It was just my luck that mom was here tonight, but then again, where else would she be? Neither of us had been at home for longer than a few hours when I still lived with her. Mom because of work, myself because of trying to be a superhero. But not…this, leading a huddle of researchers who flocked around her like unemployed superhumans to back-alley movie deals. I always knew she was somewhat important. Always on the phone, always answering emails. Massaging the dark rings around her eyes whenever she thought I wouldn’t notice. She worked for the Blackwoods, and yes, that had only spiced up our arguments a little bit more, but I’d never thought it'd be this.
My stomach dropped a little as I watched her stand in front of the largest glass cage, the one right underneath me. A hand in her pocket, the other holding her circular glasses as she tilted her head. Her honey-blonde hair fell to one side, as if she wanted her ear free to listen to the thing.
And the worst part was that she was so casual, so easy, about staring at it. She was the only researcher standing past the black and yellow danger line, as if this was just another day to her.
When I was little, I once asked her what she actually did all day when I went to school. I knew that dad was busy, and when she came for career days, it would always be the same answer.
Some days a doctor, others a scientist, she would say, smiling. I work with Supes, kids.
But I never got anything more than that, and when I started being Olympia, I figured that it was my turn to keep a secret from her, too. It was petty, I know, but I had been fourteen, alright?
Sometimes I wished we could just talk it out the same way the humans on television did, but now wasn’t the time, because mom was shaking her head, folding away her glasses, and turning to look at a very thin and very pale woman standing just over her shoulder. “Clare,” she said calmly, clearly. “I need Rett on the line to tell me why we had to evacuate. I know he’s going to give me shit for breaking protocol by coming down here, anyway, but those damned alarms are a pain, and we’ve already got enough on our plates.” She pointed her glasses at three other men. “Mikey, Liam, I need you both to go through database gamma through to omega, make sure our files aren’t tainted, and Matt? Stop looking like you’re gonna piss yourself and call Cassie for me.”
None of them paused, except for Matt—a guy with a pinched face and low brow—who looked left and right before quickly heading to a phone not too far from the elevator, heart racing.
The rest of the team worked through the glass cages, reading monitors and making notes, relaying that information to each other in rapid succession. Mom seemingly ran a tight ship, and watching her work was like seeing her alter ego instead of the person who burnt every pancake she ever tried to make. She sat on the edge of a desk, found a cigarette in her pocket and lit it with a match. One of the researchers scrunched up their noses, but she didn’t pay them any attention. She was still staring at the large cage, still analyzing it, even if the people inside of it begged for death as the fleshy tentacles sloppily slammed against the glass, shrieking and moaning and bellowing.
Maybe it wasn’t that clear to their ears, but it was to mine. It wasn’t as much of a sentence as it was a feeling coming from them. Fear, hate, agony. All of it was brewing into one foul stew.
Seconds later, and one of the people attached to the end of a tentacle as large as my leg slammed against the glass, making a hollow thud. None of the researchers stopped to look at it.
Gods, I thought, moving silently across the beams. What’re you doing to them?
“Researcher Addams,” Matt said, hurrying back from the phone. “Corina said—”
Mom sighed and stopped sitting on the table. “Of course she’s not available,” she muttered, plucking the phone out of the receiver and hitting one of the three buttons. “Entitled little prick.”
“Are you going to stay there?” my suit said. I froze, waited for someone to arch an eyebrow and glance upward—nothing. The only reaction I got was from the tentacles below, which briefly latched onto their glass ceilings before letting go. “‘Cause things are about to get complicated, and by my guess, it sounds like none of them are going anywhere. When their in-house security head gets here, they’ll sweep the area, and you’re not exactly stealthy, kid.”
I couldn’t respond, and I hoped the message was clear: I was going to stay here until I figured out what my mother was doing with these people. I wanted to believe it was for a good reason, that they were finding some kind of cure, but wouldn’t there be a lot more, I don’t know, medical stuff lying around? Instead of bits and pieces of human body parts sectioned off into tiny chunks that the researchers were prying open with scalpels? Hell, there were tables encased in glass with people strapped to them, their stomach cavities wide open as the scientists dug through their organs and the hives of worms that festered in them. Gods, it was like some kind of horror movie, watching as the worms spilled out of bodies. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Maybe I didn’t want to think my own mother was partly to blame for any of this. What she was doing here, I figured, was the hard decisions, having to keep these people in cages so they could be studied and helped and…fuck. I massaged my temples, trying to fight off a pulsing growing headache.
I was all for putting supervillains down, that would never change.
But she was doing something right, wasn’t she? She had to be.
Gods, please, she has to be.
