I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I ended up needing some extra time for a scene in the middle, which was hard and I had to rewrite it a few times to get it to come out right.
Also I got lost while drawing a Zenyatta dealing with Mondatta's death comic, and that took a couple weeks to make. I'm a bit sad I cannot link you to it, but you can find it on tumblr for now. Maybe I'll post it on DA next.
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Rating: Mature for themes and later content.
Warnings: some violence mentions but nothing graphic.
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Sankhara
Chapter 04 – Vyapada
Sunday had brought rain.
It had rained the whole day and for most of the following night, and by the time Monday morning arrived, the streets were covered with mud and puddles, the air smelling distinctly of rain; around dawn the downpour had finally stopped, leaving behind enough spots in the sky for the sun to peek through.
The air was humid against Tekhartha's face plate as he walked down a deserted street, fingers idly playing with the beads of his bracelet.
It was early, too early to be awake, but instead of spending the night recharging, Tekhartha had been plagued by nightmares. They had left him weary and fretful, unable to rest.
He did not remember dreaming before. Few omnics did, but once their brains passed the threshold of self-awareness, every image, sound and smell was recorded in strings of logs and data banks. Some were discarded, some left an impression behind so omnics could recognise similar or identical inputs (like knowing what vanilla smelled like, or the specific shade of a colour), and dreams worked for them in the same way they did for humans.
Bits and pieces of memories were compiled together and resulted in surprisingly peculiar dreams, while other times they seemed to come from no discernible source, blending together reality and fiction in weird ways.
Tekhartha had experienced a lot of this last kind –he had dreamed of snow even as he had never seen it nor knew how that felt like, and of seeing the sea, dipping the tip of his feet into its cool water. The sensory relay he'd received had felt almost real without any previous data to compare it to. There had been a figure at his side, on the shore, shorter than he was, their metal burning golden under the setting sun, and their presence had brought comfort to him as they observed the sea together. After waking up, he had felt a deep, unexplainable longing, but also peace at a time when there had been none for him.
Those dreams were the ones he recalled more vividly than the rest.
Unfortunately, not all dreams were that pleasant, and the one that had plagued his mind during the night had not been kind. Trapped within a nightmare he had been unable to control or stop, Tekhartha had to relieve a painful memory until its harshness had startled him awake, leaving behind an impression of pain in his circuits, and the fleeting memory of the acrid smell of burning oil.
After an hour spent shuffling around and pacing through Cheng's room, watching Mondatta's silent frame, Tekhartha had given up and left, hoping a walk would clear his muddled thoughts enough for him to feel better.
On Sunday, Mondatta had insisted on getting him clothes in order to continue their ruse in front of others. It was not much –a pair of pants and a small tunic, resembling the one Shambali monks wore– but it was more than Tekhartha could afford on his own. He had been opposed to the idea, but Mondatta had insisted, and not wanting to insult him with his own unkempt appearance, Tekhartha had relented. As he left the room, he hesitated in front of the neatly folded clothes before deciding to wear them.
The friction of fabric against the sensors of his body was unfamiliar in its novelty, and he knew how he looked –proper, probably, and not as inadequate as he felt. The shirt was white and open on the front with a modest cut, red embroidery curling around the edge of the neck and the sleeves, and the pants were a faded, dull red.
It was a simple attire, nothing flashy, and yet Tekhartha felt self-conscious, aware that after so long without any clothes, wearing some would be weird. He would need to do his best not to damage them until he had to give them back.
With the buzzing anticipation building within him as time ticked by, Tekhartha had hoped walking would help him settle down, but it did not; the desert streets did not offer any sort of enlightenment, and he felt just as anxious as before.
His footsteps echoing in the silence was his only company as he walked, and Tekhartha tried to focus on that rhythmic, constant noise to calm down and concentrate, culling extra processes so he could think faster.
He had no idea what to do.
In just a few hours, Mondatta would make a speech in public, attracting enough omnics for Tekhartha to try and locate one belonging to his batch –or someone who would know one, at any rate. Mondatta seemed so secure, so confident, and yet Tekhartha had no real plan whatsoever on how to proceed. Finding his batch mates took priority but after that, he had no idea. He just hoped the guards that would be present at the speech would offer Mondatta some degree of protection, in case there were dangers.
Mondatta had refused the private bodyguards offered by the city council, under the pretext that it would attract unwanted attention to those who were housing him during his stay in Xiaguan, but had accepted the escort from Cheng's apartment to the park the city council had offered for his speech.
Time was essential, and Tekhartha would have little of it to spare before he and Mondatta had to be escorted away afterwards.
Mondatta was not afraid of walking on his own if he was not recognised, but once people knew he was there, they would attempt to speak with him, and that would increase the chances of something bad happening. Tekhartha could only hope the security would be enough.
A sudden, loud sound coming from somewhere close by startled him out of his thoughts.
He stumbled forwards, processes halting as his sensors went crazy to find the source of the noise, buzzing and whirring.
For a few, long seconds, Tekhartha remained tense and immobile, listening, then…
Again, the same noise. Now that he had been waiting for it, Tekhartha was not taken by surprise, and could recognise it –something metallic was being hit, repeatedly.
Brain filled with static, Tekhartha pressed one hand against a nearby wall to steady himself.
A sudden, loud noise of unidentified origin… his first instinct was to head out and search for it, but his body refused to move, processes sluggish and slow.
Tekhartha found himself rooted to the spot, fingers digging into the wall. His fans whirring seemed suddenly louder in the silence.
It was not dark –the sun was peeking from behind the mountains, there were patches of blue sky, and his optical sensors were stabilizing to a growing light source. Somewhere in the empty streets, surely some people were already up and starting their days. Waste collectors, drivers… if not them, there were still animals. The noise could be anything.
There was no reason for him to be tense or wary. He could ignore the sound, return to Cheng's apartment. To Mondatta.
He did not move.
Seconds ticked by, minutes passing slowly. The noise returned once again, and a third time. Tekhartha's sensors idly relayed that it was weaker now.
Slowly, sluggishly, he culled a few processes. He shut down his optical sensors, isolating his brain from visual external input, and focused on the whirring of his core.
