String - Interjection 13.4

When the void shook, I knew Anomaly was about to throw us out.

“Twenty minutes, not bad,” Copycat mused as he stretched his arms out and cracked his knuckles. “I wonder what he’s been up to? Must’ve run into some trouble on the way.”

“If it's trouble, then we’re about to crash the party,” Alice warned. She flashed everyone a wry grin. “Be ready for anything.”

The transition was much quicker than last time. There was a rush of color, and dimmed light came through the windows first before the jolt hit us. It wasn’t violent, but it caused Prosperity to yelp in surprise, her hands clamping down on Seer’s unconscious form to ensure he wasn’t thrown from her lap.

I disengaged the doors, and we all sprang out ready for action. I scanned the area, tentatively holding my breath as I kept a laser pistol leveled in front of me with my left hand, and my blade extended in my right. When a couple of seconds had passed, I allowed the breath I was holding to release as Anomaly dropped down in front of me.

“The room's clear,” Alice called out from her side of the car. “Looks like another garage.”

“Not as big, but still too big for a normal house. There’s like six other cars in here,” Copycat pointed out, looking around the moderately sized garage. “Are these Pandora guys absolutely loaded, or are we somewhere else entirely?”

“Nah, we’re not at the house,” Anomaly replied once he changed back into his human form. “I staked it out, and there was no one inside. It was definitely lived in though, but I saw something promising, so I followed it,” he explained rapidly, drawing everyone's attention to him. “It’s just like Seer predicted. They’re gathering all the people together to use them against the ECU. I saw it man, they’re herding them. I just followed one of the convoys,” he pointed to the nearest door. “Through there. I think this place is some kind of community center? It’s got tons of parking outside and heaps of space inside. There’s a bunch of them here.”

“Whoa, slow down,” Alice held up a hand to try and control his rambling. “One thing at a time, okay? Who exactly is here?”

“Liberation,” Anomaly exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “The guy’s decked out in some new armor; looks like one of those roman soldiers or something. There’s some other Supers—I didn’t see that Augur guy—but I saw them. All in costumes and armor. There’s hundreds of people here—normal people!”

“He’s right, I can hear them,” Prosperity chimed in, looking pained. “They’re all talking. Voices are muffled, too much noise. Can’t make anything out. I’ll need to get closer to see if I can make sense of any of it.”

“I tried the same,” Anomaly said, shrugging. “Too much noise. I couldn’t find Travis or his sisters, but they gotta be here, right? It’s the closest place to their house. Only five minutes away, tops. They’ll be in here somewhere.”

“How’re we supposed to get them out without causing a scene?” Vigil asked, looking around before her gaze landed on me. “If we start a fight here, all those people are going to get caught in the crossfire. We can’t do that.”

“Can’t exactly call for backup either,” Copycat mused thoughtfully. “Deep behind enemy lines… we’re on our own,” he said before straightening up and shrugging easily. “Not like we didn’t know that going into this. Alright, so we gotta come up with a plan, yeah? Let’s figure out how to get the civies out of the way before we start busting heads.”

“Wait a minute, let’s keep our heads on the task at hand, okay? We’re here for Travis and his sisters, that’s it,” Alice said, shooting a glare at Copycat. “We’re not here to play hero. Starting a fight so brazenly right in the middle of their territory is stupid. If we do that, we might as well be digging our own grave.”

I saw Prosperity open her mouth with the clear intent to debate, but she quickly shut it. I gathered from her body language that even she realized how ridiculous that idea was. 

“Is there nothing we can do for everyone else?” Vigil questioned quietly, looking conflicted. “There’s got to be something…”

“It’ll be hard to tell who wants and doesn’t want to be here,” Anomaly pointed out awkwardly. “Some people here actually want to help and support Pandora. We dunno who’s who, except for Travis and his sisters.”

“We get them out,” I declared with finality. “No one else.”

No one argued, but I could see there was some dissatisfaction with the decision. I didn’t feel great about it either, but what exactly could we do about it? Unless there were people actively trying to get away, there was no telling who needed help. The only way to find out would be to clear out all the Supers and address the civilians directly, and even then, that presented problems of its own.

“Okay, so how’re we doing this?” Prosperity asked, looking to me for direction. A quick scan of the room showed everyone else was now deferring to me for some reason, even Alice. “We’re keeping a low profile, right?”

