An Obsidian Sky Part 9

I looked down the side of my lancer and flicked the toggle into auto. The gun whined in response as it began to charge. The side light went green indicating full readiness. I pulled the gun up in their general direction and began to fire. The lancer selected its targets and dispatched them with ease. Aeniah and the others began firing equally indiscriminately. Sean appeared to dart forward at a tremendous speed towards them. Soon he was away in the distance. I looked back through the scope of my wildly firing lancer and watched a small flame of energy drop from Sean. I stopped firing as my scope went white. The whole tunnel shook with the force of the explosion. I could just hear the humming of Sean as he whooshed his way back towards us.

I looked back through the scope at the fading white light and could see nothing. Then I saw the damage. There was a pile of strewn bodies lying across the surface of the tunnel. But climbing over those bodies was the rest of the horde. Aeniah must have seen it too because her pistol began to let rip just a couple of moments after I began to return fire. They were gaining on us.

With the tunnel illuminated by the energy rounds that we were firing Abigail and Harris appeared to have enough light to at least get a direction of fire. They had let go of our waists and were firing their projectiles in rapid succession at the unseen targets. Both of their torches switched on. The view along the tunnel was not great, but if I was honest, neither was the night vision. The lancer had obviously seen better days.

'Are we getting enough of them,' asked Harris.

'No, we're not even making a dent in them,' Aeniah responded in a scream.

We continued firing nevertheless. Sean's little explosive trick had seemed to be a one off. He was no longer partic.i.p.ating in the fight but seemed to be working instead as Aeniah's eyes. They were communicating with each other. Or more accurately Aeniah was shouting whilst Sean deferentially complied with some nondescript answer.

The horde continued its inevitable surge towards us. It was like trying to stop the tide. A battle we could never hope to win. My lancer's overheat warning began to sound and a flame symbol appeared in the scope screen. I continued firing, ten down, now twenty. But nothing was enough. They were close enough now for Abigail and Harris to see by flashlight alone. But even with this improved accuracy there was not enough fire power. I wished that my angel was with me, that I could draw upon its incredible power and use it to get rid of all of these murderous villains.

But I wished in vain. It seemed like Blue Dawn was right, they would only ever come if they really wanted to. I searched about us for something, anything that would get us out of this mess. My eyes scanned the tunnel, there was nothing, the flashlights revealed too little. I raised my lancer in desperation. Through the scope I could make out something. I let rip with the automatic and ran towards the left hand side of the tunnel. I moved with lightning speed but still it seemed too slow. They were so close now.

I reached the side and fumbled with the round wall. My hands soon found a purchase. Scrabbling with my fingers I found a handle. Thank fate. It was a door, probably a service entrance. It was amazing the amount of convenient things that could be found on Ascension. There were methods of escape everywhere.

'Follow me,' I screamed at my companions. At first they did nothing, transfixed by the incoming horde. It was only as Abigail and Harris's flashlights illuminated the door that they ran with relief to its opening. I forced my way through the narrow opening first. The others scrambled in one after the other. Aeniah was last and she slammed the door shut with a frightening strength. We were all gasping for air, sure that all the oxygen in the world was running out.

'This won't hold them for long,' Aeniah shouted. Sure enough there was a tremendous bang upon the door. The force of so many infected slamming at the door caused it to rattle on its hinges. We turned about the service tunnel and ran in the direction of the Commercial District. We ran with all our speed. There were some small lights that ran along the length of the service tunnel. These gave just enough light to run by and we seized the opportunity with both hands. We desperately grabbed at our one hope of salvation and ran blindly onward, anywhere, everywhere.

Something grabbed at my shoulder. I fell to the ground, not for the first time in the last twenty minutes, and heard automatic rifle fire. Unlike in my previous fall I managed to climb to my feet swiftly and found that the offending article had been pulverised. Perhaps she had once been a rail technician. She was dressed in a high visibility jacket. She looked strangely peaceful where she lay, without a torso. I didn't even bother to look around me, to find out what was going on. Instead I was possessed by a fear that drove me forwards, unseeing.

We were reaching the end of the service tunnel now. A sealed archway presented itself directly in front of us. Aeniah hammered at it, but the wall sealing the archway off was too firm.

'Okay, so does anyone have any explosives,' she called.

