Gods of Rust and Ruin

by Azalea Ellis

  He wiggled his torso to show me, grimacing. “Many of these precautions are due to my previous escape attempts. I have tried everything I can think of. And even if you do manage to get me out of this room, we would need to retrieve my ship to make it half way around your world before I can take us back to my homeland.”

  My eyes were wide, as I imagined my spine being systematically broken, over and over, just to keep me securely imprisoned. I suppressed a shudder, and vowed that I would do my best not to be placed in the cell on sub-level seventeen that was being prepared for me. “That is daunting. But you didn’t have me before. And I come as a package deal with my team. Now, please explain in detail, as best you can, how all of the security technology works. And hurry up, I’ve got to get to bed soon.”

  Chapter 10

  The devil asked me how I knew my way around the halls of hell. I told him I did not need a map for the darkness I know so well.

  — T.M.T.

  The next many days were a stressful, sleepless blur of plotting and secretive preparation. All of us had our own tasks to carry out, and after the initial burst of arguing and apprehension when I’d revealed the plan, we’d gotten to work with a vengeance.

  Bunny hadn’t argued quite so much as he might have, because he didn’t know the real plan. He thought we were going to steal the ship and escape, but had no idea that we were also bringing NIX’s alien, human-hating captive with us. I kept an eye on him, or had one of the others do so, as much as possible, and attempted to make sure he believed the observation was constant. But I didn’t trust him, especially because, out of the whole team, he was the only one who’d joined NIX willingly, and condoned its actions.

  He’d been searching for more information on the location of my mother, and the other relatives Blaine had relocated, without any luck. “NIX doesn’t know where they are. Or if they do, they’re doing a really good job of lying about it. We don’t know where they are, or at least if you guys do I’m not aware of it. It literally seems as if they’ve dropped off the face of the Earth,” Bunny said.

  I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. On the upside, NIX didn’t know where they were, and couldn’t find them to hurt them. On the downside, we didn’t know where our relatives were, and they’d disappeared. Though, if ever there was a woman who could fend for herself, it was my mother. I wasn’t self-deceiving enough to pretend I cared about other people’s families, as long as they didn’t affect my team members’ work.

  Blaine had managed to get his hands on some VR chips, augmented them, and chipped the rest of the enlarged squad. He’d also modified the settings so that every team member could communicate freely with the others.

  When Bunny was out, we gathered in the now unquestionably debugged team barracks and discussed the more controversial part of my plan. I sat at the table, with the others lounging around in the few loose chairs, or on the bunk beds.

  “What does it mean, that the Oracle is connecting to your VR chip now?” Adam asked. “I mean, the alien wants to kill us. What if she’s on his side?”

  “Then we’re pretty much screwed, because as far as I can see, getting off Earth is our only option,” I said. “And we can’t do that without him. Not unless we want to wait till the Shortcut is finished, initiate the kids as Players, and then have it drop us all in the midst of a Trial.” It didn’t need to be said that that plan wouldn’t fly.

  “That may be, but what about surviving while we’re there?” Sam said.

  Blaine leaned forward. “The kids and I do not have the ability to just tear any opponents apart with our bare hands. With the release of the electronic restrictions, I have been gearing the ship up for conflict situations. The missing things will be noticed eventually, we know NIX keeps track of inventory, but if we do this right, we will be gone before they notice. By the time we leave, I hope to have enough to supply the whole team. We will be able to augment any strength deficiencies with technology.”

  Kris’ stuffed moose was on her lap. “We’ve been practicing. Running and with the guns. I know we’re not like you guys but we’ll be able to take care of ourselves better.”

  Gregor grunted. “If they really have been experimenting on us all this time, maybe we’ll be just fine protecting ourselves.” He shot a dark look toward Blaine.

  “I have found no evidence that they have done anything to either of you,” Blaine said. His mouth tightened when Gregor rolled his eyes.

  Sam looked toward Chanelle. “Well, maybe . . . if there are other aliens we can get in contact with . . .” He hesitated for a moment. “Maybe they have a Skill or some technology that can help Chanelle.”

  Jacky brightened. “Whoa, great! It’s weird seeing China looking like that, even if it really isn’t her.”

  Adam ran a hand over Chanelle’s short hair, making it rise with static electricity. “China would have wanted us to try, at least.”

  “And we will. But right now, we need to finalize the preparation. We don’t have time to waste.” My voice wasn’t loud, but it brought everyone’s attention back. “This is a complicated plan, and we need to make sure that we’ve got redundancies in place, in case something goes wrong. The point is that our preparation will stymie NIX at every turn. I want backup plans to counter their backup-backup plans. Zed is going to need ‘nanite nutrient paste’ for however long we’re there. How are we going to get that?”

  Blaine had a few ideas about sneaking some away and stashing it in the ship ahead of time, which Zed volunteered to help with.

  “You should hide weapons on your body or in your clothing,” Gregor said. “In case they try to capture you or have some way to keep you from using the powers and weapons they know about.”

