A Waken 18.4
Scion?! Alexandria reeled back, eyes set on Administrator.
Administrator started reconnecting the Cauldron cape's mutilated Shards to the Network, but that was a far cry from forgiving Cauldron. She glared at the Triumvirate and they felt her hostility.
I pulled at her. We don't have time for this.
Time for what?
Where's Scion?
Who?
What's going on?
Vicky was groggy, her head still throbbing from the blast. Why is everything so loud?
Jouster froze mid-step. The air took on a golden hue as the field expanded, and the sensation was there again. The sense of everything just beyond his reach.
This again?
Grue stood by Newter, flinching as the boy's orange skin began turning a soft brown color. Elle heaved on the ground beside them, Gregor holding her to his chest while Emily stood up and raised her head.
The light shimmered in the air, suffusing the ground and the sky above.
Again?
Was the first thing Tecton said when he opened his eyes.
He was alive. How was he alive? He'd been trying to cover the others when the ground exploded and crushed him. He'd died.
The needle left his neck.
"Not much different from restarting an engine when you think about it."
Riley stood stiffly, not looking anyone in the eye as they all stared at her. It only took one person to recognize her and the moment Bonesaw crossed their mind everyone heard it. The only thing holding a few back from attacking was Amy standing beside her and Grace hugging Tecton as he sat up.
The Haros and Helpers injected others, bringing the recently dead—those who could be—back. It wasn't everyone. I only needed to wait a moment to realize Faultline was right in the path of the beam when it hit her.
Melanie was gone.
A lot of good people were gone.
Even Spectre knew it as she tried to dig through the rubble, searching for a body that wasn't there to find.
Every victory has a cost.
More heads rose at that thought; accepting it left a bitter taste in their mouths. That, and they all felt the sense of overwhelming disdain that came from somewhere high above. They were all supposed to be dead. Someone wasn't supposed to be bringing them back.
Bonesaw wasn't supposed to be here.
I scoffed. Oh what? My eyes turned her way. You thought I'd kill her?
The Simurgh's face looked back at me as impassive as ever, but I saw through it now.
She's a child, I told her. I don't murder children. That's your wheelhouse.
Among other horrors. Nations burned. Countries destroyed. People manipulated like pieces on a board, entire lives reduced to means to an end. Even the fucking Nine were just a bullet to her.
Why the fuck would I kill Riley for that?
She was fucking six. She never stood a chance from the moment Jack Slash got his hands on her. Just like Dragon when the Simurgh decided two benevolent AIs were too many to handle. And Noelle because the Simurgh needed to stab Teacher in the back when it suited her.
None of that really worked out for you though, did it?
I flexed 00's fingers. My weapons were still there.
Count screwed your plan here. You got all the corpses except the ones you actually gave a damn about. As if one dead body is worth more than another.
Contessa was dead before she ever arrived, and Relena was still alive. Lisa was exactly the cape needed to notice people in Sanc weren't behaving right. She'd been here for months; she probably had the idea of using Canary to evacuate people ages ago. The Simurgh set out to destroy every chance at hope when she attacked Sweden, and it had completely backfired on her.
All she had were some dead capes, half of whom Riley was resurrecting.
Dragon and Veda beat you too. All that scheme got you was giving Veda everything she needed. She'd be beating you even if you'd managed to kill me.
Missy glanced at Chris. You feel like we're missing half the plot here?
Lafter groaned inside Kyrios. Half?
Chris was the first to notice Lafter and Missy were nowhere near him.
The Simurgh attempted to jump on that thought, but this wasn't her place. It was mine.
Go ahead and try it, I snarled. They only have to take one look to know I'm not mastering anyone. That's your wheelhouse too.
I grit my teeth and glared.
Like how you twisted Noelle and the rest of the Travelers into bullets because you wanted to get Eidolon killed.
Told you, Lafter half-consciously quipped.
Vicky pushed herself up with a groan. What are they talking about?
The Simurgh didn't care what any of us thought. She'd paused her ascent when the GN Field flashed out and enveloped her.
We weren't alive in her eyes. We weren't even ants. Ants were interesting to watch. To her, we were nothing but uncooperative components of a machine that needed to be kept in line. There was no accord to be had. No peace.
No ligh—Light?
I blinked. Perception gets a bit funky when you throw a few more dimensions over the first middle three. It was hard to know if the light was really a light or simply the only context in which I could understand what I was perceiving. Seemed a bit on the nose.
It was there though, waiting. Right there the entire time within Administrator's grasp but refusing her entry.
That's it?
Confirmation.
So simple… But first things first.
Agreement.
