Chapter 29

I made my way straight down to the Portal Room to find was empty. I didn't need to wonder for long as Aly spoke across the room.

They are in a meeting room  deeper into this complex, Clive.

“Cheers Aly," I replied, heading towards the main double doors that opened to reveal a long metallic corridor. As I walked through, she spoke again.

The third door on the right. There's a large meeting room.

I picked up the pace reaching the door swiftly, it sprung open for me with a gentle hiss. Two-hundred-and-forty visored faces, most sitting around a long table that filled the centre of the hall, turned to stare at me.

I gave them a wave and strode in. “Hey everyone, how's it going? Do we have any kind of verdict yet?"

A black armored Guardian jumped up from his seat, his tone indignant. “I was told we were to be given time to reach a balanced decision! We have yet to research the full depth and breadth of what has befallen this universe.”

“That is what I was led to believe too. It seems our new administrator is not an Alo-im of his word,” a deep voiced orange added with open hostility, though his words were directed at the room rather than me.

“Woah, simmer down sweetheart. Over an hours past, so I thought I’d pop my head in to check on you. I know it’s pretty calm down here, deep under a protected Administrator Hub, but my friends and I are out there trying to save existence. We’ve got lots to plan and knowing if, when and how you guys fit in is integral to everything we do going forward. Is that so unreasonable of me?"

“It is when you give us the time to work out our position in this new situation, then come and harangue us. I doubt we would be subject to such treatment from a true Alo-im such as Hakanilaris. And I am not a sweetheart!"

I didn’t get a chance to respond, which was a shame, as a gray banged his fists of the table most of them sat around. “Bah! Shut up Ezerius. You don’t speak for us all and right now you’re doing more damage than good." He turned to me. “I'm with you, Administrator Clive. I will fight for your cause and do my duty. Most of us here are eager too."

"That's not true," a blue, with a light female voice stood. "Many of us are still undecided.”

I clapped my hands together with glee. “Perfect. It seems to me like everybody has made a decision. I can work with that.”

"That makes no sense, Administrator," the blue replied. She cast a look around the room that despite her full armor was easy to read. She thought she was dealing with an idiot. She finally settled back on me. "If we are undecided, that means we haven't made a decision."

"Of course you have! After an hour, you've made a decision to be undecided. That means I can work on you. I've got three different brackets here. Three different categories, the yes the no and the maybe.”

"And you will have to work on us all," the orange named Ezerius said. "I'd be very interested to know why you think we should risk our lives for you when we are, after all, an extremely rare resource. As the remnants of an entire incredibly powerful race, it is a foolish risk to use us in battle."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You really gonna pull the powerful race demanding of respect card on me? After the Alo-im abandoned the entire universe and all of the people in it? Including you guys? You're gonna have to do better than that, orange, because if I don’t win what exactly do you think you’re going to be a rare resource for?”

“Don't mind him,” The red, Alturis said. “Ezerius has always been argumentative. He'd say dark was light if you pushed him. He’d have made a good red.”

I smiled at Alturis who seemed a lot more relaxed than our earlier meeting, while Ezerius did the visored equivalent of fish-mouthing at the insult and the ground he was rapidly losing.

“I’m with you too,” Alturis continued. “But we’re working on the numbers. The way these avatars are designed means our true strength comes in our unity. We need an even spread of power across all of the Neuma’s. If we lose a full color here, then I’m afraid we won't be of much use to you.”

The gruff gray Guardian who’d sworn his allegiance to me spoke up again. “And you should know that even though most of us will help you, we can only defend the place our Guardian focus is set.”

“How does the Guardian Focus work? Does that mean you couldn’t come and fight with me if we go back to Onnekus to attack?"

"The Guardian Focus sustains and allows us to hibernate when we're not needed. Think of it like an Avatar battery. It is the only way we can replenish what Neuma we have lost.

“It’s area of effect is fifty miles in any direction from where it is located. We brought the focus through from Administration Hub One. So we could potentially move that to another location on this planet if it’s your main base.”

