Tempest War

Chapter 16

Astor City was something to behold. Veritas' landscape was the desert. Skyscrapers reached into the sky and their matte black finish glinted in the sun. everything was centred around technology much more so than any of the other Taigean countries. That was the view we got from the top floor of a very high building.

"I am afraid I should attend to some business in Cerberus," Kirin stated.

"What business do you have in Cerberus?" Felix asked.

"Caspian and Tsuki are not of equal importance to this plot right?" Kirin confirmed. Felix nodded. "They should be aware of our plans and of the fact that Keres is a nice man."

"That would be wise," I agreed.

"I will set up a base of operations with Tsuki and Caspian. We will work on the problem from our end and perhaps we can close the chapter on Perun Thorne," Kirin explained.

"Two of us working on a joint goal should get the job done faster," Rhys agreed. Kirin summoned a portal of his own and walked off.

"So is Veritas..." I trailed off. I had no clue what kind of island this was.

"Veritas was my home," Keres stated. "This is the world I built with my technology. The rest of Taigea was unaware of how this kind of technology could benefit from elemental powers. Nor did they understand the things they could accomplish."

"So Veritas was a poor country," Rhys assumed.

"Poorer than poor," Keres chuckled. "But I started my idea of exorcising kings here. A group of us banded together and started protesting. The king stepped down and we set up a provisional government. Things were going smoothly, my business, Chroma, made leaps and bounds in the technological development of Veritas and soon the wealth was abundant."

"That sounds like a classic rags to riches story nobody would believe in," I knew enough from history classes that while the best way to gain the trust of the people was to pretend everything had to be worked for, it was much easier to outright state you were privileged.

"Not at all," Keres didn't seem offended. "Veritas used to be made of straw huts so susceptible to fire no one was allowed to light a match."

"Let us not dawdle on what Veritas was," Felix chided. "We have time for that later, but the weather is perfect. We should take advantage of that." Felix led us down a floating glass staircase. The inside of the building was black chrome with red lines streaking in every direction.

The outside was even more magnificent. Instead of normal desert sand, a plate of dark metal had been drilled into the earth and formed the base of Astor City. High tech cars and motorcycles raced across the streets. At every turn were more skyscrapers made of the same chromium metal.

Keres confidently walked us to the edge of Astor City where, from the city line, you could see a building. One that extended far into the sky, but also out wide, towards the canyon walls surrounding it. "That is our destination." Before we could argue, he began walking towards the Exorcist headquarters.

⸻

The Exorcist headquarters were not really headquarters but the Chroma offices. On the tall spire-like building the letters Chroma had been written down the front in all uppercase. The letters glittered in dark blue and red paint. Tinted windows made the building look like a secret agent's base of operations.

"This is where I first started developing the technology that has made Veritas so profitable," Keres explained. "Please come in." The front doors slid open as Keres approached and we were ushered into a giant front hall. Concrete flooring spanned the length of the room and a set of stairs led up to a loft. The front hall had digital screens displaying information and the latest updates. White rectangular sofas were positioned around planters.