Spirit Unbreakable

Reniko, Malik and Dertrik gathered early the next morning in the Microgate room. Rimca was already there stifling a yawn.

“Sorry to wake you so early, Rimca, but we have business in Reflaydun. Think you could jump us over there?” Reniko asked.

“We don’t have the gate running in Reflaydun,” Rimca replied.

“Why not? Reflaydun repaired itself long ago, why is the gate not working?” Malik asked.

“Well there wasn’t really a need for it. Other gates had priority,” Rimca replied, “we can talk to Reflaydun just fine through the network connection, so no one had to be physically present in the city for that. I’m sure that Reflaydun can get the gate running within a few hours.”

“Better than nothing at all I guess,” Reniko replied.

“Let me just ask it,” Rimca replied. She turned to the computer console and established a connection with Reflaydun. “Reflaydun, Reniko was wondering if you would get the –“ Rimca was cut off before she could continue.

“–Microgate running? Already done. We were just going to inform you that there are unidentified intruders up here. We were going to request the Wayann’s orders on the appropriate course of action.”

Reniko stepped forward. “Ever efficient, Rae,” she replied.

“Who is Rae?” Reflaydun asked.

“Well I got tired of calling you Reflaydun. I thought you, the AI, should have a persona separate from you, the City. Is Rae okay?” Reniko asked.

The hologram flickered in consideration. “Rae is acceptable.”

“I’m glad,” Reniko said smiling. “We’ll be up in a few moments.” Rae bowed slightly and disappeared.

“Rae?” Dertrik replied.

Reniko looked at him and shrugged. “What? My other choices were Reffy, Fladdy, or Laydun and I think I would burst into uncontrollable laughter whenever someone used those.”

Rimca and Malik shook their heads.

“I’ll open the gate,” Rimca replied.

Within minutes the four of them were in Reflaydun. The shimmering city of silver waterfalls that reflected rainbows on their surface surrounded them. The city’s surface was made of nanites similar to those that resided in Malik and Reniko. It was a wonder to behold. Reniko could see the giant tree that marked the centre of the city not far from where they stood; a colossus so old that its roots now entwined around the building that had been its perch. She marvelled again at its intense natural beauty in contrast to the Levanith made world surrounding it.

Reniko remembered the last time that she had travelled here with Malik and Orric. Back then, the city had been surrounded by a perpetual snow storm created by Reflaydun to keep the Rük from finding the secrets that lay within. That journey had been unpleasant for Reniko, as each step closer to Reflaydun had brought painful memories of her past back to her. At the time, she had not known that the dreams she had were of her people’s suffering. At that time, she had believed she was an ordinary girl from Earth just trying to find her way home. She would not have imagined that her life would be so different now.

Rae appeared moments after they stepped through the gate and the four of them followed her to Skylar’s location. A group of fifteen people stood huddled in a room. Skylar sighed with relief when he saw Dertrik step through the door with Reniko.

“I thought we would be trapped up here forever,” Skylar replied. “I didn’t realize that Reflaydun’s secrets were so heavily guarded.”

Reniko grinned at him. “I don’t think I’m sure exactly what you have to do in order to gain access. Reflaydun has a strange way of determining worth.”

“Yes, I thought it was odd as well,” Skylar said and lifted up his hand, “and rather painful.” His hand was marked with the same genetic tattoo as Malik and Reniko bore.

Dertrik stepped forward and grabbed Skylar’s hand. “If you have the mark, what is the problem?”

Skylar glanced behind him. “I was the only one that passed and those who failed had to remain here. I didn’t want to leave them behind. I knew that someone would miss us eventually. You all came rather quickly though. Have we been missing that long? It’s hard to determine how much time has passed down here.”

Reniko shook her head. “No, you haven’t been gone long. We just had some questions for you. First though I have some questions for Rae.”

Rae shimmered into existence in the room, she was wearing her preferred form, that of Shyss, Reniko’s grandmother, the wingless Levanith. Her face was impassive.

“I thought that you couldn’t disobey ones with the mark of the Levanith,” Reniko said.

