by Tom Reynolds
“None of us ever expected our own government to be responsible for our deaths, but we also never expected our own government to free a monster like Desmond Keane either. He murdered our families in cold blood, and for that he has received no punishment, no justice," Charlie says. He takes a deep breath, trying to compose himself after the troubling words that just came out of his mouth. The media that are present use this brief pause as an opportunity to jump in with their questions.
"How do you know he killed your families?" asks a reporter who happens to be loudest, getting Charlie's attention.
"How do I know?" he responds. "How could I not know? Our wives, husbands, and children were all killed within weeks of Desmond Keane's capture."
"But the circumstances of their deaths don't indicate foul play or that Keane was responsible," the reporter continues.
Charlie is quiet for a moment. The type of quiet that happens right before an explosion. He's trying his best to control his temper before continuing.
"Desmond Keane is one of the richest men in the world. He could afford anything, including being able to arrange for a series of murders that were all made to look like accidents," Charlie says.
"Is what he's saying possible? Beta said the same thing to Keane at Silver Island today," I tell Midnight.
"It's possible," Midnight responds. I'm dumbfounded. "I've been investigating their deaths on my own. The circumstances are all varied. Car accidents, suicide, drug overdoses, cancer. Not the typical M.O. of an assassin, but Keane isn't a typical client either."
"I’m calling for Desmond Keane to turn himself in to us within the next twenty-four hours, or we will be going after him. Additionally, we are demanding that all metas within Bay View City forfeit their metabands to us within the same time period or risk suffering severe consequences," Charlie says.
There are gasps throughout the crowd, and all the reporters begin talking at once, shouting questions at Charlie. Camera flashes illuminate his unblinking face as he waits for silence.
"Metas have no place in our society. There are no such things as heroes and villains within their ranks. All of them are dangerous. Look at the damage they have caused to our world. City after city where buildings have been knocked down, homes set on fire, innocent lives lost, all because of metas and the menace they bring. None of us has asked for this.
"The world was a safer, better place before metas. We know this. We've seen what the world was like during the First Wave. We've seen The Battle and the lives of thousands and thousands of innocents lost for no reason. But we've also seen what the world was like without them. That was the world we all shared until two months ago when they returned. I ask you, is a world of metas really one that we want to go back to? A world of cowering in fear every time the air raid sirens go off? A world of uncertainty over whether or not a meta who is having a bad day might kill you without discrimination or remorse?
"We have the ability to destroy these devices. You may have heard the news that we recently did so at Silver Island. For the first time since these horrible things have appeared, we have the ability to destroy them for good. To put the human race back on a level playing field," Charlie says.
"And what if a meta refuses?" a reporter near the front asks during the brief pause in Charlie's speech.
"Then their metabands will be destroyed by force. Our priority is eliminating these bands, and we cannot guarantee the safety of anyone who stands in our way. We will not treat so-called heroes differently from criminals if they do not abide by our demand."
There is another flurry of questions lobbed at Charlie from the assembled mass, but he simply ignores them and instead gives one last statement.
"Noon tomorrow. Leave your metabands here in Central Square. If you do not and you choose to stay in Bay View City, we will find you, and we will destroy your metabands. It's up to you whether or not we do so while they're attached to you. This is your final warning," Charlie finishes.
Immediately after finishing his statement, he turns his head to the sky, and in a blur of black and gray, he’s gone, launched high into the sky. The TV cameras follow him before all of them cut back to their respective newsrooms for further coverage from the studio. The televisions in Midnight's water tower all mute themselves automatically.
"This is bad," I say, stating the obvious.
"Mmm," Midnight replies back, deep in thought and barely acknowledging me. "You need to decide what you're going to do."
"What do you mean I need to decide? I'm not giving into this lunatic," I reply.
"Connor, you need to think about this long and hard. These men can destroy your metabands with little more than a simple thought. This isn't a game. If you choose not to give up your metabands, I'm not going to be able to protect you."
"I know that, but I'm not giving up my metabands. I'm not bowing down to them. They're no different than any other meta. Once they’ve destroyed all the other metabands in the city, what's to stop them from doing anything they want because they're the only metas around?"
"Good. I was hoping you'd say that," Midnight says with a faint grin.
Chapter 30
"You're home," Derrick says as I walk through the front door of our apartment.
"Yeah, I still live here too," I say.
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Derrick says as he comes over and gives me a hug followed by a punch on the arm.
"Ow, what was that for?" I ask.
"For not calling your big brother or answering your phone after he hears there's a group of psychopaths looking to kill him," he says.
"They're only looking to kill me if I don't give up my metabands."
"So, you're going to give up your metabands?"
"Hell no."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Listen, there's some new information," Derrick says in a conspiratorial way as he waves me into his home office again. Once inside, he closes the door behind us. I don't think I've ever seen this door closed since we moved in, even when Derrick is on the phone, and I have to listen to his loud phone voice when I'm just trying to watch TV.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"So, I assume your buddy Midnight has come to the same conclusion I have about this Alpha Team and the nuclear bomb having an effect on their meta abilities?"
