The Phoenix Fallacy_Book III_Magnus

by Jon Sourbeer,

  Magnus seemed unsure for a moment, and then he nodded to Norm, who slowly lowered his pistol. With the pistol pointed safely at the ground, Natalie lifted the blade, ever so slowly, from Magnus’ throat, and stood up.

  She offered him her arm to Magnus, “And call me Natalie.”

  Magnus took her arm gladly and stood, taking a deep breath, enjoying his freedom. He paused and stared down at her, they were mere inches apart. She did not turn her head, but stared upward at him with a mixture of defiance and curiosity.

  Magnus smiled, “Natalie, then. I suppose you can call me Magnus.”

  A missile exploded overhead with a fiery burst.

  “Well,” she took a step back, as if suddenly aware of the collapsing city around her, “I think it’s time we get the heck out of here.”

  Chapter 13: The Burn

  “Victoria, are you there?” Magnus shouted into his communicator as the three ran through the crumbling streets. Natalie ran in front, Norm hot on his heels.

  There was a brief pause and then, in a whispered voice, “I’m here Magnus. Can you make it to the rendezvous?”

  “I’m on my way,” he said between breaths, “but I have a couple of extra passengers who need to hitch a ride as well.”

  “Magnus, I can’t afford the risk of—“

  “I don’t have time for arguments, Victoria!” Magnus yelled.

  Middleton sounded irritable, “I can take them, but you owe me, Magnus, and I won’t let you forget it.”

  “How long do I have?”

  “Forty-five minutes.” Middleton sniffed.

  “See you in forty-four.” Magnus said.

  Their break-neck pace made Norm’s legs burn, but he was too terrified to stop. “Can we make it?” Norm asked Natalie between gulping breaths.

  “How far is it?” she asked easily, her breathing even.

  Magnus glanced at a sector marker as they passed, “About 16 kilometers,” he spat the words out between breaths.

  Norm took in a large breath, ready to ask the question on everyone’s mind.

  “I can,” Natalie said simply.

  “You’ll need me to escape with Middleton,” Magnus commented.

  “There is more than one way for an Adept to escape this city,” she responded without hesitation.

  Magnus and Norman nodded grimly in understanding.

  Groups of S.T.s rushed by them in all directions as they pushed forward, like snakes without heads. Some moved with purpose, while others were clearly and simply panicked, lashing out at everything in their path. Natalie pulled them into the space between two close buildings, a small arch giving them protection from the constant rain of debris.

  Norm collapsed against a wall, clutching his chest. Magnus wiped sweat from his head, breathing hard and glancing at Natalie. She poked her head out, breathing just as calmly as before, and watched the artillery exploding overhead. The three stared in wonder as the crown of a superscraper fell in massive chunk, crashing through the factory level and leaving a gaping hole in the causeway.

  “I can only hope the weapon explodes before it is crushed,” Norm said to Magnus.

  Magnus shrugged, “I’m not sure it will matter. It appears Titan has convinced the other Corporations that it is far better to annihilate Phoenix from afar and pick up the pieces than risk open warfare between each other as they scramble for spoils. Besides, we can’t offer any resistance – coming into the city would only risk unnecessary losses from a cornered populace. By the time they send in the troops, I don’t think anyone will ever know our plans.”

  Natalie listened to the breathless conversation curiously, “I’m surprised the Corporations would listen to Titan. Won’t Titan simply become the greatest threat now that only they possess the Phoenix miracle compound?”

  “Oh, I don’t think Titan will be much of a threat soon,” Magnus said. “Stay with us and perhaps you can find out.”

  Natalie raised a hand, peering back out from the alley, and pulled back. Fifteen or so S.T.s scrambled by them in a panic, running towards the center of the city. Natalie waved and looked over her shoulder, “Time to go.”

  Chapter 14: Shame

  “So Norm, what is the key to the life extension treatment?” Celes asked.

  Norm paled, and looked very sick. He sat down, as if overcome with exhaustion and simply said, “I think I will tell you tomorrow.” He avoided looking at Janus.

