by Lucas Flint
About the only notable reaction was when I mentioned the Apocalypse Switch. That made the Resistance leaders, including Valerie, all exchange worried looks, which told me that they knew what the Apocalypse Switch was even if I didn’t.
By the time I finished telling my story, the Resistance leaders all wore grave looks on their faces.
“This is not good,” said Renaissance, just seconds after I finished my story. “If Mastermind has your twin brother—who, by your description, must be at least as strong as you—then that is yet another powerful weapon he has on his side.”
“I’d hardly call that the most alarming part, though,” said Bill, leaning back in his chair. “What’s really alarming is the fact that Mastermind is looking for that universe’s Apocalypse Switch. If he gets his hands on that thing … we can say good bye to any chances of the Resistance succeeding.”
“What is the Apocalypse Switch?” I said. “My grandfather told me about it, Mastermind mentioned it to me, but I still have no idea what it is.”
“Should we tell him?” said Bill, looking to Renaissance uncertainly. “Or do you think that would be too sensitive to share with him?”
Renaissance sighed. “I think we should tell him. After all, Mastermind already knows what it is and just telling him what it is won’t hurt us even if he turns out to be a spy.”
“For once, I agree,” said Arthur. “But still be careful. There is a reason we’ve managed to keep the Apocalypse Switch out of Mastermind’s hands for so long and that’s because we’ve been careful about who we share that information with.”
“Of course,” said Renaissance. “I remember what Cadmus told me. I won’t tell Bolt anything other than what he needs to know.”
Renaissance looked at me. “All right. The Apocalypse Switch is a switch that, if flipped, will end the world.”
I waited for him to say that he was just joking, but the longer Renaissance went without saying ‘Just kidding!’ the more I realized that he was completely serious.
“The … Apocalypse Switch is a switch that can end the world?” I said.
Renaissance nodded. “Yes.”
“You mean it is a literal switch that will cause the apocalypse?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Valerie. “He’s joking, right?”
Valerie, however, shook her head. “No. He’s telling the truth. The Apocalypse Switch is indeed a switch that can end the world.”
“I don’t understand, though,” I said. “How does that work? Who made it?”
Renaissance folded his hands on top of the table. “A long time ago, shortly after the Civil War, the US government discovered an ancient alien spacecraft that had crash landed in America thousands of years ago, even before the first Native American tribes came here. Upon it, they discovered a machine with a switch on it, which they discovered would destroy the world if flipped.”
“How did they find that out?” I said. “It wasn’t like the switch was labeled in English or something, was it?”
“No, but the government’s top scientists studied the fallen ship and found out that the fallen alien ship had a self-destruct sequence built into its systems,” said Renaissance. “They did the numbers and realized that if the ship exploded, it would create a chain of events that would blow up the Earth’s core, which would destroy the whole planet in the process.”
I gaped. “But where did this alien ship come from? Did they find any bodies on board it? Anything that might indicate where it came from?”
“No one knows,” said Renaissance. “They didn’t find any bodies on board the ship, but the ship itself was confirmed to not be related to the Pokacu, at least. No one knows what happened to the alien crew, though the theory I heard was that they had probably survived the crash, only to die on the hostile surface of Earth when they left their ship due to their bodies’ incompatibility with Earth’s environment.”
“So the Pokacu weren’t the first aliens to land on Earth after all,” I said. “But how come this ship has remained a secret for so long?”
“The government covered it up, naturally,” said Bill with a chuckle. “They didn’t want anyone knowing about it, because they feared that someone might try to use the Switch to blow up the planet or just hold it hostage. Given all of the crazy people out there, I can’t blame them for hiding the ship’s existence from the public.”
“The knowledge and location of the ship was kept secret even from the President,” said Renaissance. “Only one person in the government was ever allowed to know about the ship at any one time. And that person—the last one before Mastermind’s conquest of the world—was Cadmus Smith.”
“Cadmus Smith?” I said. “He knew it?”
“Yes,” said Renaissance. “But he’s not alive anymore, at least in this universe. He did fight against Mastermind for a while, even led the Resistance, but he got killed accidentally during a police raid on a Resistance base seven years ago.”
“Then does that mean that no one knows where the ship is anymore?” I said. “Is that information lost to history?”
“No,” said Renaissance. He tapped the side of his head. “I know it, because Cadmus Smith passed on that information to me prior to his death.”
“You?” I said. “Why?”
“Because Arthur and I are the only surviving members of the G-Men,” said Renaissance. “The G-Men were among the first superhumans killed by Mastermind when he began taking over the world. The remnants of the G-Men formed the basis of the Resistance, but over the years, the number of surviving G-Men has dwindled as Mastermind’s forces have raided Resistance meetings and killed everyone they found.”
I looked at Arthur. “You’re G-Men, too? Huh. I didn’t meet you in my universe.”
“Yes, I was,” said Arthur in a somewhat stiff voice, probably because he didn’t want to talk with me. “But I hate thinking about it. Mr. Apollo, Shade, Iron Horn, Cadmus, Blood Boil … all of them, and many more, dead.”
