Anais Eternal

by Paige Graffunder

  A Himlani hand reached through the slip, grasping my sister's foot, and I fired, shooting the beast through the wrist. The passthrough was ripped open and luminous orb-like eyes the color of polished copper glared at me. In them, I saw triumph. In them, I saw ruthlessness. I nocked another arrow and shot again, but in my rage, I had not aimed, the shot going wide, as the copper eyed Himlani dragged my sister through the slip. I dragged myself forward after Tatiana, heedless of the warnings Etachs was screaming in my head. I dug my fingers into the earth as lightning ripped the sky apart, dragging myself towards where Tatiana had been, and then pain exploded through my head, and the world went black again.

  Every Second Counts

  Thrixx peered down at the Fae girl strapped to the table. She was naked and unconscious; a mask fed the gas keeping her asleep affixed to her face. They had run every scan and test they could on her, but they had failed thus far to find anything different about her at all. Thrixx drummed their claws on the window ledge and thought. If the reports about this one were true, then they couldn't risk waking it up, but in order to find out if the intel from the raid was accurate, they needed to find the source of this invisible magic. If this one could call on storms and create holes in reality…

  There was nothing for it, Thrixx knew they were going to have to wake it up.

  ◆◆◆

  I sat bolt upright, the night breeze cool against my face. I blinked and looked around. I was in a clearing of some sort, but not one I could remember seeing before. I shot to my feet as the memories of my sister being dragged through the passthrough by that copper-eyed monster slammed back into me. I looked around desperately for my things and found I was nearly naked, in only my undergarments, and there was some salve applied to my wounds from the struggle. I frowned and caught sight of Etachs, who was hunkered down against a tree, watching me quietly.

  "Where are we?" I demanded.

  "Five O'Clock," Etachs said quietly.

  "What the hell does that mean?" I growled, my panicked brain spinning in circles.

  "Settle down, Ana," Etachs said, in that same maddeningly calm and even voice.

  "Settle down?" I shrieked, my voice echoing around the night shadowed trees. "How am I supposed to settle down, Etachs? The Himlani have my sister. They hurt her. They are going to kill her, and you want me to settle down?!"

  "Ana..." Etachs started.

  "Don't start with me, Etachs," I growled, my rage blocking out everything else. I didn't notice the clouds begin to swirl or the way the grass beneath my bare feet began to droop and shrivel. I didn't notice the way the trees brought their limbs in close to their trunks, hiding their faces from my rage. "It's not your sister that is going to die. You're not the one who trained for months for nothing. You're not the one who choked the only time it has ever mattered!" Tears began to course, hot and angry, down my face as I spun and paced, the grass dying beneath my feet, the air turning cold, the clouds above us roiling with dark, water-filled thunderous rage.

  Etachs said nothing as my rage boiled over. I paced, my fury unleashed, I ranted about my failures. I hadn't been strong enough, fast enough, smart enough. They had taken Tatiana and it was all my fault. All my life she had protected me and the first time she had needed me to protect her, I couldn't do it. Lightning arced across the clouds and lashed out, striking rapidly and violently at the clearing, carving deep craters in the earth. The cacophony of thunder drowned out my anguished cries. Fat drops of rain began to fall, the scorched earth left in the wake of the lightning sizzling under their cleansing coolness. My hair was soon drenched and plastered to my face, the herbs Etachs had applied to my minor wounds rinsed away.

  I spun out of control and the rain quickly turned to sleet, then hail the size of arrowheads. I ignored the sting of the punishing battery as the hail pounded against my skin. Sinking to my knees, I sobbed into the earth I had ruined. Ruiner... I had ruined everything. I was not worth this power, these gifts, I could not even use them to save her.