“That is correct,” Rae replied.

“Then why were Skylar and his students detained?” Reniko asked.

“Levanith marked cannot override protocol in place for those unable to pass examination. We only override protocol for the Wayann.”

“Well that is easy enough. I give you permission to allow anyone that Skylar chooses to have access to unrestricted data in your archives even if they have not passed your examinations,” Reniko said.

Skylar bowed and looked to Rae. “Will you please allow my students access to your archives.”

“This request is acceptable,” Rae replied. “We will show you the way to our main database. Please follow us.”

Reniko held up her hand for pause. “Skylar, I would prefer to talk with you alone. Please let your students go on ahead.”

Skylar looked back at his students who were huddled together in silence and waved them on. They began filing out of the room following Rae, bowing to Reniko as they left. When the room was empty of the students, Rae reappeared.

“We wish to be present as well,” Rae said.

“That’s fine,” Reniko said. “Can you take us to the apartment that Malik and I shared the last time we were here?”

“Yes,” Rae replied. A doorway to the right dripped away like sand and the five of them followed the hologram down the hallway. When they were comfortably seated in the apartment Reniko began her query.

“– So seeing as there were two test results we were wondering if you knew anything about this from the Shidenen’s history,” Reniko finished.

Skylar was pacing the room in thought. Rimca, Malik and Dertrik were looking at him impassively, though Reniko was tense. He stopped and tapped his upper lip.

“There was one rumour. It was old, something that no one gave a second thought, but we were not sure of the length of a Levanith’s life at the time. I recall hearing that there were in fact two cryochambers when the Shidenen first came to Earth. After hundreds of years of watching, a group of the family became divided and decided that they did not want the two Levanith children to have the fate of saving a world so they made a plan to steal them away. They succeeded in stealing one child and it was thought that they had woken him to life on Earth far before they were supposed to. No one knew what became of the child, whether he was killed by being awoken too soon or if he was awoken and died once his life course was over.

“But, if he survived the premature awakening, then he would still be alive, nearly 800 years old,” Skylar said.

Reniko’s heart was beating fast in her chest. She couldn’t breathe properly. There was another Levanith out there. He was alive.

“So if he is alive, he’s on Earth. Do you think he remembers who he is? Where he came from? If he has been alive for so long than why has he not tried to come back to Vespen, or to contact the Shidenen on Earth?” Reniko asked. The questions in her mind were too much to bear.

“Calm down, Renny,” Dertrik said. “Skylar doesn’t know any more than you do about this. This child may never have woken up. He may have died in the cyrochamber. Unfortunately, the latter is the most likely seeing as the people that stole him had little in the way of knowledge in how the technology worked when they stole him. The chances of his survival are slim.”

Reniko turned her head to hide the suddenly wave of emotion and Malik held her tightly.

“You’re just making speculations, Dertrik, no one can know,” Malik said. He was annoyed with Dertrik for making Reniko feel so displaced.

“I’m sorry, Renny, I didn’t mean…” Dertrik let his words trail off.

Reniko looked up suddenly, her eyes beaming. “Do you suppose if he was alive that we could have a connection like I have with Orric?”

“What do you mean?” Rimca asked.

“Well, I have been having these strange dreams about Earth. I keep seeing things I have never seen before. The first time I had a dream I was out in the rain staring at a hand that was not mine, watching the water run through the cracks. It felt so real. I woke up dazed, confused that I wasn’t in that bamboo forest, that that hand was not mine.”

“What is the frequency of these dreams and when did they commence?” Rae asked.

“I don’t know, I guess they started about twenty days ago, I have one almost every time I sleep.”

“Is it probable that the boy has just awakened?” Rae asked.

“From what I saw through his eyes, if I was seeing through his eyes, he wasn’t much younger than me. I think he was in high school. Do you really think that it is possible that we are connected, that I am seeing through his eyes, that he is alive?” Reniko asked.

“We determine the likelihood of that to be about six percent with the current information,” Rae said.

