Parvati M141, one of the few specialists medics in the continuum who had both saved lives and taken them in hundreds couldn’t help but feel she was seeing an end of her faction. Her leader, the man she had watched, followed, and even walked besides was in the arms of the Class 2 soldier khara.
She remembered the time when she had been lost in life. Her marriage had been on the rocks and she didn’t feel like she was going to see another week, she had first heard the name Ghost. On the vids, he stood tall, reaching out to them with his smile. Oh gods, how long had it been since they had seen someone smile like that.
Not only did he smile, but he also asked them to take a name. Something the old guard was categorical against. They were the continuum. Their alpha numerical designations were their names. It told the others their function in the continuum, how old they were, and what generation they were.
On the video Taran 45, one of the oldest living members of the Continuum answered the objection of a bearded old guard.
“Look, I am not saying that we should be like General Athena’s army and let go of our past. Sure, I thought that was the way to go when I joined the army. But now I think that is short sighted. To embrace the future for the continuum, we need to recognise our past, we need to honour it, and we need to accept our individualism. Adopt a name that defines you. Don’t use it in a professional setting. Don’t use it on patrols. But when you go back to base, go home to your partners, use the name you have chosen for yourself. That is what our forefathers did. They went to work and used their professional names. But when they came home, they were themselves. That brought out their uniqueness, that let them disconnect with their work lives and brought out a new way of thinking, and that helped them thrive. And now we need to follow their examples. Because the continuum needs us not to just exist, but Thrive.”
Parvati M141 had become Needles after that video. She had left the old guard and joined Thrive. Her husband, Jay 84, was still not convinced about the Thrive but JJ took a name, nevertheless. Mostly to win her back and they had reconnected.
Now, their hero, had done the unthinkable. Assaulted, tortured and abused warders. The champions of the light.
Needles clicked open her notepad in her hud and just looked at it for a minute. She needed to document the changes the warders were going through. Something the divine touched khara had tasked her to do along with taking care of the warders. But she didn’t know where to start. Sure, she could just document the couple of new biological changes their bodies had exhibited.
But then she could run a scan. Create a three-dimensional drawing documenting those changes and just send those to the khara. After all, the new blood circulatory system fed by a new organ just behind the right lung didn’t need to be documented as a second heart. It was self evident as was the development of an even more complicated nervous system that she was pretty sure made the two warders ambidextrous.
She had done that when she had noticed the strangeness of their Sheetal and Ash’s brains. They had started compressed and new bubbling grey matter had appeared in their skulls. Then that had compressed too. New arterial junctions had formed supplying cool blood and oxygen to new sections. Finally, one last time, their brains had compressed becoming bluish grey in colour. And thick, gel like fluid had appeared in the skulls too protect the brain.
When she had sent a document full of those changes to the khara, along with the hypothesis that the strange energy permeating the anomalies bodies was causing these rapid changes they hadn’t been surprised. They had replied almost instantly.
“Thank you for your report medic. We know. The energy is called Anathema. Keep their sentience from their bodies until their souls imprint on their bodies and changes subside. Let us know of further changes.”
And that was that. A head pat and a good job little ape.
What other choice did she have? She knew what happened to the ones who didn’t conform to their expectations. The khara were not like humans or any other bipeds she had met. They called themselves Lights Children and the light The Great Mother.
Not that other races didn’t anthropomorphise the light. Humans called her everything from Necessity, Aditi and The Light.
But the khara race had taken their worship to the light to the extreme when humans started creating temples to the light. When they first met humans and saw their mangled worship they didn’t correct the humans.
When the humans tried to impose their way of worship on the khara they didn’t kill them, they didn’t even fight, they didn’t see the need to. They as a race had given up their independence to preform tasks for the light and live an ascetic lifestyle long before the humans had started leaving their worlds. Subsisting on gifts that the devotees of light gave to them the khara had seen races rise and fall on planets in the endless universe. Instead the khara for the first time showed the silly humans the millions of favours the khara race had gathered. The favours that had helped them shed their physical bodies and become like their mother.
And that kind of alien thinking had made the khara chop the anomalies in pieces blend it together and shove it inside the warders. Why? Because the warders were lights creatures and it would help them fulfil their purpose.
What the high councillor had planned would have made Sheetal and Ash significantly different from humans. The khara had upended that cart completely and created something new and old. A species that was out of legends. A species that the raks cursed in hushed tones.
And that had triggered an event.
Event.
Rise of the new from old.
The khara have triggered an event in your location.
No Warder Kel has been found in the area.
No Warders Shiang has been found in the area.
An Adjudicator has appeared.
Warning.
You are being monitored by a ripple of light.
Ripple No – 1793b75290317
Purpose – Judgement.
The event and yes it could be called nothing but an event, after the system had itself recognised what the khara had done and descended upon everyone going through everyone’s logs while harsh white light bathed them. After it touched the med pods the light turned gold.
