by Wyatt Kane
Enhancer 5
By Wyatt Kane
Copyright © 2018 Wyatt Kane, All Rights Reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Also by Wyatt Kane
Enhancer 1, 2, 3, 4 (ebooks)
Enhancer 1, 2, 3 (audiobooks)
Time Master
1: Déjà Vu
Ty Wilcox felt a sense of déjà vu. This wasn’t the first time he and the girls had been woken by one of Dinah’s alerts. It wasn’t even the first time the emergency that caused the alert was the collapse of a building. For the past couple of days, it seemed to Ty that he, Tempest, and Lilith had done little more than run around trying to contain the damage done by superpowered villains.
They’d caught Spit Bitch and Sparkles, but Concussion was still at large. And he was still wreaking havoc within the city of New Lincoln.
But this time, it was personal. According to Dinah’s alert, Concussion had singled out Ty’s old apartment building and reduced it to ruins.
“Brad,” Ty repeated.
In the gloom that was still too dark to be called morning, the girls were already crawling out of Tempest’s bed. By then, they knew the drill. Yet the personal nature of the attack made it different as well. There was a palpable air of concern as Tempest turned on a light and girls found their clothes.
“I’m sure he will be okay,” Lilith said to Ty, the beautiful demon woman expressing sympathy and reassurance at the same time.
Tempest didn’t say anything, but her expression was grim as she made ready to do what she could to help, and Dinah was at her pragmatic best.
“Same as before,” the deerkin said. “I’ll notify the hospitals to let them know to expect the injured. Ty, your healing nanites worked wonders last time. Do you have any ready to go? Or will you have to fabricate more?”
“I’ll have to make more,” Ty replied. The healing nanites weren’t exactly something he carried around with him. Yet maybe he should.
Dinah nodded. She glanced at Tempest. “I take it you’ll help out as well this time?” the deerkin asked.
The last time Concussion had torn a section of New Lincoln apart, Tempest had been lost in a world of grief and confusion over the sudden reappearance of her father. The Architect, the first superhero, had been thought dead for years. But instead, he’d been held captive by the worst supervillain of the lot. The Master had left the man to die in an alley, and the combined efforts of Ty’s nanites and a cryo chamber were all that kept him alive.
One day, Ty would work out how to reverse the effects of a degenerative toxin Dinah had found in the Architect’s bloodstream. Until then, they could interact with the Architect in the most indirect way, through the man’s dreams.
“Of course,” Tempest responded.
“Good,” Dinah said. “With you and Ty searching the rubble and Lilith transporting the injured, hopefully we’ll be able to save as many as possible. And if I should find Concussion, I’ll let you know.”
Of the four of them, Ty hadn’t yet made any move to get ready. He was sitting on the edge of Tempest’s bed, stark naked except for the device on his wrist that gave him his power and the adhesive discs stuck to different parts of his body.
When activated, those discs generated a glowing blue energy shield that covered him from head to foot. It was largely invulnerable, and Ty had included a synaptic controller that let him shape its power. He could replicate Tempest’s strength to the point where he could go toe-to-toe with Bain, a monstrous villain full of strength and malicious glee. And he could unleash that power in a concentrated blast, as if his shield was an energy cannon.
But he couldn’t yet replicate Tempest’s ability to fly, or her speed. The best he’d been able to do was give himself the ability to skim across the ground at an accelerated pace.
As Dinah defined their roles and the aftermath of Concussion’s efforts, Ty shook his head.
“No,” he said.
Each of the others paused to look at him. Dinah and Tempest showed a mixture of concern and curiosity, while Lilith looked openly worried.
“No?” Dinah asked.
Ty looked at her, taking in the delicate markings that mottled her skin and the antlers that rose from her head. Ty had often thought she was the most perfect example of a deerkin the genetic splices had managed to make. And, like Tempest and Lilith, she was beautiful.
“I don’t think I should be looking for survivors directly. Between them, Tempest and Lilith can do everything I could, and faster. With Tempest there, I’m not sure I would be able to add anything.”
The deerkin raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to an angle. “Do you have something else in mind instead?”
Ty drew a deep breath. He knew time was critical, knew that even now, his friend Brad might be broken and dying in the ruins of their apartment building. Yet he also knew he was right. If Brad happened to be lying about on the surface, Lilith and Tempest would save him.
But what if he was buried somewhere beneath the top layer of rubble?
What if any of the survivors were buried?
Ty and Brad’s apartment had been on the seventh floor. There were a number of levels above them. The chances of Brad not being buried were minor.
“I’m going to work out a way to find survivors no matter where they are,” he said. “And to keep them alive for long enough for help to reach them.”
Dinah studied Ty for a moment. Perhaps she was seeking to understand his motivation. Perhaps she feared that the shock of what had happened was too much for Ty to handle. Either way, it seemed he passed her test. She gave him a nod.
