Chapter 03: Echoes Down the Hall

Nell walked along a stark white corridor, all the troubles of recent days weighing upon her plain to see. They lived in her every expression, were writ in the pensive cast of her lips. Her golden hair and purple suit were a vivid shock against the sterile environment of Orange Star's highest security prison. Thornfield was a place removed from the wider world and its colours, and Nell could not help but feel like an unwanted intruder, in a place she did not belong. Coming to a security door, Nell 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. There was a light bounce to her blonde hair as she walked, but it could not offset the apprehension in her blue eyes as she moved deeper into the building.

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 soldiers standing outside, one of whom nodded as Nell approached. Thornfield was not a prison overseen by any ordinary personnel. It was a maximum security military facility, and the men and women guarding it were all highly trained and carefully vetted.

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

Nell sighed. "Unfortunately, I do."

"Well, you know the drill."

It would take a lot more than simple ID to access the inner sanctum of Thornfield. First, Nell leant over and looked directly at a small camera next to the door. A ping sounded once the retina scan was complete. Next 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 to be found, 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. Nell waited patiently for it to open, and, once the way was clear, she stepped across the threshold. She had barely taken two steps before it began to close again. She didn't look back at the heavy door as it shut. 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. There was little short of a Black Hole Neotank capable of breaking through it. Beyond the door the corridor continued, empty, white, and soulless.

Nell stopped partway down the corridor, just outside one of the reinforced cell doors. A strange expression flitted across her face as she came to a halt. It was not the destination that had brought her to Thornfield, but she was drawn there nevertheless. There was a small slit in the door, a pitiful excuse of a window made from bulletproof glass. Nell's apprehension mounted as she moved towards the door, but her curiosity – and her concern – would not let her pass by without checking on her former charge. Bracing herself for what she might find, Nell put her eyes to the slit and peered through.

The room inside was flat and barren. There were no windows, and the source of the harsh light was almost indistinguishable from the walls. Beyond that, the cell was furnished only with basic amenities and a low bed built into the floor. It was the kind of prison only the most dangerous of criminals might warrant.

In spite of that, the room's occupant did not look particularly threatening. She was a thin, pale girl no older than twenty 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 blank surface as if she could see things beyond the sight of ordinary mortals. The reality of her situation did not even seem to register; the girl was 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 the Allied Nations to decide her fate. Neither Yellow Comet nor Green Earth had volunteered to take Lash, and sending her to Blue Moon was obviously out of the question. By simple process of elimination, Orange Star had been left with the duty of providing a new home for Lash, and attempting to rehabilitate her. It had seemed so easy, so promising. Nell had been sceptical of Lash's redemption from the beginning, but even she couldn't help but marvel at how quickly everything had gone sour.

It had all started when Olaf learned what was to become of Lash. Not a month after the former Black Hole Commander had taken up residence in Orange Star, Blue Moon had levelled charges of war crimes at her, and demanded her extradition. The decision to deny the request had, at the time, seemed easy. 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. Besides, Blue Moon had become a steadfast ally during the recent wars. The prevailing view had been that whilst Olaf might not like the situation, he would come to grudgingly accept it.

As it turned out, they had been badly mistaken. The minute the extradition request was denied, Blue Moon had retaliated by suspending cooperation in several key areas. Any diplomatic attempts to placate their neighbour had failed, and Orange Star had been left with no choice but to harden its stance and protect its own interests. Olaf had been recalcitrant, 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. It was shocking just how quickly the alliance had deteriorated. Within months they had been at each other's throats again over issues of disputed territory. 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. Her initial weeks in Orange Star had been marked by no shortage of teething problems, but she soon managed to settle into a new routine. She was still entirely too wild for anyone's liking, but to Lash's credit, she had made a genuine effort to start a new life. Whether that was because it was something she truly wanted or merely because her old life had crumbled to dust in the desert was impossible to say. For all her genius, Lash had shown little inclination to take charge of her own destiny. Whatever the case, she had managed to put her intellect towards more constructive ends, and shown a childlike wonder at some of the comforts life in Orange Star had to offer. She had even struck up a strange sort of friendship with Andy as the two of them tinkered with all sorts of machines. For one single, fleeting moment, she had almost seemed whole.

