“What do you mean?”
“Do they make you happy? Sad? Angry? Anything?”
She gave it a moment to sink in, but said she failed to feel anything from any of them. “This isn’t working Vladimir.”
“It will,” he told her. “Now listen, when your eyes are open you see the world as it is, however you miss the second part of human beings when you see them only with your eyes. The human soul is comprised of two things, which are a body of flesh and blood, and a spirit. Your eyes see the body, but you can sense how righteous or evil someone is when you try to feel them out with your heart. It is something like how you feel at peace when Pyotr is nearby; since he is righteous, you feel calm, which is a direct result of you being aware of his spirit. So all you need to do is look past the simple flesh and blood you see and look for the spirit within.”
Rachel frowned and asked how he knew so much about that.
“It is something Pyotr has mentioned before,” he revealed. “It was decades ago and I thought nothing of it, but apparently I was wrong.”
“Okay, but how am I supposed to see someone’s spirit?”
Vladimir confessed that he did not know. “This is honestly something Pyotr is far better suited to teach.”
“Then why don’t we wait until he’s here to help?”
“Because we have wasted enough time for one thing,” he whispered, “But something tells me Pyotr planned for this.”
“But I don’t know what to do,” she reminded him.
“You have mentioned this before and it has yet to change,” he muttered. “Try to imagine what the people have done in their lives, who they are, where they are headed, both immediately and in regard to their lives, and try to feel how moral and spiritual they are.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Vladimir,” she said. She finally opened her eyes in defeat, but found a startling change in everyone around her. Each and every person on the street or in their car was wrapped in a wispy silhouette of differing hues of gold. She excitedly explained the development to Vladimir and told him she discovered the ability.
“Perfect,” he said with a bit of relief. “Now try to find someone that doesn’t match the rest of the people in this city.”
She looked at him and saw that shade around him was of a lighter color, and asked whether Cipriana’s would be the same color.
He asked what she meant and reminded her that he could not know what she saw or anything of the matter. “This is something you are going to have to discover alone, as I cannot know what to look for.”
Rachel took a breath and asked whether they should continue their search, which Vladimir quickly agreed to. She led the way this time and scanned the crowds and city for any sign of someone who would stick out from amongst the rest of the souls in Seattle. Vladimir quietly followed after her.
---*---
10:50 PM
Baltimore, Maryland
Ten hours passed since the man who claimed to be Agent Ryuzaki Miyaza abducted James Resnik. After ten hours no one at the Baltimore Police Station had a lead to where they could be. To make matters worse, all radio transmissions within the city were locked by an unknown source, which Detective Felton and his team assumed to be the work of the stranger who kidnapped Resnik. None of the AM or FM radio frequencies were available, GPS systems were down, cell phones were blocked, as were all other forms of wireless transmissions. The communication breakdown encompassed all of Baltimore and a few miles beyond the city limits as well. To make matters worse, what started out as little more than robberies and scattered assaults erupted into full-scale panic as the sun set. Reports came to the station about riots, vicious attacks, murders, and arson throughout the city.
Because of the frenzied state of the city, Chief Johnson called for every officer to help reclaim control of Baltimore. However, he ordered Bryce, Mia, Detective Felton, and Sergeant Murdock to continue their manhunt for James Resnik’s kidnappers.
Chief Johnson partnered Mia and Bryce together and the pair spent their day in search of anything that might lead to Miyaza or Resnik. Bryce drove and drove well, contrary to his excited and restless nature, especially in contrast to the panic on the streets. Mia kept her eyes on the roads and noted the chaotic nature of the citizens, as they all realized how minimal communication was.
“You don’t think this is part of Cladis’ plan, do you?” Bryce asked Mia as he weaved through the streets in avoidance of pedestrians, stalled and abandoned cars, and whatever blockades they happened to meet.
Mia frowned and said this was something else. “If he had the power to do this from the start I think he would have.”
“Really?”
She nodded even though he didn’t see it. “Think about it; if there was a disaster of this sort, no one would have thought to look for any possible patterns in anyone’s death because the deaths in the city would be far more numerous than before. Not to mention the crime wave would be overwhelming and we would never see it.”
“Do you think Cladis wants the attention?”
She shrugged, which he did notice, and said, “I don’t know. If he did then I feel like he would make a larger effort to publicize his carnage.”
“Then what does he want?”
Bryce rounded a corner and found another blockade. He swore as he nearly hit it, but quickly realized there was more to worry about as a group of people brawled in the middle of the street for reasons beyond his understanding. He parked the car and dashed out, Mia followed after him and shouted to him to get back in the car.
He turned back momentarily to tell her the people needed his help. “We can’t ignore them Mia, someone has to save them.”
“What about Resnik?”
Bryce said he doubted they would find him in time. “There’s only an hour left until he’s dead, Mia. What hope do we have of saving him? He could already be dead for all we know. But those people,” he pointed at the group that ganged up on one or two people at a time, “We can stop them and save someone.”
