by JM Guillen
It’s like a circle, but vertical. Gideon’s link felt a bit surly. What’dya bet some weirdness gets summoned the moment we step through?
No bet. I grinned. I don’t make bets I can’t win.
That’s a fact. He sighed. What say I shut the whole thing down?
You have a dampening grenade?
You don’t? Gideon chuckled. That’s just irresponsible.
I thought we were just doing recon! I countered. Searching for reagents, if I recall. I didn’t even bring any melee weapons!
You brought three Tabula Rasa on recon? Gideon linked dryly. I thought you were all about dampener grenades?
I like both! I just so happen to have Tabula Rasa with me right now!
Well that’s perfect. He rustled in his side bag and pulled out one of the dampeners. Just in case the person who sourced the Turkish Purple Jade needed their block obliterated?
I still had them from Washington! I protested. We didn’t exactly get a white room between there and Istanbul!
As we bickered, we eased away from the trouble Amir had left us. When Gideon judged that we stood far enough away to not affect our Crowns, he lobbed the grenade down the hallway and Rational physics exploded around us with silent, rumbling thunder.
Maybe I brought the Rasa for Amir. I smiled at Gideon, showing him my teeth. He may not have died last time, but I bet I can change that.
I hope so. Gideon didn’t even glance at me, but his tone went grim. For Max. And Katarina.
Elle. I didn’t quite snarl. We owe this asshole.
The Designates want him alive. Now Gideon did turn to me, one brow askance. We’re to bring him in. He started forward again.
No white room. I shrugged. I don’t have axiomatic shackles.
I do. He chuckled darkly. Not that you’ll want to use them.
We walked forward in silence, each alone with violent thoughts. Our Crowns provided a complete record to the Designates, therefore it wasn’t wise to focus upon a killing an Irrat they requested alive.
But damn. I wanted this guy.
After another twelve meters or so, Gideon linked Anya. We have a hatch in the floor. Round, propped open. The passage continues forward, but the hatch leads down. Do you have telemetry on target?
Target position is twenty meters in front of you and eight meters below you, Alpha. She paused. Does this sync with what you show on the Huntsman?
It does. I simply wanted to double check as we have apparently been having system issues.
Understood, she responded. Michael, as you do not have access to the Huntsman, would you like a reticule on his location?
Please. I wasn’t done linking before the violet reticule appeared upon my visual.
Age before beauty? I questioned and gestured at the hatch.
Ladies first. He grinned. And children, which I suppose better describes you.
I clutched the cold metal of the ladder and shimmied down.
The air below hung with a thick, sour dampness. After only a few rungs, the temperature dropped drastically. My breath billowed before me into mist.
I stood in a dark passageway of carved marble and granite scavenged from ancient buildings. If it weren’t for my optics, I’d be blundering in the pitch.
I’m powering down the Wraith. I shrugged as I linked, I figure I’m invisible enough just standing still down here, and if I keep it on much longer the thing’ll make me twitchy.
Yes. I felt it as Gideon dropped to the ground. It’s the packet that makes you twitchy.
Besides, I don’t think I would mind seeing the look on Amir’s smug, fucking face when he sees we’ve caught up with him.
I have a concern, Alpha, Anya chimed in. Telemetry shows the target to be twenty-five meters ahead. Does that data sync with the Huntsman?
Affirmative. He paused. Approximately.
The deeper underground you are, the greater variances we show on telemetry. Anya paused for a moment.
Gideon and I walked forward into the gloom.
Are we having issues with deep telemetry again? I felt Gideon’s scowl.
Affirmative. You might wish to consider patching the Huntsman’s data to Michael’s Crown for greater accuracy than I can provide.
He has the resources, Rachel chimed in. I can modulate mecha on both ends.
That’s an excellent idea. I felt Gideon nod next to me, even though I didn’t face him. Please sync the Huntsman’s relay to Bishop’s Crown, using my system as the transmit point. Rachel, do I need to give clearance authorizations?
