Dynamis | Chapter 15 - Glare (Patreon)

Lilibelle’s skin crawled. The elevator hummed with its ascent, and each time she looked up at the counter, her heart hammered harder against her chest. She racked her brain for any possible inaccuracies or incomplete particulars she may have left out. Nothing came to mind.

“Are you all right?” Karl asked. “You’ve been biting your nails for a while.”

“I’m fine,” she snapped, then returned right back to chewing on her nails.

Karl sighed. “Suit yourself.”

Lilibelle thought to mock his gesture, then thought again. She’d been awake for over thirty hours now, and it was taking its toll on her. Her body cried out to allow it rest, especially her feet and eyes. Her strides had been reduced to makeshift wobbles, and it usually took a few seconds before she could digest the entire meaning of what anyone said. On top of it all, a constant ringing accompanied it and she hoped that with one good night’s rest, it would go away.

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened. Karl pushed away from the wall to exit, but Lilibelle was faster. She brushed past him into the hall, hands clenched into fists, and marched toward the doors at the end. Karl said something to her when he was halfway down the corridor, but she refused to hear it. His footsteps approached rapidly, and she only stopped when he grabbed her by the elbow.

She glowered at him, shaking away his grip. “What?” she barked. “Can’t you shut up for one second?”

Karl frowned. “That’s not Admiral Chovek’s office,” he said, pointing ahead of her. Then he pointed over his shoulder. “It’s back this way.”

A sound caught between a gasp and a squeak escaped her throat. “I-I-I knew that!” She averted her gaze, heat rising to her cheeks, and gently pushed him away as she started back in the opposite direction. “I-I was just getting the blood pumping! I’ve been sitting too much!”

“Right”—Karl jogged to catch up until they were side by side—“of course. I’m sure you didn’t get any sleep either, right?”

“Yeah! That’s right!” She couldn’t look at him. Not right now. Not when she’d made such a huge blunder. No, that was to stretch my legs, she told herself. How else am I supposed to bury this anxiety in my chest? Her anxiety was full to bursting such that she struggled to breathe. The edges of her vision darkened, and when she arrived at Admiral Chovek’s door, her immediate reflex was to turn and run. “Here we are,” she whispered.

She glanced at Karl, who had his eyes shut. A gentle hiss of air whistled into his nose and out of his lips. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Steadying my breathing,” he said. “It’s a technique I learned from Doctor Strobar.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“Have you never visited her?”

Lilibelle shook her head. “No. Why should I?”

He frowned. “You’ve never visited her. Not once.” Lilibelle wondered if he’d meant to frame it as a question. The way he said that sounded like he had spoken it aloud to confirm what he had heard. As if what she’d just said was unusual somehow.

“What the hell does it matter?” she asked, throwing her arms into the air. “Are we going to talk to Admiral Chovek or what?”

“I’m ready whenever you are. You asked what I was doing, so…”

“I don’t care anymore.” She pressed the button beside the door, and an irritating chime that resembled the sound of crackling electricity sounded. Crossing her arms, she leaned her weight to her left leg and tapped her right foot impatiently. What the hell was taking this bastard so long to open the door?

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Karl asked. Droopy eyes and a furrowed brow connoted a mix of concern and fatigue. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder in that same, patronizing way her aunt would when she was younger. She didn’t want anyone’s pity, and most certainly not his. She batted his hand away and glared. “Fine. Figure it out yourself,” he hissed.

“Gladly.”

The door clicked moments later, and the light above the door flashed from red to green. Lilibelle tried to push Karl out of the way to open the door, but the white bread held firm, grasping the handle and pushing open the door.

“Sorry,” he said with a mocking expression. The door whined with his effort and Lilibelle cursed him under her breath.

Her upper lip twitched, and she clapped a hand to her mouth to make it stop. She caught the door with the toe of her boot as it came back, and refrained from shoving it forward with the full force of her palm. She slipped into the room, and gently closed the door behind her.

The room was sectioned off into three parts. There was the common room, which is where they were right now, the boardroom, which was located down the hall on their left, and then there was Admiral Chovek’s room, located down the passage on their right. Upon the carpet, at the center of the room, was Deadeye’s logo—a stylized reimagining of a falcon’s face painted in white. At the center of its left eye was a red reticle.

“Mister Donovan, Miss Katsun.” A woman seated behind a desk at the far end of the room gestured to them. “Please come forward.”

Karl kept his hands in his jacket pockets as he approached. Lilibelle, however, had to impel herself to take the same confident strides. The woman’s sharp blue eyes had fastened to her like a turret, and every muscle in her body told her not to move, not to breathe, for fear of being shot. When she arrived at the desk, she stood to Karl’s left, looking up at the smooth black metal wall behind the secretary.

The secretary pressed a button on a small terminal littered with flashing red and green lights. A beep followed, and Admiral Chovek’s commanding voice spilled out of the speaker.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Mister Donovan and Miss Katsun are here to see you, sir,” the woman replied.

“Good. Send them in.”

“Right away, sir.” She gestured to the hallway on her left, making no effort to look up at them.

