by M. K. Gibson
Freeman gave her a look and nodded. “That’s sound police work. Deek?”
Deek scanned his data tablet. “There are fourteen Body by Buddha locations in the city. Plenty of potential distribution nodes.”
“But also a lot of places they could be kept,” Freeman said.
“Hey Deek,” Ito said. “How many of those places have had major construction projects in the last six to ten months or so?”
“Why?”
“Because Vitae hit the streets about a year ago. But it has been more prevalent in the last six-ish months. So that means probable step-up in production.”
“And that would mean infrastructure,” Deek said, seeing where Ito was going. Deek scanned through police-accessed public records at amazing speed. “Yeah, about nine months ago. Massive construction was done at his main gym complex in New Dorado. It was filed with the city as heating and cooling upgrades. Wanna guess what company was contracted to do the work?”
“Jani-Thor Electrical & Custodial Services?” Jessie asked.
“Bingo,” Deek said. “What was actually installed is anyone’s guess. But zoning laws and permits show that this was a massive overhaul.”
Jessie turned to Mother-1. “The Laughing Man is Buddha. It has to be. All the pieces fit.”
Mother-1 seemed to stare at nothing while she considering the facts. After several long minutes, Freeman spoke up.
“It’s your team. You make the call. As of right now, MORTAL is still a covert operation. Once we come out, there is no going back. But this is what Messer planned. For us to be in the public eye.”
“And if we arrest the wrong person?” Mother-1 said. “What then? Our credibility will be over before we even start.”
“Then we’ll go in alone,” Jessie blurted out.
All eyes turned on her. She looked at them all, realizing what she had said.
Screw it.
“Well, at least I will. Those are my teammates. They’d do the same for me.”
Mother-1 regarded her with an undecipherable look. Then she smiled. “Yes, I believe they would.”
“You won’t be alone,” Ito said. Freeman inclined her chin while Gabby squinted and gave a wide smile.
Jessie nodded her thanks.
“If you all do this, then what is your plan?” Mother-1 asked.
Jessie let go of a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. “I have no clue,” she admitted. “Cross made the plans. She got us this far, but I’m just guessing from here on out. I . . .” she started to say, then slightly chuckled and looked at Freeman. “I don’t have the experience.”
“She’s saying you’re old,” Deek whispered loudly.
Freeman shot Deek a practiced side-eye. “I’m seasoned to perfection, ya four-wheeled asshole.”
“Touché.”
“We go in after they close,” Freeman said, turning back to the group. “We can’t risk Buddha, or one of his crew, taking hostages.”
“Makes sense,” Ito said. “What time do they close?”
“Nine p.m.,” Deek said. “That’s cutting it close.”
Ito nodded. “Yeah, no shit. And how do we know he’ll be there?”
“According to the website’s schedule, he’s guiding a yoga class at eight p.m.,” Deek said.
“Okay, we’ll wait ’til just a little after nine to make sure any stragglers are gone.”
“What about employees?” Jessie asked. “We can’t just assume that anyone left in there is a hostile.”
“True,” Freeman said. “But we don’t have much of a choice. So when we go in, stay on your toes. Use non-lethal wands first to minimize any potential casualties. When we’re ready, we’ll activate Cross’s beacon, confirm their location, and teleport directly to them.”
“Why can’t we just teleport them out?” Jessie asked.
Deek shook his head. “Same reason The Eye can’t watch certain people. His godly essence would prohibit an extraction. I could sit down and explain the metaphysics of it, but since we have a fixed point inside we can get there. But—”
“But it’s a one-way trip,” Jessie said, seeing what Deek was driving at.
“Yup. Once you’re in, that’s it.”
“I’m going to be honest with you all,” Mother-1 said as she stood. “Cross and Deacon are the secondary objective. In order to prevent the elves from attacking, your primary mission is to confirm that Buddha is the Laughing Man and that he is the source of the Vitae. After which he is to be apprehended. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Freeman said.
“Yes,” Jessie said, unhappy with the statement. But she understood.
