Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Taran 45’s suit reacted to the warning message sent through the system and heated up. It was just a flash of heat that ran through the inner gel and warmed his skin. It was a subtle thing. An overengineered protocol. But it instantly brought a soldier out of the dreamless sleep their suits put them in.
As he blinked his eyes, two large four fingered arms protruded into the capsule, locked on to his torso and began to gently pull him out of one of the vertically lined sleeping compartments. He hated this feeling. He always had. The feeling of being the one in control sent shivers down his spine.
But he was a politician. A man of the people. And his people who were soldiers. So, he bunked alongside them. Just like the Mentor trained their juniors, Athena 8 led their people in battle, the Aug Queen developed new augments by her own hand, and Adi 101 and his purist wives sermonised. It was all optics, and he was stuck playing the game while all he wanted to do was move towards his goals.
The arms zipped the High Councillor down past the rows of sleeping pods prioritising him over others and refilling his containers of gel, water, and other essentials. He dropped to the ground and his armour’s internal speakers chirped to relay that his movements were unlocked. Taran 45 shot a sharp intent of will into his energy shard. The collected energies shot into his neuro shard and woke him up the rest of the way.
The high councillor brough us his heads up display and the hud of his armour. If they were under attack, he would need to react quickly to reinforce sections and counterattack. He hooked onto the external sensors of the FOB and looked for attacks. When he didn’t see any movement he queried their ATI.
“Lara! I am up. What’s the status? Where is the enemy coming from?”
Taran reached his hand to the left and a part of the mem-titanium their operating base was made of parted. His Continuum Rifle slid out. He quickly picked it up and slammed it into its position on his back.
Taran looked left and right, watching others slide out of their capsules.
“Stand down! Stand down!” The Aug Queen voice spoke over all the open channels stopping everyone in their tracks.
“Stand down! Stand down!” Lara’s voice repeated the Aug queen’s words and added “Assault Commander Athena A07 will address you soon.”
Taran stopped in his tracks. The Aug Queen was here? Wasn’t she supposed to leave and bring the Mentor back? From the side of his eye he saw a man standing tall in front of a milling crowd of armoured soldiers and prayed.
“Don’t be Jay 7. Don’t be Jay 7. Please don’t be Jay 7.”
The man turned to look at him and waved.
Taran closed his eyes and sighed. It was Jay 7.
He opened a private channel to the Aug queen and asked “A07, by ash and sand, what’s going on?”
Athena flat tone wasn’t really flat this time. It could have been qualified as a frustrated huff. She responded “It’s those two!”
Athena A07 cut the channel and Taran stood there for a moment, disoriented. He looked up and asked “Lara?”
In response the marshal popped a video in front of him.
In the video, Ash was alternating between dodging thrown pillows and throwing them back. A young woman floating after him with murder in her eyes. The furniture in front of her, shot up in the air crashed into the walls. Then a pillow slapped in her in the face. Sheetal snarled. Shot her hand to the side, and tore off a chunk of the wall.
Ash looked at her blankly for a moment and then poked his tongue out. The air around Sheetal sparked and She flung the ball sized chunk of the wall at Ash. Ash barely got out of the way and then ran.
The video cut off and Taran asked “What happened?”
“We sent them tea.” Marshal Lara responded.
Taran watched as Ash sped across the room, up a wall, onto the ceiling, grabbed a flying pillow and smacked the broad side of it across Sheetal’s face. Sheetal teetered for a second and then fell to a foot off the floor.
“That must have been some strong tea.”
“No. the tea was wasted.”
Taran looked at the wide grin on Ash’s face and noticed Sheetal’s lips turn up slightly and asked “Are they training?”
“They are not training.” Athena’s voice came from a dark helmet next to him.
Another armoured person walked to them and stopped next to Athena. He was broader. Even more muscular compared to other Jay’s with a thick neck and a well defined jaw.
Taran straightened to attention, saluted and said “We are the continuum. We continue.”
The Jay straightened and saluted back “We continue. High Councillor.”
“Welcome back, mentor. How is the front?”
“Interesting.” Jay 7 smiled.
“Is it?” Taran 45 didn’t have to feign disbelief.
Jay 7 laughed “Yes, my friend. Athena 8 did us a solid by recapturing the city. I’ll tell you all about it soon. But it is safe to say, that we have options now.”
Taran 45 opened his mouth to ask more about these options but stopped when another set of alarms started blairing over the concealed speakers.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Athena groaned “Not again.”
Taran 45 looked at the window he had just minimised. He opened it. Sheetal was now standing in centre of the room with an arsenal of projectiles floating around her. That included three more chunks of the wall.
Ash chuckled “Ahhh… Umm… Sorry?”
A chair flew at Ash’s head, and he blurred into motion. Sheetal flowed him flinging one projectile after another at her evading partner.
Taran’s helmet parted and he visibly relaxed “Why she wet now?”
Everyone looked at the image of Sheetal’s shirt sticking to her body leaving very little to the imagination.
“The boy threw a jug of water at her. She caught the jug.” Athena A07 left the rest unsaid and tuned to Jay 7 “I have sent my augs to cordon of the area. Make sure they don’t break through and escape.”
