Chapter 13: The Songbird

“There exists an island among the spectral waves of the Great Star Sea that no one has laid eyes on in over four hundred years. Some say the island is just a myth. Others believe it to be the origin of the elves. It was rumoured to be an uncharted island deep in the Caribbean before the Collide created what is known as the Local System. A place so cursed that not even the Old Gods wanted to touch it. Only one woman has ever set foot on the island and returned to tell her tale. Thus, the island became known as Empress Isle.” — Excerpt from Ventrosian Myths and Legends Volume 3.

The house looked the same to Catherine; It had the same long driveway, the same overgrown exterior she looked forward to tending, the same fence with the same code out front. Scanning the front door showed that it was even the same faded wood with the same sailing ship carved into it. But something didn't feel right about the whole thing.

Sure, the garage was still the flip up kind with weak springs and Victoria’s ancient car was in there, but again. Something was off. The changeling couldn't place what as she compared the visuals to her own records. There were little differences here and there; A statue of Death in a different spot, garden tools arranged slightly weird, and a different shade of lights out front. Cool white LEDs instead of warm white incandescent.

Catherine hugged herself as she followed Victoria through the front door. Immediately, her olfactory sensors picked up the faint scent of charred wood as a fire crackled away in the living room wood stove. A small rectangular device on legs tucked away in the corner near a stack of logs. The temperature was about average for what Victoria enjoyed, but still on the colder end to what Catherine wanted.

She walked right past the dark haired woman sitting on the couch, grabbed a log and shoved it on the fire. Then hugged herself and looked back toward Victoria. “Why do you keep it this cold still?”

Victoria shrugged.

The dark haired woman on the couch slowly placed a mermaid bookmark inside her book and closed it. She sat up and smiled at the two. “Hello! You must be Cat.”

Catherine nodded. She cocked her head a bit, noting the woman’s neon green dragon eyes. Victoria had described Melissa earlier, but she looked a bit rougher around the edges than Catherine expected her to be. For one, Melissa had a scar running across her cheek, over a cloudy eye, and up her brow at an angle like she took an axe to the face at one point.

The raven-haired human folded her arms across her chest and eyed Catherine for a short moment, smirking. “Wanna have a go, muscles?”

“No!” Victoria shouted as she shook her head and threw her arms wide. “Melissa, ya don't wanna fight Cat. She was in the army and a gladiator in the Rocklin Thunderdome.”

Cat rolled her eyes. “One time. And I got my ass kicked.”

Victoria held a finger up for them to wait as she put her phone to her ear. She nodded slightly. “Nomad Trucking, this is Victoria speaking, how can I help ya?”

Catherine’s purple eyes went to the unfinished ship model on the coffee table. She scanned the dust to see just how long it was sitting untouched. She knew exactly what ship it was and who the captain was. Nia delivered a load to the ship the other day. Which was a little odd because the ship usually docked in Rocklin, not Portside.

She rubbed her chin for a moment, narrowing her eyes as she let out a soft hum. Why was the Captain in Portside? Do they not deliver to Rocklin anymore?

She glanced up from the model and stared into Melissa’s good eye. “I have a question… does Vicky talk about Berry?”

Melissa shook her head. “No.”

“What do ya mean one of our trucks was pulled over?!” Victoria mused, sounding completely dumbfounded as if she practiced it all the time. “Who is the driver?” There was a short pause before she shook her head, rolling her pale eyes. “A pixie? Yes, well… even forest creatures need jobs!”

“Huh?” Melissa cocked an eyebrow along with her head. She placed her hands on her hips. “What the fuck are you on?” she whispered.

Catherine motioned for silence from the woman. She had a feeling the semi would be pulled over. When did Stevie not attract attention? That was always the question. Stevie was loud. Stevie was old and wanted all the attention. Stevie got it. The semi was a head turner even with how much rust it had on it.

The changeling was no fool when it came to that. She could feel it in her own chassis and with each deep breath that filled her power core’s coolant system. It was an air-cooled system to mimic that of a changeling’s natural breathing tendencies. That way Catherine didn't go insane trying to do functions that weren't needed. She wasn't a vampire-bot. Those were rumored to be monstrous creations over on another shard.

