Chapter 22 – Divimatian Marsh Farms

            Everyone had reboarded the ship, rising up on the platform and then flocking into the main room. Wander immediately walked over to his makeshift room and pulled out his levboard and charger pad. He plugged the charger pad into an outlet and then placed the levboard on top. As he placed it, a green LED lit up at the center of the board and at the corner of the pad, indicating that it was charging.

            The rest of the crew gathered in a circle around Xri within the main room, occupying the various furniture and then were soon joined again by Wander. Xri paced back and forth in front of them all, his arms folded and his right hand reaching up to his face, rubbing his chin.

            This continued on for several minutes, till eventually he spoke.

            “This escapade will not be an easy one, not at all.” Xri said, stopping and turning to face his crew. “We need to figure how we intend to make this extraction unnoticed.”

            Levitas shifted his weight in the couch. “For starters, there’s no way Dardaños is gonna be on the team goin’ in. Sorry bud.” Levitas pivoted his head in a shrugging gesture to Dardaños who nodded back in understanding.

            “Iee wouldn’t want tuh be in Divimatia anyways. They’d tryee to throw me down intuh tuh oil rigs tuh instant dey saw me.” Dardaños replied.

            “Indeed.” Xri said, pressing the tips of his fingers together. “We ARE going to require two teams, one for infiltration and one for extraction. Seeing as how Bert and Dardaños would not be able to blend in, that rules them out for infiltration. Merick too is needed to pilot the ship.”

            “Then we take the two of us,” said Levitas to Xri. “The less the better, and between us two we’ll be in and out of there in a jiffy.”

            “That was also my first thought, but upon reconsideration, I think it would be best if the four of you went instead. Alos will be useful if they have security of any kind, and the other two, well, they can use this opportunity to prove their worth to the ship.” Xri smiled, his tightly pressed lips stretching unevenly to the left.

            “You can’t be serious Xri. This is one of the most important missions we’ve ever had to run, and these kids are still fresh meat, newbies. I like them and all that, but we can’t afford failure on this.”

            “Do not worry Levitas. The main reason for my decision is so that I can be here to help with the extraction, which is equally as important. When you are inside and contact the ship for extraction, we will need me here to help fend off any potential Divimatian threats; the ship is going to be flying through the heart of Divimatia.” Xri pulled at his goatee between his thumb and finger.

            “So we’re pullin’ an Old Man Charlie eh?” Levitas asked, his heavy throaty voice sounding unconvinced.

            “In essence, yes.” Xri’s slanted smile stretched into a full on grin. “And Old Man Charlie is nothing without his walker, so allow me to enact that role.”

            Shaking his head and holding back a stiff smile, Levitas threw his arms up over the edge of the couch.

            “I swear to god Xri, you are getting’ more and more suicidal with age.”

            “If I have learned anything in my time within the Guild, it is to trust the man that apprenticed me, as seemingly insane as he may be.” Xri reached into his coat and pulled out a syringe within a tube. “When you release Zeith, give him a shot of this and it will bring him to, regardless of his physiological state. From there, he should do the rest.” As he said this, Xri tossed the tube over to Levitas who grabbed it out of the air.

            “You’re right,” Levitas shook his head, the pinched impression of a smirk grabbing the corner of his mouth, “as always. I’m just worried about gettin’ TO Zeith. If it’s anything like the cell they had me in, the whole facility is gonna have security up the arse.”

            “Once again; this is why Alos will be going with you. As far as I am aware, he should have the talents to disable any digital security they might have. Any physical security, say guards and the like, will be up to you to take care of.” Xri said, nodding towards Levitas.

            “Okay and what about Van? If he took Zeith, it’s not unthinkable that he’ll be down there with him.” Levitas responded skeptically.

            “If for whatever reason Van is in the vicinity at the time, get the injection to Zeith immediately, and he will take care of him.” Xri grabbed the brim of his hat and pulled it down, casting a shadow over the rest of his face. “Come now Levitas, you know the extent of Zeith’s power, you should worry less.”

