by R. E. Carr
Eon grabbed Kei’s arm as he passed by. “You concern yourself with the present. I will look after our future. Is that fair?” he asked.
Kei said nothing and followed his guide toward the stairs. Eon was left sighing in the archway, kicking his feet into Dailyn’s carpet.
“Why am I waiting here?” Kei asked when the serving girl led him to a bare room. Metallic boxes sat in a neat row on the only table inside. A plank in one corner seemed to be some kind of bed. Kei sniffed the air and immediately extended his claws.
“I smell you, Machine Man,” Kei growled. “Show yourself!”
An alien clicking sound came from a corner. Kei recoiled as he saw a small-yet-gangly creature limp out of the darkness. Its liquid, blue-black eyes examined Kei closely.
“Impure,” the creature trilled. Its mouth seemed too small for its huge head. “Interesting.”
“Who are you? What do you want?” Kei asked, keeping his claws out.
“Thixix I am, the doctor of this estate. Your female is badly injured.”
“Where is Ji-ann? I swear, if you have hurt her—”
“Anger is out of place,” Thixix said. Kei began to shift under the Machidonian’s reflective stare. Although Kei’s skin was a similar shade of gray, this creature’s skin seemed molded, unnatural. It extended a three-fingered hand and bowed. “I here to help.”
“Will she be all right?”
“Injuries are serious, but I think I had time. I need you . . . to finish treatment,” Thixix said.
“I am not a shaman, nor a healer. What can I do?” Kei asked suspiciously.
The Machidonian kept his head low. Kei could see familiar puncture scars in the doctor’s hairless skull. Gingerly, Kei reached for the back of his own head.
“Please, sit,” Thixix said.
Kei eased into the chair. As metal touched his back, he flinched.
“Nervous, are you?” Thixix asked.
“I do not like chairs like this,” Kei growled.
“Need blood sample from you. It may help your female.”
“What? How is my blood—?”
“No time to argue. I must prepare transfusion soon to work.”
Kei shook his head. Before he could stand, metal restraints clamped over his wrists and ankles. Kei’s ears flattened. He hissed at the Machidonian. “You tricked me. Ouch!” Kei snarled as the doctor stuck a needle in his arm and began drawing out blood. “What are you doing?” Kei cried.
“Relax.”
“No!” Kei snarled. The tip of his tail began twitching rapidly.
Thixix chose to ignore the Beast Man’s posturing and began opening the boxes on the table. All sorts of bizarre instruments began to fill the work surface. Kei watched his blood move through various filters, until only a silvery powder remained in Thixix’s glass tube. The Machidonian then proceeded to mix Kei’s extract with a clear liquid.
“What are you going to do to Ji-ann?” Kei snapped, still thrashing at his bonds.
“Beast Tribe much stronger than Commoner. Symbiotic creature in your blood you have, she does not.”
“What?”
“Creature lives in Beast Tribe and Machidonian blood. This infection gives us our abilities. Your Beast culture help her heal faster.”
“No. Stop this now!”
“She has lost too much blood. Cannot find match for her in such short time. This is my best chance to save life.”
“What is going to happen?”
The doctor stared through his test tube. “We see.”
Kei watched the Machidonian pick up one of the metallic boxes and the shiny serum. Once the Machine Man left, he tried to break free, but the metal restraints refused to budge. Finally, Kei took a deep breath. Bit by bit, his hands and feet changed into paws. He roared. Bruises welled up as his flesh tried to tear itself apart.
He wriggled free of the bonds and fell flat on the floor. He groaned. It took him only a few sniffs to determine which way to go. He limped down the corridor, his left foot still not quite furry. One room had a light on. Kei tore the door open, ripping it free from its hinges. Inside, Thixix was just finishing injecting the serum into Jenn’s stomach.
“Done it is,” Thixix said. The Machidonian doctor rotated his head back nearly 180 degrees to stare at Kei. “You will not bother patient.”
