The Esoteric Design: Disbanding Hope

by A. R. Crebs

  “Forgive me, Aria. I may have failed in all aspects of my life, but I will not fail at this. No matter the cost,” he whispered.

  An obnoxious boom interrupted the silence. Dovian set his crystalline eyes upon the horizon, feeling the floor beneath him shudder and quake. A riotous groan echoed throughout the city, sending a wave of fear over the Sorcēarian. One of the pillars holding the city had been hit. Grabbing his tuner, he disappeared again, finding his way to the mines beneath the city.

  Ah, how smart the humans were. He could see a team of soldiers diligently working at annihilating the beasts that were funneling in through the portal. One person in particular caught his eye–Aren, the pilot. The young man was focusing his attention on the cannon at the face of the drill he was seated upon. He shivered, looking back toward where the Sorcēarian stood. As the city continued to groan, all eyes fell upon the structure overhead.

  “Dovian!” Aren cried out. He leaped from the vehicle and made a mad dash toward the silver-haired man. “The clinic! Troy’s in the clinic! Help! Cover it!”

  Aren surprisingly seemed trusting of the Sorcēarian despite all that had happened. Dovian tore his attention to the building the pilot was waving his finger toward. From the window, Dovian saw Troy’s setup. He was barely clinging to life, which seemed odd, but then Dovian was fully aware of the situation as he noticed Troy's consciousness was missing.

  “What trouble have you gotten yourselves into this time?” Dovian muttered, waving his arms in the air. A bulbous barrier of electric-blue ignited around the clinic.

  “He’s inside a Roman soldier. We’ve traded frequencies on that portal. He’s supposed to be in Sapphire’s lines at the moment,” Aren roughly explained.

  Dovian nodded, gathering all he needed from Aren’s words and discombobulated thoughts. The corner of his lip turned upward.

  “So…he’s the Trojan horse, eh?” The Sorcēarian smirked. It seemed Troy had taken Dovian’s story about the Trojan horse a bit too seriously.

  Aren gaped upwards at the blue light that engulfed the clinic. Another groan sounded, and a second pillar shattered beneath the added weight.

  “We’ve got to get out of here!” Aren shouted.

  Dovian wasted no time, raising his staff in the air. With eyes snapping with electricity, Dovian sent another rush of power up toward the support beams, sputtering a few incantations. The light firmly locked into the cracks and gaps of the pillars, holding them in place.

  “I can give some power, but you will need to find a better way to hold this structure. My energy will not last forever,” Dovian coolly stated.

  Aren was already on his way to one of the maintenance vehicles, shouting orders to Soldiers of God, the brutish men responding with valor and enthusiasm. In a matter of seconds, Aren had a team working to strengthen the structure.

  “Seems he’s a natural leader,” Dovian mumbled.

  A sudden chill washed over him as he felt a portal momentarily open behind him. With his hands still raised, power flowing from his staff, Dovian looked over his shoulder and grimaced. He had no time to respond as a palm ruthlessly slapped him against his face.

  “You asshole!” Aria screeched, slapping him repeatedly.

  “Ow! Stop! I’m trying to save your people!” Dovian groaned, flinching under Aria’s tiny fists.

  Another projectile hit beneath the city, narrowly missing another pillar. Aria abruptly halted her physical assault, gaping at the damage that had been inflicted.

  “We need to get up top!” she shouted.

  “How did you even get here?” He looked at her in amazement.

  Aria shoved a frequency tuner in the man’s face. “Lucky for me, Camery had a few prototypes lying around in his lab!”

  Dovian eyed the piece of tech in her hand, and then stared at the woman with tired eyes. “You could’ve been shredded to pieces using that.”

  Aria shrugged. “Better than staying locked up in my room awaiting the destruction of my city!” she growled. Her eyes were blazing with anger, making her all the more curious to watch.

  “Come, we mustn’t waste anymore time,” Dovian sighed, giving up all effort to argue with the woman. “Aren…” he mentally called to the pilot.

  “Go! Do what you can to stop those missiles!” Aren replied.

  Dovian gave one more burst of energy, directing it toward the pillars and the clinic housing Troy’s body.

