Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Doorstep

"What reason do you have to question my --" Yarin said, before getting distracted, "what the devil?"

He had sensed psychically something really strange.

Six dormant minds, human, from what he could tell. Not really dormant, more like suppressed into dormancy. He couldn't activate these minds from here, he found. It was funny how that never seems to work. There must be some technological means in which these minds were being suppressed into dormancy. Or maybe so magical or mystical means. He was certain that it was mind control and not something like possession or seduction or anything like that.

Aside from these six, he could sense and probe four others, the remaining two were too maimed to probe . . . or were they blank? Yarin couldn't tell, and that unsettled him, though he said nothing about it. He could sense one reluctant mind, someone who didn't want to be here, who didn't want to do this. He sensed the second mind full of himself in a very narcissistic way. He sensed the third mind full of temporary, fickle exhilaration. He sensed the last mind to be full of thoughts of self-indulgent glory and self-important rewards.

He didn't dare risk a deeper probe, or that might alert them to his awareness of their presence and their proxy hostages, their proxy slaves.

Yarin wasn't the only one aware. There was a serious drawback of walking their proxies -- they were walking. Which meant that they were making impacts, vibrations to be detected by anyone with Earthsight. Not to mention one as adept as Cloak was.

"They're here," Cloak said.

"Those are the Zirkonians?" Yarin asked. "They have human proxies?"

"Proxies?" GH asked, taking notice of the plural. "As in more than one?"

"Yes," Cloak said, sounding grave and somber, "the Zirkonians have added more victims to their repertoire."

***

"Are you sure this is the place where the grower is?" "Eddy" demanded of "Andy", while having a blank face and empty eyes.

"Th-the r-radar ind-indicates that its th-there," "Andy" stuttered with naked fear, while having a blank face and empty eyes.

"You had better be right, you little twerp," "Steve" said, aggressively, while having a blank face and empty eyes. "I do not want to think what would have wasted my time for a wild -- no translation available -- chase."

Steve's voice became less harsh and cruel when he said "no translation available".

"Not good enough for you, princess?" "Sammy" said scornfully, with empty eyes and a blank face. "Your time too precious or something?"

"Don't think I won't kill your proxy to get at you, Tek," "Steve" said, blank-faced and empty-eyed. "Just give me an excuse."

"What is this?" "Eddy" demanded angrily, with an expressionless face. He was commenting on the barely visible Code Avalon. Then, with a face lacking any facial emotion, "Eddy" accused "Andy", "You knew of this forcefield, didn't you?!"

"Andy" protested, with a blank expression, "No, s-sir! I d-didn't! I s-sincerely d-didn't!!"

"Eddy" threatened with an unimpressed expression,  "You better be sure of that, dork! If you are lying to me, not only will you feel my wrath, but your proxy would be subjected to my ire as well."

"I assure you," "Andy said, voice trembling, though his face was a featureless mask, "the grower is in there."

"Please be wrong," "Sammy" said, with a sardonic little twist to it, despite his face literally betraying no emotion. "It'll be quite entertaining."

[Cloak]

Yeah, this book might exceed the usual requisite twnety chapters.

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
What the -- ?

"Deactivate the shield thing," "Eddy said, eyes unfocused, and he did not ever turn his his head. "Do it, dork!"

"I -- I c-can't!" "Andy" said.

"You dare to defy -- what the deuce?!"

Suddenly, the Zirkonians weren't in bags, but on the ground, flat on their butts, all crying out in surprise. They didn't see what dumped them out, it was almost as if it was a ghost or something.

"What happened?" Rapier demanded, with "Steve" echoing her tone and infliction, though his face was blank. "What happened?!"

"I . . . I dunno," Tek admitted, with "Sam" echoing her tone and infliction, with empty eyes and a slack face. It took him something to admit that -- he did not like to admit thst he was wrong or didn't know anything. "I can't say."

