Gigaheroes

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: Seattle Vance

“So Mason was a little more powerful than we expected,” I remarked, peeking out the blinds of the window. Some of the debris had landed on the street below and onto a few cars. No one had bothered to clean it up even though it was midday. Emergency services were practically non-existent in City 57, save for select areas of the city. 

“Is this going to be a problem for you?” Joker asked. 

“Not a big one. We’re just going to need to move up our timescale.” I said. 

Enzymes had different effects on different people. I knew the powers it would manifest, but the strength was shaky depending on the compatibility of the individual. Mason might very well be approaching a class six in terms of raw power. However, the stronger he was, the quicker his body was going to burn out. When the deterioration started, it was going to happen fast. 

“How will you get him to attack the ASA headquarters on schedule?”

I was still surveying the wreckage outside. “By painting a big red bullseye on it.” I explained as I turned to the computer. “Leave it to me, and we’ll get the job done. In the meantime, you’ve been gracious enough to tell me everything except what specifically we’re after. I have the plan. I have the team. And I still have no idea what it’s all for. Headquarters is a big building, and I’m assuming we’re not nicking a few phones for a credit job.” 

Joker sighed. “Remember, it’s critical that what we’re after is assumed destroyed in the chaos. Updating security is notoriously expensive, but if they suspect their network has been compromised—”

“Let’s get closer to a what and not a how. I need those details now, Joker. Unless you want something else to go awry in this little scheme of ours.”

Joker was silent on his end, no doubt considering his answer. “To tell you that, we’re going to have to begin with enzyme production. You do know how it works?” 

“I’ve heard enough stories. They keep brain dead bodies of class fives and produce it from their blood. Most of goes it straight to disposable soldiers for their skirmish wars.”

“The blacksites owned by Democratic Union and other nations, yes.”

I furrowed my brow. “What does that mean?”

“Certain corporations and interested parties are allowed extralegal privileges. They act as plausible deniability for their clients should they be discovered. As you know, international law requires the immediate termination of class six and above individuals. But of course, this only means everyone is building their stockpiles in secret.”

I froze in my tracks as a dark chill ran down my spine. I always suspected what was happening behind closed doors—everyone did. The government always lied. The real difficulty was determining how much. I knew the Democratic Union were a bunch of buffoons, wielding a big club to bludgeon everyone else in line. But I didn’t think they quite were capable of this. 

“So, they’re collecting enzyme from walking nuclear bombs. But I still don’t understand. Our boy Mason is going to drop dead in the next couple of days. I can’t imagine anyone even surviving a dose from a true class six.”

“You’re correct. And so far research has been disappointing in traditional DNA modification via the enzyme.”

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like what you are going to say next.” 

“Let’s just say all manner of mechanical, biological, and… more esoteric options are being explored. And they are all as invasive as you might expect.” 

Fuck. I didn’t know how else to phrase that. I have seen some dark shit in my day, but this was on another level. You just don’t think about these things, you know? There’s some story on the web about the cartels posting torture porn, real nasty shit, and you shut it off in your head. If that was happening, it was happening to some poor soul on the other side of the world. It wasn’t really real—at least not to you. That is, until it was happening in your own backyard. 

“So what’s in the ASA headquarters?”

“You might call it a Registry hidden within the Registry. It’s a record of blacklisted individuals too dangerous to be kept on the regular blacklist—and where they are kept. There are data vaults scattered locations throughout Democratic Union, and I need you to breach one.”

“If this is all so secretive and valuable as you’ve described, why City 57? Why the local headquarters? This place isn’t exactly important on the map.”

“Precisely because it isn’t important. City 57 isn’t high on anyone’s list to attack, nuclear or otherwise. It’s just another rotting heap of metal, as are all the pre-war cities. And there is always the virtue of hiding in plain sight.”

“So what are we looking to bag exactly?”

“It will be no bigger than a flash drive. I’ve outlined possible locations within the headquarters. Sneak in during the chaos, make sure Mason does a thorough job, and then escape.”

I glanced over at the debris again. Mason could do much more than a thorough job, and I had no doubt that I could pull this off. I don’t know why I hesitated, but it just felt… the rabbit-hole suddenly went a lot deeper than I expected. And if something were to go horribly wrong, I shuddered at what the consequences could be. There were probably some pretty powerful people who wouldn’t like that info being stolen. 

