by Drew Cordell
“I’m scared, too. I’m sorry I was so hard on you; I had no idea how much you went through. I feel like such a bitch.”
“Don’t say that. You have nothing to apologize for,” I said, kissing her cheek.
“We need to tell Marwin about Infinitum’s threat tomorrow. I feel so powerless.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk to him in the morning. For now, I’m going to enjoy my time in this perfect bath with the perfect woman.”
Mary blushed and kissed me on the lips. I returned the kiss and pulled back, continually amazed at how beautiful she was.
We got out of the bath sometime later and fell asleep on my bed in each other’s arms, content on taking things slow and enjoying every moment we had together.
We woke up at around ten AM and ate a light breakfast Bracken had prepared. Mary kissed me goodbye before leaving on House Aera’s transport ship that arrived to pick her up. We had decided to meet up again the following day as we both had matters to attend to.
“I’m glad to see everything worked out,” Bracken remarked.
I gave him a smile. “Sorry again about almost ruining the party.”
“Other than slipping away, I was very impressed with your skills as host. You even remembered the proper usage of spoons for eating a stew,” he remarked.
“I learned from the best,” I replied, flashing him a grin. “What’s on the agenda for the day?”
Bracken laughed and pulled up his datapad. “You’ve got physical therapy, and we’ll start to wean you off your medicine.”
The physical therapy was a lot tougher than I thought, but by the end of the first session I was able to stand for a few minutes at a time, taking steps on my own and slowly recovering my strength. Mary and I told Marwin about Infinitum’s threat, and we always spoke with the understanding that we were always being observed. Communication with the Champions was impossible.
Marwin had Mary and me flown over to his estate where we began training in his armory on a daily basis. Mary was reluctant at first, but recognized the need to know how to defend herself. Since I was still recovering physically, we focused on firearms and aim for the first week. I improved my aim, and Mary was turning out to be a great shot.
“The MXV-30 is heavy, but its firepower is unmatched,” Marwin said as he brandished a large rifle made of Felprox Polymer. The internal metal components and heavy gas magazines contributed to the weight despite the lightweight frame. Most firearms in Olympus utilized helium by default to provide greater range and stopping power, and they were sighted with variable zoom holographic sights. Marwin gave each of us a rifle tuned down for training and showed us how to hold the bulky weapon. It was as heavy as the C-15 repeater I was used to, but twice as large. After hours of training with the rifles, Marwin allowed us to put on Inquisitor armor which made the weapons feel weightless and allowed us to move and aim with ease.
“I want to deputize you both. I think it would be a smart move,” he said while we were taking a break in training. “At the very least, it’ll allow you to carry more than those pathetic stun guns throughout Olympus.”
“If you think it’d be a good idea, I’d enjoy the opportunity,” I said.
“Mary?” Marwin asked.
“I’m with Jake,” she said, exchanging a glance with me.
It was strange to be training where Infinitum could see everything we were doing; it seemed to defeat the purpose if our opponent would know our weaknesses. Still, I couldn’t see the harm in better preparing ourselves for combat if Infinitum decided to show up again. Aside from the threat on the night of my party, Infinitum hadn’t communicated with us. We concluded the training session, and Mary flew back with me to my house for dinner. Marwin planned to have dinner with Jex.
Bracken prepared a wonderful dinner for Mary and me, and the three of us enjoyed great conversation and many games of Elorium afterward. Colton Adrihel had kept true to his word and sent me another box of cards to expand my collection. Bracken helped me modify my existing decks and create a few new ones with the new cards. The more Elorium I played, the more I loved the game. It served as a great way to reduce my stress from training and trying to figure out a way to deal with Infinitum.
Bracken first expressed concern I was spending so much time training with Marwin, but stopped when he noticed it was improving my physical condition and helping me strengthen my body back its full potential. He did most of my cooking when he became concerned I wasn’t getting proper nutrition from the meals the robots prepared after I had spent a long day training. Mary and I had both gotten stronger and faster since training with Marwin, and he pushed me as hard as Caeldra did when I was first starting my training as a Runner in the Guild. His training methods weren’t always as direct or blunt as Caeldra’s, but they were helping me improve everywhere but my mental capabilities.
