“I knew you would come,” a voice croaked from behind them.
The two supers started at the unexpected address. They were still a way from the Oracle’s clearing and were lost in their own thoughts. Turning, they saw her perched lazily on a large branch that hung low alongside the path.
She dropped to the ground, her knees emitting a popping sound that made Gus wince. The Oracle looked unaffected as she strode up to them. She cocked her head at Yuki and smiled and nodded.
“Very good, you are wise to come to me,” she said knowingly.
“Then you know what I want?” Yuki ventured.
“Yes, child. But you still must ask.”
“I want to know what the best power Gus could gift me is.”
“When the vampire’s son is hungry with betrayal, you must be marked with his magic. Are the terms agreeable?”
Yuki screwed up her face, and looked at Gus. He shrugged, as bewildered as her.
“Speak quickly, dearie, the offer remains only for so long…”
“Okay, fine,” she quickly agreed.
“Done!” the Oracle said and rubbed her hands together, the sound oddly like the rustling of autumn leaves as the deal was struck.
“The ability you seek is called Manifest. Can you see it, boy?”
Gus did the odd thing with his eyes that allowed him to sift through the abilities and found it there, lying in the depths. The ability felt odd to him, distinctly feminine and alien. Becoming aware of it had made it stand apart and put a tension on him, as though he were water and it was oil, pushing to separate from him. He stepped to Yuki and placed his hand on her temple and let the ability transfer to her. Like a cool trickle of water, the ability rushed to the surface, flowed out of him, and Yuki trembled as she took it in.
“Well, what does it do?” Gus asked, not having even checked the description before he gifted the ability.
Yuki gasped as she checked her display for the ability description, a manic smile spreading across her face. In a daze, she made a sliding motion and Gus saw the text:
Manifest
Restricted ability:
Prerequisites: Slice 30, Hack 30, Summon 30, Intelligence 50
This ability allows one skilled in summoning virtual avatars to manifest them into physical reality. This ability’s description is unable to be revealed to anyone lower than required levels until unlocked. Allows one to summon previously captured intelligences, and ability is inactive without history of captured AI.
“What’s a virtual avatar?”
Yuki said nothing and gave Gus a huge bear hug. She gripped him tight and he thought he heard Yuki sobbing. When she finally let him go, he saw that there were indeed tears in her eyes.
“I’ll tell you on the way back.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes, laughing at her fortune. She pointed at the Oracle. “I think she still wants to talk to you.”
Gus saw the Oracle waiting patiently. Her eyes looked hungry though, like a predator and a twinge of uncertainty twisted inside his heart for a moment. Yuki mouthed ‘thank you’ to the Oracle, and made her way back to the transport.
When Yuki was out of earshot, the Oracle came closer, invading his space as she was apt to do. “I am impressed again with you. I wondered if you would be up to the challenges, and I see I was not disappointed. If you recall, I said that you must ask for what you want when I spoke with your friend, do you recall?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ma’am? Was that an appropriate address to the Oracle? It almost felt borderline offensive but there was no other word that sprang to mind. Her demeanor asked for respect. Demanded it. Her eyes softened a bit, sensing his discomfiture. Or enjoying it, it was hard to tell.
“And…” she drew the word out expectantly.
“And I found out a little with the answer you gave me. I don’t regret my question, but I have as many as ever.”
“You can still ask,” she trailed off suggestively.
“But I already—”
“Oh, did you now? I recall saying some things that may have been interpreted as an answer, but there was no direct ask, if I am remembering things clearly.”
Gus stopped to remember. Had he asked? Verbally, at least? He knew what he had wanted to ask but couldn’t recall saying the words out loud. As if she had read his mind, and possibly he just assumed that he had said the words? He would have to ask Yuki if she remembered the question he had posed.
“Are you beginning to see why I warned you from traveling down this path? There is no leaving it until you reach the end. One way or another. You have grown much. I am happy to see that I did not err in my decision.”
“So I can ask—” Gus tasted clove and a tingle on his lips as she pressed a finger to them, stopping him from speaking.
“It is better to wait. What is asked must be answered. Once asked, the door closes. It is the way. Go. Follow your path. Trust. Ignore the illusions. There will be many. And that is all that I can say.” She leaned over and looked over Gus’ shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise and Gus turned to look. There was no one on the path behind him.
When he turned around, there was only a rustling of leaves as a small whirlwind died down, accompanied by a slight cackle.
I can’t believe I fell for that.
“Thank you,” he called out to the empty forest.
Chapter Ninety
Goodbyes
“Gus, I’ve got some bad news.”
“I’m not surprised, but what is it, Nick?”
“You’re building up those same byproducts in your brain again. It’s trace amounts, but they are forming, and the rate is quicker than last time.”
“That’s about what I expected. Do you know anything about forming Mandrite crystals or even what they are? Maybe I could extract those abilities and stop this process and get back to normal. I wouldn’t mind a long rest, and sleeping in.”
