The Wild Lands: Legend of the Wild Man (25 page)

He feeds those religious fanatics half-truths and they gobble it
down like Garden veggies. He'll lie about
the Wild Man
like
he lied about the storm>

truth? How do you think the Spire would feel if they knew that
Prince Skup tried to kill
the Wild Man
, before destroying
his home?>

“Don't call me that!”

His outburst surprised them both. They walked
in silence for more than a few paces. believes in Naturalism> his tone said he was sorry when his
words would not.

destroyed the jungle>

They walked another few silent paces before
Skup asked spirits?>

he
is?>

just mad we accomplished something he couldn't.>

has been doing this a lot longer than we have. He's brilliant, and
we might've ruined all of his plans>

where you kill Jacob's
biselk
while the Spire looked on and
cheered?>

Urea actually hissed at that. She had been
through a lot today, for the second time in as many minutes, Skup
wondered if he was drifting away from his sister. She was so hard
to understand sometimes... they were the same age yet sometimes she
acted so naïve. Could she really buy in to Naturalism, even with
all the knowledge their privilege afforded them?

Wild Man
> Skup didn't like using the last two words but
it sent the chill down Urea's spine he'd been hoping for.

we did, only more effectively. Now that
you
delivered the
Wild Man
to him he'll make sure there are no loose
ends>

As soon
as Skup said it he understood how much he meant it. He was scared
of those apes, even the old one. There was something about them,
something ominous. He'd never admit it to another soul, not even
Urea, but part of him, the little boy buried deep down, thought
that Ntelo was right about them being sent by Nature. But instead
of all that he blamed Baucis wants them in the program.>

“There's two?” Urea's words, spoken to the
empty hall stung Skup like only hidden secrets can, when?>

would've told you sooner but Baucis...> Skup was peering around
the hallway, looking rather paranoid.

then, indignantly wouldn't implant one with a VRC. They're too smart>

biselk
?>

“You're so...
cruel!
” The tears that
spilled out made the words sting that much more. Skup knew he was
cruel... he had to be. The flock demanded it, but is that how his
sister saw him too? Had piloting the
vultus
affected him
that much? Or had he always been that way? Maybe his influence
turned the birds into the malevolent, infighting flock that they
were. But he didn't think so, he thought cruelty, like kindness,
had its time and place, but that most of the time people did what
they did simply because they had to. There were so few actual
choices in the Spire, and so few people actually got to make them.
Which brought him back to...

bandage them up and send them on their way>

she
sounded exhausted, and Skup knew she was, but he had to go on, he'd
kept his secrets and it had done good for no one but Baucis.

away>

Skup chose to ignore this. He'd rather have
been dueling
howluchins
than sitting as Baucis's trophy. He
supposed he understood how Urea must feel most of the time. Still
he went on. She had to understand.

practically salivating over the thought of them working the Garden.
I've only ever seen him like that when you're synched with your
panthera.

knew all this why would you put them in his hands?>

and watch as my flock was euthanized? I can't stand it up here in
this prison. All these games taunting me, reminding us all of a
golden age we'll never have again. The flock is my only escape. I
had to show Baucis they're still worth something>

Everyone knows that>

<
E
veryone
loves to watch
your magnificent hunts, dear sister. People think very little about
my vomiting birds and their love of carrion, and Baucis
still
risked your
panthera
against Jacob's
biselk
. Both of you are as important as my flock, but not
for much longer, not if things go as Baucis plans>

Urea started to protest, Skup heard her
mumble in his mind, but she stopped. They were at Baucis's
door.

Skup rapped on Baucis's door and the opaque
force field dematerialized.

Baucis stood in the center of his office, a
hexagon like every room in the Spire. It was the old security
headquarters, located in the very center of the fifth floor. It
still had ancient televisions wired to cameras that once watched
every gambler in every square meter of the entire games floor. Some
of the screens still worked, and though Baucis publicly denied it,
most of the cameras did to. The room was also amplified, so Baucis
could see almost anything. He could watch any action that involved
an Evanimal, however magnificent or tedious from either the pilot's
synchronized perspective or from the cameras that recorded their
body movements. The twins both silently prayed he knew nothing of
Zetis's chiming program.

Currently the footage of Urea's
howluchin
biting the other's jugular played on the screen
from a variety of angles recorded by both cameras and by the VRCs
of those in attendance. It seemed Baucis recorded every perspective
possible. Urea watched in disgust as she witnessed--through a
hundred different sets of eyes--the murder she committed with her
thoughts if not her own hands. It made her sick to see it all
again.

