Chapter 19: Smitey smite

Serenity staggered in just after lunch. Her eyes were glazed, her clothing shredded, her left arm sleeved in dry blood.

“Oh wow, you guys wait up all this time for me? How sweet.” She swayed in the doorway, then stared at Jessica. “What’s office girl doing here?”

Jessica rose smoothly to her feet. “Good afternoon, Ms. Serenity. I was assigned -”

“Oh yeah, no I remember. At ease soldier.” She blinked and focused on James. “Hi honey.”

“Serenity?” He moved to her side. “What happened?”

“Rough date.” She frowned at her arm where needle bite marks ran down her triceps. “Feisty, you know? But not in the good way. Had to shoot him in the face.”

She drew both Sig Sauer’s from where she’d tucked them behind her belt and handed them to James. “Hold these?” Then she dipped back into the hallway and returned with the mag can Mancini had brought her. “Will you look at that? I’m all out.”

She was high as a fucking experimental jet fighter. Her pupils were massively dilated, her nostrils raw, and she was practically vibrating.

“Shit, Serenity.” He set the guns on the counter. “Tell me you didn’t hit the streets by yourself.”

“Hit the streets?” She strode across the apartment, gazed out the window, whipped back around. “Honey, I was like a 9.0 on the Richter scale. I fucking owned most of North Brooklyn. Aren’t you going to ask me my level?”

James crossed his arms. “Fine. What level?”

“Eight!” She pretended to do a little festive jump. “Yay! Go me! I mean, boy. You weren’t kidding about that aura. Took a minute to get it to Level 3, but once I did, it was like shooting pinatas at a birthday party.” She grinned and stumbled against the couch. “What Benediction do you think I chose? That’s right! Smite. Smitey smite. Which, through diligent experimentation, I have done gone discovered can work on guns. Did you know that? Bullets of white fire! Pow pow.”

James straightened. “You got Smite to work on your Sigs?”

She pointed finger guns at him. “Pow pow pow. Though I ran out of bullets pretty fast. Kept looping back to my crate, and you know what? I was kinda sorta glad when I did, cause then I could just zone out and listen to music. Do you have any idea how awesome it is to listen to The Cure while ashing demons left and right? I felt like I was the star of the coolest music video…” She trailed off, frowned. “I wonder how Robert Smith is doing. You think the mayor can put us in touch?”

Jessica hesitated. “I don’t think so.”

Serenity mock-scowled at her. “Useless. Oh wait. Coffee.” She stepped over and picked up her cup. “Hmm.”

James crossed his arms. Tried to think of a way to admonish her without crossing any lines. Without upsetting her.

“Hmm, so good.” Serenity closed her eyes for a moment, then widened them dramatically. “Now hol’ up. I can see you getting all mad at with. ‘Serenity, you shouldn’t do an 8 Ball and then go hunt demons by yourself all night… and morning… without telling anyone where you were’, right?”

“I mean… yeah.”

“I know.” She sighed, and some of the feverish gleam died in her eyes. “It was so weird! I thought bumping up my Arete would just fuel my aura, but the more points I put in it, the more…” She waved a hand vaguely. “The more I changed? But not really. More like, I remained the same, but the window through which I saw the world grew bigger? Fuck, I’m not getting this right.”

James hesitated at this sudden change of tack but went with it. “I know what you mean. Yeah. I’m still the same idiot who spent years trying to drink himself into oblivion. But these past few days it’s like some of the old me has re-awoken. At first I thought it was just ol’ James rising to the occasion. But I think it’s the Arete.”

“Right! Which is awful! I don’t want to change, I’m me, I’m perfect. But…” She wagged her head from side to side as if trying to reconcile something. “I think it was like 7 a.m. when dawn started, and I just sat on top of this car to watch the sky and I realized, like, shit. Why the fuck was I out there by myself stoned to the walls and balls and back? Because… well. It’s like someone pulled one of those little chains attached to a light bulb, and I suddenly saw what I was doing.”

James didn’t say anything.

Serenity sipped her coffee nervously then turned to stare at Jessica. “We’re trying to have a moment here. Could you?”

“Oh. Sure. Yes.” Jessica grabbed her tablet, phone, rose to her feet. “But, if I may? What you said reminded me of something I’ve heard numerous astronauts say.”

“You know astronauts?” asked Serenity.

“What? Oh. No! But I’ve read interviews, and they say the most impactful moment is when they look out their spaceship’s window and see Earth floating in the void. They all say it changes them, that view, that it contextualizes everything and makes them aware of how precious and miraculous life on Earth is. Perhaps increasing Arete results in your being gifted the same change in perspective?”

