Sinner Born: Part 6
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Ago, Servo, Ardea, Dalia
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Seven, 5:54 PM
Dalia tapped the screen a few times.
Dalia: "This should be the channel. We just have to wait a few more minutes."
The current video showed several wrathborn, each over seven feet tall (over 213 cm), performing various physical feats. The scenes transitioned to several greedborn doing the same tasks, every competitor rippling with muscle as they competed in games of fitness, strength, and athleticism.
A wrathborn scraped clawed feet across stone, ears flattened and fur standing slightly as he prepared to charge. A greedborn hurled a javelin, her spade tail snapping behind her like a whip as the crowd erupted. Finally, the commercial ended with a date and time for the special event: "Final Champions."
Dalia: "Did they not make any commercials for the exclusive scoop?"
The next commercial was for a book series called "Bathhouse Reviewers."
Dalia: "Useless!"
Ago's ears twitched. The fur along the back of his neck refused to settle.
Ago: "No, seriously. Something isn't right. Don't you guys feel it?"
Ardea: "I can smell it."
The crowd still lingering around them continued their day uninterrupted. The internet cables barely swayed when a heavy wind swept through, and several other greedborn stood nearby, tails flicking with growing impatience as they waited just like the Party.
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Fero, Talia, Zev
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Seven, Cascade News Channel, 5:54 PM
Talia: "Why are there so many stairs?"
There were few walls, allowing anyone inside to see most of the building as though it were an exposed skeleton. The lobby ceiling stretched upward through multiple open levels, with thick support beams crossing overhead like ribs, wrapped in coils of insulated cable that disappeared into grated maintenance tunnels above. Screens hung everywhere. Some were mounted properly. Others looked hastily bolted into place after expansion projects that never fully ended.
The air smelled faintly of ozone, overheated plastic, burnt coffee, and recycled ventilation. Beneath those scents lingered something harder to identify, damp and musty.
Employees moved quickly through the building, almost all carrying something. Nobody walked casually. Everyone moved like they were already late.
Around the trio were three wrathborn guards and a greedborn woman with short blue-tinted hair and a matching professional outfit. As they climbed the stairs, she explained what to expect during the interview. However, halfway up, she abruptly changed the subject.
Interviewer: "So, what was the deal with... explosives, was it?"
Talia: "Self-defense explosives."
Fero, grumbling: "That you brought to a news station."
The interviewer's tail curled and whipped with curiosity.
Interviewer: "But you can't use explosives in the city. How do you use them for self-defense?"
Talia gave a dismissive, arrogant shrug.
Talia: "Some male tries to attack me, I throw the bomb. Problem solved."
Interviewer: "You'd get arrested."
Talia rolled her eyes.
Talia: "What, a judge is going to say I should just let men do whatever they want with me?"
Fero: "I'd think it's more about collateral damage, excessive force, and-"
He didn't get to finish before the interviewer cut him off with a terrible response.
Interviewer: "Maybe it's just not okay to explode people like that."
Talia's eye twitched. She and the other greedborn immediately started going back and forth over their opposing views. Her tail had stopped its playful movements entirely and now hung rigid behind her, Fero could smell the stress radiating from the interviewer, not the tension of danger, but the panic of someone feeling their beliefs and identity under attack. Talia passionately argued that killing someone you believed threatened your life was justified, while the interviewer stubbornly clung to her political views to her own detriment.
Fero turned and noticed Zev beginning to pay closer attention to their surroundings.
The group had moved onto another floor and was approaching a separate set of elevators leading to the upper half of the building. Fero's eyes drifted toward their new escorts. Their previous wrathborn guards had been relieved, replaced by greedborn guards glaring at the group with open hostility, their tails twitched in short, irritated motions despite their otherwise disciplined posture.
Fero could smell deceit on them, one ear rotated backward while his nose flared slightly, while Zev carefully examined every movement around them.
Once Talia finally stopped arguing and calmed herself enough to let the disagreement rest, she picked up on Fero's unease.
Talia: "Hey, are you sure we're going the right way? The elevators were just ahead. What, are we taking some alternate route to them?"
Another greedborn guard approached, and Fero felt a terrible sensation settle in his gut.
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Ago, Servo, Ardea, Dalia
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Seven, 5:58 PM
The number of people around them steadily thinned as the Party noticed deliberate, coordinated movement heading their way.
Then the remaining civilians began to scream, scatter, and flee as a single figure started walking toward the group.
Servo's ears sagged slightly as he let out a sigh.
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Fero, Talia, Zev
Fero took one final step and paused the instant the stranger came close.
Purplish skin. Red shirt. Black jeans. Sharp chin.
Talia froze for a moment, confused as she suddenly found herself boxed in between the interviewer, the guards, and the newcomer. Zev's tail coiled reflexively behind one leg. Years spent on the streets made the situation painfully familiar. He had seen assassinations unfold exactly like this before. The only difference was that he had still believed they were in a safe zone.
Fero's ears twitched and his tail lowered slightly. Every instinct told him something was wrong. He too had witnessed and survived similar assassination attempts, but he could not lash out at such a critical moment. He kept walking, fists clenched tight, just as the stranger moved to pass him.
The thug pulled out a knife, but he did not even get it halfway raised before Fero grabbed him and tackled him through a nearby door.
Wood splintered as both men crashed through it.
Zev and Talia stood shocked for barely a second before regaining their senses. The remaining two guards lunged to grab them, but both youths managed to partially fend them off as violence erupted in the hallway.
The interviewer screamed.
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Ago, Servo, Ardea, Dalia
The attacker was heavily armored, looking almost encased in light-gray plastic, and carried a large fully automatic rifle with an elongated magazine. Even the greedborn's tail was hidden beneath the thick, springy armor covering every inch of his body.
He raised the rifle. His helmet lacked any visible viewing port.
Then he opened fire.
Servo rolled aside. Ago vaulted over a set of stone stairs. Ardea's fur bristled and she melted into the shadows the instant the shooting started. Dalia dove behind the bench.
The bullets came wildly.
At first, the barrage concentrated on Ago, tearing apart the stairs he hid behind. Then the gunman wavered toward Dalia. Servo's tail lashed once before he threw himself over her and several rounds scraped across his back before the attacker finally ran dry.
Either the man's skill or the weapon itself prevented the gunman from aiming properly, and that flaw was the only reason the group survived the barrage. The ammunition had also burned out in mere seconds.
As the armored man slammed a fresh magazine into the rifle, Servo rolled off Dalia, his back lightly scorched. Ago charged the gunman head-on while Ardea circled behind him like a stalking predator.
Dalia: "Thanks for the cover, Servo!"
Servo: "My body."
Servo was slow getting back up while Dalia armed her electrical stun glove.
The gunman immediately deployed countermeasures.
First came a flashbang.
Both wrathborn recoiled violently, ears pinned flat as the flashbang overloaded their heightened senses. The armored attacker spun and fired toward Ardea, forcing her to throw herself flat against the ground.
He turned just in time for Ago to drive a punch into the helmet's faceplate.
Ago immediately grappled for the rifle, but the gunman reached up and gouged at his eye. Ago's ears flattened in outrage.
Ago: "Ow! The hells, man!"
Suddenly the attacker drove an elbow into Ago's gut, then pressed into him and, with immense effort, flipped the much larger wrathborn over onto the ground.
The gunman snapped his head upward and raised the rifle just in time to block Ardea's knife strike. The two strained against each other for several tense seconds.
Dalia's tail whipped excitedly behind her as she slipped in and pressed her palm against the armor.
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Fero, Talia, Zev
Fero and the thug wrestled inside a small, dark, mostly empty room. Fero gripped the knife arm tightly while trying to bite at his opponent, who struggled to keep the wrathborn back while freeing the blade.
Fero felt pain flare through his throat as he practically choked himself by forcing forward with bared teeth. He shifted tactics, bringing his other arm into play to force the knife downward. Once the thug realized the pressure might snap his arm, he instinctively backed up to relieve it.
Everything was going Fero's way now.
