Tale of the Reader Pt. 5
Here's the next chapter, enjoy. As usual, please comment and correct anything you see wrong. Like I said, I want to get better at this.
Beep....Beep....Beep....Beep....Beep...
I moaned quietly, squirming a little in the bed. Friggin alarm clock. I reached out with my arm to hit the snooze button...and hit a rail on the side of the bed. That one inconsistency abruptly woke me up completely. I opened my eyes, and saw a plain white ceiling, dimly illuminated by a light coming from a corner of the room. Struggling to sit up, I finally managed to pull myself up on my elbows and look around. The one window showed a very dim yellow light, which meant that either it was dawn of the next day, or... It hit me suddenly, an almost physical impact on my chest. All the events following my return to New DC played out in front of my eyes, flashing by almost before I could see what they were. As the torrent of images ceased, I shook my head, clearing the last little bit of fuzziness away. I looked toward the corner where the light was coming from, and despite everything that happened, I had to struggle not to laugh.
Simon was sitting in a battered metal chair, next to the one table the room had. A lamp was on the table, and an opened book lay in his lap. What had me struggling to control myself was his face. His head was tilted back, so that he was almost looking straight up, and his tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth. His ears were brushing the wall his head was leaning against, and they occasionally twitched. He kept making these 'ruff' sounds. He reminded me of a dog I had once had that had made almost exactly the same sounds when it was dreaming.
I chuckled, then said, as loud as I could, "Simon!"
It couldn't have been more perfect. His head snapped forward so hard he almost threw himself out of the chair. I heard a quick yelp of pain as he accidentally bit down on his tongue, and his fog-filled eyes slowly came into focus as he stared at the floor, holding his mouth. He looked up to see me grinning, and flipped me the bird before realization dawned in his eyes.
"Reader!" At least, I think that's what he said. He was still covering is mouth so it came out a little muffled. Pulling his hands away from his mouth, he moved his tongue around his mouth gingerly before trying to speak again.
"Reader! Damn, I'm glad I didn't kill you." He frowned. "But did you have to wake me up like that? I was in the middle of a very good dream..."
I chuckled again, then grinned as he shook his head. "So, Simon, what's been happenen?"
He looked at me curiously. "For someone who almost died, you 're in a good mood."
I started to chuckle again, then froze. "What?"
He looked at me seriously. "Whatever you did with the building nearly killed you. The medics said you suffered a massive neural shock. It almost completely overloaded you nervous system. Reader, your heart stopped, and for awhile they couldn't get it started again."
I sat there a second, frozen, as my mind struggled to process this. Speaking of which... I reached out with my mind...and felt a swift burst of pain. I winced, then let out a slow smile as I felt the familiar feel of his mind. The pain was still in my head, but it slowly faded into a dull ache. I felt concern and relief emanating from him, along with...eagerness?
I leaned farther upright, until I was completely sitting up. As he looked on, I slowly moved my entire body. To my relief, everything seemed to work fine, except for the fact that I was sore all over, like I had spent all day working out.
I looked over at him. "So, I almost died."
He nodded. I looked at him a second, then threw back my head and started laughing. He looked on, and I could feel his concern for my mental state. I finally calmed down enough to say. "Simon, people have been trying to kill me since I joined this outfit. I'm kind of used to it by now."
He stared a second, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway, you fit to go?"
I shrugged. "Sure. Let me guess, we got a mission?"
He nodded as I slowly swung my legs over the edge and slid off. I stood there a second getting my balance while he said, "Yeah, although seriously, your guesses are usually better than most people's facts."
I unhooked the various wires and tubes while I said. "You're right. You know where my clothes are?"
He chuckled, and grabbed a package from the in table. He chunked it towards me, and since my hands were still tangled up in the various wires and tubes sticking out of my arm, I gently grabbed it with my mind. It hovered by me as I finally worked the last IV out. I grabbed it, then noticed the way he was staring at me.
"What?" I said.
He shook his head before answering, "You just grabbed that like, effortlessly. You didn't even wince. What the hell?"