            “Alright, alright, give it a rest. I guess I’m still shaken up by the fact he was taken in the first place.” Levitas shook his head, letting out a deep sigh.

            “Aye, as for the rest of you,” said Xri, turning and facing each crew member one by one. “We will be arriving at the break of dawn tomorrow. Take this time to rest and prepare, for as of tomorrow it is doubtful you will get another chance until this is settled.”

            “So the three of us are playing tag-a-long with ol’ gruff Mr. sky pirate here?” Wander said with a sarcastic bite.

            “It looks that way.” Zephay said, shrugging his shoulders with a slanted face. “Will you guys at least give me a gun or something? Wander got to go get all his shit, I’m still bare boned over here.”

            “Levitas will suit you up with the necessary equipment.” Xri said, nodding towards Levitas once again, who returned the gesture. “I will see you all in the morning.” Xri bowed his head to the crew, and then took his leave over to the stairs and then down the elevator.

            Dardaños yawned and then reclined back in the chair until it was parallel with the floor. With a big stretch of both his arms, he turned onto his side and tucked his hands under his head. In no time his large muzzle was fluttering in the exhalations of his snoring.

            “Alos, you should be ready to go, I don’t think you need anything else.” Levitas’ voice was muffled and sounded as if he was talking through a bag of rocks. With a loud forced cough, he cleared his throat and then continued.

            “If you’re tired go get some sleep. I’m goin’ to help these two get situated, so we can all get some rest.”

            “I’m pretty good pops, I don’t think I need anything.” Wander said, giving Levitas a firm pat on the back. “But if you need me I’ll be in my room, asleep.”

            “Pops eh? Kid you’re comin’ with me.” Levitas said, as he picked up Wander by the collar of his shirt and slung him over his shoulder. Wander squirmed for freedom at first, but after failing to escape the iron grasp of Levitas, he gave up, relaxing on his shoulder.

            Levitas exited the room, Wander on his shoulder, and Zephay following behind shaking his head and laughing to himself. The interaction between his crewmates was funny to Alos and the way their distinct personalities interacted together almost felt like a family; almost.

            This made him think about home though, and everything he left behind. Something was eating away at the back of his mind. There was a weight in his gut that wrapped into a fist of knots whenever he thought of home, or Mari, or even the good old days of cruising along the net with his friends. It wasn’t a perfect life by any means but it was comfortable, and the world around him felt normal and defined. He wasn’t thrown into a daily roller coaster ride and expected to hold his own.

            There was a time when Alos was unsure of where he was going in life. He had all the skills to go into any Omninet related job, he could follow in his parent’s footsteps, or he could have even become a roboticist and through his parents’ connections, gone to work for one of the major robotics companies. But now, all of those considerations were in the past. Alos never imagined he would end up a slave to a vigilante pirating crew, nor did he ever even conceive of the possibility; such concepts were nonsense in the censorship state that is the UDA. Yet here he was, the Omninet user for the underground Resistance organization, on board a ship with a crew that utilized his skills to free slaves and rob economic strongholds.  Alos saw that he had become a hacker slave.

            The world was opening up to him, and with every day that passed, his connection to this new life only grew stronger.

            Alos was laid out across the couch without realizing it. He was actually pretty tired and with Levitas’ suggestion, he rolled over, tucked inwards, and closed his eyes. Images of the UDA rolled over the backs of his eye lids, questions scrolling across with them, “What is The Claw? How do they relate to this Resistance? What even IS the Resistance?”, until he finally gave in to the soft tug of comfort that is sleep.

_____________________________________________________

            Alos opened his eyes, stretching them wide trying to break out of his newly wakened fog. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up on the couch, and let out a long, jaw stretching yawn. Dardaños was still sound asleep on the chair across from him, and the window looking out from the main room showed that it was still dark outside. Droplets of rain were streaking up the glass as the ship whizzed through the air, breaking through clouds.

