Chapter 39

The Interrogation

“Clyde, can you tell me what suits or armor we have that could resist an electric baton, and bullets.”

“Here, none. But I had registered some back at the temple.”

“Great, we’ll have to fabricate one for a Bovine, and Ursine and myself. And don’t forget hoods, I got hit in the head last time, end of story.”

The ship started and we rose to a thousand feet, turned and flew west to the temple.

“Don’t you have business to attend to?” I asked Clyde.

“Yes, I’m giving a lecture to a specialized class in advanced algorithms, question and answer period.”

“While flying?”

“Actually it was already recorded and… they’re just listening. Nothing I have to be there for in person, actually I was going through the camera systems as you were earlier, I’ve located Genres and found his daily routine inside and out of the building. If that’s his everyday routine, I’m sure you could catch him.”

I was amazed, so many questions I had for him in that one statement. I started with the important one. “What do you mean inside and out of the building, I could only see outside on the streets.”

“I just infiltrated the building’s camera system, not too hard really. I just connected.”

Interesting, we can track him down anywhere thanks to Clyde.

“Would you like the schematics?“

A file opened up in my goggles. It was a 3D picture of the building and surroundings that turned and zoomed as I commanded.

“The red line shows his steps day by day, you can change the time with the buttons on the bottom.”

I did. It showed his footsteps, a simple little pattern by the looks of it. And he hardly went close to the loading docks.

A bit later we were over the fields, I closed the 3D map and watched the grass flow by in yellows and browns, past the farms and into unclaimed territory, well, as unclaimed as the Equine call their home. And just a bit later we were back at the Temple.

Clyde opened the hangar door and set the ship down. I climbed out, cautious for any intruders. The village must have been a ghost town by now, but you never know where homeless souls will venture. I know the hangar would be safe, I haven’t seen any restless souls so far.

I reminded Clyde about the job we came here for, three electric baton proof suits, one for a Bovine, one for an Ursine and one for me, with hoods and gloves.

“Do you have their sizes?” He asked me, expecting to know the measurements of both of them down to the inch.

“No.” I said, wondering if we actually needed it.

“We might have to go back to get them,” he said.

I paused.

“Just kidding. I got their sizes by the relative measurements. Luckily you wear your goggles often enough I can measure them up well enough. Though I hope the girth fits right.”

What a joke. I thought sarcastically.

One more thing, “While we’re here, can you make one for Bandera, impact resistant, just as my first suit.”

“Sounds fitting. Do you have her measurements too?”

“No.” I said flatly.

“I know, I’m only joking.”

“I know. But do give her some room to grow. She’s still a bit small.”

I looked around the hangar, seeing if there was anything else needed back at the new headquarters. Nothing specific, maybe some tools and replacements for Clyde and the ship.

I thought about going upstairs. “Clyde, does it look like anyone’s been around?” I asked, but remembered I have full access to all the cameras around and looked for myself while walking the short passages inside the hangar’s rooms and storage.

I made it to my stately underground room while flicking through the exterior cameras, seeing that all the trees were intact, most of them boring, yet reminiscent live footage of my jungle. I made it to my room and mixed myself a refreshment and another for the trip back.

Finally I had gotten to the cameras at the front of the temple. The garden was obviously abandoned, no current motion. The next camera showed the inside, still one. Probably safe to go inside, I know there’s some good locks on the doors here, even if the front door was wooden. I could still see it was intact by the side view from one camera.

I felt it was safe to go upstairs. I grabbed a bag and went up to collect some things and immediately go to my old room.

The golden relic, once a smiling cat, now a lotus, sat exactly where I had left it. My tokens from the battles with individual Ancients were there and gathering dust. I picked them up, one at a time, placing them in my bag to take them with me back to my headquarter’s bedroom. The sudden feeling of taking the “home” away from what I once called home struck me and I cried.

So much had happened. One look, it was all so fast, starting with a few missions sent to me by my Ancestors. Another look, every detail, every day, it was so complicated, so intriguing. So much unlike anybody else’s life. And I was hardly an adult now.

