The Uplift Protocol: In the Beginning

Issue 15: Within the Eye of the Storm

What are we looking for within this pathetic mind? It's abhorrent. How did she manage to find our Sanctuary?—Beelzebub

I must know what this Eliza beheld at the end. The Highest’s pet Titans have our dear world eater locked away. I will peel back the layers of her soul and mind. Nothing will stop us. Not when we are this close.—The Shrouded 8th

The first Gate: Breaking through Unity’s delusions. While they poked around? I was able to do the same. I remembered my promise. I had an ally. They could not see the soul tie I had with my twin brother. Because he had never been marked by Nyx.—Sleeping In Starlight: The First Death

False Dreaming

New Ashbury, Texas

I rubbed my eyes.

The wooded path darkened. I jogged along. The sun peeked through green leaves. My parents had yet to notice the black cat. He was ever-present. Guarding me. I knew this on the deepest level. I didn’t have to say anything. My HUD blinked. Lorain’s face appeared. No words came out. I read her lips.

Find the 8th.

Why couldn’t I hear her like the others? I stopped near the cliff’s edge. Just beyond the foliage of the path. New Asbury sparkled. All the streets were clear. No worries. Just calm. I frowned. I let my senses travel outward. Searched for the cosmic song of the stars. Nothing. The black cat pawed at my sweatpants. I picked him up. “Just how many windmills am I chasing? Isn’t this what I wanted?”

Piercing gray eyes held my own. The black sclera anchored me. I could trust him.

“HeroNet hasn’t sent any alerts for ages.”

Could it be that simple?

I placed him on my shoulder. He hung there. Used his back paws to latch onto my back.

A warm triangular jaw buried itself in my hair. His tail twitched. Lorain’s green eyes filled with tears. I glanced at my right hand. The sensation didn’t fade. Tiny pinpricks of water hit my wrist. A thread of warmth ran through me.

The sensation remained.

*****

Lorain finished examining Eliza’s vitals. Athlass didn’t pretend. She said, “We can still feel Eliza. Through the mark of the Highest. She isn’t alone. I don’t know what her mission is. No one has all the pieces.”

Lorain brushed away her tears. “Yeah. That’s what the Order comes up with because we are lacking.” Her voice was tight. Flat. Athlass noted the way the doctor’s thumb and forefinger remained glued to Murphy’s wrist. Athlass replaced the sunglasses over Murphy’s eyes. Even though she controlled this body? The mind remained blank. Eliza’s irises were fully golden. With one small ring of gray remaining at the outer edges. Phase 1 as Noah called it.

Athlass retorted sharply, “You are not lacking. You are hurting. That doesn’t mean your light won’t help. Even now? Trust in your bond.” This was why Bardax would lead the way with the Crystal Anchor. The coffin was more than just a machine to revitalize Eliza’s body and soul. It was everything. Unity only knew how to imitate.

That would be its downfall.

J’ino paused. Considering the words of her ancestor. She leaned in close. “I know you can hear me. Whatever the Highest needs you to do? Find it and come back to us.” She pressed her hand to Eliza’s forehead. Then cupped the back of her neck.

>>Fight. You hear me.<<

Athlass glanced down at Murphy’s right hand. “I’m not moving those fingers. Just to say.”

*****

I opened my right fist. Each finger quivered.

Fight. Come back.

I gazed up into the noon sky. The ground around me shivered. Then I launched heavenward. A ring of energy encased the cat. As the bright clouds gave away to the edge of the Void I stared. The sky wasn’t full of stars.

Multitudes of orbs stared right back at me.

Adam Lazer dived towards me, <> I nodded. Careful to keep my face impassive. His armor was the same. That cerulean hue with a bright silver carapace.

INet came online: ///Due to a biological strain launched at Earth by Nyx, all demis present at the time of infection must remain within the solar system. Do not land on other planets or stations encircling the area.///

I flicked my eyes over to Mars. None of this information was right.

Cat purred in my ear. Deeper. Nearly there.