Jay 7 shook his head and chuckled “That is not necessary A07. I don’t think they have though about escaping yet. The girl warder is too engrossed in catching the slippery one. And the other one is…”
The aug queen frowned “Seven, she is breaking mem-titanium.”
Jay 7 dismissed Athena A07’s words with a wave “It will flow back and repair itself but this.”
Jay 7 pointed in front of him and everyone looked at their screens.
The furniture was now splinters and crushed glass. The pillows and cushions were foam floating in the air. Sheetal stood in the middle of it all. Stray sparks lighting up the balls of floating foam. On the other side, Ash finally reached for the tonfas strapped on his belt and took them out.
Jay 7 chuckled “Well, those two have spunk. We should walk and talk.” Putting action to his words, the large man began pacing to them
“Stand down! Everyone, stand down. Go back to sleep. We’ll handle this.” Athena repeated her earlier orders and the alarm muted off.
Taran’s eyes widened. He followed Jay 7 with his thoughts racing. Jay 7, the hero from the Pire of Nile, had his sights on the warders? What did he want from them? Whatever he wanted, he would get to know soon. But, he would have to play keep his cards close to his chest.
“Ma…Mentor.” Taran 45 panted while trying to keep up with Jay 7 and continued “You don’t have to… We can… Escorted to us.”
Jay 7 looked at Taran 45 and laughed “High councillor, you need to work on you cardio.”
“I would… if someone didn’t talk me into… taking over the vacated High Councillor chair.”
“Still cribbing, I see.” Jay 7 said with a throaty chuckle and then asked the Marshall “Lara,
did you say something about tea starting this?”
“Where are they? And what happened?”
“Not far mentor. We put them in the guest quarters.” Athena A07 answered while using the diplomatic name for the isolated and restricted ward.
“You put them in cells?” Jay glanced at Taran.
“No, I took them out and put them in one of the nicer rooms… The politicos suite.” Taran replied still panting.
“So, what happened?” To Taran’s relief Jay 7 looked at Athena
“As far as I can parse, the boy got up from sleep and asked for something to drink. They both had been out for seven hours. So, the Marshall sent them a pot of tea to wake them up. He looked at it for a while then set it aside. When it was cool enough, he snuck into the girls room and poured it over her head.” Athena explained.
Jay 7 blinked “What? Why?”
“Because Sheetal snores and he hates tea.” Marshal Lara’s voice spoke into their comm link and continued “Apparently Sheetal hates tea too. And she is more offended by the smell of tea in her hair than anything else.”
“We should really get to them.” Athena said and her legs blurred. She sped off in front of them, she dodged a group of milling soldiers by jumping on a wall, pumping all six of her limbs and travelling past them and out of site.
Taran 45 looked at Jay 7 “Did she get faster?”
“Looks like it.” Jay 7 agreed and stopped when a video opened to the side of their vision.
“Why? So, he poured tea. What’s the big deal?”
Jay looked at Taran 45 and then his short hair “Women are protective about their hair.”
“Enough to tear of mem-titanium?”
“Oh wait. Here comes the good stuff.” Lara chimed in and expanded a video in their vision.
Sheetal turned her hand into a fist and a chunk of mem-titanium flew out. She flung it at Ash. Ash faked right and dodged left. Dodging the projectile by a hair's breadth. The projectile flew into the opposite wall and sank in.
Ash buzzed through the room, outpacing the lenses capabilities with his speed shards. He sharply changed direction and ran at Sheetal. Sheetal sharply turned and jerked one of her arms up. Ash flew up and hit the ceiling with a thud.
Taran took his eyes of the screen and watched as all continuum armours stopped in empathetic pain. He could almost hear the pained groan that had slipped out his mouth.
“Lara.” Jay 7 said in a scolding voice “Are you streaming this to everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Lara!” Jay 7 said in a chiding voice and continued “Not that I don’t like watching a fop get his butt handed to him, but this is distracting.”
“Jay 7. Do you remember when you and your brothers were like them? You were all so energetic, rambunctious and entertaining. No you are…”
“Responsible?”
“Old.” Lara corrected.
“Well, at least that puff has moxy.”
On the video Ash was hanging from the roof from one of his tonfa. While Sheetal tried to pry him off.
“Do you think I will let you get away after what you did?”
“Ah… Hey it’s not that bad. Setbacks and adversity builds character. See what I did there? Tea, adversity.” Ash chuckled
She growled “You were bored, and you decided to drench me with a pot tea?”
Ash giggled “Yes?”
Sheetal’s eyes narrowed. And Jay skidded to a stop in front of the suite’s door ordered. He looked at the augs around him and began issuing orders
“People keep your safeties on. They are not going anywhere. Just restrain them if you must. And make sure they don’t kill each other.” He added the last bit just in case.
Thump!
The door in front of Jay rang and he flinched. He collected himself looked up and ordered
“Okay Lara. Open the door.”
Lara complied wordlessly.
The door slid open and all six feet three inches of Jay 7 walked into the room with his broad shoulders and stopped to make sense of the situation.
Sheetal moved her hand down and Ash somehow twisted and landed on his feet. Sheetal jerked her hand and brough it down again. Ash again flipped onto his feet.
“Stop doing that.”
Thump.
