“With the mesh down, do you have any way to power it?” Nacio asked.
“No, and its auxiliary core is burned out. It’s completely dead. We could use one of the bismine chips from the oscillathes, but the first one is too low and we might burn through the other one and make the weapon useless. What about your inhibitor?”
Nacio hesitated. Nox and Sparc exchanged dark glances. “Yes, the inhibitor, then. We need the oscillathe more,” he said.
“All right, let’s get out into the light and take a look.”
Nacio slipped off the band and handed it to Gavin. It was wet from sweat.
“Don’t worry. I’ll only need it for a moment.” Gavin said.
And I won’t read your mind.
Gavin pried loose the yellow chip. He twisted off the bottom of the chronotrace and inserted the bismine. After sealing it back up, he placed the device on the floor and reached out to it with his mind. A comforting wave rippled through his thoughts. He had poured so much into the creation of this device. In many ways it was like an extension of himself. Having it back again felt like recovering a small part of his past.
There wasn’t time for a full playback, and that would take too much power anyway. He accessed the trace directly, flipping through snapshots, sampling them at the microslice level. As a memorant, it took him only a few moments to find what he was looking for.
Since the trace was stored in memory, he could play it back now in the actual, chronological order. Gavin saw himself lying unconscious on the smooth, black surface of an Oasis street. He watched the jerky playback as a shiny lev whisked onto the scene and hissed to a stop. Several white-robed somatarchs stood on board. Two of them leapt off and dragged his unconscious body back to the lev. And there on the lev was Darius, his old mentor. Of course it had to be him. He was the only one who knew about the miasma channel in the first place. But how had he recovered it? Gavin had erased it from his memory.
He didn’t need to see any more. He yanked the bismine chip out of the chronotrace and handed it back to Nacio.
“I know who we have to find now. But I’m not sure how—” he began, but then caught himself. Locating Darius would be almost impossible without the esolace. But there was another way.
“Come on,” he told the others as he took off running. The Corporal Research labs were not far from their current location.
A few corridors over from where they found the chronotrace, Gavin stopped in front of another door. They had no acid left, but this one was made of plastic. Nox shattered it with a spike and a small hammer.
“Wait for me out here,” Gavin told Nacio and passed through, stepping over the jagged white shards.
There was almost no light inside the Corporal Research labs either, but this time Gavin knew exactly where to find what he was looking for: lucine gel. It was in a side room along with the other abandoned research. It had been developed to augment the bioseine range for mental connections. But the scientists who had worked on it had never been able to get around the dangerous side effects. It accelerated several other biological systems in order to achieve its results. The augmentation it produced had proven fatal in several trials and had never gotten beyond the testing stages.
But the risks mattered little to Gavin. If he was going to find Darius, this was the only way. Even then, he would have to hope that Darius was relatively close by.
He re-emerged, holding the transparent tube of bright red gel.
“Apply this to the back of my neck,” he instructed Nacio. He sat down in the hallway opposite the shattered door.
“And how is this going to help us find the ruler of Tasada? Where is our enemy?” Nox interjected. The Waymen were losing what little patience they had left. They had suffered terrible losses out on the Ridge and had been chasing after the Developers for too long with nothing to show for it.
“Yes,” Sparc said, addressing Nacio. “You told us that our enemy was hidden inside one of the chambers of this fortress. But we have been wandering through these twisting catacombs forever and met nothing but his guardians.”
“I told you. He’s using magic to cloak himself,” Nacio said, removing the cap to the gel. “But Gavin is also a master of the ancient arts and he is going to use another kind of magic to help us find him.”
The muscles in Sparc’s jaw flexed in anger, but he said nothing.
“Do not lose faith, oh Reeve, when victory is within our reach,” Nacio reassured him, but he could not entirely mask his own uneasiness. “Now you’d best stay back while the vision comes. You wouldn’t want any of this getting on you or your men.”
Sparc gave Nacio a proud look, but stepped away along with the rest.
