Bound – Chapter Four

Kersten had been ready to go at that moment. She needed to get out of Desert HQ. Part of her wanted to get away from the strange company she found herself in and head back to Manessa, where she knew she had left a whole lot of conscious people. It was strange that no new missions or recruits had been routed to Desert HQ first, and when she got a free moment, was going to pull up their missions, if she could manage to access them.

When she got her eyepiece back, that was. She felt naked without it, cursing Leander for holding it hostage while he sent her to put real clothes on. Kersten had forgotten she was still barefoot in her ceremonial outfit under the exploration suit she had been wearing off of the WCU. She had to agree it wasn’t quite the appropriate attire for a mission.

The uniform she had been given was an ice gray jumpsuit, fitting snug around her form, but not tight enough she couldn’t move. Sewn within the suit were small engineered luminescent patches that could be used in emergency situations to create light. One on each arm, one on each leg. An inch wide, dark gray belt sat on her hips with three pouches filled with various things, like a small medkit, fuel cells for the handheld shock gun also holstered to her waist, micro tools, and nutrient tabs that were meant to dissolve on the tongue to provide energy on longer expeditions.

Kersten was happy to notice Leander still followed some protocol for their mission, including extra screens and nano database fusers, communication module equipment, and WCU return equipment packed into two bags and ready to go. After stuffing a sock in each of the boots given to her to make them fit, she shouldered her own pack and left toward the WCU chamber again.

There were no bodies in any rooms this time. Despite her better judgment, she took her time to look. It seemed Lieutenant Simmons and his men worked more efficiently than she presumed. One might not have ever known there had been motionless bodies laid over desks and sprawled across the ground only a few hours ago, and it still irked her that there wasn’t more people here aiding in the investigation.

Though Leander had explained the situation, there would be no blind faith. She knew he was keeping something from her, and she had a small inkling he knew exactly what had happened and who was behind it. Something darker told her that he may even been part of it, but even if that was the case, she’d be of more service at his side in his trust, then cast out in space for her suspicion.

“If this is the pace you plan to carry the entire time,” Leander said when Kersten appeared dressed and ready to go, “Then we may as well stay here and allow the same fate affect us as it did the unfortunate ones already comatose. Here, put this back on,” he finished, holding out her eyepiece.

She gave it a distrustful look before snatching it out of his hands. Though the device looked no different, it felt foreign and violated at this stranger’s hands. Hesitantly, she slipped part of it behind her ear and positioned the thin lens back over her left eye.

Her retinal identification confirmed, a dim light flashed, starting to load up as she adjusted it more comfortable over her ear, narrowing her eyes toward where Leander stood leaning over, zipping up a few more bags.

“I’m not going to be your mule horse, so I am assuming we do not have to travel far,” Kersten said, starting to climb back into her exploratory protective ware.

Instead of answering, he motioned to somebody behind him. As Kersten was turning, she was caught around the waist and held in place, so tight she could hardly breathe.

“There’s one more thing, Powell,” Leander said, as another one of Simmons men took her wrist and extended her right arm, “We’ll have to disconnect you,” he smiled, “It’ll only take a moment.”

“What!? No! Don’t touch me!” she tensed, trying to rip her arm free as she stomped on her captor’s foot, satisfied at hearing him grunt in pain, even if he did squeeze her that much more tightly.

“The more you struggle, the more uncomfortable this is going to be. Must you always overreact?” he sighed, flipping open a case that held a laser pen, a medi-strip, tweezers, and a few other things she couldn’t quite see where she was.

Kersten’s body went stiff when Leander approached her, his eyes intent on her arm, “What are you doing?” she asked suspiciously, far too smart to move as he held the laser pen against the crook of her elbow.

“I already told you. We have to disconnect you,” he said simply as he began to make a cut the size of a quarter into her flesh.

It made her gasp out in pain, far too shocked at what he was doing to keep a straight face. Using a pair of tweezers, he slipped one end under her skin to take a hold of the registrar chip located there and started to remove the small metal disc. To think she had gone through the pain to get this done already, only to have it ripped out again. It made her grit her teeth, but she didn’t look away as he made a shallow cut further up on her arm, closer to her wrist.

This one was quite a bit more painful as he forced a barely visible wire from the opened wound, beginning to guide it out of veins and muscle. Though it was barely thicker than a spider’s web, it was literally wired into her arm. From the middle of her finger to her elbow, it provided the intergalactic database with a constant stream of information and vitals. It was a process put into place when the first Earth Wash started, registering every person that left into the database. As population grew, and keeping track of people got harder, it was required for each birth to include the insertion of the device called a Life Wire. It was flexible, thin, and as you grew, it grew with you. Most forgot it was even there, and she was sure some of the younger generation were completely unaware.

There was no forgetting it was there now. Throwing her head back against the man who held her around the waist, she screamed out, unable to control the outburst. It was as if a thousand needles were protruding from her arm, each set on fire and smoldering against flesh. Though everybody at TechnoRuins went through some rudimentary torture training, it was nothing close to this.

