Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 2

 

Arx led a small team of ATLAS members out into the tomato fields in Grainger County, Tennessee.

“Okay, I want these fields picked as fast as possible. You were briefed on what a ripe tomato looks like; pick them and leave the green ones for later. Go!” Arx gestured toward the field.

This was the speed team, all fast morphonic people. They zoomed in a great blur as they quickly plucked the ripe berries from the manicured vines.

His wrist comm beeped, and he spoke into it, “What is it?”

A man’s voice said, “Sir, we’ve cleared all the peaches from the trees in Georgia, boxed and ready to move them to the food lines.”

“Good. Take your team to the HQ in Atlanta and find out where you can help harvest next. We need food on the tables.”

“At once, Agent Rodin out.” The comm beeped off.

A BADGE student assigned to Arx for this mission ran up to him. “Mr. Arx! They found us!”

Arx looked back and groaned. “Crap. I don’t need this.” He clicked an emergency signal on his comm.

“Why are you trying to run from them?” The girl asked.

Arx said, “I have an unpleasant history, one that might make people uncomfortable. I’m working in the relief efforts in the field for a reason. I don’t want to be on the news.” Two WVLT news vans stopped near them.

The student said, “People remember who you were, the famous and beloved movie star. You were the biggest star in the virtual world. I went to all your movies.”

“That wasn’t real. It was fake. Happy hormones hyped people up, so Drocha’s system could then abuse them. Now, unfortunately, they know my face.” He watched the Knoxville news team exiting a van on the distant dirt road that ran along the side of the fields. “When I lost my silver skin and most of my memory, I thought the world would forget me, or bury the evil villain Arx I had become. The new Arx, head of ATLAS, was unknown. But, that damn virtual world turned me back into a celebrity, and now the world knows me again. Only the reality of my past is also here, and I don’t want our work to be ruined by that. So, I don’t want to deal with the media.”

A purple flash of light became Strange Quark, who was drinking a wild-colored mixed drink. “You rang?” He stated with a comical hint in his voice.

Arx said, “Media blitz.” He pointed to the approaching news team.

“Gotcha.”

“Wait,” Arx held up his hand. “You,” he pointed to the student. “Tell the news nothing about me, or anything about BADGE’s work with the spheres. You know nothing. If they ask about ATLAS stuff, tell them we are hard at work with relief. That is it. Good luck.”

“Wait, you want me to talk to the media? I’m a student.”

“Consider it training.” Quark said and snapped his fingers. He and Arx vanished in a flash of light.

***

Nova waited while Justin spoke to Chase and Gar about what they were doing. Justin, speaking through the monitor in Nova’s private room, said.

“We’ve searched seven Renn Tech facility locations, including a factory that manufactured the Renn

Wear. We haven’t found the source of the signal. EB has been jumping around, helping Arx and the relief teams. However, he has also been getting me past some blockades around the Renn Tech facilities so we don’t raise any alarms. Right now, he is.... I don’t know. But he’ll be...”

EB zipped up to the side of Justin and jumped up and down so he would appear every other second in the wrist comm. “Hi..Buddy...just...looking...around...for...security...cameras.”

Chase said, “What’s going on? What signal? We have every BADGE person available scanning for any evidence of Drocha.”

Nova said, “I know, and I hope we turn up some help there. But I also know my enemy. Drocha is not someone to be underestimated. He is Moriarty, a master tactician and schemer. His Renn Wear plan confounded us until he put it into motion. He blatantly set his spheres right in front of us, knowing we could never crack them until it was too late, which was correct. His Renn Wear was insidious. We only figured out they were dangerous moments before they nearly destroyed the world. Eight billion people are recovering from what could have been a mass extinction event, and we only skimmed success out of this because of a computer anomaly caused by Alex and Krystal, and we lost them in the process of saving this world.”

“What are you saying?” Gar asked.

Nova said, “I need BADGE working like it would in any emergency case. I need you, the robots, every hero, every student, every agent all working to find Drocha, solve the spheres, and help the suffering people. I want you looking for answers with your last breath. At the same time, I’ll be here, looking into a clue that might lead us to the right answer.”

Chase said, “You want us wasting our time?”

“No. Your work will produce results. Helping people is necessary, and searching for answers might provide aid in my job. But I know Drocha has eyes and ears in our operation. Not in infiltration... at least I hope every member of this team is trustworthy. But he could hack into our system and learn a terrifying amount about us to recreate it. From that simulation, he garnered more information. You unwittingly let him in on how we operate, what we use, and our methods. There isn’t an inch of BADGE he didn’t see firsthand... except this room.” Nova held out his arms.

Chase said, “I’ve never been here before.”

“I have,” Gar said.

