by Lucas Flint
I swam to the right just as the shark—which was going too fast to change course or stop—slammed into the door with enough impact to smash its own face in. In fact, it actually completely smashed its face in to the point where it bent the door, but not enough to smash it open.
Too desperate to wait and see if the shark was still functioning, I swam down toward it and shoved it off the door. The robotic shark—which was now completely still—floated harmlessly away, while I tore open the door and swam inside, though it was more like I was pushed inside by the water that followed me.
Air! I could suddenly breathe air. It felt good, coming into my lungs like that, but at the same time, water was rushing in after me and it would soon fill up the entire dome if I didn’t shut the door again.
So, gathering what was left of my strength, I forced the door closed again. This was much harder than it sounds, because the pressure from the water was intense and it kept pouring in.
Nonetheless, I managed to shove the door closed again, and it held, despite the dents in its surface. I wasn’t sure how it managed to hold, but at least there was no more water coming in. There was still a lot of water on the floor, but even that was rapidly draining away into the vents in the floor.
But I was too exhausted to care. I turned around and leaned against the door, quickly sliding down onto the floor. The air was so good, even though it tasted kind of stale. I hadn’t realized just how close I had come to drowning. A second too late and I would have simply died there and then; that I didn’t made me feel like I’d just been granted a miracle by God.
Regardless, I needed to focus on rescuing the others. With the sinking of the submarine, I doubted the Compound guards would catch up with me anytime soon, but that didn’t mean I had all the time in the world to waste sitting around in pain.
I looked ahead and saw the cage that Blizzard and the others were supposed to be kept in. It technically wasn’t a ‘cage’ in the normal sense of the word; it was more of a glass display case, though it was full of a thick cloud of powerless gas that was impossible to see through. It was kind of like a really thick fog, though the gas was being pumped into the case through thick tubes that were connected to the floor. I couldn’t see the others through the thick gas, but I figured they had to be in there, so all I needed to do was open the cage and let them out.
Rising to my feet, I walked up to the cage across the wet floor and found the entrance pretty quickly: A simple glass door, made out of the same material as the rest of the case. It was locked, but I figured that one blow from my fist would be enough to smash the lock and let me inside. And I was just about to do that before I remembered that the entire cage was still full of powerless gas, which meant that if I opened it now, I would just cause the powerless gas to leak out and cover me as well; therefore, I needed to figure out how to turn off the powerless gas.
I walked over to the pipes that were feeding the powerless gas into the cage. As I did so, I glanced at the cage again, hoping to catch a glimpse of the others inside, but even up close, the yellow powerless gas was so thick that I couldn’t even see their silhouettes.
The pipes themselves had a small control panel that appeared to regulate how much gas they pumped into the cage. The controls on it were simple enough: The red button stopped the gas, the green button started it again, and there was a dial between them that let you choose exactly how much gas was fed into the cage. Since I wanted to free my friends, I pressed the red button and immediately saw the pipes stop spewing gas into the cage. There was still a lot of gas in there, but without more powerless gas being constantly sprayed in, it was starting to dissipate into the vents on the floor.
Not that I waited to see it dissipate. I flew back over to the entrance of the cage and, smashing the lock off of the door, I pulled open the door and shouted, “Blizzard! Ivan! Everyone, I’m here to save you!”
But there was no response, except for the powerless gas, which was rapidly clearing up. I peered in a bit closer, thinking that maybe the others were unconscious and that they were all lying on the floor. But as the gas cleared, I saw something I certainly had not been expecting to see here:
Lying on the floor, his hands folded over his chest and his eyes closed, was Cadmus Smith.
Chapter Twelve
No way. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This had to be a hallucination. But the longer I looked, the more obvious it became that the man lying on the floor before me was indeed Cadmus Smith, because he looked exactly like him, down to the last hair. He looked like he was asleep, like he was taking a quick nap, but I still couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
I looked this way and that, hoping to find the others, but the cage wasn’t very big, so it didn’t take me long to discover that Cadmus Smith was all by himself down here. I did not see even one hint of the others anywhere; it was like they had vanished into thin air.
But what if my friends hadn’t been down here at all? What if this had all been a trap? Had I been tricked by the G-Men again? But didn’t Valerie tell me that she had gotten some files from that G-Men base that told the location of my friends? What was going on here?
I was so dumbfounded and confused that I didn’t know what to say or even think. I just stared at Cadmus, who still hadn’t moved an inch since I opened the door.
Then, all of a sudden, Cadmus’s eyes flickered open. He yawned and then hacked and coughed before sitting upright, rubbing the back of his head and looking around like he had just awoken from a long night’s sleep. By now, the powerless gas had almost completely dissipated, aside from a few small wisps near the ceiling.
Then Cadmus looked at me. Despite having been asleep, he still looked as intelligent as ever. He didn’t even seem confused, though I noticed he grimaced when he saw how wet I was.
“Ah, Bolt,” said Cadmus. “Long time, no see.”
“Cadmus?” I said, though unlike him, I didn’t sound very cool and collected. “What … what are … huh?”
