Second Contact

by Guerric Haché, Keezy Young

  Tanos was already speaking with Zhilik. “- and numbers - shit, she just collapsed! Ada?”

  Stars burst across her eyes, stars against a swimming colourless field that blotted out the world, but between the flickering she saw a crowd of golems and drones milling out of the facility and walking towards her, collecting in an evenly-spaced crowd around her.

  Sam was speaking, the voice going in and out. It sounded so silly, and Ada felt herself laughing. Something tickled her hands - the grass on the ground.

  “Ada? Ada? It’s no use.” Sam sounded confused or upset. She wondered why. Nothing was wrong. “What the hell are we going to do with her?”

  Tanos’ response was lost to the haze. The golems were staring at her, but they looked like people as their parts vanished and her mind filled in the gaps. They were tall, incredibly tall, far taller than she remembered them being. Maybe that was because her head was lying on the ground. Her brain was afuzz; it was comfortable here.

  She reached out for Sam, petting the ghost’s leg, laughing and pointing at the ancient automatons as they approached. “They look so serious -”

  Sam looked over and drew a sharp breath, but the automatons crowding around them did nothing at all. “Zhilik? Ada said something about numbers. Coordinates? What are those?”

  “Ada?” Zhilik’s voice sounded very distant. He must be yelling very loud, to be heard from across the strait. He asked something she didn’t catch. Not loud enough.

  Tanos answered. “Something about coordinates?”

  She tried to chase down her thoughts, but they were like tiny mice. Less furry. Coordinates. What did the golems want to know? She had to tell them - something. In her effort to remember she rolled over, and felt something soft and fragrant bump against her nose. Sam was trying to feed her something. Tanos and Zhilik were talking - Zhilik was speaking numbers. The golems were listening, it seemed. What did Sam want from her?

  “Ada, eat this. Come on.”

  What was it? She tried to open her mouth, but it was too tiring, and her head lolled to the side.

  Blueberries! She bit down on them, and on something harder as well, and Sam smacked her on the shoulder. “Don’t bite me you moron!”

  After she chewed and swallowed on the berries, she started to feel a bit better, and after a few moments she found she could keep her eyes open. It hadn’t occurred to her they had even been closed. She kept eating, and didn’t protest as Sam hauled her around. By the time she was fully aware of where she was, she was lying on the back of the hauler.

  Sam and Tanos were staring at her, both looking concerned. Sam was also scowling. “You overexerted yourself. I didn’t think coders could even do that.”

  Ada smiled. “It is the laziest gift.” She pulled her hand up to find there was no food in it. “Oh, um, do you have anymore -”

  “I don’t just walk around with pockets full of blueberries, Ada. That was a snack for myself later.” Sam didn’t look like she had wanted to share. “But we can’t have our sorceress fainting in the middle of a crowd of golems.”

  Golems. She looked around, and found all of the golems staring at her. It was creepy, in a way, their postures entirely still and their inhuman eyes fixed on her. “Wait, what are you waiting for?”

  The nearest golem spoke up. “We require assistance returning home, but map data suggests there is no land path to our destination. You have provided us with coordinates. Can you transport us there? Cash rewards will be provided.”

  Ada turned and looked at Sam and Tanos. “We’ll pack them on the ship. I think they’ll all fit.”

  The two exchanged glances, nervously looking at the golems. “It’ll be slow going back to the coast, with them all following on foot. They’ll never fit on the hauler.”

  Ada rested her head against the hauler’s cabin, trusting the metal to support her while her neck muscles were on the brink of collapse. She felt her brain swim around in her head. “I really don’t care. Drive. I’m tired.”

  Chapter 10

  Isavel tried not to let her eyes roam the opulence of the world around them, keeping them fixed on the strange woman cradling the walker. There was something off about her, like the light slid off her skin the wrong way, or the air around her curled unnaturally away from her movements. She looked down at Isavel and protectively reached her hands around the walker’s chest.

  “Who are you, human?”

