‘What about Sorcerers?’

‘Those are humans adept in the manipulation of dark energy. MDEs in fact can be considered as sorcerers, perhaps a specific type of sorcerer. So all Maestros are pretty well defined; they have Seals on their wrists or forearms which link them to dark energy. Sorcerers and so-called witches, warlocks, and what have you have other links to dark energy.’

‘Similarly, folklore vampires, werewolves, zombies and other such creatures may be types of Possessed or Abominations.’

‘Well, do they really exist?’

‘They do. As I’ve said, combat avatars routinely slay them for bounty. I can recall them even from the Great Dark Shift era. I saw a lot of weird stuff then. Don’t worry about them. Even if a vampire tried to bite you, you are protected by the Wings. He’s the one who’s going to get eaten, not you.’

‘Why are there no more other Wings? In fact, why is Manong Duro all alone, no other human members of his Order?’

'Father was enamored of her and trained her. Things didn’t turn out well. Lili was Sealed by the Order of the Autumn Sea instead.’

‘Huo. I know. She was there in the Dictator’s visit.’

Lupad raised his eyebrows.

‘I’m not surprised. Somehow she always manages to be in the places where Father is. He believes she’s spying on him for DATA. DATA hit the jackpot on her. The Buhi City police first arrested Lili a few months after her arrival from Iladistan, as a suspect in the murder of a police informant who worked in the same Iladistan based crime ring which had victimized her. In their interrogation they found out that the child had become a part of the organization and had detailed knowledge of its members, some of whom where suspects in terrorist activities. The police referred her to DATA. They found out that she possessed genius level intelligence, superior strength and reflexes, and was fluent in several languages thanks to her stint as bride and assistant to an international assassin. Moreover she had no qualms in seducing and murdering people, an attitude that DATA particularly likes in its agents. Instead of detaining her in a juvenile prison, DATA recruited her as a spy. As an innocent looking child, she successfully penetrated the leadership tier of the crime ring, and in so doing was able to identify all the local Buhi City members of Unitemplist terrorist sects. DATA arrested and executed every last one of them in a surprise massive city wide operation. As a reward they made her a permanent graded employee and sent her to the Navy Special Forces school where she studied commando tactics for four years. All the while she was assigned intermittently to secret wet work operations. She rose up the grading ranks quickly. At age 16, they enrolled her in an MDE course in the South Eastern Islands Provincial Academy. By 17, she was successfully Sealed.’

‘We avatars and Father himself can feel strong Hybrid blood in her. It’s probable that she has stopped aging like many Hybrids and Abominations. I first met her three years ago, yet she looks exactly the same now. To my senses she feels barely human. She’s very bright and quite amoral. Don’t let her youthful looks fool you.’

‘You look quite young yourself.’

Lupad laughed. ‘I reoccurred along with Father and the other Veteran House avatars 40 years ago. Forty years isn’t too long ago. However, I still look about 25 years old. Avatars are made according to user specifications. We don’t age biologically, but we can degrade and it manifests as us getting sick. Father has to reprogram us now and then, but these are only slight modifications. He does it by touching his Seal on us. He instantly gets to diagnose what’s wrong with us, and in most cases can heal us. You may have seen him try to do it to Aya, but she was too far gone.’

‘What if he’s not around, uh, anymore to heal you?’

Before he could react to Lupad’s last statement, the pilot suddenly nodded toward the window.

‘That’s Oisa. I wonder what’s she up to? Well never mind, it’s none of my business.’

‘I better go after her. Thanks for the lecture, Captain.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Lupad bowed. Elam got off directly through a door by the pilot cabin’s side.

It was already near midnight, but this was a military camp near a war zone and Fuegan soldiers, avatars, and military vehicles were scattered everywhere. Maybe that’s why Oisa did not notice him.

Elam followed Oisa to a small tent about 50 meters away from Big Mov. It was adjacent to and connected to a far larger medical tent. After standing outside for about a minute, feeling guilty all the while, Elam decided to be open about everything and tried to enter the tent.

A blue and red avatar in front of the entrance bowed, and politely asked him his business. He said he wanted to see Oisa. The avatar went inside. After a minute, the avatar reappeared and signaled him to enter.

‘Elam,’ Oisa said as he entered. ‘I did not know you were following me. This is Maestra Lili, resident of this tent. You’ve met her already at the Command Tent.’

To Elam’s surprise, Oisa and Lili were sitting before a table drinking tea. Lili was dressed in a blue and red nightie, and looked completely at home. Bright red hair loosed and tossed back, she looked like a movie starlet. She stood up and bowed. ‘Welcome Anachronista Elam! Oisa here was just telling me about you.’ She paused examining him as if he were some exotic species of plant. ‘You look quite exotic and pretty, you know. Natural tan, baby-faced, cute little nose, gorgeous thick pure black hair. Care for some tea?’

Elam bowed back. ‘Umm, actually I was just worried about Oisa. If you don’t mind, I’m going back.’

‘I’ll go along with you iho,’ Oisa said. ‘Lili and I did not exactly have a good conversation earlier tonight. I decided to come here to mend fences.’

‘No problem,’ Lili said. ‘Not a day passes that I don’t feel guilty about what happened to me and Guru Duro. Rest assured that I would go out of my way to help him if I could,’ she told Elam.

As they walked back, Elam asked ‘Are you alright Oisa? I never expected that you would try and make up with Lili.’

‘Sometimes it’s a good idea to make friends with people you don’t like. Lili may be young, but she is a full Maestra from the Eastern Islands, and a native Sayabi too. We’ll just keep on bumping into her in the future. The most logical thing to do is to make friends with her. She can yet be of help to our House.’

They passed a group of avatars besides a clearing packed with a dozen helicopter gunships bristling with cannons, rockets, and missiles. The avatars were practicing with their weapons. Elam stared fascinated. Swords, shields, spears, pikes, maces, clashed with each other, sparkling in the colors of the spectrum upon contact. Some avatars incongruously were carrying rocket propelled grenades and anti tank missiles.

‘Those weapons are not ingrown like our doble espadas. The modern combat avatars eat Bugu coins and use their dark energy to coat and power up their mundane weapons, after which they become capable of penetrating darkling skin and injuring or killing them.’

As they passed by, all the avatars stopped mock fighting, and snapped to attention facing Oisa.

Oisa looked embarrassed. Around them more avatars seemed to recognize her. Oisa waved at them, grabbed Elam’s hand and practically ran back to Big Mov, dragging him along. ‘We better get back before they start saluting me. To combat avatars, I’m kind of a legend come to life. To me, it’s just plain embarrassing.’

They made a beeline for the Movka 1000 helicopter. Inside, Bodhi and Alwana were sprawled on sofas reading science fiction novels from their tab coms, which they had taken off their wrists, as though they were books.

‘Where have you two lovebirds been? Dating? I thought you wanted to baby him, not date him.’ Alwana smirked at them.

‘We were just watching some combat avatars train’, Oisa replied smoothly.

‘Stop fooling around Oisa. I know you’re up to something.’

‘Alwana, the frank, brusque, and imprudent,’ Oisa sarcastically said. ‘You almost sabotaged Bodhi’s brilliant little move back at the Command Tent you know.’

Alwana fell silent. ‘OK it was stupid of me,’ she conceded.

‘Why, who was it that really killed that Dan 96?’ Elam could not help asking.

‘Oisa slashed off the darkling’s wings, and cleaved it right in two across the abdomen. It fell down the Temple floor in two pieces. High Demon Kings however don’t die just because all that’s left of them is head and chest. They have fantastic powers of regeneration, and this one immediately began to heal and sprout a new pelvis and lower extremities. So Aya walked up to its head and skewered it with her doble espada,’ Bodhi explained.

‘You all remember what happened?’

‘Yes, at least we three. Aya may or may not; the Dark Shift plays tricks on the consistency of our memories and time lines.’

‘What if Aya remembers it differently?’

