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Chapter -14- Basecamp Alpha

Meanwhile...

Heimdallr closed his palm around the face of what appeared to be an armored man. He pushed the soldier against the ledge, overlooking a street.

Heimdallr climbed atop of the suited attacker and leapt from the skywalk bridge.

With his shins against the man's armored body, the Scandinavian god used the human soldier to break his fall. The soft tissue of the man inside the high-tech suit absorbed the landing of a two-story drop.

Heimdallr crawled off the attacker and wearily got to his feet, momentarily fazed by the fall.

Heimdallr stretched, popping his lower back with a grunt. "These armored men are far more difficult; certainly a most worthy foe."

Another man in an armored suit flew through a diner window. The man landed on his back and started to sit up.

Sekhmet leapt through the window and pounced on her prey. Her feet landed on his neck with all of her weight, forcing the soldier's neck to break. "They are! It takes excessive strength or leverage to snap their spine! Somehow the armor reacts, making it nearly impossible to break their neck with my hands, let alone to bite through it."

Heimdallr knelt down by the man he'd defeated. He forced the mask from the man's face and sighed. "They are only mortals. Their technology, however, is beyond compare."

Sekhmet narrowed her eyes. "Unfortunately I have seen mortal men this powerful without armor. It was a very, very long time ago, but certainly not so long that I remember their might."

Heimdallr adjusted the lay of his shining armor by shifting his armored breeches. "How do you mean?"

"In the days of my earliest form, warriors murmured of a city inhabited by people not unlike the gods. They could war with our kind if they felt so inclined."

"How could they?"

Sekhmet nibbled a piece of flesh from one of her claws. "They battled with powerful armor, which acted like skin yet cut like diamond, protected like platinum, and weighed less than a bronze khopesh. They wielded small arrows that passed through the body of an innocent and became solid within an intended target. But it was like no arrow crafted by normal humans."

"Dare I ask if you speak of Ultima Thule?"

"Whatever you wish to call it, the technology was designed to be recycled away. Metals rusted to dust. They left no trash in their wake. I do not know if they are one in the same." Sekhmet narrowed her gaze. "Older deities wish not to speak of such times. It lessens their power, by bringing power to those who should stay forgotten."

Heimdallr reached for the man in the suit. He rolled the man over and examined it. "I have never seen such a being. There is truly a human being inside this metallic suit; it is almost beyond imagination or logic. It seems almost inconceivable. What manner of dwarves forged this?"

Sekhmet approached Heimdallr. She lifted his chin and placed her hands upon a gash on the side of his neck. "Hold still." She traced her fingertips carefully over the wound, methodically, with steady hands. Her fingertip sealed the wound, moving slow and steady as if surgical in nature.

She drew her finger back, examining her work. "There. Your wound is far more grieve than I first realized. But the blood on your chest plate is a manly sight to behold."

Heimdallr smiled. "Are you mated?"

"I am married. But I am not opposed to ... lovers - we are gods, not humans. I have recently made the Japanese god of the sea my creature comfort. I enjoy his hot bloodedness - it amuses me."

"I am no stranger to lovers - I birthed the classes of Scandinavia."

"Then you are clever, Heimdallr. For the rich carry the weight of the poor upon their backs, and in return, it is the meek who shall inherit all that is known by Pharaohs and slave alike."

Heimdallr looked up. "Speaking of those we choose to warm our beds, your were-lion is coming."

Sekhmet turned about. At the end of the block, she saw Albert DeLioncourt. He carried two satchels, one slung over each shoulder. Behind him, Evan Balmoral and James Parker followed.

Sekhmet smiled. "I always knew Albert was a leader of men deep down. He only needed to find his inner potential. See how they follow him."

Heimdallr grinned at Sekhmet. "A wise man travels in the wake of his infantry, because he cannot lead an army from beyond the grave. The African fellow, in my opinion, is a fine leader."

Sekhmet smirked. Heimdallr smirked back.

Sekhmet crossed her arms over her chest, watching the trio approach. "Egypt is a land on the continent of Africa. It would make sense that a man from my home continent is so clever, and capable of leading two white men on such a mission."

Heimdallr shook his head with a chuckle. "You are racist? As I have told you, the world does not revolve around pigmentation. It revolves around class. Showing class is indicative of standing tall above those who present themselves as trash."

"Perhaps you speak wisely. Evan Balmoral is married with a family. He fights as a leader, not as a simple soldier."

Heimdallr nodded in agreement.

Albert approached the two deities. He set down the large satchels and stood tall on his haunches. His ears perked up and his whiskers fanned out proudly around his large padded nose. "There was a large snake. It guarded the vault and the relics, and it killed the vampire. I brought these two and their trinkets."

Sekhmet frowned, "Kalen Kincade was a fine warrior. His noble life and his end in battle will be remembered."

Albert nodded to James and said, "The young one, here, thinks we should take the relics to the surface right away."

