24. SHRILLING

twenty-four

SHRILLING

O liver knelt by the docks, in the same spot where Tau had left him. A nervous wreck. Denim frayed under his fretting fingers, where he clenched them against his thigh.

"So, there's Theta. That's the fiery one in gold armour, right?" asked Maji. "Iota, the one that looks like a wraith."

"A wraith-moth," added Lucetta.

"Which one was the statue again?" asked Maji.

Over crashing waves, Oliver heard himself croak, "Rho."

"What about the one with the rainbow armour?"

Maji knew the answers already, she was only trying to distract him.

"Upsilon."

It wasn't working.

"Kappa is the spooky-looking one with all the eyes we picked up last, right?"

"Right."

"Then Chi, with the moon crescent for a helmet?"

"He was saying goodbye," Oliver puled. "Why would he say goodbye?"

The moment he'd realised calling after Tau wouldn't work, Oliver had run in frantic search of someone to ferry him across the sea. Although it was late, and finding anyone willing to approach Malimoure was difficult at the best of times. There were rowboats and one runabout, neither of which were any good to him. Before now, Oliver hadn't regretted his decision to demolish his right arm. All he could do now was stare across the ocean and hope Tau was okay.

Waves churned to froth against the rocky shore below. The faint squawks of seagulls floated through darkened skies, and the salty wind brushed past him.

All Oliver longed to do was cry out.

Maji lowered to her haunches beside him. "He'll be fine."

"I told him he was up my arse too much!" He dug his fingernails into his thigh until it hurt. "Why the hell would I say something like that? He just wanted to be close to me. Now he's gone and left without me."

"He was kind of up there, though," said Lucetta behind him.

"This is all your fault!" Oliver snapped around to glare at both Benjamin and Samuel, standing further away with their arms crossed. "He told me that he was being shunned. I should have known it was because of you. Spending all that time glaring at us and keeping us apart!"

He hadn't put the pieces together until now. It made sense though. Why else would Tau shove them?

Benjamin faintly curled in on himself, shamefaced, while Samuel looked like he had something to say, mouth opening. Only to close at Lucetta's firm headshake.

"What?" Oliver demanded, staggering to his feet. "What do you think he's done now, besides constantly bend over backwards for our sake? You think it was easy for him to go up against the other Sentinels? We'll be lucky if any even show. He might be alone there for all we know!"

Alone, trying to accomplish something that would kill him. Oliver bit down a whimper.

"It's best if you come inside," said Samuel.

"No," Oliver snarled, his fretting twisting into fury. "I think you old pots should explain yourselves!"

"We will, if you'll come inside."

He glowered, wanting to be stubborn, but needing to know whatever they were keeping hidden. He followed both men to the inn only a few paces away from the docks. It was an old place with a large, a-frame roof and, like everything in Bercord Harbour, stank of fish. Old red rugs covered wooden floors. The stairs creaked. Old, dusty paintings rattled with every gust of wind outside.

Hennessey had left them after their arrival here, which meant they were, once again, short on funds. One room with two beds was all they could afford. Entering the musty place without Tau didn't feel right. His gaze wandered to the wide window ledge, where he had slept in Tau's lap during the afternoon.

Loneliness maimed his heart, it tightened his chest and burned his eyes. He was missing a part of himself, more than an arm. His hand trembled at his side as he walked to the bay window and sat by it to look out across the dark, restless waters. He hoped for a sign of Tau and pushed any encroaching memories aside as best he could. He drew a leg up to his chest and wrapped his arm around it.

The others filed into the room, their footfalls scuffing old wood flooring, its slats creaking. The door clicked shut, and silence followed.

"Tell me then," Oliver snapped.

"This isn't going to be easy to hear," said Samuel.

"Don't," said Lucetta, moving to stand beside Oliver, protectively. "Just let it go, Ollie."

"Let what go? Just tell me!"

Samuel's long legs took him closer in just a few strides. He lowered to the nearest bed. It creaked under his weight. Everything was creaky in this stupid place.

"You asked me what made me change my mind when we first started this journey, do you remember?"