‘Then that memory comes from a ghost reality, and can effectively be discarded as unreal.’

‘What if another witness remembers as Aya does?’

Bodhi looked troubled. ‘It’s very rare. It means that there was a nexus in that event. An inconsistency in the timeline has occurred, which the Tela sooner or later merges back. I don’t know much of the theory for this.’

Alwana added ‘It’s the specialty of quantum physicists who use the sum of histories approach in solving physical problems. Basically reality splits into several timelines. The Tela merges them back into one. That is what we perceive as real.’

Oisa ahemmed loudly. ‘Get some sleep iho. We’re next on line to fight the darklings. We’re going to be called up anytime.’

‘And how do you know we are going to be called up anytime?’ Alwana demanded.

Elam and the Professor woke up at 6am, to the sound of alarms blaring all over the camp.

‘What’s up?’ Elam asked, instantly awake. Outside the cabin windows, they could see Maestros, avatars, and soldiers rushing toward the south side of the camp.

Prof checked on his wrist tabcom. ‘What? Maestro Mario is dead!’

‘He failed, manong?’

‘No. According to this update, he collapsed during an encounter.’

‘Huh! How did that happen?’

‘This update says he probably had a stroke. He had been on anti hypertensives for quite some time. His biomonitor during the battle was recording systolic BP spikes of 200 systolic. Around an hour ago, he came back to the camp’s medical tent, rested a while, and was given anti hypertensive meds.’

The Professor looked up from his tabcom. ‘In any case, we’ll never know. The darklings of course ate his body like they always do. His demoralized avatars stopped fighting and the darklings slew them too. One good thing that has come out of this is that the darklings have grown bolder and are now stupidly massed at the edge of this camp, waiting for the darkquake circle to open, so they can sweep into this camp to feed on us.’

‘Idiot low level Dans,’ Alwana commented. ‘Makes our job so much easier.’

Prof got up. ‘Alwana, give Elam his wrist tabcom that I told you to prep last night.’ He went into the bathroom and changed into formal looking yellow dress shirt, blue slacks, and blue shoes. Elam stayed with his yellow T shirt, blue cargo pants, and blue sandals. The avatars remained in short denim skirts and yellow camisoles, but put on blue sneakers with yellow stripes. They looked like school girls about to go out for a picnic under the warm tropical sun.

‘Let’s go. Oisa point, Bodhi and Alwana flanks, Elam behind me.’

They marched in formation toward the south of the camp. It was full of people and avatars. At the edge, Elam beheld a weird scene. Twelve darklings stalked back and forth like caged tigers, as though warded off by an invisible line.

Oisa explained to Elam. ‘The darkquake ends there. The darklings can’t cross for about 4 days or a hundred hours. We kill them before that. The act of killing them weakens the quake, and the battle Maestro ends the quake with various kinds of spells. Father usually uses a Tremor Calm spell.

‘Aren’t we already into the third day?
’ ‘No problem. These are low Dan darklings. We can easily handle them.’

The combat squad of the House of the Sun and Sky stopped at the edge. People and avatars cleared out of their way. Elam stared at the darklings. They looked like miniature versions of the Darkling King that had abused, tortured, and killed Aya. They were approximately 5 to 6 feet in height. They had horns, talons, tails, hooves, hermaphroditic genitalia and gray skin, but no wings. Forked tongues flickered in and out of their mouths. They snarled showing serrated fangs as they struggled to move forward, but were meeting an invisible force that seemed to push back.

‘This doesn’t look too difficult,’ Oisa said.

‘What do you mean not too difficult? Didn’t you see them survive missiles exploding next to them and chopping up dozens of combat avatars in the table computer holograms back in the Command Tent?’

Oisa chuckled and patted him on his head. ‘Don’t you remember me slicing up a dozen of these when you first occurred? Come on, Wings. I’ll take the four at the center. Alwana, Bodhi, you two take the flanks.

The three avatars strode forward to the edge of the invisible boundary. Flaming blue and yellow blades sprang from their wrists onto their hands. The perfect picture of savage ferocity that the snarling bare fanged darklings painted on the lush tropical forest instantly dissolved as they retreated, some actually whimpering and groveling. The avatars gracefully leaped into their midst, mono espadas slashing like scythes through dry grass. Every time a darkling evaded, a blade was there to strike it, a spiraling rainbow of yellow and blue on a gray canvass. It was over in a second. The avatars had gone for their heads. Each head of a dead darkling sported a long surgical incision that severed their brainstems.

The Professor immediately strode forward into the darkquake zone and began chanting and dancing a weird little dance. The darklings’ bodies dissipated leaving grayish afterimages. The three avatars plunged their hands into them and absorbed them. The Professor finished his chant. He spoke into his wrist tabcom.

‘Huo, what did you expect?’ Alwana grinned at him. ‘As Father reported these are low Dans.’

Around them combat avatars snapped to attention. Fuegan soldiers gave crisp salutes. The Maestros glumly nodded and walked off back to their tents. The yellow and blue squad walked back to Big Mov.

‘The Maestros don’t seem to be too happy.’

‘Of course. For the umpteenth time, it’s Father who collects the bounty, not them. All of them were hoping to grab the pie for themselves,’ Bodhi said.

‘So what happens next?’

‘We go to Big Mov. We infuse the darkling’s energy into Aya. Twelve is too few, she won’t resurrect yet, but at least now she’ll be safe from dissipation. We wait in Big Mov. Maestro Juan gives father a call. We go over to the Command Tent. He gives Father a check for one hundred thousand pesos. Probably another one hundred thousand for that anomalous quake we closed yesterday. We budget those for all our expenses for the next two weeks.’

Elam looked around at all the tents, Maestros, avatars, soldiers, helicopter gunships. ‘All these, for those darklings which you slew in one second?’

‘Huo. Professional competition is very intense. If we slack up in going to these missions, one of these Maestros will collect the bounty. Never mind if a dozen of them get killed; the MDE courses in schools all over Tera are constantly churning up new Maestros. The bounty for slaying darklings in 3 days or one second is just the same.’

It happened just as Bodhi said it would. After an hour lounging around Big Mov’s passenger cabin, the Prof received a message in his tabcom. They went toward Maestro Juan’s Command Tent. All around them the camp tents were already being dismantled, and some Maestros had already left in various helicopters.

They passed by the Medical Tent. Lili and a couple of Alogostani medics were carrying out bags of tablets, bottles, ampoules, vials, IV fluids. She waved at them.

‘The Alogostan government sponsored these meds and an ambulance chopper. It’s a Movka 1000 like yours.’

Maestro Juan wasn’t around to greet them. An aide approached them. ‘Maestro Juan is busy talking to Fuegan reporters over in the Journalist’s Tent. You have two checks here, one for that anomalous quake you closed yesterday, one for today’s work. Plus this traditional bag of a hundred Bugu coins, each denominated 1000 pesos, worth a hundred thousand pesos for your transportation allowance. Please sign in this logbook. Here in this received column.’

Prof took the checks and the bag, and signed. They marched back to Big Mov, Alwana carrying the bag of coins. The giant helicopter took off. Elam chose to sit by Captain Lupad in order to get a better view of things.

As the chopper approached the Balanghay, a small open flat space in the Shield’s bow deck opened to reveal a hangar underneath. Big Mov flew in and landed.

Prof, Elam, and the Wings deplaned, Bodhi carrying the lifeless Aya. Captain Lupad stayed behind and waved at them from the pilot’s cabin. ‘Aren’t you coming with us?’ Elam called. ‘No, I actually live in Big Mov’s passenger cabin,’ Lupad answered.

‘I trust that the mission to save Aya went well, Father?’

‘Yes, but we need maybe two more missions like this. She’s safe now though. She won’t dissipate.

‘I’m going to sleep. Bodhi, Elam can live in the flight deck above your mezzanine temporarily until we can figure out where to put him in.’

Prof went back to the eletrain and pushed some virtual buttons on a holographic panel projected by the table computer. The sides of the eletrain turned opaque.

