-Mystdell-
I stepped off of the teleportation pad and walked into the crowded teleportation hub. As an explorer who had to travel around a lot I was intimately familiar with the hustle within the building. As I made my way through the security procedures to make my way outside, the person going through my documents took one look at the last name on my id and sped up their actions substantially.
I was used to being treated with respect and reverence by others, and I usually paid little mind to such actions from other people. However, after what had happened a month ago, I had started to notice the preferential treatment I received, and it brought back memories of my little brother Radiant. Although he had the same last name, he was treated the exact opposite.
As I stood there waiting for the person to finish looking through my documents, I recalled the day Radiant’s treatment had changed. It had been 17 years since Radiant had been taken away from the family and locked away with dangerous criminals, and it still pained me to recall.
Back then I was 15 years old, and our family had gone out to celebrate Radiant’s birthday. We had a wonderful day, and everything should have stayed that way. We went out to eat and did some activities throughout the day, but near the end of the day my Mom and I went home together while my Dad took Radiant to get his government mandated assessment done.
It was supposed to be just a simple test, and then my Dad and Radiant would meet us back home where we would open up Radiant’s presents to end the day. However, after nearly an hour of waiting, my Dad finally came home, but Radiant wasn’t with him, and he looked distraught and defeated.
I can still remember the deathly sinking feeling I had after my Dad spoke the words, “Radiant was taken. His assessment labeled him a MAX danger, and he was taken away to be locked in prison. I tried to stop them, but there was nothing I could do.”
After that day, the world I had thought was safe and secure had been shattered to pieces, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Of course my Mom and Dad had tried everything they could to get Radiant back, but their efforts had only made things worse for them. For their efforts they had been barred from interacting with Radiant, they weren’t even allowed to write to him.
After that, my trust in the Tallen government had eventually fallen to zero.
Of course, time had worn away the sharp edges of those memories, but recently those wounds had been opened up again by none other than Radiant himself when he had escaped from prison.
Though it was at the front of my mind, I didn’t let it distract me from what I was doing. I finished up the security checks and exited the teleportation hub. As I exited the sliding doors, I looked around for transportation. The tall buildings of the city obstructed my view of the horizon, and the smells carried on the wind through the city entered my nose as I located the line of black Autonavs nearby and made my way over.
Getting into the sleek black vehicle, I entered my destination on the dashboard console before leaning back into the seat as I let the Autonav carry me to my destination, Home.
Haah, it sure has been a long time since I left. Who knows, if not for those irritating pests I might not have returned for quite a while longer. It’s too bad that it took something like this to get me to come back.
Over the past month there had been government agents buzzing around me like annoying pixies, and it had annoyed me to the point that I had taken a vacation from my job and made my way back to this city. With my family’s business being what it was, I was coming back to try and get their help to deal with my problem.
I tried to get these things out of my mind by putting in some earbuds and turning on some music. However the music did little to distract me, and I continued to worry throughout the whole ride back home. Thankfully, the Autonav, traveling at speeds that blurred the outside scenery, even to my enhanced senses, allowed me to reach my destination in just a few minutes despite the large distance.
The Autonav stopped, and after paying for the ride, I stepped out to the view of the enchanted wall that surrounded my family’s large estate. However, instead of walking up to the large gate in front of me, I made my way over to the guardhouse off to the side.
As I entered the building, all of the locked doors unlocked as I made my way towards my destination. However, my walk was stopped as I met the guard that was in charge here. He looked like he had rushed his way over to greet me as soon as he had seen me.
“Miss Shadow, is there anything I can do for you?”
Despite Tallen’s mostly Human population, this guard captain was a fierce and menacing looking insectoid with large sharp scythes on his many forward facing limbs, and it was no surprise that he had been put in charge because of his intimidating appearance. However, despite this, his attitude towards me was servile and respectful, making for a sharp contrast with his appearance.
“There’s no need Genrik. I’m going to meet with my parents, but they’re in the basement. So I’m only here for the lift.”
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“Ahh, then please proceed my lady.” He bowed and got out of my way while gesturing with his scythe-like arms in the direction of the lift.
There were no further interruptions on my journey through the guardhouse. After reaching a seemingly inconspicuous wall and placing my hand on it, the wall opened up to show a room with the lift that took me down to the basement.
It was called the basement, but it had no connection to the main house at all. In fact this was where the most sensitive parts of the family business took place, away from prying eyes and spies within the main house.
Despite its secretive nature, the hallways and rooms in the basement looked ordinary. As I walked through the hallways, I met a few people who greeted me as I walked past. However I was used to paying these sorts of things no mind, and I made my way into the room my parents were in.
When I walked into the room, there was only a short pause of silence before I heard an exclamation.
“Mystdell, you’re back!”
