by Jesse Wilson
“Mocra Corp and an unknown Blade. What's the connection?” Tayne asked and none of them knew or wanted to know. “I suggest we find out, but it looks like the deeper water is their realm. I suggest we just take the surface route and play it safe,” Evie suggested and Rex was thinking the same thing.
“Take us up,” he ordered and soon the Voltarice was rising from the depths of the Yalo ocean once more into the sunlight.
“Mocra is only about seventeen miles off the coast, we can be there in about twenty minutes if we take our time,” Nymie said as she took over the helm, still hungry and irritable but figured she should do something now that she was here.
“Well then what are we waiting for, let's go,” Rex ordered and Nymie pushed the ship into action.
“Drask, keep those weapons powered up and check for any damage,” Rex said after another communicator appeared in his hand. “Will do, Sir, just keep a better watch out for trouble in the future,” she said and was obviously annoyed. “You got it, I'll do my best to not get us shot again,” he replied and put the radio away.
“Evie, put the wards back up if you would please,” Rex asked more than ordered her. “Already on it, Sir, what if Delrax really is walking among us? If there is another blade out there and it's unsealed, couldn't it mean the end of the world would start all over again? And why wasn't this blade unsealed with the rest?” Evie asked and Rex didn't know much about it, the news out of the North suggested the threat was over.
“If there is an evil god out there we'll just have to hope ours are stronger and stand with us if we need them when the time comes,” Rex said the only thing he could think of.
“I hope they stand with us if it's true,” Boz said, despite not being a fan of the gods or magic very much but their existence now was undeniable, however they still felt weak to him because even if the event had come to an end, nothing had changed.
Rex didn't know very much than when he started this whole thing but he was hoping a stop at Mocra Tower was going to fix all of that. He had a feeling there was more than just magic involved with this.
Chapter 13
There on the shoreline of the Yalo ocean it stood, like a glittering green emerald monument to progress and all things science, but the whole thing stood alone. “I see it on the radar, should I blow it up now or later,” Drask called in over the communicator. Rex smiled as he looked at the golden letters that spelled Mocra down the side so no one would could mistake who owned it.
“No, not yet. I am sure they know we are here by now and besides. No evidence. I'll need you to come with me, bring the chip. Evie, Nymie come with me.
The rest of you stay on board and make sure to keep a close eye on anything that seems out of place,” Rex said to them and Tayne smiled. “You know you can count on me to keep an eye out, that's me, typical watchdog,” he replied with great sarcasm, imagining all the things he could be doing right now, like sleeping.
“Well then have someone else do it, but if something does happen even you are going to feel bad about it,” Rex replied and Tayne rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. I'll keep watch,” Tayne replied.
“Mocra is a horrible business. I don't understand why so many people buy into it,” Evie said. “Well they helped build this ship and a lot of the tech on this world, them and a few others. The royal families invested in them and now we have what we do,” Nymie replied, she was excited to come here because Mocra made some of the things she enjoyed the most and didn't want to believe they were connected to this in any way.
She also wasn't about to tell Evie that, however. The three of them walked to the elevator and got inside. Rex pressed a red button.
The elevator stopped and they got out, met by Drask who had the chip in a small plastic bag to keep it safe. “Let's go say hello,” the dwarf said to them and they walked to the transporter platform. “You're coming too?” Evie asked. “Yeah, I am. Mocra has some pretty high port shielding, however I talked the CEO into taking the fast track to the head office at the top,” she said and Rex smiled.
“Good deal,” Rex replied.
“Get us down there,” Rex said to the operator and in seconds they found themselves standing in the tower's shadow, from here it looked much more sinister from the air and something about the Voltarice being in the sky near it didn't make them feel much better. “I thought you said fast track?” Rex asked. Drask just shrugged. “As fast as I could get it,” she replied.
“Hello, hello!” a voice cried out. A man in a bright green suit came out to meet them.
“I'm Rence Mocra, CEO of, well this. So, what can I do for such esteemed Unicorn Hunters on this fine day,” he asked and had a sinister smile for an elf, the twinkle of his red eyes didn't make any of them feel better. Rex didn't trust him.
“We're going to get straight to the point, we found this on a bot and it belongs to you, or it was at least modified by someone who has connections to this place. Controller chips aren't something normal people can get their hands on,” Rex said and Drask stepped forward, holding the chip out for Rence to take. The elf tilted his head and took the bag.
“Oh yeah, this came from here alright. The structure of the chip almost looks organic,” he said at first glance. “This isn't the first one we have seen,” Rence replied and frowned, continuing. “I thought we could keep this under wraps. You should come with me I want to show you all something you might find interesting,” he said, turned around and began to walk inside the tower.
“No guards, wouldn't a big wig like this have personal protection?” Evie whispered to Rex. “I wouldn't be surprised if we are being watched right now, let's go see what he has to show us and be ready for anything,” Rex whispered back and the group quickly caught up with the elf.
