The Hunter, The Dragon And The Smokey Mountain Angel
Chapter 28

Julia opened her eyes. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but whatever the cat–bitch had been doing to her was over. She tried to get up and the table she had been laying on rose into the air and tipped forward so that she could stand. Martha stepped from the shadows and smiled. She spoke in the grating voice. “You look divine Julia. All the data I’m receiving from you looks perfect. How do you feel?”

Julia thought,

I feel like I could rip your head off with one hand.

Martha’s smile broadened as she shook her head.

That was a nasty thought. I know you didn’t mean it; you’re not that kind of person.

Julia’s eyes widened. She had heard Martha’s voice in her head.

We don’t need vocal cords to talk to each other anymore. But you still may want to use them for more, primitive activities.

Martha walked around Julia’s naked body examining her from the inside, through the nanos, even as she admired her new outward form.

You are a beauty. Later I will show you how to alter your body. You should be able to do it a lot better than I can but somehow, unlike me, I doubt you will want to change from… this.

Julia thought,

Where is your High Lord?

So, you want to know about the High Lord. He is fair and just. I will receive level eight upgrades to my system when I bring you in, there might even be a level nine for bringing him the dragon.

A black ship appeared in her vision. Julia saw the image of a green and orange dragon surrounded by a blue light inside a large cargo bay. The ship looked exactly like this one but it was the size of a small oil tanker.

I will tell you more about the High Lord later. I have some questions of my own. I know you are the one I am looking for. Even though you couldn’t remember it, until now, there was someone very important who visited you when the lightning struck you. That person gave you something but I see that someone, perhaps that dragon, has somehow blocked it from even your deepest memories. The golden spiders in your body found fragments, bits of memory like lost dreams but someone meticulously disconnected those neurons and scattered them randomly throughout your body. Even the High Lord can’t do this.

Julia saw a flash of light, fragments of memory– a glowing man hovering over her but nothing made since.

Martha walked close to Julia and asked out aloud, “How is it that you can fly?”

Julia blinked. She said, “I can fly?”

Martha rolled her eyes.

I would have beaten you until you couldn’t speak if I thought you were lying to me but, as you know that is impossible now.

Martha turned and walked in circles in silence. Julia couldn’t see what she was thinking. Then Martha stopped in front of her and thought.

The dragon only has three days. I guess I’ll have to continue, but I need to improvise.

Then Julia saw the image of a floating crystal sphere with two very large diamonds, one hovering above and the other one just below, as if frozen in orbit around its center sphere. The crystal sphere glowed soft blue and although she couldn’t hear anything, she could feel it humming.

Martha thought,

I need that. It is located inside my larger ship. I know the dragon is in the mountain but I don’t know where. I need you to get this device for me. When you see my ship, you will begin searching for it. Once it is located, you will activate my ship’s outer defenses and it will kill everyone, except you and the dragon. Then you will raise the large blast door and I will take care of the rest.

Julia replied,

I am not your agent. I will not betray my country.

You are my puppet. Your life as you knew it is over. Until you submit willingly, you will not experience the full glory of what you have become. Don’t be so ungrateful.

Julia lifted her right arm and then dropped it but she hadn’t made it move.

I can make you stand on one leg. I can make your eyes cry. I can make you feel pain, pain like you’ve never felt before. I can also make you feel pleasure Julia. I control the program that controls the spiders inside you. So, my highest program for you is that you take care of yourself and my captive dragon, the rest of this is secondary.

“But who am I?” Julia asked aloud.

Then, in her mind, Martha showed her the videos from when she had hacked top–secret Air Force computer files. Then she showed her footage of what happened the day of her accident and hospital photos of the scar she had gotten from the computer exploding next to her. Lightning had struck her but the lightning, when zoomed in on, showed stars and galaxies inside the glowing bolt. A man from the lightning had visited her, just for a moment but then, in a flash, he was gone.

I will not spoil the surprise the High Lord has for you. Just know that one of you invented a machine that made all this possible. Others like you have accelerated the mutations that our golden pills can do to organic matter, while another one of you, the most annoying and gifted of your type, is the very one who’s slipping through the multi–universe like some bringer of the light. If you only knew the trouble he’s caused us… He’s the one you saw in the lightning.

Martha paused and shook her head,

Oh, the things you know that you don’t know Julia... Saying who you are is a bit complicated for one story. That is why I have preserved you for the High Lord. You are the only thing more valuable to my master than even my magical cargo still trapped on my ship… I wonder how intelligent that dragon really is?

Martha paused and her mind went dark to Julia. Then Martha thought,

You were exceptionally hard to replace. All traces of your existence erased. It never took me this long to replace you; or rather, the others like you. I took your commanding officers, your comrades your...

Julia screamed, “You took my son!”

Martha looked at her for a long moment then shook her head,

No. I had a son once. Julia saw Martha at her son’s funeral. He died in a war much like the one you were fighting in. It didn’t end well for anyone.

“I fought for freedom!” Julia said.

Now you and I both know that is not what you truly believe. You wanted to believe it. You tell yourself that every time you think of those you killed but... Well, it’s not my place to reveal The Plan. Let’s just say it was a war for power over people. My son lost his life for the control of energy and thru it power over people. After the High Lord comes, and your world is saved, the people are in control of themselves and the wars end.

I’m sorry for your loss. Julia said as she thought of her son.

Martha’s face turned dark. That was a long time ago. Funny how just a thought can bring back very human emotions.

Then Julia could feel Martha’s adrenal glands beginning to pump and suddenly they stopped.

Why, I never get very angry anymore. I have programs for that.

Then Martha said aloud, “See there, very efficient. I still feel for my son but it doesn’t drive me crazy like it used to.”

Does your High Lord not allow you emotions?

Martha’s voice became smooth again as she said, “As you just saw, I have emotions but they are regulated. Extreme emotions tend to slow down our important work. Emotions are good motivators. They remind us of what we once were and how truly great we are now. After the High Lord came to my world and implemented a successful cleansing program, there were no more wars. No more mothers had to hear that their sons were killed on some far away battle field so some rich man can feel powerful.” Then she leaned in close to her and said, “My deep scan of your memories has just arrived. It shows me what I have suspected. Some of your memories have been blocked... ”

Martha glanced away from Julia, smiled and then looked back at her,

Manipulating human ideas and memories is what we do best. Don’t worry I’ll get your memories back…

Julia tried to think of what she had forgotten and realized how foolish that thought was but instantly her mind raced through her memories and began listing a string of events, down to the second in some instances then to nano–seconds. Even her dreams had been accounted for. The length of time didn’t fit the standard model. Her perception of time varied by how many things happened within a moment. Moments were broken into intervals of awareness. The tiny AIs found several odd conversations she had had with herself and others that existed without audio. Several gaps, where strings of thoughts had been interrupted, pointed to artificial manipulation.

She didn’t remember getting out of the hospital bed and boarding the Greyhound bus but her brain had recorded what had happened. Another window opened in her vision showing her real–time thoughts as seen on a clock and every chronological event compared to that time line. Her memory had skipped from time to time but never when the earthquakes came. Most interesting was the fact that she could remember reading news stories about the girl who could fly. She knew that it was her who the reporters were talking about, but until now, it hadn’t crossed her mind that she really was the Smokey Mountain Angel.

Martha’s voice returned to her raspy sound. She said, “Those little buggers are useful, aren’t they. You’re even showing me things my analysis program missed. Your mind has been tampered with and that frustrates me. I like to be the one to mess with people’s minds. Whoever did this was good but I may have a way around it...”