I grabbed the last item from the shelf. The feather, not of Midnai, Farrow’s feather. The one he had dropped while curious about me hunting with the Equines.

Another jerk of tears. But I still have my friends, friends from the beginning. And I’m going back to them now. It’s not all bad.

I stood straight and said goodby to my room. “I’ll be back eventually.” I said, and closed the door, not knowing when I really would be back, or if I would be back at all.

The other rooms of the hallway were in front of me. The three mysterious rooms that took some life threatening feats for me to get into. But I had gotten the keys. I had opened the doors and was rewarded with the treasures inside.

I peered into the first room, looking around at all the weapons. Still, Ungu was the best choice. The second room, suits of armor, skintight, various ranges of elemental protection. I was fabricating another set for my team. The third room, gadgets of all sorts. A lot I think I might be able to use now, or could have used. I grabbed a few items. These could really come in handy later. Walkie-talkies, miniature camera devices, and a few others.

I exited, looking through the rest of the house, making sure I took all of it in before I left and went back downstairs to see how the suit making was going.

I walked into the fabrication room just as the third suit was being completed. One left for Bandera.

“Clyde, if there’s anything you want from here just let me know. Though we can always come back, I hope.”

“Oh, there was something.”

He led me, by instruction, into one of the storage rooms I had been in and had me pick up a few boxes.

“Just add-ons,” he said, “a few extra CPUs and coolants and whatnot.”

“No replacement parts?” I asked, surprised that that was all he wanted.

“Nope, none here.”

“So that make you irreplaceable?”

“Precisely,” he said, too happily. “I might get around to fabricating some treads and manipulators at some point. But living in this ship isn’t too bad.”

A thought hit me: that was where he nearly died. I didn’t want that too happen.

We got everything in order inside the ship and took off. Only to come back when material need call for us again.

That night we grouped up. The same debrief from the Xenos as every other day, no sign of Genres, no mention of the Nightmare. Even Valentin who had started to work as a cleaner in Genres’ building hadn’t seen him. It was tough getting a job on his floor.

But, I had been waiting anxiously to tell them the plan.

“Thanks to Clyde and myself, Genres has been spotted and tracked, as you all know. The data we have shows his daily routine, it doesn’t change much from day to day, though it’s only been two days. We will meet him at a select location, disarm his guards and take him, get all the information we need out of him and, if he doesn’t kill himself, put him back very carefully, making sure he knows he is being watched.”

They all looked satisfied, at least hungry for a good interrogation. They could taste the victory already. But a minor step in the whole scheme of things.

“Who’s going with you?” Valentin asked.

“Yourself, and Thor.”

The Bovine looked up unexpectedly. “Why, it’d be an honor,” he said stoically.

The rest not chosen, which was quite a few, didn’t look so happy, so I made a quick judgement. “The others will help on watch and in the ship. I can’t do all the torturing myself if we want him to cough something up.”

They cheered up, and I felt better making use of everyone.

“I’ll have Clyde give us a couple of prime locations to ambush him.”

I knew the plan was lacking details, but what’s a plan for Xenos like these, it’s going to happen if it’s planned or not.

“I almost forgot.” I held up the two huge suits for Valentin and Thor. “Protective armor to wear underneath your civilian clothes.”

They looked surprised and welcomed the gifts. They changed immediately, getting strange looks from the rest of the team. A Bovine and an Ursine in skin tight armor.

I quieted them down. “It’s for his guards. They have electric batons that will knock you out, and fast. That’s also why I choose you two. I know you can take more than a couple hits, even with the electric shock. I thought protection against the electricity better than the hits, though I’m sure it will resist some impact.”

They grinned and flexed in their new armor.

“Let’s try it now!” One of the Aves said, moving over to the wall socket.

I smiled but gave a firm, “No.”

There wasn’t anything around to shock them anyways. But on second thought it might be a good idea to test the integrity of these suits.

