Waves

Do you ever feel overwhelmed about things?

Dear Leo,

Do you ever feel overwhelmed about things?

Especially when things come at you in wave after wave. I feel like I get very bogged down, when I can’t see the end in sight. It’s just one disaster after another. 

I am sorry I haven’t written in so long. Work has been really busy. I have been training every single day. I’m getting better at using the horn too. Betaal, sometimes I think he, it, whatever, really enjoys putting me through my paces. At least training starts at normal times, I don’t always go as far as Karka to train.

Been getting home later and later everyday, sometimes narrowly sneaking past curfew or having Betaal assist me in avoiding official iCleaner drones on police duty. Obviously, Mom is worried. She thinks I’ve taken on some really tough assignment, and should consider quitting.  

I finally got a breather because I got some time off today. No Betaal around my neck and I get to recuperate. This, I suspect, has more to do with what happened yesterday. I faced off with an actual emergency.

I woke up expecting to go for training, but I received no instructions from Betaal that morning. Eventually I figured I’d suit up and head out and wait for a call. But when I got to the hall, Mom stopped me at the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

“I’m off to work, Mom. What happened?” 

She pointed at the TV. A news anchor was loudly announcing a newly issued government curfew. “In an unprecedented but sound move, a blanket curfew has been employed along the Shivchandra. Police drones have created a cordon and are encouraging citizens to turn back. This is amazing! We have never seen a government action like this, it’s truly amazing. I salute the…” I turned off the TV. Mom looked at me down the bridge of her nose, arms crossed, y’know the look, right? 

“What? Don’t worry I won’t go near that, I have other work.” I said.

“Just call your boss and tell them you can’t go!” She demanded.

I thought about this for a while. There was actually no way I could get to Betaal. He always showed up when he needed to give me direction, I don’t think I had any control over it. Still, I was feeling a bit cross. Also, and I’m kind of embarrassed about this, but I was enjoying the training and I felt...physically better than I have in years. So I really wanted to go.

I made for the door, saying “It’s okay, I already committed to this, I’ll be careful.”

She made one last appeal, “If they extend the curfew and you’re...what if you’re still out?” The tears began to well up in her eyes, and it suddenly dawned on me, that she wasn’t really thinking of me. She was reliving you. 

I really wanted to hug her in the moment, but before I could, she heard coughing from Dad’s bedroom. She shot me a look and relented, “Go, but come back quickly.” 

I nodded and turned to go, relieved. “Get milk when you come”, she shouted from the other room.    

I shut the door behind me.

That was the first wave. I felt like...this, whatever I was doing. I was doing it to keep Mom and Dad safe, and the rest of the city. But did it matter, if I wasn’t here to spend time with them, y’know?

I wish you were here, you’d have been better at this. Or at least, you’d have split the difference with me. 

I found myself aimlessly walking towards the seaface. About 200 metres from the promenade, I could see the flying cordons patrolling the area. A few people milled about there, but most had dissipated. Encouraged to turn back, my ass. At least one person had to have been assaulted by the drones, nothing short of that would get people to move away so quickly. 

I used my training to edge closer and closer. Betaal had taught me to pick their blind spots well. I dodged through a couple near the Samudraneel flyover, and then I had to dive past some flowing along the road. Suddenly, I just knew it was one of them, something like the thing that accosted me at Nar-Nari Point. Except, the flowing patterns of the cordon were all wrong. 

They were protecting something further north of where I was. Closer to the beach. I kept moving in that direction. Ducking down alleys, or through some of the compounds to stay out of sight. Eventually I got to where the beach starts. The border of the promenade fell away and I could see all the way out to sea from across the road. That’s when I spotted the churning in the sea. I swear, I felt that shiver run down my spine. It was all flashing back to me. And this time, they didn’t even have a giant statue shooting power beams. 

The skin on the nape of my neck crackled and suddenly Betaal was in my ear, yelling.

“What are YOU doing here?! I didn’t give you any instructions.”

I quietly said, “I just came to have a look.” 

I don’t know if I imagined the stunned tone in Betaal’s silence, or maybe he was just processing the situation. 

He spoke finally, “This place is swarming with drones, I can get you to a quiet spot, but I can’t protect you and her.”

“Her?” I blurted out. 

