Category Archives: Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 10

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The alert also appeared on everyone’s phones, and most likely all of the city’s radio and television stations. After the beeping ended, the message said what they always said—stay in your house until we say it’s safe. Also, the following individuals were released from containment… It listed everyone in the gang we’d fought earlier that day—except for the woman who operated the Eagle suit.

That made sense. She was a normal human, and the city only had ten cells rated for superhuman containment. Why waste one?

I flipped through the pictures, noticing Haley doing the same. The last two pictures showed Alden and Philo, noting that they were the ones who’d broken the others out. Jillian didn’t make the list.

Maybe Alden hadn’t bitten her? Maybe she was resisting The Thing’s takeover process? Continue reading Splits: Part 10 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 9

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Jeremy stood with his mouth open, but managed to start talking again. “Yeah. He’s in big trouble with the police. He’s one of the guys who’ve been robbing armored cars in town. Plus, last I heard, Alden was her ex-boyfriend. As in, she was giving information about him to the police.”

Sandra let her phone, and the hand she held it in, drop to her waist. “She didn’t tell me that. Jillian just said he got in trouble with the police. She didn’t say anything about robbing armored cars.”

She stopped talking and her eyes widened. “Aren’t those robbers all metas? Alden didn’t act like a meta. He never did anything weird or… What does he do?” Continue reading Splits: Part 9 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 8

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“Not really,” I said. “Because he checks names off his kill list on a regular basis. He’s not going to kill you, but that’s only because he’s got faith in Daniel’s block. Um… But he still wants me to get Daniel to improve it.”

“Right,” Jeremy nodded along as I talked. “The bit where he kills people isn’t fun, but look, the online group I’m part of has been tracking him for years, and I’m right next to him. That’s amazing. It still doesn’t seem real.”

I stared at him without saying anything. “It’s just…” I stopped, trying to find the words. “He killed thirty people who worked for Syndicate L last year because they knew my name, and you walked in when he was talking about something that he’s more worried about getting out than that.”

Jeremy had been leaning back in his chair, but leaned forward as I talked. “I shouldn’t ask about that, should I?” Continue reading Splits: Part 8 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 7

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“That’s my roommate, Jeremy. He’s already got the block, and he already knows who I am.” I hoped that would be enough to stop Lee from making any snap decisions.

As Jeremy came in, Lee had touched on the topic of who his people were. He’d probably killed people for knowing less, and to be fair, this was a potentially world ending secret if Jeremy figured it out. Worse, Jeremy had actually been part of an online discussion group about Lee. It wasn’t likely that he’d figure out much of anything from what he’d heard, but he had a better chance than 99% of the world’s population…

That was why I’d mentioned the block.

Looking me directly in the eye, Lee said, “Make sure it’s a good block.” Continue reading Splits: Part 7 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 6

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I blinked, trying to think of what to ask next. That opened up too many questions.

Haley didn’t wait. “How low?”

Lee paused, making it either the first or the only time I could remember seeing him hesitate. “Let’s say that there are multiple factors involved.”

He leaned back in his chair, the red leather becoming more visible next to his shoulder length, black hair.

“Yeah? Like what?” I tried to sound interested, but not too interested.

Haley looked over at me. Lee chuckled. Continue reading Splits: Part 6 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 5

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Amy looked over at Samita. They’d all sat together on one of the hotel beds. “I think that could work. Psychic teleportation should get us around any ward I’ve ever heard of.”

Brow furrowing, Samita’s face went blank. After a little while, she raised her hand to her chin and waited longer. A moment later, she straightened up and lowered her hand. “It should work. There are wards that prevent teleportation, but I think I’d recognize them.”

Amy grinned. “That’s good enough for me.” Continue reading Splits: Part 5 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 4

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Amy froze. Then she all but spit as she talked. “Fuck! They didn’t tell me. It does that kind of thing all the time. In my world, we’ve had a lot of creatures come through interdimensional portals. They’re mostly magical creatures, but every now and then we’ll see some strange mixture of magic and science, and sometimes… Sometimes we’ll see something purely scientific.”

Her face twisted, and then she sighed. “I’ve told you that we’ve fought The Thing That Eats for years, but what I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t know, was that it collected them. We’ve got humanoids called the Elder. Think of them as a cross between vampires and elves. The Thing collected them—along with anything else it could get. Cyborgs? Sure. Centaurs? Definitely. It took anything it could get. Continue reading Splits: Part 4 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 3

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Haley frowned. “I wish I’d heard a real conversation with him. Then I might have better sense of what he’s like. You can learn a lot about who someone is by what they’re nervous to talk about.”

“What I’m wondering is if you could tell who’s in control? Andronicus or The Thing That Eats? That would make this a lot easier.”

She tilted her head, obviously thinking. “If I had some time to observe him, maybe. It’s a good idea. It seems like the kind of thing I ought to be able to do.” Continue reading Splits: Part 3 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 2

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Keeping her voice low, Haley leaned in. “It’s picking people with powers and one of the first is a speedster. I think it’s got a plan.”

I nodded. “Of course, it did. A lot of my calculations are dependent on speed.”

At the same time, my stomach sank. The League’s parents (including mine) were mostly still inside the circle. We did need to find a way to get them out—them and everyone inside.

Something of that thought must have shown in my face (or my smell or the speed of my heartbeat…) because Haley said, “What?” Continue reading Splits: Part 2 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 1

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The first thing that came into my head was, “Can you see where he is, or where he’s gone?”

“No,” Kayla’s voice paused and a mouse clicked in the background. “There aren’t very many spybots around here. I mean, except for the ones you just released.”

She was right. I’d mainly focused on major intersections, and there weren’t many of those around here. Worse, there were longer than normal blocks this far out, making corners even easier to avoid.

“I might be able to track them,” Haley’s voice trailed off. She knew, as we all did, that a long jump could throw off her sense of smell. We’d need all of us to pull that off. Plus, The Thing appeared to be good at sneaking around.

“We could try looking for a little while,” I suggested, and we did, but we didn’t find anything. Continue reading Splits: Part 1 →