  A piercing, panicked cry through the bond tying Ayesha to me ceased my revelry immediately. I shot to my feet and saw Ayesha squawking her distress as she tried to get to me, dodging hailstones, flying directly at me. Realization dawned on me and I tried to pull the magic back. She had sensed my loss and fear and desperation and was coming to help me, but this storm I had made put her in danger. I drew back the magic I had released, but it was too big. I couldn't grip it all at once. I called out to Ayesha, to stop, to take cover in the huddled trees, that it wasn't safe, but the thunder of my storm was too big, and she could not hear me, not even through the rope between our hearts. She pelted towards me and I took off at a dead run. She spun and swooped to avoid the hailstones, but no one, not even a raven, could dodge nature forever. A hailstone slammed into her back and, as it struck her, I reeled, feeling the pain as it lanced through her, our bond sharing the sensation with me. I fell forward and she was falling. Falling. Falling…

  I scrambled to my feet, the mingled mud and ice making my grip precarious, and took off towards her, but Etachs was faster. At a full sprint and with their claws to aid in their balance, they darted forward, fingers outstretched. They caught Ayesha as they fell. Gently, tenderly, they cradled her to their scaled chest, turning their pale alien eyes to my face, brow drawn down.

  "Enough!" Etachs roared at me and, in my shock, my magic retreated instantly. What had been a wild animal not wishing to return to a cage, was now as docile as a well-fed house cat. I sank to my knees and looked up at their stern, disapproving face. They stalked towards me, cradling my Raven, my friend, my companion, my familiar, to their chest as though I was the danger.

  "You are not a child, Anais!" Etachs bellowed, advancing on me with speed and grace, their rage painted plain across their reptilian features. I cowered away from them, falling back into the mud and ice. "You can't just have a temper tantrum when things don't go your way!" Etachs continued standing over me, stooping low to press their face to mine. "You are too powerful to lose control. You could have easily killed her!"

  I felt my temper rise again. "They took her, Etachs! They took her and I was right there, and I couldn't stop them."

  "I know," Etachs whispered, their voice wavering and full of pain. They lowered themselves into a sitting position, leaning their torso down further, touching their forehead to mine, their purple eyes rimmed in their pink alien tears. "But you cannot hurt the others that you love because you are hurting." I felt Ayesha through our bond, stunned, but not seriously injured, and I wrapped my arms around Etachs, pulling them close, and crying into their hair. Etachs shifted Ayesha to keep her from getting crushed and wrapped their free arm around me.

  "I'm sorry," I cried into their shoulder. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to do without her." My body shook with the heavy, crushing weight of my loss, and Etachs pressed themselves close against me.

  "We need a plan, Ana, and there is much we must discuss." They ran their claws through my hair, dragging them lightly across my scalp, and let me cry until I was exhausted, my body weak from my expenditure of magic, rage, and weeping. Etachs stayed quiet, letting my sorrow work itself through. Ayesha, perched quietly in their other hand for the majority of my weeping, climbed onto my head and nuzzled her beak into my hair when I had quieted. We sat that way, the three of us, for a while, and then Etachs spoke life back into me.

  "We can still save her, Anais. If what I caught of their transmission was correct, we may still have time to save her. For once, time may be on our side." Etachs reached into the small pouch I had made them to wear at their hip and removed a small gold pocket watch, hung on a chain. I frowned at it, then up at Etachs' face.

  "Now is hardly the time for jokes, Etachs," I started reproachfully, but they cut me off.

  "Remember, in Elena's journals, she made reference to keeping watch more than once and, when asked about the Glade, she said it was in her pocket?" I nodded. "I think this is what she was talking about. This place is like the Glade, but no
t... it's unfinished. It was just the first one I could find."

  "I don't understand..." I started again.

  "Then shut up and listen to me, you tank-forsaken immortal!" they shot back. I frowned, but closed my mouth, nodding for them to continue. "I think she was being literal, but no one took her seriously. In fact, I know that is what happened. After you lost consciousness, the Hunter group was already retreating. I waited until they had withdrawn and retrieved you. As I was going through the house your hand brushed against the little desk. You know, the one off the kitchen?" I nodded again. "And I guess it triggered something because a little drawer popped open and here, this was inside it." They pressed it into my hands, and I looked down at it.

  "I haven't fully figured out how it works because it doesn't work for me. I had to maneuver it with your fingers..." I made a face and looked up at Etachs.

  "You what?"

