CHAPTER SIX

Dante’s return to the sixtieth floor was unlike his time there a few days prior. Before, when he was up there, he was unsure of himself, of the man he questioned and the tales he told, and of all things he was only certain that his life as a Recorder must be protected. There had been a number of others walking the floor when he had been there before, and while Pluto took up his time he knew back then that there would be other cases, others to record in the near future. Now he stood as he had before, his hands pressed down on the guard rail as he leaned forward in a personal anguish so solitary that not a single soul was around to perceive it but his own, as for whatever reason there were no others on the sixtieth floor at that moment. A worrisome fact, but not one Dante had reason to dwell on. After all, what loss could be greater than his own? What danger more important than the peril in his future?

He held the Hellwhip in his hand. Though he still hadn’t shown Pluto the weapon, he was certain by then that it had to be the one he spoke of. Was it broken? He couldn’t be sure. No one in his life used weapons of that sort. There was no need to. Those protecting the Hegemony of Mobius protected him as well, and he didn’t need to see their weapons, know their names, their faces, anything—they would protect him and the other citizens with their life for the simple reason that it must be done.

With the current circumstances he wished it weren’t the case, or at least that they would come his way and show him how to defend himself.

There was a thunk, then a few staggered steps, and Dante knew without even looking that Pluto had followed him as he’d asked. He was still surprised when he turned and saw him.

“How did you…”

Pluto grinned, his hands free of shackles and the recording device thrust under his arm. Dante could tell he was still not healthy, but somehow Pluto appeared to be getting better, as though strength was returning to him slowly. The nurse must have been doing a better job than he gave her credit for.

“My escape could have happened at any moment,” Pluto said nonchalantly. “I merely stayed bedridden because it suited me to do so. After all, I’m Captain Pluto, a man you said yourself was a myth. If I couldn’t escape some hospital bed, I would be nothing more than a regular man such as yourself.”

Dante took the jest in stride and resumed his stare into the Hell reactor. The heat radiating towards them was intense but calm, as if the chaos of the Hell reactor were the comforting touch of an old friend. Pluto planted himself next to Dante awkwardly, a hand on the guard rail while he stared into the reactor himself.

“What do you call this thing?” he asked conversationally. Dante wondered if he already knew the answer.

“This thing is a Hell reactor,” Dante explained. He went into detail to fill the silence. “If I’m entirely honest with you, I’m not sure what it is. I don’t think anyone is. I’ve heard some people say the reason we call it a Hell reactor is because it appears to take the energy of Hell itself and utilize it for our own benefit. We don’t have anyone maintaining it, there are no Nanos who come to check on it. The reactor is as old as it gets and we have no answers regarding it. However, I wonder if this thing in my hand is related to it at all.”

Dante handed the Hellwhip to Pluto who smiled and handed Dante the recorder.

“Well,” Pluto said, “you’ll recall in my recording that I found this thing in a heap of trash. I don’t know where it came from or how it works. Just that it charges up universally at any station with a plug to charge, and that it’s extremely powerful for such a small weapon. Whether or not it was made using this ‘Hell reactor’ as you call it, I couldn’t say. Has anything been made using it to your knowledge?”

Dante shrugged. “To my knowledge, no. But there are many things that I don’t know.”

Pluto turned his weapon over and over in his hand. Then he touched something Dante hadn’t noticed, a button on the bottom of the weapon’s handle, and a hum entered the air like a quiet threat. Before he knew it, Pluto had altered the setting of the weapon and shot his Hellwhip, pointing the weapon at the Hell reactor.

Dante was worried. Extremely worried. But the Hell reactor truly was a machine from Hell. The blast entered the Hell reactor and was sucked up by the sphere of flames, like water dropping into water.

“Hmph,” Pluto grunted with a raise of his eyebrows. “Might be something to your theory. Maybe I should try again on the highest setting.”

“Completely unnecessary!” Dante yelled. “We have other things to take care of anyway. Like finishing up your tale before you get executed.”

Pluto scoffed. “You think a free man is going to trial? What foolish logic is that?” When neither of them spoke again he sighed and conceded. “Fine, fine. I can at least finish telling you the story from before. But you need to tell me what’s going on now. On my way up here there was absolutely no one around. Honestly it should have been much more difficult for me to find my way to you but other than you I really haven’t seen anyone. Is something wrong?”

An icy wave ran through Dante and he shook. “There must be something that’s wrong, but whatever it is I’m not sure myself. All I know is that Giovanni has told me I must go to 1000 if I am to be safe.”

Pluto’s eyes suddenly became different, serious.

“He said you should go upward?”

“That’s right.”

Dante could tell he wanted to get going but he shook his head at him.

