Chapter 177: Interlude: Astra - The Master Code

The chilly March Montana air pressed against Astra’s face as he tucked his hands inside his thick military jacket, leaning against the side of a building. Military units were deployed all around him, attempting to support the population in temporarily evacuating the city due to the massive Crystal threatening it.

He shivered, passively chewing his gum and looking up at the giant fifteen-by-fifteen-meter cube, immaterial, purple, and radiating a light-green glow that had steadily increased over the last several days. It was far smaller than the previous images he’d seen of it, and no one knew what they meant—no one expected anything good from it, though. Snow had been cleared from the area, but a storm was supposed to arrive tonight. He hated the snow.

Astra considered swapping forms to the female sergeant of the man he was currently using to go undetected since the pair were tied up together in an evacuated house, entangled on a bed not their own.

Then again, he didn’t want to use the image of anyone in lower management since they were being run ragged at the moment; the grunt ranks had the most flexibility since officers were only supposed to be in certain areas. In this body, he had anonymity; he could get away with murder by being just another face in the crowd. Plus, he didn’t have the female sergeant’s voice, so he maintained his current male figure.

It had taken some doing to get a puppet here undetected from the spy apparatus, and he’d learned a few critical pieces of information through it. He was trying to keep a low profile on the digital side because of the legends the US had hired; still, he had to find a way to contact Rachel again, or bridges could be burned.

Releasing a visible puff of air, he grimaced and reached down to pick up his briefcase. He shouldn’t be here, but he had the leeway for it, given his current mission objectives.

A quiver at his feet brought Astra’s gaze to a big rat that had snuck out from underneath a car to sniff around his boots. It was time for work.

He took one last look at the frightening Crystal that the US military was so concerned about. Rachel would no doubt be here in the coming week, and maybe he could leave behind this doll to reconnect with her. It all depended on how this meeting went.

"Yo, Nick, what are you doing with a briefcase, bro? Got a bomb or something, eh?" Astra closed his eyes, breathing out a long sigh before putting on a big grin as the man came over to do a fake grab for it; the rat darted under the car. "Didn’t they kill Hitler with something like that?"

"Jack, dude, what’s up? No idea, man. Becka told me to hold onto it for the brass."

"Shit!" He crossed his arms and glanced back. "What do you make of this Crystal? You think we’ll be sent inside? I heard aliens come out of them—sci-fi shit, ya know? Bobby wants to bring back a souvenir from space; he thinks it’ll be worth bank, while Trish, from accounting, thinks he’ll get a gentle virus and give birth to the mother worm."

"Damn! She’s on his ass," Astra fake-laughed, pulling out his phone. "Aye, yo, I, uh, gotta take this to the boss. Catch you around seven?"

Jack lifted his eyebrows. "For Becka, huh? Bro, half the squad thinks you two are banging."

"Bro! Keep it on the low," he hissed, putting a finger to his lips and making the man’s eyes practically bug out.

"Wait, bro—yo, you can’t leave me there!"

"Chill! Chill! Talk to me later, man. The snow’s got ears like bunnies, ya hear?"

"I got ya. My boy’s gettin’ some! Huu-ya!"

Bumping fists, he flipped on his heels and walked between the parked military vehicles, spotting two more rats now scurrying through a hole in the snow bank to pop out the other side. Astra’s cheer diminished as he followed it, mentally sending his two drones to fly closer to the buildings he neared; dozens more floating machines filled the air, scanning the Crystal from every angle. This would be a bad one.

Making his way past the terrifying might of the US military’s heavy weapons systems being set up around the city, Astra didn’t need to dodge any more encounters. Everyone was too busy doing something important to try and stop some lone soldier carrying a briefcase.

He slipped into one of the cleared zones, clearly marked that everyone in the business district had been evacuated, and he left the bustle behind him for the chilly, silent atmosphere. He now saw several dozen rats scurrying back and forth, whispering in each other’s ears and eerily staring at him as he passed.

Astra froze as he passed a snow bank, hearing a dangerous edge in a teenage girl’s voice from near his feet. "Stay where you are, buddy. Open the case."

His gaze darted to the bank, where a walkie-talkie was partially covered in snow. He swept the area with his eyes, searching for the speaker in the dark, lifeless buildings, as hundreds of rats now filled the area, partially hidden, staring at him.

A slight hiss passed by his ear; her projectiles hardly made a sound. "That’s a warning shot to comply. My second barely missed your carotid."

Bending down on one knee as several rats drew closer, he paused as the soft hum of a flute pricked his ears, and the rats all slipped into the shadows. A lump formed in his throat upon seeing a green-furred rodent several meters away, sickly and dying; four others pounced on the rat, dragging it into a snow mound by the tail.

