Arcade Catastrophe
Page 88
Celia gave a little nod and lowered the bow. “Others are coming?”
“No joke,” Nate said. “A ComKin, meaning a Combat Kinetic. A tough magical mercenary. Jonas is boosting her power using a simulacrum.”
“This could be the opportunity we wanted,” the young man said.
Nodding, Celia set her bow aside. Nate swooped down to them.
“I’m Ted Graywater,” the young man said. “This is my sister Celia.”
“Nate.”
Ted held out his hand. “Mind if I see the token?”
Nate handed it over.
Celia touched Nate’s arm. “You’re bleeding.”
“Just scratches. Could have been much worse.”
“This wasn’t taken by force,” Ted said. “William trusts you.”
“How did you make it through that hallway?” Celia asked.
“I have an enhancer that boosts my reflexes,” Nate replied. “I was going to ask you two the same thing.”
“We didn’t come through the hallway,” Ted said. “We had a unique gateway that led right to this room. It was fairly small and made of crystal. We kept it in our trailer. When our trailer was attacked by super-powered kids, Celia and I went through the gateway. Things must have gone badly, because Grandma destroyed it behind us.”
“We’re trapped here now,” Celia said.
“It was an emergency tactic,” Ted said.
“You could come here whenever you wanted?” Nate asked.
“It was the fate of the Graywater family,” Celia said. “We guard Uweya. We care for it. But if any of us touches any part of it, we all die.”
“For generations we had a private way in and out of here,” Ted said. “Right up until Grandma blasted it with her shotgun.”
Nate nodded at the huge globe. “Is that Uweya?”
“You got it on your first guess,” Ted said. “It’s kind of hard to miss. It’s a simulacrum of the whole planet.”
“Uweya means ‘Second Earth,’” Celia supplied.
Nate regarded the globe with new respect. “You mean, if I do something to the simulacrum, it happens to Earth.”
Ted nodded solemnly. “You could flatten a mountain with your thumb, cause a tsunami with a flick of your wrist, or bash a country into oblivion with your fist.”
Nate swallowed. His throat felt dry. “Are you serious?”
“I’m as serious as a nuclear holocaust,” Ted said. “Serious as the sun going supernova. Serious as the end of the world.”
“The simulacrum has no real atmosphere,” Celia explained. “Wind and clouds aren’t depicted. There are no satellites or moon or sun or stars. No living matter is represented, either. No living people, animals, insects, or plants. Once something dies, it’s a different story. Dead trees are there, pressed flowers, fallen leaves, fingernail clippings, stuffed hunting trophies, bodies in coffins in the cemeteries. All nonliving matter is
represented. This includes buildings, bridges, ships, planes, motorcycles, televisions—everything. It all moves around just how it is currently moving on the planet. Empty cars driving down congested freeways. Empty submarines patrolling below the surface of the ocean. It’s miraculous.”
“How can I use it to stop Jonas White?”
Ted shrugged. “It would be hard to stop him directly. In theory, you could find his clothes walking around and knock a building onto him. Clothes are visible. Hair isn’t until it gets cut free from the body. But it would be almost impossible to single out a person from outside of Uweya.”
“So what can I do?” Nate asked.
“William gave you the token,” Celia said. “It probably means he thinks you’re the one who should destroy Uweya.”
“Destroy Uweya?” Nate exclaimed. “Won’t that destroy the world?”
“Not if you do it the proper way,” Ted said. “Not if you enter Uweya.”
“What do you mean?” Nate asked, glancing over at the entrance to the room. Katie could barge in at any moment.
Celia rushed over to a workbench and returned with a stone coin. It had a hole in the center and fine markings on both sides. “You can use a coin like this one to enter Uweya. You look at the surface of Uweya through the hole in the coin, speak the command, and then you shrink down and are transported to the spot you were examining. You can then interact with Uweya as if you were a person standing on the Earth.”
“Weird,” Nate said.
“The nonliving material of Uweya differs from Earth in one vital way,” Ted said. “If, while on Uweya, you journey to the location of Uweya, instead of finding another Uweya, you will find the power source that keeps Uweya active. Throw your coin into the power source, and you will terminate the connection between Uweya and Earth.”
“Uweya becomes a regular globe,” Nate said.
“Essentially,” Celia agreed.
“What happens to me?” Nate asked.
Ted and Celia shared a glance. “The coin gets you in and out of Uweya,” Celia said. “You look through the coin, aim it at the sky, speak the command, and you will exit Uweya. You can use the coin as many times as you want, but a person can only bring a single coin into Uweya.”
Nate frowned. “If I destroy the power source while I’m still on Uweya, won’t that leave me stranded there?”
“Destroying the power source will almost certainly destroy Uweya as well,” Ted said. “You might get ejected from Uweya when you do it. Then again, maybe not. Depends how Iwa Iza set it up.”
“You can’t take matter from Uweya,” Celia said. “Nor can you add foreign material to Uweya—it can only visit. You can only bring out what you bring in, and nothing you bring in becomes truly part of the simulacrum. That might mean that if Uweya ends, you would be expelled.”
“Or it could be a suicide mission,” Nate said.
“Possibly,” Ted said. “We have no way of knowing for sure.”
“Why can’t I bring two coins?” Nate asked. “If I have to use a coin to destroy the power source, I’d feel better if I had an extra to at least attempt an escape.”
“Only the coin you’re looking through will come with you,” Celia explained. “Any others you try to bring will be left behind.”
“You should be able to use one of the coins you find there,” Ted said. “There will be simulcratic versions of the coins in this room inside of Uweya. Just use one of the simulcratic coins to destroy the power source.”