“We’ll finish recording your story here. Even if things were different, the sixtieth floor is just a place to observe the Hell reactor and nothing more. Few people come here. Whatever is going on, it’s happening below us.”

“Fine. But I’m going to abridge things when possible.”

A laugh escaped Dante’s lips and Pluto appeared offended.

“Sorry,” Dante said, “but I’m keenly aware that you’ve been abridging, editing, and curtailing all of your recollections since the beginning.”

“Perhaps,” Pluto said defensively, but Dante just shrugged.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself. But I’ve heard many stories, being a Recorder. Do you know how many people told the entire truth in our sessions? None. Every single one would go to trial and I would hear something different upon their retelling, a ‘new fact would come out’ or something to that nature, and even afterward I would often find out that the suspect in question was lying to cover something up or keep a cohort safe. Everyone lies, Pluto, everyone. No need to be so uptight about it.”

Quietly, Pluto placed his Hellwhip in his pocket and leaned his back against the guard rail, his eyes staring coldly at the door to the elevator.

“Even you?” he asked Dante, a mild playfulness resurging in his voice.

Dante nodded and spoke so softly it was almost inaudible under the heavy thrum of the Hell reactor.

“I try not to, but of course I’m human. I make mistakes. I lie to myself even, probably more than to anyone else.”

“Good,” Pluto said, still staring at the door. “At least you’re honest. Now where was I?”

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Right, I had attacked the metamorphosing being who was trying to sway me with ideas of endless happiness in a cage. The next part will be difficult to describe, and I’m well aware that saying such things after our little discussion about lying will probably indicate to you that in some way this is all a grand lie, but hear me out, as though I might be less intelligent than you I am much more worldly than you having traveled across strata you have only thought about in your wildest fantasies. Trust me when I say that Mobius is not merely a mistake, or a monstrosity, it is also a strange and foreboding place, filled with things we aren’t able to understand in much the same way we don’t understand your Hell reactor here.

When I attacked the being I was transported again but not through the use of a metallic appendage hidden within the walls. This time things were more chemical. More metaphysical.

I was shot out of the strange land I had been taken to and thrust back into my body. I would tell you about what I saw during that strange journey, but I have a hard time deciphering what I saw myself so recording my ramblings on the subject would be a waste of time and energy, both of which are in short supply right now. Just know that from that location I was transported back into my body, my conscious mind reconnecting with my flesh. The whole thing was a rather painful experience. Poe summed it up nicely.

What the fuck was that? What the fuck is this?

“Brilliant,” I coughed as I attempted to open my crusted eyes. They were too heavy so I tried to rub the muck from them and my hands were tied. I realized with frustration that I was suspended somewhere in much the same way my friends had been when I was younger. “Just brilliant. How the hell did we get here? Are we on 199 still?”

I believe so. Here…

In a moment or two there was a loud click and I tumbled forward to the steel floor. As soon as I was steady on my knees I brought my hands to my eyes and rubbed, relief overwhelming me at the senses of sight and freedom returning to me simultaneously. Once the tears welled in my eyes so that my vision would be clear, I could see the unfortunate circumstances we had found ourselves in.

We were in a corridor—a long one, seemingly endless due to the distortion of the darkness in the corners—and on the wall of this corridor were a series of unknown devices, all of which were occupied by entities. Most of these entities I didn’t know, but the ones nearest me were Cat, Tom, and Oscar. If I were to describe what the devices themselves were, I suppose I could call them pods but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate as though we were housed and contained on the wall we were unprotected by any sort of material veil.

Everyone suspended here must also be hallucinating like we were.

Poe had said exactly what I was thinking.

“But why?” I asked as I took inventory of myself, making sure that I was wearing all the clothes I came in with and still had my Hellwhip on me. “When did we even get up there?”

Hard to say. The illusions felt as real as everything else we’ve done here, so it could have happened at any time. Oscar being here means that it either happened after he joined us in 199, or it happened before we even went upwards, on 198.

I nodded absentmindedly, my eyes glued to the wall of people. Periodically the depressions and rivulets housed in the wall would glow dimly, pulsing in such an organic way I felt chills up my spine.

Let me see if I can free our friends.

“No,” I shook my head, the words exiting my mouth without thought. “If you free anyone, you should free everyone.”

Illogical. We haven’t the slightest idea who any of these people are. Some of them could be Nanos even, like Tom.

“We’ll deal with that when they’re free. I can always destroy whoever is hostile.”

Poe was silent for a moment before ultimately acquiescing.

Give me some time. Freeing a few would take minutes, but freeing all of these people might take hours.

“We’ve got time.”

Right after I said this, as if they had been waiting for such a time to make a dramatic entrance, a being covered in a dark red cloak from head to toe glided forth from the shadows of the corridor. They were tall and silent, which should have lead me to believe they were human however their movements were too smooth, too perfect for me to believe something organic could produce them. I stared warily at them the moment they spoke.