The benevolent light on the med pods didn’t fool anyone. It meant that the light with the capital L had found its quarry and was going through their logs. A moment later beams of lights dispersed from the glowing pods. She saw it lighting the superb seven up and leaving them moments later with a blessing in its place.
You have received a gift from the Light.
Minor Evolution.
She looked at her team and noted that they had all received the small gift. When the beams hit the khara they danced in joy. On the other hand, when the beam touched the High Councillor and his crony doctor, the light turned red. It bore into the surgeon and the man opened his mouth in silent scream before turning to Ash.
Needles held her breath.
Just when everyone was ready for the light to smite the old Taran 45 down the light faded from him and returned to the pods.
In its place was a pale faced Taran 45, who did not say a word for five long minutes, after that he told the khara where all the unique and precious shards were kept and slumped to the floor. Finally, he raised his head with that smile that had gotten him the position of the High Councillor.
She watched him stand there for a long moment and look at the little flying octopuses that twinkled merrily as they buzzed back and forth gathering and discarding shards from the vault.
“Well that is that then. I think I should get to work now.” Ghost said aloud and then turned to Needles “Parvati M, look the khara are celebrating. They have gotten the permission to show off their skills.”
“Is that it?” Needles couldn’t help ask “Are they not going to punish you?”
“The light is reasonable.” Ghost said to all and then picked up the smooth metal band that let him send his consciousness in the dreamscape “I’ll see you inside.”
The seven looked at Ghost sitting down on a black metal chair and then at the pods. The high councillor had sent his mind inside the pods where the light was keeping watch over the warders. Was he that confident that the light had forgiven him and wont strike him down.
Needles picked up her mental band and JJ stopped her. He looked at the glowing pods wearily and looked at her meaningfully.
Needles patted his hand “I need to go and check on them. I need to make sure that man doesn’t do anything more to them.”
JJ didn’t look pleased but stepped back anyways.
Needles placed the on her head and saw a message.
Warning.
You are being monitored by a ripple of light.
Ripple No – 1793b75290317
Purpose – Judgement.
When they had burst in this room to rescue the warders and found them in the pods, it hadn’t looked good. Deep in the dreamscape, they had been idealised versions of themselves which was heartening. But ever since the khara had started remaking their bodies, they were a mess.
Thet were writhing in pain, on the floor, one looked one step away from turning into ash and dust. And none of them could do anything about this. The warder’s soul or sentience no matter how disconnected from body felt the changes and was fighting to accept their new bodies.
The high councillor was talking to Ash from the control room. His tone was free of the tension she felt in her body.
“Hey, kid. Open your hud. Focus on it and accept your notifications.”
Ash had groaned in response.
Taran chuckled “Don’t tell me you are scared of some lines on your hud?”
“Nope. Not falling for that.” Ash shot back.
“Ash. Don’t be difficult.” Sheetal said to her brother lying on the floor next to him.
“She…” Ash hissed out Sheetal’s nickname and in growl continued “The computer thing in my head is difficult to deal with as it is and now mister not so hight councillor has made the world even more soupy.”
Taran blinked “Wait, are you telling me…” Taran let his words fall off as realization hit him “You can bear even more potentiality?”
“Yeah!” Ash waved his hands about “This is like fog. I am from Delhi. I am used to smog. The thick kind. Speaking of which…”
Ash opened his mouth and took in a lung full of air. He coughed and wheezed “This doesn’t taste like fog. It tastes like tin.”
“Fog? No. There is no fog. It does taste like a can of coke.” Sheetal croaked trying to control her spasms.
“Warders, I am going to try something. Please tell me when things become uncomfortable.” Taran 45 said and increased the potentiality going to their bodies.
“What? Wait. What are you going to do?” Sheetal had looked all around herself in a panic.
“Feel something different?” Taran 45 asked.
“Yes. The fog became denser?” Ash muttered.
“Now?”
“Nope.”
“Now?”
“No.” Sheetal responded
“NOW!?”
Ash chuckled “What are you, a cow?”
“Are we getting drunk?” Sheetal had asked.
“No. We are getting high.” Ash had chuckled
“Haaaaigh? Haaigh feels naaaaice.”
“I know.” Ash had said and asked “Can we have more?”
“Damn it kid. If I go down anymore. I might blow out your shards.” Taran’s voice made Sheetal look at the high councillor sharply.
“Mother flicker!” Sheetal grumbled.
Ash on the other hand laughed and responded with “No, you won’t. You big goofy manipulator, you. Just keep going. Hehehe.”
Taran 45 hesitated and then laughed alongside Ash and proceeded to turn his hand.
“Oh… That… I think that hit the spot. I think I can…” Ash opened his mouth like a fish, gulped down some air and let it out with a blissfilled look on his face
“Yeah… Make it more, make it moooore.” Sheetal sang.