Oliver distractedly rubbed his cheek. "You said it was because you realised Ben was right."

"I did say that, but that wasn't the truth," said Samuel. "I changed my mind because of what I found."

"You're seriously going to make me ask again?" He was already a wreck, he didn't need whatever this was on top of it all.

"I don't know what the Elders are, exactly," Samuel began. "They're advanced, I can tell you that. Their Proxies have technology I've never heard of, let alone seen. You saw it with your own eyes. Those sliding doors?"

"Oh, yeah." Oliver rubbed his forehead next, trying to remember. His hand was trembling again, the way it always did when he went too long without Tau.

"Ollie, you don't want to hear whatever this liar has to say." Lucetta shifted to block Oliver's view of her brother. "It doesn't matter because it's irrelevant to who Tau is now."

"Swiving Sentinels, just tell me already!"

"Tau is an experiment," said Samuel.

Oliver scoffed. "Keep up, old man. We knew that already."

That earned him a look . "You aren't hearing me. He is their first Sentinel."

"No, he's not," said Oliver. "One of the first, sure. But not the first -first. What's that got to do with anything, anyway?"

"From what I understand, Sentinels are created using existing beings," said Samuel. "What they wanted was something that would protect their miners but have no needs. It may even be possible that Tau was once human, you know."

"Yeah, I know ," said Oliver with a roll of his eyes. Tau wasn't even remotely human. He'd seen just enough to determine that much, but that wasn't for the others to ever find out. "What about it?"

"They needed to cut Tau's attachments from his previous life, whatever those might have been. The same they've done for every Sentinel, I presume. That way it would just do its job without any demands."

The choice in words scraped like a pickaxe point over stone. Oliver glared, working on a retort when a realisation pinged the back of his head. Samuel wasn't wrong, really. Tau came around to him only once Oliver had accidentally-on-purpose hugged him. Not that he'd ever admit it. He sighed, looking out the window again. "We basically knew that already."

"You're not—the issue is how they got Tau to lose his humanity." Only now did Samuel look hesitant, as though he regretted saying anything in the first place. "You're familiar with moving pictures, right? Films?"

"Never been, but yeah," replied Oliver, unsure.

"Well, the Proxies have this same technology, only it's… It's in a flat box and it plays sound."

More confused than ever, Oliver gave him a blank look.

"Never mind, that bit isn't important," Samuel continued. "What's important is that they create films of their experiments. To record their findings, I assume. More importantly, they filmed how they got Tau to lose his humanity."

He didn't like where this was going. What would it take for someone as sweet as Tau to lose who he was? Oliver glanced at Lucetta, then Maji, who now stood nearby. Their discomfort was as obvious as a fist to the face. No doubt they knew already. Benjamin had to know too, still sulking near the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

It had to be bad, but Tau was the love of his life. Oliver needed to know.

"Tell me."

"Maybe this is something Tau can tell you himself, if he remembers?" Maji moved to sit on the bed opposite to the one Samuel occupied.

"Tau was tortured in ways I can't describe to you," Samuel cut in. "They destroyed his mind, Oliver. And then they set him loose on people. Innocent people." He grimaced at the memory of things he might have seen, clasping his hands tightly together. "The things he did were horrific. Heinous . It wasn't just once, either. From what I found, not only is he much older than believed, but for over half a century, he was constantly returned to the Proxies because he had somehow regained his humanity, or was beginning to, and so they repeated the process. I can only assume they do the same with all other Sentinels. I didn't have the time or the stomach to watch all of it."

Oliver's startled gaze flicked up to Lucetta, and to Maji, wordlessly asking if it was true. Anger churned his insides at their reluctant silence. He clenched his fingers around the calf of his leg. "What a load of applesauce. How do you even know it was Tau you saw in this box?"

"He's very distinctive," replied Samuel, who then fell into an expectant silence.

"Sorry, you're waiting for me to get upset about something you say Tau did while he lost his head from torture ?" Oliver snorted in disbelief. "Is this why you two red caps kept us apart, because you thought Tau might—what, kill me?"

