It took days before Sapphire could finally find sanctuary—two days of running and hiding with little food and even less sleep. The rain had let up a few hours ago, and she was soaked. Every time her eyelids begged to close, she dug her fingers into her palm. It had started bleeding some time ago but Sapphire couldn't remember when.
She’d ditched the army jacket as soon as she could. It was too obvious. She'd swapped the military green tank top out for a white one, hoping it would help her blend in with the crowd. She kept most of the uniform—it was all fairly functional. The boots were nondescript and designed for running. The pants she'd taken a risk with as they had enough pockets to store any tools she could steal.
The Military Police were efficient. Even with all her experience from four years training to become a huntsman (an elite police force in her home land), she'd only managed to evade them for a few hours at a time. At the very least, she was safe in populated areas. They couldn’t dedicate as many resources to finding her without causing a panic. Still they knew the city better than she did and over the last two days their net had slowly been herding her to a derelict district.
She couldn't keep this up forever. The Military Police had more resources and a familiarity with the area that she lacked. She was beginning to running out of time—out of places to hide. What she needed was a safe unassuming place to rest. While nothing in this city would be perfect she thought she’d finally found a safe place to hide, for a little while at least.
Her best option looked to be an old abandoned bank on the outer rim of the city. Unlike other structures in the area, it appeared mostly intact. Sapphire circled round back where there was a section open to the city— an open air balcony built as part of the roof. It wouldn’t be difficult to scale; the bricks were old and jagged and left plenty of handholds. At the top, Sapphire had a decent view of the city, but she was too tired to plan her next move—the only thing that mattered to her was getting somewhere safe; somewhere she could rest.
There were a set of glass doors waiting for her. Some part of Sapphire was surprised that they were intact, but a bigger part just wanted to fall asleep somewhere. Only her determination to find Demetra kept her going. With that in mind Sapphire pushed through the glass doors. On the other side she heard, loud, fast-paced piano music as it flowed in from the halls and travelled through the floor from below.
As she crossed the threshold, a metal plated barrier slammed down and sealed Sapphire’s entrance. An alarm drowned out the piano, and Sapphire froze. She looked around wildly. She'd made a huge mistake.
The old building might have looked abandoned from the outside, but the insides were almost lavish compared to any other building Sapphire had seen. This place was obviously occupied. She'd set off the building's security alarm. Had the Military Police guessed she’d come here? If she was caught now she'd be finished.
Sapphire hid behind by the side of a large book shelf, as she waited for someone to check the room. Only moments later, a girl ascended the stairs.
She had cropped red hair that was held out of her face with a black headband. Her skin was unusually pale, and she was only a little more than five feet tall.
As she approached, Sapphire revealed herself. Somnus and Melinoe were still collapsed on her wrists—she didn't want to frighten the girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone." Sapphire said. She didn't expect any resistance from this girl. "I'm just looking for a way out. That's all. I'd came here by mistake and I'd be more than happy to take my leave."
There was something off about this girl. She didn't look at all afraid to see a stranger in her house. At first, she was mildly startled by Sapphire's appearance, but now the girl wouldn’t stop looking at her. She looked like she was analyzing Sapphire more than anything else.
"I was not informed that Roger was expecting company today. Might I ask what your business here is?”
Something was wrong with this girl. Her voice was deadpan; well past the point of disinterest. She treated Sapphire’s intrusion in an unfazed manner, as if it was a normal occurrence. Sapphire was off-put at the girl's unusual behavior, but she didn't lower her guard. Neither of them moved.
An old man came up the stairs. "What, by God, is going on up here, Dorothy?" The man shouted. "Are we receiving another home invader, perchance?"
When he reached the top of the stairs he stopped suddenly at the sight of Sapphire. He had to be in his sixties, with white hair that rimmed his bald head. There was an eyepatch over one of his eyes, and a large walrus mustache accompanied by bushy eyebrows. Compared to Dorothy, the man looked normal.
"Dorothy, what is going on here?" he asked her.
"Do not worry, Norman I will deal with it."
Suddenly Sapphire sensed danger, and activated her weapons moments before Dorothy struck. Dorothy kicked Melinoe out of Sapphire's hand before she had a chance to react. Now on the defensive Sapphire retreated behind the sofa, hoping to give herself some room to breathe.
This was short lived as Dorothy leapt straight over the sofa in an impossibly high arc, landing in front of Sapphire. She struck out with one of her arms, and it came down dangerously close to Sapphire’s head; bobbing around Somnus.
Sapphire blocked the blow with her forearm and her muscles screamed out in pain. Dorothy was much stronger than she initially appeared. This didn’t look like a battle Sapphire could win, but she'd been backed into a cornered. Dorothy blocked her only escape route. Sapphire tried to stab her, but with impossible speed Dorothy grabbed Sapphire's wrist. Despite the block the momentum of Sapphire’s attack drove Somnus into Dorothy’s arm.
Dorothy didn't react in any fashion to the blade in her arm. Instead, she delivered a swift strike to Sapphire's neck. Sapphire crumpled up, causing her to lose her grip on Somnus.
Before she hit the floor, Just before she blacked out, Sapphire could have sworn Dorothy's wound crackled with electricity as she pulled out the blade. She passed out from exhaustion moments later.
* * * * *
Over the next hours as she slept Sapphire drifted in and out of unconsciousness. The first time she woke, she felt the weight of a heavy blanket. She could very faintly hear people talking outside her room.
She passed out again.
Over the next several hours she remembered waking and hearing voices a number of times. The next time it happened the voices were clearer. She could hear Dorothy and a man speaking.
"What do you mean you put her up in one of the rooms?" The man seemed surprised, but was more annoyed than anything.
"I was simply following your rules Roger: 'Only lovely young women can unconditionally enter this mansion' was that not one of the first things you said to me?" It sounded like Dorothy was enjoying this just a little too much. "By your standards she is quite pretty."
The next time Sapphire woke she could hear this 'Roger' talking with someone downstairs.
"We had this area surrounded; there’s nowhere she could have gone. You must know something, Roger."
"I told you Dastun, I haven't seen this girl you’re looking for. There are many ways out of this district perhaps she slipped past your men."
"Damn it Smith! This is the Military Police we're talking about. Just because we're not good enough for
you doesn't mean we don't know how to do our jobs. Just remember, anyone caught helping her will face the same penalty as she does. Good day, Mr. Negotiator."
Sapphire slipped into a deep sleep again.
When she awoke for the final time it was to the same fast paced piano music she had heard when she first broke in. According to the clock on the wall, it was a little past twelve in the morning. Sapphire must have slept for at least a day.
She pulled the comforter back. Her clothes had been replaced with a white dressing gown. Sapphire hadn't worn one of these since she was a little girl. On a chest of draws was a plain black dress, stockings and heels; evidently from Dorothy's wardrobe. How the girl had managed to defeat Sapphire wearing this was beyond her. Then again, there were a couple of girls at the huntsman academy who opted for combat skirts and high heels so maybe she just had a lot of practice.
Sapphire put on the dress and stockings but left the heels on the dressing table. She'd had very little experience walking in heels and even less success at it.
She followed the sound of the music. Now that she was properly awake she noticed that the piece wasn’t as perfect as she'd thought when she'd first heard it. Some of the notes fell flat or were completely absent. It was still pretty, but in the same way an injured bird was still beautiful.
Sapphire descended the stairs, and kept her eyes on the windows. There was always the possibility that Dastun and Roger had set up a trap.
At the bottom of the stairs Sapphire found Dorothy sitting at the piano and a man standing over her.
"Dorothy?" Asked the man. "Is your arm still bothering you? Your playing lacks its usual precision."
"Sorry Instro, Norman has yet to find someone to repair my circuitry."
It would have been simple not to realize that Dorothy was in fact an android when compared to the being that stood beside her.
He was completely mechanical; with a box shaped head and silver metal skin. His eyes were like lights, and Sapphire could see the hinge on his jaw. He was also wearing a suit but that seemed of less consequence.
Dorothy turned around on the piano bench to look at Sapphire. "I see you have awoken. Norman was rather worried that you would not. I have known very few humans that have slept in excess of twenty-four hours."
"How long was I out?" Sapphire asked.
"Twenty-nine hours and twelve minutes." Dorothy replied before turning to her piano teacher. "Instro, this is Sapphire Rode. Sapphire, this is R. Instro, my piano instructor."
"I don't think I ever gave you my name." Sapphire said, and she eyed the android with suspicious.
"You did not. Dan Dastun of Paradigm's Military Police was here yesterday. He mentioned your name to Roger."
"Roger is...? He’s the owner of this house?"
"He is Paradigm City's top negotiator. Do not worry, you will meet him soon enough." She muttered under her breath, "If he ever wakes up."
Sapphire glanced between the pair. "You're both androids, right?" She half asked, half stated. In her homeland the Atlas military complex had been developing various androids since Sapphire’s first year at the academy. The first prototype had been destroyed in Sapphire's freshman year, but the program had advanced since then.
For her nineteenth birthday, Sapphire's father pulled some strings and got her a tour of the research lab. They'd even let her take a look at the schematics. Still she'd never expected to see robots of this level live alongside regular humans. The sight of one android teaching another to play piano seemed strangely… domestic. The whole situation was odd.
"Yes…?" Said Dorothy, obviously expecting Sapphire to continue with her questioning. Sapphire felt as if she was put on the spot, and grasped the first thing she could think of. "Dorothy, can I take a look at your shoulder? I might be able to help."
"You can try. Norman has been searching for a specialist ever since I was injured to repair it."
Dorothy pushed aside her collar so Sapphire could look at her shoulder. On closer inspection, the damage wasn't severe. Somnus had disconnected a number of control wires between what looked Dorothy's main processor and her arm, but aside from that there were nothing that seemed like it would be permanent.
"I might be able to fix this. It just looks like a number of your wires were cut when I hit you. If you've got a soldering iron I can try to reattach them."
Instro and Dorothy glanced at one another.
"I should warn you." responded Dorothy. "That area only houses controls to my left arm. You would have no chance to disable me in my entirety from that location."
Sapphire figured they wouldn’t trust her to start tinkering with Dorothy's arm, but she was telling Sapphire something any informed person would have known just by looking at the parts.
"Yeah I know," Sapphire said "I thought I should make up for having stabbed you is all. If you want to wait for your ‘Norman’ to find someone, that's fine. The damage isn't critical."
Instro and Dorothy exchanged looks again that Sapphire couldn't quite understand.
"Why would you wish to help me?" Dorothy asked.
"I broke in here, I threatened you, and I stabbed you; but despite that this Roger didn't turn me over to the Military Police even when they were in his living room. I suppose I have a debt to repay."
"You feel as though helping to repair my circuits would lessen your debt to Roger for hiding you?"
"I suppose." Sapphire said, shrugging. Dorothy glanced out the window before getting up and walking out of the room.
Sapphire looked at Instro. "Is she coming back?"
"I am not sure; she may return." Instro responded.
They waited for a couple of minutes before Instro walked towards the door. "When she comes back tell her I will return for her lessons again next week. Good day Miss Rode." He said before he took his leave.
Sapphire waited in the room alone, and with nothing else to do she started to look around. It was mostly thing’s she have expected: bookshelves, photos on the mantel—the simple feeling of home that she’d never had. However something in the corner drew her eye: a violin in an old battered case that was propped up next to the fireplace.
Sapphire got up, walked over to it and brought it back to the piano bench. She opened it up and—despite the state of the case—the violin was in remarkable condition. After Sapphire plucked a couple of chords she knew it was also still in tune.
"Do you play?" Dorothy asked from across the room.
