The Archway, Part 19

Cynthia Matthews

It was in the wee hours of the morning when I finally left Special Containment for the first time in almost a decade. They had occasionally flown me out to various hospitals around Utopia over the nearly twenty years since I had passed under the Archway. It was rare that they found a patient who needed the use of my powers that could not be transported to Special Containment, but it did happen. I had enjoyed those occasions, in a way. True, I had never been allowed to actually go anywhere on my own, I wasn't permitted to speak to anyone, I was under armed guard continuously, and of course I had to use my Oddball ability to share someone else's pain (never a pleasant experience, and often downright traumatic), but at least it meant fresh air and a brief change of scenery. This excursion was a lot different.

Larry had interrupted our sleep down in Low Security to tell Miranda that an emergency distress call had gone out over the computer network from a farming community only a few hours drive from Special Containment, a place called Vernal Fields. They were being overwhelmed by hideous monsters that were probably some of Laura's creations (Knaves did occasionally intrude into Utopia from over the border, but always in small numbers, and usually just to steal supplies). They were holed up in a local hospital, and were calling for Knights to protect them and medical supplies for the many wounded.Thanks to Miranda, I was now both a Knight and medical supplies, so naturally I had been dragged from my comfortable place in Miranda's crib to lead the mission.

I was reasonably okay with getting up early if it meant being sent on an errand of mercy, especially compared to Jiang-Mi, my good friend and now second-in-command. Her Oddball ability had once made her the most energetic person alive, but now that Miranda had turned her into a diaper-wearing human battery pack, she seemed to want to nap most of the day. My guess is that she was instinctively conserving energy so that it would be available in emergencies, but as someone who was expected to work with her, it was kind of annoying.

She now slept beside me, thumb in mouth, in the back of one of Special Containment's precious few supply vans. In the back were a few crates of bandages, pharmaceuticals, and other medical supplies, as well as some food from Special Containment's stores. And a good supply of diapers, naturally. Josh Mendelssohn had been chosen to accompany us, since his mediocre Oddball ability was good for a quick escape if we needed one. Sara Moses was also coming along. As well as being handy to have in a fight, she was another non-converted Oddball, and that was important for our image. This was a diplomatic mission, after all, and we didn't want to look like just a bunch of weirdos in babyish costumes. Bringing a couple normal people (well, they looked normal enough, anyway) was a sign that we weren't just here to turn everyone in sight into more of ourselves, like Laura did. Besides, someone had to be around to change my diapers, and it couldn't very well be Jiang-Mi.

Josh agreed to take the first shift at driving the van. I had the pleasure of watching the sun slowly rise over the dusty wasteland of the outlands. As we traveled along the meandering highway, the terrain gradually became greener and more lush. We crossed several bridges over streams and small rivers as huge windmills began to appear in the distance. It really was beautiful out here. Vernal Fields lived up to its name, at least until we actually reached the outer limits of the village.

We saw the long tendrils of smoke before we saw the first building. The farms were mostly very large plots, with automated watering systems in place to help produce food for Utopia with maximum efficiency. The houses that accompanied the farms tended to be small, and looked entirely hand-made, in sharp contrast to the brushed steel and white concrete of the road and the sophisticated machinery. We stopped at one such farm to look around. Well, I looked around. Josh was busy behind some bushes, and Sara had to give Jiang-Mi a change. No one was around. The adorable little house that looked like it had been stolen from some village of wood-elves was empty. The ornate door had been torn off its hinges, and much of the beautifully-carved wooden furniture was smashed and destroyed.

We were almost to the village proper when we began to see them. Gaunt, stumbling things with long, slender fingers and bald heads. Their clothing was filthy and often seemed to have been burned, as though they were taking no care in their movements at all. Looking at them, I wondered what sort of people they had once been, and what it felt like to be turned into one of them. The transformation that Jiang-Mi and I had gone through was somewhat comparable, I reflected, even though it had been voluntary, and had left us with at least most of what we thought of as our personalities. Were they in pain? They certainly didn't look happy. The way they seemed to wander aimlessly through the fields, one wonders what, if anything, was happening behind their milky, pupilless eyes. Even wild animals move with more purpose and grace.

