The Phoenix Fallacy Book I: Janus

by Jon Sourbeer,

  “OK, you lot, now I get to see what you’re made of. We’re just going for a little jog, and you’re going to keep up. Simple, right?”

  Janus smiled, he was used to running for distances through the slums; jogging would be a cake walk. “Anyone who cannot keep up receives a jumpstart from my foot. Understand?”

  The cadets grunted agreement.

  “What?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you say?” She yelled loudly. A hesitant cry of ‘yes!” sounded.

  “Yes, Sergeant Wouris!” Janus said. She nodded in approval.

  “What do you say, cadets?”

  “Yes, Sergeant Wouris!” The cadets chorused.

  “Alright, here we go!” She took off at what appeared as nothing less than a dead sprint. The cadets didn’t move, instead watching in stunned silence. Janus was suddenly less confident in his ability to keep up – let alone run that fast. He could hear Celes whisper to Lyn, “That’s jogging?”

  Wouris had already covered a quarter of the distance when she turned to run backward, shouting, “What are you doing? Get moving!”

  Janus briefly registered between gasps that some length of time had passed, how much he wasn’t sure. Not many cadets were still running, let alone standing. Several had fainted. Many were collapsed upon the track, and of those that hadn’t, most had trouble moving their legs.

  He had tried to keep up with Wouris, but had only been able to go a few minutes before he had to slow down. And then the kicks had started. He had heard them from the back at first, as cadets had yelled out in pain and surprise, but soon he was receiving them like the rest. The first had nearly buckled his knees and sent him to the ground.

  I am… about to die… and Wouris… isn’t even… breathing hard…

  Wouris ran in circles around the cadets, taunting them, while a few Adept bystanders pulled the unconscious cadets out the way, dropping them on Wouris’ order into the shallow river. Most came up spluttering, although a few had to be lain on the stone bank, with the waters lapping around them.

  “Come on, you worthless bluebacks. I’m going to start putting some weight behind those kicks if you don’t start moving.”

  Pain racked Janus’ body. He didn’t know how Wouris could put more weight behind her kicks, but he didn’t want to find out. His bruises throbbed, and his legs felt like lead.

  Unfortunately, since nearly every other cadet had collapsed, Janus was now one of a few receiving special attention from Wouris and her lightning-like kick. Originally he had tried to dodge the blows, but that had only made Wouris kick him faster and harder. Wouris’ seemed to know exactly how much force to apply to nearly knock her hapless victims flat; just enough to sting and keep the cadets running.

  This… is… insane… Janus thought between ragged breaths. His head rolled around to see who was still running, nearly toppling him over as he did so.

  Wouris was currently focused on Marcus, the only other cadet still standing. Celes was crawling, Ramirez had finally gone unconscious, and Lyn was grimacing while she lay spread eagle upon the floor. Across the bridge, he could see a crowd of Adepts, chuckling amongst themselves.

  Janus was the last cadet to fall.

  “Well then, that was a refreshing start to the day, don’t you agree?” Wouris said nonchalantly, wiping a few beads of sweat from her brow.

  Only a few recruits could muster the strength to moan a reply. Wouris drew in a few deep breaths, savoring the air. To Janus, every breath burned. She struck a pensive pose, “I suppose that might have been a tad difficult, so you have until 1900 hours to rest up and grab a bite to eat. Return to your quarters, and I’ll see you tonight.” With that, Wouris turned on her heel and headed for the mess hall, leaving the recruits to tend to themselves.

  Celes slowly roused the will to get up, and motivated Janus and Marcus to assist her in helping the others to stand. After an eternity, the three inspired the rest to limp in the direction of the bunks.

  Janus, his exhaustion deepened by his lack of sleep the night before, flopped on the floor of his room, too tired to be bothered by the new bed.

  Chapter 13: Food?

  When Janus awoke, his entire body ached from the marathon he had run earlier that day. After several minutes, he struggled up from the floor and stared at the clock by his bed. Deep red numbers floated in a crystalline block – it was 1705. His legs barely functioning, Janus motioned for the lights, gathered what clothes were within reach, and stumbled to the showers.

