Harmonics: Rise of the Magician (Harmonics Series Season One)

by Chris Snelgrove

  "Come on." Richard stepped from the terminal and picked up her bag. "Take this."

  He handed it to her. She took it and then looked from him to the bag and back to him. He studied her.

  She felt the corners of the box. It was still there. The cursed thing was still snuggled neatly at the bottom of her bag. Perhaps now was the time to show Richard. Maybe he could make sense of the thing and tell her…and tell her if this box was what they were looking for.

  Richard picked up his tablet. He was still wearing the conductor gloves. He took four or five swipes at the holo terminal, pulling the information to his tablet. Satisfied, he addressed Sam.

  "It's time to go. We have the intel, power connections, and escape route set. We've got a chance now."

  "We've got a chance of what?" she asked, confused.

  "A chance to get out of here alive." Richard pulled up different feeds from the various cameras, all of which were suddenly working. "You see these men?"

  Sam nodded.

  "These men are part of a special unit from the Jade Empire. They are called Móguǐ. It means Devil. They come in as ghosts and don't leave anyone alive. Any person – man, woman, or child – who sees these men are dead, no exception." Sam glanced half-heartedly at the tablet, then jerked it out of Richard's hand and felt her heart jump into her throat. Adam was running full speed down the hallway, the Móguǐ right on his tail, light shivs at the ready.

  "Richard, look!" Sam showed him the feed. "They're after him! We've got to help him!"

  Richard pulled the tablet back from her. "What are you talking about, Sam?"

  "The Móguǐ, they're after Adam. They're going to kill him!"

  "Sam, it's too dangerous for you to--argh!"

  Sam, without thinking, kicked Richard in the crotch. He buckled forward in pain.

  "I'm so sorry Richard. I'm so, so, so sorry. But you aren't going to let me go and I can't let Adam die. It's been so great having you as a best friend. I couldn't have asked for a better one. I wish…I just wish that…well, you know."

  Sam bent down and kissed Richard on the cheek. It was extremely cool to the touch. She ran out of the room, taking the tablet with her.

  ***

  Sam tried to run and keep an eye on the tablet but was having difficulty. She wasn't the greatest multi-tasker, and her nerves were wound so tight it hurt. She was cursing her idiotic action. Why hadn't she thought out some sort of plan? She wasn't sure where she was or how she was going to help Adam. If the Móguǐ unit was as bad as Richard said, then she was in for the fight of her life. Further complicating her emotions, she felt sorry for kicking Richard in the man-berries. There was no justification for that. He would certainly hate her after this…if there was an after.

  She stopped at a four-way intersection. She was starting to recognize where she was. The hallways were painted in warm earth tones of brown, green, and sand. Some genius from the Committee of Education had ordered the colors for their postulated effects on student hormones. Who could get romantic in a place that was so aesthetically dreary?

  She checked the camera feed on Richard's tablet, attempted to locate her position, and decided to turn left. She moved fifteen meters up the hall then threw herself against the wall in an attempt to hide. Just ahead of her a man was yelling in Mandarin and pointing weapons at a group of her classmates. She couldn't see if Adam was among them. As she listened, she thought they seemed to be arguing about something.

  Sam crept forward, trying to sneak up on the soldiers, then stopped, quickly ducking into one of the rooms right off the hall. She cursed in a whisper. I don't have any weapons. How do I help them?

  That's when she saw it. A gun sat near the body of a dead masked man. She crept out softly and picked it up, gingerly holding it at arm's length. She didn't know how to check if it was loaded. She knew how the Combat Tag weapons worked, but this was the real thing. Sam glanced from the weapon to the men holding her classmates at blade and cannon point. The soldiers continued to argue gesturing at different students and then glancing back at something on their mini-screens. Sam wondered why they were hesitating? What could they possibly want from the students?

  She pushed out of her mind and stepped out from her hiding place. She tucked the butt of the gun into her shoulder and pointed the weapon at the back of the nearest solider.

  A beefy hand moved over her mouth and something hard jabbed her in the ribs.

  "Don't move."

  Damn, she thought. Game over.

  Everyone is dead. They were all going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.

  The person behind her moved, directing her back into the classroom. Had he been there the whole time? She had not looked when she entered the room. She probably should have.

  The hard object, she assumed it was a gun, was removed from her back and she felt the person behind her shift, drifting something slightly through her hair. He or she, or whoever they were, was going to execute her. She hoped it would be quick.

  Crack.

  A hand whacked her upside the head. It was hard, but it didn't kill her. What was going on?

  "Next time you kick me and then go marching right into the midst of a Jadian death squad, I am so not coming to help you."

  "Richard?" Sam whipped around. "I thought, well I thought that I…well you know."

  "You thought you nailed my boys to my pelvic bone? You tried, but…"

  Richard knocked his crotch. "I come prepared."

