Jared was staring down at her, his brow wrinkled in dismay. She had never expected to open her eyes again, and she was looking into his. It was almost funny. He helped her sit up; the weakness she had felt had disappeared, though the pounding in her head was, if anything, worse.
Acel had an arm around Sephine, who was weeping openly.
"Greta?" Ever asked. Sephine shook her head.
"I felt her go," said the blonde woman, her eyes wet and wide. "I felt her go. She didn't even have a chance to say anything."
Ever got unsteadily to her feet and squeezed Sephine's shoulder, certain she should be feeling something more than what she was. Greta had undoubtedly saved her life. She should feel sad, or at least grateful. She felt only resigned determination. She'd come this far; the way was open. She couldn't stop to think of one old woman. She added Greta's name to the long list of people she would cry for later. If later ever came.
Lia had reformed at the center of the room, her expression as placid as ever. The ghost-woman managed to convey both patience and expectation, as if she would suffer Ever's human need to interact with her friends for as long as necessary, but clearly didn't think it relevant to the task at hand.
"Are you...you again?" Ever asked. She couldn't keep a bit of resentment out of her voice; they were putting so much trust in this thing, and it couldn't even defend itself?
"My systems encountered unexpected interference," Lia explained, as if it should be perfectly obvious. "I am unable to identify the source, though my systems are now beginning to identify several patterns in the data stream consistent with recorded neurological activity in your own cerebrum."
"What?"
"The intruder is likely another human with a mutation similar to yours. This person's ability to infiltrate my systems remotely is...unprecedented. A complete log of the incident has been added to the device for further analysis by my central node."
"Device?" said Rolan. Ever paid no attention.
"I know who it was. It wasn't unidentified. It was Azariah Thayne," said Ever, impatiently. "Who is he?" She didn't know why she expected Lia to have an answer, only that she was tired and hurt and anger and she wanted someone to have an answer.
"He appears to be a man. Nothing more."
"I'd say he's a little more than just a man," said Jared, behind her.
"Couldn't you see him?" Ever asked. "He took over your...your body."
"His ability to project a holographic image into this simulation is, as previously stated, unprecedented. But my systems were blocked from doing more than perceiving it at the time."
Ever stayed silent for a moment. There were so many questions she could ask—though if she were honest with herself, they were slipping away from her with each passing second.
"But we're safe, for now?" she asked.
"This system is once again secure," said Lia, "and improvised firewalls have been established to counteract the intrusion should further interference occur."
"Then show me what I'm here to see."
* * *
It began when she touched the device, a ball of curious workmanship ensconced in the top of a plain pedestal in an adjacent room. She touched it and saw the featureless gray void, but without the corruptive presence of Thayne.
Later, she would recognize the similarities between the images Lia showed her then and the dream she had the morning of the first Marmack attack on Bountiful, but as the information rolled before her eyes, she could think of little beyond the overwhelming rush of pure knowledge that seemed to flow into her mind like water into a cup.
The orb's surface was the same gray as everything else, with strange, minute designs seemingly scribed onto its surface; she was surprised to find it warm to the touch. The effect was instantaneous: one moment she was standing before the pedestal in the inner chamber, the next she was somewhere else. It was similar to the feeling of passing Lia's silver circle, but she was alone, and she could still feel the ball beneath her hand.
"The message was designed to be understood even if advanced verbal communication had been lost," she heard Lia saying, her voice omnipresent. "Your forebears could not predict how long it would take for a compatible mutation to emerge. Therefore, they prepared for the worst."
The gray void faded away and Ever found herself outside, atop Lia's dais. She was stationary for only a moment before rising. She gasped, looking down frantically as her feet left the ground. She was floating—flying. But she could still feel the ball beneath her hand. Another illusion, then. She was able to relax a little. Lia's voice accompanied her, narrating as she flew into the sky, Mount Tripyramid falling below her, the broad blue expanse of the earth's dome unbroken by a single cloud.
"This is a primer," Lia explained, though the word meant little to Ever. "An introduction, if you prefer. The device you hold is called Ora, and this information is stored in its memory. You will be able to access it at will. A copy of this iteration of my personality construct is also included, to serve as a guide until you reach my central node."
Ever remained silent, focusing on the exotic—and unexpectedly thrilling—feeling of soaring above the world like a bird on the wing. The air felt cool around her, and it rushed gently as they moved north from the mountain over the beautiful green carpet of the forest.
"You have reached the first milestone in a longer journey, Ever Oaks," said Lia. The rolling mountains below began to move by faster, an increasingly rapid stream of conifers reeling beneath her feet as Lia brought them North, and forward. "The Ora will serve as your compass. Keep it with you at all times."
"A compass to lead me where?"
"To safety."
"But safety where?"
"This simulation was designed to present information at a pace designed for easy consumption," said Lia, a chiding note in her tone. "Your questions will be answered in due time. Please cooperate with the—"
The rest of Lia's sentence was lost in a sudden rush of blood to Ever's head. She had had enough of this. She would not be treated like a child by a...a damned specter! Though on some level she realized that her anger was cumulative—the compounded result of weeks of turmoil and fear—and that Lia was not its cause, she couldn't have controlled herself if she'd wanted to. She lost it.
"Stop," she commanded. She stopped moving. "Enough. I'm done being led by the nose. I'm not a bull." The orb felt warm beneath her hand, which was comforting; she wasn't really floating above the mountains, she reminded herself, she was safe in a bunker, with her friends surrounding her. She didn't know if they could hear her voice or not. She hoped they could, but it didn't matter. If she was supposed to be so important, then people could start damn well paying attention to what she thought and wanted, instead of treating her like a frightened child.
