The journey to the city of Rothers was a treat. Every member of the squad got adjacent seats on a commercial airliner headed to the east coast. Nell had never been on a plane before and I had only gone on a small two-seater one time in my childhood. Kay and Tom had both been flying before and they enjoyed making comically terrified faces and clutching their armrests as the plane took off, in an effort to scare us.
Nell buzzed with excitement as she looked out from her window seat at the clouds below.
We passed the time playing games and snacking, but it was clear everyone was trying a little too hard for levity, compensating for the anxiety we all felt at what awaited us at our destination. Except for Daria, who seemed unfazed by any pressure. She had fallen asleep the second the plane had taken off.
When we landed, it wasn’t in Rothers but at a nearby airfield where we transferred to military helicopters. Everyone was given a headset to dampen the noise of the rotors so that we could be briefed on the flight to the drowning city.
Tides had apparently been rising abnormally for months now and finally the city’s flood barriers had been overcome by sea water. A city-wide evacuation had been called and mere hours into the evacuation, black clouds had begun to appear, originating at the Nentech building. Sillwood had its own Nentech headquarters, but this one was much larger, standing out as one of the tallest buildings in the city.
Headlines were panicking about the missing billionaire and owner of Nentech, Seth Grance, who was apparently inside the building when the clouds appeared.
We had little data about what lay inside. The people who had managed to escape the clouds were in a state of panic with injuries all over their bodies. They didn’t seem to understand what they had witnessed inside. So our current goal was to simply investigate the black fog and find a way to disperse it or, at the very least, rescue the people that were still inside.
Wind whipped a fine mist against my face as I looked out at the city from our vantage point in the helicopter. The streets were submerged in water and it was difficult to gauge the depth, as waves rose and fell, crashing around the buildings tall enough to stand above the water level. The choppy water obscured what were once roads and pedestrian areas, making the buildings that acted as tall islands the only thing left to indicate the general layout of the city. Bright red and yellow emergency boats were moving about the turbulent water, leaving white trails on the surface.
The city was quite beautiful. Rain gardens had been built on many of the rooftops, giving splashes of green to the tops of silver skyscrapers. Such gardens were typically intended to prevent flooding, but the sea water had no doubt eradicated any of these gardens built at ground level. Even when the salt water receded, it would take some time before plant life would grow there again.
Perhaps Nell could lend a hand in the restoration. I glanced over at her. Nell was taking in the scene, staying characteristically still even with the shaking of the helicopter and the deafening roar of the spinning blades. She had been happier since we’d left the H.E.S.P. compound, more talkative and engaged. I could tell that she liked the gardens as she glanced at me with a small smile.
We passed around a tall skyscraper and the first black cloud came into view, like someone had pierced the world’s largest spray paint can and the resulting cloud of mist plumed outward to envelope the building it was centered around. Two more clouds like it were further out, each with their own building, each a bit smaller than the last, with a very small cloud originating from a large arena with a white dome.
The clouds weren’t perfect spheres, rather they tended to droop like a teardrop, some of the smoky substance spilling down the sides of the buildings with the majority of the substance sticking together but weighing on itself like water.
“Is it breathable?” Neve’s voice asked through my headset.
“That’s what survivors are reporting. Just with increased difficulty, as if at high altitude,” Mac responded through the communication channel.
Neve was in my helicopter while Mac was in another.
“I wonder what it tastes like,” Tom mused.
“Tom, please keep the channel clear of non-mission relevant chatter,” Mac said, not for the first time.
I secretly wondered if Tom was doing it just to give me a little satisfaction in getting Mac annoyed. The more likely answer was that he just didn’t know how to stop.
I could hear Daria cackling next to me even over the din of the helicopter.
“I’ll let you know once we get inside, Tom,” she said.
The helicopter neared a landing pad, but chose to hover a few feet off the ground instead of completely touching down. The soldiers with us jumped out, fanning out into a circle around the helipad.
