Iridium fell on him, reaching for his throat and her power at the same time.
Bright lights exploded inside her skull as Night backhanded her across the face. She sprawled on the cold floor, and her power slipped away from her, like something elusive and wild rather than the familiar heat that lived at her core.
“Having some trouble?” Night whispered in her ear.
Iridium punched him, the blow glancing off the side of his skull. Night chuckled and kicked her in the gut. She tasted blood as she choked.
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Night said, not unkindly. “You’re tougher than that. And I’m counting on you to keep fighting. For Jet’s sake.”
Iridium looked up at Night, who smiled back implacably. The end of the world, and the son of a bitch was smiling at her. “Leave Jet out of this.”
“I can’t, I’m afraid. She’s the only one who can siphon out your power and channel it through the Shadow generator.” He sighed. “I’ve tried to feel sorry that you won’t be around to see the result of your sacrifice. But then I figured, what will the world really be missing with you gone? It will certainly be a quieter, more genteel place.”
“Screw you,” Iridium said, trying to get up. “Go jerk off to the sound of your own voice some more.”
“Proving my point yet again.” He kicked her in the back, and she lay gasping on the floor, her strength gone, her power untouchable.
“Now, Joan.” From the sound of his voice, he was walking away from Iridium. She tried to move, but her limbs protested. “It’s time. Help me, and you will be free from Corp forever. You want to be free, don’t you?”
“Free,” she repeated, her voice faint.
“Jet, no!” Iridium wheezed, lifting up her head to look at her friend. “Don’t do it! He’ll just fuck you over!”
“Listen to my voice, Joan,” Night said. “Do this for me.”
A very long pause as Iridium held her breath.
When Jet finally spoke, her voice was crisp, if soft. Heroic. “No. I’ll never help you do this.”
Iridium wanted to cheer.
“Fine,” Night sighed. “We do it the hard way.” He grabbed Jet by her hair and pulled her to the machine Iridium had been strapped to, quickly freeing her from the stun-cuffs only to strap her hands in place on the machine. Jet didn’t fight him.
Sprawled on the floor, Iridium watched what Night did.
He muttered to himself, turning to the control panel of his machine. “Never easy. Never just a simple, quiet plan.” The cylinders inside the thing began to hum.
Iridium stayed still, content to let Night think he’d cowed her for the moment. Weakness wasn’t lying down—it was refusing to get back up. And she kept on watching him, trying to fathom what sort of code he was keying in to the generator. His fingers were moving too fast for her to make any sense out of it. Manic, nonsensical, compulsive as he twisted dials and keyed in codes.
From what she saw, the machine consisted of two enormous cylinders wired together with a control matrix. She tried to spot a weak point, anything she could exploit, but the thing was a tangle of parts and wires only Night probably understood.
Hurting everywhere, Iridium lowered her head back to the ground. For the moment.
JET
Just before the pain hit, Jet got her mind back enough to distinctly think that she would make Night pay. He’d betrayed her far worse than Bruce, who’d been paid to do a job; at her core, she understood the simple professionalism behind it. And he’d betrayed her worlds worse than Iridium—who, at least, had been true to her nature.
Night had betrayed her even more than Corp had. Than her father had. Night had lied to her for years. Manipulated her. Used her.
All because she was a Shadow power, doomed to go insane.
Like him.
She struggled against her bonds, but her hands were clamped to some sort of machine. Her back was against cold steel. And she felt weak as a kitten. For some reason, that made her think of Lynda Kidder.
“Don’t do this,” she said, pushing aside her hatred and her fear to try to empathize with the man. “Shadowing the sun won’t do anything but kill everyone! Even the extrahumans.”
“Say what now?” Iridium gasped from where she lay on the floor. “You’re kidding—you think you can destroy the sun?”
“Actually,” Night said, pressing a button, “I can’t. But Jet can. With your help.”
“You’re zooming on the Crazy Train. You know that, right?”
Iridium said something else, but Jet didn’t hear her. She felt something reverberating in her mind, something cold. Hungry. And so very dark.
