A few hours later Athena was driving out of the city to a strange black square structure. Her dashboard slowly pinged as the preparations to stall the ongoing horde activated. With the first line complete her teams rushed to secure the second line. Even so, Athena 8 the longest serving General in the trials knew that no strategy lasts after the first contact of the enemy. And when it came to the Rakshasa Empire, that was a fact than just words on paper.
The last time, the Raks had just run through lines of lasers, sacrificing their own. Before that they had charged with their strange mythological horse drawn carts, and before that, when they had lost the Fire City they had burrowed up from underground like the blasted anomalies.
Athena 8’s hud buzzed angrily. She ignored it.
Instead, she looked at the boy sitting next to her. He had a white fisted grip on the chair he was sitting on. She smiled slightly as a sharp intake of breath from behind announced the commander’s discomfort.
She looked back at her rearview mirror to see the man’s grimace. When the man wasn’t battling madness, the man was composed. Speaking of Pretty, she was looking from the commander to the back of her head. Most probably wondering to let the two newly arrived people know of the port stone.
“Relax, it’s a port stone.” Pretty lost her internal battle and continued speaking “We won’t hit. It will transport us…umm…Where are we going General.”
In response Athena 8 sped up and heard the two make uncomfortable noises as they touched the black stone. And just like that, they were through.
The General hit a button on her dashboard and the vehicle underneath her purred. The jump that was oncoming over a high dune turned into a smooth roll as the auto drive routines took over.
“City of falls.”
Athena pointed and her six wheeled battle utility vehicle gently turned towards a distant city covered with large water falls. The two men gasps and gawked as the BUV started eating up kilometers under her. Athena sat back in her seat and finally opened the notification that had been annoying her all day. She jolted back up.
“General?” Pretty asked.
“It’s nothing. Just a report from the council.” Athena 8 carefully leaned back and looked at the notification.
Congratulation Co – Councillor!
The Continuum has spent 12 Light favours.
May your decisions be praised by the light.
As the general reread the notification her blood ran cold. What were they doing? Had they lost their minds? What if? Dred ran through her soul. Thoughts spiralled in her head. Was the continuum ready to splinter? Did that mean Aditya 101 was finally coming after her? And what about his purist wives? What had they decided to spend their favours on?
Or…The battle hardened general gulped. Had her sister finally decided to close the gaps.
Athena 8 knew that her last display of power had been rash. Could she have pushed the Aug Queen to spend her favours? But twelve of them? That would mean that she would finally have to leave her humanity behind. That would turn her into something else. An eldritch sentient mechanical thing called a brood queen.
Athena 8 had seen the tree of evolution her sister was following and for a moment imagined that future. She shook her head. No that wasn’t possible. Yes, that would give Heena a lot of power. And complete subservience of all the augmented in the continuum, but it would also cut all her emotional ties. And as the General’s tactical mind took over, she knew that her sister wasn’t ready to lose Jay 7 just yet.
Love, it was a strange thing. She had loved once. In olden days. She had loved her father. She had loved the mission he took her on. Training her and caring for her when she needed either attention, and instruction. Always secure in her belief that her father, Jay Chandra would out battle anyone that would come against then.
What had he said? Yes.
“Tina, you and your sisters will lead us after I am gone.”
And she had replied with “No dada, we will lead them together.”
And now…
Her father always wanted to have children, and she wanted to have sisters. She had got them. A lot of them. Sisters that looked exactly like her.
Then they had died. One by one. Breaking her heart into pieces. Only leaving Heena and her from the first generation. They had gotten closer. Inseparable even. But then Jay Chandra had died. His assassins had never been caught and she had pursued his killers to the very end of the trails. She had only returned when she had learned that her sister had been gravely injured.
She needed to save her, at any cost. And that’s when she had spent her first two favours and made a grave mistake. The system had delivered. Grafting unknown technology directly over her body. Saving what little could be saved of her and turning her into the first augmented human. Heena had died that day. And all that was left of her were glimpses behind the Aug Queen.
Lost in her thoughts Athena 8 didn’t realise when the vehicle slowed. She looked up as it came to a stop in front of two city guards.
One raised his hand and stopped the vehicle. His hand slipped down intimidatingly to his sword. The General identified it as a soul weapon and her hud corroborated her observations.
