Seeker of Lies
The mists rolled in; their chilling touch dissuaded even the most resistant to the cold. The largest lakes and longest rivers had frozen over. They said that it was the coldest winter northern Atlantia had experienced in living memory, though the southern parts of the country were spared. Not even A'gesh had the desire to fly out for her morning hunt, preferring to pillage through the cupboards for sweet nuts. Delta hadn't bothered to stop her bird from tearing the bags into shreds. Her hot drink warmed her cold insides with every sip as she glanced around the empty townhouse. Mayen was gone again, on one of her many mysterious errands and meetings. Delta had grown used to her half-sister's prolonged disappearances. She had been gone for three to four weeks this time. She lost track. Perhaps she had been travelling through the astral planes, and time didn't seem to matter there. What would be a blink of an eye in the higher planes, many days would pass in the corporeal. How she wished to have the power to do that, phase into another existence and live out semi-immortal days, but that was closed to her.
Her wrist vibrated; she glanced down to see a new message from Olanta. Her mother had been sending her various calls over the past several years, all of which went unanswered. Delta couldn't bear speaking with her again, from combination of her own pride in her independence and fear of what hurt her mother will cause if she spoke to her again. Setting the drink down and summoning A'gesh to her side, Delta made her way to the library. A brisk walk brought warmth to her body despite the sting of frosty air. Thankfully, it wasn't windy that morning. Delta peeked up from her thick woven scarf, there were very few people on the streets, and the people she could spot were all humans. Off-worlders were no longer amongst Capihul, or at least their numbers were so few and could only be found in certain places.
Entering the warm and familiar halls of the library, Delta and A'gesh were relieved to have to no longer walk or fly fast to keep their warmth. Despite the absence of people outside, the hall was filled to the brim. Most visitors huddled under hovering heat lamps, chatting and eating with their friends or family. Delta pressed on through the crowds and found herself before the scribe's room. Her fingers pried through the wooden crack and slid it across. The heat in the chamber blasted into her face, making her pores open and soak her skin with sweat. She croaked a morning greeting as she hobbled over to the granite desk, but her eyes caught three figures. It took her a moment for her eyes to settle on their faces.
“Del-un, there is someone we should introduce you to,” Sorren's glance turned to a man. His gold and white stubble lined his squared jaw, his white hair was shaved on the sides except for a short toupee on his crown and thick torso of muscle and fat, “Anobus Brass.”
Delta felt her insides twist and her jaw click. She stared at her cousin for what seemed like an eternity, but his eyes were colder than the winter beyond the walls. “We've met before,” she whispered.
“I see. Anobus will be the onsite counsellor, he still needs to collect experience before being made official, but he will be working under my new replacement,” Sorren said.
“Forgive me Sorren, but I thought your transfer was still many years away,” Delta said glancing between him and Anobus.
The head scribe shook his head. “Apparently not. My government offered me a better position on the homeworld; they expect my arrival after I sort affairs here.”
“You're not coming back?” Ebesi said as she leaned against the desk.
“Unlikely,” he said. His stone face softened for a moment. His eyes trailed to the floor as if he had felt regret behind them before returning to his usual stoic demeanour, “I ask the scribes to abandon their documentation of the Alkhem pylons and begin a new project on the geo-phasing technology.”
Ebesi seized as her eyes widened at Sorren. “You can't be serious, our work there isn't complete!”
“The managers there have requested no outsiders on the plateau, their finalisation on the pylons is now crucial and cannot be disturbed,” he said.
“They said something similar last year,” Delta muttered, but Sorren shot a glance her way before continuing.
“Fortunately, our work will never be finished. I already prepared this to be your next course. You will be heading out to the phasing site west of Capihul,” he said as he made his way through the door. Anobus followed close behind.
“Anobus, can I speak with you for a moment?” Delta said as her hand reached out.
Sorren looked back at the two of them. “It's alright, I'll meet you there,” Anobus said as the head scribe disappeared through the door.
“You look well,” Delta whispered as a small smile crawled up her cheeks, “I've sent you messages over the years, haven't you seen them?'
“Every last one,” he said flatly.
Delta's smile died as she glanced at Ebesi. “I'll see you at the alcoves,” the Alkhemite said before rushing past them.
