Albri watched as Augustus approached. The Commander’s armor was bone white, reflecting the highest rank a Knight could obtain. He did not wear a helmet or the standard blue goggles other Knights wore. Instead he carried a massive sword and a small machine gun strapped to his right hip. Sometimes Albri thought Augustus cared more about his appearance than his men. Riya came to know Augustus all too well through the years; his vain habits and arrogant behavior rivaled that of Morr’s. It was the vanity that threw Riya off the most.
Today Augustus put his appearance before safety by entering the complex without a helmet.
Riya shook his head and prepared himself for any questions Augustus might ask.
“I assume you have an update for me,” Augustus said.
“Yes sir, we have a body count of 50 and counting. And I have reports that all skirmishes with the terrorists are over, bodies are being retrieved and counted.”
“Well done Morr, I’m happy to say you have done your job well today,” Augustus replied, offering Morr his armored hand.
Morr took it quickly and bowed.
Augustus turned to his entourage of Knights. “That is all, men. There is nothing left to do here; the Governor will be anxious for an update.”
Knights on clean-up duty watched as their commander left them in the smoke infested room. Riya turned, his eyes falling upon the lifeless body of a nurse who lay in a puddle of her own blood. She stared up at him with piercing brown eyes, still reeling in terror. Quickly he bent down to close her eyelids before any other Knights saw him. In his years of service he had seen a lot of bloodshed, but this was the worst massacre. And his intuition told him this wasn’t going to be the last of the TDU.
Chapter 9: The Disappearance
“To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.”
Time: 9:11 a.m. February 17, 2071.
Location: SGS Headquarters. Lunia, Tisaia
Spurious leaned back in his chair, the wooden legs groaning in restraint. In one hand he held his morning coffee, and in the other his tablet. He sat there staring at the headline featured on the Lunia Post, unable to read any further.
Was it true? Had the TDU been eradicated? Curiosity drew his eyes to the headlines again. He had to know.
He put the tablet down on his desk in disbelief and took a small sip of his cold coffee.
If this was in fact true, then what Leo told him wasn’t. Without the TDU how could he have any hope of making a difference? It was impossible. Leo had lied.
Nothing but a senile old man.
Something inside of him hoped he was wrong. For several weeks he had found himself torn in the conflict, especially after Paulo’s death, but could the TDU really be completely destroyed?
The morning slowly ticked by, and Spurious counted the seconds as his wall clock coughed them out. It was mid-morning, and Spurious still hadn’t been able to bring himself to do any real work. He had always been good at putting on the facade of doing something that at least looked like work, but today he was failing at even this menial task—today his mind was interfering.
He craned his neck and looked back at the glowing blue screen, pulling up an article he had saved describing the gruesome details of the attack on the TDU headquarters. Commander Augustus and Supreme Knight Morr were being hailed as saviors of Tisaia and a special ceremony was being planned to mark their accomplishments, an event he would not be attending.
Spurious took in a deep breath and got up from his chair, deciding a walk might make him feel better. He headed into the hallway trying not to focus on Lana’s cubicle. The last thing he needed right now was to draw attention to their affair.
The tan structure of her office appeared around the corner. He pressed on, and as he was just about to pass the entry to her work station, Lana walked out into the narrow hall, ramming directly into him.
The two fell in a tangled mess on the ground. Varius and two other employees immediately popped their heads out of their cubicles to see the cause of the commotion.
“My apologies,” Spurious said.
“No, no, it was my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she responded.
Spurious rose from the ground. “You’re all right, then?” he asked, lending her his hand.
“Yeah, are you?” she responded, brushing off her black dress.
Spurious nodded, shooting a nervous glance over to Varius, who watched quizzically.
“I better be on my way,” Spurious said, looking at Lana one last time. She nodded and walked back into her cubicle.
Spurious turned and continued down the hall, his pace much faster than normal. He could feel the acid turning in his empty stomach. He was no longer paranoid Varius would find out about him and Lana. Unless Varius was a fool, he already knew.
Time: 6:45 a.m. February 18, 2071.
Location: Commons Building, Lunia, Tisaia
Spurious awoke to crackling from his archaic metal radio, another artifact from the old world he bought at his favorite thrift store, The Magician.
“Good morning Tisaian workers. It’s windy outside today with a hint of radiation,” the announcer said. “Today you can expect temperatures ranging from a low of 30 degrees and a high of 55 degrees. The wind will be at 15 mph out of the east. Climatologists estimate a small presence of radioactive particles in the Rohania area. RRAD vehicles have already been deployed to mitigate this threat.”
He rolled over and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Morning was always a difficult time. Even when the blare of the alarm pounded in his ears, shaking sleep was difficult, especially when he only had his cubicle to look forward to. The dark mornings of winter weren’t exactly helping either.
To make things worse, the sky had become considerably grayer and the clouds more dense. State climatologists attributed it to lingering radiation in the atmosphere. That’s where the RRAD vehicles came in. Short for Radiation Removal Atmospheric Device, the machines were designed specifically to safely remove radiation from the air, water and soil in Tisaia. After the nuclear fallout settled from the Biomass Wars, there was a consistent level of smog, dust and smoke lining the atmosphere. For years the sun was blocked, killing any crops that had survived and lowering temperatures worldwide. RRAD was the miracle that not only cleaned the radiation poison from Tisaia’s soil but also the sky above. Without RRAD Biomass would never have been possible.
Spurious pulled the curtain back from his window, revealing the dark courtyard below. Somewhere in the distance he could see a hint of light. It wasn’t clear whether it was artificial or solar, but as it infiltrated his apartment he could tell it wasn’t going to be enough to get ready for the day. He let the curtain go and headed for the bathroom.
“Lights, Anya.”
An immediate orange glow illuminated his apartment. He slugged across the small space and entered the rain room where he sat and huddled on the marble ground, soaking in the warm water and breathing in the steam. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and rubbed the soap out of his burning eyes.
His mind filtered over the previous day’s events—his muscles were tense and his head pounded from the lack of sleep. He pulled his knees up to his stomach and dug his head into his chest, letting the warm water wash over him.