Gavin leaned forward and bent his head down. “If I ask you to put more on, do as I say, no matter how bad I get, do you understand?”
“Right,” Nacio said.
Gavin took Nacio by the wrist. “When I find him, slap the inhibitor on me. You have to do it immediately, before Darius can take control.”
“All right,” Nacio said, removing the inhibitor from his wrist.
As Nacio rubbed the first handful of the odorless gel onto Gavin’s neck, a searing pain shot down his back and up into his head. His skin felt like it was bubbling. This was not the kind of pain he could suppress with his bioseine because the bioseine itself was causing it. He grimaced and tried to focus on the mental landscape inside his mind. The gel pulled him recklessly across torturous waves in a churning sea of thought. He searched for other minds, but all was fathomless and empty.
“Give me more,” he whispered through clamped teeth.
He couldn’t even feel the gel go onto his skin this time. Gavin wondered whether or not he would be able to recover, even if he found Darius. His heart raced uncontrollably, taking on a life of its own. It felt like it might leap from his chest at any moment. Jets of pain flashed through his eyes, robbing him of physical sight. Only the featureless world of the bioseine remained.
“More,” he demanded, his lips a slobbering mess.
As Nacio slathered the next swab onto his neck, it felt like his skin was being flayed from his body, layer by layer. He cried out in agony, but couldn’t hear his own screams. His body quivered like a drum. Something damp and wet began trickling from his nose.
Still he could sense nothing.
“More,” his voice croaked. It sounded like it wasn’t even his anymore, or if it was, like it wasn’t human.
With the next bit of gel his joints melted into molten balls, threatening to rip his limbs apart. His heart pounded so fast, he could no longer distinguish the individual beats. His mouth stretched wide to scream, but nothing came. Nacio had to press his body down onto the floor and grab him around the neck to keep him from banging his head against the wall. And still he saw nothing.
He was about to say that terrible word ‘more’ one last time, knowing it would end his life, when Darius’ mind burst into his thoughts.
He had found him at last. But that also meant that Darius had found him as well.
“In-hib…put…on” Gavin stammered, frothing at the mouth, unable to pronounce the words correctly. “Now!” he screeched, wondering if Nacio had abandoned him and left him to die.
Gavin’s mind was wide open for Darius to control.
Nacio was patting Gavin’s forehead with a rag when he regained consciousness. The splitting pain inside his head made it hurt to open his eyes. It was like a hot fog was baking his brain.
“What…happened?” he managed to get out the words between heavy breaths. “Darius…He was in my head…”
“You looked like you were going mad,” Nacio said, “but then you passed out and I put the inhibitor on you. I had to use an entire tube of almamenth to bring you back around.”
“Ah,” Gavin sighed and risked opening his eyes a sliver. “Thank you.” He shuddered from pain and the recollection of what the lucine must have done to him. Without the almamenth, he probably would have died.
“W
e…have to get going,” Gavin groaned and tried to get to his feet. It took Nacio and another Wayman to help him stand.
“I don’t think you’re in any shape to go anywhere,” Nacio said.
“Do you have any more almamenth?”
Nacio shook his head. “No, that was the last of it. Can you use your bioseine to suppress the pain?”
“I don’t think it would be safe. Not until the lucine is completely out of my system,” Gavin said.
“What should we do then?” Nacio asked. The Waymen around him pressed in close. Gavin saw murder in their eyes. The sight brought on a fresh wave of pain. What had happened while he was knocked out?
“Darius was headed for the ramps on the other side of the building. He must be going back down to the lower floors,” Gavin said.
Nacio pulled out the oscillathe from his garrick. “Fine. I know where that is. We’ll push on ahead and you catch up if you can.”
“Wait,” Gavin said, grabbing his arm. “Don’t forget this.” He slid the inhibitor off his wrist and placed it into Nacio’s hand. Gavin was too dazed to read his thoughts, but Nacio nodded nervously as he took it.
