"So this is what that bastard has been hiding from the public." Henrick said, slamming his hands on the table. "His dark secret."
Claudia shared in his anger. "We'll make him pay soon enough." She said, and everyone in the room agreed. Klaus, who was sitting in the back flipping a pen through his fingers that kept changing to a coin and back. Jake and Mila, the couple were sitting together by the computer. Narika stood next to Hendrick, the woman nodded her agreement.
"Question is, who's she?" Gavin, the superhero Army of One, said. He and Sera the Mermaid had joined Spectre, becoming full-time members of the rebel group. "She looks so young, considering." Gavin was referring to one of the many pictures that lay spread across the table-taken by Arlong during William's rescue-it was a picture of a young woman sitting on a throne-like chair, looking like she was sleeping. Cables were embedded into her skin that-according to William's earlier explanation-was feeding Aura to maintain her ignition. Aura that was being extracted by some cube-like machine that Claudia has never seen before. An invention of the Lord Ruler, undoubtedly. It was all inhumane. The man needed to be punished for this. Ada had hinted at his dark secret, but this. Claudia understood the woman's desire to save her brother from himself, but Claudia found it difficult to forgive someone willing to do this to people.
Claudia looked at William. Her brother was leaning against the wall, arms across his chest. When their eyes met, she smiled, glad to have her brother back. Lunam knows what she would've done if Ada hadn't been able to locate the Aura in his silver bracelet, which he still had on. It was also thanks to William that they had made this recent discovery. Claudia had all but given up on finding the dome's weakness, and was going to follow Hendrick's plan to take control of New Miami after overthrowing the Lord Ruler. But now, they knew how to destroy the dome. They knew how to end the Royal's control.
"Hopefully, we'll get our answer when Ada gets here." Arlong said. He had been standing by the table alongside Hendrick and Narika. "One of her Knights told us she'll be wanting to have a chat with us before we make our move on Imperium." Which was tomorrow. Tomorrow… The day that Spectre's rebellion comes to its climax. They will assault the Lord Ruler's seat of power. The building that had stood tall and strong since the dome's creation, despite being attacked by rebels and superheroes in the past. All of them had failed to put a dent on Royal rule. Spectre will be a different case.
"Yes," Claudia said, regarding everyone in the room. "She called me a few hours ago. She's on her way. In the meantime, we should go over the details of our plans one last time."
"To think that the dome turned out to be just another ability." Hendrick commented, almost laughing. He looked at Claudia. "Looks like it's your plan after all, Claudia. I'm still against destroying the dome of course, but I recognize that Operation Overthrow was your work, not mine." Even though he said that, Claudia knew he wasn't planning on following through. And based on Narika's and Arlong reaction as they exchange looks, she knew he had a plan within her plan. Claudia had yet to find out what his end goal was. She decided to have another meeting with her most trusted Spectre members later about that. In the meantime, she had to trust that whatever he was planning, aligned with her plans.
"Then let's get started. Jake, if you will." She said, walking over to Jake's computer and nodding at him.
"On it, boss." He started typing, and on the large screen, appeared the details of Operation Overthrow's final phase. Claudia went over it with the group. What everyone's role was. What they needed to do, and what to expect. "We'll be splitting into three distinct groups. The vanguard. Those that will assault Imperium head on, will deal with the Royal Guards. This group will also serve as a diversion. They will fight until our second group-the infiltration group-accomplishes their goal. The infiltration group will consist of William, Narika, and a third volunteer." Claudia looked around the room.
"Me." Klaus raised his hand. "I'll do it."
Claudia wasn't too sure of having someone she didn't fully trust to do the most important job of this operation, but she had to admit, Klaus had the most knowledge of Imperium. And he wasn't a bad fighter.
Claudia glanced at William for confirmation. He nodded. She trusted her brother enough to handle any betrayal from them two. "Alright." She continued. "The third group will be me and Hendrick. Our main objective is to seek out and deal with the Lord Ruler's Royal Knights. Heimdal in particular, he'll be our toughest obstacle. Arlong, you will be moving about the battlefield injecting any Royal you can with the nullifying serum we stole from Imperium. Make sure you stay invisible at all times. And Gavin, you will be staying back using your clones to mask our actual numbers like last time." It had worked during their capture of Beodulf. It was thanks to him that Spectre didn't suffer any major casualty. "I'm sure Ada will be also helping us by amping up our abilities." She continued to iron out the details with everyone, discussing any weaknesses to the plan, until Klaus interrupted.
"Pardon, boss lady. But you left something out."
"What?"
"Who's going to deal with the Lord Ruler himself?" He said. "He has the ability to nullify all our powers. Or did you forget the abandoned warehouse meeting?"
