For a few days, things settled back into their usual routine. I ran over Jason Byrne, sank James Theodore, ran over Jihei Tsushida, and wanted to suck Jaylik Liknah out of a commercial airliner into a painful greeting with the sea. In practice, I ran him over with the truck carrying the boarding stairs.

All the souls ended up where they were supposed to, equating to four more universes saved.

The satisfaction didn’t last for long. With Jaylik’s blood still on my wheels, I received a second summons in quick succession, without even time for a debrief.

Both Flinq and Alushex were waiting for me in the same office.

It didn’t look like a temporary arrangement. The new office contained Alushex’s water features and flowers framing a wide scenic view, this time highlighting a beautiful coastal bay. Giant iridescent jellyfish swarmed above the waters in their hundreds. In front of the window, lit by the shifting colours of the invertebrates, rested a row of suspicious pot plants in the shape of hedge cuttings. Three desks were crammed into the room, which made the otherwise spacious interior feel cramped.

“You called?” I asked, attempting to brush the rest of the damp out of my hair from the carwash.

“As you can see, there have been a few changes,” Flinq said. “Welcome to the strike team. Your desk is over there.”

“What?”

“I’m taking you off duty.” Flinq grinned. She sat on the lip of the central desk. “As far as everyone else knows, you accrued too many black marks and are officially on performance management. But that’s just for appearances. You’re with us. It’s about time.”

I blinked a couple of times, checking to make sure it wasn’t some deceptive scheme. “But I’m a Tri,” I stated the obvious.

“Yes, with more experience in the field than myself and Alushex put together,” the Quad noted. “I don’t care about rank. We all know this is overdue.”

Alushex made a so-so motion with one hand and looked less thrilled about the situation.

“As further incentive,” Flinq continued, “the pay will be enough to push each of us up a rank. I’ve never seen a job worth this much. All we have to do is kill Jadal Cai.”

“Wait – us? They’re sending us?” A laugh of astonishment escaped my lips. “I may not be much in the know, but Jadal Cai is dangerous. They need to be taking him more seriously.”

“This is them taking it seriously,” Flinq explained, while Alushex scrawled out a note beside her. “And I agree. Based on predictive reports, the target is likely to come out on top if we engage one-on-one. With the three of us working together, however, the odds reverse. In addition, we have the advantage of strategic preparation. Jadal Cai’s proficiencies are unknown, but we can play to our strengths. We decide when and where we strike.” She raised her palms in an optimistic shrug. “Chances are good.”

Alushex finished writing his spiel and held it up for the both of us. [You have to remember it’s not just a hit – it’s a matter of Fate. As the agents in contact with this mess, we’ve effectively been quarantined. Whatever Jadal’s doing has ripples beyond his victims, and the Chapel wants to keep it contained.]

“I’m not sure I follow,” I said with a frown, and Alushex rolled his eyes.

[Jadal is a plague,] he scrawled in underline.

“That’s not any better,” I complained.

“It doesn’t matter,” Flinq interrupted. “What we need is strategy. We need to find out where he is so we can funnel him where we want.” She shot a glance towards Alushex, who nodded reluctantly. “I can take care of that.”

“Do we know if he’s post-death?” I asked. “We know his victims are.”

They both nodded. “Believe it or not, he’s never died. That’s good and bad. Good, because he won’t be undergoing rapid growth. Bad, because the soul state introduces another complication. We need to make sure it doesn’t get processed until we know what we’re meant to do with it.”

“Surely they wouldn’t reincarnate him after all this,” I said, still struggling to wrap my head around everything that was happening. One of the jellyfish outside had also been on its way towards us and was now distracting me with its cap butting up against the window. “Is this really my desk? What do I… actually do with it?”

The others looked at each other. “I suppose it’s less relevant for Lamutri,” Flinq said. Alushex nodded. He raised a finger and pointed towards the underside of the table. When I followed the gesture and peered under it, I found a leatherbound notebook taped there with the words ‘Welcome Gift’ embossed on the front.

“Okay,” I said, peeling the tape off and placing it on the desk. “That’s a start. I don’t have a pencil.”

Alushex threw me one.

“Other rules,” Flinq stated. “Everyone comes here when one of us calls. Don’t be late.”

“I can’t do summons,” I reminded her. That was a second-tier privilege.

