I glared at the object pinched between my fingers like it was the most vile thing I had ever seen.
We returned to our hideout later that night to move our things to a location Cyberspace helped us acquire. Just like Mia had reported, a few notable things were missing. To Sam’s dismay, her room looked like it had been tipped upside down and ransacked. She lamented a few missing items, but she didn’t appear upset about what had happened. Since Mia and Liam kept nothing of note there, the biggest crime had been the state my workshop was left in.
Broken glass littered the floor like thousands of tiny crystals, the tables snapped in half, and my notes shredded into ribbons. It was like someone got their hands on a baseball bat and a chainsaw before going to town on the place. It was – to put it simply – rage-inducing, but I managed to keep a lid on my anger.
That was until I saw a familiar briefcase meticulously placed amongst the chaos, with the sole purpose of drawing my attention. I had all but growled when I opened it to see the payload chip that Mirage and Banshee had taken from me. A sticky note with a smiley face scribbled onto it was stuck to the side of it. Mirage knew there would be no need to write anything on it because the message was clear enough.
I stared at the small fortune between my fingers, resisting the temptation to crush it into dust.
“He’s fucking with me.”
“Us,” Sam corrected, leaning on the wall behind me, eyeing Deadlock’s cube in her hand. Fortunately, they had broken in and decided not to take it back. “He’s trying to tell us that even though we’ve beaten Grim, that we shouldn’t get too cocky. He’s still out there and he’s going to take advantage of any weakness we show.”
My grip tightened, narrowing my eyes at the chip.
“Let’s see him take advantage of anything when I blow a hole through his face.”
“Normally I’d be against killing. Too much trouble and risk…” She dismissively waved her hand, the corner of her lips twitching. “I think I’ll make an exception here. If his powers are as versatile as you claim, then we will never be safe. He needs to die. I refuse to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, not knowing what’s real.”
“Total sensory control. He had me trapped in an illusion that I was completely aware of,” I shook my head, recalling the moment I crossed paths with him last night. There were no tells from what I could remember, nothing that stood out to me that signaled the moment I had entered his illusion. It was seamless and impossible to recognize. That’s what made it terrifying. Mirage could keep me trapped for as long as he liked, regardless of whether or not I recognized the illusion. “It means that facing him, I won’t be able to rely on any of my senses. None of us can.”
Sam was quiet for a moment. I could see in the corner of my eye that she was conversing with Gold and the rest of her personalities.
“The only way to fight him is to confront him with something he can’t affect with his power. If it involves sensory control, then the answer is obvious.”
“Automated machinery. Robotics. Drones,” I murmured. “Fight him from a distance.”
There were ways to take him down. All I had to do was develop them and put them into action when we found him. I knew I was more than capable of killing Mirage. He was just a man with substantial illusionary powers. He wasn’t Gaea. He wasn’t The Mountain. He certainly wasn’t Ajax. He was just a man, flesh and blood.
He would slip up eventually. Then, I’d deal with him.
“He’ll know. Gold suspects his power subtly gives him an indication of who he can influence. If he can sense that, then he won’t put himself in a position where that can happen to him. He’s already demonstrated that he’s smarter than he lets on. His lackadaisical demeanor is a front to throw us off and… and—” Sam ground her teeth and stared at the floor. “He had Gold completely fooled. We couldn’t see through it.”
“He can mess with your powers – the way Gold interprets information.”
Sam breathed a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, this is a first for me. No one has been able to mess with Gold before.”
She followed Gold’s guidance since her earliest days, and it never steered her wrong before. Gold had even been directing our recent moves as a group accurately enough. Now that Sam met someone capable of interfering with how Gold processed information, she could no longer trust any conclusion relating to Mirage.
“We’ve got time and resources on our side now,” I said, idly tossing the chip back into the briefcase. I examined the room with a deep sigh. It would take all my remaining charges to fix the essentials, so I would have none to use on anything else for the rest of the night. “We just have to deal with moving out now. At least the place we’re moving to will have more space than this.”
Cyberspace identified a mechanic business in Groves Den operating out of a building that perfectly suited our needs. The floor plan had a comfortable upstairs with enough rooms to fit the four of us, a common area, plus a kitchenette, complete with separate external access. The downstairs would function as my new workshop, though there was an expectation that I would make sure that any access from ground level had to be heavily fortified with subtle defenses. It would take some time, but I was sure I wouldn’t have any trouble.