When the banging sound repeated again, sharp and loud, his optical sensors flickered back on again and he clenched his hands into fists, looking down at the bracelet Mondatta had given him, following the curve of each bead. For a second, he thought about Mondatta finding him in that alley, and about why he had been in that alley to begin with.
His footsteps were not as steady as they could have been, but there was a sense of satisfaction as Tekhartha forced his body to move towards the noise, his senses reaching out to it.
Ahead of him, the street opened up into a small plaza. The streetlights were growing dimmer, ready to flicker off, and cast weird shadows on the rows of benches as Tekhartha walked briskly past them. The noise repeated again, and he turned a corner left, his steps steadier as he hastened his pace, his feet making soft, steady sounds on the concrete.
Once again the noise rose sharply from the silence and then abruptly stopped, but this time it was close, and Tekhartha came to a halt as he turned yet another corner, finding himself in the middle of another dead-end street.
It was a large one with a medium truck parked next to the back entrance of what appeared to be a warehouse, its roll-up sheet door open wide; there was a forklift truck half loaded near the back opening of the truck's cargo, but there was no one in sight.
Tekhartha hesitated, tension building through his circuits… and then the sound came again. This time, it was clear it was coming from inside the truck. Moving quickly, he hoisted himself on the truck and took a step inside, all his sensors active and running in the foreground.
There was a pair of legs peeking from underneath a pile of fallen crates.
That was who was making the noise. Tekhartha forgot all his reticence and approached the pile of boxes, optical sensors zooming to adapt to the lights inside the truck, and quickly assessed the situation. A pile of boxes had toppled over, probably badly secured, and were trapping a person underneath.
His hands shook as he tried to take a hold of one of the packages, his fingers slipping over the ridges of the crate, and for a moment Tekhartha wondered if he would be able to lift it safely. It took less finesse than grabbing a pencil, though, so he managed to lift the first box high enough to slip one arm underneath and secure a better grip, removing it and putting it down on the side. The boxes were all labelled with the National Post Office Logo, so they probably contained correspondence ready to be sorted.
As he methodically removed the boxes, pushing them to the side, the legs started to squirm so he cleared his voice box, "please do not move, it might endanger you further. I am almost done".
With that he grabbed the last box, heavier than the rest, and with some difficulty he lifted it up, not wanting to hurt the human trapped underneath. "It would be best if you could speak up, did you hit your head when–"
A metal bar swung inches from his face and Tekhartha recoiled instantly, almost stumbling back. The box slipped from his fingers and toppled over to the side, thankfully not hitting the person he'd just freed.
For a moment, both he and the human remained frozen in place, Tekhartha looking down at the man who was pointing a metal bat at his face. He was breathing hard, wheezing, and was looking up at him with a mix of disorientation and distrust, eyes unfocused. Tekhartha had to wonder how long he had been squeezed under all those boxes.
"Please hold still," he repeated, speaking slowly, but did not reach out, preferring to lift both hands in front of him in a pacifying gesture. "I heard your banging and came to investigate, I do not mean any harm".
The harsh pants from the man were his only answer. Time stretched on, neither of them moving and the man still holding the bar against him, hand shaking.
Tekhartha waited patiently. He would not leave before making sure the man was fine, and he knew it might take time.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the man lowered his improvised weapon and slumped fully against the floor of the truck. "S… stuck," he gasped out, his dialect thick and drawled out. Tekhartha noticed only then that the man's other arm was still buried under more boxes, and felt a sparkle of worry.
Taking the man's words as an invitation, he took a step towards him, moving over his prone body to push the boxes out of the way, freeing his arm.
With a soft, choked gasp the man clutched his arm against his chest, heaving as he frantically patted his swollen hand, eyes wide, fingers clenching down at the base of his elbow. He was panicking, and it was obvious.
"Allow me," Tekhartha knelt at the man's side, keeping his tone even and unthreatening. "I can help, if you let me".
He had no idea if the man trusted him enough to let him get close, but he was in pain, confused and hurt, and Tekhartha wanted to help. When there was no obvious rebuke he reached out with one hand, fingers splayed out to appear unthreatening, slow enough that the man would be able to pull away if so he wanted. His fingers made contact with the man's wrist and he flinched but did not tug his arm away. At first, Tekhartha sent small sparkles of static from the tip of his fingers and clumsily massaged the wrist, then the palm, forcing blood circulation through. It was slow and uncomfortable with so much space between them, but after a while, the swelling lessened and the skin returned to a more normal shade.
Tekhartha worked in silence, grateful that his fans and core were quiet and back to normal functionality. He was still tense, secondary sensors buzzing and alert, but he felt calmer, steadier.
He knew how to work with someone panicking.
The man's harsh breathing also evened out, and he relaxed, slumping against the crates. He was still wheezing, but he looked calmer.
"Ugh… prickles," the man grunted, sounding upset but relieved. If he could feel his hand that was good enough.
Worried about the man's lungs and eventual damage to his chest area, Tekhartha tried to run a diagnostic, but other than fatigue and adrenaline, his sensors did not detect damage.
"How do you feel? Does it hurt to breathe?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in question. His voice seemed to make the man focus on him again, and he seemed to tense up again.
"I… no, no. It's…" he coughed, and winced afterwards, pressing his other hand against his chest. "Just feels like I was squeezed under a ton of correspondence, that's how it feels".
Tekhartha's soft chuckle seemed to take both of them by surprise. "Well, I suppose that is to be expected. Some say the written word has weight, and I guess you just experienced that for yourself".
That startled a wheezing laugh from the man, shoulders shaking in a mix of disbelieving amusement and pain, but when the laughter morphed into a cough, Tekhartha reached out to press a hand against his thorax. There was no rib damage, but one could never be certain without a proper scan…
"I'm fine," the man pressed his working hand on top of Tekhartha's own, and held it tightly. The unexpected contact startled Tekhartha enough he almost pulled away. "Thank… thank you for coming to help. I thought I would die".
"You were lucky you had enough space to bang against the side of the truck," Tekhartha replied, nodding at his words. "Do you need help standing up? How is your hand doing?"
The man wriggled his fingers experimentally, wincing as he did so, then with the help of Tekhartha, he stood up. He was shorter than him by a good head, but despite the previous wary attitude he did not seem bothered by that as others had been before.
