Surface Level Connection

"Shut it." Was the only thing able to leave Cassandra's mouth. This man, this…thing, smirking at her? It wasn't her uncle. She wasn't related.

"Quite the bombshell, hm?" He asked calmly. "Don't worry, I'll wait for your mind to catch up. I know it's good at that."

Cassandra lay in silence, while Chelic expected the room. There was some slight grease on the ground next to her, which didn't make sense. The room was practically sparkling when he last checked, a mere twenty minutes before she stepped foot in it.

"Before we start for real, I need to ask something. Something casual."

"What?"

"After you were left for me, it was just you, correct? Nobody else came in?"

"Nobody."

"So you're just naturally that greasy?"

He pointed downwards, towards a small patch of grease.

"I never noticed that." Cassandra said with as best a shrug she could achieve in chains.

"Are you sure?"

"Look, why would I care if you end up killing one of your own goons?" Cassandra snarled.

"But I thought redemption was the word of the day?"

Chelic noticed Cassandra's eyes strain with the stress. He caught her red handed.

"I'm guessing there's someone here you've already grown acquainted with?"

"Never happened."

"Don't lie to me, Cassandra."

What looked like an astral version of a chain emerged out of his left hand. He put it to her head, and Cassandra felt it phase through her skull and merge with her brain. Her brain felt like it was melting. Chelic's face grew more stern, and his eyes were closed. If Cassandra were to guess, he was poking around in her memories for some kind of evidence. So, all she had to do was make other ones louder, or cloud them. Cheng. Cheng gave her the noodles. The face belonged to Cheng. He found the joys of the Skyspace and is planning on defecting.

"Cheng, hmm?" Chelic nodded, retreating the chain. He stared as Cassandra gave herself a while unscramble her brain and get back to reality. "A decent attempt, but the grease looks to be from some kind of instant noodles, containing wheat, which Cheng is allergic to. But you couldn't block the tie and hoodie combo, so I know who's trying to help. Still though, I applaud your efforts."

Cassandra weakly growled in response.

"But let's put that aside for now, because I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"Why do you want me?" Cassandra asked.

"Ah, getting right to it. I like it. You see, you, my dear, are pretty special."

"I guessed that." Cassandra sighed. "But I'm the key. What makes me the key?"

"Ah, so you remembered, that's good." Chelic nodded. There was an odd rhythm to his nodding. "But yes. Now, I know for a fact you've used some of the relic weapons. And I'm gonna make a guess that they've tried communicating with you as well."

Cassandra looked up with strained eyes.

"Yeah, the axe tried. Mostly just gibberish though, until I tried attacking the bow. Then it got annoyed at me."

"Yes, and the weapons are actually people, you already know that part. Did they tell you the history of this place?"

"Yeah. We're the ancestors of the people who destroyed the world."

"Awesome, you got that part down. But here's the plot twist…we're from the surface!"

Chelic laughed to the ceiling as he said that, looking back towards a horrified Cassandra.

"What, you don't like that. Look, I assure you, the surface is a nice place to live, but I'm guessing you have some propaganda swilling around your-"

"We're from the surface?" Cassandra screamed.

"Yep!"

"I…I…but…but we…how?!"

"The chains I just produced? Good for more than peeking in brains. They hang onto things pretty well, too. So all I had to do was climb a mountain, wait to see something among the grands, and begin working on my takeover!"

He strutted around the place jauntily before continuing.

"Well, truth be told, I had a little help. My assistant, Marcus? He's a pretty strong guy, so once I got him to obey me it was smooth sailing."

"But what about me?"

"Oh yeah, you. I actually, uhh, don't know how you got here. From what I can guess, my sister sent you after me when you were a baby, but you somehow got your memory wiped in the meantime. And from what I can gather, another person was sent up with you, but they just kind of forgot. Guess that's why you don't send babies to kill grown leaders, they get distracted easily.

"Wait, was it you who erased my memories?"

"Nah, I don't have that kind of power. Maybe it was to ensure a safe trip or something."

"Okay, so I was somehow sent from the surface to stop you with someone else." Cassandra said, trying to process what exactly she was. "But why do you need me? Is it just to prevent something?"

"Eh, a little bit." Chelic said with a shake of his hand. "It's mostly because you're special. I'll admit I don't know the exact details, but I do know I want you on my side.

"Fuck. Off."

"Tall order, I know. But…I do have a sales pitch, so if you'll give me a minute to-"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Chelic dropped the tone, looking at Cassandra after her outburst, her bloodshot eyes staring directly into his. He slowly walked to her and slapped her across the face.

"You're gonna listen." He said. "You were told about the surface, right? How much?"

"That a group of rich people destroyed the surface, and all escaped on giant airships, killing the leaders sent to stop them just beforehand."

"Pretty much." Chelic nodded. "But the surface is still hanging on, barely. You know they destroyed countries, right? Convince a guy in charge of a big country that a smaller one is a threat, invest in a weapons company beforehand, rake in the profits of destroying a country. Cause a few untold disasters as a by-product of your mass production, cause places to go under due to the stress and leaving them in the dirt after you've stolen all their resources? Yep, yep, and yep. So what I'm saying is, do you think a monument to escaping all of that should exist. be honest for a second."

"Everyone who did that died! It's not their fault!"

"I guess. But the people on the surface? Not their fault they have a flooded wasteland to live in. So let me ask again. Should something like this exist? I'm not saying to kill everyone here, I'm not that unreasonable. Just let the people below judge them. And you, you get to use their weapons against them. You'll be a hero, miss Cassandra."

Cassandra didn't respond.

"Suit yourself, I'll ask in the morning. I got something to deal with in the meantime."

Once Chelic stepped outside, his phone rang. He answered it to a terrified voice from a lower member.

"Chelic, some people stepped into the cluster. They want the girl."