“A lot has happened over the years, believe me, how desperate I wanted to tell you, how I wanted to reach out to you after it all,” she said.
“I read through your messages, you never actually told me why you left. But when I saw the blood smeared on the floorboards and cracked staircase, didn't take long to figure out you and Basra were the only ones missing,” he said.
“You think I've done something to that hag?” Delta felt her blood heat; “I'm not some savage that attacks everyone anymore! She... she wasn't what you thought, not what I thought.”
Anobus cocked his head as his brows furrowed. “I wanted to know what happened, still do. Everyone kept telling me that you might've buried her in the garden or tossed her to sea because mundanes are the unpredictable type. I defended you, always, but after a while…I stopped trying.”
“I understand, there's much that needs to be said, but we never have the time we think,” Delta said as she looked to the cracked doorway. Sorren's silhouette slowly paced in the hallway, she caught one of his sharp eyes glancing into the room, “it's not safe here. After I'm done, come back and meet me at Mayen's house.”
Anobus' brows shot up as he tried to hide a small involuntary curl of his lips. “Mayen?”
“A lot to talk about,” she said as she pressed her finger at her lips before darting out of the office. Sorren watched her intently as she passed by him towards the alcoves. His stare travelled to Anobus who had just exited the chamber. Delta felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she wondered what Sorren had been thinking. Xannian's are rather strange, even for off-worlders. Delta believed she was able to determine what he would be thinking most of the time, but now, it was a complete mystery.
Her eyes travelled to Ebesi. Her shoulder was resting against the alcove frame with A'gesh on her hand. Her exaggerated facial and lip movements reminded Delta of an adult trying to speak to an infant; she didn't want to tell her that A'gesh understood a fully grown human. “I think she understands when I tell her she's pretty, purple birdy.”
“She loves it when people say it closer to her face and try to kiss her beak,” Delta said with a smirk.
Ebesi rolled her eyes before she pulled out a compact maroon case and gently tossed it to her. “The computers and crystals are already in there, they say the phasing labs won't disrupt our equipment, but you never know.”
Delta stared at the sealed vinyl case; it was no larger than a tablet pocket. “This is absolutely tiny, can't even fit my head in this.”
“For universe's sake, Delta, they're pocket dimension bags,” Ebesi said as she turned to the alcove panel and began typing in the coordinates, “we'll be heading to the phase lab just beyond the city.”
Delta could feel her heart picking up pace at the thought that she might possibly see Mage Goru at the Pitach-rhok laboratory. She looked at Ebesi, almost pleading her not to make her go, but that would bring up too many unwanted questions. She sucked her breath in, hoping that perhaps, he wouldn't attempt to do something overtly foolish while Ebesi was there, but that was not his way.
“To which phasing lab will we be heading?” Delta said trying to mask her strained voice.
Ebesi turned with a slight look of confusion. “The only one that's in this country. It's on the same road from Capihul to the spiny mountains.”
The dread hadn't left her, as that was the largest phasing technological centre in all Atlantia, possibly earth. This is where they fitted phasing devices on ships or probes to traverse the stars. This is the lab for interstellar communication, for excavating large mineral deposits from the land without having to break it up; even for surgeries, this lab was practically the centre of human development. However, this was the same place where her father works.
“Come, Sorren will notice we're still here,” Ebesi whispered before she hopped through the alcoves light-beam with A'gesh still on her wrist.
Her teeth grazed past her bottom lip as her feet landed on the pad. She was pulled through an airless hole in the ether; twisted and disorientated, her body landed on the other side. Sickness built in the back of her throat as she took a shaken step out on the floor. The laboratory's halls were barren of windows, but its white, polished surfaces reflected so much light from the lanterns that there was no need to have external light. But the plain and sterilised environment made Delta uneasy. The disconnection from the world and oppressive recycled air would make anyone go mad after extended periods of time. The image of her father popped into her mind. Her chest tightened as she realised, she and Ebesi could be seeing him here after years and years of unspoken words.
The archivist gently cocked her arm towards Delta, making A'gesh jump to her shoulder. “She doesn't like this place,” Ebesi said as her eyes turned to the long hallway, “didn't you say your father worked here?”
