This Is Pretty Messed Up

There is still hope. Be watchful.

            “Wylla, what-“

            “Ssh!” Quiet!

            Wylla snatched the joint from me, dropped it still-glowing into the wooden box, and hastily returned the box to her belt, just in time for a light door to whoooooosh into being nearby.

            A booted foot emerged from the light, followed by the rest of Grand Master Ramage, who I hadn’t seen since the meeting a couple days previous. Tall and lanky and fierce, she strode directly towards Wylla and I, a look of grim determination on her face.

            I felt cold.

            Another hiss, and Nick Tripp emerged from the swirling light, pristine in a black suit over a black shirt. The Phylactery I’d borrowed was clipped securely to his hand again, and he cast me a smirk over the Grand Master’s shoulder.

            Next came Beck. Multicolored lights flared around her as she stepped through the portal, sizzling and popping alarmingly. Arcs of light snapped between the light door and Beck’s jewel-encrusted form, ceasing only when she moved a few feet away. I didn’t know what to make of that.

            And finally, to my horror, yet somehow exactly what I expected: Lee.

            She marched into the Nexus mall, silent, tooled out with weapons and gadgets, Text at her side on it’s customary silver chain. Her hair was bundled under a tight wool cap, making her seem even smaller than usual, but she fairly filled the room with a sense of barely-restrained violence.

            Lee took her place between Ramage and Nick, regarding me with an expressionless gaze.

            They’d ordered her to kill me, once. I’d forgotten. And according to Lee, only Beck’s intervention had gotten me a pass. I realized she was probably here to fulfill that function once more.

            “This is pretty fucked up, guys,” I said without thinking. Ramage flinched.

            “You don’t even know what ‘this’ is,” Beck spat, moving towards the center of the Nexus mall, directly beneath the great skylight and our view of home. “It’s beyond you. Beyond most people. But you’ll learn.”

            I turned to Lee. “And you’re here to do their dirty work at long last, is that it?” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice. “I don’t fit in, so it’s time to whack me and give my Text to someone more malleable. I get it.” My throat was tight. “I just didn’t think it’d be you.”

            Her expression didn’t change one millimeter.

            Do not make assumptions.

            I flinched, which made the four people still around me flinch too. I was probably lucky I wasn’t vaporized right then.

            Lee stared at me for a moment, then quietly said, “People like me are only good for one thing.” She lowered her gaze to the floor and left it there.

            Wylla’s voice spoke to me, welcomed into my mind by her enchanting homegrown herbs. You will have one chance. Soon.

            But what do I do? I wondered. I tried not to betray my divided attention.

            Ramage, Lee, and Nick simply stood nearby, as Beck reached the center of the vast Nexus mall. The glow around her body increased, flows of energy cascading from the various gemstones and crystals about her body, now perceptibly humming.

            “What’s she doing?” I asked nobody in particular. To my surprise, it was Nick who spoke up.

            “It’s been decided that we should leave the Nexus,” he explained simply. “And take our place on Earth, the place we’ve deserved for centuries.”

            “Tripp.” Ramage shot a steely glare at him, but he rolled his eyes.

            “We ruled as gods, once. I mean, where do you even think the idea for gods came from?” He betrayed his excitement at last, gesturing like a used-car salesman. “Look at ancient Greece. Egypt. Rome, even. What do you think Jesus Christ was, if not an Alchemist? Water to wine, multiplying fish, bringing corpses back to life? People like us would rise above normal humans and make the calls. And why not?”

            “What makes you so special?” I retorted, amazed. A genuine megalomaniacal plot. I’d never seen one in real life before.

            “Seriously? The power of life and death doesn’t make me special? Fire and lightning from your fingertips, that doesn’t make you special? The real question is, what makes them so special?” He pointed up, at Earth. “Why should some average, unspecial monkey govern beings like us?”

            “Enough,” Ramage growled. “You’re putting a very disturbing spin on this, Necromancer. As is your style.” She regarded me with the same scowl. “This has been a long time in coming, McAllister. This isn’t about establishing any sort of ruling class. We’re reintegrating. And it wasn’t until we found miss Ann that it was possible.”

            “Beck?” I glanced to my ex-girlfriend, who stood motionless in the middle of the floor. Auras of varying color now clashed and intertwined around her, growing in intensity. Besides her hands being slightly raised and her fingers rhythmically clenching, there was no indication that she was doing anything.

