Hao flashed a smile that seemed somewhat forced.
“You know, I do have a question for you about Sanctuary,” said Jack, thinking of what Ferra had told him the night before.
“And what question is that?”
“Has there ever been a sibling taken out of the VR? Like, woken up from their catatonic state?”
“No, not to my knowledge. In all honesty, I don’t think the process of placing the siblings into Sanctuary’s VR is reversible. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, no reason. Just curious, really,” said Jack, anxiously running his hand through the hair on the back of his head.
“Robbin mentioned you were working for some private research lab now. Is it involved at all with my family’s company?”
“Um . . . no, one of my coworkers was talking a little about Sanctuary, so it got me curious. Anyway, keep hanging in there and don’t give up on whatever art project you’ve been wanting to do.”
“I’ll do my best. It was good talking to you, Jack,” said Hao, waving bye and closing the chat window before Jack could say anything else.
Jack hoped his question about Sanctuary didn’t seem too suspicious. If Hao didn’t have a clue about a sibling being taken from the facility, it may have been a highly protected secret. He decided to forego asking Hao any more about Sanctuary in the future, in case there was a chance of his friend getting into unforeseen trouble.
After Jack joined a few of his fellow Searchers in the kitchen for some much-needed food, he told Alexie he was heading back to his room and asked her to stop by later so he could tell her more about what he saw the previous night. Feeling like it had been quite some time since he was able to properly meditate, Jack sat on the floor of his room and focused on the connection between his mind, body, and exo while waiting for Alexie to show. As Jack remained focused and motionless, he was pleased to find the strong connection he had previously cultivated with his exo hadn’t diminished. A short while later, a knock on the bedroom door broke his trance-like state.
“Hi, Jack, are you busy?” said Alexie.
“No, I was just doing a little meditation. Come on in,” he said, standing up from the floor. “I haven’t been able to sit still and focus on my exo for at least the last couple of days. I was worried I’d start to lose some of my abilities if I didn’t start making time for it.”
“Oh, come on. You know you’ve got your abilities locked down,” she said, greeting him with a kiss. “How’s your arm feeling?”
“The pain has gone, but it left a nasty burn scar,” said Jack, rotating his forearm around to observe the marks on its surface. “It’s Garnet who I’m most worried about. I hope she recovers soon.”
“I hope so too. She’s a tough one though, so I think she’ll turn out all right,” said Alexie. “And I also was wondering if you felt up to doing some training with me while we’re together. I feel like I haven’t been able to make time for developing my new cognitive abilities lately, with everything going on.”
“Yeah, of course! I think we should get all the training and meditation in we can, while there’s time. It seems like things are going to get crazier around here as the pressure builds, whether it comes from Mark and the rogues or the Archon and Rakiten. But first, I still need to tell you about what I saw last night . . .”
Jack recounted everything he could remember: about the morphacite leopard, Rakiten’s threat on John’s life, the blood drawn from the spikes piercing his neck.
“And that thing, the morphacite mass that changed between the guise of a leopard and a lion, was called a ‘familiar’ by John. What do you make of that? I don’t remember coming across that term at all when reading through my dad’s notebooks.”
“Hm, I’m not sure. It reminds me of something I used to read about in a series of fiction novels when I was younger,” said Alexie.
“And what was that?”
“It involved these stories about witches controlling demons that took the form of animals to do their bidding. Those animal demons were known as ‘familiars’ throughout the series. Each witch had their own they were the master of, some even controlled multiple ones.”
“That kind of sounds familiar to me. I think I’ve heard the term used that way before, now that you mention it. It’s just strange I haven’t found anything about familiars in my dad’s notebooks, even on the hidden pages,” said Jack.
“Maybe it involves something high-level with morphacite we don’t know about yet. After all, the only thing we’re sure of is that Rakiten had his exo for longer than anyone else, even Mark.”
“That’s true. But what I saw yesterday, including Mark’s note that warned us of the electrical trap, makes me question the benevolence of the Searcher division. I’m starting to see why my dad began to have his doubts too.”
“I’m beginning to feel the same,” said Alexie. “We need to make sure we tell each other about any new developments or sketchy activities we notice—you know, keep each other in the loop.”
“I think that’s a good idea. Honestly, you’re the only person I’ve told this stuff to and the only one I feel comfortable talking about all the craziness with,” said Jack.
“I’m with you on that one. You never know who else could be an informant to Rakiten or the Archon, besides John.”
“Huh, you’re right,” said Jack, his thoughts singling out Marcel as a potential informant. “Anyway, you said you wanted to do a little telepathy and mind-control training, right?”
“Right! Well, definitely in terms of strengthening my cognitive linking ability. I’m not too sure about mind control or anything like that yet.”
“Trust me, it’s just one step beyond a strong cognitive link.”
“Wait, have you performed mind control on someone already?” said Alexie, confused.
