Existentially Bound: Part 15
The Search for the Fallen
Note: This story may contain sexual situations, strong language, images, etc...
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
"That sound is different. As was last night," came the voice beside him.
Harid was completely still for a moment, as if turning to the sylvari would acknowledge the events.
A brambled hand found its way to the mocha man's hairy chest, began to trace patterns in it. "Regrets? I did not think you were the type."
He held his hand, rubbed his temples. "Regret what? That you drugged me?"
Tressa giggled. "You did not complain; quite the opposite in fact. Besides, you needed to take your mind off things. I've learned from Pink over there that activities such as this keeps one's petals from drooping too much. 'Fun,' as she has called it."
Harid turned his head to the pink-haired woman at his other side, her pale nude sleeping form almost glistening in the firelight of the suite. Tressa peeked over the man's chest to view her lover.
"She is quite remarkable. As was last night," she said running her hand further south, tracing the man's abs.
"Yeah, well… We have work to do," he said, irritably removing the woman's hand, setting up. In truth, the man knew what Black Rose said was correct: he did need the escape the night of unbridled passion brought with it, but he found the guilt of doing so while his daughter was missing overwhelming.
On the mission to rescue Six-someone whom Harid cared deeply about- Paige and Emily had been separated from the group. In a difficult decision in the enemy structure, the decision was made to carry on with the mission. And, while Harid's militaristic background and time in the Lion Guard had taught him the chain of command and the importance of the mission, seeing the infrastructure of the Inquest base crumble and collapse sunk his heart.
In the weeks past that ill-fated night, he'd fallen into a drunken depression, yet, in a moment of weakness, he sought council from the most unlikely of sources: a witch named Zsia, an unscrupulous character he had run-ins with before. Talhia the Whisperer had listened into the mists for Paige's voice, and could not hear it; it was Harid's last desperate hope the witch would tell him his daughter and Emily's ultimate fate. And she did… for a price - the price of blood. But, it was one Harid gladly paid for the hope he now had for finding them.
Emily and Paige were alive, and Harid knew just where to start to discover how they managed to escape the collapse.
"You want to go back, don't you?" Tressa's voice echoed the man's thoughts. A study by trade of kinesics, Tressa often knew what those around her were thinking, based on context and their body language. It had become such a skill, the sylvari likely didn't realize she did such.
Kimura kept her eyes shut. "I ain't going back to that house of horrors anytime soon," she said, rolling over, her back to the pair.
Tressa blinked with eyes of golden nuggets. "You can do this without us? You will be bringing extras of your garden, yes?"
Harid gently smiled, looked over his shoulder, the first time since the previous night. "Worried about me Rose?"
The sylvari cleared her throat, even though she didn't have to-a reflex from spending such time with Kimura. "I… uh… I do care for your well-being, but my loyalties lie with Pink Thorn, Kimura. She is the soil from which I grow."
Kimura chuckled, breaking character, obviously still listening. "Aye. I'm dirt."
Tressa blinked, unable to detect the sarcasm in her lover's voice, and unable to see her expression to verify it. "What I mean is-"
Harid placed his hand on the woman's bare shoulder. "I know what you mean. Last night was fun; if it happens again, it does; purely physically, not romantically. It's clear you two are in love."
"I… Well…" Tressa stammered uncomfortably.
Kimura giggled, simply saying, "Aye."
---- A Week later ----
"And this is where they built the tunnel entrance," Harid said, pointing to a mapped sketch on a piece of parchment.
Ariadne rubbed the bridge of her nose with a slight sigh. Harid had known the woman for some time: a long-time guardian for House Dejarin, Ari had been with the house through conflicts and subsequent break-downs. Her gesture let him know she didn't think the plan was solid.
Taliha made her own misgivings known. "So we're going to waltz in there then? After what happened previously, with the multiple copies of-"
"Of me," came a soft voice behind her, as Shiera felt for the woman blindly. When her hand found the woman's familiar shoulder, she took a few bold steps forward, blinking with eyes of obsidian. "I don't feel like I did before though; I don't feel pieces of me within."
