by Wyatt Kane
Ty let the door close behind him and broke out into a spontaneous grin. “Brad!” he yelled, and the untidy shape on the couch shifted. “Come on, man. Wake up!”
“Ugh,” Brad grunted. “Leave me alone,” he said, his words muffled by the blanket. “Can’t you see I’m sick?”
All at once, Ty knew what had happened. Just like the bunnykin Tempest had plucked off the street, Brad had gained access to his own dose of AZT-407. And he was feeling its effects.
Ty’s cheerful nostalgia faded. Yet he had no intention of following Brad’s instructions. He’d just braved the New Lincoln streets on such a foul day, but that was comparatively minor. Much more importantly, he’d come with a purpose, and that purpose was important.
He wandered into the lounge and glanced at the oversized poster hiding the hole in the wall. Last time Ty had been there, it had been Goku and Krillin staring at him, with Master Yoshi in the background. This time, it was Saitama instead, his bald, impassive, unsmiling face surveying the room.
Ty wondered what he would have to do to match that man’s power, and stifled a laugh. One hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten kilometer run every day wouldn’t cut it.
He placed his back against the wall opposite Brad’s couch and slid down until he sat on the floor. From there, he could see Brad’s ginger, untidy face peeking out from the blankets, like a caterpillar that hadn’t quite finished building its cocoon. From what Ty could see, his friend looked awful. His eyes were rimmed with red, and his skin was pale and sweaty.
“Tell me all about it,” he said.
“I said I’m sick,” Brad muttered. “Didn’t you get the memo?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah,” Ty said. “I heard you.” Then he grinned. “I just don’t care all that much,” he said. “You’ve got a story to tell, and I am here to hear it.”
He made no move whatsoever to get up from his spot on the floor.
Brad glared blearily at him from his cocoon. “Bastard,” he said. Then, with a deep sigh, the gamer heaved himself up into a sitting position. Ty noted that the apartment wasn’t spotless after all. Brad had left what looked to be most of a box of rumpled tissues on the couch. He’d been lying on top of them.
“Fine,” the gamer said. “It’s all your fault, really,” he said. “So I guess I should tell you about it.”
It was the second time Ty had been accused of being the cause of an illness. This time, he didn’t ask for clarification, but instead waited for his friend to continue.
Brad uttered an inarticulate groan of discomfort, then let out a monumental belch that must have gone on for five full seconds.
That done, he perked up a little. “That’s better,” he said. “And surprisingly tasty. Although you don’t want to know what happens when you do that on a full stomach.”
Ty couldn’t help himself. “Gross, man,” he said, shaking his head. Yet that type of statement was par for the course with his friend. Brad might not have coined the term, ‘over share,’ but he certainly lived up to the definition. And many of his gamer friends were similar, as Ty had found out both through his headphones when he’d joined Brad on a quest, and in person when he’d accompanied his friend on a night out in town.
“Tell me about it,” Brad said. “If Sarah hadn’t helped me clean up, you would be able to see it for yourself.” He grinned as if in response to a rare joke.
As usual, Brad took things just a step too far. Ty shook his head, denying the visual imagery. But then he used Brad’s words as an opening. “Sarah?” he asked. “She’s not here, is she?” He did what he could to sound casual, not wanting Brad to know just yet that Sarah was the reason he was there.
“Yeah,” Brad said. “She’s a godsend, that one. She’s looking after me. You just missed her – she went out on a grocery run. Ought to be back in a bit,” he said.
Ty filed that away in the back of his mind, privately relieved that Brad’s girlfriend would be returning.
“Well?” he said, bringing the conversation back on track. “Spill.”
Brad was a redhead, pale and scruffy to boot. On his best day, his pallor was sickly and anemic. Right then, it was much worse.
Ty’s friend looked very green around the edges. Ty wouldn’t have been surprised if he threw up on the spot. He didn’t look well enough to be sitting up, let alone hold a conversation.
Yet, after a moment or two to catch his breath, Brad began to talk.
