Chapter 3.
The Cloud was a place of ceaseless activity. Scholars bustled about here and there, conducting research, experimenting with newly discovered materials, and much more. Invention, ether studies, history and so on are all studied there, and documented and stored in the vaults, great, sprawling archives dating back in some cases hundreds of years. At each of the huge chains that anchor the Cloud are cable carriage stations which, for a small fee, (or not depending on your standing with the academy) will take you to and from The Cloud. It was in the line for one of these carriages that Elijah and Molly found themselves the next morning. They were at the Northeastern chain, and were fully prepared for their meeting up above, as far as they knew. Elijah had managed to get a message up to the dean of the Cloud incredibly early that morning. His name was Percy, and he was an acquaintance of both of theirs, and had agreed to meet with them.
Molly had finally managed to drift into a few hours of restless, troubled sleep the night before, slumped over the small workbench she had set up in her room, and so was, much to Elijah’s chagrin, a little on the cranky side. Elijah had fared much better, although had sworn his room had changed shape throughout the night which was entirely possible. He had woken up early, sent off his message to Percy, and then enjoyed his breakfast, after which he had packed some food, packed the evidence Molly had collected, and finally plucked up the courage to wake her up. They had managed to tidy themselves up a little for the appointment, and Elijah now wore smarter clothes – a long trench coat over a nice loose fitting shirt and sensible trousers, although his hair was just a chaotic as always.
Molly looked pristine. After managing to get what Elijah could only assume was roughly three hours of sleep she had sprung out of bed when woken up to prepare, and now looked almost resplendent in a long coat, shirt and trousers, and a particularly fancy waistcoat, not to mention her immaculate brunette hair, and bright green eyes, made even brighter in the morning sun. Elijah had no idea how she did it, but wasn't too keen on asking, as Molly was really not big on talking after what, for Elijah, would have counted as a long nap.
They were waiting in the line of people waiting to go up to the Cloud on business. Whether it be a professor going up for a meeting with one of the many, many scholars that resided there, or someone going up to discuss a contract to maintain the grounds, there was always a slew of people coming and going. The carriage stations were situated in large, open squares that also accommodated the large chains that held everything down. The carriage cables ran alongside them, high strength wires designed to carry the weight of dozens of people and carriages at the same time. The square was comprised of dusty red bricks, and even this early in the morning it was packed, and incredibly warm, as the sun was already beating down.
The attendant at the front of the line called everybody forwards, and the two of them took a few strides towards the front of the queue. There was only one other person in front of them at this point, an elderly scholar by the looks of things. Not long to wait now. Elijah gazed around, watching the crowds wander, going about their daily business. He figured it was best to keep small talk to a minimum, to avoid getting snapped at, and was just wondering to himself how the woman who owned the fruit stall managed to carry so many baskets on her head at the same time, when Molly piped up beside him.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." She muttered. Elijah masked his surprise at the fact she had spoken.
"Why? I mean, apart from the fact that you don't really get on with anyone in the academy as a general rule of course..." She looked up at him, frowning, shuffling from foot to foot and chewing her lip a little, as if trying to find the best way to put into words what she was thinking.
"Well here’s the thing. I found out about this through my experiments, my exploring, just by being inquisitive and nosy. It was accidental. I don't have anywhere near the amount of equipment or manpower that they have up in the Cloud. I keep thinking about it, and it doesn't make sense, no matter how I look at it. They must know, I'm sure of it. There's no way they wouldn't. And if they already know, why haven't they told anyone, warned anyone? I'm telling you, something's not right."
Elijah rubbed the back of his neck, thinking for a moment. She did have a point. He hated to admit it, but she did. It was worrying as well. If the Academics did know, and weren't telling anyone, the entirety of Spectrum was going to succumb to continual earthquakes. On the other hand, maybe the academy did know, and there was simply no need for anyone to worry. Could that be the reason nothing had been said to anyone. Either way, Elijah tried to make Molly feel better.
"It doesn't make sense. I know what you're saying, but I'm hoping that, just for once, you're wrong Molly." The whole thing did make him uncomfortable though, especially now that Molly had mentioned it a couple of times. It made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end though. If the Cloud didn't want anyone knowing, and they knew, and went up there and made them aware of that fact, things could turn very ugly. The only way they were going to know was to head up. They would either be helping, or be laughed at, and Elijah could deal with either of those. While Elijah considered this the attendant at the front of the queue called everyone forwards. The elderly academic standing in front of them shuffled forwards and entered the cable car, and the attendant stuck his head in as well. He leaned back out and informed both Elijah and Molly that the scholar was happy to share the carriage with them. They looked at each other. If they were going to turn back now, decide not to head up there, and look into things by themselves, now was the time to decide. They stepped into the cable car, and the door clamped shut behind them.
With a horrendous squeaking, grinding sound, the carriage began to ascend. The huge chains they were heading up alongside loomed next to them, each link the size of the car itself. Molly couldn’t help but think to herself that it was a truly incredible sight to behold. The gigantic cogs and gears at the bottom of the mechanism turned, and they rose above the houses bordering the square, and the square itself, leaving the cobbled, rain spattered streets below. As they rose higher the individual puddles became harder to make out, and the myriad of streets looked almost like rivers of rainbows. Truly beautiful.
The inside of the carriage was very comfortable, with thick red carpet on all of the flooring in the middle , and luxurious padded seats built into the sides of the vehicle all the way around, leaving space for the door on one side. Comfortable, and a touch extravagant, but much appreciated, especially after the incredible amount of time that was sometimes spent queueing trying to get to the Cloud. Elijah and Molly took a seat each at one end of the carriage. The elderly gentleman opposite them. His head was down, and the hat he wore covered his eyes. He had probably nodded off, and Elijah made a mental note to himself to wake him as they arrived.