In the corner of my eye I spotted a familiar red symbol. With my right hand outstretched I pressed my palm against it. The symbol flashed, rotated, and turned green. A door to the left of the archway slid open. Aeniah did not seem very amused by the door upstaging her and she punched its metal frame on her way through. The door sealed itself behind us, preventing the horde from pursuing us further. There must have been thousands of them.

We had arrived at a station right at the opening of the Commercial District. This station was different from the others. The first difference was that it had no roof, no tall columns supporting it up. Instead it reached up into the never ending distance. We were in amongst the clouds. We were in the b.l.o.o.d.y sky.

I looked up and up and up. I gasped with incredulity. There was a sky. The station really was suspended in the air. It was blue, as blue as is the ocean. It was a lit by a series of white stars. They were held aloft in a straight line across this wonderful blue sea of air. Despite myself I laughed with the sheer pleasure of seeing it. The Commercial District, according to the maps of Ascension, covered a huge circular chunk of the station. It was two hundred Ascension sized floors high and spanned a distance calculated in the tens of miles.

Reaching like the fingers of G.o.d into the heavens of this blue ocean were skysc.r.a.pers of an immense proportion. They were concentrated in the far off and mist shrouded centre of the district. Each was a work of sheer brilliance. Some reached upwards in an impossible curve narrowing to a seemingly infinite point. Others arched from several points and met high above the heavens, some supporting other ma.s.sive structures in their lofty heights. There were towers made of pure light, they shone with an ethereal glow, tinged with an electric blue. Most impressive were the garden structures. They were artificial towers that looped and curved and plateaued. Surrounding them was a twisting ma.s.s of plant life that became forests and lakes on each of their many plateaus. Many of the flatlands dripped water from them, which turned to a mist that reflected patterns of coloured light onto the surrounding buildings.

Such was the beauty of Ascension. In its time it would have been one of the most incredible things ever to have been produced. But here, today, it was clear that it had not escaped the scars of the nemesis that had befallen its greater whole.

Where once I was sure there would have been huge columns of gra.s.sland, divided by trees from the surrounding sky-sc.r.a.pers, there was now just ashen surfaces. The trees and plant life that surrounded the sc.r.a.pers had lost much of its green l.u.s.tre. The rivers just visible from my sight were still an incredible blue, but they were no longer clear, and the light no longer s.h.i.+mmered across its surface. Whilst the suns still shone brightly and gave life to an awesome vision, the distance was now dim, where once, I am sure, it would have been clear.

We were standing on the edge of the interlink station. My hands were resting upon a thigh high gla.s.s wall. The station was raised upon a platform which cut out into an expanse of air and showed off the incredible vista. I wondered with all the power of my imagination just what it would have been like to be there, to live as they had lived.

Then I felt the familiar sensation. How convenient these visions were. It was almost funny that I had complained about their timing before. The world washed out to a grey. My vision reformed elsewhere. I was no longer standing with my friends on that raised platform but in amongst the crowds of the city.

The colour returned. The brightness of the place was incredible. But the noise was even greater. There were so many people making so much noise. What impressed me most is that there was no anger and no hostility in the voices of those around me. They were all laughing, smiling and hugging one another.

I was being dragged along by the rest of the crowd. They pushed me gently along the great gra.s.sy walkway and towards the immense skyline in front of me. I was soon pushed up an embankment that led onto a gla.s.s square raised above the ground. The gla.s.s square had a series of roads leading off it, each of which climbed into the art forms above our heads. The square, true to Ascension's design, was epic in proportion. In the centre was a circular pool of water with a fountain shaped like one of the angels in the middle. The water was not like any water that I had seen before. It appeared to have a living light swirling within it. It shot up in an explosion of colour and dived down on a wave, unbroken by the force of the air.

I looked around again and saw a face that I recognised. He was one of the liberators from the station. He had dissented from the crowd and freed a helpless angel. But this vision made no sense. The Equinox subjects were clearly venerated. Not only was the fountain a testament to the peoples appreciation of the angels and their work, but the floating holos showed instructions of how to treat the Equinox subjects as special citizens, to love them, to keep them safe.