“And fall…”
Thump.
“On your face.”
Thump.
Ash looked at Jay 7 and waved “Hey!”
Thump.
Ash went up with a smile and landed back with cheery “Hello!”
Thump.
Sheetal whirled to see Jay 7, Athena A07, and Taran 45 looking at them blankly.
The two combatants seemed to come to an understanding and moved closer to each other. They faced Jay 7, one with a glare and the other one with a fluid grace of killer.
Taran 45 nodded to himself. He could recognise that they recognised a larger threat when they saw it, but to his surprise neither of them backed down.
“Okay, who the hell are you?” Sheetal asked with hint of a snarl in her voice “And why are you stopping the butt kicking I am about to dish out.”
“Yeah, what she said.” Ash added.
Jay 7 looked from the dented ceiling to the two young people. His helmet cracked and split into four pieces on each side which folded into his shoulder. Revealing a bald head, white beard and face of a man in his late fifties.
“Just an old man who was trying to sleep. Until some loud children woke him up.” Jay answered with a sigh in his voice.
Sheetal’s glare dimmed “Oh. Umm… It was his fault.”
Ash looked at Sheetal finger pointing towards him and gave her an affronted look.
He turned to the councillor of continuum with a wise look on his face “Sorry, old people. I think we got a little carried over. If you don’t mind pointing us to a field or something. We have things to discuss.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Jay 7 gave them both a withering look and grumbled “In my day, when we fought with our siblings we had to clean up after ourselves.”
He pointed at the splintered furniture.
Ash pointed a tonfa at Sheetal “She threw it.”
“You poured tea on me.”
“You snore.”
“So do you!”
“Children!” Jay 7 called in a loud voice.
They both turned to him with a loud, “What!?”
“Now that we all are awake, we can have a talk while we clean up all this mess. But first, you…” He pointed at Sheetal “Go get a rinse. And you…” He pointed at Ash who cut him off.
“I am going with her. I am not leaving her alone and unprotected even for a second.” Ash said sternly.
Sheetal looked at him and her pursed lips turned into a slight smile which turned back into a scowl. There was a sense of tension in Ash’s posture. He was hiding it with his usual obnoxiousness but Sheetal though she saw his hands twitch and shake.
“Very well.” Jay 7 nodded and added “We will wait. Don’t take too long and please don’t start fighting again.”
Sheetal nodded at Jay and looked around “Sorry about the sofa, and the table, and the...”
“Wall? Floor? Furnishings?” Athena A07 asked.
Ash looked from Athena to Sheetal. The playfulness from his gaze was gone and he took a protective step in front of Sheetal.
“So?” He asked with a challenge in his eyes.
Jay 7 looked at the Aug Queen and shook his head imperceptibly and watched both the warders backed into the bedroom room without turning his back to Jay 7.
Ash walked into the bedroom, shut the door behind him and stumbled. Sheetal raised a hand towards him and steadied him. Ash looked back and mouthed “I am okay.”
Sheetal looked at Ash as he dragged himself to the bathroom. Sheetal followed him in and watched him slide down the wall next to the shower.
Finally, Sheetal asked “Ash, what happened?”
Instead of talking Ash waved at her and Sheetal saw a screenshot of Ash’s notification.
Warning!
Potentiality – 7%
Warder your potentiality is what gives your existence meaning. Expending potentiality beyond 5% might result in death. Always keep your potentiality above 10%.
Sheetal looked at Ash with wide eyes. Before she could speak freak out, Ash quickly said “It’s okay, She. We needed to know that. My bar is filling up and I will be okay.”
“How low did you go?”
“Five percent.”
“Was that before or after you got the notification?”
Ash gave Sheetal a guilty look.
“I knew It.” Sheetal took off her clothes and threw them at Ash.
“Ew! Why do they smell like you.” Ash flailed from under Sheetal’s shirt and turned his back towards her.
Sheetal turned on the shower and stood under it “Ash, how fast is your potentiality coming back?”
Ash sighed “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean I shut the screens off.”
Sheetal closed her eyes and prayed for patience.
“What?” Ash asked.
“Send me your screens again.”
Ash groaned and fiddle around in the air while Sheetal washed her hair.
Warning!
Potentiality – 8%
Warder your potentiality is what gives your existence meaning. Expending potentiality beyond 5% might result in death. Always keep your potentiality above 10%.
“Dang, that is slow.”
Ash grumbled incoherently and curled up in the side.
“What?” Sheetal asked while lathering up her hair.
“I said, I feel like I am hollow.”
“How the heck did you blow through all your potentiality anyway?”
Ash scowled “It’s the gods forsaken blur. It gulps down potentiality like a teenager girl drinks her first Cosmopolitan.”
“I always hated cosmos.”
Ash looked at Sheetal and nodded “I knew there was a reason that I liked you.”
“Yeah, I am more of single malt girl.”
“You could have said gin and then we would be the best of buddies, but no, you have to be a special someone and talk about Johnnie Walker Blue Label.”
“Blue Label is a blend actually.” Sheetal responded with a cheeky smile.
Ash shot Sheetal a look and in a shrilly voice shot back “She! If I could get up right now, I would spray soap in your eyes.”
