Mask of Humanity

Wearing everything of use, Nicolai lurked in the crack like a spider, peering down into the Gauntlet.

The big skeleton was pressed up against the tunnel out. When he’d began watching, he’d seen a few bullets blast through it, splinters of bone spraying out whilst it flailed with anger. From what he’d seen, getting shot had had little effect on it.

But as he watched, he heard a detonation and saw a flash of light from beneath it, and the whole mass of it roiled, bone flying in all directions along with vents of blue light. That had been a grenade. The skeleton pulled itself back together, a little smaller, but just as it had done so there was another detonation, another grenade thrown right into it.

The mass of bone didn’t so much fall as collapse inwards, transforming from a coherent being into a simple pile of shredded bone, poked through with weapons, the blue light of its soul-wisp pouring out of it in every direction.

Once the bones had finished settling, three drones sped out of the tunnel and up, orbiting rapidly around the room.

Nicolai focused intently as he stared at these drones, doing his best to work out exactly what they were. He relaxed upon recognising them as cheap reconnaissance drones which only possessed basic cameras and microphones. They weren’t capable of piercing his poncho’s invisibility nor spotting the signs of it.

The undead light-throwers, those he hadn’t killed to increase his Seed’s soul count a few hours ago, had immediately targeted these drones and sizzles and cracks resounded through the area as light-bolts flashed through the air, smashing into the ceiling and walls. The drones, small and fast moving, easily avoided the strikes.

Nicolai saw figures appear, peeking out from the tunnel. He saw guns in their hands. Gunshots crackled, and the first of the undead light-throwers fell with a hole in its head. The undead didn’t react to those firing from the tunnel, remaining focused on the drones, apparently unaware that the drones were largely harmless and that the people in the tunnel were the ones killing them. This didn’t come as much of a surprise to Nicolai. These particular zombies ranked quite low on the undead totem pole, intelligence wise.

A woman with a submachine gun was doing most of the shooting, taking her time then firing only a single shot at each undead which she caught through the head, killing them instantly. No need to rush. Nicolai nodded, appreciating that she wasn’t wasting too much ammo, and the smart, calm way she went about it. He would have done the same, in her place.

The last of the undead soon fell, and the group in the tunnel advanced into the room, peering about warily, guns at the ready. They numbered eight. The woman with the submachine-gun seemed to be the leader, walking out in front. She was quite heavily augmented, bionic arms and legs, though all were low-grade level 1s, not much stronger or faster than a normal human. Some of the others had augments, but they were even less dangerous than hers.

They didn’t all have guns, only some of them. Of these, there was one with a sawn-off shotgun, one with a pump-action shotgun, one with a pistol, and of course their leader with the SMG. The remaining four had the typical melee weapons looted from undead.

The leader drew his gaze, because reaching around her were small, pale tendrils. They spread from her mouth. Nicolai recognised them easily enough. Soul Sense tendrils. She had a Seed, and she knew how to use it. He felt a vague moment of kinship with her, that she also kept her Seed in her mouth. Most people kept them elsewhere.

Her Seed’s Soul Sense could be a problem. With his poncho he could avoid their eyes and the drones, but he knew how effective a Seed’s Soul Sense was. If he came anywhere near her, she’d know about him. However, being able to actually see them from a distance was quite an advantage. He’d never been able to see them before, not even when they’d been his own. He’d observed this earlier, when he’d been able to see his own Soul Sense with his own eyes, but was pleased to find the ability extended to seeing other people’s Soul Sense.

The question then, was how would his Soul Sense stack up against hers? Could they even interact, or would his pass straight through? Would she know, if their Soul Senses touched? He thought it likely she would, but so long as he avoided a collision she would be clueless.

Their drones were now investigating the balconies, some of them darting into the hallways leading off up there. One was coming up towards his crack.

Nicolai tucked his legs up and gathered the poncho beneath him as he activated the Pegasi ring and floated out. He was just in time as the drone headed past him and up into the crack. He watched it disappear with some unhappiness. It was going to see Kleos and his things. Not a lot to be done about that.

He continued down, settling onto the balcony above the group who were now looking into the tunnel with the locked door.

One of the woman’s Soul Sense tendrils was near to him, fumbling its way over the balcony. Fortunately, most were focused on the metal door. He rose off the balcony into the air once more, the tendril passing below him.

Nicolai didn’t want to do anything to tip them off about his presence. He intended to lay in wait until the opportune moment.

‘Something up there, in the crack,’ one of them said, peering up. The drone’s controller, then. ‘There’s a room. No one in it, but looks like someones been hiding things up there. Oma crystals, points tags, water bottles, that sort of thing. Uh, and a severed head, I think one of the undead.’

The woman with the submachine-gun followed his gaze. ‘I’ll have a flyer come out after this.’ She looked over to one of the men. ‘Go,’ she said, gesturing at the door.

The man smirked at her as stepped forward. As he went he tugged something from a pocket. Looking carefully, Nicolai saw a little hard plastic box, much like the one his poncho had come in only smaller. The man disappeared into the tunnel and the others waited, shifting restlessly, checking their weapons, watching whatever the man was doing in there. The man reappeared.

