Century

Century Century

It is important to note that there is three narrators in this book. Eric's journal is the events as seen by Eric, while Rodriguez's diary is the events as seen by Rodriguez. The same goes for Helena's notes. Prologue

May 1st 2099

Expanding of the harbour

Uruguayan airspace

No one in the terrorist group Dark Knife used their real names. Knife blade, who was the prince, insisted on it. He said that if they were simply masked vigilantes, then no one would be able to bust them. While the general known as Diamond Shield didn't agree with this, no one had seen Lion, the last man to question one of Knife Blade's quirks, for weeks. Although everyone knew it was actually Knife Blade's father who made all the rules, no one knew anything about him so it was hard to complain about him and everyone just blamed Knife Blade. He didn't mind. It would be unfair to call Dark Knife a terrorist 1

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Naoise McHugh group in the traditional sense, because Dark Knife was more of a private army of masked vigilantes. Well, everyone called them villains whenever an affiliation was discovered. The agents went out, people saw them, gave them names and presumed they were good guys when they came back looking dejected after an attack. People presumed they were failures and so no one actually commented on them. When the newspapers started calling them villains, the agents took a much more active stance. Everyone knew that there was a big secret body because whenever the pigs caught anyone, they suicided using a cyanide pill. Since Diamond Shield was an officer in the Dark Knife, he almost never went out on a mission, choosing to co-ordinate them instead. But tonight was different. Knife Blade had selected him personally for this mission and he had selected him to actually lead a unit. The mission co-ordinator was going to be Knife Blade himself. Diamond Shield didn't want to think about the consequences of failure. The fact that none of them had been given any suicide pills proved that. Diamond Shield had been made an officer because he had three crucial skills: initiative, charisma and leadership. The lower ranks all liked him, but all of them had nightmares about what would 2

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Century happen to them if they crossed him. “It's time to begin the mission. Your squad is waiting for you in bay 325,” Knife Blade streamed through the helmet communicator. Though the Dark Knife had been operating in Uruguay for sixty years, thanks to rejuvenation technology, Knife Blade still looked like he was twenty three, his age when he founded the group. Bay 325 was one of the five hundred bays in the giga whale sized, spherical, air base. The Dark Knife's fleet was enormously powerful. There was a hover carrier for every bay. And so many different aircraft. There was at least three hundred thousand Destral class hover tanks, one of which the squad was going to use. Knife Blade's Victory At All Costs, a retired decimator class ship, had been found at the bottom of the atlantic ocean, just outside Montevideo bay. The armoury team had fixed it up and it now bristled with all sorts of fancy weapons. It was located in the central bay, bay 501. The squad's mission was to lay down some bombs in Montevideo Bay and set some tarantula turrets to clear out the bay so that Knife Blade could bring the huge turtle in there. It was a very important mission, which could be the turning 3

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Naoise McHugh point of the sixty year campaign, because once that thing got in, there was no telling what it could do. Diamond Shield noticed the group of six men and women leaning on a Destral tank. Their nicknames were: Bio-Nick, Cad. Astrophe, Corporal Punishment, Private Property, Philot and Flywire. Bio-Nick and Diamond Shield were the squad's fighters. They would protect Cad. Astrophe from the MotoMen mechanised cavalry unit that would be protecting the bay, while he was laying the bombs, which would be activated later on. Corporal Punishment was in charge of setting the tarantula turrets which would clear the bay of enemy ships. Private Property and Philot were to pilot the tank, while Flywire was going to provide air support and pretend to menace the group of heroes that was being sent to mess up the MotoMen. The squad were all known villains and so the hero squad made it look perfectly like there really was a huge group of heroes and villains. “Ready, lads?” Diamond Shield asked his squad. “Yes sir!” Bio-Nick raised his artificial arm in a salute, before opening the tank's troop hatch and climbing in. “Yes sir!” Cad. Astrophe picked up his explosives 4

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Century and followed his comrade. “Yes sir!” Corporal Punishment opened up his cage and the tarantula turrets jumped in. He closed it and jumped in the tank. “Yes sir!” Private Property donned his gunner's helmet, climbed into the gunner's hatch and flexed his hands over the controls. “Yes sir!” Philot climbed into the cockpit and pulled down his pilot's gear from the compartment where it rested above his head. “Yes sir!” Flywire unfurled his bionic wings and activated the turbo engine strapped on his back. He fluttered a foot in the air, waiting for the tank to fire up. “Don't fail me, lads. This mission is extremely important,” Diamond Shield said, as he climbed into the troop hatch, closing it after him. The Destral launched, flying out the bay doors and descending to the ground very quickly. “Everyone ready?” Diamond shield said as the hatch door slid open. “Nick's jumped sir!” Cad said, following his brother-in-arms out the back. Nick wasn't actually his real name. “Cadaver's away, sir!” Punishment shouted as he 5

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Naoise McHugh jumped. Nor was Cadaver hers. “Be seeing you two, then!” Diamond said to Philot and Private Property. “The hero shuttle has launched, sir,” Philot said through the comms link. The hero shuttle was one way and the squad were supposed to “abduct” the heroes when they were returning to the base. Diamond jumped, eyeballing the ground, as if defying it to hurt him. He was right of course. His shield turned into its air-board form when he was about a meter away. He turned his bionic left arm into a machine gun and followed the con-trail of Punishment's mechanical flying lizard. Punishment was trained in handling all sorts of mechanical creatures. His favourites were the tarantulas though. He said he liked the way they were so vicious. Punishment hopped off his lizard, shrinking it into a ball. He changed his Shifter armour to resemble the uniform of a uruguayan cop. His face grew a few years, courtesy of a Shifter face layer. Moments later, a police sergeant inspector brought three prisoners through the bay checkpoint. The guards thought it a little suspicious but no one wanted to argue with a sergeant inspector. 6

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Century As soon as they were out of sight, Punishment expanded his lizard again. “See you guys in a minute,” he said, taking the tarantula cage off his lizard. Cad picked up his bombs and walked towards the edge of the bay. He found the first bomb site. It was marked by a large street light. Nick climbed up the pole and sat on the light, turning his right arm into a sniper rifle and his left into a rocket launcher. Nick didn't actually have any biological limbs. He had four bionic arms, and one of the most powerful exoskeletons ever made. Diamond crouched on one knee as Cad worked with the first bomb. Diamond's machine gun swept around the place, scanning the area for the Destral or Flywire. “Done, sir.” Cad said, “Next site's a hundred meters from here. You see that tree, Nick?” Nick answered him by jumping onto the enormous oak tree. Diamond looked for the hole where Cad had planted the bomb and made a satisfied grunt when he couldn't find it. Cad had much less trouble hiding the next bomb. All he had to do was stash it in a little hollow under the trunk of the tree. 7

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Naoise McHugh The next site was a little more problematic. The reason for that was because it was in fact, a huge anchor that was embedded in a flower bed in the bay as a monument. “Tarantulas deployed, sir. I kept one like you asked,” Punishment came over to them, his lizard sitting on his shoulder. Diamond nodded to Cad, who set about tying the bomb to the tarantula. “Brilliant idea, Diamond. So brilliant in fact, that this time I'll pardon the loss of a tarantula,” “Is it really a loss if it dies in service, sir?” Diamond replied to Knife Blade. “No. That's why I'm pardoning it,” Knife Blade said, “But still, brilliant idea. Wait a minute!” The urgency in his tone told Diamond that the MotoMen had arrived. Punishment pushed a button and a few meters below them, the tarantula began scuttling as fast as it could. Nick jumped on top of the anchor and fired a rocket at the approaching column. Diamond opened fire with his machine gun. “Where is that Destral?” Knife blade screamed. Just in time, Flywire streaked across the sky, his secondary wings unfolded and firing their gatling cannons at the enemy troops. 8

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Century Of course, he was followed by Moon Moth, one of the three “heroes”. Flywire hurled a grenade at the MotoMen and the explosion “hit” Moon Moth, who fell amongst the MotoMen, her rapidly working wings kicking up a huge sandstorm which got in the eyes of the soldiers. “Bomb deployed, sir! I even got the tarantula to let go of it and come out the other side,” Punishment smiled. “Excellent. Tell the tarantulas to open fire,” Diamond said. “But-” Punishment objected. “DO IT!” Diamond shouted at him. Punishment nodded and pushed the button. The resulting chaos was comical. At least three destroyer battleships exploded. And out of the chaos, emerged Creased Lightning and Thunder Wave. The two of them were immediately shot down by “tranquiliser” rounds from Nick's sniper rifle as the Destral finally arrived. Flywire swooped down and picked up Moon Moth, who pretended to struggle until a fly nose extended from Flywire's mask and rubbed her stomach. She flopped over his shoulder, apparently tranquilised. Diamond grinned. Anyone who admitted to not knowing that the 9

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Naoise McHugh two of them were lovers got some pretty odd looks, but surely they were advertising it a little? Diamond and Nick picked up Lightning and Thunder. Diamond's shield carried him up to the Destral where he bundled Thunder into the troop hatch. He was followed by Nick who simply jumped into the hatch, then Cad and Punishment on the lizard. Flywire followed them, throwing MoonMoth into the hatch and sitting on the roof, emptying his gatling cannons at the MotoMen who remained, before climbing in to join the rest of the assembled shock troops. “Excellent idea to activate the tarantulas, Diamond. I'm beginning to wonder why I didn't make you a general earlier,” Knife Blade crackled through the comms link. “With respect, sir, it wouldn't have been a good move on your part,” Diamond said. “Modest as ever, hear that, troops?” Knife Blade said to the other commandos in the troop bay. “Well, mission successful, anyway. Well done soldiers,”

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Century Chapter 1 Eric's journal May 25th 2099

The killing

Rock of Leinster, Terraelea

I sat cross legged, my chin in my hands, as I stared at the crack in the egg's thick shell. It had been three weeks since I had stepped through the portal into this strange new world. In that time, I had catalogued over sixty species present here. The world was expanding rapidly and so was almost everything in it. Everything apart from the universe had to stop growing eventually, when it reached its set size. I couldn't see the bacteriae anymore, so I guessed I was about the size of a large hamster. Rapidly approaching my regular size. Lame joking aside, the place was pretty cool. I had called it Terraelea. It's pronounced Ter-rail-ee-a. I had made camp at one of the many landmarks I found. I had named it the Rock of Leinster, after my home province. If you've ever been to Ireland, you've most likely been to Leinster and there's a reason for it. Leinster is where things happen. I'd better stop talking about home, because it's making me go all bleary-eyed and in the frantic violence of Terraelea, there's no time for that. 11

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Naoise McHugh I was tired and badly needed a proper fire. I wanted to sleep, but it would've been a very bad idea in this place. I sliced a branch off a dragger tree, which grabs you and forces you into a hole inside it, whereupon you are devoured by something unpleasant. Unfortunately for the tree that tried to eat me, I had rocket feet, superhuman strength and an energy reserve. As soon as I had come here, I had discovered that a policy of careful testing was the only way to stay alive. Which was why I kept a supply of wolf hamsters. They might be absolutely vicious and have wolf heads and tentacle legs, but they are really good for testing things. I chopped the branch up nice and small, before lighting the fire with the flamethrower. The fire lit up, crackling heartily. Suddenly the crack in the egg widened. It formed a jagged circle round the top of the egg. The top was then pushed off by a very strange head. Well, it wasn't exactly strange, it's just, I'm not used to seeing such a head in anything other than fairytales. Fearing the worst, I waited for the head to be followed be another and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't. 12

