Then, Year 4, After Spires
“I’m calling this in,” Detective Ordonez said brusquely. She turned hard eyes on Omar.
“What?”
“Intern, get out there and let your people know that they need to get out of the way of our examiners.”
“What do you mean my ‘people’?” Omar narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t give me that bullshit, you know what I mean. I’m just a little lighter than you,” Detective Ordonez tapped her bare arm. “Now get going unless you want to clean this up.” She gestured at the bloody remains all around them.
Omar paled. He looked to Cal, who nodded, before the young man left the courtyard to speak to the people gathered outside.
“Is that actually going to work?” Jake’s face was equally as pale. He looked a little haggard. “I mean, he seems like a nice kid, but I don’t think his word carries a lot of weight.”
“Nope, but I bet his grandfather’s does and my read is that he’ll listen to Omar,” Cal said. “More importantly, what next?”
“We look around the perimeter of the apartment complex, try to find a blood trail. With this much, there’s a good chance we’ll find something,” Detective Ordonez said. “Flo, you’re with me. Cruces, you’re with Jake.”
As Flo walked past Cal, she gave him the good old shoulder check. Cal had always been pretty strong and well built since he had discovered weight-lifting during his early teens. Not many had tried to pull that crap with him then. Now that he could add super strength to his repertoire it was a surprising to say the least when he felt his shoulder move. He didn’t resist, but rather moved with the force. There was no way he was going to get into a dick-measuring contest with a teenage girl.
Jake waited before the two pairs had separated to laugh. Cal could tell he had been holding it in the whole time.
“Dayyyuummm. I saw that! Told you she was stronger.”
“Or maybe I didn’t want to injure her,” Cal said flatly.
“Sure, bro. Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night.”
“Why are you even so excited? It’s not like you pulled it off.”
“Team pride!” Jake said.
Cal tsked. The huge trainee officer was a walking contradiction of stereotypes. Jake was a meathead, bro-jock and a video game playing, RPG nerd all wrapped up together in an annoying package.
“Whatever man,” Cal said. “What’s up with those smartphones? You’ve got three that I saw and I didn’t miss that you pulled them out instead of your Glock.”
“Sorry, can’t say. Opsec, like Detective Ordonez said. And I don’t want to get on her bad side.”
Cal wasn’t sure that the woman had any other sides to her.
“Something to do with that class, she doesn’t want you to share. You know it makes no difference to me if you guys have secret classes. I can solo a gremlin alpha. Is that something you can do with your secret class?” Cal started with the stick. Then he hit Jake with the carrot. “You know I might be able to give you some tips, some insight. I’ve purchased a good amount of the tutorials from the spires. There’s a chance I know something that could be useful to you.”
A serious look crossed Jake’s face and he fell uncharacteristically silent.
Cal didn’t particularly care if Jake took him up on the offer. Information was always welcome, but getting the usually loquacious young man to shut up for more than a minute was also worth it.
Cal scanned the ground and the fence around the apartment complex as they walked around the perimeter in silence. He had superior perceptions, yet he found nothing. No blood or footprints in the grass to denote a monster’s passing.
“Maybe it can fly,” Cal muttered.
“Yeah, I didn’t think of that,” Jake said. “Oh and about your offer. Sorry, man. I don’t want to get in trouble. Maybe I can ask my boss.”
“Up to you. Also keep in mind that eventually we’ll catch up to the mauler. Then it becomes a fight. Our chances would be better if I knew what you were capable of.”
“Makes sense. Do you think we’ll be able to that? It’s been weeks and we’re not any closer. And now this. It took out like forty people.”
“And it did it outside of Midtown,” Cal agreed. “Not a good sign.”
“What? Like it’s getting hungrier for blood or something?”
“Omar mentioned that several of the gangbangers had actual classes. So, the mauler is still acting within the profile Detective Ordonez wrote up. It’s still going after specific targets. Maybe the rest of the gangbangers got in the way or got caught up in things.”
“Fuck me!” The blood drained from Jake’s face. “I’ve got a class.”
“Are you serious?” Cal laughed. “Don’t tell me you just realized…”
“Shit! Fuck! That’s why I’m on this task force with Flo. I’m bait.”
