The End of Infinity Read online

  Jack had nothing to say to that. He felt at the glowing power core in his chest and shuddered as he sat on the cold metal floor.

  “Here, allow me,” Khalix said, offering to help Jack up. Jack batted away the hand Khalix had offered and stood up on his own. The Rüstov prince looked wounded. “Jack . . . don’t be like that. We’re going to be together for quite some time. The least we can do is try to get along.”

  Jack’s lip curled up. “Get along? Are you kidding?”

  Khalix raised his shoulders. “I agree you’ve been anything but a gracious host up to this point, but I’m willing to forgive all that. It’s always better when we work together.”

  Jack couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re willing to forgive me?”

  Khalix offered his hand again. “We can be partners, you and I. Let’s start over. You might as well. We both know how this is going to end.”

  Jack turned his back on Khalix, looking for a way out of the dream or, at the very least, the conversation. “You’re just trying to mess with my head.”

  Khalix snickered. “Oh, we’ve already done that. You can’t imagine the things we’ve done to you. Perhaps you’d like to see for yourself?”

  Khalix held his hand out and a spotlight switched on across the room. Jack shielded his eyes, which were sensitive to the light after being in the dark for so long. Still, he couldn’t turn away. The light seemed impossibly bright, but there was no way he could ignore what was going on beneath it. A surgical team was prepping a patient on an operating table. It all seemed eerily familiar to Jack, and he had a good idea why. When his eyes finally adjusted, his suspicions were confirmed. The patient on the table was him.

  “What is this?” Jack asked.

  Khalix walked toward the light with his hands clasped behind his back. “The first day of the rest of your life.”

  Jack steeled his nerves and followed Khalix to the operating table. He saw himself lying there, heavily sedated and stripped to the waist. Rüstov scientists dressed in clear plastic scrubs surrounded the table, checking instruments, strapping sensors to his body, and monitoring his vitals. None of them paid Jack any mind as he approached. He turned to Khalix. “Can they hear us?”

  Khalix shook his head. “This is just a memory. One of mine. Not yours.”

  Jack watched the surgical team move about the lab, getting things ready. It was a surreal experience for Jack to stand apart from himself and watch this all play out. He felt like he was watching actors on the stage. He wanted to believe this was all just a dream, but he remembered flashes of this moment. Some of them had hit him in the swamps next to St. Barnaby’s. Snippets of Khalix’s memory were bleeding into his own.

  At the edge of the light, a Rüstov doctor, presumably the head surgeon, was speaking with someone else Jack remembered. Glave. He was still using Obscuro the Secreteer as a host.

  “I don’t want to hear any more excuses,” Glave told the surgeon. “There will be no more delays. The Magus has waited long enough already.”

  “But, sir . . . ,” the doctor began.

  “He’s not known for his patience. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that?”

  The doctor sighed. “No, sir. Of course not, but this is the Magus’s son we’re talking about. This procedure . . . it’s untested. Entirely theoretical. We never even considered such a possibility before you returned to Rüst with this talk of Revile.”

  “I grow tired of this argument, Doctor.”

  “We’re pushing too far. Too fast. Augmenting the infection this way could very well kill the host, and that would mean the death of the—”

  “Enough,” Glave interrupted, putting up a hand. “It’s going to work,” he assured the surgeon. Jack watched Glave tap on his forehead like he was a prop. “I know the host’s mind. He has actually come face-to-face with the results of your work. He’s seen the future. You’ve already succeeded, Doctor. There can be no other outcome.”

  “But what we’ve discovered here . . . the possibilities are endless. There are options that don’t risk the prince’s life. I just need more time.”

  A Rüstov guard marched up to Glave and snapped to attention. “Sir. The Magus awaits your presence on the observation deck.” Jack looked up, and more light faded in from above. He saw the Magus sitting in a gallery overlooking the lab.

  Glave nodded to the guard. “I’ll be there at once,” he said, and then turned back to the surgeon. “I’m afraid the time is now, Doctor. Not to worry. If you don’t believe me about the future, just remember that necessity is the mother of invention.”

