Krystal Fae typed in the special comm code for her link to Nova. Pressing it up to her ear, she paced.
“Why isn’t he answering?” Torrik asked.
Alex said, “This links to a computer in his office. Maybe he’s not in there. The signal is going through.”
Krystal said, “You two, keep trying to get that to do more. We have to get it apart as soon as possible.”
“On it.” Alex flipped through an old spell book he had brought with him from Krystal’s personal library while Torrik attempted to get a vine to grow through the crack into the machine.
Nova’s voice came through finally, “Krystal? I told you not to contact me. I would contact you.”
“Sorry. But we finally have something.”
The feed cut off.
“What the?” Krystal looked at her comm.
It came back on. Nova said, “There, I reversed the signal. Hopefully, your contact didn’t raise any alarms. Now, what do you have?”
“See for yourself.” She showed him the sphere.
“It’s open?”
“Not quite. It split and some lights are flashing, but we can’t get it to budge any further. And, even with the split, our sensors and spells still can’t see inside the damn thing.”
“Keep working. I can’t send any help. We still have to keep your work under the radar.”
“We will do all we can.”
“That’s all I ask. Nova out.”
***
Arx walked in with Chase, both looking over tablets. EB hopped around Nova while Gar looked at the world map with a curious frown.
Chase said, “We’ve been pouring over the missing persons reports around the inert spheres. Sadly, with them being in heavily populated areas, there are a lot of missing persons to look at.”
“Any morphonic ones?” Nova asked.
“A few that registered on the system, but they were weak and didn’t even require a trip to BADGE.” Arx said.
Chase handed over her tablet. “There is one. And I don’t know how we have missed him all this time.”
Nova looked at the image of David Millar. “He was with us during the Legion robot attack.”
Chase said, “Yes, but he elected to have his powers suppressed and wanted to go back to a normal life.”
“He’s missing? How did we not know this? Our people are supposed to be paying attention to the suppression lists carefully.”
Chase said, “His neighbors reported him as missing for several days. But we investigated the reports and our BADGE people monitored him for months.”
“Then... he’s not missing?”
Chase said, “He was missing, which is what alerted our search. I have signaled the BADGE office nearest him to send out an agent and make sure he’s fine.”
“Why? They already know he’s fine if they’ve been checking in on him.”
Chase pointed at the reports. “Thing is, the name on the filings for that report is from an agent who doesn’t know anything about checking in on Mr. Millar, and our attempts to contact David have come back silent.”
“Find him.”
“We’re doing just that.”
EB said, “Hey, Gar, whatcha looking at?”
Gar, who had been silently staring at the screen for a long time, said, “This is strange.”
Nova asked, “What is strange?”
Gar said, “The numbers. I recognize these numbers.” He pointed at the bottom of the screen.
Nova looked at the readings from the morphonic sensors. “Those are just the saturation levels of the morphons. Why do you recognize them?”
Gar said, “When I was first awakened, when Legion arrived and used those portals to seed the world with the morphons, my father kept an eye on the numbers since we lived near a portal. These are those numbers.”
Nova’s face drained of color as he looked at it. “Why didn’t I see it before? Gar’s right. These morphon levels are almost exactly what they were when Legion first saturated our atmosphere for their arrival.”
Arx said, “But BADGE defeated Legion years ago. So, this is just a coincidence... right?”
Nova said, “After all my years on this world, I know that there is little genuine coincidence in matters this important.”
Arx asked, “Remind me, why did Legion give us morphons? Did they want to turn humans into superheroes?”
EB said, “No. Legion powers their bodies with morphons. They breathe them in to fuel their weapons, armor, and powers. If the atmosphere is full of morphons, then Legion becomes endlessly powered. They didn’t intend on giving humans powers. That was a side effect that gave this world a fighting chance. On my world, the morphons only poisoned our air. It made our magic harder to cast... but we still kicked them off our planet and nearly beat them.”
“What can this mean?” Gar asked, fear in his voice.
