Maya knew they couldn’t afford to think like that. “It can’t be the entire moon.”
“How do you know?”
Maya said simply, “Because the Flawless Few wouldn’t live in such a drab place as this.”
Priscilia let out an impatient sigh. “I just wish we could use our god speed to get through here.”
“So do I. But we agreed it would be reckless to charge ahead. We might run into enemies.”
Rolling her eyes, the silver-haired girl said, “I know, I know. But I don’t have to like it.”
“Fine. Just—shhh! Did you hear that?”
An annoyed Priscilia said, “Hear what?”
Maya motioned for her to stop before moving forward a few feet. She looked around cautiously, her ears tuned to hear whatever was ahead. At first, she saw only more shadows. Then…
…movement!
“There’s someone up ahead.”
“You’re getting paranoid,” Priscilia said.
Ignoring her, Maya shouted, “I know you’re there! Come on out!” She tensed up, expecting an attack.
But what actually appeared was far different. A host of small figures stepped forward out of the darkness. They were children, dirty and naked, with long wild hair.
Priscilia turned her nose up at this. “What the hell?”
“Who are you?” Maya asked them.
The tallest—and probably oldest, yet not more than fifteen years—stepped forward. It appeared he had made at least some attempt to cut his hair, haphazard as it was. Like the others, he was incredibly lean, though he had fully-formed muscles. “We are the Worthless.”
Maya raised an eyebrow. “Worthless? What do you mean?”
Uncertainty shown in his eyes. “That’s what they call us. I don’t know what it means.”
“It means you’re without any value whatsoever,” Priscilia said.
“Shhh!” Maya said to her, giving the haughty girl a chastising look. She then turned back to the boy. “Who calls you worthless?”
“Mistress Athena. She said we were born as… as… ex… ex… per… experiments.”
“Experiments?” Maya said.
He nodded. “They used to take us until a bright room with strange people. They stuck needles in us. They said it would make us stronger. It didn’t. So they called us Worthless and sent us out here.”
“Athena did this to you?” Maya said.
“Yes.”
“I see.” It was too cruel. Athena had used these children for Zero Grade’s twisted experiments and then abandoned them when it didn’t work. Maya already hated Athena for what she had done to Medusa, but this took evil to a new level.
“You live here?” Priscilia said.
“Yes.”
She asked them, “What do you eat?”
They looked at one another, confused. “What is ‘eat’?”
“You have got to be kidding me. You know—food! Sustenance. What do you put in your mouths?”
“We don’t know what that is.”
Priscilia let out an exasperated sound. “Listen, you—!
Maya put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing whatever she was about to do. Maya then turned her attention back to the children. “If you don’t eat, how do you stay alive?”
“Mistress Athena says the Ulti… Ulti… ma… ma…”
“Ultimus Points?” Maya suggested.
“Yes. The Ul-ti-mus Points keep us alive. That’s what Mistress Athena said.”
“I didn’t know the Ultimus Points could do that,” Maya said.
Priscilia argued, “They can’t. Not unless there’s an Ultimus Point here far more powerful than what we have on Narska.”
Maya clenched her fists. “If that’s true, then…”
“Yeah,” Priscilia said. “Our situation is even worse than we thought. Much worse.”
* * *
Ev crept up to the massive, fifty-foot-tall wall surrounding Eden’s entrance. Ghorj had told him to be stealthy if possible, so he had been doing his best to sneak around.
The walls themselves were at the bottom of a large canyon. It was warmer here, though not too hot, and the air made his throat dry.
Ghorj had told him to look for security cameras in order to reveal his presence, and, sure enough, he quickly found one located midway up the southern wall. He pretended not to see it as he walked right in view of it.
Once he was sure he had been spotted, he began running away, albeit at a human speed. An alarm then went off, and he made a show of pumping his legs to run faster.
A large metal door opened, and several tough-looking guards charged out using god-speed. “Halt!”
Before long they had him surrounded. “How the hell did you get out?” the lead guard said.
“Uh… just lucky, I guess,” Ev replied sheepishly.
“Check his collar,” the leader said.
One of them gave the thing around his neck a cursory examination. “Light’s still green. Must be working.”
“Hmph,” the leader, a muscular man with a sinewy body, said. He had pale, almost greenish oily skin, a cauliflower nose (he must have seen his share of fights) and wild, bushy eyebrows. He turned to the others and said, “Get him inside. We’ll find out who he is and how he got out.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” Ev said, milking the helpless prisoner act.
“A little late for that,” the leader said.