He pushed the thug backward, drove him into the wall, then ripped the knife free and seized it for himself. Fero finished the fight by slamming a knee into the man's gut before hurling him to the floor.
Without wasting time, Fero rushed back into the hallway.
One guard was already sprawled on the ground while Zev grappled with the other. Talia's tail lashed in irritation as she forced herself back to her feet.
The first thug was already starting to rise, so Fero immediately knocked him back down while Talia joined Zev in slamming the second attacker into the floor.
Fero: "Time to go, people."
The interviewer had already fled. More well-dressed thugs were hurrying down the hallway toward them, some armed with knives.
Fero: "This way! This way!"
He led the other two away from the danger.
Talia: "What's going on?"
Fero: "Seriously?"
The group quickly reached the stairs.
Fero: "This place, this corporation, is under Project Inheritance control... or something close to it."
It was only a guess, but it was the explanation that made the most sense.
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Ago, Servo, Ardea, Dalia
Sparks burst from Dalia's glove as it discharged its entire electrical load.
The fight paused for only a few seconds.
The gunman continued moving as though the shock had barely affected him. He shoved Ardea aside, ignored Dalia entirely, retreated for distance, and raised his rifle once more.
Ago had already gotten back to his feet but froze, ears snapping forward as every instinct screamed danger the instant he saw the barrel aimed their way. Dalia immediately dove sideways and sprinted for cover. Ardea bared her teeth and kept advancing.
But it was Servo who saved everyone.
Digitigrade feet silent against the pavement, Servo slipped behind the attacker almost like a ghost.
With his shovel in hand, Servo looped the shaft around the gunman's throat and pulled tight, trying to strangle him.
The man failed to fire a single shot as he struggled violently against Servo's hold.
Ardea rushed in next, driving her knife toward the armor's weak points, but even the thinner sections were reinforced enough to repel the blade.
Ago: "Keep the pressure on! I'm going to grab our way out!"
Dalia: "What? Where are you going? The man trying to kill us is over here!"
Ago was already sprinting across the plaza toward several parked vehicles.
Servo was still weakened from his earlier wounds, and the gunman eventually managed to overpower him. The attacker slammed an elbow into Servo and threw him to the ground.
He immediately turned toward Ardea, who continued probing at the armor with quick knife strikes.
The gunman opened with a brutal leg kick, then shoved her hard enough to send her stumbling backward.
Meanwhile, Dalia had deployed her drone. Her attention split between circling the gunman and watching the live feed on her computer as the drone rose into the air, revealing heavy movement below.
Ago reached a worker-looking wrathborn with fur similar to his own.
Ago: "Kinsman!"
Ago hurried right up to him, but the wrathborn calmly leaned forward and gave him a sniff.
Ago: "Last year. The Marionberries, remember? I planted fourty-two in your place?"
Wrathborn: "Ago?"
Ago: "You offered me a favor, and I'm cashing it in."
Ago tilted his head toward the vehicle behind the kinsman, whose fur immediately bristled, tail stiffened.
Wrathborn: "No. No, no, no."
Back at the fight, Servo wrapped himself around the gunman's legs while Ardea struggled back to her feet, buying Dalia enough time to recharge her position and slap the shock glove against the attacker's shoulder.
This time the gunman actually reacted.
Gunman: "Arg!"
But he kept fighting.
Using the butt of his rifle, he smashed Dalia aside before turning to shove Ardea. She answered by grappling him directly, the two straining against each other.
Because Servo was still clinging to the gunman's legs, Ardea finally managed to outmaneuver him.
Her knife struck true.
The blade pierced through a vulnerable seam in the armor, and she forced the man down onto the pavement. Ardea could smell the blood as soon as the knife sank in.
The gunman desperately tried to raise his rifle and fire, but everyone nearby had already fled or taken cover. Once he realized no one was directly stopping him anymore, he started forcing himself back to his feet.
Then a loud truck horn blasted across the plaza.
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The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Seven, 6:01 PM
The doors burst open as Fero, Talia, and Zev sprinted outside, gasping for breath.
The first thing they saw was a tow truck and a heavily armored man beside it moaning in pain.
Talia immediately handed Zev his foldable spear and tossed Fero his club.
Ago rolled down the window.
Ago: "We are out of time! Go!"
Dalia's drone was already folding itself back into her computer.
Dalia: "Here they come!"
People began pouring out from alleys and corners carrying various melee weapons, forcing the other three to rush for the truck.
Fero ran straight for the driver's side.
Fero: "Move over. I'm not letting a civilian drive us through this!"
Ago rolled his eyes but slid aside, allowing Fero to take the seat while Talia and Zev jumped onto the tow truck's bed.
The truck roared forward.
Various thugs chased after them on foot, but even after they were left behind, other vehicles peeled around corners and joined the pursuit.
Fero managed to pull ahead for a short time, but soon open-top cars and motorcycles swarmed around the truck.
One thug fired an ugly homemade shotgun. The weapon barely survived a single blast, and thankfully nobody was hit.
Another attacker leaned out with a knife, trying to slash at the truck's tires. Whether it was a good idea or not, Zev answered with his spear, forcing the vehicle back.
Several more thugs reacted immediately and began climbing onto the truck itself.
These were not ordinary street thugs. They were well-armed, well-armored, and their stances revealed years of combat training.
Talia slammed a fist against the truck bed.
Talia: "We need backup!"
Fero scanned the road ahead.
Fero: "Hang on!"
He yanked the wheel hard onto another street, forcing a civilian car to spin aside to avoid a collision. The sharp turn disrupted the attackers for a moment and forced several pursuing vehicles to back off.
Ardea moved with frightening speed, climbing out the passenger window and making her way toward the fight on the truck bed.
Zev was being overwhelmed. Talia fired a shot from her crossbow while armored men continued closing in. Ardea rounded the corner of the truck and dove straight at the attackers crowding Talia.
Fero: "Silver hell."
Traffic had already begun scattering. Any civilians still on the road saw the convoy of violent vehicles barreling through the streets and fled wherever they could.
Still, the roads were not built for high-speed pursuit.
Fero jerked the truck through another hard turn and blasted through a red light.
The maneuver forced everyone fighting atop the truck to crouch low just to stay on. The instant Fero accelerated again, the brawl resumed.
Ardea stabbed one attacker, forcing him back, but another immediately replaced him. Zev's spear darted back and forth, stabbing at enemies until repeated wounds finally forced some of them to retreat.
Gunshots rang out.
Everyone atop the truck dropped low, and the armored thugs used the opening to push forward aggressively.
The fight devolved into chaos.
Attackers swung bats and stabbed with knives while Talia shot another man, causing him to thrash violently before falling from the truck. The pursuing vehicles swerved wildly to avoid running him over.
More armored men climbed aboard while others were forced off, either by injuries or by the Party physically throwing them into the street.
Talia struggled as one thug pinned her against the rear of the truck.
She screamed.
Fero responded with another brutal turn, this time swerving into a large parking lot.
It was spacious, but still tight for a vehicle chase.
Parked cars blocked the pursuing vehicles from properly following, though they stayed close nearby. The truck slowed as it weaved through the lot, and this time Ago climbed out to help the others fight.
The truck neared the opposite side of the building. The attackers were steadily being forced back and the battle had begun turning in the Party's favor when Talia suddenly jumped onto the passenger door.
Talia: "Get me in!"
Servo looked over and saw a knife buried in her thigh. He immediately reached out to help pull her inside.
Fero: "What's going on out there?"
The truck slammed violently as it burst out of the parking lot and accelerated again.
Talia breathed heavily.
Talia: "They keep climbing up there. I got stabbed, Zev's wounded, but we almost had them off before Ago came over."
The roads gradually opened into a more rural stretch of the district. Businesses still lined the streets, and civilian vehicles continued veering aside to escape the chase, but the dense heart of the city was finally behind them.
Then the enemy vehicles returned.
Engines roared as the pursuers caught back up.
Fero: "This is worse than drinking molten silver. What is going on?"
