Chapter 16 – Resourcefulness

            The three were greeted by Roger, the bartender, as they entered back into the elevator.

            “Back to the top then?” He asked, his hand hesitating over the floor selection buttons.

            “Please. We need to pay our dear friend Jomin a visit.” Xri was standing fully erect; his shoulders raised, which casted his coat down his back like a cape. Reaching back, he grabbed his hat and pulled it back over his head, shrouding his face from the light. The elevator began to make its slow ascension.

            “Hey Levitas, hold this for a sec?” Alos said, handing him the lunch pail box. Levitas cooperatively grabbed it, allowing Alos to use his only hand to pull down his goggles, and then remove his Orb. “Thanks, let me find that image for you.”

            Alos booted up his Orb.

            Immediately, the new messages icon began flashing violently, displaying the number sixteen. In all the recent drama, he had forgotten how much he didn’t want to check his messages. He knew he should since Big Beastin' was probably spamming him in an attempt to contact him but Alos didn’t want to deal with the guilt associated with Mari. With a deep sigh, Alos decided he would check the messages when he got back but for now, he needed to focus.

            Inside the home menu, Alos selected his search application. It pulled up in a new window, displaying the search bar with the blinking input cursor. He quickly tabbed out of the window back to the home menu, this time selecting his photo storage. The selection pulled up into a new window, with all of the pictures he had ever saved being shown. At the top of the grid of pictures, at the very left of the first row, was the picture of Jomin. Alos selected the picture, and dragged it over to the search window. Inside the search bar, a miniaturized version of the picture manifested, to which Alos added the text; “Jomin Welk”. He selected the search button, when a processing animation of the boy from the Omninet boot sequence popped up. The animation played showing the boy place his hand over his brow, acting as a visor to a non-existent light source, as he scanned the page moving his head back and forth.

            Results began pouring down the page, streaming down faster than Alos could read until the window had finally fully populated. Sure enough, towards the top of the results, was an image of Jomin, rendered into a three dimensional graphic. Selecting it, Alos could move it back and forth, rotating it to look at every angle. Alos moved his cursor over to the save button, when he realized this wasn’t even for him.

            Alos pulled up the left lens of his goggles, his Orb wedged between his lower fingers as he asked,             “Where am I sending this to?”

            “My visor has a host point you can connect to, just drop it in there.” Levitas replied.

            Alos began tabbing over to check the local connections. The menu showed Alos’ Orb at the center, and then all available connection points branching from that center point. The strength of the point was indicated by the largeness of the circle encompassing the point, while the proximity was displayed by the closeness of the point to the center. The three most adjacent points were;

            XHspt

            LVHspt

            Roger’s Orb

            The first he knew was Xri’s as he had accessed it before, and obviously the last was the bartender’s, so Alos selected the second. Without being prompted for a password, Alos connected, quickly saving the file to host’s connection.

            “You know your connection is open right? Like, it isn’t even password protected at all.” Alos said as he powered down his Orb, sliding his goggles back up.

            “Is that a problem?” Levitas’ voice boomed, clearing out what sounded like a bag of pebbles from his throat.

            “Anyone with an Orb can connect up to your headset, putting you completely at their mercy. Especially if they have a BOT, and if they are high functioning at all, you're totally screwed. If they know what they’re doing, once they're in, they can do pretty much anything they want with your headset’s computer.”

            “That’s not good.” Levitas smirked.

            “You may be able to throw me a mile, but as it is, I could make your visor induce seizures from three rooms over. You should get that fixed.”

            The bartender started trying not to smile, and the normally risible Xri got his usual chuckle out of it.

            “This kid is right at home with the lot of us.” Levitas said, still pressing his lips in amusement. “You can help me set it up when we get back.”

            “Yeah no problem, I just thought you should know before one of those Slimepunk idiots does something you don’t want.” Alos replied cringing at the thought of the Slimepunk from earlier.

            “You’re alright kid.” Levitas nodded, bringing his hand up to the flaming orb on the right side of his visor. “Okay boys, I just got the image. Once we step inside I’ll begin scanning, it should be able to pick him out in a couple seconds.”

            “Are you just going to grab him?” Alos asked, scratching his head. “What about everyone else in the room? They are going to go crazy.”

            Xri reached out clutching Alos shoulder. “You wait outside.” As his words filled the room, the elevator had reached the top, the doors opening outwards, revealing the room with the fake wall.

            “Aw, cmooon! I would actually like to see you do this.” Alos said as he threw his hands up and began turning around with his gesture towards Xri. With a speed that defied even blurs, Xri planted his foot onto Alos’ rump mid turn, snapped his leg into full extension, and sent him flying out through the holographic door and out of the room. The feet below Alos fluttered about searching for footing, and as he tripped over himself, he stumbled out into the lobby.

