NABC [325] 4.46 The Legion Mastermind
[325] 4.46 The Legion Mastermind
Even the threat of imminent death and the fear and stress response pulsing through my veins fails to give me the energy to do more than stumble forward with all the vigor and deftness of an eighty year old with chronic arthritis. Fortunately, Chloe doesn’t mind carrying me through the dungeon, bridal style, and I don’t mind the increasingly irritated glances that Clara keeps shooting my direction.I don’t exactly blame her; I’m not exactly sunshine and roses about dealing with Renault right here and now. I was hoping to have a few more weeks, some time with Chloe, get around to forging those new swords for her with the auracite we found. A date or two would have been nice as well; contrary to some people’s opinion, I don’t exactly like fighting for my life literally every waking moment of literally every day.
But alas, one thing I’m learning more and more about this whole ‘being an adult’ and on rare occasions even ‘being a responsible member of society’ is that life generally doesn’t wait for us to be fully prepared. It comes at us with all the force of a hundred freight trains and forces us to adapt or succumb. Even more than usual in this particular line of work, given my existence is tied to the fate of the entire universe.
The four of us emerge from the dungeon five minutes after Clara’s proclamation. No sign of Renault’s vessel, but I don’t doubt he’s coming. There’s an ominous presence in the air. Most of Clara’s agents are in various states of injury, and though Chloe’s magic is strong and already filling the air, she can only do so much, so quickly.
Even as Mom approaches us with a limped gait, Chloe’s concentration doesn’t waver in the slightest. “Sorry we took so long,” she says. “We needed to make some arrangements and figure out where they’d taken you before we could think about breaking you out.”
Alicia doesn’t grow any more at ease as Chloe’s magic heals her wounds and revitalizes her flesh. If anything, her form becomes even more panicked as she regains her proper vitality. Her eyes turn from Chloe, to me, then finally to Hank, at which point, her panic turns to a resigned sigh.
“That circlet. You, um, do know that…” Alicia pauses. “That’s… an interesting fashion statement, Honey.”
“It’s the nature of the world, Leece.” Hank lowers his head. “And also, I’m sorry I’m so late, I’m sorry I haven’t called… I’m sorry I haven’t been there. For you, or for our daughters.”
“Oh, you’ll be apologizing a lot more than that if we get out of this mess, but what in the blazes were you thinking? This is the most obvious trap in the history of traps! Like, did you stop to think for one second that they’re kidnapping me as bait to get to you?”
“Of course I know that,” Hank says. “But what did you want me to do? Not try and rescue my wife? Not try to help out my daughters when they’re in peril? I swore a vow, Leece. Good times and bad, sickness and health, we stay together. Family. Even if I’m not always the best at it.”
Chloe and I glance at one another, smiling.
“I want you to be more careful, Hank! I want you to think about what you’re doing before you act! For God’s sake, we’re supposed to be the responsible ones here!”
“I’m glad to see them back together,” Chloe says. “Mom’ll never admit it to us, but she’s missed Dad more than anyone.”
“I can imagine. I wouldn’t want to go five months without seeing you. I don’t know if I could. Like mother, like daughters, I guess.”
Chloe finishes her healing and uses another [Superior Ether Canister], but our brief moment of levity during the rushed family reunion comes to an abrupt end as a menacing presence approaches from the east. Amidst the twinkle of stars and the half moon, a small airplane lowers down a short distance away. Smaller than what I would have expected, and smaller even than the tiny plane we took to this goddess-forsaken hellhole. But the presence I feel is undeniable. Everything we’ve faced to this point is but a tiny feather compared with the storm now brewing.
“You should all go,” Hank says to Clara. “And take Alicia with you.”
“I have a job to do, Mr. Jacobs. And need I remind you that you are still under investigation?”
“Then at least do your damn job and see to it that my wife is delivered home safely. She’s not part of this mess, and I’d prefer she make it out of here alive.”
“Alive?” Alicia says. “You better not be leaving me again. Not after all of this, oh no.”
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to protect you,” I say. “As I am now, I don’t think I can protect myself.”
“What happened to you anyway, Sera? You look like you were run over by a truck!”
“Honestly, I’d rather that I had gotten run over by a truck. Chloe could heal that up good as new in no time. Not that it would hurt me that much to begin with.” I chuckle. “A Skill of mine.” Not quite accurate, but good enough for her. “Gives me a lot of extra strength in a short burst, but then… Well, it’s like running a marathon back in the old days. I just need some time for my body to recover and I’ll be healed.”
“Sera,” Chloe says. “You stay back there and look after Mom. Dad and I will handle this.”
I don’t for a second believe that Chloe and Hank are going to be ‘handling’ much of anything. I suspect they know it as well. I know Chloe has some sort of sensory Skill, even if it isn’t as powerful as [Valkyrion’s Perception]. I assume Hank is post-level 64 as well, in which case it’s practically a death sentence not to have at least something. Still, for Mom’s sake, they’re putting on a brave face. I resolve to do the same, giving Chloe the most resolute affirmation my still-strained body can muster.
