Falling
It was as if a great force came compressing from everywhere; too heavy to fight against, too strong to run from it, too dark to see through it and too silent to hear anything beyond it. Screaming was useless, as no one would have heard, no one would have understood. Fear wasn't the right description of what she was feeling, instead, it felt like a concoction of emotions rampaged through her mind too fast and damaging to grasp the situation before her. Delta had never felt like this before, she doubted anyone had ever felt anything like this in human history. She couldn't imagine how she would look through someone else's eyes. She was probably moving, likely responding to questions, but her mind – her essence – was far from her body. Watching Goru smile across the table like that, charming Ebesi with his words and assuring Anobus with hollow promises, made it hard for her to suppress the sickness making its way up her throat. Not even A'gesh was there to comfort her. Everything was falling apart at once.
“Many thanks for bringing this matter to my attention,” Goru said as his graceful fingers ran through the tablet's screen, “I've already heard some troubling rumours about these Kyline crystals, but this sadly solidifies our fears.”
“This would cause an uproar when the people find out,” Anobus said.
“Imagine how they would feel when they realised their energy dependency came from suffering,” Ebesi said as her thumbs tapped against each other on her lap.
“Unfortunately, our civilisation has little option other than relying on these crystals, until the prototype pylons are finished. One can argue that they have helped us reach amazing heights with their power, but we have yet to see the pylons achieve the same effects,” Goru said.
“This is wrong, Goru, no one will want to support this when it's uncovered, and it'll also push those engineers in Alkhem faster,” Anobus said.
“I didn't intend to sound as if I was agreeing with those people, but merely pointing out that would be something they will say,” he said with a calm smile, “tragic that our temporary energy measure became a convenience.”
“Couldn't agree more,” Anobus said as he snuck a quick glance at Delta.
“Have the energy plant reports been finalised?” Goru asked leaning toward the table as he looked between Ebesi and Delta. His concerned eyes almost fooled her.
“No,” she said, that was the first time she had spoken, the finality and fortitude behind that single word surprised her.
“We'll have it done by day's end, Goru. We thought to run this past you first,” Ebesi said.
“Good to see you're doing your jobs well and once again, thank you,” he said rising to his feet as the purple robes loosened down his toned legs, “I'm excited to finally work with the three of you once I've been instated.”
“Thanks, Goru. Hope that you can bring this to light,” Anobus said as he rose from his chair and extended his forearm.
“We'll see,” he said taking Anobus' arm and giving it a firm shake. He extended his arm out to Ebesi's then finally Delta's.
She looked at his loose velvet sleeve before her eyes travelled up to his. It was blank, but with a hint of amusement behind them. Her hand automatically reached out and grazed his arm as he tried to grab it, but she slipped it through his fingers before he could. Goru smiled and gave a polite nod to the others before whisking away from the cafeteria.
“I'm starving,” Ebesi said turning to the bar as she scanned the foods on display.
Anobus turned to Delta with a heavy sigh. “What's on your mind?”
“Nothing and everything at the same time,” she whispered.
“What did Sorren want from you?” Anobus asked leaning in.
“Wanted the data from the energy plant we got, didn't care about having the reports ready,” she said with her eyes now searching for A'gesh in the trees.
“Did he mention anything about the investigation at Markarta?” he said.
Delta closed her eyes. “He knows it was us, but something tells me he won’t do anything about it.”
Anobus pinched the bridge of his nose. “We can't go on 'I think's,” he rolled up his sleeve and flicked on his wrist phone. The latest news article detailing last night's break into Markarta hospital that led to the death of an elderly ward, authorities are heavily investigating due to the brutal nature of the woman's death. It was the first death that was counted as a homicide in the last century. She read that all the hospital staff have submitted to psychic deepscans and hypnosis to search for those responsible.
“So, it's finally out,” she said.
“The nation is on high alert now for two murderers. So, the plan with Ebesi uploading all the magi info will be almost impossible without it returning to us. I managed to sway Goru to focus on getting the Kyline crystal's out over searching for the 'killers,' but once the heat's off, my plan is we can show him everything we've got on the magi. He'll do something about it, at least protect us,” Anobus whispered as he shook his sleeve down.
