Suture (The Bleeding Worlds) (6 page)

"Sometimes a journey is so long, even a step forward feels like no progress at all. We keep going. Failure only happens when you decide to quit."

Fuyuko shifted away from Eir, standing and setting into a pace about the room. She raked her fingers through her hair and bit hard on her lip.

"You know, for the first year he was gone, I missed my brother every day."

"We all mourn your brother." Eir's eyes spoke sincerity. "He was the pride of this place. Many songs would've been sung of his exploits had he lived a few more years."

Fuyuko's hands dropped and her shoulders sagged. "The worst part of this. Well, maybe not
the worst
, but an awful part of this—I'm glad he's not here to see me like this. I couldn't bear to be so weak in front of him."

Eir stood and pulled Fuyuko into an embrace. The warmth she felt from Eir's single hand couldn't compare to the burst of soothing heat exploding through her. She sagged against Eir, who held her weight with little effort.

"Guilt won't help with your recovery." Eir's words sounded like a lullaby. "You shared a special connection with your brother which didn't rely on pride or power. We've talked about your negative feelings toward yourself and how they slow your recovery. Don't create new guilt to further impede yourself. Your brother wouldn't have wished that for you."

Eir guided them down to the floor. Fuyuko remained against her, wishing for nothing more than to sleep in that warmth.

"I don't even know how he died," Fuyuko whispered—just as much to herself as Eir.

Eir stroked her hand through Fuyuko's hair. "He fell in battle, like too many of our beloved friends and family."

"I know. But I don't know anything about the actual details. I didn't join Ansuz until afterwards."

"You never asked?"

Fuyuko shook her head. "They didn't seem to want to talk about it. They appeared as upset as I was. I couldn't drag that pain up."

Eir hesitated. Even the warmth seemed to diminish slightly.

"Do you think it would help?" Eir finally asked.

"With my powers? I doubt it."

Eir gently pushed herself away so she could look Fuyuko in the eye. Separated from the embrace, Fuyuko suddenly felt ashamed at how she had clung on. Was this weakness? If it was, could she allow herself to experience it?

"I agree, it won't solve the issue with your powers. Maybe knowing specifics about how Katsuro died isn't such a good thing either. Perhaps viewing some mission data, seeing him alive and strong, might make you feel better. Perhaps you have mementoes that will remind you of his love for you. What I'm saying is, you feel so much conflict within your heart, and your brother is part of it. Find a way to deal with those feelings. It might not revive your powers, but it might give you peace of mind. That will put you many steps toward recovery."

The mission briefing room lay several floors below the living quarters. Twenty chairs with affixed desks were set in four rows, each row raised above the one in front of it. A large screen occupied the better part of the wall which the desks faced.

Jason sat alone. He always seemed to be the first to these meetings. His leg absent-mindedly bounced and he tapped a rhythmless beat on the desk with his thumb. The others were going to be pissed when they heard this wasn't just a debriefing. Which meant since the others were too afraid to say anything to the command structure, he, as de facto team leader, would swallow the most crap for it.

"My job sucks," he groaned, grabbed a handful of his black hair, gave it a merciless tug, and closed his brown eyes to the room.

After a few sighing breaths, he opened his eyes, pulled a tablet from his bag, and navigated to connect to the room's secured network. The briefing room server was kept separate from the general Suture network so no one other than the team assigned a mission knew its details until after the mission's completion. Every time he logged onto the briefing room server it reminded him his life, and those of his friends, lay in constant danger. If Suture couldn't trust the people within its own walls, what did that say about people outside?

He found the Ansuz folder and tapped it, entering his pass to gain access. The folder was blank. He stared at it a few moments before logging out and logging in again. Still, the folder remained empty.

Brandt and Caelum entered the room, having a discussion that had Brandt very animated, which didn't seem too hard. At six-foot-eight and built like a pro linebacker, even tiny movements seemed big on Brandt. By contrast, Caelum was lean, agile, and lucky if he reached five-ten.

