Chloe At Worlds' End
Chapter 7

Alessandro led the way, followed by Chloe, Onri, Grog, and a floating Mr. Carpet carrying Colin. It was somewhat easy to stay concealed from above, as the city had many porticos, which were long covered patios which bordered many of the old style reconstructed buildings. Alessandro said

“It is not too far, but I will stop and point it out from a distance before we get there… I don’t understand, it was reported in the media that the perpetrator was apprehended…” Onri replied

“Yes, it is truly a conspiracy now. As you saw when we were attacked, it is certainly not the case that it’s over”

“That is very intriguing… and frightful!”

“Yes, and we are the only ones who know this so far”

“But who is doing this… and why?” Chloe answered him

“Unbelievably, it is Rajeem, the same villain from long ago who is now in the reincarnated form of that wolf. And the reason why we surmise is still the same as before… his inherent insanity for wanting to control others…” Alessandro offered

“It seems such an antiquated concept for someone to want that kind of control… like from a bygone era which humans have supposedly since evolved past” Chloe retorted

“Yes… exactly. Since I have been in contact again with our planets’ evolutional genetic entity of consciousness, who you may remember was called ‘Mother’, she has shown me a mystery of the nature of his existence. It seems that his presence is showing that we have not yet entirely evolved past this kind of a genetic plague… or that we have, but not him” Alessandro replied

“I see… well, that does seem to make some kind of sense”

As they all traversed the city, they were of course quite a sight, as anyone that they passed would stop and stare incredulously. After a short time, Alessandro stopped them and said

“We are almost there… maybe Grog should duck into this alcove here to hide now before anyone else notices him. The central control is just around this corner and across the street” Grog proceeded to hide, along with Colin and Mr. Carpet, while the rest of them peeked. As the three of them looked, they saw that a bus load of school children were disembarking in front of an ordinary looking building. Alessandro said

“That is the building there… and the grid’s central computer is on a lower level. When I before went there with my class, we were eventually brought into a large room where we were shown what you are looking for” Onri said

“Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. If we hurry, maybe we can sneak in along with them without being noticed that we tagged along!” Chloe agreed

“Yes, let us hurry over there and try to blend in behind them…”

The three of them rounded the corner and walked down the street a short way past it, and then crossed the street to sidle up behind the crowd of children. They looked at one another knowingly as they were sure that no one had really noticed them. The doors then opened and they all shuffled inside in single file. Once inside, the doors were closed and a tour guide before them began speaking in Italian. They listened as they were led along a long corridor which had floor to ceiling glass walls on either side, where inside were teaming banks of computerized equipment which twinkled and booped. When they reached the end of it, they stopped before an immense iron vault of a door. The tour guide then spoke to a sensor upon it which recognized her voice and it automatically slid open. They then followed as everyone traversed down a few flights of stairs. Once they had reached the desired level, they were led along another long corridor like the one above of computers behind glass walls. Alessandro then motioned for them to lag behind the crowd and duck into a marked rest room. Once inside he said

“We are fortunate that this restroom is here… we can wait a few minutes while they are taken into the main control room… then we should be able to sneak ourselves into it alone once they have left”

They waited the few minutes, and sure enough as predicted, heard the crowd shuffle past in the opposite direction as they left. Alessandro quietly cracked open the door and peeked out, then motioned for them to follow. They stealthily crept down the empty hallway and into a doorway on the left. Chloe and Onri had heard that the central computer of Sanctum was in fact much more than just a computer… it was a living human brain… and more than one of them… and there it was! They stopped and marveled before the many banks of cloned human brains which were individually encased in liquid filled glass canisters. There were several long rows of them which trailed off endlessly into the distance, all interconnected with wiring and blinking electronics. Chloe and Onri looked at each other in wide eyed astonishment.

Chloe then began to hear Rajeem’s voice in her mind, he menacingly said

“You are very brave to come here… but this will be the last place that you will see before you die!” Chloe screamed as she suddenly felt a sharp burst of pain inside of her head. She fell to the floor writhing… convulsing. Blood began trickling from her ears and nose as she vomited as well. Onri exclaimed

“Chloe… what is it… what’s happening?!” Chloe touched the staffs’ jewel to her temple and directed herself towards Rajeem… he was inside all of the computers’ brains all right… and she could feel his overwhelming power. She willed the jewels shield like corona to envelope her. Onri and Alessandro watched slack jawed as her convulsions stopped. Using her staff to help regain her footing and composure, she stood up. As she wiped blood from her upper lip, she said

“I was just attacked as he spoke to me… he is in there as we suspected!” Onri replied

“What can we do… can you get him out?!”

“I don’t know… but I don’t think I have the jewels protection if I use my mind to venture in again to confront him. I will concentrate and be on my guard this time…

Chloe closed her eyes as she again willed her mind into the vast storage in front of her towards Rajeem. She saw that while the jewels corona protected her she could still affect anything in her physical surroundings, but to exert any kind of willed force directly upon him she would have to lower her shield. She readied herself… and lowered it. He immediately attacked her again, but she steeled herself from the pain, which was somewhat tempered this time as she fought it. She could see the endless myriad of synchronized tasks being performed by the computer which kept all of Sanctum functioning. Without this ‘computer’, it was certainly clear to her that their world could not function. She wondered if it was possible for her to extricate him from it… if she could not, she would have to destroy it. She looked around herself at the dizzying vastness of interconnected synapses. They were all aglow with a circuitous flow of electrons which zipped this way over, and that way under her.

