Ben Chaney - Son of Sedonia

“Maybe that is where you’re goin’,” Jogun said, standing up, “Or maybe that’s where you are.” He holstered the gun. The Black Hoods rushed in, having heard the shots. Jogun turned and pushed through them.

“Prep one of the Scouts,” he said.

MATTEO DROWNED IN the space between sleep and consciousness. The memories of his life whipped through him with no sense of order or time. His capture on the Superway replayed in front of him, teasing his sense of the present enough to pull him awake. Harness straps held him in a hard plastic seat. Two figures sat with their backs to him in the cockpit ahead. The image blurred as the stern, suited men morphed into Alan and Patricia. Mom and Dad.

Everything snapped to high-detail. The smell of plastic and his mother’s orange-cream perfume in the transport cabin. The sound of their voices murmuring to one another…getting louder. He felt his soft blanket brush smoothly over his delicate skin. Then it all went wrong. So loud. His entire world started shaking as he cried from the car-seat. Mom’s body went limp. His Dad’s face reflected in the glass. ‘ …remember forever… we’ll always love you!’

The hatch opened beside him and, for a moment, Jogun stood there. But as his young older brother climbed in to take him home, it transformed into one of Kabbard’s men. The bug-eyed blonde one with the cold straight face.

This is real! He jumped away inside, then realized his body didn’t follow. Fuzzy dullness buried all his limbs in thousand-ton cotton. The blonde went to work on the strap buckles, tossed them aside, then pulled Matteo out of the seat by the arms.

“At fuckin’ last!” one of them said.

“Seriously,” said the other.

Matteo could only watch as his body flopped to the ground. Pain shot through him, giving his limbs a sickening jolt. They woke up in waves. Suddenly he could move his head. His legs and feet dragged on some kind of landing pad. As he looked around, he realized something was off. No buildings anywhere to the left or right. Not behind him either. Only the dead, navy sky of pre-dawn, stretching on forever, and a thin tower poking up into the sky from the pad. A tiny red dot blinked at its peak. The same light that had lulled him to sleep on more nights than he could count. Sedonia Tower! The only building tall enough to stand above all the others.

They dragged his waking body down a curving ramp to a steel plated door, and buzzed their way in. Matteo put weight on his feet, but they were kicked out from under him.

“No sir, no more running for you,” said the blonde. The two flights of stairs beat his feet and shins so badly that he let himself go limp at the bottom. Better if they think I can’t move, anyway…

He was brought to a wide open room off the hallway. High, bright ceilings. Men and women wearing what had once been neat, rigid clothes paced through the arrangements of sleek furniture, babbling into their Neurals. Panic hung rotten in the air as Matteo listened and kept still.

“Well can you confirm or can’t you? I’ve already got reports of three Inner Ring attacks in Shibuya, Montos, and The Primaeum, I need to know if you’re telling me about one of those, or a new one! You’re in Whitlatch…? —Hey, we got another sighting in Whitlatch! Insurgents coming up from the municipal buildings!”

“…flyby has verified, EXO HQ has been destroyed, and our assets on the ground are dropping fast!”

“This is Governor Sato! All patrol birds in the air, deviate to intercept the Inner City targets, repeat, deviate to intercept Inner City targets!— Christ, where are the fucking Feds?! Somebody try Prescott agai—” The man stopped as Matteo was deposited in front of the broad, crescent moon desk. The rest of the room stopped with him. Stared.

Matteo looked up wearily and squinted to study the man’s expression. It read like a leather-bound book. Wide-eyed. Thin mouth gaped. Thick chin quivering slightly. But why? Even with his fine-tuned memory, Matteo had never seen this person before. But this ‘Governor Sato’ looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“Sir?” said one of Matteo’s handlers.

“Uhh… umm… Nicks, Andreas… great job guys… lock him down in the suite for now, I—my City is burning,” Sato said.

“Yes sir.” Matteo heard them groan as they turned around.

“Alright, time to walk,” said the squat, short-haired one called Nicks, “Tired of carrying your ass.”

They picked Matteo up and set him down on stinging feet. He could carry his weight again. The office revved back to life with phone calls and voice commands as he was escorted to the door. But a woman entered before they could leave. Middle-aged, full-figured, and beautiful, with smoke-colored hair flowing over the back of her summer dress.

“Enota!” she called into the room. The Governor raced around the edge of his desk, pushed past a few assistants, and took her in his arms.

“Oh thank God, Jada!” Sato said, “When I heard about Shibuya—”

“Shhh…I’m here. I’m safe. And you need to get back to—Who is this?” she asked, looking Matteo over. Something warm and reassuring about her face…the concern written there. Sato seemed to tip off balance.

“Oh—this…this is—”

“Aden,” Matteo said, “My name is Aden.” He felt Nicks and Andreas tighten their grip, but they stopped short of showing it.

“Aden…” said Jada. The sweet cream color drained from her expression as she turned to Sato, “…Rindal?”

Sato’s stunned silence seemed to be enough of an answer for her. She touched her fingers to her lips as tears welled in her eyes.

“My poor baby!” she said, leaning in to embrace him. Andreas stopped her with a firm hand. Shook his head.

“Wha—? What’s going on here… Enota?” Jada asked. Matteo looked for an answer too, starving for the pieces he was clearly missing.

“Jada I… I can’t right now,” Sato said.

“You’d damn well better try! ” said Jada, unmoved. Sounds of distant combat chattered in the stillness.

“I—we found him—”

One of Sato’s aides jumped out of his seat.

“Sir! Just got a line from Prescott, the military is mobilizing!”

A cheer ripped through the office. People hugged each other. Some kissed. Sato drooped, puffing a leaden sigh.

“Package our intel and set up the Feed! I want them patched through to commanding officers on the ground ASAP!” His smile dimmed as he turned back to Jada, “I’m sorry, there’s—”

“Go,” she said, “The City needs you… but we’re far from finished here.”

Jada followed behind with her escort as Andreas and Nicks pulled Matteo down the arched corridor. Dim, yellow light fixtures glowed on the walls, casting strange reflections as they walked. Matteo twisted his head back to steal another glimpse of Jada, but a sharp tug from Andreas and a hidden gun barrel in his ribs told him to try again later. They won’t do much while she’s around… The main threads of a plan wove together in his mind as he got to the elevators.

“Where are you taking him?” Jada asked. Andreas punched a button on the wall panel and stared at the closed metal doors. “Uh huh, okay…” said Jada as she squeezed in between them and the doors. They opened behind her, “Think about laying hands on me again. Think real hard.”

“The Exec Suite,” Andreas finally said.

“Thank you,” Jada said. She nodded and stepped aside. Matteo watched her disappear behind the closing metal slabs, along with his flickering hope for escape.

When the elevator opened again, Andreas pushed Matteo out into a small, circular room with three carved wooden doors. High-backed chairs with curving animal legs stood guard next to each of them. Matteo’s boots clomped loudly on the marble floor as he stumbled to right himself.