‘He lives there?’ Elam asked.

‘Huo,’ Bodhi said. ‘If you notice, it has a small bathroom, wardrobe, table computer, sofa beds. It’s a deluxe room.’

‘I live in the other deluxe eletrain.’ Sugo pointed to an identical one parked on the left side of the tower.

‘Where is your flight deck where I’m supposed to live?’

They climbed up to the central mezzanine that had the engraving ‘Wings’ Living Quarters, Demons Keep Out.’ This time Alwana carried Aya. Elam looked around in surprise. There were four beds, four wardrobes, four table computers, a chessboard on top of one of the table coms, a sungka board on another, several chairs and sofas, a bookshelf full of books and magazines, a refrigerator, and even a bathroom to the side. Alwana gently laid Aya on one of the beds. Round and square little windows allowed them to look into the command tower’s main room.

‘These are our living quarters’ Bodhi said. She pointed to the staircase which wound itself up further into the roof. ‘On top of that is a roof deck. It used to be an open space. In order to fly directly out of the ship, we simply climb up there and jump out.’

Alwana interrupted. ‘Bodhi would spend hours there when she gets into a funk over lost philosophical debates, meditating how to out-philosophize you. Sometimes though it rains, which splashes water over her meditations. So she had the bright idea of covering it with malleable plastic, like the one that turns the dragons’ saddles into cockpits. Eventually she had it furnished. She even had a bathroom installed so she would not have to come down to pee and a small table computer on which she could quickly write down whatever visions she inadvertently dreamed of in meditative heaven. It’s easy enough to install a bathroom, if you notice the central straight and peripheral winding cylinders that make up the central staircase are hollow, and we can actually pump water up and flush waste down through them into the main hall pipes below. We can still use it as a flight deck, as the plastic has multiple zipped-up openings through it.’

‘Do you remember how I rescued you iho?’ Oisa asked. ‘I rushed up there and jumped to your position. Come let’s go up.’

They climbed into the rooftop deck. Since it was the roof of the circular mezzanine, it was also shaped as a circle. The central staircase continued by itself 12 feet up forming a central pillar. On the circumference were 8 smaller steel-like pillars, each jutting straight up for about 10 feet, forming an equiangular octagon. A hard but malleable plastic-like material was draped over the pillars, forming a huge tent or capsule over the entire rooftop deck. Numerous openings now closed by giant zippers could be seen in it. Corrugated sun shades were retracted onto the pillars in half of the octagon’s segments, revealing a view to the outside, but were expanded to close the other sectors, effectively forming an opaque wall. There was a table computer and chairs, sofas, a folding bed, wardrobe, drawer and bathroom.

‘You can turn the sunshades translucent or opaque, or retract them by pressing commands in the table computer. Let’s give Elam a chance to catch up on his sleep,’ Oisa said. ‘We’ve got some discussion to do about Aya.’ She looked at Alwana pointedly.

Elam partially closed the capsular attic room’s shades and fell asleep. He woke up to the sound of Bodhi knocking at the capsule’s side. She was standing inside a small transparent eletrain. She mouthed ‘Open!’

‘Ambot!’ Elam answered. I don’t know.

Bodhi sighed. She spoke into her wrist tabcom. ‘There’s a part of your table computer with a figure drawn like a clock. Touch numbers 11 and 12. It opens this segment of the attic capsule.’

Elam did. The capsule wall unzipped itself where Bohi’s eletrain was, making an opening.

‘Get dressed. There are new cargo pants and shirts in the bathroom. Get the long sleeved coat by the rack. It’s cold out to where we’re going.’

She pressed some virtual buttons on a small holographic control panel that had a joystick sticking out of it, by the side of the eletrain. The eletrain’s opening closed.

‘Notice that this eletrain is inside one of many transport tubes sticking on the side of this tower. These tubes are movable, connected to each other, and can deposit your eletrain anywhere the ship. So you can get in and out of the attic anytime you want without running across us boring girls below your room.

‘Wait, is this another tour?’

‘Huo, but this is a practical one. I will be teaching you how to operate these eletrains, there are a dozen of these small ones, and we’ll be going through all of our Balanghay’s important areas.

Elam suddenly noticed that the Shield was docked by the side of a small port. On top of it was the sign Puerto Amihan. ‘That’s the port of the capitol of North Eastern Islands Province. It’s autumn now and as I said it’s cold outside.’

‘Wow how did we get here so fast?’

Bodhi chuckled. ‘Weren’t you told it takes only 30 minutes for the Shield to reach any place in the world?

‘Even on land?’

‘Yes, but docking on dry land will strand us, and perhaps destroy the Shield. We have to dock on water. Those are the rules by whoever built the Shield.’

The small eletrain began to descend. They passed the Wings’ mezzanine quarters, the main room of the Command Tower, the Dragons’ Roost. They passed on onto the sides of the lower floor.

‘How many stories are there?’

’If you discount the normal topmost floors, 53. The first 20 floors are located below the roof deck; floors 21 to 53, the Dragons’ Roost, and the Command Tower are located above in the open.’

‘What do you mean, normal?’

‘It means that the rooms keep on shifting in reality. Here I’ll show you.’ Bodhi punched into the control panel. The eletrain stopped by floor 20, just below the roof deck, and opened. An entrance to room 20 likewise did. Inside was an ordinary-looking but large furnished room. An avatar with blue hair was cleaning the floor with a vacuum cleaner. She made an asian bow to them. ‘Dayon,’ she greeted them. Please come in.

‘Don’t mind us Cleaner 8. I’m just showing Elam around. Carry on.’ The Cleaner avatar wordlessly continued cleaning the floor.

‘We maintain the entire Balanghay. It is after all our Balay, our House. A dozen Cleaner avatars keep everything tidy and spic and span all the time. Now look at the windows.’

A thought struck Elam. ‘How did, hhmm, Cleaner 8 get here? Did she use another eletrain? I don’t see any. So how does she get out of this room?’

Cleaner 8 momentarily stopped vacuum cleaning and directly answered. ‘I just climbed the stairs. It goes down to the Main Hallway.’ She pointed to the central staircase. She resumed cleaning. She looked to Elam as if she were in auto mode.

‘Floor or Room 5 will boggle you mind.’

They reentered the eletrain; stopped at and entered Room 5.

‘It’s a replica of the Dragon’s Roost,’ Elam observed.

‘Look out of that porthole.’

Outside nothing could be seen except swirling gray fog.

‘Father says it’s a connection to a dark realm, where Natural Darklings reside.’

Elam shuddered.

Bodhi was smiling at him. [They really like to smile.] ‘Come on migo, let’s go back to the eletrain.’

Bodhi’s tour lasted more than hour. She taught him how to operate the eletrain by pressing commands into the control panel and use the joystick that jutted out of there. The Shield turned out to be a floating hotel, a cruise ship. The biggest in Tera, Bodhi proudly claimed. However it was empty of humans. A crew of about a hundred avatars, about half of them Rowers who powered the two outrigger engines, ran the ship. Almost all of them resided in the hanging gardens in the Main Hallway that ran from bow to stern.

The bow hangar were Big Mov was kept was a walled off extension of the Main Hallway. The back of the Main Hallway was walled off as a giant garage full of all types of vehicles, and its posterior wall could open downward to form a ramp where the vehicles could enter and exit the ship.

The sides of the Main Hallway were also the sides of the ship and packed full of hotel rooms, most of their furniture gradually being sold over 40 years in order to supplement the Household’s income. Some Mechanic avatars were doing some kind of construction or repair work in one of the rooms.

‘The blue-haired avatar supervising them is Husay. He’s one of our Balanghay’s engineers.’

Since the engines were the outriggers, the bottom compartments of the ship below the Main Hallway became cargo holds and depots. In a middle cargo hold was a small Bugu powered Reactor Plant that produced the ship’s electricity. Bodhi waved at two more blue haired male avatars standing in front of the Reactor Plant.