Our meeting ended. The anticipation still hung in the room. Tomorrow another battle.

I grabbed Bandera before she got busy with anything else.

“I have something for you.” I told her, pulling up another suit. This one wasn’t so heavy. “Matching suits.”

She smiled, and it slowly grew until she was grinning from ear to ear and her eyes lit up. She half hugged me while she grabbed the suit and put it on.

She looked like me a few years ago, putting on the traditional Huntress garb. I had visions.

“I don’t want you in the initial ambush, but I do want you to watch. It may get messy, it’s dangerous. I’ve almost been killed by Genres and his guards last time we met. I would have to say if it wasn’t for the suit I had on I would have been dead.”

“Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She yelled. I’m sure she could be heard from outside.

She danced and acted out some fighting stances and moves.

I sparred with her for an hour. And after that she still had the energy, but I had to get to bed while still finalizing the plan for tomorrow.

“Let’s get some sleep young Huntress.”

I decided to go to bed as well, finding Ares with me moments later.

“How’s the plan going?” She asked.

“That’s what I’m thinking about now. A quick ambush, get information and decide what to do from there.”

“I would wouldn’t kill him if I were you.” She said.

“Why not?” I wasn’t planning to, but if the temptation arises I might like to know what Ares has to say about it.

“There’s others you could get rid of that would harm the illegal enterprise better. If you kill him he’ll just be replaced, the Nightmare will be infuriated and you might get an unexpected attack. I’m sure he knows where you are.”

“Really. But I haven’t heard him since the battle in the fields.”

“True. Silence. It’s a weapon in itself. Something to use before a true attack. It’s nature; silence before the storm, calm before the tsunami.”

“Makes sense. So I’ll have to watch my back, keep us all safe.”

“Yes,” she said, but seemed pensive.

I know the mystery I’m in is the same that she’s trying to figure out herself as well. But I don’t know who’s position is better. Me being in the city, the real world, or her being mystical, endless time to think of possibilities and a supposed all-knowingness and being able to look everywhere. But she still hasn’t found him. Or has she.

“How are the men doing?” I asked.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“As usual, arguing about tactics, who to interrogate, who’s to blame.”

“I guess the celebration after the battle of the Ancients didn’t last for too long.”

“Not as long as history may say it was. Not to mention the Nightmare, a quick win, a short battle of what seemed to be the end of the war, just to open up the next battle, the fact that our battle was something much deeper and hidden. If it was the Nightmare who brought those demons, we may never know. He may have only used the bioengineer’s monsters for his own, and we don’t know what’s happened to them either.”

“Good point.” I said. “But in the end, my only question now is how do we find him, and what’s next. What’s the battle after this? The Nightmare is a formidable foe, but once he’s dead and gone will we really just continue our lives, generation after generation all in harmony?”

“That does seem to be the question of life. What’s good, what’s bad? What’s worth fighting for? Because life doesn’t end when the enemy is gone. There’s always another.”

With that, Ares left for another day and I went to sleep.

I woke up early to get another foot into this plan about Genres. After breakfast I had only concluded it was better to just do it and get the information we need. So I waited anxiously for the other Xenos to wake up.

I asked Clyde to give me a live visual of where Genres is on camera and keep it feeding into my goggles. Genres wasn’t up yet, or at least not out of his room. Maybe he had a bedroom in the building.

But after an hour he had been spotted.

I piled the Xenos I needed into the ship, making sure the four of us had our suits on, Bandera, Valentin, Thor and myself.

The others had taken their seats ready for the interrogation.

The anticipation grew, hearts pounded quietly readying for a quick ambush and hustle.

The ship took off and I kept my eyes on the camera feed. Genres was still in the building, but it looked like he was getting ready to go outside. Our luck.

Clyde hovered the ship above the streets, right in front of the exit Genres should be taking.

A few minutes later he was in the lobby. I told Clyde to get down there to drop us off.

I told Bandera to stay in the ship for the moment. Just watch. I don’t want her in any real fights yet.

