Ethan was certain he was going to puke.
Not from his teleporting, even though that had been more erratic than usual and had almost landed him squarely into the face of Apex Tower before he course-corrected, but from the anxiety currently overwhelming his every thought.
He had to figure out where Sola was and only had three days to do it. Additionally, Raz had confirmed his worst fears: if Sola had gotten powers after him, then why couldn’t a hundred more people do the same? Where would Ascension be then, with the limited number of Protectors facing off against twice as many superpowered Altered scattered throughout the city?
Worst of all, it might all be his fault. If people knew that the breach points were not only real, but could possibly give you abilities if you found one, how could Apex stop everyone in the city from trying and, eventually, succeeding in finding them?
Sometimes he wished he never went down the mine. The world would be a simpler place if he hadn’t.
Worse, for Ethan, but probably better for everyone else.
He paused, his hand holding the front door handle to steady himself. Doing his best to push the fear of failure out of his mind, he shook his head clear and headed inside, chuckling in surprise as soon as he stepped through the door.
Alex was still in full Titan uniform, standing casually by the front desk, her cape sweeping the floor as she fidgeted impatiently. Hearing Ethan laugh, she turned, glaring.
“What’s so funny?” She demanded to know.
“You’re like the world’s most intimidating secretary,” he told her. “And also the most insanely dressed. I think they typically wear sweaters instead of capes.”
Alex rolled her eyes, gesturing for him to follow her.
“Let’s go. I have somewhere else to be.”
“Is there a problem in the city? I didn’t see anything when I came over.”
“Not…exactly.” Alex told him vaguely. Ethan narrowed his eyes, but kept his questions to himself. Alex was in charge of protecting all of Ascension. If there was something she didn’t want to tell him, she probably had a very good reason for it.
As they entered the elevator, Ethan found himself too nervous to ask Alex what Amory had said about his actions this morning. Instead, he let his thoughts turn to Quinn. On the plus side of things, after just meeting her this morning, he hadn’t expected to see Quinn again so soon, but she said she had a theory that required his presence to test, which he gladly agreed to help with. On the downside, Alex did not seem interested in trying to boost his waning confidence.
“Why does this scientist want to see you, exactly?” Alex demanded to know, folding her arms.
Ethan bristled, giving himself an inconspicuous glance in the reflective mirror door panels. His hair was still messed up from his fight with Duclaw, but if he tried to fix it now, Alex would certainly tease him for it.
“What’s wrong with me?”
”Nothing, mostly,” Alex answered, tilting her head back in forth, thinking. “Well, besides for your general carelessness, inability to take accountability for your actions, and your hair is a mess.”
Ethan grumbled, running his hand through his hair. There really wasn’t any saving it. As the elevator hummed, Alex continued.
“Really, what I meant is that there’s, like, ten Protectors in this obscene, gothic tower at any given time. She could’ve asked any of them for help.”
”Oh,” Ethan said quietly, suddenly sweating. He hoped his suddenly flush cheeks weren’t visibly red. “I, uh, didn’t know that.”
”Yeah, so I don’t see the point in bringing you down here to the lab when there’s plenty of better trained Protectors with nothing to do but-”
The elevator doors opened and, right in the center of the sterile hallway stood
Quinn, waiting, a large smile plastered over her face, eyes staring directly at Ethan.
“Oh,” Alex whispered, “that’s why. Rare that someone doesn’t notice me first.”
Quinn spied Alex when she spoke, her eyes flaring up in surprise. Her face adopted a cooler, more professional demeanor as she held out her hand for Alex. “Titan, amazing to finally meet you.”
“Call me Alex,” she said, gingerly gripping Quinn’s hand. “I believe you’ve met my brother, Ethan, already.”
Quinn nodded. “He saved my life, actually.”
Ethan laughed. “I convinced her to leave, but you really sold my bluff.”
“We’ll call that one a tie.”
“Can you show us to the lab?” Alex interjected.