“Having second thoughts?” Joker asked. 

“Just thinking about how nice a vacation to those new arcologies in the Pacific would be,” I said. “You’ll get your flash drive. Don’t you worry about it. In the meantime, I have to meet my new crew.”

“Good luck, Vance. And don’t let me down.”

…

I don’t know how powerful or wide reaching the Index was. I don’t think anyone truly did. The organization was heavily compartmentalized so that if one part was compromised, the damage was minimal to the overall network. I knew they worked internationally, and I knew their services were second-to-none. But it was only when I stepped into their safe house did I realize how true that statement was. 

At the back of a Mexican restaurant, I was taken to a freezer room with a false back. The waiter pulled on a lever disguised as one of the shelf supports, and the whole wall opened up into a staircase leading down. He took us through a series of concrete tunnels that I assumed used to be part of the subway system back when City 57 was New York. 

I knew most of the network had been destroyed or caved in or otherwise flooded, as no one could afford to maintain it anymore. However, it seemed certain people had found a new use for the tunnels. The waiter opened another door, and I stepped into a former subway control center refurbished into a private meeting room. 

I don’t know, meeting room isn’t quite the right word to capture it. There was a gun rack stocked full of assault rifles and a minibar. Maybe that was the right way to put it. In the center of the room was a big oak table with a projection interface which was appreciably more high tech than my encounter with Mr. Greene. 

The three individuals picked for the mission had already arrived. They all had codenames to hide their real identities, but I could tell who was who at first glance. 

Raven was a dark-haired woman with brown eyes and a sharp face. She wore a similarly black jumpsuit that covered her thin frame. I couldn’t tell what age she was, but she appeared to be in her late thirties. Her superpower was a class one telepathy. But from reading the description of her ability, I would’ve preferred to call it mental interrogation. Sure, she could only use it on one person, and it took some time, but she could shred your mind apart until she got the information she needed. Despite having such a… unpleasant ability, she didn’t seem as dour a person I expected. Just a straight professional. 

August was a younger man with combed white hair. He had a round face that looked somewhat transparent, almost like it had a layer of frost on it. He was wearing an oversized blue hoodie and jeans. His ability was a class three temperature control. Specifically, he could freeze things with only a direct line of sight. He was the only one who looked like he was enjoying himself, and he had a grin that might’ve been annoying to some, but I found it rather endearing. 

The last on the list was my personal pick. Dust was a class one phaser, meaning he could make parts of himself intangible along with small objects. He was the youngest out of all of us—maybe fifteen years old. Wearing a t-shirt and a jacket and some jogging pants, he wasn’t exactly much to look at. 

But, to be fair, I hadn’t been either at that age. Some might rightfully take moral umbrage in putting a kid in danger, but that was the day-to-day of every single person in this room. We all got our starts running dangerous jobs. That was how life was if you wanted to live outside of Gen Pop. You did the things others couldn’t, and you got good at it. The life—and often death—of a survivor was the only kind afforded to people like us. 

All of them looked at me as I entered the room. The waiter shut the door behind, and left us in private. 

“Nice to finally meet you all in person,” I said as I stepped up to the oak table. “For this operation, just refer to me as the Ghost.” I winked. 

Both August and Dust snickered while Raven crossed her arms. 

“You’ve should’ve already been filled in on the general details, but in case you haven’t, our mission is a heist on the regional ASA headquarters in City 57. We expect moderate security, and I’ll be arranging some muscle to provide a distraction. Our job is to get in and out without witnesses or trace that we were ever there. All other considerations are secondary.”

“Does that include…” Dust trailed off, leaving the implication in the air. 

He had a pensive look on his face, and it did honestly warm my heart. The kid definitely had an easier go of it than I did. Not that I would’ve ever asked someone so young to kill. No, his role in the mission was only to retrieve the flash drive and as a failsafe should all else go haywire. 

“He means we kill on sight,” Raven responded matter of factly to the boy. “Or worse.”

“Only as a last resort,” I added. “If all goes to plan, no one will even know we were there.”

“And what is the plan?” August asked. “I assume we’re not just walking in there.”

“Course not.” I booted up the holo projector, and it displayed a map of City 57. 