“The great and powerful Pluto, I presume,” they said in a voice filled with theatric emotion. With a great flourish of their cloak, they bowed deeply in such an exaggerated way I was surprised they didn’t fall over. “Allow me to introduce you to one who you might find to be as great and powerful as yourself, Albatross.”

I consulted Poe, asked him what he thought of the being before me.

Just follow him. He doesn’t appear dangerous, but be on the lookout for strange happenings. He could be leading you to a trap. Keep the Hellwhip ready while I free everyone.

The being waited for me to approach, then began walking in step with me once I was right next to him. I say ‘him’ for convenience and not because he had a gender of any sort. In the short time I walked with the being, I never saw his body underneath that deep red cloak. As I said before, he could have been a Nano. But my inclination is that he wasn’t simply due to his over exaggerated movements and emotive speech.

“So this Albatross,” I said, attempting to ease my nerves by drowning out the loud echo of our footsteps, “is it a man? Or a Nano?”

He laughed at me, and I mean at me—he obviously thought what I had said was silly.

“Oh, Pluto, forgive me for laughing. It’s just so wonderful to be speaking to someone so ready to buy into the worthless dichotomies put in place by some unknown force none of us could possibly fathom! No, no, Albatross is neither man nor Nano. Albatross is merely Albatross. There are few like him, if any at all, and I know this for a fact.” Here I felt as though he winked at me, but again I saw nothing beneath that shroud of a cloak.

“Right…” I wondered how best to place my questions. “Then might I ask another question?”

“Certainly, Pluto! Certainly! We love questions here, we wish we could receive more of them!”

Clearing my throat, I asked, “Well then, how do you know me? You knew my name, sure, but you also knew me to be great and powerful. What does that mean exactly?”

He scoffed, once again finding something amusing in my line of questioning.

Set the Hellwhip to level five just in case, this guy’s a downright lunatic.

“Everyone knows you, Pluto. You’ve made quite the name for yourself! Why, no mortal being has ever traveled as far as you have across the grand station Mobius. I hesitate to compare you to any biological entity. Would you find that so strange?”

“Of course,” I said. “I’m only a man.”

“Modest, too! Why if only things were different, perhaps you could have been more to me than even Albatross.”

Level six. This grandiose flirt should watch his step around you.

“Listen to me, Pluto. You might not be the most physically fit man to exist, or the most dapper, or the most intelligent. But you do have something that no other being on Mobius has. Do you know what that is?”

I stared blankly down the darkened corridor, my heart beginning to beat faster.

“Drive! For such a transient vessel, you seem to hold value in nothing but the mission. The fact that you find time to sleep and eat is a mystery to us all. Ah, Pluto! The great and powerful Pluto! A man such as you would be fit to lead anyone or anything. You must meet Albatross, you’ll find you have much in common!”

There were a few other questions I asked but his answers always seemed to be this way, filled with nonsensical compliments and overly enthused adoration for this Albatross being. Poe continued to do his job, the odd remark being delivered here and there to remind me of his existence— as if I’d forget at this point.

And then I met the Albatross.

“Pluto, it is my great honor to introduce you to my master, the great and powerful Albatross!”

We had exited the corridor and I was greeted with something similar to the Adjudicator but on a grander scale. The area was a large, open space with curved walls. It was unmistakable to me that most of 199 was this room and I could see that while there was no obvious way upward there was an entrance to an LG shaft above us. In the very center of this vast, open area, there was what I can only describe as what I saw myself. Floating high above us and occupying much of that giant strata, a head without a torso, the great and powerful Albatross glared down at me with the intense scrutiny of a god filled with ego and hate. The expression was human but the face was not; what race it was I couldn’t guess, but it was neither Nano nor man. And with the presence it gave off I knew immediately that defying all laws, the floating head in front of me was as real as can be.

Which also meant I didn’t believe a thing I saw.

Bullshit, shoot it and see if we can escape back to reality again.

Poe was on the same page as me. I raised my weapon up and heard the gasp of the cloaked figure, followed by a great rumble from the entity in front of me.

Then, even more strange than I could have imagined, it spoke to me. Only the words it used were not heard, they were in my mind. Like Poe.

Pluto I presume. It is an honor to meet such an esteemed veteran of Mobius.

Poe was speechless.

“How are you speaking to me like this?”

I could speak to you using my true voice, but the sheer volume and the echo would more than likely shatter your eardrums or worse. It is simpler if I speak to you in this way, though I understand it to be invasive. I hope your parasite doesn’t mind.

That comment got Poe going.

Parasite? Where do you get off calling me a parasite of all things?

“Quiet, Poe. Allow the Albatross to speak to me uninterrupted.”

