8. NOTHING’S CHANGED
HOWIE:
I COULD ALREADY HEAR THE COMMOTION FROM JASON’S rehab as I approached the room from down one of the long narrow hallways in our moon base. I had just finished up working in one of the labs so I was still wearing one of my off-white lab coats as well as my custom designed smart glasses as I strolled towards Jason’s rehab session.
Director Wells’ shot me a sideways glance as we passed each other in the hallway but neither of us spoke as we continued on it opposite direction. The door to Ace’s therapy room was already opened once I reached the end of the hallway and when I stepped through the entrance I immediately noticed Jason standing alone and shirtless in the center of the mostly empty room where he hammered away at a wooden kung fu practice dummy that stood in front of him. His chest and torso were still heavily wrapped due to the injuries that he had sustained in his battle with The Redeemer but even with the loads of white bandages covering his upper body it was still clear to see that Jason was insanely ripped. In addition to his extremely defined muscles he looked even more badass now that we had successfully amputated his entire right arm and replaced it with a powerful silver and black cybernetic arm.
He continued to pelt the poor practice dummy with lightning quick strikes as I approached him from behind, and as the workout continued the dummy began to tremble and crack as Jason’s newly installed mechanical right arm repeatedly slammed against it. I paused a few feet behind him and watched in silence as Jason drew back his cybernetic right arm and finally reduced the wooden dummy to splinters with an emphatic right hook that sent a large portion of the dummy flying across the room.
“I take it the physical therapy is going well,” I said sarcastically as I glanced at what was left of the practice dummy.
“Yeah, I’m still getting used to it though,” Jason said while he flexed his mechanical right hand a few times as he turned to face me. “How strong is this thing anyway? That’s the fourth dummy today.”
“If it’s too much for you I’m sure I can build you a kiddy model. It’ll be a nice little pink one with purple polka dots. You’ll love it,” I joked.
“No thanks on the pink. I’ll take those polka dots though,” Jason smirked as he grabbed a nearby towel and wiped the sweat from his face. Now that he was out of that hospital bed and back on his feet Jason’s movie star quality good looks had finally returned, and as he tossed the hand towel aside and cracked open a bottle of water from a nearby cooler it almost looked like he was shooting a water commercial.
“To answer your question, you should be able to dead lift around two-thousand pounds with your new arm,” I confirmed once he finished gulping down the bottle of water.
“Are you kidding me?” Jason asked as he raised his cybernetic right hand to his face and studied the intricate armor plating that covered it.
“No, I’m definitely not kidding. The inner components are mostly titanium but the outer plates are coated with the same Anokian-Steel alloy as your sword. That makes it a bit heavier but it should also give you some heightened defensive capabilities as well,” I said.
“Very nice! I can’t wait to put this baby to work,” Jason grinned as he opened and closed his mechanical right fist.
“Let’s just focus on finishing your therapy first. It’s important that you have complete control of the prosthetic before you test it out in the field,” I urged.
“Yeah, sure thing,” Jason said dismissively as his green eyes glowed with excitement while he studied the mechanical arm. “Hey, I’m actually glad you stopped by because I wanted to talk to you about something,” he continued after he finally dropped his arms to his sides.
“Oh yeah? What’s up?” I asked as I noticed a strange expression wash across his face.
“Do you remember what we talked about right after Director Wells gave the order to evacuate to the moon base?” Jason asked after a few moments of uneasy silence. It was clear that he was referring to the conversation he and I had in which I vowed to kill Director Wells and it was equally clear that he had chosen not to say that aloud because we both knew that the Director had surveillance in nearly every square inch of the moon base.
“Yeah, I remember. I’m not sure why you’re bringing that up now though,” I replied as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Well, you haven’t really said anything since we got up here so I didn’t know if you were still—”
“If you’re trying to ask me if anything’s changed, Ace, the answer is ‘no.’ Nothing has changed— but like I said, I won’t jeopardize the mission,” I said ominously.
“And after the mission’s over?” he asked.
“I suppose we’ll cross that bridge once we get there— and frankly I’d prefer to focus on saving the world right now,” I responded, as we stared into each other’s eyes.
“Whatever you say,” Jason sighed after a few moments of awkward silence.
“Alright then,” I said as he turned and walked over to the cooler once again. “By the way, I actually didn’t come up here just to check on your arm,” I continued as he opened another bottle of water and chugged it down in less than a minute.
“Oh yeah, what’s up?” Jason asked as he wiped a trail of water from his mouth while I pressed a button on the side of my smart glasses in order to temporarily disable any audio equipment that might have been recording us.
“I need a favor— and before you say ‘no’ you should know that this is about finding Reaper,” I urged.
“I’m listening,” Jason replied as he narrowed his eyes at me.
“I need to talk to Nina,” I said firmly.
“Nina Delgado? What does she have to do with Reaper?” Jason asked suspiciously.
