The Oracle Gene: Chapter 2

by ~Creatorsoul

The Oracle Gene
Chapter 2
“Ouch, that was a little too close to comfort…” Dio commented on the diagnosis to Tulio, who is just climbing up the stairway to the platform, “It’s like those oldies movies. Like the frozen gargoyles one, you remember? The guy goes up to the thing, touches it, and wham! The thing grabs him and— well, you know the rest…”
“Does that happen…” Tulio’s voice faltered. The answer was a bit obvious.
“Often? Nah, only ever once or twice. The hibernation crew will be screwed over if it happened all the time. With that being said… Poor Ganastro’s gonna have to explain what the heck just happened…to the boss…” Dio jerked a thumb at the main door, “He’s suppose to keep everything under control here, which he doesn’t, of course… Flauna’s one of those things he can’t control at all, but then again, no one can…say, you haven’t introduced yourself just yet, right?”
“I think I’ll leave it for another day…” Tulio decline the offer. I’m not feeling too well right now…
“Oh, com’on, ya scardy cat. Get over here…” Dio rolled his eyes before swinging himself quickly behind Tulio and pushing him towards Flauna, who was just moving down the banister from the right, “she ain’t a biter, just a bit cold in attitude though…”
“Dio, really, I—”
“Hey, Doctor Flauna!” Dio called cheerfully as he ushered Tulio down the ramp and towards her. Flauna turned slowly to face the two, her hair and lab coat flapped a little as she turned. Tulio notice for the first time, that Flauna was smaller than he had anticipated; her height would probably only reached his shoulder, if say she removed the two inch high boots she wore.
“Doctor Flauna,” Dio swung one of his arms lazily around Tulio’s neck, and sported his childish grin at the doctor, seemingly undaunted by her cold and intense gaze, “this’s the guy I was talking about the other day, Tulio Havenspher. Can’t find a better investigator in this world than this guy right here!” Tulio gave a sheepish nod and a weak smile, which Flauna did nothing in return, other than a slow and soft blink, which Tulio observe seemed to be her equivalent of a normal blink. Dio continued to ramble on in the background as they stood there in silence.
“Well, so?” Dio stepped aside, rubbing his hand in anticipation. What is the guy doing!? Tulio questioned, but quickly turned his attention when Flauna stepped towards him. Slowly, her hair moving to the invisible breeze (and sometimes trailing a little sparkle or two), hands still in her pocket, her face directly pointing forward, Flauna circled Tulio. Tulio felt as though her gaze was running all over him, even though her face never turned to face him. As Flauna completely her circle, she stood motionless for a while in front of Tulio, facing the left. Then with a slight inhale and exhale with a soft “Hm” and an equally soft beam, she then proceeded slowly out the main door. Not a word mutter, not a thought expressed.
“What, was that?” Tulio asked Dio, who had sported a surprised clown face with an exaggerated oval mouth since Flauna started circling him. The mouth exploded into a laugh, accompanied with a rough slap to the back, which Tulio winced to.
“You lucky duck, you!” Dio yelled, which was responded with a crash from Larry in the background, “First the exam, now this!”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Tulio expressed his annoyance with a soft glare at Dio, who was trying to suppress his laughing. Dio punched towards the main door, and the two made their way towards the exit.
“I’ll tell you in a sec, but first, let me get you a drink back at the old place…”
Strangely enough, Tulio felt better now, and did not refuse the offer.

