City of Twilight Part II: The Fallen (The Vanguard Chronicles Book 2)

by Donald Stephenson III

  ​“So, what a night.”

  ​“Yeah, what a night,” Khaleel replied. “I feel like we’re in some sort of vid; seeing him go crazy like that was really something.”

  ​“If he hadn’t,” Kyle said, “none of us would be here. He would have died too.”

  ​“Still, did you see what he did to that girl?” Savannah asked. “He defeated her without even touching her. At first I thought he’d killed her.”

  ​“He didn’t?” Khaleel said.

  ​“No,” Savannah said, “she was still breathing. The other fallen took her and left pretty quickly once he started beating on the soldiers and that one guy.” Khaleel nodded his head. They were silent for a few more moments. The sound of a distant clock tower could be heard in the background. It was almost morning.

  ​“So,” Kyle said, “are they gonna come looking for us?”

  ​“I don’t know,” Khaleel said, “maybe the Hunter scared them enough to give us a little time. I don’t know what’s in the future, never known really. I tell you though, I definitely never saw myself here.”

  ​“Well,” Savannah said, “where did you see yourself?” Khaleel smiled a little, leaning back in his seat.

  ​“I wanted to go to Vanguard University. Maybe study chemistry or one of the other sciences. At one time I had it all planned out. I figured, what happened to the sky must have been some sort of natural disaster, or something chemical. I would become a scientist and discover what that was, what had happened. I’d save the city that way.” He was thinking back, smiling.

  ​“Why didn’t you try?” Savannah said.

  ​“Civic Protection noticed me. They closed all the doors, basically said that the only place I could be valuable was in their ranks. They wanted to send me to some branch of their military. I didn’t want to, and so I refused. That’s when the threats began. I left, went into hiding. If you understand the way their surveillance systems work, it’s not difficult to hide from them. City’s big enough that I don’t run into people on accident if I’m trying to avoid them. I also had help. The Vanguards were great people before one of them had become the Hunter.”

  ​“What about your family?” Savannah asked.

  ​“They understood that I needed to run. They also understood that the only way for me to protect them was to never see any of them again. We had to make the sacrifice.” He was quiet for a moment. “It was hardest for my mom.

  ​“That was a couple years ago. She and my sister disappeared about six months ago. I don’t know what happened to them.” He looked up at the other two sitting on the floor, “What's your story?”

  ​“We never knew our father,” Savannah said, “mom never talked about him. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I do know it had something to do with Civic Protection. She’s always hated them. She was even somewhat of an activist. A few years ago she was in a picket line. Civic Protection opened fire on them.” She stopped, tears appearing in her eyes. Kyle then spoke up.

  ​“We knew she was there, but she never came home. We never even saw her body. We spent the last few years with our grandmother. Neither one of us has really been to school since then. I guess you can say we were just drifting around, not knowing where we’d end up.”

  ​“We heard about the Hunter and had hope again,” Savannah said, “someone who not only stood up to Civic Protection, but could outwit them and maybe even beat them. We then did what everyone else did when we saw the broadcast. We looked in the right places, and found him.”

  ​“I guess,” Kyle said, “things still turned out a little different than what we expected. How do you think this’ll end? Will the Hunter lead us all to freedom, or will everyone have forgotten about this five years from now?” The other two were surprised at that question.

  ​“That was kind of cynical, Kyle,” Savannah said.

  ​“Hey, I’m only saying that because I’m the one that got shot.”

  ​“Yeah,” Khaleel said, “but I’m sure a lot more of us are going to get shot before long. And that’s not being cynical. It’s being realistic.”

  They stayed there well into the morning, talking about their lives and dreams and eventually falling asleep on the floor. Despite all their worries and fears, they slept soundly.

  67

  ​James had continued to read to Christina until she’d fallen asleep against him. As she leaned against him slumbering, he sat as awake as ever. Eventually she stirred, leaning up and stretching her back.

  ​“How long was I out?”

  ​“A few hours. Welcome back.” She smiled at him, that beautiful smile he loved.

  ​“What did I miss?”

  ​“Well, I’ve done some thinking about things.”

  ​“And?”

  ​“What are we ultimately trying to do?”

  ​“What do you mean? I thought you were building the resistance. A resistance to stop the council, and Michael, if that’s Father's real name.”

  ​“Yes,” James said, “but is that the end? Stop them and then what? Are we just going to settle in this place after it’s all over? Would we be able to leave this city? Is that even possible? What about Civic Protection? Will they just give up if the council’s defeated?”

  ​“How strong is that sixth sense you have,” Christina said, “your mind’s eye? Have you ever been close enough to the edge of the city that you could see beyond it?”

  ​“Yes,” James said, “I’ve tried to see beyond with my mind’s eye. There’s nothing.”

  ​“Nothing that you can sense.”

