Yep, it's been a bit. Again. Life kind of got in the way. But for my camp nano during April, I managed to finish first drafts of the rest of the chapters in the fic, so barring any unforseen issues/delays/camping trips outside of wifi range, we should be headed for a pretty consistent once a week update schedule for the rest of the fic.
Also, as a side note, I added a scene into chapter 9 and a line into chapter 10 that add some foreshadowing for a future plot point.
Dan shivered as he reached for his binoculars, again looking at the entrance to Permafrost's palace. He poked his head out of the snow drift they were hiding behind, and gazed through them. Impossible tornado of snow and wind: check. Dingy ruins surrounding the place: check. Complete and utter lack of the people they were supposed to be looking for? Dan shook his head, jostling loose the snow that had fallen on his hood. That would also be a check.
He put the binoculars down and turned to his companions. "Please tell me one of you has seen something interesting," he whispered.
Anna turned from her post. "This is a game that requires patience," she said, letting out a sharp breath that was clearly a stifled sneeze.
"Patience and hand warmers," Dan muttered. Not that there had been hand warmers for years.
"And quiet," Ash whispered, not turning from her position.
"Is there any chance your friends might show up?" Dan said. Even through the scarf and goggles Ash wore, he could see her wince.
"Not unlikely. They probably think I'm going to join Permafrost, if I haven't already. His palace'd be the first place they would look." Dan took a step back. Ash tore her eyes away from her binoculars. "I'm not, by the way. It's just what they'd think."
"And you're sure they're not going to attack us?"
"You'll be fine. They try not to hurt civilians," Ash said. "And they don't know about you, Anna." Ash noticed Dan's confused expression. "I had a couple of revelations last night. Don't worry, it's mostly smoothed over by now."
"That is not as reassuring as you think it is," Dan said, looking over at Anna.
"Ash, we want you alive too," Anna said.
"Right." Ash turned back to her binoculars. "What did this building used to be anyway?"
Anna snorted. "A dorm. A really crappy one, too. I'm thinking he only chose it because it's one of the tallest buildings in town. I heard it helps him with renewing the storm."
"Epics do like their tall buildings. Probably because it lets them literally look down on people too. Though choosing a crappy dorm is new."
"Yeah, it's not exactly a place to be picky. He should've taken over Big Sky instead, honestly. Better houses."
Dan turned and stared through his binoculars as the two continued talking. So much for quiet and patience, he thought. Did he see movement from near the tower? He adjusted the focus. A startled magpie fluttered out of the corner of the building. Nothing interesting. Though what startled it? he thought. He put up a finger. "Hang on," he hissed. "Something's going on near the south end of the tower."
In his mind, Dan plotted a route to get a better look at what was happening. Wait, hang on, no, he thought. That route was too exposed. But the music building might provide the cover I need, he thought, lookig up at the squat building they were hiding next to.He motioned to Ash. If things go south, she's our best option in a fight. He shuddered. Even considering her powers.
Ash nodded, and followed after Dan. The best way would be through, though he would have to be careful. The building hadn't exactly been pretty even before Calamity, but now, it was almost a ruin. Part of the ceiling had fallen in, and the smell of mold and must was overpowering even through Dan's scarf. And the worst part was the silence. He had remembered a day when any time during the week, there was a cacophany of sound coming from it. It was a bit overwhelming, honestly, particularly on the days when a lot of brass players were rehearsing. No more. Music, it appeared, was another casualty of Calamity.
Dan wrinkled his nose, trying not to sneeze. At least we're not very close to the disturbance, he thought. This is why actual spies don't have allergies.
"You okay there?" Ash whispered. Crap. She noticed.
"Fine." Dan sniffled. "Me and old buildings don't get along."
"When we get closer, we need to be silent." Dan shot an annoyed look at Ash.
In relative silence, they quickly made their way over to the other end of the building, where there was a better angle to where Dan had seen the bird. I hope I didn't go all this way through a building that is probably going to fall on my head for nothing, he thought. There was a chance that the magpie had just decided on its own accord to fly away, but this was the best lead they'd had all morning.
As they emerged, Dan noticed a small cluster of people near where the bird had emerged. Perfect, he thought, tiptoing towards the sight. A hand on Dan's shoulder stopped him.
"I want to see what they're doing as much as you do," Ash said. "But we can't get caught. Follow me." Ash motioned at a more complicated route past some drifts of snow and the ruins of a radio dish. She looked at Dan. "How much are you willing to bet they're getting pizza?"
"Out here? In this weather?" Dan whispered back. "Not a single cent. Though you're probably right about the food."
Ash grinned. "I knew I liked you."
They tiptoed in silence towards the group of people, carefully following Ash's path. As they neared them, Dan's heart sunk. He turned toward Ash, lowered his scarf, and mouthed "It's him," gesturing with his face at the tallest figure in the group. Whatever this delivery was, it was important enough for Permafrost to come personally.
Permafrost raised a hand grandiosely, and the wall of snow and wind surrounding his palace parted. Dan heard a soft groan from behind him, and turned around to see Ash rolling her eyes. "Five bucks says he doesn't even need to use his hand," Ash hissed. "Epics. Dramatic slontzes, all of them." Dan raised his eyebrows. "I know what I said."
"Don't we have a delivery to focus on?" Dan whispered, turning back to his binoculars. Though Permafrost had opened a hole in the wall, the group had continued talking outside.
