The Armor of God (19 page)

10. 9. 8. 7—

If anything horrible was going to happen, it would happen now. Garros couldn’t help but look at Ravana’s red eyes outside the window. Susan closed her eyes and looked away from the screens. Erin never looked away—she was too brave to be intimidated by Milos Ravana.

3. 2. 1.
A beep.

“He’s in! He’s done it,” Dr. Kruger said and everyone began clapping. Even Dr. Mizrahi, who barely ever smiled, wiped sweat from her forehead and joined in everyone’s glee.

Finally, after more than two decades, they had finally found the missing piece: a pilot for the single most powerful piece of equipment in Roue’s arsenal.

If the war against the laani was ever won, and humanity once again walked the surface of the world freely, this day would be remembered as a turning point.

Garros looked forward to planning the party tonight.

Alice looked up at him and he saw small pools of tears in her eyes; she was smiling. She hugged him, relieved.

“I’m in, I see you,” Davenport said and laughed through the speakers. “I’m wearing The Armor of God!”

Ю

Ezra had been sitting inside the Egg for ten minutes and three times already he had heard the sound of cheers and laughter. He had tried to believe Susan’s words, assuring him that it was safe and that nothing would happen to his body or mind, but he couldn’t help feeling nervous. The tiny monsters in his stomach were back, and they hurt.

“He did it!” Susan ran into the room, a big smile on her face. “Akiva synchronized with Milos Ravana! Everything is stable!”

A great wave of relief took him and washed away a lot of anxiety. It was then that he understood that most of it stemmed from fear, not for his own safety, but for Kiva’s. Four false matches had died trying to do what Kiva had just done.

“That is wonderful!” Dr. Mustang said. “I wish I had been placed with Milos!”

“I’m sitting right here,” said Ezra, and Dr. Mustang apologized.

“Poole is in as well,” Susan said. “They’re coming now. Are you ready?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ezra said. “Oh and ma’am? Can I—can I tell you something? First Lieuten—I mean Alice. She’s not feeling very well, ma’am. I don’t want to be indiscreet but she was crying yesterday. I know you two are friends so . . . could you talk to her? Maybe she shouldn’t do this today, maybe someone else—”

“I know what you mean,” Susan said. “Nothing can stop her from synchronizing with you today, but if it makes you feel any better, I can go talk to her. Maybe I can make her feel better.”

Ezra wondered if the reason why Alice had cried, why she had drunk herself to such a stupor that she kissed him on the lips, was connected to the conversation she and Susan had at lunch. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Susan smiled at him in a way that reminded him of his mother. It was reassuring.

Dr. Mizrahi, Alice and Garros walked into the room a minute later. “Three down, one to go,” Alice said and approached the computers and screens next to the window. “How are you feeling, Ezra?”

“I’m all right, ma’am.”

“You ready?” asked Garros. Ezra nodded.

“All right, then. Close the lid,” Alice said.

Dr. Mustang gently pushed Ezra’s head down, into the Egg, and began pressing a series of buttons before whispering, “Good luck.”

The lid closed and a rush of anxiety grabbed him in a stranglehold when he felt utterly trapped. It was so dark he couldn’t see his own hand, and the water reached all the way to his ears. He was going to drown—

“Ezra, can you hear me?” Alice’s voice. It didn’t appear to be coming from speakers of any sort; it was so clear, sounded like she was right there with him. “Do you see a light?”

“It’s dark, it’s—”

At the end of the Egg, just above his naked feet, Ezra saw a white dot about the size of a coin. It blinked in a steady cadence, like the sleeping breaths of a newborn. Looking at it filled him with a queer kind of peace.

The dot came on and off, on and off. The white light appeared to overtake him. It was warm and beautiful. Maybe it was the numbing agents in the fluid, but he no longer felt his own body in the water: only the warmth of the dot—

Who are you?

“He’s in,” came a distant voice. “All four synchronized at over eighty percent. Davenport at nearly ninety.”