“Probably still does,” Delta said as she paced around the alcove. Her eyes were wandering over to the teleporter, “I've never been here before.”
Ebesi spun around with a surprised look. “You two were close.”
“But he never allowed me to come to his work. Thought I'd be a distraction,” she said.
“A wise judgement,” Ebesi said with a smirk.
Delta smiled. The Alkhemite had created a soft spot in her heart over the years despite their turbulent beginnings. However, the same cannot be said about her family. Delta glanced at her wrist phone; there were more messages from Olanta, left unopened. Her finger hovered above the latest one, tempted to peek at the words from her mother, but a click that echoed from down the hall pulled her focus away. Her heart hastened as she saw an older Atlantean man limp towards them, her eyes couldn't read the man's face, but she held back just in case it was Durun.
“Phase-master Yunn?” Ebesi said as she extended her arm out to him.
The shaggy long hair and beard nodded in delight as he took her forearm and shook. “Pleasure to finally have some fresh young faces here,” he said before turning to Delta.
She hesitated for a moment, wondering if her old headmaster would recognise her, but his wide and youthful eyes were soft to the new arrival. “I am Del-un, and this is Ebesi, she is the main archivist.”
“Wonderful, let's introduce you to the rest, though I'm a bit worried about your bird,” he said as his eyes glanced towards A'gesh.
“She won't interfere with your operations, she has come with me everywhere and never bothered anyone, unless your scientists are rodents or insects,” Delta said. She heard Ebesi stifle a chuckle.
“We don't have anyone that interesting working here. Come quickly, the days are running short,” Yunn said as he whipped around and scurried down the hall as his off-white coat billowed behind him.
They hurried behind him. Their eyes were scanning around the winding halls where quiet staff wandered around with their faces buried in the computer screens. Delta heard her tablet ring as they entered through a narrow passage, just large enough to fit one person at a time. She glanced at the device, which was being flooded with information from the location.
“Never heard them do this before,” she murmured, but Yunn spun around, halting them before a sealed metal door in front of them.
“They would be reading frequencies from different planes, we've fractured the space around this section of the land, and outside energies will be pouring through. That's what your tablets are reading. I must warn you before you enter this chamber, if you have psychic dampeners, please switch them on because your brains will be hearing the ringing louder!” he waved his palm over a panel, immediately peeling the teeth of the doors open into a wider, curricular room.
“Would that not pose a danger to those who don't have psychic dampeners?” Delta said as she squeezed her way through the shiny frame.
“That's something we are working tirelessly to solve. There are many aspects to phasing we need to consider before making it fit for organic compatibility,” he said as he ushered them through before giving another wave of his palm over the panel, sucking the doors shut, “I asked Del-un to head towards the computers on the far end of this walkway, collect your data there. Ebesi, follow my footsteps to exact, the invisible force field could rip away your molecules.”
The archivist gave her a hint of fear before following Yunn. Delta glanced around at the heads of the scientists, most of which were people in their elder years, but not one appeared familiar to her father's face. With her tablet in hand, her eyes scanned through the holographic files drifting on the surface, before coming to a screen so large that covered most of the wall and reached to the floor and was perhaps several people in height. She hovered her tablet over it and the adjacent hovering panels at waist length, watching and waiting.
Delta's eyes came to the symbols on the hovering screen. They looked like the ones she saw during her first and only astral travelling experience. About a dozen round crystal shapes, ranging from teal to rose and to jade, pulsated from the dark navy background. Glancing around, she realised she was staring at a rough map of Atlantia. There were symbols of all the land's cities, Capihul taking most of the top corner of the map around the bay, as well as the current energy pylons dotted around the screen. However, as she homed into the west of her home city, Pitach-rhok was unsurprisingly missing from the map.
Several neon lines shone from the crystal shapes, all intersected with one another, connected to cities, towns, villages, bases and so on. The thickest lines travelled to this phasing laboratory, indicating that most of the power was being siphoned to the facility where Delta stood. She noticed that most of the other, much thinner, lines had travelled beyond the map, showing that some energy was going towards other countries – but barely any left the island's shores. Her fingers opened the map a little closer to the city. Grid-like symbols dotted west of Capihul and cut around several districts of the city. Yet these symbols had no light to them, their bland grey lines appeared to have no power to them as if they were currently deactivated.
