followed him as he led me to the inferno.
William Shakespeare wrote some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. I used to think it was just a plaque on the wall in my father’s office. But I didn’t think that anymore.
Everyone was already in the hover when Leo and I climbed out of the last tunnel.
“Finally!” Lance shouted as we boarded. I could feel the ground lift away from my foot before I was completely in the hover. Leo grabbed me and buckled me into a seat before the
doors finished closing.
Lily, in disbelief, asked, “Are you flying this manually?” Standing over Lance and trying to read the control panel, she exclaimed, “It took me an entire month to learn how to do that!”
“It’s the fastest way to get there,” Lance said with a focused grin that made him look like he was on the verge of madness.
Kai said, “From all the feeds that we could find, it looks like the canopy is on fire, but it hasn’t reached the tower itself yet. There was definitely something big that flew through the center of the tower. It was moving too fast, neither A.I. could isolate it.”
“Excuse me, my name is Hailey, Yzer Twin,” she said, taking over the conversation. “From all the angles I could find, three small projectiles fell from the sky and landed on the canopy. They were aimed for Empire.”
“How can you be sure?” Leo asked.
A video playback came to life in the center of the hover. “They course corrected. They lit the canopy on fire and half the courts were mobilized to put out the fire before it could spread. As we all heard in the greenhouse, and as Kai stated, something big tore a hole in the center of the tower.”
As the hover sized object flew through the air, I couldn’t breathe. I watched it go through the tower like as if the building was made of paper. The entire tower shook, swaying dangerously close to the maintenance hubs closest to the towers. The bridges snapped away instantly. I was glad Hailey had muted the sound, so we couldn’t hear the screams of people as they fell. I closed my eyes, feeling sick.
The video disappeared, and Hailey reappeared. “Prince Siri, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, yes.” He pulled a black wrap out of the bag at his feet when I noticed that there were several bags with each person. I had no idea what was in them, or how they had time to get them.
“Your wrist, if I may, Princess Violet?” Siri said, kneeling on one knee. I held out my right hand, and he said, “Um, I actually need the other one.”
