Chapter 55: Benn

Another explosion rocked the capital building.

“What’s going on up there?” Benn asked to no one in particular. A bit of worry creeping into his heart.

Mobius suddenly halted his advance, still carrying the governor in his arms.

Mobius frowned. “Were losing.”

“Were what?” Benn asked, his grip around the bodyguard’s neck tightening.

Mobius didn’t immediately reply.

‘It would seem this is a much more potent attack. The AoF must have at least 4 dozen mages up there.’

“The enemy seems too prepared,” Mobius finally said.

Benn narrowed his eyes. “You think they’ll have a plan for the bunker.”

Mobius nodded solemnly. Benn wanted to say the bunker was impregnable but with the AoF he couldn’t say for sure. It should be able to buy them enough time until the army arrived.

‘But if they’re this prepared they would’ve put that into consideration, no.’

Especially the AoF they had a knack for getting into places they shouldn’t be able to or even know about.

“To the shuttle?” Gallas suggested still carrying the unconscious secretary over his shoulders.

“Hmm,” Mobius harrumphed turning back, with the governor nestled comfortably within his arms.

Benn and his entourage descended into the basement located under the library. They made quick work of the staircase, their every step leaving a footprint on the dusty stairs.

They hustled across the box littered basement floor. Made for the end of the room where a small shuttle lay on hyperloop tracks that lead deeper into an underground tunnel.

The governor’s custom made hyperloop shuttle. The shuttle was luxurious and seemed like it could comfortably fit around six people. More importantly it was extremely fast and shot down the old empire’s hyperloop tunnels and led straight to the Pretoria military base in the western parts of Gau City.

Gallas was the first in. He tossed the secretary into the leather seats and leapt for the control panel at the head of the shuttle. Mobius followed gently placed Benn on the seat and even spared a moment to strap him in.

The room shook as the something crashed through into the basement, lifting a cloud of dirt.

The dust hadn’t cleared when an EM chain burst through the fog of dirt, jabbing for the shuttle.

Mobius didn’t dodge or duck into the shuttle for shelter.

An inspired attack would damage the shuttle and if he dodged he risked letting the attack assault the governor.

So he swirled and leapt to meet the chain head on.

The shuttle lights came on as Gallas worked frantically to get them moving.

Benn’s eyes remained trained on Mobius who reached out to grab the charging chain. The chain came alive, snaked round Mobius’ arm and coiled up to his shoulder. The chain tightened and yanked back Mobius, dragging him into the cloud of dust.

The mechanical hum of the engine jolted Benn out his daze.

“Go! Go! Go!” Benn shouted.

They were ready to blast off.

Gallas slammed the launch button but they didn’t move. Instead a countdown ensued.

5

‘A fucking countdown. Who the hell designed this thing?’

4

Gallas jumped out the shuttle, slammed the door shut. “I’ll hold them off. Just in case.”

3

“Good man,” Benn said and gave the bodyguard a grateful nod.

2

Sure enough two agents cleared the dust, dashing for Benn’s precious life.

Gallas roared and dived toward the two intruders who broke stride to launch attacks of their own.

1

The propulsion thrusters kicked in, blasted the shuttle forward like a rocket on tracks.

Benn sunk back into his seat as the shuttle raced into the endless darkness of the underground railway.

Benn craned his neck, glanced back into the rear window. The park station lights quickly went out of view. The shuttle was that fast.

Benn put a hand on his heaving chest.

‘I’m safe, I’m safe.’

Not even a mech suited mage could match the speed of the hyperloop shuttle. Once it got moving he was in the clear. He’d been fearful of any last minute attacks but it seemed Gallas had done his duty well.

He sneaked another curious glance back.

It was really clear.

‘I’m safe.’

The shuttle would take him straight to the Pretoria military base, where he would have the army at his disposal.

He nodded to himself content with his situation but just then grimaced as an unpleasant thought slithered into his mind.

‘What if the AoF predicted my escape route and they sent agents to intercept my shuttle?’

He felt his heart tighten and tried his best to rubbish the thought. However he recalled how the agents had suddenly barged into the basement.

‘How did they find it and so quickly.’

Even if they had the mansion layout, logic dictated they’d search the bunker first or perhaps they’d had enough agents to cover all the possible escape routes.

‘Perhaps their tracking me somehow.’

He clasped his hands toward his head. It was pointless stressing over things out of his control. So he did what any fearful man might do.

Panic pray.

He’d never been a religious man but he sure didn’t mind turning a new leaf now.

“God, heavenly father and/or mother, whatever you prefer, merci—”

“What are you doing?”