I could see on the camera: our ship had landed right next to Genres, neither he nor his guards barely took notice, four guards to be exact.

I opened the door and the three of us ran out as planned. Valentin and Thor took two of the guards by surprise, knocking them out or killing them, either way, effectively dispatched.

I grabbed Genres before he knew what was happening and pulled him close to myself with two arms, running back to the ship.

I heard the crackle of ozone as the other two guards turned on their batons and got ready to fight.

I threw Genres into the ship, an Equine grabbed him and tied him up securely.

I looked back at the fight. Ursine and Bovine against his two guards. I didn’t expect much of a fight but the guards were trained well, they knew how to fight and how not to as well. They were backing up, dodging every punch and lunge. The Xenos took a few hits, but like savage animals, nothing could stop them that easily, and the guard could see that as well.

Finally Thor had gotten a guard into a hold, the other had carefully dodged Valentin’s and hit Thor in the face, keeping the baton there for longer than expected. He’s going to have a bad burn.

Valentin got him and the four of them collapsed on the ground hold against hold, baton against brute.

Now was the time to jump in. But before I could jump Bandera was already out the door, with throwing knives in her hands.

I cringed for her safety and sped behind her. But I didn’t bother to stop her.

We jumped and flew into the guards, knocking them out of their holds. Valentin and Thor got up, but not as fast as the guard. One hadn’t got higher than his hands and knees. I glanced, I knife stuck out of his neck and he collapsed a second later.

Now it was Valentin and Thor on either side of me, in front of the guard.

I pounced, knowing I would be faster than the other two.

I hit him in the chest, getting ready for a counter blow from his baton. But he didn’t strike. He stood there motionless. A moment later he fell forward and I had to jump off. He lay motionless on the ground as well.

What?

A knife stuck of of his back, obviously having been drawn down his spine a good length.

And in front of me stood Bandera looking down at the dead guard between us.

We didn’t have much time to stand around on the streets this morning talking about the ambush we just pulled off, so I grabbed Bandera by the hand, turned and the four of us got back into the ship.

Clyde jolted up before before the door was even closed, but all of us were in.

I found Genres sitting on the table, hands tied behind him, feet bound up as well.

We were hardly in the air when I heard a siren from out side and a warning call, “You are surrounded. Disarm and follow us where we guide you. You are under arrest.”

From our speakers, “This is inter-tribal warfare. Please back down. No harm of city property will be taken. Thank you.”

“Request granted under circumstances given. Damage to governmental and/or city property will be dealt with separately.”

I felt the ship move again and started moving calmly around the city.

I looked at Genres. He had an obvious look of “oh shit” on his face. It seems it had already clicked that he knew who I was.

“It looks like you do remember me.” I said, pulling my hood up and back off of my head. “You didn’t think I’d come back to haunt you, did you?”

He trembled and his eyes darted around, obviously looking for an escape route. But we were already high above the city towers.

“Well, I want answers.” I said calmly, setting my hands on the table he was sitting on. “Here’s the first question. Who’s giving you orders?”

“Nobody.” He quickly replied, and trying to look proud in his awful state of shakes, “I’m my own boss.”

“Alright, and what about the voice in your head?”

He gave me an odd glance. “Voices? I don’t have any voices in my head. I’m perfectly sane.”

Some of the Xenos in the ship have a little laugh. Genres sneered at them.

“Next question. Do you have blackouts? Suddenly coming to where you have no idea how you got there?”

“No, none of those.”

Then something is wrong, I thought to myself. Those were the main features of the Nightmare.

“Fine then,” I continued. “Now that we’ve established you’re perfectly sane, I have a little memory test. The Feline king. You remember him?”

“Of course. A little frayed around the edges, but I’ve seen worse.”

“What made him strange?”

“Well, he was quiet at the meetings, just answered questions, but didn’t really seems certain. Like he didn’t know what he was doing half the time. Sometimes he’d be on top of plans then other times it’d be like he was never there, had no idea what he had just said five minutes ago.”