“Good. Get some rest,” Mother-1 said. “Dr. Deacon, I assume you can pull up the floor plan for the main gym?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I recommend you all study it exceptionally well. In just under eight hours, you’ll be going in. I only hope that Cross and Deacon can hold out until then.”
********
15 May - 1:21 pm
Body by Buddha, Utility Room, District of New Dorado
“I . . . I can’t hold out any longer,” Arby said, his head hanging low. “I just can’t.”
“You have to,” Cassy said. “They’ll come for us. You can make it until then.”
“Please Cass, I can’t,” Arby said, refusing to look at her. “Even if they do show up, it’ll be too late. I may as well just . . . just give in.”
“Look at me,” Cassy said.
“No.”
“Look. At. Me,” Cassy demanded. When he met her eyes, she regarded him in a way that bespoke friendship and yet authority. “You will make it. You will hold out. I’m here. I’m with you. We can do this together. You . . . you’re doing it now, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Goddamn it Arby, now this whole room will stink of piss. Couldn’t you just hold it?”
“No,” Arby said with a dopey grin on his face. A moment later he gave a slight shudder, and then his eyes focused on her. “Sorry, but holding your pee for long periods of time exposes your body to bacteria, which leads to a UTI or bladder infection. Did you know that if your bladder bursts, you can die? But hey, good thing it wasn’t number two, right?”
“Why didn’t you go before we left?”
“I did,” Arby said. “But we’ve been locked up down here for hours. I had to go. Sorry.”
“You are so gross.”
“Don’t act like you don’t know me,” Arby said. “When we go to the movies, what do I do?”
“You go right before the previews, fake a phone call to go one more time just before the movie, and yet again somewhere around the seventy-minute mark.”
“Right. You knew what you were getting involved with. I’m surprised you don’t have to go.”
“I do. But I’m not a man-child with a bladder the size of a hamster.”
“Good for you, Agent Cross,” a distorted voice said as the monitor in the room flickered on. Once again, the Laughing Man appeared before them as a figure shrouded in darkness. “At least one of you knows how to behave as a guest.”
“Oh shut up, Buddha,” Arby said.
“Buddha?” Cassy said, looking at her urine-soaked partner.
“Yeah,” Arby nodded. “Took me a while to figure out. But what other god that we’ve investigated has people lining up to heap their adoration and faith onto? Plus, I can smell laundry detergent and disinfectant. So a lot of towels and a lot of cleanser. We’re in a gym.”
Cassy shook her head. Despite Arby’s antics and performances, it was easy to forget he was a great detective.
“Well done, Detective,” Buddha said. The image on screen changed from a man cast in darkness to the bald, jade-skinned godlike aspect they had met the day before. “I must say that this is far more liberating.”
“Why?” Cassy asked. “You’re already rich and successful. Why deal drugs?”
Buddha shook his head and smiled. “Is this where I tell you my evil p
lan?”
“If I get a vote . . . yes?” Arby said.
“Sadly, it isn’t that evil,” Buddha said. “It’s like I told you before. I was brought into being because enough people were convinced that ‘the Buddha’ was a god. And when I opened my first gym, people came and gave not only their money, but their faith. And faith is addictive. Unlike the other religions, all are welcome. And hippy-dippy white people love to be spiritual on social media or at parties. Makes them feel superior to act humble. Same thing with working out. I bet you know a lot of people who post their workouts to some social media website so everyone can see. Before I knew it, I had hundreds—thousands—of stupid people coming to my gyms. To learn from the Buddha. I figured there had to be a way to capture this faith. To bottle it. Science and magic aren’t that far apart. So with the right help from the right people, I succeeded. Special machinery and focus lenses made from recycled artifacts harness that residual faith and condense it into a tangible product.”
“I knew it,” Arby said. “I knew yoga pants and pumpkin spice would be the end of the world.”