“I know.” Sheetal shut off the shower and smiled deviously “That is why, this is going to work.”
Ash blinked “What? What do you mean?”
Ash felt Sheetal’s power constrict him and lift him up.
“She?”
Sheetal pulled him into the shower and snarled “Say it.”
“Say what?”
Sheetal looked ash in the eyes “Sorry!”
Ash quirked a smile “Oh, its okay She. Sometimes things happen. We should move beyond silly disagreements.”
Sheetal smiled ferociously “Oh I am so glad you think that.”
Sheetal flicked a finger and the shower overhead started drenching Ash’s head.
“She, this is waterboarding.” Ash glurped out.
Sheetal moved one hand and the water began to collect in a ball of invisible force.
Ash coughed and looked at Sheetal with accusing eyes.
“Say it.” Sheetal hissed.
“Can we not just talk about things like adults?” Ash hedged.
Splash!
The ball of water fell of Ash and Sheetal started collecting another.
Outside the room, Jay 7 hummed in the room with a slight smile on his face. He looked at the door and his smile turned broader.
“Jay?” The Aug Queen tried to get Jay 7’s attention.
“They are like siblings.” Jay 7 muttered as he had an epiphany.
“I am sorry mentor. Did you say something?” Taran 45 asked from the door.
Jay 7 walked to the door and looked from Taran to Athena. In almost a whisper he asked “Did any of you check for a pair bond?”
Taran 45 shook his head “No mentor. They are not a couple.”
Jay smiled “No, they are not. They are like siblings and if we are lucky then we might have hit the jackpot.”
Athena A07 looked at Taran 45 with a frown and the high councillor relented.
“They are not pair bonded. They are fate linked.” The high councillor revealed in a soft voice
Jay grinned “So, that is why you want to keep those two. I am not opposed 45. I actually approve. Do what you need to. Run test, experiment, and do whatever you need to do. Just build them up.”
Taran 45 shrugged “Build them up? I wanted to tear them apart. See what makes them tick. I would do so if they were just trial takers. But then I saw them kill a constable. The boy, he went from being jovial to ruthless in a second. And the girl, she fought two ascended who out-sharded and outclassed her in everything. She broke them apart 7. They are warders. If we can replicate what they do…”
“I understand 45 but they are linked.”
The high councillor made a dismissive gesture “That is just a bonus.”
“A bonus?” Jay guffawed and continued “No 45, that is perfect.”
“Perfect mentor?” The Aug Queen asked in measured tone.
“Yes, don’t you both see it? They will make a centre of a powerful squad. With them on the battlefield we will be able to cut across the battle lines of the Raks and finally kill a Asura.”
Athena A07 nodded “Yes, and then we can leave this baron wasteland.”
“Oh no, Heena, my dear.” The mentor shook his head and explained “With them on the frontlines we will kill an asura. Maybe even two. Think about the benefits that will bring us. By the gods, with them on the front we can even take the Free City. Then we can come and go from the trials, when we want.”
The Aug Queen’s face turned flat as she considered Jay 7’s words “Seven, I thought you wanted to leave this hole on the side of broken realities.”
Jay 7 looked at the Aug Queen but his eyes were focussed on something they couldn’t see “Heena, we will. After we make them, all pay. After we conquer these lands. After we create a safe haven to create new clones. After, we create a place to train our young.”
The high councillor and the Aug Queen looked at Jay 7’s fervour filled face. They exchanged a look but whatever they were going to say, they kept to themselves. Because just at that moment, Sheetal slammed open the door and floated out regally.
She was followed by a bedraggled Ash who was dripping water on the floor with his wet
hair plastered over his forehead.
They all shot a questioning look towards the boy.
Ash pointed at Sheetal “She held me in place and dunked balls of water over me. Like freaking Kobe Bryant. And I was the ring.”
Jay raised his eyebrows.
“The last one. It was the size of a… Of a… It was big. Like a big…Big Ball thing.” Ash tried to explain with his hands getting wider and wider over his shoulder.
Sheetal grinned “Yup. That’s what you get for pouring tea on me.”
“Before this gets out of hand again, may I suggest we get some coffee and millets.”
Two pairs of eyes locked on to Jay 7. He blinked.
“Did he say coffee?” Sheetal asked in a haunting whisper.
“Yeah. Did you say coffee?” Ash asked Jay in an uncharacteristic serious voice.
Jay 7 fought the urge to step back in front of the two feral creatures and replied “Yes?”
Twenty minutes later, two civilised young people were sitting in front of each other and complementing the other.
Sheetal swiped. The air around Ash whirled and his wet clothes began to dry.
“Thanks. You know you are getting pretty good with the wind shard.” Ash complemented Sheetal.
“Yeah, but you were better with it. How did you break the sound barrier when we were fighting the blue cannibals?”
“That was awesome, wasn’t it?” Ash grinned.
Sheetal gave a begrudging nod “Yup, that blue bastard didn’t even know what hit him.”
“I know. It’s quite simple to do. All you need to think bigger. I just parted the air in between the peacock and me. It created a vacuum thingy. And all I had to do was run. That was until I got sucked in. Didn’t expect that. And then it was more of the air was pushing me towards the guy than me running. I just swung hard and hit the dumbo with my tonfa.”
