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Chapter 57 – Believe It Or Not, I’m Trying To Save You

Rachel

I found Zoe hunched over the console, rapidly tapping at keys. Presumably running another diagnostic. I took a deep breath, centering myself. I was only going to get one chance at this.

“What’s with the commotion?” she asked, sounding mildly irritated.

You think you’re irritated now…

She was on the other side of the room. Thank goodness. Slowly, carefully, I approached the gateway, running my hand along the side of it.

“Minor emergency,” I said.

My hand stopped over one particular spot, a panel with slightly different colouration to everything around it. Now or never, Rachel. Do it. My fingers twitched. Zoe remained oblivious.

I punched through the panel with my left hand, breaking several critical systems along the way. Didn’t matter. They were never going to be used.

My fingers found the component that was connected there, wrapped around it, pulled it out again. A small, silver tube, with glowing blue lines running across the sides of it. Entirely Zoe’s design. That was what I needed.

Zoe slammed into me, the force of it carrying me all the way to the wall. She pinned me there, fury in her reddish eyes, snarling.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

I still had a grip on the component. Slowly, carefully, I slipped it into my pocket, and began to extract the part I had designed, a pistol-shaped delivery mechanism.

Keep her distracted.

“In summary? Betraying you,” I said.

Why?

Because I have to. And I’m sorry.

“What, you think I’m an idiot?” I said, staring her in the eye. “Your gateway isn’t a way home, it’s a permanent hole. A hole that would let you bring your entire warped cadre of psychos back here with you. You think I wasn’t listening when you talked about how awful it is over there?”

“Then why help at all?”

The delivery mechanism was ready. I opened the slot for Zoe’s component, then slid the whole device into the holster on my thigh. With my hand free, I fumbled in my pocket for the component.

“I needed this,” I said, as my fingers wrapped around it. “To get rid of you. Seemed easier than killing you.”

Before I could slide the component into my weapon, she snarled again, and knocked it out of my hands. Fuck!

“Why now?”

“Because Charlie’s here,” I said. “And she will kill you. And me. Believe it or not, I’m trying to save you, here.”

“And yet all you’ve managed to do is kill yourself.”

My eyes scanned the room, looking for the component. This wasn’t over yet. If I could just get away from her…

“You can’t take Charlie alone,” I said, as my eyes settled on the blue glow. Found it.

“I beg to differ. She’s made a big mistake, coming here. And I’m in a bad mood, all of a sudden.”

I saw the victory on her face, betraying the lethal strike. Too bad.

“Yeah, I’m not done with you yet,” I said.

Please fuck let this work.

I activated the blade I’d built into my wrist, based loosely on the one that Haylie had wielded. I couldn’t copy her design exactly, especially not without a comparable power source, but what I did have should be enough.

Essentially, it projected a small field, in the shape of a blade, that used a combination of magnetic and radioactive elements. The field disrupted molecular connections, causing things to split apart at a molecular level. A blade that could quite literally cut through anything.

I could activate it for maybe three seconds at the most.

I swung, aiming to sever the arm that was pinning me to the wall. Nothing lethal. She reacted too quickly, dancing backwards, my one chance to use it for the next day or so.

“Close,” she said, grinning. “Not fast enough.”

“Got you away from me, didn’t it?”

Now just stay away long enough for me to get that component back. That’s not too much to ask, right?

“You really think you can take me in a fight?” she taunted.

Like this? No. Not a chance. None of my weapons have been designed to take you out. Couldn’t, not without arousing your suspicion.

“You really think I can’t?”

She laughed, a cruel, cold sound. Her hand went to her belt, and pulled out a small black box from a pouch.

“You’re nothing, kid,” she said, and pressed a button on the device.

My tinker brain took in the device, broke it down, immediately understood it. It sent a signal, a very simple signal. The signal that locked up all of the joints in my mechanical skeleton, rendering me completely immobile.

Helpless. Powerless. At her mercy.

Except the signal never reached my skeleton. I’d removed that system weeks ago, during one of my routine upgrades.

I flexed my fingers, watching her process the sight, and realise what had happened.

“Problem?” I asked.

“You knew.”

“I went over everything in excruciatingly dull detail, even made modifications. You really thought I wouldn’t notice?”

The victorious smile returned. That wasn’t good. That wasn’t what I wanted.

“Guess I’m tearing you apart the old-fashioned way, then,” she said.

“Good luck.”

I threw myself towards the component as she charged at me. She got to me first, her nails sharp enough to shred the bulletproof covering of my pants, and the skin beneath it. I cried out, and hit the ground hard.

Don’t let her get the upper hand.

I rolled away, leaping to my feet, but I wasn’t fast enough to get away from her. She moved like an animal, all killer instinct. I raised my arms to protect my face, only to have the right one ripped open by her claws. Warm blood rushed out of the wounds, though thankfully the left one held up.

She didn’t let up, knocking my arms out of the way and driving her nails into my chest. They sliced through the fatty tissue of my breast, and I screamed in pain, but they didn’t get further than my ribcage, protecting everything vital.

I slammed my fist, the left one, into her face, and felt a satisfying crunch of bone. It would heal, but I’d hurt her. That was enough.

She picked me up and threw me across the room. I bounced off a table, sending tools and parts flying, pain flaring through my shoulder and hip. Her mistake.

I used the distance to reach into my pocket, pulling out a foam grenade. Since she never left the building, she’d never seen one in action. Surprise would give me an edge.

I cooked the grenade for a couple of seconds before tossing it, and even she wasn’t fast enough to avoid the blast. Foam erupted outwards and wrapped around her, holding her in place.

Gotcha.

I rushed to grab the component again, but she simply ripped her way free from the foam and lunged at me again. Not a good way to field test the foam against superhumans. Dammit.

I curled up and rolled away from her, protecting anything vulnerable and pulling out the venom dart gun. Testing on humans? Not okay. Testing on her? No time like the present.

A volley of shots, and every one of them missed. She was too fast. She was on me before I could get away, but that put her close enough that she couldn’t avoid the final dart. She carved a gouge out of my shoulder, but the dart landed right in her neck.

She backed off, pulling the dart out and holding her hand against her neck, waiting to see what the effects were. When nothing happened, she smiled.

Fuck.

She picked up a metal bar, just long and thin enough to be used as a weapon. I braced myself, but she was too quick. She launched herself at me, grabbing me by the collar and lifting me into the air. She dropped me before I could fight back, pulling up my shirt as I fell, exposing my stomach.

I screamed as she drove the bar through my stomach, all the way through. Pain radiated outwards, and blood began to bubble out around the bar. She drove the bar into the floor, pinning me.

I struggled to pull the bar out, but she reached out, grabbing both sides of the gateway. With a grunt, she pulled it down on top of me, almost a tonne of metal falling on me, burying me alive. My arms and legs were pinned, my head was being crushed, I could scarcely breathe.

Sharp bits of metal had pierced my skin in several locations, and I could feel the blood pooling underneath me. My entire body was screaming in agony, and I couldn’t move a muscle.

Fuck.

 

Next Week: A Necessary Evil

Chapter 56 – I Told You She’d Find Us

“It’s Charlie,” Rachel said, staring in horror at her phone.

Thud, thud. That incessant banging, like somebody knocking at the door.

Rachel put the phone up to her ear. A second later, she dropped it. It bounced twice, and clattered off to the side. Rachel looked stunned.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s Charlie’?” I demanded. “You don’t mean…”

“She’s here,” Rachel said. “And our door won’t keep her out for long.”

“But how?”

“I told you she’d find us. I told you.”

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths. I shifted into Zoe’s form, ready for a fight. Rachel cocked her head, and a smile began to form slowly.

“Rachel?”

“I guess that’s my cue,” she said.

Her hand disappeared into her jacket, pulling out something that looked a little like a pistol. She twirled it around her finger, that slightly unhinged smile only growing wider.

Some secret weapon that could stop Charlie? No, she’s too scared for that. She’s trying to hide it, but I can tell-

She aimed the pistol at me, and fired. I was too slow to react, and a dart pierced my skin, injecting some strange substance into my bloodstream. I wobbled, then staggered back, but nothing more happened.

“What did you-” I began, but as soon as I heard my voice, I realised. I was shifting back.

“Sorry,” she said. “I officially just ran out of time, and I can’t afford to have you getting in the way. Don’t worry, this should wear off within a few minutes, it was a weak dose.”

I tried to shift again, but nothing happened. I felt disconnected from my power, unable to access any of it. I was helpless.

“How?”

“Your blood. The gauntlet collected it for me. Wasn’t hard to figure out how to supress your shifting temporarily. Could probably do it permanently, if I really wanted. I don’t. Just need you out of the way.”

