FLOOR 21: Judgement (The Tower Legacy Book 3)

by Jason Luthor

  “Right, the Tower director. The guy you seem to know so much about even though nobody else knows anything about him. How is that again?”

  “What a shame. You still call him that? Director? After all you’ve been through. Yet I see you and your team are no longer wearing the listeners he sent you down here with. I’m sure that’s no mere coincidence.”

  “Yeah, well, it gets a little hard to trust someone that tries to have you shot. But you’re not exactly answering my question.”

  “You know everything you need to know about me. Ever since our little encounter, when you robbed me of my crowning moment, I’ve been listening to you. I’ve been down here far longer than you have, and I know how the Tower functions this far in the Deep.”

  “I don’t care how much you say you know. I read your logs. I know you used to work with Pygmalion before you went off the deep end. Plus, don’t think I can’t see what’s going on with your face. You’re in this mess because you couldn’t stop yourself from doing those crazy experiments on people, and for what? Because you thought you could bond people with the Creep?”

  “Because I was saving humanity from extinction!” he screams. When he does, those bulbs on his neck pulse, and I swear, I can see his skin literally crawling, like something’s moving underneath it. “And you did exactly what you were sent down here to do. Like an angel of death, you were manipulated into doing exactly what Pygmalion wanted. You killed men who spent years evading Tower Authority, whose only desire was to be free of its control. Without me, those men would have been subjects for Reinforcement. At least, through my experiments, they could have contributed to the escape of mankind from this tomb we call a Tower. You ruined my last chance at recreating the powers that Sally once possessed. Without those, there can be no escape for our species. Meanwhile, Pygmalion’s rid himself of every one of his enemies. The whole lot of you, gone from the upper floors. Myself, trapped down here with my research in flames. Abbott, now so physically wounded that he won’t be able to resist the director’s orders to have him arrested. All because you couldn’t see that Mike’s death would have meant the end of the director and the salvation of mankind. You think yourself some hero? No. Your actions prove how incredibly naïve and selfish you are. You traded millions of lives for one boy.”

  “I wasn’t . . . I was trying to save him! It wasn’t worth killing him just so you could run your experiments.”

  “His death could have saved the Tower.”

  “Then the cost was too high.”

  “Was it?” He stops for a long time, and you can almost hear the growling in his throat. “But the death of Creepy Sally . . . That was fine, was it? To save the Tower. And all those guards you killed just to get to me? Oh, that was worth it.”

  “What? How . . . how did you know? That’s not the same. I . . .”

  “It’s not the same?” His voice is roaring now, like it’s coming out of every speaker in the building. “So, you didn’t kill Sally to save the Tower?”

  “She was already dead, and you know that.”

  “Sally was more alive than you and I have ever been, the physical manifestation of countless minds in this Tower. A unique being quite unlike the Creep or humanity. And you killed her. You did that. You took a life to save the Tower, or a part of it that you thought was worth saving. How is that any better than my plan? How is that any better than killing Mike to save humanity?”

  “You weren’t there!” Jackie looks like she’s shaking, almost like she can’t control herself. From what I can see, I’m not even sure she can breathe right. “She didn’t want to be what she was, and Mike wouldn’t have wanted to die as whatever creature you would have made him. I did . . . I did a hard thing, made a . . . a . . . a hard choice, but it was the right one. She didn’t die as this magnificent creature you think she was in your screwed-up head. She died, this twisted monster, crying for her daddy. I know. I heard her. It was hard, but I made the right call.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jackie Coleman. When you lay down your head, if you can close your eyelids without seeing her dead face staring back at you from the darkness, if you can rest on your pillow without hearing the screams of the dozens you killed to get to me, then you’re a far worse monster than whatever you think I am. As I said . . . an angel of death. You didn’t quite do what Pygmalion wanted though. You didn’t quite kill me, but you doomed the research that would have saved us all. But this is still my research, Jackie, my experiment. It ends when I say it ends. No one else. Not you, and not the director, sitting from his throne at the top of this world. I will end it when I am ready.”

