“You’re crazy, Brink. You couldn’t possibly know any of this. You’re just making shit up.”
He taps his wristband. “The Keepers and Patrician aren’t the only ones with access to these.”
I realize at that moment that it’s not Brink talking, but a Dracken. “Where’s Brink?”
“He’s here, but not for much longer. The Keepers have done wonders giving us a way to survive. If it wasn’t for them, we would never have achieved our greatest scientific accomplishment.”
“And what is that?”
“Immortality. With the wristband implanted in all the winners of The Litarian Battles, once the Patrician send them into the Dead Zone and you’ve disabled the security on the building, we’ll choose the most valuable people and take over their bodies. Just like what we’ve done with your friends.”
Frey and Van. That’s why they left like they did and how Van knew what was needed to fix my arm.
“I’ll stop you,” I say, gripping the knife tighter in my fist.
“I’d like to see you try.”
The blade cuts an inch deep groove into Brink’s neck. I know the Dracken will simply move back into whatever electronic device they’re all hiding in until a new host comes into play. I need to find Van and Frey quickly, but don’t know where they went off to. I remove the healing device from my arm, toss it on the floor, and notice that the wound is perfectly mended. No scarring. I go to the lift and take it down to the eighth floor. I get past the two security doors like I did before and enter the dark room where Hammond was.
“Hammond!” I shout, hoping he can hear me from wherever he is.
The security door closes, locking me in the room. Hammond appears in the same spot he did before. “We know,” he says.
“Where are Frey and Van?”
“They are lost to you now, Max. The Dracken have them under their control and the Patrician army is at the rim of the dome in Tarsus. There are only a few minutes left before it all comes to a head. We will teleport you now to a safe location.”
“No,” I yell. “I can do this. Just tell me where Frey is?”
“Max, please, it is over. We have lost, but you can still be saved,” Hammond says, pleading.
“Then I’ll find them without you,” I say, and loop up to the fiftieth floor.
I step towards the window as the glass of the dome explodes. Within moments, the deadly hail of shattered glass rains down on the streets, and there is nothing left above us. I race to the other side of the room to look towards Tarsus. The city itself is just a small dot on the horizon, but I can picture the Patrician army flowing into the Dead Zone.
The Dracken are stuck in the building until the security failsafe is disabled. If they are in fact controlling Van and Frey, the Dracken can direct them on how to do that. Which would mean they’re on the seventh floor.
I ignore the lift and loop right in front of the gate separating the room from the lifts. Van is in front of the plasma display with his back towards me, his bag of detonators at his feet. I remove my Kopis and side-step around the area until I’m on the other side of the room. He’s so focused on tapping symbols on the plasma screen that he doesn’t see me approach.
“Where’s Frey?” I ask, holding my Kopis up by my shoulder with both hands.
Van looks up, but I can tell it’s not really him. “He’s around.”
“Van’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yes, Max, he is.”
“Then killing you won’t hurt so much.”
I jump onto the display, but Van is ready with one of the Aedox rifles. I instinctively tell the suit to protect me. It covers my entire body and the bullets sail through me, but my Kopis doesn’t do any damage to Van either since he has instructed his suit to do the same as mine. I change tactics and go for the detonators, grabbing the bag as I fall to the floor. I sheathe my Kopis and loop into the void, then land next to the bank of computers that Lok had worked on, arm a detonator, adhere it inside the box, and loop again.
Van has to chase me around the floor, but I’m much faster. The first detonator ignites as I’m activating one on the last of the four computer banks and Van is blown across the room and against a concrete wall, then drops. I secure the bag around my shoulder and loop over next to him. He doesn’t have a pulse. I step over to the plasma screen and apply five detonators all around the table. I loop behind the security gate and smile as the room lights up like a candle. I know this will bring down the security for the building, but it should also destroy any remnants of the Dracken.
I begin looping up one floor at a time. Frey is collapsed next to the main console on the twelfth floor. I run up to him, turn him onto his back, and begin shaking him.
“Frey, wake up,” I say. “You’re stronger than they are.”
I look for his pulse, but can’t find one.
“Damnit, Frey,” I whisper through tears. “Wake up.” I pound on his chest, then finally just rest my head on it.
I stand, go over to the exact spot where I landed when I looped, and take a deep breath. I close my eyes, clear my mind, and pick my point in time. Back in time. I visualize myself being on the seventh floor, landing just on the outside of the gate, but that’s not where I project myself. I take that same instant in time and picture myself on the twelfth floor, right where I’m standing now. The suit retracts to its normal design as I slip into the
