Cultwick: The Sweeper Bot Plague (13 page)

The three slowly made their way through the dark streets. Rowland lead the way, with Benedict behind him, and Vincent in the back, keeping an eye on the bank manager. They soon arrived at the man’s home, where he was allowed to dig through his pockets to get the keys to the house. Opening the creaking door, revealed a home completely shrouded in darkness.

“Where?” Vincent asked prodding him in the back.

“My office... this way,” the man said, as he pointed to an adjoining room.

Rowland lit a candle in the hallway to give them some light
, as Vincent and Benedict walked to the nearby room. The bank manager began pilfering through a desk drawer with Vincent eyeing him warily.

“You’d better be very careful about what you pull out of there, buddy,” the bounty hunter told him.

Benedict eyed the bounty hunter, still brandishing the blade, before pulling out a leather-bound ledger. He placed it on the table and then backed away from it. Rowland walked over and began flipping through the contents of the ledger trying to find the names they needed.

The first he found was Markus Morrissey, the owner of the munitions factory in town. Box 103.
Next, he found the postmaster, Hollis Porter, who owned box 672. Finally Dr. Garland Webber‘s name was listed with box 894.

“Well, I think that gives us everything that we need, Mr. Boothe,” the professor
explained.

“Doc,” Vincent began. “Why don’t you go on back to the others and fill ‘em in. Me and the bank manager here still have some things to discuss.”

“Wait!” Benedict wailed. “Don’t leave me with him! You know what he’ll do to me! Please!”

Rowland placed the code device into his pocket and then casually walked away, but before he exited the
home, he turned and said to the man, “Thank you for your cooperation. It was most helpful.”

Chapter 13. Alice the Ardent

Alice found herself recounting the story of how Erynn had escaped custody and caused such discord in Cultwick City. She was in a large, poorly lit, circular room on the twentieth floor of the capital building, the Sovereign Tower. In front of her were five individuals seated at a round table whose faces were partially concealed under the shadow produced by the hoods they each wore. The Cultwick Council answered only to the empress herself, Mary Elizabeth Arkmast IV.

Their leader,
Councilor Desmond Crowley, was known to be a particularly vicious and religious man. For years, Crowley carefully straddled the three pillars of Cultwick – religion, politics, and science. He even worked out of the Center for Empirical Research for several years before joining the council. He then became the council’s leader after the previous two council members died under suspicious circumstances.

The other four members of the council were Grace Murphy, Martin Lynch, Sophia Rhinehart, and Spencer Price. Rhinehart had been brought on board the council at Crowley’s behest. The appointment had surprised many, as she
wasn’t a prominent member of the church as Crowley was. Instead, she was a war hero, earning much fame for her efforts overseas, conquering the nation of Ankalara. The others had, in their time on the council, induced less notoriety, but no less respect and fear from the citizens of Cultwick City.

“Erynn Clover escaped from the containment unit in the Center for Empirical Research after being selected by the lottery
,” Alice began. “She was brought in by two members of the Cultwick Corps, and by their account she didn’t resist.

“At approximately fifteen t
ill midnight, two corpsmen were killed in the slums district. Their bodies were found dumped into a pile of plague victims, naked. One of their heads had been decapitated and left with the body. The other had a wound to his chest. Both injuries appear to have been inflicted by the same weapon - a chrome blade.”

One of the council members,
Councilor Murphy, leaned forward and asked, “Do you know yet who the attacker was?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alice responded.
“I believe that the assailant was the heretic’s automaton, whom she calls Tern. The construct, aided by Professor Maxwell Rowland and his overgrown lab rat, Germ, proceeded to murder and take these upstanding citizen’s clothes.

“
They next infiltrated the C.E.R. The automaton and the rat disguised themselves as corpsmen, and the professor posed as their prisoner. They made their way into the containment area and proceeded to attack the guards posted there.”

“Were there any survivors?”
Councilor Lynch asked.

