by Ann Bakshis
“I thought Keegan was confined to quarters for the next several days.”
“He was, but I’ve since changed my mind.”
That would explain why Wavern is in a mood this morning and why Keegan wasn’t in our quarters when I woke up.
“Wavern has requested that you return to Squad Eight after today. The request has been denied, so I would say the subject about your transfer among the squads is now closed,” she says as her eyes narrow almost to the point of daggers. “Now, let me set a few new boundaries for you.” She clears her throat, picks up her glass, and finishes her water before continuing. “You’ll be placed into normal rotation, but under Squad Two, which means you’ll be helping with the memorial and celebration in the city the rest of the day and tonight. You’ll only be permitted to handle your weapons at the target range until you’ve recalled enough of your memories for me to know you aren’t a threat to anyone, including yourself.”
“You think I’m a threat to myself?” I blurt out, heat rising in my chest.
“Well, you did try to kill yourself, Sara. Why else would you have gone running like a lunatic from the compound into a toxic environment? You know full well someone or something launches nuclear bombs whenever they detect us outside. Our satellites aren’t able to pick them up until a few seconds before impact. You’ve known this your whole life, which is why all our passageways are underground.”
“Then why wasn’t a bomb launched when everyone came looking for me? Or when we left that neighborhood?” I ask.
“I wish I could answer that. Wavern asked me the exact same question when you all returned, but I have no explanation.”
I’m not buying any of it. “You seriously believe I was trying to kill myself?” I ask.
She’s right, I was, but I’ll never openly admit it.
“Yes, Sara, that’s the only explanation for you leaving.” She stands and settles back down next to me, patting my knee. “The minute you remember why you ran, I need to know immediately. It’s essential to the safety of everyone, including yourself. I don’t want anyone repeating your mistake.”
She’s failing at trying to sound sincere, so I fake a smile to show I understand.
Andra quickly stands and goes over to a receiver on the wall, where she calls Wavern to come and collect me.
“If I’m assigned to Grimm’s squad, why isn’t he being summoned?” I ask a little too harshly.
“He’s already in Demos, my dear. Wavern will take you to him since he needs to meet Squad Eight at one of the launch sites anyway.”
Wavern arrives a few minutes later with the same stern look on his face as when he left. He doesn’t say anything to me as we exit the barracks and make our way to the garage, and remains silent until we’re fastened into one of the four-seater ATVs and have maneuvered out of the garage, heading down the road towards Demos.
“Sometimes I don’t understand that woman,” he grumbles. “What did she want with you?”
“She was probing to see how much of my memory has come back.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“The truth. Not much of it has, but she wants to know the minute I remember why I went into Lymont. She’s convinced I tried to kill myself.”
My body jerks violently forward when he slams on the brakes. “What?”
“She says that, because we’ve always been told and have always seen a bomb go off whenever someone is out on the surface, I must’ve known it would happen to me when I ran from Rinku.”
“So her conclusion is that you wanted to get blown up?”
I nod.
His face contorts and I can’t tell if he’s about to burst out laughing or start yelling. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he finally says after composing himself. “There’s no way in hell you would’ve done something so ridiculous. You’re the toughest person I know, besides me of course. Andra must be losing her mind in her old age.”
Wavern steps on the gas and we shoot forward. He doesn’t stop again until we’re halfway into the parking pad at Demos. Grimm is standing by the entrance to the city, with his arms folded across his chest and the hint of a smile on his face. He approaches us and goes over to Wavern’s side.
“That didn’t take as long as I thought,” Grimm says, leaning against the doorframe.
“I don’t think Andra got the answers she was looking for,” Wavern replies with a glance towards me. “Has Jules come through yet?”
“Yes. He and Keegan took half the squad to the second launch site,” Grimm says, but then his face darkens a little. “Cody isn’t with your squad.”
Wavern’s eyes narrow and it looks like he’s about to go off, but he manages to keep his composure. “Damn that kid. He told me this morning that he was going to be able to handle working in the launch site today. What excuse is he giving this time?”
“He claims the bombing at Lymont brought back too many memories from when the abandonment home was destroyed,” Grimm replies as he hands Wavern two guns still in their holsters. “He’s afraid to get anywhere near anything similar, such as fireworks. I thought it best if I took his weapons away.”
Wavern rubs his face, obviously trying to determine what to do. “Well, he can’t go back to the compound until this is over. Andra will have him demoted if he does,” he says as he takes the holsters. “Does your squad need any help?”
“I can take him for today but he’ll need to be watched, and I don’t know how I’ll manage to do that since everyone is already busy.”
“I can watch him,” I blurt out, as I feel they’ve forgotten I was there.
They stare at me for a few seconds, probably thinking it’s not wise to have a flight risk watching over a basket case.
“Are you sure?” Grimm asks, sounding skeptical. “He’s not acting right today.”