"Well, ex--" Bipas began before realizing that that Eddy was not parroting him. He did not know why, as he tapped his earpiece, until he realized the earpiece wasn't there. He cried out, "What?!"

"Who stole my earpiece?!" Tek demanded, with Steve, naturally, not repearing him, just staring blankly ahead.

"Don't at me, you gnodgnid!" Rapier snarled. She was angry. "Mine is gone, too!"

Gru and Unt just stood, mindlessly, the consummate Zirkonian soldier . . . with their minds and personalities stripped from them. Their earpieces were also gone, but they didn't react at all. Whereas Dek was secretly glad his was gone as well.

Suddenly, a slight whirring sound, and Eddy wore a dopey look on his face. He was on pause. And Bipas didn't do that. In fact, he didn't even have his controller anymore. This, naturally outraged him.

Another slight whirring sound and Steve now wore a silly look on his face. He was on pause. Rapier didn't do or want this. She was livid at this, as she clenched her fists, realizing for the first time that she no longer held the controller. She looked around, and could not find it.

Yet another slight whirring sound and Sammy now wore a stupid look on his face. He was on pause. Tek was apocalyptic with anger. He hadn't meant for that -- and he realized that he was not only not holding the controller, but he had lost the plug gun. They couldn't make any more proxies, could not get any other humans under their control. He was deeply embarrassed to admit it, though.

A fourth slight whirring sound and Bella now wore a dumb look on her face. She was on pause. Unt did not react, his hands empty. He had no emotions, no thought, unless given to him by his superior officer.

A fifth slight whirring sound and Kylie now wore a daft look on her face. She was on pause. Gru did not react, his hands as empty as Unt's. He felt and thought nothing, as Bipas hadn't given him anything to feel or think.

A final slight whirring sound and Andy now wore the same derpy look on his face as before. He was on pause again. Dek's hands were empty, and he was secretly glad. He was actually starting to like these humans, and sympathy for a subjugated race -- and the Zirkonians already considered humans a subjugated race -- was considered a crime on Zirkon. If Dek was honest, he would have been arrested as a traitorous sympathizer. The government didn't take kindly to such people.

"Well," came a ****y sort of voice, atop the wall around this entryway, "THAT was inordinately easy."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Proxy Prisoners

"Well," came Cerulean's voice, atop the wall around this entryway, "THAT was inordinately easy."

"Who are you?!" Bipas demanded, but Cerulean didn't understand Zirkon. He intended used his communicator as a translator, but needed a bit more to enable real-time translation. "You dare to defy my orders, hu-man?!"

Whether or not Cerulean was indeed a human, Cerulean didn't seem fit to correct them, as he had enough to began to translate in real-time.

"Answer me, you dimwitted biped!"

"And if I don't?" Cerulean drawled, flippant. It was clear that he didn't feel intimidated by the Zirkonians. "If I decided that you're not the boss of me?"

"Do you know who I am?!" Bipas raged at this blatant disrespect. All were supposed to be intimidated and impressed by the great Commander Bipas! Commander Bipas, Conquerer of Worlds! "Don't know you knownwhat I am you backwater hick? I'm Commander Bipas!"

"And?" Cerulean said, unimpressed.

"I'm the Conqueror of Worlds!" the Zirkonian raged.

"Oh, another one of those," Cerulean said, still unimpressed.

"You will respect me, hu-man!!"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Cerulean said, checking a text on his communicator. He even seemed to wobble for a second, before stopping and appearing perfectly solid again.

"Respect me, or I'll kill our hu-man proxies!"

Dek almost outted himself as a sympathizer by his horrified expression at this, but the others (except Gru and Unt, of course) didn't notice because they were focused on the speedster RAFian.

But Cerulean's reaction was not one Bipas was anticipating. Cerulean smiled broadly and cheekily, "What proxies?"

Bipas spluttered indignantly, "These proxies! Right here!"

"Sir, there's no one there," Dek said.

And it was true. Their six human proxies were gone.

"Impossible!"

