The Hallowed Cure, page 15
something up and someone was going to die, until I remembered we were actually safe. For now.
And having lots of sex with Mia certainly helped.
Mia still only had one working arm—the one Saul had retrieved from the submarine—but Caitlyn promised us she’d have another ready to go before the second week was out. It was weird to walk the city without constantly looking over my shoulder, other than to verify the security detail Caitlyn had assigned to protect me and Mia was still watching us. It was weird to know Cloud Nine soldiers were out there trying to make we didn’t get killed, for once.
I just hoped I hadn’t accidentally murdered any of their friends.
Prescott’s family returned to their nice house in Presea, along with Lincoln’s, and Mia and I were actually able to visit, covertly, without worrying about calling the wrath of Cloud Nine down upon their heads. Their families had weathered the trauma of fleeing the city surprisingly well.
The kids just assumed it had been a vacation, and as for Camilla and Derek, they knew what they were getting into when they married Hallowed. At least they didn’t blame me for their unexpected vacation from the city.
Saul, naturally, kept being Saul, and absolutely refused another eye transplant, despite having full access to Cloud Nine’s lab and tech. Saul claimed that after so long without his eye, having just one simply felt natural. I suspected that, after learning Ethan Gambleswitch stuck a tracker in my leg, he simply didn’t trust any organic or cybernetic element Cloud Nine might put inside him.
That made sense. I still doubted them myself, but it wasn’t like we were going to get a new arm for Mia anywhere else. I certainly wasn’t finding a cure for my panacea poisoning at the local pharmacy.
Finally, almost two weeks after I blew up Lindsay Griffyn’s submarine with her inside it, we got news from Caitlyn that Mia’s new cybernetic arm was ready. Caitlyn invited us to just swing by Cloud Nine and get Mia’s new arm fitted, even though not two weeks ago, we’d participated in an attack that killed dozens of their soldiers and blew the lobby to cinders. Awkward.
Fortunately, Caitlyn wasn’t so bold as to have us stroll through the front doors. We arrived through the parking garage and went up in the executive elevator instead, avoiding the lobby that was still being rebuilt and guarded by the friends of a bunch of soldiers Tony Frost sniped and cut apart. That made things less awkward and, probably, less possibly murderous.
Massacre, Tony’s giant sword, was still missing despite two weeks of searching, but that didn’t concern me too much. It was a Hallowed weapon, which meant only Hallowed could use it, and there weren’t a whole lot of us around any longer. I suspected some enterprising citizen had either stolen the sword for their private collection or hoped to sell it for huge money.
Either way, I hoped they’d enjoy eventually being arrested.
I’d expected Caitlyn to be far too busy to meet us when we exited the executive elevator on Floor 82, with the Cloud Nine lab I’d recently blown a hole in with Dismay. So naturally, Caitlyn was right there waiting for us, along with Amber, who now wore a blue Cloud Nine security uniform. She even had a new set of pips on her stiff new collar, and as I spotted them, I groaned.
Amber simply grinned. “Jealous?”
In the past two weeks, she’d completely healed from almost having her face melted off, and despite our past troubles, I was glad.
She’d given up everything to help us, and we likely wouldn’t even be here if she hadn’t wised up and turned on Lindsay.
I simply shook my head. “Just relieved. I sure as hell wouldn’t want your job.”
Mia used the one metal arm she still had to sketch a salute.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Captain Mason.”
“Thank you, Sergeant Ashford,” Amber said, with an actual lack of malice or sarcasm.
So maybe they were friends now? Mia wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, and she recognized Amber’s role in helping us survive all this as much as I did. Mia was also the type to forgive and forget, so long as someone’s change of heart seemed genuine.
Caitlyn beckoned as she stepped back. “Let’s head to the lab. I have a surprise for you.” She walked off without waiting for our
agreement, and Amber, smirking, waited for us.
I glanced at Mia, who shrugged. Had Caitlyn done something special for Mia’s new cybernetic arm? I supposed we’d find out. We set out after Caitlyn, with Amber falling into my left. She took my arm and I resisted the urge to pull away. She was messing with me, of course.
