Stones: Theory (Stones #4) (56 page)

Laughter explodes from every direction. Thousands of voices speak gibberish at once. Out of the chaos, a single high-pitched scream rises above the rest. The scream turns into a familiar voice that bores its way into Matt’s head.

He belongs to us.

Matt concentrates on his Stone. “You. Will. Leave. Him.” A perfect sphere of white light bursts from the Stone’s tip, enveloping Matt and illuminating Miyazawa’s body, floating in a horizontal position only a few meters away.

The darkness coalesces into a multitude of floating spheres, each morphing and bending through a random series of shapes. Matt can see gaping mouths with vampire fangs. Snake-like tongues and jellyfish tentacles. One shape that tends toward scorpions and spiders grows larger than the rest. It turns into a vaguely humanoid woman, but with multiple legs and arms. She stares at the body of the priest, and then her eyes move to the Stone in Matt’s hand.

“You’re dead, Jhata.” Matt says. “Leave him.”

He opened himself to us. He wants to give us the power.

In the darkness, Matt grips the Stone and moves closer to Miyazawa’s body. “You lost, Jhata. Lost everything. No life. No love. And no power.”

She explodes into the shape of a fat snake that wraps itself around the priest’s body.

He is ours.

As Matt stretches out his arm, the outer rim of the sphere of light emanating from his Stone brushes against the snake. It recoils back and rears its head, flashing a large cobra hood.

“No,” Matt says. “You have no power over me.”

All sound is sucked away, leaving behind a silent vacuum. The dark forms morph into shapeless mouths with dagger teeth. They lunge at the body of Miyazawa, entering and penetrating through his skin. His back arches at a grotesque angle.

Yarah’s screams pierce the silence.

Loosening his grip on his Stone, Matt lets it rest on the palm of his hand and concentrates on Miyazawa. Particles of light lift from the Stone like snowflakes and cover the priest’s body in a thin layer, a second skin.

It won’t be long now,
Matt thinks.

Bits of dark matter pour out of Miyazawa like black blood from a sponge. The light picks them up and pushes them into the emptiness of space. Barely audible shrieks of pain rise and fade until all goes silent.

Matt closes his hand around the Stone. “Are you OK, Yarah?”

Her trembling voice stirs in his mind.

I’m alive.

Leaving the dark space behind, Matt opens his eyes and looks down. The palms of his hands still press against Miyazawa’s sweat-drenched temples. Yarah lies on the tatami a few feet away, breathing hard.

The priest’s eyes slowly open.

“H
ave you been in the Mesh recently?” Kalani eyes his slate and tosses it onto the desk. “It’s turning into a fairground for gangsters and religious fanatics.”

Jing-wei lifts the bowl of ramen noodles up to her mouth and sips juice from the rim. “It’s been like that ever since I can remember.”

“But this is different. It’s getting worse.” Kalani stretches his arm and picks up a spear leaning against the table. Touching the tip with his thumb, he draws a spot of blood and licks it off. “Has he told you his final plan?”

“He told me the same thing he told you.” Jing-wei extracts a long string of noodles out of the broth with her chopsticks and slurps it up, quickly and efficiently. “He’s letting it run wild so that everyone gets sucked in, and then he’s going to clamp down. Pull the plug.”

Kalani rams the tip of the spear down on the wooden desk. “Like a trap, right?”

“That’s the idea.”

Digging a deep gouge in the table, Kalani draws the weapon to him before dropping it and reaching for the slate with his other hand. “Have you seen this?”

“Seen what?” Jing-wei drinks the last of the brown broth and puts the bowl down.

“I’ll put it on the holo.”

They both look at the white sphere floating in space at eye level, like a crystal ball. A long black ship with a segmented body floats by. It looks like a centipede, but with only small legs at the front and back. It approaches a massive castle resting on a foundation of clouds.

Kalani points at the building. “Just a random Mesh-point set up by the Swiss government to invite visitors to the Alps. You go inside and get a quick tour of local history and cuisine.”

“Sounds fairly generic.” Jing-wei points at the black ship. “What’s that, and what’s it doing here?”

As they watch, the ship docks at the base of the castle. A long slit opens up in its belly. Armored soldiers pour out like a black flood.

“Chinese,” Kalani says. “It’s got People’s Liberation Army written all over it. They’re already adapting the new Mesh for military purposes. The entire Red Army has received the implants. I intercepted a message with high quantum encryption.
Control the Mesh, and you control the world.
Something stupid like that.” He grits his teeth and punches his fist through the empty air where the holo hangs. “This is just a test run. They’re planning something big. Same with the Japanese.”

“And the Americans.”

They both turn in the direction of the voice and see Ryzaard standing behind them, gazing at the holo. “Yes, I know all about it. After all, I now spend most of my time in the Mesh.” He walks around the table to the other side of the holo so they can see him through its transparent interior. “And I could destroy their work at any time with less thought than it takes to tie my shoes.”

“Then why don’t you?” Kalani stands.

“Because it’s playing out exactly as I hoped.” Ryzaard drops into a chair, mouths a cigarette out of a pack of black Djarums and lights it with the other hand. The tip glows bright red with his inhale. “It’s the last dying breath of the old civilization. Let them play their idiot games while they can. They’ll be all the more ready when the new order comes.” Smoke pours out of his nostrils toward the holo.

As they stare at it, light flashes. The door of the castle is blown away. The hordes disappear into its interior.

