I slowly drove the hummer forward and hit the brakes just as the red light indicated for us to stop. The moment I did, soldiers fanned out to start checking our vehicle. One of them moved along the bottom side with a mirror, and the others opened the doors and checked around without seeming to care about us.
One of the faceless soldiers walked up the open window, and casually leaned on it like we were old friends. The creature was entirely scentless. That should’ve been impossible, and yet I couldn’t pick up a single discerning thing about it except for the scent of fresh laundry.
“So, what do you do for a living?” It’s grotesque, gravel-like voice felt like worms crawling along my ear canals.
I took a breath. Don’t let ———- know you. I wasn’t sure what counted as knowing, but giving away my occupation might count for that. Heads all around me slowly turned while I tried to think up a good answer. Being stared at by dozens of faceless creatures made my skin crawl.
”I work for a living.” It was true, and yet gave absolutely nothing away about me. As soon as my answer was delivered, motion returned to the checkpoint once more.
The soldier just sighed, and shook its head. The faceless being straightened up. “Fuck. Fine. What’s your question?”
“…!” I bit my tongue to stop myself from talking. The taste of blood instantly bloomed across my mouth thanks to my sharp teeth.
The soldier, if it was even possible, looked disappointed that I didn’t answer a second question. The very first rule was to only answer one question. If I’d asked what I wanted to ask, then… my ears flattened to the top of my head, and my tail puffed out beside me. Yet another verbal trap.
Another soldier walked up to replace the first. He knocked on Gunner’s window. “Hello!”
After a second of him pretending the creature didn’t exist, the radio-voice returned. ”Please roll down the window.”
With his hand forced, Gunner unwillingly rolled it down. The moment it was down fully, the soldier waved cheerfully. “What are the names of those who came in with you?”
I stilled, and looked back toward Gunner. He, likewise, returned my gaze with a calm expression. Don’t let ———- know your name. If he spoke, there was nothing I could do about it. My hand dropped to my tomahawk—
“Please refrain from interfering in any way with him giving the answer.” The radio-voice directly interfered with me.
My hand stilled just before drawing. He couldn’t lie. If he lied, he risked his own life. Expecting the man to cover our asses with his own was as outlandish as refusing a direct order to stand down. I could only stare at the heavily armored man. Depending on what he said changed wether or not I went down swinging.
”Their names were ——— ———— and — ————-.” The moment he said a name, it was blotted out by a sharp, high-pitched whine.
A moment passed, and nothing happened. I let go of my pistol’s grip, and sat back against my chair. He only gave two. It should’ve been smarter and specified a number. He must’ve given the driver and woman’s names—what were they again? I should know this. We’d been in the same car for three days since leaving back for Silverport.
“…!” Ice rolled down my spine. Did… did it force me to forget their names? Already? The ice turned into a sharp shiver. What if he told it my name? What would happen to me? Would everyone forget me? Would Sylvie forget me?
Gunner shrugged, and asked his question before anything could stop him. “What are the three most realistic and achievable ways for me to get a promotion?”
The sharp whine of radio interference returned quickly. It lasted for barely a minute before fading away. At the end of it, Gunner sat stone-faced in the back seat. His eyebrows twitched, though, and anger practically radiated off of him.
The soldiers receded, and the doors toward the other side of the checkpoint slowly lifted. “Congratulations for getting through Checkpoint Alpha-Omega in a timely manner! Driver, please continue forward.”
“What are the three most realistic and achievable ways to grow immune to Psyker corruption?” I asked softly while barely letting us drift forward to comply. The radio-voice addressed me directly. That gave me one final chance.
I didn’t want power, or money, or even really freedom. All I wanted was the whispers to stop entirely. If that happened… if that happened I could leave the syndicate behind, and take my sister to a different city. I’d have to get a job somewhere, but even flipping synthetic patties in a food truck would be better.
