Hacking the Sun [Old Version]

Chapter 27 Share, Comment, Subscribe

Even Monarch's death passed like a ripple in a sea of moments, one equation in an algorithm of sacrifice. His people wanted to mourn, evidenced by their gaunt faces, but there was no time to while the rest of the world beckoned. It was Beelz who gave the order to keep going, and Jessica agreed, trudging over the fallen of the 86th floor. One functional elevator carried the last operatives to the next level. And as the number blinked from 86 to 87, Jessica felt a hand squeeze her arm. She was met by the evergreen death stare.

"Make this count or else..." said Beelz.

Jessica pulled away. "I've been counting just to keep my head. Monarch died on the 1,687th second since the start of this mission."

The elevator opened to a white antechamber. Dim lights, a single wall, and several doors reminded Jessica of the Tantive IV blockade runner from A New Hope, where Darth Vader apprehended Princess Leia. They were in a security checkpoint, which meant the other side held something important. There was no time to speculate.

Each entryway was marked by a pedestal with a round orb, like the one used to access the Azarean armory. Jess approached the closest device then activated her Vambrace.

"Where'd you get that?" David asked, ogling the violet.

"Developed it with some help," she answered.

Beelz eyed Jessica's arm with similar curiosity. A single ding confirmed a successful hack, as did a single rod that extended from the ceiling in front of the door. Here, Beelz unveiled Malvis' replica eyeball.

"The final verdict," she said and pressed the iris against the scanner. A foreign voiceover spoke through invisible speakers. Almost none of them really understood the language, but the door opened.

Jessica advanced, Beelz smothering her personal space to inspect her arm. "Care to explain where you found that holo-brace?" said the redhead.

"Call it an heirloom."

Beelz stopped, compelling Jess to stop along with her. "You're not going to stand there and tell me someone just gave that to you. You know what that is..."

"Guys..." Raptor muttered.

Everyone stopped to observe the latest in a series of odd locations. The area beyond the white doors was dark, ornate, and circuitous as if the interior decorator came from a murky otherworld. On all sides, to the non-discerning eye, the surface pattern of the walls was like flowing metal and swooning flora, architecture inspired by nothing on this earth. And environed by something so alien, Jessica felt like an astronaut.

Her mind's eye brought a house of strange alloys and organic material that coalesced into a symmetrical sanctum. Most prominent about the interior, its rows upon rows of seats circled like the rings within a tree stump... or Saturn. From the outermost to the innermost, they shrunk, enveloping a spherical device directly in the center of everything. Around the room, against the walls and equidistant from another stood four architectural pillars – Energy shone from incandescent lines inscribed along the contours, their bright green like the inconsistent texture of flowing water, and they extended and bent high overhead, unifying directly at the zenith.

Beelz veered from the room's macabre majesty, distracted by the flashing blue light on her watch. "Secure the door," she ordered. "Guard this room! Make sure no one else—Azarean or otherwise—follows us." The last three members of Gemini did as told and sentried the long series of doors.

Jessica ran her fingers across the seats. "If I were a fly on the wall..." She shifted to the round instrument at the center of everything. Like an orb on a pedestal, it reminded her of the nexus back at Sub Terra HQ. What secrets did it hold? The question burned the tip of her tongue. They use this place to commune.