by John Corwin
Something flickered in the void. Lightning cascaded across the windowed view from her probe. Alexia's eyes widened. A forest became visible. A seemingly infinite number of bulbous gray trees appeared. Crooked roots and branches extended from each tree in several directions. The network of trees flashed with light. Bright bursts appeared where the branch of one tree intersected another. One group remained dull and unlit. No, not trees, Alexia realized. These were neurons. Fascination caused her mouth to drop open. She panned the awesome view and drew a soft breath at every spark in the electric forest.
She noticed the inactive cluster of neurons again and cursed herself for the lapse of purpose. How had they been deactivated? She magnified for a close inspection. Thought back to biology class. Neurotransmitters between the cells passed the information along, she recalled. She picked a neuron at the edge of the cluster and examined the space between it and the active cell adjacent. A thin film of some sort coated the connections. It looked similar to the goo that coated chum in the Blight. Alexia looked at other synapses on the active cell. The thin film was absent on all but the synapses next to the inactive cell.
Removing the film would likely restore function. She directed her probe to scrape it off. It rubbed without effect against the membrane. She searched for an edge to grasp and peel up but couldn't find anything. She became so focused on the problem that the windowed view through the probe seemed to grow until it filled her sight. Nothing worked on the membrane. She had no idea what to do. She stopped prying at the membrane for fear she might damage the neuron.
Frustration and anger gripped her. Electricity coiled in her probe like a bright rope of spiked plasma. She released it. A jagged blue bolt crackled from the probe and splashed against the membrane. The gelatinous material split. The synapse sputtered and sparked. Tiny particles shuttled across the cleft. Another spark leapt from the synapse and the membrane tore until it gaped open.
Relief flooded her. She became aware of her body again and her eyes focused on Lucas's face. Her back muscles knotted painfully tight. A sharp cramp pierced her rib. Lucas's jaw twitched. His eyes fluttered for a brief second. It was working.
An iron grip settled on the back of Alexia's neck. Her feet left the ground. The concrete wall rushed to meet her body. She bounced and thudded on the floor. Through the haze of pain she heard people talking. She pushed herself up and looked. Two of Andre's seekers and an executor glared back.
Chapter 42
Tollee was still in a daze. Jason sat across a table from her. A pizza with the works steamed atop the table. Jason reached into his backpack and pulled out a flask.
"Vodka."
"How did you know that's what I like?"
"I know a lot of things."
"You're chum." She switched sight to make sure. A gelatinous layer of ooze coated his skin. Bottomless dark pits stared where his eyes should be. His lips were blistered, mouth toothless and black. Nubs remained where his ears should be. "This isn't possible."
He rolled his eyes. "The high and mighty Scions. Why don't you call yourselves gods and stop the pretense of being humble?"
"I don't—" She clamped her mouth shut. He was right. He knew exactly how she felt about chum. He'd witnessed her reactions first hand. "I can't help the way I was raised to think."
"No, but you can change it."
"This still doesn't explain anything. You Blight hopped and rescued me. You're stronger than me. You seem to know all about us. But you're chum."
"Look again."
She choked back a gag. "I don't want to."
He gripped her forearm. "Look again."
She did. Instead of the usual sickening features, his skin glowed in the Blight. His aura was pure, white and healthy. "This isn't possible. I just saw—"
"You saw what I wanted you to see."
"You're telling me you can control my mind like an arbiter?"
"No, but I can control how you see my echo in the Blight."
"How?"
He shrugged. "It takes a lot of time and practice. Right now we don't have time to go into it. Not with the storm that's brewing."
"If you hate Scions so much, why does it bother you?"
"First, I don't hate Scions. I am one, after all. Second, if events unfold into all-out war, who do you think will suffer the most?"
"The Statists?"
Jason snorted. "Stop thinking like a Scion elitist. Normals will suffer the most."
Tollee's face burned. She wanted to snap back at him with something witty. Wanted to put him in his place. Unfortunately, he was right. Martin had beat it into her head that chum weren't human. They were animals that resembled Scions.
"What do you want me to do?"
"You were inside Andre's compound. What's he planning?"
"How did you know I was there?" She gave him her best glare of suspicion. "You know way too much. There's something you're not telling me."
"That's true. I can't go into everything, but I work for a group that's interested in preserving history. The Scion version of it anyway. They keep tabs on everything. I'm one of those tabs."
"A spy?"
"More like a monitor."
"I'm surprised the factions don't know about you. Who activated you?"
"Nobody activated me. I was born switched on. Thankfully a Scion's special abilities don't kick in until you get older. Otherwise I would've freaked my friends and family out."
"How'd you get into this group?"
"I was kidnapped."
Tollee gasped. "What?"
"One of their seekers noticed me and noticed I was too young to have been activated. They think it's vital that Scions remain secret from the Normals. They snatched me, indoctrinated me, and got me to work for them."
"And you're okay with that?"
He shrugged. "It was necessary. Otherwise I might've started showing abilities Normals don't have and drawn attention to myself." He took a bite of pizza.
"Normals? Is that your term for chum? Why do you need me?"