“Are you singing let it go like make it more?”
“Sorry.” Sheetal giggled.
“Bro… She… Why are you gay?”
Ghost stopped the conversation from getting derailed by saying “Alright, that’s enough kids, do you want me to raise the levels of potentiality? Then show me your notifications and accept them.”
“Gods danged nanny.” Sheetal cursed.
“I am not nanny. I am Ghost.”
“Huh.” Ash grunted.
“That’s my name. The one without the continuum alphanumeric designation. The one I earned for myself.”
“That’s just makes you a nosy nanny.” Sheetal shot back.
Ghost laughed “Oh that is nice.”
“Cool, what about the potentiality?” Ash prodded
Taran 45 grimaced “Kids, the potentiality in the air you are breathing. The one that is making you giddy. It should not do that. You should be dying of poisoning right now.”
“Meh. I am aaaaawesome. I can take more. “What about the last two rows?” Ash asked and added “Those are not lit. Give me more smoke, Ghost man.”
Taran closed his eyes “Ghost. Its just Ghost. And the last two layers. They are… needed to operate the white room.” Taran responded with a slight bit of hessitation.
Ash looked all around with an appreciative smile and nodded “Liar. Oh. That is smart.” He giggled “Needed to operate room. Funny.”
“Its… Honestly kid, don’t even think about doing what you are thinking about doing. That is how disruption rays are made. They will kill you.”
“Did you say kill?” Sheetal asked and then turned her head to look at Ash “Can we jerry rig that to blow him up?”
Ash blinked and then started looking at the walls around him “You know…”
“The answer is yes.” Ghost replied “But I can see the look on your face Ash and I don’t like it?”
“Well, you shouldn’t have put me in here then.”
“What’s going on?”
“Sensopaths.” Ghost chuckled and continued “You are fascinating creatures you know. The continuum tried to create a few of you but you somehow go and get yourselves killed in the most glorious ways.”
Sheetal raised her head and looked at Ash “What the heck is that jack axe talking about?”
“Why are you helping me suddenly?” Ash asked Taran 45.
Sheetal looked at white ceiling “Helping us, Ash.”
“Oh sorry, helping us.”
“You know sensopaths come of as psychopaths and sociopaths. But they are not. There behaviours are governed by the fact they see the world around us in a different way. Some say, they see the underlying reality of the universe and that is why they can’t relate to the normal.”
“God if he keeps monologuing about you, I am going to strangle him.” Sheetal said to Ash.
“I know. I am the one who wants to monologue.” Ash nodded.
“I am going to give this weapon to you both but remember when you shoot potentiality through conflicting shards, if you don’t create a perfect beam, it will have spillage. It will turn your hands to dust before it disrupts potentiality in an enemy’s body.”
Suddenly, all the shards around them lit up and for a split second every bond, every cell in their bodies wanted to not come together to make their existence. In a blink of an eye the feeling subsided.
“It’s like gas.” Sheetal muttered when the shock had subsided.
“No. It’s nothingness.” Ash shook his head.
“What?”
“She, we are made out of nothingness. That was more nothingness pushing into our body.”
“That is nonsense. We are made out of a lot of things, iron, calcium, proteins, water etc.”
“You are both right.” Taran 45 said from the control room “Sheetal, your physical body is made of those things but what keeps it all tied together? Energy. Protons and electrons bonding with each other. The disruption ray, uses multiple shards to create a jumble of disruptive energy that loosens those bond.”
Sheetal opened her moth to argue but then stopped. Her hud opened on its own and scrolled down to one of her earliest notifications.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Warder structure activated.
You have used pure potentiality to imbue an attack.
Disruptive Resonance.
Sheetal realised that Taran 45 could see her notification belatedly when he asked “How is the gods name did you do that?”
Ash quickly changed the topic “Yeah, we need to fill that nothingness quickly.”
He started taking in gulps of air. After a few breaths he added “Hey She, take in the air. Its even more tasty and giggly.”
“No” Taran 45 said in a fatherly tone “First you need to know how to create a disruption ray.”
“Oh, I know how to do that already. I figured it out even before you lit up the room.” Ash replied nonchalantly.
“Even so, you need to do it safely. If you just throw a wave around it will harm you.”
“No Ghost. It will harm you. Not me. And not She. I am awesome and She is… She.”
Sheetal looked at Ash with her eyebrows raised.
“I mean you will overthink the whole things until you coat it in plastic, rubber, and foam. And then you will automate it.” Ash explained.
Sheetal looked at Ash and asked “Are you still grumpy about the safety drill?”
Ash huffed “I don’t need safety. I am awesome.”
“No, you are a sensopath. An extremely sensitive one. And one that can operate both in the higher and lower octaves” Taran 45 added.
