The only thing they could do was keep flying and hope Arcturus had a plan for getting them out of this.
* * *
Arcturus waited patiently on the outskirts of Stonecroft. Everyone else had long since fled after watching him slice Relm Masters to tiny pieces. Even the angry constable had wisely chosen not to antagonize Arcturus further.
He lit a cigarette and took a long drag. One of the benefits of being a god was that none of the deadly chemicals affected him. Whereas a human’s insides would break down after prolonged exposure to carcinogens, Arcturus’ insides stayed perfectly healthy. He smiled, relishing that knowledge.
He had hastily buried Relm’s remains, knowing Ev would probably freak out if he saw them. His innocence was sweet, and Arcturus hoped he never lost it.
Eventually, he became aware of a series of explosions and tremors in the ground. Here they come. He knew that attacking Zero Grade would incur the wrath of the Flawless Few. Even Ev knew that. But what Ev didn’t know was the fact he fully intended on having the flying fortress make an appearance.
Peering into the distance, towards Adlo, it wasn’t hard to spot the diamond-shaped structure heading toward him. Upon focusing his vision further, he saw Ev and Maya frantically flying from it as it shot beam after beam at them, vaporizing huge chunks of ground. Arcturus covered his ears; he had forgotten about the blaring that thing made when it went into attack mode. That was Zero Grade’s idea of psychological warfare. As far as he was concerned, it was more annoying than anything else.
Within minutes, Ev and Maya reached him. “Arcturus!” Ev yelled as he came in for a landing. “What’s the plan now?” Maya landed next to him. Both looked winded.
Arcturus threw down the cigarette and stomped it out. “The plan? Simple. We surrender.” He held up his hands. The Sancta Praesidium was now right on top of them.
Ev and Maya exchanged alarmed glances. “What?” they both yelled simultaneously.
“Sorry about this. I was hoping this thing wouldn’t show up. But now that it has, we have no choice but to give ourselves up. They can follow us clear to the end of the world in that monstrosity. We can’t win against it.”
The gun barrels retreated back into the giant diamond. Along the bottom, near the tip, a hatch opened up. Arcturus was seized by an invisible force which began lifting him up along with Ev and Maya. They tried to fight it, not knowing it was useless. Every single aspect of the Sancta Praesidium was designed to subdue full-fledged gods. Mere students such as them stood no chance against it. Although, Arcturus had to admit, they had done well to get this far. Now they just needed to leave the rest to him.
They floated through the open hatch into complete darkness. The invisible force then applied severe pressure to his head, and the ultimate darkness descended upon him.
Chapter XI
Consciousness returned to him in stages. First, there was only the vaguest awareness of sounds. This gradually increased until he once again became aware of himself. His mind began to separate reality from fantasy and soon his eyes slowly opened a crack. Blurred images greeted him like an out-of-focus picture. However, they quickly resolved into a clear image.
Ev was in some sort of small room, sterile and metallic. Cables ran all along the floor and up to…something. His entire lower body was encased in some sort of construct. His arms were likewise imprisoned above his head. He struggled futilely against his shackles; they would not budge an inch. Clearly these devices had been designed to hold someone even stronger than himself.
This room resembled nothing less than a science fiction torture chamber. A metal table sat a few feet away, covered with diabolic instruments whose purpose he never wanted to find out. Had he been abducted by aliens? He had heard stories about people who had, and as a child they terrified him almost as much as his father had.
But no. He remembered now. He, Maya and Arcturus had been beamed aboard Zero Grade’s flying fortress where something had knocked him out. They were now prisoners of the enemy. He couldn’t help but laugh; just a few years ago, he was a normal teenager who didn’t believe in one god, much less a whole pantheon of them.
Now he found himself at their mercy.
A moaning to his right caught his attention. He turned his head to see Maya caught in an identical contraption. “Maya!” She stirred but did not respond, so he called her name again.
She opened her eyes. “Y-Yes?” she said drowsily.
“Maya! Are you all right?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because…we’re trapped in Zero Grade’s flying fortress?”
She suddenly became alert, her eyes opening wide, furiously taking in the room. “What? What is this place?”
“We’re inside the Sancta Praesidium,” he explained. “At least…I think we are.”
Maya struggled against her bonds, but she had no more luck than he had. After a minute, she gave up and let her head droop. “You see where your stupid dream got us?
We might not make it out of here alive, you know.”
This was the first time she had been genuinely disappointed in him. He had yurred, and now he had to face her anger. “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t seem convinced. “Are you?”
“Yes. This is all my fault. I dragged you into this because I wanted so badly to believe what Arcturus said. But now it looks like he was setting us up all along.”
“Tell me,” she said. “What’s so bad about this world?”
