REND

Eudora (Euphonia)

Euphonia touched her face. Her cheeks had risen, and her lips had curved up. She didn’t realize she was smiling while reviewing old videos and pictures in her files. Perhaps she did miss the good ol’ days when she was human.

Or not so good.

Being human sucked more than a black hole. So brittle, so fleeting. If she hadn’t become an Adumbrae, she might’ve turned herself into a cyborg. She had begun her research into digitizing human brains at that time.

But there were moments Euphonia had fun back then. Mostly when Len-Len was around; they were different departments, so that wasn’t often.

Euphonia conceded that some of their co-workers were also okay. A couple of the lab technicians were amiable enough—she killed them before destroying Carlow Plant so they wouldn’t suffer. There were engineers in her team that she tolerated—they were near the explosion, so a mercifully quick death for them. And her immediate superior, whom she turned into one of her first biomechanical creations as a sign of gratitude, was moderately agreeable.

Into the trash, you go. Euphonia deleted each file from her Greaves days after viewing them. She should’ve done this when she faked her death.

The remaining few were pictures of her holding a mug of Irish coffee. She was sure what it was because of the disgust on her face; she never liked alcohol in her coffee. How did Len-Len convince her to drink it? That was such a long time ago that Euphonia couldn’t recall.

She paused at the last photo. She and Len-Len clinked their mugs together. Len-Len’s hair was mostly grey, while her irises were solid black—her real ones. Euphonia made a face as she zoomed in on herself. One of her eyes was already bionic. They both looked like total muppets, grinning broadly at the camera.

And delete. There was no point retaining these. If she could excise part of her brain to forget her human past, she’d do it. Such a gammy waste of existence that was.

Euphonia opened her eyes after the jaunt down memory lane and a small cleanup to pass the time. She adjusted her glasses as she scanned the warehouse to check if her creations were done with their work. The podlegs had detached their heads and left them on the ground before trooping back to the trucks, folding themselves inside for transport. The pods containing bodies were on the right half of the floor, and those with machines, samples, and other items that might be of interest were on the left.

This was Euphonia’s best effort to salvage the mission. She had something. But she wasn’t sure if this was enough for Thirteen.

She groaned, giving Legba a sidelong glance. “Sure look, what can I do? Nothing, that’s what.”

The hooded ornament stayed perched on top of a crate, silent and still. The only hint he was alive was his cloak occasionally stirring from his breath.

Euphonia ranted, “That brat Erind had to destroy the good thing I had going on! She should be thankful Len-Len’s her mother, or I would’ve turned her into a wallet! That might do Len-Len a favor, saving costs on raising her daughter. The tuition at Eloyce University should be an off the rails capitalism nightmare! Having a wallet for a daughter is much better.”

Expectedly, Legba didn’t say anything—Euphonia hadn’t heard a word from him since they first met, though Satori swore Legba could speak—or do anything else. Euphonia usually had to guess his response from how he shook his bell. So far, she’d been right… she supposed. Legba had been reasonably cooperative with her plans.

But she couldn’t understand why Legba helped Len-Len escape.

Euphonia doubted Legba did it as a favor for her. She wasn’t particularly grateful or relieved that her old friend—she did consider Len-Len as one—was still alive. She was ready to have Len-Len slugged to cleanly break from the past and prevent any dramatic mishaps involving Len-Len’s daughter in the future.

It could be that Legba had taken a liking to Vanessa.

That Euphonia could understand. Vanessa was the most tolerable of all the off-brands. Betraying those peasants with overblown heads pushed her to fondness territory in Euphonia’s eyes.

Through hijacking cameras inside the Tea Party’s base, Euphonia had a good grasp of what happened. Vanessa drove Len-Len to Legba’s door—and to safety—using her fascinating mouth pets. And then, Vanessa somehow convinced Legba to bring Erind into the Tea Party’s base to wreak havoc. Fair play, that one. She could prove to be a resource someday.

On the other hand, Len-Len just had the most extraordinary luck to get out alive when so many others didn’t.

