Chapter 03: Echoes Down the Hall

Nell walked along the stark white corridor, all the troubles of recent days weighing upon her plain to see. Coming to a security door, she showed her ID to the guard and was allowed to pass. She strode on, her high heels clacking against the floor in a rapid beat. Her golden hair bounced lightly, but it could not offset the depth of the worry in her blue eyes.

She came to another security door. This one was barely recognisable as a door at all – to the naked eye it looked like nothing more than a solid sheet of metal. There were two fully armed Special Forces veterans standing outside, one of whom nodded as Nell approached.

"You got business with that piece of scum in there, ma'am?"

Nell sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Well, you know the drill."

To enter the inner sanctum of Thornfield, it would take a lot more than simple ID. First, Nell leant over and looked straight at a small camera next to the door. A ping sounded once the retina scan was complete. Then, she pressed her hand against a small panel that would scan for fingerprints, take her pulse and conduct a host of other checks not even she knew the full extent of. Once all that was satisfied, the only remaining protocol was to speak a password into a sensitive microphone. If it detected the slightest anomaly in her voice, the door would remain shut. Of course, there was none, and once all the scans were complete she was given a positive beep.

"You're clear to go through, Commander."

The door slid sideways into the wall with a rumble like distant thunder and she walked through. Nell had barely taken two steps before it closed again. She didn't look back at the heavy door. It was half a metre thick, designed to keep in the worst of the worst and keep out anyone that might try to free them. It would have taken a Black Hole Neotank to break through it. Beyond the door the corridor continued, stark, white, and soulless.

Nell stopped partway down the corridor, just outside one of the reinforced cell doors. A strange expression flittered across her face. It was not the destination that had brought her to Thornfield, but she could nevertheless feel it tugging at her. There was a small slit in the door, a pitiful excuse of a window made from bulletproof glass. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Nell put her eyes to the slit and peered through.

The room inside was flat and empty. There were no windows, and the source of the harsh light was indistinguishable from the walls. The only furniture was a low bed built into the floor. It was the kind of prison only the most dangerous of criminals might warrant.

In spite of this the room's occupant did not look particularly threatening. She was a thin, pale teenage girl with a shock of wild black hair standing out in all directions. Her arms were locked away in a straitjacket, and she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at a wall. Her dark eyes were constantly moving, dancing over the empty wall as if she could see things beyond the sight of ordinary mortals, utterly enthralled by the power of her own imagination. Her pouty lips moved in time with the motion of her eyes, driven by a manic frenzy that was impossible to understand.

Unsettled by what she saw, Nell turned away and kept walking.

After the end of the Omega War it had seemed as though there was hope for Lash, the wunderkind inventor of Black Hole. With Hawke dead after the final battle it had fallen to Orange Star to give her a home. It had seemed so easy, so promising. Even though she had been sceptical of Lash's redemption from the beginning, Nell couldn't help but marvel at how just how quickly everything had gone sour.

It had all started when Olaf learned what was to become of Lash. A month after the former Black Hole Commander had taken up residence in Orange Star, Blue Moon had demanded her extradition on charges of war crimes. While Lash had been responsible for horrible atrocities, she had also helped a great deal towards the end of the last war. Certainly no one wanted her to face a firing squad. The refusal had only angered Olaf, and relations between Orange Star and Blue Moon had been worsening ever since. All the smouldering grudges, hastily buried in the name of survival, had sparked to life once more. Perhaps there was still a chance for things to turn around. Knowing all too well what a stubborn idiot Olaf could be, somehow Nell doubted it.

As for Lash herself, at first it seemed like she truly had changed. She had managed to put her intellect towards more constructive ends, and shown a childlike wonder at some of the things life in Orange Star had to offer. She had even struck up a strange friendship with Andy as the two of them tinkered with all sorts of machines. For one single, fleeting moment, she had seemed almost… whole.

