Zero Sum

by B. Justin Shier

  “Is partnering rare?” I asked absently.

  “Few wish to bear such a burden,” Ichijo replied.

  “Dietos, imagine having some other dude in your skull,” Roster added. “Screw that shit.”

  “I think it’s a beautiful thing,” Jules said quietly.

  Rei coughed. “Captain, you do realize that if the DEA withdraws, it will void the pact. The West will be contestable.”

  Monique glared at Rei. “Stow the threats, Bathory. We won’t let your graziers out of their holes.”

  Rei stuck her hands in her overcoat and smiled benignly. “Captain, you misunderstand me. I am merely pointing out that we must succeed if you still desire the status quo.”

  I facepalmed. “Okay, that was all tremendously vague and ominous—thank you both for that—but I think we can all agree that kicking Carrera’s teeth in is the action item for the evening?”

  “I’ll second that shit,” Roster said, nodding vigorously.

  “Great. Then I have different question. Carrera and his mates are supposed to be going head-to-head with the DEA in a matter of days, right? So what the hell are they still doing here?” I gestured to the valley. “Is someone getting married?” It had been nagging me since we got to Vegas. What did Las Vegas offer him?

  I turned to look down into the valley. Las Vegas resides in a near perfect bowl surrounded by mountains. When the Spaniards arrived, they found water at the bottom of the valley. That’s why they named it Las Vegas. It means “The Meadows” in Spanish. Carrera’s giant spire loomed above the skyscrapers. It sat right at the center of the bowl. I looked up at the night sky. You couldn’t see many stars (too much light pollution for that), but the moon was visible tonight. It dangled like a fat melon over the valley. The moon…I didn’t know much about the moon. I’d been reading about moon rituals right before Albright switched books with me…and that bugged me too. What trick had Albright used? I hadn’t felt any magic.

  I scratched my head. I guess you didn’t really need magic to trick someone, though. Albright only needed to distract me. Maybe when he served the coffee? I nodded to myself. I had been so focused on the cup that I probably missed his slight of hand. Like three-card monte…I looked up at the moon, and then down at Carrera’s tower. A slight of hand. A chill ran through me. It was so freaking obvious.

  “Albright, you son of a bitch.”

  “Dieter, we’re under some time pressure here,” Monique said. “If we could get back to discussing the plan…”

  “Wait,” Jules objected. “What is it, Dieter?”

  I grinned. “Full-frontal assaults only work if your opponent is both weak and stupid.”

  Rei perked up. “That is one of Albright’s favorite sayings.”

  “So why would Carrera commit to that exact scenario? Why would he risk everything assaulting a well-guarded leynode?”

  “Perhaps Mr. Carrera is attempting to demonstrate his dominance,” Ichijo offered.

  Roster crossed his massive arms and frowned. “Then what’s up with all the hit-and-run bullshit? If you want to show strength, you bring it straight on. Carrera’s hiding in the shadows.”

  “Exactly,” I said, racing over to Sadie’s map. “Carrera’s got everyone waiting for his next move. He’s yanking our chain in Salt Lake, but he hasn’t committed his forces to an attack. I mean, his mages are all chillin’ on the pool deck. Does that sound like pre-game to you?” I looked at the spread of forces and mussed up my hair. I had half the puzzle done, but I was missing too many pieces. “Look, I haven’t been doing this stuff for too long, so help me out here. If I wanted to do something epic—I mean truly epic—what would I need?”

  “You mean a grand spell?” Ichijo asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Grand spells are no different than any other ambitious endeavor. You need the requisite skill, sufficient supplies, time to prepare, a means to focus power, and highly auspicious conditions. It is a matter of careful planning more than anything else.”

  I paced back and forth through the gritty dirt, working through the requirements in my head. “Okay, I want to make some assumptions. First, Carrera doesn’t care about Salt Lake. He only cares about buying time. Second, Carrera knows his mass effect spells. He did that Parisot cloud thingy, right? He’s shown us that when push comes to shove, he turns to big-bang magic for a solution. And third—and this is just a guess—but we may be staring straight at a means to focus power." Gesturing toward the tower, I turned back to our resident expert. “Fukimura, let’s talk conditions.”

