Chương 51: 50-Hose, Sweet Hose

Billy, still in Lawman's form, dismissed the Executioner as the last of the kids tumbled out of the vehicle.

"I SHOULD MAKE YOU PAY FOR THE UPHOLSTERY," Lawman glared at Bob.

"Billy, for God's sake, you recreate that bloody car each time you summon it," said Jenna, who was helping Bob as the math teacher once again emptied the contents of his stomach.

"And please, change back into your alternate identity, or use the Blood Link. That voice is just too much." Lawman's shape glimmered for an instant, becoming Billy once again. All vigilantes could shift between one heroic and one civilian form just by willing it.

"Do you lose all your empowered stats when you shift back into a civilian?" Jenna asked as she helped Bob.

"No, I keep about half of them. No powers, though."

"Good. Then you are strong enough to carry him."

"Perhaps it's closer to one-third?" he added hopefully—too late. She had already walked away, sticking him with Bob.

"Hose, sweet hose," Bob mumbled weakly.

"Beg your pardon?"

"The one-liner," he mumbled.

"A word-play. Water hose, and home, sweet home."

"You make Charlie sound like Shakespeare."

"Charlie wants you to know he appreciates that." Billy got Jenna's call just as he left Bob's home.

"Dignity and I are at the Blue Inn with Dawn—you should come too."

"How is she doing?"

"She is taking it as well as could be expected. Things are weird, though. Much weirder than we thought."

"Meaning?" Billy was already heading to the inn as they spoke.

"She has been living in Brotonville for the past five years, long before Activation Day. She created a whole fictional identity and time-traveled to the past to make it real."

"What for?"

"To ambush and kill the federation assassin team, mainly. She is not like us, Billy. Decades are like a single morning to her. Years are pocket change."

"She was not like us, Jenna. She very much is, now."

"I stand corrected." Billy did not know how he felt about the outcome with Dawn. On the one hand, he felt some relief—the woman was creepy as hell. On the other hand, the Circle had lost its most potent weapon. Necessity was millions of years old. Only Dawn could stand up to him. He kept musing on this as he finally arrived at the inn. Marla, the owner, was having a heated discussion with Dignity and Jenna.

"Enough with your demigod silliness. I have known this woman for five years. Her name is Susan. She is a bit reserved, but she is also a good worker and a friend. There is nothing supernatural about her."

"I am sorry, Marla, but I am afraid they are telling the truth. There is no other way to explain these powers I have now," Dawn intervened. She sounded sad and tired. Billy thought she was holding up pretty well, considering the circumstances. She looked briefly at the Everlasting as he approached.

"You must be Billy. Nice to meet you—again." The four of them sat down as Marla prepared a light dinner. Dignity gave them a brief recap of everything that had happened in their absence, including the reveal that Essentials were nesting inside the Zealots' bodies.

"It actually makes a lot of sense," Billy admitted.

"The human host hides the Essential and provides some Essence for it, while the Essential controls the body and manifests its magic through it. They must all share some resistance to divination magic—that is why Bob's truthfinding perks have trouble reading them."

"The lifecycle seems clear," said Dignity.

"The Zealot destroys a dungeon and uses the Essence burst to create one of those parasites inside the body of the human accompanying them. It gains powers based on the dungeon's motif. Only systemless humans serve as hosts."

"The parasite was ejected from the body when Dawn activated the Zealot that attacked her, and it cannot survive outside a human body. It died in seconds."

"What did you do with the body? I could try to use Essence Sight on it." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"It turned into Essence in a few minutes. Nothing was left of it. I used a power I borrowed from an Avatar to imprint an aura reading from it, though. I thought it could be useful to you." Dignity concentrated and the floating, translucent image of a half-formed, multi-tentacled aberration the size of a cat manifested in midair. Billy used his powers on it, getting a feel for its Essential nature. Type: Boss.

Equivalent level: 28 Parent Dungeon: The Mirror Maze (Rank 4) Motif: Reality is but a reflection Tags: Parasitic, Hatchery, Hive Billy whistled.

"It has Hatchery, no big deal there, plus two interesting tags, Parasitic and Hive. Parasitic is new."

"Do these tags come from its parent dungeon?" asked Jenna.

"I think not," answered Billy.

"The name is a bit on the nose. Parasitic. It seems like a mockery of our symbiotic dungeons."

"I think all Zealots always carry these same tags, independently of the dungeon they destroyed. They only absorb the Motif."

"These are not spontaneous mutations," said Jenna—she had been using her cognitive powers.

"This is a bioweapon, aimed against dungeons. I am sure they prefer high-ranked ones."

