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Equilibrium Fan Fiction
by Coolhand
This
Lonely Tumult
(part 1)
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Part One |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Part Two
Part
One. The Redemption.
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He
strode through the guts of the building, descending through rotten and
decaying halls until he reached a simple steel cage, built crudely out
of bars welded with more determination than skill. Inside, sat a group
of six people. Two women, four men, not speaking, just tense. They
turned to look at him, and he saw their eyes go wide, saw the fear grow
within. They got to their feet, defiant. They saw a Cleric. They saw
the iron fist of Father, the blazing white TetraGram-Cross muzzle flash
of an SP-10. They saw death.
"You’ll have to kill us." said one man.
He said it in a matter-of-fact tone that might have been
Prozium-induced if it wasn’t for the look in his eyes. "We won’t let
you take us back to the mockery you call the Palace of Justice."
The man was tall, his hair blond, his
eyes narrow but intense. Partridge knew without being told. It was
Jurgen.
"I’m not here to take you back." he said.
"Then what are you here for?"
Partridge found the lock on the cage and
located its weak point.
"I’m here to set you free."
And he took the Jo from his coat, snapped
it open and swung series of ringing blows onto the weak point,
shattering the lock like porcelain. The door swung open with a creak.
He saw the astonished look on the faces
of the people within. All except Jurgen. He was watching with interest.
"And your motivation, Cleric?" asked
Jurgen.
"He’s one of us." said a voice from the
corridors. Mary strode into the room, walked up to the cage. "He’s off
the dose."
Jurgen looked at her, then back at him.
Partridge could feel that gaze assessing him, coming to conclusions.
"You trust him?"
"Yes." she replied. "I do."
"Then in the absence of a polygraph test
and the time for full explanations, your trust will have to do." Jurgen
said, and strode out of the cage.
Outside, the sky had darkened with
gathering clouds and rain was starting to spit down with growing
confidence. Partridge led the group down the stairs and across the
courtyard. His face was still, eyes focused on the ground in front. He
had twenty new faces to haunt his dreams. Mary walked alongside him on
his right, Jurgen on his left.
"Will you stay with us?" asked Mary.
Partridge shook his head.
" I can't." he replied "I'm a Grammaton
Cleric. If they know I've gone over to the resistance, they'll tear
Libria apart looking for me. I have to report back. Make then believe I
am still taking my interval."
Jurgen nodded, his intense eyes boring
into Partridge's soul.
"I agree. Right now you need to do
everything possible to convince the TetraGrammaton that nothing has
changed. Everything depends upon it "
He gripped Partridge shoulder.
"Partridge, you are potentially the
greatest asset the resistance has ever known. An ally in the core of
the beast. We've never had anything that came even close to this. This
might tip the balance; finally begin what we have dreamed of seeing.
The end of Father’s reign. The end of Prozium. The Resistance already
owes you a great debt, Cleric. One day, the freed citizens of Libria
will owe you a great debt as well."
Jurgen released his shoulder and said;
"But first we must deal with Largo. We
can‘t let him survive, knowing what he knows about-."
The blast made them all duck, cover their
ears, hit the floor All except Partridge, who simply turned and looked
at the disintegrating building behind him.
"I think that problem just solved
itself." Partridge said as the walls crashed down, a vast dust cloud
rising to the sky.
Jurgen nodded, getting back to his feet
and dusting off his clothes.
"Do nothing to contact us." He said. "The
risk to us would be too great. We'll contact you when the time is
right. Good luck Cleric. And stay safe. The people of Libria need you,
even if they don’t know it yet."
Partridge watched Jurgen and his
Lieutenants walk into the Nethers, then he turned to find Mary, stood
close.
"You're scared, aren’t you." she said
softly.
"I don't know how to walk this path." he
replied. "I feel as though I've discovered the worlds greatest gift,
but now I have to hide it from everyone."
"Not everyone." she replied. "Not from
me."
"But I've killed so many innocent people."
"No you haven’t." she said shaking her
head. "Another man did, a man who died in the Nethers when his Prozium
failed. Errol Partridge isn't that man anymore."
She took something from her pocket and
handed it to him. It was a book, the paper old, the hardback cover
scoured and pitted.
"For you." she said. "I found it in the
Hedonists supply room on my way in. It was the first book I ever read.
It's a good place to start your journey."
He reached out a hand and took it, looked
back up at her.
"And don't worry." she said. "You'll find
your path. We always do."
"Will I see you again?" he asked.
"I hope so." she smiled, then stepped
close, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, a warm, soft pressure
that wrote itself into Partridge's soul and became as much a part of
him as flesh and bone.
"Take care Errol." she said, stepping
away. He watched her go, watched her catch up to Jurgen and the others.
Saw her look back once, just before she disappeared into the Nether.
Saw her smile. His cheek still tingled from the kiss.
It's dizzying highs...
He looked down at the book in his hands.
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol.
The newborn Partridge tucked the book
into his coat, took a deep breath of fresh, rain-tinted air. Looked up
at the sky, felt the rain drumming softly on his face. He spread his
arms and closed his eyes; just feeling the raindrops tap on his palms,
on his skin, in his hair, imagining that the rain could maybe wash away
all the blood that stained his soul. And when he felt ready, when he
felt it was time, he opened his eyes, lowered his arms and set off
towards the gates of Libria. The Cleric who'd left through them two
days ago was dead, and the Cleric who was returning had never been to
Libria before.
He was curious to know what it felt like.
- Part Two. The Absolution. -
