by Barry Reese
After being introduced to them all and just as quickly forgetting their names, Craig had excused himself to go to his room. He was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. His excitement made him jumpy, leading him to light up a smoke.
Opening the curtains to his window, he saw that he had an excellent view of the waterfront. It would have almost been beautiful if not for the down-on-their-luck unfortunates who lined the alleyways, most of them drunk out of their skulls. He unlatched the window and pushed it out, allowing the smell of the sea, along with the unfortunate odors of unwashed bodies and urine, to waft into the room.
Puffing away, Craig thought about how he had come to this. He had been a brilliant young academic and numerous universities had courted him upon graduation. If he had been so inclined, he could have joined any of those faculties and eventually risen to the top of his field.
But there was Pandora, always Pandora. From the moment he had first stumbled upon a reference to the true story laying beneath the myth, he had become obsessed with her. He wanted to find out the truth and, if possible, to meet her.
A part of him even became infatuated with her depiction. He had collected paintings, drawings and sculptures related to her. The images had varied widely but he had known that she was beautiful, inside and out.
Pandora had been unfairly blamed for her actions. She had succumbed to curiosity, which was far from the worst sin imaginable. Craig felt sorry for the way her reputation had been besmirched and he understood her drive to redeem it. In some ways, it was the same with Craig himself. His obsession with Pandora had gradually eroded his standing in the academic world and after his desperate attempt to prove himself right had led to an arrest, he had nearly succumbed to despair.
Now that Hiroshi had given him a new lease on life, he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. He was so close to Pandora that he could almost reach out and touch her.
A hand suddenly reached over the edge of the windowsill, grabbing hold of Craig’s belt. It yanked him forward so that he almost tipped out the window but he managed to grab hold of the wall and hold himself steady.
Locke’s face appeared though there was something different in her expression. Her voice was deeper and huskier as she said, “If you value your life, you’ll help me inside.”
Craig sputtered and then helped haul the woman inside. Her clothes were ripped and filthy. Her fingers and bare feet were covered with grime. “Did you… did you just climb up the side of the hotel?” he finally asked.
“You were followed,” she replied.
“What? By whom?”
“A man and a woman. They work for Gravedigger.”
“We have to go tell Hiroshi…”
Pandora reached out and grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him from turning towards the door. “Who is Hiroshi? Tell me everything. And if you lie, I will know.”
Craig stared at her in confusion. Suddenly something went off in his head like a light bulb, causing him to curse out loud. The look of disgust that flashed across Pandora’s features made him instantly regret his action. “I’m sorry but… this is impossible… You’re not Locke, are you?”
“I came to your room because you were alone and because you looked more intelligent than your friend. Please do not tell me that you’re an imbecile.”
“My name is Doctor Jonah Craig.” Licking his lips, he lowered his voice and asked in an almost confidential manner, “Are you Pandora?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my god!” Craig had to stop himself from shouting for joy. “You have no idea how long I’ve sought you! I’ve dedicated my life to you…”
“Why?”
“Because… it’s hard to explain, really.”
Pandora released her grip on his wrist and gestured towards a chair. “Then sit and tell me everything. I need to know about this strange world and who your master is. I’m assuming that if he is an enemy to my enemy then he may be my friend. But that is not always the case.”
Craig found his seat and looked at her with wide eyes. All thought of sleep had been banished from his mind. “He wants you to help him take over the country… and probably the world after that.”
“He’s a military leader?”
“He wants to be Emperor.”
“As do all men, in one way or another.” Pandora waved her hand dismissively. “Start at the beginning. Tell me of yourself and then of the man you serve. When you are done, I will judge whether or not I wish to meet this Hiroshi.”
CEDRIC PRETENDED TO read a newspaper, sitting in the rather grimy lobby of The Imperial. He had placed a call to Hendry Hall upon arriving, using one of the many phone booths located on the premises, and had been told to maintain their surveillance until Mortimer could arrive to relieve him.
Rather than remaining inconspicuous, Li was very animatedly flirting with several of the hotel’s staff, pumping them for information. Cedric was sure that she’d return with several interesting bits of knowledge but he still felt furious every time he heard her giggle.
He was still stinging from her words in the car. He knew there was truth behind them. Hell, Mitchell had danced around the subject not long ago, when the two men had gone out for dinner.
But love was love as far as Cedric was concerned. Maybe that made him a naïve romantic but he was fine with that. No matter what public relations hit he took from having Li at his side, he’d eventually overcome it through hard work and perseverance. That’s how he’d succeeded in all walks of life before now and he didn’t expect that it would ever need to change.
Of course, it took two to tango and if Li was dead set on putting the brakes on their romance there wasn’t much Cedric could do.
“Mr. Tamaki is on the third floor, sir. Shall I ring him and let him know that you’re here?”
Cedric glanced over the top of his paper, his ears having perked up at the sound of Tamaki’s name. He saw an old man dressed in a long white lab coat and a rumpled suit standing at the clerk’s counter, struggling to hold a rather heavy-looking bag in his right hand.
