Vanya's Journal: The RevelationThis is a journal. It is bound in giant emu leather. You vaguely recall Count Splint's attachment to the birds, and find it somewhat amusing that someone would use them in this manner. On the cover of the journal is a five-pointed star in gold leaf. As you remember, the dwarves found very little gold beneath Spearbreakers, and you marvel at how Mr Frog apparently thought Vanya merited such a gift. The previous entry puts things in a new light... Perhaps Mr Frog felt a certain "kinship" with Vanya... after all, both are far from home, and alone in their species. Each has something they're running from, and each has done something they regret. You begin to wonder just what Mr Frog felt for the young elven maiden... I lay on the bed by Mr Frog, listening to him repeat things softly in my ear as the drugs took effect... I'd always been skeptical of hypnosis, but... everything seemed to be fading. My last thought was that maybe there was something to it after all.
__________
A door exploded inwards through the white-tiled room, leaving deep gashes in the huge red-and white Parasol emblem on the floor as it careened down a far-reaching hallway. A squad of Ballpoint soldiers rushed in through the breach, fanning out and securing the perimeter of the lobby. The area was oddly empty, given how its wide-open expanse seemed to suggest it had been built for potential crowds. As the soldiers scanned the area, a receptionist ducked behind a smooth, shiny desk of black marble, about to call for reinforcements, but he wasn't fast enough - a railgun round ripped through the barrier of stone, flinging the man into the wall. The man never knew what hit him - his limbs flew everywhere, spilling blood in artful arcs as they pirouetted through the air.
"Get them in here!" the commander shouted, opening the visor on his dark-gray helmet and revealing a battle-scarred face. "We don't have much time to do this - that battle down at engineering will only keep so many of those Parasol bastards occupied! They're a distraction, not our protection!"
Behind him, two soldiers rushed in, leading two young girls who were bound at the wrists. Their ages appeared to be around 14 and 17, and they were clearly terrified. "Let us go, please!" the older one cried, tugging uselessly at her captors. "We haven't done anything!"
"Shut them up," the commander ordered, and the girls received firm cuffs to the head. "Gently, you idiots!" the man roared. "Intelligence claims they need to be conscious during the operation! I want them unharmed! Where the fuck is Intel, anyway?"
"Here, Commander Raza!" a man yelled, panting as he ran towards them down a side hallway. He was wearing a white Parasol uniform, but he held up a blue Ballpoint shoulder patch as he ran. "Dark Agent Jensky, reporting for -"
"Shut up, soldier, and get in line!" Raza growled. "Where's the room?"
"This way, sir."
Raza began spouting orders. "You two, bring the girls. Up-top wants this done quick. The rest of you, protect them, delta-bravo initiative. We'll likely be encountering heavy fire as we go, so expect the worst. Snipe any cameras you see with your lasguns, and let's
MOVE!"
As one, the squad filed back into formation. The younger of the two girls whimpered as the soldiers dragged her forwards. She could hardly keep up.
"It'll be okay," the older one promised her, just above a whisper. "Just stay calm. We'll be fine." Her quavering voice belied her true feelings on the matter.
"I don't wanna die!" the younger girl whimpered, in tears. "I don't wanna die!"
The older girl looked wistfully at the other as they jogged along, and then her bound hands, as if wishing she could put her arms around her and comfort her.
The scene dissolves in a bright-white flash of light. Gunfire erupted from a hallway on the left, and the girls found themselves pulled roughly to the ground.
A Parasol squad had lain in waiting as the Ballpoint team had progressed, and had caught them by surprise. Two Ballpoint soldiers fell, their brains and organs splattered on the walls. "COVER, MOVE!" Raza yelled, jumping back after firing a few well-placed rounds into Parasol skulls. The Ballpoint team regrouped behind the corner. As the older girls watched, Raza gave several hand motions, which the soldiers seemed to understand. As one force, they leapt around the corner, sprinting forwards as bullets flew from the muzzles of their guns, the gap narrowing quickly from ten feet to one. Raza reached the enemy and sliced through two of their helmets with his buzzsaw bayonet, blood splashing againt the insides of their visors as the soldiers fell dead to the floor. Behind them, the two girls lay on the floor, staring in wide-eyed horror at the dead soldiers. Neither of them could remember having seen battle before.
"Get them up. Renson, Famar, take them. Jensky, how far are we now?" Raza barked out as he returned, warm blood still spattered across his armor. His crew answered promptly, and the little entourage continued down the spotless corridors of Parasol. "We're going to need backup..." the commander muttered. He considered the whole operation foolhardy and pointless, but he wasn't about to disrespect his superiors. Bad things happened to disobedient soldiers... usually either executions or exile, and sometimes both. He'd heard the tales - scientists placed in the middle of their own deadly experiments as punishment. At Ballpoint, such things as alcohol and drug abuse were enough to merit death. He knew better than to disobey orders.