"Thank you again," the man nodded at him, eyeing him up and down and narrowing his eyes. "You are stronger than you look. Taller too, this up close".
Tekhartha hunched his shoulders a bit, fingers running to the bracelet around his wrist. "It is a common misconception," he agreed. "Do you require assistance with unloading the truck? I do not think it would be wise to work, at least for a little longer".
That seemed to startle the man, who looked around, appearing a bit lost, then he huffed out a tired laugh. "Feel free to knock yourself off with these, I would never turn down a hand with the heavy lifting".
A few seconds ticked by. Tekhartha waited, noticing that the man was hesitating, deep in thought.
Then, "My name is Li Wei," he finally offered, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, apparently coming to a decision.
"Tekhartha," he offered back, even if he had not been asked, and noticed the way the man stiffened a bit at that, but did not say anything.
Moving heavy boxes out of the way before loading the landing gear did not take as long as he had feared, and Tekhartha worked silently, comfortable with cutting the awkward air off by avoiding pointless small talk.
The heavy lifting felt good, and the strain helped him clear his mind.
Afterwards, with all the packages unloaded, Tekhartha stared at the empty truck around him and then down at his hands. The trembling was still there, probably made worse by the manual labour, and his sensors were alert and buzzing, but he felt calmer, and his fatigue from the sleepless night was gone.
He turned to Li Wei. "Are you well enough to be on your way now, or do you require me to drive you to the hospital?" he asked, though he had no idea where that would be in the city.
"I'm going to stick around for a while longer, actually," Li Wei replied, looking awkward as he stood on the side of the empty truck. His voice sounded less fatigued too, but still raspy. "I'll eat something and call a friend, so you don't have to… stick around any longer. But–" he stumbled over his words, cleared his throat and continued, "thank you. For the help. And… y'know, saving my butt earlier".
"It was my pleasure," Tekhartha replied, a smile evident in his voice. "Do try not to let that happen again, though, as I might not be around to give you a hand then".
With that, he turned around and left, mood considerably lighter than before.
He barely noticed that his optical sensors had adjusted to the increased light, but he did notice, as he walked back out on the main street, that there were now people mulling around. A check to his internal clock told him that he had spent more than an hour helping the man, and that he needed to get back to Cheng's apartment –Mondatta was probably awake, and worried.
As he had thought, Mondatta was already up when he got back, and was in the middle of a conversation on Cheng's holophone, the image of an unknown omnic projected in the middle of the room, the edges flickering slightly.
Tekhartha froze, one hand on the door handle, as he recognised the omnic's attire as belonging to the Shambali order.
"… so imagine how surprised I was to find you on the news, about to deliver a speech in Xiaguan, when you left the monastery claiming you would refrain from such things during this trip," the omnic was saying in Nepalese. Tekhartha cringed, chastised. "Master Mondatta, you could at least call us every now and then, it is not like we lack the means to keep in contact, if only you could bring a phone on yourself when you travel".
Mondatta laughed softly, waving one hand in front of him. "That is true, but then you would expect me to call you too often, and I feel like the monastery needs to learn how to cope with my absence, if I'm required to be elsewhere".
The omnic's hum reeked displeasure. "We both know you merely dislike the thought of carrying a phone on you, but when we find these things out through National holovision maybe it's time to reconsider your stance," another sigh, the four-point array on the omnic's forehead flickering mauve, then, "about that, we were also surprised to see you in the company of an uninitiated trainee. Where did you find him, Mondatta?"
Tekhartha's fans attempted to whirr into action, but he culled the process as quickly as he could, not wanting to alert Mondatta and his interlocutor of his presence yet. His core stuttered, heating up at the thought of the Shambali monk being fooled about his presence, and waited for Mondatta to explain himself to his fellow monk.
"Oh, I rescued him while I was passing by Lijiang," Mondatta said instead, his voice smooth but obviously amused. "I feel our paths were meant to cross, Aadi, and I am convinced for as long as they will converge, we will both have much to learn from one another".
Aadi's expression could not change, but the way he snapped his head back betrayed his surprise at Mondatta's words, and Tekhartha himself felt the same shock, touched beyond thought.
He was not sure whether Mondatta meant what he said to Aadi, or if it was just another facet of the lie he had built up for Tekhartha's pretense, but… Mondatta had said that he would not lie for the sake of it, and that meant…
Tekhartha felt his core heat up, warmth trickling inside him.
After all, Mondatta had implied it once, hadn't he? That he could see Tekhartha walking on the path of the Iris.
Maybe there was a place for him, after all.
Steadying himself, Tekhartha knocked on the door and entered the room, watching as Mondatta turned to look at him. "I am back, Master Mondatta," he said.
"Welcome back, my dear," Mondatta stood up, then looked back at his interlocutor. "Aadi, allow me to introduce you to Tekhartha. Tekhartha, this is Aadi, one of my fellow monks at the Shambali monastery".
Tekhartha bowed his head, hand fidgeting with the bracelet around his wrist to hide the mix of embarrassment and anticipation he still felt whenever he heard someone use his chosen name. "It is a pleasure to meet you," he said, keeping his voice even.
When he looked up, he was startled to hear a booming laughter coming from Aadi. "Oh, forgive me, I did not intend to laugh at you," Aadi managed to appear both chastised and amused at once as he stifled his laugh down into a chuckle. "But if you are even half as headstrong as Master Mondatta, I think that name will suit you just fine".
Mondatta's fans whirred louder for a second. "To hear such words from someone who refused to leave the monastery for a month just because–"
Whatever Mondatta had been about to say was interrupted by the sound of a door being slammed open, and an omnic voice coming from somewhere behind Aadi echoed in the room, surprising all the omnics.
"Aadi! Aadi! The news! Open the news broadcast now!"
Whoever had interrupted their call apparently had no idea that Aadi had been talking with Mondatta, and Tekhartha only caught a glimpse of the omnic –square head, three lines where eyes normally were, a flicker of rose-coloured array LED lights– before it was gone out of sight.
"Padma, what is the meaning of this–" Aadi was also interrupted as the news broadcast on the other side of the call drowned his voice out.
"-rom Australia. Less than half an hour ago there was a set of explosions of unknown cause in the Australian Outback, located in the area surrounding the local Omnium–"
Tekhartha and Mondatta, startled at the news report, shared a worried look.
