The Splinter Awakens
It had only been this morning that Kelii had stepped through the track to the Five Ways Hotel, and returned to the Bazaar for the first time since she was a child. She was still anxious to be in a place that had become something of a tomb to the memories she’d broken and repressed. But, the first day hadn’t been as bad as she’d expected. Knowing now that she was still standing and still breathing, gave her the motivation she needed to carry on. Seeing her old friend Mar had also helped. The fondness of their time together softened her nerves more than it heightened them.
As was too often the case though, the room that she’d freed up in her mind with her first few breaths of relief, was swiftly filled with a new anxiety. Kelii wondered now, just what impressions Mar would have of her, after all these years apart. As Kelii had grown older, and her knowledge was bolstered with experience, she felt more secure about her future approach to relationships, but also more embarrassed by the way she’d handled them in the past. She’d begun to convince herself that she had always behaved a little awkwardly around Mar when they were younger. She’d been too forward at times, and not forward enough at others. It was all left unspoken of course, but it had scraped away at Kelii’s conscience ever since. For Kelii it was a chance not taken, and an expectation unfulfilled. It was regret, she supposed, though she didn’t feel any regret for the life she’d led up until now.
Kelii’s rational mind doubted that Mar shared these feelings, or even if she was aware Kelii had them, but her anxiety assured her that Mar was fully aware, and was in some way judging Kelii for it.
At least now, while Kelii sat waiting for Mar at a terrace bar in the Five Ways Hotel, the winds of opportunity lay in the thick air of the Bazaar once more.
It was a chance for her to prove to Mar, and to herself, that she had grown into a strong and confident woman. A woman who remembered her past, and learned from it, but never let it hold her back. That was who she wanted to be in Mar’s eyes, because it was ultimately who she wanted to be herself.
The terrace bar extended out from the third floor of the Five Ways Hotel. Its name was emblazoned in a fine gold scribble against black stone, in some alien language Kelii was unfamiliar with. It wasn't a cosy spot, with its sky views of the great Tangled City above, but it was far from claustrophobic, which Kelii was very glad for.
The bar itself was carved from a large slab of Kauri wood. The top had been worked into a smooth matte finish, but the sides had been left untreated, exposing the curves and knots and bark of the original tree. Behind it were 5 shelves of drinks, all from worlds well renowned for their liquor exports. The Liquids that rested inside the bottles ranged from subtle bronzes and tea greens, all the way up to aggressive fluorescent reds and yellows. Kelii thought it made for a nice relief of colour, especially against the familial schist stone that clad the walls behind it.
Circular tables were arranged at random across large white concrete slabs, that were broken up by small gaps of flat tussock grass. Past the tables was a crisp, dewy lawn, illuminated by the warm glow of the hotel, and also by the floating steel gas burners that acted as mobile heating for the bar’s patrons. Kelii sat down at a free table, facing the hotel, with her back to the lawn. She preferred to see Mar coming, than be surprised by her arrival.
Not long after sitting down, Kelii saw Mar approach from the left hand entrance of the bar. Kelii’s thoughts weren’t holding back. There was no denying that Mar looked beautiful. Their short black hair was tied up into a loose round bun and their dark eyes appeared particularly dazzling against the pale schist behind them. Mar was dressed casually, but effortlessly, in torn jeans and a buttoned down shirt that still had the remnants of grease stains on its sleeves.
Kelli stood up to greet Mar with a barrage of hellos and a hesitant hug, followed by an awkward laugh that led them both to sit down at their table.
“So…” Kelii said.
“So!” Mar replied, with a hint of cheek.
“This is a fancy place… it’s nice” Kelii said, looking around at nothing in particular.
“Hey, I’ve got to make an effort for my guests! It’s that famous Five Ways hospitality.”
“Very true!” Kelii said, raising her empty glass. “Shall we order some drinks then?”