Sekhmet glanced at Heimdallr, who nodded. She nodded back to him and turned to Albert. "These belong spread out around the globe. Complete this task and we will celebrate with proper Egyptian beer when all is said and done."

Heimdallr grinned somewhat. "Egyptian beer is a fine brew. It does not quench my thirst like a stout mead, but it is a fine warrior's drink, nevertheless."

Albert glanced between the two gods. "It doesn't matter if it's fancy beer or Pabst Blue Ribbon - beer is beer, and it gets the job done. You two pick up the tab when this is over, and I'll drink with ya." He turned to James and nodded. "Okay, stick boy. Let's get this crap and your new stick, and get moving."

James eased the staff into the back of his belt. He took Evan's second satchel and shouldered two bags. "I look forward to seeing you when this is over."

Evan nodded in respect to James. "Patty and I have no money or savings. We came from down here. We have nothing up there. If I don't make it back..."

James put his bags down. He reached for Evan's hand and they shook. "Evan, your family will have everything they want. Conner helped me put my finances in order using world currency. He shared the family's legal fortune - I will make sure you and your girls are set for life."

Evan and James shared a brief, masculine hug. "I've always said money doesn't buy happiness. You're the second Parker to prove me wrong. If you see Topaz, you tell her I still have those comics."

"I imagine the government seized the money she gave you twenty-six years ago."

"Falcon seized it when we moved. He seized everyone's assets, saying money would have no value in New Atlantis." Evan stepped back from James. "Tell Patty and Haley I'll be home soon."

"I will." James picked up both bags again and shouldered each.

Albert picked up his two bags. He nodded to Sekhmet. "Am I good to go?"

"Be well. Keep your daughter alive. I will call on you again in the future." Sekhmet cupped the sides of Albert's furred face. She said nothing further. She simply held either side of his face for a moment. Sekhmet nodded and turned away from him.

Albert turned to James. "Come on, let's go. You're sure you can operate one of those stupid submarines if we steal one?"

"I won't need to. We're leaving in an escape pod along with the residents being evacuated. Let's get moving."

"I guess I should lose the fur." Albert walked further up the block and kicked in the door leading to an abandoned clothing boutique. "Let's get some pants and a shirt for me, then we'll get moving."

"Just what I've always wanted - to go shopping with another guy," James joked. They walked into the clothing store on the corner, out of sight of the others.

Evan turned back to Heimdallr and Sekhmet. His gaze cut to the female feline. "You're really ... with him? With Albert?"

"At times," she said.

Evan grimaced. "You can do better. You ought to shake him off like a Taylor Swift song."

Sekhmet canted her head. "I do not understand your reference."

"Nothing, nevermind. It's Classic-Pop - Patience has been listening to a lot of C-Pop and oldies since getting back to the surface. I prefer classic-oldies and Motown, myself."

"You are speaking Greek."

Evan erupted into laughter. "For an Egyptian goddess to make that joke is just priceless."

"I'm glad I amuse you. Come with us, Evan. You are a worthy warrior. Help us to finish pushing the defenders of this city until they fall back."

Evan shook his head. "I don't take lives. However, I'll help you funnel them into falling back. I'll create walls to quarantine sections of the city as we clear them. We'll push everyone back until they have no choice but to head to the Underground City, or evacuate with the citizens."

Heimdallr shook his head. "It is not a matter of slaying men. We have battled three types of foe. Some are men, some are men clad in armor," said Heimdallr, motioning to a motionless man, on his back, wearing a futuristic suit with a visor. "Others are soulless machines."

"You guys are fighting robots?" Evan knelt down besides the man in the super suit. He placed his hand on the visor, causing it to fade away.

Silica dust appeared in a pile on the pavement near Evan's other hand. He placed a finger near the man's nose, but it was apparent the soldier was dead.

"This is like some sort of power suit, like Iron Man or from Crysis."

Heimdallr tilted his head. "You've seen such mythical coats of arms?"

Evan looked up. "In science fiction, yes. I've lived here, in this city, for a long time. I've never seen soldiers wearing these before."

"Perhaps you should don this armor. It is impressive and would keep you safe."

Evan stood up. "It's probably biometrically coded to the person wearing the suit. It would be controlled by someone of authority, who likely has the ability to shut them down by remote. What starts as armor would effectively become a deathtrap for me."

Heimdallr nodded. "You seem wise in the ways of this technology. Fair enough. Shall we go, then?"

Evan looked back down at the man with the suit. "I admit, though, I really do want to try one. Crysis-3 was one of my favorite cellphone game-ports when I was in high school."

"I will help you strip the suit from the man within if you prefer."

Evan rubbed his chin in thought. "If we can find Fox or Conner Parker, they can reprogram it..."

X

X

Three Miles Below...

Reno turned to Vincent."Did you understand any of that?"

Vincent looked at the communication device and shrugged. "Topaz sounds safe, that's all I care about. It sounded like everyone is okay, but there's something you should know."

"What's that?"

Vincent held a finger up and brought the communicator back to his ear. "Wait, can you repeat that, Paz?"

