Courage (14 page)

“Oh. Did that really happen?”

Aerigo was silent a moment. “Unfortunately. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Very well. Shall we begin the subconscious exploration of your powers then?”

“Sir, I have paused the video,” Kennin said. “I wish to divulge a tidbit of information.”

“What is it?” Donai sat up straight. He’d leaned towards the computer at some point.

“Earlier in this entry, Aerigo expressed his extreme dislike of the power he has, and that he lacks full understanding of how it works. Aerigo agreed to being hooked up to the Dreamwalker in hopes of better understanding his power and how to control it. Dr. Prye was equally curious in the power’s workings, in addition to reasons that dip into part of Kismet’s muddied past with Neo-Joso.”

“You keep bringing that up,” Donai said.

“Yet you explicitly explained that you don’t have time to hear an explanation.”

“I don’t right now,” he said unhappily. “Hopefully I will in the near future.”

Skitt said, “Yeah, this missing piece of the puzzle is really starting to bug me.”

“You and me both. Kennin, you may continue the video.”

Aerigo’s adult hand rose into view, fingers spread. Several feet away, a reflection of him treading water appeared. He made an upwards motion with his arms, like a biceps curl rep, and the water raised him out of the stream. There was blackness wherever there wasn’t Aerigo or water. The water dropped back into the stream and hardened into a black, shiny surface that he stood on. A partial reflection surrounded his booted feet. He wore a white tunic shirt and heavy black pants.

“Remember, Aerigo, the point of this session is give us both some understanding of your unique powers.”

“This is your last chance to change your mind,” Aerigo said. “I highly doubt you’ll like what you see.”

“Like it or not, I’m driven by a desire to learn and understand. It’s not about liking my findings. Ready when you are.”

Aerigo nodded, then sized up the mirror and took a deep breath.

Thum-dum.

The heartbeat was so loud that Donai shot a hand in the direction of the volume buttons and looked around the archives. No one paid them any heed, but he turned the volume back down anyway. His own heart was already pumping from the unexpected auditory attack.

Aerigo slowly took a step towards the mirror, the eye of the dream staying put. The back of his clean-shaven head filled the screen, then drew closer to the mirror.

Thum-dum.

His reflection stood still as it watched Aerigo move one cautious step at a time. The reflection wore a serious gaze and had its arms poised at its sides, its skin growing darker with Aerigo’s every step.

The reflection smiled.

Thum-dum.

Aerigo faltered. He stood frozen in mid-stride for a moment, before he forced himself to resume his advance. The reflection widened it smile. Aerigo kept moving. The eye of the dream shifted so it was watching both versions of Aerigo from an angle.

Thum-dum.

Holding his arms back, Aerigo touched the mirror with his forehead first and leaned forward. The mirror rippled like water as his reflection waited on the other side. The ripples emitted a high-pitched screech, like the sound of something sharp and metallic cutting glass. Aerigo’s moving body didn’t appear on the other side; whatever passed through ceased to exist. The mirror rippled in more places as Aerigo’s left knee and foot passed through, and the ripples bellowed a discord of screeches. His head and shoulders passed through, followed by his arms and whole left leg. The mirror vibrated with ripples and screamed hoarsely as his right leg crossed to the other side. And then there was only one Aerigo left.

The grinning, dark figure hungrily stared at the eye of the dream through the ripples. The ripples flattened out and the metallic screeching ceased.

Thum-dum.

The dark Aerigo punched the mirror. Huge shards of glass fell and shattered into countless smaller fragments upon the black ground. The fragments melted and seeped into the blackness, disappearing.

Aerigo took a couple of steps closer, but was halted by chains clasped to his ankles and wrists. They’d appeared so suddenly that he stumbled to one knee. Their appearance surprised Donai as well. It was as if someone had flipped a light switch and the chains had appeared. They were as thick as Aerigo’s wrists, and each link was as long as a hand.

“Aerigo?” Dr. Prye said.

“The one and only,” Aerigo said. He pushed himself to his feet. The jangling of the chains sounded deep and heavy. Donai doubted he could do any more than lie flat if they were chained to him.

“What’s with the chains? Can you not break free?”

“Someone thinks I’m dangeroussss,” Aerigo said, smiling again.

“Who?”

“The conscious half of myself, of course. Who else could do this to me?” He tugged at one of the arm chains.

“Stupid question. I apologize.”

“Better not be full of ‘em.” Aerigo took one of the arm chains in both hands and gave it a good yank. The metal jingled and nothing more. He scowled and let out a snarl.

“How long have you been chained up like this?”

“Not too long. This is my new prison, apparently. I’ve been freed only once so far.” He placed his hands farther down the chain, spread his feet a bit, then began tugging and yanking at every angle he could towards the eye of the dream.

“What did you do during your moment of freedom?”

Aerigo paused to turn and grin wickedly, his eyes flashing red. “Killing. Lots of killing. I am capable of awe-inspiring destruction. I’m like a bomb. Do you know what that is?”

“Sadly yes.”

Aerigo turned back to his chains and resumed his struggle. “Not sadly. My explosive release is the most freeing feeling you can ever experience. You can do so much with me. But unfortunately my freedom comes in short bursts. Just a handful of minutes--longer if you can control me better. But good luck with that. I want out as fast as I can.”

“Why?”

Aerigo paused in his struggle yet again and his shoulders rose and dropped with a great sigh. “
Because...
It’s. So.
Freeing
. You’re not an Aigis. You’ll never understand. Ask me better questions already.” He held out his arms and swelled into a giant. The eye of the dream backed away enough to compensate for Aerigo massive frame, and he gawked at the chains. They’d grown with him, each link big enough to loop around a car. He thrashed against the chains, flailing his arms and kicking quick and hard. He struggled like a wild beast trying to break free. He twisted and yanked his wrists, jerked his elbows, heaved his shoulders, and executed punches and kicks and rapid succession. Each motion grew more desperate as the heavy chains did nothing but sway and jingle. Aerigo started panting and soon stopped, hunched over with his arms dangling before him. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reverted to his normal size and the chains shrunk with him. He backed two steps away from the eye of the dream and roughly sat down.

