Obsidian: Birth to Venus (The Obsidian Chronicles Book 1)

by Marisa Victus

  "What, what is it?" Jai spun around.

  "Cherie just called. Remember her? The Club Manager in Palm Beach?"

  "Yes, I remember."

  "She and many of the sentient Club leaders are traveling to Boston, to rebuild. They’re calling it the ‘Sentientscape.’”

  “But, I thought FEMA was handling the effort?"

  "They were, originally. But, the rioting's erupted in too many states, too many cities since then. Their resources are dwindling. So the Club Council reached out. FEMA's welcomed the opportunity to devote its resources elsewhere. They’re letting the Club Council take over the repairs.” Jai remembered how hopeful she'd been, to think that the sentient Clubs would come together to support Boston. It seemed similar to the way Elizabeth and other humans had worked to redevelop the hardest hit areas. It was good to know that, amidst all of the hate, sentients also wanted to work together, with humans, for the greater good.

  Soon after, Sean had proposed moving to Boston, like the other sentients he’d known, but Jai had held out hope. She had never wanted to leave her homes, especially her homes on the East Coast. She had so many memories with Joy there. But, many months had passed since that day, and the rioting had worsened and spread to more cities, until, now, it had finally reached her doorstep. Abandoning the beach house, the last place she’d synced with her mother, was harder than she'd imagined.

  Even now, as she flew them to Boston, her stomach wrenched. She shook her head and flew the jet higher, reminding herself, Look forward, not back. Everything's changed. The President's been assassinated. Our family will be safer in the Sentientscape.

  But, as the jet flew closer to the city, Jai realized the Boston that she’d known had changed. Sean recognized it, too. “You see that?” he asked.

  Jai could make out the city line but, periodically, the horizon went jagged. It seemed to disappear, like a heat shimmer in the desert. She rubbed her eyes, unsure if the sun was playing tricks on her vision. But, there, again, the city line appeared to glitch.

  “Let’s fly higher,” Sean suggested.

  And, the more they ascended, the clearer it became. That wasn’t a city line or rows upon rows of buildings. No, it was a massive wall. And, the higher, the closer they flew their jets to the city, the more they could see over and beyond it.

  “You…you see that?” Sean asked again.

  “Too hard not to,” Jai said. The shock was overwhelming. The sentients had not erected a wall. No, it was an electronic border, a virtual shield, an optical illusion for anyone looking toward the city. It was fortress, a marvel.

  “So this is the Sentientscape,” Sean said. His voice filled the speakers, flooding both of the jets’ cabins. “The Club leaders said they were going to rebuild, to protect everyone's access to water and an airport in case of an emergency. But, nothing could’ve prepared me for this. Look, to the west."

  Jai turned. There was a heavily guarded section, just behind the border's western facade. "They must’ve shifted the border, as each town's been abandoned, slowly taking on more and more territory, expanding the enclosed area. This isn't just a wall,” Jai said. “It's a moveable, massive border, encircling the entire city."

  Jai positioned the jet’s camera to zoom in for a closer look. She suggested Sean do the same. She turned the jet to “Skyview,” flooding the entire cabin with the camera’s images, so that Kevin and Borda could get a closer look.

  “It’s incredible!” Borda said.

  Kevin was like a kid in a candy store. “They must’ve been working around the clock to achieve this.” He scrambled to get a closer look, walking the length of the cabin to take in every detail. Built high into the sky, the border appeared to be made of a fortified, impenetrable material, with smaller electronic panels, projecting images that shifted subtly under the sun. Behind, and even more impressive, were the towers. At 5,000 feet in the air, they were already more than double the height of Barj Dubai, one of the world’s first super-skyscrapers. Jai wondered who the team of sentient architects were. They were clearly faster than humans, and they must have developed more advanced technology to build these structures. Attached to each tower, they’d built massive platforms, spiraling outward. Each platform was programmed for multiple uses. Jai saw a jet land on one, while sentients plucked vegetables off of another.

  “Aerial gardens?” Borda asked, awestruck.

  “Look! Over there!” shouted Kevin. He pointed to a massive hovercraft, flying around a tower. It lifted a pod, pulled it out of the tower, and flew it to another tower, placing it delicately inside. “Moveable homes!”

