Chapter 28
In Pandora, abandoned motels were nothing new. Before the days of the Eridium Boom, Pandora was just a chaotic planet whose landscape was beautiful despite its fatal environment. Some of the locals tried to take advantage of untapped tourism potential but all of them failed. The owner and staff would go insane and now inhabit the world of Pandora as Psychos. Conveniently, people like Axton and Red could use the abandoned motels to do whatever they please. Shelters in Pandora were at a constant oversupply.
Axton and Red had driven a few kilometers away from The Gate and parked at the parking lot. They cleared any Psychos or Bullymongs that wandered around the motel so that they wouldn't be any disturbance. Then, the soldiers occupied a room and set it up that would accommodate them for a few days. Two beds, a table and two chairs and a toilet. Food and water were not to be worried as vending machines were not far from the motel.
Axton waited anxiously at his bed. One leg was moving constantly, he was calm but his body wanted to move. The door was opened and Red entered the room. Two bottles of beer with a plastic bag filled with canned food. Red called Axton to come to the table and the man nodded. Red put the plastic bag on top of the table and sat on a chair. Axton sat opposite to him and he smiled at the younger man.
"You seem tense." Red said. "Relax, have a beer with me."
"Woahh, a beer?" Axton pointed out. "I thought doctors prefer plain water?"
"I'm not a doctor to begin with." Red shrugged. "I'm just a guy that studies a lot of Sirens and Eridians."
"You should bang with Tannis, she knows a lot of Siren things."
"Is she the girl with the robot hand? Deathtrap, her friend's name." Red opened the two bottle beer and offered one to Axton.
"No, that's Gaige, Tannis is the fidgety girl." Axton raised his beer.
"Ahh, okay. Maybe we should visit your HQ again." Red raised his beer. "Make some new friends."
Their bottles touched together and they drank their beers. Red drank less than Axton and shivered, showing how weak he was with alcohol. Axton was different as he drank more than half of the beer and released a loud moan. Both men put their drink down and Red looked at the label.
"I should have checked the expiry date, tastes weird."
"Nah, that's just Pandora beer for ya."
"Ughhh.." Red shivered again. "I prefer coffee and tea. Anyway, we should get into business. About the aftereffects, tell me about it Axton."
"Well, how should I say this…" Axton took his beer. "It affects how I see things."
"In what sense?" Red took out a small notebook and a pen. "Would you mind explaining?"
Axton sipped his beer. "I started to hear things. Whispers…"
"Whispers?" Red started to write notes. "Those whispers, can you tell me what they say?"
"Well no, I just couldn't understand." Axton leaned to his chair. "They're not telling me anything, they're more like nagging."
"Well we could correlate that with Alesia, certainly." Red looked at Axton. "Since the day she died, have you seen an increase or decrease in those whispers?"
"Decrease and the whispers are still there from time to time."
"Is there a specific time that you hear these voices?"
Axton paused. "Whenever I research about her."
"You research about her?" Red was intrigued. "Is there any particular reason behind this research?"
"No, I just do it whenever I have free time. The Resistance has already won, Hyperion is going bust in Pandora, we have more free time that we could spend."
"Do you see things differently lately? Maybe some colour blindness and such?"
"How about seeing everything in your surroundings changing? Is that serious?"
"Interesting…" Red mumbled. "Any other effects?"
"I could read some weird language. You know the books that Maya usually read, I kinda understand what it means."
"Really?" Red hummed in curiosity. He then wrote on his notebook and then showed it to Axton. "Tell me what does this mean?"
Axton took his time to read what Red has written. He nodded. "Papyrus soufflé. What the hell is that?"
"Just random words." Red was amazed but kept his enthusiasm a secret. "And you telling me that you recently know how to read it?"
"Yeah. Give enough time and the word somewhat translates itself like a puzzle. But it solves by itself."
"I put my whole life on studying Sirens and it takes a while for me to understand it. It's called The Siren Language of Old." Red furrowed his brow out of interest. "And you just somewhat read it like you're a Siren. A Siren before The Stoppage."
"What does that mean?"
"Long story short, even a Siren shouldn't be able to do it." Red looked at his notes and tried to make sense of what's happening to Axton. "Does it bother you in a bad way?"
"Before she died, I thought I was going insane. But after, not much I can say. Everything seemed to be normal."
"Hmmm. Can you give me your hand?" Red moved his hands towards Axton with open palms.
"Yeah sure." Axton nodded.
Axton gave his left and Red held it like a palm teller. Red felt the rough hand and started to pressure certain parts of it. Red pressured the hand with his thumbs and with it, unexpected reactions. He pressured one part and Axton eyes started to be watery. Another part, Axton started to shiver. Then another part and another part. All with different reactions. Up to a point, Axton pulled his hand away and started to hiss in pain. Red scratched his chin and nodded in amazement. He wrote on his notes and continued to just ponder on the data he has.