"We were worried about what he might do to you," said Benjamin, and Oliver cast him a look of absolute disgust.

"It's great how you lot are forgetting how good he's been to us for all those years. For me, especially, even before I touched him. I would've been long dead if not for him!" He swung his legs off the window bench and stood. "Remember the good days, when we mined and he always healed us, and tried to communicate with us in the only way he could? Tau's impulsive and impatient and okay, kinda rough with some things, but he's good . Better than you two combined!"

"Hey, we're not forgetting anything. He was the first one to appreciate my plants!"

Oliver gave Maji a faint smile. A smile that dropped as he looked back at Benjamin. "If you think Tau's a monster because he did bad things from being tortured, then what am I? I killed two people and I'm not off my bean."

When the man said nothing, Oliver scoffed with revulsion. He brushed past, bumping into Benjamin's side with enough force to send him stumbling. He swung open the door and said over his shoulder, "I'm going for a walk. Alone."

He should have worn a jumper. The thick, persistent shore-fog outmatched the early summer night, its chill completely different to that of the mountain. Dampness clung to him like coal dust. Through the denim and his well worn cotton shirt, it crept into his bones with only the mantle to shield his shoulders and back. He strode down to the docks, aimless, needing to keep moving to distract himself.

It was bad enough his worry over Tau contorted his guts. Now Oliver knew what his boyfriend had been through, suffering quietly on his own for so long, nausea promised to show itself as upchuck.

He hadn't done enough to make sure Tau felt loved. Something he would remedy the moment Tau came back to him.

Because he would come back to him.

He had to.

Oliver's boot-clad feet carried him to the same place where he'd been left. He stared out across faint spume-lines. It had taken them a week to reach Malimoure on the fishing trawler. Even if he knew how to swim, he would never make it, especially not one arm down.

His gaze flicked to the smaller boats, dimly lit by the gas lantern nearby. There was a runabout, somewhere. Not that he knew how to work it.

He went in search of it.

Cheers and laughter from the inn swept toward him, alcohol and smoke lacing the salty air. Light pouring out from the windows turned the fog a hazy gold across the docks, and illuminated pristine metal on the runabout swaying on the waves a short distance away. He darted toward it, refusing to be dissuaded by the slosh of water under slick woodboards, and reached out with a foot. The boat violently lurched.

Oliver gasped, staggering away. This was a terrible idea.

He tilted his head back, blinking away the burn of hopelessness, struggling to bring into focus a strangely flat, grey surface overhead.

That wasn't the sky, he was pretty sure.

He didn't know what he was looking at, but loud bangs echoed and lights flickered on above him, illuminating a structure so tall, wispy clouds tickled its underbelly.

More lights flashed, revealing pillars. Massive ones, protruding from the sea and the hills, leading up to the colossal structure that had replaced the sky.

With his mouth hanging open, Oliver walked away from the docks. His walk became a sprint, then an outright run. Up steep cobblestone paths, past startled onlookers, and out of town. The surrounding hills looked ghostly in the pillar's bright lights, otherwise encased in cinching darkness. His sides ached by the time he crested the hill and got within stone-pelting distance of the nearest pillar, grass hissing below his slowing feet. The cart wheels had yet to begin turning in his head again as he gaped at stairs that spiralled the pillar. All the way up, out of sight.

Oliver dashed forward, hopping over crumbling rock walls, convinced he knew what this was. The dispassionate surface was too familiar, it had to be—

He skidded to a halt at the bottom of the staircase, heart thundering in his ears louder than the bangs above. Emergence would likely be up there, and maybe so would Tau. He'd not told his friends where he was going. They were still in town, entirely clueless, probably wondering where he'd gone. He had to tell them, but what if the pillars vanished again?

The hollow echo of metal steps vanished under the wind as he took them three at a time, the pillar so tremendous, going around its circumference even once took ages. He stopped for breath halfway up, doubled over, and instantly regretted looking down.

Houses below were no bigger than boxes. The wind blustered past him with such force, it threatened to drag him over the icy railings. His fingers burned by the time he reached the top, as did his lungs, chest heaving for air, yet never receiving any.

