Thanatos

Chapter 16

Four hours before the encounter with the New Dawn brothers, Jay and Adolf had arrived in Chihuahua. Megan was the one who requested for them, but even if she hadn't, they would have come anyway.

The investigation on the other side turned out to be a wild goose chase. The occupants of the Bodø apartment and the workers in the New York building had no obvious or hidden connection to each other, or to any nefarious activity which could then be linked to the Thanatos incidents. None of them had retained any semblance of the strange energy when Jay felt them either. Only a few even had interesting lives enough to warrant a journey to any suspicious place enough for Adolf to keep a long surveillance on them.

All in all, the investigation was one laborious process that ended up with the team combing through length and length of plot threads to no fruitful end. It was a relief really when Megan's call came through that she might have found a very actionable intel in the form of the ND.

"So, what's the plan?" Adolf asked the moment they were settled on the ranch.

"Sammy has helped us to secure a meeting with the New Dawn brothers in a secluded car park on the edge of town," Megan explained. "Knowing these guys though, they're probably coming in with more than a simple negotiation on their minds. So, here's how we'll use that to our advantage..."

As already disclosed, Megan, Kei, and Sammy were the tip of the mission. They would meet the New Dawn brothers in the open and act as first contact for whatever they had in store. Ricardo was the eye in the sky. He would keep tabs on the movements of the ND, especially in the shadows and report back on their formations and possible plot points.

But Jay and Adolf were perhaps the most pivotal part of the mission.

Thing is, while the team could already guess the New Dawn brothers' thoughts, they couldn't just counter it right off the bat.

First, that would be a gamble, a tasky one for that matter. The moment the ND suspected any change from the initial consideration from them, they would make changes of their own and drag the whole setup into an uncertain zone where the team – most especially Megan – would rather not head.

Second, what Megan was after wasn't the New Dawn brothers themselves but the power they had at their disposal. She had to make them feel threatened enough to plan with that power, but also maintain control over the situation such that things wouldn't get out of her control.

So, the plan ended up with the boys having to be stationed at what they termed, "the edge of vision".

As it turned out, about a few kilometres from the car park, there was a large mounted water storage tank. It was on this tank that Jay and Adolf were camped, watching as events unfolded.

"Still no sign of the ND," Jay said as he looked from the drone footage on the tablet in his hand to his wristwatch and back. He and Adolf had been shielded from the drizzle by the latter's wings, but that wasn't all the wings were shielding them from.

Apparently, the diamond crystals which Adolf's feathers were made of could adjust themselves in such a way that light would bend around them, making them and whatever they covered practically invisible to the naked eyes. The feather surfaces were also plated with actively adaptive nanites which not only improved the integrity of the wings as a whole but also made them capable of reflecting off any energy or signal on or around it, effectively rendering the boys undetectable to radar, infrared, X-ray or any other type of scanner their opponents might use.

"We've got movements," Ricardo announced over the earpiece and almost immediately, they looked up to see a limo coming up the gravel road to the car park in the rain. The drone footage switched to infrared and numerous bikes popped up on the screen, navigating the bushes on either side of the road, and more humans making their ways through the trees.

Jay looked to Adolf who shook his head negative. "Megan will give the signal to move," he said. "Wait for her."

The meeting soon began in earnest, but the boys' eyes were on the limo.

"There are two occupants in the back seat of the car," Jay said. "This guy, Tre seems to be taking his cues from them. Do you think they're the twins, the ND leaders?"

"Most likely," Adolf returned. "We have to keep more watch on them than the outside."

The tablet showed that the ND operatives had arranged themselves in some sort of formation around the car park but at a notable distance. The ones on bikes were dismounted but the ones on the trees stayed.

Adolf's wings tingled just then. "Hmm," he smiled, "they're doing a scan sweep similar to ours. Too bad their tech is nowhere as capable."

Two more tingles of his wings and all movements suddenly ceased in the area.

"We're good," the drone picked up a man's voice saying from the limo, "go in for the kill."

The operatives went in for a charge and Jay would have reacted with one of his own had Adolf not held him back.

"They're going to kill them, Adolf!" He insisted on his move but the latter still held on.

"Trust Megan," he said. "Wait for the signal."

The trio on the ground had been surrounded at this point. Adolf carried Jay to a higher level above the storm clouds. It didn't take powers to see that the mission was about to come to a head.

"Megan said to tell you to prepare for a party of forty," Ricardo said over the earpiece just then, "and bring your best suits to the event."

Now, Adolf nodded to Jay in affirmation. "We're on."