by Noah Michael
Raiden stood, his heart filled with fear, yet also exhilaration. He’d been dreaming of them for so long, always thinking they were just fantasy. But they were real, and they were powerful. Perhaps powerful enough to stop Roko and bring the justice Raiden longed for. His mind filled with questions and possibilities.
“Does this mean my other characters are also real? Do you know Baylin, or Alia, or the Doctor, or-”
“That is enough talking, human.” Maximus cut him off.
“I’m a human, but I have a name.”
Maximus ignored him, intently scanning the weapons rack.
“You were a lot nicer in the comics, you know.”
Maximus turned and pointed a gun at Raiden.
“What are you doing!?”
Sarah looked up anxiously. “Maximus?”
A flash of bright red light shot from the barrel of the gun. A crash followed by a scream. A dark figure fell out of the steel wall behind Raiden covered in blood, clutching his shoulder in pain. Maximus fired another blast, this time hitting the man’s foot, leaving him screaming on the floor.
“Sarah,” Maximus ordered, “Shake the walls. There could be more.”
Sarah took out her kaza and blew gently into it, moving her fingers along the holes. The walls wavered, increasingly violent ripples surging through them. Two shadows appeared on the walls, running towards the sealed entrance where the elevator shaft had been. Maximus shot at the shadows, but they moved too fast.
“We must go. Gather as much food and weaponry as you can carry.”
Raiden rubbed his hand against the surface where the man had emerged.
“Shadows,” Maximus said, approaching the shot man, “The tribe of dimensions. They can take the shape of any object or surface and were Vespirus’s favored spies.” He grabbed the man by his long, black hair. Sarah was already wearing three belts, inserting various weapons and tools into each of them. Raiden knew he should be packing too, but he couldn’t look away from Maximus.
“Who sent you!?” In response, the man spat.
“We will do this the easy way.” Maximus pulled the Shadow’s head up so their eyes met, his gaze penetrating, his tone turning deep and hypnotic. “You will answer all questions truthfully when asked. Now I repeat, who sent you?”
“I-was-sent--by the Chief,” the man said, fighting every word from his mouth.
“Were you sent to kill me?”
“N-no.”
“Then why were you sent?”
As his mouth opened for another reluctant answer, his arm also moved in a brief, quick motion as he sliced his own throat with a hidden dagger. Growling, Maximus dropped the body. Raiden, taken aback by the violence, was relieved to see that Sarah had been too busy packing to watch. She’d packed Raiden’s bag with food and her own smaller bag with extra weapons.
“We leave now.” With his sword, Maximus sliced a punching bag, and the chain holding it flung to the ceiling. The clanging of metal and levers echoed through the room as the ceiling opened, and the whole arena ascended.
As they rose, Raiden turned to Maximus, who stared straight ahead.
“What do you think they want?”
“They’ve been tracking Sarah for a while now. My guess is they intend to mold the last Surger into a weapon for the Following.”
As he spoke, the platform emerged just outside the abandoned gas station. Raiden opened his mouth to ask another question, but he was cut off as a gunshot rang out, sending the station up in flames.
“Sarah, the weapons!” Maximus shouted. Sarah unfastened two of her belts and handed one to each of them. Raiden lengthened the strap and fastened it around his waist.
“We must split up. If the enemy’s using a sniper, it is better to make ourselves separate targets.” Maximus said. “Get to the car, leave without me. I’ll hold them off.” Maximus sprinted forward, as Raiden and Sarah dashed right. Sarah played her kaza, forming the air around them into pulses that cleared their path from the flames. Raiden saw Maximus about forty feet away scanning for the shooter.
“I know where the shooter is,” Sarah said unexpectedly. “His waves are coming from the top of that building.” She pointed to a twenty-story building sporting a “Holiday Inn” sign. Sure enough, a long black sniper barrel could be seen extending over the edge of the rooftop. Raiden turned to call out to Maximus, but the Enlai was already surrounded by two sword-wielding men – Shadows.