“You can now. Try it.”

“I summon Flinq and Alashex to the office?” I suggested sceptically, and was surprised when I felt the magic leave me.

“Perfect. And that’s how you know this is official.”

[Advantages,] Alushex held up, bringing us back on track. [Time is of the essence. Lamutri is good in most types of terrain.]

“It’s variable,” I clarified. “If I can make it to the air, Jadal Cai can’t reach me. But I’m also unlikely to have an inbuilt weapon. If I’m on the ground, flat is usually better. And that’s no guarantee either.”

Alushex looked at Flinq.

“Speed and disguise here,” the Quad answered. “I have an Exalted Fast Track and Exalted Fool’s Gold. If we really need it, there’s also Long Game. But it will only work once. We should reserve it for when the situation can’t be salvaged.”

Alushex rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. [I have a Look Here,] he wrote. [Between that and Fool’s Gold, we could work in a paired attack.]

Stolen story; please report.

“And draw the attention to you?” Flinq frowned. “You’re not well-equipped for that. Why did you even pick that?”

[Fast Track me.]

“Won’t work,” I weighed in. “When I saw Jadal Cai fight, he knew exactly where every attack came from. It was uncanny, like watching one of us. We have to expect he’ll see us coming. He was also able to summon a sword and shield instantaneously, as well as switching their places.”

[That summons is a feature of the universe he visited,] Alushex countered. [It shouldn’t work elsewhere.]

“We’ll take it into consideration anyway,” Flinq said. “Any other assets?”

[Projectiles, explosives, traps, you name it,] Alushex answered. [Just keep him away from me and we’ll have an endless supply.] He hesitated for a while before adding onto a new slip, [Gases and drowning, too, if it comes to that.]

Flinq nodded. “Then Lamutri should be our protection, and I’ll provide a disguise. We get close – but not too much – then unload brute force. You’ll both handle the heavy lifting, and I’ll provide conditional support.”

“It sounds doable,” I said. “Just try to nail him down in an open area. I lose my advantage in confined spaces.”

[We need to move as soon as we have a read,] Alushex wrote. [Every Rein we lose is a world lost, and who knows how many it’s been. Reports are bad. He’s mowing through them.]

Flinq pursed her lips together. “I don’t understand how he knows how to find them. We have the Machine. He doesn't. Beyond versal travel, even journeying to the right place within a universe should be a challenge. That worries me.”

“The Black Waste was a mess, but high-tech. Maybe they developed something.” I didn’t feel convinced.

“It’s as good a theory as any.” The Quad sighed and hopped off the edge of the furniture. “I’ll see what there is to be found. Second-tier confidentiality and all. Don’t feel the need to wait around.”

I caught a brief glimpse of the infinite staircase before the opening swung shut behind her, revealing a landing filled with drawn sketches on white walls. It was so different to my version that only Alushex being in the room stopped me from racing over to wedge the door in place.

I then had to fight the urge to leave. Despite my special circumstances, the office still felt like someone else’s territory. The new desk stared back at me, and I didn’t know what to do with it. Edging my way over, I cracked my knuckles awkwardly while trying to figure it out.

Alushex, for his part, didn’t seem much better. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead on the knuckles of one hand with the same elbow propped up on the piles of scattered papers beneath. More of the discarded slips lay scattered about the floor.

I summon Alushex to the office, I thought intentionally.

The Hex glanced across at me.

“Just testing,” I said. “What did you mean, ‘Jadal Cai is a plague?’”

He took a while to compose a response. [They didn’t word it quite that way. The Chapel is trying to play it cool, but it’s spooked. In a fistful of elements capable of influencing Fate, we’re the ones who went rogue.]

“But we haven’t,” I protested, finally taking a seat at the desk.

[We have,] he contradicted me, and reached for a new slip. [Just because it wasn’t intentional doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The House runs on Fate, with all its functions interconnected. If we pull a wet string across a handful of dry others, the moisture will rub off on whatever it touches. That’s why they don’t want anyone but us near Jadal. Especially not the higher tiers where it can do the most damage.]

I frowned. “So you think we’re – what? Carriers for some kind of sickness of causality we contracted from Jadal Cai?”

[Right!] He looked pleased.

“But what about the person setting the orders? Why are they off the hook?”