“Thank you,” Karl said, then started down the hall. Lilibelle held her tongue, and quickened her pace to maintain her position beside Karl. Karl knocked on the door at the end of the hall, and a gravelly voice beckoned them inside. Karl slipped inside, and Lilibelle took her spot next to him inside the room, both of them with their hands behind their backs. The door clicked shut, sealing their fates.

Admiral Chovek sat behind a polished desk, his hands steepled in front of his mouth. The countless awards and photos taken in his honor adorned the walls not just behind him, but to his sides as well. A sleek obsidian laptop sat open, tilted beside him. If Lilibelle leaned to her right, she was confident she could see what was on the screen.

Chovek rose from his comfortable swivel chair and tossed his cap onto the desk. He was bald on top, with thick tufts of black-and-white hair around his ears. Thick brows and sunken cheeks framed a shaven face weathered not by time but by abuse. The gaunt man narrowed his gaze and formed a thin line with his lips. This was a man motivated not by wants, but by needs.

“As I no doubt have to remind you, we are living in turbulent times,” Chovek started, keeping his arms behind his back. “With the new Sovereign threat breathing down our necks, we have little choice but to upend our ways and conform to our circumstances.” He paced to one side of the room, where a painted portrait of himself rested, looking at them through the reflection in the glass. “For that reason, I would like to clarify a few claims in your reports, and set forth a few expectations.”

Lilibelle kept her gaze glued to the wall while Chovek took his sweet time returning to his desk. She’d found a tiny groove in the wall between two of the awards that kept her attention. Looking at awards, portraits, or any fine details had a tendency to veer her gaze off course. There were too many details and curiosities to keep track of. They caused the mind to wander. A simple hole or imperfection, however, was perfect for keeping her on track.

Chovek leaned over his screen and typed. “Mister Donovan. Your report states that Carly Fairwright was killed in the accident. Moments before the Dynamic Frame exploded, you express that a curious white light caught your attention. I would like clarification on what you saw.”

“Yes, sir.” Karl took a step forward, seemingly staring at the same imperfection that Lilibelle had found. “I noticed a greater concentration of Fiends than was normal. Sean and Carly didn’t seem to think anything of it so I didn’t think to bring it up. They continued the operation as planned.” He exhaled through his mouth and licked his lips.

“Yes, Mister Donovan?” Chovek motioned with his hand for Karl to continue.

“That’s when we saw the light. It glowed beneath the ocean’s surface. Carly launched a probe to investigate the abnormality. However, the probe didn’t report anything. No energy signature, no heat, not a single blip of unusual activity. Sean and Carly found this strange. We remained on standby, cautious and aware that anything could happen.”

Lilibelle fought to keep her attention on the wall, and failed. Her curiosity had bested her, and her gaze swerved toward her partner. His hands were gripped firmly behind his back, so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. There was a subtle shake in his legs, but his voice remained firm and stalwart.

“That’s… when the attack occurred.” The lump in his throat jumped. “We were struck instantaneously. It didn’t resemble traditional energy or kinetic forces. It was simply not there, and then it was there,” he explained. “Like someone had flipped on a flashlight.”

“Hm.” Chovek used one hand to navigate the screen, muttering to himself. “And do you believe Sean Haron to be of sound mind after what happened?”

“Yes,” Karl said without hesitation. That surprised Lilibelle. She had expected him to deny Sean a clean bill of mental health, as was normal when a conductor lost their partner. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something else, but said nothing more on the matter.

“Did you have something else you wish to say, young man?” Chovek’s voice set Lilibelle on edge. Every word out of his mouth felt laced with venom, dribbled on a serrated edge.

“No, sir.”

“Very well. You may be happy to hear that Mister Haron survived his encounter,” Chovek said. Karl’s shoulders noticeably slouched, then perked back up. “He is expected to make a full recovery, though he will not be allowed to walk for the next three days.”

“That’s great news, sir.”

“Indeed. He is quite fortunate. Now… Miss Katsun.” He shut his laptop, rounded the desk, and reclamped his hands behind his back. Lilibelle’s heart pounded against her chest, quickening with each step the admiral took toward her. He stopped barely an arm’s length away from her and huffed through his nose.

“Captain Veren and Doctor Almezer may have sympathized with your plight, but I will not,” Chovek said, glowering at her down the bridge of his nose. “You broke protocol, endangering not only your own life, but the lives of four others. In doing so, you also risked exposing this facility to the greater Fiend threat. Your actions are admonishable.”

Lilibelle hesitated. “Sir, if I may—” The crack of skin echoed against the walls as Chovek struck her across the face. Her hair whipped over her shoulder from the force, and her bangs draped over the cheek he’d smacked. She didn’t turn her head back. Not yet. She wanted to remember this moment with perfect clarity.

“You may not,” Chovek growled. “It is because of you that we have a Stinger operative resting in our cells.” Lilibelle at last returned her head to its proper straightfacing position and returned her attention to the divot on the wall.

“Sir,” Karl said, worry tinting his voice, “Kalki is my responsibility. She had nothing to do with that.”

