Super Powereds: Year 4

by Hayes, Drew

  For a long moment, Alex sat in silence, or as much silence as was possible in the midst of a college Halloween party, contemplating Selena’s words. There were some solid points in there, along with other areas where he could likely debate her, but what would it accomplish? She’d hit the nail on the head. He was miserable carrying on like this. He had been for months. Coping through training had been healthy and productive, but not even Chad could train every minute of every day. Alex needed to take a step forward in dealing with the rest of his life. Of all the other parts Selena had said, she was unquestionably right that Sasha wouldn’t have put up with this endless moping.

  “If you weren’t my ex, I might just kiss you for that,” Alex said at last. “Thanks. I think I needed someone to call me out.”

  “That’s what exes, at least those who are your friends, are for.” Selena leaned forward, and for a heart-stopping moment Alex thought she might have gotten the wrong idea and was going for the kiss anyway. Instead, she veered to the side, her mouth stopping a few inches from Alex’s ear. Before he could wonder what whisper was coming, he heard a softly-hummed tune. It was so gentle that no one else in the room could possibly take note; this was a song just for him.

  As she sang, Alex felt his body unclench in places he hadn’t even noticed had gone tense. For the first time in months, a sense of ease filled him, bubbling up from within like warm tea. This wasn’t a song of slumber, or wildness, or any of the other tricks he’d seen from her before. No, this was a song of peace.

  And in that moment, it was exactly what Alex needed.

  82.

  In a weekend filled with constant worry and strain so far, it was a small mercy that, for the next few hours, nothing of note occurred. Violet dug through the internet and found obscure drinking games for every awful movie Nick had lined up and dragged others into her festivities. Thomas, one of the rare openly sober partygoers, was sent on a run for ice somewhat early on. There was no actual need for it, Eliza could duplicate frozen water without drawing attention, but it was an important precedent to set if she had to explain away a few missing partiers later on. A fight nearly broke out between two of the mundanes, but as tempers flared and they were suddenly closed in on all sides by tense, ready bodies, some primal aspect of their minds registered that perhaps violence was not the answer after all.

  The one thing that mattered the most did keep happening, and that was Eliza doling out drinks while keeping a careful eye on her non-paying customers. She’d water them down if needed, more than once handing out actual water with a spritz of club soda, but overall she was successfully keeping the party nice and liquored up. Not everyone was drinking, of course, but those who were helped to create a general rabble and atmosphere of chaos, making it all the harder to keep track of what anyone aside from the person directly in front of you might be up to.

  Nick, Alice, and Mary didn’t wait until the party began to crash to slip away. Too many eyes would be roving then, looking for bedding or friends. No, as the party raged in full swing they departed separately, each making a quick excuse to whomever they were speaking to and then vanishing. This moment, at the height of fun and revelry, would be their best chance to get away unnoticed. And should the absences be noted, Jerome and Eliza had been left behind with quick excuses to buy them time.

  The apartment that was their destination wasn’t leased to Nick, Eliza, Jerome, or anyone affiliated with their Vegas Family. Enough digging would uncover that it was rented by a corporate housing subsidiary on behalf of a company that didn’t really exist. It was on the ground floor, down a few hallways, close enough that returning to the party would be easy, while still far enough away that there was space to lose a tail. Nick was the last to arrive, taking his time to do one last tour of the area for peace of mind. Though there were a few countermeasures in place, most of the professors had had to keep their distance from this project. A bunch of students partying was one thing, but the moment one of the HCP teachers was in the same vicinity, suspicions would be raised. This put Nick a touch more at ease to scout their surroundings for himself, even though Jerome had done a sweep not five minutes prior.

  He walked in to find Mary and Alice already lying on two of three cots lined up in a row. Near them stood an impressively unremarkable woman, a talent only someone who knew the value of such skill could appreciate, and Mr. Transport. The woman, whom Nick was forced to assume was Galina, gave a brief nod of greeting, then motioned for him to lock the door.

  “I won’t waste time with preamble,” she said as soon as the last deadbolt was fastened into place. “You all know why we’re here, and we have precious little time to work with, so unless there is anything you need to report, I suggest we get started. Everyone ready?”

  Nick looked to Mary, who in turn looked to Alice. Both Nick and Mary were needed for this, but they were only secondary aspects of the plan. It was Alice who would bear the brunt of it, who might learn things or face truths she was happier never knowing. If anyone had the right to call off this plan, it was her.

  “We’re ready,” Alice replied, reaching out for Mary’s hand. “Once we’re all linked, put me under. I want to go get some goddamn answers.”

  * * *

  Will’s mind was not on the party, regardless of the fact that his body had been dragged there by Jill and the rest of his housemates. It was nice to know that she’d still be living with them, even once she was no longer in the program, but all the same, her decision to quit the HCP had put Will far from the mood to party. If anything, his Subtlety training was the only thing keeping him from appearing as morose as Alex, who’d perked up a bit since the sit-down with Selena. Will was glad to see his friend more cheerful; it was long overdue, though he did hope this didn’t herald the beginning of those two trying to get back together. After all that had passed between them, it would just be a recipe for more heartache, and Will wasn’t sure Alex could withstand it at this point.