“Indeed,” said Renaissance, his voice bitter. “The reason Cadmus passed on the knowledge of the Apocalypse Switch to me is because he knew that he was likely to be killed at some point and wanted to make sure that at least one other person knew it aside from him. He didn’t share that information with Arthur due to the fact that Arthur and I have different rankings in the Resistance.”
“It’s not a problem,” said Arthur with a shrug. “As I understand it, the knowledge of the Apocalypse Switch has never been shared with more than one person at a time anyway; that we all know about it, even if we don’t know its location, is unusual, to say the least.”
“How did Mastermind find out about it, then?” I said.
“We don’t know for sure, but he probably hacked the information from the government’s computers,” said Renaissance. “While the location of the Apocalypse Switch itself is not written down, either on paper or on a screen, anywhere, there do exist references to it in certain top secret government documents. But I didn’t think the references were specific enough that Mastermind would understand them enough to figure out what the Switch is and how he could use it.”
“He’s smart,” I said. “I mean, Dad was smart, anyway. He could figure out almost anything from just a few small, vague clues. I bet Mastermind has the same ability.”
“Probably,” said Renaissance. “In any case, the fact that Mastermind is searching for the Apocalypse Switch of your universe is concerning.”
“Concerning?” said Bill. “More like apocalyptic. Right, guys?”
Bill looked at us all like he had just made the funniest joke ever and he expected us all to laugh along with him. Based on the exasperated expressions that the others wore, I figured that this wasn’t the first time that Bill had made a terrible pun in a serious meeting before, and probably wouldn’t be the last time, either.
“Do you think Mastermind is going to try to destroy my world?” I said.
“Maybe,” said Renaissance, “but I think it is more likely that
he will try to use your universe’s Apocalypse Switch to hold your world hostage, which will make it easier to conquer. Of course, since he already rules this world, he might just go ahead and destroy yours, anyway, but since he apparently wants to rule your world, I’m guessing that the former is more likely.”
“I agree,” said Valerie. “He obviously went to Bolt’s universe because Cadmus Smith is still alive there and knows the location of that universe’s Apocalypse Switch.”
“You mean that Mastermind is looking for Cadmus?” I said.
“Most likely,” said Renaissance. “I only wish we could know how close he is to finding him, though.”
“The only way we can know that is if I go back home and find Mastermind,” I said. “If Mastermind is trying to destroy the world, then this just gives me extra motivation to return to my universe. Do any of you guys know how I could do that? Does the Resistance, for example, have any dimension-hopping technology?”
“If it did, we would have already gone after Mastermind ourselves,” said Valerie. “Sorry, Kevin, but any and all dimension-hopping technology that exists is used exclusively by Mastermind and his subordinates. None of it is available to the public.”
“Are there any superhumans left who could do that, then?” I said. “Back in my universe, I knew a kid named Hopper who could open dimensional portals.”
“If there any are like that in our universe, they’re keeping their heads down,” said Renaissance, “because we don’t know about them. Or Mastermind is keeping them under lock and key somewhere, but if there are any superhumans like that, Mastermind has probably already killed them himself. He isn’t the kind of ruler to let his enemies live, especially ones as dangerous and powerful as dimension-hoppers.”
“So the only way to get back to my universe is to steal one of Mastermind’s machines,” I said. “Where would he keep those?”
“In his private castle,” said Valerie.
“Castle?” I said. “Mastermind has a castle?”
“Yep,” said Bill, nodding. “Here in New Yo—I mean, Capital City, which is what he renamed it to when he took over the US.”
“Why did Mastermind build a castle?” I said.
“I don’t know,” said Bill. “I guess it’s because he likes to think of himself as a king or something.”
“Okay,” I said. “So where is this castle, exactly?”
“In the center of Capital City,” said Bill. “That’s where we are, by the way. Not in the center of the city, but we are in the city itself.”
I nodded, but then a question occurred to me. “Why did you guys attack that jail I was being kept in? Did you know I was there and were you trying to save me?”
“Actually, we were trying to rescue a few of our own members who had been arrested by the police a week ago,” said Valerie. “We didn’t even know you were there until we saw you.”
“Did you guys manage to rescue those other guys or not?” I said.
“Sadly, we had to retreat when more guards appeared,” said Valerie. “We only managed to get you.”
“Well, that isn’t so bad,” I said.
“Not so bad?” Arthur repeated indignantly. “Are you even aware of how precarious our position is? The Resistance has been fighting a losing battle against Mastermind’s regime for years. We’ve lost hundreds of members to Mastermind’s insanity and cannot afford to lose any more.”
“Arthur is correct,” said Valerie. “Although the Resistance has won a few battles here and there, by and large we’ve been forced to be on the run constantly in order to avoid being killed. Mastermind has nearly limitless resources, while we have little support or help from anyone outside of a handful of billionaire donors, such as Adam Plutarch.”
“Plutarch is still alive in this universe?” I said in surprise. “I would have thought Mastermind would have killed him. Dad didn’t like him back in my universe.”