My Mother jumped up from her seat and rushed to embrace me, while my Father made his way over at a more sedate pace to give me a short hug as well.
“It’s been so long since you’ve visited. We were worried you might never come back.” Although my Dad said it in a joking manner, I could tell that he wasn’t entirely joking when he said this.
I felt a little guilty, because I hadn’t returned just to see them, “It’s good to see you too. Though there is a reason I came back that I couldn’t talk about through the text.”
“Is it something to do with Radiant’s escape from Lonevista? If so, then we’ve already done what we could to find him, but we haven’t gotten anything yet.”
“No, it’s not about Radiant. Although it kind of is, but not about finding him.” I replied, “Ever since he’s escaped I’ve had government agents following me around nonstop. I came here to see if you could help me get rid of them so they stop bothering me.”
“Oh, I can understand that.” My Mom said with a bit of disappointment in her tone, “But I thought you would be more worried about Radiant.”
“Ah, well, uh.” I was caught off guard a little. But I quickly recovered and said, “Right, I forgot that you don’t know.” I pulled out a small box from my hand, and I opened it up to reveal a letter. It was Radiant’s letter that I had received from Genesis.
I handed the letter over to my parents saying, “I received this letter from Radiant a while ago. I was so preoccupied by the agents that I forgot to tell you about it.”
My Dad took the letter and read it out loud for my Mom to hear.
Dear, Mystdell.
It’s me Radiant! I know that it’s been a long time since we’ve last talked to each other, and I know that’s not your fault with you exploring different places, but I decided that I should let you know about some things before events that will happen in the near future.
First off, try not to be too worried about any news you might hear about me. I’ll be completely fine since I’ve been preparing for this since I was a kid. I know that won’t prevent you from worrying about me, but there’s not much I can do about that.
Second, if anybody comes to you asking about me, just tell them the truth. There’s no need for you to protect me, and nothing you could tell them will make a difference to my plans anyways.
Third, I’ll try and get in touch with you in person, as soon as I can, after things settle down. It might take a while though, so don’t worry if you don’t get any word from me.
Lastly, make sure to dispose of this letter in a way that leaves no traces behind. Don’t make any copies or anything either.(I’m saying this because I know you might actually do this, so just don’t. I mean it.)
I love you and wish you well. Thanks for always believing in me.
From your favorite brother, Radiant.
My parents were silent for a moment before my Mom spoke to me, “You’re saying you received this letter from Radiant? But how? There should’ve been no way for him to send something like this to you.”
“Actually, it was delivered to me through Genesis.”
“Genesis? I know that you’re friends with her, but what would she be doing with a letter from Radiant?”
“Well, apparently, Radiant is able to access The Ever Present Archives. And since Genesis also has a pass, she’s been meeting with Radiant ever since they were kids. She told me that Radiant gave this letter to her there.”
The revelation seemed to be a bit much for my parents to process all at once. They remained silent trying to understand, and it was only after a while had passed that my Dad spoke up.
“You’re saying that Radiant has access to The Archives? Since when? Who gave him a pass? Is there anything else you know about Radiant’s situation?”
“I have no idea. Although I do recall Genesis saying something about the possibility of a god’s blessing? Other than all that, I don’t know much more. As for Radiant’s escape and where he might be right now? I don’t know anything more than this.”
They both looked a bit disappointed at the news, but they probably didn’t expect much in the first place. After all, they hadn’t had any way to help Radiant for the longest time.
“That’s too bad.” My Dad said, “On that note, there isn’t much we can do about the government agents following you around either. I’m sure they’ll give up the direct search for Radiant after another month or so, and they should stop bothering you by then.”
“That’s right.” My Mom said, “We’ve heard from some of our informants that there’s going to be some big news coming out of Lonevista soon though. From what we can tell, it’s probably about Radiant. There isn’t much we can do if they choose to publicize his escape, but if they do then we’ll definitely be able to pressure the government to give up their surveillance.”
*Sigh* “I guess there isn’t much we can do about it then.” I had somewhat expected their responses, but at least I would be able to avoid the observers as long as I was with my family.
After I got a response to that, my parents and I continued to talk about Radiant before moving on to the family business and our future plans.
In the past I had always wanted to have talks like this with my parents, and it was great to feel helpful after I was able to get a job as an explorer and get my hands on some ancient artifacts for the family, both legal and illegal. Given our TechnicMorph Ancestry, it was in our instincts to gather artifacts.
Although me and my family’s methods of gathering artifacts weren't always the most lawful, I didn’t have much respect for the government after what they had done to Radiant. So, as we talked about our illegal activities, I felt a certain pride rather than the guilt I had once felt.
However, despite the fact that we were trying to hide it during our talk, I could tell that everyone was thinking about Radiant and what he was doing right now.