Got the Grimoire, Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

I woke up with a start, the kind of full body flinch that happens when you just know that you’ve overslept. I checked my phone and sighed in relief when I noticed the text messages.

Colin: I saw the news. You’re cleared for a late start.

Colin: On second thought, just take the day off to recover. Second story just broke.

The first was marked as having been sent an hour before my shift began and the second had arrived ten minutes after that. Thank God for understanding bosses. I got up and winced as the headache hit. Hangover. Not as bad as the soulache that tended to develop when I overused my powers, but still unpleasant. I allowed a hint of mana to suffuse my body and the pain vanished quickly as my body was repaired.

I walked out into the kitchen, rubbing at one shoulder to ease some tension. The Blasphemies had been tough opponents, maybe the worst since the Simurgh. There was a reason that no one had ever been able to take out all three at once despite the world’s best efforts. S-class threats were given that rating for good reason.

I wanted to weep as I smelled fresh coffee and noticed Mimi bustling around the kitchen with purpose. She was also dressed a lot nicer than usual and-

“Mi, are you wearing a skirt?” I asked incredulously. “And is it just me or did you grow an inch or two?”

“Job interview,” she said briskly. There was a distinct clack of heels on the floor. “I hate it, but pretty much everyone on the internet agrees that you gotta dress up all fancy to these kinds of things.” She paused and gestured toward the coffee pot. “Made a lot. You got back pretty late last night.”

“Dealt with three S-class threats with Eidolon,” I said. I poured a cup of coffee, added my required helpings of cream and sugar and took a satisfied pull from the mug. Bliss. “The first two honestly weren’t bad, but the last was tough. You’ve heard of the Three Blasphemies?”

“Yeah, weird trio of parahumans in Europe, right?” She didn’t slow as she went about making breakfast. I went to help, but she shot me a glare. “I’m making breakfast today, it’s literally the least I can do.”

I held my hands up in surrender and sat down. “Yeah, thats them. They’re dangerous enough as it is, but the worst part is that they are- or rather were- incredibly hard to actually kill. You get one, maybe even two, but if even one escaped, they’d be back to full strength in no time.”

Mimi frowned to herself as she began to scramble some eggs. “Projections?”

“Tinker-tech superweapon gone wrong,” I explained. “Group of Tinkers tried to get together and make something great and well… let’s just say it went horribly wrong, as evidenced by the S-class threat.”

“Fucking Tinkers,” she said sagely. “They just don’t know when to leave well enough alone sometimes.”

“Pushing the boundaries of science and technology takes risks sometimes,” I said defensively. “Some of my favorite people are Tinkers you know.”

“I’m aware,” she said deadpan. “You never shut up about how cool your boss is.”

“He’s an excellent field leader. Just not the most sociable person. Even then, I think Dragon and I are slowly starting to drag him out of his shell. Painfully slow.”

“Mhm.”

“Oh quit it with the doubt. Where’s the job interview at?” I asked curiously.

“Bank. Seemed like a pretty chill position, leaves time on weeknights for at least a little bit of evening patrol and free weekends when I need them. It’s actually just a part-time position, so the schedule is even more flexible.” She dished up a pair of plates loaded with bacon, eggs, and fried potatoes. “And this way I can chip in a bit with the bills.”

I smiled. “Mi, seriously, it’s alright-“

She glared bloody murder at me, cutting me off as she pointed her fork threateningly. “I’m not just a charity case, Mak! I can be functioning adult now that you’ve helped me get back on my feet. As much as I’d like to just be a hero full time, I think we both know I’m rather incompatible with the Protectorate. And I might be able to live off of whatever cash we can steal from the gangs, that calls my cover identity into question. I want to be able to have a normal-ish life eventually.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Alright, I get it. No one wants to mooch forever. But seriously, you can take your time. You’ve been on the streets for a long time, I’m not expecting you to be making a six figure salary day one.”

“I know.” She started to wolf down her breakfast. “Baby steps and all that,” she said around a mouthful of eggs.

We finished up in companionable silence. Simple, but well made. I appreciated that she even put in the effort in the first place.

Once she’d finished, she stood up and start hurrying toward the door. She grabbed a purse, then shot me one last nervous look. “Seeing as you’re the closest judge as to what ‘normal’ is in this apartment…”

“Normal is stretching it,” I joked.

