Chapter 35
I had to make two more stops before the infestation in Point City was cleared, leaving Pratt and Roach as my last two targets.
I let out a breath. It was gruesome work, but it had to be done.
Rather than throw my consciousness again and reform the body, I flew through the air towards the BSH, landing on the steps. The building felt foreign to me rather than returning to a job that I’d left almost two weeks ago. I’d changed quite a bit during my time in New Haven.
The doors slid open and the security guards both recognized me, and they clearly had no idea what they were supposed to do.
Kim raced into the atrium. “He’s fine. He’s fine. He’s with me,” she shouted at the guard before any misunderstanding happened.
I could see the news playing at the guard station. Bloody images of city hall flickered across the screen. It was easy to guess why they were all on edge.
“It’s done, Kim. I’m going to get out of the way so that you can clean this up. Pratt and his mission are still out there, and Roach needs to be stopped.”
“I’m coming with you,” she panted. “Satellite access has been removed from Pratt’s group. We’ve mimicked a server malfunction for them, so hopefully, they won’t be tipped off. Beatrix and the entire Spine are working and scrubbing everything, stripping down all the security around the military and the city offices. Everything they’ve done is going to be put into the light for the rest of the city to judge.” She held tight to the security desk. “So, things are rolling. I’m not needed here. Take me with you. Let’s go deal with this Roach.”
I hesitated. My body was still back in New Haven and Stella was bound to get worried.
“What is it?” Kim noticed my hesitation.
“I need to get a message to New Haven. Stella is watching my body, and I don’t want her to worry.” Even as I said it, Kim was pulling out her phone and tossing her hair to put it to her ear.
“Wells, you were contacting New Haven somehow, because— you can’t anymore?” Kim frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Skel’s lab got hit by a monster,” I explained. “Kim, can you get out there with some pretext to help Pratt resolve his satellite issue?”
“What are you thinking?” she asked, a hint of surprise on her face, and more than a little excitement.
“That we might be able to get pretty darn close to Roach if we don’t kick up any fuss.” I rubbed at my chin.
Kim had her phone to her ear and stepped along the glass exterior wall for privacy. “B, what can we do to get me out there to Pratt? Uh huh.” She nodded along with whatever Beatrix was saying. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m asking for.” She gave me a thumbs up.
“I’ll be back shortly.” Nodding to her, I let Mona help me hold this avatar in place as I threw my consciousness back over to New Haven and my body.
When I got close, I sort of snapped back into place and gasped as I sat up.
“Master has risen!” Stella bowed with Vaash and several of the temple maidens. I looked around, noticing candles lit all over our room.
“Stella, what are you doing?” I frowned.
“Uh.” She looked around. “Worshiping the God King of Fertility. He is currently regenerating his fertility for us.” She smiled sheepishly.
“Don’t change.” I got up and kissed her. “But you can tone it down a smidge. Sorry, ladies, I have to get Daeva, and then I’m probably going to go back to sleep for…” I wondered if I should play into this at all. “More regeneration. Probably a decent sleep.”
Not having to explain it all seemed easier and faster.
“Don’t worry, Master. We’ll feed you Honey’s honey to keep your body alive.” Stella nodded vigorously.
It wasn’t the worst thing she’d ever come up with. “Just make sure it is thin enough that you don’t choke me,” I instructed her.
“If you would like to continue your regeneration, I could go get Daeva.” A temple maiden got up.
“Actually, yes. I’m heading to the vault that we discussed before. Tell her to meet me on the way if she can. If not, she should wait and join when she can. We’ll wait at the lake tonight.” We’d discussed the vault and its location enough that she’d know what to do.
Daeva was fairly good at getting around in the wilds and by large landmarks. There was a lake a few hundred miles from where the vault was. I figured that we could meet there and move out early in the morning with whatever plan Kim had when I got back to my body.
Laying back down, I didn’t need Mona the second time. After watching what she’d done, I was able to punt myself from my body and throw my consciousness across the world, only to open my eyes again in my avatar.
Kim was still on the phone, but she was standing in front of me, watching me closely and smiling when I blinked. “Yeah. We’ll get some uniforms from the bases. Then get the group rounded up for the trip.”
I raised a brow, wanting more details, but Kim held a hand up. “Yep, that’s perfect. We’ll need a wig for Miles, too.”
I frowned. I was less sure I liked her plan.
Kim hung up the phone and smiled at me. “In the BSH roundup, we caught a group about to leave for Pratt’s project. We are going to replace those girls as we head out to Pratt. Beatrix will get us uniforms sent over.”
“Only two people going out of the expected small roundup will be a little obvious to Pratt. And any others would be at risk.” I frowned.