"Mondatta, could it be–" Tekhartha hesitated, not willing to voice his fears.
Over the course of the past months, Australia had been often on the news due to the Government's decision to concede the area of the Omnium to the omnic community. The show of faith had caused an international uproar, with some nations openly condemning the decision while others applauded the step towards equality Australia was willing to take. Unfortunately this had caused a relocation of many human communities that had been forced to abandon territories they had previously occupied, and their malcontent and resentment had ended in the birth of a movement called Australian Liberation Front.
The group was vehemently anti-omnic, and had been featured in the international news due to their constant attacks and protests against the omnic community, undeterred by the Government attempts at peacekeeping.
The ALF had never attempted to escalate the situation further than that, but Tekhartha had been afraid for weeks now that it would only be a matter of time, as the group refused to back down and find common grounds with the omnics. Using explosives, though…
As Cheng was not at the apartment, having left earlier on to go to the restaurant, Tekhartha took the liberty to reach for the holovision set remote, connecting to the cable and flipping through the channels until he recognised the familiar logo of the International Broadcast news.
The IBN studio was washed in white and browns, the logo on the lower left the only splash of colour, but Tekhartha's attention was drawn to the announcer's face, pale and stern. Behind him was a stock photo of the Australian Omnium taken by a drone.
"Aadi, it might be best to close the call and resume at a later–" Mondatta attempted to speak, but the voice of the announcer, now coming from two places at once, drowned out the rest of his phrase.
"Earlier this morning, there was an attack led against the Tennant Creek Omnium base," the announcer was stating, expression grim. "The attackers set off a chain explosion that destroyed the outer layer of the main Omnium factory building, and an unknown number of people entered the building, cutting off all external communications with the Omnium base. That was less than twenty minutes ago, and it is unknown what their motives are. Several special forces teams were dispatched and are heading to the factory, and our reporters are on the way as well. Let's go LIVE to our correspondent Jon Hathaway".
The camera flickered, changing from the sterile news station studio to a portable camera. The correspondent was a man sitting in what appeared to be an helicopter seat, with a pair of earphones and microphone set.
"Jon Hathaway, reporting LIVE," the man leaned forwards. His voice was coming out clear despite all the noise the helicopter made, due to the good quality of their equipment. "We are flying towards Tennant Creek now. We spotted a few abandoned camions and jeeps on the ground, and we are about a couple miles away from the Omnium factory. The view is pretty clear, and we might be able to re-establish contact with the base at this distance, and understand the reasons behind this act–"
Tekhartha was only vaguely aware of Mondatta moving around the table to step at his side, as they were both focused on the holovision screen. Behind the reporter, they could see glimpses of the sky and the outline of the horizon, brown and hazy in the morning light, and Tekhartha's optical sensors caught sight of the metallic edge of the Omnic building, still far into the distance but growing closer before the helicopter tilted to the side, hiding it from view.
The camera shifted focus to zoom on the outside of the helicopter. There were a few drones in the distance, and some other helicopters heading in the direction of the factory, probably more news troupes and the special teams the reporters had mentioned earlier. Down below, racing on straight, bumpy roads, were a few vehicles headed the same way.
Tekhartha felt strangely on edge, optical sensors counting the jeeps and cars and then the helicopters.
"This is troubling," Mondatta murmured, almost to himself. "Aadi, we should close the call and talk at a later date. I have a speech to get ready for".
There was a shuffle from the other side, then the echo of the news channel disappeared. "Yes, Mondatta. I hope you know what you are doing. Call me when you are done, please".
The call ended abruptly, but neither Mondatta nor Tekhartha were paying much attention, focus still on the news report.
The helicopter was moving quickly, and the factory soon became more than a distant dot, the curve of the metal familiar to Tekhartha, as it was identical to his own Omnium, if only bigger and more spread out.
The difference was in the amount of buildings surrounding the factory –most seemed to be of recent made, and were probably the new houses of the omnic community living there, some still not fully built yet.
"There it is," Jon Hathaway's voice was a bit distorted but still clear. "The Omnium is in sight now, and we can see… there are visible signs of destruction in the immediate surroundings of the main factory, and there… I think I can see someone moving! It's…" the camera shuffled and zoomed in towards the Omnium, but there was no one there. They were still far too distant to be able to see much. "They're gone now, but there was someone there".
There was off-screen muttering, probably between the correspondent and one of the other men of the crew. Tekhartha checked the time, wondering whether they would get to watch the situation unfold until it was time for Mondatta's speech or if they would cut contact until the helicopter had gotten closer.
"We received a message from one of the troops sent to contact the attackers. They were able to establish contact with the Omnium base again, we might receive the transmission as well since we are this close, though we've been told to move out of the way in case it becomes too dangerous… here it–"
There was another flicker, and a small window was cut into the screen of the holovision, dividing the scene in two. The transmission from the Omnium was disturbed and not as clear as the one from the troupe's camera, but Tekhartha and Mondatta were able to recognise the inside of the Omnium factory through a shaky hand-held camera zoom. The room was the very centre of it, with the massive bulk of the Omnium's Core visible in the middle.
Tekhartha realised instantly that something was wrong when instead of the protective cover surrounding the core, he could see directly into its circuits, a sickly purple glow seeping through the cracks where the metal plates should have been.
There were figures sitting on the side, and when the camera's focus settled, Tekhartha could see they were all humans, wearing similar attires and no mask to cover their faces. No omnic in sight, though there were supposed to be many around.
"Mond–" Tekhartha felt his unease grow with each second, and he turned to look at Mondatta, who was leaning forwards, optical sensors locked on the transmitted video.
At once, the men looked up and towards the camera, as if aware they were being watched. There was no sound, so the scene was eerie quiet, clashing with the loud background noises of the helicopter, and Tekhartha felt his unease turn into dread in the pit of his core, fans whirring loudly.
The men in the Omnium stood up, looking at the camera as they all raised one fist into the air, elbows bent to the side –it could have passed for a cheer, if their faces were not serious, lips pulled into thin, tense lines.
