“Well that’s not good.”
“What should I do?”
Bl’azzz looked up at Egg. “Tell him to go home before he gets into trouble. If we need him, we’ll let him know.”
The dragon relayed the message. “And Hay’gar thanks for trying.”
“I do it for my grandson. I would do anything for that boy.”
“I know. We’ll get him back. I promise.”
After a moment, the old man said gruffly “thank you. Thank you for saying that and thank you for trying. No matter how this turns out, my wife and I will always appreciate your efforts.”
In a low voice full of her own emotions, Bl’azzz softly said, “Be well, my friend.”
“What did you fools do?” barked Xara when the call was over.
Egg was going to protest that statement but didn’t have the heart. “What we did was to insure that you, us and those two hooded hooligans are going to have to work together.”
Xara smirked. “Well, won’t this be fun.”
*****
About three hundred years ago at
the rift guarding the Crypt
They waited until past midnight on a moonless night. Mother and daughter had teleported to a place about a mile from the bridge that led across the rift and into the Crypt. It was a city park deserted of visitors at this late hour.
Yara handed her daughter a star-shaped crystalline object.
It was one of only two keys in existences that allowed the holder to access and modify MAGEK’s programming. One was in the possession of Amber Hearts and the other with Hexes. To possess one meant that you were an individual of the highest integrity with a superior mental connection to the great machine. It was an immense honor and colossal responsibility.
The subroutine that Yara had written to accomplish her goal had already been entered into the device. Xara would need to locate and enter the control booth. It consisted of three modules . . . one designed for a Heart, one for a Hex and one for a Generational Ungifted.
By inserting the key into its proper slot, the individual would then touch it with her Heart pendant or Hex ring to begin the activation process. MAGEK would then read the crystal key, analyze the program and decide if its use was allowed. Even then, the great artificial intelligence would make an independent evaluation to determine if the change was beneficial to its master directive – to serve the citizens and to protect itself from unauthorized use.
“Are you ready?” asked a nervous mother.
“Mom, don’t worry. Swoop will go first and show us what’s under the fog. I’ll be able to see what she sees through these goggles. You showed me where to look . . . I’ll find the tunnel.”
“But it’s so narrow.”
“You yourself said it was a drainage tunnel. The water probably wore away the rock making it wider and the sides smoother. It will be easy to traverse. Please, don’t worry. Now, go back home. I gave you the gadgets you need to communicate with me and to see what I’m seeing.”
“But I really should be there with you. This is my idea. What if something goes wrong?”
“Stop. We’ve been through this a hundred times. Go home. I won’t start down until you do.” She gave her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Go. It’ll be fine.”
“You are so brave.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just like a man,” but she smiled as she said it.
Chapter 4 – War, What is it Good For?
Aboard the Gracie
Egg looked at Xara. “You told us what you wanted . . . but you left something out, didn’t you?” It was only a hunch based on her impression of this strange woman.
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do. You want revenge on the Divine Ones. They doubled crossed you.”
“Do tell.”
“They wanted to change MAGEK’s programming but they couldn’t. They probably had the generational ungifted but not an Amber Heart who would betray her own people. That’s where you came in. How they knew you would do it I don’t know. Based on what you said, it may have something to do with your mother would be my guess. In return, you wanted to leave the planet to start over. Maybe take your mom with you. But they double crossed you. After you helped them, they imprisoned you instead.” In a softer voice she asked, “What did they do to your mother?”
“Nothing. She had already died.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“That was three hundred years ago.”
“Not to you. You’ve been in suspended animation. To you, she just died.”
The conversation was much too personal to Xara. “I suggest you change the subject.” If words could kill . . .
“Sorry, I over stepped.”
Xara stared at Egg to see if she was being facetious. She was shocked to see that the girl was sincere. The realization forced her to soften her stance. More importantly, if she was going to accomplish her goals – including stealing the spaceship – it made her realize that she had better make them believe she could be trusted. The only way to do that was to tell them the truth about the past. “I do appreciate you saying that. My mother was very special to me. Her loss still weighs on my heart.” Xara was very good at sounding sincere or turning on the charm. It was part of what made her so dangerous.
Egg glanced at the others to gauge their reaction. Her sisters always wanted to believe the best in others. However, Po was unreadable while Jax’x was trying not to scowl. Her instinct told her to trust Jax’x.
“If we could turn off MAGEK, then we get what we want, and you get your revenge.”
Xara would have rather seen the Hexes writhing in pain . . . but figured that was asking too much. “Agreed.”
“So I’ll ask you again – what happened three hundred years ago? What did you and your mother do?”
They were all eager to hear a firsthand account – none more so than Po and Jax’x. “The whole concept of MAGEK was flawed. It depended on humans doing what was right for others without expecting anything for themselves [obviously she didn’t know that Flying Girl was just such a person]. People aren’t wired that way. When you have godlike powers, you want to be god. By the time I was about twenty it became obvious that there was going to be a war between the two gifted sects. Hexes, with their domineering personalities wanted to rule as they saw fit. They considered the citizens unfit to plan their own future. We Hearts wanted peace . . . at any cost. Any cost, that is, except kowtowing to the other side.”