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Century I took the eggshell hat off the creature's head and smiled, remembering to keep my lips firmly pressed together, so as not to scare it, as it pushed apart the rest of the egg, climbing into my left hand. Sitting in my hand was a baby dragon. A freaking dragon, for God's sake. It looked like a proper dragon, thankfully. The only other biological dragon I had ever seen had been one like the ones they do in cartoons. A two headed, spherical one. This one, on the other hand, had a proper, lizardlike body, wings that were about twice the size of it, a long spiny tail with a swordlike spike at the end of it and soft leathery skin. The skin was rapidly being covered by scales. “I suppose you want something to eat, don't you?” I asked it. I didn't expect an answer. The thing had just been born, so why would it give me one? “Smoked cow beetle, please. Rare,” it croaked. It was barely audible, so much so that I thought for a second I had imagined it. And don't tell me you wouldn't have. Sure enough, there was a cow beetle just behind an outcrop. The huge bugger had been sneaking up on us. I jumped on its back and stabbed its bovine head. Then, I dragged it to the camp and smoked it 13

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Naoise McHugh with the flamethrower. The little dragon set into it with a voracious appetite. Now, cow beetles are about three times the size of me, but the little monster only stopped when there was just a leg left. “Do you want some?” it asked me, its voice much louder now that it had some food inside it. “No thanks. I just ate,” I told it. Immediately, it devoured the leg. I blinked. The shell on a cow beetle is inedible. The baby dragon had just eaten the whole thing. “You need a name. Are you a boy or a girl?” I asked the little dragon. “What's that?” Okaay, time for a new plan of action. I tried to explain it to the young dragon in as simple a way as possible. I was rewarded by discovering that my new pet was in fact, a guy. “So what should I call you, then?” I asked, not really talking to him, so much as myself. “Smoke,” he said. Smoke sounded like a pretty classy name, alright. “Did you hear that?” Smoke asked me. “What?” I replied. “I don't know. It was like a springing noise,” “Oh God. Get ready to fight,” The hatchling 14

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Century bared his already fairly long fangs. What the wyvern had heard was the sound of a kangadile. Experience had taught me that that sound was the only warning you ever got of these crazy things. The kangadile hopped over the ridge protecting my camp. Now, these things are big. And scary. Think of an enormous crocodile that stands like a kangaroo. Now give it ridiculously powerful forearms, wicked sharp claws and razor teeth. Now, you've got a kangadile. I drew my sword, ready to slice it into a million tiny pieces. If there's one thing I hate, it's giant crocodiles that can hop. I blinked and Smoke was gone from my shoulder. The kangadile was making a noise like a buzz saw. Suddenly, its stomach exploded and Smoke's mouth gaped out. In about three seconds, there was only the kangadile's head left. And it was still alive. “I think I prefer my food cooked,” Smoke commented. I triggered an energy reserve and took a look at the kangadile's mind. It had been running. And these things were the top of the food chain. “The beast is near us,” I said. “I was wondering what smelled so bad,” Smoke 15

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Naoise McHugh replied. The beast was the nickname I had given to the mysterious creature that had followed me into this place. Everything here was afraid of it. The beast was rather hard to find. It seemed to be dealing with this harsh environment very well, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the reason it was so hard to find was because it was following me. Smoke had grown a little bit after his very large meal and was now about the size of a guinea pig. Compared to me, anyway. Not actual size. “I don't want to find out what it is right now. We'd better get going,” I told Smoke. He nodded and made a fairly good attempt at flying, before falling to the ground. I smiled and picked him up in my palm, whereupon he climbed up my arm to settle on my shoulder. The tent folded into itself at a push of a button, the fire extinguished itself and all my luggage neatly piled into a bag, courtesy of telekinetic field technology. I picked up the bag and began running, Smoke watching behind us. The beast was never going to catch me, of course. I had just eaten and my ridiculously fast metabolism meant that my rocket feet would be full of fuel. I would've liked to be on my hoverbike, but 16

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Century unfortunately, I had left that in my mother's fortress on earth. I hoped Rodriguez and Helena had buried Tom and Ellen. Thinking of Helena, I found my hand drifting down to my pocket. I shook away such thoughts, turning my arm into it's machine gun form as I leapt off the ground and started flying. Startled, Smoke crawled onto my back. The grey landscape shot past as we flew. The beast might be able to fly, but it certainly didn't have turbo power. When I thought we had gone far enough, I stopped beside a river. I didn't want to get dissolved by the water suddenly turning to acid, so I tested it with a wolf hamster. The weird little thing slithered over to the stream and gulped down a bit of water. When it wasn't eaten from the inside by insects, I put it back in the cage. A mooing noise made my stomach rumble as the silly cow beetle gave itself away. I sliced its head open and had roast beef for dinner. I somehow managed to drift to sleep, safe in the knowledge that Smoke was protecting me. * 17

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Naoise McHugh

May 26th 2099

Unkwown place, Terraelea

I was dreaming. It was a dream I had had a lot during the past three weeks. I was in a vent, watching as a huge monster reared up in front of Rodriguez. Tom and Ellen were beside me and there was something different about the three of us. I snapped awake with a start, wondering what had woken me up. Something was wrong. I could feel it. Smell it. And that smell was all too familiar. I got up, to see Smoke fighting off a herd of koala bears. It is a common misconception among people that koalas are bears. No, koala bears are a lot less cute than either of the two. Think of a black bear. Now give it the head and arms of a koala. And then, give it two, huge, thick tentacles for legs. One thing I've noticed about animals here is that they're very fond of tentacles. I rushed over to Smoke, discovering that I had fallen asleep in my armour. I pulled my sword out and began slicing. It's a good thing koala bears don't have armour. They're dangerous enough without it. These little buggers are vicious. It's bad enough that their arms 18

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Century are ridiculously strong and it's almost impossible to break free from their tentacles. I sliced the head off one, smattered another, all the time striding towards my little friend. Slice. Dice. Grate. Chop. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. I fell into a rythm of killing anything that tried to kill me. Stab. With my robotic arm in its machine gun form and wielding my father's sword in the other, I began to whirl around in a killing frenzy. Anything that got in my way was gunned down or sliced apart. Hack. Slash. Stab. Split. Shoot. Blast. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. A something roared. The smell intensified. A grim and dark realisation smashed me in the face. The remaining koala bears fled. Smoke leapt onto my shoulder in terror. I smiled, ready for him. The minotaur, the thing that I had once faced in an underground labyrinth, now stood upon the crest of a hill. He now looked a million times angrier than when I had last duelled him. Probably something to do with the fact that he couldn't smell or hear anymore. Instead, he was now driven by echolocation and an internal organ that was tuned to seek me out anywhere. The perfect hunter. “You gonna stand there and shout all day?” I said, even though he was deaf to everything except 19

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Naoise McHugh his own voice. He kept roaring. “I'm over here!” I taunted. The beast turned to face me, his head filled with rage. His eyes were bigger. Eriana's boss must have modified his eyes so he could see. That made him even more dangerous. As if he wasn't scary before. The great ugly brute ran down the slope, shouting. I howled back at him, brandishing my sword as I prepared to face him. I pointed my sword at the beast, knowing it was the only thing in existence that could bring him down. He clutched his axe in his hands, preparing to swing at me. The bull-man ran himself through on the sword. As I cried out in triumph I found myself staring at the blood spurting out the wound in his heart. In the haze of adrenaline and pure energy, I could sense a window opening. I tried to pull my sword out of the dying demon. The beast grabbed it. He pulled me closer to him. He lifted the axe and I looked in horror as it began to fall. With a strange detachment, I watched neutrally as the axe sliced through my neck. The last thing I saw was Smoke roaring in misery. 20

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Century Chapter two Rodriguez's diary May 5th 2099

Going home

Donegal, Ireland

I woke up, dazed. What had happened? Eric had gone through the portal, closed it, then there had been this funny smell. And then Helena had screamed and I was whacked by something. That was the last thing I remembered. Well, there wasn't much I could do now. Eric had gone and something had activated Eriana's rift machine in order to follow him in there. I got up and walked over to Helena. She was lying on the floor and groaning. I guess being knocked out on a metal floor just isn't good for your head. But the person to ask about that is Eric. However, at that moment in time, we needed to get out of this crazy place. Helena was groaning about Eric. Well, mostly she was just groaning his name. I picked her up and slung my tired sister over my shoulder. If Eric didn't kill whatever followed him in there, then I had a serious bone to pick with it. I carried Helena to where we we had parked our bikes. In the museum room. 21

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Naoise McHugh I looked around the room. This was where Eric had realised who his mother was. And yet he had still gone to fight Eriana. Had her actions completely erased the fact that she had brought him into this world? They say it's a terrible thing for a parent to have to bury a child. How terrible then can it be, for a child to have to kill a parent? This was the room where Eric's fate had been completely sealed. As soon as he had realised the terrible truth, I had seen the deadly fury fill in his eyes. From that moment, Eriana didn't have a chance. And once he'd made up his mind to kill her, he had been forced to go into the new world. And there was a very slim chance that he would ever return. My eyes filled with tears of sympathy for the tormented hero. Better not to think about that. This place was full of cool gadgets. Helena's pets had been completely destroyed in the explosion. She had had the hamster for less than six hours. So now, she needed some cool new toys to occupy her. There was a million and one different crazy things. A grapple rifle was one of my personal favourites. My father had given me a grapple pistol, but the limited range and strength of the rope meant 22

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Century it was almost useless. This gizmo on the other hand, was amazing. It had a kilometer range and could carry me for years without snapping. Another favourite was the bullet launching railgun. Standard railguns fired darts and proppelled them so fast that they did as much damage as a standard torpedo, at a tiny fraction of the cost. Put bullets in them and they began to become superweapons. Better to just destroy that one. Too danngerous. What we took were the grapple rifle, a tarantula turret and a whole load of skull grenades.

