He places his cigar in the ashtray, and steps from behind the desk, past them and into the center of the room.
“I have to give you credit for finding one anomaly, James. As you can see, I’ve found several of my own,” he says, still facing away from them.
Matilda eyes his exposed back, then the sword in the case. She imagines plunging the blade right between his expensively-clothed shoulder blades and forcing him to talk – at least for as long as he could manage it. With how meticulously prepared Donovan obviously was and is for this meeting, she doubts he has left anything up to chance.
Donovan stops at a glass case near the center of the room. “Let me show you something. If you both don’t want to help after seeing it, you’re free to walk out the front door.”
James appears to be focused on something miles away. He comes back to himself, and nods to Matilda. She nods back. After the moment of silent deliberation, the two stand up and follow their host into the center of the room.
James and Matilda join Donovan around the case. A soft white glow emanates from within, and as Matilda gets closer, she catches a glimpse of the case’s contents. Hovering in its center is a white, glowing sphere, partially encased in a matte gray shell. It’s not large – something she could hold in her hand. Several smaller white spheres orbit around the object in varying attitudes, giving off a slight whirring. It sounds to Matilda like the frenzied fluttering of an insect’s wings. As she presses nearer to it, she senses a warmth radiating from the orb.
Donovan’s voice resonates in the otherwise-silent office. “Amazing, isn’t it? You never really get used to it.”
Babylon’s ruler gazes deeply into the depths of the orb.
“As hard as I try, I can’t understand it. It’s here. Taunting me. As if all I need to do is close my hand, and its mine. But every time I do, it eludes me.”
Matilda looks at the lights floating around the sphere, casting small, glowing reflections onto the glass. Staring at the orb in the center, Matilda can’t help but feel it has somehow increased in intensity. The whirring sound rises slightly, almost imperceptibly, in pitch. Next to her, Taciturn stands silent and motionless, fixated on the object.
Donovan continues, “With this, you can view things from a distance. Sometimes even see a projection of the future. The key is determining the likelihood, the degree, of its accuracy.”
Taciturn seems to wrench himself from his dazed state, and stares at the man before him.
“This shouldn’t be possible, Donovan. We designed these to go offline. What the hell have you done?”
Donovan mockingly puts his hands up in a defensive pose.
“Easy there, tiger. I didn’t do any of this.”
James points a finger at the pulsating orb.
“Bullshit. How did you fix a debug tool? It’s impossible.”
Donovan shrugs. “Unless…”
As if shocked sober, Taciturn finishes. “…the System wanted it to happen.”
With a laugh, Donovan turns back to the sphere.
“There’s the James I know.”
He looks into James’s eyes, stark shadows from the sphere’s light rendering his face a chiseled sculpture.
“You don’t like me. Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. But the fact remains, we’re standing here. Together. If an uneasy alliance is needed to help the System, who are we to argue?”
James is silent for a moment. Matilda notices his shoulders slump forward slightly. Despite all his readily apparent ill-will towards Donovan, James seems to be accepting this, whatever this is. Frustrated by being excluded, she speaks up.
“Uh… hello? Does somebody want to explain to me what the glowing thing is, and why I should give a crap?”
Donovan smirks and defers with a bowing gesture that is equal parts magnanimous and smug, waiting for James to explain.
The Taciturn’s quiet words mingle with the buzzing of the orb:
“There were certain… quality-assurance tools used in the early stages of the Cyberside’s development to monitor the System for any erratic or unwanted behaviors. Once everything was established, they were disconnected. Having one back online means the System is attempting to do something – fix something.”
Donovan walks around the case, staring at the sphere inside, “I’ll admit that things haven’t been perfect in the Cyberside. That nasty war with Simmons and his Enclave may have gone a bit too far. Of course, I’d argue that he started it. But we all know there are four centers of power left in the Cyberside and there is always going to be some…” He shrugs. “Friction.”
Taciturn frowns.
“Now James, no need for that look. I get it. You’re an idealist, and my methods seem… aggressive to you. But I’m an entrepreneur.”
James scoffs. “You mean ‘opportunist’.”
Donovan shrugs again.
“Agree to disagree. The Cyberside is a hard, new world – and just like the old one, there’s no room in it for softness. It’s a harsh place out there, and you know that. You might not like the structure we’ve created, but it is exactly that. Structure. Order. It is needed to create a sustainable civilization. If I didn’t plan or fight for traffic, Babylon wouldn’t receive priorities from the System. You might disagree with how I do it, but I do my best to take care of the people here. I don’t want my cluster to go black. Would you? Everything I do is to protect my city. And right now, I need your help to do it. You spend your time wandering the waste fighting monsters. I spend my time shepherding an entire city. So, let’s just skip the ‘holier than thou’ attitude, James.”
Matilda bites her tongue, trying to control her anger. This meeting has been unfolding entirely differently than she pictured. She came here hoping to get answers about herself, but these two men are more focused on talking about the System than about her. Matilda has reached her limit.
“Are you trying to ask us for something, dude, or are you just trying to convince us you’re a bag of shit with a heart of gold?”
Donovan lets out a loud, genuine laugh that stirs flocks of echoes within the room.
“Fair enough, Matilda. There are four centers of power in the Cyberside: Babylon, Neverland, the Spire and Metropolis…”
Matilda interrupts him:
“You forgot one.”
Surprised, James looks at her. Donovan only nods his approval.
“Correct, little one. There’s technically one more in the Carolinas – the Triangle.”
James shakes his head at the mention. “Nothing has come out of the Triangle for years. It’s been completely closed off.”
Donovan answers, but watches Matilda, grinning.
“Nothing that you would be aware of.” Donovan addresses Matilda. “Don’t worry, it’s almost your turn.”
He strides towards another glass case, smiling and beckoning her to follow. Matilda tentatively complies.
Within the much larger case, illuminated from all sides, is a dented flight helmet. Matilda doesn’t recognize the object, although it makes her feel uncomfortable, and she doesn’t know why. What she does recognize is its unmistakable shine. Like the tag around her neck, it is comprised entirely of titanium.
James pulls himself away from the orb and joins them. Donovan speaks to them both. “Of course, popular opinion is that nothing has come out of the Triangle for years. However, my newfound artifact” – he gestures back towards the glowing, faintly-whirring orb– “has enabled me to locate this, among many other anomalies.”
Donovan makes a sweeping gesture which encompasses the entire room, and Matilda takes a moment to turn and regard the many glass cases again. She hears Donovan’s voice behind her. “All of it evidence that something is terribly wrong with the world, and that something catastrophic is coming. And all found with this artifact.”