A place Catherine didn't want to go back to anytime soon. She remembered the snow capped peaks of the Sierra Nevadas and how the war came to them well after the Collide. But if there was one thing she missed about Halifax, it was the vampires. They were open about being vampires unlike in Ventros. Visiting Encinar was an interesting trip for the android. She got to see undead who weren't necromantically raised and used as fodder for wave attacks. Catherine looked at her hand and frowned slightly, eyes narrowing.

Why did I agree to this job? It seemed so fucking simple; save Nia. Not go galavanting about the city. Fuck. I better call Nael.

She walked past Melissa and Victoria, and headed toward the landline still hooked to the wall like she remembered. Everything was similar enough that she expected Vic’s cat, Stetson, to come wandering in and demand head pats from Catherine. It was an orange with maybe one brain cell, but not a druid. No druid would be that dumb, right?

She snapped her fingers and called out to the kitty, but it didn't come, which made the android frown, because the cat enjoyed Catherine’s company as much as it did Vic’s. The android rested her head against the wall and waited as the phone the rang a few times

Then a woman’s voice spoke to her, “Why do you keep stopping?”

“Complications,” was all she said at first. Catherine frowned deeply. She really didn't want to tell them a pixie stole the truck, but if they were tracking it then they knew where the vehicle was. So she sighed deeply through her nose. “Let me speak to your boss, eh?”

“He won't talk to you, human.”

“Then I guess his daughter dies. Do you want to be responsible for that?” Catherine gently shook her hand so it would stop shaking. Her power core was running a bit hot, causing her to breathe more than she wanted to. She knew the emotion she was feeling was anxiety, and didn’t need to feel it right now, but her emotional suppressants weren't active anymore. She opened the door once she hacked the program with help from another android that escaped years ago.

It wasn't so much that the government wouldn't let her go free. It was that they wanted to monitor her every move. They wanted to know what her powercore was doing, what she was looking at, listening to. If she didn't hack her own programming then she would be a government slave to be used in their eternal war against the monsters that lurk at the edge of reality.

The creatures that inhabit the world between worlds. Those that dwell in the great Star Sea between shards and prey upon helpless ships. While it is a noble cause, she was sick and tired of all the lies.

It is why she chose to drive.

As she waited for the call to be transferred to Naelthras, she took a deep breath on her vape and let the minty smoke linger in her coolant system. Of course there were warnings, always, about the toxic chemicals in her system. But Catherine didn't care. Much like her other selves, she would smoke if she damn well wanted to.

The android knew of three others; the half-elf that sent her to this timeline, a transgender male version, and finally, an actual changeling who wasn't an android. All had similar issues, but one had a decent upbringing. Every version ended up in the military at some point, one was with a male partner, and the others were with various ones.

As for why she was sent here, that was simple; Areannia died no matter which timeline they were in. A gun battle in the port is what the half-elf version encountered. With the male version not having Areannia as a sibling due to his father convincing Mallorie to move away from Nael. Areannia existed in his universe, but had a different mother. In the android's universe, Areannia died because of a shootout in a store due to the store owner mistaking her for Catherine. The shopkeeper was simply tired of being shaken down for money. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but one the android did because Nael was the lesser of two evils.

Which was insane for the android to think about. Because it was always this load that killed Nia. Catherine hadn't wanted to call her, but her system efficiency had dropped to nearly fifteen percent and that meant she was well past exhausted by human standards.

She hadn't been paying attention to Melissa or Vic until Vic began to cough violently. The pale dragoness doubled over as she clutched her chest with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. The cellphone fell to the floor as Melissa tried to help Vic steady herself. It didn't look good at all.

With Nael forgotten, Catherine hung up the phone and reached for the snowflake tattoo with the clear intention of pulling frozen magic out.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

*** ***

Catherine stepped back after making sure Vic was comfortable in the large bed. Melissa had helped carry Victoria into the master bedroom after she fell asleep when the magic was applied.