“What plans?” I asked sharply.

Genres shook his head frantically. “No, no. I can’t tell you those—.”

“I want answers. What plans?” I asked furiously.

He grimaced and whined for a moment. “Fine! Plans to take over, build up our empire and…”

“What? And what!?”

“And our smuggling business between the tribes. We all have guns and take over the humans. Get them out and get our planet back to ourselves.”

Hmm, I thought to myself, a nice rebellious plan I might take a liking to myself. But I wouldn’t. The humans haven’t bothered me, and I have other business, like the one infront of me.

“Alright, I’ll have to give you credit for that.”

Thor stepped forward and whispered into my ear, a suggestion for a question.

“So back to my Feline King. You said you’ve seen people worse than him?”

“I have, on the streets, talking to themselves.”

“I mean in the business, your business. There’s other like that?”

“I—I guess so. A lot of them take drugs, the Canines hand them out like candy.”

“So you’re saying they’re crazy because of the drugs?”

“Maybe, probably not. There’s some that do and some that don’t. I could say it was common to the drugs.”

“I didn’t think so,” I said. “Then what was it? Blacking out, forgetting the whole conversation and having no idea where they were? Voices in their heads?”

“No. But, hey? Are you just trying to find some crazy people?”

“More or less…hey, I’m the one asking the questions. But then again, you know some crazy people? The ones I’m looking for?”

“I guess so,” he said. “You could have asked me earlier and I’d tell you.”

“So I want names and descriptions. Cough up.”

Thor came up and whispered in my ear again.

“But before you give me those names, I want to know something. Why were they crazy? What do they have in common, where did they go? Who did they see?”

Genres stuttered. “I don’t know. You’re asking the wrong guy. I had nothing to do with their sanity.”

“Fine then. But why would they come to you? Why are there so many of them around you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they like guns, they want to get rid of the humans here and live happily without them!” He spat. The Equine behind him slapped him and sent him tumbling a foot across the table.

“No spitting.”

Genres righted himself up and sneered again. “I hate them! But it’d have to be that. The smuggling, the guns, the drugs.”

I thought to myself again. Either he’s a really good liar or he really has no idea what I’m asking for and he’s not possessed of the Nightmare. Or he is possessed and the Nightmare is feeding him these answers… and I’d have no idea of finding that out.

Maybe.

I messaged Clyde an import part of the upcoming plan.

“Then if those are all the answers you have for us then I guess I let you out.”

The door opened and wind came rushing in. We were obviously not landed yet.

I gestured for him to be picked up and thrown out.

Roland, behind him, grabbed him and trotted over to the open door. He looked back to me for the queue.

“Everyone hold on.” And I nodded.

Genres disappeared.

A second later the ship vaulted downward, turn sideways and genres flew back in through the doors. I lunged and grabbed him midair, cushioning his reentry. I didn’t want to kill him.

The ship righted and I put Genres back on the table. He was shivering and shaking, cursing everyone, everything, the gods and my Ancestors.

“I guess I’ll let you live then.” I said. “But answer me this. Who shot down my villages and burnt it to the ground.”

“It wasn’t me. No, no, no! I didn’t do it.”

“Then who did!?” I screamed.

“It was the Canines. They did it, it was their idea!”

“Then why was one of your ships there shooting them all down? Why was it a Murid that made the last phone call to my King?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! It wasn’t me! I just heard that it had happened.”

I swore, loudly. “This is going to be harder than I thought. Give me those names you had mentioned.”

Genres stopped shaking ever so slightly and gave some deep breaths. “Darek Brazen, Lizard, but they’re usually a bit off. Bollie Jims, Canine. Bernie Jenkin, Canine….”

He gave me a long list and Clyde had gotten us parked on the top of Genres’s building. I let him off, without much grace and the door closed, the blinds opened and we flew off, circling the Xenobia tower.

“What was with the big drop?” Valentin asked me. The rest seemed pretty interested too.

“It was part of the plan. I had to make sure the Nightmare wasn’t feeding him all the answers, as if he was possessed and…you know.”

