~Alright, so what do you suggest. Based on the information you’ve already attained—is there a way out? How does Videus make it work? Has anyone been able to ascertain that?
~There is a connection in his mind and the mind of the Labots. It’s as if they can pass through simply by thinking it.
~So it’s attached to the eLink in some form or another. Am I right?
~Perhaps. Unless it’s on its own frequency. It’s certainly possible, considering the length at which he’s gone to keep us all here.
~You’re right. I wouldn’t put it past him to create a security all its own for this place.
Think Runa—you have to be able to get out of this mess. There has to be a way to trigger the opening. Maybe a failsafe? In case something went wrong with the mental programming?
I look around the glass room. The only thing left is the glass chair. Otherwise, the room is utterly vacant. However, we already know Videus likes a good mirage—he’s nothing if not consistent with that. Perhaps there’s a button or panel hidden behind a holographic screen of some sort?
Walking around the cube, I run my hands over everything. The seams of the floor. The corner of the room. I drop to my hands and knees and test out every tile on the floor.
There has to be something here, I can feel it. Even someone as insane as Videus would have his clever moments. He wouldn’t want to be stuck in a room like this without a way out if his programming stopped working, or the power cut out.
I run my hands over the back of the chair, the arms, the seat. Everything I can think of. Nothing.
I’m just about to give up when my right hand falls through a tiny space on the floor by the back wall. The veil of the holographic image doesn’t lift, but inside I feel the lever. It’s a simple pulley—rather than anything electronic. Probably because he knows I’d be able to manipulate it.
Well, this works just as well, too.
~Here goes nothing guys. I sure hope this is what I hope it is and not the ‘incinerate’ button.
I pull hard, shifting the lever from the up position to the down. The cube quakes, clearly not used to this mechanism being used. The door shudders, then shifts aside in a more mechanical, arduous way. Not the smooth gliding aside like when Videus does it.
Without a second thought, I’m out the door and running along the other glass cage units.
I chuckle a little bit as I run.
I guess I chose being long gone.
But I can’t leave without setting everyone else free. It’s my job—it’s part of why I came here.
~The switchboard is near the back of the complex. You might be able to cause a mass shortage that will open the doors.
One girl says.
~How do you know?
~Because I’m next to it. The Ibis man didn’t think I was paying attention, but I was. I let him think the torture had broken me.
I cringe. Torture. How could someone do this? How could anyone become this?
~Can you guide me? Can you sense where I am? I have a general sense on you—but it’s vague.
I’m not sure how this connection between us all works, but if we could amplify it, it would be helpful.
~What do you mean? I—I can’t sense where you are. Just that you’re close. Maybe if I focus on showing you where I am?
~How do you mean?
~I don’t know, I’ve never tried anything like this before. Let’s find out.
Suddenly, without any additional information, a pillar of blue light shines from her location.
~I got you. On my way.
I race down the pathways, toward the beam of light. When I arrive, I rest my eyes on her glass cage. Its frosted glass is filled full of blue light, as well as shooting the beam toward the ceiling.
~Okay, I’m here. Now what?
The light extinguishes. I look around, trying to find the panel she referred to.
~It’s on the back wall, toward the left hand side.
I run to the wall, my eyes flitting from one end to the other. There’s nothing obvious on the left hand side.
~I don’t see it. Videus probably has it hidden. What does it look like?
~It’s a panel with a bunch of command sensors on it.
~Okay, thanks. Give me a second.
I walk the back wall on the left, running my hand over the wall to try to find the panel. Suddenly, little orbs of light—the ones that have helped me in the past—filter out of the wall and circle around one spot in particular.
It looks like more of the same sterile, grey wall.
How am I going to control the panel if I can’t even see the commands? If I just start hitting them randomly, I’m sure the opposite of what we want will happen—lockdown.
The orbs begin to circle tighter, now that I’m focused on the right place. Sliding my hand inside the holographic image, I let their light guide my fingertips. Trusting them to lead me to the right place seems like the only option I have left. Especially if we’re going to get out of here alive.
The orbs stop fluttering about and concentrate over one location. Without any time to lose, I tap the sensor, hoping it’s the one we need.
Everything in the wide open space of cells shuts down, including all of the lights. Plunged into darkness, the people around me start to panic.
~What’s happened?
~Oh no, we’ll never get out of here now.
~The man will be back—he’ll kill us all.
Their sentiments echo in fear and border on despair.
The orbs of light flit to another location on the board, then hover in waiting. I tap the next sensor.
Backup lighting kicks in from the floor—an eerie flame-like deep orange.
Then, the orbs quickly go to one more location. Without hesitation, I tap the next sensor. Unfortunately, this time alarms blare and the lights switch from orange to bright and flashing. The way they spin is disorienting, but I catch one good thing in this—assuming we can find a way out. The doors of all the cages dissolve, allowing people the ability to escape.
Some stumble out of their cells, carefully exiting with eyes open wide.
~Baxten? Baxten where are you? Are you able to get out?