“Oh man.” Cal couldn’t stop laughing. “I thought you volunteered.? Dude. You got done dirty.” He patted Jake on the shoulder. “Sucks to be you, but on the bright side. We’ve got a theory going around that you get stronger based on how hard your struggle is. This hunt for the Midtown Mauler is basically a find and slay the monster type quest. I already got it when I agreed to help you guys out.”
A faraway look suddenly appeared on Jake’s face. Cal recognized it so he stopped and waited. It didn’t take long for Jake to come back to reality.
“You just got the Quest?”
“To find and kill the Midtown Mauler. Plus a bonus for every citizen saved,” Jake said with wide eyes.
“You don’t get a lot of quests?”
Jake shook his head.
“Congratulations,” Cal said mirthlessly. “You’re in one now.”
“Bro, you’ve got to help me out,” Jake said. “I’ll tell you want you want to know. Help me optimize my magic.”
“What happened to all that opsec?”
“Screw that noise. I don’t want to end up like those poor bastards back there.”
“Alright man. What are you?”
“I’m a Techmage.”
Cal’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting that. So many questions popped up in his head.
“Basically, I got a few starter spells from when I first got the class. Like, I can’t really explain it, but I got like this programming language for each spell. So, I code each one into a smartphone. Then I use the phone to cast the spell.” Jake looked at Cal expectantly.
“I’ve got so many questions,” Cal began. “Why just one spell per phone?”
“It takes up most of the space.” Jake shrugged like it was obvious.
“Naturally. What are the spells?”
“Magic Missile, Shock and Mana Shield,” Jake said. “I can adjust the power output on the Shock. Can go from the same as taser to it’ll fry a cow, although the latter will drain both the phone battery and my mana.”
“It draws on both?”
“I did some comparisons with a few magic users on the force. Using equivalent spells and power levels, I figure that there’s about an eighty-twenty split between the battery and my mana.”
“So, if Magic Missile takes ten mana to cast for a normal magic user. Then for you, an equivalent of eight is taken from the phone and two from your mana pool,” Cal said.
“Yeah, except there isn’t a straight one-to-one conversion between battery and mana pool. I think it varies based on the spell and how much power I put into it. Upshot is I can do more spells per day than a regular magic user.”
“Bit cumbersome having to switch out your phones though.”
“Eh, not really. I just have to have it in my hand and then I can cast the spell with a thought.”
“You don’t have to say the magic word? That’s useful.”
“So, any ideas?”
Cal thought about it. “To be honest none of the tutorials I’ve read are useful in your case. Have you purchased the tutorials for your class?”
“Just the basic one. Can’t afford the higher level ones.”
“I did promise to help you,” Cal frowned. “How much for the next level tutorial?”
“Twenty-five thousand Universal Points.”
Cal cursed. That was a lot of points. “The reward for the mauler quest should more than cover that.”
“Doesn’t really help me now,” Jake grumbled.
“Have you tried encoding the spells in something more powerful than a smartphone?”
“These are like the best I can get. Most space, most powerful processors.”
“What about a top of the line laptop?”
Jake’s eyes lit up. “I never thought of that.”
“I’m thinking you can try with the Mana Shield spell. Wear the laptop in a harness or something.”
“Yeah, yeah. That could work. Or I can see if putting all three spells on the same laptop and then linking it to the phones will give them all more power.”
They continued their search for any signs of the mauler’s trail in silence. Although only Cal was actually paying attention to their surroundings. Jake was engrossed in future tinkering plans.
Dusk had crept in while Cal and Jake, Detective Ordonez and Flo had widened their search pattern to encompass the immediate neighborhoods and one strip mall that surrounded the apartment complex. They found nothing. Not one bloody foot print, which was hard to accept considering the copious amounts at the slaughter site.
When they returned to the apartment complex Cal was pleasantly surprised by Omar’s effectiveness. The young man had somehow convinced the gathered crowds of people to make way for the medical examiners and their protection detail. The only problem now was what to do about the growing threat from the other gangs. Word had already reached them that the Asian gang was gathering in numbers at the edge of the street that marked their common boundary.
As the darkness grew and the torches and lanterns were lit there were still a large amount of people arguing with Detective Ordonez.