“Shocked into incoherence,” Cadmus observed. “But then, I suppose I would have been shocked, too, if I had broken into one of the most secure government facilities in the world thinking that my friends were kept down here, only to discover that it was more or less a trap.”
“So … you mean Blizzard and the others aren’t here?” I said. “At all?”
“No, and they have never been down here, either,” said Cadmus, shaking his head. He rose to his feet and stretched his limbs. “To tell you the truth, we have never even captured them. They got away during your fight with Mastermind and White Lightning. But they managed to meet up with an INJ agent in New York City, who took them to California outside of our reach. They are currently at the INJ’s headquarters, which we can’t reach, because we don’t know its location, because they have kept its true location very well hidden from us despite our best efforts to locate it.”
I put a hand on my forehead. “But … but Valerie found files in your computers stating that they were being kept here.”
“False documents hidden in the computers on the knowledge that you would attempt to find your friends once you returned from Mastermind’s universe,” said Cadmus. “I foresaw that you would attempt something like this ahead of time, so I went ahead and had those documents forged in order to get you where I want you.”
“So you manipulated me again?” I said. “What the hell? Do you ever not manipulate people?”
Cadmus shrugged. “It’s generally the only way to make people work against their own self-interest.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said. “You mean that every move I’ve made since I returned has just been part of your grand master plan?”
“Yes,” said Cadmus bluntly. “Granted, you made every choice along the way with no prompting from me or anyone else, but that doesn’t change the fact that I anticipated your overall behavior. You are quite predictable that way.”
“Then are you going to predict me punching your face in and breaking your legs?�
� I said, punching my fist into my other hand. “Because I can do that, especially since the powerless gas took away your powers.”
“That wasn’t powerless gas,” said Cadmus, brushing back some of his hair.
“Huh?” I said. “But it looked like powerless gas.”
“It was nothing more than colored mist,” said Cadmus. He gestured at his face. “Notice how my skin is perfectly smooth. Had this powerless gas been real, my slow aging would have been disabled and I would actually look my age; that I don’t should have tipped you off right at the start about the true nature of the gas, but despite being Genius’s son, you apparently didn’t inherit his intelligence.”
“Why?” I said. “Why did you trick me again? Are you going to kill me? Or maybe take me prisoner again?”
“Neither,” said Cadmus, “but thank you for having such a high opinion of me. In that respect, you’re just like your father. He also held a high opinion of me and always made sure I knew it.”
The sarcasm was dripping from Cadmus’s words as heavily as water from a soaked cat, so I said, “Oh, I always hold high opinions of people who ruin my life, especially when they do it for no good reason. Or to protect the reputation of the government; yeah, that’s always good.”
“Not as smart as your father, but every bit as sarcastic,” said Cadmus. “Anyway, I am done with banter. The real reason I wanted you down here was to offer you an alliance.”
“Another alliance?” I said. “To do what?”
“Defeat Mastermind and White Lightning,” said Cadmus. “I know that you defeated White Lightning once already, something my own agents have failed to do. We can provide you with whatever support you need. I can even convince President Plutarch to pardon you and your friends for escaping from Ultimate Max, if necessary.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “Uh huh. I remember the last time we worked together, because I ended up in jail as a result. And I remember how you promised that I would get to see my friends again if I worked with you; that really worked out well, didn’t it?”
“This time, I am not lying,” said Cadmus. “We need your help. The United States of America needs your help.”
“The actual United States of America or the government?” I said. “Because I’m not against helping America; I am, however, against working with people who have lied to me and betrayed me for reasons I don’t understand: the government, in other words.”
“It was for the greater good,” said Cadmus. “You must understand that.”
“Greater good?” I said. “If you really cared about the greater good, you would have let me stay free so I could have fought White Lightning and Mastermind, not lock me up with a bunch of criminals where I couldn’t do anything.”
Cadmus rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “You still don’t understand.”
“I understand that you only care about yourself,” I said. “I understand that you’ve always wanted to control me and that putting me in prison let you do just that, at least for a little while.”
“No, you don’t,” said Cadmus, shaking his head. “You don’t understand anything. You don’t understand that I put you in Ultimate Max in order to protect you from Mastermind.”
I stared at Cadmus in shock. “Protect me from Mastermind? What are you talking about? Is this another lie?”
“No,” said Cadmus. “We were really and truly trying to protect you, because Mastermind isn’t just after me. He is also after you.”
“Well, duh,” I said. “I know that already. He tried to sway me over to his side earlier, but I wasn’t convinced.”
“You still don’t understand,” said Cadmus. “Mastermind doesn’t just need you to take over the world. He needs you in order to destroy the world.”
I blinked. “Huh? I don’t get it. You mean he wants to turn me into a weapon, like White Lightning?”
“In a sense, yes, but not in the way you are thinking,” said Cadmus. “You see, in order for Mastermind to use the Apocalypse Switch, he needs the Ciphers.”
“Ciphers?” I said. “What’s a Cipher?”