On my right stood two angels, it seemed that they would only go around in pairs. These angels appeared contented. Whilst the others had been on edge, these appeared comfortable, even happy. They held each other's hands and smiled at the people pa.s.sing them by. They did not stand apart and await the inevitable. Most shockingly of all I noted that they were talking to the people. A mother, or guardian, had taken their child up to them and they were laughing and talking with one another. The sun shone between them as the mother raised a camera to take a photo of them all in play.

The child seemed to draw in his breathe and before him blossomed a fantastic visual display. Light, like water, was dancing and spinning before him. I understood that he must be drawing from the angels and casting. It was incredible. The beacons of civilisation in the background of the photo's range described a future I wanted to be a part of. The casting of the magic water somehow seemed more useful than anything else Ascension had managed to produce. It was purer, it was better than the vestigial promise of Infinite Longevity. It was more fantastic than Immersive Virtual. It had a clear point and it warmed my heart.

I turned my attention back to the saboteur. He was not dressed so formally as before. In fact none of them were. I looked through the transparent floor beneath me and saw not a mist of grey clad officials, but an ocean of colour. The sight was like a painter's palette. I lifted my eye back and found that the dissident was chatting and laughing with the tall lady besides him. She seemed happier somehow. In fact it dawned on me that everyone appeared ecstatic, with an enthusiasm that I had never ever seen in a populace before.

It suddenly occurred to me right then and there. My visions were only ever of critical events. They were confined spatially to the places I was travelling through. But if an event occurred of great importance there, then I would be shown exactly what happened. I sensed a coming moment. I knew that somehow, something was about to shatter my bliss.

The two angels were still holding hands. I saw one smile to the other. He appeared the more jovial of the two. The other responded with words I could not hear. His mouth moved with careful consideration. They were still holding hands as the beginning of the end walked near. I realised what he was about to do, perhaps even before he had. He was black clad, an outcast among the colour of the citizens. He was hunched a little and had a strange far-off look in his eyes. The angels did not even see him coming. I realised that this would be the last day of Ascension, the last day of paradise, before the station would reach the last scene in its final act.

A conversation between one of the angels and the man ensued. The sound was draining from the vision and I could hear nothing. The conversation seemed aggressive and my saboteur walked towards the three figures as if to intervene. The angel on the left ruffled his wings, but the other kept his wings still. The man in the black garment placed a small metal brick to the angel's head, and he fell to the floor dead. The other angel fell still. He no longer ruffled his wings. In slow motion and with the colour fading from my vision I saw the crowds of people running from the gunshot. A woman's legs floating without noise. A man's hand slas.h.i.+ng back and forth through the air, silently. I saw the tall lady and her accomplice run towards the man in black. The man in black's arm arced gracefully up towards the remaining angel's head. Why wouldn't he run, why wouldn't he defend himself? Help him! I screamed in my head. The two saviours were lunging towards the man in black. Water burst slowly like rain from their footsteps, rainbows interspersed between every drop.

The man in black's arm reached the angel's head, a blue flash and down he fell. They both lay on the ground, hand in hand, serenity was all amongst their faces. The tall lady opened her mouth screaming as she collapsed down towards the ground, her eyes flung out tears as she shook her head. I could hear none of her agony.

But before the vision faded I heard these words. 'This is the way the world ends. May we be so lucky as to die on our feet.' It was here that my vision of the world caved. I woke overlooking the damaged Eden with my companions by my side.

13.

The Price of Paradise We had begun to descend the heights from which we had once been standing. The Commercial District was surrounded by water and interspersed with rivers and ca.n.a.ls. This meant that the most effective way to get the heart of the commercial district was to find a boat and take it right into the centre. From the centre we could get a vehicle which we could use on the large roads that spanned the grounds and the airs of the Commercial District. And from the very heights of the city's skyline we could access the freeway which would take us into the Centre for Administration.

We were moving slowly down the bright steps. The suns shone with a bright intensity and the water beneath us sparkled. We were nearly at the bottom of the huge staircase and it had taken all of our remaining strength to get to this point. We all longed for the security and safety of the boat. Even if it was just an illusion.

'Are we nearly at the bottom yet?' groaned Abigail to Harris. None of us bothered with an answer. We were too tired to waste our breath. She was of course equally as able to see the floor as we were. It was also very annoying that her whining voice could be giving away our position to whomever may be here.