As though responding to my thoughts, they turned and began shambling toward us as we drove past, too slow to catch up. I might have been frightened of them, but the truth was, we were armed to the teeth. On top of the superhuman strength and durability that Miranda had seen fit to invest in Jiang-Mi and I, we had the “Pacifier Ray” that Sammy had used to bring down Duchess Cross. We also had a set of experimental single-use weapons. Josh called them “grenades”, and Jiang-Mi called them rattles, which is what they actually looked like. I thought of them as Boom-Booms, after the woman who had designed and built them for us. These weren't going to be enough to handle any of Laura's real armies, but a few foot-soldiers causing trouble out in the boonies shouldn't be too much of a problem. Miranda had told me before we left that she would like us to field-test these new armaments against Laura's creatures if possible, but that this was secondary to rescuing the trapped Utopians. Even if the Queen had told us all to go screw ourselves, she was a long way away, and these people were not in a position to be quite so choosy about their friends.

The crowds of zombie-like things began to grow thicker as we drove into the main village. The houses here were just as cute here as the ones out in the fields, all ornately carved timber and grass-covered roofs, even the public buildings. The village must have been beautiful before the attack. Fires were now blazing out of control all around us. Many vehicles were overturned or crashed in the main street. Most of the windows were shattered. The creatures wandered in and out of the houses, sometimes casually breaking things as they went.

“Drive carefully, Josh.” I whispered, not wanting to make any more noise than strictly necessary. “Remember, these are enemy captives, not enemies themselves.”

“I'm doing my best, but if we slow down too much, they're gonna pile up on us.” said Josh, clearly trying to be brave, despite his relative vulnerability. “They're way too many of them. Where's this hospital we're trying to get to?”

I didn't answer. I hadn't guessed that it would hard to spot in such a small community, but as we began approached the village square, I had not yet seen a building that looked large enough to be a serious clinic, let alone a hospital. And the crowds were starting to get thicker. Josh had slowed the vehicle to a crawl, and gave several of the creatures a tap with the front bumper to get them to move, as though they were cows. They were beginning to congregate around the van.

I passed one of our Boom-Booms to Sara. “Remember how to use these?” I asked. She turned her head ninety degrees like an owl and nodded. She took the bright yellow toy. She gave the bulbous head two sharp twists, until something snapped inside, and the whole thing began to tick ominously. She rolled down a window, just wide enough to admit the ticking bomb, and stretched out her arm over the hood and toward the thick crowd ahead. Sara was nice enough, but watching her use her power was a little unsettling. She whipped her hand backward quickly, not wanting to get caught in the blast. I wasn't exactly sure what it would turn her into if it went off in her hand, but it would probably land her in the Diaper Division with Jiang-Mi and I. That, I had to keep reminding myself, would be contrary to Miranda's wishes, and therefor a bad thing, however powerful or adorable the result might be.

The weapon exploded in a showed of golden sparks, like a firecracker. A wide section of the road ahead transformed, going from heavy paving stone to a kind of soft, pink, rubbery material. A half-dozen zombies were launched away from the blast, landing with painful-sounding crunches on the road nearby. Josh rolled the van over the spongy new paving, through the gap we had opened.

“It was a friggin dud!” he complained. I had to agree, unfortunately. The creatures that had been caught in the blast were already slowly rising from where they had been thrown, and more were already piling up ahead of us. Apparently, the instant conversion we had been hoping for was not happening. Either Princess Boom-Boom had made some error in her creation (and honestly, considering who had made it, it was a wonder the thing worked as well as it did), or Laura's monsters were just too busy being Laura's to suddenly become Miranda's.

“Okay, don't panic. Jiang-Mi! Jiang-Mi?” I gently shook her, but she remained resolutely asleep with her thumb in her mouth. Adorable, I admit, especially with her floppy bunny hears sprouting from the hood of her pajamas. Still, this was not the time. I punched her lightly on the arm, which did nothing. I then remembered that she was a Knight now, and gave her a punch that would have snapped a normal human arm like a pretzel-stick.

“Ow! What?!” she complained groggily. As though in answer, one of the creatures outside slammed its fist against her window, leaving a network a fine cracks in the glass.

“Work!” I hissed, annoyed. I decided to just get started and let her catch up when she was ready. I opened my door, quickly and forcefully enough to send the monster behind it flying against several of its companions. Now that they had to clear look at me, the crowd became  much more energetic. I grabbed one and used it as a club, knocking over several more in short order. Before long, Jiang-Mi was out of the van and effortlessly throwing the things around. I wanted to avoid actually hurting them, but as the ones I had knocked over rose and rejoined the fray, I started ramping up the force I was employing. The van steadily rolled through the square as the creatures lost interest in it to focus their attention on the two women in diapers and fleece pajamas casually demolishing them. I have to say, being a Knight is so much more fun than being a prisoner.