“Okay,” she said. She glanced at Tempest and Lilith, who by then were fully dressed and ready to take on the world. “You’d best be off,” she said to them.
But again, Ty shook his head. “No,” he repeated. He’d thought of something. Two somethings, actually. “Tempest, are you able to use the fabricator in the workshop?” he asked, and the blonde woman nodded. “Then, before you go, grab a Petri dish and fabricate some of the healing nanites. Lilith, I need you to do something before you go.”
The demon woman turned to him, already accepting whatever he wanted and just waiting for him to continue. Like with Dinah, the splicers who had worked on her wings, horn and tail were true experts in their field. Lilith was the consummate succubus, beautiful and seductive, yet her nature was the complete opposite of demonic.
Ty pursed his lips, hesitating. He knew that Dinah wouldn’t like what he was about to say. Perhaps none of them would. But Brad’s life could well be at stake, and Ty didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
“I need you to find a dealer. AZT-407. Upgrade. Whatever you want to call it. Get a dose of the drug and bring it back to me.”
Before Ty had even finished speaking, the protests began. “Ty, that stuff is dangerous!” Dinah said. “Are you sure?” Lilith asked. “Don’t you remember what it did to you last time?” Tempest demanded.
Ty knew their concerns were well founded. Ty had taken the drug twice before, and both times, it had given him a boost to his stats that took his skill to the next level. On the buzz the drug offered, Ty had created the healing nanites that were helping to keep the Architect alive. The second time he’d taken it, just the day before, he had created a neural framewor
k that enabled them to talk to the Architect—after a fashion—even while the man remained locked in stasis.
The device on Ty’s wrist had made him a technopath. Technological Enhancement was his skill, and with it, there was little he couldn’t do given sufficient time. But time was the problem. Ty’s world had become full of danger. Much of his time had been taken up fighting villains of one sort or another.
AZT-407 enabled him to work more efficiently. He could get things done much faster. And that was what he needed right then.
It had also awoken a secondary skill. Technological assimilation. So far, that had proved largely useless, and in fact had made life uncomfortable when Ty had inadvertently absorbed an EMP grenade he’d intended to fling at an adversary.
Yet he could see the potential of it, particularly when it came to making technology unexpectedly portable.
But the reason for the girls’ concern was that there was a downside to taking AZT-407. As many of the New Lincoln residents were learning, the drug was toxic. Even as he thought through his options, Ty was starting to experience the associated hangover again, in the form of a growing pressure behind his eyes.
According to Gregory, the medical robot, that was the least of the issues. Ty knew he would be taking a risk to double up on the drug, but he could see little choice.
“There are lives at stake,” he said. “I have to do this.”
He expected to have to argue some more, to defend his position, but perhaps the girls sensed his determination. They accepted his word, mostly.
“Is there any way we can change your mind?” Dinah asked.
Ty just shook his head. “What would any of you do if it was one of us in danger?” he asked.
It was a rhetorical question. Ty already knew the answer. There was nothing Tempest and Dinah wouldn’t risk for each other. Ty and Lilith were more recent additions to their relationship, yet he knew without a moment of doubt that Tempest would tear down all of New Lincoln to save either one of them if need be. And while Dinah’s talents were less physical, Ty had seen how she reacted to the sight of the Architect in the alley. The deerkin’s talent was Information control, and there was little she couldn’t figure out if she needed.
As for Lilith, the demon woman might look innocent and was a genuinely good person as well. But Ty had seen her succumb to a fury that literally shook the air around her.
Ty didn’t want to even think about anything bad happening to any of them, but knew his own response would be akin to that of the others.
“Do it,” Dinah said to Lilith.
2: Scene of Destruction
Without another word, the demon woman vanished with an audible pop and a lingering odor of ozone.
Teleportation was the most obvious aspect of her skill. Unified field control was its official title, and Ty had his suspicions about what that could mean. But right then, he was just glad that he didn’t have to go with her. As a mode of transport, it was the most efficient around, but Ty really disliked the achingly cold place in between two different disparate points where Lilith took them.
As if the demon woman’s disappearance was a signal, Tempest and Dinah also departed, leaving Ty by himself. He looked at the device on his wrist. It was different from those the girls wore in that he’d merged it with his phone.
Hesitating only briefly, hoping for the best but not expecting much, he dialed Brad’s number and listened. But instead of ringing, Ty’s call went straight through to the answering machine.
“Hey, I’m not in, or if I am I’m ignoring you. Leave a message. Or don’t. Whatever works, man.”
Ty wasn’t sure there was much point in leaving a message, so he rang off instead. Then, knowing he had lots to do, he pushed himself up from Tempest’s bed and looked about for his clothes.
He was just finishing buttoning his shirt over the top of the pouch he wore to contain his power supplies when Lilith blinked back into existence in front of him. Ty caught a moment of anguish on the demon woman’s face, and immediately understood the cause.
