One, singular lie has underpinned my entire life: all believe I saved humanity from death on my own. It is the fertile soil in which my control flowered, and my sorry religion grew like a weed. Most believe me to be above everyone else. But I was aided by something greater still.
-The Will of Johannes Ithunn, introduction
“If she isn’t back in five minutes, I’m leaving.” Tariq said, gazing at the brick house.
Deanna sighed. “She’s got a lot of explaining to do, either way.” Deanna had no idea why Evelyn had suddenly waltzed off, all hypnotized. They waited on the road, after having pulled out some grass from the ground. It had only taken a few minutes before Will followed his partner
Tariq had lit a small fire to stay warm in the waning light, but it was a smoky little thing. She rubbed her hands in its warmth and stood up, jumping around to keep warm. She could feel Tariq’s eyes on her as she did.
It felt weird being around someone like that. They looked the same age, but he was older than anyone she had ever known.
He was also a lot whinier.
“Seriously,” he said, poking at the fire with a stick, “first she faints in the middle of the street, now she takes a detour to look at a house. And here I thought you mortals never had any time…”
Deanna rolled her eyes. “She’s got a five week sentence, Tariq. She should be allowed to take her time.”
He grumbled. “Doesn’t mean she gets to take my time. Self-important dumbass.”
She snorted. “You’re one to talk.”
He stood up and got in her face. “Really? Explain to me how I’m not. I’m a Corporal in the most elite fighting force known to mankind. I can not die. One month of my life costs more money than you will ever see.”
Where the hell did that come from? she thought.“Big words for a man in a pink suit.” She grabbed his wrist, looking at his day-counter. “Twenty-seven days too, huh? Wonder how much that month is worth.”
He pulled back his arm, then looked at the house. “Finally.”
Deanna followed his gaze, and saw Will and Evi walking down the long driveway. She looked shaken.
The two were talking as they walked up, Will looking like he’d seen a ghost.
“...I will not, Evelyn. You have my word.” He said.
She nodded, acting as if nothing had happened.
Tariq glared at her. “Care to explain?”
“No.” she replied.
“Fine.”
And so they walked. Deanna stomped out their small fire, only to wonder why she felt the need. There was no one else out here. Right? Well, she had seen something in the fog that night. Before Magnus was taken.
Why does that still hurt?
“We’ll move forward that way,” Tariq said, pointing into the woods and squinting at the map. He looked up at the sky. The sun had disappeared behind the trees surrounding them, but still cast some light here and there. Tariq took the oil lamp from his backpack and handed it to Will. They led on together, and Deanna walked behind them with Evelyn.
“Wanna talk about it?” Deanna asked.
Evelyn looked absent. “No, love. I’m knackered. Maybe later.”
“Gotcha.” What the hell happened in that house?
Something felt different about her. Not her being absent or emotionless, that was just the normal Evi. There was something deeper, something Deanna couldn’t quite place a finger on.
When she had first walked towards the house, Evelyn looked deep in thought, almost like she was reminiscing. She had been looking around the property, the orchard, almost as if she’d been there before.
Had she been there before?
No, Europe fell almost 200 years ago. Still, how old did she say she was? Late twenties?
“Whaddaya starin’ at?” Evelyn asked.
“You.” she replied.
Evelyn actually chuckled. That was rare. “Don’t blame you.”
Deanna stepped over a flower on the ground. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”
“You too, eh? I wouldn’t bother. Gave up on that a long time ago.”
Deanna raised an eyebrow. “How long ago?”
Evelyn seemed to notice her suspicion, quickly looking at Tariq, then down. “Dunno.”
Don’t want to say when he’s near, huh? That was fine. Deanna didn’t fully trust Tariq either, even after they had shared a room. He hadn’t done anything untoward yet, but she still slept with one eye open.
The worst part is, she was starting to like him, the way she always did with people like him. If only he wasn’t such an asshole.
And has that ever stopped you before?
No, it hadn’t. But she had promised to break that cycle. And by Ithunn, she would try.
