"Give me the Viking long-house with art pieces from the Renaissance and onward to the present day, Serena."
"An interesting choice," her voice replied from the podium. "This tower is located in what used to be the Scandinavian part of Europe."
"I know. It's a personal favourite, I'm not sure it's a coincidence though, that Ke'rekh dropped me here."
"Akha never do anything on a whim, I've learnt. Even if it looks like it."
"I'm sure it's not her only reason. Maybe I'll ask her one day."
Serena laughed. "I'm sure you will. Otherwise the curiosity will drive you mad. Will that be all for now?"
"Yes, thank you Serena. I think I'll look over the situation on ground level."
Several holo screens popped up along the table's length. "There you go, have fun. I'll go check on Alere, it's amazing how much trouble he can get into without having a physical form to impede him."
"Hah!" I replied. I was beginning to like Serena already.
The first screen was a file on Aquila 'Markin the Outsider' Emet. Basic stats were normal enough. Middle aged. Standard amount of regeneration treatments. First gen human, alive at the moment of Restore. Trained in various Earth sciences - Regeneration and Biotech. Married Serena Emet at the standard age range. Did not remarry after her assumed death. One child, also assumed missing or dead. Mostly behind the scenes type; Alere was the face of Sky Farms. Markin didn't look like anything special, but something caused him to leave the city and start that outside force. Before the Restore, I'd say paranoia. After? I'm not so sure. Mental illness was a non-issue now, in the later generations. First gens might still have holdovers, though. There was only so much you could do with an existing organism, we preferred not to change much in those cases. We had mental health facilities for cases like that.
Serena might know, but I'll ask her later after I dig around a little more.
I skimmed over her file, before pre-digital life. She'd never mentioned her child in our conversations, although I'd never asked anyway. Jakob Emet, approximately age 5 at time of disappearance. We had nothing on him after that, but no death registry. Which means he was hidden from the Core in some way, or wasn't human anymore. We only tracked humans on this planet, another dumb resource restriction. Even if he was an interspecies - probably an Akha-human mix, we couldn't see him.
I sighed. The Core could only watch so much at a time. Usually we'd be devoting more resources to this, but with the impending war, it just wasn't possible. I'm sure he'd pop up at some point though, so I'd keep him in the back of my mind.
The last file was on the suspected Second aberration. I knew Ke'rekh didn't want to see it that way but she didn't exactly discourage me from pursuing it like that either, which I planned to.
"Lilith, Outsider." Strange name, and no much background information. Showed up briefly in Opalesk as a small child. No birth record, no biological family. I skimmed over the data and noticed that she only spent 24 hours in Opalesk before being found. How could that be possible? It's like she was just dropped in there from the sky. From that date onward she was always tracked within close range of Markin, right through their subsequent exit outside the walls. It appears that Markin spent several weeks gathering supplies and a vehicle before leaving through the Prod-Sec wall.
"Serena, we really have to find a way to fix that power cycle bug. Why hasn't it been patched?"
The holo-host popped back up, shaking her head. "I have no idea. The resident Phoenix agent isn't exactly on top of things. She's more interested in being famous, the little slacker. We've brought it up before, but she said it wasn't a priority. The number of people escaping is a mere trickle, and not a real threat."
I pressed my lips in a tight line. "A trickle eventually adds up to a flood. The last thing we need is a misguided rebel force on the ground."
Serena crossed her arms and frowned at me. "Can you really blame them for being misguided? They have no idea what's really going on."
"In that case, maybe we should tell them, when the time comes, but that's the Guideflame's job."
She nodded. "For now, all we can do is contain it. There's one more person involved in this, we didn't see him as a problem until now, though." Serena pulled up another personnel file. "Kharl. Former Mil-Sec Commander."
"Former?"
"His entire unit disappeared. Just dropped off our network entirely. He was the only survivor and escaped through a wall glitch."
"We don't know why they disappeared?"
"No. You should ask the resident Phoenix agent."