            Suddenly, he tripped forward, telegraphing a meeting between his face and the ground. A surge of clarity shot through his mind, bringing sudden immediate awareness and his perception to a near halt. Whether it was underlying subconscious instincts, or some weird form of experience from the Omninet, Alos curled up into a ball, and rolled to his feet, completely unharmed in anyway.

            The three walked out beside him. Levitas tossed the lunch pail over to Alos as they walked by.

            “We will be right behind you.”

            Alos stood staring at the three turn towards the bar, a new bartender currently behind it. He couldn’t believe they made him leave. There was no way Jomin could get away, or at least so he thought. To him, it would have been interesting to watch them interrogate the guy.

            In the middle of the room, the Slimepunk crowd was closed up into a tight mob. Every person was being touched on all side by the others around them who trying to accomplish the same. They stood wiggling around shoving against the other wiggling members of the mob. It was like an orgy of worms. The music pulsed a dark sound, possessing the actions of the listeners into a frenzy of hedonism. Every wriggling action appeared more and more chaotic with every off beat of the drum progression.

            There was no way around the mob, it spread out thick from one side of the circular center to the other. It wasn’t exactly favorable for Alos to go through it, but he didn’t really have much of a choice if he was to leave. He then realized he didn’t have to leave; he could go off to the side and watch what he was hoping he could watch. Now was the time for decision though, as the edge of the mob had been reached.

            With a quick peak over his shoulder, Alos could see Levitas leading the other two over to the back end of the bar. In any normal place they would have stood out like red against white, but in this equally ridiculous environment, they actually blended in. People littered the bar, drinking from the plastic bottles, creating dense clouds of smoke from tightly rolled cigarettes of Hooja, a few tilting their heads back dripping eye drops into their eyes and some even sharing handfuls of pills with each other.  Levitas walked with a clear intention towards a man sitting at the end of the bar, who was none other than Jomin Welk.

            Jomin was a pudgy man, his roundness being held in tightly by the mat green full body mechanics suit he was wearing. His long curly black hair fell back as he sat facing the crowd, leaning back towards the bar. He reached over and grabbed something from his pocket, pulling his hand up to his chest, revealing a yellow colored case. It looked like a pen with a flat tip, and a red button on the bottom. The flat tip, had rubber ring around it and a spring lever that Jomin pulled back to the base. He inserted the rubber end into his nose, and then pressed the button on the bottom. The substance inside shot up into his nose and back into his nasal cavity as the man threw his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was holding his head back oblivious to the oncoming three when Alos’ left arm was suddenly grabbed, pulling him into the thickness of the mob.

            Bodies in every direction twisted rapidly throwing Alos off of them, and deeper into the crowd. The lunch pail in his left hand snagged several times on people, clonking into them with a loud rattle of the hand inside as he was launched further in. Several times people tried to grab a hold of the containing pail, but quickly lost to the flailing inertia of Alos’ wildly swinging arm. A path consequently was made for him, landing him at the eye of the storm; the center of the group. Directly above him, was the center most dome on the ceiling and on the horizon of the crowd, the bar lights could be seen stretching over on one side, with the large vent sitting over the retracing entrance doors on the opposing side.

            Alos was going to have to push back through the other side of the mob.

            He walked back to the edge of the crowd, and with a running start, leapt into it. The move turned out to be genius, as his running body used people like spring boards, Alos bouncing around through the mob like a pinball off bumpers. At the other side of the crowd, he popped out onto his feet, lunch pail in hand.

            The viscously moving swarm of Slimepunks, continued sloshing about, unbothered by the absence of Alos. He actually thought the experience was pretty fun. Jumping about, bouncing off of people, all in rhythm to the music and he was beginning to see how people could enjoy the Slimepunk scene. They may have been weird, and drug fueled to boot, but the bouncing around was fun regardless. Next time, Alos thought he too would be coming for fun.

            From within the crowd, Alos could hear a nasally scream, broken up by the impact of the screamer bouncing into members of the crowd. The scream began drawing closer to Alos, when it started being followed by the screams of members in the crowd. Then, stumbling out from within the crowd, Jomin shot out, heading straight towards Alos.

            Alos’ eyes widened, and his pupils dilated. The head of Jomin was arched over staring at his feet, trying to regain some form of footing giving him the perfect opportunity.

            Clenching the handle of his pail tightly, Alos braced himself, and with a hip snapping swing, threw the pail forward like a sling releasing its bullet. The pail collided into the man’s face, crushing his nose inwards with a splash of rose colored blood and white powder. The entirety of the man’s head changed direction, as his feet swept out from under him, leveled him out on the ground, with a head crashing slam. He lay unconscious, slightly rolled over onto his arm, his face drowning in a pool of blood.

