"As you wish, but we need to leave. Right now. " Cade said
"Very well." Smirnov replied, "I will meet you at your craft. Allow me a few minutes to gather my supplies."
"Be quick." Cade replied as he picked up his rifle. He turned from the doctor and began to make his way to the elevator.
As Cade walked through the hollow, his thoughts raced. He thought of the demon, Crinnan, whom he had thought was dead, and what exactly it was that the Govian empire wanted from him. He knew the name, Jamiso, too well. It was the name of one of the terrorist Black Knight Commanders and also the name of the Commander's son, a member of one the highly feared Century Squad.
Cade shook his head at the thought of them. He had in the past and at their expense lined his pockets from secret dealings with Black Knight, supplying them with weapons or tools. While he was unsure if he believed in their mission or whether they were capable of accomplishing it, he did know that they were not untrustworthy, and that they had money.
Cade arrived at the elevator and pushed a button on the console beside it, calling it down. He heard it tremble and then start to descend from many hundred feet up. He looked around him and to his dismay, saw Ebren approaching.
"My Lord Cade!" Ebren announced as he approached, "For what reason may I ask are you compelled to leave so soon?" Ebren too was a Humaan and had not seen the vision. Cade silently sighed and tried not to appear annoyed.
"Urgent matters." Cade replied as the elevator arrived. "I will be back soon."
"Perhaps the president requires company?" Ebren suggested as he stepped onto the elevator platform alongside Cade.
"I do not." Cade replied. "This is something that I need to take care of on my own..."
"I fear the other two Presidents and the board may not appreciate you going on secret missions alone." Ebren said, "It is in your best interest that you permit me to remain by your side until this whole terrible scandal blows over and your innocence is proven."
Cade sighed again and pushed the "ascend" button on the terminal beside him. "Very well." He reluctantly replied. Ebren smiled as the elevator began to rise.
"I do not wish for my company to burden you my Lord." Ebren said, "You were highly respected by my dear late aunt Karna and I do not wish ill upon you... we must however make certain that the board has no reason to question you or your actions... thus... I must follow through with my own board appointed orders and continue... well, do forgive me for lack of better words but I must continue keeping an eye on you."
The elevator trembled as it came to rest at ground level. Cade and Ebren immediately stepped off and into the dimly lit hollowed out mound as they headed toward the door. As the elevator gate closed behind them, it began to descend again. Cade assumed Doctor Smirnov had already gathered his things and called the elevator.
"You there." Cade called out to the young guard they had passed upon entering the mound earlier. "You, wake up!"
The guard had fallen asleep again and it was to his great dismay that he once again awoke to find President Cade looming over him. A loom of fear spread across his goateed face and he immediately began to apologize.
"No time for that." Cade said, shaking his head. "Pick up your gun you are coming with me. I need your assistance."
"Yes sir." The young guard said as he obediently got to his feet. "Where are we going?"
"Belhaasi Weald." Cade replied, "We are retrieving something very valuable."
"Oh but I need to tell my wife that..."
"You can call your wife on the transport." Cade said, cutting him off as he opened the door to the outside. "I hope you are trained to use that thing."
"I can hit a coin as far as you can throw it." The boy said.
"Good." Cade replied as the three stepped outside. "Hurry now, keep up!"
Cade jogged across the green grass toward the transport he had arrived in. As his feet crossed the distinct line where the grass turned into the dried and cracked dirt that the rest of Canrom was made of, he saw Nida emerge from the vehicle.
"Sir!" She shouted as the president approached, "Sir something has happened!"
Cade ran up to her and she looked visibly disturbed. He looked her up and down and tried to catch his breath.
"What is the matter?" He asked.
"Holy hells." Nida said when she saw Cade up close. "That is not what I expected." Cade raised his hand and touched the leather mask where his face used to be.
"Well," He replied, "You do not want to see what is underneath. Now, what is wrong?" Nida crossed her arms and looked away from Cade.
"I had some kind of strange..."
"Vision?" Cade said, interrupting his secret lover.
"Yes." She replied, returning her gaze to him and cocking her head, "How did you know?"
"You were not the only one." Cade said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "It seems this... vision... was widespread, maybe covering every NaNe user on the planet."
"NaNe." Nida repeated, shaking her head. "There's that word again... anyway what does it mean then? This... demon?"
"We are about to find out." Cade said, raising his single eyebrow. He turned his head just in time to see Doctor Smirnov stepping out of the door beneath the Lithaani Sentinel. "We… well, apparently all of us, are going to Belhaas."
"That is not what I wanted to hear today." Nida replied. She stepped into Cade's transport and sighed dramatically. Cade followed, his boots once again clanking against the metal stairs.
"Oh come now." Cade said, "I am not asking you to march through the weald at my side. I simply ask that you do for me what you do best.”
Nida smirked and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s appropriate right now.” She said, poking him in the chest. “But maybe when it’s all over.”
“Do free your mind from the gutter!” Cade said, unable to keep his smile at bay. “And let us depart, for we will want to arrive before the Sym and Syl set.” Nida sighed and turned toward the cockpit.
