Gabriel offered a tiny shrug. “If you do something long enough, you might as well just stick with it."
"Have to have something to do in between causing religious wars, eh, Gabe?” Loki hissed, taking on a satisfied look when Gabriel's eyes flared for a moment. He'd always hated being called ‘Gabe.’ That's why Loki did it and always had.
"That was never part of my plan, and you know it."
"Boy, did that not work out for you then,” Loki snapped back. “Those people are slaughtering each other by the millions even now—it started way back when you decided to carve a little place for yourself among a bunch of desert tribes who'd already been warring for thousands of years before you decided to meddle. Your interference just made it all that much worse."
"You're quite the one to talk. Out of all of us, only Deryk's never yielded to the temptation to set himself up as a deity in one locale or another."
"Can't argue with that,” Sif cut in, though she was certainly as guilty of it as anyone.
"Sure, but how many of us ever set ourselves up as the ‘One and only True God,’ Sif? Fucking bastard."
"You're just sore because the religion I helped create spread so fast and managed to convert even those in your tiny corner of the world."
Loki's reaction to that came so quickly neither woman had the faintest chance of stopping it. His fist lunged out with blurring speed and caught the self-righteous jerk in the side of the jaw, sending him sprawling on the elevator floor. He leaned down within inches of the supine immortal, so angry he was spitting saliva along with his words. “I'll let you in on a little something, Gabe. If you appeared to ninety percent of those who claim to follow you today, trying to spread your little message of love, light, and mercy, they'd damn well try to kill you again. If you don't think so, go talk to all those fanatics who call you Allah, or Mohammad, or whatever fucking name you used while you were manipulating their ancestors."
"What the fuck do you have to say about it, Loki? Those who followed you and Sif, and the others who set up shop there in the frozen north wouldn't have known respect for human life if it climbed up their fur-lined underwear and bit them in the ass! They raped and pillaged their way across the British Isles and the North Coast of Europe how many times?
"Humanism exists now because of me! The fact that anyone besides a few ratty old philosophers believes that individual human life and natural rights exist apart from the whim of some monarch or other oligarch is directly because of the lessons I taught the human race. And you can't deny that!"
He picked himself off the floor, clearly angry, but just as clearly unwilling to resort to violence. “They were lessons the humans had to learn, and they sure as hell weren't going to learn them because of you ‘pagan’ deities. You all made it perfectly clear to them that only their race, only their tiny portion of the whole of humanity, mattered in your eyes. I set the stage for all of them to finally meet on some sort of equal playing field."
"Go tell them that in Belfast, or Jerusalem, Gabriel! Tell that to the people who lose a loved one because of an exploding car bomb, set in your name or the name of one of your aspects. Individual rights my white ass. At least our people never killed one another over a difference in interpretation."
"As fun as this is boys, we've reached the basement,” Athena informed them. “So, Gabriel, unless you plan to accompany us—"
"—over my putrefying corpse—” Loki muttered.
"—we're going to have to part ways now,” she finished without missing a beat.
"Do us all a favor—grab a couple of nails and just hang around. We'll be back for you in three days or so,” Loki said with a smirk.
Both women shot him a disgusted look. “That wasn't even vaguely funny,” Sif told him.
Athena just shook her head in dismay. “Sorry, Gabriel. That was over the top."
"No less than I'd expect from the likes of him,” said the curly-haired immortal. “I'll be seeing you."
"Not if I can help it,” Loki fired off at his retreating back as he walked away. “Man, I hate that guy."
"You know, Loki, there's nothing wrong with us believing in something larger than ourselves,” Athena informed him.
"You think?” He snorted. “Let me tell you, sister. He's the most opportunistic of us all, the way I see it. I've known truly holy men. He's no goddam Mahatma Gandhi. It's one thing to stand there and risk everything for the sake of what you believe in—it's quite another to appear to risk everything when you can't be killed in the first place."
His lip curled in a half-snarl as he sped up to take the lead and leave both of them trailing, staring at his back.
"That was fun,” Sif muttered.
"Oh, yeah. A barrel full of rabid monkeys,” Athena replied. “You ever get the feeling we're part of the world's biggest dysfunctional family?"
"Was there ever any doubt?"
Loki ignored them. They'd never understand. Women were always suckers for a pair of soulful eyes and a matching pair of broad shoulders. Pathetic, really.
* * * *
"That bastard!” Sif spun in place, her eyes searching the crowd. After a moment she looked up, her gaze met Sif's, and they crossed to meet in the middle of the square.
"That sneaky bastard. You forgot sneaky."
He'd chosen this route because he knew he'd be able to lose them in the crowd. They'd fallen for it like a couple of rubes. He'd slipped on his glamour and vanished nearly as soon as they'd entered the street. It was, after all, one of his most notable talents—other than causing trouble.
"We'll never find him again,” Athena said, as they converged and scanned the area once more.
Sif shrugged. “We could always go back to Thorne, see what he can dig up this time."
"And admit that we let him pull a stunt like this? No thanks.” She chewed at her lower lip, considering. “I wish we'd thought to pick his pocket, see what identity he's using these days."
