Chapter 68: Goody Two Shoes.

“No, Henry. I do not have a problem.” I repeated for the umpteenth time.

“Dude! You just told me that you didn’t realize you were wearing the suit until after I pointed it out! Also, you just told me you haven’t slept in two days! How are those not problems?”

“Because I’ve got them under control Henry. I swear. This is nothing compared to…”

I stopped. Cutting myself off before giving voice to my worries. Henry had enough on his plate without knowing about the Tall Man or Randall or the secrets my friends were keeping from me. I didn’t want to burden him any further.

More importantly, I didn’t want him to find out that I had been the one to control him, my parents and the crabs back then. Not yet anyway.

There would be plenty of time to talk about it, once we met face to face again.

“Compared to what?” Henry prodded.

“Nothing.” I snapped. “It’s nothing. Look. I’m fine. I don’t think I’ve ever been more fulfilled in my entire life. I’m, helping people now.”

I opened and closed my mouth. Struggling to find the right words to describe the elation I felt when I did good deeds.

“You don’t understand Henry. All this time, I’ve wanted to be useful. To save people in any small way I could. To right the wrongs, they experienced in everyday life. I can do that now. I’ve been doing it for a while. Every time I save someone’s life or prevent some disaster from happening, I get these butterflies in my stomach. This surge of vigor that overtakes me. It’s affirmation that this is what I was meant to do. You have no idea how much good I’ve done, Henry. How much of a difference I made. I prevented a volcanic eruption, killed a kaiju that had been terrorizing Europe for centuries, fought a group of actual, honest to goodness super villains and even stopped a human trafficking operation.”

I felt some meager shreds of strength entering my weary shell as I spoke. Invigorating me in spite if the terrible consequences of sleep depravation.

“You’ll see. You’ll get to experience that too. It’s a rush like no other. A feeling of true, self actualization. I’ll go so far as to go on an Excursion and show you everything that happens so you can see for yourself.”

Henry winced.

“Aren’t you worried you’ll drop the mirror? Granny Golden told me how much it costed and, damn. I’m not sure I could make that in a couple of years of being here.”

I waved him off.

“Don’t worry about it. That much is chump change compared to what I’ve earned from bosses and Excursions so far. Besides, I already merged my mirror into my status, so I can open and close the feed whenever I want. I also bought mirrors for all my party members just in case we get separated or an emergency arises. You’ll have the option to merge your mirror with your status too, once your forums are unlocked after the second cycle.”

"If you say so."

Henry started shifting about in his seat. Looking awfully uncomfortable all of the sudden.

"Hey, Sully. You're a Telepath, right?"

'Oh boy. Here we go.'

"Yep. And growing prouder of it every day. I know how it sounds and I know the optics look really, really bad, but hear me out. I've made a real difference with these powers. If it weren't for them, I'd never have been able to save all these people you see around me. I'd never have been able to make such a huge impact on the earths I've visited. I'm... Heh. I'm actually really glad I got it as my main Type. Also, I'm not planning to stop there. I've been training to get a second Type for a while now and I can't help but feeling like my efforts are about to bear fruit."

I allowed a small smile to creep onto my face.

"Who knows? By the time we meet, I might have more levels in Enhancer than you."

"Right. Uh-huh. Good for you. That wasn't where I was going with this, but whatever. I'm glad you're happy."

I blinked.

"It wasn't?"

"No. Sully. It wasn't. I didn't care that Cass was a Telepath when she an I had our couple of nights back at Uni and I certainly don't care that you're a Telepath. Not in the slightest."

His face relaxed somewhat then. Going back to the Henry I've known my whole life.

"You're not your Type, Sully. No one is. And anyone who actually thinks otherwise is probably brain-damaged. You're not Sully the Telepath. You're Sully the person. The same goody two shoes I've known all my life."

It was, such a simple statement. Such few words.

Yet, they brought tears to my eyes all the same. I'd always been worried about what others would have thought. About the reactions they would show me, once they found out. For these assurances to come from Henry, my closest friend. It was a deluge of relief. A taste of the normality I'd left behind after being kidnapped.

