Inescapable Arsenal

by Jeffery H. Haskell

  “I guess it did. Maybe trying to fight the future is pointless if the outcome we’re trying to prevent happens sooner or later anyway.”

  Sooner or later… “Tessa, let me know if anything changes and thank you.” I throw my arms around her neck and hug her before she can protest.

  “Hey now, I’m not into girls.” She pushes me away.

  “It’s called friendship, Tessa. Read a book for Pete’s sake.” I wheel away, leaving her wide-eyed and stunned. “Epic, prep the jet. Is the armor clean?” I slip on my glasses so I can see his response.

  The Emjet is orbiting the hospital awaiting your arrival. Yes, the suit is cleaned and repairs and refits have been made. May I inquire as to our destination?

  “Greece. I want to see the Oracle of Delphi.” If there were ever words I thought I wouldn’t speak, those had to be them.

  We are in a stable orbit of Delphi. Airspace is clear for now. Stealth systems operating at 100%. May I ask why we are not notifying the local government of our arrival?

  “Easy, I didn’t want to go through airport security.” The way the armor goes on in the plane is vastly different than the workshop. I have to say, I think I like it a lot more. The forward most chair on the left is mine, even painted red and white so people know.

  I’m starting to rethink my policy about crafting the Emjet out of Titanium Tungsten-Carbide. If I did refit the Emjet, I could fly into space with my own shuttle. The possibilities flooded my mind and I spent the last hour drawing all kinds of designs. We could go to Mars… heck, the possibilities are endless. It also raises a lot of questions.

  Like, how do the aliens travel the span of the Galaxy? We know our nearest neighbors have no life. And if they’ve cracked FTL then we’re toast because there is no way we can beat someone who is advanced enough to use faster than light travel.

  Amelia, we have arrived.

  “Thanks, Epic. File this all away,” I gesture to my tablet. “On the server at home. Make it a priority and start running numbers. The moon might just be the beginning.”

  I swore I’d never let anyone have the secret of my armor but… colonization. I don’t know a single sci-fi nerd or geek who hasn’t dreamed of that reality.

  I shake my head, focus Amelia! “Epic, initiate!”

  The chair lays back in a slow, steady motion until I am in a supine prostrate position. The chair sinks into the deck, splitting as it does so, and the armor slides and locks into place around me. There’s a kick as I’m shot out of the underside of the jet. My HUD boots to life as the faceplate clears to reveal Delphi. The last time I was here was with Sydney. When he showed me the secret to his armor.

  I hadn’t considered coming back, but with Kate hurt… I need some reassurance I’m on the right path. It isn’t as if she left me a phone number to call.

  We drop from a thousand feet. The altitude vanishes in a few heartbeats and I hit the ground with a shudder. It is exactly as I remember, unchanged. Of course, it has been like this for thousands of years.

  Epic pulls the video up from our previous visit showing me precisely where we walked and exactly what Sydney touched. All of this presupposes she even wants to see me. We never did quite figure out the trick she did to have sunlight in the cave but also have 100% signal suppression. She claimed pocket dimension but… I don’t know. Shaking my head I reach for the place Sydney pressed. Before my hand touches it, the ground shakes and lowers. Figures.

  The cave is the same as I remember. Epic kills the video letting me take in the sight uninterrupted. A waterfall in the far corner fills a pond and both have this eerie blue light emanating from behind them. A beam of sunlight illuminates the figure kneeling next to the water running her hands along the surface.

  Uh, what?

  “Hello, Amelia.” Her voice is more alto than I remember. As she stands I don’t see the child from last time, but a young woman, perhaps my age. I can see the little girl who she had been in the very grown-up woman in front of me. As if she grew up in the space of a few months… and not just ‘up’.

  I nod uncomfortably. “Uh, hello, Pythia?”

  She smiles her eyes shining in the light. “Yes, I’m sorry if my appearance makes you uncomfortable. Let me put on a coat.”

