Chapter 79: Count Down

James descended to the Marriott lobby, his Animus hovering just above and behind his left shoulder, and when the elevator doors opened he emerged, already painfully aware of how unusual a figure he now cut.

The lobby was full of folks. Staff, assistants, operators, military folk from Hamilton, all getting ready for the day’s activities.

Those closest glanced at James, saw the Animus, and just… stopped. Their eyes widened, their expressions turned to confusion, wonder, and surprise.

James kept on walking, his expression just shy of a perpetual grimace.

Awareness spread like a pebble dropped in a pond. More and more folks turned to gape.

Do you receive this reaction often?

No. They’re staring at you.

I know. Animus sounded almost smug. I was being obtuse.

James cut down the hallway, leaving a resurgence of conversation in his wake. He made his way into the ballroom, and again his arrival caused ever more people to turn and stare.

“Oh fer Christ sakes,” he said as everybody stopped what they were doing. He strode toward the ASOCC, waving people and questions away, found Star Boy and demanded the mike.

The speakers came on, and he stepped up on stage. “Morning, everyone. Yes, that’s a floating robot you’re seeing right here. Jessica Miles made it last night. It’s called a Sola Animus, and it’s going to be working with me from now on. I imagine in time most of you will get one, but no, you’re not hallucinating.”

The crowd stared back at him, wide-eyed. James sighed. “Just… yeah. Once we get through today’s fighting, I’ll, ah, put up a video or something introducing it to you all. Sound good? Good.”

And he switched off the mike.

That went well, said Animus. I thought that went well. Friendly, clear, not at all defensive.

“Dude,” said Star Boy, taking the mike. “You got yourself a mini-droid?”

“Sola Animus,” said the Animus. “Not a droid.”

“Oh man, he even sounds cool. Like Alfred.”

“Who’s Alfred?” asked James.

“You know, like Alfred Pennyworth? Never mind. Listen, I’d love to gab, but I’m neck-deep in shit. People aren’t doing what we’re telling them to. It’s like herding perverted sheep. And the Air Force folks are giving us grief about the Warthogs. So if you’ll excuse me?”

“Sure thing,” said James.

“Oh shit!” Serenity emerged from the crowd, two cups of coffee in hand. “That’s the Animal Solar?”

“Sola Animus,” said the Animus primly.

“He’s so cute! And he talks! Is he smart? Where’s he from?”

“He is very, very intelligent,” said Animus gravely.

“But he doesn’t remember anything from before he came to.” James took the cup of black coffee gratefully. “Still, you gotta get yourself one. The benefits.”

“That good, hey?”

“Better.”

“The best,” said the Animus.

“I like his style. And those cutty-arms. But we don’t have time to chat. Duffy’s on a rampage. Everything that sounded so simply last night is blowing up in our faces this morning. C’mon. We gotta help out.”

* * *

Indeed, what had sounded simple and clear-cut on paper was proving to be a logistical nightmare. Star Boy had chosen to use the traditional New York City marathon route as the basis for selecting key intersections, and expanded it so that instead of ending in Manhattan’s Midtown it crossed over to the Jersey shore and dropped all the way south back to Staten Island. A huge loop with plenty of room for everybody to gather without bunching up on each other.

But the hundred thousand or so key people weren’t getting there in time. NYCEM had pushed out alerts, Star Boy had placed the itinerary on every website and social media platform, and announcements were made on the radio and TV stations, but only a quarter of the required Second Wavers were on the move.

James recorded a TikTok video urging folks to get out and hustle to their closest intersection as indicated on the maps online, but though the video got millions of views within minutes, most of those were no doubt from outside the city.

Star Boy was beside himself. “How is this so complicated? Don’t they want protection? Why do they think staying home will do them better than gathering with actual soldiers?”

“People aren’t rational,” said Serenity, arms crossed as she watched Star Boy’s monitor over his shoulder. “Fear and the false illusion of safety at home, you know?”

Around 09:00 gear was passed around. Every team leader descended to the parking lot to receive rune amulets, and James returned three major ones. The Agility went to Serenity, Power went to Becca, and Stamina went to Olaf. Armor and spears went to the weaker teams, and everybody was given a couple of Manna loaves in case the operation proved a protracted one.

Crimson Hydra marveled over Animus, but there simply wasn’t time to chat. They descended to the parking lot to mount up on Angel Wings, along with nine other Crimson teams who’d congregated to gather their own. Each borough would have two free-roaming elite teams on Wings ready to respond to an emergency, and with shouts of encouragement to ride behind him, her Ma Deuce mounted on its pivot.