Deanna was getting cold. Walking in the path that Tariq and Will made through the underbrush, she still had to wade through a sea of damp leaves and shrubs. She tried to keep her mind on her cold, wet clothes, instead of the forest. The dark had never scared her, but this was something else. She was used to the gloomy, winding streets of Alaric, the city-ship off the coast of Italy, but the forest was eerie in a different way. Twisted trees groaned and creaked overhead, in a night so black that the darkness hummed.
“What?!” Will exclaimed from the front. “You took part in the Gazan independence war?”
“More than that,” Tariq gloated, “I mediated the peace treaty.”
“Alongside Ithunn?!”
“Yup.”
Will looked awestruck. “How was it, bearing witness to His greatness firsthand?”
Tariq swatted away a branch. “Oddly normal. He’s a very humble guy. Didn’t seem too different from the rest of us.”
Deanna could practically hear Will frowning.
“But then you look him in the eye. He oozes control. Makes you understand how he could accomplish what he did.” He shook his head. “Made me glad I didn’t have to live in the before-times. I wouldn’t feel half as safe without someone like him steering the world along.”
Evelyn scoffed. At what? He hadn’t said anything wrong.
Will nodded. “I can believe that. He must have accumulated so much wisdom and experience over time.”
“Yeah.” Tariq said. “Can’t imagine how he would have solved the climate crisis without it.”
“Indeed. My father told me about that. Did you get to experience what it was like?”
“Kinda. I think I turn, like…” he thought hard, “ninety-six next year? So I only got to experience it after everything was cooling down. Either way, it used to be a lot warmer in the summer. Colder winters. Fewer bugs, too.”
Will nodded eagerly, like a child being told a story. “And is it true that every vehicle used to spew out toxic gas?”
“Yup. My dad told me about it. They were super loud, and-”
An awful, high howl rang out in the woods somewhere. Deanna felt a chill creep down her back.
Tariq turned towards the sound, intently watching the surrounding trees from the light of Will’s lamp. Deanna flinched as a branch cracked nearby.
Tariq’s hand shot towards his hip, grabbing for a pistol that wasn’t there. He found a heavy branch instead, and held it up like a club. Deanna followed his gaze, but couldn’t see anything.
A second howl startled Tariq.“Run for the clearing!”
He was faster than them. Deanna and the rest followed, but the tank slowed her down, leaving her dead last. She looked over her shoulder as she ran, and saw a pair of eyes watching her between distant trees.
She quickened her pace, struggling over branches and tall grass. Finally, she emerged into the clearing.
Will scanned the treeline, hurried breaths misting in the chilly air. “Did anyone see anything?”
Tariq placed himself between Deanna and the trees, brandishing his makeshift weapon. “A pair of eyes.”
“I saw them too.” Deanna said.
Will caught his breath. “What about that noise? It can not have been a victim.”
“It’s a bloody deer, you spoons.” Evelyn said, taking the branch from Tariq. “Ever seen one?” She threw the branch on the ground.
They all shook their heads. Why would there be deer on the city ships?
Tariq reddened. “Did you see this deer?”
“I heard it.”
“It can’t have been a deer.” Deanna said, still frantically watching the dark grove. “The eyes were too high up.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Eyes?” Will asked with a shiver.
She nodded. “I saw them on the last mission too.”
Silence took hold. Tariq checked the map.
“Well,” Will said, “We know awfully little of the gargoyles. Might it be a hallucination, some effect of their presence?”
Evelyn snickered. “You might just be schizophrenic.” Does she ever take anything seriously?
“Enough bickering. Let’s finish up.” Tariq said sternly. “The final tank should be over there.” He pointed to the trees at the other side of the clearing. “But be careful, it’s right on the boundary. Follow in a line behind me.”
So they did.
A pink-clad victim lay face down under a tree, stiff as a plank.
And it did not have a gargoyle.
“Did the cold get her?” Deanna asked.
“She’s immobilised.” Tariq said.
Recently too, Deanna thought. Her frozen comrade lay on top of the grass, making a hole in a sea of dark greenery. Deanna could see the path she had trod in the grass.
