Published at 31st of March 2026 7:41 am

Chapter 18 StarGaze Dynamics Pt IV (Rorschach Pov)

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(Rorschach POV)

StarGaze Dynamics compound is impressive, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Atlus Initiative. There's plant life growing across the ceiling, ivy vines intertwining with coax cables, flower stems curling toward the solar lights, buds blooming with thin colored petals that dye the room a gorgeous mix of yellow and red. The linoleum floor has circles cut out of it, with beautiful oak trees growing out of them. They're unaffected by the outside weather, covered in vibrant emerald leaves. My hummingbirds have spread out, investigating every little nook and cranny. They fly wherever I cannot reach, discovering roots hidden in ventilation pipes above, dandelions growing off a satellite transponder, a room with a bubbling brook used as a cooling device for a massive piston hammering down. It's a fusion of technology and nature that you'd only see in some sort of futuristic utopia where humanity stopped fucking itself up. Its truly an unforgettable sight.

We continue on, the others are blind to the wonders all around us; the forested lab giving way to a much more traditionally labratorial looking area. Its separated into sections similar to zoo exhibits. Behind the glass panes, there are crops growing in all kinds of simulated harsh environments. Corn growing in a frigid Siberian wasteland with hail actively pelting the vegetable. Tomatoes the size of beachballs are flourishing in a scorching desert where the sand is hazy from the extreme heat. There's a swamp where the water is murky brown, and large purple lily pads that look like cabbage leaves cover the surface of the lake. The strange lily pads have vines growing out of the bottom of them, with submerged cucumbers growing off the. This place is insane. I can already think of a dozen different ways to monetize these plants. Momentus Inc. needs to branch out after all.

We should try to steal a couple of other things to cover our true prize.

What a surprisingly good idea, Drone Kai chirped.

Ive already collected so many eyes, what else could we possibly need? Tuesday asked.

I don't know what that robot of yours can do, but if you can get access to their files on a few of these plants, we could turn a pretty profit from it, I said, ignoring his dig and Tuesdays jabbering.

Uggh. This drone isn't equipped for hacking. It is only capable of scanning. Sorry, but you're on your own if you want to steal something, Drone Kai said.

Here, take this, Isaiah said, grunting in pain. He pulls a flash drive out of the smoky void thats currently replacing his stomach and chest. It's jet black with a thin blue glowing line on it. He throws it at me, and I snatch it out of the air. Plug that in, and it'll start downloading anything it can. Its got a lot of space. All their data is probably encrypted, but we can figure that out another time.

I turn the flash drive over and try to see if there is anything I can glean about it from the design. Where does he get all his gear from? The entire time I knew him as Constrictor, he never showed any signs of knowing how to acquire the type of equipment he does on the regular. What the fuck are you hiding? Who could be your supplier? It isn't like I think he's doing anything sinister; I genuinely do trust him at the end of the day. He's too obsessed with Nobody to be disloyal. I doubt he could even think about betraying him. He practically worships the guy. As far as leaders go, Nobody isnt a bad one by any means. Hes creepy and scary, but very competent. Nobody hasn't given me any reason not to trust him; he's been true to his word and answers any questions any of us have. But I can't shake the feeling that there is still so much that he's keeping hidden from us.

The secondary Mentalist aspect of my ability that allows me to multitask and process information is powerful enough that even while being fed sights and sounds from ninety-six different sources, I'm still able to spend time worrying about hypothetical secrets my boss may or may not be hiding. Speaking of. One of the hummingbirds I sent out has discovered a computer terminal and a massive data farm off in a side room. It looks like I've found the access point I was looking for. The bird comes fluttering back to me, but it's too lightweight to carry the flash drive. Too small for the task. I recall one of the falcons I created when we first got here. I end its exploration to have it race back to me. Shooting into the room with the speed of a cannonball, I toss the flash drive up into its waiting beak, and it flies off toward the console. When we leave, Ill have the bird bring it to me.

Are we there yet? Tuesday whined for the twentieth time.

