Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Because all I hear, on repeat, is the phrase… If you’re lookin’ North, you’re lookin’ South.
And I know what she means, because I’ve heard it all before.
What I don’t know is how it’s done. How do you walk north and end up in the south?
“It’s a loop, Tyse.” It’s another faint whisper, but this is not Myra’s voice. It’s the god. The Corrupted One. Epsilon. Because I was walking the wrong way—and he got me.
I turned my back and he got me.
Put me in a cage.
“It’s a loop, you see.” This time his voice is louder. Clear. “Negative feedback. Prime example, the pyre beetle, native to the extreme northern Alpha Desert. It’s a marvelous example of the phenomenon. You see, when threatened, this beetle activates a chemical reaction inside its body. Mixing two volatile compounds together that, once exposed to the air outside its body, explode like a missile. Killing predators. Alpha insists he thought this one up and created the code for it, but he’s always been a liar.”
Beetles. I have no fuckin’ idea what he’s talkin’ about.
“The negative feedback loop, Tyse. You see, the beetle makes these chemicals inside its body. Specialized glands, or something. But it’s got limits. It can’t fast fire these missiles. It needs to recover. It needs time to make more. The negative feedback loop happens when it empties the chambers containing the chemicals. Because this is an exothermic reaction. Creating intense heat that could kill the beetle. And what good is a biological weapons system that kills the host? Right? The whole process triggers a cool-down period to save the beetle’s life. This is how it works between you and Clara.”
I know this. I said as much to Clara before we ended up here. I take her spark. Feed off it. Which depletes her. Then I steal spark to feed her back. I can’t steal spark for myself, only give it away. I must take from her. I must kill her and bring her back.
It’s a bitch of a fuckin’ cycle if you ask me.
“She claims to have a reservoir of spark inside her,” Epsilon continues.
“What?” Finally managing to speak, my voice is very groggy and hoarse.
“She’s making spark, even after I drain her and give it to you.”
This is not true. I saw her. After the fights, after the monks, I saw her on the table. She was gray. She was dead. I’m the one feeding her spark. I’m the one keeping her alive.
“That’s what she told me, anyway,” Epsilon says. “Is it true? Did you feed her… jumps? That’s what she called them. Jumps. She claims that’s how you stole the baby god from Tau City and brought her to Delta.”
My mind is not clear. It’s not workin’ well at the moment. And all I keep thinkin’ is that she should not be tellin’ him these things. And I should not answer him. Not now, not ever.
“Nothing to say to that?”
“I don’t know,” I manage to croak. “But I want to see her. I want to see her right now.”
Epsilon laughs. “I’m sure you do. She’s… dying, by the way. We made a deal.”
“What?” I try and sit up, but I’m still connected to the augment table and all the needles, thousands of them, tear at my skin when I move.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” Epsilon cautions. “Don’t move now. We’re just getting started here Tyse. I didn’t steal the poor woman’s spark and give it to you just to let you walk free. You owe me.”
“How the hell do ya figure that?” I snarl.
“Because you’re in my city. I’m taking care of you. Do you think all this care is free?” He scoffs. “I’m not running a welfare state. You owe me.”
“I wouldn’t need your help if ya hadn’t kidnapped us.”
“You rode a train past my station and didn’t pay the toll. You owe me a toll.”
“What toll? You’re making shit up.”
“Maybe. But what are you gonna do about it?”
He pauses here. Like I might threaten him. I’d like to threaten him, but he is pulling all the strings at the moment. Almost literally. “What do you want? How can we pay this debt and be on our way?”
There’s a scraping noise as he drags a chair up to my table and takes a seat. “I thought you’d never ask. I want you, Tyse. I want to… make you better. Faster, stronger—”
“I’m already faster and stronger. I’m already better.”
“Yes. You’re pretty spectacular. But I have so many ideas, you see. So many… thoughts. So many… dreams. So many ways to experiment on humans, all living up inside my head. You’ve seen what I’ve been working with. These men. They’re very low quality. But you! And that woman! My, god! You’re everything I want, yet never knew I needed.”
He wants to experiment on me. He wants to keep me on this table and push Clara’s spark into me until I die. Or she dies. Or we both die.