Sapphire jumped and snapped the case shut. She felt like she was doing something wrong, and set the case beside the piano bench.
"Since I was little, my Mother loved music."
Dorothy crossed the room and sat down on the bench before offering Sapphire something. It was a soldering iron.
"You wished to help repair me?"
"Oh," Sapphire was surprised that she had accepted. "Sure."
Sapphire took the iron and plugged it in before she started. Dorothy parted her collar again and Sapphire went to work.
It took her almost twenty minutes but she repaired the wires well enough. When she was done the synthetic skin over the damaged area sealed automatically. Dorothy tested each of her joints before she turned back to the piano and played a scale quickly and flawlessly.
"Would you care to play with me?" She asked, expressionlessly motioning to the violin at her feet.
Sapphire was surprised, and truth be told a little nervous. She played the violin to relax herself. Playing with other people was one of the most nerve wracking experiences she knew. Still, she had stabbed Dorothy a day and a half ago. She owed her.
Sapphire picked up the violin, fitted the base and rosined the bow before placing it to the strings. She looked over Dorothy's shoulder at the music on the piano, they began to play a duet.
Dorothy played much faster than Sapphire was comfortable with, and she struggled to keep up, but as the song went on she caught the rhythm of the notes more thoroughly and was so more easily able to play alongside the android pianist. They kept playing until the sound of a slamming door came from one of the upper levels.
“DOROTHY!" A voice bellowed from a floor up.
Sapphire stopped playing immediately, but the android girl kept going till Roger Smith threw the door open.
"Dorothy! What have I told you about playing the piano this early?"
"Roger, it is nearly one O’clock. I told you I would do this anytime you slept past twelve. Which is almost all the time, might I add."
"Dorothy, it's alright for someone to sleep past noon every once in a while. That's what it means to be a free human being."
"And if they do it every day? What does that mean?"
"Dorothy," Roger started, but stopped when he noticed Sapphire in the room. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Sapphire Rode. She is girl that invaded the mansion two days ago."
Roger studied Sapphire for a moment taking her in, looking from the violin in her hand and noting the tan lines on her wrists where Melinoe and Somnus usually resided.
"Dorothy please escort our guest to the drawing room. I'll be along in a moment."
Dorothy nodded and indicated Sapphire to follow. As she walked after the android Sapphire took stock of the exits and her options at the moment. Now that she was rested, she considered that her best course of action might be to stay here.
If she went back out on the street, her investigation of Demetra's whereabouts would be continually interrupted by the Military Police. These people had already shown a willingness to hide her from them, and they were residents of this city. They were familiar with the terrain. Dorothy had also referred to Roger as a 'Negotiator' which might be helpful if Sapphire
did locate Demetra's kidnapper.
Sapphire kept her options as open as possible, but she wasn't about to leave before she heard what Roger had to say. Besides, they still had her daggers somewhere, and she wasn't going to leave without those unless absolutely necessary.
Dorothy led Sapphire into a room that contained two couches and a coffee table between them. A window looking out on the city was covered by a curtain.
The android girl left her alone. Just to be safe, Sapphire peaked outside to check that there were no suspicious people in the streets or anything noteworthy on the ground before she took a seat on the sofa.
Not long after, Roger entered and took a seat opposite to her.
"My name is Roger Smith. I'm the top Negotiator of Paradigm City. Now, I've heard of what you've been accused of from Dastun, but if you wouldn't mind I'd like the story from your perspective.”
Sapphire sighed before she started to speak. There was no point in lying. He already knew what had transpired.
"I shot an officer three times in the chest."
Roger nodded at this. "You're honest. That’s good.” He clasped his hands together and leaned ever so slightly towards Sapphire. The intensity of his gaze rather unnerved her. "Why?” He asked “The officer you shot was an honest man. He wouldn’t have used force on you unless you forced his hand."
"My little sister—Demetra—she was kidnapped by a man in a green cloak. The police officer was in my way, to rescuing her but..." Sapphire didn't know how to say this next part. She wasn’t sure where she was when she'd pulled the trigger. She'd thought the rules of her old life still applied, she didn't think he would die. "I didn't think it would kill him."
Roger and Dorothy glanced at each other. "You shot a man three times in the chest and you thought he'd walk away from it?"
"Yes… No… sort of." Sapphire sighed. "Where I come from things are different."
“Where are you from?”
“We call it the Kingdom of Vale, but I suppose that means nothing to you. It doesn’t look like this; the skies are exposed and it’s a lot cleaner.”
"You're from outside the domes? Do you and this sister of yours come from across the desert?"
"Yeah, I guess; where I live looks nothing like this. More importantly in Vale our military officers all wear body armour that protects against bullets."
Roger raised an eyebrow. “Your military is bullet proof?”
Sapphire shook her head. She wasn’t explaining well. “No, well not exactly. The material absorbs the kinetic energy of the bullets stopping them in their tracks. It’s not full proof, the impacts hurt a lot and the bruises don’t fade for a month but it’s enough to prevent good people from…” she couldn’t say the word.
Her breathing became heavy. She could still see the scene… the blood mixing with the rain; his arms sprawled at unnatural angles; the look on his face—fear and surprise. Her eyes began to mist over, and she knew tears wouldn't be far off. “I didn't realize... He wasn’t supposed to… I didn't think he'd… he’d… die. I didn't want... I just..." Sapphire put her head in her hands, hiding her face.
"Here, wipe your eyes." Roger said, offering her a tissue. Sapphire thanked him and wiped away her tears quickly. She didn’t like people to see her cry.
"Do you want to know what Dastun says you did?"
Sapphire looked up. "Th-that wasn't enough?"
"Apparently not. According to him you're a Corporal with the Military Police. One of their rising stars from all accounts. Reportedly you suffered a psychotic break three days ago. You kidnapped your ten year old daughter from her foster parents, claiming that she wasn't safe. You killed an officer when they located you hiding out in a bar, and you’ve been on the run ever since.”
Sapphire looked at him shocked. "Ten year old daughter! I'm twenty one."
"According to Dastun's records you're twenty six; a teen pregnancy, apparently. After having her taken from you, you joined the military to straighten up your act in hopes of gaining partial custody of her."
"That's impossible, besides Demetra’s twelve not ten."
"The evidence is all in Dastun's files, but putting aside your history for a moment, I'd be rather interested to know more about this." He took a small black box out of his pocket.
Melinoe.
He tossed it onto the table and the impact caused the dagger to assemble itself into view.
"Where did you get it?"
"I made it." Sapphire said, “Is there something wrong with it?”
"
You constructed a knife capable of condensing down to the size of an inch long box?"
"Yes. Well, I constructed them from my mother’s old schematics." They were a keepsake from Sapphire’s departed mom. Something to remember her by.
"Your mother possessed a memory fragment?"
"A what?"
"Old blueprints or designs for these devices?"
Sapphire snorted. "
Melanie Rode using someone
else's designs? No, she drew the schematics herself. She was an engineer."
"She designed them herself? And you say you come from outside the domes."
Roger got up off the sofa and walked over to the android. "Dorothy is it possible...?"
"We have seen those that have regained their memories before, but if she truly comes from outside of Paradigm, perhaps she comes from a place where The Cataclysm never struck."
"Cataclysm? What are you guys talking about?"
Roger looked at Dorothy. "She really doesn't know?"
"She was capable of repairing my circuitry without my blueprints like Norman uses. Perhaps she is from somewhere that never forgot."
Roger turned back to Sapphire. "You say you're a stranger to this city. You don't know anything about it?"
"Just what I've gathered while on the run."
"In that case I have a story to tell you.”
Sapphire had a sudden sense of foreboding. Like she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. Despite that she listened as Roger began to speak.
“This place—Paradigm City—is a town of forgetfulness. One day forty years ago, every person here lost all memory of anything that had occurred before that day. We adapted as best we could. We figured out how to operate machinery and produce electricity, and we managed to construct some semblance of a civilization. We’ve lost a lot though. Many technologies around today are irreplaceable. Those that built them or knew how to fix them don't remember anymore. Like Dorothy here," Roger said, motioning to the android girl. "The person who built her is dead. It may have taken Norman weeks to figure out the damage you repaired in just a few minutes."
Sapphire just stared. Her mind was reeling. A city full of people who had lost all memories.
"That can't be..."
It seemed almost impossible that an entire city could function in such a state, that they had cultivated some semblance of order even if it was in the form of a military state. Still she couldn't help but wonder how these people survived. Then she remembered the look on her sister’s face as the hooded man had carried her away.
Maybe not
everyone did. Some must have gone mad.
Sapphire didn’t like asking for help. In fact, there was nothing she detested more than asking someone else to shoulder her problems, but she didn’t seem to have many options. If she left this mansion it wouldn’t be long before the Military Police caught up with her. Besides, Roger must have been a skilled diplomat to gain the title of ‘Top Negotiator’. Roger and his staff knew this city much better than she did. If she stood a chance of getting her sister back, it would be with their assistance.
Sapphire took in another breath to calm her nerves before she spoke. "Roger, you’re a negotiator. No, you’re the
Top Negotiator in this city. Please help me get my sister back. She's part of my family. I can't lose her."
She didn’t have any means of payment. Back in Vale, her family was quite wealthy, but here—wherever this ‘Paradigm City’ was located—she didn’t have much to offer.
Roger looked at her as though considering what she said.
“I can look into it, but there are no guarantees. If you wouldn’t mind, can you give me any more information on who took your sister? The smallest detail might be relevant, I need some place to start."
"I don't know; he had a hood on, and I was pretty groggy at the time. But he said... he said my sister could 'see through the darkness', that she could 'see the truth' and would 'teach the city to fear again'; whatever that means... Wait," Sapphire said remembered something else. "His hands were covered in bandages; like he'd been burned or something."
Roger's eyes widened, and he got up from the table. He muttered a word under his breath that Sapphire had never heard before.
"Schwarzwald.”
Sapphire's eyes snapped up.
"Is that his name?" She asked tensely; suddenly certain that Roger had a much firmer grasp of where her sister might be than she did.
Roger walked towards the door.
“I have to look into something. I suggest that you stay inside the house and away from the windows. Dastun’s no fool; he may suspect I am hiding you.”
As he passed Dorothy, he stopped for a moment and whispered to her. Sapphire’s keen ears only caught a snippet of what he said, but the meaning was clear enough. ‘Keep her inside the house and keep an eye on her till I returned’.
Sapphire wasn’t stupid. She was a strange girl with an unbelievable story who was accused of crimes far more rooted in their reality than her explanation. Roger might not be willing to hand her over to the Military Police until he had all the facts but he wasn’t foolish enough to trust her in his own home.
After Roger left Dorothy approached Sapphire.
“Are you hungry? Norman could make you something to eat.”
Sapphire smiled a little. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten.
“That sounds great.”
Dorothy nodded and showed Sapphire the way to the kitchen where Norman was preparing a wonderful smelling pot of soup on the stove. Sapphire took a seat at the isle in the kitchen and waited for it to be ready.
When it was finally finished, Norman spooned some out into a bowl and sprinkled some cheese on it before placing it in front of Sapphire. Despite how hot it was, Sapphire ate it as quickly as she could without scalding her mouth. After she’d inhaled the first bowl she asked for seconds, and then thirds.
She knew full well that she shouldn’t be eating this fast; not after being starved for so long, and especially not with food this rich, but she was so hungry that she couldn’t help devouring the food placed before her.
After she finished Sapphire turned to the butler.
“Norman, I was wondering; what happened to my clothes? The ones I was wearing when…”
Dorothy knocked me unconscious. “...when I first arrived. These dresses are great and all, but not exactly what I’m used to.”