  ​“That’s the key. Nothing I can sense. Do you know what that means?” He sat up slightly, putting the data screen on the ground next to him. “It means one of two possibilities. The first one being that there is no life outside the city, that the world around us is dead. The other possibility is that something is blocking my ability to see the outside world.” He stood up and pointed to the metal walls around them. “There’s a reason I can sense beyond this cavern. There’s a reason the fallen never found that hidden base of ours. There is a mineral that reacts to our mind’s eye abilities. It blocks it, interacts with it. I don’t know how but I think it’s being used to block my abilities. The only thing stopping us from leaving is ourselves."

  ​“How...” Christina said.

  ​“Don’t you see?” James said. “What’s stopping us isn’t the others like me, or even Father. It’s the system he’s created. It’s Civic Protection. Civic Protection is just people, people who have been convinced of a lie.”

  ​“What is that lie?” Christina asked. She stood up and was getting excited.

  ​“That this city, and the walls around it are all that’s left. That there is no hope, no safety, no real peace left in this world. That this city is all that’s left and we have to live with it. We are the prison guards holding ourselves captive.” He sat for a moment, staring at the vid book he’d sat on the floor. He picked it up again, holding it in his hand.

  ​“So we need to stop Civic Protection.”

  ​“It’s all deception,” James said, “and we’ve all been tricked. There’s something not right about all of this, something I’ve missed, something all of us have. I need to find the answers.”

  ​“What are you going to do?”

  ​“I’m going to use their tactics against them. I’m going to deceive.” The wheels were turning in his head as he spoke.

  ​“You have a plan?” Christina looked at him curiously.

  ​“Yes,” James said, “I’ve been trying to deal with the enemy directly. We all saw how that turned out. If something like that happens again, then I may not be able to stop the xeno. We’ll weaken Civic Protection while keeping our distance.”

  ​“That sounds simpler than it probably is,” Christina said. "What are you going to do?” James smiled at her for a moment.

  ​“I’m going to find the truth,” he said, “and I’m going to tell everyone. Then the truth will set us free.�
�� He was quiet for a moment more. She didn’t know what to say to, but she let her actions speak. She held onto him hard. She already trusted him, but something about his tone made her have faith all over again. Faith that this could end without sadness. She looked down at the vid book he was reading and picked it up, reading the text that flashed across the screen.

  68

  ​It was late morning. People were moving about in the underground facility, but nothing major was going on. No one had seen James since last night, although the conference room had been locked all morning. Some had noticed that Christina had gone down to the abandoned city, and spent a while down there. She had come back up early in the morning, alone with a vid book underneath her arm. Since then she’d left the facility and headed to her apartment in Dirge where she could continue her work.

  ​Luke was sitting at the desk in the lobby where he usually was when the door to the conference room made the familiar beep that meant it was now unlocked. James walked out quickly with a look that said something serious was on his mind. His face was uncovered, and he wasn’t wearing his jacket. His eyes were still the metallic silver that reflected all the ambient light.

  ​He walked quietly and purposefully, moving to the armory. He was obviously distracted, not greeting anyone or saying anything at all. He stopped before the locked door and entered the code. The door beeped positively, sliding open. He walked in quickly, and after a couple of minutes he walked out carrying a box full of wires and circuitry. He quickly moved back into the conference room without saying a word. The door slid shut and the lock activated once again.

  ​Luke stared at the door for a moment, and asked one of the guards, a young woman holding a rifle, if she’d seen the same thing he had. She answered positively, and he asked her how long James had been in there. She said she hadn’t seen him enter, but she’d just started her shift an hour before. He stared at the door for a few more moments, and finally stood up.

  ​He walked over to the door and banged his fist into it hard enough for anyone on the other side to hear him. After about a minute, the door slid open. James stood there with a blank look on his face.

  ​“Yes?” he said staring at Luke with his arms at his sides. Luke thought he knew what he was going to say, but the suddenness caught him off-guard. He stuttered for a moment for he got his thoughts back together.

  ​“What are you doing in there?”

  ​“Working on my new plan.” He had a slight smirk on his face as he waited for Luke to ask him directly.

  ​“Will you show me what you’re working on?”

  James stepped to one side, allowing Luke to enter the room.

  ​“Sure, come on in.”

  ​Luke was surprised when he entered the room. The contents of the box James had just carried in were small compared to what filled the rest of the room. The meeting table which a day earlier had virtually nothing on it was completely covered with wires and small metallic components that he didn’t recognize. There were items all over the floor as well, but Luke couldn’t tell what was trash and what was actually being used.

  ​“Where did you get all of this...stuff?”

  ​“Oh,” James said, “from all over the place. A lot of this was scraps from the abandoned city beneath us. There is all sorts of technology that was just left behind down there. A lot of it was salvageable. It’s all for my plan.” Luke walked around the room with his eyes on the floor in front of him, trying to avoid stepping on anything valuable.

  ​“I hope this plan works out better than your last one.” James looked up at Luke, and smiled.

  ​“So do I.” He was in a significantly different mood.

  Luke relaxed a little, seeing James like this.

  ​“So,” Luke said, “how did you figure all of this stuff out? Are you just learning as you go?”