A'gesh shifted uncomfortably on her shoulder, reacting to a quiet and deep voice behind her. “Getting what you need?”
Delta felt adrenaline strike through her neck as she whipped around to see Yunn hovering beside her. “The general stuff.”
Yunn nodded before glancing over to the symbols on the screen. “We have the whole country at our fingertips, but our work means nothing if the river's flow doesn't come our way.”
“Apologies, I don't understand your meaning,” she said taking a small step away.
“It means we're nothing without our technology and our technology means nothing when there's no power, of course,” he said as he inched closer, “have you spoken to your father?”
Delta felt as if she had swallowed a stone that got stuck in her throat. “I'd wondered if you recognised me.”
“How could I not? You and Durun have the same delicate way when looking at things, trying to hide in plain sight,” he said as his long fingernails stroked through his beard, “Goru didn't let you leave the tower, did he?”
Her lips twisted as anger bubbled inside at his words. “You knew about him and his kin from the start!”
“And much more than almost anyone else here and in this country, I'm afraid, but how can someone like myself confront the mage?”
“You are a phasing scientist before you were a headmaster of a college. When you found out something terrible was going on with them, the public would listen to your message,” she whispered, “at least, you could've warned me.”
“Oh, nothing horrific would've befallen me if I said something about the head mage standing in my office,” he huffed as he looked to the ceiling for answers, “but he knew you were coming, knew what was going to happen. That man is always ten steps ahead of the rest, that's why he terrifies me.”
“Does he know I'm here speaking to you?” she said.
“He will after today, even if I don't tell him – someone else will,” he mumbled as he eyed around the chamber.
“The days are running short. What do you know about the magi that you couldn't tell me then? What's their interest with geo-phasing?” she asked.
Yunn's lips quivered in a fleeting smile. “Officially: they have no interest in geo-phasing,” he leaned in as his voice shrunk into a barely audible whisper, “unofficially: they've asked us to put these devices all around the western area of the city. We thought that maybe that was just a tester, like on some islands around the sea, but they've been very strong about not putting them anywhere else except those places.”
“Why? I saw you and Goru in the bowels of Pitach-rhok trying to blanket the entire country,” she whispered as her focus casually drifted to the tablet, trying to appear non-amiss.
“They realised that won't work, not even with those damned crystals in the power plants, it won't be enough to create a sustainable field over an area this big. So, they focused on smaller parts,” Yunn turned to the panel and magnified the border of the phasing devices, “they care about covering the western forests that meet the mountain spines, several ancient schools here, some old military fortresses, several hospitals and several higher class neighbourhoods. Anyone beyond this border won't be getting these devices installed.”
“Their tower is in the heart of the forest, but still doesn't explain why they want those other areas?”
“That I can't answer, but they know the rest of the country is left vulnerable,” he said.
Delta scanned the names of these districts. Her heart sank when she glazed over to the name of the newer hospital: Markarta Healing Centre. “You need to tell people this Yunn, your voice will be heard by the right ears.”
He shook his head. “There are too many who would stop me if I uttered a whisper about this, we've all been bought by them, we sold ourselves long ago. I know I'm safe that I can at least say this to you.”
“I'll press it with Durun when I can,” she said, “I haven't seen him around here.”
Yunn sighed; his fingernails grazed the edges of his jaw. “Works from home, been that way for some years.”
“I remember when this place was his entire life,” she said.
“Far from it, you and Olanta were his life. He did this for the two of you,” his eyes turned a glassy red as he looked away, “please don't think ill of me when you leave here today, this was the only way I-,”
Delta held her hands up, cutting his words short as she shook her head. “I don't.”
Phase-master Yunn's tired and wrinkled face lightened into a small smile before spinning around with his jacket making him almost camouflaged against the white background of the chamber.
