Gareth and th Lost Island (32 page)

Wanting to shift the conversation to something less
depressing, Tralnis decided to ask some questions about the
Automatons.  “My people have built some Automatons, but they
are like windup toys compared to you lot.  How did they manage
to give you each different personalities?” he inquired.

“That was one of the greatest gifts the Mascalians
gave us.  Before the Wizard Wars, each adult had a copy of
their personality magically stored in a crystal.  Each
Automaton is given a random crystal when they are brought on line,”
RENE 7 replied.  

“Oh… is that why you refer to yourselves as ‘he’ or
‘she’?  Leftover impressions from the personality donors?”
Izzy asked, leaning forward in interest.

RENE 7 held out her hand palm down and wiggled it
side to side.  “Yes and no.  Only about 30 percent of us
had definite feelings of being one gender or the other when we came
online.  50 percent of us determine which gender we are after
going through some initial tests,” she explained.

“What about the other 20 percent?” Tralnis asked, as
interested as Izzy was.

“The tests are inconclusive, and the Automaton is
allowed to choose.  Most of them just end up flipping a coin
in the end,” RENE 7 answered.

“I’m not sure I want to know the answer to this, but
what type of tests do you perform to assign gender?” Tralnis
inquired.

Without missing a beat, RENE 7 looked down at him,
and replied, “The easiest, and most reliable one, is to have the
Automaton pretend to use the loo.  If they leave the toilet
seat up, they’re male,” she stated.  Without the help of
facial expressions, Tralnis couldn’t tell if she was joking or
not.

The transport slowed down, and began to drop in
altitude.  It came to rest in a flat empty square, identical
to the one it had picked them up in.  Kevin rolled out of the
back, while DAR-C 254 detached herself from the side.  RENE 7
led the biologicals out of the transport, and pointed towards a
rather non-descript, windowless gray stone building.  “Center
is in there,” she told them.

This time, RENE 7 took the lead with the other
robots at the rear of the group.  The humanoid robot knocked
twice on a solid looking oak door before opening it, and walking in
to the building.  She led them into a reception room complete
with a “secretary” behind a desk.  The robot rolled out from
behind her desk to get a better look at the newcomers, and to let
them get a better look at her.  Her torso was very similar to
the RENE models.  Her lower half, however, was based around a
large sphere that her torso rode along. Her top half was connected
to bottom half with magnetic clamps on either side of the ball.

“Gentlebeings, I would like to introduce you to the
Logistics and Operational Node Interface.  She helps Central
run the island,” RENE 7 stated.

“Please, just call me LONI.  Unless you lot are
some sort of ambassadors, I don’t see why we should have to keep
things formal,” the administrative assistant requested.

RENE 7 pointed to each biological in turn as she
gave their names.  “LONI, this is Pilot of the Roehus, Tralnis
of the Dwarves, Henry of the Chim, Sheldon of the Ur-Kwa-Kwa… I’m
sorry, it’s Kwa-Kwa-Ur now.  The human females are Teesh and
the Morgana sisters, Elizabeth and Isadore,” she said.  RENE 7
paused for dramatic effect before she bowed in Gareth’s direction.
 “And last, but definitely not least, Gareth
Mintel
,”
she said, emphasizing his last name.

LONI wobbled a bit on her ball before getting
herself back in control.  “Central will want a blood test to
confirm this young man is who he claims to be.  It would be
quite the morale booster for the Automatons to learn the Mintel
line lives on,” she said, while pulling out a bronze bowl covered
in runes from a drawer in her desk.  An ancient stone knife
also covered in runes sat in the bottom of the bowl.  “Gareth,
please use the knife to prick your thumb or finger, and place four
drops of blood in the bowl,” she requested.

Gareth picked up the knife, and poked his left thumb
to let four drops of blood drip into the bowl.  After the
fourth drop, the runes flared with a bright purple light.
 

Instead of giving them the results right away, LONI
stared at a set of crystals mounted on her desk.  “That’s…
not… possible,” she muttered in disbelief.

