1:2:10 Undulia (Part 6)

Six hours had passed since her incarceration. She sat in solitary silence, still stunned by what she had seen. A figure of pure energy melted her carrier before her very eyes without ever laying a finger on it. The most powerful weapon she had ever wielded and they waved their hand over it. Her mind simply couldn’t compute what her eyes had seen. The once great Undulia sat alone in a windowless cell in the foetal position. She had no concept of time; the passing seconds were easily misinterpreted as minutes or even hours but she knew for certain that it had been less than two days. With the wave of whatever it was’ hand she had lost everything: Her city, Her position, Her power, her sanity. Her dinner sat at her feet, untouched. It was much more than she would have given any prisoner of hers. She looked down to her bound wrists. Her arresting officer couldn’t remove whatever cuffs Lore had used so they remained as a reminder of how she just let it happen.

It was faint at first but something was definitely happening outside. It very quickly made its way inside. Undulia’s cell door crumbled to dust. Fearing revenge, Undulia virtually teleported to the furthest corner of her cell. Two faceless soldiers, clad in black and gold armour checked the room before tapping their wrists. There was a flash of white which faded to reveal a figure in a long, black and gold leatherette coat. Undulia recognised the patterning and tried to retreat further. Unable to force herself through the concrete, she tried to hide her gaze from the newcomers.
“Hello Misha.” Their voice was soft and strangely familiar but it wasn’t enough to coax her from her corner just yet. “My name is Crait.” That did it. Like a spring loaded tortoise, Undulia’s head shot from her shell. Crait just smiled. “Nice city you’ve got here, shame about your poor choice of accommodations. You’re missing out of the view.” Crait took their sword from their waist. They cut as close to a perfect rectangle in the concrete behind her as one could without a guide. They returned the sword to its sheath and kicked the slab away, revealing a view of the western side of Celreagaire and the lift to The Conglomeration. “That’s better.” There were people on the street, humans and Sat’Mach alike, enjoying their newfound freedoms. “Shame about that. I hate it when they try. They got really lucky this time. If that anomaly hadn’t appeared, this wouldn’t have lasted this long.” Crait sat down next to Undulia. “I’ve seen the footage, I know what happened here. And if you ask me, what you’re doing is probably the correct response.” They dangled their legs over the edge. “But you have such potential…” Crait shook their head. “So, I’m here to offer you a job. If you take it, you get a fresh start and this.” They gestured over the peaceful city. “Isn’t held against you. Or, you can wait… Ooh about ten years in this cell. Your crimes will be forgiven either way.” They paused.
“What sort of job?” Her voice was hoarse.
“A mutual associate of ours is obviously more capable than I thought. If I’m to bring them to justice, I, like them, am going to need a little help.”
“You want me to hunt Lore down?”
“No. We know exactly where they’re going. They all go there eventually. No, I want you to lie there in wait and when the time is right, you’re going to remove them from the calculation.” Crait removed a badge from their inside pocket. “You wouldn’t be doing it alone if that’s got you worried.”
There was a second white flash accompanied by a second figure in a familiar black and red leatherette coat. “Reporting as ordered sir.” Loren saluted.
“Loren. I am right in thinking you’re acquainted with Misha here.” Crait waved their hand over Undulia’s cowering form.
“Indeed sir. We met briefly before this whole mess began.”
“Loren?” Undulia worked up the courage to look at him. He was just as she had remembered. There was much more muscle to him than Lore and certainly more facial hair. “What is this?”
“This is The Temporal Sciences Guild.” They pressed the badge into her hand. “Welcome aboard.”
The three of them and Crait’s advanced guard disappeared in a flash. In the distance, from the lift to The Conglomeration, a second, much louder flash blinded those nearby. Armed with weapons far beyond even Serenity Point’s staff, Alex and their Middlethem stormed the city. The Sat’Mach in the immediate area, still equipped with their shields, ran to the commotion. Despite the rapid advances in technology their opponents had made, their numbers and their shields were apparently enough to begin pushing them back. It wasn’t the case but now the seeds had been sown. Alex and their Middlethem retreated. Two more Middlethem joined the militia from somewhere in the city. They began their descent but as they did, one of them pulled their trigger one last time. Two buildings adjacent to the museum fell into themselves. The dissent had begun.

Tolan scrambled around the Guild’s control room, Pip sat behind them flicking through the camera feeds. The bombs and the resulting sudden, controlled demolition had shaken the whole settlement not to mention the chaos underground, leaving Tolan cut off from the Guild officers they were assisting. They tuned their nearby radio to the new, co-operative frequency and hailed anyone who would listen.
“To all on this frequency, Celreagaire has been attacked. Alex’s Middlethem have been outfitted with new technologies and are on the warpath. They have destroyed several buildings. The Sat’Mach were able to force them down into The Conglomeration for now. We are not currently sure of the death toll But the Sat’Mach are keeping Celreagaire safe from further attack. Any assistance would be appreciated.” Tolan signed off. They hoped that Sanctuary Point would heed the call.
“Twenty six.” A calm voice cut through the chaos. “Shame.”
“What was that?” Tolan didn’t even look around.
“There were twenty six people in those buildings. Sorry.” They responded.
Tolan recognised their voice. “You forget something?”
“Not forgot, more need something back.” Lore smiled. “Where are the cloning vats I gave you?”
“The cloning vats? Are you serious? All this going on and you’re here for the vats?”
“Bad timing I know but I need them before they reach Johned.”
“Time traveller and you still have the worst timing.” Tolan sighed. “Most of them were totalled but there are five in The Conglomeration.” They scribbled a series of numbers on a piece of paper. “The co-ordinates.”
“Thanks.”
“You want to say hi to Pip? They’re over there.” Tolan nodded towards the monitors.
“Who’s Pip?”
“Nevermind. You’ve got time, they’re not even thinking about Johned yet. They’ve only just got the map.”
“Where are they going then?” Lore tapped the co-ordinates into their Breacher.
“Rexel.”