Weapon – Sword
Class – 0
Element - Water
Type – Soul Weapon
Athena looked at the weapon and the man, unimpressed.
The man seemed to puff up and in a haughty voice asked “Name and purpose of visit?”
In response Athena 8 flared her shards. The man stiffened and the two next two him paled. Even the ones sitting next to her flinched as a system notification identified her.
Name – Athena Chandra (Athena 8)
Class 1 (Peak)
Race – Human (Evolved)
Affiliation – Continuum
Faction – Perseverance
Rank – General
System Rank - 11
The general soundlessly exhaled and let the pressure on her shards peter out. She knew what the stunned guards were seeing right now. If her peak class didn’t impress them then her system rank of eleven would tell them how many dangerous quests and missions she had completed.
The first guard was quickly overtaken by another more senior guard. She approached her vehicle and in a much more respectful voice asked “General Athena 8, we are glad to have
you back. Sorry for the delay but may I ask where you are going?”
“To the sisters and then to the armourer.”
The guard relaxed and smiled “Then you should hurry General. They have just fried the good stuff and are about to start serving.”
Athena 8 nodded “Looks like I made it just in time.”
“You did.” The woman moved out of the way and waved her to go on.
Athena 8 slid up her window. Her vehicle navigated over a bridge. Giving everyone inside a grand view of the first waterfall.
She touched her dashboard and it flipped over again. The boy sitting next to her, the one the commander called Abesh jolted in surprise when a large section flipped over to reveal a display panel.
“Relax.” Athena 8 said to everyone in the car and added “I am just going to start a private call.”
While the she spoke she navigated to the do not disturb setting and switched it off. She was going to start establishing a secure connection when one popped onto the screen.
The general looked at all the passengers in her vehicle and then focussed a camera on her face. She instructed the vehicle.
“BUV. Isolate me.”
Moments later the floor around her darkened and the noises flowing in from everywhere stopped. And a dark curtain of air fell around Athena separating her from the world.
Ari scooted back as the darkness engulfed the driver’s chair. He felt a hand on his bicep and looked up to see Pretty calming smile. He didn’t feel very calm. His insides were churning. He had lost control again. Why had he had attacked her. A woman that was built like the terminator. And one in that tank like suit.
When the general had moved faster than his eyes could have blinked he had thought he was dead. Leaving his men to die in this strange place. Instead, the woman had given been understanding. The wasn’t gentle but she had given him something that had cleared his thoughts. Compared to that racist Jay fellow, Athena 8 was an angel.
He needed to do better.
He had an example of great leadership in front of him.
Athena Chandra was not like the other Athena he had met. The cyborg version of her was strange. The way she walked, the way she acted, and what she said were all filled with wild emotions. This one she was cold.
She was calm and controlled. She observed everything around her, she took notes, and acted if only she needed to. Not that he knew that when he had gotten into the small tank with her. He had been worried about her ripping his head of back there. That is why he had taken a seat just behind her. To stop any aggressive behaviour.
Instead, she had driven them into a large rock and somehow, they had ended up here. In a city of waterfalls.
“Hey, Ari, what’s wrong?” Pretty turned his head to look at her.
Ari shook his head “I…Uh… I have been messing up.”
“It’s okay, you can fix it now. As soon as we get that shard looked at you will be perfect.”
Ari smiled “Perfect?”
Pretty leaned back “Well, not perfect. But the beard is nice.”
Ari grinned and then looked at Abesh who was trying his best not to listen to the girl flirting with his commander.
Ari cleared his throat and asked “Hey Pretty. Where are we?”
“Two hundred and eighty Kilometres from where we started. We are in the City Of Falls. A city controlled by a family of noble from Rier. The Rundheer’s. They export the potentiality filled water out of here to the rich, noble, or both in Reir.”
“Rier?” Ari asked after Pretty said the word twice.
“It’s a world. A planet. They say its planet full of trees, rivers and oceans.” Pretty said wistfully.
“Sounds like Earth.”
“Does it?”
“Yes, trees, rivers, seas, beaches and oceans.” Ari looked in front and called out “Hey boy wonder, did I miss something?”
Abesh looked back and smiled “Snow covered peaks, and volcanoes sir?”
Ari chuckled “Yes, those too.”
“Volcanoes. What are volcanoes?” Pretty asked with the prettiest from Ari had ever seen.