Talia: "Bad guys! Are you following or not? Also, if you'd drive faster, it would make it too hard for them to climb on. What are you doing?"
Servo slowly pulled himself back outside, crawling through the window carefully due to his older injuries.
More thugs climbed onto the truck, some even abandoning moving vehicles just to reinforce the assault.
Ago answered one attacker by driving a fist into the man's open visor.
Zev limped heavily but stomped his foot against the truck bed a few times before giving a small testing hop.
Zev: "Alright. Back into the fray."
He leveled his spear, forcing several thugs to keep their distance while Ago repositioned.
Nearby, Ardea struggled against two attackers who constantly crowded her space, limiting what her knife could accomplish against both multiple foes and heavy armor.
Servo finally hauled himself onto the truck bed and immediately lunged forward. With one hand, he grabbed a thug off Ardea and hurled the man directly into the road.
Two police motorcycles screamed into the chase with sirens blaring. One wrathborn and one greedborn.
At first the officers pulled alongside the truck, but both cops did a double take when they realized Fero was driving.
Fero pointed toward the pursuing vehicles.
One officer nodded while the other reluctantly followed suit.
The police bikes peeled away and closed in on the enemy convoy.
One officer smashed a side mirror off a vehicle with his baton while the other pulled a handgun and fired into a driver's-side wheel.
The officers continued harassing the pursuing vehicles until several attackers were forced to stop chasing the truck entirely and instead focus on fighting the police.
The Party turned their attention to the last remaining thugs aboard the tow truck.
Everyone dropped low again as Fero made another vicious turn, tires screeching against the pavement before the truck surged away.
Ago: "Worst cop ever?"
Servo: "Or worst driver?"
Zev: "People, please. The enemy."
Zev looked exhausted, constantly forced to use his reach advantage to hold advancing attackers back and protect the others.
One thug pulled out a crude handmade pistol and fired two shots.
Ago stepped in front of Zev to intercept while Servo shielded Ardea, who ducked behind him for cover.
One round struck Servo, knocking him down.
The pistol itself melted apart into warped junk plastic.
Ardea immediately vaulted over Servo and drove her knife straight into the lower neck seam of the thug's armor.
Ago moved in behind her and cleaned up the remaining attackers.
At last, the truck sped free of pursuit.
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The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Nine, 6:25 PM
Elevated rail lines, freight tunnels, and highway loops wound through patches of woodland. The Party had pulled off the road to recover from their wounds.
There were several bruises and small cuts among them. Talia's knife wound had been bandaged, and she was still athletic enough to move without issue. Servo had been shot, but only suffered a grazing wound. Combined with the rounds that had scraped across his back, it was proof he was lucky not to have sustained more serious injuries.
Fero: "Now we wait here. I'll find a payphone, call the police, get us somewhere safe, and wait for this situation to resolve."
The nearest internet cable line was far from the road. A nearby payphone was the only thing connected to a cable.
Ago had been leaning against the truck, but he pushed himself forward and walked over.
Ago: "Whoa, hold on now."
Fero raised an eyebrow.
Ago: "That thing is sitting out in the open. We saw it. Anyone can walk over and see it. So where are the police?"
Fero: "It's complicated."
Ago: "You have multiple federal agencies investigating all sorts of crazy things around here, and yet the biggest threat anyone has ever seen is sitting right out in the open!"
Fero held up a hand, signaling for him to calm down.
Fero: "If we move too soon, his lawyers will spend years arguing we acted without sufficient cause. I'm willing to bet the governor already has plans in place for something like this. That's why we needed the leak to happen. The police need a reason to secure the area and seize the Engine. I guarantee the governor already has paperwork saying it's supposed to be there."
Off to the side, some of the others chimed in.
Ardea: "Are there even enough cops left? There was the assassination attempt, the factory fire, the gang war. Last time we were at the police station, you said everything was stretched thin from all the investigations and casework."
Dalia: "Fero is right. I already looked into it. This was planned ahead of time. Though if the police actually took the Engine apart, they'd find out the governor lied."
Talia and Zev both gave irritated huffs at that. Servo simply watched in silence.
Fero: "Stop. Let me rephrase what I said. The plan has always been to investigate the water control node. The police have spent a month building this case, and the Reclamation Engine is the final piece of evidence proving the conspiracy is real. Give it a few hours and the police will be moving in."
Ago: "Hours? Uh, no. Either it disappears again, like it did at those warehouses, or they turn the damn thing on during those few hours and who knows what happens."
Fero raised his hand again.
Fero: "I am a cop first, and despite being suspended, I'm not letting civilians go gallivanting into a heavily guarded area just to get shot."
Ago crossed his arms.
Ago: "And I'm not letting our species get poisoned by a fanatic."
He turned toward the others.
Ago: "Unless the police act now, I say we head to District Five and make sure the bad guys aren't loading it up for the next fanatic cell to use. Or worse, turning it on and blighting who knows how many innocent people."
Fero: "If we move too soon, his lawyers will spend years arguing we acted without sufficient cause."
Ago scoffed, but Fero continued.
Fero: "For a month they've been building this case from fragments. The seven of us have been the major investigators, but for the police, the Engine has always been a conspiracy that may or may not be real. It's also the easiest piece of evidence to lose in court if we don't handle this properly."
He pointed vaguely toward the district skyline.
Fero: "It's not that we can't act. It's that we only get one chance to act in a way that survives the aftermath. Like I said before the ambush, we're moving earlier than planned. Now it's about assembling a coordinated team, locking down the area, securing the roads, and arresting the governor along with anyone in his administration."
Ago: "That thing has already been moved once. You already shot a crooked cop who destroyed who knows how much evidence, and the media was already compromised."
He took a breath while Fero listened.
Ago: "The governor rigged the game. Your buddies might bring him down today, but that won't stop the machine from disappearing again or being used. I'm going in. Are you coming or not?"
Fero rubbed his chin before letting out a sigh.
Fero: "Well, if you're going regardless, then I suppose I need to come. Someone has to make sure you don't get shot."
Ago smiled.
Ago: "Thank you."
He turned to the others. Servo spoke almost immediately.
Servo: "I live to protect my friends. I will follow."
Ardea: "If Servo goes, I will go."
Talia rolled her eyes, tail flicking sharply behind her.
Talia: "That's so dumb. Of course the angry wrathborn want to get into another fight."
She sighed.
Talia: "Whatever. I guess every story needs an epic climax."
Zev: "Anything that causes more damage to the people in charge."
He gave a thumbs-up.
Finally, Dalia let out a long, miserable groan.
Dalia: "None of this is fair. You people realize I have to agree to this now, right?"
Ago: "You don't have to do anything. It's your life. Live it however you want."
Dalia sighed.
Dalia: "As if I'd let you all go without a technology specialist. Let's go, people."
Ago looked back at Fero, who smiled and shook his head.
Fero: "Then let's finish what we started."
-
The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Five, 7:00 PM
The truck pulled to the side of the road.
The Water Control Node sat at the edge of District Five, where the warehouses gave way to concrete floodworks. A wide canal cut through the district, its water flowing between sloped walls stained by decades of rain and mineral deposits. Massive intake pipes disappeared beneath the surface, each large enough to drive a truck through.
Above them rose the pumping station.
The structure looked less like a building and more like a fortress built for machinery. Thick concrete walls surrounded rows of industrial pumps. Steel catwalks crisscrossed overhead. Warning lights blinked red across substations and transformer yards.
Great bundles of utility lines and internet cables stretched away from the facility, vanishing into Black Stone's maze of highways and warehouse districts.
Normally, only a skeleton crew worked here. Tonight, the site was alive.
Cargo trucks filled the maintenance lots. Workers moved crates beneath armed security escorts. At the center of it all stood an enormous cylindrical machine partially concealed beneath scaffolding and tarps.
The Reclamation Engine.
Anyone familiar with industrial equipment might mistake it for another water pump.
Servo and Dalia searched through the truck for anything that could serve as a weapon.