“I don’t know what that means. But it sounds like I am awesome.” Ash responded with a giggle and burst into laughter.
“No. That’s not what I mean. I mean you are a dunce, because you put a sense shard in your head. Why would you waste a slot like that when you can see everything already.” Taran 45 asked in a heated tone.
“Uh… I wanted red eyes.”
“What?”
“Let’s go back to the notifications. That a safe topic.” Ash said and started looking through hud.
“He is a dunce.” Sheetal nodded “Hey why does dunce work when other curse words don’t?”
Taran 45 nodded “Okay, we will fix the notification boxes. Then I will help you with the rest.”
Ash grinned and cheered lethargically “Yeeaaah!”
Taran rolled his eyes.
The rippling air in Ash’s sight started to move and then boxes began to ripple. Ash swayed on the ground and looked a bit sick
“Bad boxes.” Ash waggled a thin finger at the notifications
The notifications stabilised.
You have used a density shard to power up your attack.
Soul density increased to 20%
Continuous use of density shard has compressed your potentiality.
Potentiality compressed by 60%
You have used a density shard to power up your attack.
Soul density increased to 19.8%
You have used a density shard to power up your attack.
Soul density increased to 19.7%
“Ash, think of accepting all messages regarding density shard.” Taran 45 instructed with a gobsmacked expression on his face.
“Now think of next set of messages.” He continued.
By understanding the world around you have taken a step towards a higher level of understanding.
Glyph added to personal lexicon.
Glyph - Relay
“Accept all your glyph messages.”
He accepted it and half a dozen boxes disappeared revealing new ones.
Taran 45 touched his wrist “I have muted our voices. Ash can’t hear us. M141, have you ever seen a message about increasing soul density?”
Needles had left the dreamscape and returned couple of times now. Outside, everyone but the superb seven had vacated the hall with the pods. She looked at the notification and answered “Yes. We all have but…”
“Not at class zero and not soul density increases by twenty percent.” Taran 45 finished her sentence.
“Yes, that is strange.” Needles nodded.
“Strange. Strange is that compressed potentiality… What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know.” Needles had replied.
Taran 45 pursed his lips and nodded.
“Souls generate potentiality. And if that is compressed does that mean his soul has levelled up? This could cause complications.”
“It would have, if the khara wouldn’t have taken over.” Needles said spitefully.
The high councillor sighed and nodded “True.” And looked at the next series of messages.
You have used removed a shard.
Shard Type - Wind
All Potentiality Lost
Routing Remaining Potentiality to Increase Capacity.
All wind shard abilities and potentiality removed.
You have broken the sound barrier.
Burst mode achieved
Potentiality bursts unlocked
Potentiality increased by 3%
“Accept all wind messages.” Ash said happily and added “Wheee!”
Taran 45 blinked “He removed a shard?”
“How did he do that?” Needles asked in the same tone.
Both Taran 45 and Needles turned to look at the warder lying on the floor and playing with his notifications.
You have used speed shard.
Speed Shard combat capability increased
Shard density increase by 0.1%
You have used speed shard.
Speed Shard combat capability increased
Shard density increase by 0.2%
Reflexes increased by 0.3%
“Accept all speed messages. Wheee!”
Taran grimaced “This is not what I expected. What does he think? He is… he is unbreakable?”
“Have you not you heard the warder, High Councillor. He is awesome.” Needles couldn’t help a bit of sarcasm from bleeding into her voice.
She was annoyed. No scratch that. She was angry. Her life was all about following orders and doing the right thing. Sometimes those two things conflicted. And sometimes you had to take a stand. And she had done that. And still the two lost children were sacrificed to the machine that the continuum had become. Only serving the handful on the top. So, she watched. That was all she could do. Watch. For hours and hours, the warders fought to make the bodies their own while throwing out jokes. And she watched.
To Needles surprise Ghost, was there with them adding his own jokes to the mix. And taking the abuses from Sheetal with a smile. Meeting Ash’s suspicious looks with an open look.
A day later Needles finally confronted Ghost.
This time the warders were moved to different rooms and Ghost was sitting on a chair watching over them.
Needled looked at Taran 45 and could keep the disgust from her voice “What happened to you?”
Ghost looked at her and shook his head “Life. Life happens to all of us.”
“Rubbish!” Needles shook her head “We voted for you. We lobbied for you. I lobbied for you. We thought you were going to bring in a new era. We thought you were honourable and noble. And this is what we get?”
Taran 45 closed his eyes with a pained expression.
He softly started “The continuum is dying Specialist Medic. We cannot produce clones anymore. There is too much genetic deviation because of the volatile potentiality. We are barely thirty nine thousand in number. And now we are going to fight a force ten times as large. Even if we win, we will lose thousands. More cracks will show up in the continuum. Factions will blame each other and devolve into fighting. In a few years we will not even be a people.”