  Wandering as Will’s brain was, he still paid attention to his surroundings, a habit ingrained in him from both constant combat and Professor Pendleton’s endless training. Between that and the lack of alcohol in his system, it didn’t escape his notice when Alice, Mary, and Nick all slipped away in rapid succession. He was sure something was up—with that group, there almost always was—but he made no effort to investigate. For one thing, Nick was not the sort of person Will wanted to cross without reason; he recognized a dark ruthlessness behind those sunglasses that mirrored what bubbled up inside him on occasion. And for another, Will didn’t particularly consider it his business what they were doing. He’d certainly had reason to keep a few secrets from time to time, and so long as their activities didn’t get him or the people he cared for hurt, they weren’t his problem to worry about.

  What did concern him, however, was a brunette near the edges of the crowd, one who seemed too anxious for this long into a party. She wore a simple jester costume with a brightly colored mask and seemed to be hanging to the sidelines, constantly scanning those having fun. The woman looked young, a bit too young for the crowd, in fact. Granted, he could only see so much of her face so he might be wrong, but Will still felt like something was off about her. Even if he couldn’t tell what it was yet, he turned his worried mind to the task of keeping an eye on her.

  Regardless of how he was feeling, Will Murray would be shamed as a Subtlety major if he allowed a spy to walk freely in their midst.

  83.

  Time was a difficult force to pin down in dreams, even in the half-formed illusions that Rich Weaver’s power provided. There was no way to determine exactly how long they’d been in Alice’s subconscious (still a lovely spa, with a few additional pieces of gym equipment pushing the spa aspects to perhaps less than half) with nothing happening. It could have been seconds or days from their perspective. The one thing they did know concretely was that Galina had a time limit, which meant every moment spent with no Abridail added to their mounting tension. Alice and Nick both availed themse
lves of shoulder rubs from the mental masseuses, while Mary just tried to keep her mind calm.

  “He’s coming.” She said the words as soon as she felt the presence pushing at the edges of Alice’s mind. Even with that, she was too slow.

  “Actually, he’s here.” Abridail stepped out from nowhere, manifesting into being as though he’d slid through a door no one else could see. “Here, and a bit surprised. Last time was debatable, but tonight you certainly seem to be waiting on me. And with a new guest, no less. It’s always a pleasure to see you, Alice, but I hope you’ve remembered that I told you all I could the last time we met.”

  “To be fair, you said all you would, not all you could.” Nick snapped his fingers and the masseuse rubbing his shoulders immediately stopped and headed back to the spa. “Hi there, Nick Campbell: crook, scoundrel, sneak, thief, and guy with overall poor morality. And tonight, I’ll be playing the role of negotiator on behalf of one Alice Adair.”

  “Negotiator?” Abridail hardly looked alarmed at the development; if anything he seemed amused, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. “And what, pray tell, are you here to negotiate for? I didn’t misspeak earlier; all I know about the coming potential futures has been shared.”

  Nick nodded, hopping up from his cushy chair to meet Abridail’s eyes on their own level. “No one is doubting you there, and I want to say upfront that we all genuinely appreciate you tipping us off to the whole ‘potential apocalypse of civilization’ thing. Honestly, we do. But that’s not what tonight is about. I’m here because Alice still has a lot of questions left about the source of those visions. We want to know about Shelby Adair: where she is, what happened to her, and, while we’re at it, why don’t you throw in anything you know about Globe as well. Seeing as you owed him a favor, there’s bound to be at least some connection between you two.”

  The smirk on Abridail’s lips died slowly as his face returned to its more stoic expression. “There is nothing of worth that I could tell you about Globe, and the favor I owed him was a one-time thing. As for Shelby… I will admit that I would like to share what I know. However, I cannot do so in good conscience. She doesn’t want Alice chasing her ghost. Some secrets are better left that way, as she sees it. Whether I agree or not, I refuse to betray the confidence of a dear friend who trusts me.”

  “But what if we can help her?” Alice protested. “You know what we are. The procedure that cured us, it could work for her too. If you just gave us a location—”

  “Then you would go steal her away in the night, only to realize that none of you actually have the means to replicate that procedure?” Abridail asked. “Wherever she is now, Shelby has a better chance of getting help.”

  “You don’t know her location, do you?” It was Nick’s turn to smile, one of Abridail’s words adding credence to a suspicion he’d hatched long before this meeting. “I thought that might be the case. You really have no idea where Shelby Adair really is.”

  “Of course he knows,” Mary said. “He told us himself how often they talk.”

  “But… but he can only know as much as she does.” Alice could have smacked herself in the forehead; it should have been obvious. “If my mom doesn’t know where she is, then neither would Abridail.”

  Some of the wind seemed to leave Abridail’s sails as he walked over to a juice bar and knocked his fingers on the counter, a fresh smoothie appearing moments later. “Whether I know or not is strictly irrelevant, since I wouldn’t share it anyway. But the truth is that no, I don’t currently have any idea of your mother’s whereabouts.”

