Winter Dread, page 3
Intelligence = 108
Wisdom = 156
Charisma = 21
Luck = 12
Quick Points = 10
I read through it very carefully, taking it all in.
This was amazing. And he had quick points to use. “Hiroto, you are beyond awesome.”
“You’re not looking too bad yourself, Kyle. You’ve come a long way.”
“I still feel like it’s not enough though!” I blew air out between my lips and they almost farted.
Hiroto patted my arm, and I actually liked the contact from him. “You are. I might not be there, right inside your head to chase those demons, but you know I would.”
“Thank you.” I meant it. “You’ve been the glue keeping me going most of the time.”
“You were the glue holding all of us together, I just prodded now and then.”
I smiled and changed the subject. “Your quick points?”
“I’m not sure what to do with them yet,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Intelligence, probably, but what about the others?”
“It would all depend on what kind of class you are, what build you want to follow. You haven’t done anything specific with it, haven’t made a choice. Your body?”
“I know. It looks like all my points have been assigned automatically, but these make a huge difference, right? Doubling the stats?”
“Yes, they sure can.” I was a little jealous, but happy he had these choices to make now. It would make a big difference for him.
A sound from the other side of the room made us both look that way. The door opened and Tyto stepped inside. He glanced to the both of us. “Can’t keep you two apart, huh?”
Hiroto blushed and was about to move off the bed, but I reached out to stop him. “You’ll have to take him at face value now. He won’t change.”
Hiroto’s voice changed. “I don’t know if I can, I mean . . .”
“You’ll be fine. He’s one of our closest friends, right?”
Tyto drew in closer. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. I am only going to presume this is the weirdest thing ever for you both?”
Hiroto nodded. “I feel like I’ve lost my best friend.”
I felt myself choke up again. “I’m right here,” I said. “Nothing’s changed. You just don’t get privy to all my internal feelings and thoughts, that’s all.”
“I miss it.” He sighed.
“I do too,” I agreed with him, and he looked at me. “I have had friends all my life, but you are special, Hiroto. You always will be. I hope you understand that.”
He beamed then. “Thank you, that makes me feel so much better. I thought . . .”
“You thought what? That he didn’t like you?” Tyto asked.
“That I was an inconvenience. The thoughts, his personal ones, were hard to deal with at times.”
I remembered back to the first few months with him inside my head and how difficult it really had been, but then how much it had helped me. “Hiroto, I am human. I have crazy moments just like the rest. You were never an inconvenience. Right from the start, you helped me. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you, or Xirob.”
Tyto sat on the bed opposite and waited. We both looked to him then. “May I debrief you both?”
I shook away the emotions clouding my head, and nodded at him, “Yes, please do.”
“It was pretty clear that Melody leads the women here. I had no idea, but she’s actually a respawn.”
“What?” Hiroto asked. “How it that possible?”
“Her name is Evosa Morellia,” he said. “Her host is Melody Ritz.”
3
Hiroto froze. “She is the denti queen’s mother?”
“Yes, she believed her daughter had perished. When the time was coming for her to lose her own life, she asked something of the others she never thought she would. In secret, they managed to seed a denti woman and hide the pregnancy, smuggling the newborn eventually into the usual cribs. It took great guts and determination, but Evosa is inside Melody.”
“So she’s technically the first ever full denti split?” I asked.
“Yes, she is—that’s how they knew it was possible. That’s how they knew things had to change. That somewhere into the future there would be someone who it would happen with. Evosa had many visions, as did her daughter, Cassie. Even over the distances, those visions never changed. She had hope. They both did, and it’s why Cassie sent me in. I understand more now of what was going on, even in my early denti days. They knew this day would come and that we would bring it.”
“They don’t know everything,” I said and locked eyes with Hiroto.
“You’re going to tell him?” Hiroto asked.
Tyto’s eyes flashed his concern. “What? Tell me what?”
“About the war—about many things. I’ve got my missing memories back, Tyto.” I looked from him to Hiroto. “That whole year I was missing.”
Hiroto raised his eyebrow this time. “You never said . . .”
“I had to lock it all away,” I admitted. “There’re some things I don’t ever want to relive.” I swallowed and sat up. Gulping down some water, wishing it was alcohol. “Those words I said. ‘Welcome to the real war’. It’s true; the war is real.”
I saw him visibly shiver, and the two of them shared a glance, then their eyes fixed on me again.
“I’ve seen it,” I said. “I’ve seen hundreds of merged mechs on the front line fighting to save us from being overrun by an enemy I don’t even think I can describe.”
“Hundreds of merged mechs?” Tyto asked.
“Not just merged mechs, like you’ve seen. I’m talking superpowered. Super massive merged mechs. Bigger than anything you’ve imagined. Even with training, I don’t think we could command them. They were commanded by one of the most formidable generals I’ve ever seen.” I hesitated here; I wasn’t sure I should speak the truth. Xirob. I still didn’t know if I believed it. That he was alive.