Ash looked at his holstered tonfa with a grin.
Sheetal shot Ash a concerned look “How about you stop experimenting?”
“Stop worrying, She. I will be careful.”
“Will you?” Sheetal asked in a challenging voice.
“Hey, I said I was sorry about the tea.”
Sheetal clicked her tongue and snarled “Just, don’t do that again.”
Ash dismissed Sheetal’s words with a wave “And repeat my joke? Never. But something great came out of it. That gravity thing you did. Didn’t see that coming until the very end. And if I didn’t see that coming, no one will.”
“Yeah, that was cool.” Sheetal smiled.
“Ehm…Ahm…” Taran 45 cleared his throat loudly “Warders. The mentor is waiting for you?”
The two crazy people looked at him blankly.
“45, here means, me. I am waiting for you.” Jay explained from the front of the table “I am Jay 7. The mentor. And I am enjoying your banter. You both remind me of the westerners before the war.”
“Westerners?” Sheetal asked.
“Yes. They said the best way to keep westerners complacent was to give them coffee, entertainment and food.”
Taran sighed “I wish the politicos had listened. We would have avoided conflict and kept our eyes on the Zulu.”
Ash leaned back “Interesting.”
“So, they are addicts?” The Aug Queen asked from besides Ash.
Ash looked at her and jumped “Hey, it’s the robot lady. Where did you come from?”
Athena grinned sharply and replied cryptically “I was always here.”
Ash looked at Sheetal. She shook her head and mouthed “I didn’t see her.”
“Okay. Stay away from the sneaky robot lady. Noted.” Ash muttered.
Sheetal glared at him and hissed “Be nice to our kidnappers.”
Ash started to raise his hand to shoot a rude gesture at her and stopped when his hand got stuck midway. He squinted at Sheetal.
“Okay. Rule number one. We don’t use powers on each other.” Ash stated.
“Only if you stop being a jerk.”
Ash thought for a moment and shrugged “Fine. You can use powers on me.”
“Are you both always like this?” Athena raised her steely eyebrows.
“Like what?” Sheetal asked.
“What Athena A07 is trying to ask is, do you know why you irritate each other and yet can’t leave each other’s side?” Jay asked with a glint in his eye.
“No.” Ash looked at Sheetal “We’ve always irritated each other. And I like her. I don’t like many people. So, she is mine.”
Sheetal turned a flat glare at Ash “She is mine?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Ash. I don’t know what you mean.” Sheetal shot back and turned to Jay “But, you are right. I cannot tolerate him. But he…” Sheetal paused when she realised that she was going to address Ash as her brother. Instead, she finished with “He saved my life.”
“Thrice.” Ash said in between sips and added “I am awesome.”
Sheetal rolled her eyes “I saved your life too, you brat.”
“Nope. Never happened. I am too awesome to need saving.”
Sheetal ignored Ash “But, that doesn’t mean I will not kick his butt.”
“Like you can.” Ash muttered
“Oh, I can.” Sheetal responded in a threatening tone.
Ash looked back at her with a feral grin.
“That. That, right there.” Jay pointed at them both “That annoyance. That needling each other. That constant urge to poke each other. Do you understand why that is happening?”
Sheetal looked at Jay and then at Ash “Yeah, because he can’t stop being a brat.”
Ash didn’t respond. He had a thoughtful look on his face.
“It’s because of the thing connecting us, isn’t it?” Ash asked.
Jay leaned on the table and crossed interlaced his fingers “Interesting. You must very perceptive.”
“I was trained.” Ash quirked a smile.
“I bet.” The mentor replied with a sarcastic snort.
“What thing?” Sheetal asked
“It’s something like a pair bond.” Jay 7 explained “It is a bond usually created between twins, lovers, or siblings. It gives them the ability to transfer potentiality between each other. The problem is that your being does not like potentiality leaving your body. And you subconsciously try to push your bonded partner away. However, at the same time the magical bond keeps you tied to each other. It drives you mad. That is why most pair bonded partners kill each other.”
“She, you know I like you right?” Ash asked.
Sheetal nodded.
“So don’t take this the wrong way but I am breaking the damn thing.” Ash announced.
“Oh, point me in the right direction and I will break it myself.” Sheetal added.
“It’s impossible now.” Jay laughed “It would have been possible to refuse the bond when you were given the option.”
“Wait, what option? We didn't get an option.” Sheetal asked.
“That is strange. You both are not biologically related. So, an option should have been given to you when you arrived at the trial grounds. Wasn’t either one of you given an option to create one?” Jay tapped his scarred chin.
Sheetal shook her head and then looked at Ash. He was looking everywhere but at Sheetal. He felt eyes on him and turned back with a neutral expression on his face. Sheetal raised her eyebrows. Ash’s neutral expression fell and he smiled goofily.
“He he he he?” Ash laughed.
“You!?” Sheetal shouted with venom in her voice.
“Me?” Ash asked.
“You did this?” Sheetal was now holding a spoon like a knife and glaring at Ash.
Ash grimaced and hesitantly explained “Hold on. Hold on!”
“Why!?”
