Spear's Journey

by Mosspark, Neil

  “Factory? A working one?” came a second voice.

  “Yup. We just have to take it from some gel brain who has been using it to harvest gel. Apparently, they have some sort of farming set up. This 'Master' gets them to do some menial work to keep them busy, and when the drones get old or make a mistake, he kills them. Tells the rest that it’s for their own good. All of them are stupid and naive. They think they are the only ones alive. Drones. All of them. He's probably a thousand years old because of how fresh the gel is.”

  “I haven't seen a working factory in a long time. So what do you need?"

  "A map of the area to the north. If you give me that and a few guys, I think I can make this profitable for you. A hundred heads of gel. What do you say?”

  “Two hundred,” the male replied.

  “One fifty and three guys,” She said.

  "I can't lend you any of my men. I'm just a simple business man. I broker deals for information."

  Iris laughed at him again. "You have thugs. I've seen them. You can give me a few of your people to ensure that you get what you want. Otherwise, I can do this on my own, and you'll never see the gel or the factory."

  He laughed, “Yeah sure. One hundred and fifty and three of my men. If this drone colony is as soft as you say it is, it should be easy work capturing them.”

  Spear’s hand pushed the door open wider; its well-oiled hinges eased silently inwards.

  Yellow lights flickered off of the walls, dancing across shelves of rolled tubes.

  “When do you want to start?” said the male his voice was clear now but still distant as though in a further room. There was a rustling as dry materials moved around on a table.

  Spear swung the door opened wider, and he could see down a short hallway through to another room. The far chamber was the same size as the one into which he stepped, but lit by a bright metal lamp hanging above a large table. Iris’s back was to Spear, and a form opposite to her and out of sight moved casting long shadows on the wall.

  Spear eased the door closed behind him; it was dark in the room he stood. He had the advantage as he stood watching them in the dark. Taking the time he assessed the situation and began formulating how he would handle her, and the man. Spear needed the information regarding the black rocks. If there were maps and information, he needed them too.

  “What do you think you're doing?” A voice in the dark said to Spear’s left. A chair creaked in the corner, just before a shadowed figure rose to its full height. Spear's gut sank, he had been so focused on the other two he forgot to look around the dark room for anyone who might have been nearby. It was only Spear's stealth and luck that the sleeping guard had rested undisturbed for as long as he did.

  Spear retreated towards the door as a wooden shaft impaled itself next to his head. A large figure barreled out of the darkness at Spear, tackling him away from the door and into a shelf. The weight collapsed under the impact sending the rolled parchments flying. Metal fists beat on Spear's head in a regular rhythm making the world spin. Vertigo followed each blow. He was deathly aware that his hands no longer held the weapons he had come in with.

  “What’s going on?” Iris asked, turning into the hallway.

  Spear’s arms came up, and the beating was blocked for a moment. Lashing out blindly Spear thumped the unit in the face hard enough that rhythm was interrupted. Spear drove his knee up and to the side, rolling his attacker to the ground.

  Standing Spear lunged to collect the heavy cleaver from the floor, raised it and brought it down unhesitatingly as he crushed the units skull, spreading the blue fluid across the floor.

  “Spear?”

  Looking up, he pulled the blade from the skull. The sucking noise was replaced with the quiet patter of gel dripping on the floor as Spear stood tall.

  Iris stepped back, looking for a weapon. Reaching for the pipe on the table, she lunged to the side.

  Spear swung again at Iris and cleaved her extended arm from her body. Stepping forward he thrust out with his foot, driving it into her chest, knocking her off her feet and over the table.

  Stepping into the light, Spear looked at the ancient male unit on the opposite side. His head repeatedly swiveled between the amputated Iris on the floor and the stalking Spear. The look of fear in his eyes seemed to beg for options other than death.

  Spear leveled the cutter as he moved around the table, “I have been looking for someone like you. Someone who has answers to my questions.”

  “I am not sure what I have done, but I can assure you I can pay you enough that we can fix it.”

  Spear walked around the table, stood over Iris. Her good hand came up. He brought the weight of the metal down again, and again and again. She screamed, thrashing, but the blade cut whatever it found. Her limbs scattered across the floor in pieces.

  Standing Spear stepped over the sobbing torso, “I don’t want your gel. I want information. I want to know about a place west of here. A place with two black boulders on the shore of the ocean.”

  Spear stood up straight, looking around the room, the walls were covered with rolls of delicate plastic. They looked somehow familiar.

  “I can pay you well. Just leave… please…”

  A flat area on the table was laid out, a writing implement next to it. Spear could see an odd pattern of the material. He leaned in closely, inspecting it. The rolls of material were fibers of a familiar plastic.

  “I want to know about the boulders that I saw. I remember two black boulders.” Spear stood quickly and pointed the dripping cleaver at the Cartographer and glared.

  "Yes. She told me about your memory. Two large black boulders. Something about waking the originals. Why did you say you wanted to know about?” the rusting unit shook and shifted to the side to keep the table between himself and Spear.