Tariq walked to the inmate’s left arm. The wristband was blinking. “Guess that confirms your theory, Will.”
She was around Deanna’s age. Her constrained breathing was nearly inaudible, similar to the two who had gotten punished on their first day of training.
“So there is a boundary…” Will mused. “How would we then… No, nevermind.”
“Wanna do the honors?” Tariq asked Evelyn. “Or are you gonna faint again?”
“Bellend,” she muttered, bending down and undoing the clasps. The tank was half-full, liquid beginning to solidify. Evelyn handed her old cane back to Will, and picked up the one attached to her tank. “Pointless, this.” she said, kicking a tuft of grass.
“What?” Will asked.
“Sendin’ us out here to knab half-empty, nearly solid tanks. Useless.”
“You’d rather be syphoning?” Tariq asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I’d rather be doing nothing back at the ship than spend a night in the woods with a schizophrenic deer-magnet like you. Now call in that bloody extraction.”
“It’s your fault we’re still out here.”
“Just fuckin’ call it in, eh?”
Will approached her. “Are you alright, Evelyn?”
She took a hard breath. “I’m fine. Just wanna get outta here.”
Tariq smiled. “Afraid of the dark?”
“Afraid of calling in that extraction?”
He wasn’t.
While they waited, Evelyn stared intently at the woman on the ground. After a while, she looked as if she had discovered something important.
“What is it?” Deanna asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking.”
The helicopter arrived a few minutes later, searchlights illuminating the clearing like an explosion. Something loped off in the distance.
As they climbed aboard, the copilot, a cozy-looking, rotund man, looked back at them. “Will! What took you so long?” He turned to the pilot. “See, Hanson? I told you they would make it-”
“Engines, please.” The pilot said.
“-never bet against a Norwegian, my old man used to say. Not that it mattered to him, he got stabbed by one, you see, but hey, you don’t see me complaining!”
“Engines please, Avidan.”
“Oh, uh, yeah.” He flicked a couple switches, and they rose into the air.
The copilot - Avidan? - turned back to them. “So Will, buddy, how was the mission?”
“Better than the previous.” He said, solemnly. “Though we suffered a few delays.”
“Right, right. Quality takes time, my dad used to say. And if something’s worth doing, take as much time as you need.”
Will nodded. “He seems like a wise man.”
“Not really. Told me both of those things when he was constipated once. Kinda hypocritical of him, seeing as he died of it a few weeks later.”
Deanna suppressed a giggle.
“Oh, I am sorry.” Will said awkwardly.
“Nah, don’t be, he used to hit my mom. ‘Ithunn’s justice’, she called it in her eulogy, but I have no idea how He got my old man so backed up. I’ll make sure to thank Him for it if we ever meet, though.”
Will nodded sagely. “I am sure He will appreciate it.”
Avidan took a look at Tariq. “So, who’s the new guy?”
Tariq ignored him.
“Wait,” Avidan said, “I remember you! You talked about that cure that one time!”
Deanna slowly looked at Tariq. “I thought that was supposed to be a secret?”
He looked at her with intensity. “It is now.”
“Oookay.”
“Now, I’m sorry for asking, and I mean no disrespect sir, but is that whole cure business really true?” Avidan asked.
“Yes,” he said coldly, “and if I hear anyone mention it outside of this helicopter, you will find out why they sent me here.”
Awkward silence ensued. Tariq sulked in his seat, sending an empty stare out of the little window.
Deanna leaned back against her headrest. Another mission done. She chanced a look at her wristband. ‘13’. Less than two weeks left. Six more missions. Not bad.
Then she looked at Evelyn, staring coldly into the air. Five weeks… What had she done to deserve a death sentence like that? Had she killed someone even more important than Deanna had?
It didn’t matter. 13 days didn’t seem so bad compared to that.
She felt a stab of pity for the woman. What would she do if Deanna and Will got out? Will had as many days left as Deanna did.
In truth, she was worried for her new friend. Behind the veneer of nonchalance and snark, there seemed to be a repressed sadness. A lot of repression, really. But what else was there to do in the Corps?