Quiet, Drone Kai responded. Were approaching the area most likely to contain Dr. Springfields research. There have been no alarms set nor any response to us entering the Atlus Initiative. Its likely they dont want to damage any of the projects happening here by engaging us. Theyll wait until were leaving to make one final attempt to stop us. How are you healing, Smolder?

Isaiah grunts, sucking in a pained breath of air.

Im pretty banged up, not gonna lie. I obviously cant tell you exactly whats broken, but I still cant transform back. My chest is too fucked up. Im not going to be back to a hundred percent any time soon. Sorry, ladies, its on you two, Isaiah apologized.

As if it hasn't been this entire time. Just get your beauty sleep, you need it, I said.

Bitch, Isaiah coughed out.

So what are we looking for? Tuesday asked.

Im scanning for anything that is giving off high energy readings, specifically radiation, Drone Kai answered.

My birds arent capable of seeing radiation, my queen cant, and neither can I. In order to help with the search, Im looking for anything with the name Dr. Springfield on it. A piece of paper with her name on it, a nameplate on a desk, a degree hanging on the wall, I just need to find something. It pains me to not be able to take any of the other tech on display here. I have to ignore massive pill printers, lasers with diamond lenses, and other incredible cutting-edge technological marvels. With Kai's scanning and my recon abilities, it's not if we find what we're looking for, it's when. It's already been forty minutes since we got here, and we need to hurry up. Were just wandering blindly through this corporate compound.

Hey, I found Dr. Springrolls desk, Tuesday exclaimed.

Huh?

Tuesday is holding a bronze triangular nameplate that says Dr. Springfield on it. She throws it at Kai's drone, and it spins out of the way, dodging her projectile. It continues on its trajectory and hits a computer monitor, cracking it. Idiot. Kais drone flies over to the scientist's desk and begins scanning everything. The wide red cone coming out of the drones eye moves from left to right and back again.

So, uhhh, what's up, doc? Tuesday asked, her voice becoming higher as she alters it.

Quiet. I'm trying to parse through all the scans I just got. Hmmm, thats interesting, Kai muttered. Good news is that I was correct; Dr. Springfield has been working on radioactive material containment and more efficient and safer storage alternatives for unstable isotopes. Shes brilliant, and that means something coming from a genius like myself.

Can you stop self-sucking for a fucking second and tell us where to go?

I thought you needed to remove ribs for that? Ohohohoho, naughty naughty Doc, Tuesday laughed.

Spending so much time around you two doesnt just affirm my sexuality; it makes me question straight mens decision-making, Drone Kai replied. Take the next right and go down the hall to the last lab on the left.It houses additional containers that they use for transporting radioactive materials.

Finally, Tuesday shouted.

Without waiting for the rest of us, she takes off at a breakneck sprint to the room with Kais drone following behind her. I send a hummingbird flying after her to keep an eye on her. Shoulder-checking the already unlocked door open, she whips her head around to look for the item we need. This lab, if you can even call it that, is full of large steel chests and trashcan-sized containers. Its basically a glorified supply closet. Every item in here has a glossy embossed Atlus Initiative plate on the front of it. Gotta give respect to the branding. A problem becomes evident immediately, which is that Tuesday isnt strong enough to lift one of the chests. The only one who is strong enough is currently under the weather.

Hey! You can hear me through that bird, right? Well, get in here and help me lift this. I figure biggers gotta be better, Tuesday shouted at my hummingbird.

Smolder, I cant carry you anymore. We need the queen to transport the package.

Drop me, Im good, he lied.

I release his body, dropping him to the ground. His boots touch the floor, and he tries and fails to suppress the pained groan that comes out of him. Blinking down the hallway, I met up with Tuesday. The largest metal chest levitates into the air as I grab it. Flying along with the package securely in my telekinetic grasp, I feel a sense of relief settle inside me. Step one is done. Step two is getting it back in time to save Miles. My queen swerves through the air, turning and rolling like a fighter jet. We fucking did it. Hell yeah!