  Sam smiled. She was relieved that he was here. "Richard, we've got to do something. We've got to help."

  "Sam, we can't. What can we do? We'll die. You know we'll die."

  Sam sighed. "Then I will die, but I am going to help." Sam snatched up her gun and made for the door. In the corner of her eye she saw Richard's hand move to his forehead in a gesture she recognized. He was frustrated. He muttered to himself, and while she shouldn't have been able to hear him, she could.

  "Gently. No breaking. Do as you're told. Gently. Son of a – ." Richard pulled his hand from his head. "Sam, wait."

  She stopped. He did it again. He called her Sam. "Yes?"

  "There's a way. I can help, but do you promise we can leave after? You won't put up a fight?"

  Sam nodded. "Yes but we save the group outside and Adam. Deal?"

  Richard rolled his eyes. "Ok. But you don't fight me understand?"

  She nodded again.

  Richard picked up his tablet. "Fine. Let's go."

  They both moved to the door and stepped over the threshold. They crouched behind some of the debris created from the fighting. As Richard was tapping madly on the tablet, Sam pointed her gun down the hall, not knowing what else to do.

  "What do we do now?" asked Sam in a nervous whisper. "How are we going to fight off those goons?"

  Richard looked up from his tablet. "It's simple really. Will you do me a favor and fire that weapon at the soldier on the far right?"

  Sam hesitated. Richard saw her hesitation and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just think of it as Combat Tag Pro."

  Sam nodded and whispered, "Richard, you hate Combat Tag."

  She leaned up, aimed down the barrel of the gun, and squeezed the trigger.

  Kaboom!

  In a reenactment of what had happened to her and Richard right before she had passed out, super heated plasma streaked from the gun, striking the wall right next to where she was aiming. The soldiers realized they were under attack and moved into cover, maneuvering from point to point like gears in a well-made clock. Slowly, they converged on Sam and Richard while the students cowered in the background.

  Sam fired off a couple of shots. "Rich, I hope you weren't bluffing about the brilliant plan, because we're in trouble!"

  Richard smiled. "I never bluff, Sam."

  Richard tapped a large red button in the middle of his tablet that said, "Execute". Then he ducked his head and tugged Sam down beside him.

  Sirens screamed, bright lights flashed, and a corny comput
er voice sounded down the hallway.

  "Terror threat level currently at red. System will in engage in three seconds. All unauthorized personnel leave the premise immediately."

  The soldiers were momentarily caught off guard but then laughed off the threat of the computerized voice. They called at each other in Mandarin, continuing their advance on Sam and Richard. The lead man was grinning a yellow-toothed smile from cheek to disgusting cheek. He stared triumphantly at the two, raising his light shiv.

  Pat, pat, pat, pat!

  A scream, and the man's light shiv fell right between Sam's legs. She didn't understand. She looked up to see why he had dropped his blade and screamed in horror as the headless corpse of the solider fell to the ground.

  Giant rapid-fire laser weaponry had appeared from panels in the walls and lit up the area with their blasts. The "pat" noise resounded again and again. The soldiers fell where they stood, huge gaping holes in their chests and heads. Blood and the smell of burning hair and flesh threatened to overcome Sam. She didn't want to be sick. She didn't want to vomit. She tried to stop it, but she was unsuccessful.

  The lasers eventually stopped firing and the sentry guns retreated back into the walls. The sounds of pain-filled death slowly faded, leaving only the smell. Richard was the first to stand. He appeared unfazed by the violence. He moved towards their classmates, who were beginning to stand up slowly. The only one Sam recognized was Dice Dyson.

  Dice looked like he was going to cry. "We didn't die. We didn't die. How --how are we still alive?"

  Richard answered. "The school has a terrorist alert system just like the jet way and marine ports all over the UWC. If you turn the terror threat high enough, anyone not programmed into the system is seen as an enemy and the school fights back, which is probably why MESA gathered everyone in the gym in the first place."

  Nobody answered; nobody had an answer to that statement. Sam did, however, punch Richard on the arm.

  "Why didn't you do that earlier? You could have saved a lot of people in the assembly hall."

  Richard scowled at her. He obviously didn't like being hit. "I did. How do you think we got out? I initiated the grid lockdown system. You remember those lines that stretched across the assembly hall?"

  Sam nodded.

  "Those lines mark the system. They rise out of the floor, creating a protective shell around anyone who is within their confines. Once they're activated, only the governor of the providence can open them."

  Sam shook her head. "What about the people that MESA gunned down? Why didn't you save them?"

  "Because none of them are dead, Sam." Richard gestured in the direction of the assembly hall. "The group that MESA shot was only hit with pulse rounds. They hurt like hell but they are made to incapacitate, not kill. Any more stupid questions?"

  Sam glared at him. Richard turned back to Dyson.

