“Thank you.” Crinnan said, “Where is the room?”
“Number four... at the top of the stairs take a right.” He said, “We have running warm water in that one, it's our suite.” Crinnan nodded his head again and walked over to the aged stairs. He was grateful for Jethro's hospitality and for the first time in awhile he felt good. The little chat he had with the old Elf was rejuvenating, and it encouraged him to keep going.
He even nearly smiled as he walked up the stairs...
***
“He is close...” Cade muttered to himself as he crunched through the foliage of the Belhaasi Weald. Staring down at his hand-held computer he could see that the blip marked “target” was only maybe a couple hundred yards away. He stopped and waited.
'Why am I doing this?' he thought to himself. 'After all these years in the shadows...' He sighed and put the computer in a pouch on his belt. 'I could ruin everything by doing this. After investing so much effort in remaining neutral... one slip up...' He reached up and grabbed the limb of a nearby tree.
“Nida I am on the outskirts of the village.” He said into a communicator. “Standby.” He flipped the communicator shut and slid it into another pouch.
“What was it?” He asked himself as he climbed the tree. 'What was the vision? What was the information?' He pulled himself up and started to scale the tree limb by limb. 'What does Govia want with him?' He left his mind to dwell on that thought for a moment as he got his balance and perched himself at the end of a branch.
'None of it makes sense.' he continued. 'Not a single bit of it. Why him of all people and why now?” He unslung his rifle and shouldered it, looking through the scope at the small village ahead of him.
He pressed a small button on the side of the scope and through the cylinder the darkness was illuminated. He could see everything.
“Where are you...” he mumbled as he scanned the village. 'Me and my damn obligations... me and my curiosity...' he zoomed in on a building and checked the windows. He saw a dirty male thrusting wildly into a female. He zoomed in closer.
“At all hours...” he said with a chuckle and moved on to a different building. 'There we go.' He saw his target walk through a door on the second floor and sit down on a bed. “Gotcha.”
***
The door shut behind Crinnan, leaving him alone in the room with his thoughts. It had been a strange day and processing everything was a bit overwhelming. His head felt heavy so he walked over to one of the two beds and took a seat at the foot of it.
He breathed in the air and exhaled a long drawn out sigh. The silence of the room amplified the thoughts in his head. It did not take long for him to feel like he was sitting in crowded room surrounded by dozens of voices that sounded like his own. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair
“What is all this?” Crinnan asked himself as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs and his face in his hands. He closed his eyes and tried to think but only heard questions. 'Will I see my squad again... Why are the Govians after me... What were the dreams that everyone had but me...' these thoughts filled his mind and thrust everything he knew into a pitch black labyrinth. All he could do was feel along the walls and hope to find the exit.
“Crinnan.” Eshan said, “I know the answers to the questions you are asking.”
“How could you?” Crinnan replied.
“I live in your mind..” Eshan said. “I hear your thoughts, I share your feelings… I know everything.”
The doorway to the bathroom was on the wall across from Crinnan. He discarded his confusion for a moment and stood to his feet. Ignoring Eshan, he decided that he felt like a shower would help get his mind off of things.
Crinnan walked into the bathroom and began stripping his gear off. Once he was naked he reached into the shower and turned the hot water on. He was surprised that they had that type of luxury in such a remote place.
“Crinnan you must listen.” Eshan said, “I know what is going on. Sage is lying to you, this whole village is lying to you… Crinnan the life you are living right now is all a lie.”
The water spat inconsistently out of the nozzle for a few moments but it eventually turned into a steady stream. Crinnan reached his hand out to check whether it was warm or not only to find that it was cold as ice. He hummed and sat on the toilet, waiting for the temperature to rise.
“Listen to me!” Eshan said. “Govia knows where you are, how to get you… they are on their way now. I can sense them coming. Listen to me before you lose your chance, I can tell you everything!”
There was a knock at the door. Crinnan sighed and shook his head. “Eshan, all I want right now is peace and quiet.” He said. “It seems that nobody wants to give that to me.” Crinnan stood up and wrapped a towel around his waist.
As he walked he thought about how large his traveling party had grown since he and Sage had left that morning. It annoyed him that so many beings thought it necessary to tag along.
He supposed that everybody had somewhere to go, though most of the people he was traveling with had no clue where their somewhere was. They just needed somebody to take them someplace new. He understood that but he also hated it. He did not want to feel responsible for them and he did not want them slowing him down.
There was another knock at the door right as Crinnan approached it. “Hang on.” He said and unlocked the deadbolt. “I was not expecting you so soon.” He pulled the door open, and immediately stepped back.
“Who are you?” He asked the broad shouldered being who stood in the hallway.
“I am Cade Larynks.” the other said with a deep voice. He stepped into the room and looked directly at Crinnan. “Please sit, we have much to discuss.”
“President Cade Larynks? Of Agra?” Crinnan asked, running his hand through his hair. He had heard of him before, he commanded one third of the Agra Triangle Corporation. His views on how the corporation should be run were different than those of either General Trabiaa’s or General Deling’s.
“Have you come to kill me?”
