A pause.
“I’m going to give you a choice. You can put the little girl down and let me have her, and then I’ll use my power on you only, or I can use my power on you both.”
There was no reply.
“Don’t be silly,” Gray Boy warned. His tone was flat, almost without affect. “Give me the girl. I promise I won’t do anything to her. Can’t say the same for any of the others, but you and I both know that nothing they can do even compares to what happens when I use my power.“
A sound. A whimper.
“I’ll even let you choose. What kind of hell do you want to go to? I can use fire, or knives, or I can hit you with something heavy. I like that little statue over there. There’s cold, probably.“
A sound, a bang, a crash, echoed over the speakers.
I continued pacing down the row of vats. I reached the end, then traversed an open, empty space before reaching the start of a complicated, almost labyrinthine tunnel network. My bugs struggled to trace the contours of the space and find their way to the next area.
When they did, they found it was an even bigger space than the one Rachel and I were in. A giant robot stood in the center, half-complete.
A toddler started shrieking, her wail audible over a hundred speakers throughout the complex, each just a fraction out of sync with the others, given the speed of the signal traveling as compared to the speed of the ensuing sounds.
“Not bright,” Gray Boy said. “And the baby’s crying. No wonder, with you trying to throw her out the window.“
There was only silence in response.
“I thought you’d use your laser instead. Do you think your baby can fly? Here. I’ll make the loop longer so you can talk.“
“I… had… to… try…“
“Maybe. But now I have to punish you. I could hurt you, like I do with most people. Hurt you while you’re looping through the same action, so you feel that pain over and over and over and over again. The only thing that doesn’t change is your brain. That keeps going. The pain is always fresh, it never gets easier to deal with, but I’m told there’s a certain point where you crack, and you go around the bend. Takes a few days for most. Then you get to a point where you work through your issues. You don’t want to, but you do, because the only thing you have to occupy yourself with is the pain and your own thoughts… so you get mostly better, and then you crack up again, and you get better, and that becomes a loop of its own…“
“Fuck… you…“
“Until well after the sun goes out, they think,” Gray Boy said. “Speed of thought, can’t turn it off unless I’m using it on myself, and I don’t think anyone’s immune.“
“Bastar… d…“
“But I do that to everyone I use my power on. Like a snap of my fingers, just like that, anyone around me is caught in a loop. What kind of special punishment could I give you, murdermommy?“
There was no reply. The child continued to cry.
“Who’s this one? The woman?” Gray Boy asked. “No answer? How about… now.”
There was a pause.
“Most scream when you stab them. Oh well. Maybe this one?“
I changed direction, walking along the wall to get a sense of the greater complex. There was no way to check the area at the foot of the giant robot without navigating the labyrinth. My range wasn’t that long.
“Nope. And… this one!”
A scream.
“There we go.“
“Crusader…“
“I’ve decided, murdermommy. I won’t do anything to you for now. I’ll let you wonder what the others did to your little girl. Then, maybe, if she’s still alive, I’ll bring her back to you and I’ll use my power on her while you watch. Maybe a week from now, maybe a month, maybe years. Decades, even. A hundred years? They have cryogenics and brain scans and cloning vats and more! We could show up a thousand years from now, just to say hi to you.“
“No…“
“You lose track of time, like that. Standing there. But maybe if you keep yourself sane, you’ll be able to offer advice so it won’t be so unbearable, so you can converse and tell stories and keep each other happy. Maybe, if you keep it together enough, you can convince me to let her go. I’ll give you a… one in twenty chance.“
“No…“
“Tell her to listen to me. To obey me. You know what happens if she doesn’t. Convince her.“
“Aster… do… what… he… says…“
“Good. You hear that, Aster? Good.“
“Come… back…“
Her voice was quieter, almost drowned out by Aster’s wailing.
A door shut, the speakers echoing the sound all throughout the complex.
The rhythmic screaming of the PRT officer grew louder.
“Sit,” Gray Boy’s high voice sounded. “Don’t run, little girl. Listen to me like mommy said.“
The man’s screaming grew louder still.
“So whiny. I just cut up his face. So? Tell me a story?“
Silence.
“Okay.“
A sound of a match being struck.
“We… were… briefed… on… Jack… we… don’t… know… how… he… ends… the… world… we’re… suppose… to… implemen… quarant… ine…”
I stopped in my tracks.
“He… talks… to… someone… and… catalyz… es… someth… ing…“
The PRT officer had been asked to weigh an eternity of torment against the lives of billions, and she’d chosen the selfish option.
“Every… major… group… helping… teams… defeat… Jack… Cauldron… Thanda… PRT… Protector… ate… Wards… Brockton B… ay villains… Moord Nag… Irregulars… Faultline… Triumvirate…”
We’d just lost our last major advantage in determining how this could play out. Jack was getting everything. He was a wiki-walk away from getting details on everyone who was arrayed against his new Slaughterhouse Nine.
I could sense the others as they moved through the complex. I beckoned Rachel and her dogs, then mounted up.
I kicked the dog into motion.
