by Oxford, Rain
“Yes, I know, but I don’t want to be lying down with them in the room. Did they do anything to you?” he asked.
I got out of the bed and went to the connecting wall. The floor was freezing and smooth as glass. Dylan backed up to where I was, but didn’t turn to look, probably able so sense me by his side. “Not that I know of. I think this is a hospital. They gave you Sammy, so I think we should stay calm and be nice.”
I knocked on the door gently. One of the men came to the door and waited until I moved back to the bed. He entered and shut the door, then softly asked something of me. I sat on the bed. As Dylan once told me, treat everyone as your friend until they prove otherwise.
The man looked friendly enough. He was a little taller than me, a little thinner than me, and a lot older than me. His hair and eyes were very shiny silver. A slight sniff uncovered no ill intentions.
Smiling politely, he indicated that I lay back and checked the device beside the bed. The monitor disconnected from the rest of the contraption and became a wireless, small glass screen, which he waved slowly over my head and down towards my feet. I looked down as it was above my stomach and saw that it was displaying all of my innards.
“Oh, yuck,” I moaned. Then I laughed. “Dylan, you should see this.”
When the man was done, words of some language appeared in black on the glass. He set it aside, picked up what looked like a small plastic pencil, and held it out to my mouth. I frowned, but opened my mouth. He stuck it under my tongue, then removed it.
The screen flashed words and the man frowned. He asked me something, but with no indication, I had no idea what he said. I looked over at Dylan, who had submitted to the same examination.
The man raised a small, thin, flat object to my mouth and said something. I opened my mouth, but he merely repeated his request.
“I do not understand. I do not speak your language,” I said carefully in Sudo. The object made a buzzing noise.
“Sudo assimilated,” said the object in a small, electronic voice.
The man smiled. “We can finally communicate,” he said in Sudo. While the pronunciation was perfect, his lips were moving to foreign words. “We could not translate to your language until we knew what language you spoke. My name is Vlen.”
“I am Mordon.”
“Can I ask for your family name for my record or does your culture not have them?” he asked, picking up the screen again.
“No, my culture does, but I have not. I do not yet have a family name,” I said.
“Interesting. What world are you from?”
Duran was so against foreigners, but this man seemed like it was an everyday occurrence. “Duran. I am sago. And what world am I on? Is this Malta?” I asked.
“You are very lost. You are on Vaigda. I wonder how you got here. Your companion is very powerful. Did he bring you here?”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t know where we are, either.”
“Mordon? Why do they suddenly speak Sudo?” Dylan asked me.
“Because I spoke Sudo and apparently they have a translator. It picked the language up. We’re on Viagda.”
“So this guy says. He also asked me if I am the Noquodi of Duran. I said no.”
“You didn’t say you were the Noquodi of Earth?”
“He didn’t ask about Earth. I told him I’m sago and gave him my Sudo name. However, I’m pretty sure that thing he stuck in my mouth took my DNA. They probably know we’re not both sago.”
“You are half sago. Surely they will see that and assume you have no knowledge of your human lineage,” I told him. “What are you going to do to us? How long do you plan to detain us?” I asked Vlen.
“We mean you no harm. We are simply making sure you are healthy and free of illness. Once we are sure you do not bring a dangerous pathogen to our citizens, you will be free to leave.”
I looked over as I heard the man in the other room speak quietly to Dylan. He shook his head. “I’m fine. I just want to be left alone.”
“What’s happening?” I asked him out loud. Sammy looked at me and giggled.
“Their scanner thing found that some of my bones had been broken and healed wrong. They want to fix them. I’m not letting anyone rebreak my bones.”
“I can fix your bones with no breakage or skin tearing. It will be over very quickly,” the man with Dylan insisted.
“No. Unless something is infected, leave it alone,” Dylan demanded stubbornly.
I sighed. “Duran’s gravity is heavier than your bones were built for. If they healed wrong, with the extra weight, you could be at risk.”