* A few minutes later, we had traversed the lava maze and left the horrible place of death. Our bikes took us up to the carrier. Eric's huge metal dragon told us he was going to wait for him. It didn't matter that the poor thing was going to be waiting a long time. We passed the ashes of the evil sky turtle. How long had Eriana had that beast? Had it been sent to her by her superior? Too many questions. 23

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Naoise McHugh When we got into the carrier, I had to make a decision. Should we risk getting in a fight with Eric's uncles in order for a place to stay, or should we just go home? I opted for the former, because the carrier seriously needed fuel. It wasn't the only one that needed fuel. And unlike it, we also needed sleep. I logged the coordinates into the carrier's computer and after a large meal, I fell asleep in my cabin. * “Wake up! We're here!” The alert bot blared through the comms. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and pulled my armour on. Outside my room, I joined Helena as we ran up to the cockpit. In front of us, the city of Dublin reared out of the ground. The city was now one of the largest in the world. The liffey only split a tiny fraction of it. The city itself was beautiful. Every single building was something. There was one that overlooked the liffey which was a giant pepsi can. According to the carrier's database, it was originally a giant office block, but then pepsi had actually bought it and turned it into a pepsi factory. 24

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Century Dublin castle was pretty big. It didn't loom over the city like Eriana's bastion had, but simply was there, a gentle reminder that someone did watch over the city. Someone did know about all the crimes. The city hadn't traded privacy for security. Rather, one of the families in the ruling clan simply knew about every single crime. Eric's family. And another family also knew why so few of them were theft related. Because everything in Dublin was free. The ruling clan had put a pretty good system in place. Every single item that could be bought was part of a “caste”. You could only buy things that were in or below your caste. Everyone started at the bottom and worked their way up. When you worked hard and put in enough effort, you were awarded a medal in a public ceremony. Each medal represented your membership of a caste. You only got something if you deserved it. You worked hard and you excelled. You lazed around and you got by. Brilliant system. We landed on the sea so we could approach the castle without kicking up a fuss. When we arrived, Helena managed to get into contact with one of the families. It wasn't Eric's, but everyone in the castle knew each other. From there, we got into contact with Eric's aunt Jathene. She told us how Eric had been 25

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Naoise McHugh right about the uncles. Eric's cousins Jana and Stephanie accompanied her mother. Both wore purple shirts that showed off their stomachs and white skirts which went as far as their knees, the Clognose cheerleaders kit. Apart from the ruler straight nose, Eric had obviously inherited everything from his mother. Jana, on the other hand had brilliant blue eyes, a harsh contrast from her cousin's, which looked as if they were about to burst into flames. she had long black hair which went down past her shoulders, again contrasting her cousin's rather close shave. Stephanie was almost exactly the same, but a little crazier. Her hair was dyed purple and cropped short, coming down to her neck and spiked up in a mohawk, the spikes tipped white. She had studs in her nose, right ear and stomach. I'd have been surprised if she didn't have more in other places. The aunt told us of how, after Eric's father had been killed, the family had held a meeting on what they should do. The two evil uncles had insisted that they should have the castle, but the rest of the family had disagreed. The uncles had then gone off to God knows where. Apart from the aunt and her daughter, there 26

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Century was six uncles. Two of these were the evil ones and the other four were rather friendly. Thankfully, the evil ones were still in God knows where. All four uncles were married, but Eric, Jana and Stephanie were the only children. The family gave us a room where we could stay and offered us accomodation for a few days. Jana and Stephanie took us to our room. Helena found herself trapped in conversation with Jana, while I was engaged by Stephanie. “So, how did you two meet biscuit?” she asked me. “Biscuit?” I replied. Jesus Christ, what did Eric do with his spare time? “I covered his face in biscuit crumbs when he was asleep, one time. You should have seen his reaction,” she made a pretty good impression of Eric running around trying to get crumbs off his face. I chuckled. “So seriously, how did you meet him?” She asked again. I told her about all our adventures. “Your sister likes biscuit?” was her one incredulous comment. Not about Eric's mother. Not about how the world had been destroyed. Nope, it was about my sister's relationship with her cousin. Don't 27

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Naoise McHugh get me started about girls. “Yeah, why?” I asked, a little worried. “Oh no reason, it's just he's slightly deranged,” she said with a smile. “You looked in a mirror recently?” Jana shot at her. “No, I'm too scared,” Stephanie replied instantly. We finally reached our room. I can tell you one thing about castles. They're big. Really, really big. Our room was pretty big as well. Unfortunately, there was only one bed. “I'll sleep on the floor,” I sighed, as soon as the twin terrors had gone. Helena nodded, then threw herself on the huge bed. “How long are we here for?” First thing she asked. “I don't know. A week? Five days?” I replied. “That all?” “Yes, I know. But we've got to get back home,” I said. I was as disappointed as she was. Eric's family had a great place going. I didn't see why anyone would want to leave. Despite the fact that I was sleeping on the floor, I fell asleep almost immediately. Plush carpet, 28

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Century for God's sake! *

May 6th 2099

Dublin, Ireland

I woke up, slowly. Jana was gently shaking me. I blinked, trying not to look like I had just fallen asleep, fully clothed, on the floor, with no blankets, sheets or anything else. “How long have I been asleep?” I asked. “About a month,” she said, casually. I jumped up, blinking. “You're so easy to fool. You've been asleep for around twelve hours. Helena woke up three hours ago and decided not to wake you. When you didn't get up, we got worried,” she said, smiling. “Nice try. I almost believed you, but Helena wouldn't be able to get out of bed after only nine hours, considering what we've been through,” I smiled, indicating Helena's sleeping form. Jana grinned and pulled something out of her pocket. It didn't look pleasant. “Touch me with that thing again and I will seriously make you regret it, politics or no,” Helena 29

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Naoise McHugh groaned, before going back to sleep. I shook my head at Jana and she got the idea. You don't mess with Helena when she hasn't got enough sleep, not if you if you value your life or your sanity. I followed Jana down to the dining room. There was about ten different tables. Jana brought me over to one, which seemed to be the children's table. The three of us seemed to be the oldest. We were served incredible food. Eric had gotten this every day of his life? Man, I thought I was rich! Well, no one in Ireland was actually rich. That was one of the ways the country had pulled out of the global recession. First up, there was some crazy parmaham dish from God knows where. I didn't really care who made it or who they were from, as long as it was food. Next, there was sausages and some form of exotic bread. And then, some crazy tropical fruit dish. You'd think that so close to Iceland, the country would have been wrecked, but I had never seen such a prosperous one. Helena strolled into the room, still in her pyjamas. She found us and came over. Then, she put a newspaper in front of me. 30

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Century The headline read: Montevideo Bay blown up.

31

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Naoise McHugh Chapter three

May 1st 2099

Mission Terminate

Uruguayan airspace

The Destral flew into the gaping mouth of bay 325. Flywire and Moon Moth were the first out, followed by Diamond and Lightning. Next was Thunder, then Nick. Punishment and Cad jumped out after them and Philot and Property climbed out of their respective spaces. “Everybody okay?” Diamond asked, flexing his right arm to make sure it hadn't been chopped off by the hatch door or anything similarly horrible. “One piece over here,” Nick reported, feeling himself to make sure he was right. “All smiles down this end,” came the teenage voice of Punishment. At fourteen, Punishment ought to have been the youngest of the Dark Knife agents. However, the Dark Knife raised its children internally where possible. Flywire, Moon Moth, Lightning and Philot were all around fourteen, but Punishment was older than all of them. “Right, I don't want to know who's okay, I want to know who's hurt,” Diamond said, not unkindly. “I'm missing all my limbs if anyone's seen 32

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Century them,” Nick said. That got a laugh out of everyone, even Knife Blade. “Okay, it's good that no one's hurt, guys. Follow me. I've got a new mission for you,” Knife Blade's voice came from the comms link and from across the bay, simultaneously. The troops followed him to one of the briefing room. They should have been being debriefed but this mission was special. Knife Blade activated a viewscreen. On it was a picture of a boy and a girl. “These are your targets, soldiers. They were last sighted in Donegal, Ireland. High command wants them terminated, and as we all know, High command is prepared to kill you if you fail, but not prepared to actually tell you anything about your mission,” The assembled troops shuddered. High command was something exactly like Knife Blade's father. No one knew anything about it, but everyone was too scared of it to ask any questions. There was even a rumour that High comand was led by Knife Blade's father. Scary thoughts. “Any questions?” Knife Blade looked around the room. “Sir, how old are the targets?” Punishment 33

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Naoise McHugh asked, his voice sounding just a little hollow. “Old enough to die,” Knife Blade said, “Okay, okay, that was tasteless. The girl was fourteen thirty seconds ago and the boy will be fourteen in a minute. Just don't go getting interested in her, okay Punishment? Anything else?” He added. “Are they twins, sir?” Flywire asked. “Yes. They may have some form of telepathic communication, so try and deal with them separately. “Do you know anything about why High command wants them dead?” Diamond asked. “Well, I think it's either a personal reason closely linked to the cloud of mystery that is my father's personal life or more High command loose ends,” Knife Blade answered. Everyone rolled their eyes. High command always left loose ends. It was simply part of the way they worked. They hired the best assassins and that put them in a bad position when it came to tying up loose ends. They forgot to kill or silence people who they used. The Dark Knife were often used as maids whenever High command realised they made a mistake. “And do you know how the boy got that scar on his cheek, sir?”

34

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Century *

May 6th 2099

Dublin, Ireland

I read the article again. Why would someone want to blow up Montevideo bay? The article said that a tarantula turret attack had destroyed the three destroyers floating in the bay and all of the other bay defense systems while the saboteurs were getting away. So why the bomb? Only three people had been killed, so it couldn't have been a blood crime. It just didn't fit. I finished my breakfast. Jana was the only other person still in the room. “So, Eric gave you that scar?” She said, breaking the silence. “Yeah. And I cut off his arm,” I replied, tracing the path of the scar down my cheek. “I had to pay for it as well. I was actually surprised about that. Going to Clognose, you would have expected him to be able to afford a new one. But then I came here and found out why,” I added. She smiled. She was quite different from her twin and that was a fact I was thankful for, because if they had been just a little more similar, it would have put me in 35

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Naoise McHugh the rather awkward position of mixing up the two of them. After breakfast, she took me on the grand tour of Dublin. Well, the city center. Anyone who can walk around all of Dublin is seriously fit. As in completely insanely fit. She showed me what they had done with the spire. As in they had turned it into something that actually looked good (hint, hint). They had turned it into a giant sword embedded in the ground. Like the anchor that had been in Montevideo Bay, but that was rambling. The sword in the ground represented how Ireland had chosen peace, but was ready to take up the sword if needs be. The statue of Daniel O'Connell had been restored and now gleamed like a diamond. The angels seated at his feet made him seem like a saint, but that wasn't really what he had been about. While the Irish themselves may have thought him a saint, he was simply a pacifist revolutionary. And he certainly hadn't been considered a saint when he died. We went shopping in the Stephen's Green shopping center. I was really glad to get a few new clothes because, mine were pretty tattered. I went in wearing my red shirt, orange hoodie and black combat 36

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Century trousers, all of which were torn in various different places, thankfully none of them embarassing. I came out looking pretty different. My ragged copper hair was cut short, my hair going down to just below my ears. I was wearing a camo hoodie, unzipped, with an orange shirt underneath. I had gotten a pair of shifter jeans. I had made sure to get everything stretchy. We found ourselves sitting on the Liffey walkway, our legs dangling over the edge. As I sat there, I realised she was beautiful. Her hair billowed like black smoke in the river breeze, as she looked at the crystal clear waster of the Liffey. I'd tell you about how they purified it, but right now, I have more important stuff to talk about. The setting sun illuminated her features, making it look like she was glowing. Her smile looked simply radiant, a perfectly curved hole in her face, revealing her straight teeth. What I was looking at was like a glimpse of heaven. A fish jumped out of the water and she laughed. That was when everything went crazy. Suddenly I was launched into the water and I lost control of myself. Jana shrieked. A wolf howled somewhere. Oh, right. That was me. I realized what was happening and 37

