Geneva Elizaveta Hawthorne

  She gazed across the cavernous city of Reflexis. A city that reflected itself upon ceiling and floor. From the entry gates hanging at the southern end of the upper ceiling, Geneva could see the expanse of structures that made up the large region. Towards the horizon, towering buildings hung, descending hundreds of stories deep. From the floor, large skyscrapers seemed to reach up from the ground to meet them.

  It was an expansive metropolis, like many others, it was carved from the crust of the earth deep below the ground. Large plumes of water fell throughout the landscape, pooling into large lakes and rivers that flowed throughout the region, meandering their way through the urban landscape.

  “Geneva…” Archaeus groaned. His hand found its place on her shoulder. “You can gawk later, we gotta get moving.”

  Snapped out of her stupor, Geneva and the others worked their way through a large crowd that gathered to take in the sights of a new city. She was here because the earth, an overcrowded metropolis, needed help; heck, the entire system of Sol needed their help.

  “I was just taking in the sights.” Geneva shrugged. They descended a large staircase that opened into a large central terminal.

  “No, you were basking in the energies, weren’t you?” He said. “Pretty zoned out there.” They shuffled into a long line that spanned the length of the hundred-foot room.

  “Can’t get anything past you, huh?” She said. “It's so weird being down here under the earth. A big transition compared to the equatorial reef.” Their team had just arrived from their last mission on a floating city bordering a man-maintained coral reef structure.

  “The sky there felt so open, didn’t it?” Archaeus replied.

  “Y’know, I thought down here it would be more, I don’t know, claustrophobic?” She said, a sigh accompanied by a small ripple of heat escaped her lips.

  “You know you’re not supposed to use your abilities.” He looked around. “At least not here.”

  “My powers, my problem. Besides, you have your own struggles.” She retorted, noticing the waves of heat radiating from his hands.

  “I’m not a level 0 hiding in a very, and might I add very, fragile city.” He said. His hands shook in an effort to cool them off. They reached the front of the queue.

  “We’re buried about a mile beneath Metrolina… I think it's pretty safe to say the city isn’t fragile.” Geneva said as one of the holographic automata checked their Overseer Moon and Earth Forum IDs.

  “The transportation and shuttle services hubs are located just to your right.” The automaton stated, and after a brief pause, continued, “Welcome to Reflexis, we hope you find your… Reflection.” They winced as there was a brief and machine-like stutter to the robots voice as it finished its statement.

  “What kind of cheesy intro line was that?” Archaeus said when they were a good way towards the grav-shuttle hub. His face slightly contorted as he tried to hold in a laugh. “I mean, we’ve been to a lot of places, but that was just rough.”

  “Right,” Geneva replied. “And I thought the Apollo City intro line was bad.”

  “Okay, so which shuttle are we taking?” Archaeus asked in a slightly serious tone. His earlier cheer was replaced with a blunt determination.

  “Skip the pleasure I see,” Geneva smirked. She gestured towards a group of people who had lined up on the far side of the grav-shuttle hub. The duo chatted as their team, and hundreds of people, worked their way through a myriad of turnstiles.

  “Reflexis Floor Zone One. The next shuttle is arriving now.” A holo-automata announced. "Please make sure to fill in all available space. Proceed to the back of the shuttle.”

  At this time, a sizeable doorway opened, the wall transitioning out of phase. The opening led to a platform where a large grav-shuttle waited. Their team the first to board, Veralia, one of the team members who had met up with them in Apollo City, snatched Jerry out from in front of a pending stampede as the many passengers rushed the shuttle.

  The vehicle lifted from the ground and began to make its way towards the lower city. They watched as the crowded terminal slipped away, replaced by miles of dense suburban neighborhoods.

  In the far distance, along the cave walls, lights could be seen dotting the surface. Geneva imagined the idyllic life one could have. A beautiful home that had breathtaking views of a cavern city. The peace of not knowing the worst truths of the system.

  A family that would come together and eat at every meal. Neighbors and friends who could come over while you entertained each other. All to the backdrop of a one-of-a-kind mirror city that reflected upon itself. It’s a life Geneva could never have. She never got a level. No Roman Numeral ever appeared in front of her.

  Her adoptive family disowned her, not realizing that what they thought was a curse was the ultimate gift. She had been on the streets of Io before she was picked up. And it was only with the help of Denise, the leader of The Organization, that she was even here at all.

  “What was the briefing again, Archaeus?” Geneva asked. She hadn’t had time to pull up all the paperwork on her slate as they had transferred dozens of times to get to this underground marvel of a city.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “You see that tower over there?” Archaeus said. “That tall tower that connects from the ceiling to the floor, like an hourglass.”

  “Is it the blue one?” Jerry asked. He was a nervous-looking man. Despite his combat prowess within the organization, he lacked the specific social conformity you'd expect from an activist. He was pale-skinned and constantly confused. It was an aura that felt as if he didn’t belong in the room, but somehow still managed to secure a spot within that room anyways.

  “Yes, that’s it. Has ALC written in large white letters.” Archaeus said. “That’s Allusion Logistics Corporation. The shipping mega-corp that has an HQ in each of the Solar Sovereignties. I heard through the grapevine that the higher-ups heard from an informant that they have been moving some pretty resource-critical shipments from this region. As Reflexis is one of the leading manufacturers of new tech, it's been narrowed down to this branch.”

  “So basically, a long game of telephone led us here?” Veralia asked. Her build was buff, that of someone born and raised within the Jovian Empire. She had almost reddish skin with deep ruby hair from her adaptations.