There was a door, wide and heavy, freezing to the touch when he grabbed its operating wheel and strained to spin it. Clanking followed, and the door swung open. It slammed against the wall from the wind's might, nearly taking Oliver with it. He clambered past a raised metal doorstep.

Sirens blared inside, flashes of red disorientating against pallid walls he leaned on for support, his legs gelatinous. He tried to find his way through maze-like corridors that all looked the same. All Oliver could think to do was follow the sound of a commotion, barely audible over the ear-shattering alarm.

Something to his side hissed. Doors slid into the walls, revealing a room seemingly empty at first. A mass of glistening limbs and sharp teeth reflected red lights. Oliver quickly backed away, and darted down the corridor.

There were many doors, some locked, others opening for him to check inside rooms. Full of oozing, decaying monstrosities that were once part of Emergence.

Tau and the other Sentinels had done it.

Oliver bolted around a corner and stumbled to a stop, arm flailing to catch himself on a doorframe, an inch away from colliding with an amalgamated creature. An awful combination of what might have been several humans once, now joined at the hips, struggling to be free, each attempting to crawl in a different direction across the floor with disjointed legs and arms.

He jumped over clawing hands and ignored their startled, rasped breaths.

The further he went, the more things he came across. He dashed past another corner—and knocked into something hard.

Oliver fell flat on his arse, grunting in surprise. He scrambled back, ready to fight for his life. Then gasped as he realised just what—or who , he was looking at.

"Dunderpate!"

Jacob still looked decrepit, his shoulder-length hair more white than grey now. His face as wrinkled and unshaven as Oliver remembered it.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob demanded, righting himself. He'd nearly sent the old goat off his feet.

"I'm looking for Tau. Have you seen him?"

"Huh? Yes, but—"

"Where?" Oliver interjected, shouting.

"You think you're going to get through this?" Jacob gestured at the hallway ahead, packed with things that squelched and squirmed. Muffled screams came from it all.

Oliver grimaced. "Help me, would you?"

"There's nothing I can do. You'll have to wait until—hey, where are you going?"

Oliver ran off. If the old pot wasn't going to be helpful, then he had no time to spare. Not to mention the last time he'd seen Jacob, he had attempted to bury Oliver and his friends alive.

A foul stench lurked in every corridor, once pristine walls streaked with black ooze, hair, and flaps of skin, mingled with the blood of those who had met a terrible end. Oliver kicked limbs and mounds of rot out of his way, shoulder barged through other obstructions, and stumbled as tar-like muck sucked a boot halfway off his foot.

He wrung free, stomping to get the boot back on. A dense concentration blocked his path ahead. He snapped his mouth shut, held his breath, and charged through. His outstretched hand caught on sludge and sharp bones as he fought through congealed decay, staggering forward once breaking through to the other side.

Oliver collapsed to the ground, panting. He gazed back at the wall he'd just passed through and yowled in disgust at the distorted faces gawking back at him. Gagging, he furiously wiped chunks off his face, gathering himself back up.

Screams of terror drew Oliver toward the ruckus. He ran past, under, and over long, thick strings of ooze and all manner of things unsavoury. He came to a sudden stop, feet sliding on fresh blood—and fell hard to his hip.

Instantly, his gaze stopped on the tall form of his Sentinel inside a room, its doors broken down, distorted metal glistening with red. Most of the dark robes had burned into his skin. Vambrace and greaves peeled in several places, covered in shimmering fluid mixed with viscera. A large piece had gone missing from Tau's mask, revealing a strong jawline and chin.

Oliver could see too much, and swiftly averted his gaze, down to the person Tau held by the throat. Manic, as he speared their chest with his claw. Broken nails protruded from the back, spilling blood and flesh. He retracted his arm, then cast the body aside like old clothing. He tore through the room's occupants, quick and animalistic. None of them stood a chance as he pulled them asunder, flung their parts around. Crushed their skulls and snapped their spines with his feet.

Innards slopped to the ground, blood rained, the floor now reminiscent of the landfill in Malimoure.

Nausea gurgled up into Oliver's throat, and Samuel's words rang like a passing bell inside his head.