##
Rence and the others didn't even bother to stop at security check points. All of the guards just let them through, even saluting them as they passed by. Rex returned the salute, he knew that Unicorn hunters were respected and to see this many high-ranking ones in one spot was rare. The others didn't bother, but Rex's acknowledgment was more than enough for them.
Rence stopped before the elevator, turned around and looked Nymie up and down. “We'll take the service elevator, I forget just how big you trolls can get, not that I mind, I just didn't expect. Well you understand right?” he asked her and she looked down.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. Lead the way,” she said and Rence smiled and opened the elevator, the thing was obviously made for transporting very large items.
The doors opened and they got in. “So, what are we in for?” Rex asked him and Rence just smiled. “Something you'll appreciate, I wanted to wait to reveal this but, I figure in order to explain the chip, the whole story needs to be revealed,” he replied in his same upbeat tone.
The elevator ride was a long one, they kept going down and it felt like there wasn't going to be an end but suddenly the doors opened to a large, well-lit chamber. They walked forward to see large tanks lining the walls of the room.
Inside each tank was a unicorn in stasis.
“What in the hell is this?” Evie said out loud, shocked at the sight.
“It's unlimited energy. Unicorns are extradimensional beasts that never lose their connection to their home. I found a way to catch and harness their power for the good of everyone,” he said and turned around with a smile.
“You're insane, what if they break out so close to populated areas, you risk killing thousands,” Rex immediately said and reached for his blaster on instinct. “This program has been going on in secret for three years. The hardest part is catching the monsters but I pay some hunters, who will remain nameless, to help with the task,” he said, that smile never left.
“You don't understand, Unicorns gather power the longer they stay in this dimension. Taking one out fast is important. The longer it stays here the worse it gets. They've been here for three years or more,” Drask said and shuddered at the thought.
“Yes, I
understand perfectly, their power increases and so does their energy output. Without this we would face an energy crisis, there would be a social breakdown. You can trust me. However not all the employees agreed with this plan,” Rence said and that smile finally left his face.
“About the time the blade incident took place Albert Grayson, one of the chief scientists of the project, apparently lost his mind. He kept saying the unicorns were screaming into his brain and eventually we found him, dead in his office. He cut his wrists and made a terrible mess,” Rence said with a sigh and continued, “then three days later his body disappeared. That was a few weeks ago and ever since we've been finding spy bots with similar chips on them like the one you found. We don't know what to make of it either and were about to come to you for some help. Do you know if unicorns are telepathic at all?” he asked them and finally finished.
“Some of them are, but then again I've only tried to banish them back to their world and not really deal with what they were thinking,” Nymie replied and the others agreed with that. “Psycho Horns, Mimic Horns are telepathic for sure,” Evie replied.
“Well the blade incident changed everything. The unicorns here are increasing in power seven times faster than they should be, the containment is fine but we don't know what is going on. That friends, is all we know,” Rence said to them, Rex couldn't tell If he was telling the truth or not but he sure looked like he was.
Evie couldn't help but feel sorry for the beasts, despite them being straight up killers no matter what form they took, nothing deserved to be locked up like this. “I don't care if there is an energy crisis looming, we need to banish these things as soon as we can. To walk away would be a serious violation of our code and jobs,” Evie said, tightening her grip on the staff.
“I'm sorry but these things are Mocra property and damaging them would be a direct attack on our company, we, I, cannot allow that,” the elf said, looking at her, knowing exactly how the Elroxian felt seemed to make him smile.
“You know, today it might be fine, but someday you won't be able to contain them and it will take a lot to stop them when they get out. I don't know how much help we are going to be,” Drask said to him, raising a valid point. “Maybe, but if that happens I'll be fine. I'm hardly ever down here so I am not the one that'll need to be saved,” he said with a smile and started to walk back towards the elevator.
“Well, at least you'll be okay, I guess it's all fine then,” Nymeria replied, disgusted with his lack of concern for life. Rence almost looked back, but stopped himself.
“Albert Grayson's body has disappeared. I've already planned for all of his stuff to be teleported to your ship, he really didn't have anyone to give it too and, well, we didn't want to tell the Emerald Watch or the cops. So, we kept it in storage. Investigate and see if you can find anything we didn't. We didn't find anything of importance but we aren't exactly super elite hunters like yourselves, maybe you'll catch something we missed,” Rence said to them, changing the subject.
“I'm sure we will,” Rex replied and there was a short span of silence between them. “Well I have work to do as do you so this is where we will part ways. Use the elevator and please leave the same way you came int,” the elf said, pushed a button on his wrist as the hologram disappeared.
“Holy snorb, it was a hologram, I couldn't even tell,” Nymie said and Drask just nodded, but she couldn't tell either honestly. “Let's just get out of here before we decide to do something we'll regret,” Evie said, tapped her staff on the ground and in seconds they were all back on the bridge.
Chapter 14
“Well that was fast, learn anything?” Tayne asked them.