“My father was sago.”
“Yes, so your bones and muscles are probably denser than a human’s, but not as much as a full-blooded sago’s. Let them help.”
Dylan groaned and laid back. Sammy snuggled against his chest happy as could be. “Will it hurt?” Dylan asked.
The man who had been watching us back and forth hesitated before responding. “Yes.”
He took a large metal wand and the other man came forward to hold Dylan’s leg down. The man with the wand twisted the metal and it shot a light down into Dylan’s left thigh. He shouted with pain and Sammy started crying. The lights flickered and the wand went flying into the wall. All three men turned to stare at Dylan, who was trying to comfort Sammy.
“You should have let them help you, wimp,” I told him. Sammy stopped crying and looked at me.
Dylan shot me a glare. “I didn’t do it.”
“Sammy did it?” I asked. He nodded and I grinned. “He was trying to protect you. How cute.”
Sammy must have understood my tone because he giggled and reached his arms out for me. “Mama!”
Just like that, I wasn’t grinning anymore; Dylan was. Vlen held up a silver metal bracelet. From where, I had no clue. He snapped it around my wrist and I tried not to freak out. “What is this?” I inquired.
He seemed taken aback by my loud tone. “It is identification.” He held up his own wrist, which had an identical band. “It has your name and medical afflictions, and includes your clearance.”
“Medical afflictions? I’ll have you know I am perfectly healthy.”
He swallowed. “Yes, of course. Your genetics are very strong and your blood is clean, but your core body temperature is high and so your metabolism is greater than ours. If something does infect you, something your body cannot fight, the symptoms will incapacitate you very quickly.”
“Trust me; my body can fight any pathogen. I have never been ill.”
“Have you been poisoned?”
“Hasn’t everyone?”
He looked startled and unsure for a moment. “This monitors your health and alerts others if you are in danger. It also works as a translator. This has Sudo programmed. It speaks to others around you, so when you walk near someone, your band will tell theirs that you speak Sudo and theirs will tell yours what they speak. Then, when you speak Sudo, they will hear their language and---”
“How does it do that? I can see your lips are moving with your language, but I only hear Sudo.”
“Oh… Vaigda’s technology is more advanced than Duran’s technology, I am afraid I cannot explain how it works to someone who did not grow up on Vaigda.”
In other words, he thought we were dumb. I was a failure as far as being a prince went, but I was never called slow for being sago before.
“It keeps track of your currency as well. Without this, you could not get food.”
“But I have no currency of this world,” I said.
“Every independent visitor is automatically given a fair amount of currency in order to obtain food and housing. Your son cannot have his own, but you and your companion have been given enough extra currency to provide for him.”
“My what?” I asked.
“My WHAT?!” Dylan demanded at the same time, holding his wrist out like the bracelet was a snake.
“Do not worry. We know he is not your biological son, but we do not outlaw ad
option. We know some worlds do not allow it, but we believe adoption is honorable.”
“Wait. Dylan. If they think Sammy does not belong to one of us, they may take him away. They think we adopted him. They cannot think we stole him.”
“I’m more worried about the ‘we’ part. How about you be his daddy, and I’ll be his uncle.”
Sammy reached out for me again. “Mama!”
“You are half human; they’re not going to believe we’re brothers. I think we should just not agree or deny anything except that we take care of Sammy.”
Dylan sighed and considered it. “I am going to need a lot of Divina after this.”
I echoed his sigh. “Don’t rub it in my face. I couldn’t get a girlfriend as a prince. Now I haven’t even a name.”
“Oh, but you’ll be a hero when we defeat the demon, and the hero always gets the girl.”
“The only girl so far is Vivian and I doubt Nano would like that.” “So I am clear of sickness? I can leave now?” I asked Vlen.
“You are. We still need to examine the baby, though.”
“Then let me in the room while you do. I doubt Dylan would let you near him otherwise.” The man thought about it, then went to the door. He slid his hand against a black rubber pad and the door slid open. I hurried through the door when he looked at me expectantly.
