The Ballad of Mitch and SoHee

by Paul Ormond

  “Watch where you’re going,” a gruff voice said. “Or I’ll cut you in half.”

  “You don’t have to get mad,” Sage said. “It was an accident. This place is a zoo.”

  “Best be careful,” a gangly mage wearing a long cloak said. “This bone crusher is a level 89.”

  “Ooh an 89, I’m shaking in my boots,” Sage said.

  “Second warning, watch your tongue, or we’ll put an end to you here and now. Truce be damned. Mitch Mythic may be back, but I’m not about to let some noob trod on me,” the level 89 bone crusher said.

  “End it now, or I’ll turn you both into a couple piglets and roast you alive,” Candace said.

  “She’s not joking,” Sage said, nearing the top of a wide hill. “She’s in the Beastling guild.”

  “The Beastling guild is a joke,” the mage said. “I’m a blue mage. I could reverse any one of your spells.”

  “Keep your dirty mage hands to yourself.” Candace said before she crested the hill.

  “What in the hell is that?” Sage asked as they looked down into a large pit surrounded by a teeming horde of players clamoring over each other before a smoldering pile of wreckage rising out of the hole.

  “It looks like some kind of spaceship,” Gareth said while the force of the crowd pushed them down the hill.

  “There aren’t any spaceships in DeathWorld,” Shaundra said. “Are you sure it isn’t the carcass of some huge dragon?”

  “I don’t think dragons are made of metal,” Candace said. “At least not the ones I’ve seen.”

  “How many dragons have you seen?” Shaundra asked.

  “A couple,” Candace said.

  “Then you haven’t seen them all,” Shaundra said.

  Before Candace had a chance to reply, an explosion rocked the wide valley, bringing the marching crowd to a standstill.

  “Is that something moving in there?” Candace said, peering at the pit.

  “I think it’s going to blow,” Sage said before a bright light erupted from within the mass of metal. A sense of panic rippled through the crowd, and throngs of onlookers pushed away from the crater while the light grew in strength.

  “I don’t know. It looks like it’s getting brighter,” Gareth said.

  Red light spilled from gaps within the hunk of metal while protrusions extended skyward and narrowed into spiked points. The crowd watched in awe for several moments as a pulsing tower of woven metal rose above them, screeching and crackling spires climbing over each other. The red light spilling out from the structure forced the onlookers to cover their eyes and retreat up the hillside before a crescendo of electromagnetic pulses rocked the wide valley, causing the spectators to cower in fear.

  “Is it over?” Candace said while she gripped Sage’s arms.

  “Sounds like it,” Sage said after he glanced over his shoulder. “But it looks like the show has just begun.”

  “This is even stranger than spaceships or dragons,” she said as she looked up at the spiraling tower of twisted metal rising into the sky.

  “You’re telling me,” Sage said before a beam of red light shot straight out of the top of the structure.

  “What do you think that is?” Gareth asked.

  “I don’t want to even guess,” Sage said. “Wait a minute. Is that somebody up there?”

  “Yeah, it looks like someone,” Shaundra said, peering at the peak of the tower.

  A solitary figure emerged at the top of the tower and they stood with their hands at their sides and feet slightly apart, looking out over the crowd as murmurs and whispers rippled through the audience.

  In one swift movement, the figure crossed its arms over its chest and rose into the air, circling the beam. As it gained elevation, several holographic screens appeared in a large ring overlooking the crowd and the figure looked down on the audience and smiled.

  “Greetings everyone,” the face said. “In case you were wondering, the rumors are true. My name is Mitch Mythic, and I have returned.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A LOUD BUZZ echoed throughout the warehouse as Wayne elevated the drone to head height, before spinning the device in a horizontal direction.

  “All these units look like hobby models, but they are outfitted with military grade firmware and near bullet proof frames. They can travel at about 150 mph, and they rival any HALE UAV for their range,” Wayne said while he let the unit hover before his onlookers.

  “What is a HALE UAV?” Sanchez asked.

  “High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle,” Wayne said without taking his eyes off of the drone. “That’s the stuff the government uses to kill terrorists from control rooms.”

  “Like Predator drones?”

  “Predator drones were considered Medium Altitude Long Endurance drones, or just MALE. The military has moved on from the predator, though. The model of choice is the MQ-9 Reaper now. It has a much wider range and a top speed of almost 500 km an hour. But that is nothing compared to what we’re going to do?”

  “What are we going to do?” XiaoFan asked. “It better not involve anymore heists.”

  “No more heists,” Ramon said. “But we are going to need your expertize, XiaoFan.”

  “I’m not sure if I like the sound of that,” XiaoFan said.

  “We really need to discuss your tendency to keep people in the dark, Ramon,” Christine said. “Keeping secrets has a serious impact on your psyche. It’s also really unhealthy.”

  “I’m not keeping anyone in the dark,” Ramon said. “A lot of this stuff is on a need to know basis, and I don’t want to worry everyone.”

  “You make people worry when you don’t tell them the truth,” Christine said. “I think our little group has been through enough that we can tell each other what is going on. I know that you feel you need to bottle everything up so you don’t get hurt, but you are only hurting yourself by not sharing.”

