by John Corwin
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Mikhail probed her and sensed the problem immediately. "Andre placed a remote in her head."
Lucinda rushed to Tollee's side. "A remote?"
He tied off a probe inside her. A large cluster of neurons were lighting up like a mini-nova in Tollee's head. Mikhail isolated the neurons with one probe. Sent another to quell the eruptions. After a microsecond in real time, he'd managed to snuff Andre's work. Tollee's eyes jerked open. She whimpered and looked around, her eyes dancing wildly.
"What's a remote?" Lucinda asked again.
"Highly unethical. Forbidden. He tied off a fragmented probe in her neurons. It self-sustains for a short period and makes tracking the subject easy even if not attached to the subject. It can either be set to expire harmlessly or set to activate like a microscopic bomb. When activated, it can cause a blinding headache for a few seconds usually followed by an aneurysm and death. Sometimes it only causes a cascade of destruction in the neurons, leading to severe retardation in the subject. That is perhaps worse than death."
Jason cursed. "Well do something. Fix it."
"I think I'm okay," Tollee said.
Mikhail nodded. "I have already fixed it. What I could not prevent was the transmittal of information. Andre and his force know our location. You must decide our course." He turned his gaze on Lucinda.
She turned a shade paler and gulped a deep breath. She eased herself onto the desk again and stared blankly at the wall. Good. The girl was learning she was out of her depth. Mikhail waited a few seconds more. He would ask if she wanted guidance. That was the first step.
"Everyone into the main room," she said. "Now."
Mikhail stood and stared as the group filed out. Perhaps he'd underestimated the girl. Perhaps she was not merely stubborn, but strong. Anne-Marie raised an eyebrow and gave him a smug look. He gave her a questioning look. She smiled and followed Lucinda. After a moment, he followed.
Lucinda stood atop the bleachers that lined the wall. The clustered groups of Scions melded into one large crowd.
"It looks like we're about to face Andre again. Anyone who wants to leave should do so right now. I don't want violence, but we know how he handled things the last time. If something similar happens, we're going to have to fight back."
Nobody moved. Tense, determined faces stared back at her.
"Good. I want every arbiter and their attached people to separate into groups. If you're not attached, we'll match you up with a group." She continued outlining her plan and describing Andre's plans to use technology that could nullify the arbiters.
"She seems level-headed," Anne-Marie said. Mikhail heard the satisfaction in her voice.
"Yes, quite."
Anne-Marie smiled. "I like it when people surprise you."
"I am glad you find this amusing."
"You can't control the world."
"Where are our people?" Swain asked.
Mikhail motioned with his head. "East of here. Hidden. I knew this might happen."
"You really think Andre is on his way now?"
"At minimum he will put people to watch and track." At worst it could be a bloodbath.
Chapter 44
Andre had Tollee's location. He had Lucas. He had Alexia. In essence, he had everything he needed. His remote inside Tollee's head had informed him of everything Lucinda and her group was up to. Before Mikhail snuffed it out. He didn't need to confront the rogue factions or Mikhail. But he wanted to. He wanted to show them who he really was and why they needed to fear him. Why they should accept his leadership without question.
He'd already told Marissa and his other most loyal people. Showed her what he could do and what it meant for the future. Now he needed Lucas to show him how he'd entered the afterlife. Once Andre had access, he could bring back anyone. He could find Scions from the times before the Founders War. All the valuable knowledge lost during the Founders War would give him a major advantage. It would ensure his rule.
Even better, he would have the key to eternal life.
Marissa and Thomas were waiting on him in the prison block. Alexia was huddled in a corner. Blood had crusted on her nose. Her eyes were black and blue and red and puffy. She wouldn't try to escape again. She would stay with Lucas until the end. Serena had done the same for Cross.
Andre removed the remote mind-lock he'd placed on Lucas. Grand arbiters had access to a wealth of information that other Scions didn't. Only he, Mikhail, and any other living grand arbiters knew about tying off remote probe fragments or permanent mind-locks. These techniques were forbidden for good reason. Only the most skilled of arbiters could successfully use them.