The scene dissolves in a bright-white flash of light. "Here it is," said Jensky, holding a fake eye up to a retinal scanner. A door beside it opened with a whish.
Commander Jensky held up his hand. "Quiet," he ordered. Everyone listened, and they soon heard the telltale sounds of footsteps. How the commander's ears were so sharp, the rest of his squad had no idea. Soon he was working a battle plan, this time in quieter undertones. "Jensky, get those girls in there. The rest of you, take up defensive positions. You three, set up the plasmid generators, we're going to need some cover. I'm estimating twenty... thirty enemy units, two lines, light weapons. B-model battlesuits, slight wear. I doubt they'll have anything heavier than an assault rifle, so explosives shouldn't be a problem. Now
move!" This last was uttered quietly, but with great emphasis, and the soldiers hurried about their tasks, setting up devices that created low, translucent, bluish walls of light that shimmered with contained energy. The soldiers took cover, crouching against the blue walls and aiming their weapons in the direction Raza indicated.
Jensky did as asked, roughly pulling the girls into the darkened room and closing the door until it touched. A row of chairs sat lined against a console, and through a sloped window, they could see a brightly lit, white-walled room lined with machinery, and a sloped operating table.
But Jensky didn't seem to care about any of this. He led the younger girl down the steps and into the operating room, and then locked the glass door behind her, turning to the eldest with narrowed eyes. "Vanya Carena..." he muttered, with a grim, wicked, hateful expression. "I've wanted to get my hands on you for the longest time..."
"What?" she asked, starting to back away, but too late - a firm backhand caught her across the cheek. Her head hit the wall with a crack, and she crumpled dizzily to the floor. Behind them, the younger girl started banging with her bound fists and screaming as she watched the other's torment helplessly. Outside the room, gunfire echoed, and bullets ricocheted about the halls as the skirmish commenced.
"You know
exactly what!!" Jensky fumed, walking forwards and towering over his stunned prisoner. "You outright
murdered over a dozen Ballpoint agents, and one of them was
MY WIFE!!!!" With this last word, he sent a well-aimed kick at the girl's chest, knocking the wind out of her. He watched with a hateful sneer as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Please!" she gasped out, holding up her bound hands as if to defend herself. Tears streaked her dirty face. "I don't know what you're talking about -"
A cruel kick to the side of the head interrupted this last, followed by a solid stomp on the girl's fingers. She screamed in pain, and Jensky seemed to enjoy it. "'I don't know what you're talking about'," he mocked in a high-pitched voice, snarling viciously. "You
killed my wife and son, you little fucking bitch! We got it all on camera!"
Vanya rolled over and started to scoot away, trying to get to her feet. The heavy metal stock of a subrailgun caught her squarely in the back, and with a pained moan she fell back to her knees.
"You filthy little bitch..." the man fumed, "
He wasn't even a year old! He couldn't have done a thing to you! And you killed them both!"
Behind them, a little girl pounded relentlessly on the glass door, her screams muffled by the material. "Stop! Stop! Let her go!" she cried, but no one heard her.
"It wasn't me!" Vanya protested, scooting away from her intimidating antagonist. "I didn't do anything! I've never killed anyone! I'd never -" The barrel of Jensky's weapon caught her across the arms, then across the legs as he swung at her with livid, half-aimed strokes.
"That was my
FAMILY, you sick fuck!!" Jensky yelled, his face contorted with rage. "Losa would never hurt
anyone!! She didn't deserve death! And you kicked her back into the pit along with my little baby!!!" The man punched the girl again in the face, then kicked her in the chest, sending her backwards into the wall.
"I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!" she screamed in fear as Jensky approached. Below the hem of her skirt, the painful gash on her leg dripped with blood. She had a nosebleed, and every bone and muscle was sore from the blows. She felt it all.
The soldier ripped her old, grayish beanie from her head, revealing her pointed ears. "I guess that's about what you'd expect from an
elf," he muttered, spitting to the side as he muttered the hateful word. The young woman looked at him in terror, trying desperately to get away. Jensky halted her escape by standing on her bare foot.
"Vanya! Vanya! No! She didn't do anything! Stop!" the little girl screamed from the other side of the door, pounding violently on the glass as she watched the man grab the older girl by the hair and pull her to her feet.
"You have no idea how much pain you've caused me," he growled venomously, his lips twisting in anger as he glared at his captive. Tears spilled from her eyes at the intense pain from her scalp, and she found it too painful to cry out. She was sure that at least one of her ribs was broken from his kicks. Vanya squinted her eyes shut, bracing herself for whatever he was going to do next.