I tore off the flimsy little hospital gown and slipped into my clothes while I answered. "Well, sometime between the initial strike from the invaders, and my---interesting---display with the building, I realized that if I don't force my powers, my head doesn't hurt." I paused and frowned. "Why haven't I figured that out before now...? Ah, well." I continued dressing, pleased to see my .357 and its holster amongst the clothes, along with the bandolier with the magnetic plate and my claymore. "So, what's our mission? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it has something to do with the invaders."
He nodded as I buckled my pistol belt on. "I really don't know. We're supposed to go to a briefing scheduled," He glanced at his watch, an ancient wind-up piece he had picked up at the same museum where I had gotten the claymore, "about ten minutes from now."
He looked at me suspiciously. "You woke up at a really convenient time."
I shrugged, finally dressed. "Guess I'm just lucky. Hey, where's the rest of the squad?" I had suddenly thought of Nadia...and Jarvis, of course.
He sighed. "Well, during the fight, Jarvis got it into his head to try to fight one of the invaders hand-to-hand." He winced. "He got his arm almost completely torn off. Although, he did distract them long enough for the group of survivors he had found to launch an attack that killed the squad of invaders they ran into... He's okay, he's actually in this hospital, and he just needs some more work done before he can leave." He paused.
"Nadia...well, the fight took a lot out of her. She passed out about three hours ago, and is sleeping in a trauma center not too far from here."
He looked at me. "By the way, don't extend yourself too far. You know, your psychic thing. A crapload of people got hurt during the attack, and just physically hearing it is bad enough."
I looked at him curiously. "How many were killed?"
He sighed, and ran his hand through his head fur. "Well, they're still recovering bodies, but I think the count is up to around 12,000 so far." He frowned, and I caught a spike of bitterness come off him. "We were lucky. Word is that the LAA capitol was completely demolished, and rumor has it that even the PEAF took a worse beating than us. He frowned. "Why we so easily repelled their attack, I have no idea."
I shrugged, then gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"
He nodded, then lead the way out of the room. We walked into the hallway, and headed toward the door. The corridor was crowded with gurneys, most empty, but enough of them had bloodstains on them to make me uneasy. We walked out the door into the slowly brightening morning, and I surveyed what I could see of the city.
Smoke rose into the sky at various places, and I could see helicopters patrolling the city, either looking for survivors or more invaders. Probably both. I was surprised to see that one section of the city appeared to be completely demolished, buildings blown apart and rubble strewn all over the place. With a start, I realized that was the place where we had encountered the other psychic. It sent a strange chill down my spine as I looked at the one large rubble-less spot. I still had no idea what had happened...
I shook my head. The hospital was located about three blocks away from the 3C, which is where I assumed we were heading. As we walked, I took notice of the patrols of DF, and I was surprised to see squads of dark red armored Special Warfare soldiers among them. Although it made sense. You see, the Special Warfare division of the military is almost completely made up of people with abilities. In fact, before I entered the WSR, they tried to recruit me. Suffice it to say, while they may be on the ANC's side, their methods of operation are...different. They twist and bend, and sometimes just break laws in their investigations and missions. They answer only to the Supreme Commander of the ANC, and the President. What I gleaned from the recruiter's mind was enough to make me nauseous. Just because I understood the need for them, doesn't mean I have to like it.
We reached the 3C without incident, and I was surprised to see the plaza it was located in was completely deserted. I cocked an eyebrow at Simon and he shrugged. "Most of the civilians are hiding. More of them were killed than DF soldiers during the attack. Those things that attacked us simply killed anyone they saw." He shivered with anger. "Even those who tried to surrender."
I nodded as we walked into the small, sturdy looking building. We got halfway into the foyer before the lights cut out, and a crapload of targeting lasers locked onto us. I froze, but Simon kept walking, nodding at a wall. The lasers turned off, and the wall he nodded at became transparent, revealing a SW soldier sitting behind a control panel, who waved us on impassively. We entered an ordinary looking elevator, and Simon pressed his thumb to a section of wall. A small beep sounded, and a keypad flipped out of the wall. As he typed in the password Simon grinned. "You know, I get a kick out of all this cloak and dagger crap."