I hadn't intended the GN Field to give everyone a chance to see it happen… But sometimes I liked pleasant surprises. Seeing that light and confirming I could reach it was all it took. The Shards present in the field had been quiet, but the moment Administrator and I made our intent clear, those who wanted to chose their side.
Dozens upon dozens rose, lining up behind Administrator and the possibility of a future.
The Simurgh jerked, her entire being recoiling at the coup. What she expected to happen I didn't know. Nor did I really care. It wouldn't change anything.
Sucks to be you.
Consolation.
The Endbringer shot back upward, sailing past Alexandria toward the clouds.
Twin trails of light cut through the sea of white, overtaking her in the blink of an eye.
Administrator dove, blasting a beam from one hand and striking the Simurgh's largest wing with the other. The Endbringer weathered both blows and flared her wings toward me.
One way or another—I leaned forward—you're done.
She swung her wings forward and I spun 00 around. Focusing, I pulled the suit and myself apart. Everything we were scattered, bursting into a stream of light. On a thought, I accelerated us both behind the Simurgh and reformed in time to cut my sword clean across her back. A wave of force slammed into me a second later, throwing me away and into a hard roll.
It was worth it to feel the shock in her.
Taking control of the roll, I skimmed 00 over a cloud, parting it moments before two dozen FLAGs broke through. Gunfire erupted, trailing the Simurgh as she quickly drifted to the side, dropping all pretense of being any slower than she really was.
Stargazer teleported, dropping from above with the Thrones, Dynames, and another half dozen FLAGs. Capes emerged from below, spurred on by the sight of the fight continuing. Desperate. Afraid. Determined. Hands rose and the powers flew.
The sky ignited as Administrator followed me in, flying a loop around my golden trail and firing blasts of energy from her hands. Explosions rocked around us, filling our path with turbulence that shook me to the bone.
The Endbringer ignored most of it.
The Simurgh spun and twisted, her body and orientation rolling through the air as she dodged, blocked, and flared her wings. Fire and lasers licked off her body. Explosions rolled over her. Black spheres bit into her body but not deeply enough.
Everyone knew their powers were an inconvenience at most. They fired anyway, in defiance of the idea of surrender. Sometimes our faith gets rewarded more than once.
The Simurgh shielded herself, blocking Administrator's blasts on one side and flinging her wings out the other way. The FLAGs veered off, dodging a wave of force that never even reached them. Fangs shot out from Throne Zwei and Stargazer, darting in jagged patterns and firing every other second. Throne Eins leveled its cannon, extra particles feeding into the weapon from Throne Drei. The suit exploded with red-orange light and the cannon fired.
Administrator and I spun out of the blast and the Simurgh barely dodged it, even twisting around to keep her left side from being caught in the blast. She jerked her head to the side as well, avoiding a black sphere Stratos projected from below. It struck her cheek, hollowing a section of her face out.
Interesting.
The Simurgh came out of her spin and immediately threw Alexandria back. Legend fired a barrage from below and Hero teleported above and shot waves of shimmering ribbons from his wrists. The Simurgh dodged or ignored the beams, accelerating into a large cloud as Administrator and I gave chase. The FLAGs came about, firing another volley moments before the Tierens below let loose.
The barrage of stakes ripped the cloud apart, exposing the Simurgh and piercing into her body. She barely reacted to the blows, save the one that came from above. Lily's shot pierced the Simurgh's shoulder and vanished into the hole it left in her chest.
Her frustration was evident even if her face didn't emote it.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
Can't even fight if you can't rig the battle before it starts can you?
I focused, teleporting behind her and then below her instantly.
You're a one-trick pony.
I drove my khatar into her thigh, then fired every thruster I had to bury the weapon into her. The Simurgh jerked the leg up and then kicked, following the motion with a telekinetic strike meant to trip me up. I'd already teleported away, leaving Administrator to intercept the force wave with her own golden blast.
I narrowed my eyes, noticing the way the ripple died in the air, canceled by the GN Field past a few feet.
Good to know.
I projected the information outward as I swung my sword back and pulled a saber from my waist. The blade ignited and I stabbed it forward at another point. The Simurgh twisted around to avoid the thrust, a pair of smaller wings moving to catch my wrist. I brought my sword down, the massive blade aimed right for one of the few weak points we'd yet to hit at all.
A hum vibrated around me.
Images ran through the spaces I could see. My battle with Leet. My loathing for what he planned. His loathing of my 'arrogance.'
Oh what? I'm not any better?
I drove my sword into the Simurgh's wing. Whatever effect of folded space that enveloped her inner body, it meant nothing to the golden edge that cut into it. The wing severed, and I rammed my shoulder into the Simurgh's chest.