‘Those two strapping young fellows are Boylo and Koryen. They’re in charge of the Reactor.’

‘How come the House’s engineers all look similar?’

‘You might as well ask why the House’s four Wings all look similar. I don’t really know. I suspect that Father thought of a specific purpose, and then mass produced us from the same idea in his mind in order to fulfill that purpose.’

The back of the Balanghay lowered into a ramp. They drove into the port, Alwana driving. ‘Don’t worry migs, I have a driver’s license,’ she told Elam before he could ask the question. Elam noticed the other avatars driving various cars and trucks out along with them. The Professor explained ‘Some are delivering old furniture from the Shield’s hotel rooms to antique buyers. Ihap accompanies them. The rest are getting groceries, water, and all kinds of supplies. Husay, Boylo, or Koryen or all three go along with them. They use my credit cards. Safer that way. If the avatars are robbed of cash, they can’t effectively fight back because of the rule against hurting humans. The checks Maestro Juan gave us will back up my credit cards. Just in time because we were running low on money.’

Prof paid some kind of fee at the port’s entrance. First stop was the bank. On front of it was the sign ‘Provincial Bank of North Eastern Islands’. To Elam, it looked like an ordinary bank.

While the Professor was depositing the two checks, the bank’s manager went up to him. They exchanged a few words. Prof shrugged and returned to them. ‘I have to talk to the manager about some of our loans that need to be restructured. Might take some time. Better go out and take some snacks.’

They went out of the bank. Beside the bank was a shiny modern looking establishment with the sign ‘Suyop’s Fastfood’ on it and an internet café. Chicly dressed people of all ages filled up Suyop’s. The internet café was full of teenage girls.

Bodhi answered him before he could ask the question. ‘The girls are chatting with foreigners, hoping to snare a rich prince charming. I call them the email-to-order brides. As for the other unemployed young people of the Islands, they end up as cheap maids and laborers in the Mainland. Don’t blame them; blame the system that impoverishes the people in Alogostan’s peripheries.’

‘Yeah, our beloved Eastern Islands, land of cheap girls, pick-up girls, call girls, escort girls, maids, non payroll workers, underpaid laborers, beggars, street children, pickpockets, conmen, extortionists, addicts, flying voters, dead voters, and job orders,’ Alwana said. ‘Wonderful. Get a load of that!’

Somewhat to Elam’s surprise, Alwana led them to the far end of the street where there was a dilapidated local eatery with no name. On its entrance was a sign that stated ‘Open 7am to 11 pm. No Alcoholic Beverages in the Main Room. Karaoke Bar at the Back.’ Most of the clients seemed to be poorer-looking people with frayed clothes, high school students in public school uniforms, laborers, and stevedores.

‘Why don’t we eat at that Suyop’s Fastfood? Looks cleaner to me.’

‘We always eat at locally owned eateries if one is around,’ Alwana answered. ‘The money we pay them goes into the local economy and helps the peripheral peoples. Suyop’s is a Capitol Based Corporation. These companies operate in peripheral islands, make their profits there, yet transfer the money to their HQ and stockholders in Tunga City, the Capitol of Alogostan. It’s one way by which internal colonialism transfers capital from the peripheries to the center. Father has lobbied for laws that could counter-act capital flight from the provinces to the center, but nothing has come out of it.’

‘The WDF government and all National governments, except anti-Prophesy theocracies, mint Bugu coins, under the authority and supervision of the WDF. We usually acquire our 1000 peso coins as part of the transportation allowance that the WDF gives to us for our battle missions,’ Bodhi explained. ‘Bugu coins from any Nation and the WDF can be used all over the world as public currency except in theocracies. The theocracies use only promissory notes in the form of paper bills in public, and debit cards, credit cards, charge cards; and confine the use of Bugus to power their Reactor Plants and to effect international transactions. WDF 439 D.O. means minted by the WDF 439 years after the Anachronista’s De-occurrence. Alogostan 440 means minted by the National Government of Alogostan 440 years after the De-occurrence.’

The main room of the eatery was full, but there was a nearly empty backroom. On its entrance door there dangled a sign that announced: ‘Karaoke Bar, Drinks and Smoking Allowed.’

They entered and occupied an empty round table near the karaoke machine. The only other occupants were 4 rough looking men who were drinking beer in an adjacent table.

Oisa and Alwana began to discuss the coming weekend ping-pong tournament and their strategy as doubles partners to win the tournament, and how each would whop the other to win the singles event. After a minute the 4 drunken men got up and sat down with them, one each beside an avatar. They all sported different hair colors.

‘Can we join you girls?’ Mr. Red head asked in Alogostani.

‘What kind of language is that? You’re not natives here right?’ Mr. Yellow demanded.

‘Yeah, they sound so sweet. Sounds like far isles accent. From what little islet do you come from?’ Mr. Green peered at them drunkenly. ‘You’re far too pretty to be savage Islers.’

Somehow Elam knew that they were speaking derogatorily and insulting the Sayabi. He could see Oisa’s eyes icing up.

‘We’re more native to Far Eastern Islands than you. We use the old speech. How could you not even recognize it?!’ Alwana reacted angrily.

The men laughed. ‘Spunky!’ Mr. Blue complimented. ‘I like your dress Isler. Blue like my hair.’ He was sitting beside Alwana. Alwana’s eyes suddenly assumed a far-away look and she stopped talking.

‘There’s a radio program in Sayabi at Pahayag station, 1:30pm. We ourselves will be teaching the language on the air for free. You can listen to it,’ Bodhi advised, trying to keep the conversation polite.

‘What the hell are you talking about pretty girl?’ a confused Mr. Green asked. He draped his right arm around Bodhi’s shouler, and slid his hand inside her neckline. Bodhi froze.

‘Bodhi, normal mode,’ Oisa said in Sayabi. Bodhi calmly grasped Mr. Green’s cupped hand and took it out of her dress. Oisa pointed to the radio beside the eatery’s cashier. ‘Radio. Pahayag station. 1:30 pm. Turn it on. If you wish to learn Sayabi, we will teach it on the air. By the way, you really have to stop drinking. It will ruin your lives.’

‘You mean you’re the ones who chatter all that incomprehensible nonsense every week? I can’t understand it a bit, but I like your voice and accent. It’s like you’re singing,’ Mr. Green said.

‘There’s a grammar book on Sayabi, written by our Father Professor Duro, available in the Islander Bookstore. You ought to buy it and learn the old speech of our Islands and your ancestors,’ Oisa urged them.

‘Mumbo jumbo. Let it die a natural death,’ Mr. Blue waved his left hand around drunkenly, nearly hitting Bodhi who ducked low. ‘Who cares for provincial languages; we’re all Alogostanis around here.’

The ducking Bodhi stayed down, looking at Alwana’s skirt. Elam looked down too. Mr. Blue’s right hand had disappeared under her skirt, and was engaged in caressing but suspicious movements. Elam felt his face flush and would have hit Mr. Blue’s hand, except that he suddenly realized he could end up hitting Alwana between the legs too.

‘Normal mode, Alwana. We’re leaving,’ Bodhi said in Sayabi.

Alwana lost her glare and laughed. ‘Don’t ever do that, migs. In the here and now, you are a child. Don’t worry; all of us have had experience with drunks being rude to us. For some reason female Veteran avatars are magnets for them. But we’ve been around for 40 years in this place and Father has written us a few new programs in case such things happen. I went to auto mode if you’re wondering what happened. Many drunks soon get sleepy if you act like a dead pillow and stop. If he had become more aggressive or violent, my programming would have caused me to go to normal mode again, and I would have just gotten up and left, as we did.’

Elam stared at her in disbelief. ‘So you didn’t feel anything?’

‘We feel and sense normally even in auto and freeze modes but in a detached and dispassionate manner. I felt just what a normal girl feels, but without any emotional baggage attached. Asleep yet conscious. Like I am watching from my eyes, hearing with my ears, feeling with my body, yet I’m not in my body. In this state, I can feel pain or pleasure but be totally unbothered and unaffected by them if I choose to.’