“Hey,” Flo said sullenly silencing everyone as they turned to look at her. Though she was small and skinny. There was a presence to her that made people aware. “It’s way past five, so I’m done for the day.”
Detective Ordonez opened her mouth to say otherwise, but Flo cut her off.
“I don’t care about your little gang war. I’m here to fight the monster. There’s no monster, so I’m going home.” Flo turned to leave. “World ends and people are still being assholes to each other,” she muttered. She shot Cal a baleful glare as she strode by him.
In that moment Cal got a taste of the intense loathing Flo had for him. It was like a palpable hit to the gut thanks to his telepathy. It had been like that ever since their first meeting in the medical examiner’s morgue. He had no idea why the girl hated him. He had a hundred guesses, but he didn’t think it was his business to pry into her history to search for the answer. A lot of people had a lot of bad things happen to them over the past four years.
“I’ll go keep the Asian gang from attacking.” Words that Cal had never expected to ever say emerged from his mouth to silence the arguments.
Ultimately, after consulting her superiors, Detective Ordonez agreed to station a squad at intersection that served as the boundary to the Hispanic gangs’ territory.
“We really need to take care of this gang problem,” Detective Ordonez said after the crowd had dispersed.
“Society can’t be fixed until there’s order,” Omar agreed.
“There’s more nuance to it in my opinion, but in this specific case I’d have to agree,” Cal said. “Well, I’ve got a bunch of armed young men to scare off.”
“Wait, do I go with you?”
“Nope, I think you are off for the rest of the night, Omar. Get some sleep and get a better weapon. I’ll find you tomorrow morning,” Cal said.
“Damn it,” Detective Ordonez said as she scribbled something down on her notepad before tearing the sheet off and handing it to Omar. “Take this to the Capitol tomorrow. If you’re going to be part of this task force then it has to be official.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“So… I’m getting a job?”
“Temporary contractor,” Detective Ordonez said. “You’re still responsible for the kid.” She snapped at Cal.
Cal sent her a mock salute before he strode off into the darkness.
“Does this mean I get a gun?” Omar had a dubious look on his face.
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“I’m home,” Cal called out.
A voice answered immediately. “Lucky, you got here just as I’m finishing breakfast.”
Cal took off his shoes and left them outside the door. With all the gross crap he had been walking on yesterday there was no way he was going to bring them inside their home. He took off his armored jacket and hung it on the rack inside the door. He dumped the rest of his gear on the floor.
Bacon, eggs and pancakes. He didn’t need a superior sense of smell to catch what Nila was cooking.
“Hey, love.” Cal embraced his girlfriend from behind as she cooked at the portable camp stove. “How was your patrol?”
“Boring. How did things go yesterday?”
“Horrible. I had to spend all night standing in an intersection mad dogging a bunch of gangbangers and being mad dogged in return.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, ‘mad dogging’.”
“No, I don’t.”
“It means exchanging angry looks. Usually leads to a fight. You know, cause you got to keep it real.”
“Must be before my time.”
“Ha ha. I’m not that much older than you.”
“What about the investigation?”
Cal grimaced. “I’ll tell you about it after we eat.”
“That bad?”
“The worst yet, but I don’t want to get into it right now. Tasty food first. Then bad news after.”
The meal was good. It was nice just to relax and enjoy the company of a loved one without worrying about monsters and a potential gang war for a blessed moment in time that was over all too quickly.
Cal had to tell Nila everything, though he skimped on describing the scene at the apartment complex in full.
“An intern, huh? And he sounds useful. Not like the kids I have to put up with,” Nila said. “Are you sure you don’t want me in on this investigation? This Midtown Mauler is getting scarier. Or maybe bring Remy along.”
“Too risky. We can’t put all our eggs in one basket. Our community needs defending.” Cal left it unsaid that one of his concerns was that the mauler might make its way across the river when he was searching for it. Nila was sharp enough to realize that possibility.
“At least that girl, Flo, has powers and that other guy—”
“Jake.”
“Has magic.”
