A Good Servant Ch. 16

"... and servants like me," Cory spoke softly. "I wish I knew the woman who carried me in her womb."

"Why?" Edgar was a bit intrigued.

Cory shrugged. He could not pinpoint what he was feeling. Regret? It was more than that. "I am part of her, I think, as I stand here in flesh and blood. It's like she's living through me, but I don't know who she is, and she doesn't know who I am. I think, no, I feel ... it's kind of sad."

Edgar seemed to ponder for a bit. "You're quite an interesting individual, Cory. And not only because of your magnificent skull," he added jokingly. "I've never thought about the woman who gave birth to me. There had to be someone right? And she was not just a vessel ..." the scientist felt his breath stopping, all of a sudden. He caught the back of the chair to regain his stability.

Cory hurried to his side. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Edgar furrowed his brow. "I must have eaten too much tonight or something."

Cory shook his head. He felt as he was responsible for the unpleasant switch in conversation. "So, if Lena studies phrenology as a side hobby, what do you do for fun?"

The host's face lit up. "Oh, you'll think it's silly," he waved his hand, but he watched Cory, like he was waiting for a reply.

"Try me," the former servant smiled at his new found friend.

"You won't laugh, alright?" Edgar warned as he gestured for Cory to follow him to the back.

"No worries, I really find all this science stuff fascinated."

They descended on ground level and exited in a small backyard. It was entirely surrounded by stone walls, and only the light of a few lamps made the inside yard visible. In the middle of it, there was something tall and large, covered with a huge piece of cloth.

"It's more like a practical ... thing," Edgar said excitedly, as he grabbed one corner of the cloth. "Ready?" he smiled at his guest, and Cory nodded.

"Wow."

That was the only thing the blond could say, as a strange apparatus appeared in front of his eyes. He had never seen such a thing before. He touched the long, slightly twisted blades and started to move around. A cabin with two places lay on top of the apparatus, and just underneath, a huge engine - something he had learned from Edgar, took almost the entire space. Above the cabin, there were some other blades, and as he examined the machinery, he noticed other similar devices, of various sizes to the side.

"Do you like it?" Edgar rubbed his hands with unhidden satisfaction.

"What is it?" Cory didn't hide his admiration and surprise, either.

"It's a flying machine," Edgar said pompously. "Well, err... I mean, this is what I want it to be."

"Does it fly? You mean, up there, in the sky?" It was Cory's turn to show excitement.

"Technically ... yes. But I've never tried it for more than a few minutes. It makes a lot of noise, and I don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

"Why did you make it?" Cory inquired.

"I don't know ... I found the plans and I started tinkering, and here it is. That, and I have a dream that one day, I will just jump in it and fly over the desert, just like that," Edgar said with something akin to embarrassment in his voice.

"And why don't you do it?" the blond said simply.

Edgar laughed. "And go where? I don't have a plan, although I'd love an adventure."

"Well, it wouldn't be an adventure if you knew your destination, would it?" Cory smiled.

"Good point yet again, Cory," Edgar nodded. "I've never left Aeria, except on very small trips to Bluesilver, from where we get our prime materials. I have no factual knowledge of the outside world, besides what I know from the books."

Edgar covered his flying machine and they walked back inside.

"Edgar, the woman, the one who was before the Trainers, how did she die?" Cory asked.

"No one says she died, because the Trainers say she is just a legend, and therefore, she never lived."

"That is what they say."

"Correct," Edgar said a bit amused. "Are you sure you haven't dreamed of becoming a scientist? You do have a way to doubt things, Cory."

The former servant laughed. "Before coming here, I didn't know what a scientist was. I would like to read more about the woman, if that's alright with you."

"Please be my guest. Since you've already met her, that might lead us to something."

"You don't think I just had a hallucination?" Cory inquired.

"A hallucination showing you the exact representation of something, in this case someone, you've never known before? There must be a scientific explanation for such a coincidence. Since you show no sign of suffering from a mental condition, I have no reason to doubt your words," Edgar concluded.

~A Good Servant~

The messenger remained standing. Edgar fiddled through the contents of the box he had just received from Drena.

"Are you sure this is all?"

The thin man pursed his lips. "Are you accusing me of stealing?"

