Godling (Kairenz Jistora Book 1)

by Dusks, Rydre

  "Not one bit."

  He grunted. "I figured. I heard Saydea of the Future had planned to get you out of there."

  "I heard the same, but it failed. Era turned them right around and forced them back to the city," I replied irritably.

  "Zlade and I have been working on a solution--"

  "Don't bother," I interjected. "Stone--the warden--won't reason with anyone. Besides, they've scheduled my execution tomorrow."

  Toanwar fell silent for a time. I decided to continue.

  "That's why I wanted to get a hold of you. Is there any way that I can speak to Click?"

  My godfather knew exactly what I was planning. "Ah, you are a smart boy, Crow. He's been on standby since you were arrested. I can go wake him up."

  "Thanks, Toanwar."

  I waited a few moments, hearing rustling on the other end of the phone, and kept my eyes on the theater door. Rook was in the back making his own preparations to help me, even though I told him it was not necessary. Tonight would be a quiet one, I hoped. So long as no one barged into the auditorium and saw me with a cell phone to my ear.

  "...Master?"

  "Click! I've missed you, Click. Listen, I need your help."

  That hollow voice never sounded so sweet to me. "It pleases me to be of assistance, Master. What can I help you with?"

  I spoke quickly, feeling that my time was drawing to a close. I didn't think that I would be interrupted, but this was my only chance.

  "Okay, listen closely. I want you to remember way back when you belonged to Kajaru Tojoru the Strejc. Do you recall the missions that he sent you on with the other Strejca, and how you can transport vital pieces of yourself at high-speed to assist in hacking into other machines?"

  "Of course, Master."

  “My life is in danger, Click. There are robots that plan to kill me tomorrow. You remember what death is for a human, right? It is a complete, permanent shutdown of their system. They never wake up again."

  "Yes, I recall you telling me about death. It is the same thing that happened to former Master Kajaru. I do not wish for any robot to shut you down, Master."

  "I need you to use your transport immediately. I need you as soon as possible."

  "Do you have a signal in which I can track you with, Master?" Click asked. His childlike charm with his questions made me nostalgic, but I fought back the feeling to focus.

  "I do. I will leave my phone in the spot I’m standing in now, and I want you to follow the signal. But make sure to send the smallest piece of yourself. If anyone here spots you, they will attempt to destroy you. Be careful."

  "I'm on my way, Master."

  The phone call ended before I could hit the button to do so.

  I set the phone down right where I stood and headed for the curtains, wondering just what Rook was up to. He wasn't often the type of person to show concern for others outright, but tonight his mannerisms seemed on edge.

  "Contact your friend?" he asked, straightening from a mess of discarded machine parts left by past guards.

  I nodded. "He's coming tonight."

  Rook quirked an eyebrow, dropping a set of metal teeth back into the pile. "Tonight? How is he going to get through the gates?"

  I smiled thinly. "Click is a pretty formidable piece of work."

  If I could still run it by Kajaru's timing, Click's transport model would only take an hour or so to get here, so long as he didn't stray from the signal given off by my phone. I'd never seen Click's transport form, but I heard he didn't look like a sentient being. That was typical for a hackerbot though, as they weren’t designed to be aesthetically pleasing.

  I waited out the hour with Rook, finding it easier to cope with the anticipation by filling him in on details of GreyCross and the Strejca, as I'd never told him before. Rook asked few questions, letting me do the talking. I knew he figured I was nervous... and I was. This was a fantastic approach to cheating death, and I didn't have Rook's luck. Occasionally when I fell silent Rook would fill the air with bird clucking, hoping to lighten the mood. I appreciated his quirkiness, but it did little to stop the worries running through me. If Click were to be damaged or unable to carry out my orders in any way, I was most certainly going to die.

  A high-pitched vibration entered the building, and both Rook and I heard it clearly. The theater was normally so quiet save the occasional creak of the walls, and this noise was foreign. He and I both stood up from our places and looked out past the curtains. At first I saw nothing, but then I looked over to where I'd placed my phone. A tiny yellow light illuminated and faded, hovering lazily in the upper left corner of the auditorium behind the seats.