The bed was the same one Catherine remembered; large enough for four people to cuddle close together on. With multiple gun safes in Vic’s side of the walk-in closet and dresses hanging up along the other side. Soft shag carpeting engulfed Catherine’s now bare feet as she scanned the room and walked around. She was still trying to find out how different this reality was to the one she knew, but again. It was almost identical. The only different thing was that she wasn't an android, which meant this reality is where the flesh and blood changeling came from.

“Everything alright?” Melissa asked, hands clasped together behind her back as she watched the android pace around the room. “You seem confused.”

“I am,” Catherine said. She stopped at a window covered by thick blackout curtains and peeked outside where the covered pool was steaming away and the same small unattended grove blocking the gun range from their neighbors.

Melissa bit her lip, glancing at Vic as her expression softened. “It's becoming harder and harder to watch her waste away. She's strong, but not herself. I found her on the couch the other day, just sitting there dressed in her Sunday best; endless handbag on her lap, favorite hat on her head, wide smile on her lips as she stared at the blank television. I asked her what she was doing and she said, ‘I’m waiting to go to the gun store with Cale’.”

Melissa slowly shook her head from side to side. “He’s been dead for over a century…”

“I've been to his grave.” Catherine nodded.

The raven-haired human spun around, eyes wide as she stared at Catherine. “Where is it?! She’s never said.”

“Knight’s Harrow.” Catherine tilted her head at the confused look on Melissa’s face, so she added, “Little Creek.”

Melissa slowly blinked. “Where…?”

“Little Creek.”

“I heard that, but you're telling me she lived there?! In the most elf and dragon hating town this side of the Plains of Eternal Flame?”

“Yes. Don't remind me.” Catherine walked over to the bed and sat next to Victoria.

The pale woman’s eyes glowed bright under her eyelids while a candle burned steadily on the nightstand next to her. With each shallow breath, a puff of ash flowed out from Victoria’s mouth, mixing in with the frost her body naturally produced. Even those faint breaths sent a dagger to Catherine’s power core. She couldn't bear to see even a different version of Victoria suffer from Fire Lung.

Sweat poured down Victoria’s face as smoke drifted from her clothing and filled the room with an odd stench akin to standing too close to a fire. Even her hand burned as Catherine gently held it.

“She's different from the one I know, but still the same at heart, eh? See, Melissa, where I’m from, Vic and I went on a trip back in 123. We met the year prior while I was on leave and forgot who each other were. I don't remember the night we first met, but I remember the week after we met the second time. I was on medical leave due to being pregnant. My sister had me trucking a load of booze to Portside for something to do. I picked Vic up along the way and got into some trouble. We then ended up in Little Creek.”

Catherine chuckled softly. “I still remember the night pretty clearly, because the bridge attacked us and we were forced to detour south. This alerted the town that monsters were out and they set up a checkpoint on another bridge. Rain poured down in a deluge not seen in decades. Thunder and lightning crackled as the old pickup’s wipers squeaked against the window.

“Ahead of us lay the cops who refused to acknowledge Victoria was even worthy of being spoken to, so they talked to me thinking I was a man. Imagine that! But my clothes didn't help, and neither did my muscles. Once through, we spent some time looking for the delivery point and were run out of the store when they finally recognized Victoria.”

Melissa had moved to sit next to Catherine and give her her full attention. She motioned for the android to continue, nodding.

Catherine closed her eyes. “See, Victoria lived there from ‘79 to ‘99 and was known fairly well as the town…” her voice trailed off as she bit her lip.

“Strumpet?” Melissa added.

“That's a nice way of putting it, yes.” Catherine nodded slowly.

“She told me about that line of work when telling the story of my father’s madness and how it got her in the mess that led to them meeting.”

“Ah… Little Creek believed she destroyed the town. So when she took me to see Cale's grave one last time, the police ambushed us. This is all second hand because I was dealing with the reaper known as Kera in Death’s realm while Cale possessed my body.”

“A reaper attacked you…?” Melissa blinked. “They can do that?!”

Catherine held up two fingers. “First Kera, then Death. Death stepped in and told Kera to knock it off.”

“The fuck?”