"This group only cares about one thing. Preserving and recording our history. They don't believe in interference. I, on the other hand, see something bad is coming and want to stop it."
"How can one person do that?"
"Maybe I can't. Lucas Fowler might be able to."
"He's the cause of this in case you didn't know."
"Actually, you and Martin are the cause. Lucas is an unintended byproduct."
Tollee looked away. "I didn't know what I was getting into."
"Didn't know. Didn't care. Typical. My group found the entire experiment intriguing. I was assigned to watch you. You don't know how tempted I was to stop you right then and there."
"That day on the roof? I wish you had."
"It doesn't matter now. We know Andre has plans for Lucas. Hell, he has plans for everyone. All my group cares about is writing down the details. We had a person on the inside who's since gone missing. Did you find out anything while you were there?"
"Only that he and Martin were in cahoots. Andre wanted to make me go through a truthing session. I don't think he cared if I survived it."
"Why a truthing session? What information do you have?"
"He thinks I know about the afterlife. Last time I saw Martin, he was unconscious. If he found out something, he didn't tell me."
"And that's it?"
"I guess."
"Did he mention anything about his plans?"
Tollee laughed. "To me? Yeah, right. I saw a chance to escape and took it."
"Lucinda and her group escaped. Lucas almost made it out with them but they caught him." Jason stared at a throng of passersby for a moment. "Like it or not, Lucas is the one who can put a stop to all this."
"How?"
"He has a connection with the ghouls. Maybe he can send them back where they came from."
"How does that solve the Andre issue, war between the factions and all that?"
"If we can present him as the key to the Mystery, maybe
faction members will come to their senses. Withdraw support from Andre."
"That sounds pretty weak."
"It's all we've got."
"Are you proposing we engineer a jail break?"
"I think we should join Lucinda's group. If enough people rebel against Andre, he might have to put his plans on hold."
"I don't know where Lucinda is now. If she escaped, she's probably not nearby."
"Don't worry about that. With my group's network of informants, we'll find her."
"Does your group have a name?"
"Ad Infinitum."
"As in forever?"
"Before the Founders War, Scions used that saying it to identify one another. When the factions declared a truce and created the Covenant, it became a greeting between grand arbiters."
"Makes sense now."
"What does?"
"Martin made me paint these weird infinity symbols inside the Blight to mark the locations Lucas was supposed to do his work. I didn't think the paint would stay, but anything you take into the Blight with you will stay there."
"Interesting. Martin knows about the old sign."
"Why'd he have me paint it?"
Jason shrugged. "Before the Founders War, the symbol indicated a safe area for Scions to be themselves. There were a lot of independents and rogues though. Beyond that, I'm not sure what significance it has. Martin might know something we don't."
"When are we going to look for Lucinda?"
He pulled out a cell phone and looked at the screen. "No need to look. I know where she is now."
Chapter 43
Mikhail pushed through double doors and went inside an old gymnasium. The hardwood floors had grayed over the years. The basketball goals were still intact, but the nets were missing. Scions stood in clumps around the gym floor. Some sat on the rickety bleachers. The people closest to the door looked at Mikhail with alarm. Some stiffened and backed away. The cavernous facility echoed with the din of conversations.
A chubby seeker approached. Mikhail recognized him as Lucinda's seeker, Greg. "This way, Grand Arbiter."
The man led them across the floor to a back room. Inside, Lucinda was sitting on a desk. Red rimmed her eyes. Her face was pale.
"I feel like I'm making a terrible mistake," she said. "I don't want violence. I don't want war."
"Neither do I," Mikhail replied. "Thank you for having me."
"Andre already attacked our group once. He'll find out about this eventually and do it again."
"I have people on the way."
"Statists?"
Mikhail shrugged. "Of course. Can you convince your people we are on same side?"
Greg groaned. "This feels wrong. Like I'm rooting against my college football team or letting people talk bad about my mom."
"Your momma wears army boots," Vish said with a smirk.
"What does that even mean?" Greg rolled his eyes.
Lucinda gave them a weary glance and shook her head slowly. She turned and focused on Mikhail. "I want guarantees, Mikhail. Whatever I say goes. You're not in charge here."
The girl was more stubborn than he'd suspected. Once she faced Andre, truly faced him, perhaps she'd relinquish control. The pressure would break her. Pressure usually separated the stubborn from the strong. Mikhail needed the extra bodies. He needed them to align against Andre. All the same, he'd still have to use Lucinda as the intermediary. As a puppet. Too many would balk at taking directions from the leader of the opposing faction.
"Of course you are in charge. We want peaceful resolution."
Lucinda's eyes went unfocused for a moment as she received an incoming probe from someone. Only the inexperienced needed that much concentration, but Mikhail resisted the temptation to tap into her line of communication. Greg glanced at her then left the room. He returned a moment later with Tollee and another man in tow.
Lucinda got off the desk and gave Tollee a hug. "I can't believe you're got away."
Tollee's lower lip quivered. "That bastard was going to put me through truthing. He's insane. He knows all about Martin and his experiments. I think he's the one who started this crap."
