Collective

AE 99
Lucerana
Prevailia
Alexander Bloodworth

Collective

 

                “Are you feeling any better yet?” Alicia asks.  We are in our new car.  Privileges of being an Arkhe.  It’s a nice car.  I like it.

                “I already told you,” I explain, “I felt fine when we got to the car.”  We are on our way to the Lucerana International Airport.  A chopper there will take us to the dispute on the border where we will meet up with Murphy and Rexrode and get this whole thing sorted out. 

                “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to mister fire starter in the backseat,” Alicia interjects.  We took Seamus, as the surviving culprit, into custody.  I assume he will be part of these negotiations, not as a speaker, but more as a point of interest.  The only thing is he’s been unconscious since he tried to burn me to a crisp.  Murphy doesn’t know that his brother is mixed up in all this yet. 

                “He’s not moving,” I tell Alicia who is driving.  She wouldn’t let me drive.  She insisted citing my condition after my fight with Makaroy.  Alicia’s driving scares me though.  She tends to drive like a maniac. 

                “Well that’s dull,” says Alicia looking up just in time to notice the cars in front of us stopped at a light. 

                I catch myself from the sudden stop.  “Maybe I should give Murphy the heads up.  If you keep up this quality of driving, Seamus back there won’t be asleep much longer.”

                “Oh shush,” snaps Alicia.

                I pull out my phone and find Murphy’s number and call it.  There isn’t even a dial tone.  The call goes through right away.  “Alex?” comes Murphy’s voice on the other side of the line, “Tell me you have good news.”

                “Part of you is going to see this as good news,” I begin, “But I have a feeling a part of you is also going to see this as bad news.” 

                “That’s going to need an explanation,” says Murphy.

                “We concluded that Polemos has been at the bottom of this,” I explain, “We just finished confronting Makaroy and his accomplice at their Lucerana headquarters.  We’re on our way to the airport now.”

                “And Makaroy?” asks Murphy, “Is he in your custody?”

                “Hardly,” I answer, “But I don’t think he’ll be an issue unless he can somehow manage to survive a twenty-seven story fall.  I’m sorry I couldn’t take him alive sir.”

                “You did what you had to do,” assures Murphy, “What about his accomplice?”

                “Oh that?” I ask.  I look out the windshield of the car notice something is wrong.  “Can you hold on for just a second?” 

                The sound of his muffled voice indicates his answer is yes, but my phone is in my hand at my side.  “Do you know this is a one way street?” I ask Alicia.

                “Yeah,” replies Alicia.

                “Well those cars in front of us tell me you’re going the wrong way on it,” I point out. 

                Alicia slams on the breaks, harder than I anticipated, but about as much as she should.  We stop inches away from an oncoming car.  “This is why I always drive,” I say, catching my breath. 

                “If you let me drive more often I would know these streets,” she snaps, frustrated at the road.  She begins backing down the street in the direction traffic is intended to flow. 

                “Your driving sucks,” mumbles Seamus in the back seat.  It seems the sudden stop shook him from his slumber.

                “Nobody asked for your opinion!” yells Alicia.

                I pick up the phone and put it back to my ear.  “Sorry about that,” I apologize, “You were asking about the accomplice?”

                “Yes,” answers Murphy.

                “We have him in custody,” I continue, “He was out cold, but my sister’s driving seems to have woken him.  I think you might want to talk him.”

                I can hear Murphy begin to say, “Why would I want to do that,” but I’m already holding the phone back to Seamus.

                “You know who it is,” I say, “Say hi.”  Seamus grabs the phone and puts it up to his ear. 

                “Hello,” he answers.

                I turn to Alicia.  “Should we have put him in cuffs or something?” I ask.

                “I don’t know,” she blurts out, but keeping the volume down as courtesy of the phone call going on.  She’s not happy with the criticism of her driving.  “At least I took his little orb thing away from him, I feel that should be enough.”  She holds up the necklace with the pendant holding the orb taken from Seamus.  The Polemos necklace is less personable than the ones Tamara made for us.  It looks streamlined, made for function, not for comfort.  I grab it and stuff it in my pocket.  Lest Alicia have any more distractions to her driving. 

