Unity

by Carl Stubblefield

  “That’s going to cost you!” a wiry one in the back piped in. “They were going to give us one cubic unit of Endurium. Do you know how long it took us to track that down?! You’ve ruined seven months of hard wor—”

  A stern scowl from the leader cut off the reprisal mid-sentence.

  “He’s not wrong. I can tell from our scans that you have a fair amount of Endurium on you, so you can hand it over, or there will be… trouble.”

  Gus laughed. “Was… was that on purpose?”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Tempest growled. “And I’ve had it up to here with all of these interruptions and distractions. I guess these things are worthless now.” He dropped the burnt-out shroud. “I don’t know who you are, but you picked the wrong day to get on my bad side. I’m sorry you didn’t get what you wanted but I’m warning you, you don’t want to cross me. Not today. Let’s just go on our ways and I won’t give you the ass whipping you so clearly need,” Tempest said savagely.

  “Is that so?” the leader said, running his thumb and index finger across his mustache, straightening it. “Well, let’s get to it then, boys.”

  Before he could even react, the leader had drawn a gun in each hand and shot at Tempest and Aurora.

  Gus saw the wiry one in the back roll forward and aim his fist at him. With a whistle-tweet, two darts stuck into the wall inches from Gus’ face. Gus activated Wreckognize and dodged, hearing a loud shriek and another flare of pain as he used an ability on instinct.

  Black Lotus: ?

  Associations: Luddites. Little is known about the Luddites except their predilection for steampunk or gaslight modifications on modern technologies. They rally around a female leader known as the “Prophetess,” who appears to be working for another unknown entity.

  Powers: No Nth detected. Subject is in the database as a suspect for espionage. At least twelve assassinations are attributed to him, due to their questionable manner of death. Possibly many more have gone undetected. Kills always mimic natural causes or progression of medical complications.

  Specializes in poisons, entheogens, and pharmaceuticals.

  Before he could line up another shot, he was covered in a glittering shower of energy as Aurora hit him with Ion Storm. His father was surrounded by a whirlwind, and none of the shots from the guy dressed like a sheriff were penetrating to hit Tempest.

  The hook-nosed man in the back dropped his pack and pulled out a drone which took flight as soon as he threw it in the air. “You idiots ruined it!” He pointed at the tiger. “Nothing to salvage, everything’s a melted mass of slag!”

  Gus saw the drone approach, making a beeline toward him. The gadgeteer looked at a display, then looked up with a wide grin, exposing gray, worn teeth behind his thin lips. He pointed at Gus with a bony finger.

  “There! He’s got the Endurium!”

  All three of the attackers turned toward Gus and charged.

  Yuki’s eyes fluttered open.

  “Well that was a mess,” she said as she got up from the ground.

  “What was?” Prime asked, materializing atop some machinery in the corner as she dropped out of stealth.

  Yuki scuttled back and fell on her butt again.

  “Holy hell. Don’t do that!” Yuki held her chest as she took a moment to catch her breath. “I had to turn off all of the sensors nearby, and I can tell you that there is much more security here than would be warranted at a normal hospital. The others set off all kinds of alarms. I was able to shut off most of them, but I don’t know if they alerted anyone before I disabled them.”

  “Let’s go join the team, I haven’t heard anything for too long.”

  “Prime, wait. We need to get inside—now. It’s only a matter of time before my backdoor gets discovered and we’re permanently locked out. I’m sure the others have it covered. Follow me.”

  Prime cast a look towards the direction of the combat, then reluctantly followed Yuki.

  Arriving at a side door, Yuki extended her hand and tiny fibrils extended and briefly interacted with the keypad, which blinked green. They slid inside and found themselves in a cement-lined corridor. Pipes of different sizes and colors extended in both directions and Yuki briefly checked her internal map then turned and headed down the maze of corridors.

  They slid out of the maintenance tunnel into a storage room. Another interface with a large machine and there was a rumble and whir within. A small metal window opened up and Yuki plucked out a small bundle. The machine chugged along, and another window opened. Yuki grabbed this bundle and tossed it to Prime.

