The Fourth Sage (The Circularity Saga) (44 page)

After the fourth set of stairs, they come to yet another landing. The light there is already much brighter than in any of the other stairways.

"Almost there," Ty says, catching his breath. He and Tevis have been walking slowly but steadily up the long staircases, but they both look as if they could use a break. Tevis has used her handkerchief several times to wipe the sweat from her brow. She’s continued to hand the same handkerchief to Ty, who uses it willingly.

"Next time, an elevator would be nice," Ty says.

Tevis smiles at him. "You know, when this is all over, you'll have to walk all the way up to the surface again," she says.

"I'm going to have Sam carry me," Ty replies.

"You got it, boss," Sam replies. He and Mila have been walking together for most of the way and Aries becomes aware again of the strong sense of protection she feels from Sam toward Mila and the others. As if his presence alone lays a protective shield over everyone he meets.

One by one, they reach the domelike structure. It is made of the same polished black stone as the rest. The rear side, where they stand, is fully intact, its walls reaching up to the highest point. But the front part facing the light source has collapsed, leaving a hundred and eighty degree view of what lies beyond. The floor they stand on is filled with the broken pieces of the roof structure.

Not one of them dares to move. They stand still, trying to comprehend the sheer scope of what they see. After a few seconds, Aries puts one foot slowly in front of the other. Far in the distance, past the crater below that is still hidden from their sight, several of the large stone pillars reach far up to the ceiling, of which only a vague outline is visible, so strong is the light that touches it. Mounted to two of the nearest pillars on either side of the crater are tracks leading up toward the ceiling and down below.

"Elevators," Jeremiah says, before Aries recognizes what they are. On one of the tracks, a cylindrical cabin moves downward. Its glass enclosure lets them see what's inside. The dark forms of the androids fill the cabin as it descends out of their line of sight.

"Make that F-f-fifteen thousand," Jeremiah says.

Aries reaches the front of the platform. The crater must be easily two thousand feet deep. Not unlike a funnel, its sides slope gently toward the center—an expansive level area. And there it sits. Two massive, bowed pillars reach from the bottom at least four hundred feet up, leaving an opening toward the top. In the center between the two pillars, a massive three-dimensional blade turns slowly around its own axis. The circular shape surrounding the blades turns as well, very slowly on both the horizontal and vertical plane. The circle is surrounded by a triangle, probably the most impressive of the shapes, as the length of each side must measure at least four hundred feet. The triangle, made from the same slightly transparent material, slowly turns on the horizontal plane, as if held by an invisible string from above. But neither of the objects—not the large fan blade nor the circle—has any visible connection to the pillars.

Aries cannot help the tears that come. When she looks at Amber, she sees her weeping quietly as well. Tevis and Ty hold each other, and Sam has Mila on his arm. Kiire shakes his head over and over. Seth and C.J. have taken each other's hands. Max stands next to Aries. Her hand searches his, grabs it, and holds it. Never before has she seen anything so graceful and powerful at once. The slow, fluid motions of the blades in unison with the circular shape around it give it an almost otherworldly quality, besides being a feat of engineering that must go far beyond what she knows is possible. A light beam passes through the two pillars, reaching up toward the ceiling.

It takes a while for them to take in the whole scene. Aries slowly becomes aware of the rest. Surrounding the machine, an ancient city covers most of the bottom of the crater. There must be hundreds of small buildings, tucked against each other and only separated by roadways that lead from the center outward toward the edge. There and surrounding the city stand a number of tall statues, facing inward. Aries counts six of them. Made of the same dark black stone, their heads remind her of a lion’s. Their eyes are closed in an expression of deep reverence. Interspersed throughout the city stand a number of larger buildings that also face inward. There is a large lake to the left, its surface shimmering in shades of cobalt and turquoise. Several structures reach up from inside the lake as if part of the city lies submerged there.

In the area immediately surrounding the machine stand several dozen smaller towers, each with a hemispheric cupola for a roof and arranged in a circle around the machine. In between them lies what at first glance looks like dark ground cover. But as their eyes adjust to the light, they see that the black mass is made of individual dots. And then Aries recognizes what the dots are.

"I think I was wrong before," Jeremiah says quietly. "This is closer to f-f-fifty thousand."

"You must have really pissed them off," Ty says to Aries, without taking his eyes off the scenery.

"I think it's you they’re upset with," Aries replies. "You left the hatch door to the water reservoir open. All kinds of bacteria can get in there and pollute it."

"I guess I should go down and apologize."

"Not sure, at this point, if a mere apology is going to do it, Ty. But it's a start."

"We are so screwed," Kiire says after a while. "We don't even realize how screwed we are."

Dizzied by what she sees, Aries sits down where she stands. It’s as if all the strength she’d managed to muster instantly drains out of her. The others sit down as well. All of them except Amber. Her gaze is fixed on the machine.

"Are you okay?" Tevis asks her.

Almost imperceptibly, she nods.

I think I found a way to you,
Aries hears the hawk think.

When she closes her eyes, she sees one of the locks. Born-of-Night must be sitting on one of the steps on the circular staircase, looking down. The whole area is abandoned. The hawk jumps off, gliding down and toward the walkway that surrounds the shutter-like mechanism. She lands on the walkway and slips into a narrow opening no more than a few inches in diameter. For a few moments, Aries can't see anything until the hawk jumps and lands again on a thick cable leading into what look like small transformers.

