"Yeah, I probably wouldn't. What happened to Poddar? If you killed him…"
"Spare me the threats, Mike. I didn't bother checking on your partner. He's irrelevant. Do you think one life has any consequence in this war? If he died, he wouldn't be the first I've killed since arriving here. He won't be the last. More people will follow, and quickly. Please don't make me go through the whole 'I'll kill everyone you love' speech, Mike. It's so cliché. But if you don't surrender the god code right now, I'll be forced to torch this place to the ground."
I thought of Natasha. The choice was an easy one.
"I shipped the god code out of here a long time ago. Practically as soon as I got it. After the whole New Man business, I knew it was too hot to stay here. So, I slipped it in the pocket of someone leaving the Haven. It could be anywhere in the world by now."
He stared straight ahead, but the muscles in arms flexed when his hands tightened on the wheel. "This person that left the Haven. What was his name?"
"I only know an alias: The Fox. A master thief or whatnot. The only person who might have known more was the person that hired him — Tommy Tsunami. 'Course, that'll be a hard convo to have because he's worm food."
Kilgore was silent a few moments, digesting the information. "You had your hands on the most advanced prototype technology known to man, and you just slipped it in someone's pocket? How could you be so stupid?"
"Hey — wasn't like I knew what it was at the time. I just knew a lotta folks wanted their hands on it, and I didn't want any more of that heat. Why's it so important to you, anyway?"
"Because of what it will do. Because should the wrong people take possession of it, the world will burn. The dead will outnumber the living, and humanity will have to choose between death and enslavement. It will be a more devastating catastrophe than the Cataclysm. The final extinction event."
I snorted. "And only you can stop it."
Kilgore stiffened. "You're mocking me."
"No, seems legit to me. Too bad you came all this way for nothing. Guess your next move is tracking down the Fox. Sooner you get on that, the faster you can get to saving the world and all."
"You must think I'm a fool, Mike. I'm not the person you used to know — I haven't been for a long time."
"That's good, Ethan. Because I swore I'd kill you if I ever saw your face again."
Harsh laughter grated from his throat. "Funny — that's the same thing Maxine said the last time I saw her."
A rush of heat scalded my face. "Max is dead, you psychopath. You should know that better than anyone."
He looked at me for the first time. "Maxine is alive, Mike. Scarred and bitter, but alive. At least she was a few months ago when she tried to kill me."
I stared, heart pounding like a machine gun in my chest. "You're lying."
"Why would I? Lies are flimsy shields, and the truth is so much stronger. You look stunned, Mike. But this is the part where you need to listen because I'll need your help in completing the next phase of my mission. The sooner we finish, the quicker I leave. The faster I leave, the fewer people I have to kill. Understand?"
My mind whirled as I processed the whirlwind of information. "The only thing I understand is that you're wasting time. I told you the god code isn't even in the Haven. You can go on the warpath, start a killing spree — it won't change a thing. What you're looking for isn't here."
"When one door closes, another opens. If I can't retrieve the god code, I'll settle for the next best thing."
I blinked uncomprehendingly. "I don't understand."
"The god code is Dr. Faraday's creation. He'd never surrender it without a way to track it down. I find Faraday, and I find the code — plain and simple. And you're going to help me do just that."
"Find a dead man? Gonna be pretty hard to do."
Kilgore scoffed. "Faraday dead? Not likely, unless you can produce a body. Can you?"
I hesitated. "Well, I—"
"I thought as much. Take a look around, Mike. What do you see?"
I looked out the window. New Haven glimmered underneath like an uncut gem, darkness and light, shadows and fog, buildings reaching up toward us like the outstretched fingers of robotic hands, laser lights and vapor trails intermingling, neon blinking, bay waters sparkling. From our vantage point, it was imposing and mysterious, beautiful and majestic.
Kilgore's face contained so little expression it may as well have been carved from stone. "Everything you see is proof of Faraday's genius and egotism. He was the mastermind behind this Haven, the architect of the memory laundering process that robbed residents of their free will. When you look upon the city, you stare into the depths of Faraday's soul."
He set the floater in hover mode, floating above the top of the New Haven Power building, inscribed with proud letters NHP. Rain streaked down, sparkling in the city lights like weeping gemstones. When Kilgore waggled his fingers, blue-white static crackled. A remote detonator dropped into his hand, pulled from thin air in front of my eyes. My mouth dropped open, dumbfounded.
A vicious grin spread across Kilgore's face. "Do you know what New Haven is, Mike? A city of lies. A mask that hides Faraday's face. But as I said — lies make for a flimsy shield, as Faraday is about to find out firsthand. Look at this building: New Haven Power. We build towers out of ego: tall and imposing, monuments to our hubris and vanity. But in the end, like all things, they end up being vulnerable, weak, and exposed."
He activated the detonator so casually that I didn't comprehend what happened at first. The sound of the explosion was barely registerable. It wasn't until I saw the distant bloom of flames far below that I understood. The NHP building shuddered, then fell with nightmarish speed, crumpling like an aluminum can. I watched in horror as it imploded, collapsing to the depths of the city in a massive cloud of smoke, dust and debris. The roar of the destruction rattled the windows as Kilgore veered the vehicle away from the fallout.
I lunged at him, sickened with rage. "You psychopath. You just killed thousands of people!"
He blocked my awkward attack with a casual swipe of his hand and responded with a crushing blow to my injured shoulder than nearly blinded me from the instant jolt of pain. I gasped, tears streaming down my face from the potent mixture of fury and helplessness. I couldn't hear the screams from down below, but I felt them. So many lives snuffed out in seconds, victims of a man who felt nothing as he looked at me with an expressionless mask for a face.
"Thousands? What are thousands in the face of billions? Nothing. I'm surprised you're reacting this way, Mike. Or maybe it's Hunter I need to talk to. Either way, maybe this will open your eyes to the precariousness of your situation. You know this city better than I do. You seem to care for the lowly, lawless, criminal populace that lives here. So, if you don't want others to die like these just did, I suggest you scour the remaining parts of the city for Dr. Faraday. Because my patience isn't infinite, and I'll do whatever it takes to collect him, even if it means wiping out every single life in this Haven. I'll be in touch."
He punctuated the statement by pressing a button on the dashboard. I figured out what it did when the rooftop blew open with a hissing sound, ejecting me from the cockpit in a whoosh of expelled air. The city spun in disorienting circles: dark buildings, blazing light, wounded sky, dark, billowing smoke, emergency sirens, and rain that stung like pellets and tasted like tears.
I didn't struggle, didn't try to figure a way out of my predicament. Because for the first time since becoming Mick Trubble, I didn't care if I lived or died. It didn't matter. As Kilgore said, my eyes were finally opened. In the end, I never escaped. As was the case my entire life, I was still at the mercy of the machinations of people more powerful than myself. So I plummeted without concern, content to suffer the same fate as the thousands who died in the New Haven Power building.