The Truth

The cannon was being built on one of the small rooks which surrounded the outer rim of the city.

Those were made with the same technology which was implemented on the Dragonflies. Gehenna's scientists and Whiskers started working on that as soon as Tithon declared that the war was on, again.

Fanon, Tithon and Malsumis were supervising the work, watching over the clones who wanted the job.

"Can't they work faster?" asked Tithon to Fanon

"No, unfortunately. Most of them have never worked on a project like this and we have lost a lot of civilians lately"

"There's also the fact that now we can't produce more clones, which can hinder our working speed" added Malsumis

Fanon looked at him with an annoyed sight

"But the city is well guarded, and it will be hard for them to get in"

"Is that right?"

"I mean…"

"You have been in the other side, you know a secret through which they can come in the city, like the one we found in the outer rim"

Malsumis took some time to answer to that question.

"So?" answered Fanon

"There is one below Suharto Towers, I believe"

"You have to be sure"

"I know that because on the maps it looks like the only way from the city to the desert"

"Commander, deploy a squadron to the Towers and set your defense"

"Others?"

"Consider that the only way to get in is with an aircraft because this city is sealed"

"I know about it"

"When they will attack us, they'll try to sneak in, as they did other times. We don't know when they will do it, we just know that they will avoid attacking us directly"

One of the clones felt on the ground. Destroyed by the work.

Tithon detached from the trio and helped him getting up. He thanked him and got back to his work spot.

"No wonder why they adore you" joked Malsumis

"Sir…" a Whisker appeared behind them

"Speak" said Tithon

"Sir, we have an issue. A grave issue"

"What?"

"We're running out of food. All the food came from the laboratory and now we're left with what we have in our warehouses"

"None of the scientists can clone as they used to?"

"No, sir"

"How long do we have then?"

"Not enough"

"How long?" insisted Tithon

"Little more than two years"

Tithon looked worried. The vein in his neck was pulsing.

"When will the men and the cannons be ready Fanon?"

"Six months, more or less"

"Make it three"

"But sir, we're talking about thousands of men to train and new technologies...it's imp…"

"Possible"

As Tithon said that Fanon shut up.

"What about me?" asked Malsumis

"Go back to the lab and look around. If you find anything useful report it to me"

"What about Gehenna?"

"She won't interfere"

"But she…"

"She won't come with you"

The Chief and Kurban were walking with a quick pace in a tight tunnel which ran under the underground city.

It was dark as anthracite, and they had only one lamp to light up the path. The Chief was wearing his red suit and his hand was shaking.

No sounds were permeating from the thick walls.

No one was there.

Kurban has so many questions, but he was exercising his patience. It wasn't the right moment.

Then the sides started narrowing and they turned to fit in.

A different smell was coming from ahead. It was like burnt metal and old paper.

A light ahead.

When they moved closer, he noticed that it was a small lightbulb in front of a door.

The Chief opened the door, and they got in.

Some neon lights turned on and revealed a room, stuffed with maps and technological artifacts.

A small radio station was set beside the artifacts.

The Chief removed his helmet and breathed in. Kurban find it odd that he still managed to keep his cap on.

Kurban was looking around.

Desks with maps, drawings, and paths. Pieces of an ancient civilization and a board filled with names and numbers. It was slightly inclined forward. A muted whistle was coming from its direction but none of them cared about it.

A small PC with a blank screen.

Something got his attention.

It was a note, small and consumed, with cubital notes on it.

Truth lies in the stars, a dark light where loyalty dies

He didn't care about it.

"What is this place?" asked him then

"Lud used to come here. No one knew about this place before his dead. Only the first Chief was told about it. Lud's last descendant is aware of it too"

"It looks like he was working on something"

"Yes, mostly about Agaklythos and the people who came here and their possible links with your city"

"I get it but why?"

"He never told anybody but there's a theory"

"Which?"

"That he died trying to prove to everybody that Agaklythos wasn't here to help us but to conquer and destroy"

On a piece of paper there were dates and position of the purple star, with confused words beside it.

"You never tried to understand what he found out?"

"No"

"Why?"

"No one like you showed himself at our door. We never asked ourselves the questions you arose in us today"

"Would you help me unveil his work and understand why and how he died?" asked Kurban excited

The Chief tarried a little then nodded.

"The only way to do it is by going to war with the city and Tithon. It would go against the tenets of our mission. Peace is the only way to keep the purple star shine in the sky. For the future of this planet do not save me"

Gehenna's message ended, leaving Gluskap with an extreme sense of incertitude, while he was lying down to avoid compromising his wounded leg's state.

The message didn't have any logic.

Why would her tell him not to save her? Why would her do it?

He knew that their goals were peace and prosperity but it, it didn't make any sense.