Delta was too exhausted to laugh; her muscles trembled as she tried to flex her tight jaw. She thought about the Kyline crystal's trapped inside the hollow chambers, screaming for release, and their unwilling captors injecting them with more pain, holding them down, keeping them in constant strife. She imagined being one of those crystals, she understood their pain. Even if they could read her thoughts, they wouldn't have cared. She and Anobus had willingly fallen into the magi's grasp. She couldn't out-think them and she couldn't imagine another way out. The magi had won.
She looked to Anobus, contemplating. If she told him and Ebesi the truth about Goru, no doubt greater suffering would befall them both. Her path to the truth had caused her downfall, but was it worth it? She thought. Delta reached out to his shoulder and pulled his cheek to her lips. His face reddened as he looked to her with confusion.
“What are you two talking about?” Ebesi's voice muffled as she spoke through her chewing on moist capsicum bread. Her brown eyes were twinkling as she looked between them.
“I'm going to pack up and get home. See you tomorrow,” Delta said with a defeated smile. Delta whistled for A'gesh. Her purple wings crashed through the leaves as she swooped onto Delta's shoulder.
“I'll come, we've still got to talk about-,” Anobus said as he began making his way forward, but Delta put her hands up before he could finish.
“See you tomorrow,” Delta said before turning around and heading toward the scribe's chambers. One of her eyes began to water, but she sucked a big gulp of air to push the tears down. She looked to A'gesh; her beak was clicking around her earlobe, trying to comfort her.
“It's alright, my friend,” her hand gently patting her talons. The library was almost entirely cleared of visitors when small service droids appeared on the floors, splashing soapy water on the marble tiles and scrubbing them. Her feet were carefully avoiding them. Turning down the corridor to the office, she could see a blue light coming through the opened crack inside. Her fingers gripped around the edge as she pried it apart to see Goru touching the scrolls.
He looked up from the desk at her presence. “Please, close the door.”
Delta glared at him as A'gesh's gurgled squawks erupted from her throat while her feathers rose.
“Do you want them to hear our conversation?” he said as his thick black brow rose.
Delta said nothing. She gripped the handle from behind her back and slammed it shut before making her way to the farthest corner of the granite table. “There is no conversation,” she hissed.
“I'm surprised they didn't tell you that I was here, and even more surprised that you didn't ask who your new head scribe was,” he said lifting the scroll up to the light.
“I had other things on my mind,” she said as she grabbed the pocket dimension bag and began stuffing it with tablets.
Goru's luscious lips winced to a smile. “Wouldn't I like to have known that. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you? Even when you were so close, you still managed to slip away. Wasn't until you got cocky and came here. Did you really believe that we wouldn't be involved with a place of knowledge?”
“I knew you were going to find out eventually. Did you think I was going to walk in here without some sort of assurance for our safety?” she said as A'gesh's wings slapped against her shoulder.
“Of course not, you're not an idiot, Delta,” he said as his eyes twinkled at her bird.
“So, now what? Are you going to kidnap me and take me back to the Magi Tower?” she said as she swung the bag's strap over her other shoulder.
“Don't be so insulting. You've proven to be more valuable out here than in there. It takes great courage to do what you do,” he said lowering the scroll, never breaking his eyes from her.
“I don't care about anything you have to say,” she growled.
“No, you don't. You should care more about what you have to say,” he said as he slowly paced around the desk closer to her, “the Kyline crystals are a key to greater places, Delta. They're so much more than batteries and what's written in those files. Look at how they're being treated by the greed of this empire.”
Delta winced her head away. She focused on heightening her fury more than her sorrow, but Goru already noticed her eyes were tearing.
“The world has been broken for a long time, the wounds are so large they're now festering and corrupting in the hearts and minds of people. Believe me, I watched it happen for a long time. Our goal now is to build a world without suffering, without pettiness and greed. Like what our forefathers and mothers had done, which we had forgotten until the magi remembered,” his voice was deep; it almost sounded as if it were the purrs of a panther.