He couldn’t move.

Why are you here?

“Ezra?” the voice came again, closer now.

His eyes focused, and he couldn’t completely understand what he was seeing.

“Ezra, you’re in,” came Garros’ voice. Again, it was as though he was speaking directly into his ear. Finally, he understood what he was seeing: it was the docking chamber, but now he was looking from the other side of the window.

He was inside Besoe Nandi. He was looking in from the eyes of a giant.

“Ezra? Is the link set up? Why isn’t he—Ezra?” Alice’s voice sounded horrified. “Ezra, please answer—”

“I’m here,” Ezra said. “I’m just—I can’t move.”

What are you doing here?

Even through the strange technologies that let him hear their voices, Ezra heard Alice sigh in relief. “The Creux is locked. You’ll be able to move when we’re miniaturized. How do you feel?”

“Strange,” Ezra said, looking down at the crew inside the chamber; they all seemed so small, like ants. “I don’t know. It feels like the Equivalency Suits, but I can’t move.”

“It does, doesn’t it? All your readings are fine and normal, the synchronization is stable; you were really born to pilot, Ezra. Stay calm and see if you gauge Nandi’s temperament for the report tonight. I’m closing communications, but your crew will still be here at all times, if you need anything. I’m synchronizing with Absolute Omega and we’ll begin Phase Two.”

Ezra saw Susan pass by the window, wave at him, then disappear. From this vantage point, he couldn’t see the whole room; only the space close to the window, where Garros now stood, giving him a thumbs up.

Are you the one who is supposed to tame me? You are so small.

Where were those thoughts coming from? Ezra could almost hear them in his mind, even in his own voice, as though they were his own.

I am the guardian of the maze. I am the monster appointed to slaughter intruders.

It was Nandi. These were Nandi’s thoughts Ezra was sharing. Suddenly he felt vulnerable, like he was trapped in a cage with an invisible feral beast that could pounce on him at any moment.

“I think I can—is this voice—?”

“What you hear are the thought patterns left behind in Besoe Nandi’s T-Core, Ezra,” he heard Dr. Mustang’s voice. “Remember those are
not
your thoughts. They are not really there at all. You will have to learn to use the knowledge left inside your Creux to your favor. It is vast.”

“It’s loopy,” Garros said. “Ares was a butthole at first. You just need to learn it and tame it.”

I cannot be tamed,
Ezra thought.
We cannot be tamed.

No, not Ezra.
Nandi
.

“Shut up,” Ezra said.

“Hey man, take it easy,” Garros replied from inside the docking chamber.

“No, not you—Nandi, he’s—”

“Hold on. Ezra? Absolute Omega is online. We’re going to set up a communication network. You will be able to hear all five synchronized Creux, so don’t freak out if you hear too many voices. Setting up link—now.”

The noise that came next could be compared to a blast of wind suddenly hitting his ears, followed by the overlapping voices of Kiva, Poole, and Jena, each having their own separate conversation with their crewmembers.

“Shut up, everyone—be quiet!” Alice’s voice boomed over all the rest. “Akiva, please be quiet. Can everyone hear me?”

All four voices overlapped again. It almost hurt, like having too many thoughts at the same time. He looked down at the docking chamber to try and focus; Kat had joined Garros by the window.

“We’re going to be here for five minutes while your minds get used to the Creux. It feels alien and strange—Kiva, be quiet—”

“I didn’t say anyth—”

“Be quiet! If we all talk at the same time, there will be what we call communication dissonance. The voices are being transferred from each Creux’s respective Egg to all of our Creuxen, and that overlap causes interference and hurts the synchronization. Don’t speak unless spoken to. Akiva, I said be quiet.”

“Ma’am, I didn’t say anything,” said Kiva. Ezra hadn’t heard Kiva’s voice either; maybe there was a problem with the communications.