“Yeah, more than I wanted to,” Rex replied and sat down in his chair. “He's keeping unicorns down there, they are powering most, if not all of the settlements behind the wall,” Nymie said and Boz's eyes widened. “What, no that's not good,” he said and it appeared that he had said the obvious “Yeah, I think we all thing that,” Drask replied.
“I mean, no, unicorn energy is naturally corruptive. I've been studying it for a few years now and their natural energy is alien to our dimension. It warps everything they are around, it's a naturally occurring chaos field in effect,” he clarified what he meant. “So that's the reason everything goes to hell when one hangs around one area too long, and here I thought it was just because they smelled that bad,” Drask replied.
“He's kept at least ten of them that we could see in his basement for three years and they increased their energy output recently,” Drask replied and Boz started to go into a panic attack.
“Whoa, calm down man, you're not helping anyone by freaking out right now,” Evie said to him but Boz glared at her. “Everyone is in danger, anyone who uses a light, anyone who uses anything powered by the energy is in serious trouble or they will be. We have to at least warn them that they are being poisoned,” he said in response.
“Okay, I'll contact Lexam, you guys need to get to Grayson's stuff and check it over for anything we can find. I think he's somehow behind all of this mess but we need to see what we can find out,” and continued. “Grayson's stuff is in holding deck two. If you don't find anything, I don't know what we are going to do next so good luck,” Rex said to them and they nodded and made their way out of the bridge.
##
Rex sat in his chair and pushed a few buttons that were on the side of it. For a few seconds there was no answer. Then the King's advisor, a squirrelly Elroxian by the name of Orma answered the call, she looked at him through the viewing screen.
“Commander Rex, what can I do for you?” she asked him, nervously.
Rex took a breath before he chose his words.
“I need you to get the King on the line as soon as possible, this is an emergency,” he replied to her. “I'm sorry but the King is in a meeting right now. I can relay a message if you want,” she said and Rex shook his head. “A message okay, tell him that Mocra industries is using Unicorn energy to power most of the Kingdom and that energy is dangerous, everyone needs to stop using their lights. Anything connected to electric power because it's not electricity,” he said to her and continued.
“The energy output has been climbing and if what I think is going to happen, does, we, everyone is going to be in for a world of pain,” Rex said to her and Orma's eyes widened.
“Oh Elrox, I didn't know. I'll go tell the king right now, be safe out there. Is there any time line to this disaster?” she asked him.
“No, we don't know when the surge is going to come but it is going to come so you need to hurry. Our best guess, less than twenty-four hours,” Rex made something up, unicorn energy was almost impossible to detect without magic assistance or visual aids of the area around it.
“Okay, I'll tell him right now,” she said and shut off her communications. Rex sighed and hoped he wasn't too late.
Tayne and Drask were in cargo bay two and both of them were going through everything Mocra had sent up to them. “While I have you here, did you try to strangle one of my department members?” Drask asked him straight out.
“The guy was getting in my way and I didn't have any patience, so yes I did but he didn't die so I figure it all turned out alright,” he replied to her and she glared at him. “If you ever do it again I'll tear your dead heart out myself and eat it, threatening my people is not okay, ever. I need all of them to make sure the ship, the thing you and I are on, keeps flying, understand,” Drask said as she started pulling random documents out of a dusty box. Tayne smiled, but she didn't see that.
“You got it boss, next time I'll just throw them off the ship so they can't cry about it,” he replied and opened a box. Drask knew he got the message and dropped it. “This Grayson guy was pretty smart, I can't make heads or tails out of any of this stuff,” Tayne said as he read some of the papers.
“What's a Unocite?” he asked her and Drask shook her head. “It's basically a measurement of energy, very small,” she replied to him the short version. “Al
here was obsessed with them, he must have been down there with those things constantly. Each paper is measured by the hour, every hour,” Tayne said and pulled out a whole stack of papers that were filled with numbers all identical besides the number of Unocites going up each page.
“They said he was the chief scientist, I'd expect him to keep very good notes. Looks like you got the boring pile,” Drask said as she pulled out blood stained papers and tried to read them.
“Unicorn voices tell me that the path is open and the time is now. Give up my life to open the door to the path and free yourself from the world of the Gods,” Drask read out loud and didn't know what it meant.
“This is not the first person I've heard of that sacrificed themselves to a unicorn for whatever reason, but none of them ever left a note like this,” Tayne replied to it and shrugged. “What path, what door. I've never heard of anything like it. He wrote down things about voices but they all seem to be saying the same thing, is it possible his mind was corrupted by over exposure to the energy?” Drask asked.
“A telepathic unicorn isn't new, but usually they just use their power to lure victims. I've never even heard of such a thing like this before,” he replied and shook his head. “Is it possible the black unicorn is talking across the barrier, are we being played somehow?” Drask thought to herself out loud.
“It is possible, if such a thing exists,” Tayne replied but she didn't hear him, lost in her own thoughts.
“I'm going to run some of these numbers through the computers back in Engineering, you two have fun,” Drask said and left to go to her station.
“Yeah, fun,” Tayne replied as she left.