Miles condition hasnt gotten any worse, but it also isnt any better. It isnt time to step off the gas. Get back ASAP, Drone Kai stated.

Whats the fastest way out of here? Isaiah asked me.

We could go back the way we came, but the objectively fastest way out of here would be to get onto the roof and use that to get out. Wed be able to avoid all the twisting hallways and doors thatll only slow us down, I answered. The problem becomes, how are we going to get onto the roof? Were currently on the fourth floor.

You have four pawns left. Thats plenty. We can use them as breaching charges. Get some arms up there to hold them in place, and we can blow a hole through the floors in our way, Isaiah responded.

Four swirling inkpools form on the floor, and my last four pawns emerge out of them. Isaiah is pushing himself past the pain, ignoring the agony he must be feeling. He grabs one of them, the size difference makes it look like the mans attacking a toddler, and throws it up into the waiting arms on the ceiling. They wrap around the pawns chest like a mother embracing her child. I trigger the detonation, and the explosion brings a chunk of the roof crashing down. A spray of red blood and black ink rains down. Isaiah grabs Tuesday and flies her up through the opening while my queen wraps one of her arms around me and the other around my anaconda. We repeat the process two more times until sunlight comes pouring in through the last hole we create. Isaiah isnt speaking, and Tuesday hasnt made a single remark either. Even the Doctor is silent. Its almost too quiet without any of them speaking. Almost. Once we climb up onto the roof, its a straight shot to run across it to get back to the entrance to StarGaze Dynamics. Were making fantastic pace, arriving on top of the Environmental Protection section in half the time it took us to fight our way in.

I guess you were wrong, Doctor. It looks like smooth sailing from here on out, I said.

Thats where youre wrong, someone said.

About fifty feet ahead of us is an emergency exit stairway, and the door opens to reveal all the security forces that have avoided us since the last battle. More guards continue to pour out until there are eighty of them. One of the men in the front, a Middle Eastern man in his forties, steps forward. The way that everyones eyes focus on him tells me that we probably just found the guy in charge. Hes got two pistols holstered and a laser rifle in his hands. Hes got the same helmet that the rest of them have, the blue visor displaying constant information to them.

You will turn over the flash drive and any other stolen property you have on you. If you dont stand down and do as Ive said, Ive been permitted to turn you all into a reminder of why there has never been a successful theft of StarGaze Dynamics property, he said, grinning.

Isaiah stands up straighter, thick smoke trailing off of him, and its like his injuries have suddenly evaporated. Hes bluffing, and I know he needs my help. Isaiah is releasing so much smoke that hes created a wall hiding the rest of us from the security forces. My horde of hummingbirds flies out of the hole that's behind us, their fluttering little forms hidden by the wall of black Isaiah erected. Fuck we don't have time for this bullshit.

My swarm continues to move forward, trying to get to us as quickly as they can. The problem with hummingbirds is that while they are excellent for exploring, they are not amongst the fastest birds. As soon as they reach us, I have them shoot out of the dark cloud, heading straight for the people standing in our way. The man in charge flicks two fingers forward, signalling the rest of them to start firing. Isaiah screams out a warning, and I dive behind an air conditioning unit. My birds are annihilated in a hail of bullets, the sound so loud I cant hear anything. FUCK! Thankfully, my queen didn't take any shots, but I have her move farther away to make sure that she and the chest don't get destroyed.

Were fucked if we cant get out of here. I have to think of a plan. I still have my falcons and a few bugs inside the building, but they wont do us any good now. My ink creations are not bulletproof, and there are so many guns that it doesn't matter how fast they can fly or maneuver if the guards fill the airspace with bullets. I take a look over and see Tuesday sucked behind the opening to a ventilation shaft. She's not making any jokes or brandishing one of her knives. Isaiah is completely gone, leaving a massive smoke cloud to spread over the rooftop. It envelops all of us. The security forces keep firing the occasional lucky shot, and some of them are way too close for comfort.