Reno turned away from his brother and looked around the living area.

A faded bull was painted on the wall. Reno stared at the mural for a while, shook his head, and turned back to Vincent.

"...Okay, I love you hon. Stay safe. We'll be back when it's done." A pause, then, "Bye, babe." Finally, "No, I love _you_more. You, too." Vincent thumbed the communicator. "I'm just surprised we have service down here. He has access points in the air circulators."

Reno looked around the room again.

"Reno?"

"Huh?"

"I said, I'm surprised we found a service node down here."

"Oh, I thought you were still talking to her. You guys said 'bye' like forty-six times, and each time you started talking again."

"No, we hung up that time. I was just saying we're lucky to have been within range of one of those air ducts hanging from the ceiling. They act like towers so that Falcon and his people can communicate with New Atlantis. Anyway, what I'm about to tell you is huge, but it's definitely something you should know."

Reno tilted his head, turning back to Vincent. "I couldn't tell when you were talking to me and when you were talking to her. Next time, just say you're off the phone, Vin."

"Sorry. Anyway, look, they found Nicky."

"What? Your girlfriend? What about her? Was she missing?"

"No, Reno. Not my Nichole. _Your_Nicky. The real one. She's alive."

Reno blinked twice. "Nicky's alive?"

"She's in stasis. She had her injuries repaired, and she was restored, then Falcon apparently put her into stasis. She's thawing now. It'll take a while. We might even make it back before everyone wakes up."

Reno rubbed his hands over his mouth and began pacing. "They're sure she's ... they think they can wake her?"

"We'll know soon. There's something else."

"Yeah?"

"Apparently Karla's husband isn't dead."

Reno turned to face his brother. "What? They found Eric in stasis too?"

"No. He intervened and saved everyone's life. Gas vented into the stasis lab. Eric became a shadow and made himself just solid enough that he could block the ductwork or something."

Reno exhaled long and slow. "Well. Isn't that tidy. Karla gets her man back, I get my fiancée back. Everyone's happy. I just ... it's sudden. I hope Nicky and Karla will be okay. It's just, you know, a lot at once. I can't think about that stuff right now."

"You need a hug?"

Reno balked. "What? A hug? No, do you?" Reno walked to the window and peered out into the gloom of the dimly illuminated lost city of the First People. "How much further to the temple thing?"

"It's not far," said Vincent. "Are you going to be okay? If you need a minute to get your feelings out..."

"Jesus," Reno quipped. "I don't need to 'get my feelings out.' I don't need a hug, Vin. I need to dropkick the ever-loving-shit out of Aris Falcon. I need to take this stupid seed - this stupid thing he killed all those gypsies over - and I need to ram it down his throat. Then, after I beat the hell out of that guy, you and I will finish this thing by vaporizing that prick. And when it's all said and done, I'm going to stomp on whoever was following him around."

"That's a lot of aggression you're bottling, Reno."

"Aw Jesus, enough with the touchy-feely bullshit, bud. Let's go and fry that douchebag. I'm so tired of this nonsense. I just want to go home and relax. I want to watch some TV. And whether it's Karla or Nicky sitting there, at this point I really don't care. Just so long as I'm the one who is still standing when Falcon is toast. I can worry about girls later."

"Reno, you really should figure out how you're feeling between Karla and Nicky before you go back up there."

Reno shrugged. "I need to bottle that shit for another time. If I die today, it won't really matter now will it? Priorities, Vin. You get your cake and eat it, too. Plus frosting. Me? I'll let the girls choose. If it were up to me, I really don't want to choose right now. I want to focus on keeping my head firmly attached to my shoulders. Besides, Karla's husband is back. So it's a non-issue."

Vincent frowned. "It's obvious that this is bothering you. Did you fall in love with Karla?"

"Oh_Christ_, man! Let's not get all touchy-feely, all right? Karla and I agreed we weren't dating. It was friends with occasional benefits. We're still going to be friends when this bullshit blows over. We're both adults. We're both cool. Everything is fine. I'm more worried about Nicky freaking out that I slept with someone else while she was supposed to be dead."

"Oh. So you don't want to hurt her heart, I see."

Reno groaned. "I love you, man. You're my brother and I'd kick all the asses in the world for you, Vin. But I don't handle my 'feelings' the way you do. I bottle that crap, I beat things with my fists - in a ring if possible. I don't talk it out, I don't hug everyone, and I don't let that shit bother me. Now let's go find Falcon and finish this. Cool?"

Vincent grimaced. "Yeah, Reno. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"Oh geeze. You didn't offend me. Look, I'm just not the sensitive type. Sorry I got short with you, but that's not my thing." Reno shook his head. He walked out of the living area, through the front door of the mansion-like dwelling, and headed down a path towards the temple.

Vincent followed his brother. "I don't want you to feel like I'm judging you or anything."

