Power Play

Chapter 12: Ryan

Chapter 12: Ryan

    "Ryan! Come in," Vryce said with a smile, holding the door open for him.

    "Thanks," Ryan muttered as he stepped past the man into a very expensive and well furnished apartment. He could tell at a glance that the entire place was as immaculate as Vryce himself always was. "So, why'd you ask me here?"

    "I've heard some things from some people I know. Things here are getting too volatile, too dangerous, too risky. So I'm going to be leaving, at least for a time. I'll be back as soon as everything calms down, but I'm going to need to leave soon to avoid having someone else lock me into their conflict before I can escape," Vryce told him.

    "Wait, what conflict? What's going to happen that's so bad that you feel you have to get out of the city to avoid it?" Ryan demanded.

    "I can't give you the exact details and betray my source like that. In fact, I've already told you too much, but I've done it because I need to ask a favor from you. We'll get to that in a minute, though. All I can tell you now is that a battle among a number of freaks is coming, and that if you stay here you will be drawn into it, despite your youth. If you fight in this battle, your life will be at risk. You could very easily wind up being killed, Ryan. If you leave the city within the next couple days, and make up some excuse for why you went, you can still avoid that risk. Just so long as you never admit that you left because you knew the conflict was coming, you'll never be challenged for it. I could call you to let you know when it was safe to return," Vryce offered.

    Ryan paused for a moment, considering this. But he came to his decision relatively quickly; after all, though he recently decided not to kill himself, he still didn't exactly have a healthy fear of death. "I think I'll stay."

    Vryce just nodded. "I expected as much. Which is why I'll be delaying my departure until two days from now, so that we can get in two more training sessions tomorrow and the day after and I can try to prepare you as much as possible before I go. After all, given the amount of time I've already put into helping and training you, it'd be a genuine shame to see you get yourself killed in something like this. So, have you been working on your swiftsplitting lately?" Vryce asked as he finally turned and led the way past Ryan into what was obviously a living room, dropping onto a couch and gesturing vaguely in the direction of a couple chairs across from him, indicating that Ryan should sit where he liked.

    It took less than a second of focus before Ryan felt his consciousness divide into two bodies. Each of him moved to sit in a seperate chair, both studying Vryce calmly, as if what had just happened was the most natural thing in the world.

    Vryce smiled appreciatively, glancing back and forth between the two of him. "How long can you hold it?"

    Both Ryans glanced towards each other, than back to Vryce. "So long as I just keep it to two? Awhile," both Ryans said at the same time, the identical tones of their voices blending a little.

    "Fascinating," Vryce said with a look of rapt attention. "So you can still speak through all the divided bodies."

    "Even seperately, if I wish," the Ryan on the left told him. "It's actually not that hard," the Ryan on the right added.