The floor was now in sight. Aeniah, ahead as always, was already at the bottom of the stairs. I arrived a few seconds afterwards. Sean had whizzed off in the direction of the city in order to do some reconnaissance. But he had been gone for a while. I wondered what kind of trouble he might have managed to get himself into. A moment later and I was second guessing this fear. Knowing Sean he was probably marvelling at some unknown lost piece of architecture.

By now we had stepped onto a white and red bricked terrace which ran alongside the water. The terrace functioned as a way for people to moor up their small watercraft. In the distance a huge bridge could be seen that crossed the expanse of water. But the interlink tramway was not a main route, it was designed to be a quaint tourist way of getting about, and so it did not end at the bridge but by the water.

The bridge was far too far away for us to traverse. We also did not have a vehicle so it was not as though there was any real benefit to walking all the way over there. As I was musing Sean had returned from his quick scout out of the area.

'According to a quick run of the place there are no infected on this terrace. However intermittent range sensors reveal a huge amount of motion within the Commercial District itself. This motion was detected with thermal imaging and so I am reasonably confident that there is a large quant.i.ty of infected over there.' Sean finished his first report. There was clearly more to report but he waited patiently for the questions that Aeniah would inevitably ask him.

Sure enough he had not waited for the wrong reasons. Aeniah piped up, 'so how many have you detected, and where are they concentrated?'

'My sensors are not accurate enough from this distance to determine an answer to either of those questions. And before you accuse me of being an obsolete dishwasher, might I remind you that it was your infinite wisdom that requested this particular drone for me to inhabit. If you had at least kept the body that I was manufactured with then this would be a very different situation.' He finished with an air of indignation.

Aeniah ignored the attack. 'So then how about a boat, did you find us one of them.'

'I did one better,' Sean replied with an air of confidence. 'I found a hopper.'

'A hopper?' I asked.

'A hopper is like the hovercraft that you always wanted as a kid. However hoppers are designed only for crossing water. They do not fly. In fact they are not very fast by comparison to most vehicles of the period, but they are totally silent.' Aeniah finished, her voice oozing superiority. 'So then Sean, where is our luxurious transport.'

'Not far, just keep going straight on, you can't miss it.'

He was right. After just a couple of minutes walking we found the hopper. The hopper was shaped like an oval. In the centre was a seat with a wheel and around it's edges were red fabric seats. The hopper was a silvery colour, coated in a grey dust.

Aeniah jumped from the terrace onto the hopper. It bobbed and swayed with the impact and Aeniah almost staggered overboard. I stifled a laugh, but she heard it anyway and turned round, staring at me evilly.

She sat on the seat with the wheel and rammed something into the side of it. The hopper rose, without any noise at all, about six inches from the water.

'Hurry up will you and get on board. I know you guys are tired, but we don't have all day. No dithering now. Oh, and Sean, scout ahead of the hopper when we are moving and tell us which parts of the city we really don't want to get close to.'

'Of course sir,' he replied deferentially.

We each leapt onto the hopper. Now that it was active the vehicle did not bob and sway with the water but remained perfectly upright. If anything at all occurred it was just the faintest hint of a slight hum as the engine worked to correct the hopper's balance.

Aeniah forced an unyielding handle forward and the hopper lurched suddenly forward and then relaxed to a static speed. Aeniah was quite correct in her a.s.sertion that hoppers were not fast, the thing seemed designed with comfort in mind and not exhilaration. A promotional sign on the side of the vessel had said 'stable in all weather.' This seemed indeed to be the case. Though there was no wind there was a little bit of swell along the water. At the speed that we were going it did not seem as though the waves were having any effect as we continued heading straight and true.

We were now in the middle of the expanse of water. Sean had advised us to make several course corrections to avoid the infected. We had considered taking the small city spanning waterways to get to the city's centre but this had proved too dangerous. Instead the plan was now to take the main river into the city and then divert ourselves to the location that we wished.

The Ascension Social Transport Initiative, according to Sean, was located along the Commercial District's Grand Concourse. This was something, Sean a.s.sured me, that I would have to see to believe.