“I’ll keep him distracted, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“All right then,” Wavern says with a small sigh. “He’s your problem for the rest of today. Tomorrow I’ll have Nex run some tests on his mental fitness.” He hands me the guns, which I strap around each thigh.
I climb out of the ATV just before Wavern turns around and heads back down the tunnel. I follow Grimm into Demos, where the noise of celebration can be heard before the doors even open. Black and dark blue streamers hang from the balconies and terraces in Zones A and E. Small children run up and down the road, playing tag or blowing bubbles. Lively music wafts over our heads as we make our way to the center of the city. A casual observer would think this was a celebration, not a memorial.
Cody is leaning against one of the trees in Zone D, his eyes narrowed as he watches the citizens of Demos celebrate on the soft grass. He looks lost and almost infantile in his posturing. Grimm steps close, but doesn’t touch him.
“Sara is going to keep you company,” Grimm tells Cody quietly. “Why don’t you two work on setting up the podium for Myr to give her speech from?”
Cody reluctantly pushes himself off the tree and meanders over to the large pool in the center. I follow at a slight distance while Grimm goes off into the parks. The two of us begin to assemble a platform where the governing body will sit as Myr, the leader of Demos, gives her speech.
We’re halfway done when Cody starts to look anxious and uncomfortable before bolting towards the Factory. I have to race to catch up to him.
“Where are you going?” I ask, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop.
“Did you see him?” Cody asks, his voice high-pitched and shaky.
“Who?”
“Tennison.”
“Cody, he died months ago in Virtus; you know that.”
“He’s not dead. I just saw him going towards the Factory.”
I stare in the direction Cody is now pointing, but the road is empty. Whatever he saw seems to have moved on. That’s if he actually saw anything at all. The stress of the day must be making him delusional.
“Let’s get back to work,” I say.
“I think Cody needs to go back to the compound now,” I say to him when we’re out of earshot of Cody. “He’s losing his mind. He thinks he saw Tennison.”
I thought I saw him, too, yesterday, but I’m not about to admit it.
“Fuck, I knew the kid was unstable,” Grimm grumbles. “The governing body just doesn’t understand what kind of torment this so-called memorial causes people. If I take Cody back now, Andra will have him arrested for dereliction of duty, which would be worse than him staying here.”
“Well, he can’t stay here,” I say. “He’ll just get worse as the day progresses.”
“There isn’t anywhere else he can go,” Grimm says, becoming hostile. “Look, just keep him calm and away from the crowds as best you can. The sun will be setting in a couple of hours, and the fireworks will launch a few minutes after that. He can return to the compound during that time.”
“Fine,” I say.
Grimm heads down the road between Zones A and E while I pull Cody over to a bench by an ice cream parlor that sits at the entrance to Zone C. I hold his hand and squeeze it, which seems to calm him down a little. I wish I knew why he’s so shaken. Cody has always been a little unstable, but never outright deranged like he’s acting now. He has me gravely concerned.
As the crowds starts to congregate around the plaza, Cody becomes more agitated, so I have him take a walk with me around Zone B, where there aren’t any crowds. We wander up and down the paths that wind around the various buildings, then take a break in front of the library as a thought crosses my mind.
“Do you mind if we step inside for a little bit?” I ask.
“No, that’s fine.”
As we step through the rotating doors, I think about how I’m going to look up the history on the Arliss. Hopefully it’s in the databases housed on the second floor. If not, I might have to get creative.
Eight
The library is practically deserted, with only a handful of people milling about the racks of books that cover the first floor. We head up a staircase in the center of the building to the second floor, which is filled with interactive workstations. I select one in the far corner. Cody has to pull a chair over so he can sit by me, since there’s only one seat per station. I tap on the monitor and begin running through the various files, hoping I can easily find one on the Arliss. After ten minutes when I don’t locate anything, I do a search on his name but again nothing.
“Try the word ‘war’,” Cody suggests.
I enter that as my search word, but what appears isn’t exactly what I’m looking for. It’s an editorial on the war between the Comhar of the Ulun Territory and the Levo of the Aslu Territory. I decide to give it a read anyway. What could it hurt?
The Rodinea Expanse, the last freshwater lake known to exist, has been a battleground between the Ulun and Aslu Territories for years. The border for these two powerful factions lies in the center of the expanse, so both sides technically have equal claim. However, with the world around us dying, life becoming almost impossible to sustain, and our resources running out, the Rodinea Expanse is the last hope for both the Comhar and Levo. Tensions between the two factions has risen to the point that each group has started construction of their own bunkers, and a city inside the Kai and Nove Mountain ranges protected by force fields to house their citizens if war does break out—which, at this point, is inevitable and could lead to further disintegration of our already fragile planet.
