Published at 12th of August 2022 9:14 pm

Book 2: Chapter 76: The Waiting Game

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By all accounts, Jeffrey Saide was a perfectly law abiding citizen right up until he was not. Born to two loving parents and performing well in school throughout his entire youth, he was the very picture of a modern American. Saide took up an accounting job in California immediately after graduating college, and this middle-class income afforded him a belated graduation trip with a group of friends. Their ill-fated choice was Denver, Colorado, in the summer of ’53. The group arrived on the very same day that the villain Quake made his presence known in the city.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the city at noon on July 3rd. The consequences of this event for the United States will be discussed further in the text, but the consequences for Jeffrey Saide were immediate and nearly lethal. He was buried in his miraculously intact hotel room for almost two weeks, incarnating at some unknown point in time. Neither is it known when Saide had been exposed to cosmic energy, though most presume it was upon his entry to Denver, a city that had, by this point, been bathed in the radiation emanating from White Sands. Regardless of the how, Jeffrey Saide survived his ordeal by gorging on his very surroundings. He claimed to have eaten his bed and bits of sheetrock when hunger struck him, and this capability was later confirmed.

The bodies of his friends were never found. One surviving member of the hotel staff seemed to recall seeing the group of young men entering their shared room shortly before the collapse of the building. No evidence of this was ever found, and the claim was ultimately dismissed as a trauma-related error in memory. The fates of those young men will never be known, though given Saide’s eventual transformation, a grisly end can certainly be inferred. Nevertheless, Saide showed no overt signs of his impending psychological break, Upon finally being freed from his earthly prison, he was described by rescuers as being relatively unshaken by the experience. He dutifully reported his newly incarnated status, and registered himself as a Natural to the proper authorities. His powers were tested in a process that was, at the time, both inaccurate and unrefined, then deemed harmless.

This would obviously prove to be a mistake in judgement.

—Marcus Mercury’s Guide to Everything

Dan’s reading was disturbed by the sound of crunching nails, as Abby worriedly gnawed at her thumb. The two of them were curled up on a couch to watch the local news coming in from Austin. Abby had found a neat little streaming service that could pipe in any television channel from around the country, but news from home was grim.

The video of Gregoir’s battle with Cannibal and its aftermath had finally escaped the internet, alongside Champion’s little speech. Dan had watched both of them less than an hour ago, though the latter had left him with such a sickening feeling in his chest that he’d run off to the Gap halfway through in order to recuperate. Watching the face of a dead man, so widely respected by nearly everyone Dan had ever spoken to, say what Dan was certain were lies had been an experience he did not wish to repeat.

The video had moved him, he was ashamed to say. It had done so in the manner of a film, or an engaging novel: Obviously fake, but the emotions evoked had been very real. Dan had not even grown up in this dimension. He lacked utterly the cultural context of which Champion’s face was obviously meant to evoke. He did not learn about the man in his history classes. He had not listened to Champion’s speeches on the radio, nor old recordings on the internet. Dan was as far removed from the equation as a person could reasonably be, yet still he felt for Champion’s plight. Even as he saw through the lie, he felt for him. It was a masterful actor that they’d chosen, and the citizens of Dimension A, to say nothing of Austin where this had all occurred—

Well…

Things in the city were playing out about how Dan had expected. The National Guard had already stomped flat several riots, leaving over a dozen dead noncombatants. They were clearly unused to dealing with an uncooperative civilian population, and had almost immediately resorted to the kinds of tactics used in villain uprisings. It was genuinely a miracle that more people had not died, and the unrest in the city was only growing. Every drop of blood spilled only fueled the fires kindled by Champion’s brief revelations.

It wasn’t even that he’d said anything all that horrific. Experimenting on people was bad, obviously, but it had all been couched in such vague terms that nobody could really pinpoint what exactly had happened. But that didn’t matter to the people of Austin. The city had been on slow boil for months now. It was just waiting for an excuse to erupt.

The Scales had finally regrouped, and were launching their own attacks on anything even vaguely related to Coldeyes’ Crew. The National Guard were scouring the streets clean of civilians, essentially quarantining people inside their own homes. A city-wide curfew was in effect, and non-essential businesses had been ordered to close down. It was all too much, and the city had finally reached its breaking point. Dan had gotten out just in time.

“This is only the beginning,” Abby murmured, gnawing on her thumb. Dan dragged her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her tight.