“By the spirits,” Kei whispered as he saw Jenn’s washed-out face. He dropped to his knees and picked up her limp hand. “Is she—?”
“Nearly dead, but repairable. Worse I have treated on Master Dailyn.”
Kei ran his finger along the side of her face. “Ji-ann, I am sorry. I got you into this. Please do not die; not now, not because of me.”
“The wound cut very close to liver. Lucky girl. The strike did not land true,” Thixix noted. “Now is time to wait and see.”
“Can I stay here, doctor?” Kei asked.
“Will you get angry again?” Thixix asked, righting his head at last.
“No.”
“I stay here too. Must see if culture takes.”
“You have done this before?” Kei asked.
“Never on Commoner. In Machis Two, we sometimes inoculated engineers with Beast culture. It survived for a while with minimum side effect.”
“You took blood from my tribe and gave it to . . . ?”
Thixix nodded. “Allocation limited. Only the highest-grade personnel could acquire.”
“Disgusting.”
Thixix’s tiny mouth frowned. “System flawed, yes.” He seemed to search for words. “Many common workers never got treatment. Probability Machine called them expendable. Serum could be easily made and concealed.”
“I do not care. If a bunch of Machine slaves die, it is so much better for the world.”
Thixix cocked his head. “Do not understand. They are your people too.”
“No. No, they are not.”
The doctor dared not retort, leaving Kei to kneel by his pale wife’s side. The Machidonian stared into the empty syringe and sighed. “Wait and see,” he clicked. “Wait and see.”
“What exactly do you know of the Knight tribe, Westerner?”
Eon bowed deeply to Knight who entered the study. “The Knights are the guardians of this world, sent by the Ancients to protect and serve.”
Dailyn stared into the fire. “We once held such lofty ideals perhaps, but now our ranks swell with the likes of Sir Ajero. The long years and countless generations press in the back of our skulls, driving most mad or making them power hungry. We have forgotten the honor we once so dutifully upheld.”
“That is not true. There are still Knights who roam this land—”
“And they die dishonorably, like Sir Julian. Oh, how we mighty have fallen, Westerner. Generations ago, every son of a Knight was born a Knight, now only one in five shares his father’s blessing. It is all but unheard of to have a pair of Knight brothers anymore. Worse yet, random Commoners occasionally sprout the gift, but they usually go insane. We are supposed to serve the land, but we fear that, far too often, we try to rule it.”
“Such is the way of power, Sir Knight. At least the few in charge seem to be ruling wisely,” Eon said.
“Are they? We haven’t noticed. We are simply a dying breed. One day our ancestors will fall silent and it will be the Commoner’s world at last. You seem to recognize us, Westerner. May we ask why?” Dailyn asked as he sat down in front of his fireplace. He motioned to Eon to sit in the chair opposite him.
“I just thought I saw you somewhere. It was my misunderstanding,” Eon said with a bow.
“No, we don’t think so. You said the name Farris when first we met. How do you know our brothers?”
Eon stared into the fire. “We did business together, once.”
“It doesn’t surprise us. Farris were always making deals. Were you one of their spies or go-betweens?”
�
��Neither, really. He wanted me to perform a service. I declined the offer.”
“We see. Just how long ago was this business proposition?”
“A few weeks ago.”
The Knight leaned back in his chair, resting his hand on the sword at his side. He glanced heavenward and cocked his head, as if conferring with others, before levelling his gaze at the westerner.
“That is impossible,” he said slowly. “You must be mistaken.”
“Why?” Eon asked.
“Because our brothers took their own life five years ago.”
It was Eon’s turn to stare. “No, my companions described the man well. He was a copy of you, sir, but with black hair and a black, serrated sword.”
“This copy of us carried Arondight?” Dailyn asked softly.
“I’m not sure of what you mean. He had a magnificent sword. My companions had never seen a blade like that, even in the black markets of Machis Nine.”
