Chapter 26
1346words
Heavy rain hits against the darkened windows. Water slid off the dark chrome towers and hit the streets that were always quiet. From above, it looked like the city had never seen any sunlight at all, only dark black clouds.
Blinding Sun flew in the city, his coat and hood instantly being soaked. Despite being a global hero, here, there were no adoring fans, no posters of him, no children shouting his name. Here, his powers and light meant nothing.
He had spent a day going through Metal Rift's belongings, thanks to his family.
Going through his belongings, on Rift's desk, he'd found pieces, a notebook with encrypted sketches, bits of coded data, and one line circled in frantic handwriting.
Black Waves City - It's all there! The truth!
Now, flying in the rain, Sun stared at the horizon. The city is so quiet; clearly, there are people walking around and cars flying to their destinations, but that's it. It's eerie, that's why he never goes here, he'll always let other heroes deal with its problems. And that is what he regrets doing; if only he hadn't ignored those calls and let others deal with it, his friend would still be alive.
But there's no time to dwell on the past now.
He flew down on the sidewalk, and he moved through the streets. Drones tracked him overhead, scanners scanned him, but they didn't stop on just him; they scanned on others, too. Is this how Black Waves City operates? Scan and track their people? Is this how Metal Rift was found out on whatever case he was doing?
When he reached the old district, Black Waves' original heart of the city, the drones didn't follow. This must be a restricted area for the drones. As Sun walked further in, the concrete sidewalks cracked and darker alleys, pitch black. His boots splashed through the thick puddles.
He stopped before a gated tower, an old energy now converted into private research housing. In Metal Rift's notes, he had a contact here, years ago.
"Is this it?" He asked himself and looked at Metal Rift's notes. The drawing and the location are the same.
"Yep, it is." He walked towards the door. The sun was about to search for an ID, but no, the scanners on the door scanned him, and it hissed open.
"...okay?" he questioned. He's confused because he never set foot in Black Waves, so how does the scanner recognize him?
Inside, the air was cold, to the point he could see his own breath, sterile, humming faintly with dying machinery that is struggling to work. Files, very old files that look like they're from the 2090s, are littered on the floor, long since looted by investigators. But on a small table, there is a device that's pulsing faintly in the corner, a recording. Sun activated it. Rift's voice came through, whispering and strained.
Rift (recording):
"Sun... if you're listening to this, then I'm..."A short exhale.
"...I'm dead. I know you have questions, but please, listen."Pause.
"First, tell my family, and Bunny Bombi, not to go to Black Waves City. Don't even let them continue my investigation. Please. Especially Bunny."A faint shuffle, as if Rift shifted in his chair.
"Secondly... I know you. The reason the scanners recognize you is because I programmed them to, even this recording device, even the drones tracking everyone in this city.
I won't go into how, but the reason I did it... is because Black Waves City hates you. It hates you and your entire family."
"What I've been investigating is... unbelievable. Sun... everything you think you know about your family, about this planet, will sound insane."
He pauses, breath audible through the mic.
"Three years ago, I was chasing a suspect, just a common criminal. Long story short, he kicked me, I hit a cracked wall, and it gave way. I fell... straight into an ancient-looking temple."
"I didn't understand what it said back then, but I took photos. Click the button on the right to see them."
Blinding Sun hesitated, then pressed the button on the right side of the device.
Instantly, holographic images popped up. It shows photos of ancient cravings.
One photo showed a figure in armor, surrounded by crows, beneath a beam of light.
Another depicted a second figure pointing toward the armored one, while small figures knelt before them.
It looks like, the figure that is pointing, is explaining something.
Then came an image of symbols. Ancient writing. Unreadable.
And another, a child, a child twisting, changing, morphing into a dark, demonic figure with crows circling above.
The recording continues.
"The figure in armor surrounded by crows, that's Octavian. You know the one they teach us in school.
At first, I thought it was just an ancient carving showing his followers praising him. Because, as you and I both know, Octavian had his followers."
A soft sigh.
"But no... it's more than that."
"I managed to translate the text. It reads-"
Rift's tone grows careful, reverent.
"Count the line, from one to the sacred two-sixteen.
When the last breath meets the first light,
the vessel shall rise, and the True One shall wake.Time bends, blood calls, and the two-hundred-sixteenth shall bring His world anew.
The false will tremble, the gods of sun will fall.From the death of the child, the gate shall open.The True God's name will echo once more,and His kingdom shall swallow all light and all time."
"Now, at first I didn-"
Blinding Sun (stopped the recording):
Sun froze.
Something shifted outside.
"Shit," he muttered, pocketing the device.
The hum of the dying machinery filled the room once more. Then, footsteps. Heavy. Getting closer.
Sun's eyes darted to the shattered window. Without a second thought, he vaulted through it, landing hard and pressing his back against the cold outer wall. He can clearly subdue whoever is out there, but he doesn't want to be seen and take the risk of ruining his investigation, plus, he could get great information from whoever is coming
The footsteps grew louder. Two sets.
Voice 1: "It should be here."
Voice 2: "I don't see it."
Voice 1: "Fuck, some random bastard must've taken it to pawn it for credlings."
Voice 2: "Let's hurry up and find it. I don't want the boss killing me for this."
Meanwhile.
The Red Light Sector was louder than usual, and that was saying something. Loud sirens and hovercars. Eris got in her car and drove to the Ivory Den district. Once parked, she pulled her coat tighter as she went in and stepped into Bunny Bombi's apartment building.
V.E.I.L tape flickered at the door, but no guards stood watch anymore.
"Amateurs." Eris said.
She entered the apartment easily, inside the air stank of ozone and cheap perfume. Eris boots crunched over shards of glass and upturned furniture. Holographic screens still flickered weakly across the walls, show headlines from Metal Rifts death.
METAL RIFT DEA. HERO COMMUNITY IN SHOCK.
"Hm, clearly she was obsessed finding her mentor's killer." She whispered.
She walked into the bedroom. The bedroom was worse. Signs of a fight. Blood, burned carpet, and stab marks on the sheets and floor. Eris crouched beside the desk, eyes scanning. She spotted a folded slip of paper wedged under a broken comm pad.
She unfolded it carefully, the handwriting shaky but hurried:
"The secret is in the hidden room inside the janitor's closet. You'll need an ID from a specific professor. DO NOT GO TO MASKED PROPHET'S CLASSROOM. HE'LL KNOW. STAY OUT OF HIS SIGHT."
Eris frowned. "Masked Prophet?" she muttered, then she let out an annoyed sigh. "Another damn mystery person."
She pocketed the not, lit a Nova-Cig, and glanced around the trashed room one last time. "What the hell did you get into Bunny?"
When she stepped back outside, rain came down. She pulled up her holo-pad and cross-referenced the janitor's closet access code. She searched it. It pinged instantly.
Cyrus Academy.
Eris exhaled smoke through her teeth. "Ah, my old hell hole. Can't wait to see how it looks now."