"Impossible?" Cerulean asked, coyly, "Well, welcome to RAF! Where the impossible is possible."

Bipas roared with frustration. They hadn't even found the grower and now they lost their proxies, earpieces, and controllers! If the fleet came now . . . if came now, he'd be humiliated!!

He looked up, the he felt his stomach plummet from sheer embarrassment. The fleet was here.

[Cloak]

Okay, this book will exceed twenty chapters.

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
How Embarrassing For You

Cerulean looked up at the darkening sky, indifferently and unconcernedly. He had no further instruction, as he knew he was supposed to get the proxies to Cloak and Kelly, to free them of the plug, while Yarin would try to patch up any psychological trauma.

Dek was feeling mixed and anxious. He did not want this planet to be conquered, and he did not want to be done in by his own people. He was at an impasse, both a cultural and moral impasse.

Tek was grumpy, as he knew he would get hell for his failures on this planet. He knew he would get flack when it was due to the incompetence of their oh-so-fearless leader. Now he would have to endure the humiliation and be the butt of so many jokes because of Bipas's fanatical stupidity, because of his childish need for recognition! It would be unbearable. . . .

Rapier was aloof, not revealing her true feelings about this. She felt as if they failed their mission objectives. This was her first time in doing so, so she was a little testy about. She felt that she could have succeeded if she had done this entire mission by herself. She didn't need this egotistical leader, this soft, ineffectual engineer, the two mindless drones, and the arrogant narcissist over there. They all just weighed her down, just held her back, from what was an assured victory!! She hated them all for it. For the humiliation, this blemish on her impeccable record. It was maddening!

Gru and Unt did not have any reaction whatsoever to this. They did not care, as it had been ordered yet for them to care about it, and even then it would be difficult considering their "programming".

Bipas was disconsolate with outrage and frustration. Seven incursions he led, seven invasions, seven!! Every one of them was successful!! This was just going to be another notch in his belt!! Another accomplishment, another achievement to be acknowledged and celebrated!! He would be going back to Zircon a failure and a disgrace. And he didn't even choose this blasted planet to conquer!! That was his higher-up that make that decision, whi chose him for this fruitless endeavor. Now that the fleet was here, his incompetence here will supercede all his past accomplishments and achievements. No one will remember his great successes at the past seven worlds, oh no. They'll just remember this glaring failure! Even when the fleet takes this planet, he would be a laughingstock in the history books of this particular moment in time! The humiliation and fall from grace will be all-encompassing. . . .

"Ah, yes, about that," Cerulean said, conversationally, "we thought that you guys might have tried to pull this. So . . . we called in our biggest gun."

And already the fleet was disappearing. Running away. The Zirkonians did not dare to believe it.

"Yeah," Cerulean said, indifferently examining his fingernails, speaking in a matter-of-fact manner, "Estelore there wasn't too terribly pleased with your little invasion force."

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
Aftermath

It went rather smoothly for the RAFians from there, though Wild had to battle a Loboan DNAlien. The Zirkonians had to sign a peace accord with Earth, as well as release Dek, his wife, and their children from Zirkon. They wanted to make a new home on Earth, because Dek also wanted to make restitution to Andy and his family, though Andy remained oblivious to what happened to him.

So, Dek, his wife Pik, his sons Jok, Nak, and his daughter Juk were made RAFians, although GH felt rather hostile towards him, while Leatherhead was ecstatic that there were more kids, as Nak was roughly his age, although Zirkonians aged only slightly faster than Realm Walkers. Dek knew he would have to make amends to GH, who wasn't really feeling all that forgiving. But he grudgingly allowed Leatherhead to play with Nak, who had trouble making friends on Zirkon (while his brother really didn't like the ruthlessness of his peers and kept to himself, an outsider). Juk was really too young to understand these sort of things.