"That would've helped. Unfortunately picking pockets is a little outside my realm of expertise."
Athena grinned. “Well, it's not as though it's something I practice on a regular basis. Comes in handy once in a while though."
"I can imagine,” the other woman replied with a quick laugh. “Why don't we take a break and get something to eat? I think better on a full stomach."
"Sounds like a plan. Pick the place."
Much to her surprise, Athena found she was enjoying spending time with Sif. They'd had their share of difficulties in the past, but most of them seemed to have long since faded.
Maybe we never really did get to know one another, she mused. Or maybe it's just that both of us have changed so much in this modern world. It didn't matter. As things turned out she felt pretty good by the end of the afternoon—hours spent in the company of one of the few women on Earth who even had a chance of comprehending from where she was coming. It's strange—we've never done anything like this before, even though it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Opening oneself up to friendship with mortals grew increasingly more difficult over time—watching them age and die while you continued on your merry way grew tiresome and downright disturbing as the years wheeled on. After so many times, you stop even wanting to seek friendships among the mortals at all. It just wasn't worth the heartache.
Much the same as taking a lover from among them. Fun for a short time, but it didn't pay to fall in love. In the end it was like being torn apart from the inside out. No one's idea of a ‘good time'.
* * * *
Loki spared himself a small smile as he pressed his palm against the reader next to the outer door. The security bar snapped back and kicked the door open. He pulled it all the way clear and stepped inside the small airlock compartment, then keyed in the code at the second access panel at the inner door.
I'd like to see those two sneak up on me here. He chuckled, shaking his head. I can't believe they fell for the trip through the street market.
He slipped
into a lab coat in the hall and keyed his way into the primary lab, where a series of tables cluttered with miscellaneous lab equipment lay along three of the four walls. Against the far wall stood an odd coffin-shaped box formed with a glass front. Inside the casement stood a human figure, her body pierced in multiple places and hanging with tubes and wires.
If any of the others had seen this, he realized, he'd be lucky to get away with a tongue-lashing, never mind the fact the woman would be dead already if not for his intervention. She lay now in a chemically induced state of suspended animation, her body's rhythms slowed to the point as to be nearly undetectable.
He walked to the side panel, popped open a small hatch, and reached in to pull out a small vial. He held it up under the harsh glare of the overheads and inspected it by eye, then took it over to one of the equipment tables, where he prepared a slide for the microscope.
If this succeeded it would be his crowning achievement. No one would be able to argue his genius if he somehow learned how to duplicate what the Thanatos virus had accidentally done to him and his brethren. To have the power of immortality at hand, able to be conferred on anyone worthy enough. It was a goal worth nearly any sacrifice, even as far as exile from the rest of the immortal community.
That, of course, would be foolish of them, especially if he held the holy grail within his hands. They could ill afford to discount him then. He could turn around and create a whole other race of immortals, this one beholden to him, Loki, for their new status.
He leaned down and peered into the microscope and his own blood chilled on the spot. “What the hell?"
The virus was attacking, consuming, and replacing the host's white blood cells, then moving on to do the same to the red. Unless he was greatly mistaken, the virus was killing her. He spun in place, stared at the device and its occupant. What do I do? It's already gone too far. If I remove her now, it'll simply speed up the process. One way or another, she's dead.
* * * *
"You sure this is it?” Sif shot Athena a questioning glance as they crouched by the palm lock reader by the solid-looking door down the blind alley Athena's search had finally led them to.
The other woman nodded distractedly, peering intently at the lock mechanism. “Nice,” she murmured. “There's no simple way to circumvent this system.” She shook her head. “The security connections are very sophisticated. I might be able to get the outer door to open, but it's set to shut immediately after someone enters, trapping them between it and the inner door. And the secondary security measures aren't anything to sneeze at. If I know Loki, he was smart enough to include something powerful enough to disable even immortals. I'm not sure I'm willing to risk it."
Sif sucked air through her teeth. “Is there an intercom?"
"Looks like it."
"Fine. Then dial in and let him no he can either open this door willingly, or he won't have a door to hide behind.” Her eyes had grown flat and cold and Athena had no doubt that she meant exactly what she said.
She grinned suddenly. “Will do."
* * * *
Loki's head snapped around at the sound of Athena's voice coming in over the loudspeaker. They'd found him! Damn, those women are smarter than I thought. I really need to learn not to underestimate other immortals.
He wondered how they'd tracked him this time. It must've been through medical supply delivery. He knew he should've used an intermediary warehouse and picked the stuff up himself. Undone by his own laziness. He chuckled at himself. Well, I suppose that's what I get.
He walked over to the access panel by the lab door and popped it open, keying in his code and giving the command to open the outer and inner doors at the same time. He'd set that system up originally as a means to both control access and to keep any pathogens from escaping in case of an accident. Luckily—and specifically by design—he'd managed to make all of the metavirus blood-borne rather than air-borne. That eliminated any chance of accidental exposure to the outside world and made the airlock design more for reasons of security.