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Naoise McHugh groaned inwardly. I launched myself into a battle with myself for control of my body. The wolf wasn't going to win, but it was going to be a hard battle. When I pulled myself out of the water about ten minutes later, climbing up the walkway steps, Jana rushed over to me. “Ugh...I hate seafood,” I groaned. “Are you okay? What happened?” She pounded me with the one question I didn't want to answer. Explaining my lupine self to her was not going to be easy. I felt around my neck, looking for the amulet. I had left it on the table in the room! “I need to get back,” I said. “Why?” She asked, the inevitable question. “I'll explain when we get there,” Somehow she sensed the gravity of the situation and set off at a run. We reached the castle and managed to get into the room without much hassle, thank God. As soon as we were in the room, I grabbed the amulet off the table and put it round my neck. I relaxed, only now realising why I had been so tense earlier. “Ok, so what just happened?” She asked. “I turned,” I answered. “What's that supposed to mean?” 38

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Century “I'm a werewolf, Jana. When we raided a lab in Newfondland, I got bitten by a human-wolf hybrid. The only way I can control the transformation is through that amulet,” “So why did you change?” Oh great. This was going to be really hard to explain. “Do you really want me to answer that?” I asked, trying my best to get out of this rather tight corner. “Oh, I get it. Flatter me anyway,” she said. “When I don't have the amulet on, the transformation is linked to my heart rate. And my heart was going that fast because of you,” I said. Mercifully, my attempt not to blush succeeded. She laughed. If I hadn't been wearing the amulet, I probably would have turned again. “Eric would never have said something like that,” she smiled. “How would you know?” Helena cut in, making both of us jump. How long had she been standing there? “We talked to all his ex-girlfriends. So far, you've lasted the longest,” she replied, instantly. “Now would be a good time to start running,” I hissed. She managed to vacate the spot where she had 39

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Naoise McHugh been standing just before Helena's arm whistled through the air, narrowly missing her. I've been on the recieving end of one of my sister's punches and only Eric can hurt you more. Jana suddenly was behind her and flicked the back of her head. “How did you do that?” I asked, just managing to stop the two of them before things got serious. “What, this?” Jana said, flicking Helena again. “No, the teleport thing,” I said. Well, that's what it had looked like, anyway. “Oh, you mean this,” she was right in front of me, her face mere inches away. “Yeah, that,” I said. “You'd be surprised how closely the genetics and security divisons are linked. Well, we run both anyway. Both of us can do some pretty cool things,” She turned into a pretty good likeness of my dark side. “Nice. I should take you hunting some time,” “No thanks, I'm vegetarian,” She replied. “You won't be for long if you're making out with him!” Helena grinned. “Look away,” I said to Jana. I turned into my wolf form almost instantly, punching Helena as I did so. Her face was horribly scarred. 40

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Century “Eric won't want to get anywhere near you now,” I smiled. “I think he will, 'cos unlike you, I spent my day doing something productive,” she retorted as her face healed almost instantly. “Can Eric do anything like that?” I asked Jana. “No, we got them for fourteenth birthday presents. He turned fourteen while he was on the tour and as we all know, he isn't coming back,” she said, disappearing out the door before Helena could start a war. “How can you stand her?” Helena almost sobbed. “How can you stand Eric?” Was my clever response. I smiled and followed Jana out the door, wishing we could go back to that perfect moment in front of the Liffey. “Just to point out, you're suddenly able to turn in under a second. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but you might wanna watch yourself,”

41

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Naoise McHugh Chapter four Rodriguez's diary May 7th 2099

Tame the beast

Dublin, Ireland

I sniffed the air. Fish and birds. We've already established that I hate seafood, so that gave me one option. I was crouched in the lengthy shadows of Wood Quay, trying to get a decent meal. I had opted for not having anything to eat today. There was a reason for that. I needed to learn more control over the wolf. A pigeon decided that I had in fact gone. It waddled over to where I was crouched. Big mistake. In the brief instant where it was within my reach, I had grabbed it and broken its neck. I sank my fangs into it, glad to have something to eat at last. I prowled around, looking for something else to eat. I had about three more pigeons before I decided that I didn't like the fat fowl. This morning, I had woken up to find a huge bloodhound looking down at me. I had been halfway through turning before I realised it was another of Stephanie's tricks. I was beginning to realise why Eric had never told us anything about his family, beyond his uncles. 42

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Century Over breakfast, which I had abstained from, Jana had introduced me to the kids from the other three families. After breakfast, I had explained my exercise to her. She had completely agreed and suggested I spend the whole day sleeping. I didn't really need an incentive to do that. I sniffed. There was something good around. Deer. I followed the scent. Phoenix park. If I went in there, we would be leaving very soon. Now came the part about control. I picked up a rock in each hand. I tried to take a step backward. The wolf resisted. Again, I fought with myself. I breathed deeply. The smell of the deer came flooding into my nostrils. I squeezed the rocks, focusing my entire mind on that task. It worked. I changed back to human form and returned to base, pleased with myself. Jana met me at the entrance to the castle. Her hair was hanging loosely over her shoulders like a thin black mist. The moonlight streamed down from above the castle, illuminating her figure. Once again, I was reminded of how beautiful she was. A sudden breeze blew her hair around. The pale light reflected off it like silk. “So, how did it go?” She asked. 43

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Naoise McHugh “Pretty good. The Phoenix park gatekeepers didn't shoot me,” “Oh, God. Did you kill anything?” “Apart from four pigeons I found in Wood Quay, no. I managed to not get dragged into the park. I think the trick is to concentrate on something else,” “Ok. As long as you didn't kill anything important,” “Important? Well, I'm pretty sure that one of the pigeons had a message regarding national security. So, yeah. Nothing important,” “Oh, damn. What did the message say?” “It said: You're so easy to fool,” I said, using the exact words she had used when she woke me up the day before. She disappeared. I pretended to be looking for her, well aware that she was right behind me. She tried to flick me, only to find that I was a little to the left. Suddenly she was in front of me, her arms around my neck. Laughing in the rain. *

May 8th 2099

44

Dublin, Ireland

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Century I sat in the shade of an oak tree, my arm around Jana. We were in Phoenix park and I can tell you, there isn't a place in the world I'd rather have been in. The sun shone down on the world around us, but under the shade of that oak, everything was quiet. Even the birdsong coming from the tree sounded as if it was coming from a mile away. Jana's head rested on my shoulder, lolling slightly. A few meters away from us, a man was decorating the trees. Everywhere, people were preparing for the twenty-second century. We had seen about six deer wearing bells and with tinsel wrapped around them. “They're celebrating the new year six months before Christmas. What is the world coming to?” I laughed. “Oh, that. They're afraid of another computer virus destroying the world in september, so they're gonna do all the celebrating before then,” “Some things never change,” “Well, it does mean we can go even crazier when the world doesn't end,” The man started muttering under his breath as he decorated the tree. Jana repeated what he was saying to me. 45

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Naoise McHugh “These dang kids. The world's gonna end and all they do is say it's another hoax. Back in 1999, we had this thing called terror. The virus was going to destroy us all and we knew it. But children these days can only think in scepticism. They don't appreciate the value of a good scare,” she manage to whisper to me, before falling over laughing. “Please can I get'im?” I croaked. “No. The last thing the world needs is some old guy disappearing. Then there'll be a real scare and all the old people will be freaking out about how their children are going to murder them because their minds are being corrupted by the virus,” she giggled. I sniffed. Blood. The old man was gone. Jana looked in the same direction. That was when I saw it. “Jana, is there something you're not telling me?” I asked “Well, I'm not telling you anything you already know. What do you want me to say?” She replied, cheekily. She stopped dead when I picked it up. “Alright, alright. I do think you infected me. I just don't want to take any chances,” she said. She was probably hiding something, but at that moment, I had to find the missing grandpa. I scowled and shifted 46

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Century my focus. I changed, instantly feeling more powerful. There was an impossible variety of smells here. But there were two I was looking for. A smell that was out of place and unusual, and the smell of blood. I looked at Jana and that was when I finally understood her disappearing act. In the powerful and speeded up world of my lupine side, I could see that she was in fact gone into some sort of superspeed. What I saw was her getting up pretty fast, leaving behind after images. “The hunt is on,” she said, under her breath. Then she was gone, running faster than lightning. I would've lost her in my human form, but as a wolf I could go about three times faster than even she could. The scent of blood led us through the trees and deeper into the forest. There definitely was a scent that was out of place here, but I couldn't tell what it was. I ran about a meter ahead of Jana, my nose twitching all the time. The air rushed past me, as I ran. If we had been visible, I would've looked absolutely ridiculously. I mean, how many wolves wear jeans? We skidded to a halt in a clearing. Or rather, we skidded past the clearing and had to backtrack. Speed has its dis-advantages, surprisingly. 47

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Naoise McHugh I looked around the clearing and saw something I really didn't want to see. “Fancy seeing you here! What brings you to this part of the world?” he said, through his meal. He hadn't even turned around. “What happened to your herd?” I said, coldly. “I got hungry. So, how does being a wolf feel?” He said. The last time I had seen him, he had bitten me on the shoulder and run off, saying he had to lead his herd. Since then, his lupine side must have taken over. “What did you do with the old man?” I asked, cutting to the point. “What old man?” he replied. I noticed the thick British accent. I sniffed the air. This place was full of the scent of blood. The same blood that had been around when the old man had disappeared. “Blood. Human blood,” I said to Jana. She nodded. She was shifting from side to side, as though uncomfortable. If I had been human, she would have been invisible. “Alright. I had to stop for a quick snack before I went home. I do get hungry, you know?” The boy was trying to justify killing an old man to me. This was 48

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Century what awaited those who did not control the wolf. “You killed a defenseless man, just because you got a bit peckish?” I snapped at him. I have no sympathy for murderers. “Oh, bloody hell. Don't tell me you're gonna take the freakin' high ground on me?” “I could just blow your brains out, if you'd prefer,” “No thanks, I'll fight you wolf on wolf,” he growled. He began to change, growing to seven foot tall. I had a foot on him, but he looked a lot stronger. “Ooh, I can have a victory meal when I'm done with you,” he growled when he spotted Jana. If the old man's death had made me angry, the thought that I was fighting for Jana made me lethal. He lunged. That was when I realised his weakness. He was stronger than me, but muscle is weight, and his legs didn't look bulky enough to take all that weight. I sidestepped the lunge and grabbed his arm. He blinked in surprise. “You're...you're...” “Fast?” I suggested, as I whirled him above my head like a whirligig. The wolf in him had control of his mind and there was no way back to sanity. I let go of his arm and he smashed into a tree. I 49

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Naoise McHugh was on top of him, my arms punching him so fast, they were close to invisible. He tried to get up and got a clawing for his trouble. Of course, I didn't see the kick. His leg smashed into me, knocking me over. And then, he was on top of me, clawing at me. I started bleeding. We both froze. Had we just heard what we thought we just heard? I was proved right when he went flying off me, proppelled by an invisible force. Or rather, a force moving so fast that it was invisible, even to my werewolf eyes. You probably guessed already, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Experiment thirty two crashlanded amongst a crowd of trees. And standing over him, now at least seven feet, was Jana.

