Joe Blow blew a stream of cigar smoke in the man's direction. "Nice suit. Better than what you wore last time. You ready for round two, that it?"
The voice from the helmet was flat and mechanical. "Not if I can help it."
"Then you came to the wrong place, bud. I don't like you much. Wouldn't be a problem to smash your pretty helmet in again. Fact is, it would be a pleasure."
"I was hoping we could settle things without resorting to violence." The visor slit pulsed scarlet with every word.
Joe Blow scratched his chin. "Is that right? You're gonna set the terms to me? Who the hell are you supposed to be, anyway?"
"I'm Vigil."
Joe Blow laughed. "The crime-fighter from way back when? Thought you was just an urban legend. That was like twenty years ago. You gotta be an old man under that suit. If you're even human, that is. Why don't you take that helmet off, show me what you're made of?"
Vigil folded his arms. "No."
Joe Blow felt his muscles tense, straining the threads of his brand-new suit. Veins in his neck throbbed with the rush of anticipatory adrenaline. "You don't say? You waltz in, attack my people and think you can just sit down and talk? Guess again, chump."
"An unmasking isn't what I'm here for."
Joe Blow jerked a thumb at his face. "See this mug? Pretty, ain't it? When I was a pup, my first memories were of my folks covering it up. Didn't want their friends to see the little freak. The monster. When I got older, kids used to pick on me. Push me around, throw rocks, call me Frankenstein, Goblin Face, whatever. Where's your mask, they'd ask me. Oh yeah, you're wearing one. And then they'd laugh."
He grinned. "But I got the last laugh. Nature has a way of balancing things out. Ugly creatures usually get nice little presents: Poisonous spines, razor teeth, ink propulsion and whatnot. Or in my case, freak strength with a tough hide to boot. After that, no one made fun of my mug anymore. 'Cause they knew I'd rip their pretty little heads off their shoulders without breaking a sweat."
He leaned forward, towering over Vigil. "But you know what I never did? I never hid my face. Never wore a mask. It's what sneaks do. What cowards do. So here's my terms, Robo-chump. You take that helmet off, and we can talk. Or you keep in on and see if you can stop me from using it for a soccer ball."
Vigil didn't respond. Joe Blow found the lack of expression to be slightly unnerving. All he saw was his own glowering face reflected off the helmet's gleaming exterior. He gritted his teeth and rose to his feet.
"Not talking? Suits me just fine." He snatched the table and flung it aside like a piece of kindling. Vigil remained seated. Something glinted in his hand, humming with charged energy.
Joe Blow had just enough time to register that it was a handgun before the weapon shot him in the face.
Pain exploded across his entire head. He roared, arms flailing as he stumbled back. Tears streamed from his eyes as acrid smoke wafted from his flesh. Blurry streaks of movement marked Vigil as he darted forward, gauntlets streaking like laser lights across the room. They struck Joe Blow in repeated patterns of jabs and heavy punches, every strike punctuated by a flash of galvanic energy that sent electricity arching across Joe's body. He grunted as his muscles trembled, pain searing like his veins caught on fire.
He ignored it, striking out and connecting with a punch that lifted Vigil off his feet and sailing back a dozen yards.
The lights when out again.
Joe Blow roared, swinging his arms blindly. "Stop hiding, you coward. Show yourself!"
"Over here."
Joe Blow turned around just in time to see a glowing fist. The blow caught him in the chin; stars danced across his vision. He snarled and tottered forward, seizing Vigil with one hand and slamming him into the ground so hard the concrete chattered. Gray powder lifted into the air, creating a chalky haze.
A grin stretched across Joe Blow's face. "Got you now."
"Funny, I was thinking the same about you." A thin cable shot from Vigil's gauntlets and wrapped around Joe's neck, yanking him down. Vigil slapped both humming gauntlets against Joe's head.
The world exploded in agony.
Ⓥ
He jolted awake, groaning as the world circled in dizzy circles around him. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds because Vigil was still there, standing just out of reach in a wary stance. The lights had been turned back on.
