~~~
As the women ran, Ivy told her plan to N’yami, asking if it
could be done. She agreed, The women ran out between two booths, to the right
of the fight. Ivy shouted to her friends “I
have an idea! Just don’t let it shoot me!”
She walked, calmly, toward what was acting as the back of
the machine. “Halt! We surrender!”
An attempted shot was deflected by a flash of orange, and
Ivy stood in front of the machine, hands open and empty. “We surrender. What
are your demands?”
An oddly flat, monotone voice emitted from the machine.
“Searching for UEF power source.”
Ivy nodded. “Take me.”
“Females are inferior UEF conduits.”
Ivy scoffed. “Maybe once, but not anymore. Check Devon’s
memory. My name is Ivy, and I am a UEF expert, who teaches others how to
channel energy. I am a prime power source.”
There was a pause. The machine wobbled a bit in the air,
then slowly lowered itself to the ground.
“Meredith, did
she show you my plan?”
“Yes! I think
you’re insane, but yes!”
Ivy shuddered in fear as the elongated glass dome lifted up
to allow her in. She looked over the seat for a moment, hiked up her skirt, and
straddled it. It felt comfortable, right and normal as she slid her hands into
the tubes that would give the system access to her.
There were words scrolling across the lit panel in front of
her. “Please put on helmet, for your safety.”
“Are you more concerned about my safety, or do you want the
power?”
There was a moment where nothing was on the screen, then Initiating diagnostic.
Ivy felt a rush as the power of the universe flowed through
her. The seat shifted and adjusted beneath her, adjusting for optimum comfort
and support. Her hands felt warm, as they did when she was healing, and she
could feel the machine pull power through her, into itself. Ivy had trained her
whole life so that energy could optimally move through her, and in turn those
she healed. Where the channels to the UEF in the average person was like a
raindrop rolling down a window pane, Ivy’s channels were like a great
waterfall, pouring the energy of all things, unencumbered. The ancient glyphs
that had been drawn on her body as a child, marks on her soul, not her physical
body, began to glow softly, for the first time in her life visible. The glass
canopy lowered, sealing her in, and began to rise again.
UEF Link superior.
Welcome pilot to your Hovercraft
Ivy shifted her hands, felt the responsiveness of the
machine as she experimented with the controls available to her. She found what
felt like a ball under one thumb. She was able to move it, and as she did so,
found different instruction options scroll across the panel in front of her.
She chose Eject Gunner.
Unable
to comply. Gunner necessary for full function.
Ivy snorted. “You worked fine without a pilot. The gunner
wasn’t even the one shooting, you were. Release him, so that when an acceptable
gunner comes, we can take them on.”
There was a pause, and Ivy felt the craft lower again. She
heard the sound of the canopy behind her, the one encasing Devon, lifting. She
could feel the moment her friends pulled Devon’s body from the ship. Alas, Ivy
was fairly sure it was just his body they pulled out. The machine had drained
the entirety of his life force in order to run. He had been dead before she
even got on the hovercraft.
Once he was out, the machine closed the gunner’s hatch, and
lifted silently into the air, hovering about a foot above the ground. Ivy did
have to admit, it was an intelligent design. With both people in this odd,
upside down canoe, there was no back. Either end could be front, and now that
Ivy was front, the ship faced a curved stone wall.
“Let’s get a feel for how you
work, shall we?”
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