Servo opened a storage cabinet beside a small bed, and his eyes widened. There were some clothes inside, but what caught his attention was the body armor. It was the same kind he used to wear.
Servo: "Hey, yo! This looks like my kind of fit."
Ago glanced back and rolled his eyes.
Fero opened the glove box and found a flare gun and a bag of zip ties. He sighed.
Fero: "Good enough."
With little else proving useful, the Party climbed out of the truck and began walking toward the Water Control Node.
A police car sat along the roadside with two greedborn officers nearby. Fero waved and walked over while the others lingered nearby.
Fero: "When are the police moving in?"
The first greedborn was blue-skinned with dark brown hair.
Blue Greedborn: "Fero, buddy. Here for the end of the story?"
The second officer was a yellow-skinned woman with deep black hair.
Yellow Greedborn: "The chief is getting everything finalized. We should be moving in within an hour. Maybe a little longer if we have to keep coordinating with the federal agencies."
Fero nodded.
Fero: "Perfect."
He turned to the others.
Fero: "Let's roll."
Blue Greedborn: "Huh? Hey, hold on. Where are you people going?"
Fero: "We're going to make sure the Engine isn't turned on."
The two officers exchanged glances.
Blue Greedborn: "Uh... we can't let you go in there."
Yellow Greedborn: "There are several laws you'd be breaking."
Ago raised a hand to interject.
Ago: "We're not going to let these fanatics activate a biological weapon. Your species might not be at risk, but this thing is a threat to me and my fellow kinsmen."
Fero sighed.
Fero: "Like my friend said, we're going to make sure the Reclamation Engine doesn't get turned on. So, if you'll excuse us."
The blue greedborn raised his hands, unwilling to get involved, while the yellow-skinned officer reluctantly held her tongue.
-
The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Five, Water Control Node, 7:10 PM
Enemy patrols, drones overhead, and security checkpoints transformed the otherwise mundane facility into an occupied zone. The Party had to maneuver carefully around every obstacle.
Dalia tracked a drone overhead. Fero listened in on conversations between guards. Servo slipped silently behind patrols, his footsteps nearly nonexistent.
The first threshold beyond the outer doors opened into a vast intake hall.
Outside, the canal had roared.
Inside, it hummed.
Giant filtration grates lined the floor, each one the size of a small house, pulsing with slow surges of water beneath them. Every few seconds, pressure vents exhaled mist through narrow seams in the concrete, carrying the faint mineral scent of old stone and treated chemicals.
Overhead, catwalks layered across the facility like a collapsed spiderweb. Drones drifted through the vertical space. Their rotors made almost no noise, but their presence weighed heavily on the atmosphere. Each carried a cluster of lenses that occasionally flared as they focused before drifting onward.
Dalia paused beneath a shadowed support beam and tilted her head upward. One drone passed close enough that its scanning light washed over her face for a heartbeat, turning her into a pale sketch against the concrete.
She remained perfectly still. The drone decided she was part of the structure and moved on.
Farther inside, the facility narrowed into what resembled a control spine. Rows of substations lined the walls, boxed behind thick glass and steel cages. Indicator panels blinked in layered rhythms.
Green. Amber. Red. Not alarms. Not yet.
A checkpoint blocked the corridor ahead. Not a simple barricade, but a deliberate bottleneck. Two armed guards stood beside a mobile scanner arch while a third monitored a laptop. Behind them, crates were opened and resealed during slow inspection cycles.
Ago drifted along the corridor's edge, half-hidden in shadow and half-hidden within the rhythm of everyday conversation.
The guards spoke casually.
"Another shipment for the Engine core. Same labeling nonsense. Still doesn't tell anyone what it actually does."
"Doesn't matter. It keeps the district from flooding. That's all the public needs to know."
Meanwhile, Servo moved like a silent predator.
He slipped behind a guard adjusting a wrist console. For a moment, there was no indication anyone had passed at all. No glance. No shift in posture.
Nothing.
By the time detection would have mattered, Servo was already gone.
The Party slowly regrouped in a more open section of the facility.
The Reclamation Engine revealed itself through gaps in the scaffolding, not as a single machine, but as layers of machinery.
Massive cylindrical segments sat nested within protective steel ribs. Every ring was marked with runoff channels and pressure valves the size of doors. Thick pipes fed into the structure from every direction, vibrating gently with contained power.
Dalia: "There it is."
Ardea: "I'm not sure what I'm looking at."
Dalia pointed at herself with a devilish grin.
Dalia: "Think nothing of it. I'll tear it apart with style."
Fero: "Heads up, folks."
Workers moved along suspended walkways around the perimeter, attaching maintenance clamps and checking massive seals. Security escorts stood at regular intervals, not watching the machine itself, but watching the workers watching the machine.
The drones appeared to have finished their indoor patrols and drifted back outside.
Fero and Talia studied the area, evaluating enemies, sightlines, and cover. Talia began pointing out routes while the others used hand signals to reject, alter, or refine the plan.
Ago sighed and stepped out from the shadows.
He glanced back for confirmation.
Fero merely shrugged and motioned for him to continue.
Fortunately, most of the workers had already moved on, leaving only a handful of guards protecting the Engine.
The Party struck quickly.
They rushed forward and jumped the guards.
The defenders carried batons and a few weapons imported from District Three, but no firearms. A few cries of surprise, several groans of pain, and a handful of defeated moans later, four guards were zip-tied to nearby railings.
For now, the guards were thoroughly subdued.
The Party turned their attention toward the Reclamation Engine.
Standing beneath it, they could finally see movement within the machine.
Between the armored ribs, enormous drums rotated with deliberate slowness. Water coursed through transparent conduits thicker than tree trunks, carrying a faint blue glow.
Ago: "Silver hell! What's the Engine doing?"
Talia: "Hm. It still looks kind of dormant."
Dalia shrugged.
Dalia: "Engineering isn't my specialty. Don't look at me."
She immediately began tearing panels loose to get a better view of the machinery.
Talia: "Based on the blueprints, these are the primary valves."
She pointed toward several large pipes and control assemblies.
Talia: "The gauges are all reading zero. I think it's still off. For now."
Fero: "So we made it in time?"
Ardea approached a nearby window, her long ears twitching.
Ardea: "I hear something."
Most of the Party moved to the window and looked outside.
There stood Governor Eitan. White suit, blond hair still perfectly groomed, confident stride, and completely calm.
-
The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Five, Water Control Node, 7:20 PM
Workers, thugs, and armored guards gathered near a raised platform that Eitan Sovel was using as a stage.
Standing beside him were two women.
One was a greedborn woman with light purple skin, long dark-gray hair tied into a ponytail, thin but strong horns, and an expensive red outfit.
The other was also a greedborn. She had milky-white skin and a lithe yet muscular build. Her worker's clothing clashed with her small frame. Long white hair hung down her back, and she wore a bored expression.
The woman in the red suit wore a wrist computer similar to Dalia's, while the woman in worker's clothes had numerous tools attached to her outfit.
Eitan: "Friends, a hundred and fifty years ago, our species nearly died out. We hoarded our wealth to the point that there was nothing left for those who came after us. Not resources. Not opportunity. Not even the knowledge required to keep our society alive."
He paused for a moment.
Eitan: "Classic traditions. Culture. These were the things that saved us."
A small amount of applause followed as exhausted workers offered what enthusiasm they could.
Eitan: "Reclamation began as a noble pursuit. It was taken by the greedy and twisted into an abomination, an idol to immortality. But we, all of us gathered here today, have reclaimed Reclamation and returned it to the ideals of old. To a time when a man was a man, a woman was a woman, and we were still called soulborn."
Another pause.
Eitan swept his gaze across the crowd.
Eitan: "Our grandparents rebuilt the world from ashes. They recovered the old stories. The old faith. The old language. They taught us who we were."
He gestured toward the workers.
Eitan: "Every machine in this facility, every stone in our cities, every lesson taught to our children exists because someone before us sacrificed for a future they would never live to see."
Several heads nodded.