Nova nodded. “Of the people in my life, only Gar, EB, Santa, and Strange Quark have ever been in here. And Quark got in without my approval. That means the simulation that harvested your thoughts had nothing to work with. This room was a void in his world. It simply didn’t exist. As far as Drocha is concerned, I have walked outside of reality.”

Gar asked, “What is the purpose of this?”

“This room is my private place to rest and remember the long life I have lived. It is my most private home. These items have traveled with me for centuries, reminding me that what I have done has meant something to this world. And, this room also contains the most sophisticated, secure communication system known to exist, thanks to EB and Santa’s help.”

EB grabbed Justin’s wrist and yanked it down so he could talk without jumping. “Yeah, the Oracle of Tech helped create this and the scanner we’re using. It’s so cool, the Oracle even used some Vexillian tech with my help. He said I was smart for a bunny.... which might have been an insult, now that I think about it. Whatever. The computer is so complicated and different that a human computer system could never hack it, and Legion NEEEEEEVER got through our codes. So, nasty old Drocha won’t even know what he’s missing.”

Nova said, “From here, I’m leading a search.”

Gar asked, “For what?”

Nova touched the screen, and strange symbols appeared that he seemed to be typing into. After a moment, a little window opened, with a buzzing sound coming out. “This is a distress signal from ancient legion tech. Someone is using Legion tech to call for help, and they are doing it from Earth.”

“Drocha?” Chase asked.

Nova nodded. “I don’t know what he has planned. But, he is using an old Legion signal to call for aid in it. We have to find him and shut that signal off, ending his threat before he makes his next move.”

Chase said, “So, what do you need us to do? I can help look for the signal. More people out there...”

“Will alert Drocha to our secret plan.” Nova said, “No, Gar will take charge and lead the relief efforts and the official BADGE search for Drocha and answers about the Spheres. Outside of this room, you have never heard of this signal or that Justin and EB are working directly for me.”

“I’m in charge?” Gar pointed at himself.

“Yes, you.”

“What about me?” Chase asked.

Nova slowly picked up an antique jingle bell. “There is only one other general on this world who has led armies in combat against Legion. We must prepare for the possible invasion of a new Legion, if that is what Drocha has planned. I need you to go to your father, Santa Claus. We need his help.”

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Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 1

 

Torrik held a hand out, casting a spell that encapsulated himself with a special barrier. The bitter winds of this land cut around him; inside the sphere, he was warm. In every direction he looked, there was ice and dark skies. Antarctica had healed quickly after the battle with Lady Echidna, though it was merely layers of snow and ice that covered the scars the conflict had left.

In the distance was a glowing portal with strange vines blocking it. This was the fissure between their worlds. The only known doorway that breached this world with the magical world. The creatures within the portal, nearest it, were dangerous. Even worse, those on this side might gain access to powers not allowed in the human world for thousands of years. Torrik had cast a special spell creating these vines to block access. Very few could hope to get through them, and even if they survived the dangerous vines, the creatures on the other side would attack.

“I am ready.” Torrik whispered these words, a hint of sorrow in his voice. He touched the vines, and they slowly slithered away, revealing a clear path home.

Turning once back, looking where he had come, he could see the world long thought lost to his kind. In the skies, as tiny dots at this distance, were the Ren Spheres. The world trembled in their presence still, unable to understand where to go next.

“I wish I could have done more to protect you. But this problem is bigger than one Satyr.” Torrik stepped through the portal, the vines returning to block it the instant his second hoof passed by.

***

A young agent of BADGE walked down to the main floor of operations and handed a computer tablet to Gar. “Sir, the hourly report on the spheres. No change.”

“Thanks.” Gar said, “Take command. I will bring this to Director Nova.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gar left the operations center and sped down the lift to the main floor. In the mess hall, there were students sitting and chatting as they ate their lunches. Exhaustion was evident on their faces. No one has fully recovered from the experience in the virtual world; they haven’t had the time.

Walking through the station, Gar entered another lift and journeyed up to the training level. Various training rooms and theaters filled this corridor. Here, students and heroes could put their skills to the strictest tests; they could also examine tactics and previous performances on the movie theater screens. Right now, all the training robots were gone, sent down to join the others in the relief efforts across the planet.

Gar stopped at a door and pressed a button. It opened to reveal the inside of the largest movie theater on the station. A theater that could seat up to four hundred had only one occupant.

Gar walked in and sat down next to Chase, his eyes on the screen. International News Network, or INN, was relaying the news of the day.

The news anchor spoke as visuals appeared to punctuate the stories.