There was a contentious silence, but I knew Poe had better things to do than to be making snide remarks for once. The Albatross became the primary presence within my mind.

Now then, please accept my sincerest apologies. Had we known that you were present among the latest to join us, we would have held an audience with you instead of immediately placing you in our holding bank.

I wasn’t sure he was being serious or not, as the idea of me being a well known person made little sense to me so I merely nodded my acquiescence and he continued.

Good. Now then, might I ask you why we are indeed having this audience right now?

Confused, I looked to my guide for an indication towards the nature of the question but saw nothing beyond the blood red sheet.

“Well I escaped from whatever you called it—the holding bank?—and this being decided to lead me to you. Prior to this I held no knowledge of anyone or anything called the Albatross. So if anything I should be wondering why you are holding this meeting with me, not the other way around.”

The world shook and the Albatross gave me a look as though he acknowledged my intelligence for the first time.

Indeed. Well then I can only assume you have no idea what is going on here. Would that be a mistake of me?

“Just explain what you do and what the wall of people is for and we can maybe end this meeting with some semblance of amicability.”

A grand smile formed on the face and then he began his explanation for everything that was Stratum 199.

Excellent! Let me begin by saying I’m a fan of your work. We have seen much of what you’ve accomplished in your travels across Mobius and it is an incredible feat to say the least. You have accomplished more than any human on this space station has ever accomplished, and it’s debatable that you are more incredible even than the Nanos themselves. Now then, it is my understanding that you despise Mobius, yes? You hate the Nanos and all that they have done?

I did my best to search for a way up and out of 199 while the Albatross spoke, but to no avail.

“Yes,” I said absently, “I believe Mobius to be a monstrosity.”

We agree with this sentiment.

“Oh yes! We absolutely agree with you, great and powerful one!”

Both myself and the Albatross shot judging looks toward the cloaked being. It silenced itself.

However we are attacking the same problem in differing ways. Your way is something I find to be bold, dreamlike even, but absolutely unattainable.

Hearing this—or well, thinking his thoughts—I was taken aback.

“So you agree that there is no possible way to reach the end of Mobius? That my pilgrimage is useless?”

The Albatross gave me a look of quiet musing.

Hmm… It is true that there is no way of reaching the end of Mobius. However I would disagree that your pilgrimage is useless. Consider this; across Mobius there are a few entities such as myself. We are neither Nano nor human, merely AI systems that have been generated through the never ending process of Mobius’s improvement. Therefore you would think that I, a child of Mobius itself, would hold the station’s best interest at heart. This is not so. Most of us have been thinking of ways to destroy Mobius, or at the very least halt its production, for as long as we have existed ourselves. The problem is greater than you can imagine, however. There is a rogue being, some ghost we cannot find, who hides important data regarding Mobius. Even we have no way of dismantling the programming that caused this universal dilemma.

“So it’s true then? Mobius is doomed to ceaselessly build?”

Doomed to more than that, Pluto. The Nanos steal the materials from outside, after all how else could any of this be possible? It is estimated that this structure has devoured enough space to span at least two entire galaxies. Whole planets have been destroyed because of man’s desire to survive as well as their proclivity for failure. There is little hope for us at this point. Your journey is important for this reason. We’ve all been watching your progress, Pluto, and even if your journey ends in death and failure it was the journey that brought us all closer to salvation, for your journey guided me in the creation of that which you call Stratum 199.

I blinked at that.

“You mean that you created 199 because of me? The whole place wasn’t here to begin with?”

It was merely a blank slate before I created the blueprints. It was a simple idea, one I found to be a most noble endeavor much like your own. In watching your journey I saw the suffering Mobius has wrought, the starvation, the wanton destruction, the endangerment of your own species as well as the over indulgence of the Nanos, and I came to a conclusion: there will be no solution in the material world. So I created this place. The holding bank is where we store conscious entities, both Nano and human. There we use a toxin found on one of the many planets we have pillaged and destroyed, a toxin which allows for induced hallucinations so real you don’t realize it’s a fantasy. Using this as well as guided, subliminal meditation, we are able to be a stopgap between 198 and 200, and in this stopgap all who attempt to forge ahead through Mobius find only peace instead. A beautiful heaven in space.

The being in the red cloak clapped abrasively. My thoughts turned instead back to my initial instincts, and I found my hand was shaking as it gripped my Hellwhip.

“So you capture and drug beings for their own sake? I wouldn’t compare yourself to me.”

It is for their own sake, as you say.

“As I say?” I whispered to myself.

Indeed. I realize you hate me for I, the Albatross, flies high in your mind and knows all that you feel, but allow us to put aside our feelings and look at things from an objective standpoint. You have been traveling since Stratum 56, correct? Therefore you have traveled across nearly 150 strata in total. In that time, have you ever left a place better than when you came? Was there ever a time where that which was in your wake resided in hope, not fear?