He shook his head. [It’s determined by Fate. And according to our records, it all appears clean. The Black Waste should have just been an ordinary job. So either our information is incorrect, or something intervened.]

Intervened. I appreciated that he hadn’t come straight out and said it. Wincing, I leant back in the chair. “I think we all know what’s responsible here. I’m a liability.”

The look he gave me contained plenty of sympathy.

I was so powerless against my own core. We could eliminate Jadal Cai, and it would only be a reprieve. Something similar would eventually happen again, and the Chapel would be forced to intervene. Either to deal with Near Miss or dispose of me. In more scenarios than I preferred, it was the same thing.

Whatever the shortfall from this mission, I could ask for the rest in advance on an augment upgrade. Twenty years paying it off was well worth it for my life. But if Near Miss interfered to prevent that, I wasn’t sure what other options I had. Try and enjoy the rest of my life while it lasted, I supposed.

Alushex passed me another note. [You don’t need to be here,] it read. [Go home and prepare. Next time we call, you’ll need to be ready.]

Still keeping me at arm’s length, it seemed. I missed the dynamic of our old relationship before status had driven an invisible wedge into it. Our brief adventure on Larr had almost been a return to the old days. But now it was buried under a layer of professionalism. I wondered if it was the advancement affecting his personality, or if I was reading too much into it.

I nodded and left by the door, landing at home in the atrium. The moment I made it, my energy decided to leave me as the ramifications hit fully. I spent it sitting staring at the floor for a good fifteen minutes, then got up and, one foot after the other, trudged downstairs into my personal armoury.

Some assumptions had to be made, such as that Jadal Cai didn’t know what to prepare for a specific enemy. As such, he would likely aim for high quality general defense. Assuming he’d refitted since Final Super Dokki World, he’d probably look for some kind of rechargeable firearm. Having been through a few universes already, he’d also know to rely on technology. That narrowed it down.

I picked out a suit of light kinetic absorption armour, paired it with a laser deflection shield and strapped a matching gun to each hip; one for each type of ammunition. Compared to my regular jobs, it was extremely noticeable and a massive amount of overkill, but good luck to anyone trying to get through it. I might not even need to take vehicle form.

Hours passed and I paced from room to room, trying to find anything to occupy my attention. I found myself unable to focus on books in the library, and no matter how often I stared at my weapons collection, nothing was better than the equipment I’d already chosen.

When the call finally came, I rushed to the nearest door.

Flinq and Alushex waited on the other side.

I hadn’t arrived at my usual loading bay. The new chamber was smaller and not designed for vehicles; sparse, simplistic and hosted in what felt like a stabler universe. Its walls were glossy and white. A small shower sat along the far wall; otherwise it resembled a glorified waiting room with a drain and a bench. The one I shared with Imbertri was better.

Flinq had dressed in a similar suit and loadout to mine, sourced from some other variety of high-technology dimensions. Her hair was tied back and coiled inside her helmet. In addition to a single gun, she wore a complicated instrument strapped to her back I didn’t know the purpose of and boots with pulsers attached that looked suspiciously anti-gravity.

Alushex was, on-brand, comparatively lightly outfitted. He didn’t carry a visible weapon, and his tailored armour would have passed for upmarket daily wear on many worlds, braids swinging free. Skin-tight gloves protected his hands, with a notepad and pencil neatly buckled into a strap across his waist.

“Jadal Cai has just landed in Irwol,” Flinq briefed in, passing me a tracer from the Machine. “The report confirms it does host a post-death Rein in a heavily forested region. Irwol is in the low-tech, mid-magic range, with locals relying on shamanistic summons. These summons are capable of creating ambient environmental upheaval. Be prepared to encounter some.”

Nothing I couldn’t handle so far. I nodded and swallowed the tracer, feeling its parameters take hold.

“You should see two targets. Try and intercept Jadal Cai. Ideally, the local Rein would never know we were there. Protect the local if you can, but eliminating Jadal Cai will always be priority one. We’re not here for diplomacy. If we get split up and you find him, use a summons. Once we’re done, we also need to verify the soul and retrieve the body, just in case. Is everyone ready?”

Alushex gave a thumbs-up while I unclipped my helmet and gloves from my belt and strapped them into place, making sure I could properly breathe. “Done.”

“Then let’s go.” The Quad opened the door, stepped through and disappeared.