FINDING ANSWERS

  “Hello?” came a gruff voice.

  “It’s me, Doctor.”

  “William, it’s good to hear a human voice,” Dr. Leibowitz sighed. “I’ve been stuck indoors listening to bots for the past week.”

  Will chuckled. “It’s good to hear you too, Doctor. How are you? Has anyone been able to track you down?”

  “No, everything is fine. It’s been quiet so far,” the doctor reassured him. “And this is the first time I’m using this line, in case you’re worried.”

  They exchanged small talk, with the doctor rambling on about his current isolation. Will was glad to listen, realizing how much the older man missed human connection.

  “Enough about me,” Dr. Leibowitz eventually said, his tone turning serious. “What about you? How’s your leg?”

  Will hesitated. “The same—occasional attacks, but lately… something odd’s been happening. I’ve been having these dreams.”

  He explained the visions in detail, from the crimson armor to the indistinct figure directing the crowd. With each word, the doctor grew quieter, his questions more pointed.

  “How many armored people were there?” Dr. Leibowitz finally asked, his voice somber.

  Will thought for a moment. “About two dozen.”

  The doctor’s silence stretched longer this time. “How very peculiar…”

  “Doctor?”

  “The Hive functions by unifying personal signatures,” the doctor began, slowly gathering his thoughts. “The drones attune their signature to a central figure—a central hub or controller, if you will. There are a few theories on how it’s done, none of which we’ve managed to replicate. However, the most curious thing is the number of people you saw in that vision.”

  “Too many?” asked Will.

  “No, too few!” said the doctor. “All the known Hive factions have been around for decades, and they number in the millions. So… where in the world did this nascent Hive come from?”

  They sat in silence, the weight of the revelation settling over them. A new Hive, right at the Tower’s doorstep. Who knows how long this has been going on?

  “How deeply troubling,” the doctor muttered.

  “Doctor,” Will began apprehensively. “Could I be wrong about the numbers? And why are they always armored? I don’t even know what these dreams mean.”

  The doctor took a measured breath. “It’s not a precise science, Will. Your case is particularly atypical. Thanks to the etherite shard, you now share neural pathways with the Bishop. The mind interprets unfamiliar data in ways it can handle. Think of it like a translation—what you see in the dreams is likely just an interpretation, a glimpse into the Bishop’s mind that your brain is translating.”

  “So, it’s not literal?”

  “No,” said Dr. Leibowitz. “The brain is a complicated thing. Let’s say the color red is represented by a certain sequence of pulses from your neurons. That same information may be encoded in a completely different way in the Bishop’s mind. That said, since both of you are from the same species, certain patterns tend to follow a common neural encoding, but there will still be differences.”

  “Right…” said Will, trying to wrap his head around it.

  “However, things need not remain static forever,” said the doctor. “Both minds will adapt. The more the two of you interact, the clearer the interpretation will be. Right now, you see the Bishop in his armored form because you first saw him in his mech. It left a strong impression. But very soon, as your mind begins to adapt, you may see past all that armor and glimpse the spider’s true face. Peer into its mind.”

  “Or him into mine,” interjected Will.

  “Yes.” The doctor sighed in frustration. “The connection goes both ways. The Bishop will be able to see into your mind as well. But who sees whom first? It all depends on who adapts faster.”

  Will’s gut twisted. “What happens next? When our minds become fully synchronized?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I suspect they would be granted full access to the mind,” said the doctor. “They could implant thoughts, emotions, even control the limbic system. All manner of ways to coerce and turn a person into something they are not.”

  A chill ran down Will’s spine as he pictured the cold, dead eyes of the hidden figure in his dreams. The spider lurked in the back of his mind, twisting his thoughts like a puppet on strings.

  “But William,” Dr. Leibowitz’s tone softened, “I’m telling you this not to make you despair, but to prepare you. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.”

  “Right,” sighed Will.

  “You must reach the initiate stage as soon as you can,” said the doctor. “Not only would you have better control over your field, but it would also be easier to defend yourself from foreign signatures. I’ll be with you every step of the way. There are a few loose ends that I have to tie up before I come out of hiding. I still have a few connections I can pull, but it will take a while. And when I’m out, we’ll work on you.”

  “Thanks, Doctor.” Will smiled, about to dive into another topic when his slate vibrated. Becca’s name flashed on the screen.

  “Doctor, I’m getting a call,” said Will. “Can we pick this up again tomorrow?”

  “Certainly,” said Dr. Leibowitz. “Chin up, William. You’re not in this alone.”

  Will thanked him and switched the call to Becca.

