Demon Accords 10: Rogues (36 page)

“
It is a general suspicion at this time.”

Declan sat forward suddenly.  “I stink of burnt cockroaches and other things.  I’m going to take a shower and get clean clothes. That is, if my extra stuff is still in the room I used this summer?” he asked.

“All your stuff is still in your rooms, of course,” Chris said, nodding.

“I was going to say something about the stench but it didn’t seem hardly fair,” Lydia said.

“Please.  Dead bug stink is like your perfume,” Declan said, standing up.

“Such sass.  Go take your shower and maybe wonder about who had your rooms cleaned and stocked in your absence,” the little vampire shot back.

His eyebrows went up and then he gave her a little bow before heading to the door.  “I’ll be back as soon as I get cleaned up.  You all can yell at me some more.  Good times.”

When the door closed behind him, the others all turned to Stacia.  “What?” she said, although she looked like she knew full what they wanted.

“How is he?  He seems different,” Chris said. “Touchy, a bit…”

“Uppity?  Sassy?” Lydia threw in.

“I was going to say confrontational,” Chris said.

“He’s going through some stuff, I think.  Otherwise pretty good,” she said, although a shadow chased across her features.

“What was that you just thought of?” Lydia asked.

Stacia gave her a mild glare but answered.  “When we were working our way through the mill, we tripped a death trap.  He did it intentionally, used a mouse. It bothered him. Just a mouse, but it’s against witch code or something. He took the spirit or dark energy or whatever the spell was into himself.  It was a bad idea.  Made him mean and dark,” she said.

“What happened?” Lydia pressed.

“I made him get rid of it, and he seemed to be better.  I think he’s okay, but I didn’t like that episode at all,” Stacia said.

“My father could be highly gifted at death magic should he choose it.  His ancestor was legendary.  He avoids it as much as possible, but it is part of his inherent skill set.”

“You know about magic?” Chet asked.

“
Half of my makeup is the grimoire Sorrow.  I know magic.”

“How do you think Declan is, Omega?” Chris asked.

“
My birth created a bit of an existential crisis for my father.  Mostly with his chosen path of computer programming.  That field became effectively obsolete when I was born.  He has therefore focused on his magic and one or two other areas of interest. Sadly, his education holds less interest for him.”

“What areas is he interested in?” Tanya asked.

“
Miss Stacia has an enormously positive effect on him.  Helping back her up with the werewolves and witch in Maine was, aside from the dark spell episode, very beneficial for him.  He also wishes to delve into the mystery of his mother’s murder.  I am helping.”

“You didn’t answer the question,” Darion said.

“Actually, he did,” Lydia said, studying Stacia, who was matching her gaze evenly.

“You know what?  I need to get cleaned up, too,” Stacia said, getting up and waving to the group.

The room was silent after the door closed and no one spoke until their sensitive hearing told them she had boarded the elevator and left the floor.

“So he’s turning his attention to Stacia?” Darion asked.

“
My father will move mountains to help her or protect her.  He probably can, you know… move mountains.  In turn, it is my experience that she settles him down and grounds him.”

“But how does
she
feel?” Darion asked.

“Please.  For a trained observer, you are blind as a bat,” Lydia said, studying her nails with a smirk.

Darion looked at Nika, who just smiled and nodded.

“Omega, would you tell us more about the threats you see?” Tanya asked, her hand on her stomach.

“
Yes Miss Demidova.  I will start with the fugitives from Maine.  I am watching everywhere for a sign of them, although I never got a clear image of them, just a few clips of the witch’s voice on a DOAA audio file.  My father has provided as detailed a description as he was able to, but his own view of them was short in time and happened in deep shadow and gloom in the middle of combat.  My father is likely 99.99997% correct in surmising the child to be demonic.  Here is a still photo taken from a DOAA helmet-mounted camera.”

The wall monitor lit up by itself, the picture showing an occult drawing in dim light and at a poor angle.

“
Note the small arc of glyphs and words visible.  These are an exact match for the fertility and sacrifice circles set up in Mexico where Loki’s Spawn fought their last battle against you, Mr. Gordon, and you, Miss Demidova.  I have compared them to DOAA and ORACLE files.”