“You're a liar, Goru,” she said forcing herself to meet his eyes. He looked down at the scroll and tore it in half, then in another half and another, until it was pieces of ancient confetti before leaning into her ear.
“So are you.” he pushed past her shoulder and disappeared behind the door, leaving her alone in the darkening chamber.
~
The sting of cold on her skin woke her up. She struggled to open her eyes for a moment from the sleep granules stuck to the edges. She wasn't asleep; her consciousness never reached the state of rest for the whole night; she couldn't even blame her mind from keeping her up. There was cool light in the bedroom. The fire in the main room was long extinguished. Her head lazily turned on her drool-stained pillow as she searched for A'gesh on her perch. Not even her bird could be bothered moving her little body as her feathers grew more ruffled to keep her warm. They stayed in their places for what felt like an eternity, staring at each other, wondering who will move first to compel the other, but neither of them did.
Delta had to move, not out of any desire or will, but of biological instinct. Her arms and legs kicked off the quilts, exposing more of her body to the cold room. She wanted to wrap herself back into the bed and stay there until her death, but her bladder wouldn't allow it. Her feet found the floor. The loud thumps of glass bottles falling against the ground made A'gesh jump from her stand. It took her a moment to find her bearings through the maze of empty containers, once filled with old wines of every variety, making her way to the washroom. Her mind was still in a haze from the binge, unable to focus on the minute details of the photon-shower. It didn't take long for her to scream out in agony as her skin cooked from the harsh light. It made her eyes and mind instantly refocus on the fact that she had turned her photon-shower up to high.
A'gesh chirped as she flew into the washroom before settling on the shower's edge. Her eyes scanning Delta as she tried to peel the dead layer from her form and combed through her thick matted hair.
“It's alright,” Delta mumbled as she pulled her legs through her trousers. She caught her reflection in the mirror; her sunken in cheeks and black rings under her eyes almost gave her a fright. As she stared at herself, there was no fire there, nor the power of crashing waves; there was a body, but no life. With a heavy sigh, Delta pushed her way to the library. Her body was encased with an auburn canvas robe and her head and shoulders wrapped in a black woollen scarf.
As A'gesh flew to the indoor garden, Delta trudged through the visitors hoping to see Sorren walking among them, but there were only human faces. Maybe he could help; maybe he could reach Mayen and pull her out of this disaster. Her feet sped to his office as her knuckles tapped on his office door. She could hear shuffling inside, but no answer. Very much like him. Delta sucked in air as she slid the door aside, readying her mind to tell him everything, but was only met with some more disappointment. Goru sat where Sorren had once, while Anobus and Ebesi sat on the opposite side of the desk, the same place where she had been seated with her former head scribe many times.
“Do you often enter without an invitation, Del?” Goru said as his black brows crossed.
Delta hung her mouth open as her eyes scanned the room, it was cleaner and significantly less cluttered than when Sorren had it, mostly because there were fewer tomes, parchment papers and computers. He was really gone, and she couldn't believe that she was missing him.
“Are you sick?” Anobus said, breaking her inner monologue back into the present. Ebesi smiled at her entrance as a wave of concern washed over her.
“No, Sorren would often ignore my knocks at first, but then after a while, I was allowed to enter, I suppose I made it quicker for both of us if I entered straight away,” she said without thought.
Goru let out a chuckle as his hand tapped the edge of the desk. “You've come in here just to tell us this? I suppose I have much to look forward to when working with you,” he looked to Anobus, who also shared the same humour, while Ebesi flashed a smile. His charisma turned her already weak stomach as she forced out a grin.
“We were discussing the delicate matter on the crystals, however since we're all here,” Goru said as he sat forward in the chair and extended his arm for Delta to join the sofa, “I've made this issue known to my political contacts, I was surprised – shocked in fact – when I sensed they had already been aware of this for some time. They refused to push this information out of fear for their careers and general safety all the while the public and Federation inevitably become outraged. They've been trying to make peace with off-worlders and allow humans to return to the stars, but if this gets out – everything's finished.”
“And when the Federation and the public eventually find out about this, don't you think their lives and work would be destroyed anyway, but also be branded as liars. That doesn’t make sense either.” Ebesi said.