"At least not from here," Taliha offered, placing her darker hand on the Shiera's pale one. "It took you some time to feel the call here, right? Who's to say there's not another room behind a barrier with more?"
Harid stood upright, looked over the group. "Then we take it slowly; one step at a time. And, before we get going… I want to thank you all for heeding my call on such short notice. I know House Dejarin isn't quite what it used to be but…"
"And so the molecule says, 'No way! They're too unstable!' Unstable!!! Get it?" interrupted a small voice as it came to join the group, laughing at her own joke.
Ari glanced down. "J-Jinx? Is that you? Where… how… How are you? How is the boss Mister Cluckles?" She teased.
Jinx was staring down at the chicken at her side. "What? You don't get it? Is that because it wasn't about eggs? I swear you have no sense of humor! What? No! I'm not going to explain it again!"
Harid exhaled sharply, but made a face when doing so. "Jinx… I'm… glad you could make it; I was just going over the plan to-"
"Oh! Well hello there Tarid!" Jinx said, practically bouncing.
Harid sighed.
At the sound of her voice, Shiera turned to the asura with a welcoming smile. In any ways Jinx was one of her saviors, having finally allowed her to be separated from Kievaa's suit.
Jinx looked up at the group with an absent minded grin. "We're doing well! (Although some of us have no clue about the finer points of comedy!) An unapproving glance was cast upon Mister Cluckles, the chicken at her side, then the small woman sighed and returned her attention to the group. "Regardless, we got you message and we're here to help!"
Ari had been trailing off, but promptly perked up at the mention of adventure.
"Yes well... I'm glad to hear it. We need your know how with anything tech related. Long-range scans dont quite work due to the cave wall's interference (or so I've been told) and I'm certain we're going to run into inquest gizmos." The man inadvertently brought his mechanical hand into his view and clenched his fist.
Jinx suddenly screamed. "Oh! Speaking of tech... I almost forgot! No, no, you were in charge of reminding me. Yet again you drop the ball... the egg!" She scolded her chicken.
Shiera tugged at Taliha's side. "Is the avian creature speaking back?"
Taliha whispered back, "Sometimes others can't hear that which speaks to us." The sage advice was cultivated from years of experience dealing with the voices from the mists which constantly whispered to her.
"Where did you put it?" Jinx asked the chicken while she opened her satchel and shoved her entire head into it.
The rest of the group looked at each other uncomfortably. Ariadne took the time to introduce her companion, Michael Hedwick to Harid and go over the mission at hand, now excited at the prospect of adventure.
A few devices absurdly too large to even fit in the small pack were produced, tossed aside, as Jinx continued digging. When almost her entire small body had been engulfed, she cheered from inside. "Found it!" She said in sing-song, stammering backward. She emerged with a large ocular device in her hand.
"What is she doing? I can't make it out," Shiera asked, squinting to try to focus on the field of reds she saw.
"Exactly! Here... this may help!" Jinx trotted over to the woman, held up the object. "Come here and lemme get it dialed in."
The small skull-capped asura grinned as she went about fitting the device to the woman's head. "You know… A bit of sun may do you some good. Perhaps a Fizzlespring tanning light?" She turned a dial, which pulled the strap tighter, pressing the comically large goggles tightly against Shiera's eyes. "And there!" Jinx said with a button press. "Let my shining visage be the first thing you see!"Shiera adjusted them slightly, was a bit unnerved when the goggles came alive in a static-filled hum. Slowly, the world came into focus, allowing for glowing auras around each person and object in her vicinity. She looked around with ludicrously large magnified bulging eyes, giving the thick goggles a test.
"I know it's not perfect yet, but it's a sight for your sore eyes!" Jinx giggled at her joke, then quickly realized nobody else was laughing. She scolded Mister Cluckles for the missed landing.
"Are you going to be able to assist, Shiera, or do you want to sit this one out?" Harid offered.
Shiera stood upright, clenched both fists. "I have my eyesight back; I shall not remain behind. I wish to see her body for myself!"
Harid's face was aghast, as was most others in the group, causing Shiera to rethink what she had said.