Inside the bubble of dead air Athena hit a button and Ruby F1450 angry face popped onto the screen.
The woman shouted “Athena 8! What do you think you are doing?”
“Excuse me?” The general asked the short woman on the screen.
“Favours, they belong to all of us. You can’t unilaterally spend them.” Captain Ruby F1450 shouted.
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Athena 8 gave the purist in front of her a withering look and started “That is the problem with you, young ones. You have forgotten who I am. Let me remind you, I don’t answer to you, Captain.”
The young councillor leaned towards the screen and in a harsh voice responded “I don’t care who your daddy was or what your history…”
A hand clasped over Ruby F’s mouth and the camera zoomed out to show two more people alongside the first one. Parvati 551 and Aditya 101 restrained the shorter ill-tempered woman and Athena 8 sat back in her seat and took a moment to consider the new developments. The three councillors in opposition were here talking to her that meant they hadn’t spent the favours. That left…
A clearing of a throat brought Athena 8 out of her thoughts.
“Hello, Tina.” Parvati 551 greeted the General.
“Hello, Ati. Is this going to be a long therapy session? Because I don’t have the time or the inclination right now. Specially with your partners watching.”
Parvati 551 smiled and shook her head “No councillor, this is an emergency meeting. Twelve favours were spent. Now we know that you are out there in the desert creating traps and battlements to stall the enemy. And we agree, that you might have had to spent a few, but why did you have to spend so many?”
Athena frowned and annoyance dripped from her tone “Why do you care how I spend my favours?”
“They are a council resource, Tina. They belong to all of us.” Parvati 551 tried to keep a level tone.
“No. Mine do not.”
Parvati 551’s raised her voice in frustration “Why are you being difficult about this?”
Athena 8 realised that she wasn’t going to get anymore essential information out of this conversation and decided to tell the woman what she knew.
“Ati, listen to what I am saying. I don’t hand the council my favours. Not anymore. I have more than what you all have from the fall of Prithvi. Me and my new faction are constantly fighting for the system. At completion of all those missions we are awarded favours. So, the new High Councillor and I reached an understanding. I gave threw down a fist full of coins and he quietly flipped off.”
Parvati 551 blinked and looked at Aditya 101 “A fistful?”
Athena 8 decided to answer even though the question wasn’t directed at her “Yes. A fist full. I didn’t count.”
In confusion Parvati 551 asked “Why weren’t we told about this?”
“Ask, Taran 45. I don’t care.” Athena 8 said flippantly and added “I just wanted my people free of all your shackles. We have a war to fight, and you all are playing politics.”
“I don’t understand. Did you or did you not spend favours today?” Ruby F1450 couldn’t take it and asked.
“Yes, I did, captain. I will do so tomorrow too. But they won’t be from the continuum’s pool. They will be from my personal wallet.”
“What?” Ruby F1450 asked in confusion and added “That is not how things are done.”
“No captain, that is not how things were done.”
“How many favours do you have, Tina?” Parvati 551 asked.
“None of your business, Ati.”
The silent man on the screen finally moved and soundlessly walked to the centre of the screen. He moved his hands rapidly signing the question he wanted to ask.
Parvati turned to the camera and started “Adi is asking…”
“I know what he is asking Ati.” Athena 08 looked at the silent man and answered “No. Aditya One… Oh… One… I don’t think the Aug Queen used those coins. I think you need to confront the High Councillors. The new and the old.”
The silent Aditya 101 nodded and took a step back.
“Thank you for answering our questions, General. May we ask, when you will be back?”
“No.”
With that one-word Athena 8 cut the communication link and looked out. The budding conversation around her died as her guests noticed that the dark blurring effect around her had disappeared. That was okay, they were already there. She got out from her vehicle and began walking towards the door of the shop while reading the sign.
Six Sisters Buns
If it ain’t fried. It ain’t right.
The smell of sweet sugary fruit and fresh baked buns assaulted all their noses and made her mouth water. Then the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit her like a wall.
Athena pointed at a shop opposite to the one she had parked on and instructed Pretty.
“Pretty, take the commander to the armourer. Tell them to fix that shard. Here.” Athena 8 handed her list “Get these too.”
Pretty saluted by banging her armour and looked at Ari, She smiled took his hand and walked away.
