Maroon glow. Electric tang. Roses and machine oil.
The point isn’t what happened. The point is that I remember, and that Alice is a liar.
But maybe that’s not what’s important. Maybe what’s important is that when the white light faded and the metal squids filled the room, Mom’s lie wasn’t supposed to hurt me.
But if it wasn’t, that means Alice’s lie at the fire door wasn’t supposed to hurt me either, and even though I know why she’s a liar—even though I understand why she can’t handle the truth—it still did. So, even if they wanted to help me with their lies, it didn’t work.
Because I can handle the truth, even if they can’t.
At least, I think I can.
----------------------------------------
Location Unknown, Date Unknown, Time Unknown
- - - - -
Before the stairwell door opens, my Revolver’s already up—just like Rodriguez told me to hold it when I enter a room with an enemy in it. Li Mei’s around somewhere; my first goal is to find her. In the first second, my mind’s so fixated on her—her dark black skin, the tattered coverings, and her black or white eyes—that I don’t see the plants turn my way.
When I do, it’s almost too late. One of them spits spores at me, and I throw myself onto the ground. They cover the air around me, drifting down toward the floor vents that are already sucking them in. I roll on the floor, then pull myself onto one knee and fire the Revolver.
The orange burst fills the fifty feet in front of me with fire—and catches the offending flower before it can keep spraying spores. I roll again, feeling stupid; I’m sure JAMES is watching this on the security cameras and laughing. Then I come out of my roll and duck behind a computer bank.
Okay, variable one: it’s not Li Mei. Or at least, it’s not just Li Mei. The Stag Lord is in the Experimental Wing. Variables two and three: I don’t know where either is beyond that they’re here.
“Li Mei. Bestie! If you’re out there, say something!” I say, trying to get her attention. She doesn’t say anything—if she’s even here at all. Maybe she’s not. Maybe the Stag Lord got her. And maybe I’ll grow wings and fly out of here.
But the Stag Lord is definitely here somewhere, and if I want to deal with Li Mei, it’s in my best interests to find it. More importantly, if I don’t find it, the whole JAMES experimental wing is going to go jungle. It’ll tear this entire place apart. There’s one more variable, though. I can’t break too much of the experimental wing, either.
I break cover and shoot a plant that’s already flinging spiky thorns at me, then pull the trigger to take out a vine before it can unfurl and block my way. My Revolver Mastery skill makes every shot so much easier, to the point where my eyes are already looking for the next plant trying to shoot spikes at me before I’ve even shot the one trying to poison me with a cloud of spores.
But the whole time, I’m really looking for two things.
The first is the Stag Lord. If I can kill it or ‘temporarily neutralize’ it, as SHOCKS would say, then I can deal with JAMES without the distraction of fighting a thousand plants that want me dead. I pull the trigger again, sending another ray of flame toward a plant that’s gone from bud to bloom in three seconds. Yeah, the Stag Lord has to go.
But more importantly, I’m trying to move toward the center of the experimental wing. That’s where the tank is—where JAMES is—and I’m supposed to make sure that the systems he controls are still intact for when I wake him back up.
I dive onto the concrete floor, knees and elbows screaming in pain, then roll onto my stomach to shoot another strangling vine.
Then, as my feet push me forward, I pass a line, and the plant life disappears. Instead, a pair of turrets pop from the ceiling and aim my way—the JAMES defense system. They rev up, and I throw myself forward again as their bullets chew up the plants growing behind me. I take a deep breath. I’m safe—for now.
Until the guns run out of ammunition, at least. The Stag Lord’s plants are only growing faster, a thicket that chokes off the whole hallway from the one-way stairs to the room’s center. A thought slips into my head for a moment, uninvited; I want to go home.
I push it aside. I’m trying to get home, or at least get out of here, but right now, that means getting to the JAMES controls. I take one step, then another, as freshly sprouted plants turn to freshly ground mulch behind me. Then I’m at the control panel, a massive touch screen. The password is disabled, and instead, a flashing icon with the words ‘JAMES Unit Offline’ fills the entire screen, along with a tiny button below it labeled ‘Instructions for Reboot.’
I tap the button. My ears ring from the machine-gun fire as the screen fills with steps.
