Chapter 33

Eric rode his sports bike into the parking lot at the front of the Orphanage at well over the posted speed limit, hitting the brakes harshly and sliding to a stop alongside the main entrance. He leaped off the bike, barely pausing to activate the hydraulic bike stand and discarding his helmet on the pathway.

He mashed the doorbell and then thumped on the big, reinforced doors until he heard someone release the locks. As one side swung open he went to rush in, only to be met by the forbidding glare of Sister Agatha.

“Visiting hours are over, Master Hargreaves” she scolded him. “Please stop banging on our door and go home!”

“You have to let me in, Sister” he pleaded. “I just found out Nata was injured and being cared for in your Infirmary”

“That is none of your concern” the Sister replied coldly. “Please depart our premises or I shall activate the external security systems” She went to push the door closed when a gentle but firm voice called out from the foyer behind the Sister.

“Sister Agatha, please allow Eric to enter”

Agatha scowled at Eric and reluctantly let him past, banging the heavy door shut once he was inside. She turned and regarded her superior with a slightly less aggrieved look on her face.

“He wants to see the Imp” Sister Agatha declared on his behalf.

“Thank you Sister, I will handle this” Sister Adoracion said pleasantly. “Why don’t you rejoin the children in the main hall. I believe there is still some egg nog and mince pies in the kitchen that need to be brought out”

Once the old Sister grumbled her way past the pair of them, Adoracion beckoned Eric to follow her down a corridor he had not travelled before.

“How did you hear about Sister Impassionata?” she enquired as they walked. “The news has not been disseminated to the Order, at least not officially”

“Actually, I went to her apartment to drop off a Christmas present. One of the Knights I know was in the lobby and he told me she had been injured”

“Ah, I see” Adoracion replied with a faint smile. They had reached a door labelled Infirmary and she addressed him closely, their faces nearly touching. “I trust you will not tell anyone about her condition, Master Hargreaves”

Eric was oblivious to a lot of human emotions but he could easily detect the warning tone in her voice.

“Of course, Sister” he agreed. “But why is it such a secret? Surely she gets injured in her work as the Sword?”

“The injuries were taken while she was conducting an unsanctioned Judgement, Eric”

“So is it Okay for me to see her?” he wondered apprehensively.

“Well, it is Christmas” the Sister said with a smile and opened the door.

=====

Nata was mightily bored as she lay on her bed in the Infirmary. It was her second night there, which in itself was not the problem. Her wounds had mostly recovered but the Orphanage doctor wanted her to rest until tomorrow to make sure there was no infection.

The problem was that she was not allowed to speak or see anyone other than a very restricted list of people. Even her phone had been taken away by Sister Adoracion so that she did not fall prey to the “temptations of text or social media”.

She understood that what had been done at her own initiative was a major violation of the rules laid down for the Sword. The new Bishop would have a total fit if he found out she had engaged with a Demon under the streets of Pan City. Her victory, as costly as it may have been on her body, would count for little in the world of politics that the Bishop revelled in.

Nata was mulling over how she would explain her absence for the last couple of days to the Bishop when the Infirmary door opened. A familiar blonde headed boy peeked in, saw her in her bed and waved.

“Can I come in?” he asked politely and she gave him a huge grin.

“Absolutely!” she responded with enthusiasm, then suddenly looked down at herself in alarm. With rapid tugs she pulled the sheets over her hospital gown and made sure her girl parts were all adequately covered in the areas he could still see. He was at her bedside when she suddenly shouted out in horror.

“What’s the matter, Nata?” said a startled Eric.

“My hair!” she gasped and began frantically searching for her brush and mirror.

“It looks fine!” he assured her, noticing her hair was in two big pigtails like Angelina always wore hers. “That’s a cute look for you. Makes you look younger”

Nata stopped fussing and regarded him evenly with her deep brown eyes.

“You know I am only eighteen, right?” she said insistently. “I don’t want to look younger!”

“I meant they make you look very mature” he amended. “Very womanly”

Nata laughed and shook her head at the young man.

“You remember I am a Sister too, don’t you” she teased. “It’s a mortal sin to flirt with me”

“Is it?” Eric asked her. “Luckily I was made in a lab, so I don’t think I have a soul that can be damned”

Nata’s expression sobered and she tilted her head to one side, her eyes still on him.

