Sentinels

by Darius Brasher

  “Your sense of humor is perhaps what I like the most about you. No, the nanites and the bomb were not an invitation. They were a test of your worthiness.”

  “Worthiness for what? To get my Hero’s license? Aren’t the Trials enough to do that without you sticking your nose in?”

  “No, not of your worthiness to become a Hero. As you say, the Trials do an adequate job of that. Of your worthiness to be a vessel for the spirit of Omega Man.”

  The Situation Room was quiet for a few beats as the Sentinels and I looked at each other silently.

  “Based on our young friend’s steady vital signs, he already knew that,” Mechano said to Seer, breaking the silence. “He really is chock full of surprises. How did you find out?” he asked me.

  “A little birdie told me,” I said. I wasn’t about to volunteer information to someone who had tried to kill me. If knowledge was power, it would be like handing more bullets to a sniper so he could shoot at me more. Clearly the Sentinels did not know I had consulted with Cassandra. Maybe they also didn’t know I had hired Truman. It was good to see that they didn’t know everything. With the reputation and history the Sentinels had, it was all too easy to forget I faced men and women, not all-knowing gods. “Why do you care if I’m worthy to carry around the spirit of Omega Man? What business is it of yours?”

  “Because protecting the world is our business, Mr. Conley,” Seer said. “Omega Man is the key to that. There is a legend about how Omega Man will return to protect the world when it faces an existential threat. Have you heard of it?”

  “I have.”

  “Like most legends, it is not entirely true, though there is a nugget of truth at the heart of it,” Seer said. “Omega Man does not need to return because he never died. Yes, his body was destroyed in his successful attack on the V’Loths decades ago. His spirit lives on, though. The Omega spirit was born with mankind, and will exist as long as he does. The Omega spirit walked the Earth amidst the earliest humans, and it will be here after we’re all dead and gone.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Mechano interjected. “I will still be here, hale and hearty in another state of the art robot body, centuries after you three are worm food.”

  Seer ignored Mechano as if he hadn’t spoken. Yeah, there definitely was no love lost between the two. Maybe he had tried to kill her at some point too. As for Millennium, he had not said a word since I had entered the Situation Room. If it was true he operated on mystical planes, perhaps a hellcat had gotten his tongue.

  Seer continued by saying, “The Omega spirit will live on as long as humanity does, trying to protect it and the world he inhabits from harm. It moves from host to host, finding a new host to inhabit when its old one dies. Only it knows for certain exactly how it chooses the people it uses as hosts. But, I can say that it has inhabited some of the most consequential men and women the world has ever known, helping them to avert threats to humanity. King Arthur, Gilgamesh, Lady Mu Guiying, Hercules, Sampson, Joan of Arc, Rama, Beowulf . . . these are but a handful of the men and women through the course of mankind’s existence, both famous and lost to history, the Omega spirit has inhabited.”

  “King Arthur? Hercules?” I scoffed. “Myths and legends. Many of the people you named aren’t even real.”

  Mechano laughed his harsh tinny laugh. “You can lift a boulder without touching it and fly faster than the fastest projectile. You even have a friend named Myth who can turn into dragons and other mythical creatures. Do you realize the irony of you of all people being so dismissive of myths, legends, and extraordinary deeds and people? Many ancient myths are grounded in actual people who possessed powers beyond the ken of ordinary men. Namely, Metahumans. Did you really think Metas were a creation of the modern world? There have been Metas sprinkled throughout history. Some legends are merely that—tales to astonish and amaze, created out of whole cloth, with no foundation in fact. Others have the deeds of Metahumans at the root of them. Distorted by time and exaggeration, yes, but based on actual events and people. Hercules’ Twelve Labors, Icarus flying too close to the sun, Noah building the Ark . . . all are based on actual events.” I could understand why Seer did not seem to like Mechano overly much. He was one of those annoying know-it-alls who used three words where one would do just as well, and a SAT word where a more common one would do. If it weren’t for the fact he was giving me the information I wanted, I’d want to slap a muzzle on him. If he had a mouth, that is.

