| Generated by Google Gemini Pro text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3.1 |
Reagan jumps out of his seat. He doesn’t press himself against the wall, but
he looks incredibly scared of Mandica, and is not relaxing. He starts
clutching his chest, and for good reason. With Mandica’s heightened senses,
she can hear how hard his heart is beating. “How are you alive? How are you
here?”
Mandica hops off the table, and strides over to the mirror to check her
back. The stone is still embedded in her skin, exactly where it was before.
It’s glowing again, just as it was in the mortuary. Why is he so confused?
It worked again, that makes sense. “Was your memory erased?” she asks him.
“I don’t understand why you’re surprised.”
“You were a pancake,” Reagan retorts. “There was—oh my God, it was horrific.
You were completely unrecognizable. I...I don’t want to describe the carnage
in greater detail, but there was nothing left besides the stone. It was
perfectly unharmed, but that’s it. After they removed the train, I swiped
the stone, because I didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands, but I
didn’t think it would bring you back from that. You...Jesus, Mandica.
I’ve not been able to sleep for the last two nights. I felt responsible. I
encouraged you to become the Ravensgate Rescuer. I helped train you.
I...I...”
“I’m sorry for that. I guess we didn’t know the extent of the stone’s
power.”
“I was in love with you!” he cries. “Well, I still am, but I started to
mourn, and now I’m profoundly confused. I should be relieved, but it feels
unreal.”
Mandica nods. “It’s a shock, I get it.” She looks down at her naked body. No
injuries, no scars. No blemishes either. Everything looks brand new. It
is new. If her body was pancaked under that train, then the stone
would have had to rebuild her from scratch, which is probably why it took
two or three days for her to come back this time. “We’ll get through it,
though. This is a gift. I think I might not be able to die at all. I mean if
a 300-ton train couldn’t do it, what could? I’m like you now, and our
friends. You don’t worry about them dying, do you? Your anxiety will go
away.”
“Their minds are backed up. That I understand,” he reasons.
“This is even better. I seem to walk around with my backup. As long as the
stone survives, I will too.” She places a hand on his shoulder, feeling him
twitch at her touch.
“We don’t know that the stone is invincible. Maybe blunt force isn’t a
problem, but it has some ridiculous weakness, like battery acid,
or...chocolate.”
She smiles as she pivots his body so they’re facing each other. “What kind
of life would I be living if I couldn’t have chocolate?”
“Stop joking. We can’t get too excited. It might turn you into a zombie,
or—”
“You stop,” she insists. “You’re spiraling. These worst case
scenarios are not helpful. I’m not gonna go looking for death, but I’m not
gonna hide away either. I’m done with that. I put on this suit without us
even knowing that the stone wasn’t a one-time thing. Now that we know it’s
not, I’m emboldened. I was hesitant out there with Velvet Thunder. It’s what
got me killed. I’m not saying it won’t happen again, but this experience has
given me a huge boost in confidence.” When he looks away again in sadness,
she gently pulls at his chin. “I want you there with me. If Blue Umbra
doesn’t come back, I would like us to be partners. I can’t promise you
anything beyond that,” she adds awkwardly, “but I think we make a great
team.”
He sighs. “We don’t know that yet. All I know is how I feel. I’ve met a lot
of superheroes, but none like you. You walked right in here without
protection. You are the bravest person I know; probably the bravest in the
galaxy. But yes, I would rather have a working relationship with you than
nothing at all.”
“And would it be okay if Cardinal Sin is with us as a trio? She expressed
interest.”
He smiles now, starting to relax. “She doesn’t go by that anymore. She
realized that it didn’t make any sense to maintain her original name if she
switched sides. She’s Cardinal Virtue now. People are really starting to
accept her. She reacted quite strongly to your death, and people saw that.
Even though Velvet Thunder didn’t technically drop the train on you, they’re
blaming him for it. He never wanted to be that hated. He may exit the
game because of this. You should go see him.”
“I think I will. I don’t want him to feel any guilt.”
She doesn’t end up doing that. Instead, Reagan invites everyone to a
meeting, reportedly to discuss funeral arrangements. It was Mandica’s idea
to lie. He reaches out to Malika, who has to return from Castlebourne’s
north pole first. Elysia left the simulation too, but was closer by. She
will not say where. It sounds very hush-hush. Once everyone has arrived,
Mandica makes her grand entrance. They’re all upset and all overjoyed at
the same time.
No one else confesses their undying love to her, but Elysia does give her a
certain look. After the hubbub dies down a little, she pulls Mandica aside
for a more private conversation. “Listen. After you died a few days ago, I
threw myself into work. After I died, the executive administrative
authority offered me a sort of...job. I was holding off on making any
radical commitments because I was training you, but I thought that was over.
I didn’t want to think about what happened, so I tried to put Ravensgate in
my rearview mirror.” Wow, a lot managed to happen in the last few days.
“Since you were dead, it didn’t seem to matter, but now that you’re back,
you should know...they know about you. They saw what happened at the jewelry
store, and the train yard. They’ve been watching you. I didn’t get the
impression that they were all that upset about it. I mean, they had weeks to
pull you out, and didn’t. Still, you have a right to know.”
“I suppose we should not have been too optimistic about that. They got
cameras all over the place. They were bound to notice. Thank you for telling
me, I’m sure it will end up okay.” She means it. “Can you tell me about the
project? Will you be going back?”
Elysia nods. “Ravensgate has been wildly successful in their eyes. They only
built one city under one dome so as not to waste resources on an unproven
concept. After decades of play and hype, it’s become one of the more popular
destinations for visitors. They have had to start a waiting list because
there is too much demand. You don’t want too many superheroes in one city,
so they’re building a new one, under a new dome.”
“Oh, cool. That’s impressive. Congratulations,” Mandica says to her.
“Thanks. It’s not yet announced, but since my version of the Rescuer is
dead, they might have me become a new character, after I’m done helping
design it.”
“That’s really great, Lys, I’m happy for you.” She notices Malika eyeing the
exit door. “I wanna hear more about it, but I need one moment before Malika
escapes.” She jogs over to her other friend. “Hey. Are you going back to
Aquilonian Deep?”
“Yeah. I’ve just been going through my own stuff. It’s not about you.”
“I can appreciate that, and I don’t wanna pressure you, but if you’re gonna
be out there, maybe you could take a detour? I can’t leave the dome even
though it might not matter anymore. Could you pick something up from someone
who owes me a favor?”
No comments :
Post a Comment