“Well?” she asked mirthfully as we walked. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”
“You seem in a pretty good mood for a woman who got herself blown up.”
“It’s done wonders for my skincare routine,” Amber said. “Also, my current salary is even more obscene than my last one. And I get to order even more people around now.”
“And handle a mountain of paperwork,” I pointed out.
“I have Hex for that. He handles the paperwork and all the boring administrative stuff.”
I almost stopped walking. “You realize that gives him the power to completely fuck you over, right?” Paperwork was where the true power of command lived, at least inside Cloud Nine.
Amber patted my arm and steered me on. “Don’t you worry about that. He’s quite loyal. He and Caitlyn had a long chat, and he’s now completely on board with our new direction. She trusts him implicitly, so I have no choice but to trust him too.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “We literally blew up his boss, and he’s just
... on board now?”
As we reached the brand new doors of the lab, Amber shrugged nonchalantly. “Cait has a unique way of winning people over. You let me handle Hex and the rest of the Hallowed Core. I’ve got it. Enjoy your retirement.” She glanced past me. “And Mia.”
Sure. I could do that, I supposed. So long as Hex didn’t murder Amber and Caitlyn, take over Cloud Nine himself, and come after me. Chances of that were low, I supposed. He was just one guy, even if he was Hallowed. He wasn’t Chief Dixon.
There was absolutely no sign Amber had lasered these doors in half two weeks ago. Cloud Nine engineers worked fast. The doors rumbled open with scarcely a sound, probably recently upgraded,
and then Caitlyn led us into a bustling lab filled with more people than I’d seen since back in the war.
I looked up to Ethan’s center office, which overlooked the entire lab, but there was no sign of him inside. Despite his part in everything that happened with Skye and our new murders, I doubted Caitlyn would have fired or arrested him. Given his brilliance, he was more useful in a lab than in a cell, and Amber had said his only true loyalty was to his research.
When we finally found Ethan, he was tapping a pad and standing next to a large tube in which floated a human arm. So ... typical Ethan Gambleswitch, honestly. I wasn’t even that concerned.
[ 18 ]
I DID THIS TO MYSELF, DIDN’T I?
Ethan looked up and beamed at us. “Ah! Chief Alexander! I’d not expected you here today!” The kid actually bowed, like he might to some visiting dignitary. “What do you think? Does the new limb meet with your expectations? We just finished growing it this morning.”
Caitlyn glanced at us. “Surprise.”
Mia stared at the same tube I was, with the floating arm inside.
She said nothing, so I spoke first.
“The hell, Caitlyn?” I stepped forward. “You made her new cybernetic look human?”
“It is human,” Caitlyn said proudly. “Cloned under the direction of Mia’s DNA and all the samples of her panacea cells collecting during the war.”
“You still have those?” Mia asked.
Caitlyn ignored the question. “It’s long been my theory that panacea cells inside Hallowed could, if properly stimulated, regenerate missing limbs just as Mutes did in the war. Jack had no interest in such research, yet I’ve since retasked our engineers to explore several new lines of research in which they had no interest.
Limb regrowth is one of them.”
Mia stepped forward, mouth a little O. “So that’s my ... that’s a real...”
“Arm,” Caitlyn said calmly. “The transplant procedure isn’t risky, given your ability to regenerate, but it is experimental. Yet while that
is your arm, formed by panacea cells cultured from those inside you even now, we can’t be completely certain your body won’t reject it.”
“But if this works, I get my arm back,” Mia said. “My real arm.”
“Both of them, as well as your legs, assuming this trial case works,” Caitlyn said. “We simply need to verify your body will accept this new limb, first. We’ve also reached out to other Hallowed who suffered losses in the war, such as Private Kodai, to see if they are interested in having their limbs cloned as well. And, of course, we need you to agree to be our test subject.”
“So it’s just the one arm now,” Mia said. “The rest stay cybernetic in case this new one ... explodes?”
