Titus (The Anno Ruinam Book 1)

by Caleb Byrnand

  CHAPTER XI

  Noah

  Australia. Arrived.

  The landing of the hover plane is sloppy, but as his seatbelt is very constricting he isn’t thrown about too much. The side door opens and warm fresh air hits him in the face. The sounds of hundreds of seatbelts unbuckling and the shuffling of feet around him while his restraint remains secured. Not until he has watched everybody disembark does his handler arrive, accompanied by Simon. The young boy just stares at Noah for a moment before giving the Guardian the nod and walking off. Noah has absolutely no idea in the world what is going on but can safely assume that he isn’t being released when the Guardian removes his restraint and violently escorts him off the plane.

  He is dragged inside the missile silo and into an empty dark space roughly the size of an average dining room. The Guardian throws him into a chair as Simon enters and locks the door. A LED timer on the wall is counting down, under an hour till it reaches zero.

  The child dresses in the customary robe with large hood worn by clergymen and Guardians. Pale skin and skinny, yet he is confident and has a presence. Simon stands just out of arms reach, silently watching him.

  “I’m not going back to civilisation am I?” Noah asks. Simon shakes his head no. “I’d bet this has something to do what I got up to last week.” Simon nods. Noah takes a minute to use abductive reasoning to form a conclusion. “You look like a little monk, and this looks personal. I have recently killed a monk.” Simon stops nodding and looks of ill intent as if Noah touched a nerve. “So I’m here to satisfy your urge for revenge. And while Mother is still out of action she can’t stop you.”

  Noah can see the rage building inside of the boy. Simon steps within an arm’s reach of him, “Why did you kill him?”

  Noah knows he has nothing to lose. “Your people declared war on the world and killed billions. Not one old man, billions. We were just the first to respond, justifiably. During an interrogation the elder grabbed his blade and I was forced to respond.”

  Crack! Noah’s body flies through the air, hitting hard against the back wall. Before his body hits the floor he is struck again; an NFL style shoulder charge courtesy of the Guardian, breaking several ribs and embedding him in the thick wall. Gravity eventually wins; his body drops to the cold floor and the blood starts to pool.

  Simon looks over him unsatisfied, “Clean him up.” The Guardian grabs Noah’s limp wrist and scans his hand. Moments later Noah is healed and restored to factory settings.

  Under his breath but loud enough for all to hear, he exhales, “This again?”

  Simon, somewhat bemused, replies, “I’m sorry: is this an inconvenience?”

  “Yes. Being tortured is inconvenient actually.”

  “This isn’t torture, this isn’t revenge, and it’s certainly not a war. This is justice.”

  Noah is starting to get heated again. Pretty soon he’ll be on the floor so he’d better say what he needs to now. “And you’re the judge? Some sadistic little brainwashed ten-year-old boy? I received a pardon, ask your boss.”

  With a smug look on his entitled little face he responds with, “Who do you think gave you to me?”

  Damn. “Damn.”

  “You will answer for your sins.” Simon notices Noah glancing at the counter every so often and decides to fill him in.

  “Think of it as a slightly exaggerated version of how much time you have left on Earth.”

  CHAPTER XI

  Elder Venark

  Down two levels and in a large room where Mother is being housed, Venark finds his new permanency. He shuffles about, tinkering with the monitors spread out over the room. The countdown is displayed here as well, attached to a progress bar reading eighty-five per cent and rising. The room is quiet and soft lit, the thick sound-dampening walls reminding him of home. That is until the door explodes inwards, bouncing off the wall and destroying several of Venark’s monitors. A rogue Guardian stands in the doorway triumphantly. Stepping inside he announces, “We are the warriors of…” The rogue steps inside the room and dies without finishing his sentence. Venark had the good sense to have the room blessed, and is currently patting himself on the back for it. Calmly, he walks towards a working console and hits a few keys before speaking.

  “They’re here.”

  CHAPTER XII

  Titus

  The air is still and uneasy. So is he. Wanting to move, to flex, to find resolution. Boxed in by one million Guardians, all looking to the horizon wanting the same thing. Titus has no feeling of anticipation for the inevitable battle, it is what follows that concerns him. The old man’s words resonating with him.

  How can I do the most good? His thoughts quickly bounce to Noah and Elias.

  Everyone.

  Dumachus is in his element; legions of soldiers at his command readying for a great battle to determine the future of the planet. He has a tendency towards the grandiose. After seeing another of his scouts off, walking ten feet tall he approaches Titus and stands next to him in silence.

  Titus is first to open dialogue, “They’re baiting you.”

  This is not the praise Dumachus expected. “Excuse me?”

  “Scouts disappearing over the horizon? It’s misdirection. They’re probably already here.”

  To jokingly fail in illustrating his opinion he points to the still ash cloud above their heads and flexes his arm. A giant invisible bubble parts the sky letting the starlight in, expanding in size he lifts the veil of ash. To his and everyone’s else surprise, hovering inside the clouds for cover are several hundred thousand rogues. The coms crackles as it comes to life.

  “They’re here.”

  Shit. Dumachus looks to Titus for answers. An old habit hard to break.