  She isn’t naked… per se. Just… the white cotton robe she wears does little to hide her. She walks over to the corner and slips on a Northface jacket. Don’t ask me why she has one, it takes me by surprise.

  “Open faceplate.” The sliver portion of my helmet slides up so I can speak face to face. “You’ve changed?”

  “Do you not approve?”

  “Only if it isn’t a good thing.”

  She gestures for me to come and sit. The table that reminded me of an ancient feast hall is gone, replaced by a far more modern roundtable. No cornucopia of meats and fruit this time, just open, hot bags of fast food and a pizza that smells far better than any pizza has a right to. Now I’m thoroughly confused. I sit down, slide a Coke over and wait for her to explain. She just stares at me, unblinking with her larger than normal eyes.

  I can’t take it anymore and I look away to take a drink. “Why is everything so different?”

  “I am a reflection, a shade if you will. Sent here by Apollo to guide mankind. But I can’t do it alone.” I’ve heard the spiel before. Priestess of Apollo blah blah all knowing. She continues talking but the corners of her mouth turn up enough to make me think she can read my mind. “However, that is one part of who I am. My Champion determines the rest.”

  I jerk my head around. Champion? Sydney said she would choose another. I just assumed when she had, we would know. Not a lot of Greek-themed superheroes running around. “You’ve chosen a new champion? Where is he?”

  “Not here. He’s training with Athena.”

  This again. “Right. So your new champion, he influences your appearance?”

  She nods, “Sydney needed a daughter to protect. A little girl he could sacrifice for. It helped him through the death of his own daughter.”

  Oh. I hadn’t known. I can only imagine how much that had to have sucked. “What does your new champion need, a girlfriend?”

  She laughs and I swear if we put her and Kate in a room the guys would split fifty/fifty. “More than you know. But not quite. He needs someone to impress and at the same time, validation for the work he has done.”

  Validation in the form of Jessica Rabbit telling him he’s a stud… okay, whatever gets them going but this isn’t what I’m here for.

  “You wish to know if you’ve changed anything?”

  I try not to snarl. I need to develop telepathic powers so I can constantly ask and answer people’s questions before they have them. “Kate was hurt, badly. It’s my fault, I don’t know if she’ll live.” I hold up my hand, “I don’t want you to tell me that, it isn’t why I’m here.” Now it’s her turn to be surprised.

  “You don’t want to know if your friend lives or dies?”

  I shake my head. “No. I just want to know if you still can’t see the future. You told me that if I continued on my crusade mankind’s future ended. Well, clearly I continued.” I shrug.

  “It isn’t that simple. Last time you were here I told you I’m somewhat omnipotent. I can see possible futures, the most likely outcomes of actions, that sort of thing.” I nod. “That isn’t entirely true. Let me ask you a question. If you boil water at what temperature will you convert it to gas?”

  I’m taken aback by the sudden shift in topic. “Uh, that depends on the altitude.”

  “But I bet you can tell me what temperature at any altitude, am I correct?”

  I nod.

  “The future is like that. I can see where it’s going. People make decisions like throwing stones in a river. Sometimes those ripples change the course, sometimes they don’t. After the alien probe hit Seattle I discovered why I couldn’t see past a certain point. Now I can.”

  “How?”

  “Once it landed on Earth the aliens became the dom
ain of Apollo, exposing them to my power.”

  I smile, “This is great. How do we win?”

  “I don’t think you can.” She shakes her head with a sad smile.

  “No. There has to be a way. A piece of tech, a weapon, what about your new Protector?”

  She looks to the waterfall for a moment her eyes glistening with the onset of tears, or did they always look like that?

  “It isn’t as simple as me saying, ‘build this or shoot that’. People make their own decisions. Often people make decisions that affect their lives the most when they aren’t even paying attention. I can’t change the future by telling you to shoot something. Only you can change the future by changing you.”

  Anger and frustration bubble up inside of me. I’m so sick of vague warnings and cryptic messages. Can’t someone just say, ‘Point a missile at these coordinates and fire.’ “Fine, tell me what to change on who and I will.”