The little girl watched in horror as Jensky aimed the muzzle at her sister's tear-streaked face.
The scene dissolves in a bright-white flash of light. A battle-stained Ballpoint squad stepped gingerly over the body in the middle of the floor as they took positions inside and outside the series of rooms. Raza had arrived just in time, firing a bullet into Jensky's head before he'd had a chance to kill the older of the two captives. "I said they're to be
unharmed!" he yelled. "Where's the medic? Get this girl patched up, and get the little one strapped onto that table! And where the fuck is Kannan?!"
"Right here, sir!" a dwarf said, rushing into the room. Vanya stared at him in surprise - it was Dr. Kannan from Spearbreakers. She recognized him. A return glance from him seemed to imply that he recognized her, too.
Vanya sat quietly as a medic patched her up with technology she'd never even dreamed of before - special salves that seemed to erase pain; odd foaming gels that could patch cuts almost instantly. She turned, looking into the brightly lit room beside her, watching as the soldiers unbound her sister and strapped her onto one of the tables. "What are you doing?!" she screamed, struggling against the medic's grip, trying to get to her feet. "Let her go! Don't hurt her!"
"Vanya!" her sister cried out, tears pooling in her eyes.
The elder sister somehow managed to break free, rushing forwards down the little staircase, headed to her sister's side, but she never reached her.
Raza appeared, growling in annoyance, and taking Vanya by the arm with a grip of steel, he escorted her out of the operating chamber. "Neither of you will get hurt, if you don't resist. Understood?" Without waiting for a response, he turned to his team and singled two of them out. "You two get her situated," he ordered.
"She's my sister!" Vanya said in protest, trying uselessly to pull away from Commander Raza.
"That doesn't matter," someone laughed mockingly from behind. "It won't be long before we take her away. You won't be seeing her again, you little shit."
The commander spun. "Shut up, Renson!" he ordered. "Do your fucking job and quit trying to upset them!"
"Just stay calm!" Vanya called out to the younger girl, twisting around to look back towards her. "I promise I'll find you! Just stay calm, don't give them any reason to hurt you!" The girl on the table started sobbing. "Stay calm, Salaia! Deep breaths. They won't hurt you, they promised!"
"I don't want them to take me away! I don't want to lose you!"
"You'll never lose me!" Vanya cried out, her voice shaking with repressed sobs. "We'll be together again, I promise!"
The glass door between the two sisters closed, the clear material swirling with darkness as the room behind it faded from view.
The scene dissolves in a bright-white flash of light. A girl lay on an operating table under a bright light in a strangely alien room, among technology that seemed to come from beyond the stars. She was scared, but somehow she felt peaceful. Whether it was the shot they’d given her or not, she didn't know. They’d told her she was going to forget her sister; they’d told her she was going to forget many things. As two gray-suited soldiers lowered a device onto her head, she closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could about her sister. She
wouldn't forget, she thought defiantly. She'd never forget. She hadn't seen where they'd taken her, but someday... she
would find her sister again. She was sure of it.
The talk of soldiers echoed through the room, but they were but ghostly voices, only faintly audible, like the whispers of the wind. "Do whatever it takes. Wipe anything in her head it looks like Parasol changed; anything that looks out of place. Wipe anything associated with strong bonds, and that should get her sister. Do it as forcefully as you have to. I don't want to have a mess to clean up after this."
A quiet hum reverberated through her mind and soul. She felt disconnected from the world for a moment, as her mind became clearer, rearranged, separated from itself.
The scene dissolves in a bright-white flash of light.~~~
I bolted upright suddenly in the chair, my vision clearing as if emerging from underwater. I could hear the sounds of machinery in the distance as it echoed down the hallways and through the unyielding stone.
"My sister
was real!" I gasped, staring in shock at Mr Frog. "Her name was Salaia, and she was
real!"
He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "So I heard..." Mr Frog responded. "You described the events very clearly while under hypnosis. You would make a good writer or journalist, if you lived elsewhere."
I thought back over my memories, and suddenly, for the first time - I could remember my sister. In every memory where she'd been, I could see her. No longer was her face mysteriously missing... I could imagine it perfectly: every little detail, from the point of her ears she kept under an old sun hat, to her little nose, her dark hair, and her silver-green eyes that matched mine exactly. "How could I have forgotten her..." I could see it in my mind now - her nimble dancing as she and I fought with daggers in the mountainhome arena - her terrified expression as we moved through Spawn-infested territory. I saw her walking beside me with her possessions as we walked among the other migrants into Spearbreakers, hidden in the rear. I saw her laugh as we ate a stolen meal, I could remember awakening in the middle of the night just to check to see if she was okay.
I could remember her. And she
was real.