"No, I am thinking you might have forgotten something."

"Like what?"

Edgar hesitated. He didn't like this new merchant, and he was a cautious individual, as a common personal rule.

"Never mind, it was nothing important."

The merchant left, but Edgar remained thoughtful. When Cory came into the main room, he was still standing there, the small box in his hands.

"Is there something wrong?" Cory asked, seeing the man's change in composure.

"It was not the usual merchant who got me the new shipment from Drena. There was no personal message from Lucas, either."

A cold chill ran down Cory's spine.

"Something is wrong," he murmured.

"Yes, something must be wrong," Edgar added. "Cory, I don't want to frighten you, but I don't think you are still as safe as I thought you were. The merchant didn't see you, but he was looking around, like he was searching for something."

Edgar went to the window and saw the merchant, walking empty handed, to knock on a different door. The person opening the door conversed for a while with him, then the man turned and proceeded to knock on a different door.

"What did you find so far, Cory?"

"About the woman with the lily flower? Just a bit. It's a big book, you know," he complained. "There is a city, west from Aeria, as the map indicates, in the heart of the desert. She may be from there, or so the book says."

"West from here?" Edgar wondered. "Only Tresalt is west from here. The city where the women used for procreation by the Trainers live."

"Do you think she is still there?" Cory wondered.

"That would be impossible, since you saw her in the depths of the Drena mines."

"She could be," Cory said a bit stubbornly.

"How so?" Edgar inquired, visibly puzzled.

"It's hard to explain and the book is difficult to read. It's like she can be in many places in the same time."

"Ubiquitous," Edgar commented.

"What's that?" Cory's eyebrows rose in question.

"Omnipresent, someone who is everywhere in the same time."

"Oh," Cory spoke. "Well, she is definitely not here, and not even in Drena, except the mines, and she wasn't except for that time."

"That's a good argument," Edgar praised him. "But your question is if she is still in Tresalt, right?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"That would be hard to find out. Tresalt is closed for visitors, and only suppliers get there, and leave everything at the gates, because no one should see or talk to the women."

"That's strange. Although, in Drena, it is a well known rule to never openly stare at a woman. They always had those black, long clothes that were covering them from heads to toes. I barely saw one or two, I mean, their faces. They were in a store and wanted to buy something, and they lifted the garments from their faces just a bit so they could talk freely. Their guardians told them to cover right away when they saw me standing there."

"Well, there is no other city west from here, so there is no other lead right now. I would tell you to keep on reading, but I'm afraid we should plan hiding you somehow."

~A Good Servant~

Edgar was curious about what the merchant could be talking about with so many people from Aeria. So he left Cory alone for a bit and went on a short visit to his neighbors.

"The merchant? He wanted to know if something strange happened lately, or if someone new is around," the first neighbor, a known mathematician, offered an answer. "I didn't have anything to tell him. Well, I did try to entice him with my new method on solving third degree equations, but he suddenly had to hurry someplace else. Would you like to hear about it, Edgar?"

"Maybe some other time, my friend," Edgar hurriedly bid his neighbor farewell. Cory was lucky the people in Aeria were so airheaded.

As he went from door to door, he heard about all kinds of new stuff his friends were working on, but, apparently, nobody considered talking about Cory with the merchant. One last piece of information, though, sent shivers down his spine.

"He said the Trainers are bound to make a visit soon. I didn't know they were scheduled for verification," the last person Edgar questioned said.

It could not be a coincidence. Edgar didn't believe in coincidences. Cory was in trouble and so was he.

~A Good Servant~

"Cory, we have no more time. I know you still need to learn about the woman with the lily, but the Trainers are expected over the next days, and they have no reason to do so. I think we need to take a gamble and get you out of here."

"And go where?" Cory demanded, although he had to admit he had felt equally troubled after Edgar had gotten no message from Lucas for a while now.

"I have no idea, but ..." Edgar hurried to one of the huge drawers that made for most of his furniture and extracted an envelope from there. The paper was yellowish and the corners were turned, and Edgar looked at it, scratching his head.

"What is that?" Cory questioned.

"Well, maybe it sounds a bit crazy, but ... since I am no master of escape plans, I think we should try this first," he showed the envelope to the former servant.