Daria wrapped her arms around Neve from behind and said something into her ear before jumping out with her. Nell jumped after them and I instinctively lurched forward before seeing her land perfectly, no help required. Then she turned around and held out her arms as if she was going to catch me. I landed in front of her, between her spread arms.
The black cloud looked much larger up close and it was right at our eye level. We’d landed on the building closest to it.
Daria was already stretching, loosening up her limbs and bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Well this is a nice place,” she remarked, the wind whipping her long hair into her face. “Plenty of room to stretch my legs.”
“No snow either,” Nell remarked happily.
Winter’s touch hadn’t made it to the east coast, although I wasn’t sure how much snow they usually got anyway.
“Alpha squad, escort the Shapers to ground level and make your way to the first black cloud site,” Mac ordered over the radio.
Daria groaned. “Do we have to go down? But it’s right over there. Don’t you guys have ziplines or something else cool?”
Mac ignored her. “Once we’re there, we’ll conduct a field sampling to see if the black cloud is toxic or contains parasites.”
“It’s safe to breathe,” Tom said glibly.
Mac’s sigh was audible over the radio. “Do you have a reason for suspecting that?”
“Nope. Just a hunch,” was the cheerful reply.
“Works for me,” Daria said. She turned to me. “Hey Nick, fly us over to the fog. I don’t wanna wait for these slowpokes.”
I eyed the distance, looking out over the edge of the helipad. It was a dizzying drop to the waters below. “I’ve never jumped that far,” I said. “Especially not with a passenger.”
Daria’s eyes lit up. “But you can do it?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Don’t you want to try? Come on, push the limits of that body, see if it breaks.”
“Eh…”
Nell spoke up, “You can make it.”
I eyed her incredulously.
She gave me a level stare back. “She’s right, you’re always holding back. I wanna see you break that mental block. What was that phrase from that movie we watched last week? Shoot the moon,” Nell said.
“Shoot the moon,” I repeated with a straight face. Daria was laughing again and I shot her a look. “You’re a bad influence on her.”
“No, honey, I’m a bad influence on you,” she said, stepping in close. “Besides,” she lowered her voice, “don’t you wanna piss off Mac again?”
Neve made a stifled noise as Daria wrapped her legs around my waist and hugged me. Daria grinned at her over my shoulder.
I focused on my Shape. In some ways, the process had always been alien to me. There wasn’t proper feedback in the way that there was when I moved a part of my body. And my Locust Legs had morphed so far beyond what I had originally planned out that I was playing with purpose more than specific mechanisms. I could sense Nell making adjustments, but I struggled to even recognize the initial idea of spring loaded tension in my legs. Other biological structures coiled with stored power and the only thing I knew for sure was that I held the button that said go.
“Nick, stop, that’s an order. Proceed with the team,” Mac said calmly into my ear.
“Blame the Director, Mac,” I responded, antlers muffling my voice. “She got what she paid for, loose cannon and all.”
My legs creaked under the incredible pressure that had built up, more than I had ever used before.
Go.
I released and the helipad was gone. Sky and sea rotated positions, turning like some diagram of heaven and earth. The droplets of water beat painfully against my skin, while the wind roared in my ears. The shock of it all made me lose awareness of our positioning. I didn’t know where our target was until it loomed frighteningly close, then vanishing again from my sight as we spun.
Daria let go of her hug while keeping her legs wrapped around me, stretching out into the air. Our rotation slowed slightly. Her eyes darted, tracking everything as it rotated around us.
With a whoop of exhilaration she released me, pushing away as the wall of darkness filled my vision. Then I was inside it, blind and still in motion. My shoulder hit a surface, jarring me painfully even through my armour.
I bounced and then slid on the wet carpeted floor. Weirdly, being inside the dark mist seemed to slow my acceleration, as if the air resistance had just doubled. I ended up tumbling into a crouch before slamming into some cushioned piece of furniture, judging by the softness. Finally, my momentum had been arrested.
Daria chuckled through the comms. “That was the best ride ever.”
