by Pal, J
Once satisfied with their placements, I made a couple of changes to the basement. An underground garden had blossomed where the generator used to be. It didn’t cost a lot, so I spent a bit of biomatter to add a sunlamp and a small water feature that would keep the plants hydrated. Next, I built a dormitory between the water feature and the doorbell. It had a couple of beds, a small sitting area near the garden, and a bathroom. Our cameras would monitor every square inch of the accessible regions except the toilet and shower areas.
Finally, I tweaked the Hub’s permissions list to include our two new guests. They had full access to the functional parts of the basement. They could use the stairwell too, but only to climb to the ground floor and enter the cafeteria. Everything else was off-limits. To ensure they wouldn’t cause trouble, I sent a message to Fin through the interface—I hadn’t known I could do that. When I gave him my instructions, he was ecstatic. The Menageries babies finally had some work to do. A trio of ankylopus would now guard the Hub’s interior. Two of them would stay on the ground floor to deter our guests if they tried anything. The third would chill out in the stairwell between the ground and first floor. The rest would patrol our immediate vicinity, ensuring nothing got close to the base.
Once done, I returned to the ground floor. Nothing had changed in my absence. Sniper looked at me, wiping her eyes. The girl needed to drink something if she wanted to continue crying. I wasn’t going to tell her how to deal with her grief—I had no right to—but she needed fuel and hydration.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
She glared at me. While their actions had indirectly gotten one of our people killed, we as a group had killed two of theirs. The first had died when they’d followed Pallav and Rajesh home. I didn’t know who it was or how it happened. It was probably Liam who did it. He had disappeared for a while during the fight. Kitty’s rat golem, Pinky, had gone wild too. Then when they ambushed us in the mantis nest, I’d killed Chroma, the invisible woman, in self-defense. Sniper had reason to suspect me also.
“Anna,” she said after a couple of minutes.
“We can’t let your brother’s body just lay here, Anna.” I didn’t have a lot of experience with children. Our age difference was approximately half a decade, so out of respect, I treated her as someone my age. “This building—our base—functions off biomatter. Sooner or later, it will deem him as raw material and absorb him. How about we give him a proper send-off?”
“How can you be so insensitive?” Helena demanded, jumping to her feet. Her sudden movements took me by surprise, but I didn’t let it show. “Anna just lost her brother. Give her time to deal with the shock.”
Anna grabbed Helena’s hand, silencing the local woman. “Do you mean he’d permanently become a part of the building?”
I nodded. “The structure would repurpose him to fix any damage, add to the defenses, or for construction of any other structure I want.”
“Would you let me stay here if your building absorbs him?” she asked.
I looked at Kitty, unsure of how to answer the question. Anna, our former enemy, wanted to know whether she could join us. It wasn’t a decision either of us could make on the spot. It was something we’d need to discuss with the rest of the team.
“We can’t decide that right now,” I answered. “Considering our history and what we just observed, trusting you now wouldn’t be the smartest decision. At the same time, considering how important this base is to us, we can’t exactly let you go. For all we know, you could sell our location to someone.” Both Anna and Helena opened their mouths to protest. “I’m not making any accusations, but it’s the way of the world now. I don’t know about you, Helena, but Anna, your group had chosen the ‘by any means necessary path.’ To err on the side of caution, we’ll need to detain you for a while as we assess the situation.”
“In other words, we’re your prisoners?” Helena demanded, nostrils flared and brow furrowed.
“If that’s what you want to call it, sure,” Kitty said. “One of you has tried killing us with exploding arrows. The other got chased down by their former allies into our territory. I think we’re justified to hold you for the time being.”
“It’s alright with me,” Anna said. “Let your Hub absorb Kyle’s body. I’ll sit tight until you decide what you’d like to do with me. But, if my brother’s body becomes a part of this building, he’s a permanent fixture. I promise to do whatever I can to protect this place.” Her voice cracked and quivered as she spoke, but she didn’t let any more tears flow. “I know it sounds stupid, but he’d do the same thing for me.”
I didn’t address the sentiment. This was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl I was dealing with, and reacting to such an idea appropriately was beyond me. “If either of you can fill me in on what was going on there, it will speed up the decision-making process. The more information we have, the better it will be for you two.”
Morpheus helped carry Blur’s body to the basement. We showed the pair where they’d be staying and the green area. Anna decided it was a perfect spot for her brother. As an avid fan of cross-country running, he loved everything green. We placed the corpse by the water feature and stepped away. I didn’t quite understand how it worked, but the Hub, most likely, understood what we intended. The floor came to life and rippled before consuming Kyle. Anna let out a soft whimper when the body disappeared but didn’t make another peep.
Our new guests were both famished but wanted to clean up first. For a moment, I wondered whether to warn them about the cameras or not. Then I reasoned that if the pair got up to any illicit activities, they’d try limiting it to the shower or toilet. We needed to behave as Big Brother until they proved trustworthy or the current threat passed, so I kept my mouth shut.