Brandt crashed into a seat next to Jason, his mop of red hair flipping about like flames. He wore a wide, mischievous smile on his pale freckled face. Classification - Shit Disturber.

Caelum slid into the chair on the other side. His short cropped black hair, smooth, dark complexion and easy, relaxed smile spoke of control and a cool-headed approach to life.

They couldn't be more opposite. Yet they were the tightest of friends, and the closest thing to brothers Jason had.

"I hate these things," Brandt announced so loudly anyone passing the room could've heard. Jason cringed. What if Woten or Njord were outside? "I mean, we know what happened. Who gives a crap what the eggheads found out afterwards?"

"I'm interested," Caelum replied. "You can't tell me honestly after seeing the condition of that building and what happened to the only survivor, you're not the least bit curious?"

Brandt leaned across Jason's desk, and in a surprisingly quiet tone, said, "Only thing freaked me out about that mission was how easy it was for our noob to chop that guy's head off."

"Stifle it Brandt," Jason said.

"Look boss, I get it. Your girl's kind of his friend and so you feel like you've gotta defend him. But this is us, the three amigos, musketeers, shit disturbers extraordinaire. You don't need to toe that line with us."

Jason passed his fingers through his hair and fought the urge to pull a few strands out. "Gwynn went through a lot of crap. You know what, I'm tired of everyone giving him a hard time for it. Truth is, he saved our asses and I think everyone is just having a hard time with that. If he hadn't acted the way he did, Angie would've got her own damn head chopped off because she was too busy being mouthy to Njord. Where I sit, we should be kissing his ass."

"Wow," Brandt said. "I would've brought a shovel if I knew there'd be this much bullshit piling up."

Tough words,
Jason thought,
but I can tell by you're voice I'm right and you know it.

Thankfully, the arrival of the rest of the team, including a still blurry-eyed Gwynn, ended any possibility of the conversation starting again.

Wait, not everyone. Where's Angie?

Woten and Njord entered and took stock of the people in the room.

"She's not here yet," Njord said.

"I'm sure Angie will be here soon," Gwynn said.

If Woten's stare could kill—which it possibly could, Jason wasn't sure—Gwynn would've been vaporized. Jason made a mental note to tell Gwynn he should keep his mouth shut unless told to do otherwise.

"Angie won't be joining us," Njord gently answered, trying to dispel the tension filling the room. "We are waiting for someone else."

Someone else?
Jason's heart raced. Had Fuyuko's behaviour this morning been all an act? Was she back on the roster?

"It's all that old bastard's fault," Woten said. "Just continue. He can explain why his agent is going in with less information."

Njord looked questioningly at Woten. In reply, Woten waved him on as though he were waving away a bad odour.

"Well…" Njord moved to a podium to the right of the screen. An image of the building in the corn field flashed on the display. "As you know, we encountered something unexpected on our last mission. While we thought we were investigating a tear, it turned out to be something different. And much more troubling."

Woten stepped forward to speak, which unsettled Jason. The only reason Woten would speak was because this was serious, and because he knew the words coming from him wouldn't be questioned.

"What you experienced was a Bleed Through, or as the Research Department like to call it, a displacement. Essentially, this building was from another world, one most likely destroyed either by the Fallen or through some other cause. For reasons still unknown, it phased into existence in our reality. The outside of the building was our universe, while the inside was a different one. That is why the survivor became a Curse when brought outside the building."

"Oh my God," Marie gasped. "We did that to him."

Unlike Gwynn's outburst, this one was met with no anger. Probably because Woten and Njord understood Marie was only voicing what all of them were feeling in the twisting of their guts. Jason cast a glance at Gwynn. He'd killed that man, how was this affecting him? But Gwynn looked coldly ahead, as though this news in no way surprised, or bothered, him. Maybe Brandt had a point after all.

"There was no way you could've known," Woten said. "Because you are Anunnakis, you were able to cross the boundaries without any ill effects. The other thing we did to protect you was to outfit your suits with devices Research calls Tethers."

"That's what I activated on the computer before we left the chopper," Njord said.

