by Drew Hayes
“Ivan, it’s Wade. There’s something I’m going to need your help with. Not the usual kind either. We’ve got a... well, I’ll tell you in person tonight. This is me letting you know I’m coming over, so don’t try and kill me as soon as I walk on your lawn or anything. See you soon.”
Ivan set the phone back down and shook his head. One time, one time he’d almost killed Wade, and the man had never let him live it down. You break into someone’s lair in the middle of the night, and you can’t be surprised when they take a swing at you.
Especially not when that person had a reputation like Ivan’s.
Chapter 2
Ivan lived in a two-story ranch-style house in a suburb of Ridge City. It looked exactly like six other houses in his neighborhood, save for the fact that Ivan had selected the beige trim while the others had gone with eggshell. It was a four bedroom, with one for Ivan, one that served as a home office, and the remaining two were for each of his children. Those were only in use every other weekend, but he liked to have a place for them to feel at home when they came over. In the front was a small patio adorned with a couple of wooden rocking chairs that looked homemade but had actually been purchased at a local chain store. Between them was a table in the same style, upon which there was a glass of iced tea waiting for Ivan as he stepped outside.
The heat of summer was dying out, giving way slightly to the brisk nip of fall. The battling elements made the evenings perfect for sitting out—enough heat to be warm paired with just the right amount of breeze to stay cool. As Ivan sipped his tea, he gave a polite nod to Mrs. Jefferson, the elderly neighbor who was making the trek down her driveway to check her mail. She was a sweet woman, likely a bit too frail to be living alone, but she refused to let a little thing like that stop her. Ivan and the other neighbors pitched in to help with her yard work and keep up her house. The others did so out of good-heartedness and likely a concern for property values if one home became derelict, and Ivan because he had a healthy respect for people who refused to do what they were expected to, even if it came at the cost of their own health.
A silver sedan pulled into Ivan’s driveway, a familiar copper-haired man behind the wheel. Ivan was grateful that Wade had come in a normal car; heaven knew the billionaire had more than enough luxury automobiles to turn heads on this humble little street. Instead he was driving a nice, but not ostentatious, car that blended in perfectly with the neighborhood. Of course, knowing Wade, that vehicle was probably rocket-proof, could fly, and had a button that turned it into a robot. But so long as all that stayed hidden, it wasn’t any of Ivan’s concern.
The engine died and Wade emerged. Unlike Ivan, he was wearing his years appropriately. Though still tall and lean, a small pooch of belly had begun to accumulate around his midsection, no doubt the result of all-nighters filled with eating terrible junk food. His shiny copper hair was thinning, and within another decade, he’d likely be bald on top—unless he spared a day or so to find a cure. His eyes were still the same, blue and wild and full of life, barely able to contain all the thoughts of the brain behind them. He strolled up the driveway toward the walkway, avoiding Ivan’s well-maintained lawn. Despite his wealth, or perhaps because of it, Wade always wore a similar outfit when he was going “mundane”: jeans, custom shoes that supported his poor arches, and a plaid button-down.
“Evening,” Ivan said, greeting his friend and one of the oldest acquaintances he had.
“Evening,” Wade replied, settling down in the unoccupied rocking chair.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Maybe in a bit. How’s life at the office treating you?” As Wade spoke, he pulled a small silver box from his pocket. It looked a lot like an oversized lighter, but as with everything else with Wade, looks were incredibly deceiving.
“Could be worse. At least the shitty economy means I’ve got a glut of qualified people desperate for work. Beats the hell out of the days when we were snagging any kid who could string three lines of code together.” Ivan took a drink of cold iced tea, enjoying the excessive sweetness. He made his the old-fashioned way, with enough sugar to cause diabetes in a single glass. Life had taken away many of his vices, but this was one he refused to let go of. Besides, it wasn’t as though a thing like sugar could hurt his body.
“Bad economy means it’s an employer’s market.” Wade finished fiddling with his box; a small red light ignited near the base. He set it on the table, a safe distance away from Ivan’s tea, and continued. “Okay, that should do it.”
“I remember when you needed a room the size of my house and machines as big as your car to create your Cone of Silence.”
“I don’t care how much you liked Get Smart as a kid, we’re not calling it that. It’s a portable sound isolation and management system.”
“Yes, your version just rolls off the tongue,” Ivan said. He made sure to keep his usual half-smile on his face as he spoke. Wade’s device would stop all forms of technological eavesdropping they’d discovered, not to mention distort the movements of their lips to prevent reading, and Ivan had wards all over his property that halted scrying, but none of that would stop people from noticing if they suddenly hunched over and acted secretive. The best way to do nefarious things was right out in the open, as if you had nothing to hide. “Now that we’re cloaked and you’re here, tell me what the big news is. I can’t already be up in rotation.”
“No, your work last month was superb; however, it left the others a bit uneasy about calling on your services again.”
“That’s what I was going for,” Ivan replied.