Kelii and Mar sat out the rest of the night, exploring one another’s lives up until now. They exchanged stories of where they’d been, what they’d seen, and who they had met. And they’d laughed at old memories that they’d shared together. It was only when the lights of the bar grew dim, and the sounds of its wealthy patrons began to simmer, that they realised the largest flame left flickering was the rekindled bonds of their friendship. Kelii felt happy. The night of conversation had repaired many of her broken memories, and, in this moment at least, the worries of her past had faded away.
Kelii leaned in a little closer to her old friend. “Can I tell you something Mar, I’m not really here for work. My return to the Bazaar is for a more personal matter. I found something, something that could be… special”
Mar raised their eyebrows. “Uh-oh, you’re not going to try and convert me to one of those outer track cults, are you? I knew this night had been too good to be be true”
Kelii smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment” she said before taking another sip of her drink. “Mm, no” she smacked her lips and placed the bitter drink down on the sodden paper coaster. “Not quite that exciting. I found something old buried with a ship we were scrapping out in the Pākihi Basin.”
Kelii did a quick scan of the nearby tables, trying to look as casual as possible. Satisfied that the few people left mingling were otherwise occupied, or at least sufficiently inebriated, Kelii took the Splinter out from her jacket pocket and showed it to Mar. “A colleague of mine I trust, told me there was something special about it and when we took it to our Scrapformer, they told me it was from a place called the First Forest? And that it was once a part of the Heavens Bazaar itself?”
Kelii could tell from Mar’s expression that they had little clue as to what any of this meant, but was fascinated about it nonetheless.
Mar examined the Splinter in her hands, twirling it slowly. “Well, I can’t say I’ve ever heard about a magic splinter before. Sounds pretty out there, but having lived for while now, in a place like this…” Mar set the Splinter down on the table and made a loose circular gesture with their hand. “... you learn pretty quickly not to rule anything out.”
Putting the Splinter back in her pocket, Kelii continued. “Here’s the problem though Mar, Our Scrapformer said to take it to see his sister and he gave me this address. But it seems… incomplete?”
“Let’s have a look at it”. Mar held out their hand and Kelii withdrew a small 10 centimeter long card from the same pocket she’d stored the Splinter. She passed it to Mar, and watched as they read its contents. Kelii had examined it many times already. She knew all that was written on was “Somewhere down an Alley, The Lower Tangled City, The Heavens Bazaar”.
“Oh, ha!” Mar exclaimed, slapping the card with their spare hand. Kelii made a shushing sound and Mar joined in, before they continued in a loud whisper. “It’s the address for a scrambled house, mate. That’s why it has no details. They never stay anywhere for long. You usually find them through small doors, at least in the Lower Tangled City. They were very popular immediately after the collapse and during the wars that followed.” “There’s hundreds of them here. Or only a few of them. No one is really sure. Their transient nature makes them notoriously hard to track, much to the frustration of The Harmony. You know how it is.”
Kelii nodded, and smiled, but felt a little embarrassed when Mar’s view shifted to the three ringed logo of the Harmony that sat emblazoned on Kelii’s outerwear.
“Hey, look, no judgement. You could do a lot worse, believe me. I’ve had some experience with scrambled houses in the past, I’ll help you find this one tomorrow. We’ll head out together.” The offhanded but mature way in which Mar had just spoken, frightened Kelii for some reason. There was a lot more behind those words than Mar was letting on, but Kelii didn’t want to press it at the end of such a great evening, nor did she want to come off as thankless for Mar’s offer to help.
The next morning, Kelii met Mar in the grand lobby of the Five Ways, ready to set out in the hopes of finding Casp’s sister. The lobby felt far larger now, in the quiet of the day’s beginning. Wide rosewood stairs directed guests to upper and lower tiers of slate tile floors each framed by pristine white walls. Many of these levels led on to corridors of stairs, or lifts, that transported guests to their accommodations or to the various amenities that the hotel offered.
