Chapter 6
The ride through the Earth he was traveling gave the young man rest for the first time since yesterday. Aaron began breathing in and out slowly. It was something he had read that allowed a person to calm themselves and possibly prevent further panic. He relaxed in the seat while his hand still emerged in the squishy dashboard in front of him, trying desperately to clear his head with what little time he had to do so.
Aaron looked up above him to find that the tunnel he was traveling in didn't look mechanical but organic. Now that he was no longer in pitch darkness, he had a clearer view of what he was inside. He felt like he was inside the digestive system of some long animal, like traveling through the stomach of a worm the size of Wisconsin.
Through the transparent, dome-like casing was a blue layer of what looked like muscle pulsating with the heartbeat of some organism. The more Aaron observed as he sped underground, the more details he could make out, noticing blood veins carrying yellowish blood. There also appeared to be some flexible kind of bone that, rather than a human's that was straight rigid, wrapped around the circular interior of the tunnel.
"So," Aaron said. "In conclusion... I'm immune to the mind alteration and time stopping that Fulir can do to people on the surface?"
"Yes," Helena answered. "Anyone who wields the Access Armor is immune to changes to their psyche, body, and other things. Fulir designed Access Armors so that their wielders are the strongest warriors known."
"Hmm," he said.
He looked at the organic structure around him.
"What is all this?" Aaron asked. "It doesn't appear to be soil... it's like the inside of an animal."
"Exactly," the brass-faced man said.
Aaron looked up at him with no more intimidation. With no fear, he began carefully studying the metallic worm-like constructs continuing to clash against one another. He heard the faint sounds every time the thick ropes made contact. The brass face was in the center of the ceiling of silver tentacles where there was no such crashing. The permeation of thought possible in this space meant that this person thought of himself as the source of peace in the midst of a chaotic war.
"Fulir based their technology on the principle of using living beings as a means of scientific advancement," he said. "While ancient machinery has to be maintained to remain functioning constantly, this kind of machinery is based on biology rather than simple inorganic mechanics. Just as animals maintain their bodily functions through a constant and steady flow of blood, electricity, and such, so do Fulir's scientific advancements. It has proved more functional than primitive technology with no organic component."
"But how does this even exist?" Aaron asked. "How is this possible? I never learned about this in science class."
The brass-faced man's yellows lips sealed shut in response. It became apparent that he knew the reason. He didn't want to say anything further. With a pregnant pause hanging in the air, Helena was the one to answer his question.
"That's because Fulir terraformed the planet many times," she said. "It has been designed for the benefit of Fulir rather than humans. These underground passages, called seran passages, are made from one organism living under the planet's surface, Seran. Agents of Fulir use them to travel from one place to another at a maximum speed of around 150 miles per hour. It is constantly being changed and monitored not for the sake of humans but the government of Fulir."
"That can't be!" Aaron yelled as he turned.
"And why not?" Helena asked.
"Well, how does no one from Earth know about this?" Aaron asked. "Certainly geologists and even city planners would be aware of a giant...thing living inside the Earth like a huge tapeworm. Anyone with a backhoe and enough curiosity could confirm it! So how does no one find out?!"
"Who's to say they don't?" Helena asked.
He was about to argue further, but then he realized the same thing that happened to anyone who found out about these passages would probably also succumb to memory loss as his loved ones did.
"You mean…?" Aaron asked.
"Yes," she said. "Fulir's technology allows them to not only wipe certain memories from thousands at once but can even alter their memories to fit whatever they want. Some people are more resistant to this by genetic predisposition than others, but their memory alteration works perfectly on around ninety-nine percent of the human populace. They could do literally anything, and virtually no one would be more aware. They can even stop time on the surface of the planet."
"But human beings are taken care of by the Fulir government," the brass-faced man said. "There is virtually nothing they do that isn't benevolent to the human race. You are our creations, our children. We help you more than you will ever know."
He turned up to glare at the face of the man against the background of writhing metal tentacles.