            Alos stood, beholding his perfect shot. The pail collided directly with the center of Jomin’s face with enough force to take him flat to the ground. His curly long black hair lay fanned out into the pool of blood, absorbing some in a soaking mess. A stream of blood traveled from his disfigured nose, down into the puddle.

            As Alos took a step forward for closer inspection, Levitas & Xri stepped out from the crowd, completely in control, the people around them appearing scared and unwilling to touch them. They saw Alos standing in front of them, and then looked down to see Jomin’s unconscious body curled up on the ground, with the lunch pail resting beside his face. The two froze.

            “Well that is one way to do it.” Xri said, approaching Jomin’s collapsed body and bending down to examine him. He reached out, slapping Jomin’s face several times, wobbling his bloody head loosely around on his neck like a bobble head doll. He was out cold.

            “You never cease to surprise me. Good work Alos.”

            Alos was still in a bit of shock from the mess he had made. Jomin’s nose cocked first to the left, and then zigzagged back over to the right, blood beginning to dry into a crust around the edges. His mouth lay in a drooling stupor, matched only by his eyes which were rolled back into his head. The man was still breathing, as his chest rising and falling blowing sputters of blood out with each breath. He may have been alive, but any and all cognitive functions were far removed at the moment.

            “So maybe next time I won’t have to wait outside?” Alos asked, his voice containing a snarky, near sarcastic tone. He felt entitled after that feat. Not only was it a perfect shot, incapacitating him into a lifeless state, it was on the man that actually managed to escape Xri and Levitas. If that wasn’t worth commendation, Alos didn’t know what was. He reached down and grabbed the hand containing pail.            

            “You realize this opportunity only arose because you had happened to be near the exit.” Xri stood over the body. “Aye, but if you are so inclined, we can just send you in alone next time.”

            Levitas was clutching the sides of his visor. Alos wasn’t sure but the loudness inside the room seemed to be giving him a headache. Despite this, his lips still managed to press into a fraction of a smile at Xri’s response.

            “Give me one of those blasters of yours and I would be more than happy to.” Alos proclaimed, as a half cocked smile stretched out across his eager face. The expression looked almost exactly like Xri’s.

            “Alright let’s get his body outside. We’ll have time to chitchat later.” Levitas announced, as he swept up Jomin’s body and then tossed it onto his shoulder. Regardless of how many times Levitas had displayed his strength, Alos was always amazed at how light he made people look.

            Xri led them outside, through the blast of frigid air, out the double doors, and into the shipyard. The yard was still filled with ships, the shipyard itself surrounded by large stretches of barren desert land. The sun was just past its peak in the sky, and its rays pounded down onto the concrete pavement, radiating heat waves throughout the lot. Desolate of people, the shimmering concrete prison lay silent.

            Levitas tossed the man onto the burning floor, small splashes of blood sizzling on impact with the ground. Almost instantaneously, Jomin jolted upright, back into awareness. His eyes glazed over with disorientation, until he noticed the three standing before him. Then, fear washed over his smashed face, his eyes widening with the understanding of who stood before him.

            “Iuh don wan no trouble!” Jomin’s twangy accented voice trembled, his now broken nose exaggerated his previously, already nasally voice. Xri’s left hand shot out grabbing a handful of Jomin’s suit near the collar, while simultaneously reaching back into his thick coat with his right hand, removing the handle of what appeared to be a sword.

            The cylindrical handle was about a foot long, sturdy, and made out of a metallic material. The color of the material was a dull, light black, that created an absence of shine. There was an arch in the handle, bending in slightly at the center, and at the base of the handle was a ring engraved an inch from the flat bottom with the same runic characters he had seen previously. On the center of the ring was a thick dot, which separated the first rune from the last. The top end of the handle had vertical perforations in the cylinder, which were cut out from the center of the top section and went down to the center of the handle.

            Xri stood, holding the man outstretched into the air, his arm fully extended, and then snapped his sword forward with his other hand, holding it from the bottom of the handle.

            “Aniis, PRIMUS, THE DRAGON!” Xri screamed, and light coursed from inside the runes, flashing on in the sequence of the lettering from start to finish. The perforated lines within the top of the handle zipped out, flinging erect, and then magnetically locked into place. The now extended blade arched evenly like the handle, bending to the opposite direction, the tip narrowing down into a long narrow harpoon like blade with two barbs sitting at the spine of the tip. Six, six inch segments extended out from the handle, a vibrant thin green glow outlining the perimeter of the segments, and encasing the blade in light. A soft green flash pulsed from under the shadow of Xri’s oversized hat.

            Jomin at this point was squealing like a pig, jerking himself around in the air in a frantic attempt at escape. Xri drew his sword up to his throat, as the emanating glow buzzed and fizzled through the air. He placed his sword within an inch of Jomin’s sagging neck meat, and then violently shook him in place. Jomin froze up, his eyes so wide that Alos expected them to fall out and his body shook with spasms of fear. A large wet patch began to form on the crotch of his suit and drops of golden yellow liquid dripped from his legs.

