SHOCKS Headquarters, Victoria, British Columbia - June 8, 2043, 3:26 PM
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The second he saw Claire hit the ground on the R-0 side of his merge generator, Director Ramirez pushed the detonator on Strauss’s second prototype merge-breaker. The unholy mix of URAs, explosives, M-37 siphons, and electronics he’d added went off.
His hair stood on end in his hazmat suit, and gravity went sideways for a second before R-0’s laws of physics reasserted themselves. Electricity filled the room as the Faraday Cage activated. Sparks flew from every control panel for a second.
The portal flickered, then went out.
A moment later, the smell hit Ramirez even through his filters. He gagged, then vomited into his respirator. “Clean up, get in there,” he managed to choke out in the space between one stomach convulsion and the next. Then, as emergency biohazard alarms went off, he fled the room, along with everyone not in a Class Four bio-suit.
Wherever that girl had been, Paul wanted nothing to do with it. Ever.
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SHOCKS Headquarters, Victoria, British Columbia - June 8, 2043, 4:42 PM
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I’ll never be clean again.
Ever.
They had to evacuate the JAMES Experimental Sector. Right now, they’re scrubbing its air on a separate circuit from the rest of SHOCKS, trying to make it habitable again.
As for me? I’ve been pronounced a biological weapon—probably something that violates the Geneva Convention. They scrubbed me clean-ish—enough to get me to a locker room they’d cleared and sealed off specifically for me. Then, SHOCKS brought me new clothes while I showered. I doubt I’ll see my old ones again—goodbye and good riddance.
I’m still in the locker room’s shower, trying to get clean. I’ve scrubbed my armpits raw, but the stink’s still there.
Doctor Twitchy’s debriefing with me will have to wait until I’m done, but this smell’s almost impossible to get rid of. I give my hair another round of the industrial-strength shampoo, rinse it out, and hope for the best as I finally shut off the water.
The reality on the ground—so to speak—is that presentable or not, I saw something that SHOCKS needs to know about. They’re the bogeymen, yes. And I don’t trust them at all. But they’ve been helpful, and they’ll keep being helpful as long as Merge Prime’s a threat.
SHOCKS and I will be best friends for a while, just like Li Mei and me. Plus, if they knew what I’d seen in my vision, they’d be talking to me right now—stink or not.
A sweatshirt and leggings await me, as well as a SHOCKS agent who clears her throat as I finish. “If you’re ready, Director Ramirez would like to debrief,” she reminds me, as if I don’t already know. I follow her through the maze of hallways toward the office side of SHOCKS Headquarters and push through the door into the office. Last time, Lieutenant Rodriguez was here. This time, it’s just Doctor Twitchy, his computer, and, surprisingly, a picture of a boy on the monitor.
I’ve only seen him once before, and he looks a lot different than the last time, but I recognize him instantly. “Hello, James.”
[Hi.]
“Hello, Claire,” Doctor Twitchy says. “The JAMES Unit insists on sitting in on our conversation more…directly. I’m not in a position to reject its presence, and even if I did, that would be a formality—it has access to everything we do here. We’re here to discuss today’s mission.”
“Great. James, what time am I supposed to eat with Alice?”
[Alice and your father are going to dinner in an hour and a half. The cafeteria will be relatively empty around that time.]
“Thanks.” I’m not thankful. How did Dad get involved in this? That’s going to complicate everything. I turn to Doctor Twitchy. “You have an hour.”
[Your sister told him earlier today. I had nothing to do with it,] James says. He gets it. I’m not sure why he does, but he does. In contrast to the pale, hairless ghost from the JAMES Experimental Sector, this one’s got a ghost of a smile on his tanned skin. He’s wearing a skull T-shirt and black sweatbands on his arms, and his dark brown hair’s swooshed over one eye.
I look away.
“One hour. Understood,” Doctor Twitchy says. “That should be plenty of time to cover the basics.”
He clears his throat and presses a button on his computer. “Interview with L4-3, Specialist Claire Pendleton. The time is 1653, June 8, 2043. Interview conducted SHOCKS Headquarters Victoria and Vancouver Island.
“First, Recovery and Stabilization Teams Lambda-Four and Five are clear. They reached the edge of the quarantine zone shortly before you returned through the generated merge. There were a few injuries, but nothing serious. However, the merge in Sooke was not shut when we triggered Strauss’s device, so we’ll need to devise an alternative plan to fix that.”