"I'm sure that'll go over well. Hey agent, sorry to bother you, but did you murder some innocents lately?"
Serena shrugged. "Her name is Ego. Fitting, don't you think."
"Well then, we'll have to find a way to approach this in a non-threatening way, because something is plainly wrong in Opalesk."
We both stared at the video clip of Ego Phoenix doing her torch lighting ceremony.
"It's very flashy."
Serena laughed and clapped her hands together. "Humans like flashy. We're all about the spectacle down here."
"Spectacularly horrifying, I'd say."
She tilted her head at me, green eyes regarding me thoughtfully. "Don't Akha have entertainment?"
I grimaced. "We do, but not like this. Often it's displays of new technological prowess, or celebration of a new race passing the Species Awareness markers."
"That's like having a birthday party without inviting the person having it."
"Now that you mention it, that is quite strange," I replied, raising an eyebrow. "Everything about this whole situation is strange."
"So what's next, Lilith?"
I stood up, stretching from head to toe and yawning. "We head for the Cinisesk district, of course. I thought about which settlement is likely to still be intact, from what people have told Markin, and there's one about 100km from the city. Should be far enough out of drone range, they don't go far. No reason to really. Cinisesk doesn't have the same security problems."
Kharl nodded and scratched his jaw. "Alright, let's get going." He reached behind him to fiddle with the mini-Replicon machine. After a brief whirring it popped out a protein breakfast bar in a silver wrapper.
"You can literally make anything you want and you choose a protein bar?"
Kharl shrugged. "I got a craving. You develop a taste for these in training, takes the edge off the heavy work days." He unwrapped it and munched away on his chocolate protein, grinning at me with stuffed cheeks like a proud chipmunk.
"Weirdo." I started the Mercury's computers back up and it began to hum softly.
Kharl swallowed his mouthful and pointed at me. "I thought we established our weirdness already, no need for repetition."
I rolled my eyes. "Would you prefer enemy of the state instead?"
He laughed, spraying crumbs on himself. "Bit fancy. You're all about names, aren't you?"
"Maybe. Names are important."
"To some people, maybe."
I looked at him, frowning. "Names are how people know you. What you did, stuff like that."
He shook his head. "No. People will know you by your actions and reputation, your name will be forgotten over time. Unless you did some very big things."
I smiled at him. "I plan to."
"Again with the crazy."
"You're the one that trusted me enough to run off with a Mercury into the wilderness."
Kharl brushed the crumbs off his shirt. "I trust your plan, I don't know about you, yet."
"Fair enough," I replied. "And I trust what I've seen of you so far. You don't lie without good reason, and you knew well enough to lie when Markin asked you about your background. I think it's prudent to lie if you're not sure what will be done with the information. Honesty could be used to your detriment, people don't always think about that part."
He grunted and pulled up his pilot controls. I pointed to a section of map near Cinisesk, a valley tucked away in the mountains.
"
There was a city here, before the Collapse. Some of our refugees mentioned they had a settlement there, so I know that there's some bare bones structure there. We'll take the long way around, avoid the perimeter drone patrols."
Kharl looked over the route I'd plotted through the mountains, and dragged a couple points around so it lined up with the coast.
"Let's take the scenic route. I've never been to the beach."
I looked at him as he plotted the new course. "Really? This is your first time outsider?"
"Yup. Apart from a brief escape attempt, I've never seen anything outside the walls of Opalesk. Not in person anyway. My command required me to stay very close to Ego Phoenix."
"Hmm. What's she like?"
Kharl moved the craft outside our overnight cave hideout. We started gliding along and he leaned back, relaxing a little.
"Honestly? She's insufferable. Total little kingdom complex."
I laughed. "Somehow I'm not that surprised. She's ostentatious. Sure likes massive attention. I mean, grandfather was a people person, and a bit fancy. He used a cane despite his full ability to walk, just for show. But not like that."