“Didn’t they try to talk through this?” asked Po.
“Please. That’s all they did was talk. When that got them nowhere, they stopped talking. Anyway, my mother couldn’t stand by and do nothing. She decided that neither side should rule the other. She wanted a standoff. The only way to insure that was to stop any one side from messing with MAGEK.”
“She didn’t want Hearts to rule?” asked Jax’x.
“No. She didn’t think they could. She thought that if it came to one side over the other, it would probably be best if the Hex won. However, she figured a way to achieve her goal of a standoff. She programmed the machine to defend itself from intruders by disguising all paths to it with illusions. No matter what you did, the machine would trick you into taking a wrong turn. It was ingenious.” Her chest seemed to swell at the thought of her mother’s genius.
“Then how will we gain access to stop MAGEK?” asked Egg.
“The program exempted me and my mother. We are the only two that can reach the machine.”
“So there was a standoff. I’m guessing your mother figured if one side did something nasty to the other side, they would be subject to the same transgression?”
“Yes. What she failed to foresee was that these idiots didn’t seem to care. A couple of weeks after we made the change, war broke out. Hexes hit Hearts with everything they could imagine and MAGEK could supply. The Hearts retaliated in kind. After a year or so, the planet was as you see it today . . . destroyed.”
“This is where
you come in,” Egg stated.
“Yup. I had to do something. My mom had been wrong and the results were catastrophic. I contacted the Absolute Assembly and told them I would help alter MAGEK to exclude Hearts. To prove I was really on their side I suggested that at the same time, we have the machine stop all precipitation. This way, the citizens had to accept the rule of the Hex or else starve or die of thirst. They loved the idea.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they did. I assume the rest is straightforward. They had the Generational Ungifted and with you, the three individuals needed to alter the machines programming.”
“Yes. When it was done, I was to be given a spacecraft and allowed to leave. Instead they put me in suspended animation. They didn’t want me to leave nor did they want me dead. I was still the only person on the planet that could find MAGEK. I was invaluable to them.”
“Did your mom live to see the war begin?” asked Egg gently.
“Oddly enough, she died the day it began.” Xara’s eyes were moist and she quickly wiped them dry.
Serenity gave the girl a few seconds then asked, “What happened? What started the war?”
“Stupidity,” and Xara told them the story.
*****
About Three Hundred Years ago
On the day that would be known as the
First Chaos’ mas.
It had started innocently . . .
A magneto-craft accident had left a major bridge damaged and impassable, though the driver was able to walk away with only a slight cut to his forehead. In the confusion, both an Amber Heart and a Hex Weaver had been summoned to clear the wreckage and repair the bridge. Normally, only one or the other sect would respond. Within minutes a representative of each service had materialized at the scene. Upon spotting each other, custom dictated that they introduce themselves and decide who would do what. It was always disagreeable to both sides when the other one showed up. But there were rules of engagement as they were called to make the situation tolerable so that petty squabbles would not interfere with their primary function of resolving the problem at hand.
“I am Tryst,” said the woman with the heart-shaped pendant.
“And I am Weaver Goth.”
Unfortunately for mankind, both Tryst and Goth were very young, very inexperienced and overly zealous of their MAGEK’al order.
“Let’s settle this quickly. Since I was obviously here first, I will repair the vehicle and fix the structure. If you would kindly clean up the debris, we can get this bridge re-opened in no time.”
Goth looked at the girl with contempt. “You Amber Hearts make me sick with your presumption of superiority. You and I materialized at the same time so you don’t have first rights. And by the look of you, I doubt you have been doing MAGEK for more than a month. You would have no idea how to make things right. So stand aside and let a Hex teach you how it’s done.”
Tryst glared back at her counterpart; her hostility beginning to get the better of her. She had been warned that these encounters would happen sooner than later. But she hadn’t expected it on her third week in the field. Worst, this black-robed arrogant idiot had correctly guessed that she was inexperienced. And his lucky guess made her that much more angry. Unfortunately that anger caused her to forget how she was taught to respond to this all too typical situation.
“I demand you step aside immediately and allow me to help these people before someone dies or this bridge collapses. And I fully intend to report you to my superiors.”
“You insulting little witch. If you don’t get out of my way, I’ll turn you into a pebble and toss you into the river.” Goth was all of seventeen years old, two years younger than Tryst. He was particularly mean-tempered and aggressive . . . even for a Hex.
“You wouldn’t dare you nasty little . . .” but she never finished. Goth raised his right hand with the Hex Ring and a flash of light struck the girl. But she didn’t turn into a pebble as he expected. His technique was substandard at best. In fact, he should never have been cleared for a field assignment but his branch of the Hex Weavers was woefully understaffed and certain requirements had been relaxed. The result was a mere child with enormous power and about half the brains needed to control it properly.
