Prologue
After the Cataclysm
Facility A-37, Waldersberg, Nyland Province
Gefreiter Blady's eyes snapped open. It did not do him much good, as everything was pitch black. Had he gone blind? He could not hear anything either. Had he gone deaf as well?
What had happened? He must have lost consciousness, but why? His mind was still in a fog, but his training pushed him forward. He needed to assess the situation quickly. Again he asked himself, what had happened?
He was escorting General Dubcic with the rest of his security detail. The colony's Core Unit was out of control. The General was trying to shut it down, and then... What?
Other than not being able to see or hear anything, nothing seemed out of the ordinary with his body. He was only hurting a little from apparently falling onto the deck. He might be a little bruised, but nothing more than that.
He was just about to try getting up when there was a flash of light. Reflexively, he closed his eyes, but at the prospect of being able to see, he slowly opened them again. The light dimmed to a level that was more bearable and Blady saw a pair of feet standing in front of him. The feet belonged to a young man not even twenty. Blady remembered him as being with the man called Grummond, an Arcanist, apparently. A little ball of light floated above his hand.
"Looks like I'm not the only one," the young man said. "Can you stand?"
He crouched down and extended his other hand, which Blady cautiously accepted. It was a little ridiculous that a Kommando-rated bodyguard for general staff was being helped to his feet by this little beansprout, but it was only the beginning of the implausible things he would witness.
The young man refocused the ball of light so that a beam shone outward like a flashlight. As the light slowly swept across the control room, Blady saw the human shapes frozen in place, technicians at their consoles, his fellow bodyguards, even...
"Herr General?"
General Dubcic stood there with his arm raised to shield himself from the blinding light that was the last thing Blady remembered before passing out. While his clothes and the clothes of everyone else appeared untouched, the flesh had changed. It appeared dark and hard like stone or maybe some sort of metal.
As Blady started to reach out and feel it for himself, the young man said, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you. It might spread if you touch it."
Blady pulled his hand back and looked to the young man, who was getting a closer look at one of the bodies.
"It appears to be some sort of petrifactive effect," the young man said. "Caused by the Core Unit, I would guess. What is this? Bronze? Curious..."
He looked behind him to where part of the ceiling had collapsed and the body crushed underneath it with the lower half of the body sticking out. It was wearing the same sort of hazmat suit as the young man.
"Ah, poor Master..." the young man said, though he did not sound particularly distraught.
He stooped down, observing the blood pooled around the body, then got up and went over to a body on the floor. It was the man the General ordered Blady to kill, Patil.
"One of you killed Director Patil, correct?" the young man asked. He did not sound hostile or fearful. He was like an investigator simply confirming the facts.
"Yes," Blady said, not going so far as to admit to doing the deed himself.
"Even though he was dead prior to the energy release from the Core Unit, he is petrified the same as the others, who we can assume were all still alive at the time. However, Master Grummond's body remains flesh and blood as we are. What do you think is the difference between Director Patil and Master Grummond?"
"He's an Arcanist," Blady said.
"As am I, and you..."
The young man stepped and put his hand on Blady's chest, saying, "If you'll excuse me..."
The young man closed his eyes and Blady could feel a faint warmth spreading through him.
"Yes," the young man said. "It's weak, but the potential is there. I guess it wasn't enough for you to be drafted into the program, but it was enough to save you from the curse. What do you think we'll find if we check on my colleagues in the containment area?"
The glass of the observation window was a mess of cracks, looking like a fine spider web.
"That's three layers of fused silica at the point of failure," the young man said. "I don't have much hope for what's inside."
He shone the light through the window and moved it around inside the containment area. If there was supposed to be people inside, there was no sign of them.
"I guess they were too close," the young man said. "So much for testing my theory."
"Your theory?" Blady asked.
"It would appear that the curse doesn't affect people with the capacity for the Arcana. Even latent ability such as your own was enough to protect you. We'll know for certain if we can find others like us, but I have some concerns."
"What concerns?"
"The Core Unit is the cornerstone maintaining a habitable environment on the planet. Without her, the planet may revert to its previous state, which would be quite inhospitable."
Blady glanced to the body of Director Patil and said, "That's what he was saying."
"The Director understood the essential nature of the Core Unit," the young man said, "but with respect to your General, killing her may not have been the worst option. We would have had time to get offplanet. Maybe not all of us, but some is better than none."
"We can't get offplanet?"
"In the worst-case scenario, the shockwave from the Core Unit affected the entire planet. Not only will some 99.99% of the population be fit for decorating a botanical garden, but also damn near all the electronics have been knocked out. Salvage and repair might be possible, but the damage is likely catastrophic and we'll be dealing with a severe shortage of manpower with the know-how we need to do something about the situation.
"Now, that's the worst-case scenario. Who knows? The effect could be limited to a radius of a few kilometers. Everything could be fine so long as we get out of the city."
"Is that what you think?" Blady asked.
"No," the young man replied gravely.
All this was well above Blady's paygrade. Despite his youth, the young man seemed to know what he was talking about, so it seemed like a good idea to bet on him and follow his lead.
Blady then asked the young man, "What do we do?"
"Well, we can start by getting out of this hole in the ground," the young man said. "I have a feeling your strength will come in handy. What's your name?"
"Blady. Stabsgefreiter Lenid Blady."
The young man offered Blady his hand and said, "Belmond Weiss. Fähnrich Belmond Weiss."
As a warrant officer, the young man was entitled to a salute, but as he was seeking a handshake, that was what Blady did. Young Weiss had a small, delicate hand that Blady feared he might crush if he was not careful.
"Let's get going, Mr. Blady," Weiss said. "I have a feeling we've got a long journey ahead of us."
Blady stopped and looked back to General Dubcic. Protecting him was Blady's duty. It did not feel right to leave him.
"There's nothing we can do for him or any of the rest of them right now," Weiss said. "If they can be saved, this is about the safest place for them until we figure something out."
Blady nodded. Right now Weiss was the best hope for the General and Blady's comrades, so protecting him would be Blady's new mission.