Nemesis (6 page)

My heart sank. I didn’t want to relive the whole experience again. But I’d been a fool not to expect it. Of course the Alliance wanted my take on events, especially as Kay and I were the only witnesses, and only I knew some things. Ms Weston knew I was Royal, the reason for my unusual magic, but my blood chilled at the idea of word getting around Central. Not to mention the antimagic inside me. How to explain how I’d survived the attack without mentioning exactly what I’d done?

Had
Kay
mentioned it?

I swallowed. “All right,” I said. “But I’ll have to start with my family. Did Kay tell you what–what we used to do?”

“Used to?”

Her sharp question jabbed at the raw wound. “Before–before everything happened, Nell and I used to help refugees from other worlds come through the Passages and make new lives here on Earth. It’s what she did for me, so I started doing the same. When I was caught, we were–”

“We? This Nell is your guardian, isn’t she?”

As if you didn’t already know that.
“Yes. And Alber and Jeth are my brothers. We were making a delivery in the Passages when a wyvern attacked us, and we ran into a patrol from Central. Kay arrested me. You know what happened after.”

“There are several pieces missing. How, exactly, did you escape from Central?”

“I thought Kay would have told you. I wore an invisible earpiece my brother Jeth designed. He’s working here now. Your tech team has one of them. I talked to Jeth through the earpiece, and he arranged for Nell and Skyla to meet me.” Damn. I bit my lip. Shouldn’t have said Skyla’s name.

“Skyla,” she said, not missing a thing. “She was the one who infiltrated Central, I believe?”

I nodded. “She fooled all of us. Anyway, they got in, and we escaped.”

“Through attacking our guards.” Her tone was even, not accusatory, but I fidgeted all the same.

“Uh… Skyla used magic, and it must have been amplified because the Balance was tipping.”

Ms Weston reshuffled the papers. “Yes, I gathered. Skyla, or Ellen as she called herself, has caused us the most trouble of all, because she did the apparently impossible. Never has the Alliance been fooled in such a way. You might have noticed when you were checked on entry that we now include a scan for illegal magical materials. Even bloodrock solution would not fool the test. Nor your… devices.”

Of course they knew about Jeth’s earpieces and Chameleon devices now. I’d been stripped down for weapons already and they’d used some scanning device. They knew me as a magic-wielder, of course, but bloodrock was a substance used externally and was nigh on impossible to spot even if you spent a lot of time in close proximity to people using it. Some offworlders used the bloodrock solution to appear like they were from Earth. Some wanted to blend in, some were afraid of being caught, and others just wanted a new face to go with their new life. But Nell had never ordered my brothers and me to do that. It had never really bothered me that I didn’t look like I was from anywhere on Earth, and only my eyes were covered out of necessity.

“Naturally, we’ve scanned all our staffs’ backgrounds following the incident. If you become our employee, then you will be subject to the same. Your guardian will have to register as an offworlder, that would of course have already been taken care of if not for the circumstances–don’t look so alarmed, Ada. She is under our protection, as are you.”

Somehow, I doubted Nell would be particularly thrilled to hear that.

“We see it as our duty to helpless victims of violence.”

I had to fight to keep my face straight. Had she even seen Nell? Helpless was
not
a word anyone would use to describe her if they wanted to keep all their teeth. As a survivor of the Empire, she was the bravest person I knew. And she hadn’t told me all the details, what she’d really sacrificed for me.

As she’d told me over and over, some things were better forgotten.

“We will not, however, entitle you to special circumstances.”

Huh?

“It goes without saying that you’ll have to follow our rules. You’ve signed several confidentiality agreements. That means what you used to do—travel through the Passages at will, talk openly about dangerous magic sources like bloodrock in public—will have to stop.”

“Of course.” I gripped one hand with the other to hide the fact that they were shaking with sudden anger. Did she think we’d go gallivanting off through the hidden Passage again after we’d nearly died there? As for the bloodrock, I could count the people who actually knew the name on one hand. Nell and I were careful, always. “Skyla’s dead,” I said, the slightest tremble in my voice. “No one else here would… would they?”

Ms Weston’s eyes flashed. “Central is secure, but I’d advise you to be incredibly careful discussing anything related to magic sources outside of the Alliance, especially amongst offworlders.”

Anger flared, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something stupid. Of course I knew the Alliance was, for all its good intentions, neck-deep in old prejudices, but could she really forget so easily the person who’d murdered people here had been from
Earth?

“You are twenty-one, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“That’s our minimum age requirement, but age doesn’t matter to the Alliance as much as your ability to do the job. Most novices go through at least a year of training first, but your experience gives you an advantage. Not as much as an Academy graduate, of course. They tend to skip the first two years and climb the ranks quicker.”

I’d figured that much, since Kay had got promoted within only a few weeks of joining, but then again, he was a Walker. Related to the organisation’s founders and one of the council members. Not to mention he’d helped save Central.

“You know Kay Walker, don’t you?” she asked, like she’d read my mind.

“He helped me. And my family.” Well, that was the simplest way of putting it.

“I know.” Her stare cut right into me. “Given what the two of you experienced, it’s only natural that you’d form an attachment. But I want to make it clear that in this office, you will conduct yourself as a professional. It’s none of my business, of course, what happens outside. And there is no preferential treatment here, regardless of what you may have accomplished.”

Anger flooded me. If she thought I could quietly forget about how we’d survived hell, then she was sadly mistaken. And “preferential treatment”? I hadn’t expected to be treated as a celebrity. I just wanted a freaking job.

I forced out the words. “I understand.”

“Good.”