“All living beings have souls Eric, at least that is what I believe” She looked away and then continued. “So, how did you find out I was here? It’s supposed to be a big secret”

“I ran into Sir Andrew, one of the Knights of your Order. I was trying to deliver something to you and he told me where you were”

“Ah, I see. Once I am out of this bed I shall have to remind Sir Blabbermouth what operational security actually means”

Eric laughed at her fierce expression.

“I suddenly feel very sorry for him” he told her and she laughed too.

It’s Okay, I won’t hurt him much” she admitted then eyed her visitor coyly. “So, out of interest, what were you trying to deliver to me?”

“Hmm? Oh, just this” Eric replied and drew a small package out of his jacket pocket. It was wrapped in festive paper showing angels blowing trumpets. He leaned forward and laid it in her hands. “Just a little something to thank you for all your help”

Nata unwrapped the slender package and found a bottle of perfume. It was an expensive brand from Europe and not one she would normally wear. She opened the bottle and placed a dab on her wrist, breathing in the delicate aroma.

“It’s beautiful” she said softly. “Thank you Eric”

“I’m glad you like it. I asked Miss Abrams what would suit you and she recommended this one”

Nata sighed and fixed the boy with a mild glare.

“Maybe next time you give a woman a present, don’t tell her another woman picked it out for you”

“Copy that!” he acknowledged and turned a faint shade of pink.

They chatted for a while on some innocuous topics, pausing for a young assistant nurse to come in and check Nata’s vitals before scurrying out again.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how I got injured?” Nata asked Eric once they were alone again.

“No” he responded succinctly. “Unlike Sir Blabbermouth, I do know what operational security means. If you want to tell me, I would like to hear the story, but I won’t press you for it. I know you wanted me to stay out of the situation with Angelina”

“To be honest, you need to hear this. I just wasn’t sure of the best way to tell you but here goes....” Nata paused and collected her thoughts.

“The Brackenridge butler, Giles Hammerton, was possessed by a Demon. It was living in the man’s body, watching over Angelina as part of a Pact he made with her parents”

“If anyone else said that to me, I would think they were crazy” Eric breathed in shock. “You mean an actual Demon is here, living under the very noses of Archimedes and the Board of Governors!”

“Not anymore” she responded. “I banished it from this world on Sunday, which is how I ended up in the Infirmary. Angelina and Carmody were involved in the fight too, so that is why I want you to know. I’m sorry, but there was no way to keep them out of it. The Bishop gave them both one of his elixirs, a kind of memory hazing potion. They won’t forget what they saw or what they did, but it helps their minds to cope with it”

“It was that bad? I wish you had let me help you out, Nata. They are my friends too and I am not useless in a fight!” Eric paused for breath. “So this all happened as a result of the incident on Saturday?”

“Yeah, it seems the HEx gas is what set Hammerton off. The girls told me he started going crazy and it spiralled out of control from there”

Eric sat dumbfounded at the side of Nata’s bed, processing what she had told him.

“It seems unlikely the HEx gas was targeting the butler” he pondered. “That was probably an unintended side effect”

“One that could have destroyed the world” Nata interjected “But I think you are right about Hammerton. However, the Brackenridge’s are in this up their necks, that is a certainty”

“They aren’t the only players though. Someone has been targeting them too, revealing their dirty secrets to the Police Auxiliary”

“Eric, could the Abyss be behind all of this?” Nata asked him.

“You know, Sarah and Carmody asked me that a couple of days ago and I thought they were being paranoid. I told them there were plenty of other crazies wanting to cause trouble in Pan City; it didn’t always have to be the Emissary or its Master”

“And now?” she said.

“Now I am thinking it has been some long term plan all along by the Abyss. The HEx, the attack on the Tower, all of it”

Nata nodded her head in agreement. She had the exact same feeling.

“So where do we go from here?” she asked him.

“Well, for now you need to stay here and get all rested up” he grinned at her for a moment. “For me, I need to go and find somebody. It’s about time we had a chat face to face”

“Anyone in particular” Nata enquired.

“Nobody of interest” he replied.

