Chương 116: Chapter 115 – Tern Tower

Therza led Cole and the others away from the groups unloading their loot and raw materials off of the trucks and took them to the central area of the parking deck. The stack of elevators that would have had five or six different lifts had been reconfigured into a single freight lift capable of hauling cargo. The priority pieces of the loot were loaded up as well. Therza talked about their tower settlement as they rose through the structure.

"We're mostly on the first twenty levels," she said.

"Well, technically the first twenty-five, but the bottom five are flooded. Above twenty-five the wind and the elements are too strong in the exposed areas, so it's mostly lookouts, radio equipment, and facility managers. A lot of people gathered here once the power went out because of the Hodges-Bridger research that went on. We can't make much diesel and it mainly goes to the vehicles. But the conversion of the HB-layer medium to electricity is enough to power the whole structure and then some.

And it's technically renewable, as long as you're willing to beat it out of some tin. Most of the survivors in the city are in settlements built around HB generators." The elevator stopped long enough for a handful of people to roll drums of residue out into a mezzanine.

"Is this city all that's left?" asked Cole.

"Gods, I hope not," said Therza.

"We were nearing a world population of almost a billion. Monsters were getting tougher, too, as population was rising. But Hextant and HB-layer-compatible automaton soldiers were supposed to make up the difference." She laughed bitterly.

"I suppose, in a way, they did take care of the monster problem. But if everywhere saw the attrition we saw in this city, there's maybe fifty million people left. Globally. Ninety-five percent of the world snuffed out by the machine that was designed to let us grow." She looked at Cole and the others with curiosity.

"How many people are there on your world?"

"Eight billion, give or take," supplied Howie." Eight?!" asked Therza, shocked. She looked off to the side, muttering numbers as she did some mental math. Then shook her head.

"I can't imagine a planet so packed." The elevator continued up, disgorging more and more of their cargo until it was only Therza and a few of the exhausted fighters left. At each level, Cole saw people working—tending the hanging gardens, machining, covering busted windows, and clearing debris. Kids ran around and between adults doing small, odd jobs or helping carry tools and materials.

Some of the children still sat at mis-matched desks, looking up at a black-and-white image of someone in a suit projected onto a section of wall painted white. They may have been on the brink of extinction, but apparently that didn't mean they were exempt from classwork. Therza watched fondly.

"Miss your old job?" asked Roxy. The Hexighast resistance fighter laughed.

"I'm teaching geometry later tonight, and botany after." Therza brushed her fingers over the mallet clipped to her belt.

"I like to think I'm still a teacher first. We'll need the next generation able to rebuild, code, and farm, after all. But Hextant gave me the ability to protect my kids in a way that Brolick's Theorem couldn't. Whether I wanted it or not." She nodded her head up.

"This is us." The elevator stopped at a mostly intact level somewhere around floor twenty. Therza got off, along with a trio of locals pushing carts laden with crates of salvaged wiring and parts from the scrapped automatons. Nona, Cole realized, was no longer aboard. Good. Even if Cole had a warm, fuzzy feeling about these people, a set of eyes where they weren't being purposefully led would tell more.

"This was a research level, so it was already shielded. Now it's our HQ. I'll take you to see Coach."

"Coach?" asked Cole as they walked through a sterile, white hall that some children had, at some point, taken to decorating with chalk and finger-paint.

"He was the vice patron of my school, but he coached our longball team and our antiquity sports team, so even the students who weren't in athletics clubs called him Coach. He was an adventurer, before that. Led teams into dungeons to collapse monster spawning grounds. Never thought he'd need that experience again. Um…" If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The hammer woman looked at Nutmeg and Alexa's familiar.

"Can your, uh, animals, wait out here?" she asked.

"I'll wait out here, too," said Besson, unslinging his gun and settling against the wall. Nutmeg pulled a trick Cole hadn't seen before by shrinking down past her normal size to become the size of a Chihuahua and climb up onto Besson's leg. Roxy went so far as to cover her mouth and gasp, then looked over at Cole with shining eyes. Alexa just rolled her eyes and had her clockwork familiar fold up and go still against the wall.

"I didn't know you could make her smaller," said Cole. Besson himself looked a little startled.