  ​“Not really,” James said, “I can’t really explain it. There are memories I have that are mine, and memories I have that aren’t. I don’t know where they came from, but they’re there. It’s like someone else’s life skills and memories were implanted in my head. I’ve gotten a few other flashes, but mostly it's just these skills and knowledge that I’m remembering.” Luke didn’t really know what to say. He had stopped questioning James. There was too much unexplained about him.

  ​“Well,” Luke said, “what are you making?”

  ​“Something that can put me in two places at once.” Luke looked at him skeptically.

  ​“What’s your objective?” Luke asked. "What reason would you need to do something like this?”

  ​“I’m glad you asked,” James said. He pulled a larger data screen from the table, brushing some wires off of it. He lifted it, and activated its display.

  ​“As you can see,” James said, “this is a rough map of the city. Here are the different districts, all surrounding Capitol District. Dirge is a perfect circle, surrounded by the walls.” Luke nodded as he examined the drawing.

  ​“What are all these lines everywhere?” Luke asked, “they look like a web of some sort.”

  ​“As a little side project the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to understand the grid structure of this city. Using the information Christina has been giving me along with my mind’s eye, I’ve been trying to map the city’s power grid. The webs you see all stem from these three locations, all power supply stations. Are you familiar with them?”

  ​“Yes,” Luke said, “crystal fusion reactors supply the city with power from those three stations. That’s common knowledge to everyone.”

  ​“So, you’re saying that it’s common knowledge that the city is powered by these three stations.” Luke nodded as James spoke. “The three of them?” James repeated.

  ​“Yes, I don’t see why it’s that hard to believe,” Luke said.

  ​“Study those webs carefully. I drew them exactly the way they’re placed in the city.” James continued, “It's accurate and to scale. It shows where all the regions of the city connect to each of the individual plants. Notice anything unusual?” He waited for a moment, watching Luke. Luke studied the drawing, following the lines. His eyes suddenly grew wide.

  ​“The station in Capitol District,” Luke said, “none of the active lines connect to it. It doesn’t supply power to any place in the city.”

  ​“It may still be a power station,” James said, “but I find that hard to believe. If it does supply power somewhere, I’d like to know where.”

  ​“What would require enough energy to power half a city?” Luke asked while still examining the map.

  ​“Maybe the facilities required that would turn thousands of xenos into symbiotes, so they can make Civic Protection unstoppable.” James’ voice had become grim.

  ​“What are you going to do about it?”

  ​“First, I’m going to finish what I’m working on here,” James said, “this will greatly benefit me in the next stage of my plan. After that I’ll find out what this station is used for, and will probably damage or destroy it after my discovery. I’m sure it won’t be that simple, though.”

  ​“No,” Luke said, “it never is.”

  69

  ​Medea stood on top of a tall building in Capitol District. It wasn’t the tallest building, but it stood above many others. It was solid steel and glass, reflecting all the light that hit it from the sky and the city below. The dark sunglasses that she always wore sat on her face, hiding the eyes that had the slit pupils just like her other fallen siblings. Unlike Wolfgang and Damaine, she cared about blending in. It was why she usually kept her fangs hidden.

  ​She stood on the edge, looking over the city’s skyline. Her arms were folded beneath her chest, her face displaying no emotion. Dante stood several yards behind her, pondering what she was thinking. His arms were also crossed, over a gray suit and yellow tie that matched his hair. His eyes looked like that of a human’s. There was a thin acrid smoke odor in the air around them in the morning air.

  ​“You told me on
ce that Father is the closest thing to a god in this universe. That there was no sense of right or wrong, or morality except what we decided to do. Do you still believe that?” There was quiet after she spoke. Dante chuckled at her as he walked up to the ledge next to her. He propped one of his feet on the edge of the roof, looking downward.

  ​“Father is not a god, even if he’s not a man.” Dante glanced at her slowly as he spoke. “I believed that he was one once, a long time ago. I carried a torch for his mission for decades. His mission against the humans, and what they were capable of. You remember his stories, his speeches. The memories he shared with us. I thought he was, we were all above the humans. What we did was justifiable for the new age Father would usher in for us. For everyone.”

  ​“What happened?” She looked at him with concern in her eyes.

  ​“That day still plays over in my head, after seven years.” Medea looked downward, away from him.

  ​“You mean the day we lost William?” Dante turned to her, stepping backward from the roof.

  ​“We didn’t just lose William that day. That was the day Father ordered us to kill our own. That was the day I learned a valuable lesson.”

  ​“What was that?” Medea’s voice was calm.

  ​“That we’re no better than them. We’re no better than the humans.” Medea shook her head at him.

  ​“You sound like William before he turned on us. We’re doing this for their good,” she said, “they’re in the same place they were a thousand years ago. Ten thousand years ago. We’re saving them from themselves.”

  ​“Maybe we are, but at what cost? If this is the greatest life, the greatest cause we were meant for, then we’re definitely not exalted, we’re not the chosen. We are fallen. Fallen creatures, just like the whole of humanity. Father says he’s saving them, but he’s just like us, only our leader. The only one who could have truly saved the humans is dead. She died that morning seven years ago when Father ordered William to kill her. He refused, and Ares did the job. Now Ares is Father’s favorite, and William has disappeared.”