I’d been thinking about my question ever since we first arrived. Beyonders were a weird bunch. Among all the routes to becoming beyond mundane, Psykers were undoubtedly the most miserable lot. Unlike the Awoken, who received power and prestige just from existing, or the Revears, who were usually at least tolerated, Psykers were incredibly despised and hunted.
I knew why, ‘course. We were ticking time bombs even on the best of days. It was only a matter of time till our minds and bodies gradually mutated, making us closer and closer to monsters. It was an inevitable decay.
Inhibitors were the only way of fighting off that mutation. They were also nearly impossible to get a hold of. It was yet another leash the Hades Syndicate had thoughtfully woven around my neck. My life and death were in their hands in more than one way. I literally couldn’t refuse an order, like say go on a Pyre-forsaken escort mission beyond the walls.
Behind me, the two other soldiers flinched erratically as if hearing something I couldn’t. A moment later, an incredibly soft voice, almost to the point I couldn’t hear it, spoke up. “You want immunity? Then die. Go die in a fucking ditch. If you had any sense, you’d hang yourself.”
My fingers clenched into a fist. The entity… spoke the truth. It wasn’t even the first time I’d heard that. The usual response to someone activating their psionic powers and becoming a Psyker was for them to swallow a bullet. The fact that is was true made my chest throb even more uncomfortably.
“Not good enough?” The voice spewed so much malice I felt my stomach clench. “Got one better. Give in. Give into the corruption and become what you were always meant to be—a bloodthirsty monster. You’ll be completely immune then.”
I won’t be me then! That totally invalidated the point. I could see why Gunner looked so angry, now. He got his answers, but I doubted any of them were good. The entity behind Checkpoint Alpha-Omega was incredibly petty and spiteful.
”Fine, I’ll give you a third.” The voice quieted to the absolute minimum. “57.20493 -3.07921. I’m only saying it once. I hope you choke and die on your way out, or better yet, forget the numbers and suffer. Please let every moment of your miserable, useless existence be full of suffering.”
I dove for the pen I’d left on the dashboard, and rapidly wrote down the numbers on the dashboard. It was 57.20493 -3.0—damnit! What was the last part?! I glared down at the dash, but true to its words, the radio-voice didn’t repeat them. Those were definitely coordinates. To where, though?
I paused for a moment, and then scratched them down on a spare piece of paper I found inside the dash just in case. I read through them again and again to memorize them, and then scratched out the numbers on the dash to cover my traces.
“Driver, please leave.” The voice returned back with its calm tone like it hadn’t just told me to kill myself.
With everything saved, I pressed down the gas pedal and tore out of Checkpoint Alpha-Omega. We drifted out onto the smooth roads, and rapidly approached the fog wall.
”Phew. I didn’t think we’d get out of there alive.” The man who pissed himself chuckled lightly. And leaned back in his seat.
The hummer instantly ground to a halt underneath us. The gearshifter, as if possessed by a ghost, shifted into park. The emergency break came up a moment later. “…!”
”O-oh… fuck.” His eyes filled with fear, and he lunged forward to push the gear shift. It didn’t budge an inch. I tried to help, but not even our combined strength could get it to move.
I glanced in the mirror, and saw a tide of pale soldiers racing out at us. A one-armed one with fatigues still bloody led the charge. The voice returned with an excited crackle. “Please don’t hate me for what’s about to happen. Please tell me how much you hate me!”
The man, in his final moments, stilled and released the gear shifter. Acceptance flashed through his eyes. “M-my name is —— —— ———-. Please, please find my mother and—“
“Shut up!” A gravely voice growled. The door just next to him was ripped off the hinges by a soldier, and three more surged in to grab him.
He grabbed onto the door handle with his other, and resisted the attempts to pull him out. Even as his leg was torn off, he continued to try and speak. “M-Mire contamination, urgh, can be—“
Just before he could tell us, he was dragged out of the vehicle into the mass of fatigued soldiers. “CURED BY—“
His voice cut off one final time with a wet crunch. With their prize in tow, the inhumanly strong soldiers carted the dead corpse back toward Checkpoint Alpha-Omega. The gentle radio-voice crackled to life once more. “You are free to go! Please tell me how you’d rate your experience here.”
