Jane stood up. “Neither do I, and I suspect Master George is clueless as well.” She held out a hand. “Come on.”
Tick took it and let her pull him up. “I’m a freak.”
Jane shook her head. “No, you’re not. If you’re a freak, then so am I.”
Tick thought of all the things he could’ve said to that, but he stopped himself. Jane had probably just saved his life. “What now? Looks like we’re not gonna try to kill each other, I guess.”
Jane looked down the hallway in the direction they’d been ordered to go once things were settled. “No, we’re not. And we’re not waiting until noon, either. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she started walking.
“Wait!” Tick called out, snapping his hand back. He searched around until he spotted the leather satchel holding the antidote. He ran over and picked it up, then joined Jane again, still marching down the hallway. “Okay, what are we going to do?”
Jane paused before answering. “You and I are going to stop Chu. Right now.”
Chapter
42
~
Sofia’s Task
Sofia stood by the small cave leading to the elevator shaft, leaning back against the warm stone of the dusty canyon wall. Master George had asked her to wait there until he could speak to her; at the moment, he was explaining to Paul how to use the Sonic Hurricaner, the Shurric. Sofia had picked it up easily and destroyed three huge boulders in quick succession.
The Static Ragers fascinated her, though. She watched as a Realitant woman threw one along the ground with a quick jerk of her arm. A sharp crack filled the air, then a low rumble of thunder as the Rager rolled forward, gaining speed and size with every passing second. Everything in its path—dirt, mud, rocks, bushes—compacted together in a huge chunky sphere, snowballing as it rolled. When the Rager finally smashed into a test boulder, both objects exploded in a spectacular display of earthy fireworks.
Awesome, Sofia thought. She couldn’t wait to hurl one at Chu himself.
Master George was walking toward her, shouting at the Realitants scattered around the riverside. “Everyone! Back up we go. We can’t spare another second!”
As the two dozen or so people gathered their weapons and headed for the elevator, Master George touched Sofia lightly on the arm, leading her out of earshot of the others.
“We must talk before you go,” he said in a low voice.
“Rutger told me you had something special you wanted me to do.”
Master George nodded, his mouth pursed with worry. “Indeed, my good Sofia, indeed.”
When he didn’t say anything more, Sofia said, “Well?”
“Ah, yes, sorry.” He pulled a tiny silver pen out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. It had no distinguishing features other than a clicker at the top and a small black clasp on the side for attaching it to a shirt pocket or notebook. “I felt I must trust you with this. Please take it—but don’t push the button.”
Sofia took it from his hand and held it with only the tips of two fingers, as if its surface might contain some poison. “What is it?”
“Well, it’s most certainly not a pen. Won’t write a single letter, I assure you.”
“I figured that much.”
Master George looked troubled, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally explained. “We expect things to be quite . . . chaotic once you get to Chu’s industrial palace. Though you must do your part to fight whatever forces Chu might throw at you, I must ask you to consider that your second priority.”
“And the first?”
“Yes, yes, it’s difficult to say. Sofia, I need you to run through the chaos, get past Chu’s forces, and enter the main complex at all costs. Our spies will do their best to ensure the locking mechanisms and sealants are sabotaged when I give the signal. I need you to get in, locate Chu’s research and development laboratories, which is where I expect Master Atticus to be, and find our troubled friend.”
“Why? What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m afraid Tick may lose control of his powers when he confronts whatever Chu has planned for him. I fear it will be worse, far worse than anything that has happened during your adventures these past days. He may do irreparable damage—damage that could grow and trigger chain reactions, doing very nasty things to matter both there and in the other Realities if it seeps through the borders.”
Sofia felt a knot tighten in her stomach even before Master George said the next part.
“You need to find him, Sofia. You need to place the tip of that pen against his neck and push the button. It will traumatize his system terribly, sending him into a coma, but it will also block his body from his mind, his emotions, his anger and fear. That should cut him off from the massive surge of Chi’karda that I expect. But I promise you, Sofia, it will not kill him.”
Sofia felt a cyclone of emotions storm inside her—pride at being chosen for a special mission, fear of doing it, concern for Tick and his out-of-control powers, sadness that she’d have to inject him with something horrible. Though she felt it in her nature to argue, to push back, she didn’t. Master George was right. He had to be right.
“Okay,” she said, feeling like she should say more but unable to find the words.
Master George nodded with a satisfied look, then reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “I debated this within my heart for many hours, Sofia, as well as with Rutger and Mothball. But in the end, I knew it had to be you. It must be you. I know you will succeed, as surely as I know Muffintops is up there”—he pointed to the complex above—“hissing at every Realitant who steps off the elevator who isn’t me.”
Sofia smiled, then looked at the dangerous pen. Finally, she slid it into her pocket.
“Let’s go up now,” Master George said. “It’s time to send you off.”
~
It made Tick’s stomach turn to see the warped and twisted walls of the hallway. Some of the panels had melted completely into globs of metallic goo on the floor. I did that, he thought. How is that possible? He tried as best he could to quit looking and stared straight ahead at the never-ending corridor stretching before them.
