“Twins,” Zoey finished for her, coming to understand.
The woman nodded, and her voice had a slightly haunted edge to it now. Zoey could sense more emotion trying to push through. “Your mother was younger than me—this form by a year. You used to visit, this very city. Do you remember?”
Zoey shook her head. The woman closed her eyes.
Images burst to life in Zoey’s mind. Two women. One the Oracle had shown her, the other was the woman here now, and she looked almost identical to the first. They walked with Zoey between them, each holding one of her hands, lifting her up into the air, skipping her along the sand, and she giggled with each jerking movement. They loved her. She loved them.
The memories cut off. Zoey opened her eyes.
“You’re … Rose…” She said. “I called you Aunt Rose.”
“Rosalind was her real name,” the woman responded.
“You were my mom’s sister.”
“Yes…” she began, and quickly cut off. Zoey felt her push more feelings down. “Or … no … Not me, but … It is strange. It is … not as expected.”
“You’re one of them. Aren’t you? You’re the shape that buried itself inside her, the one I helped. You’re the one talking … not her.”
“Finding this form among the multitude was fortuitous,” Rose said. “She had been a medical professional, and that was the group we focused on for your Custodian. We ran basic scans on each of the Hosts in our possession, and to our surprise, her DNA matched with yours. It is then we knew.”
“How to get me to do it,” Zoey said. “How to get me to help one of you take over one of them.”
“It was a … consideration, but more so, we hoped it would put you at ease, the sight of someone familiar.”
“But you’re not her. Not really…”
“I am much more than that now, Zoey. As are you.”
“The Feelings,” she said, though she already knew. A part of her had known from the very beginning. “The Feelings are … one of you. One of you is inside me.” She remembered the vision the Oracle had shown her, that horrible, black room where everything moved up and down, not left and right, and the blue and white glowing crystalline shape that buried itself into her … just like the one who had buried itself into the body of her aunt.
“The Feelings, as you call them,” Rose told her, “are the remnant of the Mas’Shinra Royal who merged with you.”
“But … the Feelings have always helped me.”
“Why would they not? They are not your enemy, none of us are, far from it. They want what we all want.”
Many things were suddenly making sense. “That’s why I can control machines. Because of the Feelings. It’s the Assembly’s ability, not mine.”
“It is the Feelings’ ability, but you are the one who channels it. Just as you channel its ability to read and sense others’ emotions and memories. Only your rebirth through the Severed Tower makes this possible. You are unique in all the universe, Zoey. You are the future. Of the Assembly. Of humanity. They will both be ascended through you.” Another glimmer of emotion. The concept seemed to both thrill and frighten the woman who was, and was not, Rose.
Zoey barely noticed. “Why do this? Why aren’t your own bodies enough?”
“That is … a complicated question. I can show you. If you want. But … there is a price.”
Zoey stared at her, unsure.
“You must eat something first,” Rose clarified.
Zoey thought about it. How did it further her goals to starve to death? Besides, she might get real answers to her questions. All the same, she reminded herself, the thing in front of her was not Aunt Rose.
Zoey took a muffin and gingerly ate a bite. It was carrot cake, and somehow, it tasted freshly baked. The flavors exploded in her mouth, her stomach growled louder. She wasn’t sure if the muffin was just that good, or if it was because she hadn’t eaten in so long, but it tasted better than anything she had eaten in forever.
She sighed in approval, forgetting her desire to resist the Assembly, her hunger taking over. Zoey finished the muffin in two bites and looked back at the woman.
Rose nodded in approval … then closed her eyes. Imagery and sound took over all Zoey’s senses at once.
“We were born of the Nexus,” Rose’s voice said inside her head. “And it was beautiful.”
There was nothing but light and color, and Zoey could see it was its own structure, a giant, floating field of energy surrounded by stars. Golden, glowing crystalline shapes merged in and out of it, as if swimming through its warmth. Zoey had, of course, seen those shapes before, and she had seen the field too. It was the same energy that formed the column in the center of the Citadel.
“A place of color and of warmth, but we were tethered to it. Trapped. As we evolved individually, our minds stayed connected. We exist in the Whole, a mass of each’s intelligence and purpose, united by the energy of the Nexus. We feel each other’s thoughts and emotions whether we want to or not. The Nexus sustains us, gives power and life, but we could never leave it, we would die without it. Can you imagine a more torturous existence? Trapped in all that cold blackness, self-aware, connected … but alone.”
Strangely, Zoey could. For all the beauty of the Nexus, the entities in this vision really were trapped, adrift in the deep of space, without a future, without anything other than themselves, forever and ever.
“After eons,” Rose said, her voice low. “We were saved.”
Objects appeared in the distance, a dozen of them or more. Even this far away, Zoey could tell what they must be. Ships. Headed toward the Nexus.
“Explorers? Conquerors? All that matters is that they saw us. They were captivated by our beauty, for we are radiant. They could not help themselves, they came closer, and we learned that day we were not as helpless as we believed. We could enter machines, disperse our essence into technology itself, power and control it. It was in this way that we were freed.”
An unpleasant question occurred to Zoey. “What happened to them? The ones on the ships?”