“Hmm… I can’t access that information, but it seems to exist. I am not sure that humankind has reached that level of sophistication yet? Usually if one member of a species makes a discovery, it becomes available, but usually only on an ‘you must ask or it won’t be divulged’ basis.”
“The only thing that helped was that red energy. Foundation energy, the prompts called it. I need to find some more until I get this sorted. Nick, what’s the lowest part of the manor? Maybe I have to be deep underground like in the mine. I began to detect that energy when it was in high concentrations in the mine, but I haven’t really seen any since.”
“I wish I could tell you more, but that’s also locked. It’s worth a try though. Manor records show there is an empty room at the base of the manor, probably for storage. It’d be interesting to see if you can notice anything there.”
“Let’s go.” Gus headed to the lift and was directed to select the third button from the bottom. From there they made it to another service elevator and descended some more.
“I can feel it. It is increasing in intensity, but nowhere near what it was in the mine.” The elevator clanged as it opened and Gus stepped out into a large chamber. His footsteps echoed on the hard floor, the only light spilling in from the elevator. Gus stepped back as he took it in. Even cycling through his other perception modes, he found it difficult to see anything of consequence.
“Is it totally empty, Nick?”
“There’s nothing on the schematics, try yelling as loud and long as you can.” Gus did so as Nick switched to a new view. The sound waves looked like the tide going out as they fanned away from him. They encountered nothing but the far end of the chamber before reflecting back. The room was high, maybe three stories and oval in shape.
“Sacred guano, Batman! I’ve got echolocation, Nick?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I worried you would take this and run with it…” Nick replied with a deep sigh.
“You worried right! You know, past Nick would have been very happy to show me this.” Gus chuckled with glee.
“It’s only useful in
a limited number of situations, so don’t get crazy.”
The elevator began to buzz from being wedged open and Gus let the door slide shut. Darkness enveloped him, but he could see faint shading denoting the far wall and ceiling. Gus could see the ripples of sound caused by his footsteps as he moved to the center of the chamber. A quick look back showed the elevator’s position, but this was absolute dark. He continued to the center of the room; the effect was like being in the middle of a large arena.
“Wow, it’s like a really dark night…”
“Go ahead, get it out of your system,” Nick said, voice thick with affected boredom.
“Are you not entertained?” Gus boomed.
“No, I most definitely am not. Are you able to do anything here or are we about done?”
“Let me try.” Gus sat down and tried to figure out what he needed to do. “Any ideas, Nick?”
“Sorry, this is new territory for me as well.”
Gus tried to open himself to the feeling he’d had in Mengele’s lab, but too many thoughts rattled around in his brain. Pain definitely had a way of narrowing his focus. With some difficulty, he dismissed the intruding thoughts that wanted to impose on him. Questions, such as what if he couldn’t help his mother get better, or what if another group came and tried to take the manor arose. Unlike the past, he was able to shed the emotional weight of worry that these thoughts usually gave him.
I’ve worried too much about a past I can’t change and a future I don’t know will even exist.
It became easier to let those thoughts go. Gus turned his focus on the inner path. It was much fainter now, like an unused trail slowly being overcome by the surrounding vegetation. He mentally traced the path, traveling it. Skating down the pristine conduit, circling through each of the four extensions before returning to the nexus and then moving down the next pathway.
As he traveled, his thoughts became distant and there was only the path. Down. Up. Enter another door. Down. Up. Door. The process syncing with his breath. He exhaled more deeply than he thought possible, and it was as if he was expelling thousands of tiny spheres, their contents spent. Each inhale started to draw in one or two of the spheres, now filled partially with a red glow.
He followed the glowing spheres as they continued to travel down after passing through his lungs. Drawn down into the channels below, passing through his body as if it were a ghost. His mind chased the few spheres as they traveled in the center of the conduit, suspended there as if the walls were an opposing magnet, keeping it bobbing and balancing them equally away.
Breathe out, more spheres spilling into the surroundings, breath in, a few more of the filled ones coming back, trailing after the others like train cars. With each breath there was an inexhaustible supply of the spheres, continually pouring out. Only the filled ones came back when inhaling.
Gus began to see something. The red spheres within him began to pull on the other spheres filling from without. The process increased in speed and Gus felt the energy race along the track, reminding him of the afterimage of a sparkler as it was waved in the air.
There was a loud gong, which broke Gus’ attention, and his perception of the spheres became foggy then disappeared altogether. The rosy glow he had begun to perceive from the filling spheres nearby also evaporated into total darkness once again. As he came out of his concentration, the gong softened to the mild chime of a skill leveling up.
You have leveled up the skill: Mindfulness to Level 9!
1800 XP awarded.
1800 FP awarded.
595 XP to level 24.
Gus sat there in the darkness, thinking about what had happened, until Nick interrupted.
“Good, you’re finally back. Do you have any idea of how long you were in your little trance?”
“What trance?”
“The one you’ve been in for the last thirty-six hours! The others have been trying to contact you, but I didn’t want to disturb your concentration. There’s apparently another issue. I tried to reassure them, but they are becoming progressively agitated.”
