Jak Koke - Stranger souls

"The stat-feed from your phone indicated you were awake," Jane said.

"So I am," Ryan's response was too quick. "Get to it, chummer. What've you got?"

"I've got some leads on the item you're looking for."

"Are we secure?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You know who stole the Dragon Heart?" "I believe so."

Something entered the room just then. A presence that Ryan felt like a palpable energy, even though he couldn't see anything. He spun around, searching the room, but he saw nothing unusual. Nadja still slept peacefully despite his low conversation.

"Hold on," he said. Ryan concentrated, shifting his sight so that he could see into the astral plane. The astral came into view, blinding him. In the center of the room shone a brilliant gold beacon of astral energy, dimming and brightening as he looked at it.

A spirit?

Ryan adjusted his astral sight in an attempt to take in what he was seeing. Around the yellow sphere of energy was a nearly transparent fluctuation, a distortion of astral space like a heat shimmer. Flashes of energy arced out from the glowing center through the distortion, like gold lightning. Ryan couldn't tell if the shimmer was part of the entity in front of him or an effect of the central core, but the distortion passed through the walls and out of Ryan's sight. Too large to fit into the confines of the room. Ryan had never seen an astral creature this big.

What the frag-?

Lethe hovered in the hotel suite, looking at the man in front of him. In the physical world, the man was large for a human, and extremely fit, with strong muscles, all natural. He stood completely naked except for a small device on his wrist into which he had been speaking. His hair was reddish brown, his eyes were blue, strangely adorned with silver flecks that gave them a metallic look.

In the astral, a war flared inside this man. His aura was strongly magical, and there was a foundation of solidity, but within that foundation it seemed that fluctuations were forming. Discontinuities that Lethe could see plainly. This person was something other than he seemed, and was changing by the moment.

The human seemed to be able to perceive Lethe's presence. Perhaps Lethe would be able to communicate with him without having to possess someone. Maybe he was like Thayla in that regard. Lethe extended his will. "You can see me."

"Yes," said the human.

"You can hear me?"

"What are you?"

"I am what you call a spirit," it said. "My name is Lethe." "What do you want?" "I want to talk to the elf, Nadja Daviar." "Ryan?" It was Nadja's voice. She was waking up. "There is a powerful spirit in the room, Nadja," Ryan said. "Calls itself Lethe." Nadja bolted upright in the bed. "What does it want?" "To talk to you," Ryan told her. "Last time it talked to me, someone died." "That was an accident," Lethe said."I had never possessed

anyone before, and I did not realize what would happen. I am truly sorry." Ryan relayed the words to Nadja.

"This is the spirit I was telling you about," she said. "The one who told me about the Dragon Heart theft." "You know of the Dragon Heart?" Ryan asked. "Yes. I seek it."

"Why?" Open suspicion in the human's voice.

"A woman named Thayla asked me to bring it to her," Lethe said. "She is protecting the world from destruction, but there are those in this world who try to erode her defenses."

The human looked stunned. "Incredible," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I have been given the same task."

"By whom?"

"Dunkelzahn," Ryan said.

Excellent! Lethe thought. An ally! This human must be competent enough to complete the task if Dunkelzahn gave it to him… "I'd like to help," Lethe said. "I know where the item is."

"You do?" Ryan said. "Where?"

"The elves who stole it brought it to a city called Eugene, in a land known as Tir Tairngire. It is in a heavily guarded building where many items are kept and studied."

Ryan lifted his hand and spoke into the device. "Jane, this spirit says it knows where the Dragon Heart is.

"Where?" came a tinny, synthesized voice.

"A well-guarded building in Eugene, Tir Tairngire."

Jane did not respond immediately, perhaps considering the possibilities. "That scans," she said finally. "It could be right."

"What've you come up with?"

"The runners who took the Dragon Heart belong to a group called the Mystic Crusaders. I don't have much on why their organization exists, but one thing they do is provide security, and runners, for the Atlantean Foundation."

Lethe knew none of this, but Ryan was nodding his head.

"I know about AF," Ryan said. "Go on."

"You do?" Jane sounded surprised. "Did you get your memory back?"

Ryan smiled. "It's been a mixed blessing, believe me."

"Anyway, I did a surface run on the AF main host. They do have a research facility in Eugene. It's one of three highly secure sites. The majority of their facilities are warehouses, office buildings, and low-security museums. I scanned their shipment logs, but came up blank. According to their databanks, they haven't checked in a new item for over two weeks."

This Jane woman is very resourceful, thought Lethe. A definite asset. "Even if they've moved the item," he said to Ryan, "I will be able to find it."

"How?"

"I don't know exactly. I'm attuned to its signature and can locate it by the signs of where it passed. Do you understand?"

Ryan shook his head. "I've never heard of anything like that, but it sounds a little like ritual magic."

Nadja slid across the bed and stood up, wrapping her silk robe around her. She came over and put her arms around Ryan. "What are you talking about?" she said. She couldn't hear any of what Lethe said, and this human hadn't been translating everything.

Ryan turned to her. "I think Lethe here is going to help me find the Dragon Heart," he said.

"The spirit's data is consistent with mine," Jane said. "I'm not going to be able to pin it down further than three possible places. Might as well try Eugene first."

Ryan nodded. "Let's do it then. Who can we get for backup?"

"How about Axler and her team at Assets, Incorporated?" "Can they pull it off?" "They got you out of Aztlan, didn't they?" "I suppose they did," Ryan said. "Nearly killed me a few times, too."

Jane's tone was dead serious. "They're the best I know."

"Okay, are they available?"

"I think so," said Jane.

"Check it out, would you?"

"Sure thing, chummer."

"Thanks, Jane," Ryan said.

"See you down the screaming highway," Jane said, then disconnected.

Lethe listened, fascinated by the conversation. Intent on piecing together the meaning. He thought he understood what Ryan said, but he found that his perception was greatly enhanced by his ability to see Ryan's astral image. It gave him clues about meaning and sincerity. But deciphering Jane's idioms and slang spoken in a fake voice from an electronic universe was nigh impossible.

Ryan looked at Lethe again. "Will you come along?"

"I see no way you can stop me," Lethe said, meaning no disrespect. But as soon as he said it, a puzzled look crossed Ryan's features. His aura flared blue for a moment.

Ryan laughed. "Why would we want to?" he said. But Lethe could tell that the laughter was forced. Ryan was less than one-hundred percent sincere. Lethe saw that as a fatal flaw. Ryan was competent; he was willing. But was he committed? Was he prepared to risk his life for his mission?

Lethe judged not. Lethe determined that Ryan could end up a liability. Lethe would go along for now. He would help Ryan get the Dragon Heart. But he was wary. He knew a time might come when he and Ryan Mercury would be at odds. When that happened, Lethe would be ready.

15 August 2057