Kitty and I returned to the ground floor to prepare food. Considering the somber mood, we went for a hearty lunch. It was almost evening, so perhaps calling it dinner would be more appropriate. Kitty browned a beef shoulder fillet on the stovetop before popping it in the oven to roast. Then she started on gravy and salad, while I put my new hand to use, prepping the mash. Thanks to the lack of feeling, I had no trouble handling hot potatoes or crushing them. The meat was about halfway cooked when the pair came up to the cafeteria.
Helena tried to explore the ground floor, but the ankylopus blocked her way. They weren’t fully grown yet, but I assumed the bone armor made them as powerful as elites. Engaging a two-on-two fight against them as C-ranks wasn’t the best of ideas. Sniper didn’t have a weapon either. Then again, we didn’t know the details of her power yet. If their limited movements bothered them, the pair didn’t let it show. Instead, the two stood just outside the kitchen at the cafeteria counter, watching us work.
We called for the team once the food was ready, and we all assembled around the table. I openly disclosed what call we had taken with the new pair, and no one refuted my decision. An emoticon with raised eyebrows appeared on Liam’s dome for a second before disappearing. The discussion would have to wait until later, so we didn’t push the matter.
Tears streamed down Anna’s face as she ate. Again. None of us stepped forward to comfort her. Helena was so busy devouring the hot meal, she didn’t even notice. Both abandoned table manners and attacked the food. David watched Anna eating wide-eyed. Then Caitlin nudged the boy, setting him straight.
Helena put away more food than her petite frame could potentially store. Again, we didn’t call attention to it. Perhaps the locals didn’t have the means to prepare decent food, or her power demanded a lot more calories than the average human.
Around halfway through the meal, Helena started talking. She started talking about the locals and their hierarchy. There used to be three people running the show. Omar, the Bioengineer, built the spine armors for everyone that joined them. It enhanced the wearer’s powers and general physical capabilities. It was why they were collecting biometal.
Next, they had Frieda. She had been using her Stoneshaper power to build an unde
rground shelter and network for their group. The woman was the glue that kept the group together and was the reason everyone felt safe despite the local threats.
Lastly, there was Arjan, the Emberborn. His power had experienced a giant boost since Omar’s upgrade. Arjan had recently taken over as leader of the group’s offensive force. Emberborn turned Arjan’s skin into living flame and let him project it at close range. If that weren’t already a terrifying ability, he could also “infect” others with fire, enhancing their abilities. Only a few willingly submitted to the procedure, since it was painful and could lead to death. The Ember-infected experienced enhanced reaction times, a quicker metabolism, and in rare cases, they could weave flames into their powers.
Arjan had been coercing the rescued to join the offensive force and submit to the infection. When they’d refused, he’d turn into a bit of a bully and Frieda had protected them. She’d suspected that Arjan’s powers grew stronger with every infected person he had around him. Things were tense, but the group had functioned just fine until Omar and Arjan had staged a coupe. They’d killed Frieda and tried to exert their control over the group. That’s when several people had fled the underground shelter.
Worried that the defectors would leak their location, data regarding the spinal enhancement, and Arjan’s ability, the offensive force went on the hunt. While fleeing, the turncoats ran into the raiders. The raiders tried to help them, but they were no match for Omar’s and Arjan’s combined upgrades to the locals.
Instead of killing everyone, Arjan had taken to capturing the raiders with powerful abilities. Neither Anna nor Helena knew why. A good deal of raiders had been caught or killed. The group we had seen running was the last of the group. Neither of them could be sure why Arjan had lost it and killed so many people. Helena claimed the man had anger issues.
We remained silent throughout the story, processing everything. If we had found the group earlier and joined forces, perhaps Frieda and so many others wouldn’t be dead. A larger party focused on keeping people safe would’ve maybe deterred Omar and Arjan. Then again, perhaps things could’ve turned out a lot worse. Mulling on “what ifs” was a waste of time and a bad call.
The story painted the raiders in a different light. They weren’t the aggressors but the protectors. Had they changed their tune after we’d kicked their arses multiple times? Or perhaps losing to Metalsmith had humbled them. Whichever it was, it didn’t matter now. We still needed time to observe the pair and decide whether they deserved our trust or not. Anna and Helena had known each other for a little over a day and couldn’t confirm one another’s story. What if Blur and President had wanted to get information regarding the locals and manipulate them to gain an advantage?
Since none of us spoke up, Anna took it as her turn to tell their story. She spent a couple of minutes listing the cast of her tale and introducing them. I didn’t think it important to learn their names, as most of them were dead. Most of the original raiders were roommates. Blur was the only one who hadn’t lived with his friends; he’d lived at home with their mother and Anna. When the apocalypse had happened, they had all been together, and the pair had no way of finding out what had happened to their mother. She worked at the local hospital and unfortunately it had ended up in another sector.
Then Anna sped through their initial attempts at surviving the end of the world, clashes with Metalsmith, and us. It turned out the raiders had taken over the guildhall as their hideout. Then Metalsmith had turned up with her growing band and tried to subjugate their group. When they’d refused to serve her, she’d had Siren mesmerize them and lock them out of the building. The group had spent a lot of time collecting resources from local supermarkets and hardware stores, and all of it was gone in a matter of minutes. It was why they had become so desperate and wanted my Creations so badly.
