He and Toriko led them forward, following the updating map on his eyeglass. Snaking carefully around debris and ruined buildings, they avoided a number of beastly encounters. As they approached a red X on his map, two outlined figures waited in the fog. One short and round, the other tall and lanky, both stood perfectly still, gloved hands turned palm forward. No weapons.
“The area is clear,” Toriko said.
He checked his display one last time before leading the group forward. Drawing nearer, despite the cloaks and facemasks, he recognized their outlines as the owners of the B.P. Hovel, the safe house near the docks the team used when they last were cast down in Salsemed.
Jutting ahead, Cogeni called out, “Blupp! Pultch!”
Both extended arms as they met.
“Cogeni,” Blupp, the shorter and round one said.
“It’s good to see you,” Cogeni said.
Blupp looked over the group. Apparently recognizing the team while covered, he said, “Allia, Naijen, and Mencari, good to see you as well. And welcome to others I don’t recognize.”
Like before, Pultch stood without a sound beside his partner. Blupp added, “Is Nikko with you?”
Without missing a beat, Cogeni said, “No, she’s on another mission—but she’s well. Do you know—is my mother here?”
A jolt of anxiety shot through Mencari. Blupp, too, hesitated to answer, then said, “We should talk, but not here. Come, the Cleric Circle has been waiting for you.”
“The Cleric Circle is here?” Cogeni said, excited.
“Yes … waiting for you in the B.P. Hovel.”
* * * * * *
“Hold up,” Toriko said, putting her arm out and halting the group. She projected a map of the area before her. A large blue dot approached from the other side of the trash heaps. Moments later, a mechanical whir filled the air.
Blupp and Pultch waved the group into an alcove of trash. “Nukari sentries—big hovering robots. They mostly only kill the creatures that roam the area, but they also report our activities and locations when we’re found. Best to avoid them.”
Something didn’t make sense. Weren’t the beasts that roamed the area genetically created creations of the Nukari? “They’re killing their own beasts?” Mencari said, confounded.
“Only because it keeps their operation stable,” Blupp said. “They’re not being altruistic in any sense. I’ll explain more when we’re safe in the B.P. Hovel.”
Toriko motioned as the blip passed off the far end of the map before her. They continued forward through the debris.
Mencari heard the lapping of the water as they neared their destination. He recalled the B.P. Hovel as a modest, two-story shack on the cusp of the shore, mere feet from the massive transport piers that jutted into the sea. But what he saw as they approached wasn’t anything like what he recalled. In place of the shack, a mammoth structure four times its size stood. The construction looked sound—robust even. “What happened to the Hovel?” he asked Blupp.
“Oh, she’s still there,” Blupp said, his tone amused. “Old girl was the sturdiest structure around. So, the Nukari built around her. We’re going to use the back entrance. Follow me.”
He led them through a dim-lit tunnel in the debris, to a dead end. “Step back,” he said as he pushed, in a pattern, a section of the large metal chunks scattered across the wall. As the last one depressed, the entire wall began to rotate, revealing an opening. “She’ll always be a safe house too.”
They entered a small chamber lined with dirty cloaks and facemasks. “You can leave your gear here. You won’t need it inside.”
Mencari took the garb off and found an open hook. Turning back, he noticed how much the owners of the B.P. Hovel had aged. Their mint-tinted skin was wrinkled, and stained from exposure to the toxic fog. It seemed a dramatic change. Did the Nukari do something that exposed them to the hostile environment outside? His curiosity drove him to inquire, but his conscience kept him from it.
“So what are the Nukari up to?” Cogeni asked.
Blupp motioned, and led them down a darkened corridor while he explained. “After the fall of the religious caste, the government was disbanded by the Nukari. Nearly everyone was banished from Demassen to down here. Only a few key engineers were kept topside, to make sure the city stayed running. Because of the increase in new workers, they expected we’d move more cargo than before.”
“Materials, and creatures?” Cogeni asked. “Like we moved?”