  “Where’s Troy?” Aria finally asked.

  “Don’t worry about him right now. We’ve got more important matters to deal with,” Dovian quickly stated, grabbing Aria’s hand. A portal swallowed the two whole, leaving Aren and the Soldiers of God to handle the support beams.

  “Everything alright?!” Spoofy mentally shouted, her voice bouncing in Aren’s brain amongst the sound of gunshots.

  “YEAH! Just dandy!” Aren waved at her, operating some heavy machinery that had two massive arms. As he pulled the stick on the control panel, the arms swooped up, clamping against one of the broken pillars. Two other vehicles joined in, their arms lifting for support. “Where’s Troy?”

  “Not back yet.” She seemed irritated.

  From one of the drilled caves off to the right of the pilot, there came a rambunctious noise. Aren’s eyes fell upon a flurrying group of biomechanical androids. He gasped, signaling to one of the Soldiers of God.

  “We’re going to need him soon. Sapphire’s sending reinforcements! We have to get those portals closed!” Aren reported to Spoofy.

  Spoofy spun on her heel, feeding Aren a panicked expression. The pilot hopped out of the vehicle and paused, every hair on his body standing on end as he came face-to-face with a very familiar, yet horrifying, sight. He gave a sharp intake of air, his eyes bulging. Blocking his path to the drill was a tall, slender woman. Blonde curls framed her face. Blue eyes watched the pilot, void of any emotion. Aren shuddered, slamming his back into the big machine behind him as he recoiled.

  “Fi…Fiona?” his voice cracked.

  Aren tore his eyes away from the woman’s face for only a millisecond, gathering sight of a handful of familiar faces from the other androids surrounding them. They were the citizens of the Underbelly. Not only had Walten killed them all, but he had used their bodies to be converted into hosts for Sapphire’s demons.

  The young woman clamped a cold hand around Aren’s neck, squeezing.

  “No!” he choked. “Fi-on-a!”

  Aren palmed at the woman’s hand, trying to pry her fingers away from his throat. Tears stung his eyes as he helplessly watched his beloved girlfriend slowly strangle him. All around, war broke out. The androids were killing the soldiers with far too much ease. Death was everywhere. Still, Aren couldn’t pull his gaze away from the beautiful eyes of Fiona. If ever he were to die, he never thought it would be by her hands–her beautiful, soft, tiny hands. The same hands that were once used to attack him with tickles had become a lethal weapon. Whipping back her other hand, Fiona’s arm extended outward into a fan of sharp blades. She pointed the strange weapon at Aren’s head and readied to push it deep into his skull.

  "What have they done to you?" Aren whimpered.

  The young pilot closed his eyes in anticipation of his death, when a loud pop sounded. A miniature missile collided against Fiona’s body, sending her soaring backward. Aren dropped to the floor. Franklin floated by, one of his arm clamps smoking hot.

  “Not Fiona,” Franklin chimed.

  “Yes, I know. Good Franklin,” Aren coughed.

  Noticing a rifle on the ground that belonged to one of the elite soldiers, Aren snatched it up. He aimed at Fiona’s expressionless face as she fidgeted to sit up. A large hole was burrowed deep inside her chest, making Aren’s heart ache. He fired once directly at her head as he tightly closed his eyes. A single tear fell down his cheek, and Aren lowered his head. Franklin gave a reading of the corpse.

  “Terminated,” Franklin said with a proud tone.

  Aren kept his eyes fixated on the ground
. Blood and hydraulic fluid swirled around the tiny pebbles, mixing into a dark mud.

  “Thanks…Franklin,” he whispered dully.

  The young pilot felt a bit sick, his mind spinning with a type of numbness that he hadn’t known in many years. Somehow, this was worse than finding out Fiona had been killed, worse than seeing her death on the security feed. Despite being a fleeting moment of his entire life, pulling the trigger was the single hardest thing he had ever done. Yet…it was still easy to do. Rational senses told him he had to. But the sinking feeling in his belly, the shaking of his hands, the sour taste in the back of his throat, and the weakness in his knees made Aren want to collapse and cry like he was a small child once again. Only for a second could he reflect on his current feelings.