  He pauses for just a second to look up, and it becomes real obvious he’s got Creep winding around his throat and crawling up his face. His eyes look like they’ve sunk back into his head a little, and they’re glowing yellow from the shadows of his hood. He just stares down at her for a long second, and then, finally, he says, “I’ll see you very soon, Jackie Coleman.”

  The screen vanishes and all of us look to see if Jackie’s alright. She’s got her head down, and she’s not moving, so of course, we’re freaked. Mike’s the first to sprint off because those two, well, their relationship is complicated. Not the point. Anyway, me and Dodger are right behind him, and soon all of us are on ground floor with her. She’s not making much noise, but I can hear her breathing hard. I think she’s just trying to keep things under control.

  Mike’s first in front of her, and he’s trying to stare through the glaring visor of her helmet. “Jackie. Jackie, you okay? Listen, guy didn’t know what he was talking about. Was just trying to rattle you.”

  She nods. “I know. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t right.”

  “What’re you saying? That’s just crazy talk. You saved my life. Remember that? You saved my life. He was wrong.”

  “Mike. No. You think I regret getting you back? Of course I don’t. What I mean is . . .” Jackie shudders, like there’s a cold wind in the air or something. “Pygmalion was trying to convince me to kill Abbott, remember? When he couldn’t, he convinced Sunny to go through with it. We were all being manipulated from the start. What if he’s still manipulating us? I mean, he’s good at this! What if he was just trying to get us all killed or out of the Tower so he could stay in power?”

  “So what? We keep rocking, we get the hell out of here, then we come back and tell everyone what we found. Think they’re going to want to keep living on the upper floors once they know they can get out?”

  “But you know what Pygmalion can do. What about everyone back home? What about your parents?”

  “Gotta trust the commander. Remember? Said he’d protect them. You think Abbott will let you down? Did he ever?”

  It takes her a second, but finally she looks up. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I didn’t . . . I wasn’t thinking. He just got to me.”

  “You alright?”

  Again, it’s like she doesn’t have it in her to answer right away. I can hear her suck in a deep breath before she even starts, like she’s bracing herself to talk. “Not really. Even if we get out of here . . . I’m not okay with the killing, Mike. But . . . I’m good at it. He said it himself. I’m an angel of death.”

  “Hey, Jacko.” He calls her by a name that she doesn’t even like me calling her. Mike doesn’t use it often, but when he does, it’s serious. “That’s the good part. You’re not okay with it. Think he cares about the people he hurts? I’ll tell you right now, that’s not true. He hunted me for weeks. Kept Commander Vick in a cell and tortured him. He was a monster. You think you’re like that?”

  “I just hate having to do it, Mike.”

  “Good. We know that. We know you’re not the same as him.”

  She turns around and sees me and Dodger standing behind her. Normally, I’d take a shot at her or something. I know my role’s the joker of the group. I get it. I’m the meathead that makes everyone laugh. When things get serious though, we know what we’re really about. We’re about eac
h other. So, my point being, it isn’t a time for jokes. I just give her a thumbs up, like always. “I got your back, Jackie.”

  Dodger’s right by me. “Me too, Jackie. You’ve always backed us up.”

  Jackie takes one more deep breath as she looks around. It still takes her a second before she can say anything. “Yeah. Yeah, I know. All of you can get out of your feels already,” she jokes. She gives us this smile, and what kills me is how fake I can tell it is. Still, she keeps soldiering on. “Who said you all could just stand around chatting? We’re not done moving to ground floor yet.”

  I agree. She’s brushing her problems off, but maybe it’s what she needs. Sometimes standing around, doing nothing, that’s what bothers you the most. “Yeah, I mean, we’re only on what floor? 60? I think we’ve got a ways to go here, people.”