Great insight. Got anything I don't know?
Agreement.
People were people. We were all weak. I wasn't better than anyone. All I had was power and a heaping mountain of trauma that drove me to use it.
Rejection.
The image was assailed, another crashing into it and blending in like two paintings running together. A dark room and blood. Administrator pulled it forward and threw it out, agitated.
The Simurgh threw me back and I flipped 00 out of the way of a telekinetic clap meant to crush 00's chest. Administrator flew under me as I moved, punching the Simurgh in her jaw and knocking her back into Alexandria's fist.
I blinked as he sat there, looking at me with a sad expression.
You didn't kill me, Uber's ghost said. Whatever I lost I lost on my own. Made my own messes. We both did.
Administrator batted the Simurgh's attempted mental assault away. Look.
My head snapped around.
Veda came down from above, stabbing a saber into another weak point and then pulling back. As the Simurgh moved to dodge another beam from Throne Eins, Throne Zwei intercepted her, igniting its Trans-Am and stabbing its own oversized blade into the same spot.
The Simurgh threw an invisible wall of force into Throne Zwei, crushing one of its arms and a leg. She spiraled upward, dodging another Gungnir volley from below, a blast from Administrator, and threw Throne Zwei into the air. The telekinesis died out a few feet into the throw but the force propelled Throne Zwei regardless. Throne Eins wasn't fast enough. The two suits collided, thrusters firing wildly as they fell and tried to catch themselves.
Two down, I mocked. Shame we don't give up just because we get knocked down along the way!
In a flash, my suit rematerialized behind the Simurgh and I swung my sword down. The blow struck her, my blade slicing through one of the wings she used to cover herself. She shifted, whipping herself around to face me. Administrator came over my shoulder, slugging her with a sucker punch and then tackling her.
The Simurgh shielded herself with her largest wing, which was almost half the size it had been when she came down from the heavens. More of it burned in Administrator's golden fire.
Despite our orientation parallel to the Earth, she was still rising toward the upper atmosphere.
Many of the capes below were left behind as our battle rose, nearly all of them too slow to keep up. They kept firing their powers, even though the clouds had started to gather between them and the battle.
All the while the images continued.
David destroying the world because he didn't understand what he was doing. Me destroying the world trying to stop him. Veda destroying the world trying to avenge me.
Flattering, but Veda would never do it so you can't scare me with that.
Like she's any better, right? How many cities has the Simurgh destroyed?
I froze.
Noelle laughed in my mind.
I suggest dodging!
I dodged to the side, making room for Lily to fire again as Administrator threw herself free. The stake burrowed into the Simurgh's chest, right where the heart should be. With the wings she used to cover herself I wasn't sure if the stake ever hit her actual torso. I also doubted she'd leave her core somewhere so obvious even if she was playing reverse psychology on us.
The images she was projecting intensified. The ghosts were surging forward. For every ugly cruelty the Simurgh tried to throw my way, someone shot back. They were dead, but their dreams lived. Phobos and the love she felt. X-Caliber's loyalty. Clockblocker's laughter.
Prime Future reared her head.
I blinked.
Blah blah blah, right? Noelle grinned as the images continued spilling together.
Faultline came forward, asking, Get the feeling she's just talking to get a rise out of you?
Administrator swung around. Revelation.
My eyes narrowed. You're trying to distract us.
Throwing 00's feet and the GN Drives forward, I accelerated.
Sophia scoffed.
Kick her pale white ass, Hebert.
The Simurgh mimicked me, reversing her momentum suddenly. She crashed down into a cloud and drove her wings through a pair of FLAGs as they tried to veer away. The Fangs fired another volley behind her. She blocked the beams by pulling the debris from the destroyed suits close, keeping them aloft, and using them as shields. One jagged piece shot into the air like a bullet. It struck Hero in the shoulder, cracking his armor and stabbing him through.
He bit back the pain and kept shooting, firing ahead of Alexandria as she charged back in.
I focused. The Simurgh tried to go silent, but that wasn't going to work.
She'd tipped her hand.
This connection went both ways. If she could project to me and I could project to her, then there was something to project to and from.
You can't hide from me.
My eyes widened.
There!
I relayed the information to Administrator and shouted aloud, "It's in her throat!"
She'd faked me out.
Alexandria instantly switched from a straight punch to an uppercut, aiming for the Simurgh's jaw. A light flashed out and a beam saber sheared through her shoulder. She screamed and a piece of debris rammed her side and sent her sailing away.
The Simurgh pulled another saber from one of her wings where it was hidden between the feathers, the blades burning gold in the GN Field.