Axton disliked the fact that he was teased in painful ways only to have silence right after. He coughed, wanting to catch Red's attention, to which he successfully did. Red looked at Axton and wanted to speak, his mouth opened but no words came out. Red tapped the table and started to bite his lip. Axton didn't like the gut feeling that he was having. He was like a patient who knew that he had cancer, just that the doctor didn't want to tell the truth to his face.
"Is there a problem Red? Am I alright?" Asked Axton.
"What do you think? You think you're alright?" Red turned his eyes towards Axton's eyes.
"I don't think so." Axton gave a nervous smile. "Am I gonna die?"
"Well, the fact that you live in Pandora, dying is the least thing that you should be worried about." Red got up and went to the sink. An electric kettle was beside the sink and it seems the Siren Expert was keen on making tea. "You like tea or coffee?"
"Coffee, heavy cream if you can." Axton's eyes tracked Red's movement, focusing at all times.
"No problem." Red filled the electric kettle with water from the sink. "I came prepared." He gestured his head towards the plastic bag that was on top of the table.
"Would you mind telling me what's going on?" Axton brows raised in concern.
Red closed the electric kettle cover, producing a loud click. Axton was slightly surprised with the sound and leaned away a few inches. Red sighed and his shoulder lowered. The Searcher then set the kettle on top of its base and turned it on. The kettle started to boil the water. Red turned to face Axton and leaned on the table top.
"There's a few possibilities that might happen to you." Red was a serious man by default but now he was even more serious. "I don't take things lightly Axton and I'm sorry if I'm a bit mute on you."
"Sokay… just mind lowering down the suspense thing a bit. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack if you keep doing it." Axton raised his hands.
"For now I'm seeing three possibilities." Red showed three fingers. "All three I can neither confirm nor deny.
Red showed one finger. "One, you might be a Siren."
"A Siren?!?! A guy?" Shocking news to Axton.
"It is possible but it really stretches hair thin chances. Most likely no but the chance is open." Red raised a second finger. "Two, Alesia might damage your nerves. The fact that I just touched a few of your nerves and the effects are so apparent, you might have got your boards burnt."
"Does that means I have brain cancer?" Axton said gravely.
"No." Red shook his head. "You wanna know Alesia's power?"
"What?"
"On the Siren records, her nickname is Tundalya. Thunder Tigress."
Hearing the name, sends shivers to Axton's spine. A moment of silence for the both of them. No words could describe Axton's emotion. Then a thunderstruck suddenly happened that made Axton jump from his chair and he pulled a pistol from his holster. Axton was breathing heavy and reacting like a mouse; scared. Axton started to aim his left and right only to realize that there was no enemy to begin with. Seeing how ridiculous he was, Axton glanced back to see Red's reaction. The man only observed and made sure he would never forget it.
"Does she haunt you Axton?" Red asked curiously.
Axton swallowed his throat and put down his pistol. "She does."
"She's dead Axton." Red folded his arms. "You became a hero for that."
"I… I… I know." Axton looked down. Rain started to fall. "But sometimes I just don't feel like it. Even though it's been seven months."
"I think that, with her abilities, she managed to damage your nerves. She did touch your left arm if I remember correctly. You should be grateful that you survived."
Axton took a deep breath and sighed. He closed his eyes and mumbled.
"I'm sorry?"Red moved his head closer to Axton.
"The sins of the past shall be paid with an uncertain future. Those were her last words." Axton turned to Red. "It sometimes fucks me up you know."
"Well, I don't know what to say about that." Red shrugged.
"So what's the third possibility?" Axton inquired.
"Alesia might give new abilities." Red adjusted his throat. "Sirens are capable of many mysterious things, it is possible."
"That explains why I can read those Siren languages…" Axton reflected.
"Is a dead language and you know it, is not a coincidence Axton." Red concluded. "Again, I can neither confirm or deny it. So, I hope that I have your full commitment to confirm which one is which."
"Oh you have my commitment." Axton nodded. "Just point I'll go."
"So let's make some mistakes then." Red stood straight.
The electric kettle clicked and the water was fully boiled.
Heyo, Author here.
I hope my dear readers are well and happy, I missed writing and certainly missed you guys. Apologies for the late update, I have been busy working on my youtube channel and so I would like to inform you all. Rather than the usual weekly update, I reckoned that I would not fulfill my weekly obligations seeing that my youtube channel needed some updating too. I love writing and certainly love making lore but making videos are also a new hobby of mine. And so I decided to commit bi weekly updates for my stories. If ever I could have the extra time, more updates shall arrive. But bi weekly shall be the standard as of now.
Unfortunately, I would not inform my youtube channel, in hope to preserve my persona and professionalism. I believe that my youtube channel and writing hobby are a stark contrast, the last thing I want is to disrupt both of my hobbies having such perspective. Maybe one day I will reveal to you my channel but as of now, I want to keep it separate. Regardless, I hope you like reading my stories and to those who follow me and like my stories. Thank you and much love.
May you be blessed with a good life.
C'ya Mates_
Lake Strauss.