            He got up and walked over to the bathroom, and used it. Inside there was sink, which Alos greedily used to wash his face and body. There was an incinerator slot in the wall with a hemp paper towel dispenser above it. He grabbed a handful of paper towels and dried himself off, tossing the clump of fibery, absorbent paper into the incinerator.

            As he walked outside, Levitas was walking in from the hallway.

            “Nice to see you’re already awake.” Levitas said, walking into the kitchen.

            “I think I’m finally starting to adjust.” Alos responded, following Levitas into the kitchen, who was pulling a few canisters from the fridge. “I’m pretty hungry though, could I get some food?”

            “Aye, here kid.” Levitas broke off a canister from the pack and handed it to Alos. “It’s a nutrient drink, it’ll keep you going for the day.”

            Shrugging his shoulders, Alos took the drink, screwed off the lid, and then poured the small container of liquid into his mouth. It had a fruity metallic taste, which felt like a battery being pushed against his tongue. Alos’ eyes squinted as he pulled his head back looking at the canister.

            “It tastes like I just drank a battery.” Alos said, his face curled up into a disgusted sour expression, his tongue sticking out trying to evade the taste within his mouth.

            “You more or less did.” Levitas laughed, unscrewing the tops of two and tossing them back into his mouth and swallowing. “It has all the nutrients, micronutrients, and calories you need.”

            “That’s going to take some getting used to.” Alos said his face still bent into a twisted gag.

            “You’ll get used to it; after awhile.” Levitas said, tossing his canister into a compressor under one of the countertops, and then walked out into the main room. Alos was surprised when he saw that the ship recycled; the mere idea of outlaw sky pirates taking the time to recycle for the better of planet Gemini was hilarious. Tossing his canisters into the compressor, Alos also returned to the main room.

            Inside the main room of the ship, Zephay and Wander were talking to Levitas. They were both dressed the same as the previous day, something Alos could sympathize with as he had been in the same clothes since he left his house. In both Zephay and Wander’s right hands, they held a venomstick, the same type that had been given to Alos.

            “Unless I say otherwise, we don’t want to shoot anybody.” Levitas said, pointing towards the venomsticks. “These’ll knock out anyone you hit with it and that’s all we should need.”

            “How do they work?” Zephay asked, holding his venomstick up, rotating it with his wrist.

            “The small pricks inject a toxin into the bloodstream that renders them unconscious.” Levitas said, making a swinging motion with his arm.

            “What if we run into guards at a range? Am I supposed to throw it at them?” Zephay said, flat toned and unconvinced.

            “That’s almost identical to what I said when they gave me one.” Alos laughed, unclipping his own from his belt.

            “Look, if we do this right, guards with ranged weapons will be irrelevant. We’re going to be sneaking in from the back and should be able to dispatch anybody before they become a problem.” Levitas sighed, forcing his throat to clear and cocked his head to the side. “And if it REALLY comes down to a shootout with guards, I will take care of it.”

            “If you say so man,” said Wander sarcastically, patting Levitas on the back. “I’m still bringing my pistol though.”

            “Just keep it hidden and don’t fire it, unless I say it is necessary.” Levitas turned to Wander, catching his eyes. Wander stood starring back at Levitas’ metal visor, glaring at where his eyes would normally be.

            “Okay, okay, no shooting unless you say so, pops.”

            Xri came up into the room from the stairwell, dressed in his usual trench coat and hat. Approaching the four, he pulled an electronic key from his pocket.

            “We are as close as we can get now. I will be driving you the rest of the rest of the way there in my cruiser to avoid detection.” Xri said to the group. “Does anyone have any last questions or concerns before we leave?”

            Wander bent backwards stretching his back, releasing a pop. “We don’t have much of a choice being under contract and all.”

            “Aye, unless you enjoy dealing with bounty hunters; or even worse, Crusaders. When it comes to slavering, we fall in the nicer end of the spectrum.” Xri said, smirking.

            “I still don’t understand why the two of us are even going,” said Zephay gesturing towards Wander. “We just seem like baggage to be carried.”