  “Where’s our landing?” Jai asked Sean.

  “It’s north-east. In the distance there. Do you see it?” He sent the coordinates to the command panel in Jai’s jet.

  “I see. Should be there in twenty minutes.” They were all excited, hoping that the Sentientscape might be a safe place for their family, after all. But, as Jai flew closer, she felt her heart sink. The area outside the border was destroyed and abandoned. She imagined this was how New York would become. Her chest hurt, thinking of how difficult it would be, for the humans to make it to the Sentientscape. She pictured the massacre, remembered herself, shooting outside of Club O. She remembered the children, women, and men who’d been pushed aside, innocents falling into the fray of rioters. Their faces flashed into her mind. How can I enter the Sentientscape, while they’re being left behind? And, the rioters who’d broken into her house. Even they made her heart ache. Not all of them wanted to riot. It was obvious from their thoughts. They, too, were being forced, blackmailed to wreak havoc. That, or their loved ones would suffer the consequences. Jai’s nose began to tingle. Her eyes began to sting. She was about to cry, when the jet’s alarm system blared and the cabin’s lights went red.

  Jai dropped her head to the command panel. “Missile Approach Warning,” the system cued, warning her to maneuver defensively, away from an on-coming missile. Borda rushed to the cockpit. Kevin peered through every window, looking for a visual. The missile was hurtling at them. The command panel displaying an icon, identifying it as a MANPAD, a portable, shoulder-launched missile. Compact and cheap, the missile was robust and easy to operate. Jai furrowed her brow. She had never seen, never heard, of any rioters with a missile, not even the most militant. She wondered, Where’s the launcher? I thought we were flying over an abandoned area? There was no time to think. The system announced, “Deploying emergency counter measures.” Jai increased the jet’s speed. Outside, the jet’s panels shifted. Jai hoped they’d prevent the missile from detecting the engine’s heat.

  “There, there!” Kevin pointed out the window, at the missile coming at them.

  Jai looked back. “Jet’s not shaking it,” she screamed. She took over the controls and maneuvered away, then shot a set of hot flares, to confuse the missile. Please, follow the heat. Lead it astray.

  “Yes, the flares are working!” Sean cried out over the intercom. But, he’d spoken too soon. A second missile had come flying, far too close to Jai’s jet. It hit, exploding against the right fuel tank. The connection between Jai’s jet and Sean’s jet disconnected. Sirens blaring in her ears, Jai steadied the jet as best as she could, then set it to autopilot. She turned to Borda. “You and Kevin, get ready to dive! Suits are in the back!”

  She rushed back to the cabin, Borda fast behind her. They donned suits and helmets, built to avoid hypoxia at high altitudes. Dressed and ready to jump, they prepared Zin. Kevin unhooked Zin from the medical equipment, stopping the last blood transfusion short. The plane shook violently. “Hold him steady!” Kevin yelled, as he hoisted a suit and helmet on Zin’s body. With Borda’s help, they managed to do it. “Now, what?” Kevin looked down at Zin, at a loss for what to do. “We can push him out of the jet, but what then? How’s he going to deploy his chute?”

  “We could hold on to his harness, until it’s deployed,” Borda suggested. The jet was descending fast, too fast. They needed to jump.

&nbs
p; Jai looked out the window, hit a side panel against the fuselage, and pressed her handprint against the electronic screen. “Fuselage, disengage!” she screamed over the sirens. The jet prompted her to repeat the command, then the captain’s code. She stated the code twice before the jet obliged. The fuselage flew open, ejecting the wall panel. It shot out, into the sky.

  Jai peered out, to make a quick assessment. “The jump path’s clear, but we’re too far from the border.” There were still many miles to go before they’d reach the Sentientscape. Sentients could run the distance, but a comatose one could not. She pointed to Borda and Kevin. “You guys, you run to the border. You can make it. Get help.”

  Borda and Kevin shook their heads no. “We’re not leaving you, Jai!” Borda screamed.

  “No way,” said Kevin.

  “We don’t have time for this!” Jai shouted. Her voice was firm. “Zin and I will make it.”

  “There’s no way you can carry him that far! And, we have no idea where the missile launchers are. The missiles came from multiple directions. There’s got to be more than one launcher. Likely a team.”