  The surgeon frowned at Glave. “What are you talking about?”

  Glave grinned. “I’m talking about the fact that if you do happen to harm the Magus’s son, you will experience pain like never before, and it will last a very long time. I say you can’t help but succeed, but you know full well that you can’t afford to fail.” Glave clapped the surgeon on the shoulder and laughed. “Good luck, Doctor. You have my full faith and confidence.”

  Glave followed the guard out of the operating room, and the surgeon muttered something unpleasant about Glave’s mother once he was out of earshot. Jack was inclined to agree with the doctor.

  “You don’t like Glave either, I see,” Khalix said. “I can understand that. Most people don’t. He’s not very nice, but he does get results. That’s how he got where he is today. My father has rewarded him handsomely for his role in my rescue and safe return.”

  Jack didn’t respond to Khalix. He was transfixed by the scene before him. The Rüstov surgeon barked a few orders at his staff, and the members of the surgical team took their positions around the table, making final preparations. Two holo-screen monitors popped up, showing images of Jack’s body lying still on the table with action all around. The word “Recording” was flashing in red on each screen. Jack felt his stomach tighten as he watched one of the Rüstov doctors draw a black dotted line from his neck to his abdomen, laying out the points of incision. Meanwhile, two more doctors were running through a checklist of surgical tools. As each terrible new tool came into view, Jack’s anxiety jumped ten levels. It didn’t even matter that it was just a memory of him lying there on the table. The idea of these things being used on him was bad enough. Out of all the items on the list, the Rüstov saved the worst for last:

  “Is the implant ready?” the first doctor asked.

  “Ready,” the other replied, holding up a crystal shard. It was a thin, red sliver of glass no larger than a blade of grass, but Jack could tell mountains of power nested within it. He knew in an instant that it was the same red crystal that powered the Rüstov core in his chest. It terrified him to see how much the object had grown while inside his body.

  “There it is,” Khalix marveled. “From little packages, big things come, eh, Jack?”

  Jack swallowed hard. “Why are you showing me this? Trying to scare me?”

  “I’m just trying to help you understand your situation. It’s high time you accepted that this isn’t your body anymore. It’s our body. Your conscious mind might be able to tune me out, but I’m still there beneath the surface of every thought, tightening my grip on your subconscious. How else could I have rendered your powers useless against us? Your powers aren’t enough to stop me anymore. The truth is, they never were. This is about willpower as much as anything else, and we broke your will, Jack. Don’t bother trying to deny it.”

  Jack had no snappy comeback for Khalix. The cold logic of his reasoning was hard to dismiss.

  “We had you for a year. A whole year. What you see here is just the beginning. I haven’t even gotten to the Theater of War yet.”

  “What’s that?”

  Khalix smiled. “You’ll see. We’ve done more than infect your body, Jack. We’ve infected your brain. Changed the way you think. Deep inside your mind, you already know how to be one of us, and when my father gets here . . . you will be.”

  Jack’s infected eye tingled at the mere mention of the Rüstov emperor. He l
ooked up at the Magus and worried that maybe Khalix wasn’t just trying to psyche him out. Everything felt wrong. The mark on Jack’s eye and the ruby-red crystal growing like a tumor in his chest made it painfully clear that Khalix was getting stronger, and then there was the matter of his father. Jack could feel the Magus’s presence up in the gallery lending his son power and support on the operating table. He remembered feeling the Magus’s anger back when he escaped on Roka’s ship. Somehow he had known the Magus’s feelings as well as he did his own. The Magus shared a powerful connection with his people, and Jack worried about how much stronger Khalix would get once his father returned. What if Khalix was right? What if he couldn’t beat him anymore?

  “It’s like Glave said, we’ve already succeeded. You fought well, longer than anybody ever has, but there’s no point in holding out any longer. We’re too strong.”

  Jack did his best to sound brave. “Not strong enough to hold me. I escaped.”

