Red Light Hero

by Kory Shen

  Maiden had posted a guard at her door after that. The guard was an ordinary woman. Maiden had a few non-alpha humans she kept around. Some of the other alphas did, too. They were fanatics pledging their loyalty to an alpha, even if they received nothing in return.

  Blind devotion shone in the eyes of the woman, Erica. Erica would be difficult to trick, but that wasn't the problem. Even if Cover Girl somehow tricked or subdued her, that would accomplish nothing about the damn collar around her neck. It was still hopeless.

  Cover Girl sighed. What was the point of going on? Would it be better to end it quickly? Keeping her alive while she wasted away was Maiden's punishment. If Cover Girl ended it quickly, at least that would piss off Maiden one final time.

  A soft pop and light breeze marked the sudden displacement of air. She sat up and scrambled backwards at the sight of familiar boots. It was Maiden.

  "Look at you," Maiden said. "Pathetic. Like the cheap whore you are."

  "Maiden, please—"

  "Shut up! Talking to you is disgusting enough. I don't want to listen to your slobbering too." She glowered at Cover Girl. "I came to tell you one thing. He's here in the city. Last time Godmother saved him, but not this time. Tonight, he dies."

  Cover Girl tried to speak, but Maiden punched the wall. She flickered a fraction of an inch to the side at the moment of contact. A piece of concrete near her fist also flickered to the side, breaking off from the rest of the wall. A small crater remained where Maiden had struck with her telepunch.

  "Don't worry," Maiden said. "I'll make sure he dies slowly."

  Erica rushed into the room. Her eyes widened when she saw Maiden. She bowed her head. "Is everything okay, my lady?"

  "Soon, they will be. When I return, I want you waiting for me in my bedchambers."

  Erica raised her head in astonishment. "My lady?"

  "I'm feeling generous. When I return, you'll receive what this one cast aside."

  "Do you mean…" Erica's mouth fell open.

  "Yes, tonight I will grant you a portion of my powers."

  Erica fell to her knees. "My lady!"

  "You can't!" Cover Girl said. "The risk is too great. You could kill her!"

  Erica spat on Cover Girl. "You dare talk to my lady like that?"

  Cover Girl didn't move to wipe the spittle from her face.

  Maiden reached down to help Erica to her feet. "Don't sully yourself by kneeling in front of this one. Be ready for when I return. I intend to have a long celebration." She stroked the side of Erica's face, then let her hand wander further down, where it lingered over her right breast. Erica inhaled sharply, a rapturous look on her face. Cover Girl turned away.

  A light noise signaled that Maiden had left. When Cover Girl looked back, she found Erica staring at her, eyes filled with hate.

  "Maiden has been with her betas for too long. You know that you'll probably die?" Cover Girl said.

  "I'm not like you, traitor," Erica said, her voice dripping with scorn. "Unlike you, I would give everything to be closer to my lady. Even my life." She left the room.

  Cover Girl stared at the leaving woman in disbelief. The woman would have never dared to talk back to an alpha before. Did the allure of alpha powers change people so quickly? Cover Girl shook her head, then stopped. Who was she to judge? The idea of losing her alpha powers had turned her into a helpless mess. Wasn't that the same, in reverse? She was letting her alpha powers control her.

  Had she been thinking about killing herself? The fuck?

  She held up her hand. It faded from view momentarily, then reappeared. Maybe she would go crazy when she lost her powers, but that hadn't happened yet. Cover Girl was still alive. So was Page Glory, although she winced at what her fans must think of her sudden disappearance. Richard had access to her social media and would likely continue posting on her behalf. At least she hoped he would.

  That word. Hope.

  While Alan was alive, she had hope. She had to help him, but what could she do from here? She stood and started pacing, but her shaky knees forced her to stop. She sat back down and reached for the bread and water.

  If Alan had already survived for this long, she wouldn't count him out in a fight with Maiden and the others. Not when Godmother had his back.