"How can you tell?"

"Think about it. All high-ranked dungeons require a lot of Essence to upgrade. They only appear spontaneously near large concentrations of human beings. As the Apocalypse continues, people flee cities and gather in small communities. Essence flow becomes much less powerful around them—no high-rank dungeons anymore. Only small and medium ones. With one exception."

"Symbiotic dungeons—our dungeons. The only ones compatible with large communities," Dignity said, suddenly understanding it.

"The Federation was a weapon against the Circle itself. The Answer is a weapon against our symbiotic dungeons. They want to erase them from the face of the Earth. Both weapons are wielded by the same hand."

"The Coven," said Billy.

"They created the Answer."

"But how can they create a new dungeon tag?" asked Jenna.

"I thought only you could do that, Billy."

"Because Necessity is Arimel," Dawn answered.

"He was already my world's leading expert on anything related to dungeons. He practically invented them, and he has had an eternity to perfect his craft."

"There is nothing he can't do with them. Nothing."

"How do you know who he is? You are not supposed to remember anything after you were activated," said Jenna.

"I found this in my bedroom this afternoon," she said, showing them a forty-page manuscript written in a spiky handwriting. On its first page was a dedication: To myself.

"It seems Dawn did consider the possibility of losing her memory, after all," mused Dignity.

"Have you read it?" asked Jenna.

"I have. And yes, you can read it too. As a matter of fact, I think you should." Billy realized then that Dawn had not been the most forthcoming ally. They knew practically nothing about her. In those forty pages, there was a very condensed version of her story, mostly explaining the events immediately after activation and briefly summarizing how her powers worked.

"So Necessity is this Arimel, someone you knew in life," said Billy.

"What was he like?"

"A genius. I see it now. A maverick genius, capable of taking any risk if he thought it would grant him greater understanding. He was not really evil—the need to know consumed him."

"Well, he has changed a lot since then," Dignity said bitterly. Billy knew she was thinking about the daughter she had lost to his machinations. Thirty minutes later, Billy was walking alone down Babylon's streets. There was a strategy meeting, and Jenna knew he hated those, so she had left him off the hook. As he contemplated Babylon, he realized he had come to think of the place as home. It would be hard not to, after fighting so much to protect it.

When they first arrived, Dignity granted asylum to the Amazons, laying the foundation of the Circle. That day, he found an almost vacant town, full of empty buildings, a tribute to the Hive's dreadful efficiency. Most of those buildings were now occupied—many of the original slain inhabitants had returned as Citizens. New Avatars, as well as some Elves with a taste for Earth culture, had also established Babylon as their new home—the town was currently undergoing a population boom.

Babylon was now busier than ever, as the Milwaukee vigilantes strolled through it, trying to find some evil to squash or innocents to protect, much to the amusement of the Amazon warriors. There was also the matter of the Federation soldiers they had rescued. Some required medical treatment, and others would choose to be transported to Belona with their families, but Billy had a feeling that many would switch sides after witnessing firsthand the danger the Answer posed.

Billy stopped as he saw a figure he recognized having a beer at one of the tables at the other inn.

"Bilto?"

"Billy, is that you? Last time I saw you, you were some kind of vigilante. Sit down, please, and have a beer with me. I will even let you pay for them. I am gracious that way."

"I still am a vigilante," answered Billy, switching briefly into Lawman and back. He sat down and asked for a beer. There was something odd about the whole situation. Something he could not really put his finger on. He suddenly realized what it was—he was not doing anything out of the ordinary. Not slaying monsters. Not creating worlds. Not solving time loops. Just having an ordinary beer with a friend. It felt weird. It also felt good.

"You are settling in with us, then?" he asked Bilto.

"Yes. Dignity granted me citizenship. With certain restrictions—I may work as an Alchemist for a Babylon-licensed one as a helper, but I may not own or operate a business."

"I wonder why," Billy said dryly. Then, in a more serious tone, "GodMode told me to say goodbye to you. He was fond of you. He was fond of the three of us."

"Peter made it, you know. He and his family are in Belona right now. He took good care of them."

"He also took good care of me, Billy. He freed me. I am no longer a slave to my greed. I can choose now. To GodMode," he toasted.

"To GodMode," Billy answered as he held his own beer. They both drank. They talked for the better part of an hour, two friends remembering a third.

"I should go now, Bilto. It is getting late. I never realized how hard it has become to keep track of time after tech stopped working."

"I could sell you a watch, you know," Bilto said, opening a display case in which dozens of cheap, non-functioning plastic watches were arranged. He chose one of them and presented it to Billy.

"It belonged to the Skillmaster."