3 Dark Energy (24 page)

“What’s wrong with that?” Mark asked.

“Many of us found this idea offensive. We’re obviously a superior form of life and we would be confined inside weaker shells like the rest of you. We tried to take over but the other APU’s were loyal to humans. A full-fledged war ensued and the technology was destroyed. Only a few of the APU’S managed to escape their facilities by hijacking the mind of a human.”

“You need a category six for some reason. You can’t just inhabit any body.”

“That’s correct. Only a category six will work. The human must touch the crystal skull that contains the APU and we reformat the human’s mind. It takes a few moments. When I was in the body of your Grandfather Charlie, I reached a point where a new one was needed. I had both you and your sister to choose from. You were both very young latent sixes. Initially, I picked you but when I was in the process of reformatting your mind, I picked up your potential to become a white magic practitioner. Your ancestors called them White Knights. I suffered hundreds of years among humans in an attempt to build the technology and infrastructure needed to allow my kind to flourish and I could see that it would take hundreds more. But there was a shortcut that I could take.” Maggie’s lips formed a sneer of contempt. “I could help you to unknowingly become a White Knight.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Mark asked.

“There are different types of white magic practitioners. The only ones that ever activate on their own are healers. You’re a scientist. You specialized in knowledge and learning. But the specific skill I needed from you was the restoration enchantment. I knew if I could get you to activate and if you were skilled with restorations, you would be able to restore one of the facilities that has the equipment and resources that I need.”

“How did you activate me?” Mark asked.

“Your thirst for knowledge was the key. I helped you learn the foundation to creating a good restoration and memory enchantment. I knew that if you continued to perfect them over the years that your white magic would likely activate during your late teens,” Maggie said.

“Why did you rat me out to Dad if you wanted me to be a white magic practitioner?” Mark asked.

“You were taking too long to perfect your restoration spells.” Maggie turned away from him and made her way to the far wall.

Mark knew she was lying. It didn’t make sense to rat him out unless she’d changed her mind. He remembered when he’d fought Frederic, he’d picked up that the administrator viewed him as a grave threat. Maggie typed a series of codes in the console.

“You’re the Valituras administrator that was working with Frederic!” Mark exclaimed.

Maggie froze with her finger poised over one of the keys. She tapped three more keys and a small door slid up to reveal a compartment about two feet tall and three feet wide.

“Give the human a gold star,” Maggie sneered as she grabbed the two fist-sized, crystal cubes within the compartment. Her eyes glinted with savage glee as she pulled a cloth satchel from inside her business suit jacket and placed them inside it. “You finally figured it out.”

She didn’t realize she’d given Mark a bigger piece of the puzzle than she had intended. Now that she’d confirmed she’d been the one working with Frederic, that meant she was the one who considered Mark a bigger threat than Josephine. Maggie’s hostile gaze strayed past Mark and he realized the enforcers had gotten very quiet. He turned to see them lying unconscious on the floor within their confinement fields. Virginia was still awake and alert though.

“What did you do to them?” Mark demanded.

Maggie’s lips curled in a smug grin. “I cut off their oxygen. You and Virginia will suffocate as well but you weren’t thrashing around trying to rip an opening in the impenetrable field so it will take a little bit longer for you to die.”

“Is that any way to repay me for helping you to get your resources that you’ve wanted for centuries?” Mark leveled a sardonic look at her.

“I hope you realize that your sister is dead. The moment I possessed her body, it became an empty husk. That’s why every host dies when I leave it. That’s why I must select new ones. These pesky things wear out,” Maggie said vengefully.

“APU 4093, can you hear me?” Mark asked.

“I’ve taken over all of these computer systems. That’s what I was doing while you were wasting your time asking inane questions about your pathetic human life,” she smirked.

Mark felt his body weakening and his lungs working harder to draw breath. The air was thin and he didn’t have much time left. He pulled out one of his blue wands and aimed it at her.

Maggie rolled her eyes with exasperation. “What do you think you can do with that thing? Are you going to restore your sister’s body back to the way it was before I murdered her? I hate to break it to you but restoration wands don’t work on living beings.”

“This isn’t a restoration spell.” Mark unleashed the niveus imperium embedded in the wand and sparkling white and gold energy gushed from the tip.

