by T. C. Edge
This is very much news to him.
“I’m here to find my friends,” I inform him. “You probably have a lot of questions, Magnus, but I don’t have time to answer them. I need your help, and I need it now. Now hold still for a second, OK. I’m going to enter your mind, it won’t take a moment.”
Still locked in place, I move back into his head and begin my work. Time is too short to chat, to explain myself and everything that has happened.
Yet I want him to understand. I want him to see what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I want him to break free of the spell that holds him and all his brethren among the City Guard.
So before I do what I’ve come here to do, I quickly impart into him a highlights reel of my experience over recent weeks and months.
I show him who I am.
I show him what I am.
I show him all the evil I’ve seen, all the lunacy spat from Cromwell’s mouth, all the terrible plots that the Consortium have committed. I show him that the attacks by the Fanatics were sanctioned by Cromwell, that the explosion that killed so many City Guards in the market was by his own hand, that he’s been working for years to breed fear and compliance among the people, turning all to his will, turning all to slaves.
I show him this awful vision of the future, and then prominently display our own. Fighting for equality, for the good of all the people of this city. Fighting for the saviour of humanity against a man who wishes only to strip it away.
I do it because he deserves to know the truth. Because he needs to know the truth. For too long his kind have been kept in the dark, conditioned to follow and not lead, to act for others and not think for themselves.
But no more.
I feel him taking it all in, feel the shock and surprise as the truth of it all dawns. And then, before I even set about the real purpose of my presence, I withdraw and look into his eyes, and remove the order from his mind to keep him from speaking.
His faculties return, and his breathing begins to increase, his mind struggling to take in so much in such a short amount of time. But slowly, he comes around, and his head begins to shake as he stares at me.
“I had no idea…” he whispers. “I feel…so stupid.”
“You shouldn’t. Cromwell’s conned us all for years.”
“And you, Brie…it’s all true. I heard rumours about you. That you were a hybrid, that you tried to assassinate the Director. I didn’t believe it, I couldn’t. But…it’s true. You did.”
“I did,” I whisper. “And I wish I’d succeeded. This war is because of him, Magnus. Every single death is on his hands. Now, all we want is to prevent further loss of life, save as many as possible. That’s why I’m here…”
“Your friends,” he breathes heavily, nodding.
“Yes. My old guardian and the kids from my academy. They’re my priority right now. Have you been inside the hall? Do you know how many guards are in there?”
His eyes drop behind a mountainous frown.
“I can’t…give them up,” he says, still battling with it all. “I have friends of my own.”
“And I understand,” hurries my voice. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. It’s just me and a friend. We only want to help get the people to Inner Haven, to safety.”
“They’re safe here,” he tells me. “We’re not bad people. We’re protecting them.”
“I know, I know. We’ve all been lied to. We’re fighting each other for him. It has to stop…”
The clock is ticking. I have little time to waste. I aim my gaze right back at his and work inside once more, searching for the faces of Brenda, Tess, Abby, and the rest.
I see the interior, the large space ornately furnished and decorated, if a little unkempt. I see hundreds of bodies sitting in penned off areas, see other guards patrolling within. I see tables with rations and bottled water, the people seemingly being kept safe.
I don’t know where the order came from, whether it was given by a lower ranking City Guard, wishing only to protect the people, or came right from the top, from Cromwell, seeking merely to continue the illusion that he has the people’s interest at heart.
Either way, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is I find my friends first, discover if they’re here or not. So within Magnus’ mind, I scan his memories, scan the faces of the people as if looking at a video screen.
I look from one to the next, searching for familiar features. And then, I see them, locked tight in a pen. Mrs Carmichael, Tess, Abby, a dozen other kids from the academy around them, all of them huddled together towards the rear of the hall.
With a throbbing heart, I pull back and out of the Brute’s mind. He grimaces a little, looking a bit spaced out, as I return to the alley.
“They’re in there,” I say, half to him, half to myself. “I have to get them out.”