A horrible shrieking sound suddenly ripped through the air, making me nearly jump out of my skin. It didn't sound like any human voice, thank goodness. But it also couldn't have come from any of these zombies, who seemed incapable of any utterance louder than a low groan. The sound hurt my ears and made me feel faintly nauseous, and the monsters responded by turning and following the sound, leaving the van free to move forward. We piled back into the back seat, trying to cover our ears as more piercing shrieks followed.

“What is that?” asked Sara, squishing her hands against her ears. Josh had one hand on the steering wheel, and was trying to block the other ear with his shoulder as he drove.

“Cross your fingers and hope we don't find out! Where's the town hall? We should be able to find out where everyone is from there!” I said, loudly so that everyone could hear me through plugged ears.

The main administrative building could probably have fit comfortably in the storage area back in Special Containment. A smiling bronze statue of King Jeremy, Queen Beatrice's predecessor, decorated the neatly-maintained park that surrounded the small building. We parked out front.

“Keep the engine running.” I told Josh. “If that crowd comes back this way, I want to be able to get out of here in a hurry. Sara, you're with me. Bring the ray.” Jiang-Mi, as usual, stayed in the back, not interested in moving if it could be avoided.

The ornate front doors had been torn open and lay in large chunks. The reception area had been smashed as well. “Look for anything that could have a map or a list of emergency procedures.” I said, flipping an overturned desk back to an upright position.

“Reception probably won't have anything. I'll see if there's an actual office upstairs. Even in a town this size, there must have been someone doing civic planning.” said Sara. She ran off, extending her legs to increase her speed. I tried to hurry as well. There was no way of knowing who might be suffering and dying while we were just trying to find them. I ran from room to trashed room, trying to find a working computer. Even if I could find one, odds are it would require a password, and I'm not especially computer savvy. In the third office, I found a map of the community hanging on the wall. Hardly anything about it was surprising, except a series of yellow triangle markings scattered throughout the town. The legend indicated that these were “access hatches”, although it did not specify what they were accessing or why. I guessed that it had something to do with the town's water and sewer system, since I couldn't find anything on the map except homes, administrative buildings, and distribution centers. If there was something underground here, that might be a good place to look for survivors.

My thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched scream from upstairs. Sara was in trouble. I charged toward the stairs, hearing the electrical sounds of the pacifier ray discharging. If Sara had run into one of those zombies, it might have taken her by surprise. I wasn't sure how much resistance to injury her elastic body granted her.

I met Sara on the stairs. She was breathing heavily and clutching her arm, and she left a trail of blood on the floor behind her. I quickly grabbed her hand and focused my mind on repairing the damage. I winced as the pain she in was in transferred to me. It wasn't even close to being the worst injury I had ever felt with my powers, but pain is pain, and I winced as the energy flowed from me and into her. It was three deep slices, about an inch or so deep. They were so precise that they might have come from a surgical scalpel, which actually made the healing much easier. Being able to reverse the damage, and not merely alleviate the pain, made using my power much more bearable. We both heaved a sigh of relief as the pain faded.

“What was it?” I asked.

Sara was terrified. “I dunno! I tried to zap it, and that damn thing did jack shit! It had claws, and...there it is!”

I looked. Standing on the stairs was a female figure. Her face was ashy gray, like the zombies in the street, but her eyes were inky black instead of white. She had white hair, and was dressed in a dark red kimono. She did not shamble clumsily forward. She moved like a ghost, without flexing a muscle, as though she were standing on an invisible skateboard. She was carrying the pacifier ray.

Sara began extending herself toward the exit, desperately trying to get away, but the creature instantly leveled the ray on her and fired. She collapsed, her elastic body snapping back to normal proportions, and a white pacifier materialized in her mouth. She lay on the ground sucking contentedly.

“Who...are...you?” asked the figure, pointing the weapon at me. Her voice was a low hiss. It was almost painful to listen to. I guessed that this was what had made that shrieking sound earlier.

“That doesn't belong to you.” I said levely, quickly glancing over at Sara. She was now too far away to release without turning my back. I would have to deal with whatever this was myself.

“Answer, or die!” hissed the figure. The ray began to whir threateningly.

“Put the weapon down, and walk away. You don't know what you're dealing with.” I said. Well, I didn't know what I was dealing with, either, but she didn't need to know that.

“Is that...a diaper? What the hell are you people?” hissed the creature. Even under my labcoat and pajamas, my diaper was hard to miss. I didn't want this thing to know anything about Miranda, though, so I stayed quiet. I hadn't known that Laura could create anything except mindless beasts as her servants. This thing could speak, and seemed to retain at least some measure of human intelligence.

“I'm not letting you leave with that. Hand it over.” I ordered sternly. I raised my fists, hoping that I looked threatening and not just silly.