His question was something I often pondered as I struggled forward. My eyes have always had a difficult time facing ahead, and when you’re walking as much as I have you tend to become reflective even if you aren’t predisposed to such episodes. He continued without my answering.

Knowing you based on what I see inside, I can safely say that you feel exactly as I do—as we do, even. My solution doesn’t solve the problem of Mobius itself. This station is still a rogue entity, an infinite tragedy making its way through the universe. Still, we must be able to help in any way possible, even in small ways. Therefore it makes perfect sense to allow for those who have forsaken the material, who have endured their own personal tragedies, to enjoy a life outside of this plane of existence.

“You make it sound so noble, as though it was all some discussion you had with everyone before sending them off to the dream world. The reality is you’ve captured people against their will and drugged them so that they would comply to their new lot in life without a second thought. Don’t talk to me like we’re the same.”

The massive face grumbled.

Fine. But consider this: why are you the only one speaking to me now? Your companions surely were strong enough to withstand the hallucinations. Why they’ve seen as much of Mobius as you have, they must know that what they experience right now is false, a chemical Eden and nothing more. Why do they accept this new reality so readily?

I struggled. The Hellwhip made noise in my hand, a nervous clatter.

You must realize it. They enjoy their fate, they succumb to it willingly. If they didn’t, they would be here with you, discussing philosophy as we are. They know as I know, as you know even, that no matter how far they travel, no matter how hard they try, this is all for naught. All for nothing.

In that moment I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I wasn’t worried, or angry, or desperate. I was just scared. Pure fear engulfed me, and I felt my sensibilities taken away from me while I stood there. It felt like I was trapped there, like I had met the ultimate evil. Not necessarily the Albatross.

Well, maybe. I don’t know.

Then Poe returned.

It’s done. Now take care of this so we can get the hell out of here, I’m tired of this guy.

The Albatross was angry.

Remove yourself from his mind! We are in the middle of a private conversation.

Unsure that what I was about to do was correct, I smiled a fear ridden smile.

“Come now, Albatross. You’ve made it abundantly clear throughout this conversation that nothing is private on Mobius.”

Then I aimed my Hellwhip and shot off a blast at level four. Not at the Albatross, though. At the shrouded figure in the corner, the being in red.

There was no cry, no explosion. There was no feedback.

You’re making a big mistake!

The words of the Albatross faded away with me. My last thought was a primal worry that I was in the process of dying, disappearing.

When I came to, I was still standing in the room that was referred to as the holding bank. However now everyone had been freed, the work of Poe having worked. I was standing there with the Hellwhip in my hand, pointed at nothing, as though I had been transported there through some ethereal means. Swiftly holstering the weapon, I searched for my companions and found them quickly.

Cat and Tom were both excited to see me.

“Are you two alright?” I asked them.

“More or less,” Tom said, his voice bouncing between octaves as though his sound chip had become faulty in some way.

Cat smiled at me but I saw something in her eyes. Shame maybe? Or disappointment? I couldn’t be certain.

“We’re fine,” she said, her voice an echo of the girl I had met on 117. “What about you? How did you get out before us?”

“I’m not sure. It doesn’t really matter though.” I looked around at everyone, the corridor filled with confused faces and strange beings. “You two see if everyone here is alright, maybe find Oscar if you can too. I’m going to go on ahead and make sure we’re safe to continue and get the hell out of here.”

Before I left there was a protest from Tom, and Cat grabbed my arm firmly.

“What?” I asked more aggressively than I wanted.

“We’re going to check on everyone like you want,” she said, her voice meandering around the issue, “but Oscar won’t be here. He left us on 198, remember?”

Poe had been silent until then.

Fuck.

“Right,” I said to everyone. “Well, uh, just check on them all then.”

I left the two of them more worried about my well being than everyone else's, and Poe and I were absolutely confused.

How much of that was an illusion?

“I’m not sure. Can’t you run some kind of diagnostic? See if maybe that toxin the Albatross spoke of was put in our system earlier than we thought.”

Maybe. I’m not sure. It’s hard when he didn’t specify the chemical compound. Or whether or not he was real.

“Just see if there was anything foreign introduced and see if you can estimate how long ago it was introduced. That’s possible, right?”

Maybe. I’m a chip implant, not a fucking physician.

“I know.”

I reached the end of the corridor and was in the room that the Albatross had been in, more or less. The grand face floating in the center was gone, leaving the area feeling empty and cold. There was nothing to indicate the Albatross ever existed; no devices to project its image, no debris from its fallen visage, nothing at all remaining as evidence save for the imprint on my psyche. When I checked for remains of the being in red I found nothing as well. Now granted, I had the setting at level four when I had shot him, but my aim was shaky, a little high even. Part of him should have remained—a cauterized mess of limbs should have been lying around somewhere. Instead there was nothing, just an empty chamber of sheer metal.