"Yeah. I mean, he's not one hundred percent sure about it or anything, but it certainly seems to make the most sense."
"Well there's another twist to it. I've been doing some research and talking with my contacts, and they're not sure it was The Agency that ordered the nuclear strike."
"What? How would that even be possible? If they didn't do it, then who did?"
"That's the question, isn't it?"
"Why would they let everyone believe that they dropped a nuclear bomb on these guys if they didn't?" I ask.
"I'm not sure. They haven't come out and officially said it was them. It's only speculation. Speculation that’s been further fueled by Alpha Team stating that to be the case, but it's still just speculation. However, there are a lot of other reasons to stay quiet about it. Especially if The Agency doesn’t want anyone else aware of others who might be tracking loose metabands and can also get their hands on nuclear weapons. That's probably about the only thing that could scare people more than the current situation right about now."
I'm about to ask more questions when suddenly I hear a very soft, barely inaudible click. I look into Derrick's eyes, and without saying a word, I can tell that he’s heard it too. A second later, I can hear the creaking of the floorboards by the entryway of our apartment.
Someone is inside. I flick my wrists and summon my damaged, but still functioning, metabands. Derrick looks at them, then at me, and shakes his head “no.” I begin to open my mouth to object, but he puts his finger to his lips to instruct me to be quiet instead. I don't like this. For once, Derrick's crazy paranoia seems to have been right. Someone is watching us, and we aren't safe.
Derrick's head swivels around the room, looking
for something. He settles on a desk lamp that he quietly unplugs from the wall and grips like a baseball bat. I mouth the words, "What the hell?" to him, indicating that if he's going to have a weapon, then I sure as hell should have one too. He looks around the room again and grabs a coffee mug, which he then hands to me. I mouth the word, "Really?" to him and am again shushed.
Looks like I'm going to have to defend myself against whoever's out there with a coffee mug instead of my metabands. Great.
The creaking sound of the wood floors gets closer, and it's apparent that whoever is out there is close to the office door. Derrick looks at me and starts mouthing the words, "Three. Two ... One!"
He kicks open the office door and jumps into the hallway with the lamp held high over his head, ready to bring it down and crack open the skull of ... Veronica?
Veronica screams and puts her hands in front of her face, bracing for the blow from the lamp. Luckily, it never comes as Derrick realizes who she is and pulls back just in time.
"What the hell are you doing?" Veronica screams at Derrick. He’s now dropped the lamp and has his hands up in the air.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he says to her at a rapid pace.
I gently place the coffee mug I was about to use to brain Veronica back on Derrick's desk before she notices. No reason for both of us need to get screamed at, right?
"We heard someone come in and were worried that it might have been ..." Derrick trails off, realizing he can't say much more unless he wants to give away some of his secrets.
Obviously, Veronica knows that Derrick’s a journalist, but it becomes apparent pretty quickly that Derrick hasn't clued her in to the theories and intel he's made me aware of for reasons pertaining to both our safety and the stability of their relationship. I don't know much about girls, but I do know that generally speaking, they're not crazy about staying up all night listening to their boyfriend rant and ramble about shadow governments and lizard people.
"You thought it was what?" Veronica asks.
"Just an intruder. You know," Derrick answers.
"An intruder? That's a little paranoid, even for you," she says.
"Wait. Veronica has a key?" I ask, not really thinking before the words tumble out of my mouth. Veronica blushes and looks down at her feet. Derrick looks over at me.
"Uhhh, yeah. I meant to mention that to you. You're cool with that, right?" he asks.
"Yeah, sure. I mean, you're paying the rent, so I'm not sure how much of a say I have. And I just realized that I'm talking to you like Veronica isn't standing two feet away from both of us."
"It's okay. I can give you guys some space if you need to talk. I was just stopping by to grab something I forgot the other night," Veronica says, looking for an exit.
"No, no. It's fine. I was actually just on my way out," I say.
"Umm, Connor? Are you going to, uh, think about that thing that we just talked about?" he says, giving me a very unsubtle wink.
"Yeah," I sigh. "I'll definitely think about it."
"Umm, and maybe mention it to our mutual friend?" he asks.
I give him a confused look since I'm not really sure who he’s talking about. He makes his eyes bug out slightly at me, asking me to think a little harder, when I realize that he's talking about Midnight.
"Oh! Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll ask 'our friend' about it," I say.
"You guys are so weird," Veronica finally feels compelled to say, as she laughs it off and heads into Derrick's office, presumably looking for whatever it is she left here. Maybe the coffee mug? Hopefully not the lamp because I'm pretty sure that's broken now.
"Okay, that's my cue. See you guys later," I say to Derrick, who’s still giving me a look.
Once Veronica is inside the office and out of sight, he mouths the word "Midnight" to me. I roll my eyes, exhausted now, and mouth back, "I know!"
"Okay. Bye," Derrick mouths back.
"Bye," I mouth, before realizing I don't need to mouth that. "Bye," I say again, but out loud this time.
