Authors: Dhayaa Anbajagane
“Wait a second,” Burke caught their attention. "Why exactly do these people have the Lambda Driver anyway?”
“
The White Knights had taken the last one with them had they not?
” Jade asked.
“Yes,” Q’s mind made the obvious connection. "That’s the White Knights’ tower.”
“Well,” Burke said. “It does follow their ‘we love white’ color code.”
Q diverted his thoughts back to the mission, “Let’s assume this is the White Knight compound. How do we get in?”
Burke put his face in his hands and thought hard. Q could almost see the imaginary gears in his head turning.
“I’m assuming the Lambda Driver is high up in the tower?” he asked.
Q nodded.
He sighed, “It’ll be very difficult to get to the top if we enter the tower from the bottom. That tower is likely to be teeming with knights. An assault is the least efficient option.”
“I don't think we have any other method of entering the place though,” Q said.
Burke pointed to the top of the tower, “We’re going to have to take that route,” he said.
Now it was Q’s turn to sign. For once he would have liked to have a straightforward mission that didn't involve any unnecessary complications.
Burke kept explaining, “We’ll land on the top of the tower and head down to the level the Lambda Driver is on.”
“I’m guessing you won't be coming along,” Q said.
“Actually I’ll have to come along with you,” Burke said, but he clearly didn’t like the idea. “Remember you told me the driver was behind heavy security? It’ll be tough to crack. Leaving that to you is-” He paused for a second, “-not wise.”
Q smiled a bit. That was the first time someone hadn't left him in charge of the whole operation. Usually he was the one who everyone turned to when they faced situations like these. He had to admit that it was pretty nice to see someone else bear the burden for once.
“We’ll fly up to the top and head down to the right floor,” Burke told Q. “We’ll need you to use your Q-maps to direct us to the Lambda Driver once we get in.”
“Just leave it to me,” Q smiled.
“We get down to the right floor, I take out the security system, we secure the driver and get back to the top, Jade comes up there and we escape.”
“You do realize we came here to take out the enemy as well.”
“Oh yeah,” Burke sighed. Q figured he would forget about that part.
“Can't you just create an explosion or something?” he asked.
“It isn't that easy,” Q said.
“
What about those missiles?
” Jade asked.
“That could work,” Burke said. “We could launch them and make them target the tower.”
“So now we have to go to the control room as well?” Q yawned drowsily. He hadn't slept in so long. He tried to snap his drowsy-self back into focus. The last thing he needed was to be distracted on an important mission like this one.
“
There is another option,
” Jade said. “
I could get the missiles to fire at me and then misdirect them towards the tower. All I have to do it get the missiles to follow me and then head for the tower.
”
“But then how are you planning to get out of the line of fire?” Burke asked.
“
I think I’ve got that figured out,
” Jade said.
“And if something goes wrong I could always use my shield to protect him,” Q said.
“Fine then. Jade can go ahead with that plan,” Burke said. “But right now we need to work on getting to the top of the tower.”
Jade lowered his wings to the ground, “
I thought you’d never ask.
”
Q and Burke got on his back. If they managed to pull this mission off then they would’ve accomplished everything they needed to do, and that meant they could go back home.
Jade stretched out his wings and flapped them rapidly, creating a gust of wind that expanded in a circle. In seconds they were in the sky, with Jade cutting through the air as they sped towards the tower of pure white.
The home of the White Knights.
This was definitely not a drill.
***
Chris gaped at the multitude of cadets that entered the room.
“We would like you to meet our Commander,” the squad leader said.
“I’m in the organization, cadet,” Trisha walked to the door authoritatively. “You’ve made a huge-”
The cadet knocked her to the floor, no questions asked. “Just how much of that conversation do you think we didn't hear?” he asked.
Chris looked around. Everyone was tense. Even Carlos couldn’t keep himself calm, which was saying a lot.
“Come along,” the man said and the cadets swarmed around them, cuffing everyone with energy bonds. They pushed them into the corridor and forced them to start walking forward.
“Where are they taking us?” Kai asked.
“Probably some sort of holding cell,” Carlos said. “These ships usually have a prison like facility. They’ll secure us in there.”
“What about this Commander who wanted to meet us?”
“He’ll probably come see us in there.”
Just as Carlos had predicted, the men took them to their prison facility. Several cells were lined up against the walls on either side, their walls completely transparent yet tensile. A single white cot was the only furnishing inside each one.
One of the cadets typed into a panel on the wall. A few of the cells hissed and their front walls collapsed to the ground. The men unlocked everyone’s energy bonds and pushed them inside individual cells. The collapsed walls restructured themselves and secured everyone inside. The cadets checked the facility one last time and headed out, leaving behind an air of silence among everyone.
Chris sat still on her bed. She didn't bother formulating some sort of plan. It wasn't like they were going to get out anytime soon. These were high tech cells, nearly impossible to destroy.
