⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #22

⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #21: Misnomer

Misnomer: a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. For example, THUNDERFANG, Bleeding Heart, and Lucky.

GXYZTavon Gatling

Conspiracy Awaits

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The familiarity of Obon’s rocky maroon walls and rusty metallic features felt comforting and inviting. What safer place for wanted fugitives to lay low? The people here mostly kept to themselves and their own vices, so we didn’t have to worry too much about being exposed. However, we still took precautions considering we were still in the Salvi Pass. We never travelled alone, nor did we move in massive groups. 

Yelena dragged Tick along whenever she needed parts for the automaton project, though the two of them typically stayed on board the Scarlet Adler. Fletcher and Kaisa booked a room with Sticks and Stones—the competitor to the Golden Tower here within Obon. With the crew having gained yet another member, the two were itching to have some alone time together.

“NO. ALCOHOL,” Tick reminded them as they left. “She’s not gonna listen, is she?”

Jane and Blackstone made their way to Chip’s Gamble, the local casino that practically took up an entire lower level of Obon. You could see the twinkling lights from all the various machines from any of the higher floors, and the sounds of machines dinging, levers pulling, buttons mashing, and dice rolling mixed with raucous laughter created a soft din that could be heard throughout almost the entirety of the settlement.

John and Lestrade decided to explore Obon together. They were equals now. John was no longer “Slater,” and Lestrade was no longer his boss, their roles from before getting wrapped up in my chaotic life cast aside. This time together, in relative calm, would be a good chance for them to truly get to know each other.

I wanted to stop by the Cracked Cauldron since we were here again. I hadn’t found much time to practice my curry, but I felt like I had something to prove to Corra—and to myself. When we found Michael—his actual self, and not his mental projection—and all of this was over, I wanted to make it for him. Though, did Michael feel the same way about the curry dish that Ira felt about the chicken dish? Was I Irēn? I have going to have to ask him the next time I saw him.

But stopping by the Cracked Cauldron was going to have to wait. Irēn had other plans.

“I was going to come here after the precursor vault,” she said as we made are way further up the floors of Obon. The higher we got, the less and less businesses lined the floor. We were entering Obon’s version of the suburbs—even though it all still had Obon’s distinct look. Like the businesses, each home was carved into the settlement itself, only a single door and windows to either side alerting us to their existence. Though, a few did have welcome matts.

“You sure we’re heading in the right direction?” I asked. Watt hovered ahead like a curious child wandering around. The civilians within Obon were moving about their day as normal; I found it hard to believe we’d find any answers up here.

“Definite Strong Hit with my intel.” She stopped in front of a home and nodded confidently. “This is it.”

“Looks like a Miss, sis.”

Irēn pushed open the door. Ira and I exchanged skeptical looks before following her inside, and I shut the door behind me. I had expected the smell of dust or perhaps mildew, seeing as the place was completely empty. No photos or furniture or any signs of human life. The curtains were drawn, leaving us in the dark. Ira moved to open them but Irēn raised a hand to stop him. 

“Keep them closed.” She cleared her throat and seemed to roll a word or two over her tongue before letting them spill out. “Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad.”

Before I could properly question what she’d just said, lights sprang into existence all around us. Shelves lined with books appeared along the walls around us, transforming the small home into a cozy library. Even the windows were covered in holograms now; looking outside showed us not Obon, but an overcast day within a flower field, cloud-covered hills off in the distance.

“My name is Walden Hon. Welcome to the Hoard. What is your query?”

I spun around. The deep, ancient voice was coming from everywhere, though I couldn’t pinpoint the location of the speakers. A middle-aged man sprang to life in the center of us, well-dressed but unimpressive. The theatrics and his voice had quickly raised my expectations, and now I was let down by his rather average appearance.

Irēn smirked as Ira and I moved closer together, and she stepped towards the projection. “We’re looking for anything on Dalon and Arayna Adler. Ironlanders, if that helps.”

“Like ‘talon’?” Walden asked. The twins nodded, and a progress bar appeared above the man’s head.

Irēn joined us off to the side as the bar began filling up. “What exactly is this place?” Ira asked.

“The Hoard. You gotta know something to get something,” she said, her smirk never leaving her face. “You tell him something of value, he trades it for something in his records.”

“Obon does a lot of that, it seems,” I said, remembering Corra’s recipe bartering.