            “IS ZEITH ON BOARD YOUR SHIP!?”

            Xri’s voice was layered with the sonic power of some other entity. Every letter, every word he spoke, wrapped in the possessed fury of a dragon’s roar.

            “Iuh don know! Iuh swear! Please don kill meeeee,” tears poured from Jomin’s eyes, as a stream of yellow began pouring from his leg. Alos felt bad for the guy; there was nothing he could do stranded up in the air held by the collar of his suit. A man twice the size of Xri, wouldn’t have been able to lift him up with such ease, and yet Alos doubted Xri was even using a fourth of his strength.

            Xri violently shook Jomin, jerking him back and forth, whiplashing his over-sized head into the rolls hairy neck meat draping down from his chin. Then, in one swift motion while Jomin flew around, Xri tossed his sword into the air, reached into his coat, pulled out a pen shaped device, then caught his sword in the same hand, holding it over and with the pen shaped device.

            “Where is the Entellion landing next!? Where is your ship docking?” Xri’s voice, while still raised, sounded more in control than just moments earlier. Alos got the feeling he was planning something.

            “I’ma jus a mechanic! Pleeeeease, I don know none uh dis,” Waterfalls of salty tears overflowed from Jomin’s puffy eyes. It had gotten to the point where the small whimper in his voice lacked any semblance of dignity. He sounded like a small dog whining, and Alos really felt bad.

            “Then you leave me no choice,” Xri bended his knees, still clutching the man above him. “FROM THIS DAY ON YOU WILL CARRY A CURSE! A HEX BY NONE OTHER THAN XRI, COUNSELOR OF THE ORDER OF THE ZAUJIN.” With an unparalleled force, Xri’s legs pressed off the ground, his arm dropping, and then with the momentum of the force generated by his legs, he catapulted Jomin into the air.

            Wasting no time, Xri’s sword arm swung across his chest in a visibly defying blur, stopping abruptly, with the butt of the sword, coupled along with the tip of the pen device, aimed up at Jomin. It was difficult to hear anything over the ear piercing screams of the chubby mechanic, but Alos could swear he heard the short whistle of high air pressure being released. Xri reached up, hesitant to catch the man who was now drenched in his own body fluids, and caught him once again by the collar.

            “If you try to remove this, you will die. If you try to deactivate this you will die. If you so much as begin to think about telling someone what just happened, your body will be made into human confetti. ARE WE CLEAR?” 

            Xri’s request was returned with a body rocking, neck whipping, flurry of nods.

            “Then flee from this place and never return, because I swear to Menelich if you ever have the misfortune of being in the same room as me, you will be introduced to the darkest existence this universe has to offer. There are things far worse than pain.”

            Xri’s face while obscured from sight, radiated power, and Alos could feel it; he could sense the wrath blasting out from under that hat.

            Without further need for theatrics, Xri released Jomin from the air. The nanosecond his feet hit the ground, Jomin took off sprinting into the shipyard with a speed, that even impressed Levitas. The back end of his suit, sloshed around as he ran, apparently filled by more than just his bladder.

            “Sweet, baby Menelich, was that really necessary?” Alos cringed, wiping off the blood from his lunch pail.

            “Sometimes it is best to play off the ignorance of others.” Xri said, before mumbling something under his breath causing his sword to retract into the handle. He reached back placing it inside his coat.

“Right now he is running back to his ship, and that is exactly what we want.”

            “Why's that? He seemed to know less about the whereabouts of Zeith than you.”

            Levitas interjected, “You see that thing Xri has in his hand kid? That ain’t a pen. It’s a pressurized transmitter ejector.”

            “Wait, wait, so you shot a transmitter into him?” Alos’ puzzled voice wavering with his question.

            “Precisely.” Xri laughed holding out the PTE device in his hand. “All of that roughing him up was so he wouldn’t notice.”

            “What about the so called curse? And Aniis Primus The Dragon and what not?”

            Alos really did have a tendency to go on and on with an endless stream of inquiries but he didn’t care, he was hungry to know more about the world he lived in. The fact that he lived his life to this point, to the point of being almost eighteen without truly knowing anything about the world around him, made him feel very, very behind.

            “That’s all for show kid. There ain’t no curses, he was just talkin' about the transmitter.” Levitas smiled. “And his ability to detonate it, but he doesn’t know that.”

            “As for Aniis,” Xri began, “that is for another time. For now know simply that he was a powerful Wizard a very long time ago, and that this,” Xri’s hand reemerged from his coat, his gloved hand holding the handle of the sword.

            “This, was his sword.”