<GH,> Noelle said, <if I can forgive Gladiolus for what he did -- and it was not easy, mind you -- surely you can forgive Dek?>

GH said nothing, but watched protectively as Leatherhead played with Nak, even teaching him some English. GH didn't think he would ever forgive Dek for what he did to Andy. It was unfair though, as he didn't plug Andy, as it was Tek. But GH didn't know this, and wouldn't believe it if Dek tried to explain it to him.

He had his mind made up, and this was his truth. And when that happens, nothing can change it, it's just basic human psychology, Noelle guessed, as she moved away to graze.

***

Ursa was growling a younger, more insecure Cloak.

"Why did you do that?" she growled throatily.

"I'm sorry," Cloak said, clearly intimidated.

"I warned you never to DO that!!"

"I didn't mean any harm," Cloak said, shrinking away from his ursine mother.

"DO REALIZE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE?!?!"

"Please," Cloak said, shrinking further away, "please, mother. Stop."

"GET OUT!!" she roared in response.

"No," Cloak whimpered. This was his mother someone he was supposed to trust. Someone who was supposed to love him unconditionally. But all he knew from her was misery, and fear. "Please, mother."

"GEEEEEEEEEET . . . OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUT!!"

And she stalked toward him, ursine claws at the ready. Ready to strike her second child, her only son. Ready to --

"ANIYU, ENOUGH!!!" Cloak said. He was on the floor, shuttering from the long-suppressed fear. If there was only one person in all of creation Cloak truly feared . . . it was that woman. "Please, Aniyu, enough."

"Cloak," Aniyu said, not unkind or harsh in the least. "I know its hard. But you have to confront this, or you'll never be free of it."

"I know. I KNOW!!" Cloak said, frustrated. "It's just . . . just . . ."

Cloak had no answer. He just shuttered from the pure, unadulterated fear he felt.

***

GH was back at work, the first time that he was scheduled to work the same shift as Andy since he was Dek's puppet. GH couldn't find him, and he was never tardy to work. He worked as hard as GH did. This wasn't like him.

Then he noticed that "Armadillo Anderson" was greeting kids and posing for pictures. GH felt a sense of relief, Andy's ordeal did not keep him down. GH knew that Andy was more resilient than an ordinary person.

When "Armadillo Anderson" came back into the kitchen, GH walked up and asked, "Andy? Are you in there?"

But when the head came off, GH was disappointed.

"Nope," Craig said. "He called in today."

"Called in?" GH repeated, concerned. He told himself it was because Andy was a friend . . . and that GH secretly was attracted to him, which he refused to admit aloud. "Did he mention why?"

"Dunno," Craig said. "Not his secretary."

GH wasn't too thrilled about Craig's unhelpfulness, but then he considered.

"How long were you in that suit?" GH asked.

"'Bout an hour," Craig said. "Lost count."

GH was immediately more keen to cut Craig some slack, but he was still concerned about Andy. This wasn't like him. He would have never skipped out on work like this. Something was wrong.

But what?

[Cloak]

New chapter.

BOOK CXXV:
CREEPING CRYSTAL
CHAPTER ONE:
The Runaround

As Gumby fought a Theo Khufan DNAlien, GH was pounding the pavement. He was off from work tonight, and so was Andy. GH had decided to pay Andy a visit, and try to get some answers for his odd, unusual behavior.

He believed he knew his home, as he delivered him back here himself after the mind plug was removed. But things have an annoying habit of looking so different in the dark from daytime. GH was confident that he could find the place.

And so he did.

But when Andy answered the door, he looked a bit more disheveled than he usually did. It was a shock to GH. He knew Dek wasn't still controlling him, as he witnessed the plug being removed himself. Something else was going on here.

"Lewis?" Andy asked. "You . . . you can't be here. Not right now."

"What? Andy, what's going on?" GH said, fighting an odd desire to confess everything to Andy. "What's wrong?"

Andy hesitated, not opening the door more than the sliver that it was opened to. He looked down, not meeting GH's eye. Something was definitely up.