Where is this?
Aries asks.

Right below the last lock,
Born-of-Night replies, as she jumps onto the transformer unit and from there onto another one. Aries can see that there are several dozen of them, all arranged in a circle and mounted to the underside of the lock. Each of them must be at least twenty feet wide and as high. A bright light illuminates the units from below. This must be the beacon reaching up from the machine. Then something in the hawk's peripheral vision grabs Aries's attention.

Wait, what's this?
Aries asks.

When Born-of-Night turns her head, she sees it.

Can you get closer?

The hawk jumps toward the edge of the transformer unit. From there, Aries has an unobstructed view of the lock's underside. Where the transformer units are mounted underneath the platform surrounding the lock mechanism, a thick plate of what must be crystal or glass-like material sits in its center, spanning the whole aperture of the lock. A slight red glow emanates from it. Its edges are connected to each of the transformers.

I'm coming to you.

The hawk drops into the light beam below, opens her wings, gliding through the air and away from the ray. The machine becomes visible below as the hawk descends next to the beacon. From here, the city stretches in all directions. Its deep black stone buildings are in stark contrast to the sandy ground of the crater. Several large parabolic antennas sit on the slopes of the crater, facing inward. Scaffolding is mounted to one of the larger pillars next to the machine. Aries opens her eyes. Ty is the first who catches her glance.

"You were right," she says.

"Come again?"

"It's about energy."

When she explains to the others what she has just seen, she can see Ty's mind working, trying to connect the missing pieces.

"So, the light beam or whatever it is can be converted into electricity by those crystal plates," he says, after she has ended. "And from the transformers, they route the current all the way to Tier Six. That way they'll have all the energy they can possibly need."

"And the rest of us have to pay for it," Tevis says.

"The parabolic antennas," Kiire says. "I think they're still trying to figure out how it works, how the machine functions. I personally don't believe they have a clue."

"They have figured out how to convert the light beam into energy," Ty says.

"True," Kiire replies.

You should see this,
Aries hears Born-of-Night think.

Aries closes her eyes. The hawk must have landed on top of one of the two pillars next to the machine. Its proximity and sheer size makes Aries gasp. About four hundred feet below, she sees the rows of androids covering the ground. When Born-of-Night looks up, Aries can see the tower far up at the edge of the crater. Then the hawk lifts off again and dives toward the ground.

You think that's a good idea?

I'll be okay. Just scouting out the area a bit.

The hawk flies across the crater and lands on one of the large antennas.

"Now what?" Kiire asks, when Aries opens her eyes.

"I don't know."

"We'll have to shut it down," Ty says.

"How would we do that?" Aries asks.

"I don't know, but shutting it down would take away the foundation of their operation for sure."

"No electricity, no power. Pardon the pun," Kiire says. "Maybe there's a switch somewhere."

"I doubt that," Aries replies.

"Whoever built this thing in the first place must have put in some kind of device to deactivate it," Kiire says.

"This might sound strange," Mila says, "and it's probably nothing, but what if there is some sort of switch and what if it's not anything mechanical?"

"I don't understand," Aries replies.

Mila pulls the crumpled plastic bag from her pocket and begins to take off the tightly wrapped rubber band around it.

"What do you have there?" Tevis says.

Mila unwraps the plastic and pulls out a piece of charcoal. She smiles. "Always bring your tools, right?" she says. Then she begins to draw on the floor. Everyone watches quietly while Mila draws the machine in the center. Up until now, Aries has completely forgotten about the drawing Mila made back in the Forgotten Floors.

"I'm not sure if you noticed it, but when Born-of-Night flew over the crater just now, I saw something," Mila says, while drawing a small rectangle halfway between the machine and where the slope of the crater begins.

"What is that?" Aries asks.

"I don't know," Mila replies. "Some sort of plate or platform. It's in the same spot you were in."

"I was in? What do you mean?" Aries asks.

"When I drew it the first time, you stood there, a few hundred feet away from it. About the same distance from the machine as that plate is now."

You should hide,
Aries hears Born-of-Night think.
I have spotted two drones on the other side of the crater.

"Drones," Tevis translates Max's signing.

Mila sweeps her hands over the drawing, making it unrecognizable. They move backward and behind a large piece of stone that was at one point part of the roof structure.

"I hope they don't use infrared," Kiire says.

"Those rocks are magnetic, remember? And pretty thick," Ty replies. "We should be okay here for a while."

Mila begins to draw again. This time she outlines the shape of a rectangular plate. Inside, she begins to draw symbols.

"Amber, do any of these look familiar?" she asks.

Amber kneels.

"For you," she says, and points at the first two symbols.

Mila writes the words below it.

"If this means 'you,' then we have several more of those," Amber says.

Mila, again, writes the word “you” under some of the other symbols.

"Tides," Amber says. "This means 'Tides,' I think."

"Tides?" Aries asks. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Amber replies. "Pretty sure."

"Strides," Amber says, pointing at another symbol.

"Like walking?" Kiire asks.

"No. More like marching."

"Right..." Kiire says. "Marching."

"There are a few symbols missing," Amber says.

"I know," Mila answers. "I couldn't see them all. It was too quick."

"There are two more that I... know. They are over here." Amber points to the end of the third row.

"What do they say?" Mila asks.

"They say..." Amber's voice cracks when she looks at the others. This is visibly difficult for her. "They say 'death and pain.'”