I spent a lot of time studying the history of Olympus in the archives available to me as a Baron. The results weren’t promising. The history stated there were once other countries in the world, and it gave information and facts about where they had been, but I could tell the truth was hidden here as well. I didn’t know if Adrihel knew what had really happened, but it seemed the Great Flood of 2039 was perceived to be the true, authentic history of the country. The library mentioned the United States, but simply that it had fallen and New York had risen in its ashes. I gave up on trying to learn anything about the history of New York after realizing how convoluted the facts were. If there was truth in the history of Olympus, I wasn’t going to find it.
I did some of the mental exercises Edgar had taught me and worked to delve deeper into my mind during my off days from training with Marwin, and it seemed Mary was gaining interest in what I was doing. After pleading with me using methods that were far from fair, Mary convinced me to train her in some basic layering. Since I didn’t have access to a collector canister, there was no way to test if she was doing it right or not. After no visible progress or the ability to delve into any projections that were like anything I described, she gave up, thankful I had tried to teach her.
After another month, Mary and I were both deputized as Inquisitors in training. As deputies, we were both permitted to carry concealed energy pistols which utilized helium gas.
A second month passed, and I completely recovered from my injuries and was back in good shape. Marwin pushed Mary and me physically, honing our hand to hand combat techniques. Mary, once again, picked up on the lessons quickly. As promised, Marwin installed an armory in my house and provided us each with a suit of Inquisitor armor, the nuclear-powered Nanotech Suit with multiple functions. The armor was the only reason Marwin had survived the fight with Infinitum.
The Inquisitor suits had powered membranes which gave the user the strength of an Enforcer class robot as well as the means to mitigate heavy damage from all sorts of different attacks. Unlike the much lighter Guild leather I was used to, this armor was built to sustain the user through pretty much anything that came their way, even some hits from a Hellfire Blade, the type of weapon Infinitum had used. We were each given a Hellfire Blade as well, the equally impressive and frightening weapons could produce extreme heat on a Nanoedged blade.
“You won’t be as impressed with Infinitum after you realize it wasn’t actually calculating how to deflect those energy blasts,” Marwin said as he drew his blade.
The hilt looked to be made of Felprox Polymer, the same stuff used to construct most high-end firearms. Felprox Polymer was feather light and as tough as steel.
“Much like energy guns, the blade itself does use gas as a means of energy distribution, but it’s a closed system unlike a firearm.”
He toggled a switch on the hilt and the edge of the blade ignited in a brilliant green. “Unlike Infinitum’s blades, ours aren’t designed to emit so much heat. We’d just end up burning ourselves, and it isn’t going to make a difference against mechanical enemies. You’ll be able to choose your gas. Unlike firearms, they all perform the same and only differ
in physical appearance when used in Hellfire Blades. CO2 is orange, HexTox is purple, helium green, and hydrogen blue.”
I selected CO2 for my blade, and Mary selected helium; the blades matched our house colors. After checking to make sure his armor was working properly, Marwin put on his helmet and drew his sword from its sheath. “Now, draw your weapons and fire at me,” he said.
Reluctantly, we drew our training weapons. Even with the reduced power, the training guns could leave a nasty burn. We started firing and Marwin’s arm darted around, deflecting the shots to the ground with ease, not missing a single one. We continued to fire, and the blade began absorbing the shots, green sparks and ripples of color surging through the blade. He raised his hand for us to stop and motioned us to come over.
Marwin showed us the basic controls of the weapon: two different buttons with three different positions each. The first button was the switch for the blade’s power. The switch toggled the ignition of the edge of the blade between two different intensities of energy, both consuming power from the blade’s core. The second button could be set to off, absorb, or deflect. If the blade was set to absorb, the blade would pull bursts of energy to the weapon and try to charge internal capacitors which would move the excess power to the weapon’s power core for charging.
