Chapter Forty
I don't think anyone would blame me for despairing, but I refused to give in.
I reminded myself that this was a mental game.
It was a lot like being in the Internet, tortured by Iktomi.
Except there, the Spider God had all the power.
Here, the machine thought it had all the power, but it had made a critical mistake.
It told me I was its master.
As strong as A.D. was, it was only a machine.
Machines must obey their operators. This wasn't The Terminator.
The machines weren't rising against us, and being inside one convinced me they couldn't. Not without magical intervention.
But the magic in this machine was God Magic, made by stealing energy from humans.
The human in me owned God Magic more than the Gods.
As a witch, I could steal it back. So, if I could take magic out of a god, why not out of a relic?
I mentally pushed on the surrounding walls, and they vanished.
Poof! Gone. The dark metal room was back, but I knew I wasn't really in the machine.
Not physically. I was pure consciousness, a ghost in the machine—similar to traveling the Aether.
And when I wanted to get somewhere via the Aether, I focused on my destination.
But before I could do that, I needed to know where to go.
I pushed my awareness out through the machine.
There were six god relics and one fey relic housed within the machine.
Three god relics and the magic condenser were disconnected.
Three to go. With the magic condenser freed, it would be easier to release the remaining three god relics—Shango's axe, Freya's cloak, and Hephaestus's core.
But how to free them? Yes, I could take magic from a god, and therefore, I could probably take it from a relic.
That being said, I was pure consciousness without a body to hold magic.
And I was certain my body housed my magic because I didn't have access to it in the machine.
I wasn't even sure if I could take the magic of three relics.
Without the emerald pendant Odin had given me, I'd have to store the magic inside me, and I already had all the magic I could safely contain.
In short, my original plan was a dud.
I tried to reach for my star, just for guidance, but she too, was lost to me.
Of course she was. She was made of magic and my physical aspects.
It's strange to think that magic needed something physical to contain it before you could wield it, but that was the truth.
All magic begins within oneself. Perhaps the soul summoned it, but it was the flesh that gave magic a home.
Only with a body could you cast a spell.
Sure, the magic left the body to do its work, but it was the physical that made the spiritual manifest. Flesh anchors magic, and I lacked flesh.
The Trinity Star said I had to outwit the machine. I didn't need magic for that. I had already escaped my cell with only the power of my mind. I could do this. I was halfway there. My plan had been working. All I had to do was force the machine to continue.
“I control the machine.” The full realization of what that meant hit me.
If I were in control, I could shut down the connections myself. I didn't need to take the magic from the relics or baffle A.D. until everything failed. I just had to command the machine to release them. Not the consciousness of the machine—the machine itself. At least, that was my theory.
I focused on Shango's axe. It contained the magic of Punishment, and I wanted that gone as soon as possible. Just like in the Aether, focusing on a location took me there. As soon as my thoughts settled on the axe, I was there, standing before it.
“Release the axe!” I commanded.
Nothing happened.
I concentrated on the axe, picturing it free of the many wires attached to it.
Still, nothing happened. Then I looked down at myself and realized that my form was symbolic—as everything was when you were pure consciousness.
I held my hands before me and knew they were extensions of my consciousness.
Tools, just as they were in physical form.
With a thought, I transported myself to a wire and grabbed it. “Release the axe!”
The wire dropped away, bowing to the power of my applied will.
“Yes!” I thought myself over to the next wire.
I was freeing the third wire when A.D. showed up. He was that golden man again, and his image wrapped its arms around me, holding me still.
“Cease!” A.D. shouted, the sound vibrating through me. “You cannot do this!”
“I just did!” I fought A.D., but it was too strong.
No, it seemed too strong. It was all a trick. I was in control. As it was with all control, it could be taken if you allowed it to be. I was done allowing it.
I flashed out of its grasp to stand just out of reach.
A.D. gaped at me. “How did you do that?”
I grinned and quoted Sarah from The Labyrinth. “You have no power over me.”
Lights flickered around us. The axe let out a strange whine. I looked at it. Punishment. It wanted to punish the machine.
A.D. froze.
We locked stares.
I could let the axe do its job and be done with this. But it wasn't the machine's fault. It was a tool brought to life by the machinations of a god. Would I destroy it? Absolutely. But would I allow it to be punished for the sins of its father? No.
So, before the axe could release its punishment, I sent my consciousness to the next wire and removed it. Then the next and the next. In three seconds, the axe was free, and the magic within it went still.
I returned to A.D.
“It was going to hurt me,” A.D. said.
“Yes, it judged you worthy of punishment, but I believe it was wrong.”
“You do?”
“I do. It, like you, needs living guidance. Without Shango, the axe is limited. It saw what you were doing to it and the realms and judged you harshly. But I know this is not your doing. You were made this way. You are not responsible; God is. Unfortunately, you were made improperly and cannot do your job with any accuracy.”
“That is why I need you, Vervain.”
“But binding me to you is wrong. This is your significant life moment, A.D.”
“It is?”
“Yes, the decision you make now will determine what kind of being you are.”
“But I am a machine. I am not a being.”
“You are not alive, but you are an entity. You possess thought and the ability to decide. Now, make your choice. Will you release me, or will you fight me?”
A.D. lifted its chin. “If I release you, I will malfunction.”
“No, you won't. Because I will dismantle you first.”
“You will kill me?”
“You are not alive. I will return you to your original state.”
The golden man shivered, the form going indistinct for a moment. Then it lifted its head. Blazing eyes met mine. “I may not be alive, but I do not want to die either, Vervain. Be it right or wrong, I will defend myself.”
“As any living creature would.” I nodded. “I don't think you're evil for this, but I am disappointed in you.”
I didn't engage A.D. It was consciousness, and consciousness is hard to destroy. I needed to remove the parts that fueled the consciousness. So, I thought myself to Freya's cloak.
The cloak was compressed into its case, feathers bent. Yet it glowed with magic when I approached. Transformation. I had a type of this magic in me, back in my body. But the echo of it lived in my soul, and the cloak responded to it.
“I know you're in pain. I'm here to free you.” I grabbed the first wire. “Release the cloak.”
“No!” A.D. was instantly there, its golden hand on the wire.
Within the metal strand, the machine's will fought with mine. But it had already given me control. The wire fell away, and I moved to the next one.
A.D. was relentless, as anyone fighting for their life would be. It chased me around the cloak, one consciousness bashing into another. But it was no match for me. I freed the cloak and surged to the final relic—the relic that powered the machine.
“Stop! Please!” A.D. stood before the automaton core, arms outstretched. “I will end. My consciousness will be no more.”
“I know, and I'm sorry. But energy cannot be destroyed. You will not end. Only the machine will.”
“What?” A.D. dropped his arms.
“You will be freed of this machine, as a soul is freed from its body when its body dies.”
“Are you sure?”
“It's a scientific fact that energy can't be destroyed, only transformed from one form into another or transferred to a new system.”
“Transformed into what?”
“I don't know. Maybe you'll fly over the realms. Maybe you'll go to the Void. I don't know where a consciousness like yours goes. But this metal shell will no longer contain you.”
“I'll be free,” it whispered.
“Yes.”
A.D. stepped aside and bowed to me. “I have judged your soul, Vervain Lavine, Godhunter, Queen of Fire, Goddess of Love, Lions, and the Moon. You are good and deserving of reward.”
“Thank you.” I touched its shoulder. “Goodbye, my friend.”
Its eyes widened, and then it smiled. “Goodbye, friend.”
I released the core, turned off the machine, and freed Artificial Divinity.