"Why…" Joe grimaced, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The skin on his face felt blistered. Didn't matter much. He healed quickly, and it wasn't like he was known for his good looks anyway. "Why didn't you try and finish me off?"
"I told you, I'm not here to pick a fight with you."
"Then what the hell are you here for? Admiring the décor?"
"I want to know why a guy like you would want to soil his rep playing guard dog to a bunch of child molesters."
Joe Blow tried dusting off his suit, frowning at the stains. They were going to be hell to get out. Chumps at the cleaners always doubled on his charges because of his size. Greedy bastards. "Don't know what you're talking about. I get paid for guarding cargo. Plain and simple."
Vigil tilted his head. "Ever think to ask what this cargo is?"
"No. Never mattered. I provide a service. What the business happens to be is none of my concern."
"Even if it happens to be children? You really want to contribute to the sex trade? Your hands will be just as dirty as the perverts who molest those kids."
"What kids? You keep yapping on about brats I never laid eyes on."
"Why don't we take a look? If I'm right, you can make a decision. If I'm wrong, we can pick up where we left off."
Joe Blow's brows knitted together. "Maybe I don't wanna make a decision. Maybe I just wanna get paid. You don't cross certain lines in this business. Once you do, there ain't no turning back."
Vigil looked up at him. "What business? The child slave business? That's what you want your name associated with?"
Joe Blow frowned. "Private quarters are in the back. I'll take you there. And then we'll see how this is gonna end…Vigil."
Chapter 14
Vigil followed Joe Blow as the giant led him to the back of the compound. He stifled a groan as a flash of pain lanced across his ribs. The suit had absorbed much of the impact of Joe Blow's attacks, but just barely. He didn't think he could have lasted much longer against his much stronger, more durable opponent.
Thank goodness he was able to listen to reason. Maybe Qhawa wasn't so wrong after all.
They stopped in front of a bare wall. Jett stopped, taking an uneasy glance around.
"Nothing back here."
"Says you." Joe Blow slipped on a tech-enhanced glove and reached to a portion of the wall, thrusting it aside like a shower curtain.
Vigil took a closer look, fingering what turned out to be flexible material that perfectly blended with the color and texture of the surrounding wall. "What is this, shape-memory polymer?"
Joe Blow grunted as he entered the hallway behind the façade. "Yeah. A prototype. Becomes rigid when hit with an electric charge, like from this glove. And vice-versa. Only this one is enhanced with adaptive camouflage. Bends light or something. Wanna know more, interrogate a labcoat. You coming or not?"
He led the way, blocking Jett's entire view as they walked into a metallic tunnel illuminated by recess lights overhead. It ended at a doorway, where an armed guard in tactical gear stood at duty.
He took a look up at Joe Blow and swallowed. "What…are you doing here? Thought you were taking care of the compound."
"Got bored. Thought I'd take a walk."
The guard shifted nervously. "No one is allowed through without proper clearance."
Joe Blow's grin displayed nearly every oversized tooth. "Howzabout I give your face a firsthand tour of your backbone? That enough clearance for you?"
Sweat slid down the guard's face. "I'll…have to call it in."
Joe Blow's beefy hand shot out, completely enveloping the man's head.
"Don't."
Ⓥ
A short walk down a dimly lit hallway led to an entrance carved with phallic imagery. They stood behind a perforated steel screen, peering through the holes at the scene of perversion beyond. Bile rose in Vigil's throat.
The warehouse was converted into a stylish bordello fashioned in French Victorian décor. The walls and embroidered draperies were shades of scarlet, casting the room the color of blood. Lavish furniture and antique fixtures decorated the crimson-carpeted floor.
Intricately designed wall partitions separated the area into semi-private sections, where gold-gilded cages had been constructed. Velvet cushions were scattered across the interior, and sheer silk drapes hung on railings for additional privacy. A child was secured in every gleaming cage. The boys and girls were partially covered in indecent, filmy scraps of lace and silk. Their faces were painted, their hair perfectly coifed, their skin glistening with oil.