“No joke,” Nate said. “A ComKin, meaning a Combat Kinetic. A tough magical mercenary. Jonas is boosting her power using a simulacrum.”
“This could be the opportunity we wanted,” the young man said.
Nodding, Celia set her bow aside. Nate swooped down to them.
“I’m Ted Graywater,” the young man said. “This is my sister Celia.”
“Nate.”
Ted held out his hand. “Mind if I see the token?”
Nate handed it over.
Celia touched Nate’s arm. “You’re bleeding.”
“Just scratches. Could have been much worse.”
“This wasn’t taken by force,” Ted said. “William trusts you.”
“How did you make it through that hallway?” Celia asked.
“I have an enhancer that boosts my reflexes,” Nate replied. “I was going to ask you two the same thing.”
“We didn’t come through the hallway,” Ted said. “We had a unique gateway that led right to this room. It was fairly small and made of crystal. We kept it in our trailer. When our trailer was attacked by super-powered kids, Celia and I went through the gateway. Things must have gone badly, because Grandma destroyed it behind us.”
“We’re trapped here now,” Celia said.
“It was an emergency tactic,” Ted said.
“You could come here whenever you wanted?” Nate asked.
“It was the fate of the Graywater family,” Celia said. “We guard Uweya. We care for it. But if any of us touches any part of it, we all die.”
“For generations we had a private way in and out of here,” Ted said. “Right up until Grandma blasted it with her shotgun.”
Nate nodded at the huge globe. “Is that Uweya?”
“You got it on your first guess,” Ted said. “It’s kind of hard to miss. It’s a simulacrum of the whole planet.”
“Uweya means ‘Second Earth,’” Celia supplied.
Nate regarded the globe with new respect. “You mean, if I do something to the simulacrum, it happens to Earth.”
Ted nodded solemnly. “You could flatten a mountain with your thumb, cause a tsunami with a flick of your wrist, or bash a country into oblivion with your fist.”
Nate swallowed. His throat felt dry. “Are you serious?”
“I’m as serious as a nuclear holocaust,” Ted said. “Serious as the sun going supernova. Serious as the end of the world.”
“The simulacrum has no real atmosphere,” Celia explained. “Wind and clouds aren’t depicted. There are no satellites or moon or sun or stars. No living matter is represented, either. No living people, animals, insects, or plants. Once something dies, it’s a different story. Dead trees are there, pressed flowers, fallen leaves, fingernail clippings, stuffed hunting trophies, bodies in coffins in the cemeteries. All nonliving matter is
represented. This includes buildings, bridges, ships, planes, motorcycles, televisions—everything. It all moves around just how it is currently moving on the planet. Empty cars driving down congested freeways. Empty submarines patrolling below the surface of the ocean. It’s miraculous.”
“How can I use it to stop Jonas White?”
Ted shrugged. “It would be hard to stop him directly. In theory, you could find his clothes walking around and knock a building onto him. Clothes are visible. Hair isn’t until it gets cut free from the body. But it would be almost impossible to single out a person from outside of Uweya.”
“So what can I do?” Nate asked.
“William gave you the token,” Celia said. “It probably means he thinks you’re the one who should destroy Uweya.”
“Destroy Uweya?” Nate exclaimed. “Won’t that destroy the world?”
“Not if you do it the proper way,” Ted said. “Not if you enter Uweya.”
“What do you mean?” Nate asked, glancing over at the entrance to the room. Katie could barge in at any moment.
Celia rushed over to a workbench and returned with a stone coin. It had a hole in the center and fine markings on both sides. “You can use a coin like this one to enter Uweya. You look at the surface of Uweya through the hole in the coin, speak the command, and then you shrink down and are transported to the spot you were examining. You can then interact with Uweya as if you were a person standing on the Earth.”
“Weird,” Nate said.
“The nonliving material of Uweya differs from Earth in one vital way,” Ted said. “If, while on Uweya, you journey to the location of Uweya, instead of finding another Uweya, you will find the power source that keeps Uweya active. Throw your coin into the power source, and you will terminate the connection between Uweya and Earth.”
“Uweya becomes a regular globe,” Nate said.
“Essentially,” Celia agreed.
“What happens to me?” Nate asked.
Ted and Celia shared a glance. “The coin gets you in and out of Uweya,” Celia said. “You look through the coin, aim it at the sky, speak the command, and you will exit Uweya. You can use the coin as many times as you want, but a person can only bring a single coin into Uweya.”
Nate frowned. “If I destroy the power source while I’m still on Uweya, won’t that leave me stranded there?”
“Destroying the power source will almost certainly destroy Uweya as well,” Ted said. “You might get ejected from Uweya when you do it. Then again, maybe not. Depends how Iwa Iza set it up.”
“You can’t take matter from Uweya,” Celia said. “Nor can you add foreign material to Uweya—it can only visit. You can only bring out what you bring in, and nothing you bring in becomes truly part of the simulacrum. That might mean that if Uweya ends, you would be expelled.”
“Or it could be a suicide mission,” Nate said.
“Possibly,” Ted said. “We have no way of knowing for sure.”
“Why can’t I bring two coins?” Nate asked. “If I have to use a coin to destroy the power source, I’d feel better if I had an extra to at least attempt an escape.”
“Only the coin you’re looking through will come with you,” Celia explained. “Any others you try to bring will be left behind.”
“You should be able to use one of the coins you find there,” Ted said. “There will be simulcratic versions of the coins in this room inside of Uweya. Just use one of the simulcratic coins to destroy the power source.”
