Gisela blanches, and I don’t blame her. She shoots a glance over at Ava, speaking with the Preservation and their entourage, and her face brightens with something else. A sneer lifts one side of her lips and she slowly nods.

“As long as it's part of your plan, and you can promise me I won’t die.”

With a slight nod, I press two coins into Gisela’s hands. “One of those is a shield, and the other is a backup shield. With the other one I gave you, they should be more than enough. But as long as Ava isn’t clinically unstable, you won’t be in any direct danger.”

“Alright.” Gisela takes a step back, then smiles at the group. “I’ll be back in a minute; there’s something I have to tell HuSt. If I don’t come back, remember me as a hero.”

The joke lands about as well as a skydiver’s corpse in the middle of a birthday party. Hushed whispers and stunned disbelief spread slowly through the group, and as we walk away, it still doesn’t seem to go away. A little bit of guilt for putting Gisela in a dangerous situation worms its way into my mind, but she’s the one that readily agreed to it. She knows she won’t get what she wants while HuSt and the Preservation work together.

And she’s willing to risk everything for her goals.

“So what do you need me to say?” She whispers. “And in what intonation?”

“Tell her Gasp has been constantly altering HuSt’s minds, and do it in a sickly sweet sympathetic voice.” I mimic the tone I want as I speak, and she quietly repeats it under her breath. “Depending on how she reacts, either press the issue or let it drop dismissively. Then tell her that Noland is trying to figure out why it looks like Taka and Zeze are taking it better than she is as you walk away.”

Gisela sets her mouth in a grim line, quietly murmuring to herself in a sympathetic tone. Her hand grips my arm hard the closer we get, and when we’re just out of earshot for the conversation, I gently pat her hand. She lets go and straightens her back, hides the coins in her palm, and walks confidently towards Ava without a hint of fear or reluctance.

“She’s really good at hiding her fear.” Pearl notes with a mixture of respect and… pity? “There’s a desperation in all her actions that don’t really make sense with her actions. Especially since she’s the timid one.”

“I agree. All the files and documents on the rig spoke of their corporation as overbearing and highly motivated to expand at any costs.” Fleur agrees. “If all she wants is magical power, she can obtain that with money. Yet she seems to want to control the distribution of said magical power.”

I want to chime in with my own two cents, but I know better. Gisela and Dora had all the coins they could ever want, yet after they put everything in the safe, I’m pretty sure they didn’t get any more. At least that’s the impression I got; they could’ve been giving people classes even though they wanted the coins from the safe.

“Maybe it has something to do with what happened to all their coins.” Pearl suggests as Gisela makes contact with Ava. “The Preservation’s right there, and Gisela thinks there’s at least a chance they’re responsible for everything. Do you think she’s putting a personal grudge before their company’s goals?”

“I felt that their company’s goals were completely based on personal grudges. So, if I had to extrapolate from that data–I would say no. Most likely, the personal grudge and forwarding of their company’s influence both rely on destroying the Preservtaion’s hold on this meeting.”

Now that–that makes sense to me. Gisela only considered allying with them when she thought they would give her what she wanted. Now that it looks like they’re going to cut off everyone they don’t choose to give a trickle of power, Gisela’s doing what's best for her; opening up the coin distribution to everyone.

Even if it means someone else could swoop in, it gives her company a chance. Maybe… I can take greater advantage of that. If Noland actually wants the resort to have more influence, that is; which I’m not honestly sure is his goal. I’ll have to ask him before shit goes down.

Gisela reaches Ava without any trouble. The angry woman barely spares a glance at Gisela until she gets close enough that ignoring her is no longer an option, and then her eyes are only filled with annoyance. She doesn’t care about Gisela at all. I swallow hard and ready my spells just in case that annoyance is more dangerous than I expected.

Mouths open. Gisela makes a few simple hand gestures, barely motioning in Gasp’s direction, then at the Preseravtion. Ava grimaces as her annoyance falls away, leaving some sort of complex emotion to take center stage that I can’t really pinpoint. For some reason, her hands stop trembling. She says something back to Gisela that makes her tilt her head in confusion, then gently pats her shoulder and spins her around with an even gentler push.

Gisela seems utterly befuddled as she makes her way back to me. If anyone saw my face, I bet they’d see almost the exact same expression mirrored on me. I look past Gisela for a moment to try and figure out where I’d miscalculated, and my blood runs cold at the emotionless mask on Ava’s face. She’s staring directly at Noland, Zeze, and Taka. After a few seconds she switches over to Gasp, and her entire body goes still.

No trembling rage. No annoyance. Just… stillness. Somehow, that is scarier than anything she’s shown so far.

“I’m sorry.” Gisela says as she takes her spot at my side. “I don’t think it worked.”

I barely notice her. She raises an eyebrow at me, then turns to look at Ava and goes quiet. So it’s not just me. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

Magic coats Ava like a thin film of plastic. It crinkles and vacuum seals to her skin, creating a shimmering sort of body armor that sends horrible pangs of danger to my awareness. She flexes her fingers, then lets them dangle limply at her sides; nothing like the clenched fist she’d shown a minute ago.

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Something important has changed. It has to do with what I told Gisela to say. But… why? Shouldn't it have made Ava angry and distrustful? Why is she so goddamn quiet? Before I can even start to put together an answer Noland laughs loud enough for me to hear and breaks away from the rest of HuSt, smiling with predatory glee as they stare holes through his back.

He beelines for us without even trying to be stealthy. “So how’d it go?” He asks as he jogs to my side. “Oh, wait, Ava’s in brutality mode. Nice work.”

I nearly choke on my own spit. “Brutality mode?!”