And there was the wolf thing Rajeem… suspended like an arch angel in the midst of it… relishing his control of it and all the people of her world. His violet colored irises peered at her intensely… growing larger… and closer. The level of her pain was increasing and suddenly she began to panic. She didn’t know how to fight him in this way… she started to feel that she was fragmenting apart and didn’t know how to stop it. She was dying! She screamed and retreated back to her body, and again raised the corona. When she opened her eyes, she found that she was again on the floor and in worse condition than before. Onri and Alessandro were kneeling over her and calling her name.

“Chloe…Chloe… wake up!” The pain began to subside a little and she felt her strength return slightly as sat up. Just then, they all turned to see an onslaught of Autobots flying, piling through the doorway. They grabbed Onri and Alessandro by their arms and legs. There were many of them and they were pulling… pulling. The boys screamed in pain and were in immediate danger of being mercilessly dismembered!

She called forth the jewels power, which shot violet colored bolts of plasma at their enemies. The ones that she hit burst into flying sprockets and springs that trailed sparks and smoke. But she needed help… there were too many of them. The boys were still struggling… screaming… she looked to the jewel again and cast her vision out to the street for Grog. She saw him still there where they had left him and enveloped him into a violet mist… and snatched him fast into the room. The purple cloud materialized and out came Grog, leaping and trailing mist. He roared as he jumped into the fray, pounding his heavy fists upon this combatant and that, while leaving piles of wreckage in his wake.

Chloe also laid her own path of destruction, and within several minutes it was over. They were all panting from exertion as they looked around the room at the piles of smoking Autobot parts. Then, without warning they all heard in their minds the voice of Rajeem, accompanied again with that blistering pain. They all fell to their knees as they listened to his voice which was interspersed with a high pitched whine.

“You have not won here… and now you will ALL die!” Chloe, Onri, Alessandro, and Grog all sank writhing to the floor as blood poured from their ears and noses. Somehow he had breached her weakened corona when she was off guard. Chloe knew it was now or never. She had to destroy Sanctum!

As she lay there convulsing, she grasped the staff in both hands and pointed it towards the banks of brains. With her last ounce of strength, she willed the full power of the jewel to strike. The room lit in a blinding flash of violet fury as they all watched from the floor. The plasma stream shot though the vast distance of the rows as showers of glass, fluid, and grey matter shattered, splattered, and exploded! The lights then went out in the room as their world… the only world they had, died. Emergency backup power then kicked in and a somewhat dimmer system of light sources came on. They were all quiet for a time as they dragged themselves over to lean their backs upon the wall to recover… and to let sink into their minds what they had just done to their beloved Sanctum.

After a good while, Chloe stood and said

“I’m starting to feel a little better… how is everyone?” The boys stood, Onri said

“I think I am alright. Oh Chloe… what have we done?” Alessandro said

“We have just killed our world is what we’ve done… and I’m afraid to explain it to anyone that it was us who has done this. I’m also afraid to go outside to see the results…” Onri replied

“It will be sheer chaos out there… but we better get out of here now before we’re found out!” Chloe agreed

“I will take us out now… Alessandro, I will take us all to our American home district, do you want to come with us?” He answered

“Yes, that would be alright”

Chloe directed the mist to envelope them all… and Mr. Carpet and Colin as well as they passed them outside.

After only a few moments, Chloe cleared the mists and they all found themselves standing in front of Charlie’s boat shop… and their world did now look completely different. It seemed dead. The faux sky was gone and in its place was only the bare rock cave ceiling. It must have been evening time here when they destroyed the central control, as the fusion orb was now undoubtedly stuck somewhere at its last daytime location. The dim light sources now present were only an emergency backup. The usual ocean current flow of waves was missing, replaced by stagnant waters. And there were throngs of people seemingly migrating towards some unknown destination. Chloe said

“Maybe we should become a little less conspicuous and have Grog stay out of sight in the shop here…” Grog offered

“That is no problem… it looks empty” and he ducked inside. Colin queried

“I wonder where everyone is going” Onri interjected

“I’ll walk over to the street and ask someone” when he returned he reported

“I was told that Sanctums main doors to the outside automatically opened to let in free flowing oxygen… and to much surprise… they found that the atmosphere outside was mild, and there was no snow… does that mean that the ice age is over?!”

Chloe answered

“Well that would be incredible if it is, I wonder how long we have all been living here in ignorance…” Just then, they heard Ms. Aggie calling to them from the water.

“Hello everyone… you’re back!” They all clambered over the rocks to the shore. Chloe greeted her

“Hello, nice to see you again Ms. Aggie… and all your pups”

“Likewise… but I’m afraid to ask what has happened”

“We found that the central control computer was infected with Rajeem and we had no choice but to destroy it”

“Oh my, I was afraid it was that bad. But what are we to do now… can we still survive here?”