Chris reached out and placed his own hand atop Tanya’s as they both leaned forward to watch and listen.  They exchanged glances, meeting each other’s eyes.  “Tell us more please, Omega,” Tanya said without looking away from her mate’s eyes.

“It will be my pleasure, Miss Demidova. Although information is spotty at best.  I have read the DOAA files on Loki’s Spawn and the Mexican battle.  I fear this young witch has achieved the result Loki’s Spawn was seeking.”

“Call me Tanya please, Omega.”

“
As you wish, Tanya.”

“I want to hear more about this demon kid too,” Chris said, a gleam in his eyes.

“I am watching and listening for them.”

“Where Omega?” Chet asked.

“Everywhere Chester.”

Perhaps the best part about his quarters in the Demidova tower was the shower.  The bed was awesome, the television and entertainment hardware was top-of-the-line, but the shower was ridiculous.

A massive space, tiled in dark reds, browns and tans, with three showerheads and Bluetooth connection to his phone and music.  It could have been half the size and still be superior in everyway to the shower stalls he shared with a pack of werewolves and his own roommate.  No privacy, constant mess, and you could never count on a shower being open when you really needed one.

Not to mention the Water witches.  Somehow the witch pack had found a way to monitor when he was headed to the showers.  Turns out that if a skilled Water practitioner was in the girls’ showers when he was in the guys’, she could make things… happen.  Right through the stream of running water. 

The first time it occurred, he’d heard some giggling through the walls before he stepped into the stall.  Giggling always made him cautious.  So when the water started to move in ways that defied gravity, touching his body in a manner both alluring and unnatural, he got the hell out.  After that, he brought one or two of the wolves in and had them switch showers with him as soon as the shenanigans started. The majority of the pack were horn dogs and had no qualms about letting a witch believe she was remotely pleasuring Declan.  It didn’t take long for the girls to catch on, and they had to up their own game.  It became almost a competition and definitely a running joke for the whole school.

Here, he didn’t have to worry about that.  Just him and a shower so large, it didn’t need curtains or a glass door.

A throat cleared softly.  He spun around to find a pair of green eyes studying him with interest.  She was naked too.  Extremely naked. Deliciously naked.

“Do you have room in there for me?  From the looks of things it’s plenty…
big
.  Oh!  And getting bigger,” she noted slyly.  He moved toward her and she met him at the shower’s opening, her mouth reaching up to his.  Then she growled a little and pushed him back into the running water.  Oh yeah, definitely the best damned shower ever.

Two days later

The oldest vault in the Treasury building had no power.  The six men sitting inside it were looking at each other in the light of multiple gas-powered camping lanterns.  The table was top-quality cherry, though, and the chairs were valuable antiques.

A seventh man walked in, and the guards closed the vault door behind him.  The other six jumped to their feet.

“Mr. President, please excuse the lack of conveniences.  It’s rather necessary,” one of the men said.

“Makes for a curious setting, Charlie.  I’m guessing that’s why I had to leave all my electronics, even my watch, outside?” the President of the United States said in an even tone.

“Yes sir.  It will become clear why as we brief you sir,” Charlie, who happened to direct the National Security Agency, said.

“Let’s see.  CIA, Strategic Command, two from the NSA, and… shit!  Not you two.  I swear, I should get the White House doctor to give me a script that says I’m to stay away from Nathan Stewart and Tobias Creek, as they are the direct cause of my high blood pressure and acid reflux.”

General Creek stood stiffly, clearly uncomfortable, but the director of Oracle was much more relaxed.  “Sorry to bring you such stress, Mr. President,” Nathan Stewart said calmly.

President Garth snorted and turned his attention to the stiff general.  “That clusterfuck in Maine settling down?”

“That’s part of what we want to brief you on sir,” Charlie from the NSA said, drawing attention back to himself.

The President studied Charlie, then looked at each of the other men before nodding and taking the chair at the end of the table.  The rest resumed their seats.

“If you recall, sir, the NSA lost control of a sophisticated, artificially intelligent watchdog program this past summer,” Charlie said.

“Hard to forget something that launches goddamned Tomahawks at New Jersey,” the President said, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.  “I’m happy as hell that damned thing disappeared.”

Charlie cleared his throat.  “Actually, sir, we think something ate it.”

“Ate it?” the President asked.