“Relief efforts continue across the planet. At this time, the death toll from the Renn Wear incident has increased to fourteen hundred. Among them are heart attacks, nutritional issues, and other health conditions not addressed while inside the virtual world. Thanks to massive efforts from BADGE, twenty thousand medical robots have been quickly assembled in the fifteen robotic plants and sent out to tend to the population. Even after a month of recovery, the World Health Organization still designates the entire planet a health crisis. -

“Pockets of unaffected people have been found across the planet. Most are in secluded locations. However, some superheroes could protect tiny portions of the population during the Renn Wear incident. Those people have stepped out to help and provide aid in our time of need.-

“The World Health Organization still advises people to be cautious of consuming any food that was left out during the incident. Canned, jarred, and frozen foods are preferred. All grocery stores have cleared produce and outdated food from shelves. Restocking is taking time, which is creating a food crisis planetwide. Rationing will go into effect in many highly populated areas until the food situation levels off.-

“Finally, the United Nations has issued a warning to all nations to be careful. Paranoia is high at this time with the Renn Sphere’s still in the skies and no sign of an answer to removing them. Nations across the world have armed their defenses and issued over ten thousand threats against Renn Tech and Drocha, warning that they will defend this planet. BADGE has not commented on this rise in defenses at this time, but they too have massed defenses in case of further incident.”

Chase turned the sound off while the news went to the weather.

“You have the hourly report?” Chase asked with weary in her voice.

Gar nodded and handed the computer tablet to her. “Nothing’s changed.”

“Good... well, not good. I want this to end. It’s like Drocha is purposefully driving us crazy by doing nothing. Those damn spheres hover over this planet like bombs waiting to destroy us. Drocha has vanished, and Renn Technology is utterly dead. It feels like we won, but yet our enemy is just waiting to pounce.” She was venting, and it wasn’t just because of the lack of information about Drocha or the spheres.

Gar quietly asked, “Where is he?”

Chase let out an irritated sigh. “In his quarters, with the baby.”

“We should go see him,” Gar said.

“I agree. He’s taking this harder than I expected. We need him active, not babysitting.” She got up, pressed a control button on her chair that turned off the screen, and marched right past Gar toward the exit.

Gar followed her.

Stepping into another elevator, Chase pressed her comm unit against the control panel and said, “Authorization, Chase, Beta Pi Alpha.”

BEEP! The computer needed Gar to speak.

“Oh, right. Authorization, Gargoyle, Seven Delta Pi.”

The lift zoomed away toward a top-secret, highly secure location. Very few people on this station even knew this existed. Those that did could show no one else without Nova’s personal permission.

When the lift stopped, the doors split open right into one person’s private quarters. Loud music met them at the door. A massive chorus of voices accompanied symphonic sounds.

Chase walked into the room with Gar. The room was the largest quarters on the station. Artifacts littered the walls and shelves, many of which would give archaeologists euphoric delight just to be near. Weapons and stone tablets, sculptures and tapestries. Each one depicted an ancient warrior who had lived through them all. This was the life and times of the greatest hero Earth has ever had.

That hero walked around the room, rocking softly to the music as a baby slept in his arms.

“Director?” Chase announced as loud as she could over the music.

Nova looked up and then said, “Computer, pause playback.”

The symphony stopped abruptly. Chase asked, “Was that the Carmina Burana?”

Nova smiled at the sleeping baby. “Krystal loved that piece of music. The first time she and I did anything together outside of work was to go to a performance of this in London. She played it often while pregnant, and it seems to calm the baby down.”

Chase snorted out a chuckle. “Unusual bit of music to lull a baby to sleep.”

“Whatever works. I’ll do anything to remind this baby of her parents.” Nova walked over to a crib in the corner and slowly lowered the sleeping child down onto what looked like pelts. Nova mused, “Lief Erikson’s crib, a gift from his mother after I taught him to swim as a little boy.”

Chase said, “Sir, I know you’re taking the loss of Alex and Krystal hard, but we need you. The spheres are still out there and...”

“I’m not standing around doing nothing.” Nova calmly interrupted her.

“All you do is pay attention to that baby. You haven’t even been to a single briefing. EB and Justin are planet-side helping with relief efforts; Arx, Gar, Quark, and I are doing our best to keep things moving. You don’t know what is happening.” Chase held back the anger in her response out of respect.

Nova smiled at her as he walked across the room. “I know. The spheres are still out there, unchanged. The world is arming itself in case Drocha shows up. Drocha is oddly absent. And the recovery efforts are moving forward. And we still don’t know what Drocha needed in making that AI algorithm with human minds. Did I miss anything?”

Chase said, “That’s about it. But... how?”

Nova moved aside an ancient Sumerian shield, revealing a high-definition display. He put in a code, and a complicated encoded signal unscrambled itself. Finally, Justin’s face came through clearly. “Time for another update?” Justin asked.

Nova said, “A brief repeat of our early meeting from this morning. I think it’s about time we bring Chase and Gar in on what we’ve been up to.”

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