  “That’s actually a really good idea,” I said. “No such thing as overkill, when we’re dealing with NIX. Seriously, they’ve been so far ahead of us this whole time. If this is going to work, we all have to step up our game. I want everyone to come up with ideas. Blaine, you may be helping to implement some of them.”

  “I will prepare more stimulant pills.” He sighed, taking off his glasses to rub his bloodshot eyes.

  “It won’t be much longer now. Adam, how is the research on that cell in sub-level seventeen going?”

  “You’ll need our help once you’re in there, but it’s still the most direct route to the alien.”

  “Okay, good. There are a few more kinks to work out with the plan to jailbreak Torliam, but right now I want to focus on the Seeds.”

  I flattened my hands on the table. “How are we going to steal them?”

  Days later, Torliam turned his eyes to me and said, "They are starting it."

  "Starting what?"

  "The Shortcut. I can feel it beginning to call out to my blood. It is being set in motion."

  "Oh, shit." I turned my body to the side, and moved along the ducts away from Torliam's cell. "It's too early."

  We'd been preparing our breakout and spying on NIX through both Blaine and Bunny, so I knew NIX planned to use the Shortcut as soon as they had it working again. But electricity wasn't enough to get the floating rings spinning again, so they had to use some other way. I hadn't thought they'd be able to do it so quickly. We weren't ready.

  As I scrambled, carelessly puncturing the walls of the duct with my claws to gain speed and maneuverability, I sent out Windows to the team.

  —They’re starting the Shortcut! I think we’re all about to be taken to a Trial. If you’re not where you’re supposed to be, get there now! —

  -Eve-

  —I’m out of bounds, Eve. Halfway to the generator. There’s no way I can make it back in time.—

  -Adam-

  Why was he doing that now? We hadn’t planned for him to augment the backup generator yet. If the Boneshaker pulled him away halfway through using suction cups to crawl through the vents, he’d be caught. NIX would want to know exactly what he was doing in such a suspicious location. The plan would be blown apart. “Damn it, Adam!” I gr
ound out. I sent a Window to the whole team.

  —I’m going to stop the Boneshaker. Or at least delay it. It’s probably going to cause a scene, and we may be forced to escalate our timeline.—

  -Eve-

  I crawled faster, my arms and legs moving like a spider as I skittered back to where I’d come down from. I ignored the various alarmed responses. I was lucky, in multiple ways. If it had been only a little later, after curfew, I would've been in my quarters, and had no idea what was going on until the Boneshaker started.

  I dropped into my room, and raced out the door without even reattaching the ceiling grate, only sending a quick Window to the others, asking one of them to replace it and hide the evidence, just in case. A couple guards tried to stop me along the way, but I barreled past them as if they weren’t even talking.

  I slammed the cafeteria doors open onto the lit-up courtyard.

  Kilburn stood on the grating around the sphere, his arms raised high as he forced the pieces of the Shortcut to move. They were gaining momentum.

  I almost laughed. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about holding back. “Kilburn!” I screamed. “Stop!” I knew putting the plan into motion early was dangerous, but allowing him to continue was unacceptable. Even if Adam weren’t in danger, I would have been worried. The Trials were an unknown danger, one the team and I weren't prepared to deal with at the moment. It would be all too easy for NIX to have a "treat" planned for us over there, and if NIX decided to continue with the charade that anyone with Seeds was subject to the Trials, we'd also have to protect Zed and Chanelle. As it was, I didn’t have a choice. At least by stopping the Shortcut's revival, I was choosing the danger I had most of a plan in place for.

  Kilburn turned his head to look down at me, pausing his manipulation of the alien device. "Oh, if it isn't the little troublemaker. Am I going to have to keep you in line again?" He turned his attention back to the Shortcut.

  I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck in an imitation of Jacky. Then, I fully extended my claws and sprinted forward, jumping, and hitting the side of the concrete tower supporting the sphere. By that point in my life, I had plenty of experience climbing things. A few seconds later, I tossed myself off the top of the railing, straight toward the snake.

  His eyes widened in surprise, and he turned his hands from the Shortcut toward me. But before he had time to react, I unleashed Chaos in a concussive wave. Anger fueled my power, and his skin bubbled and broke as he was flung backward. The edges of my Skill clipped the Shortcut and threw off its orbiting rings. I knew I probably wasn’t a match for him. I didn’t have the luxury of holding back, even if there would be consequences.

  The screech of bending metal was familiar, and I allowed myself a small twinge of satisfaction. It would be a few more days, at least, before it would be repaired again.

  He didn't even hit the ground, instead stopping in midair like some sort of superhero, and rising back toward me as if he'd bounced off an invisible trampoline.

  It was my turn to stare with wide eyes.

  But I didn't wait for him to reach me, instead hurling myself at him again. I jumped feet first, my toe claws reaching for his neck.

  I was on track, but before I could slice his neck open like the belly of a fish, he twitched his fingers and suddenly my legs wrenched to one side and I was hurtling toward the ground in an out of control spin. I righted myself, thanking that little boy whose name I never learned for the Tumbling Feather Skill. I landed on all fours, my joints screaming in protest.