  Multiple thunderous crashes sounded one after another in a series. It started outside the city but seemed far away. Another quickly followed that came from the portal Troy had passed through earlier, and a third echoed above as the city began to sink slowly toward the mines.

  “Evacuate!” Aren shouted.

  A thick cloud of murky dust flooded downwards, coating and threatening to snuff them all before the quaking metropolis became the lid to their coffin.

  “Damn it, Feyette! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kovacevic swore up and down that the other man had officially lost his mind.

  General Feyette crouched low to the ground, his hand clutching his opposite arm. The joint in his armor had cracked, blood generously seeping from the shoulder area. Feyette steadied his breaths, eyeing the medic symbol on his forearm. He moved quickly, tapping the button. A low moan sounded from him, and he grabbed his injured arm once again.

  “Saving you from being torn to bits.” Feyette struggled with his words.

  Kovacevic and he had been surrounded by Brutes and forced into the battle. They seemed to be holding off pretty well until a rogue shockwave was sent their way. Feyette instinctively reacted, and he shoved Kovacevic out of the way, his left shoulder taking the brunt of the force. Even his shield couldn’t withstand a direct hit, and his arm was nearly severed.

  Kovacevic stood over the man, cursing as he shot the enemies slowly surrounding them. “Don’t lose an arm on the account of me. I ain’t worth an arm.”

  Feyette groaned, his hand reaching for his chest. The damage seemed to be worse than he initially thought. Pulling up his DNAIS, Feyette found that his ribs on the left side had shattered along with his entire arm. His heartbeat was erratic; a shard of his sternum had cracked, and his lungs were trying to sink against his heart. The armor was holding him together. He gently pressed against the med symbol again, gratefully accepting a double-dose of morphine.

  “Nothing to worry about. I’ll simply get it replaced with an artificial…just like my leg.” He gave a deep chuckle.

  Kovacevic suspiciously eyed the other man. He barely caught sight of Feyette’s DNAIS before he stubbornly stashed it away. It was enough to realize the severity of the situation. Feyette wasn’t going to last long if he didn’t seek immediate medical attention.

  “Where’s the President?” Feyette groaned, trying not to make pained noises as he rose to his feet.

  Kovacevic spared a look behind him. “Shit. They’re back by the barricades. Looks like it won’t be long before they’re overrun as well.”

  Just as he spoke, the barrier President James Clarke was hiding behind was shattered by a Brute wave.

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” Kovacevic spat angrily.

  Stepping to the side and activating a temporary flare screen that blinded the enemy, Kovacevic provided cover fire, allowing Grayson to regroup with Clarke. The silent bodyguard eagerly guided James to safety. Despite Kovacevic’s efforts, the monsters kept crawling toward James and Grayson.

  “Save your ammo,” Feyette said.

  Kovacevic letup, but he kept firing when absolutely necessary. He couldn’t see Feyette’s face behind his helmet, and that fact made him nervous. The general of Bio-Tech marched forward, his good hand resting on his utility pack around his waist. His fingers dipped into the top of the pouch that housed an assortment of grenades.

  “Now, don’t do anything foolish…” Kovacevic warned.

  Feyette didn’t look back at the man. “I devoted my life to the protection of the Walten family. This war is just as much my fault as it was his. I owe the world better.”

  Kovacevic noticed Feyette’s staggering steps and the dark blood trail he left in his wake. The man wasn’t going to last much longer.

  “Once Walten was gone, my duties transferred to the protection of the President. At this rate, he won’t be lasting much longer, either.” Feyette pushed aimlessly toward the gang of monsters that were slowly overpowering Grayson. One leaped atop the bodyguard, snarling, biting, and scratching. This sent Feyette into a mad state.

  “HEY!” Feyette shouted in his baritone voice. With one fluid tug, he removed his helmet and threw it to the group. All the attention immediately moved to the crazed man. “You want some? You want a taste?!” Cupping his hand, he gathered a stream of blood and threw it at the beasts.

  Kovacevic watched in amazement; his unlit stogie clung to his lip. “Holy Hell…” he grumbled, trying his best to provide cover fire. “You damned idiot!”

