Dawn of the Void - Chapter 128: Revelations

The XO’s black-burning bullet hit the Aureate Buckler which flickered into existence as soon as the man raised his gun. The buckler flared bright gold but James had no time to appreciate the save; he saw a second officer point a gun at him and fire. Only his insane Agility and Speed stats allowed him to sway aside, Matrix style, so that the bullet missed.

Then a horse kicked him in the temple as a third aide placed the muzzle of her revolver an inch from his brow and pulled the trigger.

BAM.

James was knocked sideways out of his chair as people screamed. The Infernum-infused bullet tore its way through the delicate bone shielding of his temple, through his right front lobe, through the left half of his cerebral cortex and then out the left side of his head.

He was dead before he hit the floor.

Get the fuck outta here!

Life flooded back into him as his brain reconstituted itself. He pushed himself up with such vigor that he flew into the air. Gun shots were ringing out in the room, deafening, overwhelming. Hackworth took a shot to the face. His handsome Errol Flynn features exploded into gore and bone as he went down.

James saw red. It wasn’t that time slowed.

Rather he simply moved so quickly that the others suddenly seemed mired in mud.

He rounded the table corner, pulled the revolver from the woman’s hand, shattering her fingers as he did so, and clubbed her over the head. Moved on to a second man who was spraying lead into the chests of the officers across from him. James punched the man across the jaw, but put too much strength into the blow; the man’s face fell apart, bone shattering, teeth and fragments of tongue spraying across the woman beside him.

A palm on the tabletop and James vaulted all the way down, boots first, to slam into the XO. Baker lifted off the ground and hit the wall. It cratered behind him.

The fourth assailant was being tackled by three soldiers.

James slid off the end of the table and dropped into a crouch beside Hackworth. He was dead.

“Denzel,” he said into his sat phone. “Get down to the conference rooms.”

Then he turned and hit everyone still standing with a Sacred Fire, healing them immediately.

People were shouting, some struggling to get outside, others drawing guns and pointing them at the dropped soldiers and each other.

“Calm down,” James said, voice rich with the power of Inspire.

People slowed, took deep breaths, got a grip.

James used Healing Grace on two innocent soldiers who’d been shot while trying to intervene, then collected the four assailants and set them against the wall. Everyone moved as if half-asleep when he pushed himself. The moment they were gathered he saw that two were dead, while Major Baker and the woman whose hand he’d shattered yet lived.

He hit them with Healing Grace and crouched before them as their eyes fluttered and flicked open.

“Listen up. Your plan failed. You-”

The woman surged to the left, making a break for the door. She was fast, her Agility and Speed clearly impressive.

But nothing compared to James.

He grabbed hold of her shoulder and slammed her back against the wall.

“You can’t escape. We’re going to take you to another room now and ask you some questions. If you’re lucky, you’ll ride out the rest of the apocalypse in a cell.”

The woman glared at him, eyes burning bright. She was young, her blonde hair cut close around the sides, tousled on top. “Just like you put Bjørn Larsen in jail?”

James raised his chin and narrowed his eyes. “There are indeed other options if you want to fuck around.”

Denzel burst into the room, Serenity and Yadriel right behind, their eyes wide.

“What the – oh shit!”

“Resurrect Hackworth, if you will,” said James, his gaze still locked on the woman.

“Right, right.” Denzel dropped to one knee beside the dead colonel. He inhaled deeply, extended one hand, and then a golden light formed around him. It grew brighter and brighter till the room was nearly washed out in brilliance, then all at once flew into the colonel’s chest and disappeared.

A second later Hackworth’s face reconstituted itself and he sat up with a convulsive gasp, hand going to his chest.

Cries of relief and awe filled the room.

“Boom,” said Yadriel softly from the doorway. “It’s a miracle every day ‘round here.”

“Hackworth?” James studied the man. “You all right?”

Hackworth put a hand to his brow, blinked, then scrambled to his feet and looked around the room. “I – I mean…” He took a moment, inhaled deeply, then visibly took hold of himself. “I’m fine. I was… dead?”

“Less than a minute,” said James.

“Dead.” Hackworth’s gaze turned inwards for a moment, then he set those thoughts aside and glared at Baker. “Why?”

Baker’s lips pulled back in a feral, desperate grin. “Shits and giggles, sir?”

For a second Hackworth looked like he was about to lunge at the man, but then he drew back. “Take them away.”

James grabbed hold of their arms and hauled them up. They didn’t resist. He marched them out of the conference room and paused, thinking. The woman was dangerous. She could probably bust through regular dry wall and studs.

They needed concrete.

