Chapter Nine #3
They pressed on. The corridors grew narrower and more maze-like as they approached their destination. The hum of the ship’s systems became louder, almost deafening.
The air took on a metallic tang that made her throat dry.
“Almost there,” JR14 announced in the tense silence. “Nexus Core is beyond the next junction.”
“Finally,” Toni mumbled, wishing she could wipe the sweat from her brow.
I can take care of that. I will also purify the air for you, Sensos offered.
Toni closed her eyes as a cool breeze floated over her face. Damn, that was welcome. Especially since it brought a soothing scent of lavender with it. She glared at Elemi, who looked as pristine and composed as ever. Even her pink exterior shone untarnished in the low light.
“Oh darling, don’t tell me you’re tired already.” Elemi turned to her with a mock pout. “We haven’t done anything to break a sweat yet.”
“Sweat?” Toni shot back. “How would you know what that is, you bubblegum Barbie? Or what it means to earn it.”
Elemi snorted with a toss of her shiny, pink bald head.
By this time, they’d reached the final junction.
JR14 stopped, his wings buzzing. “Alert: multiple energy signatures detected ahead. Hostile probability: 92.4 percent.”
Toni’s stomach churned. Wasn’t that just great?
“Oh, don’t worry,” Elemi announced with a confident smirk. “I’ll go in and handle it so you don’t have to worry about perspiring so unbecomingly again.” She huffed. “Now stay close, darling. You might accidentally learn something.”
Toni opened her mouth to protest, but Elemi turned her back on her and strode forward with her heels clicking with a defiant rhythm.
The corridor ahead opened into a vast chamber where the Nexus Core pulsed with a brilliant, rhythmic light. Just as in the dream Baelon had shown her.
Except for the crystalline figures hemming them in. Their faceless forms moved in unison, guarding it.
Elemi raised both hands this time, creating a flash that made the air shimmer. “Watch in awe, mortal.” Her voice dripped with theatrical flair. With a dramatic sweep of her arms, she unleashed another wave of energy, this one a vibrant pink that surged through the chamber.
The crystalline figures faltered, their movements erratic, before they disintegrated.
“And that—” Elemi turned to face Toni and JR14 with a triumphant smile. “—is how it’s done.”
Toni shook her head, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. “I gotta admit, you’re something else, Elemi.”
“Oh, don’t I know it.” Elemi flipped her glowing bald head like she had a curtain of hair to swish back. “Now, shall we?”
As they stepped into the chamber, Toni couldn’t help the flicker of hope spreading through her. If Elemi’s over-the-top antics could take down those crystalline guards, maybe they could take out the Nexus Core and free Azazel.
And maybe, just maybe…they’d get out of this alive.
A strange sense of déjà vu made Toni queasy.
Taking a deep breath, she followed Elemi inside the Nexus chamber.
How strange that this place is the same as that fake psychic dream the Krystalii forced on me?
As she stepped inside, the cavernous walls were formed from a polished crystal that refracted the pulsing light of multiple towering spires.
Webs of conduits stretched like veins across the room, connecting the spires to the Nexus Core in the center—a crystalline sphere suspended in midair. Its surface rippled with waves of blue-and-violet energy.
All around, the air throbbed with a palpable hum.
The vibration buzzed through Toni, making her teeth ache. She pressed her hand to her chest, overwhelmed by the oppressive psychic pressure in the air, as if the energy emanating from the Nexus was trying to peel back her thoughts layer by layer.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Elemi’s voice carried an edge of awe.
Her android form mirrored the surrounding crystals and glass as she moved into the chamber.
“Good thing neither one of us is psychic. Being this close to this thing would more than likely destroy us.” She headed toward the largest sphere, moving with a grace at odds with her mechanical frame.
Her platform stiletto heels clicked softly on the glassy floor.
“Oh sure. Magnificent, like a leopard who can’t decide which part of my face to eat off first.” Toni mumbled, her gaze darting to the intricate lattice of conduits overhead.
So this is how Baelon amplifies his psychic reach, bending reality to his will.
The thought of disrupting it sent a spike of adrenaline through her.
“Are you sure you can turn this darn thing off?”
Elemi didn’t answer immediately. She raised her hand, and her left forefinger elongated and thinned into a blade-like probe.
With a flick of her wrist, the probe slid out farther.
The metallic sheen caught the chamber’s light.
“Of course I can.” The android’s tone was matter-of-fact.