“And that stunt would tell us he wasn’t possessed how?”

“He wouldn’t have been shocked with adrenaline, the Nightmare would have pulled the plug by then. I hope.”

“How’d you know that?”

“It was in the Feline King’s diary.” I said, and sighed. “It seemed as if, when all hope is lost of being a good pawn, he kills his servant.”

Thy looked mystified. Maybe they didn’t know the enemy we were up against.

“That’s how he died.” I said sadly. “But it was what everyone wanted. It was what he wanted. Life was an agonizing terror for himself. And he spread the disease it to everyone else.”

We swiftly arrived back to headquarters and unloaded.

We were all a bit dismayed. Genres wasn’t possessed as we had thought, which meant we were still as far away from finding the Nightmare as we were a month ago.

Roland and the other Equine went off to “work” saying that they should head off and continue their relations with the city Equines. I thought that’s fine, I’m sure the Equine have their rumors and legends, even if very hidden.

The Aves had done the same, scouting the city and keeping relations was necessary for them as well.

That seemed to have left me with Thor and Valentin, John, Namcy, Bandera and myself.

John opened the doors for us, leading us into headquarters. The Maiden of Truth was waiting for us down there, cleaning and cooking, muttering to herself and not even knowing that we had walked in.

I sat down at the table with list of likely names of crazy people. We studied them and took note to vaguely remember the names.

The next thing was contacting them, even though it didn’t really sound like a good idea, contacting crazy people. We thought it over and figured the best place to look was in the phone book.

It was hopeless, as funny as the cliché is, every name had more than one entry and we had no way of figuring out if the ones we’re looking for where those listed.

I sent a quick message to Clyde asking him to help us with it, maybe he has way to get the precise locations of some of these guys by connection to Genres.

In the mean time, waiting for Clyde’s answer, I went down to see what the Dryads were up to, and if they were still alive. I hadn’t really spoken to the since I was here, just a mere glance or two.

I stepped into their large room. They had one of the biggest in the place. They had managed to clear out everything they didn’t need and had set up a miniature greenhouse. Bright lights flared from the ceiling, water pipes misted and sprinkled at times and buckets filled with water from the tap.

I was amazed.

Cedar had seen me and came over to say hi.

“How did you get all of this?” I asked.

“I asked,” he said.

I gave him a questioning look.

“John made a run to a store and bought us some plants. We had him ask Clyde to order the watering system and lights.”

“Did they ask for money?”

“No, just a share of the produce.”

I looked closer. There were bushes and plants with lots of spaces between them, like a real cultivated garden. The smaller ones looked familiar. Carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. They had a whole garden in here. “So you’re gardeners?” I asked stupidly.

“Of course. What do you think we eat?”

“Well,” I paused, “I had never thought of that.” Even though we had travelled across half of Xenobia it really had never occurred to me that they ate.

“We don’t eat much anyways. We’re half plants if you haven’t noticed. The lights are our main source of food.”

“I did notice.” They were bush people, more like miniature trees that had arms, legs and a face. They didn’t really talk though. “Wait a second. How did you ask John to get you all this stuff? I thought you couldn’t speak to Xenos.”

He mimed a couple of phrases. His hands reaching towards his face with his mouth wide open. “That was the hardest one,” he said. “The rest was easy. Lights, soil,” he made more motions with his hands. “And the water we found ourselves. It’s a great invention you have here, water is everywhere, it comes out of the walls!”

That had never occurred to me either, they had never been in recent civilization to know about plumbing, that water comes out of the tap and into the sink. Not from a river.

“Well I’m glad to see that you’re making the best of it down here.”

“Thank you. I know we don’t do much to help but if there is anything we can do I’m sure we’ll all be jumping out of here, literally.”

“I know. Just sit tight for now. The garden really does help, I prefer food like this. I had my own garden at home.”

I let them be, seeing that they had their own things under control.

