Summus Proelium

Well, great, as if I didn't already feel bad enough about involving Wren in all this, now I knew just enough of her backstory to make it all worse. I had to apologize as soon as this was over, as soon as I knew Paige and the others were safe, I had to… tell her everything, I had to make sure she knew just how much I appreciated her, just how much I needed her.

In any case, it probably shouldn't have been all that surprising that she was ready to help. I realized belatedly that she'd probably heard from Izzy and Dani, at least enough to know as much as they did. And granted, that wasn't all that much, but it did at least explain why she just agreed to help without pushing me too much on the details. She knew I couldn't get into them. Hell, it probably explained why she was so quick to share her history with me. She knew I was upset about something and wanted me to know why she cared. I just… fuck, I hated not telling her the whole truth.

Honestly, I had no idea how she would square me having some sort of dramatic and terrible secret thing going on here with asking her to draw up fake blueprints about how she might separate the individual parts of Janus. Was this going to make them think Uncle Friendly and Mister Harmful had something to do with what was going on? And would that be a good thing or a terrible one? Misleading them might helpfully lead them away from anything to do with Casura, and yet… yeah, I had no idea. And right now I really didn't have the brain power to spare on it.

All that mattered-- Okay, the most important thing-- okay, the only thing I could actually focus on given everything that was going on, was the fact that she agreed to at least try to come up with a quick and dirty set of blueprints that would fool a layman, and maybe even convince a minor techie that it was the start of something. Ideally she would have liked to have a couple weeks to make that work. I informed her that I needed the finished plans within the next day or so at the latest. I still had to figure out a way to actually get them to Safeguard without screwing it all up.

In any case, Wren promised to do her best, and I made her add a promise that she would still get some actual sleep. I kept her on the phone until she swore on her honor that she wouldn't stay up all night and make herself sick just to keep making those blueprints. They could wait until a bit later tomorrow. The fact that what she was drawing up didn't have to actually work, only look like it might have potential helped with that. I couldn't even imagine how much stress I would've put the poor kid under if I'd actually been asking her to come up with something real.

After disconnecting that call and shoving my phone away, I just stood there for a moment and took a breath. I'd found my way to the corner of a Burger King parking lot, near the dumpsters. It had been private enough for that conversation. Which meant it was also private enough, once I just stepped into the cement enclosure and moved behind the actual dumpster, for me to quickly change into my costume. And just like that, I red-painted myself to the roof of the restaurant and bounced from there into the sky. I was gonna do my level best not to think about the symbolism of basically leaving Cassidy me with the trash while Paintball me went soaring off into the city.

There were still events going on back at the stadium, so it wasn't time to meet up with Nqobile and her tech guy yet. And no, I wasn't going to tell her what I was up to with the fake blueprints, or even anything about Safeguard. I absolutely did not trust that woman not to snitch about it to Casura. She was a snake, out for herself. If she thought telling Casura what I was doing would get her brownie points, she'd do it in a heartbeat. I would just keep my cards close to my chest.

But just because there were still a couple hours left before I was supposed to meet that woman didn't mean I didn't have anything to keep me busy. I'd realized while eating ice cream with my family that there was a good chance this whole situation might devolve into some sort of big fight before it was over. Okay, I hadn't just realized that, I'd been panicking about the possibility in the back of my head the entire time. But what I'd realized between spoonfuls of blindingly delicious frozen treat was that I might be able to do something about that. Or at least try to be a little more ready for it.

Being ready for it, in this case, meant carefully making my way around buildings and streets surrounding the arena to place paint ahead of time, disguised as graffiti. I'd land near a good spot, look around to make sure the coast was clear, then touch the surface and make an image in the colors that might be useful in the middle of a fight. Yeah, realistically speaking, there was probably literally no amount of paint that could help me survive a real direct conflict with Casura. She was so far out of my league it would've been funny if it wasn't so tragic. But it was also possible that a fight might not be directly with her. She might send someone else after me, or even use the Stars she took over with those rings if our little backup plan didn't end up working.

The point was, setting out paint ahead of time couldn't hurt. I really needed to do more of that back home. And it was something to keep me busy while my brain was occupied with the whole problem of how I was going to get those fake blueprints to Safeguard without letting him know what was actually going on or risking making Casura's little mental alarm thing go off. It was a bit of a tightrope to walk, especially when you added in the time constraints and the fact that I couldn't risk asking anyone else for help. Getting Wren involved even this much was bad enough. If any of them knew this Safeguard guy was the target, they'd figure out too much.

So, I was on my own. But I could still at least try to tip the odds ever so slightly in my favor. The new graffiti across all the buildings surrounding the arena was a big part of that. I didn't know how this whole situation would shake down, exactly, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And by the time I was done with that, I'd accomplished my other goal of coming up with an idea on the Safeguard front. Actually, it was my first idea, the one I initially dismissed. On further reflection, I put it back in play. Sending the guy an anonymous envelope from 'a friend' might've seemed too easy, but the fact was, sometimes the simplest solution really was the best one.