Ash exhaled “You were dying, She. Sparking in your death chair with your stupid tablet. So, I started pressing buttons. On your chair, on the tablet, and in my eyes. And you survived. So, drop those headlights and say… Thank you, Ash. You are the best, Ash. No, you are awesome, Ash.”
Sheetal opened her mouth and closed it. She opened it again and pocked a finger into Ash;s chest “You. You… You!”
“Oh my. I think you broke the lady warder.” Jay chuckled
“Hey grandpa. This is in between me and my sister. Stay out of it okay?”
Jay 7 laughed and raised his hands “Okay. Okay. But tell me, if you are pressing buttons without knowing what they do, how are you still alive.”
“Oh, I learned how to shut it off. I keep it off now.” Ash smiled smugly. “Every time, I see boxes. I hit the shiny orb. Then the world goes back to normal.”
Sheetal groaned and the others gave him a look.
“What!? That’s smart. You can’t fight with distractions.” Ash defended himself.
“Ash, you do know that the windows disappear when we are in combat right?” Sheetal asked.
“They do?”
“Anyway.” Jay moved on quickly before these two could derail the conversation anymore “Let’s talk about the other things happening to you. But to address that, I need to know whether you are warders or not?”
Ash and Sheetal looked at each other. After a moment Sheetal replied “You know we are.”
“That means you are looking for shards. You have what three or four shards? You will need a lot of them to ascend.”
Ash leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Sheetal looked at him for a moment and decided to take the lead “What are you proposing?”
“First, tell me what kind of soul structure you have?”
Sheetal looked Ash and he waved for her to go on while looking at Taran 45 “Ash has a ribboned structure and I have a constellation structure.”
Jay 7 leaned in and rubbed his scruffy chin “Constellation. That is powerful.”
Reading incomprehension on the two warders faces the mentor continued “Every humanoid ascended you meet will have a linear shard structure. That means they will have eight shards in a straight line. Take me for an example. Like most of the continuum, my most levelled up shard is neuro, channel, energy and so on. Until it ends in balance.”
Ash looked at Jay 7 “Balance?”
“Yes. It helps me with my footwork.”
Ash nodded “Nice.”
“Thank you.”
Sheetal and Ash traded a glance. They both noted how Jay had not elaborated on his other shards.
Jay smiled at the exchange and continued “Every member of continuum has the same or similar shards. That’s the only way we can lift and fire our weapons. The rest of the shards we consume are personal.”
Taran 45 huffed “Or at least they should be.”
Athena rolled her eyes “Without the metal or the tech shards we wouldn’t have armour High Councillor.”
Taran 45 nodded “I am not criticising A07. I am just against the principal.”
“Councillors.” Jay raised his voice and the other two fell silent with an abashed look.
Ash noted how Taran 45 took a conciliatory tone in front of Jay 7. A tone that rang hollow in Ash’s eyes.
The mentor continued his explanation “Anyway, what I was explaining to you was that all ascendeds who know what they are doing use two to three shards in combination to create a deadly effect. The ones you fought earlier, they were…”
“Untrained rural wretches.” Athena A07 spat out and stared right at Ash “So, stop thinking that you are special, boy. You got lucky.”
Ash gave her a mild look. Slowly his uninterested eyes glazed over, and he yawned.
Athena shot out her hand and grabbed Ash by the collar “You think this is funny?”
Sheetal felt an anger start bubbling in her. She pushed it down when Ash winked at her.
Ash was about to open his mouth to say something when Sheetal cut him off.
“You were saying something about constellations?”
Jay 7 cleared his throat “Yes, constellation soul structures allow a warder to create a cluster of shards together. That is why a constellation warder is always the strongest combatant on the field or the biggest support to other combatants on the field.”
Sheetal leaned back with a satisfied smile on her face “See Ash, I am tougher than you.”
“Stronger. There is a difference, She.” Ash responded while looking straight at Athena A07. He waited for a second and then tapped her hand “Hey, lady, let go. The moment is over.”
The Aug Queen looked at the boy in her grasp. He hadn’t even flinched. Athena A07 reevaluated the kid and couldn’t help being impressed. The boy warder knew he was no match for her, and yet she could sense that he believed that he could kill her. And as their eyes met, she saw that he was ready to fight to the death if she didn’t release him.
The cybernetics in Athena A07’s brain whirled creating scenario. If she fought the boy, she would most probably kill him. If she hesitated, he would kill her with those strange weapons with a touch. She was fast but he had four speed shards. Even if she succeeded the Continuum would have lost two game changing assets. Not to mention, they would be blamed for killing warders.
But if she backed down, the boy, no the warder in front of them would know that they needed him and his sister. That would give them a sliver of leverage. It won’t be a lot but it would be more than what they had two minutes ago.
She could always throw him into a wall and break a few of his bones. No, that was her human side talking. That was what had gotten her into this situation.
The Aug Queen reevaluated this, Warder. This Ash. And she smiled in appreciation “Oh, you are good.”
“Thank you. It’s always nice to recognised by a professional.”
Sheetal looked at Ash who hadn’t taken his eyes off the Aug Queen.
“What about ribboned?” Sheetal asked.
“Ribboned. Hmmm…” Jay pursed his lips “We all were wondering about that.”
Taran 45 moved forwards. He looked at Jay for approval and received a head nod.
