The Relics- The Keystone Trilogy - Part 1

by Michael K. Damron

  Alexie then clasped the crystal in her hand tighter, causing it to glow a brighter blue. She then pointed it toward an unoccupied area of the room and triggered a stream of bright blue light to propel forward and expand into a large circle of various fractal forms, creating a portal. The stream of light remained tethered between the portal and crystal. A lush forest, perhaps a jungle, could be seen on the other side through shifting, transparent fractals. The portal then collapsed in on itself as Alexie summoned the projection back into the warp crystal she held.

  Jack stood in awe. “Holy sh—”

  “I know,” said Butch. “This stuff is next-level, man.”

  “Ready to get started, Jack?” said John.

  “Yeah,” he said, nervous and anxious, “Let’s do this.”

  John signaled to Alexie, who traded the warp crystal she had for another. She rolled up the leather case that held the remainder of the crystals and slung its strap over her shoulder. Holding up the shard in her hand, a stream of blue light dashed across the room and a burst of fractals produced a new portal.

  “Boys first,” said Alexie.

  John walked through with Butch close behind. Jack was next to step into the portal, bags in hand, but found himself frozen in place.

  “C’mon, get a move on,” said Alexie. “You won’t die if you walk through it.”

  “What does it feel like?”

  “A little like falling horizontally for a brief moment. Now let’s go, slow-mo.”

  Jack held his breath and made a quick dash toward the portal. As he entered, it was as if his body was launched forward to the new location from a cannon. In an instant, he found himself face-down in a field of grass. Alexie’s feet soon walked by his field of view as she remarked, “Now that’s pretty damn graceful, newbie.”

  After standing and dusting himself off, Jack looked around at a beautiful countryside and a close by building that resembled a giant, windowless steel cube.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’ve arrived at the headquarters of Division 1042, in a discreet location on New Zealand’s South Island,” said John. “It’s also known as the Searcher division.”

  “Searcher? What does the division search for?”

  “That’s what we call ourselves,” said Butch. “Searchers. It’s simple, but that’s what we’re doing. We search for the relics, for morphacite, for exos, and answers to the reason for why it all exists, where it came from, and what we’re supposed to do with it all.”

  “In short, we’re going to change the world for the better,” said John.

  As they walked toward the facility, Jack studied its bleak exterior.

  “It’s never been much to look at,” said Alexie.

  “Now, now, you know it’s what’s on the inside that counts,” said John. “Jack, it’s time for you to meet the rest of the team.”

  John motioned to Butch, who placed his hand on a black square akin to the one on the cabin they previously came from. On the monotonous steel facade they were facing, the outline of a door began to form. Butch pushed it open and they all filed in.

  On the inside was a large room with a vast array of tables spread throughout, lined with equipment and artifacts that were foreign to Jack. There was also an eclectic smattering of five other people in different areas of the room who stopped what they were doing and walked over to where John and the others entered from.

  “Well, Jack, these are your fellow Searchers,” said John, motioning to the approaching team members. “Everyone, this is our newest initiate, Jackson Drake—James’s son.”

  They all walked up to Jack, one by one, to greet him.

  “Awesome to make your acquaintance, Jackson!” said the first, rather rambunctious girl, not allowing a single second of silence to linger. “Is it Jackson or Jack? Either one sounds good to me. Or maybe you have another nickname? I’ll call you whatever you’d like, as long as it’s not too complicated. My name’s Garnet. My identical twin sister behind me right here is Ferra. Well, our hair is different, so we’re not completely identical. Anyway, you’ll find she doesn’t talk much, but it doesn’t mean she has anything against you.”

  Ferra greeted Jack with a firm handshake and a simple “Hey.”

  “Hi. Good to meet you both. And, uh, everyone calls me Jack.”

  “Jack it is!” said Garnet.

  He observed they were identical in every way except for the fact that Garnet had a streak of dark red on the underside of her long, jet black hair while Ferra sported a more plain and disheveled hairdo in which one side swooped down and covered half of her face. She was also much thinner than Garnet, lacking in a similar amount of muscle tone. Their personalities seemed to clearly be polar opposite. This was the first time he had ever seen a twin or sibling of any kind.

  “So, twins, huh? That’s something you don’t see every day.”

  “Let’s not dive too deep into that right now,” said John. “But to sum it up for you, Garnet was one of the rare individuals who could integrate with an exo. When we found out she also had a twin, we felt it our duty to rescue her from the virtual reality she was imprisoned in and give her a chance to live out her life in the real world in exchange for helping us with our cause.”

  Jack glanced back at Ferra, who was casting a mean look toward John.

  Next to speak was a smartly dressed British man in his late 40s. He also sported a well-groomed goatee.

  “Richard Bohr. Pleased to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” said Jack.

  A woman to Richard’s left spoke next.

  “I’m Bridgett,” she said with a smile.

  She dressed more simply and had striking features—pairing wavy black hair with sapphire blue eyes.

  A younger, thin man with a French accent was last to introduce himself.

  “Good to meet you, Jack. I’m Marcel.”

