The Revelers (Serial 1)

Act 1 - Chapter 13: Cithara

I take a ride home that night but not in Milani's exotic sports car. No, I'm on the Valkyries' tour bus with a crew of rowdy team members. Cleo, with a wide and excited mouth, recants the events that happened during the last UEW televised wrestling event, mimicking the wrestling moves with her exaggerated hand motions.

Despite the enjoyment I had with Ari's crew at the sports bar, I still wonder how Ari is doing. I also wonder about the two strange children who took her. Fae? Are they really the fae that Dr. Williams told me about years ago? Even Rayne of the Sirens claim they're fae. Still, there has to be a way to get in touch with Ari.

"What's wrong, Cithara?" Lucia asks as she sits next to me on the bus.

Before I can answer, the short-haired girl places her warm sand colored hand on my shoulder.

"It's Ari, isn't it," she says.

"Yes," I answer.

"We all miss her, too. I've been trying every tracking method in the book, but nothing works. I was hoping you might have a lead, since the technology at your lab is much more sophisticated."

"Well, something came up during my analysis. It's a blip in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. At first, I thought it was a false positive, but now I'm optimistic considering the same result keeps showing up during my automated scans." I pull out my holo-tablet from my inner coat pocket and show the results to Lucia.

Lucia glares at it, zooming in at the pinged GPS coordinates. "Howland Island? What kind of island is that?"

"It's allegedly uninhabited and declared a reservation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The only structure on the island is a day beacon constructed in the mid-1930s called the Earhart Light, named after famous aviator Amelia Earhart." I pull up a quick wiki article on the island and quickly skim through the document. "No one has visited the island since the year 2030. Scholars claim that there's a quote-unquote mysterious barrier preventing anyone from getting within twenty kilometers of the island."

"Did you check satellite imagery?" Lucia asks.

"Milani suggested the same thing, but I see nothing out of the ordinary."

Lucia scans and checks the time-lapse, "This is weird. Is it me or do the most recent images of the island make it look bigger than it did twenty-five years ago?" Lucia pulls up an image of Howland Island taken on year January 1st, 2030 and compares it to the image taken on June 1st, 2056. "Rising sea levels would suggest that an island as small as this would have submerged underwater by now, but it appears bigger by approximately ten kilometers in diameter."

"You're right," I say, noticing the differences. "I didn't even think about that."

"I didn't think of it either until my curiosity played with the time lapse. Strange yet interesting. Still, as far as the actual contents of the island are concerned, it looks plain. It's anyone's guess if someone actually lives on that island."

I scratch my chin, wondering how this island can get bigger. A volcano is the logical thing, yet there are no volcanoes on Howland Island. Then I remember reading articles and watching videos about artificial islands developed by automotive and tech corporations.

Just the day before the final game of the WarGames season, I read an article published four years ago about a collaboration between The NovaTech Corporation of Nova Scotia, Canada, and Ala~de~Edan Motors of Milan, Italy. They plan to develop environmentally friendly, energy-sustainable islands in the Pacific Ocean to curve overpopulation in some states and countries. However, the article implies brand new islands, not augmentations to preexisting ones. Still, this might be what's going on here. If so, then I'd imagine the conversation between corporations and nature conservation unions was not pretty.

A notification chime plays from my tablet. Another ping! I check it and realize it's from that same island on the Pacific Ocean. The signal is coming from Ari's cybernetic eye. A distress signal, perhaps. However, the signal is weak. Not surprising considering the origin of the ping. This is not a fluke or some bizarre glitch. Ari has to be there. There has to be a way to contact her.

I signal the bus driver. "Actually, Mr. Toleus, send me to the Valkyries' dorms. I would like to visit Ari's room when we get there."

Mr. Toleus responds with a thumbs up, "Aye-aye, partner," and redirects course to the dorms at the CrystalCorp labs.

We arrive at the dorms about ten minutes later. I proceed to the team's dormitory sector and into Ari's room on the third floor of the building. The bed looks partially made, the white sheets showing wrinkles and the pillows somewhat flat and crooked. I guess that's the effort. Not pretty, but knowing Ari, I'm not expecting pristine perfection.

And — oh! I almost step on controller for an old school emulator console I built five years ago. I pick it up and press the Home button. The console turns on and displays a holographic image of a BMW racing motorcycle in front of a shadowy tidal wave. Above the motorcycle is the title of the game in all capital letters, RIDERS OF THE FOLD, a fantasy motorcycle racing game featuring a mix of real motorcycles and fictional ones inspired by fantasy books and movies. This is one of the games that inspired Ari to get herself her own motorcycle, a BMW R nineT Zillers electric motorcycle.

I'm surprised the game console still works after all these years. When we were young, Ari and I would play on that thing for hours, emulating classic Nintendo and PlayStation games from decades ago. She has her favorites and so do I. For instance, Ari has a thing for racing games while I prefer relaxing sims, but I did not mind the occasional duel on Smash Bros. I turn off the console and place the controller on the glass shelf.

Then I continue to investigate, looking for anything I can hack into that could bridge my connection to Ari's cybernetics or smart devices. I know for certain that she interacts with a lot of her personal appliances on her phone, so with that knowledge, I can tap into, for example, her smart mini-fridge using my tablet. I can parse the fridge's transmission logs and go from there.

With my tablet ready and connected, I tunnel a wireless link to the mini-fridge and sniff for data packets. So far, all I spot are the usual analytics like temperature readings, power draw, and the total weight of the stored items. Such data travels through a blockchain and to Ari's phone. Although, it seems the fridge has a lock. If I break the lock, would that send a notification to Ari's phone? If it does, then I can probe the transmission and see if Ari gets the notification. I tether my tablet to the smart fridge and hack the appliance's encrypted lock.

In exactly ten seconds, the locks click and the fridge opens ajar. Inside are two 600 milliliter cans of berry flavored Cy-Blaster energy drinks, a half full bottle of milk, a dragon fruit, and a slice of strawberry cheesecake. I take the cheesecake, hoping the removal triggers a notification. My tablet displays a notification and the data probe engages. According to the log, the fridge sends the data packet to the blockchain, and then relays the signal to Ari's phone. I triangulate the signal, pinpointing Ari's exact location and—

Oh! It's on that island. Ari is definitely there! I suppose the next question is, how do I get there? Or rather, how do I get Ari out of that place? I munch on Ari's leftover cheesecake — I'm sure she wouldn't mind — and devise a plan. Actually, my head dozes off and I opt to rest on Ari's bed for the night. The mattress is firmer than what I'm used to, but I can deal with it.

The next morning, I check the transmission logs. It seems Ari's phone stopped receiving notifications around the five o'clock hour, Vegas Time. It's probably dead, but maybe I can ping her cybernetic eye using a similar method. The downside is Ari's eye uses a lower power antenna, just strong enough to transmit signals to her teammates during a WarGames event. I just need to find out what other things interact with that eye and see if I can bounce through enough radio towers just to reach that augment. Looks like I'll be in this room for a long while.