She looked around her. Carlos was in the cell opposite to her. To her left Lisara lay down on her bed and to her right an energetic Trisha paced around her cell in deep thought.
Trisha turned and noticed Chris. Chris could see her mouth moving but she couldn't hear a word of what she was saying.
What in the world is going on?
she wondered. Her mind worked hard to connect the dots, the answer not that hard for her to get.
The walls are soundproof,
she realized. They were blocking out any noise from entering or exiting the cells. That meant there was no way they could communicate with each other.
Chris had initially found it odd that they had all been put in different cells but now it made complete sense. This way they wouldn't be able to talk to each other. She looked at the cells on the other side. Carlos faced the cell to his right. His hands seemed to be moving vigorously, changing from one position to another with immense precision.
Sign language?
Chris thought. That was a brilliant idea! Carlos soon turned to Chris and moved his hands around in different positions. Each sign was a letter. Chris strung up the different letters he mimed to get what he was trying to say.
“
What should we do?
” he asked her.
Chris thought for a while. The cells were indestructible. Using force to break through them would be impossible.
“
Not sure,
” she tried forming the letters with her hands.
He nodded his head after she finished her mime and signed to Trisha. Chris didn’t try to read him and instead looked around at the other cells. Juliana, contrary to the situation, was sleeping peacefully in the cell next to Carlos. On the opposite side was Kai, who on the other hand, sat quietly with his eyes closed.
Chris looked at the walls of her cell and wrapped her arms around her legs. What could they do now? She wished Q were here. He would have taken them out in a flash. If he had been here, Chris was sure they would never even be in the cells in the first place. He would probably have finished the enemy off before they had the chance to say ‘Attack!’
He’s not here now,
she thought.
Think. How can you get out of here?
She looked at the walls around her cell. They were transparent and several feet thick.
Soundproof
, she reminded herself. She knew how a soundproof system worked. The walls would have either a dampening agent to absorb the sound completely or-
They would use a rigid wall,
she thought. A rigid wall would completely reflect any noise inside it and prevent it from seeping out. If the soundproof system inside the cell used a rigid wall then the cell wasn't completely indestructible. If a good amount of strength was put on a small enough section then she could crack a little, and a crack could always be made larger.
She walked to the wall and felt it with her fingers. She pulled her arm back and was about to punch into the wall when she saw the color of the wall change into a deep black, the shade flowing through like a picture was being painted. She punched hard into the wall but couldn't even make a tiny scratch. She felt the walls again to see if they had changed.
They had.
And she had no clue why. The rigidity no longer existed. It was a little softer than before, and that really hurt her chances. But even that wasn't her biggest problem. The dark walls had blocked out any sort of light from entering her cell. That meant she couldn’t communicate with anyone else even through sign language.
And then it got worse.
A hissing sound came from inside her cell and a strong smell hit the air.
Gas
, she panicked.
A piercing pain struck her chest. Her vision stuttered and warped. The dark walls sucked her in, trying to consume her very being. She felt suffocated and alone. A void opened up in the floor and skeletal hands reached out from the void and grasped at her ankles. She backed up against the walls but she couldn't hold out for long.
The hands grabbed her legs and dragged her into the void. She screamed in terror and clawed at the floor, desperately trying to get some sort of traction. The skeletal hands kept increasing in number. She finally lost her grip and fell inside.
Chris floated about aimlessly. She couldn't see anything in the frightening darkness. She could hear nothing but the screams of horror that escaped her lips.
She was alone. Isolated. Afraid. She wrapped her arms around her knees, curling up into a ball. She buried her face inside her arms and let the darkness consume her.
***
Taylor’s eyes stared at the feed on a screen. There was no mistaking it. The guy on the feed was Q. She felt a mix of emotions. She was relieved that nothing had happened to him, but worried that Albion was threatening to kill him.
Albion made a gesture in the air and the feed changed into an image. A tall white tower rose to the sky, surrounded by a large circular wall of the same color.
“He is trying to breach the stronghold of the White Knights in the Anti-verse. A very poor decision to make.”
“You’re not very bright are you,” Taylor chuckled.
Albion’s eyes widened. He stepped back in surprise.
“You think you can kill him?” she scoffed. “Do you even know who you’re dealing with?” She needed to stall for time and she might as well take down Albion’s confidence by a peg while she was at it.
Albion on the other hand, laughed madly, “Your stupidity is very amusing,” he smiled.
“Fine, I’ll play your little game,” she held her hands up. “You said you would let him go if I did something for you. What do you want me to do?”
“Ah, yes. Tobias?” he called out.
The White Knight came with a small box in his hand. He opened it and knelt as he handed it over to Albion. Taylor glanced at the contents. A syringe filled with purple liquid lay in the red velvet padding on the box. Taylor’s confidence plummeted. She didn't like the look of what was going on here.