“It’s not going to explode,” Caitlyn assured her. “But as with all experimental procedures, it’s best to start with a single case. The surgery to attach this arm will be automated and overseen by me, and recovery should only be a few hours thanks to your Hallowed status.”
“Just like that,” Mia said quietly.
“You can leave this evening, though we’d prefer you stay for observation. Obviously, that’s entirely up to you. I trust Grant to watch over you if you choose to recover at home.”
Mia glanced at me, lips tight. Was she looking to me for guidance?
I simply shook my head. “You’re the one who’s getting a new arm. It’s your choice.”
“Would you do it?”
I glanced at the floating limb in the tube, then at her. “I mean ... I guess it depends? Do you like your cybernetic arms? Or would you prefer real ones again?”
“It would be nice to swim again,” Mia said. “I’ve very much missed swimming.”
“Then you should do it,” I told her. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
I immediately regretted asking that question, because I suspected Mia, like me, was now remembering all the times we’d seen screaming Mutes regenerate severed limbs in real time back in the Hallowed War. Caitlyn had said this limb was regenerated based
on how Mutes did it. Did this mean that Mia would become more Mute if she let Cloud Nine attach this new limb?
Or were all of us already Mutes, like I’d always sort of suspected, and this was just a way for us to gain the regenerative abilities other classes of Mutes enjoyed?
Mia looked to Caitlyn. “All right. I’ll try it. I’ll be your test subject.”
“I’m glad,” Caitlyn said. “And to be clear, I’m advising you of the dangers only out of an abundance of caution. I’m quite optimistic there will be no side effects, and I’ve checked and rechecked Doctor Gambleswitch’s figures myself. He’s done his homework.”
I fixed Ethan with a narrow-eyed stare. “So long as there’s no trackers in her new arm. Because if there’s a tracker in it, somebody’s going to end up with a few more broken fingers.”
Ethan visibly paled as he stared at me, then looked hopefully to Caitlyn. She just rolled her eyes patted Ethan on the arm. “Don’t worry. I’d never let him break your fingers.”
Ethan sighed with relief.
“I’d do it myself,” Caitlyn added.
Ethan swallowed and blinked quickly. “Yes, um ... of course, Chief Alexander. No trackers. Nothing but the fleshy components you’ve requested, just as you’ve verified.”
“Good,” Caitlyn said. “So, Mia. Shall we get you prepped for surgery?”
“Right now?” Mia asked.
“Unless you need more time to think about it.”
“All right. Let’s do it.” She glanced at the stump on her right shoulder, then at the metal arm on her left. “Grant, you’re staying?”
“Of course.”
Mia nodded to Caitlyn. “Well? Let’s get on with it.”
“We can observe from Ethan’s office.” Caitlyn looked to Amber.
“Captain Mason, I’ll remain here for a bit to speak with Grant and observe the surgery. You’d best get back to work.”
“Oh, fine,” Amber said, and gave my arm a gentle punch. “Oh, and Grant? You have no idea what you’re in for. And to think, you thought my new job was going to be lousy with paperwork.” She chortled with satisfaction and sauntered toward the lab doors.
I glanced at Mia, who was walking off with Ethan and a couple of nurses to change for surgery, then at Caitlyn. “What the hell is she talking about?”
Caitlyn motioned with her head. “Let’s speak in Ethan’s office.
Mia’s surgery isn’t the only reason I called you down here to speak in person. There’s actually something else I need to talk over with you, and in a place where there’s absolutely no chance of anyone overhearing.”
I wanted to protest, but Caitlyn had kept Mia and me from drowning a few weeks ago, along with literally everything else she’d done for me since we met in her Gray Church. I owed her. So I followed her without complaint to Ethan’s soundproof office in the center of the lab, overlooking all the researchers and the pod where Mia would be getting her new arm attached.
Once the doors were all sealed, Caitlyn turned to me. “After speaking with Skye, and considering all the other options available, we’d both like you to act as the central point of contact for my new Mute Resettlement Initiative. As its spokesperson, you’ll act both as the Hallowed contact between city officials and work with Skye on a daily basis to handle Mute affairs in their new colony.”