He shakes his head, blinking hard.
“You can’t. They won’t just let you take them…”
“But they’re my friends, my people,” I say, my fists tightening. “They’ll be safer in Inner Haven with me.”
He readies himself to speak, but stops short as another voice enters the fray.
It comes from behind me, deep and penetrating, right from the end of the alley.
“Magnus, what’s the hold up?”
I freeze in place and look into Magnus’ eyes. They lift from mine to the opening onto the main street over my shoulder.
“Brother,” he says. “Um, I’m just…”
He stutters, not quite knowing how to explain this. I hear a set of giant feet stamping towards me, so heavy they send little tremors through the earth.
“Who is that you’re speaking to?” comes the voice, advancing.
I take a breath to compose myself, and spin.
“Hi, Titus,” I say with a nervy smile. “Good to see you again.”
He stops. His face changes. My sentiments are not repaid.
He looks anything but happy to see me again…
183
The glaring eyes of Titus are very unlike his brother’s. Sucking a full breath into his cavernous lungs, he stalks towards me without losing eye contact.
I see, in his mind, more animosity than I’d like.
He raises his gun, a great, heavy rifle, and points it at me as he comes.
“Step aside, Magnus,” he says. “We’re taking her into custody.”
“Titus…”
“Step aside!” he growls.
His younger brother does as he’s told, swooping to the other side of the alley. Titus continues forward until he’s about ten metres away from me. Given his gigantic size, he looks at lot closer than he is.
“Put your arms behind your back, Brie,” says Titus.
I do as I’m told, sliding my hands together behind me.
“Now Magnus,” he continues. “Cuff her.”
He stands firm for a moment. I can tell he’s torn.
“Brother, you don’t understand. You don’t know what’s going on here,” he says.
“Oh, I know exactly what’s going on,” says Titus. “I’ve known for a long time that Brie is a hybrid. I just didn’t take her for an assassin too.” He takes a step closer. “I warned you, Brie, not to do anything stupid, or I’d escort you to the REEF myself. Don’t you remember that?”
“I remember,” I say. “And I also remember you saying you felt sorry for hybrids, and thought their treatment was awful. That’s why you helped me into the city in the first place, isn’t it?”
Magnus clearly doesn’t know about this. His eyes swing down to me and over to his brother, back and forth as we spar.
“Yes, and I’d do the same again. But what you’ve plotted is unforgivable, what you’ve done is unforgivable. I know all about your attempt on the Director’s life, Brie. And when that failed, what did you do? What did you do?” he growls, staring at me.
I don’t answer. My heart is racing now, his voice growing loud.
“I’ll tell you what you did…you des
troyed the entire High Tower! You killed thousands and thousands of people. Men, women, children, Brie! And don’t tell me you weren’t a part of it. You’ve clearly been a part of all this from the start…”
He takes another step forward, his weapon still raised and pointing right at my chest.
“We had no choice,” I whisper, taking ownership of that terrible act. “We had to kill Cromwell, to kill all his men. You have no idea what he was planning, Titus. I showed your brother. Let me show you too.”
“Show me? Show me? You mean, use those tricks of yours, get inside my head. How do we know you’re not lying. How can we trust anything you say?”
Some doubt hovers over Magnus’ face now, as though he hadn’t considered it. I see it all through my Hawk-eyes, and turn to him.
“I’m not lying. I swear it.” My eyes return to Titus, swapping between the giant brothers. “You’ve seen it yourself, both of you. You’re just too conditioned to serve, to do whatever your masters tell you. That’s all changing. We’re here to free everyone, Titus.”
“Everyone? Everyone except the thousands who died when the High Tower fell?”