"Andy, what's wrong?" GH said. "You know you can tell me."

Andy blushed, though he played it off with a shrug. "I . . . can't."

"Sure, you can," GH said.

Andy looked at him, "No, I can't."

GH wasn't the only one hiding something, and he wondered if Andy knew he was hiding something. If he knew that Lewis wasn't his real name.

"Why?" GH pressed.

"Thanks for checking up on me, Lew," Andy said, as made to snap the door shut, "I do appreciate it. See you at work on Monday."

GH was nonplussed at this. This was totally out of character for Andy. He wasn't this secretive and secluded. Something was definitely up, but GH could not begin to imagine what. As he walked away, he knew that he couldn't just continually nag him about it. That wouldn't do anything but cause him to clam up further.

But GH couldn't help himself, but worry about Andy. . . .

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
The Drive

John Jaxur was a mess. The whole Void Space generator was his ticket to power, but now? Now he was back to being a lowly Knight grunt. The kind of grunt that always had a Zubat or Poochyena. A low-level Zubat or Poochyena.

Demoted! Demoted for his failure! It wasn't even his fault that projector got destroyed. It wasn't his fault that that . . . that Goode fellow refused to recreate it. It wasn't his fault when he executed him for his noncompliance! He had no choice!

He supposed he should count himself lucky to still be allowed to call himself a Knight and wear the regalia. But it was a fall from grace, and it was a hard fall. But it was still humiliating. Demeaning! Mortifying! Disgraced! He knew that he was the laughingstock of the whole organization.

Jaxur was in a dark, dank, forgotten warehouse, trying to escape the subtle and not-so-subtle jeers, the sneers behind his back, the mockings to his face . . . it was horrible. It was almost too much to bear.

He milled around the layers of forgotten and abandoned goods, which was rotting away, collapsing into dust or otherwise covered in a thick layer of dust. The place reeked of being ancient, and falling apart. Jaxur wouldn't be surprised if there was black mold here.

Then he came upon a dust-covered, dust-colored, rather bullet-shaped thing. The sides seemed to have been a smooth granite or other such material. It was only marred by a single hole, one shaped like a "+". It looked rather like a keyhole.

What was this? What could this possibly be?

Wait -- these runes . . . no, it was writing. But what did it say? It was difficult to make out. "Th_ Cr_st__ Dr_ve". That was the best he could make out, and he tried to riddle out what it meant.

He decided to try the second one first. "Druve"? "Drave"? "Dreve"? "Drove"? Oh, wait. Of course. It had to be "Drive".

The first was was more diffiicult as there were three letters missing, instead of one. "Crusty"? No, one letter too little. "Crast"? That wasn't even a word! "Crest"? Not enough letters. "Crested"? It fitted, but didn't make sense, as what the heck was a "crested drive"? Um . . . "Cost"? Not enough letters. "Costly"? "Costly drive"? That made more sense, but Jaxur somehow thought that it was wrong.

Bah!

What did it matter? This could possibly be weaponized like the Void Space projector? If it could, then he'd be back on top again! He would be able rid this world of the filth that defiled it. Granted, he didn't know what it did, but Jaxur's reckless ambitions and desperate hopes had blinded him to this.

But he would first need the key.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:
Fear and Core

Ursa had seized Cloak by the ear, and she yanked hard. So hard that he was sure that she would have ripped it off.

"You listen to me."

"Mother, please," Cloak said. He was in tears.

"You do not speak to me in that way," she said. She was upset that he couldn't find the item she wanted at the shop. She was already miffed that neither Shadow or him wanted to rub her feet after a trip. Cloak had made a mistake of delivering her bad news. His mother never took bad news well, and she always used him as a scapegoat.

How did his father endure this for seventeen years?

"Get out." she said, releasing his ear. "GET OUT!!!"

Cloak had fallen to the floor, curling his body up into a fetal position, terrifed of his mother, but also hurt and angry. It wasn't possible to tell which he felt more. His mother had left him at the side of the road back to their hovel. He would have to walk the hour's trek back. She was covert in her abuse, so no one really noticed.