  Khalix stifled a laugh. “That’s right. I forgot.”

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh, I think you know. Understand this, Jack, you do nothing that we don’t intend. Everything you do from this point on can only serve to weaken the Imagine Nation. You may think you’re going to fight to the bitter end, but you don’t know what you’re going to do when that moment finally comes. I do. You’re our greatest weapon and we’ve got you exactly where we want you. Revile is part of both our futures. It’s fate. You can’t escape destiny.”

  “I don’t believe in destiny.”

  Khalix laughed out loud. “Oh, Jack. Really . . . you need to wake up.”

  CHAPTER

  9

  Fight or Flight

  Jack’s eyes shot open and his whole body shook. There was somebody next to him with a hand on his arm. He tried to scurry away but his back was against a wall. There was nowhere to go.

  “Jack, it’s okay. It’s okay!” Roka said, grabbing him and holding him steady. “It’s a dream. You’re dreaming.”

  “No, it’s . . .” Jack shook his head and blinked his way out of his disoriented state. He was breathing hard. “Right. A dream. I knew that.”

  “It’s all right, Jack,” Allegra said. “You’re not there anymore. The Rüstov don’t have you. You’re safe. You’re here with us.”

  Jack took a deep breath and looked around. He knew exactly two things. One, he had no idea where “here” was. Two, he wasn’t safe anywhere. He rubbed his eyes and the world came back into focus. It was nighttime. He, Allegra, Trea, Zhi, Lorem, and Roka were all hiding out somewhere dark, wet, and dirty. “Where are we?”

  “Lowest point in Lowtown,” Roka said. “We’re in one of the drainage tunnels under the foundation of the city. Used to hide out here in my younger, troublemaking days. Never really outgrew those, I guess.”

  “There aren’t any security cameras this far down,” Lorem said, looking up out of the mouth of the tunnel. “We should be okay here for a little while at least. It’s a lead-lined tunnel, so even if Daddy’s new toys have X-ray vision, they can’t see through it. They’ll make their way down here eventually, though. You can bet he’s got them all out looking for you.”

  Jack nodded. Lorem Ipsum had been created by Jonas Smart in a lab experiment and subsequently locked up by him when she didn’t do as she was told. She knew a thing or two about hiding out from her “father.” Jack reached out with his powers and monitored the police scanners. “He’s looking all right. Everybody’s looking for us.” He could tell Smart’s WarHawks were still scanning the upper levels of Hightown for them. For the time being, they were off the grid. “Does anyone else know about this place?” Jack asked Roka.

  “Not anymore,” Roka replied. He looked sad for a moment, but he shook off his brooding expression and quickly put his guard back up. “Don’t worry. No one’s gonna find us down here.”

  “Okay,” Jack said, leaning back against the inside of the tunnel. “Let me just catch my breath for a second.” He closed his eyes. He was exhausted after the melee in Hero Square and the chase through Cognito, but he didn’t dare rest. To relax his mind was to open the door for Khalix. His parasite had gained far too much ground on him already. Jack opened his eyes. Everyone was staring at him. They looked nervous. They were trying to hide it, but Jack could still tell.

  “Jack, how are you feeling?” Allegra asked.

  “Yeah, are you okay?” Lorem asked. “That was some dream.”

  “I’m all right. It’s just . . . it’s hard to explain.”

  “You don’t have to,” Roka said. “You talk in your sleep.”

  Jack froze. Even among friends, he felt naked not knowing exactly what he’d said. “So, you heard . . .”

  “Everything,” Trea said.

  Jack sighed. On the one hand, he felt betrayed by his own body. On the other, at least he didn’t have to tell his friends what was going on with him. They already knew. “When I sleep, he’s there now. Khalix. He’s stronger than he used to be. I don’t know what they did to me, guys, I . . .” Jack trailed off and pressed a hand to his forehead. There was no point in denying it. He was feeling nervous too.

  “Don’t let him psyche you out, Jack,” Zhi said. “You’re stronger than Khalix. You held him off for this long, didn’t you? You escaped.”