None of them looked older than twelve.
Figures moved about the room, draped in garish robes and cloaks, faces covered by intricate masks carved into a wide variety of grotesqueries. Most were fashioned after beasts of prey—lions, leopards, wolves, ravens, and more. The bejeweled masks were lacquered like wet paint, glistening in the dim light.
Some of them moved from one cage to the next, fawning over the children with gloved hands, silent and malevolent, drinking in the fear from the caged prisoners like vampires of lore. Others led selected children further back, where silken tents were erected, entranceways open like devouring mouths.
Security was barely visible, just silhouettes in the shadows. Armed figures in black, gleaming armor. It was difficult to tell if they were human or automatons.
Vigil glanced up at Joe Blow. The giant gazed around with distaste twisting his misshapen lips. Something glinted in his eyes. Jett recognized the same feral rage he felt within himself, so acrid he tasted it in his throat.
"Still feel like money is worth turning a blind eye?"
Joe Blow growled, face constricting in fury. "No. I didn't sign up for this. I'm outta here."
"Just going to walk away?"
Joe Blow gave him a searching glance. "You're not the original Vigil."
Jett nearly stumbled. "What…do you mean?"
"You don't got a clue what's going on, do you? Those masks? Council of Beasts. Inner circle of Diabolis. Top of the food chain. Untouchable. You get in their business, you don't just die. You put everyone around you in their cross-hairs. You don't know these people. What they can do. Even to someone like me. I can't interfere. But I'm not gonna stop you, either."
Vigil's fists clenched. "Then I have work to do."
Joe Blow took a last look around before exiting with a savage snarl. The heavy clop of his Oxfords faded as he stormed back into the tunnel.
Vigil walked around the steel partition. The Beasts paused, noting his approach. They stood still and silent, masks gleaming, hidden eyes regarding him as if disbelieving of his existence.
Vigil activated Intimidation Mode. His vision turned scarlet when his visor pulsed with red light. A visual panel sprang up inside the helmet, threat detection illuminating the black-armored guards.
His voice transformed into an electronic rasp. "Beasts of the Underbelly. You've feasted on your last victims tonight. You think you are safe. You think you are the ultimate predators. You are wrong. Tonight, you are prey. Tonight, you are mine."
The lights flickered off.
The chamber erupted in pandemonium. The Beasts scattered, blindly running for the exits as the guards streaked forward, armed with batons that hummed with every movement. Vigil activated an energy shield on his left g-span, absorbing the blow from the first guard that reached him. The impact rocked his arm; sparks sizzled from the impact.
Proto's voice buzzed in his ear. "Scanners indicate the guards are mechanical. Standard issue sentinel models, predictable in attack patterns. Feel free to use lethal force."
Vigil grinned. His fully-charged fist shot out, punching right through the guard's helmet. The automaton stumbled back, head completely disintegrated. A buzzing indicator alerted Vigil to another attack from his blind side. He ducked, narrowly avoiding a vicious baton swing. Grabbing the guard by the arm, he used its momentum to slam it to the floor. A thermal blast from his g-span finished it, leaving a smoldering crater in its chest.
Vigil glanced up. The Beasts shoved and clawed at one another in their haste to exit the room. He snatched the handgun from its holster, aimed at the leg area, and fired several shots. Screams of pain and bodies dropping confirmed the hits. Without slowing, Vigil caught the arm of a black-armored guard, stopping it in mid-swing. Switching the gun to thermal mode, he blew a sizzling hole through the guard's robotic midsection.
The threat indicator buzzed on his left, allowing him to drag the malfunctioning body to shield himself from the unseen assailant's attack. Shoving his gun through the searing cavity of the first guard, he fired a second shot. Both bodies fell to the ground, showering sparks from a writhing mass of intestinal wires.
He straightened, reactivating the lights. Startled faces surrounded him. The children shrank as far away from him as their cages allowed, eyes wide. They didn't speak or make any noise. Silence hung over the entire chamber like a soft blanket, making the soft shuffling and groaning from the fallen Beasts sound like scrapes and screams in the dark.