“I’m not going back in there,” I say, eyes narrowing. If he thinks there’s any way I’m going to fight one of those—
“Of course not. The biohazard potential from that reality is much too high to open additional merges from our side. We’ve confirmed that you’re not infectious but can’t risk more exposures. We’ll work on Strauss’s device and see if we can deploy it in combat conditions. If so, we can try to retake the Prestige Building and close that merge individually. We did learn that Strauss’s device is effective both in other realities and in our own, though it’s a tremendous waste of resources.”
We run through the whole scenario, piece by piece, moment by moment, until eventually, Doctor Twicthy looks at his watch and clears his throat. “We’re going to need to cut past some of this. I’m most concerned about what you encountered while in there,” Doctor Twitchy says.
“The angel?”
“Yes. The James Unit showed me the footage of the voiceless singer from different angles and in infrared and sonar readouts. It perfectly matches the anomaly you found in R-1421, which we’re holding here. We’ve rated it high-Xuduo-Danger, but given that we’ve encountered them twice now, in multiple different realities that are likely not their baseline, we’re considering treating them as a much larger problem. Any insights you have into them would help us greatly.”
I don’t have any insights. All I’ve got is a vision I can’t make sense of and a bad feeling I can’t shake.
Doctor Twitchy’s curious about the vision, of course. I rattle off the ends of a hundred realities as quickly as I can, in clinical, boring language—mainly because that’s what SHOCKS operates with, but also a little bit because I don’t want to think about it too much. James starts to interrupt midway through, but I keep plowing over him. Doctor Twitchy has lots of interruptions I can’t run over as easily, though.
Eventually, the conversation drifts to a stop. Before Doctor Twitchy can ask more questions, I change the subject. “Alice. How’s the Li Mei research going?”
“Not well,” he says. He fiddles with his computer, but I’m sure I’ve already heard whatever he’s about to say. Sure enough, he starts with, “We’ve been trying the low-risk experiments we attempted with you, and we’ve had similar results. That should establish a—“
“Baseline, right. That’s not going to cut it. Li Mei’s getting stronger faster than my sister is. We’ve got to fix that somehow. She’s not stable.”
“Understood. We’ll try to come up with something we think might work.”
I hold up a hand. “No. If we want Alice to get stronger, she’s got to do what I’m doing.”
“She can’t enter merges like you can, can she?”
“No, but she can help in other places, and she can grow like I can. If you’d brought her to Sooke instead of me, she could have passed as a Public Health Services agent. She’s better with people than I am, and she’s a liar. Always has been. She’d be perfect for what you asked me to do today. I’ll talk to her tonight and see if she’s on board as a temporary measure.” I stand up.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Doctor Twitchy holds up a hand. “What about our experiments?”
“You can keep doing them. She’ll like that. But nothing that puts Alice’s life in danger.”
“Alright. We’ll see about attaching Alice to Lambda-Five with Level A clearance. That’s just a formality. I’m sure you’ve already told her every secret in this place since you have the JAMES Unit,” Doctor Twitchy says. I haven’t. I don’t trust Alice that much. “As for your father, we’ve started the detoxification process. Expect things to be rough for a while.”
“I’m used to that,” I say, and leave the director’s office.
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[You shouldn’t push Director Ramirez like that,] James says.
It’s been twenty minutes since I escaped the debriefing. I’d kill for another shower, but there’s no time. The spray-on deodorant’s not cutting it. Either that or the smell’s in my nose. I blow it out. It helps a little.
“Why not? Don’t we have all the power here?” I ask.
[Because most of the other SHOCKS Control Zones are focused on fighting Merge Prime in this reality. I don’t see a path to victory in R-0 and your vision confirms that. We’ll need to go over it in more detail—]
“No.”
[—and try to piece together what it means and what the voiceless singers’ role in all this is,] James finishes, almost like I hadn’t interrupted him. [I know you don’t want to, but Claire, that vision might be a key to beating Merge Prime. Either that or the voiceless singers are. Either way, you’ve encountered two of them. We need to take advantage of that—and prepare for a third meeting.]
I clam up. Partially because James is pushing my buttons. But mostly, it’s because I’ve got ten minutes to get my hair in order, find something to wear, and meet Alice and Dad at the cafeteria, so that’s my priority. Not saving the world. Not even making sure Sora and her family are safe. Just…having dinner with Alice and Dad. Normal fifteen-year-old stuff.