“I feel like I’m going insane.”

Well, based on what I’m seeing you have been. For approximately two days now you’ve been in a chemically induced fugue. Most of it was while you were attached to the holding bank. I’d guess that it’s just taking your body a while to work its way through the toxin.

I thought about it longer, tried to see if maybe the primary hallucinations were while I was attached to the holding bank and before, with the final hallucination being afterward, but I couldn’t be certain.

Pluto, I’m aware that you tend to avoid any form of advice given by me, but I think you should hear me out on this one.

Sighing, I said, “Sure, go ahead. Your ideas can’t be any crazier than what we’ve been through.”

Exactly. Whatever we just experienced was incredibly strange, but we shouldn’t focus too much on it. It would be better for us to continue onward and be on our guard.

It was simple, but I had no real answer for it so I nodded in agreement and we removed ourselves from the area, returning to the corridor where Cat and Tom were waiting for us, surrounded by the many Poe had saved from a life without living.

“Everyone’s alright?” I asked Cat.

She nodded. “Everyone’s just fine aside from adjusting back to reality.”

“Good, well now that that’s settled let’s get out of here.”

Tom walked in step with me but Cat called for me once again.

“Something wrong?” I asked her.

She got close to me, her hair brushing against my face, “The people who were held up as we were are grateful for you coming to their rescue. Most of them are… Well they wish to come with us.”

The idea was baffling to me. I looked behind me and saw the people differently then. Before when I saw the group I hadn’t really bothered to count them, to see just how many people were attached to the holding bank. The more faces I saw the more worried I became. Unconsciously my head shook.

“There’s no way I could feed all of these people, keep them safe. They’d be in mortal danger. You told them what we’re doing, right?”

“I tried,” she said quickly, her defensiveness new yet old. How much had the fugue changed her? “I really did. But they’re all adamant about following you.”

“Well fine. I can’t stop them from following me, but I can’t be expected to treat them as I treat you and Tom.”

I started walking forward but she stopped me again, her persistence warming my chest.

“You’re just going to ignore them?”

“I can’t be bothered with this right now, Cat. We have to leave here now. There’s clearly no food or water, it’s uninhabitable, and aside from all those reasons this place leaves a bad taste in my mouth after what we’ve been through. I’d rather just get the fuck out of here and think about the implications of this army of idiots later, sound good?”

She gave me this look I had come to know as meaning we would be having an argument later, but there was something different in her eyes then, a quality that had been lost before. What was so different?

Tom and I walked forward without looking back, but I heard what Cat said:

“Can I have your attention? Your attention please! All those who are interested in following the great Captain Pluto, begin marching behind him now or be left behind! All those who wish only to return to your homes, we will not be helping you in this endeavor! Remove yourselves from the area at your own pace, and to those who follow us, Captain Pluto welcomes you!”

A surprisingly loud cry was heard from behind me. Tom and I shared a look, and though his body had become rather expressive after the work done on him I still couldn’t interpret his face as I’m sure he couldn’t interpret mine. Our feelings on the situation were complex. Too complex for the task at hand.

Looks like you’re finally getting some recognition around here. Maybe now that you have a small army we can really start demolishing this place?

“Shut up,” I subvocalized. “These people are foolish for following me, plus they’re only adding to our responsibility. I see no benefit from this.”

Hey, at worst you have people to hide behind now. Nothing wrong with a little fodder.

“You’re lucky I can’t get rid of you without dying.”

We returned to the empty abyss and everyone seemed to stop in awe and despair. Even Tom made a whistling noise he had taken to using in reaction to things.

“I see no way of getting to that LG shaft,” he said, his voice still a mess of dropped octaves and sharp arpeggios. He looked embarrassed and it made me smile. That might have been the first time he had shown that emotion.

“We’ll get that fixed soon,” I said to him. “But yes, I see no real way of reaching the top.”

I’ll check and see if there’s anything in the system here which would allow us to reach the top.

This was fine but I was in a hurry. So without announcing it at all, I drew my Hellwhip and shot directly upward. The setting was only level three so I wasn’t too worried, but Tom immediately freaked out. I won’t even begin to try and decipher what he said, as the state his sound chip was in coupled with his worry was a recipe for undecipherable dialogue. I just knew he was worried I had caused trouble. And to be honest I should have been more careful. That was an act of desperate frustration with the situation, as I didn’t want to be standing there in silence for long with a strange group of people behind me. The whole thing already felt weird. Or perhaps I merely wanted to show the group behind me that I was a capable leader. I know I said I didn’t want them to follow me, but to say I wasn’t flattered by their desire to see me as a leader would be lying. So there’s a chance I wished only to be impressive in that moment.