Nila stood and walked over to give Cal a tight hug and a long kiss. “I need to get some sleep. I’ve got a lifting session before lunch. Then a practice session before dinner. Then back on patrol. Don’t forget to catch at least a few hours. You might not physically need to sleep for days, but psychologically…”
“I know, I know. I’ll get a few hours in after I help out Veronica.”
“That’s today? Wow… they grow up so fast.” Nila frowned. “We just celebrated her ninth… I don’t know if I feel good with what you guys are doing.”
“Me neither, but it’s a new world and we must adapt or die or worse.” Cal shook his head ruefully. He suddenly felt heavier. “I’ll maybe see you for lunch?”
“Sure, but you’re cooking,” Nila smiled.
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Nine year old Veronica Cruces marched hesitantly out into the knee high grass of the local neighborhood park’s no longer maintained lawn. An ax was clutched tightly in her hands.
Cal kept a figurative eye on his niece and her surroundings with his telepathy. He marked every single mutant squirrel laying in wait on the fringes. It was his and Remy’s presence that kept the mutated animals away. Weak monsters avoided them.
Veronica, however, was just what they wanted.
“Dad, how much further do I have to go,” Veronica called back in a shaky voice.
“Damn it,” Remy muttered. “We’re doing this too soon.”
Cal didn’t need his telepathy to notice that his younger brother was on the verge of calling this whole thing off.
“Wait, dad,” Tessa said. “Vee’s got this. She’s been practicing really hard.”
“Keep going, Veronica. Don’t worry. I’ll grab them when they jump out,” Cal said. “Relax, Rem. She isn’t in any real danger.”
“Yeah, dad, Uncle Cal will slow the mutant squirrels down just like he did for my first kills,” Tessa said.
Remy sighed. “Hearing those words really makes me sad. Feels like I’ve failed as a father.”
“Why? I’ve got a cool power now. You don’t have to worry about monsters hurting me.”
“I will always worry. Even if you can out shoot a battleship.”
Cal chuckled. Malice, hunger and anticipation suddenly bloomed in his thoughts. It was about time for Veronica’s big first steps into the new world.
He watched the little girl take a hesitant step, then another. Should he warn her? No, that’d just make her more nervous. He supposed it was like getting a tooth pulled out. The anticipation was always worse than the act.
There was a burst of action from the tall grass, as dozens of mutant squirrels came rushing at Veronica. They were gross, misshapen things. Three times the size of a normal squirrel. Their overgrown muscles stretched and even tore their skin in parts. Their fur was in patches. Their teeth were too large and sharp for their mouths. These teeth weren’t meant for nuts and seeds.
Cal decided that this situation was in no way similar to getting your teeth pulled out at the dentist. Not even close. He grabbed each mutant squirrel in a telekinetic grip and slowed them to a crawl.
“Go get them, Vee!” Tessa cheered.
“Remember to control your swings, honey,” Remy said. “Watch your legs and the head placement when you chop downward.”
Veronica stood still for a second. Did she freeze? It wasn’t a big deal if she did. They could always try again at another time. Cal was just about to crush the squirrels when Veronica let out a blood curdling cry.
“Rrraaarggghhh… JUSTICE!”
Cal was honestly stunned as his sweet, little niece slashed about in a fury. The mutant squirrels didn’t stand a chance.
“I didn’t see this coming,” Cal said. “She’s swinging that ax around pretty fast.”
“Yeah, I made the head lighter. Hollowed the thickest parts out and then shaped a lattice for internal support. Cut the weight in half, but retained the same structural integrity,” Remy said.
“Plus, Vee’s been working really hard in training.”
Cal glanced at Tessa. He noticed that she was flipping a coin across the knuckles of her hand. Rather, she was trying. She kept dropping it.
“What’s with the coin? You trying to be a riverboat gambler or something?”
“It’s my ammo.”
“Tessandra, you’re not an anime character. Plus it’s a waste of money. I told you, use nuts, bolts and ball bearings,” Remy said.
“But dad, this is way cooler.”
“Focusing on being cool is what gets you dead. This is real life. You aren’t the protagonist of an anime. Losing in the real world won’t lead to a training montage and a power up. If you can’t understand that then maybe we need to rethink how we’re doing things.”
“Well, there are powers and magic now. So, maybe the real world is an anime.” Tessa crossed her arms.