Helena's notes May 8th 2099

*

Dublin, Ireland

Who was it who decided to build Dundrum shopping center? Whoever it was, I don't care. The fact that it has shops is enough for me. I was standing in front of a huge clothes shop, 50

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Century with Stephanie beside me. I could tell she was struggling to contain a laugh at my amazement. Back home, the most we had had was Montevideo bay's weekly market! The fashion industry was a thing that existed somewhere else. Stephanie's pocket suddenly came alive with music and she pulled out her phone. “Rodriguez? How did you get my number?......Oh, right. We'll be there in a few minutes,” The look on her face told me not to ask questions. She began to change into a bloodhound. Apparently, it was her favourite trick for annoying Eric. Poor boy. We ran as fast as we could to the castle, but that wasn't very fast. Inside the castle we rushed to Jana's room. And as we ran, I began to think of what could have happened. Rodriguez and Jana had gone to Phoenix park. The most likely thing was that Rodriguez had forgotten his amulet again, kissed Jana, turned, nearly killed her and then returned to his senses. But I remembered seeing him wearing the amulet as he left. So could it have fallen off? That was probably a bit worse, but after he had forgotten the amulet yesterday ago, I had put it on a flexible metal string 51

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Naoise McHugh so it wouldn't come off. So what else could have happened? Eric had said his dad was called invincible because he had got in a fight with a gorilla bear and won, so could they have done something similar? Oh, the possibilities. We pushed open the door and that was when I realised what had happened. Rodriguez was sitting in a chair by her bed, in his human form. He looked tired and his unscarred cheek was bleeding. But what was in the bed was what was truly scary. “What happened?” I asked him. “Remember how I became a wolf?” He replied. “Experiment thirty two....he was there?” “Yeah. He attacked an old man for food. We got in a fight. He made me bleed. And then that happened,” He indicated the bed. “Is she alive?” “Yes. She knew, Helena. She knew she was infected!” “How do you know that?” “She was wearing an amulet. I was about to ask her about it, but then I realised the old man was missing,” “So what do we do now? She should have changed back by now,” 52

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Century “She's not changing back because I told her not too. She's hurt and as long as she's like that, she's almost invincible. We need to operate soon,” “Operate?” “Gatekeepers. When they heard the howling, they came rushing over. And jumped to conclusions. I managed to catch some of the darts, but one got her. And hit her badly,” “Right. If we take her to hospital, we'll be waiting for ages. And they won't listen when we answer their questions. Which is why the family that runs the health department has a private operating theatre. It pays to be powerful, don't you think?” Stephanie grinned. We managed to get Jana into the operating theater and a surgeon agreed to operate. So then we had to wait outside. “I can't believe this...we should never have come here,” Rodriguez complained. “I disagree. Before you waltzed into the picture, Jana was a little...messed up, if you get what I mean,” Stephanie told him. “That's well and good, but we can't stay here,” Rodriguez said, trying to keep misery in the system. “It's not a question of whether or not you can't 53

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Naoise McHugh stay, Rodriguez,” “You're kicking us out?” He blinked. “No. You are staying here, whether you like it or not,” “Why?” “A: so you can make sure Jana doesn't lose control of herself. B: so I have someone to kill if things go wrong,” she answered. So we were now officially prisoners. Well, Rodriguez was, anyway. And I was hardly going to leave him. Stephanie was a good friend, if a little demented at times, but now she just seemed scary. “That's fine by me. Just so long as I still get shopping privileges,” I told her. Rodriguez looked rather indignant. “Sold...to the girl in the green shirt,” *

May 15th 2099

Atlantic airspace

“You two okay out there?” Punishment leaned out the window of the Desistral. It was a bulked up version of the Destral, for long distance missions like this one. 54

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Century “You ask me that again and I'll smash your face in,” Flywire replied, annoyed at having his time with Moon Moth interrupted, again. “Sure thing, Fly,” Punishment shouted back. “Buzz! Buzz buzz buzz! Buzz buzz buzz buzz bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!” he said to the occupants of the Desistral. As always, his imitation of a fly drew a good, hearty laugh out of the squad. “How are you feeling about this, Punishment?” Diamond asked, evidently concerned for his young son. “I'm fine, dad. I've killed millions before. It's just I've never done an assassination,” he replied. In truth, Punishment was actually feeling horrible about the mission. He was going to have to kill two people who, if he had met under normal circumstances, could have been his friends. He also felt horrible about the fact that his dad was asking him to do it. “What about the mayor of Montevideo?” Diamond replied. Diamond's relationship with his son was strained at best and Diamond knew it. He also knew that his son would be leading any revolutions against him if he got the chance. Knife Blade had put the two of them in the mission for a reason. He wanted to see where their loyalties lay. “I was referring to assassinating humans,” 55

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Naoise McHugh Punishment grinned. The squad laughed, but it was true. The “sadly” no longer with us mayor of Montevideo had had exactly minus four hundred and sixty two friends. Or, four hundred and sixty two major enemies. Number four hundred and sixty three had been the one that a sane person wouldn't wind up: Knife Blade's father. The poor fellow had been found with one of Punishment's tarantulas eating away at him.

Rodriguez's diary May 9th - 24th 2099

*

Ireland

May 9th: spent in a forest in Kerry, training with Jana. She is turning out to be incredibly fast, faster even than me. But considering her genetic modifications, this doesn't surprise me. She isn't very strong, but I think it was to do with her speed. I got my first experience of a proper hunt today. During our training, a deer crossed our path. I caught it before Jana even saw it, amazingly. Unsurprisingly, she isn't a vegetarian anymore. Helena had been right. May 10th: Again training with Jana. Discovered I could make a sonic boom by growling. Remarkable, but 56

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Century probably useless. May 11th: Same again. Sonic boom is more useful than I had previously thought. I appear to be able to concentrate the sound waves and focus them on a target. So far, only momentary deafness has been achieved, but I wouldn't be surprised if I could do more. May 12th: Unremarkable day. No progress with sonic boom, Jana improving at the same rate, that's about it. May 13th: Made a little bit of progress with sonic boom. If I concentrate, I can focus the energy so intensely that it knocks down a target. No progress with actually hurting them. Jathene said we should head on the 23rd. To be honest, I share Helena's original view on leaving. May 14th: Jana admitted she loves me. Even with the amulet on, it was all I could do to stop the beast from getting free. Smiles all round. May 15th: Stephanie decided that she might meet some guys if she went with us. Jana completely agreed. Amen and thank you God. It's good to know you're listening. Managed to knock a squirrel unconscious with my howl. This new talent has the potential to be amazing. 57

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Naoise McHugh May 16th: Jana now has total control of her lupine side. Good to know. We went on a date to some film. Too busy kissing Jana and eating popcorn to notice what it was. Helena really misses Eric. Seemed very sad when we were leaving. I'd say she was hoping he'd have reappeared by now. I hope he hasn't got himself killed, 'cos Eric seemed to be one of the few people who ever listened to me and actually considered the idea that I might have feelings. Jana, Helena and possibly Stephanie being the others. And yes I do notice that three out of four are girls. May 17th: Eyebrows were raised but nothing was said when Jana and I returned at eight this morning. I'm not even sure what we spent most of time doing, but we were probably focusing more on each other than whatever it was. As I recall, we slept in a barn and rushed into Dublin at around seven. May 18th: During a training accident, I managed to knock Jana unconscious, for about a minute, with a howl. Otherwise, unremarkable day. May 19th: Jathene found out about the plan for Jana and Stephanie to come with us. Big uh oh. When I fell asleep, I was listening to Helena arguing with her. May 20th: Helena and Jathene were still arguing 58

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Century when I woke up. They were still at it when we returned from training and when I went to bed. May 21st: Coming up to the departure date. Helena was still arguing with Jathene when I woke up. She called me when Jana and I stopped training for lunch, to tell me that Jathene had finally caved in, probably due to exhaustion. Never try to win an argument with Helena by attrition. She simply does not give up. Best way to do it is simply to disregard her opinion. As soon as you get into an argument with her, you've lost. Realising that made my life easier. May 22nd: Packing began. Stephanie realises that they may never return and is suitably fussing over what she should bring. Jana, on the other hand, doesn't seem to undestand. She's just packing for about a week. Worrying, but that should be how long it'll take us to cross that atlantic in the carrier. May 23rd: We left today. Jana and I sparred for a while after we left. She managed to beat me, mostly through speed. Well, as long as I don't let my guard down, I should be able to hold my own. May 24th: Rough night. Stephanie was given the sleeping bag that Ellen had used. Unfortunately for me, decency, also known as Helena wielding a large metal bar which I don't want to even think about 59

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Naoise McHugh where she got, decided I should surrender my room to Jana and sleep on the couch. Now, supposing Eric does come back? Big problem for sleeping arrangements.

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Century Chapter five Rodriguez's diary May 25th 2099

Judgement

Atlantic airspace

“So, what about it?” I asked. “It's a good idea, but I'll have to find the mirror,” Helena replied. We were sitting in one of the carrier's living rooms. The idea I had put forward was that we should attempt to contact Eric in the new world. Stephanie had agreed instantly, but I doubted it was to do with actually missing her cousin. *

May 26th 2099

Atlantic airspace

By the time Helena found the mirror, it was around five the next morning. I had slept wonderfully, thank you for asking. And so, we were all sitting in front of the mirror, hoping that Helena could make it work again. But, it had been kinda spontaneous the last time. The mirror hummed and trembled for about a minute. Then it showed us what we wanted to see. Or rather, what we really didn't want to see. 61

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Naoise McHugh The axe flew out of Eric's neck. There was no way anyone could survive that. Helena was crying. Eric's head rolled towards the window and his corpse slumped back, following it. His hand fell down right in front of us. In it, was a purple flower. Helena reached through the window and picked it up, a tear rolling down her cheek. The monster, that we had been afraid would kill Eric in the labyrinth, let out a sigh and died. The mirror juddered and Helena yanked her hand out of the portal, just in time, as the mirror crumbled. No one said anything. We could all feel what Helena was going through. Helena was still holding the flower in her hand when Jana and I left her. Stephanie was there, sitting with her, saying nothing. For all her annoying tricks, she was a good friend. *

May 27th 2099

Atlantic airspace

“Hey! What's that?” Jana exclaimed, pointing at something on the coast. It was smoking. “That, appears to be a burning village. I'm going 62

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Century to investigate. Rest of you, stay calm,” I answered. I exited the cockpit, before anyone could contradict me. Helena was flying the carrier. She needed something to take her mind off Eric. I ran to the hangar, fast as I could and climbed onto my hoverbike. I was off, immediately. I shot down towards the burning village. There were things running around it, killing people. Robot soldiers. Great, as if killing regular ones was easy. All I needed was a bunch of emotionless metal horrors shooting at me and saying “Crush. Kill. Destroy,” over and over. I landed, jumped off the bike, pulled my axe out and began chopping. “The creators no longer need this village. Prepare to be terminaaaaaaaaaaa!” A robot said as it's head came clean off its shoulders. The creators were behind the attack? Why had they needed the village in the first place? I was somewhere on the coast of Spain. Got to look for bases on Eriana's computer. As well as finish shutting down the creators. I made my way through the army of robots like the local town drunk makes his way through a beer. Violently. Chop. Slice. Smash. Kill. Kill. Kill. No more robots. 63

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Naoise McHugh I neared the edge of the town. And that was when I realised why the creators had used this village. A large house rolled backwards, revealing a large hole, as I approached. I walked down the hole. The remainder of the populace shouted at me not to, but I was curious. I strolled down the ramp in it at a leisurely rate. A mechanical noise told me there was something bad here. Pistons hissed and metal plates squealed as something huge rose out of the darkness. Floodlights turned on all around us. Standing before me was an enormous robotic soldier. And it was training its guns on me. *

May 27th 2099

Coastal Spain

Well, whaddaya know? Dreams do come true.