“I said ‘closest’. Anyway, how do I look?” She extended her arms and did a little twirl.

I examined the blouse and jacket combo that she’d gone for, the plain, but well made skirt, and the stylish shoes. It was a far cry from how she typically dressed around the apartment. I nodded once in approval. “Professional. Totally not a vigilante parahuman. You look good.”

Her face brightened. “Awesome. I asked Taylor and Lisa for tips and this is what I came up with. Well, I’m off to try and get a job, like a completely normal person. Wish me luck.”

“You got this,” I called as she exited with a final wave.

I cleared the table and started the dishwasher, then almost had a heart attack when I turned to find Contessa drinking a cup of coffee.

"Jesus!” I swore and almost dropped my own mug. “What the hell are you doing?”

“My name is Fortuna,” she said slowly, as if to a child. “Not this ‘Jesus’ you speak of. And I’m enjoying a cup of this beverage. You Americans seriously call this coffee?”

“Like your Earth had any better?” I grumbled, using a paper towel to clean up some of my drink that had spilled.

“No, of course not, but I’ve been to a great many different Earths and countries. Even for coffee in America this is very… mediocre.”

“I haven’t gotten around to getting a new coffee maker yet,” I snapped defensively. I didn’t like it when people showed up randomly in my apartment and started getting judgmental.

“It is more about the quality of the beans. You still purchase already ground coffee.” With uncanny accuracy, she walked over to the cupboard where I stashed the coffee and examined the packaging. “How much did this cost, ten dollars?”

“Fifteen,” I scowled. “Couldn’t your Path have told you that?”

“I’m trying to use it a little less these days. At least for… ordinary things.”

“I guess I’m honored that speaking to me is considered ‘ordinary’ in your world,” I said.

A tiny smile flitted across her face. “Indeed.”

We stood there in silence for a moment as she just calmly drank her (my) coffee and I cleaned my emptied mug. “What do you want exactly?” I finally sighed. “It can’t be just to come drink my ‘mediocre’ coffee and banter.”

“Ah, but I get so few opportunities these days to banter,” she said solemnly. “Perhaps I just wanted to practice.”

“…I think I liked it better when you were robotic.”

“I didn’t,” she said. “Now, since I arranged for you to have a day off and dealt with a threat to you and your loved ones, will you indulge me by coming to tour our facility for a bit?”

I frowned. “Hold on, I know about Gesellschaft, but what’s this about my day off today?”

Another tiny smile. “How do you suppose footage of the cleansing of Eagleton, the disappearance of the Ash Beast, and the final defeat of the Blasphemies circulated so quickly and with such quality?”

“Ah… point taken. I guess I can give you a bit of time.”

“How gracious of you,” she replied dryly. “Door to HQ.”

Doormaker’s portal appeared and she walked through with calm certainty, not even glancing back to see if I was following. I grumbled about Thinkers and then followed, only pausing to cast a quick spell on my pajamas to transmute them into my costume.

The sterile hallway left me with a vague sense of unease. Humans just weren’t meant for an environment as precisely clean as Cauldron’s main base. The Custodian maintained high standards if I remembered correctly.

We passed by a number of offices that looked almost normal and I caught a glimpse of someone that I was pretty sure was the Number Man, but Contessa didn’t stop for any kind of introductions or tours. Instead we kept walking down hallways and corridors until we reached a large elevator. Once we’d boarded, it began accelerating downwards at a rapid rate.

“Tinker-tech,” Contessa explained when I glanced at her for an explanation. “One of Hero’s earlier pieces.”

“And it doesn’t require maintenance?”

“Not so far. It’s rather… robust. We’ve thought about calling in Dragon to examine it, but that would require more effort than it is worth to bring her to this Earth,” she explained.

“Hm, sure. I can take a look if you’d like. I can’t say I’ll understand it super well, but I can make sure it doesn’t need any tune-ups.”

“Perhaps later, but the offer is very much appreciated.”

The elevator chimed and we stepped out into the vast chamber that held what Cauldron possessed of Eden’s corpse. Reading a description and seeing with my own eyes was… something else. A vast garden of flesh and crystal, as far as the eye could see. Cauldron’s workers moved back and forth, harvesting massive quantities of the flesh and bringing it deeper in the facility where I was sure it was being processed into the vials.