"Is that why they erased the memories of my friends?" Aaron demanded. "Is that why they destroyed my life and took the happiness away from everyone who knew me? To take a child from their parents is the cruelest of acts!"
"It is not as cruel as what would happen if we left you alone to fend for yourselves," he said. "It is not the place of a servant to know his master's will. Now, why don't you answer one of my questions? How did a human without knowledge of Fulir get a hold of one of the strongest Access Armors to date? It seems unlikely, especially considering Kyle Ayers is after you."
"I don't know," he said. "I just...found it one day. It was a scroll thing I dug out of the ground. I collect stuff, and it didn't seem to belong to anyone, so I threw it in my bag and forgot about it until yesterday when I accidentally put it on. Why now, of all times, are these guys after me when I had it the whole time?"
"Hmm," he said. "Interesting. That's interesting indeed. How could they let their most valuable weapons come into the hands of their little lab rats?"
"Could they just not have known I had it?" Aaron asked.
"That's practically impossible," he answered. "But...I wouldn't have any other explanation for why you would own it."
"Then whoever buried it there was ultimately responsible for all this," the young man said.
"That means that whoever owned it before you," he explained. "Was a traitor to Fulir. Whether they were human or Fuliran, they deserved punishment. And you must hand yourself over to Fulir."
"No," Helena said, her voice raising slightly. "Whatever you do, do not do that."
"If I haven't already, what makes you think I'll surrender now?" Aaron asked.
"You truly are a hypocrite," he said. "Fulir needs that Access Armor in to defend themselves!"
"Fulir are hypocrites," Helena stated. "Just like he is. Don't listen to him."
"Fine!" Aaron said. "I'll give them the armor! Just tell me how to take this thing out of my body!"
"You still have to surrender to them," he explained. "You see, an Access Armor isn't something you merely wear. It is so intertwined with your body that you can't take it off. It will need to be extracted from your body to remove the armor."
"By means of extraction surgery," Helena added. "It's a procedure where they dig into your body on a cellular level and attempt to extract the Access Armor from your molecular structure. You'll likely die, and Fulir will not attain the Absorption Armor."
"Well, what's the other way of giving it back to Fulir or whoever?" Aaron asked.
"You die," she answered.
His body tensed up at her reply.
"Once the armor detects you are no longer a functioning living being, it will detach itself from you before returning to its rolled state," he said.
"Then why did they want me alive?" Aaron asked.
"To gain information about who gave you the armor," Helena said. "They may have also wanted you to recruit you."
"Either way, millions of lives depend on you surrendering," the brass-faced man said. "You should die for the greater good or fight to defend Fulir."
"I'm not doing either of those things," he answered as he looked up at the face contrasted against moving metal. "All I want is my friends and family back."
"Oh really?" he said. "You truly are a hypocrite then."
"How?!" Aaron demanded. "How am I the hypocrite when you want me to fight for a people that brainwashes those it sees as inferior?"
"You want to be a doctor, correct?" he asked.
He scowled up at the face.
I guess the memory permeation works both ways. Aaron recognized. Or maybe they have more access to my mind than I have theirs.
"What of it?" he replied.
"I remembered you were telling me that you don't care about millions of lives dying when you could have saved them," he said. "You only care about your friends and family."
He was going to further yell at him before Aaron realized there was hypocrisy in his statement. Now that he thought about it, what was his most significant concern? The greater good of helping everyone or those closest to him?
"I...I…" he said. "I…"
"Where I come from," the brass-faced man said. "Doctors are sworn to save the lives of those unable to care for themselves and everyone in Fulir. Any attempt to favor a certain party by an expert in medicine will result in harsh reprimanding. Are the doctors on Earth not the same?"
He stayed silent, unable to come up with a response. Guilt rose in him as the brass face began to taunt him.
"It seems you may have studied medicine as best you could for a high school student," he said. "But you never really pondered who you cared for the most."
"Do not listen to him," Helena said. "He's merely trying to-"
"Quiet," Aaron ordered.
The pale-faced woman looked shocked as the young man kept listening to the man from Fulir.
