The Radix
I Figured out this whole livejournal cut business... Kinda. Yay!
Inside the meeting house the Mallrats found themselves in a room with long benches that sat up to sixty people. On a stage area at the front were four great wooden chairs each with intricate carvings. On the wall behind the chairs hung a large mural of a comet shooting through a night full of stars. An upside down triangle was the main constellation with it's points brighter than the rest. The symbol of the Radix.
As Ram was manhandled to the front they hurriedly found seats. The atmosphere was tense and the Mallrats watched Jet and Lyric sit in two of the wooden chairs on the stage. They were soon joined by Cipher now adorned in his own forest green leader's robe. For those who hadn't picked up on it, they could now see how important a position Cipher held within the Radix.
Ram stood before them, his hands effectively tied behind his back. On his face he wore an expression of annoyance and fear. On either side of the stage stood Rider, Zeal and a few other young men. No doubt to ensure security. Already Jay was beginning to think Rider was Jet's personal body guard as he seemed always at her side ready to do her biding.
“This is a private meeting and you are all sworn to silence.” Lyric spoke sternly addressing those around her. “You're here now only because we feel you have a right to hear this first seeing as he deceived you all. Dishonor this trust in any way and you will be punished.”
“Please remember he did help us defeat Mega.” Amber couldn't stop herself from speaking on Ram's behalf. “Before we take out all our anger on him let's try to keep justice in mind.”
Lyric narrowed her dark eyes. “You've been invited to stay but don't misunderstand our courtesy. This is our tribe and we will run it as we see fit.”
Her sharp words caused more than just Amber to look down in defeat. Jay squeezed her hand for encouragement while a few seats away Ebony had to stifle a laugh. She'd already decided that she liked Lyric's tempestuous nature. A girl after her own heart. Trudy looked up at Cipher, expecting him to speak up for Amber but he said nothing as he glared down at Ram.
“Now,” Lyric continued. “I personally don't give a damn why you chose to take over the city. I can only imagine it's for the same dumb ass reason as everyone else: power. And we already know about your plan to live for a thousand years in reality space so save it. What we're interested in is why and where you sent people away. Especially to this place. Site B.”
Ram didn't speak right away, choosing only to glare back at Lyric with definite hatred. How did this happen? How was it possible that the very people he'd imprisoned had managed to unite under a common banner and overthrow his men? Cipher's tale ran through Ram's mind and he growled inwardly at the fact that the Radix had formed right under his mens' noses. He'd trusted them and they allowed this to happen.
“If you wish to speak on your own behalf,” Jet's strong voice interrupted his thoughts. “I advise that you do it now. It may be your only chance.”
Biting back the urge to hurl several obscenities at Jet, Ram swallowed as he stared at the floor. He had to admit he was in a dangerous situation. He didn't doubt that these kids wouldn't hesitate to kill him if given an excuse and there was nothing the Mallrats would be able to do to stop them. Ram didn't want to die. He would have to play nice.
“It was a safe guard.” He finally muttered.
“A what?” Lyric snapped.
“A safe guard.” Ram spoke more clearly now looking up at his inquisitors. “In case things went wrong in the city, I could retreat to site B. Of course, as you can tell it didn't work out exactly as I planned.”
“Why all the kidnapping?” Jet queried.
“Divide and conquer.” Ram fought back a defiant smirk. “It's one of the oldest and most effective military tactics. Weren't you all told that if you didn't obey, you're friends in the city would pay the price?” Without waiting for an answer Ram continued. “Those in the city were told the same. You all cooperated because you believed your friends were in danger. Of course they weren't.”
“That's debatable.” Cipher murmured.
”Where did you send the others?” Lyric asked thinking of her fellow tribesmen who had been attacked along side her. “You obviously didn't send everyone here.”
In the crowd, Jack, Ellie and May were thinking the same thing. They'd all been taken as well yet they never saw site B. May now realized her memory of Bray and his message to the others had been a virtual illusion.
