The Uplift Protocol: Issue 16

Issue 16: Rocket’s Red Glare

Good morning New Ashbury! In today’s news: The Terran Alliance celebrates the 22^nd anniversary of Outpost City: Serria 1. Now rechristened Demeter in honor of Project Rebirth. To finally bring green to the surface of Mars. Also in headlines: The Legion of Tomorrow is looking for potential recruits to fill the ranks. All interested parties should apply via HeroNet or INet. Paving the way for a Better Tomorrow. Developing breakthrough: Man’s best friend, we finally have a way to extend canine life. Our friends will now live to the old age of 40. Provided you give them the required rejuvenation shot. Now Fido will enjoy the daily visit to the vet. Researchers hope to translate this to other beloved animals. Humanity already knows the vigors of Prolong! 200 is the new 90! New SR game released: Visions of Atlantis. Will you dive into the adventure? Link now for a free Demo. Called the game of the century.

Mrs. Murphy has been acting more unusual than normal. Like she’s debating something within herself. She asked me to meet her at the Blue Saucer of all places. A curious set of coordinates to be sure. After the Prom that is. She said she had vested interest in the proceedings.-Lorain Lanis

My high school prom. We all got to dance like normal at the end. Eddie went all out as he usually does but the star of the show was a corgi. A singular bright spot at the end of the year. We were all so innocent then. Lorain is laughing at me now. Saying I am still pretty innocent. She finds it endearing. If I’m really honest: Yeah, I hardly contribute to the Curse Jar.- Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 22^nd century

North Ashbury High School

USA (Texas)

October 29th, 2092

Jonas “Eddie” Olsten stood aghast. The Prom cake was ruined. Totally and utterly. It was his fault. Sharp footfalls echoed within the gymnasium. Two blazing green eyes held him in place. Lorain Lanis was not amused. If looks could kill, Lanis’ would flatten many small cities. “Eddie, what happened here?”, she barked. 

For his part, Olsten could only stand there in utter confusion. Then he waved frantically as Eliza entered the area. “HEY! Murphy! Help. Please?” The taller Texan scanned the entire room. Spotting some rather telling paw prints. “I believe we have a lead!” She indicated the direction of the frosted prints. Lorain knelt and frowned.

“How on earth did a dog get in here?”

More footfalls sounded. Jennifer Murphy was bringing in some solo cups. She eyed her daughter for a moment, “I know that look, what’s wrong?” Eliza turned, taking the packages and placing them on the table, indicating the ruined cake. “Looks like a rather curious dog got to it. See where the prints go?” Horus floated above everyone, ((Captain! I have located the corgi, he is currently reclining on a set of benches in the common area!))

Lorain winced. “Oh no.”

There he was. Augustus. All four paws in the air. Snoring loudly. Cooper nudged him with no success. His whole belly was covered with strawberries and whipped cream.

*****

I gently scooped the corgi up. Linked into HeroNet: //Star to White Lily: If you aren’t too busy punching out crime, we have a cake emergency, Augie tore through about 3/4ths of the prom confectionary delights.//

//WL: That dog is 1 quarter the size of a german shepherd. How…never mind. I'll get Grace to take a look at what she can whip up.//

            My mother wrapped an arm around me, “Well? From that glazed look in your eyes, who’d you call? A master baker?”

            “You could say that.”

*****

Muthra Al'teri was about to exit the Archives at Union Hall when her team coms sparked to life, on the other end White Lily was speaking, “Grace! Bulleteer and I are going to be somewhat late for our grandkid’s party but it looks like they need a replacement cake, you up for it?” She paused at the utter delight in Lily’s tone. “What happened to the first one I made?”

*****

Arthon entered the main common area, filled with park benches and soothing music, finding Eliza and her group in a semi-circle. He waved as he approached. “I was ordered to deliver a cake? If I have to I'll put it under lock and key.” Eliza was carrying a rather disheveled corgi in her arms. Its little legs were kicking as it slept. Muted barks punctuated by extended bouts of snoring. Jonas’ face was plastered with a mix of embarrassment and exasperation. Eliza was all smiles, “Hey Artie. Welcome to the party.” His voice was laced with concern as he saw her nose start to bleed slightly.