Serenity considered, then very reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like it. Not bad, office girl.”

“It’s Ms. Miles.” And Jessica strode out of the apartment.

Serenity waited for the door to close then began to pace, the coke no doubt still filling her with anxious energy. “So anyways. Where was I?”

“You suddenly saw what you were doing.”

“Yes!” She spun and pointed at him with her coffee hand. “I saw how crazy and lost I was getting. It’s always happened to me. When something important enters my life, like a chance to improve things, or a good person, it’s like funhouse mirrors start appearing around me, distorting everything I see, and it just makes me fuck things up, again and again and again. And it was happening all over.”

James sipped his coffee.

“I know you could tell. And you’ve been super chill about it. But I was getting so miserable, and desperate? Like, actively fighting not to be clingy, to piss on your leg to mark my territory, and the thing is, you’re not even mine!” She laughed incredulously then got all serious. “You’ve been fucking awesome about all this, by the way. Golf clap, for real.”

“Thanks.”

“So… yeah.” She shrugged, resumed pacing. “Fucking enlightenment while listening to The Cure’s Mixed-Up tape, sun rising, demons ashing themselves half-heartedly on my aura, like it had all become pro forma. And I saw how I was ruining shit again by trying too hard, by allowing my insecurity to grab me by the neck and shake me like a pit bull with a baby. Fuck! I came this close to driving you away. Right?”

“I’m going to sip my coffee diplomatically.”

“Asshole.” She grinned. “God. When office bitch offered you the keys last night, you remember how I leaned in like this crazy harpy and told her you already had a place to stay? I kept thinking about that moment.”

Her shoulders slumped as she stared down at her coffee. “I don’t know why I get like that. It’s like I stop being me, and this crazy neurotic bitch comes out of the closet, all switch blades and desperate hunger, and… yeah.” She grimaced, shook her head, resumed pacing. “But! The Arete. I swear, if we beat these demons it’ll be the end of triple A.”

“You mean AA.”

“Those guys, too. Because, and this is the crazy part, I still feel all that dark and nasty insecurity and fear and shit, but now… now it’s like I can just step back and be aware that I’m feeling it. And that defuses it, somehow, allows me to control it, or laugh at it, or just… am I making any sense?”

“You are,” said James. “And I’m really fucking happy to hear it. Like I said, I think it’s been having the same effect on me.”

“Nah, you’re a good guy, James. You’d have done all this regardless.”

“I don’t think so.” He stared down at his hands. “There was a moment after that first night, here in this apartment, where I thought through how bad things were going to get. How the city was a death trap. The old me would have used that as an excuse to bug out. I’d have left, Serenity. Headed for a small town, just hit the road again. But the Arete helped me stay strong and resist the temptation. It widened my tunnel vision. Helped me see the world a little bit more like I used to.”

She nodded, clearly understanding.

For a moment they just stared at each other, and then she grinned. “You think if we keep raising our Arete we’ll become, like, the Dalai Lama?”

“Unlikely.”

“Shit. Though I can’t see the Dalai Lama rocking Sig Sauer’s. So maybe it’s for the best.”

“You really managed to use Smite on your guns?”

“Yes!” She grinned. “It was amaaaaaazing. The guns lit up with this gray fire, just like my aura, and each shot was like on fire, too. So cool. And you should have seen the little fuckers when I hit them! Poof! Ash-time.”

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James pressed his palm to his brow. “That’s huge. That’s… this could change everything. If we can keep guns in play, make them even deadlier… can you imagine what Delvecchio could do with his SAW?”

“Yes.” She stared at him gravely. “I totally can. I want one, by the way.”

“We need to tell Mancini. Like, now.”

“Now now?” She frowned. “Fine. Fucking Arete and our newfound civic duty.”

James led the way down, coffee in hand, and stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was blisteringly cold, the sky a dull gray, everything bleached of color. The F150 was parked across the street, the hummer up on the curb, and a small tan truck beside it.

The refurbishment was mostly done. Jessica stood with a handful of soldiers outside the laundromat’s front door, chatting with the men and women in uniform, who all turned as James walked up to them in his green and mustard yellow clothing.

“I dig the outfit,” said Delvecchio with a grin. “Awesome branding.”

“Ha ha,” said James. “Sergeant Mancini, a moment?”