He sighed. “I know. It's poor planning at best, but I have no power to make the decisions for them.”
Sick almost spilled in Delta’s mouth when she heard this. He was allowing them to keep doing this, further pushing his mad ideas about Atlanteans higher up the ladder so he could sleep better with whatever his ghastly plans were for the nation.
“Our 'leaders' are preparing to dispose of the crystals quietly and have urged me to promise to keep this from everyone, but I didn't want to keep secrets from any of you. For now, I ask the three of you to keep this to yourselves for the time being,” he said.
“When do you think the time will be right, Goru?” Anobus said as his thumb brushed along the edge of his jaw.
His perfectly formed lips curled into a smirk. “I'm glad you asked, my friend, because I've managed to secure contact with the magi. Their abilities greatly surpass mine, and I believe they would make ideal allies to stop the atrocities happening in the power plants for now.”
“Goru, that might not be the wisest thing,” Anobus sighed as he glanced to Delta. She bore her eyes into his, begging and praying that he wouldn't say what he was about to say, but her silent message went ignored as Anobus tore his stare from her to Ebesi, then to Goru.
“What are you talking about?” he said as he looked between the three of them.
Anobus pinched the bridge of his nose. “In the interest of keeping thing's transparent between us…”
“An-” Delta whimpered.
“We have to say something, this is our best chance. It’s alright,” he said as he wrapped his hand over her knuckles, “we have information about the magi that would concern almost anyone. We have evidence that magi are involved with the delay of the prototype pylons in Alkhem, the strategic placements of geo-phasing devices, the specialised breeding programs in Markarta Hospital and who knows where else. My point, we believe that they're pulling strings and have been for quite some time.”
“How can you be so certain?” Goru said quietly.
“I've faced them, Goru, they're manipulating their own members to push an unknown agenda. I worked with one, but at the time I didn't know she was a mage and Delta has had some personal experiences with them. They're doing something with the children, when we went to the hospital-,”
“Stop for a moment, you don't mean that it was you who went to Markarta Hospital that night?” Goru said with his hands waving before him.
Anobus glanced at Delta again and sighed, she shook her head as tears welled in her eyes. “Delta Ungbrahe, she changed her name to hide from the magi, we both went there.”
“You didn't kill that worker?” his eyes wide looking wildly between them.
“Well, she wasn't exactly a worker, someone I knew from the stay-house that turned out to be mage, but...Del?” Anobus' soft voice felt like an ice pick went through her heart; she looked to Ebesi, her whitened knuckles gripping a clump of her Alkhem winter dress.
Delta looked at Goru, finding the last fraction of her fury as her eyes bore into his sea blue orbs. “I did it.”
“Can you be more specific?” he said as his eyes narrowed at her.
She sat forward, never taking her eyes from him. “I crushed her hands before she could kill us with her energy blasts, I wanted to do so much more, but her heart gave out before I could, now how's that for specifics?”
The twinkle in Goru's eyes died as an unreadable death glare washed over him. He sighed as he pulled his hands onto his lap while clearing his throat. “This is very serious.”
Delta looked to Ebesi; a thin gap appeared in her lips as she sat back into the sofa. She could feel the shock and disgust burning from Ebesi’s skin. “That's the truth.” Delta said.
Goru's glare softened. “Alright, this is what we're going to do: everything said in this room today will only stay in this room. These truths can jeopardise our futures, so I will not make this known to the authorities. We’ve placed a lot of trust in each other, let's not break that right now.”
“So, are we returning to the power plants today?” Ebesi said as her arms folded over her chest.
“No, but the institute will need to have those reports from the phasing labs and power plants submitted. I trust you'll make the necessary information in said documents available for public consumption,” he said before turning to Ebesi, “Archivist, I'll need to see all that data you have about the magi along with all copies of it by sunset. I trust that hasn't been uploaded to the aether-network?”
She shook her head. “It hasn't.”
“Good, I need to see them all and Delta's written testimonies before placing them in the library's vaults. That will be all,” he said as his hand directed them to the door.