“Stop moving!” he yelled at her, growing impatient, but it was met with resistance. Bending her knees up to her chest, she kicked out, knocking him back. Her Life Wire hung limply from the wound, blood dripping down her arm and across her fingertips to the floor.

Though the pain in her arm made her grit her teeth hard enough to break them, she slammed her head backwards into the man who held her. Hearing the crunch of his nose and the loosening of his grip, she brought her captive elbow into his gut and spun toward the man holding her arm. He didn’t hesitate to move toward her, looking more annoyed than shocked as he swung toward her.

Kersten tried to duck out of it, but felt his fist against the side of head, making her ears ring. It made her stumble, going dizzy and lightheaded. Stumbling backwards, she tried to focus as he approached her again. Growling in frustration, adrenaline rushed her body. For a moment, she barely felt the striking pain in her arm as she pulled the small shock gun from her hip holster.

It was the size of her palm, but had enough juice available to knock a person back ten feet and stun them when triggered. Holding it out, she reveled at the look on the man’s face when he saw it. Eyes widening, he looked first at the gun in her hand, then the look of sheer determination on her face, fear unmasked on his features until he saw something behind her and grinned.

She wasn’t going to easily fall for that. Instead, she took her shot, aiming it for his chest, but not his heart. A flash of light emitting from the end, the current followed its course forward until it struck the man. His shoulder jerked like it had been struck by a truck, sending him skidding backwards and falling back with a groan.

The unfortunate part of these little devices was their inability to carry more than one charge at once. By the time she finally turned around to see who was behind her, there was no time to reload, and she stopped suddenly to see Leander standing nose to nose with her, a look of disappointment on his face.

She hadn’t realized how tall he really was until that moment, tilting her head back a little to look up and meet his gaze, challengingly.

“Goodnight, Powell,” he said, flashing a dimpled smile that confused her.

“Good…” she started, only to go a little cross eyed when he blew something in her face. It looked like a transparent powder, and didn’t seem to have any smell, but it did instantly make her tongue and nose burn, “..What..?” she managed to mumble before her knees gave out and everything grew dark.

She felt somebody catch her, and heard Leander sigh, and then only silence as she lost consciousness.

Kersten awoke in stages. At one point, she felt submerged in ice, unable to catch her breath, then only darkness and numbness. What stirred her now burned her flesh and made her uncomfortable in her suit. It stuck to her from sweat, and even with her eyes closed she could feel a bright light against her eyelids.

Too numb to move, she parted her lips in a small gasp as consciousness came back to her. Though her body felt heavy, she was able to move her fingers and toes in stages, then her entire leg and arm. Her arm. She reached over and tried to feel for any wounds, but found nothing both the softness of her suit. Though there was no pain where her devices had moments ago been ripped out, there was an emptiness that made her stir to full alertness, finally opening her eyes.

“Sleeping beauty awakes,” Leander said softly from somewhere beside her.

Jerking forward, Kersten kicked her feet back, sliding over the ground and reaching for her gun. Of course it wasn’t there, and she cursed out as she tried to roll herself back to her feet. Finding herself in sand proved the attempt difficult. Falling backward and against her palms, her head spun and she laid back again, waiting for the world to stop spinning as she tried to block the sun from her face.

“What did you do to me, you jerk?” she hissed, giving it a few moments before she sat up and pulled up her sleeve, glancing down at her the woundless flesh of her slightly freckled arm.

“Yes, it’s healed. I pity the doctor who had to administer it the first time. Must you always be ready to fight?” he asked, sounding generally curious as he constructed what looked like a box with all six sides transparent.

“Must you always be so vague and annoying!” she shot back, rubbing at her face, only to find her hands covered in sand as well. Blinking, she glanced up and around herself, finally taking in where she was.

In front of her were a range of sandy dunes, some topped by spiny topped trees with scalloped, rough looking bark, some with little tuffs of wild grass. The rest of her senses starting to filter back into control, but it was the sound of life suddenly surrounding her that nearly overwhelmed her. Birds, the breeze, the sound of waves. Glancing behind where she sat, a sea of water stretched as far as her eye could see on one side, and met the shadows of giants. From where she sat, it looked like jagged masses of mountains, but fog hung over their peaks, making it difficult to see much more.

“What is …” she started, but trailed off as she took in everything around her. A pile of their belongings sat piled up to the left of Leander, including both of their exploration suits. It made her cheeks warm slightly at the thought of him removing it from her, first in embarrassment, then in anger.

“Before you start on your tirade again, shut up and listen for once, Powell,” Leander said exasperated. The cube he had been putting together clicked into place, a holographic version of what she assumed was Earth appearing inside.

Bristling, she picked up a handful of sand and threw it toward him in frustration, only to have it blow back in her face and into her eyes. Coughing slightly, she sat forward, wiping it from her cheeks and hair and kept her mouth closed, this time truly too embarrassed for a rebuttal.

By some grace, he didn’t laugh out loud at her, though she saw the corner of his lip twitch slightly, “We had to get that Life Wire out of you. It’s disappointing that an entire population of people would give up their independence and any form of privacy to just be another number in the United Earth’s database,” he frowned, mapping out their location little by little. First, he zoomed into a vague mass of land, adjusted, and then broke the coordinates up for a closer view.

