by Simon Archer
“Then why don’t you?” he asked stubbornly.
“I just told you!” I exclaimed, growing more than a little frustrated. “We don’t know who to trust, other than each other, that is. Everything’s just gone so crazy lately. We can’t risk anything.”
“Well, you can trust us,” Lin said, and she sounded like she might cry. “We care just as much about all this as you do.”
“Plus we already overheard,” Clem said. “You have no choice but to trust us now.” I stared up at him, right into his eyes. He looked determined as ever but still hurt like even if we did tell him everything now, it still wouldn’t make up for the betrayal of not telling him earlier.
I thought hard for a few moments. It would be a relief to bring Clem and Lin into the inner circle and not have to worry about keeping things from them anymore. But then again, it would come with all the risks of bringing more people into the fold. I’d trusted Oris and the others, too, though admittedly, I didn’t know them as well as I did Clem and Lin.
“I… I guess I could just do a soul gaze,” I said. “You wouldn’t be able to hide anything from me, at least, though I still might not see everything. It’s no use trying to avoid it now that you already know for sure something’s up.”
Souls were weird like that. It wasn’t an exact science. Sometimes they showed you everything, and sometimes nothing. But the mere fact that Lin was willing to take that chance said something about her trustworthiness, I thought.
“What about you, Clem?” I asked. He hesitated, but only for a second.
“Sure, if that’s what it takes,” he said, almost dismissively. “But you shouldn’t have to resort to that. I feel like I’ve earned more than that by now.”
“You’re not wrong,” I sighed. “But we’re in an extraordinary situation. You get that, right?” He nodded curtly.
“Fine,” he said, and he got up off of me. I breathed in relief at having such a huge weight lifted off of me.
“Thanks,” I muttered. He reached out a hand to help me up.
“Should we go back inside then?” Malthe suggested.
“We really need to get going,” I said. “Can’t we do this tomorrow?”
“No,” Clem and Lin both said in unison.
“Fine,” I sighed. “But let’s just make it quick, okay?”
10
Everyone nodded, and we went back inside. Luckily, Malthe had a key already. Otherwise, we would have had to wake up the family, and then we’d have to bring even more people into the inner circle.
We all clustered around the coffee table when we got inside.
“Here, one of you sit down on this end of the couch,” I said, indicating where I wanted them. “The rest of you, go upstairs or something so that your own souls don’t get in the way.”
Lin sat down where I told her to, and the rest did as I asked, heading back out to the backyard to sit by the pool.
“Okay.” I sat down in the loveseat perpendicular to the couch and reached out my hands in Lin’s direction. “Take my hands, and then just look into my eyes. Try not to move much and don’t look away until I say so.”
“How long will it take?” she asked, shifting nervously in her seat. That wasn’t all that surprising. Baring your soul to someone wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do.
“It depends,” I said. “Ten minutes, maybe? Sometimes less, sometimes more. It’s not an exact science. The spirit world is always shifting.”
“Okay,” she whispered, nodding shakily.
“You’re in good hands,” I assured her as I gave her a warm smile.
Lin returned the gesture weakly. She squeezed my hands tightly, and I looked straight into her eyes. It didn’t take me long to find her soul. She had a vibrant one. I saw… all kinds of things. Memories of her and her father. Her long and difficult life in the oft-maligned non-profit sector on Termina. Her odd combination of joy and reticence when she joined the newly formed TelCorp board after I took over the company.
But perhaps even more importantly, I saw how she’d changed in the few short months since. How she’d come to trust us and our mission. Come to bond deeply with the rest of the board, especially Clem. Over all of that, her intense pain at the events of the past twenty-four hours floated to the surface, including the fact that the people she felt closest to didn’t trust her.
And as these emotions and scenes bubbled to the surface, I felt them too, almost as intensely as she did. Playing with souls was an intimate work, after all. I felt sorrier than I ever could have thought possible for not trusting her. There was no doubt in my mind now that she was on our side and wouldn’t betray us to save her own life.
“Okay,” I said when I’d recovered a bit from the intensity of the emotions, giving her hands one last squeeze before releasing them. “I think we’re good. More than good.” I gave her another warm smile.
“What did you find?” she asked, her voice kind of small.
“Just that you’re exactly who you say you are,” I said sympathetically.
Lin wiped a tear out of her eye and laughed weakly. “Well, I could’ve told you that much myself.”
“You did,” I assured her, smiling again.
We both rose, and I led her out to the backyard. The rest of our group looked up at us expectantly from where they were all clustered around one of the smaller tables.
“She’s all clear,” I said, and everyone visibly relaxed.
“Ready for me?” Clem asked, and I shook my head.
“I think I need a minute,” I said. “Can’t do another one right away. Too overwhelming.”
Clem nodded, and I sunk down into a chair at an adjacent table next to Lin. I stared out at the pool for a while. I could still hear the thrumming and whirring of the drones all around the house, but unlike the foxgirls, I found it comforting. It was a reminder that everyone was safe and sound, at least for now.
