Eons Of Power ch5

Chapter Five: The Southland

"I can see the ocean from here." Laties commented as they continued heading south.
"I can see a city." Latnious replied, pointing along the highway.
"It looks really big." Latias commented.
"I've seen cities like this before back on Earth." Latnious said. "This one looks kinda like Tulsa, where all the really tall buildings were spread out.  Not very large population wise only about three hundred and seventy thousand people.  But the skyscrapers were everywhere."
Indeed the skyline of this city was fairly spread out.  There were pockets of mid and high-rises with a centrally located scattering of a few skyscrapers.  Off towards the south-west near the shore was another cluster of smaller high-rises.
"Let's go see what this city has to offer." Laties suggested.
Latias shivered a little at that comment.  "Oh right…" Laties apologized. "Sorry."
Latnious gave Latias a quick hug.  "Thanks." She said.
Latnious smiled back at her. "It would seem, however, that whichever way we go we encounter a city." Latnious admitted.  "We cannot avoid them.  So we might as well try and learn as much about the civilization in this region as we can."
"And how would you suggest doing that?" Latias asked skeptically.
"Well for one we can learn of our whereabouts." Laties suggested.  He pointed towards a large highway intersection in the near distance.
It was about this time that Latnious noticed just how large this city was.  But it wasn't cluttered, more spread out than anything, which threw several suspicions into his mind.  But he decided to file them away until a more appropriate time.
They turned invisible and headed towards the intersection, which consisted of two six-lane highways crossing each other, and located some directional signs.  They found one with some names on it.  There were three names, one of them was Tallas, and there was an arrow pointing towards a lane that headed back northward.  The second one had an arrow pointing towards the straight lane, and the name was Commerce Port.  Lastly the sign read Orlanta and had two arrows, one following the highway ahead like the Commerce Port lane and a breakaway ramp leading towards the larger cluster of towers.
"So there's two cities here?" Laties was confused.
Latnious, however, laughed.  "Finally we're someplace like home!" He said enthusiastically.
"What?" Latias was also confused by this reaction.
"The humans here may have another term for it, but what's going on here is a phenomenon known as suburbia." Latnious explained. "Basically one incorporated town or city is within the borders of a larger city.  In this case I would assume that Orlanta is the larger of the two, and Commerce Port is the suburb, or border city.  Longmont has several suburbs, but the one most people acknowledge is called Hygiene, which is a small town on the western end of the city.  Suburbia is caused by two primary happenings: either a larger city buys up the land around a smaller one, or a town is formed from a chunk of a larger city.  Hard to say which is true for this case."
Laties and Latias looked blankly back at Latnious.  "Hehe…was that a little hard to follow?" Latnious asked.
"Just a little." Laties said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Hehe, sorry." The gold Eon replied apologetically.  "Here's what it comes down to.  That larger cluster of towers other here is Orlanta, and the smaller one way over there by the ocean is Commerce Port, which I am assuming is within Orlanta's borders."
"Okay…" Latias still was a little confused.
"Okay ya know what?" Latnious replied, exasperated, "Screw all that, we know where we are and that's all that matters.  So let's check this place out."
"As long as you won't give us any more incomprehensible lectures on human development…" Laties muttered.
"What was that?" Latnious asked, a slightly menacing tone in his voice.
"Nothing!"
They headed towards downtown Orlanta.  Latnious studied the streets and the homes as they flew along.  Then it dawned on him.  'These properties are massive.  No wonder this place is so spread out, because everyone has a massive plot of land to live on.  These aren't homes, their friggin' mansions!  This city must have a very strong economy if everyone is living this way…'
They soon arrived at the edge of the towers.  The trio flew upwards towards one on the eastern side of the city.  It wasn't an ornate tower; fairly plain-looking with generic glass windows and concrete façades.  Latnious estimated that this tower, of modest height, was somewhere between four and five hundred feet.  One distinct feature was the giant radio tower on the roof of the tower, adding another hundred feet to the overall height of the structure.  However this wasn't like any other radio tower Latnious had glimpsed in Gyron; instead of the small platform near the top where the signal beam was located there was a satellite dish-like fixture that was pointed directly vertical.
'That's odd…' Latnious thought to himself, making note of this detail.  He had only seen a satellite dish pointed directly skyward once before, and as it would happen this one was back in Longmont's western area, but away from the city.
The trio took a moment to gather their surroundings.  From this vantage point they could barely glimpse the mountains back to the north.  Every other direction was ocean.