I slumped back into my chair, and just mutely stared at the dash. I’d seen people die. Killed plenty myself. But that? That was no way to go down. Even his last acts to save his mother were desecrated by that—that thing. His name… I couldn’t even remember his name to find her. Even if I did, what would it matter? It ensured the cure would die with him.
I hollowly pressed the gas pedal, and moved back toward the fog. In less than thirty minutes, we were down three people, missing two doors, and much worse off than when we entered. Not to mention blood saturated an entire side of the vehicle. The stench was sharp and overwhelming to my sensitive nose.
The moment we passed into the fog wall, fire erupted in front of me once more. I slowed to a stop. The Mire almost felt comforting compared to that hellish place.
| Visitior’s Pass #???? |
| This badge proves you are authorized to be here. Move quickly. You’re just a visitor and not something permanent. |
The moment I read through the fire, it condensed and sparked into a rectangular shape. It hardened into a thin sheet of plastic covered in information I couldn’t quite make out. It almost seemed to squirm under my eyes.
A reward… heh, right. We were rewarded. For that. It felt like a bitter pill had been forced down my throat while I wasn’t paying attention. My ears flicked around uncomfortably.
I glanced back to check on Gunner. He blankly stared at the blood covered seat where the other man had just been. In his hands, a similar visitor’s pass was held. He dropped it, and fire blazed across the card once more. It melted away like a lie. Like one horrible, malicious lie.
I hesitated a moment before following his lead. My card also vanished, but I could still feel a connection to it. It felt similar, and yet entirely different from the way Seek worked. I had a feeling if I needed it, it’d come.
”And death. Death will come when you need it. It’ll be easy.” A faint whisper echoed through my head. My ears twitched, and I worked at my lip. Auditory hallucinations were starting to become more and more apparent. I really, really needed to get an inhibitor.
My foot felt heavy against the pedal. After driving forward for a while, Gunner crawled over the center console and sat down beside me in the passenger seat. “… that was horrifying.”
My tail thumped against the console lightly. I waited for a moment just to be safe before talking back. “That’s putting it way too lightly.”
“Hey, listen… I’ve heard about this kind of thing.” He waved his hand, and fired churned to life just in front of him. It once more condensed into the Visitor’s Pass. “We didn’t get anything from there except answered, okay?”
”Fine.” I could see the wisdom in saying that. Although I wasn’t happy to receive a reward for… that, it did look like it’d be useful.
His jaw twitched, and he dropped the card. The man leaned back in his chair, and threw a bloody arm over his head. “Was your question worth it?”
”It told me to die.” I brushed my thumb across the steering wheel, and wiped away a speck of drying crimson. “That thing was spiteful.”
“You’re telling me. All three of its answers were variations of that.” Gunner groaned, and dropped his head into his hands. “At least we escaped with our lives.”
The mood in the car, which had been improving minutely since we escaped into the fog, instantly plummeted. “Could be worse.”
”Could be worse…” he hollowly echoed me. “Fuck, he… I can’t even remember his name. He was so close! Why’d he have to say something?! Stupid bastard!”
I leaned forward, and pulled the walkie talkie off the front dash. Regardless of what happened, I needed to report back to the convoy. The device crackled to life, and the golden halo around the device appeared once more. “Barghest. Barghest, how copy?”
”Copy, Captain Reymos… There was an anomalous space. Lost three people.” I reported back in a dry voice. The voice modulator turned it even drier and uncaring.
”Figures…” The radio crackled in such a way that sent tremor through my tail. “The anomaly disappeared a few moments ago. The path is clear once more.”
Probably vanished once we cleared it. If it could even be called clearing it when over half my squad died. “Hold positions?”
“Affirmative. Convoy moving forward.” The radio cut off with a sharp crackle. I tossed it onto the dash, and the golden halo slowly started to fade away.