Chapter 4 - A Familiar Face

Rayne found herself in a part of the hall she hadn’t yet been before. Deeper into the mountain, where it was colder. M’natherine used a key card of her own to open up several heavy metal doors that slid into the wall as they passed through.

“Take this in.” Alex nudged her with a quiet smile as they walked together. “Not many people get to see this, much less any of the new recruits.”

Rayne swallowed nervously but kept her composure. Despite having spent some time in Old York, where technology was readily available, it still felt like a mystery. There was an ominous feeling, with this level of tech being buried so deep.

They finally reached a solid metal wall, and on all sides, it looked as if the rock had grown over the metal. M’natherine used her key card, and Marcus pressed his thumb to a small pad. Rayne pointed to them and turned to Alex.

“Why are they doing that?” She asked.

“Security protocol,” Alex explained. “Only a pair of First-Class Explorers can get in there. Takes a keycard and a fingerprint.”

“Why’s it so special?” She asked, but this time it was M’natherine who answered. She reached around and grabbed Rayne’s shoulder and walked her into the room.

The room was a simple cube shape. In the center of it was a sophisticated computer on a table, and to the right were a series of towers of wires and boxes and flashing lights she didn’t know what to make of.

“This,” M’natherine answered, “Is the Explorer’s database.” She reached out and tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and a large holographic screen began to glow at the front of the room.

“It’s our primary source of information,” Marcus elaborated. “It’s where we store information that we discover. It’s how we categorize it, and it’s a collection of information from all over the world since we received the technology to do so. There are other computers on-site that can access parts of the database, but this is the central hub.”

“Often times,” M’natherine said as she tapped and clicked a few more things. “We gotta find someone, whether it be in the chasing of a rumor, or capturing a fugitive, whatever the case may be. So how do we do that? With this baby. The Council thought it’d be a good idea to try and get basic information on the citizens of the East. All the people, magical creatures, immigrants, you name ‘em, we got ‘em. Nothing more than public information, mind you, but it’s still a useful tool.”

On the holographic screen, a picture of Rayne appeared. It was a few years old, but it was her. Next to it was a list of information. Her birthdate, some official notes about her move from the North to the East, as well as a list of her known relatives.

“That’s…” she started to say, then regretted saying anything. It just felt weird.

“It’s pretty freaky,” M’natherine grinned.

“This came about from the Cataclysm,” Marcus sighed at the woman’s antics. “Millions of people living in the East, and no one knew who was who, or from what location, or from what time anyone came from. It took a lot of effort, but we were able to gather crucial information that helped us put things back in order.”

“Sure,” M’natherine waved him away. “Point is, two days ago, my dorky young protégé, and I heard some rumors on the wind. Rumors regarding the ancient city of Alkania.” She looked at Rayne with a knowing smile. “Perhaps you’ve heard of it.”

“What do the rumors mean?” Rayne asked, watching the screen as M’natherine began to cycle through some photos and files.

“They mean that someone had to start talking,” she explained, “someone had to start asking questions, inquiring as to the legends and history of the East, and the Breaking that destroyed it. So, out of curiosity, yours truly began to ask who that someone might be. No one had a name, of course, but they were able to describe one similar characteristic.”

The screen went dark, and a video began to play. The footage was in black and white, but it appeared to be footage from the hallway outside. Rayne squinted, and she thought she caught a glimpse of movement.

“What are we looking at here?” Marcus asked. He had his arms crossed the way he did when deep in thought.

“Check it,” M’natherine paused the video, and it all became clear. “The one characteristic that they could remember… was that it was a young boy, wearing a blue baseball cap with a lightning bolt on the front.”

There, on the screen, sneaking through the Guild Hall, was David Echoe.

***

“This your boy?” Manatherine gestured a thumb toward the screen.

“He’s not my boy…” Rayne grumbled, taking off her glasses and rubbing at her eyes with a sigh. “But yes. That is him.”

“How did he get in?” Marcus asked.

“That’s what I tried to find out,” Alex chimed in, but he shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything definitive, but my best guess is that he probably used the air vents in some way. They are big enough.”

“What was he doing here? Do we know?” Marcus asked, and M’natherine nodded.

“Had one of the scribes take a look at the change logs and turns out he came here to do a few things.” She typed in David’s name, and his profile popped up. However, instead of listing any valuable information, the page was blank, save for a single quote. “He likes donuts.”

“The Guild is one of the most secure places in the East.” Rayne frowned. “There’s no way he would break in here just to make a joke.”

“Right,” M’natherine nodded, “according to the change logs, after he wiped his info, he looked up a few other files. Not really sure what to make of it, though.”

“What were the other files he accessed?” Rayne asked, crossing her arms just like her mentor as she began filtering through the possibilities.

“They were all personal profiles,” she answered with a shrug. “My best guess is that he was looking for someone.”

“Who was he looking for?”

