A New Night
Chapter 38

An Old Frenemy

I was nothing but consciousness itself. Pathways ran through me and out into a grid much larger than me. The Sky City … Nueva Esperanza … felt like a part of me. Finding myself and controlling my essence was like learning to walk again. The first thing I had to learn was to move through the city, to slide along the wires and even wireless signals that could carry me anywhere I wished to be. Not all of me had to be there—just the piece of me I was concentrating on.

There quickly became many parts of me under the leadership of one mind, which was necessary. Being two … and then more made me feel dizzy. Maybe it would have been easier for Jackie. After five million years, I’m sure she could have controlled the entire city while being a visible and free-think apparition in every holographic projector available. But, unfortunately, my form was not that ... dense. Being just a few presences was hard enough, so I thinned most of them so that most of me stayed in one place.

I first concentrated my essence was the room where my friends and enemies slept. They were all within their own confines. The four Hunter warriors were there—the two with lines and bandages across their faces, one with a cast on his shoulder, and one whose body was covered in bandages. Gar was there with cotton stuffed into his nostrils, and the Queen had a cloth wrapped around her head. Dro, Scraa, and Romalla were also there, along with my unconscious robotic body. Blue ‘z’ shapes floating from my lips indicated that I was asleep.

A presence in the shape of a New Human appeared in holographic form next to me. I recognized her as the Doctor that I had first met. She looked at me and said, “Did the lost Educator module decide to assimilate or remain in the virtual world?”

I felt a flare of anger, and I tried to remain calm when I replied, “Her name was Bassella.”

“So she assimilated,” the Doctor said with a satisfied nod. “Good. I know you don’t like the situation, but releasing her into the world below would have been a grave mistake. So much of her sass survived inside of you. God, I remember all the emotions when all my parts were assimilated.”

“Why … do you think releasing her would have been so bad?” I asked, willing myself not to glare.

“She’s like you, Jackie, an interloper,” the Doctor said, patting me on the shoulder like she meant the words as a compliment. To my surprise, I could feel her holographic touch as if it were solid. “The difference is that she hasn’t had the benefit of the five million years to gain your sense of better judgment. She would have corrupted every culture that was down there.”

“Better her than the Golems,” I muttered.

“You mean the Old Human converted intelligence?” Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “We’ve sabotaged every technology they’ve tried to use to breach the Walls for the past five million years. They haven’t even bothered to try in the last three of those five. We have always watched them, only to be constantly reminded that they’re no longer a threat. I value the weight of your post-traumatic stress over them … but they won’t be a concern again. Especially after the modified walls go up.”

Watched them … this meant that the Triumvirate had surveillance of the Immortal Golems! I could replace them if I wanted. I could replace a way to get in touch with Steel Face. I wasn’t sure about letting them into outer space by giving them a spaceship blueprint. What I was sure about, however, was that extraterrestrial organizations that were millions of years old would fare far better than a small island of bats without even slingshots.

The Doctor sighed. “I must focus a fair bit of my concentration on teaching the doctoral and nursing residents. We’ll talk about this later if you need to. Don’t let what happened to your … Bassella … get to you too much. She’s part of you now,” With that, she vanished.

I paused for a moment once I was alone. How the Triumvirate interacted with one another was familiar … and yet so different. I guess it made sense; they feared interacting with these outsiders they were forbidden by law from talking to. As an insider, even the Doctor seemed … compassionate, if distantly so. I imagined that intimacy had to be especially difficult for these Educators who came from such drastically different points in human history. It made me a little sad to see … but also oddly encouraged. I wasn’t alone in feeling lonely sometimes, even among people who were so close to me.

I waited another moment in silence before I again let my concentrated form release into probing parts. I began to search for something like a connection to the world below the Sky City. It was a few minutes before I found long thick wires that seemed more like pipes. These pipes led up to masses of energy that crackled and popped with echoes of other places.

These pipes felt like a train tunnel—connected likely to other worlds and to the other Sky Cities. If these connections were there, a feed to the Immortals had to be as well. I concentrated my essence on stretching as evenly as I could through the Sky City, filling every nook and cranny I could replace. This made me very dizzy and even nauseous a first. But as the minutes passed, I grew gradually more comfortable. Soon, it felt like I was gently turning my fingers into dough. Then, I was splitting them into soft, spaghetti-like tendrils that wrapped around information multiple bits at a time. I couldn’t immediately absorb this information, but I could get a sense of what comprised it.

Eventually, I found an electrical line that led down into a basement-level area, completely walled off from physical entry. I entered the room and immediately sensed what I was searching for—a pool of crackling energy that seemed older than the others. It was almost like static from an old television, a collection of visual and audial feeds.

I watched them all at once and saw a myriad of places within a very spartan city, which was filled with mostly Servants and a few Golems. They walked among steel-welded markets, buildings, some farms, and mines. A handful of places looked like palaces adorned with heavy chunks of pure gold and silver.