  Unfolding it, she found it to be a scrub top and bottoms. They both donned the outfits over their own clothes and Yuki found some puffy blue bouffant caps that covered most of Prime’s pink downy hair that was obviously less than human. Kneeling, Yuki opened a zipper on her belt and extracted a small box. Punching a few buttons, the small box spat out a rectangular ID with Prime’s picture and credentials on them.

  “Kate Mandu? Really, Yuki?” Prime said, putting a hand on her hip. Yuki printed some more of the IDs for the rest of the team and retrieved more scrubs, hiding them in a corner, as she tried not to look Prime in the eyes.

  “No one reads these anyways. Besides, I didn’t think you’d look. It is a fully functioning ID though, and we have full access with these.” Her arm disappeared to the elbow as she once again fished around inside the zipper portal. She came up with two clips and tossed one to Prime. Sliding it through the ID, she clipped it to her pocket.

  “What does yours say?” Prime pressed.

  “It doesn’t matter,” was Yuki’s curt reply.

  “Let me see,” Prime slid by gracefully, plucking the ID with a practiced motion that would make any pickpocket envious. “Oh, ho ho!”

  “Give that back, we’ve got to go. Stop goofing around.”

  “I’m so sorry… Doctor Kasa, head of neurology.” She held the ID out in a deferential bow.

  Yuki rolled her eyes and hissed, “Let’s go, already!” She snatched her ID out of Prime’s hand and exited the storage room like she owned the place.

  Prime followed, smiling to herself.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a loud voice boomed.

  As Prime stepped into the hallway, Yuki was backing away from a large gorilla of a man staring down his brows. A flustered Yuki sputtered and stammered as she looked back at the angry individual she had barreled into inadvertently. In desperation, she looked back at Prime. Her expression said it all.

  I blew it!

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Doctor! Doctor!

  “You damn doctors think you can treat us orderlies like crap! Now you’re raiding our scrubs, just because you can? Typical. And watch where you’re going!” He gently pushed Yuki to the side with a beefy hand and continued on his way down the corridor.

  As Prime watched him leave, she saw that he definitely was a hybrid—simian, most likely. She could see silver hair on the nape of his neck going down his back, visible on the scrubs’ low neck-line.

  Yuki scooped up Prime’s arm with a big grin and she giggled at the release of tension.

  “Hoo! I thought that was it for us. Well, you can rest at ease, there’s hybrids working here. Makes sense in Hinansho. This is the main floor; it functions as any regular hospital. What we want is found in the M wing. We’ll wait for the others there.”

  Yuki nodded at another doctor passing in the hallway. Her face became serious and stern. “Doctor.”

  “Doctor,” he replied, nodding in turn.

  “I’ve always wanted to do that!” Prime just rolled her eyes. “My dad always wanted me to be a doctor. Now he can’t say that I was a disappointment. C’mon, it’s this way,” Yuki urged, pulling Prime along with her.

  The whirlwind that was around Tempest only increased in size. Within the storm, Gus could see hailstones and chunks of ice.

  Grabbing Aurora’s hand he pulled her down an embankment and behind a tree.

  �
�I’ve only heard of him doing this, but we need to take cover!”

  An unholy whistling began to sound. There were shouts but nothing could be understood as the cacophony increased.

  “Cover your ears!” Gus screamed and then pantomimed when he found he couldn’t even hear his own voice. They both felt a huge pressure wave extend overhead, pushing them down into the soil around the tree. There were loud cracks and icy shrapnel spread outward. Alarms sounded as vehicles in the parking lot hundreds of feet away had their windows smashed as they were pelted with the debris. The silence afterward was eerie.

  Aurora followed as Gus scrambled up to the promenade and saw his father down on all fours, shaking his head. The others were blown back in different directions, unconscious but alive.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve nearly bottomed out my MP,” he said, coughing and massaging his temples.