  Jack snorted. “Not according to Khalix. He says they let me go, and I think he might be telling the truth. It’s harder for me to fight him off now. Khalix draws strength from the Magus. All the Rüstov do. It’s harder for me to fight him when his father is nearby, and then there’s this.” Jack pulled his shirt open to let everyone get a good look at the mechanical implant in his chest. It was glowing with a red light, just like in his dream.

  “Does it hurt?” Trea asked, leaning in to inspect the core.

  Jack shook his head. “It doesn’t feel like anything. I know what it is, though. It’s Revile’s regenerative core. This is where he comes from. I really am part machine now. Sure, I’m able to hold Khalix off for the time being, but when the armada gets closer . . . when the Magus gets here? Who knows?”

  “What do you mean, who knows?” Allegra asked Jack. “You have a plan, right?”

  Jack zipped his shirt back up. “A plan? Allegra, I spent the last year in a coma. I’m only here now because they want me here. What kind of a plan would I have?”

  “Hey,” Lorem said. “I know you’re upset, but don’t take it out on her. She’s only trying to help.”

  Jack looked at Allegra. She was staring at him with her arms folded in front of her body.

  Jack let out a sigh and went up to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to . . .” He put a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault. You were there for me when I needed it. You all were. It’s just, I don’t know that you should be anymore. You guys are trusting me when I can’t even trust myself. Zhi, I got one of your dragons killed.”

  “No you didn’t,” Zhi said. “He just needs time to heal.”

  “Zhi, I watched him evaporate this morning. He’s gone.”

  “My dragons are mystical creatures, Jack. The only way to get rid of them would be to sever their connection to this world. To kill me.”

  That made Jack feel a little better, but only a little. “So we got lucky this time. What about next time?”

  “You sound like Skerren,” Trea said.

  “Skerren,” Allegra repeated. She said the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “He and I had kind of a falling-out this past year. Over you.”

  “The way he went after you today, it’s hard to believe you were ever friends,” Zhi said.

  “He’s still mad about what went down with the spyware virus,” Allegra explained. “He believes that prophecy about your future without question.”

  “The prophecy,” Jack said. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starting to think he might be right.”

  Jack’s words took the air out of the tunnel. “I can’t believe you’re saying that either,” Alleg
ra said, breaking the silence. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Look, I know this isn’t what anyone wants to hear, but how I feel is how I feel. At least I’m telling the truth.” Jack looked at the faces of his friends as they digested what he had said. Judging by their expressions, they didn’t have any great appreciation for the truth. This time, it was Roka who broke the silence:

  “Kid, I know we just met, but if my opinion counts for anything, I don’t think you mean what you’re saying. Not really.”

  “No?”

  “No. I think you’re scared, and that’s fine. You should be. But we’ve all got two main instincts that kick in when we find ourselves in situations like yours. Fight or flight. I’ve seen you fight when you needed to fight, and I’ve seen you run when you needed to run. I watched you fly from one end of the galaxy to the other at light speed for crying out loud.”

  “What’s your point?”

  Roka held up his fingers, counting off Jack’s options. “Fight or flight. They’re both survival instincts. You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who likes to give up.”

  Jack nodded slowly as he turned Roka’s words over in his head. He was forced to admit: “No, I’m not.”

  “Pretty sharp for a space-pirate,” Lorem Ipsum said.

  “He prefers ‘adventurer,’” Allegra said.

  “Or entrepreneur,” Roka added. “Thank you, Allegra.” He turned back to Jack. “So if you’re not gonna give up, I guess the question is, what are you going to do?”

  Jack ran his hands through his hair. “Whatever it is, I can’t do it alone. This is going to be a hard fight, guys. The odds are against us. Way against us.”

  “I once met a woman who dealt with far worse,” Stendeval called out from the end of the tunnel. “She was blind and deaf, but she wasn’t alone. She said walking with a friend in the darkness is better than walking alone in the light.”