The way the lights dance across the surfaces makes it difficult for Rezic to understand the room around him. Incredibly thin, horizontal monitors line the walls. Rezic sees language dancing across them, but it’s nothing he’s ever seen before. Scanning the area, there doesn’t seem to be anyone in the room, but shadows dance across the darkness, sometimes blocking the monitors momentarily before disappearing into another dark corner. If he had to guess, the room seems circular, but the light around him begins to fade to a less distracting level and the shadows around them grow. Tissea approaches a circular section of the floor that slowly rises to a pedestal as she draws near.
Coddling the ghost despite its ability to float, she gently lowers it onto the pedestal. A small gravity well keeps the ghost in place under a soft, white light.
“It’s time,” she says to no one in particular. The beast stands in her shadow, arms crossed, observing her actions silently. Rezic isn’t sure, but it looks like Tissea glances up nervously at it before stepping back from the pedestal.
The light flickers under the ghost. A low humming greets the warlock’s ears as the ghost begins rotating around some invisible axis. Looking closely, he can see only the chassis is moving, while the “eye” of the ghost remains still. As the rotations quicken, the humming becomes louder. Tissea looms over the pedestal, the reflection of it all burning in her eyes like a fire. Whatever it is that’s happening, she’s been waiting a long time for it, and the energy in the room matches her intensity.
Suddenly, the light erupting from the pedestal shines bright enough to block the view of the ghost. Even Tissea takes a step back and raises a hand to shield her eyes. The visor on Rezic’s helmet darkens to filter the light, but it’s too bright for him to see.
And then just as quickly as it started, the light-show ends.
Rezic blinks away the spots in his vision. Gus’s eyes must have adapted quicker.
“It can’t be possible,” he says.
Rezic squeezes his eyes shut, hoping to clear his eyesight. A laugh can be heard from across the room. Rezic looks this way and that, panic starting to rise. The shadows around the group quicken their pace, while the computers shoot messages across their screens at an incredible rate. Something big just happened.
“Rez, are you seeing this?” Gus asks. He’s closer to the pedestal now, his giant shape blocking Rezic’s view. He moves to see around the mass of armor, and the view that greets him is anything but expected.
He lets out a gasp.
Tissea is standing next to Elsie’s Bray’s ghost.
It can’t be.
The fish-looking ghost weaves a path around the female hunter. The vibrant red glow that once dominated the dark ghost has softened to an orange hue; four small eyes dominate the center where one eye used to be, and the orange effect lights up the wavy “fins” on either side. The previous ghost, and its mechanical, diamond-shaped shell has transformed into a biological-looking gray and orange being.
“I’m sure you have so many questions, Rezic,” Tissea says while the ghost continues to dance around her. It blinks at the guardians, but doesn’t make a noise.
“Tissea, what the hell is going on?” Rezic asks. “How did you make that? Why did you make that? What is it?”
“I told you, I was going to learn more about the Witness and his Disciples. This,” she says while gesturing at the altered ghost, “is part of that education. It’s the next evolution of the Traveler’s ghosts. One that creates an even deeper symbiotic relationship with us. It’s a gift…from the Witness.”
Thoughts race through Rezic’s head.
If what she is saying is true, then the implications of Elsie Bray and her existence in this timeline are far greater than anyone ever imagined. Elsie is a Disciple from her timeline. Could she have been sent by the Witness? Does the Vanguard know her truth?
Rezic shakes his head. There are too many unknowns. Right now, he needs to focus on getting Tissea back, getting off this ship and keeping everyone alive. He made a promise to always protect them. He looks over at Tissea, just in time to see the new ghost fly towards him.
“This being is not of the Traveler, but rather another force. One that this system has not yet encountered.” It starts scanning Rezic as it gets near. Tyr makes a move to stop it, but Rezic quietly keeps him at bay. There’s no immediate danger just yet. “Whether you know it or not, the projectiles that you were struck with have been eating away at your Light. If Tyr continues trying to fix the wound, he will slowly make it worse. My companion, on the other hand, can help.”
The ghost floats behind him. He can feel a sensation on his back. The constant, subtle pain slowly leaves his body. Gus leans over to watch the ghost work, but doesn’t say a word. Eventually, the pain completely leaves the warlock, and he flexes his shoulders. Tyr appears and floats behind him to view the wound. He sees no sign of damage, and his vitals are perfectly normal. Tyr returns to Rezic’s backpack. Tissea’s new ghost floats back to her, turns, and looks at the guardians, content with the work that’s been done.