As he finished putting in the code, the elevator started downward, the movement barely perceptible. We stood there for a second, then I started laughing. Simon looked curiously at me, and I managed. "Elevator music!"
He chuckled, and we settled in for the ride listening to the generic music as the elevator slowly moved down.
The door opened, and we were greeted by a squad of SW soldiers, all of whom had their weapons pointed at us. I nodded at them and said. "Sup?"
The lowered their weapons, and stood aside. The Sergeant in charge of the squad walked over to us, and the cat said. "If you will follow me to the War Room." He walked off, and after we exchanged shrugs Simon and I followed. He lead us down the narrow, blank steel corridors, occasionally moving aside for a squad of soldiers or the occasional technician to pass us, until we reached a plain wooden door with War Room on a small plaque. He opened it, and we walked into a shouting match.
"... only the PEAF has such technology! And you deny attacking us?!? The LAA will not stand for this!" The speaker was a descendent from the jaguar class of super soldier, and from his ornate robes and his words, I assumed that he was the representative from the LAA. He was flanked by two beautiful descendents of the coyote class of super soldier, with flowing black hair and dark green combat jumpsuits. They each had two short swords strapped to their backs, and one had a huge revolver in a holster on her belt, while the other had, of all things, a odd looking crossbow cradled in her hands. As we walked in, I saw their eyes flick over at us, and I sensed their minds scrolling through various battle plans, altered only slightly by the fact that I was a human. They tensed, and one whispered in the delegate's ear. He looked at her, then sharply glanced at us. His expression changed to one of irritation, and I could sense his anger at having been interrupted, although I also picked up an undercurrent of... Anticipation?
The person he had been shouting at across the long wooden table that filled up most of the room looked up also, and the figure leaning against the wall behind the fox shifted a little, just enough for me to see the burning red light coming from the wolf's left eye. A cyborg! I had heard about the PEAF's experiments, but I had assumed they were just rumors. Obviously I was mistaken. The delegate from the PEAF was dressed in a sharp-looking business suit, but his guard wore a well used black duster, with a black cowboy hat that obscured most of his features, except for that one glaring eye. As he shifted, I saw that he had an odd looking rifle across his back, and he wore a short, matte black blade on his right hip.
"Ah, right on time." I looked at the speaker, and I had a brief flash of genuine awe. He was Supreme Commander Samuel Griffith, the most brilliant military mind in the ANC, some say the world. He was an ancient descendent from the wolf class of super soldier, and instead of the usual dark grey color most wolves were he was almost completely white. His long face was scarred, and he was missing one of his hands, which had been replaced by a relatively primitive metallic prosthetic that gleamed in the fluorescent lights of the War Room. His plain black uniform glinted darkly in the bright light of the War Room as he gestured at us to sit down. We took our seats to his left, farther down the table from the LAA delgation as he began.
The Commander stood up and all eyes at the table were drawn to him. "Now that we are all here, we can get down to business." He gestured toward the back of the long room, and the lights went out. A tri-dee projector flared to life, and a grainy image of one of the invaders was projected above the table.
The Commander said, "This is one of the enemy soldiers that launched an almost simultaneous attack against the capitols of the nations of Earth. Their technology is superior to ours, and their armor and weapons are unlike anything we have seen before." He paused. "Supposedly."
There was silence, then the delegate from the LAA stood up and said. "What do you mean, supposedly? We all know that only the PEAF could have technology this advanced!"
The delegate from the PEAF stood up, and said calmly, "As I have said before, their armor appears to be a courser, but far superior version of even our most advanced prototypes. Their weapons appear to be some kind of particle-accelerators, and the few samples we have collected are beyond the comprehension of even our most brilliant of scientists. We were not behind the attacks."
"Lies!" The LAA delegate roared.
The Commander looked almost amused as he turned toward me. "Reader, is the Director Sill telling the truth?" The LAA delegate paused mid-rant and turned toward me, regarding me with an unnerving glare. The Director looked over at me curiously, and the cyborg behind him finally appeared to show a little interest. For some reason I could get only vague impressions from him.
I stood up nervously, mindful of the stares directed at me, and said, "Yes, sir. He is telling the truth."