A ding drew our attention back to Walden; the loading bar was filled, though a warning sign displayed above it now. “I have 1,887 records containing the name Arayna. Do you have any further qualifiers to limit the scope of the search? Otherwise, you will be charged for all records.”

Irēn wasted no time in spitballing other terms, including the Order of the Iron Rose. With each suggestion, Walden shook his head, the number failing to dip below its current count.

She grunted and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m out of ideas.”

“You knew them more than me,” Ira said reluctantly. “I wouldn’t know anything else you haven’t already tried.”

“Fuck.” Irēn went to kick a chair, only to lose her balance as her foot went right through the hologram. “I don’t know what else to do then. They’ve been on the run for so long, what if they changed their names when they went into hiding?”

Changed their names…I focused on Irēn, the seriousness of my expression causing her confusion. “What made you say that?” I asked. Ira’s face mimicked mine. We both had the same thought.

“I mean…if they went into hiding…it only makes sense that they’d change their name, right? What’s going on?”

Ira looked to me and nodded.

I puffed up my chest, unsure if I wanted this to work or not. “Try ‘Reichenbach’,” I said to Walden. The search bar reappeared over his holographic form.

“Reichenbach? What is that—”

A ding. And this time, there was no warning sign.

How lucky.

“I have exactly one record mentioning Arayna and Reichenbach. It is from ten years ago, and features three individuals. The price of this recording is steep, however, as it involves government secrets. I would need something of equal or greater value in order to part with it.”

“How about information on what Stella’s government has planned for the next five years, and where they’re secretly funneling money to?”

Walden smiled. “That will do just fine.” 

Walden took Irēn’s information and verified it. As expected, it was well worth the information he’d uncovered.

When we were ready, Watt began recording and we gave the signal to Walden to begin. A waveform sprang into view above his holographic form. After a brief shuffle of movement, we heard voices. Irēn and Ira both silently gasped.

“Didn’t expect to see someone like you meeting with people like us,” a silvery voice said. Irēn couldn’t contain her smile and Ira stood awestruck. That had to be their father, Dalon.

“Surely you understand that we’ll need double our original fee,” a woman said. Her words were short and to the point, with no room for questioning. Ira’s ears actually twitched, and that same smile his sister had blossomed onto his face. Arayna Adler, no doubt.

“Or maybe triple,” Dalon said. “How do we know we can even trust you? You’ll probably have us killed the moment this conversation is over.”

A third voice let out a clipped laugh. Who would the Adlers be talking to? It sounded like they were arms dealers—not at all what I had been expecting of them.

“You two don’t realize the part you play in all of this. You will leave here with your lives, I can assure you. Besides, you have information that I am looking for—tech that we require.”

Ira’s hand gripped my arm faster than I could grab his; he squeezed tightly, our eyes staring at the projection of Walden before us. Walden knew the voice as well, eyes scanning us to see if we recognized just what we’d stumbled upon.

Irēn, however, was unfazed.

What were Ira’s parents doing talking to Akim Salvi?

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Dalon said as if oblivious to the man before him. His words were honeyed and smooth. How often did they make deals with powerful people? “What are you looking for exactly?”

“I’ll be blunt, because I’m running out of time. I need something to teleport large amounts of mass from one place to another.”

“You mean transport?” Arayna asked. “Yeah, we have access to some large cargo ships, but surely you can get someone else to—”

“I said what I meant. Teleport.” He emphasized every syllable. No doubt Arayna and Dalon were as confused as we were. “I hear you two know a thing or two about the Iron Gates.”

Silence filled the room. If it wasn’t for a gentle breeze, I would have thought the recording had ended.

Dalon’s voice squeaked out, as if unsure he should be letting the Salvi know that he knew of it. “W-we—” 

“We’ve heard the stories,” Arayna interjected. “But it’s all a myth.”

Obviously lying.

“You’ll have to look elsewhere for this…sir.” Someone shifted and breathed out slowly. I pictured Dalon setting his shoulders, supporting his wife’s act of Slyness.

I could practically hear Akim smirk. “That’s unfortunate. I need to get a surplus of…soldiers to a place called Reichenbach. It’s a shame that you two can’t help with that. Thank you for your time and your insight.” Footsteps made the waveform above Walden’s head expand and retract.