One could try to escape. And one would fail.
“So,” Will said, eager to fill the silence, “how did you learn to fly a helicopter, Avidan?”
He fiddled with a button before turning around again.“Well, after my dad died, my mom’s job at the Ministry of Public Order wasn’t cutting it - had to put down our cat because the surgery was too expensive - so I considered volunteering for the Corps. But my grandpa, now he was a smart one. Suggested I volunteer at the flight academy instead. Well, he wasn’t too smart, died from glue poisoning. Either way, my eyesight was too poor to fly the jets, so helicopters, it was.”
Will raised his eyebrows. “Inspiring. I cannot imagine learning to fly a helicopter is an easy affair.”
“It is, actually! Now, if any of you ever want to escape, let me know and I’ll teach you how to fly!” He winked.
Will looked stunned, almost scared for a moment.
“Ehhh, I’m just messing with you,” Avidan said, with a smile, “that’s impossible. Plenty have tried, plenty have failed. You know, Will, we recently transported this one immo-”
“Don’t.” The pilot interrupted.
“Right. Sorry, Hanson, it’s just I get a little fired up talking to the inmates, allright? They deserve respect too, don’t you think? Especially such upstanding people as our Will here.”
“They’re criminals, Avidan. You seem to forget.”
“No, not at all!” Avidan said vehemently. “Don’t you remember the Lieutenant’s speech to us? This is their chance to better themselves. Now, I’m no psychologist, I’ll leave that to the mandated therapists, but I don’t think it helps their betterment if we constantly look down on them. They’re an important part of improving humanity.”
The pilot shook his head. “You’ll be the death of us one day… Prepare for landing.”
Deanna spotted the lights of their ship as they approached it, like a little carnival among the dark, brooding waves. They touched down smoothly, and walked out onto the gusty deck.
The full moon hung bare overhead, a spotlight into their cage. They grabbed their three tanks, and were approached by Melvin and a pair of guards. Tariq saluted when he saw him.
“Difficulties on the mission?” The captain asked, looking at his expensive watch.
Tariq stood at attention. “Yes, Captain. My apologies for the delay of my team. It will not happen again, sir.” It looked odd to see such a gruff man salute someone half his size.
Melvin chuckled. “At ease, soldier. You’re not an elysian anymore.”
Tariq relaxed, masking his sadness.
“Either way,” Melvin continued, “I am glad you returned safely. You are the most senior workers I have. There is a kiosk on board, reserved for officers and accomplished inmates. Now, Chekov, if you please.” He nodded to one of his guards, who handed each of them a small briefcase. “In the case, you will find 10 Crowns for the kiosk, which you will receive more of next week, and a knife.”
Evelyn opened hers and looked at the blade, still in its sheath. “What’s it for? Self defense?”
Melvin smirked.“In a way. Should you unsheath it aboard any of our craft, it will trigger your wristband and immobilize you immediately. Should a mission go south, however…” He sighed,”Well, you have proven your devotion to Life itself, enough so that we entrust you with the ability to seek its enemy, should victimhood be inevitable.”
Evelyn closed the case. “So we can off ourselves if we get taken?”
Melvin nodded. “Crudely put, but yes,” He smiled reassuringly at Will, “Though see to it that it never happens, alright?”
“Yes,” Will said, “Thank you, Captain.”
Melvin nodded, and walked away.
Deanna opened the case and grabbed the 10 crowns, ten individual coins. Seeing money again felt strange. She dropped them in her pocket, and put on the belt that accompanied the sheath.
After having turned in the tanks, Deanna followed the others into the mess hall, yawning. It was empty - the new inmates must have all been sent to bed early.
Will pleaded with the remaining chefs, and they got a few scraps to eat. Deanna hadn’t realized how hungry she was. They ate in silence.
“Anyone wanna find that kiosk? Evelyn asked. She didn’t seem very tired.
“I would like to sleep now.” Will said. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Deanna nodded.“Same. I’ll join you tomorrow, though.”