Sean seemed to have everything under control. Aeniah was guiding the boat along the green and blue water with expert precision. It was as though this was something that she had done a hundred times before. She even hummed along with Sean on occasions. Abigail and Harris both seemed to be enjoying themselves. In fact it seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves thoroughly. Perhaps it was the chance to rest, perhaps it was being so far away from the enemy. But in all reality it was where we were that was the cause for our levity. The suns were s.h.i.+ning. We were looking onto the beautiful expanse of a city sent down from the heavens. Even though it had not been looked after for centuries and we knew that lurking within those mammoth temples was an unprecedented danger, we seemed to find the place alluring in a way that I could not describe. Ascension seemed to have that quality. It was a place of such magnificence that even though there was danger everywhere, and even though much of it was damaged, it could still pull you in. It could still captivate you. This station, this act of hubris, was the most incredible place imaginable, and if you weren't careful it would suck you in and throw you out just like it did to all the others.

The hopper was banking right now, a small amount of spray showered our faces and the sides dug into the water. Aeniah, in her usual cavalier manner, had turned much too sharply. But she pretended as though she had not noticed. There was something quite noticeable about the Commercial District and that was that it was much hotter than the rest of Ascension, comfortable, but definitely a lot hotter.

The great sweeping towers of Ascension were coming into view now. The mist still hung above the heights of the sc.r.a.pers but the blur of haze running along the surface of the district was gradually reducing.

Aeniah began to reduce the power to the thrusters. We had slowed to the pace of a crawl as we sidled down the main river. Immense structures rose to our sides. The buildings each jutted out onto the water, or else had light brick walkways running between themselves and the water. I imagined what these superb walkways would have looked like back when Ascension was a reality. In imagining I thought I saw the shadows of the former shoppers, and workers, running along the streets.

Every hundred meters or so the river branched into a fork. Though we continued straight along to our destination it became clear that the streets and roads visible to our sides were not in great condition. Refuse lay scattered everywhere. Most of it was so old that it no longer contained any discernible colour. There was a thick layer of dust coating the surfaces of the stone and marble pavements. Shadows ran along the side alleys. We began to feel uncomfortable again. In a last ditch effort to conceal ourselves further Aeniah had cut out the engine and was using only moments of thrust at a time to get us to our destination.

Any conversation that we had was done in hushed whispers. We had limited our conversations to the trivial, refusing to acknowledge the dangerous situation that we had placed ourselves in. Perhaps taking the bridge would have been a better option. Perhaps we should have sent in a larger party or a smaller one, or split ourselves into groups to increase our efficiency. But none of this was spoken about, it remained fully conversed in the silence.

Our conversations had rapidly centred upon the need for food. Whilst the water around us was in plentiful supply and our suits drained additional moisture from the air, Aeniah and I had had no food for several days and it was beginning to show.

'Look Aeniah, we need food, whether or not it is unsafe. If we don't get some soon we may not be able to even finish our journey before we pa.s.s out.' I finished in an air of desperation.

'Fine,' Aeniah hissed, 'Sean where can we get food from?'

'On Ascension, and within much of the United World, food was not bought and exchanged, instead particle synthesis devices would produce consumable food-stuffs. Any apartment building or place of residence would have such a device. I would not advise trying to find food in the restaurants; as these establishments typically served food in the traditional sense and so their stores were perishable.' Sean seemed to tire of his history lesson, perhaps perceiving that due to hunger we were not really in a position to care. Or more likely it was because he had heard my sighing with impatience. Whatever was the case, Sean floated higher in the air, distancing himself from us.

'So which ones are the apartment buildings?' I asked.

Aeniah held her hand over her wrist. I realised, and was not sure why I had not earlier, that Aeniah was not wearing an Eternis Systems suit. Or at least the device that she was holding in her hand was not part of the standard issue. After a moment or so a three dimensional holo resolved above her hand. The image it produced was of the city but from a top down perspective. She manipulated the image with her hands and the view descended into the city. The buildings rose up as the camera panned down at a reducing angle. Two blue pins dropped down from nothingness and onto the maps. The holo spun and retracted showing a green line between the buildings that we were closest to us and the building that we needed to be in. Our destination had a square of floating text above it which stated, Chorus Heights. On the next line the text read, search field: residential buildings. I estimated from what I could see of the map that we were very close. Aeniah guided the hopper left and along one of the smaller tributaries of the main river. We were still nowhere near the centre of the Commercial District. This, I a.s.sumed, was a good thing. There should be less infected in the outskirts of the city.