Jinx broke the silence as she began to remove her top. "Well, that's a little forward. I don't really want to get undressed right now, but I suppose if you wanna see my body…"
"Jinx… Not now. It's not the time. Care you explain yourself?" Harid regarded Shiera with a tinge of distain.
"I meant the asura's body. My captor. If Kievaa was in the collapse…" Shiera attempted an explanation; nuance and subtlety had also only just been practiced recently.
Haird simply nodded, turned to roll up the map, then pointed out beyond the garrison. "That's our objective. Out there. We will be walking into the ruins of an exploded Inquest lab. There's little we know beyond what the excavation team reported when stabilizing the entrance. There's a large power core within, we we'll need to be careful not to destabilize it."
"Full of chemicals, reactor cores, plasma batteries… not to mention the scores of weapons and devices that could explode at the slightest disturbance. BOOM! BLAMO!" Jinx said, making explosion sounds that lasted much longer than anyone would have wanted.
Ariadne huffed. "What are we looking for exactly in the ruins?" she said anxious to get underway.
"Clues," Harid said, equipping his backpack and equipment. "Something to tell us where they went and how they disappeared." Finished, he walked through his group. "We should probably get going though; burning daylight as they say."
"Aye," Ari said, following in step.
"Thank you for this, Jinx, and… I enjoy your… visage," Shiera said trying to be cordial. It was a talent that had laid dormant for so long, she was only just now beginning to exercise it.
Jinx looked up with a grin from ear to ear. "No problem! Mister Cluckles will send you my bill tomorrow! And, I meant what I said about the sun thing. You could most definitely use a bit of color!" Mister Cluckles clucked in agreement, before following Jinx on the way out of the garrison.
"What do you think about these?"
Tahlia laughed. "About what? The crazy asura? The holy man that leads us? The anxious to fight warriors?"
Shiera turned to Tahlia, blinking overlarge magnified eyes. "No… about the new visor… these… goggles?"
The woman fought the urge to laugh, only slightly chuckled. "They… They will work, for now."
A confused look came to Shiera's face, but she offered a smile-even if she didn't quite understand why. She and Taliha caught up to the group, where Ariadne produced a cookie, offering it to the pale woman. Perplexed by the offer, but attempting to maintain good relations, she accepted it and stared for a few minutes as they walked.
"It's chocolate chip," Ari said, shoving a whole cookie in her mouth and grinning.
Shiera's large goggles blinked at the small round object.
"You have never had one?" Taliha wondered.
"If I have, it was in a past life I can no longer recall; there's a familiarity to it that-"
"Just eat it! Just eat it! Open up your mouth and feed it!" Jinx yelled. She was further up the path, next to Harid, but apparently listening to the exchange.
The woman took a small bite. To her disenchantment, however, it was bland and completely devoid of flavor. She was about to spit it out, when she noticed Ari had sidled next to her and glowed with an aura of anticipation. "It… is good," Shiera lied.
Satisfied, Ari beamed a large smile, hurried to catch up to Harid and Jinx, who was already telling a joke. "I was going to tell you a funny chemistry joke on the way here, but they 'argon'!" The asura could barely contain her own laughter.
"You didn't like it did you," came Taliha's quiet voice.
"What you are is a victim, but your soul is kind. I can hear as much." Taliha placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. "And you are not like that cookie. You are not nothing! Understand?"
The large bubbles of the goggles sparkled in the sunlight as it found its way through the trees. Shiera stared and nodded at the woman. To her, the Whisperer's aura was vividly iridescent and extremely inviting and one look at her mentor relayed Taliha's intent and goodness. Whatever the situation brought them together, both women truly believed they were fated to meet.
The cookie was sneakily tossed behind the pale woman's back, promptly hitting Mister Cluckles on the head. Jinx's extraordinary hearing picked up the cluck; she stopped to scold her partner. "Mister Cluckles! Don't eat that! You know what they say, 'A second on the beak… a lifetime on the thighs!' (Or at least I think that's how that goes!)" Bewilderingly, the chicken seemed to heed the warning, left the cookie to join his master.