Norman continued to work, preparing more food.
“I believe your boots are in one of the closets, I can fetch them for you later. Your outfit however was too badly damaged to salvage. If Dorothy’s wardrobe is not to your liking I can pick up more suitable clothing later today. Something similar to your original attire I presume?”
Sapphire smiled. Norman had probably been told to give her anything she wanted within reason to ensure that she didn’t leave the mansion. Still it was a kind gesture. “Thank you Norman.”
“It is my pleasure miss.”
Sapphire left the kitchen and retired to the room that Dorothy had set aside for her. She had started to feel sick after eating so much rich food.
Once she started to feel better, Sapphire took to exploring Roger’s house. It was her prison admittedly one of her own choosing. It was best to get a lay of the land. Though she was not prevented from looking around the mansion, Sapphire noticed that wherever she went either Dorothy or Norman always happened to be nearby—either polishing the silver on the mantelpiece or else dusting the bookshelves. They never made it obvious they were watching her but Sapphire knew that she would not be left alone in the house.
Sapphire quickly discovered the only locked door in the house. At the end of a hallway, she found a single oak door. At first she thought it was stuck, as none of the other rooms in the house had been locked. She rattled the knob, testing to see if it would give way.
“That is Roger’s study.”
Sapphire nearly jumped out of her skin, Dorothy was standing right behind her.
“He does not like people disturbing his desk. The door is kept locked to keep out…” she paused for a fraction of a second to emphasize her next words. “…
unwanted visitors.”
“Ah, sorry…” Sapphire muttered feeling caught in the act. “I didn’t realize this was off limits.” She slipped past Dorothy and returned to the less restricted sections of the house. Over the next couple of hours Sapphire continued to look around. However this time she had a very specific purpose in mind.
When Dorothy told her that Roger’s study was kept locked to keep it away from prying eyes an idea had started to form in Sapphire’s mind. Roger had placed great value on Somnus and Melinoe. They were foreign pieces of technology unlike anything he had ever seen. It was logical to think that he would keep them close but since they were so valuable it was unlikely that Roger had taken them with him. The conclusion she came to was that they had to be in his study.
Roger and his staff weren’t stupid. They didn’t trust Sapphire and they had every reason not to. Chances were that when she went to sleep tonight her door would be sealed from the outside. So she took a number of precautions that would allow her to escape into the rest of the house should that be the case.
First she went up to the room directly above the one that Dorothy had set aside for her. It was almost identical, a guest bedroom that rarely saw use. From her experience when first entering the mansion she knew that all the doors and windows were alarmed. Taking great care to ensure that Dorothy and Norman were busy she stripped the wire that controlled the alarm for the window and severed the wires necessary to cut off the alarm but not trigger it. Electrical systems were fairly universal it seemed between Vale and Paradigm City. She had to guess on the color of wire that represented each part of the system but she was lucky in that it also conformed to what she was used to at home.
Once that was done she returned to her room to wait until nightfall. When she arrived she found on the dresser a pair of black cargo pants and a white tank top along with a black military style jacket. It was made of a sturdy material. When Sapphire tried it on it fit her form almost perfectly. At the base of the dresser were the combat boots that Sapphire had woken up in. They had been polished.
On top of the bundle of clothes was a note: ‘Those who reside in this house wear black. Master Roger’s Rule #1’ – Norman. It sounded a bit ridiculous but Sapphire was grateful for the clothes. She would have been more than willing to attempt what she had planned tonight in one of Dorothy’s dresses but these would make it much easier.
When nightfall came Sapphire observed Norman putting Dorothy into a form of sleep mode to recharge. It appeared even robots needed rest. Confident in her plan Sapphire snuck from her bed that night and put on the clothes that Norman had gotten for her. Just to be safe she tried her door and unsurprisingly found that it was bolted from the outside.
Sapphire went to the window and after a bit of searching found the sensor linked to the latch. After a few minutes of stripping with a knife she’d stolen from the kitchen Sapphire managed to disable the sensor without alerting the system. She pushed the window open and breeze blew in. She smiled as the cool air hit her face, then she hoisted herself up onto the sill and out onto the ledge. Climbing this wall was not nearly as easy as scaling the back of the mansion had been. It was less damaged and offered fewer handholds. Sapphire however was an expert climber having often had to pull stunts not unlike this to escape her own home without being detected.
After ten minutes or so of free climbing she made it up to the window of the next floor and pushed it open. She was relieved to hear the blissful sound of silence confirming that she had indeed disabled the alarm. She pulled herself through the window and landed on the floor without making a noise.
She slipped through the house. It was old and the floors were creaky but Sapphire had learned the art of navigating treacherous floors from her own home.
The interior defenses of Roger’s mansion were comparatively lacking to the ones that guarded the outside. Roger probably didn’t want to go through the trouble of disabling his interior alarm if he got up in the middle of the night for a snack or some other purpose.
Luckily this also held true for the lock on Roger’s door. It was a simple household lock, meant to keep out residents of the house that only had a cursory interest in the room. Someone dedicated to getting inside could with a bit of effort.
Sapphire inserted a hair pin and a paper clip into the lock and began to fiddle with the tumblers trying to find the equilibrium that would allow the door to swing open. This was something she’d not done in several years and while she still remembered the theory behind it she was out of practice. It took her almost twenty minutes before she heard a light click and the latch gave way.
Smiling Sapphire pushed the door open and stepped into Roger’s office. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected to find behind the door. Some top secret lab or files lining the wall but it was just a simple office. A desk sat in the middle and bookshelves lined one of the walls. Sapphire started by going through the desk. She didn’t find any especially interesting till she got to the bottom of one of the drawers.
There she found a file. It was marked with the name Michael Seebach but scrawled across the top of the file in a messy hand was the name “Schwarzwald”. Recognizing the word as that which Roger had muttered Sapphire pulled it out and opened it. Pinned to a number of papers were two photos. The first showed a middle aged man with a short beard, dressed in a trench coat and hat. The second Sapphire guessed was the same man but in this photo he was entirely wrapped in bandages. The only parts of his face that were visible were his eyes and mouth.
Sapphire moved the photos aside to see what was printed on the pages underneath them. It looked like a dossier on this Michael Seebach, the man that had kidnapped Demetra.
“Working as a reporter, Michael Seebach’s attempted to expose the darker workings of the Paradigm Corporation led to an attempt on his life which severely disfigured ninety percent of his body. Following this event he suffered a psychotic break after which he turned to violence to get his viewpoint across. No longer trusting that people would embrace the truth if it was presented to them Seebach, now going by the alias Schwarzwald, has shown a pattern of using destructive means to force citizens to accept his version of reality. Though he seems to possess some moral compass there is no atrocity he would not commit in the name of ‘The Truth’.” Sapphire’s vision blurred as she read the description of the man who was holding her sister hostage. What would a man like that want with a little girl like Demetra? He was clearly not interested in material wealth and even if he was Sapphire had no money for a ransom. Schwarzwald it seemed was almost obsessively goal oriented. What had he said about Demetra? That she could ‘see the truth’ and that she could ‘see through the darkness’.
Could that mean… Did he know about Demetra’s ability? Even in Vale Demetra was something of an oddity. She had a very rare and peculiar ability to read other people’s emotions. To experience them just as the person did. Their family doctor had called it Empathic Resonance. Less than point zero zero zero zero one percent of the population of Vale were born with the ability. It seemed impossible that anyone in this place let alone this madman could know about her power.
However thinking more clearly on what Schwarzwald had said about Sapphire’s little sister it seemed he wanted her precisely because she could see into the hearts of others. What use could that be to him? Demetra wasn’t a mind reader, she couldn’t steal information for him from other people’s heads so what use could she possibly be?
With so many unanswered questions Sapphire put the file back where she’d found it and continued to look around the room. Her daggers where likely in here somewhere if they were as rare as Roger made them out to be. Not just sitting in the desk, he would put them somewhere secure. Sapphire started to search the walls for a safe. She found nothing behind the pictures; that would be too obvious for a thief. A sudden idea occurred to her and Sapphire flipped the rug up. Sure enough underneath it was a safe set into the floor of the office.
She squatted down next to it so she could take a closer look. It appeared high end, electronic keypad, and solid steel composition. If her daggers were anywhere they’d be in the safe. Sapphire examined it for a moment. She wasn’t exactly a safe cracker but the keypad was more up her alley. She retrieved a letter opener from Roger’s desk and used it to pry the keypad away from the casing of the safe. The other side was a tangle of wires attached to various points on the keypad. It was likely that this safe had some sort of failsafe that would lock it down if she tampered with the wrong wire.
Thankfully the design was almost strangely standard. It didn’t look all that different from keypads she’d seen in Vale. She thought that strange for a moment but she supposed there was only so many ways to make certain devices. She detached two of the wires and severed a third. Then she tied two together creating a spark. The safe clicked open. She’d tricked the system into thinking there was a fire inside. In order to save whatever was inside it had released the latch. She’d also severed the wire that would normally had alerted the rest of the security system of the fire.
With the door open Sapphire pulled out the contents. She found a wooden box, which she cracked open. Inside she found Somnus and Melinoe. They were wrapped in cloth to prevent them being damaged. Sapphire collapsed them and hid them in her jacket. Underneath the box was a briefcase that caught her eye. She pulled it out and inside found around a hundred watches. The straps were made of sleek black leather and the faces were blank like a screen. Sapphire pulled one of them out to examine. She pressed one of the buttons on the side and the blank face suddenly turned green. The word “Active” flashed on it over and over again. Clearly it was waiting for some input.
Sapphire wasn’t really sure what it was for but evidentially it was important if Roger kept it in his safe, not to mention having so many backups. Sapphire pocketed one hoping that Roger wouldn’t notice a single missing watch in a hundred.
She was acutely aware that she’d spent too much time in Roger’s office. He still wasn’t home and could easily return any minute. She put the contents of the safe back as close to how she found it as possible and replaced the casing of the keypad. She flipped the rug back into place and as she exited the room flipped the lock on the door before she pulled it closed.
Sapphire returned to her room and locked herself in. She closed the window which she’d been forced to leave open during her foray into the night. Sapphire used one of her daggers to dislodge a floor board under her bed and hid her weapons as well as the strange watch inside before replacing the board.
Then she dressed herself in the nightgown that Norman had provided and fell into bed. It had been a long night and she was grateful for a safe, comfortable place to sleep. Sapphire slept light but she slept easily when she let herself. She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning Sapphire’s eyes snapped open in the early morning light. She was still tired but couldn’t fall asleep again. After a half hour of listening to the birds chirp outside her window Sapphire finally pulled the blankets off her body and got out of bed.
She showered and dressed herself before making her way down to the kitchen where Norman was preparing breakfast. Sapphire looked at the single place setting. “Won’t Roger be joining me for breakfast Norman?” The azure haired girl asked the butler.
Norman looked up from his work. “No, I’m afraid Master Roger enjoys sleeping late. It is not uncommon for him to work into the early hours of morning.”
Sapphire thought back to the previous day, Dorothy waking him with loud music. She didn’t want disturb his sleep given that he had opened his home to her and was sheltering her from the Military Police. Still she was anxious to hear if he’d uncovered any more information about Demetra.
Sapphire spent the next couple of hours trying to keep herself busy. She went through her daily exorcise routine, but after that was complete there was dreadfully little to do in the mansion. She tried to read the books that Roger had but found the historical books were sparse in detail, the scientific books were outdated compared to Vale and the fictions didn’t hold her interest. Strangely though there were a dozen volumes in each section that were completely blank. They didn’t look like journals, they were too thick with titles and full leather bindings but there were no words on the pages. It was odd but given everything else that had happened to her Sapphire couldn’t give it much of her time.