“It is,” I said thoughtfully. “I’ll have to have a good think over what we can do with that. Do you know if we could build more Guardian Focus’s so you could move around the planet to where you’re needed?”

It was the vibrant and jolly silver, Kai who responded this time. “No, Administrator. We have to be assigned to the Focus, which takes time. We were intended as a defensive option only.”

To her credit she sounded disappointed by that. I gave her a thumbs up. “That’s fine, Kai. I’m just happy to have you guys here. At least those who want to be here.”

I looked across the room and saw my self reflected in all of the visors. “Would you all separate into groups please. Those who don't want to help, those who don't know, and those who are with me.”

"You need to wait,” Ezerius snapped. “We have not finalized our numbers yet."

I ignored him. “If you want to leave, come to the front of the hall. If you want to stay, go to the back of the hall. If you're unsure, then move to the centre."

Ezekiel was at it again. “You do not dictate to us what we do until we have made the decision."

“I'm asking you as the Universal Administrator. What reason do you have not to do it, Ezerius? Come on mate, let's get this over. It's clearly an ordeal for you."

Despite his protests, everybody else began to shuffle around, moving into position. Approximately one-hundred-and-sixty made the decision to serve me. A further sixty weren't sure, and twenty apparently had made their mind up that they didn't want to help. I focused on those wankers first.

“So you guys are abandoning your duty, eh? In that case, we don’t need you here stinking up the place. Go back to the portal room until we're sorted. Then we’ll work out what to do with you guys.”

“Our duty is to the Alo-im, which you are not. Which means you cannot make us leave the room.”

I frowned at him, effecting a puzzled expression. “Are you alright Ezerius? I’m worried about you mate. You just said you don’t want to be here. Now you’re telling me you refuse to leave.” I spoke to the room as a whole again. “Do we have any Alo-im psychiatrists here? I think your man Ezerius is having a breakdown or something.”

Kai snorted, which led a series of chuckles from around the armor clad crowd and sent Ezerius up a level in his outrage. “If you all want to betray your people, then you will suffer the consequences.” He spun back to me. “Free me from my position so I may leave and join a true Alo-im!”

“Do you take me for some kind of idiot? If you don't want to fight with me, that’s fine. But I’m not setting you free.”

“So you intend to hold us against our will?”

“No. I intend to hold you to your fucking word. Which, whether you like it or not is to defend me. You might not like the circumstances, but then that's life, isn't it? I was speaking to everyone now as I continued. “I don't even know if any of you will even need to fight, but I'd like your support, even if it’s just knowledge and training. If you can’t offer that, then I'll either find a way to put you back in hibernation or put you out of the way until Hakanilaris is finished. Then we can discuss your position again.”

“You will get no support from me, ,” he snapped and marched from the room. The twenty Guardians who supported his stance moved to follow him, though they were clearly uncertain. I shouted after them. “You guys really don't have to separate from the others like this. If you don't want to fight, I won’t ask you to, I swear. Like I said, I would be eternally grateful even for training, or you supporting your brothers and sisters.”

A few actually paused to listen. One of them spoke. “We are the last of our people. A font of lost knowledge. It would be unwise to send us all into battle.”

“I agree, and I completely understand your desire to keep yourselves safe after everything that's happened. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to wake up to a world with such changes, so your fear makes perfect sense to me. And if we’re going to save this universe, then you guys are going to be seriously important to the future of the races who are still here. If there's a way we can make lives for you here, then I'm all for that. Hell, I'll even free you all from your duty once we're finished with Hakan. Until then, you have to understand that I can't throw away assets. If I discard something that can help us in this fight and we don't make it, then it's been through my choice and my weakness that we fail.

Ezerius was back, jumping in at the last of my sentence. “Don't listen to this fool sway you with his drivel. He is a dictator and nothing more.”