RENE 7 walked behind the desk, and looked at the
crystals herself.  The metal apertures of her eyes opened to
their widest setting in shock.  She was very grateful DAR-C
254 had adjusted her disbelief filter.  RENE 7 looked up from
the crystals, and stared at Gareth, her “eyes” still comically
wide.  “The blood test shows that you are not a long lost
descendant of the residents of this island,” she told him.
 Gareth’s shoulders slumped in defeat.  He had hoped he
would finally find some information about where he came from.
 “According to this blood test, you are, in fact, a prior
resident who left just before the Blight was released on the
island,” LONI stated, flooring the young man.

“See, I told you he looked good for being 13,000
years old,” Kevin said in a smug sort of tone.

“What?!  How is that even possible?!” Gareth
demanded.

The wall behind LONI slid open to reveal a mass of
crystals, rune engraved pillars, and tubes in all sort of shapes
and sizes.  “Perhaps I can shed some light on that,” a warm,
fatherly sounding voice said.  “Please come inside, Gareth.
 Your friends are more than welcome to join you,” the
disembodied voice requested.

Gareth looked at his friends, and shrugged his
shoulders before walking forward.  He was somewhat surprised
that room was able to fit all of them, including the robots.
 When they were all inside, the wall slid shut, causing the
room to darken slightly.  Four large crystals mounted in the
floor, ceiling, and opposite walls suddenly came to life,
projecting light into the exact center of the room.  The
ghostly face of a man in his later years took form, and appeared to
look at them.  Izzy thought the face bore more than a passing
resemblance to her boyfriend.

The face turned its eyes to Kevin.  “It’s good
to see you again, my old friend,” he said fondly.

Kevin waved his hand cheerfully, and gave his
patented, “Helooo.”

“Welcome, Lord Mintel.  I am Central, and it’s
been quite some time since I last saw you,” the face said.

“We’ve met before?” Gareth asked incredulously.
 

Central nodded.  “Oh yes, your father used to
bring you here all the time.  You see, this is where he
created me.  I suppose you could say, in an odd sort of way,
that you and I are siblings,” it told Gareth.  For his part,
Gareth leaned against one of the floor to ceiling pillars as his
knees suddenly felt weak.  Izzy rushed to Gareth’s side, and
wrapped her arms around him in both physical and emotional support.
 Tralnis and Henry took up positions on his other side.
 

“Well, that would explain his 8.1 DM signature,”
DAR-C 254 said dryly.

“Floating disembodied head, I overheard the
mechanical people use that term earlier.  What does it
signify?” Pilot asked.

“Sorry, we forgot that only Mascalians would know
what we were talking about.  The DM signature scale is an
exponential scale that measures how much Dark Magic the subject is
capable of using,” DAR-C 254 explained.

Elizabeth gave Gareth a dirty look, which caused him
to raise his hands up in a gesture of innocence.  “Whoa there,
Elizabeth. Before this trip, I never even knew I was able to use
magic, let alone evil magic,” he protested.

Central’s projected image frowned.  “What would
evil magic have to do with anything?” he asked, somewhat
confused.

Elizabeth turned to face Central.  “You said
Dark Magic. Everyone knows magic is divided up into Light Magic
which is good, and Dark Magic which is evil,” she told him like she
was speaking to a dense child.

“Nonsense!  That’s not how magic works at all.
 Magic is only ‘good’ or ‘evil’ based upon how it is used,”
Central corrected her. “Light or Dark refers to whether or not the
magic can be detected by normal means. The magic that can be
detected by Wizards, and their ilk, only amounts for about 15% of
the magic in the Universe. The other 85% is what we call Dark
Magic. The Mascalians are the only known biological species able to
sense and tap into Dark Magic,” he lectured.

Tralnis looked from Central’s floating face, to
Gareth, and back again. He summed up the other biologicals’
thoughts perfectly by asking, “Huh?”

“Long ago, the inhabitants of this island were no
different than the other Humans on Hadronus. That all changed when
the Void Stone fell out of the night sky during the First Great
Apocalypse. The strange energies given off by the stone slowly
altered the people of this island, until they became what we now
know as the Mascalians. Exposure to the stone over countless
generations had given them the ability to sense magics like the
ones found in the Void Stone,” Central explained. “The Mintel
family had always been the most in tune with Dark Magic, and were
the ones who developed the runes able to tap into it. Their work is
what keeps the Automatons and this city running long after ‘normal’
runes would have failed,” he stated.

