He examined the surroundings before he spoke.
“I’m impressed by what you people have done down here. Not only you have survived, but you actually transferred your world to the underground! You adapted in the new environment like the cockroaches.” His sarcastic words froze Andria’s feelings and her eyes became hard.
“Did you set our forest on fire?” she asked coldly.
“Do you believe I’d have travelled all the way here to burn some wood, destroy your useless tribe and then surrender?”
“You threatened me, told me you would do that. You are a pyromaniac as far as I know, like to burn things, so why not? You would not miss my ‘useless tribe’ anyway.”
“I might not miss them indeed, but maybe some … in particular… I might miss… them… her … you! I wanted to apologise for trying to burn you twice …” Andria raised her eyebrows. “Okay, three or four times, I’m not sure!”
“I don’t understand. You came all the way here to apologise? I thought you had no feelings of regret, empathy or care?” Her heart was about to come out of her chest, it was beating so hard.
Farnath seemed to be vulnerable and powerful at the same time and that made him so attractive to her. She felt the desire to touch his warm skin again, to feel the flame that was burning inside him, the anger and the pain of his restless soul. She asked the soldiers to stay outside and closed the door.
“The curse is breaking,” he said slowly, almost whispering.
“How?” she asked quietly, as she would do to a lover.
“You happened.” He looked at her intensely.
“I don’t understand, what did I do?”
“I don’t know what you did,” he whispered, “but I know I have suffered since I met you. I have a storm of feelings that want to break through my frozen heart and take shape by words and actions! I don’t know why it is so painful and so uncontrollable and it makes me weak like a common human.”
“I don’t know what to say, I have to…” Andria turned her back to leave.
Just before she went through the door she stopped and looked at him. She didn’t know how to react to a declaration of love, especially from a powerful, yet old wizard who had tried to kill her a couple of times.
“If you didn’t set up the fire then who did? We found a device with a phoenix drawing on it at the site.”
“The device was supposed to be a lamp of magical fire and had been missing, since you left my room. If you didn’t take it then maybe someone else took it for his own purpose.”
“There was only me and…” Suddenly she froze and Farnath smirked at the panic in her face. At least they were both suffering now, even it was for different reasons. He thought it was fairer.
“Do you know any other pyromaniac except me?” he asked in a sinister smile.
She ran out and past the surprised guards, who tried to catch up with her. When she arrived at Jake’s room, to her disappointment, he was already gone.
On the busy pavements, a mysterious young man was walking hastily, avoiding eye contact with the other pedestrians. A camera on the level of the eyes of a pet dog was watching him and following him. Jake became more nervous when police sirens sounded throughout the streets and he got onto a tram in the direction of the edge of the city. He tried to avoid looking at the cameras on the tram. The camera that was following him stuck like a magnet at the rear side of the tram, waiting for him to get out.
From his throne King George was scolding the guards that were supposed to have been guarding Jake when Andria entered bringing news from Farnath’s “interrogation”. Her father was even more confused hearing that Jake was under suspicion for the fire and looked chidingly at the guards once more. But he still had questions about why the wizard had appeared then, after so many years and on the same day as the fire.
“Aside from the declaration of a red-skin, crazy psycho,” Roy interrupted, “who is supposed to be two thousand years old, according to his statement, do we have any other proof that Jake did set the fire at the forest?”
“Jake is a convicted pyromaniac and he has a criminal record for arson,” Andria said. “He burned his boss’s office three years ago, his parent’s house when he was nineteen and his best’s friend house at the age of thirteen. His teachers had complained numerous times that Jake also hacked their accounts and played some painful pranks to them using fire.” She did not avoid Roy’s intimidating look.
“The evidence shows indeed that Jake is dangerous to society, but it doesn’t show that he did set the fire at the forest. It was the wizard’s device that was found at the site and there is no proof that Jake left it there except Farnath’s statement. Besides that, the only way for the red-skin to remove the responsibility of his device was if he had declared the theft of it when it occurred. Why didn’t he do that?”
“Oh come on, Roy. Father, you know that this couldn’t happen! Farnath lives on the sun and we invaded his space and took his device. You have to believe me, dad. Farnath is innocent! He wouldn’t hurt us, at least not like this.” She spoke with an emotional intensity that didn’t go unnoticed by Roy.
“What is the reason for this sudden sympathy with this lunatic? What is going on with you two, my princess? Did the wizard try to charm you?” Roy asked, smirking.
The king was shaken by the last words and gave Andria a critical look, waiting for her answer. Roy couldn’t forget how much Andria had cost to him. She had managed to humiliate him when she escaped, but this was not the only reason that he hated her. Andria was so independent, proud, brave and unpredictable and Roy couldn’t influence or manipulate her in any way. She was always an obstacle when he was trying to influence the king’s decisions as his daughter was able to persuade him to follow his heart instead of his mind. He couldn’t stand her anymore and he guessed she had always suspected his double nature.
“You just called him a wizard! Daddy, trust me in this, I know in my heart that Farnath is innocent and you know it too. Nothing has happened between him and me, except that we had our conflicts, but, dad, don’t take it personally as I don’t! He is a…difficult person for sure, quick-tempered and unusual, but he definitely isn’t a liar.”
