“Until what?”
“Until I saw him…” Rayal hesitated, “standing behind her as she looked into my hospital room. He was whispering to her and I had never seen her look so afraid.”
Kailynn dropped her eyes to the ground as well, looking up only briefly to be sure that they were going in the right direction.
“You just have to understand that, when she does that, it’s because she’s trying to protect you, and herself.”
“Can Isa feel emotions? Or not?” Kailynn demanded.
“According to the doctors, no, she can’t,” Rayal said seriously. “She’s passed every degenerate test they have. No one has been able to figure out why she acts the way she does, like she’s…”
“Human?”
“Yes.”
Kailynn sighed heavily and shook her head.
“I just wish she would talk to me,” she said. “I’m starting to feel useless, like I’m just around for decoration.”
“No, not at all,” Rayal said strongly. “I wish I could say something that would make you feel better, because I know how scary and confusing it is when she’s like that. But I can only tell you that she cares for you very deeply. And you are the best thing that has happened to her in…who knows how long.”
Kailynn sighed once more and dropped the subject.
It was another ten minutes before they reached the general area where the drone crashed. Among the dilapidated buildings with broken windows and crumbling foundations, it was hard to determine where the drone had crashed.
Rayal pulled out a hand-held sensor.
They followed the signal into one building and up three floors, finding the small, round drone sparking sporadically on the ground.
“That’s what a drone looks like?” Kailynn asked as Rayal pocketed the sensor again.
“Yes.”
“Those things crash here all the time.”
“They do?” Rayal asked, turning to Kailynn quickly.
“Yes, at least four times a year, sometimes more.”
“For how long?”
“I dunno…at least the last three to four years.”
Rayal turned back to the drone, looking it over carefully as he circled it.
“And they look exactly like this one?”
“Yeah,” Kailynn said. “Spy drones have been in Trid for years?”
“This isn’t a spy drone,” Rayal said, crouching on one side of it. “It’s a router drone.”
“A what?”
“These haven’t been in use in decades,” Rayal said. “I’ve never actually seen one operational.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out gloves. “They’re…something of a transmitter. They pick up a paired signal and move to a location closer to where the owner wants it broadcasted. This is ancient technology at this point.”
“Could someone change it to do something else?”
“I doubt it,” Rayal said, reaching into one of the fractured pieces and pulling out one wire. The small, glowing light faded immediately. “We’ll take it back to the office and have it examined. We should also tell Isa once we know for sure what it does.”
Kailynn had never been to the Syndicate Building before, and her eyes continued to wander as she tried to keep up with Rayal. The building was a towering structure of glass and metal, filled with light. The first floor held small offices where robots were taking and directing calls. The second floor, the floor where Rayal and Kailynn got off the elevator, was open and spacious where a hallway led into a cavernous room of computers, with monitors and screens that lined the walls for five stories, different images flashing across different screens. There were three Elites in that room, focused on their tasks as they moved around the different computers.
Kailynn had to jog to catch up with Rayal as he approached an elevator on the other side of the room. Through the glass doors, she looked over the immense control room, seeing the glass-walled offices with walkways overlooking the large room.
They stopped at the top floor of the control room and exited immediately to Isa’s office door. It opened automatically for them and Kailynn looked around eagerly.
Isa’s office was mostly bare. There were two tables stacked high with files and removable drives. One desk near the balcony doors had a personal terminal on it that was hibernating with the screensaver of the Syndicate crest rotating on it. In the middle of the room was a large NCB chair, even larger than the one Isa had at Anon Tower. Opposite the desk was a small seating area with black couches and a coffee table.
Isa was sitting there, Paul across from her, and a creature Kailynn had never seen before sitting next to Isa, its front legs over her legs. Its head lifted and turned to those who entered the office, ears perking up.
“Kailynn, Rayal,” Isa greeted.
“What is that?” Kailynn asked, her eyes fixed on the creature.
“It’s a dog,” Paul answered with a stunning smile. Kailynn was not sure how one human could be so good-looking. His appearance rivaled that of an Elite. “You probably have never seen one before.”
“They’re very rare, now,” Isa elaborated, motioning Kailynn closer. “They’re used for therapy only now, and come at a very high price.”
“Is it safe?”
“Very,” Paul chuckled. “She’s mine. Her name is Tiana.”
“Is this the mother of Remus’ dog?” Rayal asked, walking forward and extending his hand to the animal.
“She is,” Paul affirmed.
Kailynn slowly walked over to the animal, unsure what to do. She had never seen anything like the dog before. Animals were very rare on Tiao—only birds were common. She had never even heard of a dog before.
The animal was very soft, and Kailynn sat down next to it, petting it over and over again. Tiana’s tail began wagging and she licked the Significant’s hand.
“She likes you,” Paul said with a smile.
“Remus has one of these?”
“I prescribed one to him,” Paul said, nodding. “Tiana had just had a litter of pups, so I sold him one.” His smiled widened. “How are you doing, Kailynn?”
“Alright…” Kailynn said, turning away from the handsome doctor.