=====

Seven was lying on her bed, reading a novel on her datapad, when Jenny burst into the room. She lowered the datapad and directed an unwelcoming glare at her room-mate.

“I told you I am not going to join everyone in the main hall” she snapped. “I don’t care about Christmas or all the stupid traditions that go with it!”

Jenny just grinned at her and sat excitedly on her own bed, facing the other girl.

“I know, I know, Scrooge” she teased Seven. “But guess who was just spotted heading to the Infirmary?”

“The Ghost of Christmas Past?” Seven replied without interest, picking up her datapad again.

“Nope. That cute blonde boy, the one who wrote his name on the message board!”

“Eric?” Seven said in surprise. “He’s here?”

“Yup!” Jenny answered with glee. “He must be visiting Nata in the Infirmary. She’s the only one there right now”

Seven sat bolt upright and tossed her datapad aside. Jenny watched her with amusement as the girl slipped her feet into black trainers and pulled a dark grey hooded jacket over her indoor clothes.

“Going somewhere?” Jenny asked teasingly. “Somebody you urgently need to see?”

Seven scowled at her room-mate and picked up her phone, slipping it into a pocket of her jacket.

“Don’t tell anyone where I am going, Jenny” Seven warned her.

“Sure thing, Seven” she agreed. “Because I don’t know where you are going”

=====

The girl slipped past the other children and Sisters easily, engrossed as they were in singing Christmas carols and playing stupid party games. She had spent so long ignoring everybody here that they barely registered her presence anymore.

Not that it mattered to her. Soon enough her plans would come to fruition and she could leave this place and all its fake concern for her welfare behind. Seven told herself all this, yet a small quiet part of her deep inside wished it could be otherwise.

“You have Nothing, that is all you need” the sly voice whispered from the darkness of her mind.

“Shut up and leave me alone” she half sobbed to herself and headed to the covered arbor, her place of refuge. The garden was dark and quiet, only a few low lights showing the path. Seven knew it by heart and walked quickly to the shadowed structure, desperate for the dark solitude it offered.

She entered and sat down on the simple wooden bench and dropped her head into her hands.

“Why is he here now?” she wept. “It is too soon. I’m not ready”

“Ready for what, Nobody” Eric asked her and stepped out of the deepest shadows.

Seven reacted instantly, hurling herself forwards to strike at his unprotected throat. He was ready for her, blocking her punch and turning it into a throw. The girl marvelled at his reflexes and strength, a match for her own.

Even so, she twisted her body as he flung her, bringing her feet down first instead of her back, using their combined momentum to pull the bigger boy off his own feet. They landed on the rough paving stones together outside of the arbor, her in a crouch and him on his back.

She spun across and drove her heel into his stomach, her weak blow countered by his blocking forearm. Seven pushed herself off the ground by sheer leg strength and landed a meter away, watching Eric through narrowed eyes.

“Go away!” she snarled at him. He flipped himself back to his own feet and regarded her solemnly.

“I can’t” he answered her calmly. “Not now that I have seen who you are”

“What do you mean?” she demanded then understanding flooded her. She was in the circle of light thrown by a garden lantern, her face and size evident even to a boy as dense as this one.

“You’re like me, aren’t you? A young Guard clone by your appearance, with the same enhanced reflexes and augmented skeleton. Was it the Ordo Excommunicado who ordered you to be made or some other branch of the Church?”

Seven laughed at him then, realising he still had no idea who she really was. His guess was reasonable she thought, considering the Orphanage was a recruiting and training ground for the various Orders.

It still hurt her though that he could not see the obvious connection between them.

“No, that can’t be right” Eric said, never taking hjs eyes from her. “The Church won’t use clones for any of their Orders. So it had to be something Archimedes dreamed up, or maybe one of his Avatars”

Seven watched him closely in return. Her instincts were telling her to run, to get away now while she had a chance. Yet something more primal kept her locked in her crouch, her dark eyes boring into his blue ones.

“I’m Thirteen” he said at last. “Which Number are you?”

“Seven” she whispered and it felt like her heart stopped beating.

“Nice to finally meet you, Seven” Eric said with a smile and proffered his right hand. She looked at his hand and extended her own, their palms locking together. Both of them gripped tightly, feeling the toughened finger bones and the special weapons implants under their fingertips.

