Incarnation

by Kevin Hardman

  Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Endow appeared.

  “My apologies for being tardy,” she said. “You may have heard that my laamuffal suffered from injuries, so I wanted to make sure she was being well cared for before I left.”

  “No problem,” I assured her. “How is Ursula, by the way?”

  “Funny you should ask,” Endow replied. “She’s going to be fine and is lucky that — physically — she only suffered some minor bumps and bruises. Mentally, however, she’s in a bit of a whirlwind, so I reached out telepathically to help her. And there, on the surface of her mind, was a memory of you, Jim, in the Cosmos Corridor with my gemstone box.”

  There was silence for a moment, then Rune demanded, “Jim, is this true?”

  I sighed and then, attempting to keep my head high, said, “Yes.”

  “What did you think you were doing?” Rune asked.

  “Trying to save lives!” I retorted, then looked around at the rest of the table. “Look, my father and uncle aren’t from my world — they came there from another dimension. From everything I was told, they were going to die because of some kind of anomaly. So, yes, I helped them. Because in case you haven’t figured it out, if my father dies in that dimensional vortex, then I’m never born. And if I’m never born, then I can’t help you find the murderer.”

  There was silence for a moment as my words seemed to sink in. And then Static spoke up.

  “But,” he began, “you are the murderer.”

  Chapter 54

  I gaped at Static, almost certain my mouth had fallen open. Assuming it had, I was so stunned that no words were coming out.

  “What do you mean he’s the murderer?” asked Rune, effectively reading my mind.

  “I mean that I extracted his image from the gear as the person who was there when Pinion was murdered,” Static explained. “There were no other images from that event, meaning that no one else was present.”

  I simply blinked, unable to believe what I was hearing. This was not going in any way, manner, or form the way I had envisioned (which basically consisted of Static naming the same person that I suspected as the killer).

  “I also analyzed the essence of every person here,” Static continued. “Again, his was the only one present at the murder.”

  “There has to be some mistake,” Rune insisted. “Some mix-up.”

  Static shook his head. “No. I thought of that, considered that maybe I’d mixed up the sample of his essence with someone else’s. So, just to make sure, I extracted information from Pinion’s cog regarding each occasion when we had been in Pinion’s presence. All of us” — he gestured toward himself and the other Incarnates — “had contact with Pinion thousands of times, so the gear’s record for the essence of each of us goes back years — well before the murders began.” He then pointed at me, saying, “On the other hand, the gear first records his essence after the murders started.”

  “So,” Mariner surmised, “there’s no confusing his sample with anyone else’s because the record of his essence is significantly shorter than everyone else’s.”

  “Correct,” said Static.

  “But it makes no sense,” muttered Rune. “He had never even been here until after Gamma died, and he was with Endow’s laamuffal when Reverb was murdered. How could he have killed them?”

  “I’m not sure,” Static admitted, shrugging, “but I suspect he’s been under the control of an Incarnate who’s the real mastermind behind this and who may not even be here at present. Also, I’ve heard rumors he can actually be in two places at once.”

  “Still, all of this is pure speculation,” Rune announced.

  “Well, we could just ask him,” Static suggested. Turning to me, he said, “As you can tell, we’ve pretty much figured everything out. It will go easier on you if you simply confess.”

  For a moment, I didn’t say anything. While the others had been speaking, my mind had been racing, trying to figure out how I had gotten into this situation.

  There was no way I was the murderer, but if I were being honest, the issue with the killer being in my head on that one occasion had really thrown me for a loop. Was it possible that I had done things unwittingly and unwillingly? That I was someone’s puppet? It certainly wasn’t impossible, but it was damned unlikely in my opinion — even if it was an Incarnate pulling the strings. Something was wrong here.

  I reached out empathically, trying to see if anyone present was buying Static’s story. As before, I couldn’t pick up on any emotions besides those of Static himself, whom I sensed was incredibly anxious, although he wasn’t showing it physically.

  “It’s okay,” he said again. “You can tell us what happened — confess to what you did.”

  As odd as it seemed, there actually was a little part of me that wanted to do as he asked. It was like there was a small voice in the back of my head telling me to own up to all these horrible things. I ignored it and tried to focus on some kind of rebuttal I could make, but the emotions Static was broadcasting was making it difficult, as he seemed to be on the verge of panic.

  But why would a Chomarsus be nervous? What would an Incarnate panic about? Even with a murderer on the loose and targeting them, they had seemingly maintained their cool.

  “Just confess,” Static said again. “We know what you did. We’ve got the analysis, and it tells us everything.”

  I found myself getting angry. He could take his analysis and shove it! Bearing in mind what Rune had said about him being lazy, it was probably unreliable anyway. He probably took all kinds of shortcuts and…

  My thoughts trailed off as the veil lifted and I had a clear understanding now of what had happened.

  I turned to Static with a smile and said, “It’s not me who needs to confess; it’s you. You’re the murderer.”

  Chapter 55

  Static went bug-eyed at my accusation, muttering, “W-w-what?”

  “I’ve intentionally sat here quietly while you talked,” I stated boldly, “letting you uncoil just enough rope to hang yourself — which you’ve done, thank you kindly.”

