Chapter Ten

“Lethe? Hang on, you can’t just—” Calder’s protests rolled off me as I stalked toward the building my team was camped by. The gigantic, Brihlan structure, according to my briefing, had been taken over by criminals. I wasn’t quite sure who or what could have managed that, given the Brihlans’ towering stature and additional arms. While I hadn’t seen any species larger or obviously stronger than the Brihlan, I couldn’t rule out the possibility. However, whatever the criminals were, I didn’t exactly give a shit, either. It didn’t change the fact I had a job to do.

The doors slammed open, giving me my first target; a human. I dashed in, pulling back one fist, and punched him in the jaw so hard that the wiring in his metal neck piece snapped. Sparks flew everywhere, hydraulics hissing as he collapsed to the ground. Inside the room, multiple people raised varied weapons at me. Humans, Syldrari, and several humanoid species I didn’t recognize, but all wearing the same band around their arm.

In the back of the main room, someone scrambled to hide a complex-looking mechanical device.

A human man, half his face replaced by metal plating and a robotic eye, stood up and straightened his suit. “Look, sweetheart. We outnumber you. All you’ve got are your fists, just turn around, and walk—”

“Metal is an excellent conductor. Want to try that again?” Maelor snarled at them, coming to stand to my right

“Please.” The man sighed. “I don’t care what the Creshe government did to you. Our augmentations are—”

“I was having a good time and you interrupted it. Goodbye.” I summoned an orb of lightning in the room, causing Maelor to promptly retreat. Triggers squeezed all around me, but it was too late for them.

The sphere of lightning exploded outward, frying every person in the room. Hair and clothing caught fire, augmentations shorted, plastic melted, and everyone dropped to the ground, smoking. My retribution wasn’t finished.

“Maelor, get the others. We’re reclaiming this building. If people won’t surrender, kill them.” I approached the staircase leading up to the next floor, stepping over burned bodies and dropped weapons. Then I stopped. Right. That thing someone was trying to hide.

I shelved my frustration for the moment and moved over to where the large, blue-green metal box rested. It was half-shoved under the table, its lid displaced enough to reveal a glimpse of reflective metal tech inside, studded with multicolored gems and too many moving parts. Long tubes that reminded me of a pipe organ ran up the center, covered in vaguely familiar carved text.

I pressed a button at my wrist to bring up comms with Zafir. “Hey, is this Syldran tech?”

“By the…” Zafir breathed. “Kill everyone involved. Someone we can trust will pick that up. Guard it until they arrive.”

I wrinkled my nose at Zafir’s reaction. What would make him skip to execution as an option? All things considered; it looks fairly innocuous…

“…understood.” I placed the lid fully over the box, then motioned Calder, Nikolai, and Diana toward the stairs. “New orders. Kill everyone, don’t let them escape.”

They didn’t hesitate, simply charged up the stairs, and I soon heard fighting. I ran my gloved fingers over the outside of the strange box, taking in the markings. They weren’t in the triangular pattern I’d seen on Rel’s TV, but the writing was similar. Though the carvings appeared ‘empty,’ for lack of a better word. Yet, when my fingers brushed over it, I felt that they were raised Whatever material filled them, I couldn’t perceive it no matter how I strained.

[Zafir tells me you found something interesting,] Jysel’s voice spoke from my chip.

Yeah. I can’t see it well, but I can feel it’s covered in something I can’t see. We need to fight for it?

[I’d prefer not to hurt you, especially as more criminals may be coming,] Jysel stated gently. [I will use ‘Syldrari trickery,’ as I’m sure they call it. Act as though you can’t see me, or where the box goes.]

A breeze passed my cheek, followed by the sensation of the box sliding out from beneath my fingers. I hurriedly searched for it, hoping to add to the illusion that I’d been bamboozled. In the process, I noted several items had vanished from the tables too.

[Good. Hunt well, Salaith-daiyr.] Jysel’s presence flickered on the edge of my senses, then disappeared.

I made a show of scanning the room and searching for intruders, then headed upstairs to check on my team. When I found they’d already finished off everyone, I wasn’t exactly surprised. After all, with what little the cultist had told me about Aisu… I had to operate under the assumption my team was just as inhuman as me, whether they knew it or not.

“Drugs, weapons, alien tech, Creshe tech…” Nikolai poked through a box of miscellaneous parts. “Looks to me like they picked an abandoned Brihlan building ‘cause the size. Basically a free warehouse for them.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“We called for cleanup—found tools for dealing with radioactive materials. May be nasty stuff in their inventory.”

“Guard the clean-up team until I return. I just received an odd call…” Zafir trailed off, and I heard the door to his closet slide open. “Lethe is in charge until I return. Call Erik if you require extraction.”

What the fuck? He’s just going to bounce? I scowled and shook my head. “Maelor, Calder, you and I will keep an eye on the perimeter. An unknown contact stole some of the equipment downstairs right out of my hands. We’re dealing with tech we can’t see.

“Nikolai, Diana, take inventory of the crap these people were hoarding and see if you can figure out their affiliation. I want to know if they work for the Creshe Empire or someone else.”

* * *

A few hours passed while my team guarded the building, and a cleanup crew dealt with the interior. Nearby, Brihlan civilians had started to gather but were keeping a respectful distance. I noticed several of them were examining me and my team like they were searching for something, but, with Zafir out of the loop, I decided to make the team hold formation.

