by Guillen, JM
I shrugged. “I don't think we have an option other than to try. We can't stay here much longer.”
Agreed. Anya wasn't even making the pretense of speaking out loud, not in her current state. Their technology seems centered around topiatic manipulation. Also, the men who ran through here are gone, without a trace. It's terribly convenient, but not unlikely.
“They're new brass plates.” I mused as I ran a hand around the edge of them. “Because this place hasn't been here for long.”
“Maybe we weren't so far off.” Wyatt pushed the button marked 'Manhattan.' “Maybe not a travel agency for Irrats, but a Grand Central Station.”
When the door opened, there were three of the gas masks hanging on hooks in the back of the elevator. Wyatt gave them a long look, and then winked at me.
I couldn’t stop grinning.
The elevator went up, and seemed to go on forever. Wyatt started working with his keypad.
Anya's eyes were wide. We are back to Rationality Zero. She smiled. Not ambient Rationality zero; this is home.
Wyatt's gear was humming. “Be that as it may, I'm not—”
The Designate was like frost covered knives in our minds.
I require confirmation and access code check in.
I grinned like a kid on Christmas. It's us, Designate. I am Michael Bishop, 108. I felt my Crown whir as it synced with the Lattice. We need an immediate extr—
The door opened into a shadowed room. The moment it did, two men with automatic weapons turned towards us.
“Fuck!” Wyatt's fingers frantically typed as they opened fire.
WHUF. Almost instantly, he had a stasis field queued up and a hemisphere of opaque silver appeared three strides in front of the elevator. Wyatt was turning to look at me, but I already had the Emitter gearing up. I felt the coolness on my skin as I faded from sight.
“I've got us under cover. Go,” Wyatt snarled.
I knew he couldn't see me nod. I was drawing the katana as I stepped from the elevator.
The stench of the room hit me in the face. I felt a deep despairing in the pit of my stomach as I recognized it.
Four of them, Michael. There was a distinctive pause as Anya correlated her readings. None of them are baseline humans. I’m reading Vyriim in each of them.
I heard her, but my attention was riveted elsewhere. In the dim light of the room I could already see the column-shaped canisters lining one of the walls. Three of them were emitting a soft green light, and I could see the human forms within them.
Designate, I made certain that my cadre could hear me as well, our local coordinates are indicative of a breeding chamber for the aberrant species known as the Vyriim. We request immediate extraction, and advise the Facility to use extreme caution regarding this location.
Another one? I could feel Wyatt’s despair. Here? In Manhattan?
I moved gracefully around the edge of Wyatt's globular field. I could see one of them. He was approaching, his weapon held out in front of him. If he could see me, he made no show of it.
Affirmative. I rolled my neck, loosening up. I’m going in.
As the first of the guards came closer, I spun towards him. I was pure grace and invisible blades, and he was on the floor in a scarlet pool before he even realized what was happening.
I saw the thick tentacles spill out of his gut through one of the gashes I had left in him. It was sluggish, almost seeming confused.
I sliced into four pieces before it was even entirely out of its host
I'm at yer 4 o'clock, hoss. Coming around the other side. They know I'm here, and are trying to triangulate.
Copy that. I could make this quick, and I needed to. The less automatic gunfire that was going off in the building, the quieter things stayed.
“Hello, Michael.” I turned, surprised I hadn’t seen the man standing in the shadows to my right.
It was Rudolfo Firenzei.
I was only stunned for a moment, but I knew that was all he would need. With the Adept engaged, I swung towards him hoping to have him on the end of my katana before he had the opportunity to say another word.
I wasn’t fast enough.
Firenzei lunged for me, reaching with his one good hand. As I swung on him, his fingers clasped the front of my jacket.
Then, for an eternal instant, I was cold. It was a frigidness that clawed to the center of me. I could not catch my breath and then…
Then I was falling.
Later I would realize that he had simply used his temporal drifting with me, same as he had Anya. We appeared across the room, several feet off the floor. While I floundered, he knew exactly where we were and what to expect. As such he was able to slam me to the ground, stunning me.
I dropped my swords. He brought his face inches from mine so that I could see the madness dancing his eyes, could smell his fetid breath.
“We keep talking about who should be afraid, you and I.” His leer was wide, dancing with madness. “I thought perhaps it was something we should settle, once and for all.”
Then, they came for me.
The strands were tiny at first, things that did not look much thicker than a hair that wriggled around his eyeballs and towards me, reaching for my face. When I saw the tendril slithering from his nostril, the thing as thick around as my pinky, I felt terror clutch at my heart.
I began to scream.
Even in my adrenaline fueled horror, I could not push him off of me. I had to watch as the hungry aberrations squirmed their way for my eyes, my ears, my nose and mouth.
The sensation of the small tentacles as they twisted and oozed into my body almost drove me mad. I had never stopped screaming, but as I felt their warm wetness in my ears and nostrils my cries became so loud that my voice cracked and I could scream no more.
It was pain unlike anything I had ever known. I could feel the serpentine movement in my sinuses, could hear the wetness of the tentacles in my ears.