  "What is that?" Rook wondered.

  "That's Click," I answered. It had to be. I rushed off the stage and approached the hackerbot carefully.

  "Click..." I began, slowing to a stop a cagey distance away. "Can you communicate with me in that form?"

  There was no worded answer, but the bot made a lower whir to reply to me, floating closer. Rook came up behind me as I opened my hand and let Click rest down on my palm, four sets of slanted insect-like wings freezing. He looked a bit like a sideways teardrop with one yellow light in the center for an eye. Tiny pegs kept him perched upright, and his wings remained in an angled, stationary position, looking like a bug ready to zip away faster than a blink.

  "So, that's Click?" Rook wondered.

  "A small part of him," I explained. "Just the portion that could get here the fastest, and the only portion that I need."

  I touched the top of Click's frame gently. "It's good to see you again, my friend."

  Click whirred again, a couple of his wings buzzing in response.

  "So what's the plan, blackie?" Rook asked. "You've kept me in the shadows this long. What exactly are you planning to do with that little destructive device?"

  "Over that last few executions I've been witness to, I've noticed that Stone prefers to use his robotic guards to take care of them. It's rare that I see a human guard shoot down a prisoner. Era's police made a bad choice sending me to Roavo. This place is littered with machines, and I know everything there is about how to ruin them. I'm going to teach them quickly that it isn't a good idea to challenge my resilience."

  I turned to Click. "Here's what I want you to do, Click. I want you to go outside of this theater and search for any class C model guards in this entire camp... and break them. Do it discreetly though. Do you have a probe?"

  Click's high vibration sounded once more as a long and thin metal rod extended from his end like a stinger.

  "Perfect. Go out and make me proud, okay?"

  Click flicked his wings into a blindingly fast flutter and took back to the air, immediately turning and zooming out one of the holes in the ceiling.

  "Now what?" Rook questioned.

  "Now we go and try to get some sleep," I answered him, already feeling the effects of fatigue.

  "I don't understand how you can put so much faith into a single flying piece of metal."

  I gazed at him for a moment, soaking in the look of concern he displayed to me with those big emerald-green eyes. "I put just about as much faith in him as I do your ridiculous luck, Rook."

  He paused for a few seconds, then gave me a lasting smile.

  11

  The Plan

  That morning Rook and I awoke to shouting. It was a good thing that I sat up when I did, because seconds later a furious human guard, one perhaps twice my size in bulk, stormed into the tent and seized me hard by the throat, ripping me out of my cot and dragging me outside.

  "Hey!" Rook started, but another officer grabbed him moments later and pulled him out as well.

  "Alright, you dirty shuck, you will be answering to Stone about this one!"

  I would have protested, but his grip on my throat was too tight, and I could barely breathe.

  I only caught my breath when the guard dropped me at the feet of the warden, who stood shaded by the awning of the abandoned convenience store not far from th
e prisoner tents. I scrambled up, ready to defend myself, but the guard seized me again and this time in a life-threatening headlock.

  "Mr. OrrVieh," Stone started.

  I gagged as the officer's grip tightened.

  "Care to explain to me why all of my machine guards are now either shorted out or completely unresponsive this morning?"

  I managed to pull the guard's arm away just a bit to breathe. "H-How the hell should I know? They're shitty models."

  "You were the resident Streck. I figured you might have a clue."

  "I still am the resident Strejc, uva phasco--"

  "What is this?" Blank exclaimed, striding up toward her father from the direction of her own tent. She looked stunned by the way I was being held.

  "This doesn't concern you, Blanca," Stone uttered.

  "Blank!" Rook shouted from somewhere behind me. He was out of my line of sight. "Tell these morons to let us go!"

  There was a loud slap, followed by Rook gasping. Blank caught her breath, eyes wide, and rushed forward, lunging at the guard holding Rook.

  "Don't you ever hurt Rook like that again!"

  "Put her in her place!" Stone exclaimed, and I heard another strike and Blank's shocked cry as she fell into the dirt.