But Betaal refused to answer any further questions and began to issue directions. I followed them, I’d gotten quite used to seamlessly acting those out over the training. He got me onto the beach, into one of the shack shops that dot the beach side. They were all abandoned currently, probably herded out by a well timed burst of shots from the police drones. Out in the distance, the sea suddenly dipped and a green-grey metal dome began to crest out into the air. The horn in my pocket began to beep at the same time. Betaal told me to silence it. I reached for my pocket, touched it and felt it die down. Then I began to activate my Devi, trying to get Saraswati to give me a better idea on what that was out in the water. A jolt of lightning sped down my arm. 

“What the hell, Vikram? Do you really want SATARC to know exactly who you are and what you are doing here?” Betaal yelled again. I could tell there was some stress in the voice this time for sure.

“I just wanted to know what THAT is.” I pointed at the thing emerging from the water. I could see it swiftly approaching the shoreline, making its own waves. A stocky cylindrical beam had pierced out of the water. Pointing out from the prow of the dome, water dripping from the tip, it was aimed squarely at the buildings behind me.

Betaal spoke quietly, “That is a Kurma-class amphibious fighting vehicle, and it’s carrying a full complement of Matsyas, probably the second wave. That blasting rod at the head of it, that is a much more powerful version of your horn. Stay here!” Betaal whooshed out of my ear and I was alone again. I slipped out the horn, and felt it extend to its full length. I had charged it fully earlier, and it was glowing bright white at the tip. I stuck the bottom tip in the sand and waited, while I watched the Kurma approach slowly. Behind me somewhere, a buzzing started up. iCleaner drones were coming. 

I could see the flotation devices along the sides of the dome, and it beached with a grating sound. 

That’s when I saw her.

She stepped right up to the dome. The top of the Kurma split and about four or five of the Matsyas rushed out and onto the beach. The drones I had heard earlier, rushed past me and shot straight for the creatures now shambling in the wet sand. She was brandishing what looked like a fucking double edged battle axe, I could see the edges of the blades glow white the same way the tip of the horn did. She began to hack at the creatures  nearest to her. Her axe struck deep into half of the first one and she wrenched it free before driving it through the skull of the one on her left. The ones farther from her were busy engaging the drones, which seemed to be ineffectually firing at them. A few hit home, but the Matsyas dodged the others. One of them dug out a horn much like the one I had. Even at this distance, I could hear the thrum of it, as it arced lightning into two of the drones. They sputtered and dropped immediately. But the Matsya couldn’t escape the axe that the woman drove into his side. I could finally smell charred flesh again, and it was like deja vu, the feeling of being useless, ineffectual, seeing the creature burn at the hands of the golem. I was frozen stiff.

One of the Matsyas turned towards the road and began to make a run for it. I felt the vibrations on the ground, the vehicle seemed to be moving closer. I heard before I saw the blasting rod power up, an electric throb. Small lights begin to spark on the barrel. A flurried sound, and Betaal was shouting in my ears. 

“Dodge left! Horn at the ready! Take out target two o’ clock!” 

The training kicked in and broke my paralysis.My hand arced forward and prepped the horn. Behind the black figure straggling across the sand in, the blasting rod began to emit a staccato beep. My peripheral vision caught a shape jump up and slice almost half of the blasting rod off. She dropped to the sand and began to run towards us. I lost track of the Matsya and watched the hot slag drip from the cleaved blasting rod still charging up. Alarms began to ring out from the dome.

“Achtung! Achtung! Achtung! Ach...”

The last one was cut off by a deafening explosion. I dove back to the side of the wall, and turned to see a speck jump into the path of the shockwave. She rode the impulse and landed near me, expertly lopping off the head of the Matsya running past as she landed. The shockwave hit me, knocking me into the sand. Then everything was light.

When the sand and smoke and ringing in my ears cleared a bit, I opened my eyes. She was standing over me, the ash settling on her grey formfit armour, her battle axe glowering at her side. She offered me her hand, and helped me to my feet.

Her face was behind a full facemask just like me, but the smile was in her voice. “You new?”

Betaal was still in my ear, “Did you really think you were the only Vikram?”

I don’t remember much of the rest, it was mostly a blur, but you have to admit, whatever I do remember was... A bit much. Betaal split us up, and when the drones got there later, we had already dodged past the cordon and back into safe territory.

I’m honestly a little scared of what’s going on. All this while I thought the very worst I’d have to do is face more of the creatures. But what if that’s only the beginning? And why is Betaal keeping secrets from me? 

Also who was the other Vikram?

If you have answers, guesses, whatever, I’d love to hear? Frankly, I’d just like to hear from you at all. Please write back.

Love

N

PS: So obviously I forgot to buy milk.