Lost Identity: Eloria Series Book 1 | ✓

24: Gravity

7/8/3028

Tor-Kenner's redwood desk was cluttered with some books and parchments, so I moved my work space to the couch and set my books on the coffee table. It gave me an excuse to be reclined anyway.

I'd been studying for a couple of hours when the door opened. I sat up straight, expecting to see Stanjah, but it was Martin instead.

He closed the door behind him. "Hey."

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" I set my book down on my lap.

"All I ever do around here is sleep. Besides, I'm not doing anything strenuous by reading." He stretched as he made his way over to the redwood desk then lackadaisically flipped through the clutter.

"Those books aren't mine. I think Tor-Kenner left them out when he was doing some work last night."

Martin grunted and continued to inspect the books and items. "Learn anything interesting yesterday?"

"Sye-Liene disappeared in Mór, western Ankinia. And..." I said, elongating the word. "The Mórese governor's daughter, Lise-An, also disappeared around that time."

"You think you could be her?"

"I thought it was possible, but Keiran was adamant that I looked nothing like her."

Martin scratched the back of his neck, thinking for a moment. He then went back to snooping and held up a flat tablet. "What do we have here?" His eyes danced with curiosity. The thin, book-sized tablet had a silver backing engraved with the Ankinian seal. The tablet seemed to refract the light as Martin turned it in his hands.

I got up and walked over to him, like a kid enticed by a shiny new toy. "Let me see."

He handed it to me. "I wonder if this thing can show us holograms, like the map in Possen Fort."

I pressed a button on the edge of the tablet and a series of chimes came from the tablet.

"Good morning, Governor Tor." The tablet flashed a bright yellow.

"Uhh..."

"Indicate an option from the available suggestions: Local Ien news, resume previous session, or input new command."

"Local Ien news," Martin said before I could react. I narrowed my eyes at him disapprovingly.

"Display hologram or audio only?"

"Hologram."

"Affirmed."

A holographic projection of a man dressed in a garish, teal suit jacket highlighted with a pumpkin-colored shoulder ornament appeared. His blond hair was neatly coiffed with a deliberately placed curl that drooped over his brow.

The newscaster plastered a stiff smile on his face before addressing his audience. "Good morning, it's Month Seven, Day 8, 3028 and you're watching Ien News Daily. I'm Caron-Dall."

A secondary holograph of Possen Fort appeared to the right of the newscaster. The Fort was charred in some places with black smoke billowing up into the cloudless sky. Some men were limping while others, carrying medical supplies, hurried from one end of the video frame to the other until they were out of sight.

Caron-Dall placed his palms flat on his desk, his lips pressed together grimly. "The latest updates regarding the Possen Fort attack have just come in: Our soldiers stationed at Possen Fort have kept the Ras' advance at bay, and our reinforcements from Ien have repulsed the attack altogether.