The voices stirred again. Stretched.
And reached for her.
No, she thought feverishly, pushing them down, no, no no—
night night forever night forever Shadow forever
“Night,” Jet shouted, desperate, “this proves nothing! There won’t be anyone left on a dark planet. None would survive the death of the sun. Not you, not me, not anyone. Don’t you see that? It’s not a question of the strongest surviving. It’s genocide on a planetary scale!”
Night paused, and for a moment, Jet thought he would listen. The voices giggled and caressed her, and she bit back a moan.
But then Night shrugged and said, “So be it. If I can’t survive the Shadow, then I’m not worthy, either. The Dark swallows all of us in the end.”
He slammed his fist against another control. Heat shot through Jet, seared her alive.
And she screamed.
IRIDIUM
Iridium heard Jet scream, and for a few seconds she was cold. It was like lying in the snow and feeling all of her limbs go numb.
“Do it,” Night said in a hypnotic cadence. “Take her life, Joan. Blot out everything light and harsh about this sad, sick world.”
The pain started, in Iridium’s blood and her bones, as if ice spikes were being driven through every inch of her skin. Shadows wrapped around her legs, and her ears rang with the sounds of the cylinders screaming as they turned faster and faster.
“Harder, Joan,” Night said. “Drink all of her light down. Take her life. It’s what’s demanded for a world where we don’t have to be afraid.”
Through the pain, through the growing darkness that seemed to spread throughout the old meditation room, a great clarity came over Iridium. Her body hurt, but her mind lifted away—much as it had when the Everyman stabbed her and she lay in the rain, feeling it wash her skin. She saw Jet, blurry and slumped inside the restraints connected to the generator.
Connected by … nothing.
Iridium moaned as the Shadows crawled over her. The generator was connected to nothing. None of the wires made sense; the cylinders that screamed but produced no power didn’t make sense. The only thing working in the room was Night’s calm, convincing voice.
“Kill her, Joan. She belongs to the Dark now. Just like us.”
It was the machine that was the lie.
How many years had Jet listened to Night’s voice? How much time had he invested in turning her friend into the perfect, programmable weapon?
“Kill her,” Night singsonged. “She’s your enemy. She’s all that stands between you and silence.”
Ignoring the Shadow wrapping tighter around her, Iridium levered herself up on one elbow. Agony seared her, making lines of light crawl across her vision. “Joannie,” she said. “Joannie, please, you have to listen to me.”
“Kill her,” Night said.
“Joannie, don’t do this.” The cold deepened, and Iridium could see her breath puffing out with every gasp. “Stop!”
“I can’t,” Jet whispered.
“You can!”
“The Dark wants what it wants, Callie,” Jet said dully. “The Dark swallows all of us in the end. That’s the way of the world.”
“This isn’t the end,” Iridium gritted. “This is only the end if you listen to him, Jet.”
“It’s the Shadows—oh, Light
, they’re eating me alive!” Her voice broke into a sob.
“Joannie,” Iridium cried out, “this isn’t you! This is Night, telling you the same lies he’s told you since the day we came to the Academy!”
“Be quiet,” Night hissed at her. “No one is listening to you anymore, you filthy mistake of nature.”
“Oh, I’m the mistake?” Iridium gritted. “Who took an innocent little girl and turned her into a robot? Who’s trying to reboot humanity by using her because he’s too weak to do it himself?”
“Be QUIET!” Night thundered.
“Jet,” she pleaded. “Come on, Joannie. You can do this. You can stop. Tune him out.”
“They’re the only ones who are always with me,” Jet groaned, “talking to me. Whispering. Laughing. Telling me things. And now they want out …”
“Who made them come out?” Iridium shouted. “Black out him, not the rest of us! You know who did this to you, Joan. You know that no machine is making you kill me! Stop it, now!”
“I can’t …”
Iridium hollered, “For once in your life, show some fucking backbone!”
Jet shivered, bowed her head, and said nothing.
The cold worsened.