She was nervous over not knowing the fate of her sister and being unable to do anything about it. Eventually Sapphire returned to her room and curled up in a mass of blankets on her bed. As long as she’d been moving, running, planning, doing something that would aid her sister she’d been able to put the larger picture out of her mind. The thoughts of
What was going on? and
How did we get here? but most importantly
Will we be ever be able to go home? The thought that she might be stuck here in this dismal place with a false past plastered to her name forever weighed Sapphire down to the point where she started to sob quietly. She wanted to go home. She wanted to sleep in her old bed in the academy dormitory. She wanted to see her three teammates again. She didn’t even really like them that much but at this point even the face of someone like Shiro, an impulsive and energetic boy who she could barely stand to be in the same room with would have been welcome.
Some small sign of home or that everything wasn’t hopeless would have been all she needed but as the moments passed by the idea that she might ever go home became more distant and more like a dream. How could she reconcile this world she found herself in with the one she had left behind?
What would her teammates say if they were here? What would they do? Gren, a hulking mass of a boy and surprisingly a bit of a tech genius would probably try hacking into the city’s information net. Something Sapphire didn’t have the skills to accomplish. Shiro… well Shiro being the hyperactive airhead he was probably wasn’t really suited to thinking ahead. He was a good fighter but problem solving wasn’t exactly his forte. He usually just went with instinct on everything. Then of course there was Abel. Despite being teammates since their first days at the academy Sapphire had never truly understood Abel. He was a fairly average size, fit but not overly imposing. He fought well, was intelligent and thorough but Sapphire didn’t really know him despite the time they spent together whether in the full team or just the two of them.
A sudden question occurred to Sapphire as she lay there. One so simply that she felt foolish that it hadn’t occurred to her sooner. Had she not been running on adrenaline for the last several days it probably would have. How had she ended up here? Sapphire turned back time in her mind, thinking of the days before she’d woken up groggy in that alleyway. She was at the academy of that she was certain. She’d been talking with a friend named Oswald about the upcoming final exams, yes? No there was more, she’d gone to a glade just outside the academy to practice combat techniques for the exam. Afterwards she’d sat down with her back to a tree to go over some of her notes and then… she’d felt sleepy, she’d closed her eyes for a few moments then… Nothing. Everything went black and she awoke in that alley.
How had she gone from the academy to the domed city of Paradigm? Had Schwarzwald brought her here? But then why take her at all if all he needed was Demetra’s abilities? Was there a third party involved? Then why take both of them? Sapphire and Demetra had certain skill sets that were unique in this city, Sapphire’s knowledge of mechanics and engineering and Demetra’s Empathic Resonance. If someone had kidnapped them from their homes why were they not in custody now, together? Why leave them in an alley for Schwarzwald to find. Fleetingly it occurred to her that perhaps Roger was behind this but she quickly discounted that theory. It had been Sapphire that broke into his house. He had no control over which building she chose to hide in even if he’d been working with the Military Police to herd her to his home. No, Roger couldn’t have done this so who had? With these thoughts swirling around in her head Sapphire fell asleep under a pile of blankets.
She was woken in the middle of the night by an urgent beeping noise. Ever the light sleeper Sapphire scrambled out from under the covers and jumped to her feet. The noise was coming from the floor. She fell to the ground and reached under her bed till she felt the edge of the loose floorboard she’d pried up last night.
She pulled out Melinoe and Somnus and set them on the ground before finding what was making the noise. It was the watch she’d stolen from Roger’s safe. The watch face had the words “
Transmission in Progress” scrolling across the screen over and over in green letters. When she’d activated it in the study it must have linked to another device that could receive. Sapphire clicked the button on the side but kept her thumb over the camera and speakers just above the face. If as she guessed this connected Roger to someone else (most likely Norman) Sapphire didn’t want to broadcast the fact that she’d broken into Roger’s office.
On the screen the image was bisected. On the right was Roger, he looked like he was running while yelling into the watch. On the other was Norman who looked rather calm. Sapphire supposed that midnight calls from his employer weren’t unusual for him in his line of work.
“Norman!” Roger shouted “I need Big O at the remains of the tech expo.”
While Roger seemed rather frantic Norman was the picture of calm despite the night cap on his head that signified he’d been sleeping up until a moment ago. “Indeed sir, but you are aware the subterranean rail system does not reach that area.”
“Just get him close Norman, I’m going to need his help dealing with Schwarzwald.”
“Very well Master Roger, I will send him ahead.” Both faces vanished replaced by a map of what looked like tunnels. There was a stationary blue blip on the screen and red blip that appeared to be on the move. Since Roger didn’t seem the kind to carry a tracking device on him Sapphire assumed that the red dot was this “Big O” he was summoning. The blue was likely the destination point.
Knowing that Schwarzwald was somewhere in the vicinity of that blue dot Sapphire knew she needed to act. She pushed open the window and as fast as she could climbed down to the ground. Given what Norman had said there was likely access to the subway somewhere in the mansion but Sapphire didn’t have time to wait. She’d seen a number of subway access ways when she was running but she hadn’t had the opportunity to gain entrance to one. People seemed to avoid them so Sapphire couldn’t get close without drawing attention to herself.
Now she had the cover of night and the benefit of rest and anonymity to find one. Less than a block away she spotted a sign that read “subway access”. As she got closer she realized the stairway had been blocked off with a large wooden hatch, chained with a padlock.
Her nightmare blades made short work of the lock and moments later Sapphire was running full speed down the subway tunnels to the blue dot blinking on the stolen watch. Halfway there she realized she was on the wrong level and searched fast as she could for any way to get down deeper. She found a maintenance ladder and started to descend.
Halfway down to the next level something strange happened. An image flashed in Sapphire’s mind, carnage, pure carnage. She saw a street littered with bodies as buildings fell and the sky burned. Sapphire didn’t know where the image came from but it filled her with a paralyzing fear, her limbs froze and in that moment she lost her grip on the ladder. Her fear of the memory was driven out as the fright of falling a long ways took over her mind. In a desperate moment Sapphire grabbed at the rungs of the ladder.
She snagged one of the rungs with her flailing arms and an intense burst of pain shot up her shoulder as her momentum was halted in one horrifying second. It felt as though her arm bone had come disconnected from her shoulder blade, like only her muscles were holding her body together. She knew this pain, it had happen once or twice during serious, grueling sparring matches at the academy. She’d dislocated her shoulder. She knew how to fix it but it was never pleasant.
Sapphire steadied herself on the ladder with her other arm. She took in a deep breath before she slammed her shoulder hard into the concrete wall forcing it back into position. The prudent thing to do now would be to ice it, stop it from swelling but Sapphire didn’t have time for that. She’d come this far and no matter what happened she would find her sister and she would get them both home safely.
She descended the last couple of feet to the ground and looked at Roger’s watch for the direction she needed to go. She took off running again, still thinking about the image she’d seen above. She couldn’t place the location but she was sure it was this city. Had she seen the past, did it have something to do with the strike of amnesia over the city forty year previous? Those weren’t questions she could answer right now. They weren’t questions she had time to dwell on. Demetra needed her. That was all she had to think about right now.
When she finally found the location marked on Roger’s watch she skidded to a stop to look at where she’d ended up. She was in an underground junction. Railway tracks ran down the hall in three directions. In the fourth however the tracks looked like they’d been ripped up. It looked like minor seismic activity had disturbed the area.
This was where this “Big O” Roger was expecting would arrive. Norman had said the tracks didn’t extent to where Roger was, to where Schwarzwald was. That made the damaged tunnel her best bet, the most likely option.
The ground wasn’t exactly even but Sapphire moved along at a steady pace. She was lucky to be blessed with decent night vision. The darkness to most of her classmates and opponents was an enemy. Sapphire on the other hand had learned to make it a tool. With the ground visible to her, the tunnel was nothing, especially compared to the obstacle courses she’d gone through back at the academy.
Light appeared in the distance and Sapphire pushed herself harder. She was close, she had to be.
When she came to the end of the tunnel, in spite of her mission Sapphire gasped. She was in what looked like a massive underground market place. Display booths and sales boutiques covered the area in rows. Whatever this place had been previously however it was clear that it hadn’t been inhabited in a very long time. Dust covered everything like a sheet and rubble from crumbled walls and bits of collapsed ceiling covered the area.
Sapphire took two steps into the light of what Roger had called “The Tech Expo”. Her wonder had for a single second supplanted her mission and with it her good sense. She should have expected a trap.
The moment her foot crossed into the expo proper an alarm rang out. Like an almighty scream it echoed through the chamber, the sound reached every corner of the room and Sapphire cursed herself for her foolishness. She’d given up a vital advantage: surprise. Wherever Schwarzwald was in the expo he knew someone was here. He’d be on his guard.
Sapphire activated her blades, letting them assemble into her hands. The moment she found him she needed to be ready for a fight. Knowing that the alarm would only be the start she started to step more lightly, searching the ground in front of her for traps and triggers as she scrambled over the rubble. Three times she narrowly avoided a setting off another device, one no doubt much more lethal than a simple alarm.
For several minutes this was all she could do as she made her way deeper into the expo. It was a large room and she had no way to find two very small people within its confines. That was until she heard a sound. It couldn’t have been close but Sapphire heard the echo of footsteps on the concrete floor. As quickly as she could while avoiding setting off another trap Sapphire followed the sound. It seemed to be moving towards the opposite side of the expo, no doubt towards some sort of exit.
As she moved closer the sound became more distinct, clearer. It was a single set of footsteps but no moving as fast as she. Sapphire had always been light on her feet but she hoped the person’s lack of speed was due to more than that, perhaps they were losing momentum because they were carrying something heavy, or someone.
Sapphire cleared the row she was running down as she advanced on the echoing footsteps. Finally she caught her first glimpse of who she was pursuing. She was not disappointed.
“Stop!” She shouted at the retreating figure. To her surprise he did just that and turned to face her. Sapphire could see her twelve year old sister in his arms.
Her first encounter with Schwarzwald had been brief and due to the drugs in her system she only barely remembered his figure. Now she was clear headed and able to take in Schwarzwald’s visage in all its glory.
He was wrapped in bandages it seemed head to toe. Though a slightly tattered grey suit and a brown trench coat covered most of his skin Sapphire could clearly see white cloth strips wrapped over and over his face covering everything but his eyes, nose and mouth. Similarly his hands were covered in white linen.
“Sister, savior, hero, dog.” He said, a look in his eye like she was something beneath him. “You’ve run away from the truth that is all around you, the city you see is not the one under your feet. You know nothing of where you are or what will happen next. You have closed your eyes like every wretch of these streets. You must open your eyes to the truth but only fear will do that for any of you. A fear so great you cannot turn away from it. This girl, this wonderful girl will provide that fear. She will make this city see once more.”
He sounded insane, Sapphire could only guess that he was but that didn’t make the danger he posed to Demetra any less. She moved towards him slowly as she began to speak.
“You don’t need her for that Schwarzwald, there are other ways.”
The bandages around his mouth formed into a smile. “Ah, you’ve learned my name. Alas it comes at a cost. Tell me, where is Mr. Negotiator?”
Knowing that in any confrontation it was never a good idea to reveal your capabilities to soon Sapphire let her eyes flick over her right shoulder before saying. “He’s coming. This place is huge, we split up to cover ground but he can’t have gone far and he won’t have missed the racket you’ve been making.”