Kelii and Mar complained to each other about the poor sleep they had and the mild hangovers they were now nursing, but were still both resolute in their commitments to head to the lower Tangled City in search of their quarry.
The street looked, and smelt, identical to how Kelii remembered it as a child. The waves of people crashed in and out of the Tram and swarmed the dried seafood stores and roast meat stalls for the day's best products.
Mar led the way, fighting through the throngs of the morning’s shoppers, towards a place they had suspected might have a door to the scrambled house they were looking for.
Kelii hadn’t noticed it before, or perhaps it hadn’t been happening, but her jacket was moving. The Splinter, firmly secured in Kelii’s inner jacket pocket, was pulsating with intermittent vibrations.
Kelii tries to ignore it but it happened again, and again, and again. Each time, the intervals were shorter and the movements lasted longer.
“Mar” Kelii called out. “Hey Mar! Something weird is happening!”
Mar stopped and moved to the edge of a green-tiled building with a patterned metal door. The awning above matched the emerald hue of the building’s delicate cladding, and shielded them from the probing lights in the sky. Mar turned to look at Kelii.
“What do you mean, weird?” Mar said, moving their face closer to the pocket where it was kept.
“The Splinter. It’s oscillating” Kelii said. “...or at least it’s reacting to something. And it feels like it’s getting stronger.”
It vibrated again in Kelii’s jacket pocket. She reached for it and it felt warm. Hot even. It was the kind of sharp heat that was indistinguishable from a sharp cold. And yet, from the outside of her jacket, Kelii had felt nothing but the texture of her padded vest, nor had she felt any heat against the skin on her side, below where the Splinter sat. It vibrated again, this time visibly shaking her jacket. “See!” Kelii said, pointing at it.
“Yeah I see it!” Mar said. “Okay, quick, let’s get away from these crowds.” Mar took Kelii by the wrist, spinning her around to the direction they came, and into a nearby alleyway.
When it looked like no one else was around, Kelii pulled the Splinter out from her pocket. She immediately struggled to hold it in her hands. It was certainly warm to the touch though it didn’t burn. More the problem was that it seemed as though some invisible force was acting against it, like some form of magnetism or confused gravitational pull. Kelii and Mar gazed at it, unblinking, for a few short moments, before shielding their eyes from the light it emitted. Surrounding the Splinter, in a clouded film, was the same distinct aurora that surrounded the edge of the tracks. It had a subtle wetness to it, as the aurora bounced around like light being refracted by moving water.
The unseen forces at play were getting progressively stronger and soon the Splinter burst from Kelii’s grasp. It didn’t fly off to anywhere though, like Kelii thought it might. Rather, it floated in front of them, in a slow spin, its colours emboldened by its new found freedom.
Before she could say anything to Mar, Kelii sensed a presence, like the feeling of someone’s gaze before catching it. There was no obvious indication, but she turned around anyway. Behind her, at the entrance to the alley, where the shadows spilled out to bathe in the light, was the silhouette of a human. They wore a familiar face, on an older canvas, and looked surprisingly jolly in their strides towards Kelii and Mar. This set Kelii’s nerves alight. Someone had come to meddle. It was true, this figure couldn’t know the stress Kelii was feeling right now and so they could hardly be blamed, but even still, this kind of interference was the last thing Kelii needed.
Kelii stepped out in front of the Splinter, hoping her body would obscure the floating cut of wood. She was too nervous to look back at it, out of fear of drawing the figure’s attention to it. At the same time, Mar stepped forward, preening their neck out to get a closer look. Almost Immediately, Mar pulled back and yelled out to the figure.
“Tykon?! What are you doing here?”
So it was Tykon Kelii thought. She knew she had recognised that face. Mar had mentioned last night that he was here, in the Tangled City, as part of a Harmony delegation. Kelii recognised the sharp lines of the Harmony Fleet uniform now, in short intervals, as Tykon moved in and out of the pockets of light that dodged the tall buildings and overhangs above.