“That was an interesting display of power,” Dr. Prye said.

The dark Aigis let out a sarcastic laugh. “That was nothing. You should see me when I’m free.”

“Can’t you show me while still chained?”

Aerigo crinkled his nose. “A dreamed-up version would insult the real me. Forget it.” He turned his back to the eye of the dream, chains jingling. A silence followed.

“Mind telling me something about those chains?” Dr. Prye tentatively asked. “Usually anything is possible in a person’s dream, but you seem to have encountered an impossibility.”

“Just end the session. I can’t free myself and teach you anything--not even for the sake of science.”

“Why not?”

“
Because
,” Aerigo said, glaring at the eye of the dream, “these damn chains are a manifestation of the other half of myself, keeping me safely locked away. He never stops guarding the keys to my freedom.” His eyes widened. “Unless...” He stood and backed away from the eye of the dream.

“Where are you going?”

Shadows crept over the chains and Aerigo’s limbs. “Nowhere,” he said, his eyes glowing red again.

“Then what are you doing?”

“Stealing the keys to my shackles,” he said mildly. The shadows enveloped him up to his chest. “This is a dream I’m in after all. Let’s see if I can... jumpstart things...” He fully receded into the blackness.

“Aerigo, wait! Where are you going?”

One red-glowing eye peered out. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving.”  The eye vanished. “I’m seeking... showing...” His voice trailed off and was replaced by the low rumble of what sounded like rolling thunder.

“Oh, boy,” Dr. Prye said, an edge of panic in his voice. “I’ve never been scared during a Dreamwalker session before, but at least I think those chains answered my questions about his alpha waves.”

The rumbling petered off and two crimson orbs winked to life. A giant bust of a man with short, curly black hair filled in around the eyes. An army of Elves in black clothing and wielding swords manifested below the chin. A dozen dragons bore into view above the head, wings spread, mouths open and glowing with the fire in their bellies. Below the Elves marched in a vast army clad in steel and scarlet, stomping over the bloody corpse of a woman. Suddenly, all the images launched themselves at the eye of the dream at once, like a volley of spears.

The screen went black and an alarm not produced by the dream beeped away in some corner of Dr. Prye’s room. “Uh oh!” The blackness switched to the camera behind the scientist, who jumped out of his chair and peered past the Dreamwalker’s monitor. “He’s very much awake, and I think he just broke every wire attached to him.” He looked down and typed a few things into the Dreamwalker, then hurried off-screen, the sound of a door closing behind him.

The screen switched to the view from the security camera in the room Aerigo had been dreaming in. He sat on his heels, doubled over and completely naked, with his fingers digging into the sides of his head. His clothes lay in shreds around him, along with a wreath of snapped wires. Aerigo had doubled his height. He let out a cry of pain as another growth spurt hit him and doubled in size again. He pressed his fists in the floor, every muscle in his arm bulging, and the floor cracked. He clenched his teeth and groaned as a third growth spurt hit him. His glistening shoulder blades were no less than a foot away from the ceiling. He gasped for more air, then all the muscles in his arm and torso tensed up as yet another growth spurt closed the gap between his back and the ceiling.

Aerigo flinched away from the ceiling and balefully eyed the camera as dust and pieces of the paneling fell. He reached back and grabbed the sheet from off the bed and wrapped it around his waist like a towel. He had only a few feet of space all around him. He twisted his giant body so he could lean against the wall, knocking over all sorts of equipment in the process, and the small of his back pushed the bed up against the wall. Still clutching the sheet in one hand, he closed his eyes worked on getting his breathing under control.

The room’s door flung open and light poured in around a frazzled Dr. Prye. He skidded to a halt just inside the door, right in front of one of Aerigo’s enormous shins. “What on Kismet happened to you? Is this reversible?”

Aerigo nodded. “Just let me... catch my breath.”

“Are you going to be alright?”

He nodded again and the screen went black.

Fifteen minutes later...

The screen faded in to Dr. Prye sitting in a computer chair in a small room with a desk, computer and bed. On the bed sat Aerigo, restored to his normal height and in plain scrubs. He sat with his elbows on his knees and head bowed. He mumbled an apology.

“No need,” Dr. Prye said. “Research comes with risks when there are so many unknown factors, and neither of us saw that coming. Yes you broke a million-cerin machine, but it’s perfectly replaceable. At least I still have all the data I gathered from you. How do you grow and shrink, and was that moment after you woke up an involuntary set of growth spurts?”

“They were an attempt to keep my power contained. The power tricked me. It is explosive. But the bigger I got, the easier it was to contain it and get it back under control.”

“The other half of you described himself as a bomb. Is that accurate?”

Aerigo opened his mouth to speak as he made a disagreeing frown. He sighed. “Partially. It’ll sound like a mythology tale if I explain what I know about it.”

“I’m still curious,” Dr. Prye said with a smile. “You’re a fascinating person who’s part of a fascinating race.”

Aerigo sat up and slid himself backwards so he could lean against the wall. He bowed his head again and interlaced his fingers and rested his hands in his lap. “For much of my life, I’ve been working towards fulfilling a task I’ve been given, but with no clue as how to fulfill it. I put the task aside every chance I get and instead protect people and help them as I can.”

“What’s this task you’ve been given?”

Aerigo looked up. “Are you as atheistic as the rest of your world?”

“Of course.”

“Then don’t worry about it.” He resumed his gaze at his hands.