~
The walk to the townhouse was arduous and slippery. Grey clouds had appeared overhead, releasing curtains of tiny specks of rain onto the cement floors. A'gesh found no issue with flying through this weather, as many juicy insects came out at this time. Delta glanced at her wrist phone; she had requested an earlier finish for the day as Anobus was expected to arrive to her sister’s place after finishing some affairs with Sorren and the new head scribe. She would rather be the one to break the news of a stranger coming to Mayen's home than showing up with him. This wouldn’t be the first time Delta had experienced her sister's disapproval when bringing someone home. The odd memory-wipe and a glance of frustration was often the result. A part of her hoped that she would come to an empty house, so she didn't have to explain whom she was bringing home or why.
Her mind weighed on her visit to the phasing laboratory. She had already mapped out the report for the day word-for-word, all of it, detailing the plans to place the geo-phasing devices around certain areas of the city, except for magi influence, of course. A'gesh chirped loudly as she dived into the small tree beside the pond in front of the property. Delta skipped up the stairs and charged through the door. Mayen sat beside the dying fire without flinching at her sister's sudden emergence.
“I thought I'd never see you again,” Delta said shutting the door with her hip and sliding over to the empty chair beside the acolyte, “do I have a story for you…”
“He's allowed to come,” she said as she investigated the flames.
Delta rolled her eyes. “For once, can I know something you don't? Anobus is a distant relative, I think maybe from father's line. Haven't seen him in years and now he's working beside the new head scribe. Sorren's leaving sooner than I thought.”
“Del,” she said finally turning her gaze from the fireplace, “I've something to share.”
“Hold that thought. My old headmaster, Yunn is now a phase-master at father's lab,” she notices Mayen's brows rise at his mention, “I didn't see him there, but Yunn basically confessed that the magi are planning something big with those phasing devices. Here, I noted it all down what he said and what I had seen,” she planted a data crystal inside Mayen's palm.
“I'll have a read of it when I can,” she said quietly.
“I thought you'd be jumping on this, wasn't this my reason to work as a scribe? Get into places and get to the truth?” Delta said as she glared at her sister's flat face.
“There's been troubling news floating around out there,” she said as her eyes flickered up, “things are falling apart so quickly now, I don't think there's time anymore…”
“Speak with clarity, please,” Delta said sliding her chair closer to her.
“The Federation has isolated earth from the interstellar community. We can still travel around, but permanent migration has ceased, and all beings are called back to their traditional homeworlds. Things are getting out of hand up there, and here we are, sitting on our hands with our blindfolds on,” she said as she sunk deep into her chair.
“What does that mean? Are they isolating just us?” Delta said. She felt her rump getting sore as it rested on the hard edge of the seat.
“Everyone it seems. My high contacts have stepped in and basically instructed every species to return to their homeworlds and stay there, humans especially. We're on our own,” Mayen whispered before she suddenly rose to her feet and began pacing around the room, “It's those crystals they don't want us to have. I felt something was off about them from the start, but I had no idea we were being manipulated.”
“Are the magi doing this? Do you know what they're planning?” Delta said as her hands clutched around the armchair, but her wrist vibrated as a message from Olanta appeared on the black screen.
“You should get that,” Mayen said looking down at her hand.
“She can wait,” Delta said pulling her sleeve down, slightly disappointed to see that it wasn't Anobus.
“I must go, I need to see my contacts,” she said.
“Don't be ridiculous, you just arrived!” Delta said jumping from her chair.
“I'll always be around, Delta. Even when you can't see me, I'm here,” Mayen said with a sad smile before looking around the house, “you've done a wonderful job taking care of this place, this home has more of you than I ever could put in it.”
Delta’s heart raced as her mind spun a million miles, her cheeks got hot as she tried forcing the tears back. “This is our house. Don't go anywhere, Mayen, please. I can't be alone right now.”
She shook her head as she came into a tight embrace around Delta's shoulders. “You're never alone. You've been very understanding with me for all these years, but I ask you once again for that same empathy. Trust me, sister.”
Knuckles tapped on the wooden door and her attention snapped to the muscled figure standing on the mezzanine. The purple bird flew over and landed on his shoulder. “Hang on a minute,” Delta called out.
“Let him in. It takes our whole lives to seek the truth, but so rarely does it come knocking on our door,” she said before releasing her hug, her hand waved, and the door obeyed.
Anobus stood glancing in, his head tilting to the side. “You look unwell.”