“No, that’s all right,” the old man was saying. “He’s expecting me.”
The clerk smiled apologetically. “I’m sure he is but he’s actually given us strict instructions to alert him before anyone heads up to his floor. Can I have your name?”
With a sigh, the old man replied, “Professor Emett Potter.”
“Thank you, Professor. It will be just a moment.”
Cedric set aside his paper and stood up. He approached Professor Potter and was about to introduce himself when Li bounced over, blocking his path. Despite the wide grin she wore, he could see that she was actually concerned about something.
“We need to talk,” she said playfully, toying with his tie. “I like handsome American boys.”
Cedric glanced around and saw several people looking at them. He played his part, sliding his hands around her narrow waist and pulling her close. “Why don’t we go somewhere and converse in private, baby?”
The two of them exited the hotel just as the clerk gave Prof. Potter the okay to go upstairs.
“I hope this is important,” Cedric whispered as they ducked into the alley. “That old guy is on his way up to see Tamaki right now.”
“A couple of the guys I was talking to are hired guns of his.”
“Tamaki?”
“Who else? They said that he was furious when he got here and immediately sent one of them to find out if Charity Grace’s body was still in the morgue. When he found out that she survived, he really lost it.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“They also confirmed that Doctor Craig is with him and they’ve heard both of them mention the name Pandora.”
Cedric frowned, wishing that the entire team was converging on this spot right now. They could shut Tamaki down and be done with it all. He understood that Charity was hurting and exhausted but it didn’t make sense to give Tamaki a chance to regroup.
Stifling a yawn, Cedric realized
that he, too, was close to passing out. Maybe Charity was right to wait, after all.
Li turned and smiled, noticing that Mortimer was stepping out of a cab. “Looks like our relief is here.”
“Yeah. Listen, Li, about earlier…”
Li visibly tensed. “Yes?”
Cedric stared at her, his voice dropping along with his heart. “Maybe you’re right.” Forcing a false note of sincerity into his words, he added, “We can still be friends, can’t we?”
“Of course.” Cedric wasn’t sure but he thought he saw a small tinge of regret in Li’s eyes as she answered him. The moment was quickly gone, however, as she spun about to greet Mortimer.
PANDORA HAD LISTENED to Craig’s story about his bizarre infatuation with her and about Hiroshi’s odd belief that she could help him conquer a country. In the end, she had agreed to be introduced to the Japanese man, from whom she immediately sensed an extraordinary amount of Pride. One of the worst of the Sins, in her opinion, for it often blinded its owners to their own faults.
Upon learning that the legendary Pandora was in his company, Hiroshi had banished everyone from his room save for himself, Pandora, Craig and the newly arrived Prof. Potter.
“Blessed Pandora,” he said extravagantly, “you have arrived at a most opportune time. The good Professor was just going to give me a demonstration of the device that will soon put you and I on the throne of this country.”
“You make it sound as if we’re going to rule side-by-side.”
“We are. Or, at least, I hope we will. I do not seek to be a solitary Emperor. I want an Empress who would be worthy of the name. You and I can remake this nation and, eventually, this world into something better.”
Pandora studied him closely, searching his eyes for any sign of madness. She saw only the same lust for power that she was all too familiar with. No matter the era, it was always the same in men of his ilk. “You want me to marry you,” she said.
“Eventually. I do not know your feelings about such things. Do you feel the need for love to enter the equation? If so, I can certainly court you.”
“The men who died in your name tonight, the woman whose body is now my own, do you care nothing for them?”
“I regret their passing because I might have made further use of them. But in the end, they were servants.” Hiroshi stepped towards her and took her hands in his own. “Surely you, of all people, would understand what I’m talking about. The weight of history lies heavy upon my shoulders. The foot soldiers who help carry my banner are essential weapons in my arsenal but they will be forgotten. My name will be remembered forever. And yours, as well. Whether you call yourself Pandora of if you want to take Locke’s name as your own, this is your chance to build a new story for yourself.”
“I despise Sin. I want to see it destroyed.”
“Then that will be the guiding mission of our rule.”
Pandora felt disgust building within her. This man was one of the ones who would have to be purged. She had realized even before her imprisonment that her goal of destroying all the demons she’d unleashed would not rid the world of its madness. It was necessary, yes, but then there would be a tremendous culling of humanity before the devil’s seed could be bred out.
Still, she found herself curious about the hows and whys of this man’s plan. “Your professor has a magic device to help us seize power?”
Hiroshi grinned as if he won a grand prize. Turning to Potter, he said, “Professor, if you please?”
Potter nodded eagerly and began removing a rather unwieldy device from his bag. It consisted of a rectangular piece of electronics housed in a wooden case, with a headset attached via a coiled cord. “This is a most amazing thing, if I do say myself. I called it an Emoting Transmitter Device – or ETD, for short.” The old man set the device down on a counter and then returned to his bag, returning with a tiny transparent container dotted with air holes along the top and sides. Within its confines was a small white mouse, which sniffed the air with interest. “This is Merlin,” the old man chuckled. “He’s going to help with the experiment.”