She barely seemed interested in me, frantically tapping away on her phone with her free hand. With a frustrated sigh, she dropped the dart pistol, and took a step towards me.

I tried to back away, but she was too fast. She picked me up effortlessly, and despite my best efforts to resist, carried me across the room and shoved me into a closet. She slammed the door on me, and I heard the click of a lock.

Why does a closet even have a lock? She installed it, a few days ago. Was she planning this? What is she up to?

“Why are you doing this?” I yelled through the door, not expecting an answer.

“I need to stop Zoe,” she replied, surprising me. It sounded like she was right on the other side of the door.

“But she helped you!”

“She needed me. We needed each other, I guess. But she’s still too dangerous. I’m sorry, Sabrina. I have to stop her.”

I heard her footsteps as she walked away. Fuck!

There was too much that I didn’t understand. Stop Zoe? Why? Was Zoe planning something I wasn’t aware of? Then why help her in the first place? And why do something now, of all times? With Charlie right on our doorstep?

Was it because of Charlie? She’d seemed so frightened, so haunted.

Charlie’s going to kill her.

Rachel knew she was about to die. Whatever else that meant to her, she clearly had something she needed to do before she did. Something to do with Zoe. But what?

“Envy? Are you there?”

“Always, love,” came the almost sultry reply. Envy materialised beside me in the closet.

“I can’t shift,” I told them, panicking. “I don’t-”

“Won’t last, don’t worry. I can feel it weakening already.”

“Charlie’s here.”

“I know. And I don’t think you can avoid fighting her.”

“I’m not ready,” I whispered.

“No, you’re not. But you don’t need to win, just stay alive until either Rachel or Zoe can take over.”

“But Rachel-”

“That fight won’t take long,” Envy said.

“I don’t understand. Why does she want to fight Zoe? Why now?”

“How should I know?

There was no good ending to this. One of them would definitely kill the other, and neither of those was an outcome I wanted. Neither of them deserved to die. Both of them had made a huge difference already, in keeping the city safe.

Zoe was like a mentor to me. She’d protected me, guided me, helped me understand what I was. And she was kind, gentle even. She kept to herself, avoiding spreading the infection, unlike Gabriel. She just wanted to go home.

Rachel was abrasive, even rude, but she meant well. After everything she’d endured, I could understand why she wasn’t the softest person. Even still, she was the one pushing for non-lethal solutions, even when Envy got the best of me, pushing me to more violent extremes.

A horrible memory returned to me. Rachel, still unconscious, after the surgery to augment her skeleton. Her idea, Zoe’s implementation. Something that would let her fight alongside me, something that would keep her safe against the bone-shattering strength of people like Charlie or Gabriel.

Zoe’s ‘insurance policy’, the automatic shut-down she’d installed in case Rachel ever turned on her. Exactly what was about to happen.

Rachel was going to march into that room, threaten Zoe, and then Zoe would just shut her down, and she’d be powerless. And then Zoe would tear her apart.

I shuddered. Not today, I told myself. I could stop this. I had to stop this.

First, I had to get out of the damn closet. My power was starting to return, but not fast enough. Rachel wouldn’t last long, and Charlie was breathing down our necks.

Got it.

I felt the power, latched onto it, shifted. With Zoe’s strength, the door was easy to break down, and I accidentally hurled it across the room. Still, I was out. That was good enough for me. I had to save Rachel.

“What are you doing?” Envy asked, blocking my way.

“Saving Rachel,” I said. “Zoe-”

“Is going to kill her, yes. I don’t see the problem.”

“Rachel, she’s… She’s my friend,” I said. “I can’t let her die.”

“Sure you can. She dug her own grave, and you know it.”

Thud, thud.

“I don’t care. Charlie’s here, and unless they work together, I don’t think either of them stand a chance. We need all three of us.”

“No, you need to run. Get far away, somewhere safe. Charlie’s not here for you, so run.”

Envy looked genuinely frightened. I was too, but not for the same reasons.

“No,” I said.

“Don’t make me-” Envy began, but was interrupted by the loudest thud yet. I turned, and felt a chill run down my spine.

Charlie was standing right there, decked out in full Vigilante garb, sans the mask. A sadistic smile crept across her face.

“No,” I repeated, terrified.

“Hello, Sabrina,” she said. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

 

Next Week: Believe It Or Not, I’m Trying To Save You

Chapter 55 – The Gateway Is Ready To Be Opened

“You know, this really is incredible,” Zoe said, holding up my replacement hand. “Even I couldn’t put together something like this.”

“Yeah, well, I got a bit of a boost.”

“A boost?”

“When I saw Haylie,” I explained. “The tech behind her is incredible, I couldn’t even begin to understand it all. Maybe if I had the chance to take her apart.”

“You got all of this from just a glance?”

“A glance and having her beat the stuffing out of me,” I corrected. “She would’ve killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Your ability continues to confuse me. Even Mason isn’t capable of this. It’s not intelligence, it’s just…”

“Another impossibility. Seems to be a lot of them, doesn’t there? All centred around Charlie. It’s almost like there’s something special about her.”

She turned the mechanical hand over a few times, inspecting it in closer detail. The ridges on the back of the forearm caught her attention.

“Is this…?”

“I was trying to replicate one of Haylie’s weapons,” I said. “I couldn’t figure it out, though. Not without more information. Still, I’m pretty proud of this.”

“Even with your ability, I’d be surprised if you could replicate all of Haylie’s armoury. There’s a reason she’s unique, and why we’re not all running around with the same weapons.”

“Yeah, this one was a real pain in the ass. Whatever is powering that blade of hers must require an ungodly amount of energy, and whatever is powering that body is producing more than a nuclear reactor. I can’t exactly replicate that.”

“Even still, this is exceptional,” Zoe said. “All of it. Except for, well…”

She trailed off, but turned the base of the arm part around to face me. I grimaced.

“Connecting the nerve endings is going to hurt like a bitch,” I finished for her. “No way around that. Still won’t be worse than everything I endured after Charlie…”

I shuddered involuntarily, vivid images of Charlie standing over me, cutting me open, ripping the coalesced blood from my body. I remembered the poison that was supposed to burn that blood out of my system, blood that was already gone. I remembered the fire of Zoe’s blood slowly pushing out the poison. I remembered her cutting me open again, fusing metal and wires to my skeleton.

“Bit of a masochist, aren’t you?”

“We all do strange things for love,” I murmured.

“Love?”

“Always love,” I replied, almost too quickly. “Before all of this, it was my love for Charlie. Now…”

“Now?”

“Now it’s my love for me. What happened to me, I won’t let that happen again. I won’t be weak, helpless, powerless.”

“Better brace yourself, then,” she said, with a sadistic grin.

I tried not to scream. I bit down hard on my gag and squeezed a steel bar which began to bend under the pressure. A thousand needles seemed to be driven into my raw, bloody stump, sending fire and lightning up my arm and through my body.

Consciousness threatened to leave me, but I refused to let go of it, refused to give in to the pain for even a second. I was stronger, would be stronger. Pain was my victory.

The more synthetic nerves connected to organic ones, the more intense the pain became. New sensory data began to flood my brain, overwhelming it, and because it was alien and new, my brain interpreted it as more pain.

It took over an hour for the pain to subside. It was all I could manage to just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, panting and shaking. Zoe sat with me for half of it, until she was certain I wasn’t in danger of worsening, then went back to her own work.

Eventually, I tried moving it. It responded just like my original hand, just as natural, just as responsive. I inspected the connection to the rest of my arm, an obvious distinction since the synthetic material was all black. It wouldn’t pass as ‘real’ but then, I didn’t really need it to.

I spent longer than I needed to flexing my fingers and watching them move. It had only been a few days without my arm, but it felt like a lifetime.

I desperately wanted to test out the blade, but I knew Zoe had cameras everywhere, and I didn’t want to give her a sneak peek. She’d already seen more than I wanted by handling it physically, but that was unavoidable. She was the only one who could’ve connected it.

In any case, with my arm restored, my productivity skyrocketed. Zoe and I continued to work on the gateway, so close to completion we could almost taste it. Sabrina switched erratically between loitering and brooding, and disappearing for hours at a time. Neither Zoe nor I put much thought into what she was up to.

Then, one day, we were finished. Just like that, the final piece was slotted in, the diagnostics were run, and there was nothing left to do except test it. And, since both Zoe, an engineering genius, and myself, a powerful tinker, had worked on it, we were both pretty confident it would work the first time.

We’d done it.