“Alright, then.” Evelyn said, getting up. She followed Will back to their cabin.
“You too?” Deanna asked her partner.
He was playing with one of the coins. “Yeah. Big day tomorrow. Refinery duty always kills me.”
“More than being in the field?”
“Totally. Out there, there’s something to do. Danger around every corner. I’m not made to stand still and push buttons for eight hours straight.”
“Really? You sure like pushing Evelyn’s buttons.”
He rolled his eyes.“She’s asking for it.”
“Asking for it? Just because she doesn’t feed your superiority complex?”
“No, the opposite. She thinks she’s better than me, just because she’s gonna die, and I’m not. Probably part of some Triumvirate death cult.” He shuddered. “Abhorrent.”
Triumvirate death cult? She had heard stories about the sheer fear of death that was instilled in the immortals. Not a normal, healthy fear of death, but a strict aversion to it. A visceral reaction to the very implication of it, like a demon to a priest.
She smirked. “You can interrogate her about that tomorrow, I guess.”
He grunted a reply.
Deanna finished her food, and headed to her cabin.
As she walked, she grew more sick of the ship. The drab green walls and ceiling made the cavernous mess hall blend together with the other winding hallways and huge rooms, and the smell of ozone pervaded everything. I might join that escape attempt, just to be free of this place.
Climbing into the top bunk, she found herself missing Magnus once more. Another night with Tariq gave her a small feeling of dread. Really, she just struggled with reading him. No doubt he had done some horrible stuff after 90 years of service, but would that extend to her?
She crawled under her cover, a thin sheet of surprisingly comfortable fabric, still in her jumpsuit. She would ask for a fresh one tomorrow.
Tariq strode in a few minutes later, proudly wearing the knife. “You don’t have to fear me, you know.”
Yet she still didn’t like the way he looked at her.
“Alright,” he said, sitting down on his bunk, “you need time, I get that. Just know, I have multiple medals for good behaviour.”
“They give medals for good behaviour?”
“Yeah,” he admitted, “There’s a bit of an… etiquette problem in my battalion. But that’s classified.”
“You sure like giving out classified information, huh.”
He sighed. “I just don’t care anymore.”
She propped herself up on her elbow.“What actually happened?”
“I told you, I got court martialed.”
“Yeah, but why?”
As he bent forward to stand up, a golden vial clattered to the ground from his inner pocket. He quickly picked it up, and Deanna pretended like she didn’t see it. A keepsake from the army? She wondered.
Tariq closed the door, which turned off the light, and sat back down on his bunk.
He spoke soberly, slower than usual. “We intercepted a supply drop to an enemy sector.”
“We?”
“My… friend, Brick and I. We found an Ithunn company crate on board. With a shipment of serum. For the enemy.”
She scoffed. “Ithunn? Supplying the enemy? Sure you didn’t get released on insanity charges?”
He ignored it. “We found a prototype for a cure. Our helicopter crashed over our base. When I woke up, they had turned Brick…” his voice shook slightly. “Turned him mortal.”
There was something inherently wrong about that statement. Uncomfortable. No one simply turned mortal. That would threaten the entire stability of the world - important people, leaders who have been alive and in power for centuries, could suddenly be removed, just like that?
The victims, however…“You’re lying.” she said.
He sighed. “What reason do I have to lie? My friend is mortal, probably dead.” There was such disdain in his voice that Deanna thought he was going to puke.
She thought for a moment.“That’s life.”
“No it isn’t,” he said, matter-of-factly. “That’s not how it should be.”
“Yet that’s how it is.”
“For you, maybe. I pity you, all of you. You’ll die one day, but you still try. Like you’re not smart enough to realize it’s all in vain. I don’t understand how you can live with that.”
She had no answer. She’d managed to end up here, after all. Primed to suffer for the rest of time. With that perspective, yes. It had all been in vain.
Magnus had been taken in vain, sacrificed his future so people like Tariq could keep living their lives. She resented her new partner for that. And Melvin. But that resentment, too, was in vain. What could she hope to accomplish with it, with so little time left?