Leona Reaver never woke up, while the other three did. Or rather, if anyone
took over her corporeal shell, like a hermit crab on the beach, they never
woke up. Mateo was right to be worried about what kind of people might show
up. Erlendr’s daughter, Arcadia Preston woke up in Leona Delaney’s body,
much to her mixed feelings. Serkan, Ace, and Paige’s once-enemy, Rothko
Ladhiffe stole Alt!Mateo’s, while some guy named Meredarchos took Andile’s.
He made people uncomfortable immediately, but they don’t know what his deal
is yet. They didn’t have a safe way to lock these people up until they could
get to the bottom of this, so their only choice was to ask Winona Honeycutt
for help. Since Mateo was as of yet the only one cognizant of Marie’s strong
working relationship with her, it was Leona Matic who made contact.
Apparently, it is SD6 policy to hold all prisoners for at least a day before
questioning unless a clear and present threat is posed to life. They find
that people are more willing to talk once they have tasted what it might be
like for the rest of their lives if they don’t. Unfortunately for them all,
Winona and SD6 don’t know who they’re dealing with. The Prestons are
immortal, and interpret a single day as less than a second. They don’t know
much about Rothko, and they’ve never even heard of Meredarchos, but as
they’re the company of the other two, they’re probably not so easily broken
either.
Mateo and Lenoa have to start the interrogations on their own the next
morning. The prisoners are more likely to respond well to them than to
anyone. They’re going to start with Arcadia, because she’s been the most
open, and they know her the best. The guard escorts them into the blacksite,
and down the stairs. The cells are clean, well-lit, and furnished. Since the
team has no idea whether the Livewire transfer to the past worked at all,
they can’t do anything to harm these substrates yet. Their friends, the
original owners, may need to reclaim them later.
The guard asks what kind of safety measures they would like to make, but
they say it’s fine to just be in the room with her. She’s quite powerless
now, or else she would have escaped by now. She may be playing the long
game, but that still doesn’t place them in any more danger than they are
already in. If she wants to hurt them, she will find a way. “You’re looking
quite beautiful today,” Mateo says to her, hoping that she finds it funny
since she looks exactly like his wife right now, instead of offensive since
he’s not saying it about the real her.
Arcadia nods. “Does that mean you can love me now? Was my face the only
thing keeping you away?”
Mateo takes her right hand in both of his. “You have always had a beautiful
face. And I believe you have a beautiful soul too, if you just...tried to
use it more often.”
She pulls away. “Don’t say stuff like that if you don’t mean it.”
“He means it,” Leona says. “You have not always made the right choices, but
you’re not evil. None of you is evil.”
“Except for your father,” Mateo adds.
“He’s not evil,” Arcadia protested, “he just—”
“He raped your mother,” Mateo interrupts.
Arcadia blinks. “Why would you say such a terrible thing? He did not. They
were married, I grew up with them.”
“Yeah, they were married, but—”
“Matt, stop,” Leona interrupts. “We’re not simpatico with her.”
Arcadia looks between the two of them. “Tell me what happened.”
“We can’t talk about it, I wasn’t thinking,” Mateo says apologetically. “The
last thing you experienced was me overwriting you with Aldona’s mind. What I
don’t understand is how you, your dad, Rothko Ladhiffe, and this Meredarchos
fellow ended up here.”
“What the hell did you just say?” Arcadia straightens up.
Leona lists the names again.
Arcadia stands, freaked out. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure that he
said his name was Meredarchos?”
“Yes, we are,” Leona says. “Why? What precautions should we take?”
Arcadia begins to pace. “Holly Blue. She built a psychic containment
chamber. That’s the only thing with any hope of, well...containing him.”
“She’s not here,” Mateo explains.
“Make any call you need to. Dig a grave, flip a penny, tame a pigeon. Do
whatever you must to make contact with her or The Weaver. We cannot let that
thing spread.”
“We can’t do any of those things,” Leona insists. “We’re in The Third Rail.”
Arcadia eyes them both, waiting for elaboration. “I don’t know what that
is.”
“The Prestons are supposed to know everything,” Mateo complains. “It’s a
parallel reality. It doesn’t have time travel. Holly Blue isn’t here. She
isn’t ever here...probably.”
“No time travel, or no time powers?” Arcadia questions.
“Both,” Leona says. “We should be enhanced humans, but even that was taken
from us when we arrived. We’re trying to figure out what and how.”
She narrows her eyes. “You’re upgraded.”
“Yes,” Mateo replies.
Arcadia shakes her head slightly. “Nothing in this universe can dampen
biological upgrades. How would that even work?”
“That’s what we were hoping to understand,” Leona tells her.
“If he hasn’t spread yet,” Arcadia begins, “that may be why. He may be
trapped in whatever body he’s in right now. I know we have trust issues, but
he is one of the greatest existential threats to the bulkverse, so you have
to open up to me. He’s the reason I stopped doing what I was trying to do
with the LIR Map. The only way to protect yourself from him is to hope he
never finds you. So please, tell me what you know. How did me and my father
get here? How did he?”
“We have the LIR Map,” Mateo says. “It doesn’t usually do anything, since
powers aren’t common. We have our best luck with the immortality waters.”
“Go on.”
“Not here,” Leona decides. She stands up, and bangs on the door. When the
guard opens it up, she says, “we’re letting this one go. Either move the man
and the little girl to different cells, or the woman to her own cell. Either
way, she needs to be extremely isolated.”
“Understood, agent,” the guard says as he’s unlocking Arcadia’s ankle
shackle.
Mateo, Leona, and Arcadia go back to the lab to continue the conversation.
For her to get a clear picture of what’s happened here, everybody needs to
pitch in.
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