“Yeah, brutality mode. You think killing a few assholes is what got HuSt in hot water with the world?” Nolan laughs and shakes his head. “Ava did what we in the business call a ‘bunch of war crimes’. I’ll be the first to admit that a few of them kind of sound like exactly what I did, but the difference is that she’s not great at distinguishing people forced into service from anyone willingly going out and murdering civilians.”

An image of Ursula deciding to nuke a marching army pops into my mind. It isn’t hard to superimpose Ava over her image. Suddenly, I don’t feel confident in my coins’ abilities to protect Gisela. Or myself.

“Is it… safe to be here?”

“Safe?” Noland snorts out a laugh. “Shelby, nothing we do is safe. Our big question now is what Ava decides she needs to do; kill the people she thinks are her enemies, or kill everyone.”

Gisela swallows hard. “Isn’t there a good chance those options are one and the same?”

“Oh, there’s a damn good chance. If I had to bet, nine out of ten people here are going to die. Maybe closer to nineteen out of twenty. But if you sowed the right seeds, Ava shouldn’t see us as the enemy.” Nolan crosses his arms and nods confidently. “We’re the only ones not involved in this. Even if she does want to kill us, we’ll have plenty of time to get away while she works her way down the murder ladder.”

I hold out a hand to stop him from rambling on. Zeze and Ernest just started walking up to the mech, and two random people emerged from inside with what looks like a platform politicians host their speeches on. Noland glances over at them and shuts up instantly. Gisela gulps and starts wringing her hands.

“This is going to get messy.” Pearl says flatly. “Don’t forget that you have no stakes in this, Shelby. It’s perfectly fine to let them kill each other and run away.”

“I would say it is preferable, not just fine. They wish to restrict our world; it is better that they are gone.” Fleur continues without a hint of mercy in her words. “Would it not be in our best interests to leave with hands unbloodied?”

There’s a part of me that agrees with them. But there’s another part of me that wants to know how the hell this is going to play out. I twisted fate to be the best outcome for the resort. Is that still active? Did it end, and now we’re playing things out with no influence whatsoever? I want to see how this ends.

The two Preservation workers set up the platform, salute Ernest, then scurry back into the mech. Ernest doesn’t acknowledge their existence as he steps onto it, raising himself above the rest, and continues to ignore Zeze as she joins him. Gasp and Shout quickly take to either side of Ernest like bodyguards, while Phineas and the woman–Lucille, I think–continue to schmooze with the billionaires, politicians, and a new addition in Taka.

“Today is a grand day.” Ernest’s voice slams directly into my ears, through my thoughts, and forces my attention solely on him. “Through many months of strenuous and tentative work, we have finally reached agreements with enough governing bodies to implement the first steps of our grand plan: the one which our organization is named after.”

I sneer and force Gasp’s magic out of my head, then do the same for Gisela. A quick glance at Noland, which he returns, shows that I don’t need to do it to him. So I go right back to listening to the asshole on stage.

“The Humanity Preservation Initiative details many goals which we must achieve if we want humanity to survive this apocalypse. First and foremost, we must stop class coins from falling into the hands of those who would do any sort of harm. Once that has been achieved, and we have a suitable stock of coins, we will begin nationwide screenings for those who wish to gain a class of their own.”

He motions at Gasp. “My friend here is more than competent enough to determine who is a danger to humanity and who is not. Yet, if wielded improperly, her Class could be a true danger to the world. To us. To humanity.”

Gasp shifts awkwardly. Combined with the almost… emotionless way in which Ernest delivers his speech, it feels like something’s wrong. Like I didn’t account for something that should be insanely obvious in hindsight. Ernest glances down at Ava, as if expecting something of her, then clicks his tongue in disappointment.

“Her class is Psychic. And under the Humanity Preservation Initiative, it will be completely outlawed.”

Ernest snaps his fingers. Shout’s arm whips out like a cracked whip, claws of buzzing grey energy emanating from his fingertips. Gasp screams. Betrayal and fear and desperation leave her in a bloody gurgle, her neck dangling from strands of muscle as Shout’s blades fall just short of complete decapitation.

“Rejoice, my precious comrades!” Ernest throws his hands up, his voice suddenly full of emotion and vigor. “The temptress who toys with your mind is no more! And nobody like her will ever darken your thoughts with worries of hypnotism and propaganda ever again!”

My muscles tense as I look to Zeze for her reaction. I don’t see one. Either she doesn’t care at all, or this was premeditated. Ernest’s speech takes on an almost preaching tone in the wake of Gasp’s death, his words ringing hollow in my skull, I dully realize that I was right. There was a scapegoat. Ava was unknowingly a part of the plan.

I just had all the actors in the wrong roles. And as Ava dives for Gasp’s body, wrapping her hands around the woman’s neck stump as a plasticky glow trails up the seemingly fatal wound, I realize that I might’ve misunderstood her motivations as well.

“What are you doing?!” Taka screams, popping out of nowhere to appear at Ava’s side. “You’re healing a goddamn monster!”

Ava turns, her face an utterly blank mask. Taka flinches. Magic wells up in his body, but just before he can teleport away, Ava presses her palm to his chest. Another scream rips free of his throat. And as he teleports, a foot-wide chunk of his chest doesn’t go with him.

His body appears right next to Noland. Eyes wide, full of fear, and not wanting to die.

“Help.” he squeaks out, even though it shouldn't be possible.

Noland laughs in the man’s face. “Who do you think we are?”

Taka falls to the ground, dead. But somehow, Ernest’s speech continues unabated. As if nobody even noticed Ava going to Gasp’s side, Taka’s outburst, or his sudden death. Whispers of magic much like Gasp’s tickle at my ears.

My last realization for the hour is that this is far, far from over.