“Damn…” I muttered, surveying the operation. “That’s… I didn’t realize quite how large this operation was.”

Contessa smirked. “Did you think it was simply the Doctor, Kurt, and I doing everything? We never would have gained as many vials as we now possess without further support.”

“How do you keep them all here? I mean, there must be dozens, maybe hundreds of them down here.”

“And even more in the laboratory and testing departments,” she confirmed. “They are all people that we have helped in one way or another. The poor and forgotten of a dozen different Earths. We bring them here for the rest of their lives- or until Scion is defeated- and in return they work for us and we provide them with everything they could ever want or need.”

I gave Contessa the stink-eye. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re all here happily and willingly…”

“Do not be obtuse, Makanaokeakua-“ “Please for the love of God, stop using my full name.” “We are doing these people a favor. Coercion that you allude to requires much more maintenance than you’d think, even with a power such as mine. Far better than to make sure they’re all happy and fit workers. Its far more productive this way, Kurt even confirmed it himself with his power.”

“Fine,” I acknowledged begrudgingly. “But why exactly did you bring me down here?”

“Because we wanted to involve you more,” a familiar voice said from above.

I glanced up and gave the speaker a nod. “Alexandria.”

The Triumvirate hero offered me a nod in return. “Magus. Glad you accepted our invitation.”

“Contessa is persuasive. Why exactly am I being involved more? I thought I made it clear that while I’m not your guys’ enemy, I don’t exactly approve of all your methods.”

“And what better place to change that then by joining us?” she countered. “We’re offering you the chance to get a behind the scenes look. Understand better before you judge us.”

I grinned and allowed a hint of chaos lightning to dance through my eyes. “I’ve gotten more behind the scenes than you can even imagine. But please, feel free to enlighten me.”

Contessa stepped back. “I’ll leave him in your hands, Alexandria. I am needed elsewhere.”

Alexandria gave her a dismissive nod and turned her gaze back to me. She wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Contessa. She just didn’t possess the same aura of raw confidence that the Thinker did, though she had her own brand of terrifying power about her.

She jerked her head for me to follow and began walking me through the area. “We extract enough material to make several dozen vials each day. That amount was actually more than we could handle between Doctor Mother, the Number Man, and occasionally myself, but we’ve since managed to get our process down to a near science. Actually, thanks to you.”

“Me?” I asked, slightly baffled. “How exactly did I help?”

She motioned for me to follow and led me past the garden of flesh and deeper into the core facilities. “You provided us with a parahuman capable of crafting better vials than any of us and implanting brain modifications on non-parahumans that enabled them to make vials nearly as well as Doctor Mother, someone with almost thirty years of experience creating the things. We’ve actually begun looking into expanding the extraction operations.”

“Bonesaw,” I realized. “I figured she might be able to boost vial production, but not so drastically.”

“She’s been of great assistance, which in turn has granted you considerable good will from us.” She paused and regarded a portrait on the wall. I looked at it as well. Eidolon looked the same as ever, though his costumed lacked certain features, like armor or lights, and Legend looked younger, but Alexandria looked exactly the same and there was a red and gold armored Tinker posing with them as well.

“Hero,” I said, feeling a sense of solemness suddenly wash over me. “I’m sad that I never got to meet him. He seems like the kind of man who could live up to his title.”

“He did,” Alexandria agreed, her tone taking on a wistful nature. “He was the best of us. I imagine that if he had lived that day, then Cauldron might look far different. Perhaps more ethical.” She smiled bitterly. “He was the type to argue that morals still mattered in the face of imminent destruction. That there was no point to humanity surviving if we sacrificed what made us human in the first place.” She shot me an almost reproachful look. “Perhaps then you might approve of us.”

I frowned at her. “Look, I’m not judging you guys for what you’ve done. I have the benefit of hindsight with my powers, you guys had a lot to deal with when you first learned of all of this and I imagine that Earth-Bet would be in a worse position without you guys. I just know that you guys can be better, that’s all.”

A short laugh escaped the usually stoic hero’s lips. “God, you sound like him sometimes. Naive idiot,” she said fondly, wistfully. “Come on, I wanted to at least introduce you.”