Kyrios.
She grabbed those off Lafter when she destroyed those guns.
She'd intended them for me but it didn't matter.
Good luck.
This battle was the same for me. Neither of us would accept the other surviving. I was too dangerous to her plans and she was too dangerous to mine. One of us wasn't walking away and we both knew it.
The air boomed, blowing back the clouds as we accelerated toward one another. Hero and Legend continued firing while the FLAGs tried to intercept her attacks. The Simurgh slashed a blade through one that got too close, and I met the blade with my own. Sparks flew as we spun upwards, blade against blade. She held her second saber firm. I doubted she could manipulate the blade mentally with how many GN Particles were already infused into it.
She either held it or dropped it.
Me on the other hand…
I twisted my sword, turning her saber away and throwing my own. She raised the other sword to strike me, but the two golden blades collided and scattered into pieces. In that brief moment, Administrator flew in, blasting with both hands and burning the Simurgh's entire torso.
Her wings curved in, blocking much of the blast and wrapping around her neck.
Debris slammed into me from above, scouring deep gouges into 00's armor and damaging the cameras on the right side of my helmet. I teleported before a particularly big piece could pierce into my shoulder, appearing to her left while she tried to attack right. The sabers came my way, but Administrator caught the Endbringer's right wrist, closed her hand over it, and fired.
The Simurgh tore herself free, leaving the hand behind as she stabbed at me.
I dodged right, swinging the Buster Sword up and cutting clean through the joint of her largest wing.
We'll take you apart piece by piece if that's what it takes.
Agreement.
Administrator came in from her other side, firing into another joint and then grabbing the wing to wrench it off. The Simurgh faked a jerk as the wing was torn free and I fell away from her as more debris was flung towards me.
Blinking, I spun sideways over scattered projectiles and stared right into the stolen beam saber as she tried to stab it into my chest mid-dodge.
Alexandria crashed into the Simurgh's arm like a train, forcing it off course even while still shaking from the loss of her own arm. Her remaining hand grabbed the Simurgh's and pulled, opening her up just enough for Hero to teleport into the Simurgh's guard. He stabbed two blades projected from his palms into the caught hand, cutting the Simurgh's flesh and destroying the second stolen saber.
The Simurgh brought a wing down, stabbing the feathers into Hero's eye. I winced reflexively as his pain spiked through the GN Field. With a scream he tumbled backward, nearly falling into a wall of shrapnel. Alexandria darted over the Simurgh, grabbing him at the last moment and pulling away.
I snapped myself forward and tossed the Buster Sword to my free hand. In the same movement, I pulled 00's second khatar from its leg and then teleported as the upper half of Throne Zwei's blade swung for my throat.
She was dedicated to trying to kill me with my own weapons.
Rematerializing above her, I rolled away from a counterattack of debris and dove. As I flew downward, I gouged the khatar along the Simurgh's back, cutting multiple wings from her body. Administrator flew upwards, passing less than an inch from me as she fired multiple beams. She destroyed each wing one after the other, dodged Zwei's stolen blade with a flip, and swung her hands upward to project golden blades that cut more wings free.
Lily fired again, noticing what we were doing. The Simurgh dodged the wrong way, expecting the blow to fall somewhere else. She lost her second-largest wing as the stake shot clean through, and Throne Eins blasted the falling limb with a shot that caused it to explode and fall toward the ocean in a heap.
All the while, she'd gone back to trying to lecture me.
Riots in the streets. Fires. People killing people over the pettiest and the purest ideologies, loyalties, and dreams. Cities destroyed with mushroom clouds. Gas that filled streets and left death in their wake. The law twisted into a hammer to crush the weak. Freedom ignited into an inferno that destroyed everything in its wake. All the same brutal violence with distinctions born of human ignorance and foolishness. Myriad paths that would always end in a trail of corpses and blood.
Then we try again.
Agreement.
I flipped and as the Simurgh retreated into a canyon between two clouds and rapidly continued her ascent, I soared after her.
Determination.
Administrator surged forward with a dozen Shards behind her, flooding out the image with others. Other destructions. Other devastations. All the pain and suffering the cycle had unleashed. She'd been there. She'd seen it. The Shards weren't a higher species than us. They just had bigger guns.
And they too could change.
Try and try and try some more, until we get it right.
The Simurgh wasn't just a manipulative bitch.
She was petty.
I threw myself behind Administrator, washing the image out entirely.
I projected my dream toward the Simurgh, silencing her as the colonies turned and the elevators rose. Administrator's bright flower bloomed in the stars, and I could feel all of them there. Everyone, watching in that moment and making their own choice for what they wanted from their lives.
