Why does this airship have to be so freaking big? So, according to our intel, it seems they housed Cithara in a VIP suite on the upper deck. Unfortunately, we're on the lower sections comprising the storage areas, interrogation rooms, jail cells, torture chambers, secret surgical operations, and whatever nasty stuff is lurking down these corridors. Despite having a crew with us, it seems without our tour guide, Livia, we're good as lost.
"Yo," Charles barks, "I saw a bunch of hooded dudes take Livia somewhere."
"Where to?" I ask.
"She went to that elevator."
Gazing ahead, I see the elevator, but it doesn't look like it would fit all of us, especially with Samza's robot bird-woman assistant. Instead, I see a sign pointing the way to the stairwell. However, instead of getting lost somewhere, I consult Samza and Mezos, "Did Livia tell you guys where the security room could be? Maybe we can check security footage."
Mezos answers, "Yes, we can go there and check the security cameras."
Samza adds, "then we can cross-reference it with the data Livia relayed to us during the briefing."
"Speaking of security room," Mezos taps the side of his glasses. A holographic map appears before him. "It's not far. Just a floor above us and a few doors from the stairs."
"Let's get to it," Samza says.
I nod in approval and lead the way while Charles watches the rear. So far, no one is behind us, but I hear footsteps as we enter the next floor upward. Considering the loud clanking sounds, it's someone wearing heavy boots or —
"Robot!" Samza yells.
I activate Librascope and spot a bipedal robotic sentry roaming the hallway. "Hold," I instruct. I then turn to Milani and ask, "Can you hand me your shock stick real quick?"
Without saying a thing, he hands me the shock stick while I prepare for a surprise attack.
Once the robot gets close, I stab the shock stick on to the machine's camera lens-like eye.
The robot jerks and jolts as the shock stick overloads its circuits and collapses on to the floor.
Nearby guards spot us and charge in to attack.
Samza commands Garuda, "Blow them out, Robo-G!" and her mechanical familiar shoots out a strong gust of wind from its wings, knocking out guards from the end of the hall.
On the other side, Mezos conjures a relic from his books, granting a barrier, reflecting gunfire back at the offense, eliminating the opposition with their own firepower.
Charles and I take out the remaining guards with a few quick, electrifying shots from his rifle and explosive slashes from my triggerblade.
Then we proceed to the security room comprising a single workstation displaying an array of holographic security monitors within the lower decks of The Solstice Sky Labs. Some holograms show OFFLINE, signifying the cameras and security drones we destroyed along the way.
Mezos points at a particular screen. "That's Livia."
Upon further inspection, it looks like she's bound to a chair with three hooded interrogators questioning her. The monitor labels the room as INTERROGATION 9-SIGMA.
"Now, how do we get there?" I ask.
"Nine-Sigma," Milani mutters. "I was just in that room yesterday when those cultist guards questioned me. It's another floor upward."
"He's right," Mezos says, while checking his holographic map. "We need to go back to the stairs, proceed to the next floor, and it's at the end of the hallway. But before we go," he turns to Samza, "we should disable any automated security measures. I'm sure Sam and I can hack this system to do that."
"You right," Samza nods. "Time to break the system."
The two take out their tablets from their pants pockets and hack the workstation. In less than a minute, the strobing red lights around the hallways return to a natural shade of white. All the holographic monitors repeat the word OFFLINE on each block, and a message appears: ALL LOWER SECTOR DOORS UNLOCKED.
We proceed onward to the stairwell and to the next floor, following the suggested route from Mezos's holographic map. Security robots litter the halls but with their cyclops-like ocular heads pointing downward, and sparks flying from their joints. They are not moving — short-circuited by the hacking attempts by Samza and Mezos. Nearby, a few guards rush to our position, but something stops them from behind. They slump forward, crumpling to the floor, with knives impaled on their backs. Behind them stands Livia, clad in her favorite purple jacket, white shirt, black denim shorts, and simple sneakers.
"What took you so long?" Livia greets with a smirk.
"I thought you were being interrogated?" I say, scratching my head, wondering how she broke out of her energy shackles.
"When the systems went down, my restraints became loose. Anyway, I broke out, knocked out some of my sister's goons, and looked for you guys. Turns out you found everyone and even inducted a new smelly member for your fan club." Livia aims a sharp gaze at Milani, then returns her sights back to me.
Milani says nothing. Only shrugs.
Mezos adjusts his glasses. "So, what did those guys wanted from you, anyway?"
"A memory chip I took from Ruby's shattered porcelain mask. We're going to need that."
Samza raises a finger. "Where did you put it?"
