The Cyber Chronicles Book III - The Core (12 page)

"Don't get the
wrong idea," he said.

She raised her
brows. "Have I ever?"

He looked away
with a soft laugh. "Of course not."

"Are you okay
now?"

"Yeah. I fell
asleep, huh?"

"I couldn't
wake you up."

Sabre nodded,
his eyes distant. "It was the spider venom. I'd have neutralised it
eventually, but it was alien, like so much else around here. Lucky
you didn't get bitten."

"Yes," Tassin
agreed, leaning against him to soak up his warmth.

The monster on
the other rock roared and howled, pacing its tiny island. It had
seen them, and Sabre knew that when Flux-reality changed he would
have to deal with it. For the moment it was loath to leave its
haven and brave the frigid sea again, and he did not blame it. At
this distance, he could see little except that it was brown, shaggy
and spiny. He watched it while they waited for the next Change,
trying to ignore Tassin's slender form huddled against him.

By the time
the Change came, Sabre was dozing. The monster had fallen silent,
probably hoarse from hours of roaring its rage and defiance at the
odd world in which it lived. Tassin and Dena had fallen asleep,
and, when the brown and green flickers appeared, he woke them. The
Change washed over them, and a world of spiny succulents shimmered
into being, hot and arid. The monster roused and gave vent to
guttural roars, abandoning its boulder. The donkeys slid off the
rock and turned to the prickly sustenance around them.

Certain that
it would attack them, Sabre drew his laser and waited for the
monster to put in an appearance. The growls turned to squeals of
pain as the beast discovered the prickly nature of the new terrain.
Tassin took Dena to the other side of the rock, clutching her
laser. Sabre winced at the crashing in the thorns, wondering how
even a monster could inflict such torment upon itself. The beast
howled with pain and rage while it blundered through the spines
towards them. The succulents in front of Sabre were smashed down,
and the huge, shaggy creature appeared. Dagger-like claws tipped
its paws, and black, shiny spines bristled in its pelt. Its
maddened red eyes glared from a pushed-in face with too many
whiskers. Sabre blew its head off. The corpse collapsed, dead
before it hit the ground. Behind him, Tassin heaved a sigh.

They made camp
and settled down to slake their thirst and hunger while Sabre
surveyed the spiny barrier with resignation. It would take a lot of
work to move in this terrain at all, since he would have to clear a
path with the sword, and even then the thorns might penetrate their
shoes. He watched in amazement as the donkeys chewed the plants,
their delicate lips skilled at avoiding the thorns. Postponing the
onerous chore of moving, Sabre sat on the rock and pondered the
situation. If the Changes had been coming more quickly, he would
have waited for a new Flux-reality and in the hope that it was a
better one than this. It could not be much worse. With a sigh, he
rose to his feet and hefted the sword, heading for the nearest
thorny barrier.

"I wouldn't do
that if I was you," a soft voice said behind him.

Sabre whirled,
the sword ready. A cat-sized, black-masked creature regarded him
from the rock, its yellow eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Purr!" Sabre
and Tassin exclaimed in unison.

The mosscat
gave a purring chuckle and preened his whiskers.

"Where did you
come from?" Sabre asked, lowering his sword.

"I've been
tracking you since you entered the Zone. You've been walking in
such an erratic path I thought I'd never catch up with you."

"We're glad to
see you, Purr. We need a guide." Tassin grinned.

Purr regarded
her. "Oh, so you no longer suspect me?"

"No. You
didn't lead us astray last time."

"How did you
know we were back in the Zone?" Sabre enquired. "Did we pass close
to you?"

"No. You
forget, the Zone is my home. The moment you entered it, I knew you
were here, and where. I just had to reach you before you fell prey
to something, like those poisonous thorns you were about to plunge
into. One scratch and you would have been dead. Change would not
have saved you, since you're heading towards the Core, instead of
across the Zone. It's too slow in coming."

Sabre glanced
at the thorns with a shudder. "Thanks. How do you know?"

"I sense
things like that."

"Lucky for us.
Will you guide us again?"

"Why do you
think I tracked you down? Of course I will, even with all the extra
baggage." He eyed Dena and the donkey cart.