We reached a laboratory that looked a lot bigger than what I imagined, though there was the occasional sign of new building, and I easily spotted the small blonde at a work station, carefully measuring something.

Alexandria marched up and peered down. “Do you have a moment, Riley?”

Riley didn’t take her eyes off the vial, instead finishing tipping just the smallest amount of fluid into from out of a beaker before capping it and writing something in marker on the outside. “Now I do. What’s up, Miss Alexandria?”

“I just wanted to see how things were going today. What power will this be?” she asked curiously, picking up and examining the vial.

“I’m estimating a Brute 5 or 6 with a minor Striker power on top, based on the material and previous experiments. Little mutation chance as far as I can tell.” Her eyes darted to me. “Hi, you’re new! I’m Riley, it’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand politely.

I took it and gave it a small shake. “Hello, Riley. I’m Magus.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re the hero who took me from the bad man.”

I glanced with no small amount of panic toward Alexandria, then back to the young girl. “Bad man?”

“Jack Slash. The murderer.” She let out a full body shudder. “Mister Kurt and Miss Contessa told me about him while I was getting better. He made me do bad things. You helped me get better, to be better. Thank you.”

Ah…

“You’re welcome, Riley. Are you… happy, here?” I ventured.

“Of course! Everyone is super nice and I get to work on interesting stuff all day. I don’t have any reasons to not be happy.”

“Good, I’m glad for that. It’s nice to see you again.”

“It was nice meeting you,” she said earnestly. “Thank you again for helping me. Oh, but I gotta make some more vials, okay? If you ever want to stop by again though, I can show you my lab!”

“I might just do that. Take care.”

“Mhm.” The young bio-Tinker was already back to work with her vials and equipment.

I followed Alexandria into a different hallway and let out a small breath, struggling with the bile in my throat. The guilt especially. “You told her about Bonesaw?”

“Kurt estimated that it would be helpful in the long run to simply tell her, but frame it in a better light, than to keep it a secret and cause potential damage down the line,” she replied. “Besides, it’s all true. We just didn’t go into any horrid details, seeing as she has the mentality of a child.”

“Kind of you,” I said, only somewhat sarcastic.

“You’re the one who gave her to use because you know that her power was of use,” she said coldly. “We handled it as best as our Thinkers thought it should be handled and she’s proven a boon ever since.”

“You’re right, I just… hate the necessity.”

Her features softened slightly. “As do I. I had one last matter I wished you to perhaps assist us with, if you’re amiable.”

“Shoot.”

Alexandria led me through a few more hallways until we reached a vast room that I could only call a prison. Cell upon cell of Case-53’s lined the walls, all of them looking rather miserable or bored. I’d halfway forgotten about this, but the stark reminder…

I spun and slammed Alexandria into the wall with inhuman strength, anger coursing through me. A small part of my mind whispered that I’d only moved her because she let me and her face was perfectly calm. “What the hell is all this?” I snapped.

“Case-53’s that we deemed unable to be released onto Earth-Bet,” she said. “Too volatile or too grotesque. They also serve as a convenient shield against Scion’s sight. He can’t stand the sight of vial capes and Case-53’s even less. This many clustered together all but ensures he doesn’t notice what we’re doing here and if he does look, he’ll probably look away in short order.”

“But you keep them so, so… “ I felt my jaw clench. “Their living conditions are horrible. Is there really no alternative?”

“That’s another reason I brought you here. You have a great deal of power at your finger tips. Do you think you could design a defense capable of rendering us invisible to Scion? Because if so, I’d be more than happy to try and convince Doctor Mother and Contessa to cure these poor souls and send them back home.”

I gritted my teeth, once again struck by why I didn’t want to join Cauldron directly, despite the respect I had for them.

Sometimes they just sucked.

“Just try and stop me.”
***
A/N: Not a lot to say this week. I've been neglecting my writing schedule, so this was mostly written last night and today, but I'm determined to get a proper amount written each day so that I don't have to do that, not to mention open up enough time to work on other projects. It's just tough sometimes, motivation ebbs and flows like the tide. Anyway, hope you all enjoy and seriously, thanks a million for continuing to contribute, you guys are the best.