The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles

by Adair Hart

  “She entered the transportation hub and took the tunnel north, so my guess is to the next green dot.”

  “Why don’t we just head to the blue dot?” asked Lord Vygon. “We could work our way back if needed, but it’s apparent to me that she was headed north, despite whatever might have happened to her.”

  “That’s what I would’ve done,” said Nanobot Emily.

  “Very well,” said Evaran. “Let us leave.”

  As they left the facility, Dr. Snowden mused on what Organic Emily must have gone through. It pained him to think that she had probably felt abandoned when they did not show up after two months. What would she be like in nine months? He could feel anger bubbling inside him, but the mental imagery of the waves combined with his tingling sensations kept him levelheaded. The thought of losing control here made no sense to him and answered the question of how would it help the situation.

  Once everyone was aboard the Torvatta, they flew north to the blue dot.

  After they arrived, Dr. Snowden’s eyes popped open as he saw the blue dot looked like an advanced city carved into the mountainside. The city was lit up like a beacon of hope in the darkness. There were two waterfalls to either side of it and a road leading up to an enclosed area before the massive gates at the base. From the angle at which the Torvatta approached, he could see the parapets. There were several platforms at the higher levels that extended out over the city.

  After the Torvatta scanned the city, a layout with red dots appeared on the right screen.

  “Analysis. Fifty-one life-forms detected.”

  Evaran rubbed his chin. “Do any match a humanoid?”

  “One.”

  Dr. Snowden half smiled as Nanobot Emily lightly squeezed his right arm.

  “Those doors look shut … ,” said Nanobot Emily.

  “Yeah … but maybe she took the transportation system in,” said Lord Vygon.

  Nanobot Emily paused as she tilted her head. “Could be … how are we going to get in then?”

  Evaran pointed to one of the balconies with an open doorway. “We will go in through the top. V, align the ramp with that balcony and hold position.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Evaran faced Nanobot Emily. “You … may want to wait here. I am uncertain of the reaction we might face if—”

  “I know, I know,” said Nanobot Emily with a half grin. “It would confuse me too. I’ll wait here with the V man.”

  V tilted his head at Nanobot Emily for a moment, then nodded.

  The Torvatta aligned with the balcony.

  Dr. Snowden gulped as they crossed the semitransparent light-blue ramp that extended from the Torvatta to the balcony. He had never seen the ramp at a thirty-degree angle before. Looking down, he could see the city underneath him.

  Once they had assembled on the balcony, Evaran perused his ARI. After a moment, he gestured forward. “This way.”

  Dr. Snowden soaked in the view as they walked through the various rooms, open areas, and hallways. It reminded him somewhat of Kreagus, the home world of the Kreagan Star Empire they had visited prior to this adventure. The technology was fairly advanced, which made him question why it would be here at all on a prison planet. Maybe this was some type of capital city.

  As they entered a hallway deep in the city, Evaran raised his hand. “The humanoid life-form is behind that door. We should proceed with caution.”

  Lord Vygon narrowed his eyes. “It seems there is this humanoid, with the other life-forms in much lower levels. That doesn’t seem coincidental.”

  “I concur,” said Evaran as he walked up to the door. He placed his UIC on the console and, after it connected, tapped at his ARI, causing the door to open.

  Dr. Snowden’s breathing quickened. His heartbeat ramped up as he stood next to Lord Vygon.

  Evaran shot his hand back toward the others. He tilted his head for a moment, then extended his utility handle into a baton. With a final look at the others, he stepped into the room.

  Emily’s heartbeat skyrocketed as her tingling sensations went into overdrive. The door had opened and a hallucination of Evaran had stepped through. She had seen this one several times. Even been on the Torvatta. These hallucinations were dangerous, and she had been fooled by them a few times. Each time ended with her fighting her way out of a large group of the creatures.

  Evaran snapped his head toward her. “Are you okay?”

  Emily lunged forward, striking out with her PSD blade.

  Evaran stepped back through the doors, causing her to go flying past him.