            “You will be more useful than you realize.” Xri responded, sustaining his smirk. “Two meat shields offer a lot to the party.”

            Xri led the group down the stairs and over to the elevator, which they all took down to the slime room. Once inside the slime room, they passed Merick who was tinkering with a circuit board while monitoring the ship’s flight. At the end of the slime room was a doorway that Alos had not been through before. Xri approached it, to which the door spiraled outwards, and they all passed though into the next room.

            The room had two cruisers inside, the first looking like a sphere connected to a square. It had three small cylinders on top, and three small spheroid wheels below. At the rear of the square was a wide turbine, taking up nearly the entirety of the back. On the bottom of the square was a circular disk that looked like it hooked up to a slime tank.

            The other cruiser was narrow and sleek, with wide wings expanding out like horizontal A’s. The body of the ship looked almost tubular, being about seven feet in diameter, with the cockpit resembling the beak of a bird. At the back of the cruiser was an ion thruster, which connected up to a metal trimming that wrapped around the bottom and top of the body. From the limited knowledge Alos had about ships, he guessed the trimming was a maglev propulsion system.

            Xri lifted the key up, pressing one of the buttons on it. Above both wings, hinged onto a panel following along the ceiling, two doors opened upwards. Leading the group over to the cruiser, Xri stepped up small foothold indents beside the wings and swung himself inside. The other four did the same, Levitas going first and helping the other three up once inside.

            Alos was impressed at the inside of the cruiser. It had cushioned seating lining both walls, harnesses hanging down from above with belt fasteners below, and best of all enough seating for at least eight passengers. Xri walked up into the cockpit, and the other four sat along the couch pulling their harnesses down, and buckling them in to the fasteners below.

            “Strap in everyone, this does not go slow.” Xri said, his voice echoing in from the cockpit.

            Suddenly there was the high pitch hum of the cruiser powering up. The sound rose, beginning to oscillate in pitch, as the cruiser pulled up off the floor, levitating magnetically. Xri could be heard pressing a few buttons up front, boops and beeps sounding off with each press, and then the front of the docking bay opened up revealing the outside rainy environment. Slowly, the cruiser pulled forward, carefully avoiding the other cruiser and the stacks of boxes of cargo, and cleared the path. With the climbing pitch of electrical energy reaching its peak, a burst of sound released, jolting the cruiser out of the docking bay of the ship, and shaking the four in their seats.

            The cruiser bulleted through the sky with unprecedented speed, blurring the images of the passing landscapes into a collage of watery color. It lowered in altitude, nearly dropping straight down, until it was just a mere ten meters from the marshy farmland. Alos was twisting his body, leaning forward to try and get a view out the cockpit from where he sat.

            In the distance was the blurry image of the end of a train, rapidly expanding in size as the cruiser drew closer. The train was over a mile long with each segment sizing up to be about thirty feet long and ten feet high, each connected by a sealed flexible rubber connector elbow. To the far left of the scene, Alos could see a massive opening in the ground, which the train fed down into. There was no apparent direction the train would go but down into that massive chasm which already swallowed half the train.

            As they drew closer, the cruiser began to slow down, lowering even closer to the ground, causing trails of water to stream upwards from its propulsive force.

            Alos looked around at his would be party for the mission. Both Zephay and Wander’s eyes bore emptiness, like the giant pit that swallowed half the train, their eyes looked lost in an abyss of nervousness. Levitas’ wore his same stonewalled face, his jaw noticeably clenched; outlining his overly developed facial musculature. On second thought though, Alos wasn’t sure if Levitas’ face was as stoic as he had thought, or if half his face being covered by a metallic visor just made it impossible to read. With a small nervous chuckle, Alos began to feel just how anxious he was.

            When they closed in about a quarter mile away from the train, the cruiser decelerated near instantaneously, and then stopped, hovering over one of the more solid patches of ground in the area. With a few more buttons selected, Xri opened up the doors to the cruiser.

