by L J Branch
“Their Lady?”
“We have our Goddesses who formed our Guild, the Knights have their Lady who constructed their Order. The Lady was the one who made their grimoire, knew all the Order’s secrets and she would protect them as much as she could. Being unable to crack her code should honestly be expected. I had half a mind to give the grimoire over to a contact within the Tribe. At least with them neutral, we wouldn’t have to worry about a new Knights’ Order helping the Circle. Unfortunately, an act like that would no doubt cost you the throne so I’ve decided to lock it away. Perhaps when you ascend you can help a new Order form, but enough of that, I did not call you here to talk about things that no longer matter to you.”
“Then, what did you need to see me for? You made it sound serious.”
“It is,” a new voice, thick with a French accent, spoke up sending a chill down Diamond’s spine. Diamond turned and saw an elderly woman behind them garbed in a black gown with a matching black lace collar around her neck. Her gray hair was worn up and her cold blue gaze seemed to pin Diamond in place.
“Headmistress Corday?”
“Your Highness, we need to speak about your…performance lately,” Corday said as she took a seat across from them. “When I took you under my wing, you were on track to be my best student along with young Akira. You two have the potential to surpass even the likes of Julia and Isabelle, yet while Akira is still continuing on strong, you are falling behind. You’ve become distracted, and today I wish to know why,” Corday said as she cut straight to the point. “I understand you took on a private task for your father about a month ago, it was then that your decline began. Tell me, what is it that has knocked you off track? You may be royalty, but that is irrelevant until you sit on that throne. I will cut you from the program and focus my time solely on Akira if you continue to waste my time. I demand excellence and have no time to spare for those who do not give it their all.”
“Diamond?” Roderick asked with a frown. “I had a feeling something was off, but I wanted to step back and let you handle it. Did something happen on that job?”
“There…was an altercation,” Diamond finally answered as she looked up at them. “There was a civilian sniper I failed to subdue that shot down Frost. I didn’t handle it well and killed her,” Diamond explained. Corday frowned to herself while Roderick looked at his daughter in shock. He was surprised that she would keep her first intentional kill away from him.
“I see,” Corday said after a moment. “It is always a rough time when an assassin gets their first kill, especially for a first-year.”
“But it’s not my first kill, you all know that,” Diamond said quietly which made both her father and her mentor look at her sadly.
“Diamond, what happened on your birthday was not your fault,” Roderick began carefully. “No one expected your curse to activate so early. You had at least another year before you would have even been fitted for your glove. Those deaths are not on you.”
“Tell that to their families who think they were lost in a terrorist attack,” Diamond said with a scoff. “They don’t even know the truth.”
“My King, if you could give us a moment,” Corday asked and Roderick looked unsure for the briefest of moments before he rose from his seat. If anyone could help his daughter with this it would be her mentor, unlike her, he was not an assassin.
“I leave her in your care,” Roderick said before he left.
“Your Highness, I cannot cast judgment upon you, I am no Goddess. I can’t tell you whether you were right or wrong with your recent kill or if you are guilty for what happened on your birthday,” Corday began as she held Diamond’s gaze. Those golden eyes held a storm of emotions that Diamond’s face refused to show. “However, you will be Queen one day. You need to be able to do all of your jobs without error. Killing will never get easier but you will get better at it, an unfortunate truth in our line of work,” Corday explained. “So, let me ask you the same thing I asked your mother when she dealt with this. What does the throne mean to you?”
“Everything,” Diamond said without hesitation.
“And it’s something you cannot achieve without your band,” Corday explained. “Now let me ask you this, what is the duty of those who sit upon that throne?”
“To protect the Guild.”
“And what is the duty of the Guild?”
“To protect the world.”
“Exactly, and the Guild can’t do that without a Queen and you cannot become Queen without your band. Yes, you killed someone but you also did your duty as heir to the throne,” Corday said reassuringly. “I’ll give you the same warning I gave your mother. If you think you can become Queen, especially as an assassin, without getting blood on your hands then you better give up now before it’s too late.”
“I will die before I give up my throne,” Diamond said firmly as Corday stood up.
“Then you better get ready to do your job,” Corday said as she looked down at her student. “Each kill is a lesson. Learn from your opponent. Take this experience and turn it into power,” Corday advised. “Answer me this, honor or glory?”
“Excuse me?”
“Which do you live your life for, honor or glory?” Corday asked. “What kind of person you’ll be depends on how you answer that question. One who lives for glory will only find despair, but one who lives for honor will lead a life of true fulfillment. The weak choose glory, but the strong choose honor. I asked your mother that and it paved the way for the rest of her reign. I want you to think on it, and decide not just what kind of Queen you wish to be but also what kind of person,” Corday instructed before she left Diamond alone with her thoughts.
* * *
Santa Monica, Midas Tower
When Diamond made it back to the safe house she was greeted by the sight of Kat, Jack, and Abbie watching a holovid while Sal rolled around on the floor. They all gave their greetings when they saw her making her way toward them.
“So, how was it?” Kat asked as she handed Diamond a bowl of popcorn.
“Enlightening,” Diamond said before she looked at the projection skeptically. “What the hell are you all watching?”