Elijah and Molly gazed out of the windows together, enjoying the view as they sat down, and began to talk amongst themselves. Elijah tried to take both their minds off of the impending meeting, and so they discussed both Molly's latest inventions and ideas, and Elijah's magical abilities. Not that the abilities themselves were anything new, but it had seemed for Elijah that the longer he had spent around the ether, the more his talents had thrived and developed. And of course he had been in Spectrum his whole life, so he had become quite adept at what he did. He could conjure fire out of the ether of varying heat and intensity, and even the shape of the flames he threw out of his hands.
As always, it was the way of things in Spectrum. No one truly understood why some people developed magical abilities, or why the city always shimmered like a rainbow, or why houses sometimes developed an extra room or three, but no one complained. Molly herself had never developed any kind of ability, it was incredibly rare after all. What she did have on her side though, was an incredible brain. She created, invented and explored everything and anything, and her inventions had gotten the two of them out of more than a few scrapes before. It was one of the reasons Elijah had been shocked, and Molly had
been heartbroken that she had never been invited or accepted up onto the Cloud. But that was the way of things.
Elijah wasn't the only one to have the gift he had. To most people it was known as conducting the ether, some just called it magic though. Whatever it was called though, it manifested differently in various people. He himself, for example, could conjure fire, but he knew others who had experience with telepathy, or terrakinetics. He smiled to himself as that thought popped into his head while he and Molly talked. He remembered when he had first mentioned it to her. She had acted incredibly interested, and then admitted she didn't know what it meant, which was rare for her. When he simplified it down into "They can move rocks." she had been a lot less impressed.
They were almost to the Cloud, and they could see the underside of the gigantic floating rock clearly now. Three stations had been carved into the underside of the structure, all of which lead to tunnels which eventually joined up and lead to the surface, where the various buildings, halls, and so on were. To first time visitors it could be incredibly daunting and confusing trying to find your way to the surface. It was basically like a giant honeycomb of twisting passages.
It was at this point, as they were almost at the station that the elderly academic opposite them, who had been so quiet for the journey that the two of them had almost forgotten that he was there, spoke up.
"You're making a mistake, you know."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Elijah felt the familiar prickles down the back of his neck again. The old man's voice was soft, but carried a threatening undertone. Molly turned towards him slowly.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me perfectly young lady. Or should I say Molly?" He noted the shocked look that ran across her face oh so quickly, and continued. "Oh yes, I know your name. Yours too Elijah. I also know what you're about to do, and what it is that you already know. Listen to me, for I shall only say this once. Leave Spectrum. Do it today. The things that are about to happen, that you are about to entangle yourself in, cannot be undone."
There was a brief moment's silence as the two of them digested what was happening. They shot a sideways glance at each other, and Elijah spoke. "Who are you? Why would you warn us? And how do you even know who we are?"
The old man met his eyes, and said, again in a soft voice, "It doesn't matter who, or how, or why. You have been warned though, and that is what I came here to do. If you're smart you'll turn back and head straight back down. He won't let you interfere you know. There are only two of you and he won't take kindly to-"
"This is crazy!" Molly interrupted, "I don't know who you are, and I don't care, but you can come with us. If you know something that we need to know, you can help us make our case!" She moved towards the old man, as if to reach out and grab his arm. Faster than would have seemed possible for a man of his age, he slid to one side, glided off the chair and took a step forwards. As he did this he twisted the top of his cane and pulled, unveiling a long, thin, rapier-like blade. He held it pointed at Molly, who still had her arm outstretched towards the chair he had been sitting in. The blade stopped less than an inch from her neck. Elijah jumped up, now angry that this stranger, whoever he might be, was threatening his partner and friend.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. The old man still held the blade towards Molly, perilously close to her jugular.
"It's clear that this was a waste of time." The academic, or whoever he was growled. "If you won't listen, fine, that's your choice, but I'm leaving. I beseech you one last time to give up before you begin, and abandon this foolishness." And with this he started to move back towards the other end of the car. The blade was still pointed at Molly, but the distance between them was growing a little. As soon as there was a gap Elijah could see what Molly was planning. She had a bandoleer strapped to her underneath her overcoat, as she normally did. It was full of all different shaped vials full of coloured fluids, each of which served a different purpose. Elijah grabbed her and pulled her back to the opposite end of the car. She had one hand behind her back, under her overcoat, where the bandoleer hung. She had her hand wrapped around one of the several tiny, explosive vials she had with her. They waited to see what the old man would do next.
They needn't have worried. Upon reaching the other end of the car he lowered his sword and returned it to his cane, twisting it to lock it back into place. "Don't look for me." he said, and then with that held his hand out to one side, and conducted a magic that neither Elijah nor Molly had ever seen. A small black sphere appeared, floating above his hand, slowly growing larger, until suddenly it expanded incredibly rapidly, swallowing up the man and the end of the cable car. When it shrank back down there was no sign of the academic, or the walls, floor, or chairs for about one third of the car. No burn marks, and no signs of damage, just a perfectly smooth edge where everything had just...disappeared.
Without saying a word Molly flung her arms around Elijah and let out a huge sigh of relief. He hugged her back and then went over to the newly created hole to peer over the edge, down to the city below. It was certainly a unique perspective, everything looked incredibly small. And that man, whoever he had been, had certainly had some interesting views on their situation.
"I think we need to be very careful going forward from here," Elijah muttered. Molly nodded her agreement. Things were starting to get interesting, and there was absolutely no turning back now. No choice but to press forward and see what awaited them. He was just pondering this when Molly brought up a very good point from behind him:
"How the hell are we going to explain how half the cable car is just missing?!"