                “Yes, I was involved,” answers Seamus in the back seat.  I can’t hear what Murphy is saying, but it’s clear Murphy was not expecting to hear his brother’s voice on the line, nor can he be happy.  “For like, three years now,” continues Seamus, “How did you not notice?  You’ve been too busy with politics to notice that your own brother works for Polemos �" No, don’t act like you care.  You never cared.  You were just pissed that when Dad died, you had to take care of Connor and me �" I have it wrong?  If I have it wrong then why did I end up taking care of Connor the moment you became Chairman? �" Yeah! I told Connor to join the army, do some good for his country and his confidence.  He always wanted to make a difference. �" I was only trying to do the right thing too.  You don’t even know the whole story. �" Connor’s Battalion was deployed to the border? �" No!  There you go again.  Connor can fight.  You fail to see it because you’re always too busy.  He has the drive.  It doesn’t matter that he barely passed any of the physicals, his heart is strong. �" No, I didn’t try and cause a war.  That wasn’t our intention. - I guess I have no choice whether you talk to me later, being a prisoner and all.”  He hands the phone back to me, “The Chairman wishes to speak to you.”

                I garb the phone.  “Here,” I answer.

                “I’m sorry you had to hear that,” Murphy apologizes, “Please understand that I won’t make any exceptions because he’s my brother.”

                “I understand,” I reply, “So are we meeting you on the border?” I ask. 

                “Yes,” answers Murphy, “I’m meeting with President Rexrode as soon as you get here.”

                “Okay, we’ll try to hurry,” I say.

                “But before you come,” Murphy adds, “Bring Tamara with you.”

                “Tamara?” I ask, completely surprised by Murphy bringing her up.

                “Alex, I am aware you are hiding her at your apartment,” replies Murphy.

                “It’s not �" Sorry �" wait, how did you know?” I stutter.

                “I needed to know if what I have on paper matches the actual person,” Murphy explains, “I had your apartment bugged a week ago.  I needed to make sure you were Arkhe material.”

                “I appreciate your concern,” I reply, “But you have to realize how creepy that is.”

                “I understand,” Murphy replies, “I don’t intend to just hand her over to the PRD for her to face false charges.  If we are to set everything right here then she will need a pardon.  If Decoria won’t stand up for its citizens, then Prevailia will.”

                “Thank you,” I reply.

                “Now hurry to the border,” says Murphy, and the line clicks dead. 

                “We’re stopping at home,” I announce, putting the phone back in my pocket.

                “Well I’ve determined that much,” Alicia quips, “I’m not stupid, I’m already on my way there.” 

                Again, she’s still not happy about the criticism of her driving.  Best just to avoid the subject for the time being.  I turn to Seamus who appears to be skulking in the backseat.  “Your brother didn’t sound too happy with you,” I say.  Normally I wouldn’t say anything, considering the amount of trouble he’s caused this country, but the half of the conversation I overheard has my curiosity by the neck. 

                “He’s never happy with me,” Seamus scoffs, “When our dad died, Murphy was left to raise us.  Right now, he probably feels like he’s done a horrible job.”

                “Murphy raised you?” I ask.

                “Yeah, well when Dad died, he was twenty-five, I was eleven, and Connor was only three,” Seamus explains, “Yeah that’s a big age gap, but Murphy’s only my half-brother.  My dad divorced his mother a long time ago.  He remarried my mom but she died due to complications from giving birth to Connor.  Connor’s always been sickly because of it.”

                “So you and your younger brother had only Murphy for most of your life?” I ask.

                “Yeah, fifteen years of it,” Seamus scoffs, “It’s been a long and torturous fifteen years of hell if you ask me.  I remember Murphy when my dad was still alive.  He was the kind of older brother I always wanted to be and he cared about what went on in my life.  But when dad died, he changed.  It’s like he saw us as a burden that he had to carry.  It’s like he tried to be a parent by forgetting how to be a brother.  He became too involved in his work.  Everything was about advancing in the world.  He only seemed to care if we had something to eat.  But that neglect didn’t stop me or Connor from wanting to be like him.  We wanted his undying patriotism.  It got him the seat of Chairman.  Connor turned eighteen and enlisted in the army, despite his physical condition.  Me?  I at least thought I was helping.”

                “How does helping Polemos start a war help our country?” I ask.