"You were inspired by your friend's sacrifice to sacrifice yourself for others," he said.
"So you have more access to my thoughts and memories than I have of yours," Aaron seethed.
"But my question is, was it truly meant to protect the sake of others?" he said. "Or just those closest to you?"
"Is there a difference?" Aaron asked.
Instead of giving a straight answer, the room around him changed. He no longer stood in darkness in the space save for the former wielders of the armor, but he was now in his living room back in Elm City. Aaron was standing in front of the white wall in his living room. He could feel that this was the brass-faced person's doing, but Aaron was the one who held ultimate control over the environment. He began willing the image to disappear before the brass person spoke again.
"Allow me to show you something I found oddly peculiar about a man who claims to want to be a doctor," he said. "And then you can do as you wish."
"Be careful not to take him too seriously," Helena said.
"Quiet witch," he said.
While Aaron looked on, another person appeared beside him. Her golden hair, pale skin, and bright smile were unmistakable. Elizabeth firmly but gently clasped Aaron's right hand in hers. Her face beamed at him with an expression as full of light as a star. Her optimism had gotten him through some pretty dark days of his childhood, like when his grandfather had died.
In his other hand was a brunette man the same age as him whose wide-rimmed glasses held an intelligent and sharp gaze behind them. Whenever Gale gave Aaron a sign of approval, he always felt not only safe but confident in whatever he pursued. Gale encouraged him to attend med school and even tutored him on some of the basics since he was knowledgeable in many areas.
Appearing in Elizabeth's hand was Michael, his father, and in his hand, his mother, Jacqueline. In Gale's hand was John, and in his hand was Suzie. Suzie's clasped her mother's hand in his to form a circle of those closest to him. The emotions he felt while in this hand-holding circle were nothing but warmth.
"What is this?" he asked. "Is this real? Are my friends back?"
They did not answer.
"I know this place is real!" Aaron shouted. "At least somewhat...did you transport them back or something?!"
Suddenly, new people appeared in his house. Suddenly shadowy, featureless people seemed to be phasing through his house. They had barely any distinguishable features as it was difficult for Aaron to even tell man or woman apart in the crowd of literally dozens. They used his house as a street to get from one place to another.
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For no discernable reason, some of the shadowy figures began becoming wounded. Gashes appeared on the shadow people to reveal that beneath their black exterior, they had red blood like any other person. Aaron was afraid at the sight before noticing it was also happening to his friends and family. Cuts and gashes appeared on the arms of those holding hands. They let go of one another and began falling to the ground.
"Why punish me anymore?!" he demanded. "What are you doing?!"
As they fell, Aaron rushed to the side of Elizabeth and his father and placed his hands on them. While Aaron grasped their arms, their wounds mended. After making sure, they were unharmed, he did the same to Gale and John, holding on tightly to them until they healed. He did the same to his mother and Suzie after Gale and John.
While their wounds were gone, they were still sickly. They barely had the energy to stand, and each looked like they were about to collapse. Aaron grasped Elizabeth and Gale's hands tightly, both on their knees and panting.
"Grab hold of one another!" he ordered.
They each weakly grabbed one another's hand. Once the circle was complete, Aaron began allowing them to feed off his life force. His strength became theirs. He watched as Elizabeth and Gale slowly began to gain the vigor to rise to their feet. The others started to as well but only gradually. Aaron sensed that he had to continue holding onto them for them to get better, something he made sure he did himself. The scenery changed just as he tired himself from sharing his strength with them.
He was no longer in his house but in the dark void surrounded by disembodied faces. His family and friends began disappearing as the darkness sucked them inside before they vanished. At first, it started with Gale, who Aaron began reaching for until he felt Elizabeth's hand slip away. He turned to see his father and mother gone as well as John and Suzie.
When they were gone, he looked around to see the shadowy figures grow individual traits. Many became people with natural skin and faces. They were kneeling or lying down as blood flowed from their wounds. Their screams pierced Aaron's ears until he couldn't listen anymore. They surrounded him, each person staring at him in desperation and crying for help. Guilt rushed through for a reason he could not decipher until it dawned on him painfully.
