by J. Stone
“Stop making dangerous things, sir,” Germ insisted.
Rowland fidgeted and looked to the ground like a child being scolded. “But what if--”
“Master Rowland, no!” the rat demanded. “No more dangerous experiments. No more Pocket. Destroy it.”
“Very well,” he eventually replied. “I will find a way.”
“Thank you, sir,” Germ said, looking relieved.
“I would like to know more about your experiences inside though,” Rowland told him.
“I need to get some rest, sir,” Germ replied. “It will have to wait.”
“Oh!” Erynn exclaimed. “I know you’re tired, but I got something for you. Something to write down what happened.” She ran over to one of her work areas, sifting through her drawers and cluttered desktop. Eventually she found what she sought and returned to the rat. “Here you are.” She handed over a simple mechanical pen that she had clearly put together. “Tired of seeing you carry that ink and quill around everywhere. Take a tiny step forward in technology.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Germ said with a smile. “That’s very sweet of you. I’m sure I will find great use for it, when I’m ready to update my journal.”
“Later though,” she said with a nod. “You need to get some rest. Let me walk you up.”
“Actually,” the rat said. “There is one thing I should tell you now. Your brother, Simon.”
“Yes?” she asked, tentatively.
“I met him,” Germ told her.
“What are you talking about?” Erynn asked. “They said he died years ago.”
“He’s still in the C.E.R.,” he continued. “They did something to him that stopped him from aging.”
“It couldn’t have been him,” she said.
“While I was in the Pocket, he found a way to speak to me,” Germ explained. “He told me as much. I didn’t realize it when I first met him, but it was Simon. He was your brother.”
She didn’t seem to know what to say. Everyone allowed her a minute to think over what he had told her, unbelievable as it seemed. Finally, she replied, “Come on. Get some rest. We’ll talk about it later.”
Erynn walked Germ out of the room, leaving Rowland, Brodie, and Pearl in the workshop.
“I don’t want to impose, but I could really use a bed too,” Brodie said. “I haven’t slept in years.”
“Of course,” Rowland replied. “I imagine you do not have a home anymore either…”
“How long has it been?” he asked the professor.
“A little over two decades, I believe,” he answered, ushering the returned man out the door.
As Rowland left the room, Pearl remarked, “Livin’ in this house just gets weirder and weirder.”
Chapter 31. Crowley’s Deception
Crowley found himself in a rather unique position. Though a great percentage of the population of Cultwick had been under Fiona’s influence after she drank the baptism blood, he was one of the rare few that she directly controlled. She even forced words to be vocalized through his own mouth, spoken to Erynn Clover on the roof of the Terrace Building. What this had afforded him was an unrivaled and unfiltered view into Fiona’s chaotic hive mind. While he hadn’t initially understood or even remembered all that he had seen, it had nevertheless been slowly coming back to him during the days since.
There had been one specific memory he’d seen that piqued his interest. Though he didn’t fully remember it at first, Crowley eventually came to understand it over time. The viewed memory had belonged to the former Empress Mary Elizabeth. Through her eyes, he saw how Viola had been bred in a tank alongside a dozen other fetuses.
It was thanks to the operative, Alice Page’s investigation that he finally uncovered this memory in his mind. Upon Alice’s returning from death, Crowley had a decision to make - what to do with this woman. She was the best operative he had seen in his years of service on the council, and there was no doubt in his mind that she could be useful if properly motivated and guided.
Luckily, there was a serum he had seen that was capable of giving him exactly what he needed. When Erynn Clover won the lottery, the first and only injection she received was something called Primer. It’s goal was to connect her mind to that of Fiona, and though it had ultimately, in part, led to the Carrier Plague, it was nonetheless quite successful. Erynn and Fiona were able to connect at a mental level, and through experimentation, Crowley’s scientific researchers were able to sever that very connection. This research additionally allowed him to understand how the serum worked.
Using this knowledge, Crowley made a new concoction that combined the regenerative Hart Serum with the mental connection of Primer. This amalgamation is what he gave to the operative. So that he could control and influence Alice’s mind, he also created what was essentially a master batch to Alice’s slave serum. He injected himself with the master serum with the expectation that he could give new orders to the operative while learning everything she did.
It worked far better than he could have ever hoped. Crowley found himself with a full view into the operative’s mind, and he was able to issue any number of commands to her. The zealot that Alice was, she made the assumption that it was god talking directly to her. He hardly even had to push her toward this conclusion. She was overly willing to prove herself to god, and Crowley was able to use her in whatever way he wished.
As a test run of her abilities and malleability, Crowley decided to use Alice to retrieve Hazel Weaver. Though he fully realized that Empress Viola had officially released the magician, Crowley did not care. He wanted her back, so that he could finish his experimentation. Her teleportation ability was something that he refused to let slip through his fingers. Though Alice was successful in her retrieval of Hazel, Crowley never got the chance to do any research on the woman.
The Ankalaran assassin, Solak, would attack and kill all of his council before he got his opportunity. Though he hadn’t been able to research Hazel, Crowley did study Gretchen Reynolds quite extensively. Viola had been smart enough to keep Gretchen sedated, and Crowley took full advantage of the woman’s incapacitation.
