That was not something I wanted to hear in that moment. He sounded angry and I could guess why. Since we’d defeated them, we’d seen Cabal soldiers a few different times—guarding armored trucks, working for the Nine, and now working for the government.
We had not seen them working together.
Lee had set them up for a trap and put them in a situation where they had a choice—agree not to fight us for a year or die. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 27
That hope only grew as Daniel, Amy, and Jaclyn moved in behind us. Daniel stood next to me but turned around as if deciding that someone needed to be watching Bouman and the others directly.
Sean and the others joined us, Dayton and Jody (with knives ready) choosing to stand with Daniel—which was a good choice since more tendril monsters were entering from Bouman’s side of the room.
Amy stood to my right, but standing with her back to me, able to easily check both the room we might enter and the one we might leave. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 26
And how would we do it if we could? All of these fleshy masses around us had to be part of the core of the organism. If we could cause massive damage to core systems, that would tend to throw the larger system out of whack.
Even if it didn’t work, it seemed like the kind of thing might make it easier for Haley and company. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 25
In my HUD, the screens from Haley’s team showed similar scenes. The tendrils extending from the fleshy mushroom masses waved and jerked around spastically—so much so that I wondered if the shock of Daniel’s attack was making things better or not.
Sure, the Fungus Collective might not be able to concentrate, but on the other hand, some of those tendrils were as thick as small trees and many of the people on Team Hidden weren’t physically more powerful than a normal human. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 24
I used my implant to connect to our comm channel, asking, “Night Cat, how close are you to being in position?”
“Pretty close,” Haley said. “I don’t think that we’re dead center, but we’re maybe a floor away. After that we’ll have to move inward.”
I checked her camera. Through a silver haze that made me think of a camera filter, I saw a concrete ceiling and floor, parked cars, and grayish-white masses joined together by runners that crossed under the cars and over concrete barriers.
I didn’t see any people, but the masses had grey tendrils like all the other tendrils we’d seen. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 23
Sean’s comm started ringing. He stared down at the screen. Thanks to the Rocket suit’s sensors, I’d zoomed in on the screen and read it before I even had time to consider the question of his privacy.
It said, “Mom.”
Bouman nodded, “You’ll want to get that.”
Sean all but snarled at him, “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to scare me. Mom’s either one of you by now and she’ll say anything or she’s surrounded. Either way, I can’t stop you from doing whatever you want to her, but if you kill her, you don’t have any hold on me at all.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 22
“Welcome to City Hall,” our ex-mayor said. “I may have said those very words to two of you only a few years ago.”
Daniel gave a short nod, “I think you did. A few things have happened between now and then.”
At that Bouman laughed, sounding like a normal human being. If there were some area of his mind that the fungus had warped, Bouman could still manage normal human responses. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 21
My first instinct was to tell him that I doubted it strongly, that the fungus was a parasite that was warping his perception of the world, and that he wouldn’t look back on what he was doing right now with pride later.
Daniel, though, told me, Let’s see where this goes. We heard Bouman. How much independence of thought do they have? Are they still individuals but now they want to preserve the fungus or is it a hive mind? Talking will let me feel him out mentally.
Okay, I thought back at him, but we can’t let it stall us. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 20
“That works for me,” I said. “Is Hal saying we all go in at once?”
Jaclyn’s words came out in a rush, “Not exactly. He thinks one group goes in hard and fast to attract attention. Another goes in quietly. A third stays in position here so Portal can move people in to help as needed.”
Remembering what Brooke had said earlier about not being able to teleport inside City Hall thanks to interference, that meant as close as people could get. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 19
There weren’t a lot of people on the streets—mushroom-controlled people that is—but the people that were there stopped and stared.
I mean, sort of. With mushroom flesh covering their faces, they had no eyes or ears, merely slick skin. They pointed their heads at the fairy horde emerging from the portal and froze. Then as one, they retreated into City Hall, the parking garage, or any of the half-a-dozen office buildings nearby.
I wondered for a second if this meant that they still felt fear, but couldn’t help but note that they’d disappeared as one, meaning that if they did, they had to wait for orders to express it. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 18