Our descent into this hell of blood, flesh, and bone had been arduous. From the first moment we discovered the scale of the Orgiastic infection, I knew we were treading along a dangerous path. I thought I knew enough, had studied enough, to guide us safely through the end and out the other side. A single detail overlooked in the chaos was all it had taken to dash those notions. For all intents and purposes, the Harlot Queen was the only real Impulsate in the entire building. The rest were mere extensions of her twisted will, born from her body or unfortunate souls corrupted and overtaken by her infectious emotion. I should have dug the core out of her gravid form and shattered it instead of retreating into the comfort of my mental space. That mistake was going to come at a dire cost. I took comfort in knowing Pritch wouldn’t be paying for it.

  “Isbrand, do we have anything left?” I asked.

  “The Incarnum’s down to ash and embers. I’m still going to fight whatever comes out of the darkness,” Isbrand assured me.

  “If that thing is formed around the Queen’s core, we can’t let it escape this place. We’ll have another Bacchanal on our hands,” I explained.

  “Holding out for the ROVER isn’t an option,” Isbrand agreed.

  Deep within the chamber, the shadows began to stir. I listened to the sickening crunch of bone and the tearing of wet flesh.

  “We’re out of appealing options, Isbrand,” I said.

  “But you’ve still got a choice to make,” He reminded me.

  “What choice?” I asked.

  “The only choice that matters. Are you going to win or lose?” Isbrand asked.

  “I don’t have anything else, Isbrand. We don’t have anything else! I don’t know what you want me to do!” I said.

  “You’ve got one more die to cast, but you’re going to have to sacrifice to use it,” Isbrand explained.

  “What are you talking about?!” I demanded.

  “I’m not the first devil you’ve made a deal with, Elias,” Isbrand answered.

  “No. I can’t. It’s out of the question. I made a promise to him I can’t break,” I said. My voice had grown pleading and desperate.

  “I’ll lose with you if that’s what you want. I’ve always wanted to burn out fighting,” Isbrand offered.

  A scream of anguished pain echoed across the walls of the brood chamber. Odarask had discovered the fate of his beloved mother.

  “Is this really the only way?” I asked.

  “I don’t have the answers you’re looking for, Elias. That’s not why you made me. You’ll have to ask Kearn,” Isbrand explained.

  “How long can you last out here?” I asked.

  “I’ll give you every moment I can muster,” Isbrand assured.

  “Don’t die out here without me,” I said.

  Isbrand chuckled. “You’ll be the first to know if I do.”

  I closed my eyes and prepared to Incarnate. I was returning to a place within my mind I swore I would never go again. I needed to stretch the time Isbrand was buying me as far as possible. I would have to risk my mind in this mad gamble. I pushed the speed of my mental processes as far as possible without instantly burning out my synapses. It felt like sprinting across a tightrope. Everything was ready; all I had to do was let go. As I shifted into Kearn’s resting place, I felt my body slip beneath icy, placid water.

  When I opened my eyes, I found myself underwater. Pale blue light streamed from above, rippled past me, and sank into an infinite murk below. The frigid water stabbed at my senses like a knife. I had no intention of swimming into the shadows underneath me. I reached upwards, hand over hand, and clawed desperately to the surface.

  As I approached the light from above, I began to hear faint tones of music—long, mournful notes that shook the water around me. My hand struck something solid above—it was solid and perfectly transparent. I realized the surface of the water had frozen. I drove my fist into the ice repeatedly, but it felt useless. Panic began to creep into my heart. I wasn’t in danger of drowning, but my mind was still racing towards collapse from my overclocked perception.

  The music above me fell silent. A deep, echoing moan rose from the darkness to replace it. I looked back down into the depths. I saw a shimmering disc drifting slowly across the inky gloom. It seemed to be swallowed by the shade around it in a rhythmic pulse. Cold understanding seeped into me as I watched it fade and emerge several times. It was a blinking eye, fixated on me. I felt the urge to scream. My lips parted to satisfy my fear, but a hand slipped over my mouth to keep me silent. I felt an arm hook under my own and drag me upwards. After a sudden rush of motion, I broke the water’s surface. I was laid out on the ice, staring into a bleak, gray sky. I bolted up to a seated position and looked around to see who had grabbed me.

  Kearn sat close to me, holding a finger to his lips to signal the need for silence. With his other hand, he pointed down towards the ice. I looked down to where he indicated. A massive shadow slid underneath us. I could see that the eye was scanning the water now. It must have been looking for me. We waited in silence for the creature to pass. Each moment felt like an eternity. The eye blinked one final time before sinking out of sight. I laid back on the ice, feeling the tension subside.

  I felt a hand nudge my shoulder gently. I turned my head to face Kearn. He looked just as I remembered him. Kearn reminded me of a kind smile after a good joke. He had long, stark white hair that fell past his shoulders. His gray-blue eyes matched well with his pale skin. I felt guilt as I looked at the ugly, jagged scar across his neck. That had been my fault.

