by KT Belt
In any case, a step back moved her out of the way of a kick. A block saved her face from a punch from her side. She telekinetically threw herself out of the way of another punch; there was no other way to avoid it. The room chilled a degree or two. It wasn’t a sensation she consciously registered, nor was the thought to twist her body out of the way of a heat beam. Her eyes narrowed, but other than that split second, she gave no sign of her annoyance.
The first Construct came at her again. She matched his rhythm as he aggressively struck forward. A slight move of her head sent his lead hand sailing over her shoulder. Then she changed the beat, taking an extra half step and moving out of the line of attack. His power hand rushed out to where she was supposed to be. At the same time, she intercepted his outstretched arm at the elbow with a counterpunch in one fluid movement.
The sound of the Clairvoyant Construct’s arm breaking was only a loud crack, but it froze every soul in the observation booth and the fight room, save one. Inertia couldn’t help a slight nod of approval. Caelus’s stare bored into him, but he ignored it for now.
The next movement of the battle had an entirely different tempo. This time, a feint by Carmen stopped all the Constructs in their tracks, allowing her to reposition herself along the wall. She gave up controlling the fight with distance, but at least she only had to defend herself from one direction. In fact, she could only really be attacked by one of them at a time. The first’s fist cratered the wall as she moved her head out of the way.
It was like fighting in a phone booth. Her arms, shoulders, and body responded in split-second saves that were only belied in their intensity by their awesome gracefulness and accuracy, such to the point that everything she did seemed almost preordained. Subtle sidesteps forced her opponents to stop and reset for a new attack. Yet a moment later, she felt a sharp pain, and the room spun from a blow she didn’t see coming.
Her entire body quaked and everything became…uncoordinated. Her thoughts were still as sharp as ever and she knew exactly what she wanted to do, but her body simply didn’t respond with its usual haste. Bound to happen sometime, she thought. She gave her head a brisk shake and everything became clear enough that she was dangerous again. A quick survey of her situation was the only other thing Carmen needed.
Three of the Constructs took turns attacking her to conserve their stamina and wear her out. The fourth, the Construct with the broken arm, stood by, ready to blast her with a heat beam the moment she was vulnerable.
A punch that just grazed her cheek, however, soon reminded her that she needed to stay focused on the immediate. She smothered the follow-up attack by stepping forward. She then ducked out of the way of another, moving ever so deftly to position the third Construct exactly where she wanted him. He came at her as expected in a lunging attack that closed the distance. She was ready for him and what came next; she had already conducted the orchestra in her head.
A step to the side and back made him miss and placed them exactly where she wanted to be. He, of course, responded with the only offensive option available to him, which was what she was waiting for. Carmen stepped into him, grabbing him in exactly the right moment, and pulled him around her body to shield herself from an onrushing beam of heat. The Construct screamed and, a few seconds later, she dropped his charred body to the ground. Then she placed her hands on her hips.
“She’s…she’s not supposed to do that!” Mugal exclaimed.
Caelus glanced at him but didn’t add to the protest. Inertia half turned to look at Caelus, who studied him for a moment before finally turning his attention to one of his technicians.
“Report,” he said simply.
“Data is still streaming, Project Leader. But…” he trailed off and then paused. “But—”
“Yes?” Caelus pressed.
“There’s only a thirty percent correlation with our model,” the technician answered.
“That is incorrect. Recalibrate,” the sorten said after powerfully stomping his foot. The technician went to work immediately, and Caelus snarled when the new data began streaming in. He ran at Inertia, stopping just short to tower over him. “Why?” he screamed. Inertia made no reply, other than a smirk. “Answer me, beast!”
“I told you why.”
“Then tell me again.”
Inertia nodded and turned to look down into the fight room. “Fighting involves the whole self. The Dark can’t be hidden in battle; it is always called upon.”
“I know that already,” Caelus said. “There have been countless battles in this facility proving exactly that.”
“But you don’t really understand the principle,” Inertia countered. “You don’t even understand the battle itself. You think the fight is between the Clairvoyant and their opponent, but that is never the case. The battle is within the Clairvoyant themself.”
“Project Leader, do not be seduced by this nonsense,” Mugal cut in. “There must be some problem with the sensing equipment. Let’s run a check and then start the test again.”
“Mugal, silence.” The security director shuffled and groaned but said nothing else, and Caelus turned his attention back to Inertia. “Continue,” he said, regaining his normal calm state.
“A Clairvoyant’s will and desire is what gives their Dark its potency and generative force,” he explained as if it was obvious. “That’s why it’s ever-changing, never static, and difficult to quantify. Every moment of every day, it’s responding to the slightest challenge or difficulty, reshaping itself, evolving, conquering.”
“But our copies match our model to ninety-eight percent accuracy,” Caelus said.
“They are robots,” Inertia replied. “Well made robots, but they are only what you programmed them to be.”
“That didn’t stop them from besting you,” Mugal muttered under his breath.