“Yet another flustered by your stunning good looks, Paul,” Isa teased.
“I have to make friends somehow,” Paul played along. “Have you two been speaking to one another? Did you apologize, Isa?”
“Of course I did,” Isa said, glaring playfully. “I’m not a child. I can admit that I was wrong.”
“Did you accept her apology?” Paul asked. “You can be honest with me.”
“I told her if she treated me like that again I would call her out on her bullshit.”
Paul laughed, looking at Isa.
“She’s a good match for you.”
“Yes, I think so,” Isa said, glancing briefly at Kailynn with a smile.
“We were just finishing up our visit,” Paul said. “I hope that you’re not here with bad news…”
“Afraid we are,” Rayal said, showing him the removable drive in his hand.
“Back to work, then, Isa.”
“What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon?” Isa asked as the doctor stood.
“I have an academic paper to finish,” Paul said with a heavy sigh. “Doctors are supposed to continue publishing, you know.”
“I know,” Isa chuckled. “I’ve read everything you’ve published.”
“What about Michael? His last paper was incredible. I find the genetic reset topic in Elite descendants fascinating.”
“I haven’t gotten to that one yet,” Isa admitted.
“I’m telling on you,” Paul teased. “He’ll be crushed.”
“I think he’ll understand,” Isa said playfully. “He published that less than six months ago. I’ve been busy.”
“You have,” Paul agreed. “But you should read it. Both your doctors are rather brilliant, if you don’t mind my saying so.”
“How much of that is due to your Elite fathers?” Isa
challenged with a smile.
“If you had read Michael’s last paper, you would realize that we do not owe them much,” Paul said with a playful glare. “You have some required reading to do, it would seem.”
Isa laughed, standing as Tiana jumped off the couch and trotted to Paul’s side, sitting obediently. Kailynn was surprised to find herself upset to have the dog move away. She glanced between Isa and Paul before walking to the dog, crouching next to her while the two continued their conversation.
“I appreciate you coming to see me here, Paul,” Isa said. “Things are getting a little hectic. I can’t be at home all the time.”
“I understand,” Paul assured. “If you need me, any time, day or night, you can call. You should know that by now.”
“I just hate disturbing you,” Isa chuckled nervously.
“You’ll never disturb me,” Paul said sincerely. “You are very important to me, Isa. I want to make sure you are well.”
“You are far too good to me. Thank you.”
She glanced at Kailynn, who was petting the dog and smiling. Tiana was clearly enjoying the attention. Paul also glanced down and chuckled.
“She really likes you,” he repeated.
“She’s beautiful,” Kailynn complimented.
“Thank you. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Isa to have one from the next litter.”
“I shall have to think about it,” Isa said. “I do love her, and I love Rio, as well.”
Kailynn assumed that was Remus’ dog.
“Think about it,” Paul said. “She’s due for another heat soon, so I’ll have pups to train, if you want one.”
“I’ll consider it,” Isa assured, her smile widening when she saw the way Kailynn’s face lit up.
“Good,” Paul said. “Well, we’ll be going now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you again.”
“Kailynn, it was very nice to see you. Rayal, you as well.”
“Paul.” Rayal nodded back.
“Come, Tiana,” he said, motioning to the dog with his hand.
As Paul left the office, the dog trotted along beside him.
“I cannot believe that he’s so good-looking,” Kailynn said, looking at Isa with an exasperated sigh. Isa chuckled.
“I know,” she agreed. “He is exceptionally attractive.”
“Thank you, for making me feel self-conscious,” Rayal teased.
“He makes Remus self-conscious, too,” Isa laughed. She looked between the two. “This is an unexpected surprise, but you said you bring bad news.”
“A drone crashed in Trid,” Rayal said, holding up the drive once more. “We brought it in for analysis. It was a router drone.”
“A router drone?” Isa repeated, taking the drive and moving to the NCB chair. “That makes no sense. Those are obsolete. They were obsolete thirty years ago.”
“I know,” Rayal said. “We ran all the tests on it, and it’s not altered. It’s a standard router droid.”
“And no viruses?” Isa pressed, plugging the drive into the back of the NCB chair and extending a screen to look at the data.
“None.”
“What about the coding?”
“Encrypted, but when we started decryption, it was in English.”
“Well, Dover has no reason to spy on us, and we sure as hell aren’t spying on ourselves,” Isa murmured, scanning through the information. “Router drone…” she repeated, shaking her head, “and there were no files on it? No transmissions?”
“None that we could find,” Rayal said, shaking his head.
“What about a manufacture number?”
“Scratched off,” Kailynn answered.
Isa’s eyebrows furrowed together.
“That doesn’t make sense…” she repeated. “If it was unaltered, and it was launched for the purpose of routing something here, then it would have had to originate from somewhere on the planet.” She glanced over the information on the screen again. “Looking at the Specs, its range is only forty kilometers.”
“Are there any facilities in the immediate area that would be testing with these drones?” Rayal asked. “Kailynn said that those crash a few times a year for the last few years in Trid.”
