Chapter 251

Chapter 251

The bustle of motion that followed the chimeras defeat was chaotic at best. Ellison still wasnt responding to messages. That could be a bad sign but it could also be nothing. Communication wasnt his forte these days. Iris was fine. Fine, of course, being relative. Shed apparently fallen asleep, and considering how bad things were going to get in the coming days, I wanted her to get all the rest she could.

Shortly after the timer appeared, Aaron and Tyler had paired off, probably to discuss how to best manage the inevitable panic.



The second transposition event. We always knew it was coming. Guess now we knew when.

I forced myself to close the UI, and stood on the far edge of the reservoir, watching as a mix of civilians and Kinsleys mercenaries recovered the minotaurs remains. The bomb had done its job, and other than a few large chunks, the rest of him was more or less well-dispersed oatmeal. Sticky oatmeal. One particularly gruff looking man in dark fatigues was balancing on his tactical knee-pads on the off-white concrete, reflective light from an honest-to-god spatula bouncing as he scraped a particularly tough sample off the ground and placed it into a vial.

You sure this is the best use of our time? Kinsley said. Shed come down to check on me because she was worried, and after seeing the bloodied state of my clothes, was standing a few extra feet away. I get that he was regenerating but he looks very dead. Super, extra dead.

I sympathized. The store was probably getting traffic from everyone who noticed the timer, yet she had people out here on cleanup detail. Still, this was important.

I decapitated him, Kins.

She blinked. Before you blew him up?

More sawed. But yeah. I peered at her. Then, despite the fact that would dissuade most things from existing, he chased me down to lodge a complaint.

Kinsley absorbed that stoically. After a moment, she called out to her people. Make sure youre keeping the samples separated.

Steinbeck, a gruff man with a cheery disposition, took a break from whatever he was scraping up and knelt upright, broadcasting to the rest. You heard the boss. Handle with care. Wouldnt want to get thrown out a window.

A dark chuckle rippled through the mercenaries and civilians. At first, I took it as a generic joke coloring Kinsley as some power-hungry mob boss, but she shifted from side to side, lips pulling down in a scowl.

DidDid you actually throw someone out a window?

No. Kinsleys mouth set in irritation. He jumped.

I waited a beat. Like actually jumped or was assisted

Yes! Actually jumped. She sighed. Ive been meaning to tell you that the satellite science team finished up their research, but its been something of a busy morning.

That was the truth. The series of close-calls still rattled me, so much so that with the sudden change of subject it took a second to place what exactly she was talking about.

Hasturs potion. I realized. The reward hed offered me as incentive. Either out of coyness or a twisted personality, hed refused to say what it did, alleging I wouldnt believe him.

As much as I hate to admit it, you were right. Keeping the research team under guard felt wrong, but it probably saved our asses. On that topic, I highly, highly recommend you dont hold on to it and use it as soon as possible.

Slowly, I connected the dots. Its that valuable?

Kinsleys expression was dead serious. I mean Jesus Christ Matt, youre the best friend I have in the world and Im tempted to steal it just to auction it off.

You have more money than god. I reminded her dryly.

Yep. Kinsley nodded. And with upkeep, new acquisitions, paying these idiots decent wages, Im breaking even until the dust settles. If I auctioned that potion, Id have more money than the whole chicken-fucking pantheon.

Suddenly, I put it together. Kinsley wasnt being coy or dramatic by withholding what the potion did. More accurately, it legitimately spooked her enough that she didnt want to say whatever it did out loud.

What the hell is it?

So the guy you threw out the window was a researcher

I told you he jumped. And he wasnt just any researcher. Kinsley said glumly. Head researcher. Rare vocation, sharp as hell, and had a jar of Dum-Dum pops in his office. Gave me one every time I came by. Very well compensated. But despite that he got greedy, inventoried the potion, and when the guard team cut him off at the stairwell Kinsley clapped her hands with a loud snap. Dove through a window and ended up like a strawberry on the pavement. Five story fall. No idea how the moron thought he could survive that.

I absorbed that and waited. Send me the description.



Safe as it can be. Kinsley said, not looking confident. But Ill still feel better when its nothing more than an empty bottle.

Kinsley was smart enough not to say it out loud, but I could guess. Shed probably stashed the potion in her sanctuary. Even if she was under duress, she couldnt retrieve the potion without entering her sanctuary first. Once inside, shed be able to forcibly eject anyone who accompanied her, and would have multiple points within a several mile radius to escape from back into the city.

