CHAPTER 16

  "Keep your head up, movin' on

  Hold your head up, movin' on..."

  -Eurythmics

  Carl flew out of Rift 6, he landed, his helmet opening.

  He was gasping for air.

  He looked at Andy and shook his head.

  "Ok. Six is a no go. No hurry man, catch your breath."

  Carl swallowed.

  "No fucking atmosphere...tell Royles I need an oxygen tank."

  "Noted."

  "Thanks."

  He let his breathing return to normal before walking to the next red X.

  "Seven!"

  Andy nodded and recorded the rift number in his notebook and Carl flew through.

  He landed next to a man sitting cross-legged. He wore a long off-white robe and a pointy straw hat. He looked up at Carl and smiled.

  Carls helmet snapped back and he smiled at the man. He raised a hand in greeting and then pointed at the town in the distance.

  "Hello. I'm an explorer, I've come to see your world."

  He pointed at his eyes then swept his hand towards the vast expanse of land before them. The man nodded and smiled.

  Carl pointed at his chest and said "Carl."

  The man pointed at himself and said

  "Nagato."

  "It was nice to meet you Nagato."

  The man bowed. Carl mimicked him, he put his hands together as he bowed. Nagato's eyes got wide and he shook his head.

  "Oh, shit...sorry. I mean no offense."

  He held up his hands.

  "I dont know your customs."

  Nagato laughed and pointed at the town, then made a shoo-ing motion.

  "Alright, I get it, I'm disturbing you. I'm going."

  The walk to the town was nice. The packed earth trail was surrounded by fragrant flowers, and drooping trees. The land was alive with animal life. The birdsongs were numerous, bugs chittered and chirped. A small stream flowed next to the trail, the water was clear.

  As he approached town his armor receded, he pulled on his shirt, trying to straighten it. He didnt want to look a mess, this world was beautiful. As he entered town, people smiled and waved. He smiled back. Had he finally found a place where people were peaceful? About time.

  A redhead with a wreath of flowers in her hair approached him and said something in her language.

  "I'm sorry. I'm not from here, I dont understand."

  She held up a finger and walked over to a booth. Her body swayed as she walked as if she moving to music only she could hear. She spoke with a man, who held up a wicker basket. She plucked a small white device from the basket and returned to Carl. She held it up to him and pointed at her ear. Carl took the device and inserted it in his ear.

  She spoke and it was garbled. It must be calibrated for numerous languages.

  She was pointing at him then her mouth, and motioning with her hand to talk.

  "Oh. I see, it needs to hear my language. I speak english."

  The device chimed.

  "Do you understand me now?"

  "Oh! Yes! I can hear your words. Cool."

  "Good, its working. Now, are you from the tear in the sky?"

  "The rift. Yeah."

  "What are your intentions?"

  "Exploration. I'm peaceful."

  "Good. We do not allow violence here. Everyone works together, we have plenty. Please, eat, drink, explore, but do not damage anything. Including our plants and wildlife."

  "Yes ma'am. Thank you for your kindness."

  "I am called Tish."

  "I'm Carl. Nice to meet you Tish. Can I ask a question?"

  "Of course."

  "I did this..."

  He made the praying gesture and bowed.

  "...to Nagato out there and he seemed weird about it. Did I offend him?"

  Tish laughed loudly. She held her stomach she was laughing so hard. Other people in the little marketplace they stood in were looking at them curiously now. Carl was confused.

  "What? What's it mean?"

  "This is a traditional way for a wife to tell her husband she would like to attempt to bear his child."

  She burst out laughing again. Carls cheeks turned red.

  "No wonder he got weird."

  Carl chuckled.

  "Are there any other things I should not do? I really dont want to offend anyone, or tell anyone else I'll have their baby."

  "No...well, do not pull your mouth open with your pinkie. This is very offensive. I think you'll be OK though."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Ok, thanks."

  "I am the main organizer for Callazin, our little town. Should you have any other questions, you can find me in the longhouse."

  She pointed to a very long wooden building that sat on a small hill above the town.

  "Thank you."

  He removed the earpiece and handed it to her. She shook her head and pointed at her ear again. Carl put it back in.

  "That is yours to keep, we have plenty."

  "Thanks, but in my culture we exchange things. Can I give you something?"

  "I suppose. What would you like to exchange?"

  Carl thought for a moment.

  "I dont have much on me."

  He thought for a moment then he pulled out his pocket knife.