Blupp nodded, then opened another hidden door leading to a corridor illuminated by vibrating lines of colored neon. Mencari recognized the back corridor inside the B.P. Hovel, where they went after the creatures attacked the piers. Though the neon lighting appeared new. “But how did all this happen, then?” he asked, pointing to the renovations.
With a smile, Blupp said, “In between serving the Nukari, we helped ourselves.”
“People from the upper city too?” Cogeni said, doubtful.
“They didn’t. Well, not by choice—originally,” Blupp said.
“What do you mean?” Rhysus asked.
“Those banished here felt we were their servants,” Blupp explained. “But that didn’t last long.”
Mencari recalled Cogeni’s tale of his arrival in Salsemed. They beat him because they believed he was part of the religious ruling caste. It was Nikko and her father who saved him.
“We don’t take kindly to their attitudes,” Blupp continued. “So we led an uprising, which forced them to see we were equals here—in it together.”
Pultch’s voice rattled out, “Many died—the Nukari intervened.”
Blupp’s pace slowed; his eyes grew distant with memories. “That’s what brought us all together—seeing our true enemy—not one another, but them.”
“I guess it took the Nukari taking over to make our people one again,” Cogeni said. “Never thought I’d live to see it.”
“Since then our captors have been kind,” Blupp said with bitterness. “They provide supplies and smog-eater machines, which help. As long as we move cargo, and sort out the recyclable materials from trash sent down, they continue to help us.”
“They still send endless rivers of sludge and trash pouring down on us,” Pultch added.
“Do you know what they’re doing up there?” Cogeni asked.
Blupp shook his head. “From the refuse they dump on us, probably building something big up there. But we don’t know specifically.”
They entered the original bar with a darkened performance stage. Mencari remembered the old beaded curtain they once had to pass through to enter, and the cubbies by the door where their weapons and supplies had to be stored. All those things were gone. The bones of the room were still there, but decorated panels of tin crossed the ceilings, and intricate patterns of multicolored neon crisscrossed the walls.
He noticed Cogeni look to the performance stage with a longing stare. Nikko. None of them could forget the performance they saw her do there when they first arrived. His mind filled with the memory.
The room had darkened, and the stage filled with an electric-green aura to reveal three shadowed forms. Luminescent paint on their bodies lightened in the haunting light. The outer two forms danced in a ring around the third, then spiraled off. An amber light rained down upon the third. Perfectly outlined by a skintight suit, Nikko’s mint-tinted body throbbed with the music as she exploded in fluid motions across the stage. She tossed her long, pink dreadlocks, then arched backward. Glitter danced through the air as she kicked her shapely legs wildly above her. Mencari couldn’t take his eyes away from her. No one could look away. They’d come to learn her empathic abilities ran wild while she danced, holding all watching captive to her artistry.
As the memory passed, he wondered which of the countless performances replayed in Cogeni’s mind. He imagined the ache Cogeni must feel in being somewhere that he and Nikko were once madly in love. Love … what a double-edged sword. He found himself fidgeting with his wedding band. I
t’s so wonderful when new, beautiful as it grows, and hideous as it dies. It wasn’t long ago that he thought his entire family had been killed. He had their memories to keep him strong, recalled their good times. That too turned on its head when he discovered his wife and son didn’t die, but were prisoners of war. The very thought crushed him, made his soul ache in ways unimaginable before he experienced that agony. Love? Instead of being his strength, it felt like a pox—a plague of guilt. His loved ones were still out there: prisoners of his enemy. Every day that passed became another day he failed to protect them. Love—the most empowering, destructive, uplifting, gut-wrenching force in the universe—
“Are you okay?”
He looked up to meet Cogeni’s concerned face, confused, then realized he’d been lost in his own thoughts. “Yes—guess we all have a lot on our minds.”