Cassy shook her head. “But you have to know that—”
“That your friends are coming?” Buddha asked. “I’m counting on it. It’s the only reason you’re still alive. I have plans for them. After the elves do what they do best, the myths of the city will look for new leaders. Ones that don’t hold them hostage. Ones that can defeat the authorities. I, and my selected allies, will have all the power we need to take this city. Make it our own. And when we’re ready, we’ll take back the world.”
The screen flickered off.
Arby looked at her. “Well . . . after that speech, you may as well pee yourself. If I had any left in me, I would have.”
“I think I just did,” Cassy admitted.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
15 May - 8:45 pm
MORTAL Headquarters Armory, Spear of Lugh, District of Axis Mundi
After checking the rest of her gear and making sure everything was secure, Jessie picked a short birch wand from the rack and held it, feeling its weight and balance. It was small, barely five inches long. She turned to look at the dwarf behind the counter.
“What about this one, Pauly?”
The dwarf behind the counter looked at what she was holding, then rubbed at his bald head and stroked his long, pointed beard. “No no no. Whatcha gots there is a snub-nose emergency-type wand. One quick blast of a stored spell. Not very useful.”
The tall elf with braided, white-blonde hair beside Pauly smacked the shorter myth’s shoulder with the back of his hand.
“What?”
The elf gestured with his hands while rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, I knows that. But whatcha gonna do with—”
The elf crossed his arms and glared.
“Fine. Duke says—”
Again, the elf slapped his partner on the shoulder.
“What now?”
The elf gestured with his hands.
“Really? Since when?”
The elf continued to sign with his hands.
“All the movies?”
The elf nodded.
“Fine,” Pauly sighed. “Keanu here said to take it, and that you never know when it’ll save your life. There, happy?”
Keanu gave Pauly a cold look with a slight smile.
“See what I work with?”
Jessie laughed a little and then signed her thanks to Keanu. The elf quirked his head, smiled, and signed back.
Pauly’s large hands went to his hips. “You knew the Fey Form the whole time?”
“Yeah,” Jessie said with a shrug. “I learned it back in the orphanage where I grew up. I would have interrupted, but you two seem to have a good dynamic.”
“They do,” Ito said as he came through the door and exchanged a fist bump with Pauly, then playfully smacked the elf with his tail. “Pauly and Duke have been outfitting us for a while now.”
Keanu put his hands on his hips.
“He prefers to be called Keanu now,” Jessie explained.
“You watched all the John Wick movies, didn’t you?”
“And the Matrix movies,” Pauly added.
Keanu smiled, then mimed a pair of finger guns with his hands.
Ito shrugged. “Whatever you want, big guy. Okay Jessie, you ready?”
“Yeah,” she said as she stuffed the snub-nosed wand up her sleeve.
“Good,” Ito said. “Take care, guys.”
“Good luck,” Pauly said while Keanu gave them a chin-up gesture.
Waving goodbye, Jessie followed Ito from the armory through the winding halls of the Spear of Lugh until they reached a secured room closed off by a large oak door. Ito stopped for a moment.
“Before we go in, I just wanna say—”
“Don’t,” Jessie said, thinking about the kiss. “It was what it was. I don’t regret it, but let’s leave it alone for now.”
“I was going to say that your shoes were untied,” Ito said.
“Oh.” Jessie said, looking down at her boots. Which were tied. She looked back up at him.
“Okay okay. You’re right. We’ll leave it alone,” he said, then added, “for now.”
Walking in though the large doors, Jessie saw what looked like a large circular cargo bay. High above, Jessie saw a dome made of interwoven branches and vines. In the center of the dome, she saw a crystal the size of a car that crackled with magical energy. Off to the left, there was a secluded booth with a glass window where a trio of agents seemed to be working at a control panel.
A familiar trio.
“Uh . . . hey,” Jessie said to the vampires who’d attacked her just few days earlier. “Bill, right?”
Bill Gettys nodded. “Hey there, DeLeon. This is Nick and Andy. Sorry if we roughed you up, but Freeman said we had to make it look good. Glad to see you made it though.”