Especially now that she felt threatened by Tithon and his men.

He trusted her but he was trying hard to understand her position.

The situation needed a desperate action to reestablish the lost balance and avoid a catastrophe.

There wasn't a simple way.

All his men were ready to fight and the Shaxes were looking for a purpose.

"Sir…" called one of his lieutenants

"Sir…"

He turned his head and noticed him, standing there.

"Sir…"

"Tell me what is going on"

"The Elders need to show you something"

"Bring me to them then" ordered him

A bunch of 'Birds put him on a pram and brought him to the Elders.

When he arrived, they were standing in front of one of the numerous tunnels which ran through the graveyard.

As they sensed, they turned toward him.

One of them came forward and bowed.

"What do you need to show me?"

"Behinds uss" said the old Shax

"What? I don't understand"

"Behinds uss there's a paths. They mosts relevants. They oney whichs ledd uss herey froms ours birthplacey"

Gluskap tilted his head. He wasn't following the Elder.

"Wey weren't borns herey"

"Who or what created you?"

"Wey forgots ours creattor. Wey justs knows thatt wey rosey froms hiss asshes"

"Where does it lead?"

"Wey don't knows"

Gluskap was thinking.

"What should we do sir?" asked the lieutenant

He knew that the question wasn't just about the tunnel. All of them wanted to know his next move.

Everyone was waiting for his response

"Prepare yourself"

"For what?" asked one of the Elders

"We are going to claim the city back"

The guards of Commander Mabdil were bringing the body of all the rioters into the Tower, staked in huge piles of flesh and blood.

The commander was moving around his men to clean the mess which was spread all over the High Hara and Haguel.

Lady Gehenna was watching them from his attic, while the city was burning in front of her.

Two Dragonflies were coming from afar.

Her leg was twitching.

She went to her desk and sat down, waiting.

One of the Dragonflies detached itself from the pair, descending over Haguel, while the other proceeded toward her.

As it landed, a group of men in protective suits made its way to her room.

When they entered, unannounced, most of them stood behind while the General Timur treaded to the desk.

He got rid of his protective mask and, once he took it off, smiled at her.

Then she stood up.

"I didn't…" started her

"I know. We saw how the whole rebellion unfolded. I guess that you underestimated the skills of your own creation"

"I thought that I've made sure that they would've never needed to rebel. The whole system is supposed to avoid things like that. I couldn't imagine that some of them would question my authority and my choices"

"Considering also that your first trial lasted just a decade, it isn't good. It isn't good for…"

"I'm already thinking about a way to improve it, like…" intruded her

"No" told him sternly

"If we let them…"

"I said no"

He looked at her disappointed.

"Weren't you supposed to be clever and sharp? This mess is your shit. This time I will tell you how you will proceed to avoid another situation like that"

She tilted her head down.

"The best way to control your…pawns, is by making them your slaves"

"But this goes against the purpose of their creation"

"I don't care. You must bend their will for more by giving them a sense of content. Tackle the economy, create internal divisions…break them"

"I'm already doing that. Their job is what is supposed to keep them from doing anything else. That's enough. I can't shield them from the truth"

"The truth created this situation. It's time to hide it. Create a division which will handle these issues and make airtight"

"I can't…I can't…I can't subject my sons to that. Rebellion will always be there"

"Then you should control the rebels"

"How?"

The General took his mask and nodded toward his party.

"It's for you to figure it out. Just remember our deal" told him while putting the protective gear on.

Then he and his men left as swiftly as they appeared, leaving her with a deep sense of failure.

Failure.

She hated it.

Like she hated Agaklythos.

Malsumis was strolling around the lab, observing what was left of all the resources which Gehenna managed to stash there during her long and unquestioned reign. Metal and electronics were still all over the place, while the floor had been dried out.

He was alone, as Tithon wanted, to give him all the time to analyze and find anything which was left out by Fanon and the Whiskers.

The smithereens of a bomb attracted his attention. Looking at them remembered him the first time he and his brother engineered them from scratches. At the time it felt like the necessary advantage to overthrow Gehenna. He never thought that his brother would've sold his soul to serve a deprecating individual. He was wrapping his head around it. Finding an explanation appeared harder than he thought.

His ancestor, what would have been his move in this situation?

He just knew his name.

He walked into a room which had a corridor that skirted a huge hall. There was a smell which felt like rotten dead flesh. It was nauseating. A small vent was situated on one side, and it was shut.

That place was unsettling. He wondered what Gehenna and her scientist did there, but his imagination wasn't the best.

It looked like a prison made of steel and, probably glass.

He started knocking on the metal. The sound resounded in his ears.

He made sure to cover all the wall.

Then, when he got to the opposite side, under the vent, the noise changed.