“Ezra, can you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Jena, can you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Poole can you—Davenport, I am not joking. You open your mouth again and I will make you—”

Ezra’s eyes suddenly focused on the inside of the docking chamber. There was too much movement. He could see Dr. Mustang moving dials on a computer, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Something was wrong.

“Akiva,
please
!” Alice’s voice yelled, and it sounded like a plea. “Please stop!”

“Ma’am, I swear on my mother’s grave
I am not talking
! What is happening?”

“Something’s wrong,” he heard Jena said. “Something’s—”

“
Please! Please stop
!” Alice yelled.

“Ma’am! I’m not—Alice, I’m not talking!
Someone help
!” Akiva began to yell, and hearing his usually calm voice spiral to panic disturbed Ezra.

Finally, he heard Garros’ voice. “Guys, there is a slight overload in the—oh,
damn
. Uh, okay—okay. Stay calm, we’re unplugging you. Be still, we’re getting all of you out of there. Oh
no! Dammit!
”

Alice’s voice was the plea of a tortured soul, begging its torturer to release her through death. “You
monster
! It hurts so much.
Please
! Please stop!”

Ezra began to panic, desperation setting in as he tried to move but found himself completely immobilized by Nandi’s monstrous body. He needed to get out and return to his own.

“I cannot take it anymore! Someone! Please!
Ezra
!”

And then there was dead silence. He saw Garros begin to pound on the machines and scream.

Thud! Thud!

The pounding became louder and louder until it was just next to him. He was no longer seeing through Nandi’s eyes, but staring at the white dot that just a few minutes earlier had given him peace.

The Egg slid open and he heard Garros yelling into a communication device. “Alice Nolan has gone silent. I repeat,
Alice Nolan, pilot of Absolute Omega, has gone silent!”

Ezra gracelessly crawled out of the Egg, dripping the soapy fluid onto the floor and almost slipping on its cold surface. “Where’s Susan?”

Kat answered: “She’s with Second Lieutenant Nolan—”

“Ezra, stay here. Don’t move!” Garros growled and continued yelling into the device. “There is an overload in Absolute Omega’s T-Core. We need to maintain—”

Ezra ran out of the room, ignoring Garros’ deafening roars behind him, again almost slipping and tumbling down onto the hallway. Heart racing, he ran down towards the last door, where he knew Absolute Omega was docked. Where Susan and Alice—

A piercing sound, like the harsh timbre of strong interference, tore into his ears the closer he got. It became louder and louder until there was nothing else.

Suddenly Ezra was on the floor, tackled by the enormous mass of Garros.

“Susan and Alice!” Ezra tried yelling, but the noise became too loud—a cruel, deafening blast. Their ears began to bleed. They screamed.

Garros looked back towards the end of the hallway and then covered Ezra in a protective hug—

The entire world shattered.

He couldn’t breathe when his back and head hit the wall, then his feet the floor, then his head again. Launched away by the blue explosion, Garros and Ezra flew end over end before landing with a thud that sent him to sleep.

He opened his eyes, but couldn’t hear anything. Erin was covered in dust, crying as she held his head and neck, desperately looking for any signs of severe damage. Ezra couldn’t feel anything—his whole body was numb—but he could read Erin’s lips.

“Blanchard!”

Enduring pain in every joint, bone and muscle, he sat up and saw Garros’ massive body sprawled face down on the floor next to him. A large piece of his uniform was burnt off, exposing seared, smoking flesh underneath.

A few feet away from Garros stood Akiva and Jena. She was screaming, facing the aftermath of the blue eruption: There was nothing but a gap in the hallway.

Alice. Susan.

Ezra’s soul left him. He collapsed onto Erin’s hands, wishing never to wake up again.

We cannot be tamed.

Chapter 11

Faces on the Wall

In his dreams, things were beautiful.
In his dreams, life had gone on. In his dreams, his body was big and armored, impervious to damage and his soul was strong, unable to feel sorrow.