“Yeah, but that’s because he signed a deal with Mastermind to provide his forces with weapons and vehicles from his company,” said Bill. “In truth, however, Plutarch’s been funding the Resistance because he doesn’t agree with Mastermind’s rule. But he hasn’t been able to give as much money as he’d like, because all bank accounts are monitored by the government and he doesn’t want to raise any suspicions about himself.”
“But we might be able to turn things around with your help,” said Matilda. “You are a strong superhuman, Kevin. You might be able to defeat Mastermind, assuming we can get you back to your universe.”
“I’d like to do that, too,” I said. I stood up. “So his dimension-hopping tech is in his castle? Then I know where to go to get it.”
“It won’t be easy to break in there, though, even with your powers,” said Renaissance. “Mastermind himself may no longer be in this universe, but that doesn’t mean he left the castle unprotected. All reports indicate that he left his second-in-command in charge of Rationalia while he is away.”
“His second-in-command?” I said. “Who is that?”
“A superhuman known as Techno,” said Renaissance. “Ever heard of him?”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think he exists in my universe.”
“He probably does, though he probably doesn’t work for your universe’s Mastermind,” said Renaissance. “Anyway, Techno was one of the first superhumans to join Mastermind after he conquered the US. He’s young, in his early twenties or so, but he’s incredibly powerful because he can talk to and control machines with his mind.”
“That doesn’t sound too powerful to me,” I said.
“When you consider how technological our society is, it is actually very powerful,” said Renaissance. “Techno is one of the reasons Mastermind was so successful in taking over the world. All he had to do was go in, shut off the enemy’s technology, and then allow Mastermind’s forces to finish the enemy off. His power does have a limit, but he’s still hard to beat in a fight, at least when he’s surrounded by technology.”
“Not to mention that the castle has a ton of other defenses, too, aside from Tech,” said Bill. “It’s the most well-defended place in the whole city. Even the city’s power grid isn’t as well-defended as that place.”
“Have you guys ever managed to infiltrate it before?” I said.
“No,” said Matilda with a sigh. “The guards are very good at keeping people from getting in. They use an online database to match the ID cards of visitors in order to make sure they aren’t letting in anyone who isn’t allowed inside. They also have all the entrances heavily guarded, so you cannot sneak inside.”
“But it’s been a target of ours for a while,” said Renaissance, “since that is where Mastermind spends most of his time.”
“Well, I’m going to have to break in regardless of how difficult it is, because if I don’t then I can never go home and stop Mastermind,” I said. “So we’ll have to come up with a plan to break in.”
“The entire place is nearly impenetrable, though,” said Arthur in a disgruntled voice. “You’d need an army to breach the walls. And that’s even assuming you can keep it once you capture it, because Mastermind’s army spans the whole globe and I doubt they would simply let you keep it.”
“We don’t need to keep it,” I said. “All I need to do is get inside the place, find the dimension-hopping tech, and then use it to get back to my own universe. So we don’t need an army at all, just a small team of smart, capable people with a good plan who know what they’re doing.”
The Resistance leaders exchanged uncertain looks. I didn’t blame them. After all, if they were telling the truth, then it wouldn’t be easy to break into the castle. Even just sneaking one person into the place would be very difficult, almost impossible if its security was as good as they said it was. Yet they had to realize that by helping me, they would inevitably help themselves, because if I could get back to my universe and defeat Mastermind, then that would be a huge win for the Resistance.
Finally, Renaissance looked at me
and said, “All right, Bolt. We’ll supply you with all the help you will need to get into the castle and find your way back to your home universe. But on one condition.”
“And what is that condition?” I said.
“Defeat Mastermind,” said Renaissance. “You must stop him from getting his hands on the Apocalypse Switch. If he does, he will conquer your world just as easily as he conquered ours, if not even easier.”
I nodded. “Sure. I was planning on doing that anyway, but thanks for the reminder.”
“All right,” said Renaissance. “Now, let’s discuss our plans for getting you into Castle Rational right away. We have no time to waste.”
Chapter Four
Castle Rational fit in surprisingly well with the other buildings of New York City (I mean, Capital City, excuse me). It rose high above all of them, so tall that its spires looked like they were reaching for the sky itself. Although it was shaped like a castle, Castle Rational wasn’t made out of brick or stone; instead, it was made entirely out of metal and, according to Renaissance, was practically labyrinthine in its construction. Although none of the Resistance members had ever successfully infiltrated the place, the few pictures of its interior that Mastermind had seen fit to reveal to the public revealed a place that looked less like the castle of a dark lord and more like the extravagant mansion of some ultra rich playboy or the office building a big, multinational corporation; heck, one of the pictures showed what appeared to be an actual river, of all things, flowing through the place, though I had no idea how that worked.
Castle Rational even had a moat, a moat full of murky, dark water. According to recon missions done by Resistance spies, the moat was not empty; it allegedly had genetically modified sea creatures in it that would eat anyone unfortunate to fall into it. What kind of creatures dwelt in there, exactly, was unknown, but shark fins and crocodile tails had been witnessed by some of the spies, plus tentacles that appeared to belong to creatures that looked nothing like octopuses.