‘Why didn’t you just hit him when you woke up?’

‘Are you joking? I might have killed him if I did. That’s precisely why Father installed those new behavioral programs in us. Aya managed to do that 40 years ago. All she did was to gently slap the face of a drunk away from her, and it caved right into his brain. She went into freeze mode for a week, and Father was nearly executed for creating a rogue avatar. Fortunately for Aya, it wasn’t intentional, or she would have self destructed. Father had to do a lot of explaining to the WDF that it was purely an accident. Since then when such things happen, we just go to auto mode in order to prevent us from reflexively hitting at the offenders, and inadvertently killing them. It’s not us who are in danger; it’s the drunks. If it worsens we go back to normal mode and just get up and leave. Drunks are pretty harmless in a fight, and trip over if they try to run after you. It doesn’t bother us.’

‘They didn’t know that you are avatars?’ he asked.

‘Other avatars they do recognize because they act like robots. But not us Veteran House avatars from the Great Dark Shift. We react as humans do.’ Bodhi answered.

Indeed they did. Elam kept his silence. He noticed that the avatars were genuinely angry, and somehow hurt.

Prof arrived. They did not tell him anything about the incident. Next stop was the FM radio station. Prof led them up an elevator to the top floor.

‘The House has a one hour radio program named ‘Bugtaw Na’, Wake Up. Usual topic is a report on darkquakes and missions, most of which are our own, and a rehash of what I get from communication from WDF. This attracts listeners. Then Alwana and Bodhi take over, teaching the Sayabi language and talking about Sayabi culture. It’s the only Sayabi language radio program in the world. I have to pay 15,000 pesos a month to the station for this program, plus another monthly 50,000 pesos as poll tax for broadcasting in a non-Alogostani non-Esperanto language.’

They went up a building. On the top floor was the radio station. A DJ welcomed them and turned the mike over to the Professor. He talked about the latest missions and darkling battles. After 15 minutes, Alwana took over, explaining the grammatical rules of the Sayabi language. After 30 minutes, Alwana turned the mike over to Bodhi, who talked about her archaeological finds, and how the pre-Shift Islands civilization might have been like.

Afterwards, they went back down and walked toward their car.

The Professor was saying ‘We used to have two more in the South Eastern Islands, but the local government began levying a 100,000 peso monthly poll tax on non-Alogostani non-Esperanto language programs, thanks to that bill the provincial council passed last year. We would have to give them those two 100,000 peso checks that Maestro Juan gave us for stopping the recent darkquakes just to pay the poll taxes. So we got shut down. I just could not afford it.’

‘Now, I try to be careful that what I say doesn’t irk the Alogostani nationalists here. They could easily lobby to shut this radio program down too. I also avoid offending the Unitemplists. Their more radical sects could try to shut me down by shooting me, as what happened in the morning that you occurred.’

Alarm bells rang in Elam’s mind.

Alwana, who was in front of them, spread her wings. She flexed her right wing medially across her front, and extended her left wing laterally, forming a golden shield more than twice her body’s width that totally covered her front, and Prof and Elam behind her.

There was a huge explosion. Next instant, Elam found himself sitting on the concrete parking lot. The blast had dazed him but Elam did not lose consciousness. His long sleeved coat protected his arms from small pieces of flying metal and concrete that had managed to pass Alwana. He looked around. Astonishingly Prof was sitting up awake beside him. The three avatars had moved to a triangular formation around them, wings in shield position in front of them.

‘Don’t get up yet. Wait for Oisa to give the go signal. There could be a follow up attack.’ Elam was amazed at how calm Prof was.

Suddenly Alwana jumped 3 meters to her left; a blue mono espada jutted out of her wrist. There was a metallic ping as a bullet meant for the Professor bounced off her bladed stick.

Two more pings, then a staccato of automatic fire. By then Alwana had positioned herself between the Professor and the shooter, wings once again forming a shield. Oisa and Bodhi had not budged from their positions, anticipating secondary shooters.

The shooter used up his magazine. There were several seconds of silence. The Oisa spoke. ‘Father, I am going to carry you. Bodhi, carry Elam. Alwana, cover for us. On the count of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Blurs of yellow and blue. Elam suddenly found Bodhi crouched beside him. She folded her wings over his entire body and gently lifted him up. Oisa was doing the same for the Professor. Alwana stayed in her position, swaying side to side, trying to cover any possible incoming bullet. Then all three avatars took off into the air. They flew straight up high and then began flying toward the Shield. Elam saw that Alwana was speaking into her wrist tabcom. The houses and buildings below them had turned into miniature toys. Elam understood that they were trying to avoid follow up fire by flying high. As they approached the port, Elam saw that his room’s capsule had retracted at the top creating a hole around the central stair case. The avatars flew down and landed on his room. The aperture above closed immediately.

Oisa immediately went down the staircase carrying the Professor, followed by Alwana. Bodhi laid him on his bed. After a minute, her tabcom rang.

‘Everything alright?’ It was Captain Sugo.

‘Huo, Elam’s fine. How about Father? ‘

He’s lying down on his bed in his deluxe eletrain, attended by Oisa and Alwana. He’s fine. They’re talking to each other. Talk to you later, Father’s signaling me.’

‘How about you Bodhi? Are you alright?’ Elam asked.

‘I’m undamaged. Don’t be fooled by the soft feathers. Ours wings are as tough as the skin of High Demon Kings. You better get some sleep. You’re trembling.

Elm woke up to an alarm from the table computer. He was alone. The shades had been closed, turning the attic opaque. He glanced at his tabcom. 7pm. There was a message on it.

‘Dinner 8 pm at the Café Pahuway.’

He took a bath inside the little bathroom. Inside the clothes drawer, he found clothes that fitted him. He began to dial Bodhi’s number in his tabcom, but then decided the reason why she was not around to babysit him is that she was expecting him to operate the eletrain himself. He typed several commands on the table computer. An opening appeared on the right side of the attic, into an eletrain. He got in.

On the eletrain’s holographic control panel, he typed Café Pahuway. Three numbers appeared on the small monitor. Bodhi taught him that they represented a three dimensional coordinate system for the whole ship. He could just type the coordinates, and the eletrain would automatically take him there, or use the joystick for manual control. His wrist tabcom showed 7:30 pm. He typed in the coordinates.

The eletrain took off. To his surprise instead of descending straight down the side of the tower, it slid off at a sloping angle. Then he saw it was riding along a translucent transport tube that ran from the top of the central staircase jutting above his room to one of the four shorter towers on each of the ship’s corner, to the one on the starboard side of the stern.

The top of the right stern tower turned out to be a restaurant. He joined Oisa, Bodhi, and Alwana on a table.

Bodhi smiled at him. ‘Maayo. Good. You operated the eletrain yourself.’ The avatars and Elam began discussing the hot issue- what happened in radio station.

The Professor’s deluxe eletrain arrived. He exited, accompanied by the pretty avatar who had met them the first time he came on board the Balanghay. She was dressed in the same office uniform, short blue skirt, blue blazer, yellow button shirt with the tag ‘Avatar Ihap, C.P.A.’ on the left breast pocket. Her hair was set in an elaborate and elegant coiffure by a long blue hairpin. [The ends of the hairpin look so sharp and pointed.] She gave them an asian bow, and they bowed back.

‘Kamusta. How are you Ihap?’ Alwana greeted her.

‘I’m OK. You did not attend last week’s ping-pong tournament. I won!’

‘To give others a chance to win,’ Alwana smugly said.

‘Only because I did not attend myself,’ Oisa added.

‘OK let’s eat and go to pressing business matters first,’ Prof interrupted, rolling up his eyes. ‘Ping-pong can wait until next weekend tournament.’