  “West, along the coast. Do you know what I'm talking about? Where they are?” Spear pushed the drawings around on the table with the wet cutter. It looked to him as though the plastic had been compressed together by a tremendous weight, maybe even heated to fuse them together.

  The old units turned, plucking some rolls from the cubby holes behind him. Rolling them out the Cartographer showed them to Spear from across the table.

  “These are all the maps I have of the west coast,” he said, “There is not much information to the West. It's dangerous out there. Mostly just rocks and stones.”

  Spear traced the borders of the map, following the line of the ocean. He could not read the symbols on them, but the pictures were clear. A city, then two hand widths and there was a small bay and a small creek. Spear looked closely, it could be the small bay he was looking for, the memory had a small creek.

  “Take it. Please, just take what you need and go,” the Cartographer said.

  This close Spear could see the texture of the paper. Two small dots on either west side of a creek at the apex of a bay. Two small dots. Could these be the black rocks he remembered?

  The shape of the bay followed the contour of the pressed plastic. A faint outline like that of a nose… and an eyelid.

  His eye looked for the parts he could recognize. Lips, and part of an ear. The flattened skin of faces from other units seemed to stare back in a macabre spectacle of death.

  "This is made from faces?" Spear touched the surface and then retracted his hand as though it was on fire. He was disgusted. The vile act of cannibalism extended to using others for their plastics.

  Spear's eye caught a quick motion at the corner of his vision where the Cartographer had been standing. Only out of reflex Spear ducked and a bolt of heat and light arced above his head. Standing up quickly he glared at the old unit assessing the threat.

  The Cartographer stood now, with a face of mixed confidence and anticipation. In his hands, an energy weapon pointed at Spear. The high pitched whine rose in the air as it charged for another shot.

  Sidestepping quickly, Spear avoided the release, but the room exploded with white light blazing across the and tab
le. Ducking, Spear bent under the table avoiding the second barrage.

  Realizing the need for a barrier, he stood quickly, heaving the edge of the thick wooden table with his shoulder. The large metal and wood surface lifted upwards and onto its side, spilling the tanned parchments to the floor. Pressing hard, Spear applied force to the assailant on the opposite side.

  There was a crunch, and the counter pressure stopped. The weapon rattled to the floor along with a limp body. Releasing the table, it settled back on its thick legs with a crash.

  The Cartographer had been twisted awkwardly when Spear pressed him against the wall, and the impact had broken the unit’s waist. The weapon which had been firing the bright projectiles lay on the floor just outside of the Cartographer’s reach.

  Walking calmly around the table, Spear picked up the weapon, holding it in his hands, “I was going to let you go. Until I saw the faces in the map material.”

  “It's just what it’s made of. Everyone uses the plastic. It works the best for writing,” the unit coughed and groaned, trying to roll onto its back.

  Spear could only think of the Water Carrier’s soft skin before the Master had damaged it during her beating. If she had been here, would these horrible units take her face to make parchments? Would they hang her upside down to harvest gel?

  His heart ached. He hated this place and its cruel nature.

  “There are better things that you could have used,” Spear said.

  “I tried,” the Cartographer looked up at him, “This is the most durable.”

  Spear felt the grip of the pistol in his hand, lowered it to point it at the unit, “Those were living units. Each of them had a life.”

  Even as the Cartographer raised a hand to object the trigger pulled, and the small device burped out light, dissolving the Cartographer's fingers and head.

  Outside the storm raged. Spear stood there considering the probability that there would be others coming to investigate the commotion, but no other attackers entered. No guards, no enforcers of the cruel laws of the city. Either the storm had drowned out the noise of the fight, or the others outside did not care.

  Spear looked around and saw his bag in the far corner. Placing this new weapon in the bag, he threw the contents over his shoulder.

  “I didn’t think you had it in you,” Iris coughed. Her broken arms and legs were mangled from Spear’s brutal attack. He grimaced at the trauma he had caused but reminded himself that she had killed one of her only friends to gain entry to the city.

  “I never wanted to do any of this,” he said, “but you forced my hand.”

  “That’s how it starts. It's all the little decisions. Don't worry; you'll be doing the same things soon enough. It gets easier. Don't blame yourself." Her head writhed to look at the limbless torso.

  Spear shook his head and looked at her, “You’re right. This is about the small decisions we make. The difference is that I know that I have to live with them.”

  “I’ve made a few mistakes, but I feel like I might need a new start. I see the light. I should have listened to you before. Care to save another girl in need?”

  “You killed your own family,” Spear said.

  “Yeah, there is that."

  "The Master's guard finding your home. That was you wasn't it?"

  Iris nodded. "Not entirely. I led it to the village, but it was looking for you. It's still tracking you. I just gave it something to occupy its time. "

  Spear shook his head, "There's no way its still following."

  Iris nodded and laughed maniacally, "Oh it's still following. I know how it does it too. These things are soldiers. Ancient soldiers designed for one purpose, to hunt and kill targets. It will hunt you until the end of the earth."

  "You're a liar. You lead it your village. It doesn't know where I am."