“I’ll take point,” I started, a plan slowly forming in my head. “With my camouflage, I should be able to easily maneuver through the building without being picked out. Are all the civilians bunched together?”

“Yeah, heaps of sound coming from that direction,” Anomaly pointed at a nondescript wall. “I got a small look inside before I dipped out. It’s like an auditorium. Heaps of open floor space, and they got people sitting in groups. I don’t really know how they’re sorting them, but I think that’s what they’re doing.”

“What would they be doing that for?” Vigil questioned, her brow furrowed.

“Dividing them,” Alice’s lips thinned into a grim expression. “They’ll be sorting them into groups and sending them to key areas to prevent Ajax and the ECU from deploying stronger weaponry. That’s my best guess. It could be something else, hard to tell.”

“Deplorable…” Prosperity snarled. “I can’t believe they’d use normal people as—as shields to ward off attacks.”

“I don’t know. Seems pretty smart to me,” Copycat shrugged. “They know our side doesn’t want innocent people to die as collateral, so using them as meat-shields to dissuade any attempts to push forward is pretty standard warfare. That’s what hostages are. The only thing that makes this complicated is that some of these hostages seem willing.”

“That’ll only stay Chronos’ hand for so long,” Alice said, turning her attention back to me and clapping to get everyone’s attention. “Upgrade’s at the front. He can search for Travis and his sisters on the floor. The rest of us need to secure an escape route back here.”

“We need statues in every hallway, around every corner,” I said, gazing at Vigil. “Can you handle that?”

Vigil remained silent for a few moments before slowly nodding. “I think so.”

“Good. Now, getting them out might actually be the tricky part. We’re going to have to improvise depending on what’s actually happening in there, but I think it’s safe to assume I’m not going to be able to get them to walk out the nearest exit. Someone will notice,” I said, before turning and walking to the nearest wall. I placed my hand against the flat surface and surveyed the entire structure with my power. “I could cut the power to the auditorium and darken the room, but the sun is still up and there are unobscured windows. There wouldn’t be much point.”

“So what you’re saying is that we need a distraction.” Vigil summarized.

“Not just a distraction. Chaos,” I corrected softly. “Whatever that entails needs to be enough to allow me to get them out without someone catching on. There needs to be some… fanfare involved.”

“Leave that to me,” Alice said. “I can figure out how to cause some chaos. That’s Pink’s speciality. If you can cut the lights, I’ll take that as my queue to work some magic,” she giggled. “I don’t have to be the only one either. If you can think of anything, I’d welcome the help.”

I heard Copycat chuckle a little. “I can think of a few things off the top of my head. Maybe you can give me some more inspiration if you’re willing to extend a little bit of trust?”

He offered his hand to her, and I felt myself tense up.

Alice looked at the hand in contemplation before smiling. “No can do. We might be working together on this, but I’m not extending that olive branch any time soon. You’ve still got Anomaly’s powers. I think you can put them to better use than you would be able to with mine.”

Copycat retracted his hand and rolled his shoulders. “Fair enough. I’ll work with what I’ve got.”

“You two are distractions. Vigil’s securing a safe escape route,” I murmured, turning to Prosperity. “You and Anomaly will be the muscle if things go wrong. Crowd control…” I pursed my lips and rubbed the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure where best to place her, but she was here, and I didn’t want to leave her on the sidelines when her powers could be utilized in some fashion. “You’ll need to protect them if things go bad.”

“Which, let's be honest here…” Copycat chimed in with a laugh. “They probably will.”

“Yeah, probably,” Anomaly agreed. “But better to have a plan than no plan at all.”

“I’ll do my best,” Prosperity said earnestly.

I returned her straightforward answer with a thankful nod before turning to Anomaly.

“If things go bad and I get stuck, I need you to get them out of here and find them somewhere safe,” I said. “Stick to the shadows as best you can. There’s no guarantee what’s going to happen once we kick this off. I might get separated from them, worse comes to worse.”

“I’ll swoop down and nab them. No problem.”

“One more thing,” I walked back to the car and placed my hand against it. “This is probably the safest place we can get them to, and right now I’m the only one that can open this. I’m reformatting the biometric security and adding a feature to open it up from the outside,” I explained as I paid the charge, which left me with two more until my reset. The armored vehicle didn’t lose its form this time, only the doors. When they reformed, there was an obvious section with a slight hand indent on it. “I’ll set up a profile for all of you, because there’s no telling which of us is going to get back here with them.”