She pointed her phone at me. “That’s why I need you to call Obsidian. I guess B is a little scared of her, or I would have told her to do it. And she’s more likely to say yes to you. We will roll out with a small army of Obsidians to make up the bulk, and she’ll be safe to bring to a fight like this.”
“Give me your phone.” I took it from her and called the manor while Kim grinned like a madwoman. I knew she was excited that I’d included her. But I could honestly use her help.
“Hello, Miles’ place,” an Obsidian answered the phone. She was clearly not the prime, but she also sounded more confident than one of the lower-ranking clones. I wondered if one of the executive clones was managing the house.
“It’s Miles, I need Prime and some Obsidian volunteers,” I replied.
She covered the phone and yelled something that only came across as a muffle before speaking into it again, her breathing ragged. “What, uh, do you need some of us for?” She licked her lips loud enough I could hear her.
“A mission. Though, Prime should offer everyone who participates a reward. There will be some danger. It’ll also be a good point for me to talk to her about a double-date with her and one of the other clones.” I smirked while Kim watched me with a raised brow.
I shrugged innocently. It was what would motivate the Obsidians.
The phone passed hands. “Miles,” Prime’s smooth voice came over.
I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I could tell Obsidian Prime’s voice over the others. “Hello, Obby, I have a request.” I smiled.
“Are you sure this is Prime?” she asked.
“Positive. There’s a little extra… something in your voice. Maturity? Yeah, that’s it. The higher up you go on your corporate structure, the voice gets a little more mature,” I replied, realizing it as I spoke.
Obsidian made a small curious noise. “I didn’t know you could do that. Yes, it’s your Obby.” Her voice got quiet. “What did you want?”
“I need a bulk of your clones, and they are probably going to die. We are going to pretend to be the next convoy heading out to reinforce Pratt. I’m going with Kim, but I need your help to make up a bulk of personnel. Also, your clones are getting a little feisty. If I’m reading everything right, we should talk about a reward for those that participate in this.”
With how many of her clones were at the house, if there wasn’t one monitoring the landline, I’d eat my hat. Even if they ever revolted on Prime, I wanted them to like me. Call me selfish, but I thought it was just good self-preservation.
Obsidian hummed on the other side of the call. “Of course I’ll do it. Give me thirty minutes to sort out who’s coming?”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll send you the coordinates and then I think we want to head out ASAP.” I nodded to Kim that we were good.
“Perfect. Can’t wait.” Obsidian hung up, and I handed the phone back to Kim.
“Okay. Let’s get down there and make sure we have enough to outfit the Obsidians.” Kim grabbed my hand and tugged me, but my avatar didn’t really move without me wanting it to.
Kim jerked when our arms reached the end of their slack and glanced back at me.
“Let me take us.” Wrapping her in kinetic energy, I lifted us off the floor and brought us out of the building. Then I picked up the speed and shot us across Point City, staying slow enough to not break the sound barrier.
Kim watched me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.
“Is there something wrong with my face?” I asked.
“No. It’s just incredible how powerful you are. You just saved Point City.” She smiled.
“I didn’t save it. Killing Roach’s people was a way to insulate myself and many others in the process from their machinations that would be dangerous for us all. What I did was evil in the broad sense.” I glared at her. “But I’m comfortable being evil, if it means protecting myself and those around me.”
Kim’s expression became more complex as I spoke. The end result was that she had her brows pinched down hard. “I have a different question. Are you immortal with your new power?”
“I stopped aging before my new power. Now, even if my physical body was destroyed, I would be able to form a body like this made of power. Maybe in time, I could even figure out my ability to create mass to rebuild an actual body.”
Kim nodded excitedly the whole way. “So you are immortal like me?”
“Yes, and I’m doing the same thing that stopped my aging to the rest of my harem.” I thought I understood where she was going.
Kim looked like she swallowed a fly. “They are all immortal?”
“Well, they won’t die of old age. Daeva is immortal already, and so is Obsidian, mostly,” I explained.
Kim made a grunt. “Daeva is part of your harem already?”
I gave that one a moment of thought before answering. Kim wanted in. That much was clear. “Yeah, let’s call her a firm half-step in.”
I liked Kim. But I’d spent most of my life hating her and blaming her for much of my isolation. It was still proving difficult to trust her enough for anything more than friendship.
I knew that she had apologized and now was throwing the full weight of herself and the BSH behind me. She clearly wanted to make up for everything. And I trusted her with my power, but I also knew that she was a hound with a scent that she wasn’t going to let go.
In a strange way, I had bypassed some of my own trust issues with her when I interacted with her as Void. But Void’s persona had been officially absorbed by Miles.