The building was soon visible. It was a huge, slightly curved, white stone skysc.r.a.per that ascended into a sharp apex. The nearest face of the building was concave and within this cavity stood a huge sculpture of a young lady, dress flowing, with her hands lifting themselves towards the sky. The young lady stretched upwards and almost touched the apex of the tower. The building reached into the sky and its tip seemed to be lodged among the clouds.

This face of the building lay directly in the path of the water, which curved around it on either side, in effect causing the building to become a peninsular. The young lady stood triumphantly above us now and I wondered whether she had ever managed to touch that which she reached. I loved the optimism, but hated the reality.

The Chorus Heights apartment building had a jetty situated directly ahead of us. We were approaching the confusing entrance at a very slow speed. I saw the huge shadowy silhouettes of the large liners that were berthed there. Pleasure cruisers became visible shortly afterwards, their very shapes designed to capture and entertain their covetous viewers, like sculptures of gla.s.s formed by the wind and resting amongst the deadly blues of the sea.

The prow of the hopper crossed timidly into the entrance of the oversized jetty. I wondered if it was made out of real wood. Regardless, we all felt a little out of place sitting in the obviously inexpensive hopper as we slid through a harbour of opulence. The very air seemed to ooze a moisture of red wealth. The hopper continued to make almost no noise as Aeniah selected a free berth that was suitably close to Chorus Heights and the jetty's exit at the same time.

We moored up in almost no time. 'Abigail, Harris, you two are to stay here with the hopper and keep it secure, I want you to make very sure that we still have the same way out that we came in. George, you're with me, I need your eyes and your fire power. Sean, I want you to try and interface with Chorus Heights' surveillance system. There should be an interface around the back of the building. I want you to retrieve all the information that you can about the rest of the Commercial District. That is if you can get in. Everybody be sure to use comms only in the case of emergencies, such as an engagement with the enemy.' Aeniah, in her usual manner, turned to me and issued the order, 'with me!'

The jetty had been no trouble to get across. There were literally no signs of life. A quick sweep of my lancer's thermal imaging revealed that there was not even a worthy heat signature visible within the buildings. I was however uncertain of the effective range of this antique.

The entrance to the building was in effect a series of columns supporting a stone overhang. True to Ascension's blend of the ultra modern with the cla.s.sical, it was not merely a matter of walking through the columns and you were in , because there was a meter thick armoured gla.s.s part.i.tion separating the end of the columns from the beginning of the building A message was engraved into the gla.s.s entrance which read, For Those Who Seek Enlightenment, Ascension Can be the Only Cure. In between each of the columns there were lecterns of crystal with pages from famous literature impressed onto their surfaces.

In order to pa.s.s through the gla.s.s it was evidently necessary to go through the comparatively small entrance. Unfortunately this would require us to figure out a way of opening the door.

Our tiny forms reached the door undisturbed. It was taller than us by several feet. There was a small flat slab of sandstone raised aloft by a pole of the same material that drew my interest. I walked over to it in the belief that this would be our way in. I carefully placed my hand upon its cold surface. In a flash a screen transposed itself upon the surface of the slab, it seemed to be projected from nowhere. There was an image of the building ahead of us now flowing along the stone. Superimposed upon the image, in white lettering, were the words, Access to Chorus Heights is restricted at this time. The text was marked as interactive so I pressed it.

'I am sorry citizen,' an automated voice boomed, 'but Chorus Heights is currently off limits to the general public.' We both spun around in unison knowing with an inevitable certainty that this would draw the attention of any nearby infected. 'This restriction has been autonomously enforced by the Chorus Heights AI. This enforcement is the result of a biological quarantine procedure in effect throughout Ascension. All citizens are advised to remain indoors, seek shelter and await further instructions.'

My heart was once again set racing and I could hear it drumming in my ears. My vision narrowed and I desperately searched out the enemy. But none could be seen. In fact throughout the course of our entire movement across the Commercial District there had been nothing to see but shadows. It seemed almost as though we were projecting our own phantoms upon a desolate landscape.