  “I think you might be taking this in the wrong direction,” Ramon said. “Now is not the time to discuss my mental health, which I will admit is certainly an issue with all the stress of producing an illegal weapon system across international borders. If you want me to be more open with you, fine, I will do my best to keep you all informed. But can we get back to focusing on the project?”

  “We can, but I’m worried about you,” Christine said.

  “Yeah, you need to open up about your feelings, Ramon,” Sanchez said. “After I started working with Christine, I feel so much better now, and I allow myself to accept who I am.”

  “You’ve made so much progress, Sanchez,” Christine said. “You see, what I mean. Sanchez just opened up to us about how he feels. By allowing people to see the emotions we suppress, we can be more honest with each other. Allow your emotions to rise to the surface, Ramon, and you will find you love yourself that much more and those around you.”

  “You’ve really got to let it out, Ramon,” Sanchez said. “Bottling it up doesn’t help you at all. You may think that I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Christine says I have above average emotional intelligence.”

  “Once accept the depths of your feelings, there is no telling how high you can climb,” Christine said.

  “Are we done with all this self-help mumbo-jumbo?” Ramon snapped. “We’re about to smuggle a supply of weapons big enough to outfit a small nation into the United States and you guys want to discuss your feelings.”

  “Wait a minute, did you just say we were smuggling now?” XiaoFan asked. “This just goes from bad to worse.”

  “We’ve been smuggling the entire time,” Ramon said. “First, we smuggled ourselves into China and then we smuggled all that material over to Russia, and we just smuggled it over the Bering Straight into the United States.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter then,” XiaoFan said. “But once again, you could have been more forthright with your plans.”

  “Do I have to explain everything?” Ramon said. “It seems pretty obvious to me that we a
re smuggling. I do not recall checking in with the border patrol at any time during our excursion.”

  “That’s not the point, Ramon,” Christine said. “You can’t just assume people understand everything you think. If we are going to be a team, everybody needs to be on the level.”

  “I think you might have to just say yes, Ramon,” Wayne said. “As much as we like to think we are in control, it’s usually the girls calling the shots. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to what we were discussing earlier.”

  “I don’t see how expressing feelings is a women’s issue,” Christine said. “This is important for our group dynamic.”

  “Yeah but not right now,” Ramon said. “Wayne is running us through the next phase of our operation and you blabbing away about feelings.”

  “You just put us all through an emotional rollercoaster and you don’t even take the time to decompress?” Christine said. “I know we are in a gray area when it comes to my involvement in this operation, but it is becoming pretty obvious that you are somewhat detached from reality. It appears that you thrive on chaos and secrecy. These are hallmarks of someone living on the spectrum of sociopathy.”

  “Are you saying I’m a sociopath?” Ramon asked.

  “I’m not saying you are a sociopath, but you display characteristics that match the criteria.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “It doesn’t matter, but you need to take a moment to recognize other people’s needs, or you risk sacrificing our group dynamics.”

  “Ok, I will take everyone’s feelings into consideration as we move ahead?”

  “Fine, but remember our words and our actions have more power than we think.”

  “Yes, Guru Christine,” Ramon said before turning to Wayne. “I think they got it out of their system for now. Should we proceed?”

  “It appears safe to do so, but I’m wondering if I should mention trigger warnings before I carry on,” Wayne said as he looked over his audience.

  “We’ll be fine,” XiaoFan said, folding her arms.

  “But just remember that dishonesty breeds a lack of trust,” Christine said.

  “We’re not doing this again,” Ramon said. “I honestly don’t even know where we left off.”

  “We were talking about how the drones operate,” Wayne said.

  “That’s right,” Ramon said. “Now you said the units had an almost indefinite range.”

  “It’s possible to operate these models at great distances, but any number of factors could lead to interference.” Wayne said.

  “I know you have poured your whole life into building these prototypes. But how would you feel if we were to make some modifications?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. It depends on what kind of modifications we are talking about. These units are made to withstand just about anything, but even the most insignificant modification could wreak havoc on the system.”

  “I wouldn’t want to cause even the slightest hiccup, but from what I understand, Drones of this size are incapable of long distance flight due to the limits of their battery.”

  “It is a common setback for UAVs of this size. I thought about bringing in RTG batteries, but the weight had significant effects on performance. It was also difficult to acquire enough material. So yes, we have a limited range.”

  “What if I were to tell you that we could provide you with energy that was practically weightless and didn’t require fuel?”

  “I know where this is heading, so you don’t need to bring out your whole sales pitch. I’m just as excited as anybody to get a look at what you hauled in here, but you don’t have to lay it on like that.”

  “It looks like I can’t say anything right today,” Ramon said before he shot a glance at Christine. “Have we got a unit handy?”

  “I’ve got mine here, but in all honesty, I feel naked without it,” Christine said.

  “We’ve got backups in that storage container,” Sanchez said before he opened the cab to his truck and leaped inside. “This ought to do it.”