“She’s beyond hearing you,” Night sneered. “You’re a failure, just like your father.” His face appeared down a black tunnel, his white smile the only light in Iridium’s world. “I am the only one who matters to Joan. And because I decree it, she will end your life. But don’t feel too special. She’s going to kill most everyone, I suspect.”
“Jet,” Iridium said weakly. “He’s going to kill me, and you, and everyone else.”
“Shadows,” Jet whispered.
“He’s lost to the voices,” Iridium said desperately, her lips frozen. “I know about them, Jet. Joannie. I know you’re not gone yet. Please. Stop listening to him!”
Night snarled, “You’re going to listen to a half-dead rabid bitch? She’s a liar, just like the rest of her family. She spread those lies about you at the Academy.” He lowered his voice, saying, “You remember, Joan? The names people called you? The whispers? She never cared about you.”
“Joannie … he’s lying …”
Dimly, she saw Night approach Jet, stroke her cheek. He smiled at her, and said, “I’m the only one who cares about you.”
Jet’s body shook, then she looked at him.
And in that moment, Iridium felt the grip of the Shadow weaken, just a fraction.
“You’re wrong,” Iridium said to Night. She pulled herself up and stood tall as he turned to face her. “My father was a great man who protected the weak and the helpless when Corp abandoned them, and you know what he always, always did? He told the truth. I’m telling the truth. I cared about Joan, and still do. And you’re a crazy son of a bitch.”
She balled her fist and used the last of her strength to hit Night, so hard his goggles splintered. Night staggered, and Iridium did, too, falling to her knees.
“Kill her!” Night screamed, clawing at the glass embedded in his cheek.
“Break away, Joannie,” Iridium said breathlessly. “You can do it …”
“Finish it,” Night growled. “Bring the Darkness.”
The wail of the Shadow void continued for a long moment, then Jet let out a shuddering sigh.
“I’m … not listening.” The world began to lighten again. Jet glared at Night. “Not to anybody. Not anymore.”
“Finish the job!” Night screamed at her. “Make them pay! Slaughter the weak and cleanse the world!”
“No,” Jet said. “You’ve had your run, old man. Stand aside.”
“Make me.”
Jet closed her eyes, nostrils and tear ducts leaking blood, but the Shadows changed course, began to wrap themselves around Night.
“You can’t stop me,” he hissed, repelling her creepers with his own. “You’re a weak little girl.”
Abruptly, Night jerked as if he were in the throes of a cardiac episode, and collapsed.
“Blah, blah, blah,” Taser grunted, electricity dancing along his fingertips. “You people could talk through the end of the world.”
JET
She stared at Night’s prone form, at the sparks dancing over him like fairy lights. In her mind, the voices laughed, delighted.
yes yes all of them all in the dark forever forever and longer
Shut. Up.
“Help me up,” Iridium gasped, “so I can finish him myself! I’m going to strobe his head off his freaking body!”
“Now, now, Iri,” Bruce—Taser—chided, limping to her side. “You can’t go killing people. That’s supervillain prerogative, not Robin Hood’s.” As he extended his hand to Iri, Jet closed her eyes.
forever and longer
Go away!
and longer sweet Jet sweet Joan so sweet so succulent so
Away, she pleaded.
“Ow!”
Jet opened her eyes, saw Taser rubbing his nose and Iri shaking out her fist. “You’re just damn lucky I don’t kill you,” Iridium snarled. “Coldcocking me! Using my own neural inhibitor on me!”
“They’re illegal for a reason, darlin’.”
“Ah, shut it. And get Jet out of there.”
“I love a woman who’s demanding.”
so sweet listen to him crunch
No, she thought, no, no, no …
Yes.
Yes.
Taser limped over to her, paused before he touched her bonds. “Honey? No hard feelings I hope. I had a job to do.”
“Oh,” Jet said lightly as the voices laughed, “I understand.”
His hands worked over her cuffs. She inhaled his scent, a mix of ozone and sweat and musk.
“I still say we kill him,” Iridium said, crouching over Night’s body. “Trying to destroy the world. Christo, how much more textbook villain could he be?”