  She shakes her head, reaching out to rest a hand on the armor. “You’ve built something magnificent. If you were alive two thousand years ago I think Apollo would have taken you to wed. You’re smart, clever, but just like everyone else, Amelia. You won’t change. You don’t think you need to. No one ever does.” She says the last part with a sigh like this isn’t the first time she’s had this conversation.

  Everyone changes, it is the universal constant. I’m 21 I will be an entirely different person by the time I’m 40. I know that.

  She shakes her head again, “Change because of time is different than change because of need. Tell me, Amelia. Why did you build your armor?”

  “To find my parents,” I answer automatically.

  “And if you had never lost your parents…”

  “I guess I wouldn’t have built it.”

  “Probably, but you would’ve invented other great things. That is just how your mind works. The loss of your parents forced change upon you, but tell me, when is the last time you found yourself insufficient and decided to change?”

  I opened my mouth to answer but I can’t think of a time. Surely, there has been some point in my life where I decided I wasn’t good enough at something and changed it? Somehow I don’t think ‘becoming a better chemist’ is what she means.

  “I can answer for you, never. Like virtually everyone you think who you are is all you can be. You should be appreciated for that and forgiven your mistakes because you ‘tried your best.’ It doesn’t work that way. A crux is coming, Amelia, one your armor and brilliance cannot solve. One, no superpower in the world can solve. A problem that will only be overcome by you not being you.”

  I bite my tongue trying to not to raise my voice, “How the hell am I supposed to not be me? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Not everything has to. Hence why human history is so full of the same tragedies over and over. Only you can change who you are, Amelia. Dig deep and when you think all hope is lost, remember, humans can choose to be different. They just don’t.”

  I sigh. “I hate all this destiny crud.”

  “Fate’s a fickle bitch.” I look up sharply at her surprising turn of phrase. Her mouth quirks upward and I can’t help but smile.

  “Anything else you can tell me?”

  She shakes her head, “I fear I’ve told you too much already. Doubt and fear of making a decision are just as bad as making the wrong one.”

  “When your new Protector is ready, send him my way.”

  Her eyes shine like she is smiling inside, “Amelia, one thing I can tell you. While the fate of mankind is in the balance... there is always hope.”

  “Did Apollo teach you that?” I close the faceplate in prep for take-off.

  “No. You did.”

  All the events of the last few days have left me reeling. Mentally and physically. Despite Teddy’s best efforts my ribs still hurt, though he assures me they would hurt much less if I would spend some time in bed.

  I stay in the armor for the trip home and go sub-orbital, giving me a nice view of the world as it turns slowly away from me. Instead of zooming down I turn the heat up to max and float in the cold silence of space.

  Kate, Luke, the team, aliens, fate of the world… seriously what more could I put on my shoulders? Oh yeah, my parents. I sigh.

  One problem at a time. I tap into the nearest satellite and have Epic pull up the feed from Kate’s room. A little more than a day has passed since her injuries and she is looking considerably better. Teddy is still there at her side. As long as he is she’ll heal faster. He’s got to be exhausted. Her vitals though, they’re looking up. The pit of worry filling my stomach lessens somewhat, but only a little.

  Epic switches me to the waiting room. Luke is there with his sleeves rolled up and his cowboy hat down over his head as he sleeps. I know he’s worried about her. I forget they were friends long before I came into the picture.

  Luke…

  Why didn’t I want to leave that day? I know I was tired but the panic that gripped my heart when he pushed me toward the exit was just totally unreasonable. I’ve left my suite before… but now that I think about it only as Arsenal or… or with Kate.

  “If not today, then one day I will show up and you will be bound in your chair and on that day you will lose. For I will become you.”