  “The best conditions for a potent spell? The witching hours are best—midnight to three in the morning. The sun creates too much interference.”

  “How about the moon?” I asked.

  “The moon is an asset. Mana is a creature of life. Life becomes lively during full moons, so all magic crafts are heightened as well. Your English word ‘lunacy’ comes from this observation. However…” Ichijo glanced up into the sky and went pale as a ghost. “Resnick…what a fascinating observation.”

  Jules scrounged around in her jacket and pulled out her Witches Almanac. “Un-fockin’-believable,” she exclaimed. “There’s gonna be a full moon in six days. That’s New Years Eve! The night of the party!”

  “Okay, let’s talk supplies.”

  “That’s your no-go,” Dante said. “You need a kick-ass leynode like the one they had at Rhodes. Don’t get me wrong, bud, it’s a cool theory, but like Ichijo said, the mana around here is stale. There isn’t enough juice. This is the last place in the world you’d want to try casting a grand spell. I think that’s why Carrera is holed up here in the first place. We can’t go at him full force with such a terrible mana supply. He can just hide behind his hired goons and bide his time. I bet that’s why he’s hiding his ACT here too. It makes it harder for us to get hold of a sample.”

  I shook my head. “Dante, you’re thinking like a modern mage. Before Albright swiped it, I was reading this book called Dalton’s Elements of Mass Effect Spells, and—”

  “Hold tha’phone,” Jules interjected. “Where the heck did ya get that nasty little volume?”

  I shrugged. “The library’s light reading section. It kinda just caught my attention…” I frowned. Was that more of Albright’s trickery?

  “Fockin’ aye, Dieter.” Jules rubbed her temples. “That’s a restricted volume. I’ve gotta talk to the librarian. You start readin’ stuff like that, and I’m gonna be getting nightmares.”

  I smirked. “Temper your fury, boss. I’m getting to the good stuff.” I decided to think about why that particular book had called my name later. “Chapter one talked about the ancient predecessors of modern day grand spells. There was a bunch of weird and nasty stuff I didn’t understand, but there was a common theme—the oldest spells didn’t rely on mana as a power source.”

  Jules blanched. “Dieter. Let’s not—”

  “Ichijo, you said that mana’s a creature of life, right?”

  “Yes, Resnick, but I fail to understand your meaning.”

  Rei began to politely clap. For the first time since I shredded Mr. Pudding, she looked genuinely pleased with me. “Dieter, you would have fit in nicely at Fontbonne. I hope mother didn’t do the wrong thing by intervening…” She walked off to the right, pulled out a cell phone, and dialed a number. Monique was about to say something, but Rei held up her finger. “Be calm, captain. We’ve just slipped ahead of the timetable.”

  “Whaaat?” we all said at once.

  I could hear a garbled reply as someone answered.

  “Yes, dean. I apologize for waking you so late, but your theory is out of the bag…Yes, sir…Yes, the grub did…Very well, sir.” Rei turned to us with a smile. She seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. “Allow me to explain. Albright already raised these concerns with DEA Command, but the bloated fools are preoccupied with preserving their territory. They prefer a defensive strategy. They hope to draw Carrera out in Salt Lake. They foolishly believe that t
his wait-and-see nonsense will get the job done.”

  “What is Albright’s theory, then?” Monique asked.

  Rei showed some fang. “Why, a reaping of course.”

  “N-n-nonsense,” Monique stuttered. “A reaping? That would require—”

  I cleared my throat. “About two hundred thousand people compressed into a space less than three square kilometers.” I’d already done the calculations.

  “Awen save me,” Jules moaned. “He’s already doin’ the calculations…”

  “Dieter, this is Las Vegas,” Monique protested. “Population density only comes close to that in New York City. And even there it wouldn’t work. You need line of sight during such a cast. Reapings were only achieved in ancient times. Back then, you could gather your unsuspecting accolades in front of a mound or temple, and they would just sit still and pray while you sucked the life out of them. This is modern day America. Festivals like that don’t…” Monique looked down at the valley. “Oh. Oh, dear.”

  “No backup?” Sadie asked nervously.