Next I went to the room that the Talpas were expanding. It was as I had left it. The same room with a single hole in the floor where the chief Talpa had started. I heard some murmuring voices and decided to check it out, head down the tunnel and see the new rooms.

It wasn’t what I had expected. Maybe I had thought of a whole new room, spacious. Maybe a new floor entirely with it’s own hallway and set of twenty new personal rooms.

No, there was just one long tunnel. So I followed for a few minutes, either crouching or on my hands and knees as the terrain allowed me.

Finally I had come to where the Talpas were, and this is what I really didn’t expect. The ceiling was low and spacious, yet I could stand up and straight but Thor or any other tall Xeno might have to duck his head. It vaguely reminded me of the Talpa’s city I had visited earlier, just without houses.

I looked around, struggling to see very far in the dark, but well enough even with the complete lack of lanterns or lights. I had found the chief working on one of the closer walls, he was humming a little song to himself.

“So how are things down here?”

“Well, I might ask you the same,” he said. “How do you like it?” He spun around with his arms outstretched, eliciting admiration from my part.

I gave him a good compliment. “I’m amazed at the work you do. It’s great space. I only wonder where all the dirt goes?”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said winking at me. “Us Talpas have our ways.”

It made me wonder. Maybe they had some more magic, something only a Talpa can do, like see in the dark. I doubt they’d have a potion for that, something they could gift to other species.

I laughed a little, “Alright, I won’t pry into your secrets. But tell me, do you have plans for houses down here?”

“Not exactly but we can work that out. As I’ve seen, concrete could work but may be a bit messy, metal might be expensive and too heavy to get here very fast.” He started thinking about this option, “Unless we can make the metal here,” he said, now getting conspiratorial thoughts. He got quieter, nearly talking to himself. “Yes, send a crew down to get ore, refine it here and make it flat, then start building. It’d take a little bit longer but it would be very modern. Nothing you’d see in a Talpas village… but an architectural achievement nonetheless.”

“Maybe another option,” I cut in. “Like wood or maybe even just dirt?”

“That would be a bad option. Wood is easier to haul around and not too expensive usually. We’d have to treat it so it doesn’t rot down here and attract bugs.”

“That sounds great,” I stopped him from scheming again. “I can order some wood and you put the final touches on this room. Just tell me what you need. Posts, blocks, flat pieces?”

“Sounds great. Start with a small order and we can start from there, then figure out what we need for the rest. I already know you like your ceilings pretty high too.”

“That’s right.”

“And while you’re here,” the chief started, “what have you been up to? Why this new location.”

“Oh, it’s a long story but—.”

“We have time,” he said, again with his arms outstretched to the vast room.

“Well, first of all my village was burned to the ground. I still have my own temple where I live, but there’s no village to accompany me.”

He had a look of shock on his face. “Then we won’t build this with wood!” He exclaimed.

“No, no, it wouldn’t be that easy. The village had been there for thousands and thousands of years. We had gotten attacked while I was away.”

He seemed excited at that, but his face told me he still didn’t like the idea of wood.

“The other reason is that I’m looking for someone. Maybe not even a person. I don’t even know. All I know is that he’s controlling the people, making them do crazy things and ruining this planet, starting evil, corrupting governments and villages and starting wars between us. I just see the effects. And I know he’s in this city somewhere, just where exactly I don’t know.”

“What’s his name?“ he asked.

“I don’t even know that. We just started calling him the Nightmare.”

“Sounds like a formidable enemy.”

“He is. But I can’t even get my hands anywhere close to him. It’s been weeks here and nothing. Nothing even close.”

“Well, I’ll keep my ears open,” he said.

I left the tunnels and went up to see Clyde on a few matters of business.

I had managed to get Clyde to help me with this project of finding all these people. We had decided on starting with one, tracking him down and then finally interrogating this one. Trying to nail down more characteristics of being possessed by the Nightmare along the way.

I had also asked him to buy a load of wood to build a small hut underground. I had to give him the dimensions as I had taken my goggles off while I went through the Talpa’s tunnels.