“You won’t ever see another blade like Arondight. It was ripped from the steaming corpse of an Other by our ancestors more than five thousand years ago. Farris swore they would sooner die than have it fall in the hands of our aunt.”
“I am telling you that Farris Adair was alive and in the Western Jungle only a few weeks ago. I give you my word that he was no corpse,” Eon said. “Care to explain the discrepancy, good Knight?”
“Can we have your word that nothing said here ever leaves this room?” Dailyn asked. He waved the last servant out and picked up the bottle of wine he had left. “Would you care for a glass, sir? Perhaps you would care to tell us your name—your real name.”
“No wine. It isn’t really suited to the Western taste. My name is AjCh’atan Tzin, if you must know, and I do swear to utter silence.”
Dailyn took a drink from the bottle before sitting down. “We’re finding these bottles more and more comforting by the day. It’s the price of our silence, we suppose. Aj’Chatan, is it? We won’t ask too many more questions about you. More than likely we would be forced to kill you. Wouldn’t we, Eon?”
“Sir?” Eon asked nervously.
“Don’t say anything. As long as you don’t admit your guilt to us, we don’t have to challenge you. It’s a little loophole in Jasturian law that we are beginning to appreciate. Do you know anything about the current Baroness Adair, our aunt?”
“I know that she wants her son to win the tournament this year so she’s not letting you compete, Sir Dailyn.”
He laughed softly. “We haven’t been allowed to compete for five years. Technically, our brothers, our sister, and we are disgraced. Our fathers lost a duel to their brothers-in-law a little more than five years ago. Baroness Lenexa accused her own brothers of taking bribes from Commoners and grafting illegal fees from docking permits. Our Uncle Hawthorne were a far better duelist than our fathers. You can only imagine the result.”
Eon continued the thought. “And since trial by combat is law in Jasturia, your father must have been found guilty.”
“Lord Hawthorne did not survive the rainy season. The poison used to kill them was found conveniently in our mother’s jewelry box. Our aunt ended up Baroness, with us as her personal champions. As eldest sons, Farris were expected to kill themselves to erase the sins of their immediate ancestors. Our sister joined the monastery on Oracle Mountain. She hasn’t spoken a word since the day.”
“You should have sold the Baroness’s life to the Phantom Tribe. Maybe then there would be some justice,” Eon said.
“It wouldn’t be legal,” Dailyn said bitterly. “As Knights Errant and personal champions of the Baroness Lenexa, we could never endorse such action. Five years ago, our brothers walked into the Forbidden Desert carrying Arondight. Our Aunt tried to get the sword, but Farris were too crafty. Their clothes were found on a charred corpse. We assumed that the Machidonians killed them and took the sword.”
“Farris Adair serves the Machidonians now, it seems.”
“We should have known Farris were too stubborn to die in the desert. If they came back to Jasturia, we would be honor bound to kill them.”
“As long as you are the Baroness Lenexa’s champion, I assume,” Eon said.
“Yes. We are her servant for as long as she lives,” he said slowly.
Eon stood up and stretched his lanky arms. “I’m worried about Ji-ann. She’s not a warrior. It is not her place to die by the sword.”
“Thixix has saved us more than once. We rescued him from the Machidonian hunter-killers. Thixix was a doctor sick of losing patients because a god told him that it was inefficient to treat them. We keep him hidden here so that good Knights don’t die.”
“Isn’t he a fugitive? Shouldn’t you be honor bound to destroy him?” Eon asked.
“We are not Machidonian, and we have never sworn to their lord to abide by their laws. Until that day, we keep Thixix hidden. He’s our friend.”
“I’m sure he is taking good care of my friend then. Knights never tolerate incompetence in their ranks. Well, Ajero may be a notable exception. It’s hard to believe that the two of you share ancestors.”