  Everyone laughs a little as we start to walk off. That was the end of that showdown. I guess I’d seen Jackie become so amazing since we’d come into the Deep that I’d forgotten she was still younger than me. In fact, Jackie’s the youngest person in the group, and she’s the one doing the heavy lifting to keep us all together. Honestly though, and I don’t want to admit this, but it was the first time I stopped to really think about what she might be going through. Especially the killing part. She’s so good at fighting, I’ve never stopped to think it might bother her. I’ve never really asked her how she’s holding up because I’m always more worried that Mike or Dodger’s going to break down. Well, that’s going to change. From this point on, I’m going to go a lot harder for her. I don’t know. I just really want to show her that I’ve got her back. What’s a guy to do, am I right?

  Dodger’s Recording 25

  Okay, so, you know how much I love making these, and how I’m always going on about being happy we started recording like Jackie does? Because, the thing is, I really do get hyped about them. It’s a lot like the recordings we’d make back in science lab to keep track of everything we were doing. Just, it’s hard to want to record with the way things have been going since the mall. Between the nonstop attacks from the Cultists and how dense the Creep’s gotten, we’ve slowed down to almost zero progress. It’s taking us days just to get down one floor, and everything feels like it’s just starting to drag.

  I can tell it’s really bothering Jackie. She’s been spending a ton of time by herself whenever she’s not talking with Mike, and sometimes it makes me feel like we’re not one team. Jackie will fight until she’s got one finger left on her hand to pull the trigger, but it’s starting to feel like it’s her and Mike on one side, and me and Tommy on the other. Which sucks. I like hanging with Tommy, don’t get me wrong. I mean, that should be pretty obvious. I just wish the team didn’t feel so, I don’t know . . . separated?

  Just, with Jackie, I wish I understood why she wasn’t around more. Tommy says her and Mike used to like each other, and that’s why they hang out alone, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. I get that Mike and her have known each other a lot longer than I’ve even known anyone on the team. Apparently, the two of them used to scheme up ways to get out of the Tower, so you would think they’d be a good match for each other. Believe me, I get why she would feel comfortable with him. And, for a while, I actually agreed with Tommy and thought it was just them, you know, getting cozy. Not that this is the best place to get involved with someone, but you can’t just stop being human or stop feeling.

  Anyway, I was ready to let it go and just say it was the two of them getting involved, and I was great with that. I was really, really cool with that idea, at least until after the mall shootout. That’s when it started to feel a little like they were going their own way. I think what Marshall said to her really freaked her out and probably made her feel worse than she’d already been feeling. She’d been so brave through all this that I really didn’t think she was even capable of doubting herself. I’m not so sure about that anymore. It’s just that, ever since we started getting onto Floor 70, Floor 72, and on and on, she’s been holing up by herself. A lot. I don’t know. It doesn’t help that every day we’re getting peppered by Cultists.

  Yeah. The Cultists. It’s not like we’ve walked away from those fights clean. Sometimes it almost feels like Jackie is . . . well, I don’t want to use this word, but I don’t know what else to say. I’m just saying that sometimes it feels like Jackie’s taking way more risks than she has to. So, I’m not saying I think she’s got a death wish or anything, but lately it feels like she’s lashing out at the Cultists and really throwing herself out there, especially if they shoot at any of us. If she thinks one of us is in danger, she goes into ultra-Jackie mode and just tears the hall apart. I’ve literally seen her pop someone on the opposite side of a dark hall while she’s been falling sideways. But do you want to know the really scary part? If she wants, and she’s got the space to work, she’ll find these ways to just disappear, and the next thing you’ll see is her popping up next to a Cultist. All I’ll say about what happens next is that she really knows how to put that bat of hers to work. Honestly, if I wasn’t on her side, it’d make me pretty scared.