“I couldn’t figure it out at first, as you don’t have an Ident in the Quantum Network” Eric spoke gently, his hand warm in her own. “This close to you, I can see the truth. Your processor is not connected to the Network, is it?”

“No” she admitted, her eyes falling to their linked hands. “I’m defective. I was meant to be recycled but I was.....I was spared”

“You’re not defective Seven” Eric told her gently. He raised his left hand and laid it against her cheek. “You look perfect to me”

“But I’m broken!” she shouted suddenly and pulled away from him, backing out of the glow of the garden lights. “You can’t see it from the outside, but I’m all messed up. I’m not ready to stand at your side!”

“Seven, I don’t understand!” Eric called to her but she was moving away from him.

“I’m not ready, Eric, but I will be soon! Please, let me finish what I started” she was begging him now, her voice ragged with emotion.

Eric stopped and let her retreat, his face sorrowful.

“Okay, Seven, Okay” he called out. “I’ll give you time, I promise”

Her voice reached out to him from the darkness as she crept away, hiding herself in the shadows.

“Thank you, Eric”

=====

Eric was standing lost in thought in the Orphanage foyer when the young girl named Jenny came over to him.

“So, did you find her?” she asked with concern.

“Yes, thank you” Eric replied. “She came straight to the arbor in the gardens like you said”

Jenny smiled and nodded her head.

“Yeah, Seven reacts the same way whenever she feels threatened. As soon as I told her you were here, she bolted to her safe place”

Eric thanked her again and made to leave when Jenny caught his arm. He turned to regard her expression and saw the worry etched in her face.

“She is not a bad person, Eric” Jenny tried to explain. “But lately she has been acting strange, stranger than usual I mean. It’s like there are two of her, each acting differently and even talking differently”

“What, like good Seven and bad Seven?” Eric asked.

“No, more like angry Seven and bad Seven” Jenny clarified. “She has always had a chip on her shoulder, which I understand. A lot of the kids here had trauma and lost family, I mean it an Orphanage. But these last few weeks, it’s like she has gotten herself involved in something really bad”

“Any idea what that would be?” Eric pressed the girl.

“Not exactly. She has been going out at night a lot, coming home exhausted in the early hours. Then there are the phone calls and messages, using a phone she hides away”

“I see” Eric responded evenly. “Did you hear any names or places from those calls”

Jenny looked guiltily at the floor and shuffled her feet.

“It’s not right to eavesdrop on someone’s private calls” she muttered.

“I know, but this could be important. It may help me save her from whatever she has gotten herself mixed up in!”

The girl was obviously torn but she was his only lead so he took her shoulders and made her look directly into his eyes.

“Please, Jenny, help me save Seven!”

“I only heard two things that made sense. Two names I guess they are. One was the name of who Seven was talking and texting to. It was a woman’s name, Yolanda”

Eric nodded his head in acknowledgement at Jenny.

“And the other name?”

“She was talking about an alliance or a contract. With some nightclub or bar I guess. Someplace called the Abyss. Do those names mean anything to you?”

“More than you can imagine, Jenny” Eric answered. “Those two names together mean quite a lot”

Eric strode purposefully through the hospital, brushing past the human security and deactivating the automated systems with equal ease. The few late night Nurses and Med-Techs who saw his expression stepped out of his way and he finally arrived at a barrier he could not get past so easily.

Four armed and armoured Guards in the dark grey of Two’s personal entourage blocked the hospital corridor. They held their weapons low and regarded him impassively from inside of their bullet proof helmets.

“We have orders not to disturb the Commander nor Miss Abrams, Agent Thirteen. Please return to your home” the leading clone advised, a Nineteen Series Squad Leader.

“I need to see him, CB-Nineteen” Eric demanded with a voice hard as steel. “You can go and get him or I can fetch him myself” He shifted his stance, right leg leading and left back and at an angle, the starting position for any number of martial arts attacks and defences. He raised his hands, elbows braced and glared into the opaque visor of the Squad Leader.

Eric opened his mind to the Quantum Network and could see the streams of rapid conversation flickering between the four Guards. Then a fifth joined the seconds long discussion and Eric lowered his hands.