Gus got to his feet, surprised he wasn’t achy and sore from remaining in one position for so long. Nth were great but they had their limits on what they could do. He felt energetic like he had when he was first on the island. Well rested and alert.
“Let’s go see what’s going on.”
“I told them where you were, that you were not to be disturbed, but also that you were safe. There was a little grumbling, but they accepted it overall,” Nick informed Gus as he hit the call button.
“Sorry for being gone for so long, there was something I had to check out in the manor. I had no idea it would take so long. What’s going on? What’s happened?”
The Crew separated and Prime sat there dejectedly. Her eyes red and swollen as she dabbed at them with one of Grimdark’s pocket squares. As Gus approached, she broke down again.
“They took her, Gus! They took Maddy. When I went to pick her up, Eldon was there—”
“And who is Eldon?”
“The butler, or manservant, whatever. He was there in the center of the big house that had been hastily packed and moved. They were gone. They commanded him to stay there and give me a message. Eldon trembled but delivered it to me, he even wet himself when he was done. I think he thought I was going to kill him right then and there. But it turns out I can’t even be mad at him. He’s indentured and had to obey. They told him if he did this, his contract was paid.”
“I don’t know what all that means, but what did he say?”
“He quoted them, reciting it like an actor in a play: ‘Sanura, thank you for giving us time to liquidate everything and disappear. With my connections, you will never be able to find out where we’ve gone. And you’ll never see Madeleine again. You brought this on yourself, and only have yourself to blame.’”
Gus flushed at the audacity, and took a knee by her and grabbed her hand. “You helped me get my family back, and I’ll help you get yours. No matter what.”
Quest Granted: Family Ties.
Quest objectives:
1) Find out where Maddy has been taken.
2) Reunite Sanura with Maddy unharmed.
Optional) Seek suitable punishment for the offenders.
Quest rewards: 75,000 XP.
Time requirements: 3 days.
Accept (Y/N)?
Gus accepted immediately. “Everyone, get ready. We have three days. I don’t know why three, but let’s get this done.”
Chapter Ninety-One
Master of Puppets
Gus sat in a sunny patch on the top of the manor. The mammoth corsair covered most of the landing pad. Aurora wanted an hour to try something before everyone left, and Yuki insisted on coming, eager to try out her new ability.
Everyone but Harmony was going, and she was still a little petulant when it came to Sanura. Harmony appeared to be regaining her normal mannerisms, and had rebounded from whatever Mengele had done to her.
Prime had mentioned to the team that when she wore the helmet, to refer to her as Prime, especially around others, but with it off she was just Sanura. Gus didn’t really see the distinction, but for some reason it was important to her.
While waiting for the others, Gus tried to practice meditating again, but he gave Nick the message to pull him out if the others were ready to go. The wind whipped in from the sea, easing the heat of the summer sun. Gus focused on his breathing and he was able to visualize the sand-sized spheres again, spilling out with each breath, floating to the ground like soap bubbles.
With eyes closed, he could sense them accumulating around him, when one winked yellow like the first star at twilight. As his attention focused on it, another sphere glowed a cerulean blue. Slowly the yellow and blue spheres lit up, but were unmoved when he inhaled deeply.
Nick roused him as Seneschal exited the lift and entered the ship to do her pre-flight checks. Gus got up and stretched, looking out at the waves crashing far below.
“Gus, that seems to be keeping that mental buildup from accumulating. Those levels are virtually undetectable after you go into a trance.”
“Finally, some good news for a change. I didn’t manage to collect anything that time, but I’m totally relaxed, like I just got out of a hot tub after a nice massage.”
The lift opened again and the rest of the Crew exited in a large group. Everyone was in good spirits as they gathered together, talking animatedly.
“Gus, guess what?” Anastasia grabbed Gus’s hands with excitement. “Aurora and Yuki found a way to tap into local cams and scanners to track where they took Maddy! We basically just have to go and backtrack their route. The logs are overwritten every week to save on storage so I think that’s why we only have the three days. But it should be smoother than when we were be-bopping around Hinansho trying to find your mother.”
“That’s good news, Anastasia. I think things might finally be turning around for us all.”
“I spoke with Harmony, too. I tried to convince her to come along and put past prejudices behind her, but she was stubborn. I didn’t press her too hard, but this is the situation now, and we’re going to all have to get along, somehow. She’s still contemplating whether she wants to stay or go back home. You may have to choose if you prefer Prime or Harmony, if it comes down to it.” Her voice was laced with concern.
Gus sighed. “That’s disappointing, to be honest. But she has to decide what’s best for her. She’s welcome to stay, or we can get her a portal back home if she’d like. Maybe she just needs some time, though. We’ve all been through the wringer.”
“She misses her family, so maybe if she could contact them, that might help…”
“I’ll see if there’s anything Yuki can do to improve communications when we get back. We’re sitting on a lot of FP after our recent escapades, so we can get some goodies. Yuki just hasn’t had time to review what we need in the security aspect, but I’m sure we can do something to stay connected.”
Unity Page 51