"I hid in an acid-resistant bag and swallowed it. You'll have to wait until it comes out the other end if you want to access it."
"Ew. TMI!" Samza says with disgust.
Mezos shrugs. "I guess that's one way to hide important stuff from your twisted sister."
"Anyway, let's find Cithara," Livia says, taking the lead. "I know where she is. Follow me."
With our ragtag group of adventurers, we set forth through this enormous airship, following a maze of corridors and hallways while minimizing our confrontations with the guards. Yet time is limiting and Cithara can't be sitting cozily in her VIP suite forever. I'm sure Octavia would like to pay her a visit, assuming she knows of Cithara's stay at the suite. We can't get Octavia near her. I won't let that happen. Not now. Not today!
"This is the place," Livia announces as we enter a wide hall decorated with gold and silver statues depicting the WarGames' top players from previous seasons, some I recognize.
If this is what I think it is, then this must be The Hall of Warriors, the chamber where The Eyes displays statues of distinguished WarGames players dating back to The First Season. I've seen this room before, but never in person. Only in holographic photos and videos. The statues line in two long rows, the west side representing the American west coast players, Europe, and Africa; and the east side representing on the American east coast, Asia, and Australia.
At the far end, a taller gold statue of a woman in ornamental valkyrie armor stands. Upon further inspection, the statue resembles Gunhild. The feathers on her shoulder and sash. Her ornamental triggerblade. Why is a statue of Gunhild here? Perhaps The Eyes knows her more than I do. They probably see her as some kind of leader.
There's a silver statue of me on the west side of the room, erected when The Eyes declared me Clutch Warrior during last year's All-Star Battle Theater. However, I can't help but notice the statue of Livia on the east side — it's glossy black, like onyx. Normally, black statues represent players who have met an untimely demise, but I guess The Eyes didn't get the memo of Livia faking her death to join The Remnants.
The Hall of Warriors also houses the VIP suites, reserved for distinguished guests.
Livia bashes an ornamental door flanked by metal statues of my favorite knucklehead teammates, Cleo and Lucia.
"Cithara," the assassin says. "Are you there?"
The door unlocks and opens, revealing a somewhat calm Cithara, dressed in her lab coat, khakis, and work boots. "Oh lordy. You arrived and with Ari and some friends."
"Hey, Cithara," I greet. "You seem rather calm."
Cithara smiles. "Well, you saved me from the emotional trauma of watching Ao Bing's boyfriend, Ne Zha, get struck by lightning."
"What?" I say, scratching my head, wondering what she's talking about.
"This anime I was watching," Cithara says. "It's based on a recent book, which is an urban reimagining of Chinese Mythology."
Mezos says, "The books are always better."
Samza chuckles. "But you have to admit the theme song slaps hard. Best 90 seconds ever!"
"You are right about the music," Cithara nods. "Anyway, I'm not about to find out what happens to that boy, but we need to get out of here. And—" she glares at Charles's shock rifle "—is that you, Charles? Why are you with Ari, and how did you get that gun?"
"It's a crazy story, cuz," Charles answers, hoisting his gun, "as with this gun, I had to borrow it to help your friends. Don't worry. I'll fix the window on your Porsche when we're done." He winks and lets out a wide smile.
Cithara shakes her head, sighing. "Just like how I always remembered you: brilliant, but awkward."
I hear marching footsteps. Looking behind, I see Octavia, a small platoon of cultists, security bots, and drones closing in at our position. They have us surrounded, and Octavia looks pissed.
"You have nowhere to go, cretins," Octavia snarls while slamming the butt of her staff on to the ground. A translucent magic box forms, enclosing us inside the Hall of Warriors. The guards also transform into hulking mutants.
"Samza," Mezos nudges, "Can you summon Tsukuyomi?"
The rabbit-eared fae opens her eyes wide. "Here? I haven't summoned that familiar since we got on the island. I'm not sure if my book-arm can handle the aetheric load required for that."
"Check the meters. You should have enough aether. I have enough to conjure Amaterasu's relics."
Samza taps a button on her book-arm and a holographic display appears, with meters displaying a high amount of resources. "Well, shit. Looks like I have the aether. The real question is, will my book-arm hold up? Knowing how psychotic Tsukuyomi can be, my book-arm might overload and burn out if I'm not careful."
"It's worth a shot, sis," Mezos says, urging his sister.
"Here's for all the marbles then." Samza recalls her robotic bird-woman familiar, Garuda, fizzling into a cloud of magic, returning her to the pages where she came. Then Samza throws another book. The book opens and pages turn endlessly. A black and white swirling portal forms.