"She likes the circus act, I think. Being seen as some sort of mythical figure, like an old world goddess or something. She hated the less flashy parts of her job, and mostly delegated it to me and the unit. Up until a few days ago, it was me and 11 other people running Opalesk Mil-Sec. I was worried about how things were being run before that, but my hands were tied. I only had power within Mil-Sec."
I surveyed the blurring landscape outside. We'd picked up speed now, gliding about 20m above the surface. I saw something brown flash past us and did a double take.
"Did you see that?"
Kharl looked out the windows. "See what?"
"That brown flash. What the hell was that?"
He cocked his head. "Didn't see it. Could be wildlife though?"
I frowned. "I've never seen anything out here though. Not even bugs, everything is dead except the flora."
"Hmm." Kharl's brows knit together. "Ego did mentioned something about them re-seeding the fauna population, but we hadn't done anything about it yet. It was a long ways off."
"Maybe it resurged by itself."
"That's possible, although it'd have to be unnaturally fast. No, I think someone else is helping without Ego knowing."
"Another Akha perhaps?"
He nodded and then shrugged. "There's no way of knowing until we have more info." Kharl pointed to an opening in the cliffs. "See that tiny strip of blue sparkling stuff? We're nearly at the coast!" He clapped his rough hands together. "I'm excited. We should go explore the beach."
"Why would we explore it? There's nothing useful there."
"Hah!" That's not why you go to the beach, darl. You go there to swim and lie in the sun and be lazy. To enjoy the view."
Narrowing my eyes at him, I contemplated the idea. "I supposed we can stop for a couple hours, it's not like we have anywhere to be."
We sped toward the cliffs, and Kharl flew us neatly through the narrow gap. The Mercury slowed down and settled on a rocky plateau. I pulled on my boots and opened the hatch, squinting in the bright sunlight. I raised a hand to shield my eyes. The Mercury had windows that adjusted to reduce glare, and so did my helmet's visor. I'd forgotten how bright it could be outside.
"Nice weather." Kharl leaped out of the craft and landed on a soft patch of sand. I followed him, picking my way through the hard crystalline pebbles around our landing site. They reflected the sunlight in rainbow colours, despite the deep obsidian colour. Kharl was standing at the tides edge, yanking his boots off. He threw them backward, narrowly missing my head.
"Hey! Watch it!"
He looked around, grinning. "I didn't expect you to be right behind me. You creep around like a cat."
I looked around and saw the black sand was sodden, and splattered a handful on his back before breaking into a sprint down the beach.
"Aah!" Kharl shook the wet sand off and whipped his head around to see where I'd gone. "You suck at relaxing, you know that? I'm trying to enjoy nature and you go throwin' mud at me."
I crouched on the ledge and mimicked his speech back at him. Kharl raised a brow and the held his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I'm coming up there. Ceasefire?"
I shrugged. It was nice up here, and I planned to lie in the sun awhile. I shuffled to the side and leaned against the warm rock. There was plenty of room on here for both of us. I thought about the day we picked Kharl up. Sitting up on that cliff, waiting for someone to pop their head out. Or in Kharl's case, his flaming butt. I turned to him and grinned. He had sat a foot away from me, and seeing my grin made him scoot back a bit.
"Truce, remember? Ceasefire agreement."
I giggled and kicked his leg. "I was thinking about the day you came out. With your ass on fire."
He sighed. "More funny for you than me."
"Oh come on, you'd laugh. Just imagine someone flying out the wall bum first, on fire, screeching like a pack of horny cats and you'll get the picture."
Kharl cringed and patted his butt. "It's a serious injury! I can't even flash people anymore without them recoiling in horror."
He barely kept a straight face. "You should pity me, Lilith." After that he snorted and started laughing.
I pursed my lips at him. "How do I know people weren't already recoiling in horror?"
He winked at me and started to climb off the platform. He hung off it, face peeking over the edge.
"Just you wait. Everyone will experience the glory of the goat butt."