A figure appeared in a doorway off to the side. The man had the look of ancients to him. Wrinkled, mint-green skin was tarnished with brown dots. Wavy gray hair was pulled tightly back, ending in a sprout-like ponytail. He wore an ornate, emerald-green robe that revealed only the tips of his toes. A white shawl covered his shoulders, and a thick silver necklace hung down, ending in a silver brooch. On it, Mencari noticed the fractured-arrowhead emblem of the Argosan people.
“Maister!” Cogeni said.
Small spherical bells, suspended from the sleeves, rang as he motioned. “Arbiter Omura, thank Demas the rumors were true,” the maister said, broken but relieved. “You are badly needed. Please come this way, there’s much to discuss.”
* * * * * *
The room was dark, and much like the original B.P. Hovel once appeared. Mencari watched the maister escort Cogeni to a circle of others dressed in the same ornate robes.
In an ominous tone, one of the robed figures said, “The Circle of Leadership is mostly intact.”
“Where’s my mother?” Cogeni asked with frustration growing.
Another of the maisters stepped forward. He unfurled his hand revealing a ring of woven golden fibers. Mencari had to squint to make out the detail, but it looked like tiny white wings caressed the edges. Cogeni’s body grew rigid. “She’s … she’s,” he stammered, head shaking in disbelief.
A sick reality crashed upon Mencari. He didn’t know. Nikko didn’t tell him.
“You are now the High Patriarch,” still another maister said, with sad reverence.
“No … How? When?” he questioned, dumbfounded.
“In the first Nukari attack, when they took power,” the maister said. “She was the first killed.”
“But she said she had everything under control, that the Nukari were leaving in two weeks.” Cogeni’s eyes seemed to scour the darkness for an answer. His eyes narrowed. “Whemel,” he spat.
Mencari recalled the face of a Nukari commander with blond, curly hair. Whemel had been in charge of the Argosan operation.
The maister nodded with sorrow. “He shot her from behind. There was no time for her to protect herself.”
Cogeni looked toward the ring, which began to glow gently. Though it looked too small to fit him, he reached toward it with shaking hands. The closer he drew, the more it glowed. The string of beads around his hand began to glow. The maisters looked confused, while Cogeni smiled.
“The Demas relic only reacts to other relics,” the cleric said.
Cogeni had discovered the Demas Beads during his journeys in the Smog Sea.
“Your mother had this one, the other two were lost when we fled the Smog Sea,” the cleric said. “It stopped her from being able to manifest Demas more fully.”
Cogeni grasped the ring, and a shower of gentle light bathed him. Gasps escaped from the maisters as a ghostly apparition emerged above Cogeni. Long red and blond locks moved in an unfelt breeze across the pearlescent white gown. An ornate version of the broken-arrowhead emblem was emblazoned on her chest. Her long face and high cheekbones gave the apparition a majestic look. Her stark white skin contrasted that of the mint-tinted Argosans. Large, deep blue eyes captivated them. Her entire body radiated a tranquil light.
“Holy Demas,” escaped Cogeni’s lips.
Demas? Their holy deity itself? Mencari wondered.
She reached down, and touched Cogeni’s face. He cried in surprise as his body radiated with a violent brilliance. As the flare subsided, his body glowed, shrouded in a robe of light. Mencari noticed silver streaks in his hair.
“You’ve been touched by Demas herself,” the maister said in disbelief.
Cogeni looked down at his new vestments, and whispered “The High Patriarch’s clothing …” Looking to his hand, the ring had reshaped to fit his finger. Cogeni’s expression steeled with resolve. “I understand now …” With steel in his voice, he said, “We have Demas’s blessing. We will take back our world.”
CHAPTER 13
Road to Liberation
“Come on, come on—” Toriko said, impatient, Spark nuzzling her leg making sure she knew he stood guard.
“We’ve got the time,” Mencari said.
“Relax and wait for it,” Maro assured.
Easy for them to say, Toriko thought. During the final planning of the attack, one key element would give them an edge—they needed access to whatever systems the Nukari had to disrupt their operation. If she could gain access, they could throw the Nukari into chaos, then strike.