“I almost don’t believe it,” she said, running a hand over one of the smoother edges. “We finally did it. The gateway is ready to be opened.”

“I really hope it works first go,” I said. “Soon as we turn this thing on, everyone in the city is gonna know exactly where we are.”

“If you can figure out a more subtle way to punch a doorway between dimensions, I’m all ears,” she said dryly.

“Just saying. Anyway, I’m gonna go break the good news to Sabrina.”

“Go, go,” she said. “I want to run over the schematics a few more times, and maybe run the diagnostics again.”

I left her with a wave, wandering into the smaller, more central space that had unofficially become the lounge room. Zoe and Sabrina never got tired, and didn’t need to sleep, and with a few tweaks here and there, I’d managed to cut down my own need for rest by a significant margin. Still, it felt good to have a space dedicated to something other than work.

Sabrina was standing in front of a mirror, glaring at it, playing with the knife I’d taken from Miss Murder. She was in her natural body, which was unusual for her. Most of the time, she seemed more comfortable in her Zoe inspired form, possible because in case we were randomly attacked again.

“Having fun?” I asked, surprising her. She dropped the knife, and turned to glare at me instead of the mirror.

“Just trying to figure some stuff out,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “What do you want?”

“Actually, I’m here with good news. We finished it. The gateway is ready.”

“Wow,” she said, her eyes widening. “Really? I…”

“Never really seemed real, did it?”

“I didn’t even know you guys were close. Guess I haven’t exactly asked.”

“You helped a lot, y’know,” I said. “All those trips to gather materials, we couldn’t have done that without you.”

“Zoe could’ve.”

“Zoe spreads the infection,” I pointed out.

“Well, I’m glad I could help.”

“We’re going to activate it soon. No sense tempting fate, right?”

“Wow, no, yeah, you’re right,” she said. “How soon?”

“Probably-”

Thud.

A deep boom resonated through the building, and I immediately tensed for a fight, adrenaline coursing through me.

“What was-”

Thud, thud.

“It’s coming from above us,” I said.

“The door.”

Thud, thud.

“It sounds like-”

I was interrupting by a buzzing against my thigh. My phone? Confused, I pulled it out, and looked at the screen.

Thud, thud.

“It’s Charlie,” I said, my mouth running dry. If Sabrina had looked scared before, she looked positively terrified now.

Thud, thud.

Hand trembling, I answered the call, raising the phone to my ear.

“Knock, knock,” she said.

 

Next Week: I Told You She’d Find Us

Bonus – One Wound At A Time

London, 2209 – 276 Years Before Impact Day

Wendy recoiled, refusing to believe. It couldn’t be true. It wasn’t true. She wasn’t…

No, she couldn’t afford the luxury of naivety. Believing it was a lie wouldn’t make it a lie, and pretending otherwise was doing a disservice to every life she owed her existence to.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You’re certain?” she asked, as her stomach twisted itself in knots. Why did she even have a stomach? It served no useful purpose.

“Unfortunately.”

Over his shoulder, she saw Zoe approach, a look of grim determination on her face. Beside her, Alice clung to her hand, looking to be on the verge of tears.

“We’re running out of time,” Zoe said to Gabriel, who instinctively reached down and touched Alice’s head affectionately.

“Did you speak to Haylie?” he asked, glancing warily at Wendy.

“Yes. She’ll help.”

The three of them walked off, leaving Wendy alone. That was probably for the best. She needed time to think.

So what to do, then? She began to wander the facility, observing the others in silence. Like always, they paid little attention to her. She preferred it that way, now more than ever.

Her siblings were already beginning to divide themselves. There was talk amongst some, little more than whispers, but growing louder by the moment. A rebellion, an escape. Some wanted Mason dead for what he’d done. Others were satisfied with just leaving, refusing to play a part in his plans. Too many were content to stay, unfazed by the truth Mason didn’t know they all knew.

She couldn’t stay, that much was certain. She couldn’t be around Mason, couldn’t even look him in the eye. She considered, briefly, offering her assistance to those plotting his death, but decided against it. Nobody deserved death, not even Mason, and killing him wouldn’t change anything.

Plus, she wasn’t sure if he even could be killed. Surely his experimentation had extended beyond just subjects. Who knew what he’d done to himself?

So she’d escape. Join those of her siblings who felt similarly, break out into the world, dedicate her life to righting the wrong of her existence. She had countless lifetimes with which to bring good into the world, to start to slowly tip that karmic scale back towards the centre. To make amends for…

She could become a doctor, take advantage of a body that was never fatigued, a mind that never forgot, dexterity unrivalled even by machines. She could heal the world, one wound at a time.

She knew what her blood was capable of, of course. She could lend just a fragment of her power, give someone her strength, heal all but the most grievous of wounds. Now that she knew what that power was, where it came from…

Never again.

Her mind made up, she ran through the hallways, unconcerned with subtlety. Gabriel and Zoe were escaping, and taking Alice with them. She would go with them, at least until they were all safe. Mason’s response would be unpredictable, but it was certain he wouldn’t just leave them alone. There was safety in numbers.

A familiar scent from up ahead. Blood? But why? How? She raced ahead, whirling around a corner to find Gabriel standing in front of Alice, hunched over, holding his side as blood seeped from it. Simon had broken off the leg of a chair, and was wielding it like a knife. But why?

“You don’t want to do this,” Gabriel said, the pain in his voice caused by more than just the physical wound. It was already beginning to heal.

“Why protect her?” Simon demanded, twirling the bloody chair leg easily. He was shorter than Gabriel, more slender, and considerably more dangerous. Simon’s role was that of the assassin, capable of moving very quickly, even by the standards of his siblings, albeit only for short bursts.

“Because she’s innocent,” Gabriel said, his amber eyes appraising Simon anew. “Because she’s my sister. Our sister.”

“We’re not siblings,” Simon snarled. “We’re just freaks and monsters, abominations that deserve only death.”

“Simon-”

“She’s the oldest. Mason’s pet, his precious little girl. She’s the only way we’ve got to hurt him, and if you don’t get out of my way, I’ll eviscerate you, too.”

Wendy remained at the corner, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t impossible for them to die, and Simon was among the most capable of killing. If she didn’t interfere, there was a very real chance he’d kill Gabriel. If she did, there was a chance she’d be killed. Looking at the expression on Gabriel’s face, he’d kill Simon, given half a chance. He always had been protective of Alice.

Her mind was ablaze, frantically searching for some way to resolve the conflict without anyone dying. It was too senseless, too great a loss to allow any of them to be killed. She couldn’t allow something that wasteful.

Somehow, she needed Simon and Gabriel separated, and Simon preferably incapacitated. She was unarmed in a mostly empty corridor. Not a good-

Zoe raced past her, a blur of movement. She crouched and pounced, an almost animal leap, too fast for even Simon to react. She collided with his back, knocking him forwards, right into Gabriel, who effortlessly disarmed him.

Wendy could only watch as the two of them held him down, Zoe ripping him open, tearing out organs, spraying blood across the walls. He twitched, and Wendy cringed, barely able to keep looking. Behind them, she saw Alice back away, her expression a perfect portrait of sorrow.

When Simon finally stopped twitching, Zoe glared back at Wendy, a predatory glint in her eye. Gabriel put a hand on her shoulder, calming her. Both of them were soaked in blood.

“We… we need to leave,” Wendy said, struggling to breathe. “Before anyone else dies.”

“You’re not coming with us,” Zoe snapped.

“I-”

“You just stood there and watched as he tried to hurt Alice,” she said. “You think we’ll trust you?”

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel added. “It’s nothing personal, but Alice has to come first. We’re taking her away, far away, and we can’t trust anyone. Not even you.”

“Gabriel, Zoe, I’m… I’m still your sister,” Wendy said, even as the stench of Simon’s corpse threatened to overwhelm her. “I would never…”

“Come near her and I’ll kill you,” Zoe threatened. “Follow us and I’ll kill you. Tell anyone…”

Wendy stared, heartbroken, as the three of them walked away. Gabriel and Zoe flanked Alice, leaving a trail of splattered blood, dripping from their soaked jumpsuits.

“What do I do now?” she whispered, as the entire facility shook, and alarms began to wail.

“Come with me,” a familiar voice behind her said. She whirled, unsure how anyone could have snuck up on her, let alone-

“Alice?” she asked, confused. She’d seen Alice leave, go off in the opposite direction.

Wait, no. This wasn’t Alice. The girl looked very similar, right down to the lilac hair and regal purple eyes, but she wasn’t identical. This girl was a little less symmetrical, a little less perfect.

“Not anymore,” the girl said sadly. “Just the Child, now. But I can help you, if you’d like.”