Claudia hadn't forgotten. She knew what everyone was thinking. If the Lord Ruler does decide to join the fight, it would be over then.
"How long does his ability last?" Arlong asked William.
"It doesn't matter how long it lasts." William said, shrugging. "We wont stand a chance against a lowly Royal without access to our Aura."
"You let me worry about my brother." The voice came from the entrance. Ada walked in-Claudia had let Bob know to let her through-followed by two of her Royal Knights. Claudia recognized them as Wren and Elek. The two that Claudia and William fought weeks ago.
Ada made her way to the table at the center, Hendrick moving aside to let her through. "I see you have everything in order for your assault." She picked up one of the pictures on the table-the one with the young woman-and stared at it with a hint of something in her eyes. Sadness? "Anna…"
"Is that her name?" Claudia asked.
"Hey, where's the new guy?" Klaus asked Wren.
"He's thinking things over." Wren answered. "There's no need for him to know about this meeting."
Claudia guessed Ada didn't bring her fourth Knight for the same reason Claudia herself decided to keep Zale and Obex out of this meeting. The both of them were under the influence of the Lord Ruler.
Lady Ada put the picture back on the table face down. Claudia noticed a hint of. "She was the best of us, before..." Ada looked at the rest of the pictures scattered about. Of people in tanks, with cables sucking their Auras. "Before she was… before we did this to her." Claudia could see it now, in Ada's eyes, it was guilt. Guilt and regret. Ada looked up at Claudia, her face now expressionless. "To destroy the dome, you'll have to kill her."
"What?" Claudia said. "Is there any other way? Forcing her to deactivate her ability, maybe?"
Ada shook her head. "Won't work. I've tried. Besides, killing her would be a mercy." Ada paused, seeming to remember something. "Anna would want this. I know this."
"Her ability," William said. "How does it work, exactly? The dome is part of it. I'm guessing as much. But there has to be more to it."
Ada nodded. "You're right. Anna's ability has the power to bend the rules of reality inside the space around her. She called it a 'room'. It took the shape of a sphere, or as you already guessed, a dome. Within that room she could name a single rule that would govern the reality within that space. Think of Lunam's Law. The rule she named during her ignition, would become a law."
Lunam's Law was taught to everyone before turning 13 to prepare them for their eventual awakening. It was the observable fact of Aura ignition. You Awaken to your ability at 13, then lose it at 20. That was the law. No one knew why, or how. Much like the laws of physics, it was just the way it has always been since Lunam bathed the planet in Aura. Lunams Law had been unbroken since the discovery of Aura. Unbroken, that is, unless you were inside the dome that covered New Miami. It was why other countries had taken an interest in the Lord Ruler.
"You can keep your ability past your twentieth birthday.. Ada explained. "That's the rule we used back then. Simple, yet we failed to see the flaws. We had come up with the idea days before our twentieth birthday. We had little time to think things through."
Claudia could guess those flaws. The Lord Ruler was trying to fix them with the construction of the Eden District outside the dome. Since Lunam's Law no longer worked within the dome, then it meant that no one could awaken to their ability at 13. So children needed to be born outside the dome, and raised outside it until their awakening. Then they would enter it and keep their ability after their 20th birthday. Claudia and William had been one of many who had decided to move to New Miami so they could keep their abilities. That was undoubtedly the story of many Royals.
"All that makes sense to me, sure." Gavin said. "But why does this Anna woman look so young? Based on what you've told us, she should be at least ninety. Yet she looks about thirty."
"One hundred and three." Ada said. "That's her natural age. But we soon discovered what prolonged ignition can do to one's age."
"It slows it down." Everyone looked at Claudia, waiting for further explanation. She remembered reading about it in one of the scientific newspapers. "There was a case study done to a man named Reynaldo Pruit. He spent over 30 years igniting his Aura daily for as long as he could. After twenty three years, he managed to slow down his aging by almost five years. The effects were barely noticeable, but noticeable nonetheless." It was an experiment that required careful planning and managing of one's Aura, since it was impossible to keep it ignited for days on end. It would inevitably deplete and would need to be replenished with a good night's sleep and plenty of rest. A process like that required time and effort.
"Precisely." Ada said. "But Mr. Pruit didn't have an Aura extracting machine that we developed, then built. With it, we found a way to keep Anna's Aura ignited for as long as we wanted. So long as we had volunteers to donate their Aura."
"Volunteers?" Hendrick said. He gestured at the pictures on the table. "They don't look like volunteers to me."
Ada was silent for a long moment, her expression giving nothing away. "My brother's method of maintaining the dome has changed over the years."