Taran turned towards Ash “If you share the description of the soul structure, I am sure I can tell you more about it.”
Ash raised an eyebrow “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Everyone turned to look at him and he just shrugged.
Sheetal hissed across the table “Ash, they seem to know what is going on.”
“How, She? How do they know what is going on? Why do they know what a warder’s soul structure is? And why are they helping us?”
Ash never raised his voice but each of his questions seemed to hammer into the continuum officers.
Sheetal bit her lip and nodded “Okay, good questions, answer him.”
Jay closed his eyes and sighed. He nodded to Athena and Taran.
Athena grimaced “We know because we had a warder of our own. His name was Jay Chandra and the Jay’s are clones of the first warder from our world. They were created to become warders like him.” Athena glared at Ash “Before you ask, he was a hero who was assassinated.”
Taran took up the explanation in a much calmer tone “Jay Chandra created the continuum. He created to save humanity. He believed that the knowledge we were gathering was going to give us a way to stop the wars and save our people.”
“Let me guess. They killed him for it?” Ash asked.
The Aug Queen clenched her fingers and her gloves creaked in her hands.
“I am not doing that. And I am not going to let Sheetal do that too.”
Jay smiled “You don’t trust us, and neither should you. Maybe this would help.”
Jay took out a coin with a hole and placed it on the table in front of him and the lights dim all around them and the table top changed into a display. On it was Earth.
“This is our planet. Prithvi.”
On the globe, a large chunk of the Asian continent turned green and spread outwards until it encompassed Mongolia to the north, Philippines to the east and a decent chunk of Europe to the west. Africa to the south remained red.
“The large part being highlighted is the Maurya Empire.”
Ash and Sheetal heard the familiar name but did not respond.
Jay 7 continued.
“Sixty years ago, a war started on our world between the Mauryan Empire and the Nordic westerners. Nobody thought much of it. The empire was old. Twenty three hundred years old and was always expanding and shrinking. The westerners were divided. So, when they decided to nuke one of our cities, we all were stunned. We wanted revenge. And we got it."
Jay 7 blood thirsty smile and growling voice sent a shiver down Sheetal's spine. She looked at Ash and felt a giddy of anticipation from him. His face showed none of that. While his insides were screaming, come on you stubborn old man, tell me how badly you messed up. His face had an mildly interested look.
Jay 7 seemed to get frustrated at Ash's bored look and growled "When we went to war, we took our eyes off the Zulu empire. Those filthy heathens launched attacks on our cities under a peace treaty. We fought them to a standstill and started repelling them. But, they were out for blood this time. They kept escalating the war and so did we.”
On the planet’s surface mushroom clouds erupted all across the continents and the land itself turned black.
The mentor in a heavy voice kept going on “By the time I was born. The war had scorched the land under our feet. Humanity, eighteen billion strong had been destroyed to just a mere two billion. Luckily, we had Jay Chandra and the cloning tech he brought from the other worlds. The Zulus did not. We started winning and they started calling us the soulless. We hunted their leaders down. They attacked our civilians and rescue workers. Finally, when we were at the precipice of victory, the Zulus did the unthinkable.”
The earth in font of the two warders cracked. Fissures developed on its surface. Followed by geysers of magma and lances of plasma shot out of the planets core and into space. More and more of the planet, cracked and then in one last explosion it blew apart.
“Zealots!” Athena spat out.
“For those of us who escaped our planet’s destruction, we were rewarded with these.” Jay 7 pointed at the coin in front of him “These coins are the physical manifestation of the favour of lights. With these coins we can ask the system and its agents for intervention.”
The mentor touched the coin and a prompt shot up into the two warders eyes.
New Mission.
Save The Continuum
Fight of the Rakshasa Empire and help the continuum create a safe harbour in the trials.
Rewards
1 Favour of Light
System Rank - 1
Accept?
Yes / No?
“Heck no.” Sheetal almost shouted
Jay 7 wordless took out another coin and placed on top of the first one.
The pop up in front of the warders changed.
High Priority Mission.
Save The Continuum
Fight of the Rakshasa Empire and help the continuum create a safe harbour in the trials.
Rewards
2 Favours of Light
System Rank - 1
Accept?
Yes / No?
“Mentor, what are you doing?” Taran 45 protested.
The old man ignored the High Counselor and took out another coin. He placed it on top of the others.
Mandatory Mission
Save The Continuum
Fight of the Rakshasa Empire and help the continuum create a safe harbour in the trials.
Rewards
3 Favours of Light
System Rank - 3
Type – Mandatory
Sheetal blinked “You want us” She pointed at herself and Ash and squeaked “To fight the asuras?”
Jay looked annoyed and took out a fourth coin.
The Aug Queen leaned forward “We have them seven, stop.”
Jay 7 glanced at Athena A07 and shook his head “Not yet.”
He dropped a fourth coin on top of the budding coin tower and a new line appeared below the mission.
Mandatory Mission
Save The Continuum
Fight of the Rakshasa Empire and help the continuum create a safe harbour in the trials.
Rewards
4 Favours of Light
System Rank - 4
Type - Mandatory
Terms - You may not leave the trials until this mission is completed.