That’s going to be hard enough, and that’s the truth.
Eventually, I decide I don’t have anything nice to wear and go with a clean set of leggings and another hoodie over a T-shirt. This one’s got a zipper, but I keep it down so the plain brown T is visible. Alice packed some clothes, but I don’t think she’d loan me anything, and even if she did, it wouldn’t fit right.
Then, with some hesitation, I grab Mom’s dress and slide it off its hangar.
I could wear it. Technically, it’d work, and I could probably pin it well enough that it wouldn’t look ridiculous. Alice helped me do that for her commencement ceremony, and it held together well enough during the whole West End merge. But I just got it back, and I don’t trust myself not to trash it again. What if it picks up that reality’s stench? What if something happens, and I have to fight again? So, in the end, I fold it up and tuck it under my arm.
Alice is wearing sweatpants and a loose shirt. Her hair’s back in a messy bun. And her makeup’s about as basic as I’ve ever seen her wear outside the house—mascara, foundation, a tiny bit of blush. Her jet-black eyes narrow for a second as she sees me, the red cores growing until she takes a deep breath and a mask goes on.
“Hi, Alice,” I say. I don’t say hi to Li Mei.
“Let’s go get Dad,” she snaps.
I’m not thrilled about it, but I follow her down the hall to Dad’s room.
When James pops the door open with a soft beep, I’m shocked at how much it’s changed. The sea of bottles is gone. So is the mini-fridge. In its place, there’s a vending machine. Half of it’s filled with juices, while the other half’s got dozens of candy bars, fruit snacks, and even single-serving puddings—incredible amounts of single-serving sugar. My mouth waters; after today, I’m starving, and I’m still a kid.
An entire machine full of snacks? That beats prunes any day.
The lights are dim. Dad’s chair’s gone. For a second, I’m not even sure where to look for him. Then I see him on the bed.
He looks less like a rock and more like a half-buried, moss-covered boulder under his blanket. He shakes a little as I watch, and his eyes crack open. “What?” Then they narrow to slits before widening. “You’re not the damn doctor. What the hell do you want, Claire?”
I don’t say anything. Dad’s looked bad before, but this is way worse. The room smells worse than I do: the stale smell of dry bottles still hangs in the air, and now Dad’s sweaty smell’s different than when he just hasn’t changed his clothes in too long. His voice sounds like he’s hurting…a lot. Where did my confidence from forty-five minutes ago, when I was telling Doctor Twitchy what to do, disappear to?
After a few seconds, I hold up the dress. “I got it back.”
Dad’s out of bed in a second. He’s in his boxers; as he gropes around for a pair of pants, Alice hands a pair of jeans to him silently. She doesn’t have anything to say either, I guess. Dad pulls them on, then wobbles over to me. He snatches the dress out of my hand. “About damn time.”
It disappears into the drawers in Dad’s room, and even though it’s stupid, I can’t help but feel relieved. The dress is safe now. If something happens to it, it’s not my problem. One little thing checked off the ever-growing list of stuff I’m responsible for.
Dad stands there for a second before Alice clears her throat. “We’re going to dinner in the cafeteria. You’re coming.” She’s got her Mom Alice mask on again.
It’s incredible how effective that mask is. I half-expect him to blow up, but instead, he nods slowly, wincing. “I need a shirt.”
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Ten minutes—and a chocolate bar from Dad’s free vending machine— later, we’re finally on the way to the cafeteria. I ignore the SHOCKS agent who falls in behind us; she’s here for Alice, not for me.
Dad’s still sweaty and gross, and he’s got a little twitch in his arm that hasn’t always been there. I take a deep breath and try to ignore it. This isn’t about him. This is about Alice. About trying to help her fight back against Li Mei. And for that cause, I’m more than willing to put up with Dad.
We get in line at the cafeteria. There’s a whole buffet—all sorts of foods, none of them great, but all of them better than the ramen Alice would probably be making me if none of this had happened. One egg, one flavor pack, one square of noodles. Two meals.
I go with chicken strips. They’re hard to get wrong. Alice gives me a look, and I nod like the little sister I am. A few steamed vegetables join my chicken, along with a triple-helping of mashed potatoes. Then, when she’s not looking, I drown the vegetables in cheese and hurry to find a table well away from all the SHOCKS researchers and troopers—except for Alice’s shadow, whose eyes haven’t left the back of my sister’s head since we headed out.