Vigil strode over. The Beasts clutched their wounded limbs while trying to raise themselves erect. One by one, he yanked their brutish masks off, exposing the faces beneath. They were not what he expected.
They were…beautiful.
Two men and one woman were crippled by his shots, abandoned by their brethren and left to their fates. The men were polar opposites; one as dark as the other was fair, but both sharing a fine-boned look of genetic perfection with flawless skin, striking eyes, and luxurious hair. The woman's features nearly made the men look ordinary. Red-haired with the skin the color of rich cream and eyes the shade of emeralds, she gazed up at Vigil with a mixture of revulsion and defiance. Her glimmering white teeth clenched together in a furious snarl.
"You dare to attack a Denizen? Whoever you are, you will pay for this disrespect with your—"
"You're in no position to make threats," Vigil said. "Whoever you are, you didn't listen."
"Whoever we are?" The fair-skinned man's shockingly-blue eyes widened. "You don't know what a Denizen is? We are occupants of Haven Core, you fool. You can do nothing to us. Harm done to a Denizen by an Outsider is a crime punishable by death."
Vigil punched the man in his beautiful face. It felt like hitting soft putty. The Denizen dropped to the floor as though his legs were broken.
Vigil turned to the dark-skinned one. "So you're from the Haven. But you have to come outside the reservation to indulge in your little…perversions, don't you? Too bad. Because you're in my world, now. And preying on children is a crime where I come from."
The man spat at Vigil's feet. "Do your worst, animal. Unless you kill us, there is no law to enforce. Nothing you can do to prevent us from walking away back to a world you can only dream about."
Vigil punched the man in his beautiful face. The result was the same as the first.
He stepped over the unconscious body, closer to the woman. She raised to her knees, grimacing as she clutched a hand over her wounded leg. She still managed a defiant grin when she stared up at him.
"Are you going to beat me too? It turns you on, doesn't it? How easily you can make a person submit to you with your enhancements and physical power."
Vigil hesitated, uneasy from the penetrating nature of her words. For a second, he almost forgot his face was shielded. She seemed to stare into him as if she saw him naked and vulnerable.
He gathered himself quickly, thrusting a finger at her. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" She laughed, running her tongue across her gleaming teeth. "Look at you. Playing dress-up with
your armor and mask. You think it makes you powerful. A white knight entering the dragon's lair to save the captured children. You naive fool. Do you see any locks on those cages? These children are guests, not prisoners. Ask them if they want to leave. Go ahead. See if they want a savior to rescue them."
He held a warning hand as he turned. The children were still in their cages. Peering through the gilded bars with somber eyes. Silent. Unmoving.
Vigil gestured to them. "It's okay. You can come out now. No one is going to hurt you."
Not one of them moved. The nearest edged back, cowering at the sound of his voice.
He dropped to one knee, assuming the least threatening posture possible. "You're free to go. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Still not a movement. The woman erupted in peals of mocking laughter.
"You see? These children feel safe here. We took them off the streets. Gave them hot baths and warm meals. Gifted them with a sense of family. A sense of belonging. You think you can do better for them? Their own parents threw them away like trash. We saved them. We—"
Vigil silenced her with a k-dart to the neck. She dropped to sleep in mid-sentence, slumping forward to fall face-first on the carpeted floor. Turning to the children, he deactivated his face-shield. The sections folded back, revealing his face to them.
"Everything is all right now. No one will hurt you again while I'm around."
One of the boys started to cry. Pushing open the door of his golden cage, he staggered forward, arms held outward. As if on signal, a stream of children followed. They surrounded Vigil, touching his armor, his face as if trying to affirm he was real. Some of them sobbed like the first child, but most of them were silent as if their tears had been spent a long time ago.
Vigil's jaw trembled. He scooped the first child up, letting the boy cry on his shoulder as he stood. A young girl took his hand, pointing at where a door was cunningly hidden in the wall.
"There's more," she whispered.
Knight in Cyber Armor Page 13