CONSEQUIA
KELLY
Sitting in the driver's seat, Jarasax clicked through something on his phone. “I think that went pretty well, don't you?”
Kelly raised an eyebrow. She was sitting in the passenger seat right next to him. “Over a hundred people screaming and who knows how many dead, and you think it went well?”
From the back of the van, George grunted. “I think he meant the Paladins held themselves together pretty well, all things considered.” He checked his minigun briefly, then threw a blanket over it and pushed it into a corner. “And I have to agree. It could have gone much worse.”
Kat's fingers flashed, and Kelly nodded.
“See, that's what I meant. The kids did great, but there were some stupid mistakes. Medina should have stayed with us, for one thing. The strategist shouldn't be on the front lines.”
Kat's fingers twitched again.
Jarasax rolled his eyes. “Don't encourage her.” He waved away their complaints as he pocketed his phone. “Medina knew what she was doing, and it all worked out in the end.”
“And we got some interesting intelligence out of it,” Alex said as they pared their fingernails with one of their mirrored dayknives. “That changeling boy might be able to help us win this thing before it even really starts.”
George rubbed his forehead. “Someone needs to explain that to me. I keep hearing about this kid, but no one has had time to tell me why he's so damn important.”
“He was a screamer,” Alex said. “Then Medina killed the singer that turned him, and suddenly he wasn't.”
George pursed his lips. “Ah,” he said quietly.
“Yeah,” Alex said with a grin. “Ah. Quite important indeed.”
Kelly pulled her ratburger out of the lunch box at her feet and handed Jarasax his sandwich. “I heard some interesting rumors about that. One of Doctor Henry's aides mentioned that the changeling had fire powers now.”
Kat's fingers twitched briefly.
“Right,” Kelly said around a bite of her burger. “Sorry, I forgot.” She swallowed. “Belman Henry is one of Clarke's aides. He was put in charge of the changeling.”
George grinned. “That's amazing. And useful. Another Paladin will help a lot.”
“If it's true,” Alex said. Their knife disappeared with a flick of their wrist as they finished their nails, and it took Kelly a second to spot it in its sheath on their hip. “This friend of a friend rumor is hardly trustworthy.”
“We'll find out soon enough,” Kelly said. She noticed Jarasax glaring at her burger with something like disgust. “Something wrong?”
He turned away and shook his head. “Sorry. Those seaweed buns just make my stomach churn.”
She snorted, almost choking on the bite. She made sure to swallow before speaking. “My salary isn't good enough to splurge. I can afford my fixer or wheat bread. Not both.”
Kat signed something again.
Sax cocked his head to the side, frowning. “Was that sarcasm? I can't tell.”
A few more finger flashes.
He grunted and turned back to the wheel as if he actually had to pay attention to it while we were parked. “No need to be rude.”
“I really need to learn battle sign,” George said from the back. “I keep missing out on Kat's jokes.”
Kelly resisted the urge to laugh—she didn't want to choke again. “You're not missing out on much, trust me.”
Kat growled a little under her throat and opened the van door to leave.
“Hey, don't be like that! I was just joking.”
She rolled her eyes with an exaggerated motion—it was hard to notice with all-black nighteyes—and signed something.
“Oh. Sorry, I forgot.” Kelly turned to Alex. “Alex, you want to go with her to pick up that new game?”
They shrugged. “I'd be happy to, but you know I'm terrible at kemo battle sign.”
She glared at them. “You promised you were going to learn.”
“Well, I haven't yet. Wouldn't one of you two be better?”
“She just needs someone to ask the guy to get it from the back. And we're eating.”
Alex leaped deftly out of the van. “Fine by me. Let's go, Kat.”
Once the pair were out of sight around the corner, George raised an eyebrow. “What was that about?”
Kelly frowned as she finished her burger. “What do you mean?”
“I meant, what was that about?”
“I know. What are you asking about?”
“I'm asking about Kat. Why'd she leave all of a sudden?”
Kelly was beginning to get annoyed. “She's gonna buy a video game. Weren't you listening?”