Eitan: "Yet today we are told that preserving that future is selfish. We are told that protecting our people is hatred. We are told that the only moral choice is surrender."
His expression hardened.
Eitan: "Look around you. District by district. Generation by generation. Our traditions fade. Churches without greedborn. Ancient rites forgotten. Our holidays become theirs. Our neighborhoods become theirs. Their numbers grow while ours barely rise."
The entire facility had fallen silent.
Eitan: "I do not blame every wrathborn. Most are good people. Most simply live the lives they were born into."
He paused.
Eitan: "But nature does not care about intentions. Arithmetic does not care about virtue."
He pointed toward the Reclamation Engine.
Eitan: "A hundred years from now, two hundred years from now, what becomes of us? What becomes of the soulborn? Of our faith? Of our history? Will our descendants inherit a civilization, or merely become footnotes in someone else's?"
Eitan lowered his hand.
Eitan: "The answer to that question is why every one of us is standing here tonight."
The governor raised a hand and gave a signal. Workers began guiding additional pipes into prepared intake sockets.
Eitan: "The police will be here shortly. By sunrise, many of us may be in prison. Some of us may never see our homes again."
His voice remained calm.
Eitan: "History does not remember those who complied. It remembers those willing to stand when standing carried a cost."
Several workers straightened.
Eitan: "Our work here will become a beacon for others who refuse to watch their people disappear."
He paused.
Eitan: "We are not greedborn. That is the name they gave us."
Scattered applause rose from the crowd.
Eitan: "We are not godborn. That is the lie we told ourselves."
The applause grew louder.
Eitan: "We are soulborn!"
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Eitan stepped back and allowed the applause to wash over the facility. Then, with complete composure, he spoke one final sentence.
Eitan: "Let's make history."
-
Fero: "A politician to the end."
Ago: "I don't remember that kind of rhetoric during his campaign."
Ago's tail swept angrily behind him.
Dalia turned back toward the Party.
Dalia: "Uh, people, we have a problem."
She pointed out several explosive charges attached around the Engine.
Everyone's reaction was written across their faces.
Fero: "If the Engine is the last piece of evidence, it makes sense he'd destroy it."
Servo: "Doesn't the police really need this thing to prove their case?"
Fero: "Depends on whether we can convince a jury that this man built a biological weapon without it."
Fero was about to continue when Dalia interrupted him.
Dalia: "Enough of that. This thing is hooked into the main control systems along with the rest of the infrastructure. I'll need help getting there."
Talia walked over to the explosives arranged around the Engine.
Talia: "I'll handle these. Looks like nothing but C4 bricks anyway."
Zev was still watching the crowd outside before returning to the group.
Zev: "They're heading this way. What should we do?"
Ago: "You'd think the governor would be getting out of here because of the police."
Dalia shook her head.
Dalia: "Online, it looks like the governor's administration has already apologized for the sudden construction at the Black Stone Water Control Node. The media was supposed to be here tonight to reveal some new technology his people developed, but the event was canceled after the attack on the station."
Fero: "That's how he planned to sneak everything through. The narrative becomes attacks, false-flag attacks, against both the media and this facility."
He frowned.
Fero: "Smart."
Servo: "Dalia, I'll guard you."
Fero turned his head.
Fero: "I'll go too."
Ago was already walking back toward the entrance.
Ago: "I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone reach the Engine, so I'm going out there."
Zev: "Once they find the tied-up guards, they'll either accelerate their plan or change it entirely. Better to keep them occupied."
He stepped forward.
Zev: "I'll go with you, Ago."
Ardea moved beside them.
Ardea: "You'll need more bodies than just two. Guess I'll come along."
Talia looked up from the explosives.
Talia: "Then it's a plan. Hurry up, people!"
-
The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Five, Water Control Node, 7:30 PM
Talia handed Dalia her bag of "self-defense" explosives while Ago, Ardea, and Zev moved outside the structure.
The gathered crowd consisted of workers and Eitan's personnel. Most security forces were stationed throughout the facility or in nearby buildings, leaving Eitan surrounded only by his assistants and personal guards.
Not ordinary security guards.
The same fanatical thugs, armored and armed with various melee weapons.
A brief silence settled over the crowd as the three emerged from the building and stepped into the open.
The governor wasted no time.
Eitan, calmly: "It's the terrorists. Perhaps someone should stop them."
Taking the hint, the workers surged forward with angry shouts.
Meanwhile, Dalia, Servo, and Fero slipped out through another section of the facility and headed toward the main control room. They encountered little resistance, as most people simply jumped out of their way.
Back at the Engine, Talia continued dismantling the explosives.
She sighed.
Talia: "Nothing is ever easy."
-
Ago was being pinned back by several workers when he suddenly lunged forward and sank his teeth into a man's shoulder.
The worker screamed.
Ago tore away a small chunk of flesh before immediately spitting.
The workers recoiled.
Ago's fur stood on end from the extreme discomfort of tasting blood and flesh.
Ago: "Ugh... arg."
He spat again.
Several injured men already lay at Ardea's feet. Her knife was stained red, and her victims had been dragged out of the way. Everyone else seemed hesitant to approach her.
Nearby, Zev spun his spear and delivered probing jabs at anyone who ventured too close.
Eitan pulled out his phone to check the time before releasing an annoyed sigh.
Ago: "Mister Governor, care for a brawl?"
Eitan ignored him.
Instead, he studied the Engine, the control building, the internet cables running throughout the facility, and finally his phone.
Call Failed.
Elsewhere, Dalia's drone detached itself from a large router hidden inside an administration building. The modem's connected-port light glowed red as the drone departed and headed toward the command building.
Eitan: "Rina."
The perpetually bored woman in worker's clothes glanced over.
Eitan: "The internet is down. Be a dear and tell the command station to turn everything on."
Rina: "On it."
For the first time all evening, she showed energy.
She sprinted toward the command building.
A loud horn suddenly blared across the facility.
Many workers paused and looked around.
Eitan: "Then get back to work. Allow me to deal with these people."
At first, the workers responded slowly.
Then panic began to spread as systems started failing due to the network outage.
For nearly a minute, workers scrambled to restore order.
Once things stabilized, Eitan motioned forward.
His armored guards advanced.
The woman in red stepped forward as well.
Ago, Zev, and Ardea slowly retreated toward the doorway, positioning themselves to guard it.
-
Dalia ran into a hallway where two security guards were stationed. Both immediately drew their handguns and started yelling at her. Servo rushed forward, pushed Dalia behind him, and advanced on the guards.
The two greedborn opened fire. Round after round slammed into Servo's armor. They emptied their magazines into him before their weapons clicked dry. Only then did Servo collapse to the floor.
From behind him, Dalia emerged with her shock glove activated while Fero charged forward with his baton in hand. Fero briefly grappled with one guard before slamming him to the ground. The other caught Dalia and threw her against the wall.
She ducked beneath his grip, twisted free, and touched him with the glove. The guard dropped instantly.
Servo groaned and held himself through the pain. The armor had done its job, but he was still down. He raised a thumbs-up.
Dalia and Fero continued without him.
Their first obstacle was a locked door. People on the other side were already screaming for the "terrorists" to leave.
Fero delivered a powerful kick. The door didn't budge. Dalia smiled and pulled out a brick of explosives.
-
Ago struggled as four workers managed to jump him at once. Normally, Zev would have been helping him, but his attention was focused on Ardea, who had four more attackers crowding her.
Like before, Ardea's knife could only accomplish so much against armor and superior numbers.
Ardea: "This was a bad idea!"
Zev: "I'm trying!"
One thug managed to stab Ago in the shoulder. Ago immediately retaliated. He grabbed the man's arm, twisted, and dislocated the shoulder with a sickening snap.
Talia suddenly appeared in a nearby window with her crossbow and fired.
One thug dropped.
By the time she reloaded and looked back up, a drone had drifted into position outside the window.
Without warning, it sprayed a stream of liquid directly into her face.
Talia screamed and collapsed to the floor, clutching at her eyes.
Eitan: "Tziporah?"