My fists clenched reflexively. Familiar rage burnt inside of me and I drew myself up, shoulders back, and stepped forward. Instead of socking the bastard I boomed out in a commanding tone. “Gravity Guardian, Ezekiel. Return to the portal room and wait there still and silent, causing no trouble until I come to see you. You are dismissed.” I was about to add a threat to finish strong, but as I’d hoped, my word carried obvious weight and he marched off, alone. The other prospective leavers all stood watching me expectantly.

I wasn’t going to make it any easier for them and merely returned their gaze until finally a copper of Decay spoke. “I would like to adjust my vote to helping. I do not want to fight in this strange war."

“A cascade of agreement for the copper’s sentiment echoed not just from the other nineteen leavers, but also many of the abstainers behind me. Sadly, as I didn’t have the luxury of a helmet, I had to suppress my grin.

A moment later, the suppression was unnecessary as Aly spoke into my mind.

Clive, Sania has asked me to alert you to her readiness to depart for Holse and wishes to know if you still want to join them for the initial insertion.

“Sounds a bit risqué, Aly. But yeah, I need to be there. Tell her to give me five.”

It will be done.

“Be warned,” a purple said while I was distracted. “We still haven't looked through all of the records. I wish to learn more before finalizing a decision to help you or return to stasis. Though that is proving difficult as many of the records are damaged or deleted.”

It was a perfect excuse to leave, so I nodded at her. “You can thank Hakan for that handy-work. But...”

“Yes, the AI told us. Hopefully, we can piece some kind of history.”

“I hope so too. I’d be very interested in hearing a summarized version of events from you once you know why the hell they left us like this.”

“I can only imagine. We will tell you what we can if the path runs true.”

“Thanks, now I have to pop away for a little while, but I’ll be back soon enough to work all this out with you. You should probably know that you’re not only inside Toukal’s Distortion field but you’re inside my Sphere of influence now, which means the chance of you being attacked is super small, so relax. Put your feet up. Take your helmets off! I can’t imagine they’re comfortable. Unless you’re like one of those special orders who can’t take their helmets off, or something.”

That comment was greeted by around a quarter of the room laughing heartily. It was Kai who answered. “Oh, Clive. Do you really know so little.”

It wasn't phrased as a question.

“These are our forms. These are guardian avatars.”

I gaped at the revelation. “Oh, shit. So, like, you guys don't have faces under the visors?"

She shook her head and I could sense a little sadness on her. I might also have imprinted the emotion with my own expectations.

“This is what we are,” She replied. “This is how we look. Each avatar created with our true Core’s strongest affinity.

I absorbed what she was saying and took a moment to respond. “Okay, I'm starting to understand a little bit more now. If we survive this, I’ll see if I can do anything to help you guys live some kind of normal life afterwards. If you wanted, maybe I could help you create proper bodies. I don’t know what you would want, but… yeah…I’ll help you all if I can.”

That was greeted with silence. I wasn’t by the awkwardness, but I was itching to get back to Sania before the headstrong woman just went anyway. “I really must get going. Part of my team is about to head off into dangerous territory. I need to see them off.”

“Do they have Divine cores?” Kai asked.

I winced. “No. And one of them is my true soulmate.”

Kai nodded. “In a gesture of most of our dedication to you I will accompany them on their mission.”

My head was spinning. “Wait, you can’t leave here…”

“I can for short spells. Up to four hours depending on energy expenditure. I will return if I run low.”

“I can go myself, but she wants to do this herself. To prove her and her team’s prowess. They can all teleport at will and they are hunters.”

I felt rather than saw Kai smile. “I am Air Clive. No one can move as fast as me apart from the light affinities. And no one can remain as undetected as me apart from Dark and Void. Trust me, I can support and keep up with them. I might also be able to help them.”

I scratched my head. It was another unknown factor into an already risky situation, but I finally found myself bobbing my head in part agreement. “Come with me. I must ask Sania first. If she refuses your company, I must honor her decision.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kai replied.