While we waited, I made myself a short, mental list of things to interrogate Zafir about. In my boredom, I’d decided to poke around with my chip’s AR interface, displaying it on a portion of my visor. I’d wanted to send Rel a message and reiterate for him to go to bed. Instead, I discovered that I was locked out of almost all functionality my Syldrari chip held. I could send messages to my team and a select few Resonance Project officials…and I could listen to music. Then, there was the ability to translate Syldran words I heard, thanks to first Rel and then the cultist who returned it to me.

Everything else I interacted with said ‘access denied’ or popped up Syldran text I couldn’t decipher. Data pads and the occasional physical book were my main sources of entertainment, outside of the TV in the lounge area.

I gave myself a mental kick for not looking into the details of my chip sooner. I’d initially assumed the minimal access was because I couldn’t understand Syldran, but I now got the sense it was something more than that.

I’d been so overwhelmed by the pace of my new life that I’d forgotten to ask important questions. What else had fallen to the wayside? Had Zafir intentionally locked me out of all other programs when he installed the chip, or was he unaware there was a problem?

“You may have a visor on, but you sure do got a scary look on your face,” Maelor commented, leaning over to speak quietly. “Can it wait?”

“It will have to.” I nodded once. “Any word from the clean-up team?”

“Not much. They said they’ve got a lot of contraband to bag and tag.” Maelor stretched his hands behind his back. “Why don’t you see what the Brihl are looking for? Maybe calm them down?”

“Yeah… I guess someone should.” I nodded to him, then turned to approach the towering spectators. “The situation is under control. You should return to your homes and get some rest before you have to wake up for the day.”

“See, I told you she wasn’t Acheron! The suits all wrong!” One of the women scoffed at her companions. “Little one, where is Acheron? We haven’t gotten to play with her in days!”

Right… Aisu said something about these women really liking strong ‘alien’ women. I glanced between the women as they leaned over to get a better look at me, using two hands to brace against their knees, while their other hands played with their hair, clothes, or lips. “Acheron is in recovery. We had a difficult mission recently. She’ll return to duty soon.”

“Excellent!” One with blue skin and bright white hair exclaimed. “You should join her when she does! Clearly, you are strong too. We make the loveliest tea and biscuits.”

The woman pointed down at my suit, guiding my attention to the spattering of blood. Right. I was strong. Strong enough to execute a room of people, including ‘aliens,’ for pissing me off. What can I do to the humans, then? Can I do enough damage before their defenses go off?

“I’m sorry about that, Elara, I’m back.” Zafir’s winded voice played in my ear. “Oh, you’re still… Is everything alright? Report.”

“If you’ll excuse me, ladies,” I murmured, backing away and bringing up my fingers to my ear. “You want my report here?”

“Ah… Right. On the return craft, then. You should come back—”

“The cleanup crew is nowhere close to finished. We can’t leave unless more soldiers come to replace us, sir.”

Zafir cleared his throat as he appeared on the inside of my visor. “Apologies. I’ve had an…interesting night. I’m calling for more backup so that you and your team can return to HQ. I will see if I can reorganize your schedule for tomorrow…today, so you can get some rest.”

“It’s fine… I already assumed I wouldn’t be getting any sleep.” Walking over to rejoin Maelor, I glanced around my surroundings. Someone or something was watching us. It took me a moment, before I spotted a familiar cloak disappearing around a corner, the glint of silver tentacles going with it—and a brief, beckoning hand motioning to me.

“See what they w-wan-zzzt.” The audio and visual feed glitched, then disappeared, leaving me to heave a small sigh before ordering my team to stay put.

I took quiet steps into the alleyway, finding a cultist leaning back against a wall, arms crossed over his chest. Even before lowering his hood, I sensed it wasn’t the usual one. Even so, the red-haired woman lowered her hood and gave me an odd, unfamiliar bow.

“Jalan-ki Elara, our master asked us to deliver a message,” the woman began in an eerily reverent tone. She pulled a folded piece of shimmering parchment from her coat, placed it flat in her hands, then bowed again, offering it to me at a level higher than her head. “I am honored by your presence and patience.”

“What is this letter about?” I asked, hesitating a moment before plucking it from her hands. She promptly brought her hands into an odd formation before her chest and bowed deeper. “Please stop bowing. I’m not…someone you should bow to.”

“Our master gave us orders to not read it, and so we did not.” The woman hesitated before straightening to her full height. “Queens deserve respect. We wouldn’t dream of dishonoring you by showing no gratitude for your presence. Alas, our master calls. May we leave?”

“…you may…” I moved aside, keeping a wary eye on her as she moved past me, pulling her hood over her head. The air and shadows around us warped and rippled briefly, moving as if they were a blanket placed over something chasing her. Something I couldn’t force my eyes to focus on.

Then, she was gone.

I looked down at the letter in my hand, noting it was addressed in dual languages; an unusual and seemingly pointless occurrence, given the prevalence of automatic translation tech. On its face, ‘Elara’ was written in the primary Creshe language…and below it, Syldran symbols filled interlocking triangles. For my own sake, I hoped the contents were written in both as well.

But that could wait until I returned to HQ.