"Judging...? What? It's already in the past, man. Leave it back in that house we just came from, Jesus." He laughed and shook his head. "Look, I get it. You're surrounded by two girls and a semi-gay dude. You're huggy, you're used to, like, snuggling or whatever ... I get it. But I'm not bothered by shit until it's time to deal with it head-on. So let's go deal with Falcon, then I'll go hug Nicky. If you think it's sweet, then cry for me. I don't cry. I'm not a crier."

Vincent chuckled with a grin. "Okay, okay. Don't mind me. I'm just being a 'semi-gay dude.' For the record, it's called bisexual."

Reno ran his hands up through his hair and rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean..."

"I'm not offended. You're not the only brother here who can let things roll off your back. But you'll live longer if you let yourself cry every now and then. You'll live longer if you take a minute to enjoy a good hug."

"Oh geeze. C'mon, we're wasting time." Reno quickened the pace of his walking. "And for the record, we're not hugging Falcon before we kill him."

Vincent laughed. "No hugging. I'll save my hugs for my family."

Reno shook his head with a grin. "Yeah, you do that, kiddo."

"Hey, you're the kiddo, now."

"Uh-huh." Reno smirked. He looked forward and reached a hand out, stopping his brother. "Okay, we're getting close. Are you sure you can do this? People will die - Falcon won't make this easy."

"What if we simply tell him we need to speak to him."

Reno turned to Vincent, brows furrowed. "You think he'll go for that?"

"I've known him for a quarter century," said Vincent with a shrug. "He's counted on me. He's trusted me. You have the last artifact, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to give it to him."

"It works with the other relics right?"

Reno shrugged the way his brother did seconds prior. "I don't know how it works. I'm supposed to keep it safe. Besides, my people should be taking the other objects out of here. With any luck, those things are already gone. I know I can count on Kalen to see that job all the way through."

"I'm just saying, you have a bargaining chip to gain an audience with Aris. We talk our way in and fight our way out."

Reno rubbed his chin. He pondered the outcome. "I like the way you word that. You've got a clear head about this from the start - you'd have made a good cop on that merit alone."

"Can I just be honest with you? I'm proud you were a detective, but I always disliked cops in general. At least American cops. It's like ... that profession attracted a certain personality archetype."

Reno scoffed with a wry grin. "Yeah, well, I'm probably one of them. I liked the job and I liked bullying the bullies. Sometimes I let it get to my head and I got short with bystanders but I was a product of what the public turned me into. They were rude first, you know?"

"Sorry I brought it up. So, we're talking our way in right?"

"A good officer knows how to talk down a situation when it's necessary, Vin. Let's do this."

Vincent started walking again. He approached the front of the temple. It was well guarded with foot patrols and guards at every doorway.

Reno counted the number of soldiers and kept a mental tally.

Vincent held his palms upwards at about shoulder height. He came to one of the doormen. "We have something for Dr. Falcon."

"Orders are not to bother the Doc. Take a hike, radioactive freak."

"Hey," Reno snapped. "You seriously want to..."

Vincent reached over and slugged his brother in the chest. "Don't mind him, officer," said Vincent, adding, "He was a cop on the surface."

The guard at the main entrance eyed Reno. "Where?"

Reno glared at his brother, grinned, and turned to the armored man. "Homicide division, San Francisco Central, Financial District. It's gone, now. It burned after the nuke."

The guard approached Nevada and studied the brothers' expressions. "What do you mean nuke?"

Reno tilted his head a bit. "You didn't know? San Francisco was nuked at the end of October."

"There were rumors that America wasn't safe anymore, but it was nuked?"

"Twice," Vincent said. "Another in Texas recently. "Were you a police officer on the surface?"

The soldier behind the visor cut his gaze from left to right. It appeared as though he was looking at his HUD within his armored suit. After a moment he sighed and said, "No. My father was a cop in San Francisco. I was just a kid. I was born there."

"My brother and I were born in San Francisco," said Vincent. "Look. Doctor Falcon is not expecting me, but my orders are to report directly to him as a primary directive concerning an artifact."

"Let me see the artifact. I'll stream the feed to the Doc's assistant."

Vincent nodded to Reno.

Reno pulled out a small seed about the size of a grape. It was fused together and slightly translucent with gossamer-like veins just beneath the surface layer.

The soldier leaned close so that the camera above his visor could zoom in on the relic. He lifted his left hand and made a gesture in front of his visor, so as to interface with the HUD he had in front of his eyes.

The guard held his left forearm out and rotated it quickly, then back, as if flicking his wrist. The coloring of lights over his face changed, reflecting in his eyes.

The lighting over his face disappeared; the interface went dark. A moment later, a box of lettering appeared over his face in bold text.

Reno couldn't see the wording in the visor, but he could see the reflection of lettering in the man's eyes, and across his face.

The soldier stepped back. "This is a tertiary directive beneath protecting Dr. Falcon and the sister cities. He wants you to come in."

Vincent nodded. "It's my primary objective, because I'm not a soldier. Thanks for your help." He walked with Reno through the front gates.