“Is there magic here?” He muttered a few phrases. All response was negative. He had noticed the same kind of bleeding at the Mall that day. He had been in the presence of Keepers and their lackeys before. That never happened to him. He sent out a low-frequency burst to see if any Void Walker anchors were present.

Nothing sparked on his sensor board.

*****

Mom’s eyes narrowed. “Eliza?” She cupped my chin gently, using a piece of cloth from her pocket to dab my nose, after a moment the blood disappeared from the handkerchief. Mom squeezed my bicep. I glanced around quickly, extending my senses out, nothing around me. I raised my eyes skyward.

There!

Some sort of monitoring system.

I concentrated on the ivory ring:

//Shadowman stuff in orbit. It's in passive mode though. Don’t sense any more circling Earth for now. Want the frequency?//

Mom nodded. Holding my face for a moment longer, satisfied that my nose wasn’t leaking like Niagra Falls. Her voice echoed within, colored with concern: >>Is it moving or is it stationery?<<

Like before, her hand was on the back of my neck, pretending that she was fixing my flight jacket. // It's making random patterns around the United States specifically. I think its listening for something. The background noise I am picking up, one word, in particular: Everlasting.//

Her grey-green eyes crinkled with worry. >>Odd. In what language? That is important.<<

I let the words flow through the ring. Mom uttered some sort of curse. She gave me a stern look. >>Alright, well that proves some other things. Let’s shelve this for now and concentrate on what we can do.<<

Aloud: “Well that does it. Good as new space cadet.” She gave me another pat on the back. “What shall we do about that corgi then? I don’t know if a stomach pump would be worth it. He appears too fat and happy.”

Arthon snorted, “You mean what he won't eat. How can something that small eat that much cake?” Cooper whined and danced around us. A familiar weight settled upon my head, Horus was relaying multiple messages to my coms. The only downside, I wasn’t able to wear my usual NASA cap. Arthon was decked out in a white and gray tracksuit. The Prom wasn’t supposed to start until 8 pm. We still had a few hours. Augie let out a few more sleep-addled barks and opened one brown eye to gaze out over his vast kingdom. His little nub of a tail was a motorboat.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

Lorain came over and shook her finger. “Bad Augie!” His ears twitched. Cooper decided it would be best to tag team her. He joined in the soulful stare of ancient canine tactics: Please forgive us. We are cute. I could feel Doc’s ire dissipating under the combined might of Dog kind. She gave me a polite shove, “This might work for them but don’t think you are safe!” I cocked my head to the side. Cooper did the same. His head going to the left instead. <<Captain! I will assist in negotiations! Bardaxian Compact Tip: Perk your ears up and look confused! Then when negotiations are at their highest, wham them with another head tilt!>>

“Uh? What? Last I checked I was officially nominated as Corgi Lift.” Augie’s little paws were still sticking straight up. He looked rather comfortable in my arms. His tongue rolled out in a happy go lucky grin. He gave a few more affectionate barks. Then he licked my cheek for good measure. My mother hid a smile behind her hand. Doc just kept staring at me. Granted, I had empath abilities but I couldn’t read minds. I finally opened one of Horus’ feeds: ((I think she wants you to comment on her choice of dresses.))

She was wearing a rather nice outfit. Very deep green. Ah, I see. No wonder mom was laughing at me. I never was much for clothing or fashion. I gave Lorain a very involved critique. Well by my standards. “I think it's very pretty. Matches your eyes!” Eddie sent me a thumbs up in private. Doc’s whole face lit up like a Christmas Tree. Mother clapped her hands together, “Well now that we have another cake, guess its time for the rest of you to get ready for…” The sky exploded in a shower of color. A giant winged beast emerged from the epicenter. Its roars echoed throughout the whole school. I looked at the others. This was a job for the Golden Redeemers.

