Evan jumped from his chair. “It’s Charlie Crain.”

  Ken said, “Bad guy, in charge of bad place.”

  Blink, and Twitch stood up with Evan.

  Shwood raised his hands, covered in black gloves. “Woah, hey. There’s, heh, definitely a broad misunderstanding here. And I didn’t make that bad place you’re talking about, kiddo.”

  Ken closed his eyes and spoke in Shwood’s voice. “Woah, hey. There’s, heh, definitely a broad misunderstanding here.”

  The businessman cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Ken’s mimicry again, though he sounded like he was talking from behind a wall.

  “How’s our golden goose doing?”

  Another voice replied, “The trials have been remarkable, we will be able to recreate any dialogue we need, with the right stimulus.”

  “Good,” said Shwood’s mimicked voice again, “the little weirdo will keep the general populace dumb while we figure out what the heck to do about our Governor situation.”

  Ken opened his eyes and stared at Shwood, who pursed his lips.

  The other members of Phoenix One stood up from their chairs.

  This was the guy who’d hurt Evan’s brother. This man had tortured him and manipulated his powers to make propaganda with deepfakes of Evan and his father.

  Energy coursed through Evan’s fingers.

  Shwood fanned himself with his hand. “Whew! Talk about tension, right? Please, remain seated, I’ll be more than happy to clear the potentially flammable air.”

  “Explain what’s going on,” Evan demanded.

  Shwood squinted at him. “That’s what I just said, kiddo. Didn’t I?” He strolled around the table to the head chair. The others followed him with their eyes.

  “You know, Evan,” Shwood continued, “I’m sorry. Your pops warned me that you might get startled by seeing me and I didn’t believe him because I said you were a rational young adult. But I realize that this may all be rather confusing.” He sat down at his chair and pulled off his black gloves. “Look, go ahead and sit. Eat! I promise I didn’t poison the food or anything. Hah!”

  No one showed amusement.

  “Well, don’t mind if I start. The days are long for someone in my field of work.” He began eating the salad in front of him with a gilded fork.

  Evan refused to sit. “What do you want from us?”

  Shwood sighed. “I’ll get to that. Look, I hadn’t planned on drawing out this conversation long, there’s a lot of things to get done. To be honest, I thought you’d trust your dad on this. It was his idea that you come see me anyway, am I right? Agh, I see you’re not going to budge on my words alone, so I’ll budge a bit. Here, look.”

  A projection appeared above the table, a set of purifier armor. Paneling opened around it, revealing black ribbing across its frame.

  “Oooh!” Shwood said while chewing, “what’s this? Secret blueprints for new purifier armor modifications? What? Good old Brutus Brushwood is willing to give away Federation secrets to rebels and commit high treason? Now, why would a true friend of the state do something like that? Well, if only his guests would sit down and eat the bountiful meal in front of them, maybe he’d tell them.”

  Evan eased to his seat. The others followed suit. Given the chance, he might make an exception to his pacifist run for this guy.

  “Ho, ho.” Shwood grinned. “Listen, I’d be happy to console your noggins, but let’s break bread together first. I’m sure you could use something more kosher than MRE’s and sewer critters, yes?” He waved his hand, and a squad of servants entered the hall with plates of roast, soups, greens, and cider that they lay across the table.

  Evan gripped his stomach. The food drew him in. It could easily be poison. This was all too easy. “How do you know so much about me?”

  Shwood laughed uncomfortably. “I don’t want to-”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Spoil it? Spoil it.” Evan didn’t know where his abrasiveness came from, but he had to stand firm because he refused to be played around with.

  Shwood twisted his lips as if biting into a sour lemon. “Interesting that our dear Governor was able to keep your identity a secret for so long, something that’d be fairly hard for any other politician to pull off alone.”

  “I know you helped him keep my identity a secret, so what?”

  “Look, kid –”

  “Evan,” Vihn corrected.

  Shwood gave a wry grin and chuckled. “Evan. I promise I'll lay out this whole tale. But I'd prefer to do so over our warm meal, while it’s warm.”

  Evan nodded. Figure out who he is, and all the answers, all of them.

  “Great,” Shwood said. “Now, feel free to try the cider, it’s my favorite. I call it the Crain Concoction.”

  Vihn smelled it and took a sip. He smacked his tongue. “This tastes like watered down beer.”

  Shwood frowned. “Curse it.” He snapped to a servant. “Tell Jacob to fix that.”

  The servant left, and the party continued their meal. At first, the team was hesitant, but it didn’t take long for them to give into the fresh tastes of food and rare-cooked goose.