"Christ! I told you so." Vish slammed the back wall with his fist and the cinder blocks cracked.
"That rotten son of a bitch," Greg said. "We need to tell the others."
Lucinda held up a hand and gave Tolle a searching look. "Are you certain? Do you have proof?"
"No. But he knew me. He said he picked me out for Martin when I was little."
"How did you escape?"
"Someone opened the door. I hopped out then found some stairs and got out of there." She pointed with her thumb at the young man with her. "Jason rescued me. Sort of."
"I don't recognize you," Lucinda said. "Are you Statist?"
"He is not with us," Mikhail said.
Jason shook his head. "I'm independent."
Anne-Marie whispered in Mikhail's ear. "His wrist. Look at it."
Mikhail walked over and took the man's hand. He looked on the bottom of the wrist. Nothing. Anne Marie touched him and changed sight. In the Blight, he saw it. The symbol. Ad Infinitum.
"I see the rumors are true."
"You've heard of us?" Jason asked.
"Not in so many words."
"Who's he with?" Lucinda asked.
"An historical society of sorts. I did not think they involved themselves in faction politics."
"They don't. I'm getting involved on my own." Jason looked around the room. "I think it's irresponsible that Ad Infinitum wants to record the war but they don't care about stopping it."
"Youth and idealism." Mikhail chuckled. "Ad Infinitum has rules for a reason. You must have vital information, otherwise you would not be here."
"Andre has Lucas Fowler. We had an insider who said Andre wasn't really planning on killing Lucas. At least not yet. He plans to control him."
"For the ghouls?"
"I don't think so. Before our source vanished, he said there were some things about Andre that didn't add up."
"That doesn't help," Lucinda said. "If Tollee is right, Andre was behind Martin and the entire Lucas Fowler incident. But why?"
"Martin wanted to find the afterlife."
"Lucas and Alexia found it," Mikhail said, remembering the warehouse. "She called it Hell. She said spirits of the dead live there but do not see each other."
"Martin told me the ghouls came from the afterlife," Tollee said. "That's why they're insane."
Lucinda squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why does this matter to Andre? Intellectual curiosity?"
Mikhail remembered something. Something important. "When these events first happened, I met with Andre. He said it was like Cross incident."
"It's frighteningly like the Cross incident," Jason said. "Even Ad Infinitum has competing theories on what really happened back then. What they don't dispute is that Cross killed Scions. The ones he killed came back to life completely deranged."
"What became of the ghouls?"
"We don't know. Some were captured, but our records are incomplete. We don't know exactly how many people Cross murdered or why."
"The difference between Cross and Lucas is control. Cross wasn't an arbiter's puppet," Lucinda said.
"That's our theory." Jason pulled out his cell phone. It seemed none of the kids nowadays could live without them. After a moment, he showed them some text he'd retrieved. "This is the official historic account according to Ad Infinitum."
"Wow, you guys have it all online?" Vish asked.
"What did you expect, ancient scrolls?"
Mikhail scanned the concise text. It listed victims and several who were thought to have been victims. There were no pictures, of course, only general descriptions. After reading it, he clicked in a search box and entered Lucas's name. A thorough biography appeared. Mikhail skimmed most of it until one sentence jerked him to a halt.
Lucas and his parents were declared DOA by the paramedics. They attempt
ed resuscitation on Lucas and succeeded.
A quick scan of Cross's history confirmed a similarity. An arbiter had found Cross dead on his front doorstep one morning. The man had just died so the arbiter was able to resuscitate him by reigniting his neural impulses and forcing his heart to beat before decay set in.
"Both Lucas and Cross died," Mikhail said, handing the phone back to Jason. "Both were revived shortly after death. Both are or were executors."
"You think they have a special connection to the afterlife because of that?" Lucinda asked.
Mikhail shrugged. "It is only connection of significance I see."
"Who was the arbiter that found Cross?"
"We don't know," Jason said. "He vanished shortly after the first murders occurred."
"A victim?"
"Probably."
"Why are we wasting time with all this crap?" Vish asked. He looked out the open door at the gathering crowd. "We've got more than enough people to force Andre down. Then we can ask him anything we want."
"I usually don't agree with Vish," Greg said. "But I think he's right. Every minute we waste here, Andre is gathering his forces."
"Hell yeah, bro." Vish slapped Greg on the back. "Let's kick some ass."
Mikhail shook his head. "We may not be able to confront him."
Lucinda's eyes darted to his face. "Why not?"
He explained about the material that blocked arbiters and Andre's threats to use it.
"Of course," Lucinda said. "That explains a lot. We won't stand a chance without arbiters."
"Who needs arbiters when you have executors?" Vish pumped his fists. "With Mikhail's bunch, we'll have more than enough."
"I won't have violence."
"You are right, of course." Mikhail leaned against the wall. "Without our arbiters, Andre's will have free reign to wreak havoc on seekers and executors. They'll have our people battling illusions and each other. Andre will not hesitate to pull all dirty tricks out of bag."
Tollee gasped and put a hand to her head. She slumped. Jason caught her before she hit the floor.