Hoss—
Then, with a blindingly painful burst of wetness, somewhere at the base of my spine, I felt the Vyriim in a way I never could have dreamt.
Wordless sensations drifted through my mind. Things that were more like concepts, primal ideas that felt older than the world I lived in.
Space was shaped differently than I had ever known. It was as if there were directions that my mind could not bend themselves around, ideas that I didn’t have enough senses to perceive.
One.
The Vyriim were one. One organism. In the same way the hairs on my body might look like different things, but were not, the Vyriim were a single mind.
It was a single, ancient mind. A mind that was driven, insatiable.
They weren’t invading; it wasn’t as if they were carrion crows. They were not our predators. There were ancient and secret names for what they did, names that were forgotten ten thousand years before man stumbled out of the jungles.
No, the Vyriim were like moths, only instead of being attracted to light, they were attracted to a mad, undulating darkness that beat like a heart between all worlds. And when that darkness began to seep into a world—
“No!” The cry came from impossibly far away. I felt as if I should care about that sound, but I did not. It seemed petty, small.
There were words that sounded like music that moved through my mind. An incredible peace fell over me, a happiness that I had no name for.
My life had been a shadow, had been a whisper striving to be a song. Compared to this—
Existence shattered around me, and I felt burning shards of slivered fire in my mind. I opened my eyes, and saw the remnants of Firenze’s face.
It looked as if something had sliced into him, say the blades of some next-gen katanas. His skin hung loose, and I could see the mass of writhing tentacles pouring into my body.
A stranger’s voice swam between my thoughts.
Anya, we gotta move. I’m done here. If you can’t—
I can. It felt like it was a woman and for a moment I
thought how strange that was, that there should be male and female. It seemed like an abomination to live that way, split in twain and not in blissful unity.
That was when Anya, her face splattered with blood and her hair like a wild Amazon’s, speared one of my katana through Firenze’s neck. The pain was like a symphony of agony in my body, and I began to retch.
I realized she was screaming. It wasn’t through the link, but I could hear the fear and fury in her voice.
“NO, NO, NO, NO!”
Then, with one smooth slice, she severed the body of the creatures where it stretched between us. I was splattered in thick liquid warmth, but I did not care.
I was alive. I was myself.
Frantically, I rolled to the side onto all fours, and began to vomit up writhing tentacles. I pulled them from my ears and nose, the horror almost shattering my mind.
Bishop!? Wyatt was there, was frantically typing on his Crescent shaped keyboard. Tell me you’re good to go Hoss, Designate wants this entire room to be a heap of slag.
I held up one finger to him nodding. One moment just let me— my stomach clenched again, and I retched up another of the squiggling aberrations.
As I looked around, I saw that Wyatt and Anya had done well enough in my absence. Apparently the moment they stepped into the room they also realized it was a breeding pit, and Wyatt had used his spikes to immediately seal things off. From there, there was still a firefight, but it looked as if we had come out on top.
As I pushed myself up, I saw one of the breeding chambers had fallen over, and its glass it shattered on the floor. There was a young woman inside, and I could see that she was moving.
She was alive.
What about that one? I stood, stumbling towards the young woman. I drew my kinetic disruptors, but quickly realized I wouldn’t need them.
She was barely conscious. I saw one of the larvae squirm out of her nose, seeking the liquid puddled around her. I brought a boot down on the creature and felt it satisfactorily squish.
No time, Hoss. If she’s not a ‘rat, then she’s already dead. These spikes go off in less than a minute.
The young woman opened her eyes, looking up at. They were the brilliant blue of a winter sky, and her black hair hung in rivulets all around her face. She was gasping, like she couldn’t breathe, or was trying to say something.
Death was a mercy for her. She was young and beautiful. In my other life I would have a hard time saying no to a woman like her.
But life had brought her here. If it hadn’t been for us, she had been fated to be of vessel for madness and depravity.
Her entire life would have been bedlam. We had at least saved her from that.
That was not a fate I would wish on anyone.
I turned towards the rest of my cadre, and we left the room.
Less than a minute later, we felt the thunder as the breeding chamber was reduced to molten metal and liquid stone.
21
We were sprinting down the hall when the link came in.
The extraction Conduit is in place. The Designate linked us all at once. There is nothing of use in that building, the axioms within are altered by some Irrational technology.
Certainly altered. Wyatt’s link was smug
We have a conduit three blocks away. It has been used multiple times, and therefore is quite secure. It is in an alleyway. I'm sending you the location now. Haste is prescribed.
“Good.” Wyatt was muttering under his breath. “I'm glad she told us. I wanted to hit the conduit all lackadaisical.”
The stairwell was little more than a fire exit, but it seemed safer than making use of elevators. After all, elevators could be stopped in place, or be pinned down as a target for automatic weapons. Hell, some Irrat could throw a grenade down the shaft, which could land right on top.
Anya wasn't enjoying the stairwell with her kneecap. I was helping her as best as I could, while Wyatt was guarding point. Only once did we encounter anyone else in the stairwell; a young woman who looked far more like a secretary than a dangerous Irrational criminal.