“Shut up Desiree!” Benn snapped, his cheeks flushed redder than usual. “Can’t you see I’m praying.”

The secretary’s expression twisted. “That’s not my name. I’m—”

“Wh—” Benn was about to dismiss her to complete their usual routine. When she grabbed his mouth.

‘The insolence!’ Benn’s eyes shook. ‘Just because my bodyguards aren’t around.’

Benn swiped viciously at her hand. He blinked profusely as his hand ricocheted harmlessly of hers. She was strong, too strong.

‘Augmented strong.’

She dragged out the silence. Let him absorb his current predicament in all its glory.

“My name,” she said slowly. “Is Dybala.”

Benn groaned and pried his eyes open at the great behest of his aching head.

“Why would you hit him on the head?” An elderly voice said.

“To knock him out,” he heard a familiar voice. His secretary, Dybala, the betrayer.

‘They weren’t tracking me but her.’

He shifted uncomfortably from underneath his bondages restraining him firmly to a stool.

He was back in the dusty basement, surrounded by half a dozen or so agents.

The elderly woman – whose wrinkles seemed to have wrinkles – continued to scold Dybala. “What if you’d damaged his brain? When we’re so close?”

“We would’ve just healed him,” Dybala argued.

“Brain damage can be permanent!” The shrivelled old lady snapped and her scorched robes fluttered. She seemingly reached through to Dybala who decided to remain silent.

Benn frowned.

‘It seems they want me alive.’

To ransom?

‘Pah! I’m as good as dead anyways. The elders would rather replace me than go through the trouble of negotiating.’

“He’s awake,” said a boy with messy hair and a dust mask covering half his face.

“We might as well get on with it,” said a young man wearing sunglasses with slicked back hair. “The master is also done with his fight.”

“To think,” Dybala mused. “He’d be able to best the Murakami with minimal mastery of his own astra.”

‘Murakami was beaten,’ Benn thought solemnly. ‘Why am I so flustered I’ll probably be joining him soon.’

“It’s a given,” the shrivelled old lady said. “The young master is favoured by Fate.”

“The master is just too cunning,” the boy in sunglasses snorted much to the displeasure of some of the agents.

“Watch your mouth Veiss,” Dybala growled, menacing bloodshot eyes directed at the youth with sunglasses.

An uncomfortable silence filtered in.

“Calma young Dybala,” the old lady said. “It’s true the young master acts cunning but only to counter the cunning of the council. Unlike some people I know the master isn’t despicable by nature, all his evils are a means to an end, the darkness before dawn. Because deep down the master is pure of heart.”

Benn rolled his eyes.

‘What sound logic.’

The sunglasses boy and shrivelled old lady glared at each other a moment but were disrupted by movement in the back of the room.

A girl, wearing an aviator cap came in pushing what looked like a large med-pod.

“Where do you want it?” She asked.

“Right here is fine.” The shrivelled old woman gestured toward his position. She seemed to be the one orchestrating whatever was about to happen here.

The aviator cap girl parked the pod next to him. She tapped on one of its numerous buttons and the pod slide open. Mist flowed out of it as it opened.

‘A med-pod? Are they planning to move me in it? Force me into a virtual coma or something.’

As the mist cleared he realized how mistaken he was.

‘There’s someone in there.’

He stared at the figure and his jaw dropped.

“Me?” Benn’s eyes bulged in confusion.

“The new you that is,” the aviator cap girl said moving the naked replica of him out the pod.

‘New me?’

He thought confused, unable to organize the storm of theories circulating his mind.

The dust mask boy approached with a tablet. He plugged a data cable into the tablet then motioned the end of the cable into a port on the back of new him’s head.

‘Synthetic droid? New me?’

It wasn’t hard to guess what was going on.

He sighed and resigned himself to the impending doom with the grace of a veteran ruler.

‘If I wasn’t the victim I might commend the ingenuity of it all.’

“I’ll commence with the extraction,” the old lady said sitting on a box opposite him.

‘Hypnotic extraction?’

One of the many arts lost with the fall of the old empire. Yet here was an agent who claimed to know the art. How?

“How long will it take?” The boy in sunglasses asked.

“For everything,” the shrivelled old lady said making herself comfortable. “Weeks, but since we’re on tight schedule. We’ll first extract a basic personality profile, facial tics, clearance protocols, passwords and latest memories. The rest we’ll get at a later time.”

“Good,” the boy in sunglasses said. “It would be less suspicious if we get the new him back onto the shuttle as soon as we can, make it look like he actually got away.”

“Agreed,” the shrivelled old lady said.

‘They’re going to copy and paste my entire life. After which they’ll kill me or rather replace me.’