“You can hear me, right?” I say loudly.
No response.
“You wanted me to go to the fifth floor, why?”
No response.
“Please, I need your help.”
The center lift dings when it reaches the floor, but the doors won’t open. I keep my mouth shut, hoping Garrett will move on. He does after several minutes of anxious silence. But it won’t take him long to come back up.
“You said I was one of you. I am. Please, tell me what you need me to do.”
The panels turn on showing a devastated landscape. It’s a Dead Zone, but not this one. The image changes to another city also devastated by war. More scroll across the panels. Too many to count.
The fifth floor is where our records are kept. Appears on the panels. You must go there without using the lift.
“How? I can only loop if I know where I’m looping to. It’s too dangerous to do it blindly.”
You trusted your instincts before, Max. Do it again.
“Do you know where my friends are?”
Yes, which is why you must hurry.
I step back from the pedestal and go almost to the lift door. I picture what the fifth floor may look like by the lifts and I project myself there. The room I enter is much smaller than the other floors. Its walls are white, curved, and the ceiling is folded on top of another ceiling. There aren’t any windows, so the outside of this room must be all open space between itself and the structure. Twelve workstations are set in rows of three. Flat, clear panel screens are attached to a desk-like counter with a chair attached.
I sit at the first station I come to, tap the screen, and scroll through files. I remove my hand at some point, and realize I’m not the one scrolling. The other stations descend while mine stays on the floor. A record is selected onscreen, and immediately starts to play on the walls around me.
“The Dracken have lived on this world for thousands of years.” The image shows a budding society. Very happy, very content, and very successful. Tall high-tech buildings cover much of the landscape, but there are still plenty of open fields where children can be seen running and playing. “We were a people dedicated to science and technology.”
The scenes change, showing other worlds like this one. The lushness of the landscape is intense. Deep blue oceans, tall forest canopies, and colorful wildlife. I’m transfixed by them. I’ve seen so much death and decay that I never could’ve imagined that such elegance existed in nature.
“Almost a hundred years ago, a colony known as the Patrician invaded our world. They try to assimilate civilizations, and when they resist, the Patrician destroys them, take their knowledge, and move on. It took decades for the Patrician to determine what we had that would benefit them: a material that would allow its wearer to move seamlessly through space, barriers, and detection. It can anticipate the wearer’s needs and actions, almost becoming a part of the wearer’s body.”
I touch the material covering my body, and I know they’re talking about the suit.
“The Patrician could not penetrate our security forces, so they dropped nuclear weapons on our people in hopes of convincing us to change our minds. They promised that if we turned this piece of technology over to them, they would let our people live. The Keepers knew otherwise for they are restorers, trying to return annihilated worlds to their original forms. They are a long time enemy of the Patrician and have seen firsthand the promises made and broken by them. With the Keepers’ help, we have been trying to retake our world. We have only been able to get so far before the Patrician destroys our progress once again. Their sole mission is to take everything for themselves. Leaving no world unscathed or livable.” The images display the wonderful worlds in ruins. Smoke rises from fires that’ll never stop burning. Everything has been laid to waste, including the people.
“But they found a way around your defenses. The Keepers inadvertently showed them by creating The Litarian Battles and the Looper unit,” I say, standing up. “They were trying to help build an army for you, but it backfired.”
“Yes. Which is why you were chosen, Max. A young woman the Dracken leaders would remember because of her parents, so she wouldn’t pose a threat. An orphan without any ties and who can be easily forgotten in the Outer Limits. You, Max. You became their solution to a complex problem.”
“What do I do to stop them?”
“Build our army. There are more uniforms stored elsewhere in the building. We cannot tell you where for fear of your mind manipulation giving away the location.”
I know they’re right, but it’s still going to make this a long and tiring task. “What about the people? My friends? How do I get them here without the Patrician knowing?”
“Your friends are in the Outer Limits. Sent to die in the devastation. The suits are easily concealable. If you can get to the Outer Limits, you will find your army.”
“What about Icarian?”
“They will not invade until you are ready for them.”
“Me? But, the Patrician control them.”
“And you are now a Patrician leader, Max. Use it to your advantage.”
The images stop and the room goes dark. I loop myself back to my room, and stash the suit. I put on a basic white shirt and black pants, find my sheath in Garrett’s room, which is currently empty, and go back up to the fiftieth floor. Garrett is sitting along the back of the couch waiting for me, bow in hand and arrow aimed at my chest.
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Twenty-Four
“Where have you been?” he asks, clearly agitated.
“Around,” I answer, stepping off the lift.
“I haven’t alerted the Patrician to your deception, Max. Not yet anyway.”
“What deception? I’m not hiding anything.” I take another step