“So?” Needles pointed at the writing warders in front of her “Doing this helps?”
Taran nodded “Yes. I know you don’t think this is right. And honestly, it not but. But… But it was the only thing I could do. Even if I didn’t do anything Jay 7 would just get rid of me and make my people do this. He likes power. At least this way, two people, two warders, who could look at the situation objectively and guide us out of this status quo stay alive.”
Needles shook her head “What about you honour? What about the thrive faction’s honour?”
“Didn’t you hear me M141. We are going extinct. If it cost me my honour to save our people? It’s a small cost.”
“Not for them.” Needles pointed at the two warders screaming in pain and added “They didn’t ask for this. They aren’t responsible for this.”
“Yes, they are. They became responsible when they took the mission Jay 7 offered them. They will deal with the threat. And then they will deal with Jay 7.”
“So that is your goal? To throw them at Jay 7?” Needles glared at the man she had idealised for so long and said “Sheetal is right. You need to be stopped.”
Taran 45 smiled “Maybe so, Needles. But not by you and not today.”
Needles left the dreamscape after that and watched both the High Councillor and the warders from the projection.
“Ni, don’t you think this is the wrong time to take notes?” JJ asked from beside Needles.
Needles looked at her husband and looked at her hands raised to type over the empty document and dismissed the note. She took the cup of hot tea from JJ and leaned into him when he sat down.
“Still glowing I see.” JJ nodded at the pods.
“It’s an adjudicator. It has one and only purpose. To dispense justice.” Needles replied.
“Can’t we speed it up?”
“How?”
“Maybe talk to it?” JJ hedged.
They both looked at the glowing pods and Needles muttered “I would, but I don’t know where its head is?”
“Don’t be speciest Ni. Who knows if the ripple needs a brain or not.”
“So, what am I supposed to talk to?”
“The floor.” JJ pointed at the floor which had been transmuted into an unknown material with veins of light reaching out to the wall “And maybe the walls too.”
Needles looked at the walls with wide eyes “When did that happen?"
“Since yesterday, Ni. The veins had started appearing on the walls when you got out of the dreamscape. I guess you were too tired to notice?”
Needles put down her empty tea cup and looked at the high councillor sitting and the black metal chair “He has been in there all this while?”
JJ nodded with a clenched jaw “He hasn’t even twitched.”
Needles looked at the glowing pods and smiled “I think I will give the ripple some more to make up its mind. We should show respect to our guest. No matter their nature.”
JJ smiled back “Good choice. Who knows, the ripple might get annoyed and vaporise your favourite teacup.”
Needles gasped “Not my favourite teacup.”
As JJ chuckled Needles picked up the metal band from the table in front of it and put it on her head “See you in a few hours love.”
Before returning to dreamscape Needles took a moment to check on both of the warder’s physical readings. The process shouldn’t have been hard. The med pods should have been able to monitor their vitals. But the anathema in the pod had melted most of the sensors. And the ones outside the pods couldn’t get a clear reading because somehow the bulletproof glass had transformed into blue sapphire.
Giving up Needles just put on the headband and entered the digitised world only to find Sheetal sitting and looking at the floor with a blank eyed stare. Needles eyes widened. What had happened here. Had Ghost done something here again?
“Sheetal?””
The girl did not respond.
“Sheetal!”
Sheetal just sat there numbly.
Needles raised her hand to send a message to the khara when the warder twitched. Needles looked at her for any further movement.
“Come one girl. Talk to me.”
In response, vortexes started forming all around the isolated room. Twinkling multicoloured potentiality flowed into the small whirlpools and lit up the dully lit room. They kept pulling more and more potentiality from all over the room. And in a blink of an eye rushed into her. The sensation must have been pleasurable because Sheetal flew into the with an ecstatic look in her eyes and floated back to the floor as a delirious drooling mess.
“Sheetal? Are you okay?” Needles asked the warder.
Sheetal lethargically looked up with glassy eyes.
“My link. My link with my breaker is gone.”
Needles was surprised with Sheetal flat lifeless narration.
Needles checked her reading and blinked. Her brain waves were off. In fact, the girl wasn’t using her prefrontal cortex. The part of the brain that drove emotions. Needles hit keys on her holographic keyboard and knew the reason.
Her brain was undergoing mutations again.
And yet, she was talking.
Sheetal sniffed “That smell. The scent. Lillies and apricots. Ash’s favourite perfume. Miss Dior.”
“Sheetal?”
“Breaker. No. Ash he leaves behind clues. Like silky strappy underwear. Or the red dress that stains when he washes it in the machine. But, no clues… Where is he?”
“Sheetal!” Needles shouted and ordered “Girl. Listen to me.”
Sheetal’s eyes focussed unerringly on Needles. Technically, Needles didn’t have anything to worry about. She had administrator rights in the dreamscape. And they weren’t even in the same server. And yet she could feel weight of her gaze. It literally felt like someone had dropped tens of kilos on her shoulders.