“Of course,” she smiled, turning and gesturing for them to follow her.
“I can see why you got so brave all of a sudden,” Alex said quietly.
Ethan blushed the color of the crimson A embroidered on his trainee suit, following along with Alex.
“Hey, not knocking it,” Alex put her hands up defensively. “Honestly, I’m glad to see you take some initiative!”
“Knock it off,” Ethan glared at her.
Quinn stopped, unlocked the door to the lab, then ushered them inside, keeping her eyes low.
Ethan gasped when he stepped onto the observation deck, the meager doorway belying the massive, two story laboratory filled with at least twenty people all monitoring different monitors. They looked to Ethan like heartbeat readings, rising and falling.
“What is all this?” he asked.
“To keep things simple, this lab is where we make sure the Surge doesn’t happen again,” Quinn explained, gesturing to the equipment around them. “After the Surge, Apex set up probes all over the Lavender Mountains and all around Ascension to monitor seismic activity in the mountains and any radiation spikes near the city. Amory has people staffed here twenty-four-seven making sure the radiation readings don’t fluctuate outside of normal tolerances. Myself, along with Kingston, keep track of these readings and try to chart out any potential waves of radiation that might be headed for the city.”
Ethan walked over to Kingston and introduced himself. Kingston looked to be approaching forty with his hair shaved short and burn marks all over his arms, a thick mask sitting on his desk.
“I’m guessing you’re not a chef,” Ethan joked.
“Welder,” Kingston answered, unamused. “I’ve maintained the Junction for the past eighteen months.”
“What’s that?” Ethan asked.
Kingston grinned. “The only thing standing between this city and catastrophe. Quinn will walk you through it, I’ve got a report to write.”
Ethan nodded, a little put off by Kingston’s brusque nature, then rejoined Alex and Quinn at the top of the stairs.
“I’ve met Kingston,” Alex told them, “but I haven’t run into you yet, Quinn. How long have you been here?”
“Just over two months,” she told them, donning a pair of thick gloves she pulled off her desk. “I actually was going to start earlier, but I had an…accident that delayed my start.”
“What happened?” Ethan asked, concerned.
“Hiking accident,” Quinn said, “along with my sister, R-“
“I’m sure that’s riveting, but I have somewhere to be,” Alex interrupted. “Can we speed this up?”
Quinn smiled politely, masking her frustration. “Of course. Follow me.”
Quinn led them down the steps, taking each one slowly and deliberately, holding onto the railing tightly.
“So, how’d you get out here?” Ethan asked as they walked.
“I received my doctorate in chemistry with a focus on radiological sciences back in Virginia,” she told them, “and where better to apply my studies than a city currently facing annihilation at any time from a source of radiation that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world?”
“So you’re a doctor,” Alex emphasised to Ethan, impressed. Ethan rolled his eyes.
They stopped just short of a twenty foot wall in front of them, scarred metal hiding a surprisingly soft blue glow coming from the edges. Quinn gestured to the Junction, her smile growing wide.
“Welcome to the most dangerous point in all of Ascension.”
“Whoa,” Ethan exclaimed. “What is this thing?”
He reached his hand out gently, brushing the metal, then pulling his hand back as if he had just touched a hot stove. Alex giggled next to him.
“I…didn’t think you’d touch that,” Quinn admitted. Ethan shifted uncomfortably, desperately searching for any windows he could teleport himself out of. He sighed quietly. “That is the Junction. When the Surge hit, it exhausted a wave of energy that had been spurred on by shifting seismic forces way out in the mountains that forced the normally dormant, contained energy flow right towards Ascension. Luckily, Apex had measured changes in the subterranean landscape a few months prior thanks to their own excavations, and they were able to funnel the surge here,” she gestured to the tubing that Alex had previously flown down.
Ethan grimaced. So, Rainey was right, he thought glumly. Apex really did know the surge was coming and declined to tell anyone about it.