The only issue was that the business was still operational. There was no way the owners would pack up and move if we walked up and asked nicely. Cyberspace had interjected and informed us that they would have the situation sorted out in a matter of hours.
We hadn’t even made it to our hideout when we heard that Cyberspace had bought out the business. How they had done that so quickly, they weren’t willing to divulge, but I doubted the process was entirely legal. I might only be sixteen, but acquisitions took time, that much I knew. It wasn’t something a simple phone call could solve.
“It’s temporary. Cyberspace wants us more secure,” Sam’s gaze narrowed on the cube, her fingers stroking the smooth sides. She gently rotated it like she was searching for an entrance that we both knew didn’t exist. “This is apparently our key.”
She tossed it, prompting me to catch it with an outstretched hand.
It was strange. I wondered why Mirage left it behind. Did he even notice we had it?
[Charges: 19/25]
[Type]
Distorted Space-time Dimensional Occupational Unit - Prototype Build 0.8234v12
[Durability 41/100 - Repair Unavailable. Cost: 3] (ERROR - Incompatible Component Detected)
“Still incompatible,” I said, shaking my head. I couldn’t make sense of why. Interacting with other Mechatech didn’t give me this issue. Sure, this was the most advanced piece, yet I couldn’t figure out why this issue persisted. “Incompatible component detected.”
“Your power only tells you that when there’s something biological interfering right? Isn’t that why you can’t repair your suit while you're wearing it?” Sam asked, peering at the cube again. “Is there anything biological that’s integrated into its design?”
I peered at the different categories built into the device. The Dark Matter Engines still left me flabbergasted, but nothing jumped out to specify any incompatible upgrades. My power read everything as an error and prevented me from doing anything with it.
“Not that I can see, but my power doesn’t seem to give me information on anything biological either. There could be something living integrated into the design that I just can’t see, or maybe there’s another limit to my upgrades. There’s every possibility I can’t affect Mechatech that’s too advanced. No way to be certain.”
Sam’s lips thinned. “No, there is, you can affect any non-biological tech no matter how advanced.”
My brows rose.
“That was quick.”
“Well, Gold has spent a lot of time trying to find the limits of your powers and the only ones she’s found are the ones you already know, biological constructs and charges. Unfortunately… that leaves us with a bit of a problem,” she awkwardly laughed, like she wasn’t sure how to phrase what she wanted to say next.
I gave her a blank stare. I knew her well enough now to realize what conclusion she had come to.
“You think someone’s inside?”
We both stared at the cube that rested in the palm of my hand. Sam gave a non-committal answer, which left me with no ideas to confirm that hypothesis. Deadlock’s tech warped space and time, so the possibility of its interior space not matching up with what the exterior showed wasn’t out of the question. However, the thought of someone being inside never crossed my mind.
Cautiously, I lifted the cube to my ear to see if I could hear anything coming from within. I didn’t expect to, but I thought I might as well give it a try. To no one’s surprise, I heard nothing.
I decided to shake it to see if I could hear anything tumbling around.
“Oh my God…” Sam half-heartedly reached toward me before retracting her hands, giggling. “Your first instinct after listening is to shake it? What if there really is someone inside!? You could have just killed them.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
I snorted and rolled my eyes.
“I’ve shot this thing and thrown it off the roof trying to get it open. If someone’s inside, they’re probably already dead. Besides, I doubt that box it was kept in before we got it was handled any better,” I replied easily. “Who says it’s a person anyway? It’s an occupational unit – there’s probably like… flowers inside for all we know.”
“Flowers,” she repeated, amused by the idea. “Somehow, I don’t think anyone is keeping an indoor garden inside a billion dollar mechatech prototype.”
“Have you seen the dumb shit rich people do? But whatever it is, it’s preventing my power from interacting with it. Maybe Cyberspace knows how to get inside,” I said, handing it back to her. Sam took it before standing up. She looked for a container before settling for another backpack I had tucked near the corner of the room. “I want to repair all this gear first before it’s moved. It’ll make their job easier if everything’s in one piece.”
“We’re going to have to dismantle that one,” Sam said, pointing toward the largest 3D printer. I could immediately see why. “It’s not going to fit through the doors.”
“We’re not staying here anymore. Just use Red to make the door bigger. No need to be gentle about it,” I replied, my lips thinning as I looked around. “You know, it kind of sucks. I was starting to like this place. I think it was growing on me, though that could be the mold.” I looked at the walls, noting that they were one of the first things I repaired. “I never did get round to touching this whole place up.”
