Tag Archives: Magnus

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 13

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Power Burst looked him up and down. “How do I know you’re not lying to me about whose side you’re on?”

Knowing Izzy’s powers, Power Burst’s physique didn’t make a difference. He could have been a couch potato that spent all of every day eating junk food, watching television, and playing video games with a body that reflected that inactivity, and still been capable of ending Ray with a slap.

Instead, he fit the superhero stereotype—tall, defined muscles all over his body, and a grim expression. Combined with the military themed costume, most people would find him intimidating.

If Ray did, he didn’t show it. “Me? I’m sure you could see right through me if I were lying to you.“ Continue reading Singularity: Part 13 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 12

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Ray kept on walking, never speeding up or slowing down. My guess was that he lived by the idea that if you looked like you belonged here, you belonged.

Of course, you could say that he did belong, having been empowered by Magnus and released to kill us. That didn’t change the fact that he was a man with no superpowers walking through the control center of an ancient, alien weapon.

Even if he couldn’t see all of it, the control center itself glowed with power. Though dim to my bots’ sight and my human senses, the hundreds of spheres floating in the air appeared different when I let my Artificer senses work. Continue reading Singularity: Part 12 →

Arc 14.7.5: The Core

The Core: Part 10

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“You can’t tell me unless you’re in my presence? Why? Because he told you not to tell?”

The picture of Prentkos in my mind frowned. “I,” he said and paused. “I can’t say… It’s difficult. I know the Nine has me. His assistant—the blond woman who’s with him—she talked to me, and I can’t repeat anything she said.”

“His assistant,” I said. “Do you mean Colette? She’s good with a crossbow?”

He nodded. Continue reading The Core: Part 10 →

Arc 14.6.5: Stage Three

Stage Three: Part 4

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Victor’s mouth opened without saying anything. He closed it, sighed, but asked, “Do you think it’s possible?”

I looked over at Cassie, who’d frowned but then started talking, “It depends. We’d need to make sure our birthing chamber has the right templates available. I’d say yes if we had the one you’d used. We all know what happened to that one, though.”

Over the implant channel, Sean asked, “What happened?”

“It’s not in working order,” I said. Continue reading Stage Three: Part 4 →

Arc 14.4.5: Regression

Regression: Part 6

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I thought about it. “A better idea? I don’t have one. I don’t think it’s going to be a popular idea, though. At the same time, if we don’t have the option of removing the command, and obviously we can’t sedate him until Magnus is defeated, then it’s better than leaving him like this.”

Julie frowned, “I don’t like it, but I don’t know what else you could do. Besides, if you do it, I might be able to chip away at the command. Kals might not be here, but the implant has a library of Dominator techniques. Between knowing the words she used and the implant’s knowledge base, I’ve got a chance. Wiping his memory of being captured gives me time.” Continue reading Regression: Part 6 →

Arc 14.4.5: Regression

Regression: Part 4

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The scene switched from his bed to somewhere else. Jody didn’t know where it was. In his memory, we saw a brief flash after he’d reached a people-free corner downtown, checked his phone, and found himself somewhere else.

He’d reappeared outside a great white building. Behind the building towered a volcano. Along with that sight came a pervasive heat, a cool wind, and the smell of the ocean. He’d only ever seen the ocean when Stapledon fought aliens in and around New York City, but this felt different.

He’d seen it briefly then, framed by buildings. Here, it extended outward forever on the three sides in his view. He had to be on an island, literally a tropical island. He could see the palm trees. Continue reading Regression: Part 4 →

Arc 14.4.5: Regression

Regression: Part 3

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“I’m following his associations with Magnus,” Daniel said. “That means whatever comes next might not be strictly in chronological order, but it’ll be close. This next bit is definitely in order. You can tell by how this scene hasn’t ended.”

It hadn’t. While Jody ran and the outside world blurred, Daniel, Julie, and I floated behind him like ghosts or realistic, human-shaped balloons.

Julie looked over to me, “How much of that was true? Do you know?”

“All of it,” I said, “from a certain point of view.” Continue reading Regression: Part 3 →

Arc 14.4.5: Regression

Regression: Part 2

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The fear came from the fact that he did remember. He’d felt a disquiet starting just before Magnus stepped into the room with Dayton back at Sean’s mother’s apartment.

It made me wonder if the root of our issues might be feeling something similar at a low enough level that neither of us could tell. Also, it might be that Jody was a jerk.

Magnus continued talking, leaving me no time to think it through fully. Continue reading Regression: Part 2 →

Arc 14.4.0: Jody

Jody: Part 14

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Within seconds of that conversation, I’d landed and so had not only Daniel and Izzy, but we’d also been joined by Sean, Dayton, Camille, Sydney, Vaughn, and Haley. Jaclyn had already been on the ground, of course.

Cassie, Julie, and Rachel all opted to stay on the roofs of the buildings around Justice Fist’s base. It wasn’t a bad idea. For all we knew, Jody had signaled for help. Someone needed to be in position to act.

Upon landing (Justice Fist seemed to have metal woven into their costumes), Dayton looked around the yard and said, “Wow. What a mess.” Continue reading Jody: Part 14 →