He gripped the strap of his satchel. I have to tell her. I have to.
“Um, Mistress Jane?”
She’d been quiet while they’d been walking; she looked over at him. “Yes? Sorry, just planning things out in my mind.”
“I need to tell you something.”
Her eyebrows shot up, appearing above the rim of her glasses. “Oh?”
“There’s something in this bag. Something I’m supposed to use against the Dark Infinity thing. An . . . antidote.”
Jane stopped, turned toward him. “An antidote? How did . . .” She trailed off, as if not sure what to ask.
“Master George got a sample from one of the infected people. Then he and Rutger figured out what to do. He said if I smash it against the device that’s sending out the nanowaves or whatever you call the stuff that’s controlling people’s minds, it’ll work its magic and destroy it. Somehow send the cure out to everyone. No clue how it works, but that’s what I was told.”
“Hmm.” Jane started walking again. Tick fell in line beside her. “Well, I guess that will make our task easier. But only a little—the hard part will be getting to Dark Infinity in the first place. There’s no telling how Chu’s going to react when he sees us both still alive, or what weapons he’ll use against us. Prepare yourself—I’m going to need every ounce of your . . . abilities.”
~
Sofia stood next to Paul, both of them in the long, single-file line of Realitants about to be sent to the Fourth Reality. Mothball was with them; she said she wouldn’t miss it if she had only one arm and leg. Rutger stood still and silent by the podium, looking somberly at the floor, while Master George paced back and forth, doing his best to give a pep talk.
“I needn’t say much,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back. “I know that all of
you know the dire nature of the task ahead of you. Not only do we have a nanoplague running rampant through the Realities, but one of our own is on the verge of a catastrophic breakdown that could shatter the very substance of the Realities. Not to mention our dear friend, Sato, who is suffering so much in our own home. For them, for your families, for the people of your world and others, I ask you to do this thing.”
He quit pacing and turned to face the group. “I do not ask it lightly. But I also ask that you do not take it lightly. I send you with my utmost confidence in your abilities and in your strengths. I send you in the good graces of Chi’karda itself. May it be strong within you on this terrible, terrible day.”
He paused for a long moment, the room completely still. Then he turned and pulled his Barrier Wand off a shelf under the podium, its golden, cylindrical surface shining, the seven dials and switches preset and ready to go.
Rutger spoke. “Though it would be easier if you were all touching it, we have too many people for that, so it’s been programmed accordingly. We’ve checked and rechecked all of your nanolocators, and replaced the hijacked ones inside Paul and Sofia. We’ll be watching you closely.”
Sofia closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to quell the sickening swarm of butterflies in her stomach. The tranquilizer pen in her pocket bulged, feeling twenty times bigger than it should be and weighing a hundred pounds. She fingered the strap of her bag holding the Ragers, tightened her grip on the handle of the Shurric, its straps slung over both shoulders.
I’m ready, she thought. I can do this.
“Are you scared?” Paul whispered.
“No,” she replied, hating how shaky her voice sounded when it came out.
“Me too.”
Master George held the Wand up high, then lowered it back to his eye level, holding his right index finger above the trigger on top. “My friends, we very much look forward to your safe return.”
He pushed the button.
Chapter
43
~
The Dilemma of the Doors
Tick and Jane walked another twenty minutes before the long hallway finally came to an end. Large double doors marked an entrance to whatever lay beyond, heavily bolted slabs of steel with no handles or windows. A large blank square decorated one of the doors, black as pitch.
“What now?” Tick asked.
“I guess we knock,” Jane responded. She stepped up and slammed the palm of her hand against the steel several times; the muted thumps barely registered through the thick doors.
The black square ignited with colors, swirling like mixed paint until the image of Reginald Chu’s head solidified, but in 3-D. His face jutted from the flat surface, every detail of his features perfectly clear. It was almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and Tick felt the sudden urge to reach out and smack it.
“You’re trying my patience, both of you,” he said, the slight electronic static in his voice the only indication that what they saw before them was artificial. “I’m almost ready to pull the plug on this sad experiment and start anew. If neither of you have the guts to conquer the other, then you’re of no use to me.”
“What’s beyond these doors?” Jane asked coolly.
Chu’s recreated eyes glared at her. “You know how to find the answer to that question. I gave you a simple task. I watched your act of compassion when the boy lost control again—and Atticus, I assure you, it was an act. She knows she can’t harm you, even though you don’t know what you’re doing or how to ignite the power within you. But if she struck, my guess is that you would win—albeit with some serious collateral damage to my facilities. That’s why I put you in the underground tunnel connecting Chu Industries to the Winking Yard at Bale’s Square.”
“But we’re here now, Reginald,” Jane said, as though speaking to a child. “I think I know what’s beyond these doors. Aren’t you afraid of what the boy and I can do now?”