Bryce turned to sprint over to the brawl, but a ragged man stopped him. He told the officers to focus on their task at hand. “It isn’t too late. James Resnik is still alive.”
“What are you doing here?” Mia asked Twelve.
“Wait,” Bryce frowned, “You two know each other?”
“Yes,” Twelve muttered, “But there isn’t time for this. Are you listening to the broadcast?”
“What broadcast?” Mia asked. “The whole city’s being screwed over.”
“The group that captured James Resnik is broadcasting a transmission of their conversation across the city,” Twelve told them. “It started a few minutes ago, Resnik is still alive, as are they, but from the sounds of things they intend on combating Cladis alone.”
Bryce’s jaw dropped. “Do…Do you think they can do it?”
Twelve said he wasn’t sure. “Either way, we need to find them and recover Resnik before Cladis finds them.”
“How do you expect us to do that?”
“Head to your apartment as quickly as you can and listen to the broadcast,” Twelve instructed the two officers. “There could be some information that might lead us to them.”
“That’s it?” Mia asked. “You’re asking us to hole up and cross our fingers for coordinates or something that their group might give up? Bryce was right. We should help regain control over the city.”
Twelve looked around and admitted that the city was in turmoil but added that if those people could be found and apprehended, then communications could be released. “This is important Mia. Trust me and get moving.”
The ragged man vanished in a murder of crows as the two officers retreated into their vehicle and started off toward Mia’s home. Bryce couldn’t help but glance back at where the fight he had aimed to stop was. The gang had fled and two bodies remained motionless where the fight happened moments earlier.
---*---
11:27 PM
Baltimore, Maryland
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Mithra asked nervously. “Can’t you hear what’s happening down there? It’s madness.”
Mizuno took a breath and told him to be patient. “I know this is causing a bit of a mess right now, but we needed to cut off communication, otherwise we could possibly have been caught by the Baltimore police by now. And we need to remain in one place if Cladis is ever going to find us.”
The group of five, Mizuno, Afifa, Melanie, Mithra, and their captive James Resnik, stood on the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in Baltimore. The rooftop was rather unremarkable. It had a satellite dish positioned near the center of the roof, a plain white railing that surrounded the area, and a large set of generators and air conditioning units (which Mizuno disabled shortly before Melanie began her broadcast, to lessen the overall noise in the area). Afifa remained close to Melanie, who leaned casually against the railing at the edge of the building. Mithra sat cross-legged on the ground with James Resnik, and Mizuno stood with two polished Glock seventeens readied in his hands. Mizuno kept his eyes fixed on the opposite end of the rooftop where a slightly concealed access point hatch remained closed.
Melanie used her ability to broadcast their conversation, as well as everything that happened on the rooftop, across the greater Baltimore area. She jammed all wireless transmissions at Mizuno’s request shortly after their group kidnapped James Resnik from the Baltimore Police Department. Since then, she had grown bored and eagerly awaited the inevitable conflict with their foe.
She glanced over the edge of the building and down at the streets below and asked Mizuno why they even bothered with the broadcast. “You’re just going to kill whoever this Cladis guy is, so why are we doing this? For the credit?”
Mizuno massaged the bridge of his nose and told her it was simply to offer their community a sense of relief when the effort was over. “This city, and the world, is not fully aware of the situation here. Cladis has remained hidden for a very long time and he needs to be stopped. I want this broadcast to reach the people of Baltimore first, so they are aware of the threat that lurks in their own home, but I also want the world to know that there are many unchecked threats that need to be stopped. But most importantly, I need to prove that Cladis is real.”
“Okay, but where is he?” Mithra asked. “We’ve been up here for hours and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Why don’t we just leave and grab a bite back in Seattle?” Melanie suggested.
“I wouldn’t mind grabbing a burger,” James chimed in.
“No, we are going to stay here and finish this.”
“But he’s not coming,” Mithra complained.
“Yes, he is,” Mizuno flatly told him. “This guy has not once failed to follow the strict pattern he started back in July, so why would he start making mistakes today?” Mizuno waited a moment before he frowned and let out a breath. “I guess the answer is simpler than I thought. He doesn’t know we’re on the roof of the Transamerica Tower.”
Melanie cursed and demanded to know why he sold them out. “Now everyone knows where we are. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I realized something about our opponent,” Mizuno said with a smirk. “He had no idea where we are.”
“Yes, and now he does.”
“That isn’t the point.” Mizuno told Melanie. “Cladis must have typically followed whoever he aimed to kill next for days at a time, simply until he decided to kill them to fit his pattern. That part is not what I find interesting. What intrigues me is how he discovers his next target and how he finds them.”
“Wouldn’t he have that planned out ahead of time?” James asked.
Mizuno shook his head, “No. For some reason this pattern exists where when one person is killed, another, somewhere within the city, gains an ability seemingly at random. Cladis shouldn’t have any idea who that person might be. And unless he has been extremely lucky and found each and every target by pure happenstance, which I doubt, I would wager that Cladis has an accomplice who aids him in finding new targets.”