  "I have this. Its a Gerber paraframe. Not one of the cheap ones either. I got it at the Walmart in Missouri in the United States of America, where I come from. Its made from high carbon stainless steel, has a smooth ergonomic body. And watch this..."

  He flicked the blade with his thumb and it snapped out.

  "...see that? Its not spring loaded. Instead of the traditional oil lubricant, I use graphite."

  he flicked the blade open again.

  "See how smooth that action is?"

  She looked at him the way parents look at a child thats trying to explain dinosaurs.

  "Thank you."

  She took the knife, turning it over in her hands. Carl nodded and smiled. It really was a great knife.

  She smiled, turned, and walked away swaying as she walked again.

  Carl spent a good hour or so wandering the town. He tried a couple fruits, drank some of their wine. Here it was made from a bright green fruit. It tasted sort of like watermelon and lime mixed together. It was very tasty. After some time he decided that even though he could spend all day here, due to time dilation outside the rift, he'd better go. He walked the path back towards the rift. Nagato came into view and Carl smiled as he approached. He pointed at his ear.

  "I can understand you now. Uh, I'm sorry about earlier."

  "Is ok. You not know."

  "You have a beautiful world here. Everyone is so nice."

  "Yes. I protect."

  "From what?"

  "Bad explorers."

  Carl looked at Nagato. He was a small man, couldnt be more than five foot five and thin.

  "You dont think I'm good protector."

  "No no...I just, Ive seen some of the monsters on the other side..."

  Nagato smiled and stood up. He pulled a small bamboo stick from his sleeve. He held it in both hands and chanted into the air. The stick extended to be about five feet long. He slammed the end into the dirt and Carl felt the ground shake beneath him.

  "We have old magic here."

  He jumped and balanced on the end of the stick.

  "You're like a magic Spider-Man!"

  "No, fighting style is based on Kella."

  "I dont know what a "Kella" is."

  "Big, furry, claws and teeth. Very dangerous."

  "Sounds like what we call a tiger."

  "Tiger. I like this word."

  "Oh yeah, tigers are cool, and also very dangerous. Anyways, I should be going Nagato. What is goodbye on this world?"

  Nagato dropped off the stick, he tapped it and it retracted and swiftly disappeared into his robes again. He bowed with his hands by his side. Carl copied his movement. They smiled at each other and Carls armor formed around him and he flew to the rift.

  He was gonna miss this place.

  Matt was holding the two pieces of the earpiece, he had carefully popped it open.

  "...so, it looks like they use the same crystals to power the device."

  "The explosive crystals?"

  "Yeah, but they've rendered them inert. The chip is rudimentary at best, but its still very cool."

  "Chip? Nano, can you download the contents of that?"

  "I can try Carl."

  Carl held his finger to the earpiece and a small blob of nanomaterial dropped off and covered the chip for a moment. Then it crawled off and rejoined Carls armor.

  "I have the data. There are fifty one languages programmed to the earpiece."

  "I didn't know your Nanotech could do that!"

  "Oh yeah, Nano is very versatile."

  "Really? Nano, can you download programs?"

  "Of course Matt."

  "I have an idea...give me a second."

  He went to his laptop and started typing, then pulled a flash drive from a drawer and plugged it in. Carl watched as a progress bar popped up for whatever he was transferring to the drive.

  "Whats the program?"

  "I've been refining the rift frequency signature detection. I think I've found a way to make the frequency visual information. Assuming Nano has the correct array of sensors, which based on everything I've seen him do, im pretty sure he does. He should be able to enhance the subtle vibrations from the frequency to give a visual representation of the rift."

  "Uh...sure."

  "Its easier if I just show you."

  The progress bar had reached 100% and he snatched the drive out and handed it to Carl.

  "Have him download this program."

  Carl set it on his forearm and the nanomaterial covered it for a moment.

  "I have it Carl."

  The nanomaterial receded and Carl handed the drive back to Matt.

  "Can you run it buddy?"

  "One moment Carl."

  Matt and Carl stood in silence awkwardly for a moment. Carls armor formed and his helmet snapped shut. His visor lit up like it was thermal vision but everything was a sort of teal color with red around the edges. It was a little disorienting but with a hand on the wall as he walked, he managed to get to the rift room. The rift was a bright yellow, very visible.

  "It works!"

  Carl yelled it. Matt winced.

  "I'm right here man."

  Carls helmet snapped back.