                “We weren’t trying to start a war,” Seamus blasts back, “At least I didn’t know that’s what I was doing.”

                “Did you have that little foresight?” I ask.

                “If Makaroy Taylor came to you and requested your help on what he classified a matter of global security, would you have questioned his intentions?” Seamus asks, “Because that’s what he did.  Polemos had contacted him with the mission, but he lacked the all the necessary skills to pull it off, so I got brought in.  It was my first time in the field besides fighting those creepy simulated polygons, and I got to work with a living legend.  How was I supposed to know global security involved starting a war?”

                “What kind of skills could you have that Makaroy didn’t?” I ask.

                “Hacking,” answers Seamus, “The Decorian facility, we were supposed to infiltrate it, hack into the mainframe and delete some data, and then kill one individual.”

                “Devivo,” I say.

                “Yes,” Seamus confirms, “We were given ECDs to guarantee the success of the mission.  I didn’t think we were going to need them.  But then Makaroy electrocuted some security guard.  That’s when I realized it was real.  We were in the mainframe room.  The guard’s only mistake was walking in at the wrong time.”

                “Did you have the same remorse to all the people who died in the fire you started?” I ask.

                “I didn’t start the fire!” yells Seamus, “Makaroy got angry when the file I was supposed to delete wasn’t there.  There were records of it within the system, but it was already pulled.  He kept saying that the file was somewhere in the facility and we’d have to burn it to the ground.  I told him that was impossible considering I knew of the fire prevention protocols the facility had.  It was the only reason I was okay with taking the ECD I was handed, I knew I couldn’t do that much damage with it.  Makaroy didn’t want any of it though.  He told me to disable the systems.”

                “And so you did?” I ask, “You had the balls to do that, but not the balls to fry the place?  Don’t you see both are the same crime?”

                “Yes!” shouts Seamus, “I disagreed with that course of action!  But I was following orders.  I disabled the system and yes I do feel guilty about it!  Makaroy snatched the ECD away from me because I couldn’t bring myself to bloody my hands any further.  He then made me conspire with him in our second attempt to kill Devivo or else he would report on my negligence.  That’s when you came in.  You know the story from there.  I’m just the failure of the family.  I fail to do my job and in doing so, I fail my family and also my country.  I deserve everything they’re going to give me.”

                The car is silent after Seamus’s tirade of self-pity.  If there’s times my sense of empathy betrays me, it’s now.  Seamus’s actions are unforgivable, but I can’t help but feel bad for him.  He’s nothing but a pawn in this whole situation.  A pawn sacrificed in an attempted, but failed checkmate. 

                “Oh look, we’re here,” Alicia announces, breaking up the silence, “And alive if you will.”

                “You know you’re not allowed to park here,” I point out.  She chose to stop the car outside our apartment… in front of a ‘no parking’ sign. 

                “Oh shush, we’re only going to be here for a minute,” Alicia urges, opening up her door.

                “Wait,” I begin, “I thought I was just going to run up and get her, wouldn’t that save on time.”

                “Yeah it would,” agrees Alicia, “But I’m thirsty.  I might as well grab something while we’re here.”

                “What about Seamus?” I ask, “We can’t just leave him here.”

                “I’m not going anywhere,” skulks Seamus, “I deserve my punishment.”

                Alicia looks at him and ponders the situation, “Yeah we better take him with us,” she concludes.

                “Do you not trust that I accept my fate?” Seamus asks.

                “No,” Alicia replies, “I’m just concerned that with that tone of voice, you might try and take due process into your own hands.  Come on, get out.”  This is a surprise move by Alicia.  Not the agreeing that we can’t let him out of our sights, but the concern for his mental well-being.  I expected her to tell him he better accept his fate. 

                “Don’t go too soft on him,” I warn her as they both follow me into the building. 

                “Oh, I don’t forgive him,” Alicia reassures me, “He tried to kill you.  He deserves what’s coming.  I just want to make sure he makes it to that point.”  Her words don’t agree with her feelings though.  I can tell.  Alicia was touched by Seamus’s sob story of guilt and family issues.  Now she wants to take care of her wounded puppy.  How typical. 

                “Good,” Seamus says, “I don’t need yours or anyone else’s sympathy.”