  “You’re saying I’ve been walking around all my life, carrying inside of me a spirit as old as time, whose purpose is to protect the world?” I could hardly believe my ears. If it hadn’t been for what Cassandra had told me, I would have called the Sentinels imaginative liars. What they were saying was just too absurd. I was the latest in a long line of possessed Metas which stretched back in time as far as Gilgamesh and God only know who else? Maybe I should talk to an exorcist instead of these three.

  “No, you have not been a vessel for the Omega spirit your entire life,” Mechano said. “When Omega Man died, the Omega spirit then inhabited Avatar. Before then, Avatar had been a formidable Meta, but certainly not Omega-level. The Omega spirit augmented his powers, transforming him into an Omega-level Meta. That is the effect being inhabited by the Omega spirit has: it augments the Metahuman abilities—whether latent or already existing—of the person it possesses. When Avatar was murdered, the Omega spirit sought out and entered a new host.” Mechano pointed a metal finger at me. “You. Think about it—your powers did not manifest until shortly after Avatar’s death. That was no coincidence. If Avatar had never died, leading to the Omega spirit inhabiting you, your latent Metahuman abilities would likely never have been triggered. After all, only a tiny sliver of the world population has powers. Even if you had beaten the odds and developed powers on your own, they almost certainly would not be Omega-level without the Omega spirit. That level of power is exceedingly rare. The odds of it are less likely than rolling a thousand dice at once and having all of them come up snake eyes.”

  I glanced at Millennium, the other Omega-level Meta in the room. Though he still appeared to be staring at me, he had not said a word or moved a muscle since I entered the room. It was weird, like being stared at by a mannequin with black holes for eyes. It felt as though I would be swept off my feet and sucked into those eyes if I looked at them too long.

  “You will have to forgive my taciturn colleague,” Mechano said of Millennium, perhaps reading my expression. “Though part of him can hear us, most of his consciousness is on another astral plane right now, tending to another matter. Though it is pressing, it is of no concern to you.” He said “on another astral plane” casually, the way I might say someone had gone to the bathroom.

  With effort, I tore my eyes away from Millennium. Looking at him made me shiver. I said, “Though I get that the Department of Metahuman Affairs’ tests say I’m an Omega-level Meta, I’m nowhere near as powerful as someone like Avatar.” Or Millennium, I added silently, if he really can do things like travel back in time. “People say Avatar could’ve moved the Moon out of its orbit if he had wanted to. If I have the Omega spirit inside me, why don’t I have the same level of power Omega Man or Avatar did?”

  “Think of it this way,” Mechano said, “if someone has the genetic capacity to become a championship level weightlifter, does he slide out of his mother flexing, with his muscles rippling? Of course not. A lot of time, energy, nutrition, and training must be invested before that person reaches his full genetic potential as a bodybuilder, potential that will not be reached if he never curls a barbell or he does not step foot into a gym. The same is true of you and your Omega-level powers. They must be developed and cultivated. In the time we have been observing you, we have seen how much your powers have advanced. You are still in the adolescent stage of your development. Just imagine what you will be able to do given more time and training.”

  “Or if he has the Omega weapon,” Seer interjected.

  “Unless he has the
Omega weapon,” Mechano agreed. Based on his tone, he was irritated at being interrupted. “I was getting to that.”

  “What in the world is an ‘Omega weapon’?” I demanded. Oh goody, more surprises. My mind was already awhirl as it was.

  “Legend has it that the first host of the Omega spirit infused part of the spirit into a weapon that can be used to help each new Omega host fulfill his mission of protecting mankind,” Mechano said. “I have no idea if the legend is true. Nonetheless, the weapon is real enough. It takes different forms depending on the era the Omega host who wields it lives in. In King Arthur’s case, it was Excalibur; with Hercules, it was the impenetrable lion pelt he draped around his shoulders; with Rama it was his bow; and with Beowulf it was his sword Nægling. Omega Man wore it in the form of the clasp with the omega symbol on it that fastened his cape around his neck. With Avatar, it was his cape itself. The Omega weapon augments the Metahuman power of its wielder. Any Meta can use the weapon, but it is particularly potent when it is coupled with the Omega-level power of the Omega host. To go back to my bodybuilding analogy, the Omega weapon is to a Meta what the most potent of steroids is to a bodybuilder.” Mechano paused. “Since you came here already knowing you are Omega, do you also know where the Omega weapon is?”