“Ah, this again?” Alice’s lips curved into a smile. “Good ol’ biometric security. Not foolproof, but excellent for a quick job like this.”

“Couldn’t you have just added the handles back?” Copycat asked with a raised brow. “Seems like a whole lot of work.”

“The inside pressurizes now when the doors shut,” I explained flatly. “I don’t think I need to explain to any of you what rapid decompression does to a person. Now, place a hand on there so I can make sure you can open the doors.”

One by one, they followed my instructions.

“You better not be stealing my DNA or something,” Copycat joked lightly. “I have rights.”

“Noted,” I said before dismissing his concerns entirely. Once everything was said and done, I turned and started toward the exit. “Alright, let’s get this done.”

Proceeding with caution, we filtered out of the garage through the main door. It led out into a long, empty, but well-lit hallway. It didn’t take much time for me to shut off the lights with my suit, and when I did, it plunged the corridors into darkness. There were no sounds of alarm from anywhere nearby, so I took that as a sign that there wasn’t anyone roaming around.

“Careful not to make too much noise,” I instructed quietly before switching my camouflage on. “We don’t know what their security is like, so try to stay low and keep out of sight.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice. I’ve done this kind of thing before,” Alice chirped as she twitched. Her eyes flashed pink, and the telltale sparks of magenta electricity began crackling around her. She broke out into a fit of giggles as she started rubbing her hands together. “Oh boy! It’s been way too long since I’ve been allowed to do something like this!”

Pink took off without a moment’s notice, disappearing down the hallway. Wherever she was going, I had to trust she wouldn’t ruin everything.

As we moved through the narrow corridors, I was distinctly reminded of school. It felt like I was walking from one classroom to another with how similar these hallways were. The bland walls were covered in posters, except most of these were adverts and job listings instead of education and motivation posters. The carpet felt and looked cheap, and the ceiling was made up of the same hole-y pattern that I would always try and fail to count whenever I got bored in class.

Every corner we turned looked the same, but it was evident we were getting closer to the auditorium. When we got to the door, Copycat broke off from us and kept moving down the hallway, breaking into a jog before transforming and disappearing into a vent. I gave Anomaly a quick nod, and he sprang up, slipping through the small cracks in the ceiling.

“Stay here and guard the door,” I said to Prosperity. “The moment you hear things go wild, open the door and try to direct Travis and his sisters out,” I paused for a moment and looked around. “You might need to be quick on your feet if it's not this door. There’s three other exits to use and I’ll do my best to direct them to the closest one.”

“I suppose it’s a good thing I have four paws,” Prosperity quipped, a rare moment of humor shining through her overly serious facade. “I’m quick when I need to be.”

“Good–Good–Good,” I muttered, turning back to face the door. I felt my heart accelerate as I lifted my hands to the handle. Prosperity stepped back and transformed, shrinking into a tiny flaming fox that slinked away from the door. I saw her fiery eyes staring at me expectantly as my hands hovered over the handles. “Here goes nothing.”

I gently opened the doors and stepped through. 

The first thing I noticed was that the room was already dark. Hundreds of people stood, milling about and occupying themselves in idle conversation with one another. Families, workers, children, and the elderly. They were every day people you would see walking down the street were just casually standing around, and some of them were even actively engaging in what appeared to be civil discussion with costumed Pandora Supers.

There was a podium set up at the front of the room on top of the stage, and a few meters to the side stood Liberation, conversing with a couple of other Supers. Like Anomaly said, he was sporting different armor with a Roman flair to it. His giant sword was strapped to his back along with his shield, but he looked to be carrying a shortsword now as well. He was just as big as I remembered, but to my astonishment, he stood like I hadn’t almost carved out his heart a few hours ago. He appeared unbothered, healthy even.

I clicked my tongue in dissatisfaction.

His enhancement power…

He had either healed, or the wound wasn’t enough to impede him.

No one noticed me slip into the room and close the doors behind me. The few Supers leaning on the wall nearest to the door I came through were too distracted to even notice, too busy looking at the stage or eyeing up the crowd. Given the fact that the city was a few steps away from being an all-out war, the relaxed atmosphere was unsettling.