1. Disengage JAMES Unit safety locks
2. Initialize saline tank reset
3. Reconnect JAMES Unit to SHOCKS database servers
4. Boot preliminary JAMES subroutines (Good Morning and Until I’ve Had My Coffee)
5. Initiate core JAMES routines
6. Engage JAMES Unit safety locks
7. Boot remaining JAMES subroutines (Data Nerd, Eagle Eye, and Persona)
Okay. Okay, that’s not too much. I can do that. I fiddle with the computer as the machine guns continue their nonstop staccato barrage and eventually find the control for ‘Saline Tank Reset.’ The safety locks are another story, and I decide to check the actual tank for those. Sure enough, they’re literal locks—four huge valves that cut off pipes leading into the massive tank in the room’s center. As I crank them, something starts moving through each pipe, and when I get back to the computer, the ‘Saline Tank Reset’ control is lit up.
I press the button, and something under my feet hums to life. I can feel the vibrations as the slow movement from unlocking the pipes turns into an almost-roaring flow I can hear in the background beneath the machine-gun fire. The computer screen reads ‘Saline Tank Reset: 20% Complete.’ 30%. 50%. 80%. Then, the shaking and vibration stop almost as suddenly as it began.
{Skill Learned: Anomalous Computing Systems 2}
“Okay,” I say to myself—and JAMES, if he’s listening. “Okay, four more steps. ‘Reconnect JAMES Unit to SHOCKS Database.’ Should be easy enough.”
I click through the options on the screen, and sure enough, there’s a connection protocol for ‘Good Morning’ but not one for ‘Until I’ve Had My Coffee.’ I start ‘Good Morning,’ and, shockingly, a peppy song starts playing. It sounds like one of those radio alarm clocks, except I don’t know how to stop it, and it keeps getting louder and louder as it competes with the machine guns.
An LED strip on the floor lights up green, and I watch as it slowly pulses its lights toward the exercise equipment. A moment later, something steps out of the tank’s wall.
My revolver goes up momentarily, covering the newcomer.
----------------------------------------
JAMES—or a digital avatar of him, there must be projectors around—starts following the pulsing LED line toward the workout equipment. He’s mostly points and connectors, an almost-perfect clone of the balled-up, fetal-positioned version of him in whatever reality the Halcyon System brought me to, but this one glows a little brighter and seems incomplete somehow.
“James, you there?” I ask, but he ignores me. He keeps on walking, so I hurry to follow him. He might be ignoring me, but I can’t do the same for him, not if he’s supposed to be a friend or even if he’s a known liar.
So, as he weaves through the treadmills and stair-steppers, I’m one step behind him. I’m not sure why he’s avoiding them; he could just as easily step through them.
I’m halfway through the last thought when I realize that while JAMES is ignoring me, someone else isn’t.
“Hi, bestie,” Li Mei’s voice echoes from the wall. Her wrappings are nearly gone, with only a few tattered scraps hanging from her shoulders and hips. Everywhere else, her near-jet black body’s become almost blob-like, and her eyes have started shifting from black to red. “I knew you could do it. You’re such a great friend.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The Revolver flies up of its own accord, my finger tightening on the trigger, and the gout of flame erupts from its barrel, drowning out the constant chatter of the machine guns for a moment.
The brilliant orange blast spears into Li Mei, and the rags she’s wearing burst into flame. As it does, the blob-shape of her body seems to explode free from them, growing into a mass whose head scrapes the ceiling. The walking shadow’s body oozes around my shot, seeming to absorb it, and then shivers. Two red eyes open in the center of her body, piercing me.
“Li Mei, back off, or I’ll shoot you again,” I say, holding the Revolve out and aimed at her as the digital, spectral JAMES walks in between us and climbs onto a treadmill. He starts running, and Li Mei’s eyes flick to him hungrily.
After a moment, they settle on me. “I can’t. I really can’t. I’m so close to getting all that tasty knowledge, and you’ve helped me out so much!” The shadowy mass extends two vaguely arm-shaped tendrils and lunges toward JAMES.
I fire again, and the gout of flame punches into Li Mei. She absorbs it again, this time pausing for a moment. Then she engulfs JAMES—
—who walks out of her body like she’s not even there. Her scream of anguish fills the air, piercing the faltering staccato machine gun fire. “Why? Why, why, why?”
No matter how hard her power presses down on me, I can't answer that question, but it tries to squeeze the truth from me. My eyes water and ears ring—not just the augs, but both of them—and I choke out, “I don’t know. Maybe he’s not real.” It’s not the truth; I know it, but I also don’t know the correct answer.