“It’s sort of complicated but I need to speak with her as soon as possible in order to follow up on a lead,” I replied, hoping that Jason wouldn’t dig any deeper.
“What kind of lead?” he asked as he bit his bottom lip and considered his options.
“In addition to being Monica’s best friend I also think that Nina is possibly connected with The Strangers. That’s why I turned her in, remember? I’d like to see if I can get any information from her but Wells won’t allow me to talk to her,” I explained.
“I don’t know, Howie. Wells has to have his reasons for keeping her isolated,” Jason replied.
“But she may be able to help us find Reaper, Jason! I need to figure out how to contact The Suspect again, and if she’s indeed affiliated with The Strangers then she’s our best lead at this point,” I responded.
“So that’s what this is really about, huh? Contacting The Suspect? What makes you so sure that we can actually trust him, Howie?” Jason asked.
“He was right about the exchange in Manhattan wasn’t he? And if Reaper was alive in one of those pods who knows how long he has to live,” I warned.
“But what makes you think Nina will tell you anything when you’re the one who had her arrested?” Jason asked.
“You let me worry about that. Just know that if I was able to talk to her we’d be one step closer to finding out what happened to Reaper,” I insisted.
“Why do you need my help? Why can’t you just see her on your own?” Jason questioned. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he continued to contemplate whether or not he should help me, but from what I could tell he was starting to come around.
“I’ve tried. I don’t have access to that part of the facility,” I replied.
“And you think I do?” he asked.
“I know you do, I’ve already confirmed as much. Now are you going to help me or not?” I asked.
“Okay. I’ll do it,” Jason said after a few more seconds of pondering. “Just make sure you don’t get caught, okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” I scoffed as I turned and headed toward the exit.
“That’s what you said last time,” Jason called after me.
“Just let me know when you’re ready,” I replied, ignoring his snarky comme
nt.
“Will do,” Jason said as I neared the exit. “Hey, Howie, what do you think about replacing my left arm with another prosthetic?” he continued just before I left the room.
“I wouldn’t recommend it. You almost died on the table when we replaced your right arm,” I said without bothering to look back at him.
“Yeah right,” Jason nervously chuckled as I exited the room without another word. “Hey, you were joking, right?!” he called after me as I ignored him and continued down the hallway— already moving on to the next step of my master plan.
9. FIRST SIGHT
THE GREATER:
I COULD THINK OF NOTHING BUT HER AS THE TRIANGLE-SHAPED Anokian cruiser that they had sent for my father and me extracted us from our secret headquarters in Mexico and sailed us toward the Pillar of Eden, which was situated roughly seventy-million miles outside of the earth’s orbit. Thousands of our Anokian spacecrafts floated a few miles outside of the human planet’s orbit but The Pillar had to be kept at a much greater distance due to its sheer size and immense gravitational pull. To an earthling the seventy-million mile journey to The Pillar would have probably seemed like an astronomical distance; however, the ship that carried us towards our principle craft was traveling at half the speed of light, which meant the entire trip would only take about twenty minutes to complete. I tried to force myself to think of anything besides The Supernal, but I was completely powerless to stop my mind from lingering on the memories that we had shared— both good and bad.
The Supernal was nothing short of a goddess in my eyes. Of course she was not literally a deity but she possessed an aura so overwhelmingly delightful that her presence was easily mistaken for divinity. I couldn’t help but smile as the ocean of stars outside our spacecraft’s panoramic window reminded me of the night we first met. Our planet was much different back then— divided into four sovereign kingdoms, each of which having its own Emperor and Right Hand as protector and would-be heir. In order to unify the Crowns my father sought to challenge and defeat each of the four Right Hands as well as their respective Emperors. This was a task that had been attempted by many others before him but none had ever been successful. Still, my father sought to do what many considered to be impossible, and it was on the eve of his challenge for the First Empire’s Crown that The Supernal and I first met.
Over a century has passed since our initial encounter but I still remember it as if it were yesterday:
I had not even become a Knight by the time that my father defeated the First Emperor’s Right Hand and issued his challenge for the Crown. The challenge was issued almost immediately after their Right Hand fell, and since The Righteous was now technically the highest ranking member within the Emperor’s court my father and I were allowed to stay within the Right Hand’s portion of the First Palace on the night before he was set to do battle with the Emperor.
I remember standing outside our section of the First Palace and staring up into a beautiful night sky that was not unlike the one that I was presently gazing at. I heard no sound behind me but an abrupt shift in the cool night wind suddenly caused a remarkably sweet scent to waft across my nostrils. I turned to looked around in order to locate the source of that heavenly fragrance and as soon as I turned around I discovered that Lemore was standing right behind me— close enough to reach out and touch me if she had wanted to, though I had somehow not heard a single footstep upon her approach.