“Kim,” I sighed. “I understand what you want, but I’m not sure I’m there yet. There’s a lot of baggage between us weighing things down. It’s going to take time.”
She bit her lip and nodded, her shoulders slumping. “I understand. Let me stay close though and let me prove it?”
“Yeah. The opportunity is there for you.” I scratched the back of my head. “I just wanted to lay out where I was.”
“Of course, thank you.” She forced a smile.
I knew she wanted a different answer, but I wanted to be honest with her. The other relationships were different. There wasn’t so much history to sort out.
But the relationship between Kim and me was more complex. I almost needed a connection to her that was deeper than the pain she had caused in order to lift it out. That pain was buried, and I knew it would take some time to bring it to the surface.
Awkward silence descended, and I slowed us down. I gradually repositioned us to a spot outside the city where people were pulling jeeps and big military trucks to a stop.
I set us both down and Kim stepped forward, her BSH leader energy coming out. “Is everything fueled up?”
Rocksolid peeked out from behind a tanker truck. But it was his manager, Taylor, that stepped around him and spoke.
“Everything is all fueled up. The tanker has enough to get you out there, and we have one truck full of uniforms. Boss, I know you are durable, but are you sure?” Taylor’s eyes drifted to me and fear settled into them.
“This is Miles Matherson. You know him. You’ve trusted him before, and you can trust him now.” Kim gestured to me. “He has my utmost trust.”
Taylor swallowed and let out a dry chuckle. “I just remember that I was trying to get him fired for Melody’s shit. Don’t hold that against me? Pretty sure I couldn’t survive your anger.”
Rocksolid loomed over Kim like he’d fight me if he had to. I appreciated his protectiveness. Kim and I might need more time, but I still wanted her protected.
“No biggie. Melody was on a top-secret mission. We flipped her to being a villain after the monster fruit to get her integrated in a villain organization,” I explained.
Taylor made a large ‘O’ with her mouth. “Shit.”
“No. I’m glad people at the BSH care enough to come bash her manager and try to do something about it.” I smiled at her. Her actions had made things difficult, but came from the right place.
“Good shit. You are also… uh… Void?” She glanced up at Rocksolid.
The super-dense hero was frowning at me. “We heard the story. You killed Fortress?”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. “He killed my prom date and my whole high school when he went crazy that day. And he would have killed me, too. But I came into my powers and… well… you know the rest. I was just sixteen, and very angry.”
Rocksolid glanced at Taylor and a silent communication passed between them before he spoke. “Sorry, that had to be shit. Glad you didn’t go full villain.”
“Oh. I was a thief for a while. But that’s long in the past.” I smiled at the super, who I knew had a fairly rigid moral compass.
Taylor patted him. “Well, what matters is that you are on our side now. Does your team know?”
Kim laughed to break the tension. “Yes, and if you ever go back to some of the videos around their work, look for miraculously prevented civilian casualties. You might notice buildings falling just a little slower, people being caught up in a collapse and surviving. Somehow, they were all in neat little pockets.”
Her words caused the two to nod with approval.
“Glad to have you then. So, let me show you what we have prepared. Is it just the two of you?” She looked around like she was expecting more.
“A multiplier will show up here shortly,” I said. “She’ll be in all black and black lipstick. She’s Obsidian, a former villain, but she’s with me now.”
Rocksolid narrowed his eyes.
Taylor patted him on the hip again. “Come on. Let’s show them. Most of this was all ready. The only thing we really had to do was double-check everything and get some uniforms.” She threw back the tarp covering on a truck.
It was completely stuffed with uniforms.
“Good.” I nodded. “When was it supposed to leave today?”
“It should have already been on the trail.” She pointed out, and there was a very clear path carved through the wilds. “So you might be late.”
I shook my head. “The time won’t be hard to make up. We won’t actually drive the trucks until we are closer.”
There was a commotion as a semi-truck pulled up by the wall and Obsidians started jumping out and climbing. She started multiplying with the shadows. More and more of her flooded into the area.
“Reporting for duty,” an Obsidian saluted.
Out of even a hundred Obsidians present, I could pick out Prime easily. I held a hand out to her. “Come on. How many originals are coming with us?” I knew that this mass of Obsidians was really only a small number that had replicated to get the trucks ready and make it seem like a full caravan.
She smirked, enjoying being picked out of the crowd of her clones. “Three. They’ve been around long enough to be quite skilled, but not so long that they have memories that they don’t want to share.”
One of the Obsidians clicked her tongue and winked at me.
“Great, grab one of each and the six of us will head this up while the rest of them get into uniform and we get on our way.” I patted the truck closest to me before it all started to lift off the ground. Then I placed the Obsidians and the trucks on an invisible platform. “We are heading off.”