by Joshua King
"Then you're going to have to start looking at it that way, too. Magic has evolved with the times. As people begin to understand the world around them better and meld the use of worldly technology with magical abilities, new types of magic emerged. These adaptations haven't always been good. They have formed many of the types of banned magic, including the type that controls these chips. They are usually only used by dark warlocks and are punishable by severe consequences if uncovered. Of course, very few people would suspect the Vampire Prime of utilizing dark warlock magic as one of his greatest methods of control. When I talk about a computer, it's not exactly like what you're used to, but it's similar."
"I want to know what you meant when you said the tracker is contagious," Jaxxim said.
He sounded tense and anxious, desperate to drag the conversation back to the path it had been taking so he could understand what was happening to him and what he could do to stop it and protect us.
"The magic Darian is able to use creates an enchanted object out of both the person with the chip and computer system. Once the tracker is in place and activated, the effect then becomes contagious to other people, it can be spread to those around the one who has it."
"So, you mean we don't have to have been implanted with a chip or activated in order for Darian to be able to track us?" I said.
"Yes, and to be able to move us through portals back here on a whim. But it's manageable. Just like the ability to move through the portals is done only when he wants it done, the tracker is only contagious when he makes it that way. Do you remember the first time you were here in the Tower and my father and I were in the office?"
"Of course."
"Didn't you ever wonder how we got there?"
"What do you mean?"
"You had been looking for me. You and Ashe had been searching for me since the night I bit you and had told Ty to keep an eye out for me. He said he would monitor the portal and if I tried to use it to get back here, he would let you know, but he never did. Didn't that make you wonder how I could have ended up here?"
"Darian. He has a tracker, too."
"Yes. He implanted it in himself first so he could experiment with it and see how powerful the magic actually was. We would use his ability to manipulate the portals to always be able to get back to Nakatomi Tower when we needed to without detection."
"Why did he never spread it to you? Wouldn't that be the most effective way he could have forced you to do as he pleased?"
"He knew if he ever tried something like that on me, I would happily turn him over to the warlock council. They would absolutely love knowing he had done something so incredibly against the regulations of the Underworld that they would be able to destroy him without any further recourse."
"You told me there were no police or anything like that here in the Underworld," I said. "When we talked about how people were going to react to the attack on the train, you said the vigilantes would take care of it. Why would I need to be vigilantes if there are regulations that have to be followed?"
"Just because there are no police or an overarching legal system like you might understand, doesn't mean there isn't a way for there to establish appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. What is acceptable and what is not exists even when there is no firm point of control. Societies are capable of functioning without there being written laws and universally recognized individuals whose sole purpose is to determine whether those rules were followed properly. Here in the Underworld, people are expected to monitor and control their own behaviors. Each species or faction has their own sets of laws and expectations, and their own ways to deal with them. There's an understanding that factions and realms don't interfere with the decisions of others. That's part of the conflict over vampire and warlock rule. Many of the species and realms want to be able to regulate and govern themselves, determining their own laws and ways of enacting them. They'll either get that freedom or they will continue to be controlled by the vampires or the warlocks."
"If the warlocks did find out that Darian was using that type of dark magic, they would likely kill him immediately, right?"
"Yes. But no one has firm proof."
"But if Darian can implant people with these tracker chips, activate them, and make them capable of spreading to other people like some super virus, why hasn't he done it extensively?"
"What do you mean?"
"He has the ability to know where anyone is at any time, and essentially force them to appear in front of him just by going through a portal. If he's able to make them come here, I can only assume he would be able to program the computer to send them to any other location he might want when they go into a portal. That means he could implant whoever he could get his hands on, activate the chips, and then send them out into the Underworld like living, breathing, biological warfare. Well, I guess not technically the whole living and breathing thing, but you know what I mean. He would be able to take these people who are contagious and send them out wherever he wanted, and they would spread that like a germ. Even without them knowing what was happening, the Prime would then have control over them. He would know where they were going and when, and he could gather them wherever he wanted completely against their consent. He'd be able to build an army. You can't tell me the dark warlocks didn't give him other abilities he could use to create mindless soldiers to do his bidding. Even if he's afraid of retribution from the warlocks because he's using banned magic, if his army was big enough and powerful enough, it wouldn't matter how much he pissed them off. They couldn't stand in his way."
"It's not just the threat of the warlocks punishing him for using banned magic, or even revenge for him implanting people, especially if he decided to start implanting warlocks. I don't put anything past my father at this point, and I know there is the chance of him transporting people to horrific places, corners of the Underworld no one ever wants to visit, and torturing them or forcing them to swear a blood oath of allegiance to him."
"A blood oath?"
"It's like our blood bond. Once it's made, it's unbreakable. If someone swears a blood oath, they are at the absolute servitude of whoever they swore it to and have to follow through with the terms without exception."