As Gideon took care of our technological issues, we stalked through the gloom. About fifteen or twenty steps further in, the passageway opened up, large enough that my optical systems didn’t show how far apart the walls stood.
Incoming data, Bishop. I felt the familiar snick in my Crown as our systems meshed. The sensation felt softer than when I meshed with the Cradle, but it relied upon the same basic principle.
A moment later, outlined as a white human form in the distance, I saw what could only be Amir Cadavas as he escaped into the darkness. The specialized viral mecha in Amir’s body would only remain within his system for the next several days, but as long as they did, Gideon’s Crown could track the man to the ends of the earth.
Heart rate, hormonal production… I raised an eyebrow. This thing has the kitchen sink.
More information than we need, honestly. We just gotta keep on him.
Will comply. It didn’t seem as if Amir had gone straight ahead of us but off to the side a little. I swerved toward him.
Unfortunately, even with the optics, it was difficult for us to see anything that far ahead aside from our Huntsman’s glowing quarry. The floor immediately in front of us continued but dropped away into dark water at the sides leaving a narrow middle path. Because much of our optic capabilities depended upon infrared data, the cool water appeared as black depths.
The darkness ahead seemed empty, endless. I could only really make out what was right in front of us.
Let’s double-time it. Gideon broke into a jog. Bishop, you should keep the Adept running, if you can. If you have an opportunity to catch him, don’t wait on my account.
You know, I mused as we trotted along, it would be a shame if Rachel accidentally miscalculated the hormonal leash on my astral companion. I mean, what if the creature accidentally shredded Amir’s face? The Designates couldn’t exactly blame me for that.
Unlike you, I don’t make mistakes, Rachel snarked back.
Ever?
Only in allowing myself to be associated with you, Michael Bishop! she shot back. Maybe you should focus on what you’re supposed to do and stop trying to convince everyone you’re clever.
We’re in the basilica’s cisterns, Gideon linked as if he hadn’t heard how funny I was. There’s dozens of them beneath Istanbul, some still undiscovered.
Minor Rationality eddies ahead, Anya informed us. Nothing too dire.
Eddies? Gideon queried.
It has not drifted in any one direction or another. She paused. Axiomatic obduracy is weakening.
What now? I furrowed my brow.
It’s as if the axiomatic statistics are… softening. Not shifting but less rigid. Less prone to remain static.
The obdurance coefficient relates the difficulty of shifting axiomatic statistics, Gideon explained.
I know what axiomatic obdurance is! I shook my head. It’s one of the Facility’s base emanations, from places like the Spire. I want to know how in the name of Wyatt Guthrie does an Irrat go about altering a Prime Emanation?
Oh, Anya linked.
I have no idea, Bishop, Gideon replied.
Good. I sighed. I love inexplicable bullshit.
We crept forward for a few moments in complete darkness. In the impossible distance, water dripped down to echo hollowly in unseen depths.
Are those bridges? I peered ahead. It seemed as if slender wood and rope bridges occasionally branched off from the stone walkway Gideon and I ran o
ver.
Looks like. Hard to tell if our buddy Amir took one of them.
He had to, unless this walkway leans to the right.
Correct. Hard to say which one.
He’s higher up, too. I frowned.
Keep on. If we find a way to the right, maybe we take it.
I didn’t love the idea. Those bridges, damp and ancient, hung raggedly over the water. I didn’t fancy a dip.
Yet, there was more to it than that. An unease hung in the air, something that teased at my hackles. It felt like more than just nerves from chasing a dangerous Irrat.
Without knowing what or from where, I felt ancient eyes upon us, as if some looming predator lured us deeper into its unknown designs.
Here. Gideon startled me out of my reverie. Guess we don’t have to make a choice after all.
The walkway ended before us, the stone masonry covered in green moss. A metallic ladder, somehow not rusted away into nothingness, remained secured against it. That ladder went up three meters to the top of the wall.
This feels too simple. It’s unnerving. I didn’t have words for the odd creeping sensation. Do you feel that?
Oh yes. Gideon nodded at me. It’s something Amir has done, I’m certain. Remember at the cenote? It’s like that.