  Iris smiled widely. "After they kicked me out, I was going to sell the location of your colony to the highest bidder. I was heading back up the canyon to try to find where you had come from when I saw your Master's guard searching in the forest. It had a general sense of where you were, and it would have found you eventually. I almost got caught, but I got away. It's good at tracking, though. Better than Eric ever was. It would have followed me until It killed me, then continued looking for you. I led it the long way around to the settlement. I had a good headstart maybe a few hours, but it kept following me. I could see it pushing through the trees in the moonlight. By the time I got back to the village in the morning, I saw you. It was only a few hours behind. I figured that it might stop. Maybe it would be satisfied with the village."

  “Why? Why lead the guard to your people. They were safe! You could have led him away.”

  “Why not? They kicked me out. It wasn’t like I was going back. Like I said. I’ve made some bad decisions,” she pouted her lips and gave a sad face, “Please forgive me. Take me with you? I want to make amends. I can learn from you.”

  Spear realizes that she was playing him again. He pulled the map from the ground and placed it on the table, pressing it flat with his hands. He estimated how long it had taken him to move from the dam to the city, and determined that there was at least another day or two to the rocks.

  A deep thud outside resonated through the table and Spear's feet. The second reverberation confirmed that it wasn't thunder. Spear could hear frantic voices outside.

  Iris's face turned from penance to anxiety.

  “So, you should know it's likely that the giant has found the city,” she said.

  “What?”

  There was an explosion far away outside that sounded less like the lightning.

  “Yup, it's definitely here,” she nodded.

  “Why do you say that?” Spear looked at her as he rolled the map and thrust it into his bag.

  “Take me with you,” she pleaded.

  He looked at her for a moment, shouldering the bag. Kneeling he bent over her, “Why should I?”

  “Because I can tell you how it's tracking you,” she said, “I’ve seen it. This guard knows where you are. It's not going to stop.”

  Spear looked at her frowning. Reaching down he grabbed her body and lifted.

  “Oh, thank you. Quick grab the food packs from in the drawer in the desk by the door. Don’t forget the coins. Take the coins too... and the gel.”

  Spear hesitated, lifting up, he spun her, hanging her upside down from the chain which hooked onto the oil lamp.

  Her head thrashed around angrily. “What are you doing? Let's go. Don’t mess around.”

  “You are a liar, and a murderer,” Spear reached down, picking up a rolled map.

  Another explosion outside, this time, a bit closer.

  “Oh, come on! Do you think anyone else out there is better? I’m the nicest person you are going to meet. Seriously. Everyone else would have killed you right away! I'm offering to show you how the guard is tracking you.”

  "How?"

  "Only after you let me down,"

  "How?"

  Her face writhed with the complexity of a range of emotion.

  Spear bent down and looked her in her eyes, "How is it following me?"

  "Let me down. Take me with you!"

  “You were trying to find my family. You were going to harvest them. They would have become spare parts. You would have sold their faces. Their gel.”

  “We would have killed your Master!” her voice was panicking.

  Spear shook his head, and he lit the end of the map on the oil lamp behind her. Smoke billowed up as it caught flame. The room brightened. He looked her in the eyes as his arm reached out to touch the wall of maps with his makeshift torch.

  “No. Wait. You can’t do this. Think of how guilty you will feel. This will bother you for a long time! Don’t do this. Please! I'll tell you how he's following you!”

  "I'll deal with this on my own. I don't need you."

  Spear turned away, lighting the rest of the maps.

  Stepping into the doorway, he picked up the spea
r he had dropped, tossing the heavy cleaver into the corner.

  “Help! Save me again! I promise I won’t be trouble!”

  Turning back to her, he looked at the room as it finally engulfed, “You won’t be any trouble. You were going to kill my family. I can promise you now, that this way, it will not happen.”

  He stepped outside and closed the blue door behind him. Muffled screams and cries for help made cringe. She was right; it would bother him for a long time, but at least they would be safe.

  Units ran past him on the wide path between the buildings. Near the entrance, there were fires and lights flaring up. The bright line of the Master's cutting tool streaked across the sky before the graystone crumbled. Through the carnage and near the gate, Spear could make out the figure of a single tall guard carrying the cutter. If the guard was carrying it, the Master was not here. He was likely still working the units to death and harvesting their gel.

  The buildings in the distance crumbled as their structures collapsed one by one.

  Spear shifted the pack on his shoulders and tightened the straps. His free hand gripped the length of sharpened metal. The guard could not follow him. It was just a lie made up by a desperate unit intent on manipulating him.

  No one knew where he was going. No one alive anyhow.

  Chapter 30

  Spear’s legs pumped as he ran across the beach. He had been moving quickly ever since last night's events, and now both the daylight and water were receding.

  Throughout the day he had perfected his movement across the sand; shifting up or down the beach in a searching for the hardest packed sand on which to move across.

  Slowing from his run he stumbled into a quick walk, checking over his shoulder he could see that he was alone. For a moment he was unable to see the guard, but it didn't mean that it wasn't still hunting him.

  Iris's last words rang in his mind still. He wished there had been time to find out what she knew of the guards. She had called them 'giants' as though she had dealt with them before. Part of him was disappointed in has actions last night. He had never intended on being a killer.