This is all I've got in me, Isaiah said to me. I'll try to help where I can, but I'm running on fumes.

You've done enough, I replied.

Isaiah's disembodied voice moves over to Tuesday next, probably telling her the same thing he told me. We're at a numbers disadvantage and on a time crunch, but we have the benefit of Isaiah giving us clean sight lines. Tuesday looks over at me, and I wave her over. She carefully stands up and then makes a run toward me, gunshots ring out, and I notice they are a lot louder and closer than they were before. Are they really trying to take us on while blind? Cartwheeling into a somersault landing, Tuesday joins me behind the massive AC unit.

What's the plan? Because I ain't got much more gas in the tank, Tuesday said seriously. I'm going to share a secret with you: it takes a lot out of me when my created parts get destroyed. If it was just pain, I wouldn't care; pains nothing but pleasure written in cursive. But the stamina toll between me dissolving them and you blowing them up is night and day.

I had no idea. She didn't say anything when Isaiah suggested his idea, but I don't know if there was another option. Good. She deserves to be uncomfortable. If I have to be afraid of her suddenly attacking me and trying to eat me, then she can deal with whatever repercussions come from me blowing up her arms. Fuck you, you homicidal maniac.

With the state the two of you are in and the fact that every second counts, I don't think we'll be able to ovewhelm them the way we did before. They can make this a war of attrition and bleed us dry. We can't fight them while worried about Miles. So we need to keep them distracted long enough for me to send my queen off to deliver the chest to Nobody and Kai.

It's a good idea. What happened to the flash drive? Drone Kai asked.

Its with one of the falcons; it's still inside the building. I'm going to send that back to Quinstin as well. I'm going to use my last pawn to create an opening and have both of them fly back, I answered.

Alright, set this shit off, Tuesday exclaimed.

Can you open a path for me, Smolder?

Isaiah doesn't respond, but the view I'm getting from my pawn is suddenly clear, so he heard me. I don't want to take a life, but I don't know if I have a choice at this point. These guards aren't going to show me the restraint that I've shown them. The pawn runs forward on its tiny little legs, Isaiah clearing the path directly ahead of it. Because of the pawns height, none of the security forces notice it until it's too late. Running over to another AC unit. It jumps, and I detonate it, losing my perception immediately. The explosion blows up the unit with it, sending flaming metal shrapnel and ink everywhere. All I hear is the book followed by the sound of flesh being impacted. Multiple people grunt in pain, and I fear I might have just killed someone. Santiago Skull was different. These people are just doing their jobs. I strangle the guilt before it can overwhelm me, and force the vomit to stay down.

Tuesday runs off, deeper into the smoke and out of my view. Queen is gone, teleporting rapidly into the sky, holding Kai's drone in her hands and the metal chest floating behind her. Kai will give me directions to make sure I make it back. Blinking forward, eating up fifty feet a jump, the queen is on her way with the solution to our problem. Down below, the black falcon soars through the vacated halls of the Environmental Protection section, a flash drive gripped in its talons. It's all in Kai's hands now. My only job is to stall these people and escape when we can. I manipulate the ink from the pawn's explosion into creating a hundred black butterflies. They fly through the smoke blindly, splattering against the guards. Some of them are lucky and manage to land on faces and visors, obscuring their vision even more, while the unlucky ones that hit legs, arms, chests, and other places still are able to turn the men around. Anything I can do to sow chaos as Tuesday reaps the security forces lives like a farmer during harvest season.

All this time, Ive been acting like I was above the filth and the grime, that I was born better. I looked down on Nobody for so long, accusing him of being nothing but an evil murderer. Oh, I was so morally superior up on my high horse. But I am complicit in the slaughter, my list of kills growing as my moral standing crumbles beneath me. This is what you wanted, Cassandra. You asked for this, so you dont get to complain. He tried to talk me out of going, explained how different it would be in the field. I was the one who dipped my toe in; I dont get to complain if I drown in the blood.

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