“Corina, hi,” mum said, dragging her cigarette briefly. “Yeah, I’m doing fine, thanks. Just wonderful, and could you tell Cassie to stop fraternizing with whatever politician she’s with in her office and get her to come down here? Yes….yes…no, Corina, you heard me perfectly clearly, and we wouldn’t want to ruin everyone’s day in the office because something escaped down here, now would we? No? That’s great. I’ll be expecting her in the next five. She needs to hear this soon.”
She set the phone back onto the wall, then did as I had and massaged her temples.
As if my day couldn’t get any worse. Cassie Blackwood was on her way.
“Shit,” my suit muttered. “Welp, the door could only hold for so long. The system they’ve got is so tight, it’s amazing the government even allows a private company to have it, you know.”
I heard what he meant before I could piece it together. The tunnel myself and several of the large equipment and cages had come from filled with the noise of boots against concrete. I swore, flexed my fingers, and got a handful of sparks in return. All I needed was a few more minutes, and then I would be out of here, at least, until the SDU could figure out what the documents I had taken photos of meant. Whatever was happening to people in New Olympus was going to keep happening, and by the looks of things (and the looks of empty glass cages), it wouldn’t stop any time soon. Blackwood Pharma were expecting more of these half-Kaiju abominations to spill onto the streets and the alleyways, and Gods, I hadn’t even thought about all those homes yet. Judging by the glaring bloodstains yet to be washed off of old and empty cages, there had been a lot more of them than I could have thought. Who knew how long any of this had been going on for?
And who knew how many of them were still out there, in abandoned homes, in sewers, brewing in some kid’s stomach as their parents thought they’d just eaten something bad for lunch.
The people in Lower Olympus tended to wear masks, sometimes to protect from some Supe cold that might just kill a Normal if they weren’t careful, or just because of the terrible air quality. But they’d been wearing them because of the Kaiju, because of the things that writhed and crawled, gurgled and flatlined simply because they were choking on their own liquified organs. This was a pandemic, according to the people back around my area, and I watched as two of the cages in the middle of the maze lit up with stark red light, making my mom stop smoking her cigarette as the thunderous sound of the approaching Damage Control guards got louder. She gestured for about ten researchers to go check the cages. One of them activated an electric shock that went through the metal floor of the cell, but…nothing. Only the smell of burning tentacles.
My mom didn’t swear or sigh. Her eyes just seemed to get a little more tired.
I shook my head, looking up at the soldiers who exited the tunnels, their assault rifles raised and face shields in place. Their stark white uniform made them look out of place in contrast to the bland grays surrounding them, but Gods, they were efficient, almost inhuman, as they ignored the researchers and swept through the area. I had just enough to hover, pulling myself into the shadows a little more, but soon enough, they had actual scanners shining blue light from some kind of gauntlet on their forearms. Since when did they have those? What even were those? I slipped out of the way as one soldier raised his arm to the beams, but he’d seen something. A blur, I was sure, because those face shields weren’t just for protecting their identity, I was sure of it. Three others raised their arms, turning the dark space above a dim blue glow as I flew out of reach, but they followed, tracking me, as if they were trying to corner me. I used old wires and support beams to block the scanners, cursing under my breath as one got dangerously close to catching my foot.
“Clear,” a woman said loudly, then the lights around me vanished. I let out a breath.
“Negative,” another said, taking off his face shield. He was dark-skinned, with squinted eyes and pressed lips. “Sightings of an unidentified hostile have to be confirmed first. Keep checking, keep looking. I want heat sigs, and any Divergent Virus residue in the air has to be traced to its source, logged, and made sure that we know where the hell it came from. Anything that’s not recognised is gonna get tagged, and you move in a unit, is that clear?” A unison ‘yes sir!’ followed, then he muttered, “And for the love of God, be careful. If they’re strong enough to shove aside several tonnes worth of reinforced steel, they’re strong enough to check what you’ve had for dinner. I’ll need ten on me. Five more to make sure the research team gets immediate evac, too.”
“A hello would be nice,” mom muttered. “Hi, Rett. How’s your night shift going?”
“You turned off the alarm, Veronica,” he said bluntly, as his team began rounding up the researchers like sheep, until mom put up her hand, making even them pause. Rett looked around, nonplussed, then locked eyes with mom again. “That goes against company security policy.”
“If Cassie cared so much about company security, she wouldn’t be keeping monsters in her basement, now would she?” Mom offered him a cigarette from a crumpled packet, but he didn’t take any. Ronnie shrugged and waved her hand at the cages. “Your boys left with us as soon as the alarms went off, and when the alarms went off, the emergency generators briefly failed for about thirty seconds before I came down here and turned off your security protocol.” Her voice wasn’t lined with venom or anger or hate. It was just cold, simple, as if she was explaining how she broke her fingernail. “You know what can happen in thirty seconds, Rett. We were all here last year.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“A system failure is expected when new measures are being put in place.”
Mom snorted. “Right, because you think diverting power to—”
Rett’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the researchers. Mom stopped talking.