“The seer’s magic better not fail this time,” Sparc said harshly.
“Thank you,” Nacio muttered to Gavin. “Catch up to us when you get better. Otherwise I’ll…I’ll come back for you.” He turned and addressed Sparc, but his voice sounded weary and uncertain. “Follow me. Our enemy is not far away.”
The men gave a shout, brandishing their knives and spears, and ran off together with Nacio.
Gavin leaned against the wall for a moment until he felt like he had enough strength to move on his own. He staggered back into the lab.
So much pain.
It was hard to find the supplies he needed in the dark, but after rifling through several drawers, he came across the equipment and materials he needed.
Gently, for every movement drummed like thunder inside his head, he stirred the components together inside a little vial. A sweet, fragrant aroma arose from the glass. It was not much, but it would be enough. He raised his sleeve and rubbed the solec into his upper arm.
Forty-Six
The Designer
Nacio and the Waymen must have made a wrong turn because Gavin caught sight of them as they were rounding the corner up ahead on their way to the ramps. As he turned the same corner, two somatarchs appeared at the far end of the hall. Nacio and the Waymen, were about halfway to them. The silvery glint of the somatarch’s oscillathes flashed in the auxiliary lighting.
Gavin rushed forward, the solec giving him strength, but the Waymen were already in range of the shining weapons.
“Stop! They’re going to kill you!” he screamed. It was too late.
The first four Waymen vanished. Their desert gear folded in upon itself and withered to the floor.
Nacio and the Waymen faltered and then turned and ran, shouting curses in their language. The somatarchs surged after them. They were much faster than the Waymen. Within a few strides they would be in range for another shot.
Gavin raised his oscillathe and pointed it at Nacio and the oncoming Waymen, their faces contorted in a mix of rage and terror.
“Spread out!” Gavin shouted. “Scatter to the sides!”
But the Waymen curses drowned out his warnings. Only Sparc and the Wayman running beside him seemed to have even noticed Gavin; the others were looking frantically back over their shoulders at the somatarchs. Nacio was bringing up the rear.
“Curse you, magician!” Sparc screamed, lancing wrath at Gavin with his eyes.
He couldn’t hit the somatarchs without firing through the Waymen, but there was no time to argue.
Two crackling blasts from his weapon surged through the hallway in quick succession. Everyone in front of him—Nacio, the Waymen, and the somatarchs beyond—all went down together.
Gavin sprinted down the passage, leaping over the fallen bodies. As he reached the unconscious somatarchs, one of them stirred. Gavin’s oscillathe crackled one more time and the body went slack, collapsing back into a motionless mass.
Just past the somatarchs, Gavin slowed as he neared the intersection at the end of the hallway. Approaching footsteps around the corner warned him of the presence of another enemy. His first thought was that it must be Darius. If he rushed forward blindly, he might catch him off guard. But then came a second thought—what if these weren’t the only somatarchs?
Gavin stopped just short of the end of the wall. He knew every passage in the Institute. The one around the corner was not much longer than the range of his weapon. Staying where he was, he fired four shots through the corner of the wall, laying down enough fire to cover most of the passage.
He glanced around the corner. The first thing he saw were the bodies of two more somatarchs laying prostrate on the floor a little more than halfway down. A third body, dressed in nondescript gray robes, lay between them.
It had to be Adan.
Gavin took half a step past the corner when his breath caught in his throat. Beyond the fallen figures stood a man in a shimmering silver lab coat. Darius stared back down the hallway at Gavin defiantly, the cold light buried in his eyes glinting expectantly even from this distance.
Darius made no move to flee. He had to see the oscillathe in Gavin’s hand and know that he could not get beyond the weapon’s range before Gavin fired another shot. Whether he stood there out of defiance or resignation, Gavin couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. He raised the oscillathe for one last shot.
Instead of the expected crackle there came an awful sound in its place.
Click.
Click, click, click.