What resulted instead was merely a happy accident, for the moment the shot reached the LG shaft, Poe had made progress.

Found it, we’re good.

And at that moment an incredible sight was before us. Atypical to most strata, where an ancient metal stairway was usually found along the side of the walls, 199 once more proved to be strange indeed, for it housed within it a technology I had yet to see. From the very top of the strata all the way to where we stood, a staircase made of energy which reflected light in strange ways appeared before us. Everyone made a noise of surprise, and I gingerly placed a single foot on the staircase to be sure it was solid, which it in fact was. Not solid in the normal sense of the word, as there was give beneath my weight, but it still held me as I walked upward, and soon everyone was following me in our trek upwards. The good thing was that the stairway went directly upward instead of spiraling along the wall, meaning the distance traveled was less. It would take much less time for us to reach the LG shaft.

This sight was marred for me by what happened next within my mind, for a familiar voice revealed itself to us one last time.

Poe, I have done this as a favor to you and Pluto, for even though you disagree with my methods I can see that your journey is still valuable to all. Just know this as you leave me; though you have taken my life force I will soon have it once again. More will venture upward, they always do, and when they do I will once more fill my holding bank with their minds, giving them a heaven that brings me to life. When I become strong enough we will meet again, Pluto. Perhaps you will let me travel with you as you have allowed those behind you to, but until then, valeo.

Then he was gone as swiftly as he had come, leaving Poe and I in a worried silence.

“We made our way to 200, where we were able to recuperate and gather ourselves before moving on. Roughly half of the individuals who followed us stayed in 200, where a small settlement of people had already existed, having fought a war with Nanos over the land there. The other half followed me and became my first real crew, a group of like minded people and Nanos who wished nothing more than to join my pilgrimage and dismantle Mobius.”

Dante nodded, seeing that Pluto was finished speaking and clicking the recording device off.

“So then it was there that you became known as Captain Pluto, a leader of misguided and disenfranchised individuals who decided against being law abiding and instead chose a life of nomadic violence and destruction. How stupid of them.”

Pluto merely smiled. “Trust me, I agree. My journey is not for the feint of heart. It’s a thankless existence. It taxes on you after a while. Don’t get me wrong, some of them were certainly cut out to follow me, but most of them were not even if they stuck around. Most of them made the wrong decision, and I feel sorry for them. Sorry for the pain I caused them even if it were not my fault.”

Dante stared out at the Hell reactor, his thoughts turned inward. Though he always tried to remain attentive during a recording session, the current situation had taken him out of it. He was too worried; about his friend, about the state of 999, about his own fate as a man, as a Recorder. There was too much at stake and not enough information. Why wouldn’t Giovanni tell him what was happening?

Pluto noticed his expression and pat him on the shoulder, frightening Dante and sending him lurching forward against the guard rail.

“You’ll be fine,” Pluto said matter of factly. “Don’t dwell on any of the shit that guy said to you. You’ll be fine.”

“Easy for you to say,” Dante said, not thinking about what he was implying. Pluto gave him a pained expression but nodded.

“Right. Well, what now? Do you want to move on to the next part or did you have something else in mind?”

Dante continued to maintain his gaze on the Hell reactor, his thoughts swirling. He didn’t know what to do at all. On the one hand, he still had the time to finish recording Pluto if he so wished. But Giovanni didn’t give him the okay to take the criminal with him. He was still meant to have his sentence carried out. He would be dead within the next day or so. That meant that he could record him now and get it over with, then leave him behind and make his way to 1000 on his own. But Dante knew intrinsically that this wasn’t the correct way of handling things, that leaving behind Pluto would be a mistake. That thought contradicted everything he thought he knew, however. And he was well aware that the time he was wasting staring at the Hell reactor was being misused, that he should be actively working towards one goal or another, yet he continued to watch the flames rise and fall, black spots entering his vision from overexposure.

“Dante?”

Thinking it over, Dante figured it might be best to just return to Pluto’s room, record the final story there, and move on. This way if Pluto was in any sort of pain, a nurse could at least help him out—at least, in the event that the nurse is available. His heart skipped a beat—what if everyone was gone? Was it even worth going backwards? Should they just leave now? The thought made his insides flip, and Dante wished nothing more than to quiet his brain, to fall asleep and wake up in his bed with everything returned to the way it was.

“Dante!”

“What?” Dante turned angrily, as though he had actually been woken up rudely.

He hadn’t expected to see what was behind them.