  His legs had recovered enough to walk normally, although they stung with every step. His first experience with a shower had been a mixed one. He had been savoring the heat and refreshing feeling until an automatic timer had unexpectedly and very suddenly shut off the hot water – leaving only a frozen stream. The ensuing leap from the shower had resulted in an impressive skid and collision with the opposite wall.

  “Gah...can’t…cold water…” Janus mumbled angrily as returned to his room.

  “Cold water,” the feminine daedulus intoned as it lit up. Janus turned to stare at it. “Common cadet keyword – usually after the first experience in the showers. All water in Valhalla passes through a central pumping station, where it is directed to the various branches of the city. To preserve power, heated water is limited in use. After a preset time limit, hot water is redirected to other levels. To compensate for flow, water from sublevel E is redirected to the primary barracks blocks. Sublevel E is located directly adjacent to compartment 56D, the primary cooling tower for the engines. Hence, cold water.”

  As the daedulus shut off, a new scream of surprise echoed from the showers.

  The mess hall, which spanned half of the lower level of the fortress-city, was one place Janus was particularly eager to visit. The idea of a meeting place that housed all of Valhalla’s food, which was given freely, was a strange dream to Janus. It was not an impossible thing – he had imagined it was how the Executors lived, but to see it in practice would be something.

  The first thing that impressed Janus was the sheer size of the room; it suddenly became clear the thousands of Mercenaries, no, Adepts, that actually lived within the halls of Valhalla. Light streamed from huge, thick, curved windows, which wrapped around the length of the mess and cast bright colors across it. Hundreds of tables sat within the massive area, each seemingly given as much space as the place he and Clara shared. There were two entrances to the mess, and along the far wall he could see lines of Adepts waiting to pass through the kitchens. Adjacent to the mess lines sat a door marked as the ‘Officer’s Mess’, closed off from the clattering hall.

  Hundreds of Adepts filled the room, all of them laughing and talking. Some were eating or waiting in the mess lines, but others played games and joked. It was clear that this place was the social hub of the city. In the far corner, groups of Adepts gathered around and played a strange game that used no dice or cards, but a board.

  Janus’ curiosity was piqued, but his rumbling stomach reminded him of his immediate purpose. A feminine voice called out to him, “Janus!”

  He turned to see Celes standing by one of the tall windows of the mess, waving to him. Behind her, he could see Marcus, Lyn and Ramirez were already scarfing down their meals, replenishing their spent energy reserves.

  Celes ran over to meet him, “Ready to eat?”

  “I think that’s the idea,” Janus said dryly. Celes gave him a pouting look and he quickly changed tact, “I wonder what they have? I’m not used to getting my meals like this.” The line ahead of the pair moved at a rapid clip. He picked up a fork, holding it by the tines, “What is this?” he asked.

  Celes looked skeptical, “You’ve never seen a fork?”

  “A fork? No, why?”

  “How did you eat?”

  “Hands work perfectly well,” Janus answered succinctly.

  “Oh,” Celes said, pausing, “Where are you from?”

  Janus shifted uncomfortably, “Cerberus Corporation.”

  Cele
s waited a few moments for him to add to his statement, and then changed the subject, “Here we go, now we can see what they’ve got—” she stopped as they approached a cafeteria style buffet line, “Wait—what is that?” Celes asked, looking alarmed and pointing at a quivering grey mass that was in the first dish.

  “Passers!” Janus exclaimed, “This is great!”

  Celes had a disconcerted look on her face, “What?”

  Now it was Janus who gave Celes a strange look, “You don’t know what Passers are? Where are you from?” Celes pursed her lips and looked down. Janus waved it off, “Not important.” She smiled.

  “Actually, Passers are an acronym,” he explained. “P.S.R. Prepared Security Rations. They’re a high-protein plant derivative. It’s cooked and mixed with different flavorings to create different meals. See – the brown stuff there, that’s called spaghetti sauce; I understand it’s supposed to taste like something called tomatoes. And the long white noodles must be the high-fiber variety. And the orangey blocks, that’s called Salmon. That’s always good.”

