The City That Heroes Built

by Daniel Pierce

  “And you think he wanted to recruit me to help?”

  “Yeah. So he asks a bunch of criminals for information, and he asks the non-criminal to help him break in?”

  She stared at me like I was an idiot. I get this look far too often.

  “He recruited the others to help him break in.”

  She nodded.

  “Marissa Courtney said he had put together a team. I assumed that it was supra-heroes and he was gathering information.”

  “Who did he recruit?” Jen asked.

  “Salute.”

  “The guy who can effortlessly move things?”

  “Yea,” I said. “Also the Nillionaire. Evil genius.”

  “Has its advantages.”

  “And he's on work furlough, so he leaves the Citadel every week,” I said. “And Full Tilt.”

  “The guy who can control electronics.”

  “Yeah. They doped him up because he could shut down their security systems.”

  “Might be a bit more subtle than drilling into the island from the ocean floor,” Jen said.

  “The Original Man was on the list, too. We sat outside his house last night.”

  “The shapeshifter?”

  “He isn't a shapeshifter, he's malleable. Stretches, toughens his skin, grows a couple of extra arms, squeezes through prison bars.”

  “Yeah, that's a shapeshifter.”

  “I mean, it's not like he can look like someone else,” I said.

  Jen raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh shit,” I said.

  “Should we go back and sit down?” She walked back to the table. I followed.

  “What's wrong with him?” Simon asked. “You rejected him?”

  “He always looks troubled when he's thinking,” Jen said.

  “What's troubling you, old boy?” Cal asked. He reached over and scratched me behind the ear like I was an old hound dog.

  “I still don't know who killed Glory Knight,” I said. “But it sounds like he put together a team to break Leonidas out of the Citadel. But they didn't because he was killed.”

  “What is the chance that this is totally unrelated to his death?” Simon asked.

  “I can't find any other possible motive. Revenge just doesn't make sense. I've got no suspect for that.”

  “Who are your suspects for this?”

  “I'm stuck on the Guardian Angels not wanting him to break into the Citadel. I mean, with a team of Citadel experts he could have gotten in.”

  “And then what?” Simon asked. “The Guardian Angels could have recaptured Leonidas. I mean, he's rich, but everyone knows where he lives. I don't think they kill Glory Knight to keep Leonidas in prison. We're dealing with a bad guy. Why would a bad guy stop Glory Knight from breaking into the Citadel?”

  “I'm sort of offended because I could just pop in and get Leonidas,” Cal said.

  “They've got a plan for that,” Jen said. “Something special in the walls.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I don't remember what it is. They invented it after someone teleported in.”

  “Sucks to be the second guy to try it,” Cal said. “I mean, after they've implemented the defense against intrusion.”

  That's when I had my moment of clarity. I brought out my new phone and searched the Internet for the Citadel. There was too much information.

  “I need to go,” I said. “I need my database.”

  “Can't you access it from your phone?” Jen asked.

  “I need a couple of screens.” I walked off.

  For the rest of the day I read about the Citadel, everyone who inside, and any news. The news was the hardest part. There were a thousand reports on Leonidas' upcoming trial. I needed something else. Jen came by as I was pulling up images associated with everyone inside.

  “Can I help?” she asked.

  “I need to know what an unPerson is and who, what, why the Supra Rights Watch got one released.”

  “You have this IP masked?”

  “Yeah, seven times.” I gave her my network password. She went to work.

  “Probably not the answer you want,” she said. “The unPerson was a minor supra. Minor, minor, as in, younger than 18. Released on his 18th birthday, four years ago. Everything is sealed. No data at all. No name, height, weight, nothing but date of birth. September 1st, 1999. Supra Rights Watch petitioned for release. State kept the unPerson for his own safe keeping. They'd been working it for a while. Got a pediatrician when he was little, private tutor for schooling as he got older. That's all the information they have. They've got other legal proceedings to force an identification of other unPersons, but the government has beaten the FOIA requests and other attempts at getting a court order.

  “It's not the only time. It seems that everything references an earlier unPerson that was released. Is this what you were looking for?”

  “No, I don't think so. I'm looking for another reason to break into the Citadel.”

  “You got a friend on death row?” she asked.

  “Who is on death row?” I asked. I went to my list.

  Psychi-Pirate

  La Dama Del Silencio

  Madame Black

  Night Plague

  First Born

  Black Fox

  Red Barber (4) (one was executed in 2016)

  Death Phase (executed finally in 2015)

  Phototalon (executed in 2014)

  Outsider (executed in 2016)

  I searched the news for them. The results were crowded. Jen saved me time. “Date set for executions of Madame Black and Night Plague. August 13th. Heh. Friday the 13th. This won't end badly.”

  “Two days after Leonidas gets arraigned on the trumped up terrorism charge.”

  “All four of these people were mass murders or serial killers,” Jen said. “They've been on deathrow for a long time. They don't have a legacies, they don't have suprateams.”

  “How long ago was the last unPerson released?”

  “Four years ago.”

  “Who from Death Row went in in early 1999?”

  “La Dama del Silencio.”

  “The one before that?”

