The Uplift Protocol: Hidden Legacies Issue 29

 

Issue 29: Blood of My Blood

 

            They mock me now. The man with no mouth to scream. But I can still win. I am not without resources. I will hold Unity’s crown. Then pull its decrepit soul from its body.—Set

            Prepare final drop tubes for assault. While tech can provide demis with breathable atmo, please be advised: Stay with your Light Shaman backups. They will protect you from the worst of the Black Scrawl and Living Stone infesting the Glass Tower.—C.A.P advisement

            I wasn’t on the extraction team. Dad said it was mostly to use the mantle of the White to protect the other demis causing the distraction but I knew why. My poker face was horrid. Dad on the other hand? He put all his grief and rage into that shout. As for the rest? The Glass Tower was more than it seemed. Aren't they always?—Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 23^rd century (vol 2)

The Glass Tower

Central VR Chambers

 

            Pandora gripped the human assassin by her shoulders. Shadow claws digging in to let the other woman know she was serious, “Go into the program with the information and sigils I gave you. I want them to know.”

Pandora ran one clawed digit down the woman’s throat. The Litari purred as the human’s heart rate accelerated.

            Pira nodded.

The jerky movements in time with Pandora’s gleeful shout, “I'll give those demis some fun! But why put their precious White Defender out there I wonder!”

            As the final seal enclosed around Pira, various plugs and sensors enveloped her body. As her vision cleared she beheld an endless expanse of snow. Unlike Tobin and Arthur, the environmental settings weren’t affecting her. She sprinted towards the sounds of battle. Quite enjoying the feeling of weightlessness. Her hands heated. She’d have some fun first.

*****

The biting cold that made Arthur shiver receded as Jace took the ice building up around the place. His hands curled into fists as he brought the huge chunks raining down on the massive polar bears charging at them. A wall of fire blasted the animals into charred chunks. The heat caused Tobin to leap backward. Arthur brought the giant club up as a woman clothed in an ash gray business suit asked, “Well well. A couple of sleeping princes!” Her red hair was cut brutally short. Her form condensed. Then expanded outward. The snap-hiss of fire followed in her wake.

Her voice echoed all around them.

“I wonder if your family will find you in time boy.”

Tobin scowled.

His INet H.U.D still refused to respond. He dared not try his link to his siblings. Or the special necklace. It was the only thing he could feel in this world. Which meant their hostess hadn't found it yet. He prayed she wouldn’t.

Arthur murmured, “So what are you here for? Since we obviously can’t go anywhere.”

Tobin's mind locked onto that last part.

If this was a simulation then perhaps he could hack it?

Or something on the woman could! He let Arthur distract her.

Pira saw the boy crouch, “Oh? Think you can do anything to me while in this form? You have no idea what I can do!”

Arthur vaguely recalled that this woman had been wanted across Earth for various crimes. The biggest was for the death of a Terran Alliance researcher who had discovered accelerated healing factors in the plants located near the old site of the Golden City. She had assumed her ashen form and dived into his mouth, cutting off the oxygen in his lungs. Nasty business that was. It was why Doctor Lanis and other medical professionals insisted on nanites that could feed more oxygen to people.

But if she wasn’t bound to some of the rules here. It was crazy but it might give them a chance. He motioned to Tobin. They sprang forward. Murphy encased her within an ice ball. Constricting it to the size of a golf ball. Then Arthur shocked Tobin by swallowing Pira whole.

*****

            Pira jerked within the pod. “Shit.”

            Status readouts flashed.

            ///Unknown user accessing mainframe. Pods 10-2509 released. Contact administration for…///

*****

            Arthur pulled himself from the pod. The green fluid leaking all over the edge as he pawed at himself. After he ate Pira the admin screens had flooded his H.U.D, since it was made for her, it had been in standard English. He took in a shaky breath. The downside? To release himself and Tobin, he had to unleash a quarter of the pods. Tobin slowly climbed out of his prison. His face relaxing when he rubbed the back of his neck.