'So many similarities…' Latnious thought with wonder.
"Okay…so now what?" Laties asked.
"We could check that out." Latias suggested after a moment.  Latnious and Laties looked to see what she was talking about.  Just off the coast there was a pillar of smoke rising into the sky.
"Must be one huge fire." Latnious commented.  He peered towards the base of the pillar and descried an area of brilliant orange.
"Well let's go see what's going on." The gold Eon said, and the trio headed towards the ocean.
As they neared the shore it was revealed that the fire had its origins on the docks of a massive commercial pier.  The three kept their distance, as even from nearly four hundred feet away they could feel the heat from the inferno.  The pillars of flame rose more than fifty feet skyward, and the smoke continued into the heavens themselves.  Below they could see several fire crews trying to contain the blaze.  The fire had been raging for some time, as whatever had been caught up by the initial fire was nothing but a charred mess.
"Such carelessness…" Latias muttered, almost condescendingly.  "Humans need to take better care of their actions…"
Latnious was slightly offended by that remark.  This emotion was felt by Latias, who immediately felt careless herself.  "Oh snap, sorry Latnious!" She apologized.
The gold Eon remained silent for a moment.  "Just because there is a disaster in a populated area does not mean that humans are responsible for it.  This fire could have been caused by a lightning strike, some dried up organic material catching fire, or an earthquake even."
Latias still felt bad for forgetting her company, and to help make up for it she gave Latnious a gentle hug.  He waited a moment before returning the gesture, knowing full well that Latias meant no harm in saying something like that.
"Hey, do you two hear anything?" Laties asked suddenly.
The two listened for a moment.  "No, I don't hear anything odd." Latias replied.
"I do." Latnious said.  He looked around before created a sphere of light around two objects near the base of a warehouse and bringing them towards the three Eons.
"Figures…" Latnious muttered as the two objects were revealed to be teenagers who had been laughing at the fire.  "Did you start that fire?" Latnious demanded, making himself visible.  The already frightened teens were beyond words now.  "Did you start it?" The gold Eon repeated himself.
"Don't hurt us!" One of the two teens cried, almost in tears.
"Then answer my question." Latnious said. "I don't like to repeat myself."
"No we didn't!" The other teen said, forcing himself to not look at the ground, some fifty feet below.  "Can you let us go now?"
Latnious stared at the two.  "You're lying." He said flatly. "I can tell when someone is lying."
The two teens passed a scared look between them.  "Why did you start it?" Latnious asked. "And don't lie this time, or I may see fit to let this sphere…vanish."
Both teens yelped in fear.  "Please don't do that!" The first teen begged.
"Then you have five seconds to answer me." Latnious replied ominously. "Five…four…three…tw…"
"Alright, alright!" The second teen blurted.  "We needed some fast cash, so we were paid to go set the docks on fire.  All I know is that the guy who hired us has an office in that tower over there."  The teen pointed to the tower the three Eons were just at.
Latnious stared back at the tower, mind racing with probabilities.  He turned back to the teens.  "That will do.  I hope you have learned your lesson."
"So you'll let us go now?" The second teen said, hopeful.
"Sort of…" Latnious sent the sphere back towards the fire.  Right when it was hovering ten feet above the police cars blocking off the road he made the sphere vanish, and the teens fell to the ground.  They were both instantly surrounded by police officials, and vanished forever behind them.
Latnious gave a sigh of relief and turned back towards his companions.  Latias was staring back at him, wide-eyed.  "What?" He asked. "You know I hate doing that."
"But it was so convincing." Latias replied.
"Just remind me to never get on your bad side." Laties said, eyeing the skyscraper the teen had pointed at.
"Let's just go already." Latnious said, exasperated.  He gave Latias a quick hug to assure her that he was still the same person that she knew, and they flew back to the tower.
Once at the tower they flew around it several times at varying altitudes, trying to descry whatever purpose it might have.  But the only oddity they could point out was the satellite dish at the top.
"Argh!  This is so frustrating…" Laties finally gave up.  "We aren't learning anything by staring at glass windows."
"Let's go eat and then return." Latnious said. "Maybe a full stomach will help us think more clearly into this matter and reveal things we have not yet perceived."
"Good idea." Latias replied and they flew off and away from Orlanta.
