Chlorine Halos

Curses

Jasper's dumbfounded expression matched my own. "I'm sorry," he said slowly, stretching the words to cover his disbelief. "Could you say that one more time?"

"Nicholas Michaels," Donovan responded timidly. "We have gathered reliable information that points to the fact that he is currently on the grid." He smiled with a nervousness which caused him to fidget with the crease in his starched pants.

Jasper drew a deep breath, rolling his eyes back. "Why did I ever doubt you?" he whispered to himself softly. He met Donovan with a focused stare. "Let's get started. Tell me what you have so far." After quickly exchanging my strata with his, he proceeded away from the fountain, toward the archway. 

I squeezed the chess pawn tightly, utterly frustrated. I was certain about what I had seen in the relay. Mike was in the reflection. He was a part of me. Regardless of the information Donovan held, I couldn't silence that truth.

Before running to Jasper's side, Donovan looked at me with a raised brow, flopping his hand back and forth with a loose wrist, urging me to follow. I pocketed my strata and took the direction. We left the soothing sound of falling water to meet the cacophony of overlapping chatter and bustling footsteps echoing throughout the Escheron. Jasper and Donovan's pace was difficult to match; their conversation, harder to hear.

As we crossed the angled bridge on the eleventh level, pieces of their discussion reached my ears. "...and that has all been sent from the Alcove," Donovan stated.

"Very good," Jasper approved. "All on the Roundtable need to be notified."

"Already done," Donovan said. "Acknowledgments of transmission were being received when I left to inform you of our current status."

We came to a large square hole in the floor near a penrose which was anchored to the bronze railing. One after the other, Jasper and Donovan touched the penrose then leaned forward over the opening, body firmly straight, and fell into it. They continued on to the lower level. Following their examples, I placed my feet at the edge of the hole and touched the penrose as I fell forward.

Shift.

I caught all of my weight with the next step I took. I smiled, feeling the accomplishment of perfection. With Jasper and Donovan halfway down the hall, I was unable to revel in my self-satisfaction for long. At the end of the corridor, a penrose in the center of a conduit was placed in a nook and shifted all of us to the entrance of what appeared to be a monstrous cave.

Jagged stalactites hung from above, pointing down to the smooth stone ground. Built into the dark, rocky sides of the cave, rooms were walled by rectangular sheets of frosted glass and flickered from a light somewhere inside of them. In the middle of the open floor, four bronze posts, each topped with a penrose, were arranged as points in the shape of a large diamond. They stood over the heads of the surrounding Alignment members, who were using their shards with the glow coming down. Past these light posts, the cave widely opened to the outside air.

Jasper placed his hand on my shoulder. "I promise you, we will get some answers," he said, still holding his focused determination. "But, right now, there is much for me to do before the Roundtable convenes. I need you to sit tight, understand?"

I quickly nodded. He gave me a strong pat and walked into a flickering room with Donovan. I puffed my cheeks and let out a sigh which flapped my lips.

"Avian, what brings you to the precinct?"

I turned and gave a grin to Maestro as he walked toward me.

"Everything all right?" he asked with a friendly concern. "I thought you were with Jasper."