The Legion of Nothing

Around us, reality changed.

We, and this we meant not just Uri and me, but also the rest of the team, now stood in a room with the same marble, the same forest on one side, and the same beach and ocean on the other.

In addition, new people were also in the room—guards who dressed in suits and wore guns, guards whose armor and weapons would have been at home on the cover of a Dungeons and Dragons rule book, and people with a mixture of the two styles—plate mail, a sword, and an automatic rifle for example.

It felt different too.

Most human beings have never felt the absence of air on their skin. The exceptions to that are the few people who can fly in a vacuum and those who have experienced incomplete simulations of reality.

In addition to the smell of the ocean, tropical warmth, and the coolness of the marble table that I found my hand touching, I felt air too—meaning that this was the real place I’d experienced the magical copy of—or possibly a better copy.

When I thought about it, I still couldn’t connect to GPS through my suit, but the implant did relay a list of password-protected Wifi networks which argued for a real place.

Ruthie Shaw, still wearing jeans and a pink sweatshirt stood on the edge of the group, sword in hand, and grayish blonde hair falling on her shoulders.

Stepping up to the marble table in the middle of the room, she struck it with the pommel of her sword, hitting it with a solid clank. Though no marble flew away that I could see, the divots in the marble testified that this wasn’t the first time hitting the table had been used to get attention.

Ruthie looked around the room. Satisfied that she’d gotten our attention, she said, “Let’s handle this quickly. We’re not making it obvious, but you’re in the presence of more of the Cabal’s former leadership than you can see. I called us together and though we’re not all ready to expose ourselves to you, we are willing to give you help. Urin, please tell them what you know.”

Near me, I could see Vaughn’s lip quiver as if he were considering saying something. Knowing my first thoughts about the name, I hoped he wouldn’t.

As I did, Cassie elbowed him.

Urin, who’d introduced himself to me as Uri said, “We don’t believe Magnus is in full control of the alien device as yet. We think he’d be able to do more. The problem is that of all of us, he’s the one with the greatest connection to whatever the Artificers are and he’s had thousands of years to experiment with it.

“What he lacks is any real training in using those abilities. From what I see, Nick and Rachel's secondary forms appear defined in a way that makes me think they are. Even more than that, Magnus still doesn’t know how to get into the machine’s physical presence. We think you might have that information. We think your grandparents collaborated with the creature that has taken forms that you’re familiar with to hide the device.

“We assume that you know what Lee, Gunther, or whichever name he uses now truly is. We have our suspicions and won’t say them.”

Urin stuck in his pocket and fished around for something, sticking his arm further in than I thought should be physically possible—at least up to his elbow without any physical bulge appearing his pants.

“Just a second, I’ve nearly got it,” he gritted his teeth, and pushed his arm in nearly to the shoulder, his body bending and shrinking where it entered the pocket. Then he pulled out something hidden in his fist.

“Got it,” he grinned and opened his hand, revealing what might have been a flat white rock, rounded, thin, and perfect for skipping across a pond. It didn’t seem to be a rock, though. The surface wasn’t right. It could only have been a rock if the rock had been painted with a substance that filled in all the holes, making it smooth on all sides. After that, it would have been covered in a translucent substance.

“Magnus sent out people from the Cabal to find the device for years and I watched him for years. I managed to intercept this thing before it could be given to him. The courier who carried it died soon after, so Magnus never knew. I’ve never been able to make it do anything, but Magnus believed that it would help him find the device or maybe use it. I never got clarification because I went into hiding soon after.”

Urin held out the rock toward me, “You may get more out of it than I’ve been able to, but I wouldn’t depend on it entirely. Talk to your grandparents. If you know where he is, maybe talk to Gunther, but maybe don’t. I’ve never trusted him.”