Alice nodded and continued
, “Yes, but only one guard survived the encounter. He identified the assailants as the Professor, the rat, and the automaton. Professor Rowland and his accomplices proceeded to undo the locks to not just Erynn Clover’s cell, but to all of the cells in the room. There was only one subject that didn’t attempt to escape, Fiona Newton, who I will come back to in a moment.

“The heretic and her accomplices then used a sewage drain to escape the center. A search of both their home as well as the professor’s place of employment
didn’t lead to many clues to their location.”

The council leader, Crowley, asked, “Were you able to discern who these people were on a base level, Operative Page?”

“I believe so,” she answered. “The woman, Erynn Clover worked as a freelance chromesmith, operating out of Professor Rowland’s university laboratory. She lost her parents to the Sweeper Bot Plague when she was very young. Not long after her brother was selected by the lottery.”

Councilor Crowley nodded, stating, “Yes, I remember the boy. He was one of my specimens during my time at the C.E.R.”

“The professor then took her in,” Alice continued. “He allowed her to work on mechanical contraptions, despite his participation in gene transcription. Neither one of them, however have ever showed any true dissent towards the empire.

“It is possible that the heretic harbored some sort of resentment toward the government for being unable to save her family from the horrors of the plague
, but that is uncertain. In addition, Professor Rowland has expressed some anti-church sentiments in some of his teachings.”

“I see, O
perative,” Crowley said. “Have you any idea where they would go now?”

“My expectation,
Councilor Crowley, is that they used the sewers to flee Cultwick City,” she explained. “They likely headed west, to the frontier lands, but still within the Cultwick Empire’s boundaries.”

“Why do you think they would go to the west?”
Councilor Lynch asked.

Alice continued, “This belief is the result of two comments spoken by two different individuals.

“First - a student of the professor made a comment about how he wished to flee to an area uncivilized with our religion. He wished to escape the... and I quote, ‘brainwashing’ from the church.

“Second - the test subject
I mentioned previously, Fiona Newton. Ms. Newton and the heretic, Erynn Clover underwent an experiment with the goal of sharing consciousness. Ms. Newton made a comment about the heretic being in the ‘western’ sun.”

Crowley scratched at his beard before asking
her, “Do you expect the heretic has any ties to that rebellion group forming up in that region?”

“I have no reason to
suspect that at this time,” Alice answered, “but I will endeavor to discover that for certain, sir.”

“What do you intend to do now, Operative Page?” asked
Councilor Rhinehart.

“My plan is to conscript aid from a loyal member of the church to journey with me to the west
ern towns to find the heretic, Erynn Clover. Together we will hunt this woman down and bring her back here, to Cultwick City, to face the justice she so rightly deserves.”

Crowley asked, “You said you had something else on this Newton woman?”

“Yes,” Alice began. “As you may already know, Fiona Newton managed to escape the center two days ago. It is unclear as of now how she managed to accomplish this feat, but in the process, she killed half a dozen guards as well as Dr. Blake Norton. He was the scientist responsible for the experiments she was undergoing.

“Before her escape, however, I made a decision to plant a bio-tracking chip inside Ms. Newton’s skull. I believe we can use that to track her, while she is simultaneously tracking the heretic.”

“Why did you have this chip implanted in the woman?” asked Councilor Price.

Alice paused a moment
before saying, “When I interrogated Ms. Newton she made vague threats concerning her impending escape. While I didn’t expect she would make good on these claims, I thought it best to err on the side of caution.”

Councilor
Price raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why do you expect her to track down the heretic, Erynn Clover?”

“The shared consciousness experiment,” she explained. “Ms. Newton seemed to be seeing or somehow otherwise experiencing what the heretic
was experiencing. In addition, she seemed infatuated with Erynn Clover and bluntly declared that she would find her.”

“You mentioned conscripting help?”
Crowley asked her.

“That’s correct, sir,” she answered.

“Do you have someone in mind?” he inquired.

“Edwin Hollow,” was her reply. “I’ve worked with him before, and I trust he will put the church’s interests as a top priority.”

“Ah, yes,” Crowley began. “Mr. Hollow will prove a useful asset in your hunt. He is currently interrogating a suspected rebel down on the tenth floor. Have the man stationed outside this room take you down to him.”