  “Promises fade faster than I had ever imagined, Elias…” Kearn said. He spoke in a synthetic, heavily modulated voice. It was like something produced by a machine.

  A second rush of guilt overtook me. “I know I wasn’t supposed to come back here. I wouldn’t have if I had any other choice.”

  “Necessity blinds us to inherent danger, it seems. Why did you return?” Kearn asked, standing up. He held a hand down to me.

  I took Kearn’s hand. He pulled me to my feet with ease. “I need your help. If you don’t come back with me, I’m going to die. We are going to die.”

  Kearn clasped his hands behind his back pensively. He turned aside and started to stroll. “Dire tidings. Though I wonder if you’ve come bearing the right questions.”

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  I followed after Kearn, doing my best to maintain my footing on the ice. “Are you listening to me, Kearn? I’m incarnated with Isbrand out there. My consciousness will get destroyed along with him!”

  “Such is the cost of power. Fire demands fuel to burn. A flaw to it’s feature.” Kearn mused.

  “Kearn, please! I can’t let that Orgiastic out into the city! People are going to die!” I implored.

  “You would save them now, only to abandon them to suffering later. Their time is apportioned, as everything,” Kearn explained.

  “Damn it, Kearn, I know you’re in there! You’ve got to help me! You’ve got to listen!” I shouted. I grabbed Kearn’s arm to stop his advance. He stopped but didn’t turn to face me.

  “You can live and die by the flames if you choose, Elias. Look around. The only constant path is laid bare before your eyes,” Kearn said.

  I stepped before Kearn, gripping his shoulders and shaking him in desperation. “You promised you would always be there to help me when I needed it. You swore you would always protect me. Do you remember that?”

  Kearn stared at me, silent and without emotion. “Why do you think I endure, Elias? I have always protected you.”

  “Then why won’t you come out? Why are you leaving me alone when I need you?!” I demanded.

  “You do not need me for this fight, Elias. The war is right here, beneath our feet,” Kearn answered.

  “It’s your power, your water under all this ice! What are you talking about?!” I shouted. I felt a deep unease creep into my mind. My vision was fraying at the edges. I couldn’t keep pushing my mind this fast for much longer.

  “The water is only the vessel that contains. You saw what lurked within, and now it has seen you,” Kearn said.

  “What is that thing?” I asked. I felt my legs growing weak.

  “It has a name you know very well, Elias. It would be better if you forgot. It is not the answer you came here for, just as I am not the answer you came here for,” Kearn said.

  “I don’t understand…” I muttered, falling down to my hands and knees.

  Kearn knelt beside me, placing a hand on my back and leaning to my ear to whisper. “You do not use fire to cleanse vermin. You drown them, Elias.”

  I tried to speak but found my voice faltering. I stared down at the ice. Drops of blood trickled down from my nose, staining it red. I had reached my limit. My mind was on fire. I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer.

  “Learn this lesson, Elias, and we might see each other again,” Kearn said. I felt him press down on my back. I heard the ice crack beneath me. I fell into the icy water as my consciousness was doused like a candle in an ocean.

  I opened my eyes to find myself back within the brood chamber. I was looking down at Isbrand. Odarask had hoisted the remains of the Incarnum over his shoulder and thrown him into a nearby wall. The Seneschal was even more imposing now. His rebirth had drawn every bit of power from the Harlot Queen’s core to enact his righteous vengeance upon us. Isbrand couldn’t overcome this foe, not like this. Kearn wasn’t going to help us, or perhaps he was too far gone to be able to. I had no hope to assail Odarask’s mind with Intriomancy; his mental defense was nigh impenetrable. I’d been left with nothing but cryptic whispers from the broken shard of my consciousness. How was I meant to drown Odarask?

  I needed to drown him in water. An idea coursed through me like an electric current. I didn’t take the time to consider it; I simply acted on instinct. Our connection to the building’s control system meant I had all the water I needed.

  I ignored every warning signal and overrode every protocol, increasing the pressure in the building’s water lines. I could already hear the metal buckling above us. Odarask advanced on Isbrand again, seeking to drive his horn through the Incarnum’s torso. Isbrand dodged aside, sprawling to the ground to avoid certain destruction.

  The fleshy ceiling of the brood chamber caved in, allowing a massive torrent of water to stream through. That breach was only the first; more water jets burst through quickly. The water level climbed at an alarming speed, already high enough to cover Isbrand and Odarask.

  Elias, what the fuck are you doing?! Isbrand thought to me.

  I’m improvising! I explained.

  You’re going to flood the whole building, you crazy bastard! Isbrand warned.

  Exactly! I agreed.