Baseline human. I could still feel the caution in Anya's link.
Doesn't mean she can't just shoot us. Got it.
The woman seemed far from threatening, however. Wyatt nodded her as we went by.
“Ma'am.”
She only nodded briskly, obviously horrified at his gore coated face. I doubted she even knew who we were, or what was happening in this building. I nodded as she went by. I was all but carrying Anya, and bleeding from my shoulder. I don't know what the woman thought, but I couldn't care.
We had to go.
The stairwell led straight into the front foyer of the building. The security guard seemed stunned to watch us, limping and bleeding, crawl out of the side door. He lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth.
“Do not.” I swung my disruptor towards his face. Fancy tech aside, it looked like a gun. “Put it down, or be shot. That simple.”
The man dropped the walkie-talkie.
Once outside, we made our way towards the extraction point. On one hand, we were very conspicuous and torn apart. On the other—
This was New York City.
“Here.” I jerked my head toward the alleyway. “Almost home.”
Wyatt grinned wearily. “Are you sure you don’t want to stop and get a drink?” He chuckled, but did not slow.
Location achieved, Designate. I looked down the alleyway. We were clear. There were some teenagers a little ways away, practicing free-runners, it looked like. They wouldn't know anything, not other than they had seen three battered people go through a door.
I looked at the youths, but linked Wyatt. Take Anya. I’ll be right behind.
Only the slightest pause. Copy, hoss. See you in Neverland. He gave me a nod before stepping through the door.
I looked around, already hearing the fire sirens. The building we had come out of was catching quite magnificently, partially because of the spikes we had left every few yards as we fled.
It seemed as if we were not being followed. We were in the clear.
I turned and made my way into the conduit.
The moment I stepped through, I felt white light flash in my mind.
Michael Bishop. Asset number 108. Welcome to Facility 17.
22
I don't remember being patched up. Upon return to any Facility, there are always assets available with the Caduceus packet installed. Within moments of my arrival, I was dispatched to the infirmary, and my shoulder (mostly patched up by my overworked mecha) was taken care of. They saw the need to briefly put me out, something about excess fluids in my spinal cord after the strange axioms of that place. I didn't know any of this until they woke me, however.
“Where…” My throat sounded and felt as if had been assaulted by tentacle aberrations. “Where are the other members of my cadre?” It was the first thing I asked when I woke.
Wyatt Guthrie is in surgery, of course. The damage done to his face and ocular nerve were extensive. She paused. His stats imply that he was intoxicated for much of the dossier.
I looked at the mousy haired woman who was tending to me. Her name-tag said 'Rachel.' Currently, she was using a small tablet to modify the viral mecha still in my system. And Anya?
Your Preceptor will require a knee replacement. That procedure is due to take place this afternoon. She is being prepped now. Rachel fluffed my pillow. Relax, 108. Your cadre is well. You are set to be released in less than an hour. I'm certain your Designate will be briefing you soon.
“Thank you, Rachel.” I smiled at her. She gave me a thin smile back, and then left me.
I lay back.
I slept.
23
When I was discharged from the infirmary, the Designate had a short debriefing with me. We met in a small office room in Facility 17, which was as white and sparse as the rest of the Facility. The Designate herself had linked me the location of the room, and when I arrived, she was waiting. As always, th
e Designate was crisp, neat, and professional.
Good evening, 108.
I smiled. “Is it evening?” I checked my system time. Christ. It was nearly ten at night. Stepping inside, I took a seat.
The Designate looked at a packet of papers, and then smiled at me. As always, Michael, you have performed to specification and beyond. This dossier was difficult, and yet our reviews of your phaneric records indicate that you performed admirably.
I smiled at her. It was an unusual mission.
The extensive action of your cadre should provide everything we need regarding the source of the Irrationality spikes and the technology used. Based upon our current telemetry, it seems as if the conclusions that your cadre reached on assignment are mostly accurate.
I’d like to say that I’m glad. However, the things that we uncovered here have far-reaching ramifications.
The Vyriim. Yes. Her smile was quite small. It reminded me of a mandarin version of Anya's smile. During your unfortunate... experience with them you were still connected with me through the Lattice. As a result, we have vastly more information regarding that aberrant species than we did before this dossier.
There were so many things that I wanted to ask. It seemed obvious that the creatures were planning an invasion, but I knew that asking would do no good. Even if the Designate decided that I was on a need to know basis, I would certainly forget as soon as I was removed from duty.
If there was anything important that I need to know, I could rest assured that I would be updated the next time my crown went active.
Therefore, I kept it simple.
I trust that there are plans in place to deal with this threat, and that I was a vital part in assisting with the Intel on those plans.
There are, and you were. She gave me that small smile again. For now, however, you are to be placed on inactive immediately. Before you leave, a white room will be provided to decommission all of your packets and remove your neuralware. Do you have any other questions for me?
The truth was, most of my questions would never matter. The Facility was as dodgy with its own assets as it was with the outside world.