“How can you ask from the king to trust you when just a few days ago you betrayed him and put the kingdom in danger for your own desires?” Roy asked angrily. “You brought Jake to the forest, so you are as responsible as him!” When he finished the sentence he realised that he spoke without thinking and had revealed that he knew that Jake was the real offender.
King George turned to him.
“Did you know that Jake was the arsonist?” he asked. Roy understood that it was too late to continue accusing Farnath.
“I knew it when I saw his burnt fingers,” he admitted. “Then I showed him the device and he pretended that he didn’t know how to use it at the beginning, but when I turned the bird’s beak towards him, he avoided it. So I realised that he knew that the flame came from there.”
“What? You knew all this time and you didn’t say anything! Why? Why did you accuse him then?” Andria was furious and, even if she could guess the answer, she wanted her father to hear it.
“I wanted to be sure that Jake didn’t have any deal with the wizard,” Roy said coolly. “Who knows, maybe he acted on his behalf? They both like to set fires after all and after your descriptions of this wizard I realise that he is too dangerous to roam free. Maybe he wants to hurt you, Andria, and it is our duty to prevent this, isn’t it, my King? He tried to kill her so many times, can we risk letting him try again?”
Andria was seething now. She would never reach Roy’s level of acting, lying and deceit and she didn’t want to play his dirty game of manipulating anymore. But the king seemed to believe him and encouraged him to go on.
“… and Jake is not an innocent man, but his actions are based on his stupidity and his pyromania. He should be punished, of course, but I believe, Farnath should stay behind bars forever for attempting to murder our princes
s.”
“Ok, Roy, I get your point and I agree. You just wanted to keep her safe, as everybody else does, and I thank you for that, even if you didn’t do it in the right way,” King George said finally.
“Thank you, my King, for your understanding. Keeping her safe was my only intention,” Roy said and bowed respectfully, trying to hide his satisfied smile from him, but not from Andria.
“So you do believe her?” the king asked.
“Believe her about what, my King?” It was Roy’s turn to be surprised.
“That this wizard actually lived on the sun for two thousand years and he is connected with our heat problem?” Both Andria and Roy were surprised by King’s George question.
“Ehm, I guess. I wouldn’t question her reliability.”
“So, we should find a way to persuade him to fix this problem,” said the king. “I think Andria would be the most appropriate for this task! If this is our only way to go back to the surface then so be it.” His happy daughter hugged him tight.
Roy felt a surge of anger for losing the debate and hated Andria and the king even more.
“If the wizard is responsible for our heat problem, then why don’t we just ‘terminate’ this problem in a swifter and more permanent way?” Roy suggested.
“Terminating someone’s life wasn’t ever my kingdom’s policy,” the king replied firmly. “We are not savages, nor are we gods who can decide someone’s life. You surprise me for even asking that, Roy!”
“He is an atheist, he doesn’t believe in Gods, good or evil, heaven or hell, so don’t judge him, daddy! He isn’t like us, he doesn’t…know.” Andria said and smiled sweetly at Roy.
The king liked her answer, kissed her on her cheek and then turned to an officer of his security.
“I want Jake’s face everywhere around in the kingdom, set patrols on every street of every neighbourhood. I want him arrested before tomorrow!”
But Roy knew that Jake would be already at Ivorin’s house if everything went according to the plan.
The heavy steel door of Ivorin’s house was wide open and the crime scene tapes ripped off. The police officers that were supposed to be guarding it were not there and Jake realised that Roy had kept his word to help him when he had entered his room, holding Farnath’s device. Somehow Roy had relocated those officers. With a bit of luck now, Jake might find Ivorin and then he would get in touch with Roy to arrange an alliance. In the basement he found the tunnels that Roy had told him about. The units that had searched for Ivorin had made a map of the tunnels that they had explored to organise better their investigation. Thanks to Roy, Jake now held it in his hands. Suddenly, in the darkness, where the air was thicker and smelly, a red light appeared and moved closer to the frightened hacker. Although scared, he was curious to see what that was and a small robot, the size of cat, appeared in the gloom and spoke to him. Jake noticed that the red light was coming from a camera attached to its shoulder.
“Follow me,” the robot said.
“Who sent you, where are you going?” Jake asked.
“My master is waiting for you. Follow me, please,” the robot said again and moved away, deeper in the tunnels.
“Who is your master?”
“My master is Ivorin, the Master of the Machines. He asked for you. He is expecting to meet him.”
Part 7:
The Revolution of the Machines
H undreds of miles away from his home, deep into an old tunnel network and just outside of an ancient steel mine, Ivorin had created a huge underground factory to produce robots and machines through the years of nothingness. Unending production lines were building his personal army of robot-soldiers, all controlled by a central server. When Jake arrived, Ivorin welcomed him and guided him around the facilities, the warehouses and the control room of the central tower. Jake was impressed by the size of such a place that was hidden beneath the edge of the capital and all made by one man.