I stared at her for a moment, as a sinking feeling that I wasn’t nearly as done with work as I’d hoped settled in. “You’re joking.”
“It’s a difficult topic, so difficult I’ve yet to broach it with the city council, yet there’s no one Skye would trust more. There’s also no one I’d trust more, and I think you’re uniquely well suited for the job.”
“Why the fuck would you think that?”
“You were the first person who settled on making peace with Skye’s refugees, after all. You woke her from her slumber. You, more than anyone, understand the difficulty she and her Mutes will face in their new lives, as well as the hostility they will endure daily from the citizens of Dios.”
“I’m not an administrator or a politician,” I protested weakly, though I realized that wasn’t really what she was asking. It sounded like she wanted me to be more of a talking head or, at worst, someone who could threaten to kick a whole lot of ass if I didn’t get my way.
“I recently reviewed your speech at the Hallowed Memorial Ball,”
Caitlyn said. “It was quite impassioned, and while you may not be aware of this, it’s also still quite prominent in the minds of the wealthy of Dios who attended.”
She was talking about the speech where I’d actually impressed Caley by how much I cursed. People still remembered that? I supposed it’d be weird if they didn’t
“The donations that Rocham received afterward were significant,”
Caitlyn continued. “You’re quite the talented speaker when you take your filter off, and I’d like you to continue doing that.”
“You mean you want me to tell even more people to fuck themselves?”
“You are simultaneously the person Skye trusts more than anyone, a well-known patron and protector of the downtrodden in Rocham, and a war hero respected by the Dios elite. There’s not a single person in this city who everyone is more likely to trust as the face of my new Mute Resettlement Initiative than you.”
“Fuck me,” I whispered. “I did this to myself, didn’t I?”
Caitlyn tilted her head. “Are you saying you won’t do it?”
I really wanted to tell Caitlyn no. I really wanted to tell her I had no intention of becoming the figurehead or spokesperson for a project that was likely going to cause riots in the city once she announced it. Resettling the Mutes here, in Dios. Making peace with the monsters who’d eaten us two years ago and living alongside them, like we’d never killed each other.
Yet Skye wasn’t a monster. Her new Mutes weren’t monsters.
And after Jack and Lindsay tortured them in a secret lab for a couple of years, the surviving Mutes deserved a life where they didn’t have to hide and live off scraps and skulk about in the understructure.
The war was over.
And given how many of them I’d killed, and how many other people I’d killed, and the fact that I wouldn’t be here at all if Skye hadn’t pushed me out of the path of a bunch of acid a couple of years ago—maybe I owed her Mutes something. The one thing I knew, more than anything else, was I didn’t trust anyone else to do this.
“Can I at least think about it?” I asked quietly. I knew what my answer would be, but I’d still mull it over. Just to make sure I was completely insane before I committed.
“Of course,” Caitlyn said. “For now, we’re making our guests comfortable in my father’s lab beneath Presea. Finding a place to settle them in Dios is going to be a logistical nightmare, so we don’t plan on announcing the new initiative for another month or more anyway.”
“Why would you?” I agreed numbly.
“Now that Dad and I control the media again, we’ve decided to launch a soft campaign gradually suggesting that there may be some chance of making peace with Mutes. Highlight all the medical benefits cooperation may offer.”
I saw it immediately. “Like Mia’s limbs. She’s going to be a perfect example of how cooperation with Mutes and research can help people, isn’t she? Maybe we can even help people who aren’t Hallowed.”
This was very close to the shit Jack pulled all the time.
Manipulating public opinion by handcrafting the news. Yet while Caitlyn’s plan was manipulative, it was manipulative for a good cause. I supposed.
“That is one benefit,” Caitlyn agreed. “I never got along with my sister, but there was one small part of her philosophy I agreed with.
Even with our stable power cels and other advances, we’ve only scratched the surface of what we can do with panacea.”