Sarah had followed his gaze and now used her kaza to blow a rhythmic pattern of deep, powerful notes. The Shadows felt the power of the notes, but before they could react, a ripple surged through the ground and burst from beneath their feet, throwing them down.
Maximus unsheathed his blades as the Shadows melted into the ground. One darted towards Maximus’s feet but, grabbing onto the Shadow’s emerging arm, Maximus yanked him out from the floor. Another gunshot sounded as a small bullet struck the unfortunate Shadow’s stomach. He screamed in agony and Maximus recoiled as the man’s face blackened and boils of blood emerged all over his skin.
The bullet was poisoned.
Before he could recover from the revolting scene, the second Shadow emerged and lunged his sword at Maximus, who parried just in time.
“We have to help him,” Sarah pleaded.
“They’re looking for you, and if you help him, they’ll know exactly where you are.” But even as he said it, Raiden knew that something had to be done. Maximus couldn’t last against both the Shadow and the sniper. He examined the belt Sarah had given him.
“What is this?” He asked, pulling out something that looked like a watch.
“It’s an energy shield that surrounds you like a bubble. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Whenever it gets hit, the shield loses energy. The amount of energy left is shown in percentage on the watch. When it gets to zero, the shield turns off. You can set it on a timer.”
As they spoke, Maximus continued to fight. He dove forward as the ground behind him burst into flames. He struggled back onto his feet, his shirt sleeve on fire. The Shadow emerged once again, untouched by the blow.
Raiden knew he had to do something, and quick. “Stay here, Sarah. Stay low and out of sight.” With that, he sprinted for the entrance of the hotel.
Cautiously opening the door at the top of the staircase, he saw the sniper. The man’s finger was pressed against the trigger, about to shoot. Raiden launched the watch at the man, and it hit the floor beside him. Just as the mortar left the barrel of the gun, a blue ball of energy formed around him. Instead of proceeding to his target, the explosion erupted within the circular shield, devouring everything within.
“Take that!” Raiden shouted at the ball of fire.
An automated warning sounded from the device, cutting his celebration short. “Warning, energy five percent. Warning, energy failing.”
Raiden had no hope of reaching the staircase before the shield failed and the explosion would be released. He looked down at the diminutive figure of Sarah, cheering his brief victory, kaza in her hand. Then the fire blew Raiden off the roof in a chariot of flames.
◆◆◆
“He’s awake, he’s awake!”
Raiden awoke slowly to the sound of Sarah’s excited voice. He pressed down on the bandage around his ribs, groaning in pain, only to realize his arm hurt even more. He found himself in what seemed to be an old, abandoned warehouse, filled with dozens of wooden crates and tall support beams reaching up to the ceiling. Sunlight peaked into the room onto the dusty floor from wide cracks in the ceiling. Maximus towered over him, his arms crossed while Sarah jumped up and down beside him.
“Well that was something, wasn’t it?” Raiden muttered, recalling the battle and the explosion.
“Indeed, it was,” Maximus answered in a deep voice. “I owe you not only my gratitude, but my life.”
“You can keep your life,” Raiden quipped. “But I’ll take the gratitude.”
As he spoke, Raiden noticed another black-haired figure chained to
one of the support beams, dressed in black armor.
“Who’s that?”
“I managed to catch one of the Shadows alive. I couldn’t get him to speak yet, some Shadows are trained to withstand a Reader’s abilities. But he will break eventually.”
“Where are we? How long have I been out?” Raiden asked.
“We found this empty warehouse by the river a couple days ago. You were unconscious for three days as we tended to your wounds. You would be dead if it weren’t for Sarah. She softened your fall with her kaza.”
“Huh,” Raiden said slowly, still trying to process it all. “Thanks for that, Sarah.”
“Of course,” she smiled.
“So, what’s our next step?”