{Skill Learned: Compulsion Resistance 1: Increases mental resilience against mind-affecting powers}
It works, though. Li Mei backs off, her eyes turning from pink to a dark crimson that almost blends into her body as she fades away into a shadowy mist. More importantly, the pressure in my head stops, and I gasp for air as the world spins. When I steady out, JAMES is already on the move again, this time back toward the tank—and the machine guns and mound of diced plants just inside the painted line on the floor.
I hurry back to the computer, but I’ve got a new problem because I’m pretty sure I understand why Li Mei couldn’t attack JAMES, and I’m equally sure she’s either figured it out or will soon. If I finish the rebooting process, she’ll get to attack JAMES through the same console I’m staring at now, and this time, she’ll succeed.
So, the equation’s set. If I equal Li Mei + The Stag Lord, JAMES is safe. If not, he’s not. It's pretty simple, except there’s one other variable. I can go back to the Halcyon System’s digital world and integrate them without talking to JAMES first. It’d be the safest, fastest option.
But it’s not really an option. I can’t do that to him, so I step away from the console after locking it. Hopefully, it’ll unlock again for my Acting Director title. If not, I’ll figure something out. Right now, though, the truth is that Li Mei’s not my biggest problem, because as soon as she realizes she just has to wait for me to get what she wants, she’ll do that happily. She might even help me out.
So, at least for now, my problem is The Stag Lord.
----------------------------------------
Li Mei’s shadow keeps stalking me as I check the Revolver and step past the towering mound of shredded foliage the machine guns have created. The Stag Lord seems to have given up, or at least decided—as much as it can decide anything—to try a new plan. Across the experimental room, near the overgrown airlock, stands an ever-growing mass of roots and vines. It towers over the tank, the servers on either side of it, and, of course, me.
It’s building itself armor, judging by the mass’s shape. Once it’s finished, it’ll overwhelm the machine gun, and I can’t let that happen. I check the Revolver’s cylinder, satisfied all the shots are available, and step across the salad-covered yellow line.
The moment I do, the mound breaks open at its center, and the Stag Lord erupts outward in a burst of colored petals and vines. Its body looks kind of like it did before, with the same skull for a head and root-bound torso, but instead of legs, two massive roots connect it to the gigantic wooden incubator it’s been hiding in.
I fire the Revolver, which punches a hole through the Stag Lord’s stomach, leaving burned roots charred black in a circle but not catching the core inside the roots. A second later, the Stag Lord lunges my way, and its arms erupt into vines and razor-sharp leaves. I throw myself to the ground, feeling paper cuts scoring my neck and head through my hoodie.
I roll as the vines slam into the floor hard enough to dent the concrete and send chips raining down around me, pull the trigger again, and stand up. This shot misses high, and before I can fire again, the Stag Lord closes the gap—then stops feet away as I backpedal. Its roots stretch out behind it, extended as far as they can go, and I whip the Revolver around to shoot at one of them.
It catches fire, and the Stag Lord’s scream sounds like the feral cats living on our basic living building’s roof. It thrashes around, crashing into server banks that—thankfully—stay upright, and smashing the anomaly’s body against the concrete floor.
I’m so busy watching the chaos that the first time I notice the spiked flower growing next to me is when it launches its pointy dart into my shoulder. I drop the Revolver to grab at the six-inch spike with my other hand, and a moment later, the air fills with orange-yellow pollen that cuts my vision to nothing.
{Skill Learned: Physical Anomaly Resistance 3}
I drop to the ground, groping for the Revolver, but as I do, the Stag Lord’s body thumps into the concrete next to me, and I have to scramble away. Every move sends a lance of pain ripping across my shoulder, and I stop just across the yellow paint line on the concrete.
Li Mei stops in the shadows nearby, red eyes fixated on me hungrily, and the Stag Lord hangs in the air for a moment before the remaining root drags it back into the root-and-vine construct it’s building. The moment it does, she scoots forward, past the yellow line and into what should be my safe space away from her. “Now what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get my Revolver back—stop!” I glare at her, and she laughs. “Why are you even talking to me?”
