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For the next few hours, Callen didn't leave his workshop. It progressively became messier and messier with parts as he worked on Niknak's tank and began working on designing his new gun. The designs were expanded on the nearest display screen.
He rotated Carnwennan, attempting to mimic Niknak's skill as he scanned through layers of computer programming from Niknak's brain. He dropped the knife and cursed as the guitar rifts of Gun's and Roses rang in his ears. He bent over and picked up the knife, which had stuck in the floor, and he returned to his work.
He flipped through all the information of Niknak that glowed on the monitors. He tried to figure out what exactly was extracted, but the clues were few. He found himself wondering if he actually had the technology here to do any of this. The equipment in the facility was more advanced that what was here in Felix's shop. That idea got him thinking even further and the realization that the technology that every one of the knights here considered 'advanced' was only a few years beyond what was commercially available.
"Callen." A woman's voice said from the door.
He didn't hear her, a warm hand on his shoulder jolted him from his work. He turned, expecting to see Ania or Sadie, his jaw dropped when he saw the smiling face of his mother. "Mom?! You’re okay!” He smiled at his mother. However, his joy was bittersweet and his smile faded. He stared at her wheelchair and tears of joy and sadness grew in the corners of his eyes. “Can…I…”
“Yes…” Eve said warmly. “You can hug me…But, you must learn to swallow those emotions, Callen. They do you credit...but they are something the enemy will exploit.”
What she said didn’t really soak in. He just hugged his mother. He had saved her, but not without cost. The emotions overwhelmed him and his tears rolled down his cheeks. Thoughts of this being a dream snuck into his head. Given the circumstances, it was a longer hug than the average teenager would. When he was sure she was real, he let her go. “Mom…I thought..." He sat back down in his chair and pretended something was stuck in his eye in order to wipe the tears away.
She smiled, and in her smile, he could see that much of his mother's physical strength had vanished. "Dr. Brewer told you all he would have progress for you in a few days...which was a lie to give me time to adjust to this..." She stiffened her lip. "But, there's no way I was going to wait to see you. He told me what you did."
Callen nodded. "I couldn't let you die mom. But..."
"You did well." She smiled. "No buts."
He sighed. "What about you walking? You can't fight like that, and I don't think we have even scratched the surface of what's happening..."
She nodded. "I know, Callen. From what Dr. Brewer said, I got lucky. The poison from those nalkori should have killed me, but for some reason it only crippled me."
"I guess that's what they were planning on for me and Ania too," Callen said. "I think they were after Dad's cross and whatever Dad locked away before he disappeared. It's just speculation though."
Eve nodded. "I think your reasoning is sound. If it wasn't, we wouldn't be here." She sighed. "So, I guess we lucked out and all of this was just the wake of something bigger than us. But, right now, the council is deciding what action to take based on everyone's reports. Did you make yours?"
Callen shook his head. "They're not going to do anything, so what does it matter?" Callen asked, rhetorically. "Last time, they yelled at each other and made me solve the problem. Just like in the movies or my games. Leadership never makes a decision until it’s too late. I hear the doubt in your voice."
"You're jumping to conclusions, pup," Eve said. "Let them do their jobs, and do what you can to help. Someone had the wisdom to allow you to work with Felix, right? And look at what that accomplished. Your victories."
"Fine, I'll make a report, but, nothing that happened feels much like a victory," Callen admitted. "But, I know what you mean. I still can't escape this foreboding feeling though...things are going to get worse..."
“Our family has been a part of this secret order of knights for hundreds of years. One might say, that dealing with horror is in our blood." She looked at his hand as he grasped Carnwennan. "I see you have my old knife. I let Niknak borrow it all those years ago. Your great grandfather would be happy it's remained in our family..." She glanced at the variety of electronics in the room and nodded when she saw the partially disassembled pistol. "Going with a revolver, eh?"
"I thought about the automatic, but it won't work as well for what I wanna do," Callen said.
"I think it would be a good choice even if you weren't doing something special. But, we've had that conversation before." Eve admitted. "Looks like you started with some designs from your favorite sci-fi movies and the basic hellbreaker plans...and are taking quite a few personal design liberties..." She quickly looked at the notes on his plans. "Impressive."
"I'm having fun with it." He smiled. "Everything is custom designed and crafted, right down to the materials I'm using in the casing," Callen said. He grinned. "The Nano-metals that I used in the barrel, well...it miniaturizes rail gun technology...this things gonna be sick..."
"You sound like your father." Eve smiled. "But, that's not enough for a weapon like that. The weapon needs a name...it gives it a soul...but don't give it one yet. Wait until you get a feel for the weapon. I'm sure that it will come to you. Oh, and Felix got you into UPenn..."
"Wait, what?" He sounded excited.
"Yep." Eve nodded. "You're gonna be a material science and engineering student...accelerated doctorate track...under Felix. There's a lot of work going on there with cybernetics...and it might help you fix Niknak.” She glanced at the tank "You got a week or so before classes start..."
"Wow." He grinned with excitement. However, what happened wouldn’t leave him alone. "Mom..." His voice changed to a more serious tone. "So much has happened. I have so much to tell you and I have so many questions..."
Eve nodded. "I know, and we will have time to talk about what you saw down there." She sighed. "And there are countless questions that need answers, most of which we are probably better off not knowing."
