The Fall of Zephyr Read online

  Brielle nods. “Absolutely - I invited all my friends. Honestly, we’ve been noticing some… things lately that bothered us quite a bit.”

  Evander places his hand gently on her shoulder. “I am both concerned and relieved that you all see it too. Please make yourself at home - there are refreshments on the table.”

  “So, it’s okay to talk about anything here, right?” Brielle asks her question hesitantly as she settles on Evander’s pristine white couch.

  “Indeed. I have personally neutralized any kind of possible signal, be it auditory or visual, from leaving the inside of this pod. Some might call it a dead zone, but to me, it’s the only place I feel I am allowed to fully live.”

  Brielle smiles nervously. “I understand what you mean, I think. I’m still scared though.”

  “As you should be. Things will never be the same again, either here or on Earth.”

  Evander opens his mouth to speak again, but the doorbell rings and a few more dissenters join the cause. “Hello, and welcome. Please take a seat. We are just waiting on Jade to arrive, as well as any others who are interested.”

  As the moments drag by, more and more sorters enter his pod. When Jade finally arrives, her jaw drops from the shock of how much interest they had gleaned in such a short amount of time.

  “Evander, I had no idea…”

  “Me neither.”

  “Is this pod spacious enough?”

  “It will have to be, for now.”

  Jade nods slowly, and then whistles loudly to get everyone’s attention as she makes her way to the digital holograph projector.

  “Sorters, orderlies, and general personnel of the Sorting Room. I welcome you to the first secret meeting of…” She pauses for a moment, and walks over to Evander.

  “What do we call ourselves? I suppose in all the excitement, we had forgotten a name.”

  Evander shakes his head. “I never considered the possibility of there being this many who were interested. My pod is bursting at the seams.”

  “Well, I’ll have to ask them.”

  Jade turns back to the crowd gathered in Evander’s pod and nods apologetically.

  “I apologize for the interruption, but I have just realized we have not decided on a name for this coalition. It’s a small matter, but I encourage you each to think about that a bit. Anyway, onto why we are all here. It has become apparent as of late that the Sorting Room has not run as smoothly as it has in the past. I am sure you all have noticed that, correct?”

  The small room nods in unison, with a chorus of affirmative words drifting amidst the tepid recycled air.

  “Yes, Amethyst?”

  Jade acknowledges the raised hand of a tall, strong, sorter, who has been in the Sorting Room nearly as long as herself.

  “It has been so obvious… I have noticed a drop in both the quality and quantity of orbs generated in the past few Earth months. They have changed from being perfectly spherical and thoroughly wet, to being rather imperfectly shaped and almost dry. I have been terrified that they would get stuck in a receptor tube, which would of course spell disaster.”

  Jade nods her head slowly. “Indeed, this is very true. Evander, show her your graphs.”

  Evander nods his head as he presses some buttons on his protector remote, and brings up the data he has been secretly collecting since the very first time he noticed things were beginning to go haywire. Delphine’s horrible mistake was the most notable, and the easiest to point out, but the sheer fact that she was even in the Sorting Room at all had proven itself to be indicative of an even worse truth. Delphine was never meant to be a sorter at all, and was actually a reborn demon from the Underworld. He shudders at the thought, and wonders how much he should mention in this first meeting. Evander knows all too well that the right amount of fear, when used well, can inspire real bravery and action. But too much fear can be paralyzing.

  “Indeed, that is all true. And this digital infograph illustrates that concern in a statistical format.” Evander continues to explain the statistics behind their concerns as the colored graphs and shapes float gracefully around the room in their holographic form.

  “So, do you see it? Do you understand what this means?” Jade searches the room for confirmation of her query.

  “Yes… that means…” Griffin stammers as he tries his best to choke out the words that are threatening to strangle his throat in the grasp of their horrid implications.

  “… That Zephyr himself is dying, and failing. If we allow him to completely die away…” Evander looks to Jade to say the words he refuses to say out loud. Her breath catches in her throat before she is able to propel the necessary words out of her mouth.