“Their mind does not stretch as far back as ours. We all remember different things. As Lenexa’s son, they stand to inherit the entire Adair estate. Yet they did nothing to contribute to its greatness. Do not let their foppish exterior fool you; they are the favorite to win the tournament. They wield a five-hundred-year-old sword forged by Li Quan, the masters. It would be troublesome to make them fall.”
“I have faith in my friend Kei. He has vengeance in his heart now. It would be wonderful for him to get a chance to defeat that fool in the arena.”
“The Baroness would hate that, wouldn’t she?” Dailyn asked with a smile.
Eon acknowledged the Knight’s smile with a slight grin of his own. “Well, I guess we had better prepare our young fighter. Julian had promised us passage to Caybera Island as partial payment from the tournament winnings. Can you also assure me that you can get us passage once the tournament is done?”
“We have ways to get you to Caybera after the tournament,” Dailyn said.
“I see. But how can Kei, a Beast, beat a Knight with a five-hundred-year-old master’s sword? He can’t carry any weapons because of those damn claws of his.”
“Funny you should ask . . .”
Kei knelt by Jenn’s side, his eyes finally shut. His raspy snoring filled the small room. Across the bed Thixix looked on with concern. Even hours after the inoculation, Jenn had made no progress with her recovery. The Machidonian watched the gem on the Serif-fan’s forehead. Every once in a while, it would sparkle bright red.
“An interface?” Thixix clicked as he leaned over for a better look. He pressed the back of his hand lightly against the stone. “Yes, yes I can hear you,” Thixix trilled. “You say you are a construct assistant . . . ? You need Kei? Understood.”
The doctor gingerly lifted Kei’s bandaged hand and placed it on Jenn’s forehead. The red sparkle changed into a solid glow. Kei’s lashes began to twitch.
“Kei? Kei, can you hear me?”
“Ji-ann?”
“Not quite. I am Jenn’s Construct Assistant Level Beta, but she calls me CALA. She also calls me the ‘voice in her head,’ for your benefit.”
“Why can I hear you? Where is Ji-ann?”
“Jenn is being kept in a state of suspended animation. I am preserving her life by regulating her available blood supply to maintain vital systems.”
“What?”
“I am keeping Jenn asleep to save her life.”
“Will she be all right?”
“Her prognosis is . . . not good right now. As you are not true Beast Tribe, your culture of parasitic technorganisms is not as effective as it could be. She is not able to recover at this time.”
“No! No, she cannot—”
“There is still a chance for survival. I am attem
pting to interface my own systems with the parasite in an effort to speed her recovery. We need additional injections of your blood extract—”
“Anything! Take anything of mine you need.”
“I will relay the orders to the one called Thixix. He seems to understand the situation.”
“I swear by all the spirits that I will make that Knight pay for what he has done.”
“That is an illogical statement, Kei. At your current level of performance, you will not be able to defeat a member of the Knight Tribe who has any level of competency.”
“No. I know I can do better. I can remember—”
“You do not have access to enough of the information to be effective.”
“I do not understand.”
“Because you are not pure Machidonian, the download was not as effective.”
“Well, what can I do? I am apparently not effective at anything! If you know of a way for me to avenge Ji-ann—”
“The Serif-fan has told you about the programming placed in your mind?”
“What?”
“It is part of what is limiting the assimilation process. Yeiwa did not wish for such dangerous information to be in the hands on an untrustworthy servant of the Serif-fan.”
“I do not—”
“I am aware that you have no desire to be reprogrammed. Jenn does not wish this fate upon you either.”
“If I am re-re-what?”
“The block in your mind may fall.”
“If it means that I can destroy that Knight, then do it. I will not let another death . . . No, I cannot think like this. She is going to live. Ji-ann will live.”
“I have been analyzing Yeiwa’s program. Although I cannot reverse the previous damage or remove it without killing you, I may be able to alter its effects. You will not end up the mindless drone she was intending. I cannot, however, tell you with one hundred percent certainty what the exact personality changes will be.”