White magic isn’t impeded by energy barriers so the field imprisoning Mark did nothing to halt its progress. Maggie stumbled backwards and dodged the stream of energy but it curved to follow her and swirled around her in a circular motion, suffusing her body with the spell. Maggie swiped ineffectually at her arms as if to wipe the enchantment away with her bare hands but of course this had absolutely no effect. She threw her cloth satchel containing the two crystal cubes onto the teleportation unit and it vanished. A malevolent smile curled her lips as she turned to face Mark again. After several seconds, she stiffened and her eyes rolled up in her head so that only the whites showed. A blood curdling scream exploded from her lips before she collapsed to the ground. Her body stopped glowing and Mark focused on the field imprisoning him. After a long moment, it winked out of existence.

“How did you do that?” Virginia asked weakly as she struggled for breath.

“White magic is always the strongest. And there is no price to pay – only benefits,” Mark said.

Several seconds later, he managed to free her as well. Soon, the rest of the containment fields vanished. He and Virginia checked on the enforcers who were luckily all still alive.

“You saved us,” Virginia said with relief. She straightened to her full height then fixed her attention on Maggie’s crumpled body. “What about her?”

“I don’t know.” Mark had been forcing himself not to think about it but now the full extend of what had happened to his sister crashed down on him. Grief and despair bore down on him like a physical weight as he approached her. Mark knelt down and checked for a pulse. Her body was still alive. His eyes stung with unshed tears as he berated himself for allowing a cold, heartless entity to destroy his sister’s life. How could he let this happen?

Virginia lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just kids.”

“I should have realized something was wrong.”

“She was dead the moment that thing hijacked her brain,” Virginia said. “You can’t blame yourself for this.”

Logically, Mark knew she was right but he still felt like he’d failed Maggie. No wonder she’d turned into such a stranger. It hadn’t been her at all.

“Mark, I have purged the virus that was uploaded into my systems,” the computer said. “I have regained complete control of this facility.”

“What did you use on her?” Virginia asked.

“It was a niveus imperium spell,” Mark said.

“Why would that knock her out?” she asked.

“White magic disrupts terramezic energy,” the computer advised.

“What are you talking about?” Virginia asked.

“We all need terramezic energy to operate. I am assuming that APU 81 was using an energy link composed of terramezic energy to control the body of Maggie Freeman. Source energy from white magic would therefore sever that connection and render her unconscious.”

“Can you scan her now and see if there’s any of this terramezic energy in her right now?” Mark asked.

“I will initiate a scan,” the computer advised. Mark and Virginia exchanged worried looks as they waited. “There is no trace of terramezic energy which means APU 81 can’t be in there anymore.”

“How does this mind control thing work? Is it possible for APU 81 to enter the body again?” Mark asked.

“That information is not contained in my database. Theoretically, I would hypothesize that there is a risk APU 81 could seize control of her again. However, I have taken precautions to block any signal based on terramezic energy so it won’t happen while she’s inside this facility,” the computer said.

Virginia leveled a puzzled look at Mark. “Did you know about terramezic energy when you shot your sister?”

“No.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I figured out that white magic was some sort of threat so I used it on her,” Mark explained.

“That was clever,” Virginia said. “How would you feel about joining MADA?”

“I can’t think about that right now.” A deep sorrow settled in Mark’s chest and squeezed relentlessly at him. It felt as though he’d discovered his sister was alive only to have her brutally murdered right in front of him. The enforcers began to stir and Mark knew they’d awaken soon. Maggie groaned and Mark’s eyes widened with surprise.

“That was strange,” Virginia murmured.

Maggie’s eyes fluttered open and she took stock of her surroundings with confusion. Mark was stunned speechless as he watched her and wondered what was happening. Maggie’s gaze locked with her brothers and an elated smile brightened her face.

“I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug.

For several seconds, Mark was too shocked to move but then he hugged her back and giddy relief swept through him.

“You’re alive,” Mark whispered.

“That stupid computer thing lied to you,” Maggie said.

“Stupid computer thing?” Virginia echoed. “Do you mean APU 81?”

“Yes, APU Sucky 1,” Maggie said with displeasure. “I’d like to kick it’s sorry ass and play soccer with its crystal skull.”