“The new order,” Kalani says. “When will it come?”

“When the blue jewels cover every land, continent and island of the sea. When every man, woman, child and infant is securely within my grasp. When this singular instrument of freedom has cut the chains that hold humankind bound.” Ryzaard blows a long stream of smoke into the holo as the castle shakes and crumbles into a gray cloud. “Then the old world will pass away, and all things will become new.”

Jing-wei picks up her slate. “Final shipments of the implants will be ready in three days. Penetration will reach in excess of 98% two days later.”

“Five days,” Kalani says. “I suppose I can wait five more days.”

“S
o it’s true.” Miyazawa flexes his hand in and out of a fist and wraps the fingers around a cup of green tea. “My predecessor, Naganuma Sensei, had a Stone?”

Matt’s sips from his own cup. “Yes, it’s true. He had a
magatama
Stone and taught me how to use mine. He spent a lifetime studying them and looked forward to the future they would bring.”

“He betrayed you to Ryzaard?”

“I’ve often thought about that.” Matt stares through the window and follows a hawk that circles high above the courtyard. “From his perspective, he was doing the right thing.”

Miyazawa runs his fingers through his hair. “But how could he—”

“He was deceived. Plain and simple. Ryzaard promised he would use the Stones to bring Paradise to the earth. That is, in fact, their main function. It’s a teaching that forms a common thread in all religions.” Matt puts the open cloaking box on the table between him and Yarah.

The two Stones, superimposed on each other, look like a double image. One is purple, and the other green.

“But my old master was wrong.”

“When Naganuma Sensei found out that Ryzaard’s plan was to use the Stones to impose Paradise by force, he died trying to protect me.” Matt leans back on his hands. “I owe my life to him.”

The priest turns and stares out the window. “What day is it?”

“October 26th.” Jessica kneels down and places four teacups on the low table.

“Five days.” Miyazawa shakes his head and sips more hot tea.

“Until what?” Jessica sits cross-legged on the
tatami
.

“The end.” Miyazawa’s hand goes up behind his right ear. “Of everything.”

“What do you mean?” Matt says.

Miyazawa pulls his white robes closer around his chest, shutting out the cold. “Please forgive me. It’s still difficult to know what’s real and what isn’t. Ryzaard has been manipulating me for so long.” He takes another drink of tea and closes his eyes, as if letting it slowly permeate his body. “I saw a delivery schedule for shipments of the implants. As I recall, the deliveries end on October 31st. All the days are blank after that.”

“Halloween?” Jessica says.

“What’s going to happen?” Yarah stops playing with the floating pieces of tofu in her miso soup and looks up.

“I don’t know exactly, but it’s easy enough to guess.” Miyazawa carefully licks his lips and draws in a long breath. “Somehow, Ryzaard controls the implants, giving him control of the mind of every person that’s received one. There’s no reason to think he will wait any longer than he needs to. Once the blue jewels have all been distributed, once everybody has one, he will initiate the final stage of the plan.”

“Total control. Paradise.” Matt picks up an
inari-zushi
rice ball wrapped in fried tofu and takes a bite out of its middle. “Do you know of any way to stop him?”

Miyazawa stares out the window at the lone cherry tree in the courtyard. The early morning sun is just beginning to touch its branches. A breeze catches and pulls a handful of leaves out of view.

“I know the location of several fabrication plants along the coast, but they are heavily guarded. Ryzaard has dozens of identical plants scattered across the globe, churning out implants around the clock. The locations of all of them have never been revealed to me.” His belly moves out with a long inhale. “Even if we destroy the ones here in Japan, he can easily shift the manufacturing to the other plants. Destroying them would only be symbolic.”

Matt nods. “Symbolism may be all that we have left. At the very least, it would send a message that he’s not in total control yet.” His gaze drifts up to the classic Japanese painting of a cherry tree that hangs high on the wall behind Miyazawa’s head. “Give me the coordinates of any of the fabrication plants you know of, and I’ll be happy to start there. With some luck, we may able to find the location of the other plants before it’s too late.”

The priest puts down the teacup. “What can I do to help stop Ryzaard from using Shinto for his own ends?”

“Keep making appearances at your Mesh-point. Preach peace and unity, just like you always have.”

“But what about the
Kami
?” Miyazawa bows his head. “Now that you have cast out the filth inside me, it seems that everything I’ve said about them is a lie.”

“No,” Matt says. “It’s not a lie. They exist, and we
can
become one with them. I’ve seen them. Seen their world and what they do, how they live.” He reaches across the table and puts his hand on Miyazawa’s shoulder. “You were right to believe in it, to want to share it with the world. We will be one with the
Kami
someday. And it will be Paradise. Just not the same Paradise Ryzaard has in mind.”

Miyazawa stares at the wood grains in the table. “Ryzaard controls the Mesh. He controls the governments of the world. He controls the movement of finance and commerce. In five days’ time, he’ll control most of humankind.” The priest lifts his finger to the implant behind his ear. “How can we fight against that?”

Lifting the bowl of miso soup from the table, Matt drains its contents and puts his chopsticks down. “We have a few things in our favor. He doesn’t control me. He doesn’t control Jessica or Yarah. He doesn’t control our Stones. He doesn’t control thousands of people from the freedom camps who refuse to receive the implant. And he doesn’t know that your eyes have been opened. Now show me the location of the fabrication plants. I plan to pay them a visit.”