“Is that it?” Arayna asked. The footsteps stopped.

“Yes. You two don’t have access to what I’m looking for, therefore I must go elsewhere if I am to keep my plans to the correct timeline.”

There was a brief pause before Dalon spoke. “We’ll keep an eye out for these Iron Gates and keep you in the loop.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Akim said. “This conversation has served its purpose.”

The footsteps resumed and the waveform collapsed into a single straight line.

“That is all I have.” Walden nodded.

On the slow walk back to the Scarlet Adler, I couldn’t help but once again feel like I was missing something. Something obvious.

Despite the high price, the recording didn’t tell us much of anything—its cost seemed to be purely for the fact that Akim Salvi was caught on tape trying to make a shady underground deal. Aside from that, though, all we knew was that the Adlers were looking for the Iron Gates—something thought to be a myth. Technology that could teleport matter from one place to another instantaneously? Ridiculous.

But Akim Salvi had been looking for it. And, presumably, the rest of the Benevolent—possibly even the Moriartys. If such technology did exist, Akim had the upper hand. He’d started the search at least ten years ago, while Ira, John, and I were probably still on Avam. Then again, so had the Adlers—if they were still alive. Akim claimed he wasn’t going to kill them, but the man had been psychotic. I hoped for Ira and his sister’s sake that Akim had kept his word.

“Gonna ask again,” Irēn said as we made the slow walk back, “because I feel like we just wasted our time and valuable information: where the hell is Reichenbach?”

Ira looked to me for confirmation. I nodded, and he turned his attention back to his sister. “Locke had a vision a while back, where he spoke to the first batch of Branded on Avam. This was…a thousand years ago, I think? They insisted that they were on Reichenbach, but predicted that, to hide its power, its name would be changed. We didn’t know anything about it until Akim said it to Locke before the derelict exploded.”

Irēn scrunched her face, head tilted to the side. “I never knew Avam was named something else. But, if the name was changed…how did Akim know it?”

I stopped in my tracks.

“He…well,” Ira stammered, stopping as well. He looked at me, confusion clear on both of our faces now.

How the hell had I never asked that question before?

Akim knew the name Reichenbach—it was the only reason I knew the name to begin with. But how did he learn of it? All traces of the word Reichenbach had been removed from any database. It wasn’t part of any historical text or museum. We even double-checked with the Hoard—the instance we’d found was the only one.

The name had truly been erased, just like the Hivebranded predicted.

So how did Akim learn of it?

I was tired of asking questions into the void and getting only more questions in return. I needed answers.

Michael had them.

I left my crew and walked around Obon, claiming I wanted to clear my head. I really just wanted to yell at my brother without them around.

“MICHAEL!” I didn’t care who saw or heard me. Perhaps they’d think I was looking for a lost pet or something. “MICHAEL!”

That ghostly brother of mine knew something. He had to. Why else would he make himself known if not to point me in the right direction?

Up ahead, Michael appeared. Obon had begun to turn in for the night, so the walkways were rather empty. It was just the two of us. Michael stood, eyeing me, arms crossed over his chest.

“How many people know about the name Reichenbach?” I didn’t have the luxury of wasting time.

“Locke, you have to stay focused,” Michael said, his preteen form standing confidently. But it seemed as if he hadn’t had time to work on his tells since we were little.

He was hiding something.

“Cut the crap, Mike. What aren’t you telling me?” I closed the distance between us and looked down on him. He didn’t flinch, even when I accidentally let a few crackles of lightning surge up my arm.

“Focus!” he shouted. “You’re letting Malice distract you—again!”

“Distract? Michael, all I’ve done is stay focused on whatever mystery or conspiracy pops up, because it’s all connected. I’ve let so many things slide—like talking to you! I deserve some answers for once.”

“I can’t…I can’t, Locke. But, please, don’t get distracted: find the Adlers, please.” 

His pleading hit me like a punch in the gut. I wanted to do whatever he said, especially when he looked like this—but I couldn’t turn back now. I needed an answer from him.

“Tell me: how could Akim Salvi know about Reichenbach!?”

“Find the Adlers.”

And he vanished.

I released my frustration with a scream.

The next chapter

Truth is...

...the miserable truth hurts.

⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #23

The truth is, there’s so much more that Locke and his crew don’t know. Yet.

GXYZTavon Gatling