* * *
Since none of the guards recognized Ev, he was taken to Processing, a small, poorly-lit room with a computer terminal. They sat him down in front of it, pressed a button, and a light washed over him. It was so bright he had to close his eyes.
“Prisoner not recognized,” the computer said. Ev was surprised to hear Ragnarok’s voice. Apparently, the same woman had done both voices.
“Piece of shit,” the lead guard (whose name Ev now knew was Ophion) said.
A technician sat next to Ev at the terminal. He was a handsome young man with glasses and an impeccable physique, who wore a white lab coat—but no shirt for some reason. “Could be another virus.”
Ophion grunted. “Damn rebels.”
“Rebels?” Ev said. He hadn’t heard anything about a rebellion on the moon.
Ophion punched him in the head. Another bright light flashed, except this time, it wasn’t from the computer. Ev had to admit, the guy could hit pretty hard. “Keep your trap shut.”
“Sorry.”
The technician continued. “If it was a virus, it may have wiped prisoner data. That could be why he’s not showing up in the system.”
Groaning, Ophion said, “Fine. We’ve got his block number. We know where he goes.” He turned back to Ev. “You better hope you’re not supposed to be in a more dangerous section.”
Ev held up his hands. “I’m not. I swear.”
The bald man leaned in close, his face inches from Ev’s. His hot breath spewed forth. “Just so you know—the warden will be wanting a word with you about your attempted escape. You better pray she just kills you outright. Her torture sessions are legendary.”
Ev gulped. “Thanks for the warning.” He really didn’t want to meet Warden Jane.
“Take him away.” Ophion nodded to the other two guards in the room, who each grabbed Ev by the arms and dragged him off.
* * *
They left Processing, and Ev got a good look at the ship’s interior. It was basically the same as the Midgard (very metallic, very sterile), only the walls and floor were an oppressive dark rust color, and the lighting was gloomy. A multitude of guards patrolled the corridors, carrying swords, knives and other bladed weapons. Also, instead of crew quarters, the ship was filled with prison cells. It really was just a prison space ship.
They led Ev down a few levels into General Confinement. The prisoners paid no attention to him as he walked by; as he looked into their eyes, it became apparent they were dead inside. Who knew how long they had been imprisoned here.
General Confinement was filthy; a pu
trid smell permeated the air and the walls were stained with a dark… something. Ev didn’t know if it was blood or puke or both.
Ev was deposited in a dingy cell. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. A shuffling sound alerted him to the fact he was not alone in here.
“Never seen you here before,” a female voice in front of him said. Ev peered through the shadows; a figure was doing pushups on the floor in front of him.
Ev shrugged. “I’m new.”
“New?” She stood on her feet and stepped forward. It was then that he could make out her features. She must have been at least six feet tall, with long red hair and well-defined muscles. “That’s interesting. There hasn’t been a new arrival in centuries.”
“What can I say? I felt like shaking things up.”
She laughed. “You’ve got some spirit, I’ll give you that. You haven’t been beaten down yet like everyone else here.”
He turned around and stared at the cells across from them. “Yeah, I noticed. It’s like they’ve all just given up.”
“An eternity of desolation will do that to you,” she replied. “But don’t think they’re finished. They’ve just forgotten what freedom is like. If someone were to remind them, I think they’d become fighters again.”
Ev grinned. “I think that can be arranged.”
The woman cocked her head and examined him closely. “Who are you? You act like you planned on getting thrown in here.”
“That’s because I did.”
She got right up in his face and smiled broadly. “Oh? A man after my own heart.”
“What do you mean?”
She sat down on the lower bunk. “I’m a First Generation god. I used to be a part of Zero Grade. But then I got into trouble for marrying a Second Gen. That’s illegal here, but what can you do? The heart wants what it wants.”
“So, what happened?”
“We tried to keep it a secret. My husband stayed away in a shack a ways from here, but I made the mistake of trusting a supposed friend of mine with the secret. She turned me in to the Flawless Few.” She shrugged. “I guess friendship didn’t mean as much to her as it did to me.
“Anyway… the Flawless Few demanded to know the name of my husband. I refused to give him up, though—especially since we had a child at that point—so they threw me in here. It’s been a few years since then. I wonder how they’re doing.”
“Your husband,” Ev said. “What is his name?”
She sneered. “Please. I can’t even trust my own friends. What makes you think I’ll trust you?”
But Ev was undeterred. “Was his name Ghorj?”
Leaping to her feet, she got in his face again. “How do you know that name?”
“He helped me get in here. He wanted me to break his wife out. Are you Minerva?”
A wave of emotion washed over her. “Ghorj sent you?” She put her hands to her to face to hide her tears. “I miss him so much. How is Sumi?”