Olaf had destroyed that as well. Everyone had been affected by the rising tensions with Blue Moon, but no one had suffered more than Lash. Nell was not sure why that was the case; she could not decide if it was because Lash saw nothing to apologise for in her past, or because she actually had begun to feel remorse for her deeds. It made little difference. Whatever the reason, Lash's moods had grown darker and more volatile as relations with Blue Moon had worsened. 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 rapidly 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. Unlike the others, this one had two commandos stationed outside. Behind this door was the most important person in the entire facility, and the man Nell had come to see.

"You've prepared the prisoner?" She asked.

"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 chair in the middle of the room. They had been placed there exclusively for Nell's visit. On the far side of the table an ancient, wrinkled old man sat in a bulky plastic wheelchair, medical equipment mounted on its frame. The man bore sagging jowls and a portly figure, and his round belly strained against the neon 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. He only watched and waited.

Nell ignored the man while she pulled out the opposite chair and took a seat. She made a point of straightening her purple skirt, refusing to look at the prisoner as she ironed out any creases with one hand. Then, with deliberate care, she took the time to neaten her hair and adjust her hat. Only when she felt ready did Nell set a small recording device on the table and look the old man in the eye, her face devoid of emotion.

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

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

"Because you don't have much choice." Nell's eyes were cold as winter itself as she matched his black gaze. "Let me be perfectly clear. The only reason you're still alive is because Orange Star believes that you might be of some use."

Von Bolt said nothing. He just inhaled with a faint squeak.

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

Still the man 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, where 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 kind 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."

Von Bolt'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 a conscious 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."

Von Bolt's expression fell, 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 keep a hint of disgust from creeping 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 time. 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. What... say you?"

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

Von Bolt 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 he 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 something out of a deranged fiction, or a nightmare. 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. 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 tremor tugging 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?" She asked.

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

Nell's eyes grew colder still. "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 gave a brief cough. "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." Von Bolt 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 circumstances of Hawke's fall from power had always been a mystery. Of all the events that unfolded in the aftermath of the Second Great War, it was perhaps the one they understood least. 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 mere guilt. The tyrant who had conquered half of Green Earth would surely not have been so easily overcome by a fit of conscience. Nell was certain of that. But what then was it that had left Hawke 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. Nell considered that idea for a moment longer before she dismissed it. Past events had made it perfectly clear that Von Bolt gave nothing that did not serve his own mad ends a moment's thought. Presumably that included Flak and Adder.

"Tell me… of Hawke's fate," Von Bolt spat, 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 the full force of his stare. "How. How did he die?"

"He was killed in the collapse of your base, during the last battle."

Von Bolt stared at her for several seconds more, before the fire in his eyes began to dim again, and his gaze moved downward. The news of Hawke's death seemed to have stunned him, if only because it had disrupted his revenge fantasies.

"Let's move on," Nell said. "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 horrors the man had inflicted on the world, there was very little suffering he did not deserve.

"So you had no backup plan," Nell surmised.

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 could feel her hopes wane as she listened to him speak. They were dwindling fast, sinking into the marsh of unease festering in her stomach. Von Bolt was insane. She had known that walking in, but still dared to believe that his time at Thornfield might have rendered him a little more pliant. That had been foolish of her, 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. "We get along peacefully, something Black Hole doesn't seem capable of."

It was a lie, but one Nell felt no remorse about telling. She had no desire to give Von Bolt the satisfaction of knowing how badly the alliance was fraying. Whether or not he knew she was lying impossible to say. He gave a small grunt in response, 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, or one of the border regions, 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."

"No." Von Bolt paused to swallow. "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."

That conclusion was largely conjecture as the evidence currently stood, but in the moment that was of no concern to Nell. She had not come to Thornfield to give Von Bolt hope, false or otherwise. His pitted brow shifted in thought, 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 scornful 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. Nell 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.