  Isavel opened her mouth, wondering how to answer the question in a way this creature would understand, but the walker spoke first. “She’s the White Witch. Tevoria, don’t worry.”

  Tevoria seemed less worried than territorial, but she leaned back to let the walker sit up, and he did so with a heavy sigh. His shoulders hung, dragging the curve of his spine forward, and he looked deflated. Defeated.

  “You here to kill me? What for? I haven’t done anything.”

  Isavel allowed herself to glance around, but while there were a few human shapes moving beyond paper-thin walls or out in distant, unreal gardens, they were alone here. She faced him again. “At the very least, you stole that walker’s body from a living person.”

  The ghost frowned a bit, as though he hadn’t considered that. “But in that regard I’m no different from any other ghost. Why hunt me down? I haven’t allowed any recent possessions.”

  Isavel continued to wonder what she would gain by killing him. “People expect me to kill you. I have an image to maintain.”

  The pale, pointy-eared woman behind him tilted her body sideways, in an oddly predatory move, and kept her eyes fixed on Isavel. The walker pursed his lips and exhaled. “Why maintain it?”

  “Because I need to be able to slow down the army that’s marching on Campus.”

  “Campus?” He looked even more confused. “That’s got nothing to do with either of us. What do you care about Campus?”

  She took a step forward. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

  Tevoria smiled, the green of her eyes piercing. “The truly important answers are the ones you hesitate to give.”

  She pointed at Tevoria. “What is she? A ghost?”

  The walker chuckled, glancing at Tevoria. “No, no. She’s a… well, she only exists in this world, of all the thousands. I believe the fashion right now is to call them spirits. She was never human.”

  “And yet for all that I can still kill you in my home, human.”

  Isavel stared at the spirit, wondering just what possessed it to cling so closely to a walker - a ghost walker, too. She turned her eyes back on the walker; he looked weak, tired. The spirit might be dangerous, but he didn’t look like a threat. And yet. “I have no intrinsic interest in killing you, walker. Do you have a better idea for how I could slow down a force of humans marching south across the island?”

  The walker blinked. “Er, if you’re proposing a collaboration, I think some introductions are in order. My name is Erran.”

  Isavel crossed her arms. She still wasn’t sure what she was doing, but if their interests were aligned she might be able to get more out of him than she would if she simply cut off his head. She hoped she wouldn’t regret it. She let him extend his hand into the air for a moment before pulling it back untouched.

  “Well, to business then, White Witch. What do you want me to do, exactly? Attack the army with demons? I’m warning you, I’ve only been a walker for a few months, I don’t know all the tricks yet.”

  “I want you tell me what you can offer. I’m looking for anything that could slow down a horde of vengeful people. If you don’t have any ideas, I’ll just have to hope your head will do.”

  Tevoria hissed at her, but Erran grinned and held up a hand at her. “How many people in this army? Thousands?”

  “A few.”

  “Then I can’t stop them violently. You’ll need to make them want to wait.” He frowned. “Would they wait on the promise of better weapons?”

  Better weapons? The thought of arming them even further felt absurd, but when he f
ramed it that way, she had to wonder. Would they wait? And if they did, would the delay be enough to offset the extra damage they’d be able to do when they reached Campus? It would if Ada could evacuate the city fast enough, and the weapons were never used. “What kind of weapons?”

  “You ever seen a turtle?”

  She blinked. She had seen plenty of turtles, mostly handspan-sized ones with bright red patches behind their eyes. “Of course. They’re not exactly fierce.”

  “Imagine a turtle made of metal, with guns instead of a head. The spirits call them tanks. There are a lot of them still sealed away in the old places of the world, and a few aren’t far from Campus. They’re not the height of ancient weaponry, but they’re dangerous, and they tended to be sealed away in well-guarded locations we haven’t disturbed. Most of the bigger toys were found a long time ago.”

  Toys. He said the word with wistfulness; perhaps it was no wonder he looked tired. He must be incredibly old. “How much time would these tanks give us?”

  “Depends on where the army is.”

  “They’re crossing the narrow part of the strait, up north. If they haven’t started now, they will soon.”