"Mondatta, I think something is–"
The men turned their backs to the camera to look at the Omnium, except one, who walked closer instead. He was holding something in his hand –something small, like a remote, black and polished, with a single, visible button on top.
He ambled to the camera until he was close enough that only his face could be seen –tired, weary and yet dead set, his jaw clenched and his eyes open wide in what looked a bit like triumph, a bit like insanity, and mouthed something.
There was no sound, but Tekhartha could read his lips either way.
'Death to the Omnic Menace'.
He moved away from the camera, and in the few seconds it took him to stand on the side Tekhartha had moved closer to the holovision set, the dread spreading through his circuits like fire. "N–"
Everything happened quickly, after that.
The men started screaming. No sound reached through to the million viewers across the world, but the sentiment was clear, a stark contrast with the loud, confused voices of the helicopter crew. Fists raised into the air, the men continued to scream, and then–
–the man pressed the remote button, cackling and bouncing on the balls of his feet.
One second, then another, and–
A flash of light from the Omnium core.
The men's crazed expressions seemed to encompass everything, Tekhartha unable to look away…
The core exploded.
Tekhartha had a perfect view of the Omnium core detonating, one millisecond before the camera was blinded by a sudden, bright light that ate away everything on its path.
The men disappeared within the light, and Tekhartha's optical sensors dimmed instantly to prevent him from going blind. The last he saw before the camera itself was reached by the explosion was shrapnel and metallic shards flying everywhere, and that man's crazed expression as he laughed, and laughed, and–
The transmission went offline, the view turning into static noise.
The crew on the helicopter was screaming louder now, and Tekhartha dully turned his attention to them, attempting to make sense of what he'd just seen… only to see it repeated there as well, this time with sound. The explosion boomed in the background, perfectly visible from the camera pointed that way, and the Omnium exploded LIVE for the world to see.
The shockwave blasting through the air arrived only seconds later, expanding from the factory outwards. The closest buildings were hit first, obliterated from sight as if they were made of butter, debris and metal crumbling into dust and flying everywhere.
Nothing could withstand a nuclear explosion.
The crew continued to scream, panic and fright growing as they finally realised what had happened, but it was too late. There had never been any hope.
The helicopter was too close –and so were the cars and jeeps down below on the ground, and the other helicopters.
The shockwave arrived first, even before the mushroom cloud had time to form –even before the heatwave. It hit the helicopter face-first, and the last view from the troupe's camera, before it flickered and died, was of sky and ground spinning wildly until they were a blur as the helicopter rolled in the air without control as it fell to the ground.
The screams grew louder for a few frantic, terribly long seconds before they were abruptly cut off. The transmission died, and the holovision screen blanked out.
It felt like the white noise lasted forever, but in truth it was no longer than a few seconds at best before the transmission switched back to the studio, the distraught face of the announcer, pale and shocked, filled the screen.
"I'm… sorry for the–" the façade faltered for a second, horror and fright clear in his face, before the man visibly collected himself. There was no point in lying or minimizing the situation. The report had been LIVE. "The connection with our correspondent is gone, and we have no way of re-establishing contact. It is as of yet unknown what the status of the Omnium is at this point, but…" he trailed off and looked to the side, probably seeking aid from someone off screen.
They were at a loss –the Omnium was powered by a nuclear core, refined and concentrated and completely automated. The amount of energy it contained was that of several megatons of TNT, so the fallout caused by a nuclear explosion of that calibre was almost incalculable.
The immediate area surrounding the Omnium would have been obliterated from existence, leaving behind nothing but dust and rubble for miles. No building, or tree, or construction, could be left there, not to mention any sort of life, human or otherwise. The amount of radiation expanding from there was also…
It was too much. Far too much.
The ramifications of such a powerful, devastating nuclear explosion… Tekhartha could barely comprehend them. his neural pathways attempted to calculate the impact of such a fallout and what it would mean, but his processes faltered and were culled before they could make his circuitry glitch.
All the omnics that were living in the area surrounding the Omnium, the humans who had decided to stay behind and help, the news troupes, the special corps sent to deal with the earlier assault, all the humans present in the Omnium core room, and every single animal in the area miles away from the Omnium…
They were all dead.
In the blink of an eye, their lives had been ended, just like that.
Tekhartha took a step away from the holovision, the buzz of his fans droning out the announcer's voice, then he was startled by the sound of metal cracking coming from the side. He spun around to look at Mondatta, who was slumped down against the table, hands pressed against its surface in an attempt to keep himself standing.
"Mast–" Tekhartha's voice box fizzled and he fell silent, the shock so complete he had no words left.
It was too much.
Instead of speaking, he moved to Mondatta's side, clutching his arm in silent support.
After a few seconds, Mondatta's voice rose in a soft, pained murmur –a long, sorrowful chant, a prayer for all the souls lost in the explosion.
In the small, constricting room, Tekhartha shut off his optical sensors and mourned in silence.
The sound of knocking alerted Tekhartha that someone was at the door, so he hurried to go open it.
For a moment he had forgotten about Mondatta's speech, but finding two men standing outside of Cheng's apartment, dressed in police garments, was a sudden reminder.
"Tekhartha Mondatta?" one of the two asked, looking professional but a little out of place.
Tekhartha straightened his back.
He shared the man's uncertainty, but what had been set into motion could not be stopped now. He had to act his part and make Mondatta proud.
"Please come in," he said, shifting to the side. "Master Mondatta is offering a prayer to the dead, but he will receive you in a moment".
The uncertain expression melted into understanding, and the two guards shared a look. "We… uh, we're sorry, for your loss," one of them offered. "Did you know any of the…?"
The other guard elbowed him in the side, and he fell silent. Tekhartha fought to keep the deadpan out of his tone as he answered, "all the lives that were lost matter, and we mourn for their loss as one".
With a chastised look, the guards kept quiet and followed him inside.
He left the guards near the door and walked across the room to Mondatta's side. He did not know the proper etiquette –he was not really part of the Shambali, and he felt this almost as a loss, a craving he felt so much more now– or if he was allowed to interrupt a litany for the dead, but there was no time to hesitate.
Even like this, Mondatta offered a sight to behold. Back held straight, array glowing softly, the murmur of his prayer was almost indistinguishable, softer than a whisper but continuous, lamenting the death and offering condolences for the lost souls. Kneeling at his side he placed one hand on his knee to attract his attention. Mondatta tilted his head towards him, array flickering back to normal intensity, and his murmurs ceased.