  “We will all be taken to the Underworld and suffer for all eternity. And the human race… will simply cease to exist.”

  Panic erupts as the audience begins to swallow the reality of what they are saying. Their erratic murmuring and discomfort begins to grow in volume, but the soundproofing that Evander has installed in his pod appears to be working anyway. After a few moments of rapid discussion and discord, Jade manages to quiet down the crowd.

  “I know, it’s a terrifying prospect. But that is why we are here. We are going to dethrone and defeat Zephyr once and for all.”

  “But how will we do that?” Griffin wastes no time and asks the burning question that is likely on everyone’s mind at the moment.

  Jade looks down at her feet and then blows a loose strand of her silver hair from her now-messy braided bun.

  “Well, truth be told, we haven’t actually… figured that out yet. But there is strength in numbers, and we are hoping that all of you, as well as whomever you feel you can trust to keep this from getting to Zephyr, will join us in this risky endeavor, to say the least.”

  Evander nods slowly. “I am currently in the process of looking into Zephyr’s history and ascent into power, many eons ago. The past just may give us the necessary information to defeat him once and for all.”

  A younger sorter raises a sweaty palm into the air. “But then, who will generate orbs and run the Upperworld?” She brushes away a stray piece of light brown hair.

  “We would have to appoint someone. In the United States of America, a democratic system is used to appoint a leader, and it must work well, since it is the most powerful and influential country in the world.”

  Jade nods. “Yes, a democracy is the way to go. Candidates can apply, and then the rest of us will vote with a ballot system, with majority ruling.”

  The young sorter is not impressed. “Okay, but the orbs. How will the person voted in be able to… generate those? Doesn’t Zephyr have a special… capability for that?”

  “Well…” Evander begins to search for the right words to convert his thoughts properly. “Zephyr isn’t so much a generator of the orbs, as much as he is more like a conductor of the energy from the universe. His ethereal body is merely the vessel which the energy flows through and takes shape. The ability to be this vessel, however, is tied to a specific trait, ability, or state of being. To defeat him, we’ll have to cut him off from whatever that is, and rapidly connect the replacement to theirs. This extra variable in the process can be referred to as the “critical element” of the Most High Being.”

  The sorter slowly nods, but Evander can clearly see that his words have fallen on nearly deaf ears. However, the problem was not that she didn’t want to hear - rather, it was that her relatively new existence in the Upperworld had not given her the proper vocabulary and comprehension skills to absorb the information, as of yet, anyway.

  Looking around the room, it is becoming apparent that the more experienced sorters know exactly what he was talking about - and especially, the guides. Guides like himself, Jade, and Onyx, had years of training in both Earth life, society, and history, as well as Upperworld functions and mechanics. Of course, there are different levels of learning that guides have acquired, depending on their given rank in the Upperworld - Onyx had over 300 Earth years of traini
ng before becoming a Primary Guide, while Jade had 400 Earth years of training before becoming a Head Sorter. Regardless, they all know a good amount of various different types of critical knowledge.

  Finding the right one to do the most important job of all would be the hardest decision of all. For the good of mankind, and the Sorting Room, Jade hopes with all her being that they would choose correctly.

  CHAPTER 9

  Luna and Onyx enter a fairly large metallic building painted a couple different shades of green and purple, with some arches reaching up and over the nearly cylindrical shape. Onyx pushes the door of the diner open to reveal a room full of brightly-colored tables and food service staff busily managing the tables and various patrons. Looking around at the large room, Luna’s eyes make contact with the gruff, but friendly-enough hostess. Her slightly-blonde-but-graying hair is clipped up messily, and she barks commands to the waitresses like a power-tripping dictator.

  “Table for two?” She snaps at Onyx. He quickly nods, not wanting to arouse suspicion or create a problem.