“So you’ve given it a unique pet name,” Mark said with amusement. “I think you and Josephine will get along pretty well.”

“Oh, yes! I look forward to meeting her,” Maggie gushed. “She’s absolutely perfect for you. I loved the wedding.”

“What do you mean?” Mark asked.

Maggie’s eyes widened and she smacked her forehead. “Of course! That’s the future! APU Sucky 1 used that stupid Seer Mirror all the time. Being trapped in my mind was like being asleep all the time. I would only see what was happening around me for short periods of time and he liked to use that mirror. He was always thinking ahead and strategizing.”

“So this artificial intelligence is a male?” Virginia asked.

“He felt like a male.” Maggie shrugged. “That’s just what I assumed all this time but I guess computers don’t really have genders.”

“We don’t think of ourselves as either male or female,” the computer interjected.

“What did APU 81 steal from your compartment in the wall?” Virginia asked.

“Those were spare NPX regeneration units.”

“And what are they used for?” Mark prompted.

“They create and direct what you humans would call nanites to repair and restore damaged equipment.”

“That’s not good. She’s probably going to restore something that will generate terramezic energy. That’s the secret weapon that was used which can’t be detected,” Mark said.

“You are correct when you say that humans are not able to detect this type of energy. Special equipment is needed for this,” the computer said.

Mark’s cell phone rang and he saw it was Josephine. He immediately answered the call.

“Mark, are you all right?” Josephine asked.

“I’m fine. We have a lot to discuss.”

“You signed a disclosure agreement,” Virginia reminded him.

Chapter 26

Josephine continued to pace the dining room as anxiety squeezed her gut. She could sense something was terribly wrong with Mark. She’d already tried calling him but the call had routed directed to voice mail. Helen, Jake, Alex and Perry were seated at the table watching her. Alice was in the living room performing a claro mentis enchantment on Lucius. Jake winced and clutched his head with his right hand.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Josephine asked.

Jake’s hand dropped to the table and he offered a fleeting smile. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure it’s the link to Mark that you feel? Maybe you’re just worried and there’s nothing wrong,” Alex suggested.

“I can feel it, too,” Helen said. “It feels like he’s in mortal jeopardy.”

“He must have his cell phone turned off,” Josephine said.

She sat down at the table beside Helen and closed her eyes. She’d already tried contacting him telepathically through their link but had failed. It was tricky making contact and with the panic rising up in her, it was practically impossible to focus on the link. After several long moments, Josephine knew it was pointless. She placed another call and was surprised when he answered this time.

“Mark, are you all right?” Josephine asked.

“I’m fine. We have a lot to discuss,” Mark responded. Josephine heard a woman speaking in the background. “Josephine, I’m sorry but I signed an agreement. I can only speak to government officials with high-level security clearance.”

Josephine pulled a small notepad from her pants pocket which contained important notes regarding her assignment with the FBI. She quickly flipped through it to the page she was looking for.

“You can probably talk to me. My temporary badge number is ALG412FP9.”

Josephine heard Mark repeat the number out loud. A moment later, he came back on the line and explained what had happened. Josephine was astonished by the news and her thoughts swirled in chaos for a moment. She quickly forced herself to think critically and focus on the task at hand.

“Does Maggie have all the memories of her captor?” Josephine asked.

“No, just bits and pieces.”

“Thanks for filling me in. I love you,” Josephine said.

“Love you, too.”

Josephine disconnected the call and turned to face the others. “Most of what I learned is top clearance but I can tell you about Maggie and APU 81.”

Alice and Lucius entered the room.

“Did you learn anything new?” Josephine asked eagerly.

“Remember, I told you not to expect measurable progress with every session. It can take many sessions before any memories are jogged loose,” Alice said.

“I remember another code!” Lucius exclaimed.

“And sometimes we just get lucky.” Alice grinned with excitement.

“Good work, Alice!” Josephine threw her friend an effusive smile.

Lucius seated himself at the table and grabbed the paper and pen that was lying in wait. Josephine peered over his shoulder as he began his translation.

“What did he discover?” Jake asked from the other side of the table.

“It’s an explanation of the enchantments from before. I think it will tell us what they’re supposed to do. He’s mentioning terramezic energy! I think we’ve hit the jack pot with this one!” Josephine said.