“I want a raise.” She said, as she disappeared through the door.
Chapter 6: Part One
The Demon VI
22nd of Ramlia - 346 AG
16:00 - Belhaasi Weald
Crinnan sprinted down the ancient staircase and into the main room where Sage and the children were waiting
“See this?” Crinnan asked, as he quickly approached the Elf. Sage turned to look at what Crinnan was holding and nodded in reply.
“Tis’ a rifle.“ He said. “An upgrade from your revolvers I should say.”
“Yeah.” Crinnan replied angrily. “Jeph Scaven’s rifle.”
“I do not know him.” Sage said.
“He was a member of my squad... He was patrolling with me when I was ambushed… in a different area.” Crinnan said, “Last night, right?”
“Last night…” Sage repeated. He stood silently for a moment, appearing as if he were thinking. “I do not… I should say I thought I recalled you saying you were captured this morning?”
“I don’t…” Crinnan replied, dissatisfied with Sage’s response. “It might have been past midnight… I don’t fully remember… but…” He was beginning to feel foolish, for Sage was giving him a look of bewilderment.
“Crinnan, what is troubling you?” Sage asked, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Do you need to rest?”
Crinnan shook his head out of frustration, “I found Jeph’s body… his head... upstairs. I have seen a lot of dead bodies Sage. Jeph’s does not look like he was killed just this morning… it looks like… like he died a long time ago.”
Sage seem unfazed by what Crinnan was telling him. Crinnan did not know whether it was because Sage was withholding information or if it was because Sage thought him crazy. Either way, Crinnan knew he was not going to get anywhere.
“Tis best not to worry your mind.” Sage said, “While it is indeed a great mystery, I should say that at this point in our journey, we need to save our questions or our pursuit of answers until we have rea
ched the end.”
“He is hiding something.” Eshan said, “Do not trust him.”
“Tell your friend he is wrong.” Sage said. “I have nothing to hide.”
“He can hear me?” Eshan asked, sounding surprised, “How can he hear me?”
“Eshan just fucking be quiet!” Crinnan replied, looking over to Sage. “How the hell can you hear him?”
“Eshan is nothing but NaNe at this point.” Sage replied, “Everything he once was has been condensed into data and is stored in the NaNe… he is a mere and simple computer program. I have access to him just as you do, though his information does not dwell within me. Do you understand?”
“I don’t understand any of this.” Crinnan replied, shaking his head. “I just want it to be over.”
“Do not forget your promise.” Eshan said, “I will see my son again.”
“Yeah,” Crinnan replied with a sigh. “I haven’t forgotten… just be quiet for now, we can talk later.”
Sage looked at Crinnan and smiled. “Coming to terms with the being inside you?” He asked, cocking his head, “You two seem to be friends now.”
“You shut up too.” Crinnan replied. “Stay out of my head, I have enough in there right now.”
Crinnan turned away from Sage and toward the children who had been liberated from their cages. He looked down at the young broken spirited beings and frowned. He thought of the cold reality that those children had been living, at the horrors that they must have endured. He tried redirecting his vision but when he moved his head downward he only saw their bare bruised feet standing on a floor covered in their own blood, tears and excrement. The rags they had draped over their bodies were moist with the same fluids that covered the floor and again they stood in silence, apathetic to the world around them.
As he tried to ignore the tragedy of life around him he could not help but wonder about the fates of the children whom he had saved. He wondered if they would ever be able to recover from what they had gone through, if they would be handed over to someone who was capable of showing them love. He wondered if the children were even able to process love after seeing so much pain.
Crinnan wondered if the horrors they had endured had simply just become an unfortunate part of their lives or if it had consumed their souls completely, leaving only shells of what should have been life. He sighed and had to take a moment to breathe.
The world of Duraan was one stricken with the darkest sins known to mortal-kind. Many children in many instances were left to fend for themselves. The idea of family was simply shattered beyond recognition for them. That lack of family left many to find refuge in the wastelands outside the cities where they were either taken in or eaten by any of the various tribes of Marauders.
Sexual injustice had just become another part of the young one’s lives.Within the walls of the protected cities many children were forced to satisfy the desires of the hungry to make money. This money was in many cases taken by their sugir addicted parents or if they were able to keep it, it was barely enough to provide their next meal. Some children were able to escape the variables that the world offered or were fortunate enough to have decent loving parents. Crinnan was among the ones lucky enough to understand the word “family”.
Black Knight did what they could to ease the suffering of the forgotten children. While completely shielding them from the constant threats that the planet provided was impossible, they did have programs in place to at least make an effort to protect them.
Stationed in all of the protected cities around the continent of Redodra were strategic recruiters or "ghosts" as they were more commonly referred to. Ghosts sought out not only downtrodden and destitute adults but also the children who wandered the streets searching for a place to belong. The ghosts gave any who desired a home an opportunity to join the resistance. Once recruited, the adults were given either domestic or military positions and the children were enrolled in an academy. Crinnan’s home base welcomed a handful of new recruits every four to five weeks.
"Any sort of hope for normalcy or happiness for these children is pure fantasy." Sage said as he stepped up beside Crinnan. "It may not feel like it now now but a bullet may have provided these broken souls with more mercy. I should say there is no hope left in their young hearts."