“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Explanations, please?” Tulio reminded as Dio smacked down the bottle of beer. They were sitting in a corner of Old Brandy’s Bar in sector five, a local legend for beer, wine and fish sticks. Outside the window on the opposite side of the street, Geomiracle trucks were busy clearing up the debris left from yesterday’s rebel attack.
“Where’d you want me to start?” Dio asked, giving a soft hiccup. Even though it was autumn, Dio still donned his usual tank top and saggy jeans. Northern Prulian influence, most likely.
“That…circling encounter…just then would be good,” Tulio was at a lost of words when it came to describing what he had just gone through.
“That…” Dio said, swinging his bottle a little in his right hand, “that was what many a pursuer of the cold Flauna had never even dreamed of having. Most of the time, she wouldn’t even care about anyone. She’ll walk right by you like a hiss of wind if she has to prove her disinterest.”
“So?” Tulio was getting a bit anxious for answers.
“So? Haven’t you catch on yet man? She LIKES you, or your energy slash aura, at least,” Dio took his last swig from the bottle before setting it down, “When if comes to Flauna, it’s all about energy, aura, and the lot. I’m sure you’ve seen how everything around her move like there’s a constant breeze right?” Tulio nodded softly. You could call it her trademark… Dio continued with his explanations.
“That’s because her aura’s so strong, it’s having an effect on the physical world. She’s been like that since she was born, from what I’ve heard. She’s an early graduate too, like you. Top of class from the Northern Institute of Biotechnology and Research, undergraduate, graduate and doctorate. She originally was going to be working for the healing department, but Glinsrain won’t have any of it, and transferred her over to our department instead. Ganastro hated it, but oh well, what could he object to?”
“I take it she doesn’t like Ganastro either?” Tulio took sip from his bottle as he asked.
“Ya kidding, right? She dislikes him like oil repels water! Trying leaving them in the same room alone for a second, she’ll wreck the guy to death with aura manipulation!” Dio’s exaggerated with his arms, “mind you, she doesn’t mind me though. I can follow her around all day, and she wouldn’t object a single bit.”
“Aren’t you a bit old for puppy love…” Tulio commented sarcastically, which Dio responded with a strong slapped to the forearm and an angry pout.
“At least I have a love interest…what ever happened to you and that Mid-Setalian girl, huh?”
“Ah…that…she didn’t take it too well when I said I preferred Prulians…” Tulio stuttered, almost spitting his last sip when Dio asked the question.
“Well great! She’s a plateau Dweller too!”
“Who?”
“Flauna!”
I don’t remember seeing her around though…
“She immigrated to Northern Setali pretty young though…holds a Northern Setali citizenship,” Dio said as he aimed his bottle as the glass dispenser across the bar room. Even though he hit the target right on, the barman shouted at him.
“Hey Dio! Don’t make me throw you in the back alley!”
“Yeah, love to see you try that again! I’m twenty times bigger and stronger now!”
“Oh yeah? I’ve got a paddle that I can whack you across the Ocean with!”
“Bet’cha that’s the paddle your pops used to chuck at ya ass when you smuggled drinks to us!” Dio laughed, and received a rag to the face from the bartender. Sneezing, Dio threw it back across the bar room, “Gotta love Brandy junior. Best mate ever! Say, you are accepting this job, right?”
Oh great, back on topic…
“I guess so… They’re holding my pops…”
“Hey, least they’re nice enough to put me as the correspondence,” Dio said, producing a thin contract file from his pocket, “sign up!”
“Let me guess…same town, same story?” Tulio asked as he took the form from Dio.
“Nah, let’s just say, Flauna’s a pretty nice person when it comes to taking care of her underlings. Least she listens to us, unlike Ganastro. ‘Get me this’, ‘Get me that’ ‘Get over here’, ‘Get out’…” Dio complained on as Tulio signed the form with his fingerprint. The form automatically cleared itself, and a new window appeared. Sighing, Tulio returned the display slip to Dio.
“Now what?”
“He might as well have gotten a dog…wait, what? Oh right…” Dio took the display slip, and scrolled down the page, his look turned serious all of a sudden, “even though I know what they want you to do already, it’s better if I reviewed it first…”
“Take you time…I’m not going anywhere…” Tulio yawned as he stretched over the back of the chair. He saw the clock on the back wall read six forty-seven. Four hours and thirteen minutes til nightlife.
“Alright, down to business then,” Dio placed the display slip down on the table, and crossed his arms.