He led them to the back of the hotel, Serenity following with a lantern, into the cleaning/servants hallways, and found a staircase leading down into a lower level made of poured cement. This small complex hadn’t been absorbed by Jessica, and consisted of laundry and supply rooms.

A storage room filled with folded towels on metal racks would do. The walls were of uniform cement. Serenity set the lantern on a shelf as James hurled both Baker and the woman into the depths of the room.

Baker stumbled and fell, but the woman pirouetted with impossible grace, sidestepped into the deepest shadows, and disappeared.

“Fuck,” hissed James. “Watch Baker.”

And he ran out.

Speed 274 meant he could cover a lot of ground, and fast.

He tore down the hallway and into each room. Doubled back, raced up the stairs, and saw the woman sprinting ahead of him, fleet as a deer.

She glanced back and her eyes widened.

Before she could Shadow Step again, James hit her with Terrify.

Star Boy had once said it scaled with Arete.

His was currently 800.

The woman froze mid-stride, her whole body spasming with fear, and with a choked cry she simply collapsed to the floor and curled up into a ball, arms wrapped around her head.

James loomed over her. The urge to continue pouring Terror into her shaking frame was strong.

But no.

He cut off the power and crouched smoothly beside her.

“There’s no escape. You try that again and I’ll really get upset. We clear?”

She slowly unfurled from her fetal position, cheeks wet with tears, and glared at him. The Terror didn’t last long, but he saw genuine fear mixed in with the defiance.

“Come on.”

He pulled her up and led her back down to the cement room. Picked up the lantern as they passed it, and set the light on the floor so that she was completely bathed in white electric light as she leaned against the cement back wall.

“You’re both fucked.” His voice was stony. “Your plan was stupid and it failed. Now you’re going to tell me everything I want to know. You make this hard and I’ll use Terrify.” He stared at the woman. “You’ve already seen what that does.”

She paled and stood straighter.

“Your name,” he demanded.

For a long, ugly moment she struggled with her rage. Then she straightened and met his gaze with a smile. “All right. Let’s cut to the chase.”

James exchanged a glance with Serenity then looked back at her expectantly.

“I knew the chances of actually killing you were slim.”

“What?” said Baker.

“Still, it was worth a shot.” Her smile turned derisive. “But the real point is to tell you that while you may be safe, everyone else isn’t. Sure. The time you go into the Pit we’re going to make our move. And there are far, far more of us than you could possibly imagine.”

“The Nem4’s,” said Serenity coldly. “You’re working for the demons.”

“With,” corrected the woman. “But yes. Do you have any idea how many people realized we have no chance? And who accepted their offer, and lived? If they hadn’t, just about everyone would have died. As it is? Millions upon millions were spared.”

James inhaled deeply. “Why should I believe you?”

The woman laughed. “Human nature, baby. You think people are fundamentally good? No. We’re survivors, first and foremost. And with the whole world sliding into the trash there was one obvious solution. Accept our new demonic overlords and live. Which so, so many of us did.”

Serenity’s presence suddenly flared. The woman and Baker both screamed and fell to the ground to curl into balls.

And just as quickly Serenity’s presence grew muted once more.

“Watch your tone, hon,” said Serenity sweetly. “Some people might take it the wrong way.”

“Heh,” laughed the woman, uncurling. “Doesn’t change a -”

She screamed as Serenity hit her with Terror again. James reached out and touched Serenity’s shoulder, who relented.

“So what’s your end game?” he asked softly. “What do the demons want?”

“I don’t know.” The woman sought to catch her breath. “I’m not important enough to be clued into the full plans. But we were tasked -”

“By who?”

Despite everything, the woman smiled. “An old friend of yours. Remember Becca?”

“Shit,” said Serenity.

“Becca’s not forgiven you for murdering Bjørn. She’s out for her pound of flesh. We four were told to try and kill you and take out anyone else we could. But she knew it wouldn’t work. But that you’d get the message anyway. Go back down into the Pit and everyone up here dies.”

“Fucking Becca,” said Serenity. “Where is she?”

“Obviously I don’t know. And you can hit me with Terrify as much as you want. We knew we’d either end up dead or captured, so we weren’t told anything that can impede her plans.”

“Why’d you agree to this?” James gestured at the concrete room. “To be her catspaw?”

“Because,” said the woman, pushing herself up to sitting. “You like to think of yourself as a hero. If given the chance you’ll just lock us up. And then when you go down into the Pit, I’ll be freed, and have done my part.”

“We could just kill her,” said Serenity, but he could hear the bluff in her voice.

“Baker?” James stared at the XO. The man sat stiffly, gazing straight ahead, his expression hollow. “You got anything to say?”