What he didn't want, however, was Sif deciding to hack her way through both doors and expose everything he was doing to the outer world. He couldn't afford that, especially now. He sighed and went out to meet them.
* * * *
Loki looked aggravated, Athena noted, as they approached him down a long white hallway. He wore a matching lab-coat and looked anything but what he was—an erratic immortal genius who'd most likely stepped far over the line.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you found me,” he said as he approached. “I probably left a trail a child could follow."
"Something like that,” she answered somberly. “Nice digs, Loki. Well, as long as we're here, you might as well fill us in on what you've been up to."
"I don't really have a choice anymore, do I?"
She shook her head. Sif stood there at her side, wearing her most determined expression. Her size and demeanor gave her something of the look of a fierce warrior elf ready and willing to do battle. Loki glanced over at her and sighed. “Ah, crap. I wish I could put his off, but you two might as well follow me."
He led them into a lab not too far off. Athena glanced around, noted the coffin-like device in the corner, and made her way directly to the microscope. A momentary glance told her just about everything she needed to know. “This is killing her."
"It is,” he admitted. “I don't know what I did wrong. I used my own blood and tracked down the part of our DNA I thought made us immortal and damn near immune to damage, disease, and toxins. It should have worked."
"'Should have’ doesn't feed the bulldog, Loki. Why haven't you taken her out of there yet?"
"She's chemically suspended,” he explained. “If I unplug her, it'll just progress that much quicker."
"Well, you can't just leave her there. It's not going to do any good anyway. The damn virus will kill her one way or another."
"Do you really think I should?” For the first time in memory, Loki actually looked indecisive. She'd almost expected him to be cold and casual about the fact that his experiment was killing the woman, but he seemed distinctly distressed by the notion.
"Hell,” she said, “I don't know. I take it she wasn't some victim you picked up off the street."
"No. She was a volunteer. She was dying anyway—I offered her the possibility that she didn't have to die. She jumped at the chance. Seriously, Athena, I thought I knew exactly what I was doing."
"Don't you always?” Sif growled.
"You have any others around here?"
He shrugged, clearly unwilling to admit it. “Well, I have a few more in another lab down the hall—they're all infected with different viruses, none of which are killing them."
"That's a good thing,” Sif remarked. “So what are they doing to them?"
"They're supposed to be vectors—they're not meant to actually be affected by them until they'd had the chance to spread the pathogen around for about a month or so. They're blood-borne, sexually transmitted viruses, each keyed to alter a specific segment of the infected person's genetic code. All the models I've run indicate that they'll perform exactly as I intended.” More or less the truth.
"Loki, you are one sick bastard, you know that?"
"Hey—sexually transmitted is the way to go,” he insisted. “It makes accidental infection all but impossible."
"So basically you plan to have your vectors slutting around for the next month, infecting anyone they can get into bed—who will then go on to infect everyone they screw, and so on. It's logical, but twisted nonetheless."
Loki responded with a lop-sided grin. “That's why I was careful to choose their physical and social attributes according to exacting standards. The women are all beautiful beyond measure, and possessing all the morals of your basic alley cat. The guys are all good looking, charismatic, and, let's face it, no more upstanding than the women. I had to pick guys who were naturally charming—it wasn't really an issue with the women. As long as they look d
ecent, they can get laid. The guys—well, you know how that goes. Only the best and brightest...” He fired off another cockeyed grin.
Sif looked disgusted. “It's sleazy,” she said through clenched teeth, “but it makes a frightening amount of sense."
"Yeah, well. This is Loki we're talking about. If anyone can make sleaze look like a good idea, it's him."
"Gee, thanks."
"Not a problem. Just calling it like I see it. So, what are these other metaviruses supposed to do? I already know what you were trying to accomplish with that lethal little cocktail,” she said, jerking a thumb back toward the woman in the glass coffin.
"One of them is supposed to reverse the block on accessing mana. I call it the Arcane Virus. It's up and running already. My vector is already out there spreading the good word, you might say. The next one is similar to that which gives us our increased strength, reflexes, and endurance. I'm calling it a para-virus because, in the end, it will create what I like to call para-humans. It'll be almost impossible to detect in the human body even before it's done its work, then it dies off once it's finished. It disguises itself as any number of benign or generally harmless bugs. The third one relates to those special abilities many of us seem to have picked up thanks to Thanatos. It'll give its recipients special abilities, though I have to say I believe the way they manifest might well be totally random."
"Those are all fairly innocuous, though I have to admit the third one gives me a little bit of a hard time. I'm not sure we need humans wandering around with random superhuman abilities."
"All for the war effort, Athena. The Enemy's agents will have a tough time dealing with all the freaks I've created."
"Don't use the word ‘freaks', Loki. It's disrespectful, particularly when you're the one who's done it to them.” Sif poked him in the chest for emphasis.
"You got anything else on the back burner we should know about?"
He hesitated, which was as good as an admission. “I've got a couple of things in the preliminary stages, but..."
Loki's Sin Page 3