Anna accepted that they’d gone about it the wrong way. President and Chroma were politicians at heart and had played her brother like a fiddle. She’d tried to talk sense into him, but President was his best friend, and he’d been infatuated with Chroma, so he’d played along with their plans. Unwilling to let anything to happen to her brother, Anna had done as she was told. Anna reiterated that she wasn’t making excuses for their actions but was just telling us the truth.
After we’d clashed for the first time, the raiders’ numbers had swelled. President had successfully united all the groups that were against the Metalsmith. The only reason they’d found us in Mama’s cavern was because several small parties had entered the nest looking for us. They had gotten the closest but had come upon a dead end. So, Anna had used her power to cut through several cave walls to get to us. They hadn’t realized that the team had set the elite mantises free. While fleeing the caves after our little skirmish, they had lost a team of six people.
Finally, she told us about their attempts to take on Metalsmith. It had been a huge mistake. The woman hadn’t just been using her power to arm everyone who followed her, but had also used her power and McGuffins to build a large fort around the guild. Killing Mama’s elites had further improved the woman’s arsenal and defenses. The final battle had proved to be a massacre. Metalsmith and Siren had killed two-thirds of their raider army, forcing them to flee into our sector.
Then the raiders had bumped into the escaping locals and, already drained after the fight, Arjan’s people had had little trouble mowing them down. Anna had tears in her eyes by the time she finished the story, and David stepped up to comfort her. Much to our surprise, Anna let him come close. It was most likely due to them being the same age group.
We got some ice cream out of the freezer so the pair could have a little treat before having them return to the basement. Things were going to get dangerous pretty soon, and we needed to figure out how to proceed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Brought To You By The Nomicronion Empire
“They’re hatching!” Jay’s voice woke us the following morning. The sun hadn’t risen all the way yet, and my face was still buried in the crook of Kitty’s neck. It was among my favorite smells, and the warmth in there didn’t compare to anything I had felt before. A fist banged on the door. “Get up! The eggs are hatching! You can’t miss this!”
Kitty stirred, but I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her tight.
“Don’t make a peep,” I said. “If we ignore Jay, he’ll go away.”
“Maya can hear you, you know,” he told us through the door.
“Go away. We’re sleeping!” Kitty yelled.
“No, you’re not. C’mon. This is the batch we knowingly modified. Don’t you want to see how they turned out?”
I sighed, releasing Kitty. It was her turn to hold onto me tight. She looked at me with her big morning eyes, and for once, she didn’t want to get up either. Jay banged on our door again before moving on to awaken David and Caitlin.
We tried to snuggle up once again and go back to sleep, but we gave up a couple of minutes later. Instead, we pursued amorous activities. Unfortunately, listening to David and Jay excitedly talk about hatchlings was a mood killer. We crawled out of bed, pulled on our clothes, and joined them in the hallway.
David stood in his doorway, half-clothed and engaged in an animated discussion with Jay. Caitlin mouthed “sorry” at us, standing next to Jay. She had clothed herself and plugged in the battery belt, but her hair resembled a mane of wildfire. We waited for David to get decent before taking the elevator up to the fourth floor.
The Menagerie had changed. Instead of a laboratory, the room now resembled a farm. It wasn’t just a cosmetic change. It was like an open landscape with lots of green, a pen for the beasts, and a barn. It was another Tardis-level change. It took bigger-on-the-inside to a whole new level. Unlike last time, the drones didn’t run around like headless chickens. Fin barked orders at them, and they followed.
Jay assisted the drones with keeping the immature platyhawks under control. The rest moved the eggs into the barn, and I helped them. They had gone to
bed the previous night after setting everything up for the hatching. When they’d woke up in the morning, everything had changed. Now they needed to redo an entire day’s work in a couple of hours.
When Fin had a moment, he approached me, furious that I hadn’t warned him of the incoming changes. The drone had never taken a negative tone with me before. Several pools had opened around the Menagerie. While rushing around in the morning, a dozen drones had almost drowned, so I gave Fin a pass. He had good reason to be mad.
Several cracks had appeared on the eggs overnight, but nothing happened for quite some time. We helped the drones set everything up and then were considering going down for breakfast when the first chick emerged. We identified it as an ankylopus straightaway, but the creature already had bits of bone growing out of its skin.
Unlike last time, most of the hatchlings were wingless. We got a few platyhawks too. They were all female, but larger and sturdier than the first clutch.
“They’re destined to grow into queens,” Fin said. Thanks to our contributions, his work for the day was done. Now he stood back with us while his subordinates tended to the hatchlings. “Well, the system will consider them elites, but they’ll be as good as a boss-ranked monster in strength when fully grown.”
Jay wanted to get involved with the new hatchings, but Fin kept him away. Unlike the previous clutch, the new batch was much too vicious. Despite being newborns, they had already started roughhousing. The bony protrusions could easily cut and bruise. Despite their years of experience, the drones could barely keep up with them.
Fin declared the final two eggs dead. They hadn’t survived the stasis and upgrades. We now had nine heavily armored ankylopus chicks—or pups, we couldn’t make up our minds—and three platyhawks.