Sam smiled weakly. There was an expression of longing, one I barely picked up on. She wasn’t any happier than I was at being forced to leave. She had stayed here longer than I had, but then again, she was used to moving around and staying on the run.
“Would have brought too much attention. It’s funny, I imagined you turning this place into a fortress,” she made lightning noises with her mouth and laughed. “Our own Castle Frankenstein… would’ve been nice. I could’ve been your cute, sexy assistant while you created horrors beyond mankind’s comprehension.”
“I’m sure you would’ve comprehended them just fine.”
Sam snorted.
“How else would I be able to stop you before you fucked up?” Her amusement slowly dropped from her face as she looked around. “Where we’re moving to is much more reasonable. We’ll be hidden in plain sight and we’re going to have far more to keep us concealed,” Sam sighed. “I knew it was going to come to this eventually. I dreamed a little too big, thinking I could have you all to myself. Should’ve known it’d only be a matter of time before someone too strong to handle snapped us up for our powers.”
“That’s all we really are to Cyberspace,” I said, not bothering to hide the bitterness in my voice. No matter how sweet the deal, at the end of the day, I knew we had just become another set of tools in their arsenal. “Resources to use, tools to exploit. We’re supers working for other supers. Cyberspace is never going to let us go. You’re an Aspect, Sam. They aren’t going to let you go any easier than me.”
She laughed. “Here I was just about to say you’re starting to understand Supers.”
I gave her a questioning look.
She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Max, the whole world has been influenced by Mechatech. The ECU, most Governments, cities, countries rely on it. Me? My powers only serve me. Maybe I’ll get lucky and survive long enough for a new personality to evolve with a Mechakinetic specialty,” she let out a long exhale at the thought. “God only knows my head’s full enough already.”
I wanted to argue, but I forced myself to consider her words. We had touched on this subject before when she praised the potential of my power back when I was underselling it. I had been a fool not to realize what I was capable of. Time and resources were every Mechakinetic’s biggest obstacles. I was only limited by the former in the long run. Resources could save me a lot of time, but they’re not a hard limit like for other Mechakinetics. Even considering all that, I still would not have made it nearly as far as I did without her.
“Now it’s my turn to say that you don’t give yourself enough credit.”
Sam laughed again. “Sometimes I think I give myself too much.”
“Without you, I’d probably be in Mirage’s basement building toys for him to throw at Grim. Here, I’m at least afforded the freedom I wanted. With Cyberspace—” I paused, cutting myself off. I knew things were going to be different from now on. “With Cyberspace, I know things are going to change but as far as I’m concerned, it’s still us against the rest of the world. I trust you far more than these guys.”
Sam's smile turned dopey, and I knew she received my message loud and clear.
No matter what happened, my loyalty was to her more than Cyberspace.
“You really know how to make a girl’s heart skip a beat.”
“Aw, you made it weird,” I jokingly complained as she lightly punched my shoulder. “We were having a moment and you just had to go and say that. Good going.”
“Oh, shut up,” her smile didn’t vanish, so thankfully, she took my ribbing in good spirits. “I mean it. I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to trust anyone since I got my powers. You…” she paused, the smile faltering ever so slightly. “You’re the first person I feel like I can actually trust now.”
“Even with Gold in your ear?”
“Even with Gold in my ear,” Sam giggled. “We’ve made it this far, after all.”
With heat around my neck, I moved toward my broken equipment and began the repair process. I focused on the bigger stuff, like the printers, since the other stuff could wait till after we moved. Once I had finished those, I did my best with the rest of my equipment until I ran out of charges. The last of my efforts involved gathering the smaller projects I had been tinkering with and piling them into bags.
“So, you’re going to tell your mom about all this.” I slowed to a halt at her words. She wasn’t questioning me, which meant Gold had already discerned my unspoken intentions. I glanced over my shoulder to see Sam glued to the same spot where I last saw her. She had been silently watching me as I went about my work. “I suppose I get it. Gold says you shouldn’t but I’m not going to stop you.”
“Yeah, well, I can only balance so much. A lot of problems could have been avoided if I had just been honest with her from the start,” I said, zipping up one bag and pushing it to the side. “I know what I’m in for. I’ll get grilled for lying. She’ll threaten to ground me or whatever but that’s not going to work – not with Cyberspace involved. I can’t exactly tell them ‘oh, I can’t continue to develop my projects because my mommy grounded me.’ That’s not going to fly.”
“Nope,” Sam replied, popping the ‘p.’ “Alternatively, you could continue to keep her in the dark.”