  “Enjoy your meal, your waitress will be right with you.” She quickly shuffles away after placing the menus stiffly on the table, leaving Luna and Onyx alone together, exchanging slightly miffed looks.

  “Well Luna, as you may have figured out by now, some humanoids are… more pleasant… than others.” She nods emphatically, and then shifts her gaze to her menu, but it’s not long before a confused expression paints itself on her face.

  “Onyx? I do not know what anything on here means. What is a… pancake?”

  He smiles at her and takes the menu from her.

  “Don’t worry about it, Luna. Although I’m a bit rusty, I remember these terms fairly well from my years of extensive Earth studies. I’ll order for both of us.” Luna nods, satisfied with this, and cuddles in closer to Onyx’s side. Unfortunately, as she does so, the expelled communication device stashed in her pocket begins to vibrate in addition to blinking red intermittently. Onyx’s small smile quickly fades as he feels the vibration in his side.

  “Luna, what was that - ”

  “Hello! My name is Amanda, and I’ll be taking care of you guys tonight. Can I get you some drinks to start?”

  Onyx’s query is interrupted by the perky arrival of the waitress, seemingly the polar opposite of the snobby and displeased hostess.

  “Uh, yes. Two orange juices please.”

  She nods sweetly and then smiles. “Hey, I really love your costumes, by the way. Are you going to the sci-fi convention or something?”

  Onyx exchanges a knowing look with Luna. “No, no we are not.”

  Her smile instantly fades. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean… I’ll just go get your drinks.” She hurriedly walks away, likely trying to hide her embarrassment.

  “Adding ‘get Earth clothes’ to the many things we’ve got to do to assimilate properly. But anyway, I felt something… move? Next to you? Is there something in your suit? What was that?”

  Luna sheepishly shuffles an inch or two further from Onyx on the booth seat they are sharing, but he grabs her hand forcefully, and she recoils as the memories of her attack begin to seep into her damaged psyche. Onyx sees this change in her and frowns.

  “Oh Luna, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… scare you. But please, do you know what that was? I’m trying to look after you. That’s what I came here for, you know, since - ”

  “Okay, here are the OJ’s. Have you decided on what you want to eat yet?” The unfortunate timing of this well-meaning waitress is impeccable. Onyx shifts his eyes away from Luna’s violet ones and meets the gaze of the waitress.

  “Uh, yes. Two orders of the blueberry pancake plates with bacon, eggs, and home fries.” The waitress nods happily and floats back over to the kitchen after collecting their menus as Onyx breathes a sigh of relief.

  “Okay, Luna, you have to tell me what is happening with whatever that was. At first, I was merely curious, since it caught my attention. But the fact that you’re not comfortable showing me is worrisome. I’m begging you, tell me what that was if you know.”

  Luna looks down at her lap as a fearful tear threatens to fall down her face. Before she can hesitate any longer, she decides to give him what he wants and show him what she has been noticing. She reaches deep into her pocket to retrieve the spindling, wiry, black mass that is still covered in her dried blood. She holds it in the palm of her hand just below the surface of the diner table, and as she opens her hand to show Onyx, the red glow of the blinking light and the vibrating begins to somehow seem even more noticeable and impossible to deny.

  “Your embedded device… you kept it after it was expelled?”

  Luna slowly nods. “I just… it reminded me of home… and I didn’t want to give up my connection… to you.”

  Onyx slowly rubs her back. “That is understandable, and I am grateful you kept it until I found you, since I was able to somehow still track you with it in the hospital. I don’t know how I would have found you without it.”

  Luna nods. “Yes, so that is why I kept it, and I’ve been meaning to get rid of it, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it, for some reason.”

  “But the blinking… and the vibration… that… worries me.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, when it is still connected to the body under the skin, it does often glow as a signal, and the vibration could be leftover frequencies that are shorting out, since it has been disconnected from you. But the problem is… it still has your identification embedded into it. Which means… as long as you keep it with you, even outside the body, you can be followed. And it glows while you’re being tracked.”