  “ I mean, I wouldn’t put it that way. I’m sure there’s more to it we weren’t told. But if he said she said is your mantra. Then so be it.” Archaeus said. “They are manufacturing starship tech. Quantum shit we aren’t supposed to be messing with, but someone behind the scenes is. And it's being shipped out to god knows where. You know what happened the last time humanity conducted an interstellar mission. You know what the mission statement is.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Geneva replied. “The fact that I can manipulate energy with the flick of a thought, sets it hard in stone. Who knows what else could happen to make this life we live even more hell. If it weren’t for the fact that so many can conjure vast amounts of resources, we would be extinct.”

  “I mean, we have to expand at somepoint,” Archaeus replied.

  “What are you some expansionist sheep now? We don’t need expansion if the first attempt rocked humanity to its core.” Jerry said.

  “Guys, can we keep politics out of this. We have a mission.” Veralia said.

  “I mean, rocking it to its core is one way to put it. Look how far we have come since the days of fossil fuels and ancient history. When wars shook the world, and we didn’t have the security of multiple worlds. You don’t have to be an expansionist to understand that the world we live in isn’t amazing. And we wouldn’t have this if whatever the heck happened to that mission hadn’t occurred. Being called a null would have been the least of someone’s worries.” Archaeus said.

  Throughout their discussion, they had made their way across the vast civilization that lay before them. Something that could be called a mecca of engineering and architecture. The grav-shuttle and they disembarked. The street was crowded. The early morning bustle was in full effect.

  Geneva looked up and saw the star-speckled ceiling. If it hadn’t been for the plumes of water falling from certain areas and a few high-rises peeping down, she would have thought they were on the surface. Still, they had an appointment to get to.

  The group meandered through the local neighborhood. They dodged and weaved between hover bikes and scooters. After about a ten minute jaunt, the group came to a dilapidated store that stood on the corner of a ten story apartment block. The sign read Armstrong Bakery

  “Is this our guy?” Geneva asked. “This place is sus enough. But you never know what you will find, I guess.”

  “Oh, this is the place alright.” Archaeus replied. He gestured to the small icon in the corner of a window, the cloak of their nameless organization. “Definitely one of ours.”

  “Ah, well, let's get this on the roll. I'd like to get the heck off this rock before I get too comfortable.” Jerry said.

  “Alright, his name is Mo,” Archaeus replied. “Let me do the talking. He’s with us, but you never know in this line of work, and I'd rather not complicate shit before we get started.”

  He knocked on a door that faced the side street. It was a few feet around the corner from the entrance.

  “Can I help you?” A deep voice called out through the door. “We don’t do service in the morning without an appointment.”

  “We got an appointment, alright,” Archaeus replied. He rolled up his sleeve and showed the symbol of a cloak on his upper arm.

  “Oh your kind are always welcome here.” The voice replied. The door clicked all over as locking mechanisms shunted out of the way. With a silent huff glided out of the way into its frame. A short man with a muscular build stood in the doorway. And with a wave, beckoned them inside.

  “How was the journey down to these parts?” the man asked. “I’m the owner of this hellhole, Mo. Didn’t catch your names there.”

  “I’m Archaeus, this is Geneva, Jerry, Albion, and Veralia.” Archaeus said. “Journey wasn’t anything special, just long and arduous.”

  “Tell me about it,” Jerry said, a little too excited.

  Archaeus shot him a sharp glance, but Mo didn’t even hesitate in his stride. Jerry slumped down as the group continued inside the building. Behind them, Geneva felt the air shudder as the locking mechanisms latched within the door. Each one resounded a clang down the dusty corridor. After a short flight of stairs, the group proceeded to a dark but clean basement. One wall was covered in display tech, the other walls and floors coated with a mahogany-tinted synth-wood. The screen lit up with the ALC logo.

  “Okay you guys definitely must have had a long travel day coming out from the Jovian system. So ill hurry it up. Down that hallway.” Mo said. He gestured down a corridor to the left of the staircase they just descended. “There is a bunk room. I should have enough cots for the lot of you. New clothes there. The fancy synth kinds that adjust to your fit so don’t worry about sizing. There's a bathroom 'n communal room down there as well a kitchen that’s fit to the nines, so help yourself.”

  “Now the reason we are all here.” He continued. “Basically my friend. Not gonna give their name, just know it’s a friend of mine. Works for Allusion Logistics Corporation in the research 'n development lab. Well, about a week ago, she came to me and gave me the four eleven on some new technology they were about to ship out. A manifest she wasn’t supposed to see fell into her lap somehow.”

  He gave a huge shrug as the rest of the group watched the images change on the screen. The display landed on an image of a strange device that was shaped like an upside-down crystal tree.

  “It was some Quantum mechanism,” Mo said. “She didn’t know much, just notated the name Quanta on the manifest 'n sent it to me. As you know, that's banned tech around these parts.”

  “Can you get to the point?” Geneva said. “This is a little too much exposition for keeping it brief.”

  “Hey now,” Mo said. “Context makes the world go round.”

  “I like his story. It adds flair.” Jerry said. Archaeus snapped in his direction.

  “Sorry man.” Jerry gestured as if zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

  “Alright, I'll speed it up. You guys are grumpy, huh?” Mo said. “You all only got a few hours to get to the spot before it is gone. I alerted y’all as soon as the announcement came in, but coming from as far as you did, y'all barely made it here on time. The point is, this device is exactly the kind of thing that one would need to leave the system. Which is definitely what you are after. That crate is at the transport yards right now. Or at least it should be. The schedule could be shifty right now.”

  “I get it,” Archaeus said. “Send us the details to the transport yard and we will head out.”

  “And send us the code to the door,” Geneva said. “As soon as we are done, I’m heading to bed, and I’m not going to wait for you to let us in.”