Fragment of Destiny

Yami’s boots crunched over the frost-glazed streets. With a glance over his shoulder, he ducked into a trash-laden alley. Muck from the decomposing garbage and the wet unpaved ground made for a nauseating smell. He held his nose with a gloved hand as he made his way to a metal door leading below the adjacent building.

Yami fished out a key from his pocket and removed the ancient padlock. Rusty hinges groaned as Yami slinked inside and set the locking bar in place. There was a brief moment of pitch darkness before the cybernetics in his augmented eyes illuminated the passage. Before him, slick grime covered steps led into the maintenance tunnels. The stench of mold and heavy minerals clogged the air but it was better than the smell of refuse outside.

The tunnels that girded the underbelly of Crescent were technically off-limits to non-maintenance personnel. Any offenders would be hit with a steep fine and a stint in an enforcer detention facility. Despite the restriction, enforcers were still human and not so incorruptible. A little money in the right hands and they would gladly turn a blind eye so long as the infraction did not cause them extra work.

Yami followed the maintenance tunnel down several blocks before he came to the desired section. A crack in the floor that was mirrored by one in the ceiling. To the untrained eye there was nothing out of the ordinary, cracks even large ones were common enough. Placing his foot on the crack in the floor he reached up and ran his fingers along the one in the ceiling until his hand found a small divot. A little pressure on both simultaneously and a section of the wall began to groan open. Unlike the maintenance tunnel, the hidden section was in pristine condition. Yami entered quickly and the secret door closed behind him with a metallic hiss.

At the end of a long hall stood another concealed door and another hidden switch. Light spilled into the tunnel momentarily blinding Yami as an elevator door slid open. Blinking away spots he made a mental note to add light dampeners when he got back to Raiden’s Den. Stepping inside a biometrics scanner recognized him and the elevator began its descent. Yami would have preferred to use the main entrance and avoid the tunnels when visiting his uncle. The fact that everything on the surface had been in lockdown set Yami on edge.

There was a brief pause as the elevator came to a stop then the door began to open with the sound of several heavy locking bars like that of a great vault. Warm air washed over him as he stepped into a long hall lined with crimson carpet. The walls of the hall were adorned with an assortment of fine art, all things a proper Imperium citizen would have deemed meaningless. Ahead Plastic runners stained with a mess of red and brown footprints covered the carpets leading up to two massive doors which stood open. The runners led across an ample office space and down an illuminated stairway at the end of the room. The crunching of glass and clang of metal could be heard as he approached. A slender man carrying a trash bag appeared from the stairway and nodded to Yami before hurrying about his business.

Careful of his footing Yami descended. Dark blood mixed with a viscous teal liquid marred the floor of a small lab at the foot of the stairs. Another man identical to the first waded in the liquid with a mop in hand. A third and the last of the lookalikes busied himself with gathering up scraps of broken glass and twisted metal. The massive form of Yami’s Uncle Larry sat on a surgical table, dark blood staining his fine clothes.

“What the hell happened down here?” Yami asked. Then he saw it. The mangled corpse of a malravian. It was smaller than any malravian he had seen before and it even had an oddly humanoid form, yet the remains were still unmistakable.

Larry compressed a bloody towel over his left arm before he spoke. “The implants didn’t work. Its mind was still too feral and its instinct won out. I had thought for sure this time it would work. I fear the only way for the mind to remain intact will be to perform the splicing on a human instead of the other way around.”

Yami frowned inwardly, he did not like the prospect of his uncle using humans as lab rats. Still, he had not used one of his precious passes through Central’s customs to debate morality.

“I’d like the talk with you alone for a moment,” Yami said.

At once, the two men stopped and looked to Larry for instruction. His uncle nodded and they quickly ascended the stairs leaving the mop and broom where they lay.

“I trust you have something very important indeed to show up unannounced,”

Yami pulled the sensorium from his jacket pocket. “I was hoping you could help with this. I have encountered an anomaly. Have you ever heard of a crystal type that has the ability to see the past and perhaps even the future?”

“The past and the future? Not prophecy then. But perhaps something infinitely more valuable.”

“And what could be of more value than a prophecy crystal type?”

“Knowing the truth. History is inherently subjective, and the truth of it is known only to those who were there. And if you know and understand our true past…”

“You can predict the future,” Yami said finishing the old adage his uncle had always espoused.

“Come now show me what you have found,” Larry said holding out his hand for the sensorium.

