Hades was wandering around Mother’s office, examining all in sight with the extemporaneous curiosity he always had when bored. His bright red eyes narrowed on Mother's when she entered. Of all the infected she had encountered over the years, there was none with a stronger reservoir than him.

“Hades,” she said with a nod, closing the door behind.

His mummified cheeks stretched into a grin. “How’s it hangin’, Mommy? Still cutting up corpses to sew onto other corpses?”

“Spare the pleasantries. We both know why you’re here.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re no fun. It’s Saturday and the night is young. You should enjoy yourself for once! I’ve always wanted to see you on your back and in the thralls of Sloth.”

“No. There’s your answer, to both offers.”

“See, now I’m starting to get upset. At least Leah played along. But you? Too much time stuck in this shithole has made you a stick in the mud.” He sighed. “Fine then, I’ll make this easy for both of us. No deals, no negotiations. There’s a living human in this building, and I want to know where you’ve stashed him.”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “Leah didn’t tell you?” Perhaps there was hope yet.

“Forget about her. You’re wheeling and dealing with me now, sweetheart. Tell me where he’s hiding or I start bashing skulls.”

She could see his signature weapons at his hip – a LeMat revolver with its buckshot centerbarrel and black powder firing main cylinder, and a high carbon, stainless steel machete with a bolo design and grip reinforced. Hades wouldn’t bring either out of Elysium unless he was planning to use them. His Hunting days were long since passed.

But still, Mother couldn’t break. “No. He’s our only hope.”

“Hope, huh? Been hearing that word a lot lately.”

Between the natural decomposition of his neglected skin and the loss of all moisture to the muscles beneath, reading Hades’s emotional state through his facial expressions was difficult for even the most seasoned poker player. He was like her, and did not show anything more than he chose. But Mother had been dealing with him since the beginning of her own resurrection, and had learned to read the tiniest twitches that slipped free.

So when Hades went to the door and snapped his fingers, she knew that this would not end well.

“You!” he called out. “Yeah, you. Over here! There you go. That’s a good girl.”

One of the nurses walked in, and Hades shut the door behind. She looked nervously from one to the other.

Mother grimaced. “You don’t have to do th–”

Blackened ichor exploded as Hades cleaved his machete through the nurse’s neck. Before her body had even hit the ground, He dug his gloved hands into the base of her skull and wrenched out a fist full of brain. He began to gorge on the chunk, all while the nurse’s dead eyes bulged from her head.

“WOO!” Hades roared, the juices running down his chin. “What a fucking rush!”

The tears came before Mother could stop them. “Her name was Kimberly. She liked romance novels and crochet. Once a week, she would convince someone new to go to the movie theater with her. Sometimes ex-patients, sometimes friends.”

Hades munched on more of her brain. “Can’t say ‘ole Kimberly was much of a heavy thinker if you ask me. So where’s the human?”

More tears began to form, but Mother blinked them back. “I can’t let you do this.”

“Well, alright then.” He went back to the door.

“Wait,” she said, the word heavy on her tongue. Before she could regret her decision, she went to her desk. “You want to talk? Let’s talk.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Hades took the queue and sat across, still scooping more grey matter free. “Don’t mind me. Killing indiscriminately always gives me the munchies.”

She tilted her head. “There are more than twenty-five thousand rezzers in Pandemonium, jammed in a space designed to hold a third of that population. Every single one of them requires an average of five hundred calories of living flesh per day to keep their bodies sustained, and a variable quantity of grey matter per week to keep their reservoir stable, books or not…”

Hades slurped some of Kimberly’s spinal fluid. “This again?”

“…Even with the industrial cattle farm that you set up and the hundreds of Hunters that scour the wastes, there just isn’t enough living matter to keep us sustained, let alone growing. Hollowing won’t stop no matter how hard you make everyone work…”

“Boring.” Hades jammed his hand back into Kimberly’s skull.