  “W-what are you talking about?” he muttered.

  “I’m talking about the analysis of Pinion’s gear,” I replied. “You never did it.”

  “Of course I did!” he retorted. “Of course I did the analysis!”

  I shook my head solemnly. “No, you didn’t. You’re inept, lazy, and prone to taking shortcuts. You never had any intention of performing that analysis because you’re the killer. You already knew who was innocent, so why waste time doing a bunch of work trying to ‘figure out’ who did it? Your only goal was to control the process so you could find someone to frame.”

  “Lies!” Static screamed, now getting furious. “These are nothing but vicious lies! You’re simply trying to avoid being punished for your crimes, but the evidence doesn’t lie.”

  “There is no evidence,” I shot back. “You never did the analysis.”

  “I did,” he insisted, “and it shows you as the murderer. Your own essence is the evidence that convicts you.”

  “The evidence can’t do any of that,” I argued, “because I switched it.”

  “What??!!” shouted Rune and Mariner, almost in unison.

  “I switched it,” I said again. “Mine and Endow’s, to be precise — with her permission, of course.”

  Static shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

  “Sure it is,” I countered. “I’m a teleporter.”

  As a demonstration, I then teleported to a corner of the room, then back to my chair.

  “So,” I continued, “I swapped my essence with that of Endow. Thus, if you had actually done the analysis you claim you did, it would have showed that I had interaction with Pinion going back years, while Endow only recently met him.”

  “N-n-no,” Static muttered. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Don’t take my word for it,” I stressed. “Ask Endow.”

  We both turned to Endow, who was
in the midst of giving me an appraising glance. I was hoping she would back my play, and then it hit me.

  Endow can’t lie! I recalled.

  Internally I groaned, thinking I had just spun an amazing yarn for nothing. Endow would tell him the truth, and Static would go back to his story.

  Endow turned to Static and stared at him for a moment, then said, “Well?”

  Static looked like a trapped animal and was breathing heavily and fast — almost hyperventilating. It was clear that the conversation had gone in a direction he had not intended.

  Reaching out for him emotionally, I felt his panic swiftly dissolving, replaced by something hard, concrete, resolute…and menacing.

  My eyes went wide and I tried to shout a warning to Rune, Mariner, and Endow. Before I could, however, something like a minor explosion seemed to take place within Static’s body — a flash of light, accompanied by flesh seeming to flee his frame of its own accord. When I looked again, Static was gone, and in his place was a cadaverous form with blotchy skin and a skeletal face.

  The killer.

  Chapter 56

  Everyone seemed to go into motion at once, leaping to their feet and knocking their respective chairs over backward (including me). Shifting into super speed — which, frankly, everyone in the room seemed to do — I noticed that Mariner already had his flaming water-sword in hand, Endow wielded what looked like a medieval mace, and Rune had glowing spheres around his hands.

  Static (whom we all now knew was the killer) didn’t have a weapon. Instead, he raised a hand above his head; almost immediately, a brilliant white light flashed from something he seemingly held. When it diminished a few seconds later, I noticed two things right away.

  First, the room had expanded notably in size. Whereas before it was perhaps twenty-by-twenty feet in size, it was now at least twice that, with everyone much farther spaced out than they’d been before.

  The second thing I noticed (and which had me almost staring in shock) was that there were now two Runes, two Endows, and two Mariners.

  Although dressed the same as the original Incarnates (as well as having identical appearances), the three newcomers were easy to distinguish because they weren’t brandishing weapons of any sort. In addition, they appeared slack-faced and blank-eyed, as if no thoughts were going on in their brains.

  As I sized up the new arrivals, a weird clacking noise reached my ears, almost a rattle of some sort. It took me a moment to realize what it was: Static laughing.

  Without preamble, Static stopped his weird cackling and shouted, “Attack!”

  At his command, the three newcomers abruptly launched themselves, respectively, at the original versions of themselves, wielding the same types of weapons (which had seemingly come from nowhere).

  “And as for you…” he growled, looking in my direction.

  I didn’t wait for him to finish his statement, threat, comment — whatever he was going to say; I telekinetically grabbed the chair he’d been sitting in (which had tipped over when he’d gone to his feet) and shoved it forcefully into the back of his knees. Arms pinwheeling, he toppled over backward. As he went down, his head hit the floor with a sound like a cinderblock being dropped on concrete. Afterward, he lay there, moaning and dazed.

  I took a moment to glance at the three Incarnates, and immediately realized that they were fighting for their lives. Their doubles were not only their equals in terms of appearance, it seemed, but also with respect to martial ability, weapon skills, and power.

  I turned back to Static, who was still on the floor. Teleporting next to him, I reached down and tried to take the item he held in his hand — what he’d used to summon the doubles of Rune and the others. From all appearances, it appeared to be a green crystal about eight inches long — presumably some type of relic.

  As I reached for it, his free hand suddenly snaked out and grabbed my wrist. Before I could react, he whipped his arm back and forth, slamming me to the floor in side-to-side fashion on either side of him. He then twirled me around once like a sack of leaves before flinging me into a nearby wall. I slammed into it hard enough to see stars and then slid to the floor.

