Chapter 14 - Experiments

Clementine shot up from bed her back drenched in sweat. Her breath and heartbeat were frantic and accelerated, Clementine felt as if there was a weight pushing down on her stopping her from breathing.

Clementine struggled to calm her racing thoughts and frantic heartbeat as she shocked violently remembering that final vision. She tried to shake the thoughts out of her mind but they had an iron grip on her, this wouldn't do she had to leave to run away from the vision she saw. Clementine nearly crumpled to the floor as she attempted to pick herself out of bed, her legs collapsing like jelly.

Clementine gnashed her pearly white teeth, trying to stop herself from shaking, but nothing worked. Finally, she bit down harshly on the inside of her gums drawing a little blood.

The mixture of pain and the tang of iron woke Clementine from her fears as her body stopped shaking like a leaf. She slowed her racing mind and allowed her fears to momentarily pass through her. Feeling her strength return to her once more Clementine wasted no time in leaving the inn. She hastily bolted out of the inn and to the carriage service which who were currently reigning the horses and preparing the carriage. 

"How much longer until the first carriage can leave?" She asked impatiently. 

"Well, darlin', I reckon you'll have to wait a spell for the carriage. We ain't got them runnin' every minute nor those fancy pants metal horses like y'all city folk are used to. It'll be 'bout an hour 'fore we are done prepping the carriage. So why don'tcha take a seat and enjoy the fresh air?" The man replied with a large degree of snark in his voice.

Clementine wasn't offended by the man's aggressive and snarky tone she knew that during this era of time, the working class was often treated horribly by nobles and the rich, and even if she was a little ruffed up she did look like a lady of higher breeding. Even so, she didn't want to stay here any longer, her whole body was on edge as though she may be attacked at any moment. She wished to return to the relative safety and comfort of her dorm room. 

"I'll pay handsomely if you can perform a rush job. Please I need to return home as soon as possible it's urgent." Clementine coaxed as she dug out a few extra bonze coins from her bag to present to the man. 

The man gave the coin purse a little once over and looked at the state of tension and distress that Clementine was in. He let out a reluctant sigh as he pushed his rough hands through his brown locks. He silently presented his hand and allowed Clementine to place seventeen extra bronze coins in his open palm before he was satisfied. 

"Hey, y'all! Listen up! We're gonna have to hustle and get that carriage prepped in twenty! I know it's a rush job, but let's get'er done quickly! Move it, folks!" The man yelled to several other workers urging them to work faster. Clementine gave the man a large smile but he brushed it off as he returned to work. 

And true to the man's word the carriage was prepped and ready for Clementine in a whopping twenty minutes. Clementine boarded the carriage and off it went which helped immensely to ease her tensions. 

What Clementine didn't know was not long after she had left that small town a group of heavily armored and loaded men arrived in the town and began ransacking and pillaging. The destruction and devastation was so great there was no town left. 

....

It had taken some time, several stops to allow the horse to rest and eat, but Clementine had finally returned home to her dorm. Upon her return, she had bolted to her shower to wash off the many layers of dirt, blood, and dust that had caked onto her body. The washroom at the inn she had stayed at was far too old and unkept for her to attempt to cleanse herself so she was still dirty.

Her clothes were swiftly tossed into a disposal unit as the damage from the prior events had completely ruined the garments. Coming out of her shower she dressed herself in a soft green pastel chemise gown, her damp hair pulled up and out of the way, and her delicate feet in soft house slippers.

Finally with a moment to rest Clementine opened her bag and dumped out the blueprints and strange Ether Stone that she had acquired. She grabbed several scientific instruments in hopes of studying, testing, and understanding the overall properties of the Ether Stone. Knowing that testing the Ether Stone would take the longest, Clementine wisely started that first and decided to use the long wait time to read and analyze the blueprints. 

As she had noticed earlier in that secret laboratory in the quarry most of the blueprints were incomprehensible. Many of the notes detailing the invention were written in a language that Clementine couldn't read, and for the ones that she could the blueprints were incomplete. This greatly displeased Clementine as she wasn't quite sure of the purpose or function of the invention, but it was increasingly clear that the original inventor was incredibly talented.

All that she could comprehend and grasp at the moment was that this mysterious invention was heavily reliant on the equally mysterious Ether Stone. Clementine predicted that either the Ether Stone had a unique power that wasn't replicated in other Ether Stones or its energy output was so great that no other Ether Stone could compare. 

A small beeping sound interrupted Clementine's thoughts. The test she had done on the Ether Stone was complete she would find out which of her hypotheses were true at this moment, it would bring her closer to understanding the mysterious blueprints. 

Unfortunately, the test was mostly inconclusive, the instrument in question could not detect what kind of secondary power the Ether Stone held and it didn't give her any conclusive data on its energy level. Clementine sighed in frustration this would not satiate her curiosity and it only left her with more questions that she could not answer. 

Clementine put this new research aside as she scurried off to bed because frankly she was exhausted from the harrowing ordeal. As she had a strange sensation that she was forgetting something or someone important. But put those thoughts behind her as she reasoned that they must not be very important if she couldn't remember them and with that she drifted off to sleep. 

....

Elsewhere the group of men that had swarmed and raided the town were brutally torturing a man. If Clementine were present she would recognize the man in question as the carriage worker that had urged his men to perform a rush job and had driven her back home. 

The carriage driver was badly beaten, fresh whip wounds, blood, and burn marks adorn his body. He had passed out possibly from the pain or the brutality, which angered his tormentors. They splashed him frigid water waking him up from his stupor. 

"I'll ask one more time, did you ever pick up a suspicious-looking outsider and drive them out of town." The tormentor growled sharply. 

"I ain't seen this damn person you're talking about, and I sure as heck ain't help me either." The man hissed out in pain. 

"We know that there was an outsider in town that left after you drove them, so why don't you start telling the truth before I shove my boot down your throat!" 

"Ha, you boys ain't gonna get anything from me so why don't you piss off." 

The torturer harshly whipped the carriage driver several times causing the poor man to scream and groan out in pain. "Tell me now!"

"That fella is hidin' in the biggest, most packed city you ever seen. You'll be searchin' for a needle in a haystack. Might as well give up now!" The carriage driver's taunting earned him a harsh slap to the face which he returned by spitting on the torturer boots. 

The torturer snacked the carriage driver around a bit before knocking him out entirely and then turned to face a red-eyed man who had been watching the whole display. 

"Sir you heard him just now, it seems as though the thief with your item is located somewhere in Aurelia Prime. That's all this dog would say but don't worry I keep at it until he reveals more." 

A loud gunshot rings out as the red-eyed man delivers a chilling smile as the brash torturer falls to the ground dead. "This is what happens when you deliver me half-baked information! Now, doctor you better have some good news for me such as the precise location of our escaped bird." He hauntingly said turning to face a cowardly man. 

"I'm sorry but the amount of interference from the other Ether Stones in Aurelia Prime means that I can't track down their exact location." The man mumbled in fear as the red-eyed man gave him another haunting smile. "But I should be able to fine-tune a new device that might be able to focus in on the Ether Stone's frequency or...at least traces of it...sir." 

"You have one month to create this device or I'll give you a full demonstration of a fate worse than death. And someone get rid of that stain," He gestures at the beaten carriage driver, "We can't have any loose ends."