Emerging from the portal, a pair of gleaming silver rabbit's ears poke upward. An enormous katana drops from above, impaling the ground. Matching the sword is a rabbit-eared silver-skinned warrior with white long hair donning a bluish white decorative kimono, wooden sandals on their feet, and a golden jeweled circlet depicting a crescent moon on their head. A short melody plays comprising oriental string, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Then the distinct yoo sound echoes from a distant, unseen kabuki. The metal samurai, standing at about four and a half meters tall, picks up their sword and turns to face Samza.
"I am Tsukuyomi, Celestial Ruler of the Lunar Plains," The samurai familiar says, their voice reverberating with a certain calm, sounding feminine. "Who brings forth my presence? Is it you, the one born when Usagi-no-Seiza was the brightest?"
"Yes," Samza answers with a formal Eastern bow. "I request your greatest assistance."
I scratch my head, once assuming Samza would greet all her familiars with street-lingo. No, it seems Samza treats Tsukuyomi with a higher regard for formalities. Feels weird seeing Samza talk like this.
"As you are of my kin, I shall assist you and your friends."
Samza says, pointing at Octavia, "Despite our adversary's simple form, her magics are not to be taken lightly."
"Understood. My blade shall cut down her cursed machines." Tsukuyomi turns a glance at Mezos and mutters. "Child of Yagi-no-Seiza, I sense in your possession the Yata-no-Kagami. Such power contained within that mirror requires great consideration."
"Of course," Mezos says, revealing the sacred disc-shaped mirror conjured from his books. "I know you and Amaterasu don't get along, but the power of these relics is still worth respecting."
"Indeed." Tsukuyomi nods and then returns to face Octavia and her army of Eyes cultists and robots, preparing to strike.
"After them!" Octavia commands.
The robots and drones proceed forward without question, their programming simple and predictable. The mutant cultists, however, remain hesitant, struck in terror by Tsukuyomi's intimidating presence.
Mezos shines the mirror forward, flashing a brilliant glare. Drones malfunction and crash. Robots short-circuit and stop moving. Cultists become blind and confused — some even retreat in horror. Cultists who stay behind meet a gruesome fate by Tsukuyomi's violent flurry of slashes.
Meanwhile, Octavia floats away to an upper balcony of the suites above the statue of Gunhild. "Bastards!" she yells from the public speaker system. "Do you honestly think your metal samurai bunny has any match against the War Machine Vessel? Come, Ruby. Show them your strength."
Standing next to Octavia is Ruby with a different theater mask on her face. Instead of a white porcelain mask with a neutral emotion, it is now a glossy red with an angry face. The cyborg girl flips forward and lands at the front of front of Gunhild's statue.
"She has another mask?" Livia gasps.
Cithara says, her voice low, "That mask doesn't have any recording capabilities. It's an older revision."
"I hope you're right," Livia says.
I tilt my head, wondering what Cithara means, but I try not to think about it too hard. For now, we have to worry about Ruby.
"Attack," Octavia commands.
Ruby rockets her way to us, bee-lining right to me, as if her only interest is taking me out. She unleashes a flurry of punches. "Ora-ora-ORA!" she yells.
I parry the wave of punches with my triggerblade, her metal cyborg fist clashing against steel. Then I counterattack with an explosive slash. Ruby recovers and follows with a flying kick, which I narrowly evade.
Mezos channels another spell using his conjured mirror. The reflective surface shines.
Samza continues commanding Tsukuyomi to attack.
"Midare Setsugekka!" Tsukuyomi yells as The Celestial Lord clashes blades with Ruby's fist, metal on metal, sparks flying. Yet Ruby shows no signs of tiring, parrying Tsukuyomi's heavy slash attack.
"Let me handle this," I say to Samza. "Ruby is my problem. Tell Tsukuyomi to focus on the horde."
"Got it," Samza says. However, her face winces as she flexes the arm with her book-powered sleeve gadget. "We need to finish this!" she screams, gritting her teeth. "I'm not sure if my book-arm can hold out for much longer. I can feel the processor cores burning up."
Livia glances upward towards Octavia, spotting her sister tapping something on a tablet. The assassin motions to Charles. "Hey, shoot that thing up there. Just below that balcony."
Charles takes aim. With careful precision, a beam of neon purple light fires from the shock rifle. It collides against a support structure, crumbling down the upper balcony where Octavia stands, crashing on top of the head of Gunhild's statue.
Octavia wobbles for a moment but regains stability. However, the magic barrier shatters like glass, fragments fizzling into nothingness as the pieces fall.
Mezos finishes his spell and aims the mirror at Ruby.