If they had the time, it would’ve been easier to allow Minea and Bob a crack at it. Pushing Minea and Bob to digitally bust their way in could allow the Nukari to detect their activity. If that happened, their potential preemption of their enemy would instead become fighting an entrenched and expectant foe.
Their best bet was that her natural D’mok abilities allowed her to see these otherwise-invisible beams of energy formed for communication pulses. As her skills grew, she learned how to decode them, insert things into them, even generate them herself. It was one of the reasons creating remote interfaces for her robotic creations was so easy.
But for now, she just needed to find the right communication, then follow it back to its source. What “right” was exactly, she wasn’t totally sure, but she’d know it when she saw it.
“So far Blupp’s schedule for those sentries is good,” Maro said. “Exact paths and right times.” Maro pointed to smaller robots moving through the littered road, scanning piles of trash with red beams of light as they went. On occasion, the beam would find a rodent, which would squeal before bursting into a flaming ball of fur and black smoke.
“We have you covered,” Toriko heard Mencari say. “Just keep looking.”
Exactly right. One of those robots would issue the right signal. Maybe they even had something foolish like an unencrypted transmission packet, or obvious access stream.
Squinting, she made out tiny, colored rays of light going from the sentries up into the sky. She bit her lip. While similar to what she wanted, the beams appeared too anemic to carry the amount of information she’d expect in a command transmission. Huh. Some thicker beams appeared to rapidly exchange horizontally, passing from one sentry to another.
Sometimes she wished her skills were more evolved, naturally decoding all the transmissions instead of having to focus in on one at a time and do it herself. At least she’d seen enough patterns in her time to know what to look for.
The air filled with a loud hum. A bulkier sentry floated over a ridge, and began down the street below. Far more imposing than the others, it appeared well armored, and had multiple scanning devices casting beams constantly around its body. A dance of yellow and white light ran through narrow bands that outlined its body. This sentry looked far more important than the others she’d seen. Anticipation filled her as it headed toward a cluster of smaller monitoring bots.
A gleam drew her gaze up, into the dense smog layer above. A thick blue vector of light thundered down toward the sentry.
“Yata!” she squeaked, and Maro flagged her to be quiet.
She bit her lip, again gazing deeply at the
blue vector. In I go, she thought. With a toothy grin, the world around her fell away and time appeared to slow. Her consciousness intersected with the bar at the leading edge.
In moments, the vector of blue light became her universe. It burst into a tightly packed series of ones and zeros. Starting on the leading edge, patterns began to form before her. Segments and matrices of numbers illuminated, then translated into symbols. After all this time, she realized in amazement, the Nukari were still using the system Maro constructed back on Tericn? Well, well, well. The Nukari should have been more careful. Anything her sister did, Toriko could understand.
With each decoded block, she buffered the information over to Spark, who held the information until she recalled it to complete a larger sequence.
Making her way up the bar, she reveled in excitement.
This is it! There won’t be a droid or system here I can’t get into now.
* * * * * *
“Toriko’s in,” Maro whispered to Mencari.
She knew her sister was good, but the speed at which Toriko compromised Maro’s security protocols was amazing. Then again, the Nukari were still using her technology, which made it somewhat less … amazing.
Small holographic boxes marked with colorful icons appeared at Maro’s fingertips. Pay dirt!
“What are those?” Mencari asked.
Isn’t it obvious? she thought. “These are control objects. She must already be hacking into their central control cloud.”
Minea and Bob appeared next to her. Though the lack of their traditional entrance puzzled her, it occurred to her the artificial intelligence must be aware of the need for stealth during this mission. The AI’s ability to be aware and adapt to situations blew her mind. Her sister’s creations, even if Bob wasn’t directly one of them, were phenomenal. Of course, Maro got the more physically oriented smarts of her father. Her nanites were pretty impressive too.
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