Chapter 58

AUGGY’S CRAZY PLAN

Alexander sat on the couch watching the holo, listening in on the debate between Annie and Augustus.

The news anchor’s voice droned on about riots flaring across the planet, crowds storming corporate branches, protests outside AEGIS offices, clashes with police and national guard. In some places, superheroes had been called in. In others, the newly christened super-augmented had shown up to put down unrest with force. Too many interventions ended the same way: blood on the streets, cameras cut, and boilerplate official statements demanding calm.

Calm that wasn’t coming.

National leaders were pleading with their citizens, while the United Earth Government said nothing, other than to implement a blackout, strangling news at the edge of the Sol system. Nothing in, nothing out.

He held a blob of steel in the air, coaxing it into a bead. It trembled, then smoothed into a perfect, gleaming marble. He let it hover between his fingers, concentration locked tight. This metal didn’t come from his collection of equipment, nor was it taken from anything else.

He’d conjured it using nothing but his Will.

“That still doesn’t make it okay!” Annie half-shouted, slapping a hand on the kitchen table.

Alexander huffed out a breath, losing his focus, and the bead unraveled into nothing. Gone, as if it had never existed.

He leaned back and rubbed his face. “Useless,” he muttered. “If I can’t make it and keep it, then what’s the point?”

“We need to be realistic about this, Annie,” Augustus said, presenting his argument calmly. “We can’t stop what’s happening. That means we either keep up, or we fall behind. And falling behind means…”

“Dying,” Annie muttered, crossing her arms. “I get it. I do! I know we have to fight people. I know we even have to… stop some of them because they’re really bad. But this is basically a kill quest. And what if we lose?”

Alexander was considering both sides, but he leaned toward Augustus’s view. Everything was changing, and it was outside of their control. Their choice was to keep growing stronger or die, just as Augustus said.

He understood Annie’s issue with it, and her worry, but he’d come from a world where there were no superpowers. What would that world be like if an individual like him showed up? What chance would there be of stopping him from doing whatever he wanted?

What would this world look like in a few years’ time? Would there be a lot more superhumans?

Or would only the most powerful have survived to lord it over all others?

And what if the System’s plans didn’t end with pitting superheroes and wizards and cultivators and dinosaurs and creepy cultists and who knows what else against each other? He wasn’t someone who read or watched stories about the world ending, but given their popularity, he understood the theme well enough to see that a few people thrown together to fight to the death couldn’t be the end of the plot.

No, that was just the beginning of the story.

“You know where I stand on this,” Alexander said, interrupting the argument he’d briefly tuned out. “I’d rather not fight anyone to the death, but at least in this case it will be people that want the same thing. The risk is manageable, we just need to prepare carefully for whatever we choose to fight. And I can’t deny that I’m excited about the idea of getting another form of power, even if it’s limited somehow. I also can’t stand the idea of falling behind everyone else, not when we’re already arriving late to the party. Not to mention it sounds like we’ll never get another chance to obtain something like this.”

Annie deflated, the fight going out of her.

Augustus patted her on the head. “You don’t have to. You know that, right? Just because Alexander and I want to does not mean you should. Talia already said she won’t be joining. You’re already strong, and once you master your powers, there won’t be many who can hurt you.”

“Talia only said that she won’t if she can’t get her third power unlocked and figure out how to use it before the time runs out,” Annie muttered. “But if we get her the serum, of course she’ll figure it out. She’s Talia.”

Augustus smiled and made his way back into the kitchen to check on the food.

“This opportunity is almost crucial for Alexander and me,” Augustus called over his shoulder while checking the oven. “Obviously, I need that spellbook. The fact is that my power is not very offensive-natured, because I see magic’s value as being the utility it offers. I’m holding myself back.”

Annie scoffed. “Says the guy who shoots fire and ice and lightning and whatever else he wants.”

“Yes, it’s versatile, but the attacks are all incredibly basic,” Augustus said. He shut the oven and leaned on the countertop facing Annie. “I first noticed it when my lightning didn’t have the same effect on Mercy’s skeletons when compared to Alexander’s. After thinking about it, I realized that when I got my power, I was already mentally checking out of my time in the military. And since then, my power use has simply been about convenience and fun.”

“You realize you’re proposing going up against a full-blown wizard from another universe,” Alexander said, “while also pointing out your own flaws in combat magic. What if he just fireballs you or something?”

In response, Augustus conjured his wand and flicked it once. A bubble of energy surrounded him briefly before it popped and disappeared.

“I’ve been working on shielding magic,” he said, then dismissed the wand. “But the System said something about balancing opponents against each other. I may not like it, but I’m going to assume it’s true, which means we all should have a chance no matter what we face.”

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Silence fell over them while they each considered that. Annie broke it.

“If we accept the quest, what should we try to get?” Annie said, just loud enough for Alexander to hear from the couch. “I mean, more magic makes sense for Auggy, but what about me?”

“Dinosaur form,” Alexander said, keeping his voice as flat as he could, holding back a laugh.

She turned to scrutinize him, but with his back to her, she couldn’t see his expression. “Seriously? I’m metal, dude!”

“Exactly,” Alexander said, nodding wisely. “You could be a metal raptor, hunting the streets for your prey. Or… a metal T-Rex stomping heroes left and right. You might never be quite able to reach them with your short stubby arms, but at least you’ll finally be tall.”

Annie growled under her breath.

The argument stopped when footsteps hit the stairs.

Talia came down, eyes alight, excitement radiating off her in a way that was new. “I’ve got it,” she said, interrupting without apology. “And it’s bigger than anything we imagined.”

They all turned, waiting.