Tziporah: "It's just another intruder."
Zev broke from the line and charged the purple-skinned greedborn.
Two guards immediately intercepted him.
He thrust his spear forward, attempting to impale one.
Instead, the guard awkwardly managed to grab the shaft and hold it in place while the second thug closed in with a knife.
Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from the command station.
For a moment, everyone paused.
Eitan and Tziporah remained focused on the battle.
Everyone else was distracted.
-
Fero entered first with Dalia close behind.
Both stepped over the destroyed doorway and the black scorch marks left by the explosion. The command station was a broad circular chamber built around a sunken display.
A map of the surrounding waterways dominated the center screen. Blue lines represented rivers, reservoirs, canals, and pumping stations stretching across the region.
Rings of workstations surrounded the display, each covered in monitors showing water pressure, flow rates, reservoir levels, maintenance alerts, and weather forecasts.
A constant hum filled the room.
Warning messages flashed across several screens where automated systems had been disrupted by the internet outage, though many were already returning to green.
Colored status lights blinked from tall server cabinets lining the walls, while massive pipes disappeared through the ceiling and floor, carrying water to and from the deeper machinery of the Node.
The workers stared at the intruders with wide eyes. Some froze in their chairs. Others slowly backed away from their consoles.
Fero: "Beat it."
The workers needed no further encouragement. Chairs scraped across the floor as they hurried toward the exits, abandoning their stations with remarkable speed.
Once the room was clear, Dalia immediately moved to the nearest console. Her eyes darted between screens as she searched for anything connected to the Reclamation Engine.
The station had been designed for engineers, not hackers. The displays were packed with technical diagrams, maintenance logs, flow-control schedules, and network maps.
She began navigating through menus, piecing together how the Water Control Node functioned and, more importantly, what system actually controlled the Engine.
Fero looked out over the fighting below before returning to the doorway to prepare for incoming trouble.
Meanwhile, Servo had regained his footing and was making his way toward the command station when he suddenly stopped.
His ears twitched.
He turned to see a worker emerge from around the corner.
Servo gritted his teeth.
Servo: "Ma'am, I'm going to need you to..."
He never finished.
The woman sprinted straight at him.
Servo reacted instantly, swinging his shovel.
She caught the strike.
For the first time that day, Servo looked genuinely surprised.
The woman maintained her grip on the shovel and slid down onto her knees, using the momentum to drag Servo off balance and bring him crashing down as well.
By the time he regained his footing, she was already racing down the hallway.
Fero saw her approaching and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
Fero: "Dalia, we're out of time!"
Dalia: "This thing hasn't been updated since the First Colonization, two hundred and thirty years ago! It's broken beyond repair!"
Fero ignored the complaint and stepped toward Rina.
She stopped just outside his striking range.
In one hand she carried a heavy-duty flashlight.
In the other, a large wrench.
Fero attacked despite the bright beam shining directly into his face.
The first few strikes weren't a major problem. Then he reached forward to tear the flashlight away.
That was when Rina swung.
Thud.
The wrench slammed into the side of his head.
-
More thug guards had abandoned Ago and Ardea to stop Zev from getting any closer to Tziporah. Even so, Tziporah was forced to back away as Ago finally found enough room to fight.
With a final kick, he slammed the last thug off him and onto the ground. Ago snorted while Tziporah tapped away at her wrist computer.
Ago: "Tziporah Daror? How'd you get out of prison?"
Tziporah: "Oh goodness. Ago, right? I suppose the others are in that box?"
She pointed up toward the command station.
Ago: "Besides Servo, it's a new crew."
Tziporah pulled a filtered face mask from her vest and slipped it on, her voice becoming muffled.
Tziporah: "You should have taken my advice and let me have District Three."
Three drones descended and began releasing white gas.
Just being near it made Ago's eyes water and his nose clog.
Ago: "Silver-rotten crow food! What land shark has combat training?"
Ardea was pinned to the ground while several guards kicked and struck her with metal batons.
Meanwhile, inside the facility, Talia threw away her water canteen, most of its contents already splashed across her face and eyes.
Every breath came with sharp pain.
She rubbed her eyes one last time before raising her crossbow.
A bolt flew.
One man collapsed. Probably still alive.
The others attacking Ardea hesitated and that was all she needed. Ardea sprang to her feet and drove her knife into the gap near one man's neck.
When he fell, she launched her counterattack.
-
Fero did his best to keep Rina occupied, throwing her flashlight aside.
Dalia had finally finished examining the system and reached a conclusion. She tossed the explosives bag to the floor and turned around.
Dalia: "Fero, we're going to... AH!"
Rina ducked beneath Fero's grasp and sprinted directly toward her.
Dalia reached into her pocket and pulled out a black stick.
The device unfolded into several miniature drones.
With a button press, her wrist computer displayed: Program One
The tiny drones surged forward with an angry buzz.
Rina was already pushing off Fero, vaulting over a console and slipping past the drones.
Thinking quickly, Dalia grabbed a rolling chair and shoved it at her.
Rina flipped over the obstacle.
The instant she landed, she charged straight into Dalia. The impact slammed Dalia into a console. Rina pinned her there with one arm locked Dalia's neck.
Another pressed against her shoulder. Her expression remained utterly neutral, almost robotic.
Rina held her wrench between her teeth and pulled out a screwdriver.
Fero rushed in and grabbed for her shoulder. Without hesitation, Rina twisted and drove the screwdriver into Fero's side.
He let out a pained yell.
Fero: "Woman, I'm warning you!"
He lunged again.
Rina shifted her weight.
The screwdriver plunged into Dalia's hand.
At the same time, Rina reclaimed her wrench.
Her entire body remained draped across Dalia while her legs shoved Fero backward whenever he tried to close in.
Servo finally reached the doorway and one of the security guards' pistols was in his hand.
He slammed in a fresh magazine.
Servo: "Filthy challenger!"
Dalia was now screaming in pain while Fero struggled to break Rina's hold.
Dalia: "I couldn't figure everything out, but I know how to stop the Engine from turning on! Fero, the bag! It's about to blow!"
Adrenaline widened Fero's eyes.
He bit down hard on his own hand and let out a sharp yelp.
Then he surged forward and finally flipped Rina off Dalia.
Hearing the warning, Servo aimed his pistol at the command station's glass wall.
He fired repeatedly with the impacts spread spiderweb cracks across the reinforced pane. The magazine emptied and the glass held, for about a second, then it collapsed.
Servo slammed the door shut and ran.
Fero snarled, grabbed Dalia, and leapt through the shattered opening.
Her drones followed after their master.
At nearly the same moment the explosion erupted, Rina also dove through the opening.
Everyone hit the ground hard.
Dalia landed on top of Fero, who served as a very unwilling cushion.
The pair slowly struggled back to their feet. Dalia was nearly in tears and Fero groaned and could barely stand.
Rina bounced off the ground and immediately charged them again. Her expression never changed.
Fero quickly drew the flare gun. For the first time, Rina showed genuine emotion, fear.
Fero fired from almost point-blank range and the flare struck. For a moment, Rina vanished inside a burst of fire, then she walked through it.
Steam rose from her scorched clothing and skin. Fero clenched his teeth and tossed the empty flare gun aside, one hand pressed against his injured ribs.
Rina ignored the weapon and lunged with wrench raised.
Fero couldn't bring himself to remove his hand from his ribs, leaving him only one arm with which to defend himself.
Fortunately, his size advantage remained enormous.
His punches slammed into Rina's face with brutal force.
Meanwhile, she repeatedly reached upward, trying to smash his skull with the wrench.
The two exchanged several blows before Dalia's drones finally caught Rina off guard.
She retreated a few steps to avoid them and Dalia recalled the drones. Even her primary drone had returned to her side. Rina stepped forward again. Barely a moment of rest had passed.
Then Fero glanced downward. His expression shifted to concern.
The reaction made Rina stop and then look down as well.
Blood covered one of her legs.
For the first time, terror crossed her face. She took a sharp, panicked breath and then immediately began stripping.