“Obviously.” Ram spoke with renewed arrogance. “The secrecy of my fall back plan was a must. Only those stationed here and Fish knew of it's existence. Even my men responsible for transporting captives here had their short term memories wiped when they returned. We created small work camps on the other side of the mountains where the majority of kids were taken. You were all scanned and your images placed in our reality space programs to further confuse you about your whereabouts.” This time he couldn't hide his small smile at the effectiveness of this simple ruse.
“How clever.” Lyric said coldly. “So what went wrong?”
The smile disappeared from Ram's face to be replaced by a withered frown. “Mega.” He spat distastefully. “For all my precautions I didn't prepare to be betrayed by my own people. Least of all those I trusted most.” His thoughts fell on Java. Despite his heart ache over losing her, there was still resentment for her part in his fall from power. “By the time I suspected what was happening, there wasn't time to make plans. Not to mention I wasn't sure of whom I could trust anymore. I hoped that I might still be able to get here in secrecy. I made preparations to destroy any evidence of my plans...”
“Evidence?” Cipher finally spoke, his eyes narrowed. “What evidence?”
“You.” Ram replied simply. “Your files. If anyone were to look up your files they might realize the decoded data was different compared to those that were sent to the other labor camps. Someone like Mega would notice it right away. So I got rid of them.”
“You deleted them.” Amber spoke softly, her voice slightly trembling as she remembered the pain in her chest when she saw that hateful word printed over Bray's picture. For a moment she and Cipher caught eyes before he noticed Jay holding her hand and looked away. Ram didn't look back at Amber as he nodded.
“You deleted any trace of our existence so we wouldn't be found.” Jet spoke carefully, tempering her anger.
“I had to.” Ram glared at her. “You think I'm so terrible? What I've done is nothing compared to what would have happened if Mega had discovered your whereabouts. You might all in actuality be dead right now.”
There was silence as everyone digested this new information. The Mallrats, despite their anger, agreed with Ram having dealt with Mega firsthand. Slade alone stiffened with irritation to hear his brother spoke of in such a way. He knew what Josh had become but it hurt to see that no one appreciated his sacrifice in the end. The sacrifice that caused his death and allowed them all to get away.
“Fine.” Lyric recovered quickly. “So we're lucky to have been spared Mega's tyranny. What about the things the Technos did under your orders? Torture, rape, beatings, memory obliteration...”
“I didn't order anyone to be raped, beaten or tortured!” Ram spat back, his voice raising for the first time. “I was, however, responsible for the memory modification but when I realized it couldn't be perfected I had the project scrapped. It was only later when I found out Mega had brought it back.”
“What was the point of the memory modification?” Jet asked before Lyric could say anything in her anger.
Ram sighed. “It was meant to be used as a weapon. Just imagine if you were sent back under my orders to bring down the rebellion from within. You'd remember everything thing you shared with your tribes, only you'd have no emotional connection to those memories. You'd be able to infiltrate their plans without arising suspicion. You'd be able to betray your friends with no remorse.” He paused and looked around as though surprised no one else could see the genius of this plan. “Unfortunately targeting the emotional responses connected to specific memories proved more difficult than I anticipated. We were unable to destroy the emotional impact without erasing the memory itself. Someone with partial or complete amnesia is utterly useless for such a plan since they can't have the orders imprinted without triggering a negative emotional response. Not to mention any sort of trauma could cause the memory to reveal itself.” Sighing in disappointment Ram shook his head. “So the program was scrapped. If it was continued here it was done so without my knowledge. As were many things.” He stared up at the three leaders on the stage with frustration. “I may have made bad choices in my experiments but I'm not the cruel monster you're making me out to be. Genius has it's price.”
After a moment of quiet Jack cleared his throat. “Could I...” He raised a nervous hand afraid that if he spoke out of turn Lyric might bite his head off. Jet nodded approvingly in his direction and Jack slowly stood staring at Ram. “We found that map together. Why didn't you tell us then? That we might find our friends here?”