“Others… I… can’t… recall… they… are… keeping… powerful… people… away… from… Jack… to… avoid… catalyz… ing… they… are… employing… strike… teams… to… take… down… smaller… groups…”
“And you’re here because?“
“Because… Aster… supposed… trigger… young… usually… one… child… in… family… know… Jack… coming… probably… in… person… chance… she… is… catalyst…“
“There’s a lot of people who could be the catalyst,” Gray Boy said. “You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to cover all of the bases.”
“Low… chance… but… still… chance… thought… we… could… protect… with… Night… Fog… Purity… Crusader…”
“Well,” Gray Boy said. “That was boring. I wanted a story with neat monsters.”
I gave serious consideration to switching the earbuds to a setting that would make them serve as earplugs. I made myself keep listening as the screaming started, keeping my ears peeled for clues.
My swarm-sense, at the same time, was searching more of the area. I brought bugs to me, then sent them off into new corridors as I reached them.
Too few bugs in this entire place. No moisture to feed them, no food sources. Only a scant few that had no doubt been brought in accidentally.
“I thought the story was interesting,” Jack said, his voice sounding as though he were speaking in my ear. “See, I had a plan in mind, but now I’m rethinking it. If I’m supposed to be a catalyst, then it can’t be any of the others. Bonesaw would get the credit for any plagues or clone armies we deployed, even if I gave the order.”
I grit my teeth.
“But if the effect is broad, well, giving the order could be a part of it. Our Harbinger has been giving us some very good advice. Talking about the critical places to strike. What happens if we attack certain targets? The world teeters
on the brink of falling to the Endbringers. Divide my remaining soldiers and attack key points in the infrastructure, and maybe that’s game over for humanity.”
“Here.” A voice over the comms.
Or Screamer fucking with our heads?
“Verify.” I spoke over the comms.
Nobody called back to verify. A sign I was on the right track? I kicked the dog to drive him to move faster.
“Or if Gray Boy uses his power on Scion, perhaps? We could assassinate some key figures. Win-win, because we either deliver a critical blow or we might run into the right person to bring about the end of the world. So many possibilities, really.”
I could sense them. Easily two hundred of the Nine, accompanied by a mess of Nilbog’s creations, hooked up to Bonesaw’s control frames. Nilbog hung on the wall above the group, limbs splayed, tubes feeding into him as blobs dropped down and were captured by a small army of mechanical soldiers.
I closed my eyes for a moment. A trick?
No.
Two years of emotions caught up with me in a single instant. I felt fear grip me, anxiety seizing my entire body, adrenaline flooding through my body.
Yet, when I spoke, my voice was calm. “Weaver here. I’m using my first priority passphrase. Danny and the Rose. Look for the flare.”
“Message received loud and clear, Weaver,” Tecton said.
I drew a flare from my belt and lit it, throwing it to the ground.
That done, I glanced over my shoulder at Rachel. She nodded.
Jack’s voice echoed through the complex. I could sense him with my bugs now. He was pacing back and forth, while all of the other Nine were stock still. “Attack the cities, target Scion, assassinate all of these powerful capes that are coming after me…”
“Or I could do all of the above.”
I hopped off of the dog’s back to make it through the doorway, then ascended the spiral staircase. The dogs struggled to follow, and I signaled for them to stop.
Couldn’t have them blocking my retreat.
I wasn’t sure what I could do, but there had to be something.
I reached the top of the stairs, then stopped, my back to the wall beside the doorway. I held my gun.
The sole remaining Cherish said something, a murmur.
“Weaver.” Jack said. Screamer repeated the word after him, and it carried through the air, an echo.
“Hi Jack,” I said. I hung my head, focusing on what my power was telling me.
The bugs I had in the room clung to particular members of the group. They were eerily still.
“Gray Boy is standing right in front of me,” Jack said.
“I know.”
“Most are shut down. Using a control to keep them still. Too unmanageable in a group like this. That doesn’t mean you have the slightest chance of accomplishing something.”
“I have to try,” I said, echoing Purity’s words from the video.
“Such sad, small words,” Jack commented. “You don’t have to.”
I had tricks prepared, but none of them were remotely viable. Not with Bonesaw so close.
I would die, and she would revive Jack. At best, I’d slow them down.
“You’re too big for your boots, Weaver,” Jack said. “You had a few critical successes and you’ve run with them. Earned yourself a reputation. But at the end of the day, you’re still the same pathetic bug controller who got her powers because her mommy died.”
He likes to talk. Every second that passes is a second we’re catching up.
“People probably said the same thing about you in the beginning, Jack,” I said. “Too big for your boots.”
“They did. My trigger event was a little more dignified, though. No matter. I’ve been at this a long time. You’re barely a concern.”
“Want to fight, Jack?” I asked. My bugs moved through the crowd as I noted each of the threats that were present.
“Eh,” Jack said, shrugging, “I can take you. Step through that doorway, and I’ll give you a fair fight. One on one. Look. I’ll even put my knife in my belt, hands on my head.”
I had an assessment of their group. I couldn’t account for Nilbog’s creations, but I knew which members of the Nine were present and where they were situated.