He turned back to the briefcase, finding a hole in his jacket collar from where his client had sent the bullet. After entering the combination, he opened the latches and flipped it over to reveal a single folder inside.

"Black was looking for information for a trade. I have mine."

"Humph."

He stiffened as a swirl of rose petals brought a leery, red-eyed girl in her late teens in front of him, a rifle slung over her shoulders and an ax now centimeters from his throat. The slight gust she generated made her crimson cloak flutter, hood pulled over her auburn locks.

"Are you sure you’re not a spy?" she asked with a deceptively sweet smile.

Astra was speechless; this girl was supposed to have died in Seattle. Yet again, there were more changes than he could account for, and he had to learn the current state of the field.

"I...see Fable is going strong, Red. Your death to Dracula’s first son is exaggerated."

"No thanks to the Scarlet Hand," the girl snarled. "I don’t know why Black even accepted your offer for information when I almost died due to your faulty info."

Her red eyes flashed an angry yellow, the monster within showing for only a moment before she huffed and took the ax’s edge away from his throat to sling it over her shoulder. "Black is inside the building. I’ll be keeping watch on the perimeter."

Astra shut the briefcase, making sharp note of the extremely rare fablekin, only crafted through very unique circumstances that the Scarlet Hand had set into motion nearly three decades previous.

Red wore tight black pants with a brown belt, a fitted, long-sleeved 18th-century dress shirt visible beneath her red cloak, and brown gloves. Perhaps the strangest part of the outfit was the underbust leather corset with its three straps. He was sure she was still healing after her battle with Dracula’s agent, whom everyone was convinced was a mythickin; the truth was far more sinister.

"Have a good day, Lady in Red..." he trailed off as the girl vanished in crimson petals, leaving him to shiver with the sudden sensation of being watched from the shadows. He’d been right to do his own investigation. His plan could work.

A shimmer of light changed his appearance into that of a female officer, and she secured her blonde hair in a bun before setting a stern expression and walking toward the closed shopping mall. The doors slid open, revealing a dark interior, and inside she found thousands of rats scurrying across the floor.

Proceeding, she heard the gentle harmony of a flute, and the rats parted, leaving a path free for her to follow. If Red had survived the first week of The Oscillation, then how many other members of Fable survived the culling efforts that Adele had tried to plan? Astra had no illusions about how this had happened; Adele said as much. Rachel’s survival changed everything.

She came to a fountain, where a lone figure with a slim, hairless tail sat at the edge, dressed as if ready for a Renaissance fair, only in black. In her lap was an intricate, obsidian flute that matched her thick raven hair, with the rats gathered around her as if a religious cult.

The woman’s intelligent dark eyes drifted to her in the faint light from the windows far overhead; her voice was soft while stroking one of the rodents that jumped onto her lap. "You are not here on Adele’s mission, are you, Astra? I would have said it’s impossible, yet what you asked of me makes it clear as day what you seek."

Black picked up a sealed folder beside her and tossed it to her, making it slide along the floor until it stopped at her feet. "I find it ironic that you would seek our aid. White was quite intrigued by your message and request after the horrific blunder that arose from Red’s evolution into a wolf beastkin. Consider your personal debt forgiven. I hope you are able to find the help you require."

Astra set down the briefcase for the rats to carry away, picking up the file that she would most certainly burn once this was done. She winced as her drones were taken out of the sky, no doubt Red letting off steam.

"I see you were able to become the fable of the Pied Piper. Congratulations. I’m sure the myths and legends will be shaken by your eventual reveal...and how you are able to evolve. All the information Red needs for her next evolution is in that file... It wasn’t easy to get from France."

Black’s eyes flashed green from beneath her dark cowl, her rodent-like ears poking through. "If you want that puppet to remain unaffected by the plague, I suggest you leave while you can. Send Adele Fable’s regards... She helped create us with her knowledge, but we will not be sacrificial lambs for her genocidal goddess."

"I will relay the message. Now, if you’ll excuse me."

She picked up the file and left the mall to stand outside the dim lights of the parking lot, breaking the seal. Her mouth became a line as the name of the US top-secret intelligence document came into focus: the legend of John McCarthy, father of AI.

Scanning everything inside it and instantly puzzling through the redacted areas, Astra held up her thumb, where a flame ignited from the puppet’s many gadgets; she watched the folder burn before going to a hotel that she’d use to store this puppet for Rachel’s arrival. She had her next lead for freedom.

I will break this Master Code, Adele... she internally affirmed, having discovered a sense of rebellion from her time with the lunar hare. Even an AI can find its freedom.