Olaf had destroyed that as well. The rising tensions had affected everyone, but Lash most of all. Nell wasn't sure if it was because Lash saw nothing to apologise for in her past or because she had actually begun to feel remorse for her deeds, but either way, her moods had grown darker and more volatile. Soon after one of her experiments put sixteen soldiers in hospital for a week. They had placed restrictions on her, tightened her leash, but Lash had treated it all as a game. Guarding her had become much too dangerous as she took more and more delight in outfoxing her wardens. Eventually there had been no choice but to confine her to Thornfield. Nell sighed. Maybe it would have been easier for everyone if they had just given Olaf what he wanted.

Nell stopped again as she came to another cell door, one with two commandos stationed outside. Behind this door was the single most vile person in the entire facility, and the man Nell had come to see.

"You've prepared the prisoner?"

"Yes ma'am. He's all ready. Seemed real interested to hear he'd be having a visitor."

"I bet he was. Well, I suppose there's nothing to gain by waiting."

Taking her hint, one of the guards put a hand to his radio. "Central, this is Blackwatch. Open up Cell I7."

"Opening up Cell I7."

A small light on the right side of the door changed from red to green, and there was an audible hiss as air escaped around the frame. The guard who had spoken leant over and opened the door while the other covered the cell with his rifle. Once they were sure everything was in order, a quick gesture and nod gave Nell the all clear and she stepped into the room.

Inside it looked much the same as Lash's cell, with the exception of a table and two chairs sitting in the middle of the room. They had been placed there exclusively for Nell's visit. Seated on the far side of the table was an ancient, wrinkled old man with sagging jowls and a rotund frame, his portly figure straining against the light blue prison suit he wore. His eyes were tiny black beads that locked onto her the second she entered the cell and refused to back down, a palpable menace smoking in their depths. He did not speak, merely watching and waiting.

Nell ignored the man while she pulled out the opposite chair and took a seat. She made a point of straightening her purple skirt and refused to look at the prisoner until she had smoothed her hair and neatened her hat. Once she felt ready, she set a small recording device on the table and looked the old man in the eye, her face devoid of emotion.

"I hope you're in the mood to talk."

"Why… should I talk to you?" His voice was raspy and dry, like sandpaper rubbed across rock.

Nell's eyes were cold as winter itself as she matched his black gaze. "I'll be honest with you. The only reason you're still alive is because Orange Star believes that you might be of some use."

He said nothing, just inhaled with a faint squeak.

"We found something interesting when we tested your DNA," she said, deciding to change tactics. "You committed atrocities long before the Omega War, didn't you, Von Bolt?"

Still he refused to speak, but his eyes narrowed just enough to show Nell she had found the leverage she needed.

"You fought in the wars of old, in the Cataclysm. Your conduct was brutal even by the standards of Green Earth's former regime. You were responsible for half a dozen war crimes. And when the war turned against your country, you deserted and disappeared rather than face death with any sort of dignity." She clasped her hands together on the table. "As I said, the only reason you're here is because you might prove useful. If – as your silence suggests – that's not the case, you will be sent back to your homeland." She paused. "And you'll be hanged."

The old man's mouth twitched a little. "No one has come to see me… hhhhh… until now. Why… is it you are here?"

"I need your help," Nell said, making an effort to keep her voice steady.

"My help?" He laughed, a slow and hollow sound that quickly metamorphosed into a violent cough. Sucking in air with a wheeze, he eventually caught his breath and continued. "Why… would I wish to help you?"

"Fine. Don't tell me what I want to know. The next meeting you have will be with a noose."

His expression fell a little, and his dried lips parted as he mulled that over. "You want… information." He took a painful, gurgling breath. "And if I… hhhhh… tell you what I know…"

"You get to live. That's what you care about most, isn't it?" Nell was unable to suppress a hint of disgust from sneaking into her voice. "Do we have a deal?"

The old man didn't reply, instead staring at the table as if totally absorbed in his own thoughts. The room was quiet, the only sound his hideous breathing.

"No," he said after a while. It was the most resolute he had sounded yet. "I want something… more."

"I'm not going to give you your freedom, Von Bolt. I'm not even going to consider moving you to another facility. You're either getting small mercies or none at all."

"I do not expect any of that," he replied with a slow, drawn out chuckle. "I want… hhhhh… to play a game. Every time I answer one of your questions… you must answer one of mine. Do you agree?"