“Hmm… I know that voice. Not breaker. Not Ash. I need to get to Ash.”
The weight on Needles shoulders disappeared and she released a breath “Sheetal. Ash is okay. You will be able to see him soon. Warder! Can you understand me?”
Needles was silent for a long moment and then cursed “There she goes. Wandering off again in that head of hers. Now she is just sitting there looking at me with a blank look.” Needles complained loudly and then asked “What did those alien octopuses do to her?” She paused and added “Do to them?”
“The wall. It’s not really a wall. It’s like paper. No not paper.”
“What in the gods name is she talking about.” Needles asked.
“Plastic.” Sheetal continued “Plastic and void.”
“Sheetal, I need you to focus on my voice.”
“Plastic and void with numbers. Same numbers again and again.” Sheetal’s eyes slightly focussed on the world around “Not worth bonding. Temporary.”
“Sheetal. Go back to sleep, child.” Needles sighed loudly.
“You expect a construct to trap a creature created to walk through realities end in this?”
Needles felt heat lace Sheetal’s words today. And this time she felt a spike of fear in her pillar.
“Warder! Sheetal! Nobody is trying to trap you.” Needles shouted.
“Lies. The councillor lies.” Sheetal blinked.
“For all the gods in all the heavens, focus girl.” Needles scolded her and when that didn’t work added “I am not the High Councillor.”
Focus? Sheetal was great at focussing. One did not create new solutions and patent them without focus. So, she focussed and directed her awareness towards Needles. And knew where Needles was.
Forty percent of her brain or what substituted as her brain homed into the room where Needles was. Around twenty five percent of it was referencing her abilities and making plans to break out of this enclosed tin can masked with a veneer of reality.
But Sheetal didn’t have abilities. She knew she should have abilities. The abilities that made her a bonder. But she didn’t. She didn’t even know their names. Annoyed Sheetal decided to brute force her way out of this prison.
Needles looked on with widening eyes as Sheetal’s hair began rippling in the air. The air she conjured underneath her feet went wild lifting her into the air and made her appear like an angry goddess. The crashing winds caused so much friction that lightning began sparking everywhere around her.
Needles quickly hit the safety protocol switch to drive potentiality out of the room.
Sheetal’s eyes locked onto the venting potentiality and she raised her hand “No. Mine.”
Needles mouth flew open and she just looked at the girl for a long moment. She looked off. Her long hair flying all over, her rippling clothes, and the lightning should have made her look furious but her eyes. They looked glazed over. Sheetal reached out a hand and ripped the world apart.
Needles yelped and jumped back.
“I need my breaker.”
Needles had never seen fragments of code glitched, sputtered and malfunctioned. It was like the world had gone still and a hole had appeared in between her and the wall next to her. It rippled like waves and sparked. From inside it, Sheetal’s flew towards her with dead eyes.
“Take me to the land of lilies and apricots.” Sheetal ordered.
“Sheetal, you need to calm down.”
“Take me to Ash.”
“I will but first…”
“What?” Sheetal asked.
“Are you okay?” Needles asked unfazed.
Sheetal took in a breath and focussed on the room “Yes.”
“How did you do that?” Needles pointed at the ripped apart wall.
“The math on that wall was wrong. It created a pixelated bulge in the physical representation of the wall. Reality does not bulge.”
“That wasn’t a bulge. It was a sensory code to monitor your health.” Needles explained.
“I followed it here.”
“Okay.” Needles nodded “You do know we are in, were in different servers, right?”
“But it is the same reality.”
“I see” Needles pulled out a chair and waved “Sheetal, sit down for a moment and let me examine you.”
“I am fine.”
“But when it comes to Ash…”
“I will kill anyone who touches my little brother.” Sheetal said mechanically while floating down to the chair.
“Brother?”
“Braker. Bonder. We are from none. We are two.”
“I see.” Needles nodded. She didn’t but she had to say something.
“Sheetal, here is the thing. You are not awake.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know sweetheart. From the notes I have here, Ghost had to put you in REM sleep and yes, I am going to wake you up. But slowly. Because when you wake up you will find that your brain is now sixty percent more efficient and hundred and twenty percent bigger.”
“I know. I am only allocating seventeen percent of my attention to you. Other portions of my brain are decoding this room. Calculating the amount of radiation, I need to create a black hole to tear the world apart and reach Ash.”
“Gods. What has he created?” Needles muttered
“Me.”
Needles exhaled “Very well. Here we go.”
Needles flicked a switch mentally and the broken floor and the wall next to it disappeared. A garden filled with butterflies and flowers appeared. Sheetal looked the grass growing under her feet for a second and leaned down.