Abesh looked from his commander to Athena 8 like a lost boy.
“Come with me.” Athena 8 instructed and began walking to the shop.
She reached for the door and stopped when a familiar voice loudly announced “Shops closed.”
Athena 8 turned to the voice and saw two women sitting on a park bench with a coffee pot in between them. One was dark as the coffee in her cup and the other one with paler than the dough she was kneading.
“Alice. Joyce.”
“Tina.” The paler one greeted her and then looked at the young soldier who was following her.
The darker woman took a sip of her coffee “Want one?”
“Freid coffee? By the gods, yes.”
Joyce frowned slightly at the words and poured the General and the boy a cup each “So, what bring you here? To the falls of all the things?”
“Can’t a woman visit her old friends and get some lunch?”
“It’s breakfast time Athena.” The blonde Alice corrected the general.
“Who cares? I want food and coffee. Can I buy some please?” Athena 8 asked the Alice.
Alice looked at Joyce and, in that moment, they looked so different. Like they were from different worlds. And yet, for those who had ascended and evolved their eyes, could see the resembles between the two sisters.
“It’s okay. We both know she is here to see me.” Joyce smiled at her sister.
“Fine, I will get the baskets.” Alice muttered.
As soon as Alice left Athena leaned forward “Tell me about your world.”
“Huh?”
“Earth. Tell me about it.”
Joyce looked startled for a moment. She got a distant look in her eyes and began a brief explanation about the planet and her life on it. Athena 8 listened to the tale of a young woman being born, traveling to distant lands, bringing the word of her god to people and saving people from starvation. Until it all ended in heartbreak.
“Well, then Jimmy Hendricks died, and I knew there was nothing left for me on the planet. So, I called my sister, and she brought me to the trials.” Joyce ended her story with a smile.
Athena bit into a bun filled with sweet meats and chewed. She looked at the boy sittings besides her. He was trying his best to control himself but the slight shake of his shoulders gave away his feelings.
Athena squinted at her fried “Joyce. Your story is… It’s…” The general gave her friend a searching look.
“Boisterous ma’am?” Abesh asked straight faced.
“Boisterous That is good word. Thank you, boy wonder.” Athena stated and looked at Joyce “Your story is too boisterous Joyce. Would you mind starting again please?”
Across the street, Ari walked through shelves of shards and sliding walls full of weapons. They ranged from melee, to futuristic to completely strange. Besides him a shop boys and girls packed items from the list Pretty had handed over to one of the managers.
“Pretty!” An excited voice came from the back of the shop and Ari headed in its direction.
“Hello Navi.” Pretty greeted the man.
Ari felt a hint of annoyance when the man hugged Pretty.
“What can I do for you? Ready to upgrade your shotgun?” Navi asked.
“No. No. I haven’t saved enough up for that yet.” Pretty waved at Ari “The general wants the shard in the commanders head looked at.”
Navi raised his eyebrows and put a monocle on his eye. He grimaced and flinched back “Ah! A khara shard. What in the world possessed you to do that young man?”
Ari opened his mouth to say that he wasn’t young, but the man stopped him in his tracks by grabbing his head. He turned it left, then right, then made him look at the floor. Looking at the top of Ari’s head the man made a tisk sound.
“That’s not going to come out.” The armourer announced.
“Oh, come on Navi.” Pretty pouted.
“Girl, I can take that shard out. But his brains are coming out with it.”
“I like his brains where they are.”
“I think you like more about him than just his brains.”
Pretty slammed her foot on the floor “How many times have I told you not to use that eye glass on me?”
“And how many times have I told you that you can’t hide your feelings.”
Ari opened his mouth again to ask for solutions only to stop when a finger was pointed at him like a gun.
“You, not a word. I don’t want you to start mouthing off at me with that shard.” Navi ordered.
“He is on balancers.” Pretty announced.
“You think that will stop him if he starts getting angry?” Navi huffed and tapped his finger on his desk “Hold out yours hands. Let me see how much they shake.”
Ari held out his hands.
“What in the oblivion is this mess?” Navi pointed at Ari metal covered hands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Not what you expected?” Joyce asked Athena as her sister came back and sat down alongside her.
This time the story hadn’t been that entertaining. The travel inside a submarine to sneak into a rock concert omission was glaring in the retelling of the tale.