  “You organise your troops, I’ll secure Mother.” Dumachus hates the idea but knows it’s the best plan. He looks to Titus as if to say “Don’t you dare screw me on this,” before spinning around and giving three squadrons the signal to attack. Titus speeds off towards the silo entrance as thousands of Guardians fly into the sky.

  The silo has been renovated and fitted with multiple levels connected by a staircase hugging the outer wall. The side door entrance is wide enough for a few people to fit, but much of the renovation offcuts and building material is still lying around. As if they ran out of time. Bodies of murdered Guardians are strewn across the floor. And walls. Tell-tale signs of the rogues. Titus runs down several levels till he reaches a floor with a room with a kicked in door and a little old wide-eyed man. Before he has a chance to say a thing Titus is smashed in the back of the head by something hard and metal. His body flies through the busted doorway landing inside the room. Head ringing, no vision, total disorientation. A moment later the ringing stop and the vision returns with Elder Venark next to him holding his hand over a mobile scanner. The hole in the back of his skull heals quickly and Titus gets back to his feet. Five rogues stand out in the hall, the one who attacked him at the door, waiting. Titus wastes no time and uses his powers to pull the rogue inside the blessed room, killing the demon instantly. Determined to inflict some proper damage, he picks up the dead rogue’s crude sword and marches outside the room to face his attackers.

  All five are dressed as regular Guardians but with personality, a way of holding themselves that differs from the rest. Individuals, fighting for freedom just as Titus did days ago. Attacking the same weak spot, just as he did.

  The fighting quarters are tight and he hopes the structural integrity will be able to hold. But here they are, facing off with one another. No one has made a move yet, as if they’re stalling. The sound of the war waging on the surface echoes through the silo, almost masking a noise emanating from the basement.

  Holding a sheathed samurai sword in his left hand, the closest rogue steps forward to face off with Titus. With his right hand on the grip and left under the hilt, the rogue stares at Titus, building the suspense.

  A waste of time.

  Titus and Dumachus have been engineered t
o have speed unmatched, and close quarters is ideal for that. Before the Guardian samurai can pull the sword from the sheath Titus skids past at lightning speed, sword drawn and blood splatting on the wall immediately after.

  He spins around and raises his hand towards the four rogues and attempts to catch them off guard. They do their best to resist and the arm wrestle begins. Titus moves into a horse stance, lowers his head and raises his other hand. Slowly the four rogues begin to gravitate towards each other till there is no space left to occupy between them. Then with a subtle and quick extension of his fingers a force so strong throws the quartet back, pulverising them into the outer stone wall. The samurai Guardian falls to the floor and the threat on this level has been squashed.

  Titus sprints to the basement to find the source of the noise the rogues were trying to protect and soon finds out why they weren’t trying harder to destroy the room Mother is in. They are attempting to destroy the whole silo. Dozens of bundles of dynamite sticks are strapped to the foundations with a long fuse leading into a suspicious hole in the wall. A hole large enough for a person, and definitely not part of the new renovations.

  A rogue emerges from the hole unaware that Titus is standing pressed against the wall. He returns to his work setting up the explosives when Titus sneaks forward throws his arm around the rogue’s neck in a rear choke and squeezes. His other hand wraps over the rogue’s forehead as initiates a psychic connection.

  “How many of there are you?”

  The rogue has no choice but to answer, “Seven.”

  “Thank you.” And with that Titus jerks his arms up slightly and breaks the rogue’s neck.

  Back upstairs in the room with the broken in door, Venark greets Titus as the conquering hero. The LED timer is counting down with only seconds left. One thing that is left on his mind; did Venark register his chip while he was incapacitated?

  3, 2, 1…

  CHAPTER XII

  Noah

  It looks like there is more of his blood on the floor than left inside of his body. He can’t even feel the hits anymore. Just the pressure and force knocking his body down every time he tries to get back up. The fluid pouring out of his ears makes it hard to hear and gauge balance. The swelling around his eyes cuts out the light getting in. His broken nose making it hard to breath. If there was ever a time that would convince Noah that his time is up, it is now.

  Noah is knocked down one final time, the impact from the floor inflicting as much damage as the strike that put him there. Simon walks towards the corner of the room and picks up a harmonic oscillator leaning against the wall. “You’ve seen one of these already, but do you know what else they can do?”

  Noah ungracefully rolls over to his back and grimaces as he lifts his head up to see what the boy is referring to. “I don’t have any superpowers so I don’t think you’ll need it.”

  Simon smiles at him with an experience of a true sadist. “I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve heard it has a secondary use on those without ‘superpowers’.” Before Noah has time to reply Simon aims the gun and pulls the trigger. A shockwave spews out from the barrel hitting Noah in the chest, pushing his body back several feet. He loses the ability to breath and loses all fine motor function with his feet and hands jerking and sporadically shaking. “Apparently it also severely disrupts the central nervous system.” The gun recharges and Simon shoots him a second time, this time focusing the blast to Noah’s head, the force arching his back and initiating a seizure. Simon stands over the dying man’s body; the full weight of what Simon has done is in a tug of war with the pain Noah has caused. Taking a life is never easy--especially if it’s your first--no matter how emotionally charged you are. Noah’s seizure has given Simon a moment to reflect and tears begin to well in his eyes, his top lip rises with rage and eyebrows frown with the intensity of a child’s tantrum. Simon begins to wail to him, “You murdered him! Our leader! He was on his knees, in his church. How could you!”

