by Adam Thielen
“She will wake up,” he assured. “What can I do to help?”
* * *
“Fire!” Makida commanded.
Alarms sounded on displays inside the convention center. Its network then transmitted that alarm to Grapeseed and minor corporations in the area. A tremendous giant had appeared in the sky with no flight clearance or identification. Alarm monitors determined immediately that it was irregular even as far as flight violations go, sending along their information to all major corporations.
Even with its stealth technology, Haven could not stay hidden when launching ballistic missiles. However, the close proximity to the convention center meant that the ground to air defense systems did not have time to react. Within a few seconds of being discovered, eighteen missiles collided with the building, sending glass shooting out in all directions and turning the walls into an explosion of dust that flooded the surrounding blocks and rose into the air.
Witnessing it all were unicopter news crews still hovering outside the summit. The world watched its destruction and that of the lives of most board members from almost every major corporation. The unicopters were thrown back by the explosion and debris, but stabilized to catch the aftermath on camera.
Back on the bridge, Makida watched the destruction with a grim smile. Her army had made its first conquest and, with any luck, would be bringing back a prize that could secure the future and legitimacy of the new vampire order.
“Barnell, open the warhead bay doors,” she commanded her weapons officer. Barnell looked at the tactical officer sitting at his console. They moved in unison to confirm the command. LED panels that lined the walls went from a yellow glow to a red glow as the exterior doors slid open, revealing eight different weapon bays, each with two warheads affixed to medium range missiles.
The bay doors, like most of the ship, were shielded from radiation and magnetism. As they opened, the radiation escaped in amounts that would reveal undeniably that the vessel was armed with nuclear weapons.
* * *
As soon as the footage went live, the global response initiative was activated. Officers representing almost every corporation, even the smaller ones, received emergency notifications. Reserves were also notified to report to their bases, each one managed by several regional corporations and overseen by a continental committee. The chair and co-chair of each committee met immediately via augmented reality conferencing to assess jurisdiction, first and foremost.
After the bay doors opened and the satellites fed data of the weaponry to the continental committees, the conversation became contentious. Each continent was holding an internal conference and a global conference call at the same time. After the collapse, one major provision in establishing the corporatocracy dictated the removal of nuclear weaponry from the face of the planet. Secondary, obeyed more or less depending on the corporation, was cessation of WMD development of any kind.
In the early years, when trust was thin and confidence in any world order low, many corporations poured money into defense departments. As those investments went unused, corporations decided such expenditures ran contrary to their overriding purpose; that of profiteering. Their weaponry, flight vehicles, and support equipment and electronics were all decades old technology now. The arrival of a flying fortress armed with stealth technology and nuclear weapons was a problem—one without an obvious solution.
* * *
“Yes, all of them.” Taq insisted. “I will host a call in five minutes. Yes, well, mage enforcement says you will give me what I want. This is an emergency, so get them all in the gym or something. Five minutes. Bye.” He disconnected and flopped onto the chair in front of one of the displays streaming coverage of the bombing.
While waiting, the stream of the bombing went black. A few moments later a woman’s face appeared on the screen. She was an obvious vampire, her skin lacking any flesh tone. She sat at a desk with the flag of Noxcorp on her left and an unknown flag on her right. The latter had a white letter ‘H’ that reached from the top to the bottom, with squares of blue filling in the strokes, and vertical red bars on the left and right side.
“People of the world,” she started. “My name is Scarlett Makida. I have named my organization Haven. I am a vampire, as is the rest of Haven’s members. We have come to liberate you. Corporations will no longer rule, because they are not fit to rule. Placing governance in their hands was the path to tyranny, and the poverty many of you endure is proof of this. If you wished for a resurgence of the centralized representative republic you once had, I would not deny you it, eventually. I would only ask that you aid us in establishing a transitional government. Let us, the vampires who hid from you for so long, help you now. Prosperity is possible, but only if the power belongs to those who are free from the corruption of money. We are free. We live longer, we are stronger, we are unafraid.”
Scarlett drank water from a glass on the desk and continued. “Even now, the system is unraveling itself, with fat old men trying to figure out how to defeat us. They cannot, because they never cared about your security. They haven’t the means. This fortress is beyond anything they’ve ever seen. It is armed with sixteen nuclear warheads that can strike any target in the world from a distance of over a thousand kilometers. Anyone who attacks us will lose everything. But let us avoid bloodshed. All corporations will report their surrender and compliance within twenty-four hours. Those that do not will be destroyed. People of the world, now is your chance to rise up and overthrow the tyrannical corporate fascists. Together we will overcome.”
The screen went blank again, then back to coverage of the decimated convention center, then began showing shots of the flying fortress Haven.
Taq and Matthias stared at each other for a moment.
“I’m too tired for this shit,” Taq said, yawning.
“I guess I know who attacked Noxcorp now,” Matthias simmered.
“Congratulations.”
“I want on that boat.”
“Why?” questioned Taq.
“Those idiots flipped Frank, killed Koch, released a vampire mage. And all just so they can wear a crown and pretend to own the world. Do I need more reasons?”