“Your fault,” he repeated. “You and that device on your wrist. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have bothered. You know me. I’m not one for drugs as a general rule. Got to keep my head straight for the game,” he said.
Ty nodded. He knew that about Brad. Despite his slovenly appearance, he was pretty serious when it came to his career. A professional gamer, he had a reputation for reliability, and that was worth as much as his talent within the game.
No way would commissions come his way if he’d been a flake.
“But seeing your life change so much, I thought it was worth a go. I just wanted to see if the same could happen to me,” Brad finished.
Ty nodded. “You took the drug. AZT-407,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
Brad nodded his head, then held himself very still for a moment, as if he had become suddenly nauseous. “Shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered.
“How?” Ty asked. “I thought you said you didn’t qualify for the trial.”
“Yeah,” Brad said. “I didn’t.
Then Brad grinned, showing teeth that could have used a bit of work. “But Sarah has sorted me out. She’s like my own private dealer,” he said. “Fixed me up with the good stuff. Although, I got to admit, it hasn’t all been cherries and cream.” Brad looked at Ty with a puzzled expression. “It wasn’t like this for you, was it? When you got the drug?”
Ty shook his head. “No. I had a reaction, but it was different. Didn’t last very long. But you aren’t the only one to get sick like this.”
Brad looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Huh?” he said.
“You don’t know?” Ty asked.
“Know what?”
“It’s been all over the news nets. There’s an epidemic going on. People are dropping like flies in the street. They got their hands on the drug, and it’s making them very ill.”
Brad’s expression didn’t change. “Can’t be,” he said.
Ty nodded. “Dinah hasn’t confirmed it yet, but I’d bet good money it’s the same drug. It’s everywhere. Tempest and Lilith are trying to make sure those affected get the medical attention they need. And we’re trying to figure out where it’s all coming from so we can stop it.”
Brad stared at him for a moment. Then he shook his head once again, but only a little. “Nah,” he said. “It can’t be the same drug. It must be a coincidence.” Yet Ty knew by his tone that his friend didn’t really believe what he’d said. “Um, what do you mean, medical attention?” he added, sounding worried.
“They’re in a bad way. Dinah says we’ll be lucky if no one dies.”
“Dies?” Brad asked. Then he sat back. “I’ll be fine,” he said, as if seeking to reassure himself. “Sarah will look after me,” he said.
Ty nodded. He hoped that would be the case, and not just for Brad’s sake.
“I don’t know why everyone would put themselves at risk for something like this,” he said randomly.
Yet his words caught Brad’s attention. “You’re kidding, right?” he said.
It was Ty’s turn to be puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Have you really forgotten what it was like just a few weeks ago? Man, your life was totally suck. You had a shitty job, no girlfriend, and no hope for the future. And now look at you. I’ve seen the videos, with you glowing blue, throwing chunks of rock about as if they were nothing. And who was that with you? Lilith? Popping in and out of existence? And let’s not even talk about Tempest!” Brad said.
Despite how ill he seemed to be,
he’d become quite animated during his speech. “Do you know how many people in this god-awful city would give their left hand to have even a tenth of what you have now? If you don’t see the attraction, then if I were you, I would be making an appointment with the optometrist! When this drug came along, I jumped at it, and I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t. Even if the cost was half of your life, I still would have done it. You’ve got superpowers, man! And so do your girlfriends! I’d give the last two inches of my dick for a chance at that!”
Despite himself, Ty had to grin at his friend’s words. “I didn’t know dicks could go into negative numbers,” he quipped, and Brad looked at him for a moment, not getting it. Then he understood.
“Oh. Ha ha,” he said. “Very funny. But seriously, man, this drug is promising something that has no price. If it’s causing an epidemic, there’s no surprise why. It’s offering people hope.”
Brad’s analysis made sense to Ty, but at the same time, it awoke a deep sense of worry. “I wish it didn’t,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
Ty draw a deep breath. “I wish people weren’t so keen to take it,” he said.