I readjusted my headset. “I don’t appreciate being referred to as such,” I wheezed, the foreign gas making it difficult to catch my breath.
“You’re lucky I had my wits about me,” Daria said. “We nearly splatted into the wall between two windows.”
“I take it you are both now inside of site one?” Mac asked with infuriating calmness.
“Looks that way,” I replied evenly, then squinted at my surroundings. I was sitting upside-down on a couch that had been tipped onto its back. I could only gather this much from the faintest outlines of the white doorframe I was looking directly at. The cloud had been impossible to peer through looking in from the outside and inside it wasn’t much better. It was like looking through dense fog or murky waters. Everything was a little distorted, like the light was bending in a weird way. I stretched out my hand to touch the doorframe, realizing it was much closer than I’d initially thought.
“This is going to be difficult to navigate,” I said. “Visibility is near zero.”
“I can try to help with that,” Neve responded through my headset. “Permission to use my power, captain?”
“Granted,” Mac said.
Almost immediately, my senses sharpened. It was startling, like there had been a filter over the world that had just been ripped away and even in this murky, soft place, that unveiling made the world sharp, hard, and noisy. I could see a little further, the hallway beyond the doorframe coming into focus in shadows and lines. I could hear footsteps from the ceiling. The very air had a taste. Or a scent. It felt like the two had blurred together.
“Daria, are you above me?” I asked softly while bracing myself. Sure enough, the reply felt too loud.
Yup. Why are you whispering all of a sudden?”
“Everyone is just adjusting to my influence,” Neve explained gently. “I don’t have the kind of minute control needed to adjust individual levels, unless it’s Daria. Sorry, but everyone in my range is affected.”
“Aw. Except me,” Nell said.
“Careful, our enemies are getting the advantage too,” Mac cautioned. “Although, if the fog is how they want to operate, I think any boost in perception we gain is in our favour.”
I rolled off the couch and walked into the hallway. Moving felt off, there was extra resistance on every motion.
Daria echoed my thoughts, “Weird. It’s like I’m moving underwater.”
I strained my eyes, trying to make out anything strange in the fog. I wasn’t keen on finding out what had made the survivors bloody and jabbering with fear.
In the distorted light, I thought I could sense motion flitting just beyond my perception of the dark hallway. Something watching and waiting patiently.
“Our flying drones have reached the building,” a soldier said on the comms. “Infrared is seeing a lot of heat sources.”
“Description?”
“Difficult to say without getting closer. We’re having some trouble navigating the drones in the smog.”
I heard someone approaching me. Light footsteps sounded crisp on the carpet. I extended branches slowly towards the source. A white branch reached out and disappeared into the murk. When I heard the smallest of the branches break, I accelerated the growth, attempting to wrap up whatever it was. It moved rapidly towards me, snapping branches in its path.
Daria’s face loomed close, grinning maniacally. “Easy there, Nick.”
I exhaled, then broke off the branches with a shrug. “We should stay close,” I said. “Something is in here.”
Daria rubbed her shoulder on mine. “I’m good with that,” she purred, then she pulled away. “You’re strange, Nick.”
I moved forward, peering at all the shadows. “Uhh, how so?”
“I’ve been flirting with you constantly since we met. Everyone I push like this either freaks out, unable to handle it, or they turn up their nose, or they flirt back. But it just slides off of you, like you don’t even realize I’m doing it.”
“I notice. It doesn’t bother me particularly.”
“And I’m saying that’s weird. I know you aren’t a robot. You have fun like I do. So… I don’t get it.”
I wasn’t sure what to say.
Before I could speak, Daria cried out. “Ow!”
My attention snapped around to her. Her upper arm was bleeding. The wound had jagged edges, like the bite of a wild animal. She looked up, confused.
My pulse began to pound in my head. Even with my enhanced hearing, I hadn’t heard anything.
So why does Daria have a bite wound?
The answer swam into view, flitting past my head in a split second, giving me only a glimpse. A fish with bloodied needlepoint teeth, strange holes covering its body, swimming silently through the air.