Maybe lucky wasn’t the right word to describe her life.

Euphonia noted that Len-Len seemed to have an uncanny sense of being right that something was fecking wrong. Len-Len believed her husband’s death was a load of lies, and it turned out she was correct. Len-Len thought there was something wrong with her precious daughter. Voila, Erind brat eventually became an Adumbrae.

“Poor Len-Len,” Euphonia sighed, shaking her head. “But her daughter is interesting. Don’t you agree?” She cocked her head at Legba. This time, Legba showed his bell. Euphonia nodded. “She is quite the bizarre specimen. A new Adumbrae, but she already has a grand time unleashing destruction. Might even be considered a Titan.”

Legba shook his bell. A mellow ring echoed.

“Yes, I’m also surprised she could return to her original body. She might be able to control herself… very possible.”

Two rings.

“No, I’m not going to help her.” Euphonia snorted. “I’m no one’s babysitter. I did it on my own, and so should she. And I’m having a bang on time detached from my past. Having that brat around would remind me of her mother.” Though Euphonia just said that, a minuscule part of her was touched Len-Len installed the bionic eyes she had made.

Legba shook his bell. But it didn’t ring.

“I’m not going to check on her again.” Euphonia waved her hand. “That was just a—stall the ball a second, am I correctly interpreting what you’re saying, or am I having a delusional conversation with myself here?”

Legba returned his bell inside his sleeves and lowered his head, hiding his face in the shadows of his hood.

Euphonia shrugged. “For all I know, you could’ve been asking me for a midnight snack. I don’t have anything to eat here. I don’t even know what you eat.”

There was no more response from Legba.

Euphonia took a quick gander at the rows of pods before turning around and pacing to the door. “I’m fecking pissed off that slag, Crocker, didn’t die by my hands,” she said. “But I had wanted to destroy their base, and that did happen… just not in my planned timeframe. I’ll take that as a win. Let’s see if Thirteen will think the same.” A light flashed in her augmented reality vision. “Speaking of that Overseer arse… Legba, he’s coming.”

Legba’s bell rang, its familiar notes merging into one peaceful stream. The door in front of Euphonia changed.

She clenched her teeth. There was always the chance that the Corebrings would decide this was the last day of their arrangement. But she didn’t have any other option. If she refused to work with them, she’d be hunted down—an unsavory proposition.

There’s a risk to everything in life, she told herself as the doorknob turned. It wasn’t her fault that things ended up the way they did. What was she supposed to do? Fight Erind in her giant wolf form?

“I’d waste so many of my beloved creations,” Euphonia muttered. And she didn’t want to kill Len-Len’s daughter.

The door swung open.

An eight-foot-tall humanoid ducked through the too-short opening. Euphonia intentionally chose the small door with this in mind. If this was to be her last day on this pile of crap of a planet, she’d slightly inconvenience the Corebring that’d kill her.

Though more than a couple of feet taller than Euphonia, Thirteen’s torso was about the same size as hers. But he had a much longer neck and limbs, looking like the disproportional figures in fashion sketches. Interlocking silver metal and yellowish bone plates protected most of his slender body in an abstract exoskeleton, including a smooth, holeless mask on his face. Uncovered flesh showed rough skin in a pastel red color.

Euphonia was surprised that Thirteen didn’t come alone.

A young girl with Japanese features, probably in her teens, followed him out the door. There was nothing remarkable about her. She looked outwardly human as could be, and she wore plain clothes, like any girl one would find in the mall, not a Hive uniform. Curiosity gnawed Euphonia’s mind.

Against her better judgment—very, very good judgment, as proven numerous times—Euphonia was tempted to scan the girl to find out if she was indeed human. But before she could do it, Thirteen blocked her view as if reading her mind.

“How ya’ getting on, Thir—?” Euphonia stopped, noticing the number on Thirteen’s mask. Her heart stopped. “Eight?” She blinked. “You scumbag! That’s fecking duct tape!”