Then Ruby stops.
Somehow, I feel there's an emotion hiding behind that mask. Something that's not rage, hate, or anger. No. Feeling tired of clashing against her punches and kicks, I drop my triggerblade on the floor, yielding to Ruby.
Ruby's shoulders droop, her arms lowering. Her mask shatters, and her knees falter. Then tears flow from her red eyes, down her pale cheeks, and on to the floor. "Arizona," she cries. "Is that you?" Ruby collapses to the floor, and she sobs, her hands over her face.
"Mathilde!" I yell, hoping it's really her — hoping that's really her name. I run to her, but something stops me.
A translucent aetheric bubble appears, separating me and Ruby.
"What the hell?" I say, grunting and bashing on the bubble with my angered fist. Yet the barrier remains.
Octavia appears once more, hovering from above, levitating on top of the shield. "This is Gunhild's project." She waves her staff and a magical blast of water pushes me back, sending me tumbling. "I will not allow you to take her." She then points at Milani, straight and direct. "Your investors will suffer for this."
"What investors, you crazy woman?" Milani says, brows furrowing, teeth gritting. "I don't work for CrystalCorp anymore. They can all go to Hell!"
Octavia smiles back and directs her gaze at me. "It seems all of you are working for The Remnants now, even you, Arizona Ylfing. Not that it matters much. You're nothing more than Gunhild's reject. A child disowned of the inheritance produced by The Balancing. A shame."
Everyone turns their heads to me, coming to realize my true identity, gasping in unison.
"Bruh," Samza says, "she just doxxed your shit."
"And you," Octavia points at Cithara, "mayhap something lingers about. I know you're hiding something, Cithara."
I get back up from Octavia's water attack, struggling but stable. I grumble, "You keep Cithara out of this, you deranged psychopathic Pope-bitch."
"Such anger. Though I'm sure this will not be the last time, we'll meet. Nay. Until then." Octavia raises an arm and snaps a finger.
Livia launches a dagger, its aim on Octavia's forehead. However, it never reaches the target as Octavia vanishes in a flash of light along with Ruby — or rather — Mathilde. Instead, the knife ricochets off a magic shield and flies back, lodging itself on to my shoulder.
A sudden pang surges as blood pools around the injury. Turns out getting stabbed by a real knife hurts a lot more than getting stabbed by a WarGames-approved digi-knife. I grab the knife's handle, but Livia motions. "Don't pull it, Ari. It's going to worsen if you do." She's right. I'll bleed out if I yank it without proper treatment. For now, I have to tolerate it.
Samza recalls Tsukuyomi, sending the celestial lord back to the pages. "Let's get out of this joint before it gets real stupid."
"You right, bunny," Charles says.
Livia turns back and faces the exit. "There's a white SUV waiting outside. We can take that and then make our way to the air-taxi station."
Milani raises a finger. "And who here knows how to operate an air-taxi?"
Charles answers with a wide grin. "Don't worry. I got this, fellas. Besides, my boy here is going to help me fly it." He nudges Mezos.
"What?" Mezos says, taken aback by Charles's statement. "I mean, sure I guess. It's been a long time since I piloted an air-taxi."
"And that's why they call you The GOAT." Charles lets out a loud chuckle.
Mezos says nothing — only shakes his head.
And we proceed without opposition. Robots remain disabled and the cultists retreat. We take the luxury SUV, an Ala~de~Edan Mazaalai, with Charles manning the wheel, speeding down the road towards the air-taxi station. Then we board the air-taxi with Charles and Mezos as co-pilots. The launch starts rough, but when the two synchronize their controls, it becomes smooth sailing.
I sit next to Cithara, getting close. Still with this dagger impaled on my shoulder. It doesn't hurt as much, but it still stings. "Are you okay?" I ask while staring out the window, admiring starry night sky above the clouds.
"I'm fine," Cithara says, quiet yet tense. "But we need to figure out how to save Mathilde."
"Where do you think Octavia is going to take her?"
"The Aether Dome," she answers, firm and absolute. "I'm sure of it. Octavia and I had some conversations prior to your arrival. So did Milani."
Milani adds, "I'm certain she's looking to transform Mathilde into some kind of war-god using the synthetic aether at The Aether Dome. I remember reading documents about it."
I scratch my chin, wondering about something. "Octavia mentioned something about a Balancing. Do you know what that is?"
"I'll have to look at my notes," Milani says. "I've seen the term before, but never understood it. It sounded somewhat mystical, religious, and magical. Though I'm sure your fae hackers might know more about it."