  "Your fingers, this is all your Manuhiri magic, it won't work for me." I blinked and then chuckled, motioning for Etachs to continue. "After they... took her..." Etachs' shoulders slumped. "They retreated because of the storm you started. They hit you with a Rounder charge right in the head, at right about the same time you shot lightning from yourself through the passthrough. By the time I could check out outside of the Glade, they were gone, and you were unconscious. I lifted you and took you back to the cabin. I managed to get the Rounder charge off your head, but I am afraid that, maybe, you might not grow hair back there. Rounders are designed to sap energy and, with your magic fully engaged like that, it basically melted to your skin... I'm sorry, Ana."

  I raised my hand to my head and winced. Just behind my ear was a bald spot that was tender to the touch. As I ran my fingers along it, I felt stitches and raised, angry skin. Etachs watched me with an apologetic look on their face and I smiled to show them it was OK before dropping my hand and gesturing for them to continue.

  "So, after I fixed your head, I went and grabbed our bags, and I was standing in the kitchen trying to figure out how to carry all three of our bags, and you..."

  "Three?" I said, snapping my eyes to them.

  "Yes, three," Etachs replied. Seeing the hardness in my look they continued, "Tatiana is not lost, Anais, you have to know that." I looked away. "They took her, yes, but tug down your bond, you have to know she is not gone. They will keep her alive."

  "Why?" I asked, hugging myself tightly with crossed arms.

  "To find out what your magic is. I told you, we can't see it. So, to them, it is a mystery. They will want to find out what it is and how they can use it. I don't have the kind of bond with her that you do, but I know she is still alive." I nodded but did not test the link between my sister and myself.

  "How did you get us out of there, with me being half-dead, and all three bags?"

  "Well, that's the thing. Technically, I didn't."

  "What does that even mean, Etachs?" I demanded, failing to hide the exasperated edge my voice had taken on.

  "So, I bumped into the desk, like I said, and this compartment opened and inside was the watch, and this note..." Etachs reached into their back and pulled out a folded slip of paper, handing it to me. I unfolded the paper and read.

  My dearest Elena,

  The time of great sorrow has come, and I have been gravely injured. I have come to the Glade to end my Watch. I can only pray to the Gift that you are still alive.

  All my love,

  Richard

  "What the fuck does this mean?" I asked, perplexed, looking up to Etachs' face. They smiled and handed me the watch.

  "The Glade is Noon. We are at Five O'Clock now. Try another time." I looked down and noticed that it was not working. The second hand stood still; its journey ended. I shook it, then grasped the knob on the side, and twisted, to Six O'Clock. Immediately, the scenery blurred as though we were spinning and before I could fully process what was happening, Etachs and I were sitting on a beach, clear water lapping at the nearby shore. I blinked and looked at them, amazement written plain on my face. "The passthrough comes out in a different place at each time, from what I can tell."

  "How is this possible?" I whispered, more to myself than to Etachs. They answered me anyway.

  "It's your magic, Ana, don't ask me," Etachs replied. "Sleep if you can. Tomorrow we need to find out where they have taken Tatiana and get her back before they break her."

  Rabble Rouser

  18124Y awoke from a sleep where there were no dreams. 18124Y threw one leg over the side of the bunk that it slept on, and then the other. 18124Y sat upright and disconnected the tube of sleep serum from its arm, capping the port, and blinked three times to clear the fog. 18124Y slid from the top bunk, the sound of its bare feet slapping the bare metal of the floor with a sound that made what was left of itself wince. 18124Y walked to the edge of the rows of bunks and looked at the ground. Better to look at the ground than to see what was left of Humanity. The barracks were enormous and expansive. 18124Y knew that there were close to 10,000 bodies in this room. It knows what it would see if it looked up, so it didn't.

  A buzz radiated out from the implant at the base of its skull and it stepped forward, eyes on the ground. As it shuffled, the thousands of other bodies shuffled too. Shaved heads, naked bodies. They were not separated by gender or sex. The ones that could carry infants had protrusions of scar tissue on their lower abdomens from repeated extractions. All were gaunt, their eyes sunken into their faces, skin pale, mouths turned down in abject misery. There was no speaking, no eye contact.

