Contemplating Rakiten’s words, John’s head filled with a mixture of anger and profound despair. In this moment, Rakiten held his hand up to John’s chest and a blue-hued electricity began to revolve around his body. John let out a painful moan, which evolved into a scream as more and more of the flashes of light surrounded him. All at once, in the blink of an eye, John imploded upon himself into an infinitesimally small dot, disappearing without a trace. Rakiten, unaffected by what he’d done, moved to where John’s screen landed at the foot of the stairwell. After picking up the device, he sent a message to all Searchers in the building, telling them a mandatory meeting will commence in the board room at once and everyone must stop what they’re doing and head that way.
Alexie was still talking with Garnet and Ferra when they all received the message.
“Oh, wow, so soon?” said Garnet. “Do you think John’s already figured something out?”
“No, this only adds credit to the strange feeling I’m having,” said Ferra.
“I hate to say I agree,” said Alexie, “but something’s not right about this. John’s only been gone a few minutes.”
“Whatever it is, we should stay cautious as we head to the meeting,” said Ferra.
Alexie and Garnet agreed.
Richard was already in the board room when they arrived. Butch and Bridgett were soon to follow.
“So what do you think this is about?” said Richard.
“You mean, you don’t know? John hasn’t talked to you?” said Alexie, beginning to fill with anxiety.
“Well, no, should he have?”
“Is anyone else feeling strange, like there’s an odd kind of compression in the air?” said Bridgett.
“I’m fine,” said Butch.
Richard shrugged his shoulders to indicate he wasn’t feeling any strange sensations.
“The three of us started feeling it earlier,” said Ferra.
“Yeah,” said Alexie, “we don’t know what it is, but something’s—”
The room fell silent as all eyes shifted to the opening door. The giant morphacite leopard came first into the room, perching itself in a corner. Several of the Searchers were frightened by the sight of it, others taken aback. It was the first time some had seen such a sight while the remaining Searchers experienced combat with similar creatures under the rogues’ control in the Austrian monastery. Marcel was next to enter the room, his arm around Rakiten for support while walking. After helping Marcel into a seat, Rakiten closed the board room door. Silence fell on the Searchers as they stared at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. For many, it was the first time they had ever seen him in person.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here for this impromptu meeting,” he began. ”I’m Rakiten. Some of you, no doubt, may have seen me or heard of me before.”
The Searchers’ eyes shifted from Rakiten, to each other, to the morphacite leopard in the room. Marcel, however, remained solely transfixed on the Archon’s right-hand man.
“I regret to inform you that your leader, John, has been relieved of his position and will no longer be with us. The decision is part of a restructuring of the division’s leadership. Now, I know this news may seem worrisome, but rest assured, the Searcher division will still be a strong force for good in the world. The objective of finding new relics, especially ancient manuscripts and maps, will still remain the division’s top focus. With that understanding, do any of you have questions for me?”
“So if John’s no longer the leader, who is?” said Butch.
“Ah, of course. There was a strong desire to promote internally for the position, but it was ultimately decided that, for now, the new leader of the Searcher division and the person you’ll answer to will be . . . me.”
Everyone in the room, besides Marcel, whose gaze remained on Rakiten, looked at each other in shock as an overarching feeling of uneasiness permeated the air.
“Oh, and Marcel, I’ve been informed of your recent debacle with the rogues. It upset me to hear how those savages tortured you. Not to worry, though, I have what you need to get back to your former self.”
From his pocket, Rakiten drew out an exo and rolled it across the table, its momentum stopping right as it reached Marcel. Not wanting to endure another moment without the spherical relic’s power, he pulled off his shirt, revealing the raw crater where his previous exo had been. He reached out his hand, stopping it within a few centimeters of contacting the sphere.
“Thank you, sir,” he said, giving Rakiten a look of genuine gratitude.
His palm grasped the exo, causing it to roll up his arm and implant itself into his back while sending its thin, wiry probes throughout his body. He winced and screamed in pain as he experienced the sensation of a thousand tiny needles burrowing through his muscle tissue. The Searchers cringed as they watched Marcel undergo the process of merging with an exo once again.
Alexie had already worried about what Marcel would do if he integrated with another exo. She knew weaponizing someone with an insatiable appetite for revenge wouldn’t end well, especially under the leadership of a dark figure like Rakiten. Beginning to lose hope and not sure what else to do in the moment, she used her telepathy to send another message out of the facility, hoping it would quickly reach Jack.
James flung open the door to the great room with an excited Wren and Jack entering behind him. Some of the team had gone away, but Mark, Nigel, Takeru, and Otto still remained. A dull clunk echoed throughout the space when Jack placed the morphacite container in the center of the room.
“So this was the package? How exciting!” said Nigel.
“Yeah, and apparently placed there for Jack by another version of himself,” said James.
“The guy at the bookshop thought it was my twin,” said Jack.
“Well, go on, then,” said Mark, “let’s open it, already!”
With haste, James knelt down and placed his hand over the three holes in the container’s upper right-hand corner. To his surprise, nothing happened.
“Hm, it . . . it doesn’t want to open for me.”
“Perhaps it was meant for only Jack to open,” said Takeru.