He glanced at the sorten but didn’t challenge the statement. “Look in there,” Inertia said to Caelus while motioning to the fight room. The scientist took a step forward and did just that. “You see a battle. You see a beast. But what do you think she sees? What do you think is going through her head?” he continued. “Do you think she’s determining every move and countermove she’ll make? No, it’s simpler than that. She doesn’t particularly want to be in there. She doesn’t particularly want them to attack her. Everything about her is focused on that. Everything she does or doesn’t do, every memory she’s ever had, and even when she takes a breath… Everything is concentrated on that one desire.”
The sorten said nothing and just watched the battle. He noted how Carmen was able to move about the room almost with complete impunity. A potential attack was stifled with a feint, a subtle change in her positioning, or even just a turn of her head. For a short while, the Clairvoyant Copies didn’t even dare to throw so much as a punch.
It was then that Caelus saw the details in his latest subject’s masterwork. Not one thing she did repeated itself, at least not in exactly the same way. Every movement and indeed every breath was ever so slightly different from the last. In comparison, his creations could only be described as the clunky abominations they were. She almost danced around and through them, like a whimsical muse conducting an opera. It would be difficult to say that a single thing happened in that room that she didn’t intend. His eyes grew wide upon the revelation.
“Stop the test,” he said as he walked away from the window. “It’s all wrong. We’re going to have to start again,” he muttered to himself as he moved toward the exit.
“Project Leader!” Mugal called.
If Caelus heard him, he paid no mind. “All wrong…” he continued to mutter as he left.
The Clairvoyant Constructs stopped their attack instantly. Carmen kept her guard till a subconscious cue told her it was over. She took a deep breath. The ordeal was by no means the worst she’d ever suffered, but all the same she didn’t care for it. Her eyes lingered on the dead Construct for a second as she turned to look at Inertia in the observation booth.
&nb
sp; “Are you okay?” he asked telepathically.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
She saw him nod. “Good,” he spoke. “This is just the first day.”
17
The Dark Depths
The aches and pains of the past worked through Carmen as she stretched. It was somewhat maddening that, for most of her life, she was constantly prepared to fight yet never knew when her next battle would be. She no longer noticed the unremitting state of readiness, at least not consciously. Though her fight yesterday with the four Clairvoyant Constructs had been relatively light work, mind and body were a team, and her body was quick to remind her this morning that it needed to be focused and primed before it was so stressed. She couldn’t control much here—they had yet to be fed again—but she could do something about being sore in the morning.
Inertia watched her warm up but made no move to join her.
“You know, they probably won’t have you fight today,” he remarked.
“And what if they do?” she said without looking at him.
“Then what you’re doing is prudent,” Inertia replied. “But if you don’t fight, it’ll just be a waste of time.”
Carmen couldn’t help a momentary quake. Wasting time was practically sacrilegious to Clairvoyants. She didn’t stop her warm up, though; she just looked at him and frowned at the suggestion.
After a few seconds of silence, she said, “We’ll see.”
She then went about her business, missing his thoughtful nod in reply. Though the conversation was over, his words stayed with her. I have to fight, she reflected. What else do Clairvoyants do? What else does anyone want them for? Occasional oddly timed frowns gave voice to the thoughts roaming her mind, but she said nothing else, and Inertia didn’t seem to notice. She finished her warm-up a few minutes later. She could sense the sortens coming.
“You like going the direction you’re pointed,” Inertia said when she turned to face him.
Carmen frowned again. She had an inkling of what he meant, but she didn’t get a chance to say anything as Rauon walked into the room.
“Clairvoyants, if you may,” he said simply.
Carmen glanced at Inertia, who got up, and the two of them walked out of the room. Mugal was waiting for them with a security contingent.
She looked at the formidable force arrayed against them and then looked at Inertia sidelong. “No fighting,” she said telepathically with a sarcastic tone.
He said nothing back. He simply raised a hand, and Carmen held herself from making any further barbs. She’d met countless Clairvoyants from her time as a handler and, on the whole, the lot of them were as calm as a forgotten lake on a tranquil night. Inertia was an order of magnitude more. Her heart rate had to drop three beats a minute just being around him.
“Inertia, please go with the security director. Psyche, you are with me,” Rauon said.
“Why the division?” Carmen asked.
“The project leader has taken an interest in you,” Mugal answered, looking at Inertia as he spoke. “His machinations may vex me from time to time, but this is his order, so it will be done. But mind yourself, Clairvoyant. You may bedazzle him. However, that grants you nothing. At the slightest provocation, I’d obliterate this rock and everyone in it to terminate you, if need be.”
Inertia made no response to that. Carmen had seen people have bigger reactions to an unreturned smile. With no hesitation, her partner went with Mugal and the security detail. She noticed his head turn slightly toward her as they walked away, which was as much of a goodbye as she’d get.
She turned to Rauon. “So, what now?”
“We have a full day,” the sorten said.
“Am I going to fight again?” she asked with a degree of hesitation.
“No, that’s not needed for today. It’ll just be some simple tests,” he answered.
Carmen let go a soft sigh. She wasn’t completely sure, however, if she was relieved because of the answer or annoyed because, as Inertia had said, she’d wasted her time. It didn’t really matter.