“In any case,” he said slowly. “Sabrina’s going to want to hear why you shut down the system here when the entire building is still under lockdown. A break-in like this means everyone is at risk, so”—he jerked his head, and the research team got swept away into the elevators, leaving a few more Damage Control soldiers, mom, and dozens of monsters here with me—“let’s make sure it doesn’t happen again. Someone is here with us, maybe several people. If worst comes to worst, you know the steps we’re going to have to take, and what it means for the program, too.”
Ronnie glanced at the cages, not looking back as she said, “It would be a mercy.”
“For the person who broke in, or for those fucking things?”
“Whose to tell, really?”
“Sir,” one of the soldiers said quietly. “There’s no virus residue here.”
“Possibility that the hostile has already escaped, sir,” another person said.
Rett shook his head, visor under his arm as he turned to them. “You saw the door, saw the dent they left. The Supe is still somewhere here. They’re strong, but not stealthy. Keep looking.”
“Or,” mom said, “they could have two sets of powers, and their body is able to become so reflective of light it seems like they’re invisible. Or maybe they floated right through the ceiling.”
I didn’t know Supes could have two sets of powers. As far as I knew, everyone got one.
But the way mom was talking about it…
“Chances of that?” Rett asked.
She shrugged. “Zero to none. Never happened before. Damn near impossible, man. And if it did happen, then you’re just as dumb as the person lying to you.” Mom crossed her arms, silent, then quietly said, “Or it’s the one person the entire world knows has several superpowers, Rett.”
My blood chilled as I stopped moving through the air. I’d been inching toward the tunnel exit, the human-Kaijus underneath me banging against their glass cages as I hovered over them. But I wasn’t moving now, wasn’t even breathing properly, paranoid because my own mom had just ratted me out to a group of legalized thugs. I wanted to be angry, but I’d been angry at her for months now, and this just felt like turning the heat up in the frothing mess that was our relationship, because don’t you just hate it when your mom snitches on you to armed soldiers? I waited for her to say more to him, to change his mind, slap his shoulder, and tell him she was lying about all that.
They just stared at one another, neither speaking or moving for a very long minute.
“Two now,” Rett said to her. “There’s two of those things flying around now.”
“Right,” mom said, nodding. “What’s that other kid’s name, Andy?”
I hadn’t realized it until now, because I’d been determined as hell not to be heard, that I had missed the elevator slowly returning. “Adam,” a voice said when it opened. “The name’s Adam.”
Internally, I swore. Externally, I tensed my jaw so hard I might have cracked a tooth.
“Wow,” my suit said. “You’re like a magnet for all kinds of bad luck, kid. My mom’s a spiritual healer. You should pop by her place some time, ‘cause working with you is ridiculous.”
Yeah, well, you’ve barely been around for two hours of my life, smart ass. Get cozy.
But I also had to ask, what the fuck was Adam doing hovering next to Cassie Blackwood?
And what the hell was a Supe from the Olympiad doing in a place that hated our kind?
Gods, just once would I want one simple night. I wanted to go back to the days when my English teacher turned out to be a villain, or I’d stop a bank robbery on 5th before a track meet.
Those days were long past me. Cassie walked in first, and seeing her in person, seeing her in a place like this, didn’t feel real to me. She was always behind a tv screen, or hiding behind her profile picture on social media as she dragged my name through the mud. She was tall, just about as tall as mom, wearing a red turtleneck and slim black trousers, short, flat heels that clicked against the floor, and this air about her that reeked of wealth. She was the kind of rich that didn’t need to wear gold or silver or have a fancy watch, because someone else carried those for her. She was the kind of rich that filled my nose with foreign, exotic smells. The kind that sweated thousand dollar perfumes, and wore bright red lipstick that didn’t crack. Silky black hair with a tongue of white sliding just over her shoulder, and green eyes so bright, you might think she put jade in her skull.
She wore a simple necklace, a thin piece of silver with a tiny diamond on the end of it. Her fingernails were short, clean and white, sharp, too, but they smelt of metal—she’d been rubbing it.
And then came Adam, the bastard, wearing the Olympiad’s standard black and white suits, not looking any different from the last time I had left him with his face in the tarmac of a junction.
But him being here made things worse. A lot worse. He would hear my heart, smell my sweat, and I didn’t know if he could do what dad could and sense people who had our powers.
I wanted to think he didn’t have the powers dad and I shared, even though I didn’t have the full set yet, but just look at him and his white hair and glacier-like eyes. He was a spitting image.
Which made me sick to the stomach, because I didn’t know what that meant for mom.
One thing was clear, though: I had to leave, and soon, before Adam got me.
“Veronica,” Adam said, his voice clipping, eyes on her. “It’s good to—”
“What’s so important that I’ve got to be surrounded by these god-awful creatures?” Cassie said, looking from Rett to Ronnie. “I was in the midst of a very important conversation, too.”
