by Wyatt Kane
“Again and again you fools seek to thwart me!” he began, but that’s as far as he got before Dinah did something to pause the playback.
She wrapped an arm around Tempest. “Are you okay?” she asked, but the blonde superhero just drew a deep breath and stood straighter.
“I’m fine,” she said between clenched teeth. “Let’s hear it.”
Dinah nodded and let the playback resume. But she stayed by Tempest’s side.
“Again and again you refuse to see that my way is the only one that will work! This city is a cancer, and I am the cure! Yet you align yourselves against me as if you have the right!”
It was apparent to Ty that the Master had worked himself into a fury before sending his message. The villain couldn’t keep it together, degenerating into nothing but growls of pure rage for some seconds before regaining his power of speech.
“For too long I have played this game by rules other than my own. I have stayed my hand when I should have struck hard instead! Well, no longer! From this moment, I will operate from my own playbook! No more long view! No more protection for those whom the Architect wants to save! His strategies have proved unsuccessful, so I reject them and the limitations they require!”
This time, he didn’t so much degenerate into a series of noises, but instead let out a loud exclamation of fury.
“Gah!” he exclaimed. “I have kept the Architect alive for one purpose only, and he has failed even at that!” he shouted. Then, as if continuing the same thought, “You people, you who call yourselves superheroes, you can have him. Your time is done either way.”
The harsh, grating voice fell suddenly silent. Ty thought the message was finished, but there was one more image at the end, so quick Ty almost missed it.
“What was that?” Lilith asked, and Dinah rewound and froze it in place.
It was the Architect once more, no longer in his cryo-chamber. Instead, he was out on a street, half in a puddle, and Ty couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. The man’s eyes were closed and there was a horrible wound in his skull, but the wound looked old rather than fresh, partially healed around the edges.
Tempest couldn’t maintain her aspect of strength. She brought her hand up in a gesture that reminded Ty of Lilith and let out a sob.
Then she turned to Dinah. “Find him!” she commanded, and that was enough. In less than a heartbeat, the screens became flooded with images, and the deerkin started to mutter.
“Street width, building height reflected in the puddles, is that a neon sign? What does it say? Maybe cameras, bringing them up now, so many to scan…” and on. The main image of the Architect’s prone form shrank but still retained a prominent place as a reference, but the rest of Dinah’s screens showed image after image at blinding speed.
Ty knew that Dinah’s talent for information was remarkable, but even he had never seen her work like this. Yet he recognized it. She was in a trance, intensely focused, like he was when he was working, and there was nothing he or anyone could do to help her.
Tempest stood transfixed, watching the screens. “Find him,” she repeated, more quietly. And Ty knew that if anyone could, it would be Dinah.
As for Lilith, the demon woman understood that this was beyond her. But, like Ty, she recognized the urgency, and he could see the desire to help written large on her face. Yet, just like Ty, there was nothing she could do but stand back and watch.
Ty ached for Tempest. He wanted to comfort her, but knew there was no real comfort to be had without finding her father. He bit his lip to stay silent and willed Dinah to do her best.
And in less than a minute, she did it.
“Found him!” she said, and that was all Tempest needed.
“Where?”
Dinah waved at the screen, expanding an aerial view of a small part of New Lincoln. “Here. You know it?”
Tempest thought about it. “Yes. It’s a long way from here,” she said, her tone carrying enough doubt that Ty knew what she was thinking. Tempest was fast, but by the look of the Architect, time was critical.
“I know it,” said Lilith. Tempest looked at her. “I can take you there,” the demon woman added.
There was no need for discussion. It didn’t matter how fast Tempest could fly, Lilith was faster.
“Go,” said Dinah. “Bring him back here, to the med bay.”
Tempest nodded, and Lilith moved to join her. The blonde was wearing one of Dinah’s robes, a flimsy item that hid next to nothing, and Lilith was wrapped in a sheet. Yet they didn’t hesitate. They were gone in an instant, leaving behind no more than a popping noise and the distinct scent of ozone.
Dinah and Ty were alone in the communications room, the implications of what the Master had said hanging heavily between them.
“So, the Master had the Architect all along,” Ty said.
“Looks like it.”
“And he was holding back because the Architect is Tempest’s father.”
“Yes.”
“And now he isn’t holding back any more. He’s declared war on those who oppose him. Us.”
This time, the deerkin just nodded.
Ty had never had anyone declare war on him before. He decided he didn’t much like it. Yet, there wasn’t anything he could do about it, not just then, so he pushed it out of his mind.
“Come on, or they’ll beat us down there,” he said. He was already wondering if his healing nanites might be in for their first major test.
But before he’d taken more than a single step, Dinah reached out and stopped him. “Ty,” she said.
She was looking at his arm, and when Ty followed her gaze, he could see why. His device was no longer attached to his wrist. Not exactly, anyway. Instead, it seemed to be somehow within his wrist and on it at the same time. Like a tree can sometimes engulf a fencepost by growing around it.
“What the hell?” he said. At the same time, he thought he understood. The nausea wasn’t some sort of drug hangover at all. It was an indication that things were still changing.
As fast as thought, he brought up his stats, and saw at once that the secondary skill that had begun to appear when he’d taken the AZT-407 had now fully materialized.
Secondary Unique Skill: Cyber Assimilation
Here ends book 3 in the Enhancer series.
Author’s Note
First, THANK YOU! for reading my Enhancer stories. I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I’m enjoying writing them. If you did, it really, really helps if you write a review on Amazon.
Go on, I know you want to. Head back to where you got this book and let others know what you thought. And remember, please don’t include any spoilers. :-)
I understand that Amazon is making it harder for people to leave a review, so if you can’t, I understand, but if you can, a short sentence or two is as useful as a full-on, in-depth analysis.
Other than that, if you have any questions or just want to say, “Hi!” drop me a line at:
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And to make sure you stay up to date with my latest releases, sign up to my newsletter here:
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(You can also click the ‘follow’ button on my Amazon page, but I’ve had reports that doesn’t always work as well as it should, so the newsletter really is your best bet.)
At the time of writing, Book 4 is already out, and Book 5 is just days away! Be sure to grab them both - Ty’s world is going to get more complex, with more bad guys surfacing, and maybe a new girl in the mix as well!
I hope you enjoy reading all about it.
Until next time,
Wyatt.
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