Ram looked back into Jack's questioning eyes. “Because believe it or not I've never been here. I picked this place off a map because it was the most secluded. A perfect place for me to hide if need be. I didn't recognize the map when we first looked at it. And honestly when I realized what it was, I didn't think they would be here. Since I wound up in a garbage tip at the end of my reign I had no way of knowing whether or not Mega was able to discover my secret. For all I knew everyone here was gone or... dead. If it were the latter I figured it best not to mention my suspicions.”
“What are the chances of our seeing the others who were taken to the work camps?” Lyric asked stiffly.
Ram gave an uninterested shrug. “They're free, if that's what you're wondering. The work camps disbanded shortly after I fell from power. Whether or not they'll be able to figure out where you've gone... I think you'd find them before they'd ever find you.”
More silence before Jet exchanged looks with both Lyric and Cipher who finally cleared his throat. “Rider, Zeal, take him to solitary. We'll discuss your fate when Brock returns. But in the meantime,” Cipher's eyes darkened and Ram was hard pressed not to feel instant intimidation. “you step a toe out of line and I'll let Lyric here slit your throat.”
There was a collective shudder in the group at Cipher's words as Ram was led out of the room. Amber was staring at Cipher as though she'd never seen him before. Definitely this wasn't the young man who had been taken from her. Bray had never been so cold, so cruel, so... blood thirsty. What had the Technos done to him? If this was what became of the caring boy she'd loved with every fiber of her being, Amber felt that is was the worst crime the Technos had committed.
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“What a day.” May moaned as she collapsed onto her cot. “Who would have thought so much could happen in twelve measly little hours.”
“At least we were able to get cleaned up.” Gel pointed out as she aggressively brushed her damp hair. She was in a considerably brighter mood since being able to bathe and change. “It feels so nice to be out of those filthy, smelly rags and to sleep in a real bed. I've been losing out on my beauty rest since we left the city.” She set her brush on the end table and studied her reflection in the small wall mirror. “These aren't at all fashionable but they'll do until I get my things washed.”
May watched Gel admiring herself before rolling her eyes and looking at Salene who sat on her bed in thoughtful silence. Salene hadn't said much since dinner. In fact most of the Mallrats had seemed to lose the ability to carry on a decent conversation since hearing what Ram had to say.
“Sal, are you alright?” The red head shrugged slightly without looking at May. “What's wrong?”
Salene sighed. “I'm just thinking about what Alice said.”
“Didn't I tell you not to think about that?”
“How can I not think about it, May?”
At a loss for a comforting response May sighed before getting up and sitting next to her friend. “What's done is done Salene.” She finally spoke. “You can't keep beating yourself up for stuff you did in the past. Trust me, I know.”
The girls shared a look before Salene went back to gazing out the window at the night sky. It was after dark now and the Mallrats were spread out all over the compound. Ellie was staying in Alice's two room shack in what was usually Bird and Colt's bed. The twins had moved over to the kid's shack bringing Lottie with them. Taisan had invited Lex to stay with her while Malon had offered Sammy the spare cot in his shack. The rest of them were bunking in the compound building where the Technos had once lived. Jack took the vacated bed in Jay's room, Darryl was sharing with Trader, Ebony with Slade, while Trudy, Amber and the kids were in the room across from May, Salene and Gel. They'd all been given clean and comfortable things to wear and had the chance to wash up before settling down for the night.
Still, despite all this welcomed hospitality, the mood of the castaways was somewhat low. Each had mixed feelings about what Ram had done, and the way they'd seen Cipher react. Bray had always been one of the least violent among them. To see him so cold and eager for blood shed was disturbing at best. But these weren't the only troubling thoughts on Salene's mind.
At dinner Alice and the others had finally been able to tell them the good news about Cloe and KC, both of whom were at the Radix. And what was more, so was Ryan, though he now went by the name Ethos. KC had been brought to the compound in the beginning along with Cipher, Alice, Taisan, Bird and Colt. They found Ryan amongst the throng of scared and angry prisoners. Cloe had shown up months later suffering from a terrible case of virtual reality sickness. It took her days to come out of it and a couple weeks more before she stopped craving “the game”. Eventually Cloe, KC and Ryan had become hunters, whom at the moment were overdue for their return to the village.