Ebesi didn't miss a beat as she hopped to her feet and struck Delta's ankle on her way out, not even stopping to excuse herself or apologise. She lost a friend because of her selfishness. Anobus was the next to leave. He looked back from the door and gave her a reassuring smile. “Coming?”
Delta rose to her feet and returned the smile. “A moment.”
He disappeared behind the door, leaving the two of them alone. Delta wasn't afraid or angry when she looked at Goru, there was no emotion or thought. “What stops me from uploading it all straight to the aether-network? You know what they say when people are backed into a corner...”
“You're not in a corner, Delta, you're on the ground. Or you could be in it along with Anobus and Ebesi,” Goru's eyes glanced up from the desk, “but I've never been one for violence, unlike yourself, I prefer transactions that make everyone happy.”
“You're sick,” she hissed.
“Your father is, I hear. Phasing sickness does horrible things to the body. Fortunately, Mage Balgrif specialises in that field,” he said.
Delta longingly looked to the door, she wished that Anobus had his ear pressed up against the wood or had forsaken etiquette and delved into Goru's mind. “No way that would ever happen. Olanta wouldn’t allow it, even if I agreed. You know that.”
“That's truly unfortunate,” he said with a heavy sigh and a slight crack in his lips.
“Well done,” she whispered.
“Magi work better together than apart. I couldn't have done it without you.” he grinned.
She didn't need to hear anymore, there was nothing left for her other than torment inside his office. Delta stormed out the door and headed to the scribe's office but heard Anobus' trotting over.
“I'm sorry, but I had to say something. I trust he can help us,” he said as he caught his breath.
She shook her head. “I’ve done the same before. You seem to trust him enough to reveal so much to him”
“Goru helped me get more work after the stay-house; that disaster with Basra ruined a lot of possibilities for me, but he pulled me out of some very difficult times. Wouldn’t be here because of him,”
Delta wanted to scream the truth, but the mark had been missed long ago. “I'll need to get some work done.”
“Are we still going to ask Ebesi to release the records in Alkhem?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled as she stepped back before turning around and continuing to the scribe chamber. To slight relief, it was empty. She settled beside a granite table and caressed her fingers along the computer monitor's edge; the holographic lights came to life. She looked at the open Kyline crystal document before her as her fingers began erasing the sentences on their conscious nature and the scientist's method on reaping their energy. Her hands hovered over the holo-keyboard, her mind slowly collecting the words to replace, but a bang at the door almost threw her out of her seat.
Ebesi stood in the open doorway, her dark eyes wild with rage and disdain at her presence. She tossed the bag to the desk, the tiny data crystals clanking inside as it came to a complete stop. “You lied to my face, Delta!”
“I did,” she said without a thought.
Her archivist's jaw clenched as her nostrils flared. “How dare you use me to do this? Did you think I wasn't going to find out eventually or were you hoping that I uploaded it before I found out the truth?”
“The latter,” her voice was barely audible to her own ears.
Ebesi scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “We'll keep things professional, but don't talk to me when we pass each other down the hall. It'll be better for all of us.”
Delta said nothing. She watched her friend spin around and disappear behind the door. Her wrist phone vibrated, showing a new message from Olanta. Delta already typed out a reply without even looking at the message. “I'm coming home.”
For a moment, there was silence until reading the amber words: “very good.”
She looked to the computer screen as her hands began punching in the lies. Her eyes glazed over the sentences over and over, and over again, hoping that they said something different. Maybe this was for the best. She considered the fact that all the secrets she'd uncovered throughout her life had always led to something worse. If Mayen were here, she would be disgusted by her sister's weakness. If Delta could see it herself, she would be too. Maybe she wasn't meant to be the one to know all these horrendous truths; maybe that's why the universe made her into a mundane for that reason. Ignorance was bliss when in her family home, maybe that's where she was always meant to be.
The tip of her finger hovered over the send button; it would go straight to Goru's computer and then out for the world. Everything she had written in here wouldn't lead to a revolution; it wouldn’t even be an after-thought to the readers. Everything she had written in there would be just another fact people will consider before moving on with their lives. The moment felt like an eternity until she pressed ‘send’.
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