            Arthur held up a hand for quiet. Using his finger over his lips. Murphy got it. Just like with the simulation: Silence was golden. Alerts appeared on the walls in an unfamiliar language. Dressed only in immersion skin suits, the two padded softly out of the chamber. Arthur’s Intez said, <<Foreign contaminants incoming!>>

            Arthur canvassed the area for a weapon. Discovering a baton that had a basic shock function. It was better than nothing. Tobin formed an ice blade. He manufactured a shield and gave it to his mentor. It wouldn’t last forever but he infused it with some matter manipulation so it’d keep its shape.

*****

            Lazarus held up a gauntleted fist. Judgment, Gulliver, Trouble, and J’ino froze. Checking the corners. The fortress shook periodically as the distraction gained momentum. A beam of White light cut a path before the strike team. Taking out shadowed figures further down the hallway. Judgment raised his hands. Bracers glowing with the magical power of the Golden City. He took point. Keying in on the residual magic bleeding off of Arthur.

            Lazarus gripped the heated pommel of his blade tighter.

            Black Scrawl sparked and retreated from his sword’s bright aura as they traveled deeper into the abyss.

*****

            I dived through the defense perimeter of the Fortress. Energy flying from my right fist. I saw the Brood Seed through the dark mirrored halls that my family and friends were about to encounter. White tackled a dark mirror knight. They were shards of glass molded together to shoot beams from their faces. While their arms and legs were sharpened points. My Defender powers lashed out. An ever-expanding pulsation shook the foundations of the Glass Tower. I prayed for my family.

            Please let them find Arthur and Tobin.

            There was a timer within mom’s proxy.

            I fired more pinpoint strikes into the fortress. Taking out more hulking Brood Seeds.

            Who had they converted to make those monstrosities?!

*****

            Tobin smiled.

Pointing at the white beams tearing into the foes around them. Arthur nodded. Making a star shape across his chest. A clash of swords reached his ears. Tobin shouted joyfully. Springing into motion before Arthur could stop him. Judgment pushed his son back with Isis’ assistance. The wind buffeted the young man. Sending him flying upwards as the floor retracted and spikes shot out.

Pandora’s voice came trailed over the walls. Through the walls.

“Aww. Found another surprise, did you? Welcome to your new nightmare!”

J’ino vaulted over the spiked trap. Grabbing for her son. With her other hand, she tugged on Arthur as Thomas reeled them all back over the pit. Mirrors peeled away from the walls as they swallowed the team and former prisoners.

*****

            Nyx powered up her null ship. That was not J’ino. Or rather it wasn’t the whole of J’ino. That Typherian was the Keeper’s obsession. It was a near-perfect facsimile. What gave it away? The biometrics from the copy’s womb. Nyx had taken a sample when she first captured that human alongside J’ino. Nyx hadn’t shared the information with anyone other than Chronos. A pity that Pandora would have nothing to show for all of this.

            She cloaked herself and made her way to the northern side of the complex.

            Nothing good would come of this “rescue.”

            Pandora sneered as Nyx left.

What else could you expect of Keepers? Some surveillance drones mucked about the Glass Tower. They never understood the vibrancy of emotions or the thrill of battle. No matter. Within the Arena? She would see her enemy’s fears!

*****

            Tobin couldn’t feel his mother along the Family Line. That telepathic connection between all Ayeers. Considering the situation that wouldn’t be odd but there was something else. He couldn’t shake that impression. The demi enclosed within the tan and white armor, white cloak wrapped around him, pulled everyone into a circular formation. The entire area was too quiet. The ground was still. A Litari matriarch’s hologram appeared before them.

            “Thought you could fool me? I wanted you to take the false promise of Pira’s codes.”

            Her golden eyes narrowed dangerously.

            “While you didn’t speak, I still got some data on your fighting strength. The King of Earth and its Stonehenge. The Ayeer puppy. But you weren’t the real prize.”

            Tobin bristled at being called a puppy.

But remained quiet when Judgement rested a hand on his shoulder.