Still, we were living in a time of unlimited possibilities. There was probably a way to get the potion out of her sanctuary we simply didnt know about. Which meant I needed to decide. And soon.

Ill need to talk to Sae.

Look, giving it to Iris makes sense. Kinsley said. From the way she was looking at me, I could tell shed already guessed how this would go. Sae may even see it that way. What happened to her is horrible, but theres no question her issue makes her more capable than if shed remained an ordinary User. But as soon as you tell her, it will give Hastur leverage over you. Hell be able to string you along until he gives you the second potion.

I know.

Then why tell her at all? Kinsley asked. She crossed her arms. We both know its only a matter of time before the Order turns on us. Pretty sure youd never agree to work with Aaron if you truly believed he was planning to make good on his terms. God knows I wouldnt, considering what those fuckers did to me. What theyre still doing to my dad.

I struggled to answer. Because at the beginning of all this, I probably would have agreed.

Too many people know what the potion does. If Iris miraculously regains her hearing, it might be possible to explain it away as some class affect or ability. But if Sae hears about the potion after the fact and connects the dots itd put us in vice.

Of course, that was just the rational explanation, the one Kinsley would accept. The truth was more complicated. While everything Id said was accurate, what was really sticking in my gut was that I didnt want to lie to Sae. Not about something like this. After all the shit wed been through together, she deserved to know the truth. Even if it sucked. Even if it made her hate me.

Still, the small quirk at the side of her mouth told me Kinsley wasnt buying it. Youre probably right. And even if you werent, it kind of makes me feel better.

Why? I glanced at her curiously.

Nothing. Just a reminder that youre still you. Part of my role is collecting information. Kinsley hedged, working her jaw. And Ive been hearing a lot about our mutual friend over the last few weeks thats worrying.

Mutual friend being Myrddin.

Like?

Nothing specific you need to worry about. Kinsley continued without answering, giving me a lingering side-eye. But people fear him. And not just existentially, like they were before.

I rolled my eyes. Courtesy of the Overseer, our mutual friend is both bogeyman and scapegoat. Someone trips and falls down the stairs, theyd probably find a way to blame him for it.

Kinsley inclined her head. Maybe. But we both know most rumors carry a grain of truth.

I stuck my hands in my hoodie pockets and started to disengage. You got it from here?

Uh, yeah I guess. Kinsley grimaced, watching as one of her people picked up a long viscous strand of meat from the pavement with a pair of tongs and stuffed it into a large glass jar. Her people were working slow, only partially because they were being thorough. From the way they kept sneaking peeks to the side, seemingly at nothing, it was obvious they were checking the timer on their UI. Headed to the tower?

I considered it, then shook my head. As much as I wanted to attempt to bullshit my way and rush through the remaining floors so Nick could claim Excalibur, wed already tried that, and it failed. What was required to make it through the upper floors was a coordinated group effort, and thered already been too much chaos today. There were plenty of injuries, and with the reveal of the timer, everyone was scared. I suspected the impulse to rush was at least partially why wed received such an advanced warning. The previous game had been divided by regions. There was at least a baseline assumption that the system established the regions for a reason, and whatever the event pertained to would probably include them.

But there was no guarantee it would shake out that way.

And most of us knew it.

So inevitably people would panic, and wear themselves out so much getting ready for whatever was about to happen that when and if it did, the populace as a whole would be on edge, primed to make plenty of mistakes, playing right into the systems hands.

As much as the necromancer attack and sudden reveal of the timer made me want to run around in a panic, I needed to resist that urge. Matt, specifically, needed to project calm. Like it or not, with the way things had gone down after the last event, the people in my region looked up to me. And the calmer my region was, the easier it would be to get things done in the long-run, and the better wed do in the second event if Nick and I failed to stop it.

Not today, but soon. I pointed at her. Make sure you keep that potion secure. And send some dummy quests when you can? Stuff that should be easily achievable in the tower. Not exactly low on Selve at the moment, but with the way things are going Ill probably need more.

Easy enough. Kinsley nodded, watching me curiously. But now youve got me wondering. What are you doing today?

Need to check on Iris. Lock in a level. Show face with the wounded. Then, after the dust settles, then make sure everyone whos watching knows Im not particularly worried about the second event or what happened today. I squinted, passing out of the shadow of the reservoir and into the sunlight.

How? Kinsley called after me.

How else? I shrugged. By finally going on that date.

Somehow I managed to ignore the excited squawking that followed, echoing after me as I reached the ladder that led to the upper platform and beyond.