"That's lovely."
"Charming, like so many things about my father. That's not the point, though. It's not just the threat of retribution that makes him cautious about using this magic. There is a very serious danger linked to the use of the dark magic and his crossing of the warlocks who helped him. You know how the portals come with a price? And I told you that if the price isn't mentioned upfront, you should always be concerned because it can be extremely steep, and once you've used the portal you are bound to the payment of that price?"
"Yes, which makes me feel extremely secure and good about my future considering I'm still waiting around for the woman at the inn to drop the hammer on us, by the way."
"The same applies for the help of a warlock. Some will provide assistance because they want to, like Malakan. Others require payment for anything they do, especially the dark warlocks. They have no reason to want to help others just to be nice. There is always a catch. When they gave my father the power to use the trackers, they attached limitations to it. Every time he uses the magic for any reason, it ages him further and takes away a little more of his abilities. The effect is very slight when he uses it for himself, which is why he would use it to get to Nakatomi when he needed to. But to activate and use a chip has far more impact. If he was to use it on many different people and also try to control their behaviors and orchestrate attacks through them, it would ravage him. The only thing that would save him is magic from another warlock. A very powerful warlock."
She said those last words slowly and carefully, making sure I understood exactly what she was saying. I let out a sigh.
"Well, shit."
24
"That's most likely why he disappeared. Jaxxim might not be the only one of the Shades whose tracker chip he activated. Even if he did, t
he impact could be significant. He can't risk anyone noticing the changes and starting to question what happened. His plan is to acquire the power to restore his youth and full power again, but until then he has to stay out of sight. That's why he would bring us back here. This is where he feels at ease and most in control. Even the palace isn't as protected as Nakatomi Tower. He would want to lure all of us here so he's able to stop us from continuing our fight and get you under his control so he can use your power to restore his full strength."
"Does that mean he's here already?"
"I don't know. He might have gone into hiding somewhere else and be waiting until he knew we were here to join us. If we're going to have any chance, we're going to have to stop him from getting near us, which means we have to figure out how to control the chip. By now we've spent enough time with Jaxxim that the effect of the tracker has already spread to us. Even if we leave the Tower before he gets here, he could use the computer system to find any of us, wherever we are. The only thing we can do is end the control of the chip."
"If it's the computer system that controls the chip, why don't we just destroy the computer? Then he won't be able to use it to access the chip in Jaxxim or the contagion in us."
"You would think so, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way."
"Of course, it doesn't. Because, why would it?"
"There isn't just one computer system that has been enchanted. There are other systems Darian could access."
I thought about it for another second.
"Well, I'm a warlock. I don't know how dark I am, per se, but since I'm meant to be ArchWarlock, I assume I have some leverage. Can I just magic the tracker chip out of Jaxxim?"
"Again, that's not how it works. There are failsafes when it comes to magic, especially the magic created by dark warlocks. Only the warlock who instilled the ability to use the chips can magic it away."
"And thanks to your father and his wonderful sense of self-control, all those warlocks are dead."
"Yeah. That puts a kink in it. We have to figure out another way."
"Just because we can't get the magic out doesn't mean we can't change how it’s being used," Bex offered.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been relating this to a GPS system. Well, and Hayden you can correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not exactly the most experienced with things having to do with the other world, a GPS system has to be programmed. If you are the one who is using it to locate something or get directions, you have to put in where that thing or place is."
"You're on the right track. Keep going," I encouraged.
"But what if you decided you didn't want to go to that place anymore? You wanted to go somewhere else? You wouldn't have to find a different GPS system or destroy the one you had. You just reprogram it."
"So, maybe we can reprogram the computer system," I said.
"Exactly. If we can access the system that controls the chips, we might be able to reprogram it so it doesn't track us and can't move us through portals. The easiest way to do it would be to find the computer he uses most often. If Aurora is right and he really does feel safest and most in control here in Nakatomi Tower, this is probably where he has that computer. We need to find it and get into the system that controls the chips. Aurora, do you have any idea where it might be?"
"No. I haven't seen anything like that around here."
"I guess the only place to start looking is his office," I said. "But we need to be careful. Just because we don't see him, or any Shades right now, doesn't mean they aren't around. They could be hiding anywhere just waiting to jump out at us. We need to move as quickly as we can, but I don't think we should use the elevators. They're too easy to manipulate, and if someone is here with us and knew we were in the elevator, they could shut down the whole system and we'd be trapped. We need to use the stairs."