The group continued forward around the marsh to stand at the mouth of a mountainside tunnel which led into what remained of the internal Inquest facility. The red glow of remaining power was painted on the cave wall, growing brighter the deeper in the tunnel went until it twisted in another direction, obscuring the innards. Despite the lab's collapse, there was still the hum of tech running within, along with what sounded like rushing water.
Harid paused, turned, ready to deliver another speech, when Jinx promptly shushed him. "Farid, we all know why we're here. Let's just get on with it, okay? Mister Cluckles has a date tonight!"
Mister Cluckles bwaked in excited agreement.
The man rolled his eyes, but heeded the advice, leading his group further in. Around the bend, however, brought everyone to another abrupt halt. Beyond was the open mouth of the tunnel leading to a massively hollowed area, filled with Inquest equipment and geometric structures. Within the center hovered a cube where energy traveled from its core, pulsed into a larger pool of energy plasma which dispersed itself outwardly to other parts of the facility.
"It's a reactor core!" Jinx exclaimed excitedly. She already had a small device performing scans on the area. "There's a small amount of radiation, but it should be nothing to worry about. At least, not enough to make our hair fall ou-" The little asura paused, staring up at Harid's bald head. "Uh… Nevermind."
Taliha and Ari both giggled softly, while Shiera asked what was funny. Harid rolled his eyes.
"So it's safe then?"
"Oh but… by these readings, it looks like it's filling up… and heating up. See?" She showed the readings to Mister Cluckles. "Then, BLAMO!"
The structures at various sides of the cave had collapsed, and now poured the same liquid energy plasma, spawning and traveling to it from the generator, back into the pool which made up the surface of its floor. As luck would have it, however, the tunnel connected to an intact overlook, complete with a console and various devices of asuran make.
Harid took in the situation considerably. "At least this side wasn't as affected by the blast. Let's do what we came for. Get in and get-"
Shiera suddenly stumbled forward, catching herself on Taliha, regained her footing with the woman's help. "I sense… Something familiar; behind the energies. It's… difficult to see." She took a few steps forward, her solid obsidian eyes staring through the goggles into the brightness that made up the reactor room.
"Bad familiar?" the Whisperer asked, taking a defensive stance beside her friend.
"Not sure, but I don't like it. Let's continue with the plan: in and out." Harid cast a sharp glance to Jinx, "No jokes."
The asura made a gesture like she was zipping her mouth. "Nope. No jokes here. No jokes from me. I'll be super-duper quiet. You won't even know I'm here I-"
"It feels familiar… like… home." Shiera craned her neck taking in the feeling as she stepped onto the platform.
The Whisperer was in tow. "See anything?"
Shiera was led by unknown memories, came to stand in front of an empty cylindrical tube. "It is a maturation chamber, like the one I was created in. What we fought before-the copies of me- they were all created in one. As was Eighteen Omega."
"Well, at least this one's empty," Harid said. He turned to Jinx, gestured to the console. "Jinx can you-"
"Yes, yes, yes Karid. I know… I know!" She waddled to the control pad, blew on it, then began to remove the ash, dust and soot from its surface. "This may take a while. This thing's been through a lot! (I'm actually surprised this place hasn't gone supernova yet!)" A few wire pulls and knob tightens later, the panel lit up, prompting a large smile on Jinx's face.
Mister Cluckles clucked in appreciation.
"Wait… There's something here." Shiera looked around, trying to ascertain where the feeling originated from. Then she knew. "It is not this place that's familiar; it is a 'someone'."
In a smoke-filled blur, the assailant came, slammed down into the middle of the platform, in a thundering quake which threatened to destabilize it. The shockwave sent everyone to their backs. Shiera's vision cut through the mist, found the assailant, and at once filled her with the same uninhibited longing and rage she'd felt before in her presence.
The smoke dispersed to reveal to everyone Eighteen Omega, Shiera's clone, and owner of the other half of her soul.
Harid sat up, holding his head trying to make his way through the ringing within. "What… happened?" A glance up answered the question. "Oh no," he mumbled, then surveyed the group. His eyes landed on the console and the asura, knew their mission of information to be paramount and acted accordingly. "Ari, Michael, get over here and guard Jinx! This number is dangerous, and we must find our answers; complete the mission!"