Lost his mind, set loose on innocent people.

These people had created the landfill, and tortured Tau. They weren't innocent. What Tau was doing was gruesome, but this was his revenge, and he deserved to have it.

Oliver got up and stumbled inside. He slipped across the blood-coated floor and caught himself on the doorframe. Tau hadn't yet noticed him, snatching one of the last two people by the face and slamming them down on a table so hard, their skull shattered.

"Su–Sunshine," rasped Oliver.

Tau abruptly stilled, and turned to face him. Covered in gore, looming and terrifying. Battered and broken.

As Oliver carefully approached, he kept his gaze lowered. Reached up, his hand trembling, but stopped short of touching, unsure.

"You're hurt," he whispered, throat straining against a lump inside it. He still didn't look. It was private. Tau was extremely shy, there were things he didn't want seen, and that was okay. He would cast from his mind the flashes of glimmering skin he'd seen.

"Oliver. Mistake."

Oh, he could hear him.

How strange Tau's voice sounded without the mask. Crisp and stern, still so beautiful.

"Maybe, but I'm tired of you running off without me. I want to be by your side."

"Will see worst." Tau spoke with impatience.

"Whatever you do, I'm with you."

He had witnessed only a fraction of what they had done to Tau, thanks to Ondine. It was enough to fill his heart with hatred for people he didn't even know. As far as Oliver was concerned, if they were in this place, then they were guilty. Tau had said so, Emergence seemed to think so. Even Samuel now believed it.

Tau walked past him, apparently taking him at his word, and Oliver followed, keeping his eyes trained on anything other than his boyfriend.

Progression through the obscene monstrosities was easy when all Tau had to do was blast things out of their way. He flicked his wrists and delivered blow after blow with casual ease, like he wasn't even injured. Oliver knew better though, and sincerely hoped Tau wasn't overdoing it.

"You better stay alive for me," Oliver said as they approached another room, its doors sliding open with an airy hiss.

"Will try."

He flinched, catching sight of people inside. They scattered with whimpered terror, sliding under tables, hiding behind desks. Walking in after Tau, Oliver glimpsed a shining, muscular shoulder and hastily averted his eyes to the terrified people. There was no chance to prepare himself as Tau reached under a table and dragged a man out by the nape, slamming him down on the very table he'd sought refuge under. Tau's broken fingers drove into the man's back, the sickening sound of flesh and muscle tearing nothing compared to the way he yanked out their spine in one move. Blood splattered everywhere, the spine tossed with a wet splat to the floor.

Lost his mind. Heinous.

Whatever heinous meant, Oliver suspected this was it.

Tau still deserved his revenge.

Covering his mouth with his shaking hand, Oliver forced himself to look away from the next victim, their head crushed as easily as a peach under a clawed sabaton. There were only two people left, cowering in the furthest corner of the room.

He swallowed against an upsurge of sick.

Tau deserved revenge. He did.

His Sentinel descended upon a man in the corner, shoved his head against a wall and released a blindingly bright sphere into his mouth. Skin lit up from within. Blood sizzled, mouth and eyes emitted smoke. The body flopped to the floor in a heap.

They had tortured Tau.

He deserved his revenge.

Oliver repeated it like a prayer.

As the stench of scorched flesh crawled up his nose, however, a pang of something resounded in his stomach. Was it regret?

"No, please!" cried the last. A woman, scrambling to escape as Tau stalked toward her, radiating with hatred and the promise of an ugly death.

This didn't feel right. At all. Oliver's chest had grown so tight he'd stopped breathing. He was scared.

"Sunshine, wait."

He'd spoken up without meaning to. From his peripheral, he saw Tau stilled to regard him, damaged claws poised to attack.

"They did horrible things to you," Oliver managed through his quaking, refusing to look no matter how much he wanted to. "I know they did. You deserve to do these things to them, you do. But are–are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"It's not, it's not! We're only doing our jobs!" The woman moved to flee, tripped into a table and sent glassware shattering everywhere. She whimpered, and turned, face twisted with desperation. "It's not our fault, please!"