  Erran rubbed his chin, glancing at her and keeping Tevoria from the corner of his eye. “We can take things as slow as we want. Tell them to wait before they reach Campus, let them sweat a day or two. Maybe three.”

  “Three days?” Isavel crossed her arms. That wasn’t much, but it was something . “That’s it?”

  “In my experience you’d be hard-pressed to keep anybody waiting more than three days on promises alone. Of course, once they’ve got the weapons, give them a day to properly test them out, at least - that buys you more time.” The walker suddenly grinned at her. “Then, if you really want, you could turn the hulks against your army friends and start shooting them. The things are pretty hard to take apart, you could do a lot of damage.”

  “I’m trying to prevent death and destruction.” Isavel sighed. Three days was better than nothing. “If you think you can win me three days, you’re coming with me.”

  Tevoria bared her teeth again. “Do not hurt him, human.”

  “If he doesn’t try to stab me in the back, he’ll have nothing to worry about.”

  Erran shrugged. “I’m not much use with any kind of blade, to be honest. I assume you want me to get up, then?”

  Isavel nodded. They needed to get back to the army as fast as possible, to get them to hold still or at least hold off of Campus if they reached it before Isavel returned. “Let’s do it in the real world, please.” She waved her hands at the lacquered furniture and silken bedding. “This place is distracting.”

  He glanced at Tevoria. “Well, she’s right about one thing.”

  The spirit smiled, and Isavel averted her eyes as the two kissed messily and loudly in front of her. It stung ever so slightly; would that everyone had someone to worry about them, even if they weren’t entirely human.

  Then the realm suddenly dissolved into a lattice of aquamarine cubes, and the real world in all its roughness and dust and texture swamped Isavel’s senses again. Tevoria had disappeared along with the rest of the walk, and Erran stood alone in the center of an empty room. It was a darker and dimmer place.

  “Isavel?”

  Isavel turned around to find Hail staring at her. In a moment of panic she realized Hail could have been watching them almost the entire time, and Isavel would have had no clue about it - it was impossible to see outside the walk, after all. Panic seized her; had she said anything wrong? Could anything be misconstrued? “Hail? When did you get here?”

  “I heard fighting and made my way into the building. I shot two ghosts, then I heard voices talking.” Hail glanced at the ghost. “I think I heard most of the conversation.”

  Erran raised his eyebrows at her, but Isavel tried to keep a smile. “So. Gods willing, we might have another way to delay the battle between Campus and Glass Peaks. What do you think of the plan?”

  Hail’s eyes shifted uneasily between the ghost and Isavel. “I won’t trust a ghost, but I trust in your judgement, Herald.”

  Good. That was all she needed, for now at least. She smiled and nodded curtly, turning to Erran. “Erran, this is my friend Hail. She’ll probably kill you if you do anything stupid, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “I generally expect people to want to kill me.” He glanced happily at Hail. “Why do you think I’ve spent these past weeks living in the walk with a spirit for company?”

  Hail glanced at Isavel. “How much will we have to listen to him talk? I don’t like his voice.”

  “Hey!” The walker scowled. “You keep poor company, White Witch.”

  “Don’t call the Herald that.”

  “Isavel, then, I believe it was.”

  “Or that. I’ll -”

  Isavel sighed and shook her head, making for the door. They didn’t have time to smooth over the discomfort of working with a ghost. It was easy enough for her, if he delivered on his promises, and considering her track record of killing his peers she felt he had good reason to try to cooperate. The rest of them would have to follow suit.

  As they emerged from the ruins, she turned to glance at the great, dark angel painted on the sides of one of the walls. She tapped Erran on the shoulder. “Who did that? Was it you?”

  He glanced up and chuckled. “No, not me. Some of the other ghosts who came north to find me.” His gaze fell a little. “You might have killed them, actually. People sleep scattered around the building, it’s hard to know where they all go.”

  She glared at him. “I didn’t need that clarification.”

  “Didn’t you?” Erran shrugged, though he stepped away from her noticeably. “I thought it might help put things in perspective.”