He might be right. Samza and Mezos have gotten similar documents through past hacking missions. Perhaps Dr. Williams's Savants might know something.
"Ari," Cithara sighs, "We have to do something about that dagger. There should be a first aid kit somewhere in this air-taxi. According to international flight regulations, every air-taxi needs to have one."
Samza looks around the air-taxi's storage compartments. She finds a red and white box with the words FIRST AID KIT labeled on it, and hands it to Cithara. "This must be it."
Cithara opens the kit and works on my knife wound. First, she gently removes the knife. Then, using the provided tools in the kit, sanitize the wound with rubbing alcohol and an antibiotic solution. The alcohol leaves a minor sting. "Stay calm, Ari," she says.
Yet, before Cithara wraps the bandages over my shoulder, Samza points at the wound. "I see some metal there. Do you have a metal skeleton augment?"
"No," I say. Though a thought comes to mind. I recall Dr. Williams telling me members of the Valkyr race have metal skeletons. Then something clicks. "Wait, am I—?"
"Ari," Cithara says while placing her hand on my wound. "You need to relax so I can dress the wound." Then she wraps the wound with a bandage dressing. "Okay, that should hold until we arrive at The Remnants base, where ever that might be."
Samza adds, "If Mezos wasn't flying this ship, then he could heal you. He's specializes in healing magic."
"Healing magic?" Cithara questions.
"Samza," Mezos says on the radio, "you said something? Are you tending to Ari's stab wound?"
"Yeah," Samza says. "Cithara put some antiseptic and bandages on it."
Mezos presses a button on the air-taxi console and stows the radio. Then he makes his way to me. "I put the ship on auto-pilot. Let me check on Ari's wound." He comes to me and inspects it, lifting the bandage a bit. "I see bone and it's metal. I guess you really are a Valkyr."
Cithara turns her gaze to Mezos. "A what?"
"A Valkyr," Mezos says. "A race of warrior women with metal skeletons."
I shrug, shifting my gaze to Cithara. "It's a weird story."
Mezos channels a spell, his hands glowing a bluish white. "Don't worry. I got this."
A soothing chill runs through my shoulder as a brilliant light shines over the wound. A moment later, all that remains is a faint scar. There is still some pain, but not as bad as before.
"Any stings you feel now will go away with time," Mezos says.
Cithara inspects the wound once more, then turns her gaze to Mezos. "How did you do that?"
"While becoming an artificer, the Reul-Sìthe elder mages also trained me as a conjurer, a job specializing in healing magic. Though, I'd imagine with the technology available in your world, you can manipulate purified aether to achieve a similar effect. I mean that Octavia woman took full advantage of floating, erecting defensive barriers, and casting offensive umbral magic, a feat that I have seen no other human on Earth perform. I think she has a cybernetic augment that allows her to do this."
Livia interrupts, her arms crossed, eyes shut, "Or her staff allows it."
"Yes," Mezos nods. "If not whole, then part of how she does it. Anyway, back to manning the ship." He returns to co-pilot the vessel with Charles. "We should arrive at Research Base Amelia in less than one hour, assuming favorable weather."
"Thanks, Mezos," I say.
"No problem."
I glance out the window once more, this time with a focused mind, gazing at the clouds of the night sky. "Once we return to base, we need to figure out how to save Mathilde. If she really is my sister—" I pause, taking a quick breather, trying to find the right words, "—I just want to let her know that... I remember her after all these years, and that she should not feel alone." My eyes water, and a single tear flows and drops on to the air-taxi's leather seat. It's a weird feeling like this. I shouldn't feel like this, but remembering I have a younger sister and there's a group of people hell-bent on turning her into a monster ignites a burning rage inside me. All I can do is clench my fist.
Cithara places her hand on my healed shoulder. Her hand is cold, but I no longer feel pain. "I'm sure it would thrill Mathilde if you and her somehow reunited."
"That would be nice," I say, my voice low, my throat dry. "I can't imagine what would happen to Mathilde if we do nothing. If there's some way we can break into the Aether Dome, then I'd like to hear it."
Milani says, "I have not put in my two-week notice yet. I'm sure my superiors expect me to return to work soon. Perhaps all of you can use my credentials to get in and save Mathilde."
Samza scratches her chin and cracks a smile. "Milani, dude, after you shower your stinky self, I need you to meet me at my office at Rowynn's makerspace shop. I have a few ideas."
"You will not turn me into a guinea pig, are you?" Milani asks.
"Nope, it shouldn't take long." Samza grins.
Knowing Samza, I imagine it involves 3D printing, some wacky gadgetry, and probably her Dodge Challenger. Whatever it is, I hope it works.