“The canister,” Felix said. “Use it.”
“I don’t know if it’s safe.” Brady lifted the canister in the air and turned back toward the entrance where Achilles waited.
“Are we supposed to use this now?” he shouted.
Achilles let out an approving bark that nearly shook the room.
“I guess that’s settled, then,” Felix said.
“Okay. Here goes nothing.” Brady held his breath, pressed the button on the nozzle, and waved his arm wildly around the girl. A jet of silver particles that streamed from the canister was immediately pulled into orbit around her, like curling strands of thread wrapping an invisible spool. The particles quickly diffused into a glimmering mist that encircled the girl in a reflective globe. The cloud held its form for a minute, then faded.
“Nothing’s happening,” Brady said, and he turned toward Achilles with a look of disappointment on his face.
“Maybe you didn’t spray enough, Brady. Try it again.”
Brady held the canister out in front of him, but before he could push the nozzle again, he noticed something.
The flashes of light were lasting longer now. Brady could begin to make out thick rings of metal that spun around the girl like a gyroscope. There were three of them, rotating at different angles and speeds. And they were slowing down. Soon they had stopped altogether.
Brady watched in amazement as the rings began to change. The difference was subtle at first. The reflective surface of the rings faded to a tarnished dull gray. Then the metallic coating began to decompose and pull away, leaving a tarnished layer of rust underneath. Flakes of rotting metal started to peel and break off the rings, like an ancient scroll thrown into a ferocious wind. Within seconds, the powdered remains of the rings lay scattered on the floor.
The stranger was free.
Chapter 9: The Collectors
THE GIRL SNAPPED to life, shouting, as if finishing a sentence she’d started earlier, “—some sort of trap, Achilles—run and get help!” The crate dropped from her hands and clanked loudly on the floor.
The girl jumped back in astonishment when she realized someone was standing next to her. Brady backed up a few feet to give her some space.
“It’s you!” she gasped, recognition slowly creeping across her face. Worried, she turned toward Felix, who was now standing next to his brother. “You’re both here… but why?”
“Your dog came and got us. He needed our help,” Brady said.
“You needed our help,” Felix added.
The girl looked confused. “Help? My dog? You mean Achilles? What are you talking about? Achilles, please tell me you didn’t bring them here.”
From the tunnel, the dog whined and lowered his head and tail in shame.
“It’s not Achilles’ fault. You were…” Felix thought for a second. “Well… you were frozen, like a statue. At least that’s what it looked like. And there were these metal rings flying around you that made some kind of a bubble. Your dog, I mean, Achilles, gave us a spray can to help get you out. It ate right through the rings and brought you back. You’d still be trapped if we hadn’t come. Who are you, anyway?”
“I’m Nova. I guess I should thank you both for saving me.”
Brady stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you, Nova. My name is Brady, and this is my brother Felix.” Felix waved. “And I guess this is yours.” He held the spray can out to the girl.
“Nice to meet both of you—face-to-face this time,” the girl replied with a smile. She took the canister and rolled it over in her hands. “It’s called a Field Wrecker, in case you’re wondering. It contains nano particles that eat through electromagnetic fields.”
Brady shook his head. “I don’t understand a word of what you just said.”
Felix jumped in. “The wrecker ate through the rings and destroyed the field that Nova was trapped in.”
“Exactly,” Nova said. “I must have gotten caught in a Time Hugger trap.”
“A Time Hugger?” Felix asked.
“A special type of field that stops time. Whoever enters the field becomes suspended in time. The rings create the field, and it lasts as long as they’re spinning.”
“Why couldn’t Achilles free you from it? Why bring us here in the middle of the night?” Brady asked.
“See those green beams in the archway?” Nova pointed over toward the entrance to the tunnel. “They would deactivate him instantly if he tried to step through. It’s part of a security system that looks for a specific electronic signature and destroys anything that doesn’t match up perfectly. Sort of a high-tech bug zapper.”
“Why didn’t it hurt us then?”
“You’re a human, so you don’t have a digital signature. It doesn’t even know you’re here.”
“But why would someone want to trap you in the first place?”
Nova looked pensively at Achilles, then turned back to Brady.
She hesitated.
“Because we’ve been stealing from them.”
“Stealing?” Brady felt his heart stop. Suddenly he didn’t feel like such a hero. He wondered if he had made a big mistake freeing the girl. What was he doing exactly—helping a criminal? He’d be better off at home still asleep in bed.
Seeing the look on his face, Nova added, “It’s a long story, and not what you think. We don’t have time to talk about it right now though. It’s too dangerous for us here. I’m sure they’ve already sent the Collectors to come for me. If they find us, we’ll be trapped here forever. We need to go.”
They made their way through the archway and back into the tunnel where the canine waited for them. Achilles’ eyes grew brighter as they approached, and his tail wagged effusively. Nova wrapped her arms around the dog and gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you too. Thanks for bringing help.”
Just as before, Achilles turned on the spotlight to guide them down the depths of the tunnel. Eager to leave, they moved at a brisk pace. Brady couldn’t help but think about what Nova had said earlier. Was he helping out a thief?
