The Revelers (Serial 1)

Act 1 - Chapter 24: Mezos

I walk through the unlocked doors of Ari's room at The Labs this morning and see her still asleep. However, her nose is bleeding. She must have had some Hells of a dream.

Ari rolls to the side, her face facing the window.

The curtains, triggered by an automatic timer, opens itself, shining the bright blinding sun right on to Ari's face. A nearby alarm clock plays a happy melody.

In a short moment, Ari emerges from her sleep like a wild animal waking up from hibernation. She notices me and greets, "Hey Mezos. How's it going?"

"Not much," I say. "Just checking on you. Also, good morning. You should clean your face." I point at the dried blood from Ari's nostrils.

Ari scrapes the blood with her finger. "Shit, that fight must have been intense."

"Fight?" I ask, my brow twitching.

"Gunhild challenged me to a duel, or perhaps it's just a dream. Still, she's one tough brute."

"Brute, yeah?"

"We had a bit of a battle with triggerblades. Her triggerblade spewed black and white lightning bolts and energy waves. It was an exhilarating experience. I haven't clashed blades with anyone like her before in the WarGames."

Gunhild strikes again, though a battle of strength seems odd to me. Skalds are not fighters. Instead, they channel images into the mind of other Valkyr during their dreams. Then again, Gunhild is the daughter of Magnhild, the Berserker Chieftain of the Ylfing Clan, and one of the Four Crystalbearers of Esthial. I not surprised if Gunhild picked up any fighting skills from her mother.

"Sounds like you had a great time," I say.

"However," Ari turns her head but still maintains her gaze, "I heard a voice last night. It sounded like a girl's voice. She called me by a name that I haven't gone by in a long time."

"Do you know who it was?"

"I don't know who it was, but I feel a strange attachment to it."

"What name did she call you?" I ask.

Ari bites her lower lip. "She called me Arizona. I haven't been called that since I was like four or five years old, before Dr. Williams started raising me at the orphanage in Las Vegas."

The name, Arizona, seems familiar. I remember stumbling upon that name when Samza and I hacked CrystalCorps' servers a month ago and gained some documents, but we put little thought into it. Actually, we thought the documents meant Arizona the American state, not a person. Still, I get a spooky vibe about that. Maybe The Doc knows more.

For now, I have to escort Ari to Farron's Tower. She will have a meeting with Mr. V — the short rich guy at the top of the tower, as Ari would put it.

Ari drags herself into the bathroom and washes her face on the stainless steel sink. Then she closes the door and takes a shower.

Meanwhile, I get a message on my Librascope glasses. It's from Samza: LMAO! That Milani guy got punked!

I respond: How much did you get from him?

Samza answers: Enough crypto buy a twenty-year-old Prius. LOL!

Compared to Euros and Bitcoin, that's not a lot of money, especially with blockchain gas fees at the crazy side at the moment.

A minute later, Samza follows up: Also, Cithara opened the video, but I didn't get jack. She probably has her shit in a Ledger or Trezor or something.

I reply to Samza's message: Cithara's smart.

Samza answers back: Yup!

A few minutes later, the showers stops, the bathroom door opens ajar, and Ari's hand pokes out. "Hey Mezos, if you're still out there, can you pick out a shirt and a pair of shorts from the closet?"