Dalia blinked in confusion.
Rina rapidly removed layers of clothing until only the bare minimum remained. Then she began inspecting herself, not randomly, methodically or even ritualistically. As though she had performed this exact routine every day of her life.
Neither Fero nor Dalia interrupted her.
Dalia recalled the rest of her drones.
Fero instead scanned the area for additional threats and checked on the other battle.
Servo rounded the corner of a nearby building and slowly approached.
Servo: "Did you guys win?"
Eventually, Rina found the source.
A tiny shard of metal had embedded itself in her side.
She pressed a hand over the wound.
Then she immediately fled toward another building in complete panic.
Servo watched her go.
Servo: "Okay. Thank you for your time."
A brief silence followed.
Servo: "Who was she?"
Fero: "Don't know. Don't care. Come on."
-
Ago held his breath and charged at Tziporah.
Even so, it felt as though the gas was tearing his eyes apart.
The woman let out a startled scream as the giant wrathborn barreled toward her.
Nearly blind, Ago swung downward.
Tziporah ducked beneath the strike, grabbed him, and used his momentum against him. She dragged him to the ground and landed on top of him, twisting his left arm while wrapping her legs around his throat.
Tziporah: "Just like last time, except no one's coming to bail you out!"
Ardea threw one man to the ground before backing into another and wrestling a knife from his grip while keeping her own blade near his face.
She threw him down as well.
Then she returned to the first man, punching him several times before turning back to the second and forcing him down again.
Zev couldn't engage properly.
Too many men were pressing him at once, and there was only so much he could do before three people piled onto him.
Another explosion caused a brief pause in the fighting before everyone resumed.
Eventually, Ardea came up behind one of the thug guards and freed enough space for Zev to move forward.
The other two men recoiled as Zev attacked in rapid succession. One thrust, a spin, and then a slap with the shaft of the spear.
Then he turned back to the man he had stabbed and slammed him with the butt of the weapon.
One of the guards unraveled a shock glove and handed it to Eitan.
Without hesitation, Zev charged into the gas cloud.
The fumes immediately made him cough and nearly blinded him, but he pressed on to rescue Ago.
Using the back end of his spear, he struck Tziporah across the face several times.
Soon she was forced to release Ago and retreat from the cloud.
Tziporah: "Ow! Ow! Ow! No fair!"
A hand shot out of the gas and grabbed her.
Ago emerged with his face soaked in tears and mucus.
He pulled her closer and seized one of her hands.
Tziporah: "Ah! No, no, no!"
Ago twisted. A sickening pop followed as he had dislocated her thumb making her scream.
Ago released her, and she stumbled away from the fight.
Zev emerged from the opposite side of the gas cloud. Before he could recover, Eitan grabbed him by the throat. The shock glove discharged a devastating current through his body.
A crossbow bolt nearly struck Eitan, forcing him to back away.
Talia: "I can't see anything! What's going on out there?"
Zev: "You shot without looking?"
Several guards recovered and moved to surround Eitan while Tziporah sniveled behind them.
Eventually, the wind carried the gas away and the drones lifted off.
-
The Party
Month of Requies, Decem
Black Stone: District Five, Water Control Node, 7:44 PM
Servo, Dalia, and Fero arrived to reinforce their friends.
Eitan remained surrounded, but the three newcomers moved around the crowd and joined their allies, who were steadily backing toward the entrance of the Reclamation Engine facility.
Eitan rallied his followers and the guards who were still capable of fighting gathered around him.
Eitan: "You shall not win here today, terrorists, for I have the mandate of God! Something you low-lives could never understand."
Servo: "Actually, I go to church often."
Ardea: "Same."
Everyone except Talia and Zev chimed in.
Eitan looked noticeably more irritated.
Eitan: "None of you can understand what must be done to prevent an all-out war between the two species."
Dalia: "I'm not sure why you think people would throw away their lives for something so meaningless."
Ago pointed directly at him.
Ago: "The governor here is a murderer. We have witness statements about him ordering people to commit murders."
Eitan looked genuinely confused.
Eitan: "No? I suppose if you count my security detail defending me in self-defense, then perhaps. But that's hardly murder, is it?"
Fero: "I don't recall any such incidents. You never reported these supposed self-defense killings."
Eitan: "Hm? I've tried, but no one cares what happens in District Three. People die there all the time. Sometimes honest people end up killing in self-defense, and the police never seem interested in investigating. That's a failure of the system, not of me."
Ago suddenly imagined Barrak lying in his hospital bed.
Imaginary Barrak: "Maybe I exaggerated a little."
Then another version appeared.
Imaginary Barrak 2: "Look, everything was on fire. We inhaled a ton of smoke, and I got beaten nearly to death. Sorry I couldn't be more clear."
Then a third.
Imaginary Barrak 3: "Haha! You're so dumb, Ago!"
Ago grimaced.
Ago: "I'm sure the people would love to know why you spend so much time in a district full of gang violence that your security detail keeps ending up in firefights."
Fero: "Forget that. He has ties to a dirty cop. A real cop killer."
Eitan: "Tendo? I had no idea how much of a sociopath he was. Believe me, if I'd known what he was doing, I'd never have associated with him."
Fero: "But we know you were working with him."
Eitan: "He found himself in my debt..."
The way he said it caused Zev's ears to perk up.
Zev: "Blood debt?"
Eitan snorted.
Eitan: "He found himself in my debt, and I told him how to repay it. Simply help the community."
From a nearby window, Talia spoke up.
Talia: "Your organization of the gangs in District Three is more than enough proof that you're a criminal."
Eitan looked confused again.
Eitan: "I turned murderous gangs into productive members of society. I gave them jobs and purpose. When they were working, they weren't killing. I broke their culture of violence by making ethical behavior more rewarding."
Zev: "You can't bring ethics to District Three. When the police entered this time, they still chose death over your ethics."
Eitan: "Yes. Clearly I failed. However, they never would have resorted to that if the police hadn't invaded District Three looking for something that wasn't there."
Ardea: "You worked with Micah Shiachor. A real pervert and abuser."
A genuinely sad expression crossed Eitan's face.
Eitan: "Micah Shiachor was never the same after what happened ten years ago. There was an assassination attempt on his life. His four adopted children were taken away. He spent a month in a coma."
He paused.
Eitan: "His wife survived unharmed, but their relationship deteriorated afterward. I suspected he was trying to adopt children again to rebuild what he'd lost. Once I learned what he was being charged with, the crimes involving minors, I cut ties with him."
Ardea: "But... wasn't he your partner or something?"
Eitan: "I wasn't particularly involved with whatever that front organization was. Yoel Machina was my partner. Not formally, but he was the one who built the Reclamation Engine."
The Party collectively frowned.
Dalia: "Hold up! Yoel had no idea about the Engine."
She paused.
Dalia: "At least... I don't think he did."
Eitan: "That man has many secrets that would shock all of you."
Zev: "And this is why we should hate all rich people."
Ago groaned.
Ago: "All this talking isn't accomplishing anything. Let's get to punching!"
Eitan and his guards immediately readied themselves.
Ago took a step forward.
Ardea: "Why?"
There was a pause.
Ago: "Because the bad guy is standing right in front of us?"
Ardea: "We came here to make sure the police get the Engine and to prevent it from being activated. Fighting him doesn't help us accomplish either goal."
Everyone stopped to think about that.
Ago: "Huh."
Another pause.
Ago: "I guess... we can just stay here then."
Now it was Eitan's turn to think.
Very hard.
He quietly began trying to figure out a way out of the situation.
-
Eitan rolled his shoulders and prepared himself.
Eitan: "I'm going to need access to the Engine."
Tziporah didn't look at anyone while she spoke. Her eyes tracked invisible schematics only she could see.
Tziporah: "If they've already cleared the charges, I won't be able to rig anything before the police secure it."
Fero raised both hands slightly, careful not to provoke anything.
Fero: "Governor, this doesn't need to escalate any further. The fight's already over."
Eitan tilted his head, his guards still holding their weapons firmly.