“Some movie Abbie picked out,” Kat answered while Jack chuckled a bit.
“You were right Kat, she does watch too many trashy romance movies,” Jack joked as he grabbed some of the popcorn.
“Oh, shut up, it’s a classic,” Abbie defended as she nudged him.
“Yeah, classic trash,” Jack joked. “Did Roderick have any luck on cracking the grimoire yet?”
“No, and he’s done as well,” Diamond answered. “He too knows when to stop. We stopped the mages from getting their hands on it which is good enough.”
“Yeah, but it’s so weird, like why go through the trouble of getting the damn thing if it can’t be read? If you want to stare at an unreadable code, you might as well look at a picture of it online or something,” Kat complained. It was then that both Diamond and Abbie froze while Jack frowned in thought. “What?” Kat asked hesitantly as she saw the looks on her friends’ faces. “Did I say something weird?”
“No, but you brought up a valid point,” Diamond said as she stood up and began to pace. “Why go through all that trouble for something he didn’t even need? Better yet, how did he even know that the Shield was the grimoire, to begin with?” Diamond asked as she narrowed her eyes. “What exactly was the source of his information that even got this plan of his started to begin with? Not only that but this was no small plan, this was a game changer, why would he hire civilians for something this big?”
“I thought it was to force thieves to hold back,” Abbie said only for Diamond to shake her head.
“But that doesn’t make sense, you need to understand August isn’t his name, it’s his title,” Diamond revealed. “He’s one of the twelve Arch-Mages that makes up the mages’ inner circle, their governing force. For mages, your birth date isn’t something to take lightly, it truly does define who you are. Wi
th each seat corresponding to one of the twelve months, you only have a chance at the seat that corresponds with the month you were born in.”
“But what are you gettin’ at?” Abbie questioned. “That he wouldn’t hire civilians because he was born in August?”
“Exactly, he’s a Leo which means he’s prideful to a fault. It’s how we knew Xavier would be lurking around at the gallery,” Jack explained. “August has no history of ever being fond of civilians, this plan would have given him no small amount of prestige. For him to trust your sister’s team with something this vital, in hindsight, it really doesn’t add up.”
“Personally, I don’t get why they believe in astrology so much. Maybe it has something to do with their magic. I mean Vivi told me that I’m a Gemini, but I’m anything but two-faced,” Kat said with a shrug, though Abbie gave her a pointed look that made her wilt slightly. “Most of the time,” Kat amended sheepishly. “Still, what do you think he needed the grimoire for?”
“A likely scenario would be that the grimoire would have made his plans easier,” Jack began. “But whatever his current source of information is, it is more than enough to get him what he needs.”
“So why bother with it at all?” Kat asked still confused.
“Wait,” Abbie began as she got their attention. “Let’s assume this source of information he has is a person, like a former Knights’ Order member or someone close enough. Say he has them hostage and is prying them for the info, which adds up with what you’re saying. The last bit of information he needed wasn’t given to him so he searched for the grimoire instead.”
“Likely, no, very likely,” Diamond muttered. “The Order is destroyed but surely there are at least some survivors. If he wants to resurrect the Order, he would definitely go to them first before looking for their grimoire. Still, if he couldn’t get this last bit of information out of whoever it is, why give up the grimoire so easily?”
“Like Kat said, he doesn’t need it. He just needs a picture online. The code has always been available to him,” Jack explained. “What he needs, I’m assuming, is something to crack it.”
“Holy shit,” Abbie said as she suddenly shot up from her seat. “I’m so fuckin’ stupid!” Abbie exclaimed before she rushed to her room and left three worried thieves in her wake. They quickly followed after her and watched her search through files on her computer. “When lookin’ through August’s notes, he had a folder labeled P.A.,” Abbie said as she brought up the folder. “But I ignored it because it was empty.”
“So what use is it?” Diamond questioned with a frown not sure why an empty folder was so important.
“It just occurred to me that there is a good chance he made this folder beforehand, he didn’t have a chance to fill it with what he wanted,” Abbie said as she bit her lip nervously, obviously frightened by the thought of whatever could have been planned to go in that folder. “P.A., or should I say Project Athena,” Abbie said before she faced the thieves. “It was a minor project really, little more than an app that would be used as a universal translator for P.I.’s smartphones to give them an edge over Hattori Tech in the market. However, Hattori Tech beat them to the market with their next generation of phones that came with an advanced artificial intelligence. At least that’s what they said but it wasn’t real A.I. It was just a complex voice command system,” Abbie explained. “P.I. responded by attempting to make their own true A.I. that would come with the universal translating properties of the app and an anti-virus software to help protect the owner’s privacy. An A.I. made with each phone that would break down the barriers of language both spoken and written in real-time. That’s all it was supposed to be.”
“What happened?” Diamond questioned as Abbie grimaced.