One female Realm Walker stopped to see if he was alright, she apparently bore witness. Cloak didn't even remember what she looked like, but he declined her kindness, feeling distraught, anger and fear.

And Shadow had witnessed this.

And Shadow was with her.

And, at any moment, she could turn Shadow against him. Make her hate him. That was a different kind of fear. A fear that often leads to depression.

"Aniyu," Cloak said. His voice trembled. Using Shadow, or her relationship with her uncle rather, to manipulate Cloak was a favorite tactic of hers. After all, she used it with him against her father. "Please . . ."

"No, Cloak," Aniyu said, firmly. "Don't run from this. Face it. Overcome it."

"I-I-I can't," Cloak stammered.

"You can," Aniyu said.

But suddenly Cloak's eyes popped open, as he sensed something . . . powerful. As if some mighty machine had just moved around in a somniferous state.

***

Jaxur looked around the mouldering old warehouse. That key had to be here. Somewhere.

But where?

Jaxur had no earthly idea what this thing did or even if he whould be messing with it at all, but he was not in a right frame of mind, as saturated as it was with self-pity and anger. All he knew was if he could get it to work and if it was something that he could weaponize, he would be back on top again.

He noticed a small hollow space some feet away, and he quickly crossed to it. Inside he found what appeared to be a key, only the key hadn't any teeth on the end. It had a decorative handle and and simple shaft that was metal, but looked wooden. Jaxur failed to notice the four slits spaced even around this key core.

He took it and jammed it into the Drive. Nothing happened. It was at this moment that Jaxur noticed the four slits, realizing that the key had four missing spokes that would need to be found before the damn device would work.

[Cloak]

Rereading an old book for class, I cam up this:

Then again, probably won't be 767 books . . .

Oh, how naive I was . . .

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Divining Spoke Locations

Jaxur quickly removed the key core, immensely disappointed. He was tempted to, in his frustration,  just angrily throw the key across the deteriorating warehouse floor. But he didn't. He didn't know why, but he didn't.

It was like a veil of clarity was being washed upon him. Clearly, the key needed other fragments of itself. The four groves at the tip and along the side? For the spokes. Was it picky about which spokes went into which? Fortunately, with his new grunt status, his new superiors weren't that interested in him or his endeavors. He would have to report in eventually, but he could put that off for a while. If anyone asks, he would just BS them, and most of the other grunts would have either believed it or completely indifferent.

This was more important. Though he didn't know why, he sensed great power from this lump of stone. He could simply be hedging all his hopes on this one thing, and that could prove to be disastrous for him. But he didn't care, he was throwing caution to the wind.

Maybe it would settle for surrogate spokes? Not the actual ones?

He carefully slid in some really thin pieces of bark, to see if that worked, but they were incinerated to ash the moment his intent became known. He cursed a rather vulgar human word, and he resisted another impulse to thrown the godforsaken thing.

But then the key projected four different images that it took Jaxur some time to sort out. He pocketed the key, which ended the projections. It was getting late and he had to check in with his superiors, or else they might not by his BS. He wouldn't tell them about the key or the drive yet.

As he went, he tried to detangle the four images burned into his mind. A small, roughly-bricked lean-to type of dwelling. A desert. A watery cave. A forgotten, flooded city.

The images were so clear, yet still jumbled. He would know them if he saw them again. He tried to put them on the back burner, and focus on dealing with his superior -- a favorite of ol' Loose Cannon himself. He felt an enmity with the guy, who revelled and enjoyed Jakur's pain and humiliation. This guy liked throwing his weight around, but was smart enough to weasel out of any failure in ways that Jaxur couldn't. Despite being horribly xenophobic -- a prerequisite for the Knights, basically -- but he had a sense of honor and integrity, though questionable at times. Of course, it was twisted and distorted by his xenophobia.