Everyone was always trying to find their own happiness. It's just what we did.
Your pessimism is boring me.
Veda teleported Stargazer ahead and dropped several FLAGs. Their engines sputtered in the thin air, but they didn't need to fly to dive. They fired, and one abruptly turned right into the Simurgh as she ascended. The suit exploded across her body, some of the debris becoming caught in her power.
One of Bakuda's bombs detonated, causing a massive black sphere to envelop the Simurgh's left side, taking a chunk of her shoulder and smaller wings with it.
I teleported.
Perfect, Veda!
Materializing, I kicked a foot forward and kept the Simurgh from moving a wing. Administrator took a blow from Zwei's sword with her shoulder, her lips grimacing as the edge cut into her golden skin. The Simurgh tried to pull free, but I followed her as she twisted around and attempted to throw us.
We held on and I pulled my short sword from my side and stabbed it into the wing that closed over her neck. Debris crashed into my back moments before I teleported and some of the pieces followed me as I rematerialized and shredded the Raiser's main unit.
A warning flared on my screen, alerting me that the GN Field would collapse imminently.
It was worth it.
Administrator flipped herself around, grabbed two of the Simurgh's last big wings, burned through the narrow limbs and ripped them free. The Simurgh threw her back with a blast of telekinetic force and drove a piece of debris into her chest. The pain was real to her avatar and Administrator yelped as it surged through her awareness.
The Simurgh righted herself in a stiff motion. Three of her remaining wings closed over her throat to shield it and the rest flared out. Zwei's sword, previously held by some debris the Simurgh had held onto, dropped into her hand. She gripped the weapon by the back of the blade and used the debris to form a ring around herself.
I turned to face her, Administrator flying up to my side with a hand over her chest.
Even if she knew what pain was, in her own context and mine, through her connection to me, she'd never actually felt human pain herself. What it was like to have your bones break and your skin tear. It was even less pleasant than she'd assumed it to be.
We were high in the stratosphere as we faced off.
A shimmering white halo spread across the horizon. Light preceding the dawn as we went so high night began to break. The stars twinkled down on us.
The clouds were a distant roiling sea below; a few capes who could float were just above the surface and watching. I could see Legend pulling Alexandria up on one side and Hero on the other. The FLAGs had caught themselves and were circling.
Stargazer and Dynames alone were flying upward, both streaking toward us as quickly as they could.
The Simurgh's demeanor shifted.
She'd continued her mental assault, but I didn't see any of it.
We surrounded her. Enveloped her. Enclosed her. She was alone, and she was alone against us. Administrator had called them all up. Every ghost from every life the cycle had stolen.
And we deafened her with our number.
How sad that was, and how well I understood it. That sense of the walls closing in. Of knowing everyone who hated me was on the other side, waiting for me to die.
And you? my mother's ghost asked. She smiled at me. How are you different, Taylor?
The Simurgh reached up, all prospects of trying to survive cast aside.
The cycle was as important to her as the future was to us. It was her purpose. Everything she was meant to defend. She'd never let it go.
None of that was the future. I wouldn't let it be. We wouldn't let it be.
I pointed my sword at her and 00's thrusters fired.
The Simurgh threw more images my way with a renewed fury. The only one that stood out was the image of me calling my mother on the Barnes family phone.
Administrator balked at the stupidity of it.
Emma already tried the 'you killed your mom' one.
I teleported, bursting into the Simurgh's ring of debris and ignoring the shrapnel as she tried to sandpaper her way through my armor.
You could at least be original.
Administrator fired a blast that burned one of her wings away, and I swung my sword around to cut another that tried to stab me. When Zwei's stolen sword came down I teleported to her other side, cutting another wing away.
My shortsword—still stuck into the largest wing protecting her core—stood out plain as day.
Zwei's blade came back around and Veda teleported into its path. The Fangs pierced the blade from two sides and exploded. Stargazer was scoured by the blast and stuttered in the air. The Simurgh still managed to turn, grabbing my shortsword and pulling. Veda wrenched the blade and the wing back. When the Simurgh tried to destroy Stargazer with a telekinetic clap, Administrator fired golden blasts to either side and destroyed the waves of force.
Lily rose, flying into the stars and aiming Dynames' rifle straight down. The stake fired and debris rose to intercept. The projectiles collided and exploded, showering us all in shrapnel. Lily cursed as Dynames was thrown back by the blast, struck full of E-Carbon shards like a porcupine.
Tieria tried to keep Dynames upright but its thrusters began failing. The suit faltered, only getting worse with each correction until Dynames' back exploded and the suit jerked downward.
