Mask of Humanity

‘What are they talking about now?’ Jo whispered.

‘Food, sounds like they’re running low.’ Beth wore a focused expression, frowning towards the door as though able to see through it. Which, somehow, it seemed like she could.

‘And him?’ asked Jo.

‘Sitting, thinking I guess. I can’t read his emotions. He’s… better at using this thing than I am.’ Beth’s face creased in an irritated frown.

‘Just need to practise.’ Jo smiled at her sister. ‘You’ve always been good at weird things, once you’ve put the time in.’

Beth smiled back at her, but it quickly faded. ‘What’ll we do?’ Beth asked. ‘Can we get out of the Contract thing? And all these people? I don’t trust them.’

Jo bit her lip. ‘I doubt we can get out. It’s okay, though. I made sure he has to work honestly with us. We have to help him, but we don’t have to obey everything he says except in combat, and even then he can’t just order us to go die. Plus, it’ll only be a couple of months until it’s over.’

Beth frowned. ‘What about the rest? This is our place.’

Jo sighed. ‘We’ll just have to accept that. At the very least we’ll have him on our side if they cause trouble. He’s got to look after us.’

Beth snorted, unconvinced, then her eyes narrowed. ‘He’s coming.’

They were both staring at the door when it opened.

The man, Nicolai, stepped inside. He was carrying the dismembered yet living head, which peered up at her. He smiled at them, easy and friendly as usual. He seemed reasonable, kind even. She was embarrassed at the memory of clinging to him as she cried. He’d felt like anyone else, flesh and bone, but there was something about him, something just a little bit off. And yet... she remembered his words, how earnestly he’d spoken them. You did what you had to do. He’d helped her put herself back together. Was he a good man, as at times he seemed to be? Or was he something else?

He placed the head, which seemed content to watch silently, onto the table, then tugged a chair out and settled into it across from them, sitting the wrong way round, his wiry forearms resting on the backrest. There were all kinds of little marks on them, old scars which pulled her gaze. ‘Glad to see you’ve cleared the air.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘Metaphorically, at least.’

Jo felt Beth bristle beside her, annoyed by the reminder of the smell. Nicolai raised a hand. ‘I’m not judging,’ he said. ‘Happened to me, too. We’ve things to talk about. Getting the paintbrush, for instance. But for now, you have something to tell me. The Trade Link.’ He stared at Jo, leaning forward, his eagerness obvious.

Jo gazed at him, considering how she would answer. His eyes narrowed as the silence stretched.

‘You agreed to this,’ he reminded her.

Jo sighed. His meaning was: so you have to tell me. The bond of the Contract irritated her, but at least she knew it was as fair as she’d been able to shape it. ‘Yeah, I know where it is,’ she said. ‘And as I told you, I can get to it and buy things.’

‘How? How do you get to it while avoiding the Chosen?’

‘There’s another way. I found a hidden tunnel, they don’t know about it. The Trade Link is in a half-collapsed room. The thing is huge, most of it is buried, but a little pokes out. I’m guessing they have access to one side of it, someplace else where it sticks out. Through the hidden entrance, I can get access to the other side.’

‘I see.’ He grinned. ‘What can you buy there? It uses points-tags, right?’

‘Yeah, the tags. You can buy loads of stuff.’ She shrugged. ‘Anything good is really expensive. Ammo is really expensive, too. There’s food,’ she added, recalling what Beth had said about the groups troubles. ‘Stuff from earth.’

‘Stuff from earth? Howso?’

‘Like takeaway. You buy it, the Trade Link opens and there it is, like someone had just cooked it. Maybe there’s a bot, inside? There’s also all kinds of packaged foods. Nutrient bars, easy meal kits… anything, really. For stuff like weapons and anything that would make a big difference, the choices are very limited, there’s not that much. But for stuff that’s required, like food and clothes, or that’s just nice to have, there’s a huge selection.’

‘Interesting,’ he said, sitting there staring at nothing, tapping his chin. His eyes rose and met hers, and when he spoke his voice was a pitch lower. ‘Tomorrow we will go to the Trade Link, just us three. In the morning, when we are talking with the others, I want you to announce that you are going on a trip to the Trade Link. They will want to come. However, you need to say that only myself and Beth can come. I want you to say that you do not trust them, at least not yet. If they ask why you trust me…’

He shrugged. ‘Allude to some interaction we had, say something like “because he helped me,” and we’ll nod knowingly at one another.’ His eyes rose, meeting hers, and his tone grew firmer. ‘The location of the Trade Link must remain between us three, do not inform anyone about it without my permission. But it’s best we don’t say that outright to them. They’ll be upset. For now its easiest if you just lie about not trusting them.’