“Were you following us, Tykon?” Mar continued.
Kelii noted the suspicion in Mar’s voice, though as frustrating as it was, this encounter felt more accidental than anything else.
Tykon responded, sensitive to the accusation. “No no no of course not! I was out with my team and I saw you two from behind, I wanted to say hello so I let the others go on ahead, while I caught up to you here.”
Mar raised an eyebrow. The humour of their doubtful expression tempered somewhat by the gravitas of the situation. “You make it a practice to follow people into dark alleys, Tykon? Taking after your boss now?”
Tykon seemed confused by this last question, and stubbled over his words. “Honestly, I swear…I…” Tykon trailed off. He shifted his gaze to Kelii, who had remained unmoved. “Oh my gosh! Kelii! Is that you? What are you doing here?” Kelii forced a smile and a stiff wave but before she, or Mar, could respond, Tykon’s gaze had shifted again.
“Wait, What is that?” Tykon said.
It was a quivering inquiry. Delivered by some sort of deep-seated fear that had suddenly bubbled its way to the surface of Tykon’s thoughts.
Kelii moved for the first time in minutes, and realised the Splinter had moved also. It now bobbed in the air between Kelii and Mar, directly in Tykon’s line of sight. Of all the times for the Splinter to come alive, it had to choose the exact moment they were having a chance encounter with a Harmony official. Old friend or not, this was bad news.
“Umm Kelii, what is that? Is that… is that unsanctioned magic?”
Tykon started towards the Splinter. Not knowing how to respond, Kelii snatched it out of the air and pulled it back towards her. She was relieved to find that the resistance that had first ripped it from her grasp, had all but dissipated, though it was still unusually warm. She shoved it back into your jacket pocket and made a yielding gesture with the same hand.
“It’s nothing!” Kelii said. “I…”
Tykon took another step closer but his stride was interrupted by Mar, who had moved between them with their arms outstretched.
“Back up, Tykon she said it was nothing, so it is.”
“No, but it wasn’t, I saw it, it was glowing like a track gate and floating in mid air!” Tykon had firmed up his words somewhat, but the tone of fear still rang true. “You have to come with me, we’ve got to report it to my commander, it could be really dangerous! The Harmony have experts to handle this sort of thing.”
Tykon made a turning motion as if his words alone were enough to convince Kelii and Mar to follow him.
For a moment Kelii considered it. She hated conflict, and the idea of getting rid of this thing, and absolving herself of the responsibility, was becoming an increasingly appealing option.
Before she could think more on it though, Mar spoke again. “No Tykon, we’re not going with you, we’re taking it to someone else”
Kelii was glad for Mar’s intervention. The rarely-seen sternness of Ngaio’s face flashed before her, reminding her of the words he’d said and the promise they’d made. She’d already broken this promise by telling Mar, and she felt a little guilty for that, but the resolution to follow through with the rest of the promise was galvanised by Mar’s decisive responses.
Tykon spoke again, so dismissive of Mar’s words, Mar may as well have said nothing.
“If you’re not going to give it up, Kelii, I’ll have to go to my commander with this information, and you’ll be compelled to hand it over to him under Harmony law. It could be something really dangerous, it’s much better if it’s handled safely by us.”
Tykon paused, giving Kelii a chance to respond. “Please, Tykon” she said. “Can you just pretend you didn’t see it? Just this once? I’m sure it’s nothing!”
Kelii detected a hint of empathy in Tykon’s expression but it was swiftly hidden under a veil of formality.
“I can’t, Kelii, it’s my job. As Harmony officers, the peace and safety of the multiverse is our utmost concern. If I don’t inform my superiors of this discovery I’ll be abusing my position and neglecting my duty.”
Kelii did understand Tykon, to an extent. Loyalty was an important trait to strengthen, but also one, she knew, could lead down a dangerous path to blind faith. Kelii was worried that Tykon had fallen into this latter category. Is this what happened when you were so diligent and so hard working, but you lived and worked under a system that rewarded loyalty more than anything else?
