Machine Story

Intruders

Mya and Shaan were led into the palace and summoned to the council room where they were told Queen Samiya would meet them. They waited for a while before someone else arrived into the room. The person who appeared was not Queen Samiya like they had been expecting. It was a man that Shaan had never met before but Mya seemed familiar with.

The man in high quality robes greeted them both and asked Mya about how her journey went. Mya didn’t seem happy and Shaan kept watch in case the man made any suspicious movements. “Where is Queen Samiya?” Mya asked with a serious tone.

“Unfortunately, the queen won’t be able to join us. She is caught up at the moment with other matters.” Mya looked the man dead in the eye as Shaan had never seen her this serious before. “Mya, who is this guy? Do you know who he is?” Shaan inquired.

Before Mya could answer, the man interjected. “No need, I can introduce myself. I am Shen, the leader of the council here in Corrinth. I have been assisting the Queen in all important decision making. Sadly, her misguided way of thinking will only lead to the destruction of this great city. So I had to take measures into my own hands and deal with the problem myself.”

Shaan’s eyes began to open, “You can’t mean, did you really?” Mya held out her hand so she could speak. “Let the queen go, it doesn’t have to be this way."

After hearing her words, Shen began to slowly walk towards Mya. “Mya, or should I say, Akali, what changed you? That was not how you were trained. Have you forgotten how I helped you come this far?”

“Don’t ever call me that again. What you are doing is going to bring destruction to the world. Queen Samiya is right, the Metadross won’t spare the people even if you surrender and serve them!” She cried out in anger.

Shen reached out with his hand and moved it towards Mya. Shaan saw it as an act of hostility and jumped in front of Mya with his weapon pointed towards Shen. “Keep your hands away from her.” He rebuked.

“Stay out of this! You are not part of this conversation!” He moved closer towards them and threatened to strike them by reaching for a weapon under his sleeve. Anticipating this, Shaan raised his weapon and prepared to fire a warning shot with the intention to miss and frighten him away. However, Mya realized that they were walking right into Shen’s trap and attempted to stop Shaan but it was too late.

Shaan aimed the bullet about a foot away from his target but Councilor Shen purposely jumped into the line of fire with his right shoulder. After taking the shot, he was wounded and he held his shoulder with his left hand.

Meanwhile, Shaan was caught completely off guard. He hadn’t meant for this to happen but Mya shook him back to his senses and urged him, “We have to go now!” Together they bolted through the door and made their attempt to escape the palace.

As they left, a squadron of guards came into the room to find Councilor Shen injured. Shen immediately directed the soldiers to where the traitors had exited and told the leader of the squad to lock all doors to prevent their escape. He also wanted all available soldiers in the palace to apprehend the two.

The entire place was flooded with troops searching for the escapists. Thankfully, Mya knew the palace quite well so they were able to stay out of sight for the time being.

But, sooner or later they would have to find a way out. Each time they snuck around to an exit, it was teeming with guards and there was nothing they could do to escape.

“Rats, they really have every exit I know heavily secured. We are going to need a plan.” Mya spoke softly. “Hey Mya, I’m sorry I got us into this mess.” Shaan apologized for firing the shot. Mya got up and punched him in the shoulder. “Forget it, you did what you thought was right.” Shaan felt encouraged and replied, “We are going to get out of this!” she agreed.

After they finished their pep talk, they heard a guard approaching, letting the others know that he heard some noise coming in their direction. Mya and Shaan ran the opposite direction but as they turned the corner, they saw an incoming group of soldiers heading their way. They were sandwiched from both sides and were about to be arrested.

As the guards were about to turn and corner them, a door opened up from behind them. Someone grabbed and pulled them into the room and immediately closed the door without much of a sound. All the guards outside met up and asked each other if they had seen the intruders but none of them had a clue. Soon, they dispersed and continued their search.

Once they all left, Mya and Shaan let out a sigh of relief. They had been saved from certain doom. Mya and Shaan turned to face the person who had gotten them out of a blind. Shaan had no idea who she was but Mya knew her quite well and introduced her as Anaya, the silent but the most trusted of the Queen’s aides.

After thanking Anaya for what she did, Mya began to think of a way out of the palace. She was so focused, she didn’t realize that Anaya was waving her arms to get her attention. Seeing this, Shaan did what he could to get Mya’s attention, “Hey Mya I think Anaya is trying to tell you something.” Without making eye contact, she continued pacing around.

Finally, Shaan jumped in front of Mya. He directed her attention straight to Anaya who was pointing towards a large cabinet leaning against the wall. Mya and Shaan both looked at the object then back at Anaya with confusion. Then Anaya pressed a button that was hidden from plain sight and suddenly the cabinet began to shift to the left, revealing a hidden pathway beneath it.

The hidden pathway looked cramped and dark but Anaya had her torch ready and took the lead. After she entered, Shaan and Mya followed closely behind and the cabinet slowly moved back to the original spot without a single guard spotting them.