  “Yet all is not lost, because I’ve got a hunch you know someone who might.” Nick joined Abridail at the juice bar, though when he knocked on the counter he was given a gin and tonic. “And now that the actual stakes are finally on the table, we know what we can negotiate for. Tell us what you know about Alice’s mother and about the favor you did for Globe. Even if you leave out a few specifics here and there it’s perfectly fine, since I’m assuming you had Globe do something involving your body and you’re trying to protect your identity.”

  Abridail choked on his smoothie a bit, green goop spraying into the air and vanishing before it hit a solid surface. “My body?”

  “Oh, right, sorry. I forgot to put our offer into play. How silly of me,” Nick replied. “You see, I realized a while back how odd it was that every time Alice went under, you were there. That is a very specific set of circumstances to line up, her getting whomped by Rich when you’re dream-walking. Odds are incredibly low of it happening once; twice is out of the question. No, the only way that shook out was if one of you was constantly in that state. I know Alice isn’t the one zoned out for hours a day, which only leaves you, Abridail. Or do you prefer your given name? Abraham Idriss Ailes, I believe it was.”

  Nick reached into the air and from nowhere produced a small stack of papers, which he tossed on to the counter in front of Abridail. “Once I hit on the idea that you were always dream-walking, it was just a matter of research. Loads upon loads of research, granted, but still paper-sifting all the same. While it took me a long time, eventually I found you at that care facility in Texas.”

  “I see.” Abridail gave the papers a glance, photos from Nick’s memory confirming that it was indeed his own form in the hospital bed. “So, you’ve come to threaten me.”

  “We can go that route if needed, but I was always taught that people work a lot harder when they’re racing toward a prize rather than away from a threat. Seeing you in that room told me something a lot more important than just your name.” Nick tilted back his glass and polished off the remainder of his cocktail in a single triumphant gulp.

  “You’re no Super, Abraham. You’re a Powered, just like Shelby is and we were. Which means I’ve got something to trade that we both know you desperately want.”

  84.

  “Actually, you in no way have the ability to offer that trade,” Abridail pointed out after a moment’s consideration. “The whole reason you are all here is that you’re desperate for leads about the procedure. How exactly do you plan to use something you don’t even have as a bargaining chip?”

  “Good question, with a simple answer.” Nick tossed the empty glass onto the counter, where it spun twice before refilling itself. “See, thanks to you showing us Shelby’s visions of the future, we know that eventually the procedure gets out. That’s pretty much the crux of the whole ‘looming potential war’ thing you cautioned these two about. Sooner or later, that procedure becomes available to the rest of the world. The question here is whether or not you’ve got anyone personally invested in making sure some comatose Powered is among the first to receive it. My guess says that Abraham the person doesn’t have those kinds of connections. But me, I’ve got a shitload of money for bribes and an HCP staff that will all lobby to get you at the top of the list. And one thing you should know about me, Abridail, I never renege on a deal.”

  The argument gave Abridail pause as he considered Nick’s points. “Technically, we don’t know the procedure will get out. Shelby can only see the most likely futures; a curveball is still a possibility.”

  “That a fact?” Nick said. “Well, as an experienced gambler, I know the value in playing the odds. If you want to bet on the long shot, I guess that’s ultimately your call.”

  “Abridail… why are you fighting us so hard on this?” Alice walked over to join them at the juice bar, seemingly on impulse, though she’d in fact been biding her time for just this moment. Nick was hitting the logical buttons well; however, she could ply the dream-walker with emotional appeal. Combined, she hoped that both tactics would succeed where individual ones would have failed. “I know my mom wanted to keep some things secret from me, but to her I’m probably still a baby or a child. She doesn’t know the woman I grew into, that I’m strong enough to survive the HCP. While I get the desire to keep a promise, is there really anything you can say that’s worse than a lifetime of not knowing what happened to my mother?”r />
  “There very well might be.” Abridail’s voice lowered as he turned from Nick to Alice, taking in the young woman’s pleading gaze. “You two make an appealing case, and I won’t deny that I’m genuinely tempted by the offer. But Alice, your mother wasn’t wrong to want to protect you from this. I’ve seen the truth in your past, and the waves it sent across the potential futures. If I show you everything, there will be no going back. There will be people you can never look at the same way, and that includes the woman you see in the mirror.”

  “She was just a baby when this happened,” Mary pointed out, chipping in from several feet away. “What could Alice have possibly done?”

  “Technically nothing, yet, in a way, everything,” Abridail said. “You have no idea how much the presence of Alice Adair impacted this world, but she had no control over it. That’s why your mother wanted to shield you, Alice. She never wanted you to blame yourself for any of it, or for you to know certain truths about your family.”

  “And that’s my limit for vague pseudo-talk.” Nick clapped his hands together once, refocusing everyone’s attention in his direction. “Abridail, I respect that you’re upholding a promise; however, it was a promise made on false grounds. Shelby no doubt thinks Alice needs protecting, but Shelby is a mother who was separated from her child. She hasn’t gotten to see the person that Alice has become, and let me assure you, it is one that very much does not need anyone’s protection.”