There was a pause, then the Director laughed. We all turned towards him and he smiled. "So you are the ANC's psychic. I've heard about you, but I wasn't entirely sure you were real."
I grinned slightly. "Yeah. I wasn't completely finished, though. You are withholding information." I turned toward the Commander. "And so are you."
Both of them grinned, and the Director glanced at the Commander. "Would you like to go first, or should I?"
The Commander nodded. "You first."
The Director sighed, and I could sense him ordering his thoughts. "Okay, this is what we know for certain. These 'invaders', as you so eloquently put them, attacked all of the capitols of the nations of the Earth simultaneously, as previously stated. They used different methods at each location. Here, they used low-orbit assault drop pods to land their troops, and in the PEAF they sent cloaked units to slip by our automated defenses so they could destroy our computer center, so their main force could roll in. In the LAA, they simply charged the gates and rampaged. In each location, these normal soldiers," He gestured at the still floating image, "were accompanied by at least one white-armored figure." He gestured again, and an image of one appeared.
He said, "These white-armored figures were reported to be more powerful than the normal soldiers, and at times they demonstrated abilities that mimicked the powers of a psychic." He looked at me pointedly.
I nodded. "Yeah, they are definitely psychics. The one I fought tried to attack my mind, but I was able to...I guess the best word would be 'throw', him out of my mind. I think that's the only reason that Simon's attack succeeded." I looked over at him. "Sorry, he probably could have stopped it. I think I could have."
The Director leaned forward. "Interesting... Anyway, these white-armored warriors pretty much demolished anything they ran up against, including our most advanced warriors, like Suik here." At the mention of his name the cyborg twitched, and turned toward me, exposing his face fully for the first time.
It wasn't nearly as bizarre as I had expected it to be. His left eye was a metallic ball set into his eyesocket with that same unnerving dull red light peering out of it. A straight line of that same kind of metal was set at a diagonal across his eye, making it appear as if he had some kind of strange scar. He grinned as he saw my reaction to his face, revealing dull, metallic looking teeth. Other than those two features, he looked like any other wolf.
I was a little shocked when he sent me my first clear thought from him. *Huh, so you're the psychic everyone's all worked up about. You're a human right? Didn't think there were any of you left.* He grinned a little wider as he saw the look of shock flicker over my face. *Don't worry, I'm not psychic. I just know you can hear me. I'll explain more later, this briefing isn't over yet.*
I shook my head, glad that everyone's attention was on the Director. The entire exchange hadn't lasted for more than a few seconds, but I frowned as I caught the last of the Director's words.
I leaned forward, still frowning. "Can you repeat that?"
He looked at me, and I could sense a minor irritation at being interrupted. He said, "As I said before, the invader's plan of attack differed at each capitol because of the uniqueness of them. They were obviously unaware of how effective your anti-air system was. I am correct in assuming that it was based off of our P-82 Multi-Purpose Defense System, yes?"
The Commander grinned slightly before saying. "Why, whatever are you talking about? You know perfectly well that the Arms Treaty of 2226 prohibits the unauthorized reproduction of weapons develped by the PEAF. You should know that we would never intentionally violate the treaty." He had lightly stressed the word 'intentionally'.
The Director frowned, and I could sense his earlier amusement fading. Before he could say anything, I said, "Director, as you were saying? We seem to have digressed a little."
He looked at me, and his amusement grew back to its previous level. I had the distinct feeling he knew that I had said that on purpose. I got the feeling that they had had that arguement before...
He cleared his throat before saying. "Yes, I suppose we have... Anyway, the invader's appear to have at least limited use of low-orbit facilities. Space-stations, satellites, ect. We believe that they are using the same cloaking technology that they used against the PEAF to shield these instillations. We are attempting to calibrate our sensors to locate these facilities, but we have had no success so far."
He leaned back and sighed, for the first time losing his calm composure. "All we know for sure is that these invaders have access to advanced technology, superior weapons, and that they have people with psychic abilities at their disposal. We have no idea where they came from, or what their next move will be. We also have no idea who they truly are, whether they are some splinter group that found a cache of some ancient technology, or whether, and I hesitate to say it, they are even of this earth."