“The Commander has given you permission to enter” CB-Nineteen advised Eric and all four Guards stepped to the side, leaving a narrow gap in front of the door he wanted.

“Thank you” he answered, trying to keep the simmering anger from his voice. He brushed past the towering clones and opened the door of the private medial suite.

Inside it was dim, the only light a small table lamp beside a plush chair. Jericho-Two sat in the chair, watching Eric with a stern expression of his own. For once his trademark dark glasses were folded on the side table, his older brother meeting his gaze with blue eyes identical to his own.

“Come in but be quiet” Two warned him evenly. “Miss Abrams is sleeping and if you wake her up I’ll Retire you myself”

Eric nodded silently and closed the door behind him gently. He walked unhurriedly to a plain chair next to his brother and sat down, twisting to face the older Avatar.

“You went to see her, didn’t you?” Two asked him.

“Yes, I met my sister” he answered, his voice thick with the anger he felt. “Why didn’t you tell me about her? Why did you hide her away in the Orphanage?”

“She is not your sister, Eric” Two spoke calmly. “Her genetic line is the same as the Guards not the Jericho clones, so there is no blood connection. The truth is she was created to be a companion, the pair of you working as a team for the AURA Project”

“So why did you throw her away?” he snarled.

“I was ordered to recycle her” his brother answered with a sigh. “I had already invested so much time in her training and she was the only one who made it to a successful Decanting, I couldn’t do that to her. Instead I faked the records to show her Quantum Processor was faulty and could not be recycled, which in a way was true. Then I hid her at the Little Angels and arranged for her to live as normal a life as possible in the circumstances”

Eric regarded his older brother steadily for a few moments, then nodded his head. The anger was fading from him as he understood a little about what his brother had done, the risks he had taken in defying Archimedes.

“You have to understand Eric, the clones such as us and the Guards, they were never designed to be grown as young children. Producing a young male or female, enhanced with the implants and processors we use, was very difficult. Only two of all the attempts made it to a viable, functional clone. Those were her and you, Seven and Thirteen”

“Are there others, waiting in the wings somewhere to be revealed?” Eric wondered aloud. “You wouldn’t have numbered us if we didn’t at least make it out of the cloning tanks”

“I can’t answer that question, Eric. Even I have limits on what Archimedes will allow me to say” Two paused when Miss Abrams shifted and murmured in her sleep and Eric could tell he was accessing the medical data stream. Satisfied she was fine, he focussed on Eric once again.

“You came here for something else, didn’t you Eric? It wasn’t just to confirm what you suspected about Seven”

“Yes. It has to with the attacks on the Tower and those incidents with HEx. I think Seven may be involved somehow. More than that, I am worried she has made a deal of some kind to get her reconnected to the Quantum Network”

Jericho-Two leaned forward, his expression alert and demanding.

“You can’t be serious! Our best technicians were unable to fix her. Who else could do that?”

“I think the Abyss has offered to connect her” Eric replied. “We know that it has some incredible power in the Quantum realm, some ability that we just don’t understand. It is using her as a pawn in its own games”

“That may well be true” Two conceded. “So she needs to be interrogated and whatever plans she has made are stopped”

Eric laid a hand on his brother’s arm, a gesture so out of character that it stopped the Avatar mid-thought.

“Please let me deal with this, Brother” he pleaded. “I can feel her pain and I want to help her”

He directed the Avatar’s gaze to the sleeping form of the school teacher.

“You have enough to deal with. Let me handle this for you” he offered and by the look in his brother’s eyes he knew he had him. Jericho-Two had not left the woman’s side since the accident, running his duties completely via the Quantum Network.

“Very well. What do you need from me?”

“Only one thing. The Command Codes to activate and deactivate the Quantum Network for myself and Seven”

Jericho-Two laughed softly and leaned back into the plush chair. “You may as well ask me to grant you three wishes, Eric. Only Archimedes knows the algorithm to lock and unlock the Network”

“I see” Eric said. “Then I guess I will need to go see him and ask for the codes myself”

“Fine. I am sure he will be happy to see you” Two responded. “Maybe he will give them to you as a Christmas present”