The expression on Schwarzwald’s face twisted into something like surprise behind the layers of cotton. “You didn’t accompany him here? Most impressive, I should make a note of that.” He said the last few words almost absently.
“Just give her back to me and no one need get hurt.”
Schwarzwald seemed to come back to himself. “You have not been studying the craft of our negotiator friend. I am in control of this situation. Your only option to attain your goal is to offer me something of greater value to that which I would be giving up and sadly there is nothing I value more than the truth which this wonderful girl will show to the whole city. Farewell Huntress.”
Sapphire lunged at Schwarzwald with Somnus but he was apparently prepared for her advance and leapt backwards out of her reach letting a small metal cylinder fall from his cloak.
It took her a split second to register what had hit the ground. The moment she did she dropped her weapons and dove away from the device clapping her hands to her ears but not in time. A massive explosion of sound and light spilled out of the cylinder blinding Sapphire. The world around her was out of focus, blurred beyond all recognition. She tried to search around for a wall, for something to steady herself but she couldn’t seem to find her balance. A sharp ringing in her ears that blotted out all other sound shattered her concentration. It was like someone was drilling into her head.
Her vision was the first thing to solidify, the mountains of rubble in the long dead market place coming back into focus. She bent down and fumbled to pick up Somnus and Melinoe. This wasn’t her first experience with a flashbang grenade and as such she shook off the effects much more quickly than a first time shock but it still wasn’t quick enough.
She stumbled in the direction that Schwarzwald had ran, a pounding in her head leaving her feeling completely uncoordinated. This resolved itself not long after but her opponent was already too far ahead of her and it seemed the minute in two his distraction had brought him was all he needed. She rounded a corner after him and saw with a shock his destination.
Crumpled against the concrete wall of the excavated cavern was a massive android. Standing tall it was probably the height of a skyscraper. Now however it sat with its limbs at awkward angles in the corner of the tech expo like a toy that had been long discarded. It was painted violently red with broad shoulders and massive arms which seemed to house what looked like turbines. Overall it looked rather top heavy. The angles of the steel were all sharp giving it an alien look quite unlike the other androids Sapphire had seen in this world which seemed to have at least attempted to appear human. Unlike them though this one was clearly a weapon meant to inflict incredibly damage on a large scale.
As Sapphire ran after him Schwarzwald clambered up the side of the combat android. His progress was slightly slowed by having to carry the unconscious Demetra with him as he moved up towards the robot’s neck.
Sapphire climbed after him, the sharp edges of the robot’s metal surface making for easy handholds. Schwarzwald however seemed to know his way up the android much better than Sapphire did as despite his burden he moved almost effortlessly till he reached the neck of the giant. As he touched it a portion of the face and chest cracked open revealing a compartment within which must be the pilot deck. As Schwarzwald entered the pilot deck Sapphire heard him shout. “Big Duo is at my command, I am the Dominus of Megadeus!”
Sapphire kept climbing, desperate to reach the apex of the ‘Megadeus’ before Schwarzwald enacted whatever he had planned for Demetra. She reached the point at the base of Big Duo’s neck where Schwarzwald had entered but nothing happened for her. The door to the pilot deck would not open. There must be a secret switch, something to allow him entry but she didn’t know where it was, didn’t know how to get in. In a fit of desperation she leapt up and grabbed at the edges of Big Duo’s eyes. She got a grip on the metal that surrounded them and looked inside. The eyes were made of a tempered green glass but at such a close distance she could see inside.
Inside was a command chair surrounded with levers, buttons and controls. Behind this was a mess of computer banks lining the walls with one notable exception. Directly behind the command chair was a circular space almost like a clock face with eight nods in the wall. At the base of this stood Schwarzwald with the unconscious Demetra in his arms.
Schwarzwald seemed to be shouting something from within though Sapphire couldn’t hear him through the glass she could imagine what he was saying. Then something happened that made Sapphire’s heart stop. From the eight nods in the wall wires snaked out like sentient beings searching for food. They picked up Demetra and pulled her towards the wall where her legs were secured to the metal before they slithered around her and with a sickening sound Sapphire imagined she could hear through the metal the sharp metal prongs on the ends stabbed into Demetra’s back running up and down her spinal cord.
“NO!” Sapphire screamed, the word ripped from her lungs without thought. Her sister was hanging from the wall like a painting being displayed. Schwarzwald glanced up at her scream and seeing her looking in leapt quickly into the command chair. He stared furiously at a screen near the chairs base that Sapphire couldn’t read and apparently pleased with what it said turned to the girl hanging onto the outside of his Megadeus.
Big Duo began to shake and then moving slowly it pushed itself to its feet. The metal creaked as if it hadn’t tested its joints in a very long time. From inside Schwarzwald’s voice boomed out. “You have done well Huntress. You almost succeeded in preventing Big Duo’s completion. You are however too late. It is a shame that you will not have the chance see the truth of this place. This is where you fall, your side chosen.”
Sapphire heard pounding from the other side of the tech expo but too concerned with keeping her grip on the exterior of Big Duo she could not turn around to see what was happening.
Schwarzwald shifted the controls and Big Duo’s head began to shake and rotate. Sapphire activated Melinoe and stabbed it up to the hilt into the metal beneath her. She clung to the handhold she’d created but the surface below her was moving too fast for her to maintain her grip. Her injured shoulder couldn’t maintain her balance or hold her weight as her body slipped from her perch and she fell, falling, falling. The ground reared up below her approaching with increasing speed. She was out of tools to slow her decent, out of options, was this how her journey ended? In a foreign land where no one knew her name? Never to get her sister back to safety? Sapphire closed her eyes knowing the impact could only be seconds away.
She heard a massive explosion and suddenly something cold and metal impacted her from the side. She was shunted to the side, her momentum redirected. She crashed into a great metal surface rolling over and over before finally coming to stop. The impact had been anything but pleasant but she was alive and besides the dozens of bruises that would soon make themselves felt she was unharmed. She opened her eyes and pushed herself roughly to her feet.
She was standing in the palm of another mechanoid monster, another Megadeus. This one bore a clear design similarity to Big Duo but differed from it in several key ways. Unlike the other this was made of a stark black metal with a red dome protecting the sensitive areas of the Megadeus’ head. Its arms were massive, even larger than Big Duo’s and each seemed to contain a single enormous piston that could only have one purpose: Smashing. In the center of its chest was what appeared to be a ballistic missile launcher; now contracting back into the heart of the machine. Sapphire looked back at where Big Duo had stood and saw a cloud of smoke and debris.
The hand of the Megadeus began to move upwards towards the face and Sapphire considered for one moment jumping. A stray memory stopped her however. Something Roger had said.
I need Big O at the remains of the tech expo. Given the name of the red Megadeus could it be that this was Big O, Roger’s Megadeus?
The face and neck of the black Megadeus opened revealing just as Sapphire had thought: Roger Smith in the command chair. “Get in!” he shouted at her. She needed no further encouragement and leapt from the hand into the control center next to where Roger sat.
The face of the Megadeus closed sealing them within. “Big O,” shouted Roger “Showtime!” A circular screen in the center of the control deck flashed on and words scrolled across it.
Cast in the Name of God, Ye Not Guilty. This apparently being a good thing Roger smiled before grabbing one of the controls and jerked it back his chair rotating as the lever slid ninety degrees around and Big O responded in kind. The great metal man raised one of its massive arms and the piston extended from the elbow with a loud clunk. Roger swung the same control in the opposite direction and Big O swung forward, the piston slamming in the other direction, lending an earth shattering force to the blow. The punch was aimed at where Big Duo’s head had been but as it swung through the dust the fist impacted solid wall. Schwarzwald had anticipated the blow and shifted out of the way.
Now that the dust had cleared and it was on its feet Sapphire could see Big Duo more clearly. The hands at the end of the massive arms were unlike Big O’s human like hands were instead comprised of four extremely sharp looking blades.
These clamped around Big O’s outstretched arm and twisted violently. The balance of the Megadeus was thrown off and Sapphire felt them pitch sickeningly to the side. Big O had been designed to withstand such attacks but the seconds it took to steady it were all Schwarzwald needed.
The four blades of Big Duo’s hands clamped together like spikes and began to spin faster and faster till they were only a blur appearing as a very lethal drill. With this Schwarzwald struck down on them and Sapphire heard the screeching of metal shearing through metal as a massive gash was left in Big O’s face.
It moved in for another strike but Roger shifted the rotating controls and Big O raised its arms to block the strike. The girth of the forearms formed a shield over Big O’s face and upper torso protective them from blow after blow of Big Duo’s drills. Each strike caused the black Megadeus to take a step back till they were the ones being pressed against the wall.
Roger brought Big O’s arms down and shouted apparently at his own Megadeus. “Give me the Arc Line!” as he said this he pressed a big red button on the console and with a high pitched whine Big O’s eyes began to glow before they discharged a purple energy directed at the head of the red Megadeus.
Sapphire saw through the distortion Big Duo’s eyes glow and the same kind of energy shot from it straight at them. The two beams collided in mid air with a violent reaction. They formed some sort of concussive blast between the two fighting robots that expanded outwards. The force of the blast knocked Big O against the wall and at the same time threw Big Duo several feet away causing it to collapse onto its back. The walls of the tech expo shuddered at the impact and Sapphire glanced nervously at the roof of the underground. It can’t have been designed to take this kind of abuse.
Roger took the time he’d bought to open Big O’s chest revealing its high powered armaments. Several missiles launched from within barreling across the space and into Big Duo’s unmoving form. Roger took no time to breath and Big O barreled across the tech expo at his enemy.
There was a sudden rush of wind and the dust from the recent explosion was dispelled in one massive gust. Big Duo from its place on the ground had raised its arms skyward. The blades of its drill flattened and began to spin, transforming into propellers as in the base of its arms where Big O had pistons rocket boosters fired. Big Duo was launched into the sky. It was however not soon enough.
The moving form of Big O’s outstretched arms impacted Big Duo’s legs and knocked it off course causing it to careen wildly into one of the walls.
“They built these things to take a beating.” Said Sapphire looking at Big Duo as it remained floating in the air despite the damage.
“Wouldn’t be a Megadeus if it couldn’t take a few explosions.”
From the depths of Big Duo Sapphire heard Schwarzwald’s voice echo over the tech expo. “Perhaps this is not the best venue for our showdown ROGER SMITH! The ignorant masses should be witness to your defeat Mr. Negotiator!”
Schwarzwald turned Big Duo’s head skyward and the Arc Line blasted from its eyes carved through the ceiling till it broke through to street level. Big Duo’s boosters rotated and it flew up and out of the tech expo leaving Schwarzwald’s final words to echo in their ears. “Come and face me!”
Sapphire watched as Roger moved the controls, causing Big O to move forward towards the wall of the tech expo. Without the air abilities that the red Megadeus possessed it took Big O several minutes to chase after its quarry.
The first words to come into her mind in the silent calm burst from her suddenly. “What the hell is going on?”
Roger glanced up as though he’d only just remembered she was there. “Why don’t you tell me? Schwarzwald targeted your family for a reason and that Megadeus has been inoperable in this place for years before you came along? What did you do?”
“Me?” Sapphire said astonished. “You think I helped Schwarzwald?”
“The Megadei are a dead technology, even the repairs Norman can make to Big O are limited. How could Schwarzwald have gotten that red Megadeus working without the help of a mechanic who just so happens to have an affinity for repairing dead technologies?”
“I didn’t… I wouldn’t… he kidnapped my sister.”
“Which in my profession means leverage. If he didn’t coheres you into reactivating Big Duo why are you here? How did you know where he was?”