                “Then you won’t get it,” Alicia snaps.  She can’t help but sound a little bit offended though. 

                Something’s not right here.  The door to our apartment, it’s open.  It looks like it’s been kicked open.  I hurry inside.  “Tamara?” I call.  There is clear concern in my voice.

                “Don’t move.  Stay right there, and I won’t hurt her.”  There facing us in our little Kitchenette is Makaroy Taylor, blood dripping down the side of his face, holding Tamara with a gun to her head, bound and gagged.

                “Don’t touch her,” I order, taking a breath as the adrenaline starts pumping through my veins.

                Alicia and Seamus walk into the room behind me.  “What’s going on here?” demands Alicia, “How are you still alive?”

                “Electro-magnetism,” explains Makaroy, “All I needed was conductive surfaces and I was able to slow my decent.  Now as long as you cooperate, no one else has to get hurt today.”

                “What do you want?” I ask, but I don’t ask nicely.

                “The ECDs.  All of them, and any guns you have on you,” Makaroy orders.

                “So you can do what?” I ask.

                “I intend to finish my mission,” Makaroy answers, “I know where Devivo is.  He’s at the Decorian embassy.  I can make it if I go now.”

                “Do you just plan on burning the whole place down?” I ask, “Makaroy, that would make war inevitable.  Do you even see the consequences here?  Polemos is using you for their own selfish aims.”

                “You still believe that lie you fabricated in your own head,” Makaroy laughs, “Polemos doesn’t want war, but sometimes you run headlong into the inevitable.”

                “Of course they wouldn’t tell you that’s what they want,” I begin, “They lied to you too.  The Prevailian Arkhe doesn’t just betray his country for money.  I would know, I’m here because of your corruption.  What did they tell you that made you decide that this was the best path to take?”

                “The Decorians are developing a weapon,” replies Makaroy, “A bug, a plague of some kind.  Devivo stole the information necessary to develop the plague when he left Polemos and was using that facility in town to create it.  This plague would have the potential to wipe out all life on this planet.  Do you see where war becomes a necessary sacrifice?”  Tamara begins to mumble something through the bindings but nothing can be understood.

                “Makaroy, that’s impossible,” Seamus speaks up, “I know we didn’t find the right files at the facility, but nothing on that computer suggested they were developing a plague.  They didn’t even have microbial capabilities there.  It would be impossible for them to develop some sort of super virus.”

                “Shut up boy!” barks Makaroy, “I knew it was a mistake bringing you in.  You had to have been a plant by your brother the whole time.  That’s the only way it makes sense.  You’ve been leaking our actions this whole time.”

                “I never did anything like that!” yells Seamus, “And what does Murphy have to do with this?  He had no clue I even worked for Polemos.”

                “Oh, but your brother has been in on this plague thing since its inception,” replies Makaroy, “Think about it.  Why would Devivo be at the state building this morning?  He was meeting with Murphy.  Then he brings these two cops there and informs them to keep an eye on Devivo as he exits because you told him that’s when we were going to strike.  It’s the only way everything fits together.”

                “Nobody tarnishes the name of my brother!” Seamus yells stepping forward.  Makaroy points the gun at him and fires.  The shot meets him in the shoulder.  Seamus falls backwards only to be caught by Alicia.

                “Foolish boy!” Makaroy laughs.

                “Your thinking is flawed,” I say, “Makaroy, the reason I was there this morning was because Murphy wanted to offer me your job.  The reason I noticed Devivo in the midst of your distraction was because your empire of self-image and arrogance disgusts me.  Meeting the actual person doesn’t help either.  If you are the bar I have to meet as the new Prevailian Arkhe, then I could easily step over you.  I can’t believe you would just blindly follow an empty accusation like that so willingly.”

                “Shut it!” orders Makaroy, “I’m sick of playing games here!  Now hand over the ECDs and your weapons.  Now!  Or I aim to kill next time!”  He presses the barrel of the gun into Tamara’s head.  He’s not leaving us with much of an option.

                “Do what he says,” I tell Alicia.  We strip ourselves of our guns and our ECDs, including the one in my pocket.  I hand them to Makaroy.  He holsters the two guns in to various empty holsters on his person.  He takes the ECDs and puts them around his neck.  Four pendants now dangle from various chains around Makaroy’s neck. 

