Calibrate Vol. II

“Shaxx? I’m going to take a break to eat, I’ll be right back.”
Shaxx nodded over his shoulder. “Of course. Go eat well, Callisto!”
He meant well, but he was too absorbed in his work to look at her face. If he had, he would’ve recognized the expression she wore. If he had, he would’ve known.
Three hours passed until he thought about it. He turned to look at her chair, and the console was fully turned off. He looked around. Occasionally Nalim would curl into one of the many nooks and crannies and nap, but he saw no swath of blue in the usual places.
“Hunters.” He groaned, making his way outside.

“Europa.”
She jolted, turning towards the door and pushing up her goggles. “Hi. Am I in trouble? You sound like I’m in trouble.”
“No. I am. Have you seen Callisto recently?”
Euri’s face drained of color. “No. Have...you?”
He sighed. “No.”

Shaxx, Europa, and Alexi circled each other, Galileo in the center.
“I’ve got a signal from Argo.” He hesitated. “He’s not answering.”
Lady tried, with the same result. “At least that means he’s alive. He’s just ignoring us.”
Shaxx folded his arms and looked down. “Him, but not her.”
Euri shook her head. “Cal’s alive. That’s why he’s not answering. She told him not to. If she’d died, he’d have no reason not to talk to us.”
“But why?”
“She’s going for the Shard.”
“WHAT?” Shaxx snapped.
“She’s been having nightmares about it. Nalim told her not to go but I could tell she had thought about it. I don’t know what kind of stuff she saw but it was serious to her. Apparently ‘run away when Nalim can’t catch you’ kind of serious.”
“Nalim.” Shaxx could make no facial expression towards them, but his entire posture told them all they needed to know. “I’ve failed. I need to tell her.”
“You had no idea she was going to bolt. Nalim will understand.” Euri was trying hard not to shake. “I can tell her.”
“No, it has to be me.”

Nalim pulled herself from a closet blocked by debris. She had a bundle of fabric in her arms, and winked.
Requested Comms Connection: TITAN GUARDIAN LORD SHAXX. Her mind beeped.
“I found a bunch of ratty old blankets, but they look like they’ll work.” Nalim sighed. She dropped them and started shoving them in one of the packs drawn to her bike. It was annoyingly slow, but sparrows were not for the mortal. “I think I’m good in this building now.”
Message request sent.
“Should I go next door or just start heading back into the forest? I’m not excited to pick berries again.”
“Try next door. It’ll be fast because it’s probably empty. Don’t get stuck when you’re wiggling.” Asha couldn’t sweat, but if she could, she would’ve been.
Nalim paid her no mind. “You know I hate it when you call it wiggling.”
Asha chuckled.
Request accepted.
G.NALJ1: Did something happen?
Ghosts were fast. They could read volumes of data in seconds, so the hesitation in answering was human. That was not soothing her turmoil.
G.LSHAXX: Yes.
G.NALJ1: Bad?
More hesitation. She considered pulling Nalim back from her pursuit. Not yet.
G.LSHAXX: Callisto’s gone.
G.NALJ1: Dead?
G.LSHAXX: No, she’s run away. Her fireteam says she’s going for the Shard.
Fuck. Fuck. But she wasn’t dead. “Nalim! C’mere.” She tried desperately to sound normal. Shit.
G.NALJ1: How long since anyone saw her?
G.LSHAXX: 4 hours.
That wasn’t too long in the grand scheme of things. Sure, the girl could cover distance, but she was weak. Nalim had a bike. They could catch up in time for Nalim to kick her ass into the next century. Asha groaned internally. Hunters.
G.LSHAXX: My guardian says he last saw her when she said she was going to go eat. He suspects that’s when she left. Signal to Callisto’s ghost has been established, but no returning contact has been made. Jupiter II believes she is alive and telling her ghost not to respond.
Ugh, Shaxx’s ghost was so formal sometimes.
G.LSHAXX: My guardian wishes to inform yours of the situation personally.
Oh boy.
Nalim stood in front of her, having wormed her way out of the ruins. She watched Asha with a careful gaze. “Who is it?” Of course she knew.
“Shaxx wants to call.”
She appraised Asha’s tone like a computer. Her eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
“Ask him.” Her shell sizzled with the connection.
“Nalim.”
“Shaxx…?”
“Callisto has gone for the Shard.”