  “I know, I know!” Jai yelled.

  “Good. Then you know we’re not leaving you!” Borda was angry, upset that Jai would even suggest it.

  “Well, I’m not leaving Zin!” Jai screamed. No one wanted to. But, even Kevin couldn’t imagine another alternative.

  The jet interrupted them. “System failure. System failure.” The cabin projected a virtual clock, counting down, with just one minute until the system would lose control of the jet.

  Jai looked at both their frantic faces. “You two, hook into both of our harnesses. Mine and Zin’s. I’ll wake him up if it kills me.”

  “You’ll what?!” Borda stared at Jai, looked at Kevin, then back at Jai.

  “She’s going to siphon and mind-sync with him,” Kevin explained.

  “But, I thought that didn’t wake him last time?!” Borda’s mind raced. What if she doesn’t make it? I can’t let anything happen to her. Jai could hear Borda screaming inside. She couldn’t make any promises. She didn’t know what would happen, either. She, too, was afraid. She could feel the throb of every heartbeat, palpitating in her chest. She couldn’t help but wonder if, the last time she’d siphoned Zin, she’d played a role in his coma. He’d invited her to stay, together with him, in that cold cabin, that castle in his mind. Fear had crept in, ever since that day. Could siphoning make his condition worse? And, what about her last blinding migraine, and her black, obsidian eyes? Would that happen again? No matter how much she wanted to help Zin, the pain was so unbearable that a part of her wanted to avoid it.

  Jai clenched her fists, wondering if her body could handle another migraine. Should I take the risk? She looked down at Zin, pushed her doubts away, and looked at Borda and Kevin. “I have to try!” she screamed, and pulled Zin up. With thirty seconds to go, the three of them hoisted Zin to his feet. Kevin fastened his harness to Jai’s left harness and Zin’s right, while Borda fastened his harness to Jai’s right and Zin’s left. Jai gripped Zin’s head tightly, head to head with hers, then leaned toward the edge of the open fuselage. Kevin and Borda looked at her. With strands of hair flying out of her ponytail, the wind whipped her face. She nodded, then the four of them plummeted out of the plane.

  Without wasting a moment, Jai shut her eyes as they began to accelerate rapidly toward the earth. She dove into Zin’s mind, only vaguely aware of the grip Kevin and Borda had on her body. With a thud, she fell into Zin’s psyche, her knees crouched against the thick, white snow. She was at the doorstep in front of the cabin. The sun was beaming down. “Jai, is that you?” She heard Zin’s voice, deep and calm.

  “Zin, it’s me,” she said, rushing, pushing past the door. He took two steps back and laughed.

  “Whoa, what’s the rush?” His crystal blue eyes stared at her. He was the same hulk, the same Viking of a man, but there was a rosiness to his cheeks now. He was healthier than before. Astounding, she thought. How can he be so oblivious to what’s going on, right now, his body free-falling out of a jet? She looked around the cabin and gasped.

  His mental life had run loose. The cabin was no longer the cabin she’d seen in days past. Sure, it opened to the same cramped space as before but, instead of the small library he’d previously amassed, the cabin now opened wide, connecting it to precisely the same library Jai had — correction: the library she’d once had — at the beach house. She watched, amazed, as he walked past her, to recline on the very same sofa where his coma had begun. Jai tried to contain the rush of emotions inside of her. Remember: minutes, no maybe tens of seconds, is all I have. She reminded herself, We’ve already jumped. We’re dropping to the ground, about to make the run of our lives. She had to think fast, find some way to knock some sense into him. He needs to come to, to wake up. Please…please…she begged her mind to come up with something, any idea that might wake him up.

  Immediately, it came to her. And, with a sadness she hadn’t felt in a long time, she looked at him. He looked at her with deep concern in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Jai?” He took her by the hand. “Jai?”

  Without saying a word, she led him toward the center of the library. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the two of their bodies casting long shadows across the mahogany floor. “Jai?” She looked at the polished wood, a tear flowing down her face, and took a deep breath. “Jai, look at me,” he said, but she’d shut her eyes, unresponsive to his calls.