*****

Agent Hilary Brookes gasped in astonishment as her father’s scouting array picked up unknown energies emanating from the North Ashbury area. //Confirmed: Earth-Based Magical entity recorded. The Golden Redeemers are pushing it out into less populated areas. Using the Shielding system to assist with corralling it.//

She grimaced. “I see, the little flag and her noble team trying to win the day again? Not on my watch. This victory will go to the FBI. “

She unlocked the stationary controls for her hovercar and sped off into the early evening air. That damned demi wouldn’t win over another human as far as she was concerned. She patched into the INet hub, giving her credentials as she went, her annoyance climbing with each update. The Banner had sent the creature suborbital. Just like with that dinosaur. With one hit this time. Brookes sneered at the holo display of the fight. The only one on that team who would be a nuisance was that Light-Bearer fellow. He was an actual warrior. Calm and collected. Even the doctor demi proved to have some sound tactical thinking. The dog and Star were just giant sponges, soaking up all the damage for their nearly mortal teammates. She didn’t care about whatever that TA probe and the Puzzler were there for. At best, all they could do was provide mere milliseconds of distraction.

Her grin turned sour as various news sources were proclaiming, “America’s newest team was on guard.” A rather scathing and insightful update from “Into the Fire” caught her interest. She marked that and swerved into oncoming traffic. Her vehicle's sirens blaring for others to get the hell out of the way. One even had the gall to shout, “GO BACK TO FLIGHT SCHOOL LADY!”

She gave him the finger in return.

No one would tell her what to do.

*****

As my fist connected with the creature’s leathery face, it was propelled skyward, nearly breaking the earth's atmosphere. Doctor Impossible was on my six, with Arthon and Emerald on either side of me, while the Puzzler hitched a ride with Horus. Everyone’s suits were made to withstand space but he didn’t have a powerful enough boost to break orbit. Considering how much we batted things into the vacuum, I’d ask Golden Bulleteer if we could update that on Puzzler’s suit. Our opponent looked like a cross between a t-rex for its head, the body of a lion, with the wings of something out of your worst nightmare. It belched lighting. Hitting me square in the chest.

Nothing.

My suit had redirected the energy. Even updating in my H.U.D: Integrity down 10%. Standby for Regeneration.

What had the Lady put in it? Doc’s worry turned to horror as it tried to right itself. I dove into the creature. Giving it another resounding crack on the jaw. Sending it spinning even further into the black. Breaking full atmo. It began to thrash about. Its eyes bulging as the lack of oxygen began to take hold. Arthon made some sweeping gestures and a thin silver field incased it. Emerald K-9 formed massive green chains that entrapped the limbs. Sir Avalon appeared as we closed in. The very edge of earth and space warping for a moment. He threw some sort of cubes at it. They melded over the creature and consumed it until all that was left was a silent red cube with odd markings. His voice boomed in our heads:

<<We will take things from here. Good work on herding it out of the city.>> I chimed in with, “Well it was the Puzzler’s idea to use the shielding system to corral it. Doc shot some darts at it that…” Sir Avalon waved his hand and we were all back on the ground. His blond beard was highlighted with flecks of blue lightning. “No worries Star, HeroNet captured it all, very good teamwork.” Light-Bearer stepped forward and bowed.

“Indeed. I must apologize but duty pulls me elsewhere.” With a flash of bright light, he was gone. The Puzzler chimed in, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Avalon! What’s gonna happen to that Terrabeast?” The older man was bemused. “That my young Puzzler was no beast. It was created by foul magics. It is called a chimera. For nothing natural can birth it.” A sudden chill ran up my spine. Mr. Apple gripped my right shoulder. His eyes drilling into me. Doctor Impossible let out a surprised gasp then I felt her hands digging into my thigh. I looked down. A small gash was on my left leg, just above the knee. In all the excitement I hadn’t noticed or felt it. A warm tingling filled my whole body as she closed the wound.