~Yes, I’m out. Where are you?
~In relation to you, I don’t know.
I look around the space, realizing if we’re going to all get out of here alive, we need to work together.
~Everyone—please, we need to be smart about this. I need everyone to come to the back wall of the vassalage.
~The back wall of the what?
Someone says.
The woman who guided me to the wall steps out of her cell, instantly finding me. She has dark circles around her eyes, but a smile still breaks across her face.
“Oh thank goodness, I didn’t dream you,” she says.
I smile in return, “You didn’t. But we aren’t out of the woods yet. We need to get everyone out of here. Can you do another beam of light? Can you help us corral everyone together?”
“I can try,” she says. Without another word, she closes her eyes and her entire body is consumed by the blue light. It comes out the tips of her hair, her fingertips, everywhere. It’s brilliant and utterly amazing.
~Does everyone see the blue beam of light? Can you come to it?
There’s a sentiment of mass agreement, and I sense everyone moving in.
“Have you always been able to do this?” I ask her.
She shakes her head, “Not like this. It has always been small things. Flickering lights, throwing holograms. Things like that. This didn’t start until a month or two ago.”
About the same time I stepped into the role of Daughter of Five, I imagine.
“What’s the plan now? The man will be back very soon,” a tall, blonde man says, reaching us first. He has the same sunken, haunting eyes.
“Once everyone gets to us, we’ll find a way out together. I’m not leaving anyone behind,” I tell him.
“Who—who are you?” he asks.
“My name’s Runa. What’s yours?”
“Rendan,” he says.
“What about you?” I ask of the girl.
“Antricia,” she says.
More people filter in, some rushing to join us. Others a bit more apprehensive as they gather. Baxten rushes toward me, his dark hair standing on end and his face as dark as the others. But the smile launching across his lips as he gains sight of me is enough to brighten the room.
I’ve never seen him happy to see me. Emotions were never his strong suit, being a faithful citizen. He followed the rules of the Helix to the letter.
“Runa,” he says, reaching out and embracing me for the first time I can remember.
I sink into his arms, relieved to see him in one piece.
“Baxten,” I say, pulling him close, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“Never mind that— Everything’s better now that you’re here. What’s the plan? How are we getting out of here?” he asks.
“This is as far as I’ve gotten. I’m open to suggestions,” I say, looking around at the mass of people collecting.
“Well, whatever it is, we need to do it fast,” he says, his eyes wide.
“As far as I’m aware, there’s only one way out—the way we all came in,” I say. “My guess is we need to go back that way.”
“I don’t remember anything about coming in here,” Baxten says.
“Neither do I,” another man says next to him.
“Me either,” two other people say at the same time.
“Alright, then it’s up to me. Look, we’re going to move as a group. If Videus comes back for us, we’ll all need to be ready to attack. He’s strong when he has us all alone, but we’re stronger together,” I say. “If you have any kind of power, or special ability—be ready to use it.”
There’s a flurry of responses, but we don’t have time to debate them all.
I place a hand on Antricia’s shoulder and say, “Thank you for your help. Let’s all get moving.”
She nods, dimming her blue beam of light. It pulls back from outside of her, as if soaking up through her fingertips. Then, backing up through her veins until it finally fades in the darkness of her pupils.
Grabbing hold of Baxten’s arm, I position us out front of the pack of people. Getting them to the point where they can find their way outside is critical. Videus won’t want to deal with all of us, and Tethys. No matter how strong he believes he is.
After all, he’s only a man and whether he realizes it or not, his team of Salamanders and Airgliders have been compromised—by me.
We move quickly and deliberately, stopping to help others out of their cells who are unable to move—or unable to walk. Suddenly, plumes of fire rain from the sky in random intervals. They burn through the cages and with the doors open, the flames spill into the walkways.
Chaos threatens to break our ranks and our resolve. Screams erupt.
“We need to move quicker,” I yell.
Baxten pulls me in close, “I’ll keep the crowd moving your way. Just keep going.”
He pulls me into a tight embrace and runs off into the group.
“Keep moving—you gotta keep moving,” he yells over the screams.
We race along the vast set of cell corridors until we come to the entrance to the main hallway. The access point is significantly smaller, and it’s like trying to thread a needle with a large piece of yarn.
“Come on, keep going,” I yell over the shrieks of people scared out of their minds. “Keep going this way, follow the corridor all the way to the stairs. Once you’re up there, run—run like mad. Get outside and head for the tree line.”
I don’t know if I can make contact with any of them using only my voice, so I take a breath and broadcast it again. This time, on the frequency hopefully they’ll all hear me on.
~Everyone—I know this is frightening. But you have to stay calm. Follow the group to the stairs. Once you’re in the main corridor of the Helix, find a way outside. I know that might sound scary, but trust me. You need to make it to the trees. I’ll join you there in a few minutes. I need to make sure everyone’s out. If the man comes back, use everything you have to fend him and the others off. I know I will.