The trio flew to the very southern tip of the vast forest.  The expansive city was barely visible from here.  They foraged around for a few minutes before they each had an armful of berries.  Latnious made a bowl from light and they poured their findings within.  As they consumed their meal they silently pondered what they might be up against now.
'Whoever works at that tower must have a good reason to try and torch the ports.  If my understanding of coastal cities hasn't changed then that port is vital to the success of Orlanta.  They must want to hamper the city for some reason…or maybe it was a diversion of some kind, maybe it…' then Latnious had a revelation. '…Or maybe they have something to do with that machine that attacked us earlier.  Maybe they created that thing…but then again who's 'they'?  And why would they be observing some old temple?' His mind kept running full speed until a berry nailed him on the nose.
"Hey what's the big idea?" Latnious demanded, rubbing his nose.
"You spaced out." Laties replied.  "Big time."
"We were yelling at you but you were completely zoning." Latias added. "Your mouth was hanging open slightly, like you had passed out."
"Oh…sorry." Latnious replied. "But I just had a revelation.  What if the people in that tower have something to do with that machine that attacked us before?  What if the attack on the pier was a diversion of some kind?"
"You may be on to something." Laties said after a moment. "It was odd that there was that machine there and after it attacked us I couldn't stop wondering why.  We may have stumbled upon that answer."
Latias glanced skyward and said. "It's starting to get late.  We should probably find some shelter for the night and resume this mystery tomorrow.  Besides I'm tired."
Fatigue chose then to re-enter the minds of her companions.  "Yeah it's been a long day." The gold Eon conceded.  "We can make a fresh start tomorrow."

Later that night, Latnious couldn't help but stare at the illuminated cityscape in the distance.  Memories of the various places he had vacationed to on his home world flooded his mind, and a tear formed and rolled down his cheek.  Latnious estimated that they were at least twenty miles from Orlanta yet the light pollution was still enough to permeate the night sky with a golden hue, blocking any views of the stars above.  The effect reminded him strongly of the Texan metro of Dallas, where any possibility of stargazing is nonexistent.
He remained thus for some time, simply staring off into the distance, lost within his own thoughts.
"Can't sleep eh?" Laties suddenly asked from beside him.
Latnious started, and nearly cried an explicative but restrained himself.  Feeling his heart racing, he replied sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah I can't sleep that's why I'm sitting here staring off into the distance."
Laties rolled his eyes. "Yeah well I can't sleep either."
"Yeah?  And why's that?"
"Nothing really.  Just the way you talk about these cities and how you seem to understand them so well without ever being here or knowing about this place before astounds me."
Latnious chucked deeply. "My knowledge about the kinds of activities humans do, especially concerning those dealing with cities, is quite staggering  But then again I was a human myself for over nineteen years."
"True."  Laties replied.
"What do you think made those two teens do what they did?" Latnious asked in a quick change of subject.
"It was probably some kind of clever distraction, but as for what or why I haven't a clue."
"The only way we'll find out is by investigating that tower again tomorrow."
"Mmhmm."
They continued to talk for a short while, enjoying their quiet conversation in silence with the bustling city not far away.  Every now and again a small breeze would pick up and rustle a few leaves on the trees behind them.  The conversation quickly died down like the breeze, and the two were content to just be there together.
Latnious yawned.  "We've been up for awhile, and I can finally feel sleep creeping up upon me, therefore I think I shall call it a night."
Laties nodded. "Good idea.  Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Latnious found a spot near Latias and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning was bright and clear.  The cityscape of Orlanta and Commerce Port were almost picturesque against the faded horizon.  Birds sang their songs in the trees behind the sleeping trio of friends.
Eventually Latnious woke up, feeling quite refreshed and full of energy.  'I always new humid places made me feel alive.' He thought as he stretched, feeling what he thought was his spine pop.  'That felt good…'  He glanced over at Latias, and a warm, fuzzy feeling stole through his body as fond memories began to dominate his thoughts.
After a moment he forced himself to get up and gather a few berries for him and his friends.  He ate a few before placing a small pile next to each of his slumbering friends to enjoy when they too awoke.
Until the two sleeping Eons woke up Latnious was content to simply observe the distant city, studying every detail and engraving it into his memory before something bad soured his impression.  'I don't want that to happen again.' Latnious thought with a shudder as flashbacks invaded his mind.
Then he heard a noise from somewhere behind him.  He turned and said, "Good morning Latias."
Latias yawned and replied, "And a good morning it is indeed, waking up with you the first thing I see."