Though Fiona didn’t make as big of an impact with this particular woman, while she was under her control, Crowley was very familiar with her thanks to the connection. Gretchen was completely mad, but she had been given a gift by Fiona, just like Hazel. The young woman was able to influence and control what others witnessed.
Using what he found in Gretchen’s blood, Crowley managed to concoct a serum that gave him that same ability in injection form. When Solak attacked, Crowley injected himself with the mind control serum, allowing him to trick the assassin into thinking that the councilor had killed himself. Keeping up the illusion for as long as he needed to maintain it had been exhausting, but ultimately everyone bought it.
Meanwhile, he directed Alice to continue her investigation of Viola. Crowley’s replacement, Reginald Maynard, had wanted the operative to hunt down and kill a bounty hunter, Vincent Rourke. Crowley quite clearly recalled Vincent’s role in the cure of the Sweeper Bot Plague, and he wondered what Maynard would want with the man’s death considering they should have been allies, temporary or not. He allowed Alice to continue on with this job, but he gave her the clear goal of discovering why he was so important rather than simply killing the bounty hunter.
Alice succeeded in this endeavor, discovering the truth of who Maynard was. Apparently, he and the empress had created the Chromework Confederacy together. The rebellion had all been mocked, just a distraction manufactured by the young woman. How Viola could have possibly known that the events would ultimately lead to her mother’s death, he wasn’t sure. Regardless, her actions had proved quite successful, putting the two of them into the seat of power. Though Alice had wanted to finish the bounty hunter encouraged her to keep him alive. Crowley’s hope was that Vincent would finish Maynard off for him and save him the trouble.
The final piece of the puzzle that Alice had uncovered for him h
ad been Cullen Eckhart’s existence. When his mind had merged with Fiona’s, he had unconsciously seen the truth about Viola’s birth. Putting the operative on that path had revealed Cullen, and now the question was how best to proceed. He would need time to get everything properly aligned, but with his death faked, Viola had given him a significant advantage.
Since he had been replaced by Maynard, Crowley had been accepting the aid of the loyal and faithful members of the Church of Biosynthesis. The new Lord Reverend, Elias Salem, was indebted to the councilor for assisting him with various personal endeavors, and he too was quite willing to give aid to Crowley.
Though he didn’t put much stock in the religion, he had always given those around him the impression that the church was important to him. In the Cultwick Empire he had always known, the Church of Biosynthesis was the true source of power, and he was willing to fake devotion to it for a bigger place at the table. This strategy had served him well over the years, allowing him to straddle perfectly between politics, science, and faith in the perfect proportions. Years of service in that regard had earned him a great number of supporters, and in the coming days, Crowley was certain that they would be exceedingly useful to his plans and schemes.
Descending from a private room in the upper levels of the Anointed Temple, Crowley met with Alice as she handed Cullen over to him. He gave her one additional task to interrogate and eliminate Erynn Clover and Pearl Hicks, convincing her that it was god’s will and not simply his own. Having loyal servants still working within the Sovereign Towers, Crowley had learned that not only had the pair of women visited the empress in her private library, but that she had actually gone to their home as well. Though no one had personally witnessed what their exchange had included, Crowley did not like the idea of that set of women becoming involved together in any way. Viola was dangerous enough on her own, she didn’t need the heretic at her side to further complicate things.
Before Alice left to uncover the specifics of their relationship, the former councilor gave her an additional supply of the Hart Serum. Through her thoughts, he knew that she was running low on the concoction, and knowing where she was headed, he suspected she might need more to interrogate the heretic.
In Alice’s absence, Crowley decided it was time to explain to Cullen who he truly was and what he might mean to the empire. It would give him the chance to see if Cullen was the man that he needed or not. His hope would be that this corpsman would be easier to control than Viola had proven. Telling him the truth about his birth though was not something that he suspected would be easy to undertake. Crowley guided the corpsman back upstairs to the room he had been staying in since his faked death, so the two could have some privacy.
Sitting down in a chair at a small round table, Crowley began. “Are you familiar with Dr. Hale’s work?”
Cullen joined him in a chair across the table. “Not really, sir. I know he worked out of the C.E.R. for many years. He was never very forthcoming with the specifics. Why?”
“Before you were born, Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Arkmast tasked him with something special,” Crowley explained. “I am not certain as to why, but it seems Mary Elizabeth was unable to give him a child. Fearing their bloodline would come to an end, they had Dr. Hale begin work on a project that would create children for them artificially.”
“You mean Viola, sir?” Cullen asked curiously.
“That is correct,” he replied with a nod. “But it seems that his work was not limited to a single embryo. To ensure that he gave the emperor a sufficient son or daughter, Dr. Hale created an entire batch of these artificially created children. After Arkmast made his selection, he ordered Dr. Hale to dispose of the rest of the children. He did not fully comply with that order.”
Narrowing his eyes, Cullen asked, “What are you saying, sir?”
“Though Viola was the child selected by the Arkmasts, you were the one Dr. Hale chose to keep alive against the emperor’s orders,” Crowley continued. “You are Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Arkmast’s son. Viola’s brother. You are the rightful heir to the empire, just as much as she is.”