“No, no, nothing like that! It happened by accident a little while back. While you and the other Searchers were excavating new relic sites and I was forced to stay at the facility, I took a walk around the perimeter. As I sat on a rock, thinking about things, I noticed a small lizard near me. Because I had just discovered my ability to cognitive link, I was curious as to what the reptile was thinking, or if I could even link with it. Before I knew it, I had taken control of its body without much extra effort at all. I didn’t do anything to hurt the little guy, but it was an interesting feeling.”
“Hm, well, at least you didn’t try to do it to a human without their permission. Tell you what, we can try to do a little mind control if cognitive linking goes well, but I get to go first!”
“Ha, sure thing,” said Jack, winking at her.
For the next hour, they went back and forth with connecting to each other’s minds via strong telepathic links. They started by taking turns placing their hands on either side of their partner’s head, then sending waves of thoughts, memories, and images. Their method of practice evolved further as they distanced themselves from each other and tried the same thing from across the room. After Alexie got the hang of it, they took turns trying to block one another from having their mind infiltrated.
“Wow, this is awesome,” said Alexie. “I think I’d like to up the ante.”
“In what way?” he asked.
“I want to try mind control.”
“Let’s do it,” said Jack. ”I think we should let each other attempt to perform mind control at first, and then go on the defensive and try to block each other from doing it,” said Jack.
“Sounds like a plan!”
Again, they began by starting close to one another, placing their hands on either side of each other’s head. Jack was able to perform mind control first, but it didn’t take long before Alexie caught on. Little by little, they increased the distance between them until they were in opposite corners of the room. When one would gain dominion over the other, they would try and make them do something funny or embarrassing. If Jack made Alexie cluck like a chicken, she would return the favor by making him perform goofy dance moves that were as awkw
ard as she could make them. On their next phase of training, where they began attempting to block their assailant’s mental attacks, Alexie proved to be far superior at inhibiting Jack’s efforts and infiltrating his mind.
“Ha, okay, I think that may be enough training for today,” said Jack, rubbing the front of his throbbing head.
“Aw, had too much of my high-level abilities?”
“Now, now, don’t get boastful about your newfound power.”
Alexie couldn’t help herself from exhibiting a giant smile.
“Don’t make me wipe that cheesy grin from your face,” said Jack.
“I think we both know who really has the power in this relationship,” she said, poking him before moving in close for a passionate kiss. “You know, all the connecting with each other’s mind we’ve been doing makes kissing feel so much more intense. I think we need to have a little make out session before I leave your room.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Jack, smiling and crawling to where Alexie positioned herself on his bed.
Unable to fall asleep later that night after Alexie left his room, Jack found himself once again wandering the halls and corridors of the Searcher facility. He first tried thumbing through his father’s notebooks more, doing meditation, and even shapeshifting morphacite to try and feel tired. Since nothing was able to put his mind at ease, he went for his second late-night walk. It was still surprising for him to see research scientists working such late hours in some of the lab areas. Curiosity overtaking him, he opened the door to one of the lab rooms that had three researchers and what looked to be dozens of warp crystals laid out on a table.
“Hi everyone, I’m Jack. I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, opening the door.
They all stopped what they were doing and, with pleased expressions, walked over to greet him.
“My name’s Merry,” the short and only male researcher of the bunch said, shaking Jack’s hand.
“Lucinda,” said the next, also shaking his hand.
“And I’m Jodie,” the third worker said. “It’s always a pleasure to meet and talk with a Searcher. After all, we do this research in hopes that you’ll be able to bring back more artifacts for us to analyze from new sites.”
“It’s great meeting all of you,” said Jack. “Oh, and is it okay that I’m in here? I wouldn’t want to impose on you. I’ve been having minor touches of insomnia lately.”
“Not an imposition at all, Mr. Drake,” said Merry.
“Please, feel free to call me Jack.”
“Jack it is,” said Jodie. “So what brings you into our fine lab at this hour?”
“Well, I was just going for a late-night walk and saw that most of the research labs on this floor were filled with busy workers. I was a little surprised, considering it’s well after midnight.”
“That’s what the third shift entails—working nocturnal hours,” said Lucinda.
“I’m sure this lab and the Searcher division wouldn’t have so much knowledge on the exos and morphacite and stuff if it wasn’t for all the researchers’ hard work during the night, though,” said Jack.
“Yeah, I didn’t mean to make any disparaging remarks about the third shift,” said Lucinda. “I know what we do is important. I mean, we’re told that we’re all part of the Searcher team, but those of us in the lab still feel pretty segregated. It’s like whoever can activate and wear an exo is pampered while we’re expected to blend into the background.”
“I hate hearing you feel that way,” said Jack. “In all honesty, everything happens at such a rapid pace when you’re one of the Searchers with an exo that I feel like I’m still flying by the seat of my pants with everything I have to do and learn. It’s all been one big whirlwind of craziness.”
“Ha, seems like everyone around here has something about their job they don’t like,” said Jodie.
“You’re definitely right about that,” said Jack. “So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, are those all warp crystals on the table?”
“That’s right,” said Merry, picking one of the shards up. “And the dots illuminated on the map on the big screen over there represent the anchor point of the warp crystals we’re analyzing. The number label on each crystal coincides with the number beside its relative warp point on the map.”