            “This is your destination, gentlemen. I wish you but the best of luck.” Xri peered over the back of his seat at the four still strapped in. “Levitas, while we will be in touch via your visor uplink, be weary on when you choose to access it and for how long. Divimatia does try to monitor data streams.”

            “I’ll let you know when we’re on the inside of the city and then again when we’re inside the facility.” Levitas replied, unclipping his harness and releasing it upwards. “And Xri, don’t keep us waitin’ down there.”

            “We will be flying in the moment I receive that second message.” Xri said, smiling with an edge of confidence.

            “Alright boys, time to catch a train.” Levitas said, nodding to the other three and then climbing out the side and jumping to the ground.

            The other three followed Levitas out the side door. Zephay and Wander hopped down without problem, while Alos had to take the steps down. Once they were all on the ground, Xri rose the cruiser into the air, the charge of the interior power supply buzzing up, and then took off back towards the ship.

            No more than fifty feet from the four, was the back half of the train, extending out the mouth of the abyss for over a mile. Down at the very end of the train, there was a guard tower beside the fields of freshly harvested wheat and rice, which rose up four stories from the ground. Alos squinted with focus, looking to see if he could spot and people around the tower or within it, but spotted nothing. What he did see was Levitas’ hand reach out and tug on his collar as he led them forward.

            “Quick lads, up against the train to cut off their line of sight.” Levitas said as he jogged up to the car, followed quickly by the other three. Once they were up beside the car, Levitas turned to Alos.

            “There is a hatch up top that they throw the bundles of wheat into.” Levitas said, reaching and pointing up to the top with his right hand, making an up and over motion. “Alos open it up for us.”

            Without hesitation, Alos pulled down his goggles and reached into his pocket, grabbing his Orb. With a slight squeeze, he powered it on, pulling it up to the home screen.

            “Is this train digital?” Alos asked, pausing at the home screen with his realization.

            “I wouldn’t ask you to if it wasn’t, hurry up!” Levitas responded in a low, yet raised voice.

            Alos pulled up his search window, and input, “Search local Omninet host points”, which brought up a selection of connected circles. At the center was his Orb’s host point name, simply dubbed ‘0rnj’. Connected to it from the sides was a cluster of densely packed points creating a line like effect. There were three others scattered to the sides, which Alos quickly identified as Levitas’, Wander’s, and the Guard tower’s. Selecting the spot closest to his brought up the host point for the car that stood below him; at least Alos hoped so. It read, “HSptTrn114”.

            Pulling back up the search window, Alos selected the blinking cursor and wrote, “Inject 0rnj HSptTrn114”. A fluttering array of graphical images came flooding into his goggles and through his eyes. The animation of the boy grabbing and stacking the papers up to the ceiling played, until he reached the top where he pulled himself up. The frame began to zoom in around the back of the boys head until it closed into 0rnj’s perspective.

            Inside the computer of the train cart, Alos looked around through 0rnj, seeing an oblong room with three levers. There was a lever on both ends of the room and then one on the wall opposing 0rnj. The layout made it fairly clear as to what was needed, so he walked 0rnj up to the lever across from him, and pulled it down.

            Outside the Omninet host point, Alos could feel vibrations from the car he was leaning on. He slid his goggles up to check, and sure enough the top hatch to the cart was opening up, sliding inwards. Levitas nodded to Alos, and then turned his head to the others, Alos’ dropping his active Orb into his pocket.

            “Let’s pile in.” Levitas said, raising his arms out in front of him and pulling his sleeves up. He squeezed both of his hands into fists, and then twisted them inwards, the skin across his hands stretching until his veins looked as though they were about to burst. Small rigid, hook like bone spurs protruded from his forearms facing towards his elbow. The flaps of skin that once covered the protrusion holes, pushed back into calloused couches of flesh around the bone spikes.

            Swinging his forearms up, and then down into the side of the train, Levitas used them to climb up the side of the cart, until he pulled himself over and inside. Once inside he leaned back over the edge, reaching his hand down to the others.