Keep pretending I saw the Hab Rings. Not the twin circles of pulsating flesh. Pockmarked with scales. Crimson eyes followed every move. I maneuvered to the ring. Pretending to kick off from it. Lazer didn’t comment on the cat. This prison wasn’t for him.

It was for me.

I was still inside.

Within who?!

Cat headbutted me.

Remember your promise.

Find the Shroud. I waved to “Adam Lazer.” As I re-entered the atmosphere a few White Owls flew by. Their black beaks opened. A whipcord tongue flashed out. Tasting the air. It took all my willpower to not react. They followed me back to New Ashbury. The smiles on the people’s faces were near perfect. The eyes were black pits.

Find the Shroud.

I pulled up the rusted surface of Mars. Cat’s paws dug into my shoulder.

///INet Inquiry: Barsoom Operations. Negative. Searching.///

*****

The Shroud watched as Murphy dived back to the surface of “Earth.” Everything was perfect. Her mind held valuable data. It was a pity that White was no longer tied to the Soul of the Thronebearer. It explained White’s recovery though. The flesh rings reached out. Lilith’s face formed on the outer strips. She averted her gaze.

The 8th was sacred. The first cast out of the Highest. The one who rebelled before Lucifer. By giving him access to the Tree. The Apple.

Shroud called out, “We have searched every speck of that thing’s soul. Any new updates?”

Lilith replied, “Murphy is infertile. We cannot use her body for the Brood.”

The Shroud backhanded Lilith. The first demoness of the Amache flinched. “Forgive me.” Spectral hands caressed the open wound on Lilith’s cheek. “We must keep this Eliza Murphy trapped within her desires. Z’ahramdus no longer heeds our calls. We must dig deeper. Until Eliza’s entire tapestry is strewn about the cosmos.”

*****

I called out over my shoulder, “Ma! Where’d you put the casserole?” My mother came into view. All smiles. “I forgot to grab some meat at the market. Can you go in my stead?” I grabbed my duffel bag. “Sure thing. I have to go check on the Jupiter anyway.”

Cat nudged my back.

The little taps were rapid-fire.

Not to the Jupiter. Find that which it fears most.

I landed in the heart of the city.

Twin pinpricks of heat warmed my hands. The black building rose. No lights. The sign on the door manifested over my HUD optics: //Under reconstruction. No admittance.//

The storm clouds rolled in. People hurried to their destination. I circled around back. The grove was filled with trees. Cherry bright apples. Silver trunks. Cat purred. I stepped into the expanse of foliage. A shiver ran through me.

There was pain here. A familiar thread.

A figure crouched. Its wings broken. It kept plucking at its feathers.

The face was feminine. Beauty beyond compare. The man in white leaned down.

“For your transgressions against Elysium: No life shall flow from your womb.”

Cat stiffened on my shoulder. The man in white. His armor resplendent as the dawn knelt. Placed his hands on her golden head. “For tempting Adam and Eve with the Apple of All Knowledge, you shall be chained. The Ouroboros of Creation denied to you.”

She yelled, “It was Lucifer!”

The trees swayed. Their leaves ruddy in the pale sunlight.

The 8th was infertile. I could hear its screams of outrage. I recalled my despair at that prospect. My mother’s pain. Q’vera reaching out to comfort us both. A restaurant. Then the thugs that tried to rob it. I was the Banner. The Star-Spangled Banner. My lips pressed into a thin line. They didn’t know! That I could find the spots. Their memories. While they ransacked mine. Cat rested his head on mine. The warmth of his jaw sent bursts of brotherly love through me. I remembered.

Dexter.

They couldn’t see him. For he did not bear the corruption. The mark of Nyx. He protected that part of me. His voice carried through my soul, >>She took this memory from the Highest. We must find out how she did it. Find her name. You can do it, sister. Follow her pain. For it is your own.<<

*****

The 8th Dreamed.

It smiled when it saw where the Alliance hid the husks of Artocks. Hoping to reverse the cloning decay. It knew the laws of the Highest. It didn’t care. Murphy’s mind was an open book. No wonder her allies treated her with a child’s care. A child’s contempt. They knew she was the weakest link. They had sacrificed her on purpose.