“Ma’am,” Rett said, standing a little straighter. “The generators had a problem after—”
“The break in, yes. I know. You either tell me you’ve found who managed to slip past millions of dollars worth of security in the blink of an eye, or you keep your mouth shut, captain.”
“Haven’t had your milk yet, have you?” mom muttered, but it was too quiet for Cassie to hear. Loud enough, though, for both Adam and I to grunt. “The failure would have been a disaster for the program, Cassidy. The power required to continuously monitor each individual cage is crucial in making sure that none of them die, or none of them escape, and I’m more than sure that you wouldn’t want monsters regurgitating right out of the front door.” Mom faced her, looked her dead in the eyes, and said, “This isn’t some problem you let your cronies handle, or something you have Corina write down on a sticky note. We’ve had a break in, and someone is in here. Now, it could be stupid kid, or a Supe who wants to get dirt on you, or someone, Cassie, who wants the truth.” The air had changed, becoming colder. Cassie just stared at her. “We need your father.”
And now she blinked. “Why would you bother calling some decrepit old fool?”
“Because he would understand what magnitude of fucked we’re in right now.”
Cassie stood still for a moment, then smiled a little, laughed a touch. “God, Veronica,” she said, “you’re so scary when you’re serious, but a fucking break in isn’t going to change my day.”
“Ma’am, if I can pitch in,” Rett said. “This is going to be classified as a code scarlet.”
“Then why am I paying you so much to tell me that when you could be handling it like a code scarlet, Rett?” she asked in a voice you’d use to tell off a child, as if he was stupid. “Go on. Go handle it, because I have very important things to do, and these things can always be replaced.”
She sounded very much like someone I knew and hated. Couldn’t think of a name, though.
“It’s not about replacing them, Cassidy, but understanding why Ambrosia affects them this way,” mom said. I knew I needed to leave, to go right freaking now. Adam frowned, tilted his head to the beams. “I know your goal is the bottom line, the billions you’ll make when you churn out a cure for the Kaiju, but killing off our test subjects every second day only slows the whole thing.”
Cassie walked toward her, heels clicking. She stopped just inches away from mom, not looking down her nose at her, but looking straight at her. “I know what you can do, V. I know that if you wanted, you’d have finished months ago and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but for some reason, you’re stalling. Why is that? Does it hurt your morals? Your hippocratic oath or whatever? Get off your high horse, darling, and get back to fucking work. Rett will handle the break in, and you’ll make sure we get what we want, no matter the case, okay?” She turned to look at the cages, at the monsters slamming their bodies and tentacles against it, leaving blood on the glass. “I’m not stupid, you know. Graduated top of my class since I learnt how to talk. Even I know that Kaiju and Ambrosia become a common animal: this thing, no matter the previous Evolution. So no, V, I am not stupid, and nor am I the air head you think I am.” She turned to face my mom again, smiling. “So figure it out, there are poor, poor people dying out on those streets.”
“Hold on,” Adam said. “Those cured people I saw last week turned into these?”
“Seems so,” Cassie muttered. “Shame, isn’t it? Less hands to give out their money. Not even charging them for their healthcare! So you can feel good about that at the very least, Ronnie.”
I hated the way my mom’s name sounded out of her mouth. It sounded too similar to the way Ava said it, and Gods, if there was anything I hated more in this world, it was listening to the names of people I cared about get thrown around. But Adam wasn’t looking for me anymore, and I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, so I swallowed my anger and stayed perfectly still.
But…holy hell, a cure for the Kaiju? Mom was kinda doing something good here.
“On the other hand,” Cassie said quietly, walking up to one of the cages, past the line, right up close to the monster that shrunk when she got close. The pasty puddle of organs and tentacles crawled to the back of the cage, as if they were terrified of her eyes. “If the person really is in here, Veronica, then you’d have no problem dealing with them, or else your darling little daughter would find out what mommy is up to at her big job. Nobody likes a serial murderer, no matter the cause. Think of the children, Ronnie! The children! Don’t break your daughter’s fragile little heart just because some idiot Supe got into my building without a single one of you being able to find them.”
I remained quiet, watching as Cassie swept her eyes over the other cages, and each of the things inside of them scurried away from her, as if the damned things were traumatized by her.
Then she stopped walking along the glass cages, halting underneath me, looking down the dark tunnel. Don’t move, Ry. I held my breath. Slowed my breathing. Rett started toward her until she held up her hand, making him stay in place. Adam came instead, floating through the air, arms still folded over his chest, making him look like he was some chess piece being dragged across the board. Fuck. Just feet away from him now. A bead of sweat, a scent, a sound, would make him look up. It wasn’t the time for me to start feeling hungry, or for my heart to start beating faster.
I blinked slowly, making sure I was quiet.
He was gone from underneath me.
But behind me in a split second. “Found you.”