Dylan sat on the edge of the bed with Sammy in his lap. The child beamed at me when I sat next to Dylan and I tried to propel himself into my lap. I took him and he snuggled against my chest.
The three doctors faced us, obviously unsure if we were a threat or not.
“They want to examine Sammy,” I said.
“I know. Can we avoid it?”
Dylan was emitting discomfort. Sammy just looked up at us as if asking what we wanted to do. None of the men had malicious intentions, but that didn’t mean they understood humans or babies enough not to accidentally hurt him.
“I doubt it. The last thing they need is for him to have a common Earth cold and it spreads like the plague here.”
“Edward said that the books keep that from happening. We didn’t worry about it on Dios.”
“They don’t know that. And I am not sure the books brought us here.”
“Then what did?”
“I think we know someone who could help you,” Vlen interrupted. We all turned to look at him. “I know you are a Noquodi.”
“I prefer the term Guardian.”
“As you wish. The point is, we are much more open and hospitable to travelers than Duran. You are not expected to know our customs, but we are very insistent on good health. All health care is free and easily accessible. For the Guardians, we are especially hospitable and will do what we can to make your visit enjoyable. I must insist your child is screened for infection, but it is for his own good as much as ours. Then our Guardian will meet with you. I believe he will be able to explain to you why you are here.”
“Did he bring us here?” I asked.
“I do not know. Please lay your son down to be screened. He will not be harmed at all.”
After a long hesitation, I laid Sammy down on the bed.
“What is his name?”
“Samhail Green.”
The man who examined Dylan waved the screen over Sammy and I had to look away; I didn’t want to see his tiny baby organs. Dylan had also looked away, with a noticeable green tint to his face. Afterwards, the man stuck the black stick in Sammy’s mouth and then frowned at the screen. “Interesting family you have. You are half human, half sago?” he asked Dylan. Dylan nodded. “And the child is half dile and half human?” It was my turn to nod. Dile must be the name of the people of Dios. He looked at me. “You are mostly sago… but a little of something we cannot identify. What are you?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “Completely sago.”
“Not according to our tests. We were hoping to identify it in the child, but his genetics are clearly and purely human and dile.”
“Well, your tests are confused. I am purely sago.”
Dylan snorted. Sammy arched up and head-butted Dylan in the chest. Dylan grunted. “The kid could break a rock with that skull.”
“Sammy, I told you to be nice,” I scolded the baby. He held up his arms for Dylan to pick him up. Dylan did and Sammy rubbed his face against Dylan’s chest in apology.
“Either way, Samhail is perfectly healthy.” He snapped a tiny metal bracelet on Sammy’s small wrist.
“Nice to hear it,” a voice said behind us.
Having known Kiro and Dylan for three years, I recognized the Guardian who entered for what he was. There was no mistaking the ancient power of a Guardian. Even though Dylan was new to being a one, his power was as ancient as the worlds. Every man had a different natural scent. I thought Dylan was just unique, but I realized as I faced this man that each Guardian also had a different power scent.
While Kiro had the type of face where his age was indeterminable, this man did not. He looked barely older than Dylan, which was extremely irritating when I could smell that he was nearly as old as Kiro.
“The Guardian of Vaigda?”
“The one and only. Nice to meet you. I am Shiloh.” Shiloh looked friendly enough. He had short, medium brown hair done in a proper style and medium blue eyes. His skin was just tanned enough to clash with his brilliant white clothes.
“Dylan.”
“I have heard so much about you, Guardian of Earth. Apprentice of Kiro Yatunus. Brought down the dark god, Vretial. There are quite a few prophesies about you, too.”
“It was Tiamat who defeated Vretial.”
“But not without the help of her Guardian. I could feel you drawing on the power of my world. Vaigda helped you, not Tiamat, of its own will.”
“How does he check out?” Dylan asked me.