  That’s the thing though. We love her for it. We’re all good at what we do, but she’s a machine. The problem is that even machines wear down. Physically, she takes some hits, especially when she gets up close. Here and there, I’ve seen her get grazed by bullets, and she’s probably lost more blood than can be considered healthy. Other times, she’s taken some nasty punches when she’s fought up close. All that’s obviously having an effect on her. Mentally though, what’s got me worried is that all the death might be grinding her down. It’s hard to tell, I mean, she really won’t talk about it. I just think Jackie would have liked it if she’d never had to have killed anyone in the first place.

  I’m her friend though, not to mention she’s probably what you would call my commander now. As long as Mike and Tommy say she’s cool, I’ll believe them. They’ve known her way longer than I have, anyways. I just, I want her to be alright, you know? I really admire her. I’m not that much older than she is, so I hope she feels like she can talk to me. I know Tommy said she’s always had a hard time being a people person. Maybe she just needs some down time, you know?

  Mike’s Recording 03

  Can’t really say why I’m recording this. Know Jackie wants me to, obviously. She says recording helped her when she used to get depressed all the time. Apparently, it helped keep her cool. She’s sweet. Didn’t want Tommy and Dodger thinking I was the only one doing it, so she told everyone to start recording. Jackie’s always been smart that way. Always thought outside of the box.

  She cares. That’s why she keeps talking to me, just like we did tonight. Still, pretty sure she’s getting tired of it, even if she doesn’t want to say it. I see it the moment we start settling in for the night. Wasn’t much of a day, but everyone’s still tired by the time we’re unpacking. I wander off by myself, like I always do, but I’m only alone for a few minutes before she steps into the room. Even before she says anything else, I see the look on her face, like she’s trying to hide what she’s really feeling. I get it though. I’m eating her time. She wants to sleep, but she doesn’t.

  Instead, she looks at me and forces a smile. “Hey. What’s going on today?”

  “Same as always, I guess.”

  “You’re still thinking about Vick and the others.”

  “Yeah.”

  I can tell she’s holding back. She wants to sigh, but she doesn’t want me to feel like she’s tired of me. “I don’t want to stay on repeat, Mike, but you know—”

  “I know, Jackie. I know it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault David Marshall came after us. It’s not my fault the team got killed off. You know what is though? Want to know what is my fault?”

  “Mike . . .”

  “Starting a Creep Incident in the first place. Making the Creep come after my old team. That’s my fault. I lost control, and that’s why it—”

  “Mike, I know! I know. I get it.”
She holds her head. She’s tired of me. Has to be tired of me. “You didn’t know that you could reach out to the Creep like that. Nobody told you that you were a precognitive, when they knew you were. Tower Authority knew you were. It’s their fault that they sent someone into the Deep without letting them know all the risks, just like it’s Director Pygmalion’s fault that David Marshall got set loose down here in the first place. It’s exactly like how Pygmalion sent us all down here hoping we’d wipe each other out.”

  “I know, Jackie. I know it in my head. But here?” I barely realize I’m clutching at my chest. “I feel like I should’ve done more. Could have. Didn’t.”

  “How? What could you have done? We both know you weren’t . . .” She doesn’t know the word to use. It’s okay. I know what she wants to say.

  “I was crazy. I get it, Jackie.”

  “No, Mike. You weren’t crazy. I know being in the Creep hits you harder than other people. You can’t help that.”

  “But I could’ve done something to save them.”

  “Mike.”

  “Jackie, they were there, in front of me. I saw it happen. The Cultists hunted us until we didn’t have anything left, and when they cornered the last of us, I . . . I just hid and watched my team get shot down. Just watched while the Cultists painted the walls red. Couldn’t move, couldn’t even scream to warn my friends. What good am I, Jackie, if I can’t do the job I was brought down here to do?”

  She slides down to where I’m sitting, and I can see her brace herself against the pain when she does. The bruises she’s taken have really worked her body. Still, she settles on the floor, and then she just stares at me. “You have something, Mike. You keep treating yourself like trash because you didn’t do anything to help, but that was the Creep holding you back. Totally not your fault. You’d just started making a connection with it. If it makes the rest of us feel scared or insane, I don’t even want to know what it does to you.”