  A whirring brought their attention to the drone, as a panel on its center opened and the propellers spun one final time. Bright glittery dust flew out, covering the supers. Gus spit and puffed out a big breath, catching the full brunt of the blast.

  “That’s annoying as hell. I’ll be combing this out of my hair for weeks,” Aurora said, holding up some strands of hair trying to remove some of the particles. Tempest raised a wind that blew away a majority of the obnoxious particles. Aurora kicked Black Lotus, and turned on the other Luddite who had released the drone in retaliation and was calculating her next angle for maximum bruising.

  “Leave them, Aurora, Yuki needs us,” Tempest gasped, his voice raw like he had been screaming too much.

  She gave them one last scowl and growled as she followed Tempest. “Glitter? How stupid can you get!”

  They followed the nav-point, finding the door propped open and made their way to the stockroom and found Yuki’s stash.

  Gus held up his ID. “Ah yeah, Yuki knows me. Dr. Angus M. Young—Cardiologist at your service! What’s yours say?”

  “Paul N. Storm. Hmm. I don’t get it.” Tempest shrugged as he slid into his scrub top.

  Gus just chuckled. “You wouldn’t. You’re old. How about you?” He looked at Aurora.

  “A. Borealis, RN. Ha-ha. Like I’ve never heard that one in the Academy. Let’s just go already.” Aurora headed out the door when the nav-point was refreshed to show Yuki’s new position.

  They followed, trying to walk quickly but had to temper their speed when they started drawing attention.

  “Where are you guys, he’s here!” Yuki whispered urgently over the comms.

  “We’re coming as fast as we can,” Aurora responded. “People are watching us.”

  “I have an idea,” Gus said, grabbing a stretcher alongside a hall. “Aurora, jump up and lay down.”

  “Wha—”

  “Just do it!” Gus pressed.

  Aurora rolled her eyes and crawled onto the stretcher. He threw a sheet over her lower legs and motioned for his father to grab an IV stand. He handed one end of the line to Aurora. “Hold this under the sheet. Okay, let’s run!”

  As they ran down the corridor, people opened doors for them and hugged the walls to allow them to pass. They were able to make it to the entry for the M wing, which had two security guards who waved them to stop. After scanning their ID cards and getting a green light, the guards motioned them through and returned to their posts.

  The hallways beyond were practically empty compared to the rest of the hospital. Nurses stations stood empty as they wheeled Aurora down the halls.

  “Guys, what’s taking so long? I just received a notice that Mengele’s personal transport is being prepped for launch. We have to go now if we’re going to catch him!”

  Tempest motioned for them to stop. “Aurora, I want you and Prime to go after Mengele’s ship—we can’t risk losing him again. If possible, keep him from leaving. If not, follow and we’ll catch up. Gus and I will meet with Yuki and find Gwen. Go. Go!”

  Aurora sped off down another hallway and Gus and his father took off another direction. They were close now, only two hundred feet ahead.

  They burst through the swinging doors and a man on the second story turned to face them. Gus saw Yuki hiding under a workstation nearby.

  The man on the balcony looked at his watch.

  “You sure took your time. I was wondering when you would arrive.” He began slow clapping with a sardonic grin on his face. Gus froze, he had seen that face before. He knew Mengele!

  Gus’ mind flashed back to his dreams. The ones with the alchemist and the shadowy steward. The face was the same. Angular jaw, circular wire-rim glasses, and small gap between his front teeth as he grinned. Time froze for Gus.

  He heard his father’s gasp come from beside him. “Doctor Weft? You’re Mengele? By the Nth, what have I done?”

  Mengele viewed them both, bowed politely then spun on his heels, walking through a doorway that irised shut behind him.

  Gus shook himself out of his stupor and ran for the stairs, staggering to a stop when his father just stood there.

  “It’s my fault. I let her do this. I didn’t know…” Tempest stared at his hands in disgust as if they were covered in blood.

  Gus hurried back and grabbed his father by the hand. “He’s getting away, we have to go!” He tried pulling his father forward, but Tempest only stumbled and fell to his knees.