George rubbed his forehead. “Yes, I... why did she choose right now to go get it?”
Ah. That was a question she understood. “Some of the more popular vampire games come out at noon. You know, a midnight release kind of thing.” She glanced at her watch. “She's a couple hours early, but the line is probably long.”
He nodded and settled back. “Right, that makes sense. I just lost track of time. Still having trouble getting used to the Insomniac gland.”
Jarasax perked up. “When did you get yours? Before you got this assignment, right?”
“A couple weeks ago,” George said. He tried to stretch, but the van wasn't built with giants in mind. “Still not quite used to not sleeping.” He frowned. “Which reminds me... I've been meaning to ask—”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“I don't have the gland,” Jarasax said in a blunt tone. “I'm not going to break my oath over eight hours of sleep.”
“Hey now,” George said apologetically. “No need to get worked up. I know you guys don't use toys. Just curious how you've managed to stay up with us, that's all.”
The changeling pulled an empty glass bottle out of a bin in the floor. “Insomniac energy drink,” he said. “Pretty much does the same thing as the gland, just as a drink.” He shrugged. “Less effective, and more expensive in the long run, but it works well enough.”
“It also melts your brain if you stop taking it,” Kelly said, scratching the fixer on her arm.
Sax grinned a little weakly. “It's not that bad, but... yeah. It's technically a drug, and it has some side effects. They're not having much success marketing it to non-changelings.”
“I've heard that a lot of people have been using it to test how they'd react to the Insomniac buff,” Kelly said. “I'm not sure of the exact number, but something like six percent of all people are addicted to REM sleep, and go crazy without it.”
Jarasax nodded. “The dreamsick riots. That was a weird couple weeks.”
“Seems a weird way to do it,” George said, taking the bottle from Sax's hands and looking at it a little closer. “Wouldn't pills be easier?”
“Doesn't work like that,” Kelly said. “Right now, if you want to take it as a pill, you have to take one every hour. They can do it as a shot, though, but they were trying to market it to a wide base, and most people don't like needles.”
“I hear they're gonna start selling the shots,” Jarasax said. “Alongside the drinks, I mean. See which one sells better. Apparently some kid drank some of his dad's or whatever, so there's been a bit of backlash.”
George shivered. “Chems freak me out. Why do you people do that to yourselves?”
Kelly glared daggers at him. “Hey. Some of us are reformed.”
He winced. “Sorry, ma'am. It's just, I can't understand doing anything that would screw with my brain chemistry.”
Kelly sighed and decided he deserved a real answer. “Well, for most chems, the side effects are minimal at first. Even when full-addiction sets in and everything starts going sideways, the benefits can still outweigh the costs.”
He made a face. “I know, I know. I just can't imagine ever wanting to...” He shrugged. “It's a preferences thing, I guess.”
Kelly bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. Preferences? He thought people got addicted to every chem on the market because they liked it?
Thankfully, before she could lose her head, Jarasax noticed her consternation. “George, why don't you go take a walk? Check in on Kat and stuff?”
George glanced at them and looked like he was going to say something, but then just shrugged and crawled to the van door. He grabbed his claymore and belted it to his back before walking away. The sword was useless against screamers for obvious reasons, but it was a great deterrent against more mundane muggers who might think he was an easy mark otherwise. And easier to carry than the minigun.
Jarasax finished up the last of his sandwich and eyed Kelly warily. “You gonna be all right there, boss?”
She frowned. “Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”
He nodded to her hand. “I was afraid you might do something... unwise.”
She slowly managed to release her death-grip on her pistol. “Don't be ridiculous. I was just holding it for... comfort.”
“Comfort,” he said dryly.
“Yeah, it makes me feel better.”
He rolled his eyes. “Look, I know George has been pushing your buttons for the last few days, but don't let it get to you. He means well, and he's a good soldier.”
She sighed. “I know, I know. I read his file and everything I'm just...” She shrugged, at a loss for words.
“...not used to command?” he finished politely.