The Sola Animus floated around the Wing, examining it with avid interest.

Fascinating. I feel a kinship for this construct, crude as it is.

Crude? They fly like a dream.

You only say that because you don’t know better. Here. I shall engage.

And the Animus floated down and closed into his tear-shaped form; this slid point first into the Wing’s helm, socketing itself so that its black eye with its glowing sun was facing outward.

There. Now I shall optimize with Gloria.

A shiver ran through the Wing, and golden edging unfurled down its length.

“Whoa,” said Serenity, turning about in place to study what was happening to the Wing. “James? You getting fancy?”

“I think the Animus is.” James closed his hands about the Wing’s handlebars. “He’s, ah, melded with the Wing? I think he’s amplified it with Gloria.”

“How come you get Gloria and nobody else?”

“Guess you gotta be a global first.”

“So hard to believe. How’d you even pull it off?”

“Good looks, is my guess. C’mon, we better get into place.”

The weather wasn’t doing them any favors. The sky was lurid with low-hanging storm clouds, and the air was damp and cold. A month earlier and it would have snowed, but now the day threatened rain, and everything was dank and dark for it.

James led his team out of the parking garage, raising a hand in salute to Jessica as they flew out, and together they rose into the morning air. The dark street gleamed damply, the traffic lights reflecting in smeared trails, steam rising from manholes, traffic light.

They’d been assigned the triangular intersection where 4th Ave meant Atlantic Avenue, the subway entrance to the large station prominent and central beneath them. The Barclay Center was a huge, grass-topped oval to one side, as improbably green a structure as any, while department stores walled off the other sides of the intersection.

Traffic was light, barely existent.

This formed the northern point of the 4th Ave corridor that ran all the way up from the southern tip of Brooklyn in Bay Ridge through Sunset Park and upscale Park Slope. Groups were meant to be congregating every third block, with one supposedly meeting right below them at the subway station.

“Looking like a small crowd,” called Denzel, easing his Wing a little closer. “What you think, two hundred?”

“Maybe three,” said Joanna, tone hopeful.

“But not five hundred, that’s for sure.” Yadriel glowered down at the small crowd. “People are idiots. They really think they’ll be safer at home? Didn’t they learn nothing from the first two waves?”

“People are scared,” said Bjørn calmly. “I saw this behavior countless times during economic downturns. We all like to think we’re rational, intelligent beings, but in truth we’re liable to make decisions based on fear and misguided hope. I don’t know how many investors ruined their portfolio’s by panicking and selling at precisely the wrong moment during a crash. Didn’t matter what we told them, they’d pull the plug and ruin themselves.”

A hummer drove through the intersection, mounted speakers playing a canned recording: “…to check online at any New York City government website for detailed instructions as to where to go for maximum safety. Remember: you cannot be protected if you do not report to your closest intersection. There you will find US military personnel ready and willing to…”

“Not good,” said Denzel softly. “James, what happens if only like, half the people show up?”

“Well, for one thing, it’ll be easier to clean out the intersections.” James tapped the Wing’s handlebars. “But second, that’ll mean Nem3’s distributed throughout the city. When I was up by New Haven I saw one enter the hive there, but with all thirty-four of the hives here cleansed, I don’t know if they’ll bother gathering under the symbols. If they don’t, well.”

“They might just rampage till we put ‘em down,” said Yadriel.

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“Or head out of town to the closest viable hive,” said Bjørn.

“We just don’t know.” James frowned. “But one thing’s clear. In an hour or some ten thousand Nem3’s will appear, and it’ll be our job to exterminate them.”

“Shit,” said Denzel. “What happens if folks don’t gather in groups of one hundred?”

Olaf adjusted the large axe across his bad. He looked like an ancient warrior come down from Valhalla on the ivory, gold, and steel Wing. “Not good. Remember how the government told us not to accept the Nem1 confirmation? My good friend Jonas did that. Waited it out. I find him in his bathroom, torn apart.” Olaf shook his head. “I will never forget.”

“Yeah, I think you’ve got the right of it,” said James. “If people don’t gather, they’ll be in big trouble. This system doesn’t like not being obeyed.”

“Star Boy telling them that?” asked Becca.

“He sure is. They’re just not listening.”

Their team subsided into silence. James’s radio came to life as different folks communicated through the various bands. Occasionally James made out a drone cruising overhead, its metallic body gleaming with lenses and sensors.

Regular army forces rolled into position. Squads from the National Guard. Bradley’s and Abrams, hummers with mounted M20’s and squads of regular infantry.