  Celes looked incredulously at the multicolored blocks, “I can see why they got their name.”

  Janus began loading up his tray, while Celes hesitantly poked a few of the different foods with her fork. He smiled, “Here, take this.” He handed his tray to her, and took hers, loading it up with a little bit of every food in the line. “Now you can try everything and see what you like.”

  Celes smiled and nodded, “I suppose I’m willing to try anything once.” Her smile disappeared as she looked back down at the quivering mass.

  Janus followed Celes as she made her way back to the table where Ramirez, Marcus, and Lyn were waiting. The three looked up in surprise at Celes’ tray, which was almost teetering over with food.

  “Hungry?” Lyn asked.

  “I’ve never had pass…er, PSRs before, so I’m trying everything to see what I like.”

  “Really?” Lyn said. “Ramirez and I would trade for Passers all the time in the Outskirts.”

  Celes looked up in surprise, “You’re from the Outskirts?”

  Lyn nodded proudly, “Ya. Ramirez and I were born and raised there.”

  “Outskirts?” Marcus and Janus looked confused. “What’s that?”

  “It is the areas outside of the main Corporate control.” Celes said knowledgably, “Officially, there is no territory that isn’t claimed by a Corporation, but logistically, it is impossible to control all of it. The Outskirts are regions that are beyond any real influence or control, usually because the Corporations have no interests there. Outskirters are people who live in villages in these uncontrolled regions.”

  Janus and Marcus looked impressed.

  “How come I’ve never heard of them before?” Marcus asked.

  Lyn smiled at Ramirez, “Because we hide.”

  “And because Corporations don’t exactly want people to know there are those living and surviving freely outside of their control,” Celes said. “And because, when Corporations do find Outskirters, they take the people and destroy the villages,” she added solemnly.

  “Oh,” Janus and Marcus said together.

  Lyn and Ramirez were silent, but then Lyn perked up, “So where are ya from, Marcus?”

  “Medusa,” he said between mouthfuls of food, “I got here a little over a week ago. It wasn’t so bad. I worked in one of the power stations under my parents. It wasn’t great, but we survived. I became an Adept after I was drafted into the Medusa security forces.”

  “That’s terrible,” Janus, Ramirez, and Lyn echoed together.

  Marcus looked up in surprise, “Why?”

  “Because Security Troopers are bullying scum,” Janus said. Lyn and Ramirez nodded in agreement.

  Marcus laughed, “That’s true. But it was also my ticket out of there. Military is one of the few ways to move up the ladder. They always need good soldiers, even if they don’t admit it. And S.T.s keep order and protect people, too.” He looked at Lyn and Ramirez, “Just because you’ve seen one side of them doesn’t mean they are all bad. Besides, I was only an S.T. for a day before they decided to make me an Infernus.” Lyn and Ramirez looked even more repulsed. Marcus noticed, because he quickly added, “And then I was tested and made a Mercenary. So are you going to try those Passers or not?” pointing a fork at Celes’ tray.

  Celes looked down; she had clearly been avoiding her food. Her stomach growled. Tentatively raising a bite of “meatloaf” to her lips, she quickly shoved the food into her mouth and chewed as fast as she could. After a few moments, she swallowed, the whole group watching her. “Not bad,” she smiled weakly.

  Everyone laughed. “No really, not bad,” She said again.

  Janus nodded knowingly, “Hunger makes everything more palatable.”

  “Too true,” Lyn said, “So let’s stop watching her and eat.”

  When the other three had their heads down, Celes carefully picked up her fork and silently motioned how to hold it. Janus smiled appreciatively and emulated her.

  Soon all that could be heard was the clattering of trays and the smacking of lips.

  Chapter 14: The Dove and the Hawkes

  The five ran together to Sigma 3, just catching up to Wouris as she walked inside for their afternoon meeting. She gave them a look of disapproval, “Almost late, watch it, cadets.”

  Wouris gathered the unit around her, “Alright you bluebacks, tomorrow you begin the actual training. Today was about me getting a feel for you.” Some of the cadets gave knowing looks and grins, many wore looks of relief. Wouris couldn’t expect them to run the same distance every day; it would be suicide.