Fero looked around in response.
The governor was well-built, but probably not a fighter. An easy fight, if anything.
Ago, however, had taken a lot of hits. He had a knife wound, and his face wasn't looking too good after the crowd-control gas. Zev wasn't in much better shape.
Servo could barely stand. Old injuries combined with being shot up again. Even with the armor, his insides felt battered.
Ardea was on the ground. She had taken more blunt-force punishment than either Ago or Zev and looked to be in considerable pain.
Talia was harder to see from her window, but the skin around her eyes looked burned. Whatever that spray had been, it was brutal. She kept rubbing at her eyes in an attempt to see more clearly.
Fero himself noticed he still hadn't taken his hand off his ribs. His breathing was uneven. Wrathborn survived falls better than most, but his jaw still hurt from Rina's wrench, and having Dalia land on him probably hadn't helped.
Dalia was the only one still full of energy. She was also the only one still smiling, but unfortunately, she was not a fighter.
Eitan: "You are mistaken if you believe this has concluded. You think this ends because you've stopped a machine and gathered accusations. This is larger than your evidence."
Ago: "Give it a rest. Take a rest. As much as I love a good brawl, unsanctioned and unsafe ones like these are dangerous and should be avoided. Someone could end up dying."
Ardea: "Assuming no one has died yet."
Her voice was sharp and regretful.
Zev: "All of these guards are still moving around. Don't fret over what we can't control."
Fero cleared his throat.
Fero: "Governor. Let the police come and sort this out. They'll handle it. You'll have your trial. We'll have ours."
A faint crease formed between Eitan's brows, not anger, but refusal.
Eitan: "I need to see it through."
Servo: "Can you try not to poison my species, please?"
His earnest way of saying that made some start to hesitate.
Eitan: "I'm trying to prevent what comes after this. That's what none of you are willing to account for. Wrathborn will take over everything."
Ago: "Sir, with respect, we're not taking over anything. Who knows? Maybe the greedborn go extinct for real the third time and we won't have to worry about it."
Eitan shook his head.
Eitan: "It's about numbers. Domus Secunda, this Domus Secunda, is a nation with cultural ties to the nations of Ashurat. Everything our species was lives here. Wrathborn are not part of what built this world. Slowly, everything built by my people becomes something else."
Ardea: "You mean the names? Take a hint from Canto Lignum. He's a greedborn who still uses the old Northern names."
Eitan gave a dismissive huff.
Eitan: "You are replacing us. Everything the soulborn were is being rewritten by wrathborn."
Servo: "We all have souls, Eitan."
Eitan: "That right there. See? You took away our species name. Greedborn is just some joke wrathborn came up with."
Servo blinked. He genuinely hadn't expected that answer.
Eitan: "And that's just our culture. Our religion. Blasphemies about God taking your kind in. Some of you even claim He made you to replace us."
Servo interrupted.
Servo: "The greedborn were supposed to go extinct. We were made because Aurum didn't want to be alone, and God made us not only to ease his loneliness, but to continue the promise of the first sinnerborn. We would have continued where the greedborn left off."
Eitan: "I don't believe it. Because I've heard too many versions of the truth already, and every version seems to serve whoever gains power next. Everyone claims to speak for God."
Fero: "We're not trying to replace what Domus Secunda is. Even if we jump forward a thousand years, who's to say anyone will still live exactly like this? Domus Secunda has already undergone multiple cultural revolutions."
Eitan raised a palm to emphasize his point.
Eitan: "Vigilance keeps a people on the true path. I am unconvinced that path survives with wrathborn guiding it."
Zev: "I feel your pain. I'm also a little paranoid about wrathborn sometimes, but this isn't the way."
Eitan: "It's the fertility rates. Out of everything I've said, that's what worries me most. Their population should never equal or surpass greedborn numbers. We've seen how our species clash. It will only get worse."
Dalia gave her own scowl.
Dalia: "Do you even know the machine works? It's not like you've tested it before."
Eitan: "It works."
Fero: "You can't see the future. You know nothing about what's in store for either species."
Eitan: "If I simply look around today, I can see the future. I'm not against wrathborn. I don't mind them living in peace. I don't mind them succeeding. I just believe everything we've built will eventually become theirs. Not through malice. Not through conquest. Just through time."
-
Servo: "Maybe you could start your own country, then?"
Eitan: "A project seventy years in the making. People have tried. It is unlikely to happen."
Dalia: "Most of the planet is still uncolonized. Starting over shouldn't be impossible."
Eitan: "Resources. Money. Labor. Population. No one wants to leave Domus Secunda. It would be easier for the wrathborn to found their own nation."
Zev: "Wait. You'd actually be okay with wrathborn having their own nation?"
Eitan: "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
Fero rubbed his forehead.
Fero: "I'm confused. How is that somehow more difficult than inventing new technology, manipulating the media, organizing gangs, influencing public opinion, and causing all this conflict?"
Eitan paused.
Eitan: "Well... when you put it like that, it sounds rather bad."
Dalia: "Because it is."
Eitan: "Regardless, Project Inheritance determined this was the easiest solution."
Dalia: "The lamest solution. All those resources could have been spent creating some sort of greedborn-only region."
Servo crossed his arms.
Servo: "Segregation is kind of creepy, but yeah. There's plenty of room on this planet to build your own little haven."
Eitan fell silent.
Eitan: "Domus Secunda is ours. It makes no sense to surrender our land and wealth simply because the wrathborn arrived less than a century ago. It should be the wrathborn who leave."
Ago folded his arms.
Ago: "Considering we're tax-paying citizens, it seems strange to cut out a huge portion of the population that's been helping build the nation. Tell you what. Give us back everything we've put into the system. Taxes, labor, every doctor who saved a life, every worker who built a road, every contribution. Then maybe you could convince the tribes of Aurum to move."
Servo: "Yeah. It just sounds like another challenge to overcome."
Silence followed. Eitan genuinely considered it.
Eitan: "Not everything can be solved that way. They should simply leave regardless."
Ardea: "And you think that's what greedborn want? If you anonymously asked every greedborn whether they wanted wrathborn expelled, you think they'd agree with you?"
Eitan: "Enough would. The rest simply don't know what's best for them. Leadership exists because public opinion is not wisdom."
Ardea: "Which requires lies, murder, and betrayal of your office?"
Eitan huffed again.
Servo: "The greedborn left Ashurat because of ideological conflict. What you're proposing isn't very different. You're representing an ideology, not the people."
Servo pointed at him.
Servo: "You keep saying you're protecting greedborn, but every time we ask what greedborn want, you tell us what you want."
The governor remained silent.
Servo: "You can say everyone needs to follow you because they're too foolish to understand. But if they aren't allowed to choose, then your decision isn't leadership."
He folded his arms.
Servo: "It's selfishness and pride."
Tziporah leaned toward Eitan.
Tziporah: "Sir, we're approaching the deadline. If we don't act now, the police will arrive."
Dalia: "If the greedborn reject your solution, at what point do you admit you're fighting for yourself?"
Eitan thought for several seconds.
Finally, he sighed.
Eitan: "I suppose I'll pivot the fight to other fronts."
He turned toward one of the armored guards.
Eitan: "Captain."
The guard snapped to attention.
Eitan: "Get your people out of here. The Engine is lost."
The captain saluted and began gathering the remaining fighters.
Tziporah shrugged.
Tziporah: "If that's what you want."
Eitan: "I've wasted too much time talking to these youngsters."
A faint smile crossed his face.
Eitan: "Besides, after today, the message has already been sent."
Eitan and Tziporah turned and began walking toward the front gate.
Once the last enemy disappeared from sight, nearly everyone collapsed against a wall with a collective groan.
Everyone except Talia, who remained at the window.
And Dalia, who stood proudly with her hands on her hips.
Talia: "Good game, everyone. We win."
Dalia: "Woo!"
She turned around and found everyone slumped over in exhaustion.
Dalia: "Go team go!"
She thrust a fist triumphantly into the air.
-
End of Part 6.