Soon they were back at the intersection of tunnels where the strange creature had passed by them in the darkness. Achilles shined his light down both ends of the crossing tunnel, looking for something out of the ordinary. Nova peered around the corners too. There was nothing there.
“I think we’re clear. Let’s keep going,” Nova said quietly.
A deep, anguished bellow called out from the shadows near the end of the tunnel. It was followed by silence, then the sound of scraping metal.
Achilles dimmed the light and looked up at Nova.
She put her index finger to her lips and whispered to the boys, “A Collector. The trap I set off probably alerted it. The good news is it probably thinks I’m still in the storage room, trapped. The bad news is that it’s blocking our way out. We’ll have to wait for it to pass by.”
The noise was growing louder; it was coming closer. “That’s the awful noise we heard before,” Brady said in a hush, his face half covered in shadow.
They slowly backed up to the intersection of the two tunnels. Nova ducked around the corner and motioned for everyone else to follow.
“Kill the light, Achilles.”
The dog obeyed, and everything went dark.
They stood against the wall and waited.
The scraping grew louder.
In the still of the tunnel, there was something else with them—faint but unmistakable. It announced itself with the same horrid noise as the other creatures. A second Collector—this one coming from behind.
Nova looked around anxiously.
“There’s more than one—there’s no place to hide from them both. We have no choice but to try to make it for the door. On the count of three, we’ll go for it. One… two… Achilles, lights!”
Achilles dashed around the corner and switched on the heavy beam. The harsh light revealed their fear.
It was there, waiting for them.
The creature’s wretched body drifted t
hrough the air, buoyed by steel tentacles that slithered noisily across the floor. Centered on its trapezoidal hull was a glass sphere, recessed into a hollowed socket—a haunted eye. A vaporous red light burned within the globe, and it jerked about with stiff, erratic motions.
The creature was alien and awful; a mechanical jellyfish carved into sharp, menacing angles.
And it was sliding toward them.
Brady, Felix, and Nova huddled together behind Achilles, who stood guard. His ears were straight and his metallic razor teeth seemed to grow several inches. He stepped forward, toward the creature, letting out a vicious growl.
The Collector retreated at first, then held its ground, hovering in place. Its eye stopped moving and locked on to the dog. For a moment, the two otherworldly creatures stood facing one another.
It was the Collector that moved first. Without warning, the creature flung a lethal tentacle toward the dog. The end of the tentacle crackled loudly as electrical current surged through the flailing appendage.
Achilles jumped to the side, the tendril missing him by inches. He sprang forward with razor-sharp nails extending from his paws and brought the creature down to the ground with a crunch. Sparks flew from the surprised bot as it struggled to pry itself from Achilles’ mighty grip.
The creature was shrieking, and its dark glass eye spun around wildly, searching for a way out. Achilles shoved the creature against the wall and turned his head toward the end of the tunnel. He looked back at Nova and the boys and started barking frantically.
“This is our chance,” Nova said.
“What about Achilles?” Felix asked.
“Did you see him? He’ll be okay. Come on!” Brady replied.
The three of them slid around the dog while the Collector continued to writhe in agony. Tentacles flailed around looking for something or someone to latch on to.
As they sprinted down the passage, Felix turned to look back over his shoulder. What he saw filled him with terror. A mob of Collectors streamed into the tunnel, quickly filling the space behind the dog and the fallen Collector.
Felix slid to a stop while Brady and Nova continued toward the door. “We have to help him!” he shouted. “There’s too many of them!”
Brady shouted back at his brother. “Felix! You heard Nova—we need to keep going! Don’t be stupid!”
Nova was already at the door. “They’ve locked it!” she cried, her voice echoing up the tunnel. “I’ll try to override the software.”
Felix and Brady looked back at the crowd of Collectors. There were more now, all of them now bearing down on Achilles.
With his paw still pinning the first Collector, the dog turned to face the onslaught. He barked with such force that the tunnel shook from the impact.
The Collectors froze, a sea of gray tentacles undulating against the floor.
They waited, neither side moving.
Achilles was so focused on the standoff that he didn’t see it coming.
The creature trapped beneath his paw stopped moving and its tentacles fell limply to the floor. The red eye grew brighter, spun faster—and then ejected, striking Achilles with a clank and quickly affixing itself to his torso. Barbed legs grew from the eye and began to drill through Achilles’ metal armor.
Sparks of light flashed around Achilles’ body; the eye was electrifying him. He crashed to the floor next to the now-lifeless machine and lay on his side. His legs were thrashing in all directions while hair-like threads of lightning arced across his body.
“Achilles!” Nova cried. She was still busy trying to override the door controls with her watch.
“Brady!” Felix called to his brother. “We have to help him!”
Brady stood paralyzed, glancing back and forth between the door and the dog.
Felix could bear the dog’s pain no longer. He ran over to him and climbed on top of his body. Reaching down, he grabbed the eye tightly with his right hand and attempted to dislodge it from Achilles’ torso. He used his left hand to keep himself from falling over. The eye’s grip was solid and wouldn’t budge.