Setting the mouse’s container on the counter beside the device, Potter plucked up the headset and placed it over his head. It made him look like a spaceman from a terrible pulp magazine, Craig thought.
“The ETD can pick up on your emotional wavelengths and augment them, allowing them to be transmitted to another target. For instance, I will now call upon feelings of fear in myself and will send those emotions to Merlin.” The old man fiddled with the dials on his device and then began staring at the rodent, screwing up his face and bugging his eyes while doing so. The mouse seemed unaffected.
Craig hid his mouth to cover his laughter but the professor took note and frowned. His facial gyrations intensified but to no effect.
“May I help, professor?” Hiroshi drew his sword and placed it against the old man’s throat. “Perhaps this will instill a healthy dose of actual fear.”
Potter gasped, feeling the cold steel dig into his flesh. As a tiny droplet of red began to ooze down his skin, the professor’s terror became real. Immediately, the mouse’s behavior altered, as well. It squeaked loudly and began throwing itself against the walls of its tiny cage, bashing its body so hard that Craig was sure it was going to kill itself in a mad attempt to gain freedom.
Hiroshi pulled his blade away and Potter quickly yanked the headset off. He seemed genuinely distraught over the damage that had been done to Merlin.
“Professor,” Hiroshi said, “please tend to your mouse later. For now, tell us more about your intriguing device.”
“Well, as I said when you offered to fund my experiments, it’s only good for small-brained creatures at present. I haven’t found a way to augment the brainwaves to the point where they can impact other humans.”
“But if you had a power source that was powerful enough, it would work, wouldn’t it?” Hiroshi prompted.
“Theoretically.”
The Japanese man flashed his most handsome smile at Pandora. “Madame, would you consent to testing this device? If my suspicions are correct, you could be the answer to all our dreams.”
Pandora regarded the ETD with suspicion but she agreed to let the old man place the headset on her.
“You house the spirits of the primal forces of nature,” Hiroshi said. “If anyone could channel that force and power this machine, it’s you. And if you can control the emotional states of others, you could drive them mad, turn them into violent slaves or even cause them to love you with all their hearts. We’d be able to walk right to the White House’s front door and take what we wanted without even spilling a drop of blood. Unless, of course, that’s what you wanted.” Hiroshi laughed at his joke and Craig joined in, eager to maintain appearances.
At a command from Hiroshi, Potter stepped into the hall and returned with a slender man named Hutch. One of the many hired guns in Hiroshi’s employ, Hutch was known for being brave but rather stupid.
“What can I do for ya, boss?”
Pandora didn’t give Hiroshi a chance to respond. She summoned up the dark power of Wrath, projecting it with her mind towards Hutch. The effect was immediate. The slender man went into a terrible frenzy, foaming at the mouth and clenching his hands into fists. He began lashing out at everything within range, smashing the walls with all his might and even attacking Hiroshi, who sent him to his knees with a blow from the hilt of his sword.
“That’s enough, Pandora,” Hiroshi said. When Hutch whirled about, trying to bite at the Japanese man’s leg, Hiroshi ended the matter by stabbing him in the side of the head. As the corpse hit the floor, Hiroshi muttered, “He got blood on my suit.”
Pandora smiled. “Are you not afraid, Mr. Tamaki? I could destroy you right now.”
Hiroshi looked up suddenly but there was no fear in his gaze. “You could have killed me any time you wished. I have no doubt about that. You don’t need a machine for that.”
Pandora removed the headset and tossed
it to Potter, who caught it with alarm. “You amuse me, Hiroshi, despite your many failings. I will help you do this thing. I will make you Emperor. But from that day forward, you will help me learn about this world and you will help me save humanity from the curse I have laid upon it.”
“Agreed.” Hiroshi clapped his hands together. “You and I. Emperor and Empress!”
Craig cleared his throat. “What about Gravedigger? Pandora says they know we’re here.”
“Then we’ll leave here,” Hiroshi said with a shrug. “Now that we have Pandora and the ETD, we are finished with Sovereign. We leave in the morning!”
Chapter VII: All Hail The New King
Charity woke shortly after dawn, exercised for nearly half an hour and then took a brisk shower. By the time she headed downstairs, the rest of her team was in the dining room, enjoying orange juice and breakfast.
The tightness in her belly from the gunshot wound had faded already and she found herself grateful for the increased metabolism that The Voice had blessed her with. It had the side effect of making her hungrier than before, though she had to admit that after a lifetime of living hand-to-mouth, she might simply be enjoying ready access to food.
As she took her seat at the head of the table, she greeted her friends with a smile. Someone had been kind enough to make her a plate consisting of eggs, sausage and buttered toast. “Thanks for letting me have a few hours to unwind. I’m ready to resume the chase now. Who wants to go first?”
Mortimer set down the scone he’d been eating and placed his palms down upon the tabletop. “I watched them until about half an hour ago, when I left a stoolie by the name of Bright Eyes Johnson at the hotel. I paid him a good salary to let me know the second they start to move. They were up until around four o’clock this morning so I’d imagine they’re catching some shuteye before moving out.”