‘It’s set,’ he said to the woman, grinning, drawing a pistol. He looked excited, eager. They all did.

‘Everyone ready?’ she asked.

There rose a chorus of affirmations. The woman readied her SMG, the others readied their own guns and blades. ‘Blow it.’

###

‘How much further?’ spoke a voice.

‘A couple of feet,’ Perro managed, throwing the words behind him then returning to digging. He was sweaty, eyes screwed up against the dust that stuck to his face, and he was doing his best to convince himself he wasn’t afraid.

He was in the collapsed tunnel, trying to dig his way to the other side. They’d realised it was their only chance after checking the tunnel leading away from the crypts. John and Cait said they’d gone all the way down and looked out, but that they’d seen undead out there, nasty looking undead. Too dangerous.

Since Nicolai had abandoned them, and taken the key to the main door to boot, the collapsed tunnel was their only way out. They’d started digging as soon as they’d realised that fact, and Perro had been made to do much of the work, being amongst the smallest and best able to fit.

The last couple of feet wouldn’t be easy. His aching hands, bloodied, nails chipped, wormed out before him to grasp at the newest piece of stone blocking the way, and he started shoving it, the stone scraping as he grunted.

There came a great boom, and the stone around Perro trembled.

Then it all started to move.

###

‘Perro!’ Azure screamed as she saw the boy buried under the rock. She lunged forwards and started pulling at a chunk of stone, only to be grabbed by a powerful artificial hand. ‘Get off me!’ she snarled.

‘They’re coming!’ Cait hissed at her. ‘We need to get to safety!’

‘He’s stuck, he’s trapped!’ Azure wailed, thrashing.

‘There’s nothing we can do for him, not right now,’ Cait said.

Azure grit her teeth and twisted her arm, furious and terrified, catching Cait in the face. The woman jerked back, grunting, her hands letting go. Azure scrabbled away, and heard Cait mutter the words ‘stupid girl,’ behind her.

Azure had just gotten back to the tunnel and started digging when she heard a gunshot. She flinched, ducked behind a piece of masonry and peered over it.

‘Hey, hey, people!’ came a strident voice. A man walked out from the between the broken and twisted doors, a pistol raised high in his hand. ‘You’ve been hidin’ and runnin’ a good long time, haven’t you? But you should’ve hid a little better!’ he chuckled, and was soon flanked by seven others who emerged.

One of them, a woman with a machine gun, moved out in front. ‘You knew this day would come,’ she announced to the room at large, her head slowly turning.

Twisting her own head, Azure saw the others scattered in hiding, behind ruined tables, the big throne, down the stairs to the crypt.

‘You’ve no guns. We do. So, do the smart thing,’ the woman was saying. ‘All of you come out, stand in front, hand over your Seeds. That’s it, that’s all. Then you come back with us, and you’re all Chosen. No one has to die. Not unless one of you does something stupid.’

Azure’s attention moved to her Seed, curled up under her tongue. It represented magic like she’d dreamed of since she was a little girl. ‘Perro,’ she hissed as quietly as she could manage into the tunnel, ‘are you alive?’

After a stretched moment, there was a faint rustling and crackling. ‘Azure?’ came his voice, weak, pained. ‘My leg is stuck.’

Azure crabbed into what was left of Perro’s dig, keeping as low as she could, but she saw one of the Chosen turn to look, spotting her movement.

‘Hey! I see one!’ the man pointed, and his companions aimed guns in her direction.

‘Get up,’ said the woman, looking over at her. ‘Get up, or we shoot you. Same goes for the rest.’

Azure gritted her teeth, and just as she moved to stand she saw a vague, weird twisting behind one of the Chosen, the one with the pump-action shotgun.

‘Hey! Fuck!’ yelped the leader suddenly, flinching and wincing as though from sudden pain.

The next moment the man’s gun jerked out of his grip and he stumbled forwards, pulled off balance. The shotgun floated in the air beside him. The Chosen gaped dumbly at it as it hung there. Then it twisted, the barrel coming to face the one with a pistol.

The shotgun howled, and blood misted in the air.

She could hardly make sense of it all, everything happened so fast. Three of the Chosen fell in only a moment, the rest of them scattered, all apart from the woman with the machine gun. A shimmering force field appeared around her, blocking bullets, and she fired back and something happened, a second shield? Then the woman’s broke and she fled. Azure was sure the woman would be shot in the back but the shotgun was silent, empty, and two Chosen with swords charged at where it floated.

The shotgun fell to the ground. A slender blade appeared in its place, lunging forward. Blood sprayed and one of them was falling. The next swung wildly, hit nothing, and the blade lanced through his throat.

The leader and the two other remaining Chosen scrambled and ran and were pursued by the near-invisible thing. In moments they had disappeared out the tunnel. After that, it was silent for a moment, then there came a crackle of gunfire.

‘What happened?’ came Perro’s faint voice once the gunfire faded.

‘I think that guy came back.’