  "Hit her again!" Stone barked. His bulging eyes and smug smile burned into me. My awareness of how sick and twisted and evil this man truly was finally surfaced as I watched him react to his own daughter getting injured. It made me so ill that I wanted to puke.

  It was enough to rile me to the point of insanity. I felt the beast inside me raise its hackles and bare its teeth. A growl escaped my throat, changing to a scream of rage, and I reached up with one arm, digging my thumb into the guard's face. My nail sank far into the soft flesh just at the inner corner of his eyeball. It was fierce enough for me to feel his blood spurt across my hand. He shrieked in pain and dropped his arm around me, so I twisted and threw a heavy fist into his nose. I hated the very thought of harming another human being, but it was too late to turn back. They had hurt Blank and Rook both without hesitation, and there was no excuse for that.

  "Crow! Crow, holy shit, wait!" Rook exclaimed as he held a swollen side of his face. I ignored him, jumping at the guard who'd knocked Blank to the ground.

  I'd startled the other man so much that he backed up a couple of steps before thinking of reaching for his gun, but I was on him before he could take it out of its holster. My hand flew to his face, burrowing my jagged nails into every inch of soft flesh I could find. My other hand slammed against his chest, knocking him back to the floor. With my own war cry... one that had settled uneasily in me for a year now, I brought myself down on the guard, using every primal instinct I could dig out from my past in the hellish Gasaidiatt.

  Just like when your father tried to drown you, my mind recollected. And you showed him how it felt to be hated. This is justice.

  My vision was a bleary mess of teary fury and complete possession. Whatever feelings I'd managed to pull from the depths of my childhood had come out, and there was no stopping them now. The oppression, frustration, unkempt rage...

  Justice.

  I tasted tangy metal in my mouth--torn skin and fragments of bone. The sounds around me had drowned out to distant muffling.

  Justice.

  There was a scream, gargling and choking from my prey, and finally Rook's clear-cut words.

  "Stop it! Stop!"

  His arms had hooked around my middle and dragged me off the guard. I gasped heavily, blinking red from my eyes, and looked at what I'd done.

  The guard was dead. More than dead. I'd torn open his throat and shoulder, and his face was a mangled mess... unrecognizable under the ripped skin and visible cheekbone. My stomach churned, but I was on too much of a high to care what I'd done. I felt numb and detached from my body. Whatever this physical side of me had done, it was as if I'd just watched someone else do it in my stead. I pulled myself from Rook's arms and rose to a ragged stand--legs spread, hunched, fingers taut... and looked directly at Stone. I laughed at him. High-pitched and lost in detachment, the sound drifted around the store like a melody from hell. All this time pent up had made me snap. I was aware of it, but the laughing didn't stop. It got uneasy. Even Rook backed a few steps away.

  The cigarette that the man had smoked had long since been forgotten in the sand, and he stood in a slumped, shell-shocked manner. The other guard that I'd injured was not in sight, and it seemed Stone was too terrified to even reach for his radio for backup. I wasn't aware of any other guards in the area, but there were no shots fired my way.

  I moved my eyes to Blank, but her expression was equally as startled. She clutched her own arms, staring at me as if I were a monster, and turned and raced back toward her tent in a panic. I realized my mistake, but my senses were still too heightened--feeding off this tingly adrenaline--to feel sorrowful for my actions. I slid my gaze back to Stone, spitting a hefty amount of the guard's blood into the dirt.

  "Your daughter is not a prisoner," I said to him, raising a red finger. My nail was caked in gore. "If I ever catch you make a command like that again, I will kill you the Anli way... and sacrifice your heart to my ancestors. I am Roavo's nightmare. If you know what's best for you, you will not attempt to stop me."

  I wanted to slaughter him so badly. I wanted to rip him to shreds... but I told myself no. This was Blank's father. I didn't know if she had any ounce of love for him or not, but I would never wish to kill someone's family like that.

  "In all the years of this camp, I... Y-You're a goddamn animal," he stammered. His voice was a thread of a whisper. "A barbaric psychopath." His eyes kept flicking up and around me as if he saw a looming phantom surrounding my body.