“What are you doing?” Needles asked
“Touching grass.” Sheetal smiled and then tuned to look at a meadow filled with lilies surrounded with apricot trees.
“Okay. Why?”
“It’s funny.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I don’t feel funny.” Sheetal looked confused for a second and then in a
flutter of loose clothes flew away.
Needles dodged a flower bud flying towards her face in Sheetal’s wake and followed the girl. Soon, She could see Ash lying on the ground, with a bud sticking out of his mouth. His long hair spread out under his head and his soft cute features marred by a spike of pain here and there.
“Hey! Ghost.” Ash croaked from the grassy mound he was lying on “You there?”
Taran 45 who was sitting a few feet away looked behind him and answered “Yes, warder Ash, I am here.”
“You look distracted. Wha…” Ash stopped when he saw Sheetal flying at him.
“Umm… She!?” Ash squeaked.
Sheetal came to a standstill a second before she would have collided with him.
“Breaker. Brother. Ashhole.” Sheetal stated with a glassy eyed smile.
“Hey.” Ash protested and then sighed “Hi She. You are asleep aren’t you?”
Sheetal turned to look at Taran 45 and in a flat tone stated “Enemy.”
Ash gave Sheetal a worried look “Are you are sleepwalking again?”
Sheetal just bobbed there floating over him.
“She does this when she is stressed.” Ash explained to Ghost and then turned to look Needles walking towards them. He waved “Oh, hi Needles. I was just speaking to the grey haired suicidal maniac.”
Taran 45 smiled “I am not suicidal Ash.”
“No? Right. You don’t have the stones to pull the trigger yourself.”
Needles laughed while bidding Sheetal to sit on the floor.
Ash grunted in pain and held his midsection “Ah! That was right in my ovaries.”
“Ovaries?” Needles asked and stated “Ash, you don’t have ovaries.”
“Then why do I feel period pain?”
“You are not feeling… You don’t even know what period pain feels like.”
“Oooh! Did I annoy you by taking away you girl club card?”
Needles opened her mouth to respond, stopped, reconsidered her words and asked “I don’t know what that means but are you trying to get under my skin?”
Ash winced in pain and with red rimmed eyes groaned “I…uh… No, I am trying to distract myself by picking a fight with you.”
Needles nodded and watched Sheetal lie down next to Ash. Sheetal looked at him for a second and slowly closed her eyes.
“I wish I could just shut my eyes and go to sleep like you.”
“Having a high threshold of pain is not always a blessing, is it?” Taran 45 asked.
Ash closed his eyes and controlled his breathing “Well aren’t we too peas in a pod. Who tortured you?”
“The raks. They did such a great job that they themselves thought they had killed me. Honestly, they almost had. I was just a few seconds from turning into ash. Thankfully, General Athena came crashing in and saved me.”
“You don’t sound happy to be saved?”
“It was a long time ago.” Taran 45 dismissed the question with a wave and asked “Who tortured you?”
“A group of government owned drug dealing mafia thugs. Not my government obviously. They would have finished the job. And nobody saved me. Unlike you, I escaped.” Ash responded smugly.
“Oh, tough guy, aren’t you?” Taran 45 asked.
“Yup.”
Taran 45 snorted “You are not tough. You are a cockroach.”
Ash let out a pained laugh “Hey, big man, if you want us to start exchanging pleasantries, I will be happy to do it when I am up and on my feet.”
Taran 45 took in a deep breath and looked at Needles.
“So, when are you going to drop the nice guy act?” Ghost asked
“I don’t know what you mean?”
Taran 45 exhaled “You yourself said, you are sociopath. That means you don’t feel any empathy. Then why are you pretending to be nice to people?”
“Haven’t you heard the saying you catch more flies with honey?”
“So, we are flies to you?”
“As long as you are not wasps, I don’t care.”
“Even if I cut you apart and rearranged your insides?”
“We’ll come back to me later. First…” Ash grunted in pain and took in a wheezing breath to continue “Tell me, how bad have you messed up?”
The high councillor chuckled “Trying to stay one step ahead of me?”
Ash raised an eyebrow “I am one step ahead of you, Ghost.”
The high councillor looked at Ash and rolled his eyes “Fine. Fine. Fine. I’ll tell you. Honestly, it’s not as bad as Needles thinks. The seven, her squad, they are veteran old guards, but at the end of the day, they are simple soldiers. They don’t understand the political backscratching and the convoluted logic life has turned into for us at the top. Needles thinks the other will vote me out,” Taran 45 chuckled mirthlessly and shook his head “No, they won’t. They will waive their fingers at me and shout at me for show. They don’t give a hoot about what I am doing here. As long as I create brainwashed weapons for the war effort.”
Needles glared at Ghost “What about the rest of us? Do you think we don’t care either?”
Ghost sighed “No, you do. But then you have to go on patrols. Find resources. Cook, clean and live. And after all that do you have the time or the mental capacity to care about someone else’s problem?”