“No, it’s not that. You haven’t spoken about a country named India. Can you tell me about that place?”
The boy besides Athena stopped chewing and looked at Joyce.
“India?” Joyce leaned back “Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know much about it. I think I once saw a cartoon about a rope charmer with a big moustache from there. But that is all.”
Abesh shot an annoyed look Joyce’s way.
“Ah I see, that’s where you are from.” Joyce said to Abesh.
Athena 8 turned to look at her friend’s older sister and asked “You know something about that place?”
“No, but I know that two warders were born recently. Then some entity obscured the lord’s sight. But if you are here…” Alice looked at Athena sharply “Then you have it. And you planning to use it on them.”
“Yes I am.”
Alice sighed “You will anger a lot of people if you are successful. Are you sure you want to do that, Tina.”
“The light demands it.” Athena answered simply.
Joyce made a cross gesture and kissed the cross on her necks “We all are serve the lord in our way.”
Alice wasn’t so sanguine about Athena 8’s answer “The light and its system won’t protect you or the two you will put in danger.”
Athena took in a deep breath “I will protect them. And my people will protect me.”
The two sisters looked at each other and nodded.
Alice sighed “India, does not have a happy history. When I visited that place the natives were dying of famine while the colonials were feasting and funding a distant war with the riches of that land.”
“Churchill.” Abesh growled.
“Yes, that was deeply flawed man that the British celebrated.” Joyce shook her head.
“Was that his name? I just called him drunk fatty.” Alice said offhandedly.
“Sister. How many times have I told you not to call people fat. That is body shaming.” Joyce gave an annoyed look and southern American drawl came out thick as syrup.
Alice rolled her eyes “Oh come on. If people are fat they are fat.”
“No people have fat like Tina has muscles. But Tina is Tina. You can’t define her with her muscles.”
“Joyce, you know I don’t define Tina by her muscles. I define her by her choice of dainty high maintenance women.”
This time Abesh couldn’t take it. He started snorting,
Athena 8 squeezed the bridge of her nose and muttered “Now look what you have done.”
The general wasn’t the only one praying for patience. Inside the shop Ari watched Navi unwrap his carefully covered hands. He would have protested and even denied the man but just when he opened his mouth the man simply tore the metal on his hands off.
“What did I tell you about speaking?”
“I am perfectly fine.” Ari raised his voice
“Then why are you screaming boy?” Navi asked.
Ari stopped and looked at the man blankly.
Navi sighed “A khara shard is a complicated thing.”
Navi got up an brought a ball of foam to Ari. He placed a glass of water in front of the commander and dropped the ball on top of the water. It floated there serenely.
“That is a normal shard.” Navi pointed at the ball and continued “A normal shard floating on your soul.”
The man took out a paper napkin. Unfolded it and draped it on top of the ball. The paper floated over the ball.
“The paper represents your skull.”
The armourer tossed the paper aside, took out the ball and in a blur poked it with tens of sharp nails. He held it out.
“This is a khara shard.”
Navi dropped it into the water and the shard sunk slightly deeper. This time when he placed the paper, the nails pierced the sheet. Navi moved the table left to right and Ari watched the holes became larger.
“This is what you have.” Navi explained.
“What is that?” Pretty’s cute voice asked.
“The khara shard connects the various points of the brain to each other and the temporal soul. It heightens emotions. Most people that have a khara shard go berserk in battle. And get themselves killed.”
Pretty pouted “What about the holes?”
Navi blinked and looked at the dissolving paper “You are not looking at the right thing girl.”
“And what is that?” Pretty folded her hands over her chest cutely.
“The paper is his skull. The water is his brain. What do you think the shard is doing to his brain?”
“It’s mushing up his brain?” Pretty squeaked.
Navi rolled his eyes and took the spiked ball out “This is an allegory.”
“An all… What?”
“An example girl.” Navi said shortly.
“So? What do we do?” Ari asked his heart beating in his chest.
Navi smiled “There are two ways we can handle this situation. One I create a bubble around the shard, and you can have a limited access to it. You will also have to get the bubble redone time to time. It will take hours and will cost you a pretty sum.”
“Or?” Ari asked.
“Navi.” Pretty said warningly.
Navi ignored Pretty and continued “What other shards do you have?”