“Oh, bigger than Jai?” Hiroto asked.
“Bigger than anyone I’ve seen before.”
“Who?” Hiroto asked.
I swallowed before I said her name, because I knew Xirob and his family might not be too happy about seeing her there. “Ohara,” I finally said. I couldn’t do it to them, not yet. It wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
“Ohara, the sister Xirob fell out with all those years ago and wouldn’t tell you the details on?” Hiroto asked.
“Yes. I don’t understand any of it. I do know there’s something really good about knowing she’s out there.”
“Where did this information come from?” Tyto said.
“Not only did I find out and revisit some of where I was for the year I was missing, but I was introduced to a creature that I believe is one of the main beings pulling us all together.”
“What species?” Tyto asked.
That I wasn’t sure of. I shook my head. “I asked some of you once. But no one seemed to know the description.”
“So,” Hiroto said. “Tell us. I’m more than curious.”
I thought back to the creature I’d talked with on the deck of the dwarves’ ship and described her.
I watched the reaction of Tyto more than Hiroto. I knew my new old friend wouldn’t have a clue as to what or who she was. But it seemed Tyto was just confused as well. “You don’t have her name, do you?”
I shook my head. Maybe I would have found out more if I had stuck around. I shrugged. I couldn’t have. I had so many other things that I had to do, and I wanted to get out of there to the last fight.
I moved on the bed and drank more of the water that I was now suddenly so thirsty for. “Do we have a meeting set up again with Melody?”
Tyto nodded. “Now you’re both awake and rested, she is a lot happier about seeing you in one of the main meeting rooms with several of the other key women.”
“That sounds like a good plan, I’m ready.” Beth had confirmed it earlier. Hearing it from Tyto made it seem more military.
“There are a lot of things I need to know right now,” I said. “I feel left out without an AI or a way to connect with HopeNet and the guild. That needs to be the first port of call for both Hiroto and I.”
“Yes, I mentioned it. I can’t connect to you, so it was a concern of mine. We did briefly talk about it. As denti without a chip, they don’t have the same access to the world we do. They’re running mostly blind, but their network itself is huge.”
“Yes, and beyond theirs it really is,” Hiroto reminded us. “It’s much, much bigger than you already think, and even I had no idea till the nites started to spread out.”
“That’s another reason I need to get things sorted.” I worried. Xe and Nus were both somewhere. I needed to get them back and work out what was next for them. Would they be able to help me and Hiroto? Would I need to harness more of them to help the women here, or would they even want to have nanites?
I had too many questions, and if the denti women were going to join us, we’d have hard negotiations, it seemed.
“We have some time to get some additional supplies. Get you woken up a little more and then I think we’ll be good.”
“I’m ready now. I’d really like to get these talks to get started. At least see what, if any, kinds of chips we can get down here.”
“I can ask Aust. There will be others who can supply us.”
“I’d like to kind of keep the information between as few as possible for the moment, so please don’t tell everyone.”
“Understood.” Tyto accessed the information. I could almost see his eyes flicker with the information passing through. I’d never seen it like that before.
I apologise, Sol said. But yes, I am. Your world is overwhelming, and yet impressive.
Oh, don’t be sorry. I don’t think any of this should be underappreciated—it is a wonder.
Yes, he said. It really is. What you have been doing as denti with Hiroto and Xirob seemed to defy what most of my own species would have thought possible.
Thank you. I think we did pretty well together.
Tyto stood. “We’ll have a shipment of the newest chips down with the rest of the command crew.”
“Who is coming over?”
“Everyone,” Tyto grinned. “When Flaoer was in control, the dwarves took over. Then the rest of the fleet moved to follow us.”
“Everyone is here?” I asked, suddenly feeling so excited and yet nervous to see Shion again.”
“Yes,” Tyto said. “Shion is on her way. She was very worried. You vanished off the system on her watch.”
“Crap, she thought I was dead?”
“Yes, a lot of them did. When I realised they jumped into our space, I took some time out to explain.”
“Melody was okay with the sudden influx of other ships?”
“Not really,” he said. “She was very worried about the sheer amount of men here with us in the first place. I asked Denn and the other core team women to come down even if they’re not command.”
“You know, most of the women on Artemis are more than just crew.”
Tyto smiled at that. “I think they’d like to hear that from you.”
“Then when they’re here, I will tell them. In fact, everyone on our ship deserves to know they’re more than just their title now. As we spread out amongst the stars, they’re going to have a lot more to command than just a ship.”
“What do you mean?” Hiroto asked, his brows furrowing.
My new mission flashed up before me, and I read it out for them.
JOIN THE FRONTLINE - JOIN THE WAR
Y/N
The images of those mechs flashed before me. “I’m going to call all hands with me to the front line. The fact is they’re losing, and if we can help, then we will.”
“You want to take the Metal Titans to war?”
“Yes.” I stood straight and glanced to the door. “Are you with me?”
I didn’t look at them, but I heard them stand, and I walked forward.