“Do we know how old he was when he was frozen?” Rimca asked. “He could have just woken up. That would make it more possible wouldn’t it?”

“That would increase likelihood to eighty-four percent,” Rae replied.

“How would we find out more information on this?” Dertrik asked.

“Tordaskar would have the most accurate records on the events that took place surrounding the escape to Earth. That would be the most probable place to locate information,” Rae said.

“Let’s go to Tordaskar then,” Rimca said.

“I’m going to stay here,” Skylar replied. “I don’t want to leave my students unattended.”

Reniko walked to Skylar’s side and embraced him. “Thank you for your help. The Microgate is working here now, so you should be able to jump directly back to Savonly. Take care.”

Skylar broke their embrace and bowed low. “I will Wayann. I hope you find what you are looking for.”

After leaving Skylar behind in Reflaydun, Reniko, Malik and Dertrik went to Tordaskar, parting ways with Rimca. It only took a few minutes before they found themselves in the Tordaskar archives.

The lift dropped them off in the cryogenic lab and while Dertrik and Malik headed deeper into the complex, Reniko paused. She scanned the room hoping for a clue. Why couldn’t she remember her past? Was it really from such a long stay in stasis, or had she suppressed them herself. If it was her mind blocking them from her, she was hoping that familiar images would bring them back, like they had when Dertrik had first started speaking of her past. She could see two empty places where chambers had been, concrete evidence that she had not been alone on Earth, so why could she not remember him?

“He probably came here after you were already asleep Reniko,” Dertrik said. She could feel his gentle presence as he touched her shoulder, breaking her concentration. She turned to him and nodded. A little unnerved the Dertrik could so easily sense her thoughts.

“I hope we can find something useful in the archives,” Reniko said and joined Dertrik and Malik in the next room.

It didn’t take them long to find the information they were looking for.

“I think I found it,” Dertrik replied, “look at this.” Reniko and Malik joined Dertrik at his terminal watching the information on the screen over his shoulder.

“This is a list of all the testing done in the cryogenics lab. These are the list of successful test and these are the failed ones.” Dertrik said pointing to the screen.

“Can you go down to the last tests to be conducted,” Reniko asked.

Dertrik scrolled down. Testing had stopped years before Reniko and the other Levanith had been frozen and their results were easily located, isolated from the other groups as the only living humanoid subjects on the list.

“Looks like he made it,” Malik said.

Reniko reached over Dertrik’s shoulder and touched the writing on the screen which read, Male Levanith Subject. Information came onto the screen; a picture of a young silver haired boy and his vitals. His name was clearly displayed on the screen along with his most recent recorded age.

“Riumi Odasell born in 1041 LE,” Reniko whispered. She looked closely at the boy in the picture and clutched her head as sharp pains sliced through her head. She saw flashes. Brief moments frozen like photos. She could see a small boy sitting on a ledge in the central garden of Tordaskar. He had his shirt off. One leg was dangling off the side and he had an irritated look on his face. Reniko could remember seeing the buds of his wings as they threatened to break through the skin hiding them. She had remembered wishing that hers would grow soon too.

She gasped for breath when the memory had passed. When she opened her eyes again there were spots swimming in her vision. Malik was holding her, having grabbed her before she fell.

“Are you alright, Renny,” Dertrik asked.

“I think I was starting to remember, but it hurt so much,” Reniko replied.

“Don’t try again, all right. We don’t need you hurting yourself over a past that we cannot change,” Malik said.

“He was nine, Renny, which means the chance that he is still around somewhere is small,” Dertrik added.

“Six percent. That’s what Rae said. I guess that is too small a number to go on,” Reniko said. She felt defeated and forlorn. Riumi’s life had barely begun. The Shidenen, as much as they had wanted to help, had ended his life too soon.

“So your dreams? Are you just going to forget them?” Malik asked.

“They are just dreams after all. I haven’t ever read anything about the Levanith sharing a connection with each other like they have with to Teoko,” Reniko said. “It was just wishful thinking on my part.” A hope that I wasn’t the only one.