I could still sense a faint feeling of amusement from the Commander, and I looked down the table at him, surprised to find that he was staring at me intently. I froze for a second, then he sighed, and heaved himself to his feet. In that split second, I could see and sense just how old he really was. Then the image of the infalliable war hero was back, and I wasn't entirely sure that what I had seen was real.
He looked down the table, and sighed again. "Well, I suppose I may as well fill you in on what I know about these invaders." He motioned at the back of the room and another figure stepped out of a concealed doorway.
I was surprised to see General Serik, the Director of the Office of Special Warfare and Tactics. He was dressed in a stylized version of their red armor, was an aging descendent of the tiger class of super soldier, and he walked with a slight limp and had a black eyepatch over his right eye. He was turning grey, and while he wasn't as old as the Commander, he still had the same strange look in his eyes, a look of pain at having seen too much during his life.
The guards of the LAA delgate growled under their breath as he limped by them, stopping briefly to glance down at me, suspicion evident on his face and in his mind. Before I had time to wonder about that, and maybe probe a little deeper, he had walked on and come to a stop by the Commander. He gestured, and a grainy 2d image of a barren street appeared.
"This was recorded by WSR team 21-T, also known as the 'Red Claws', eight months ago. The street you see before you is in the original Washington DC. They were sent to recover any useful technology or any important historical or military documents from the remanants of the Pentagon and the National Archives. They had just searched the National Archives, finding nothing except empty rooms and a nest of some strange kind of giant insect, when the following occured." He paused a moment before saying. "We were lucky we were getting this live by satellite, because when the 23rd Recon Unit of the SW was sent in, there was nothing left but ashes and debris. What you are about to see has been a closely guarded secret for the last eight months, and you are the first people outside of the President, myself, the Commander, and a few techs to see it." He waved at the back of the room, and the video started.
The camera, obviously worn on the shoulder of the person carrying it, wobbled a little as said person turned around to face a large, angry looking bear dressed in grey-camoflage combat armor.
"Hey Sarge, you okay? Those things didn't get you, did they?" The voice was high pitched, but not annoyingly so. The bear grunted, and adjusted the assault rifle he carried as he trudged through the debris laden street, which was glaring in the bright, noonday sun.
The bear sighed. "No, I'm just pissed that we haven't found anything yet. The whole damn place was cleared out, along with that museum. I just don't get it. Nothing was smashed, nothing broken, it was all just gone." He stopped walking as the team came to a corner.
"Well, maybe we'll have better luck at the Pentagon... Or what's left of it. The satellite photos showed that it was pretty torn up." The camera turned toward a rather attractive vixen with a portable computer held out in front of her. She was looking at the screen as she spoke.
She frowned, then looked closer at the screen. "Sarge, I'm still getting that weird energy signature."
"It's probably a glitch." A realtively large male rabbit trotted up behind them, the camera wobbling a bit as the wearer was slapped on the back.
"How you holding up, recruit?" The rabbit asked, his eyes looking up to the camera's left.
"Okay, I guess. This camera shit weighs a ton, though. Why am I carrying this again?"
The bear grunted again. "Because I told you to, that's why. Anyway, Juvera, you see anything?" He gestured at the rabbit.
He shrugged, holding his shotgun against his shoulder. "Nope. The city seems to be deserted, except for the occaional animal. It's actually kind of weird. There's all sorts of stuff in those buildings. I figure at least scavengers would be here." He shifted uneasily. "I don't know. There's something funny about this place... It's too damn quiet."
The bear shrugged. "Just makes our job easier, I guess. Okay people, breaks over. Let's get a move on, we have to---" Then the scene went straight to hell.
I heard the vixen say something about a spike in that energy signature just before the bear's head exploded, showering the ground in front of him with gore. As his body fell, the camera jerked wildly as the wearer swung around just in time to see the rabbit, firing his shotgun uselessly at the white-armored figure before him, decapitated by the strange, glowing blade it wielded. A tan-furred hand rose up to the right of the camera, holding a pistol, which fired uselessly at the figure, the bullets sparking as they glanced off of its armor, before the glowing blade swung...and the image cut off...