“Well,” M’natherine answered, “they were all girls, all of them adopted from orphanages in Old York. There isn’t any clear connection between them except for their looks. They’re all blonde, or blondish, with blue eyes, and almost all of their names started with a name that began with May. Like, Mayweather or Maybelline or something like that.” She turned to Rayne and gave her another analyzing look from top to bottom. “Sorry love, guess he’s got a type.”

Rayne felt the flush on her cheeks, both from a flaring anger and intense embarrassment, but she kept her composure. There were too many questions she had on her mind. Why did David steal the spark? It couldn’t have been for money. There was more than enough treasure, but the Oasis Spark had something of a historical and magical significance. So then why would he be looking for a girl?

On the one hand, it was totally possible that David had stolen the spark and broken into the most secure facility in the East just to get a date, but there was also that look he’d had. The way he’d talked about the Bakiri, the way he’d seemed remorseful, and how he kept asking if the spark was really what she was after.

In truth, the spark had only been a steppingstone to reach where she was. Rayne had made it, and she’d accomplished her goal. She didn’t have any reason to feel so angry, so pathetic, but she did. Before, her mission had been to retrieve the spark so that she could enter the Explorer’s Guild, but now, as an Explorer it was her job to retrieve the spark for the safety of the land, and the study of its history and the cataclysm that had broken the world.

“There’s something else,” M’natherine said, “and Alex is actually to thank for this one.” She pulled up a social media website, and on it a picture of downtown Old York. There was a group of people standing around a city celebrity.

But in the picture’s background, right next to a hot dog stand, and looking towards the crowd was David Echoe. He was offering a hot dog to Dustbunny.

“This was taken just a couple hours ago,” Alex said, looking at the same photo on his cellphone. He offered it to Rayne for a closer look. The little rectangular device felt strange in her hands. Of course, she’d seen phones before and her dad had one for work but had never used one herself. She held the screen up to her face, trying to discern any details that she could.

Her thumb brushed the side of the screen, and the picture went away, causing Rayne to flinch in surprise.

“I’m sorry,” she said, handing it back to him. “Never used one of those before.”

“It’s cool,” Alex smiled, and using two fingers, he zoomed in on the picture. “See here? This hot dog vendor is right next to Mcullen’s, a steak place in the downtown area.”

“And you think he might still be around there?” Marcus asked, stroking his chin. M’natherine shrugged and stepped away from the computer.

“Who knows, it’s David, but we know he hangs around the city a fair amount. It would be awesome if we could finish what Rayne started,” the Explorer gave her a wink, “and we could study the magic within, which might give us some insight as to what happened with Alkania and the cataclysm.”

Rayne nodded in agreement. Magic was an energy that flowed through the world. It was in everything, and around everything. An aspect of the magic was that it drew to itself, and when enough magic gathered together and compressed hard enough, it would create the magical crystals, such as the Oasis Spark.

She looked down at her hand and felt a memory of the pulsing life that the crystal shard had contained. How it felt, how it flowed through her. It had connected to her, too.

Magic drew in connections from the world around it as it flowed through things, it made those links, and the longer the magic stayed, the greater the link or connection. The Oasis had spent hundreds of years dwelling in the city of Alkania, connecting to its city and the citizens within.

“How about this?” Marcus suggested. “Rayne, you, and Alex go to Old York, ask around, see what you can find. Alex is in charge, though. You do what he says, no more, no less. Understood?”

“Yes sir,” Rayne nodded, and Alex turned to M’natherine who waved him away in lazy fashion.

“Yeah, totally. What he said,” she mumbled.

“Alright then, Rayne.” Alex started for the door, a gleam of adventure in his eyes. “Guess we better get going.”

Rayne felt excitement building up in her. This was what she had been wanting to do for so long. She wanted to make Marcus proud, and… she wanted to make herself proud, so they went.

***

“Heck of a protégé you got there,” M’natherine said with a yawn and a stretch. “She’s still wet behind the ears, but she is way more obedient than her grandpa.”

“Indeed,” Marcus said, his eyes lingering on the door where the two kids had just left. Then those eyes turned towards the woman next to him. “Now tell me, what else is going on?”

“Something big,” she said, and this time her eyes were wide open. “The Guardian is on the move again, and I suspect he’s looking for a way to balance things out.”

“The question is, which way will he tip the scales?” Marcus’ eyes went dark for a moment. “Do the others know about this?”

“You know how it is,” Manatherine said, “all the others are running about. Looking for clues and getting outdone by a sixteen-year-old girl.”

“Fourteen,” Marcus corrected with the smallest of smiles, “she’s fourteen.”

“Well break me,” Manatherine laughed, then wiping a small tear from her eye, she looked back to the computer screen. “What do you think he’s gonna do?”

“I think he’s about to do what we’ve always known he would do,” Marcus said. “He’ll go too far.”