“Exarch Herne, the Hierophant requests that you report to her office immediately.” The crisp voice crackled over the loudspeaker and echoed through the waiting room outside the Hierophant’s office. A pale man rose from his chair and tugged at the collar of his mat black uniform. The bruises on his neck were killing him, but he couldnt let that stall him any longer. Mustn’t keep the Hierophant waiting, after all. Drawing his card from the inside pocket of his jacket and swiping it by the door, Adam Herne entered the office of the most influential person in the city, perhaps even the whole world. “Good afternoon, Adam. You’re looking well.” The woman addressing him sat primly at her desk, her gray hair pulled up into a neat bun. She was elderly enough to garner the respect afforded to such a person, but she was not yet withered in her age and her voice rang steady without even a hint of wavering. Her single deep blue eye stared deep into the man’s brown eyes, her other eye hidden behind a pure white eye patch. “Ma’am,” he said, stepping forward into the office and giving a salute before taking a seat across the desk from the woman. There was a small silence as each took in the sight of the other, sizing up one another in the cold, white room. “So,” she said, leaning towards Adam over her desk, “What do you know about The Dawn of Nine-Fifth?” ---- He had been young when it happened. The event that shook the empire at its core had little effect on the future Exarch. But he had heard them talk. It was blindingly bright, yet infinitely dark they’d say. A deafening explosion of silence. Sunlight that chilled to the bone. In short, it was everything that it was not. No one could say for certain what they had seen, only that they would never forget it. Ambiguity bored the child, and so mentions of it slipped from his mind in an instant. Only later, as a youth wandering the streets, did he understand the enormity of it. An entire district blackened; hundreds of thousands dead; not a single word of explanation from the priests. And now, considering the bruises on his neck and his visit to the Hierophant’s office, it was clear something more was happening. “Not much, I’m afraid, Ma’am,” he said, faking a wry smile. “I suppose I was pretty young when all that went down.” The gray-haired woman frowned slightly at this. “Yes, I suppose you were. Please, allow me to educate you then.” She pulled open the filing cabinet behind her desk and retrieved a folder marked “Nine-Fifth.” Holding the file out to him, the Hierophant smirked and said, “Take a look at this first, then I’ll explain it to you.” The contents of the file were exclusively pictures. Adam flipped through the various shots of strange machinery interspersed with pictures of buildings with cracked windows. He looked up from the file and asked, “Pardon my ignorance, Ma’am, but what exactly does this all mean? It looks to me like it’s just pictures from some slum.” The Hierophant was no longer facing him. She stared through her stained-glass window out across the Northern half of the city. Each streetlight lit up the dark skyline and gave the impression of high noon to every tower and parapet. “Appearances can be deceiving, Exarch. You should know that more than anyone.” Turning her back to the artificially sunlit city, the Hierophant looked, for a moment, just as old as she really was. “At the time, I was a low-ranking Exarch, such as you are, presiding over the Finances district. As my luck would have it, I was stationed at the Western tower when the Dawn came. The blast took out the tower’s supports. A stray piece of shrapnel caught me in the eye.” Her tone was clinical, almost mechanical, as she gestured towards the patch over her left eye. “After I woke up in the Infirmary, I learned that spies from Rosenthall had mounted an attack on the city. Ever since that day, I worked hard to climb the ranks so that I could eliminate those blasted heathens from the face of the planet.” The sudden anger and intensity in her speech startled Adam. He had never seen her lose composure in such a violent way. “Once again I must plead forgiveness for my ignorance Ma’am, but what does Rosenthall have to do with this?” Adam pulled down the edge of his collar to reveal the purple bruises wrapped around his neck. “That is why I’ve called you here today, Exarch. Prior to the Dawn, the Shaded district was home to our greatest research center. At last report, they were engaged in a top-secret experiment attempting to change everything we know about our world. Had they succeeded, Valgust would have had no need to fight with Rosenthall. Our authority would have been absolute and all-consuming. Alas, the Dawn came and, well, you’ve seen firsthand what came about because of their failure.” Adam could tell that what he was being told was far beyond his clearance and rank. “You see, Exarch Herne, I need you to help me fix our past mistakes. You’ve always shown great potential in the field. Now it’s time to prove that you can handle a higher calling. From this point on, you are promoted to the rank of Arbiter. You will report to the Stockade and receive your staff. Now, I’m afraid I must dismiss you. I have many more people to meet with today.” As she spoke her last statement, the Hierophant began to crack a smile. Both she and Adam knew very well that she would keep the others waiting as long as she felt she could. With a small chuckle and a quick salute, Adam exited the office and headed for the newly sunlit streets outside. ---- Across the luminous rooftops, all the way on the opposite edge of the city, a single speck of light sped through the darkness known as the Shaded district. Her communicator had been buzzing all morning, but she had no time for the old woman now. This was infinitely more important. Her keen eyes detected a shift in the shadows before her. With one swift motion, she stabbed her staff into the darkness, creating a burst of light that engulfed her entire being. “Gotcha,” she laughed, as the shadows scattered down the alleyway.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:56:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015