All of which meant that after a couple hours of going in circles through the streets around the arena, I had what was hopefully an advantage if a fight did end up breaking out and, even more hopefullyer, a workable plan about how to get Safeguard the hell out of town at the right time. I had to be careful on that bit though. If I waited too long, he might stick around for the ceremony first, or might even just get his ring ahead of time. But if I gave him the blueprints too early, he might go there, investigate, then give up and come back before Saturday. I had to make sure he didn't have any chance of getting one of those rings. Even if it meant giving the guy false hope.

Eventually, it was finally time to go meet Nqobile. The day's events had been over for an hour by that point, most of the arena had cleared out aside from cleaning staff and maybe some of the clerical people, so we'd have a chance to get the guy in there without having to answer a few dozen questions we really didn't want anyone to even ask. The fewer people who saw the guy at all, the better. Even if he was disguised as one of the cleaners, it was just safer this way.

When I met the guy, I wasn't even sure it was him. His disguise helped, but he also just didn't look like what I'd pictured him as. He was just kind of a gym bro, honestly. He looked like a big frat dude who might go straight from lifting weights to pounding beers with the guys. The man had dark blonde hair that was slicked back, and even the unflattering janitor jumpsuit couldn't hide the sheer size of his biceps. Seriously, the dude was incredibly fit, and clearly knew that.

But whatever, he might not look like a Tech, yet neither did Wren. It wasn't like getting Tech-Touched powers changed their appearance or anything. It was just a bit of an adjustment on my part. And I really hoped people would believe someone who looked like this was a janitor. It was probably a good thing that we weren't planning on running into many people.

We met just outside the arena in the staff parking lot. There were already a couple cleaning vans sitting there, the staff inside doing their jobs. When the introductions were made, the guy introduced himself as Deck. I had no idea if that was his real name, a nickname, his Touched name, or what. And honestly, I didn't want to know. Whatever else this guy got up to, he had been willing to help someone like Nqobile and her buddy mess with the LEAT rings. As far as I was concerned, Deck was probably as bad as they were. I didn't want to think about that.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

But, of course, this guy didn't make that easy. He was affable and charming. And he really liked Paintball, like seriously. He kept going on about how he'd read all about me even before these games started. He followed the news about new Touched in other cities, just in case they ever needed tech he could sell them. And speaking of which, his specialty apparently had to do with miniaturizing technology, fitting elaborate and advanced stuff in very small spaces, like these rings. He had a pair of sunglasses that could apparently do everything from telescopic vision to concussive blasts and even generate adjustable holographic images wherever he looked.

He also wanted to meet Trevithick. Apparently the only member of my team that he spent more time investigating than me was her. He wanted to exchange ideas, maybe come up with some big new invention together, and just talk to her. I said I'd look into it when we were done here, but I wasn't sure whether I'd even mention it to her or not. Again, I really didn't know if I could trust anything about this guy. I certainly didn't trust him enough to put him in a room with Wren any time soon. All I could really think about right now was stopping Casura's evil bullshit.

We got the guy through the building pretty easily as it turned out. With the events over for the day and only a few cleaners and administrative types left behind, there really weren't many people for us to run into. It wasn't like the building had much they needed to protect. Especially considering the whole place would be given a full security sweep in the morning to make sure no one had left any surprises for the contestants, or tried to sneak in to watch the games without a ticket. Right now, a little bit before midnight, there just wasn't that much to protect.

There were cameras, of course. But Nqobile assured us that they wouldn't be a problem. Her buddy in the security team was going to make sure they didn't record anything they shouldn't. Which just made me feel like even more of a criminal than I already did, but I pushed that aside. Now really wasn't the right time to get hung up on that sort of thing, if it ever was.

Once I retrieved the ring from the wall of the restroom, we took the guy into a room that actually wasn't that different from the one I'd used earlier when going over that list of contestants. Come to think of it, it might've been the exact same one. This place was a maze. Either way, it was a small, basically empty space for him to go over the ring using the tools he brought with him. Tools that came out of a tiny pouch on his belt. It was sort of like my special bag that Wren had made, except I was pretty sure this one actually had extra space inside it rather than simply connecting to another bag back in Detroit. His bag was really bigger on the inside.

After about fifteen minutes of examining the ring, turning it over in his hands while tapping at it with various tools and using his special sunglasses, Deck gave a low whistle and looked up at the two of us. "Dude, whoever messed with this thing must be one of the best Techs in the business. Especially if they did it in just the past few days. If someone asked me to do a job like this, I would've told them I needed a month minimum, maybe two. You sure I can't talk to them? If they're that good, I've got a couple outstanding projects I could use their advice on."

Nqobile and I actually looked at each other for a second, each of us clearly imagining what it would be like if we actually let that happen. We shuddered together before I quickly assured the guy, "You really don't want to do that. Believe me, you don't want to be any more involved in this than you already are. I don't want to be as involved in it as I am. And the person behind this tech wouldn't have any interest in helping you. Or if they did, you wouldn't want them to."