She was wearing a decorative white gown that was adorned with exquisite golden stitching that formed into several intricate symbols from Anokian iconography. The cool breeze that surrounded us both danced between her curly locks of soft mahogany hair that was so long that it wavered around her waist. She stood around six foot three inches tall, which was average for an Anokian woman, and though I could tell that there was something a bit odd about her, the more I gazed into her brilliant hazel eyes the more I realized that she was absolutely perfect in every way.
“There’s something odd about you,” she finally said before I could even say a word.
“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I admitted.
“I know. That’s why I said it. I can read your mind,” she remarked, as a wide grin spread across her perfect face.
“That’s not true,” I protested.
“Yes it is. How do you think I knew what you were thinking?” she asked.
“You were acting strangely and in my mind I said you were a little strange. That’s not too hard to guess, you know,” I scoffed.
“Odd,” she said, as she flashed me another delightful smile.
“What’s odd?” I asked.
“You said I was acting ‘odd’ in your mind, not ‘strange’,” she continued.
I was suddenly taken aback as I realized that she was actually right about that… but if she had heard that thought, had she heard my other thoughts about her as well?
“What are you smiling so hard for?” I asked as my face grew warm with embarrassment.
“You’re still wondering if I’m telling the truth, aren’t you?” she asked.
“No,” I lied.
“Yes you are… and you seem to be ashamed of something. Let’s see if I can dig that up too,” she continued as she flashed a playfully wicked smile and stretched her hands for my head.
“Get out of my head, you witch!” I protested as I took a step back and covered my head in fear. I stood there cowering for nearly a minute as I shielded my head with both hands and I only looked up after I heard her suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. By the time I peeked from behind my hands she was laughing so hard that I thought she was going to cry. I had never been so embarrassed in my life but after a few moments I couldn’t help but join in with her laughter.
“You should have seen yourself!” she giggled as she mimicked how I had shielded my head with my hands. “What did you think that would do?”
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” I asked jokingly as I fought to control my laughter.
I had only known her for a few minutes at that point but as we continued to laugh and joke at my expense I was already convinced that she was the most remarkable person that I had ever had the pleasure of meeting.
“You do know that you’re insane, right?” I joked as we finally regained our composure.
“I know that you’re insanely in love with me,” she said softly as she moved even closer towards me.
I wasn’t sure if she had plucked that bit of information out of my mind or if she had made that determination based solely on my demeanor, but whatever the case, she was absolutely right. My heart began to pound as she pressed against my chest and the sweet smell of her lovely fragrance filled my nostrils once again as she pressed her soft lips against mine.
To her that kiss was likely just a kiss, but to me it was absolutely everything. By Anokian standards we were barely considered to be young adults at that time, but despite my youth and the fact that I still didn’t even know her name, I could instantly tell that this was the person with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I was crushed when she suddenly said she had to go and I could tell that she realized how desperately I wanted her to stay. She promised that I would see her once again on the following day but little did we know that by the end of the impending tomorrow both our lives would have changed in ways we couldn’t have possibly imagined.
The next day, I sat amongst the hundreds of thousands who watched my father battle the First Emperor for the right to rule his Kingdom. Their fight began as a remarkably evenly matched bout and as I watched and cheered my father on I was so transfixed by the action packed battle that I failed to notice that the mysterious girl from the night before, as well as her identical twin sister, were both seated within the arena, directly across from me. They were cheering on the First Emperor just as emphatically as I was cheering for my father. When we first met, I had no idea that she had a twin or that she was the daughter of the First Emperor. I only knew that she was beautiful, and th
at with a single kiss she had changed my world forever.
I think back to that day quite often— wondering how differently our lives would have been if my father had never sought to unite the Four Crowns. I often dream of an alternate timeline, one where instead of meeting her the night before our fathers were set to battle to the death, we discovered each other under much more amicable circumstances. It is a better place… this dream world of mine— one where love is the only thing that I know and the piercing guilt that I often feel because of my father’s war does not exist.
But neither did that world. In the real world, my father was victorious, and as the First Emperor’s severed head toppled to the floor, by chance, I locked gazes with the mystery girl from across the arena just as I leapt from my seat to cheer. She and her twin were so undeniably identical that it was impossible to physically tell them apart, but as we gazed into each other’s eyes I could somehow sense that she was the one. I still didn’t know her name, nor did I realize that she was the daughter of the fallen Emperor at the time, but with a single look into her grief filled eyes I could instantly tell that I would never see her again.
Shortly after ascending to the First Kingdom’s throne, my father appointed me as his Right Hand, but before long a segment of the population began to grumble about his decision to do so. They were somewhat disgruntled about my youth but above all they were mostly upset by the fact that if I were to someday obtain the Crown I would have been the first Anokian to do so without having first ascended to Knighthood. In order to silence his critics my father ordered that I step down as his Right Hand until such time as I had completed my Ascension.
Savior Part 3: Legion of The Godhand (The Savior Series) Page 7