“People,” Abbie said dryly. “The head of the R&D department realized he could make a pretty penny off of it if he could get it to some buyers before limitations could be placed on the A.I. You see, the thing about Athena was that it worked too well. It wasn’t just language, it was patterns, code, you name it. Not only that but whenever Athena’s defenses were attacked, it would fend off the attack before changing its own code so that the same method never worked twice. It got to the point where it could only be breached directly through its servers. What started off as a way to bring people together became one of the biggest threats to them. If it was allowed to fall into the wrong hands, the destruction would be immeasurable. Imagine, nuclear launch codes available on a whim. Anyone’s private information given to you…” Abbie trailed off before she snapped her fingers. “…just like that. A whistle was blown on the project and when the head of P.I., Enero Prospero, found out he shut down the project and removed the R&D team,” Abbie said as she rubbed her temples. “Maybe when the grimoire was made, only certain civilians could read it but times have changed. If anything can crack that code, it’s Athena.”
“How do you know so much about this?” Diamond asked suspiciously. “This doesn’t sound like anything made public or something you could just stumble upon even as a hacker.”
“I know so much because I’m the idiot who made it,” Abbie revealed. “Fresh out of college I got a job with them, my dream job I thought. I made Project Athena to help people but my superior had other ideas.”
“So, you blew the whistle and got blacklisted,” Kat said quietly which made Abbie nod.
“Yeah, my ass of a superior didn’t take kindly to me cuttin’ his payday short so he along with some of my so-called colleagues got me blacklisted as if gettin’ fired by Enero wasn’t bad enough,” Abbie said sarcastically. “It wasn’t all bad, nearly immediately after, I met Alice. She was the leader of a group of hackers that were just trying to do right by the people. She stumbled across what happened and offered me a place to be me and use my talents for good.”
“Wonderland,” Diamond realized. “We all know you were affiliated with them in some way, that program around your neck is incriminating enough. If your ex was the leader, be honest now, just how high up the ladder were you? It’s obvious that your past affects all of us now.”
“Second in command,” Abbie said with a sad smile. Diamond frowned as Abbie’s uncanny ability to adapt to a life of crime suddenly made sense. Abbie had already been a criminal, she practically led a group of cyber terrorists. Kat and Jack just looked at Abbie in surprise. “She saved me from a dark place, she was my beacon, my reason for existing. I loved her so much despite all of her secrets which each probably had a dozen secrets of their own. Even now I reckon Alice wasn’t even her real name and I was as close to her as you could get,” Abbie said with a pitiful laugh. “I rose through their ranks quickly, believing in their cause. The third world war in 2032 wasn’t caused by countries, it was caused by corporations. Privatized militaries ran amok, a few small countries completely erased, and for what? Increased stock prices and access to raw materials they had no right to. Even now, a country’s banner is just for show. True power and loyalty fall under a brand logo.”
“Abbie…” Kat said softly, caught off guard by the fire in Abbie’s eyes. Genuine anger was an emotion they had yet to see on Abbie. Gone was their civilian tag-along and in her place was a woman that fought and sacrificed for a cause she still believed in.
“Look at the world now after the war,” Abbie continued with visible disgust on her face. “The middle-class was nearly destroyed and you either have or have not. In response, most countries put most of their military spending into healthcare, subsidizing it to the point where people across the economic spectrum can get life-altering surgery on a whim. Crime rates have dropped drastically, but only because half the shit that used to be illegal no longer is.”
“They’re distracting the world with pleasure,” Jack murmured.
“Exactly. Governments don’t want the people to pay attention to the fact it’s the corporations with the power and not them. People today can change whatever they dislike about themselves on a whim. Recreational drugs? Sex? On average a five to ten-minute walk
to get either and I’m pretty sure both have coupons now. Instant gratification stops people from looking at the big picture, from seeing how fucked up our survival as a species is and corporations know this. Corporations that aren’t limited to the same rules and regulations as the governments are on a global scale. Corporations that don’t care because by the time it matters, they believe they’ll already be dead. Do not get me wrong, there are good ones like Hattori Tech who use this power for good, but there are many more like the Drakenova Corp. that don’t and that’s what Wonderland fought against. Those who even after the Great War, still continue to make the same mistakes.”
“And you succeeded to a certain degree anyway,” Diamond said after a while. “I remember many a night I’d overhear my father complaining that you were doing the Guild’s work for them when it concerned corrupt civilians.”
“Glad to hear that,” Abbie said softly before she wiped her eyes. “We did so much, tried so hard, because a fourth world war will be the last. The small countries are gone which only leaves the big ones and the world can’t survive that. We were in the middle of exposing unethical human testing of military-grade augments by the Drakenova Corp. when Alexei got fixated on me. When he killed Alice, that was the start of Wonderland’s fall,” Abbie said as a dark expression crossed her face. “The Drakenova Corp. hired Haylen and her team shortly after. That bitch destroyed it all, she tore my new family apart and had the nerve to tell me to be grateful that she didn’t get me arrested,” Abbie spit out as she clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. “She destroys all I hold dear, and almost did it again in that last job,” Abbie said as Jack reflexively rubbed his shoulder. “We beat her last time but that woman is sinister, especially when driven. You killin’ Jezebel ain’t somethin’ she will let slide,” Abbie told Diamond. “But enough of all that right now. To get back on topic, we know what he needs now, he needs Athena which should still be held up in the P.I. headquarters in Silicon Valley.”