Once they were through, Vincent added, "See? Easy. And for the record, the Underground City and New Atlantis aren't sister cities. But they might as well be called that, because they're linked now, and we've been stealing technology from down here and recreating it up there for years."

Reno nodded but kept his eyes moving, ever vigilant. He counted every soldier he saw and murmured the running tally to himself.

"Lot of people, huh?"

"Yeah," Reno replied. He began mouthing numbers again.

The two brothers made their way to the front of the main citadel. There was an outside courtyard of sorts, and there were three doorways, leading in three different directions.

Vincent nodded to the one on the far left. "That's some sort of temple but only Falcon knows what it does. It's the first place he was able to access when he made it down here the first time. He said it was important to have control over it because it ensured that no one could 'undo his accomplishments' ... whatever that means."

Reno said nothing.

Vincent pointed to the middle hallway. "That's the inner sanctum. We can't get in there. Nobody can. That door is what Falcon wants. Fox and Topaz were genetically modified to be more than twins - they're chimera. They were engineered to have the same DNA as the parents of the Governor of this city from ten thousand years ago."

"A clone couldn't do the job, huh?"

"No. Apparently, Aris tried that. The computer saw right through it."

"Retina and print scan?"

"I don't think so, else Conner wouldn't be an option to fool this thing."

"So how does it work, without getting too technical?"

Vincent tucked in his shirt. "Fox's sperm and Topaz's eggs were modified using the remains of the dead Governor, so that the twins' children would be born exactly with all the same genetic markers at the Governor who died. Their child will be able to open that door because the computer will recognize his authority based on something other than biometric markers. Maybe, just incase the leader d to chane his face, the computer was designed to scan that person's genetic..."

Reno put his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "Vincent..."

"Right, sorry." He motioned for Reno to follow towards the grand entrance on the far right. "This is the secondary citadel. Come on."

"Remember to stay cool," said Reno. "Stoic face. No emotion, no excitement."

Vincent walked inside with Reno behind. "This only became accessible after the quake of 2025. It knocked down quite a few buildings out in the rest of this city. But Falcon made it so the Commonwealth of Virginia was brought out this way."

"Okay, I'll bite - why?"

Vincent frowned. "There's a small city beneath it. It was built to withstand just about anything. So, we brought the city out to connect to this one. All the landmass around that area was ripped away and came along with Virginia. It wasn't supposed to happen that way."

Reno grimaced. "Yeah. Everything east of the Appalachian Mountains broke clean off. But you already know that." He shrugged a bit. "You can't blame yourself for that, Vin."

"With all due respect to both sides of this mess, Dr. Falcon thought he was going to rip out a city beneath the ground. His damage estimate was that there would be a quake, followed by a sinkhole. He estimated the casualties at a few hundred thousand and compared that to saving eight billion."

Reno rolled his eyes. "The balls on that guy, I swear. He had people killed in Golden Gate Park. I was assigned to that case. He had me fired. Whatever happened to that bitch, Monroe, anyhow?"

"Krys died. When she found out about her past, and her sister, along with everything else, she decided she was going to switch sides. Nichole killed her and took her ability to sense supernaturals."

Reno sighed. "This is some complicated bullshit drama you got yourself involved in, Vin."

"Yeah." Vincent lowered his gaze to the decadent floor tiles. "He thinks he means well, but the insane never know they're crazy. I promised Topaz I would spy on this place for her and I've done it most of my life. I've seen things happen that really upset me."

"Like?"

"Let's just say if somebody could have made Aris Falcon work for the Esoteric Council, maybe he wouldn't have tried to kill everyone and go off the deep end. He really did want to save lives, he just doesn't know how to ... I don't know."

"How crazy is this guy?" Reno looked around noting the recently added light fixtures. "And how can we beat this guy?"

"The word eccentric doesn't come close. Then again, he doesn't have the personality of eccentric bad guys like in comic books, Reno. He's down to earth and pleasant. He's the perfect mix between a politician and a mad scientist."

"The worst of the worst," Reno muttered. "So how can he die?"

"Did you bring the nanobots from Fox's room on the island?"

"Uh, no? I told Conner to find them, but he never got around to it."

Vincent stopped in front of a petrified wooden door at the end of the hall. A modern doorknob was added to the beautifully carved doorway.

Vincent turned to Reno and frowned. "We kind of needed those."

"Gee, I'll make sure to follow up with Conner when I die and re-spawn at my last save-point."

"Yeah, I wish life was like a video game. Then again, I haven't played video games in over twenty years."

"You used to live on them."

"Yeah." Vincent reached for the knob, took a deep breath, and opened it. "Dr. Falcon! Merry Christmas! My brother and I worked out our differences on my last visit to the surface. After I explained that you're trying to save lives, he brought the..."

"Save the speech," said Aris in a calm voice. "Come in, gentlemen. Close the door, please." Aris stood up from behind his desk and placed his tablet computer facedown on the desktop.

Vincent grew quiet. He pulled the door shut behind himself.

Aris Falcon wore a white business suit, a matching white lab coat overtop, and a silk pearl-white tie. "Inspector Nevada, welcome back."