“Far from it.” Cade replied, closing the door behind him. He looked Crinnan up and down through the hole in his half-mask. “I am here to make certain that you get to where you need to be.” He sounded sincere.
Crinnan hummed and sat down, crossing his arms. He was getting cold from his lack of clothing. “Why does it matter to you?” Crinnan asked, “Your people tried to kill me this morning.”
“One.” Cade said firmly, holding up a finger at my direction. “Whoever attacked you this morning were not my people. They were Trabiaa's. And two; I would very much like to learn the meaning behind ‘Demon’.”
“I have heard that word a lot recently.” Crinnan said. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Did you see the vision?” Cade asked.
“No.” Crinnan replied, “But I have heard a bit about it.”
“Interesting.” Cade said. “Everybody who has the NaNe saw the vision. You are a wanted man.”
“I am starting to find that out.” Crinnan said. “Do you have any idea why I am wanted?”
“I have a few theories.” Cade said, taking a seat on a bench across from Crinnan. He crossed his legs and moved his cloak out of his way. “The vision was a compressed file that was released into the nanomachine network… it automatically unpacked itself once it forced its way into everyone’s personal network. It was not much more than a wanted poster of sorts that displayed the simplest form of data that our NaNe can read. It gave your basic information: height, weight, race, NPIN and a picture of your face.”
“Wait what?” Crinnan said, interrupting him, “What is an NPIN?”
“I forget that you people are not very knowledgeable of ancient technology.” he replied. “The NPIN stands for NaNe Personal Identification Number. Everyone has their own unique NPIN. With the right hands it can be plugged into a computer and your position can be tracked through a geolocation scan.”
“How does that work?” Crinn
an asked.
“Basically the person who wants to find you puts your NPIN into the computer and that locates your personal network.” He said, “Without geolocation scanning though, your NaNe would just show up as “discovered” with no general location. Through geolocating however, the computer measures the distance from your NaNe to known fixed NaNe locations and is able to pinpoint your personal location on a map within a few kilometers. That was how I found you.”
“So is that how the Govian army has been able to find me so easily?” Crinnan asked.
“I would say so.” Cade said, fondling the armrest to his right. “To the average person like yourself the NPIN is meaningless, just a sequence of numbers. To somebody with a background in technology reclamation and study like me however... We will just say that you are lucky that I got to you first.”
“Successfully you mean.” Crinnan said, “All the others who tried have been killed.”
“Well then I guess I am the lucky one.” Cade said. “Anyway like I said I am here to help you.” He stood up and pulled two shiny metal cylinders from his belt. “And I need you to cooperate.”
“What are those for?” Crinnan asked, standing and backing away.
“This will work better for both of us if you do not resist.” Cade said, “Please, I do not want to have to use force.”
“Then tell me what they are!” Crinnan said, frantically sidestepping toward the door. Cade pulled out what looked like a silenced pistol and aimed it at Crinnan.
“Crinnan sit down.” He said in a calm voice, “And I will tell you.” Crinnan shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
Crinnan wondered why he could not have just a normal day as he sat back down on the bed. “What are they?” Crinnan asked.
“One is called a purge, and the other is called a flood.” He said, holding the cylinders closer to me. “The purge will remove all traces of NaNe in your system and wipe your personal data clean.”
“No!” Eshan said, “Don’t let him!”
“What do you mean?” I asked, ignoring Eshan. “Wipe my data clean?”
“Any information stored in the NaNe about your life now or any days before will be gone. It will be like you are starting over fresh... It will register you being dead.”
“And I will be gone forever.” Eshan replied “Trapped in one of those tubes. Do not let him do this to me!”
“So what is the other one?” Crinnan asked.
“The other one is full of ready-to-go NaNe machines.” He said, “Once I put it in your system, it will immediately bond to you and reassign you a new NPIN. With a new NPIN nobody will be able to track you and you will be able to move freely again without fear of pursuit.”
Crinnan sat on the bed and sighed deeply. He did not know what to think about Cade or anything he was saying, it was all happening so fast... he looked at him and shook his head.
“Do I have any choice?” Crinnan asked.
“Do not let him Crinnan!” Eshan shouted. “I beg you!”
“You always have a choice.” Cade said, waving his pistol at Crinnan. “But so do I.”
“So if I resist,” Crinnan said, looking down at the floor, “ Then you will simply kill me? After all this you would just shoot me in cold blood?”
“I would shoot you without hesitation.” He said, “But it would not kill you.” He held the gun out so I could see it better. “This weapon shoots two electrically charged prongs that will stick into your body and render you immobile long enough for me to get the job done. I do not want to have to do that but one way or another Crinnan, this will happen.”
Crinnan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Once he realized that he was at the mercy of an Agra general and considering how his variables were lined up he felt completely defeated.
“Eshan…” Crinnan said, “Be quiet.”
“You son of a bitch.” Eshan said. “You murdering stupid selfish son of a bitch. You promised you would take me to my son… you promised!”
“You are not lying to me are you?” Crinnan asked, looking back at Cade, “Please do me the service of telling the truth. You could kill me in an instant if you wanted. I need to know the truth.”