“What, you want to keep all these superpowers for yourself?” Brad asked. “You don’t want anyone else to have the chance to be special?”
Ty shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”
Brad’s complexion became suddenly grim, and he seemed to sway in his seat. Ty looked around for a bucket, but the danger soon passed.
“Well, what did you mean?” Brad asked.
Ty knew that the, ‘it’s making people sick’ argument wouldn’t cut it. Brad had already said the risk was worth it. So Ty gave him the real reason he was worried.
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous? My hairy left nut!” Brad said. “You just don’t want anyone else –”
“That isn’t it!” Ty said, cutting his friend off. “Look, there’s stuff going on you don’t know about. Most importantly, why would anyone want to get this drug out into the public if all it did was give people powers?”
Brad frowned. “Are you saying it doesn’t work?”
Ty shook his head. “It works,” he said. He held up his hand, showing Brad the embedded remains of the grenade. “When I took it, I got a new skill. It’s still there, but I can’t use it anymore. But if I was to take another dose, maybe I could.”
Brad stared at Ty’s hand, his expression dumbfounded. “Then why –?” he began.
“I don’t know,” Ty admitted. “Best guess, the person behind all this is looking to build an army of superpowered people, for reasons of his own. Which means he’ll be watching to see who ends up developing a skill.”
Brad frowned, shaking his head yet again. “That won’t work,” he said. “What if those with powers don’t want to join him?”
Ty gave him a smile that held very little humor. “The guy behind all this has a history of using blackmail. What would you do if he threatened your mother’s life to get you to do something? Would you do it? Or it might even be simpler than that. What if you get used to having a new power, but can only keep it if you take more of the drug? What will you do to keep that access?”
Brad was starting to get it, but Ty wanted to make sure. He’d never really thought of it that way either, and was starting to understand just how much of a seismic shift this drug might prove to be. The Master was tipping the board, scattering pieces in every direction. It was going to be chaos, and what shape everything would be in once he was done, Ty couldn’t begin to guess.
All of a sudden, it had become very important to understand the Master’s motivation.
“Sure, there will be some who resist, but they won’t be a problem for long, will they?” Ty shrugged. “The Master will just stop supplying the drug. And for those trying to combat him, it’ll be like setting a game onto expert mode. Instead of battling low-level adversaries as you work your way up to the boss, it’ll be like everyone you meet is a boss.”
It was a metaphor Brad understood. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “I get it. But what can we do about it? Or, what can you do about it, I mean. Because I’m just the gamer who does basic-bitch farming for money. All this stuff is way out of my league.”
“I don’t really know,” Ty admitted. “But the first step is to get out in front of this epidemic, if we can. And just make sure nobody dies if they don’t have to.”
Brad nodded. “What can I do to help?” he asked.
In a moment of cosmic good timing, as soon as Brad asked the question, there came a knock at the door.
Ty grinned. “You?” Ty asked. “I don’t know, exactly. But I’m hoping your girlfriend might have an insight or two about how the drug works, and how we can keep those who took it alive.”
Despite how ill he appeared, Brad returned Ty’s grin. “That’s probably her now,” he said. “Why don’t you answer the door and let her in?”
Ty barked a laugh, appreciating Brad’s swift understanding of the situation as well as his immediate, unspoken offer of his girlfriend’s assistance.
He stood, went to the door, and opened it, expecting nothing more than a moment of confusion on Sarah’s part before inviting her in.
The moment of confusion was exactly as Ty had expected. In person, Sarah was just as pretty as she had appeared in the pictures Brad had shown him before. Slim, dark-haired, with ears that were pointed like those of an elf. She wore a number of earrings along the extended lobes, and her makeup was dark enough to suggest a Gothic vibe.
Altogether, she should have been out of Brad’s league entirely.
Yet when the moment of confusion passed, Sarah did something Ty hadn’t expected. She looked him squarely in the face and said, “You!”
