“Weird,” I said, “but not surprising. Rook used Abominator tech for his implant. We used it too, but we modified ours with Xiniti technology in such a way that we can’t replace their parts without consent. For all I know there might be a way to turn things back. I think it’s unlikely, but you never know.”
Dayton sighed but followed it up with, “He’ll probably like the power upgrade.”
“Oh, man,” Sean said. “I bet, but he’s still unconscious, so we don’t know yet. Is he going to be okay?”
We all looked over at Amy. She shook her head. “I don’t know how long he’ll be out, but he’ll wake up. I only took enough of him to make him fall unconscious. Once he regenerates enough… lifeforce? Mana? The best words I have for it are technical and aren’t in English. When he’s regenerated enough, he’ll wake up.”
Sean let out a breath. “What if he doesn’t?”
“He will,” Amy said. “He’s alive. He’ll wake up. I have literally thousands of years of expertise to draw on in this.”
Noticing the dark figures of Sean and Dayton on the roof of the main building, I zoomed in to see Jody lying at their feet. I wondered how much, if anything, of the fight with Magnus he remembered. Daniel and his grandfather had worked hard, but nobody was perfect and they were working on a tight deadline.
Dayton put a hand on Sean’s shoulder, “Relax. Everyone’s doing their best. You’ve seen her stab people without killing them before. Remember back when the dragon attacked Stapledon? She did it on other students because she had to, but didn’t kill any of them, right?”
“Right,” Sean said and slumped, but then sat down next to Jody. “Tell us when we’re leaving. I’ll be right here.”
“Soon,” I said. “We’ll be down as soon as we’re up to speed on everything.”
Dr. Transylvania’s voice carried over the comms, his accent hinting at Eastern Europe. “I presume you’d like to talk to me next? I don’t think that I have much to add that Prime didn’t already mention. My people did assist with the mind-controlled Cabal members. We did get hurt, but while they thought to ward the buildings against us, they didn’t supply them with wooden stakes. Or rice. That would have been annoying. You can’t imagine the compulsion when you see the grains fall to the ground. How many are there? You have to count them.”
He stopped, laughing. “Perhaps you can, V4. You and Blue Mask used them ably from what I’m told. You and the hamster. But nevermind. The Cabal soldiers and the Nine’s troops hurt us, but didn’t kill anyone. My children fed well, though, so they’ll be fine. And Ape Nasty got to hurt people without consequences. That always puts him in a good mood.”
The Atoner spoke up the moment Dr. Transylvania paused. “Don’t think that we let Ape Nasty do whatever he wanted. He stayed within the scope of the mission.”
With a grunt followed by laughter, Ape Nasty added, “You can believe the choirboy. I was well behaved. Everyone I hurt deserved it.”
“Hmmn,” Dr. Transylvania said, “it’s hard to find people that don’t deserve it on this island, but be assured that we pointed Ape Nasty in the right direction. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you. While I did figure out how to disable the wards on the building, I didn’t figure it out soon enough to send people to help you. Still, we did help secure this end of the mission. The Nine’s soldiers can’t match a small army of vampires.
“I’d be remiss to omit the help we received from your AI’s book club, particularly OMF. His people were invaluable once the sun came up.”
Vaughn asked, “OMF?”
In an even tone, the Atoner said, “It’s an abbreviation of ‘Our Mutual Friend.’ He’s a difference engine given sentience. He acts as a fence and information broker. He’s based in Chicago, but someone supplied him with a network interface and now he has access to the internet.”
“I don’t know anything about it,” Dr. Transylvania said, “but if I did know something, I’d point out that the event predates when I turned myself over to the state.”
Ignoring him, the Atoner added, “He also has a small army of clockwork robots. They’ve been useful.”
Over the comm, Hal used a pleasant baritone that I wouldn’t have guessed was a computer voice. “It would be nice to have hands, but you’re correct, they have been useful. My report is that all hostilities have ended. I’ve notified the relevant authorities and a task force of troops from nearby countries will be arriving soon. The United States forces will arrive first, followed by Mexico. Unless you wish to answer questions, I’d advise leaving within the next 30 minutes.”
“You heard Hal,” Haley said. “Let’s get out in 10 minutes, if we can, 20 if we have to.”
Off the main channel I asked Hal, “Did you manage to copy the contents of the Nine’s computer systems? I’m particularly concerned about Rook’s and Dr. Mind’s files, but having a full picture of the Nine’s assets and businesses on hand would be good. We’ll probably be following up on them for months.”
Hal replied, “They’re already copied over. You can view them whenever you like, but they’re quite large.”