Thirteen’s muffled laughter reverberated as Legba stopped ringing his bell. “You should’ve seen the look on your face,” Thirteen said with an affable voice fit for a talk show host, contrasting heavily with his alien appearance. He peeled away the black duct tape that formed an eight on his mask to reveal the actual number—‘12.’

“Can I get a different Corebring to liaise with?” Euphonia folded her arms across her chest. “Someone not as childish, please.”

“I think that was a good joke.” The Corebring twisted his body to look behind him, revealing his spine that had grown several times its original size, protruding out his back. He asked the girl, “What do you think, Pando?”

The teenage girl replied, “A good payoff for your efforts.”

Pando? That meant ‘I spread’ if Euphonia’s Latin wasn’t rusty. She had enough of Latin and scientific names to last a lifetime. Was that a clue to the girl’s identity? But Euphonia had another question before that.

“What’s the deal with your number?” Euphonia asked, tapping her face and then pointing at Thirteen. “Did someone kill you?”

He tilted his head. “You know how my powers work?”

“Nothing that couldn’t be found in the local library,” Euphonia said, downplaying her extensive research on Thirteen. She spouted common knowledge about him, even if it was inaccurate. “You get stronger each time you croak, and that on your face is a countdown. The lower the number, the stronger you get.”

“And what’ll happen when this number—” he pointed to his mask “—reaches zero?”

“No one knows because it has never happened.”

Thirteen snapped his fingers. “You got that right! It never happened because this number can never become zero. But it did reach one before.”

The time you betrayed the Hive, Euphonia snidely thought. According to the information she had delved from top secret government records, Thirteen rebelled against the Hive after the Adumbrae War. Thirteen was at his strongest, while the Hive was at its weakest, with many Corebrings dead. Peak Thirteen—with the number ‘1’ on his mask—was reportedly stronger than several High Overseers combined.

Eudora couldn’t fathom how the Hive brought him to heel. It might have something to do with this girl.

“I’d hate to be the guy who brought your counter down to twelve,” Euphonia said. “So, do I call you Twelve now? Still Thirteen?”

“Thirteen’s fine. Thirteen minus one, if you want to be accurate.”

“You should get a less confusing name.” Euphonia stepped to the side to get a better view of the girl behind Thirteen. “Hello there! Pando, right? I’m Euphonia.”

“Her real name’s Eudora,” Thirteen said. “But it’ll be a feat having that changed in her birth certificate with her death certificate already filed.”

“I hardly had a say in my name when I was born,” Euphonia replied with a humph. “My Mam picked it. I have my choice now.”

“Euphonia… the mid-nineteenth century talking machine.” Pando looked straight into Euphonia’s eyes. “An interesting choice. The unappreciated automaton that led to its impoverished creator taking his own life.”

“And I am reborn anew,” Euphonia said, mildly surprised that Pando knew about the source of her name. “Creator and creation become one.”

“Did you take revenge on those people who didn’t appreciate you?”

“You’re making me sound like a stock-standard mad scientist character,” Euphonia nonchalantly said while assessing the situation. Why was Pando here? The way this girl spoke was unsettling; it was as if she had a mind beyond her years. “If you really want to know… then yes, they’re dead. All dead. Same as old me.”

Pando walked out from behind Thirteen. The towering prankster held out his arm to stop her. She gently tapped his bony plate, signing to lower it. Thirteen complied, standing aside.

I’m right. Euphonia was elated. Pando could somehow control Thirteen; maybe she held something over his head. If Euphonia could find out what it was, she might be able to guarantee her safety.

“Tell me, Euphonia,” Pando said, tilting her head. “Before your old self died, did you leave behind a seed for, perhaps, a tree of progress in the future?”

“A seed? What are you talking about?”

Pando didn’t have a threatening air, so Euphonia decided to risk a cursory scan. A second later, she had all the information to conclude that Pando was fully human. Of course, physical readings were just the tip of the iceberg. There were plenty of explanations for Pando—a Corebring could be controlling this girl from afar.

“Euphonia, the talking machine,” Pando said. “Ignored though she might’ve been, did inspire the father of the telephone’s inventor. Is there someone you’ve inspired with your previous life?”