Regardless, I began maneuvering through the crowd of people, taking my time to scan each face. Given what I knew of Travis, I figured he was somewhere on the outskirts, trying not to draw any attention to himself. When I looked around the edges of the room, I saw no sign of him. 

Was it possible that Anomaly got it wrong and they were somewhere else?

If that were the case, I needed to make this quick so we could move on.

I had barely made it a couple more steps before the room quietened down. I looked to see what had caused the sudden silence, and my heart sped up when I saw Liberation walking toward the podium.

“Good afternoon everyone, and may good fortune bless us in our time of need. I will keep this brief, as there is someone else here that wishes to speak with you,” Liberation started, before clearing his throat. “I need not tell you that this city is on the precipice. Bayside is but a staging ground for what is to come, and if we don’t stand together now as a people with a united purpose, these heretics will have their way. Their way is one of sickness, and it will spread if we do nothing.”

There were murmurings of agreement all around me, but I took note of the silence coming from a few groups. They were dissociating and not listening, staring ahead at nothing as if they were trying to drown out his voice. Some looked at the floor, while others whispered amongst themselves. Not everyone in this room wanted to be here, and I knew that. However, trying to save them would only complicate things.

I needed to stay focused.

“Earlier today, many others and I visited my predecessor. You will know her as Prometheus—” there was a rise of anger in the room, and the word ‘traitor’ was spat out like poison. Liberation raised a hand, and immediately, the animosity tempered. “I attempted to negotiate, to try and help her see the error of her ways. It is… not uncommon to stray from the path, for the crushing responsibility to become too much. I, too, have felt it and can sympathize. Despite this, Prometheus would not hear me out, but do not lose faith, for I have gleaned a way forward!”

I kept scanning the area as my jaw tightened. Lucy would not become a tool for them to use. Not if I had anything to say about it.

“Even now, we work toward ensuring that you and all of the people of this city—this country, live safely and prosper. In time, Ajax will come to realize the fruitlessness of his presence here, and his efforts to oppress us will come to an end.” Liberation paused, gripping the podium with both of his hands. “We will not allow this false shepherd to dictate our path. I leave you now with the man that will help guide us toward that reality.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Liberation stepped to the side, ushering in another who strolled casually out of the darkness, carrying with him an aura of unquestionable authority.

My breath hitched in my throat.

Mercury.

The fourth founder was bald with copper skin, adorned in jewelry and robes that almost made him embody his namesake. He was half Liberation’s size, but the colossal man bowed his head in reverence to the figure that stood at the podium. Mercury gently clasped the sides of the podium and stared out across the room with a steel expression as applause broke out.

“As I stand here and look out at you, I see potential. Every single one of you has the ability to change this world for the better,” Mercury started, and I had to give him credit for the way he spoke. His tone commanded my attention. “However, that potential is being threatened. These governments don’t want to see you protected, they want you docile. Obedient. Ajax would see them succeed.”

More murmurings of agreement caused a shiver to crawl up my spine. I wanted to get out of here, and the sooner I found Travis, the better. I doubled my efforts and began moving faster through the various grounds, checking for any signs of him. How hard was it to find one teenage guy with his two younger sisters?

“What more proof do you need than what you see with your own eyes? Look outside and tell me those are the kind of people you want guiding humanity, those who desperately hold onto the values of a dying world—one that would cast out and shun those who would receive our divine gifts, but would not hesitate to benefit and exploit them if it meant acquiring more power! No more, I say! Stand with me—with the Initiative. Tell them ‘No more!’”

There!

I almost missed them, but I spotted Travis standing protectively in front of his sisters near a table close to the stage. He had his arms folded, staring defiantly up at Mercury, who paid him no mind. Elizabeth and Isabella were huddled up under the table near his legs, listening to the speech intently.

I made a beeline straight for them, weaving in and out of groups of people, almost tripping over some of them. A few of them even felt me as I moved through and recoiled out of confusion. I didn’t care, I just needed to get to them.

Luckily, no one started a fuss because Mercury kept preaching. I long since stopped listening, but I noticed the projector screen lowering behind him. A few people were pointing and muttering about what was about to be shown, and I had to wonder if that was Alice’s doing.

When I got to Travis, I placed myself to his left and steadied myself.