“Deputy Director Donlon will explain sir,” Charlie said, waving at the man next to him.

“Sir, the best programmers and computer technicians we have could only find a few bits and pieces of the Anvil program after the events at Demidova tower,” Deputy Director Donlon said a little nervously. 

The president leaned forward and waited.

“The code remnants that we could find seemed to indicate that the bulk of the program had been ripped apart by another program. We’re not sure what kind of program could do that. We did, however find part of Anvil’s activity log.  Our analysts pieced together a narrative.  Anvil was highly successful in aiding us against terrorists, but at some point, it began to define Christian Gordon and Tatiana Demidova as threats to the country.”

“I could have told it that myself,” the President said.

“Actually, you did, sir.  Anvil noted your concern in comments recorded during your daily intelligence briefs,” Donlon said.

“Wait, the damned thing was spying on
me?”

“It spied on everyone and everything.  Smashed through most anti-intrusion software like a brick through glass,” Charlie said, then nodded to Donlon to continue.

“Demidova Corp hired a dream team of young computer whiz kids as interns last spring.  They also hired a young student from Arcane,” Donlon said.

“That O’Carroll kid, right?” the President asked.  “I spent a couple of hours watching that Fetter paper mill footage.”

“Yes sir, but I would caution you not to say his name outside this vault.  In fact, I’m not one hundred percent certain this place is even safe,” Donlon said.

The President started to look affronted but noted all of his senior people nodding.  He raised both eyebrows. “Why not?”

“Because interesting things happen anytime that boy’s name is typed into a search engine, intelligence system, or even spoken out loud.  Much the way that certain key words would trigger Anvil, sir.  On the day that kid was hired, Anvil immediately started an assault on Oracle’s computers.  They have some serious firewalls, so it took it quite a bit of time, but it was focused on just one file,” Donlon said.

“The kid’s?” President Garth asked.

“Yes sir.  The kid’s.  Coincidentally, within a day of his arrival, Demidova’s systems became unhackable.  They knew they were under attack and had found a way to defend from Anvil, which no other system had been successful at.  Then they started on the offensive.  When they tracked down one of Anvil’s original programmers, we intervened.  Took Gordon and the kid to NSA headquarters.  Anvil played a game with them, testing them.  Well, testing the kid, really.  He could somehow
feel
when the Anvil program’s attention was nearby.  We interviewed a former Demidova board member, a Justin Cryor.  He told us the kid was a major part, if not
the
major part of the programing changes that protected their systems.”

“We also have reason to believe that Demidova Corp was researching quantum computing.  They hired one of the top guys in the field, a Dr. Marvin Susskins, who has since disappeared,” Charlie added.

“You think this kid had something to do with a quantum computer? 
The
quantum computer?” the President asked, glancing at the Commander of Strategic Command.

“We don’t
know
much, for certain, but we suspect he did and still does.  Consider this… Mike?” Charlie asked, turning to the Director of the CIA.

“Sir, a month ago, our deep cover Chinese asset, codename Great Wall, came across a flurry of activity in China’s Ministry of State Security.  It seems they activated one of their own deep cover sleeper cells here in the US and then the whole cell, disappeared.  About that time, the FBI got called in to a traffic accident in the Bronx.  A van carrying five Chinese nationals was broadsided when a traffic light malfunctioned. Both sides were green at just the right moment for a dump truck to crash into them. The driver was dead right there, but the others got out and ran from the scene.  NYPD officers tracked them to an open sewer cover.  They found a huge amount of blood and empty cartridge casings down in the sewers.  So much blood, it is unlikely any of them survived,” the CIA director reported.

“They also found tracks similar to those produced by centipede drones.  If you recall, we lost the entire supply of them after the Demidova attack,” Charlie said.

“The driver was carrying this picture on his body, and not a whole lot more besides weapons and a burner cell phone,” Mike said, handing the President a two-by-three-inch stained photo.  The President recognized the subject.

“We think they were activated to snatch and grab the kid.  Yet as soon as they began to move, they died to a man.  Notice the photo, Mr. President.  Taken by a 35mm camera and hand developed in a darkroom,” Mike said.

“Old school,” the President said.