The soldiers were already on their way before the man ever stopped speaking, taking up position around Jinx who hummed a melody as she worked, oblivious to the goings on.
"What are you doing here?" Shiera spat.
The bladed staff was pulled from the tile in which it was stuck, then pointed at Shiera. "I'm here for you; what you have… It's mine!"
Shiera echoed the Number. "You have what belongs to me! Give it to me!"
Both women charged, slamming into each other with the immeasurable force of unrivaled equivalency. The shockwave spawned from the clash echoed within the cave, breaking apart a few nearby structures which collapsed into the deadly lake of energy below. The entire area quaked, threatened imminent collapse.
"Stop them," Harid yelled, "before the whole thing breaks apart!" He pulled at his rifle strap, unfastened it, then stared down the scope, aiming. Both women were completely indistinguishable, save Shiera's goggles, and for a split second, Harid was grateful for Jinx (even if he'd never admit it). Within his crosshairs: Eighteen Omega. He exhaled, then squeezed the trigger at her head.
Battle-locked, the two women struggled to overpower each other, until suddenly a bullet pinged off Eighteen's visor. The device sparked a few times, the red glow of the three horizontal lenses in the middle flickered. Shiera knew the symptoms, attempted to use it to her advantage. She reached down with her free hand, pulled her bloodstone axe and ran it up the woman's midsection. The black chain-linked armor sparked and screeched at the axe's blade, but held steady, though the magic of the weapon seared flesh underneath.
Eighteen winced and grunted. "Take… More than… that!" The visor came back to life while Eighteen channeled her energies into the dead lock, then exploded, blasting Shiera back with a shockwave of red and black smoke.
The woman landed on the ground with a boom, immediately attended to by her mentor. "Are you alright?" Taliha worried.
The former number sat up dazed for a moment. "She's much more… powerful than she was before. Maybe it's this place? The… energy here?"
Eighteen fought the pull to kneel, fought the spirit's drain. She managed to lift her staff, began to twirl it. A vortex rippled from distortions in the mist which began to form in the wake of the twirling weapon. The spirits writhed in agony, began to be pulled into the vortex.
Taliha clenched her fists, put more magic into the effort, solidifying the spirits hold on this world as best she could. Additional chains found their way to Eighteen, the spirits anchoring themselves with her very flesh… and her very soul. She screamed in a pain unbeknownst to her: the soul being pulled from her own body.
Yet, her scream was echoed.
Glancing back to Shiera revealed the same effect was happening to her. Taliha was horrified, let go of her hold, ceased the magic, which promptly allowed the vortex to consume the spirits and explode them from whirlwind. Both women quickly gasped for breath, Eighteen falling to her knees.
Harid faltered, looked up from the scope. "So what? This means we can't hurt her without hurting the other one?"
"No, holyman! They are linked; not by the body but by spirit! They are two halves," Taliha bellowed.
"Yes, so just end this and give her to me! Give me what is mine!" repeated Eighteen.
"You can't have her!"
Eighteen raised an eyebrow, turned her red-lined visor to the others. "Then they die!" She channeled her magic, shoved it to Harid, Ari, and Michael. Immediately, smoke of black and white engulfed the group, with red superheated plasma interspersed. They collectively let out cries of agony and torment of searing flesh. "I can kill them easily! I just want what's mine!"
Jinx peeked over the console. "Can you guys stop your screaming already? I'm trying to work here!" She returned to the display, flipped through a few more screens until landing on something that made even the daft asura's face flush with seriousness.
"Jinx, hurry! You get what we came for?" Harid said rushing to the asura's side. On the display, an image of Paige and Ember with what appeared to be scans and analytics of their bodies. His jaw dropped. "What… What is this?"
"Oh well you see, I believe it is-" Jinx began what would be a lengthy explanation.
"Hey; no time for that! She can't keep this up! We need to hurry!" Ari inturrupted.
Taliha took a few steps toward Shiera. "Don't you die on me!"
Shiera grunted, but an unexpected smile was flashed to her friend as an unbelievable surge of energy from the absorption permeated her being, empowering her. "Back!" She roared, sending the energies to their source.