Reno thought the man looked like some sort of televangelist dressed in all white. "Yeah, thanks," he said in a dry tone.

Nevada reached into his pocket and withdrew the grape-sized object from his pocket. "I can't arrest you for killing those gypsies in 2023, so I need to hear you explain how killing so many people will save the world."

Aris approached the two and withdrew a device reminiscent of a cellphone. He held it over the seed while the device scanned it. "I brought them together for the map tattooed on their backs, Inspector. They fought to protect the information. I defended myself and put the rest of the world first."

Vincent blinked. "I thought Rick Peterson killed them?"

Aris shook his head. "It's complicated." He turned to Reno and said, "You had the ability to touch things and see their past."

"Yeah, it was temporary. But I had it long enough to see you standing over the bodies in a black business suit. Shame I lost that ability, because I'd love to see what kind of lies you're telling me and my brother, twenty-six years later."

"You didn't lose it," said Aris. "It became dormant. That part of your mind had access to it temporarily. It was your father's ability, so you come by it naturally - good genetics."

Reno eyed Falcon. "You knew our father?"

Aris smiled and walked away from the seed. He cradled the scanning device in his hands, using his thumbs to type on the screen. "Yes, Inspector. I knew your mother, too. She believed in this..." Aris raised his hands, gesturing to everything surrounding them. "All of this. But she lost her way when she fell in love with your father."

"She had an ability?" Vincent asked. "Why didn't you tell me this before? Any of this?"

"Because I was waiting to find the seed. It was her obsession more so than my own. At least ... it was, once upon a time. She was a brilliant scientist."

Reno stuffed the seed back into his pocket. "She was?"

"Yes. Inspector, that's where you got your passion for learning the truth. She investigated science; you investigated human fallacies. I suspect that her ability is how each of you have yours."

"Our powers are different," said Vincent.

Aris sat back down at his desk, still holding the small scanner device between his folded hands. "Gentleman, your mother controlled energy at its purest raw form. Your father possessed advanced brain function due to an anomaly. He was not supernatural in any way - he simply had access to higher brain functions."

"What kind of anomaly?" asked Reno.

"No one knows. But he, himself, was quite an anomaly. And he understood Carol in a way that made her madly in love."

Vincent tilted his head and approached Falcon's desk. "You were in love with her, weren't you?"

"I knew her before she met your father. But we _never_had chemistry outside of a laboratory. If we did, I'm the only one that felt or saw it."

Reno shuddered. "Look, I don't care if you two had coffee together, or if you talked about geeky shit. I'm here because I want to save as many lives as I can. I brought the seed you've been searching for, and you've scanned it, so you know it's real."

"Yes, it's real." Falcon set the device on the table and folded his hands. "You look like you have a question."

"It's not important."

"As a scientist, no question should go unasked if one can help it."

Reno grimaced. "Fine. You said my father was an anomaly. I have to ask - was my father Nathanial Carrington?"

Falcon laughed. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "No."

"You're sure?" Reno made eye contact with Falcon to see if the man was lying.

Aris tilted his head, brows arched. "Inspector, _you_tried to save his life after the EMP. You were face-to-face with him. Did he look like your father?"

"Yeah, actually. I mean, he had a few of the same facial features."

Falcon shrugged. "They were both anomalies in their own right, however Nathanial and Michael were two very different men. They were friends, but they were not related. So, no, Carrington is not your father. He is not your uncle. He's not your grandfather."

Reno tightened his hand on the large seed in his pocket. "Fair enough. I just thought we had a lot in common."

"Ah. You mean the lightning? Your penchant for playing 'good cop, bad cop' in the Esoteric Community? Who knows, maybe he was distantly related to you."

"So how can you be sure that we're not related?"

Falcon tapped the handle on the scanner on his desk gently. "Because Carol said that Michael and Nathan were close, but not related. I suppose it could be possible she either didn't know or chose not to disclose such to me. Nathan was quite a bit older than Michael, although he wasn't much older than your mother."

"My mother was in her thirties when she died," said Reno.

"She certainly looked that way," Aris replied. "We should take the seed up to the vault in The Perch."

"Perch?"

Vincent turned to Reno and quietly said, "It's the name of the tallest building in the city. It's where Dr. Falcon lives, and where he has most of his belongings."

Aris nodded, having heard Vincent's whispering. "It was also designed by the city's chief architect, Andrew Perch. He designed the layout and every building in New Atlantis. He never lived to see it, but I named the building for him."

Vincent crossed his arms over his chest. "You also like the name because of how it works with yours."

Falcon smiled. "Yes, I suppose it does amuse me."

"How many have to die to save the world?" Reno asked.

"Excuse me, Inspector?"

"I'm not a cop anymore, thanks to you and Krys Monroe. Now answer the question - how many more people have to die to save the world?"

Another voice came from a doorway behind Falcon's desk. "That depends on your definition of saving the world."

Reno looked up. He squinted his eyes with a look of confusion. "That doorway wasn't there before."