  Colonel Keats looked concerned and glanced at the Praetor, “Very well, Norm…”

  “No,” Janus was standing up, leaning over the table, “Finish it.”

  Norm’s head shot up and his eyes begged for mercy. Janus stared piercingly at him, until Norm was forced to look away.

  “Janus!” Celes said. “Colonel Keats—”

  “Knows that time is crucial for us right now,” Janus interjected, “And he is hiding something.” Norm lowered his head. “There is no time for this - we need you to give us the truth!” Janus’ gaze rested on Norm.

  “Perhaps we should hear what the Praetor thinks,” Major Northcott offered.

  “I think that I would like to know what fate befell my daughter,” the Praetor said commandingly, nodding with approval to Janus.

  All eyes fell upon Norm.

  Norm withered, his eyes red, “So many… terrible things. Always a coward, never standing up to—to him.” He shook his head and placed it in his hand, casting he gaze to the table. “I…I lied to all of you earlier – or at least, I let you deceive yourselves.” The group sat forward. The Praetor and Wouris scowled. He faltered, “I was… I was ashamed. I didn’t want to tell you the truth, just as Janus said.”

  “You have your mother’s perception,” he looked sorrowfully at Janus. “It is too bad the one person she…” he paused again.

  Janus waited a moment, and then said in a hard voice, “I need to know everything, Norm, no matter how much pain it causes you.”

  “Janus!” Celes and Clara exclaimed together. Clara cleared her throat uncomfortably.

  Celes reached a hand towards the elderly man, “But why, Norm?” She asked in a kind voice. “Why are you so ashamed?”

  Norm smiled at her, and his voice became a little stronger, “You see, Magnus was referring to the fact that Phoenix, did not, nor ever, possess a miracle ‘drug’ that could extend human life.”

  “But I thought…” Marcus said.

  “All a ruse designed to throw people off the track. Only Phoenix Executors, myself, and unbeknownst to them, Middleton, knew the truth.”

  “What about the byproduct drug that caused aging, the increased productivity of Phoenix, and the extended lives of the Executors?”

  “All of that is true.” Norman said, with pain in his eyes.

  “But…” Lyn began to stand up, and then sat down, her face screwed up in thought.

  Norm raised a hand, “Listen to it all before you speak. Phoenix did spend generations researching a chemically based anti-aging drug, but it never successfully developed one. After years of fruitless searching, we decided to try a new approach. Praetor Jennings, do you remember when Nanytes became widely available for medical treatment?”

  The Praetor thought for a long while, “It was when I was a boy that I first heard about the technology – probably 8 or 9. It was only a rumor at the time though. One of our trades with another Corporation, Cerberus, I believe, gave us the technology, but that was later, after I joined ODIN.”

  “But Nanytes are dangerous in too great of doses and are far too costly for—” he paused, staring at Norm.

  “Precisely – Nanytes. Prohibitively expensive. More expensive than Immutium per gram.”

  “But, everyone has access to Nanytes, Norm,” Celes exclaimed, “And we all know how dangerous they are in large or long-term doses. How could they possibly by the Phoenix secret to eternal life?”

  “I can explain that,” Norm nodded. “The Praetor said that he first heard rumors of the technology when he was a boy. That is because Nanytes
were stolen from Phoenix by Corporate spies – or nearly so, many, many years ago.”

  “When the theft occurred, the Overlord of Intelligence, was dismissed for the loss, and I, fresh from our victory at Lightemann’s, was given his place. I quickly concocted a story to cover up our new method of preserving the lives of our most valuable people: I created rumors of the ‘Phoenix Tears’ serum and spread them throughout the city. And I publicly spoke of a new technology, Nanytes, which I promised our citizens would eventually lead to great medical advances – but were unfortunately quite impractical now, due to their expense, and their dangerous, or even deadly side effects, in anything other than the smallest of doses. Even the side effects we mentioned were all true – anything in a high enough dose can kill you. The rumors, and the speech, spread like wildfire. Corporations are like sieves, you can’t prevent certain things from getting out. Soon everyone knew about Nanytes, but no one cared – everyone wanted to know about Phoenix Serum.”