"Make it so I can see you," she snapped. Lia appeared before her, the fact that she was floating in mid-air completely belied by her posture and demeanor, which remained calm and unaffected.
"What was it you called me?" Ever asked. "Up above, outside, when I passed your test."
"You are the Alpha Scion," Lia said.
"Does that mean that you have to do what I say?" she asked. She was reaching, she knew; it may very well not mean that at all. But Ever had to believe that all of this "specialness" had to include some level of authority—otherwise what was the point?
"I am programmed to follow your commands to the extent that they do not interfere with the ultimate goals of this enterprise."
Which is just another way of saying "If I feel like it."
"Then we're going to start doing things my way," said Ever, with a confidence she didn't feel. "I'm going to ask you questions, and you're going to answer them." She took a deep breath and tried to think.
"Who built this place...who made you?" she asked.
"Initial development of my core processes and construction of this and related facilities was financed by a private business entity called Deseret Technologies, Inc. Later phases of the enterprise required outside investments. I can list the investors in order of phase, investment group, liability, and security access, if you wish."
Deseret? But that's.... The name of the legendary home of the Blessed, when they were called Saints. It was supposedly far to the west, deep in the greater Desolation, long overrun by Damned and apostate tribes.
"No. Later. When did this all happen?" Ever asked. "When did the...enterprise begin?"
"The incorporation date of Deseret Technologies is recorded as June 24, 2167 CE," Lia said. As she spoke, she and Ever began moving again, albeit more slowly, heading in the same direction: north. She let it pass for the time being.
The year—she thought it was a year—Lia cited meant little to Ever; only the old name for the Month of Marriage, June, stood out. The Blessed kept a simple calendar of years, starting with the Saints' flight from Deseret after the Fall, but referred to them for the most part only for record-keeping purposes. One month, one day was the same as another in these latter days. The end times were come; why keep track of the year?
"And what was its purpose? Why am I here?" Ever asked.
Lia paused.
"Give me the short version."
"The salvation of the human race," said Lia.
Oh, is that all?
"You're a few centuries too late for that, I think."
"The nuclear destruction of 2217 was merely the beginning," said Lia. "The dangers posed by its aftermath, particularly the long term damage that fallout would do to the human genome, necessitated a long term solution. Thus, the enterprise's primary mission is to preserve homo sapiens sapiens, along with its benign evolutionary offspring."
"And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that?" Ever asked.
"By finding you a new home."
"That's what we set out to do," said Ever. "If you can help us, great—but why would we need to follow the instructions of people long dead in order to find a new place to live?"
"Your current technology level precludes interstellar travel without assistance from the enterprise."
"I don't understand."
"This simulation was intended to provide just such an understanding. If you will allow me to continue?" Ever nodded, hesitantly.
"As I previously noted," Lia said, whisking them forward once again, "this is merely a primer. You will be briefed and, where necessary, educated on the details of mission requirements over the coming months. For now, it is sufficient that you understand the following.
"Pre-war projections placed the likelihood of catastrophic genetic breakdown of the human race at 64.3 percent in the first millennium after a predefined set of ecological, biological, and infrastructural circumstances known collectively as total nuclear devastation, an extinction-level event. This was deemed to be far too high of a risk, and the enterprise was prepared in order to isolate and preserve modern human survivors as well as the likely genetic offshoots that met certain parameters—for example, you."
The landscape changed now as they began moving east; the mountains became hills and lowlands, increasingly speckled with lakes and rivers. She recognized the terrain as being part of the Maine, from the profusion of water alone.
"Upon confirmation of the existence of such survivors, I was programmed to provide guidance to the enterprise's main installation in order to begin launch preparations. Please stop me if you don't understand. I can return to the programmed orientation at any point."
The land beneath her accelerated until it stopped, without ceremony or rebound, on a mountain. Ever inhaled sharply as she recognized it.
It rose, its peak purple and white, into the sky, a vast lake before it reflecting the blue canopy above: the mountain from her dream, the mountain that the Spirit had whispered about in her mind as she began this long, exhausting journey.
"I...I don't...what do you mean, launch preparations?"
Lia brought them downward, spiraling into a flat section of land near the mountain's base. In the shadow of the mountain's bulk, a large square of gray was neatly cut out of the otherwise verdant countryside. It was the same gray as Lia's bunker, the same material, she realized. A circular portion of the platform opened, vast doors levering upward from beneath the ground, and shadowed within the deep excavation beneath, the tip of a massive, silvery gray structure could be seen. The ship. The ship from my dream.
As Ever looked on in heavy silence, still not understanding completely, night fell in Lia's dreamworld, and the calm gray woman pointed to the evening sky. The dome of the earth was midnight blue, punctuated by the brilliant white and gold of a thousand thousand stars. Ever looked upward in desperate hope, willing herself—willing the Spirit, she realized, to provide some semblance of guidance. What is happening? The question seemed to echo in her mind; all useful thought seemed to have vanished. She felt at the mercy of this spectral creation of the ancients.
Despite the fact that she knew, in reality, that he was standing a few feet away from her, Ever wished Jared were there.
"You have a destiny, Ever Oaks," said Lia, her voiceclear and dangerous in the starry dark. "You will lead your people to the stars."
Thank you for reading! I'm posting the Epilogue this afternoon as well, so vote and click Next!