“Why would you abandon the Light?”
The innocence of the question is amplified by the slight crack in the titan’s voice. Tissea turns her head towards Gus. It’s the first time he’s spoken since they arrived at the bridge.
“There’s a war to win, Gus. You of all people should appreciate that. The Witness is unstoppable, and will bring order to a system in chaos. You’ve seen it for yourself on Mars and Europa. The Witness represents a universal presence that will right the wrongs made by the Traveler.” She scoffs at the name. “The Traveler wields a power it barely understands, and labels it a gift to species too ignorant to know the truth. It sits back, watching us claw and fight each other for its attention, knowing that at any moment it can remove its “blessing” from us and infect the next closest star system.” She stops, looking between Gus and Rezic. “The Witness loves and respects its disciples, and will bring structure to an unstructured universe.”
Rezic can’t believe his ears. Tissea sounds completely brainwashed. Everything from her speech, to the words she’s choosing, she sounds indoctrinated. How could this have happened in such a short amount of time? Tissea left the Tower only three weeks ago. Rezic and Gus decided to follow her only a week after, while the rumors of her disappearance were still whispers.
A low growl greets the guardians from a dark corner. The large friend of Tissea’s has been standing in the shadows, observing the group. The growl reminds Rezic how alien the being is to him. He has no idea what species it even is. The beast lets out another low growl. Rezic isn’t sure if it’s positive or negative, but it turns and walks away from the group in silence. A nearby door opens and closes as it exits.
“Tissea, what happened to you?” he asks while his eyes linger on the spot on the wall where it walked away.
She adjusts her gaze. Rather than looking at him, her eyes focus on a point above his head as she recalls the events of the past weeks.
“I discovered the secret deep within the Europan Pyramid. Something called to me, and when I discovered it I was brought here to this ship. Its name is whispered in the shadows, in a language I don’t comprehend, but the meaning has been explained to me: Fortitude.” She begins walking away from the guardians, heading towards a viewport that was previously not there. She stands, viewing the stars outside. Rezic and Gus exchange a momentary glance, and then walk towards her.
“When I first arrived here, I was lost. Amir was not with me. I searched the ship for hours for him, calling out, with no response. It took me some time, but I eventually learned that he was not fit for the path that I must follow. He had to be left behind.” Tissea leans forward, hands on the edge of the window, as if saying the words out loud caused her to be physically tired. Her head hangs. “That was when I found the others: the Disciples. Not all of them, only the ones assigned to this ship. They explained to me that I had been chosen, by the Witness himself. Something that I did on the Europan Pyramid, maybe something I said, drew his attention to me. Regardless, I was chosen and brought here, for a purpose.” She pushes herself up and straightens out as she turns to her two old friends. “To convince you of the new path that must be followed.”
The look on her face has changed, but only slightly. Like a weight has been lifted. She looks more like herself, Rezic thinks.
“This ship…it does things to you. The longer you spend time here, the harder it is to fight.” Her voice is strained and her head is bowed. “Time doesn’t work the same way here. What’s been a couple weeks for you two, has been almost a year for me. A year of learning about the Darkness. Learning about the Witness and his Disciples, and their purpose. I’ve…seen things. Things I never thought I’d be okay seeing.” She raises her eyes to look at Rezic, her oldest friend. “We can’t, Rez…”
The warlock meets her eyes, trying to read between the lines. With some difficulty, she gets the words out.
“We can’t win, Rez. They’re too powerful. He’s too powerful.”
Rezic knows how much of a fighter Tissea is. She has the capacity to be as bull-headed as Gus, and she rarely backs down from a fight. What she’s saying can’t be taken lightly.
“Tess,” he says, using the childhood nickname he used to tease her with as kids. “I know I haven’t seen what you’ve seen, but we can’t give up. I want to believe you, but how am I,” he looks over at Gus, “how are we supposed to give up?”
She looks at him, her eyes speaking volumes more than her words ever could. Rezic can see that, but words aren’t enough to convince them to stand down.