“Absorb too much, and you could fry your capacitors or the energy core. Then the weapon is useless. Deflect too much, and you’ll drain the core and won’t be able to absorb additional energy,” Marwin warned. “Your Inquisitor suit neural link will allow you to switch your blade’s settings with your mind as you fight, but you need to learn to use the manual toggles first in case something goes wrong and you can’t rely on the neural link. Your suit can manage the settings on the weapon, but you need to be able to use your gear manually as a backup plan.”
He showed us how to hold the weapon so it would move freely when jumping toward an energy shot, but not enough to lose our grip. Since Mary and I both had Nanotech on our sword arms, we could use the modules to create a grip that would prevent us from being disarmed, holding the blades steadily through intense recoil. Through trial and error, we were trained to use the Hellfire Blades and became as well versed in them as any firearm. I preferred the blade, but Mary was more of a gun nut. She had modified her handgun and rifle with special, non-conventional modifications, and in her hands, the weapons were extremely lethal.
After a few more weeks of Inquisitor training, Mary and I had learned the nuances of deflecting energy shots toward the attacker by the angulation of the blade and how to switch between the deflect and absorb settings during a fight to manage power core levels. Fights between Hellfire Blades were much trickier, and Marwin beat us with ease when we sparred. We had to learn swordsmanship and proper technique, as well as deal with the seemingly impossible clash lock. During our sparring with Marwin, we either depleted our power cores, or overloaded the capacitors or cores themselves by absorbing too much energy.
Fighting someone else with a Hellfire Blade was difficult. If the blades were both on deflect, the impacts produced violent recoil as they bounced from one another, both blades losing energy from the impacts. If the blades were both on absorb, they would stick together like glue and there usually wouldn’t be a net shift of power between the two cores. If one was on absorb and the other was on deflect, it would feel like hitting two normal blades together, but the shift of power from the two cores would be dramatic. Knowing when to switch the blades wasn’t easy, and it took another week before Mary and I could be considered decent at dueling with the swords. Hellfire Blades could suck the charge out of Nanotech, and that meant they were an excellent choice in dealing with enemy shielding. The heated edge could also slice through heavy metal armor with relative ease.
By the end of the third month, Mary was as capable as me in combat potential, and we had managed to improve our defenses against the growing threat. Romantically, our relationship had continued to blossom with all the time we spent together and the freedom from the burden of lies.
After a long day of training, I collapsed in my bed and fell asleep.
6 PROLIFIC
Bracken woke me up with a call through the intercom. I grumbled when I saw it was only seven in the morning.
“Sir, you’ll want to wake up. There will be another House added today. Someone named Jared Telson has provided the fourteenth Paragon Thought. There are stirrings that the Omniscience Engine is getting very close to completing Absolute Knowledge; they aren’t sure if there will be another Paragon Thought after this,” he said.
I jolted awake. “Will there be a commencement ceremony?” I asked.
“Of course there will! And you’re expected to make an appearance and represent your House,” he replied. “Oh, and Mr. Telson is a Prolific, the first ever to become royalty of Olympus.” The intercom clicked off.
How could there not be another Paragon Thought after this one? It seemed impossible the Omniscience Engine could establish Absolute Knowledge, especially since it didn’t know what was in my head. It was also strange a Prolific hadn’t thought of a Paragon Thought yet considering the laws of probability alone. I still didn’t know what my Paragon Thought had been; I couldn’t remember it, and I had no hope of looking into it now. I was sure Infinitum didn’t want me anywhere near the Omniscience Engine, and I knew to keep my distance without a plan. Things were going well, but I knew it was all a house of cards, set to come crumbling down with one wrong move.
My body groaned in protest as I got out of bed and put on my robe. I walked out into the kitchen where Bracken was already cooking something for me in a skillet.
“Will I be able to sit with Mary this evening?” I asked.