“Yes, sir,” she added.

“Do you have anything else to tell us, Operative Page?” Crowley asked.

“No. That is all for now,” she replied.

“If you are able to bring in this heretic before she is able to cause more damage, it may be time for you to receive a promotion,” he explained.

“Thank you, sir,” she said.

“The Cultwick Empire thanks you for your service, Operative Page,” he told her, standing up from the table. “Continue your good works and bring this heretic to justice. We intend to make an example of her. Our authority won’t be disrespected. Remember, preach the gospel, but only use words when necessary. You’re dismissed.”

Alice began to leave the room when she heard Crowley from behind her, “
Oh. There’s one more thing, Operative.”

She turned back to face them, “What is that, sir?”

“See that this Newton woman does not become another problem,” he told her.

“I will see to it, sir,” she replied.

Alice exited the council chambers, as the council members themselves left through a door in the back. Outside the room, she was met with an assistant to the council. She was preparing to ask him to take her to Edwin, but he already seemed to know where she needed to go.

“I have been instructed to take you down to the tenth floor,” the young man said.

Alice nodded and followed the man. They got onto an elevator and the assistant closed the door behind the operative. He pushed a button labeled, ‘10’ and pulled down on a lever at the side of the compartment.

When they
stopped, he opened the doors for her and guided a hand outward indicating for her to exit. She did so and waited just outside the doors as he closed them shut again. He then proceeded to guide her down the hallway to a room labeled, ‘Interrogation 3.’

“Here you are, ma’am,” the young man said. “Go on in and Mr. Hollow will be with you presently.”

The room she entered was dark except for on one side, which had a window opening to another room. The assistant closed the door, and she moved forward to look through the glass.

On the other side was Edwin, holding pliers and a hot poker - steam slowly
flowing upward from the red-hot tip. Strapped to a vertically turned table was a half-naked man, littered with sores, cuts, and burns. Clearly, she thought, the two of them had been in discussions for some time.

Edwin was wearing thick, dark goggles over his eyes, allow
ing no light to pierce through his eyes. His typically neat, sandy-brown hair had become disorganized, though his mustache’s curls were still in typical order. A devious smile crept across his face, as he pressed the poker against the rebel suspect’s skin.

Despite his vigorous work, Edwin’s clothes were still quite neat and clean. He had rolled up his white shirt’s sleeves and taken
off his red vest and black bowler, laying them on a nearby chair.

The young man that had guided her down to this floor entered Edwin’s room and said something to him. This caused Edwin to look back at the glass where Alice stood and nod. Edwin grabbed his vest and bowler hat and left the room
. He rolled down his sleeves and slipped the vest on as he exited the room.

The door to her room soon opened up and she slightly turned her head to see Edwin entering the room. She continued to look through the glass at the man being questioned and placed her hands behind her back.

“Has he told you anything yet, Mr. Hollow?” Alice asked.

“Not yet,” Edwin answered. “
But he will. It’s just a matter of time now.”

“Well, I may need you to hurry and finish him up sooner than later,” she said.

Edwin nodded and said, “I heard you might have a job that needs my attention.”

“That’s correct
,” she declared. “The heretic, Erynn Clover. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”

Edwin simply nodded to her and narrowed his eyes.

“I have been tasked with finding and retrieving her,” Alice explained. “The council said I could bring you along to assist in this endeavor, as I suspect I will need someone with your particular skill set to track her down.”

“It would be my pleasure, Operative Page,” he said.

“We’ll be traveling out to the west,” she continued. “We’ll take the train out to Willow Switch and then find transport down to Ash Cloud.”

Edwin nodded and then looked back into the room with the rebel suspect. “Interesting that you say that, ma’am. We’ve heard chatter that the Chromework Confederacy is planning something in Ash Cloud. Is there any relation?”

“I’ve heard the same, but I don’t have any proof that the heretic has joined up with the rebellion as of yet,” she explained. “Finish up with this one, and then we’ll take the next train out of Cultwick City.”

She turned to exit the room, before turning and adding, “And Mr. Hollow, be sure to bring your tools.”