Lucas groaned. The executors had wrapped him back in his chains again. Andre took a seat and waited. After a few seconds, Lucas opened his eyes and gazed blearily at his captors. He tried to speak, but a croak emerged. Andre motioned and Kate placed a cup of water to Lucas's lips. He drank, coughed and sputtered, then took another sip.
He tried to rise, but the chains prevented him from moving much at all. He let his head rest on the floor and stared at Andre. "What do you want?"
"Entry to the afterlife. Show me how to do it and you'll be free to go."
"I don't know how I did it. It just happened."
"What about the mynas? What's their role in all this?"
"I don't know. Maybe they controlled everything. Maybe it's not me at all."
"Think very hard about this." Andre motioned an executor toward Alexia. The man brought her back and stood her where Lucas could see her. "I'm going to help you think."
"By hurting her?" Lucas strained against the chains. "That won't make me remember. It happened by accident."
Andre extended a probe. It couldn't penetrate Alexia's defenses. He'd forgotten about that. This woman would be an interesting study. Unfortunately, since he couldn't torture her mind, he'd have to resort to physical means.
"First, we'll start with broken fingers. Next, we'll move to broken toes. From there, the legs."
Lucas squirmed in his chains. His face turned bright red. "Don't hurt her. I'm telling the truth. That day in the graveyard, I panicked. I ran. Alexia grabbed me and I wanted to Blight hop out of there. Instead, we ended up in Hell. You don't want to go there. I don't know how I got there. I don't even know how I got out."
Andre motioned to his executor. "Break the fingers on one hand."
"Stop! Please, I'm begging you."
The executor reached down and took Alexia's little finger in one hand. She resisted. Pulled away. Vanished into the Blight. A second later she reappeared. Two of Mikhail's seekers had her by either arm.
"Andre, listen to me. It must be the birds. When we escaped the afterlife, there were myna birds. Maybe if you take me outside we can figure it out."
Andre nodded. "Interesting idea. I have people blanketing the area. Don't try to escape."
"Can you let me out of these chains?"
"Unwrap him, but chain his arms behind him," Andre told the executor.
Minutes later, they emerged in the parking lot. Little Five Points was teeming with chum. The chain-link fence guarding the parking lot behind the theatre had boards against it providing some privacy. Still, it wouldn't prevent chum from accidentally seeing something. At this point it didn't really matter. Once Andre knew how to access the afterlife, once he knew how to use it, it would be time for Scions to reveal themselves.
It would be time for him to take control.
Chapter 45
Lucas didn't have any idea how to reenter the afterlife. He didn't know how to summon the myna birds. They seemed to show up on their own accord. His stomach felt leaden. His muscles quivered from exhaustion. Another familiar feeling formed in his gut. A sick, twisting feeling. The ghouls were nearby. He tried to communicate with them. Maybe they could help or at the very least, interfere. Whatever bound him to them might allow mental contact.
It didn't. He simply knew they were nearby and coming closer. Perhaps they w
ould try to save him. They probably wouldn't be able to, not with the manpower Andre commanded.
"I need food," Lucas said, hoping to delay his inevitable failure.
"You can eat after." Andre motioned to the executor who held Alexia. "Should he start breaking bones?"
Lucas gritted his teeth and focused. A Blight scar opened. He let it close. What were the mechanics to opening a scar? "Did you block me from opening scars earlier?"
"No. You had a problem?"
"Yes. But now I can do it again."
"Probably remnants from Martin's interference. He scrambled your eggs a bit."
"How does it work, opening a Blight scar? I don't know how I do it, it just happens when I concentrate."
"It's innate to seekers. We don't know how it works."
"I'm trying to understand so I can shift my thinking. All I'm getting now are the Blight scars."