It seemed as though Mar had reached the same conclusion. They stirred beside Kelii, silently weighing up their unspoken options. “Damn! Fuck it!” Mar said, in a sudden outburst. They pulled their skateboard from their back and moved towards Tykon with the board poised above their head.
By the time Kelii realised what was happening, Mar was already mid-swing.
She shouted to Mar, and held out her hand. Everything happened in slow motion. The hot touch of the Splinter, concentrated itself into her palm before bursting out of her fingers. A barely perceivable wave of auroral light distorted the air around Kelii’s hand before rippling towards Mar and Tykon.
A split second later it had hit Tykon in the legs, sweeping him off the ground and into Mar’s arms, whose skateboard had also flown off in the process. Mar caught Tykon, mid-fall, and swiftly pulled out a small spray can. Mar popped the lid with their teeth and sprayed it over Tykon’s upper lip, forming a small strip of a tape-like substance under his nose. Almost immediately after the spray, Tykon was not only knocked down but also fast asleep.
Kelii’s hand was tingling and her whole arm was shaking from the shock of what just occurred. Out of some uncertain compulsion, she used her other hand to reach into her pocket and feel the Splinter. It was still there, intact, but it had suddenly turned ice cold.
Mar broke the silence. They stared at Tykon and then back to Kelii. “Whoa... How in the Bazaar did you do that?!”
Kelii turned her hand over and stared into her palm with a gobsmacked expression across her face. “I… I have no idea! I was just trying to tell you to stop when some sort of burst of energy shot from my hand. It felt like Travellers Touch, but way more intense, and more concentrated.” Kelii looked at her hand again, hoping, maybe, to find some reference of additional truths.
Kelii’s breathing began to calm down. “Why were you rushing at Tykon with your skateboard anyway? That probably would have caused us more trouble than was worth.”
“I dunno! You said that no one should find out about the Splinter. Felt like the right thing to do at the time”
Mar shrugged, looking down at Tykon.
“Well thanks for going all out for me” Kelii said, mustering a smile. “Even if you were going to hurt Tykon.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt him… that much. Just knock him out. I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years!”
“Wha… also what’s with the spray-on sleep tape? You know what, I don’t want to know right now…” Kelii replied. “Let’s just figure out how we can get rid of this bloody Splinter first.”
Before Mar had a chance reply, their conversation was broken again, this time from the other end of the alleyway.
Kelii and Mar turned together to see a door open in the darkness and a cool pink light seep out across the dusty alley surface. Filling the doorway was a small, rotund figure. An alien, only about a quarter of the size of the old Scrapformer, Casp, but with many of the same features, stepped out. She spoke in a large husky voice, like someone who had smoked their way to an early grave, but had somehow cheated death. “Oh! Finally! There you are! My brother told me to expect you!”
She muttered loudly to herself as she approached Kelii. “First time I’ve heard from him in 20 cycles and it’s about this, bloody typical. Only when he needs me… how many times have I told him not to get involved with aliens like humans, they’re serial meddlers the lot of them...” She cut off her soliloquy with an abruptness that perfectly matched her energy. Standing in front of Kelii now, she looked up to her. Kelii thought her large hazel eyes held a secret kindness that was kept hidden by her blustering demeanor. She’d also realised by now, of course. This had to be Casp’s sister. Even without the trust Kelii got from her eyes, It was obvious the alien that stood before her was cut from the same cloth as the eccentric Scrapformer.
Raising her brows and waving her hand up towards Kelii’s face, the alien spoke again. “Well come on then, my dear! Let’s go inside! Let’s see what’s got my funny old brother all up in a huff.” She spun around and began walking back to the door, as fast as her short legs would take her.
Without stopping, she yelled back to Kelii and Mar. “Oh, and bring the young fleet boy too, will you! He’ll be useful.”