"Master Mondatta, the escort has arrived," he said. "Are you ready to leave?"
Mondatta stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Yes," he answered, standing up and composing himself. "Please precede me, Tekhartha".
Pushing his shoulders back in an attempt to look a little more dignified, Tekhartha did as he was told.
"It is a pleasure to meet the leader of the Shambali," one of the guards muttered, looking down at the floor before taking a peek. Tekhartha watched with a little amusement, having been in the man's position not long before.
The guards shifted into position, one in front of Tekhartha and one behind Mondatta, and led the two outside to their car, and Tekhartha only allowed himself to relax when he was sitting next to Mondatta and the guards drove off to the park.
'Does this… change anything?' Tekhartha asked quietly in binary, not wanting to risk asking the question out loud.
'No, it does not,' Mondatta replied. He was not looking at him, and instead his gaze focused to the view outside. 'My speech might take longer, though. I hope you will excuse me'.
Tekhartha's fans whirred. 'Master Mondatta, I–'
Mondatta looked just as strong and steady as ever as he gently pressed one hand over Tekhartha's trembling ones, steadying his nervous fidgeting, and did not look his way.
As the car drove through the traffic, the radio kept off to respect the silence, they both mourned and let their thoughts wander to what was waiting for them.
The trip took far less than Tekhartha had expected, leaving him little time to prepare.
The guards led Mondatta to a hastily prepared podium of sorts. It was nothing fancy, but it was placed in the middle of an empty area of the park, visible but easily protected. Tekhartha craned his neck to look past the rows of bushes and delicate ornamental statues and trees to see how many were already there; there were no more than a hundred people at most, with maybe a third of them human… a good crowd but less than he had expected to see.
It came as a surprise to see some really old omnic models puttering around, lesser human-like in appearance, sturdier and smaller than the others.
Mondatta's speech would be recorded and aired live, so people could watch it at home, but being present was a statement, and Tekhartha wondered if most people had decided not to come because of the terrible news from earlier in the morning or because they were working, or even because they did not want to be seen publicly taking a side.
In such an unsteady time, the guidance of someone like Mondatta was something that was needed.
"This way, please, Master Mondatta," the guard preceding Tekhartha did not turn around, but made a sweeping motion towards the podium.
Tekhartha stepped to the side, bowing at Mondatta. "I will be in the audience," he said, motioning for the people waiting at the park. Some had taken notice of the car's arrival, and were looking their way.
"We will reconvene here after my speech, my dear," Mondatta tilted his head in a nod, then leaned forwards to take hold of Tekhartha's hand in his own. The gesture helped Tekhartha steel himself a little. "Please do take care".
With a nod, Tekhartha watched Mondatta leave flanked by both guards. There were humans waiting for him near the podium, dressed in formal clothes, and he stopped to talk with them.
Left alone, Tekhartha allowed his shoulders to slump a little. He had some time to scout the crowd and check whose omnics had models similar or identical to his own, and he was grateful that the crowd had not attempted to move towards the podium yet.
As he glanced around, he located more guards stationed around the park, visible and imposing, and their presence helped him feel a little better.
Most of the omnics present in the park appeared sad, not so much on their motionless faces but in the way they acted, shoulders hunched and attempting to look smaller than their full height. The sight sent a pang of pain through Tekhartha's chest, and now more than ever he realised how important it was to take a stand and offer them a comforting hand. If he could do so as himself, as Tekhartha, and also as a fake Shambali monk, then… he would do his best.
He headed towards a small group of mixed omnics and humans first, hoping his garbs would help identifying him as part of Mondatta's order, and was grateful to see a flicker of recognition in one of the humans' faces as she poked her companion in the arm.
"Please be at ease," he said as a greeting, using Mandarin to make sure they would understand him, one hand lifting to salute the group. "Master Mondatta will begin shortly".
"You came with him…?" the omnic at his right was tall, nodes painted red, yet her voice was a low, deep timber, soothing to the ear. "I was so happy yesterday to hear he would give a speech today, and yet…"
Tekhartha nodded, core thrumming to echo the pain in her tone. "We heard the news as well, and Master Mondatta will address that today, do not fear. With such news haunting our thoughts, he is aware all he can offer are words of comfort, but we are all united in the face of this tragedy".
The two human women standing there nodded, tension lines smoothing a little on their faces. There was little Tekhartha could say –he felt unqualified to speak about the Australian tragedy, about Mondatta most of all, the pain raw and too big to address, but he felt a similar distress resonate far too clearly from the omnics surrounding him, and he could see it reflected in the humans' faces too.
All across the globe, people would listen to selected individuals talk about it, reassure the crowds and soothe the panic, and Mondatta was one of them, an influential figure who stood mostly alone against so much hate.
To place such a burden on Mondatta's shoulders –expecting him to be able to address the tragedy, looking up to him… Tekhartha knew he could not let that weight stay on him alone. Mondatta was a symbol of faith and hope against hate, but he was a single omnic nonetheless.
"There is nothing that can be said that will make it any better, I am afraid," he found himself saying, words slow and heavy in his voice box. "It is horrifying, but it is now, more than ever, that we need to remain strong. The fact that you are here might seem a small action to make, but it means more than you think," Tekhartha turned his head to look at the two women, his forehead array flickering in a smile. "As every tiny step counts, and we need all the little victories we can achieve".
One of the women nodded, expression steeling into something determined, the other smiled at him, understanding what he meant.
"Thank you," she said, and the other omnics, who had kept silent until then, nodded in agreement, their fans whirring loudly.
"No, thank you for being here," he replied instead, and rather than just offer empty words to them, he reached out with one hand, pressing his fingers against the tall omnic's shoulder. "I know Mondatta feels the same".
He left the group behind, moving quickly and exchanging small, easy pleasantries with some of the other omnics and humans in the crowd, grateful to see how some seemed less hesitant as he walked away, probably reassured by his thanks that their presence was welcome.
Most of the omnics he saw were either models older than he was, or new, polished ones that belonged to different omnic batches, and after fifteen or so minutes spent walking through the park, observing as the guards slowly started converging to the podium, preparing for Mondatta's speech, he felt like he was only wasting time.