Taq’s com vibrated and blinked. “Here goes nothing,” he said, walking to an adjacent room.
* * *
Tamra approached the clearing where the drone had stopped moving. Against the side of a large tree sat Gressen, still bleeding. He was pulling shot out of his body with telekinesis.
“The world has become a strange place,” he remarked. “You humans fear us, but look at what you’ve created, look at the power you wield. Flying golems, mastery of light and sound, fire that can engulf the world. You scare me.”
“I don’t suppose you could just surrender?” asked Tamra.
“No,” he shook his head. “You could never let me live a real life, let alone one befitting my greatness.”
Tamra nodded and fired her assault rifle in burst mode. Gressen expected it though, zipping behind the tree.
A rock hit Tamra on the side of the head, knocking her off balance. Several other rocks started flying toward her. She covered her face with her left arm and threw the silver grenade behind the tree. Tamra readied her rifle expecting him to dart out of the way, but Gressen had climbed the tree and descended toward her. She tried pointing her gun upwards, but couldn’t get a shot off before his claws tore through the gun’s handguard and barrel.
Gressen swiped at Tamra, but while slower, she had anticipated his movement and rolled onto her back while drawing a sidearm. His bloodlust drew him forward rather than attempting a dodge, and she made him pay, hitting him in the shoulder with a silver bullet. He swiped the gun away, sending it flying and lacerating Tamra’s hand in several places. She didn’t feel it through the adrenaline rush. The vampire then dove at her, but Tamra extended the neurotoxin blades from her bracers, thrusting them into his chest. He screamed and swiped at her face, cutting a swath through her lower left cheek up to the right side
of her forehead. She thrust her feet at him, knocking him backward. Gressen stumbled and jerked his head around, his body’s nerves experiencing confusion and immense pain from the toxins. He staggered to a large boulder and sat behind it to recover.
“Damn it all!” he cursed. “It doesn’t matter what you do, Tamra. I will recover, always. Your tricks will run out, and your resistance will end.”
Blood poured from Tamra’s hand and face, and her vision blurred. Pulling the wound gel from her belt, she felt consciousness fade. She squeezed almost all of the gel into a pile on her bleeding palm. It reacted to her blood, hardening it into a kind of patch. She pressed the rest of it onto her face, rubbing it indiscriminately. She cried softly as it touched the open wound.
Tamra cleared her throat. “You talk a lot of shit for someone who just ran and hid behind a rock,” she taunted. “I’ve heard legends about you and your two friends, and I’m not impressed.”
Gressen laughed. A few minutes later, he stood up and walked out from behind the rock. He appeared to be fully recovered. Tamra lay only ten meters away, unarmed except for blades extending from her arms. She was getting one last word in, he decided, before it was all over. “I hate to admit it,” he said, walking toward her. “But I am impressed. Now die.”
Tamra’s polonium started to glow. Gressen looked around. Seeing no one else, he charged at the warden. As he reached her, electricity arced to his body. The vampire mage writhed in pain as the metal discharged its stored energy.
* * *
Minutes earlier, Taq stood among his peers from the university, courtesy of an augmented reality conference call beamed into his pupils. He counted twenty-three mages, students, prisoners. In addition he saw university president Rafir along with Julie, Ross, and Steven.
Before anyone else could speak, Taq started. “As I speak, Tamra Redstone, a warden many of you know, is in pursuit of a vampire mage. This is not a mindless fiend like the one we defeated. This is an ancient creature, awoken from a long slumber, with the power of magic without the limitations we face. If it gets away, we are all in danger.”
Taq let it set in for a moment. “We have little time; she is alone and needs our help. We are the only ones who can help her now. It won’t be safe, but this is your chance to make a difference.”
“How?” asked Rafir.
“We are going to enter the Ethereal plane, together, all of us.”
“What? How can that help? There’s just no—” protested Rafir.
“We don’t have time, Rafir, “Taq interrupted. “I need your trust. I will enter with you, I will guide you. If you aren’t capable or willing, you can tend to those that are. You know how to, Mr. Rafir.”
Taq turned to address the mages. “I don’t have time to rally you, to talk you into this. I’m asking you, begging you; please, join me. We meet in the Ether at your location in thirty seconds.” Taq ended the call.
Taq lay down and Matthias asked what he could do. “Watch over Kate. Keep an ice pack on my forehead.” The mage closed his eyes, imagined floating in water, and connected the dots in his mind, leaving the facade behind.
Inside the ether, he willed himself to the university. He could see the auras of the students. Each of them blue, indicating they were not yet projecting with him. He counted the seconds, knowing that he could not wait forever for them. But Taq was weary, having extended himself too much that day, and needed the help.
Taq had never made the effort to befriend his colleagues, and now he felt it had caught up with him. As he finished his count to sixty, he prepared himself to go it alone. Just before he left, one of the auras shifted from blue to yellow. Then a second shift, and a third, and a fourth, then several at once. Eleven total. Taq communicated telepathically with them, a feat as easy as speaking when mages are near each other in the Ethereal plane, “Follow me.”
