Golden Dawn

|Chapter 4 ~ A Love For Knowledge|

My eyes swam with tears as hot wind blasted into my face, filling my nose with the smell of smoke and pungent air. Hermes darted around waste and debris with incredible agility. It obviously knew the way back to Albert's facility well, but the growing problem for both of us was that our pace was too slow. We were running out of time.

The area around me got more familiar with each step, pain shooting through my legs and chest - burning like they were on fire. Terror worked its way into my mind as I felt the first drops of horrible acid rain biting into my shoulder. The pain was a lot worse than my aching legs and pushed me even faster as we sped across the destroyed town. I knew there was no time to search for shelter strong enough to protect us from the hail of acid rain.

This storm was nothing like previous tempests I had witnessed. No this situation was a lot worse and caused a horrible realization to hit me like the lightning above. 

The Earth was truly dying.

I screamed in pain as drops of liquid acid lashed down on the planet and ate away at my skin. The wind blew so strong, I felt as if we could be blown right off the ground.

The sight of the brick wall made me cry with happiness and Hermes raced into the already open tunnel with me right on its tail. As soon as the wall closed behind us, I collapsed unto the stone stairs, savouring the wonderful feeling of water caressing my scorched skin. My body burned like never before, simmering like it was being stabbed by knives and sending waves of agony rocketing through my back and arms. Hermes nudged me softly with its nose, but I wasn't able to move, too scared my skin would ignite in a new blaze of excruciating pain if I dared stand up. My eyes closed, too weak to stay open and I could feel all remaining strength leaving my body. Before I knew it, my vision had gone and I was thrown into a void of absolute pitch black darkness.

I struggled to open my eyes and exhaustion weighed heavily on me. The air felt comfortably chilly and smelled like freshly washed linen. I was definitely not on the stone floor anymore, but that was as far as my assessment got me. I tried to move my body which resulted in a horrible burning sensation across my arms and neck. After the pain subsided and I could think again, I looked down only to find that my wounds were bandaged. I tried to open my eyes and was this time successful.

The small room with the ancient wardrobe again entered my vision and I sighed a sigh of relief. I was thankful to be back in my room - in my soft bed. My gaze flickered to my body and I noticed most of my injuries were located on my shoulders and face. The jacket protected me from some of the acid rain's trajectory, but was totally destroyed in the process. It hung over the side of my bed and I winched at the holes that seared through the brown material.

And that was my favourite jacket. I thought, suddenly slightly annoyed. 

It was my only one.

A loud knock almost caused me to jump from the bed, but instead made me hiss in pain. "C-Come in." I managed through clenched teeth and was surprised to see Albert in the doorway. His old face was lined with worry and white hair, a disarray around his head. He wore the same white mantel every day of the week and I never saw it dirty yet. The elder immediately closed the space between us to inspect my bandages.

"Good. They seem to be healing well." He mumbled, more to himself than me. I stared at him.

I didn't like to admit it, but I was indeed very grateful to the old man for carrying me all the way down the stairs and into the room. It shocked me that a man of his age was still able to carry a grown woman all the way through the facility, but decided not to overthink anything while my mind was still so hazy. The bed certainly did wonders for my aching muscles.

My eyes widened when I suddenly remembered what the cause of all the pain was in the first place and jerked my head towards my brown jacket.

"Albert! Where is the magnetic disk?! I thought it was in my jacket!" My stomach twisted into a horrified knot. If I had somehow managed to loose the disk on the way back to the facility then it meant all the pain I had to endure was for nothing.

"Calm yourself child. I took it out of your jacket in order to clean it." Albert consoled and solace settled into my chest. I realized just how draining the conversation was and collapsed back unto my pillows. Albert inspected my expression and smiled. "I am honestly impressed Artemisia. You certainly have earned a well deserved time off after that mission." He walked towards the door and placed a hand on the doorknob before turning back towards me. 

"Now rest and we will discuss everything that occurred, later when you are well." He said and disappeared behind the closing door.

"If I knew you would be this hungry, I would've prepared dinner a lot earlier child." Albert mused in disbelief as I stuffed my mouth with my third helping of warm carrots and leftover bread. Albert's food was always so delicious I simply couldn't help eating too quickly, afraid the taste might disappear if I waited too long. My eating habits didn't bother me much since we were the only two people who ate together. It didn't seem to matter to Albert either way.

After we finished dinner, Albert showed me the magnetic disk I had went to such great lengths to find. I inspected the device closely for the first time since I had extracted it from the crate.

It was a small circular object that reflected an entire spectrum of beautiful colours as I turned it in the dim light of the chandelier. The disk had a smooth surface. It was surprisingly light and made out of very thin material.

It completely entranced me.

"What a strange object... how does it work?" I questioned, not looking away from the disk. Albert's voice came without an ounce of irritation at the seemingly tenth time I had repeated the question. "It is used to store data in a material that is magnetized. A very interesting device isn't it?" He added.

I looked up at him. The old man's eyes were lit with a strange joy that made his blue eyes shimmer in delight.

A love for knowledge and the joy to learn. I realized with a start and looked down at the disk in my hands.

It certainly was extraordinary as I turned it over once more in order to savour the magnificent colours it reflected. I suddenly remembered the conversation I had manage to overhear between the two men. My memory was still hazy after the whole rain incident, but I remembered specifically the project they had discussed. I was positive Albert knew much more about The City and its people than he let on. I handed him back the disk, folding my arms over my chest.

"I have a question Albert. It's about something I overheard while I was hiding in that strange building I told you about."

Albert's gaze immediately turned serious. "I see... then ask away child. You deserve to know more about this world and you most certainly will need the information." I nodded, grateful that he was willing to help solve the mysteries that had begun to pile up in my mind - just waiting to be answered.

"There were two men... I think one was named Will and the other Liam-" I stopped at the sight of Albert's darkened expression. His brows furrowed and his eyes were filled with a lot of different emotions. For the duration of a single second, shock and dread, and even hate crossed his old eyes. He quickly managed to replace them with a studious look.

"Were you able to overhear what they were discussing?" He asked, his voice suddenly tight. I was surprised at how solemn his expression had become and nodded. I never saw him quite like this before. "They were speaking about something that could affect all the people in The City and some kind of project... I... ah..." I groaned in irritation at how my memory seemed to have failed me at the most crucial of times. 

"Damn, it was some kind of project they were talking about. A project that is very crucial to both The City and its inhabitants." Albert did not even try to hide his blatant horror as he answered for me.

"Project GD, Project Golden Dawn." 

I gaped at him. "H-How did you-"

"I should've showed this to you a lot earlier, but it never seemed like the right time." His eyes were storms, brewing with dread. "However it is now. Follow me."