I confess, I would’ve liked to see what City 57 looked like in its heyday. Like much of the ruins of the old world, it was depressing to see what America once was. And to make it sadder, New York was one of the many cities that surprisingly got off easy in the short nuclear exchange. Hundreds if not thousands of missiles had malfunctioned during the conflict, many of them launching decades after their expiration date. 

New York was hit with the equivalent of several low-grade dirty bombs instead of an outright nuclear blast. Manhattan was rendered unsafe to live and left to the gangs who remained in the radioactive ruin. After order was restored, civilization became what was formerly Brooklyn and Staten Island. Queens became the dumping ground of the new society, and The Bronx was the dumping grounds of the dumping ground. Outside that was the new America, large stretches of wasteland with various pockets of civilization interconnected by what remained of the highways. 

I zoomed the map on the ASA headquarters, smack right in the middle of the renovated sections of City 57. It was part of the “reconstruction” bill that was supposed to bring the Democratic Union back into eminence. Instead, it amounted to a bunch of ugly skyscrapers and not much else. 

“Our very generous employer has provided us schematics of the building as well as the layout of the surrounding area. As you might already know, the ASA headquarters was purposefully built over a series of tunnels now used as containment chambers for abnormals.”

Containment was a nice way of putting it. Most of those stuck in the basement were children who were unlucky enough to get caught—or unluckier to have parents turn them in. As much as I would’ve liked to stage a breakout, that wasn’t much in the cards for this mission. Thankfully, the tunnels were reinforced, so whatever damage Mason inflicted above ground, there wasn’t much risk to those below. 

“We enter here.” I pointed to a building that was currently being used as a homeless encampment. “There’s a maintenance shaft which connects to the lowers floors of the headquarters. From there, it’s a matter of getting passcodes to the elevator.” I looked over to Raven as she nodded along. 

“After that, we split up. We’ll be dressed as security guards. Dust, you’ll be a janitor. Once we’re safely in the elevator, we’ll then proceed to our positions. August, you and Raven will go to the security room on the thirteenth floor.” I zoomed in further to the floor and highlighted the location. “August is going to use his freezing power to break into the room, and Raven, you’ll be interrogating for the know how to work the system. You’re going to turn off the building’s defenses as well as wipe the camera footage.”

“Access to the security room is going to have its own passcodes not known to general personnel. If we break in, that’s going to set off major alarms.” August pointed out. 

“And that’s where our muscle comes in. I trust you’ve all heard of our new class five roaming the streets? He’s going to attack the ASA headquarters head on. Once you are in position, I’ll alert him for the go-ahead. You’ll be in complete control of the security room, and by the time anyone thinks to check, we’ll be long gone.”

August nodded. 

“Meanwhile, Dust and I will be going to the twenty-fifth floor. When you’ve given the signal that you’re in control of the cameras, we’ll proceed to the data vault here.”

The blue room on the map was officially labeled as a storage closet. It was a bit bigger than one would expect, but there was nothing suspicious about it. There were no in-depth security systems or anything of the sort. That was probably the point. Those in the need-to-know could walk in, retrieve what information they needed, and leave without anyone noticing. Even their own personnel would be clueless. 

“There is going to be a bullet-proof case disguised as a circuit breaker. Dust is going to reach in, snag the goods, and then we all egress back out the way we came.” 

The others all looked reasonably satisfied with the plan. It wasn’t without its risks, but everything this dangerous came with risks, and the payout would be more than worth it. Only Dust still looked somewhat disquieted. 

“What happens to Adam Mason afterward? You didn’t outline a plan for him, and I can’t help but notice that he’s not here.”

I opened my mouth, but the lie didn’t come easy as it did before. Maybe it was after talking to Joker that I realized I should take a step back and think about things more carefully. All my life, I hadn’t cared much for regret or consequence. Those things were never afforded to a person like me. If a friend died that day, then that was the way the dice rolled. 

The idea of responsibility was almost foreign to me. I did what was needed. But standing here, I didn’t want to lie to this kid the way so many had lied to me. Maybe that’s giving myself too much credit. I didn’t want to pretend, and so I put it in the only words I knew how. 

“He’ll figure his own way out.” 

Link to Chapter Twelve