Mutely Sapphire reached into her pocket and pulled out the watch she’d stolen from Roger’s mansion.
“You broke into my study.”
“I was gathering intel. You knew who had my sister and I couldn’t just wait around and assume you’d handle it.”
“If you didn’t help him how did he repair the red Megadeus?”
“He… I…” Sapphire stumbled as the memory of Big Duo’s activation came back to her. “Demetra…” she whispered. “He…” but she couldn’t find a word to describe the sickening sight of wires puncturing her sister’s back, slicing into her spinal cord like they were sliding into a computer port. “He, he wired her into the machine.” Her eyes flicked to the point in Big O’s identical cockpit where Demetra had been suspended in its twin.
Roger’s eyes followed her gaze and he seemed to arrive at an understanding that was beyond her.
“You’re sister, Demetra, what’s special about her?”
“What do you mean?” asked Sapphire warily. The ability that her little sister possessed was rare and often exploited in Vale. She couldn’t imagine what someone from this land would make of her power.
“Schwarzwald has played a very desperate gamble in using her. He has brought down not only the heat of the military police but the attention Big O and I as well as apparently one very pissed off over protective sister. He’s calculating, he wouldn’t take that risk unless he was sure it would work. There must be something unique about Demetra. If he could have used anyone else he would have.”
Sapphire paused for several seconds as Big O continued its ascent to the surface. There was no sense in lying now. Her only hope of getting her sister back lay with Roger. “She’s an empath. She can absorb the emotions of others as though they were her own.”
There was silence in the control room so dense that it seemed to fill the space. Then Roger spoke. “There’s something a Megadeus pilot needs to operate one. Don’t ask me how it works, I don’t know but I’ve seen what happens when a pilot is rejected. It’s messy. They need a core memory installed directly into the hardware to make it work. Technological, biological, as long as that core memory is present the Megadeus will obey.”
“You talk about them like they’re alive.”
“Maybe they are, in some way at least. People fear the underground of this city. There are imprints down there. Like echoes of the past that hit you with images and emotions so surreal they could kill you if you’re not prepared. With your sister’s gift maybe she can sort through them, find something specific, the core memory that Schwarzwald needed to activate Big Duo.”
The logic was fuzzy, hard to follow. Roger was talking about the megadei as though they were some kind of biological organism requiring certain stimuli to produce a desired behavior but Sapphire couldn’t fathom it. Her technical mind, her experience as an engineer and a mechanic tried to fill in the blank of what Roger was saying but she found she couldn’t arrive at a conclusion that made sense to her. Instead she grasped onto a cold real fact that had been plaguing her since she’d seen Demetra ‘installed’ in Big Duo.
“Can a person come back from that? I saw her, wires, two inches long pierced her back at eight different places very close to her spinal column. Can they be removed safely? Can she live through that?”
Roger sighed “I don't know, if she can she may not be the same afterwards. She might be crippled or even brain damaged if…" Roger trailed off. Sapphire didn’t need him to finish the sentence
…if she survives at all. Big O clawed its way out of the hole that Big Duo had carved into the ceiling till it stood on the open streets of Paradigm City. Big O planted itself on a highway wide enough that the giant did not touch the buildings on either side. Across from them at a distance of a block or more was Big Duo, facing them, its arms at the ready.
Schwarzwald’s laugh echoed over the deserted street. “You have forgotten, Mr. Negotiator, what it is to fear! You avert your eyes from the truth of Paradigm. That will be my gift to you, to everyone! I will show you what you fear and you will remember the truth of this place! I will bring down the false skies and reveal your tiny world to you!”
Roger didn’t waste a second. The moment Schwarzwald was in range he flicked several switches before hitting a red button and chains as thick as lamp posts shot from Big O’s hips straight at the opposing Megadeus. The chains led by thick anchors wrapped themselves securely ground Big Duo’s torso. Big O gripped the thick metal and braced itself against the ground, giving an almighty heave to drag the ensnared Megadeus into the dust.
Far from falling however Big Duo pointed its arms skyward the moment the chains made contact. The boosters in its elbows fired and its claw like hands spun like propellers as it launched itself into the sky.
Suddenly Big O was straining to contain a flying Megadeus that was wrecking and flying jaggedly as it attempted to escape. Big O’s feet ground into the cement and just as Sapphire was sure it was going to topple sideways and be dragged through the city by the more mobile Big Duo Roger pressed another button and the chains attempting to reel in the red Megadeus released from Big O’s hips and slipped through its fingers as Big Duo pulled them into the air.
The flying Megadeus, suddenly free, went careening sideways. Sapphire watched as it made a huge arc to correct its path. From over the buildings they heard Schwarzwald’s voice boom. “Watch the false skies fall ROGER SMITH!”
Though it was out of sight on Big O’s display screen Sapphire could see an enlargement of Big Duo. Its upper chest cracked open to reveal two missile launchers. Unlike Big O which had a series of small armaments loaded into its chest Big Duo was equipped with two massive missiles that where so large they seemed to stretch from one side of the Megadeus to the other. One of these fired trailing blue flames behind it as it arced skyward towards the giant grey dome that enclosed the entire city.
“Roger!” Sapphire shouted.
“I see it.” He rotated the controls in his chair and flicked a few more switches. Sapphire heard a characteristic hum run through Big O’s skull as the Arc Line embedded behind its eye powered up. Roger starred intensely at the missile, tracking its movements exactly before he hit the button to fire.
The Arc Line blasted skyward and for one heart stopping moment Sapphire thought he had missed. That the energy beam would go right by and Schwarzwald would bring down the dome. The Arc Line impacted the missile when it was only twenty feet from its target and it detonated showering the city with brilliant light. When the light cleared the dome was mercifully intact.
In those precious moments as Roger paused to deal with that threat Schwarzwald had not stood still. Big Duo had the moment it fired the missile dove down towards Big O. Its shoulders extended, cracking open to reveal machine guns mounted within. These rained lead down on Big O, the impact of metal crushing into metal deafening only a few meters above them as the bullets struck Big O’s chest. Roger raised Big O’s wide arms to defend against the barrage and rotated the robot as best he could as Big Duo circled them to keep them shielded.
Even as Big O defended itself stray bullets penetrated the small holes between the shields that were designed to defend against much larger threats. Sapphire heard each one hit Big O’s chest with alarming clarity.
Roger charged the Arc Line again and fired several bursts at Big Duo. The red Megadeus was designed for aerial combat and was much more versatile than an unmanned missile. Each blast was dodged and Big Duo continued to pelt Big O with machine gun fire. It was only a matter of time before they started to puncture the Megadeus’ armour.
As Big Duo circled around again and the spray of gun fire over Sapphire and Roger’s position ended quite suddenly. It was immediately clear why. The chest cavity of Big Duo had opened again revealing the other missile which in seconds shot out on a direct collision course with Big O.
The black Megadeus had time only to raise its arms to defend its pilot and his guest before the missile struck. The blast was so powerful that Big O was knocked backwards collapsing into one of the skyscrapers that ringed the street. Even as the sound of several floors of a building echoed through the cockpit Sapphire was thrown to the floor and Roger only just kept his seat. The display screens were blank, all a wash of white and out the window all they could see was smoke. They were blind.
Something one of Sapphire’s teachers had said in class came back to her in that moment.
‘It’s important to keep collateral damage to a minimum. There’s no victory in neutralizing a threat if you wipe out half a city block doing it.’ “The civilians.” She managed to breathe as she pulled herself to her feet. “An entire building.”
“Don’t worry.” Said Roger absently as he his hands moved wildly over the controls, trying to clear the sensor blindness left by the flash of the blast. “Paradigm City’s got a small population for its size. They say we’re at less than thirty percent capacity. This district is hardly inhabited, anyone who was here will have gotten out when the fireworks started.”
They heard a sound like a plane flying low and suddenly Sapphire realized what Schwarzwald’s next move was going to be. “He’s going to ram us.”
As though in response Big O’s screens cleared to reveal Big Duo flying low towards them at increasing speeds. It would only be seconds before its outstretched fist connected and at that velocity even Big O would take heavy damage.
Sapphire’s eyes traced the lines of Big Duo and the measurements of its approach marked in the corner of Big O’s display. Numbers scrolled through her mind quickly bringing her to a conclusion. “Move Big O’s arm up to sixty seven degrees horizontal by a hundred and twenty eight degrees vertical, fully extended with the piston charged.”
It seemed for one moment as though Roger were about to argue but with so little time left to act he did as Sapphire said. Not a moment too soon as Big Duo’s attack slammed into Big O’s outstretched fist. With skill born of many years’ experience Roger fired the piston punch at the moment of impact.
The blowback from the collision was so great that a wave of violent wind expanded out shattering the windows of every building within a block. The sudden reversal of momentum cause Big Duo’s impact with Big O to send it spinning over the black Megadeus were it crashed into the street below facing upwards. Roger turned Big O to face it but there was an entire skyscraper between them and the moments of shock that had left Big Duo lying dead in the street could not be counted on to last.
“I need to get down there.”
Sapphire said looking over the sight as Roger made to maneuver around the buildings.
“Don’t. Big Duo is extremely dangerous. You can’t go out there without protection.”
“Schwarzwald’s down, this is my best chance to get inside and get Demetra out. Can you tell me she’ll survive if you have to beat Big Duo into submission? Can you tell me she’d be okay?”
Roger gritted his teeth before murmuring. “No.”
“Then I have to go down, get her out safe while I have a chance. Can Big O lower me down?”
“He can get you part of the way. There’s a grappling hook in the watch you stole. The silver button. Can you repel down?”
Sapphire nodded.
Roger pressed a few buttons and the front of Big O’s control room opened to reveal its massive hand waiting for Sapphire.
Without a second thought she jumped onto its sleek surface and it lowered her down to the roof top blocking Big O’s way. She leapt to the roof below while Big O now free of her stomped down the street searching for an intersection large enough to allow it passage.
Not sure of the exact operation of the grappling hook Sapphire pointed the watch she’d clipped onto her wrist skyward and pressed the silver button. A spike shot out with force, four clips clinking out from the center to form a solid hook. The hook was connected to an almost unbelievable amount of rope which as the grappling hook lost momentum fell and coiled around Sapphire’s feet. She took the hook and secured it as best she could to the side of the building and after testing to ensure it would hold her weight she jumped. She repelled sideways down the building as fast as she could manage without slipping into a freefall. In moment she landed at street level on the chest of Big Duo.
She scrambled over its surface to the base of the neck where she realized with some small sense of satisfaction that her weapon Melinoe was still sticking hilt deep into Big Duo’s casing at the base of the neck. Inside the control room she could see Demetra still pinned against the back wall and Schwarzwald, apparently unconscious in the pilot’s seat. Determined to reach her sister before Big Duo’s captain returned to the world of the waking Sapphire activated her remaining dagger and reclaimed the one she’d thought was lost. With Somnus and Melinoe in hand Sapphire started to savagely slice through Big Duo’s armour. Though the blades were sharp and pierced the metal with ease Big Duo’s casing was thick and as the seconds trickled by Sapphire feared that the increasingly large scar she was carving into the Megadeus wouldn’t be enough to reach Demetra in time.
Her worst fears were realized as from the depths of Big Duo she heard the strangled cry of Schwarzwald as he suddenly woke from the blow he’d suffered when his Megadeus had fallen to the ground. Moments later Big Duo began to shudder as it began to stand. “Be gone Huntress.” Snarled her adversary from within his suit of armour. “You think your puny nightmare blades can bring down the power of god as created by man? You are delusional.”
