Sunblind Serpent: The Zodiac Without A House

[RESOLUTION STATUS: INCOMPLETE]

The words remained inside Marek’s sight for several seconds before fading.

Elia was still unconscious. Two injured people had already been brought into the laboratory from the corridor. One had blood running down the side of his face. The other was a young woman whose right arm had bent in a direction it should not have.

Marek had thirteen scales. Twelve were empty.

He could take something out of the man with the head injury. He did not know what. He did not know whether the scale would hold it, whether it would come back out, or whether it would do to him what Elia’s condition had done—struck him beneath the ribs, torn something, and stopped only because the Mark pulled it back.

He also did not know what was still coming through that door.

He stayed where he was.

Professor Halden had barely finished clearing another workstation when several voices came from outside.

”Security! Everyone move away from the door!”

The order did very little. People in the corridor immediately started shouting back. Someone wanted to know where the medical team was. Another person said there were injured people near the stairs. Farther away, a woman kept repeating that someone was not breathing.

”Move away from the entrance!” a security officer shouted.

Professor Halden told everyone inside to step back.

The researchers obeyed.

Marek stayed beside Elia.

Four security officers entered the laboratory. All four had Astral Marks, and Marek recognized the first man from the university entrance. A golden pattern extended from beneath the collar of his uniform and disappeared beneath his shirt.

Taurus.

He wore thick padded gloves and used only two fingers to push the damaged laboratory door farther open. He also did it slowly enough that the Taurus-marked researcher near the workstation noticed. The researcher checked his own hands afterward.

The second officer was a woman with Gemini symbols across both palms. She wore dark protective glasses and industrial hearing protection, kept her head lowered, and avoided facing anyone directly.

A red Mark surrounded the third officer’s wrist. Aries. He walked with unusually short steps while keeping both hands close to his waist. Every movement seemed deliberate.

The final officer had pale markings around both wrists. Professor Halden noticed those immediately.

The officer noticed his as well. ”Libra?”

Professor Halden checked the markings on his own wrists. ”I suppose.”

Marek watched the four officers for a little longer.

They were not controlling their abilities perfectly.

The Taurus officer left a shallow impression in the metal doorframe when his hand rested against it. The Gemini officer coughed in the exact voice of someone outside, then immediately pressed one side of her hearing protection tighter. The Aries officer stopped near the entrance, but one shoe continued sliding several centimeters before it finally stopped with him.

None of them reacted as though any of that was new.

Professor Halden had apparently noticed the same thing. ”How are you doing that?”

The Libra officer faced him. ”Doing what?”

”You have had those Marks for the same amount of time as everyone else, I assume.”

”Yes.”

Professor Halden pointed out what Marek had already noticed. The Taurus officer knew not to grip the door normally. The Gemini officer was deliberately limiting what she could see and hear. The Aries officer was shortening his movements instead of allowing them to continue.

”Who told you?” Professor Halden asked. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

”We received emergency instructions.”

”When?”

The officer avoided the question and turned his attention to Elia instead. ”Sir, move away from the patient.”

”That was not what I asked.”

”No.”

”Then answer the question.”

”We have medical personnel coming.”

The answer was enough. They were not going to explain where the instructions had come from.

The Taurus officer returned to the entrance and attached a metal clamp across the damaged lock mechanism.

”What are you doing?” Professor Halden asked.

”Sealing the laboratory.”

”There are still injured people outside.”

”They are being moved to another floor.”

”This is a laboratory, not a holding room.”

The officer continued securing the clamp.

The Aquarius researcher had been watching the corridor before the door closed. ”What about everyone out there?”

”Emergency teams are handling them. They have instructions now.”

There it was again.

Instructions.

The Taurus officer finished with the clamp and stepped away. A shallow dent remained where his fingers had pressed too hard against the metal. He noticed it before moving his hand behind his back.

Whatever instructions he had received were helping, but it seemed they were not enough to give him complete control.

”Who gave you these instructions?” Professor Halden asked.

The Libra officer removed a tablet from his vest. ”Everyone who developed a Mark will remain inside this laboratory until registration is completed.”

One researcher frowned. ”Registration?”

”Yes.”

”By the university?”

”No.”