On it, a few words had been scribbled, most probably by a nervous hand that had no time to finish each letter.

"Open in case of trouble," Cory read, not without squinting. "What's this?"

"Old Hector gave it to me. He said something strange, like to use this if I ever needed to escape the Trainers. Of course, I laughed it off, telling him why I should need that, but he looked deadly serious and added something like that a day would come and I would be much thankful for his help."

Cory shrugged. "Let's open it then," he concluded, and at Edgar's gesture of encouragement, he tore the envelope. Just a few other words were scribbled inside. "Travel west. Meet Tora."

He stared at Edgar.

"That's it?" the scientist took the paper from his hand and looked at it. "The old man and his pranks ..." he shook his head.

"Well, the book also speaks of going west," Cory gestured to the big book from the table. "I should probably read more. Although it looks like there's not much time."

"I won't work today. I'll call in sick, and stay here to read along with you," Edgar offered.

Both took seats at the table and started reading. Cory rose his eyes a few times, surprised to see how fast Edgar flipped through the pages written in small, tortured letters.

"How come you read so fast?" he asked.

"Oh, some of these pages I've read before. Unfortunately, this method of fast reading doesn't allow the memory to retain much, except for short periods of time. And my mind is enhanced because I've used the sublimation machine so many times," he blushed and squirmed in his place.

"You read fast because of the machine?" Cory pondered.

"Yes, it augments your brain, so you can process information faster. The downside is, of course, that it makes your head explode at some point."

"Can I use it?" Cory asked, a determined look on his face.

"The machine?" Edgar stared at him, confused. "Cory, I don't know, it can be dangerous ... you are not from Aeria, and there is no way of telling ..."

"Do you think I'm too stupid to use it?" Cory demanded on a tone that bore no contradiction.

"No! No, no, Cory, please, it's not like that! Lucas entrusted you to me, I really don't want to do something that could lead to your injury, or worse."

"You are still alive, as is everyone who has used it, so far, and you have used it multiple times. I only need it once, to help me before the Trainers come here."

Edgar pursed his lips in displeasure. He eventually sighed. "Alright, Cory. Let's get you there once the night falls. Maybe you should rest now, so you have the entire night to read through the books."

Cory nodded in agreement. As he rose, Edgar looked at the page he was on.

"I don't remember seeing this here," he pointed at a picture on the page.

"It looks like your flying machine," Cory said.

"How could it be here? I only found a sketch and it was definitely not in this book. This, however, looks like ..." Edgar picked the book and dragged it towards him to see it better. "I cannot believe it ... it's like it's the spitting image of my machine."

"Really?" Cory leaned over the table and placed his hand on the page. When his hand connected with the paper, the apparatus started moving slowly. Frightened, both he and Edgar took a step back.

"What on earth ..." Edgar murmured.

"Have you ever seen anything like that?" Cory asked, slightly aware of how his hands were shaking, trying to find the table so he could hold on it.

"Never," Edgar shook his head very slowly, while his eyes remained glued to the paper. "Do it again," he urged Cory.

"Me?"

"Yes, it doesn't react when I touch it. Touch it now, Cory," Edgar regained his steadiness, the scientist in him winning over his initial surprise.

Reining in his emotion, Cory touched the paper again. The apparatus moved and this time, they looked at the moving picture in front of them. Lines representing desert dunes moved below the apparatus, and slowly, the silhouette of a city appeared in the distance. The picture stilled, and remained like that.

"Touch it again," Edgar frowned.

Cory obeyed, but this time nothing happened.

"That is so strange," the scientist mumbled.

"I really need to read these books," Cory sat again at the table. "I feel like I have to do it. Edgar, is it possible to use the machine now?"

"Well, it's almost lunchtime. Even scientists are taking a break to let food break down into fuel for their brains. There's almost no one on the streets. We could try then."

~A Good Servant~

The building looked damp and gloomy. Cory could barely suppress an unpleasant sensation as he touched the old stones in passing.

"Does the machine really need to be in a place like this?" he asked, mostly rhetorically.