  "Here, take this." Richard handed him his tablet. "It's useless to me now, and you'll probably need it to get out.

  Dyson took it from him. "Why is it useless? Can't you use the security system to fight?"

  Richard shook his head. "No, this network is a learning interface and it has at least two other black-hatters in the system. I won't be able to hack it again from a remote location. I was saving it for our escape, but Sam wanted to save you."

  Richard pointed at an icon. "This route will take you to a passage that will allow you to meet up with the rest of the school. I'd suggest you take the weapons from those dead soldiers. I doubt you'll meet up with more of the Móguǐ on the lower floors, but if you do, fire first. These men won't hesitate to kill you."

  Dyson nodded his head.

  "Then go."

  Dyson and the rest of the students started down the hallway and disappeared into a classroom. Sam glanced nervously at Richard. He spoke without looking at her as he led her up the hall.

  "That room contains a passage to the underground tunnel system. It's used for an emergency just like this. The tablet will tell them where to go. We should leave too, before something happens."

  Sam turned to Richard. "Now we find Adam?"

  Richard sighed. "Now we find Adam.

  Just as Richard finished his sentence a small ball of bright blue energy struck right where they had just been standing. Farther down the hall a group of soldiers ran towards them, light shivs and arm cannons at the ready.

  "So much for that." Richard grabbed Sam and started to run. They avoided the fast-moving balls of light, bobbing and weaving around the school and jumping over bodies, debris, and smoking infrastructure. Sam didn't know how they were going to dodge this bullet. She sighed. She wished she could have said goodbye to Adam.

  As they rounded another corner, Richard spoke, but not to her, and it was obvious he was trying to speak quietly. Nevertheless, Sam heard him over the din of her heavy breathing and the constant discharge of gunfire. "Doughboy to Big Daddy. SIT REP as follows: Package in hand. Environment is tango heavy. All exfil options exhausted. Permission to engage?"

  "Richard, what are you talking about?"

  "Nothing Sam. It's a password to get us out of here. The school should react."

  Sam called over the noise. "Where are we going then?"

  "There's a passage that leads out of the school. It's just ahead. If we can get there we can lose these losers."

  A half smile crossed Sam's lips. Richard always did have a way with words.

  The two friends took a final turn and ran headlong into a dead end. Where a door to another part of the school should have been, a mess of mask-wearing bodies now sat. Just beyond the bodies was a large pile of rubble made from the destroyed building materials and classroom debris. The halt of their flight took time to sink in. They were cut off. There was nowhere to go.

  The soldiers turned the corner after them and saw that they had Richard and Sam trapped. The leader grinned and walked slowly towards the two. He laughed and said something Sam didn't understand to his comrades. She knew Richard might have understood them. She watched as the leader flicked his light shiv from side to side.

  "What do we do?" Asked Sam.

  "Nothing. They're a death squad. We're dead. "

  More arguing broke out among the soldiers. They were gesturing towards Richard and Sam and pointing to the mini-screens on their wrists.

  Sam leaned in toward Richard. "Now what are they doing? Why don't they just kill us?"

  Richard shook his head. "I'm not sure. They seem to be looking for something."

  Sam's heart sped up as her mind pictured the box in her bag. She tried not to betray her increased panic. Sam looked at Richard. "And it's just now coming up? They were just shooting at us!"

  "Pulse rounds Sam. They weren't trying to kill us. If they were, we'd be dead already."

  Richard moved in front of Sam. A romantic gesture, albeit a silly one.

  The man Sam assumed was the leader of the small squad spoke again to the group, and they powered down their shivs and moved in around Richard and Sam slowly.

  In a sudden and violent action, the leader gave Richard a quick punch to the face and then a swift kick to the side. Sam saw the man grimace in surprise for some reason, but Sam wasn't sure at what. Richard hit the ground and started to spit blood.

  She felt tears form at her eyes. So much for them not trying to kill them. Richard was finally wrong about something and she wouldn't even be able to gloat.

  The group of them laughed as the leader kicked Richard again. Sam wondered if what they had in store for her was much of the same. It was not. It was much worse. The lead soldier pulled out a long wicked knife with a rippled blade. He calmly strolled up to Sam. He took the hem of her shirt and made a small incision.

  Ahhh…she thought. So that's it. 'Tis a fate worse than death for me; well isn't that nice.

  The leader apparently cracked a joke to his comrades as they laughed at his words. He started to split her shirt right up the middle. Once it was split he grabbed her and spun her around.

 
; Suddenly the man released her and fell back. Sam turned and realized Richard was in front of her, holding out his arms to either side of his body like a cross of protection. He growled at the men. "Back off."

  The others pointed weapons at him and light shivs were turned back on. The leader barked at them from the ground. Sam didn't understand the words, but she understood his meaning.