I moved my foot to poke him with my boot but missed as he back-flipped off the rock and landed on the sand.
"Show off."
"Half my training was flipping around so we look really cool. Phoenix soldiers flip everywhere."
"Uh-huh." I ignored him and laid my head back and closed my eyes. May as well enjoy the sun while I can. Some vitamin D might improve my mood. A few hours must have passed as I dozed in the heat and awoke when a wave crashed into the rock and sprayed salty water on my face.
People must have loved coming here, before the Collapse. I'd seen the old clips of sunny beaches filled with families, swimming in the ocean and riding the waves on those big flat things. What were they called? Maybe Kharl would know.
"Kharl!"
He looked over his shoulder at me, from where he'd been crouched over a rock pool.
"Eh?"
"Come here."
Kharl made a dramatic show of getting to his feet and swaggering over. "Whaaaat?"
"You know about Pre-Collapse right?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, you're a second-gen and you're older than me."
He feigned offence, slapping a hand on his chest and gasping. "I'm not that bloody old! What's your point?"
I grinned and he started smirking.
"Seriously, what is it? I was in a deep conversation with some very interesting crustaceans. FYI, there's life out here."
"I was going to ask about something else, but never mind. There's living stuff out here? Show me!"
I jumped down in one smooth movement and took off across the beach to where Kharl had been investigating. He jogged after me, catching up to me as I slowed, perching on a rock above the pool. I peered into the water, looking for signs of movement.
"You won't see anything if you gallop up like a pack of horses. You scared them all back into their holes." Kharl crouched down carefully, avoiding any undue noise or movement. "You see these little divots in the sand? The crabs burrow down in there to hide. If you sit still long enough they'll come back out. Unless you literally scared them to death," he said, giving me a pointed look.
Sure enough, after a few minutes the sand began to wriggle and a few thumbnail sized crabs emerged. They were a creamy colour with a speckled blue washing across their backs. Kharl had slowly slid his hand into the water and let one crawl onto his palm. He lifted it out in an impressively gentle ma
nner.
"Here," he said, holding his arm toward me. "Take him, it's too small to bite you."
"They bite?"
"Yeah, just a love bite. He won't be able to do much damage anyway."
I held the wet crab up to face height, and its knobbly eye stalks wiggled at me querulously. I guess that was the crab equivalent of "What might you be?"
I looked over the crab to Kharl, who was studying me closely. He straightened up at my eye contact.
"Do you think the Akha have been working on the wildlife without telling us?"
He chewed on his lip, hands on his hips and looked out at the ocean. "I have no idea."
"You must have heard or seen something."
"Anything I heard was in Akha, which I know precious little of."
"Absolutely nothing?"
Kharl shifted his weight on his feet. "The only stuff I heard, that I understood, was a couple of place names - Opalesk, and something about your Outsider base. Not sure about that last part, but my Akha is good enough to get the gist of conversations."
"They know where we- ah, Markin is?"
"We've known where you are for awhile. Ego Phoenix doesn't care though, she doesn't see you as a threat."
"Did you?"
"I wasn't sure, we didn't have enough information on what you were doing. Does it matter now?"
I paused briefly, setting the crab down. My hand brushed the water and dripped as I stood back up.
"I guess not."
Kharl wouldn't look at me directly, and tapped his leg. "Has he tried to contact you?"
"Of course. Saw me checking, didn't you?"
"It's a small ship and you make noises when you're annoyed."
"Well, I haven't answered. We should leave, the light is fading."
He nodded, and started back toward the Mercury. "Travelling at night may be better, anyway. We don't have far to go."
We both climbed back in and Kharl stripped off his shirt, laying it on the back of his seat. He sat down and began to bring the craft online. I looked down at my worn techskin and shifted awkwardly. It was stifling and threadbare, maybe I should change into something else.
"Don't look, I'm gonna get changed."
Kharl snorted and laughed. "Alright. If you say so."
Torchworld: Akha Page 2