The radio continues playing as Jody, Warren and Mel continue to talk in the Archive. Warren looks like he's struggling to keep up. Laura is looking through the books.
"So...what is this 'Veil' exactly?"
"I don't know. I know of it but I don't know exactly what it consists of".
"Couldn't we ask the Archive? There must be something on it somewhere?"
Laura calls down from the books.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!?"
Laura looks more and finds something.
"Here!"
Laura runs down the staircase and rejoins the group. She opens the book and reads.
"The Veil is a realm between life and the 'other-realm' of the afterlife. It is filled with the souls of people who were killed as a result of accident, murder or other non-natural methods. The soul gets caught before it can reach the other-realm and spends eternity in a limbo state. Every planet has its own Veil that can only be accessed by that world but all worlds veils are connected by a shared pathway. Although every world has its own Veil, creatures who die on that world can only access the planet's one rather than their own. So, for instance, if a human was to die on Earth, it would go to the Earth Veil. But if the same human died on Auria instead, it would be caught in the Aurian Veil".
They all look confused. Jody more than most.
"So...there is an afterlife on Earth? I thought Eden was the only world to have one of those..."
Warren sighs in shock.
"I need to start going to church again..."
Laura continues.
"The only way of accessing the Veil is to become close to death so that the collector of souls comes to observe you".
They all look at each other.
"So...who wants to die?"
******
Marakosh, Babylonia.
The Palace halls are empty but for one man. He paces up and down in a straight line. Almost like he's angry, but thinking. He mumbles to himself as he does so.
"Your highness..."
The man looks at the servant that interrupts him.
"Yes, Abu?"
"...I have done what you asked. She is ready for you now..."
The figure nods and turns back to his melancholy.
"Prince Kasim...if I may ask...where will you take her this time?"
Kasim looks at Abu once more.
"I'm going to England. I need to make sure that our brother's death is treated right..."
******
Jody lies on a bed in his Speedfreak uniform. The headpiece is off but he looks at Warren, Mel and Laura who look determined yet worried.
"So why am I here? It's hard to kill me..."
"Because you're the Caretaker. Makes sense for you to do it!"
Jody sighs.
"This wasn't in the job description..."
Laura prepares something on the chest of the suit.
"So, Edenics can only tolerate a certain amount of volts before both our hearts stop. I'm going to go slightly over the threshold so that one of your hearts stop. That should be enough to get you a small foothold into the Veil".
"And if it fails? And I die?"
"Then you'll be the shortest serving Caretaker in history".
"...Fantastic".
Laura turns on the battery. She looks at Jody one last time.
"Ready?"
"Nope".
"Good..."
Laura switches on the battery and Jody jolts. He starts top seize up. After a few moments, Laura turns the battery off and Jody falls back, lifeless. Laura checks him.
"One heart beating...Oh, Jody, be quick...please..."
******
Jody opens his eyes and looks around. He sees a number of people running past him. They're not wholly visible though. They're sort of blurred as they race past him. Jody looks stunned as he looks around and sees the Veil as a kind of city centre. Jody looks around some more before one particular soul becomes completely visible to him.
"You're a stranger here, Edenic..."
Jody looks over and sees her. A beautiful looking woman with red hair, wearing nothing but black.
"You know I'm Edenic?"
"You're touching the Veil. I can read everyone that comes through".
Jody nods.
"THIS is the Veil?"
"Yes".
Jody looks around once more.
"This is Woking City Centre!"
The woman walks up to him.
"Why are you here, Edenic?"
"I'm here to help you".
"How?"
"My sister saw someone from the Veil. They said that someone is after you".
She looks him up and down.
"You're the new Caretaker...why are you dressed like that?"
"I'm the Speedfreak".
"You're Jody Patrick Kent. The Speedfreak is yet another fantasy you've adopted".
"What do you mean 'another'?"
She laughs.
"You're an Edenic who's trying to be human. You've completely adopted the name of Jody Kent despite knowing that isn't your name".
"It is. I'm a child of Earth!"
"You're an alien making play he's a man. Isn't that right...Torah al-Nivah..."
That struck a nerve. Jody looks angry.