"Oh, right. Bye," Derrick says, realizing the same.
Chapter 31
Midnight sends an encrypted message to my phone, asking me to meet him tonight. This is convenient since I've been more or less kicked out of my apartment for the evening and going out to cruise the city as Omni just became a lot more dangerous. The unusual thing about his request is that it came with a set of coordinates, indicating that he didn't want to meet at his water tower. Since I've learned of the water tower, there’s rarely been a time he hasn't asked to meet there. After all, you don't go through the trouble of setting up a secret lair inside a water tower if you're not going to use it.
It takes downloading a special GPS app to find out where exactly he wants me to meet him. It'd be easy to just send me an address or a cross street, but Midnight is rarely easy. He's also rarely imprecise. There's a reason why he sent me exact GPS coordinates, so I'd better follow them.
I decide to do so as myself rather than Omni. Midnight hadn't indicated that there would be any danger in meeting him, and being out and about as a meta is dangerous right now. The media is all over any meta they can find since most have decided to lay low after Alpha Team's declaration. Many have already left their metabands in a pile at the square where Charlie gave his speech.
The coordinates bring me to a dark alley. This does not surprise me; it is Midnight after all. It takes a few minutes to locate the exact coordinates he's sent, though. Finally, after walking around with my head buried in my phone's screen for a few minutes, I find the exact spot he sent me. It's on top of a sewer cap. So I decide to just stand here and wait.
I'm standing here waiting for close to five minutes, ready to give up, when suddenly the sewer cap moves slightly. There's a buzzing noise and the sound of hydraulic pistons. Before I know what's happening, the sewer cap I'm standing on is dropping beneath my feet, just slow enough that I'm not in complete free fall. Within what must only be a second or two, it comes to a controlled and cushioned stop. There's nothing but darkness all around me, except for the small bit of light streaming in front the hole above me that I just came through. In another second, the manhole cover closes, and I'm in pitch-black darkness.
A few floodlights come on and I'm temporarily blinded. Midnight never had a thing for making someone feel welcome. A number of lasers scan my face and body before a disembodied computer voice says, "Identity verified, Connor Connolly." The floodlights shut off with a loud click and a moment later, after my eyes readjust to the darkness, I see a pathway illuminated by a series of footlights. They lead to a closed doorway, but I decide they're my best bet for getting to wherever it is Midnight wants me to go. Turns out my guess was right since the door slides open automatically as soon as I approach it.
Through the doorway, a short hall opens up to a gigantic abandoned subway station. The architecture of the place clearly indicates that it's very old, and the cobwebs and dust all over the place tell me that it hasn't been used in a very long time. I don't remember there ever being a subway station around this neighborhood either. So it's pretty clear that wherever I am, I'm one of the few people to have been here in the past few decades.
"Took you long enough to find it," Midnight says through the dark on the other side of the station.
I might be one of the few to have been here in a long time, but who knows how long Midnight's been holed up here. I've lost count of the various bases he's set up throughout the city, and I’m no longer surprised at the abandoned places he's found to set up shop.
"Yeah, the buzzer outside wasn't working. I think you should have someone take a look at that," I say back.
Midnight doesn't laugh. Typical.
"Come here. I need to show you something," he says.
I walk across the station and through pools of light streaming in through old stained glass windows that at one time lead to the outside world. Now they just house makeshift work and floodlights Midnight has set up to make sure this place isn't in complete and total
darkness.
"What is it?" I ask. "If you haven't noticed, today's been a little busy for me."
"I know it has, and that's why we have to put it to an end."
"Okay. I'm game. What do you have planned?"
"My intelligence indicates that Alpha Team will strike at Silver Island. Soon. Their goal is to eliminate all known metahumans from Bay View City. Simply demanding that metas either forfeit their bands or leave the city will only accomplish part of that goal."
"Okay ..."
"To fully realize their goal, they'll need to eliminate all the metas being held in the Silver Island facility."
"Why would they bother doing that? All of those metas are either already disarmed or imprisoned hundreds of feet under steel and concrete with their bands essentially disabled."
"They're also exactly the type of metas that Alpha Team hates and would be looking to make an example of. They're the worst of the worst, the ones who have killed and caused the most damage. Simply demanding that metas leave the city while allowing these criminals to remain in the city under lock and key doesn't seem to be their style."
"So what can we do about it?"
"We can make our stand at Silver Island."
"Me and you? What are you, crazy? I mean, I know you're crazy, look at where we are, but this is like next level crazy."
"I'm not crazy. I have a plan. I'm going to take them out."
"Like with a bomb or something?"
"No. By myself."
I'm silent for a moment, trying to understand exactly what he means. He's always somewhat cryptic, but unless he has a weapon or gadget he hasn't clued me in to before, I have absolutely no idea how he can possibly think he'd take on three of the strongest metas the world has ever seen by himself. It's right about now that I wonder if he actually is crazy. Before I'm able to raise an objection or ask another question, he seems to sense my apprehension.