In a blink, Mr. Apple was gone once more. 

*****

Hilary stared at the splotch of red on the pavement.  Only by sheer luck and her nano enhancers had she even spotted it. She gathered the sample up. The genetic markers came back mostly human. It was the abnormalities that caught her attention the most.

Alien markers.

Star wasn’t as All American as it seemed.

A figure with a dark suit and red tie followed. The drizzle of rain passing through him like mist.

The Tormented One must not know the full truth. 

*****

Augustus trotted up as we all re-entered the school. He had on a festive party hat. His corgi ears swishing back and forth. The various imprints of lipstick drew my eye. Various shades of pink and red. The new cake was behind a barrier now. Lorain was back into that green dress. While Eddie had on a nice tux. I just had on my usual black flight jacket, dress shirt, and gray jeans. Complete with brown work boots. I felt Doc press a hand lightly into my back. I turned and looked down at her. I plastered a bright smile on my face. “I’m ok! You do great work!” Her eyes clouded over a bit. Then her face relaxed. “Ok Cornfed, what’s all this really about? Why aren’t you in something more appropriate? It's not like you’d look bad in a dress or a uniform for that matter.”

My back tensed up at that. That low-level constant hum of pain shooting up my spine. I never let anyone see it. For most people, their spines looked perfectly fine. Mine? It was a horror show. I didn’t want Doc to see all that. So I just shrugged. From her emotional output, I could tell this wasn’t going to work. I could feel my vertebrae crack as I put my hands behind my neck. Her eyes widened as she heard it. Her finger jabbed my chest. “Follow me.” The finality of her tone brooked no arguments. I sighed and followed her into one of the classrooms, locking the door behind us.

“Take it off, all of it.” Her eyes never left mine.

“Now.” The tone was ice cold. But under it was a sense of worry. Beyond those emotions: far too jumbled to make out clearly.

I removed my jacket. She became more concerned as she noticed the way the white dress shirt was hanging off my frame. My Banner suit hid my back issues pretty well. In fact, it felt like that area was reinforced somehow. I didn’t tell anyone this but the pain was much less when I was wearing it. I just wanted to protect my family and friends. I didn’t want to see the genuine concern in Lorain’s eyes. She unbuttoned the shirt. Pulling it away from my back as gently as she could.

Minutes go by.

The waves of outrage and sadness hit me like a hammer. Her hands run over every inch of my spine, mapping out everything. I can tell because her power dulls the pain. Her voice is muted, “Who did this?”

A quiet fury.

“I don’t know. I was born this way.” My voice was firm. I was the wall that wouldn’t break. Not ever. I would protect everyone.  Her hands kept running up and down my spine. “It’s like half of your back is missing Eliza.” Her voice was laced with suppressed anguish.

Mr. Apple placed a hand over my heart. His golden orbs are an endless tunnel.

This pain is nothing. Let her examine you.

Doc continued to poke and prod. At different intervals sending bursts of healing energy along that twisted corridor. On the surface, while standing up straight, my backside looked like it was pitted with microscopic holes. Constant indentations at each point along the spine. Internally, it felt like half my limbs were missing. Deaded nerves. A memory came to me then. The only person who could ever make me feel anything there was Lorain. Whenever someone patted me on the back, nothing. No sensations at all. It was like a blanket of fire constantly pinpricking its way across a desert. When she placed her palm on the nape of my neck, it sent a kaleidoscope of images and sensations. From the way her breath hitched, she was able to feel something too.

I turned and faced her. “Well, Doc? What’s the prognosis then?”

She eyed me like a tiger.

A very well dressed green tiger. Like something out of the holovids.

“There is no way in hell I am letting you be all stoic and suffer in silence. With that good old girl grin on your face.” She grabbed my dress shirt, running her palms all over it, leaving behind some sort of markings. Seemingly satisfied with her handy work she helped me put it back on. Taking special care with the collar. More symbols flashed behind my eyes. A burst of cooling water flowed across my shoulders. The sudden relief must have been plain to see because she gave a watery chuckle.