“What are you saying?” James asked him.
“What I’m saying is that Cladis only knows where he’s headed or who he’s going to kill because someone else is solving the riddle for him.”
James looked at him with a perplexed look and asked, “Cladis doesn’t have a vendetta against me?”
“I highly doubt it.”
“Then this is random?”
“I would almost say it is, except there’s a pattern,” Mizuno reminded him. “Other than that, yes, it is random, to a point.”
“But who would help him?” Mithra asked.
“It’s probably someone who knows him extremely well. I’d even go so far as to say it’s someone who already knows a lot about this guy and the murders here in Baltimore.”
“So you really do want to lure him here?” James asked Mizuno. “Why don’t you just teleport me out of the city and foil his plan that way?”
Mizuno told him it was simpler to solve the problem than dance about the issue. “If we leave he could just kill someone else and restart the pattern. But even that isn’t a sure guess as to what would happen if we left, seeing as this is an unstable enemy, which needs to be handled carefully.”
“And killing him is the careful approach?”
He looked at James and asked how Cladis was supposed to kill someone if he was dead. “I’m not saying this is the best approach to all matters, but it is to this one.”
“Is your group usually this tactful?” James asked sarcastically.
Mizuno ignored him and told his team to ready themselves.
Afifa trembled slightly, partly from the chill of the evening and partly from her anxiety for the impending situation. Mithra and Melanie were both irritated with Mizuno for making them hide out in Baltimore for the whole day, and Melanie was even more wroth because Mizuno made her use her abilities to block all radio transmissions throughout the city for the entire day, which exhausted her. James remained where he was and hoped no one would arrive, though he doubted his fortune would be so great, as the killer had yet to fail. Mizuno stood still, with his eyes glues to the rooftop access hatch, while everyone else looked elsewhere.
“When can I stop doing what I’m doing?” Melanie whined.
“Once this is over,” Mizuno muttered.
“This isn’t even going to matter after you kill this guy, assuming he even shows up,” she complained. “So why bother with this?”
“Because what if we do fail?” Mizuno asked rhetorically. “Then the people of this city need to have as much information on why we failed so they can work to stop him. Now please, be quiet and pay attention.”
The building’s rooftop was quite empty, which left the group with nowhere to hide and nowhere for Cladis to suddenly attack from. Everyone within the group was worried about the emptiness of the area when they first arrived, but since they had sat there for hours without so much as a single bird landing there next to them, the whole lot, with the exception of Mizuno, lowered their guard.
“He isn’t coming Mizuno.”
Melanie hardly finished her last word when the steel hatch at the other end of the roof flew open and into the air, freed from the hinges it had previously been fixed to. The airborne hatch came hurdling down toward the group and cause them to split their ranks quickly to avoid the object. Mithra and Melanie dove right while James and Mizuno (who pulled Afifa along) evaded to the left.
“Where is he?” Resnik asked them.
Mizuno paused for a moment, searched the area, and asked Mithra to play his part. After a moment everyone within four city blocks lost their sight.
The unseen assailant cleared his throat and asked if the trick was supposed to impede him at all. “Or are you simply trying to even the odds, considering you can’t see me?”
“It’s something along those lines,” Mizuno told the man as he silently and swiftly dashed around the individual. His voice car
ried and echoed out from different places and in no seemingly traceable pattern as to where he came from or where he moved to next. “I’d say first things are first; are you Cladis?”
The man admitted that he was. “Why do you ask?”
“I need to know to make sure I kill the right person.”
“How do you know I’m not lying?”
“Oh, I already assumed you might, but thus far you fit the basic description.”
“Which is?”
“Invisibility, super human strength, electronic manipulation, and an odd little trick that allows you to brand your enemies,” Mizuno rattled off. “Tell me though, does that stem from another power, or is it a simple parlor trick?”
Cladis gave a slight laugh and said it was nothing he should concern himself with. “So, am I the individual you hope to kill?”
Mizuno said he was as sure as he believed he could be. “Now let me ask you this: why are you killing all of these people? It’s obvious you’re not collecting abilities, so what’s your motive?”
Cladis told him it wasn’t his business. “Why on earth should I tell you anything?”
Mizuno admitted that it wouldn’t benefit him, but said it was strictly curiosity. “If you don’t want to talk about that, can I ask who you’re working with?”
The invisible man asked what he meant. “I work alone.”
Mizuno called his bluff and told him he knew he worked with someone. “This pattern is extremely complex, so complicated it’s nearly on the verge of impossibility, seeing as there is no way I’ve seen for a chain of people who happen to cross paths to gain some sort of super human ability one right after the other, especially within the same city.”
“Do you expect me to tell you everything?” Cladis asked him. “I’m well aware of the transmission you’re making right now.”
“Of course you are, otherwise you wouldn’t be here and James Resnik wouldn’t be endangered and your little chain of events would breakdown.”
“It isn’t that simple.”
Regenesis (Book 1): Impact Page 61