  “Tomorrow, we’ll start with our same run, but stragglers will start losing their free time.” The smiles faded.

  “Then, you’ll begin your hand-to-hand exercises, tactical lessons, and weight training. Eventually you’ll be expected to work on these on your own.” The cadets’ faces and shoulders drooped. “All of these are the basics. You will have much more to learn if you want to survive the final test.”

  One of the cadets chimed in, “Will we have another chance to complete the test if we fail the first time, Sergeant?”

  “What’s your name, cadet?”

  “Alexis, Sergeant.”

  “That is incorrect,” Wouris replied angrily, “Your name is cadet until I call you otherwise. And you misunderstood what I said, cadet. I said if you want to survive the test. Your final test will be to complete and survive your very first mission. If you do so, you will be accepted as a fully fledged Adept. If not, well, you certainly won’t care, will you?” She smiled and ended cheerily, “See you in the morning.”

  Not one cadet slept that night – just the way Wouris wanted it.

  Janus and the other cadets tumbled out of their rooms the next morning bleary eyed and exhausted. Wouris lined them up for roll call and quickly took off. In no time they were jogging around the trunk, huffing away. Despite Wouris’ statement the night before, their exercise that morning was lighter, and although some of the cadets definitely struggled more than others, no one had collapsed by the time Wouris called for them to stop.

  The sun was up in full and shining down on them through the Great Seal as they made their way to the mess, with Wouris in the lead. Celes, Marcus, and Janus jogged side by side. Lyn and Ramirez were right behind them.

  “I wonder what our tactical lessons will be like?” Celes asked.

  Marcus shrugged, “Good question; could be a million things, if what they had lined up for in S.T. training meant anything. Don’t worry; I’ll look out for you guys.”

  “What about you, Janus? Any ideas?” Lyn asked.

  Janus was silent, and Celes shrugged back at her. After a moment, however, Janus responded, “I guess we’ll study Corporate weapons and tactics first, to give us an idea of how to form our own strategies and tactics against them.”

  Celes smiled at Marcus, “Hear that? I think he actually knows what he’s talking about.”

&nb
sp; Marcus grimaced, and Janus tried to hide the fleeting smirk on his face.

  Wouris stopped them outside the mess hall and ran down the schedule of the rest of the day’s lessons and exercises. “Alright, listen up. You’re due with Col. Keats and Col. Hawkes for Tactics at 0700. Don’t bother to eat too much; you’ll just pay for it later. Just grab a bite and meet me at 0650 in front of the Beacon – if you’re late, you’ll definitely pay for it. The exercises should take till 1400 hours, where you will have 30 minutes to eat before we start running. Again, don’t eat much, or else you won’t enjoy our run. At 1600 hours you’ll report to Major Northcott for weapons training. At 1800, you get to meet me and I’ll see how you’ve progressed today with some one on one combat. At 1900, you can eat without worry because 2030 is sack time. Except for you, cadet and you, cadet.” She pointed at two cadets named Hughes and Kwandis.

  “You’ll meet me outside Sigma at 1930 for some extra endurance sessions. We can’t have you falling behind now, can we? The rest of you will have a chance to review your lessons, which I strongly recommend, and catch some early shuteye. Any questions?” Hughes and Kwandis tried to speak but Wouris cut in, “No questions? None at all? Good. Now move out!”

  Strategy and tactics was held in a domed extension of the city, known by two runes, ‘kenaz’ and ‘eihwaz’, designated by symbols that looked like the front of an arrow and a line that was bent at each end:

  It meant “Beacon of the Tree”. Wouris had told the cadets two more Beacons were in the city, all designed to serve a multipurpose role. What that role was, Wouris did not elaborate, but the room seemed innocuous enough. As Wouris led them inside, Janus noted it appeared to be nothing more than a large auditorium, with raised seats rising towards high windows that flooded the room with sunlight and currently provided a spectacular view of the open ocean. On the floor of the room, a large, round, and thin translucent disk was set into the floor. Janus was still studying the glass-like plate when Col. Keats and Col. Hawkes joined them.