Then she dropped the bag of groceries she carried on the floor, turned and bolted down the hallway.
30: Sarah’s Tale
Ty wasted a moment just looking after her as she scampered away. Then he started to curse, both at her and himself for not anticipating a reaction like that. He’d already figured that Sarah might be working for the Master, so why wouldn’t she beat a hasty retreat?
Then he activated his shield and charged after her using his ability to skim just above the ground.
Brad’s girlfriend was surprisingly quick, but she was no match for Ty’s artificial swiftness. He caught up with her as she slowed down at the stairwell and grabbed her by the arms.
“You and I need to talk–” Ty began.
“Let go of me!” Sarah demanded, trying to twist in his grip.
Ty held her for just a moment longer, mostly to show that he could, “If you run again, I’ll catch you,” he said.
Sarah looked at him not in anger, but with fear. “I’ll scream,” she threatened.
Ty just laughed. “In this neighborhood, it won’t matter. Screams are just part of the background noise. You’d be lucky to get more than a fat older guy leaning out a window telling you to keep it down.”
He could see by her serious expression that she knew it was true. She grew sullen, as if she knew she was beaten, then nodded.
Ty let her go and stepped back. “Now,” he said. He had a number of questions he needed to ask, but there was one thing that seemed more important than the rest. “Tell me. Do you really care for Brad, or was it all a big act to get to me?”
Brad’s girlfriend looked at him in surprise. She frowned, maybe wondering why he would ask that, then looked at the ground. Meekly, she started to answer.
“At first, I was just doing what I’d been told. Brad … well, he was kind of a mess. I thought he was just a slob and I wouldn’t have looked twice if I didn’t have to.” Then she looked back up at Ty, with a pleading expression on her face. It was as if she needed him to believe her.
“But once you get past all that, the stained clothes, careless personal grooming, and everything else, there’s more to him than that.” She hesitated then, and a tinge of pink touched her cheeks. “He’s a genuin
ely nice guy. Surprisingly thoughtful. And in this world where there are so many just doing what they’re told, he’s got the courage to go his own way, even though it might not be the most secure option. You’ve got to respect him for that.” She gave a small shrug.
“I like him,” she finished. “Didn’t think I would, but I do.”
It was good enough for Ty. He gave her a grin and relaxed just a little, and deactivated his shield. “Does he know?” Ty asked.
Sarah could have feigned confusion or pretended not to know what he meant. Instead, to her credit, she shook her head. “He thinks we met by chance.”
Ty nodded again. “Okay. If you want to keep it that way, tell me what I need to know.”
But the woman seemed hesitant. “I’m not supposed to,” she said. “They threatened my family.”
It was a familiar story, and Ty should have guessed. He understood then that Sarah wasn’t a bad person, and that she probably did want to help. She was just caught in a bind, like when the Master had coerced Lilith into helping him by threatening her father.
Who knew how many other people did the man’s bidding because of threats more than loyalty?
“We’ll help you,” Ty promised. “But first, we’ve got to know what you know.”
Sarah bit her lip, thinking it through. Maybe she believed him, or maybe she just thought she didn’t have a choice. And Ty found himself empathizing with her. She wasn’t in a very good situation, and knew it. But, like Lilith, she did what she had to do.
Either way, she nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll tell you. You already know about the drug. And you’ve figured out you didn’t find out about it by chance. What do you want to know?” Her tone as she spoke was no longer sullen or defeated. She’d just made her choice.
To Ty, Brad’s girlfriend was proving remarkable sharp. But then, Brad was too, in his own way.
“Why me?” he asked.
“Because you wear a device,” she said, glancing at Ty’s wrist. “The drug was designed to work in conjunction with it, but all we had was theory. The Master wanted to give the drug to his device-wearers, but the side effects—well, they could have been fatal. Bain was all for just grabbing you off the street, but you were too strong. So, I found a way to learn all about you as quickly as possible, and we set up the clinic.” She looked at Ty. “We tricked you.”