When she sits down a minute later with a plate of rice, pink salmon, and asparagus, of all things, my vegetables are already gone. She raises a suspicious eyebrow, and I shrug. “They were so good.”
“Sure. Uh-huh.” She stares at me as Dad joins us. His gaze is stuck on the cup of apple juice sitting in front of him, longing and pain written on his face. After a minute, he starts eating slowly.
I relax once he does. He’s never been a talker at dinner—not since before Mom died—so we have a couple of minutes before he interrupts. On the other hand, my chicken strips are getting cold. I dunk one in the lake of ketchup that I squeezed off to the side.
“Why don’t you ever use gravy?” Alice asks.
“You don’t have gravy.” I tear off half the wing and talk around it. “I never see you with gravy.”
“That’s because I’m trying to keep in shape for college soccer tryouts,” Alice says.
I chew for a minute, swallow, and take a sip of water. Everything tastes a little funky. It’s not fair; I brushed my teeth for almost ten minutes less than an hour ago. “How would you like to get out of here?”
Alice wrinkles her nose. “And reek like you? No thanks.”
“It won’t be like that.” These potatoes are pretty good, so I let us both eat for a minute. That’s all I can spare, though. “SHOCKS needs a liar.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s true. You’re the best liar I know,” I say, hurrying into my explanation before she can stop me. “What’s your Infohazard Resistance at?”
Alice narrows her eyes at me. “Twenty-one.”
I don’t spit my potatoes across the table, but only because my mouth’s empty when she says it. I’ve been fighting, exploring, discovering—all sorts of stuff—and my Revolver Mastery’s my highest skill at fifteen. This is bullshit.
“Oh, come on,” Alice says. “James explained how the Halcyon System works. I’ve been fighting an infohazard all week. You can’t be jealous of that, too?”
“I’m not jealous of you,” I lie. I’ve got to get control of this conversation somehow. One deep breath later, my potatoes are forgotten. “Listen, SHOCKS needs someone who can play a bunch of roles, who’s trustable, and who’s bonded with an anomaly. Doctor Twitchy—“
“Who?” Alice asks.
“Fine. Director Ramirez has already approved it. It’ll let you stretch your legs a little and start building some other skills. You need to build more because Li Mei won’t just attack you from one front. She’ll figure some other angle out soon.”
“And how does that solve my Inquiry?” she asks. There’s only one Inquiry she could possibly have. “How does it get rid of her?”
Yep. That’s the one.
“Girls.” Dad’s voice rumbles over the table. “Zip it and get eating.”
I look at Alice, and she looks at me. Then we both steal a glance at Dad. His brow’s stuck in a glare, and his skin’s all clammy. Is he a threat? Absolutely not—to either of us. But he’s still Dad, and he’s trying to do better. He may not have agreed to it, but whether he wants to or not, he’s trying. I hope.
The rest of the meal passes in an awkward semi-silence except for a little small talk between Alice and me. The food’s great. Better than most cafeteria food. I eat so many mashed potatoes it hurts my stomach, and I even take a second helping of vegetables when my sister glares at me enough. Dad sits there, nursing his apple juice like it’s a glass of beer. His meal’s untouched. Halfway through, he gets up and leaves.
I don’t miss the SHOCKS agent who follows him back to our wing.
“Are you going to do it?” I ask.
Alice hesitates. “Maybe. I need to talk to Director Ramirez first. I’ve got some concerns.”
“About her?”
“Yeah.”
I grab Dad’s tray to clear it along with mine. “That’s all I can ask,” I say.
Then, I retreat back to our wing. The second I get my bedroom door closed, James says, [That went well. I’m fielding questions from her about what she’ll need to do. You were right, though. She could have handled today’s mission much better than you did—at least the first half. Slap some body armor on her, give her a pistol and a helmet, and she could be a SHOCKS trooper. A lab coat, and she’d be a scientist.]
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I snark. Then I peel off the hoodie. The evening, despite the stink I clearly haven’t showered off yet, was a success. Dad’s getting some sort of treatment. I can relax a little. Maybe one more shower, just to try peeling off my skin, and then hang out with Sora? I haven’t spent as much time with her as I’d like.
Or maybe not. Tomorrow’s another day, and officially, I’ll be back on duty doing Mergewalks. It’s not that it’s late. It’s that the walking schedule’s brutally earl—
An alarm goes off across the building. My shoulders tighten instantly as, over the claxon’s wail, my door clicks shut.