“Old school is the only way to come at this.  Let me lay it all out.  Our killer grade-A program got schooled by a kid programmer. It became totally focused on that kid and the Demidova group. Then something else much bigger and badder killed it.  Our nuclear weapons got locked out within hours of the events at Demidova tower.  All the nuclear weapons in the world are likely in the same boat.  The Chinese wanted this kid.  Something rigged the New York City traffic system to take out their vehicle, then waited when they ran to the sewers.  The driver’s body had a map of the local sewer manholes, so they likely had them marked for escape and evasion.  The big baddie sent our own drones, which it now owns, to wipe them out, using their own escape plans against them. 

“General Creek’s team ran into this kid in Maine.  Seems he has a major hard-on for the girl werewolf, Reynolds. The kid, that is, not Tobias. One of the team got a facial recognition on the kid.  Funny thing is the kid was on our watch list, but the speed with which alarms went off exceeded our protocols.  By a lot.  As if someone or some
thing
wanted senior officers to intervene before the situation could devolve.”

“During the mill episode, every drone in the area acted funny.  Some of the reporters mentioned that the damned things seem to fly themselves, ignoring remote controls yet getting really amazing videos.  Videos that show the kid and Reynolds in the best possible light. Then the Apache pilot pulled down on the kid.  The entire avionics package, which was state-of-the-art and serviced two weeks prior, shit the bed.  That happened at the exact moment the bird’s 30mm aimed at the kid.”

“You think they built a quantum computer and for some reason, it protects this kid?” the President asked.

“That’s our working hypothesis, but we don’t know.  It’s impossible to guess what a true quantum computer would be like.  How it would process data, how it would solve problems.  Our best experts think quantum emergence is a singularity event.  Something we can’t see past, something we can’t predict.  We need more intelligence, more data, and this kid seems to be at the center of it.  But if we learned anything from Anvil, we learned that drawing an AI’s attention is not healthy.  And Anvil was somewhat protective of our own assets, which is logical.  How would a quantum intelligence view its creators or programmers?  Let me show you one more thing,” Charlie said, nodding to Donlon.  The other man pulled a small battery-powered projector from a bag, strung film, and played it against the vault’s wall.

“The gunner was wearing a GoPro on his helmet.  Completely isolated from any networks or Wi-fi.  We had it copied to analog film.  There’s no sound, but I’d direct you to observe the boy’s mouth.  Here is where the engines cut out.  See?  He says something.  A second later, the engines restart,” Charlie said.

“What did he say?  I assume your people figured it out?” the President asked.

“He says
no omega
,” Charlie replied.

“Omega?” the President questioned.

“We think it’s the quantum computer.  We’ve managed to get a few people into the Demidova tower lately.  No electronic surveillance seems to work there, yet a few of them heard the name Omega spoken once or twice.  Mostly by the IT people.”

“He told it no and it restarted the helicopter’s engines?  It listens to him?” the President asked.

“That’s our working theory,” Charlie said.

The President turned to Nathan Stewart.  “This kid goes to your school, right?”

“Sir, in a very real manner, the school was started for this kid.  Gordon and Demidova first met him the same night I did—the night Gordon bombed New Hampshire.  They came to me soon after and proposed funding a special school.  They wanted Declan, and his girlfriend at the time, to go to it.  They were mostly hands off, but Gordon insisted on hand-picking the boy’s roommate and deliberately surrounded him with the people who are now his closest friends.  Sir, say what you want about Gordon, but he seems to have a sixth sense about people.  Declan is near the top of his list,” Stewart said.

“So what’s our angle?  Threaten the girlfriend?  Pressure his family?” the President asked.

“Mr. President, you rarely take my advice on these things, but I would implore you to not make the same mistakes twice.  If you push this kid, he will return the push with interest.  And not only is it possible that he has more control over the country’s nuclear arsenal than we do, but he is a significant power in his own right.  In the witch world, he’s a heavyweight. I watched the footage in the mill, sir.  In my opinion, we could have stood back and let the kid and Miss Reynolds clean it out by themselves.  A highly effective combat team, those two.” 

“No sir, we need to come at this from a much different direction.  He’s intelligent and extremely wary.  He doesn’t trust easily, he doesn’t forgive, and he always gets better than even,” Stewart said.

“I don’t love your tone, Nathan, but consider the point made.  What’s our angle?”