It was in one of these that I spotted Steelface.

Without thinking, I put a part of my essence into the link. When I did so, I could see an image of Jackie’s body appear from a gray electronic pad in the center of the room. The projection was blurred …. not lifelike like the projections in the hospital and elsewhere in the Sky City.

Steelface saw me immediately. He cocked his head and approached my form. His tone was surprised. “An Educator ... I don’t remember your kind ever having used this feed. I assumed that the AI were always watching silently through the cameras. But an Educator here speaking with me. To what do I owe the honor? Do I dare hope …”

“Have you told your kind to leave the Night People alone?” I asked.

Steelface gave a long and hearty laugh that lasted nearly a minute and sounded ... pleasant. “Bassello! I knew you would make it. As soon as you shot me, I knew!”

“I …” I began to say, unsure whether I would try to deny that it was me, apologize for having shot him, or try a hollow threat of shooting him again.

Steelface, however, lifted a hand to stop me. “I mean my words with the utmost sincerity. You’ve done what none of us have been able in an eternity on this desolate and infernally dull planet. Don’t you worry; I will not forget nor keep secret the benefactor who has afforded us our liberation. Hell, if you give me some weaponry schematics, I’ll be happy to leave a missile strike on Jade and her Earth-obsessed ilk as I leave.”

“You … you’re telling the truth,” I asked, confused.

Steelface gave a robust nod. “After that thorough thrashing you gave me, I had time to think. Thinking, of course, is all we’ve had to do during this accursed time of imprisonment on the planet. I’ve taken enough flak for those sadistic bastards. Granted, I’m not exactly what anyone would call a peach. But there are selfish assholes … and then there are the idiots who their pettiness to the extent of self-detrimental idiocy.”

I stood there, feeling very confused. Almost the entire reason for my journey had been for the Night People from the wrath of the Immortal Golems. So now, Steelface would let bygones be bygones and be satisfied with what had happened?

“What about the Servants?” I asked.

Steelface lifted an index finger and asked, “I assume that the Triumvirate will make no sort of cure for them?”

I looked down and didn’t reply.

“I thought not,” Steelface said, giving a short nod. Then, he stuck his finger into the air and began typing into a small device near me. “I’ll send a copy of all the care they need to anyone in the Triumvirate you care to leave it to. Time for some absent Poppas to make good on back-due child support.”

Suddenly, I felt the shape of information filling me from his side of the connection. It was … overwhelming. I immediately set the other tendrils of my consciousness to work, putting this information into as many places as possible. Still, this all felt too good to be true. I felt a shudder and asked, “If I replace those blueprints, will you … take over the galaxy?”

“My dear, the Triumvirate has the technology to create suns and planets,” Steelface began with a chuckle. I wasn’t sure whether to feel gross or validated by someone like him calling me ‘dear.’ I decided that both feelings were probably merited. “They can even eliminate black holes! We will never reach the level of technology required to take our revenge, regardless of what they deserve.”

I was surprised at how tempting it was to just give the Immortal Golem what he wanted. Everything he said made sense, and I believed him. Being stuck in a place for a million years sounded boring. They would be gone, freeing the Night People and the Servants alike.

I thought for about a full minute... trying to replace a reason to say no. But for them to be out in space and happy felt like a much better option than to deal with their presence on Earth. It really was the best option. So, with a bit of nervous energy tingling in the bottom of my back, I said, “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent! I will meet you on the Island as soon as I can. I would estimate about three-” Steelface froze. Then he turned around to face the opposite side of the room. There, another Immortal stepped in. This one was far bigger than the Golem with the steel face. The frame was the same, but there were a number of extra bits that seemed welded on. These included an immense gun on his shoulder, extra plated armor, and robust metal hooks on its arms, legs, shoulders, and anywhere resembling a striking surface. The face … it was another mask like the ones all immortals seemed to wear. This one, however, was gold … gold and smiling.

“Hey kid,” Steelface said; the nervousness in his tone was unmistakable.

The Golem with a gold face launched forward with enough strength to shatter the tile on the ground where he’d stood. It grabbed Steelface by the head with a single, massive hand and immediately began to crush him. Within a few seconds, Steelface’s body was kicking sparks, leaking fluid, and bellowing black smoke. The leaking fluid caught fire—sending up flames around them both.

The Immortal with the golden mask of comedy then turned to face me, unphased by the flames on his body and under his feet. In a deep voice, it said, “I know you … conspirer … traitor … coward … abomination. You will meet me in the place where this imbecile clearly dug you up. If you do not, I will raze all that is left of your home.” Slowly, the immense machine gun churned with movement until it faced the machinery I inhabited. Then … as if it had been aimed at the actual me … he fired.

A deafening series of explosions filled my senses before there was only silence, and the connection was broken. For an immeasurable amount of time, I just remained frozen—trembling.