Chapter 15 — Breaking Point

They were forced to take down three guards once they reached Level 34. There was no place to hide their bodies, so they simply left them where they lay. They would eventually be discovered, of course, but Linton could only hope that they were well on their way by then.

Section E turned out to be a long hall lined with tall shelves full of secured anomalous objects, most of which were hidden behind locked boxes.

It took a good five minutes of rooting around those boxes, obsessively checking tags, before Linton finally found Item 4022. It was an unassuming metal box with rounded edges and a matte black finish. A label on the front read: ‘WARNING! SUBJECT TO REMOVAL ONLY BY STAFF WITH CLEARANCE LEVEL YELLOW OR HIGHER. NON-COMPLIANCE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE INCARCERATION AND REVOCATION OF RIGHTS.’

He pulled the box into his arms and thumbed the padlock keeping it shut, which hung beside a normal number lock.

“Have a go at this,” Linton said, handing the box to Frost. “Aeva, keep an eye out for guards.”

Frost settled into a cross-legged stance on the floor with the box in front of him. He pulled a pair of goggles out of his back pocket and put them on, letting his wand trail over the locks.

Linton stood aside and let his enchanter work. He expanded his mind, searching for nearby auras. No one incoming so far.

“It’s looking good,” Frost said with a click of his tongue. “I should be able to get this puppy open in…” He hesitated. “Wait… Something’s not right…”

“What’s wrong?” Linton asked.

Frost frowned deeply and shook his head. “It’s just… off. There’s an additional component to the enchantments making up the lock.”

“So work around it,” Linton said.

“Sure, sure. But, uh, there’s another thing. The box seems to be… empty. I can’t pick up any signatures inside, and my goggles are pretty fine-tuned to pick up anything magical, so…”

Linton’s mouth twitched.

“Are you certain you got the right number?” Aeva asked.

“I’m sure!” Linton shouted in a sudden flash of anger.

It’s not supposed to be this way.

I didn’t come this far to fail.

My plan has to work.

It has to.

He focused his mind on the black box and tried to find any signatures inside, but couldn’t detect a trace apart from the thin magical lining that made up the protective enchantments.

“Get the box open,” Linton ordered. “Quick as you can.”

“Are you sure, boss?” Frost asked.

“Now.”

Frost nodded and set to work.

Linton paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair.

He was sure that the researcher he had interrogated had given him reliable information. He certainly wasn’t some psychomancer who could tamper with his own memories to any reliable degree.

The only other conclusion was…

“Got it,” Frost said. He got the padlock off, placed the box on the floor, and flipped the lid open.

An alarm started blaring through the hall, echoing off the smooth walls beyond.

A site-wide alert.

Couldess was one step ahead of me, he realized. And I was too stupid to notice.

A single piece of paper lay inside the padded interior of the box, neatly folded. Linton jogged over and picked it up, unfolding it.

Better luck next time, Granhorn, it read in smooth, flowing handwriting.

Linton crumpled the paper and threw it aside.

“Motherfucking-demon-fuck!” he yelled.

The alarm was blaring too loud.

He couldn’t get air.

His plan had fallen apart.

What am I supposed to do?

Linton’s head snapped to the side as a palm smacked his cheek. The entire left side of his face stung as he looked up at Aeva’s stern face.

“Get yourself together,” she said firmly. “We need to go. Security is coming.”

He let Aeva drag him down the hall. Frost came after them, goggles swinging around his neck.

They made it out onto the circular catwalk. Aeva shoved Linton aside and drew her pistol. She opened fire on a pair of incoming guards.

The gunfight was just more noise. He clutched his ears with both hands to block it all out and struggled to think of the next step.

If not here, where could Couldess have hidden the Crown?

He wracked his brain, trying to find the answer.

It came to him like a bolt of lightning.

Level 38.

I have no idea what’s down there, but it has to be important.

Crown or no, I’m not leaving here empty-handed.

Aeva kept the last of the guards at bay with a steady stream of gunfire, while Frost had already overridden the security lockdown for the elevator. Filled with new purpose, Linton strode into the elevator and beckoned the others to follow.

“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here,” Frost said, letting himself droop against the back wall of the elevator. His pale head frill twitched.

“Change of plans,” Linton said.

He pressed the button for Level 38. The elevator doors closed. The others looked at him like he was insane, but it was already too late to change their course.

***

Cat entered the master office, which had a large hole in the middle of the floor from where the bodyguards had dropped down.

The room was large, decorated in a utilitarian fashion. A pair of bookcases stood along the back wall, a plain desk in front of them with a Concord flag on it—six yellow stars on a blue field.

Wenslow Tamos sat patiently at the desk, looking up at the two intruders. Though there was only a hint of grey in his bushy beard, he looked weary beyond his years, elbows resting heavily on the desktop.

“I’m surprised to see you make it this far,” Tamos said. “A collection of gutter trash against the Concord’s finest.” He shrugged. “I suppose we must have let our standards slip.” He looked more closely at Hunter. “You look familiar, construct. An MOW model, certainly.”

“You’re right,” Hunter said. He stepped forward and sheathed his sword. “I worked for you. Or rather, I was your slave.”

A bitter smile twitched across Tamos’s lips. “Ah, I see. You were one of the prototypes, then. I imagine this must be some sort of personal vendetta for you.”

Hunter scoffed and stepped all the way up to the desk. “Don’t flatter yourself. I couldn’t care less about you. It’s Drakemyth that I want. You will tell me where he is.”

Tamos chuckled. “Drakemyth? Why would you have a grudge against him? For bringing you back from the dead?”

“Exactly,” Hunter hissed.

He shoved the desk aside with one hand, and it slid all the way across the floor and bumped against the wall. He picked up the archon by his neck and held him high until his face turned purple.

“Where. Is. Drakemyth?” Hunter growled in his garbled, robotic voice.

Tamos laughed.

“We’ve not got a lot of time here,” Cat said. “Let Linton figure out what to do about Drakemyth. For now, we need to kill Tamos and leave.”

Hunter glanced back at her. “Shut up. Stay out of my business.”

He let the archon down and punched him in the gut, pitching him onto his hands and knees.

Tamos looked up, eye twitching, still smiling. “Like a rabid dog off its leash. Oh, Drakemyth is going to have fun with—”

Hunter kneed him in the face and sent him flying onto his back. Bleeding profusely from both nostrils, Tamos broke into uncontrollable laughter.

“Drakemyth!” Hunter howled. He dragged the man up by his collar and raised his ruined fist.

“You won’t… get anything out of me… I’m afraid…” Tamos spluttered. “I drank poison before you walked through the door.”

His smile grew, and foam spilled over the sides of his mouth as his body began to shake. His eyes rolled back into his skull.

“You will never have what you seek,” he whispered.

Hunter let out a pained bellow. He let the archon fall back and stomped on his head with a heavy metal foot. He repeated the motion over and over and over, reducing the man’s head to mush.

“Hunter, enough,” Cat said, taking a step towards him.

“I didn’t want this!” Hunter shouted. His foot caved in Tamos’s chest, cracking his ribs and collapsing his lungs. Blood stained Hunter’s leg all the way to the knee.

“I didn’t want to… I was done…”

His movements slowed, and eventually he stood back from the ruined corpse.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, even though he had no need for air, and looked back at Cat.

His eyes were heavy with sadness.

“Let’s go,” Hunter said.

Cat nodded. She decided not to ask any questions for now.

As per Linton’s instructions, she set about burning Tamos’s corpse.