“Roko stole something that belongs to me, and I intend to take it back. Each of the last Guardians had a personal weapon known as a sage, made by the Builder Shai, which boosted their powers. When he killed my father, Stone stole his sage, the Eye of Armolin, and gave it to Roko. If I had it back, Roko would not stand a chance against me. But before we attempt anything, we will try to improve your chances of surviving the next encounter.”
“You mean you’re gonna train me?”
Maximus drew one of his blades and held it out towards Raiden.
“I’m going to try.”
Chapter Six
The Silver Tower
Chicago
July 5
1:00 p.m.
Alia approached the towering structure slowly, carefully concealing a gun under her shirt. She yawned and shook her head, struggling to stay sharp. The journey from London was long, and sneaking her way onto the flight had been tricky. She hadn’t gotten over the jetlag.
She scanned her surroundings. Two entrances, back and front, ten guards each. Entrances pass-code locked.
As she approached the building, a guard stepped forward to greet her. “Can I help you?”
“Yes. Which door would take me closest to the building’s elevators?”
“I can’t--”
“Thanks. And what’s the code to get in?”
“Ma’am I--”
“Thanks, now listen carefully.” The guard looked at her with a puzzled expression, his eyes hazed as he fell under her spell. “There are ten terrorists at the back of the building trying to bring weapons inside. The guards on that side are already dead; it’s all up to you. Go now.”
The man’s eyes grew wide with alarm. He ran to warn a group of fellow guards and they scurried off hastily. Once they were out of sight, Alia snuck over to one of the doors and punched twelve numbers into the blue keypad. A series of high-pitched notes sounded from the keypad, and the metal door slid open. As she entered the building, the doors immediately shut behind her and she faced a woman dressed in a white lab coat who’d apparently been heading for the same door.
“Can I help you?
“Yes, I’m looking for Roko’s office. Do you mind directing me?”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Since when does Roko’s daughter need an appointment?”
The woman fell under the trance of Alia’s voice and directed her to the hundredth floor. As she walked, Alia looked around in awe. Everything about the building was huge. The immense hallways were teeming with employees who rode back and forth on golf carts in designated lanes. Loudspeakers resonated from all directions with alerts and notifications. People in lab coats pushed all kinds of projects and experiments through the halls on rolling tables. Ten men walked by pushing a car, another one escorting an elephant.
Alia threw the sweatshirt hood over her head as a group of armed guards headed her way. She took cover behind the elephant as they passed, then picked up the pace. She made her way through the teeming hallway to the elevator and joined a crowd of employees awaiting the lift. Everyone around her had a number on their shirts and, as she boarded the enormous elevator with them, she realized the numbers probably pertained to their floors. There were no buttons in the elevator. Instead, the numbers on the shirts glowed. Chatter and gossip filled the elevator as it rose. She looked around, but no one had a 100 on their shirt.
“Can someone help me get to floor one-hundred?”
All heads turned towards her.
“Did you...um...did you say floor one-hundred?” a man asked nervously.
“Yes,” Alia answered cautiously, “Roko’s office.”
“That’s, um…all mentions of that floor are a breach of security protocol…” The man looked up anxiously at a security camera on the elevator ceiling, then down at the floor. Alia decided it was best not to push it further.
When the last woman got off on 70, she stole a nervous glance at Alia before scurrying away. Alia followed her out of the elevator and set out in search of the stairs. The seventieth floor was not as crowded as the first and she found them quickly. With every floor she climbed, her doubts continued to rise. She had never been so close to someone with so much power.
There are security cameras in every corner, he for sure knows I’m coming. What exactly is the plan here again? This is undoubtedly one of my most idiotic ideas. He could just kill me and nobody would care, no one would notice…
Thirty flights of stairs went faster than she thought possible.
She knocked.
She had been expecting a secretary to answer, maybe even Roko. She hadn’t expected the android facing her. It was a bit taller than she and where its face should have been was a glowing red screen. Each shoulder sported an array of guns, and two long blades were tucked into its arms. Red lights shot out from the screen, scanning Alia. She quickly extricated the gun tucked behind her jeans and threw it down the stairs.