“One of the activation codes for the Apocalypse Switch,” said Cadmus. “The Ciphers were discovered by our G-Men scientists some thirty years ago, prior to the start of Project Neo. They were found on the fallen alien ship containing the Apocalypse Switch, but were only deciphered relatively recently, about eighteen years ago or so. There are two Ciphers and both are needed in order to use the Apocalypse Switch.”
“Where are these two Ciphers?” I said. “Do you guys have them?”
“We had one,” said Cadmus. “The other one, however, has not been in our possession for some time, though we’ve been keeping a close eye on it and have worked with it several times in the past.”
“Worked with it?” I said. “You’re talking about these Ciphers like they’re people.”
“That’s because they are,” said Cadmus. He pointed at me. “Or, rather, I should say that’s because you are a Cipher, as is your brother, White Lightning.”
I stared at Cadmus in shock again. “Wait … what? I’m one of the Ciphers? And White Lightning is the other one?”
“He is,” said Cadmus, nodding. “The two of you, if brought together, have the key to activating the Apocalypse Switch and thus destroy the world.”
I put a hand on my chest. “But I don’t understand. I’m just, well, me. I don’t feel like the Cipher to some doomsday device that could destroy the planet.”
“How you feel is irrelevant,” said Cadmus. “The truth of your nature is the truth no matter how you feel.”
“Does that mean I’m not actually a person?” I said in worry. “Am I just some kind of code?”
“No,” said Cadmus. “You’re still a person. But you are different, even different from other superhumans and neoheroes. You just never knew why until now.”
I put a hand on my forehead. “But how? How did I become a Cipher? I don’t remember ever letting anyone put a Cipher inside me.”
“It was involuntary,” said Cadmus. “On your part, and on the part of your mother as well.”
“Mom?” I said. “What does she have to do with this?”
“She is the reason you are a Cipher,” said Cadmus. “Eighteen years ago, before you were born, Ashley Jason was injected with the Ciphers when she was pregnant with you and your twin brother. She didn’t even know it. She just thought that it was an ordinary flu shot. Little did she realize the true nature of the shot.”
“Why did you choose Mom?” I said. “Why did you inject her with the Ciphers without her consent? Wouldn’t the Ciphers be safer with you guys?”
“Because, at the time, we did not know for sure what the Ciphers were, though early research indicated that they could be used to create superhumans,” said Cadmus. “So we injected them into your pregnant mother in order to see whether you and your brother would end up being more powerful than most superhumans. It appears that that theory was proven correct, given how strong you and your brother are. We did not get your mother’s consent because we did not want her to know about the Ciphers or the Apocalypse Switch.”
“You still didn’t answer the question,” I said. “Why did you let Mom and Dad raise me, but not White Lightning?”
“Because we couldn’t get you, more or less,” said Cadmus. “We kidnapped White Lightning after he was born, but your father stopped us from getting you as well. But we didn’t mind; we just needed one of you in order to see what the Ciphers would do to a human being, which is why we let Theodore and Ashley raise you like a normal child, though we knew you would gain superpowers eventually.”
“So are my powers because of my genetics or because of the Cipher?” I said.
“Both,” said Cadmus. “Your normal powers—flight, super strength, and super speed—were genetic, while your lightning powers are a result of the Cipher. We suspect that Professor Hernandez’s potion helped to unlock your lightning powers when it came into contact with your Cipher.”
> “How do you know that for sure?” I said. “Maybe my lightning powers are just natural.”
“Unlikely, because White Lightning developed his powers around the same time,” said Cadmus. “The likelihood of two superhuman siblings developing the same exact superpowers is ridiculously low, even if they’re twins. Besides, your lightning powers are the Cipher, as are White Lightning’s powers.”
“What?” I said. “You mean that my lightning could destroy the world?”
“Yes,” said Cadmus. “The Apocalypse Switch requires a type of electricity to power that does not exist on Earth. The Ciphers contain this electricity. You gained the Red Cipher, while White Lightning got the Blue Cipher. Combined, your powers can activate the Apocalypse Switch.”
I looked down at my hands. “Is that why Mastermind wants me? He wants to use me and White Lightning to activate the Apocalypse Switch.”
“No doubt,” Cadmus agreed. “It’s the conclusion I came to when Mastermind broke White Lightning out of the facility where he was being kept; therefore, I had you thrown into prison to keep you away from White Lightning and Mastermind while we dealt with them.”
“You mean you were always planning to let me go at some point?” I said.
“Yes,” said Cadmus. “But you very nearly ruined our plan by leading that breakout. By the way, I am going to overlook that once this is all over, because I understand why you did it, even though it was hugely illegal.”
“What are you going to do, throw me into jail again?” I said. “Anyway, so you think Mastermind is going to try to get me and White Lightning together to activate the Apocalypse Switch?”
“Most likely,” said Cadmus. “He most likely wants to destroy this Earth so he can return to his universe and rule it without fear of his own people finding their way here and requesting aid or escaping his tyrannical rule—at least, that is our current theory for his motives.”