  “I did this. She was always headstrong, but I could have done more. I killed her.”

  Gus shook his father, trying to snap him out of his torpor. “It isn’t your fault! But I need your help. Tell me, is Mom’s icon still there?”

  Tempest could only manage a nod.

  “Then there’s still hope. Pull yourself together; she needs us. Who knows what Mengele will do to her if he gets to her before us!”

  Those words brought Tempest back. He shook like he had been hit with a bucket of ice cold water and turned with more awareness to Gus and nodded as he regained his feet. They ran up the stairs after Mengele.

  A sturdy metal door stood blocking their passage, but Gus saw his father’s desperate eyes as he clenched his fists by his sides, slowly cocking them back. He felt his ears pop as a pressure gradient began to build up between his father and the door. It became so uncomfortable that Gus had to stand back. Timesight activated and Gus felt the need to distance himself from what was about to happen.

  A glance over his shoulder showed his father clenching his teeth with effort. Veins bulged on the sides of his head and he was soon covered with beads of perspiration. He thrust his hands forward, releasing the built up pressure towards the door. Air blew past Gus as ambient air flew into the void created by the pressure differential. When the wind died down, he saw his father calmly stepping through the doorway. Gus followed, staring in awe at the blades that overlapped to close the door blasted back like a metallic bloom.

  Everything in the room beyond was shoved to the far wall, piled up in a heap like driven snow. They cleared the doorway and Tempest turned to Gus. The strong smell of antiseptic was insufficient to cover the smell of urine that hung in the air. Hallways spread out in different directions. This looked like some sort of hospital or convalescent home.

  “I can feel her! We’re close.” He stopped and closed his eyes. “This way, Gus, she’s this way!” Tempest ran off to the left with renewed vigor. Some of the doors were open in the facility and from within Gus could see sunken, withered forms connected to a myriad of wires and tubes. Muscles atrophied away until the residents were little more than flesh-covered skeletons. A sensation like a cold bony hand stole around his heart as he contemplated if his mother was in the same state.

  “Please, no…” Gus wished with desperation as Tempest skidded to a stop at another intersection then took off down another hallway.

  “Mengele has boarded his ship! Are you guys coming?” Yuki said in a panic.

  Tempest ignored the comment as he ran like he was crazed. He paused outside a room with the doorway cracked.

  “I… I don’t
know if I can go in, Gus,” Tempest said, voice devoid of emotion.

  “I’ll go,” Gus said quietly and he pushed the door open.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Bittersweet Symphony

  As Gus stepped inside, the rhythmic beat of the heart monitor showed his mother’s pulse and oxygen levels. A respirator noisily inflated and deflated. He looked at the woman before him, who almost looked like a different person than the one he knew in his memories. There was gray in her hair now, and a tangle of electrodes were attached to multiple areas around her head. Though a respirator mask covered her face almost completely, it was unmistakably her.

  “Mom?” Gus asked, stepping closer to the bedside. As he gripped her hand, careful not to disturb the IV ports taped there, her eyes came open. They were glassy and vacant. Looking forward but not seeing anything.

  “Mom, it’s me, Gus.” He looked her in the eyes but no recognition passed there. Who knew what medicines she was on? She was probably so zonked she didn’t know her own name.

  “Dad, get in here!”

  Tempest burst in and, seeing his wife, he ran to the other side of the bed.

  His mouth quavered open in horror as he tried to form the words. “What have they done to you? What have I let them do?” he finally managed through a tight throat.

  “She’s alive, Dad, she’s alive. That’s what matters.”

  “Tempest, he got away. I don’t know how he got aboard—he must’ve used another entry—but he’s gone. I’m sorry,” Prime reported over comms.

  Gus saw that his father didn’t even register the news as he slowly approached.

  Gus dropped into a seat by the bedside, putting thoughts of Mengele out of his mind. He looked at his mother. She was gaunt, and just looked frail. He wondered if it was even safe to transport her in this condition with how much medical paraphernalia that she was connected to. Would the shock be too much for her?