  I can hear Ericsson’s voice echo in my memories. It has haunted my dreams on more than one occasion and until this moment I hadn’t realized why I haven’t left my lab without my armor or Kate. What if he’s still here? I look out in the direction I sent him, floating off toward the sun. What if…

  What if he managed to make it back somehow? All his identities were burned. He’d have to become someone new. With no telepath school to recruit from, he’d have to go after someone else. Someone like me. Oh god. I shiver all over at just the thought. If he were me… I hate being afraid. Afraid of leaving my own room. But I’d rather stay in my room where I’m perfectly happy than take the chance of him winning.

  No. No, I can’t let that happen.

  “Epic, open a channel to Luke and plot me a course home.”

  Channel open.

  “Luke?”

  He snorts and I see him startle awake on the screen.

  “Amelia? Where?”

  “I’m in orbit heading back. I… I figured some things out and I need to tell you something. One, I’m really sorry. I panicked and I didn’t know why so I got angry and I took it out on you.”

  I can hear the smile in his voice and it warms my heart. I allow myself the illusion that it will be all right. Because I know deep down in my heart we’re about to be over.

  “I’m sorry too. You see I had a really big evening planned.” On the monitor he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, rolling it between his fingers. I can’t quite see what it is.

  Amelia, I strongly advise you to have this conversation face-to-face.

  I can’t, I have to have it now. I need him to know now. I need to know.

  “There was something I didn’t tell you, something that happened with Ericsson.”

  “Hon, that jackass is either dead or a million miles away. He can’t hurt you.” I shake my head, I know he means well but I’m just guessing the Van Allen belt will keep him out. I don’t know, I can’t know.

  “No, I can’t assume he’s gone. Only that he’s not an immediate threat. I’m sorry Luke, I just can’t. He told me he would find me and one day I would be in my chair and then he would win. He would win because he would be me. Do you understand?”

  He shakes his head, taking off his hat and running his free hand through his hair. He drops the object from his hand into his hat.

  “Amelia, wow, I can only imagine how terrifying that had to be. I wish you had told me sooner. We don’t have to go out at all. In time you’ll get over this and—”

  I desperately don’t want to cry. But I don’t get what I want every time. “No. Not over time. Not ever. Luke, through me he would wield terrible power. I can safeguard everything. I can safeguard my tech,
Epic, even you and Kate, but I can’t safeguard my own mind. What if he takes me over and he knows everything I know? Everything I’ve fought for, everything I’ve sacrificed for… it would be for nothing.”

  “Amelia, you’re over—”

  “Don’t you dare say I’m overreacting,” I snarl.

  “No, no, just over thinking. You do that, you know?”

  I do, I know I do, but this is endgame level stuff. One mistake and I’m done. “Luke, I need you to promise me something.”

  “Anything, babe.”

  I close my eyes because I know he will say no. “If we go out one day and someone dies next to me, in my arms or on my chair. You have to kill me. You can’t let him win, Luke, you can’t. I will gladly trade my life if it means he loses. Promise me that and I will leave my lab without Kate or my suit, but that is the only way I could ever feel safe.”

  I can see him, it isn’t fair that I can see him and he can’t see me. I’m just barely holding back the tears.

  “God, Amelia, how can you ask that of me? I love you. What if you’re wrong? What if an accident happens? Not only would you be asking me to kill you… you would be asking me to kill myself. I’d go to jail and… Oh.”

  He’s not dumb he just plays one on TV.

  “That’s the point then, keep him in jail. Kill you and he becomes me. He couldn’t just transfer to someone else because of my power.” He collapses his face into his hands, dropping the cowboy hat to the floor. I see what he had in his pocket. A velvet box, just large enough for a single ring, bounces out and clatters against the floor.

  My heart catches in my throat and I suddenly understand why that date was so important. He was going to ask me to marry him.

  “I can’t Amelia,” he says with a thick voice, “Ask me anything but this.”

  “It is the only thing I need, Luke, and if you can’t give it to me, I can’t continue. I’m sorry.” I cut the line before the full-on sobs take over. Epic usurps control of the suit and guides us down from orbit.

  I am sorry Amelia.

  “I still don’t have a way to dry my tears, dammit.” I try to focus on that as we return home, and not the sea of despair experiencing a high tide in my heart.