“Metal, quicksilver, and neuro.”
“Quicksilver?” Navi grinned.
“Navi!” Pretty said warningly.
“Oh, come on Pretty. Its almost as if it was destiny.”
“What is?” Ari asked.
Navi tapped his table and a familiar hologram of a man in a tentacled armour popped up from the table. The rope like tentacles moved and flowed away from the man. Two of them faced outwards. One dug into the ground and the third created a projection in front of the man to aim with. The man began to shoot. Beams flew out rapidly from the triumphant looking figure.
Navi began enthusiastically “This is the…”
“Supreme legionnaire armour.” Ari finished.
Navi blinked “Oh, you know what it is?”
“The snake man who gave me the neuro shard wanted to sell me this thing.”
Navi blinked “Whiswo?”
“Yeah.” Ari growled.
“That snake. He stole my idea!”
“Idea?” Pretty asked in a flat voice.
“Yeah, I told him that someday I am going to get a mark to put in khara shard so that I could sell them the…” Navi looked up and saw two pairs of hostile eyes looking at him.
The armourer gulped and raised his hands “Hey, it was joke. I was just jesting. He is the one who did it.”
“Where is his shop?” Pretty asked nonchalantly.
Navi smiled “Oh, I will tell you. By the gods I will give you the rounds you need to shoot up his place. Go trash him up. Butt first.” The armourer turned to look at Ari “So, commander, is it? How do you feel about energy and technology shards. We will also have to create nanites hives and bore them into your bones. How do you feel about pain?”
Ari shook his head and pointed at the armour “I don’t have money for that.”
Navi nodded “Oh I know you don’t, but once you link with the armour you wouldn’t be able to take your mind off it. You will feel as if you are missing a limb.”
Ari exhaled “Then why would I go for it?”
“Because those hives will take energy away from your unbalanced emotions and use them to do what they do.”
“And what is that?” Pretty narrowed her eyes prettily distracting Ari from the topic momentarily.
“Replicating themselves, repairing the body then inhabit and optimising the host.”
“And that works?” Pretty wasn’t sold.
“Of course it works. They are nanites created by the body itself. Think of them as white blood cells.” Navi replied offended. The man continued “And then you add the armour, and it will keep your boyfriend here from going mad and charging into a wall of enemies.” The armourer paused and added “Theoretically.”
“Theoretically?” Ari asked
Navi shrugged “It’s a supreme legionnaire armour. Made for apex humans.”
“Who are these supreme legionnaires?” Pretty asked.
“Oh, according to the information sellers they are soldiers. They have a long history of working alongside the khara. They are given these neuro shards by the khara who apparently also install them in their allies.”
“And where did you get this?” Ari asked
“Some of their enemies sold us this armour. Never seen one work in my life.”
“And you want Ari here to go for this procedure?”
“Look, it could help you and calm you down or it could activate suck out your life. That is why you will link with it now and wear it when you have evolved. And that is why I am basically giving it to you for free.”
Pretty snorted in disbelief.
“That is after class one?” Ari asked.
“Yes. Talking about evolving. Why aren’t you doing that?”
Pretty knew she wasn’t ready to have that conversation but with both Navi and Ari looking at her she was stuck. But she wasn’t the only one.
“So, Tina, why are you so interested in Earth?” Joyce asked
“Want to do some conquest?” Alice added.
“Want to become the ruler of a world?” Joyce giggled.
“Conquer nations on a vacation?” Alice chuckled.
Athena Chandra gave her two friends a disgusted look “Do I look like I have the time to do that?”
“Then why?” Alice asked.
“I am not interested in the world. I am more interested in its people. Two people. Who came from a nation named India.” Athena 8 paused “But its history. It scares me. Conquered, subjugated and oppressed. What kind of people would that produce?”
“You would be surprised.” Alice smiled and looked at the young man in front of her.
“Let’s cut to the chase then shall we little sister?” Alice asked.
“Yes, let’s do that.” Joyce nodded and continued “What the lord has told us is that two new warders were born recently. He would have reached out to them. But they were complicated. One has a deep darkness in them and the other, well that is for the light to decide. They are its creatures after all.”
“Darkness?” Athena asked.
The two sisters nodded together, and Alice continued “But the light does not choose its warders lightly. It chose them Tina. Do not doubt the lights judgement or you will be doubting yourself.”