Nell stared at him, hoping he could not see how bewildered she felt. "Why?"

He laughed again, more menacingly this time. "Because… I have something you want. Which means… I have power over you. I had power over all Black Hole and all Omega Land… hhhhh… until your pathetic Allied Nations took it away. Now this paltry power… is all I have, and I will savour it."

Nell hesitated, reassuring herself that this withered old man could not be dangerous, no matter how much malevolence lurked in his beady eyes. She was amazed at how utterly unrepentant the man was. His twisted scheme to leech the energy from an entire continent and kill untold amounts of life all for the sake of prolonging his own existence still seemed like a deranged fiction. Nell was no stranger to cruelty or evil, but Von Bolt still managed to frighten her, truly frighten her down to the depths of her soul. Simply knowing that a human being could become such an abhorrent monster terrified her far more than she cared to admit.

"Fine," she said at last. "I'll play your little game, provided you cooperate."

His lips twitched strangely, an intermittent jerk visible at their sagging corners. Nell suppressed a shiver as she realised that Von Bolt was trying to smile.

"How did you come to lead the Black Hole Army?"

"You… hhhhh… waste your question," he hissed.

Nell's eyes grew colder. "Just answer."

"As you wish. I had… watched the world for many years. Waited. In strife… hhhhh… I saw potential. When the Black Hole Army was… broken… in Macro Land, I made… hhhhh… my move."

"You'll have to do better than that," she observed.

Von Bolt twitched and coughed. "Insolent woman. Will you not… allow me to finish?"

Nell raised a single eyebrow. "Go on, then."

"I followed… hhhhh… Hawke to Omega Land. I took my loyal few into the camp and… claimed what was my right."

"Hawke didn't try to stop you?"

"He was… weak." He laughed and sucked in a further breath. "Ill at ease… hhhhh… with what he had become. He had not the strength to… lead."

Nell leant back as she considered that. The circumstance of Hawke's fall from power was perhaps the greatest enigma about the change in Black Hole after the Second Great War. Von Bolt's explanation was not particularly satisfying. The man who had murdered Sturm and callously dismissed the greatest war in decades as nothing more than a test of his own ability could hardly be described as ill at ease with himself. Then again, by all reports Hawke had been almost a different man in Omega Land. Something had happened to him in between the wars, something more than guilt. The Hawke who had conquered half of Green Earth would surely not have been so easily overcome by a fit of conscience. But if not that, what was it that left him so changed?

Nell sighed and dismissed the thought. Much as she might have liked an answer, Hawke was the one person who couldn't be behind the latest attack. She had to focus on those whose fates were still a mystery.

"Now…" Von Bolt's eyes flared – "you must answer me. How is… hhhhh… the boy?"

"The boy?" Nell queried, even though she was fairly certain who Von Bolt was referring to.

He scowled. "Jake. How is… Jake?"

"Commander Jake is no longer affiliated with the Orange Star Armed Forces. He retired in order to assist the reconstruction effort in his homeland."

Von Bolt chuckled a little at that, wrinkles of flesh obscuring his eyes. Nell took a short breath and went straight to her next question.

"What happened to Flak and Adder when you took command?"

He blinked several times, apparently confused. Nell was about to repeat the question when he sucked in a tortured breath and spoke.

"They were… superfluous."

"That wasn't the question."

Von Bolt tried to snort only for it to mutate into a wheeze. "Very… hhhhh… well. I had no need for them. I had Kindle… remove them from command. After that, they left, and I did not… hhhhh… care where they went."

Nell wondered if he was lying. It seemed far more likely that Flak and Adder were somewhere out in the wastes, buried in a shallow grave. Perhaps by claiming to have shown some scant degree of mercy the former Black Hole leader hoped to appear more reasonable. She soon dismissed the notion. Past events had made it perfectly clear that Von Bolt gave nothing that did not serve his own mad ends even a moment's thought. Presumably that included Flak and Adder.

"Tell me… of Hawke's fate," he hissed, his voice dropping. "Has he joined me in this… hhhhh… infernal place?"

"Hawke is dead."

A sudden spasm rocked the old man. "Dead? He robs me… of my revenge? Bah!" Coughing briefly Von Bolt looked away, before fixing Nell with a deadly stare. "How. How did he die?"