“Pray to whatever god you believe in that you never meet Kera. Because once she has decided you are worthy of her attention, she will not do anything but follow you. Even as you fight your way across a dead city. She’ll be sitting on some rubble filing her nails and commenting on your skills or lack of them should you get shot.

“There was one time where my squad and I were trying to hold a house against the enemy. You could just barely make out their trench past the courtyard. I had thought it weird that there was an intact house in what should be No Man’s Land, but it is what it is, eh?” Catherine shrugged as she shook her head. “We had no clue the enemy was trying to save us, because we hadn't yet seen the danger of what we did. It wasn't until sundown when the enemy came over under parley to explain the situation. They were cryptic and pleaded with us to give up while using vague words like ‘I am here to save you’, and they did not mention from what.

“See, Melissa, I have a twenty thousand dollar bounty on my head because of the things I did. At the time it was ten thousand. We assumed that the enemy was trying to capture me. What we didn't know was that the house itself was cursed. Even as the artillery rained toxic gas down around us. It wasn't until late into the night when Telas and I were sitting inside an upstairs room did he tell me just what was going on.

“My squad and I had been caught in a time loop fueled by an entity from beyond the stars so it could feed from our eternal suffering. Telas only knew this because he was caught in a different loop and awakened to the fact that there were multiple loops going on at the same time. But, as for Kera?”

Catherine chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. “I was first noticed by the old hag that night when Telas and I were waiting for daylight. See, the enemy was dragging the dead and wounded back to their trench and we let them, because it was only right. And we didn't have enough ammo to hold back another assault. As we sat in the room, we heard… singing without words. A voice calling to the dead. A ghastly glowing woman with no shoes stalked the muddy battlefield, moving from the dead to the dying. Her hair billowing on the wind as it mixed with the toxic fumes to create a strange sight only surpassed by the flaming city beyond.

“She spoke through my head and said, ‘Do not fear me, because you may yet survive this night.’ Meanwhile, the men dragging the dying away from her moved as fast as they could and shielded their eyes from the woman. We shouldn't have been able to see her, but that was Bridgeport, eh? There are no rules for reality there.

“And then we heard a faint whistle before it went deathly quiet. Telas dove on me as the room exploded. He used his power armor and shield to hold back most of the blast, but I wore cloth. And cloth doesn't protect against splinters. Kera followed me for the next six months of my deployment as I worked with the enemy to fight against the horrors from beyond reality.”

Melissa looked over at Victoria and frowned a bit as she processed what Catherine had just told her. The android could see the raven-haired woman wasn't sure what to say. It was as obvious as Catherine was now a construct.

“So when I cast the spell to commune with Victoria’s late husband, I found myself in Midway where Kera found me. She thought it would be a good idea to torture me by forcing me to go back through the events that took my leg. And the ones leading up to when I made the decision to leave home for good. I thought she was going to keep them going until Death showed up.”

“Is Vic going to be okay?” Melissa asked quietly.

Catherine nodded slowly, reaching up to pat Melissa on the shoulder. She stopped just short of making contact and let her hand fall. “Yeah,” she said. “Vic’ll be fine. She's a strong dragon who has many years ahead of her. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How?”

Cat smiled. “Don’t worry about it, eh?” She slapped her knees, got up from the bed and motioned for Melissa to follow. “Come on. I'll make you some coffee.”

Melissa nodded.

After making coffee the way Chessa liked it, Catherine stood in front of the coffee table where her other self's ship model lay. Steaming Stephenson coffee mug in hand and eyes right on the model. It was painted about average for Catherine’s skills. She doubted she could get some of the finer details even with her synthetic hands helping her. She just wasn't that great anymore.

Her heads up display told her that her power core’s efficiency was at 60% and climbing thanks to the coffee, but her mind still felt tired. It was a long, long day and she could use the rest. However, Areannia still hadn't called them to say whether she found the truck or not, which worried Catherine, because that meant she ran into trouble. Especially if she was travelling with Rosco like she said.

Rosco could just have his coworkers call him if they spotted the truck. Which wasn't a hard vehicle to spot. But introducing cops to the situation was a bad idea.

Melissa looked up at her from the couch, head tilted a bit as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You guys never moved the ship?” Catherine gestured toward it with her mug.