Aris glanced over his shoulder, briefly, then cut his gaze back at Reno. "It was cloaked with a hologram before now."

Another man stepped into the office. "Vincent, Reno - the legendary Nevada brothers," said the man. "Did you know you were given different last names from your parents, so that people wouldn't target you when hunting for your mother and father?"

Reno stared at the man for a moment. "Loki? Are you serious?"

"Oh, you figured it all out, have you?" Loki smiled brightly. "To answer your question in regards to the population, Reno - two percent."

Reno looked down and to the left, trying to figure out the number. "Wait, that's..."

Vincent blinked. "You're going to kill two hundred million people?"

Loki laughed. "No, boys. Two hundred million will be alive when the dust settles. Ragnarök is not the name of a phase or some project - it is a time period indicative of a cleansing. The last two thousand years of malice, hate, death, disease, and darkness will all become wiped away. The world will start fresh but with modern technology. It will be beautiful, green, lush, and wonderful."

Reno shook his head. "You're going to kill over nine billion people and you think you're saving the world? I'm done here. You're not getting the seed."

Aris stood up. "You're not leaving with it."

Loki came around the other side of the desk. "People and the world are two different things. They are symbiotic to a degree. People are an organism inhabiting the world. Some are parasites, some are good. What if you could eradicate all harmful bacteria and viruses? What if you could keep naturally occurring ones that help the host body? That's all we're doing."

"Fuck off." Reno drew both his hands and created an arc of lightning. "I wasn't going to give you the seed anyhow. I never was."

Loki laughed and sat down on Falcon's desk. "We knew that. We also know that your people are attacking New Atlantis. You're cut off from your allies, Reno."

Aris sighed as if feigning boredom. "Inspector, your lightning won't kill Loki. I doubt it will cause harm to myself."

"Cool, let's see if your 'hypothesis' is right, pal." He charged up his body, causing his arms to crackle with rolling arcs that traveled up his wrists and over his elbows.

"I'll handle this," said Falcon to Loki. "You should prepare for the next stage. I'll take the seed up to the serpent."

"Fine," said Loki. "Remember, Rufus and the other werewolves can't leave here alive. It's the only way for Fenris to free himself."

"Rufus is the only one that came," Falcon said. The doctor got to his feet and adjusted his white tie. He smoothed his hands down over the business suit and matching white lab coat. "Inspector, hand it over. Whatever your intentions were, you've lost. Let's move on, shall we?"

"You really think you're saving lives by killing nine billion people?"

"Reno, you're dressed in black. I'm dressed in white. I'm not the bad guy, here. I never was. Misunderstood, perhaps. Willing to take lives? Yes. But that doesn't make me evil."

"Oh? I'm the bad guy? You think you know me?"

"I knew your father bought you comics as a child. That was your connection to the rest of the world. The husband of Patience Balmoral was the same way - he had a very set and narrow view of how to save the world."

"You're not the bad guy, huh? Yet you've named your hide out The Perch. Jesus, Falcon, you don't even see how crazy you really are."

"Good guys name their hideouts. Bad guys nomadically move about the globe looking for places to start trouble. I hardly think 'The Busty Belle' is a proper place to save the world, Inspector. I thought bad guys live on yachts more often than their counterparts."

"Fuck you." Reno kicked his chair out of his way and charged up his arms. "You ready, Vincent?"

"Sorry, doctor. I'm with my brother on this."

Falcon sighed. "Vincent, I sent you all over the world to save people. And you still don't see the truth, here? What a shame."

"Yeah, well, I've seen what lengths you'll go to get your way. I quit." Vincent glanced at his brother, back at Falcon, and tried to show a look of resolve.

Falcon opened his arms. "This is it? Just the two of you? Gentlemen, I love good theater - as well as most, but the dénouement is laughable at best." He spread his fingers apart and a cloud emerged from beneath his fingertips.

"Gas? Good guys don't use poison gas," Reno said, eyes narrowed and jaw set.

"Goodbye, gentlemen," Falcon replied.

The miasma of gas reached near Vincent and Reno but froze in place just shy of Vincent's body.

Vince took a step back but the gas appeared motionless. He reached a hand forward as if to wave away the gas but a hand reached out and snatched Vincent's wrist.

"I wouldn't touch that," said a man in a Spanish dialect. The man turned to face Reno and smiled. "Señor, a pleasure as always."

"Raul," Reno approached the Spaniard and took his free hand, shaking it. "You came."

"Si, y'soy aqui." Raul approached the frozen gas cloud and picked up a book on a wall shelf. He used the edge of the book to draw a smiling face, causing the cloud to bunch up in the corners of the outline.

Reno smirked. "Real cute, Picard."

Raul continued. "Did you not know that Falcon can release a virus that would attack you both? It causes your eyes to melt immediately, rendering you unable to focus your abilities. It cuts oxygen to your blood stream, and paralyzes you instantly. Your body breaks down over the course of a few hours. You lay there, helpless, unable to move, yet completely conscious. You feel the pain of your body failing, but you cannot flail or roll into a fetal position - such is a terrible way to die, is it not?"