“This is war!” my voices rumbles. “How many have been killed here in Outer Haven these last few days? How many, Titus?! And how many more have been taken to the REEF, or the new facility that’s meant to strip away people’s fears and set them free. They’re NOT free. They’re being turned to slaves, and you know that. Look at all the Con-Cops. You see them, and you still question me, question us? What side are you really on, Titus? I thought you were better than this…”
His eyes flash with fury at the suggestion. His lungs draw in all the nearby air, and he stamps straight towards me, covering the ground far faster than you’d expect for a man of his size and reaching out with a massive hand towards my neck.
I hold my form, and don’t move, ready to spring away if I need to at the last moment. But just as he comes at me, Magnus surges from the side, the two giants meeting in a mountain of muscle and flesh and armour, the younger but bigger brother sending his sibling crashing into the brick wall on the other side of the alley.
Titus’ body cracks into the brick, crafting a crater, and Magnus holds him up, locking him in place.
“Stop, Titus, and think!” he shouts. “Everything she says is true. Everything she says makes sense!”
I barely know either of these men. I barely know what Brutes are really capable of. In all honesty, I’ve spent the last few weeks growing enamoured by their charms, by their smiling, friendly demeanours.
Yet there’s another side to their characters that they keep locked away. A wild, testosterone fuelled bloodlust that, when unleashed, can be difficult to hold back.
I think I’m seeing it now, Titus breathing heavily, his eyes on fire, struggling to hold back the growing madness inside him. I try to get into his head, but find his consciousness blurred and wild, some impenetrable barrier forming in this state that renders my powers useless.
Magnus clearly knows it. He knew that, should Titus have taken a grip of my neck, he’d have snapped me in half like a twig. Perhaps I’d have gotten away, perhaps not.
Perhaps, like Titus before him, Magnus has now saved my life too.
“Look at me, brother,” shouts Magnus. “Look into my eyes, and calm down!”
His voice is calling loudly now, but I’m so enthralled by the crazy spectacle that I don’t take proper note of my surroundings.
Don’t hear the City Guards coming from the main door.
Don’t see them gathering at the end of the alley.
Don’t see them lifting their weapons in my direction, quickly recognising just who I am.
Even with my Hawk-eyes, I don’t see it. I lose my concentration, if only for a second, my eyes stuck to the wildness spewing from Titus’ every pore.
Then, a voice cuts through the commotion.
“Hold up your arms,” it calls out. “Do it slowly. We have two Hawks with us. We’ll see you move if you try to escape, and shoot you right down. Don’t do anything stupid now…”
I turn and see four guards at the end of the alley, pulses rifles pointed my way.
The two Brutes stop their bickering. Both turn in the direction of the City Guards, their colleagues, panting. I turn to look at Magnus, who looks more torn than ever. He’s seen what I’ve seen, knows what I know, but has no choice but to keep quiet or else be taken in himself.
I raise up my arms, guiding my eyes down the alley at the men. They’re too far away to manipulate, the link to their minds far too weak. I have no choice but to do as I’m told.
“Now no sudden movements,” says the guard. “We don’t want any trouble.”
Two of them begin moving a little closer. The other two stay behind. I scan them and see that it’s the Hawks at the rear, watching from afar. I can’t tell for sure what the two approaching men are, but one has the brimming mannerisms of a straight up Dasher.
The main commander, one of the Hawks, continues to issue orders.
“Now turn around, and lower your hands behind your back.”
I quickly consider my options, staring down the opposite end of the alley. It ends in a dead-end by the looks of things, although surely must lead somewhere. Otherwise, why would Magnus have been patrolling down here, unless of course it’s another way into the concert hall?
Whether there’s a way out down there, however, I can’t chance it. The Hawk sounded convincing when he told me they’d see me move before I could get away. Clearly, they’ll all aware of me and what I can do. My infamy must have spread through their ranks like wildfire by now.
I have no option. I must do as ordered.
Turning nice and slow, I let my hands fall. The two guards approach behind me, and I hear one withdrawing a pair of cuffs. I look to Magnus once more, just off to my right, and consider giving him an order to help me.