  The eagerness in Mechano’s voice was obvious. Even if I did know where this so-called Omega weapon was, I sure as hell wouldn’t pass that knowledge on to the guy who had tried to kill me.

  “I have no idea. Never even heard of it until now,” I said honestly.

  Mechano sighed and turned his head slightly to Seer. “Alas, it appears that he is telling the truth.” Being spoken of in the third person when I was standing right in front of someone was my all-time favorite thing. “A shame. Think of what we could accomplish with access to the Omega weapon.”

  “Obviously Avatar hid it somewhere,” Seer said to him. “The cape we buried him in was just an ordinary cape and not the weapon. Now that we have the boy, we’ll redouble our efforts to locate it. If the weapon did not somehow nullify my precognition, we would have found it already.” Ooops, I was wrong. Being spoken of in the third person was only my second favorite thing. Being referred to as “boy” was my favorite thing.

  “Why would the Omega spirit pick me?” I asked, changing the subject before I lost both my temper and my chance to get answers to the questions I’ve had for so long.

  “The criteria the Omega spirit has for picking a hew host is unclear to us. If there is any rhyme or reason to whom it selects, we can’t decipher it.” Seer said. “It going from Omega Man to Avatar made sense. After all, even before becoming a vessel for the Omega spirit, Avatar was an experienced Hero. However, why it would go from someone like Avatar to an inexperienced farm boy is . . . puzzling.” I found it puzzling too, but it was still hard not to be insulted by her tone. “Especially at a time such as this,” she added gravely.

  “A time such as this?” Maybe being ominous was another of Seer’s superpowers. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Seer’s eyes suddenly seemed to burn with a white-hot flame. “Darkness is coming. Good and evil will soon clash. The fate of the world itself is in the balance. Though much is hidden from me by forces not even I understand, I can foresee bits and pieces of the coming reckoning, like a gathering storm viewed through a dirty windowpane. Millennium and his mystic arts agree with my assessment. There have been signs of the coming conflict for decades, but they now indicate the battle is imminent. The carrier of the Omega spirit holds the keys to either victory or defeat. For years we had assumed Avatar would be the carrier at the time of the great reckoning.” Her voice turned bitter. “Until his unexpected naivete got him killed. Now, you have the Omega spirit.” She sounded less than enthused about that fact. Truth be told, I wasn’t wild about it myself.

  Why me? I thought. Though I knew I sounded like a broken record thinking that same question over and over, if there ever was a time for it to be asked, it was when you found out people expected you to save the world. How was I supposed to save the world? I couldn’t even save Hannah or find Antonio.

  “That is why I turned the nanites against you and used that explosive during the Trials, Mr. Conley,” Mechano interjected. “Whoever has the Omega spirit is the key to the coming conflict. We had to make sure you were up to the task. You can understand our concern. When we first became aware of you, you were but a naive child, living in a backwater, getting an indifferent education at a third-rate school. Or so we thought at the time. It turns out that you are more resourceful and worthy of the Omega spirit than we had at first supposed.”

  My mind raced. I connected the dots. “And if I did not survive your attacks, the Omega spirit would pass to someone else. Perhaps someone more worthy, at least in your eyes,” I added bitterly. I could hardly believe my ears. These ruthless people were the ones I had so admired ever since I was a kid? This was like finding out that not only was Santa not a jolly old elf, but he had a nasty habit of climbing down the chimney, stealing all your presents, molesting your mother, and poisoning the cookies and milk.