The rest of the group talked amongst themselves as I sat in silence, breathing in the fresh air and preparing myself to look into Clem’s soul this time. I was relieved that Lin was who she said she was, but I was still anxious about Clem, and not just because I was afraid he was lying. I was also afraid that he was so angry at me that we’d never come back from this.
“Alright,” I said at long last, slapping my hands on my thighs and rising, looking straight at Clem. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be, I suppose,” he said, rising too. He followed me back inside, and I gestured for him to sit on the couch right where Lin had. He did so, and when I held out my hands, he took them.
“Alright, you know how this works,” I said.
“I do, though I’ve never been on this side of it,” he admitted. “Never really wanted to.”
“Well, I’ll try to make it quick and painless,” I promised.
“Good luck with that,” he scoffed. “It’s never painless.”
I nodded wordlessly. He wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t go back now. I looked straight into Clem’s eyes, and he looked straight back at me. The first thing I saw was his anger and hurt, just like I’d feared, but it seemed more directed at the situation than at me specifically. I was pleased to find that lurking somewhere in him was an understanding of where I was coming from, and why, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
So I hadn’t ruined our friendship after all.
Next, I saw, much like with Lin, that he was, in fact, trustworthy. He’d been just as ignorant as I was about what TelCorp was actually doing back when Elias was still in charge. And he’d been just as sickened by the realization. Then, also just like with Lin, I saw that he really didn’t know anything other than what he’d heard. That he’d been pissed as hell when the news about Parliament came out, and that he’d just spent the rest of the day confused and hurt that I wasn’t telling him anything.
When I was done, I pulled away. Clem was more angry than sad, so this time I was left feeling annoyed and agitated, much like he was. I took a few deep breaths to clear my head and push awa
y the feeling.
“I’m all good, then?” Clem asked, though judging by the way he said it, it was more of a statement than a question. He already knew I wouldn’t find anything. That’s why he’d agreed to do it in the first place.
“Yeah, you’re good.” I avoided his gaze now that I had that option. “Sorry.”
He just grunted in response, but based on what I’d seen and felt, I knew it would just take time for us to get back to the way things were. It wouldn’t be like this forever. I’d earn his trust back, just like he’d earned mine.
Clem got up and went back outside. I stayed sitting there for a few moments, recovering from the soul gaze. Then I went into the kitchen and downed some water, trying to wash away all that anger.
While I was standing over the sink, I looked out the window at my friends, all laughing and talking amongst themselves. And just like that, the bad feelings melted away, and I went back out to join the group.
“Okay, so basically what we’ve got is that we think this secret society or whatever that those to clients belonged to is behind all this,” I said when I got there, sitting back down next to Lin at the second table and addressing her and Clem.
“Everyone’s good, then?” Malthe asked hopefully.
“Yeah, everyone’s good,” I said, smiling.
“Can we just do this with all the other board members, then?” Kira asked. “Do one of these soul gaze things and make Semra and the rest of them are all on our side?”
I considered this for a moment but ultimately decided against it. “That would tip our hand. Even if we couldn’t trust someone, then they’d know we were on to these people.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Clem said, slightly deflated, but he still seemed glad that he was on the inner circle now, at least.
“Okay, so basically, we think these people are behind it all because everything happened so suddenly in Parliament this morning,” I explained, not wanting to drag the whole thing out since I wanted to get to the tunnels. “And then we were trying to figure out where they might be, how they might operate since they’re off the grid, but still close enough to Termina to know what’s going on here.”
“So then you remembered the tunnels,” Lin said, finishing my sentence for me. “The ones underneath the city that used to be used for transportation before there were air cars!”
“Exactly,” I said.
“Does everyone know about this shit except us?” Cindra asked, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.
“You didn’t know about the tunnels?” Clem asked, incredulous. All the foxgirls and Malthe shook their heads.
“We don’t have great schools down here,” he said. “I stopped going when I was like twelve.”
“And we don’t have schools at all,” Kira said, almost forlornly, as if she’d always wanted to go to school. That was a really weird thought. I thought everyone hated school, not that I ever actually went to a physical school myself. I always had the best private tutors in the city, first arranged for me by my father and then by Elias after he died.
“Right, so yeah, we think it’s the tunnels,” I said, not knowing what else to say other than to move the discussion along. “It’s still in the city, so they know what’s going on, but it’s far enough away from the main action that they can get away with staying off the grid, going undetected even by an organization like TelCorp or someone like Malthe.”
“So do we have any evidence for this theory other than wild speculation?” Clem asked. “I heard you saying something about a radio…? What’s a radio?” I looked over at Malthe, deferring to him on this one.
“It’s an old kind of technology, a different kind of signal that allows people to communicate with each other or for broadcasts to happen,” he explained. “Basically, these people are using old burner phones set on an equally old radio frequency to communicate with important people on the surface and avoid detection.”
“Okay, so is there any proof of that?” Clem asked. “Or is this also just wild speculation?”
“I mean, it was at first.” I laughed but then deferred to Malthe again.