  "I am a warrior," I corrected.

  Stone finally reached for his radio, but I took a step toward him with a beast-like snarl. He raised his arms innocently.

  "Go back to your cabin, Stone. Be a good boy now." I straightened as I spoke, shooting him a twisted smile that spiked a visible shudder down the man's back. He was quick to get out of my sight.

  The only other one left standing there was Rook, whom I was surprised hadn't run in terror like the rest. Instead he touched my arm lightly and made me turn to face him. He had an ugly, developing shiner. He was also pallid, his eyes wide and mouth parted as if he wasn't sure what to say, but the words came out anyway.

  "Let's get you back to the theater and get you cleaned up, shall we?"

  "Why?" I asked, pulling away from his touch. I chuckled. It felt freeing... invigorating even. "Maybe I like this, Rook. Maybe I like being Roavo's dominant killer. I told you they shouldn't have messed with me. I have this place tied up in knots!"

  Rook took my arm again anyway, pulling me toward the theater. "Alright, big guy, I think we've all seen enough to make us snap this morning. Once you have a hot bath, you'll feel better."

  I wished I could have said something to Blank before she’d run off. I would have said something to her to stop her, but I couldn't find the words at the time. Everything I'd just done had been a blended-up dream, and I had yet to wake up. My senses had gone to someplace where I could not reach them. I didn't find myself returning to reality until Rook dumped a bucket of steaming hot water over my head. I gasped in shock, suddenly realizing where I was. He'd stripped me down, and I sat in a bathing tub that was hooked up in the dressing room opposite of the one that held Rook's food stash.

  "Coming back down to Kairenz now, blackie?" Rook questioned.

  I brought a couple calming breaths into my lungs before responding. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

  "Well, that's the first time in almost seven years that I've damn near pissed myself," Rook replied bluntly. "I honestly thought you were going to shred Stone into tiny bits."

  "I'm grateful I didn't," I muttered, thinking back to Blank’s terrified look.

  "But we'll all be okay now," Rook continued with his best reassuring smile. "They were gonna try executing us both, but now they c
an't because you've proved you're stronger than them. You threw a crazy large wrench into their plans."

  "...I never wanted to kill anyone," I breathed, watching red streaks swirl away from my body along the water surface. It was almost impossible to believe that I'd just murdered a live person. I had killed in the past in the same manner, but it wasn't about to be something that I was used to. "I just... I heard him hit Blank, then Stone's face... He was... He just..." I swallowed. "I just lost it."

  "She’s dealt with him like that before. She’s lived here practically her whole life, Crow, from what she’s told me. Things like that aren't unusual."

  I shook my head in denial. "They should be. It was disgusting and unfair to her. She’s basically a warden herself. For him to treat her like that is just revolting."

  "Everyone knows Stone is horrible. Why is it such a surprise to you?"

  "It isn't. I just don't see how you can shrug something like that off."

  "Haven't you seen?" Rook replied. "Blank can kick ass and take names if she wants to. She's used to the rough side of life." There was a pause before he continued. "But we don't need to keep talking about this. Now we know for sure that you, blackie, are Roavo's king of justice, and everything will be on the upswing from now on."

  Justice.

  I continued to gaze at the water, vaguely wondering if Click was still back in the tent where he'd been left. "I certainly hope you're right, Rook."

  After that I was avoided. The human guards, and the robotic ones still standing, did not touch me. Stone did not touch me. Even most of the prisoners had heard of my act, if they hadn't witnessed it, and managed to keep a distance. I didn't care that much--events happened as they did--and in a way I was grateful for the peace and quiet. The only three who still paid attention to me were Rook, Click, and, surprisingly, Blank. After my barbaric act I hadn’t expected her to ever want to see me again. However, I found myself running into her more than once. Click had heeded my words and hid under my cot for most of the day, only coming out to listen to me talk to him at night if I couldn't sleep. I'd praised him considerably for his work, and in turn he had become a residential companion I had pined for since entering the camp.