"Your jobs?" echoed Oliver, pinning the woman down with a furious look. She was dressed a bit like a doctor, short bright red hair in disarray, thick-rimmed spectacles askew. "You're being paid to torture him?"

"No! That wasn't me. I have nothing to do with that!"

"But you knew," said Oliver, his tone even.

"I—" Her horror-struck eyes darted from him to Tau. "I ha–had an idea. But tha–that was before my time! I've never even seen Ta–Tau in person before!"

Again, Oliver recalled what Samuel said. For over half a century, Tau had been put through torment. He wasn't very good with maths, but thought that meant a lot of people would have played a hand in this over the years. So where would Tau's revenge end? How many people would he kill until satisfied?

Glancing at the corpse dressed in stone grey coveralls and black boots, Oliver quietly asked, "That man who just…died, who was he?"

"Hi–Him? He was–uhm–he was just one of–of our janitors."

There it was. The reason he'd been afraid, Oliver realised. The dilemma Samuel and then Benjamin had brought forward before changing their minds.

Not everyone in this place was guilty. They couldn't be.

"Sunshine, I'm going to look at your face. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

Oliver looked directly into those black triangles that were both ominous and genial, remaining resolute in respecting Tau by not allowing his eyes to wander.

"We might be making a mistake. I don't think everyone here is guilty of hurting you. We need to focus on the Elders, not these people. Don't you think?"

A strumming silence hung between them, while Oliver remained unshakable in his determination to only look at black eyes. He could not see a beautiful jaw and exposed neck at all.

"Yes."

A simple word that had admiration and relief flooding Oliver's heart. Not once had he doubted Tau was anything but honourable. It was nice to have it confirmed, all the same. He cleared the distance between them, tightly wrapped his arm around Tau's midriff, and squeezed. Pressed a series of kisses to his chest too, for good measure, and only marginally regretted it as the taste of blood clung to his mouth.

The woman's trembling sigh of relief nudged Oliver to pull away. He squared against her as she adjusted her spectacles with violently shaking hands.

"Can you fix him? He's hurt."

The woman brushed frays of unnaturally red hair from her sweaty forehead. "Y-Yes. I–Thank you."

Oliver sincerely hoped he hadn't just made a mistake. He stepped over gore, headed for the door, and looked for a way to close it.

"Th–The panel to your left. Press the icon–the picture that looks like a–a lock."

An unassuming glass panel, glowing blue. He jabbed it, smearing its surface with his grimy pointer finger, and jumped at the loud hiss. The doors magically emerged from the wall and shut away most of the unrelenting siren wails.

That was better. If only they could do something about the flashing lights.

"What's your name?" asked Oliver, returning to Tau's side.

"Janice." She motioned for Tau to sit on the nearest table, hands and her mouth still visibly trembling.

Tau did, feet crunching through grass, while Oliver kept his eyes on the woman, untrusting. She stepped closer, hesitating before grasping what remained of the gauntlet, dangling from Tau's forearm, and pushing it back where it was supposed to be. Oliver tried not to look, but couldn't help noticing the brightly glowing veins running over the inside of the armour.

"My name's Oliver." He averted his attention again. "And if you try anything to hurt Tau, I'll kill you myself."

Janice made a frantic noise. "Ye-Yes, I know who you are."

"Huh, you do?"

"You're kind of infamous around here for realigning Tau to the point of no return."

Oliver turned that over in his head. "You mean, I got Tau his humanity back?"

"Yes, that's…it, but you know he's not human?"

He nearly looked at Tau to see his reaction. Did Tau know what he was, beyond a Sentinel?

"I had an idea."

"He's Alpha's offspring," continued Janice. Now that she replaced what she could, she grabbed an armful of crinkling things from a section in the wall that turned out to be a cupboard. Its door slid sideways, back into place. "I don't know the exact details, but we believe Alpha was the first of Their kind. They came to Earth, fell in love, had a child and he's sitting right here in front of us."

Oliver made a face. He would have said something, but—

"Applesauce."

He guffawed, nearly crashing backward into another table. "You slay me, Sunshine."