"You didn't save everyone," the brass man's voice rang. "Only those you loved."
The people around him vanished as Aaron stared blankly at the black floor. He had never felt so guilty in his life. His hands balled into fists, self-loathing flowing through him. Then he became angry at the one who showed him such a thing.
"No…" he said. "This isn't right...this isn't right at all."
He looked up at the face above him and glared.
"You tricked me!" Aaron yelled.
"I only showed you the truth," he replied.
"You're no warrior of righteousness," he said. "You're just a schemer! You showed me a false scenario to get a false outcome, so you could gloat over how morally superior you are to me!"
He looked back to Helena, who was watching with little visible emotion in her eyes. Knowing she was a good person, validation from her would be acceptable.
"Isn't that right?" Aaron asked. "That was wrong?"
"No," Helena said. "It was the truth."
He was taken aback by her blunt response.
"You selfishly cling only to those closest to you," she said. "You ultimately care little for those you don't personally know. That demonstration just proved it."
Her words stung like poison in his heart. He was doing his best to hold back tears.
"You see, Aaron."
He looked up to see the man's face was dour.
"The day Gale pushed you out of the way of that vehicle and was injured," he said. "You realized that the people closest to you were not immortal."
Tears began running down Aaron's face.
"You wanted more than anything to make sure they would never die," he said. "Or prevent them from dying as long as possible. You did well to recognize from a very young age the happiness only love could bring. And to maintain your happiness, you sought to prolong the life of your friends. When that doctor walked into Gale's office, you realized that he was the only thing separating you from your happiness. In other words you-"
"Only wanted to become a doctor to prolong my happiness," he said. "Instead of everyone's."
"Precisely."
He held his face in his hands as he began to sob. His fingers became wetted by his tears before Aaron attempted to regain control of himself. He glared up at the brass-faced man who looked on without emotion. He could tell this man thought higher of himself than he did anyone else, especially Aaron.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Sir Owen of Jasper," he answered. "In life, I was a major commander of Fulir's military."
With his name came a great degree of understanding of his personality, which was not surprising. Owen was a true hypocrite in every sense imaginable. He had high moral and ethical standards for everyone else, which he was partially exempt from. Aaron was a hypocrite in that the young man tried to attain those lofty standards and even had accomplished it to some extent. However, he could not meet those standards one hundred percent of the time, and when he didn't reach those standards, it was acceptable for him because Owen viewed himself as a good person. However, when others didn't, he looked down on them and judged them harshly.
He would readily rush to defend those that Owen found to be on the receiving end of oppression and cruelty. If it came between sacrificing himself for those in need of a defender, he would willingly sacrifice himself for them. However, Aaron could also sense that there was a very defined sort of people Owen viewed as oppressed and those that Owen viewed as oppressors. As a result, when it came to fighting those he viewed as oppressors, there was nothing he'd do to destroy them. He would not stop until those he considered oppressed would become the oppressors.
It was such an odd thing to grasp. Usually, a person's personality wasn't as clear-cut or tied to factions as he was. People like Owen were usually too extreme or radically to live comfortably in society but were people you had to watch out for because you didn't know what they could do. Not only was the man hypocritical and judgmental, but he was capable of extreme acts of violence so long as he found himself justified. This fact made Aaron feel better about himself. Knowing that made it easier to brush off what he had just witnessed himself do and their criticisms.
"You're nothing but a radical, self-righteous loon," he said. "There's no way I'd heed your advice or follow the people you claim to defend. A person like you has no way to justify judging me!"
"So be it," he said. "From what I can tell, you're an immature brat unable to comprehend the scope of the power you have. I don't know why I expected any more of a human."
"That's enough, Owen," Helena said. "The boy's been through enough without your continuous prodding."
"He'll be dead soon enough, and Fulir will once again have their most valuable armor," Owen stated. "Also, boy. If you continue to most valuable armor," Owen stated. "Also, boy. If you continue to inhabit this armor, I advise you not to listen to her."