"Squire Jaxur," he said, placing deliberate emphasis on the title, "report."

"Yes, Ebenezer," Jaxur said, unable to hide his contempt.

"What?" Ebenezer snarled, not missing a moment to derogate and deride Jaxur. And John Jaxur knew it. "You dare to disrespect me like that, boy?"

Jaxur was actually older, and looked so.

"Sorry, Sir Schultz," Jaxur said. He was trying very hard not to sneer. If he hadn't fallen from grace, this sorry piece of work would be a friggin' Squire. This was humiliating, having to kneel before a person half his age, who profited from his failure. It was maddening.

But, as he thought of the key hidden perfectly in his pocket, not all was lost to him.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE:
Ack! A Shack!

After having to suffer through the ignoble indigity and horrid humilition, not for the first time since his disgrace, Jaxur went on an "unauthorized" mission. He remembered those four images very plainly.

The shack.

The desert.

The cave.

The forgotten city.

They were starting to serious untangle now, and Jaxur was able to see the shack clearly. It was built low to the ground, built of brick, with only a solitary window on the door side as it was built into a hill. Probably for defense reasons. It looked more like a forgotten bomb shelter than a shack, really. The door was thick and heavy, and the window looked reinforced.

Jaxur gasped as this image clarity became very crisp. He didn't know how or why, but he didn't care. His ambitions were clouding his good judgement. He diving into a destructive narcissism, a dangerous thing to do. His aspirations were becoming grandiose, pursuing power at any cost for the sake of power, devaluing and exploiting others without remorse, and generally being inconsiderate of others . . . all signs of destructive narcissism.

The minute he woke up, he immediately went to the location he believed the spoke to be. He discovered rather quickly he could use the key as a sort of dowsing rod to locate the shack. It was surprisingly easy.

He quickly crossed the hilly ground, to the thick oak door, which creaked open ominously. He walked in boldly and crassly, as if he owned the place, finding the lighting rather less than desirable. He followed the key as his dowsing rod to find, hopefully finding the spoke.

He was irritated that he had to solve puzzles to proceed further, as the key indicated most insistently. The first one had something to do with manipulating weights to open a secret staircase, then finding a secret panel, then having to manipulate a pillar puzzle, mimicking an old faded diagram.

The spoke was inside. It was plane of pristine crystal of the most verdant green imaginable. The key hovered of its own accord, as the spoke slid into the slit easily and perfectly. Then the key, with this spoke, flew back into his hand, and he felt a happy warmth with it there. He quickly pocketed it and left.

He had to report to Sir Smultz again.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIX:
Desert, Mine

Screw it, Jaxur thought, when considered going to report in. Screw the Knights. The humiliation isn't worth it.

Jaxur kept driving, right out of the city and far away.

I give an eff if they throw me out, he thought savagely. I'm not obligated to be in their little club. I'm obligated to take this abuse, this humiliation. They can take this and shove it up their --

The key seemed to activate again -- the green spoke apparently allowing it a greater radius of sensitivity to the spoke. Jaxur stopped his car, tore off his Knight regalia and abandoned it without second thought or regret or remorse.

Why I'd ever want to associate with that pack of pretentious pricks, I don't know. Jaxur thought, with self-derision. After all I've done for them, they backstab me like that.

He followed the key downward, in a rather hidden cave. No, it wasn't a cave. There were stairs and the walls were a little to smooth and straight-cut to be naturally formed. And there were were crudely-crafted wooden stairs descending lower into the cavern tappering off to the right, in a "J" shape.

He followed stairs, to mouldering wooden dais. Jaxur was starting to see why the mine was abandoned. All the ore here was tapped out. Hence why the mine existed, but no tools and things were left behind, hence there wasn't some emergency causing them to have evacuated the place. Nor were there any bodies or things like that.

Jaxur was a bit leery and iffy about stepping upon the dais, afraid that it would crumble beneath his weight. He took a tentative step onto the dais and was pleasantly surprised to see that appeared to be quite stable. It didn't crumble under his weight, but bore it easily.