They flew after him, mostly keeping up as he speedily traveled toward Tamra’s aura. It once again appeared as white static due to the polonium that absorbed ethereal energy. He could tell even through the static that she had been wounded, but was still alive. He also saw the aura of the vampire mage, a bright red color like he had never seen.
“It will hurt, but we must feed her polonium by making contact with our auras,” he instructed. “Press into her aura, a few at a time. Rotate out if the pain becomes too bad or you become fatigued.” Taq showed them, moving to her and pushing his hand against her aura. Just then, the red aura began to move toward Tamra. “Quickly!” exclaimed Taq. Others joined in, surrounding Tamra with their arms outstretched, feeding their energy into her metal implants.
* * *
Tamra rolled to her feet, the stimulants of the gel kicking in, and held her arm out toward Gressen. Her polonium quickly charged again. Gressen tried to move out of the way as the next bolt discharged, but it locked onto his body and sent him into convulsions. This time the lightning did not cease; Taq and the university mages continued to feed her a steady supply of energy. The heat of the metal pained her, but the sensation was dulled from the gel and pain already emanating from her hand and face.
After a full minute of electrocution, the polonium went dark. The mages must be drained, she thought. Gressen’s body was blackened from the burns, and bits of clothing had caught fire. Smoke wafted up from his skin. He lay on his stomach, his arms stretched outwards, motionless. Then he moved. He first twitched his fingers and groaned, then pulled his elbows underneath him. Pieces of charred skin came loose from his forearms.
Tamra lunged at him, repeatedly stabbing into his skull and body with her blades, now bereft of toxins, but blades nonetheless. Gressen grabbed her ankle and pulled her off balance. His grip was iron, and as she fell backward he pulled himself toward her. He grabbed the beltline of her pants with his other hand and pulled himself on top of her.
Gressen straddled her body with his legs. Tamra stabbed at him with her claws, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them on the ground beside her head. His face was nothing but char, and through a hole in that char, sooty blood trickled forth as he uttered, “You. Are. Mine. Now.”
Laying on the cold, hard dirt, her body drained and numb with darkness surrounding her, Tamra felt utterly alone. But before panic could take hold, a warmth emerged from underneath her skin. The warden’s polonium began to glow once again, and she felt a familiar presence close to her. Thank you, Taq, she thought.
Gressen leaned down and pressed his charhole against Tamra’s neck. She felt a pinch as his fangs pierced the skin and began to drain her of life. She activated her last resort protocol through a simple circuit in her jaw. As Tamra’s vision dimmed, she felt the polonium reach maximum saturation.
“Boom, motherfucker,” she whispered with the hint of a smile. Gressen pulled away, his face already partially healed, with an expression of awe. In that moment his new connection to her allowed him to see exactly what she meant, assuring him that there was nothing he could do about it. He saw Taq’s laughter as he sat in the passenger seat of Tamra’s car. He saw Matthias behead Winter. He saw Kate crash a drone into a building. The ancient vampire mage saw the bond that held them all together, even though they themselves could not. Facing oblivion, Gressen had just enough time to realize that he had never stood a chance.
While the fission reaction of her micronuke was neatly contained within a two hundred meter radius, it was absolute in its destruction. Both Tamra and Gressen were instantly disintegrated. The blast wave took only a split second to envelope most of the park. It left a slight crater and hundreds of broken tree stumps. Small fires burned out any leftover debris. The last of the three vampire mages was dead. With it, the last of the ghouls rampaging through the streets dropped dead, the connection to the source of their corruption was now severed.
* * *
She entered the captain’s office nervously, having just completed her apprenticeship under a decorated warden. The scars from her initial implants were still fresh. Transferred to the K.C. university, she had jus
t been given her first assignment. For a new warden she was considered a little on the older side, but time had not worn away her enthusiasm. The captain, Reginald Gray, motioned for her to sit.
“What’s on your mind, Corporal?” he asked her.
“Thank you for seeing me, sir,” she stammered. “I just wanted to make sure I have the right orders. This says I’m assigned to just one mage.”
“It also says other assignments as needed, and don’t worry, we will keep you busy,” he explained. “But yes, Taq Jones. He’s given his previous warden problems, so he’s being passed to you. That warden and others have said he has his mind set on escaping, that he is self-destructive, and that he’s talented.”
“I read his file, sir. I’ll talk to the university staff, try to channel his energy into something productive, introduce some positive elements—”
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Reginald overruled. “He’s on probation. We’ve seen this type of thing before. If he tries to escape, we’ll transfer him to a detention facility, and then we can give you a more involved assignment.” The corporal looked down at the screen on his desk, then into her eyes. “Remember, we don’t interact directly with the mages, but keep a close eye on him.”
“Uh, yes sir. Will do. Thank you,” the warden said, nodding only to be agreeable, having no intention of letting her first ward fall through the cracks. She stood and saluted.
“Anytime, Redstone. Dismissed.”
Episode 12: Whatever It Takes
Taq screamed into the darkness of the Ether as polonium particles tore through his aura. The other two auras battling expanded into nebulous clouds before fading away. He was immediately and violently shunted back to his body. For a few seconds he lay there with his eyes closed, tears welling up behind his lids. When he opened them, he saw Matthias standing above him.