“This is a little something that our lab conjured up,” Albion smirked. “We call it F.E.A.R - Forgoing Eternal Arch Reign.”
She looked at him quizzically. She had no clue what that meant.
He sighed, “In simple terms, I am going to take over your mind.”
She took a step back.
Is this what he wanted me to do?
she thought. Her heart beat faster. Her eyes darted around the room, desperately trying to find a route to escape.
Albion’s smirk widened, “The best part is that when I’m controlling your body, your mind will be trapped in a cage of its own.” He walked around Taylor in a circle, “The serum can induce fear in those who are injected with it. It numbs the part of your brain that senses things like sight and sound. Then it stimulates the Amygdala, which is responsible for triggering fear.”
He stopped in his tracks and looked at Taylor’s horrified expression, “Imagine what it would feel like if you faced all your fears all the time. If you were trapped in a cage filled with fears and you could never escape back to reality,” his voice dragged off into a deathly whisper.
Taylor’s hands trembled. Her mind was filled with pure fear. She tried to calm herself but her body was going crazy. But in all this craziness she stalled to give her time to try to escape.
“Very nice,” she tried to sound as confident as possible. “But what if my mind is strong enough to break through to reality?”
“I am not a fool, Dark Knight, I know when one wants to stall for time. Guards! hold her!” He yelled out.
Two men held down a struggling Taylor as Albion took out the syringe. Her whole body fought with vigor, but the fear cut through her and all she could do was tremble. Her eyes were wide with horror, every part of her body reacting to the thought of having the serum injected. She watched helplessly as Albion walked towards her, carrying in his hands what might potentially be her death.
He pointed the needle above the skin of her neck. “Tobias. The screen,” he said.
Tobias brought a small glass panel in front of Taylor. It turned it on, and a live feed appeared on the screen. Q rode on the griffin, a man in a white coat sitting right behind him. Though the screen was right next to them it took them a second to notice the feed.
“What’s that?” the man asked.
Taylor realized that this wasn't just a live feed, it was a communication line as well. She could actually talk to Q now. She opened her mouth but only silence came out. Her mind was far too unstable for her to even talk to Q.
“Taylor!” Q yelled out.
“Yes, Wielder of Light,” Albion faced Q.
“What are you doing to her!” he lashed out, his face red with anger.
“I will need you to move away from the tower. Otherwise I will be forced to use the F.E.A.R serum on her,” he smiled.
“F.E.A.R?!” the man beside Q exclaimed. “You can't use that, her mind will go insane!”
“Yes,” Albion said coolly. “So unless you do as I say, you’re going to cause the Dark Knight’s demise.”
Q glared at the screen.
“The game is over, Wielder of Light,” the White Knight King said.
But Q’s anger only seemed to grow. In an instant he hit the screen with a bolt of lightning and cut it off immediately.
“What’s going on?” Albion asked nervously. “Get it back online.”
Tobias desperately worked on the controls of the glass panel and brought up the feed again. The image became clearer. The griffin flew through the air with the man in the white coat riding on it, but that was it, there wasn't anyone else in the picture.
“Where is the boy?” Albion growled.
“I don't know, sire,” Tobias fidgeted. I’ll try checking the cameras we have around the tower.” He flipped through a bunch of different feeds but not a single one showed any sign of Q.
“The boy must have gone inside the tower even after our warning,” Albion seemed furious. “He does not value the girl’s life like we thought.”
Taylor’s heart skipped a beat. She felt like a knife had pierced right through her. Had Q just left her to die? Tears formed in her eyes. Her heart filled with grief. She couldn't accept that Q had abandoned her. She couldn't accept that the boy she had taken care of for so long had left her alone when she needed him the most.
“The nerve of these upstart children,” Albion muttered. He turned towards Taylor with a look of pure evil, “I might as well try this serum out,” he grinned and scraped the sharp needle on her skin.
Taylor thrashed about, desperately trying to get away from the guards, but Albion held her to the table and pierced the needle into her neck. She screamed wildly as pain tore into her. Tears rushed down her horrified face as she waited for the serum to be injected into her.
A huge explosion hit the room hard, knocking everyone to the floor. The walls shattered, the floor cracked and the lights went off, causing a dim blue emergency light to turn on and light up the room. A cloud of smoke circled around the air like a miniature tornado, and a dark silhouette lay within. It threw its hands up into the air, and the smoke cleared away.
“YOU WILL LEAVE HER ALONE.”
***
Q stared at a damaged, white drone flying towards the tower. That thing had just broadcasted to him the worst video he had ever seen. He still couldn't believe what he had just been told. His heart ached to see Taylor’s terrified face, to see her in one of her worst moments. No one could hurt Taylor like that. No one.
