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ALEXA HAD SPENT TOO much time scared, allowing everyone from the Guardians to Rusty to Osu, to intimidate her. The time had come for her to step up and show the multiverse she wasn’t just a weak Earth girl.
After resting in her cell for the remainder of the day, Alexa woke the next morning feeling better than ever. Guardian X checked in before everyone else headed to breakfast, almost chipper. She handed Alexa a plate with the usual gruel and two more acid tablets.
“You have performed beyond expectations.” Guardian X buzzed with pleasure. “My proposal has passed through yet another round of oversight. We should have full support in the next few days, which is perfect timing. Supply Day is in another ten days, bringing with it a Resident transfer. I can’t wait to have you on our transition team.”
“I can’t wait either.” Alexa forced a smile and choked down one of the dry acid tablets.
“About that Resident transfer. They’re not incoming, but outgoing.” Guardian X sat at the edge of Alexa’s mattress.
“You mean leaving this place?” Alexa fought the urge to lean forward. She had to pretend she knew nothing and had no idea what Guardian X would say next.
“And if my proposal goes through, we’ll have an extra exciting job for you.”
Alexa swallowed. “What?”
“You remember the Bright One you saw in the isolation block?”
Her heartbeat took off in her chest. “Sure.”
“There’s a new Safekeeping facility, Firestar Safekeeping Residence, opening on the other side of our system. A place for the most dangerous Residents in the MGA. Do you know why our fuel cells melt down all the time? Because of the Bright One. He requires an enormous amount of power to keep contained.”
Alexa donned her biggest, most innocent expression. “What does that have to do with me?”
“The last time we moved this particular Bright One, we lost several Guardians.” A hint of sadness clouded Guardian X’s gaze. “We’ve spent the past few months preparing to move the Bright One with the help of those from the Firestar Safekeeping Facility. We have contingency measures in place, but nothing is foolproof. Especially with this Bright One.”
“Is this one different from Una?”
Guardian X nodded, her expression somber. “He’s nothing like the one who crossed your path. You see, he’s the most powerful Bright One still in existence. The last one with similar power destroyed a whole city rather than be taken alive. I’ll bring the Bright One file to you before the end of the day. You need to know as much as possible to prepare yourself.”
Would this be the same truth the Brume fed her? This time around, she would make Osu defend each and every one of the accusations against him.
“And you think I can help?” Alexa didn’t hide her anxiety. “What if I’m not strong enough?”
“Of course you are. Have you seen how quickly you’ve improved? Like nothing I’ve ever seen. If you can help us, this could change the course of your Residency.”
“How?”
“First thing, we’d give you a private residence.” Guardian X gestured toward Alexa’s sterile cell. “Somewhere quiet, near the Guardian’s lodging center. You would no longer be a Resident. You would be a Guardian of sorts.” Guardian X brushed the discs at Alexa’s temples. “Someday, we’ll wean you off the Blinders, but perhaps it’s best to see the world as you wish. If the day comes that you want to see what’s really in front of you, we’ll help you in your transition.”
A world filled with monsters or a world that resembled home? Who could tell what would happen in ten days? Perhaps Osu would lose his temper and destroy himself and everything around him. Alexa shivered.
“First, we have to transfer the Bright One. I’ll sleep better when that wretched beast is far away from here. Do you feel up to working today, or would you like to rest?”
Alexa yawned. The acid tabs were unexpectedly filling. “Rest would be good.”
“When I return, I will bring the Bright One’s file. Best to know one’s enemy as much as possible before facing them.” The Guardian breezed out of her room with a hint of a smile.
Alexa curled into a tight comma. What deceptions would the Guardians feed her? And how would Osu respond?
Sleep first. Questions later.
***
What lies does it say about me?
Instead of reading Osu’s file alone, Alexa had called across the distance and asked him to join her. Una had claimed never to lie, but it didn’t speak the whole truth either. Same as the Brume, lies, deceptions, and mistruths, one on top of the other. Osu’s honesty would be his salvation or his downfall.
“Born on, uh, I can’t read that word. Oh, and I don’t understand. Is this supposed to be the year or the month? Do you have months in the multiverse?”