Kelly nodded. “Yeah. We're specialists. Grunt commandos. You're in your element, but I'm not supposed to be in charge. My officer credentials consist solely of surviving the biter attack and saluting Huntsman when he shouted at me.”
He shrugged. “You're the best we've got, though. Alex isn't exactly leadership material, and the bosses still remember that time I tried to shoot my lieutenant. Kat's a sniper, not to mention mute, and George doesn't have a head for tactics. Who else would it be?”
“I don't know—anyone else?” She fished around in the lunch box and managed to find her water. “C'mon, Sax, I know Necessarius has a reputation for letting in any ragtag bunch of misfits and putting them to use, but there are better options out there than me.” She shook her head and took a swig of her drink. “At least a freakin' corporal.”
Sax didn't say anything, and she glanced over at him, frowning. What was wrong?
After a moment's silent contemplation, he looked her straight in the eye. “Kelly. Do you even know what is going on with the rest of the city right now?”
She raised an eyebrow. “...no? I mean, I'm assuming you're not talking about the screamers.”
A frustrated look passed over his face. “Gods of men and darkness, you need to start paying attention to the news.”
She took another drink from her water bottle, using it as an excuse to break eye contact and get away from that piercing gaze. “Fine, I'll get on that. Just tell me what you're talking about.”
He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Kel, we're all that's left.”
“What?” She shook her head. “No, don't be ridiculous. Necessarius is stronger than ever.”
“In pure numbers, yes,” he said. “But that's not what I'm talking about. We've taken some heavy hits recently, lost a lot of our officers. Putting down the old gangs was costly, and we still have to deal with the cultures.”
“Yes, I know,” she said as patiently as she could. “But recruitment is way up.”
“That's the exact problem. Everyone we have is completely green.”
Then it clicked, and she put down her water. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” he said dryly. “Oh. Right now, the five of us are some of the most experienced soldiers the Big Boss has, period.” He sighed. “Alex snooped around, and said that if we hadn't been put on this job, we'd all have been bumped up to sergeant at least.”
“Put the veterans in charge of the greenies,” she said. “Definitely a better idea than promoting a couple of snot-nosed kids a few ranks up the ladder.”
He nodded. “Exactly. But then the whole thing with the screamers started, and everyone was scrambling to figure out a solution.” He shrugged. “We're most useful here. If they sent anyone else, they'd just get killed.”
“And we wouldn't react well to being commanded by a completely green corporal or whatever.”
“Exactly. So don't be so hard on yourself. We need you to stay strong.” He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, remember that technically we're under the command of the Paladins. You're not actually in charge.”
“That—” She paused before she could finish her retort. “...actually, that does make me feel better. Thanks.”
“What makes you feel better?” George grunted. He slid open the door to the van using the side of his body, his arms filled with candy and chocolate.
“Never you mind,” Kelly said. “And what's with the snacks?”
He grinned. “The nearest 24-7 store had a sale. I figured we may as well have something better than protein bars and ratburgers.”
Jarasax snorted. “You might have the buffs to eat a couple pounds of chocolate at once, but the rest of us will get sick.”
“I didn't mean for us to eat it all at once. Besides, we need sugar because of the Insomniac buffs, right?”
Kelly shrugged. “He's got a point, Sax.”
“I also got a job at the board. A quick delivery a few blocks away.”
Jarasax raised an eyebrow at Kelly. “Still think he's got a point?”
“Just because he's wrong about one thing doesn't mean he's wrong about everything,” she said, a little snappishly. She turned to George. “We're supposed to be keeping an eye on the Paladins in case of an attack, not taking on side-quests.”
“Ten minutes,” he promised. “No more. Maybe a little less if we drive.”
He certainly looked eager. And a nice, easy delivery mission might be just the thing to get morale up after the burner attack...
Finally, she sighed and flipped out her phone to text Alex and Kat. “Fine. But this is it. If you have an idea like this again, make sure to ask first.”
The ogre grinned and buckled himself in. “Yes, ma'am.”