An elderly man in a chef’s double-breasted jacket and narrow-brimmed hat with the name tag ‘Chef Luto’ and four younger looking Waiter avatars came up from the kitchen area, carrying trays of rice, fish, prawn, and a steamy vegetable soup. [He was with Ihap too when I boarded.]

‘Salamat. Thank you Luto.’

‘Waay sapayan. You’re welcome Father.’

They all dived into the food.

‘You did not eat at all in the Buhi police station,’ Elam remarked.

‘Huo. We had some energy then, but now we’ve given most of it to Aya. I’m starved,’ Oisa explained.

During dessert, Prof asked, ‘OK Ihap. What’s the problem?’

Ihap nervously swallowed a bite of banana.

‘Hmm, we’ve been on negative budget since the Dialogue at the Governor’s Office in South Eastern Islands. Our minivan that the terrorists blew up costs 2 million pesos. I have already spent 2 million pesos paying off local officials and VIPs just so we could hold that Dialogue in the Governor’s Office. Last week I spent 3 million in order to buy off the provincial board council to choose Father as the representative of North Eastern Islands in the Senate Hearing on Devolvement next week in Tunga Capitol City. Before that, I had to grease off the Senators with 5 million pesos in order to include the topic of Devolvement in the Hearing. We already owe the Provincial Bank of North Eastern Islands a hundred million pesos, and the interest just keeps on piling up. We have unpaid loans from other Banks worth another hundred million pesos.’

‘We barely make 500,000 pesos a month, assuming we do get the bounties for two or three battle missions and get to retain our transportation allowances. So far, we’ve been lucky this month. We did get three bounties worth 300,000 for the Anomalous darkquake mission that brought in Elam, and the two in the South Continent. We also earned another 100,000 from our retained transportation allowance, thanks to the Wings feeding the Rowers energy taken directly from slain darklings, instead of Bugu coins. Fortunately the income from the WDF is tax free. In addition we sold another 100,000 pesos worth of antique furniture from the Shield’s hotel rooms. The Central Government of Alogostan levies 15% income tax on this and 12% value added tax, so we only net 73,000 on this. All these are still way too low to balance my budget. The interests alone will eat them up.’

‘Father we may need to sell another one of our memorabilia pieces from the Dark War.’

Elam interjected ‘Ambot! I don’t get it. Why do people pay 2 million pesos for a minivan, but only a hundred thousand pesos to stop a quake that can destroy all of humanity? ’

‘Market forces,’ Bodhi replied. ‘Historically there’s always been a glut of Maestros, with every Southerner child and fanatical anti-Prophesy cult member wanting to be one, but not minivans. Maestros are more expendable than minivans.’

Everyone was looking pretty glum.

After a minute of silence, the Professor spoke up.

‘I am going to sell the banner of the Sun and Sky that we used during the Battle of the Spear. Don Grande, the owner of Dalokistan Agro-Indus Biz Corporation has already written me several times that his company is willing to pay at least 200 million pesos for it. It would pay off most of our our debts.

‘Father!’ Oisa shrieked. She looked totally stricken.

There was a heavy silence. Then Oisa said ‘Father, may I be excused? I just have to go to the bathroom.’

‘Huo, iha.’

Oisa left hurriedly. Elam thought he saw tears in her eyes.

‘Poor Oisa,’ Elam could not help saying. ‘What’s wrong with her?’

A bell signaled the arrival of another eletrain. A yellow haired avatar with matinee idol good looks, narrow waist and broad shoulders, and a perfectly proportioned body climbed out. He was dressed in tight jeans and fitting T shirt, showing off well-defined quadriceps, pectorals, and an 8 pack rectus abdominis.

He looked nervous and approached the table hesitantly.

‘What’s the matter Tukib,’ Prof asked. He gestured to Elam. ‘Tukib is one of our House’s.. hmm.. researchers.’

Tukib bowed and sat down on an empty chair on the round table.

‘Father, hhmm,’ he stuttered.

‘Well what? Speak up Tukib.’

‘I think I know who was responsible for the security leak that allowed that armed terrorist to infiltrate the Dialogue in the Governor’s Office.’

‘Well, who Tukib?’

‘Hhmm, Governor Tiko.’

‘What!’

Tukib looked a little embarrassed. ‘I’ve cultured a relation with Governor Tiko’s head Secretary. She’s a divorcee. After the incident, I requested of her a list of people blacklisted from the Governor’s office. I said that it would help us avoid mingling with more terrorists. She just texted me the list an hour ago. One of the names is that of a man named Pusil, your shooter. I found out from other sources that he was an ex member of the main Unitemple in Buhi City, expelled for openly advocating terrorism. From a contact in the Governor’s security service, who happens to be an internet chess buddy of mine, I obtained a list of the people that Tiko personally approved of and allowed to attend the Dialogue. Pusil’s name was there. Oisa heard the number of bullets that Pusil fired at you. He emptied his magazine on you. So he was basically defenseless when he got shot and killed by the head of Tiko’s security. They eliminated a loose end. Oh here’s Oisa.’

Oisa was walking back from the bathroom. She eyed him suspiciously. ‘What are you doing here Tukib?’

‘Oisa, in your professional opinion, did Pusil, Father’s shooter, empty his magazine?’

‘Huo. Of course. How many times do we have to go through this?’

They finished dessert. Oisa suddenly spoke to Tukib. ‘Didn’t you tell me that Pusil’s sect is based in Iladistan, and that there’s a WDF bounty of 50 million pesos for their leader?’

‘Yes. WDF suspects their particular anti Prophesy sect has been involved in forbidden experiments involving dark energy. They believe in the principle of using fire to fight fire, in this case using dark energy to fight the demons as they call all darklings. Naturally the WDF began investigating them when it found out. The details are vague but the WDF decided that they have gone too far, and ordered the Iladistani theocracy to declare them illegal, which opens the way to bounty hunting them. The WDF commanded that the Iladistani National Government itself would pay the bounties, as a kind of punishment for allowing such sects to flourish inside its National territory. All the next lower tier leaders also have bounties, not only the head. Total bounties for all of them is approximately 200 million pesos. Not surprisingly, the Iladistani clerical authorities are not hunting them at all since they fundamentally share the same beliefs, but at the same time they are not stopping the activities of bounty hunters, including foreign ones, who are out to get them. If it can be proven that the Iladistani authorities are obstructing the hunt, the WDF can legally forcibly change their regime, and arrest and execute the high clerics for treason to Tera.’

‘So why don’t we hunt them? Father is an accredited bounty hunter of the WDF. Theoretically he could hunt human criminals wanted by the WDF. We don’t have to kill them or harm them personally.’

‘Oisa, you can’t hunt and arrest a human because there is intent to harm. Our programming forbids it,’ Alwana interrupted.

‘I know. But Father and Elam could. All we do is act as security guards and information gatherers.’

Everyone again began talking. Oisa was still constantly wiping her eyes and the Professor was still looking at her sadly.

‘OK we’ll do it,’ Prof suddenly announced. ‘And stop sniffling your nose Oisa. I am not selling the Banner.’

Oisa jumped up from her seat. ‘Oh Father, salamat gyd. Thank you very much.’

‘Ahem.’ Tukib was up in front of the little gathering in the Command Tower and gave an asian bow.

‘The sect or cult we are targeting is called Righteous Fire. Its leader is Guba, formerly a high Amo cleric of the mainline Unitemple. Righteous Fire began as part of the Iladistan mainline Unitemple. Approximately 10 years ago, it was purposefully but secretly split off from the mainline Unitemple, and given the specific task of stirring up an insurgency in the Iladistan-Alogostan border against the Alogostani government. The present low intensity conflict on the border in fact is being carried out by many Alogostani citizens who have converted to Unitemplism and have been recruited by Righteous Fire. It is now one of the fastest growing cults of Unitemplism.