--

The later it got, the more tangible her anxiety became. Her fingertips tensed like eyes were on her for hours on end.
“Asha’s pinged me. They know.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah.”
“How far are we?”
“Maybe an hour. Two if we’ve gotta keep from being hunted.”
So that was the terror in her gut. This was being prey. And her mentor was now her own personal predator. She missed Nalim. She hated the idea of being the target of her anger. But this wasn’t optional. That Shard wanted her attention and it had it in an iron grip, so the Iron Lady would have to take a backseat.
“Ping her.”
“Why?”
“Find out how much time I’ve got to get to that Shard or dig my own grave.”
“Fair. I pinged her twice and either Nalim’s one hell of a Lightless runner or she’s on a bike. Should we hide?”
“Oh, I’m dead meat for sure.” She groaned. “She’s Iron Lady Nalim, Most Feared, I think she could probably just sniff me out like a bloodhound at this point.”

A wisp of something escaped her peripheral, barely registering as a fleeing bird. Probably from her panicked tromping through the underbrush. She turned suddenly, hand on her gun.
“You’re kidding.” She laughed. “Am I losing it?”
“If you are, I am too.” Argo scanned the abandoned pike, a Fallen version of a sparrow. “And it works. Looks like it’s your destiny to floor it.”
…
“They’re moving faster. She’s got a vehicle.”
Nalim pounded her head on her hand. “Of course! Asha, I just can’t- I can’t- If she dies out there...FUCK! Call Shaxx.”
“Shaxx?”
“SHAXX.”
His voice came through her helmet with a little hesitation. “...Nalim?”
“I need you...to tell me...something encouraging.” She was full of adrenaline and frustration at her less-than-lethal bike. “Please.”
“Of course! Callisto is a smart guardian. You are a good teacher. She has grown to be very similar to you. Quick, clever, beautiful, and unstoppable.” He was amusedly trying to sound like he was at all prepared for this spotlight. Nalim smiled slightly. “She will undoubtedly answer the Traveler’s call with persistence and come back JUST fine.”
She didn’t need to hear Asha’s response to feel it. Was he just calling her pretty? Right now?
“Shaxx...did you-?”
“Callisto has been summoned by the Shard, whether or not you, I, or Callisto herself approves. Nalim, stop hunting her. Go to her side and make CERTAIN she returns unscathed. I know you can do it.”
He was right. It occurred to her that speaking to Shaxx was similar to Asha, in a way. He didn’t have to say they’d discuss his compliment when she returned. He didn’t have to tell her the intricacies of what Callisto was going through. He never asked her why she asked him to do most of the things she asked him to do.
Nalim grinned with a renewed and vicious fervor. “I will. Shaxx?”
“Anytime you need.”
There he went again.
…
“Asha’s messaging me. She says change of plans. Call Nalim.”
Callisto bit her lip. She didn’t want to be yelled at. She just really, really wanted to be done with this. “She already knows where we are. Can’t be much harm in answering now. I’ll go either way.”
Argo’s shell crackled, and that sweet familiar voice rang through. “Cali?” Passion, worry.
“I have to go. I have to. Please don’t yell at me.”
“I know you do. Let me come to you. I won’t try to stop you.”
“What?” She slowed the pike down.
“You have to answer the Shard. I have to protect you. You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“You don’t either.”
“You’re my kinderguardian.”
“What if you die?”
Nalim gave a sharp, genuine bark of a laugh. It surprised her. “According to everyone, I’m very hard to kill. If whatever’s calling you kills me, it deserves the bragging rights. Now slow your ass down.”
Callisto laughed, slowing down the pike. She felt her eyes burn and paid them no mind.
…
Europa charged into the barn with a look of relief and joy. “They’re together! Nalim caught up and they’re going to figure out what’s messing with Cali together.”
Shaxx grinned, although Europa couldn’t tell. “VERY good! They will make it back much easier with teamwork. Europa! Take a rest. Take Alexi with you. I will wake you when they return.”
She slouched her shoulders. “You’re sure?”
“I never waver.”
“That’s...true. Yeah.” She grinned. “ALEXI!”
A thump hit the outside of the barn wall. Alexi turned to see what was happening, but his lights were dim. Euri giggled. “Was that your head, sleepy?”
He gave a dreary nod.
…
It had been hours. The Shard was massive, and far away, with Nalim weaving through trees and guiding her to the edge. Once they’d gotten close enough, it was Callisto’s intuition that had to lead the way, and the fearful pit in her stomach was muddling the instructions.
“Nalim?”
“I’m still here. Just out of sight.”
In the perimeter of the Shard, the forest was visibly corrupted. It was dark everywhere. A hunter’s paradise. Even if Nalim wanted to be, she probably wouldn’t be visible. So Callisto trudged through shadows alone towards the inner pull.
“This was the dream. This was why.”
Argo responded. “What?”
“I’m dragging myself through darkness to get to the Shard. Everything around it is corrupted. Tainted. It was telling me I had to pull through.”
“Why did we keep falling in then?”
Callisto looked up to where she guessed Nalim was, and the minute shine of a gun met her eye. She made the motion of pulling on a string.
“Huh. Makes sense.” Argo’s voice told her he would smile if he could. “You’re on a leash.”
“I am not on a leash.”
“Who’s on a leash?” Nalim sounded a mix between concerned and amused.
They responded the others’ names in tandem. Nalim barked another laugh.