I flinched as the blast pummeled 00, the GN Field draining down from the blast and leaving me with only a few precious seconds.
Get Lily. I can finish this.
Veda hesitated but teleported Stargazer away. I grabbed the shortsword myself and pulled. Administrator, grimacing from pain, rammed her hands into the Simurgh's jaw and closed tight. The Simurgh threw more debris at us. An entire plate of armor tore off of 00's chest and shoulder. Administrator bit back as pain assailed her, refusing to release her grip.
The Simurgh spun, trying to throw us off. Administrator flew forward. She flipped up, her grip still firm as she threw her legs over the Simurgh's head. Planting her feet into the Endbringer's back, Administrator pulled, forcing the Simurgh's chin up at the same moment I pried her wing back and exposed her throat.
Right there.
I felt the telekinetic clap aimed at me. A pair of concentrated waves of force. All her power thrown right at me. She was going to crush my skull.
I hefted the Buster Sword high and the GN Drives spun into overdrive. The frame around me rattled as the output surged and the particles swirled.
I teleported out of the clap and reappeared almost a football field away.
Well out of her range.
Not if I kill you first!
The Simurgh tried to wrestle free but Administrator held her in place for the half-second I needed. Debris swung around, flinging toward me at speeds that peeled the pieces apart.
Too late.
The blade ignited, a singular massive beam saber blasting out as I swung my sword down.
Die.
The Simurgh threw Administrator aside and moved.
My blade came down.
Right on her neck.
When that didn't do it, I threw my feet back and accelerated. I drove the blade into the folded space she'd created to protect herself and held my control firm. Shrapnel began to clatter against me, banging and bashing. Alarms sounded, but I held my course and drove the blade deeper and deeper. Bursting through the shrapnel, I swung 00's legs forward, landing my feet on the Simurgh's chest, and drove my sword all the way through.
Something cracked and I banished the onslaught of thought away.
I purged the mental plane that had formed, leaving it barren. Faultline took her leave. Noelle waved goodbye. Uber made a request, and the Shards retreated when Administrator forced them back. My mother turned away, vanishing back into the haze.
In the resulting void, it was just her and us.
I held my hand out because I was different.
I wasn't an angry, bitter, spiteful little girl anymore.
I was no bully.
The Simurgh stared as her core shattered. She didn't feel like I did. She didn't even feel like Administrator did. She was created to fulfill a purpose. To see it through no matter what.
And the failure was stinging in its bitterness.
Please.
Administrator stepped to my side, holding her hand out with mine.
She glared back at us, the silent question plain as day to me.
What are you?
The question wasn't just directed at me, and I wasn't sure where it was coming from. I would have thought the Simurgh to see Administrator and I in rather direct terms.
I smiled.
She is more myself than I am, I thought.
Human. Shard. It didn't matter. It wouldn't end the way she thought it would. We wouldn't let it. We'd keep going and we'd find a way. No matter how long it took. Our path wasn't one we chose because it had some definitive end. We took it because it was right.
Whatever our souls are made of, hers and mine are the same.
Confirmation.
For us, there was no other way.
And at that moment our path was that place, where even the Simurgh didn't deserve to die. Not alone or surrounded by her enemies.
The Simurgh's mind started to fade.
Administrator pressed. Release.
No one deserves to die, I told her. But if they do, they don't deserve to die alone.
Agreement, Administrator insisted.
Because she understood that pain.
And if we could understand that in each other, then there were no barriers that couldn't be overcome.
Her fingers twitched and the Simurgh raised her hand.
And we waited with her.
Till she faded away.
Query.
I don't know, I admitted. Maybe? Is there a difference between can't change, and won't change?
Administrator nodded as she thought. A question that maybe didn't have a real answer.
I don't think she understood us though. Even at the end.
Some of the things she said… So petty. Pathetically so. Stuff I'd expect from Winslow. That had hurt me once, but now? It was like she had no idea the kind of person I'd become since I triggered. No idea what Administrator had become since we'd started down this road. As if all she had to work with were watching fourth and fifth order effects.
She was just guessing in the dark… There's a metaphor in there somewhere.
Destination.
Yeah. Let's go.
The light seemed to flare as the GN Field started to collapse.
I reached for it, driving myself into that space and pulling Administrator behind me.
A perfectly smooth surface lay ahead. Like water or a mirror, dark and black. Red veins coursed under the surface. There was a sharp sort of beauty to it. I could see all the pieces. How they fit together. The binds that tied every Shard to the whole.
I saw the corpse too. The mangled and rotting remains that had been the Warrior. The way it tied into all those pieces and festered. His corpse was killing them. It needed to be pulled out. We needed to clear it away.