Across the room, seated in a rocking chair, Margaret Summers watched the screen with barely concealed anxiety. She sat with one leg crossed over the other, resting only the ball of one foot against the floor. Her fingers drummed against the wooden chair as she rocked back and forth a little too fast to be comfortable. Maggie had not taken Dan’s urgent eviction of herself particularly well, right up until she started watching the news. It seemed as if she’d come around to his way of thinking now, and could barely look away from the slow-motion train wreck that was Austin.

Dan glanced between the two women, struggling to find a different topic to cover. He failed, and asked, “How’s your family taking it? They seem awfully unconcerned. Aren’t the People essentially your family’s sworn enemies or something?”

The question brought Abby’s attention away from the television and it’s grim tidings. He felt the back of her head move left and right against his chest.

“None of our cousins have ever been targeted before,” she said quietly. There was a long pause, before she added, “I used to think it was because Mama Ana broke them after they assassinated my parents. Now…I don’t know. She clearly missed some of them, but they’ve never gone after the rest of the family for some reason.”

“Your parents were Naturals,” Margaret offered quietly.

Abby glanced at her, brow furrowed. “I guess. So what?”

Margaret’s fingers kept up their drumbeat. “Your uncle once told me the People killed your parents because they were Naturals.”

Abby shook her head in immediate denial. “The People blame grandpa and Mama Ana for… well all kinds of things. They hate anyone associated with them.”

“They hate Anastasia,” Margaret corrected, “but it was your uncle’s opinion that they saw Stanley as more of a tragedy.” Her fingers suddenly ceased, as if she’d only just realized that they were moving. She moved her hand into her lap, and met Abby’s eyes. “They knew each other, you know? Echo and Stanley, I mean. Anastasia explained it once to your uncle. The two weren’t friends, but they also weren’t enemies. They would debate the ethics of powers and upgrades. The People saw the Genius upgrade as a… condition, maybe? Like Stanley was mentally impaired, and could no longer be held accountable for his actions. At least that was your uncle’s opinion on the matter.”

“That’s why they don’t target Stanley’s side of the family? But Abby’s parents… what? Were more closely related?” Dan asked her. He felt Abby’s hand clench around his own.

Margaret shrugged. “I don’t know. It might not have anything to do with Anastasia at all. They might have just seen them as traitors to the cause. Naturals who ran a company complicit in eradicating their own kind. Summerset’s interests are directly opposed to the People’s. The company peddles in upgrades all across the country.”

“So because my parents chose to incarnate instead of getting upgrades, they had to be killed?” Abby demanded harshly. Dan squeezed her closer to him as he felt her body tense. “That’s insane!” It seemed almost like an accusation.

But Margaret frowned. “There was no choice involved Abigail,” she said in the tone of someone who had just uncovered something unpleasant. “Anastasia dosed your father with cosmic radiation on his eighteenth birthday. She knew Naturals were stronger than any upgrade available, and thought it the best course of action. Your mother incarnated under,” here, Margaret raised her fingers and made air quotes, “‘odd circumstances’ shortly after your father proposed to her.”

This was apparently news to Abby, and she had no response other than to open and close her mouth several times. Dan interpreted the motions easily enough.

“Who told you this?”

“My husband, of course,” Margaret replied with a huff. “It’s not like Anastasia made a secret of it at the time. My Georgie was appalled, of course. He went out and got an upgrade the very next day. Said it needed to be his choice.” She smiled fondly. “Only sixteen, brave and stupid.”

Abby finally seemed to find her words.

“It doesn’t matter,” she declared. “The People would have found a reason to do what they wanted. They’re amoral zealots, and will fabricate whatever insanity they need to justify their decisions.”

“That,” Margaret replied with a nod, “I think I can agree with. Just look at that.” She gestured to the television screen, which showed a wide horizon shot of the Austin skyline. Helicopters buzzed back and forth across the screen, and military vehicles roamed the street.

“Chaos,” Dan summarized. It looked like a quarantine zone plucked out of a zombie movie.

“This is nothing,” Abby said quietly, through gritted teeth. She pushed her back up against Dan’s chest, and wrapped his other arm around her. “This is just an interlude. The calm before the storm.”

Dan hummed his agreement, watching the screen as it changed back to a video of Gregoir fighting Cannibal. The apocalypse appeared to be on timeout, and both sides were regrouping their forces. He had a feeling he’d be looking back on these events as something quiet and desirable.

He had a feeling that, when the end finally came, it would be sudden, violent, and final.

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