"Yeah, no shit." Hendrick said. "So you'll understand why he needs to be removed." Ada glared at him. Even Hendrick understood that if it came to a fight between him and Ada, he'd lose. So he apologized almost immediately. "I'm just saying, if he shows up, then we won't stand a chance."
"I'll keep my brother distracted, long enough for you to destroy the dome." Ada said. "You have my word."
"You said killing Anna was the only way." Claudia interjected, getting Ada's attention. "Why is that? Can't we not convince her to deactivate her ability?"
"As I said before, it wont work. Her mind is… gone." There it was again. The guilt in her eyes. "Prolong Aura ignition tends to break the mind. Anna kept her sanity for almost two years before the symptoms began. Subtle at first, then she became delusional. Until she was so far gone that we had no choice but to put her into a coma. Her body maintained her Aura ignited through what we guessed was a combination of instinct and subconscious will power. Her mind can be reached through her subconscious, you see, with an ability that allows one to enter her dreams."
When reading about Reynaldo Pruit, Claudia had asked herself what it would feel like having one's Aura ignited for an entire day. It would be like being high on a drug with all of the high and none of the lows, for hours non-stop. This woman, Anna, had basically been like that for years.
"I'm not in the habit of killing innocent people." William said. "Especially those who are forced to serve the Lord Ruler against their will." Claudia nodded in agreement.
"It'll be mercy." Ada said, "You'll be giving her peace."
"Then it's settled." Hendrick said. "Ada will handle the Lord Ruler, while the infiltration teams handle the dome's removal. Are we all clear?"
"One last question." Arlong said, "To Lady Ada. It's been bugging me since you started revealing all this information to us. Why now? Why didn't you tell us all of this from the beginning?"
"I am under the effect of Symvasi's ability." Ada explained. "We call it 'Contract'. My brother forces anyone who talks with to undergo this contract. It is a promise between two people where both parties are forced to follow it, lest they fall fully under my brother's control. In my and my Knight's case, we were sworn to secrecy. I couldn't reveal any secrets about my brother to anywho who didn't know."
"And since we already knew," Claudia said, understanding. Zale had told her a similar story. "Then it's no longer a secret."
Ada nodded. "I have been giving you hints. Enough so that you would figure it out and I could remain under the 'Contract'." She was referring to that time she showed Claudia and the others a memory of her past. "I'm relieved it worked out in the end." She paused, glancing at the pictures on the table, then at the computer screen. "Now all know all there is to know. All that I know, at least. And it seems you have a sound plan. My Royal Knights and I will do all we can to assist you."
"You sure you boys are up for this?" Klaus said, smiling at Wren and Elek. "Once the fighting starts, there's no take backs."
Wren said nothing, but Elek did; "I've been itching for a real fight for days now. There are a couple of Royals I've been meaning to test my ability on."
"Good to know." Klaus said, still smiling. He winked at her when Claudia looked at him.
***
Later that night, after everyone had left after deciding to rendezvous at Imperial Square tomorrow right before the assault, Claudia hugged her brother. "I've only been gone a few days." He said, hugging her back. "No need for this exaggeration. Besides, we've spent far longer without seeing each other."
"It's not the same and you know it." Claudia said, stepping away. "I thought you- that you-"
"Was going to lose my ability?" He finished. "Not yet. Not until we liberate New Miami."
"So…" Jake said, clearly feeling a bit awkward. Maya was standing next to him smiling. The inseparable duo. "What do you want my help with again?"
"Right," Claudia said, "I think it's safe to assume Hendrick will betray us somehow. He made it clear that he doesn't like the idea of destroying the dome."
"Yes, we figured as much." Maya said. "He wants to rule New Miami in place of the Lord Ruler."
Claudia nodded. "Yes, and it's only a matter of when he'll make his move against us. We need to figure out how he'll do it."
William crossed his arms. "It's not like he can do much against it. I mean, he'll have to ger through me and I doubt he can beat me in a fight. Far as I know, there's only one person in this city who can actually do it." It was clear who he was referring to. And with an ability to nullify other ability, who 'could' stand against him.
"What about Heimdal?" Jake asked.
"Heimdal can't be me either, not if I copy his ability." William said. "Our fight will always end in a draw. Or, whoever runs out of Aura first." He shrugged. "Anyway, Hendrick can't stop me from destroying the dome."
Though that was true, Claudia knew Hendrick to be a strategist. "He doesn't need to fight you to beat you, Will."
"Well, whatever he's planning, I doubt we'll figure it out before tomorrow." Jake said. "I've been using my ability to spy on him and he's let slip nothing, far as I can tell."
Unfortunate, but true. "We'll have to wait until he reveals his intentions," Claudia said. "We just need to figure out what to do when he does."