“Begging does not suit you.” Cade said, standing up. “I have told you only the truth since I introduced myself, you do not need to worry. I am only here to help.”
Crinnan did not believe him. Why the general himself chose to assassinate him was over my head, but I was not going to go without a fight. I decided it was time to improvise.
“What is the bounty on a Centurion now?” I asked standing up and eying the lamp to my right. “Thirty thousand Aurum?”
“Yes Crinnan!” Eshan said, “Yes! You are not a stupid son of a bitch. I am sorry.”
“The bounty? Not quite work the effort...” Cade replied, “I have stacks of aurum at home, piles. Do you know how much my office chair cost me? Seventeen thousand. Why would I risk dying for two office chairs?”
“You tell me.” Crinnan said and looked at him. A look of annoyance spread over the unmasked portion of Cade’s face and Crinnan quickly reached to grab the lamp. In one simultaneous move, he threw it at the general only for him to sidestep out of the way.
“Wrong.” He said, lunging at Crinnan and throwing a fist into his jaw. Crinnan slammed into the bedside table behind him and toppled over it. The wall behind stopped his fall and as he pushed off of it to counter Cade's attack he felt an immense pain suddenly searing through my whole body.
“I told you.” Cade said, pushing Crinnan down onto the bed. “I told you not to resist. Did I not tell you this would happen?”
“Fight Crinnan!” Eshan pleaded, “Don’t let him do this, don’t let him do this to me!”
Crinnan could not move but he could see, hear and feel everything Cade was doing. He tried to shout but only a weak groan came out. Cade shook his head and pulled out one of the cylinders.
“Stop!” Eshan screamed.
“This is only going to help you.” He said, pulling the cap off the cylinder; revealing a painful looking needle.
“No, please!” Eshan yelled, hoping Cade could hear. “Please!”
“You will learn that I can be trusted.” Cade said as he plunged the needle into Crinnan’s neck.
Crinnan' body felt funny. He did not know whether it was because of the taser-induced paralysis or because Cade was extracting the machines from him. Either way he felt scared and vulnerable.
“Almost done.” Cade said, pulling the needle from Crinnan’s neck. “I was really hoping that it would not come to this.” He turned and looked behind him as heard the door swing open and cursed as Sage walked in.
“Crinnan I hope you like rice, the options were...” Sage said, stopping abruptly. “I do not remember you mentioning guests.” Cade rolled his eyes and stepped toward Sage, holding his hands in front of him in defense.
“I can explain everything.” Cade said, “I just need.”
“Help!” Crinnan said weakly. Sage cocked his head and leapt forward, throwing an open palm square into Cade's chest. Cade let out a surprised shout as he was blown across the room. He slammed into the wall and Sage hurried over and threw another NaNe charged fist into his chest. Cade crashed out the window behind him and Sage ran to Crinnan’s side and helped him sit up.
“You should show more discretion in choosing your bed mates dear boy.” Sage said, rubbing Crinnan’s back.
“He stuck me...” Crinnan said weakly, rubbing his neck where the needle pierced his skin.
“I should say that that’s none of my business.” Sage said, shaking his head, “All I am saying...”
“No!” Crinnan shouted, “Idiot!” He leaned back on his elbows and shook his head to gain composure, “Not like that. With a needle, he stuck me. He said he was draining my nanomachines.”
“Oh.” Sage said, standing up and walking back over to the window. “Damn. Then I probably should not have been so quick to blast him out of the r
oom.”
“Why?” Crinnan asked, “He was dangerous.”
“No.” Sage said, walking away from the window. “I think he actually may have been trying to help you. Do you know who he was?”
“President Cade.” Crinnan replied, looking down at his thighs.
“Wait.” Sage said, walking over to look at him, “The President Cade?”
“Yeah.” Crinnan said, “President Cade Larynks of the Agra Triangle Corporation.”
“I should say that I do not understand why he would take an interest in you.” Sage said, rubbing his chin, “Well I do, but... why would he personally come to purge your NaNe? I am very curious. I suppose I should have let him explain himself...”
“I did not trust him.” Crinnan said, rubbing his neck again. “I tried to fight him off, but I was at a disadvantage… I… I lost Eshan.”
“A disadvantage indeed.” Sage said, walking over to the bench that Cade previously sat at. “As far as Eshan goes, there are more important things you could have lost… Are you alright?”
“I will be fine.” Crinnan said as he stood. “I will not be letting my guard down so easily anymore though.”
“That is probably a good idea.” Sage replied. Crinnan sighed and walked toward the bathroom.
“I am going to take a shower.” He said as he stepped inside.
“That is fine.” Sage said, waving at me, “I will keep watch out here. I brought rice for when you are finished.”
Crinnan nodded and closed the curtain.
“I am sorry, Eshan...” he said, sighing.
Chapter 8: Part Two
The President III
22nd of Ramlia - 346AG
20:00 - Pado Village - Belhaasi Weald
Cade crashed through the window of the second story room and fell to the ground below. He had no control over his body as he tumbled across the lawn toward the trees, he could not help the cracking and popping he heard from within his torso. Finally, as he came to rest against the trunk of a tree, he let out a low groan and checked to make sure he was still alive.
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