“I’ll work out a way to get our main shield to turn off automatically one day,” he said. He had adapted the technology used for his personal shield to protect Tempest’s mansion, as well as the building beneath it. While it didn’t stop Lilith coming or going, it made the process more difficult.
The demon woman shook her head, dismissing Ty’s words. “It’s okay,” she said. “If it was really a bother, I would turn up outside and get one of you to let me in.” She offered a gentle smile, and with that, the demon woman handed over a single use inhaler of the type Ty knew to dispense the AZT-407 drug.
He took it and thought about using it right away. Only the knowledge of how it affected him prevented him from doing so.
“You weren’t gone very long,” he said. “Is it still that easy to find?”
The demon woman shrugged. “There were always drug deals going on at the back of some of the clubs I worked at,” she said. “I figured those dealers would be into this as well.” She gave a half grin. “First place I looked,” she said.
Ty knew Lilith had worked as a stripper, and until then hadn’t been sure how he’d felt about that. Lilith was the most voluptuous of the women he shared his life with, and he didn’t much like the idea of others enjoying a view he’d come to think of as his. Well, and Dinah’s, and Tempest’s, but that was different.
Yet he had also worked at a club, just in a different position. Drug dealers often plied their trade around the back of the Concubine Club as well. At the thought, Lilith’s past triggered an unexpected kinship. In a way, they’d both made compromises in order to live.
It was just what happened in the city of New Lincoln.
If it wasn’t for the urgency of the current situation, Ty might have grabbed the demon woman and thrown her back onto the bed in order to enjoy that sight once again. Instead, he summoned a grin.
“Thank you,” he said.
Before he could say anything else, the demon woman nodded. “Be careful,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Ty knew she was about to disappear once again, and understood where she was going.
“Find him, if you can,” he said. “Brad’s my friend. He doesn’t have anything to do with any of this.”
Lilith nodded. Even though she’d never met Brad, she understood Ty’s intent. He knew she would do her best.
And then, with a pop and a lingering odor of ozone, she was gone.
◆◆◆
Ty looked at the single use inhaler in his hand. Throughout New Lincoln, there had been an epidemic of people trying the drug, keen to experience the promised enhanced attributes and new skills for themselves. Including Brad.
As had happened with everyone else, the drug made Brad awfully sick, and only medicine provided by his girlfriend Sarah had ensured his survival.
And then Concussion collapsed the building where he lived.
Ty shook the thought away. It was too early to predict Brad’s death. Until he knew it for sure, he would work on the assumption that his friend was still alive.
There was no other choice.
With that thought in mind, Ty decided on a course of action. He’d survived the last couple of doses he’d taken, but was unsure how near a thing it had been. For some reason, the drug’s effects were considerably sharper and shorter lived for those who wore a device. It had seared Ty’s veins and burned his brain to the point where he’d blacked out.
If this latest dose should kill him, he would be no good to Brad at all. So, instead of breaking the seal and inhaling the drug right away, Ty left Tempest’s bedroom in search of Dinah.
He found the deerkin in her communication room, staring at the wraparound screen that covered all four walls.
Ty should have guessed what she would be doing, but hadn’t thought it through. The screen showed different views of the ruins of Ty’s apartment building from a variety of angles.
Despite himself, Ty had to stare
. It was the beginning of dawn, and it seemed to be one of those rare days where the perennial New Lincoln cloud cover was thinner than usual. The sky was red, and on another day, Ty thought it might have been beautiful.
But just then, it displayed a scene from a war zone.
It was horrible to see, and almost surreal. If Ty hadn’t known it was his old apartment building, he would have thought it a set for a movie. Except it wasn’t as clean. Without the perennial New Lincoln drizzle to damp it all down, there was a haze of dust hovering over the ruins.
Ty knew the scene was live. Dinah was tapping into every camera she could find that was still active and pointed the right way. She had even tapped into the camera drones that had arrived on the scene.
As Ty watched, he saw Lilith and Tempest working together, the blonde superhero holding up a huge chunk of masonry as the demon woman reached in to take hold of one of the victims. She blinked out of existence, and Ty knew she had taken a survivor to a hospital. Tempest paused for a moment, as if checking to make sure there were no more survivors beneath the masonry block, then gently lowered it back to the ground.
“It looks bad,” Ty said.
Dinah nodded without taking her eyes from the screen. “It is. This building is taller than those Concussion collapsed before. There will be a higher death toll,” she said, her voice grim and sober.
It wasn’t what Ty wanted to hear, yet he knew it was no more than the truth. “What about Concussion? Where is he?” he asked.
The deerkin looked at him and shook her head. “Gone. He used the confusion of the collapse to disappear. It’s like he knows where the cameras are. I caught a glimpse of him, but no more. I don’t know where he’s gone.”
Ty nodded. Part of him acknowledged that it was probably just as well. If the deerkin had been able to point him to the villain, Ty didn’t know what he might have done.
In his anger and rage at the man, he might have gone after him, forgetting all about the victims of this attack until he’d satisfied his need for vengeance.