Tekhartha edged further away from the podium, sneaking back glances every now and then to make sure he still had enough time. There were more humans keeping to the side-lines, uncertain and visibly hesitant about moving closer, and Tekhartha hesitated there, rubbing his fingers around the edges of his bracelet.
He knew Mondatta had prepared the speech to offer him the chance to see local omnics and find those from his batch, but the sight of people standing so far from the podium, clearly there to listen but unwilling to inch closer, made something within his core vibrate.
With a glance down at the bracelet and the clothes he was wearing, Tekhartha made a choice and then moved towards the humans.
They were startled at his approach, and some of them instinctively backed away, startled by his height; Tekhartha often forgot how tall his model appeared compared to most humans, so he instinctively slouched a bit, attempting to look less imposing and more like the monk persona he was trying to convey.
"Move closer if you like," he called out, tone soft and pointedly serene. "We do not bite –nor do we have the necessary implements, even if we wanted to".
The joke startled a small, surprised laugh from some of the humans, and Tekhartha chuckled.
"Not quite the kind of thing one would expect a monk to say," a buff man muttered, but he sounded amused, if anything.
"Mirth is but a way to connect with others," Tekhartha replied, shrugging. "And you appeared to be tense. If you feel uncomfortable in the presence of so many omnics, no one is asking you to get too close, but if you are interested and want to listen to Master Mondatta's words, maybe stepping closer to the podium would help. I am unaware if the acoustic capabilities of this park are suited to let his voice travel this far back".
The group of people were young, except for the buff man, who looked middle aged, and they shared a look between them, still hesitant but unsure how to proceed.
"I see there are still doubts within you," Tekhartha spoke again. He had learned to know how to read body language early on, and it never failed him. "That is fine. Even if you stay here and do not come close, you already showed you want to listen and are open to dialogue. Master Mondatta always says that to be able to build a bridge, the first step is to want to build the bridge, even before one knows where it could be built. I am aware how difficult things are, and that you are unsure, but you still decided to be brave and come here, so thank you. It would be selfish to demand you anything more than that, and I know Master Mondatta would not want you to feel uneasy".
His words seemed to have an effect on them, because two of the humans relaxed minutely, and even the buff man seemed less tense. Tekhartha bowed to them, his hands clasped together in front of him to hide their tremors, and then moved away, seeking other omnics to talk with.
There were two omnics approaching the park from the main street at a slow pace. Expecting to find more hesitance he might need to soothe, Tekhartha headed towards them, and did not see how after a small hesitation, the humans he had left behind inched closer to the podium –not close enough to be part of the crowd gathering around it, but enough to listen.
Since he was looking at them, Tekhartha noticed how there was a small group of humans right behind the two omnics, and he hesitated, slowing down, though instead of diverting his attention elsewhere, he found himself focused on them for some reason.
They were all dressed casually, and two of them were tall and rather buff, and they moved with purpose until they reached the two omnics and then surrounded them, startling them. Tekhartha froze, alarmed at the sight.
What were they doing? It did not look like the omnics knew who the humans were, and their stance was not a pacific one.
Were they about to assault the omnics?
Tekhartha moved without thinking, dashing towards the omnics as quickly as he could. He would not let anyone be hurt, not if he could prevent it.
He was still too far, though, so he had to watch the men casually push the omnics away from the park and back towards the streets nearby. The four men acted casual but forceful, and the omnics were obviously afraid.
The city's guards were all focused on Mondatta and the podium, so no one had noticed what was happening… except for Tekhartha.
His first instinct was to get loud. Attract attention on what was happening, make sure they could not get away with it –and then, one of the men looked his way, though his attention was still on his targeted omnics, and Tekhartha realised what it was that had irked him. The man's face… something was covering it, like a thin layer of something. It made the face appear polished, fake, unlike the way human faces were. Harder to read.
Like a mask.
The four men pushed the omnics away and disappeared behind a corner, and Tekhartha hastily followed, hands clenched into fists.
He remembered his own assault, taken by surprise, attacked from behind and rendered helpless before the merciless beating even began, and a sparkle of anger filled him.
This would be different. He knew what he was getting into.
Tekhartha ran past the corner, and stopped abruptly, assessing what was going on.
He had expected to see the men pushing the omnics around, insulting them, or the first flicker of violence, but what he saw was that one of the omnics was crumpled in the arms of one of the men, while the other cowered away, forehead array flaring up in fright and anger.
"Let her go!" the omnic cried out, curled on herself, shoulders shaking. "She did nothing to you!"
"Dun' care," one of the men replied, lips stretched into a sneer. "You next, tin can, just give up 'n get ready".
This close, the uncanny appearance of his face was amplified, and Tekhartha's diagnostic sensors signalled him they were all wearing the same sort of thin-film mask of latex.
"Please step away from them and kindly let her go," Tekhartha spoke up, startling the men.
They all turned around, shocked at the appearance of yet another omnic.
"I knew we should have nabbed them earlier instead of following them to the park," one of the shorter men hissed out. "We were meant to do this quietly!"
"Then we deal with this one too and make it quiet".
The other buff man took a step towards him, brandishing a stunner and pointing it at him. Tensing up at the weapon, far too aware of what sort of damage that could do to him, Tekhartha remained still, thoughts coming to a halt as he culled as many background processes as he could.
"It does not have to resolve in violence," he spoke again, a last attempt to reason with them, though he knew –by the slumped form of one omnic and the scared stance of the other– that there was no other kind of discussion possible.
"Feh, listen to that one… isn't that shit like the guy talking in the park? Pacific bots?" the man in the back sneered, cracking his knuckles and walking closer to the one holding the stunner. "Always wanted to hit a pacifist".
"I can take him, Chi," the buff man spoke up, a growl in his tone. "Why don't you get that other omnic? We need to get them both".
Tekhartha's head snapped to him, recording the man's name for identification purposes later. 'Get them both', he'd said. This was not just a mindless assault against omnics.
'What is your model number?' he sent to the omnic pressed against the wall of the house, urgency lost within the empty binary code.
His question startled the omnic, who nonetheless replied in the same way, and Tekhartha felt his insides freeze.