The megadeus began to rise and at the very last second Sapphire abandoned her place of attack, sliding down the side of the Megadeus to land on the street below. Now standing at its feet, Sapphire was struck by the awesome size of Big Duo. It’s immense power. In one terrifying moment she realized just how precarious her position truly was. Big Duo’s massive foot moved to crush her and Sapphire dove to the side only just managing to roll out of the way of crash that cut through the concrete.
With little time to recover before the next attack that she knew was coming Sapphire pushed herself to her feet and ran into the nearest building whose glass doors had been shattered by Big Duo’s impact with the ground. She knew this was only a temporary measure however. Schwarzwald had displayed very clearly Big Duo’s capability to destroy entire buildings. With his missiles depleted though Sapphire was confident that he no longer that the capacity to wipe out city blocks in one blow. The machine guns and Arc Line would take time to carve through the structure and with any luck that would be all the time she needed to escape through a side street.
A word stopped her in her tracks. One word echoed over the streets. “Schwarzwald!” Shouted Roger as Big O appeared in the street opposite to face its counterpart.
Big Duo turned to face Roger either because Schwarzwald did not care if Sapphire survived or more likely because Big O was the more immediate threat. The hand that had impacted Big O’s fist looked twisted and torn, the propeller mangled beyond feasible operation. Even if Big Duo’s boosters were still operable, even if it could still fly Schwarzwald’s ability to steer would be limited at best.
Despite the damage Big Duo showed no signs of backing down. It’s still functional hand clamped together to form the heavy spinning drill that it had displayed down in the tech expo before the two Megadeus’ rushed each other. Big O raised its arm to block Schwarzwald’s first blow before it fought back hard. It was clear that being down a weapon had put Big Duo had a severe disadvantage. They continued to strike one after another until Big O managed to knock aside Schwarzwald’s guard and execute its powerful piston fueled punch directly into Big Duo’s chest.
Sapphire heard the screeching of torn metal as Big Duo was knocked violently to the ground but it was almost as though she saw the impact in slow motion. Now seeing it from the outside, in its entirety something struck her as inherently wrong. Not just a result of this new strange world but something completely incongruous, something she couldn’t reconcile. As these thoughts were forming in her mind details from the past several days began to swirl through her mind.
…the books are empty… …Electrical systems were fairly universal… …Had she seen the past… …filled her with paralyzing fear… …open your eyes… …only fear will do that… …the city you see is not the one under your feet… …the truth of this place… …I will bring down the false skies… …reveal your tiny world… …like they’re alive… …maybe they are… …couldn’t fathom it… …I should make a note of that… …You have done well Huntress … …pissed off over protective sister… …your puny nightmare blades… She was left shaking with the weight of it. The impossibility of what she was realizing. In disbelief she looked again at Big O, her eyes tracing its outline, its structure. Numbers ran through her mind forming an equation that did not balance and in that moment she knew the truth that Schwarzwald had rambled about since the first moment she’d met him. She knew what she had to do.
Sapphire ran up the stairs as out the window Big Duo unleashed its machine guns to keep Big O at bay while Schwarzwald used it’s boosters to restore itself to an upright position.
The buildings of Paradigm were all created as close to one another as was structurally safe, no doubt due to the limited space beneath the dome. This made leaping from rooftop to rooftop (with the occasional help of Roger’s grapple watch) quite simple as Sapphire approached the two fighting robots.
When she reached a building whose roof was on level with the head of Big O she jumped from it firing the grappling hook from Roger’s watch as she fell. The hook clung to the metal of the black Megadeus’ neck and with another flick of the silver button it retracted pulling Sapphire into a precarious position on the outer casing of Big O’s chest. She glanced outward and the sight of how high she was in the air combined with Big Duo’s hulking form overshadowing her almost made her throw up from anxiety. She turned back and started hammering on Big O’s chest.
“ROGER! LET ME IN! ROGER!”
For one heart stopping moment she felt as though the black Megadeus would remain sealed but then Big O’s sturdy arms came up in a shield and while they guarded the interior Roger opened the command center’s doors.
Sapphire dove in grateful to be sheltered. Once the chest had sealed itself behind her she said “I weakened the casing around the neck. If you can get a direct blow to the head it might be enough to expose the command center.”
She looked to Roger but realized almost immediately something was wrong. Roger was stiff, his back bent forward at an unnatural angle. Sweat stained his face. Sapphire followed his gaze to the small circular display screen in front of him and say upon its surface a barcode scrolling across it. She didn’t know what the barcode meant but it appeared to have had a profound effect of Roger. Sapphire snapped her fingers in front of his face but he didn’t react. Sapphire glanced out the window where Big Duo appeared to have back off several meters and was standing disturbingly still.
She couldn’t count of Roger’s expertise in this fight. She’d have to see this through on her own merits whether she succeed or fail.
As gently as she could for someone a foot taller and eighty pounds heavier than herself Sapphire maneuvered Roger out of the pilot’s seat and strapped him into a passengers chair on the side so he’d remain safe. Then she sat down herself in the control chair and pressed the button on the side of the display screen she’d seen Roger push earlier. As an afterthought she whispered “Big O, Showtime.” As Roger had before their first fight.
On the screen, supplanting the barcode the words ‘
Cast in the Name of God,’ scrolled across the screen followed by two
words
‘Ye Not...’ but the moment the last two became visible just at the edge of the screen Big O gave a low shuddering sound and the screen went dead.
Sapphire hit the button again but the screen refused to engage. She slammed her open palm into it in frustration but this served only to make her hand sting. She looked up at Big Duo which was still ominously standing stock still.
Determined that this would not defeat her, that she would complete her mission Sapphire activated one of her daggers and used the sharp tip to pry the open the casing under the display screen, she’d rewire the system if she had to but she needed to get Big O running before the conspicuously silent Big Duo made its move.
As she made to strip one of the control wires with Somnus the display screen inexplicably came back to life. On its face were two words that seemed to have a dire meaning outside Sapphire’s grasp. ‘
Ye Guilty.’ Suddenly at the place in Big Duo where Demetra had been strung wires snaked out of the back wall like living things. Their ends tips with lethally sharp pins poised to penetrate human flesh. They slithered towards her through the air giving Sapphire the horrifying impression that they meant to do to her what Big Duo had done to Demetra.
In a fit of desperation that this not be how she fail Sapphire dropped Somnus to the ground, held her hands in the air far from any control in a non-threatening gesture. “Peace.” She whispered and the word echoed unnaturally long in the empty control room. The wires froze in place as though considering her and in that moment Sapphire’s eyes flicked to the still unmoving Big Duo and she realized why it had frozen.
“Big O!” She shouted wildly “Give me the Arc Line!” She slammed her hand into the red button she’d seen Roger use earlier to activate it but nothing happened. Looking in horror at the opposing Megadeus she saw its eyes glow bright purple before a beam of pure energy shot from them, it slipped through the gap between Big O’s arms hitting the black Megadeus directly in the chest.
Sapphire heard the scream of metal as the chest’s outer casing caved inwards several feet and Big O was knocked off its feet. Sapphire held desperately to the pilot’s chair as Big O’s plummet to the group made her almost weightless. In Big O’s violent collapse, embedding itself several feet into the concrete Sapphire mercifully was able to keep her seat and prevent herself being knocked out by the impact. She glanced back at Roger who despite still being non responsive seemed unhurt.
Sapphire punched the controls but Big O still refused to listen to her. The pronouncement of ‘Ye Guilty’ still blinked ominously on the display screen and the wires that had been knocked to the ground in the fall now snaked back into the air ready to assault the one who was not meant to pilot Big O.
Sapphire looked up at Big Duo which was approaching footstep by footstep. She didn’t have much time.
“Big O!” she shouted disregarding her concept of what made up a sentient machine as she now knew why the design of the Big type Megadei was such a mystery to her. For all intents and purposes Big O was alive and it was not happy. “What is Big Duo to you?” she asked to the empty space expecting no response. “A brother in arms even when you are forced to turn your guns on each other? You respect Roger as your pilot, you trust his judgement to be true. Shouldn’t Big Duo have that chance as well? Even if you are enemies shouldn’t your brother be allowed to decide to adhere to the choices of its pilot? It can’t right now? Big Duo’s pilot is not worthy of it’s power. He has wired an artificial core memory into it to make it obey. I’m not asking for your allegiance, just your assistance. Help me retrieve that core memory, return Big Duo’s spirit, once that’s done can be content only letting Roger sit in this chair.”
For one harrowing moment Sapphire thought the titan was going to assimilate her anyways, or worse hadn’t heard her at all but then to her relief the wires retracted into the walls and on the screen in front of her the words ‘
Ye Not Guilty…’ Appeared on the screen followed closely by
‘For Now.’ Sapphire sighed in relief as Big O’s controls lit up around her. However the reconciliation between man and machine had come a few seconds too late. Big Duo’s legs stamped hard onto each of the black Megadeus’ arms pinning them in place. Schwarzwald’s laugh echoed out at them as he brought the drill hand down over Big O’s face.
Sapphire heard the agonizing sound of metal slicing through metal and she knew that her defeat was just seconds away. “I can’t go out like this, I won’t fail.” She murmured to herself before she shifted the controls. “It won’t do to just let him have his way.” Sapphire said to the empty air. “Will it Big O.”
Sapphire’s hands raced over the controls just as she’d seen Roger do and from Big O’s hips six lengths of chains fired off, dragged by heavy metal anchors that crashed into Big Duo with a sickening crunch. The impact caused the red megadeus to stumble and this was all Sapphire needed. She pressed another button and the center of Big O’s chest which had until moments ago been pinned down separated to reveal several missile launches.
“Give her all she’s got.” Sapphire said with relish and she fired.
The missiles detonated against Big Duo one after another throwing a haze of smoke and debris over the entire area. Sapphire heard the other megadeus crash into the ground but she couldn’t see where. In the confusion she pulled Big O to it’s feet, straining her eyes for signs of Schwarzwald and his war machine.
When the dust settled Big Duo was on its feet again facing down Sapphire. It was however far from undamaged. Dents lined every inch of the metal, the glass in both eyes that fired the Arc Line were broken, the shoulders where the machine guns emerged from where twisted and warped and in the upper chest where Sapphire had slice through the metal casing was a gash so massive it was a miracle Big Duo’s head remained attached to its body.
Sapphire remembered the advice she’d given Roger before he’s become incoherent. Now was the time to strike. Sapphire shifted the controls back intending to power up Big O’s right piston punch but the level was stuck. Sapphire pushed it harder and but it would not budge. She looked at one of the heads up displays and apart from marking each place where Big O’s outer casing had been severely damaged there was a bright red indicating over the right arm joint. The control line had been severed, the right arm was dead.
Sapphire gritted her teeth. This was proving to be more of a challenge than she’d anticipated. She’d just have to use the left and hope it would be enough. She engaged the huge piston set into the left arm and told Big O to charge. The Megadeus started to run at its counterpart presenting as much as possible the right side of it’s body, hoping the dead right arm would serve as some protection from the spinning drill that was Big Duo’s right hand.
When they got close enough Schwarzwald stabbed with the drill, the metal slipping past the dead arm and sinking deep into Big O’s side. It didn’t matter though. Sapphire had gotten inside Big Duo’s guard. She had the advantage. Big O raised it’s charged hand and grabbed hold of Big Duo’s head. It fired the full force of the piston directly into the metal and with one mighty blow and the heart stopping scream of tearing metal Big Duo’s head was wrenched from its body in one final strike.