Satan flicked one massive black claw over the overlay, “She doesn’t even know truth from fiction within this place. This is who the Highest picked? A malnourished soul indeed.”

Mammon said, “I wouldn’t place anything past the Father of All Creation.”

Lilith retreated. Followed the thread of Lucifer, “I will recheck his knowledge. For he did not part from us cleanly!”

The 8th reached out, “His remembrance is formidable.”

Its cloak rippled. An obsidian knife was placed within the palms of Lilith.

“Beware the mirrors he left within us.”

Asmodeus took the form of a panther. He padded towards Lilith, “Let us see what our dear departed Lucifer has to say!” The one who guided them all raised its arms, “If his flesh is untrue? Cut it out.”

Lilith prostrated herself, “As you will it.”

ABH Lone Ranger

Main Mess Hall

Thomas said, “Are you sure Athlass?!”

She nodded. Her ghostly form hovered just above the reclined form of his daughter.

“She can feel you. All of you. Through your son. That is why he went with her. He is the spear within the dark. She will come back. Dexter would not have it otherwise.” Augustus jumped onto the hammock that contained Eliza. He circled. Then put his jaw against her chest.

<>

Thomas said, “Thank god I never thought to ask him of skill sets. I hated keeping things from Eliza but I worried if his connection to her would compromise them both.”

Athlass reached down. Her hands phased through Eliza’s head.

“The twin suns rise. From far-off lands. Dream little one dream. Find the All Encompassing Love of the Creator. Take my bow.”

J’ino reached out to expand the hammock. Matter manipulation had its uses at times. “I’m not leaving here.” She climbed in and pulled her daughter into a hug. “Do what you always do my dears.”

She pressed a kiss to Eliza’s crown.

Thomas made his way to the prison hold.

He would take Q’vera. For “interrogation.”

No one would walk alone.

*****

The heavy weight of metal formed on my back. Hands held me close. I couldn’t see. Voices whispered.

<>

<>

<>

My throat tightened. Dexter nodded.

I pulled the silver bow off my shoulder. It was marked with Ayeer symbology. A white wolf appeared. Its eyes the purest golden sheen. It smelled of white lilies, “Sentinel will come for you. When you awaken. I am with you. We are with you.”

Auggie. It was Auggie. The wolf bowed its massive head. “I remember you. When you find the 8th. We will fight. Bring your soul from the dark. Into the light of Crystal Home.”

The wind within the grove died. I stepped lightly across the mossy ground. I didn’t need arrows. They would be there. Forged from my soul. The stench hit me all at once. Decaying bodies. Chilled. Old blood poured over the silver bark.

I edged over to the clearing. Another memory.

The Shroud raged, “If I shall not have a body of my own. I will forge them into my children. I will not be replaced by this Eve. Or the one you fawn over. The White Mother of All. I was among the first. Lucifer has promised me.” She rose. Her hands were stained. She had buried the bodies. Each babe bundled under the deepest roots of the silver trees.

No name. But it explained why Nyx made the Brood Children. Why they desired the innocent among us. A voice called out, “Urraden! Arise!” The 9th turned her head. Her golden eyes seeped with crimson sclera.

“Yes, I will forge champions. The Urraden shall be mine!”

She spat on the ground. “Father.”

Memories of Elysium. Auggie nudged me. <>

Dexter said, >> A path can go forward. Go back. We can go in-between.<<

I breathed, “To the naming.”

I blinked.

I was outside the grove once more.

The blackened cathedral before me. Rows of White Owls adorned its hollowed belled halls. This was not New Ashbury. Then the False Dream reasserted itself. But I could see now. With Dexter’s help. Auggie was a silver shadow. He trotted alongside. <>

*****

Q’vera clasped her hands over Eliza’s, “Well if Athlass gave you a bow? You can have my knives! Take a piece out of that evil bastard. We’ll do our part to help At’lan and its twin.”

Ranger announced, <>

Q’vera replied, “Good. Itching to blow things up.”