'Sully? I thought I was your closest friend.' Buddy purred into my mind.

I smiled, despite myself.

'Of course you are Buddy. You and I share a bond no one else could hope to match. But Henry is human, and it's different with him. You're still my best companion. Think of him as my best human friend, if that makes sense.'

'Of course!'

I allowed my attention to drift back to Henry.

"Thank you. I... It really means a lot to me."

"No problem." He said. Nodding at the way my face had lit up.

"Now then, the reason why I brought it up again was because you were responsible for some really weird (Cherub) on this side. People, the human ones, are asking a lot of pointed questions."

"And the non-human ones?"

"They're busy kissing the ground I walk on and praising you to high heaven and back. Seriously man, you don't know how bad it gets. They talk about you like you're the greatest thing since Thunder Fist. Only, they're not doing it because they like you. Trust me, they don't. They're doing it because the mere mention of your name is enough to cure constipation around their circles these days."

I scoffed.

"Honestly, I don't know why they're acting like that Henry. I'm a good person. You know that. I wouldn't go around antagonizing randos for no reason."

Some of the gagged gnomes below the table started making a little bit of noise at that, but I managed to silence them with a few rounds of enthusiastic kicking to their stomachs.

I'd been using them to practice the [Sleep] and [Psionic Curse] abilities before Henry called. Leaving their minds mostly intact because the dominated ones didn't give the same kind of feedback as the ones that could still fight back.

Now, I wasn't ashamed of these practices.

However, I had come to the realization that, despite almost losing his life to the machinations of a gnome, Henry didn't yet understand the sheer depths of their depravity. He didn't understand that gnomes weren't people in the same way that mannequins weren't people.

In truth, they were vile, dead things that fools or those too ignorant to know better might mistake as people. So long as they didn't pay too much attention to the finer details.

Actually, that was a little unfair. Mannequins weren't vile and they served a purpose by showing off clothes.

'Gnomes are just a different breed of evil. Henry can't even conceive of the scale of their moral abhorrence, since he can't read minds. He hasn't been inside their skulls. Nor has he seen their memories or thought processes. A gnome would sooner sell their own children into slavery, rather than do a single good thing in their entire gaping hole of an existence.'

I knew that because I had (Gnome)ing seen it in their memories.

That and the Drake had been kind enough to explain their society to me.

No gnome was born free.

Instead, their parents owned shares in their person; until such a time as the child could afford to buy themselves out of bondage. Similarly, if the parents failed to pay their taxes on time, they would become the property of the closest family member who could pay their dues. Or failing that, the property of the state.

The Drake had expressed his admiration for their utilitarianism. Stating that even he would have flinched at taking things that far.

And that was saying something, considering his habit of turning people into living furniture.

Henry didn't say anything for some time. To the point where I feared the connection was lagging.

"Right. I... I mean. I believe you. So, the weird things going around?"

"[Unstable Reality]. That was the main culprit as far as I can tell. Weird stuff's been happening since I started levelling it up and the benefits had outweighed the downsides back then. I even merged it into a Tier 2 called [Warp the Veil II]. For a while, it was turning out to be one of the best cards I had to play, when faced with, say, natural disasters like forest fires or mudslides or floods. Can't really dominate water or smoke after all. I would use the ability and it would boost all powers around me. Yes, that means Enhancer, Shifter and Projector abilities too. Add in the increased chances to spawn in Intruders and it really was a cheat."

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"Right. Okay. Let's start right there. Now, I've been taught a few things on my end. That is, I haven't been fighting monsters like you have. I've been competing in events and learning about the ins and outs of powers and the history of the Labyrinth. I know what an Intruder is. Or, rather, I know what the usual definition of an Intruder is. I... your guys are a bit different. So, I wanted to see what your outlook on them was. How would you, as an obviously powerful Telepath, define Intruders?"

I thought about it some more. Recalling the first time I'd seen the walking ice golems as I made my way up to what I thought was the surface. Back then, they'd been an obstacle. Nothing more. I had questioned their existence a little bit, but I figured they were just another weird anomaly. In fact, I'd figured they were brought forth by a Projector power, rather than a Telepath one.