"The Tethers are like lifelines to this world. Without them, you might not have ended up back in this world when you stepped out of the apartment building. In a sense, think of it like a crossroads. It's entirely possible that building appeared in other worlds besides our own."

No amount of discipline could keep the room from mixed murmurings.

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

"We might've run into someone else?"

"The reason you are here today," Njord resumed the meeting, quieting the voices, "is we've detected similar energy readings in Florida within the Big Cypress National Preserve. Local authorities and military personnel were scrambled to cordon off the area and a team from the Research Department was sent ahead. They brought back these."

A new image appeared on the screen. A city. Not the size of a capital, but far larger than what Jason would consider a small town. There'd be schools, shopping malls, and thousands of people living there. Several more images passed by, closeups of various buildings, roads, and people. Too many people.

"This town doesn't exist in this world," Woten said. "Thankfully, it appears to be a functioning, normal town. Unlike the building you first encountered, which looked like it had come from a world that was a war zone. We want more information on this phenomena and to see what level of threat it poses to us. Since only Anunnakis can do that, your team is being dispatched to the town."

Brandt shot Jason a pointed glare that asked,
Did you know about this?
Jason ignored it.

"You will be assigned various posts to observe daily life and take readings which you will pass back to us," Woten continued. "Each of you will be given a device to wear on your wrist. It's been built to look like a common watch, so it shouldn't stick out too badly. These are your Tethers. You must keep them on at all times."

Jason raised his hand. When Njord acknowledged he could speak, he asked, "Sir, we were under the impression if the Veil weakened enough to allow something like this to happen, it would mean the destruction of at least one world. That's what we saw in Brantfield, wasn't it?" From the corner of his eye, Jason saw Gwynn shudder.
How hard would this be for him if he did all that for nothing?

Njord and Woten exchanged glances. Jason's pulse quickened.
Why are they hesitating?

"Our own Mr. Takeda brought a theory forward to us…some time ago," Woten said. "While world killers are a weakening of the Veil, which crushes two entire realities together, destroying one or both of them, this is more like the Veil making a willful choice to preserve something." When greeted with confused looks, Woten continued. "There is the theory of a paradox. An event, person, situation, causes a disruption in the natural flow of reality. The suggestion is the Veil will react to solve the paradox. For instance, we know multiple versions of our Earth exist. The belief is the various realities branched off because of a paradox. In the case of a world killer, it is an injury to the Veil which eventually causes an all out rupture. In these situations, Mr. Takeda suggests this is the Veil's will. Since there is no injury, there is no rupture, and therefor no destruction of an entire world."

Unasked questions crowded the room, filling it with a suffocating silence. The tension was shattered with a loud hammering on the door.

"You only need one guess to know who that is," Woten said to Njord, who went to open the door. A man, who equaled Brandt in size and stature, strode into the room like royalty. He wore a crisp white suit, the shade of which matched his beard and hair that hung to his shoulders. He smiled broadly at the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Woten said with considerable sarcasm, "may I introduce the head of Suture's Greek branch—"

"Zeus," the man interrupted. "Pleased to meet you all. Well, Woten, this is certainly quite the fancy setup you have here. Took me over an hour just to find my way from the substation. May I introduce," he stepped aside, revealing a girl in black fatigues, "the pride of our branch who will accompany you on this mission, Alesandra."

The sound of a tablet crashing to the ground drew everyone's attention to Gwynn. The boy sat rigid, his eyes bulging at the sight of the girl.

"Adrastia?"

Was it all for nothing? Gwynn tried to wrap his mind around what Njord and Woten were trying to say. Had he not stopped the Veil's collapse? Had Sophia died for nothing? More words, deeper explanations, none comforting, but at the same time, they seemed to indicate his efforts hadn't failed completely. They had saved this world. But it meant the deaths of others continued. Where was Pridament in all this? Was he out there fighting the Fallen as he'd said, trying to draw their attention away from this Earth? If whole universes were dying at such a pace that the Veil itself was beginning to compensate, how much safety could he possibly buy them?