  A flicker of red and electric-blue caught Kovacevic’s interest. It was Dovian and Aria, exactly who he needed.

  Waving a hand, he mentally shouted, “Aria! Get your asses over here real quick! Feyette’s about to do something stupid! He needs some of that magic voodoo!”

  Aria twirled, her eyes gathering in the tragic scene. Though she was gone only minutes, everything had gotten out of control. There was no order; it was nothing but chaos. Monsters were bleeding into their lines. They were tearing men apart, blasting them with shockwaves, melting them with fire. One poor man was stabbed by the barb of a Stilt-Man. It didn’t take long before the soldier’s flesh began burning, and he was melting to the ground. Aria cringed at the overwhelming sight.

  “AHHHH!” Feyette screamed. All attention was on him.

  He pulled at something on his belt and then jerked his arm away from his midsection and dropped to his knees, allowing the beasts to swarm him. Grayson caught on quick, covering James Clarke with his body. After a second, a massive explosion took place, blowing Feyette and all the creatures around him into nothing put particles.

  Kovacevic gaped at the scene, his mouth wide open. His stogie dangled from his lower lip and then dropped. Aria ran past him, sliding toward the blast scene. She instantly tore her gaze away, slowing to an uneasy trot.

  “Damned…idiot,” Kovacevic murmured. He rubbed his brow, slowly letting out his breath.

  As Aria neared James and Grayson, a projectile sped directly over her head. She shouted and dropped to the ground just as it ignited around her, shrapnel blasting in all directions. Lifting her head, she found Dovian’s familiar force field around her. Looking at him, she noticed his frown. Sapphire had undoubtedly caught sight of this. Aria pushed to her feet, and Dovian expelled the bubble around her.

  “This is why I wanted you to stay in a safe place!” he barked.

  She opened her mouth to speak but paused once she heard Clarke call out.

  “Grayson?” The President’s voice was muffled.

  Covering James Clarke was Grayson’s body. Aria couldn’t help but gasp. Grayson’s form was full of sharp spikes of metal. Pieces of all kinds of shapes and sizes lined his spine, one shard being nearly half a meter long.

  “James?!” Aria called out, running toward the two.

  “Are you alright, sir?” Grayson’s dull voice rumbled.

  Aria knelt and placed a gentle hand on the bodyguard’s shoulder. “Grayson?” she asked in amazement. “You…how are you alive?”

  As Grayson pushed away from Clarke with ease, Aria cringed yet again. A portion of the bodyguard's face on the right side had been sliced off, his sunglasses cut in half. Grayson noticed, and his mouth set in a tight line. Gi
ngerly gripping the shades, he dropped them carelessly to the ground before moving his gaze to James. Grayson’s eyes were not normal. His pupils dilated and constricted at random intervals. They were a dark brown with a spiral of silver near the center.

  “Sir? Are you alright?” he asked again, reaching out to James. As he spoke, metal moved from where his skin had been.

  “Grayson…you…you are….” Aria couldn’t help but stare.

  James took Grayson’s offered hand, groaning as he moved to his feet. “He’s a biomechanical android.”

  Aria was stunned. Never would she have believed Grayson was an android. Troy and Gavin, on the other hand, had predicted it more than once before. Nevertheless, she still bet those two men would have been just as surprised as she was.

  “Incoming.” Grayson pointed to the sky, shoving James behind a destroyed vehicle.

  Aria turned, watching as another missile passed directly over their heads, smashing into another pillar beneath the city.

  “Who keeps shooting those things?!” Aria shouted.

  Her vision pushed forward, detecting the trajectory and wind speed, her brain calculating where the missile had been fired. Her optical camera zoomed in, highlighting the dark-haired woman who had previously been riding the Colossus when Dovian first appeared on the battlefield.

  “Lilith,” Dovian growled through his teeth.

  “Another one of your girlfriends?” Aria snidely asked.

  “She’d be so lucky,” he grunted.

  The woman started at a saunter, her hips swaying back and forth in a ridiculous way. She spread out her arms as another missile prepared to fire from her chest. Aria readied herself but was halted by Grayson’s hand on her shoulder.