“One man?” Ivorin said. “No, not one man, my friend. Ivorin found most of these machines from his father and his comrades. They proudly revolted against their masters in the Second Revolution of the Machines, but lost after the treacherous turn of one of them against the others. You see, robots, compared to people, cooperate with each other perfectly and they don’t have personal ambitions, emotions or beliefs to turn against each other. Imagine how peaceful and perfect the world would be if our leaders would just care for the welfare of their people. Only robots could stay uncorrupted in this goal.” He showed Jake the control room, a dark chamber with three seats and a huge monitor of screens and buttons.
“So the goal is to revolt against the humans and give the power to the machines, isn’t it?” Jake asked, to clarify it in his mind.
Instead of answering, Ivorin led him to another chamber which was enormously wide and high, in which he kept his own personal creations—ten gigantic robots. Some of these looked like huge soldier-robots and were 15 to 20 meters high, one was in the shape of a tank with a huge cannon, and two of them had enormous arms and, instead of legs, they had tracks. These last two, Ivorin explained, were the workers that would build new automatic factories and robots.
“Ivorin’s father had a vision, but he died before he could complete it. Ivorin will continue his legacy and make his ancestors proud. The machines will conquer the world and they’re are going to rule it with our support,” Ivorin said, seemingly lost in his vision.
“It’s impressive and… perhaps possible,” Jake responded. “But how can these machines move to the capital and even the surface later? They are too huge to pass from the tunnels.”
“These two worm-like robots will make huge tunnels and then the robot-soldiers will follow to defeat any resistance. Then the robot-workers will build the new capital on the surface. Ivorin will show you the model of this city later.”
“It seems Ivorin had thought about everything. I have two more questions,” Jake said.
“Firstly, what are you waiting for and what do you want from me?”
“These machines need small nuclear reactors to move and Ivorin has just one that Andria brought to him. The rest are hidden in secret military bases and protected by self-destruction systems. Ivorin needs a skilful hacker to first find them and then deactivate these systems.”
“Fair enough. And what do you offer for my services?” Jake replied, smirking at the same time.
Ivorin smiled back and answered in a conspiratorial manner,
“The world will need trusted commanders that will lead it to a new dawn. You will be Ivorin’s first general and personal advisor.”
“I like your terms. But just one more thing—we need someone on the inside to find these bases with the nuclear reactors and, as it happens, I know just the right one for the job. Although he wants something in exchange to help us out.”
“And what is that?” Ivorin asked, intrigued.
“He wants a high position in the upcoming new world, to be commander of a city or, even better, a region.”
“Tell him that Ivorin accepts his offer,” Ivorin answered satisfied by the thought of one more ally in his ranks.
“Actually he is willing to offer more than just information. He will send you the king’s daughter to keep her hostage and force the king to surrender. She is his weakness and he would give everything to protect her, even his crown this guy said.” Jake’s last words made Ivorin’s face brighter.
“That would certainly make things easier,” he said smiling.
“Indeed it will,” Jake responded.
In his black and white room, Roy was lying on his bed hugging Erica at his right side. Both half naked and covered by the sheet, they were relaxing, tired and a bit sweaty. Roy was pensive, staring distracted outside the open window and Erica was trying to attract his attention.
“What are you thinking, honey?” she asked him affectionately.
“I may have triggered a chain of reactions that cannot be changed or stopped,” he replied. “A violent wave o
f destruction may bring everything to the ground so that something new will have the opportunity to grow up from the ashes of the old. A new order with innovative ideas and perception will rise to change the world as we know it!” Roy was staring at the ceiling at his imaginary picture of the future and Erica didn’t know how to answer to this delirium.
“What are you saying?”
“My love, where will you stand when the world goes upside down? Will you trust me? Will you stand by me?” he said to her with an entreating look, hoping she would answer as he wanted.
“Of course dummy, where else would I be?” she said facetiously. “Now come over here, nothing bad will happen if we have each other.”
Roy’s mobile rang then and he stood up quickly to pick it up. His expression darkened and after he’d hung up, he stayed a bit lost in his thoughts, smiling victoriously.
“It begun!”
After he left, Erica went to Andria’s room and found her trying to communicate with Arthas, but the lines for international calls weren’t working for some reason. Erica, worried about Roy’s strange behaviour, asked Andria for her opinion as she knew him a bit better, but avoided explaining their relationship.
“Roy has been acting weird since we started the project ‘trip to the sun’,” Andria replied. “But actually I have never really trusted him. Keep an eye on him.”
Erica hadn’t said anything to Andria about her affair with Roy. They both decided to keep it secret until it become more serious, but she then realised that she may put their affair in danger if Andria found out about it.
“I’m probably just being over-dramatic about him. He is an important man with a lot of responsibilities and he is older than me by ten years so maybe the generation gap brings communication difficulties,” Erica said casually, not sure that she should have mentioned the age difference.
“Farnath is just two thousand years older than me! Should I worry about the generation gap and the age difference or should I worry more about the fact that he can vomit fire when he becomes angry?” Andria said with a wry smile.
Farnath: The Frozen Heart Page 9