  “Well, you’ve met all your new team members,” said John. “You’ll find the facility has many workers in other rooms on the various floors, but they’ve been tasked with doing what needs done around here and have been directed to stay out of the way, unless otherwise asked. They all live on site at the other end of the building and understand the importance of keeping this division secret. Also, in case you find yourself in need of it, we have a full medical staff at the facility that’s ready to attend to any injury that may inadvertently happen. Now, what do you say to a little show-and-tell?”

  “Huh?” said Jack, giving him a confused look.

  Garnet began to clap with excitement. “Oh, I was hoping we’d do this!”

  Some of the Searchers ran to different parts of the open space, grabbing objects off tables before everyone made their way back to the center of the room.

  “Here’s the deal, Jack,” began John, “we’re still learning more and more about the relics as time passes. But the way they activate and attach to you is based on whether or not you still have an ancient DNA sequence in your genes. I, for instance, don’t have a single section of the sequence required to activate an exo. Are you following so far?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” said Jack.

  “So, what that means is you and all the other Searchers have enough of the ancient sequence still intact to activate the exos and possibly use other relics, like morphacite and warp crystals. Now, the differences come with how much of the old DNA sequence still exists. Someone with nearly all of it intact could theoretically unlock all of an exo’s power. But those who have only some of the ancient sequence remaining can’t quite tap into all of what’s possible, although their exo can still provide them with remarkable abilities.”

  “What kind of abilities can an exo give you?”

  “Ah, now that’s what the show-and-tell is for,” said John, rubbing his hands together. “All right twins, you’re up first!”

  Garnet reached into one of her boots and pulled out a small dagger. Without hesitation, she sprinted several paces away from the group and hurled the blade toward a dart board on the o
ther side of the room. Following a perfect trajectory, the dagger hit the target’s bullseye.

  “Geez!” said Jack.

  “I know!” said Garnet. “If you think that’s something, wait until Sis shows off her skills.”

  Ferra took a small sharpener from her pocket and gave a needle point to the pencil she had been twirling in her right hand. She then threw the writing tool toward the same dart board, impaling it into the bullseye like her sister did.

  “Wow, that was incredible too!” said Jack. “So your exos gave the two of you really good aiming and throwing abilities?”

  “Something like that,” said Ferra.

  “It’s kinda hard to explain,” said Garnet, “but we now have a combination of superior vision, balance, and an overall intuition with the laws of physics. Honestly, I think our exos allow us to even bend the laws of gravity to our will a little bit. Sometimes Ferra or I can run along a wall with ease or do some outrageous acrobatics. It’s pretty cool!”

  “That does sound cool,” said Jack.

  John gave Richard a tap on the back, signaling he was next to show off his abilities.

  “Well, Jack, the fragments remaining on my gene sequence allows my exo to bestow me with telepathy. Hands please,” said Richard, holding his hands out for Jack to place his in.

  Jack obliged his request, unsure of what was going to happen.

  “By remaining in contact with you, I can read you better,” said Richard, closing his eyes and starting to concentrate. He furrowed his brow as he began recounting the visions he saw. “Your Dad and Mom had such a hard time letting you go off to the university in China. Your mom asked you to screen with her every day, but you negotiate a minimum of once per week. You had three good friends in your classes throughout your years there, the third friend joining the group during your junior year, I see. Your father’s funeral is hard on you. It’s your graduation. You know you’ll miss the girl from Tennessee. She—”

  “Okay, I get it,” said Jack, cutting Richard off before he could find out more about how he got his exo, or the video message from James. “Really impressive.”

  “Thank you. I’m still learning how to use my abilities, but my training is coming along,” said Richard.

  “Butch, you’re up next,” said John.

  He made his way over to one of the solid steel tables in the room and cleared everything off the top surface. With ease, and not being a man who looked anything like a bodybuilder, he grabbed one end of the long table with both arms and lifted it above his head.

  “Whatcha think?” said Butch.

  “I think that table seems incredibly heavy,” said Jack, worried that Butch could hurt himself.

  “Honestly, feels like no more than twenty or thirty pounds to me.”

  “So your exo gave you super strength?”

  “Yeah, pretty much,” said Butch, placing the table back onto the floor. “It’s got something to do with having some sort of dominion over gravitational physics. I’m not quite as good at aiming or having superior vision like Garnet and Ferra are, but everything feels light to me now. I can jump higher, run faster, and have an easier time with feats of strength.”

  “That’s still pretty cool,” said Jack.

  “I’ll go next,” said Marcel.

  From where he was standing, Marcel summoned a piece of morphacite located on the other side of the room. He levitated it above his palm, forming it into the shape of a thin throwing knife. Taking aim at the dartboard, he cast the blade from his hand like a bullet, splitting Ferra’s pencil in half.

  “You owe me a new one of those,” she said, her voice hoarse.

  “Add it to your arts and crafts budget,” said Marcel. He then turned to face Jack. “I want you to show me how you handle morphacite.”

  “Um, maybe I can give it a shot later. S-so who’s next?” asked Jack, taking an audible gulp.

  Alexie stepped forward, reaching out her hand toward Marcel. From behind him the throwing knife he created and the remainder of the morphacite on a nearby table came whizzing by, bumping into him while in transit to its summoner.