“Let me show you something,” she says. A console appears next to her, and the whole ship rotates. Rezic could tell previously, via the viewport, that the position of the ship had them looking out into the edge of the solar system. A few of the constellations that mark home were still visible. However, Tissea initiates something and the stars outside begin to move as the ship turns. It only takes a minute, but eventually larger points in the sky begin showing. Some look larger than others. One in particular has a hazy field around it.
Tissea taps a few more keys and the viewport zooms into the section of space containing the hazy item. With how far the ship sits from it, the magnification is incredible. In moments, Saturn can be seen in full view, Dreadnaught-scarred rings and all.
“We’re still in Sol?” Rezic asks. He hears Gus’s footsteps as the titan moves for a better view.
“We are,” Tissea replies, “but still near the fringe of the Oort Cloud.” The image of Saturn is crystal clear, and if the bar at the edge of their current view is any indicator, the viewport can magnify the image even further. Tissea checks something elsewhere on the computer. “In just a few minutes, you’ll see firsthand the capabilities of the Witness.”
Rezic and Gus stand in silence. Rezic stares at Saturn, his mind reeling at the possibilities. When he and Gus traveled to the Dreadnaught on a hunch that the secret to finding Tissea was lost within, he never would have guessed they would end up here. Fighting their way into the Court of Oryx, his own experience fighting the Taken beasts, all seems so long ago. The last week has been hell and taken its toll on the two guardians. He sneaks a look at Gus, the ever-strong titan still standing like a statue, with no sign of exhaustion showing.
Just past Gus, he can see the dancing shadows again, moving back and forth, crossing the monitors with barely a whisper. How many of these beings are there? Or is it one entity, with many representations? He stares harder into the dark corners, but their movements have decreased.
Looking back out of the viewport, Rezic sees something. Slowly a small distortion appears on the edge of Saturn. For a moment, it looks like an extension of the rings, however, the blue tinge quickly reveals the surprise.
“Is that Titan?!”
“It is,” she replies. She taps away again, and the viewport magnifies, filling the screen with the oceanic moon that was previously lost to the Darkness. As the moon rotates, temporal distortions can be seen littered across the surface. The long-lost medical facilities that covered the moon once again fill the skies. Compared to Mars, these distortions are much larger and much more frequent.
“His plan to win us over is to bring back the Golden Age? Or just create rifts in the time and space wherever he pleases? What happens when he decides to do that to the Last City? Will all these people be lost?”
“Rezic, please calm down. The unknown is frightening, but it doesn’t have to be. This is nothing more than a display. He doesn’t want to wipe out humanity. He wants us to prosper, and not just within this solar system. We can become intergalactic beings, just the same as he has promised other species.”
“You don’t actually believe that, do you?” Gus asks. The titan is having a hard time believing that Tissea has actually been indoctrinated. His arms hang limp; his hand loosely holding the grip of his shotgun. He’s still facing the viewport.
“I’ve seen it. In other systems. Whole planets left to prosper with a Disciple in place to keep order.”
“And how long did you stay? How long until the iron will of the Witness forced those planets to fuel his war machine?”
“Not very long, but the gratefulness of those on the planet was plain enough to see. Organisms of any type love order. They’re frightened of disorder.”
Rezic shakes his head. “No one with this much power can have good intentions, and complete control is not the answer to the chaos in our system, or anyone’s for that matter. The relationship between the Last City and the House of Light is proof that free will of individuals within chaos can lead to incredible things. Things we never thought were possible.”
The image of Titan continues spinning slowly on the screen. Quiet beeps from other nearby monitors fill the silence between the three friends. Rezic wants to say more, but doesn’t want to push her away by forcing his opinion on Tissea. How long has it been since the three of us have stood in the same room? How far have we come since then?
Tissea clicks away from the image, and leans against the viewport again. She opens her mouth to say something when suddenly the bridge is lit up brighter than ever before. Rezic swears that he can see the shadow-beings dancing away from the intrusive light, hiding in their corners of safety.
The walls remain bare as the light drowns out the digital interfaces from being seen. Previously hidden from view, some stand-alone consoles can be seen in the middle of the bridge forming a bow-shaped line facing Rezic’s right. The center of the room is empty. No crease can be seen in the floor where the platform originally carrying their group came through.
“What now?” Rezic asks Tissea.
“I didn’t do that…” she replies. The fear in her voice echoed by the look on her face.
Writing by Adam 