  Needless to say, I ached all over and immediately began shutting off the pain. Static might look like a frail bag of bones, but he was apparently as strong as a giant. More concerning than his strength, however, was something I had noticed while he was treating me like a towel that he was trying to swat bugs with: I had attempted to become insubstantial, but it hadn’t worked. He was negating my phasing ability.

  While this was going through my brain, I saw Static rise up. However, he didn’t come to his feet like a normal person — that is, getting their legs under them, extending, and so on. Instead, he simply rose up the way vampires occasionally do in movies, with his body straight and rigid like a plank of wood.

  Looking in my direction, Static snarled, and I expected him to charge at me. Unfortunately, despite much recent experience, I still had a terrible habit of underestimating Incarnates. Static didn’t charge; he just disappeared and then reappeared right next to me before walloping me with a backhand. I went somersaulting through the air, but managed to halt my momentum after about twenty feet and then just floated.

  For a moment, we just stared at each other, and then I flew at him, hard and fast. Watching me approach, I saw Static bracing himself, noting that I was coming at him at about chest height. However, just before I reached him, I turned invisible and went low, targeting his knees.

  The impact was like hitting two stone pillars, but achieved the desired effect: his legs went out from under him, causing Static to do a solid faceplant on the floor.

  Upon turning invisible, my vision had automatically switched to infrared. I now cycled it through the spectrum to something approaching normal and looked around.

  Static lay on the floor, moaning in pain, but I wasn’t going to be caught twice by a dazed-and-confused act. This time, keeping out of arm’s reach, I simply teleported the crystal from his hand to mine. I then glanced at Endow and the others to see how they were faring.

  Mariner appeared to be injured, with one arm hanging limp, while Rune took shelter behind a protective sphere as his double fired pulses of white light at him. Endow was retreating before a furious onslaught from her look-alike, who wielded her mace like it was part of her body. Things were not looking good for the home team.

  I stared at the crystal, trying to figure out how to turn the thing “off.” Unfortunately, it didn’t come with a switch or a manual, so I found myself at a loss concerning what to do.

  As I looked the crystal over, I noted Static rising to his feet again in the same eerie manner as before. This time, however, as I turned my attention to him, I also saw something that I hadn’t previously noticed: Static was wearing a necklace with something like an amulet attached to it.

  I hadn’t seen it before, so he presumably had kept it tucked down the front of his tunic. Looking at it now, I realized what must have happened: as Static had been headed face-first to the floor, with his legs up and head down, the amulet had slid out from its usual spot. With him back on his feet, it now rested on the outside of his tunic.

  Trying to get my head back in the game, I made the crystal invisible (like the rest of me) and continued inspecting it for a moment before temporarily giving up.

  Turning my attention back to Static, I saw him spin around in a circle, obviously looking for the crystal I’d taken. I was mentally congratulating myself on outsmarting him when he suddenly vanished and appeared next to me. Faster than I would have thought possible, he reached out and gripped the wrist of the hand holding the crystal.

  “Bad move, boy,” he hissed. “The crystal is infused with my power — I know where it is at all times.”

  He snapped his fingers, and something like red dust seemed to pour over me from the ceiling. I knew without even thinking about it that I was now visible — and if I needed proof, I got it when Static placed his free hand unerringly around my
throat and lifted me off the ground. Then he began to squeeze.

  “You should have taken my offer,” he said. “We could have both had the power of Incarnates.”

  As he spoke, I gripped the wrist of the hand around my throat, trying to pull it off. Because I’d already clamped down on the nerve endings, I wasn’t feeling any pain, but that didn’t mean Static wasn’t doing any damage. For instance, I could feel my air getting cut off. Pain or not, that was a problem, because without air I’d pass out, and then it would be lights out.

  Somewhat frantic, I teleported, hoping to get away from him. Shockingly, when I popped up about twenty feet away, he was with me, hand still around my throat and holding me aloft. Somehow, he had teleported with me.

  Static laughed gleefully. “There’s no escape — for you or your friends.”

  He tilted his head toward Mariner and the others, who were all fighting back-to-back now and looking exhausted. It was pretty clear that they wouldn’t last much longer. Truth be told, neither would I, as evidenced by the fact that I was already starting to see spots in front of my eyes. Even worse, I was beginning to hallucinate, because I saw something like a will-o’-the-wisp seep fervently out of the amulet around Static’s neck.

  In desperation, I tried to duplicate myself — make a second Jim who could perhaps take my adversary unawares from behind. Nothing happened; presumably, that ability was being blocked along with others.

  With nothing to lose, I raised my dangling legs and kicked out as hard as I could toward Static’s face. I connected and his head snapped to the side, but his hold on my throat only loosened slightly. However, it was enough for me to draw in a shallow breath before he reasserted his grip.

  With the small gasp of air I was able to take in, the spots receded from my vision for a moment but the will-o’-the-wisp was still there. It snaked down and around, coming up behind Static where it swiftly began taking on a form I was familiar with: Cerek. However, he wasn’t alone; with him was someone else I recognized — Reverb.