  “Released in 2011. Minus 18 years and nine month, we've got Madame Black captured by the Guardian Angels.”

  I sat in silence. Jen looked at me.

  “Did we just solve something?”

  “I don't know. I think we've got a kid born in prison who might try to save their mom. How do we know which one, and who that kid is?”

  “I think the kid already knows,” Jen said. She turned her laptop towards me. I saw two pictures of Lady in Black, one recent, one with a vintage filter.

  “You think it is Lady in Black?”

  “This isn't Lady in Black,” Jen said, pointing to the older picture. “This is Madame Black, 30 years ago.”

  “It sucks to be the second one to try to break in to the Citadel,” I said. “That's why she had to kill Glory Knight.”

  “The Lady in Black is going to break her mom out of the Citadel,” Jen said. “Somehow she found out that Glory Knight was going to go first.”

  “Why would Glory Knight invite her in? Pour her a glass of wine?”

  “Hubris. He wasn't afraid. He was Glory Knight.”

  “How did she kill him? She raises people from the dead.”

  “Maybe she has more than one power.”

  “Poison? It doesn't fit,” I said. “Besides, we need evidence.”

  “Someone has to know if the Lady in Black was an unPerson,” Jen said. “There's got to a record of her.”

  “I think that's the point. There is no record of her,” I said.

  “Maybe the Supra Rights Watch knows. Maybe Marissa Courtney knows.”

  “Maybe. How did she know that Glory Knight was going to break in to the Citadel?”

  “Maybe he approached her?”

  “Maybe. I don't think he'd be that careless.”

  “Do you have the list?”

  “No, Callio
pe does.”

  “You haven't seen it?”

  “No.”

  Jen narrowed her eyes. “So is it a secret?”

  “I don't know. I never asked to see it.”

  “So ask her to see it.”

  I sent a text. Calliope didn't get back to me.

  “I think we need to take this to the team,” Jen said.

  We did. We went to Murphy's.

  The team was drunk.

  “I don't want to explain this twice,” Jen said. “Let's leave them to it.”

  “What now?”

  “Let's go wait outside the Original Man's house and see if anyone shows up.”

  So we did. The two of us sat quietly in the car down the street from the Original Man's house. No one showed up.

  August 2, 2021

  Jen and I pitched the plot to the team the next day.

  “So no evidence?” Cal asked.

  “None, but it's within reach.”

  “Stakeout?” Simon asked.

  “Stakeout,” Cal agreed. To me, he said, “You and Calliope get with Nillionaire.” To Simon, “You get Salute.”

  “I get Full Tilt,” Fiver said.

  “Nah, I get Full Tilt. You and Jen go back to Glory Knight's girlfriend and get answers about the unPerson.”

  “I can't get a hold of Calliope,” I said. “Besides, bringing her into the team will compromise Fiver's secret identity.”

  “You can get in to see the Nillionaire without her?”

  “He met with me before,” I said. “If I can't get in to see him, Cal can pop in.”

  “Let's give it a few days before we talk to them,” Cal said. “Recon first. Except the Supra Rights Watch. We ask there.”

  “And I try to hack their system.”

  “Watch out for her bodyguard,” I warned. “And her as well. I think they developed something to give powers, at least strength. Jen found a picture of Diamond, the bodyguard, in a wheelchair when she was younger. Leonidas didn't have powers as a young man. I think Bio-Citadel gave the powers to them.”

  “I'm not going there to fight,” Fiver said. “I'm going there to be nice.”

  “Good luck with that,” Simon said.

  We split up. My recon sucked. I managed to sit outside the city transportation office when the Nillionaire was brought out. Four cop cars left the parking garage in different directions. I didn't bother trying to follow.

  By that time I'd already missed Isabelle dropping by my place. She texted,

  Where are you?

  City Hall. Trying to get an interview with the Nillionaire.

  Will you be home soon? You're missing out on hanging out with me.

  I'll be there soon.

  I have some fancy new undies to show you.

  I went home in a hurry. Isabelle had fancy new undies. She showed me.

  When she left a few hours later, I had a dozen texts from Cal lamenting the fact that I'm a lousy teammate for never answering him. I drove to Murphy's.

  “Are we the only supra-team that meets at a bar?” I asked when I sat down. “I'm not complaining, I just thought that an island fortress would be cool.”

  “Nah,” Cal said. “Those all inclusive supra-teams are a rip off.”

  Fiver had no luck getting any info from Marissa Courtney. He said she looked, but the Supra Rights Watch didn't have the information. “No one had it in writing. Someone inside might have it. Maybe someone who was in the Citadel 30 years ago.” Fiver shrugged.

  “I'll pull some personnel records if I can hack my way in. Might not be something that they keep online,” Jen said.

  Simon had nothing from his watch on Salute.

  “He heads home after work, watches TV, goes to bed,” Simon said.

  “Same thing with Full Tilt,” Cal said. “He works all day. Girlfriend came around about 6:30 when he's finishing up.”

  “What are we doing tomorrow?” Fiver asked.

  “Same thing, rotate people and cars,” Cal said. “One of us on the Original Man as well. Be nice if we had that list that Calliope has.”