More paperwork later and she handed me over to a young woman who smiled at me, to my astonishment. First friendly face I’d seen in Central.

“I’m Amanda,” she said, tucking a blond strand behind her ear. “I’ll be overseeing your training here. You’ve met my sister Danica already–Ms Weston.”

They were related? Wow. “I’m Ada,” I said.

The training complex was two streets down from Central. From the outside, it might have been any generic building, but the high fence surrounding it kept out curious onlookers, and had the Alliance’s logo imprinted on the gate. Unlike Central, it succeeded in averting the attention of the tourists, though I’d spotted a group of rainbow-haired, camera-carrying individuals hanging about near the road alongside Central. Possibly trying to snap a picture of the trail of devastation a wyvern had left there when it had attacked Kay and me.

“So what’ll I be doing?” Behind the translucent glass doors to the training complex, I couldn’t make out a whole lot. “This place is for Alliance members only, right?”

“Yes, it’s essentially a gymnasium with free entry for Alliance members only, with a few enhancements. We’ll be testing you in the simulation chambers.” Amanda swiped her key card in the door to gain entry.

“Simulations?”

Amanda nodded. “Klathican technology, custom-made, and it costs the Alliance a small fortune to maintain. Come with me.”

She led me through the reception area into a corridor, turning left to descend down a set of stairs. Muffled shouts and crashes came from below, but when we reached the lower corridor, nothing but doors lay on either side.

“Here’s a free booth.” She pushed open one of the doors. A windowless room greeted me, and claustrophobia kicked in without warning as the image of an empty warehouse flashed before my eyes. I swallowed back the panic clawing my throat.
You’re not there. You’re safe.

I followed Amanda into the room. The walls were made of an odd reflective material, as was the floor, which was soft under my feet. I poked it with a foot, experimentally.

“That’s so you don’t injure yourself when you’re caught in the simulation. Try to keep the room’s dimensions in mind. I can’t count the number of times someone’s run right into one of those walls and freaked themselves out. It won’t hurt, especially with your guard uniform on, but it can be a little jarring. The simulation’s meant to be all-encompassing. The technology’s sensitive to the material of your uniform, so you just need to clip this over your head to get the full experience. If you want to fight with weapons, wear these gloves.”

She handed me a pair of gloves made of a thin material, and the smallest, most lightweight helmet I’d ever seen. I took it hesitantly, flipping it over to examine the shiny panelling on the back. Jeth would have a field day here.
Holy hell, this is legit.
“Wow. So this is used for training?”

She nodded. “I’m told you have extensive hand-to-hand combat training already? You can fight non-humans as well as human opponents, right?”

“Yeah, I took martial art classes, but I learned most of it from my guardian in practise. She taught me how to take down most of the monsters in the Passages. And I can kill a person with my bare hands,” I added. “But I’ve not actually done that…”
No. Magic took care of it for me.

“Well, you’re far ahead of most new recruits, aside from the Academy graduates, of course. Though the lesson even people with training often fail to grasp is that as an Alliance guard, the majority of your opponents are going to be much bigger and stronger than you are and have external protection. The best way to win is to outwit them rather than relying on brute force alone, though this is a case where your size and speed is also an advantage. You’re small and fast, and the larger monsters would have no chance of catching you, as long as you don’t let them drive you into a corner. Use the enclosed space to your advantage.”

“Okay. So it’s the same in simulation as it’d be in real life? The monsters seem… real?”

“Crude Earth terminology would call them holograms, except they’re solid and mimic the behaviour of their real-life counterparts. Essentially, it works like an advanced version of a touch-sensitive video game, except it also mimics sensations as well as sight. The room itself is made of an extra-sensitive material that adds to the realism of the experience. Pretty impressive, am I right?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” I said, and meant it.

“Want to give it a go, then? I should warn you, it might feel a little uncomfortable if you get hit, but it isn’t real, however it might seem. If you’re killed in a simulation, it’ll restart itself. Happens to everyone at some point. It’s important not to panic.”

“I’m good,” I said, with more certainty than I really felt. You could
die?
Even if it wasn’t real, the idea gave me chills.

Drawing a breath, I put on the gloves and then the helmet. Darkness flooded my vision, blanking out my surroundings, except for my own body, and it was seriously weird to see my hand floating in front of me in empty space. Except the space wasn’t empty anymore. I stood on the edge of a cliff, mist rising in front of me and obscuring what was on the other side. Nothing else but hardened ground beneath my feet and cloudless blue sky above. Kind of spooky. In fact… I took a step forward, unnerved when my foot kicked a loose stone and I felt the movement, heard it clatter on the ground.

Jesus. This is all an illusion?

“Oh, it’s stuck again,” said Amanda’s voice in my ear, startling me. “Stupid loading screen–hang on.”

Scenes flicked on and off before my eyes, like changing television channels. Fields, mountains, cities. And then a gleaming square, like a computer screen, appeared in front of me. Menu screen. When I lifted my hand, it was like operating a touch screen, scrolling through a list.

Holy wow.
Alber would love this.

Following Amanda‘s instructions, I navigated my way through various menus and screens, and set up a basic combat scenario. You could customise according to what kind of opponent you wanted to fight, whether you had weapons or not, even change the setting.

My heart drummed in anticipation as the wide corridors of the Passages unfolded around me.

“Pick your opponent,” said the overhead voice.

They must have every possible opponent from every universe logged in here, from humans to semi-humans to monsters. Rated according to difficulty level. It came as no surprise to find wyverns amongst the top level.

“Don’t overestimate yourself. Remember, this simulates a real-life scenario. It
feels
real, and it’ll take as much a toll on you as a real battle with one of those creatures would.”