            “Just so. But you’ve known her for years, haven’t you? You know what she’s capable of.” Ramage gazed at Beck’s still form with a look of unabashed pride. “That girl has a willpower unlike anything we’ve ever encountered. She’s driven. Determined. Everything that you have never been.”

            “Which makes her the perfect choice for the Fourth of November fireworks show?”

            “Enough sarcasm.”

            “Grand Master, I submit that there is no such thing. Since you’re about to kill me, and everything. Can’t make things worse for myself.” I was trembling violently, of course. Feeling like your life is about to end is a very upsetting thing.

            Nick raised his left hand, the one with the Phylactery. “That’s not actually true, just so you know.”

            “Oh, you’re not going to be executing me after all?”

            “Huh? Oh, no. No, you’re fucked. But I can make it worse,” he explained, chuckling. “If I was asked to. You’ve already taken my toy for a spin, haven’t you? I can sense the energy you drained out of my reserves. But that’s not really a big deal- I’m anticipating something of a windfall.”

            He meant the people he planned to rule, of course. I turned away, watching Beck and her light show. The hum was growing louder, and fluctuating in frequency. Next to me, Wylla was visibly shaking.

            “You okay?”

            She looked up at me, pain in her green eyes. “Whatever she’s doing over there, it’s not right. It’s unnatural. Too much,” she explained in a halting voice, seemingly pained by something I couldn’t see. “It feels like life energy, but… I don’t know.”

            “Precisely,” Nick interjected. “We’ve dolled her up in every channeling aid we could lay hands on. And I’ve made a significant investment of my own batteries.”

            Human lives. Like Courtney’s. How many?

            Well, I knew the answer to that, didn’t I? Not so many that Nick couldn’t make a return on his investment.

            We all jumped at the first thundering CRACK from Beck’s direction, as a ring of translucent light splashed outward from her aura. Her back was slightly arched, and her clothes were flapping violently, as if she stood in a strong breeze.

            “So what’s she doing, then?”

            “Two things,” Ramage declared. “One, rendering the Nexus uninhabitable. Human society will never accept magic users if it becomes known that we’ve got a secret moon base. This was a pleasant escape, but ultimately a liability.”

            I looked around at the deserted majesty of the Nexus. Empty walkways where there had been an astounding variety of people and sights. Stillness where music and the scents of food had filled the air. Silence from the halls of learning. “And two?”

            “The spellwork should emit enough of an electromagnetic burst, when she’s done, that Earth’s electronics will be disabled. Largely destroyed. There’ll be collateral damage, to be sure, but with the introduction of our technologies, under close supervision, humankind will advance like never before. And in the meantime, we won’t be overwhelmed by their armies and weapons.”

            My jaw dropped. “That’ll kill millions of people, just today! What about the infrastructure? We need trucks and trains and stuff to move food around, medicine, clothes. Have you even thought of this s**t?”

            “Of course,” Wylla said suddenly. “They planned on it. Didn’t you?”

            I looked back and forth between her and the others, confused. “What do you mean?”

            “Less people will be easier to control,” Wylla spat, disgust twisting her face.

            Soon.

            What?

            BOOM.

            A louder explosion from Beck’s light show, accompanied by arcs of lightning, drew all of our attention. “So why her?” I asked at last, trying to understand. “What’s this got to do with me?”

            Ramage looked over her shoulder at me, utterly at ease. “You? Nothing. Rebecka wanted you here for personal reasons. I didn’t think it unreasonable to indulge her, all things considered.”

            “What things are those?”

            “She’s doing our entire community a huge service, obviously. I don’t think any of us are her equal in terms of sheer willpower. For playing her part, I agreed to a few demands. Texts for a couple of personal friends, one of whom you murdered in a bookstore. An increased stipend to fill our her arsenal. And she thinks she’s going to get to kill you, when she’s done.”

            So that’s who the renegade Reader had been. I raised an eyebrow, chuckling despite myself. “She’ll be disappointed, huh?”

            “Not exactly,” Ramage said calmly. “The spellwork is going to kill her. But she should be able to finish her task first. I didn’t think she’d be as enthusiastic about the job if she knew.”