“When the initial threat was over, Kingston, was able to put together shielding to stop the wave train, aftershocks from the Surge, from breaking through and tearing this whole building apart and, more than likely, taking a chunk out of the city with it.”
“I’m familiar,” Alex told her. Her forearm had healed quickly, but she still remembered the pain of the Surge energy eating through skin.
“Right, of course,” Quinn nodded. “As usual, we wouldn’t be here without Titan.”
“No need to inflate her ego any further,” Ethan told them, his eyes following the scarring on the metal, noting the hasty welding and bubbling paint. “And will this…hold?”
Kingston let out a bark of laughter from above, his answer not much to Ethan’s liking.
Quinn paused, then looked away. “We’ve had bursts break against the shielding, but nothing as powerful as the initial Surge from last year. If another wave like that one hit, this shielding would be ripped apart like a knife through a wet paper bag, and the tubing Apex affixed to the side of the Tower was nearly melted by the last Surge. We don’t believe it would hold again, meaning wherever the next breach formed, it would likely eat through everything in its path. This shielding is really all we have to keep us safe, for now.”
“Wow,” Ethan said slowly. One Surge was bad enough, but he was slowly realizing that, despite the chaos it unleashed, Ascension got off lucky. If anything remotely the same size as the previous Surge hit again, the city wouldn’t have a way to divert the energy.
“But,” Quinn continued, her demeanor growing more confident as she spoke, “we have bigger problems to worry about today, namely why someone would want this stone so badly they nearly killed two Protectors to get it.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “Oh, um,” he stammered, “I’m…not actually a Protector, yet.”
“Oh,” Quinn said, confused. “Right, you just took your evaluation. I meant to ask, if you received powers during the Surge, why did you wait until just now to become a Protector?”
“He’s…a late bloomer,” Alex jumped in. Ethan regretted her choice of words, but rolled with it, nodding. “His powers took longer to control than we thought, but we’re hoping he can join the family business soon.”
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“They only took so long to control because I’m really strong,” Ethan added, folding his arms over his chest and hoping it made him look more muscular than he really was. “Stronger than Alex, in a lot of ways.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Alex smiled. “Now, Quinn, do we know what that stone is, exactly?”
From a nearby freezer Quinn pulled out a glass case with a blue stone inside of it, pulsing with streaks of crimson rippling through the surface. She set it down on the table in front of them, then pulled it out with a gloved hand, holding it away from herself.
“I call it a firestone.”
“How did it get like that?” Ethan asked, peering at the stone. It was strikingly beautiful, like someone had reached inside the topaz itself and pulled cherry red paint through the stone.
“Humans can, normally, absorb a small amount of radiation before you start to feel any deleterious effects. Everyone living in a city is hit with a low level every single day and they’re not worse off for it. Certain stones, on the other hand, can absorb a lot of radiation before experiencing any degradation. We even irradiate gems to change their color.” She held up the firestone, shimmering in the light. “This is a topaz, found fairly commonly in the Lavender Range. Normally, it would’ve been a pale blue. Instead, it’s electric, practically glowing.”
“So, you think this stone was hit by Surge energy underground?”
Quinn nodded.
“One of the excavation teams found it while trying to clear the Stillrock site. We still don’t know exactly what happened out there but I’m worried it's the start of further meltdowns in the dense layers of rock that contain the Surge. If my theory is correct, this would be the first confirmed case of Surge energy breaching the surface since the Surge nearly two years ago.”
Ethan’s blood froze at the mention of his hometown. And that, of course, would be my fault, he thought.
“My theory is that when the Surge energy was disturbed and unleashed near that mine, the topaz was blasted by radiation and, instead of being eaten away like a lot of the other organic materials in the ground, it absorbed the radiation instead, turning it into a firestone.”
“And why wasn’t this taken to the lab immediately?” Alex asked.