“It’s the end of the world,” said Baker softly. “I don’t want to die.”

Serenity shook her head. “Says it all, really.”

James felt a heavy weight fall upon his shoulders. His instinct was to order the room watched at all times, to keep it flooded with light, to dedicate an entire squad to watch the prisoners.

But to what end?

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But I don’t have tolerance any more for literal crimes against humanity.”

And he drew his gun faster than both prisoners could react and shot them both in the head.

The report of the gunfire was shatteringly loud in the enclosed room. Blood and brains sprayed against the cement wall. Both slumped over. Only the XO looked surprised.

Serenity looked sidelong at James, her expression grim, and gave him a curt nod. Together they left the room and made their way upstairs. Denzel and Yadriel had left, and Star Boy, looking deeply concerned, led them to where Hackworth was sitting by himself in a small conference room.

“Colonel?”

“Kelly.” Hackworth roused himself. “Sit. What did you learn?”

James lowered himself slowly into the chair. They reported what they’d discovered. When he was finished he studied Hackworth’s face. The man looked haunted, his eyes large, his skin pale. “You all right, sir?”

“Fine.” Hackworth pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “How times are changing. I remember chewing you out for executing your team mate. Now? Damn it. Field execution of traitors seems like the obvious course of action. What did… what did Baker say?”

“He was a coward,” said Serenity. “It’s the other woman that was more interesting.”

“Well shit,” said Hackworth, sitting back. “No way to tell how much they were bluffing us, but I can’t say I’m too surprised.”

“I think she was exaggerating, but perhaps not by much. When you consider how bad the Nem6, 7, and 8 waves were, it’s surprising anyone survived at all,” said James.

“True. And that’s with billions dying.” Hackworth frowned at nothing. “How many traitors are there? I guess we’ll find out when you go back into the Pits.”

They sat in silence.

“Sir?” James tried to meet the colonel’s gaze. “We can still win this.”

“Hmm?” Hackworth blinked. “Oh. Right. Yes. Of course.”

They sat in silence for another long moment.

“There was nothing,” said Hackworth at last. “While I was dead. One moment I was in my chair, a gun pointed at my face, the next I was on the floor, coming back to life. Nothing in between.”

“Maybe you forgot it,” said Serenity.

“Maybe. But…” Hackworth shook his head. “I thought, if I died, that… something. A sense of… light? Being welcomed by God and….” Words failed him.

“This is beyond my paygrade,” said James carefully. “But the way I see it, there’s no way to figure this out. Is Denzel’s Resurrect a Catholic miracle, or a demonic gift? Our powers come from the Nodes, the demonic symbols, where Reservoir Cubes hold power. Does that mean Shield of Faith is really based on faith, or is it just a pandering name? Fuck if I know. When Kerim wakes up, what will his powers be? Muslim miracles? What about the atheists? How do they explain this shit? Are these demons the ones cast down by God with Lucifer, or… fuck, aliens?”

Hackworth was listening avidly.

“We don’t know.” James shook his head slowly. “But we can make choices. Have faith. I mean, fuck. Isn’t that what faith is all about in the first place? Using spiritual certainty to guide our beliefs instead of proof?”

“Yes,” said Hackworth softly. “Faith. I haven’t always been the most devout of men, but I thought, I felt… when this all began… a calling. To act. To serve. To help. Based on my faith.” He frowned and looked down at his hands. “But then when I died… to not see, feel, or sense anything…”

Serenity stood. “Tough one. Me? I’ve always figured I’d find out the truth once I died and stayed dead. We all will.” She clapped Hackworth on the shoulder .”So don’t overthink it, yeah? You can’t figure this shit out, just like James said. So pick your poison, choose to believe in it, and keep on marching. Whether there’s a god or not, we still need to kill some demon ass.”

Hackworth stared up at her, expression bleak, and then forced a smile. “That’s true.”

James stood. “We need to think of a way to expose these traitors. Becca wanted me to know about their existence for a reason. I won’t be at peace heading back down if I know they’ll be gunning for our people the moment we’re gone.”

“Maybe Inspire, Bjørn-style?” asked Serenity. “Or use Holy Zeal and get everyone to confess their darkest secrets?” She paused and considered. “No, that’s a terrible idea.”

“We’ll think on it. C’mon. I want to go check in on Kerim and Kimmie. If we think of anything, we’ll let you know, OK colonel?”

“Yes,” said Hackworth softly. His elbows were on the table, fingers interlaced before his lips. His gaze was lost in the middle distance. “Sounds good, soldier.”

James hesitated. He wished he had something more to say, but in the end all he could do was bow his head and close the door behind him.