Athena blinked “You are right.”
“Good.” Joyce smiled and then looked back “Hey, big man, bring out the two bottles I left on the kitchen slab.”
Athena looked at the large Zulu man bring out a cloth bag with his floury hands and asked “This one sisters?”
“Oh, and wash hands boy.” Alice chided the big man and he grinned sheepishly.
The man’s eyes turned to the visitor and he grinned when he saw Abesh.
“Yes. Yes. Give those bottles here and go wash up. You are going back.” Joyce muttered to the large African man.
Mbungwa nodded and rushed back.
Abesh looked at Athena with an open mouth “You brought him here?”
“Yes. This was the safest place I could find for him. Shame, I couldn’t do that for you.”
Abesh nodded “Mbungwa. He saved our lives.”
“There is no way I can say that name.” Athena got up from the chair she was sitting on and nodded to her friend “Thank you ladies. You have helped me more than you know.”
“Oh, we know.” Joyce nodded and pointed “And look, there comes that lovesick girl and the Earthling.”
Athena turned back and saw Pretty leading a stumbling Ari out. She put her shoulder under the man, and both lifted and dragged the commander towards her battle vehicle.
“One last thing.” Athena Turned back towards the siters “Why didn’t you want to tell me anything about Earth?”
The sisters shared a long look with each other.
“We can trust her.” Joyce said to Alice.
“She is close to class three. She might try to use the world for her benefits.” Alice stated.
“Like we did?”
Alice grimaced and relented “Earth is not a non-reactive world. It is a harvest world.”
“Harvest world?”
“A world saturated with potentiality in a universe jam packed with it. It was such a tempting target that the gods fought for it until the light acted. She killed every ascended on it, smiten down gods by the dozens and even killed of her champions when they disobeyed her. Then the tower sheared its existence off from history.”
Athena paled “Gods.”
“No. None exist in that universe. Or the universes close to it. Only the light, the yaksha, and the lights agents are allowed in that universe.” Alice said sternly “But you know that you come from a cousin world, don’t you?”
Joyce looked at her friend warningly and added “So, if you are thinking about going there. Don’t. They kill any ascended who is not tied to a peaceful god, over there.”
Abesh who was standing beside Athena quietly asked “Who are these they?”
Alice tapped the boys head affectionately “You have heard about them. Flying saucers? Tic tac shaped flyers? Pyramid shaped objects flying out of the deep waters?”
“Aliens?” Abesh’s eyes widened.
“Yes. That is what you call them. We call them… Well, that’s not important.”
“We had those in our world too.” The general said softly.
“Although you can go to a deviation world. Those are created with more magic but they are full of meddling gods. I had one in our city. That one is going to be a problem if he doesn’t leave soon.” Joyce grumbled
Mbungwa came out and Joyce clapped her hands “Well, this has been fun Tina but now we have to go back to work.” She handed the bag with the two bottles to the general and added “Take this with you. One has coffee. The other one has vanilla ice cream. Tell the warders what you have, and I promise you will have their attention.”
The general took the bottles and made them disappear into her storage. She asked “How much do I owe you for the coffee?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just three favour coins.”
“Three favour coins?” Athena 8 squeaked
Athena was about to tell Joyce what she could do with the three coins when one of her agents contacted her.
“E65, what is it?”
“General, something big is happening here. The High Councillor has summoned the warders to the null zone inside the Asambhav. He has asked for the augs and the medic crew to prepare something. And although I don’t know if this is related but the purists are heading his way too.”
Athena dropped the three coins on the table and responded “E65, stay out of sight but make sure that I have the clearance to make a run for the warders.”
E65 was silent for a second “General, I don’t think you will make it in time. Do you want me to try on my own. I have friends here…”
“No. You will get yourself killed.” Athena 8 looked at the commander who was stumbling into her BUV. It would take her time to drop the earther commander to the fire city and get back. She also wanted to know what had happened inside the armourers but she did not have time for that.
Once again she had too much to do and so little time. Athena Chandra put the mask of Athena 8 back again and became the General of the Continuum.
She looked at Taran 65 confidently and replied “He won’t kill them. I know him better than most. Whatever he does we can fix. Just keep yourself and your friends out of the way. I will be coming in hot with safeties off.”