I turned.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to stop me?”
“I’m not,” she said innocently. “Never said anything about trying to convince you.”
“Sam…” I groaned a little. “I can’t keep lying to her. It’s bad enough already. If I had died last night, she would be stuck wondering what happened to me for the rest of her life. Alex would have to tell her and… I don’t think mom would ever forgive her for keeping secrets, not if I died because of them. I don’t want to think about what that’d do to Mom and Alex.”
Sam’s eyes drifted to the floor. I knew she agreed with my reasoning, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. Involving people without powers tended to get messy, and I had not forgotten about Lucy’s situation. A part of me wondered if her disappearance had anything to do with the admission of my powers to her. However, the likelihood of that was slim at best. Her father was Wildfire. He likely moved his family to keep them safe from the conflict.
“Are you going to tell her about me?”
My gaze met hers. I couldn’t help but wonder why Sam was asking these questions when Gold was almost certainly feeding her the answers.
“I’ll probably have to. She’ll need context, so I guess I’ll be mentioning Liam and Mia as well. Cyberspace is going to be the tricky thing to explain. I’m not sure how I’m going to break that to her but she’s going to need to know to understand how serious things are,” I explained. “At least this way she can stop worrying so much.”
Turns out, that was the wrong thing to say.
“That’s why you’re wanting to tell her, so she’ll stop worrying?” Sam’s tone turned incredulous. “All of this is going to make her stress even more. Her son is locked into a partnership with the world’s most reviled Super. I can understand wanting to cut the lying, but you have to know this isn’t going to make her worry any less.”
Doubt gnawed at me. I had already made the call, so Mom was expecting a conversation. I couldn’t just show up and lie more.
I didn’t consider that.
“I have to tell her,” I said, trying to remain firm on my course of action. “Lying isn’t… I can’t keep doing it, Sam. Sooner or later she’ll find out anyway, whether because I got injured enough that I couldn’t cover it up, or Alex lets something slip. When that happens, she’ll never trust me again. I… I can’t let that happen.”
“I know,” her voice reflected a tinge of misery. “I don’t know your mom very well. I got a very surface level reading on her so you would know better than me. If you feel like you need to tell her, then tell her. I made the mistake of trusting my parents,” she mused bitterly. “Maybe you made the mistake of not trusting yours enough.”
I breathed out a slow sigh of relief. It was no coincidence that I had thought the same thing not too long ago.
“Maybe,” I said softly in agreement. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Sam straightened up, brushing any specks of dust off her costume before smiling.
“I’ll look forward to hearing how it goes. I think this’ll work out for the best, even if Gold is being a downer,” she absently looked around at the state of the workshop and nodded slowly. “I’ll go tell the guys downstairs to come up and start moving things into the truck. You look like you’ve got things sorted here. After that, I’ll probably go see if I can get Liam to open up a bit.”
My brow narrowed at that.
“Open up?”
Sam cringed a little.
“You haven’t really noticed, have you? Mia’s only just caught on,” her posture shifted, displaying uneasy awkwardness. “Liam… he killed that Morpher last night, remember? He was younger than us, younger than Liam even, and it wasn’t exactly a clean death. That’s not sitting on his conscience nicely and coupled with everything else that went down, he’s… not himself.”
I felt myself frown. I thought all the angst had come from the revelation that his ‘uncle’ wasn’t who he believed he was. The death of the Morpher at Liam’s hands had completely slipped my mind. I hadn’t even considered how he would process that piece of knowledge. That Morpher was young, a boy younger than him to boot.
I shuddered a little.
Was I becoming desensitized to death?
There was a flash in my mind, and I recalled the smell of burning flesh with startling clarity. The life I had ended couldn’t have been much older than me.
“Yeah,” I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I don’t imagine that would sit well at all.”
There was a brief moment where she stared at me. I caught her gaze and almost flinched. I wanted nothing more than to look away and find something else in the room to fill my vision. But I couldn’t. Her features softened as she crossed the room towards me. I watched her move, counting every step. Sam hesitated for a moment before extending her arms to pull me into a hug.
As I returned the gesture, the only thing that occupied my mind was that her hair smelled of strawberries.
“You didn’t have another option, Max,” she reassured me. “Trust me, it gets better. Give it time.”
With that, she pulled away and walked out of the room.
I watched her leave, unblinking eyes locked to her back. The hairs on my neck rose when I pieced together the unspoken implication.
She has killed before.