Prologue
8 Years Ago
"Brooke? Can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Why do those people hate us?"
There was a significant pause. Brooke seemed to be in a trance as she stared at the wall.
"Brooke?"
She looked at the young girl who called her name, now broken out of her trance. She saw her messy black hair and scared, tired eyes.
"They don't hate us. They're afraid of us."
"Why?"
"Because we're different. We have powers… and they don't."
"Do they think… we're going to hurt them?"
"Yes."
"But… I don't want to hurt anybody."
"I know, but sometimes… you have to… to protect the ones you love."
"Have you… hurt people?"
There was another considerable pause.
"Brooke?"
She sighed.
"Yes…"
18 months ago
"Ryan! You need to see this!"
Ryan looked from the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth, and saw Troy on the motel bed with his eyes glued to the screen.
"What is it?" he mumbled, walking over to the screen. On it, a news reporter was talking with a picture of Delsin and Fetch right next to him. The toothbrush fell out of his mouth when he saw the word beneath their pictures.
"Dead? How?"
"They were executed. They're saying Delsin got a new power and almost blew up the city," Troy explained.
"What? But… Delsin would never do that…" he said while wiping away the excess toothpaste.
Troy sighed and threw his head into the palm of one of his hands. Ryan threw open the door to the outdoor balcony and slammed his hands against the railing, using all of strength to keep himself from screaming.
"What do we do?" Troy asked.
"I don't know," he said with a sigh.
"I do."
Ryan immediately turned his head and saw Celia standing in the corner of the balcony.
"Troy… Celia's here…"
"What?" he said out of disbelief, walking over to check himself. Sure enough, he was there next to Ryan, staring at Celia in the moonlight.
"You… you son of a—" Troy began before being cut off by Ryan with his hand.
"Is it true?"
"Yes… it happened three days ago. Delsin absorbed the powers of the Beast and it overtook him. He couldn't control him."
"The Beast?" Ryan repeated.
"I thought Delsin was going to be the one to save us. But he was weak… just like all the others."
"He's more of a conduit than you could ever hope to be."
"I thought the same thing. That's why I came here. I need your help."
"Help? What… the hell… makes you think," he started while walking up to her until he was nearly touching her mask, "that we'd ever help you?"
Celia then took a step back and removed her mask from her face. Ryan was greeted by a face he wasn't expecting. He was expecting red eyes full of rage and hatred, but instead he saw bright blue ones, like calm and soothing oceans. Her skin was pristine when he expected to be scarred or burnt or… something. He had never seen her without her mask, nor when she claimed her name was Alice. He was expecting to see a monster, and instead, a human took its place.
"You think that… by taking off your mask… we'll just do what you say?"
"It's a symbol of trust," Celia explained.
"Right… and you expect us trust you?" Troy challenged.
"I trust you."
"Why?" Ryan asked.
"You saw what they were doing and you left when you saw how their leadership was crumbling."
"Yeah, well if we hadn't left we could've helped! We could've saved Delsin and Fetch!"
"Or die with them," Celia countered coldly.
There was a brief pause before Ryan spoke again.
"How did you find us anyway?"
"Do you really think Augustine only had one tracker?"
"Augstine…" Ryan said in a trance, "You killed her."
"Yes I did."
"She trusted you and you stabbed her in the back."
"She deserved to die."
"That's not your place to decide," Ryan stated.
"Look, I didn't come here to discuss ethics with you. I need your help."
"Right… help with killing innocent people? Is that it?"
She turned around and took a few steps forward.
"I thought Delsin was the one… when he absorbed John I thought… I thought he would be strong enough to save us. But I was wrong."
"He was stronger than you can ever hope to be."
"Powers-wise maybe… but he was too naïve. He saw good in everything… even when it wasn't there."
"And what do you see?" Ryan asked.
"The truth. I see how the world really is, and the monsters that live in it. And I know you do too."
"You're right. There are monsters out there in the world. But that doesn't mean we need monster hunters." Ryan argued.
"You're implying that humans are monsters…" Celia noted.
"Aren't we all? Don't we all have the same selfish desires?"
"You do see it. You've seen firsthand the injustice that—"
"You don't know what I've seen," Ryan interrupted.
"Try me," she challenged.
"Ryan… if I could uh, say something here," Troy butted in, grabbing his attention, "Maybe… we should go with her."
"What?!"
"Ryan, we're almost out of food, and it won't be long til' we run out of cash. And, frankly, I'm tired of sitting on my ass all day. We can't keep hiding forever."
"Yes we can," Ryan stated while beginning to walk back inside.
"You know what they're capable of! It's only a matter of time until they find you."
Ryan stopped in his tracks and stood there for a few seconds before turning around.
"Let's say we're interested. What would we do?"
"The nation's on edge right now, and when the nation's on edge…"
"They militarize," Troy finished.
"It's not just the US military either. Private contractors from all over are aiding in the war against conduits. If you join me, you can see to it that none of their weapons will be used against our kind."
"Sabotage?" Ryan summed up, "That's your strategy?"
"If we let them strike first, we won't live to regret it."
"She has a point, Ryan," Troy butted in.
Ryan took a moment to think before speaking again.
"Why us? Why not your little gang of misfits you used to attack us?"
"They were weak, only a means to an end."
"Aren't we a means to you too?" Ryan challenged.
"Perhaps… but I'd rather take my chances with you than them," she explained, "Unless of course, you mean to say your stories were made up."
"Stories?" Ryan perked up.
"We may not have spoken face to face, but I've overheard your tales. You managed to travel all the way from Curdun Cay to Empire City; all the while protecting conduits. That's no small feat."
"I did what I had to. It was the right thing."
"Then help me do the right thing. Show me The Reaper I've heard so much about."
Ryan hung his head low and sighed.
"What do you say?" she asked with her hand outstretched.
Author's Note: It's not evident in this chapter, but if you were paying attention you'd see that this story was rated M for mature audiences. Now, I hear you asking: "Ciaus, why should we care? What's so important about this being rated M?" It isn't really, I just wanted you all to be aware that I plan on this story being much more mature compared to The Conduit War Trilogy. I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up before continuing.
