ELECTUS

SIMON

“Kevin is acting strange?” Seena asked, taking a sip of Simon's drink before he could stop her. “Strange how?”

He gave up trying to rescue his beverage from his sister and just shrugged. “I don't know... like halfway through talking to me, he realized he was saying something he shouldn't.”

It was the morning after his little talk with Steve and Kevin. It was the earliest he'd been able to meet with Zusa. She'd decided to bring along Seena, Delphie, Veda, and Yolanda, which Simon approved of, especially Yolanda. She sat to his right, with his sister to his left. It was a good brainstorming group, as long as they didn't get off topic.

Unfortunately, she'd also brought Jelena. The one who was now an unwitting fey spy.

Zusa apparently hadn't gotten the memo, and looked at Jelena with concern. “What's wrong? You've been scratching all morning.”

Jelena grimaced, her arm arched behind her head to get at her back. “Got an itch on my spine that won't go away.”

“Have you seen a doctor?” Seena asked with well-faked innocence.

As expected, Jelena nodded. “Glasya herself checked me out. Said nothing was wrong, it was just a psychosomatic reaction to my capture.”

Simon felt for her, but there was nothing he could do. Glasya had explained to Seena that Jelena's spine was now a large radio transceiver, similar to the ones the fey used in their homunculi. It wouldn't allow for any kind of direct control, but all her sensory data was being piped directly to one of the crazy naked bitches.

Jelena didn't know any of this, of course. Which was probably why she was scratching the back of her neck, a frown on her face.

“Then I'm sure that's all it is,” Simon lied with as straight a face as he could muster. Luckily, she didn't seem to be paying much attention, otherwise she would have seen right through him. He never had been good at lying to her.

“That's not—” Yolanda blushed as everyone turned to her. “Simon was saying something about MC.”

Simon brushed his hair back. “Uh... yeah.” He didn't really want to talk about it in front of Jelena, though. “I just need to figure out how to convince her to talk to someone really paranoid.” Then he shrugged. “Well, I guess I really need to find a way to get him to talk to her.”

“It's MC,” Jelena said. “If he can't trust her, who can he trust?”

Simon winced. “Yeah... this guy is paranoid enough that that's not a good argument.”

“Bah,” Veda said. “That part is easy. You give him an ultimatum. Tell him he can talk to her or...” She waved her hand. “Or something bad happens. I don't know the situation. No.” She leaned forward eagerly, her furry ears twitching. “What I'm interested in is your suspicious roommate.”

Seena put Simon's drink down. “Why? What's so special about him?”

“Well, your brother thought it was worth mentioning. I'm curious as to exactly why.”

He shrugged again, a little uncomfortable at the attention he had heaped on Kevin without his knowledge. “I don't know, I just thought it was weird. He seemed so confident, and then just did a complete one-eighty.”

“You probably said something stupid and didn't notice.” Delphie didn't even bother looking up from the mouse she was feeding in her lap. “You do that sometimes.”

Simon sighed and put his face in his hands.

“Aw, you broke him,” Veda crooned. “Be nice, mousie.”

“This from you? You're the one who almost got us killed yesterday when you called those orcs 'retarded vampires.'”

“I didn't mean anything by it.”

“Didn't mean...” She sighed and shook her head. “You spend too much time on the internet. It's desensitized you.”

Simon looked up and interrupted before Veda had a chance to respond. “So, there was another screamer attack the other day.”

Seena quickly jumped on the opportunity to switch subjects. “Yeah, five days ago. That was... Tuesday?”

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Jelena leaned forward. “Yeah, that's right. Reports are scarce, but I heard that the Composer unleashed some kind of secret weapon. Killed most of the 'sarians.”

Zusa frowned. “The screamers just hardened their skin, right?”

Jelena shrugged. “That's what the official report says. But does that sound like something that could kill ninety percent of the Necessarians involved?”

“Hellions and Thors,” Yolanda corrected quietly. She blushed, but continued. “My uncle said most of them weren't from Necessarius. The General and the Hammer sent men to support the Paladins.”

Veda shook her head. “No, that doesn't make any sense. They aren't exactly on the best terms with Butler. Actually sending troops out under his command would—”

“—would take something major?” Simon finished. “Like, for example, a zombie apocalypse?”