“I don’t think anyone else really knew what it was, or saw the importance of it,” Quinn shook her head. “I had my eye on it the second I saw it logged on our team’s findings report, but someone went over my head and decided to intern the item at the museum until they could figure out how to transport it safely. When I read that memo, I knew I had to go out there and see it for myself. Then I ran into you,” she pointed at Ethan, “and, unfortunately, Sola.”
“Strange how that kind of thing keeps happening,” Alex muttered, her eyes lasering in on Kingston, who was seated at his desk, looking away from the group.
Quinn pointed to Ethan. “Well, regardless, it’s here now, and, with your help, we’re going to find out what she might’ve wanted to use it for.”
“I’m in,” Ethan smiled, shaking out his hands. “Just tell me what to do.”
“Okay, follow me here,” Quinn started. “When a Protector or Altered uses their powers, they leave behind a residual, barely measurable trace of radiation, not unlike someone using a cellphone. So, when Detonator charges up an object to explode, or when Ethan opens a portal, they should leave behind a similar energy signature, which we can read with this nifty little device, which reads radioactive decay.” Quinn walked over to the table and pulled out a small, yellow rectangular device that, to Ethan, looked like a modified geiger counter. She put the probe on her arm, and the scale stayed at zero. But when she hovered it over the Junction, the meter immediately whined shrilly, jumping to a seven on the ten point scale.
“Now, watch this.” Quinn put the probe over the firestone. Instead of rising to a seven, it jumped to a nine. Alex furrowed her brow.
“If the firestone was affected by Surge energy, then shouldn’t it read the same as the Junction?”
“It should,” Quinn confirmed, lighting up, “but for some reason the energy that was imbued in the firestone is less decayed than the energy from Junction. This suggests that it was hit more recently and, if that’s true, then it could help explain what happened in Stillrock.”
“Right,” Ethan said quietly. Which would be a problem for Apex, because breaches technically aren’t supposed to exist. Ethan was starting to realize why Amory wanted him to lay low; nearly every single interaction he had with Quinn was just uncovering more and more questions he wasn’t supposed to answer.
“Now,” Quinn continued, “I can’t get close to Detonator, at least not without great personal risk, to measure the radiation levels she gives off, so it’s easier to ask Ethan to open a portal for us so I can get a reading of his abilities instead.”
“You think they’ll match the readings from the Junction,” Ethan said slowly, realizing that, if he was following, Quinn had accidentally found a way to prove that Ethan hadn’t, in fact, gotten his powers from the night of the Surge like every other Protector. His energy reading would, in all likelihood, match the reading from the firestone.
Amory wanted Ethan to lay low, which he hadn’t, and now he was moments away from accidentally letting one of her scientists discover that he wasn’t like the other Protectors, which he was certain she would not approve of.
This second meeting with Quinn was not going the way he hoped and, now, he was going to have to lie to her. Not only that, but he was going to have to ruin her theory to do it, one that she was, as far as he could tell, absolutely correct in. This was not a great way to start off their relationship, but he didn’t see any other options: he had to find a way out of this.
Alex, apparently reaching the same conclusion, cleared her throat. She took a long look around the lab. “His powers are…unstable. He means well, but he doesn’t have the training I do. Don’t you want me to just…lift something really heavy? I’m good at that kind of thing, you know.”
Quinn laughed. “You, of course, are an exception, as are other physical power users like Showman or Duclaw. You were changed by the Surge, but you don’t pull and transform energy when you use your powers. That’s where you come in, Ethan.”
“Makes sense to me,” he lied. I hope that me only understanding about ten percent of what she says doesn’t become a hindrance for us moving forward. I probably can’t play that off forever.
Alex tossed Ethan a cautious glance.
Not seeing a way out that didn’t involve him suddenly faking an intensely embarrassing stomach flu, he played along.
“Okay,” he said, “what do you want me to do?”
“I need you to open a portal for me. Just one, as small as you can.”