  Luna’s pale face turns a ghastly white. “You don’t mean…”

  Onyx slowly nods and he swiftly takes the tracker from Luna.

  “I need to dispose of this before Seth finds you.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Seth continues to look at the faint lights embedded in his wrist that are leading him to Luna to bring about her ultimate demise. The blinking gets more and more frequent as he gets closer to her, and then, without any kind of a warning, the blinking completely stops.

  Is she here? Is this it?

  Seth carefully surveys the area in his immediate vicinity, but there are no signs of Luna to be found. As he begins to poke at his wrist desperately to get the tracker to work again, he receives the following notification:

  SYSTEM FAILURE - LOST SIGNAL

  Well that is just fantastic. Now what am I going to do? What even happened to her tracker?

  He sighs to himself as the panic begins to set in - he quickly realizes that he is nearly out of options. The sky overhead darkens as the evening gives way to night, and Seth realizes that he also has nowhere to stay. He shakes his head, his longish dark hair swishing around his pale face and pointed chin. The nearest place he can see is a park bench, so he slowly makes his way over there to try to get some sleep. The wooden slats are hard and even slightly damp, perhaps from a recent rainfall, but Seth manages to curl up on them anyway, as he allows his consciousness to give way to sleep. His next plan of attack would have to wait until morning. It isn’t ideal, but he doesn’t have any other choice.

  ✷✷✷

  Jade and Evander are quite pleased with the turnout for their first rogue meeting. After a casual preliminary headcount, Jade surmises that maybe around fifty sorters, guides, and record keepers had squeezed into Evander’s modestly-sized, soundproofed pod. As they end the meeting encouraging everyone to tell their friends and get more dissenters rallied for the cause, they quickly realize that they will need another secure location to meet that would accommodate a large crowd without detection.

  “Evander, do you have any suggestions as to where we can find a place to meet without arousing suspicion?”

  He tosses around some options in his head as Jade helps him clean up his pod from the various trash left behind by the group.

  “Well, wherever we take the group next, I would have t
o soundproof it first. Then perhaps split up, so that we aren’t all in one localized area - that could also look suspicious.”

  Jade nods. “That is a very good point. What about my pod then?”

  Evander looks over to her from the pile of trash he is collecting for the recycling bin.

  “Sure, if you’d be comfortable doing that. That’d be very nice of you, thank you.”

  Jade nods. “I’d be happy to. So how about we tell people of the two locations, and I guess they can just go wherever there is room?”

  “Sure, I bet that’d work. But I do have to soundproof it and take out any wiring or potential bugs. Can you let me into your pod maybe after your next shift? My schedule is relatively wide open as of late, but I just need the time set aside to secure the area.”

  “Absolutely. That will be fine.”

  Evander smiles nervously. The time and effort he has put into this revolution is easily taking its toll on him, especially with the obvious added pressure of the entire human race on the line. He shudders to think about what could happen if their plan doesn’t work, but he quickly shakes it off.

  Fear is paralyzing, don’t let it take hold. Just do it afraid.

  His personal mantra keeps him focused, and has for the few centuries that he has existed. And now is not the time to give up. Not now, not ever.

  “Evander? I was talking to you.”

  Jade snaps him out of his thoughts.

  “Oh, sorry. What were you saying?”

  Jade flicks a piece of stray silver hair out of her eye.

  “Well, I was thinking that we’ve really got to start the research process on Zephyr… to figure out his mortal weakness.”

  Evander runs his hand through his hair.

  “Agreed. I’ll spend every waking hour I can when I’m not working, tapping into various databases.”

  “Do you think you can? They… he didn’t censor anything, right?” Jade asks nervously, biting the inside of her mouth.

  “Well… technically, yes, there are some firewalls. But have some faith in me - I’ve already figured out how to get past a few of them… I’m actually very close to the answers. I should know very soon - hopefully in time to discuss it at the next meeting.”