  “It will work,” Ramon said after he caught the small cube Sanchez tossed in his direction.

  “So this is what all the fuss is about,” Wayne said as he looked over the cube in Ramon’s hand. “Can I see it?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Ramon said, handing the cube to Wayne. “A lot of blood sweat and tears went into putting these things together, so be careful.”

  “I used to design and install equipment on interstellar probes. I think I know how to handle sensitive equipment.”

  “Not going to argue with you there.”

  “So is anybody going to give me a demonstration, or should I just fire it up myself?”

  “Um, we could arrange something,” Ramon said as he watched Wayne drop the cube in his pocket and cross his arms over his chest.

  “I watched a demo on the deep web a couple days ago,” Wayne said before he was imbued with a soft blue aura. “It is as easy as they say.”

  With a small leap, Wayne launched himself into the air while Ramon and the others gasped in astonishment. The older man tucked himself into a roll before he pushed off with his feet into a glide. Coasting around the room in a slow arc, he came to stop before his onlookers.

  “Don’t just stand there gawking at me,” Wayne said after he dropped to the ground. “I’ve enough zero g training to know my way around.”

  “That was amazing,” Sanchez said. “It took me weeks to figure out how to move around without crashing into anything.”

  “Like I said, I’ve had plenty of practice,” Wayne said while he pulled the cube out of his pocket and eyed it with curiosity. “Now what exactly is it that you want to do with these things?”

  “As you can see, we’ve got quite a load here,” Ramon said, indicating the trucks. “But I’m sure you can appreciate how difficult it will be to make any deliveries given the current political climate.”

  “This much I understand, but there is no way you could use the drones to deliver them.”

  “Yeah, I know, range and battery life. But what if we didn’t need the drones? What if we could use the firmware you designed for an entirely new system?”

  “I’m not sure if I follow what you are getting at?”

  “The technology you hold in your hand is capable of integrating itself with hardware and software alike. If we were to create a program, based on your design, that we could insert into our packages, we could sidestep the need for hardware altogether.”

  “I’m not sure if I follow what you are saying.”

  “He’s saying he wants to insert your software into his machines, so he can fly them all over the world,” XiaoFan said. “It seems like that is what he does best: take other people’s work and pervert it into something that fits into his diabolical plans.”

  “I honestly wasn’t expecting you to ask that.” Wayne said. “I’m not really sure if that is something that can be done.”

  “Don’t worry,” Ramon said. “We’ll find a way to make it work. Christine, can you grab one of our production units from the truck and show it to Dr. Fausnik?”

  “Dr. Fausnik?” Christine said as she looked at the older man. “Wayne Fausnik? Now it’s all coming together. You are supposed to be dead.”

  “But here I am standing before you,” Dr. Fausnik said.

  “How is this even possible? There was an explosion. The shuttle never made it back to earth,” Christine said.

  “Wait a second, is this guy like some kind of astronaut or something?” Sanchez asked.

  “He’s more than just an astronaut,” Christine said. “He was one of the brightest minds in space engineering before that accident. How is it that you are here?”

  “It’s a funny thing about government agencies. They love you when you do as you are told, but as soon as you go against company policy, they have a way of making your life hell,” Dr. Fausnik said. “It was my firm belief that the key to reaching the stars was through dark matter, but they crus
hed my research and insisted that I focus on that hunk of bolts they call a space station. Growing plants in space. What a waste of time.”

  “So you faked your own death?” Christine asked.

  “Not exactly, the accident was real. I just made sure I would not be found,” Dr. Fausnik said. “I had already made underground contacts by that time, and I had several off shore accounts securing my funds. It was simply a matter of relocating.”

  “How come they never found you?” Christine asked.

  “No one ever bothered to look,” Dr. Fausnik said. “To them, I am dead, so it doesn’t matter. Now let’s have a look at this unit and see if we can make it fly.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “HOW EXACTLY DO you think you can put an end to all of this?” Gerald asked before SoHee swiped the sphere with her right hand, causing it to spin.

  “After all we’ve been through, and you still doubt our abilities,” SoHee said as a large holographic screen appeared in front of her audience.

  “I never said I doubted our abilities, but I’m getting a little tired of bumbling around the multi-verse without any kind of plan.”

  “That is precisely what we are about to do, Gerald,” SoHee said, manifesting an image of the giant contraption Mother used on the battle of Jarkadu. “In order to win this war and save our planet, we need to take out Mother.”

  “No kidding,” Mitch said. “But we don’t even know what she is, let alone where to find her. How are we supposed to kill her?”

  “If you would let me explain what I know, I’ll be happy to answer your question,” SoHee said. “Unless anyone else feels like interrupting, let me tell you what I know about this thing we call Mother. It’s an understatement to say that she is dangerous. Everyone here has encountered her in battle and we have seen the devastation she is capable of, but I have had firsthand encounters with her that will provide a bit of insight into the situation.”

  SoHee swiped to the right and an image of Mother’s face and long neck extending from her suit appeared before the onlookers. Mitch felt a sense of unease come over him as the menacing black eyes probed his soul.