Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 24 - The Second Summit of the End of the World - III

  "So he just went full supervillain," Ryan quipped. He'd evidently been trying to let some tension out of the room, but no one laughed. No one even smiled.

  "You lied to us," Neffie said.

  "We did," Cinza replied, her voice echoing through the frozen room.

  "Come on, can you blame us?" Ryan added. "If you guys knew everyone could get magic, we'd be a hell of a lot worse off than we are now."

  "He's just trying to divide us," Rachel said firmly. "Get in our heads. You can't listen to what he's saying."

  "Funny, because he's been a lot more honest than you," Gordon snapped. "Didn't even try to lie about killing us all. He could have lied to get us to help him."

  "Yeah, but he still wants to kill you," Ryan said. "Does it matter if he's an upstanding honest citizen about it?"

  "He did lie," Boris added quietly. "When he said he was not there. He had to be to create those electricity burns and frame Rika."

  Rachel seized on Boris' contribution eagerly. "Exactly. He's been trying to drive everyone apart from the start. Don't let him. He knows we can beat him." Gordon and Neffie still looked unconvinced, but they didn't speak up again. Jackie shifted uncomfortably in her chair and tried to look as surprised as the rest of them. "We've only got a little time before Jackson decides to start burning down the town. Hector—"

  "I'm in," Hector whispered.

  "What?"

  "I'm in," he repeated more firmly. "He's not giving anyone a choice. I... I have to help you stop him."

  Rachel nodded. "Then we know what to do."

  "Hang on. How are you goin' to get him?" Julian pointed out. Rachel looked surprised. "If he moves faster than Cinza can lay down her whammy, aren't y'all screwed? Seems like a one-shot deal."

  Rachel frowned. "How quickly can you strike a spot with it?"

  The robed girl shrugged. "How fast does magic travel?"

  "Speed of light?" Josh ventured. "I mean, it's gotta follow some natural rules, right?"

  "Magic. Natural rules," added Ryan sarcastically.

  Mason chimed in excitedly. "Actually, by our measurements magic might be instantaneous. It's difficult to get a precise measurement since I'm still bound by the speed of light myself, but based on the response time we've seen with some of the lab instruments, object telekinesis seems to be ahead of its visible position for picoseconds at a time. Actual motion using said kinesis wouldn't likely be able to exceed such a speed though since the energy output would kill the caster, either by recoil or by the explosion from the speed and mass of the object in motion, but the results of the mental action are carried out precisely at the time of the instruction, so to speak."

  "That doesn't help," Cinza replied. "Magnetic fields travel at lightspeed, but we still have to react fast enough to put it there."

  "So as long as he can move and react fast enough to avoid anything we try to do, it's gonna be impossible to catch him," Josh sighed.

  "Unless we can surprise him again," said Lily.

  "How'd you pull it off last time?"

  "I took command of his golem long enough for Natalie's wolf to get to him."

  "Perfect, just do that again," said Ryan.

  "He'll be expecting it," Lily sighed. "I had the impression he'd never been contested for control of a magical entity before. There's a trick to it. He'll know what to do next time."

  "That's still something though. Messing with his head, screwing up magic he should be the best at. What else do we got?"

  "His speed," Rachel said.

  "Well yeah, that's the problem. We gotta distract him."

  "No, we need to mess with his speed," Rachel replied.

  Ryan rolled his eyes. "How are we gonna do that? We don't have a clue what kind of magic it is. You ever seen someone else do shit that crazy?"

  Rachel's eyes flicked over to Hailey. She shook her head. "Never seen anything like it."

  The rest of the room seemed equally at a loss. Alden felt pressure building up in his chest. He'd been trying to avoid speaking for the most part ever since he arrived. Now that he was painfully aware of how little he mattered, and fully divested of his former guide and companion, Alden had decided to keep his head down and just try to stay alive.

  He couldn't stay silent any longer. In spite of their last encounter, and in spite of her abandoning him in the middle of a crisis, Alden still felt a twinge of loyalty to her. He didn't want to reveal what was ostensibly a secret power of hers, particularly since she'd been so reluctant to tell him its mechanics. She'd clearly kept it a tight secret, as not even Rachel knew about her access to the eighth branch of magic.

  It was too important and too powerful. They needed to know. No matter the consequences he might face, this might be the only way they could all survive. Alden cleared his throat and steeled his nerves. He was shaking as he stood to address the crowd, a mass of powerful and influential people to whom he was barely a passing thought.

  "I have."