“Cornfed, from this moment on I am your Doctor Sawsmith. There’s no way my Captain Cosmos will explore anything without a proper Landing team. Got it?” I grinned at her. Put my hands out wide, with only a slight twinge of discomfort. “You got it Doc. Will do!” I donned my flight jacket. I took her by the hand, “Let’s go join everyone. I can hear the opening cords already.”

*****

J’ino re-read the message just to be sure:

//Horus to J’ino: Typherian synapses in Eliza fired off for .12 seconds.//

She very nearly collapsed on the bleachers in the auditorium.

It was a start.

She saw them all on the dance floor.

Jonas was hamming it up with some blond-haired senior girl. Dancing with the vigor of youth.  Her gaze rested on her daughter. From her posture she could tell: Whatever Lorain had done had relieved Eliza of that pain she thought she hid so well. A mother could tell though.

 Always.

Eliza was sitting at one of the tables. Lanis came over and grabbed Murphy, pushing her to the stage, both of them singing slightly off-key to some song, while Augustus was placed in the center.

*****

I grabbed Augie as the next song was starting. Some ancient relic of a tune, “You ain't nothing but a Hound Dog.” The corgi in question barked in time with the song. Along with Cooper. I did a double-take. The rest of the Bardaxian Squad was here. Jumping on the stage to bark along. Well then. Our classmates were in a frenzy. This would be one for the record books I imagine. Lorain grabbed my forearm. Pulling us into a conga line. A carefree grin on my face as our four-footed compatriots joined in. Marching along with the rest of us. Lorain had her hands on my waist as I held Augustus up over my head. His nub of a tail corkscrewing in time with the beat, causing some people behind me to exclaim, “Augustus for Class President! PARTY CORGI!”

He let out a peal of happy barks.

Eddie shouted, “CLASS OF 2092!”

A banner of a year indeed.

The sheer breathless hilarity I could feel from the ring mom gave me nearly stopped my heart. I glanced up at the bleachers.  Everyone was there. Mom, dad, grandparents. Grandpa even stood for a moment to give me his Bulleteer salute on the sly. Even Arthon was present. Next to someone that felt familiar. Mr. Apple popped in with a party favor. Winking at me.

Enjoy this.

*****

Arthon gave the Lady a polite salute. While the rest of his team danced the night away. Surface schools were strange places. “So is it normal for them to do this? What's it called? First Base?” Thomas gave the young Atlantian a clap on the shoulder. “Oh god no. This event isn’t courting. I think my heart will give out when that happens. Drinking age is easier. Almost time for University. My girl, when she’s old enough I'll make her a Screwdriver but not before.” He saw Jennifer Murphy elbow her husband in the ribs. “Screwdriver? No, give her something more robust. Like a Long Island Ice tea!”

Thomas was utterly flummoxed by this. “What is up with you today Jen? You look like you won an entire Universe!” She gave Thomas a quick kiss on the cheek. “Only good things my dear.” The Lady smiled at the Murphys. So many generations to get to this point. She opened a line to the young Muthra:

//Protect them as best you can. We are trying to work behind the scenes as far as Uplift is concerned.  Time is short. Soon the stars will be filled with wonders.//

Arthon felt the unspoken truth.

Old Ones. Vast and terrifying.

Soon they too would awaken.

*****

J’ino slipped out. The music fades as the night sounds masked the beat within the gymnasium. Finding the Scholar on the school balcony. His hat was clasped in his hands. As she stood next to him, he dropped four clear crystals into her palm. “When the time is right, give this to your daughter. She will know what to do with them.” She opened the compartment in her amulet, putting the crystals within. J’ino gazed up into the night sky, watching the stars twinkle, seeing a comet blazing downward.

A good omen.

Issue 15: Here
Issue 17: Here