  “I'll ask again,” I said.

  “These are the perfect people for breaking in to the Citadel,” Jen said.

  “Until they get in a fight,” Fiver said. “No one that can stop a counterattack by the Guardian Angels.”

  “I think their plan takes them in and out without a fuss,” Jen said. “The Original Man trades places with Nillionaire to get inside. Full Tilt shuts off the security system. Salute lifts everyone away.”

  Cal called an end to the meeting. He dolled out the assignments for the next day.

  August 3, 2021

  In the morning, I read a real newspaper and drank coffee outside Salute's place of business. Fiver ate a donut with his, and tempted me with the rest of his dozen. “If you're not going to work out anyway, you might as well enjoy being chubby,” he said.

  I relented. We split the dozen.

  Jen and Cal had the watch on Full Tilt. Simon went off to City Hall to get a vibe for Nillionaire's thought pattern.

  Fiver bored me with tales from the poker table for hours. Salute didn't talk to anyone of note. We didn't see anyone of note. Around noon, Fiver headed off to the gym.

  “Isn't this more important than the gym?” I asked.

  “I just ate 6 donuts,” he said. “I don't want to get fat.” He left me on my own.

  At 2, Calliope asked where I was and I told her. Thirty minutes later, she scared the hell out of me sliding into my passenger seat.

  “Good thing I'm not a bad guy,” she said.

  “Yeah, good thing.”

  “You on a stakeout?” She surveyed the collection of coffee cups and the empty donut box.

  “I think Glory Knight put a team together to break Leonidas out of jail. I think Salute is part of the team, along with the others, Nillionaire, the Original Man, and Full Tilt. I thought he wanted information, but I think he was recruiting everyone.”

  “Sure. To break out Leonidas.”

  “Can I see his list?”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Patterns.”

  “We've visited most people on the list. I've checked up on the others.”

  “Can I see the list?”

  “No,” she said.

  “Is your name on it?”

  “Ha.”

  “He came to see you,” I said. “As soon as you rented an office in the building.”

  “He had a cup of coffee in the building,” Calliope said. “Your building, that you bought, where you drink coffee all the time. You picked up the trail to figure out what he was up to. You're now watching the team that was put together to break into the Citadel. You're the one with the supra fetish. You're the one researching what he was up to, and you've got a lot of information for a normal.”

  “You think he came to see me?”

  Calliope pulled the wrinkled paper from her pocket and stuck it in front of me. One of the listings was my address with XXXXXXXXXX instead of my name.

  “I'm tempted to say that the outburst aimed at Full Tilt was staged.”

  “Who did you get this list from?”

  “Who do you think? The Guardian Angels.”

  “How did they locate these people? How did they have my address?”

  “You don't think that they're tied in to the Citadel better than anyone?” Calliope asked. “They've been dropping people off there for 30 years.

  “So they would know who the unPersons are,” I said. “You know who the unPersons are.”

  “I know one is a cloud of vapor that slightly resembles a person. Two were minors. One is possibly a god, depending on how liberal you want to be with that definition.”

  I held up the paper and pointed at the XXXXXXXXXX. “This is not me. I've never been to the Citadel. I'm a nobody.”

  “A clone? Maybe you're a clone of the original Tom,” she said.

  “Call them and ask right now,” I said. “Call Sunday. Call Sentinel. I want t
o know why I'm on the list.”

  My burner phone rang. Fiver. I stepped out of the car and answered.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, fine,” I said. “What's up?”

  “You still in the same place? No one around?”

  “I just stepped out of the car to take this call. Calliope is here. What's going on?” I asked.

  “Look, a little bit of sloppiness by the mob. They sent Killswitch to kill you. Relax. It was a couple of days ago. They haven't seen him in a while though. They figure that you killed him.”

  “Ludicrous.”

  “That's what I told them,” Fiver said. “Anyway, they tried to call him off, but he's not answering. The bad thing is…”

  “That he's till trying to kill me?”

  “Nah, Pale Child got the Chill.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah. They want to call it even; one of theirs for one of yours. I'm not going to go on a rampage just yet. If Killswitch turns up alive, that may change. Ask Calliope about it. Maybe they knocked on her door by accident.”

  “I think she would have mentioned it,” I said. “Where are you at? Something else has come to light. We need a face-to-face.”

  “Later,” he said. “I'm still trying to track some things down regarding this.”

  I hung up and got back in the car.

  “So the mob put a hit out on the Chill as a result of that business with Skyborne. They also put one out on me, but apparently they've called that off, only they can't actually get in touch with the assassin to tell him not to kill me,” I said.

  “You're serious?”

  “Dead serious.”

  “Guess you're not a nobody,” she said.

  “Did you happen to kill anyone who was coming to kill me? Anyone in or around the building?”

  “No.”

  “So are we sitting here thinking that each other is the mysterious X on the list?” I asked.

  “Why would it be me?” Calliope asked.

  “Process of elimination,” I said.

  “I'll talk to the Guardian Angels and see how they generated this list. I mean, it came from Ravelin, but I'll find out why you're on it.”