Len-Len’s wearing my bionic eyes, Euphonia sarcastically thought. What bloody nonsense could that lead to? She shook her head. If Pando’s power was related to the brain, Euphonia better take care not to get sucked in mind games.

Ignoring Pando, Euphonia nodded at Thirteen. “Mind introducing me to this lass here? Is it bring your kid to work day?”

“A simple answer is that Pando is my boss. Ultimately, your boss when it comes to this,” Thirteen said, waving to the rest of the warehouse. “I’m just the middle guy. Subcontractor, you know?”

“The big gaffer, eh?” Euphonia wondered if Thirteen was playing another rotten prank.

“Gaffer means boss, right?” Thirteen asked. “More than that, Pando is the foremost line of defense of the humans against the Adumbrae.”

“The Corebring controlling you must be powerful.” Euphonia stepped forward, staring at Pando. Assuming what Thirteen said was true, then Pando was stronger than him. Was this supposed to intimidate her for failing her mission?

“Combat-wise?” Thirteen said. “No. I am the strongest.”

“Humility is a virtue,” said Pando.

“Not for me.”

“Don’t let Nanny hear you say that.”

Nanny? Euphonia was familiar with the name. Nanny was the High Overseer taking care of Corebrings in Deep Sleep. “Well, Pando, sir…” said Euphonia. “Thanks a million for not having me killed. That was swell of you. But I’ve got bad news.”

“We’re aware of what happened,” Pando said. Hands clasped behind her back over her long straight hair that went past her waist, she strolled past Euphonia and went to the pods. She gave the statue-like Legba a nod.

Euphonia raised a brow at Thirteen, who only gestured at Pando.

This is not my night, Euphonia mentally fumed. First, Len-Len showed up. Next, Len-Len’s daughter put a period to Euphonia’s mission. Now, a new Corebring was bringing fresh headaches.

“Almost everyone in the convention center died,” Euphonia said, following Pando. “You should’ve known that by now, I assume. And I did tell Thirteen that’s going to happen. But that’s not the bad news I’m referring to.”

“The Tea Party is mostly eliminated.” Pando stood beside one pod. “Were you going to tell us that leads have fizzled out?” She tapped the pod with her shoe. “Are these from the Tea Party base?”

“Yes…” Euphonia replied. “To both questions. But stall the ball and rewind. How did you know?” She looked back at Thirteen. “You got eyes on me? Other agents in the Tea Party’s ranks?” Vanessa came to Euphonia’s mind, but she didn’t blurt out her name in case she was wrong. “I thought we had a deal here? This isn’t going to work if you don’t trust me. Is the next thing you’ll say that you can’t trust an Adumbrae?”

Thirteen’s face was completely covered, but Euphonia suspected he was smiling behind his mask. He said, “I don’t trust you. Not at all. But Pando does.”

“We trust you,” Pando said.

“Subcontractor Guy here just said he doesn’t,” Euphonia pointed out.

Thirteen raised his hand. “I wasn’t included in the ‘we’ there.”

“What?” Euphonia snapped her head back to Pando.

“We are many,” Pando said, putting her hand on her chest. “We can see many things. Several of us attended the Tech Fair. Some died; the Tea Party took others.”

“Are you mind controlling many people?”

“I am many people. And I am more every passing day.”

“Mind control, puppeteer, possess, whatever term you want to use,” Euphonia said, her mind racing, connecting the dots. “I’m not into semantics. What I’m asking is, are you taking over the human race?”

“We are not taking over anyone.” Pando shook her head. “We are born as is, only taking time to awaken to who we are.”

“Sure, if you want to couch it that way. Thirteen mentioned you’re the main line of defense against the Adumbrae. My next question is, can this body of yours—use whatever term you like—become an Adumbrae?”

“No,” Pando said as she strolled down the row of pods.

“What will happen when a Cocoon absorbs you?”

“It will be destroyed.”

“I see… so that’s what the Supplier is trying to prevent.”