Sunblind Serpent: The Zodiac Without A House

Rhovan Torsk had expected Earth’s governments to learn his name eventually.

He had not expected them to print it.

The bulletin lay open on the desk beside him. Someone had obtained a photograph from one of the temporary security stations and placed it above his name. The image was not particularly good. He had been turning away when it was taken, which at least saved him from having to stare directly at himself.

Below it were the details he had provided to the Emergency Command.

RHOVAN TORSK.

AFFILIATION: HOUSE OF LEO

CYCLE: CELEBRITY (CYCLE V)

The last one had apparently interested them enough to distribute.

Rhovan folded the bulletin and pushed it aside.

Earth had discovered Astral Marks a little more than a week ago and had already learned how to make paperwork about them.

Some habits survived the end of a world remarkably well.

The room around him had once belonged to a telecommunications supervisor. Half the equipment no longer worked. The remaining screens displayed local emergency channels, road conditions, and incomplete reports from different districts of Linden.

None of those were what Rhovan had come here to use.

He placed two fingers against the thin black panel on the desk. Gold light passed beneath them. The dead screen beside it remained dead. The smaller panel did not.

Several lines appeared across the panel, containing characters incomprehensible to the humans on Earth.

NEWBORN-WORLD OBSERVATION

WORLD DESIGNATION: EARTH

VEIL INTEGRITY: 0%

ASSIGNED OBSERVER: RHOVAN TORSK

HOUSE AFFILIATION: LEO

CURRENT CYCLE: CELEBRITY (CYCLE V)

Rhovan scrolled past the information.

He had submitted four reports since arriving.

Three had returned requests for clarification.

One had returned fourteen.

Apparently, the local geography is wrong in several directions at once was not considered sufficiently technical.

He disagreed.

A map of Linden appeared on the panel. Several districts overlapped older coordinates that should no longer have been possible. Roads ended against forests. A coastline existed where his imported records claimed the sea should have been almost two hundred kilometers away.

Then there were the people.

Rhovan opened the detention-center report.

The southern processing corridor appeared first.

He had chosen the southern processing corridor because it was the safest part of the building that was still usable. It had two exits, direct access to the medical section, and enough open space to keep unstable Awakened apart. The western wing had already lost power, while the northern corridor was too narrow. Several Taurus and Aries bearers had also damaged rooms on the eastern side after using far more force than they intended.

The processing corridor had simply been the least terrible option.

The locals had apparently decided he was gathering people for some unknown purpose. Rhovan supposed that was understandable. The group had attacked him before asking.

He opened the attached incident record.

DARIO LOLET — TAURUS

KELLAN MORA — ARIES

NADIA CORIN — GEMINI

SILAS NERI — SCORPIUS

EREN VALDO — LIBRA

RAFE CALDER — SAGITTARIUS

Dario had been the physically strongest. Kellan had been the easiest to predict. Nadia had caused trouble even before reaching the processing corridor. Once she realized the guards reacted to familiar voices before confirming who was actually speaking, the intercom had become almost useless.

Silas had nearly understood how Rhovan was moving. Eren had spent most of the fight watching. Rafe had gone for a firearm.

Rhovan still considered that one rude.

Rhovan had used more of his authority than he originally intended during the fight, although he had been careful not to seriously injure any of them. His released flashes had contained far more light than heat. Silas and Rafe only needed to stop seeing properly for a few seconds.

The officers had been different. When Rhovan told them to hold the line, they had already accepted his direction. His authority only helped them coordinate. Two moved the civilians farther back while the others secured the side entrance.

Dario had required something else.

The Taurus bearer had enough strength to force Rhovan backward at first. Rhovan had not expected that from someone who had awakened less than a day earlier.

Then their struggle drew the attention of the corridor.

That mattered for Leo. The more people recognized Rhovan during the confrontation, the more strength he could draw from his Mark. Dario stopped gaining ground soon after.

Kellan’s second attack had also been stronger than Rhovan expected. A thin layer of gold-white light across his arm had absorbed part of the impact.

He could have done more, but he had chosen not to.

The six detainees were frightened, confused, and using abilities they had possessed for less than a day. Forcing them to obey would have accomplished very little. Once they stopped attacking him, Rhovan had seen no reason to continue.

Rhovan closed the report and checked the file beneath it.

OPHIUCHUS.

Earth had produced several. That alone was unusual enough. One had become considerably more irritating.

He opened the local record.

MAREK VALE

AGE: 19

SIGN: OPHIUCHUS

KNOWN SCALE OCCUPANCY: 2

OBSERVED MANIFESTATION: DIAGNOSTIC / CONTAINMENT

PROJECT MERIDIAN ASSOCIATION: UNDER REVIEW

Rhovan read the attached terminology again.

Source. Condition. Host. Vessel. Compatibility. Acceptance. Case Boundary. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

None of those ideas were completely foreign to Ophiuchus authority. An Ophiuchus bearer needed to distinguish what belonged where before attempting custody of anything dangerous.