Sheetal felt Ash’s amusement through their link and looked at him. Outwards Ash looked angry and his nostrils flared with every breath. Inwards he was… chuckling?
Ash got up from the table and started pacing up like he couldn’t take it. He shot and angry look at Jay 7 and snarled “You trapped us.”
The mentor met the challenging glare with a steely gaze “You will fight for me. You will win for me. And you will deliver what I want.”
“No.” Ash shook his head “We will just sit here. Wait for a few years maybe a decade. Enough time to make sure that you are not going anywhere, anytime soon. You think you can trap us? Well I can return the favour.” Ash screamed the last bit in Jay 7’s face
Jay 7 narrowed his eyes at Ash and then took out another coin. He looked at it for a moment and then doubled it. He placed on top of the pile and the same notification popped into Ash’s vision. However this time along with the rewards there were new addition.
Rewards
6 Favours of Light
Mandatory
Terms - You may not leave the trials until this mission is completed.
Duration to completion – 5 Years
Failure Penalty – Death
System Rank - 5
Ash sat back down on the table and smiled sharply “Five years… Who know if you or I will even survive until then.”
Athena A07 who had been looking at Ash and building a database of his micro expressions. The boy was good. He hid his feelings under his smiles and laughs. The crinkling of skin and the taught facial muscles made categorising his true feelings hard. And yet, her cybernetics caught some deviations and she started to raise her voice only to see the mentor take out two more coins.
Clink.
“Well then? How about this?” The mentor growled and looked at the screen floating in front of everyone’s eyes.
Rewards
8 Favours of Light
System Rank - 5
Mandatory
Terms - You may not leave the trials until this mission is completed.
Duration to completion – 2 Years
Failure Penalty – Death
“Two years. Sure, that is a long enough time to get used to this place, right She? I am sure we’ll start working on this mission thingy six months before the deadline.” Ash smiled at Sheetal.
“Sounds like a good plan Ash.” Sheetal replied with a glare at Jay 7.
The Aug Queen jumped to her feet “Seven. Stop.”
“Mentor. Please.” Taran 45 followed the Aug Queen up
Jay 7 stopped holding two more coins in his hands.
“He is baiting you, Seven.” Athena A07 held all four of her hands.
Jay 7 looked at Ash and the boy winked “It was funny.”
“Funny?” The mentor asked with blazing eyes
“Yup.” Ash laughed and Sheetal joined him.
Jay 7 gave the warders in front of him a confused look and then anger suffused his face.
“Hold on, mentor.” Athena A07 said beseechingly “Let me ask a question before you proceed.”
Jay 7 took a step back and Athena A07 turned to look at the young warder in front of her.
“Warder Ash, do you know what those coins do?”
“Except for causing old bruiser pain? Nope.” Ash said in smug voice.
The Aug Queen turned an accusatory look on Jay 7 “You have been had, Mentor.”
The mentor recoiled like he had been slapped. Then his face turned red and the look he shot towards Ash could have burned down a forest.
“You think you have won?” Jay 7 growled.
“Yes.” Ash nodded
“Oh, he’s been winning for while now.” Sheetal chimed in with a grin and added “You walk in here like you hold our lives in your palms and you will force us to do your dirty work? He just had to put on a show, and now he is smacking you around like the lame dog you are.”
Ash turned to Sheetal and in a disappointed voice whispered “She, that’s not how you taunt somebody.”
“Really, and you think you can do better?”
“Yes. Look.” Ash answered and turned to Jay 7 “Hey old man! Your time has passed. And you are making mistakes. Step aside and let some with more intelligence take over.”
The mentor who had started calming down stiffened. He turned a death flare at Ash and shouted “You dare!”
Ash leaned back to avoid the spittle flying out of the old man’s mouth and looked at Sheetal “See?”
“Don’t you dare ignore me you punk!”
“Jay 7. Stand down.” Athena A07 tried to step in front of the Mentor.
Before she could Jay 7 threw coins on top the small tower of coins. They unerringly flew on top of the pile and increased its length with clinks.
“Seven.” The Aug Queen said in a disappointed whisper.
The coins seemed to glow and all at the same time disappeared from the table into silver whisps. After a moment the screens in front of everyone changed.
Rewards
12 Favours of Light
System Rank - 6
Mandatory
Terms - You may not leave the trials until this mission is completed.
Duration to completion – 182 days.
Failure Penalty – Death
Jay 7 gave Ash a disgusted look and turned to Taran 45. In a growl he ordered “Taran 45, tear them apart and build me combatants. Grunts, I can throw at the enemy. I don’t care if they survive the battle or not afterwards.”
“Mentor, that was not wise.” Athena started and added “And your orders aren’t either.”
Jay 7 took in a breath “I don’t care Heena.” The old Jay turned back to the High Councillor “45, they are linked. I don’t know what that means but if it is like a pair bond they will feel each other’s pain. Use it. If they balk, torture one of them, until the other one relents. Don’t hold back. Just make me tools that will get the job done.”
Taran 45 gave Jay 7 a long considering look and nodded “Yes, High Councillor.”
Jay 7 whirled on his ally and then visibly restrained himself. In a softer voice he said “This is not the time to fence with me 45. We will talk about this later.”