“I shouldn’t have to tell you that. You know what’s so bad about it. It’s made both our lives into living nightmares. The things we had to suffer through…”
All was quiet for a moment. Finally she said, “Yeah. It has. But ever since I met you, the world doesn’t seem so bad. In fact, you might even say the world is wonderful.”
“You really think so?”
“As long as I’m by your side, I know so.”
* * *
Freya rushed into Bethos’ office. “Sir, we have a situation.”
Seated behind his desk doing paperwork, the President let out an audible sigh. “What has Ev Bannen done now?”
“No, no; it’s not him. At least, it’s not just him, but I’m pretty sure he’s involved.”
“Out with it.”
“We’re receiving more prayers from the Tru Republic.”
“More refghasts?”
She shook her head grimly. She wondered if her face was as pale as she felt. “I sincerely wish that was the case. No, the people of Adlo say they’re under attack by a giant, upside-down pyramid made of glass in the sky.”
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am dead serious, sir. The Sancta Praesidium is attacking the Tru Republic. What are we going to do?”
Bethos put his fingers together into a pyramid and leaned back in his chair. “We could respond with force, but that would mean all-out war with Zero Grade.”
“We can’t just stand by while they kill innocent people!” she insisted. “Besides, they already broke the Ultros Pact last year when they attacked us in Stiftung.”
“This is the Sancta Praesidium we’re talking about. We’d have to throw everything we have against it, and that includes students. I can’t order them to do that.”
“So we take volunteers. I know a few who’d gladly come along.” She feared she sounded too eager to do this, almost as if she wanted to go into battle.
He must have thought the same, because he asked her, “Do you relish the thought of sending your own students to die?”
Fortunately, she had an answer for that. “No, sir; I’m not. But as gods, we have a responsibility to protect mortals from evil. And I have complete confidence in my students’ ability to overcome impossible odds. The Stiftung Crisis proved that.”
He sat up straight. “I don’t know…”
She had known this would be a difficult decision. But being a leader required you to make the hard calls. And r
ight now, the people of the Tru Republic needed them.
Freya didn’t say any of that, though. She simply said, “Please.” Her pleading eyes did most of the talking.
The President sighed. “Very well. Send out a psychic message to all staff and alumni around the world. You are to leave immediately.”
She bowed graciously to him. “Thank you, sir. I’ll get right on it.” In truth, her gratitude was greater than she was capable of expressing. She decided the best way to show it was to act faster than she had ever acted before and get the word out.
* * *
The sophomores and upper classmen assembled in the hangar. “Thank you for coming,” Freya said. “Time is short, so I’ll get right to the point. Zero Grade is attacking the Tru Republic with their flying fortress, the Sancta Praesidium. That thing is not to be underestimated. We’re going to knock it out of the sky by any means necessary. Follow my lead, stay close, and do not let the Praesidium lock onto you with its Mark III Neutralizers. They will vaporize you instantly.
“Any questions?”
“I think everyone’s forgotten about me,” Brandon, standing next to her, muttered under his breath and chuckled. They were supposed to be equals, but she had stolen the show.
Jaysin raised his hand. “Are Ev and Maya there?”
“We picked up what may have been their energy signatures, but it was too far away to be certain,” Freya replied.
“Those two have a knack for getting into trouble,” CiCi said next to Jaysin. “I’ll bet anything they’re there.”
Daryn Anders stood some distance away from them. He kept silent throughout the briefing.
Freya surveyed the hangar. “Any other questions?”
An upperclassmen they didn’t recognize raised his hand. “Do you have any advice for surviving this engagement?”
“Stay on your toes—keep moving. Don’t let the Praesidium hit you. It’s far more dangerous than any gods you’ll encounter.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any more time for questions, so we have to be going now. Follow my lead.”
“Or mine,” Brandon suggested. “You know, whatever. Either of us will get you there.”
Freya rolled her eyes before leaping out of the hangar.
* * *
Arcturus stood encased in the metal contraption which left only his head and torso free. He had woken up about fifteen minutes ago by his reckoning, and now awaited the arrival of his jailer.
He was in one of the Praesidium’s interrogation rooms. Not much different from a human jail cell, the only difference was its metallic, sterile ambience. A sealed glass window hung on the wall to his left. They designed it to magnify and focus sunlight onto the prisoner, and right now Arcturus was getting a migraine from the intense glare.
The door to his right opened, and in walked a curious character. With long, shaggy brown hair, a leather jacket which exposed a hairy chest, and tiny sunglasses, this man would have looked out of place anywhere but Zero Grade.
He made an abrupt, almost robotic stop in front of the prisoner. “Hello, Arcturus.” He stroked his chin while examining the captive.
“Hello, Set. It’s been a while.” He smiled as if this meeting was a friendly one.