                “And the keys to that car,” Makaroy adds.  Alicia hands him the keys.  “That wasn’t so hard,” says Makaroy, “Now, I think I’m going to take this chick with me.  Just so I don’t get followed.”

                “That wasn’t part of the deal,” I protest.

                “Are you in a position to negotiate here?” Makaroy asks, “Now get out of my way.  I have a world to save.”  Makaroy more or less, pushes his way through the wounded Seamus, Alicia and I, and makes his exit.

                “This isn’t good,” states Alicia, tending to Seamus’s gunshot wound.

                “Thanks I hadn’t figured that out,” I reply sarcastically as I look around the apartment.

                “What are you doing?” Alicia asks.

                “Aha!” I proclaim, opening the kitchen sink.  It’s where we store our spare guns in case of emergency situations.  This counts as an emergency situation.  I take both, holding one and holstering the other. 

                “That’s not going to be enough,” argues Alicia, “He has four of those orbs, what do you plan to do?  Chase him down on foot?”

                “No that would be ridiculous,” I reply walking over to the window.  Perfect.  It overlooks the street right above where our car is parked.  Makaroy is shoving Tamara in as we speak.  “Listen,” I begin, “Make sure Seamus is alright.  Stop the bleeding and make him stable.  Then find a way to meet me at the Decorian embassy.”

                “You’re not going to jump out of that window are you?” asks Alicia.

                I open the window and put my foot on the sill, “It’s only the second floor, not the twenty-seventh,” I answer.  I turn and look.  Makaroy just got in the car and started the engine.  Now’s my chance.  I leap out as the car pulls away and land on its roof.  The roof dents in a little from my fall.  I grab on to the little antenna to keep myself from rolling on to the other side. 

                That hurt a little more than I anticipated, and by that, I mean a lot.  The car is moving faster now.  It approaches a turn without slowing.  Newton’s laws of physics apply to my body, and I swing round, still holding on to the antenna, to end up dangling on the side of the car.  I lift my knee up and use it to pull myself onto the hood.  I begin to raise my gun, but Makaroy already has his aimed at me.  He fires and I duck.  The shots miss, but the windshield cracks from the penetration. 

                I kick through the windshield entering the interior of the car.  Glass shatters everywhere and Tamara gives out muffled shrieks of distress.  I reach for the pendants around Makaroy’s neck.  I grab one right as he makes a sharp turn.  The momentum knocks me away on top of Tamara, but I still have hold of the pendant.  The chain keeping it around Makaroy’s neck shatters. I push up now, launching myself at Makaroy, but he returns with a punch to my face.  I slam against Tamara’s door with enough force to pry it open.  I dangle now from the open door, my feet dragging along the pavement.  I look up in time to see a parked car approaching in front of us.  Let’s hope I grabbed the right pendant. 

                I push down with my free hand and a blast of air comes out.  It pushes me straight up and lands me on top of the car again, just as the door slams into the parked car and gets sliced off.  Just the little orb I wanted.  I slide it into my pocket and slide down to land my foot in the threshold of the missing door. 

                Makaroy aims his gun at me, but I counter with a blast of air.  It knocks the gun out of his hand and out through his window, shattering it.  Without flinching Makaroy readies a fireball in his hands and chucks it at me.  I jump back and grab on to the edge of the threshold so the fireball misses me completely.  My unconscious air shield would have deflected it, but with Tamara there, I wasn’t taking any chances.  I now dangle on the side of the car again. 

                This isn’t going anywhere.  Well, I mean, the car is, but I’m not making any progress.  He’s anticipating every move I make.  I need to surprise him somehow.  Do something he won’t expect.  Wait Tamara!  Tamara still has her orb.  I don’t know what it does, but I doubt Makaroy even knows she has one. 

                “Tamara!” I shout, feet sliding across the pavement.  She looks down to acknowledge me, “It’s a CAT system” I shout holding out my pendant to see, “You can control it with your mind.”

                She nods and then looks forward in concentration.  The yellow light begins to glow through her shirt and her skin begins to shine.

                “What the Hell?” shouts Makaroy, but the light is getting brighter and brighter.  It begins as yellow, but soon turns to white.  I have to avert my eyes it’s so bright.  The car begins to swerve as I don’t think Makaroy can see where he’s driving.  It slides and skids until finally it hits something and launches me forward. 