It was hard not to be impressed. All across the city the different military forces were in position. Marines, Army infantry, special forces, you name it. Everybody concentrating their Area of Interest on the route chosen by Star Boy, the two hundred or so intersections where Nem3’s were slated to appear.

James gazed out over Brooklyn. Flatbush Avenue extended south-east from their intersection, all the way down to distant Grand Army Plaza and the sprawling Prospect Park beyond.

Had it been just less than a month since they’d gathered there to deal with the Nem1’s First Wave? He hadn’t seen a Nem1 in weeks.

So much had happened.

“Time?” asked Serenity.

Joanna and Yadriel were both Second Wavers.

“Thirty-five minutes,” Joanna responded.

Time ceased to have meaning. With three hundred or so folks below, that meant a force of three Nem3’s. The folks who hadn’t gathered would try to do so frantically over the following hour, resulting in Nem3 appearances every now and again just about everywhere.

James felt a wave of hopelessness wash over him as he gazed out over Brooklyn. How the hell were they supposed to hunt them all down in such a huge city?

“Whatcha thinking, boss?” asked Serenity softly.

“Just that I never appreciated how convenient it was for the Nem2’s to gather in one place for us.”

“Heh. Yeah.” She bumped back against him. “Don’t worry. The Nem3’s ain’t subtle. Plus Star Boy said that almost every inch of the city’s gonna be watched by surveillance drones. Watch us spend the next twenty-four hours playing whacka-mole.”

“Whacka-Nem3. I can live with that.”

“Long as we don’t run out of resources. So tell me what your Animus thingy can do.”

James told her, tone quiet, but the others brought their Wings in close and listened, wide-eyed.

“No way,” said Denzel. “You got a permanent +10 stat bonus?”

“That is so good!” Olaf beamed. “All hail Gloria!”

“It’s better than that,” said Jason. “Think: he’s got a permanent Healing Grace just waiting for him.”

“Or a get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of an Aeviternum bomb,” said Becca. “God damnit, how’d I fall behind?”

“You’ll all get one soon enough,” said James.

“Sure.” Becca’s scowl didn’t fade. “Just without Gloria. What’d he say our stat bonus would be?”

“+2,” said James.

“Bah.” Becca eased her Wing away to do a slow loop over the large intersection.

Do you think I should go explain to her why you deserve me more?

Nah, I think she’s good. Thanks.

“Head’s up, everyone,” said Joanna. “We’re at the five-minute mark.”

“OK, thanks Joanna.” James was grateful for the interruption. “So listen up, everyone. We’re in this for the long haul today. Don’t blow all your resources out the gate.”

“All right, Mr. Four Heaven’s Assaults dude,” said Serenity.

“Yeah, I’m talking to myself, too. We play this smart, we stay together, and we have to be ready to move on a moment’s notice. Keep an eye out for those harpoons. Olaf, ready with that Circle of Protection?”

“Is more Sphere of Protection, yes?” Olaf grinned, then closed his eyes, extended one hand, and exhaled. A moment later the air in a large sphere around them shimmered with white fire, fey and wildly beautiful, before fading from view.

“Going to give everyone Deadeye,” the Viking announced. “Done.”

Everyone pulled their M4’s from where they’d been strapped to the Wings’ sides.

“Keep it calm, keep it cool,” said James softly. “Becca, time to get back in close. We’re going to go through this like clockwork. You all know the Serenity prayer?”

“Yes,” said Serenity. “O God and Heavenly Father, grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

Serenity’s words, uncharacteristically sober, hung in the air for a moment. Joanna, Denzel, and Jason all crossed themselves, and James felt a shiver.

“We can kill the Nem3’s we see. We can’t do much about the rest till Star Boy points us their way. Let’s keep our heads in the game and just do what we do best: kill demons.”

“Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose,” said Denzel.

“Shit man, hell yeah,” said Jason, leaning over to give the other a hi-five.

“Here we go,” called Joanna, voice tense. “Counting down from one minute.”

James took one last look over the city.

Everything seemed so calm.

So peaceful.

I can feel energies coalescing, said the Animus.

Energies?

Yes. Undesired random disturbance in space and time. Growing turmoil. It’s escalating rapidly.

Can you sense what’s causing it?

Not the agent, no. But there is a growing attenuation in all four dimensions. A weakening. A growing perforation.

“All right, it’s showtime,” said Joanna. “Ten seconds.”

James inhaled deeply and stared at the crowd below. They were pressing against each other, their silence total but for the sound of someone sobbing.

Any moment now.

“Good luck,” whispered Serenity.

“You too.”

“Time,” said Joanna.

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