  She was talking before he even greeted her. “Did you find anything in the reports?”

  “I just got up, Becca,” said Will.

  “Weird.” Becca snorted. “Knowing you, I’d expected you to work through the night.”

  “That was the plan, but I fell asleep,” Will yawned. “Remy found something, though.”

  “What is it?” Becca asked excitedly.

  “Don’t know. He left a message saying he found something important and went to check it out, but he hasn’t been back since,” Will replied, his worry seeping through.

  “I’m coming over,” Becca said firmly, cutting off any protest. The line went dead.

  Will drummed his fingers on the armrest and glanced at the glowing monitors. Instead of waiting around, he could dig through the files and find out exactly what Remy had found. Will got up. Navigating around the clutter, he took his seat in front of the computer and booted it up.

  Sifting through the user accounts, he selected the guest profile. It was password-protected, but a pop-up box provided a hint.

  “Remember the goose?”

  Will shook his head, recalling the silly saying, and typed in the other half of their greeting. The screen unlocked, and for the next few minutes, Will took stock of the various reports they had managed to grab. There were a lot of them. Will couldn’t help but shake his head; Remy just couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t just pulled Crowley’s files—he’d grabbed everything remotely related.

  Will remained glued to the reports, fully absorbed until there was a knock on the door. Realizing who it was, he pressed a button on the desk, buzzing Becca in. There was a loud creak as the front door opened.

  “Will?” Becca called out.

  “In here.”

  Becca picked her way through the clutter, her expression a mix of annoyance and bemusement as she cleared a spot for herself beside Will.

  “What’s all this?” She glanced at the open files on the multiple screens.

  “The police files,” Will leaned back with a sigh. “They all still have their system names. It’ll take a while to sort through them.”

  “Figures,” Becca muttered. “So, Remy. Any idea where he is?”

  Will pointed to his slate, showing her Remy’s message. Her brows knitted together as she read. “So, he found something big enough to check out immediately? And couldn’t wait to share?”

  “Apparently,” Will muttered. “Might as well keep looking through the data, see if we can find what he was onto.”

  Becca agreed, and the two of them started sifting through the files. It was tedious work, and they gained a new appreciation for Remy's skill with data analysis. Compared to them, he’d probably have the answers all wrapped up by now.

  “I thought we were only looking for Crowley’s files,” Becca said, exasperated. “Half of this has nothing to do with him.”

  Will ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in the chair. He opened a report on the riots erupting outside the Tower. “Here’s something—a report on the situation in Derbent. It’s a mess over there.”

  Becca glanced over his shoulder, frowning as she scanned the document. “Where’s Derbent again?”

  “It’s that settlement that took a shot at us when we flew past on the way to the Hallucia temple.”

  “That feels like ages ago,” she muttered. Her eyes darted to another report on the screen, listing other cities—Karnokov, Maltan, even settlements outside the Tower—all marked by similar riots.

  “These happened while we were still training at Fort Thornfield,” said Will. “Remember how training suddenly wrapped up? Things were going south, even back then.”

  He kept scrolling, lost in thought, until Becca pointed to a document. “Found more related files—court orders, permits, summons. Tower Intelligence has been busy, it seems.”

  “Not surprising,” Will replied, tapping his finger on the desk thoughtfully. Reading between the lines, it was apparent that the Intelligence departments were expanding their oversight of the military. The Tower was stepping in to clear up the mess outside.

  “Just what the hell is going on?” Will muttered uneasily. The situation outside was spiraling out of control.

  “You going to pick that up?” asked Becca, and Will realized his slate was buzzing. A familiar name flashed on the screen, and they both froze.

  “It’s Remy!” Will’s excitement mirrored Becca’s as he answered.

  “Remy! Where are you?”

  “What did you find?”

  They asked in unison, and Remy chuckled in response. “One question at a time! I just got back into network range.”

  “We tried calling, but you were unreachable,” said Becca.

  “Yeah, I’ve been deep in the tunnels under the Tower,” he explained, sounding a little out of breath. “No signal down there.”

  “What were you doing down in the tunnels?” Will asked, perplexed.

  “Arranging transportation,” said Remy. “It’s going to be a long journey, so—”

  “Wait,” Will interrupted. “Becca and I are looking at the files right now. We didn’t find Crowley’s location yet.”

  “Oh, check the file marked Case-1462-1-0.”

  Will’s eyes widened as he found the file and started reading. Becca scanned over his shoulder, gasping as she took in the contents.

  “Look alive, guys,” Remy’s voice came through, resolute. “We’re heading to Derbent.”

  +10 Chapters

  Review, Rate or Recommend.