Helena's face remained unmoved by him addressing her.
"Her very people are evil to the core," he explained. "Everything they have done is reprehensible. And she was one of their prime soldiers in their tyranny."
Aaron distrusted Owen's opinion of her by proxy of having known that Helena was genuinely superior in terms of character. If anything, his condemnation of her made Aaron think well of Helena's people. It even gave him a bit of curiosity.
"And what people would that be?" he asked.
"The empire of Mulus," Helena said.
Something about how she said that word caused a ripple through the dark water surrounding her face. The way the black liquid rippled surface felt like the ground Aaron stood on. He wasn't sure if it was the permeation of emotions and thoughts that he felt in this space. Aaron didn't know if it was just the sight of the water moving, but he could tell it was one of the many reasons for the massive mix of emotions in Helena's being. The best he could decipher, she didn't view the government of Mulus in an overly negative or positive way, as even Helena didn't know the true answer.
Before he could inquire further, Aaron immediately felt the transport he was in the grind to a halt. It stopped so suddenly that he almost felt jolted by it. The gray, squishy matter that had enveloped his hand immediately repulsed him. The wires connected to his body suddenly detached. The lower part of his arm jettisoned out of the dashboard. Aaron looked at his physical surroundings to see that the blue muscles had contracted and strained themselves to the point they had entrapped the small transport vehicle.
He looked down at the transparent bottom of the transport. Beneath Aaron, the flexible, dark yellow bone holding together the round innards of the monster was growing into a barrier. Even if the blue innard muscles had not pressed to stop its movement, the wall of bone certainly would. He looked at Helena's face in surprise.
"What's going on?" Aaron asked.
"Fulir must have ordered Seren to stop your transport vessel," she said. "The Fulir are onto you and are attempting to stop you from escaping."
"But how can that be?" he yelled. "We're underground! How can they possibly know where I am?!"
"Seren is not your normal animal," she said. "It has been biologically and technologically augmented to detect specific individuals and tell people apart. It didn't recognize you as anyone familiar, and that has allowed the Fulir to stop you in your tracks."
"You can't be serious!" Aaron yelled.
"I am dead serious," she answered with no emotion. "You caught Kyle and the other agents of Fulir off guard when you jumped into one of their underground vessels, but after a little time, you have been able to pinpoint your location. Once they ascertained where you were within Seren, they remotely commanded him to stop the specific vessel you were traveling in."
"So no matter where I am, above or underground, they'll be able to find me?!" he shouted.
"Of course," Helena answered. "As I told you, this entire planet was built from the ground up to be controlled by Fulir. It is their plaything. If they knew you would jump into Seren, they would have stopped you from traveling the moment you entered. Now that they've stopped, I fully expect them to send droves of changelings after you."
Aaron punched the transparent bottom of the vessel open.
"Darn it," he seethed.
Jumping from his seat, he dove into the Earth below. He fell for a long time, never fearing for his safety, as the armor he wore proved durable enough to absorb the shock of a fall back when Aaron fled Elm City's changelings. Aaron could hear loud flapping, running, scratching, and other movements above him as he fell. He found himself landing in the seat of another transport when he eventually landed.
He looked around to see five tunnels approximately fifteen feet high and roughly the same length around him. Aaron felt relief initially, but as soon as he laid his hand on the gray dashboard, he felt resistance. The transport didn't receive him like it did when he first dove in.
"What?!" he groaned.
"They wouldn't shut off your getaway without first doing the same to all the others in the immediate vicinity," Helena explained. "It might have taken them a slight amount of time to locate you and shut down Seren in this location, but now that they have, you're a sitting target."
While standing on the transparent bottom of the transport, he looked around, wondering which path to take. With the sounds of movement of what must have been several creatures overhead, he yelled in anger before running into the tunnel right in front of him. Aaron found that even beneath his feet covered in hard wood, the insides of the creature that was Seren felt uncomfortably warm and squishy, as though he was running through someone's artery.