Burke had told Q the severity of the situation. If Taylor were injected with F.E.A.R she would be lost forever. Her consciousness would be locked away deep inside her mind, facing a simulation of her worst fears. Her body on the other hand would become a robot that would listen to Albion’s command and do as he willed.
“
You must go, Q,
” Jade said. “
We do not have any time. Create a portal and leave. I and Burke will take care of everything else.
”
Q didn't hesitate for a second. All he could think about was saving Taylor from the clutches of Albion. He closed his eyes and held his hands out. A circle of gentle wind expanded from him and a purple portal emerged.
“I’ll be back. Don't worry,” Q said. He jumped off Jade and into the portal. He was going to go save Taylor. And no one was going to stop him.
***
Burke watched as the purple portal closed with a bright white flash.
He turned to Jade, “So now we have to do everything?” he asked.
“
I believe not,
” the griffin said. “
You will have to do everything. I will have to get the missiles to follow me and attack the tower.
”
“Maybe we should get reinforcements,” Burke said.
“
We do not have the time. The white knights know we’re here. We must secure the Lambda Driver and destroy the tower as soon as possible.
”
“Wait. I don't even know where the Lambda Driver is!” Burke said. “He never told us.”
“
Floor 146.
”
Burke looked at him quizzically.
“
Good thing I read his mind huh?
” Jade said cheerfully.
“Yeah,” Burke couldn't help laughing.
Jade didn't waste another second and headed to the top of the tower. “
I’ll let you down on the topmost floor,
” he said.
“That won't be necessary,” he said and jumped off. “
Ethosien!
” he yelled out.
A white battle armor emerged around him. The suit’s fingers were long and sharp, like they could slice through anything. His dark purple visor contrasted well with armor’s white color. A booster, as large as his arm, was fixed to the back of his suit, and acted as his propulsion system. This suit was deadly and sinister, even if he said so himself.
He activated the booster and pushed himself to the wall. His mind was completely focused. He needed to stop at the exact right moment else he would head into the wrong floor.
And because he needed to focus immensely, Burke’s mind did the opposite and realized he hadn't told Q about his suit. But that was only because this one wasn’t a completely functional one. Burke knew the risk he was taking with activating this new suit. He hadn't completed its startup tests yet, so he took a leap of faith in believing he could come out of this unscathed.
The 146th floor approached him at a steady pace. He let his fingers sink into the walls to help him slow down. Just as he was about to reach the floor, he pushed himself away from the walls and activated the booster, surging through the air and crashing into the 146th floor.
He shook off the blow, “Boy, that could have gone better,” he said and looked around. The lighting in the room was pretty dim and there seemed to be no one around. He had expected an alarm to sound as soon as he broke in but no, that wasn't the case here. Instead, he heard the sound of metal scraping metal coming from all around him. He looked around. The whole floor was being closed off. Metal shutters extended all around the walls and blocked them off.
“
You will have a limited amount of time before I direct the missiles to the tower,
” Jade said. This telepathy thing was really convenient for long distance conversations.
“
Gotcha,
” Burke said and turned around. He needed to find out where the Lambda Driver was. He followed the curved corridor, trying to find some sort of clue as to where the treasured item was, but the more ground he covered, the less confident he was about the Lambda Driver being on this floor. Maybe the Driver wasn't even on this floor. Maybe it wasn't even in this building.
Could Q have gotten it wrong?
he wondered. Burke shook his head. He was just overthinking. It didn’t hurt to have a second go at scanning the area though.
“Activate heat scan,” he said.
A purple dialog box glowed on the corner of his visor, “
Beginning scan,
” it said. A few seconds later, an image formed. Splashes of red, orange and pink painted an overall green canvas.
“Run gamma radiation filters,” he said. The image changed again. This time a small dot of bright blue shone bright and strong.
Found you
, he thought.
He locked onto the location and ran as fast as he could. It was in the room at the end of the corridor. Now that Burke had almost found the Lambda Driver he started to work on an escape plan. First thing he did was scan the whole tower. He would be able to use the heat signature to figure out the positions of White Knights all throughout the tower. The scanner beeped to signal a successful scan and his visor displayed the image.
Burke let out a small yelp. His heart was thumping loudly. His mind was already making a connection from the data. The whole building was empty. Not a single living thing was inside it.
He thought it very odd, but the problem with scanning large places was there was a large chance for errors. Maybe there were people on the lower floors than his scanner hadn’t picked up properly. He didn’t worry about it too much and focused on getting back his stolen invention. He ran to the end of the corridor and threw the door open.
The Lambda Driver stood there, a box, about the size of a crate, made out of sleek black metal. Well, it was supposed to be black.
This one wasn’t. It was glowing a bright red, and that could only mean one thing. The Lambda Driver was overloading. It had been fed with too much energy.
A dialog box popped up on his visor. “
Warning.
” it said. The heat levels were too high for him to survive here for too long. But that wasn’t the biggest threat.