  Emily looked out the door and saw a startled Dr. Snowden and Lord Vygon. Lord Vygon was a hallucination she had seen only once, early on when she had first arrived. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. She stopped her slide, angled herself, then launched through the door.

  Evaran took the brunt of the kick in the chest and slid back a few feet. Dr. Snowden stepped back a bit behind Lord Vygon, who had extended blunted blades over his forearms that reached around to his hands.

  “Emily … what are you doing?” asked Evaran.

  Emily laughed. “I won’t fall for this again!” She lashed out with her PSD blade.

  Evaran stepped back and batted her hand down. “There is no need for this. Something is wrong.” He scanned Emily with his ring. “It appears you have something in your system.”

  Emily scrunched her eyebrows. “You’re fighting better. I’ll give you that. Sadly for you, I just killed ten of your brothers and sisters.”

  Evaran looked past Emily into the room. “I see that, but they are not my brothers and sisters. We are real, and you are suffering from some type of delusion.”

  “Enough!” said Emily. She approached Evaran with blade out. When she got near, she stepped to the left of Evaran and reached in with her left arm to grab his chest.

  Evaran reacted by knocking her arm down with his right arm, which Emily then used as an opportunity to step forward and attempt to strike him in the side. The blade tip pierced Evaran’s side armor. He stepped to the side and pushed Emily back. He narrowed his eyes and raised a baton-like device with a glowing blue end.

  This was the first time Emily had seen this in the hallucination. She paused for a moment.

  Evaran reached out and tapped her on the chest with the baton.

  Emily fell to the ground. A pang echoed throughout her. Before her eyes closed, she saw the others rushing in. The thought that this must be the end flooded her mind. She could feel the nanobots pushing her to get up. These must be some type of creature she had not encountered before for the venom to be this strong. Her journey would be over, and maybe it was for the best. Living like this for the rest of her life was unappealing to her. Her eyes closed and she passed out.

  Thirty minutes later, Emily’s eyes fluttered open. She swallowed hard and squinted as she took several deep breaths. The signs of the venom’s presence always gave her a queasy feeling, and that was missing. She was still on her back, but the environment had changed. Looking up, she could tell this was the medical lab aboard the Torvatta. Her eyebrows wrinkled. If she was not hallucinating, how could she be here? She tilted her head to the left and saw Dr. Snowden.

  “You’re awake,” said Dr. Snowden with a smile.

  Emily’s eyes popped open as she rolled off the right side of the slab. Her nanobots kicked in, and she did a quick scan of her surroundings. Was this a new type of venom? She gulped as she raised her hands in a fighting stance.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Dr. Snowden with his hands out. “Emily, it’s me. I don’t know what you think is going on, but we found you.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about Kazaal?”

  “Who?” asked Dr. Snowden. He tilted his head. “Is that the … bad guy you met before the first research facility? Big, strong guy with brown skin and horns?”

  “Hah! I knew it! Uncle Albert wouldn’t know anything about that!” said Emily. She stepped farther back into the room. This confirme
d to her that this was a new hallucination, one she could not detect as easily.

  Evaran walked into the room.

  “And you’re back,” said Emily. She grabbed a syringe from one of the trays on a nearby table. “You won’t fool me!”

  Evaran extended a hand. “This is no hallucination. The venom in your system has been purged. I suspect you can detect that.”

  Emily sighed. It was true that the queasy feeling was not present. She swallowed hard.

  “Just listen to me … for a moment. Would you grant me that?”

  Emily bored a hole through Evaran with her eyes.

  Evaran sighed. “You were sent to the prison planet by the Purifiers. It took us a while to find where that was, but we did find it. When we arrived, there was a time dilation effect. One minute in our timeline was ninety on the prison planet. Three days for us was … nine months for you.”

  Emily tilted her head. “You’re talking like I would expect you to.”

  “The universal translator works a bit differently for … someone like me.”

  “How did Uncle Albert know about Kazaal?”

  Evaran eyed Emily for a moment. “Do you remember when you had some nanobots removed before coming to the prison planet?”