Cal agreed in theory, but he was smart enough to keep those thoughts to himself.
“JUSTICE AX!” Veronica roared.
“So… what’s with that?”
Remy rubbed his temples. “She’s been reading my old comic books. No TV and no Netflix.”
“She wants to be a superhero,” Tessa giggled. “God, such a newb.”
“Don’t call your sister a newb,” Remy said flatly.
“Hey, Tessa, so what’s the anime you’re talking about?”
“It’s about this girl who can magnetically accelerate objects. Just like my power.”
“Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen some of that.”
“Uncle Cal, isn’t it kinda weird that a grown man watches anime with girls in them?”
Cal stared blankly at Tessa for a second. “Was that snark? Are you snarking me? I mean I’m old, so I can’t really tell with you kids these days.”
There was a triumphant gleam in Tessa’s eyes.
“No, she’s just being a brat,” Remy said.
“FREEDOM WHIRLWIND!” Veronica shouted.
“No! No spinning!” Remy grimaced. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered.
Tessa cackled. “I can’t wait to tell mom.”
“No, we will not be telling mom about anything that transpired here. We will only speak in vague generalities or she will never let you or your sister outside again.”
“Yeah… that makes sense,” Tessa said after a moment
“Kids grow up so fast. One day they’re playing princess unicorn parade. The next…” Cal gestured toward Veronica as she bashed her last mutant squirrel with prejudice. “So, Rem… how are you planning on explaining all the blood to Megan.”
“I’m not,” Remy gestured to his backpack, “brought a change of clothes.”
Veronica let out a fine battle cry that wouldn’t have been out of place on the fields of Cimmeria or the slopes of Mount Doom. Tessa let out a shout of pure joy as she ran to embrace her little sister. Cal whooped it up after he made sure that there were no more mutant squirrels or other things in the immediate area.
“I don’t know if I should be impressed or worried.”
“Thanks for the help,” Remy said.
“Any time.”
“I read the report about what you found yesterday.”
Cal raised a hand. “I can give you the details later. For now, just enjoy the moment. Let’s celebrate for Veronica.”
“Yeah,” Remy said weakly. “I just wish we were celebrating something else, like getting the lead role in the school play or winning a soccer tournament.”
“Same here, but we didn’t choose our world.” Cal watched his nieces embracing and jumping around in a circle. The sight made him happy and a little sad. “Heading straight to the spire?”
“Yup, Veronica’s been waiting for this day like it was Christmas and her birthday all in one. I don’t think I could make her wait. Ever since Tessa got her powers, Veronica’s been itching for her turn.”
“Well, she did have to wait four years. Tessa only had to wait two.” A thought struck Cal. “Say… did you bring a change of clothes for Tessa too?”
“… god damn it.”
----------------------------------------
Now
Cal snapped to attention with an incessant beeping in his ears.
“What the hell?”
For a moment he didn’t know where and when he was. It hit him with jarring suddenness. He was in Orchestral Meridian. Floating out of reach of many monstrous Threnosh-like beings.
A glance at the clock projected in his face-plate indicated that the battle had started nearly five minutes ago. What was going on with him? It was the second time in as many days that he had blanked out and gone elsewhere. Elsewhen?
“Team 1, status?” Cal spoke into the comms.
“Holding at our fall back position. Hostiles are continuing their attack. We can sustain combat for another fifteen minutes before ammunition is depleted,” Salamander said.
“Team 2?”
“We have reached the fall back position. Rodinian’s traps have proved effective at slowing the hostiles. We can hold indefinitely,” Telatrine said.
“Alright. I’ve got a bunch to take care of here then I’ll swing by and help you guys out.”
Cal didn’t waste any time. He had already done enough of that. He used his telekinesis to send the numerous knife blades in the compartments on his belt flying into the Threnosh-like monsters. He stabbed them repeatedly until they were dead. Except for one. The lucky subject was choked to unconsciousness with a telekinetic grip around its throat. He secured it with restraints and towed it behind him as he flew to relieve his team.
Strangely, as soon as he drew near the Threnosh-like monsters disengaged and disappeared into the city. They took that strange sound that was an impossible mix between a keening wail and haunting music with them. The silence that remained was all the more eerie in its absence.