“Why haven’t those shown up on our scans, but this one did?”
“I don’t know,” Rayal said, shaking his head. “I’m just as confused.”
“This is worrisome,” Isa said, turning to look at them. “All eyes of the Alliance are one us now. The news of Maki’s death has caused a lot of concern among the members. They are already considering calling for a meeting to discuss the future of our relations.”
“And Caroie?” Rayal asked.
“Unfortunately, hostage negotiations have ceased. I sent an ambassador three days ago to see what happened, but no one is responding to any transmissions from any planets in the Alliance. We should know more when they land in two weeks.”
“Obviously we have not released information on this drone,” Rayal said. “But it seems relatively harmless to me. My question is from where it originated.”
“There should be a tracking device on it.”
“We looked for it,” Kailynn said, shaking her head. “It was either removed or destroyed when it crashed.”
“Were it any other type of drone, I would be worried,” Rayal added. “But those are harmless.”
“They are on their own,” Isa agreed. “But it had to come from somewhere with a purpose, as it was emitting some sort of signal to show up on our scans. No tracking device and the manufacture number scratched off…those are red flags.”
“Do you think those in the Crescent Alliance would be worried about a router drone crash?” Rayal asked.
“I don’t know,” Isa admitted, running a hand through her hair, frustrated. “For all I know, it’s a distraction. But the Alliance is very tense right now, and everyone is waiting for Gihron and the Ninth Circle. We can all feel a war approaching, and fast.”
“Gihron wouldn’t send a router drone, wouldn’t they?” Kailynn asked.
“It wouldn’t survive entering the atmosphere,” Isa said, shaking her head. “And I don’t think there are any ships from the Ninth Circle that have come to the planet recently.”
“Well, the entire Alliance is nervous, maybe one of those planets that ignored Caroie’s cry had some Gihrons stowed on board when they came here and they’re using the router drones from here.”
“It’s possible,” Rayal said.
“I need information on every ship that has been docked near Anon in the last four months. Even if these drones have been crashing in Trid for a while, this is the one that was picked up on our sensors. Something was different.”
“Very well,” Rayal said with a nod. “I’ll also look into all manufacturers of router drones and see if there is anyone who has purchased old models recently.”
“Don’t extend that search off-planet until you have determined that there was no one on-planet who sold router drones,” Isa advised. “The Alliance is nervous. We don’t need them to think we’re spying on them. “
“Understood. What about—”
A shrill beep from Isa’s NCB chair caused them all to jump and turn to the machine. The ring around the top of the chair was pulsing with a yellow color.
“Emergency Transmission. Origin Unidentified,” the mechanical voice of the chair recited.
Isa immediately hit a few buttons on the back of the chair and then pushed her left ring finger to the ring of the chair.
“Display in privacy mode on back screen.”
The chair turned slowly in the middle of the room as Isa walked over to her desk and pressed one button on the corner.
“Broadcasting emergency transmission from an unknown location to entire building. Be advised. Remain in privacy mode. Remus, come to my office.”
Kailynn turned to the chair when it stopped moving and watched the large screen extend over the back of the chair.
Isa pressed h
er finger to the ring once more.
“Receive Transmission.”
The screen immediately flickered to life.
Isa stood next to Kailynn, who was confused about what she was seeing.
There were four men in black clothes standing in the frame, though their faces were not visible on the screen. Seated in front of them were four children, appearing to be about ten years old. They looked related, with the same face shape and structure, even though their eyes and hair were different colors. They did not appear to be afraid, merely confused, as they sat with their arms bound tightly, folded in front of them, their hands covered in cloth.
It took Kailynn several long moments to realize she was witnessing the unfolding of a hostage situation.
“Tiao Syndicate,” a voice started.
“Voice modulator,” Isa said immediately. She walked over to the desk and picked up a small metal band, clipping it around her wrist as she turned back to the screen.
“We demand a dismantling of Venus and the Elites of the Syndicate,” the man continued. “These terms are non-negotiable.”
“Anders,” Isa said, speaking into the wristband, “trace this transmission.”
“Understood,” the voice said through the wristband.
“Hana,” Isa said, “contact the Elite Academy immediately. Four missing prototypes in Generation 132. Have them conduct a trace for the prototypes but do not move in until I give the word.”
Kailynn looked at Rayal in horror.
“Those are Elites?” she whispered. He nodded slowly.
“This system can no longer operate under the rule of artificial intelligence, nor will we bow to sub-human Elites. This is no idle threat. As you see,” one man grabbed one of the bound prototypes and hauled him to his feet, shoving him close to the camera and tilting his head, pulling his hair from the back of his neck to reveal a white ink tattoo of a number.
“Hana,” Isa said into the wristband again, “there’s his number, B-Class.”
“…we have four of your precious Elite children here. See how they do not cower in fear from us. They do not cry or feel pain.”
The man holding the boy close to the camera smashed the gun against the side of the prototypes head, but the boy did not make a sound.
Isa flinched and closed her eyes.
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