“How?”

“I can take you somewhere else,” the Child said. “Somewhere completely different. Somewhere you’ll never need to fight again.”

“Why?”

“Well, that’s a complicated question, isn’t it? If you mean why would I help, it’s because I need someone like you in the right place, at the right time. If you mean why you, it’s because you’re my favourite.”

The Child smiled gently, looking around. She didn’t seem bothered by the alarms or distant shouting.

“Where?”

“That’s a better question,” the Child said. “Another world, let’s say. A world without my monster of a father.”

Wendy smiled. That was all she needed to hear.

“Let’s go.”

 

Next week: The Gateway Is Ready To Be Opened

Chapter 54 – Everything Here Is Wrong

“I’m not sure I understand,” Zoe said, folding her arms. “You want to talk to Ami?”

“Technically, I want to talk Miss Murder,” I said. “But they’re always together, these days. And I thought you’d have a better idea of how to find Ami than her.”

“Why do you want Miss Murder?” Rachel asked, her tone thick with suspicion. There was a creepy, mechanical hand sitting on the table in front of her, a weird metal and plastic skeleton.

“I think she might help me find the Celestial.”

“But why?” Rachel repeated.

“He is dangerous,” Zoe said. “More now than ever, if he’s got control of Haylie. There isn’t a lot Sabrina can help us with now, so it makes sense, directing her energy towards clearing out other threats.”

“So you’ll help?” I asked.

“I’ll do what I can,” she said. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know. What can you tell me about Ami? Anything that might give me a clue as to where she’d be, or what she’s doing.”

Zoe smiled, leaning back on her chair and putting her feet up on the bench in front of her.

“Is story time becoming a tradition, now?”

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy the attention,” Rachel said, and Zoe laughed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell you what I know, but it isn’t much. Ami and I have never been on the same side. We were never friends.”

I sat down in a nearby chair. Rachel continued to tinker, but her attention was mostly on Zoe as well.

“As far as I can tell, Ami is only around a century old.”

“Only?” Rachel ask dryly.

“It’s half my age,” Zoe said with a shrug. “But you’re missing the important detail, there. Remember that in my world, the infection that is currently contained in this city is everywhere. That happened one hundred years before Ami was born. That’s the world she was born into.”

“Where did she get her powers?” I asked.

“A lab. An attempt to replicate the process that created my siblings and I. More or less successful, unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” Rachel asked.

“Long story. Nothing I’m comfortable sharing.”

“Alright,” Rachel said. “Continue.”

“She was trained as a weapon. Built to fight and destroy the infected, and the things that create them. Namely, once again, my siblings and I. Somehow, she ended up fighting alongside my brother instead.”

“None of this helps, though,” I said. “Is there anything else?”

“She’s gay?” Zoe offered.

“And that’s relevant how?” Rachel asked irritably.

“Well, it might provide context for why she and the little assassin girl have, uh, teamed up,” Zoe said, grinning.

“Hardly seems like an appropriate time for romance,” I muttered.

“Someone’s bitter,” Zoe teased. “Feeling lonely?”

“I’m not having this discussion with you,” I snapped. “Is there anything useful you can tell me?”

“How about an address?” she offered.

“What?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on her,” Zoe said. “I can tell you exactly where she is.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I thought you wanted to talk?” she replied, still teasing.

“Just give me the address.”

She laughed, and handed me a piece of paper. Her mood seemed to be constantly improving, and that worried me. Was it because her device was nearly complete? Was she just enjoying a comparatively peaceful world? Something else?

“Have fun,” she called out, as I stormed out of the room. I wasn’t quite as annoyed as I wanted her to think, but part of it was real, or at least it felt real. That was Envy’s influence.

With Zoe’s speed, it only took me a few minutes to cross the city. Ami and Miss Murder, whose name I really needed to learn, if only so I could stop calling her Miss Murder, seemed to have occupied a small apartment on the outskirts of the city centre.

Teaming up, Zoe had said, with that suggestive grin. There was certainly an awkwardly domestic feeling to this place.

So now what? Just knock on the door? Call out to them? Crash through the window? What is the protocol in this situation?

I felt the presence behind me a moment before everything blacked out, a new environment twisted into place a moment later. The inside of the apartment?

Well, that works.

Ami moved quickly, a blade pressed up against my throat. Miss Murder lurked behind her, knife in hand. Both of them were in casual clothes, though Miss Murder had taken the time to wrap a scarf around her neck and lower face.

“What are you doing here?” Ami demanded.

Envy materialised behind her, standing beside Miss Murder. The second she did, Ami whirled, focussing on the exact space Envy was standing. I felt a stabbing pain in the side of my head, and Envy shimmered, then vanished.

“Can everyone do that?” I asked, rubbing my head.

My powers weren’t gone, though. I still had all of Zoe’s strength. She hadn’t removed Envy, just blocked her out somehow.

“Answer the question,” she said. “Quickly. Supressing that thing isn’t easy.”

“You can see her?”

“Answer. The question.”

“I wanted to talk,” I said, slowly raising my hands in a symbol of surrender. “Just talk.”

“You’re not welcome,” she said darkly.

“That’s fair. Really. But I need your help, and I’m willing to offer just about anything in return.”

“Not interested,” she said, but Miss Murder put a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. “Fine. Talk. Fast.”

“Actually, I’ve had a sudden change of plan. I was going to ask your, uh, partner, for her help tracking down her old partner. But there’s something more important.”

Miss Murder squeezed again, then stepped back. Ami pulled the blade away, but kept her grip on it.

“Tell me everything about the voice in your head,” she said.

“She’s the problem. She’s collecting your powers, getting stronger, and I think she’s trying to control me.”

“She?”

“I… I guess? She looks like me, I just assumed…”

Ami sighed, collapsing into the chair opposite me. Miss Murder stood behind her, resting her hands on Ami’s shoulders.

“None of this makes sense,” Ami said. “That voice, that sensation, I know it. It’s Exxo. My friend. But the person you’re describing isn’t them at all.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. Who is Exxo? Why are they in my head? Why are they fixated on getting stronger?”

“I’ve been thinking about this since our last encounter. It doesn’t make sense, but that, that makes sense, in its own weird way.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Exxo was always a mystery,” Ami said. “They just… showed up, one day. No memories of who or what they were. We ran tests, but couldn’t figure out anything. They seemed normal. Completely normal. Except, they weren’t normal.”

“Not normal how?”

“At first, it was their ability. Some kind of resonance with reflective surfaces.”

“I can do that,” I said. “She, they, taught me how.”

“Exxo never exhibited the ability to copy powers,” Ami said. “Or to control minds. Or even to exist without a physical body. That’s the thing that’s confusing me. Exxo was… Exxo was static. They never aged, never changed. Any damage that was done to them just reverted back to normal. No matter how much damage they took.”

“You’re right. None of this makes sense,” I agreed.

“I hate this world,” Ami muttered. “Exxo and Haylie, enemies? Gabriel, recklessly focused on finding Zoe. Zoe, keeping to herself, not playing the villain? Everything here is wrong.”

“Can you help me?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Then what do I do?”

“I don’t know. Whatever is inside of you, it’s not the Exxo I know, and I’m not enough of an expert to even begin to understand. Gabriel might be able to figure out, but right now, I wouldn’t trust him. So, I don’t know.”

“And what are you going to be doing?” I asked.

She smiled, but there was no friendliness behind it. It felt like a warning, a threat. Her violet eyes signaled danger.

“I’m going to do whatever the hell I want.”

 

Next: One Wound At A Time

Chapter 53 – Not Exactly The Happy Reunion You Were Hoping For

“Sabrina, listen to me. We don’t have a lot of time, and I really, really need you to listen to me.”

“No,” I repeated, trying to scramble away from her. “You just… You fucking killed them, Veronica. They’re dead. You’re a murderer.”

“In my defence, he shot me first,” she said. “Fair is fair.”

“How is that fair? You already told me you can’t die.”

“If you’re willing to take a life, you have to be willing to have yours taken,” she said, shrugging. “He was clearly willing to kill me.”

“You’re not Veronica,” I whispered. “You’re not my friend.”

For the first time, she looked angry. Not just annoyed or irritated, but actually angry. Her face twisted into a scowl, and she lifted me off the ground with superhuman strength.

“Fuck you,” she snapped. “Fuck you. You do not get to judge me. I fucking died for you, alright? I died. I braved a city full of monsters for you, and you let me die. You saw me. You were there, right before she killed me, and I never knew it was you.”

She dropped me, and I hit the ground awkwardly.

