(Traci: There are a few minor changes from the copy I sent to you.)
The next step was to gather all I could about
the other upgrades. I typed in X-9023 and found his file.
"The only clues found to point to the location
of the hidden upgrades were written in a book by Almon Halfour. However,
the only known copy of the book was lost in a fire. The only other copy
of the book is mentioned in the fireside tales of Ector, Lord of High Magic;
apparently, he has a copy, and uses it for great wisdom..."
...so. A journey to meet the Lord of High
Magic was in store for me now? Fine. Whatever it took to complete my purpose,
I would do. Even if it meant standing up to the fabled 'Alhen' himself.
I loaded up Ector's file again and scanned
for anything giving me a clue for how to find him. It vaugely mentioned
he was supposed to live deep under the sea. That wasn't much of a clue!
However I happened to know about certain things the common public would
have no concept of; One of them was an area in the deep sea known as Fayolin.
There have been strange occurances around this area; people have crashed
into the sea there and miraciously awoken on shore, ect. But whenever anyone
tried to explore the area they found themselves in a totally different
portion of the sea.
I walked out of the building and headed toward
the nearest transport. Fayolin was in sector 672. Being who I was I doubted
I would recieve any trouble applying for a watercraft.
Stepping into the transport building, I immediatly
turned right. I walked to the desk ahead.
"I wish to apply for a watercraft."
The man behind the desk grunted. "You're at
the wrong desk, fool." I looked up and around, startled. When I turned
back, the man was laughing.
"All you damned robots are so gullible. If
that stupid Melchior fool had put something else besides fake intelligence
in that 7718 maybe it would be different." ...uh-oh....
"Now what is your name?"
I blinked and hesitated. I couldn't make it
up, or the records would be put off and I could be thrown into prison.
"I am X-7718,sir."
The man blinked and laughed uproariously for
a few minutes. Then he came up again. "Thank you, my friend, I haven't
had such a laugh in ages. But seriously, who are you?"
I sighed and flipped off the iron cover on
my knuckles revealing X-7718 emblazoned in yellow. I flicked it back, covering
my fist with a part of the iron upgrade again. The man coughed and filled
out the form. "And what do you want the watercraft for?"
Now what was I to say? That I was off to find
the Lord of High Magic? Absurd! He would take me for a malfunctioned prototype
and toss me into the bin!
"Heading toward the Fayolin area, sir."
The man creased his eyes and looked like he
was about to explode into laughter again, but calmed down and wrote in
a neat curvy script what I had just said to him. He handed me the form
with his signature without another word, but as I stepped from the room
I heard him crack up again.
It is not an emotion of us models to feel
embarrassed, but I swear I did.
I handed the form to the distributor and got
my craft without another problem. I knew the transporter coordinates; it
was safely stored in my drives. I punched them in, and WHOOSH!
Water.
I sat in my shimmering purple craft and closed
the hatch carefully. The craft I had recieved was like a lima bean; the
hatch rested in the curve at the top. I manuevered a few controls and began
my descension.
Hours passed. The sea was a very deep place.
I amused myself by playing solitare with my programs. Finally, the echolation
built into the watercraft picked up something strange. I leaned forward
in my seat eagerly.
There, rising very dramatically, a silver
half orb rose slowly from behind a rift. The image shimmered like heat
was rising from around it. It looked vaugley reminiscent of something I
had seen before. Strange...
I came closer and began to wonder how one
would get into this place. Turns out I didnt have to do anything. After
getting closer I found myself suddenly at the end of a long hallway.
The entire place was beaten by age. A crack
was in the ceiling, mysteriously not letting water in, but it looked very,
very old. I stepped down a bit and saw in front of me a very strange sight.
There was someone seated on the throne. But
his image kept wavering from an old man, to a boy, to a middle aged man,
back to an old man again....
Finally he stopped as a boy, tawny flecked
and flinty blue eyed, yellow wavy hair, dressed in a robe that was not
just white, but white as if truly pured from all possible darkness or shadows.
Pitch white, I called it. I just knew what to name it.
"So you are the One, are you not?" Ector spoke,
not with a loud ringing voice of power, but with the calm voice of a boy.
It made me immediatly much calmer and easier.
"I was called that, I believe." I bowed somewhat
stiffly. Ector grinned.
"And you have come for the book?" I nodded.
Ector arose and walked forward, seizing a
small, slim book. On the front was an inscription. "The Tale of the Old,
the Wild, and its Master, by Almon Halfour." I nodded again. Ector walked
over and placed the book in my hands.
"There is but one more thing you need from
me. When I first came into this world it was through a mirror of mists
known now as Erised. I know now that the mirror is no longer a passageway
through worlds as it once was. However, when I first went through, ages
and ages ago, I found myself in a small cave."
Ector walked forward and past me, staring
out the slits in the wall that somehow let no water through. "In the cave
was a robot, much like you. with the name X-9023 emblazoned on his knuckles."
I recognised the name of the robot who made the upgrades I sought.
"He was creating the second of six items.
The first was stored away. And when he was done he looked at me and handed
me this." He took from his robe a bronze colored cube. "I nodded, and turned
back into the mists. I have carried this upgrade very long, my friend."
He smiled. "Bronze carried long...and I see you have already recieved the
Iron upgrade...for the birthday, I presume?"
"It was indeed," I said to him. "given to
me forty years from the date of my discovery by Almon Halfour." Ector nodded
to me and slowly, as if borne by the air and wind, made his way ahead and
handed me the bronze upgrade. Immediatly, it activated, and snapped up
it's metal around my visor and ankles.
"The upgrades give you immense skill with
the item they are named for," Ector explained. "and when you get them all
nothing can prevent you for awakening those who were lost." He grinned.
"The Sleepers. You already know who they are."
I thought for a moment. Did I know? I
knew peices of the puzzle. Suddenly they all began coming together. I looked
at Ector. "The Sleepers of the rhyme," I said, "Are Will, Mike, Bran, Traci,
and Alana."
Ector swished his robe around him. "What you
say is true." he whispered softly. From behind him, a huge screen ornatley
carved and mounted on the wall suddenly split in two and fell to the ground
in a huge crash. Behind sat a sword made of cyrstal and shining like the
sea.
Ector walked up swiftly and seized the sword.
"This is Excalibur, otherwise known as Eirias." He handed the hilt to me
gingerly. "I give it to you in the same manner it was given to Bran. You
must bring it with you. It's light is needed as well as the sound from
the harp of gold." He also handed me a sheath, and when I put the sword
in Ector blinked and sighed.
"I am getting old..." He glanced at the sheath,
and then to me, his eyes sad. "The sheath will keep the sword invisible
to the common person. Read the book. It will give you guidance on where
to go next." I bowed again and walked back down the hall. And then, I was
there in the transport building stepping out.
Back in the sea Ector turned and sat back
on his throne. He stared at the runic inscriptions on the arm rest. "But
there were seven Sleepers....I do hope this is all right." He looked around
for a moment and sighed, long and sad. "Why is the sword invisible to me
when in the sheath? My power is being sapped by something, I'm sure of
it. And if I'm right, then this is the beginning of the greatest calamity
since the forging of the crown of Angmor." And with that, he vanished.
A/N: Blee.
