Chaos VI

Jessica slowly lowered herself down the ladder that led into the hive, disguised as a Gentek scientist. As she did so, she reviewed in her head everything she had learned from the nearby /Blacknet terminal.

This hive was apparently crawling with Brawlers. The scientists were in a confined area on the north side and were attempting to capture a few of the beasts for an additional study.

According to the reports, the Whitelight seemed to be having an unanticipated effect on the Brawlers. They were becoming more aggressive…some were mutating further.

Down in the hive, there was a buzz of activity among the small group of scientists. Most of them were at the observation area, running their eyes over a scene of chaos down below.

The Brawlers looked to be fighting themselves.

"Doctor Everett," someone said, "have you finished the blood tests?"

"I have," was the reply. "They are…inconclusive."

"Then run them again."

Jessica moved about the lab, examining everything and taking in as much visual data as she could before moving to tear the place apart.

When she decided she'd seen enough, Jessica reverted to her normal form, formed her blade, and began slicing through and absorbing the scientists. There was pandemonium for only a few seconds, and then there was silence in the observation post.

All except for a beeping noise.

Bomb! Blackwatch knew she was down here.

A massive explosion knocked her off her feet and sent her flying through the observational viewport that separated the lab from the Brawlers. Jessica landed right in the middle of the horde.

She cursed audibly as two of the behemoths came charging right for her.

These are some of the ugliest bitches I've ever seen, she thought as she jumped toward them. In a fit of rage, she slashed into both of them with her blade until they were cut to ribbons, and then formed both of her arms into whipfists, draining both of the Brawlers at once, as if the whipfists were straws.

Her body convulsed a few times once the Brawlers were absorbed, but she ignored it. Jessica's hands became claws as she dove into another group of Brawlers. She'd only killed and absorbed one before she was knocked off her feet by another one of the things.

She flew across the room and into a wall, but recovered quickly. Two more Brawlers were coming at her from the right, and one from the left. With a series of acrobatic moves that she didn't know she knew, Jessica leapt over them, clawed into one from behind and absorbed it after decapitating it.

Jessica ducked under the claw swipe of another Brawler and, having shifted her arm into her blade once more, drove her blade into it relentlessly, absorbing it as she did so.

She absorbed the other one after several deft strikes.

Jessica looked around and found another ten Brawlers prowling around her, growling as they watched her.

It's never over, she thought bitterly as the Brawlers dove toward her.

# # #

Hours later, Jessica finally climbed out of the hive. The sky above was dark and a driving rain was falling, but that wasn't Jessica's primary concern.

Her gut felt as though it was about to explode. Her arms ached and she had a migraine. Yet somehow, she was able to move.

Jessica dashed up a nearby building to the safety of a rooftop. Once there, her gut lurched again and she vomited up something that looked like blood, but it was too thin and tasted foul.

At that moment, her arms grew extremely heavy. They started mutating into what looked like boulders while the arms themselves became thick red and black tendrils. She knew immediately what sort of mutation she'd gained.

The other evolved called them hammerfists.

"Congratulations," said the voice of Brian Reynolds. "You're evolving."

Jessica turned to him, her arms reverting back to normal. "I've heard that that's a good thing."

"It is," Brian replied. "Remember that the ultimate goal of evolution is survival."

"Why did Mercer send you here?"

Brian clasped his hands behind his back. "He sent me to inform you that the time is close at hand. Your evolution has nearly reached critical level, and that's what he's looking for."

Jessica crossed her arms. "And then…?"

"Tomorrow night, on top of the Gentek building," Brian said. "I'll meet you there to take you to Alex Mercer." With that he was gone.

# # #

"Doctor Lee and I have figured a few things out, and you may want to hear them."

Jessica looked from Dana to Harriet. "Hit me."

"Alex is planning on turning you into the…mother…of his new breed of human," Harriet said. "We don't know what his plan is for the Whitelight, but with you…he's probably hoping that he won't need it."

"Precisely," Dana agreed. "It's going to complicate things for him if the Whitelight cure is actually released and it looks as though Gentek has almost made a breakthrough."

"As if things weren't bad enough," Jessica sighed.

"Mercer is planning to use you," Harriet said darkly, "and it's highly likely, almost a certainty, that you won't survive his bonding process…but he'll get what he wants in the end no matter what."

Jessica leaned back against a wall. "So…Mercer doesn't care about anything but himself and his own goals?"

"You could say that," Dana said, "but there's probably more to it."

"He's just concerned with his future breed of evolved," Harriet replied. She then turned back to Jessica. "Either way, Jessica…if you go through with Mercer's plan, you won't be around for much longer."

"He'll probably try to sugar coat it for my sake," Jessica said.

Dana nodded, and Harriet said nothing.

"Anything else?"

Harriet walked over toward the door. "I need to get the hell out of New York Zero. I hear Paris is lovely this time of year…and there are fewer mutants tearing the city apart."

She left that very minute.

Jessica exchanged a glance with Dana. The latter shrugged and said, "Well, she's always had a thing for abrupt goodbyes."

"So," Jessica then said, "what should I do?"

"Confront my brother," Dana said, "or, better yet, just go on ahead and get the hell out of NYZ."

Jessica sighed. "My asshole of a cousin won't like that very much. I'll have to deal with him first."

Dana shook her head and said, "Where are you planning on going?"

"I don't want to disclose that bit of information," Jessica said, "but it won't be anywhere near New York Zero."

"So long," Dana said as Jessica walked out the door. "Oh, and Jess…" Jessica looked back at her before she left, then Dana said, "have fun."

(There's only one more chapter to go in this story, but…as I said…there is going to be a sequel.)