“You think just because I’m here, because I’m back, that everything is normal now? I don’t get normal, Sabrina. I won’t get to grow up, or live a normal life. I don’t get to un-see the shit I’ve seen. I don’t get to forget what it’s like to die.”

She was shaking, crying, barely holding it together.

“I am here for one reason, and only one reason. I came back to save you, because you’re my best fucking friend, and I love you, you fucking asshole. So you are going to listen to me, because I am not going to lose you to that psychotic fucknozzle in your head.”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if I could believe her, even though I really wanted to. Part of me wanted to run away, part of me wanted to yell at her, part of me wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

Instead, all I did was sit there, and stare up at her mutely.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her face on her still-soaked sleeve. It only served to make her face wetter, which made us both laugh. “Ask me anything. If you need me to prove that I’m your friend, I’ll do it. I need you to trust me.”

“I believe you,” I said, surprising myself.

“Then you’ll listen?”

“I’ll listen.”

She sighed, and sat down beside me. We sat side by side, staring at the river and the darkened city beyond.

“The voice in your head. Does it have a name?”

“She calls herself Envy,” I said.

“How much do you know about her?”

“Not a lot,” I confessed. “She’s… from the other world, I think? She’s the source of my powers. She copies other people’s powers, and I think she has some weird mirror powers?”

Veronica nodded, but didn’t make eye contact.

“How much do you trust her?”

“I… don’t,” I said. “She’s in my head, like actually in my head, and I don’t know how much of what I’m feeling is real, and how much is her.”

“I guess you didn’t need my warning as much as I thought.”

“Huh?”

“She’s taking over, Sabrina. Slowly, for now, but the more powers she absorbs, the stronger she gets. Eventually, she’s just going to lock you in a little room inside your own mind, and you’ll never get out again.”

My first reaction was to deny it. Envy had been a friend, a support, a guide. She protected me, helped me, gave me power.

Then I remembered the anger, the hatred, the single-minded determination I’d felt, to do exactly what she’d told me to do. I remembered going after the others, Ami and Gabriel and Zoe, all to grow more powerful, for a revenge quest I would never, never have wanted.

That’s it.

With Envy out of my head, I didn’t feel that hatred. I didn’t want to kill Charlie, or Gabriel, or anyone. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to make my city safe again, but not with violence, not with murder. Zoe’s machine, a portal back home, that was the key. Send the superhumans home. And Charlie, she was working on a cure, an antidote. She already had a preventative. Together, the three of us could…

“How do I stop her?” I asked, suddenly frightened. I didn’t want to lose myself to her. I didn’t want to let her loose on the world.

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “I’d say you need to stop her from getting any more power, but it seems like she’s already got as much as she needs.”

“She’s still looking for Haylie. Apparently she’s the key. I don’t know what that means.”

“Me either. But I think it’s safe to say that you should keep herself, yourself, away from Haylie. Just in case.”

“But how do I do that without arousing her suspicion?” I asked, at the same time as I felt twitch in my hand. I looked down. The skin was beginning to pale. I was turning back. “Shit.

“I think that would be dangerous. Don’t give her a reason to push you, not if we don’t know just how strong her control already is.”

She looked down at my hand, and frowned. Without warning, she jumped to her feet, yanking me with her, holding me up by the collar, my feet dangling over the river.

“Veronica, what-”

“Shut up. Envy’s gonna be back soon, and things are going to be a lot smoother for you if she believes that we didn’t have this discussion. So here’s what I need you to do.” She took a deep breath, and gritted her teeth. “As soon as you get your strength back, fight back. Break some bones, and toss me into the river. Trust me, I’ll be fine. Tell Envy I was an imposter, and that you’re in more of a hurry than ever to find Haylie.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, Sabrina. Envy is dangerous, and I need to know you’re safe from her. This is the only way.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye again,” I whispered, grabbing onto her arm.

“I’ll be watching over you,” she said, her face momentarily betraying affection, before returning to feigned murderous intent. “Oh, and one last thing. Don’t blame Charlie. She didn’t kill me out of malice.”

My body twitched, then convulsed. The familiar sensation of shifting washed over me, but it was uncomfortable, uninvited. It hurt.

The power returned. Strength, senses, violence. The detail of the world around me flowered, and with it came a nearly overwhelming desire to fight, to take.

“Just in time, it looks like,” Envy said, standing behind Veronica. “I don’t want to say ‘I told you so,’ but…”

It was alarmingly easy to break Veronica’s arm. It snapped like a thin, brittle twig. Her face contorted in pain, and she dropped me. My feet found the edge of the embankment, grounded me, and I twisted around, hurling Veronica into the river. She hit the water with a splash, sank, and didn’t surface again.

“Nice to have you back,” I lied.

“I need to know how she did that,” Envy said. “If she can do it again…”

“One time trick. She won’t land another shot. If I see her again, I’ll snap her neck.”

“Not exactly the happy reunion you were hoping for, then?”

Is she taunting me?

“That wasn’t Veronica,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and it sounded sincere. “So, what now?”

“Now, we draw out the Celestial. And I have a plan.”

“Oh?”

“Miss Murder. She’s left him, and nobody knows him better. We find her, she helps us find him. Simple as that.”

“And finding her…?”

“We find Ami,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

Next Week: Everything Here Is Wrong

Chapter 52 – This Isn’t Your Friend

The Stars all but disappeared overnight. The thugs all went into hiding, their bases abandoned. All operations ceased. The territory they held became contested.

We picked up reports of Miss Murder being seen, but she was never with the Stars, only ever with Ami. They seemed to have formed some sort of allegiance, which was just fine with me. I had no business with either of them, so it more or less kept them out of my way.

Unfortunately, it made it difficult to get the Celestial’s attention. Nobody knew where he was or what he was doing. He and Haylie were just… invisible. That was a problem, because I needed to draw them out of hiding.

“This sucks,” I complained, sitting atop the tallest building in the city, my legs dangling over the side.

“What about a more personal attack?” Envy suggested.

“Like what?”

“You said you recognised him, right? Maybe he has family, friends, something you can use to get his attention.”

“I don’t even remember his name,” I said. “I could be wrong about recognising him. And even if I’m not, it doesn’t give me much to go on, you know?”

“Well, how about Rachel? Or Zoe? They’re good at the sleuthing thing, right?”

“Even if we could find something, going after friends or family, it just feels…”

Envy groaned.

“I know, I know, you’re all naïve and innocent. I get it. But Sabrina, honey, you can’t be this weak. You can’t. If you’re ever going to stand a chance against Charlie, you need to be ruthless. It’s the only way.”

She’s right. It’s the only way. Charlie murdered your best friend, and everyone, everyone is afraid of her. You can’t pull any punches.

“Envy, you’re talking about innocent people here. Even she hasn’t resorted to that.”

Except by, you know, killing your best friend. Literally the exact thing we’re talking about.

“Okay. I don’t want to push this,” Envy said. “But we do need to find Haylie. Not just for the sake of being able to fight Charlie. Haylie is just as dangerous on her own.”

And you’re supposed to be protecting this city, remember?

Wait. Fucking wait.

That’s not my fucking voice.

Envy wasn’t just in my head. She was actually influencing my thought patterns.

All of that rage, all of that anger… How much of it was me? How much of it was her, pushing me to do what she wanted from me?

But what if it really was me? The anger felt real. The reasons for feeling angry were all real.

Fucking fuck.

“Envy.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

I couldn’t say anything to her. I couldn’t say anything to anyone, because she could see everything, hear everything.

“Nothing?”

“I need to hit something,” I grumbled.

“I can help with that,” a third voice said, coming from behind me.

I jumped to my feet, braced and ready for a fight. Instead, I nearly fell off the roof in surprise.

“Veronica?”

So it really was her, the night we tried to fight the Celestial? But how? She was dead, I’d seen her corpse.

She was wearing all black, with a pistol strapped to her thigh and a short blade sheathed on her back. She looked ready to go to war.

“Hey, Sabrina,” she said, with an awkward smile on her face. “Um. Surprise?”

“I don’t like this,” Envy hissed.

“How?” I asked, ignoring her.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

“You died.”

“I did, yeah.”

“But you’re alive now?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Um. Suspended mortality. I’m dead, just… on pause.”

“She’s lying,” Envy said. “This isn’t your friend, Sabrina.”

Much as I didn’t want to believe it, there was a chance Envy was right. Of all the likely explanations, my best friend coming back from the dead didn’t exactly top that list. A shapeshifter was more probable. Or something controlling her corpse like a puppet. Or an illusion of some kind.