I do. The moment I thought back, the sensation redoubled, as if centipedes walked on my skin. I found it difficult not to tremble.
Well, whatever it is, cowboy Bishop needs to chill a bit. Rachel’s link felt positively jocular.
We’ll be fine, Gideon replied and gestured at the ladder.
I didn’t even ask. I simply began to ascend.
3
Michael! Rationality shifting! Anya linked frantically the moment I stepped off the ladder onto another walkway, perpendicular to the first. The primary difference seemed to be that this one lay three meters over the shadowed water.
Oh, and the dozen or so masked horrors that waited there.
They leaped at me the moment I stepped foot on the stone, their grasping fingers curled into dirty claws.
“URK!” I cried articulately as the first one lunged for me.
He was a male, obvious from his rags that didn’t quite cover everything they needed to. Thanks to my optics, I made out the pale, sallow flesh that hung from his emaciated body, as well as the many cuts and scrapes on his hands and knees. He wore a copper mask, which bore a leering smile and blank, smooth eye sockets. The wearer wouldn’t be able to see through it at all, but nonetheless, the mask seemed to gaze through me.
Rivulets of flesh ran around the coppery edges, the mask permanently seared into the creature’s face.
I’d met these guys before.
The monstrosity whispered nonsense, strangeness that I couldn’t quite make out. It stumbled forward with a wicked blade, something like a curved sickle, in its hand.
Gideon! My disruptors were in my hands before I even thought, and I fired into the Irrat. Kinetic force like a wrecking ball smashed into the thing and hurled it off the edge of the walkway.
It never cried out but sailed off silently into the darkness, where it splashed into the midnight black waters.
At your six. Gideon pulled himself up the ladder and stepped quickly to press his back against mine. His Maverick barked a RAAAKK as he fired, and I smelled burnt flesh.
They were upon us, too many to count. I’d thought twelve, maybe fourteen, but no.
So many more.
Most wore rags and bore old, bent blades. A few surged toward us brandishing just their cracked and broken nails.
Shot after shot echoed in the deeps.
Their bodies stank of the cold depths and human waste. All bore coppery masks sealed upon their melted, ruined faces, and all gamboled toward us with an inhuman gait, more like gorillas than humans. Their brandished blades practically dripped tetanus. Whispered, broken murmurings befouled my mind as their senseless voices filled the air.
I fired and sent another over the edge into the cold depths. A second stepped aside so my shot clipped it.
The figure spun and fell to the ground.
RAAAKK. RAAAKK. RAAAKK. Gideon’s antimatter shot tore into the horrors. Not once did they cry out but simply fell, and then, in some cases, pushed themselves back up and came again.
Rationality… fluctuating. Confusion snagged in Anya’s link. It’s not a typical eddy, Alpha. The numbers shift rapidly and then shift back. It’s as if there’s no axiomatic obduracy near the creatures.
I could hear Katarina’s link, from all those years ago. Boiling. It almost felt as if she stood right next to me. It’s as if reality boils around them.
Copy that, Anya. Gideon felt harried through his link. He too remembered these shambling corpses. Trust me when I say we understand.
One of the shambling figures tackled me and hurled all his weight against my knee.
I swore at the sudden rush of pain and fell.
Claws raked at me as I dropped, leaving red-hot gouges in my flesh.
I rolled to one side, and the Adept gave me the grace I needed to not land underneath my rank foe.
Another leapt toward me, two blades held high.
I shot it in the midsection, which hurled the thing back. In the half-breath of time I had, color snagged at me. I glanced down.
I bled. My pulse raced at the sight, and I had to focus to avoid being swept into its sanguine sweetness.
Bishop… Rachel’s link warned.
I’m sorry if I’m not Zen enough for you! I scrambled up and kicked the first inhuman thing in the face. A touch of dizziness capered at the edge of my mind. You’ll have to handle it, Rachel.
There’s more coming. Gideon grunted his link, something I didn’t know was really possible.
But, oh God, he was right.