He stopped and did it again.

The rattle was sharper.

He tried again.

The sound didn't change.

Repeated the action from there till the wall's end.

He put himself by the side of the steel sheet. Even though it wasn't visible at first sight, he noticed that the structure was discontinuous, with grooves and a small recess. The concavity was on both sides of the wall.

He didn't know if it was the right call to tell Tithon right away or to tell him at all.

Then he noticed something else.

There was a small circular hole on the left side, outside the hall, in the corridor.

It contained a symbol of two crossed fishes.

Kurban was going through the papers left by Lud, aided by the Chief.

"He wrote here that Agaklythos visited Rocabarra and, presumably, Scarbray once every year. I looked at the date in his journal and there seems to be gaps" told him, while writing all the information down.

"Here he has written down the recurrence of the purple star. I don't know why but it blinked during a short amount of time"

"That's odd. Usually stars don't do that"

"Maybe we're reading it wrong. He says that "the light emitted by the star reduced for a couple of minutes every five minutes. It doesn't sound like something out of the ordinary"

"Why would he put it here then?"

A piece of paper captured Kurban's attention. He took it and scanned it quickly.

"What is it?"

"It seems about the night sky. Here he says that he saw it twitching…three times"

"Twitching?"

"Like…he describes it as 'turning it down'. I don't know what it means"

Kurban looked overwhelmed by all that knowledge

"Shouldn't we stop and take a break? We have been delving through his notes for so long," said the Chief

"I…We must understand what happened to Lud" stated Kurban

"Why? What is it going to change? If he knew something about Agaklythos, he would've told us that long ago"

"It would change everything. Being sure who the real enemy is would give us a reason to reclaim the planet"

"What are you talking about? The planet is ours"

"Are you sure about that? I have a feeling…that Lud knew more, and someone didn't want him to tell the truth"

"And you're saying that Agaklythos did that? That's ridiculous. This whole town exist because of them"

"How can you trust them?"

"It's not me. My ancestors witnessed the moment when Lud accepted the deal. He can't be the same person who goes against our benefactors"

"What if he realized that their intentions aren't good? What if he tried to prove it?"

"So far, we've found stuff about Awen and the sky. There isn't enough here to sustain your theory"

"You're right but we still have a lot of material to look at"

"Like what? Maps, technical projects, and useless stuff like that" said the Chief while throwing the thing he was talking about on the floor

The man started putting on his protective gear and the mask.

"What are you doing?" asked Kurban confused

The Chief had the mask in his hands while he was looking at him.

"I don't know why I wanted to believe you. I brought you here to show you that we can trust Agaklythos"

"What about Lud? We should talk to his descendant, maybe she holds the key to this mystery"

"Who? The old lady who told you about him. She is no one. She is like you. Attached to past, careless about the future"

"What about your people then?" asked Kurban

The Chief started moving toward the door, slowly.

"I care about them"

"Give them the truth then. They deserve it"

He was at the door with both feet toward the exit. He put the mask on.

"They deserve to live. They can build a life here. Agaklythos is our ally. I can't trust someone who killed the same people who trusted him. You won't kill my people" told him as he opened the door and rushed out.

Kurban ran to it. The Chief locked the door from outside.

The kid started punching the metal.

"Don't do it. Don't let your people down" screamed him

No one was answering on the other side.

He was alone now.

He felt rejected by everyone and everything.

He was crying with his head between his legs.

He felt like a failure.

A useless failure.

Malsumis presented himself to Tithon. He was shaking.

"Did you find anything worth mentioning down there?" asked the Supreme Leader from the couch.

Malsumis couldn't see his face, as his back was towards him.

"So…" his head tilted

"I…I…"

"Are you hiding something from me Malsumis?" asked Tithon with a suspicious tone

"No…"

"No what Malsumis?"

"No, Supreme Leader"

"Answer my question then"

"Nothing sir. There're no tunnels or secrete passages. It's a closed space, that's all"

"Mmmmm…disappointing"

"What…what are you thinking?"

"I want to be sure. Gehenna seems pretty attached to that lab. I want you to stay there with as many Whiskers as you need"

"But I think that I would be more useful on the wall by the cannons or…"

Tithon stood up and went to the glass. He didn't look at him, not once

"These are my orders Malsumis"

"But…I thought that we were…"

"Friends? Probably we are but there's your brother on the other side. We consider you a liability more than an asset"

"We…who?"

"Me and Fanon. You are too valuable to stay in front. We prefer to have you as a backup. Understood?"

"Yes, but…"

"Understood?"

Malsumis didn't add anything and then left.

As he was walking away, he was thinking about what he did.

He didn't know if it was the right thing to do. He knew that it was the necessary thing to do.