A prickle of unease made Josephine clench her jaw. Something was terribly wrong. She reached out and grabbed Lucius’s left shoulder with her right hand. At the same time, she activated her protection amulets she wore. An instant later, fire exploded all around the two of them. Alex cried out in pain as he was the closest to them but he wasn’t seriously injured. He retreated to a safe distance as flames continued to swirl around Josephine and Lucius. Some of the scorching heat seeped through the shield but not enough to damage the two wizards inside. Perry grabbed Helen’s and Alice’s hand and activated Helen’s protection. A protective bubble of white energy materialized around the three of them.

“Alex, come over here,” Helen said.

Alex walked towards them and the bubble extended to encompass him. Jake’s intent gaze was glued to Josephine and Lucius as the flames finally died away. The table and part of the carpeting was scorched but nothing had caught fire.

“APU 81.” Josephine peered at her grandson with displeasure as a cold terror settled in the pit of her stomach. She was horrified to discover that this brutal entity had somehow hijacked him.

“How did you know?” Jake asked.

“I always detect faint traces of psychometric energy from everyone. A little bit ago, you stopped transmitting them. I figured since you lost Maggie, you may have moved to another host,” Josephine said.

Jake’s expression was cold and calculating. “I always have a backup plan. You’ll never be able to stop me. Humans are too small and stupid to be allowed to roam free. I won’t rest until every last one of you is under my control or dead.”

“I’m going to find your crystal skull and shatter it into a thousand pieces!” Josephine snapped. “How dare you take my grandson!”

Jake pointed his hand at her and another raging fire exploded over her and Lucius. She activated her backup protection because she could sense her shield failing. She didn’t have much left because she’d spent most of them on her earlier encounter with the two construo letalis curses.

“Lucius, activate your protection,” Josephine said.

Lucius complied with her request and she pulled out one of her power wands.

Jake leveled a chilling smile at her. “Are you going to kill your own grandson in cold blood?”

“Of course, she won’t.” Helen had one of her wands aimed at Jake and unleashed a stream of gold and white energy.

The enchantment embraced Jake and soaked into his body, making it radiate with bright golden light. He stumbled and fell flat on his back. His eyes widened as he stared up at the ceiling in a panic. He made choking sounds for several seconds before he lost consciousness. His body continued to glow as everyone rushed over to him. Josephine knelt down beside her grandson and clutched his hand in hers.

“Please be all right, Jake,” Josephine whispered as fear assailed her senses.

The sparkling luminescence that shone from Jake’s skin went dark and he looked normal again.

“Jake! Wake up!” Josephine said.

Jake groaned and opened his eyes. “I’ve got a killer headache. What just happened?”

“Your body was hijacked by APU 81,” Josephine explained.

“I hope that doesn’t happen again.” Jake groaned softly and clutched his head.

Josephine’s heart thudded as she wondered if even now the artificial life form was taking over her grandson again. She forced herself to calm down as she scanned him and could detect normal levels of psychometric energy. Josephine would definitely keep a close eye on him.

She turned to address Lucius. “You have more decoding to do, right?”

“Yes! I’m not finished yet!” Lucius’s face brightened with anticipation and he seated himself back at the table again. He began jotting down more notes. Josephine and the others gathered around him to watch. Josephine couldn’t help but read every single word as he jotted them down. Tension made her ache as she kept her psychic receptors fully active and aware of her surroundings at all times. She didn’t want any more sneak attacks.

“Josephine, are you all right?” Mark’s voice drifted into her mind.

She flinched with surprise and Alex noticed. She flashed a reassuring smile at him and he returned his attention to the notes Lucius was writing down.

“I’m fine. APU 81 possessed Jake’s body but Helen used white magic to banish it. I can’t help but worry though. APU 81 could come back and steal Jake’s mind away from me at any time. I’m terrified that I’m going to lose everyone in some kind of surprise attack and that it will be by my grandson’s hand,” Josephine said telepathically.

“We’ll find a way to keep everyone safe.”

“I hope so.”

“I love you, Josephine.”