Too many.
Another one, a female, swiped at me with ragged nails and connected with my arm.
I fired, then narrowed down the focus on both disruptors before I fired again and punched a hole through its mask.
We need to engage the Wraith. If we can push pas— Gideon cut off as one of the Irrats leapt past me, tackling him. Caught completely off guard, he grunted and flew away to land on the stark stone. His Maverick skittered away from him, slid across the floor…
And sailed over the edge, into the water below.
FUCK! Gideon linked as he backhanded the brute. His fist struck the metallic mask. Fucking Goddamn! He crab-scrambled backward as he kicked frantically at the creature. With it a breath away from him, the Wraith engaged, and he vanished from sight.
Get the Maverick, if you can, I told him. I stepped toward the knot of defilement who milled in confusion that he’d vanished. I’ll keep these guys busy.
Somehow. I gritted my teeth.
Copy that.
Rachel, I sure could use some of my mecha to pump up the Adept. Can we do that?
You’re not injecting more? Just hopeful I can magic you up some juju, huh? Maybe help you win the lottery?
Rachel—! I cut myself off and whirled to catch four of the shambling corpses as they loped up behind me. Now that my disruptors’ focuses were narrow, each shot tore through them with the force of a freight train condensed into the size of a pinprick. Thin, scarlet blood splattered all around me, and I twirled in place, slaughtering the horde.
Electric fury, like tiny exploding stars, burst in my Crown. Pop Rocks and Coke screamed in my brain, and then the Adept burst with warm, furious energy.
Three minutes, Rachel linked dryly. Make it count.
Yes, ma’am. I grinned as I felt the Adept sing through me.
I moved with scarcely a thought, almost as if my weapons sought their targets before I fully knew they were there. I leapt like a dancer and glided among the shambling shapes, splattering their blood where they fell.
Occasionally, some wandering part of my mind would note the pattern the blood made, sigils of forgotten lore, written in the stone…
Yet no more than that. Simply an odd,
academic knowledge. No animalistic fury, no sharp urges for the hunt.
Simply death, all around me.
Bishop! I got the Maverick; I’m coming back up.
Copy that. Two of the masked assholes caught me from behind, almost the moment I linked. One hit my legs, the other my torso, and they bore me down.
“Fuck!” I squirmed and shot one in the shoulder, spraying the other with its gore.
Like the ones before, it never cried out, just whispered in horrifying, soft susurrus.
Its friend writhed up my body and buried a serrated blade in my thigh.
“FUCK!” I swore even louder and brought both weapons to bear. I shot the malefactor in the face. Twice.
As the force hurled the thing backward, it still clung to the knife and dragged the blade down my leg a full ten centimeters before it finally let go.
My wordless screams were quite manly.
More closed in.
RAAAKK. RAAAKK. RAAAKK.
Three of the copper-faced assholes fell away, scythed through like ripe wheat. I smelled the burned skin from the antimatter rounds, but in that moment, I couldn’t focus on anything save the thorns of agony in my leg.
—the Wraith! Gideon yelled in my mind, and he wasn’t the only one. I realized that for the last two minutes or so, Rachel had been spouting a litany of fury into my mind.
Just stupid, she seethed. You can’t tell me you didn’t have the juice to out-move those assholes, Bishop! I know exactly what the Adept can do!
FINE! I engaged the Wraith and rolled away from the pile of inhuman forms. Give me a second, Rachel, and I’ll see what injectables I have.
I rummaged in my pockets, hopeful I had at least a few syringes left. My urge to whimper like a complete bitch remained heroically contained. Even though the Wraith hampered sound, it wasn’t perfect.
RAAAKK. RAAAKK. Gideon, not concerned about maintaining his Wrath’s stealth, slaughtered two more of the creatures.
There. I plunged two injectables against my other leg and relished the coolness. Now, can you do something about my pain process?
It’s that or watch you die, Rachel grumbled. And some days…
As soon as you can stand, Michael. Gideon’s link held snippets of concern. There may only be a few of them left, but they are still a danger.