  “If you weren’t so abrasive, Marcel, you may one day figure out how to use morphacite for more than just a pissing contest,” said Alexie.

  She began by forming the morphacite into three blocks, stepping on each one to walk upward. As each of her feet left a block, another came from behind to be the next step in sequence. She started climbing faster, the blocks tracking her movement with pinpoint accuracy. The tall ceiling gave her clearance to traverse high into the air and plummet downward, allowing her to show off her skill by forming the morphacite into an arched slide that broke her fall and launched her high again.

  “That was absolutely amazing!” said Jack.

  “Focus is the key,” said Alexie.

  She then began to take some of the morphacite and stretch it out into a thin, square sheet in front of Jack. Multiple creases began to develop on the flat surface and several simultaneous folds started to give it shape. Before Jacks eyes, an origami-style flower developed.

  “Absolute focus,” said Alexie.

  Jack was becoming increasingly intrigued by Alexie as he spent more time around her. He noticed almost everyone in the room was impressed by the demonstration, but saw Marcel with a look of irreverence, perhaps even jealousy.

  “Oh, I love it when you do flowers,” said Garnet. “Will you do a bird for me and flap its wings?”

  “I’ll do one for you later,” said Alexie, smiling.

  “Very good, Alexie. Always impressive,” said John. “All right, Bridgett, time to shine.”

  “Well, I kind of have a combo of abilities,” she said. “I have strength like Butch and telepathy like Richard.”

  “Only, she’s stronger than me,” said Butch.

  “And more adept at telepathy,” said Richard. “I can mostly see memories when I link to someone by touching them, but she can read thoughts from a distance.

  “Go on, Bridgett, show off your talents,” said John.

  She walked over to the table Butch picked up earlier and grabbed the middle of one corner with a single hand, lifting it into the air as if she were lifting a dinner plate. After setting it down as gentle as possible, she walked to where Jack was.

  “Now I’ll show you my telepathy, but I don’t want you to worry. I won’t dig too deep.”

  Instead of asking for Jack’s hands, like Richard, Bridgett began by staring at him. He felt a very faint, tingling sensation in his head—a symptom caused by a telepathic link diving into his inner thoughts and memories.

  “You’re still worried you’re out of your element here,” said Bridgett, keeping intense eye contact. “You wonder what your father’s abilities with his exo were. And you worry you won’t be able to live up to his legacy here.”

  “Uh . . . yes. That’s both eerie and correct,” said Jack.

  But you don’t know if you can trust Marcel, said Bridgett, beginning to speak with him inside his head. I don’t care for him much either, neither did your father. You feel that he’ll hurt you in some way if you become more powerful than him, like Alexie is. Ah, Alexie. You like her, don’t you? You’re allured by her. I find it curious how she feels about you.

  “Well, I hope you enjoyed my presentation, Jack,” said Bridgett.

  “It was definitely . . . something different,” he said with anxiety.

  John gave Jack a pat on the back. “Was that enough excitement for you? What did you think?”

  “Not quite sure I’ve processed it all yet, but I was impressed by everything, for sure.”

  “Excellent. I believe it’s time for some breakfast. What do all of you say?” said John, receiving uproarious agreement to his statement.

  “Breakfast?” said Jack. “I had breakfast hours ago.”

  “You’re in a different country now, silly,” said Garnet. “It’s a little after 7 a.m. here.”

  “Oh, geez, my bad,” said Jack. “I guess it wouldn’t b
e so bad to have a second breakfast.”

  Several members of the team laughed at Jack’s remark, which made him feel less uneasy about being there.

  “Excellent, everyone. Excellent,” said John. “After breakfast, Alexie will show you to your room, Jack.”

  Jack felt like his heart stopped for a moment at this statement and his face felt warm as he started to blush. He looked over to Alexie, who had her arms folded as her and Bridgett talked. Bridgett shifted her gaze to meet Jack’s and winked, implying she may have been the one who implanted the idea into John’s head.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  GETTING UP TO SPEED

  Alexie made her way over to Jack after everyone finished eating, her face displaying a look of indifference.

  “Get your bags in the front room and meet me at the stairs.”

  Since she seemed less than enthusiastic about taking Jack to his room, he made haste to gather up everything he brought with him and hurried to the staircase so she wouldn’t be kept waiting.

  “All right, let’s get going,” said Alexie.

  Jack followed close behind, trying his best to not lumber around in a clumsy way while carrying his bags as his arms began to feel heavier with each step.

  “Didn’t I see an elevator near the stairs?” he said, breathing heavy.

  “Yep.”

  “Is it broken?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then why are we walking up all these steps?”

  “Because I think it’s hilarious,” said Alexie, turning around for a second to shoot a quick smile at Jack.

  “Well, as long as you think it’s funny . . .” he said, even more out of breath than before.

  They reached the topmost floor of the building—the fifth floor—and Jack was looking forward to finally giving his legs and arms a rest.

  “Oh, you know what,” said Alexie, “we’ve gone a little too far. The housing rooms are on the floor below this one.”

  “You did that on purpose!” said Jack, frustrated.