  * * *

  Godmother sat alone in her office. She reached into one of the desk's drawers and pulled out a small laptop. A thick cable extended from the rear into the back of the drawer. She blew dust off the top of the laptop, then opened it. It had been, what, over a year since she had last talked to Sire like this? Installing the secure line isolated from the rest of The Strip's network had been quite expensive. Three miles of specially laid optical fiber, deep underground. At times like this, though, it was worth every penny.

  She typed into the laptop, sending the querying command. She waited. The reply arrived.

  A face appeared on the screen, hidden behind a shield of blue energy.

  "Really?" Godmother said. "This is how you greet me?"

  The blue energy vanished, leaving behind a rugged but handsome face. "Fara."

  "Sirius."

  "Your playthings are here." It wasn't a question. Of course he would know.

  "And your children were here the other day. Uninvited."

  Sire shrugged. "Children will be children. You know how it is."

  "They violated our agreement," Godmother said.

  "You stole Star. He belongs to me."

  "I didn't steal him. He came to me of his own free will."

  "He's mine," Sire growled.

  Godmother leaned closer to the screen. "Does that mean you're ending our agreement?" she asked in a calm tone.

  The two stared at each other through the screen. Finally, Sire spoke.

  "I don't have to. He's coming to me." Sire snickered. "Of his own free will."

  "Yes, about that. I'd like to make a wager," Godmother said.

  "Wager? What is there to win? I have already won."

  Godmother studied her fingernails casually. "They say the true worth of a thoroughbred is only evident in its offspring."

  "That is obvious."

  Godmother pointed at the face in the screen. "Your children versus mine. Step aside and let the strongest ones win."

  "I could reach down and pluck him for myself," Sire said.

  But Godmother already knew he would agree. She knew what he wanted. A legacy. Above all, Sire prided himself on his strength and, moreover, the strength of his lineage. It was his one true weakness. She waited.

  "However, your wager amuses me," Sire said. "Very well. I will not interfere. If Star wins, he is free to leave."

  "His comrades as well. All of them are free to leave."

  "That turncoat? HumiliT?" Sire scowled. "A wasted effort."

  "Then it won't be any loss to let her go."

  "No, she must be punished to set an example."

  Godmother grimaced inwardly. Pushing Sire on this point would be dangerous, but HumiliT was too important to abandon. Alan needed her. Godmother hesitated to play her last card. She hated depending on others, but she had learned her lesson long ago.

  Alan misunderstood. He wasn't a cog in the machine. He was the machine. If Godmother didn't trust him, she might as well quit now while she was ahead. No, she wasn't going to quit. This was The Strip. She was going all in.

  Godmother spoke calmly. "If my children win, Alan and all of his comrades go free. All of them. If they lose, I'll surrender to you."

  Sire stared at Godmother. "You would wager yourself on your playthings?" He laughed. "Only a fool ties his fate to weakness. Are you sure you can uphold this bargain?"

  "I always keep my word," Godmother replied coldly.

  "As do I," Sire said. "I agree to your wager. Let the strongest side win."

  The video disappeared. Godmother stared at the blank screen for another moment.

  She had played her turn. Now it was up to the others to play theirs.

  CHAPTER 31

&
nbsp; "Electrophile's here?" HumiliT asked.

  "I think he talked to me," Alan said. "He's on his way."

  HumiliT's eyes hardened. "I'm not afraid of him." She peered around her. "Where is he?"

  Oh boy. That wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. "HumiliT. We have to get back to Violet. In and out, remember?"

  HumiliT looked like she would argue, but she beckoned for Alan to follow her. "We'll go out the way we came. One, two, three."

  She zoomed away, and Alan followed. He glimpsed bodies strewn across the floor as they retraced their path back to their initial point of entry. HumiliT stopped before stepping outside, and Alan threw himself to the side awkwardly to avoid running into her.

  "Watch your step," HumiliT said.

  "Sorry," Alan mumbled.

  HumiliT took a quick peek outside. "Up ahead is an armed response team." She paused. "I don't see Electrophile, but if we stop to engage, we risk giving him time to find us."

  "Let's run through them, then."

  HumiliT nodded. "We'll likely take a few hits. Have you been shot before? At super speed?"