“Most assume it’s for safety. The more extreme believe that it is laced with million of nano organisms that program a child’s brain early to be submissive,” he laughed, adjusting some of his hair out of his face, “While there is half truths to both, the moral of this story is, they needed to think that you were dead. It is important that nobody follows us, Powell.”

She slowly processed the things he said, but nothing about it put her at ease. If anything, it worried her more. Lifting her hand to her face, she was glad to feel her eyepiece still there, and scanned it for any updates.

“And you had to hold me captive and rip it out of my arm? You couldn’t have just explained that first?” she growled in frustration, sharing her attention between watching him and trying to load information across the lens over her eye. She could see E.L.O.S.’s icon blinking in one corner, but little else loaded.

Leander paused with what he was doing, tilting his head off to the side in a thoughtful look, “I suppose I could have,” he said, sounding generally surprised he hadn’t thought of that.
It was so ridiculous, she had to laugh. Throwing her hands up, she gave up trying to rationalize with this man. Instead, she finally pushed herself to her feet and dusted off all the access sand before approaching him.

“You’re insane, aren’t you? If you are planning to kill me, why did you bother taking the Life Wire out? Why didn’t you just take down my whole biological system?” she said, coming to kneel beside him, taking a good look at the device in his hand.

“If I planned on killing you, you never would have seen it coming,” he said with such confidence that it gave Kersten chills.

“Insane, then,” she said quietly, “Care to explain where you’ve taken us?” she asked, even as E.L.O.S. began to overload her screen with maps, coordinates, strange ghost files, and a few other things she didn’t catch before it disappeared, “Earth? But that isn’t possible, it’s ..”

“Paradise,” he smiled, having a far off look for a moment, “But not free of danger, I’m sorry to say. I’ll explain more, but for now, it’s time to go,” he said, handing her the cube that now had a relief map of the area around them. The image rotated on its y-axis, exposing what looked like long tubes extruding just below the surface of the sand, before bouncing back to a top down view.

“Earth?” she frowned when the classification of the landmass started to scroll over one of the transparent screens on the cube, “But that’s impossible,” she mumbled, looking up and around herself. The sky was brighter than the blue of her eyes, and except for some fog that hung over to the east, it was free of any toxic clouds. She didn’t even struggle to breath the air.

“Not impossible,” he said patiently, handing off two of their supply bags, and taking three for himself, “You can be a tourist later. For now, we have to get to safety before we’re noticed,” he said, glancing up at the sky with a slight frown.

“Impossible,” she said again in disbelief as she spun the image of the map around, “And unless you have some form of transportation, we aren’t going anywhere fast,” Kersten pointed out as she took the two bags given to her and through one over her back, the other hanging from her shoulder.

“You’ll learn there is no need to doubt me,” he grinned over his shoulder, motioning for her to follow him.

Hesitating for a moment, she glared at his retreating backside before re-positioning one of the bags and following behind, “You still haven’t answered me. Where are we going?” she asked, just as a blue arrow displayed inside the cube with the map. It spun around clockwise a few times before pointing in the direction they walked. It wobbled slightly, then shifted on its z-axis to point down.
“Down,” he said, “This way,” he pointed east of where they were where a dwarf palm grew off by itself. It was wider than it was tall, but seemed to not have a shadow.

“Down?” she said as the drew closer, “I’m not really getting any basement vibes from the beach,” she smirked.

“Because it’s not a beach,” he answered with a slight chuckle, “Here we are.”

She stopped a few feet back from him, and tried not to laugh, “Are we going to shrink ourselves and live in the bough of some weird tree?” she asked, starting to think perhaps disconnecting and disappearing off to a strange place, with a strange person wasn’t the best idea she ever had.

“I told you. It’s not a beach. That’s not a tree. Come, Powell. It’s time you went home,” Leander said, smiling slightly as he bowed his head and closed his eyes. For a moment, it looked like he was praying, and she started to interrupt his moment when the sudden echo of loud crack startled her.

The air seemed to vibrate from the sound and the ground trembled under her feet. Kersten nearly dropped the cube in her hands, bringing it to her chest to hug tightly at the device to keep it from falling. Her eyes wide, the direction of her gaze shot from side to side, up and down, trying to find the source, only to fall on Leander again. He stood there, palms out and head up with a slide blue glow emitting from somewhere off of his body.

Turning toward her, even the orbs of his eyes held a blue luminescence. Kersten opened her mouth to speak, but words forsake her, even when he flashed a crooked grin her way and held out his hand.

When she didn’t take it, he simply shrugged and walked forward, disappearing from her sight. Gasping out, she stepped forward, reaching out for where he had just been, “Wait!” she called.

Heeding her cry, his entire form appeared again, raising a brow expectantly, “Ready to go now?”

“No, of course not!” she whispered, but tucked the cube under one arm and took his offered hand.

“Good, then lets go,” he grinned, pulling her through the void, leaving sunshine and paradise behind.

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