  18124Y had been extracted in this facility and knew no life outside of here. Moments after its extraction, an implant had been placed in the base of its skull, attached to the brain stem, to keep it complacent and calm. The implant was designed to make it numb to all emotion, and for the most part, it worked. 18124Y had never had anything but instructions and numbness of mind and body come from the implant, until that day. As it shuffled through its day of providing, 18124Y heard a small voice, strangely accented, purr into the center of its mind. "You have a name, you have a soul, you have a life, and they have stolen it all." It was quiet and small, but it was persistent. 18124Y, for the first time in all its life, paused in its shuffling journey of sameness, and looked up.

  ◆◆◆

  I woke up to the sounds of Etachs moving around in the woods. I sat up and took a deep breath. I reached a hand up to my hair and touched the tender space where the last Rounder charge had embedded its way into my scalp. I could have healed the wound, spared myself the pain, but I felt I deserved this and so much more. As I gently prodded the area, my magic whispered into my mind, and an idea was born. I lept to my feet, calling out to Etachs. They came swiftly, sprinting out of the woods clutching their staff, their eyes sweeping around for trouble.

  "Etachs, I think I know how to fix this!" I said excitedly. Etachs dropped their offensive stance and looked at me perplexed.

  "What do you mean?" they asked.

  "You have implants, right?"

  "Yes, all Himlani do."

  "What about the Humans?"

  "The..." Etachs blinked.

  "The Humans," I said again. Etachs looked perplexed, then realization dawned on them.

  "Oh! Yes, they each have two, one that feeds them a serum that makes them sleep without dreams, and another that blunts their ability to process emotion and physical sensation," they said matter of factly. I felt myself recoil. They observed my reaction and frowned. "Sorry, I am sure that sounds clinical to you, but I don't really know how to say it nicer."

  "When—" I stopped, choking on the words. "When we were in the Glade, you said the other Himlani were transmitting. Does that mean you can also transmit?" Still frowning, Etachs nodded. "You can transmit to other people with implants?" They nodded again. I started to pace, my hand curled over my mouth, brow pulled down in thought. After watching me for a few moments, Etachs broke the tense silence.

  "Ana, I just have one net. The broadcast range is not very strong. If I had access t
o some parts I might be able to boost it, but I am not a technology specialist, or a Modder. I don't know everything I would need to know in order to do what you're thinking."

  "What am I thinking?" I asked without halting my pacing, lifting my fingers off my mouth just enough to be heard.

  "You're thinking of sending a message through the implants," Etachs said slowly. I nodded and made a gesture with my free hand for them to continue. "But, Anais, I know how to transmit to a relay, but I have that functionality disabled in my sensor net, to prevent the nightly transmission—"

  "The what?" I snapped, halting in my pacing and facing Etachs.

  "The implants and sensor nets are designed to transmit to the nearest relay station every night. That information is passed into a central hub and distributed into the diaspora to have the information categorized for further analysis if it proves useful."

  "What kind of information?" I asked, resuming my pacing.

  "Oh, anything really. Before we released THG-8542, we had millions of data points to find what would be most effective."

  "Released what?" I asked, my feet plodding the same track in the grass, but my eyes fixed on Etachs. Etachs frowned and held their hands up, looking for the words.

  "I don't know what you call it, the sickness we spread to cull the population of the Humans and animals with incompatible genetics, before we knew about the Fae."

  "Wait a minute," I said, my body going stiff as I processed what they had said. "You mean you were here before the Pestilence?"

  “Yes.”

  “The story that your people told the Fae, that you had found the probes that we had sent and decoded our messages, they were lies?”

  `“I—”

  “How could that even have been? How could they have known what to lie about.”

  “I don’t know Ana. What I do know is we came in small numbers and hid. Surveying the planet for at least 200 years before we discovered the Fae. I know this from the collective data pool that I had access to when I was still a tankling, not from experience. I was made after. Our camouflage and cloaking abilities kept us hidden for all that time, we collected samples, and subjects..."