Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

Peering inside, there wasn’t a body, but there was a lot of blood. The overhead lights were dimmed as if on some energy-saving setting. Bloody handprints could be seen on the inside of the crumpled door as if someone had struggled to escape.

Gus could not recall smelling old blood, but the metallic scent triggered a visceral part of him to tense up. One by one, they filed through the door and the other supers evaluated the room and moved systematically around the perimeter. Tempest signaled and they progressed along that path, clearing any rooms along the hallway.

Despite Gus’ tension, there were no surprises as they made their way through the complex. Only some areas appeared ransacked while others appeared orderly and neat. They found no other blood or any bodies, but the disagreeable smells never disappeared. They would wax and wane in intensity without rhyme or reason, which made it difficult to tell if they were getting closer to some site of carnage or not.

Eventually, they made it to their destination—a control room that reminded Gus of the Foundry with the exception that it was much larger. This room looked like it could double as an atrium with the wide spaces. There were no windows to the outside from this room, its large windows instead showed machinery below. The tiles were illuminated and small workstations were visible, abandoned like the rest of the facility.

Yuki strode to the most prominent console there and began to set up. Reaching the terminal, she extended her keyboard hand and the same two probes snaked out of her palm and inserted into it. She typed frenetically for a minute or two then grinned, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it. She bowed to Tempest and swung her hand towards the console with an ‘after you’ gesture.

“You have five minutes, so be quick,” she chirped, smiling.

He accessed the computer and scrolled through various menus. Opening folders, glancing at the contents, then moving on. Occasionally he would make a motion and slide a file to Yuki who stood there, arm extended. Gus could see folder icons appearing on the projected screen as the data was transferred.

As Tempest searched the system, Gus noticed a slight buzzing and a flutter to the already dim lights. It was subtle but seemed to be affecting lights in different parts of the room. Not only that, but the disturbance seemed to be moving closer to where they were.

“Guys… does anyone else detect anything here…?” Gus slowly asked, unsure if he was overreacting.

Aurora turned her eyes away from the computer, pulling her hair from her eyes. Her eyes flared open as she screamed, “Wraith!”

Chapter Six

Bad to Worse

What’s a wraith? Not knowing what else to do, Gus put up a shield in front of him. No sooner had he done that than a demonic-looking face pushed into the bubble. A gnarled claw dented the shield slightly inward but it resisted the creature, rebounding and throwing it back. A nearby trash can dented and was launched into the dark hall beyond.

The lineup changed as other supers moved in front of Gus, encircling him. He gave them room and stepped back, then shifted the curvature of his shield to cover himself and Tempest while he searched through computer files.

“I almost have it,” he shouted to the other supers.

Gus watched in fascination as the team did their work. Aurora flung out shimmering, dust-like particles and a figure was revealed as it moved through the dust, displacing the glittering specks and announcing its location. Pulse shot a beam of light at the figure, who raised its hands to shield itself.

Gus wanted to help but was worried he might interfere with what the others were doing. They seemed to have the situation well in hand. A pink glow appeared where the beam trained on the creature, and slowly spread outward. The figure came into view, but its appearance seemed… fractured somehow. Almost as if viewed through a cracked window. Sweat poured down Pulse’s face as he tried to maintain the beam that was sapping his MP bar on Gus’ display.

“Done!” Tempest exclaimed, turning to aid in stopping the threat. He pulled his fists back then shot them forward. Electricity crackled in front of his fists at the specter and there was an explosion of pink sparks that popped loudly as they settled to the ground.

“Dammit, wraiths! That changes things,” Tempest barked. “Yuki, update everyone’s minimap and let’s rendezvous with everyone at medical.”

She waved and the details of the minimap became much more detailed, with labels and a blue pulsing arrow showing the quickest way to reach their destination.

Tempest began speaking to the other team leads as the group began to move, warning them of the wraiths and altering their plans. They hurried through the hallways and stairs quickly arriving on the floor.

“What was that?” Gus gasped to Aurora.

“The wraith? Ohh, they’re the worst. Some supers have a rare ability that allows them to gift some of their abilities to constructs. They are usually invisible and require no maintenance of MP, though they do take a lot to create. They follow usually a single command until they are destroyed or they fade away when the MP invested in them dissipates. They can’t be reasoned with and depending on how much MP is used to create them, they usually require an equivalent amount of damage to be dissipated.”

Gus shook his head; apparently virtual ghosts were a thing too. With powers no less. “Anything else I should know?”

“Usually supers prepare them beforehand and then use them to drain an attacker’s energy, giving them an advantage as they will have recharged MP by then. So there theoretically can be a lot of them; keep your eyes open.”

Gus turned and saw Pulse chewing vigorously like an angry cow, his jaw flexing. He swallowed then threw in another blue gel. Checking the display, he could see that Pulse’s avatar indeed had