“Indeed. Last time, as I recall, we parted on favorable terms. I had not anticipated meeting again like this. Would you care to tell me how you ended up on the wrong side of our organization?” He spoke in a quiet, precise tone which compelled those he spoke with to get right to the point.
“It’s simple, really. I got tired following the rules and decided to write my own.”
“Ah,” Set said, sounding almost proud of him. “You decided to pursue power. There is no greater pleasure in life.”
Arcturus chuckled. “Still quoting Nietzsche, I see.”
“Nietzsche was quoting me. I imparted my wisdom to him. Every god with a message needs a mouthpiece. Of course, he believed those were his own original ideas.
“But we seem to have gotten off-topic. You decided to become a true superman and disregard the morality of the herd—in this case, Zero Grade. That in itself is noble.
After all, a man’s drive is the only thing in his life that matters. It defines him. However, you took it upon yourself to needlessly attack us. Even if morality is an illusion and you were self-justified in doing so, you neglected to take causality into account. For every action there are consequences. Surely you knew you would become a target if you went against us. And now look at where your thoughtlessness has gotten you. I applaud your initiative, but not your intelligence.”
“I guess I’m not as clever as I thought,” he conceded.
Set put his hands behind his back. “If only your humility were genuine. I know full well how clever you still believe yourself to be. I’m sure you have some brilliant escape plan in mind, but let me be clear—you will not be leaving here until I deliver you to the Flawless Few.”
“Oh, absolutely not,” Arcturus said, retaining his smirk.
Set was not amused. “You mock me. Perhaps I should enlighten you as to the true extent of my knowledge. Two days ago, someone attacked the Tower of Babel and, as far as we can determine, managed to get inside. The Divine Protector Academy has been quite intent on keeping this incident secret. That tells me something of great value was stolen.
“Almost immediately afterwards, you recruited Ev Bannen and assaulted House #4. Upon scouring the debris field you created, we determined the only thing missing was the energy matrix known as the Jar of Manna. This device is key to powering the Ark of the Covenant. As if that wasn’t proof enough, you also attacked our underground facility in Adlo. Though you completely destroyed it, I have no doubt you took Aaron’s Rod from it. The painfully obvious conclusion to be gathered from this is you intend to activate the Ark.”
“Well done,” Arcturus said. “You figured it all out. And I went to such great lengths to keep it a secret. But you got me. Yes, I’m going to activate the Ark and create the perfect world.”
“Fool! Few things are forbidden to the superman, but this is strictly prohibited. You intend to create an absolute truth—your absolute truth—something I’ve always said can never exist. You are a nihilist, the one true evil in this world.”
“And what’s wrong with nihilism? To me, the greatest quality of the superman is the willingness to abandon this broken world and start over, to say, ‘No, I do not accept this; I will change it’.”
“Then you understand nothing,” Set said, turning to walk away.
“Now, wait a minute. You were nice enough to ‘enlighten me as to the true extent’ of your knowledge, so I think I should do the same.”
Set stopped and looked over his shoulder at him. Arcturus continued. “I was in Zero Grade long enough to know how things work. I even know how this flying monstrosity operates.” His mouth hung open for a moment. “Damn—I seem to have forgotten something. Tell me again—what’s the protocol for capturing a fugitive of the organization?”
Set shook his head, but decided to indulge him anyway. “To remain where we are, send a report to the Flawless Few and await further orders.”
Arcturus gave him a sly grin. “Right, that’s it. You captured us at Stonecroft, so we should still be hovering above it, albeit with the cloaking device engaged.”
“Get to the point,” Set said.
“Now, now. This takes some explaining. You see, it’s been billions and billions of years, so you probably forgot how the Ark works. In fact, as far as I can tell, everyone at Zero Grade forgot. Everyone, that is, except for Belial. That’s because when the previous universe ended, he made sure to safeguard the ancient scrolls that detailed how it works and how to release it from the Tower of Babel. Then, several years ago, he made me memorize them. The Ark was to be his trump card in case things didn’t go his way. Of course, arrogant as he was, he didn’t believe he’d ever need to use it. He just liked the idea of having it around.”
Set said, “And how, pray tell, does the Ark
work? You were correct in assuming I had forgotten. The organization never had any intention of releasing it from the Tower.”
Arcturus explained, “Well, you need four things. One—the Jar of Manna which acts as the energy matrix. Two—Aaron’s Rod which transfers energy from an external fuel source. Three—a location specifically designed to amplify that fuel source. Four—the fuel source. It has to be massive, something on par with, say…oh, I don’t know…the Jericho Reactor on board this vessel?”
Set began to tremble as horrifying realization struck every fiber of his being. “No!”
Incident 27 Page 14