She shot me. The beam of pink light broke over me like a splash of water, with about the same effect. I was relieved. I hadn't been completely certain that the ray wouldn't put me down as well, even though it basically just fired Miranda's quantum effect, which I, as her convert, was already filled with. It hadn't worked on her either, though. That suggested that Laura's creations were unaffected by Miranda's powers, which meant that most of the weapons we had brought were basically worthless. Still, I wasn't done yet.

I kicked the floor behind me as hard as I could, sending shards of floorboard spraying out behind me as I was launched forward into the figure on the stairs. She bounded backward onto the second floor, dropping the raygun and extending both hands. Long, silvery talons extended from each fingertip like jack-knives. I hesitated, but then I remembered that my skin could now withstand a sledgehammer blow, and I rallied. She slashed at me, but I punched her with everything I had, sending her against the wall and knocking over a set of decorative plates with the serene smile of Queen Beatrice shining from each one. I thought the fight was already over, but then I noticed the pain. I was bleeding from my stomach, and I was losing blood fast enough to make my vision blur. I quickly clasped my hand against my belly and willed my power to repair the deep gashes. Those claws were clearly no joke. If I was just an ordinary Knight with no healing abilities, I would have been a goner. And I couldn't keep healing myself forever.

She rose from the crumbled heap, seemingly unhurt. She shrieked, and I had no choice but to cover my ears. At this range, the sound was agonizing. I could feel my bones vibrate. I stumbled backward, and felt like vomiting. She was on me again, slashing out at me with her claws and I was forced to retreat through the offices. I launched everything I could throw at her: chairs, cubicle dividers, even desks,  but she kept dodging. It was clear that she possessed some degree of levitation: she could float off the ground and ignore momentum when it suited her. Even with my healing powers, her claws might easily slash me into ribbons before I could recover, and nothing I did to her seemed to stick. Apparently, Laura could field some pretty potent servants, just like Miranda.

“Where did you come from? Why are you dressed like that?” hissed the creature, as it methodically herded me into a corner, slashing back and forth with her claws, so that I couldn't land a blow without risking another set of cuts. My earlier confidence was turning out to be very premature. I tried ripping a section of the wall off to use as a weapon, but all I ended up with was a handful of splinters. She shrieked again, and this time there was no escape from the horrible noise. My vision blurred. I punched blindly at her, managing to knock her backward a short distance, but it seemed to have no effect.

A ray of pinkish light struck her from behind. It crawled across her skin and clothing, but seemed to find no purchase on her. I turned to see Jiang-Mi in the doorway, holding the raygun. Josh and Sara were behind her.

“It doesn't work!” I screamed at them. “Run!”

Jiang-Mi ignored me and fired again. The thing seemed to falter. It raised its claws and hovered into the air, but it was clearly slowing down. She seemed to be about to rush my three companions, when the pink light flared up again. Instead of fading, the light took hold and seemed  to seep into her body. As she collapsed to the floor, the bizarre magic of Miranda's power began to re-shape her. Her skin went from corpse-gray to a rich coffee color, and her clothing morphed into a black pantsuit with a white shirt and lavender bow-tie. A pacifier materialized in her mouth, which began bobbing in and out.

I breathed heavily, trying to recover. Jiang-Mi rushed to my side and hugged me.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Are you okay?” she asked, with tears in her eyes. I felt her energy rush into me, and I suddenly felt lighter than air. Jiang-Mi is the ultimate pick-me-up. It was good to know I could still depend on her support when it counted.

“Yes...Thank you...not your fault!” I gasped. Josh and Sara examined the sleeping woman on the floor. “Huh. Guess it just takes a few shots.” observed Sara.

“Hey, I recognize this outfit.” said Josh. “She's one of the Legion of Harmony!”

We all stared blankly at him, except Jiang-Mi, who perked up instantly. “Really! Awesome!” she ran over to examine the unconscious woman. “It's Felicity Winters! Oh my gawd!”

Sara and I exchanged a baffled look. She had literally been living in a box for I-knew-not-how-long, and it had been a while since I had had the desire or the opportunity to follow the latest bands.

“They're a full choir, made up entirely of Sweets!” explained Josh. “They must have all been in Grand Unity when Laura started messing the place up.”

“That's what Laura turns Sweets into?” asked Sara, cocking an eyebrow. “That was the farthest fucking thing from a Sweet!”

I shrugged. “Makes sense. What would she need Sweets for? Don't need leaders or diplomats or mediators when you have a big horde of obedient monsters.”

Sara turned toward the window. “Uh, speaking of which, I'm pretty sure those zombie guys are attracted to those screams. Maybe we shouldn't stick around?”