I don’t care that I’m giving her a question—if she wanted to melt down my brain, she’d have just jumped on me. Sure enough, her eyes boil from dull burgundy all the way to pink, and her shadowy body swells and shakes. “Because I can’t turn the JAMES system back on. You have to do it, and I can’t even make you do it. I tried already. But you have to, not because of me, but because of you. So, I’ll help you fight the Stag Lord, you’ll turn on the JAMES unit, and we’ll both be happy, best friend.”
I glare at her, then stick out my hand. Her tendril’s grasp is cold and wet, but not like an octopus’s tentacle—more like the kind of wet when you walk into a fog wall on your way to the bus. It doesn’t leave my fingers moist, but it’s undeniably damp. “Deal. Help me get the Revolver back.”
“Got it.” Li Mei fades to almost nothing, then sweeps along the right wall like a specter. Behind her, flowers dissolve into slurry, and I pause for a moment to add this new information to my calculations. Then I’m dashing right toward the Stag Lord’s cocoon-thing—toward my Revolver.
Spike plants erupt all around me, and a flower sprays some sort of liquid across the room as it wilts in seconds, but I duck through the worst of it. My shoulder burns, but I reach down, grab the Revolver’s grip, and unload three shots into a spike plant and two suspiciously close flowers.
Then I roll as the Stag Lord’s body surges from its cocoon and slams into the floor again. The spike in my shoulder snaps, sending a wave of pain and nausea rolling through me, but I keep a grip on my Revolver and push myself into a dive as it slams down again. This time, I cough up something from my stomach, swallow it back down, and spit, then fire the Revolver at another plant whose bladed leaves slice through the air.
Lei Mei’s shadowy form surges around the room, choking the Stag Lord’s plants wherever she goes, and I realize she’s not moving randomly. She’s trying to make a safe spot for me to fight the Stag Lord.
I dash into the little plant-free pocket and aim. The Stag Lord rises over me, and I pull the trigger. The barrel flashes orange, and the Stag Lord plummets down onto the ground next to me, severed from its cocoon. It roars in agony or fury and gets its ‘feet’ under it. I take a step back, then another; it’s bigger than Li Mei and absolutely dwarfs me.
Its skull-shaped head turns, its hollow eye sockets peering at me, and I throw myself to the floor as another spike plant lunges toward my stomach. The spike tears my hoodie, and I roll again. Then I fire into the Stag Lord’s chest, sending a burst of fire through it.
It staggers back, roaring again, and this time, I know: that’s not anger. That’s pain. I fire again and again, not stopping even when my knuckles blister and the Revolver’s barrel glows orange. When its hammer clicks on an unready bullet, I rush up and kick the Stag Lord’s body, rolling it onto its back so I can see into its torso.
I’ve punched three holes in it, and two might’ve hit the smaller monster inside the root-and-limb armor. But it won’t open. So, gritting my teeth, I put the barrel against the Stag Lord’s chest and pull the trigger again as soon as a shell glows ready.
{Skill Learned: Revolver Mastery 6}
And this time, there’s no scream of agony or rage. This time, it doesn’t move.
I slump down next to it. The plants covering the room are already wilting, and it looks like I’ve killed it this time.
Which means there’s one thing left to do.
I pull on the roots and brambles until the armor cracks, then pry it the rest of the way open. The Stag Lord—the true Stag Lord—sits inside, massive burn marks across its naked, hair-covered body. Its four eyes are closed, and its chest isn’t moving, but I can’t bring myself to touch it. I can’t even bring myself to look at it anymore; whatever this anomaly was, it isn’t anymore, and that’s a good thing for everyone.
{Truth Learned: What is the Stag Lord?}
{Skill Learned: Open Mind}
I take a deep breath and use Open Mind.
My brain almost seems to expand, like it’s more capable of understanding; the Stag Lord was never meant to be boxed away. If it’d been left to its own devices, it would have disappeared into northern Vancouver Island and never come here. It might not have even caused problems once it got there. I don’t know how I know that, but I feel like it’s the Truth. Not a small truth, but a big one. The kind that answers questions, like why the Stag Lord was ripping the Xuduo containment wing apart. It wanted to be free. Like me.
{Stability 3/10}
I don’t have time to dig deeper into its mystery, though. Li Mei’s shadowy form solidifies next to me, and though I can’t see a mouth in the shapeless blob she’s become, her red eyes seem to smile at me. “Now that that’s finished, let’s talk about JAMES.”