“Target identified. Weapons search negative. Picture match for suspect in murder in London hospital. Sending report to Roko.”
Alia cursed under her breath.
The robot ended its screening and spoke, but this time in a different voice. “Hello, Alia. My name is Roko. I’m sorry for the trouble you experienced back at the hospital. I meant no harm.”
“No harm?” Alia scoffed. “You can shove those lies down your throat and tell me where you took my sister, you money-hugging prick.”
“I asked my partner James to assist me in finding you, and unfortunately things grew out of hand. Your sister is safe. In fact, she is currently receiving the best medical care this incredible country has to offer,” Roko answered calmly, unfazed. Suddenly, a video began to play through the robot’s red screen. Alia breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Bella on a hospital bed in seemingly good condition, surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses.
“Where is she?” Alia demanded.
“She is in Discover’s priority medical research facility in Boston. Unfortunately, due to the stroke, she was not yet stable enough to be brought here. Now,” Roko asked politely. “why don’t you come in?”
Slightly mollified, Alia cautiously followed the robot into an enormous room full of hundreds of androids similar to the one accompanying her, sitting in organized rows of desks, working computers and answering phone calls. The ceiling was filled with small bee-like robots which flew from computer to computer, plugging their stingers into slits on top of the computers, transferring data, and then flying to their next destination, occasionally leaving and entering the room through holes in the ceiling and floor. The back wall was one huge window providing a breathtaking view of the city. The only colorful objects in the room were a large, brown, wood desk and a red, leather, cushioned chair. Alia’s attention was drawn towards a silver orb which hovered a few feet above the desk.
“How do you like my office?”
Alia turned at the sound of a live, human voice in the sea of machines. The grinning man behind her looked about sixty, his hair a smooth, silvery white and combed neatly. He was strongly built despite his age, wearing an expensive silver suit and tie. Alia’s mind got to work.
Lavish dress indicates wealth and power, but a need to show it off indicates he wasn’t born that way. Mo
tivated by power and respect. He’ll only invest time and interest in serving his own purpose. He’s got an ego the size of his bloody tower and thinks he’s invincible. I could easily manipulate him through his arrogance.
“It’s nice to meet you in person, Alia. Come with me.” Roko walked through the rows of robot secretaries and sat behind his desk. Alia followed, taking a seat that emerged from the floor. A wasp drone whizzed by her ear and as it flew to the desk, the orb opened and swallowed it, despite the fact that the wasp was bigger.
“I’m sure you have many questions for me Alia.”
Still staring at the orb, Alia forcibly turned her attention back to Roko.
He wouldn’t waste his time answering my questions unless he wanted something in return.
“Who am I, and what do you want from me?”
His eyebrows shot up. “I did not realize you knew so little. Alia, my dear, you are part of an ancient race of very gifted people. We call ourselves the Enlai. Each of us is given a gift rendering us superior to the human race. My gift is invention and creation. I’m a Builder. You, my dear, are a Reader. We are, in essence, family.”
Alia’s mind worked overtime to process everything coming in. Knows me well enough to try manipulating my emotions through my past as an orphan. Roko wants to use me for something. He kidnapped Bella in case he needed blackmail. Even so, if he needs me, it means I have leverage…
Although his claims sounded crazy, deep down Alia felt the missing pieces of her puzzling past coming together. Her powers, everything she’d been through...she wasn’t an ordinary human. She could feel it in her bones. She always had.
“If what you say is true, then how come only I have these powers? Why isn’t my sister a Reader as well?”
“Perhaps she is,” Roko answered. “Or perhaps one of your parents was human, and she received the human half.”
“Are there Enlai who can heal? Could you cure my sister?”
“Sure there are,” Roko said, “And I would be happy to help you find them. But first, I need your help. Let me tell you why I wanted you here.”