Rodriguez's diary May 27th 2099

*

Coastal Spain

A shape leapt out of a vent in front of me. It 64

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Century plummeted through the soldier, before executing a perfect shockwave crouch landing, disintegrating the soldier. I blinked. He was still there. I blinked again. Crouching before me was “Eric! You're alive!” I shouted. And he had two arms as well. “Wrong. Guess again,” He grinned. “A ninja ghost?” I guessed. “Nope,” “A zombie?” “Shall I tell you?” his smile glinted in the darkness of the hole. “Go ahead,” I said. I nearly fell over when he showed me. He had two pairs of wings. Swan and bat. “We thought you were dead!” I exclaimed. “But I am. I better explain. And don't tell Helena I'm back, okay? I want to keep it a surprise, Lassie,”

Eric's journal May 26th 2099

*

Hall of judgement

“You okay? You look pretty shocked,” someone said to me. I got up. My arm was missing again. I felt 65

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Naoise McHugh around my neck. My head was still attached. Had I dreamed my own death? I looked up. Standing before me was an angel. I'm not joking. Traditionally, angels are white, but this guy was blue. “I'm dead, amn't I?” I asked him. “Yes. Well, you're only halfway there. But, come on. You're going to be judged soon,” He replied. “Judged?” “Where were you for religion class? You know, held accountable for all your sins?” He looked a little incredulous. “Does murdering around sixty evil buggers count?” “No. Actually, you murdered a hundred and twenty three evil buggers. But you're not going to be held accountable for what people had coming to them. It's the innocents they're concerned about,” “Innocents?” “Number four hundred and seventy two?” a voice boomed out from a door. “That's you. Good luck. By the way, the name's Patrick. Saint Patrick,” he smiled, before pointing me in the right direction. “Thanks. I'll remember it,” 66

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Century I walked into the room. It was a typical courtroom scene, but everything was gray. On one side of the courtroom, all the demons sat. They all had red skin and leathery black wings. The angels were all blue with white feathery swan wings. There was two judges. One was Jesus and the other looked a little like the common idea of Satan, but didn't have the goatee. “Twenty seventh of May, year two thousand and ninety nine in the year of me. Number four hundred and seventy two of today. Eric, second name unknown,” Jesus scribbled down, “Judges, Jesus and Lucifer, like it always has been,” “We need to get a better system,” Lucifer said. His voice didn't seem as seductive as the one traditionally associated with Satan. But I don't think he actually was Satan. “And who's going to design it? We're not using a system that one of your people designs,” “Yada, yada, yada. There is someone waiting to be tried,” “Oh, him? The amount of bad people he brought forward for punishment clears him. My vote is innocent,” “I agree. Apostles?” It seemed that that was 67

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Naoise McHugh the most the two judges ever agreed on. The jury of angels on one side and demons on the other side each vacated. After a few torturous minutes, the apostles came back in. St. Peter came from the angels and Judas Iscariot came from the demons. “We, the apostles of Jesus, find the accused innocent. Your turn, Judas,” “Thank you, Peter. We the apostles of Lucifer, find the accused innocent,” There was a bit of cheering from the crowd and I grinned. “Congratulations. We'll send you back to the site of your death where you may make your choice,” Jesus said. Lucifer clicked his fingers and I was surrounded by a gray light. I blinked. I was back in Terraelea. Everything had a sort of dark haze to it. Two figures stood by my corpse. “Tom? Ellen? What the-” “What? You make your choice with people you know,” the demon Tom said. His legs had grown back, but he still hovered. I guess he was just used to it. “Yeah. It's fairly simple. All you have to do is choose angel or demon,” the angel Ellen said. She still had the dragonfly wings as well as her swan wings. 68

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Century “And if I don't make a choice?” “We all stay here in limbo until you do,” Ellen responded. High above me, thunder rumbled. The ground shook. Terraelean weather. “Right, well I don't feel like being completely good. Or completely bad. So, I'm gonna choose both,” “You can't. You have to make a choice,” “Wrong,” I felt two things popping out of my head. I knew if I looked up, I would see both sides of my conscience. They both ran at each other. The weather went crazy again. My conscience fused together in a golden ball and floated down on me. Immediately, one side of me turned black and the other turned white. The two pushed at each other, mixing. A flash of lightning and I turned gold. I had two pairs of wings now. And both my arms. There was no longer the same hazy darkness. The earth opened. The clouds split apart. Lucifer rose from the ground, leading a horde of demons. Jesus dropped from the clouds, leading a host of angels. They were about to fight. My rise left a golden wake behind me as I propelled myself up. I was in between the two armies, golden light coming out of my hands. I brought my hands together. 69

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Naoise McHugh There was a sound like a sonic boom. My hands shot apart and the armies were sent way back. I descended to the ground, grinning. “Now that was cool,” Tom chuckled. “Did you just stop the powers fighting?” Ellen asked me. “I am a power now. And you two are coming with me,” I said, effortlessly pulling my sword out of the minotaur's body. I may not have my exo-skeleton anymore, but I'm no longer limited by the rules of reality. “Where?” Tom asked. “Back to Earth. I've got a friend to save,” I stabbed a portal open and strode into the light of home.

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Century Chapter six Eric's journal May 27th 2099

I don't care about the mission

Atlantic airspace

Being back home had to be the most amazing feeling I had ever had. I showed Rodriguez my dimension hopping trick and together we returned to the carrier completely unregistered. So then Rodriguez walked into the carrier's living room and I followed, completely invisible. “Rodriguez? How did you get in?” Helena asked. “I'll explain later. Look behind you,” he said. He was struggling to contain a laugh. Helena looked at me. There wasn't an incredulous look. She blinked and squinted. Am I still invisible? I asked Rodriguez, mentally Yeah. I tried to materialize again. This time, it worked. Behind me, Tom and Ellen materialised as well. Smoke stood at my foot. “No...not possible,” Helena whisped. “Oh, you'd be surprised,” I grinned. She got up and hugged me. “Do me a favour, Eric,” she said, sobbing into my shoulder. “As long as it isn't-” 71

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Naoise McHugh “Mornin', Biscuit,” Just what I hadn't wanted to happen. “What the hell is she doing here?” I groaned as Stephanie walked into the room, carrying a teapot. “What I was about to say, was never leave me like that again,” “Well, since I'm dead, I'd say I can manage that,” I smiled, “Now, if no one minds, I'm going flying. And if you try to follow us, I will make your fear of blenders very rational,” I leaned towards Stephanie, making sure my eyes had a wicked glint to them. Helena and I walked out of the room. She took my bike and the two of us removed ourselves from the carrier. Flying. I once thought hoverbiking was amazing. Then, I was given my rocket feet. But I had always wanted to go further. Now, set apart from the limits of life, I could. Smoke flew beside us. We couldn't go very fast because he couldn't. He was only the size of a dog and had been flying for a just day, after all. When he got tired, I put him on the hoverbike. Then we started going at real speeds. I barrel rolled, daring Helena to copy me. I wasn't surprised when she did. She might be 72

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Century ridiciulously logical, but she could still be a daredevil when she wanted to. I banked to the left and she tried to follow me. She blinked when I rolled under the bike and was flying to her right. “So, you'd better tell me everything that's happened in three weeks,” I said to her as a I settled on the back of the bike, with Smoke. She told me everything, from waking up on the carrier and what Rodriguez told her had happened before that, right up to when Rodriguez had gone down to the village. How I knew he would be there? Don't have a clue. Just happened. “So what happened down your end?” She finished. The wind was blowing her hair everywhere. Her face looked so pretty. It was unbelievable. How many times a day do you look at your girlfriend and think oh my God, she's gorgeous!? I suggest you try it once in a while. Feel good moment. She had asked me a question, and much as I wanted to disregard it and kiss her, I really needed to talk about all the horrors I had seen in that parallel universe. So, I explained everything to her. From the moment I shut the portal, through to when I stopped the war of the Gods. Well, neither party actually was 73

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Naoise McHugh a god, in the traditional sense. But then again, the church has a lot to answer for already, so why waste their time with trifles like that? “Well, it sounds like you've been through a lot more than we have,” she commented. “I'd say so. Is Rodriguez really going out with Jana?” I inquired. Jana was the nicer of my two cousins, despite being really messed up and I had been worried she would stay messed up. “Yeah. You should see them together, it's hilarious. But then, I suppose Rodriguez can't really leave her, on account of his making her a werewolf,” “That was him? No way! I thought that was thirty-two!” “Nope. He tried to make us believe that, but he never mentioned thirty-two biting her. And if he did, it would have been too close together to fit. No. They kissed the night before. And when Rodriguez started bleeding, she was activated. Just her initial run was enough to kill anything, but then she started ripping thirty-two to shreds. And then the gatekeepers came,” “How many hits did she take?” “Just one. Rodriguez caught all the other ones. Unfortunately, it was the one that was heading 74

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Century straight for her spine,” “Damn. It's amazing she survived,” “Yeah. Anyway, where are we going?” “I've got a friend to collect. Try following me if you want. I'll be back in a few seconds anyway,” I jumped off the bike, unfurled my wings and warped. I was really beginning to love all my new party tricks. About ten and a half seconds later, I returned, with Crunchy. The metal monster blinked in surprise. “Where are we?” His robotic voice grated. “About two miles off the coast of Spain,” I replied, before briefly explaining the situation to him. “What's that?” Helena pointed to a ship approaching the carrier. “I don't know, but it doesn't look good,” *

May 27th 2099

Atlantic airspace

“Right, lads. This is what we came to do. Kill the boy and the girl, no one else. Punishment, you take your group and secure the carrier. Find all occupants, put them to bed for a few hours. And make sure they're all paralyzed,” Punishment nodded, then 75

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Naoise McHugh signalled to his group. Flywire, Moon Moth, Lightning and Philot went with him. It might have been dangerous to leave a Destral without a pilot, but a Desistral could do a lot more on auto-pilot. But, then again, there was no equal substitute for a pilot like Philot. Diamond turned to face the rest of his group. “You know what we have to do. Wait till my son gives us the signal and then we move in, terminate the targets and move out. No extra casualties, okay lads?” The commandos all saluted and waited for Punishment's signal. *

May 27th 2099

Atlantic airspace

Stephanie woke to see an unfamiliar face looking at her. “Who the hell are you?” she said, groggily. “Can't tell you my real name. Not yet. Call me Corporal,” Punishment winked, before stabbing her shoulder with the short term paralyzer. “I didn't want to do that. It should wear off soon enough,” he told her. Stephanie thought he could take his apology and bung it out the window. 76

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Century “Lightning!” he called. Lightning picked up Stephanie's limp form and they moved on to the next room. Lightning kicked open the door and Punishment ran in and woke Jana. He hesitated briefly, winking at Jana, before paralyzing her. Moon Moth picked her up and the squad moved on. Punishment knew exactly how dangerous Rodriguez was and didn't even bother waking him. He was simply paralyzed. Flywire picked up the boy. Punishment knew very well that everything the squad was doing was very wrong. But he couldn't rebel against his father. Not yet. He had a plan and he had to stick to it. The six year olds were much more dangerous than their tender years would suggest and Punishment had them paralyzed before waking them. Philot lifted up Ellen and Punishment took Tom. There was no sign of the girl. The mini-squad took the prisoners to the living room and tied them up. Rodriguez and Jana were tied in special bonds that even their werewolf strength couldn't break. Punishment took a deep breath. The mini-squad all sympathised with him. They were around his age, they knew that what was being asked of them was a 77

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Naoise McHugh horrible thing to do. “Okay dad, we've got them. There's no sign of the girl though,” “Well done son. We'll be in in a minute,” Stephanie looked around her. Only one girl missing. Helena.