  Shwood swallowed the last bite of his meal and wiped the grease from his lips with small dabs of a cloth napkin, then cleared his throat. “Ok. I am now open to questions. I have my own things to say, but I feel that there’s a barrier between us. So, ask me anything. I’ll answer any questions you have until you’ve ran out, and then I’ll tell you my plan.”

  The rebels turned to each other, then back to Shwood.

  Blink asked. “What’s with the conman routine?”

  Shwood jerked his head back. “What’s with your preppy schoolgirl smile? It works, right?”

  “What’s with the name?” Nyla asked.

  “You like tattoos, I like alliteration - consistency.”

  “Why should we trust you?” Cranston asked.

  “I’ll explain in my plan.”

  “What do you want from us?” Evan asked.

  “Again, in my plan.”

  “What did you do for my father?”

  Shwood grinned again and brushed his hair. “Your father and I have always been distant-close friends. I did donate your crib when you were born. I re-forged your birth certificate, test records, and made sure no one found out about your… disposition. In return, our Easter Governor helped me secure a position on Monolith’s council of honest civil servants.”

  Blink whispered. “Did he just say, Easter, instead of East-ern?”

  Evan asked. “What do you want with us?”

  “To be honest, I want you. But I figured the rest of the rebels wouldn’t like giving up their prized hostage.” Shwood cracked open a prawn from an appetizer dish and dipped it into a bowl of orange broth.

  The answer took Evan back. Prized hostage?

  “He’s not a hostage, Easter boy, he’s family,” Blink defended.

  Shwood squinted at her. “Really hoped you’d pass over that Easter slip, but you’re really making it a thing now aren’t ‘cha?”

  Evan became resolved again. “They’re the family I chose.”

  “Your poor mother.” The conman shrugged. “Any who, guess it’s time to explain my plan.” He snapped, and the servants came and took the left-over food and plates away.

  “So, I’ll start with the big question. People keep calling me Brutus Brushwood, but for the keen observers amongst you, I’m also the guy the news addresses as Charlie Crain. What the heck is going on? Well, it’s all been a part of your dad’s plan, Evan. Smart guy as he is, he knew that at some point you might get into such hot water that he’d end up in jail or lose his business. So, we manipulated the system so that in the event he was right, Mr. Crain would be in the right position to take over Monolith. I’ve been on your side the whole time; you just didn’t know it. Did that mean having to pretend I was ok with your friend being tortured? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No. But, did I prevent your father from being executed and your friend from being dissected to bits? Yes. A hundred times, yes.”

  “What’s your plan, then?” Vihn asked.

  Shwood answered, “We’re presented with a peculiar opportunity as rebels and conmen, one that if taken advantage of, will allow us to take the Federation for our own.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Alright, here’s the deal. You’ve been in hiding because of protein junkies like our good friend Joseph Krow.” The purifier was projected above the table. “Those black ribbings you see under his armor panels are a part of a new weapon system called, Purge Protocols.” Shwood wiggled his fingers. “When activated, he can clear a whole room in seconds.”

  Evan scowled. “Why would you design something like that if you’re supposed to be helping us?”

  “More of an unfortunate coincidence and bad timing. Monolith is a military tech company first, and we have to eat somehow. You can hardly blame us for doing our job.”

  Nyla jeered. “Your stuff kills people.”

  “Afflicted kill people, too, dear,” he corrected. “Er, ma’am.” He pivoted after Nyla gave him a death stare.

  Vihn’s eyes darkened. “Get to the point before you see the salad in your stomach growing through your eyes.”

  Shwood pursed his lips, and his eyes lost their cheer. “Sheesh. Ok. Fine. And I’ll try not to comment on how you’re proving my point, while I’m at it. Look, I don’t really care how things go as long as I make money. It’s the truth, I know what I am. I’m not ashamed to be honest about that. The Governor has formed a new vendetta because of everything that’s happened to Evan, and he’s hired me to help him get rid his enemies. Guys, the Federation is cracking at the seams. Like Icarus, they flew too close to the Sun, and men like your father have deduced that a little persuasion is all we need to tip the balance of power out of the government’s hands into our control.”

  “How are you supposed to do that?”

  “By giving you some insider knowledge on the purifiers and providing you safe room and board.”

  Evan still wasn’t convinced. “If you want to help us fight purifiers, give us access to their on-board A.I. system.”

  Shwood clucked his tongue. “Would that I could, Junior. Those systems are way out of my hands. You understand, the Federation isn’t completely inept. But I can track the purifiers for you so that the hunted might become the hunters, as it were.”

  The projection lit up with a topographical map where blue dots blinked with faces and text. There he was, Joseph Krow, but where… Evan couldn’t tell before Shwood tittered on the table and the whole display evaporated.

  “So,” the businessman extended a hand, “partners?”

  UPDATE: Milestone 2 Complete! Future milestones ahead, thank you all for the support!

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