Bracken gave me a grin. “Of course. Oh, and I got you something,” he said. “It’s for whenever you’re ready, but I spoke with House Aera, particularly Baroness Carly Aera regarding Lady Dunn’s particular preferences in style.” He handed me a small black velvet box. I opened it and took a sharp breath as the sheen of diamond and an orange gemstone reflected the brilliant light of the kitchen.
“For when you’re ready to make Lady Dunn Lady Ashton,” he said, flashing me a smile.
It was too much. I walked over and wrapped Bracken in a hug, not knowing if I was ready. I only knew I was happy to have the ring, that Mary would love it, and that I loved Mary. I thanked him profusely for the amazing and thoughtful gift.
I asked him about what it would take to court her—as he had called it about a month ago—and he explained a lot of the process. I had no idea he would go through all the trouble needed to get a ring, but here it was in my hand ready to present to the girl I loved.
“I’ll help you prepare your proposal when you’re ready,” he said. “But, I have set up a meeting with you and House Aera to discuss the marriage this morning,” he said.
I thanked Bracken again and ate the hearty breakfast he had prepared with instructions that I needed to bathe and “fix my face with a clean shave.”
“I’m assuming it would be bad to announce my proposal to Mary today?” I asked Bracken, already knowing the answer.
He gave me a knowing look and sent me off to bathe. After I had taken the bath, shaved and changed into my suit, I styled my hair and prepared for the day’s festivities starting with my meeting with House Aera Bracken had set up. I was to meet with Baroness Carly and Sir Arnold Aera. I had to ask Bracken about why Sir Arnold had given up his original surname.
“If a man marries into one of the High Houses, he’ll take the last name of the bride for the status,” Bracken explained, realizing he never told me that before.
“What happens if a Baron and Baroness of two different houses marry?” I asked.
“The couple would just follow traditional marriage precedents then,” he responded.
I assumed there would be a big ceremony for marriage in Olympus. It wouldn’t be anything like the Slums where a consenting couple would file some paperwork at one of the Government Envoy buildings in
order to have legal children and collect some extra food and drinking water vouchers. People weren’t using those vouchers anymore. It was a bitter thought, but it was also the harsh truth. Those who had chosen to hoard vouchers were left with worthless icons of a lost age of what could have been considered prosperity. The thought made me sick.
“What is this meeting with House Aera for today?” I asked, trying to get the thought out of my head.
“I’ve talked over the arrangement with them, but it is tradition for you to request their permission to Marry Lady Dunn as she is a ward of their House, though not direct royalty. There is no rush on when you actually need to propose to her; it’s just custom to arrange marriages in Olympus. If you don’t want to go through with it, just let me know and I can call it all off. This is a wonderful opportunity to grow your House, though.”
I had spent almost my whole life with Mary and knew I loved her before we became romantically involved. Marriage would also be a strategic move in that we’d be closer together and safer from Infinitum. I was serious when I asked Bracken about marriage, and I was serious now.
“What exactly do I say?” I asked.
“Just be respectful and speak from the heart. It doesn’t really matter what you say until you actually propose to Mary when you’re ready of course. I’m not trying to rush you, sir, but I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. It’s love if I’ve ever seen it. Besides, having Lady Dunn over drastically improves your manners,” he added playfully.
I couldn’t argue with that. After heavy training at the Inquisitor’s house and without company in my home, my table manners degraded to the primal instinct of eating as much food as possible in the least amount of time.
“Mary won’t be there of course, but it will be rather straightforward. You’ll express your intent to marry Lady Dunn, and the Gentleman and Baroness will ask you a few questions. You may enjoy tea, coffee, or a light meal, then it will be over. It will be easy and painless,” Bracken said as he shooed me out of the house and toward the transport ship waiting for me. I opted for the pathetic stun gun instead of my R78 handgun to appear less threatening during my conversation, although I was technically supposed to be armed at all times as a deputy Inquisitor. Bracken appeared to notice the R78 was missing from my side, but said nothing as I boarded my ship and flew to House Aera.