“We inhabited their technology. Certain systems were deemed unnecessary. Without them the biologicals could not survive.”
“You killed them…” Zoey said in horror.
“They were weak. Such is the way of the universe. We powered in the direction they had come, hoping to find their home world. In time, we did. And more. Many more. The pattern was repeated. We added to our technology, growing, controlling everything through our own energy, and leaving nothing behind, assimilating new colors into the Whole.”
It was horrible. Even Ambassador, for all it had done for her, was one of them. It had participated in a swath of destruction and death that stretched back who knew how long. It made her sick.
Rose seemed to sense Zoey’s feelings. “It was necessary. Even now, we remember how it once was, being alone, tethered, adrift, and lost. We swore it would never happen again, and a plan formed, one approved by the Whole, a decision that set in motion a quest that has, so far, lasted hundreds of thousands of years and seen countless races put to the Criterion.”
The Criterion was what the green and orange Royal had called the test the captured human population was given. “What were you looking for?”
“You, Zoey.”
The answer, for all its implications, was stated so plainly that it took a moment to feel the full weight of it.
“We have searched a millennia for an organic species that could contain our essence in the same way as a machine. No being has ever passed the Criterion. Until you. We have a name for the first, a herald of the coming Change.”
“Scion…” Zoey said, her voice a whisper.
“You are the key to a great search. We will fight and die for you, and the clan that claims you will become dominant, superior to all others. Look.”
The imagery flashed away. Her head swam from the abrupt shift back to the black room with its mismatched furniture.
Rose waved a hand towa
rd one of the exterior walls, and as she did the color of it, the blackness, simply vanished. The walls were still there, they had just become transparent, making one giant window.
A giant panorama of city ruins stretched out before Zoey. She was looking due west, and the sun had just begun to set, burying itself in a perfectly straight horizon. It was the ocean, Zoey saw, and she could see where the land ended and the water began. The sky was full of color, oranges and reds, and somehow, it made the ruined city of San Francisco seem almost tranquil.
Buildings were shattered, fallen in on themselves, the patchwork of streets looked like a spiderweb from this height, and what was left of a once giant bridge spanned a gap in the landscape to the north. For all the destruction, though, the city was not dead. There was movement, like ants swarming in a nest.
Thousands upon thousands of machines moved in the streets and drifted in the air, and whatever force blocked Zoey from feeling and sensing them was suddenly removed. The impact of all those presences was overwhelming, but as she pushed the wave back, one thing became clear: the combined presence below did not represent only the Mas’Shinra, the blue and whites. They were there, she could feel them, but there were many more.
Every clan, all eight of them, from all over the world. They had sent representatives, not for conflict, but to unite. With all their aggression, it would take something remarkable to bring them together. There was only one thing it could be.
“Yes,” Rose said, looking down upon the multitude. “They are here because of you, Zoey. You will ascend them all, human and Assembly. You will be their queen.”
Zoey swallowed and looked up at the woman who had once been her aunt. “How?”
“With the Tone. It is broadcast from each Citadel on each continent, and it reaches the minds of every human on this planet, whether Succumbed or not. You have the power to use it. To transfer every entity from the Nexus into a human host using the Tone. We will be physical and real, and never again fear being trapped.”
Zoey shook her head, the horror filling her. “The humans don’t want that. They don’t want to be you, they want to be them. They’ll fight you…”
Rose nodded back to the window and the incomprehensible numbers of alien machines there. Zoey was suddenly hit with the reality of just how futile it all was. “There is no fighting us. Your friends have no choice but to be Ascended. It is an honor for them, and you will make it possible.”
“I won’t,” Zoey whispered.
Rose studied her curiously. “You have more in common with us than you know. You are of us. As much as the entity inside you.”
“That’s not true,” Zoey said firmly.
“You were born of the Severed Tower, and the Tower was born of both humanity and Assembly. It contained the essences of both. The form you were given is human, but you are equally Assembly. It is why you are the Scion, and why you are so important.”
Zoey stared at Rose, trying to find a way to deny her logic, but one would not form.
Rose smiled. “You will be our Ascension, Sunshine. It is your destiny.”
It took a moment for them both to realize Rose had called the little girl “Sunshine.” It was what her aunt called her as a small child, a nickname based on Zoey’s favorite song. When Rose realized it, the confidence slipped from her face. Apprehension and doubt bubbled to the surface. It was the sign Zoey had been looking for, the barest hint that maybe not all was lost.
Rose, the real Rose, however much buried by the Assembly presence within her, was not gone.
15. RIO VISTA
MIRA LAY AT THE EDGE of the mesa with everyone else, trying to push away the incessant projections from the Assembly. They were almost like little children, always clamoring for her attention and closeness, only these were children with the ability to drown out her own thoughts if she didn’t keep a handle on them.
Right now, however, she had more pressing concerns.
They’d spent four days running search patterns throughout the desert, looking for missing Landships, White Helix, and Assembly. Dresden and Conner had divided the ships into four groups, each surveying a different area. By the end, Mira and Dresden had found twenty Arcs of Helix, fifteen Landships (most of which needed repairs) and several Assembly groups, and the others had had equal success. When all was said and done, they were operating with about 75 percent of what they’d set out with.