“How much do you know about the Guardians of Gaia, Tulio?” It felt awkward listening to Dio speak in a formal tone. Tulio tried to adjust.
“Guardians of Gaia…Hm…in brief, thought to have originated from a small faction of the Antimiracle movement back in 995, with the first of the antimiracle demonstration taking place in the fifteenth undersector in Venjia. Over the years, it seemed to have increased in complexity of structure and techniques of threatening the society, including usage of advance weapons, especially those of biowarfare…” Tulio paused, “Missing anything?”
“Good enough to get you started. Why don’t you listen to this?” Dio handed over an earphone. Tulio sighed as he took the earphone and placed it to his ear. The sound must have been recorded or tampered with, with all the white noise created as the voice spoke.
“…This heinous deed cannot continue on, fellow comrades! We shall not turn our backs to where we have come from, and nor shall we allow any of our siblings to do so. This is why we must stand from the graves which we have been placed in! We shall rise up from under, and undermine the corporation we shall! Let us expose their true intentions, their false pretensions, and show the world that there is nothing miraculous about them. Any of those in favor, listen to my words! We shall prepare, we shall rise, and we shall defeat out enemy! Rise up to the terror which haunts our mother! Rise up to that self-proclaimed tyranny! Rise, children and guardians of Gaia! Rise and fight!”
Uproar of cheers was heard before Dio cut the video short. The footage paused on the female, holding up her hand in a tightly clenched fist, her face shrouded in shadow by the beret she wore.
“What’d you think of that?”
“Well, certainly a strong and powerful spokesperson of the organization… what is this, recruitment video?”
“Something that we’ve been censoring since last year…We were quite surprised that Klamura would even dare show a single bit of herself…”
“Klamura?” Tulio asked as he leaned back.
“Shadona Klamura, age 28, specialist in social psychology, and routine activist since 15. Several arrest records for participating in illegal demonstrations, distribution of dangerous materials, destroying public property…and the lot that any activist would do, perhaps excluding drug possession…we don’t know…”
“So what is she? The spokesperson for the organization? Propaganda artist?”
“We’re speculating that she is the head of the organization.”
Tulio spluttered and choked on his beer. Direct exposure for Geomiracles to see!? The woman must be mad! There was a limited amount of resources provided to the public on the hierarchy of the Guardians of Gaia. Though Tulio have heard of a woman as the single brain behind the tragic incidents, it was the first time he has heard her full name, or any part of it, for that matter.
“A leader that is unafraid of capture, huh?” Tulio asked as he coughed, “Are you sure that she’s not some artificial programming?”
“Considering Geomiracles sent an invitation for a position in the resource management when she graduated, no…” Dio turned the display board around for Tulio to review, “We’ve checked it out thoroughly…every single detail possible of her, and indications are she’s is alive and plotting as we speak.”
“Then why is it that Geomiracles haven’t been able to find her?” Despite his dislike of the corporation, Tulio never expected Geomiracles to lack the ability to find whomever they wanted to find.
“Com’on Tulio, you’re the king of one-plus-one-is-two, put the pieces together!”
Tulio rubbed his forehead as he heaved a sigh.
“Enough with the games, what is it that the corp want me to do?”
“Your job, Tulio, is to seek out two things,” Dio leaned back, his fingers in a two formation in front of Tulio’s face, “the leader of the rebellion, Shadona Klamura, and the oracle that helps her.”

“You had this all planned out didn’t you?” Tulio questioned as Dio and he crossed the street from Brandy’s Bar.
“Say what?” Dio turned, not quite catching the question as the wind wiped around the two.
“I said, you had this all planned out didn’t you? To convince me over at Brandy’s and conveniently travel across the street to the crime scene.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking ‘bout!” Dio laughed as he flashed his employer’s tag at the guards and moved through the barrier that segregated the building from the rest of the world. One region was lined with equipment of the investigators; Dio picked off two masks off the hooks.
“Here go… just in case they’ve missed a spot during the cleanup…” Dio handed one to Tulio, “Remember back in the day?”
“The evacuation drills? Not with that Ms. Utalo, or was it Italo?” Tulio laughed softly as he slipped his mask over the head while Dio proceeded to pulling on a pair of skintight gloves.
“Strange, I’ve always called ‘er Italu…guess that’s how I failed music…” Dio clicked his tongue as he entered the second barrier between the equipment room and the investigation area. It took only a few steps to encounter a familiar face; Stalide Burns exclaimed a great “aha!” in his baritone voice as Dio and Tulio approached him.
“Dio, glad you made it…and Tulio, aren’t we glad for you to be back on the team.”
“Only for a moment, just a moment,” Tulio reminded coolly to his ex-colleague.
“Well, anyhow, I’m afraid to say, this, just like any other…but that’s bad news really…” Burns sighed as he gestured the charred remains of the concrete and steel around him.
“A persisting M.O.?” Tulio asked as he quickly scanned the scene, “If I remembered right, they should be scheming up a new M.O….”
“I take it that you know roughly how their guerilla attacks work?” Dio inquired as he took the evidence overview from Burns for a quick read.
“They do not use the same method over twenty times, and each time an incident occurs, its complexity and difficulty increases,” Tulio recited the information, “the one I abhorred the most was the school incidents…”
“Ah…yeah…let’s not go there…” Dio quickly stopped Tulio, “So I tak’it that there ain’t nothing that we can really get here no more?”
“Sorry lads, zip,” Burns threw his hand up with a sigh, “though to say, Tulio, I heard they’ve opened up the victims to relative visits. Draito’s at the district hospital, since he was one of the ones further away from the release center…”