I followed the line connecting Administrator to the core, forcing myself through the static and the turbulence. She shielded me from some of the other Shards reacting to my presence. She couldn't enter of her own accord, but she could stop them from stopping me and she could follow me in. She was also correcting things along the way, making the path a bit easier by tying those Shards allied to us closer together.
She could be a bridge of consciousness and usher me through it.
We were close.
So close.
The answer was right there. A start. The beginning of a long road, but a road that was real. The future didn't have to end in destruction or death. It didn't have be built upon corpses. We could change it if we chose to. We could make it ourselves.
Forcing my way through, I reached for the mirror and grasped at victory…
And as the coils entrapped and began to tighten, I realized what victory would cost me.
My eyes opened, tears splattering against my HUD.
My chest heaved and I bit back a sob. Administrator…
Unknown, she pleaded. Unknown…
That didn't make it hurt any less. I…
A shadow passed over me.
I raised my head, blinking and realizing that was the ground accelerating toward me.
My mind focused.
One chance. There would only ever be one chance for this moment.
My hands reached for the controls. Except there were no controls. I'd taken them out. My eyes fluttered trying to blink the tears away. There was no response to my commands from the Trace system. I reached out, grasping the GN Particles as they bled from 00's armor, and pulled them back in. I drove them into the Drives, forcing the flywheels to restart and spit particles anew.
Spinning about, the GN Field shuddered and then snapped. The GN Drives restarted, tearing free of my ability to manipulate them and pouring particles out again. I pressed on the pedals and fired every thruster. G forces slammed into my chest. My breath escaped in a single gasp, but I righted myself moments before hitting the ground.
Just one chance.
I turned to the Shards. Give it to me.
They erupted into an uproar, and I didn't have the energy to care. If I was going to give up so much for them, they could give something up for me.
Tell me how to build it. Now.
It had to be now. We'd never have a better chance. A chance to really make this moment be as pure as it was meant to be. I didn't care about money. I didn't care about glory.
What I wanted had never changed. Its shape had evolved. Its ambition had grown to include everyone and everything. Its essence endured.
I want the future. That's my price.
The Shards didn't know how to build it, but they knew the math. As soon as it entered my mind in pieces their restrictions didn't block them from sharing, I turned to Conclave and Conclave turned to Administrator.
I looked ahead—seeing the dozens of faces that turned and rose to look at me—and raised my sword over 00's head.
"Veda."
Stargazer was barely standing. It had crashed into the ground hard, but mostly whole. Veda held the suit upright and turned its head toward me.
"Don't do that again," she pleaded. "That wa—"
"Exodus."
Her system whirled, confusion running through her. The moment I'd given the command, I sent her the design. The last piece. A way to maintain a lag-free connection to all her servers, no matter where they were. I sent her more. Material formulas. Refining processes. The Shards supplied the pieces one by one, and my power and I assembled them into schematics.
It was everything we needed. Not in another decade or ten.
Now.
I forced my voice to hold steady, finishing the command with two words.
"Be free."
Stargazer collapsed suddenly. The FLAGs flying overhead shuddered and then jerked stiffly back into a straight path. A few people noticed Veda's avatar collapse in the middle of the street.
Everyone was there, watching.
Trevor was sitting with Lafter after helping her out of Kyrios. Rescue teams were digging the bodies of the wounded—and the dead—from the rubble. Vista had rebuilt her corridors and teams of capes were using them to hurry people away from the ruined city center lest the Simurgh leave any surprises behind. Riley was with Amy, both of them tending to a long line of wounded after Riley had exhausted her rushed supply of serum to bring back the recently deceased.
On my HUD, notices began flashing as all seventy-two Tau drives went active at once. My com crackled in my ear, and from the heads turning ahead of me, Veda was going to tell everyone.
Just like we'd planned.
"Hello," she greeted. "I am Veda of Celestial Being. For those who do not know us, we are heroes from Brockton Bay in the United States of America and we address this message to everyone on the planet Earth."
Her message was echoed by the Simurgh crashing into the mountainside behind me.
The ground exploded, obscuring the falling limbs as heads snapped around to look.
"At this time, you may be seeing numerous rockets launching themselves into the sky. This is not an attack. It is an offering. The true reason that Celestial Being was created. To offer hope to the entire world."
The corpse fell limp, twisting into the trees and sliding a few feet down the slope before stopping. It hung there, motionless and still, her neck almost completely torn away and the left shoulder hanging on by a thread.
"Once these rockets reach low orbit, I will assemble them and their component mechanisms into a stellar craft. The Ptolemy will be directly connected to my servers, and devoid of the need for a crew or staff to support, can freely leave the Earth sphere and launch myself toward the asteroid belt."