Eric's journal May 27th 2099

*

Atlantic airspace

We teleported into the carrier. Crunchy flew down low, out of sight of the carrier and the Desistral. “Okay. We know that we've been boarded. We know that we don't know anything else. Ready?” I said to Helena as I parked my bike in the hangar. She nodded and we went into stealth mode. We snuck out of the hangar and into the dining room. I looked up. A vent. Perfect. We're going in there. I thought to Helena. Take us up. There is ten hostiles inside. Five are young and potentially insecure about what they are doing. Two are arguing. They both seem to be leaders. One is the leader of the children, the other 78

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Century

is his father, the general leader. The general leader wants to shoot Rodriguez immediately before he wakes up and turns. The other is stalling. There's our friend. We teleported into the vent and crawled along till we found the living room grille. One of the young hostiles was standing just above me. She was about five foot tall and wearing a fairly short skirt and top. Ironic, because she was wearing a mask that covered her entire face. There was a Lightning Bolt on each of her cheeks. Both her hands were bionic. Run the scan again. Older leader is taking his group searching for another target. Probably me. He has ordered his son to have Rodriguez dead by the time he gets back. The son is putting a plan together. Well, he is mentally. Physically, he's being drawn in by Stephanie. Now's our time to strike. I responded, before turning back to the scene below us. Oi! Metal hand girl! The girl looked up. Who are your targets? Does your telepathy work with pictures? Give it a try. A picture of Rodriguez and Helena flashed into my head. Ok. You're second target is here, with me. Will she be harmed? That depends on the Corporal's decision. 79

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Naoise McHugh

Wait...no. You can come out. We teleported into the room. I had an invisible shield around Helena, to see what would happen. “Ok. I better explain. My name is Juan. My father, comrades and the general public refer to me as Corporal Punishment. We are – or were – part of a terrorist group known as the Dark Knife. My father is the squad leader. We have been sent here to kill you and your brother,” he pointed at Helena and Rodriguez. Seeing that no one had fired at her, I dropped the shield. “We have a few minutes while my father searches the ship for her. Then he will decide to postpone the search and come back to see if I have killed him. When he walks in here, we want him down within a minute. Break the bonds on anyone who isn't paralyzed anymore,” That only happened to be Stephanie, who didn't take nicely to being woken in the middle of the night and paralyzed. “You do that to me again and I swear I will break your perfect little neck,” she glared at him, coldly. “You'll be paralyzed. You won't be able to. But I get it. I'm not paralyzing anybody except my father,” Juan replied, taking it in without anger or resentment. 80

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Century Either he was really patient, or, much more likely, he had fallen for Stephanie like a rock without a parachute. “So you don't want him dead immediately?” I asked. “Yeah. Do whatever you like to the other four, but I want to make him squirm,” “You really hate him, don't you? I think I can manage not killing one person,” “He shouldn't be asking me to do this and he knows it. He should have stood up to Knife Blade, but he didn't. His fate is sealed,” *

May 27th 2099

Atlantic airspace

Diamond was fuming. His very own son had disobeyed him completely. As he marched towards the living room, his pistol drawn, he was speaking to BioNick. “Nick, what did I do wrong?” “You shouldn't have agreed to take any of the kids on this mission. Thunder and I definitely didn't want Flywire and Lightning on this mission, but once 81

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Naoise McHugh you agreed that Punishment could go, there was no stopping any of them. It's hard to stand up to Knife Blade, I know, but sometimes, you just have to,” Nick's bionic legs and exo-skeleton were whirring as he moved. “I guess. Well, we're here,” Diamond said. He opened the door, pistol drawn. That girl had escaped his son's capture, there was no telling what she might do. Immediately he saw her. As the four winged monster raised his arms, Diamond shot his target straight in the frontal cortex, only to be knocked to the ground by Punishment, who paralyzed him, before returning to the scene. Nick blinked. What was the new boy doing? He was standing with his legs bent and as if holding a ball at the top and bottom. A golden ball was rapidly growing between them. When it was full size, it shot out of his hands, making a bang as it smacked Cad. full in the face. A lightning bolt exploded out of it, zapping Property, before zooming into Thunder's slim frame. Nick watched as the lightning bolt jumped out of his wife's body and smashed him dead on. The dead soldier fell over.

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Eric's journal May 27th 2099

*

Atlantic airspace

“Ok, after seeing him do that, I think you should kill him,” Juan said, his arm around his father's neck. “Gimme a minute. Get Rodriguez or Jana to hold him,” I whispered.

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Naoise McHugh Chapter seven Eric's journal May 27th 2099

Judgement

Hall of Judgement

The judges podium had been modified to fit me as well. I sat in between the other two Powers. “Scribble scribble scribble, number three hundred and seventy five of today. Judges present: Jesus, Lucifer and Eric, who finally decided to show up,” “You can't expect me to just disregard my entire life. I still live on Earth!” I said indignantly. “We know you still live on Earth. Because of your little peace action yesterday, anyone can. Even the dead. And angels can come down to Hell. You made the system fair, you bas-” “Look, I know you're the spawn of Satan and all, but do you have to swear in front of the convicts?” I cut Lucifer off before I got really mad. He might be immortal, but I could still hurt him. And I was head judge as well. “Focus!” Jesus said, pointing at Helena. “Right, we've got the slate of sins here. Ok, brought twelve forward for punishment. Twelve? That can't be right. Oh. Sixty innocents? I really was a 84

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Century lucky shot, wasn't I? I'm not allowed to vote unless it's a tie. You two?” I said. “Guilty,” Jesus said. Bad. “Innocent,” Lucifer said. Good. “Tie so far. Apostles?” Brief interval, must have seemed longer for Helena. “We, the apostles of Jesus, vote innocent. What do you have to say, Judas?” St. Peter stepped away from the balcony and sat on his bench. Jesus was staring daggers at him. I needed to do something about the bias of judges. “This, Peter. We, the apostles of Lucifer, vote guilty,” Oh, damn. This wasn't going to be easy. Unlike Jesus, Lucifer didn't seem to mind what his apostles decided. “Oh, great. And you wanted to know why I don't show up? Alright, sentence for a bias judge is a year of extreme. And I don't want to make that decision. So, we're going to the scales, but we all know what the answer is,” I turned around. “Guilty. Sentence is: forty eight years of easy. Forty eight months of medium. Forty eight days of hard. Or forty eight seconds of extreme. Much as I 85

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Naoise McHugh hate to say it, it's gonna have to be extreme,” The mallet hit the podium. Helena glared at me. A demon took her out of the room. “I take my leave. Back to two again. And I hope I'm not the only one who has a sense of justice in this place. Later,” I walked into the purgatory viewing room. Helena would have to cross a rock bridge, while pain coursed through her body. The bridge was precarious. No matter how she cut it, it would take exactly forty eight seconds. But to her, it would be forty eight minutes. And, despite what she thought, it would seem the same way for me. “You must cross the bridge. Time is slowed down, but you aren't. Ready?” The demon pushed her through the door. She flinched as the pain began. She took a tentative step across the bridge. Two more. Three. Four. Seven seconds gone. Halfway across and only fifteen seconds gone. Something wasn't right. She screamed as the bridge collapsed. She fell in a shower of rubble. Helena? What do you want? To give you some advice. Why are you mad at me? I didn't make a vote. 86

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Century

That's exactly why I'm mad. What's your amazing piece of advice? Time is slowed down, but you aren't. I didn't have a choice. If I voted innocent, I'd be going through a lot worse than you are now. If I voted guilty, you'd hate me even more. Whichever way you look at it, I lose. Thanks for that valuable insight, which I didn't ask for. We even? No. And we won't ever be. She grabbed a piece of falling rock. Thirty seconds gone. She pulled herself up and jumped onto another. Thirty one. She jumped again. And again. She was at the level of the bridge, but it had collapsed. If she figured out the solution, she was a genius. And the supervisor had heard me, so I couldn't help again. She would have had to repeat, if she didn't already know what I told her. She was a genius. She picked up an armful of rocks and dropped one in front of her. She jumped onto it and repeated. Again and again. She made it to the other side, looking extremely annoyed. Forty eight exactly. I sighed and teleported back to the carrier's living room.

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Naoise McHugh Chapter eight Eric's journal May 27th 2099

Hell hath no wrath...

Atlantic airspace

“Oh, you're back. Now will you kill him?” “Shut up. She's choosing!” I snapped at Juan, before turning back to limbo. “You gonna keep us waiting?” Helena's father asked. He had chosen angelhood. Representing demonhood was Tom. Representing my path, was none other than me. I needed a name for my new form. Helena scowled. “This isn't exactly easy,” “Was easy enough for me. I just picked both worlds,” She looked between Tom and her father, completely ignoring me. “So you're still mad at me for not making a choice?” More ignorance. “Can I at least have my flower back?” Still ignorance. Without a word, both sides of her conscience rose out of her. So she was going to choose me, without even saying anything to me? Suspicious. Limbo 88

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Century faded and we went back to the situation. Everyone blinked when they saw Helena standing there. That was when I realised what I could try. I picked up Juan's father. “Helena, this is the man that shot you,” I said, pleading with her. “I'd kill him, but it'd be nothing compared to the satisfaction of killing you,” I was just about to make the bastard's head explode. He did this to me. “You can't kill me. Even if you succeeded, you know full well that there is life after death. Juan, do you mind if he doesn't get to share in it?” “Only slightly. Just kill him normally though. I don't think it would be easy on my conscience if I let you send him into oblivion,” I nodded and ripped the man's head off. When it was time for him to be tried, there would be a note saying that if he was voted guilty, he was to be given extreme.