The conversations around the room quieted.

”Who issued the order?”

”National Emergency Command. The NEC.”

Several people began speaking at once. The officer asked them to stop, but the Aquarius researcher continued. ”What exactly are we being registered for?”

”Awakening classification.”

That stopped him for a moment.

”You already have a name for this?”

The officer did not answer.

The researcher tried something else. ”What is my Mark?”

This time, the officer checked his tablet. ”Aquarius.”

The room became quiet again.

Professor Halden was already watching him. ”How do you know that?”

There was no answer.

”That Mark appeared less than an hour ago.”

”Sir.”

”You have classifications.”

”Yes.”

”You have handling procedures.”

”Yes.”

”You have instructions for people whose abilities nobody here understood minutes ago.”

The officer gave the same answer. ”Yes.”

Professor Halden stopped questioning him. ”So somebody knew.”

”I did not say that.”

”You did not have to.”

A sound came from the testing room. The monitor connected to the diagnostic toilet had activated again. White lines moved across the display before a message appeared.

[EXTERNAL AUTHORITY CONNECTION DETECTED]

Professor Halden immediately moved toward the testing room.

”Do not touch the equipment,” the Libra officer said.

Professor Halden stopped. ”This belongs to the university.”

”Not anymore.”

”What?”

The monitor changed.

[EMERGENCY MERIDIAN PROTOCOL ACTIVE]

Marek recognized the name. Project Meridian had already appeared once tonight, and he still had no idea what it was.

Professor Halden moved closer to the monitor without touching it.

[AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT RESPONSE NODE DETECTED]

[DEVICE IDENTIFICATION IN PROGRESS]

The screen flashed.

Several other pieces of equipment activated almost together. The environmental scanner, biological analyzer, a portable diagnostic unit beneath one workstation, and two monitors connected to unrelated experiments all came on without anyone touching them.

”What is happening?” Professor Halden asked.

The answer came from the machines themselves.

[PROJECT MERIDIAN COMPONENT VERIFIED]

The same message appeared on another monitor, followed by a third. Professor Halden stopped speaking.

”These are all Meridian equipment?” Marek asked.

”No.”

The answer came immediately.

Professor Halden reconsidered the machines around him. ”At least, they were not supposed to be.”

The Libra officer touched the communication device near his collar. ”Control, Laboratory Six-A. We have Meridian identification.”

Static came through before someone answered, ”Repeat.”

”Multiple pieces of laboratory equipment just identified themselves as Project Meridian components.”

There was a short pause. ”Do not disconnect anything.”

The order continued before anyone inside the laboratory could respond. ”Seal the laboratory. No identified component leaves without Federal Recovery authorization.”

”The room is already sealed,” the officer replied.

”Confirm personnel.”

The officer checked his tablet. There were nineteen people currently inside the laboratory, with additional injured already moved back into the corridor.

”How many Awakened?”

He counted the confirmed Marks and manifestations. The Gemini woman, the Aquarius researcher, the Taurus researcher, Professor Halden, Elia, Marek, and several others whose Marks had appeared without producing anything obvious yet.

”Eleven confirmed.”

”Register all eleven.”

The officer began scanning them.

The Taurus researcher registered normally. So did Gemini, Aquarius, Libra, and the others who matched one of the known classifications.

When the scanner reached Marek, it made a different sound.

The officer stopped.

”What?” Marek asked.

He checked the tablet, then Marek’s shoulder. ”Show me the Mark.”

”No.”

Professor Halden turned toward him. ”Marek.”

”I have already been restrained by a toilet, covered in sanitation foam, and injured by something that should not exist.” Marek turned to the officer. ”I think I have contributed enough to the evening.”

The officer did not smile. ”Mr. Vale.”

Marek paused. ”How do you know my name?”

”Your university records are linked to the laboratory roster.”

That explanation was reasonable. Marek still disliked it.

He pulled the collar of his shirt aside, exposing the black circle beneath the outer end of his right collarbone. Thirteen separated scales surrounded it. One remained filled with dark-red light.

The officer scanned it again.

The same warning sounded.

”What does it say?” Professor Halden asked.

The officer turned the screen away from them. He was too late. Marek had already seen the list.

Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, and Sagittarius.