  My face grew hot as I realized the truth. The Trials were not the first time someone had tried to kill me. “You’re the ones who hired Iceburn to kill me, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Mechano admitted flatly. There was no trace of shame in his voice. “Decades ago I designed the Guild’s computer system. I left in it backdoors permitting me access without alerting the Guild’s computer personnel. Knowing the Omega spirit would seek another host after Avatar’s death, I used my backdoor access to have the Guild’s Metahuman Registry computers alert me when the Department of Metahuman Affairs registered a new Omega-level Meta. Since Omega-levels are so rare and since your powers manifested so soon after Avatar’s death, we knew you had to be the new Omega host when you registered with the DMA. After we examined your background, we were concerned that you were too young, inexperienced, and unsophisticated to be the vessel for the Omega spirit in this most critical of times. Through intermediaries, we dispatched Iceburn to kill you. We are gratified to see he was not successful.”

  “That murderer killed my father.” It was all I could do to not launch myself at Mechano and tear him apart piece by piece. I was so mad I shook.

  “An unfortunate incident,” Mechano said. “One we deeply regret. You were the target, not your father. He was collateral damage. As were the eleven people who died in the fire Iceburn set to lure you and the other trainees out of Hero Academy.”

  “Collateral damage?” I repeated the words bitterly. To have Dad’s and all those others’ lives reduced to two words was a slap in the face. “And the bomb that girl slipped into my pocket in the bank in D.C.? That was you too, wasn’t it?”

  “It was.”

  “And you and Millennium went along with all this?” I demanded angrily of Seer.

  “We did,” she said. The casualness with which these so-called Heroes admitted to murder and attempted murder was both shocking and dismaying.

  I said, “What of the other Sentinels? Were they aboard the let’s-kill-Theo train too?”

  “No,” Mechano said. “They know nothing of the steps we took regarding you. The other three are far too idealistic to have acquiesced had we told them. They are often woefully unwilling to do what needs to be done to accomplish the greater good. That is why they are not here tonight. Over a month ago Seer’s precognition alerted her you would be coming tonight. In addition to deactivating most of the mansion’s defenses and dismissing our security detail to let you come to us tonight unmolested, we made sure Tank, Ninja and Doppelganger were out of the country for the next few days so the three of us could speak to you privately. They are in Peru, finally putting an end to the Puma regime there now that we have a United Nations resolution giving us legal justification to intercede. You should be flattered. It took quite a bit of string-pulling at the UN to get the resolution passed in advance of your visit.”

  I felt more and more like a pawn in an
elaborate chess game the existence of which I had once been happily ignorant of.

  “Tank, Ninja and Doppelganger are of little consequence, anyway,” Mechano added. “Now that Avatar is gone, the people in this room are the Sentinels.” Mechano’s arrogant voice turned disdainful. “The others are little more than our lackeys, whether they admit that to themselves or not. With me and my wealth and inventions, Millennium with his raw power, and Seer with her precognition that lets us prepare for threats on the horizon, we are the only members of this team who matter. With me as the first among equals, of course. Now that Avatar is dead, I am the driving force behind the Sentinels. You have heard of the Golden Rule? It is ‘He who has the gold makes the rules.’ Despite Millennium’s and Seer’s considerable abilities, my wealth is what keeps the Sentinels going. That means I am in charge, despite the fact Seer holds the title of chairwoman.” Seer shifted in her seat, visibly irritated by Mechano’s smugness. If Mechano noticed, he didn’t seem to care.

  It was good to hear the rest of the Sentinels weren’t sociopathic killers. Three of them were bad enough.

  “Why would you tell me all this stuff?” I asked. I was in shocked disbelief. Not only was I carrying around some ancient spirit, but three of the most admired Heroes in existence were killers. With a man as inventive as Edison, as rich as Croesus, and as diabolical as Vlad the Impaler as their ringleader. The blasé way they had recounted their misdeeds made me think this wasn’t the first time they had done things no Hero had any business doing.

  “We want you to trust us, Mr. Conley,” Mechano said in answer to my question. Yeah, good luck with that, I thought. “We are being forthright with you about what we have done because we do not want there to be any secrets between us. We want you to join us. Here, as a member of the Sentinels. You would be the youngest Sentinel in history. Consider the honor of it. You will be famous, respected all around the world, at an age where you cannot even legally drink in some states. You will be paid handsomely, of course, more money than you have ever seen before. You could move out of that rathole you live in.