Ash nodded “Normie drudgery.”
“Excuse me?” Needles asked
“Often times the best explanation is a normie explanation. Our corporations and government do that. Hey there is a big explosion that happened at a refinery. Yeah, but you got to go to your job. So, what, if they refinery is still on fire and less than five kilometres away.” Ash gave the medic a meaningful look “The normies. They all think the same. They put it out of their minds and go to their jobs. They watch their stupid shows on their screen and just go on while saying it doesn’t affect me, my entertainment, or my goals and then go buy a silver phone while calling the colour starlight.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know Needles. Neither do I.” Ash nodded empathetically.
“Yes.” Ghost laughed “And exactly. Normie drudgery what an apt phrase.”
Ash smiled and asked Ghost “So, that is why the rest of the councillors didn’t stop you.”
Ghost nodded.
“Except for General Athena. She almost shot the high councillor when she realised that it was too late to save you.” Needles said spitefully.
“Hmm… But the council is in complete control of every soldier.” Ash stated.
“No. General Athena’s army is a separate entity to the old guard and the augmented.”
“But we are surrounded by those two factions, right?” Ash asked.
Ghost opened his mouth to answer but was stopped by Ash “Hold on a minute bro.” The young warder turned to looked at Needles “Are we in danger of being brainwashed?”
“No.” Needles replied with a snort “I don’t think you understand. You are being protected by the light itself. There is a ripple out there.”
“Nice! Don’t know what that is but, good job, doc.” Ash turned back to Taran 45 with narrowed eyes “So, Ghost. Why are you telling me all this?”
Taran 45 continued without answering Ash’s question “What you need to worry about is the khara. Yes, they do serve the light but that mission they gave you… I am worried that it will kill you before you can make a strong foundation for yourselves.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
Ghost looked at Needles “On my person are four coins. Two of them are for doom step. Two are general favour coins. Could you please gather them for the warders.”
“Doom step?” Ash asked
“The ghost hand I slapped you with is a part of that art. I could never use it properly. I am not fast enough or as good a fighter as you. Maybe you could get more use from them.”
Needles looked at the High Councillor in shock “You would…”
“Yes.” Ghost nodded “I owe the warders for what I have done.”
Ash looked at the by play for a long moment and then finally asked “So, Ghost, how much do you hate your own people? Enough to let someone else take over?”
Taran 45 looked at the boy trying to supress the pain he was feeling with a cheeky grin “Are you kidding me?”
“No. I am as serious.” Ash grunted “Like the heart attack I am having right now.”
“Boy, you don’t have the experience to take over a dinner menu much less the continuum.”
Ash growled “Ghost, you captured us, you experimented on us, and now you are subjecting us to this torture. All so that you can show off your people’s faults to them. I am giving you a way.”
“I don’t want to do that.”
Ash paused as he battled a spike on pain of something down his neck and continued in anger “Stop playing games, Ghost. You are the master of intelligence for the continuum. You know your faults. You know what needs to be done. Now, I am giving you a way to do it. Shit, piss or get of the pot, old man!”
“What a colourful phrase.” Ghost laughed.
“You and I both know that the continuum can’t continue the way it is. My solution might not work completely but it will work. You know it will work otherwise you wouldn’t be investing in me.”
Ghost shrugged “Fine kid. If you want to take over our crumbling ship, be my guest. I will nominate you for a membership into the Thrive.”
Needles looked at the two men talking around major facts and for the future of her people with calm confidence and she was shocked into a stunned silence.
Ash chuckled “Good. Now, go away both of you. I am going to cuddle into She and pass out.”
Needles stood up from the ground and said “You know Sheetal hates getting cuddled.”
Ash grunted in pain and replied “Why the heck do you think I do it?”
Needles looked at the chuckling Ghost and asked “And this is the guy you want to take over Continuum?”
“Yes. He won’t be the first fool to try.” Ghost began to walk away and Needles followed him.
A few yards away from the warders Needles finally asked “Councillor, what have you created?”
Ghost looked back at Needles “What do you mean?”
“What have you done to those two children and created?”
Ghost exhaled “My aim was to create cosmic human mages.”
“And?”
“And then the khara took over and repurposed the materials to their ends.”
“You mean, mutilated two innocents to create a mutated mangled mess?”
“They are not that bad.” Ghost defended himself.
“How would you know? You haven’t even stepped out of the dreamscape.”
“About that. I don’t think I will step out anytime soon.”
“What do you mean?” Needles asked
“They will need lessons. I am going to give them the time to learn.”
“What are you planning…”
Needles blinked. She had been pushed out of the dreamscape. She tried reconnecting. The band on her head chimed and a notification popped up on her hud.
Processing Capacity at 93%
You cannot connect with Dreamscape right now.
Please wait for local processes to complete.