-Shila Zakharov,
"The Words of the Created."
Nathanial looked up towards the sky. Dark and gloomy clouds now covered the once bright and sunny day. The remains of a once beautiful city were smoldering behind him, and a distinct smell of burning flesh was in the air. There were many people around him…a few were dying, but many more were dead. Nathanial couldn't believe it, even though he was seeing it for his own eyes.
In the distance, however, he saw them coming. Hundreds upon hundreds of rovers, all headed in his direction. He tried to run, but his feet were stuck in place. They got closer and closer, and all he could do was scream –
-as he sat up in bed with a jolt. Gasping for breath, Nathanial fearfully looked around the dark room. It was as it should be, much to his relief.
"What time is it?" He asked outloud.
"Current time: 0446."
Nathanial rubbed his face and tried to slow down his breathing. He knew that he only had an hour and fifteen minutes before he was supposed to be waking up for school, not to mention the fact that he hadn't gone to bed at 2343 like he was supposed to. Despite his fear of returning to his nightmare, he fell back into his bed and tried to sleep.
Twenty minutes of tossing and turning later, however, he gave up and walked to his window. The nightmare was indeed plaguing him, but not nearly as much as his discovery a few hours before. I discovered the person that no civilian has seen for over a hundred years. The words echoed in his mind, and he knew he was never going to get to sleep as long as he just sat there, thinking about her.
He walked over to his desk and picked up his monitor. He pondered calling Mille, but she needed even more sleep than he did, what with her teaching lessons. I'll talk to her first thing tomorrow. He logged into the GDM and accessed The Armageddon. The screen once again split into its various views, all focusing on the central point of Meskha. He could barely stand to watch the woman experience such levels of pain. The text window in the bottom right beckoned for him, but he decided not to wake the woman up again from her pain. He was about to log off - when he saw the text box flicker.
What was that?
…don't know. Do you…feel something?
I'm sensors are detecting another mindwave. Who's there?
I don't feel anything, Nwabudike…let's just continue …plans…
I don't trust it. I'll contact you tomorrow.
No, wait…
The text box went dormant after that. Nathanial watched the pain and desperation in Meskha's eyes from the boxes. His own eyes were beginning to grow tired, until he remembered what she had said: "I don't feel anything, Nwabudike…" That was President Morgan's first name! He didn't only witness a living legend today, he witnessed two of them! A voyeuristic feeling arose in Nathanial as he wondered what the two had been talking about. Unfortunately, Morgan was very thorough in deleting their chats. He could probably undelete them, but it'd take hours, and he was beginning to fall asleep as it was. "What time is it?"
"Current time: 0538."
"Then what's the point of even going to bed?" he said, as he walked out the door towards the kitchen.
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Na-than-ial Fowl! WAKE UP!"
The teacher's voice awoke Nathanial from his five-minute dream. It wasn't the first time today he'd been asked to stay awake, but it was certainly the loudest.
"I apologize, sir. I didn't sleep well last night."
"Well," he said, leaning against his desk, "You're going to get worse sleep here. Now, I'll repeat the question: what is a Planet Buster?"
Nathanial shook his head out of annoyance and grogginess. "A Planet Buster is a theoretical weapon designed to initiate a nuclear and catastrophic effect against its target."
The teacher crossed his arms. "What makes you think it's theoretical?"
"It's never been used, nor has any faction ever announced that it has one."
"Ah, but why would they announce it? Lady Deirdre enacted anti-atrocity laws. If any faction were to use one, they'd lose any support and they would be targets to every other faction."
"They would announce it to gain authority," Nathanial said, fiddling with his monitor buttons and not really paying much attention to the debate. "If I was the leader of a faction, I'd say that I had a Planet Buster just to induce fear within my enemies. It's not against anti-atrocity laws to make a Planet Buster, just to use one."
The teacher nodded. "Possibly. But let's say someone built enough Planet Busters to destroy every base on Planet. What good would the atrocity law be than?"
Nathanial looked up at the teacher. "They would be no good."
The teacher nodded solemnly and turned around. "Such is the state of the world that we live in. We all have the capacity to use such bombs to destroy everything, but we're all currently at peace. It'll only take a war."
Nathanial turned his attention back to the buttons his monitor. "Except, of course, that Planet Busters are only theoretical."
The teacher turned around and stared at Nathanial with cold eyes. "Wait until war, Nathanial, and you'll see just how theoretical they really are."
----------------------------------------------------------------
He saw Mille running up to him from a distance away. He had looked for her all morning, but the Teacher's Guild had called her in to do special tutoring. It wasn't the first time, and they usually paid her well for it... but Nathanial had wanted to talk to her since the night before, and every minute he had to wait was like torture.
"I heard you were looking for me, Nathan. What's up?"
Nathanial rolled his eyes. He hated the name Nathan and tolerated it only from Mille. "I got into Armageddon."
Mille let her jaw drop the slightest bit. "The Armageddon in the criminal tab?"
He nodded. "It contains Me-"
He stopped short as he felt something hard hit the back of his head. He clenched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. It was, of course, a battal ball. Nathanial had no need to check who'd thrown it.
"You're losing arm strength, brute. That should've hurt more."
Max was leaning against the locker. "I didn't want to hit Miss Canio. She always seems to be in the way, unfortunately."
Mille turned around with fire in her eyes. "Max Chasen, are you simply begging to be reported to the corrections council?"
Max put an innocent look on his face. "For what, ma'am?"