I drew in another, deeper breath, full of the scent of Shiloh. Dylan smelled a lot of power and a hint of ink. I thought that was because he was a Guardian, but Kiro and Shiloh smelled different. Shiloh smelled of ancient power and a dusty library. He was self-aware, self-confidant, and ambitious, but I smelled no malevolence or betrayal.
“He smells all right.”
He turned to me and smiled. “And you are?”
“Mordon. This is Samhail.”
“Nice to meet you, Dragon Child.”
“What do you mean? I am sago,” I answered.
“Of course you are. Would you like to know why you are here now?” he asked Dylan.
“Then you did bring us here?”
“No, I do not have that kind of power. To bring you to my world without your names in my book is impossible.”
“Then who did?”
“You,” he said. He walked out a solid white door and led us through well-lit, pristine white halls. “I understand you grew up as a human with no knowledge of the other worlds. Then you spent the duration of your Guardianship on Duran.”
“That’s right,” Dylan said.
“A world that is quite suspicious of outsiders. A rather close-minded world. I am afraid you have had a sheltered and narrow experience of the universe. If you do not mind my saying, I had asked to train you myself. Tiamat thought Kiro was better because of Ronez.”
“You know a lot about me. Do you know Kiro is my uncle?”
The Guardian paused and considered him. “No, actually. The gods wanted you to go to Kiro because he was the most closely related to the last Guardian of Earth. I did not know you were actually Ronez’s son, but you look very similar. I am sorry you lost him. Your father was a very good man. Sometimes irresponsible, often eccentric, but always a friend.”
“So I’ve heard. Tiamat gave me the chance to say goodbye to him, but I never really knew him. Nano knew he was my father, though. He also said some of the gods are turning against me… again. Apparently, they all wanted me dead when I was born.”
“Nano gets a lot of information from Zer. A lot more than the rest of us get from our gods. I am afraid that your relationship wit
h Kiro does not help your case. The gods are ancient and a private species. They have survived the death and creation of the universe, and to them, everything they cannot control is a threat. They took a risk on Kiro and Ronez. Then you were born. You grow more powerful every day, you are related to Kiro, and you will stand up to a god. The more Tiamat defends you and fights for you, the more they are suspicious of you.”
“Then why haven’t they killed me yet?” Dylan asked. Sammy started fussing and reached out for Dylan. I handed him off and he laid his head on Dylan’s shoulder.
“Because they need you.”
“This demon? I haven’t exactly done much good. I’ve just been running from it.”
“Oh, this goes way deeper than the demon. You probably know by now that the demon has torn holes in the universe. This is causing time and space to collide. I think this will help explain.” He indicated a doorway to a room completely devoid of light. As we walked in, I could see from the light of the hall that we were walking on a glass bridge. The door shut behind us and light lit the whole room.
Surrounding us was a colorful hologram of the planets and space. “That’s Earth!” Dylan exclaimed, pointing to a small blue and white planet above us.
“That’s Duran.” I indicated a bigger blue planet. “Mine is bigger,” I said, just to bother him.
He opened his mouth to retort, paused, and nodded. “Yes, yes, Duran is bigger. But Earth has showers.”
Shiloh did a fancy hand movement and the worlds spun away, leaving a dark place, littered with dim stars and areas of pure darkness. The light bent into this darkness.
“Black holes,” Dylan said. “This is what’s left of the outerworlds.”
“Yes. This is where you and your goddess saved all of the other worlds. It is also where the problem started.” Suddenly, it was as if the air was made of cool blue gridlines and bubbles. Then the space that surrounded us flattened into a thin field waist high. “This universe was born as two universal membranes connected for an instant. It produced an explosion of creation. This was because of the war of the gods. However, the other two membranes are still affecting our universe. Dark matter and dark energy are the matter and energy from other universes affecting ours. The dark matter holds our universe together, while the dark energy keeps it expanding. The more the universe grows, the more dark energy there is, and the faster the universe grows. Understand that there are more types of energy than nominal and physical.