It wasn't Ryan's being alive that bothered Salene. In fact she would have been ecstatic that he was alright if it wasn't for something Alice had warned her about.
“Look Salene,” The older girl began cautiously. “There's something you should know about Eth... Ryan. He doesn't... he doesn't like to talk about you... at all. As soon as we found him, we wondered how we would tell him about the baby, but before we could even mention it, he told us he already knew. He said that he'd buried the baby... and you. And that it was all in the past and he didn't want to talk about it ever again.”
“Buried me?” Salene whispered.
Alice nodded. “We all just figured it hurt too much to think about everything that happened between you and him... and the Chosen.”
“So you're saying he blames me. That he hates me?” Salene narrowed her eyes at her friend. She remembered that Alice had been the first to accuse her of being responsible for Ryan's “death”. It was that accusation that had led to her fall and miscarriage of her child.
“I didn't say that.” Alice replied quickly though her expression was doubtful. “And there's more. Ryan's... well he's remarried now. And he's got a baby.”
Salene's mouth went dry. “A baby?”
“A little girl.” Alice nodded again and noticed as Salene glanced up and down the tables. “She's not here right now if that's what you're looking for. Astrid likes her privacy when she's feeding Naima.”
Alice's words reverberated in Salene's head. Ryan... buried... remarried... Astrid... Baby... Naima. Finally she swallowed and forced a small smile. “So that's it?”
“Well I just thought you should know. In case he's... well so you'll be prepared when you see him.”
Salene's smile faltered as she tried her best to hide the fact that she was rattled by this news. “Yeah sure. Thanks. I think it's great, his having a family. It's what he always wanted.” She finished in a whisper.
But Salene didn't think it was great. In fact she'd felt nothing but nausea from the moment the words had left Alice's mouth. Ryan was alive and not only did he hate her but he'd moved on and started another family. The family he had wanted so desperately with Salene. The family she'd denied him. He said he'd buried the baby... and you. Those words continued to echo in her head and she felt disgusted. How could Ryan blame her for everything that had happened? It wasn't her fault the Chosen took over. She had only joined them in fear of losing the baby. His baby. It wasn't her fault he was sent away. Wasn't her fault their baby died...
Then again Salene knew all the blame couldn't be bestowed on the Chosen. She and Ryan were falling apart long before Trudy had ever returned to the mall. Salene had been the one to push him away, had been the one to pick fights with him, had been the one to blame him for her unhappiness. Deep down Salene knew she was truly disheartened because she felt Ryan deserved so much more than her and now it looked like he'd finally found it.
As May sat comforting her best friend, she wasn't aware of the tear fest happening right across the hall. While the little ones slept, Amber quietly sobbed with Trudy doing her best to quench the water works. The impact of their arrival and seeing Bray was finally hitting her... hard. Amber felt a distorting wave of guilt as she relived all of the emotions of the past year. All this time she'd tried to get over her loss... tried to find other things to focus on... tried not to think about the gaping hole in her heart... all this time she'd tried to move on. Only to find that Bray was alive and waging his own war. What hurt her the most was knowing that while Bray and the others defeated their captors, it appeared he had lost the battle for his spirit; the very essence that made him who he was. Amber could no longer hold back the torrent of emotion as these painful realizations flooded her mind.
"Amber," Trudy tried to sooth her friend.
"I didn't even try to find the truth Trudy." Amber wept in shame. "I just accepted that Bray was dead and moved on."
Trudy placed an arm around the sobbing girl. "We all did."
"Not you." Amber looked at her friend with watery eyes. "You always had hope. You weren't even surprised that he was alive."
Trudy sighed not sure what to say. The truth was, she'd never really believed that Bray was dead. Somehow in her heart she knew he was somewhere out there. Perhaps trying to get back to them. And no matter how she tried, she couldn't forget him or lose hope they would find him.