“Clearly. The blood on the ceiling made that point abundantly obvious. I’m here about a different matter. Last week we picked up a new candidate: smart, willful, and with a power that she’s barely scratched the surface of. The rest of the board agrees with me that she has tremendous potential, but... well, I did say she was willful, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Very much so. She’s not taking direction well, keeps bucking against us, toeing the line just enough not to fall out of our good graces completely. Some feel she’ll never make the grade and we’re better off cutting our losses. That there’s no point in training a future code-breaker.”
Ivan knew all too well what Wade was hinting at, and he was glad he’d made such a spectacle of his last job. He’d do his part, but he preferred that people be scared to call him in. It meant they wouldn’t try to use him as some go-to exterminator.
“Personally,” Wade continued, “I feel such actions are extreme and unnecessary at this point, but if things don’t change, then sooner or later, that will be the unavoidable outcome. That’s why I contacted you. Standard training isn’t working for her, so I thought she might benefit from the old way we learned: master and apprentice.”
“Hold the damn phone,” Ivan said, setting down his tea so hard a bit sloshed over the side. “Look, I do what’s necessary when I have to, but there is no way I’m going fully back in. Getting joint custody was hard enough; if I get busted, even if we beat it, I’ll be lucky to see my kids before they graduate college.”
“Calm down, no one is asking you to come back,” Wade assured him. “This would be a modified program. No crime necessary on your part. You’d be a mentor: taking her under your wing and teaching her how things work. The rules, how to fight, picking targets, all the theory and legal training. Any real outings will be done by someone else with you in a supervisory capacity at the most.”
Ivan settled back in his chair and plastered the fake smile back on his face, but the scowl in his eyes never quite lessened. “Fine, so I wouldn’t have to go back in. Why should I do it, though? There are plenty of qualified people in your organization. Hell, you could do it yourself. I’m sure she’d love to study under the great Doctor Mechaniacal.”
“Sure she would, and the minute I turned my back, she’d either try and steal everything off my hard drive or roast it when she failed. The woman is too smart and amb
itious to trust around my lab. Luckily she’s all science-minded, no talent or capacity for magic. Means you’d have nothing to worry about.”
“Still not explaining why you need me instead of the others. Arcanicus has got to be bored as hell lately, and he’s all magic too,” Ivan pointed out.
“Look, I’ll level with you: she’s kind of a pain in the ass. Lots of us could try and train her, but no one wants to. Potential aside, they just don’t see her being worth the investment of time and energy to properly mold. Add in the fact that a few folks are probably legitimately scared of her and it creates a pupil without a suitable teacher, save possibly for you.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re a pain in the ass too,” Wade replied. There was nothing accusatory in his statement; he told this to Ivan the same way he’d have given him the time. “You’re stubborn, temperamental, willful, and you scare the shit out of a lot of members. Near as I can see, you’re either the perfect teacher for her, or you’ll kill her in two days. Either outcome solves my problem.”
The prospect was certainly interesting, and Ivan could probably do with a new project. His last one, wood-working, had ended in a summer bonfire and a trip to purchase the rocking chairs he and Wade were sitting in. Still, an apprentice was a lot of work, and a fair amount of responsibility. It had the potential to complicate the life he’d worked so hard to keep nice and serene.
“I’ll accept that I might be a good fit for her,” Ivan said. “But that doesn’t tell me why I should do it. I’m not the altruistic sort, you know.”
“So you claim,” Wade chuckled. He was one of the few people who knew all of Ivan’s sides, the dark and the light. Admittedly, there was ample darkness, but he wasn’t an empty monster. At least, not unless he had reason to be. “I already discussed it with the training board, and we decided that a stipend would be appropriate compensation for your troubles.”
“My job pays fine, as you ought to know, so thanks, but no thanks.”
“Fine, sure, but doesn’t Rick start applying to college in a few years?”
“Janet and I have a college fund for both him and Beth.”
Wade shook his head. “Ivan, you’re missing the offer. Rick is a bright boy, and Beth is no slouch either, but with their current grades and extracurriculars, they’re looking at a good state college, maybe a bit higher if they do very well on their SATs. I’m offering guaranteed, fully-paid, top-tier admission. Literally, pick a school, and they’ll get accepted with a full ride. Rick wants to work for NASA, right? The Ivy League certainly wouldn’t look bad on his resume.”
“Malphorus came up with this, didn’t he? I educate yours, you educate mine; it has the sort of symmetry he loves.”
“It was his suggestion, but I thought the compensation would pique your interest. You’ve already earned a good, stable life for yourself. I assumed you’d be more inclined to help your children get closer to theirs.”
From anyone else, Ivan would have taken this as manipulation, and his reaction would not have been kind. Wade was a friend, however, and in their former occupation, friends were a rare thing. He was truly looking out for Ivan, offering him something that would be unattainable through normal means. Wade was using his knowledge of what Ivan loved to create a better deal, not to try and con him into accepting against his better judgment. And, if Ivan were being honest with himself, it would take a lot of worry off his shoulders to know his children were getting a good first step into the adult world.
“I guess I can at least see what she’s got,” Ivan conceded at last. “No promises, though. If I don’t think I can teach her, I’m walking away.”
“That’s what I’d want you to do anyway,” Wade said. “I can take you to her now, if you’re ready.”