  She didn’t speak to him for the rest of the hike back up the hill. When they found Zoa and Ren still guarding the hauler, she told them what little they needed to know - he was the walker, and was agreeing to give them weapons in exchange for his life. Simple and plausible, and the coders nodded along in deference to her leadership, but they remained wary. It was always a risk that a walker might suddenly enter the thousand worlds along with anyone close by, and who knew what could happen then.

  As the hauler slowly began to skim back into the woods, towards the northeastern coast where the army should be making landfall, Isavel and Hail sat across from the walker. Isavel watched him as he looked around, and after a moment she realized there was a light flickering in his eyes, as though he were seeing something beyond this world. He almost certainly was.

  “Take us somewhere open.”

  He blinked. Hail stared at her. “What?”

  Isavel nodded at him, and pointed to the trees they were carefully navigating. “Take us to a world where we can travel faster, in a straight line.”

  A smile slowly crept over his face, as his eyes danced with the light of other worlds. “Any world, so long as it’s faster?”

  There was something about what he was saying. “A safe world.”

  He nodded. “Elysium?”

  She felt her muscles tense up immediately, and her gaze fell on Hail. Hail’s eyes had widened. She looked… Isavel wasn’t sure what the words were. She could imagine the feeling - she still felt echoes of it herself. What it was like to be given a glimpse of the world that awaited you after death. “Hail? Do you want to see Elysium?”

  Hail stammered, momentarily flustered, and she started shaking her head side to side. “I - I don’t know. Should I? I… I do want to know, but… will we see the dead?”

  “Of course you’ll see the dead. Some of them, at least.” Erran’s answer was almost impatient. “What do you expect to see there? You won’t see any particular dead you’re worried about, though, unless we’re incredibly unlucky. Or lucky, as the case may be.”

  Hail glanced at Isavel, biting her lip, and nodded wordlessly. Isavel hadn’t expected this; it was worth warning the coders about. She thumped the back of th
e cabin, and the hauler drew to a standstill, with Zoa leaning out the door to look at her. “Isavel? Is something wrong?”

  Isavel watched the coder’s face carefully. “No. But we can go faster if we travel in another world, and… Zoa, do you and Ren want to see Elysium?”

  Zoa’s eyes burst open, as though she had never truly opened them before. She stammered and shifted as Ren awkwardly leaned over the seat behind her and stuck his head out as well. “Elysium? Did you say we can see it?”

  Isavel nodded. “He can take us through. It’ll be faster, he says, than travelling here.”

  Ren clapped Zoa on the shoulders. “Zoa, we have to go. Come on!”

  Zoa looked nervous, but nodded. “Is it… safe?”

  Erran chimed in from behind. “It’s the safest place. It was made for dead people. They’ve already suffered enough.”

  It was made. Of course it was - by whom? She wondered if he knew. But the coders were in agreement, slamming the door to the hauler shut again, and at a nod from Isavel the walker let the worlds meld again, scintillating blue-breen bursting out from him like angular fog and enveloping the entire hauler in the broad bubble of another world. The last world anyone would ever see.

  The feeling was familiar, but the details here were vastly different than in the coastal foothills. Underneath the hauler a vast savannah of soft teal grass roiled in a warm winds, each blade waist-high and soft-edged. Great shaggy animals with light brown coats wandered in the distance, the sea of grass gently parting for them and closing seamlessly behind them as though they had never even been there. Far beyond, breaking up from the distant plains, towers clustered together and rose high against the horizon, glowing from every window.

  It was night here, as it was in the real world, but the sky here burst with colour. An endless expanse of stars blue and yellow and red slowly winked in and out of existence, in every moment seeming to twinkle in some unified pattern that was just elusive enough to evade understanding. Bursts of stardust lit up the upper atmosphere with ripples of brilliant light that wove and threaded themselves across the sky before disappearing again. The night was alive with sounds, animals and rustling leaves, each individually quiet but woven together in a susurrating blanket of life that kept the ears and the mind warm.