“Once I disrupt the core’s frequency, it’ll collapse under its own instability. ”
As Toni stepped closer to the Nexus Core, the thrumming grew louder, resonating through her very bones. She bit her lip and clenched her fists, watching as Elemi’s probe-like forefinger penetrated the crystalline surface.
For a moment, the internal light flickered before a rippling effect pulsated through the inside of the sphere, creating jagged colors of cracking shards within.
Then the Nexus screamed.
Not with sound, but the mental pressure struck Toni like a hammer. She stumbled back, clutching the sides of the orb over her head as waves of psychic energy tore outward, crashing against her mind like a violent storm. She gasped as her vision swam.
As the conduits dimmed, their vibrant blue-and-violet glow faded to a lifeless gray.
The hum stopped, leaving behind a suffocating silence.
The oppressive psychic presence evaporated, replaced by an eerie stillness that made the hair on Toni’s arms stand on end, even in the suit.
Cracks spider-webbed across the Nexus Core while a low, ominous groan filled the chamber. The crystalline spires all around them trembled, and some toppled over and shattered into fragments of glittering debris.
The temperature plummeted, and a biting cold seeped through Toni’s suit as the room’s energy dissipated. “Elemi, is it—” She began, but the android turned, cutting her off.
“No, not yet. Stay back.” Elemi’s voice was sharper now, her posture tense as she withdrew her probe-like finger from the cracked core.
Sparks erupted from the conduits, minor explosions cascading through the web of connections.
The floor beneath their feet shuddered violently, sending Toni stumbling again. She grabbed onto a nearby crystal spire for balance, and her breath misted inside the clear helmet.
A deep rumble echoed through the chamber as if the entire ship were groaning in protest.
“What’s happening?” Toni shouted over the chaos.
“The collapse is destabilizing the ship’s psychic network.
” Elemi’s gaze fixated on the spherical Nexus Core.
The urgency in her gestures contradicted her steady tone.
“I am quite sure Baelon is aware of this disruption. We need to move. Now.” With her head down, the android sprinted back the way they’d come in.
Nobody had to tell Toni twice. Staying put was a bad idea on a good day. Sprinting after Elemi, she jabbed a finger toward the exit. “Come on, JR14! We’d better get out of here.”
“Affirmative,” the bot replied. His iridescent wings fluttered so fast they were practically invisible. “I suggest you accelerate your endeavor to preserve your biological functionality.”
“Wow, aren’t you just a fountain of good ideas?” Toni glared at the bot as she ran. “Wished I’d thought of that.”
Toni’s pulse pounded in her ears as the light in the room behind them flickered violently.
Its once-rhythmic glow was now a chaotic strobe. The entire crystalline structure around them groaned and vibrated as though the ship itself was in pain.
Shards of crystal rained down in the corridor, forcing her to duck. Thank God she had a helmet on. “I think we’d better go a little faster.” She jogged and caught up with Elemi as the droid headed back the way they’d come.
“Oh darling, must we sprint? It’s terribly undignified.” Elemi huffed. Her neon-pink exterior gleamed even in the dim, fractured light. Her exaggerated trot somehow made it look like she strutted down a catwalk rather than a desperate escape.
“Expeditious movement is a necessity,” JR14 interjected in a calm but firm tone. The small android hovered close to Toni’s shoulder, his red-and-gold body glinting. “The structural integrity of this section is deteriorating at an accelerated rate.”
“Translation: keep up or we’re toast.” Toni glanced at Elemi. “You wouldn’t want anything to scratch your glorious finish now, would you? Let’s get Azazel out of that cage before they have a chance to fix what we broke.”
Elemi tossed her synthetic head, the movement insultingly graceful. “Fine, fine. But if I break a heel, you’re carrying me.”
Toni snorted. Like hell. She’d never attempt anything that stupid.
They rounded a corner that stretched ahead into shadowy chaos.
Crystal humanoid figures, once locked in perfect formation, now stumbled and crashed in confusion. Their faceless heads tilted at odd angles, and their movements were erratic and twitchy.
“What’s wrong with them?” Toni frowned as she slowed to watch them.
“Hypothesis: disruption of the Nexus Core has accomplished our objective. The severance of Lord Baelon’s psychic control over his subjects has resulted in the Krystaliis’ tumultuous state,” JR14 explained.
His metallic limbs twitched as he scanned the figures.
“They are likely experiencing a feedback loop of conflicting commands.”
“Well, that sounds like fun.” Toni grinned. “Let’s hope they’re too busy falling apart to notice us.”
One of the crystalline beings twisted its head as she spoke.