"Like what The Many is, those weird masks Dad had and Virette wanted, details on Biocore...and..." He paused and took a deep breath. "The clones someone made of me..."
Eve nodded and swallowed the look of horror on her face. "That is truly...disturbing," Eve admitted. "But, many twisted things happen when eyes aren't watching."
"Mom, what happened to Dad?" He looked at his arm. "All of this is just so hard to believe...yet here I am...it all seems like a nightmare rolled into a dream."
"That's how you know it’s real," Eve said. "As for your father, well...he made some decisions and fell into something that had implications that stretched across the world. He found something...something that disturbed him deeply, as both a father and a scientist. I know that's vague. But, to keep you, your sister, and me safe he didn't tell me much."
"What did he tell you?" Callen asked.
"It revolved around an evolution...a re-imagining of what it would mean to be human...I remember him muttering about becoming 'gods.' But, I have no idea what that meant. When I asked, he said it's better not to know."
Callen moved some parts around on his desk and picked up his father's old leather-bound book. "Maybe this has answers..."
Her eyes grew wide. "Keep that hidden, pup," Eve said solemnly. "Your father's book cannot fall out of our family's hands again..."
"So, it definitely is Dad's. I thought it looked like the one he gave Niknak..."
"There's a lot of power in that book, and they're not for just anyone," Eve said. "So, keep that out of sight. Does anyone know you have it?"
"Just Ania and Felix," Callen explained. "I shoved it in my bag before anyone came back or woke up..."
Eve's face looked sligh
tly concerned. "I know you and Felix are close, but tell him you returned it to me, if he asks. No one can know that you have that. According to the order's traditions, there are things in there that are not for your eyes."
"I can't read it anyway..." Callen sighed. "Felix said it was written in Alchemical Script."
"I said according to our order's traditions, Callen. I think you'll find away to unlock your father's secrets." Eve said, with the same mischievous half grin that Callen had inherited. "That being said, proceed with caution. Xeviel's traditions are archaic and have placed our family in a difficult position...and much of the reasoning behind it is hidden from us."
"Xeviel?" Callen asked. "What's that?"
"Not what, but who. Xeviel is an archangel and the mythological founder of our order of knights. We are his hunters, holy wolves cloaked in shadow. We live in the shadows and of shadows we live. Secrecy is our most powerful weapon, and what you have there in your hand is unsanctioned. So, keep it away from prying eyes."
"Maybe it will show us why the knights are torn on Dad being a traitor?" Callen asked.
"Possible," Eve said. "But I left with you and Ania before any of that went down. But regardless, I did what I could to keep you and your sister hidden from all of this as your father told me to. It would have been fine if it weren't for..."
"My cancer," Callen said.
Eve nodded.
Callen touched his left arm and ran his fingers over the dark metal stains. "Well, I'm cured now." He said. "Whatever that means."
"I know. I remember seeing the metallic fluid in your father's files. When I saw your eyes, I knew." Eve said. "But, your father said there would be a cost...what that is...I'm not sure..."
"Perhaps it's been paid," Callen said. "Now, we can never go back to how it was in Boston."
"Let's hope so," Eve said.
"So, what do you say we start trying to find out what happened to him?" Callen said. "Maybe he's still alive and he'll have some answers."
"I'm sure he's still alive," Eve said. "I don't know how I know, I just know. But, there are dangers..."
"Yeah, so?" Callen scoffed.
"I wasn't protesting," Eve said. "I'm saying we got a lot of work to do before we start."
"Yeah, there's a ten-year-old cold case..."
"Not just that," Eve said. "I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Derrick, the nalkori, or whoever the Harbingers are. If that's the case, you're not ready...you're far from ready."
"Who are they mom?" Callen asked. "What they did to Derrick and those nalkori was...like..."
"The darkest nightmare." Eve's expression grew hauntingly dark. Her eyes held a new layer of tarnish, left unspoken. "But, beyond that I haven't the slightest clue who or what their motives are. Believe me, I wish I did. Then maybe I could have stayed ahead of them for longer. But then again, you wouldn't be cured. So, I'll take my own advice and count my blessings." She smiled warmly and looked at Carnwennan. "So, what do you say to being totally prepared for the next time?"
Callen looked at his mother and smiled. He felt the cooling melody drift through his mind and he smiled. "You mean..." He noticed her tomahawk was resting next to her in her chair. The same tomahawk that had cut the nalkori.
"Yup, Eve said with a foreboding smile. "Time for you to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors and become The Hand of Xeviel. Not only is demon slaying in your blood, but the order has been without a Hand since I took you and your sister to hide." She sighed and looked at her legs. "I'm in no place to..." Her pain appeared briefly on her face, but it disappeared quickly, like a wounded soldier in the middle of a battle. "In addition to taking command here, politically, it is what I will have to do..."
"Xeviel's Hand?" Callen's face wrinkled with curiosity. "Is that like being a knight?"
"It will become clear with time," Eve said. "There is much work to do...even more before you earn your knife's companion." She rested her hand on the tomahawk and ran her fingers along the blend of Native American and Celtic designs. Its blade shared the same dark blue swirled pattern as Carnwennan. "But, first, you need to spare some time for the young lady with the big green eyes, pretty face, and curly dark hair...soon you're not going to have much time..." Eve smiled. "Ania told me to remind you."
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