“Don’t kill him,” Jet said, her voice sounding queerly faint to her own ears. “We’ll get him locked away, in solitary. In the dark.”
dark the dark alone in the dark alone
“I like it,” Iridium said, standing, swaying slightly. Jet saw her form burst into a thousand stars, and she smiled at her friend, smiled to see how bright she was.
How she looked good enough to eat.
“Jet?” Bruce’s voice, by her ear. “Honey? You okay?”
“Oh yes,” she said, shivering from his very nearness. She could smell the light inside of him, dancing with life. “I’m fine.”
And hungry.
He released the last of her restraints. She punched him in the jaw, hard. Didn’t feel the sting in her knuckles from the connection.
“Ow! Christo!”
“Quit your crying,” Iri said. “You deserved that.”
“And more,” Jet said sweetly. And she reached out with Shadow and blanketed Taser, hugged him tight. “No hard feelings, Bruce.”
And then she started to squeeze the light out of him.
CHAPTER 63
IRIDIUM
But when the grand battle is done, and the dust has settled and all that’s left are the photo ops and the meaningless, rote threats from the defeated, I feel oddly disappointed. Gods—even the small ones—shouldn’t be reduced to photo ops.
Lynda Kidder, “Origins: Conclusion,” New Chicago Tribune, June 18, 2112
Iridium watched Taser and Jet for a moment, seeing if Jet really planned to kill him. And yup, it sure looked that way.
“Joan,” she said.
“He deserves this, Iri,” Jet said, her voice flat and cold.
“Joan,” Iridium said again, with more force. Under the shadows, Taser groaned and writhed as ice crystals blossomed on his skin like small spidery kiss marks.
“Hear me, Joan,” Iridium said. “This isn’t what you want to do.”
“It is,” Jet said. “He used me.”
“He used me too.” Iridium snorted. “You think I don’t want to burn him from the inside out? But you don’t kill, Joan. You’r
e not like the other Shadows.”
“I killed Lynda Kidder.”
“That was self-defense, for crying out loud. You got set up. And stop being such a fucking martyr. You didn’t see me crying over Paul Collins.”
“He deserved it.”
“But Taser doesn’t,” Iridium said. “He’s an arrogant ass, but he was operating to code, and he did save your life.”
“Technically, both of your lives …” Taser groaned through the Shadow.
“Button it!” she snapped. “Or maybe I’ll let Joan kill you!”
Jet stared at Iridium, her eyes pure black. “My name isn’t Joan,” she whispered, “not anymore. I’m nothing. I’m all dark inside.”
“Your name is Joan,” Iridium insisted. “You’re a Shadow power. But you control it, Joan, not the other way around. You’re not a killer. You’re not this.”
A tear started to work down Jet’s cheek, then froze. “How do you know that?”
“I know you,” Iridium said quickly, calculating that Taser didn’t have much time left. He was twitching feebly on the floor, overrun by creepers. “I know you’re Joan, and no one else. Those voices can’t tell who you are because they aren’t real.”
Jet went to her knees, hands pressed over her ears. “I don’t want to hear them anymore!” she screamed, and with a full-body shudder, jerked the creepers away from Taser. They flowed over to her, washed over her own flesh.
“Oh, shit,” Iridium said as Jet went limp, the creepers feasting on her warmth and light.
Iridium summoned a strobe and exploded it in Jet’s face. Joan cried out as sunburn blossomed across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. “Stop that!” Iridium ordered.
“It’s the only way to make them be quiet,” said Jet dully.
“I can’t live this way, Iri. I’m a time bomb, just like he said. It’s better this way.”
“Don’t, Joan.” Taser pulled himself to his feet with a groan, then said, “Killing yourself is doing Night’s job. That’s not what you want.”
Jet’s eyes filled with tears. “You stay away from me.”
“Come on, Joan,” Iri said. “I’m your friend. Let me help you.”
“You’ve been a lousy friend,” Jet whispered.
“I know. But I’m here now. Let me help you,” she said, wrapping her arms around Jet.
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