I looked out the window. I didn't have a good view of the street, but I could spot at least two figures floating between the grass-covered rooftops in the distance. If there were more monsters like her out there, I definitely wanted to avoid another encounter like that one.

“You're right. We should move. I think there are some underground facilities or bunkers hidden around here. That's where we ought to look for the survivors.”

“What should we do with her?” asked Josh, pointing to Felicity.

“Maybe we should wake her up.” suggested Jiang-Mi. “I mean, she isn't going to belong to Miranda yet, but it looks like she's free from Laura. She might be able to tell us what Laura's planning.”

I considered. It was risky to wake her up. She was a Sweet, and even if the pacifier ray had blown away Laura's control over her, once she was awake, she might be able to influence our minds. I had no way of knowing what she might do. Still, Miranda didn't want us converting people against their will, so there was no real reason to let the pacifier keep infecting her. “Yeah, I suppose. Just remember, she isn't one of us, so we have to remember not to let her manipulate us.”

“We can handle it.” said Josh, a little more dismissively than I would have liked. “I mean, Sweets don't actually control you, like Miranda does. They just make you like them, basically. And it's not like she's going to want to betray us to Laura.”

I wished I shared his certainty, but it was the only sensible course of action. I plucked the pacifier from Felicity's mouth. It dissolved into sparks in my hand.

Felicity opened her eyes. They were a vibrant emerald color. I braced myself mentally as the happiness that follows a Sweet through life washed over me. I was happy to see her, just like everyone else who had ever looked at her since she passed under the Archway.

“Uh...wow! You guys are...something else, aren't you?” she said. Her voice was melodic, even when just waking up. Jiang-Mi clasped her hands and squealed with excitement.

Sara recovered first. “Uh, hi there. I'm Sara, and this is Cynthia, Josh, and Jiang-Mi. Do you know where you are?”

She nodded. “Yeah...I was just searching for the survivors, so we could transform the Normals and capture all the Specials for Laura. I...oh...I think I've done some bad things.”

“You remember being under Laura's control?” I asked, just to confirm.

“Yeah...so, you never answered my questions. Where did you guys come from? And...why diapers?”

I sighed. “Look, we don't have a ton of time, so we'll have to fill you in on the go. Do you know where the local hospital is? There are supposed to be survivors in there.”

Josh helped Felicity up from the floor. “Yeah, we...I mean, me and the other Sirens, we were supposed to take out this whole town, right? The local Knights put up a fight, but they couldn't deal with our claws and our voices, and once we turned a bunch of the Normals into Biters, they all retreated into the town's bunker. It's where they put all the stuff that would look ugly above ground. There's a hospital, a water treatment facility, and some emergency supplies down there. Our claws couldn't get us through the entrance fast enough, so a bunch of the others went off to get a Tunneling Worm.”

There was a long pause. Once again, Sara broke the silence with the obvious question. “Tunneling Worm?”

Felicity breathed heavily. It seemed like she was still trying to catch up to having her free will back. “Yeah, Laura made all kinds of crazy stuff out of people. The Tunneling Worm was her solution to all the underground fortifications. She only had one when I left Grand Unity, but who knows how many Specials she's converted since then. I don't know what it's made of, probably either a bunch of different people fused together, or maybe a really strong Noble. You...you wouldn't believe the things I've seen...and done. Oh gawd, this is a nightmare!” She covered her face with her hand, as though to block the memories of her existence as Laura's monster.

Josh and Jiang-Mi began stroking her back, trying to comfort her. “Hey...it's okay. None of it was your fault.” said Jiang-Mi, pressing her face against Felicity's shoulder.

I could tell they were nowhere close to following my advice about being careful. I still wasn't sure whether she was being sincere or not. Sweets were still human beings, with a full range of human feelings, and it was entirely possible that her distress was completely genuine. Unfortunately, they could also lie so perfectly that no conscious being could see through them. Maybe I was just being cynical and paranoid, but I was the leader here, and that was part of my job.

By the time we left, the shambling creatures that Felicity called Biters were beginning to return to the area. Jiang-Mi and I knocked them out of our way easily enough, and we drove to the nearest underground access. On the way, we filled her in on Miranda, our powers, and our current predicament. She listened and asked questions, seeming to take it all in with more calm than I would have thought possible, given how weird it all was. She was concealing her real feelings, I suspected, another thing that Sweets were usually great at. I just hoped she was really convinced that we were on her side. If not, she might just turn us all in as soon as we reached our destination. Damn, free will is a pain in the ass. If Miranda hadn't forbidden it, I would probably just nail her with a Boom-Boom and save myself a lot of worry.