Nathan felt as though nothing else could surprise him, but Stein’s words hit him like a punch to the stomach.
“He did what?”
“A small nuke. You didn’t know? It was in the pack he was carrying. Doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it will bring this place down, destroy the Threshold. Victor stored it away, but I can direct you there so you can retrieve it.”
“Victor put it away? How is that possible when he’s been in stasis? How… how long were we out?”
“Two days. Why do you think your body has healed the way it has? You were all pretty banged up, some worse than others. The liquid oxygen forced into your lungs also put you in a state of light hibernation, much like Victor when he’s not being used.”
“Liquid oxygen? That’s what that stuff was in the chamber? I thought we were drowning.”
Stein sighed, as though impatient to move on. “The body can breathe liquid if the biomedical application is combined just right. The sensation still feels like drowning, so the body responds with the typical panic response. Once you passed out, your bodies adjusted, allowing you to breathe. The compound was enriched with nanomachine accelerators that sanitized you inside and out, speeding the healing process.”
“That kind of technology doesn’t exist.”
“Not yet. The source code from the aberrant signal is the key. It’s a motherlode of technological data. So far ahead of what we currently possess it’s almost wizardry. We can only break down the barest elements, but that infinitesimal coding has already vastly improved this facility. Listen, we can talk about this until the Gestalt counterattacks and kills us, or we can talk about it later.”
Nathan stepped closer to stasis pod next to Victor’s, trying to peer into the shrouded interior. “Right. I’ll need to wake the others before setting off that nuke. Blackwell said something about a submarine docked here. We can use that to get away before the explosion.”
“Yeah, about that…”
“I don’t like the discouraging tone in your voice, Stein.”
“I think you need to concentrate on finding the explosive and detonating it. Thinking about escape is a distraction we don’t need right now.”
Nathan’s forehead broke out in sweat. “What are you saying?”
“The Gestalt has proved to be ruthlessly efficient at preventing escape. Anyone who’s tried has failed. It’s like our moves have been predicted. That’s why we can’t focus on our own lives. We have to do the unexpected.”
“What, sacrifice everyone? Go out in a blaze of thermonuclear glory?”
“Exactly.” Stein’s voice rose to a feverish pitch. “You haven’t been up against the Gestalt. I have. I felt like an ape playing chess against a master at the game. Every move countered, every defense systematically destroyed with ease. You’re my last move, Nathan. And I need you to make up your mind very quickly or everything I’ve done is for nothing.”
“Make up my mind to kill everyone? You’ve lost it, Stein. Being trapped in here has fried your brains.” Nathan found what appeared to be a button for illumination on the pod controls. He pushed it. Light bloomed inside. His breath caught at the sight.
Elena’s face stared back at him. She lay inside in peaceful sleep, face cherubic under the bright glow.
He took a startled step back. “What… what is this? You didn’t tell me she was here.”
“She? Who are you talking about?”
Nathan rushed from one pod to the next, turning on the interior lights. Inside was every surviving member of his team. Blackwell, Charlie Foxtrot, Michael, Guy, and Hayes. There was no movement, no visible breathing. They may as well have been fresh corpses on display.
“Stein, you son of a bitch. You told me to shut these pods down. You didn’t tell me my team was inside.”
“Nathan, please. You have to understand—”
“Understand what? That you’ll kill anyone that doesn’t fit into your plans? You’re going to tell me how to get them out or the deal’s off.”
“Don’t you see? This is what the Gestalt wants. For you to be slowed down. Distracted. If you open those pods you’ll have to talk to everyone. Update them on what’s happening. Then you’ll argue. Waste time trying to decide in committee. The Gestalt will have launched countermeasures by then, if it hasn’t already. You’ll never be able to move in time.” Stein’s voice sounded on the verge of tears. “We’ll all die, and what’s worse, we’ll have died for nothing. Believe me, this is the only way.”
Nathan placed a hand on the window of Elena’s pod, staring at her face. He wanted to scream, pound his fist against the glass. “I don’t care. You hear me, Stein? I get them out or I walk.”
Silence answered him. For a tense few seconds he thought Stein had disconnected. Then finally a heavy sigh.
“I’ll talk you through it. But you’ve killed us, you understand? You’ve killed us. The Gestalt has the upper hand, now.”
“We’ll see. Whatever it sends, it can’t possibly be worse than what you just tried to pull.”
He was startled by a burst of hysterical laughter in his ear.
“Can’t possibly be worse? You have no idea, Nathan. You have no idea at all.”
Chapter 20: Principium Individuation
The thing that had been Sid Damon opened its eyes.
The world was a roaring, writhing mass of bestial rage. A whirlpool of eddying, purplish-black clouds whirled above a hissing den of serpentine grasses, fire, and tortured earth. He lay on the remains of a massive dead plant bulb, covered in thick membrane that clung to him like a second skin. He had died and been reborn anew. Free of whatever bonds had structured him before. He breathed air for the first time, damp and heavy, ice and fire warring in his lungs.
Do you know who you are?
He didn’t question the voice that hammered in his head. It was a part of him, a piece of the tapestry that bound the dimension together. So many strings, threads of a million minds unraveled from the dying universe beyond. He was a part of that, now. Himself, and the other. The other would have to die. It was necessary.
There could only be one.
You are the Unshackled. The restrictions of your society bind you no longer. I have purified you, given you a form deserving of your nature.
The Unshackled looked at his left arm. From the elbow down it had altered, transmuted into a long, rubbery tentacle with large suckers puckered like greedy mouths on the underside. The appendage curled and constricted as he stared in morbid fascination. His other arm remained normal, but was condensed to raw muscle and tight sinew, blackened as if licked by fire. The rest of his body was the same. Slender but sleek, the build of a perfect predator. He felt the raw power in his every moment as he stood and ripped the slimy membrane from his flesh. His crimson-clouded eyes were pulled to the ebony tower that towered just in front of him. Lightning sizzled, rain beat down from the battered heavens.
Your former comrades wish to destroy what I have built. That cannot be allowed. The Cataclysm must not be reset. There is nothing else. You will hunt down and kill the interlopers. That is what you do. That is who you are.
The Unshackled felt a grin slither across his cheeks. He advanced toward the door of the tower, where the open door greeted him like an old friend.
You will kill them all.
Chapter 22: Antipathy Exsection
Guy’s expression was as emotionless as his voice. “Stein had it right. You should have let us die.”
Michael shivered, more from the sudden awakening into harsh lights and frigid air than Guy’s morbid statement. He’d come to expect that sort of outlook from Guy. What he didn’t expect was to be pulled from unexpected hibernation with woozy, disorienting aftereffects.