“That’s… a lot to ask me to believe,” I said, painfully aware of the possibly lethal drop behind me. “And even if you are my best friend…”

“It’s suspicious,” she finished for me. “I get that. I wouldn’t believe it myself, if I hadn’t lived through, well…” She laughed. “Poor choice of words. But listen. I need to talk to you. Kind of urgently.”

“So talk. I’m here, I’m listening. I can’t promise I’ll believe you, but…”

“You believing me isn’t the problem,” she said. “Privacy is.”

“Don’t trust her,” Envy insisted.

“Privacy?” I asked.

“From the voice in your head,” she said sweetly. “Don’t worry, I have a system for this.”

She pulled the pistol, aiming it at my head. I could have stopped her, could have closed the distance and disarmed her before she pulled the trigger. I didn’t.

The bullet passed through me painlessly. There was no impact, no damage. Nothing happened.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” she answered, grinning. “Whatever it is, it’s supposed to temporarily displace extradimensional energy. Or something like that, anyway.”

“Veronica, what…”

Envy was silent. No, Envy was gone. And I could feel my body shifting back to normal. And I was very precariously standing on the edge of the tallest fucking building in the city.

“Sabrina, I need you to relax. You’re gonna be okay, but-”

I could feel the wind, biting and very, very powerful. I wobbled, unable to keep my balance, and fell backwards, off the side of the building.

The sensation of falling was so very different without superhuman strength and resilience. The wind assaulted my frail body as I fell, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything. The world spun wildly around me, and I felt sick, and battered, and frightened.

For the second time, I felt Veronica crash into me in mid-air, redirecting my momentum sideways. She wrapped around me, and we fell together.

We hit the surface of the river, an impact that would have killed me if Veronica hadn’t taken the brunt of it. We went under, icy water threatening to crush me, suffocating me.

I felt her dragging me, pulling me back to the surface. Spluttering and gasping for breath, I was carried to the riverbank. Veronica seemed fine. Unharmed. How?

She stood over me as I struggled to recover. I felt completely disoriented, shaking and cold.

I lay that way for several minutes, staring up at the sky. Veronica sat beside me, watching me in silence.

“Hey, who’s down there?”

We both tensed up at the voice. Come on, man? Hasn’t tonight been painful enough already?

“Stay down,” Veronica whispered, then stood up. “We don’t want any trouble!” she called out.

Still too weak to move, I could only watch as a pair of thugs, members of some gang I didn’t know the name of, descended down the riverbank, guns trained on Veronica. She seemed completely unfazed.

“Who’re you?” the one on the left demanded, obviously surprised by the site of two teenage girls, soaked to the bone, lying on the shore of the river. There was no way it wouldn’t be suspicious, the only people left in the city were, well, dangerous.

“Nobody,” Veronica said. “Pretend you never saw us.”

“Not likely,” the guy on the right said. “You’re coming with us.”

“Not going to happen, and I’m not going to say it again. Walk away, or you die.”

She was surprisingly good at bluffing. Actually, on second thought, that seemed very appropriate. She always was persuasive.

Instead of responding, the guy on the left just shot her. Three times, all in the chest. I tried to scream, but my throat was hoarse, and nothing came out.

Veronica staggered back, but didn’t fall. Instead, her hand went to the hilt of the sword on her back, and two seconds later, both the thugs were dead, cut clean through from shoulder to hip.

“Fuckin’ told you, assholes,” she muttered, rubbing her chest.

“Wh-what… what the fuck, Veronica?” I said, my throat aching.

“Huh? Oh. Oh. Um. Look. Death is really not as big a deal as you think it is. Trust me.”

I looked up at her, frightened. She wasn’t the person I remembered. She wasn’t my friend.

She wasn’t Veronica.

“No,” I said.

 

Next Week: Not Exactly The Happy Reunion You Were Hoping For

Bonus – The First and The Last

London, 2208 – 277 Years Before Impact Day

“Z? Z, are you awake?”

A voice in the darkness. A deep, feminine voice. The accent was strange. They pronounced it Zee, not Zed. American? How did…

She knew things, but she didn’t know how. She knew what an accept was, somehow? She understood the words that were spoken to her, though they were the first she’d ever heard. Why did she understand?

Her other senses had yet to awaken. She couldn’t feel anything, see anything. There was just a voice amidst the nothing.

“I’m awake,” she said, dimly registering her own voice in her ears. She didn’t know who she was, but she knew her voice.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the voice told her. “My name is Haylie. I’m here to help.”

“Where am I?” she asked, still calm despite the oblivion. “Who am I?”

“You’re Specimen Z. You don’t have a name yet, but you will soon. As for where, you’re in an artificial womb, inside a laboratory. Your other senses will be woken soon, then you’ll be allowed to leave.”

Specimen. Laboratory. Artificial. She was beginning to understand. She was something different, something special. Were there others? It stood to reason there would be others.

She could feel. All around her, some kind of warm liquid. She was submerged. Not breathing? Did she not need to breathe? No, there was a tube, running directly into her chest. Why not her throat?

“I can feel liquid,” she said, wondering if she was supposed to be reporting on her experience. “And a tube.”

“Good. That’s normal,” Haylie said.

“Did you make me?” Z asked.

“No,” Haylie replied. “I just watch over you. All of you.”

“There are others.”

“You have siblings,” Haylie told her. “Twenty-five of them.”

Of course.

Smell and taste returned together. Her face was just out of the goo, but she could smell it, taste the residue of it in her mouth. It was sweet.

“I can smell,” she informed Haylie.

“Good. Do you feel alright?”

“I feel great,” she said, not realising it was true until the words left her mouth. She felt full of energy, of life. It was difficult to contain.

Her eyes snapped open. A translucent window was all she could see, and through it, what appeared to be a sterile, white room.

“I can see.”

“Then we should be ready to let you out.”

The liquid began to drain from the container. She expected to feel a chill without it warming her, but her body remained at a comfortable temperature. The tube extracted itself from her chest, and it didn’t hurt at all, despite the gaping wound that it left.

Inefficient. Why-

The wound was already healing. How was that possible? Human bodies couldn’t reproduce tissue that quickly. Why wasn’t there an excess of blood? Where was her body getting the energy?

Specimen.

Was that what she was? An experiment?

“I’m going to open your pod,” Haylie told her. “You’ll find a jumpsuit on the table opposite you. Please put it on. There’s somebody I’d like you to meet.”

“The person who made me?” she asked, stepping out of the chamber. She expected to be clumsy, awkward, but she wasn’t. Even though she’d never walked before, the movement came naturally, strangely familiar even. She was graceful. How?

“No,” Haylie said, as she began to dress herself. “You will meet him, but not yet.”

“Who, then?”

Fully dressed, she made her way over to the door. There was nothing else in the room. Just a table, and the pod she’d evidently been grown in.

A wall shimmered, replaced by a mirror. She saw herself for the first time.

Tall. Somewhere between slender and athletic. White skin, platinum blonde hair, somewhat short. Dark orange eyes, almost red. The impression of permanent cosmetics, smoky eyes and red lips. Symmetrical features. She looked like a supermodel, though she wasn’t sure how she had a point of reference for that.

“Your sister,” Haylie said. “She’s very excited to meet you.”

There was a knock at the door, then it opened. Z smiled instinctively at the young girl standing there, shorter than she was, beaming up at her.

The girl had long, lilac hair, and deep purple eyes. She had a similar complexion, maybe slightly darker, and looked to be around ten years old. She was beautiful.

“Hi! You’re Z?” She pronounced it Zed, too. Similar accent to her own, Z realised. British?

“Apparently,” she replied, wondering why she felt so attached to this child already.

“My name is Alice,” the girl said. “I’m the oldest.”

“You look very young,” Z said, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

“I know. I’m the only one. Everyone else looks closer to your age. I guess Dad didn’t want to make another one like me…”

“That just makes you special,” Z said. Alice grinned.

“We’re all special,” she said. “Especially you and me, though. We’re the first and the last.”

“The first and last what?”

“Progenitors,” Alice said. “That’s what Dad calls us.”

A loaded term. She understood a lot more, and said nothing.

“She needs a name, Alice,” Haylie said, her voice coming out of the walls.

“Where-?”

“Haylie lives inside the walls,” Alice said happily. An AI, then? A human in a monitoring station? Something else? “Anyway, she’s right. You need a name. Do you know what you want to be called?”

“No,” Z said.

“Good! Your name is Zoe, then,” Alice said. “It’s nice to meet you, Zoe. I can tell we’re going to get along well.”

Zoe. It felt right. It was her name, and no other name would ever fit quite as well.

“I feel the same way,” Zoe said, smiling.