Eventually the Shard came into view, and she felt the mix of acid and intuition swirl intensely in her stomach. The Fallen in the area fell to either Callisto or Nalim within a minute. They were less than a thought compared to what they were near.
Now, just Callisto stood in front of the Traveler’s Shard.
“I’m scared.”
Nalim’s voice came clearly through her helmet, and she felt her mind stand with it like a crutch. “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. Do what you need to do.”
“If the Shard corrupts me…”
“The fuck did I just say?”
Callisto chuckled, and approached the wall.

They stood there quietly. Neither knew really what to do, but after some time something expanded from it and enveloped both of them. It wasn’t really visible, but she could feel it shuffle through her body like a stack of cards. Argo materialized in her palm, and she looked at her own hand in wonder. She didn’t feel it move. She hadn't thought about moving it.
“Argo…?”
“There’s something...here. Can you feel it?” His voice bounced around her skull, reverbing. He sounded amazed, and very very far away. “It’s…”
“What...is it?” She felt a little like she was underwater.
“Light.”
Her hand drifted towards the wall, but Argo went between them.
“Callisto. Hold still.”

Ask her later, and she would say it felt like Argo was shooting her, a beam going straight through her and atomizing her to dust, but now, in the moment, she felt like a spool. A long, brilliant thread of light wrapping around her, pulling everything she was connected to. The moment it collided with her, she stumbled back, wondering if this was it, but then the thread stretched to her arms, her legs. It wound tighter and tighter around her bones and the light under her skin followed it like a magnet.

“Cali…?” Nalim. “You okay?”
Argo snickered, giggled, then laughed louder than she’d ever heard. His shell spun with joy. “We’ve got our LIGHT BACK!”
“WHAT?!”
Callisto looked at her hands, grinning like they were smiling back. “I’VE GOT IT! NALIM! WE HAVE OUR LIGHT!”
Asha appeared in Nalim’s dark corner. “Would you look at that? A happy ending? Who knew?” She laughed.
“This is only the start.” Nalim felt high, low, and the two were warring. Callisto was immortal. She had her powers. But she was the only one. The cracks in the Shard before her were dark. The Traveler had chosen her, and there was no going back.
“Hey, Cali. All your celebrations are drawing attention.” Asha’s voice sounded light and playful. Genuinely so. It’d been a while. “You wanna take care of it?”

Callisto gave a loud whoop, waves of arc electricity coming off her as she bounced. “HELL yeah!” With the flick of a wrist, a brilliant blue staff appeared in her hand.

Nalim watched her rip through the Fallen emerging with a small smile. “Brings a new definition to Lightbearer, doesn’t it.”