I don’t follow through. It would only put him in danger, possibly even get him killed. I won’t sacrifice him for me.
Turns out, I don’t need to.
Down the alley behind me, the voice of the commander calls out once more. “Nice and slow,” he says. “No sudden moveme….”
His voice ends abruptly, turning to a strange, vibrating hum. Then the sound of two collapsing men filters to my ears, giving way immediately after to the velvety tones of a girl I’m just about ready to fall in love with.
“No, no, no,” comes Kira’s smooth voice. “Don’t you go pointing those weapons at me. Drop them all…now!”
I spin as she talks, and see her standing between the two Hawks at the end of the alley; both of them immobilised and sent to the dirt. Already, she’s managed to fix her baton back to her waist, and drawn out two pistols, one for each hand.
One, she aims at the two guards nearing me. The other points straight at the two colossal Brutes off to the side. None of the four had a chance to react before she had them in her sights.
“Drop them all, come on now. You heard your commander…don’t do anything stupid.”
Even from here, I can see the glint in her emerald eyes, the whites of her teeth as her lips curl into a lively little grin.
The four men have no choice. Rifles hit the floor, clattering loudly in the sudden silence.
“OK,” says Kira. “Very good. I can see why you make such good soldiers; you follow orders in exemplary fashion. Now, you two,” she says, looking at the regular-sized City Guards, “keep on walking towards Brie. She’ll see to your handcuffs.”
Scowling, they amble over to me. I set the handcuffs that were meant for me over their wrists instead, binding them both together. Then, just to be sure, I send my zapper into their necks, knocking them out cold.
Kira raises her eyes and shrugs.
“Fair enough,” she says. Then she turns to the Brutes. “Right, you two, big fellas...erm, I’m guessing there are no cuffs in your size. Brie, let’s immobilise them instead. I’d say ramp that baby up to its top setting. Might take a few j
abs too. These guys make Freya look like a toy doll…”
The Brutes look at me, Titus’ eyes still little more than a glare.
“Go ahead,” he booms. “Just get it done.”
I step forward.
“It doesn’t have to be like this, you know,” I say. “We’re on the same side, all of us. Come with us to Inner Haven, then you’ll see…”
Magnus looks to his big brother optimistically. His mind has been turned now, I know that. But Titus doesn’t look back.
“That’s not possible,” he says. “Our place is here.”
“It’s not,” says Magnus. “Our place is defending the people. We swore to defend this city, brother…”
“Yes we did,” says Titus. “And that’s what I’m doing, defending it from these invaders.”
“We aren’t invaders,” says Kira, sweeping down the alley. Her posture has changed, her pistols lowered and set to their holsters. We stand, not as enemies, but allies.
We stand as one.
“Then what are you?” questions Titus.
“Emancipators,” answers Kira, those green eyes showing no deceit, no lie. “We have come to free this city from the grip of slavery. That’s all we’ve ever been – slaves. Slaves to the Savants, to the Consortium, to Cromwell. No one here is truly free…”
“And now?” calls Titus. “What will change? Your people destroyed the High Tower. How can anyone ever trust you?”
“Because sometimes terrible things are done in the name of good,” Kira says passionately. “You’re a soldier, a warrior. You understand the sins of war. Some sins are worse than others, and sometimes you need to commit unthinkable acts to prevent something even more cruel.”
I can see Titus beginning to yield to the logic coming from Kira’s mouth. He can’t deny what she’s saying. He is a good man, sensitive to the pains of the people. But, like it did with me, it’s blinding him to the bigger picture.
And now, Kira is showing it to him.
“Director Cromwell wished to see all Unenhanced destroyed,” she continues, staring right at Titus, and Titus alone. “He was using them merely to breed and swell his ranks, rebuild his population of Savants. In time, he’d have wiped them out, and the rest of the Enhanced would follow. Brie saw it herself, heard it from the man’s own mouth. He wishes only to develop a super-race, and none of us here would be included in that.”