When the beam of light hit her, Heartfelt Tryst yelped in surprise. But in less than a few heartbeats, it became an agonized howl of pain. Everyone in the area turned towards the sound and to their horror they saw the girl slowly turn to stone. First her hands, then arms and legs, her torso and finally her head. Her blood curdling scream continued until her mouth, too, froze rock hard.
Goth stared in disbelief. He knew it was forbidden to direct MAGEK against any human unless it was to help them. Irritated with her attitude he had only meant to turn her into that pebble for a quick moment, then to restore her . . . just to show her his ability . . . just to impress her. However, not only were his technical skills faulty, he forgot one small point of fact – once a person was dead, whether as a pebble or a more traditional corpse, they were dead forever. He put his hands to his temples and as the realization of what he had just done registered in his less than adequate brain, he started to shake uncontrollably.
The death of anyone with a direct link to MAGEK sets off an alarm at that person’s warren or base of operations. Within moments of her demise, two Hearts materialized on the scene. One pointed his ring at a bystander, induced a trance akin to hypnotism and had the individual recall the events of the past two minutes. The other pointed his ring at the statue and tried to reverse the process . . . but, as expected, to no avail. As one, they turned towards Goth.
“NO, NO. It was an accident. I was only trying to scare her. Please. I made a mistake. I’m sorry. Please…”
And the uneasy truce between Hex and Heart came to a screaming halt. What should have been a meaningless confrontation between two young acolytes escalated with unimagined speed into an all-out conflict.
*****
Aboard the Gracie
“Did you fight?” asked Bl’azzz.
“Of course I fought. Why wouldn’t I?”
“The other Hearts had ridiculed you because you didn’t have the facial markings,” Egg pointed out.
“More than just that . . . I was ostracized.”
“So why fight for them?”
“For my mother. She wanted each side to feel the same pain that they inflicted on their opponents. I thought I could do a better job of it.”
“Because you’re meaner than the rest?” suggested a naïve Tee’ka.
Xara looked at the girl and decided she wasn’t trying to be nasty. “Librarian, you can answer as well as I. Tell her.”
“The only thing that separates one gifted from another is their imagination. If you can think it in sufficient detail, MAGEK will make it happen.”
“What she said,” added Xara in way of agreement.
“So what actually happened?” inquired Po.
Xara looked at the hooded Divine One and actually snarled. It was so intimidating that Po took a step back.
Egg felt the need to defend the girl. “She is one of us. More than that, she is willing to give up her powers and her place in society to bring an end to the way things are. Don’t lump her in with the obvious disdain and dislike that you harbor for the rest of the Divine Ones.”
Xara wanted to lash out in response . . . but forced herself to maintain the charade that she was a worthy ally. “I apologize. The princess is right; you had nothing to do with what befell me. As to your question, we all went mad.” She paused as her mind involuntarily relived that awful time. The others remained silent.
BreeZee was horrified at the idea of total war. “Did many people die?”
“Yes.” was the vague response.
“How did it come to pass that you were allowed to help?”
“As I said Princess, I was more clever than the rest. I came up with the strategy to destroy the Obelisks and Relay Towers. Without them, all the Hexes in a city were helpless. Once they were
cut off from MAGEK, we sent conventional weapons in to destroy . . . everything. Eventually the other side caught on and did the same to us. And we had a stalemate.”
“And then?” encouraged Egg.
“And then my brethren turned on me. They needed someone to blame for how poorly the war was going. Since it was my strategy that they had followed, I was held responsible. They tried to imprison me but I got wind of their plan and escaped.”
“Fleeing to the other side, I presume.”
“Yeah. And the rest, as they say, is hysterically historical.”
“But one thing I find hard to believe is that you gave up your connection to MAGEK. That seems out of character. It obviously left you vulnerable.”
“I gave myself a way back into the machine but I never got the chance to use it.”
Everyone was silent, digesting the story they had just heard. Jax’x took the opportunity to ask her fellow Heart, “Do you know a way to save someone from a Cell of Transitional Non-Being.”
Xara turned to the girl. “Someone you know stuck in one?”
“The man that I love.”
“How long has he been in there?”
“A few weeks. Why?”
“After about two months, I’m told the person begins to go a bit stir crazy. After six months, there isn’t much left of their mind. It’s as cruel a punishment as anyone ever devised.”
Jax’x turned white, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.
Egg asked the question again. “Do you know how we can free him?”
“Probably.”
Jax’x – and Po – both broke out into tears of happiness. The fact that the lady in the red robe seemed to be as invested in this guy’s release was not lost on Xara. But, she said nothing.
“How?” asked Egg.
Box Set #5: Nemesis: [The 4 book 5th adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 32