  Norm shook his head, “And then Magnus found our thief – trying to board a trade frigate headed back to Cerberus.”

  “Middleton,” the group interjected.

  Norm nodded grimly.

  Janus sat back in his chair, “So the Nanytes were safe, but the rumors persisted.”

  Marcus looked skeptical, “Did no one think to test them?”

  Norm gave him a hard look, “Have you? Has anyone? Few people even know that Nanytes are actually an extremely complex daedulus system, let alone how to make them – and among the privileged few with access to them, most let machines made years ago do it. Who would volunteer for something already known to be a sure death? It didn’t hurt that we had Middleton helping to stoke the fire.”

  “But what about the Corporations?” Marcus said, still skeptical.

  “They would never test it,” Celes said simply. Janus looked at her in surprise. “An Overlord would never test something that everyone already knew to be a failure. He would look like a fool.”

  Norm nodded in agreement, “The Corporations, although willing to sacrifice their own, would hardly waste the resources or energy. Over time, the rumors became truth, with no one the wiser.”

  He shook his head angrily, “My crowning achievement, destruction of the truth.”

  “But what about the population, then, Norm? You said the people of Phoenix became healthier,” Clara asked.

  Norm cleared his throat, “I did not say healthier.” Silence fell over the room.

  “Phoenix’s years of searching for a chemical agent were not entirely fruitless. We developed a rather unique compound that seemed quite useless at the time, but soon discovered an invaluable use with Nanytes – Electrogel. Necessary to keep Nanytes active, Electrogel, when put through its final preparations, produces a unique waste-product.”

  “Yes, a carcinogen,” Keats added, “We have to make sure it doesn’t touch our water supplies when we recycle it for the next batch.”

  “How did you figure that out?” Norm asked, surprised.

  “We once had a leak in one of the disposal lines from the Executor’s ward at Medusa,” Keats said, “We found a veritable army of dead rats in the conduit next to it – they had died from a lack of food and organ failure. We never figured out why they kept going back to it.”

  Norm let his eyes fall to the table, “It’s a carcinogen with several useful properties.”

  “What do you mean, Norm?” Clara asked.

  Norm met his eyes with hers, and then leaned forward across the table. He raised his hands as if he did not recognize them. “When administered to a human being, it produces wonderous short term effects. Increased speed, strength, stamina, even mental clarity. Unfortunately, it also causes a person to age at six times the normal rate, but not in an outwardly visible way. A person under the influences of the drug would feel wonderful, while their internal organs aged and slowly failed. In children, the growth is based on the age of the brain, and they would rapidly hit adulthood. You have seen the results of this poison at Lightemann’s and under Phoenix. I told you that Phoenix quickly rose to power, becoming more productive than any other. I let you believe it was due to the serum – but we all know that would be impossible. Nanytes are too expensive – it was bad enough providing them for our Executors and certain Overlords.”

  “So the Executors of Phoenix had a method to preserve their lives, but what about the people of Phoenix and Titan Corporation?” Keats asked.

  Norm stared at the table, “What I did not tell you, was that we also administered the carcinogen to our general population, at a minute dose. We filtered it into our water supply.”

  “That’s monstrous.”

  Norm looked up, trying to identify the speaker.

  “You must understand – it seemed reasonable at the time. Everyone was happier, felt healthier, performed better. Phoenix profited, and the people were glad of its success.”

  “Surely some people noticed the effects? The changes?”

  “It was subtle – not many, and those that did felt great. I’m sure there were some who suspected the water supply, but the amounts were nearly imperceptible. It would take sophisticated equipment to detect it or remove it – usually a few doses were required for the chemical to build up in the body. It took careful regulation to manage it. And stopping the drug was no pleasant trip, either. It usually results in vomiting, shivers, and the like.”

  “That’s why we got sick on the flight back from Phoenix!” Wouris exclaimed, “The water we drank. The drug must still be in the supply, even after all these years!”