Sabre
introduced him to the mutant girl, and the two regarded each other
somewhat suspiciously.

Purr settled
on the rock and groomed his belly fur. "So, friend Sabre, didn't
you realise something was wrong when the Changes slowed?"

"I'm going in
the right direction. We're going to the Core."

The mosscat
looked up, his yellow eyes wide. "Are you crazy?"

"No. When we
came out of the other side of the Zone, we found out what all those
beasts that leave the Death Zone are doing outside. It's not a
pretty story. I'm going to destroy the Zone."

Purr chuckled.
"You are? How?"

"I'm not sure
yet. I'll figure it out when I get there. At the moment, I haven't
the foggiest idea what the Core is."

"You and
everyone else." Purr tugged at a matted knot in his fur. "I don't
know what it is either, but it's got to be pretty big and powerful
to create all of this, don't you think?"

"Sure, but
that doesn't mean it can't be destroyed."

"You'll never
even get there." The mosscat teased a burr from his pelt and tossed
it away. "Take some friendly advice, forget the Core and go home.
I'll guide you."

Sabre shook
his head. "I can't do that, I have to try. The Zone's getting
bigger and more powerful all the time. The monsters are wreaking
havoc outside. Soon they'll destroy everything, and the Zone will
expand to swallow up the whole world."

Purr fluffed
his fur. "But this is my world."

"I know, and
I'm sorry, but you'll be welcome outside, you're not a monster like
that." Sabre gestured to the slain shaggy beast. "I think you'll
like it better outside, it's terribly predictable."

The mosscat
sighed, shaking his head like an aged professor faced with a
particularly dim student. "Maybe so, but you'll never be able to
destroy the Core. I'll be leading you to your deaths, and probably
mine too. But if, as you say, the Zone is swallowing the world,
something must be done." He glanced at Tassin and Dena. "Although I
hardly think this is a likely bunch to do it with. We need another
five of you, Sabre, not a girl, a child, and a donkey cart."

Tassin
scowled. "I'll have you know I'm not some helpless female, Purr,
I'm a -"

"Warrior
queen," Purr finished for her. "Is she still convinced of that?" he
asked Sabre.

"She seems to
be." Sabre grimaced. "I tried to talk her out of coming already,
but she's determined."

"So I see."
The mosscat clasped his chubby hands around his belly, staring into
space. "It's a crazy idea. The likelihood of succeeding is nil, I
would say. If the Zone's growing, it would seem to indicate that
whatever is creating it is growing too, and therefore alive, not
some ancient machine as I believed. If that's the case, then it's
probably intelligent, or sentient, at least, which increases the
danger too. Once it deduces your intent, the Core will strive to
stop you, and it has many weapons."

Sabre
considered this. "It's not necessarily alive; it could be a machine
that's growing more powerful as it draws more energy from its
surroundings. The ancients had machines that drew power from the
air, wind or sun. Have you ever known it to do anything
deliberate?"

"Well, it
creates the creatures that live here, if that could be called
intelligent."

"How does it
create them?"

"I don't
know." Purr looked thoughtful. "I have a vague memory of being near
the Core, but it was a long time ago, and I moved away quickly.
Being near the Core is very nasty."

"How so?"
Tassin asked.

"Well, my
memory of it is hazy, but it seemed that the Changes were very
fast, very dangerous and disorientating. A mad whirl, really, and a
tugging... pushing ... like wild magic... very wild."

"But you
survived," Sabre pointed out.

"Yes, most of
us do, I suppose, but we move away as fast as we can; we're pushed
away. I think to approach the Core would be far more
difficult."

Sabre glanced
at Tassin, then back at the mosscat. "I guess we'll just have to
try. If we don't, this world is doomed, or at least, the world
outside is, and maybe this one too, since there's not enough food
in the Zone to feed the monsters it creates. Once there's no more
normal world outside, what will they do? Hunt each other?
Starve?"

"They hunt
each other now, though not with much zest, I must admit. Most
leave, as you know," Purr said.

"Yeah. So
you'll guide us?"

Purr blinked,
gazing around while he considered. "It seems wrong for me to help
you destroy my world. I should be trying to stop you, you know. The
world outside means nothing to me; I've never seen it, never wanted
to."