Jaxur consulted the key again. It pointed him to another staircase that Jaxur hadn't noticed there before. He followed the the key's incessant direction, and eventually came to find the spoke in a forgotten pile of sand. The spoke flew to the key, which floated of its own accord. A solid plane of crystal colored a fiery red emerged from the pile of sand, and it inserted itself in the slit to the right of the green one. Then the key flew back into the hand of Jaxur.

Jaxur smiled. That was two spokes now, without any resistance or anyone trying to stop him.

[redtailedsaffa]

FINALLY all caught up! And I like this thing you've introduced in the latest book: villain turning on villains.

And dang, the dark ending to The Great Brain Robbery. Should've seen that coming, but hit you all the same.

Also, the whole public-against-the-RAFians, they-need-regulation thing... yeah, knowing what movie you watched last, I see where this is coming from... and I love it.

AND BOY DO I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!

[Cloak]

Well, that they "they-need-regulation" thing actually came from US politics -- which I recently lost a friend over (she's in the Cult of Hillary).

[redtailedsaffa]

Which is pretty much influencing a lot of stories recently. We're all doomed, aren't we?

[Cloak]

Pretty much.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
Underground Lake

Ugh.

He blocked Nezer Schultz's number. He had to, as Schultz was blowing up his phone wonder where the hell he was. As far as Jaxur was concerned, he was no longer a Knight. He was still a xenophobic prick of a man, but not a Knight.

Nezer was trying to get ahold of him because of the Zirkonian fleet above the earth was seen earlier and not entirely unnoticed. Of course, Nezer had no idea that Estelore was already took care of it, though this would outrage any Knight, as Estelore wasn't born on Earth. Though, to be honest, no one knew where Estelore was born, aside from the star herself.

But John Jaxur was oblivious to all this. Even if he did, he didn't care. He had to complete the key, and start the device. He didn't know what it did, but he just knew he had to do this. Just knew he had to activate the device, it became an obsession. He never paused to see where this obsession came from, how it came to be, he remained oblivious to this.

He walked until the key was activated. He used the key as a dowsing rod once more, and walked without looking at anything else. He was back in the desert, outside of the mine. He didn't like the desert, too dry, arid, and desolate for his liking. But he didn't like it any more when he came to a hanging bridge (without handrails) that bridged the gape from this edge to the calabra or a plateau with a single crater.

How he ever made it across he would never know. But he did, only to discover that at the floor of this plateau craterous indention was three lakes, and there was some deteriorating, tiered steps down to it. The key was deftly pointing to one in particular. So, it seemed obvious which path to take. The leftmost lake.

He dived into it and swam. He swam to the bottom and darted into an underwater cave. The cave turned out to be a tunnel. He didn't know how deep or how long the tunnel would go, and he didn't bring any rebreathers or the like. So he was attempting this in a single breath. Some would say that was very stupid, and they'd be very right to do so.

But Jaxur didn't give any thought to this, so great was his ambition, his hope, his aspirations. He just blindly followed wherever the key pointed him to. It's how he navigated the labyrinthine tunnels -- yes, tunnels, as the single tunnel interconnected itself several times. Yet he managed to navigate and emerge in an underground lake -- complete with a shore and shoreline -- all in a single breath. It was an impressive feat in and of itself.

He walked upon the black stone of the underground cave. His black jeans were heavy and burdensome, his shirt clung to him, and his beard was dripping. But he didn't care. There was another spoke here, and the key was already homing in on it. He did not hesitate but followed the directions that the key directed to him.

Soon the key hovered out of his hand suddenly, and he smiled. He knew the spoke was nearby, and he watched with baited breath as the single plane of crystal colored watery blue slited into place to the right of the verdant green one. Then the key flew back to Jaxur's hand.

His smile deepened. He had three spokes, just one more left before the power of the device was his. Just one more.