"I don't control her size, Cole. That's her own thing." Therza walked to the door of what once must have been a research lab. Inside, a central raised area overlooked a ring of work benches and stations snaked with cables and equipment Cole didn't recognize. It reminded him a lot of the lab in Oak Ridge that they'd kind of… destroyed. He glanced at Howie, who was glancing back and gritting his teeth a bit, obviously thinking something along the same lines.

An older man stood on a raised platform, solidly built with broad shoulders peeking out of his red shirt and most of his hair gone—though it must have all migrated to his face to join a pretty impressive wizard's beard.

"Check out jacked Santa," said Roxy. She whistled.

"Boy's got delts for days."

"That's Coach," said Therza. She quirked an eyebrow at Roxy.

"Santa?"

"Ah, er, not sure how to explain it without also explaining Christmas and stuff," she said, turning a bit red. Howie jumped in with the assist.

"He's a mythical figure from our world's folklore, big guy, red suit, white beard. Once a year he rides a sleigh pulled by magic critters and gives presents to all children who were good in just one night."

"Sounds like a fun legend," said Therza, giggling.

"Must have had some sort of time-dilation ability." Howie tapped his chin.

"You know, if Earth did have a Lewis Field at some point, I wonder if some of those figures weren't so mythical at all. You know, like the tooth fairy and Krampus, maybe the Easter bunn—" Cole cut him off.

"Therza, don't encourage him. You said you might know who's got our kid?" Therza stuck her tongue out at him.

"You better tell me more about your world's culture later," she said.

"I've got a pretty good idea. But knowing them and getting you to them are two very different things." She led them up to the platform, where Coach eyed them, paying extra attention to their slung weapons and kit. He flicked his eyes to Therza.

"Coach, like you to meet Cole and his team. They're our guests from off-shore." A lot of the heads in the room stopped what they were doing and looked their way.

"Off-shore," said Coach.

"The ones purported to be not from around here, that off-shore?" Cole stepped forward.

"Yes, sir." Coach straightened, revealing an impressive height to go with his physique. The man was at least the size of Director Bricker, if not bigger.

"Cole and the others found us on the back-foot of the interdiction on the southwest mid-town beach. Came to our rescue, even. They kill bots very well," said Therza. Coach made his way down from the platform and offered his hand, which Cole took, squeezing rather than shaking as Therza had.

"I'd say welcome to Hexighast, Master Cole, but it's not been a welcoming place these past few years."

"Believe me, I've seen worse receptions," said Cole. Coach eased his bulk down onto the corner of a workstation.

"If the snips we got on the EMwaves was right, you're in search of a child of your world, yes?"

"That's right. Elliot Werner. We know that he was summoned in this area, we just don't know where or by who. Seems like this city has a lot of places he could be."

"Gotta be LouixCorp, Coach."

"Yeah," said Coach, crossing his arms.

"That's what I been thinkin' too."

"Sounds like a company," said Cole.

"Sort of," said Therza.

"They blur the lines a bit. Part Hodges-Bridger research firm, part fringe religious group. Reached out to me about taking my kids on a field trip there, but I never felt good about them."

"We got people like that, too," said Howie.

"They were anti-Hextant from the moment it was announced," Therza said.

"Claimed they were working on countermeasures. That we'd need them. Go figure, they were right all along."

"Throw enough crackpot nonsense to the wind and you're bound to have somethin' blow in the right direction," said Coach. He shook his head and gestured around.

"Just wish it weren't this they happened to be right on." He eyed Cole and the others and huffed a laugh.

"Funny thing is, one o' their other fringe beliefs was inter-dimensional beings. If anyone was trying to reach your world, it's them." Cole considered.

"Sounds like a solid lead."

"A place to start, anyway," said Coach. He ran his fingers through his beard.

"Only problem is, no one we talk to on the regular has heard them on the EMwaves going on a month, now."

"Is that unusual?" Asked Cole. Coach wobbled his palm in a more or less gesture.

"From time to time. Someone will twist their skivvies and they'll go dark. But usually only a few days, maybe a week and they're back cloggin' the EMwaves with nonsense. They've never been quiet this long."

"That's the trick, isn't it?" said Therza.

"For all we know, Hextant already killed them."