As Crinnan pondered Sage's words he pulled out the pack of cigarettes he had found in the Govian rig he was wearing. He held one to his mouth and Sage reached out and pinched the tip of it, igniting it.
"Hope is difficult for anybody to find these days." Crinnan said after exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Nobody has anything to live for, we just... live. We are animals stuck in a world that was not made for us." Sage glanced over at Crinnan for a moment and decided to remain silent. Crinnan wondered if he truly believed his own words…
“That weapon.” Sage said, pointing to the rifle Crinnan had found. “It is unlocked?”
“It is.” Crinnan replied.
“What a fortunate find.” Sage said. “I should say it will be useful if we are forced to fight again.”
Most guns in the world of Duraan worked in unison with the user's nanomachines. The NaNe in each person assigns them a unique code which is used for various things including global tracking and weapons personalization. This “NaNe address” as it was called made it possible for weapons manufacturers to code the gun’s computers in a manner that would only allow one NaNe host to access them.
Locking the guns was the manufacturer’s way of generating a continuous profit. It made it pointless for an owner to privately sell the weapon as nobody wanted to purchase a gun they could not fire. Anyone wanting to buy a gun ultimately had to do it through the Govian weapons network.
Black Knight engineers had developed ways of fighting weapons assignment. Their method was a risky maneuver with a high failure rate. By clearing the firmware in a weapon's computer and reloading a custom firmware, Black Knight technicians were able to make weapons that could be shot by anyone.
When Black Knight’s method worked, it yielded an immensely valuable resource. It allowed Humaan soldiers to use quality Govian-made weapons, as any gun with a NaNe block could never be fired by Humaans due to their incompatibility with the NaNe network. Unfortunately though, most times it failed and caused a terminal error with the weapon. This error when tripped initiated the weapon’s computer defense system and sent a command to the NaNe to completely dematerialize the gun leaving nothing but dust behind.
NaNe assignment of weapons of course led to problems. If a NaNe Suppression Grenade, or SUP as they were commonly called, was released in battle then the computer in a person's weapon, no matter locked or unlocked, would become frozen and the gun would either dematerialize or become bricked. SUPs were fairly common in a battlefield and as soldiers were forced to throw their guns down they needed alternative ways of fighting. This forced soldiers to carry a melee weapon of some sort such as a sword or axe so that they still had a fighting chance if their guns went down.
“So what now?” Crinnan asked, looking to Sage. “We have… slowed our progress.” Crinnan looked briefly at the group of children and then back to Sage.
“I should say they will most certainly prove to be a hindrance.” Sage replied as he crossed his arms. “But there may be a solution. Not horribly far from here is a village of Sons of Sym. I am supposing that some of the children that we now have with us came from that village. The inhabitants may take them in…”
“Sons of Sym…” Crinnan replied. “Are they not… fanatics?”
“Dear boy.” Sage said, shaking his head. “Anyone who would live in this weald has to have something wrong with them… either way, I should say it will remove the burden of the lives of these children from our hands.”
Crinnan nodded. He did not necessarily regret saving the lives of the children. In his mind he knew that he had done a good thing, that he had just done exactly what Black Knight had been created for. Though, he also knew that he had slowed himself down.
&n
bsp; By that time, Crinnan was not even sure that his squad would be at the Izla’Axi caverns or not. He knew that a day had passed; that his and Jeph’s bodies were not going to be found. Captain Bran assuredly would not have spent a great deal of time searching for them. Crinnan considered the idea that perhaps Bran could have left behind a small team to continue the search but at that point he was sure of nothing.
Crinnan’s head was heavy. He was having trouble focusing on his thoughts as it seemed like his mind was working on processing something else. It was something that he could not figure out how to understand or even perceive but he knew that there was something going on in there. He felt like if he could only somehow listen in on his own brain he could perhaps begin to understand what was going on.
“We have lost an hours worth of sunslight.” Sage said to Crinnan. “We need to get these children moving.”
“I agree.” Crinnan replied.
“I do not doubt that they lay in wait to some extent.” Sage replied. “Though it is unlikely that they have obtained your NaNe signature and are thus incapable of tracking you, they now know your approximate position. We must be wary for I should say that they are undoubtedly in the area.”
“It would do me no service to betray you, Crinnan.” Eshan said. “For only through you may I be reunited with my son… And… In this state of being that I have found myself in I will tell you that I am able… Somehow… To perceive more than I ever have known possible.”
“Get to the point.” Crinnan said impatiently.
“The threats we are facing… Are beyond those imposed by my former motherland.” Eshan continued. “We are being pursued by… Hundreds, perhaps even even a thousand of the… as you say… NaNe signatures.”
“How could you know that?” Sage interjected, garnering a strange glance from Garb, the rubbery skinned Toraan.
“I cannot explain.” Eshan replied. “It is as if I have obtained new senses, I can see, feel the force of all this… Data I guess… moving toward us… I know not who they may be nor what they may desire, I simply know many souls are coming to the Belhaasi Weald.”
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