“Onri has asked and we have found that there is a mass migration now taking place to the outside… it seems that the world may be habitable once again”

Just then, there was a disturbance in the waters of the bay. Ms. Aggie and her pups looked about themselves as they were being jostled around… and at a point further out was seen much rippling, bubbling, and a spewing of violet colored mist. Chloe exclaimed

“Look out… we may be in for some trouble! Ms. Aggie, take your pups away from here!” As she complied, a large eye rose above the surface within the mist and immediately began beaming its hot energy upon them. It shot between them and stuck the shop, which burst into flames. Grog was watching from the window and jumped bursting through the glass, shattering it as he landed and rolled to safety. Chloe called forth her corona to envelope herself and her friends. The eye then looked at her and spewed forth its energy at her. The violet plasma hit her corona in a blinding fury, but was held fast. Chloe pointed her staff at it and returned its fire. When her beam hit its target, the eye was also safe within its own protective shield. Chloe and her friends watched through the maelstrom.

Suddenly, the eye gave up its attack and sped off towards the direction of the crowds’ migration. Chloe said

“Quick, hop onto Mr. Carpet… we need to follow it and try to protect anyone in its path!” Grog and Ms. Aggie stayed behind as the rest of them hopped on and they flew off in pursuit. It was moving fast and they struggled to catch up with it. To their horror, it wantonly attacked those on the ground as it went, beaming plasma and vaporizing people as they ran in terror while screaming. Onri pointed ahead

“Look, I think I see the outside!” Sure enough, they could see bright light streaming in through the large opened outer doors as crowds were running to hopeful safety through them. The eye stopped just short of the exit and shot an immense field of its plasma at the rocky ceiling above it. The resultant explosion shook the area as tons of earth collapsed around the exit. Obscured by dust and smoke, Chloe could hear muffled screams as the crowds were buried. When the dust clouds began to settle, it was apparent that the exit was now nonexistent, and the eye had vanished. Alessandro said

“My god, what carnage and destruction… and now we’re all sealed in as well!” Chloe replied

“This is very bad…”

Through all of the turmoil below, they noticed that there were many stunned faces looking up at them in probable recognition of Chloe and legends of the past. Chloe said

“Let us go back to the bay now… maybe we should gather the rest of our party and take some refuge in the Zoo District while we ponder what we should do next…” Back at the bay, with Grog and Colin upon Mr. Carpet with them, Chloe once again gathered the mists and transported all of them, including Ms. Aggie and her pups, to the Zoo District. When Chloe dissipated their mist, they all found themselves standing there upon the black sands of its shores. Ms. Aggie said

“I will have all my children safe into this bay” and she directed them into the water. Chloe said

“Maybe we would be more comfortable for now at the house, let’s go there”

Chloe, Onri, Alessandro, Grog, and Colin again assembled onto Mr. Carpet and rose into the air. Alessandro, along with the rest of them, marveled at the beauty of this pristine place. He said

“This is truly my favorite place. That volcano, the lake, the flowered mountains, and the floral scented air… I could stay here forever” When the house came into view, Alessandro asked

“This is unexpected. We were never shown this on our field trip… whose house is this?” As they flew directly through the open doors of the attic balcony and landed inside, Onri explained

“If you can believe it, this is the original house from Oregon where it all began over eight hundred years ago. It was transported here at that time by the original Chloe, using the power of the jewel” Alessandro shot

“Astonishing!” he looked around at all of the antiques in the room, then back to Onri and Chloe and timidly asked

“Are you also going to tell me that all of this furniture… and that old vacuum cleaner contraption were… or are… the ones of the legend?” They continued to look back to him, but said nothing besides giving him mischievous grins. Chloe then made an introduction

“Hello everyone, we have for now safely returned. Please meet our new friend Alessandro…” The chorus of hello’s that greeted his disbelieving ears clearly shocked him as they watched him stand there seemingly frozen in place. He finally managed a timid

“… Hello” There followed much laughter around the room. Onri said to him

“Don’t worry, you will quickly get past your shock” They all made themselves more comfortable and sat upon Mr. Carpet. Mr. Grandfather Clock then asked

“You all have a traveled and seasoned look about you… I take it some things have happened?” Chloe answered

“Yes, I’m afraid the only thing that we have accomplished is destroying our world…” Onri added

“We did have some success in finding and forcing Rajeem out of Sanctums’ central computer… but we had to destroy it in order to do so” Alessandro added

“And now without it, our world is dead” Grog also jumped in

“But there may be at least one favorable outcome to all of this. Sanctums’ doors to the outer world were thrown open… revealing a mild and temperate climate free of ice and snow!” Ms. Wingback Chair said

“Well, that is quite remarkable… is the populous now moving outside?” Chloe answered

“They were… until Rajeem attacked and sealed off the exit. I’m afraid to think of what his intent is in doing that… ” Alessandro added

“He is truly an evil being… he obviously doesn’t want to give up his control of everyone… what could he be planning?” Colin interjected

“Whatever that is, it is certainly our most pertinent task at hand to thwart”

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