  “Dean Albright is barred from travel. Your DEA Command is committed to their strategy.” Rei paused to crack her fingers. She looked at Sadie appraisingly. “Apprentice Thompson, it will be as you wished it. You shall be able to savor your revenge.”

  “But why us?” Dante asked.

  “Your kind never tires of that question, does it?” Rei rolled her eyes. “The usual, lieutenant. Your squad is capable, available, and expendable.”

  “And why are you here, exactly,” Monique asked.

  As the wind danced through Rei’s hair, her features grew cold. “Because Joseph Albright asked me to.”

  I sensed no murkiness in her reply. Why she obeyed him, I had no idea, but Rei’s desire to follow Albright was absolute. And what about my own? Alone against Talmax…the odds looked long. But if we didn’t act? I wasn’t about to let my town get roasted.

  I kicked a rock down the hill. This was my dirt. No one fucked with my dirt. “I’m in. What do you say, boss?”

  Monique sighed. “If you’re right, Carrera has a tight window to pull off his reaping. The crowd will only be dense enough near midnight. Our current strategy fits the parameters of either scenario. We can focus on finding samples of ACT like we planned, and if Carrera’s prepping for a reaping, we’ll be there to deal with that too. I’ll put Ichijo, Sadie, and Maria on the task of reverse engineering possible spell combinations.” Monique stared off at the tower. “That leaves just one thing.”

  Sheila nodded. “There are too many lives at risk. We need a fail-safe. If we cannot stop the ritual, I can think of only one sure way to terminate his cast.”

  “You want to blow the fucker?” Roster asked. He looked uncharacteristically sober. “If we do that, everyone inside the Over the Top kisses the pavement. We’ll be killing thousands of people.”

  “It’s simple math, Roster,” Sheila argued. “Kill a few thousand or let a few hundred thousand die.”

  Maria looked from one person to the next. “Guys, I can’t do a translocation from a moving object. If you blow the tower, I can’t get you out.”

  “We’re out of time, captain,” Ichijo whispered. Lines of strain were etched across his face. His mana reserves were running low. “Before we separate, please take these.” Ichijo handed each of us a tiny piece of plastic. “This is my family’s newest design. They are encrypted 2-ways.” I held the tiny gadget between my fingers. This pea-sized device was a walkie-talkie?

  Rad.

  “All right folks,” Monique said. “The operation is a go. We’ll go live on the radios at 9PM. My team will come up with a fail-safe. You guys focus on the ACT. Once you find a sample, Jules will draw a translocation circle for Maria, and Maria will send in the strike team. We’ll keep the plan fluid. We’ve trained for this. We’re ready. Now let’s get ‘em Lambda.”

  As the circle failed, we shook hands and exchanged hugs. No one said anything, but we knew it might be for the last time.

  Chapter 17

  STRIP ME TO THE BONE

  The four of us drove back to the Strip in silence. Our opportunistic snatch and grab operation was looking more and more like a clusterfuck waiting to happen. The prospect of a direct confrontation with Talmax’s bigwigs was putting a big fat dampener on moral. Dante and Jules had early shifts at the Over the Top, so Rei dropped them off at the apartment so they could get some rest. I went with Rei to return the land-yacht to the “condo.” Rei wasn’t all that pleased when I insisted on coming, but I made it awkward enough in front of Dante and Jules that she finally gave in. All that talk of treaties and pacts between the Department and the Fiefdoms had been the icing on the cake. I wanted a better idea of what vampire-land was all about. I was linked to one, after all.

  An azure spire of light and glass stretched thirty stories above us. Peeling off the main drag, Rei drove into the enormous condo complex. She guided the car past the waiting valet and down into a cavernous underground parking structure. Down and down we went. Dull fluorescent lights washed out the reds and yellows and left a gloomy world of blues and greys behind. Five stories down, Rei turned into a numbered spot. I looked left and right. We were idling next to a red Lamborghini roadster and a Bentley Continental GT. If I worked at Newmar’s Restaurant full-time for ten years—if I didn’t eat, sleep, or pay taxes—I still wouldn’t be able to afford either of those cars. I sank down into my seat. That sort of wealth had a way of making you feel naked. How could one man obtain more in one lifetime than hundreds if not thousands of his fellows? What struggles were necessary? What sacrifices?