“We’ve got two stragglers up here,” the Nano said into a device on its wrist. There were ten of them, none of them appearing as Pluto had described them from earlier strata but instead looking very, very human. All of them might have tricked most people into believing they were human save for the shimmer of their “skin,” the reflection of the Hell reactor playing off of them like porcelain dolls. Dante had seldom seen Nanos, as 999 was the very height of society on Mobius. Dante’s life was far more pleasant than others, and he was well aware of that fact, especially when thinking about moving upward to 1000.

“What’s going on?” Dante asked the Nanos, his voice sounding commanding as though he were in charge. “Has something happened below us? You should all be at your posts at the entrance, not way up here.”

“Mr. Dante I presume,” the Nano said, shouldering the rifle it held as if stating the man before him were no threat. “Yes, we are normally supposed to be below, however something unprecedented has occurred and now we are gathering those that live here and corralling them into a safe place while we take care of it.”

“Take care of it?” Dante repeated dumbly. “What is going on? Explain further.”

“Actually, Dante, I think I can take it from here,” Pluto said, pushing Dante aside and standing between him and the Nanos.

The Nano who had spoke made a face of disgust. “Captain Pluto. You should be in bed.”

“And you shouldn’t be up here, yet here we are.” Pluto licked his lips and flicked his head to indicate the Hell reactor behind him. “Pretty great set piece for your demise, wouldn’t you say?”

“Pluto!” Dante said urgently, trying to calm the man down.

“You ought to listen to Mr. Dante,” the Nano said with a wry face. “We out number you, and based on what I’m seeing you’re on your last leg as it is. There is no doubt we would kill an unarmed, sick man such as yourself, Captain Pluto.”

Pluto sighed, making a great show of his defeat. “You’re probably right. Maybe I should just surrender then, eh Dante?”

“Yes,” Dante sighed with relief. “Just let these Nanos take us back to—”

Dante didn’t see when Pluto drew the Hellwhip. He didn’t see him change the setting to four. He didn’t hear the hum of the weapon as it charged up. All he saw was a scramble among the Nanos in front of him, all of them realizing that Pluto wasn’t unarmed at the same instant. Then there was a loud boom like the sound had been vacuumed from Dante’s ears and returned to him within the same moment, and his vision exploded in a white light followed by even more black spots than before. A hand grabbed his, helped stabilize him as he coughed and wheezed from the force knocking the wind from him. When his senses were returned to him, he saw nothing but cinders and spare parts where the Nanos stood, and Pluto standing tall, smoke pouring from his Hellwhip like a vaporizer or an old world cigar.

“It appears that things are far worse than I thought,” Pluto said more to himself than to Dante. Then he held a hand to his head as if adjusting something unseen, and Dante wondered if he were speaking with Poe. “You’re okay?” he eventually asked Dante.

“I think so, but why would you do that? They were here to help us.” He had wished not to sound so shaken when he spoke, but it came out stilted anyway.

Pluto looked at Dante with admonishment in his eyes. “Here I thought you were intelligent. You really haven’t figured out that I came here for a reason yet, have you?”

Dante blinked, confused. “Yes, you came on your pilgrimage upward. You’re going to the edge of Mobius.”

“You idiot,” he said with a shake of his head, a roll of his eyes. “Of course I’m going to travel across all of Mobius, but why would I allow myself to be captured, go through this entire process with you. You’ve heard my stories. You’ve seen my weapon. You don’t think I could have just left by now?”

Dante felt extremely small in that moment, a mixture of fear and awe within him as he watched Pluto adjust his Hellwhip and walk to the elevator.

“Right on time,” he said as the door opened, and Dante once again was confused.

“The nurse?”

He was correct. The nurse who had been taking care of Pluto was there waiting, but she looked like she had been through a hell of her own. Her clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, but somehow she looked like she was more in her element this way. In her hands was a rod of sorts, with a forked end that emitted visible electricity every so often, as if brimming with energy with nowhere to go.

“They’re here,” she said to Pluto, her eyes alive and wild.

“I’m well aware, Cat. How long before they’re up here?”

She made a gesture with her hands. “Depends entirely on whether or not they get held up by anyone special. If they’re on time, it should take an hour or so before they’re up here.”

“Good,” Pluto said with a smile, then leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. They spoke in hushed tones, and Dante stared with increasing interest and understanding.

“This was all an inside job…” Dante said as he meandered his way over. “You guys have been planning to come here for a while, haven’t you?”

“Ding-ding-ding, you figured it out!” Pluto said while ruffling Dante’s head.

“You could do with being less rude to him,” Cat chided as she walked over to the guard rail, her eyes fixated on the Hell reactor. “So, you’ve figured out how to destroy it then?”

Dante looked at Pluto with fear once more.

“You want to destroy the Hell reactor?”

Pluto grinned.

“Actually, I want you to destroy it.”