by Jon Chaisson
*
Matthew glanced at the multiple security camera images blinking across one of the leftmost screens. He had most of them trained on Governor Rieflin’s forces to make sure they did not act without his say so. Matthew had let him contact each captain in charge to remind them of that fact, and in retrospect, he was amazed that Rieflin did not attempt to defy him. Rieflin had told them quickly and forcefully that they were not to shut down this ritual, no matter what they witnessed. He was greatly amused by Rieflin’s self-added threat that those who defied his orders would not answer to him, but to Jack Priestley and the Crimson-Null Foundation. It was a bit overboard, but it certainly did its job. No one dared disobey his orders now.
Rieflin’s face appeared on the main screen, worn and sweat-streaked. “Everyone is accounted for, kid. Now do you mind telling me what the hell is about to happen?”
Matthew smiled. “Greatly appreciated, sir, and of course I will. That storm you see out there, the Rain of Light, has been grounded. Excess spiritual energy has been harnessed, calmed, and sent back to the warehouse, where it’s still collecting. The ritual in question…” He paused, thinking of the best way to put it without stirring Rieflin’s doubts or fears. “…is what’s called a Cleansing. Physically, it’s harmless.”
Rieflin seemed to soften a little. On a separate monitor he saw Nandahya Mirades biting her bottom lip, her face growing paler by the moment. She knew what this ritual entailed, but she did not dare tell Rieflin. Matthew, who felt he was somewhat a better judge of character than Nandahya, had maneuvered Rieflin to the point that he could sway him to his side, but he did not want to chance it so soon. Instead, he continued with a softer version of what was going on.
Nandahya must be cho-nyhndah, he mused. That has to be why she’s holding back.
“There are, however, some physical side-effects to the ritual…I’m going to warn you now, sir, that there may be some people who will find some of this a bit disturbing.”
“Okay,” he said unevenly. “How so?”
“No one will be harmed. That I can promise you. They will be changed, spiritually and emotionally…but physically no harm will come to them.”
Just then, to Matthew’s right, a flash of light on a screen caught his eye. He turned to the monitor, stopped in his thoughts, and shivered. Caught by the security cam outside the warehouse, a pinprick of white light had pierced the roof and shot skyward. He tapped at the monitor and zoomed out, showing the beam slicing clean through the clouds above.
“Huh,” he said, lifting his brows. He hadn’t expected that so soon. “Sir…” he continued, and turned back to Rieflin’s image. He cleared his throat and started again. “Sir, I repeat. No physical harm will come to anyone. All I ask is that you understand…this is not an offensive or defensive move. It’s merely a closing. An endgame.”
Rieflin frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Sir,” he said. “Look out the window.”
Matthew watched as Rieflin craned his neck to the right, his brows pinched together. A second later his whole face went slack and pale. A word, possibly a curse, died on his lips.
“Welcome to a new reality, sir,” Matthew said. “Keep in touch. I trust your judgment.”
Matthew tapped a single key, and all of Rieflin’s connections flickered back online. Rieflin had not noticed, for both he and Nandahya had risen from their chairs and moved towards the windows, where they stared at the beacon of light coming from the Waterfront district.
He did not bother to check on Rieflin’s forces. They were smart enough not to move in on something this enormous. Instead he pushed himself out of the chair, stretched the kinks out of his muscles, and left the room. He stopped in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and left the apartment for the roof.
He saw the beacon of light shooting through the Rain of Light as soon as he passed through the door. He chose a spot near the edge, sat down in a lotus position, and began to meditate.