  The Guardian watching over is smiling at the scene playing out in front of him. Noah’s seizure ends and his broken and bleeding body stops breathing. Simon is not satisfied and throws his gun as he walks away. “Damn you!”

  The clock counts down from double to single digits and both Simon and the Guardian keep their eyes training on the descending digits.

  Distracted.

  Too distracted to notice that Noah has begun to breathe again. His swollen eyelids open slightly and his fingers coil into two fists as his strength returns. The gun is at his side and both captors with their back to him, Noah seizes the opportunity and reaches out for the weapon. As his hand lands on the grip the Guardian senses something and turns around. Noah pulls the gun in and fires before the Guardian is able to disarm him. He shoots the Guardian several more times until he drops to the ground. Noah musters all of his strength to lift himself up to his knees and drive the butt of the gun into the Guardian’s skull till he’s hitting the floor.

  3, 2, 1…

  Noah, now completely spent, drops the gun and falls onto his back, breathing heavily and completely limp. Simon is scared still having watched Noah not only come back to life but take a life. Even while Noah is down he hesitates, toggling his sights between the door and the gun. When Noah’s body shifts the choice became easy. The door.

  Waves of endorphins course through his body, relaxing his heart rate and steadying his breathing. Noah can feel the millions of nanotech repairing the damage. Only this time it was automatic.

  Damn. Mother is back online.

  CHAPTER XII

  Simon

  Simon bursts out of the room and sprints down the stairs towards Venark. His pace slows as he is confronted with half a dozen dead Guardians along the way and is forced to choose the path that leads towards a trail of death, or back track towards Noah. He chooses the former.

  Five dead clones on the landing and the door to Mother has been wrenched off its hinges. He has no way to differentiate rogues from regular Guardians, but considering that all the Guardians stationed here are missing, he has to assume it is them. The war on the surface has ceased and the place is silent and unnerving. With two more dead clones lying in the doorway, he carefully walks inside the room.

  Peering his head around the corner he gets a shock when he is confronted with a repeated traumatic image--his elder and mentor on his knees while Titus stands over him, reading his mind with a hand over his head. He wants to yell for Titus to stop but nothing comes out. He wants to run and punch and fight the bastard but can’t move. Then when Noah appears in the doorway behind him, carrying the harmonic oscillator, his greatest fears realised. “No!!!” he exclaims, almost surprising himself with his outburst. Titus pulls his hand away from Venark and the old man drops to the floor. Simon runs towards the elder and cradles his head.

  Titus takes a few steps back and notices Noah in the doorway. His joy and adulation in seeing his friend alive, Titus opens his arms and approaches him. “Noah! You’re alive! What are you doing here?”

  Noah allows the giant clone to wrap his big arms around his body but he has only one thing on his mind, and it’s not the embrace. “Why am I here? I’m their prisoner, remember. And you nearly missed out on this reunion. This kid just spent the better part of the last hour trying to kill me.”

  Titus looks down at the weeping boy in disbelief. “Him? He looks harmless.”

  Elder Venark is still unconscious and Simon is desperately trying to revive him. “What did you do? Why isn’t he recovering?”

  Titus looks down to the boy. “I just learnt everything he knows, everything he experienced. His brain requires some time to reorganise itself. He’ll recover eventually.”

  Noah not wasting any time on the boy focuses his attention towards the giant computer in the middle of the room. “Is this the Mother computer?” Titus nods. “That explains why you’re here then. Cool, stand back. I want to see what this gun does to super-computers.”

  Simultaneously, Simon and Titus yell, “N
o!”

  Noah reels back in disbelief. “What? Why? You saying everything we did in Antarctica was for nothing?”

  “If Mother is destroyed then the Guardians will obliterate what’s left of the world.”

  Noah incredulously responds, “Are you serious? That’s exactly what they’re doing now. It’s literally right here. Let’s just…” He raises his gun and tries to squeeze the trigger when a wave of sickness washes over him and instantly weakens him to the point where he can no longer carry the gun. “What the fuck…”

  Titus speaks reassuringly as he picks up the gun and returns it to Noah, “Destroying this thing now isn’t the answer. Please trust me. If you knew what I knew, you would know there was no other way.”

  Elder Venark begins to squirm slightly and shows signs of improving, Simon just focuses his attention to him and tries his best to block out the everything else which is happening in the room, praying to Draco that they would leave.

  His prayers are answered and the next moment he is left alone, doing all he can to nurse his new mentor back to health. Venark’s wheezing breath steadies and to Simon’s relief the elder’s eyes begin to open. Simon smiles back at the old man, confident that both he and the facility are now safe.

  A few minutes later Dumachus and an entourage of Guardians enter the room, all sporting various wounds in the midst of healing. Dumachus, quite obviously perturbed, just stands there and looks around the room, taking note of Venark’s disablement.