  The water had risen to the ceiling now. Odarask sank to the bottom of the chamber despite struggling to swim upwards. The bone armor coating him must have been too dense for any buoyancy. The Seneschal rose, walking through the water along the chamber floor. He was advancing on Isbrand again.

  Tell me there’s a second part to this plan! Isbrand demanded. He was dragging himself as far away from Odarask as he could manage.

  What will the city control system do if the building becomes too heavy to hold onto? I asked.

  It would drop it into the Gravesea. Isbrand answered slowly.

  Let’s hope Hayward really wants that payday he was promised. I thought.

  A massive siren echoed through the building, distorted by the rushing water around us. A warning message across my vision read, ‘structural jettison protocol imminent.’

  Let’s hope we don’t get obliterated before it matters! Isbrand added.

  The entire building shifted around us as it was jettisoned from the city’s structure. I was familiar with the sensation of falling; it was very common during Incarnated travel. This was entirely different. We weren’t just dropped from the city; we were shot out of it like a slug from a barrel.

  “What the fuck were you thinking, Hayward?!” Jeffers shouted.

  Sergeant Hayward leaned against a Dice carrier, watching the medical response team gather around Livia Pritch.

  “Hello? Sarge, I’m talking to you!” Jeffers continued.

  “I was thinking that our fellow Dice operatives needed assistance. I didn’t want to waste time providing it. Simple as that,” Hayward lied.

  “Bullshit! You’re going to be lucky if the Major doesn’t fry your ass for this shit!” Jeffers warned.

  “You let me worry about the Major. If he asks, I’ll tell him you and Colin had nothing to do with it,” Hayward assured Jeffers.

  “You’d fucking better! I’m not getting roped into your shit!” Jeffers continued to shout. Hayward continued to ignore him.

  “Uh, Sarge, what about the other guy? Caldburn?” Colin asked, his tone hushed.

  “I don’t know. I sent the ROVER back down, but there was something else down there with him. I’m monitoring the building’s feeds, but most cameras are useless around those levels.” Hayward explained.

  “Did you check any of the Stringer’s feeds?” Colin asked.

  Hayward’s eyes opened a bit wider. “Fuck, no. Colin, you’re a genius!”

  “Thanks, Vasco— Oh, sorry, I mean Sergeant,” Colin said, still smiling as he corrected himself.

  Hayward was already jogging the barricades, paying little attention to Colin. The Enforcers manning the lines stayed well out of Hayward’s way. It was always a bad idea to obstruct a Dice agent.

  Hayward scanned the crowd, looking for any face he recognized. It didn’t look like any of the regulars were there. He was hoping to squeeze one of his contacts for a free feed. He didn’t have any such luck tonight.

  “Hey, I’m looking for footage from inside! I eyes on Pritch’s new partner. Anyone?!” Hayward called out to the crowd of Press-heads.

  A man wearing a neon green coat and a bulky, mechanical helmet raised his hand and approached Hayward cautiously. “I got your fix, man, but it will cost you.”

  Hayward rolled his eyes. “How much?”

  “Nah, man, not sway; I need product,” The man explained.

  “Out with it, what are you trying to chisel me for?” Hayward pressed, sounding annoyed.

  “I want an inside line, man, whatever you can get me. Deets on this new guy the Bitch is rolling with, interviews, whatever you can slide me in on. Exclusively, of course,” The man said.

  “Fine, I’ll see what I can do…” Hayward said. “What’s your name?”

  “Yeah, man, I’m Ludo. Ludo Buglass. String-king around this level,” The man answered.

  “Right. Let’s see the feed, Ludo,” Hayward pressed.

  “Of course, man, of course. Check it out,” Ludo said.

  A ping reached Hayward and scrolled across his vision, inviting him to view a new live feed. He accepted and closed his eyes to take a better look. He saw what looked like the flesh-filled corridors he had come from. The view was focused down into a pool of rushing water. In the midst of the dark pool, he saw a faint glow.

  “What the fuck is this, Ludo? I can’t see shit!” Hayward protested.

  “Hey man, calm down; I can’t send the little guy into that water. The building is filling up too fast! The pipes starting bursting and shit, it was crazy!” Ludo said.

  “What are you talking about—” Hayward was cut off by the shrill sound of a warning siren. His eyes shot open as he received a warning message from the Dice network. The Trevelli building was going to be jettisoned into the Gravesea.

  “Shit, man, what was that?!” Ludo asked.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Hayward muttered. “Hey, Ludo, your stringers have trackers, right?”

  “Fuck yeah, man, what do I look like, a nimrod?” Ludo answered.

  “You want that interview; you’re coming with me,” Hayward said, gesturing for Ludo to follow.

  “Anything for an exclusive man, let’s go!” Ludo said, slipping past the barricade and joining Hayward. “Where are we going?”

  “To save my fucking payday,” Hayward answered.