Orb Weaver: Wrath of God, 17

When I woke up, the sting of a second shot receding,  I kept my eyes closed for a moment. I felt insects, but not enough. Someone had gone over the building with care. There was a wasp nest on the third story, but…

Well, no matter. I could—

And then some of the insects I summoned slammed into a barrier that seemed to adhere to the building like a second skin. Something tinkertech. It let air in, and larger people, but dust and other small items were pushed away.

Like bugs.

Dammit. Also, I was in my underwear, my mask still on as a silly accessory, a way of keeping my ID technically secret. My tools, guns, flares, fighting sticks, armor, were all on a table at the far end of the room.   I could also sense the people in the room, one in armor.

Kaiser. Two females, slightly bigger than human norm.

Fenja and Menja.

No sign of Crusader. Had he left?

And others. Armed. On this floor, and around it. The barrier didn’t interfere with my ability to control bugs, so I saw others on the street.

If my numbers were right, less Crusader, and whoever was with him… this was it. This was all that was left of the mighty Empire. In one corner were five people sitting down. Some crying.

The hostages.

The building was at the far edge of town, a warehouse. I hadn’t been here very often which meant only a few bug reactors in range. I could fix that, but first…

I opened my eyes and sat up in the chair I was in, ignoring both the aftereffects of the drug and my fatigue.

“Hello, Kaiser,” I said. “I take it this is a consultation?”

My answer was a sword erupting from the ground, pausing just under my chin.

“I’m not interested in your word play,” he said. “You will bring Orb Weaver here, tell us how to kill Him, and then you may walk out of here.”

I glanced over at Mr. Thomas and the four students. Two male, two female, two freshmen, and two… huh. Was that Julia? Why was…

You burned the Investigator’s identity and Kaiser certainly knows. Was this an accident, or is he thinking this is some kind of bribe?

Julia was an ugly crier, snot and tears running down her face. Mr. Thomas murmured something to her and the other students, looking calm, like he didn’t think death was facing them.

He knew better. So did I. Kaiser would never let this get out. I didn’t know if he just intended for them to vanish or try to pin it on Orb Weaver, but unless I did something, those kids were as good as dead.

“And the hostages?” I asked.

“They will leave when we are done.”

“Kaiser,” I said. “With the secrets that will probably be revealed, you and I both know that if they are here, they are as good as dead.”

Julia started sobbing, heedless of the other’s attempts to keep her quiet and she was starting to piss off both the soldiers and capes.

This was my victory, the Empire stripped of its bravado and courage… And it tasted like ash on my tongue, because unless I was very lucky, five people were going to die for my cleverness. I had to…

I raised my hands, and everyone tensed. I didn’t pause. “Julia.” She stared at me, and then her eyes went wide as I pulled my mask off.

Huh. At least one person had still been ignorant of who I was.

“Julia,” I said, using a calm tone, lowering my voice so she had to strain to hear me. “I swear you will get out of this. I swear I will keep you alive, but you have to listen to Mr. Thomas. Do what he says, no matter…” I glanced at Mr. Thomas. “What happens.”

He went still, not giving me anything as ridiculously obvious as a wink or nod. But he knew.

I started bringing the wasps down. They were in the walls, and only enough to help the hostages, save for 10 I kept in reserve. Until and unless I dealt with the barrier, it’d be me against three parahumans.

Well. I’d just have to think on my feet.

“You seem to think you are in charge here.” Kaiser raised a hand, and the students shrank back, and for a moment, I thought he was going to kill someone right there and then, but he didn’t.

“I am responsible. Not in charge. But I am without weapons, without tools, and as I said, I know that secrets will be spoken of in this room that would be worth their life.”

He paused, looked at me. “Take them down to the meeting room under this one. If there’s any attempt at a rescue…” Kaiser didn’t bother to finish the sentence.

Outside, I was bringing my bug reactors fully on line. 50 million bees and wasps answered my call in the immediate area, uncountable numbers of roaches, scorpions, and spiders, swarming into the sewers and into empty buildings. But… I needed more.

There was an auto-repair shop, a woman working in the office, getting ready to go home. She suddenly squeaked as “I” rose, bugs, centipedes, and spiders swarming around my form.

“Greetings. I have need of your computer.”

She squeaked and scuttled back.

I walked to it, and “typed” using my hands. First I sent a message to Tattletale, noting my location and telling her to stand by. Next I sent out codes, codes to the phones I’d buried which would be relayed to my pheromone dispensers, both stationary and drone-mounted. I could not control every insect in the city, but I would not need to. Those measures would bring them, all of them, to one place, where I would take charge.

I couldn’t bring them all. Some were too slow, but…

Ten billion should be enough.

But inside,  I was still talking.

“I do not see Crusader. Did he join Krieg?”

The hostages were gone now, and I had to get Kaiser upset, not thinking straight. I didn’t have my tools, not yet, and maybe not ever if the shield was something I couldn’t penetrate. With narcissists, it was all about them. I had to keep him fixated on me.

“Crusader stands ready to provide a proper distraction should Orb Weaver try to play his games.”

I nodded. “The ABB, he’s going after them.”

“So safe they are, thinking the Empire is doomed,” Kaiser said, his motions sharp, angry, his voice tense. “Crusader’s warriors can walk through walls.”

I didn’t need to be a genius to see the implications. Men, women, and children, eating dinner, watching TV, getting ready for bed. Worried about the conflict with the Empire, but knowing they were safe…

And then ghosts that ignored metal and brick, but slashed through skin would emerge. No warning, no way to defend themselves, trapped in apartments, no way to run…

“You made a mistake when you rescued Aisha Laborn. When you went after that Tinker, when you fought Leviathan…” Kaiser leaned down and I could see his eyes through the slits in his armor. Red eyes, twitching with fatigue and something else. “You care for them, and that’s why you sent your pet monster to save her. Now, if you don’t do everything I say, well, can your pet monster move fast enough?”

Congrats, Taylor, he’s definitely off balance.

“And after that, what?” I asked. “When Alexandria, Eidolon, Legend, come for you? When Lung, Kanshi and Oni Lee come for you with blood in their eye and a kill order authorizing them? The Empire is dying. Carry out a mass slaughter like that, and the ground it stood on will be salted.”

“But will that bring back the dead, Investigator?  I know your history, so how many children will take solace that their mother died screaming, but in return, the Empire died?”

“Very few.” I nodded while insects tested the barrier, pushing against it. In one place, a mass of a thousand flies, hornets, and beetles slammed into it, and it gave, a few inches, before snapping back.

In the office, I kept typing.

“Tattletale, Crusader and unknown number of E88 gangers threatening to make an attack targeting civilians in ABB areas. I have no further information. Divert to the ABB areas, warn Lung and the Protectorate. I will handle my and the Little Detective’s issues. I know of your relationship with Coil. If you feel his mercenaries could be of any help… Tell him I will owe him a favor for his assistance in protecting the civilians.”

“Very well,” I said, looking at Kaiser, alone in my underwear in a room full of capes and E88 soldiers. “I will bring Orb Weaver to you. But before that, Kaiser, one last chance. If you surrender, I will work to keep you out of the birdcage. That applies to all of you.”

My answer was an armored backhand that sent me spinning out of the chair and onto the floor.

I spat a reddish glob out, realizing that some of his spikes had gone through my cheek.

“Very well. But remember. I made the offer.”