Yami twisted the metal plates retrieving the entry for the visions Tess had accidentally saved to the device.

The bloodied towel over his uncle’s arm dropped to the floor exposing a golden serpent with the head of a dragon as his body went limp. A massive bloody gash ran the length of Larry’s arm cutting the serpent in two. Sifting through the wreckage Yami found a battered but useable first-aid kit. The wound was long though not all that deep. It would scar but at least it wouldn’t need to be sewn back together. With the bandages in place, Yami busied himself with the mop until a grotesque smile appeared on his uncle’s face.

“You will have to bring this person to me at once.”

“Then you know what that vision was all about?”

Larry tossed the sensorium back to Yami before examining the new bandages. “Come with me,” He said sliding his massive form off the surgical table and started up the stairs.

Yami narrowed his eyes, he didn’t like surprises, least of all from Larry.

Back in the office, Larry retrieved a small box from his iron-wood desk. With careful fingers, he opened the lid and scooped out a black sphere identical to the sensorium only smaller.

“How the…?”

I dropped you a few hints along the way. I knew you would piece them together on your own eventually, but what you managed to capture has surpassed even my expectations.”

“Then you do know what that entry is about?”

In response, Larry began shuffling the plates of the smaller sensorium and handed it to Yami directing him to sit in the large chair behind the desk.

At once, Yami was shrouded in darkness. From the corner of his eye, small motes of flame shone in the air around him. He was moving down a darkened cavern and the sound of a mighty wind howled in the distance. His host breathed deeply, the smell of sulfur was rank in the air. A bend in the tunnel led into an open cavern where six people stood with arms outstretched. Three wind workers and three flame wielders. In the center of the room, a sphere of swirling wind and fire raged with a black and purple mass like smoke at its center.

As Yami’s figure approached the churning torrent of fire and wind he felt his arm extend towards the darkness. A brilliant crystal like the essence of the ascension storm rested on the back of his hand. The once violent mist morphed taking on a human form as layer upon layer of mist peeled away. The fire stopped in a puff of smoke leaving only the wind to restrain the prisoner. Words in an unknown tongue were spoken yet Yami could feel the meaning of them as they resonated in the host’s mind.

“This is the end for you, Corwin. You will be a blight on this world no longer,” Yami said.

“I would welcome death by your hand Rasgoul. Only my work is not finished. If you slay me now, the burden of the elder spirits will become yours and all I have created will die.” The imprisoned man said as he extended a bony finger towards Yami. The view spun revealing a beautiful woman standing beside his host. Yami knew her. She was the same woman from Tess’s vision. A Deep sorrow cut at him like a knife and his determination flagged. He loved her, and if he destroyed Corwin, she too would die.

“Then here you will stay a prisoner for all eternity.”

The crystal on his hand flashed as a violent storm exploded within its confines. A moment later a whip of darkness leaped from Corwin and was consumed by the raging storm.

The vision faded, Yami’s arms and legs tingled with a thousand pinpricks, as they responded to his impulses once again.

“Where did you get this?” Yami asked, rising on unsteady legs.

“Your father. After obtaining his crystal, he was plagued with similar visions. We created the sensorium to capture and analyze-”

“There are more of them?”

“Yes, many more. This Rasgoul fellow did not live up to his claim of keeping Corwin captive for all eternity, or so it would seem. Now tell me, from who did you acquire this vision?”

“Her name is Tess LaBou, she is a drop out from the academy. Her father hired me to look after her, and teach her some trade skills.”

Larry’s eyes narrowed. “LaBou, the professor’s daughter, what a shame,” Larry said looking thoughtful for a moment. “You must bring her to me at once. I will get the necessary paperwork in order. For the time being keep her out of sight. The enforcers will be looking for her. I will summon you when everything is ready. Now unless there is something else of equal importance, I have a lab to clean up.”

Yami realized he was still holding the smaller sensorium. The desire to dive back in see what else Larry had captured ate at him. Would there be memories from his father other than these visions? But those answers would have to wait, he needed to get back to Tess. If Larry was right, every moment he was away, would be putting her at risk. It took a tangible effort to put the smaller sensorium back on the desk. As if freed from a spell Yami made a hasty exit.

Outside the massive doors, the triplets stood still as stone, not so much as acknowledging him as he passed. Yami snatched out his phone and opened a link to Admeta. Their little babysitting project had just gotten a lot more interesting.