Andre nodded. Motioned with his hand. Alexia screamed as the executor snapped her little finger. She collapsed. Another seeker gripped her by the hair. Jerked her up and held her in place. She whimpered.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Lucas rushed them. Andre back-handed him. Lucas flew backward and skidded on the asphalt. After a few seconds, he groaned and managed to get back to his feet despite the chains keeping his hands behind him. A few of Andre's people looked surprised.
Andre sighed. "I'm stronger than I look." Nods of assent replaced the surprise.
"You're like me, aren't you?" Lucas asked.
"Almost. One different skill set."
"How?"
"Stop wasting time. Remember your task."
Lucas closed his eyes and thought back to his time in the afterlife. Static seemed to tousle his hair. He remembered the last few minutes. The agony as the spirits overwhelmed him and Alexia. The myna. The sudden connection he'd felt to the bird. Like trying to wiggle his ears. He felt it, that extra muscle or sense, whatever it was. The parking lot grew quiet. A laugh echoed through the air. A myna swooped and landed atop an electrical wire strung between utility poles. Another bird appeared out of thin air and landed next to the first.
More mynas appeared, converging from all directions. They lined up along the electrical cable until it sagged. Andre stared, his mouth open. The other Scions edged nervously away from the electrical cable as it looked like it might snap loose any moment.
The sight of the birds filled Lucas with hope. He could summon them, but how to open a scar into the afterlife? More birds fluttered in, landing atop the fence, the theatre, the utility cables.
"Help me," Lucas said. One of the birds fluttered down, landed at his feet. It cocked its head sideways.
"Lucas." It drew out the vowels and laughed. "Lucas."
"This is twisted shit," one of Andre's men said.
Lucas focused on the air. A silver scar split the quantum fabric.
"Change," the bird said. "Change." The other birds joined in, shouting the same word until his ears rang.
Lucas remembered the color of the scar in the afterlife. He focused on the silver line hovering in the air. The color transitioned to blood red. That was it.
The myna at his feet flapped up from the ground and perched on his shoulder. It leaned its beak in to his ear. "Forever." The word sent a chill down Lucas's back. How did the birds know this?
A maelstrom of activity erupted. The birds jetted from their perches, flying in tight circles around the parking lot. Andre's men batted the mynas as they swooped low, sending spasmodic and limp bird bodies flying. The vortex of mynas expanded like a black tornado. With a precision that stunned Lucas, the birds poured into the scar and vanished.
"You did it," Andre said. His eyes were dark with the Blight as a seeker showed him the scar. He pointed at two executors. "Grab hold of him. We're all going in, including her." He indicated Alexia.
The two men looked at each other with trepidation in their eyes. Both grabbed Lucas by an arm. Andre and his seeker grabbed Alexia and joined Lucas. Lucas allowed the scar to pull them inside.
His lungs filled with liquid. He couldn't breathe. He was in a black void that pressed against him like oil. Nothing was visible, not even his extremities. He tried to shout. Couldn't. Tried to move. Nothing happened. Either seconds or an eternity later, screaming pierced his ears. Not his. Someone else's. Sight faded in like the opening scene in a movie. One of the executors was on his knees, eyes squeezed tight, mouth wide open in a hoarse scream.
Alexia lay in a heap a few feet away. Andre pushed himself up and stared. He pulled Lucas to his feet and waved at their surroundings.
"It looks the same. What the hell did you do?"
"Go to the streets." Lucas pointed toward the privacy fence. Wails and cries echoed from that direction. "Whatever you do, don't allow a spirit to touch you."
Andre pushed Lucas aside and ran to the gate. He flung it open. Several spirits roamed the area. A young woman was beating her face against a glass pane until the glass shattered. She grabbed the glass and rammed it into her gut. The glass made a sickening crunch as it shattered inside her flesh. She howled in agony. Her body slumped but no blood stained her shirt. Abruptly the window reset, unbroken. The glass shard vanished from her body. She stared dully for a few moments then began crying at the top of her lungs then jumped to her feet and ran screaming down the street.
"What the hell was that about?" one of the executors asked.
"This place functions like the Blight?" Andre directed his question at Lucas.
"Yes. Objects reset after a few seconds."