“Sumi’s fine,” he assured her.
Minerva turned away from him. She then took a moment to compose herself before turning back to face him. “Sorry. I don’t like people to see me like that. Now, what is your name?”
Ev extended his hand. “Ev. Ev Bannen.”
She shook it. “Ev Bannen! You really are a troublemaker. The guards have been talking about you. You really made an impression of the Flawless Few. I hear they want you pretty bad.”
He thought a show of confidence wouldn’t hurt anyone. “Yeah, well, they’re going to get me. We’ll see how bad they want me then.”
She nodded with satisfaction. “Glad to hear it. But how do you plan I getting out of here? These collars around our necks aren’t just for show.”
“Actually,” he ripped his fake collar right off, “this one is.”
“You sneaky bastard!” she happily declared.
He then grabbed her collar and tore it free. Wires and circuitry came loose as the whole thing was dismantled.
Her powers restored, Minerva clenched her fist with satisfaction. “I haven’t been able to cut loose in a long time. What do you say we get this party started?”
Grinning, he replied, “Sounds like fun. We’ll trash some guards as we head to Level Z.”
“Level Z? Aren’t you trying to get out of Eden? Why are you going further in?”
“I’m going to free every single prisoner in this place to help me take the fight to Zero Grade. I need them to get past the checkpoints.”
She burst out laughing. “You’re something else, Ev Bannen. All right; I’ll go with you and we’ll turn this place upside down. Warden Jane won’t know what hit her.”
“I’ll get the ball rolling.” Ev went over to the cell door and ripped it free, causing a loud shriek as the metal was shredded.
“What was that?” a guard shouted.
Ev and Minerva stepped out into the hallway. A couple of guards quickly reached them. “Two of the prisoners are out of their cell! Their collars are off!”
The guards rushed them with their weapons, but they were quickly dispatched by the far superior duo. “I see the Divine Protector Academy isn’t all talk,” Minerva said. “You’re pretty good.”
“Thanks. Which way to Level Z?”
“I’ll show you. But we won’t make it by ourselves; security’s too tight. We’ll need to free as many prisoners between here and there as we can.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll take this side, you take that one.”
Ev ran over to the opposite wall and began ripping cell doors off, while Minerva did the same across from him. Stunned prisoners stood there, confused, as this happened.
“W-What’s going on?” One of them asked.
Ev started dismantling their collars. “It’s a jail break.”
“A jail break?” It was almost as if they had been here so long they had forgotten the very concept.
“Yeah.” Ev turned back to Minerva. “These guys don’t look so hot. Are you sure they can help us?”
From across the corridor, she replied, “Once you get their collars off, their strength will return to them. It might take a few minutes since they’ve been on so long, but it’ll work, trust me.”
It made sense. “All right. I trust you.”
Before long, more guards had arrived, but by that time, Ev and Minerva had freed close to a dozen prisoners who were all too happy to bust some heads after all their years in captivity. They fought sloppily, but they had the numbers.
The great Eden jail break had begun.
Chapter VI
Warden Jane stood in the Control Center, an odd mix of fury and excitement building within her. Part of her was enraged at the audacity being displayed here, yet another part was thrilled someone had the guts to try this.
The room itself was darkly lit with most of the light coming from the video screens and computer monitors lined up along the far wall. People sat at small desks in front of said equipment, typing information and manipulating the camera feeds.
“I want good news, and I want it now,” Jane said.
“We’ve identified one of the culprits,” one of the operators said from his station. “It’s former Zero Grade officer Minerva.” Two images appeared side-by-side on the screens in front of her. One was an older photo of Minerva, while the second one was a screen capture from a few moments ago.
Tsk. “Figures it would be her. She always was a troublemaker,” Jane said. “What about the other one?”
“It appears to be the unknown prisoner we brought in a little while ago. There are no matches in the prison records.”
Jane replied, “Expand the scope. Search the entire Zero Grade database.”
After a few moments, he said, “Facial recognition software has found a match. Minerva’s partner is the Level 5 criminal Ev Bannen. He’s wanted for trespassing, theft, destruction of Zero Grade property, and murder. He’s suspected of being involved in the recent assault on Olympus, but the ship was destroyed by our defenses.” Images of
Bannen appeared on the screens.
“Seems he survived,” she said, a slight smile forming upon her lips.
The images changed to show Minerva and Bannen running down a flight of stairs accompanied by their ever-growing army of prisoners. Jane tensed; exciting or not, the Flawless Few wouldn’t tolerate such a failure on her part. She needed to contain the situation ASAP.
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