After several minutes it became clear that we were not going to be confronted by any of Ascension's monstrous creations. I turned and said to Aeniah, 'is there any way of bypa.s.sing the lock-down?'

After a moment of silence Aeniah replied, 'I think I might have a way.' She strode over to the slab and rolled back her sleeve. With her exposed wrist she rubbed her naked flesh onto a small increment in one the upper corners of the slab. The image on the screen changed to something that more closely resembled a user interface. It seemed as though Ascension's systems were in some way programmed to respond to Aeniah's commands. After several moments of collapsing windows and fluttering hands some text appeared upon the screen and stated simply Access Granted, Welcome Aeniah Corinthia.

It was those words which caused me to fully realise my suspicions. Ascension knew who Aeniah was. The systems...o...b..ard the Eternis System's vessel had called her by a different surname. I knew immediately that Aeniah was not who she seemed to be. Although when I came to think about it, she had never seemed entirely normal, in fact she always seemed to be out of place.

I was about to confront her about my suspicions, force her to tell me what was going on. But I realised where we were and thought better of it. I would ask her later, I would ask her before we left Chorus Heights. With these thoughts whirling through my head I had hardly noticed that I was alone amongst the columns, Aeniah had already walked inside. I rushed forwards, mindful that by myself I was a sitting target. The gla.s.s doors slowly closed behind me. I heard the thud of their two sides gently impacting upon one another.

I could not see Aeniah anywhere. I looked to my left across the huge, multi-levelled expanse of the reception area. There was floor after floor of galleries above my head, each positioned in a slightly different angle than the others. I looked right and saw a desk. But still I did not see Aeniah.

I rolled my wrist towards my face. I clicked on the comms to open a channel. 'Aeniah, where are you,' I whispered. The comms simply rolled to channels of static. There was no reply. There was also nothing that could have taken her away. This could only have meant one thing, that one of the intelligent infected was here. I remembered Blue Dawn's categories. Most infected lost their mental faculties, but there were a minority who had retained their intelligence. In short, I was frightened out of my wits. Indeed if a single one had retained its intelligence then there was no telling what technology it would have at its disposal.

Aware that I had to find supplies for the mission, I decided to continue. I could not run throughout this building to find her, simply to fall into a trap. The supplies had to be prioritised.

Sean would have a connection to Aeniah, I suddenly remembered, and so he may know where she was. 'Sean, Aeniah's gone, do you have any idea where she is.'

Sean's voice came through the static on the comms. 'Yes George, Aeniah is on the forty-second floor,' there was something in Sean's voice that made me nervous. 'As far as I am aware she has travelled there voluntarily, but that does not mean that there is no danger posed towards you.'

'What is that supposed to mean?' I asked, but there was no reply on the comms. In fact the entire system seemed to go dead, there was no longer even any static.

I spun around searching for something, anything that would bring light upon the situation, but there was nothing. I ached everywhere; I just did not have the energy. I hurt everywhere, I felt like, no I had, been thrown across a room, shot at and then frozen. My groggy self reflection slowly ended with fear. Idiot, I thought, I was standing around day dreaming in the aftermath of an apocalypse being chased by hordes of infected. Even for me, that was stupid.

With a sudden realisation I remembered that the desk I saw earlier was probably designed for the receptionists or managers to administrate the complex. At the very least there should have been a map of some description.

I hopped over the top of the desk and crashed to the floor. Another stupid move. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not an action hero, I was just some guy, and I should have known better than to vault a desk wider than my leg span.

Curiously there was still no noise. This city was dead. There was nothing left living here but the trees. I wondered where the bodies were, where all the dead had been left to rot. It seemed as though the Commercial District had been untouched by the quarantine controls Blue Dawn had affected. The corpses would not have been preserved in the vacuum since this section of the station had clearly never been depressurised. Still there should have at least been skeletons. Sean had said that there was a ton of movement in the city centre and I wondered why there was n.o.body here.

This was not really relevant right now so I turned my attention back to the desk. Underneath the top that I had just vaulted over, there was a bank of screens. I thumbed along the options menus. The system was too complicated. I was just about to give up when saw out of the corner of my eye a green woman. It was a holo of the Chorus Heights' AI. The visual was only in the shape of a woman but overall there were few distinct features.

'Good afternoon citizen, may I help you?'