“I think that’s good enough for today. Let’s head back to base camp. I’ve got a subject that the researchers can examine. We’ll need drones to set up more surveillance. That was a lot more than I expected.”
If any of the Threnosh thought it amiss that Cal didn’t give an explanation for why he had been silent for nearly five minutes, none of them voiced their concerns. The same question weighed heavily on his mind.
Further manned exploration of the city was temporarily postponed in favor of remote-operated drones, while the live subject was examined. Of course, Cal exempted himself from the restriction. He probed further and deeper into Orchestral Meridian. He chased after that strange feeling, that haunting sound, yet was greeted with deafening silence. The only he things he found were more of the cocoons that the Corrupted Threnosh, as he had taken to calling them, were contained in. Every single one he came across was empty.
It took several days before the researchers had thoroughly studied and dissected the live, the once living, subject Cal had brought back to their base camp.
“The subject is or rather, was once Threnosh,” Head Researcher Alluvial Fan 24198 said.
“What’s the probability on that?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Okay… please continue.”
“There are significant alterations to the subject’s genetic code. It is beyond our current capability to determine how this was done. The alterations provide an overall increase to physical capabilities by a multiplier of twelve, while degrading cognitive functions. As you can see here,” Head Researcher Alluvial Fan 24198 highlighted a portion of the Corrupted Threnosh’s brain in a holographic projection, “this region is responsible for base instinct, aggression, hunger and so on. In the proper Threnosh, the region is atrophied, essentially inoperative. In the subject it is enlarged. In contrast to the portions of the brain responsible for higher functions. As you can see.”
Cal stared at the projection. The numbers indicated that the corrupted was on the same level as a very strong human.
“Perhaps if I bring up a projection of a proper Threnosh brain, you will be able to understand.”
“That won’t be necessary. So, what do you think we’re actually dealing with here? Was the subject once normal, but then altered or were they born this way?”
The head researcher blinked once, twice, thrice. “We had not considered the latter possibility.”
“I’m assuming that there are birthing creches in the city,” Cal said.
“Certainly. In theory the creches can be altered to produce different outcomes.”
“Like that?” Cal pointed at the holographic projection of the Corrupted Threnosh.
“There is not enough data to provide an answer to your query. However, I believe there is a method with which we may be able to discern the origin of this particular specimen.”
“How?”
“Every Threnosh birthed from the creches has an individual genetic marker that is recorded in the Great Archive. We have already extracted the subject’s. There is one difficulty. The archive’s keepers do not simply accept requests from mere researchers.”
“Forward the marker to me. I’ll ask Prime Custodian 3 to handle it. I don’t think they’d turn down the request if it came from a prime.”
“That is a logical supposition.”
“Thanks and tell your team they did a good job. This is a monumental discovery even if it’s horrifying.”
“Acknowledged.”
Cal walked out of the prefab lab when his PID beeped. It was the genetic marker.
“Alluvial’s quick.”
He crafted a short message and forwarded the information to Prime Custodian 3. Now all he had to do was come up with a new plan. They couldn’t continue the exploration of the city if they were going to be mobbed by thousands of Corrupted Threnosh. The place wasn’t behaving like other encounter challenges and even spawn points. There were no spread out pockets of reasonably sized mobs. No limits to their aggro radius.
“The Quest called it a spawn point. What’s different?”
Maybe the spawn sections were larger. Instead of a several hundred yard or less radius, entire districts might constitute a monster zone. He’d have to test out that theory on his own. Since he was flight-capable he could just bail if he got swarmed. The rest of his team couldn’t do that. Although, it was worth a lot of points if they could repeat the kill totals of their first foray into the city. Set up five at a time. Fight until they ran out of ammo. Then he could just fly them out of there. Maybe bring in regular soldiers to hold cleared areas to give his team clear lines of retreat. They could clear the city one district at a time that way.
“I’m missing something,” Cal muttered. “Why did I think this was going to be a piece of cake?”
Cal subvocalized a message to his team while he walked to the drone operator station. They needed a brainstorming session. Which they would have right after he checked in with his drone operators to see how the scouting and setting up of remote cameras was proceeding.
“So much to do, yet so little time.”