"It wasn't your fault that you forgot her," Mr Frog said. "Certain memories of yours were erased, and rather roughly... if it consoles you, you never completely forgot about her. You simply believed she was dead, and in your mind, that explained what had happened. You thought you couldn't recall her because you didn't want to think about her anymore, to save yourself from further pain."
"But where is she now?"
Mr Frog stood from where he sat on his bed and began pacing about the room, scratching his beard thoughtfully. "It would seem to me..." he began, "that they took her on as a spy. They obviously observed you as you killed their friends, and realized that an ally such as yourself would prove useful to them... However, you were already marked by Parasol... so they chose your sister."
Then it dawned on me, and my eyes widened. "Carena..." I whispered.
The old scientist nodded slowly. "Precisely."
I looked back into my mind; saw Ballpoint's Carena standing in the room, talking to Joseph on a PEA. She had pointed ears like mine, as I'd noticed before, and she looked so much like me it was incredible I hadn't thought of it. With the help of Mr Frog's potion, I could remember even the smallest details... ...right down to the golden bracelet on her wrist.
This reminded me of something else. I felt myself thinking back to my mission at Ballpoint, just before I met Halion. A woman was walking down the hallway ahead of me, and I'd followed her.
"Not sure," she'd said.
"Breach in D-Sector. Sounds like there might be heavy casualties." On her arm: a golden bracelet.
I'd been so close to her, and I hadn't even had a clue.
Mr Frog's voice interrupted my thoughts. "This also explains how your combat abilities vanished," he said slowly. "Ballpoint covered it over, but that change required your bracelet to maintain it. When you got came into close proximity of it after a year, it removed them again, but during that previous year the abilities gradually came back to you, thus permitting you to take down the trained soldiers in the halls."
"But why wasn't I able to use them when Jensky was attacking me?"
"Simple," he said, turning away towards the door, his cloak undulating gently. "You weren't trying to fight back."
~~~
I approached Mr Frog later that night. It wasn't something I'd ever done before, as I'd been worried I'd upset him, but this time I really didn't care.
"Mr Frog..." I began hesitantly, watching him intently.
He looked up from his work, surprised, and removed his glasses. "Yes, Vanya? Is there a problem?"
"I want to save my sister."
The gnome nodded, putting his glasses back on and peering over his schematics, making a couple careful notes with his pen. "I had a feeling you would make that request."
"All I have to do is destroy her bracelet, and then her memories will come back eventually." He didn't respond this time, and I tried again. "I
need to save her, sir..." I knew from experience that this last part would agitate him, and I was hoping it would allow me to gain his full attention.
It did. He put his pen down and looked at me carefully. "And
I need my PEA, but you seemed to be incapable of retrieving it throughout your unsuccessful attempts. And don't call me 'sir'. Call me 'Mr Frog'. Not 'Mr. Mr Frog' or 'Sir Mr Frog' and especially not 'Mister'!"
"I know you want your PEA... And I'll get it for you. I promise. Send me again, this time I'll manage it," I said, trying to bargain with him. I didn't have much to go on, but he seemed to be in a good mood - "good mood" meaning "not going to bite my head off immediately".
"If they find you, they will know who you are," he warned. "They will likely kill you."
I swallowed. I'd thought this over before. "I know..." I told him. "But I
have to try. I promised I'd protect her, and I have to get her back. Even... Even if they kill me," I finished quietly. After four years, I knew that my sister was real. I knew for sure who and where she was. I was jubilant that she was real, and that I could remember her, but at the same time, I knew she was in great danger where she was. And I really, really didn't want her to work for Ballpoint.
Mr Frog nodded and turned back to his work. "Very well."
His nonchalant response made me do a double take. "What?" Was it really that easy? "That's it? You'll let me go?"
"Of course. I actually requested that Talvi create a suit for you several months ago, but I decommissioned it when it became clear that Splint was keeping the Ballpoint soldiers around. I commissioned it again earlier today, upon discovering information on your sister's true identity from your recent revelations. I will require that you be content to wait several months until the Ballpoint soldiers evacuate the premises and everything settles down, of course, but -"
He stopped abruptly - I'd leapt forwards and given him a hug, tears of joy in my eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I laughed happily. I hugged him for a few moments, blissfully ignorant of the fact that he really, really didn't appreciate the gesture.
"That's enough of that," Mr Frog said sternly, pushing me away with a gentle hand. "Go back to your room and get some sleep. You have much studying to do tomorrow."
I nodded, and with a final "Thank you!" I started towards my room, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
That night I lay in bed, tasting her name on my tongue. "Her name was Salaia..." I whispered, a loving smile tugging at my lips as I said it. I had a little sister.
I couldn't wait to tell Urist.
☆