“So how is it that you can tell where these warp crystals are anchored to?”
“The only way right now, sadly, is to have a Searcher go there with a geolocator attached to them so we can see where they wind up. Then, using a warp crystal anchored to this facility, they return here. John typically assigns Marcel to be the guinea pig for all the new warp crystals brought back from an excavation, but sometimes he’ll ask Alexie. Although, we’re trying to develop a device with an exo at its core that—”
“Merry! You talk too much!” said Jodie.
“Well, the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak. Now he’s curious and it’ll drive him crazy if we don’t tell him.”
“Tell me what? You’re right, I am curious!” said Jack.
Merry cleared his throat and began talking. “So this device will be able to have a warp crystal inserted into it and ‘shoot out’ a portal that takes you to where the crystal is anchored to. And do you know what the best part about the device is?”
“Holy hell, Merry, it’s not the best part,” said Lucinda.
“It is the best part!” he insisted, picking up the hardware from the counter behind him. “The coolest thing about it is that it has a barrel with places for six crystals to be held. You rotate the barrel around and align the warp crystal you want to use with the big yellow line at the top of the device. It’s the sickest version of a futuristic Wild West era six-shooter you could possibly own.”
“Except you don’t own it. It’s going straight to Richard to use,” said Lucinda
“Woah,” said Jack, marveling at the gadget. “So does it work?”
“Almost,” said Merry. “It works, like, sixty or seventy percent of the time. We’re still ironing out the kinks.”
“And you said it’s for Richard?” said Jack.
“That’s right. He worked alongside us to help with the development,” said Jodie. “But the original request came to us straight from Rakiten, himself.”
“Oh him, yeah,” said Jack. “So you met the guy?”
“Yes indeed, all three of us,” said Lucinda.
“And what’s your opinion on him?”
“That dude’s got it going on, am I right?” said Jodie, nudging Lucinda in the arm.
“I don’t know. I suppose he’s relatively handsome.”
“Relatively? What do you mean by that, Lucinda? The guy’s got that I’ll-be-your-father-figure-and-lover-at-the-same-time kind of thing going on.”
“Ugh, you are literally the worst, Jodie,” said Lucinda.
“He seemed intense, but all right,” said Merry.
“I didn’t mean to cause a debate,” said Jack. “I was just a little curious.”
Jodie and Lucinda continued to be wrapped up in a conversation about Rakiten’s charm while Merry talked to Jack a bit more.
“So, word through the grapevine is that you’re gaining some pretty sick abilities with your exo. Anything cool you can show me?”
“I actually don’t have any morphacite or anything with me right now, so I guess there’s nothing too epic I can do at the moment.”
“What about warp crystals? Are you able to use them?”
“I don’t really know,” said Jack. “I haven’t tried to activate one yet.”
“Oh, I bet you’d be boss at it. Your dad and Mark were, as far as I know, the only two Searchers who could take a shard of morphacite and anchor it to wherever they were, turning it into a brand new warp crystal. That’s why we have so damn many that are anchored to the facility—from all the practicing they did.”
“It’s cool to hear my dad was able to do that, but I just don’t know if I—”
As Jack was talking, while Lucinda
and Jodie were still going at it and oblivious to their surroundings, Merry took the opportunity to grab a couple of warp crystal off the center table and place them in Jack’s hand.
“Here’s your chance to see if you got it in you! One of them is anchored to this facility and the other one . . . well, I don’t remember what location the label on it corresponds to, but rest assured, it’s nowhere dangerous.”
Jack felt a unique energy emanating from the crystals that began to pulse through his body. He had observed Alexie and Marcel extending their arm with a crystal in hand to activate it. Trying the same action, he held one of the crystals in front of his body. A blue light sparked from the shard, but didn’t produce a portal.
“Ah, no one gets it their first time. Keep trying it out,” said Merry.
Jack continued to hold one crystal by his side and the other aloft, flicking his wrist in unique ways and hoping to produce more than a pitiful pyrotechnic display. After a few tries with no results, he stopped focusing all his energy on creating a rift and breathed a sigh of disappointment, lowering his outstretched hand. Without warning, a bright blue beam shot out of the warp crystal and hit the floor underneath Jack’s feet. A portal burst open beneath him, causing his body to free fall into the void. The lab researchers stood by in open-mouthed horror as the portal closed and they witnessed the sight of translucent, tessellated fractals imploding into nothingness.
“Dammit, Merry, what have you done? I’m not filling out another Incident Management Report because of you!” said Lucinda.
The sinking feeling one gets when falling had just begun to emerge in Jack’s stomach after dropping through the portal as the odder sensation of falling upward started to overtake his body. The anchor point of the portal he formed opened flat on the ground, launching him into the air and closing fast enough so that he hit the cold sand beneath him with a dull thud.
Well, I guess I didn’t activate the crystal that warps inside the Searcher facility, he thought.
The Relics- The Keystone Trilogy - Part 1 Page 19