"I'd say not to act stupid, but that's a little too difficult for you," Nathanial shouted.
Mille nudged him. "You're not helping." She then turned her attention back to Max. "For continued harassment of students, and you know it."
The bully put a hand to his heart. "Miss Canio, you've wounded me. I do nothing but play."
"Play with your bully friends, not the ones that can't fight back. I'll report you at the next sign of trouble."
He bowed to Mille. "My humble apologies."
Mille growled in disgust. She pulled Nathanial away from the situation. "Don't tell me about Armageddon, show me. Your house?"
Nathanial smiled, both for Mille's help once again, and because he could begin to delve into the mystery he'd discovered with his best friend.
Nathanial's parents weren't home, and they both knew it. Otherwise, Mille would most certainly not be allowed inside Nathanial's room. "Good lord only knows what seventh-graders do while their parents aren't looking!" they would say. Nathanial and Mille both laughed at the naivety of some people.
"'Judgement day'. Interesting."
Nathanial walked into the room, followed by Mille, who was holding a glass of tea. Nathanial sat at the desk. "Kind of unoriginal. I mean, all I had to do was look in a Christian bible."
Mille nodded. "But like you said, the Gaian tech guys aren't very imaginative."
He nodded as he accessed The Armageddon. The screen split into eight views, all facing Meskha. Mille gasped. "You weren't kidding."
Meskha's eyes fluttered awake as the program was activated.
It was you, wasn't it, Nathania…l?
Mille's eyes widened. "She's talking to you??"
Nathanial nodded and began to type. I don't understand.
Last …night. While we were talking.
I didn't mean to interrupt anything.
It's okay. I actually want to… include you in what we've been talking about. The…more the morrier, I say…and I'll need all…the allies I can get.
"Why does she hesitate when she speaks?" Mille asked.
"She's connected to a punishment sphere. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I believe that every time lightning enters her body, she pauses her speech, possibly in pain."
What help can I offer?
It involves you…me and Nwa-…President Morgan. I need your…help. I'm assuming you are not a…Gaian officer or a fact...ion leader and you've somehow…hacked into my mindwaves, like ...Morgan did?
"I don't think she knows about Armageddon," Nathanial said aloud. "She would've mentioned it by now."
"Isn't Morgan a faction leader, though?" Mille asked, confused.
"Haven't you seen the news lately? Morgan's been AWOL for a long time now."
You are correct.
Then you have the ability... to disrupt or destroy the Gaian Defense Mainframe.
Mille leaned forward. "What?!"
Nathanial shook his heard at her, calming her slightly.
Possibly.
Me and Preside...nt Morgan have a plan. He has amassed a giant army, and he is pla…ning to attack Gaia's Landing.
Why?
Because his people are riot...ing, that's why. Morgan has been a fool. Over a hundred years he has... not accepted the other factions offers…of help and science. His people see that as a sign…of arrogance. They've taken over the streets and…are demanding a leader who will lead them to great…ness. He wants to find someone…who can rule with him and keep the…rioters under control. Hence, me.
I see you haven't lost your confidence over a hundred years.
You know of me?
I've read books about you.
Then I'm sure you know about…my not-so-pleasing past. Well, I want to make it…clear that I just want to help Morgan. He's the…only leader to even talk to me with any kindness since…my sentence. But Nathanial, his job will be much more difficult if…the Gaian's fight back. I need your help to disrupt…their communications so it's a swift…extraction.
And what's in it for me?
Milled grabbed his shoulders. "Are you insane?!"
Nathanial put a hand to her lips and gently pushed her back onto his bed. She reluctantly stayed quiet.
You will receive anything, and... everything. Any wish you want I will grant, after Morgan makes me a co-leader. You, your friends, your...family will all become royalty.
Nathanial had heard enough. He saved the chat onto a pad and closed the connection to her mind. He then turned the program into author mode and began forcibly extracting communication from Morgan. They'd had days worth of chats, apparently, as the chats seemed to pour into the pad.
Milled stared at him. "Now what are you doing?"
He stared back at her. "You didn't think I was going to fall for that, did you? Meskha has a plan to get out of her prison sentence three hundred and seventy years early, and we can't allow that to happen. Planet can't allow that to happen.
He finally finished two hours later. Meskha was still on the screen, smiling despite her pain. Nathanial growled at the woman. He went back into author mode and changed the password from "Judgment Day" to "Demon Wench."
"Morgan will not have access to her any longer. We've got to talk to Lady Deirdre."
Mille scoffed. "How do you expect to get attention to Deirdre? She's governor of our faction and of Planet. You expect her to care about two seventh-graders?"
Nathanial smiled. He exited Judgment day and the criminal tab, and entered the domestic tab. Inside, he entered Deirdre's personal diary through a backdoor. He could read the entirty of her existence if he wanted to, but that was of little concern at the moment. He entered author mode and typed in the following message:
"Lady Deirdre,
My name is Nathanial Fowl, a loyal citizen in Silvering Point. I have gained access into the GDM. Do not fret that I have done harm, for that has never been my intention. However, I have gained access into The Armageddon via the criminal tab, and I have come upon a rather disturbing plot, involving prisoner Meskha and President Morgan of Morgan Industries. I wish to discuss this with you further. Please arrange a meeting if you care for your faction, and for Planet. My address is enclosed.
-Nathanial Fowl."
He saved the entry and disconnected from the GDM. "Now," Nathanial said, leaning back, "Let's just hope Deirdre is paying attention."