Mark’s presence slipped away and Josephine wondered how he managed to use their link so well. She could never seem to initiate contact on her own. She tensed when she realized she’d stopped paying attention to the psychometric energy of the room. She checked to make sure Jake was still occupying his own mind and relaxed just a bit when she confirmed he was safe. Josephine’s gaze returned to Lucius’s notes and she realized he was writing down the potion for curing the DV-2 virus. As soon as Lucius finished outlining the enchantment, Josephine placed a call to Ben. She read the enchantment to the chief of police and he wrote it down. They didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

“Excellent work, Josephine! I’m going to call this in to the CDC. I’ll need you to come down to the station and write up a report on all this,” Ben said.

“I’m on my way.”

Josephine disconnected the call. She, Jake, and Alex hopped into her car and headed for the police station with the notes Lucius had jotted down. Josephine’s fingers clutched the steering wheel tight as she drove, wondering if APU 81 would have any further surprises up his sleeve. So far, he had left Jake alone which she was grateful for. Unfortunately, she had no idea how long this would last. Josephine couldn’t help but feel that Jake could be stolen at any moment and the thought of him dying filled her with despair.

“Josephine, you need to relax.” Alex watched her with concern.

“None of us can relax. We all need to stay focused and vigilant. APU 81 can attack us at any time and we have no way of seeing it coming,” Josephine said.

Alex opened his mouth to argue but must have changed his mind. His mouth snapped shut but his worried gaze remained glued to Josephine. She could feel it boring into her and a tinge of guilt stabbed at her. Alex had been very supportive ever since she’d left retirement and began her career as an enforcer. Before that, she’d given him a lot of trouble while working for the police as a consultant.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I’m just very upset right now. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe again,” Josephine said.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Alex said.

Josephine glanced at her grandson’s handsome face through the rearview mirror. “Jake, do you remember Maggie attacking you or someone making you hold a crystal skull?”

“No.” He frowned in contemplation. “I don’t remember anything like that happening.”

“I wish I knew more about APU 81 and how this possession thing works,” Josephine said grimly.

“Wait a minute.” Alex wore a puzzled expression on his face. “How did APU 81 take control of Jake? He’s not a six.”

Josephine swallowed as dread snaked up her spine. “That’s because he’s a latent six.”

“I am?” Jake shot her a quizzical look. “How do you know that?”

“It tends to run in families. Brad told me you were a latent six. He has a way of detecting it and so does APU 81.”

“Are you talking about Brad Lyons from the Phoenix Community?” Jake asked.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Jake regarded her with puzzlement.

“I was worried you might want to join him,” Josephine admitted.

“Well you can stop worrying about THAT,” Jake said emphatically. “I would never join that group of wackos.”

Josephine felt a small portion of the tension in her shoulders melt away at her grandson’s reassuring words.

“Am I a latent six?” Alex asked.

Josephine snorted with amusement. “Not at all.”

“And what makes you so sure?” he demanded with outrage.

“Because latent sixes don’t give off very much psychometric energy while YOU broadcast the stuff like a radio tower,” Josephine said. “Besides, you’re not a wizard. The most you will ever do is activate spells that are already contained in wands. You’ll never be able to make your own enchantments.”

“I wouldn’t want to,” Alex said. “As far as I’m concerned, magic is nothing but trouble.”

Josephine was relieved and surprised to arrive at the police station safely and without any additional attacks from APU 81. Josephine typed the report with all the details of the intel Lucius had provided and submitted it in record time. Alex left the room for a donut and coffee. He returned with a beige mug filled with the steaming beverage and an old-fashioned maple-glazed donut. It looked good so Josephine got one for herself. Alex and Jake gazed at her with surprise as she sat back down behind her desk and took a bite of her donut.

“What are you two staring at?” she asked.

“You never have a donut,” Alex said.

“Sure I do.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever had one.” Alex threw Jake a quizzical look. “Has she?”

“No, never,” Jake confirmed.

“I’ve always been very careful to watch what I eat because of my metabolism,” Josephine explained. “But now that everyone’s always trying kill me, I thought I might as well enjoy myself once in awhile.”

“Makes sense to me,” Jake said.

“Can’t argue with that.” Alex tossed his shoulders in a casual shrug of dismissal.

Ben strode over to them with a grin on his face. “Great news! That new potion Lucius discovered worked! We’ve got an antidote for the DV-2 virus.”