“In a minute.” Ivan reached over and picked up his glass. “First, I want to finish my tea.”
* * *
The skeleton let out a pathetic wail as the fireball struck its ribcage, exploding and shattering it into dozens of pieces. Nearby, another skeleton was caught by surprise as its target unleashed a torrent of flame that caused its bones to blacken and crack and shortly become too frail to hold together. More skeletons marched up to fill the ranks of their fallen brothers. They were many, but their opponent was strong. Strong... and dangerous.
“Almost makes me feel bad for the things,” Ivan said, staring at the monitor as another trio of skeletons was taken out.
“She’s able to destroy them nearly as fast as Arcanicus can conjure them,” Wade said. On another monitor, they could see an older man, probably a decade ahead of Wade, wearing robes and weaving magical symbols in the air. Every couple of seconds, the symbols would form together and a new skeleton would appear in front of him. The man would point to a door, and the skeleton would totter through to its fiery destruction.
“Not much thought behind her moves,” Ivan commented. “She’s just throwing fireballs and blast streams. They’re good range attacks, but what about up close?”
“I’d wager that’s why she’s in her fire-form,” Wade replied.
Tori was indeed composed entirely of flames. She looked more like a tall inferno that happened to be human shaped than a woman who had changed her molecular chemistry.
“It’s a potent ability, not overwhelming in strength, but with lots of versatility,” Ivan said. “The guild seriously wants to be done with her so soon?”
Wade nodded, the gesture a bit stiff and weary. “Smart and strong as she is, Tori has also been steadily refusing to take her education seriously. We try and teach her about strategy, secrecy, and of course the code, but she keeps digging in her heels. From what I’ve gathered, she spent the last decade or so subsisting off of petty crime and a network of other crooks. Most of the ones pulled in to teach her feel she’s too far gone, that all we’re doing right now is strengthening a future code-breaker. And I don’t have to tell you what the guild’s policy on that is.”
That subject was one that Ivan knew too well, perhaps even better than Wade. Useful power or not, if she seemed like a danger to the guild, then the threat would be neutralized. There was nothing else to say on the matter, so Ivan politely changed the subject.
“You’re sure she’s all science? I’ve never met a full-phase shifter without at least a little magic helping the process.”
“Positive. It was an accident, so she’s not certain how to recreate it, but the fact remains that Tori Rivas found a way to turn into sentient fire.”
The two men were standing in a small office not far from the training facility where Tori was going through her daily combat training. They weren’t in the guild’s proper headquarters—aside from concerns about the length of her tenure, no one felt comfortable having people with powers test their limits in the same place where files and servers were stored. This was a training facility set up behind a secret door in what was, for the most part, a pork rendering plant. The smell alone was enough to keep all but the most determined of parties away.
“The power is impressive, sure, but with how she’s using it, she’d never get above Delta Class. Just having Arcanicus switch to flaming skeletons would be enough to render her whole attack strategy useless.”
“I told you that she had potential, not that she was ready to go,” Wade reminded him. “If she were already adept and skilled, then your tutelage wouldn’t be necessary.”
“I guess. Does she just have the fire-shifting or did she get anything else?”
“She heals at a rapid rate, even more so when given time to shift between phases. Her body is tougher than a human’s, though nothing approaching your level, and her basic speed and strength are augmented as well. What really shines through, however, is her intellect. The clothes she was wearing when the exercise started, the ones that phased with her? She made those herself. Invented a process all on her own with no funds or facility to speak of. The woman has a strong education, a bright mind, and a, forgive the phrase, burning ambition.”
Ivan nodded and kept his eyes on the monitor. Creating fabric that could shift phases wasn’t unheard of, but the rarity of needing it and complexity in making it meant that phasing outfits were very expensive. Like most meta-tech, it was rare and hard to buy, unless you were the one making it. That she’d managed to create some without any resources did speak to a smart mind, but not so brilliant of one that Ivan understood his friend’s interest in this woman.
“Be straight with me here, Wade. What’s the deal? Is she the daughter of some guy in the guild who wants his kid in the business, or related to a cape that we’re trying to stick it to by turning family, or something along those lines? She’s got potential, I’ll give you that, but I don’t know that she has enough to warrant all the special treatment.”
“What’s the deal?” Wade repeated, his eyes never darting away from the monitors. He lifted a long finger and pointed to the image on the screen. “Arcanicus won’t be able to keep pumping out skeletons for much longer. He’s already beginning to sweat.” Sure enough, the robed man was red-faced as he continued weaving magic and conjuring animated bones from nothingness. “I remember when he could curse a continent without so much as getting winded. Age is beginning to take him, as it will eventually take almost all of us.” Wade shot his friend a targeted glance on the word “almost,” and Ivan pretended not to notice.
“So, what, you want a successor? Then you should train her.”
“It’s not about an individual successor. It’s about the impact we leave on the next generation. Some of the new members are hungry for violence and blood; they weren’t around to see how bad things can get when we make war with the capes. Even Balaam, though appointed to the guild’s council, constantly tries to move for amendments that would allow our members more freedom for carnage.”