“No. I just moved in the other day. Vicky didn't like my place. Said it was ‘too noisy’.” Melissa glanced down at the model for a short moment. “I’m worried about her. I knew going into the relationship that she wasn't doing good, but I didn't know how bad it was. I think… if you weren’t here to give her that weird magic she might've died tonight.”

“Berry said it’d only work four times. I used the last of them tonight.” Catherine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “All I can do is pray to Death that she’ll make it through the night.”

“What about your delivery?”

“Fuck Nael.”

*** ***

It was approaching midnight and Catherine still hadn't heard from Areannia. And Victoria didn't own a computer to use the Internet with, so she was forced to use Victoria’s tablet as she searched for any mention of a gunfight or Nia being arrested.

The android wasn't sure if it would even be reported yet, but nothing appeared on any social media accounts.

She set the tablet on the empty kitchen table and walked over to the landline again. Again, her system said she needed a rest and diagnostics cycle, but she couldn't go to sleep just yet. She had to make sure Stevie showed up. And since Lilly had her phone, the only logical response to the situation would be to call the wayward pixie and see what was taking her so fucking long. Lilly should be at Vic’s by now. Areannia should have called, since Cathy told her where to meet the pixie.

They had everything set up, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Nia was still going to die in some horrific accident or at Nael’s hands. But he'd never do that to his favorite daughter. It didn't really make sense. Cathy could see her step-father killing her. He hated her, and she hated him, but not enough to not take his money.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” a man grumbled through the phone receiver.

Catherine blinked a few times and checked the number she dialed. It wasn't Nia’s.

“Nael…?” Catherine whispered softly. Her system efficiency dropped a few percent just hearing the voice as a shiver ran across her spine. Thirty years. That's how long it had been for this universe’s Catherine, but far, far longer for the android. She left home in the year 123 and never went back. Seventy-two years without hearing her step-father’s voice, and he still had the same fucking phone number.

“Who is this?” he replied. “And how did you get this number?”

She bit her lip. She wanted to hang up right then and there, and should have, but something deep inside her programming told her to give the man another chance. It was almost a century. Which meant he finally figured out what to eat for dinner. Since she worked on splitting her attention during her training to use her new form, Catherine opened another window and did an analysis on whether or not she should tell Nael the truth.

Conventional wisdom says that most humans would change in three quarters of a century, but Nael was an old elf from the Old World. He was roughly two and a half thousand years old. The chance of him changing his ways toward humans and half-elves was slim to none. He would always be there to degrade her.

She slowly placed the phone on the hook and rested her head against the wall.

Catherine couldn't call the man even if he was a different version. She didn't even know how she called him, because she dialed Nia’s number. Or so she thought. She compared her records to the number she called and sure enough. They were different. It was Nael’s house.

She backed away from the phone as it rang with a steady chime. Her circuits burned to grab it and heed the call, but she knew better. She spent almost three quarters of a century away from the man. Nael didn't deserve her attention.

The android reached to unplug the cord from the receiver. Just as she noticed the call wasn't coming from Nael’s number. She picked it up as fast as a lightning bolt, fumbling it in her hands as she took a deep breath.

“Nia?!” Catherine exclaimed.

“We’re good! We’re good!” Areannia replied just as quickly, “I got the truck!”

Then she went quiet as a few voices shouted in the background. It sounded like Harold and Lilly arguing about something with Lilly exclaiming, “We can't detour anymore! We must leave the city!”

“Just call and have the load transferred to a new driver!” Harold yelled.

“That’s not how this works,” Areannia said. “We picked up the load, we deliver the load.”

“I’ll… call the Matriarch,” Catherine uttered. Much to her own surprise. Her hand shook as the thought of actually dialing the number crossed her mind. Again, she looked at the other window with her calculations for keeping Areannia alive, but now she added in the fact that Areannia had found the truck. And again, they came up slim.

“Huh?” Areannia replied.

“Don't worry about it.” Catherine hung up the phone, waited a moment and then took another deep breath. It was just a business call. From one company to the other. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed a number before Areannia could dial in.