Most of Clara’s subordinates, as well as their prisoners, have already departed, leaving only Agent Bennett herself and the four of us. We five are joined by two other figures, both of whom I recognize. The first, a tall man clad in his suit of ebon full plate, with a heavy broadsword sheathed at his side. The second, a young woman with teal eyes and long, blonde hair, a silver cuirass adorned with wings like those of an angel. Her height matches mine exactly, as does the rest of her form.
The other Seraphina is here, and she gives off an altogether different vibe from the crude robotics I’ve been fighting to this point. My own cybernetics look and feel obsolete, and I shiver in dread staring at her. She’s not human in the same way that I am, though I have no evidence besides intuition to justify that knowledge. However, some part of her is definitely alive. And her entire form radiates power that outshines everyone else here, most of all me.
“Henry, I’d heard you’d finally climbed out of whatever hole you dug into and shown yourself,” Renault says. “Feels like it’s been such a long time since the last time I’ve seen you. Guess it’s only been a bit over four months. How time flies, am I right?”
“What do you want?” Hank says.
“Oh, please, Henry. Is that any way to treat an old friend? Especially after I spent all this time and effort to come out and see you… Oh, and Alicia. It’s been such a long time, hasn’t it?”
Alicia doesn’t spare a glance at Renault. I can’t blame her. I didn’t even realize that the two of them had met; she never mentioned it. Maybe denial was her coping mechanism. Or maybe she just refuses to believe that the man she knew is this guy now asserting himself as the dictator over all the territories previously under the jurisdiction of the United States.
“Can you just… go?” Chloe asks.
“That, of course, depends on your father… Chloe, was it, if I remember?”
“Wait… You know my name? Have we met?”
“Your father had mentioned you a few times over the years, though, even if he hadn’t, you’ve made quite the name for yourself these past few months. Truly commendable, as to be expected for Henry’s daughter.” Renault’s eyes turn to me. “And here we have the woman of the year. Seraphina Mortensen, Henry’s so-called ‘greatest creation’, live and in the mostly-flesh.
“To be honest, I thought he was just grasping at straws. Trying to encode the Seraphina data directly into a human genome? He was always the most ambitious of us. Some might say mad, but really, genius usually is. Especially when he’s demonstrated that it worked! And better than I could have possibly expected! Truly, Miss Mortensen, if I were wearing a hat right now, I would tip it to you for the honor of having met you in the flesh.”
“You’ll have to forgive me if the sentiment isn’t mutual, Renault.” I say.
“You are?” the other Seraphina asks.
“Hmm…” Renault pauses, deep in thought. “A sister of yours would be the easiest way to explain.”
“A sister?” Seraphina’s mood brightens. “You never told me that I have a sister, Renny!”
Clara presented this version of Seraphina as malice incarnate, with a crimson eye that casts aspersions upon the world and a penchant for violence and cruelty. The appearance matches, vaguely. The wings are batlike, maybe demonic, if one takes some liberties. But for this supposedly ‘dark’ version of myself, she’s surprisingly cheery and not nearly as cruel as I’d been led to believe.
Also, Renny? And, from the way Seraphina is clinging to his arm… I’m not sure if their relationship is one of siblings or one of lovers, and I really don’t want to find out, either.
Renault turns toward her. “Seraphina.”
“Yes, yes, I know. Don’t call you ‘Renny’ in public. You have to keep up an image of being a great mastermind and political leader or something. But why didn’t you tell me I had a sister?”
“To be honest, I did not know about her myself until recently.”
“So, what do you want, anyway?” Chloe asks.
“I want you all to join me. My own strength and Seraphina’s aside, it’s not as though we can be everywhere at once. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before someone else makes a move. War is on the horizon, and since our previous so-called ‘leaders’ had proven themselves incapable of properly defending themselves and our nation, I decided to… relieve them of their duties and begin a full-scale reorganization of society, in order to defend our nation against threats both international and interstellar.”
“And if we refuse?” I ask. “Let me guess, you are going to kill us?”
“If it comes to it, I will do what I must for the security and safety of our society and our planet. But, as I said earlier, I mean no harm to those who don’t oppose us, and I genuinely want us to work together. For the sake of old times, and because I know the potential you hold within you.”
“Renault,” the other Seraphina says. “The shorter girl. Henry’s daughter, I think you called her.”
“Chloe? What about her?”
“She feels familiar to me. I do not know how to explain it, and I know that I have never seen her before, and yet, I cannot help but feel that I have known her for my entire life.”
“That’s…” Renault turns toward the other Seraphina with a surprisingly soft expression. “I will explain it to you later.” He turns to the rest of us. “Now then, I know I am asking a lot, and for you to uproot your lives and move to Washington on a whim. Were these ordinary times, I would tell you to take some time and reach a decision as a family. However, time is of the essence, and we cannot afford large-scale destructive infighting right when we should be uniting and preparing ourselves for the disasters looming on the horizon.”
Hypocrite much, no? His little rebellion is the single largest set of infighting we’ve had these past several months. Not that there haven’t been others, but… Ugh, just thinking about him and his actions really pisses me off!
“The end of summer is fast approaching, and with the arrival, Chaos will only intensify. Less than a month away now. Yes, I think that will do nicely. Take these few weeks to get your affairs in order; I will return for you on the night of the equinox. I do hope that when that day comes, you will make the wise decision. Until then.”