That outlook had changed after meeting Cherub. He was obviously influenced by the environment in which he manifested. To the point where his body could be described as a bunch of lingering emotions attached to a mote of energy. He could feel the rage and pain and loss of everyone who'd died in Austin during the zombie apocalypse and those feelings were as much a part of him as his pyrokinetic powers.

As for how he got his powers, well. That was another, more intricate problem.

"Okay. Here goes. But keep in mind that I am in no way claiming to be an expert. Based on my own observations, I would say that Intruders are bunched up emotions that, for whatever reason, gather around themselves to congeal into a rudimentary mind. Now, that makes absolutely no sense here in reality, but I have a pretty decent hunch that the space beyond the veil works by different rules. From what little I've felt of it and explored, I'd say that it was a pseudo-dimension composed entirely of thoughts and emotions."

I licked my lips while trying to find the right words.

"By that, I mean, a dimension that has no physical elements to work its own biochemistry, as well as no defined laws of physics. The Intruders I've seen manifest with some confusion when they get here. As if being tethered down by consistent laws is disorienting. They're more comfortable communicating with simple bursts of intent, rather than complex ideas or descriptions. They also possess a certain, uniformity in the way they conduct themselves. To the point where you can predict what kind of prerogatives and goals they'll have based on what the beings on our side have been thinking or experiencing lately. Kind of like the idea of blended consciousness applied to, say, Jungian Archetypes. We physical beings think and feel and change, and so a little part of our experiences bleed into this alternate reality in certain patterns. Some ideas will morph into villains and some into heroes and some into their own neutral beings with their own goals and aspirations. All depending on how those emotions are perceived by the beings who first had them and how those emotions from many different beings come together to form something that could be called a rudimentary mind."

I scratched my head. Getting the distinct impression that I wasn't making sense.

"Sorry. Never mind the semantics. Think of it like this. Cherub first manifested when I was rescuing people from a burning building. He wasn't really Cherub at that time though. Because he was actually a whole lot of smaller, less defined Intruders that were feeding off the Psy I was giving off, as well as the desperation I felt when trying to rescue the last batch of survivors. They were simple because I was moving around an environment that hadn't been conductive to strong emotions and fixations before the place caught fire, since most of the people living or working in that building would have been going around living their normal lives before the fire. Afterwards, all of their minds would have been focused on thinking of the fire and ways to escape it, with a few being relieved that they'd been saved by me already.”

I made a few hand motions. Slowly bringing my palms together in front of Henry’s image.

“The, let’s call it psionic residue, only started to congeal when all those emotions reached a fever pitch and only manifested when I started leaking Psy everywhere. Cherub only became Cherub when I used the proper ability to poke a bigger hole between material, objective reality and the other side’s immaterial, subjective reality and even then, he soaked in the psionic residue of the people of Austin in order to grow a functioning mind. I doubt he would have had the same personality if I’d conjured him here in the Labyrinth or someplace else. Furthermore, since he got a lot of his impulses, particularly his hatred of gnomes, off of me, we can also deduce that the summoner has a role to play in the process of Intruders gaining a semblance of sentience. Sort of like how a duckling will imprint on the first thing it sees as a mother.”

I clapped my hands.

“With all this in mind, we can classify Intruders as pure chaotic energy floating on their end of the veil. These energies are constantly being affected by several material realities because they react to the thoughts and emotions of living beings to a degree. With sentient beings like humans affecting them to an exponentially greater degree. Since there are so many of us in so many different realities, they remain unfocused and inconsistent as they’re being pulled in so many different directions at once. Separating and rejoining constantly with no room for them to solidify into true sentience. Until they are conjured, and they have a chance to form a more permanent sense of self with their own patterns of behaviour and ambitions.”

I looked at him expectantly.

“Did I get that right?”

Henry’s eyes had bulged so much that they threatened to pop right out of their sockets. The red veins next to his pupils growing bigger and redder. In contrast, his lips had been pressed tightly together. To the point where I could scarcely make out his mouth.