Latnious felt himself blush a little bit.  "Thanks."
Latias flashed a smile, but it faded quickly and her face grew very stoic.  Latnious began to feel a small amount of sadness radiate from her, and he flew over to his friend's side and gave her a hug, knowing what she was thinking about.  "We'll find him one day." He murmured.
A small tear formed and began to roll down her face.  Latnious used a claw and gently wiped it away, and they embraced each other.  After a moment Latnious said, "I found some berries if you are hungry."
"Aww thank you." Latias replied before hovering over to the pile that Latnious has made and ate her fill, leaving some for their silvery friend, who was just beginning to wake up.
"Good morning." Latnious greeted him.
"Whaaza?" Laties said half awake.  "Oh…mornin' to you too buddy!"
"I got food for you sitting over there."  Latnious gestured to the pile of berries.
"Thanks." Laties hovered over to the berries and began to consume the remaining ones.
Latnious returned his gaze to the metropolis in the distance.  After a few silent minutes a large flock of Starly flew overhead, and the gold Eon watched them go in passive curiosity.  Once they were out of sight he cast his gaze towards his friends and asked, "You are guys ready to go?"
"I guess so." Latias replied.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Laties said.
Latnious then nodded and took off towards the city, with his companions close behind him, all invisible now to those around them.
In only a matter of minutes they were around that same tower that they had investigated the previous day.  Even though the day was still young, the glass windows were still reflecting a lot of warmth, only to be amplified by the humidity of the area.
For nearly a quarter of an hour did the Eon trio circle and examine the tower for any new details they had missed the previous day but to no avail.  The fresh daylight provided no new information to them.  The tower remained just as conspicuous as before.
"Just seems like an ordinary tower." Laties commented to break the perpetuating silence.
Latnious tapped on one of the window panes.  There was nothing inside as far as he could see, and tapping on the glass produced no further evidence of life.
"Maybe it's too early?" Latias suggested.
"Perhaps." Latnious said. "But this tower isn't empty."
"How can you tell?" Laties asked.  "I can't sense any human presence around here."
"That's because we're too high up to feel ground-level activity." Latnious replied.  "I've been keeping an eye on the streets below.  People have been entering this building all morning.  I'm assuming that whatever their purpose here is involves lower floors.  If we could find a way inside without causing suspicion or any real damage then maybe we could find some more information."
"Check the roof again?" Latias asked.
"Sure."
The trio ascended to the top floor and surveyed the rooftop for a sign of an entrance.  Latias spotted what looked like a door set at an angle into the roof near the radio tower.  A quick investigation revealed it to be unlocked.  Laties pulled the door open, and was about to make his way down the staircase when Latnious put a hand in front of him and said, "You can't go in there looking like that."
Laties looked at the gold Eon funny and replied, "Huh?"  Then he understood.  "Oh right, hehe." He shifted his down and made himself invisible.  Latnious and Latias did the same.
"One last thing." Latnious said.  "We don't split up.  If we are discovered and attacked then we will bust open the nearest window and escape.  We do not want to get captured here.  Try not to bump into anything, or anyone for that matter, try to leave everything as-s, and-"
"We get it dude." Laties interrupted.  "Make no noise or movement that could get us detected.  Now may we proceed?"
"After you." Latnious insisted.  Laties folded his wings back and slid into the narrow stairwell and Latnious and Latias followed close behind.  Due to his size Latnious moved very slowly and carefully.
After several minutes of careful navigation they reached a door.  Each of them carefully used their senses to detect any life on that floor; fortunately they found none.  Latnious silently broke the lock, for this door was indeed locked, with a swift formation of light within the workings of the lock and Laties pushed the door open slowly.  The hinges made no sound.  The three exited the stairwell, quickly stretched their cramped wings ad Latnious then silently shut the door again.
"Now which way to go?" Laties pondered.
Latnious thought on that a second.  "Let's go this way." He replied, now using telepathic speech.
Latias and Laties followed their companion as he followed the hallway to the window at the end.  Looking out the window Latnious noticed that he had an unobstructed view of the partially destroyed docks.  He made a mental note of that and looked around.
They were a sort of small community area, with a few comfy looking chairs in the corners and some indoor ferns near them.  One door was open.
"Let's go in there." Laties suggested.
They carefully made their way through the open portal and found themselves in a large display room.  Pedestals were lines up neatly across the large room, each of them bearing some artifact secured by a glass case.
"Things just keep getting interesting here." Latnious commented.