            Both Zephay and Wander ignored his gesture for help. They merely ran at the side of the cart, jumping and then planting a foot on the side of the cart, swung their momentum up over and into the cart. Alos stood and watched them parkour up the side, shook his head, and then jumped up, grabbing Levitas’ hand. Levitas easily pulled Alos up, and he was soon brought over the side and into the wheat filled cart.

            “Close her up.” Levitas said under his breath, in an excited sweeping of his arms towards the top.

            Alos pulled his goggles back down, grabbed his Orb, and peered back through 0rnj’s eyes. Inside the train’s Omninetic Host Point, 0rnj was still standing before the lever, which he had just pulled. Reaching up, 0rnj pushed the lever back up. The rattling vibrations of the ceiling sliding back shut could be felt, even with all the wheat around them. Alos quickly returned to the home menu, he then powered down his Orb into sleep mode.

            Alos exhaled a deep sigh of relief. “Okay that’s done, but now what?” He said, as he pushed his goggles up over his head revealing the silent darkness of the train cart.

            “Now we sit and wait until we’re there.” Levitas said, his voice being amplified by the small space, and his emotes being lost in the darkness.

            “...Am I the only one wondering why you have FUCKING HOOKS IN YOUR ARMS?” Wander squawked, his voice cracking his attempted quietness.

            “Keep your voice down kid, we need to be quiet.” Levitas said in a hush tone. “As for these, well, you can thank the Divimatian government for them. These were added along with a whole list of experimental procedures when I was being held at a similar facility to the one we’re going to.”

            “What else did they do to you?” Wander asked in a similar hushed tone.

            “Aside from the strength and general weight modifications, they mainly just aimed to make me indestructible.” Levitas said. “And they succeeded.”

            “Indestructible? Pshhh don’t get a big head now grandpa.” Wander laughed under his breath.

            “This is gonna be a long ride so let’s just get this out of the way.” Levitas said as he reached up touching something on his visor, releasing a glow of light from the two spheres on the side.

            “Here,” Levitas reached over and grabbed Wander’s hand, then reached down with his other hand and pulled up a knife hilt. He pushed up a switch on the side, and it sprang straight out from inside the hilt. Taking the knife, he placed it in Wander’s hand.

            “Look there’s no need to try and be a badass to prove a point.” Wander mocked, his eyes rolling in a conjoined effort of sarcasm with his pointed smirk.

            “Go ahead.” Levitas replied, now bearing a grin of his own.

            Wander’s eyes stretched into wide, round, ovals. Turning to Alos and then Zephay, he found that they too shared his expression. As he looked back to Levitas, Wander reached up with his free hand and knocked on his forehead.

            “Do you have mental problems?”

            Levitas laughed, extending his arm out under the blade of the knife.

            “This guy is a nut.” Zephay said, smiling while shaking his head in disbelief. “If he wants it give it to him man.”

            Wander finally shrugged his shoulders, his lips pressing together with the raising of his brow. He brought the knife over to Levitas’ arm, and then hesitated. Shaking his head, he pressed the knife into Levitas skin and then dragged the edge across his forearm. Sure enough, the only result was an uncomfortable squeaking noise like nails on a chalkboard.

            Wander’s head jutted forward, his eyes clenching with amazement. Immediately he reached up with his other hand and dragged his thumb across the blade to test the sharpness of the edge. The razor sharp blade dragged against the microscopic ridges on Wander’s thumb nearly cutting him.

            “What the hell…” Wander stammered, his hand rotating the knife in utter shock.

            Levitas extended his hand out to Wander, who placed the knife back in his hand. With a cheek pinching grin of victory, Levitas released the blade back into the handle, and secured back on his belt.

            “Now sit back and relax, maybe even catch some sleep if you can, it’s going to be awhile until we arrive.”

            A few hours of mindless waiting passed and the train finally began to move. After the initial drop down the pit, the ride was fairly smooth sailing; boring even. Alos shifted around in the wheat until he was comfortable, and then taking Levitas’ advice, fell asleep.