Godzilla vs. Kong by Greg Keyes (read people like a book .txt) 📕

some homework; maybe she could turn her attention to that. Like most of her homework, it was just time-wasting drivel, guaranteed to bore her into unconsciousness.

Then she remembered. Mad Truth was about to drop his latest podcast.

She grabbed her phone and navigated to the site; saw he was uploading in four minutes. She went to the kitchen, filled a water bottle and returned to her bedroom. Her earbuds in, she took the pen and legal pad she kept by her bed for taking notes.

Mad Truth—also known as the Real Deal, Titan Truth, Weathervane, and Godzilla Watch—had a low, confident, and obviously digitally altered voice.

Hello, loyal listeners, welcome to TTP, Titan Truth Podcast episode 245. Today is the day. Maybe the last podcast I ever record. And look, I know I said that last week … and maybe a few other times, but the point is this—I’m sick of waiting for the right moment. Five years of deep cover at Apex Cybernetics is enough. I’m about to walk in and download hard evidence and expose a vast corporate conspiracy. If I walk out of this at all. And if this is my final broadcast, no regrets.

Madison listened intently, parsing every syllable. A lot of what Mad Truth said was a sort of code; if you hadn’t been following him from the start, you might not get half of it. She had all of his podcasts archived, so she could cross-reference them whenever she needed to.

She had been skeptical of him at first, and still was, to a point—maybe half or more of Mad Truth’s speculations were nonsense. But at the core of it—and especially when it came to the Titans—she thought he was probably on to something. Because she had been inside of a conspiracy, a big one. One that had almost destroyed the world, and her mother had been the architect of it. So, yes, she believed in such things. Like Mad Truth.

Don’t call me a whistleblower, he went on. I ain’t whistling. And this ain’t a leak, either, this is a flood. And you better believe I’m gonna wash away all of Apex’s lies. You can believe that.

She waited for more, but then realized he had signed off.

That was a short one, Madison thought. Too short, given how he liked to rattle on, building his case, piling up evidence until his conclusions made themselves. Maybe this time Mad Truth really was about to do what he had been planning all along, to go through with it. But he had said it himself, this wasn’t the first time he’d been right on the verge of blowing everything wide open, and so far, he had never followed through.

She sighed and put the phone in the charger. She wasn’t ready to sleep yet. Maybe it was time to see about that homework.

Then her phone rang. She saw it was her dad and rolled her eyes. Why did he always call when he was coming home late? Why couldn’t he just text like a normal person?

“What is it, Dad?” she answered. “I’m kind of busy here at the opium den.”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s great, honey. But listen, I sent Jeanne—you remember Jeanne?”

“The Jeanne you work with? Seaman Baskin?”

“Yes. She’s coming over to give you a ride, okay?”

“A ride? Why? To where?”

“Look,” he said. “I can’t really explain over the phone. She’ll probably be there in about ten minutes. Grab whatever you need for an overnight.”

“Overnight? What’s going on?”

“Probably nothing,” he said. “I just want you here, with me, okay? I’ll feel better.”

“Well … okay,” she said.

“I love you, honey.”

“I love you too, Dad,” she said.

She put down the phone and started stuffing things into her duffel bag. The only place to sleep at her father’s work was in the bunkers underneath it. That could only mean one of three things: hurricane, tornado, or Titan. And it wasn’t a hurricane or a tornado, because a) the weather was clear, and b) Dad wouldn’t hesitate to mention either of those over the phone.

Shit, she thought. Mad Truth. Did this have something to do with him? With him going after Apex tonight? It was hard to believe it was a coincidence.

A few minutes later, Jeanne showed up, or rather, Seaman Baskin, part of the military detachment in the Pensacola office.

“Have they started evacuating the waterfront?” she asked Baskin.

Baskin frowned, clearly hesitant.

“Dad called,” Madison said. It wasn’t a lie.

“Oh, so you know, then,” Baskin said. “Don’t be scared. You’ll be safe where we’re going. And your dad sent someone for your aunt.”

“Which one is it?” Madison asked. “Scylla? Rodan?”

“No,” Baskin said. Then she got it. “You didn’t know, did you? You tricked me.”

“Dad wouldn’t say over the phone,” she said. “But I’m not an idiot.”

“No, that would be me,” Baskin said. “But I guess it’s too late now. No, it’s the big one. Godzilla.”

“That can’t be right,” Madison said. “Godzilla doesn’t attack for no reason. One of the others must be near.”

“If they are, I haven’t heard about it,” Baskin said. “And I sincerely hope you’re wrong. One of these things is plenty for me.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Madison said. “Whatever he’s doing, he didn’t come here to hurt us. Or anyone. You’ll see.”

SIX

The atheling of Geatmen uttered these words and

Heroic did hasten, not any rejoinder

Was willing to wait for; the wave-current swallowed The doughty-in-battle. Then a day’s-length elapsed ere

He was able to see the sea at its bottom.

Early she found then who fifty of winters

The course of the currents kept in her fury,

Grisly and greedy, that the grim one’s dominion

Some one of men from above was exploring.

Forth did she grab them, grappled the warrior

With horrible clutches; yet no sooner she injured

His body unscathèd: the burnie out-guarded,

That she proved but powerless to pierce through the armor,

The limb-mail locked, with loath-grabbing fingers.

The sea-wolf bare then, when bottomward came she,

She grabs him, and bears him to her den.

The ring-prince homeward, that he after was powerless

(He had daring to do it) to deal with his weapons,

But many a