"The worst part is," Amber continued, wiping tears from her face. "I was relieved. Relieved to be able to stop hoping and start accepting the awful truth. I was glad to be able to move forward without anything holding me back. And now here we are and I'm with Jay and I know Bray thinks I betrayed him."
Trudy swallowed and chose her words carefully. "Don't blame yourself. You did what you had to do for yourself and for your son. In fact, Bray did the same thing when he thought you were dead."
"Yeah but the difference is, he actually saw my grave. There wasn't any evidence that I might still be alive. Ebony made sure of that." Amber finished bitterly. “God Trudy, I had all the bread crumbs right in front of me. I just never bothered to follow them.”
“That's not true.” Trudy shook her head sternly. “How were we supposed to know what was really going on? You said it yourself: we were two single mothers with small children. We had bigger problems than finding lost friends. Bray would have wanted you to do what was best for his son and that's what you did. You've had to carry this burden all on your own. Don't you go blaming yourself for what they did.”
Amber looked into Trudy's stern eyes and nodded. “You're right. We did the best with what we had.”
“Yes.” Trudy agreed.
“We did what we thought was right.” Amber continued.
“Yes.” Trudy nodded again.
“And Bray would have done the same in my position.”
“Exactly.”
“If that's true,” Amber stared at Trudy mournfully. “Then why do I feel so terrible?”
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“Penny for your thoughts?”
Rider looked away from the bonfire to see Jet approaching him. “Hey.”
She smiled. “Is this a private affair or can anyone join?”
Chuckling he scooted over to make space for her to sit beside him on the log. As Jet sat down Rider returned his gaze to the fire. The night was cool and he relished the warmth of the blaze on his skin. Feeling oddly content he allowed the many events of the day to replay themselves out in his mind. For no particular reason the image of Trudy's nervous expression as her little girl was strapped to his back made him smirk.
“So is everyone tucked in for the night?” Jet's voice interrupted his mundane thoughts.
Rider nodded. “Safe as houses. Quinn took a look at that injured girl they brought with them. She thinks her collarbone may be fractured, along with some of her ribs. But she'll live. Kale's keeping watch over her.”
Jet frowned. “Kale? Since when is he interested in the infirmary?”
Rider smirked remembering the stars in Kale's eyes. “Since that girl arrived on shore.”
“Oh.” Jet nodded in understanding. “Well I know what's to be done about her ribs... what of the collarbone?”
Rider shrugged slightly. “There isn't much we can do seeing as we can't wrap it. Good thing it's only a fracture since they heal quickly with little aid. Couple weeks of bed rest and she should be fine. A bit sore perhaps...”
“We'll have Taisan give her something for the discomfort.”
Nodding Rider noticed the troubled look in Jet's eyes. “You're worried about the hunters aren't you? Because they're overdue.”
“What?” She gazed at him confused before shaking her head. “No, I mean, well... kinda. It has weighed on my mind.”
“It's not the first time they've been late.” Rider offered reassurance. “You know how Brock gets on the hunt. He becomes Captain Nemo.” Jet laughed lightly at the accurate comparison before frowning with concern once more. Rider sighed. “But that's not all that troubling you is it?”
She shook her head slightly. “Ya know, I thought I'd feel better after hearing what Ram had to say. I thought it might solve some mystery or provide... closure. Instead I feel worse than I did before. It's like now I know there wasn't any validity to all of this happening to us. It was just a bunch of boys playing war games and they used us like toy soldiers. The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach and I almost wish I could go back to thinking it had all served a higher purpose.”
“Yeah, I know.” Rider ran a hand over the shaved side of his scalp. “It's ironic.”
“What is?”
“They, the adults, they use to say the truth will set you free, but it doesn't. I've found that the majority of the time, the truth only causes more pain.”Across the way back in the dark compound building a young woman lay away in brooding thought. She stared through the darkness at her lover's slumbering face studying every detail that defined his handsomeness. As she watched his chest rise and fall with each peaceful breath she was thinking the same exact thing.
chap nine <-----> chap eleven