“That’s all well and good, and we thank you for the
ancient history lesson, but I’ve known Gareth since he was a wee
lad.  So unless these Mascalians of yours spend nearly 13,000
years as toddlers, this makes no sense at all,” Tralnis said
firmly.

The smirk the floating face gave Tralnis reminded
him far too much of Gareth. “Actually, Gareth’s presence here today
answers a question I have always had about the final battle before
the Blight was released,” Central said. His face faded away, and in
its place was a moving picture showing a large airship the likes of
which hadn’t been seen in 13,000 years. The ship sped from the
island, and tried to dodge its way through Leyships of truly
enormous proportions. The Mascalian ship never stood a chance, and
exploded when it was struck broadside by the blasting spells cast
by eight separate Wizards. The image froze, and then zoomed in on a
small sphere rocketing towards the sea below it. The image began to
move again while still zoomed in on the tiny craft. It hit the
waves, and sank at a faster speed that what gravity could account
for.

The image disappeared, and was replaced by Central’s
face once again. “That was the Mintel family’s private ship. Like
all ships of her class, she was equipped with null-entropy
lifeboats, escape pods with runes designed to freeze time within
them. The HMS Majesty was only able to launch one of her lifeboats
before being destroyed. I always wondered if it had been a misfire,
or if there had been someone aboard it. Now I know,” he said.

Izzy chuckled, and hugged Gareth, thankful that his
parents had managed to save his life all those years ago. “You
know, Gareth, you’re lucky I don’t mind dating an older gent,” she
teased.

“Well, as nice as this has been reuniting with
family, you should probably head off to visit your home. You’ll
should check to see if there is anything you want to take with you
before you leave Mascal,” Central advised.

“Leave? We just got here! Why are you trying to get
rid of us?” Gareth protested.

Central shook his head no. “It’s not what you’re
thinking Gareth. In case you hadn’t noticed in your flight here,
most of Mascal is still sterile. Only within the last hundred years
has the land around the city begun to show signs of life. As
mechanical entities, we have no need of food, and any food left by
the Mascalians turned to dust eons ago. We have nothing to feed
you. You’re more than welcome to return to the island anytime you
want. You just need to bring your own food,” he explained. “The
provisions we were able to salvage from the remains of your Leyship
will only last you a few weeks at most,” he added.

Elizabeth rubbed her face with her good hand.
“Thanks for reminding me that my…” she shot a quick look at her
sister who was glaring at her, “…
our
ship was destroyed,”
she complained. “Just how exactly are we supposed to leave this
gods forsaken island?!” she demanded.

“Well, I somewhat expected you would use the
experimental battleship that is sitting in a null-entropy dock at
the moment. We would have used it to travel across Hadronus, but it
requires a Mascalian as Captain to bring it on line,” he replied.
“It will take an hour or so to shut down the null-entropy runes.
During that time, everyone but Elizabeth should go visit Gareth’s
old home,” Central said.

“Why not me?” Elizabeth demanded, her hand inching
towards her pistol.

LONI pointed to Elizabeth’s mechanical arm. “To be
perfectly honest, Elizabeth, shiny brass is sooooo last millennium.
I thought you might like an upgrade at a salon nearby,” she
offered. LONI leaned over, and whispered something further in
Elizabeth’s ear.

Elizabeth’s jaw dropped, as she exclaimed, “You’re
kidding? You can actually do that?!” LONI just nodded. Elizabeth
spun around, and looked at Izzy. “I’ll catch up with you at the dry
docks,” she promised before she let LONI lead her away.

“While I take Elizabeth to get spruced up, RENE 7
and DAR-C 254 will take Gareth, and whomever wishes to join him, to
his family’s home. Kevin will escort the rest to the dry docks,”
LONI announced over her shoulder. Pilot and Sheldon broke off from
the others to better acquaint themselves with the new ship before
they prepared to leave the island.

A short walk later, the remaining biologicals found
themselves at the home where Gareth spent the first years of his
life. It was a stately, two story home with a round tower on one
corner. The walls were the same white stone that made up most of
the city. The roof had dark grey, overlapping shingles that met at
a peak in the center. A strange, gray fog seemed to be frozen in
place around the entire building.