  “You took the drug?” Norm said, worry across his face.

  “Once,” Janus said, “When we found Phoenix. We felt great for a while and all became sick on the way back to Valhalla.”

  Norm rubbed his chin, “And you felt its effects? Odd, it usually takes several doses before symptoms begin to kick in.”

  “And what about you?” Janus asked coldly.

  Norm’s face fell, “We were protected from the effects by our Nanyte injections.” Norm looked thoughtful, “Magnus always seemed particularly vulnerable to it too, if he missed an injection for some reason.”

  “And the formula that Magnus passed on to Titan?” The Praetor asked.

  “Was the formula for the carcinogen.”

  Hawkes muttered, “Disgusting.”

  “I do not deny it. Nor will I ever expect forgiveness for it,” Norm responded, “But I am not the one you need to be concerned about.”

  “Magnus,” Wouris said.

  Norm stood up, looking Janus in the eye, “Magnus envisioned everything from the beginning. Every move was calculated. Titan became an easy target to preserve Phoenix’s power. Titan could even test it and wouldn’t know its harmful effects unless they studied it for years. Magnus even gave them specific instructions on the formula’s use - perfectly calculated so that right about the time came for Phoenix to rise to power—“

  “The people of Titan would begin dropping dead,” Wouris finished.

  “All those people…” Celes moaned. Lyn excused herself – Ramirez followed her out.

  “So why not give all the other Corporations the formula and let them die off as well?” Marcus asked.

  The Praetor grimaced, “What is the point to being a conqueror if there is no one left to rule?” The room fell silent. Throughout the discussion, Praetor Jennings’ eyes had never left Norm, “Finish telling me what happened to my daughter.”

  Chapter 15: To Join the Dust

  Natalie raised a hand, stopping them in the swirling cloud of dust that now permeated Phoenix. Norman gulped in breaths of cool air, covering his mouth with the sleeve of his Overlord uniform, blind and deaf to the destruction around him. His mind was blank except for the pain of running further. Natalie took a few steps away from him, listening to some imperceptible sound.

  “What is it?” he gasped, “More Adepts?” He looked at Magnus, as he too huffed for breath.

  Natalie shook her head, “N
o, too many Zeuses, and no Adept fire. It’s S.T.s battling S.T.s.” They crept up to a fallen obelisk that spilled across the road – it had been a monument to the greatness of Phoenix. Two groups of S.T.s fired at each other across an open plaza. A blasted fountain occupied the center, and one of the groups of S.T.s was under cover behind the broken Phoenix statuette that had crowned it. It had been knocked a short distance from its stand, and now water burst forth from the cracked head. A much larger group of S.T.s was pushing in on the smaller group, slowly advancing.

  “Medusa Troopers,” Magnus hissed in the direction of the larger S.T. force, “battling a small contingent of Phoenix S.T.s.”

  “But why?” Natalie asked, “This whole area is still being bombarded.” To accentuate her point, a forceful blast rocked them, and a causeway materialized from the dust above, plummeting, shattering, and crashing, only to disappear back into the dust.

  “No doubt they’re searching for the Phoenix Tears,” Magnus coughed from the plume.

  “That‘s suicide!” Natalie whispered urgently.

  “Probably, but it is likely they face the same fate if they return empty handed. It costs the Executors little. The other Corporations will have similar, small S.T. battle groups scouring the city before the dust settles and their activities become known,” Magnus whispered.

  Natalie shook her head, “I feel sorry for them.”

  “We need to find a way around,” Magnus replied.

  “No time,” Norm interjected, “I recognize this plaza. See that statue of the Phoenix those S.T.s are hiding behind?” He paused to hack some dust and pressed his cloth sleeve closer, “This is Firebird Square, one of the original centers of the city. It was built before the great expansion. Only three thoroughfares pass through this part of the sector, and all converge here. If we try to go around, we will add kilometers to the journey.”

  “Then we will have to find a way to eliminate the Medusa S.T.s,” Magnus said.