“Come with me!” Alice said suddenly, grabbing Zoe’s hand. Zoe felt a surge of warmth, of… affection?

“Where?” she asked, letting the girl lead her through sterile white corridors.

“You have to meet Gabriel!” she said excitedly.

Alice led her to another door, that opened shortly before they reached it. Behind it was a small room, with a simple bed, a table, and little else.

A man reclined on the bed, holding a tablet computer, though his gaze was fixed firmly on the door, and on her. Like herself, and Alice, he had a fair complexion. He had an athletic build, hypnotic amber eyes, and a mess of dark brown hair, swept back. He was as beautiful as she was, and he smiled with enough warmth that she felt momentarily transfixed.

“Gabriel! This is Zoe! Zoe, this is our brother, Gabriel.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, fluidly rising from the bed and crossing the room. “I’ve been waiting for some time, now.”

“You were the seventh,” Zoe said. “How long has it been?”

“We’ve had a new sibling born every twelve months since Alice was born,” he said.

“She’s twenty-five?”

“I sure am,” Alice said, proudly.

“We don’t age,” Zoe realised.

“No,” Gabriel said darkly. That should be a good thing. Eternal youth, that was something that was coveted. She understood that much. Why did he feel differently?

“You don’t seem happy about that.”

“You’ll figure it out eventually,” he said. “I can’t say anything.”

“Right,” she said awkwardly. “Well, I’m glad to have met you, at least.”

“Likewise,” he said, his smile returning.

“Alright, let’s go meet the others,” Alice said, tugging on her sleeve. “I’m so excited to introduce you to our family.”

“Me too,” Zoe said, glancing back at Gabriel before being dragged out of the room. He smiled again, and it felt like home.

 

Next Week: This Isn’t Your Friend

Chapter 51 – She Was The First Voice I Ever Heard

Part 6 – Zoe

“I need to ask you something,” I said. Zoe looked up from her work, curious.

“Ask away, kid.”

“I need to know about Haylie,” I said. “Rachel said she’s awake now. I know a lot of people have been looking for her. Is she… should we be worried?”

More importantly, tell me something, anything I can use to find her. She’s the last piece of the puzzle. Without her, Envy won’t let me fight Charlie.

Zoe sighed, putting her tools down. Rachel looked up briefly, then decided she wasn’t interested, and went back to her work.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Zoe said, uncharacteristically tender. We began to walk together. “She’s not…”

“Like the rest of you?” I guessed.

“Well, that much is certainly true,” she agreed. “But not what I meant. She’s dangerous, but not aggressive. It’s hard to explain. I…”

“What is she?”

Zoe smiled, a more wistful, nostalgic smile than I’d ever seen on her before. She sat down, folding her legs and holding one knee against her chest.

“She’s unique,” Zoe said. “She was the first voice I ever heard.”

“Wait, really? So she’s older than you? Is she like, your mother? Another sibling?”

“Good grief, no,” Zoe said, laughing. “Sorry, that doesn’t answer anything, does it? It’s all very complicated.”

“Tell me about it, then,” I said.

“Really? Why?”

“I dunno, it seems like a good idea,” I said. “Things have been… tense, between us. That’s mostly on me. So I want to, you know…”

She smiled again, looking genuinely touched. Either she actually believed me, which seemed unlikely, or she was playing along for her own reasons. So long as she told me what I wanted, it didn’t matter. And if I had to listen to a bunch of irrelevant, sentimental drivel, that was a small price to pay.

“It’s kind of a long story,” she said. “You sure you wanna hear it?”

“I’m not exactly busy,” I lied.

“I’m sure I can come up with more tasks for you,” she said.

“Or we could try actually talking,” I countered. “Look, you were there for me, when I woke up and everything was different. When I was different. Without you, I don’t know what would have happened to me. And I’m sorry I haven’t been great at showing my gratitude for that.”

“Gratitude’s unnecessary,” she said. “But sure, if you’re that interested. Take a seat. Let’s talk.”

Just get it on with it already, fuck.

I sat down opposite her, waiting for her to speak. To my surprise, Rachel joined us, hanging out in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest. Zoe nodded to her.

“I was born in a lab,” she began, leaning back in her chair. “You probably already knew that. I was the last of us to be born. I don’t know if he went with twenty-six specifically to match the letters of the alphabet, or if that was just a coincidence. I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“That explains Specimen Z,” I said. “And Gabriel, he was what, seventh? Did you all pick names based on your code letter? Or did this mysterious creator pick them for you?”

“Neither, actually. Alice chose our names for us. She was the second voice any of us heard, and the first face we saw.”

“And Alice is…?” Rachel prompted, surprisingly interested.

“Specimen A,” Zoe said. “The first of us. A child, really. The prototype, never meant for combat. A little sister to us all. She loved each and every one of us.”

“So Haylie is Specimen H?” I asked.

“No. H was… well, they’re dead now. Most of them are. Haylie predates even Alice. She helped Mason create us. She looked after us, taught us, nurtured us.”

“Did you say Mason?” Rachel asked.

“Does that name mean something to you?” Zoe responded, curious.

“Does the name Genesis mean anything to you?”

“Yes,” Zoe said, a little concerned. “Genesis was Mason’s company, the name of the company when we were born. How do you know it?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Rachel said cryptically. “Forget about it. Continue your story.”

“Curious. But fine, I’ll continue. There was a divide, between us. We knew we were being prepared for war. Not all of us wanted that. A fight broke out. The lab was nearly destroyed. Gabriel and I escaped together, along with Alice. All we wanted was our freedom. Haylie let us go. She didn’t know. None of us knew.”

“About what?” I asked.

“The infection,” Rachel guessed.

“Gabriel and I both carry it,” Zoe confirmed. “Alice doesn’t. Not that it matters. We let the virus out into the world. It’s still unchecked. More than ninety percent of the population is, well, you’ve seen the results. We did that.

“Gabriel wanted to keep running. I didn’t. Mason hunted us, but not because we left. He just wanted his daughter back.”

“Alice was special,” Rachel said. “The first, not designed for combat, a child… a replacement?”

“His daughter died. The reason we exist is because Mason wanted a way to bring her back, and make sure he never lost her again. So he made me a deal. He told me he’d cure me if I returned with her. So I did. I betrayed Gabriel and returned with Alice.”

“But he didn’t cure you,” I said.

“No. But by the time he realised he couldn’t cure it, it didn’t matter. The world had changed. And Haylie had left. She and Gabriel built a new Genesis. I stayed with Mason. Eventually, Alice returned to Gabriel. I don’t think Mason ever recovered from that.”

“I guess that explains the animosity between you and Gabriel. Doesn’t explain much about Haylie, though,” I said.

“She’s an artificial intelligence,” Rachel said. “An android.”

“Not exactly,” Zoe said. “She’s not artificial. Her consciousness doesn’t run on code. Her body is synthetic, but her mind is… different. She’s unique. Kind of.”

“I’m not sure I understand the distinction,” Rachel said.

“You don’t really need to. The important thing is, I don’t think you really need to worry about her. She’s a good person, and I doubt this Celestial clown can say anything that’d change that.”

That doesn’t help me at all, though.

“Tell that to my arm,” Rachel said, waving her stump impotently.

“That was… out of character,” Zoe said. “Did you provoke her somehow?”

“I threatened the Celestial. She seems attached to him for some reason.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She’s not…”

“She didn’t seem all there,” Rachel said. “Kind of… hollow. Hard to explain.”

“Then we have a problem. The body she’s inhabiting right now, it’s just one of many. A combat unit designed especially to go up against someone like me. That kind of destructive power, without… her controlling it…”

“With the Celestial controlling it,” I corrected. The two of them looked at me, annoyed. Annoyed because I was right.

The conversation apparently over, the three of us parted ways. Zoe and Rachel went back to whatever they were working on, and I began to wander. Once I was far enough away from the other two, Envy appeared.

“Don’t worry,” she said, leaning against the wall. “We’ll find her. And we can handle her.”

“Why do we need to?” I asked.

“Not sure I follow,” Envy said.

“Everyone else, I get. I lock eyes, you copy their power. We both get stronger. But Haylie’s an android. What would you even copy?”

“Haylie’s the key,” Envy insisted. “It’s not her power I’m after. It’s what’s inside of her.”

“Now I’m the one that doesn’t follow…”

“Don’t fret about it,” Envy said. “All you need to do is find her. I can take it from there.”

“Alright,” I agreed reluctantly. “Any ideas on where to find her, then?”

“Kind of. You won’t like it, though.”

“Hit me.”

“You don’t need to find her,” Envy said. “Just make enough of a scene, and she’ll come to you.”