Nova looked at the screen with deep scrutiny. A million thoughts rolled around his ancient brain. He whispered, “Morphons power the spheres, morphons powered the members of legion... wait... if morphons are the power source of ren tech spheres, then....” He pointed back at one of the robots, “92628, I want the morphon sensors turned up to the highest possible resolution. I want to see them at the most miniscule level possible.”
The robot began programming the computer.
Chase asked, “What are you thinking, Director?”
The robot announced, “Running refined scan. Stand by.”
They watched as the map filled the screen again, and this time, several dozen lines crisscrossed it repeatedly.
Nova said, “If ren tech is using morphons to power their spheres, then they might have incorporated them into other elements of their tech.”
The map lit up with millions of tiny red dots. 92628 announced, “Scan complete, six billion detected anomalies.”
“Six billion!” Arx gasped.
Nova said, “Six billion. EB, how many Ren Wear glasses have you sold or given away as of today?”
EB softly said, “My marketing teams tell me that Ren Tech crossed six billion last night, at four A.M.”
“Why would they do this?” Arx asked.
Nova said, “Simple. They have put morphonic generators on the face of nearly every human alive. More than just internet and phone calls connect the glasses and spheres. We have a surge in morphons, a surge in heroes, both of which we had years ago when Legion first seeded this world. Now, someone is doing it again, and they have done it right under my nose. If they opened portals or sent some dark legion tech, we would have known. But, this is genius.”
Chase asked, “Why do this? Legion filled our atmosphere with morphons for when they arrived. Legion is gone. What purpose would anyone have for doing this?”
“I don’t know. But, I will find out. This will not go unchecked. We have to find a reason to investigate them, something to convince this world that we are doing this for the right reason.”
“Good luck, these guys are totally on top of the PR game,” EB said.
“We will find their weakness.”
***
Dr. Chorad sat at his desk in his office. The large windows and dim lights bathed the opulent white office in darkness from the night sky. The glow of several computer screens flickered in his eyes.
On one screen, he watched the ongoing conversation in the BADGE operations center. The view was distant, like a fly on the wall far away, but he could hear everything.
“They’re getting close. Too bad, really, I was enjoying toying with them.” Sitting back, he let out a tired sigh. “I guess step two will have to be completed sooner than later.” He pressed a button on his desk. “Mark! I want to see you now. Bring me the Ren Wear numbers.”
“Which ones, sir?”
“All of them.”
“On it.”
Chorad casually looked over at another screen, which was a perfect view of Alex, Krystal, and Torrik working diligently around the sphere in Christchurch. “I need her. She is perfect for the role. I can’t wait any longer.”
A man walked into his office with a computer tablet in one hand and Ren Wear on his face. “Sir, the numbers are spectacular, as predicted.”
“How many are out there?”
The excited geek looked over his numbers, “Six billion, nine hundred thousand, seven hundred... give or take fifty.”
Chorad smiled with his shining teeth glinting in the dim light, “Good, you all have done so well. This is our most successful project yet.”
“I was wondering, if you don’t mind me asking...”
“Ask away.”
Mark asked. “I’ve looked over the numbers. Now I’m not an accountant or in marketing, but it seems we have lost trillions on this project. How are going to make that back?”
“Let me worry about that. Trust me, I will see a tidy profit in time.”
“I don’t see how...”
Chorad stood up and walked around the desk. “Mark, Mark, Mark, I have led this company into being the most important tech company in history. I know how to make this work. And, to thank everyone for their amazing work and diligence, I’m going to ask you to throw the biggest, most lavish party you can. Spare no expense, here use my personal company credit card. Go wild.” He handed Mark a gold credit card.
“Really, when?”
“Tomorrow, all day. Invite all employees. Let them know they will all receive a special bonus at the end of the day. Their reward is going to be more than they can imagine. If anyone isn’t present, they won’t receive the reward, so make sure they all are here.”
“Yes, sir!” Mark dashed out the door.
Chorad casually said, “Computer.”
DING “Yes, Doctor Chorad?”
“Activate the accelerated phase two of the Legion Plan. Start with Christchurch, New Zealand.”
“Activation commencing.”
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