"What are all these artifacts doing here?" Latias asked, staring a rock with dried moss all over it.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like there's a mini museum going on here." Latnious replied.  Then a door opened on the opposite end of the room and two men wearing suits walked in.
"…but at least they got the job done." The man on the left stated.  All three Eons froze, not daring to move.
"That is good." The man on the right said.  Latnious got a good look at the man.  He noticed how the man's hair was unusually light, almost a silvery color, for how old he looked.  He also noticed that the man's eyes were yellow.  "That man isn't normal." Latnious said to his comrades, who saw the same things and nodded.
"So what about our Project?" The odd looking man asked, his smooth voice denoting a sinister personality.
"Things are going according to plan, sir."  The first man replied.  "The Searcher is complete and awaiting test run results."
"Excellent." The second man said.  Then something in his pocket beeped and he pulled a device that looked like a Palm Pilot.  He read whatever was on the screen and dismissed his partner, who nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
The second man scanned the room for a second and pulled out another device from his pocket and activated it.  It began to emit a high pitched screech.  Latnious, Laties and Latias all became paralyzed from the noise as their ears felt as though they would be split in half.  Then Latnious noticed something that he immediately feared.
Electromagnetic pulses.
"Aww crap!" He cursed as he felt his powers being disrupted.  He became visible again.  The man disabled the device.
"What are you doing here?" The man demanded.
"That's none of your business." Latnious retorted.  "Unless you are related to that!  And why didn't that noise affect you?" He pointed out the window to the burnt docks.
The man glanced out the windows and laughed. "Those teens couldn't keep their mouths shut.  And to answer your question those pulses can only be heard by Pokemon ears."
"So you are related then!" Latnious accused.  "And how did you know I were here?"
The man pointed to a camera on the other end of the room above the door the Eons had entered through.  Latnious cursed himself for being so reckless.  'Heat sensing camera…' He muttered in his thoughts.
"I already know who you are and your weaknesses." The man said.  "But since you don't know me I'll spare you the trouble of asking.  I am Deontae, owner of this office tower and leading official of the AOS."
"AOS?" Latnious echoed.
"Artifact Obtaining Squad." Deontae answered. "We travel the globe looking for strange and rare artifacts to obtain and hold here for my private collection.  I own a museum up north in the capital where hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to pay good money to see what I have obtained.  I do not hesitate to resort to means of force and underhandedness if I need to in order to collect what I seek."
Latnious' eyes narrowed as he studied Deontae even closer.  "How do you know me already?"
"You destroyed one of my Seeking Probes just north of here by a temple that collapsed after you emerged from it." Deontae said coldly.  "There was something in that temple that was important and I had intended on finding out what it was, until whatever you did inside caused it to implode.  Now it'll take months if not years to uncover what it was if it was not destroyed thanks to you!"
"The artifact won't do you any good." Latnious replied.  "It was just a rock that was smashed in half by falling debris after I found it."
Deontae snarled. "You'll regret doing that."
"It wasn't my fault the temple was unstable." Latnious retorted.
"Either way you will still pay for destroying one of my Probes and for keeping me from obtaining that artifact."  He reached for the emitter but Latnious shot it with a Light Bullet.  It split in half and fell to the floor.
Just then the crystal crest began to glow.  "What are you doing?" Deontae demanded.
"I'm not doing anything." Latnious said.  "You just happen to have an item here that is special to me."  He turned his attention back to the mossy rock and with one Bullet destroyed the glass casing.
"What are you doing?" Deontae repeated, now running towards Latnious.
Latnious quickly activated the Light Booster.  He ignored the shock that was sent up his arm and touched it again.  The stone glowed a bright white color, blinding all four in the room.  Deontae stopped in his tracks.
"Get out of there, now!" The voice of Latnious said to Martin.
"What's happening?" Martin replied.
"Your defensive powers are stronger, but you will be in fatal danger if you don't escape that tower immediately."
"Why weren't you talking to me earlier?"
"That device you destroyed prevented me from making contact, as well as your crest from alerting you about the Booster.  Now go!"
"We have to get out of here!" Latnious alerted his friends through telepathy.
"Why?" Latias asked.
"No questions; just break a window and escape!" Just then the stone ceased glowing and everyone could see again.
Acting quickly Laties used Luster Ball to smash a window and the three Eons flew out.  But just before they were out of earshot Latnious thought he heard Deontae yell "Prepare the Searcher!"