The delivery must have been a small one, as though Dan squinted and fiddled with the focus, he couldn't see any packages or crates. He itched to come closer, even though he knew that it wasn't safe. To be brought this far out into the country, whatever it was had to be important for its size. Motivator tech? Dan thought. Though a lot of the early experiments he had followed indicated that powers from multiple Epics had a tendency of interfering with each other, which made it unlikely to be for Permafrost's personal use. Admittedly, getting data on Epics using them was frequently problematic. I wish I could get a closer look at it, he thought. For both practical and less practical reasons.
Dan elbowed Ash. "I don't think it's food," he said. "If I had to guess, it's something really valuable."
As he fiddled more with his binoculars, Dan's breath caught in his throat, and he could dimly feel his heart pounding beneath the layers of his jacket. "No," he muttered. "Nonononono."
"What's wrong? Did you figure out what they're delivering?" Ash said.
"Not what," Dan said. "Who. We need to get out of here. Now." Through the lenses of his binoculars, he could see the small but unmistakable outline of a thin face frowning in annoyance.
He looked down at his metal zipper pull. Were they already discovered? No. The metal on them had to be tiny from this distance, and Polar had more important things to worry about. But you don't know that, he thought. He might be waiting for the precise moment to strike. And he knows what you look like. Even if you were only the undergrad cringing in the corner while all of your colleagues were dying around you. Dan tried to focus on his breathing. There was still time to get away, no matter what that voice in his head said. But it had to be now.
Dan crouched down to a low position, peeled his eyes away from the group, and took off as stealthily as he could for the abandoned music building. There was enough metal in its construction that whatever movement they had could be obscured from Polar's powers. Either that, or it could be turned into a weapon against them once the Epic caught up to them. Don't think about that, he thought. Just run. He quickly turned his head to look behind. Ash had thankfully caught his message and followed, though Dan could see a look of confusion and worry on her face. "Sorry," he said as quietly as he could. There would be more than enough time for explanations when they were somewhere safe.
Navigating carefully through the dilapidated building, the two made their way back to where Anna was hiding. Seeing their haste, Anna's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"
"Everything," Dan said. "I'll explain later." He grabbed Anna's arm, and the three fled across the snow.
Once they had a chance to catch their breath, Ash was the first to speak. "The sparks was that about? You could've given away our position. Hell, we might still not be out of the woods. Our footprints weren't exactly subtle."
Dan winced, looking at the trail leading to the abandoned lecture hall they had taken shelter in. If they were lucky, the storm would cover up their footprints before either Permafrost or Polar had a chance to catch up with them. Or, hopefully, notice they were there. Still, Ash was right, they couldn't stay here. "I panicked," he said. "One of the people there who Permafrost was talking to, I knew him."
Ash massaged the bridge of her nose. "And I don't suppose we're lucky enough for him to be a friend?" Dan gave her an incredulous look. "Didn't think so."
"It's Polar. He's back."
"Oh no," Anna said. "Are you sure it was him?"
"Very, very sure. I don't think I could ever forget that face."
"So, are we talking hippie parents here, or do we now have two evil Epics we have to deal with now?" Ash said.
Anna glared at Ash. "The second one. Got it. How do you know him?"
Dan sighed. This was going to be a story that, if not long, was definitely not going to be the most comfortable to tell. "There are rules," he said. "Rules about how Epic-based technology works. And some of them are written in blood. One of the most important—"His voice broke. "One of the most important is—"
"The only problem was that Polar wasn't dead yet, I take it," Ash said in an attempt to put Dan's stuttering out of its misery. Dan shot her a glare.
Dan's breath caught in his throat. "Yeah. It was a couple days after the first successful test when he caught up to us. Transportation was already a bit unreliable then, so I'm guessing that was how long it took for him to get over here."
He closed his eyes. "If there were other survivors, I didn't know of them. I hid in a supply closet. Watched them all die, one by one. I was too scared to do anything about it."
"If it helps," Ash said. "I don't think you would've stood more of a chance than they did."
Dan narrowed his eyebrows. "Ash, that's about the opposite of helpful."
"It means you're not dead. And I like having you around."
"I still think I could've done something. Been braver," Dan said. "We were in a motivator lab, for crying out loud. Surely I could've been smart enough to improvise something I could've used to save something."
"Dan, in my experience, the brave ones are just the first to die."
"Half the reason the world is as terrible as it is right now is because people are too scared to do anything about it. Admittedly, there are several good reasons to be scared, namely all the terrible, horrifying death lurking around every corner, but—"Dan stopped. "Back to the point. There are people who stand up to the Epics. You've met them." Ash winced. "And I know I don't have half of their training or skill. But I was all my lab had then. If only I'd been brave enough to give what I had."
"Still doesn't make the idea of going off half-cocked against an Epic you barely know any less stupid. Particularly when the Epic chose the time and the battlefield."
"Choose the..." Dan said, trailing off, the thoughts connecting in his mind. "You just gave me an idea."
"Dan, please tell me you aren't going to do what I'm thinking you're going to be doing?" Anna said.
"It makes sense. Even if I didn't have a history with Polar, he's still a massive problem. Take him out, and we can weaken Permafrost."
"And you could get your revenge," Ash said.
"I'm not saying this wasn't personal," Dan said. "But I'm not just charging in. I do know how that ends." He twitched, eyes darting around the room. This place wasn't safe. And Dan had the sinking feeling that they had lingered here too long. "I'll explain more later. We need to get out of here, whether Polar saw us or not, and I still need to turn this idea into an actual plan."