Crowley paused, allowing Cullen to fully understand what he had been told. His face consisted mostly of a wash of disbelief and shock. After a few moments of silence, it seemed the corpsman might have come to realize the truth of what he had been told.
“That’s why Ezra never told me of my parents,” Cullen stated.
“Indeed,” Crowley replied. “He went against the emperor’s orders to spare your life. If anyone were to have found out about you, there is no telling what fate would have been visited upon you.”
Cullen looked up at the former councilor and asked, “If what you are saying is true, why would you even tell me all of this? What do you have at stake?”
“Dr. Hale was a good man,” he answered. “I am sure he raised a good man for his son as well. Your sister, on the other hand, has deviated from the teachings of the church. A true leader of our empire must follow certain ideals and practices. Cultwick needs you, Cullen.”
“You want me to replace her,” he accused.
“I want the true Arkmast heir on the throne,” Crowley explained. “I have faith that you are that individual.”
Cullen was quiet, pondering everything Crowley had revealed.
“I am not asking anything from you,” Crowley continued, standing up. “Just consider what I have told you, and then you must decide what is best for Cultwick. Feel free to stay here for the time. You will be safe, and you are among friends. I cannot say what Viola would do were she to discover your existence.”
Cullen slowly nodded, looking up at Crowley.
“Good lad,” the former councilor said, leaving the room.
He had taken the news of his birth quite well, better than the former councilor would have expected. His reaction proved hard for Crowley to determine how malleable Cullen would be at that point. The corpsman was obviously a strong individual, but he had to have a weakness of some sort that Crowley could use against him. He would probably be more concerned with the science of the empire than Viola was, given his upbringing, but where else would his loyalties lie? Anything, Crowley realized, would be better than his sister though. Now, his only major task was to remove Viola from power and place Cullen in her stead. Perhaps Alice would have success in interrogating the heretic, and they could move forward with the next step.
Chapter 32. Pearl’s Painting
Pearl sat in her art room, painting an image on a canvas that had not yet come into proper form yet. The depiction was still unrecognizable and shapeless, and she wasn’t even certain what it would be. She continued on regardless. Then came a loud bang at the front door of the house. She stood and slowly walked that way. Another bang. She could hear the wood actually splintering from whatever had hit it. Her pace slowed, as she neared it, dreading to find the answer to what lie beyond. She could now see the door, but for the moment, it was quiet and still. A third bang, more powerful than the previous, and the door was knocked in. Bits of wood flew into the foyer, the brass knob had come loose, and it was hanging off its hinges.
Ducking behind the wall but still peeking out around it, Pearl watched as a familiar form casually pushed in the broken door, causing it to fall to the floor with a thud. The intruder was the operative that had hunted Erynn westward after she fled, Alice Page. The mere possibility of her living seemed farfetched. They had all seen her perish when Fiona flung her under the train’s wheels. Her body had been sliced into a dozen pieces. How she could possibly be there was a complete mystery to the young painter.
She didn’t look entirely the same though. Whatever had been done to restore her had not been perfect. The skin of her face was scarred, presumably where she had been stitched back together. Her eyes, too, were much different. Pearl couldn’t have said what color they had been before, but now they were a completely milky white, with no differentiation between iris, pupil, or anything else. She had no idea whether the operative had seen her, bu
t Pearl ducked back behind the wall and waited.
Alice stepped further in, the wood and broken glass crunching under her boots. The operative stood motionless for a moment, while Pearl held her breath and tried to not make a sound. She wanted to warn Erynn and Rowland and Germ, but fear held her in place. The woman at their door held a terrible grudge against them in life. Death had surely not tempered such hate.
Though it was surprising that he had even heard the commotion, Rowland entered the foyer from his adjacent lab. “What in the world is going on?” he asked.
Pearl slid out from her hiding spot to see the professor slowly come to the realization of who was standing in their house. Horror washed across his face.
“Professor Rowland,” Alice said warmly. “Allow me to express how lovely it is to finally meet you in person.”
“You foul thing,” he spat. Rowland raised his gauntlet at the intruder in his home, preparing to fire some powerful blast from the device.
Instead, one of the vile tentacles lurched out from beneath Alice’s dress and smacked it aside before wrapping around his wrist. The gauntlet released a bolt of lightning from his palm, but it was directed up and to the side, hitting the ceiling of the entryway.
“Such a waste,” Alice commented. “You could be doing so much more, but you allow your brain to languish here instead. Disgusting.”
One of her tendrils crept from beneath her dress, hardened and sharpened at its point, and retracted back, preparing to strike as though it were a cobra. Her other tentacles held the professor firmly in place. His face was resilient in the face of death.
“No!” Pearl yelled, emerging from her hiding spot.
It was too late though. Alice’s tentacle pierced through Rowland’s chest, and as she tugged it back out of him, she released her grip on him, causing his body to collapse to the floor. Pearl ran to him, turning his body over and trying to see if there was still life left in him. The hole was simply too big. Too much blood loss. She had pierced his heart. He was gone.