"It's nice,
Purr," Tassin said. "It's like one of the nice Flux-realities; like
the one where the monster was attacking the village, remember? Only
it never changes, and once this place is destroyed, there will be
no more monsters. You'll be safe all the time."

"It's like
that? With trees and grass, and animals?"

She nodded.
"Yes, and people, houses, castles, all sorts of wonderful
things."

The mosscat
twiddled his whiskers. "I guess it sounds better than this place.
Anyway, I still don't think you'll be able to destroy the Core.
I'll guide you as close as I can, and still be safe, after that
you're on your own."

Sabre smiled.
"It's a deal."

Purr picked up
his striped tail and began to pull burrs from it. "In the meantime,
have you got food? I'm starved."

On Purr's
advice, they settled down to wait for the next Change. They
discussed the Core, speculating on what it might be. Sabre
questioned Purr about what he had seen when he had been close to
it, but the mosscat's explanation was vague.

"You don't
want to remember it, do you?" Sabre asked.

"Would you
like to recall the details of your birth?"

The cyber
winced. "Not particularly, no."

"And you
intend to destroy the Core, my creator, one could say, my mother."
The mosscat glared. "How would you like to aid the death of your
creator?"

"I'd love
to."

Purr hissed,
and Tassin said, "Sabre was not born normally, Purr. He also has no
parents.

Sabre studied
the mosscat. "How do you even know about mothers and fathers, since
you were created by the Core, which is certainly not a small fluffy
creature like you? It didn't raise or nurture you. You don't even
know what it is. How do you understand the word 'mother'?"

"I'm not sure.
I seem to remember something..." Purr shook his head. "A very faint
memory, of another like me... a burrow... a warm nest."

Tassin
frowned. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know.
It's not; it must have been a dream."

Sabre shook
his head. "A creature who has no concept of such things couldn't
dream about them. Is that all you can remember?"

The mosscat
shrugged. "I have a vague memory of grass and trees, that's
all."

"Whatever it
is, you can't regard the Core as your mother any more than I can
call my creator my mother. You can't love it, Purr. It doesn't
deserve it. Evil spawned us, but at least we can put an end to this
one. It brings these creatures into the world to suffer, and to
inflict suffering on others, just like I was. It's got to be
stopped."

Purr huffed.
"I don't believe you can stop it, friend Sabre. I believe I'm
leading you to your doom, yet I suspect that you'll go anyway. So
my help makes no difference to the outcome, that's why I'll guide
you. Whether you die at the Core or on the way there makes little
difference, but I do enjoy your company."

Sabre glanced
at Tassin. "If I fail, will you guide Tassin to safety? She insists
on coming with me, but if I die, I hope she at least has the sense
to leave, if she can."

"Sure. I'll
guide her from the Zone if she wishes it."

Tassin glared
at them with equal ferocity. "You're not going to fail, Sabre."

He shrugged
and sighed. "Nothing's certain."

The mosscat
looked sad, apparently as convinced that Sabre would fail as Tassin
was that he would succeed.

Chapter Eight

Many hours
passed before the next Change came, by which time the party was
resting. Purr raised the alarm, and they huddled on the rock as the
world warped. Dena gave a cry of joy when a vivid new vista took
shape around them. Tall golden-barked trees with bright red leaves
towered over them, their fiery foliage rustling in the breeze.
Long, deep blue grass swayed in a nearby meadow that slumbered
beneath a garish green sky.

Tassin pulled
a face. "Weird!"

"Certainly
colourful." Sabre jumped down and caught up with the donkeys as
they headed for the meadow. Purr followed, sniffing the air with
appreciation.

"A better
world for travelling."

They set off
through the forest on a carpet of leaves rotted to a deep bronze
hue. Fungus-like growths of the most unlikely colours sprouted from
the damp humus, some sporting brilliant flowers. Dena skipped
ahead, exploring, and Sabre fought an urge to call her back, trying
to pin-point what it was about this world that filled him with
unease. The land was eerily still, as if they walked through a mad
artist's painting, realistic, but lifeless. He cursed the
non-functional scanners, wishing they worked, for his senses
clamoured with alarm and the hair on his nape bristled.