"Torah al-Nivah is dead..."
"He very nearly is..."
Jody sighs.
"I'm here to help you. Why are you making me the enemy?"
"Because we can't trust anyone anymore".
Jody takes one more step forward.
"Tell me who's after you. You evidently know. So help me to help you!"
The soul looks sour again. She concedes.
"We don't know his real name. We don't know his true identity but we know the name he goes by".
"The Ripper-Snapper?"
"Pfft. A media fairytale. A name constructed by the living so as to maintain control and make up for the horror. The real name he goes by is Lifeforce".
"Lifeforce?"
"He's a being who can kill and consume the souls he kills before they can reach the Veil. The Veil is a place of safety. Lifeforce forbids them by consuming them..."
Jody thinks.
"That's what he was grabbing in the footage...a spirit?"
"Correct".
"Woah...this suddenly got real..."
"If he consumes enough souls in the same way, he could become powerful enough to enter the Veil itself and consume everyone here. And we'd be powerless to stop him. It's up to the living to stop him!"
"How do you stop someone like that!?"
"He can be stopped. You need to extract the soul energy from the souls he's consumed before he gets too powerful".
"And we do that how?"
The woman looks at her watch.
"I need to go...good luck, Torah..."
She vanishes.
"NO, WAIT, HOW DO WE STOP HIM!?"
She's gone. He looks annoyed as he looks around some more.
"Jody..."
Jody looks over and sees a familiar face. His expression turns to one of sadness.
"Roberta..."
"Get him, please. You need to get him!"
"How do I do that!?"
Roberta smiles.
"You're Speedfreak. You'll think of something..."
Suddenly, everything starts to go white. Jody reaches out to Roberta. She just smiles as she fades from view.
"I'LL FIND TRAGEDY FOR YOU! I'LL FIND HIM AND MAKE HIM PAY!"
Everything goes white.
******
Jody wakes up with a start. He sits bolt upright as he takes a large breath. He splutters a little bit before looking around. He's in the Archive. He looks at Laura.
"It worked!"
"Jody, you were gone for hours!"
"Don't care. I know what we're dealing with now..."
Warren smiles.
"You have a name?"
"Lifeforce".
Warren's expression falters again.
"I meant a PROPER name".
"They only know him as Lifeforce!"
Warren closes his eyes in annoyance. Laura grabs Jody.
"The Veil...what's it like?"
"Honestly?"
"Yes!"
"...It's Woking".
Laura looks confused. Mel comes running over.
"Ummm, the computer's going weird! It's saying something's entered Trillingham airspace!"
They all run over and see something on the screen. Warren sighs.
"And who the hell is this!?"
Jody puts his headpiece on.
"Soon find out..."
He speeds away as everyone looks at the screen. Laura sits at the control and taps some buttons.
"Let's see if I can get the cameras on my side..."
******
Jody stops at a quiet crossroads in the city. It's night-time now but it's quiet. He hears a whooshing and looks up.
"Jody? Can you see what it is?"
"It's flying..."
"We know that. Is it a Natural or an Aug?"
"Can't tell yet..."
He hears another whooshing.
"HEY! YOU! YOU'RE VIOLATING BRITISH AIRSPACE!"
Jody sees a skyscraper and runs towards it. He runs up it until he gets to the roof.
"SHOW YOURSELF NOW!"
Nothing for a moment. It goes quiet. After a few quiet seconds, he hears a whooshing heading towards him from behind. At the correct moment, Jody engages his speed to it goes into slow motion. He moves out of the way as he sees a man with a sword miss him by an inch. The man flies past slowly for Jody. Just long enough to get a good look at him. He's dressed in brown with his mouth, forehead and nose covered. Only his eyes on show. But that's not all...he's standing on a carpet. Jody looks confused as he sees the carpet, seemingly flying, move past him.
Jody stops his speed and everything returns to normal time. The man on the carpet flies away into the darkness again. Jody looks confused.
"Jody? Can you describe him yet!?"
"I can describe him perfectly..."
"Ok. So, what are we dealing with?"
"...would you believe me if I said Aladdin?"
Speed freak vs Aladdin
ReplyDeleteThe battle that was always meant to be