We drew our weapons as we walked down the hallway toward the access door. Memories of the battle Ashe and I waged in the stairwells were still fresh in my mind. I told myself that was a good thing. I wouldn't let them scare me or push me back. Instead, they fueled me. Remembering how the guards behaved and the tactics they used when fighting us let me feel more prepared. Even the second time I faced the guards, when I had to fight my way up the levels of the Tower to get to Aurora and take from her what I thought she wasn't going to offer, the blood I needed to complete my transformation and stop the process of death that had already started to take me, I was still scared. I did what I had to do, but the sight of blood still made my stomach turn and I wasn't as in control of my skills. That was over now. I had come into my own and while I was still learning, I was prepared to face whatever I needed to.
I turned back to my group before opening the door.
"Be aware of yourself at all times. Don't let worrying about anybody else distract you from the fight. Aurora, Ashe, Stephana, keep your minds open. Let me see your thoughts so I can help you in any way I might be able to. If a situation opens up, I might try to transfer my power again. Be ready for it and use it however you can. We're going to need to practice with that, but for now just make whatever use of it possible. Bex, are you willing to do whatever you need to?"
He knew exactly what I was talking about and didn't flinch.
"I have extra bandages in my bags and the medical kit is complete. If I have to, I will."
With a confirming nod, I turned to Brielle.
"If you want to fight, of course, you can. If you would rather stay behind me, you can. Be ready to heal us if there are any serious injuries."
She reached to the belt on my hips and drew a dagger out of its sheath. The poison on it is still visible, but she was unafraid.
"I'll fight."
Finally, I turned to Jaxxim.
"And Jaxxim... don't almost die."
He gave a hint of a smile.
"I will do my very best."
"Ashe?"
"Don't get captured. I'm on it."
"Then, I guess we're as ready as we're ever going to be. Let's go."
I opened the door to the stairwell, and we rushed forward, each of us prepared to immediately clash with a swarm of Shades. But the stairwell was empty. There were only the sounds of our footsteps and no matter how hard I strained, using every bit of my enhanced hearing, I couldn't detect anyone else there with us.
"They must not be here yet," Stephana said.
"Don't be so sure. It might just be us, but we can't let that take us off alert."
We made our way up the steps, slowly at first, testing the waters of moving up the tower, then gradually increasing our speed until we approached the landing with the door to the thirtieth floor at a run.
"Jaxxim, do you have your access card?"
"I kept it with me just in case."
He pressed the card to the reader, granting us access beyond the locked door.
"If Darian knew Jaxxim would be joining us in fighting against him, why would he let his access card still work?" Brielle asked. "Wouldn't he want to stop him from being able to get to this part of the building?"
"Remember, he wants us here. That's why the portal brought us here. He might not be able to control where in the building it lets us out, or he specifically meant for it to drop us lower in the Tower so he had the option to mount an attack before we got to him. But he wouldn't want to take away Jaxxim's ability to get us onto these floors. That would be against his goal."
We quickly climbed to the top floor where Darian's private office stood at the end of a long hall. We still didn't hear anything as we approached, and the office was dark and empty. It seemed obvious the Prime hasn't arrived yet, which gave us a brief window of time where we could look for the computer. Just like Aurora said, there was no such machine anywhere in the office. We looked on every surface and in every drawer. Remembering the hidden access point along the stone wall in the mirror area where Malakan had his house, I carefully walked around the entire perimeter of the room, checking the walls for any changes that might indic
ate there with a hidden door or hatch. There was nothing and we reconvened in the middle of the room.
"What now?" Bex asked.
"Aurora, what's on the other floors?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your father's office is on the thirty-third floor, but no one is allowed access to anything above the twenty-ninth without express permission. So, what's on the other floors? What did Darian want to protect so much that he had to provide authorization for anyone to get near it?"
"There's really not much. A few meeting rooms. A couple offices for members of the Council. A lounge for entertaining. A…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at me with a faint expression of shock. "Broom closet."
Without another word, we took off back down the hallway toward the stairs. Time was running short. We could feel it pressing in on us. Eventually, most likely much sooner rather than later, the Prime was going to know we had arrived and was going to show up to the Tower with enough Shades and allies to completely wipe us out if we weren't ready for them. We could run, but that would just mean they would chase us, and with the tracker activated, there was nowhere for us to hide.
That meant we had to find the computer and dissolve the control before getting out of the tower. My only reassurance was the assumption that he would avoid using the portals as much as he could. Too many people were tired of his interference and would be gleefully happy to see a weakened Prime, especially when they had the opportunity to ask a price for going through their portals. He would travel as much as he could without having to rely on them. That might give us more time.
We got to the floor with the broom closet and opened it. It looked like a normal closet at first, but a tiny handle on the far side of the back wall allowed me to push the back wall out of place, revealing a large hidden room.
"Sneaky," Ashe said.
"Do you expect anything less?"
The room was mostly empty except for a scattering of black leather furniture and a desk with a computer that looked like it had been pieced together from an assortment of ancient machines and pieces of a steampunk train.