A map is provided in the upper right-hand corner of the editorial, so I select it to have a better look. The Rodinea Expanse is a massive lake that lies in a valley between both mountain ranges. I didn’t even know this body of water existed since I’ve never seen it from the lookouts or Demos, so it probably didn’t survive the war. The map goes on to mark the future sites for the three compounds, the city of Demos, and the abandonment home. I’m kind of surprised that the Levo in the Aslu Territory have only one compound marked, while the Comhar in Ulun have two strategically placed at either end of the Nove Mountains but on the other side, away from the lake and Demos.
Maybe they felt if the compounds were constructed on the same side as the expanse, then war would definitely break out. So, then, why not build them in the mountains like the Levo did? Perhaps it would’ve been too much of an undertaking since Demos was going there. The abandonment home rests in the mountains, but if my memory is correct it’s cut into the edge of the mountainside, so there would’ve been more blasting than actual construction like there was for Demos.
“What’s that?” Cody asks, pointing to a linked word at the bottom of the article.
“Let’s see,” I say, tapping on the word Nathair, which brings me to an article written by Myr for the fiftieth anniversary of the memorial.
Many have held the belief that our ancestors knew the key to protecting our world, ensuring our everlasting survival. However, that idea fell out of favor as society evolved and separated, isolating the two territories from each other for centuries. It wasn’t until the impending war between the Levo and Comhar that this belief was resurrected. Hidden deep within the Nove Mountains, a worker who was clearing away a section of stone for the Occlyn Ring to be constructed came across a small, shallow cavity containing several stone texts, which were covered in an antiquated language of symbols. Intrigued by the find, the texts were brought to a historian in the Ulun Territory. She spent months studying the symbols and trying to locate as much information on our ancestors and their wild beliefs as possible. When she felt she had translated the symbols properly, she published a finding that our ancestors’ idea about a being called the Arliss was the only creature capable of undoing the damage that had been done to our world, thereby saving it from extinction.
Few believed the misguided woman, while others called for her banishment to the Aslu Territory to live out her days with the Levo as a prisoner of war. Because she was a well-regarded young woman the leader of the Comhar permitted her to stay, but restricted her activities. She refused to be belittled or demeaned, and one night she managed to slip across the barrier that divides the territories. Little is known as to what occurred when she entered the depraved territory of Aslu, only that she was located two days later with a young man in the southern section of the Aslu Territory, several hundred miles east of the Kai Mountains.
Many Levo began to fall under the spell of this wicked man, the Arliss as he was determined to be called. They began turning on their own neighbors and murdering them as they slept if they refused to join him. The Comhar were no less susceptible to the lies and promises the Arliss made to gain followers. It became apparent to the leaders of both territories that the young man was quickly taking control of the weak-minded and making them into his disciples. These followers who called themselves the Nathair kept their existence hidden for several months, disguising themselves from the rest of society. The only way to determine who was a Nathair was by the small black spider tattoo on the inner part of their left wrist.
A new strategy had to be implemented before the Arliss overpowered both communities. The leaders for the Levo and Comhar put aside their differences, focused on completing their respective safe havens and compounds, and then declared war on the Arliss together. Many lives were lost during the conflict, but the greatest number was when the Arliss forced the leaders to launch a nuclear attack against those they had once sheltered, leaving the world blistered and the expanse dead. Those who survived annihilation and were free of the Nathair’s mark were ushered to the abandonment home, as a way to contain the radiation that pulsed through their bodies from seeping into a healthy population that currently called Demos home. The Arliss and the Nathair were destroyed, but in their
wake our world was left in worse condition than when the conflict between the two territories began.
All historical records or artifacts that had once been preserved were immediately destroyed as a way to cleanse the new society from the curse of the old. The Levo and Comhar no longer exist because they joined together for a common purpose, thus ending all clashes between the two groups. A new world has been created, but one that needs tender loving care. If we endure another attempted eradication, our world and its people will be lost forever.
The Arliss is trying to return, but if he’s successful, life as we know it will end as that was almost the outcome during his last visit. The woman was wrong in believing the Arliss would save us… he’s meant to destroy us, but how do you stop a creature that’s immortal? There has to be a way. He didn’t just come out of nowhere; he has to have an origin. But how do I figure it out without asking him?
“I need some air,” Cody says, then stumbles away.
I leave the workstation and follow him outside the library. He looks pale and is having a hard time catching his breath. He has to sit on the curb and put his head between his knees to calm himself down.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, rubbing his back.
“Didn’t you just read the same shit I did?” he practically shouts. “Our own government dropped those bombs… it wasn’t the Arliss like they’ve always forced into our heads.”
“They didn’t have a choice, Cody. The Arliss was destroying the world and they had to stop him, so, technically, the world was destroyed by the Arliss.”
Who hasn’t said a word to me in a while, which should cause me some concern, but I’m grateful for the peace and quiet at the moment.
“But that’s exactly what they did… made this world unlivable. Myr claims that the two factions came together but my family originated in Aslu, making me a Levo; and we were treated like shit, even when I was a kid. The majority of those who live in Demos are Comhar descendants. The Levo were led to the abandonment home to die out, not to be protected.”