  The sky began to darken to a Prussian blue, so deep it was nearly black. And, the clouds, so light and airy, were fading away, until all but their jagged edges remained. Lightening lit the sky from behind, as the wind began spiraling out of control, rapping against the windows. Zin stared outside. He saw the Long Island Sound, its waves crashing, perilously close. We should take shelter, he thought, his eyes scanning quickly around the room. But, everywhere there were books along each wall. Only sofas, chairs, and the two spiral staircases, beside them. “Jai,” he said, beginning to pull her hand. She gripped him by the wrists. A strange, puzzled look flashed on his face. She could feel his eyes looking down at her. She kept her face down, as he wondered, What’s she doing? She was holding his wrists so tightly, he couldn’t move. “Jai?” he asked. He tried to pull away, but she held firmer still. Then, suddenly, she turned her face up to his.

  “I’m sorry, Zin!” she cried. She tethered herself, taking every bit of energy she could from him. She looked deep, deep into his Caribbean blue eyes. She watched, as his eyes filled with dread. She saw what he saw, her own brown eyes darkening to black, the pupils widening, eating the whites of her eyes, until there was nothing left. Just two obsidian shards staring, boring into his soul. He felt his body tremble and shake. He wanted to move, to pull away his hands, but she held him there, her hands wrapped like steel around his two thick wrists.

  “Jai, what’s going on?” he pleaded. But, she didn’t answer. She flung her head back and, as her gaze flew at the wall, his eyes followed. He watched as the entire room erupted in flames. Fire licked at the spine of each book, as if each book was a rung on a ladder. And, with each rung, with each book, the fire climbed up, from the first to the third floor.

  “No!” Zin’s mouth shrieked, his eyes darting back to Jai. He pleaded for her to help, to save the library that he’d come to love. But, the Jai he knew was no longer there. The ground was shaking, breaking around them and, as the foundation cracked, the books began to tumble to the ground, piles and piles of burning pages. The fire was an angry conflagration, a beast that was stalking closer to their two bodies. The heat was unbearable, and thick plumes of smoke were filling Zin’s lungs, choking him. No, I don’t want to die, Zin thought. And, she can’t die. No, not like this. Jai could sense the terror in Zin’s inner voice. He huddled closer to her, trying, she could see, to somehow shield her from the room crashing down around them. Even now, he wanted to protect her, though she was the one breaking his mind from the i
nside out.

  Gale force winds flung waves against the windows, shattering them against the floor. Starved for oxygen, the fire exploded, thrusting books, chairs, and broken wood at both their bodies. Zin screamed in pain as wood pierced his leg, toppling him to the floor, the arctic white of his hair flinging violently around his head. Jai pushed the fire on, forcing it to touch his flesh. Again, he screamed, but he held on still, to her body, to her frame, so much smaller than his own hulking form. And, with renewed resolve, Zin did his best to shield her from the inferno around them. Pain was all Jai could feel. Every cell of her being was filled with every emotion he had, with every sensation he felt, deep within his body, but she knew no other way. There was no other way, to get him to leave this place, to evict him from his mind, this castle of his choosing. There’s no other way to bring him back to the world. She was screaming inside. We need to escape. Now! She yelled at herself, pushing herself farther than she’d ever pushed before. She could feel it, the black obsidian in her eyes, as it cut deeper and deeper into her own mind. And, as she made the fire rage, she pulled the waves in close, toward their bodies, until the water was pulling them, carrying them fast, faster, until they were out to sea, lost in a hurricane of waves, crashing until they’d drowned.

  Kevin and Borda turned, shocked to see Zin jerk his head and suck in a tremendous amount of air. Tighter, they held on to Zin’s harness, as they felt Jai begin to move. Suddenly, her eyes ripped open. She looked disoriented, as the cold wind rapped hard against her skin. The frigid air was a strange sensation, having just burned and drowned in Zin’s mind.

  Here, now, she reminded herself. She pushed her shoulders back, and looked down. The ground was fast approaching. “Get ready to land!” she cried. “Me and Kevin,” she screamed. She looked to Borda. “You and Zin!”

  Zin was still gasping for breath, barely able to control the fear and confusion he felt. His eyes darted rapidly at the unexpected surroundings. What the hell’s happening? he questioned. Not to mention, who’s this spiky-haired guy, holding me by the shoulder? Zin looked down. Is that the ground, barreling closer? Panic was setting in, and he started to flail his legs.