“Enter,” was all the Master Ecologist said.
Skup and Urea obliged.

“What exactly... transpired this evening? I
need to assure the Spire that it will not happen again.”

Skup turned to Urea, daring h
er
to
share her theory with the conservative mind.

“The
Wild Man
did something,
pheromones or psychic power--”

“It is an ape, nothing more!” Baucis hissed,
the he continued, coldly “If I wanted to hear mystical gossip, I
would have summoned the High Priestess.”

“The ape
was
up to something sir. The
Howlers were acting strangely,” Skup said.

"
Something?
” Baucis asked icily. “I
can make my own pointless conjecture. Thank you. Those incompetent
howluchin
pilots were distracted, caught up in the
excitement of the evening.

“Sir I handpicked that team-” Urea said.

Baucis cut her off, “You're too self
deprecating Urea. I know you were overwhelmed too. Look at your
footage.” Every screen in the room bit the uncontrolled Howler's
neck, then turned to the caged ape. “Look at the static! This looks
like amateur synchronization. You were as distracted as the rest of
them. They just don't have your considerable skill.”

“She's trying to tell you that was the
Wild Man
!” Skup growled.

“Oh come now. You're not hiding your own
shortcomings? Are you going to blame your
vultus's
embarrassing loss to the ape on some mysterious force as well?
Perhaps your maturing brain is rejecting the Implant,” Baucis
turned to watch the screens. “I knew you were both too young.”

“It's not us sir!” Urea pleaded. “The...ape,
his will was in the
howluchin
with me!”

“I expect this drivel from your brother but
not from you. You were all distracted by the beast. Your more
gifted mind simply managed to retain control longer than theirs,
thank Nature. The ape does not possess superpowers. Its no more
dangerous than the other Evanimals.”

“Perhaps the Evanimals are the problem” Skup
added dryly.

“If that is your opinion you will be
grounded.”

“You won't do that.”

“Elia shows promise. I think some
independence could do her well. If you disagree, then you will tell
no one of the mis-perceived dangers of the ape. I do not want the
Spire rejecting my proposals before they've even been made.”

Skup left it at that. He'd let the arrogant
old man have the last word, and he'd keep on flying as much he
liked.

Urea and Skup trudged back towards their
quarters. They needed sleep if they hoped to have successful
synchronizations tomorrow. Evanimals could sense fatigue in them,
and would spend the day testing their limits if their pilots
couldn't maintain dominance.

Wild Man
is planning to
escape> Skup chimed.

he made the
howluchin
destroy the VRC?>

Urea chimed,
barely a whisper.

we give them credit for. They implant almost all of the VRCs. They
probably understand that damaging the chip would free its
friend>

Have you ever actually watched them unsynchronized?>

Urea had to admit she hadn't.

complicated. They put a chip in the animal's head, the animal acts
different. No chip, no difference>

likely that the
Wild Man
gave the Howlers some intention,
like we've been doing for years. He just has used a different
mechanism>

Urea didn't like that idea at all. She was
already quite convinced the
Wild Man
was clever and
dangerous, and she didn't like that it understood the Spire more
than they did the earth. Combine that with Howlers intelligent
enough to know how they were being controlled... and that led to...
what next, her
panthera
fighting for freedom? Thankfully
that one was down on the surface, and the Spire with its
electromagnetic charge stood in between her and the predator. The
whole idea made her shudder. Urea was only certain of one thing:
Intelligence could be dangerous, especially if it was caged.

Wild Man
ourselves. We would have a better idea than anyone about what's
going on inside its head>

Skup nodded in agreement, but looked
perplexed. No more secrets, he told himself, no matter how
terrifying sharing them could be.

not the
Wild Man
... He’s too old and too small. The one I
fought... he...>

Terror, true terror showed in Skup's eyes. He
said nothing more. Urea had learned a lot this day, she had come to
understand more than she realized she'd ever really wanted to, but
learning that the ape in the cage wasn't the
Wild Man
wasn't
news to her... The
Wild Man
didn't have gray hair or walk
with a hunched back.

The
Wild Man
was watching their every
move, she knew that in her bones. He was biding his time, like a
coiled serpent basking in the sun, waiting for the perfect moment
to strike.