                Gun shots.  I can hear gunshots off in the distance.  What’s happening.  Everything is blurry, but it’s becoming clearer.  I’m on the ground in the middle of the street.  I push up with my hands. I still hold the pendant tight.  Everything hurts, but it’s all still intact.  I look up.  There’s the car in front of me, door missing, Tamara still inside.  Makaroy is nowhere to be seen though.  Tamara is struggling to break free of her bindings. 

                I stand up and stumble over to her.  I pull the cloth away from her mouth.  “Are you okay?” I ask.

                “I should be asking you that question,” Tamara says taking a deep breath, “How the hell did you survive that?”

                I reach down and untie the bindings around her hands, “I don’t know but I’m glad I did,” I answer, “Where did Makaroy go?” I ask.

                “You don’t plan on going after him in that condition, do you?” asks Tamara, stepping out of the totaled car.  I’m bloody everywhere.  My head is bleeding, my arms are bleeding, my legs are bleeding. 

                “I have to,” I answer, “There’s not a choice in the matter.  Where did he go?”

                “He walked towards that building,” Tamara replies pointing over my shoulder.  It is none other than the Decorian Embassy. 

                “I have to go,” I state, and I turn and begin walking towards the Embassy.  There’s not much time, I might still be able to stop him. 

                “You can’t, you’re too hurt,” Tamara pleads grabbing on to my shoulder.

                “No, I have to,” I say, “All of Prevailia is counting on me.”  I shrug her hand off my shoulder and draw the second gun from my holster. 

                “If you have to go then take this,” she says, and hands me the pendant from around her neck.

                I take it from her and undo the chain.  I slip my pendant on it too and put it around my neck.  “Don’t worry,” I assure her, “I’ll make it back alive.”

                “You better,” she orders.  I turn and begin shambling towards the embassy. 

                The more I move, the better I feel.  My muscles are loosening up.  Adrenaline pumps through my veins.  I soon find myself running up the stairs to the embassy.  The door’s ajar.  I enter, gun raised. 

                I enter an inferno.  The place is burning down.  Makaroy’s been liberal with his use of fire here.  Everything is still except the flames.  He’s managed to kill everyone on his way through.  This situation is not good.  I follow the flames up the stairs and down the hallway. 

                “Where is he!” comes Makaroy’s voice from one of the rooms.  I enter and find Makaroy towering over some man cowering in the corner, gun aimed at his head.  The man has a phone up to his ear.

                “It’s Makaroy Taylor!” shouts the man into the phone, “Makaroy Taylor is attacking the embassy!”  Makaroy shoots and the man falls lifeless to the floor.  Makaroy smashes the phone with his foot.

                “Makaroy, end this now!” I order aiming my gun at him, “You’ve caused enough damage.”

                “It’s too late now!” barks Makaroy turning to face me.  I can see the three orbs glowing around his neck.  We seem to be in some sort of a grand study.  Decorated to the max with various Decorian relics and it’s all going up in flames. 

                “Maybe for this embassy, maybe for the scores of people you’ve killed,” I begin, “But you can still turn yourself in.  Atone for your crimes.  Take the fall instead of making Prevailia take it for you.”

                “No!” shouts Makaroy, “I will not rest until Devivo is dead.”

                “Then you leave me no choice,” I say.  I fire my gun at Makaroy.  He steps to the side, but the slug still hits him in the arm.  He staggers but follows up with a ball of fire launched my way.  I raise my arms to shield my face, but the unconscious shield of air blocks the fire before it gets close.  But as the fire dissipates, Makaroy charges through it and grabs me by the neck.  I drop my gun.

                He picks me up by the neck spins me around and slams me into a book case.  “I will be damned if you stop me!” he shouts.  Strange, he is constricting my airflow, but I don’t feel the urge to breathe.  He still has me pinned though.  I look to my sides to see if there’s anything that can get me free.  Huzzah.  It looks like a Decorian military sword on display.  It’s in a sheath.  I wonder if it’s sharp enough.  Guess I’ll have to find out. 

