The Revelers (Serial 1)

Act 1 - Chapter 6: Cithara

"But it's so far away from Las Vegas. If she's in the Pacific Ocean, then a transport vehicle zoomed over 900 kilometers per hour to get there. That's absurd!"

"Or she may have ventured through a teleportation device," Milani adds. "Considering The Eyes staff claimed to have witnessed fae, I wouldn't rule out anything that classifies itself as magical."

Fae, I wonder. I've heard stories about them. Dr. Williams told Ari and I tales about them when we were little. I recall the Doc saying that these fae might exhibit animal-like traits and live in building-sized trees, but I never thought of them to be real. I don't remember other things about them, but if they're just like the faerie tales, then I'm sure they're capable of powerful magics.

At that moment, the blip on the digital map disappears. Just like that. Maybe it's just a glitch. Or the signal died. I hope's a simple glitch and not some freak theory about teleportation.

Later, a small entourage of hooded figures enters through my office door. It's Ruby, her face still shrouded by her porcelain theater mask, and accompanying her are two hulking bodyguards in red garb.

"Will you help me?" Ruby says, her voice whimpering. "My head hurts. These memories. Ah-ree-zona, don't you remember me?"

Ah-ree-zona. It's not the first time that word flies from her mouth. Actually, when Ruby writes that word, it's spelled exactly like Arizona, as in the US state south-east of California and Nevada, but she pronounces it as Ah-ree-zona instead Eh-rah-zona. Sort of like Ari's name, I suppose.

"These memories hurt," Ruby cries.

I wish I knew what those memories are. However, I'm not in the position to ask her — corporate has not granted me the authorization to inquiry her about it. Still, whatever it is, those memories must be traumatizing. Instead, all I can do is suppress them by tweaking with a cybernetic implant on her brain. Something in her organic brain must be at odds with the memory module on her implant. A protection fault, perhaps. I remove the chip-like implant, flash the module with an updated firmware code using a cable tethered to my tablet, and reinstall the implant.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"What happened?" Ruby asks, sounding groggy.

"You were having those terrible visions. They should not bother you anymore."

Ruby's head wobbles for a moment, looking disoriented, but she later regains her composure. "Can I go home? I miss it so much."

I know her home well. It is the abandoned remains of the top secret base known as Area 51. An accident occurred there thirteen years ago that killed hundreds of people stationed at that base. Supposedly, otherworldly creatures overran the place, but the government has not released an official statement. All I know is Ruby likes to venture there. Any automated security remaining at that place does not mind her presence.

"I need to check your armored body first before you leave," I say while grabbing a handheld scanner device from my desk. I wave the wand-like object up and down, attempting to detect faults in Ruby's full-body cybernetic armor. The adamantine plating appears scuffed, but no significant damages. Just soot and dirt from the collapsed ceiling of T.F. Roth Stadium. I say, putting away the scanning device, "You're fine. You can return home now."

"Thank you, Miss Cithara." Ruby nods and leaves with her entourage out the door.

Still, I wonder what those memories are.

Milani scratches his chin, one eye closed in thought. "Do you ever wonder what she's thinking about, Cithara?"

"Not really," I say.

"Don't lie," Milani says, smirking. "You have the face of a thinker. I'm sure you're thinking about the mysteries that hide behind Ruby's porcelain mask. In fact, you probably know what Ruby looks like underneath that."

He isn't wrong about the mysteries part. Still, policies are policies and we must adhere to them. Yet, I wonder who or what this Ah-ree-zona thing she's talking about. However, Milani is right. I have seen Ruby's face. Ruby reminds me of a younger version of Ari with the same platinum white hair, heart-shaped face, and small lips. However, Ruby has red cyborg eyes while Ari has one green organic eye and one silver cyborg eye. She is also much shorter than Ari. Actually, Ruby is just a couple of centimeters shy of my height.

"Well," I say, eyes shifting, "I wonder about Ruby's thoughts and memories, but at least I got to see her face. Have you?"

"Actually, I have not seen Ruby's actual face," Milani answers.

"Odd." I twitch a brow, wondering.

"Anyway, hope we can figure something about Ari's whereabouts. She can't be far. Certainly not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"I agree," I say, nodding. "Let's keep running more probing tests. Perhaps we'll find a definitive answer." I turn to the holographic monitor, tap on a digital button, and activate the Deep Scan routines.

You better not be dead! Not today!