The sergeant stepped through the group and followed them back to the apartment’s narrow door. James tried to get a glimpse of the laundromat’s new interior, but the huge washing machines had been neatly stacked before the window and then reinforced with wooden framing.

“It’s not perfect,” said Mancini, looking at the windows. “But those machines are heavy, and with the framing they’ll not be pushed back easily. What’s going on?”

James nodded to Serenity, who pulled one of her Sigs out from behind the small of her back. “See this?”

Mancini gave a serious nod. “I do.”

“Now watch.” She focused on the gun and gray flames wreathed its barrel and covered her fingers.

“Holy fucking shit,” said Mancini, in excited yet clinical tones. “What is that?”

“Smite, bay-bee.” Serenity turned the gun about, admiring it. “The effect works on the ammo, too. I ashed a bunch of demons last night with it.”

“You’re Level 5? Outstanding. What’s your Arete?”

“Level 5? Try Level 8. I wasn’t playing around. Arete’s now 21. I started with 6, bumped it up three times. Agility’s at 21 as well. Aura Level 3.”

“You buy any Aeviternum?” asked James.

“Nah. I figure the only thing better than being able to heal is to not get hurt in the first place.” Serenity dropped the Smite, and the Sig looked dull without the flames. “With Arete 21 I was able to keep the gun aflame continuously for, like…” She made a face, trying to calculate. “A few minutes? Keeping it on fire wasn’t too bad, but each shot like, kinda depleted my reserves.”

“Huh,” said James. “Maybe the same thing would happen with my skillet. It’d deplete whenever I hit something. But hold up. Smite works off of Power. How does that jive with a gun?”

Mancini looked eagerly back to Serenity, who shrugged. “Fuck if I know. I got the feeling though that with my Power of 6 it was mostly the bullet doing damage, so when I hit Level 8 I boosted my Power to 11 but it didn’t change anything. Same base damage.”

James frowned. “But how does Power affect bullets?”

“Smite’s a spiritual attack, correct?” Mancini looked from one of them to the other. “Perhaps there’s a more spiritual component to this. Your ability to harness your strength explosively reflect drive and desire. Perhaps that bleeds over?”

“Yeah, maybe,” said James, unconvinced.

“I dunno.” Serenity stared at her gun. “If increasing Power didn’t change the damage, perhaps that means guns will always do the bare minimum of Smite, or something.”

“Still, this is outstanding,” said Mancini. “I’ll let the major know.”

“Good, because I really, really wanted to get my Agility up to 26 to see if I finally got another Speed boost. I got nothing at 20.”

James blinked. “Why would that boost your Speed?”

“Hmm?” Serenity mock-blinked right back. “I mean, I’m calling it a boost. That’s what happened when my Agility went over 15.”

“You never said anything about this before.”

“Um, we were in a firefight with thousands of demons at the time?” She stared at him pointedly. “It didn’t do anything crazy. My Speed rose from 8 to 10.”

Mancini nodded, clearly unsurprised. “We’re calling it an auxiliary boost. Most of our people have placed their points in physical stats as a matter of course, and with many of them already starting with their stats in the 9’s, 10s’, and 11’s, we’ve seen numerous examples of Strength and Power boosting each other by 2 when they cross the 15 threshold, and the same with Agility and Speed.”

James ran his hand over his head. “No shit.”

“Though there’s a caveat. The auxiliary boost only kicks in for organic points spent, not totals. If your boosted total crosses the 15 threshold, nothing happens.”

James frowned. “OK. Still. Good to know.”

“I’m going to get in touch with Hackworth,” said Mancini. “If you’ll excuse me?”

They nodded, and the sergeant stepped away and pulled out his radio.

“It feels weird.” James sipped his coffee. “Being able to use Smite on a gun.”

“No? It feels awesome. What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. It just feels like these mystical powers should only work on baseball bats and swords and knives and shit. Working on guns feels…” He shrugged.

“Honey, guns are weapons. Smite is a way to deliver the pain.”

“So can you smite through a car if you drive into something with it? Can you smite with… I don’t know, rocks if you drop them from a forklift?”

“I love rhetorical questions. They really turn me on. But right now, I need a shower and like 36 hours’ sleep.”

“Bad news. You have 31 hours.”

“Fucking Nemesis 2.” But Serenity grinned at him. “No matter. Bonnie and Clyde are back.” She hip checked him, caused him to stumble, then opened the narrow door to the apartment. “And try to keep up, yeah?”

James snorted. “Yeah. Fine. I’ll work on it.”

And with that, Serenity winked at him and headed upstairs.

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