The bismine chip was drained.
Gavin turned and ran. Barreling around the corner, his feet were swept out from under him by one of the somatarchs on the floor. Before he could recover, the creature smothered him in its arms. It dragged Gavin back around the corner, ignoring his pointless struggles.
As he drew closer, Gavin could feel Darius’ mind back inside of his. There was no inhibitor to protect him this time. He was caught. A moment later, his consciousness dissolved into the mind of the chief memorant of Oasis and his thoughts ceased to be his own.
“You’re a resourceful man.”
Darius’ thoughts smothered Gavin’s mind in a murky cloud of silence. He belonged to Darius now. He had enough of his own will left to respond, but nothing more.
“Not nearly as resourceful as you, Darius,” Gavin replied. “I erased myself from your memory and yet you found me again.”
“Yes, that was well done. You always were an excellent student.”
“It was Will, wasn’t it? When he came back to get Adan you let him go and traced him back to me.”
“Again, you do not disappoint. It’s almost as if you could read my mind.” Something like mirth colored Darius’ thoughts, but it contained no real joy. Darius was merely toying with him. As a memorant, it was often more interesting to allow a mind some measure of consciousness as you dissected it. Gavin had done so many times himself.
“One memorant for another. We thought you were worth it. If you hadn’t taken that andro with you, you would still be out in the wastes. Your fondness for them was your undoing,” Darius admonished.
“Even so, I had the miasma channel. You should not have been able to capture me the way you did.”
“Well, even as gifted a student as you are, you can’t know everything,” Darius replied, not bothering to hide his sense of superiority. He took delight in knowledge above all else and looked down on anyone who lacked the same level of understanding.
“I do know this much—the remapping has begun again,” Gavin shot back. “That’s why I came back—to stop it.”
“But you failed.” Darius continued to gloat. “The research has begun again after the little delay you caused us. To be honest, I don’t care for it much. It’s such tedious work dealing with the andros. Still, the work must go on. We cannot run the Collective e
fficiently with only three memorants.” Though he knew Darius’ mocking was only meant to goad him, Gavin could not hide his emotions. His mind was raw and exposed under Darius’ control.
“You can’t keep treating them like this, Darius,” Gavin challenged. “They’re not andros for you to experiment with. They’re human beings.”
“You of all people should know better than that. You’ve studied them more than any of us. They’re blank, with no potential for development on their own.”
“Did you ever even look at my research? I don’t think any of the Developers ever did. It was doomed from the beginning because you had already made up your minds how you would see things. They were deviant and that was all they could ever be. And why? Because they were undeveloped. You were right that they don’t think like us, but I’m glad they don’t. It’s we who are the aberrations, Darius, not them.”
“Listen to yourself. What has happened to you?” Darius’ thoughts took on the tone of a teacher scolding his student. “Where is the Developer I once knew? The one I trained? And where do all these deviations come from? We wiped your memories and yet you still cling to these idiosyncrasies. You’re not taking the long view. I can see we still have further work to do with you.”
“The truth has a way of resurrecting itself, no matter how many times you kill it. If not, you wouldn’t even need the memorants, would you?”
“I know you haven’t forgotten everything. Any idea or thought can be expunged, no matter how deeply embedded.”
“That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it? Just erase it, change it, twist it to meet your standards. You’ve been manipulating the rest of us from the beginning, haven’t you? We were supposed to be the Developers, but we weren’t any different from the rest of the Collective, were we?”
“It is hard to keep a secret from a memorant, isn’t it?” Darius answered with another half-hearted attempt at cheer. “Societies operate by inviolable laws. Did you think the Developers were immune to the same kinds of manipulation they were using on the rest of the Collective? How do you think we’ve remained unified all this time? Do you think that comes by accident?” Gavin could not be sure, but he felt that for the first time since the exchange began that Darius had departed from the game he was playing and actually meant what he was telling him.
The Chronotrace Sequence- The Complete Box Set Page 34