On the surface it was a good number, but there was no ignoring they’d lost more than a quarter of their resources in one battle. Which really meant they had lost people, a lot of them, and the thought was grim. She and Dane had dedicated themselves to being smarter, and she hoped they’d learned their lessons.
Below them, where the ground flattened out into a dusty plain, lay a town. It had been called Rio Vista in the World Before, a nondescript desert place that seemed equal parts trailer parks and adobe structures, or at least what was left of them. The only piece that stood out was the very thing that had brought them here: a large, arching, metal bridge that spanned a wide river. For Landships, that water was impossible to cross, and there were only a few places where the big vessels could pass over in this part of the Barren. This bridge had been cleared long ago for just that purpose.
But, as usual, they had a problem.
The Assembly had parked themselves in the town, the blue and whites, several dozen Mantises, and six Spiders. A powerful force, one that outnumbered theirs, yet nothing like what the reds had fielded a few days ago. Most were dug into defensive positions, while patrols searched the perimeter. The Assembly, it seemed, had been expecting them.
“Distance?” Dane asked behind her. He was on the ground with his men, almost a thousand White Helix, masks already pulled up, eager for payback. Mira hoped they got it this time; the plan Dane had devised seemed overly complicated, but at least it included all three groups.
Mira reached out with her senses, feeling for the Hunters, the Mas’Erinhah defectors. Right now, they were cloaked, moving at full speed around the side of the town, so far undetected. “They’ll be ready when you hit.”
Dane looked to where the rest of the force had been divided. Two groups of impressive size. One contained all the Landships that had been armed with White Helix weaponry, and the number had grown to twenty-one. Smitty and Caspira, it seemed, had found ways to stomach each other’s presence enough to work together, and they had used the last four days well. Next to them sat the Mas’Erinhah artillery walkers, the big ones that had laid down that devastating barrage in the Strange Lands a month ago.
The second group was a small force of the silver Assembly, mainly Mantises and Brutes. They weren’t using any of the Spiders per Ambassador’s recommendation. The entity felt that with the close-quarters fighting to come, that level of firepower might cause more friendly fire than enemy. Still, Mira could see them, a mile away, hovering protectively over the rest of the Landship fleet. If they were needed, they could be brought in.
“Still wish we had air power,” Dresden said next to her. So did Mira. Out of all the defectors the silvers had gotten, not one gunship had joined their side, only several Osprey dropships. At least the blue and whites below didn’t seem to have any either.
“Never venture, never win,” Dane answered, and looked to Mira. “Light ’em up.”
His face was a mask of confidence, which was exactly what the numerous Doyen and their Arcs behind him needed to see, but she knew he felt at least a stirring of the apprehension she did. This was their first battle since the travesty of Currency. If they lost this one too, the entire endeavor was probably finished.
Mira reached for the button on her belt. From a device there, a wire ran to an earpiece and microphone around her ear. Everyone else on the mesa wore an identical set, including Dane and his Doyen.
It had been a lucky find by Conner, a National Guard armory he spotted during the search. Like most places it had been well picked over, but the looters had mainly been interested in the guns and explosives stor
ed there, and had passed over the electronics, including several crates of headset radios. While there hadn’t been enough for everyone, there was enough for each Landship Captain and first officer, and each White Helix Doyen. They were useless of course for Assembly, but Mira could relay any messages to that group herself.
She slapped the button, heard the crackle of static. “Artillery, fire at will.” At the same time, she projected the same message to the giant Mas’Erinhah artillery walkers … and then shut her eyes.
The air exploded.
Piercing, harmonic pings shook the air as the Landship cannons launched their Antimatter shells into the sky. The sound of the artillery walkers adding their own fire shook the ground like thunder, and it all screamed over her head.
Below, the town was suddenly ablaze in fire as the ordnance hit. Explosions flared, both regular fire and colored from the crystals, and Mira saw several enemy Mantises incinerated almost immediately.
They didn’t sit idle for long. Even though the artillery was out of sight, they returned fire in its general direction, and plasma burned through the air and sparked against the side of the mesa. They were firing it in a way Mira had no idea they even could. The yellow bolts of light, instead of simply shooting straight, now shot in arcs that curved in the sky and came back down toward the plateau. Explosions rocked the ground nearby, rocks and dirt sprayed everywhere.
“Seek,” Dane yelled as he pulled his mask over his mouth.
“And find!” came the response, a thousand strong, loud enough to overpower the chaotic sounds.
“Move as one!”
The order was shouted again through the ranks, and the Helix advanced, leaping over the edge of the mesa and soaring downward toward the town hundreds of feet below in a cloud of cyan.
Do it, Mira projected to Ambassador. Instantly she felt a wave of anticipation that replaced her own sense of anxiety. The aliens’ furor for battle filled her, and she smiled, letting the feelings flow, before she realized they weren’t her own, and she pushed them back. It was frightening sometimes, the mix of emotions, hers and theirs. She could lose herself so easily.
Valley of Fires: A Conquered Earth Novel (The Conquered Earth Series) Page 15