Chapter. 55
"Aaahh!" Connar awoke and shot up.
"Whoa!" Alice fell back on the floor. "Glad to see you're awake now."
Connar looked around and found himself back in his cell. "How did I get here?"
"Leon carried you back."
"What happened with Abel?"
"He took the container. Natalie and I tended to the wounded, Leon laid you down so I should get a look at you." Connar looked down to see his shirt and jacket were off. "You're in great shape."
"Climbing and running form accessories will do that."
"Alice's was flustered when she saw you're chest, her first word was 'wow'."
"Leon!" Alice started pounding her fist on the accessory.
"How badly was I hurt?"
Alice stopped and spun back to the thief. "You weren't. When I got to you will'o was glowing around your body, somehow your will'o healed you."
"That's something I guess. So that was Abel, and now he has the casket." Connar punched his bed. "Damn it! The bastard was toying with us!"
"Connar calm down."
"Red Rage. That damn machine was giving the advantage, next time, I'll kill him."
The world turned to purple and Aries appeared in the cell. "Ooh! You almost had it!"
Connar stood up and Alice pushed him back down. "Sit, you need rest."
"You fought Abel too. Worry about yourself."
"I wasn't thrown into a rock. Aries, what is the casket?"
"That casket's important, you know. Very important, in fact. It's what's going to lead you to Simeon."
"Could you be any more cryptic?" Asked Connar.
Aries just shook her head. "Well the thing is, it's no use by itself."
"What else does it need?"
"A very special will'o power. From a very special kind of person."
"Beatrice."
Alice turned to Connar. "What?"
"Aries here once told me to save Beatrice, that she was needed for the great transformation. And now we need this casket, connect the dots and it says we need to get Beatrice to the casket."
Aries clapped her hands. "Bravo Connar, guess you're not the brute I thought you were." Connar put up his middle finger and Aries vanished.
"Are you two okay?" Leon asked once the world returned to normal. "You've staring at the wall for a whole minute."
"We're fine, just thinking." Said Alice.
"I just got a message from Mattias is asking for you two."
Alice patted Connar's back. "You up to get some air?"
"Better then staring at the walls." Connar stood up and put on his jacket, not bothering to button it. "Mind getting the door?" He asked while attaching his wrist blades.
Leon opened the cell and three stepped out.
"Hey!" Shouted Mattias From below.
"Shall we?" Alice waved her hand to the stairs.
"You two go, I go express."
"What?" To answer Alice Connar leaped over the rail, the thief landed on his feet and left hand. "Are you mad!?"
"Only on Mondays." Connar walked to Mattias. "What's going on?"
"You think you could get a shirt on first?"
"How about you tell what you want before I lose interest."
"Okay... Whaddya think that thing Abel stole was."
"The Casket. As for what it does, I've got nothing."
Mattias nods. "Yeah, that's what Natalie called it. Maybe we should ask Natalie about it. She must know more, right?"
"I can do that." Said Alice.
"What are you three talking about?" Beatrice arrived to join the group. She looked at Connar and clover her mouth. "Oh my."
"We were talking about the casket, the thing Abel took." Answered Connar. "And stop staring at me."
"We ah, we still have no idea exactly what it is, do we?"
Leon placed his hand on Alice back, the girl looked up to him as he shook his head.
"Not a clue. I think I heard that Abel guy saying something about using it to lead humanity, though..." Said Mattias.
"Wait, it needs Beatrice to work, right?" Thought Connar. "You know anything Beatrice?"
"I am afraid not. But let us examine the facts. A powerful abductor was involved, I believe?"
"Yeah. Now that I think about now, how was he controlling it? Red Rage was it's name."
"Red Rage?"
Mattias nods. "Yup. And Abel controlled the damn thing like it was a part of him. That shaz is... freaky."
"Controlling it?" Beatrice gasped in shock. "This sounds like a special abductor indeed."
"I could give you a few more details if you like." Julien found and joined in the teams chat.
"Thank you." Replied Alice. "What do you know about it?"
"A little. Red Rage is one of a group of ancient abductors known as the three prototypes. We know they're supposedly being kept in Hourai, but beyond that, our intel is pretty hazy. Mainly because no one has come into contact with them and survived."
"Uwe said something about the three prototypes. what are they exactly?"
"It's said all abductor designs are based on the prototypes. Thought they do also have some unique features that our engineers can't seem to replicate, even using the very latest technology."
"And yet Rage ripped through the other abductor like it like they were made of paper. Isn't a prototype meant to be a base to build something better? Why are all of the abductors worse then the first ones made?"
"Well Red Rage had a damage neutralization system."
"A what?"
"Neutralization. The property immunity, in this case anything harmful."
"I know what it means, what I'm asking is how?"
"We not know how it works." Answered Julien.
Connar sighed and pinched his nose. "Okay let's try something else, the way Abel could control Red Rage, how?"
"Its ability to link directly with a sinner's consciousness. The link is made at a subconscious level, enabling instantaneous, ultra precise response."
"How does it work?" Asked Alice.
"It's a system that basically puts a moving fortress at the mercy of a sinner's whim. But it's not for the faint hearted. The feedback noise is too much for some."
Mattias hangs his head. "Shaz... No wonder we couldn't stop the guy."
Beatrice on the other hand was amazed. "Incredible... I suppose the volitional charged would be transmitted via a will'o stream. But then how would the data be processed?" The girl looked around at the puzzled faces of her friends. "Oh, ah... I do apologies. I sometimes get a little carried away."
Connar thought about what Beatrice and looked back to Julien. "Where are the other two?"
"Hmm. Good question... Some think there may actually be four altogether, while others say they're not individual abductors at all but parts that join to form a bigger whole."
"So nothing known for sure."
"I prefer to think that there are still a wealth of theories to be explored. You two should count yourselves lucky to have seen Red Rage up close. I'd love to have had the chance."
"Me too!" Beatrice perked up. "To see it move, and to get a look at the composition of its armor plating up close would have been-"
"Alright, alright!" Mattias had enough. "I get it, I get it!" Connar glared at him. "Well, I don't get it, but... I get it. First things first, we need to find out more about the casket. Let's go talk to Natalie."
"Natalie?" Asked Beatrice. "I saw heron this level of citizen's promenade only a short while ago."
"Then let's go see what she has to say! It's gotta be better then standing around here talking tech with you nerds!"
Leon punched Mattias in the back of the head. "Be nice to nerds, you work for them."
Mattias rubbed his head. "Okay sorry, so let's go. Last one to find the ice queen is a rotten egg!"
"You're on!" Alice and Mattias took off in a run but Leon held his arm out to stop Mattias then chased after Alice.
"No fair!" Mattias got up and ran to catch up.
Beatrice was about to follow them but Connar grabbed her arm. "I still have some question for you." Connar turned to Julien. "Both of you."
"What is it?"
Connar let go. "From what you were saying it sounded like you had an idea of how Abel was controlling that abductor. Tell me, what would it take for me to do that?"
"What-"
"You heard me. How can I control an abductor of my own?"
! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{
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