District Eight’s hospital is pretty much like any other hospital of the second ring quality; peeling paints and weak air conditioning, hard mattresses and metal cots. Still, to most lower middle class, it’s a blessing to have. Tulio marched quickly and quietly down the hallway, followed by a distraught Dio.
“Hey Tulio, you won’t minda if a guy like me just stay out, will ya?”
“Considering what my father said last time he saw you, and his reckless personality…I’ll give you a rest this time.”
“Gee thanks, I really don’t wanna—”
“You darn wretches! Get that thing away from me!”
“Oooohhhh leaving…” Dio swiveled around on the spot with his hand raised and tightly pressed to his side. Tulio sighed with a soft smile at the doorway before walking in.
“I told you a thousand times…No…Damn…Geo bastard…” An energy probe flew towards the doorway, and Tulio caught it with ease.
“Pa, don’t start breaking public property again, please.”
“Damn them public property! Nowadays they’re all Geo bastard ow— Tulio!” Draito Havenspher exclaimed, and dropped his raised hand, “Why boy, you better do your old man a favor and get me outta here.”
“Only if you’ve been a good old man,” Tulio advanced forward into Draito’s upheld arms which turned into a tight embrace, “Glad you’re fine, pops…I’m just glad you’re fine…”

“You took the chance to use that probe on me, didn’t you, sonny?”
“How’d you know?” Tulio smiled in defeat as Draito chuckled softly.
“‘Cause I’m your father, sonny, that’s why,” Draito pointed a finger at Tulio, “Don’t think that your old man’s dull just ‘cause he’s an old man, for I’m sharper than ever…not to mention you’ve used the same trick just last year.”
“Oh that…” Tulio leaned back in the chair, his right hand brushed through his bangs before he dropped it in his lap.
“I still haven’t got you back for that one yet…” Draito pretend to box Tulio, who simply just gave a weak laugh. Silence and stillness followed for the next few seconds before Draito spoke again in his fatherly tone. “What’s been bothering you, sonny?”
“Well, this and that…work, life—”
“Let me guess…The corp job, right?”
“And tha— wait, you knew?” Tulio looked up at Draito in a semi-confusion.
“Stalide was never the best at keeping his mouth shut…nor is that Geo rat outside the door there…” Tulio heard a soft whimper from Dio just outside the door, “Betcha that’s what bothering you…”
“You could say that…” Tulio murmured, “It just that…I spend three years trying to avoid as much as possible any Corp related jobs, and yet…it just seems…”
“Hopeless? Inevitable? Unescapable?” Draito mocked as he took a sip of water. Tulio sighed again in despair, and dropped his hands back down. “Sonny, I spent my whole life trying to stay away from those Geo bastards, and look where I am now…”
“Force to be a parasite?” Tulio scorned.
“Yes, but a feisty one, to boot…” Draito chuckled, “fight while you can, however, you can…”
“Easier said then done,” Tulio stoop up from the chair, narrowly catching his falling coat as it slipped from the back of the chair. He advanced towards the window, and leaned his forehead against the warm glass.
“If that doesn’t work for ya, sonny, take some advice from you blood.”
“And what would that be?”
“Accept what has come, and accept what has come to past,” Draito quoted as he dunked the last of the water in his glass, “Good old Prulia and her people.”

“I swear, ya pop’s must be the oracle,” Dio commented as he and Tulio stepped out of the hospital doors, “Else how could he had—”
“You’re whimpering has always been more that discreet, Dio” Tulio answered, “Ever wondered how I’ve almost always have been able to catch you?”
“So that’s ya trick…” Dio nodded and laughed, “So where you’re up to now?”
“See what you can scrape off the corp, I’m off to the Underdistricts…”
“What? At a time like this?!” Dio called as Tulio ran across the street to the tram heading to the nearby stop, “Half past ten?!”
“I’ve a night life to maintain!” Tulio waved goodbye to a Dio in disbelief.