                I kick Makaroy in the gut.  It hits him with enough force that he drops me and staggers back a few steps.  I immediately reach and grab the sword by the handle and pull it towards me.  I hold it out blade first as Makaroy lunges back at me.  He finds himself impaled on the blade.  Turns out it was sharp enough. 

                Makaroy staggers back, pulling the sword out of his torso and dropping it.  He looks down in disbelief.  He knows his time is short.  He collapses to his knees.  “Do not fail Prevailia as I �" I have failed the world,” he stutters.  He falls lifeless to the ground.

                This whole building is coming down.  I need to move.  I grab the sword and its sheath, along with the three pendants from around Makaroy’s dead neck.  I run into the hallway to find that the fire is progressing fast.

                “Ah! Help me!” shouts a voice from the next room.  It’s the voice of a little girl.  It’s Marcia Rexrode.  I burst down the door to the room her voice is coming from.  What I find is this big black swirling cloud.  But at the center I see a single glowing purple orb.  She has one too?  No time for questions.  I rush through the cloud of darkness toward the purple light. 

                “Marcia!” I call, picking up the eight year old in my arms.

                “Alex?” she asks.  The second I pick her up, everything gets a purple tint on it, but somehow that makes it easier to see through all the smoke. 

                “It’s okay I got you,” I assure her, “But we need to go, now.”

                “I thought you were a detective, not a firefighter,” says Marcia clinging to my body.

                “No time for that now,” I tell her.  I dash back into the hallway.  The way I came is blocked by flames.  I can’t go there.  I turn and see a window at the end of the hall.  We’re only on the second floor right.  I can survive that.  I did earlier.  “Brace yourself,” I tell Marcia.  She pulls herself closer to me as I begin my charge down the hallway.  I reach the end and leap through the glass. 

                It’s as we’re falling through with the shards of glass that I remember I walked up all those stairs to enter the building in the first place.  That was like one and a half stories worth of stairs.  The fall is much more than just the second story.  It’s almost four.  That’s not good.  I don’t know if I can make this fall.  If I don’t, I can at least try and let Marcia make it.  I flip so Marcia is facing up.  I will land on my back, but at least my body will cushion Marcia’s fall. 

                About three feet from the ground it’s as if everything stops.  Wait, no.  Everything does stop.  It’s all silent. I can’t move.  I’m stopped in midair.

                Who is this one? He is not like the others.  He respects us.  He asks for our help.  He does not demand it.  Who is he?

                Who said that?  I realize my mouth is not moving.  No words are coming out.  The voice is in my head.

                It is we who speak to you now.  We who exist in your world only through the confines of tiny prisons. 

                The orbs?  Are you the orbs? Wait, you can talk?

                Talk is a human term.  It means to communicate.  If ‘talk’ helps you to comprehend us, then let it.

                What’s going on? Why is everything stopped?

                We wished to intervene on your behalf.  This is all happening in the same instance.  You have collected so many of us.  I believe between you and this child here, you now hold half of our power. 

                So that makes twelve orbs?

                If orbs are the names you give us then yes.  We are a collective.  We have been divided twelvefold and scattered.  Ayo are capable of calling on our power when you see fit.  Some use us maliciously, yet others do not.  You however, do not demand our power.  You borrow it.  You respect us.  We respect you.

                So why talk to me like this?  Why tell me this now?  It doesn’t look good for me here.  What is an Ayo?

                We decided you are not yet finished.  You possess the skills and our respect.  You must carry out our will.  There are those who wish to add to our numbers.  This is a desire that we do not agree with.  You must stop them from doing so. 

                Wait?  Create more orbs?  I thought Polemos created you.  Is it Polemos that wants to make more?

                Your Ayo names confuse us.  We do not know names.  We only know that we have felt the desire and the intention of Ayo to do so.  You cannot let that happen.

                Wait, are Ayo people?  How do you intend me to stop them if you don’t know who and I don’t know how?

                We are the final piece in the process.  To succeed, they will need our power.  As long as you keep part of us away from them, they cannot circumvent our will.  We will aid you as much as possible.  We have already intervened on your behalf, but now that our power is concentrated, we can award you with this task and inform you of our presence.  Do not fail us now. 

                Time resumes but I do not maintain the speed of the fall.  Instead, I float to the ground like a feather.  Whatever that just was, it saved my life.