If you live according to the MGA’s calendar, what you would call a year is separated into fourteen parts. Common time is based on the calendar followed at MGA’s capitol, The Center. It is considered the “center of the multiverse.” Months are numbered because too many ancient societies named times of the year after their gods. The MGA has decreed an entirely atheistic state.
“Wow.” Alexa ran her hand over the fuzzy image of Osu on a distant planet, surrounded by enormous trees with leaves the size of his head. Her Blinders didn’t work so well on digitized documents. At one moment, she would see Osu in his proper form, and in the next second, she saw a young boy grinning from beneath an oak tree. “I was born in September. I think it’s named after a Roman number, not a god.”
Who are your gods on Earth?
“We have lots of different ones.” Déjà vu hit Alexa in a wave. Wasn’t that one of the first things Una asked Alexa after she pulled the poor unicorn out of the handicap-accessible stall? “Una never spoke about gods. Do Bright Ones have a religion?”
Yes. An ancient one. The MGA decreed it illegal right before they started rounding us up. I will tell you about it someday. We need to focus on what lies they want you to know about me.
“Um, not a lot of crazy stuff so far.” The current translation was a considerable improvement over the last, but several sentences tripped her up. “Mostly condemning your caste system, the primitive and dangerous nature of monarchies ... oh.”
What? Tell me.
“What happened in a place called the Blue Gem?” Alexa rubbed her forehead and checked for the hundredth time if the nearest Guardian was still at the far end of the hallway. According to her tablet, Osu had murdered a whole family, taken over their home with the help of several servants, and hid there for over a year. The MGA officers had found their rotting corpses long after Osu moved on to a different hiding place.
My ship had broken down while I and my remaining family were moving to a new safehouse after our first one was discovered. We came across a beautiful home filled with several generations of family. They were frightened of us, but we came to trust each other. We stayed for as long as we felt safe. It was a happy time while it lasted. Why, what are you reading?
“You don’t want to know.” Alexa set aside the tablet. “How did they eventually catch you? What I’m seeing here doesn’t make sense.”
Betrayed—well, that is not quite right. Someone I loved was captured and tortured into disclosing my family’s hiding place. Anu could not help it. Even the strongest eventually succumb to torture. They brought an army to capture me, but I fought well.
They cannot harm me here, but this other place they want to take me is different. I heard them conversing about how they may trick my mind, dig into my memories, and pull out dangerous things. I know too much.
“What do you know?”
For your safety, Earth human, I shall not tell you. If they found out the two of us were friends, they would torture you too. And, no offense, you are built of softer stuff than my kind.
“I’m your friend?” She felt a slight quiver in her heart when he said the words.
You have promised to help me, even at the risk of your own life. Thus, you are a friend.
“So, say I convince Rusty to help us, where do we go next? I mean, he’s got his own agenda too. Who is to say that he’ll take us where you want to go?”
If this Rusty has a tiny bit of wisdom, he will not refuse me. After all, I am one of the most dangerous creatures in existence.
Rusty didn’t seem like the type to take orders.
“This could go really well or really bad.”
We must risk everything to escape this place, even our lives. I am ready, are you Alexa?
“I guess.” Alexa pulled her knees to her chest, fighting the panic dancing just beneath the surface of her skin. Her fingers traced the healing mark at the base of her skull. “What about the kill switch? At some point, they will realize I’m not on their side.”
If you can disable a fuel cell, can you not disable a little speck in your head?
Alexa had never considered such a simple solution. She closed her eyes, focused within, and searched the foreign objects around her skull. The Blinders were easy to pinpoint, including the slight surges of energy pulsing behind her eyes and ears. She moved her focus back, creeping along her skull toward her neck.
“Ouch!” A burst of light flashed behind her closed eyes, and a sharp bite of pain smacked the back of her head. She crumpled forward, grasping her throbbing skull.
What happened?
“There’s some sort of protection around the implant.” Alexa opened her eyes. Pinpricks of light danced before her vision. “I can’t disable it.”
Then we will have to adjust our performance. We have to pretend the whole time that you are my enemy, and you are scared of me. I may have to throw a few attacks your way to convince the Guardians we are not on the same side.
“I’m a terrible liar.” Alexa rubbed her eyes. The stars began to clear. There were too many variables to juggle. Too many things that could go wrong. But they had no other option but to try and find Osu a way out.
There is a high probability of failure, to be sure. I will do whatever it takes. Even if I die trying.