Reno stared at the smiling face drawn into the cloud. He wanted to chuckle until hearing Raul's words. "That's seriously messed up."

Vincent shook his head. "I didn't know he could do that, how did you?" He turned to Raul, adding, "And who are you, exactly?"

Raul held his hand towards Vincent. They shook. "Raul Sergio Poliandro. I stop time and move through it as necessary."

Vincent blinked. "You can't move through time."

"I beg to differ."

Reno frowned. "Raul, I thought you said you couldn't go forward and back in recent years."

Vincent cut his gaze to Raul. "That's what I meant. Dr. Falcon has this technology in the adjacent citadel that is supposed to render it impossible to move through time, so that nobody can stop him or change the timeline. He did it so that his work can't be undone."

Raul sighed. "Yes. That is true. I thought you were arguing that I am not a time traveling Spaniard with a handsome face and perfect jet black hair."

Vincent opened his mouth and then closed it, and shook his head. "Look, thank you for stopping him from killing us."

"I broke my own laws," said Raul. "There are a handful of watchers throughout history. We police those who have our ability and try to tamper with time. We also police those from the future who sought to tamper with time. That has been sufficiently derailed, now. But most of all, I should not be saving people with my abilities."

Reno took his brother by the arm and guided Vincent to the door. "Why did you help us, Raul?"

"I've been pondering something said by one of your friends ... or perhaps as-of-yet said by one of your friends, I cannot remember which."

"What did they say?" asked Reno.

"If the world ends, linear time will cease to matter. And then I, Raul Poliandro, will cease to matter." Raul grimaced, adding, "Currently, I can only stop time. I can only move through time-space. But I cannot go back or forward at this point. I am entangled to this span in the movement of time, currently. Shall we leave?"

Reno opened the door. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Because I have been here for many days. I will take you to New Atlantis, but I am staying here to determine what occurs next. I cannot go to the future to learn of the past, so I have to stay in the present and learn of history as it occurs."

"Wait. I have one thing left to do." Reno walked back towards the large, frozen gas cloud. He moved around it, between the wall and the dispersal cloud, and approached Falcon.

The man's hands were outstretched and his eyes were calm, facing straight ahead. His mouth was open, likely from forming words - perhaps from boasting.

Reno withdrew the seed from his pocket. He pushed the seed into Falcon's mouth. Using his other hand to force Aris' jaw open, Reno wedged the seed halfway down the man's throat. He closed Aris' mouth and smirked. "He wanted it so bad? Let him choke on the damn thing."

Raul sighed from the other side of the cloud. "Que pasa, Inspector?"

Reno made his way back to the front of the makeshift office. He stepped into the doorway, glanced back at Raul and said, "I'm not a homicide inspector anymore. For now on, I'll investigate stuff for the Esoteric Council if I feel like it, but I'm done being an inspector. Nicky always said I could be so much more than just a cop, and I'm starting to realize she was right."

"Very well. You really are becoming more like Nathan Carrington," said Raul. "I can think of no better man to carry on his name and legacy."

Reno started walking down the hallway. His first step was that of the marble-like flooring of the temple. His very next step was in a paved street in New Atlantis.

Smoke rose above some of the buildings. A car was on its side in a nearby intersection.

A manhole cover was lying on a man wearing a suit of futuristic armor. The man was motionless and his face was pale. His visor was lying on the sidewalk, not far from his weapon.

Reno knelt besides the man and looked him over. Blood coagulated around his ears and cheeks, having nowhere else to drain inside the suit.

The soldier's suit was leaking blue liquid at several joints, and his eyes were damaged. A mucus-colored fluid was dried to his cheeks.

Reno sighed and shook his head. "This poor asshole is bleeding red, white, and blue everywhere just to prove he's free." He stood up and looked back at Raul and Vincent. "Do you even have flag colors down here, Vin? These people aren't the ones who killed a hundred thousand supernaturals around the globe. They're the children."

"Sins of the father and all that, ñaño." Raul shook his head. "You're right. They did not commit the crime, también they did not deserve to die for their fathers' mistakes."

"Thanks for saving our butts." Vincent approached Raul and offered his hand. "Breaking the rules for us - I really appreciate that."

"Si. Let's try not to make that sort of mistake again. It was never supposed to happen that way. Don't make a habit of rushing in." Raul turned to Reno and added, "You should help Rue - you know, the were_wolf_ named Roo. Can someone tell me how that made any sense?" Before anyone could reply to his joke, Raul turned to Reno and added, "You'll see me again soon. I have things to take care of. Go and help the others wake up your fiancée and everyone else."

Reno shook hands with Raul.

The Spaniard disappeared, displacing himself through time-space.

"Where'd he go?"

"Back to spy on Falcon," said Reno with a shrug. "Just a hunch."

Vincent gave his younger big-brother a playful shove, "This way. It's not far."