“So just because we don’t look at these frequencies doesn’t mean we can’t,” Malthe continued. “So I just looked at them, and then found the right one, and identified all the calls that have been made since this organization started, and where they went in the city.”
“Wait, you were able to figure out what these people were telling each other?” Clem asked, growing excited.
“No, no, no,” Malthe rushed to say. “Nothing like that. This isn’t like digital. We can’t listen in on the calls. We just know when and where they were placed.”
“But that’s still a lot,” I added. “I mean, now we know that this isn’t some crazy theory, like you said, Clem. There’s actually someone out there placing these calls to people in the city, and they placed a shit ton of them this morning to Parliament.”
“And there were none to Parliament before that, not in this session, anyway,” Malthe jumped in, “so we know they were threatened in some way. Whoever these people are have been in steady contact with the other binding corps, as well as TelCorp before we came along.”
“Plus Serenity General, before we came along,” I added. “These people have connections with power all over the city, even with the brawling circuits and shit like that. They control everything. Or at least they think they do.”
“Well, they don’t control us,” Clem said, setting his jaw determinedly.
“Exactly,” Kinley said. “So, we have to fight back.”
“Okay, so how does this all relate to the tunnels?” Lin asked. “Do you see that the calls came from there?”
“No,” Malthe said, shaking his head. “That’s still just a theory. But we can’t see where the calls came from at all, so we know they’re not on the surface, at least not in Termina.”
“Or on the Void,” Kira added. “We checked that out too.”
“Right,” Malthe said, nodding.
“So this is why we have to go check out the tunnels,” I said. “We need to see what’s down there, see if we’re on the right track or just going off in the wrong direction.”
“That’s what you were doing?” Lin asked open-mouthed. “You’re just going to walk right down into the tunnels? I don’t even think I know where the entrances even are…”
“Yeah, I found one, I think,” Malthe said. “By my office. Nic and one of the foxgirls are gonna go down there.”
“Just two of you?” Lin asked.
“Three’s a crowd,” I said sardonically.
“Okay, well, I’ll be the second person, then, if you don’t mind,” Clem said, surveying the foxgirls. They all exchanged looks with one another.
“Alright, as long as Nic’s not going alone,” Cindra relented, and the other two nodded begrudgingly.
“Hold up,” I said, but before I could get anything else out, Clem interrupted.
“We’re both TelCorp trained binders, Nic,” Clem insisted. “We’ve both got the skills to pull this off, whatever this is, and they’re right, no one should go in alone. I’m on your side. Let me prove it to you. Again.”
“I already believe you, Clem,” I assured him, but he shook his head.
“I’m going,” he said. “It’s settled. Just lead the way.”
11
Malthe ended up leading the way, actually. We all followed him to his office, which was only about a fifteen-minute walk away. It was pretty much pitch dark at that point, which made it difficult to see in the dark alleys we stuck to. We both had lasers in our binder toolkits, though, which neither of us ever dared leave home without. We’d be able to figure out where we were going and what we were doing just fine unless someone was down there waiting for us. Or worse, we couldn’t find the tunnel entrance at all.
“Okay, I’ll set up in my office with Lin and the foxgirls,” Malthe explained. “I’ll be talking to you the whole time. Or at least I hope I will. Sorry,
Clem, I only made the one earpiece.”
“No problem.” Clem elbowed me in the ribs. “I’ll just stick with my buddy here.”
“You’d better,” I said. “We don’t need to be losing anybody down there.”
“Yes, please do stick together,” Kira implored us.
“We will,” I assured her.
“Okay, I should stay here with the radio equipment, but here’s a rough map to the entrance,” Malthe said, handing it over to me. I looked at it quizzically, trying to make out where we were supposed to go. Clem looked equally confused.
“Oh, here,” Kinley said, ripping the drawing away from me. “We’ll take you there, right girls?” She looked over at Kira and Cindra, who both nodded enthusiastically.
“Yep, face it, boys, we know the area way better than you,” Cindra said, patting me on the shoulder.
“Alright,” I said cautiously, “but if things go bad, get the hell out of there.”
“Only if they go bad,” Kinley said. “Otherwise, we’re sticking with you.”
“What about Malthe?” Clem asked. “I don’t really like the idea of leaving him alone during all this.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Lin offered.
“Okay.” I nodded. “Everyone’s got their roles, so let’s scram.”
Kinley, Cindra, and Kira led Clem and I down the street, following Malthe’s crude drawing of the area. We got turned around a few times, but eventually, we got where we were supposed to be. It was a run-down ruin of a structure off to the side of the office buildings. It seemed like a normal building at first, or at least a normal south side building, crumbling and abandoned.
“Are you sure we’re supposed to be in here?” I asked Kinley, and she reexamined the paper.
“Yes,” she said after a few moments, nodding slowly. “Judging from Malthe’s notes, this building was built on top of the old entrance. We’re supposed to go to the basement and then see if we can find a way inside.”
“So we’re basically supposed to blast through an old building,” Clem said. “Cool.”