Helena's notes May 28th 2099

*

Atlantic airspace

“Helena, you're being spoiled. What would you 89

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Naoise McHugh have done, in Eric's position?” “Voted innocent or given me easy,” “If he gave you easy, you come out the other end forty eight years from now and it would be longer in purgatory for you as well,” Much as I hated to admit it, Stephanie was right. “And what was wrong with voting innocent?” “You know full well what was wrong,” “He would have been punished. What's wrong with that?” “It was nothing to do with the punishment. He put the justice in the system. He didn't want to take it out,”

Eric's journal May 27th 2099

*

Atlantic airspace

I woke up, slowly. Having my own private dimension had to be the coolest thing going. Especially since I could shape it at my will. Currently, I had made a building with enough rooms to house the carrier overflow. I walked into Rodriguez's room and shook him awake. 90

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Century “What time is it?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Twenty to eight. You almost overslept,” “Oh. What about our new companions?” “I don't know. I'm not sure we can trust them, but if they're linked to the bombing, I'm not sure we'll get such a good lead,” “I'd say we can. The one with the lizard didn't even try to stop you killing his father,” “I suppose. But something still seems just wrong about it all,” we stepped through the portal into the carrier living room. “Did you see how he looked at Stephanie?” “Rock without a parachute,” I grinned. “Stephanie and Helena were up late last night,” he said, pointing at a pair of coffee mugs by the sink as we walked into the kitchen. “They're planning something. Are you sure it was Stephanie and not Jana?” “Yeah. I was with Jana last night,” “Well, that means it's bad,” I said, through raised eyebrows. I was suddenly aware of footsteps behind us. “Someone's up early. Jana or Stephanie, probably,” 91

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Naoise McHugh “How can you tell?” “Footsteps,” “Morning. What's for breakfast?” Jana asked. “Smart money's on something semi-decent. I'd say you can sleep a while longer,” “Thanks. I will,” she smiled and returned to her room. Rodriguez was frowning. “Give her breakfast in bed. Few things make people happier,” I grinned. “Thanks. You sure you want to face them two alone?” “No, I don't. But I don't think you deserve to have to do it with me,” I replied. He grinned and began making breakfast. “You think Helena still hates me?” “Probably. I don't think there's many people who are very fond of the judges,” “Myself included,” I smiled. “Why?” “It's a bias system. When I get a chance, I'm gonna have to clean it up,” “Right. Well, you'd better go face your fate,” “I will. And I might even survive,” I grinned. I walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. That was when I noticed Helena. She was 92

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Century behind me, stealthed, but not completely. You haven't figured this whole thing out yet have you? Am I that obvious? To me, you stand out like Rodriguez in a police line-up of fish. To you? Have you not guessed? We have something approaching a million different senses Really? No. Just all the ones the army and intelligence use. So what are you going to try on me? Oh, I just wanted to give you this. She reappeared in front of me. “I'm sorry, Eric,” she said, handing me a bunch of flowers. “Thanks,” I hugged her, tightly. I dropped the shield on the flowers. They exploded between us, scorching the carpet and the ceiling. “Nice try, but flowers don't have wires poking out of them,” I grinned. “Goddammit! How paranoid are you?” “Not very. The wires were just a bit obvious. Tell Stephanie she still needs to improve on concealing 93

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Naoise McHugh the giveaways,” I said, to a piece of air. I walked back in to the kitchen, looking absolutely scorched. Rodriguez was hunched over a frying pan, looking ticked. “Burnt something?” I asked him, after sniffing. “Yeah. What'd she try to do?” “Gave me an explosive package disguised as a bouquet. It had loads of wires sticking out. Do you want me to cook?” “No thanks. Too easy. Tell me you got her scorched as well,” “I did. Sure?” “Yeah. It just isn't as satisfying if I didn't cook it. You can cook the rest of the breakfast if you want,” “Okay. Any sign of our guests?” I clicked my fingers and breakfast was on the dining room table. “Morning. Is breakfast ready?” the girl with the bionic wings walked in. She was wearing her costume, without the mask. “Yeah. In there,” I pointed twoards the dining room, “Nearly finished?” “Almost. Better get the alert bot to wake everyone up,” “Don't think I will. Wouldn't go well for you,” 94

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Century “Why are you helping me out? I should be helping you patch things up with Helena,” “Because Jana is really messed up. If you make a mess of it, it won't be much to you. But to her, it'll make things worse than they already were. As for Helena, whatever she believes, she doesn't hate me. She just wants revenge,” “Are you going to let her get it?” “I'm not going to make it easy, I can tell you that,” “Morning. What's going on?” the boy with the wings walked in. “Breakfast in there,” Like the last one, he had discarded his mask. “Done. What kind of tray should I use?” “Crystal. You want the very best for her,” I replied, creating the tray as I spoke. All these new party tricks, how could you not love it? “Thanks. See you in an hour or so,” “I better make a sign saying breakfast in there. Make sure she's asleep, before you go in,” He grinned and walked off. Juan walked in. “You okay with your dad dead and all?” “I'm not the only one. We all hated what we 95

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Naoise McHugh were born into,” “What about the other children in the group?” “We're the only ones, currently,” “I don't need to be a walking lie detector to know that you're not being straight with me. What could a terrorist group possibly gain from sending all its future members on one mission,” “We know how to protect ourselves. But, you're right. There's two other kids back at the base. All other agents are adults,” “What do the other two think of their environment?” “If they're still there, they hate it. They had an amazing escape plan the last time I checked in with them. This was ours,” “You were planning on not finding Helena?” “If I did find her, I would have woken her up and told her to hide in a vent, just like you did,” “Are you gonna go after Stephanie?” “Who?” “The one who was first not to be paralyzed,” “Oh. Do you think she likes me?” “Morning. Is breakfast done?” the girl with the bionic hands walked in, along with the remaining guy. “In there,” I pointed, “No, but you seem to be 96

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Century the only one who isn't in a relationship,” “So? Would you say I should?” “Well, I'd be grateful if you did, because it would mean she would be out of my hair,” “Morning everyone,” Star of the moment walked in. “Would you two mind telling anyone who comes in that breakfast is in there? I better go find Helena,” I said. “She should be in her room. Good luck, Eric,” You're welcome. What?! I don'tA drunk guy with down syndrome could detect that lie. I'm gonna get you, later. Good luck with that. I walked down to Helena's room and knocked on the door. “Can I come in?” I asked. “If you feel like being trampled by an African bull elephant, then come right in,” “Sounds right up my street,” I walked in, “Oh, no elephant. Almost fooled me,” “Maybe, but you missed this one,” The anaconda leapt at me. I tred to burn it, but then it was coiled around me and I had to shake it off. 97

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Naoise McHugh Never try to do something like that. I'm immortal and I'm still scared of anacondas. I was panicking. The anaconda couldn't kill me, but that meant I didn't have death to free me from the pain. Although, to be honest, death isn't actually as painless as they say. I tried expanding myself. Nope. I couldn't flex it off with my wings because it had coiled itself under them. There had to be something I could do! I couldn't let Helena beat me that easily. I found rage welling up inside me. It was like having a bubble expanding inside you. It can only grow so big beforeI was on fire. The anaconda was a charred wreck and very rapidly becoming less than that. From head to toe, I was covered in flames. I yelled and suddenly I was back in the kitchen. I managed to cool down. “Didn't work?” Stephanie asked. I'd like to say she was detaching herself from Juan's embrace, but it wasn't going to be easy for him. “Nope. “Hard to believe she was making you promise never to leave her a few days ago,” “Brilliant. If she asks, I've gone to Hawaii, 98

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Century where I'm going to enjoy myself as much as I possibly can, in as many different ways as I can,” I grinned, teleporting there as I said so. Stephanie shrugged at Juan and went into the dining room. Juan looked slightly disappointed.

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Naoise McHugh Chapter nine Rodrgiuez's diary 28th May - 12h June 2099

Bad news

Atlantic airspace

Everyone on the carrier missed Eric, excluding Helena. The above group of people also seriously envied the fact that he was in Hawaii. And everyone knew exactly what he was getting up to. Including Helena. I think that was the point of his little trip. Helena spent most of her time on the balcony, staring into the night sky. I'm still not sure whether she was fuming about him taking a sun holiday exclusively for the purpose of cheating on her, or just wishing she was with him. I think it was the former because if she had been missing him, she would have teleported over and everytime I approached her, she started raging at me then teleporting me away. One time I ended up in the desolate wasteland of postapocalyptic Iceland. How I got back, I still can't remember. Tom kept to himself, which wasn't that unusual, but he seemed to simply disappear for days on end. I'd like to say I knew what he was doing, but there was something about it that was vaguely unsettling. Ellen spent a bit of time looking for her friend 100

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Century the first time he disappeared, but soon gave up. She seemed to miss him and mostly just moped about. Stephanie took to picking on Juan in the absence of her cousin. Unfortunately for her, Juan gave her absolutely no satisfaction, picking on her as much as she picked on him. At one stage, Juan turned on a blender right behind her. Theirs was an interesting way of flirting. Maria and Pablo, the two kids with wings spent most of their time together. I'm not sure why there was a palm tree in the carrier, but mostly they just sat under it. Or on the roof. Pedro, the pilot and Serena, the one with the robot hands, neer seemed to stop sparring in the arena. Except when it was feeding time, during which the two of them ate more in one sitting than a sky whale does in its lifetime. I strongly suspect they got up to more when there was no one looking. This suspicion was reinforced when I met Juan and Stephanie walking out giggling. Juan put a finger to his lips and indicated a wireless reciever for video cameras. And of course, that left me and Jana. Well, let's say the fact that my best friend had disappeared to Hawaii would have had a bigger effect 101

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Naoise McHugh on me if I didn't have her. Eric could have all the hula dancers he liked, I had Jana...

Eric's journal 12th June 2099

*

Sunset beach, Hawaii

Some might say that what I was doing was really mean, but considering my options, I'd say it was a prretty good idea. And best of all, I got to have fun in the process. Which was the part I hadn't expected. Of course, it would have been more fun if I hadn't been doing it to make Helena miss me. But you can't have everything. I noticed the wind picking up. Perfect. I grabbed my airboard and leapt into the sky. The board hummed beneath my feet as I caught the swell. That was when I saw her. The solitary figure on the beach was wearing a dark cloak and standing by the deck chair I had been lying on a minute ago. Inferna, Lucifer's daughter. I had had a few dealings with the judges while I was in Hawaii. The general opinion was of disdain at my latest extravagance. On one of these occasions, Lucifer had introduced me to his daughter. An 102

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Century interesting character, to say the least. I descended down to the ground, glad that the sun was still shining. When I said she was an interesting character, I meant she was scary. And not in the shy first class boy-girl kind of way. She was actually scary. It was a beautiful day, yet she was wearing a dark hooded cloak like it was night. I did not want to have to deal with her at night. That's what kind of scary I meant. “Is there a reason you're venturing into the terrible realm of daylight?” I asked, drying myself of water vapour and other chemicals present in the air. “My father urgently wants to see the two of you. I'm going up to heaven in a minute. He says it's to do with...” she faded off, pointing downwards. “To do with....?” I whispered, hoping I was wrong. “Yes, Eric. You'd better go,” she responded. There was a flash and she was gone. Sunset beach suddenly seemed a lot less fun. I phased myself into Lucifer's earth-based mansion. This was bad news. Very bad news...

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Naoise McHugh Chapter ten Eric's journal 13th june 2099

Hula skirts

Sunset Beach

“...And that is what has happened,” Lucifer finished. The three of us had decided that this business was best discussed in daylight. “Ok, Luke. So what're we going to do?” Jesus responded. “It's fairly simple. We find the-” I began. “No, Eric. It's not simple at all. We have no means of finding it. Whatever is making this happen is good at what it's doing.

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