Eighteen's eyes would have been wide had the visor not covered them as the force barreled to her. She quickly grabbed her staff, swung into the blast, attempting some amount of dissipation. What wasn't dispersed slammed into her, sent her flying backward, closer to the edge of the platform.
"Get them to safety," Shiera said, eyes on Tahlia from the overlarge goggles.
"Wait! What are you-"
With a primal thunderous scream of fury, Shiera rushed Eighteen, slammed into her with all the power she had absorbed. An explosion of smoke poured from their contact, which promptly toppled over the edge.
"No!!! Shiera!!!" Taliha screamed dashing to the cliff. Below the dueling Numbers splashed, engulfed by the bubbling lake of energy plasma. She dropped to her knees, pulled off her cowl to reveal eyes of amethyst already filled with tears. "I… I was supposed to take care of her… She… can't be…"
"I got it!" Jinx suddenly shouted, then glanced around when nobody shared her victory. Harid, Ari, and Micheal had all joined Taliha to inspect and survey the dire situation.
"I doubt they could have survived that," Micheal offered. While the man was new to the group, he recognized the woman known as Shiera had saved their lives, and joined in the other's remorse.
The facility began to rumble and shutter, caused Jinx to become unsteady on her feet. She toppled over, then blamed Mister Cluckles for her fall. The momentary chaos caused her to glance around - perhaps for the first time - at their surroundings. "This place was unstable before; now even more so. We gotta get out of this kitchen, cause we can't stand the heat!"
Harid gritted his teeth, brought a hand to Taliha's shoulder. "I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye, but what she did, she did so we could live. If we stay here, that's not going to happen. We need to take this information and go. There may be three other lives at stake."
Taliha fought the urge to shrug off the man's hand and listened to his words. With reluctance she finally nodded, then turned from the plasma lake as the group began to make their way to the entrance tunnel.
Without warning, an eruption of plasma exploded as Sixteen and Eighteen emerged. They flew upward, both halting their ascension at the same time, some distance apart, floating in mid-air and staring at each other. Both women's hands were glowing, encompassed with the magical smoke and mist from the over-surge of energy the lake of plasma unexpectedly bestowed.
The group spun around, all elated at Shiera's re-emergence, yet all worried with Eighteen's presence. Taliha couldn't contain herself. She called out to her friend excitedly. Shiera glanced down at the woman and offered a slight grin, but the hesitation cost her. Eighteen plunged bodily into the woman, with a resounding boom, the sheer force of the impact causing more distance pieces of infrastructure to crumble down. Black blood came from Shiera's mouth a the blow, but in an instant, she flung Eighteen from her person with a body blast of energy. Both women stared at each other again for a moment, before crashing into each other again.
"We don't have long! I estimate this place will come down within- Yes, Mister Cluckles, what do you think I'm doing at this exact moment! Of course I'm telling them!" Jinx argued with her chicken which promptly followed the path to the exit, certain this battle was no place for a chicken!
"What about her? What should we do?" Michael turned to his comrade.
Ari, in turn, looked to Harid. "On your orders… but, with their power levels…"
Harid nodded. "Yeah, we can't win this fight. Go. Come on, Tahlia, this place is coming down and those two are not too concerned about it."
Tahlia reached upward, tears streaming down her face. "I… just got her back."
Another blast sent Eighteen flying into the cavernous wall, giving Shiera a moment to regard Tahlia. "Go! Now! If I die, I can whisper my goodbyes to you!" She said at a half-hearted attempt to lighten the worst case.
"No! If you die, your half goes back into her! You'll… cease. You must fight her! Fight for me, for our friendship, for your soul!"
Eighteen regained her footing, launched herself of the cave wall, and barreled straight for Shiera. This time, however, her opponent was ready. In a vapor cloud of brimstone, Shiera vanished, allowing Eighteen to completely pass through. When the Number halted, in confusion, Shiera reappeared behind her. She wrapped her arms around her enemy, then channeled her magic, pulling some of the woman's own magics into herself.