The barrage of responses come flooding in, but it’s mostly an overwhelming signal of relief. They have a goal or a plan of action. It’s more than they had hours ago.
I stand by the doorway, ushering people through, and pointing them down the hallway. Hands start reaching through the bars of the massive doors in this corridor. The people inside weren’t let out the way the others were.
Racing forward, I pull at the handles, trying to find a way to open the doors. They’re locked, firmly closed tight.
“Let me help,” says a small man, no bigger than me.
Stepping aside, I have no idea how he’d be able to do much more than what I did—which is nothing.
For him, however, the door simply opens wide, then promptly falls off its hinges. He turns and smiles, a lopsided kind of grin. Then, he works methodically, opening the rest of the doors in the same manner.
My eyes open wide, realizing all of these people—every single one of them connected by the bloodlines truly is special somehow. It’s not just me.
Why am I the Daughter of Five when everyone here is so innately powerful?
Is this what Videus knew? Is this what he was trying to shield the Helix—or all of humanity from realizing? We each have our own powerful ways to do things? We’re each special in our own ways?
“Runa—” Baxten calls, taking up the rear of the people streaming past me. “I think that’s everyone. At least, everyone who made it.”
He frowns, clearly shaken by the things he’s seen.
“Okay, lead everyone to the tree line. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I say, searching through the rooms nearby.
“What are you doing? You have to go, too. If that—creature comes back—he’ll…”
“I need to find my friends,” I say, continuing to search the empty cells nearby. “I can’t leave them behind.”
“Who?” he says, grabbing hold of my arm.
“Let go of me, Baxten. I can’t leave them here.”
“You have a lot of people depending on you to get them to safety. Are you sure your friends aren’t already in the group?” he says.
In all honesty, I hadn’t thought of that. Trae could have been in any number of the cells and on his way outside with everyone else. But Kani—
“You’re right,” I nod. “One of them could be out there.”
“See? I know stuff sometimes. Come on, let’s get out of here and to safety. If I never see this place ever again, it will be too soon,” he mutters.
As we run, I spread my awareness through the building trying to locate Trae or Kani. But I don’t even get a blip on any radar I have. Without some guidance, I’d be here for ages just trying to find the right spots.
I’ll have to get everyone else to the Lateral—if Kani and Trae aren’t with, and I already suspect Kani won’t be, then I’ll make another plan to save them.
We race up the steps, just behind the last few people in the rear of the group. As we spill into the hallway, everyone is clambering out the side of the building. A huge, gaping hole five meters wide has been ripped sheer through the structure.
“That’s one way of getting around the checkpoints,” I say, tipping my head in surprise and acknowledgement.
Whoever has the ability to blast a hole that size has some serious power behind them. It almost reminds me of Ammon and his ability to move stone and rock.
God, I hope he got out safely.
To no surprise, the hallways begin to flood with Salamanders. The sound is deafening as they race toward us, paying no attention to gravity, as they race along the walls, ceiling, and floors. Their electrical arcs zap back and fort
h between the advancement of darkness.
“Run— Jump out of the Helix, now!” I yell at Baxten.
The remainder of people still inside the building jump out the hole, as Baxten and I do the same. The cold air hits us like a wave of clarity and I take in the scene of people racing toward the tree line, just as I’d instructed. Unfortunately, further off, a conglomeration of birds begins to glide our way. The AirGliders.
I grab Baxten’s hand and we both take off running for the trees. Some of the Salamanders throw themselves from the building, while others simply continue out the walls, running along the side of the glass until they reach the snowy ground.
When we make it to the trees, panic is breaking out in this group of misfits. Everyone has been through so much already, I can hardly blame them.
“Everyone, we need to make a stand. We’re too far from safety. We have to work together,” I yell, trying to speak over the cries.
“What do we do? There are too many of them.” Baxten says, his eyes wide.
“If you have an ability, use it. I don’t care how—just make it work to protect you,” I say.
Turning to Baxten I search his eyes. The only thing he ever wanted was to lead a normal, boring life. As far as I can tell, he has no powers, nothing strange within him. He was merely sucked into all this craziness because of me.
“Baxten, keep your eyes open and prepare yourself. Do whatever you can. I can’t promise how this is going to go down,” I say.
His eyes widen, but he nods. He knows there’s not much else he can do.
I pat his shoulder, and step around him. Facing the onslaught of Salamanders as they stream out of the Helix toward us, I sense the girl from earlier—Antricia—begins to set off beacons of light, blinding the birds from up above. Others take her lead and begin working whatever skills or powers they possess.
One man runs around, touching the trees and they begin to come to life—sweeping the sky and knocking the birds to the ground.
Another woman works the snow, shifting it out from underneath the Salamanders—pushing them back toward the Helix like a rug being pulled from their feet.
Suddenly, Tethys is at my side and I know it’s time for me to call upon my own gifts.
The Complete Pendomus Chronicles Trilogy: Books 1-3 of the Pendomus Chronicles Dystopian Scifi Boxed Set Series Page 58