“…And this comes before our technical needs. Solar panels can only last for so long. Our plumbing system is rusting from the outside in. These buildings are crumbling around us. We can only do so much to reinforce them against minor tremors. Never mind if a major earthquake strikes again…”

Hades manipulated his fingers into Kimberly’s severed head. “Look at me, I’m Mother,” he murmured with a feminine voice, moving the jaw like a puppet. “I like droning on and on about boring statistics and dead chicks.”

“It doesn’t matter who you strongarm or how many enemies you destroy. Ten years, maybe fifteen, and this is all gone.” She stared deep into his eyes, hoping to inject some semblance of reason. “Our world is dying.”

“No. It’s already dead.” He winked, still holding the head. “Come on, Mommy. You and Hades used to be in this together. What happened to you two?”

Mother grit her teeth “What you’re doing is different from when we were young, Hades. This is no longer defense. It’s genocide.”

He crunched down Kimberly’s head an inch. The muscles in her brow tightened, almost angrily. “You’re lucky that Lord Hades likes you so much. He’s a big fan of the sciences. Got him all the Sins, didn’t you? Well, don’t think that gives you a free ride.”

More tears sprung free. “Please stop doing that.”

“Talk to the head,” Hades said in his normal voice.

She turned to Kimberly. The eyes were still locked in that cold, shocked death stare. “Please stop.”

“Thank you,” he muttered one last time before tossing her severed head across the room. “So as I was saying. I like you, Mother. In many ways, you’ve made me who I am, and I’d like to think that I did the same.” He winked. Mother massaged her Mark and shivered. “But don’t think for a second that I won’t burn this place down if I have to.”

Why are you like this? There was once a time when Hades had a conscience, where he only killed anyone who threatened them and not the other way around, but somewhere along the way and after destroying too many human hideouts, he seemed to know no other way. No longer was there any goal, any aim, nor sight for anything more than the current day. It was like he’d become the physical embodiment of HBRS-15.21 itself, and was capable of nothing other than death, destruction, and faux resurrection into something lesser than before.

What could Mother do against such mindless fury? What could anyone do? To stand against this unstoppable wave was akin to facing the Hollowing itself. The end was inevitable, and the only choice offered was between a short or agonizing demise. Unilateral surrender was the rational option, and the one she had chosen again and again.

But maybe it didn’t have to be this way. Maybe intellect could surpass infinite cruelty.

“You win, Hades,” Mother said. “I will bring you to him myself.”

He beamed. “About fucking time!”

Mother moved down the halls with care and straddled the time as best she could. Hades marched by her side with a group of his loyalists to their flank, knocking through the doctors and patients alike as though they were brush in a forest.

Only Kurt stood in their way, his sledgehammer in hand. Leah had recruited him as a Hunter personally, and now Mother could see why. Even outnumbered, outgunned, and with no explanation at hand, he stood opposed to Hades, a monolith against the rising tide.

“No one gets in here unless Leah lets them,” Kurt said.

Hades grunted. “Are you shitting me? You do know who I am, right, asshole?”

He nodded. “Of course, Lord Hades. I’m forever thankful for what you’ve done for Pandemonium.”

“Good. Now step aside.”

“Not without hearing from Leah.”

His eyes bulged and he drew his LeMat. “You motherfucking piece of sh–”

Mother threw herself in between. “Enough! Kurt, this isn’t worth getting purged over. We wouldn’t be here if Leah hadn’t made her choice.” She raised her voice, loud enough to be heard from within. “Now let Hades get inside! This is my hospital, and you will do what I say!”

She must have overdone the act because Hades shot a venom-laced glare her way and bolted for the door. Kurt was thrown off balance by the sudden charge, and could not stop him from entering. Mother ran in after, with Kurt following in her wake.

Hades stood with his fists squeezed into balls. Kurt rubbed his head in confusion. And Mother grinned.

The room was empty.

“Find him!” Hades ordered “Find anyone! Lock down this whole fucking place if you have to!” He turned to Mother. “Don’t you dare fucking start. I’m not done with you!”

And neither am I with you. She had won the night, but the war was just beginning. Whether Hades knew it or not, Mother held the advantage here, and she would do everything and anything to leverage her end.

This world would be saved, and nothing would stop her.