‘Two years ago, the WDF detected an artificially triggered darkquake on the Iladistan border city of Ngit-ngit, the second largest city in Iladistan, located at the west side of the mouth of Sanag River, across the Alogostani city of Sanag. It was ascertained by WDF intelligence agents that Guba carried out a forbidden ritual wherein he attempted to summon a Bound Demon King into Tera. If successful, he was planning to summon an army of bound Demon Kings, and use them to destroy all Bugu coin Mints, Maestros, and avatars, and also in the process convert everyone in the world to Unitemplism, after which he would de-occur the Demon Kings by unbinding them at the edge of a rigidly defined Tela tear.

‘What an utter idiot!’ Oisa exclaimed. ‘Doesn’t he know that Demon Kings are next to impossible to control? Even if he succeeds, who’s going to calm the next darkquake if there are no more Maestros and avatars left?’

Tukib shrugged. ‘Veterans of the Dark War, like us, know that Oisa; but that was 400 years ago, and the present generation of humans have forgotten.’

‘To continue, the artificial darkquake began as a Decimal, but then grew to magnitude 1 when Guba lost control of it. That triggered WDF detector stations. WDF as per protocol informed its accredited Maestro bounty hunters, who neutralized the quake and the low Dan darklings it brought. The Maestros found a Bounded Pentagon, inside of which a Demon King was still held. The King claimed that only Guba commanded it because it was he who summoned it. Fortunately the King was still bound to the Pentagon, and the Maestros did a simple Impulsion of Passage to transport the King back to the Realms of Darkness. If the Demon King gotten loose in an overpopulated city, hundreds of thousands could have been killed.

‘In the subsequent WDF clamp down, the Iladistani government was forced to ban the Righteous Fire sect. However, nearly all of its leaders and ideologues successfully went underground, mainly thanks to their close links with said government.’

‘Unfortunately, we know next to nothing of the Righteous Fire organization, of its leaders and ideologues, except that it is still based in Ngit-ngit city.’

‘In brief we need more information. Although we are regarded as citizens of Alogostan, as avatars we aren’t allowed to apply for any visa because we are regarded as property of our Maestro, similar in status to slaves in the few Nation-States that practice slavery. In traveling between Nations, it’s our Maestro that applies for a visa and his avatars just tag along as personal baggage. However, Tahum and I are planning to go to Ngit-Ngit, posing as an Alogostani man seeking a good bride price for his adopted daughter. By tradition no one will question.’

‘After we get more info, then we can make more detailed plans on targeting Guba and the Righteous Fire leadership.

The Professor shifted on his seat. ‘That means I have to stay in Sanag City across Ngit-ngit. Just to make sure.’

‘What for, manong?’ Elam asked.

‘Iladistani social norms require a man to pay a bride price to the families of the girls he wants to marry, of which there is no limit to numbers if the girls originally are infidels. It’s well known that impoverished Alogostani families often sell their daughters to middlemen who temporary adopt the girls; then they in turn sell the girls to rich Iladistani clients for a profit. The Iladistani clerical authorities turn a blind eye to the illegal visa-less presence of Alogostani middlemen selling their adopted daughters for a bride price inside Iladistan along the borders. From their point of view, the daughters represent more converts to Unitemplism because all sold brides are converted by force. Tukib can pose as my adopted father looking for a high bride price for me. This strategy has an intrinsic advantage with regard to Righteous Fire members. The cult requires a male member to convert at least one infidel to Unitemplism before he can enter a demon-free paradise. The easiest way is to buy a bride along the Alogostan border.’

‘I can marry an Iladistani Righteous Fire member, and so infiltrate the organization.’

‘Tahum, that can be dangerous for you! What if your husband whisks you far away from the border for any reason?’

‘It’s a small risk Father. I can simply escape into Tukib’s boat, which can cross back to Alogostan anytime.’

‘But you’re being sold!’ Elam blurted out.

Tahum laughed. ‘It’s alright, pang-ga my love. It’s just a little spy game. As soon as I get some info, I’m going to escape back to Tukib’s boat.’

‘You’re spies?’

‘Yes pang-ga. Tukib and I were designed for that purpose.’

Elam was playing ping-pong with Lupad on Tahum’s front lawn in the hanging gardens. Tahum sat by the ping-pong table keeping score. There was nothing else better to do. This time the police insisted that only the Professor go with them. Left alone in the Balanghay he had decided to get to know the avatars better.

Half-way the first set, other Dark War Veterans began arriving. Not by eletrains but by walking on the walkways that connected the different houses in the hanging gardens. Someone set up a volleyball net on the other side of the lawn. After Lupad had blanked him 21-4 and 21-8, Elam settled on the side of the makeshift volleyball court and cheered along with the rest of the avatars. Luto, Sugo, and Alwana had teamed up vs. Lupad, Tukib, and Bodhi. Elam was at first surprised that the elderly Luto would still play volleyball, but it turned out that he just looked old. He was as sprightly and as quick as the other avatars.

‘How did your Father make you?’ he asked Henloa, Tenloa, and Limpyoha beside him, the Shield’s majordomos. They managed the day to day schedules and nitty-gritty details of the Household, and commanded the Cleaners and some of the Mechanics. They had bluish indigo hair, cream-white skin tinged with the faintest of cyan, blue-green irises, and faintly icteric sclerae. All were dressed in what seemed to be the favorite apparel of the female Veteran avatars except Ihap, short denim skirt and yellow camisole.

‘No one knows,’ Henloa answered. ‘The Great Dark Shift jumbled all our memories. We just all know that he made us. Avatars always sense their makers. My first memories were of those of the Great Darkling War. They’re disjointed and often do not make sense. Then we reoccurred 40 years ago in modern Tera.’

‘Why do you look and act so real? Most of the avatars in this boat, like Rowers, Cleaners, Mechanics, Waiters act kind of robotic.’

This time it was Tenloa who answered. ‘As far as we know, all of us Veterans of the Dark War possess a human mode. The dragons also have a similar mode that allows them to behave naturally, like flying dinosaurs. When Father turns that on, which he does nearly all the time, we can pass off as humans. We also have an automaton mode and a freeze mode. The avatars Father made in this reoccurrence do not have a human mode.’

‘Come to think of it, all modern-made Teran avatars don’t, although there are rumors of masterless Veterans who have survived from the Dark War because they discovered an overriding purpose for their existence. The art of making us has been forgotten, or maybe shifted out of this reality,’ Henloa added.

‘Do any of you have Wings?’

‘No, only Oisa, Bodhi, Alwana, and Aya,’ Limpyoha said. ‘We do have other combat avatars but they’re the only Wings.’

‘I’m a combat avatar.’ Bantay, the hunky head of the Balanghay’s security team interrupted. He sighed. ‘Most of the time I just act like a glorified security guard, informing Father who’s at the Balanghay’s gates.’

Elam got interested. ‘Do you have any ingrown weapons?’

Bantay smiled. A mace studded with evil-looking spikes sprang out of his left hand, a long sword out of his right. He was suddenly garbed in a lamellar armor covered by blue and yellow plates and an ornate helmet, weirdly underlying his security guard’s uniform.

Elam stared at him. ‘You look like a Knight of the Round Table crossed with a samurai!’

‘You mean the pre-Shift northern Alogostani and Dalokostani human warrior caste? I suppose so. What’s a Knight of the Round Table?’

‘I don’t know either,’ Elam admitted. ‘Just a memory. But you look like one.’

‘Yeah that’s me, a noble Knight, out to defend our Home Boat singlehandedly!’

Bantay answered in an irritated voice. ‘Huo, but I’m the assigned guardian of the Balanghay, not you, Pana. You just make rounds around the peripheral towers watching whales and seabirds.’ They began to argue.