Veda fell silent.

“Simon's right,” Jelena said. “The cultures were all gearing up to work together.”

Seena sipped at Simon's drink. “Were?”

Jelena smiled grimly. “They lost a hundred men or more each the first time they tried it. You think they're going to keep it up after that? Everyone's digging in, fortifying their bases. No one is sending Butler men anymore.”

Veda regained her courage. “That's good. The fortifying, I mean. Before, they were basically just milling around, waiting to get attacked.”

“I don't know...” Simon said slowly. “Is that really a good idea? It seems like this is exactly what the Composer would want.”

Zusa smiled. “Oh, come on. You can't pretend to understand what he's thinking. It's like the fey. They're all crazy.”

“The fey can be dealt with,” Jelena pointed out. “The Composer might not even exist.”

Veda nodded. “Yeah, I've heard that theory. They say the hackers are just screwing with everyone.”

“The 'sarians definitely think he's real,” Yolanda whispered. “Wouldn't they have a better idea than anyone else?”

Jelena shrugged. “Well, it makes them feel better if they're getting their asses kicked by an actual person, rather than just a mindless horde of zombies. I don't know if you noticed, but they stepped up the whole 'Composer' thing after this latest debacle.”

Simon finally grabbed his drink back from Seena. It was mostly gone, but there was still some left. “So, what, they're just blaming someone convenient and running scared?”

“Everyone's running scared. I'm sure Headlights can attest to that.” Veda glared, but Jelena just grinned back. It faded after a moment, though. “But yeah, they're scared. Everyone's scared. The warlords are pulling back, the 'sarians have their hands full with captured screamers, and the Paladins are still only five people.” She shrugged. “I know I'm thinking about packing off to one of the other parts of the city.”

“That's a panic reaction,” Seena admonished, as Simon dodged her attempts to retrieve his drink. “That is exactly what the Composer wants. Or if there is no Composer, it will still play into the zombies' hands. It's herd mentality. If we bunch up, that just makes us juicier targets.”

“She's right.” Delphie's mouse had disappeared when Simon wasn't looking. “Trust the assassin to know a thing or two about killing.”

Seena buried her face in her hand. “I told you, it's not like that...”

Delphie rolled her eyes. “You work in a bookstore, you learn how to read. You work around assassins, you learn how to assassinate. You overhear stuff. I'm not insulting you, sweetness, I'm just acknowledging you know what you're talking about.”

Seena readjusted her daygoggles for the umpteenth time. “Yeah... it's just not something I want to be known for.”

Zusa wisely steered the conversation back on topic. “So what are we supposed to do, then? If bunching up will get us killed, then—”

“Bunching up is different from herd tactics,” Veda interrupted. “Herds run away. The cultures are fortifying.” She shrugged. “I guess that's the right idea.”

“They need to make friends,” Zusa said. “Fortifying is all well and good, but if the cultures united, no one would be able to touch them.”

“Right now, the cultures are just slightly harder targets,” Simon said. He was more determined than ever to make sure Aramazd and MC allied. It was in everyone's best interest. He had to be able to convince him of that.

“Not really anything we can do, though,” Delphie grumbled. “Like Jelena said, no one is willing to take a chance right now.”

Jelena leaned back in her chair, a pained expression on her face. “Maybe it will get better in a few weeks, but I have a feeling someone is going to get hit pretty hard before then. Probably the demons.” She turned to Yolanda. “None of your domains have been hit yet, right?”

Yolanda shook her head. “No... and I have a feeling you're right about us being next.” She grimaced. “I guess there's a decent chance this will be the last any of you see me.”

Death was a fact of life in Domina. More so since the screamers had appeared. Two of Simon's friends had died at Triple I, and another one was screaming. It was rare to really have a good idea of when you were going to die, though. They didn't have much disease, and bullets killed faster than sickness anyway.

So this left them all with a very unique opportunity. They could try sequestering her in the domain of a culture that had already been hit to reduce her chances of getting caught in an attack, but in the current political climate, that probably wouldn't work. Besides, what about all the other demons?

Simon could see it in her eyes. She was planning to stay with her culture, probably die at the next attack. She was stronger than she looked.

He pulled her close and kissed her.