Sapphire twisted Big O, locking the two Megadei together by the drill in Big O’s side before she whispered “Thank you Big O.” Then she opened the command module and leapt into the air. Without its head Big Duo’s own command center was exposed to the open air, Demetra still tied to the wall like a painting on display.
Sapphire registered the look of shock in Schwarzwald’s eyes as she came hurtling towards him, her daggers assembling into her hands as she flew. The blades came down and would have embedded themselves in the bandaged man’s shoulders if not for a five foot metal quarter staff that he pulled so quickly it almost seemed to appear from thin air.
Sapphire’s nightmare blades landed on the edge of the staff and were deflected with one fluid motion. Schwarzwald struck out at her with the staff and using the space he gained when she leapt out of the way vacated his chair and planted his feet firmly on the metal floor in a fighting stance.
“You are a worthy adversary,” Schwarzwald snarled from beneath his hood “but you will never be the Dominus of Megadeus. Big O will never accept you!”
“What about Big Duo?” she asked with a cheshire grin. With those words she brought the blades of Somnus and Melinoe down on either side of Demetra’s unconscious form, severing the wires that connected her to the Megadeus a few inches from her body. It was almost as though Sapphire could hear a scream from deep inside the machine and then blinking accusingly on the display screen the words
‘Ye Guilty’ spelled itself out. Schwarzwald looked suddenly panicked and it seemed as though his fight with Sapphire was now something of little consequence. He leapt from the Megadeus towards a nearby rooftop and landed on it with surprising finesse.
Sapphire meanwhile had another plan up her sleeve. She gathered up Demetra and after laying her near the command center’s entrance in as comfortable a position as possible she placed herself in Big Duo’s control chair. The rightful activation phrase:
‘Cast in the Name of God, Ye Not Guilty’ presented itself to her and Sapphire smiled slightly at the irony. “Big Duo, Showtime.” She said with relish.
She punched in a few key commands into the control deck then whispered. “Do what you were always meant to do. Fulfill the wish of your last master.”
With those words she evacuated the control chair and pausing only to gather up Demetra in her arms leapt from the red megadeus that had now begun to rumble. She landed on the same rooftop as Schwarzwald with perhaps a little less finesse though enough skill to keep her sister from any kind of harm before she laid her gently on the ground.
Then she turned to watch Big Duo. It had removed its drill hand from Big O’s chest and now both arms faced skyward. The boosters in the elbows fired emitting steam, smoke and flame as it rocketed upwards. The propellers were shot but that was only a problem if Big Duo needed to steer. Per Sapphire’s instructions the Megadeus was headed straight up with no deviations.
“What are you doing?” asked a voice from behind her. She turned and just as she’d expected Schwarzwald was standing at her shoulder. She pivoted slightly so she was facing him if he made a move to attack but otherwise continued to stare at the ascending megadeus.
“I’m revealing the truth of Paradigm City. Isn’t that what you wanted Schwarzwald? Or should say I say Professor?”
Schwarzwald did not respond and instead continued to watch as Big Duo ascended higher and higher till it reached the apex of the dome that covered Paradigm City. When it made contact with the material of the dome there was a huge explosion. Big Duo detonated in an enormous and impressive display of fireworks no doubt visible to the entire city. With the fireworks came chunks of the dome breaking away from the whole and falling earth bound where they impacted into the city.
When the smoke from the explosion cleared beyond the now massive hole in the dome was an astonishing sight. Several meters above the dome was what looked like a dark black metal ceiling with green metallic lines tracing across it in a grid and what appeared to be lights shining down on the city.
With this new sight revealed Sapphire turned to Schwarzwald and said calmly. “The charade is over. Did I pass?”
Schwarzwald smiled through the bandages that covered his face. As he did so the world began to melt. First the dome vanished, then the one by one the buildings began to wink out of existences to be replaced by the black gridded metal that could be seen beyond the dome. When only the building that Sapphire and Schwarzwald stood on remained it began to shrink like a melting ice cube till they were standing on even ground. Finally the prone form of Demetra vanished without a trace.
At this last sight Sapphire felt intense relief at knowing that her sister had never really been in danger or even in this environment at all.
Schwarzwald was the only being to still exist in the empty world which now Sapphire looked at it closer was probably about the size of a sports stadium. The man before her shed his cloak and slowly unraveled the bandages that covered his face to reveal beneath them someone who Sapphire knew very well.
She inclined her head. “Professor Ozpin.”
The headmaster of her huntsman academy nodded back at her. He then pulled out a pair of half-moon spectacles which he placed on his face, the quarter staff that he had fought her briefly with collapsed till it resembled the cane he always carried with him. Ozpin was an elderly man who was surprisingly spry for his advanced age. His hair which was white as snow, despite being only a few inches long was perpetually untidy giving the impression that he had just taken a casual stroll through a wind storm.
“You did surprisingly well Miss Rode.” He said, his voice completely different than the one he had used when playing the role of ‘Schwarzwald’. “It is rather uncommon the student that realizes the fictional nature of Paradigm City before the conclusion of the program. Tell me when did you first begin to question the veracity of your surroundings?”
Sapphire gritted her teeth. “After I failed to cut my way into Big Duo. Seeing Big O’s piston punch from the exterior I realized that it’s frame wasn’t capable of administering that much force without toppling over. Then I remembered certain details about the past few days.”
“Might I inquire as to which details caught your attention?”
“The blank books in Roger’s library, the Vale standard electrical system in his house, the piece that Dorothy played on the piano was an obscure Valian concert piece from fifty years ago. Little things.”
“Very good.” Said Ozpin with a satisfied smile as though Sapphire had gotten the right answer on a pop quiz. “There were of course more hints but I’ve yet to see a student that spots all of them, especially given the divergent nature of the program.”
The memory of three bullets sinking into a man’s torso came flooding back into Sapphire’s mind and at her side her hand formed into a fist. With great difficult she resisted the urge to strike her teacher and with even greater difficult she kept her voice even through the next words she spoke.
“How could you do that? You made me believe I’d killed a man, I had nightmares.”
Ozpin nodded, his lips twisting into a slight frown. “Most unfortunate though I should point at that was a product of your own solution to a problem presented to you not something inherent to the program. Solving every situation with brute force, even extremely efficient and well execute brute force is not a good idea.”
“But you… how…” words failed her as rage built up inside her chest. Intense white hot anger at burned inside her, anger at the fear she’d gone through, at the state of constant panic over losing her closest family member. The only partially healed nail marks in her hand smarted, the bump on her head where Dorothy had struck her protested and the many many bruises she’d received when Roger had rescued her from falling off Big Duo threatened to materialize over her skin.
“If you wish to strike me I’d suggest you do so now as I do have several more examinations that must be prepared.” Ozpin said in a calm voice, as though he was speaking about the weather.
With those words the anger that had been threatening to spill out lessened, falling below the surface enough for Sapphire to speak. “That was cruel.” She said with a note of accusation in her voice.
“No,” Ozpin said with a note of sternness in his “That was necessary. The life of a huntsman or huntress is not a peaceful one. We are frequently placed in situations of extreme danger in environments we are unfamiliar with facing enemies we cannot comprehend. The final exam program is meant to push you to your limits, to see if you can truly stomach what may be required of you once you graduate. It tasks every skill we’ve taught you in the last four years and requires you to apply them in your own style. You performed quite impressively with a minimum of causalities and a surprisingly small amount of property damage considering the combat medium presented to you. I will of course compile a full workup about what strengths and weaknesses the exam revealed that you should make an effort to compensate for once you graduate, for instance your dedication to tackling situations alone could be potentially dangerous. However you should sleep well tonight knowing that you have performed extremely well. None of the rest of your team performed as satisfactorily.”
This last comment caught Sapphire’s attention and a short lived battle between wanting to hold onto her anger at Professor Ozpin’s tactics and wanting to know how her teammates faired.
“How’d they do?” she whispered so quietly she was almost surprised that Ozpin heard her well enough to respond.
“Your partner Abel performed adequately, his scenario was different from yours in that the primary enemy was the leader of Paradigm City, Alex Rosswater who had need of Abel’s brother Kane for his knowledge of advanced robotics. Abel fought competently but his evasion and stealth skills are not the equal of yours. He was captured by the Paradigm Military Police and had to be bailed out by Roger who as you will no doubt have guessed functions as the assist character for any student who finds themselves trapped in a position where the program cannot proceed. He eventually faced down Rosswater using Big O though incidentally after we disabled Roger for his final battle he had to lobotomize the Megadeus before he could activate the controls. His opponent used different design we call Big Fau.”
Ozpin began walking towards the exit at the far end of what had only a few moments ago been Paradigm City. Sapphire followed him eager to hear what had happened to Gren and Shiro.
“Shiro unfortunately had to be walked through vast sections of the narrative by Roger and once the program ended exhibited severe confusion and panic. He fought extremely well but his critical thinking skills are somewhat lacking. The only recommendation I can give him is that he always be parred with someone of tactical skill once he graduates.”
“And Gren?” asked Sapphire tentatively. Gren was a hulking mass of a boy who despite nearly always resort to an excessive amount of force or firepower in situations of combat was actually something of a tech genius, though more on the software than the hardware side of things.
“Gren…” said Ozpin slowly. “He managed to capture one of the Paradigm Military Police tanks and used it to disable a good chunk of the opposing forces before Roger had to step with Big O to stop him. I’ll admit that was a surprise as the program is specifically designed to make it extremely difficult to turn the assist character against you. No matter how shifty or violent you behave he is meant to give you the benefit of the doubt unless you target him specifically. It has been rather a long time since someone has exhibited enough recklessness to have to fight
against Big O. Assuming he is given a combat ready grade I can only recommend him for squad or dual missions as he needs someone to reign in his more destructive habits. You should feel honored Miss Rode. You and your partner Abel are the only ones I can confidentially say will be allowed to work solo.”
Sapphire paused for a moment then asked in quick succession. “How did you know about Demetra’s special skill? Why was I allowed to keep my signature weapons inside the program? Why giant fighting robots?”
Ozpin seemed amusing by these inquiries. “We contact the families of the students taking exams to get the most accurate information on the loved ones that will be inserted into the program if at all. As an academy alumni your father was more than happy to provide us what we needed.”
At the mention of her father Sapphire’s blood ran cold and her heart seemed to burn with furious anger. The change in her mood though Ozpin appeared not to notice. “You were allowed to keep Somnus and Melinoe as a reminder of the real world. There was an incident when the program was first instituted in which a girl named Angel lost herself in the exam. She started to believe that she was a part of that world and we were forced to use a backdoor shut down called
‘Big Venus Protocol’ to make her end the program. Since that first mishap each student has been left with one tactile reminder of the outside world, be it a photo, a piece of jewelry, or in your case your blades. They were left with you because they hold strong sentimental meaning, not because they’re weapons.”
After answering her second question Ozpin chuckled slightly. “As for the
‘giant fighting robots’, the program was designed by Professor Oobleck who has a rather quaint theory that in fictional mediums if the impressive nature of something is great enough that factor can outweigh it’s practical nature. He refers to this as
‘The Rule of Cool’. I cannot say I agree or in some cases even understand but it is most interesting to see the things he comes up with while using this principle.”
By the time he’d finished speaking they were very near the exit to the exam room. Before they reached the door Ozpin turned to Sapphire.
“Now Miss Rode, I must write out your results and see to the next group of exams. If you will follow the main corridor on your left you will reach the central campus. Your official results will be ready in ten to fourteen days. Go, celebrate. Whatever the outcome your training is finished.”
With a soft smile Ozpin passed through the door leaving Sapphire to deal with the after effects of the academy’s final exam.