  The Maybach’s harsh lights reflected back off the cinderblock wall. No answers there.

  Rei looked like she was mired in her own problems. Her hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, and she was staring straight into the blaze of white light. Her skin looked like bone china.

  “Dieter,” she said. “I do not understand. Why did you insist on coming?”

  “And leave a vulnerable young female to walk home alone after dark? What about my standing as a gentleman?” I tried to smile, but the bright xenon bulbs were bugging my eyes. Rei didn’t smile either.

  “I need to go upstairs.”

  “You mean…” I joined her in examining the cinderblocks ahead of us. I had been wondering. It wasn’t like Rei was keeping blood in our fridge.

  Her hands tightened around the wheel. “You are making this…me…uncomfortable.”

  “How long has it been?” I ran my fingers over the soft black leather. This single piece of cowhide was probably worth more than my entire wardrobe.

  “Seven days,” she replied. The discomfort in her voice was palatable. She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear and returned her hands to the wheel.

  “Seven days…?” I tried to imagine not eating for seven days. “What is it like to not, um, drink for that long?”

  “I know not how to compare it.” Rei’s face was unreadable. Her skin was going all fuzzy-white. I struggled to focus, but my vision blurred. “I read a poem once. It was written by a Turned. She compared it to walking in a desert, clutching the handle of an empty jug.”

  I swallowed. “Rei…when you look at me…what do you see?”

  Rei shifted, but her hands remained locked on the wheel. “As time passes, the importance of you as an individual wanes.”

  “And why do you never talk about it?”

  She shrugged. “Why should I?” She unlatched her belt and stepped out of the car. “How could that knowledge serve you?”

  “Hey!”

  Rei stood motionless as I got out of the car. With Dante and Jules gone, she had let down her guard. She looked tired now. Ragged.

  “Wait here, Dieter…please.”

  I shook my head. I was determined this time. I wouldn’t let her get away. “Negative, kumpadre. I’m with you tonight.”

  “And without your brain. Your kind does not belong on consulate grounds. Your laws do not apply. Your mor
als do not apply. Try to understand, Dieter, mine is a different world.” Having her tell me that I didn’t belong…why did it feel like a blade twisting in my gut?

  “And where do I belong?” I shouted. “With the Magi? Me? Do you seriously believe that?”

  “Dieter…” Rei said, her eyes widening.

  “And for that matter, what’s your deal, Rei? Why are you working for the Department? What are you getting out of all of this?” She looked past me and crossed her arms. I gritted my teeth. This had to be the worst friendship ever. “Feel free to let me know whenever it’s convenient, Rei. I don’t mean to rush you or anything, it’s just, you know, being adhered to your ass and whatnot, I would like to know at some point what the fuck is going on.” I put on a bright plastic smile. “Now then, if I recall, we need to make a stop.”

  +

  The elevator was a cell of buffed stainless steel. A light piano medley ricocheted off the hard metal walls. Even the floor was polished. No elevator had any business being this clean. I felt like I needed to stand on my tiptoes. And a retinal scan. It came with a freakin’ retinal scan? I scratched my head. Who installed those exactly? Did you just call up Retinal-Scans-R-Us?

  Rei’s hand found my own. My silly heart stuttered at her touch. “This hand is nice and warm,” she said evenly. “I would prefer for it to remain so.”

  “Ditto,” I offered.

  “You will follow my rules to the letter. You are a visitor and nothing more. Do not flinch or become jumpy. Do not expose the sides of your neck. Do not raise your arms. Do not show your wrists. Avoid all unnecessary eye contact. Avoid rapid breathing. Do not smile. Do not frown. Do not hunch. Do not limp. And if you are forced to greet someone, do not shake their hands. Instead, while remaining silent and keeping your eyes on their torso, bow deeply. The language may be a bit strange to your ear—the sights certainly will be. You will see things that you are morally opposed to. You may even see some things that you wish to stop.” Rei squeezed my hand until it hurt. “Whatever you do, you shall not intervene. By accompanying me into this lair, you have become a member of my party. The consequences of your actions fall on me, and me alone.”