  "Uh, no? Aren't I invulnerable? Can't I take bullets?" Alan asked.

  "The bullets won't hurt. Not much. But if you're sprinting at that speed, a stray bullet can easily trip you. Once you stop moving, you'll be a sitting duck for focused fire."

  Alan frowned. If HumiliT was warning him, that meant her powers didn't make her as invincible as he had thought. "What if my speed runs out? I'm not sure how much I used to break the server encryption."

  "I don't know how your viral loads compare to mine, but if I had to guess, I'd say I used about half of my speed viral strain already."

  HumiliT had also fought off several groups of response teams. That had only taken a few seconds of super speed each time. He had spent a full minute on the encryption. And he didn't know if there were other effects from using it with Stalker's powers. It's not as if they had a choice, though.

  "Okay. I'm ready. What do I do if a bullet hits me?"

  HumiliT grinned. "Keep your balance. On three. One, two, three."

  HumiliT dashed out of the opening in the wall with Alan right behind her. Bright floodlights lit up the entire lawn of the Pentagon. Alan had a split second to tally the groups of armed units aiming their weapons at him. But by then, HumiliT and Alan had already reached the main contingent.

  HumiliT broke through the ranks first, pushing the men out of her path. Alan weaved his way through the opening past them. No one had fired a shot yet, and Alan was celebrating their luck. They had breached the defense line and run about a hundred yards when the quiet city night erupted in gunfire.

  Their backs were to the shots, and Alan didn't dare slow down to see what was happening. The ground exploded in small plumes of dirt and asphalt as bullets peppered the area around them. Something hit him square in the back, knocking him forward. Alan fell, did two rolls on the ground, and kept running without having missed a beat. Shit, he was lucky. Was that his agility power? Because he sure as hell didn't know any gymnastics.

  Another bullet clipped his right leg, jarring it out of position as he was planting his foot. This time, he tumbled across the ground like a ragdoll before smacking a parked car, shattering its windshield. HumiliT stopped to pull him back to his feet.

  "Come on!" she yelled and took off running again.

  Alan risked a glance backwards. They were several blocks away from the Pentagon by now. The night sky was clear and cloudless, but as he watched, a lightning bolt shot straight upwards above the Pentagon. He turned around and ran after HumiliT.

  Violet was waiting in the driver's seat when they arrived.

  HumiliT opened the driver's door and jerked her thumb. "Out. I'm driving."

  Violet gave her an exasperated look but didn't argue. She shifted to the passenger seat. Alan got into the back.

  "Did it work?" Violet asked.

  "Sort of," Alan said. "I think I fried all the electronics around me. I had to send the files to a nearby data center. We can pick them up later with HumiliT's backdoor access."

  "Hold on," Violet said. "You sent the Alpha Files to a data center? Here? In D.C.?"

  Alan nodded.

  "It was the best we could come up with on short notice," HumiliT said.

  "We have to get the files to Godmother," Violet said.

  "I know," Alan said. "We couldn't contact her. Can you pass on the access credentials?"

  "I'm on it." Violet typed furiously on her laptop. She turned the laptop over to him. "Type here."

  Alan typed the information. Then he gave the laptop back to Violet.

  "Okay, one second now." Violet repeatedly tapped a key on her laptop. "Shit!" She kept tapping on a key.

  "What's wrong?" HumiliT asked.

  "The network connection's down. I can't access anything." Violet pulled out her phone. "I've lost internet access on my phone too."

  "The fuck?" Alan said. The timing was too inconvenient to be a coincidence.

  "It's Electrophile," HumiliT said. "Or Stalker, same thing. Media and network blackouts are standard operating procedures for them."

  "They can do that?" Violet asked. "Over this large an area?"

  "We're not very far from the Pentagon," HumiliT said. "We can try driving further out and contacting Godmother."

  Alan swallowed. He had told himself a hundred times that this was the right thing to do. He had to.

  "No, we can't leave. We need to cross the river and head towards the Institute."

  The others stared at him as if he had gone crazy.

  "The Institute?" Violet asked.