  Emily wrinkled her eyebrows. No hallucination had ever mentioned that before. “Yeah …”

  “The Purifiers tried to weaponize it. They failed. The new nanobots, infused with the rift technology, formed a swarm and killed everyone in the base.”

  Emily’s breathing quickened. She remembered having dreams about that situation.

  “After they were done, they formed a new body … in your likeness. This new Emily is your duplicate, and she has helped us.”

  “Where is this … new Emily?”

  Evaran gestured toward the door.

  Organic Emily’s eyes popped open as Nanobot Emily entered the room.

  “It’s true,” said Nanobot Emily as she gave a half wave. “I’m … you before you went to the prison planet, with a different body.”

  Organic Emily trembled. No hallucination lasted this long, or was this complex. There was definitely not a version of her in any of them either.

  “I’m … almost completely made of nanobots,” said Nanobot Emily as she stepped forward. “I can … share with you what I’ve seen since I was created. All we need to do is touch hands.”

  Organic Emily eyed Nanobot Emily. She inched forward with her right hand out and her left hand gripping the syringe in an attack posture. If Nanobot Emily was trying to deceive her, she would get stuck.

  Their hands touched, and a rush of memories flooded Organic Emily’s mind. She gasped as she stepped back and shook her head. It was real. They had come for her. Finally. She could see how much trouble they went through to find her, and they never stopped. Her arms fell to the side as the syringe dropped to the ground. Her head trembled as tears fell onto her cheeks.

  Nanobot Emily’s eyes misted as she stepped forward and hugged Organic Emily. “You’re safe now.”

  They hugged for a good while, then Organic Emily turned toward Dr. Snowden. She rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. Her body shuddered, and her breathing staggered. Dr. Snowden never stopped believing she was alive, and that she would survive. He had treated Nanobot Emily just like he would her.

  Dr. Snowden pulled back and wiped the tears off Organic Emily’s face. “Now what do I do with two nieces?”

  Organic Emily half smiled as she hugged Dr. Snowden again. She turned toward Evaran, who had extended his arm. Her eyes watered as she approached him and then gave him a bear hug. Evaran had been her sanity check for as long as the PSD had been active. It had gotten her through some of her roughest times.

  “I am glad you are with us once again,” said Evaran.

  Organic Emily pulled back and swallowed hard. “You were a great teacher.”

  Evaran tilted his head. “Your combat skills were a surprise to me.”

  “Your training videos. On the PSD.”

  “Ahh … I see. I have made some more, with V this time.”

  Organic Emily sniffled. “I look forward to watching them.”

  Lord Vygon entered the room.

  Organic Emily rushed over and hugged a startled Lord Vygon. “Thank you for helping. You are a true friend.”

  “It was an honor,” said Lord Vygon. “You’ve recovered quickly.”

  Organic Emily stepped back and crooked a thumb at Nanobot Emily. “I synced memories with her … somehow.”

  Lord Vygon bowed his head.

  Evaran nodded at Organic Emily. “Take some time to readjust. We are meeting in the conference room at nine tomorrow morning, but other than that, nothing is scheduled. Clean up, get rested, and welcome back.”

  “What’s the meeting about?” asked Organic Emily.

  “We are going to disable the main rift stone that connects all the rift doors. We are headed to the pocket universe it resides in now, and along with the Torvatta’s scans, V will assist in any interior scanning should there be shielding. In your condition, it may be best for you to stay aboard the Torvatta and rest.”

  “I’ll be ready to go,” said Organic Emily with narrowed eyes. The nightmare was over. A burning fire lit up when she thought of the Purifiers who had done this to her. They would pay. All of them. She glanced at Nanobot Emily, who smiled back at her with knowing eyes.

  Dr. Snowden enjoyed the rest of the afternoon talking with both Emilys in the main living quarters area. They broke for lunch and dinner, then spent the rest of the day on the roof. He noticed some unusual aspects of Organic Emily, but figured that may have been due to the situation she just came from. Whenever the Purifiers were mentioned, he thought he saw Organic Emily’s eyes narrow slightly and her jaw clench. It was a calm rage, something he was learning to master himself. Seeing it on her was unusual.