Nova realized too late what was about to happen. “Let go, Felix!” she shouted.
Felix’s whole body was shaking from the electricity as he tried to pry the sphere off the dog. Undeterred, he let go of the dog and grabbed the dark eye with his other hand. He leaned back and tugged with all of his weight. He pulled harder and harder.
And then it happened. The eye dislodged from Achilles, sending Felix flying through the air—the eye clutched tightly in his hands. He landed on his back, unconscious, next to Achilles. Brady watched as the eye fell out of Felix’s motionless hand and began rolling across the floor searching for its host.
“Felix!” Brady yelled. But just as he began to run toward Felix, the Collectors started their advance. He realized the monsters would reach his brother before he could.
Suddenly, Achilles picked himself up off the ground, bent down, and wrapped his teeth firmly around the eye. Then he snapped his jaws shut with a loud crunch. The eye shattered, sending shards of glass and wires flying in all directions.
Achilles turned with bright eyes to face the army of Collectors and growled. Immediately, they stopped and moved back a few steps.
The dog then moved over to Felix. He slid his muzzle under the boy, nudged his unmoving body onto his back, and lifted him into the air. In a fluid motion, Achilles’ rib cage opened wide and swung upward so that each rib encircled the boy. Interlocking blades of metal unfolded and connected the ribs together, forming a protective cage around Felix.
And then the Collectors were upon him, rushing forward as a single mass. One by one they ensnarled the dog with their tentacles until at last he was completely covered by the hideous creatures.
Nova finally had the door open; she ran back to Brady, who was still standing there in shock, and grabbed him by the arm. “Brady!” she shouted
Brady didn’t move; he just stared back at Felix.
“Brady! Listen to me, please! They’re coming for us next!”
Even as she spoke, a swarm of Collectors began rising off of Achilles and floating toward Brady and Nova.
Only one word slipped out of Brady’s mouth.
“Felix…”
Nova grabbed Brady by the arm and tried to pull him away. He didn’t budge.
“Achilles will protect him,” Nova pleaded. “But we need to get out of here. There’s nothing we can do right now. There’s just too many of them. I promise we’ll come back for him, but we can’t do it without some help.”
The creatures were so close now that Brady could see his reflection in one of the creature’s ink-black eyes.
“This is our last chance,” Nova said. “If they catch us, there will be no one left to save your brother. He’ll be trapped forever.”
Brady finally snapped out of it, just as a Collector raised its tentacle to ensnare him. Together he and Nova sprinted back through the door and into the room where the flame portal still burned brightly. Brady barreled forward through the door of light.
11100110
Brady found himself back in the clearing in the woods, the warm rain striking his face. He felt like his heart would burst through his chest at any second. Quickly he turned around, just in time to see a shadow form on the surface of the gateway. An instant later, Nova burst through, mid-stride, and came to a stop.
She frantically typed at her watch, trying to shut the door before it was too late. Lightning lit the sky.
Brady watched in horror as a metallic tentacle poked through the gateway. “Something’s coming! Close it, Nova!”
Nova continued tapping on her wristwatch, and the portal continued its bright, cold burn.
The rest of tentacle burst through. It thrashed wildly about, searching for a victim.
“Hurry!”
At last the portal collapsed with its familiar thunderclap, severing the tentacle from the creature on the other side. The writhing limb fell to the ground, where it continued to
twist before going still.
They were safe here, for now.
But…
Brady knew they had to go back for Felix.
They had to go back for Achilles.
And they were going back tonight.
Part Two
Chapter 10: Nyx’s Way
DESPITE THE UNUSUALLY warm weather that night, Brady stood shivering in the forest. His tears mixed with the raindrops that ran down his face, and his hands trembled as thoughts of his brother raced through his head. He tried to fight back the fear that coursed through his veins like wicked venom, threatening to take over at any second. Brady had already lost his father. He wouldn’t lose his brother too.
He looked at the detached tentacle still sparking on the ground. Frayed wires and fused metal spilled out from the charred opening where a thin ribbon of smoke curled up toward the sky. The air was filled with the smell of scorched electronics.
Seeing the severed appendage forced him to think about everything Felix had done that night. Brave Felix: saving Achilles from the scourge of the horrible eye. That dreadful red glow that would forever haunt him from this night forward. He remembered Felix lying on the ground in the tunnel, unconscious, and he tried to swallow the sour taste of guilt rising in his throat.
It was useless.
Felix had acted with courage while he had been immobilized by fear.
Like a coward.
He should have been the one the Collectors had taken away.
How could he have let this happen? He had failed his brother, his family. Brady was tempted to run home, to tell his mom everything, but he knew he would never be able to look her in the eye again unless he got Felix back home safe.
“Brady?” called a voice from behind him. He quickly tried to dry his swollen eyes with his shirtsleeves.
“Brady? Are you okay?”
He turned around and found Nova watching him closely. Nova, the stranger from next door who had managed to turn his entire life upside down.
This was all her doing.
She had convinced him to leave Felix back in the tunnel. And what was he supposed to do now? There was no one else he could turn to for help; there was nothing more he could do by himself. He needed her help.
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