That would’ve been an entirely reasonable request, if it wouldn’t immediately throw him further down the hole he had dug with Amory, who was adamant that people did not learn where Ethan got his powers from or, more importantly, how. Thinking quickly, he looked around the room, his eyes settling on the Junction.
If I can pull energy from the Junction, it could cover my reading, he thought. I think, anyway, I’m still not understanding most of what she’s saying, but she looks really good saying it.
He glanced down at his hand, then slowly opened a portal in front of him, the void rotating just in front of his face.
“Okay,” Quinn was nodding now. She set the firestone back in the case on the table in front of them. “Connect your portal, just like you did in the museum.”
Ethan gave a subtle nod to Alex, then opened a portal in front of the Junction, positioning it just in front of the blue light leaking out from behind the metal, hoping it would pull in radiation from the Surge lying in wait behind the shielding. He flexed his fingers, the void growing wider until it was the size of a basketball, holding it in place, the purple swirl at the edge of his portal lighting up the downstairs lab and diluting the blue glow from the Junction.
Quinn put the probe over the firestone, noting measurements down on a piece of paper, then ran over and measured the portal in front of Ethan, staring intently at the meter.
“That’s…odd,” she said, double checking her device. Ethan’s heart sank and Alex let out a curt sigh.
Well, I thought it was a good plan. Amory will never let me become a Protector now.
“What’s odd?” Alex asked urgently.
“It’s…jumping, all over the place. I can’t get a true read,” Quinn sighed, putting the meter back on the table next to the case.
Ethan exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, Alex giving him a relieved look.
“Well, thanks for coming down. I’m sorry nothing happened, but-”
Quinn was interrupted by the meter suddenly jumping to ten, the whining so shrill it hurt Ethan’s ears. The group’s attention all shot to the case, eyes wide as the Firestone rattling and jumping against the edges of the case.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Ethan asked urgently.
Alex pointed to Ethan’s portal, which was seemingly drawing in energy from the Junction, the faint glowing blue light flowing from the Junction, to his portal, and being absorbed by the firstone. It started to glow brightly, turning a blinding white.
“Shut it down,” Alex yelled to him, “shut the portal before-”
The topaz vibrated violently, then shattered, spreading what looked like pieces of superheated blue rock in all directions. Ethan opened a void just in time to stop the rock from shredding him and Quinn, bits of jagged stone plinking off his void shield until they all bounced to the floor.
“Whoa,” she exhaled. “Thank you for saving me. I uh, didn’t know that would happen.”
Ethan smiled. “Guess we’re even.”
“Guess so,” she laughed. “But, I still feel like I owe you. Maybe we could go-”
“What,” Alex yelled, wiping pieces of the firestone off her suit, “was that?”
Ethan dropped the void, pieces of the smoldering firestone dropped to the floor, then helped Quinn to stand. She shrugged, shaking her head.
“It seems like the firestone was overloaded with energy from the Junction.”
“Did Sola know the firestones could do that?” Alex asked, pulling a piece of the firestone out of her curly hair.
“It’s unlikely, but we can’t rule it out,” Quinn answered. She ran the metal probe over a piece of the broken, still smoldering firestone. The meter jumped straight to ten, causing Quinn to grimace. She concentrated for a moment, thinking, then pulled the probe above the pieces, into the air. The device whirred and she backed away, grimacing. “These pieces still have a ton of energy radiating off of them. That’s…interesting.”
“Okay,” Ethan said slowly, “so why did Sola fight so hard to get it?”
Quinn hesitated. “The energy in this stone is almost a more concentrated version of what’s hidden behind the shielding, but it only gives off a small burst of radiation.”
“And what could that do?” Alex asked. Ethan was grateful he wasn’t the only one struggling to follow.
“It could certainly hurt someone, but probably not more than an Altered using their abilities as most Altered have much stronger powers. Right now, its applications just seem…limited. I think if we really want to know what Sola is planning, we’ll just have to ask her.”
“Damn it,” Alex sighed, “there’s something here that we’re missing. There’s a piece we don’t have.”