"I want my soul back!" Shiera screamed as she expelled all the excess energy in a nova of a concussive blast. Both women were blasted backward like ragdolls. Eighteen screamed as she was hurled into the crumbling structure and into the distant wall, her visor exploded, her armor broken and destroyed. Whether through her own strategy or happenstance, Shiera crashed into the platform the group was on. Her armor had been completely vaporized, yet the woman's nude body showed no signs of injury… But, she was as still as a corpse.
The Whisperer was immediately at her side. "Shiera, come on! We must get you out of here!" She looked up, about to ask Harid for help, but the man was already doing so. They lifted Shiera together, then promptly exited the cave, just as the platform on which they stood collapsed.
The party was exhausted, yet none breathed a sigh of relief until the innards of the facility collapsed. With the sound of breaking structures and distant explosions, the last of the facility collapsed. As per usual, Jinx was the first to interrupt the moment of quiet serenity.
"Well, I think the lesson we learned here is not to fall into lava, right?" All eyes glared at the asura, until Ari laughed. Jinx looked around. "Oof. Tough crowd, huh?"
"Jinx, be serious for once. Please, tell me… what did we learn in there? Did you find anything?" he asked as he handed something to cover Shiera with to Taliha.
"Oh! The console? Yes! Well, see, it definitely wasn't easy!" Jinx said, then began to play with Mister Cluckles.
Harid sighed, rolled his eyes. "Well, get on with it! What wasn't easy?"
"Huh?" Jinx looked up with a surprised expression. "Oh! The operating system on that consol. You know… They certainly don't update like they should. You see, back in our labs, we would make sure we used all the latest software. It just makes the job that much easier! (Especially when you are running multiple experiments!) This one time, Uncle Plopp," she chuckled at the name, "he was running this old system, and it took him three days (Three!) to get his experiment to even start. I always say, 'Make sure your consoles are up to date!'"
Harid rubbed the bridge of his nose as Ari and Michael stopped paying attention to the asura's rambling. Buried somewhere in the head of the crazy asura was the key to knowing the whereabouts of their missing comrades and he dug deep for the patience needed to obtain the information. "Jinx… Please. What about Paige and Ember? I saw the console in there; there were scans or something."
"Oh yeah! There were files on them both; pages worth, in fact! My uncle used to-"
Mister Cluckles clucked, much to the annoyance of the asura, who apparently reluctantly listened to the chicken's advice.
She cleared her throat. "Sheesh. I was just getting to that. Okay. So, it looks like Paige and Ember were being scanned. Why? I don't know, but it appeared to be a lot about their biology and a few test simulations on what would happen if they were introduced to something that kept being referred to as a 'battery'. Anyway, I can't be for sure what all that was about, but the last log entry showed something interesting…"
After it was apparent she needed prompting, Harid did so.
"It appears that Paige and Ember were sent through an asuran gate, before the explosion! And really… that's not even the best part!" Jinx clapped, then again paused staring at Harid, expectantly. When the man refused ro play the game, she folded her arms. "You're no fun, Parid. You know that? Fine! (Hope you enjoy spoilers!) The last log entry showed coordinates where the gate led to!"
Now it was Harid who crossed his arms. "Where, Jinx? Where have they sent my daughter?"
Jinx grinned from ear to ear, happy the game had resumed. "Well, as far as I could tell, the coordinates were moving. So I managed to get a lock on them, and from the speed and altitude, I'd say it could only be one thing: An airship!"
Haird's head dropped. "An airship? Great!" he said sarcastically.
"It is! Isn't it? See, the tricky part is if it's moving, we can't just plug the coordinates into another gate and step through. (We'd wind up behind it! And, quite possibly plummeting to our deaths, so…)"
"Then how do we get to it?" Harid asked.
Jinx shrugged, then looked back at a resting Shiera, a worried Tahlia, an anxious Ariadne and Michael. She opened her mouth as if to prophetically lay out a grand battle plan, but simply shrugged at Harid.
The man shook his head, unsure of what he thought would come out of the brilliantly crazy asura's mouth. He glanced back to the garrison, then to the skies above. An eyebrow raised as his metal fist clenched. "I know how... We steal an airship…"
[To Be Continued...]