It wouldn’t be a lie to say that, on our front or his. Jo exchanged a glance with Beth, both of them uncertain. He’d been very firm on that point and she wasn’t entirely sure why. ‘Why?’ she asked.

‘Because the fewer people who know a secret the less likely it will be spilled.’ He smiled, shrugged, and sat back slightly. ‘Nothing more complex than that. Oh, and if they ask about how you can get to it despite the Chosen, just tell them it’s a different Trade Link that you found yourself. Don’t tell them that we’re just coming at the Chosen’s from another angle. It is important that information remains between us.’

‘Obviously,’ Jo muttered, frowning into his eyes. Dark and unknowable. They had that empty look in them, again. He was lying to those people. Was he lying to her and Beth? But… no. Their Contract prevented that. He had to be honest with them. She smiled at the thought, feeling sort of pleased.

Jo was good at reading people, and especially at developing an understanding of their competence and usefulness. It was one of the skills she had been made to learn. This man was very difficult to read in terms of his thoughts and aims, but the fact of his competence was very clear. Where most were floundering in this new world, he seemed to be thriving. He acted like he had a plan, like he knew what he was doing. There was a steady, certain confidence within him. Something that told her that he believed utterly in his abilities to complete whatever it was he aimed to do.

This put the Contract in a different light. She wasn’t pleased with the unevenness of it, but, undeniably, this man was going places. Jo had been trained to recognise such people; her father had taught her these were the people to invest in. But she also recalled his other words. That these were the kind of people who should be very closely watched, as you never knew what they might do.

Beth broke the silence and Jo’s thoughts. ‘So… those people outside. Do you actually trust them, or not?’ she asked, which caught Jo by surprise.

She’d been uncertain about asking. She disliked confrontation, and worried the question could lead to one. But Beth had always been her opposite. She found herself smiling at her sister, seeing Beth watching Nicolai with narrowed eyes. Beth had been so quiet, recently. But it seemed that integrating her Seed had brought her sister back to her, good as new. She found herself wearing a tiny grin.

He shrugged. ‘I don’t have a Contract with them, that’s all. But I think they are trustworthy. They’re good people, just like me.’

Beth raised a brow. ‘What’s so good about you?’ she asked.

He stared at Beth. The silence stretched. His face was blank and his eyes were empty.

‘Anyway,’ he said with an abruptness that made Jo blink. ‘With the Contract between us, even though we know little of one another, we may trust each other.’ He smiled, an earnest expression on his face. ‘I’m looking forwards to working with you two, I think we will accomplish a great deal together.’

Beth let out an explosively derisive grunt at that, and Jo couldn’t restrain the little laugh that burst out of her in response to Beth’s reaction, quickly muffled as she shot a guilty look at Nicolai.

But he just smiled in return. The emptiness was gone from his eyes, which creased with his smile. ‘Trust me. You’ll see,’ he said. The words of a moment ago had seemed a bad performance, but now his manner was calm and forthright. He glanced at the table, his eyes falling onto her rifle. He rose and moved over to it.

Jo tensed. Of course, she’d thought he only gave it back as a show of good faith. No chance he’d let her keep it. He was lifting it, examining it.

‘Have you cleaned this?’ he asked.

‘Cleaned it?’ she frowned.

The gun clicked as he freed the magazine and placed it aside, worked the bolt-handle and caught the bullet that popped from the chamber, then he was unscrewing the barrel. He put the rest of the weapon aside, peering into the barrel. A faint frown marred his features. ‘I’m guessing your chip is more focused on modern weapons. Did this come with extras? Spare parts, maintenance kit, that kind of thing?’

She exchanged a glance with Beth then moved over to the bed, reached under and pulled a metal briefcase out. ‘It’s all in here.’

‘Perfect.’ He grinned again. ‘I’ll clean this for you, get it shiny again, then you can have it back. You’re going to be acting as overwatch for a lot of our future endeavours, our eye from above.’ He quirked an eyebrow, giving her a measuring look. ‘Think you’re capable of that?’

She bristled. ‘I’m a good shot. With my chip and without.’

‘So I’ve seen.’ He smiled. He pressed buttons and twisted things and the rifle sprang apart into different pieces, which he placed into the slots in the foam padding in the briefcase, setting it by his sack. It had taken her quite a while to fix the whole thing together, and a frown worked its way onto her face as she watched him disassemble it.