Jack, feeling a sense of heightened responsibility, approached the container and knelt down beside his father. James became filled with pride and, nodding his head, gave his son a look of approval. Jack reached out, pausing for a second to take a deep breath while his hand hovered over the holes. As he exhaled, he pressed his palm firmly on the container, recoiling his hand in pain after feeling the spikes from within sample his blood. Everyone watched as a blue light etched a horizontal line close to the top of the container, forming its lid. By this time, as the lid began to levitate away from the base, anyone sitting or standing away from the action huddled close to Jack and James. Within the container, a folded piece of paper and a warp crystal, tied together with leather string, and an odd bit of metal were revealed. Wren gasped when she saw the small chunk of metal.
“No freakin’ way!” she said, reaching into the container and grabbing it.
Mark seized her arm in disapproval.
“You can’t just go sticking your limbs wherever you please!”
“Hands off, you lumbering imbecile. This little piece of metal is my own proprietary tech! This can’t be found anywhere else in the world. Only I could have made it,” she said, holding up the small metallic wedge.
“Well then, what the hell is it?” Mark said in a huff.
Otto, noticing what Wren was holding, chimed in. “Why, that’s a memory stack that can integrate with my knowledge array!”
“How wonderful! Uh, what does that mean, exactly?” said Nigel.
“It’s simple, really,” said Wren. “There’s a slot on Otto that this little thing can fit into. Hypothetically, it could be holding terabytes of compressed information for us to discover.”
“Or a virus. Are you sure it’s safe?” said James.
“Unless there’s an evil version of me from another re
ality that corrupted this thing, it’ll be fine. And since I’m under the assumption that all versions of me from all realities are just as awesome as I am, I’d say ipso facto it’s perfectly safe.”
“Are you really that pompous?” said Sebastian, he and Freya only just entering the room.
Without answering him, Wren swung around to the backside of Otto and inserted the memory stack, causing his motor functions to cease as he formatted the stack.
“You fried poor Otto’s brain!” said Freya.
“Don’t be so dramatic. He’s prepping the data so he can access each partition in the quickest way possible,” said Wren.
“Well . . . while that’s happening,” James began, “let’s see what this warp crystal and piece of paper is about.”
Jack pulled it from the container and stood up as everyone gathered close to look. Once the leather string was untied and the paper unfolded, a map revealed itself. There were drawings of mountains and a main river with streams branching off in different directions. The image of an old-fashioned boat anchor was sketched in the bottom left corner of the map. A drawing of two large stones, leaning on one another where two mountains met at the map’s upper right corner, had the words ‘A Cave Beyond the Granite Pillars’ scribbled below in Jack’s handwriting.
“Looks like another good old-fashioned treasure hunt!” said Nigel.
“What do you make of this, Son?” said James.
“I . . . I must have drawn this map. At least, some other version of me did. It’s my handwriting and this is also how I use crosshatching when I sketch.”
“It would seem as though another Jack, from another reality, is trying to help with your success,” said Takeru.
“Can we be sure of that? Do you think it’s possible?” said Jack.
“Indeed, I believe it is,” said Nigel. ”The more time goes by, the more possibilities I discover and the more I question what may actually be impossible.”
Jack continued looking at the map. “What’s this symbol in the lower left corner? It looks familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”
“It’s an image of an old kind of boat anchor,” said Takeru.
“Hm, I wonder if it’s supposed to represent the anchor point for the warp crystal this map was wrapped around,” said Jack.
“I bet that’s exactly what it is!” said Freya. “Looks like the warp crystal would open a rift at the bottom area of the map.”
“Hey guys,” Wren interrupted, “Otto’s finishing up with the assimilation of the memory stack.”
Otto’s frozen posture began to reanimate as his eyes glitched open.
“Well, bud, what did you learn from the stack?” said Wren.
“It’s . . . incredible.”
“That doesn’t answer my question in the slightest, magnet brain. It just entices us more. Tell. Us. What. You. Learned.”
“I acquired the knowledge of everything known about the relics from multiple realities: what the Archon is searching for, the outer limits of an exo’s power, the history of the relic guardians who came before us. The fate of this reality, of all realities, and even the fate of the entire multiverse may rest in our hands. We’ve also acquired the one piece of the puzzle that has the greatest potential for putting an end to the Archon and his plans . . . Jack.”
“M-me!” said Jack, looking mystified by what Otto said. “I think you may have misinterpreted—”
“There is no misinterpretation. We now have everything necessary to hunt for what the Archon desires most—an object known as the keystone—and prevent a catastrophic future under his reign. Jack, your role in finding the keystone will be paramount.”
As those gathered around Jack looked at him with a new sense of wonder and curiosity, he couldn’t help but feel the sensation of profound dread wash over him. While trying to breathe deep and calm his thoughts, Alexie’s voice entered his head.
Jack . . . I think we’re all in big trouble. Rakiten is now in charge of the Searcher division. I’m scared of what’s to come. Please, if you’re still out there, help us.
Congratulations! You’ve finished this 105,957 word novel.
Photo by Skye Damron
About the Author
Ahoy! Thank you for taking an interest in my book and its story. I’ve always loved to create things, whether it’s in the guise of writing, art, music, or other mediums. I live with my wife, Skye, and two dogs (with a daughter, Luna, soon to be born) in Gainesville, GA. When I’m not using my spare time to write and create, I work as a molecular biologist at a lab in Alpharetta, GA. I truly hope you enjoy this novel, which is the first of many to come in my burgeoning career as an author. My lofty ambition for this science fiction series is to explore the different things one could experience while traveling through distinct timelines across divergent realities in a multiverse scenario.
See what else I’m up to and follow the progress of the next novel or project by visiting:
www.michaelkdamron.com
The Relics- The Keystone Trilogy - Part 1 Page 34
