"He's your father."
My knees buckled, and I dropped into the nearby chair, heart pounding. A thousand thoughts and questions converged and collided in my head, shattering against one another.
Daiyu sighed. "I thought he died on Mars in the Red War as the reports said. I should have known that death was too easy a fate for someone like him."
I worked moisture into my mouth. "You didn't… let me see him?"
"He said that meeting him would be the death of you. He left right after you were born, you know. He had too many enemies, too much bad blood that he didn't want to touch you in any way. Before he left, he made me promise to keep you safe, to hide you where no one could find you — not even himself."
I lifted my hands, staring at my trembling fingers. Clasping them together, I thrust them between my knees. "Was it my fault?"
"That he found you? No — it wasn't the Tourney. He found another way to get the information he wanted. I'm sure it was messy. Better if you don't know the details."
"Why did he come back?"
"He's bent on a mission that consumes him, burns him with zealotry and a fixation on stopping something that hasn’t happened yet. Whatever he encountered on Mars forged him into something different from the man I knew before."
"And that was…?"
"A killer. Just another pitiful youth snatched up by the HSSC, trained to kill, and given a license to do so. From there, he volunteered for the Elite metahuman experiments, emerging as a super-soldier. Soon after that, we met, and long story short: you are the only good thing to come of that union."
"Did you love him?"
"No."
"Then why…?"
"You are brilliant but have much to learn about the ways of passion, young lady."
I blushed. "I guess so."
She shrugged. "I'm not the best example to learn from. Hopefully, you'll make better choices than I did. But in this case, I wouldn't change a thing because you were the result."
I dropped my head. "I would have loved to meet him … if only just once."
Daiyu's face assumed its usual wry expression. "I'm sure you'll look for him. Just like you'll look for Mouse. The latter will happen sooner or later, but the former … I'd tell you to forget about it, but I know you won't."
I felt a stir of irritation that I carefully kept suppressed. "Well, why should I?"
"Because you'd be disappointed. Reality rarely meets up to our expectations, and especially in the case of your father. You might have inherited his physical gifts, but you're nothing like him."
"I'm not?"
"No. You have a heart. You have empathy and see the good in others. You view the world in its full spectrum of colors, not just black and white. Your father is a perfect killing machine, but that's the only real talent he possesses. The only good thing he ever did was leave. And now he's even made that sacrifice meaningless."
My eyes narrowed. "You didn't kill him, did you?"
She gave me a wry glance. "I doubt I could. Not now, not after what he's become. No, he left of his own accord and swore he'd never see you again. Whatever he's into, he intends to see it through to the end."
"You mean to the death."
"Death is the only thing in the end. Promise me you won't try to find him, Merlin."
"Well, I—"
Her hand shot out and seized mine. Her bionic hand — the one she sacrificed to give me birth. "I never asked anything of you. I'm asking this."
I took a deep breath. "Fine. I promise I won't try to find him."
She nodded. "Good. Do you want me to help you pack?"
I looked up in surprise. "You trying to get rid of me so fast?"
"Long goodbyes only stretch out the pain. You are not the only one leaving, after all."
"Where are you going?"
She stood, clasping her hands behind her back. "If Kilgore found you, that means we have been compromised. I have to find out how and who else knows. I'll be doing what I always have done — keeping you safe. It will just be on the move instead of one location."
The roar of chopper blades erupted outside, stirring up leaves and dust. Rappel lines dropped, followed by heavily armored troopers sliding down and quickly taking tactical positions around the house. Daiyu and I locked eyes. She wasn't shocked or afraid, just resigned as her face hardened into a warrior's mask. Slipping her tactical jacket on, she jerked her head toward the front door.
"Just as I thought. Come on — let's see what trouble your father brought to our doorstep."
She walked out first — hands raised, hair fluttering in the grainy wind. I followed suit, a step behind her. As she taught me, I assessed the situation. The troopers numbered around a dozen, though I suspected others guarded the back of the house. They were armed with plasma rifles and looked ready to open fire at the slightest provocation. More interesting was the trio in front: two tall soldiers with masked ballistic helmets and a sickle emblem on their uniforms, marking them as Scythers: mechanically-enhanced operatives of Cyber Corp, a black-ops branch of the United Havens. The smaller, whip-slender Sentry that stood between them was further proof: pale-skinned with ruby lips and lights winking from the bioroid augments that protruded from her shaved head. A slim visor covered her eyes, providing enhanced visuals and streams of pertinent data.
She waited until the jet chopper landed across the street in the empty field before speaking in a reedy, nearly inhuman voice. "An energy anomaly was detected in this vicinity thirty-seven minutes ago. We've been tracking this energy signature for some time now and suspect the two of you have information you wish to share about it."
Daiyu placed her fists on her hips. "What makes you think we know anything about energy anomalies?"
The Sentry's crimson lips pulled back into a mirthless grin. "This entire neighborhood is a black sector, made practically undetectable by jamming signals originating from a residence seven houses down the street."
Daiyu's hand slipped into her back pocket, halfway pulling out a slim device no larger than a playing card. "Why don't you ask them about it instead of harassing honest citizens?"
"Because that house is vacant, as you already know. As is every other house on this street, despite how well-maintained they are. And one look at the jamming arrangement reveals that although the entire block is shielded, the densest portion happens to be right here, where a pair of unregistered residents live. And where the energy signature of the most wanted man on earth was detected. There are no coincidences, only mathematics. And numbers never lie. You have been in contact with the man called Kilgore, and you will tell me every single detail or you and your—" Her gaze flicked over to me, analyzing data in a matter of milliseconds. " — your daughter will pay the price. Consider her safety before you make your response."
Daiyu narrowed her eyes. "You should have considered your own safety. Because you all were dead the second you set foot here."
Her thumb clicked a button on the device. Static crackled in the air as she shot forward, straight at the Sentry and her Scyther bodyguards. I tapped the holoband on my wrist and leaped toward the nearest troopers who couldn't respond properly because of the electronic chaff discharged from the same barrier that blocked surveillance. Everything computer-activated was disrupted, including the soldier's targeting systems and firearms. While they scrambled to switch to manual, my shielded boomstaff flew across the yard into my hands. Tiny spikes snapped from the ends, laced with a paralyzing neurotoxin. I struck back and forth, targeting joints and other vulnerable areas unprotected by the trooper's armor. The toxin activated swiftly, disabling the soldiers within seconds of each needle stab.
An explosion rocked us from the detonated explosives built into the foundation of the house. Activated by Daiyu's failsafe, they caused the home to implode, burying everything normal about my life for the last sixteen years. Secondary incendiary explosions followed, burning all evidence of our time in the Oakland neighborhood.