Once done, Nicolai’s eyes fell on Beth. ‘There’s one more matter, before I go. You have completed a Challenge, have you not?’

###

A minute later Nicolai was watching as Beth tapped her Mark and stared at the air above it.

The stone in the middle of the room rippled, and a statue rose.

As Nicolai observed its rise he felt a similar rise within him, a conflict. Practically speaking, he felt he ought to play a role in this decision. Whatever Beth chose would impact him. If she picked something that matched up badly with how he intended to do things, or one that was just straight up useless, then it would be an advantage lost.

But his Mask disagreed. It should be her choice. It is not up to you.

Nicolai frowned, unsure. Why is it not up to me?

Why should it be up to you?

For the reasons I just listed. What if her picking a useless Symbiote should one day get her, or me, killed?

Then… the Mask paused, uncertain.

Nicolai gave an internal eye roll. I will give my thoughts. I can at least push her—gently—to choose the correct one. In truth, he couldn’t do too much. Under the Contract they’d made, Reward Shrines were clearly and explicitly divided. Jo had pushed especially hard for that, and his Mask had told him that crossing her on that would damage his odds of making them into “true allies.”

The rising statue depicted a big cat, similar in size to a leopard but quite gangly with oversized paws and large, rounded eyes that stared curiously upwards. Its fur bristled on its back, where little bone-like spikes poked out, and the end of its tail bulged slightly, peppered with similar spikes.

It was sat on its back legs, with two paws outstretched and its tail looping around to hover beside one of those paws, and on each proffered limb wriggled a shimmering Symbiote.

‘Awww,’ cooed Beth. ‘Look into those eyes! Oh my god, it’s adorable.’ She took a step forward. ‘Jo! Take a pic!’ Beth took up a pose beside the statue, a grin on her face, resting her hand on its head like a proud owner.

Nicolai raised an eyebrow. To him the cat just looked dangerous. Those spikes clearly served a purpose. However, his Mask, which he’d been allowing more influence as it was helping aid his act, watched Beth’s reaction with interest and then it attempted to draw his attention to the cats eyes, trying to inject some kind of emotion into him. He wasn’t sure what. The Mask had never tried this one before.

Jo let out an exasperated laugh but did as Beth had bade, moving to stand before her sister and leaning slightly, closing one eye, then blinking with the other.

Nicolai moved forward while the pair paused, Jo sending Beth the picture. He was pulled by a desire to Examine the cat but also by something else, some strange urging from his Mask, one he struggled to understand as he placed a hand on the cat.

Symbiote Reward Shrine (Tier 1)

These shrines appear to grant rewards to Marked who have completed a Quest or Challenge within the game. They come in various types and tiers.

This Shrine was not granted to you. However, it does not distinguish. Steal from the caller if you wish.

This particular shrine depicts a Spike Cat cub. These Spirit Cats are native to the Nightmare, though increasingly rare as the encroaching armies of The People’s Kindly Effort work to cover the world in their works.

It’s a cub, he intended to say as he looked at the other two, but his Mask lunged and took control of his mouth and instead he said: ‘Can you take a picture of me, too?’ as he moved his hand to the cats head in mimic of Beth.

The girls stared at him with suddenly blank faces. Nicolai’s mind buzzed with odd and confusing emotions, the roots his Mask had dug into his spirit pulsing. His face felt oddly warm.

‘Sure,’ said Jo, after exchanging raised eyebrows with her sister.

Nicolai’s Mask did its best to craft his face into a grin reminiscent of the one Beth had worn, and he found himself unable or perhaps unwilling to resist, his stomach cartwheeling with strange sensations. I’m being human, he thought, as Jo took the picture.

‘I’ll send it over—‘ she began then frowned, appearing confused. ‘I can’t find your virtual signature,’ she murmured, extending a hand and waving it vaguely towards him, as though trying to find something.

That’s because I’m a Raw. Nicolai ignored the words, moving to tap on each of the three Symbiotes, examining them one by one, his Mask releasing its grip. A frown worked its way onto his face. What the fuck had he just done? Now there was a picture of him out and about, which was of course largely meaningless because most humans continually recorded everything they saw via their eye-lenses, but regardless, having his picture taken was always something he had been set on avoiding wherever possible.

Yet, at the same time he was happy. Because his Mask was happy. Because he was being human, so much so he felt sure Jo and Beth were completely convinced he was an actual, real person. He was doing it! His Mask grinned, huge and wide, as he looked over the Examine texts lined up in his Mark with interest.