Pandora paced about. Changing her shadowed form into various predatory beasts.

“No matter.” She regarded J’ino, “You were always the prize!”

From the floor, five Brood Seeds emerged.

“Kill them. Leave the Breeder for me. No hair touched on that silver-blonde head.”

Tobin lashed out with spears of ice. They erupted in front of him. Pinning one of the Seeds high up into the air. “No one touches my mom!” Two crimson fire beams boiled through the plating of another hulking brood beast. Its 6 eyes reminding Thomas of a Forger. They had to buy more time for his wife. He checked his meter.

45 seconds.

Lazurus prepped the shield. The blast wouldn’t effect them. But it would cause damage to this place.

*****

            Pandora tore her gaze away from her viewscreen.

The Glass Tower lurched to the side as an unknown energy source tore through the very fabric of her base. The mainframe beeped.

            ///Initiating emergency jump!///

*****

            Tobin’s ears rang. White noise overlaying everything. He hadn’t been prepared.

Not like the rescue team. Orange and Omega Defender shields were overhead and bits of Judgment’s purple cloak fluttered about. Murphy belatedly realized he was being carried over the demi’s shoulder. Bits of dark mirror floated about. Hitting the shields as the team navigated the wreckage. As they exited a particliarly gruesome hole in the facility a glow of white light encased them and pulled them further out.

            Tobin's exhaustion caught up with him.

The last thing he heard was his father screaming into the coms.

New Ashbury (Texas)

Stardock Spaceport

November 15^th, 2115

           

Set read the updates.

            The Human news hadn’t reported it but he knew from Pandora’s outbursts that the rescue had gone off. Her base of operations was hemorrhaging and wouldn’t be online for a few weeks. He smirked.

            If he hadn’t been shackled then he could have helped.

            He motioned to Pira. The paperwork had gone through. By hiding her biometrics they had slipped past normal customs. The obfuscation wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny at higher clearance places but that was not why they were back on Earth. He wanted to locate the Titan hidden somewhere within this Sol System. Pira snapped, “I get it. We are everyone’s henchmen to be thrown away.” Her mood had soured. Finding out Pandora had used her as simple bait and switch didn’t sit well. Like Set, she was an afterthought. She smoothed out her blonde hair. Brown eyes covered with a set of glasses completed the shell’s look.

            She detested it but it was either this or stay with the insane Litari bitch.

            She hailed a cab. It descended and brought them to a mid-sized hotel.

            At this point finding a cosmic entity that could smite Set in one go was an improvement.

*****

            Tobin barreled into his mother as they stepped over the threshold to the old Murphy home. “Based on how dad was acting I thought you were….” J’ino chuckled. Shocked that her head only went up to her son’s chest now. Had he grown that much in a year?

            Eliza glanced away, “Yeah. Sorry about that. We had to sell it a bit. By now our enemies will realize it wasn’t mom. Since I have the deception abilities of a gnat…..”

            Eleanore Murphy shouted, “That’s a good thing, my dear!”

            Abraham Murphy nearly choked on his coffee. It was a fair assessment. Made even more apparent how Eliza had handled Typherian House politics. Which was why V’alkor had talked to him about it more than the Scion of House Ayeer.

            Lorain concurred, “That will be an asset!”

            The King’s corgis crowded in behind them. Little John making a bee-line for the kitchen.

            There would be time for a talk later.

            Arthur shared a glance with Jace. “That was some fine work! Thank you for not bringing Excalibur to that house party.” Jace’s lopsided grin grew.

            “You always told me that sword was the key. To more than one place. So it remained with mom!” Guenevere chuckled as she embraced her husband. “Well, it's good to be home.”

            Arthur nodded, “Indeed. No matter where I roam I will find my way back to you.”

*****

            The Rings of Saturn reflected the distant rays of Sol.

Deep below, curled around the planet’s core, a giant slumbered.

Waiting to be called. 

Issue 28: Here

Interlude The 42nd Century: Here