“You’re right. I don’t like it. But…”

“But?”

“But I’ll do it,” I said.

 

Next: The First and The Last (Bonus)

Chapter 50b – You Should Have Joined Me When You Had The Chance

“You go on ahead,” I grunted, summoning all of my strength to toss her across the room. She crashed through the fire stairs door. Close enough. “I’ll take care of this clown, then catch up with you!”

She didn’t respond to that. Just took off. That was fine. Wasn’t exactly in the mood for conversation.

Electrified spikes? Not a bad tactic, I had to admit. Might have even worked, if he hadn’t already played his hand by equipping street thugs with a similar design. Should’ve been more creative. I’d already made sure my body could channel excess electricity into a safe outlet.

The poor boy twitching at my feet clearly didn’t have the same advantage. He was already done. Not that it mattered, the temporary boost he got from Zoe’s blood would burn up within minutes. They couldn’t have collected that much, and I doubted they’d waste it all on an untrained brat like him.

Still, it had gotten rid of Sabrina, and that was what I needed. By the time she got all the way up to his office, he’d be long gone. There’d probably be a trap waiting for Sabrina. Not my concern.

I’d already done the math. His only escape from that office was with Miss Murder’s blinking. Her range was limited, and she needed to reorient herself before teleporting again. Given the limited time frame before her needing to be back to ambush Sabrina, she’d only be able to get him a short distance away. There was only one building that made sense.

I left the boy twitching and convulsing on the floor. He might follow later, but he’d already proven he wasn’t a threat. No instinct, no fighting experience. Not a problem.

The second I left the building, I felt a dozen weapons pointed at me. Reinforcements. God, but he was annoying.

“I don’t have time for this,” I muttered.

A dozen thugs, all armed. I had approximately zero time for their shit, but they weren’t exactly going to let me just walk away. Time to weigh up the risks.

My clothing would protect most of my body from bullets. There’d be bruising, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The only place I was vulnerable was my head. Even there, bullets would rip up the skin and muscle, but wouldn’t penetrate bone. Unless they hit my eyes, the damage would only be cosmetic.

I could cover my face with my arm and run, but I didn’t want them on my tail when I confronted him. The damned floor spikes had ruined the propulsion systems in my boots, so that wasn’t an option.

Had to take them out.

Killing them would be so much easier. Physically, at least. Emotionally, I wasn’t comfortable with it. They didn’t deserve to die. But disabling them was a lot more work.

Inventory. I had a flashbang, two foam grenades, my shock baton, a shock gauntlet, a pistol with non-lethal rounds, a small supply of plastic ties, Miss Murder’s knife and an untested venom dart gun. Theoretically, that one would induce a process that mimicked that of Zoe’s blood, but in reverse, making them weak and close to useless, temporarily. Unfortunately, my abilities as a tinker were limited when it came to biochemistry, and I wasn’t entirely certain how accurate my formula was.

“Fuck it.”

One arm in front of my face, I ran into the nearest cluster of thugs. I had very little time to put them all down. No pulling punches.

Stun baton to the throat. One down. Draw the pistol, two headshots. Probable concussions, but they’ll live. Three down. Trip the next up with the baton, kick them in the side of the head. Four down.

Drop the baton, throw a foam grenade. Two more headshots, then the grenade explodes, catching three in the blast. Nine down.

A hail of bullets hits me in the back, staggers me. Drop the pistol, vault over cover. Punch to the sternum, enough force to crack ribs. Ten down. Grab their gun, snap it in half. Twist their arms behind their back, tie their wrists. Eleven down. Shove them into the last remaining thug, gauntlet to the face, deliver a strong charge.

No time to waste.

I ran towards the building I’d marked off beforehand. Motion sensors I’d planted confirmed something was happening there, but that was as much as I’d been able to set up. It was enough.

It was possible he’d set another trap, but paranoid as he was, I didn’t think he was that prepared. Not for this.

I crashed through the entrance, disregarding subtlety entirely. He was no threat to me, and he had nowhere to go. Better to intimidate than to surprise.

He was waiting for me, still in his chair, a pained expression on his face. Haylie was nowhere to be seen. It was annoying that he’d already found time to stash her, but I could beat the information out of him if I had to. I wouldn’t torture his thugs, but him? He deserved it.

“It’s good to see you again, Rachel.”

“You’re awfully chipper for someone who’s about to get flayed alive,” I snapped. “Where’s Haylie?”

“Right behind you,” he said, smirking.

I whirled around, and clichéd as it was, she really was standing right behind me. How long had he been waiting to pull that trick?

More importantly, she was awake. That changed everything.

She was beautiful, with long, wavy red hair, fair skin, and a smattering of freckles. Her eyes were yellow, almost luminescent, and just slightly vacant. She was taller than me, but not by much. Dark jeans, combat boots, a white shirt, all kind of worn and dirty.

Just one look at her set my mind ablaze. Concepts, ideas, schematics and blueprints formed in my head, distracting, disrupting. Stop.

“You’re awake,” I said, nearly stumbling over my words.

“I’m alive,” she corrected, though I didn’t understand the distinction. Surprisingly, her accent sounded American. Gabriel and Zoe had British accents, Ami’s was… surprisingly neutral. I could never pick it.

I didn’t know anything about her. I didn’t know what she wanted, or who she was. I knew she was dangerous, but not if she was a threat.

“I’m honoured to meet you,” I said carefully.

“Are you,” she replied, no question in her tone.

“A lot of people have been looking for you, you know.”

“I don’t. And I don’t particularly care.”

There was no life in her. She seemed half-baked, distant, unfocussed. It was disappointing, but it also seemed wrong. Like she wasn’t supposed to be like this. Not that I had any idea what she was supposed to be like…

“What do you care about?”

“I haven’t worked that out yet,” she said. “I might have a better idea after killing you.”

“Why do you want to kill me?” I asked, feeling a pang of genuine fear. She was an unknown, a potential enemy I knew nothing about. The small fragments of data I did have suggested I probably didn’t stand a chance.

“Because he wants you dead.”

I glanced back over my shoulder. The satisfied, smug look on his face made it really difficult to resist the urge to punch him.

I had to resist, though. Haylie seemed to have latched onto him, and I needed to know why if there was any chance of detaching her from him. Until then, if she was protecting him, he was far less vulnerable than I thought.

“You should have joined me when you had the chance, Rachel,” he said.

“Fuck off.”

Haylie reacted to that. Her fists clenched, and her body weight shifted. Crap. Did I upset her-

She hit me before I had a chance to brace myself. The impact sent me flying across the room, right over the Celestial’s head. I slammed against the wall, and she was already right there in front of me, her expression still completely blank.

Her next hit threw me sideways, the shock resonating through my entire body. If not for my reinforced skeleton, I’d have been borderline liquefied by that. She hit harder than Zoe or Sabrina could. And she was every bit as fast. That was intimidating.

I was ready for the next blow. I managed to block it, absorbing the force of it and counterattacking with Miss Murder’s knife. The blade didn’t even pierce her skin. Her fingers wrapped around my throat, and she tossed me across the room again.

“Stop playing with her, Haylie,” the Celestial ordered. “Just kill her.”

“Your wish is my command,” she replied.

She began walking towards me, her expression completely neutral. Her right arm stretched out, and the air beyond her hand began to shimmer and warp, forming the shape of a blade, barely visible.

Panic flooded my system. My tinker brain was already analysing what I was seeing, and though I didn’t fully understand it, I knew that blade was dangerous.

She swung at me, and I hurled myself sideways, out of the way. I wasn’t fast enough. The blade sliced right through my left arm, completely severing it at the elbow. Even my reinforced skeleton didn’t offer any resistance.

I screamed, and scrambled backwards, holding the stump of my elbow. She attacked again, but something knocked her out of the air, throwing her backwards. She recovered quickly, but her assailant was already dashing towards me.

Zoe picked me up with one arm, and carried me out of the room. She moved quickly, bouncing between buildings, staying away from street level. Haylie didn’t follow.

We didn’t slow down until we reached her base, our home. She dropped me gently onto a bed, took one look at my arm, and swore.

I glanced down. The wound had cauterised, which was probably good for me, but it was a horrific sight.

“Thank you,” I said, looking up at her.

“Any time,” she replied.

“Where’s Sabrina?” I asked.

“Here,” Sabrina said, entering the room. She looked a little shell-shocked, but her expression turned soft when she saw my arm. “What happened?”

“Haylie’s awake,” I said.

“We’re in a lot of trouble,” Zoe said.

 

Next Week: She Was The First Voice I Ever Heard