Delta stepped forward and ushered him and A'gesh through. “Sorry, we were just talking. This is Mayen-,” her head glanced back to see an empty space where her sister once stood.
Her eyes darted frantically for her, but the room appeared to be as barren as when she left it that morning. “Please,” she whimpered.
Anobus's boots tapped on the floorboards as he paced around the small entrance. “Is Mayen coming back?”
Delta rubbed her sore eyes as her fingers found their way through her thick hair. “I don't know.”
“I'll come back another time,” he said before stepping back to the door.
“No, no, stay please,” she said rushing over to the door and locking it shut.
“Why do I always find you in some sort of distressing situation?” he said shooting a smirk.
“You're just unlucky,” she said as her hand shot out to the seat beside the fire, “have you ever met her?”
Anobus shook his head as he steadily took his place in the chair. “No, but I can sense a great force in every fibre of this place and you, you're absolutely coated in it.”
“Wish you could've met her, she's the one that saved mine and A'gesh's life when I left the stay-house,” Delta said with a smile.
“What happened, Del?” he said interlocking his fingers over his lap.
“I astrally travelled that night, it wasn't anything like what others say in the books. It was incredible and so painful…” her hands found their way to her stomach and gripped, “felt like I was being torn apart when I went below my old school. My mage mentor had sensed me, and I knew that I was done for. Upon returning, I went to get something to drink, and Basra was waiting for me, she's magi’s eyes and ears.”
She wanted to make me wait for their collection, I refused and resisted. A'gesh helped me,” she said looking to the proud avian clutching the edge of the fireplace, “I got so angry and excited when Basra was weakened, in that moment, I had all the power. So, after throwing her down the stairs – we ran. Thought she was dead until Mayen told me otherwise.”
“I thought about our last conversation, thought you were just another paranoid crazy that wandered through our doors, talking about the magi and so on,” he said.
Delta shot him a glare. “Sorry, you can't verify the truth from my mind.”
“I really wanted you to be wrong, but it's not about wanting. We had authorities crawling around the place for days, trying to find you two – you three, but they gave up on Basra too quickly and focused hard on you. Thought that maybe you were a danger out there on the streets doing universe-knows-what to the good people of Atlantia, I didn't like that at all,” he said.
“That's amusing, who knew a mundane was such a nuisance,” she said as her lungs let out a sigh, “you said you didn't want to believe what I said about the magi.”
“I started looking for Basra myself, had some ties to social work around the city. Searched for every place; she said she'd taken refuge, houses for the troubled and every hospital I could think of before coming to the library. When I started pushing about Basra, they just shut me out, as if I was asking for some deep secrets,” he said.
Delta's brows shot up. “Do you still have clearance to get into them now?”
Anobus shrugged. “Not much point if you start asking questions.”
“Only if you start asking the wrong questions,” she stood up and straightened her coat, “come on, let's go.”
“Where are we-,” he said seizing up in the chair.
“Have you ever been to Markarta Healing Centre?” she said, commanding A'gesh to her shoulder.
“Sure, but-,” he said rising to his feet.
“You're going to get me in, I've a suspicion that place holds some answers,” she said as her hand sunk into the pocket dimension bag and pulled out a tablet.
“Answers to what?” he said as his eyes narrowed.
“For both of us. You need to let me in so my tablet can scan all the data from the hospital computers, the facility is within leagues of the Mage Tower,” she said flicking the device into life.
“This is ludicrous, I'm not risking my reputation and career,” he said crossing his arms.
Fury rose in her chest as her lips parted, her snarl startled Anobus. Even A'gesh twitched on her shoulder. “Well, I had some magi data crystals left at the stay-house, if I still had them, we wouldn't need to go anywhere.”
“No,” he said as he shuffled his feet, “yours and Basra's belongings were taken when the authorities came.”
“That's inconvenient. Now, I've got to get down to the bottom of all this and expose the magi for what they really are. If you won't go for me, then go and see for yourself.”
Anobus glanced to A'gesh. “She’s supposed to be our bodyguard if things go wrong?”
“Hasn't failed me yet.” she said looking at her large teal eyes staring back at her.
“You better not throw me back in with the threshers.” he sighed.
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