Chovek spun on his heel, glaring at Karl. “She wouldn’t be here if Katsun hadn’t snuck around me.” All pretense of formality had been swept from his lips. “She manipulated Doctor Almezer and ignored protocol for her own gain. We should be fortunate that the Fiends aren’t knocking on our door as we speak.”

Silence blanketed them like a dark cloud. Chovek observed them like a pair of animals who’d disobeyed him and needed rehabilitation training. The muscles in his jaw flexed as his gaze darted between them. To Lilibelle, it felt like he was searching for another excuse to yell at them.

“Your statement will be recorded, Mister Donovan. As for you, Miss Katsun, you are suspended for the next seventy-two hours. A schedule will be sent to you within the hour. Any attempt to stray from the schedule will be met with an immediate expulsion from Deadeye. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Lilibelle said after a few seconds, her eyes welling up.

“Very good. Dismissed.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand and returned to the sanctity of his desk. Lilibelle and Karl nodded and turned to leave. They were halfway across the room when Chovek’s voice stopped them. “And one last thing. I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were you. Harmonic or not, I have no use for soldiers who won’t listen. Remember that. Now, get out of here.”

Karl led the way, and held the door open for Lilibelle. She stepped out, and as soon as the door shut, a tingling sensation stabbed and prodded her brain. It felt like someone had added ten pounds of weight on top of her shoulders, and a nagging voice in the back of her head kept telling her that she wasn’t good enough for this.

“Lilibelle,” Karl whispered, setting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right? That looked like it hurt.”

She slapped his hand away and sniffed. “I’m fine. I just… want to get the fuck out of here.” With her feet dragging behind her, she ambled to the elevator and kicked the door. “Hurry up, you stupid piece of—”

“Whoa, don’t,” Karl hissed, looking over his shoulder. “Do you want to get in more trouble?”

“Maybe I do,” she spat back. “Maybe I want to send a message.”

“Stop it, it’s not worth it,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “You know how Chovek is, he treats everyone like that. We’re not any better.”

“But we are.” Lilibelle brushed the tender flesh where she’d been struck. It stung like hell. “Anyone else would’ve been expelled.”

A brief silence surrounded them, and Karl gazed at the floor. He had to know she was right. The elevator dinged upon its arrival, Karl stepping in after Lilibelle. Karl pressed the button for the fourth floor, then leaned against the wall next to her.

“You’re wrong,” Karl said with a strange air of confidence. “It’s not just us, the Harmonic, who are too valuable. It’s everyone. The Fiend threat is worsening, and he’ll need every able body to fight it.” He shook his head. “We’re safe.”

She looked at him sideways. The little bastard was smiling. How in the hell could he smile at a time like this? It was enough to make her want to rip his head off, yell at him, hurl all manner of degrading insults at him. He was naive and it was going to get him killed one day. Her father was an optimist, just like Karl, and he was slaughtered for his beliefs.

“You’ll see,” Karl added.

The elevator came to a stop. She and Karl stepped into the hallway, and the doors shut behind them. The path branched, with the men’s dormitories on the left and the women’s on the right. The hallways were vacant.

She touched her swollen cheek one more time and bristled.

“I’m going to get some rest,” Karl said, pointing down the hall with his thumb. Lilibelle barely acknowledged him and started down the righthand corridor. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Lilibelle nodded, but refused to look at him. “I’m fine.”

“If you change your mind, you know where to reach me.”

What the hell is this? Why does he care all of a sudden?

“Yeah,” she said. She didn’t care. All she could think about was getting an ice pack for her face and sleeping in for a few days. Suspension meant she wouldn’t receive any pay, and that outside of mandatory class hours, she would be confined to her quarters. There’d be no one around her to enforce that, but if Captain Veren or Admiral Chovek so much as caught a whiff of her, well…

She didn’t want to think about how that conversation would go.

“Lilibelle.” Karl gripped her by the elbow, stopping her. “Message me if you need someone to talk to.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

Lilibelle glared at the hand that had snared her elbow. Her first instinct was to rip her elbow free, but instead she gently brushed his hand away and nodded. “Thanks.” She continued onward, stopping in front of her door. She glanced down the opposite hallway to see Karl was already halfway down in the men’s section. Sighing, she reached into her pocket for her card and slid it down the reader. The light blinked from red to green, and the door clicked.

She pushed it open and threw the card onto the catwalk beside her. The door shut behind her, buzzing to let her know that it had locked. She brought her shoulders in and slipped the jacket off, placing it on the coatrack beside the door. Rounding the catwalk, she walked briskly to the refrigerator in the corner of her criminally small kitchen, and pulled out one of the reusable ice packs and unrolled it. She pressed a few of the little pods against her cheek and inhaled through her teeth. For a moment it felt like it was on fire.

As the seconds passed, and her heart slowed, the pain settled into a dull ache. She shut the refrigerator door and walked lazily over to her bed, falling into the soft cushions. Her legs complained of the cold, and she reached over to pull the sheet up to her neck.

“Old windbag,” she whispered. With the ice pack on her cheek and a warm bed to comfort her, she was finally in her happy place.