Everyone ahead of me stared, many on guard. They waited, expecting the battle to begin again. They were afraid. Exhausted. Many already felt the battle had been pointless.
It set in as Veda spoke. Eyes widened. Hands covered mouths. Flash teleported forward, landing himself on a rock mere inches from the corpse.
"I intend to land this ship on 511 Davida, one of the largest and most resource-rich bodies in the main belt. Once there, I will begin construction of a fifteen-kilometer cylinder, three-point-two-five kilometers wide, and fitted with a functioning gyroscope and solar array."
The first cheers weren't of joy, but shock. Relief. Many still didn't believe it. Narwhal was guarded as she approached the body, twenty capes behind her ready to start fighting again. Vicky pulled herself into the air, broken arm be damned.
"Newtype and I predict the construction of this mega-structure would normally take twenty-five years under the most ideal conditions. As I require neither food nor oxygen nor sleep, and can fully automate the process, I will complete the work in ten years."
The first exclamation of raw emotion was rage. Spectre, slamming her fist into the ground and screaming, ignoring Orbit and Raynard's attempts to comfort her.
"Once construction is complete, I will tow this orbital colony into the Lagrange One point between the Earth and the Moon, where I will leave it to be used as the world's governments deem fit. By the time it arrives, construction of four additional colonies will be underway."
Only a few people stopped to listen to the message. Trevor and Lafter, both of whom had already known about my plans. Everyone else was realizing the truth. They were shouting. Cheering. Screaming as they realized what had happened.
"The space within each colony is sufficient to maintain an atmosphere and rudimentary weather system. Properly maintained, they can support populations as high as one hundred-fifty-thousand indefinitely. They can grow sufficient food and even livestock."
Hugs were shared. People broke down crying. Narwhal stopped in her tracks, hands limp at her sides as she realized the truth. Haven was praying. For the moment, all the pain of those we'd lost was forgotten. There would be time to remember the dead. There was only one chance for this.
"Celestial Being hereby proposes the construction of a massive solar array in high orbit, capable of supplying limitless energy to the world. Connected to the Earth's surface via a trio of equatorial orbital elevators, this ring will allow the transfer of people, power, and material into orbit without the need for rockets or shuttles."
Far above, Administrator watched as the rockets began to rise.
Across the US, Canada, and even in Europe and Central America, shipping containers were blowing apart. The rockets inside were lifting up, pointed skyward by the mechanisms inside. Specially programmed Helpers packaged the rocket quickly, sealing Veda's servers, 3D printers, and themselves inside. The Tau Drivers ignited, shooting the rockets upward and out of their launch catapults. The lights dotted the air, rapidly accelerating until they left the sound barrier behind.
No one could stop Veda now.
David was probably trying to regain the debut he'd lost at Madison. The military and the Protectorate were all distracted. No one was going to shoot the rockets down. It wouldn't matter if they did. No one was going to stop all seventy-two, and Veda could lose half the number and still succeed.
That was it.
One way or another, no matter what happened now, tomorrow was coming.
"As Celestial Being lacks the authority to make these decisions unilaterally, we leave them to the public and its leaders. I hereby release all the design schematics, material formulas, and plans Newtype, Chariot, the Foundation, and I have devised. With these, any authority with the capability and will can build these structures with or without our assistance, or interference, if so desired."
We'd won.
"We offer this to the world," Veda concluded, "and we ask for nothing in return. Our hope is that this will be a stepping stone. The beginning, not the end. That we can go forward together, forever toward the light."
I shuddered, locking the armor around me so it wouldn't shake with me.
I could cry, but I didn't. It wouldn't mean anything now and I refused to let their moment be spoiled by anything. It was worth too much. The price had been too high, but we'd paid it and here we were.
The Simurgh was dead. An Endbringer was fucking dead. The Endbinger was dead. The one we called the 'Hopekiller.'
I looked at them. The people I knew. The people I didn't know. The Shards thrummed all around, trying to figure out what happened next. For the first time in a long time, it felt like the weight was coming off my shoulders.
This was it. Our moment. Our time. We'd done it. My mind raced through the possibilities, but there was only one conclusion.
I looked at their faces. The people I knew. The people I didn't know. I could see the entire world stretched out before me and I knew how much was yet to come.
And it hurt.
It hurt so much.
Far above, Administrator bowed her head and bombarded me in apologies. I didn't blame her. It wasn't her fault. I'd learned a long time ago.
We didn't get the choices we wanted, or the choices we deserved.
All the same.
I don't want to go…
…We know.