"Well, I guess the Trainers don't want it to be a pleasant experience for neither of us. They probably count on our disgust to come here, to suppress our emotions on our own, before ending up here. There it is, the good old lady, killer of all things nice," Edgar gestured to what looked like an iron throne, fixed with large bolts into the floor.

Despite feeling his heart growing small, Cory stepped up and sat on the ominous chair. Edgar helped him fix what looked like an iron helmet over his head.

"Are you ready?" Edgar asked cautiously.

"Go ahead. There's no going back now," Cory said to himself.

As Edgar pressed a switch just under Cory's hand, a feeling of dread and hopelessness invaded the blond's brain.

Memories of Lucas flooded him, then drew away, like waves on a shore. Lucas's smile, his dark eyes, his warmth started diluting, bright colors washing away in a colorless pool, and Cory saw himself standing on the edge of this endless pool, staring down.

"No," he whispered, "I'm sorry, Lucas."

Edgar took the helmet off his head gingerly.

It was cold, so cold. Cory just grabbed at his own arms, trying hopelessly to cover the imaginary hole opened in his chest. He howled like an animal. Not even when he had gotten raped and branded, had he felt so utterly hopeless. Even during those dark hours, he had still had Lucas's memory, and that had been his light. Now, there was nothing but darkness all around.

Slowly, he started getting back to his senses. Edgar was shaking him gently.

"I'm sorry, Cory, I should have told you ... how it feels. I guess I've grown so emotionally numb that I didn't realize what it could mean to someone who has never used it."

"Is it ... always like this?" Cory eventually gathered his wits.

Edgar just nodded. "Let's just hope it's for a good cause. We should get back home to our reading."

~A Good Servant~

They both remained silent on their way home. Cory sat without a word at the table, and his eyes started dancing over the pages, sniping important information, with incredible speed. From his side, Edgar sneaked glances. Cory could feel the man's eyes.

"Edgar, please, don't worry, I'm fine," he tried to help his friend get over the recent experience.

"It's not that. It's that ... you're fast, you're really fast."

Cory raised his eyes from the pages. "Faster than you?"

"Definitely. Faster than anyone I know. What have you found out so far?"

"The writing is very difficult to follow. There are mostly myths, but it looks like the world is bigger than we think. There are islands far from the continent, and there are all kinds of animals and birds living there. The people left them for the main continent. The book says they wanted to grab more than they could chew. The continent is mostly covered in desert, but they were helped by the woman with the lily."

"Is her name mentioned?" Edgar asked. "No matter how much I tried to find this information, I never managed to find it. It felt like going in circles all the time."

"No name. She is just The One, and nothing else is said. Variants of something like an adjective are presented, but that could not be a name. It's more like a function, rather than a name. She is said to be matr, mitera, mut, and, as far as I can understand, it's like she gave birth to the first people, the ones who wanted to go to the continent."

Edgar was looking at him in unhidden fascination. "I've went through these books, and never found this info. Or I've always forgotten it somehow. Did any picture move?"

"No, not yet."

A sudden gust of wind made the window frame hit the wall with a smash, taking both by surprise.

"There was no sign of rain," Edgar rose quickly to close the window.

Cory returned to his book. What he saw moving on the page made his heart stop.

"Edgar," he whispered, "they're here."

Edgar remained still, frozen in front of the window.

"Yes, they are. And they are coming here."

He turned like an automaton towards Cory. "To the flying machine, now," he said in an even tone.

Cory fell silent and obeyed. He helped Edgar fuel the machinery and he took a seat next to the scientist. Loud noises could be heard, like someone was trying to break through a door.

He looked up. The machine had enough cover to protect them from the heavy raindrops that started to fall. The sky was grey and menacing. Edgar's machine started rising, while making an even louder noise than the ones coming to get them and the storm in the making.

Cory knew they were there, below them. He didn't have to look to know. But what he knew, as Edgar and he started flying west was that the Trainers, standing there, in Edgar's backyard, their grey eyes following them, came to Aeria on a single simple mission. How he knew, he had no idea; but he knew right now, with sudden clarity, that he hated them, with all his heart.

~A Good Servant~

Dion watched John as he sat down at the table, a morose look on his face.

"What is it, John? Hard day at work?"

It was so seldom for John to complain about work. He had always left such problems there, never willing to take them home.