“You said it yourself,” Jack said. “You can’t afford not to.”
Too true. The others weren’t close enough yet.
“Why this fixation on ending the world?” I asked.
“Nuh uh uh,” Jack answered me. “Not going to get bogged down in a discussion. We have a situation. I’m going to walk away in about fifteen seconds, unless you want to have a duel. Knife against knife, or gun against knife, if you prefer. You win here, it’s a coup for the world. What better option for the make-believe queen?”
The make-believe queen?
Maybe a name Cherish had given me. I tightened my grip on the gun, but I kept my finger off the trigger.
Someone advanced. I felt tripwires snap and break.
Letting a hostage go?
I turned and started to fire before the individual in question could step through the doorway. By the time I made the conscious decision and started squeezing the trigger, the individual in question was emerging. The bullet made contact, passing through their head.
A life taken. A hostage killed. But I couldn’t afford to take any chances.
No.
I shook my head a little.
A Nice Guy, not a hostage.
He needed to focus on people to use his power. That focus was far weaker if he couldn’t see someone. My voice would be another vector, as well as knowing my location.
“That was impolite,” Jack said.
“No tricks.”
“I could send Siberian after you,” he said. “She wouldn’t even have to kill you. Just hold you still. Bonesaw and Gray Boy could have worlds of fun. Remember what we did to your team leader? Imagine the eternity of pain Gray Boy could deliver after our Bonesaw has given you more nerve endings to work with.”
“You could,” I said.
The others were getting closer, reaching the foot of the stairs.
Cherish spoke. “The others are here, Jack.”
“Then your time is up, Weaver. I hope you don’t regret your hesitation.”
I wouldn’t.
I drew in a deep breath, waiting for the second Jack turned, then stepped into the doorway.
Then I opened fire.
I’d first run into the scenario when I went up against Mannequin, before running up against Glory Girl. The first time I shot a gun, I hit my target.
Now I had a better idea of why.
Having bugs over the entire area, I had a sense of the area, of the topography, of where everything was. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an advantage. Something to help aim the shot, to help give me a sense of the path the bullet would travel. It was like being able to reach out with my arm in a perfectly straight line, touch my target, then aim along the line. The same effect I’d granted Foil, so she could snipe Tyrant.
The sole remaining Siberian moved to Jack’s side before I could pull the trigger.
I wasn’t aiming for Jack. It wasn’t even a consideration. Like he said, he had Gray Boy with him. The second I stepped into their sight, I was a goner.
My bullet took Cherish in the head. Another bullet struck Screamer.
I hesitated.
Then I shot Aster, who was held in a Hatchet Face’s arms.
Manton-
No. Too dangerous. Gray Boy was moving, trying to get to a better vantage point.
I turned, activating my flight pack for a boost of speed.
The Siberian broke away from Jack, giving chase. Crawlers advanced only a pace behind.
In that same moment, I drew out more lines, giving the signal.
Revel and Foil both opened fire, their energy-orbs and bolts tearing through the walls and into the rank and file of the Slaughterhouse Nine.
“No!” Jack ordered. “Siberian, w
ith us. The remotes are programmed?”
“Yeah,” Bonesaw reported.
“We go. Divide into groups. One major target each.”
Jack quickly sorted them out, his Siberian touching him, Manton and Bonesaw as the bolts and orbs continued to tear through his crowd. One or two dead every second.
And then they separated into groups. Bonesaw paused, then broke away, joining her crowd before hitting the remote. They disappeared.
Another group gone.
Then the remaining three disappeared all at once.
I collapsed on my hands and knees as I reached the bottom of the staircase. The others that had managed to reach our location stood over me.
“They’re gone,” I said, panting not from exertion, but the sheer panic of what I’d done.
“We give chase,” Chevalier said. He looked to Defiant. “Can we?”
“We can if there is a computer,” Defiant responded.
I only nodded.
“Good,” Defiant said.
I looked up as Golem approached, Revel beside him.
“Aster’s dead,” I said.
He went very still.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Did you-” He started, then he stopped, staring down at me.
“Nevermind. Sorry for asking,” he said. “Whatever happened, it’s for the best.”
He didn’t sound like he believed it. He didn’t sound confident in the least.
It’s for the best, I thought, as Golem joined Chevalier and Defiant in heading up the stairs.
“Can you tell me the order they went off?” Defiant asked.
I nodded.
“Good. Then I think we can figure out which went where. We can eliminate this place as an escape route.”
Which meant we knew which way Jack had gone, and he couldn’t run anymore.
Final encounter.
26.a (Interlude A, Golem part 1)
Theo exhaled slowly. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. Inhaling again, the smell of shit and blood was so heavy on the air it choked him. His suppressed cough was almost a grunt, almost a gag.
His eyes returned to the two bloodstained spikes that had been stabbed into the wall. It was the space where Nilbog had been crucified, apparently. Something dangled from one of them. A tendon, maybe, a vein, or a strip of meat. The goblin king had been torn down with enough haste and enough force that some part of him had been left behind.
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