I knew when I stepped through that door back out into the corridor that this was the start of something big. I also wasn’t sure where I was going. Tyto moved before me. “We’d never let you go out there alone and you know it.”
I turned to see Hiroto’s face. “Tyto has it correct. As much as you’re going to have to sell this to those ladies out there, you’ll have everyone on board from the guild.”
“Whatever it takes.” I nodded at him. My stomach churned, but I don’t know if the nerves were just mine or Sol’s. A little of both, probably. I don’t think our species thought this day would ever come.
As we stepped through the doors, Tyto moved into the circular centre where the table that stretched around us was filled with many more women than I had thought possible. I didn’t expect to find the bases board room like this, but when I looked closer, I could see it was hastily cobbled together. The tables didn’t match, and the three chairs before us were also odd. That was something. It meant it was new for all of us. I breathed out, running sweaty hands down over my trousers.
As I scanned around, I counted the heads. There were fourteen other women, besides Melody and Beth.
Tyto spoke. “I’ve had the pleasure already of meeting them. They came from the other bases over night to be here to meet you in person.”
The ladies all stood, and raising their left fist to their chest, they sparked their kenosi and then lowered their heads to me. Heat rose up my neck. It seemed weird them doing it to me, but I felt honoured as well.
You should feel honoured. They’re classing you and I in the same league as Tyto, as Eekan.
Special forces?
Yes, one of the highest honours.
I let them take their moment, and then I spoke. “Apologies, I don’t know how to respond to that, to you.”
Sol almost smiled on the inside. They do not require a response, or I would have told you.
Melody spoke clearly for us to hear from the centre of the circular table. Well, almost the centre. “Kyle, this is our core council. Each representative here leads their respective base and has the full authority of the women in their care to be here to talk with us.”
“I am honoured to meet you all. But I am afraid I’d struggle with so many names at once.”
Beth laughed at Melody’s side. “We understand Kyle. We will not bombard you with information just yet. Please, would you sit with us?”
She pointed towards the three chairs. I took the middle seat with the guys to each side. I felt powerful sitting here, even if I felt on show.
“We believe you’d like to request a procedure for yourself and your friend, Hiroto, to install a working AI Chip into your minds. This will allow you access to your computer system and you can control the nanites that your other non-pure denti bodies would use. This is correct?”
“Yes, we have a mission that takes us away from here, and it is vital to completing it.”
“My sister Kubil has accepted responsibility for you. Once your chip’s here, you can move to one of our medical labs,” Beth said, “You have a doctor who would show us the process. Sadie, correct?”
“Yes, I think Sadie would want to do it for us. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” Melody answered, drawing my eyes to her. “We’ll organise it as soon as possible so you can organise your forces much better and then you can leave us. We have our people to rebuild.”
I stood then and slowly moved to approach her, much to the annoyance of the other women, and her second. “Melody, forgive me for this question, but I must ask it.”
She motioned to the surrounding women. “Please ask.” She stepped aside. “I have no secrets from our council.”
I was surprised at this. But I moved to her position, which was obviously something of great standing, and I looked out to the room. At least from here I could see all of them. “Will you join us and provide us with the spark we need for respawns?”
There was an immediate uproar in the room. I had to bring this back to me. Right now. I needed these women on my side.
Speak to them from your heart, Kyle. They will listen to that more than anything. There is also one thing you can do to show them what you mean to them. Pledge yourself to Melody.
“Ladies, please.” I sucked in a breath and raised my voice. “I came to you with one of your own, with one of the queen’s own trusted special forces. We came here to do the one thing you have hoped for, for many years. To break you out of the slavery you have been subjected to.”
“What, to just enslave us again? I do not think so!” a very headstrong woman to my right shouted towards me. “You are no Eekan.”
Tyto stood up to face her this time. “He is more Eekan than I am right now. I inhabit a man-made denti body with their technology so I could go on this journey to be here. I gave my life as a denti master to do this, to start over and become what you see now. Kyle is inside one of our pure bodies; he is very real. He and Hiroto are more than Eekan, and if I did not know my queen” –he looked to Melody and continued— “and her daughter were alive, I would bend my knee and pledge allegiance to Kyle right now as the rightful denti leader.”
“Preposterous.”
I didn’t need any other prompting. Stepping to the side of the table once more and looking to Melody, I did what Sol had told me. I moved before her, to the room’s sudden silence.
“What are you doing, Kyle?” Hiroto asked.
I didn’t need to do anything. I kneeled before her, placing my hand to my chest much like they all had to me.
“I respect you and your species. Not as vessels for what we require. If you want to pull back and retreat into hiding, you can. I won’t hold it against you. Any of you.” I looked up then and met her eyes with mine. I could feel Sol’s love for her as he also looked up. “I am the one who pledges to you, no harm will ever come to you. No woman will ever have to unwillingly give their children for this cause.”
“You would do that?” Melody asked, a slight flicker of her eyelids was all the emotion I could see from her.