“Henry? You good?”

He blinked in surprise. Apparently struggling to escape whatever stupor he’d entered into.

“Holy (Cherub) Sully.”

“What? I told you it was mostly conjecture. You can’t expect me to be an expert on this stuff right away. I mean, (Gnome). It’s been less than a month since I summoned Cherub and he was my first.”

Henry’s lips clamped shut again. His eyes locking onto my face and refusing to blink.

“Henry? Buddy?”

‘What is it Sully?’

‘No. Not you Buddy. I was calling Henry my Buddy.’

‘He took my name!?’

‘What? No! No one could take your name Buddy. It’s just that I call my friends Buddy too and… and I didn’t think things through when I named you. That’s going to get confusing.’

My attention went back to Henry. My own gaze noting how very, pale, he’d gotten.

“Henry? Listen man. You’re starting to scare me.”

“I’m starting to scare you!?” He burst out. Spittle flying and landing on his side of the mirror.

“Holy (Cherub) Sully! I thought you said you weren’t an expert!”

“I’m not!” I protested. “I’m dead serious. This is all stuff I figured out through observation. I even told you how I figured it out! What’s with the shouting?”

Henry placed his shoulder on a nearby wall and struggled to get his breath back under control.

“Sorry. Sorry. It’s just. That was literally a textbook answer. We take tests, you see. Written and practical ones. I… Sully, I’m going to be straight with you. I can recite the words, but conceptualizing it is, difficult. For most of us here. Not just me. For you to figure that out on your own… Are you sure no one told you anything?”

‘I wish.’

No one around here had ever explained anything about the Labyrinth in detail, outside of Granny Golden and later Periwig through the movie.

Having someone on call would have been a massive help during the early days.

I could have found out about the hums early on and maybe even formed a group from the outset. Cherub might have had his eccentricities, but he would have been invaluable back then. If only I’d known to call on him and his ilk.

“No. No one told me anything about Intruders or the veil before this Henry. It’s just, stuff I picked up here and there. Call it lucky guesses.”

“Well, those are some damn lucky and very specific guesses, but whatever. That leads us to the reason why I’m so worried about your, uh, little guys.”

A chorus of giggling Solomonlings flew overhead as he said the words. Sounding like a ragtag group of schoolchildren that had only just finished sacking an ice-cream truck for all it was worth.

I heard some wet, puling sounds coming from overhead and watched in horror as Henry’s face and torso were drenched in a shower of coagulating blood. His surroundings were even worse off, as severed intestines and limbs rained down withing the plaza.

Henry didn’t so much as flinch. Indeed, his expression was one of resignation, rather than outrage. A hand coming up and wiping most of the crimson droplets off his face before he spoke again.

“Your little guys have been going in and out of the [Unstable Reality] field your sword keeps around itself. They’ve been using it to go back past the veil so that they can come out in other fields of [Unstable Reality] in other material dimensions. Now, none of them have said why they’re doing this, but I can’t help but notice that they always bring back gnomes. A lot of gnomes. The lucky ones are dead when they get here.”

Henry winced.

“Not all of them are lucky.”

“Henry. I swear on my life. I have not been giving out orders to them.”

“Yeah. I figured. But that only makes those in the know, people like Granny and principal Banerid, more nervous. You see, Intruders keeping consistent, uniform shapes, is not normal. On the contrary, it’s pretty (Cherub)ing far from normal as far as they know. Non-sealed Intruders typically revert back to being clumps of immaterial goop when they go back through the veil. That’s what supposed to happen. The only times when this doesn’t happen is when they’re coming and going from what they call a ‘Pandemonium Realm’. Something that only forms when a Telepath fuses a high-Tiered reality warping power.”

“Okay?” I said. Nodding slowly. “That sounds about right. What’s the issue?”

“There are two.” Henry told me. His face growing grim.

“The first is that their relative strength, consistency between units and variation between different kinds of units depend on the Tier and level of the ability and Title in question. From what I’ve been told, you are hilariously terrifying. But I don’t personally care about that so we’ll move on. The second issue is that all those individual Intruders are shaped by the will of their master.”