The guy looked like he had some follow-up questions about that, but in the end he just shrugged and tapped this small metal hook tool against the side of the ring. "Well, in any case, the good news is I think I might be able to do what you're asking. The nanites in there aren't super advanced. I mean, as far as nanites go. They're just supposed to go in there, test the DNA and record the results for the ring, then dissolve. The added stuff, that's a hell of a lot spicier, and I don't know if I could do anything with it and the time you're giving me. But if I just do something about the nanites so they don't trigger, they'll never carry the other stuff into the body so it won't have the chance to do any of the shit your guy wants it to. It's like, I might not be able to mess with the bullet directly, but I can make sure the gun doesn't fire, you dig?"

Well that part was useful, at least. If he could really stop the rings from being a problem, this would become a solid backup plan. Or, more accurately, the main plan when it came to the idea of stopping the woman from having her own little army of skilled Touched to play with.

Nqobile asked the obvious question before I could get to it. "In that case, why don't you go ahead and tell us the bad news before we accidentally let ourselves get too optimistic."

Deck grimaced a little. I had a feeling he really didn't like saying anything negative. He seemed like the type who only liked to have good vibes or whatever. "Well, when you get right down to it, the bad news is I need time. Time and access. If I'm gonna fix all those rings, I need hours and hours alone with them. The actual physical rings. I can set things up on my end and do as much as possible without touching them. I can get my tools ready, come up with a system to do it quickly and efficiently, but at some point, I'm going to need to sit down with the actual rings for at least six to eight hours and work my magic on all of them. There's no way around that."

Right, of course, he needed to work on the actual rings if he was going to fix them. Or break them, depending on how you looked at it. The point was, he couldn't just work on this single ring and get anywhere that way. If he was going to work on the rings, he had to actually touch them. Just great, as if we needed another complication to deal with. This was gonna be tricky.

"No problem," Nqobile immediately put in, as though directly arguing with my silent worries. "I can get you in here for the cleaning Friday night. They take all the rings and make them all nice and shiny before setting them up for the presentation. It takes all night to get them done. I'll put you at the end of line. You'll get the rings and work on them before they get put back in the box.

Wait, someone else already had the solution to a problem and I didn't have to even think about it? I genuinely wasn't sure how to react to that. Actually, my paranoid brain immediately tried to come up with an assortment of dire predictions, from Deck getting caught and screwing the whole thing up to this being some sort of ploy on Nqobile's part, either just to profit for herself somehow, or even to help Casura so the woman wouldn't get annoyed and take it out on her.

But the fact was, when you got down to it, I didn't really have much of a choice in this. I didn't have the sort of access that she did. She was the one who could get this guy to the rings. I was just going to have to deal with whatever came from that, and hope it actually worked out. Besides, at the very least, if my own plan went the way it was supposed to, Casura wouldn't have access to the one guy she was actually trying to target. If I could get him out of town, her main plan would already be foiled. We'd just have to worry about the fallout to it, and I really wasn't expecting that to be pretty. Casura didn't exactly seem like the type to shrug off failure, even if she was literally forcing me to try to stop her.

We didn't want to push our luck here. Especially if we were going to need to get Deck back in here Friday night. We couldn't have security already keeping an eye out for him. So, those two headed out. Nqobile was going to help him go shopping for all the stuff he was going to need. And honestly, I was so accustomed to handing money over to a Tech-Touched person for special work that I very nearly handed the guy some cash. But not only would that have looked weird coming from me, there was also the fact that Nqobile had her own money. Let this shit come out of her wallet.

Once they were gone, I hid the ring again. But this time, I didn't put it back in the restroom. I didn't quite trust it there now that Nqobile knew that was where it had been hidden, even inside the wall. I didn't even know what she'd do with it if she did take it back, but I didn't feel like finding out. Instead, I found the nearest custodial closet and used pink paint to hide the thing in a corner of the floor that looked pretty dusty. Hopefully it would be nice and safe there.

With that all done, I left the stadium, passing a couple cleaners on the way. The real kind, not the ones who were actually Tech-Touched in disguise. At least, I hoped they weren't, or this entire situation was even more complicated than I thought.

I spent a minute chatting with those guys, giving them autographs and talking up how much ass I was going to kick in the games tomorrow. They seemed to think I had been psyching myself up by looking out at the arena from the stands, and I didn't dissuade them from that. I just played up the whole thing with them, acted like everything was fine, then left.

And there I was, standing in the parking lot outside the arena staring up at the sky. I watched the moon for a moment and wondered if Paige could see it from wherever she and the others were.

"Don't worry," I whispered under my breath, "I'll get you away from her. I won't forget you this time. I won't abandon you, I swear. I'll get all of you guys out of there."

I meant it, every word. Even if no one else could hear me, even if I was only talking to myself, I meant what I was saying. Except… I might've been talking to myself, but I wasn't the only person listening. I didn't know it right then, but I wasn't the only one who heard those words.

And when I eventually found out who had overheard me, it would change everything about this entire situation.