  "Oh, sorry...I can't really see shit other than the rift when its active."

  "Yeah...well, its not perfect yet. Im still working on it."

  "Hey man, it works. Thats all that matters."

  Carls phone beeped at him, text message from Royles.

  "Meeting at 1530."

  It was noon. He had three and a half hours to get something to eat. He'd been buying cheap groceries lately, truth be told, he was saving up for one of the gauntlet guns. He could afford to splurge a little. He stopped by Steve's place and knocked.

  Steve opened the door, he wore all white and had paint all over his clothes.

  "Hard at work I see."

  "Yeah, you'll like this one. I watched the video of your fight with those two goons. Check it out."

  He turned the canvas toward Carl, it showed one of the warriors in its sleek black armor, the wolf's head sigil shining on its chest. The deaths head faceplate was half done.

  "Damn. You have a real eye for detail my friend."

  "Thanks. I took some screenshots, I'm trying to get it right. They were scary, but their armor is cool."

  "Agreed. Uh, I came to see if you wanted to go get lunch...I'm buying."

  "Sure. I need a break anyways."

  He wiped his hands on a rag and stretched his shoulders.

  "Let me change clothes and I'll be right out."

  He picked up the keys to his car, tossed them to Carl and disappeared into his bedroom. Carl went and sat in the car, flipping through the box of neatly aligned music sticks until he found one with his handwriting on it. Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory". He slid it into the stereo and started the car. The familiar beginning of "Papercut" came on and he closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat. He could almost imagine this was Missouri and not Krembolt.

  Carl burped. He and Steve had gone to a spicy noodle place for lunch. The food was delicious, but he was feeling the burn in the back of his throat still. The team was assembled in the conference room, waiting for Royles. Royles entered silently and sat at the head of the table. Everyone went quiet.

  "I have good news. The Protectorate is very happy with the tech you recovered from rift five. R&D is already reworking the weapons systems into something our military can use. Now that they've seen the value in this departments work, they've doubled our funding. If you need anything to make this easier..."

  He was looking at Carl and Andy now.

  "...do not hesitate to fill out an requisition form."

  Carl raised his hand.

  "Yes Carl?"

  "Where do I get one of those? I really need an oxygen tank for some of these rifts."

  "Tell Andy."

  "He did, I already filled a form out and submitted it. Tank'll be here in a couple days."

  "Oh. Ok...thanks Andy."

  Everyone looked back at Royles.

  "Second order of business. Penny and Steve have been handling some of the more investigative aspects of our department. Andy and Carl, you've both had a lot of downtime. If you're interested, we have plenty of non-rift related cases. No pressure, but because we've spent so much time exploring, the cases are piling up. Any help would be appreciated. Thats all I have for now. Dismissed."

  Carl caught up with Royles before he left.

  "Hey, I would very much like to help with whatever I can."

  "Good. Talk to Penny, she takes lead on all non-rift cases."

  Carl sat in a chair next to Penny's cubicle. He'd never really been in the office area. She had a stack of files on her desk. Royles wasnt kidding, they were literally piling up.

  "How can I help?"

  "Give me a second to seperate these...and these."

  She handed him a stack of twelve files.

  "These are murders, possibly all by the same suspect. Myself and Steve have done the leg work, knocked on doors, and taken so many pictures...but we still haven't found the connection. There's something here. I know it. We just have to find it. Now, are you serious about this?"

  "Absolutely. I'm all in."

  She smiled.

  "Good. Then study these files. There's a total of twenty four murders we're looking at that all show signs of the same m.o.. Theres a pattern here somewhere...there always is. When you've thoroughly researched these murders, we trade files. I'm hoping between the two of us, we'll see something that stands out. It could be anything, no detail is too small. Got it?"

  "Yes. Could we get Steve on this too? Three sets of eyes are better than two."

  "No. He's working a serial rapist case right now."

  "Oh. Yikes."

  "You're not squeamish are you? I mean after all the stuff you've seen..."

  "No I can handle it."

  "Good. Get to it. The faster we figure this out, the more lives we can save."

  "I'm on it."

  He took the files and headed to his apartment. He sat on the floor and laid the first file open, spreading out the pictures and began reading the initial report. The photos were gruesome, but Carl was excited. This was a chance to do something good. To save real peoples lives, and he didnt have to punch anyone, or run for his life. He just had to use his brain...and his tech.

  "Nano, help me go over these files would ya?"

  "Of course Carl."