He then pointed a finger in my direction.

“That would be you.”

I was about to deny it again when Henry raised a hand to stop me.

“And that’s not all either. Your little guys are showing other signs of troubling behavior. Like the way they sing songs about how great you are and how everyone here should turn to the worship of their master, by which they mean you, for salvation. I’m not going to lie Sully. They creep me the (Cherub) out. And I haven’t even mentioned the possessions.”

“Huh? That’s not… Intruders can’t possess people.”

“That’s not what principal Banerid says.” Henry retorted. His features donning an expression of distinct discomfort.

“He says they can, so long as the Intruder has more Psy than the host, they’re both in a field of [Unstable Reality] and the Intruder has access to the [Seal Intruder] Ability at five levels higher than the host.”

He paused. Taking a deep breath before continuing.

“Do you recall Cass?”

“Who?”

“The B-Ranked Telepath that was making a scene outside our dorm. The one whose rantings turned out to be rather prophetic in nature.”

I thought back to the woman raving around the street. Scaring off the other pedestrians.

“Oh. Her.”

“Yeah. Her. She and I became close friends here and I learned that she’s very controlled and normal on most days. That stopped when she got a hold of your sword. The, Cherub, thing. Then she went back to normal after letting go and then she bumped into one of the winged children and then…”

Henry paused again.

“This is her now.”

He stepped aside and I laid eyes on a feminine figure. One currently crawling up and down a nearby building on all fours. That is, with her back facing the smooth wall she was climbing and her ligaments stretched to unnatural degrees. Her head swiveled so far to the side that at first, I thought she must have been dead. Her eyes were blank and empty. Her mouth open in a perpetual scream.

I turned to Henry.

“Okay. I know that looks bad. But. You can’t prove that me or any of my Intruders had anything to do with it.”

“egassem sdrawkcaB! egassem sdrawkcaB! egassem sdrawkcaB!” The woman shrieked.

“nwad ta bmal elaP! nwad ta bmal elaP! nwad ta bmal elaP!”

“ees dna emoC! ees dna emoC! ees dna emoC!”

“loow eht no doolB! sevooh eht no raT!”

“ees dna emoC! ees dna emoC! ees dna emoC!”

She leapt off the building. Hovering in mid-air as if suspended from wires, before throwing up golden blood as her head and limbs returned to relatively normal positions.

Henry only pointed at her while staring me down. His eyes bulging while his mouth remained tightly shut.

“Okay. I will concede it looks really bad. Still, you have no proof it has anything to do with me.”

“I control! I control! I control!” She wailed again.

“Three heads! One will!”

“Under Earth! Under Sea! Under Burning Skies!”

Henry didn’t even glance her way. Staring deeper and deeper into my soul with mounting accusation.

“Okay! Okay! So maybe that was my fault. A little bit. How was I supposed to know possessions were even possible?”

Henry looked back at Cass. His new friend and back at me.

He sighed the deepest sigh I have ever (Gnome)ing seen.

“Like I said, Sully. I know you. And I know you wouldn’t normally be acting this way. I think…” He bit his lip. “I think you need help and I want to be there to help you. Because you’re my friend and that’s what friends do. So, whatever you’re going through, you can tell me all about it. I won’t judge. Only listen. I want to be there for you like you’ve been there for me countless times. It’s the least I could do.”

My mouth opened and closed. My mind unable to cope with the sincerity he was showing.

I wanted to tell him then. About everything. What I’d done to my parents and to him. How I’d repressed his own memories of the event. My own identity as the Tall Man.

But I couldn’t.

Not yet.

These secrets ate and ate and ate away at me. Digging through my heart and soul like burrowing termites and biting deep into my very being.

But I could not set them loose. Not at this moment, at least.

So, I told Henry about Randall. How the others in my team had kept his fate a secret. How I suspected there was more to it than what they were letting on. How I suspected that Anezka had met the same fate.

I also told him about my fight with Dusty and what had led up to it.