The problem was the presentation.

Earth’s nineteen-year-old bearer was receiving those distinctions as structured diagnostic information.

’That’s unusual...’

Then there was Project Meridian.

Rhovan added another note to the file and stopped when voices reached him from the corridor outside. One belonged to the officer stationed downstairs. The others did not.

A knock followed.

The officer opened the door halfway. ”Sir.”

Rhovan disliked the title but had stopped correcting them.

”What?” he asked.

His command of the local language had improved considerably over the past week.

”There are people asking for you.”

”Names?”

The officer hesitated. ”They didn’t give any.”

A familiar male voice came from behind him, ”He has our names already.”

Rhovan recognized Dario immediately. ”Let them in.”

The officer opened the door farther.

Dario entered first. Kellan followed with dried blood still visible along one sleeve. Nadia came behind him, then Silas and Eren.

Rhovan counted five.

Then Rafe Calder stepped through last.

Dario turned toward him. ”You.”

Rafe did not look particularly bothered. ”Hello.”

”Kellan couldn’t find you.”

”He wasn’t looking in the right place.”

”I checked three districts,” Kellan said.

”Then you checked three wrong districts.”

”Where were you?”

Rafe glanced at Rhovan. ”Looking for him.”

Dario frowned. ”Why?”

”He knew what our Marks could do before we did.”

Eren moved between them before the argument could continue. He did not physically separate anyone. Apparently, standing there was enough now.

Rhovan noticed the thin transparent material attached over several of their Marks.

Stillglass Seals.

That had not been there one week earlier.

Their movements were different too. Kellan no longer looked as though one careless step might send him through the nearest desk. Dario carried his weight more evenly. Nadia’s attention shifted between voices and mouths before she responded.

’Someone had been teaching them,’ Rhovan thought.

Or they had found something that could.

Dario placed the government bulletin on the desk. ”You have a name now.”

”I had one before,” Rhovan replied.

”You didn’t give it to us.”

”You were somewhat occupied.”

”You could’ve started with your name.”

”I started with the southern route is notclear. You decided that wasn’t your problem.”

’This dude...’ Dario’s jaw tightened. ”Are you going to keep doing that?”

”Doing what?”

”Trying to piss me off.”

Rhovan considered him for a moment. ”Trying?”

Dario went silent. He inhaled through his nose and glanced at the others. ”Why were you gathering those people at the detention center?”

”The processing corridor had medical access, two exits, enough space to separate unstable Marks, and fewer structural hazards than the rest of the wing.”

Dario stared at him.

Nadia turned toward Kellan. ”We attacked him because he picked a safer hallway.”

”We attacked him because he wouldn’t let us leave,” Kellan said.

”You were the one who attacked first,” Eren corrected.

Kellan crossed his arms. ”I know what I did.”

Rhovan glanced at him. ”You also missed.”

”I know.”

”And hit a desk.”

Kellan’s expression tightened. ”You don’t need to repeat that.”

The change between them was more noticeable now. One week earlier they had moved together because escaping alone had been worse. Now they interrupted each other without immediately becoming hostile. Even Rafe remained close to the door rather than leaving.

”Then why did you know about Ophiuchus?”

”Because Ophiuchus has always existed, even before the beginning of your world.”

That removed the small amount of amusement from the room.

Rhovan continued before anyone needed to ask. ”Your authorities had no handling procedure for the Sign. I gave the officers the minimum precautions I knew.”

”Do not provoke them,” Nadia said.

”Yes.”

Dario’s expression changed. ”And don’t put unstable Awakened beside them.”

Rhovan did not react, but his silence was enough.

”The officer on Route Eight didn’t know that one.”

”Then the instruction did not reach him.”

”Why is that instruction different?”

Rhovan looked at Dario for several seconds. ”Because under the wrong conditions, an Ophiuchus bearer can become the Vessel for something that was never theirs.”

Nobody interrupted him this time.

Rhovan turned the black panel on the desk so they could see the name displayed across it.

MAREK VALE.

Dario reacted.

Not much. His expression changed for less than a second before he controlled it again, but Rhovan had already noticed.

”You’ve met him.”

Dario looked at him. ”You know him?”

”If you’re referring to the information in this file, then yes.”

”That’s not what I asked.”

”I specified the file for a reason. I assumed you’d manage the rest.”

Dario returned his attention to the panel. He was more careful now.

Rhovan noticed that too. He then added another entry beneath the record.

PRIORITY OBSERVATION: ELEVATED.

Dario read it. ”What do you want with him?”

”I haven’t decided yet,” Rhovan said, without looking away from Dario.

”That’s not much of an answer.”

”What else could a man with limited knowledge say?”

Dario looked at Marek’s name again.

Rhovan closed the file. ”You could actually make this considerably easier by telling me where you met him.”

Dario said nothing.

Rhovan waited a moment, then shrugged. ”Well, apparently not.”