I bet I know who holds it, Ethan thought grimly. “We’ve got to find her,” he said urgently.
“Agreed,” Alex said. Ethan froze, realizing he didn’t specify which her he was talking about.
“Well, you’re not going to find her in here,” Alex told him. Ethan sighed.
“Man, I wish I slept better last night,” he said, yawning. “This day is turning into a long one.”
“That’s what you get for sleeping on hotel roofs,” Alex said, causing Ethan to wince at her volume.
“She’s joking,” Ethan lied to Quinn. “I sleep in an apartment. You know, like you probably do.”
Quinn gave him a confused look, then shrugged. Ethan sighed quietly, his eyes sinking to the floor.
“Speaking of,” Alex changed the subject, “did you and Raz patch things up?”
Ethan nodded, not trusting his voice to not betray him. Minus the part where I didn’t tell him everything I knew, which may come back to bite me unless I can stop Rainey before she gets to you.
“Good. Get back to the apartment and get some sleep; I’ll keep an eye out for Sola while you rest up. Don’t worry, I’ll let you have her if I see her.”
“Thanks,” Ethan nodded. Alex pointed at him.
“Also, do not spill anything in there while I’m gone.”
Ethan stammered in protest as Alex rolled her eyes.
“If you’re interested in him,” Alex said to Quinn, turning to leave, “make sure you own a mop.”
“She’s joking again,” Ethan laughed. “I don’t spill things that often. Just, like…a normal amount.”
Before Quinn could respond, Ethan noticed Alex, out of the corner of his eye, take an awkward step on the stairs, her knee buckling. She gripped her right thigh, grimacing. Her eyes instantly shot up to Kingston’s desk. His eyes darted away from hers. She let out an angry exhale, trying to hold it together.
Ethan took a few quick steps to get by her side and narrowed his eyes, putting his hand on her shoulder. He kept his voice low. “Are you alright?”
She waved him off, keeping her hand on her leg. “Don’t make a scene.”
Hearing the urgency in her voice, he nodded, taking his hand off her shoulder.
“How fast can you get me out of here?”
His eyes wide, Ethan stammered. He was, as far as he understood it, several stories underground, but there was the tubing behind him that led to the outside sky. If he forced a portal up and through the tubing, he could get them out of there, fast, but there were a few problems with that plan.
“What about finding Sola?” he asked, really meaning, what about my job?
“I’ll deal with her later. Can you get me out of here or do I have to rip a hole through seventeen floors to get out myself?”
Ethan hesitated, then snapped into action, rushing to the tubing and gesturing for Alex to follow him.
“What’s going on?” Quinn asked, concerned, following closely behind him. Ethan gave her a faint smile, hoping to mask his own concern.
“Change of plan, just routine Protector business,” he told her, opening a portal in front of him and Alex, the dark void hanging in the air. He hadn’t tried anything like this yet with his powers, but he visualized it in his head and figured it could work. He opened another portal just inside the tubing, connecting them, then watched through the first portal as he manipulated the second, winding it slowly up the spire attached to the outside edge of the tower. When they first saw daylight, Alex stopped him.
“That’s good there,” she said, leaping through the portal and tearing straight through the tubing like it was tissue paper. Ethan nearly closed the portals in surprise, then gave Quinn an apologetic shrug and rushed to follow after her.
Well, he thought as he leapt, there goes my day job.
Alone in the lab, Quinn shook her head, confused.
“I’m so glad I didn’t get any powers,” she muttered. She went to leave up the stairs to get her lunch, but a thought sprung into her mind. She looked back over her shoulder at the yellow radiation meter, then picked it up and held it just in front of the tubing where Ethan opened his portal. Her eyes narrowed as it jumped to nine, the exact same reading as the firestones gave off just a moment ago.
Her eyes flashed for a moment. She placed the meter back down on the table and walked slowly to the stairs.
“Ethan,” she shook her head, “what else are you hiding?”