Tick didn’t like how things were going. Not at all. Was it true what Chu had said about Jane? And how could they sit there and talk about him like he was just a tool, an object, a dangerous weapon?
“I’m not afraid at all, Jane,” Chu said. “There is zero risk of Chi’karda levels spiking from you or the boy. Go ahead and try.”
Jane’s face whitened, the smirk vanishing from her face. Tick had no idea what she was doing, but a vein at her temple bulged and her fists tightened. “What did you do?” she asked, her voice tight.
Chu almost smiled, but it was more of a grimace. “Your mutated powers gained in the Thirteenth will never—and I mean never—come close to matching what I can do with technology. I’ve conquered the science of Chi’karda. You’ve merely captured a fleeting anomaly that will squeak its way out in the natural order of things. You should’ve done what I asked, Jane. You should have done what I asked. It’s too late for you now.”
Tick couldn’t take it anymore, as scared and nervous as he was. “Would you two just shut up!” he yelled. “I’m a couple weeks short of fourteen—but I feel like I’m the only one around here who doesn’t act like a snot-nosed brat trying to pick a fight.”
Jane stared, unable to hide the shock at his outburst; Chu’s face remained stoic. Tick felt like his mind had split in two—one side telling him to zip it, the other reminding him that Master George and the Realitants were relying on him to find and destroy Dark Infinity. And there was only one way to do it.
“I’ll do it,” Tick continued. “I want to be your apprentice, so tell me what to do.”
“I already have,” Chu said, his bizarre magical face turning to face him. “You have until noon to destroy Mistress Jane. If you do, you’ll be allowed through the doors and we will begin our work together. If not, you will die. Both of you.”
Tick looked at Jane, who returned his stare. How could I possibly hurt her? I don’t even know where to start. But I can’t let Master George down! He fingered the strap of the satchel on his shoulder.
He looked down at his watch. “We still have an hour.”
“True,” Chu said.
“Then leave us alone.”
Chu laughed a mirthless chuckle. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll remove myself from the Imager. But don’t worry—I’ll still be watching.” His face disappeared and the screen returned to blackness.
“Atticus, I’m sorry,” Jane whispered. “I’ve never heard of a technology that blocks someone from Chi’karda. Somehow he’s kept that a secret—a formidable task, trust me.”
“I don’t get how it works,” Tick said. “Normally, can’t you just fill up with Chi’karda and do all kinds of magical stuff? Like a wizard?”
Jane rolled her eyes. “Something like that. Perhaps all I need is a pointy hat with stars and moons sewn on it.”
“And right now you can’t do anything?”
Jane shook her head, squeezed her fists again. “It’s gone, completely. I can’t feel it, can’t grasp it, can’t do anything. It feels like my soul has been ripped from my body.”
“I don’t feel any different,” Tick said.
“That’s because you’ve never controlled it or understood it. You couldn’t even tell when you’d used it before—which I still find hard to believe.”
Tick looked at the floor. “I might’ve felt something. A . . . a burning.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. We need to make a decision.”
Tick knew what she was going to say. “He’s watching us, you know. I doubt it will count if one of us volunteers to die.”
“That’s not what I had in mind.” She gave him a creepy look—a blank stare, her eyes glazed.
Tick took a step backward before he realized what he was doing.
“I have no choice,” she said, taking one step toward him. “But . . . it’s for the best. Best for the Realities. I’m the only one who has a chance.”
“What are you doing?” he asked, his back hitting the wall of the hallway.
Tears glistened in her eyes. One
escaped and spilled down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Atticus. I’m so sorry. I have no choice but to kill you.”
Chapter
44
~
Fingers on Neck
Sofia’s breath stuck in her throat as she stared up at the humongous structure that was Chu’s headquarters.
It rose from the ground like a mountain—with a pointed peak and everything—as tall as any building she’d ever seen, stretching to her left and right until it disappeared in a slew of other offices and complexes. There were no straight lines on the structure, nothing flat, nothing symmetrical. Countless odd-shaped windows were scattered across the building’s surface, most of them with lights shining through, but others were filled with dark shadows. Chu’s headquarters towered over her and the other Realitants like a natural formation, a manmade mountain of glistening black stone.
Spanning the several hundred yards between them and the building was a broad expanse of grass and trees. A nice park complete with little streams, bridges, benches, and sidewalks that couldn’t possibly contrast any more with the massive thing that kept it half in shadow.
“That is one cool building,” Paul said beside her.
Both of them were armed with Master George’s strange weapons. The bulky body of the Shurrics were strapped on and pressed against their chest, joystick trigger clasped in their hands. Paul was using his broken arm for that, since all he needed was a finger to push the button. Each carried a leather bag tightly against their left sides, directly under their arm, with a small opening for retrieving the Static Ragers.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Sofia said. “I can’t wait to see it crash to the ground.”
The Realitants stood in a rough formation, in lines of eight, all facing the mammoth mountain of black glass. Mothball was in front, her head tilted back as she gaped at the top of Chu’s palace so far above. She finally turned to face them.