A small boy wandered up the sidewalk.
"It's a kid," the executor said. He walked over to the boy.
"Don't touch him!" Lucas shouted.
The boy continued past the executor without seeing him. "He can't see me?" the executor asked.
"They can see their surroundings, but not us or other spirits."
"What a nightmare." The executor reached out his hand for the boy.
"Stop!" Lucas shouted. But the executor's hand brushed through the boy's shoulder. The executor snapped his hand away, face clenched in pain and shook his hand. The boy spun toward him.
"Daddy?" His eyes locked onto the executor's position. "Daddy!"
The suicidal female spirit ran screaming down the sidewalk back toward them. She passed through the boy. Her eyes widened and she skidded to a stop. "Larry. My candy. I need it bad. I need it bad." She sprinted toward the executor.
Andre side stepped out of girl's path. The executor flung his hands out defensively. The girl passed through him. He screamed and dropped to a knee.
"Holy shit, it hurts. It's like being sliced up with ice shards. He staggered to his feet and dodged another attempt at contact by the crazed spirits.
"We've got to get out of here," Alexia said, cradling her injured hand. "They'll kill us."
Lucas thought back to the little girl and the swarm of spirits that had chased him and Alexia. He wondered if they were still attuned to him, or if it faded. A strong arm clenched his shoulder. Andre.
"Can they kill us? What's happening?"
"When the spirits touch the living, it seems to infect them and draw them to the living person. If another spirit touches an infected spirit, they're drawn the same way."
"Can they wander anywhere or are they limited to the place they died?" He glanced at the Transcendist theatre. A slight shudder worked through his shoulders.
"Most of them seem to stay close to where they died. Unless they're infected by living flesh. Then they'll go anywhere."
The executor, meanwhile, was still dodging the raving girl and the boy. He leapt atop a building and stared down at them. "When are they going to stop chasing me?"
"I don't know if they do."
He cursed.
Andre had a faraway look in his eyes. "Is Blight hopping possible here?"
Lucas shrugged. "I couldn't get it to work. The first time I was here, this place seemed to sap my strength. Then again, I was drained already." After witnessing
the executor's leap atop the building, though, it seemed those abilities still worked. Lucas was still too drained to test the theory.
"Oh no," Alexia said, and started sobbing. The pale spirit of man with white-blonde hair shambled past, muttering.
"We had a deal," he said, shaking his fist and shouting at the theatre. "Where are you bastards? Where the hell am I?"
Alexia's eyes bore into Andre. "You killed Victor you son of a bitch!"
He shrugged. "He was just chum, and nosy at that. Do you really think I could reveal our society and let him live?"
"Who's Victor?" Lucas asked.
"I worked with him on your case," Alexia said, her tear-stained eyes following the hapless spirit as he walked back to the theatre. "He was a complete asshole but you didn't have to kill him you bastard."
"Enough." Andre motioned the group to follow him. He walked down the sidewalk a few blocks. Driverless cars passed by in stop-motion intervals. Lucas and the others followed close behind. The executor with the two spirits chasing him had to stay atop the low roofs to avoid contact. They stopped at a small park with a red-brick warehouse condominium complex at the top of a hill behind it. A large oak dominated the center. Bare dirt rutted with the tree's roots met sparse grass at the edge of the tree's canopy. A bum slouched against the tree. He mumbled to himself.
"Martin was right," Andre said. "I remember the day that chum died. He died in that exact spot a few years ago. Seeing Victor and this bum here proves that everyone goes here, not just Scions." He looked at Lucas. "Alexia told me you had a homecoming of sorts here in the afterlife."
Grief lodged in Lucas's chest. It hardened into a knot of anger. "Why do you care?" he said.
"I don't really. Just wondering what it was like."
Alexia stiffened. Her eyes widened as if realizing something. "You know more about their deaths than you're letting on."
Andre faced her. Her skin paled and a look of horror replaced the certainty.
"I forgot about your newly discovered abilities," Andre said. "You two are one surprise after another."