It matched his batch list.
'Well,' he thought to himself, thought processes fuzzy due to shock, 'that's unexpected'.
In the back of his brain, the programming he'd always ignored, always running in background, always present no matter how much he disliked it, flared up, filling his circuits, and then–
He moved swiftly, not an ounce of hesitation.
He attacked, one hand open flat and tilted to the side, and he slammed it down against the man's arm, where wrist and hand were connected. He lunged with his other hand, taking hold of the man's forearm and tugging him closer, making him stumble.
It was a fluid, effortless movement, and he completed it by shifting his balance and sliding one foot forwards and arching his back, and the man tripped against him, their bodies pressed together in a parody of intimacy. With the man's weight against him, it was easy to remove the stunner from his slackened grip, and Tekhartha neutralized the danger by dropping it and crushing it with his foot.
"Grab him–!"
Tekhartha abruptly straightened, pushing the man away from him, then dug his knee into the man's abdomen, soft and unprotected, and when the man choked he tugged his forearm behind his back until he heard the sound of a bone snapping.
He let the man fall on the ground and stepped on his back before moving away. The man curled up on himself, unmoving on the ground, but despite a broken bone he did not utter a sound.
Chi rushed forwards, coming towards him with a fist raised to strike.
He seemed to be a little more versed with hand-to-hand combat than his companion had been, because he knew how to pack a punch… but Tekhartha knew how to take one. He brought his shoulder to the front, absorbing the hit where his plate was sturdier, and the echo of fist against metal was startling in the silence of the backstreet.
'Go,' he sent a quick message in binary, fighting to focus on something that was not the battle. 'Alert the guards. Men out to get you. Go!'
Chi hissed in pain, teeth gritted, then dug his other hand in his jacket and extracted a small gun with a silencer. Tekhartha's optical sensors zoomed on the weapon for a split second, brain calculating the percentage of damage possible at close distance before focusing on the man's vulnerable spots instead.
He pushed himself forwards, invading Chi's personal space, and slammed their foreheads together, reaching out to grab the gun by the barrel, tilting it down just in time as the man's finger twitched on the trigger, shooting at him. The projectile missed him by an inch, hitting the ground instead.
Tekhartha was busy focusing on the fight to notice the omnic running away, leaving him alone in the backstreet with the four men until one of them screamed "Follow her! Go!" before moving to join Chi in fighting Tekhartha. "We'll take this fucking omnic down and put it out of commission!"
Tekhartha snorted and twisted the gun to the side, rotating his arm and forcing Chi's hand to follow the movement, index trapped in the trigger guard of the gun. After a small resistance, Tekhartha heard the bone of his finger snap.
"Fucking–" a litany of curses and insults melted from Mandarin into a thick, heavy dialect that Tekhartha did not recognise, pain evident as Chi cradled his hand against his chest, letting go of the gun.
Tekhartha allowed a background processor to ponder what to do with it. His fingers were shaking and he did not trust his grip, nor his aim; he did not want to use it either way, disgusted by that sort of weapon, but he could not drop it or let the men have it back.
He hummed and twisted the barrel into his hand, clumsy and messy but it did the job, breaking the gun so it would be unusable.
"T-that was my favourite gun!" the absurd statement coming from Chi might have been enough to startle a shocked chuckle out of Tekhartha, but he was running on his primary programming, and all thoughts were muddled, uncertain and focused on fighting.
The array on his forehead dimmed considerably.
His sensors broadened their reach, assessing the situation. Three opponents –one fallen on the ground, slowly standing up, clutching at his broken arm, grimacing, one biting down on his lower lip and holding his broken finger in a fist, breathing heavy, one wary, standing there and staring at him, unhurt but careful.
The last one was the most dangerous.
Tekhartha's hands were still shaking, and it was growing worse, his programming clashing against the processors that connected his brain with the connectors of his new arms.
One second, then another, then–
Chi rushed towards him again. Surprising, considering his finger, but it was obvious he was seeking retribution, though the pain was making him reckless.
Tekhartha received him with a swift kick to his hip, sending him tumbling away from him.
"Stop right there".
Tekhartha had not noticed the third man moving, focused on Chi's attack, but now the man was towering over the fallen omnic, one hand ripping open the panel on the back, exposing the delicate wires beneath.
"I have no problem ripping through some of these to see what happens to it," the man continued, his face white and polished, no expression whatsoever. "Just like you hurt my mates there, might end up doing the same to this".
"You'd do that anyway," he answered. An echo of a thought flared up in the back of his mind, worried at how deadpan his voice sounded, but the programming was predominant now, and any other thought had taken a backseat.
"Hmmm, fair point, but aren't you supposed to avoid fighting?" the man sneered. "Chi, how's Tenzin doing?"
Chi stood up again, shakily. "Livin'," he grunted. "We can hurt this one, can we, Wangdue?"
A pause. Wangdue and Tekhartha observed one another in silence. "How d'you plan on doing that, Chi?"
A longer pause. Tekhartha did not move, still wary about allowing Wangdue any leeway with how close he was to the fallen omnic.
"Take Tenzin with you and see if Hui has caught that other omnic," Wangdue finally decided, flexing his fingers and digging them into the omnic's wires. Tekhartha tensed. "I will definitely explore with these if you stop my pals from leaving. Me 'n you are going to have a good… chat".
Tekhartha's core was burning up, and his fans kicked in, whirring loudly as he watched Chi drag Tenzin up by his shoulders, but did not move, processes reassigning themselves different priorities as he forcibly pushed his programming down, back under and buried.
He watched the two men leave, stumbling and leaning against one another, and felt a flicker of anger –that he had not stopped them, that he did not know whether the other omnic was safe, that he'd allowed his programming to resurface so quickly, so easily…– but he abruptly suppressed it, letting it simmer down. He could afford himself no lapse in attention, not when the last man, Wangdue, was holding hostage the omnic and could seriously harm her.
There was still one of them here, after all, and if he was able to catch this one, he would find out where the others were going, and why they were kidnapping his batchmates.
He just had to wait a little longer.
Tekhartha hoped help was on the way.
…–…–…–…–…–…
Vyapada (Pali): Aversion, anger, hatred. One of the five hindrances to meditation practice.