Twelve classifications.

Ophiuchus was not among them.

”Mine is not there.”

”That is why it is making that sound.”

”What classification is his?” Professor Halden asked.

The officer hesitated, but eventually said, ”Unregistered.”

Marek checked the Mark on his shoulder again. He had seen Ophiuchus in the sky. Thirteen constellations had appeared. The government had classifications for twelve of them.

Why was Ophiuchus missing?

The officer touched his communication device. ”Control, we have an unregistered Astral pattern.”

The response came immediately.

”Description?”

”Black central circle. Thirteen broken structures surrounding it.”

Nobody answered for several seconds.

Then the voice returned. ”Isolate the subject.”

Professor Halden’s expression changed. ”On what basis?”

”Emergency classification protocol.”

”He saved her life.”

The officer glanced at Elia. ”That does not change the classification.”

”It should change whether you treat him like a dangerous specimen.”

”I did not write the protocol.”

Professor Halden stared at him. ”That sentence has excused many stupid things.”

The Taurus officer glanced at Professor Halden. Marek almost smiled. The communication device activated again before the argument could continue.

”Six-A.”

”Yes.”

”Multiple unregistered Marks have been reported at other collection points.”

Marek raised his head.

The Libra officer frowned. ”How many?”

”Unknown. Enough that a separate holding category has already been authorized.”

”So he is not the only one?” Professor Halden asked.

”No.”

”Same Mark?”

”Several reports appear consistent.”

Marek touched the edge of the black circle beneath his collarbone.

Other people had the same Mark.

That should have been reassuring. It was not.

The testing-room monitor changed again.

[PROJECT MERIDIAN RECOVERY ORDER RECEIVED]

[ALL COMPONENTS TO BE CONFISCATED]

Several seconds later, the same order appeared on the security officer’s tablet.

He read it aloud.

”All experimental equipment identified under Project Meridian is now under emergency government custody.”

Professor Halden stared at him. ”You did not even know these were Meridian equipment until the machines told you.”

”I am reading the order.”

”The government discovers a project exists and confiscates it immediately?”

The officer paused before answering. ”I did not say the government discovered it tonight.”

Professor Halden said nothing after that.

Marek considered what they already knew.

The diagnostic toilet had arrived at the university as an experimental environmental-health equipment. Professor Halden had never been told that it belonged to Project Meridian, and apparently neither had anyone else working with it.

Now, several unrelated machines inside the laboratory were identifying themselves as components of the same project.

At the same time, security personnel had arrived already knowing how Taurus, Gemini, and Aries manifestations behaved. They knew the names of the Signs. They had handling instructions. The national government had a registration system ready to classify twelve of them.

Those things could still have separate explanations. Marek was beginning to dislike coincidences.

The Libra officer continued reading from the tablet. ”All Awakened personnel must be identified, photographed, medically assessed, and registered before transfer or release.”

”Transfer where?” the Aquarius researcher asked.

”Temporary stabilization facilities.”

”What does that mean?”

”Locations where Awakened individuals can be monitored until their manifestations are considered sufficiently controlled.”

The researcher crossed his arms. ”That sounds like detention.”

”It is not a prison.”

”That was not what I said.”

The officer ignored the distinction and said, ”Individuals whose manifestations remain uncontrolled will not be permitted to leave the campus.”

The Gemini woman removed one hand from her ear. ”For how long?”

”I do not know.”

She stared at him. ”That sounds unreliable.”

”I know.”

At least he admitted it.

Another security team entered several minutes later carrying padded restraints, face shields, portable scanners, and insulated gloves.

But those were not what caught Marek’s attention.

One officer had a collection of laminated cards attached to his vest. He removed one while speaking to the Taurus officer. The card was marked Taurus, with several instructions printed beneath the symbol.

There were others behind it.

Aries. Gemini.

Marek counted the cards.

Twelve.

Professor Halden had noticed them as well.

The procedures had not been written on a tablet and transmitted several minutes ago. They had been printed, laminated, organized by Sign, and distributed to the people responding to the Awakening.

Nobody could have prepared them after midnight. Someone had known enough to prepare before it happened.

Marek did not know how long ago.

He also did not know what else they had prepared for.