He made to wipe away tears of mirth, but grimaced at the state his hand was in. Right, he was covered in Emergence-bits.

"It's true, we're pretty sure." Janice looked embarrassed, wrapping what turned out to be crisp, white bandages around nearly every part of Tau. "We're unsure of how , of course. Nobody who has met Alpha in person is alive today, and the records of those details are lost, if they ever even existed."

Now that Tau was all bandaged up, there wasn't much to accidentally see. He looked like a mummy, though. Oliver grinned at him, certain his cheer was met in equal measure. Tau was happy he was here.

"What are the Elders, then?" Oliver belatedly asked.

"From what I know, they're also offspring. We don't know whether they came before or after, just that Tau is a different combination to what the Elders are. And we don't really call them Elders here, so much."

"Huh." Oliver rubbed his chin, besmirching it further. "What about Sentinels, what are they?"

Janice's grey eyes darted to Tau. "Uhm. It's a bit complicated but essentially, they're variations of the Elders."

"Huh." He paused. "Why are you telling me this?"

She shrugged, sullen. "Does it even matter?"

"I guess not. You know," Oliver continued, sliding up to Tau's side, "all these different names for 'em is confusing. I know Alpha as Emergence. Speaking of, that ugly pillock is still out there. Can we put a stop to it?"

"Too late."

"Yeah, figured as much." Oliver sighed. "So, you just bandage him up and he's fine?"

"No," said Janice. "He heals himself efficiently. Ideally, he would need to compress and rest, but at least the bandages will help you respect his wish not to be seen."

"Oh, thanks. That's mighty kind of you." Oliver took hold of Tau's large, bandaged hand and made for the door. Then stopped mid-step and turned back to Janice. "Why was Ondine here? What's she got to do with all this?"

Janice hesitated. "Uhm. She helped find matches for Sentinels, from what I understand."

So, Samuel hadn't been lying about that.

"Shame she's dead."

An odd expression crossed Janice's oval face. Apologetic, almost.

"What?" demanded Oliver, fearing the answer.

"I'm sorry," Janice managed. "Ondine is something else entirely. Good effort, though. It took her a while to come back from that."

Oliver's foot met the side of a metal table. It launched across the room and left a sizable indentation in the wall, but he gained little satisfaction from it.

That was horrible news, for Tau in particular. He couldn't even delight in the way the door hissed at him again once he tapped the blue-glowing screen.

While the corridors were plastered in gore, they were clear of animated remnants. Oliver reached out and took Tau's hand in his, even though it still dripped with blood. Human blood, mostly.

"Do you think Ondine is still here? We could go kill her again, if you want," he said, hopeful. "I'll try not to bust up my other arm."

Tau gently squeezed his hand. "Unknown."

"Damn. Where do we go to get at the Elders?"

"Uncertain. Not home."

It took him a moment to understand. "Oh, yeah. This is a really big building, I think. I have no idea how I even found you."

"If it's the Elders you're after, you're in the wrong place," said a gravelly voice behind them. Jacob, again.

"You're just wherever Emergence is, huh?" quipped Oliver.

"Almost as if I love them." Oliver wasn't sure if the old man was making fun of him or not, but Jacob continued, "The doorway is further down. Once you go in, you won't be able to come back."

Words that filled Oliver's stomach with lead. "Where…did Emergence go?"

"Inside," said Jacob simply. "I'll never see them again."

His voice was gruff, but something about the way he'd said it sounded sad. Maybe Jacob did truly care for Emergence.

Absolute lunatic.

"Why can't you go in after them?"

Jacob cast his wrinkly glare elsewhere. "There is nothing for me there. It's a void."

Looking up at Tau, Oliver smiled. "Where you go, I go. You don't get a choice in this one, sorry."

"Don't be an idiot," snapped Jacob. "There is nothing there. No food, no water. Nothing but light. You'll die blind, and it'll be slow."

He ignored the old man, keeping his eyes pinned to the love of his life. "Anything for you, Light of Day."

"Perish?" asked Tau.

Without wavering, Oliver said, "Even perish."