She drew a breath. “The facility is called the EEES. The Extraterrestrial Experimental Empowerment Site. Santiago has been hiring mercenaries to kidnap aliens, smuggling them to Earth, just to test serum variants on them. They’re trying to create the first super-alien.”

Silence fell.

Annie broke it, voice low and incredulous. “That’s fucked up…”

Alexander’s smile grew wide. “If we can prove that, it will destroy them. There’s no way they can spin that.”

Talia’s expression cooled. “You’re not going to like where the facility is. Or the single gateway access point.”

Augustus set a pan down. “Where?”

“The Argentum Superhuman Supermax Prison was built around a massive bore shaft. The reason for that was to dig down much deeper, enough to hide another facility. Once construction of that facility began, they set up a gateway anchor point, then buried it beneath thousands of tons of earth and concrete.”

Annie’s brow furrowed. “And the gateway?”

Talia nodded grimly. “The mercenary company that Santiago Systems has on permanent roster has a mountain base in the Alps. It protects the other end, with the gateway hidden under their compound. The only access is through a vehicle lift used to bring in the supplies and equipment they need. And the kidnapped aliens.”

The last sentence hung heavy.

Augustus’s jaw tightened. “Which company?”

“The Red Thorn Legion.”

Augustus frowned. “I know of them. They’re bad news, recruiting only the worst of the best. I’d wager they have Tier 2 supers among their number, too.”

Annie smirked, though there was a nervous edge to it. “We can take ‘em.”

Alexander finally spoke, tone thoughtful. “How do the gateways work?”

Unsurprisingly, Annie answered first, eager to share her knowledge. “They’re like the Doorman’s doors. Anchor one end to a fixed location or an object, and then the user can open the other end from anywhere. They’re better than Auggy’s portals for reach, but his are more useful for almost everything else.”

Alexander nodded. “Auggy, could you portal us in from here, knowing the rough location?”

Augustus shook his head. “Not without some idea of the destination. It’s not impossible, but I’m just as likely to land us inside the prison.”

“Which means there are only a few ways we can approach this,” Alexander mused, accepting Augustus’s explanation. “We need to arrive when the gateway is open, or get hold of one of the superhumans and make them cooperate.”

“Sneak in,” Talia said, seizing the idea. “The reports show weekly deliveries. Each one happens at midnight, and it’s handled by the mercenaries, though I doubt the entire company is involved with something this secretive.”

Alexander gave her a small nod.

“Or we bust in through the front door and take them all out,” Annie said. Her bravado faltered under the looks she got, and she raised her hands defensively. “I’m just saying it’s an option. Not that it’s a good one.”

“We could hijack the delivery,” Alexander said. “Success would depend on what security measures there are, though.”

Augustus tapped a finger against the counter, thoughtful. “That’s a couple of good ideas. But…” He let the word hang, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I have a better one. Talia, do you have blueprints?”

She was already reaching for her tablet. A few quick taps later and she flicked the file over to the living room holo. The projection shimmered to life, filling the air with a wireframe image of a sprawling military compound.

They studied it in silence for a moment.

Alexander thought it looked almost disappointingly straightforward: walls encircling the base, watchtowers at each corner, a single mountain road winding down to the valley below. A checkpoint and barriers blocked the entrance. Inside, a scatter of utilitarian buildings.

Talia switched the display, pulling up a public satellite map and overlaying it with her notes. Hangars, barracks, a command center, along with a launch pad for a shuttle. She pointed to a squat, flat-roofed structure tucked near the interior wall. “That’s the vehicle lift. It can handle two large delivery trucks side by side, and it leads down to the storage complex, where they keep the gateway.”

Augustus studied every detail, pacing slowly before the holo. Finally, he nodded, turned, and met their eyes. “A compound like this will have the full security suite. That means ground sensors to pick up incoming vehicles, thermal cameras, motion detection, biometrics, radar, RF and acoustic sensors… the works.”

Augustus ticked off the list on one hand as he went, promptly running out of fingers. “If we try to approach on foot, we risk being spotted by all of those things, and the sentries. If we hijack the transports, we'll have to get through the checkpoint. And I guarantee they’ll have people doing visual checks.”

They waited for Augustus to continue.

“I propose we bypass most of these problems by performing an aerial insertion. We land directly on the building with the lift. On approach, Alexander disables anything that might pick us up when we land. Once we do land, I portal us inside.”

A strangled sound cut through the room.

Alexander turned. Annie sat frozen, staring at Augustus with wide, grief-stricken eyes. “What?” he asked.

She turned to him, full of sadness. “Why are everyone else’s ideas so much better than mine? First it was stealing a safe house, and now this.”

Alexander failed to hold back a laugh. Talia joined in.

Augustus inclined his head. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Talia raised a hand toward the holo. “Surely they’d scrutinize any planes going overhead.”

“Correct,” Augustus said. “Which is why it would need to be commercial or private with a registered flight plan. Nothing out of the ordinary to draw suspicion.”

Alexander frowned. “That’s all well and good, assuming we can even get ourselves a plane, but there’s a big problem. I’ve never parachuted in my life.”

Augustus’s smile returned, calm and assured. “The parachutes will only be for emergencies. You are going to bring us down with Metallokinesis.”

Annie gaped, mouth falling open as if he’d suggested Alexander should sprout wings.

“I’ve only theorized that I can fly with it, you know,” Alexander said, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s a lot of trust to put into something I’ve never even attempted.”

“You’re not good with fine control yet, but you have more than enough raw power to adjust and slow our descent,” Augustus said smoothly. “If I’m wrong, we use the parachutes, and then you only need to guide us down with your power instead. I’ll give everyone a crash course on how to use them before we go.”

Alexander stared at him. “I trust you mean that figuratively.”