  He cursed as he landed back on the railing above, snarling. "I'm going to play with you until they force me to stop," he said, not even breathing hard. "That is, if you're still alive by the time they get here." Sirens screeched in the air, and though the guards posted on the walls weren’t intervening, I knew it wouldn’t be long before reinforcements came to back him up.

  I turned and ran in the opposite direction. As I scrambled atop a nearby roof, I felt a sense of deja-vu. I wasn't trying to escape, I just needed a more advantageous position. One that didn't have my enemy looking so far down on me.

  I’d done some research on Kilburn since joining NIX, and watched as much footage of him in action as I had time for. From what I understood, he had some control over kinetic energy. Basically, he could control movement. An extremely versatile Skill, and one he used ruthlessly, along with what was no doubt a half-dozen other, slightly less powerful Skills. But he had to have a range limit.

  I ran farther away from him still, hoping to get out of the range of his Skill. I looked over my shoulder when I reached the far edge of the roof, and almost smiled to see him floating quickly down toward the other end. Now that he wanted to kill me, he'd follow me. It was doubly advantageous, because he gave up his position on higher ground, and if I could drag the fight out long enough, Adam would be safe back in the team barracks.

  I felt Kilburn move with my awareness, and a flicker out of the corner of my eye was all the warning I had. I lashed out instinctively, and that might have saved me.

  He bowed forward bonelessly, moving his abdomen out of my reach.

  Another swipe, with my left hand, slashing across the skin of his forehead. Blood spilled down, into his eyes, and he blinked, trying to clear it away.

  I lunged sideways, claws digging into the roof beneath and leaning so far forward I felt like I might fall. Away, away, had to get away. I could feel the power gathering.

  A second later the arm I'd cut him with was breaking, as he twisted and flung it away with a twitch of his fingers and a flex of power.

  My arm was twisting and pulling in a dozen different spots, and I tried to spin with it to alleviate some of the damage, but instead ended up sprawled on the ground. My left arm from the shoulder down was mangled, twisted several times around like an ice cream swirl, the skin split, the bones and joints shattered, and my fingers pointing outward in different unnatural directions from the lump of flesh that had been my hand.

  I gasped, feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Then I screamed in horror, shrieking with all the strength in my lungs, the sounding grating against my throat like sandpaper. That wasn't my arm. It couldn't be. It was just so incredibly wrong. Not what an arm should be. Not what the arm I needed had to be.

  Then the pain hit, and my screams stopped abruptly. Pain had always allowed me to focus, but I'd never felt pain like this. And to be honest, I'd never felt fear quite like this. China's blue, dead eyes flashed in my mind.

  The snake turned to me, angrily trying to keep the blood gushing from his forehead out of his eyes. He seemed to be glowing with power, which my panicking brain thought for a second might mean I was seeing things. Then I realized it meant I was about to die, as he lifted a hand, fingers curled and trembling with anger.

  I raised my own hand, the good one, and unleashed a counterattack as his power lashed through the air. There was a split second where time seemed to slow, as it so often did when I was about to die. Everything I had moved outward through the air, and things stilled for a second. Then every cell in my body contracted and burst into pain with what must have been an almost audible thump, and we both began to scream.

  His bodysuit and skin rippled under the force of my attack, as if he was standing in front of an overwhelming gust of wind. Then the fabric and flesh began to crumble away, blowing off him like he was made of dust, as my power disintegrated his existence.

  He moved then, flinging himself backward like he was being sucked through an enormous straw.

  Was he dead? Probably not, but I felt like I was on my way there. I tasted blood, my ears were ringing and half-plugged with it, and my lungs shuddered as I breathed out. This had not gone quite according to plan.

  It had seemed a lot longer, but the fight had only taken a couple minutes, and before I could even think of rallying my strength, I heard Commander Petralka’s faint voice snapping orders through the ringing both inside my ears and outside from the sirens. Their response time was quicker than the la
st time I’d made such a big scene.

  A couple people wearing a different uniform than the standard Player bodysuit, but who must have been heavily Seed-augmented, jumped to the roof of the building I lay incapacitated atop. On her orders, they dragged me down, jostling the mass of pain that had once been my arm.

  I almost passed out, but instead of slipping away into darkness, my mind spun dizzily, the relief of unconsciousness not to be. “I took off his face,” I slurred up at Nadia Petralka, who I thought might be glaring at me. I wasn’t sure, because the red tint I kept blinking away made it a bit hard to see.

  “What have you done?” she snarled at me, and I was sure she was glaring. “One of our most valuable assets . . .” she seemed literally too angry to speak. “If he dies . . .”

  The Thinker man from her meeting with Bunny appeared then, taking her by the elbow with his fishy fingers and drawing her away. They gestured to me, voices agitated, but I couldn’t focus enough to hear them clearly, even though I knew it was possible with my enhanced senses. The man’s voice raised, “cell isn’t even fully prepared yet! . . . Spinning out of control, and you . . .”

  She responded, “ . . . half-dead, no way she’ll be putting up a fight. We have time.”