  "Why?" HumiliT asked. Her voice quavered. "Sire's there, you know."

  "So is Cover Girl," Alan said. "Stalker showed me. Maiden's keeping her there as a prisoner. I have to help her."

  "It's too dangerous," Violet said. "I know how you feel about Cover Girl, but what if Stalker showed you that on purpose? What if they're waiting for us there?"

  Alan had to admit he agreed somewhat. The Pentagon operation had seemed almost too easy, as if to lure them into a sense of safety. To make them risk something stupid, like what he was proposing. A hustle.

  "For once, I'll have to agree with her," HumiliT said. "I'm not afraid of Maiden or Electrophile, but Sire." Her lips pressed tightly together. "Sire's different. He's not human."

  Alan looked back and forth between the two skeptical women. "Please. I need both of you. I can't do this alone."

  "Alan, I'd do anything to help you, but this is suicide," Violet said. "You heard HumiliT. Sire's there. We don't know what we're up against."

  "HumiliT, you know the Institute's layout, right?" Alan asked. "We'll be in and out, just like with the Pentagon."

  "We don't even know if your viral load's high enough," HumiliT pointed out.

  "What happened?" Violet asked.

  Alan lifted his wrist to Violet apologetically. "I think I fried it."

  Violet sighed. "Here, take mine. I can only set it to read two strains, but I've already calibrated it for your viral signatures."

  Alan raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

  "I thought it might come in handy." They swapped wrist bands. Violet reached over to grab his wrist. "Which viral loads do you want to monitor?"

  He hadn't used much strength, agility, or endurance. He hadn't even touched Violet's powers. He was most concerned about running out of his Stalker and speed powers.

  "Speed and Stalker powers," he said.

  Violet tapped the controls of his new wrist band.

  "I really need to get one of those," HumiliT said.

  "There." Violet let go of his wrist.

  Alan checked the display. SPD 18. STK 25. Crap. He had really burned through the speed powers. He showed the display to the others. "I'll need to conserve these."

  "Only if you don't come back with us to The Strip," HumiliT said.

  "Our mission's to get the Alpha Files and return home," Violet said.

  "I can'
t," Alan said. "Cover Girl's there because of me. Stalker said Maiden's cutting off her powers. You know what that means to a long-time alpha. Please."

  He turned to Violet. "You promised that you'd do what's right. Isn't saving Cover Girl the right thing to do?"

  Violet didn't answer.

  "HumiliT, I need you to guide me in there. Please."

  HumiliT didn't reply, either. Instead, Violet spoke. "We can come back another time after we secure the files."

  Alan shook his head. "This is our window. Electrophile's occupied at the Pentagon. They'll think that was our only objective. They won't expect us to attack again right away."

  "Because only an idiot would risk attacking the Institute," HumiliT said.

  "We'll grab Cover Girl and be gone before they know it," Alan said. "Don't you want to make a statement? Prove that you're better than them? I don't mean stronger or faster. A better alpha. A hero. That you won't abandon your own."

  HumiliT and Violet exchanged glances.

  "We're fucked, aren't we?" HumiliT said.

  Violet shook her head. "He's right. This might be our only chance. And we owe it to Cover Girl. She's the reason we could all be here in the first place."

  HumiliT sighed. "She's okay, I suppose. Kind of like you. Not a total bitch like Maiden."

  "I guess that's a compliment?" Violet turned to Alan. "If anything happens…" she began.

  "We'll still know that we made the right choice," Alan said.

  HumiliT rolled her eyes. "Enough with the mushy talk. Let's get this over with."

  CHAPTER 32

  HumiliT stood at the edge of the yard surrounding the Institute with Alan and Violet on either side of her. The familiar outlines of the rectangular building were visible under the lights of the city night. Her heart thumped faster. She hadn't felt afraid in a long time.

  This was a bad idea. He was here. Why had she let Alan goad her into this dangerous stunt?

  "I want to help Cover Girl," HumiliT said, "but we shouldn't be here." She couldn't shake the immediate feeling of dread, as if a threat had triggered some sixth sense.