‘When we first reoccurred in modern Tera, they were supposed to rotate on the job of Security. Father noticed that visitors and would-be thieves tended to show more respect to muscleman Bantay, than to baby-faced doll Pana, and decided to keep Bantay on the job permanently. That left Pana doing much of nothing. That irks her to the bone. Pana was one of the very few Salig Commando avatars in the Dark War. They were the elite special forces of the Anachronista Army, unbelievably strong, fast and accurate, the only species of non-Wing avatar able to destroy Demon Princes in single combat, and a match for the Low Demon Kings. Maestros deployed them for all kinds of special and dangerous missions, especially covert ones that involved assassination and sabotage. Now she has to play second fiddle to Bantay. She’s been bitching about it for 40 years.’ A well-built man spoke quietly on his left, Bugsay, head of the rowers.

‘For Pana, it’s an almost intolerable affront, in spite of the fact that she perfectly understands that in a post Dark War era, the job of head of security suits Bantay better than her. I can understand why she’s so resentful.’ Another avatar beside Bugsay spoke up, Boylo, the ship’s Reactor Plant Engineer. ‘Bugsay and I were originally assigned to the same job, maintaining the outrigger engines. Initially Bugsay was assigned to the left outrigger, and I to the right. With the installment of the eletrain, it soon became apparent that only one Chief Rower was needed because we could easily reach the other outrigger in a few seconds via eletrain. One of us had become superfluous. So Father enrolled me in a Power Plant Technician’s course. I now run our Balanghay’s Reactor Plant. Turned out I like my new job, so all’s well that ends well. Husay here, another Engineer avatar, runs the ship’s various machineries and equipment, and most of the Mechanics. He’s the one who installed your attic’s bathroom and the eletrains after Alwana designed them. Koryen is another Engineer; Father enrolled him in a course of modern Electrical Engineering, and he now helps me in the Reactor’s electric generator, and supervises all things electrical in the ship. So every Veteran has a job, except Pana. She insisted on a job and in the end Father assigned her to making rounds around the towers looking for any approaching trouble.’

Elam glanced at the four Engineers of the Household, sitting around the volleyball game. They looked so much alike, all husky blue heads with almost indistinguishable faces, faintly bluish skin and yellow irises. They could have passed off as identical quadruplets. It was easy to believe that they came out of the same factory and were designed for exactly the same job.

‘Pana looks about Elam’s age, just a whole lot fuller and humpier. I’d bet those Righteous Fire fanatics would like her as a child bride,’ Oisa who had been silently watching the volleyball game behind them suddenly spoke up.

Tahum perked up. ‘Nice idea Oisa; maybe we should take her along with us. I’ve been searching the internet for unusual phenomenon in Ngit-ngit. There have been a flood of reports of preternatural creatures, which is quite unusual for a city in a theocratic nation-state. The official religious stand is that they don’t exist. They could represent more Righteous Fire experiments that went wrong. Tukib and I would be as useless as an ordinary human against such creatures, but Pana should be able to handle them and even most of the winged darklings. I remember her shooting many of them down in the War.’

Bantay who was looking at his tabcom, suddenly began swearing. ‘@#$%! Father has been arrested for conspiracy to bomb the Pahayag radio station!’

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Captain Sugo looked at his tabcom. ‘His last message says that the bail is 10,000 pesos. Boylo, get some Bugus worth that amount from the Reactor.’ He eyed Elam. ‘Under Alogostan law, only humans can pay the bail. You’ll have to get him, Elam.’

Oisa stood up. She looked very cross.

‘Let’s go, iho. We need to get Father.’

‘Wait,’ Boylo said. ‘I’m giving you some Bugus from the Reactor first, for the bail.’

Elam, the 3 Wings, and Boylo got on an eletrain. Alwana pressed the rapid mode button, and the eletrain zoomed into the Reactor Plant in the ship’s midsection at the lowermost level. Boylo got into his office and returned with ten pieces of Bugu coins denominated 1000 pesos each, from the transportation allowance Maestro Juan had given them in Fuego. He placed them in a coin purse and gave it to Elam. They took the eletrain up to the Garage. Bantay was waiting for them with another minivan. He opened the back landing ramp. Alwana drove them out and into Amihan port.

She drove expertly through the traffic. The police station was located further inland, and they had to pass through four stop lights. In each one of them, street children would knock on their windows, begging for change. Elam noted that the avatars did not give them any. Bodhi explained, ‘Giving them coins teaches them to be parasites for life. As they grow older, the boys graduate from begging to stealing, and then to assault and robbery; the few girls you see among them become street hookers, if they still are not. Each coin you give will be spent by them gambling or buying drugs. I’d rather give them food.’

The bite of a chill wind struck Elam’s face as they hurried toward the Amihan central police station. Inside, Oisa asked the station chief about the procedure for paying the bail.

‘See we already have the bail. Give it to him Elam.’

Elam placed the purse politely on the Police Captain’s desk.

‘I’m sorry son. There are procedures for bail placement. I will have to check if an Anachronista child can legally post bail.’

‘You’re stonewalling,’ Alwana blurted out.

Elam rolled up his eyes. No wonder Prof would place them on auto mode outside the House Boat,

‘Now look young.. err.. lady,’ the Police Captain began.

‘No need for that Captain.’ Lili unexpectedly strode into the Captain’s office. ‘I’m Maestra Lili, MDE, currently DATA special agent grade 5.’

‘On what grounds? Do you have a court order or administrative command?’ The police Captain looked miffed.

‘There’s a magnitude Decimal 0.5 darkquake ongoing on in Sanag City. According to World Defense Force rules, an artificial quake of low magnitude is primarily the responsibility of the Nation in which it occurs, as most of them are caused by malfunctioning DarkAI Bugus in the Nation’s Reactors. We have grounds to suspect that this particular darkquake may have been caused by illegal terrorist activities. As an officer of the Department of Anti-Terrorism Affairs, I am acquisitioning him for the operation on this darkquake and others like it that we are anticipating to occur in the next few weeks.’

She showed the Captain her badge and ID, and pressed it onto his table computer. A message flashed on the holographic monitor above the table, along with Lili’s picture. ‘Identity confirmed. Maestra Lili, M.D.E. Order of the Autumn Sea, Department of Anti-Terrorism Affairs Officer grade 5.’

The Captain frowned. ‘OK I will inform him.’

They waited in the lobby. The Professor, escorted by the Captain, soon came out of the prisoners’ area.

Prof was in no mood for talking. ‘Auto mode. Let’s go.’ He ignored Lili completely. They marched out of the police station, Alwana leading them to their minivan. The avatars remained silent as lovely ambulatory marionettes. They got into the car.

‘Wait! Duro, please.’

Prof turned toward Lili. ‘I have no intention of charging into every little Decimal darkquake in Alogostan Lili. You’re going to sabotage my participation in the Senate Hearing on Devolvement next week aren’t you, by bouncing me around all these little quakes in the next few weeks?’

‘Duro it’s not that. Honestly, I did not even know about the Senate Hearing; I’ve been quite busy with other matters, especially this new threat from the Unitemple sects, which we believe is quite genuine. ’

‘You’ve acquisitioned me. I was taken off the custody and jurisdiction of the local police, and into DATA’s. Acquisitioning of humans requires voluntary consent that can be withdrawn anytime. I have consented for 5 minutes, I am now withdrawing it. I am now legally free. Bye.’

‘Duro, please listen! I did this also because there are darklings there. I can authorize you as first battle master. The Wings can absorb their energy and transfer it to Aya.’

Prof stopped. He closed his eyes. After half a minute, he opened them and said ‘Very well, Lili, get in the car. Send all info about that quake into my tabcom. We’re going to Sanag in the Shield, not in your Movka, and we are going to slay those darklings my way. You will acquisition anything I need for this mission. Understand?’

‘Huo, Guru Duro.’

Alwana in auto mode drove them silently back to the Shield. Prof sat rigidly in the front passenger seat. Elam, Oisa, Bodhi, in the middle row seats. Lili had scurried over the rearmost back row and was assiduously studying the vendors and street kids outside her window. It’s freezing in here, Elam thought.

Bantay had already lowered the landing ramp when they arrived. Alwana drove the car straight in.

They got off the car. ‘Normal mode,’ Prof said.