“If you may,” Rauon said, and the two began walking.
Carmen was quick to note a difference between now and yesterday and even just a minute ago. “No escort?” she asked.
“I don’t think I need it,” he replied. “Your mate terrifies me, quite frankly. But you…there’s something different about you. I can’t really say why. Honestly, that’s part of what these tests are designed to figure out.”
“I’m not special,” she cut in quickly.
“No, that’s not what I meant to imply. You are very much a Clairvoyant and act in their typical manner. On the other hand, it seems that you try not to. It’s…curious.”
“You sound almost like Caelus when you say that,” Carmen pointed out.
Rauon said nothing else for a long moment. He seemed troubled. “I know you don’t particularly care for the project leader. His drive can be…off-putting,” he said, pausing to find the right words. “However, we are both scientists. We both want the same thing—”
“You do?” Carmen interrupted.
“Of course we do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Answers. Always answers,” Rauon said without missing a beat. “There are always new questions.”
“But why ask them?”
The sorten turned to her, clearly amused. She’d never seen him look that way before. But his manner wasn’t the demeaning, superior attitude of Caelus; it was almost childishly innocent by comparison.
“Typical Clairvoyant. Few of us just know like you do,” he said.
“There’s very little I just know. Trust me.”
Rauon gave her the same amused look again. “Perhaps, and that’s what makes you interesting. I think I’m going to like working with you.”
She had no idea what to say in response, so she simply nodded and shrugged at the same time. They said nothing after that as they entered an elevator. It was difficult to know what exactly she should be doing now. Inertia’s only advice had been to be herself. Just then, Rauon muttered a curse under his breath that didn’t have a direct translation.
Carmen glanced at him.
“It’s nothing,” he said. She raised an eyebrow. “I left some of my research materials in my quarters. I can reference some of it by memory, but it would be difficult.”
“We can go get it,” she said.
“You don’t mind?” Rauon asked with hesitant surprise.
Carmen couldn’t help a small chuckle. “Why would I mind? Is there some place I need to be?”
“Yes, that was a foolish question,” he muttered softly. “This will only take a few minutes.”
She nodded, and he redirected the elevator at the press of a button. She still had no real idea of where anything was located in the planetoid. Its bewildering design made it difficult to find any reference points. Still, it felt like they were sinking deep into the pit of the thing, deeper than her quarters, and when the elevator doors opened, it was obvious that she’d never been on this level before.
“Follow me,” Rauon said.
Carmen dutifully complied. This part of the facility didn’t have meandering, endless halls. No, the elevator opened to a large circular room with several identical doors equidistant from each other. She turned to note that the elevator doors were just as identical.
Several sortens were present. Each of them paused in turn when they noticed the Clairvoyant in their midst. As Carmen looked at the chaos of it all, it was crystal clear just what a total hell this planetoid was. Each sorten needed a short while to get their bearings before they determined where they needed to go. It seemed that knowing which door was the elevator, now that someone stepped out of it, was a big help.
Carmen had always assumed the madness of Solitary was limited to the levels she’d previously seen. Surely deeper, in the dark heart of the mass, the sortens would revert to more logical ordering. Shockingly, that didn’t appear to be the case. Indeed, Carmen, whose tas
k was simply to follow Rauon, was the only person who didn’t appear to be lost.
“It’s this way…I think,” the head technician said.
They joined a small group exiting through one of the doors. After a few steps down that corridor, however, Rauon groaned and then peeled off with the other aimless sortens who had guessed incorrectly. As they walked back to try another door, he looked at her with a hint of embarrassment on his face. She didn’t really think it was warranted. Two tries later, they were on their way.
This section was more straightforward, like the winding, meandering corridors in the rest of the planetoid. The most intriguing aspect here was how the sortens reacted to her. The affront of her existence first produced alarmed disbelief that then transitioned to curiosity aimed Rauon’s way. His only response was to politely tell anyone questioning him not to mind. Despite that, Carmen had to stifle more than a couple of laughs when some of the sortens jumped in fearful surprise.
“Here it is. Once again, I apologize for the delay,” Rauon said when they finally reached his quarters. She shook her head and waved the apology away.
He went inside, and Carmen hesitated to follow. She thought back to how Janus and Kali had rarely if ever entered her room back at the facility. Despite everything that had been taken from her, she’d still been allowed one space free from intrusion. Thus, out of respect, she waited at the entrance to his quarters while he found his forgotten items. It only took her a minute or so to realize why the sorten had been coy about coming here as he rummaged through his belongings, obviously unsure of where what he was looking for was located.
“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered a few times when a fresh search turned up nothing. “I’ll be brief.”
“It’s okay,” Carmen replied.
Still, her wait was long enough for her to give up repeatedly studying the empty, endless corridor to instead look into his room more directly. It was a cold, rather barren place. She didn’t know if all the living spaces for the sortens here were like this one. Actually, she didn’t know what any living space for any sorten anywhere was like. Still, there was a surprising lack of personal definition about the room. It was hard to believe Rauon retired from a day’s work to…this.