“Travis—” I watched him jolt as he turned to face my direction, his eyes looking straight through me. “You can’t see me but I’m right in front of you. Don’t panic, everything is okay. I’m here to help you,” I stressed with quiet urgency. The poor guy looked like he had seen a ghost, which in this case, might be an accurate description. “Lucy sent me.”

“Lu…cy?” Travis mouthed in disbelief. He did his best to look nonchalant as he looked around. “They told me she was dead, that-that she died in a fight that broke out last night,” he blinked rapidly, like he couldn’t believe the news. “You’re telling me she’s alive?”

“They lied to you. Wildfire died, but Lucy escaped. She sent me to help get you out of here, so I need you to listen to me very carefully, because things are about to get crazy,” I said slowly. “Get your sisters up and ready to run.”

Travis looked beyond overwhelmed.

“I—I… What? Hold on, I’m not ready for this.”

“Don’t panic,” I repeated slowly. “You need to do this. If you stay here, Pandora’s going to send you and your sisters out to be hostages. They’re going to use you against Ajax and the ECU, and if things get worse, you’ll end up as a…” I paused, uncertain how to phrase my next words without sounding too brutal. “…an unfortunate statistic.”

“They wouldn’t!” Travis hissed in a borderline panic. “They can’t!”

Nothing I was going to say was going to make him feel better. The truth hurt, but even then, from his perspective, it probably seemed unbelievable. I didn’t have time for that, and neither did he.

“You trust Lucy, right?” I asked. 

Slowly, Travis managed to get a grip on his nerves. Eventually, he nodded.

“Good,” I said. “I trust her too, and she trusts me—that’s why she sent me.”

“Are you that guy she’s friends with? The one from school?” He asked tentatively. “She wouldn’t say much about him.”

I sighed, knowing this wasn’t the time for this.

“Something like that. I can answer your questions later. Right now we need to—”

I was interrupted by the light of a projector. It flashed and lit up the room. I craned my head to see Liberation and Mercury standing on either side of the podium, with everyone’s attention solely on the image the projector was showing. It was a face, one I only recognized from my brief research.

“Citizens of Bayside—of New Elpis, my heart goes out to you all,” Juno—the de facto leader of the Pandora Initiative spoke with benevolence. I was so stunned to see her speaking and addressing the room directly that I found myself glued to the screen. “We in the Initiative have heard your pleas and prayers for change—for retribution. I hear you, and have sent aid, and will continue to send our best to ensure that these injustices will not go unanswered. You are not alone, and I promise you that—you—will—not—”

The audio crackled as the feed lagged. I thought nothing of it for a second, that perhaps Ajax was blocking the broadcast, or that maybe Alice was prematurely kicking things off.

But then a warning sounded in my ear.

“Warning. Brain irregularity detected.” 

My whole world froze, and my heart thundered in my ears. 

“Automated defenses activ—”

“Cancel!” I hissed out the command before it could finish. The systems flashed across my visor, showing me that they had stopped, but I was left with the chilling thought they hadn’t, and I was only seeing what I wanted to see. “Not now… Fuck, not now!”

“What? What is it?” Travis asked in a panic. “What’s going on?”

I frantically looked around, spinning on my heel to scan the crowd. They were all staring at the screen, puzzled by the broken broadcast. It continued to crackle for a moment as the image distorted, but it didn’t stay that way for long.

“So sorry to intrude.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I turned back to look at the screen. It wasn’t Mirage’s voice coming from the speakers, but I recognized who it was. I heard it every day.

“Very touching speech, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short. I wouldn’t want you to get your hopes up over nothing.”

It was my voice.

I stared in disbelief as an exact copy of me clad in my armor stood up from the chair. The projector flickered, and my copy vanished.

There was a gasp from the stage, and I looked down to see Mercury falling, with a hole carved out of his chest. My flickering doppelganger stood over the body with a bloodied blade.

“None of you are going to be leaving here alive.”

I saw Liberation move, his sword unsheathed and swinging for my copy’s neck. However, before the strike could connect, a tide of black smoke erupted from my glitching copy. It crashed down upon everyone like a tidal wave, blinding and concealing every single person in a pitch black hell.

I recognized this smoke.

It was just like Grim’s shadow.

I reacted, diving blindly on top of Travis.

His protests were drowned out by the screams of the dying.