“Thanks?”
In the center of the dim room, Freeman and Gabby were waiting on them.
“Time check,” Freeman said out loud.
“Almost nine,” a voice came over the intercom.
“Okay, you all ready?”
“We’re ready,” Jessie said, giving a nod to Ito.
“This is it, folks. The team is here to send us, but once we’re in, that’s it. They can’t pull us out. We know our objectives. We do the job right and we all come home, with an arrest, our people, and a safe city. Any questions? No? Then let’s go get this asshole.”
********
15 May - 8:58 pm
Body by Buddha, Sub-Basement, District of New Dorado
“Cass, you awake?”
Cassy nodded, her eyes still closed. “Yeah. Just catching a cat nap before things kick off.”
“You ever start to doubt your plans?” Arby asked.
“Not when they work.”
“And when they don’t?”
“When that happens, I’ll let you know,” Cassy said, shooting him a sideways glance.
Arby chuckled. “My girl’s still got it.”
Cassy smiled. The worst part of her plan had been the waiting. Getting captured, taking a beating, pissing herself—those had been simply inconveniences. The waiting did what waiting had always done. It gave her time to think. About Kyle. About why she left him. About when she was sick and alone. About her decisions and how they were always the wrong fucking ones.
“Where you at, girl?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re up in your head again,” Arby said. “Never a good place.”
She sighed. He was right. “What’s going on?”
Arby leaned his head to the side. “Things are dying down up top. I don’t hear as much activity.”
“So anytime now,” Cassy said. “As long as they know where to—”
“Shh,” Arby quietly shushed her.
“What?”
“Someone’s coming.”
A moment later the door to the utility room opened. Two large bodybuilders entered—
a brutish man with a reddish beard and narrow-set eyes, and a woman with arms larger than Arby’s. Both wore work out clothing. Both carried fully automatic machine pistols. Wordlessly, the muscle-bound grunts stepped aside as Buddha entered the room.
The godlike being was sweaty; the jade skin of his bald head gleamed from the overhead light. He was barefoot, dressed in a pair of midnight blue leggings and a matching loose fitting tank top that showed off his lean, muscular physique. Under his arm, Buddha carried a rolled-up, neon yellow yoga mat.
“Namaste,” the god said with a smile.
“Nice mat,” Cassy said.
“Thanks,” Buddha said. “Recycled rubber. Gotta save Mother Earth and all that. Since class got out a little early, I thought I would stop in personally to see how you were doing. Wow . . . it really smells horrible in here.”
“You’ll have to forgive us,” Arby said. “We would have tidied up had we known you were coming.”
Buddha smiled. “Agent Deacon, ever the fountain of misplaced buffoonery.”
“What’s with the backup?” Cassy asked, looking at the guards.
Buddha looked over his shoulder at his bodyguards. “What? Oh, you mean Mason and Madison. They’re here to keep you two company. If your friends are going to move on me, then it will be soon. And since they want to get you back, this is where they will wait.”
“You know, you could always turn yourself in,” Cassy said. “It would save a lot of people.”
“And it would save us from a lot of paperwork,” Arby added.
Cassy nodded. “That too. So what do you say? You wanna give up? Go willingly to jail? You could run fitness routines down in the Rot.”
“Sorry, Agent Cross. While it’s a fair offer, I’ll have to pass.”
“And the people that will be hurt when the elves come?”
Buddha shook his head, then knelt down in front of her so that they were on eye level. “An unfortunate event that is required. A herald, for things to come. In my heart, I’m simply a businessman. And a successful business requires sacrifice.”
“You’re sick.”
Buddha’s lip curled back into a slight snarl. “No, you diseased cow, I’m a fucking visionary. It was human belief that brought me into the world. They wanted me. And I will give them the peace they desire, after it has been properly broken in. The elves are doing me a favor. Too long have they remained a secret power. When we gods are once again empowered, the myths, now embittered by elvish rule, will follow us. The world will once again be ours. And it starts here.”