  The journey he had heard described made him cringe. This bone-eating monster had submitted Organic Emily to enslavement and seemed to kill for pleasure and food. Then there was the shadowy presence. Both monsters had been killed, and it was not lost on him that the shadow presence one was a direct kill, and the other an indirect one. She also killed two small humanoids when hallucinating. The hallucination disturbed him in that his image was used to essentially lure her into a false sense of security.

  The cleansing at Central Command, as she had called it, was something he could have never seen her do before. He could sense that she was harder now, and less prone to showing emotion. The bubbly nature of Nanobot Emily stood in stark contrast to the more serious Organic Emily. It was like Nanobot Emily was a control group and Organic Emily was an experimental group with nine months on the prison planet as a variable. What bothered him the most was the casualness in which the killings were discussed. It sounded more like her new philosophy on how to handle threats, and something she would repeat if she had to.

  The next morning at nine, Evaran and V in robot mode met them in the conference room. Nanobot Emily had taken Dr. Snowden’s usual seat next to Organic Emily, so he sat next to her with Lord Vygon and V on the other side. Lord Vygon had his usual drink, and V and Nanobot Emily did not take any breakfast.

  Dr. Snowden went light on food since his stomach was twisted around. He tilted his head at Organic Emily’s choice of two burgers, a large plate of fries, and a large soda. She usually had something lighter, and if it was a burger, it was half the portion he was seeing and never in the morning. Maybe she was just hungry, but a part of him thought of her as a hungry predator. He could not shake the feeling that there was something horribly wrong with her.

  Evaran half smiled at both Emilys. “It is good to see you both here. It makes the place a bit brighter.”

  Nanobot Emily smiled back while Organic Emily nodded with lips drawn flat.

  Evaran tapped at the table console, causing a projection to shoot up of a large pyramid surrounded by an expansive city.

  Dr. Snowden noted that the pyramid looked similar t
o the one he had seen on Earth, but about roughly ten times larger. There were some landing pads that jutted out at various heights, which suggested they had flying craft. A pulsating red dot appeared in the middle of the pyramid. The projection had wireframe lines inside the pyramid, indicating the various rooms and hallways. A blue line led upward from the ground to about the middle of the pyramid. At the end of that line was a pulsing dot, which Evaran was pointing at.

  “That is the main rift stone,” said Evaran. “It is not as guarded as I imagined it would be.”

  Lord Vygon rested his chin on his right hand. “Well … this is a pocket universe that is only accessible by rift doors, or in our case, the Torvatta. What do they have to defend against here?”

  “A good point,” said Evaran. “However, with the main rift stone able to open rift doors to other locations, I would think if they came across a hostile location, more security would be needed.”

  “Maybe. Then again, they could just shield the rift door. This pyramid isn’t shielded, so I don’t think they have planned too much on it being attacked.”

  Evaran eyed Lord Vygon. “This is true.” He pointed at the blue line that started off at the base of the pyramid and snaked its way up the pulsing dot. “V has defined this as the shortest route to get there.” He pointed at a landing pad. “We are stealthed currently and will land there. Once down, we will follow the blue line and disable the main rift stone.”

  Dr. Snowden cocked his head. “And … how are we going to do that?”

  “I will use my staff on it.”

  Dr. Snowden wrinkled his eyebrows. “You’re planning to smash it?”

  Evaran nodded. “Yes. It may have exotic energy coursing through it, but I can nullify that aspect.”

  “Like you did with Seeros’s armor pads,” said Dr. Snowden. He recalled Evaran tossing three orbs against Seeros’s exotic-energy-enhanced black armor pads that glowed red. The orbs emitted a white cloud, which nullified the armor’s exotic energy component, causing it to stop glowing.

  “Correct,” said Evaran. “Once the main rift stone is smashed, we will exit the way we came.”