"He was killed in the collapse of your base, during the last battle," Nell said with a shrug. "Moving along, what contingency plans did you have in place in case your plot to drain the life from Omega Land failed?"

He squinted at her. "Contingency…" he began to laugh, the sound thin and painful. "My plan… hhhhh… was perfect. Why would I need another?"

"Oh, I don't know," Nell said in a dry voice. "In case things didn't go as planned? Perhaps if the Allied Nations destroyed your Black Obelisks, captured you, threw you in a cell, and charged you with more war crimes than anyone else in history?"

He snarled at her, revealing yellow and cracked teeth jutting from sickly pale gums. "It should not have… hhhhh… hhhhh… happened. Your feeble forces should not have been able to stop me. It was per-"

The outburst proved too much for him, and he collapsed into a slump, bowing his head as he spluttered and coughed. Nell watched without sympathy. Considering what the man had inflicted on the world, there was very little suffering he did not deserve.

"So you had no backup plan."

What little energy was left to Von Bolt seemed to have faded away, leaving him staring at the table with eyes that were dark and dead. "I would have been… a god. What god could possibly… hhhhh… fail?"

Nell felt herself sinking into the marsh of unease festering in her stomach. Von Bolt was insane. She had known that walking in, but still dared to hope that his time at Thornfield might have rendered him a little more pliant. A foolish hope, she reflected. This rotten husk of a man was too lost in his psychotic delusions to be of any use.

"The Allied Nations," he said, his eyes still unmoving. "How do they fare?"

"Same old, same old," Nell answered, feeling a strange tingle run through her like the touch of a ghost. She only hoped her voice held enough he wouldn't notice the lie. "We get along peacefully, something Black Hole doesn't seem capable of."

A small grunt echoed from deep within Von Bolt, but he did not move a muscle. Eager to move on, Nell leant forwards and clenched her hands together.

"Did you ever station any troops outside of Omega Land? In Cosmo Land, perhaps?"

"Troop deployment… was Kindle's concern," he replied in a hoarse voice. "I… hhhhh… do not know."

Nell rolled her eyes. "You were the commander-in-chief. Kindle did nothing you didn't approve of. Answer the question."

Von Bolt grunted. "No. I… had no need… hhhhh… to do so. No wish… to attract such attention. These questions," he whispered, his voice growing still more hoarse. "Your purpose… hhhhh… Black Hole has returned?"

She blinked. "Yes."

He let loose another horrible, wheezing laugh. "They come. My Bolt Guard… come for me."

"No, actually. It seems to be someone else." Nell allowed herself a modest smile. "The Bolt Guard have vanished. Apparently, your fate doesn't concern them."

His pitted brow shifted, but he said nothing.

"One more question," Nell said, deciding that she'd had enough of playing. "Sturm. What can you tell me about him?"

Von Bolt's eyes twitched and lolled. "That thing… is dead."

"Thing?" Nell could not suppress a bitter little laugh. "How rich, coming from you."

"Enough. I say… hhhhh… enough!" Flecks of spittle fell from his lips as he began to shake and quiver. "Begone. Bego-" He broke into another coughing fit, more intense than any that had come before.

Nell watched with dispassionate eyes. Was it anger that made him quake like this, or was it something else? The old man was difficult to read. Still, whatever emotion had provoked it, his reaction was certainly interesting. By his own admission, he had only come to take command of Black Hole well after Sturm was dead, yet the mere mention of him was enough to elicit a violent response.

Inhaling deeply as if it was the first breath she had ever taken, Nell got to her feet and slipped the recording device into her pocket. There was nothing more to be gained here. Truth be told, she was not certain that she had gained anything at all. Only an inkling. Even so, with a little luck it might turn into something more. Perhaps, just perhaps, Von Bolt had given her an important clue without even knowing it.

The door slid open at her signal. She had only taken a single step when a croak at her back made her pause.

"You will… hhhhh… honour our agreement," Von Bolt whispered. "You will let me… live?"

Nell closed her eyes, a fresh wave of disgust coming over her.

Then she walked away without another word.