The day would begin and end quietly, as a leaf caught in a maelstrom might be picked up and whisked off somewhere far away, with no idea of how to return to where from it came. The middle would be loud, and at the end of the day, would leave those involved with their hands on their ears, trying to hear again in the silence that would follow. That was certain, after the day was done, no one would know how to get back to where they came from. It would be one of those days where the world seemed to have changed, and the lives of the people changed with it.

Freeman had his people begin taking position before the sun rose. It was murky twilight in a chilling cold as the front line of Freeman’s Vassals hid on rooftops and in alleyways on the approach to the InCorp building. Though there were not entrances from each side, not public entrances, at least, there was still an even distribution of Vassals around the circumference of the building.

Freeman himself kept back, watching the events go down from his dark room in the mansion, camera feeds filling him in on anything that was happening to his Vassals at InCorp coming in on a bank of screens projected on the back wall. Because of this necessity, Freeman needed to know what was going on, the room was far more brightly lit than it usually would have been. Faint yellow eyes peered at Freeman out of the dark corner of the room.

Anje didn’t appreciate too much light.

Before the invasion could begin, Freeman simply needed to wait a bit longer. He needed to make sure that the Registry was also moving it’s vanguard into position alongside his own well hidden Vassals. When the Registry began moving into position, then the Vassals could begin.

It would be up to Parker to disable the InCorp building defenses, else the automated systems would likely kill everyone in the building, if the last siege had been any indication. A stroke of luck, that had been. Only that boy stepping in kept the building from purging everyone inside in order to kill the multiplicitous Thrall.

It didn’t matter, of course, if Parker kept up his end of the bargain. It was inconsequential. Only one more obstacle stood between Freeman and what he had sought for years. A revolution, a return to the old ways. Vassals were not lower class citizens, and Collars shouldn’t be mercenary prisoners. There was a time when Collars were revered, not as divinity like in Acadia, but as the powerful, the famous, and the protectors of the city. They fought a war, and it was bloody, it was horrific, and everything changed.

Freeman had a different idea for how to run the city. He was going to change it all back. It changed in blood once, so it would take blood to change it again.

Isaac hadn’t noticed until just then how much Tyloki’s fire inside him helped regulate his body temperature. He could see his breath as he shivered his way through the front door of the Registry tower. The glass panels that made up the front of the lobby were fogged over, and outside, a thick fog hung low over the city streets. The Registry tower was, after all, at the top of a city built onto a mountain.

Inside, the Registry felt oddly like the train station in the middle of the night, with few passengers and lights that were a bit too bright. Isaac winced at them as he looked around and tried to place exactly what was wrong with the scene. Even this early in the morning, especially this early in the morning, the lobby of the Registry shouldn’t have been so empty.

It was nearly deserted, but not completely empty. A small group of normal people huddled around the security checkpoint, seemingly arguing with the humorless security guard. He approached but kept his distance, trying to discern what was happening without getting involved. As it happened, they were non-Collars who needed to get access to the lower levels of the Registry for their day jobs as servers or cooks in the restaurants, or retailers in the shops.

Isaac rubbed his hands on his uppers arms as he watched the group. It was cold inside, too. If non-Collars couldn’t get in, whatever the reason, he wouldn’t be able to get in. Previously, he had gotten in using a guest pass, but the guard knew him; almost everyone knew him. But no guest passes, no entry.

That wouldn’t do. Miria was gone, disappeared into literal thin air. It couldn’t wait, no matter what was happening. Isaac looked up, thinking about his options. The Registry tower was an empty cylinder most of the way up, with balconies extending up into the darkness further than Isaac could see. He didn’t need to get all the way up, just past security.

Getting past Registry security couldn’t be easy, since as far as Isaac was aware, it hadn’t happened in quite some time. Even if you did manage to get past the guard, the building was filled to the brim with the city’s best fighters. Bastion’s guardians.

If they wanted to stop you, they would.

Unless they weren’t around. Isaac looked around again at the mostly empty lobby. Almost no Indicia walking around tantalizingly as they usually did, only a few scattered about the seats and lounge areas in the corners of the huge atrium, sitting in wait with their Collars. Waiting for what?

Waiting for what?

Something was definitely going on.

Isaac ran his fingers along the blue brand on his neck. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t be able to help.

“Eesh, didn’t expect to see you here today. Anyone ever tell you that you’ve got sort of a magnetic pull towards trouble?” A gravelly voice growled in Isaac’s ear.

He turned calmly, arms crossed over his chest to keep warm. “I just wanted to come lodge a complaint about how cold it is in here.”

“I think the heater is set to allow for the place to be packed with people. As you can see, not packed.” Shir said, waving his clawed paws around the room at all of the emptiness.

“Alright, well, fix that. Get everyone to come back.” Isaac complained, having to look up at the saber tooth much as he used to look up at Tyloki, though Shir felt less threatening.

“No can do. They’re on a secret mission.” Shir winked at Isaac. “No entry to the Registry today, either. Not till everyone gets back.”

“Secret mission? What kind of secret?” Isaac asked.

“Oh ho, you’re tricky. I’ll trade you.” Shir smirked, which served to accentuate his large tusk-like teeth.

“I’m not sure I want to trade what you want to trade.” Isaac smirked back, exhaling a cloud of steam.

“I’ll gladly pay you today for some company on Tuesday.” Shir said.

“Sorry, I’m not certain I’ll be alive on Tuesday. My life is in constant peril. I wouldn’t feel right making arrangements like that and then backing out by dying.” Isaac said.

“Do you plan to die?” Shir asked, a look of horror on his face, afraid that he had tread on fragile ground.

Isaac grinned wider. “No, I don’t plan to die. Shir, I need to talk to Canaan. Now. He won’t answer his LINK.”

“Canaan is probably the last person on the planet you’ll get to talk to today.” Shir said.

“From the looks of this place, that makes sense.” Isaac nodded, turning in a circle. “I just need to get past security, then I’ll take care of the rest myself.”

“I’m more of a mascot than anything.” Shir said. “I couldn’t get you past that guy if I wanted.”

“What is his deal, anyway?” Isaac asked, in regards to the serious security guard. It was always the same guy, every day, all day. And he never smiled.

“He’s just boring. Anyway,” Shir glanced upwards, “forget about it. Let’s solve your problem.”

“You have an idea?” Isaac asked.

“Depends on what I get for it.” Shir said.

“What do you want?” Isaac asked. When Shir started, Isaac held up his hand and cut him off. “Don’t say you want to sleep with me.”

Shir frowned and looked down. He chewed on his lip as he thought it over. “Just a kiss, then. Our last one was magical.”

“Our last kiss was awkward and creepy. You stole it, if you’ll remember.” Isaac said. “Tell me your idea, first, and then we’ll talk.”

Instead of explaining, Shir stepped closer to Isaac and lifted him up, one arm under his knees, one arm behind his back. Isaac felt, embarrassingly, like a damsel being rescued by a dashing hero. Shir was quite dashing. The saber tooth was warm where he pressed against Isaac, a respite from the cold air. Isaac leaned in closer to the tiger’s chest. Powerful legs bent, and in a jolting lurch, Shir jumped.

Easily clearing to the balcony of the first floor, he landed and held onto Isaac with a grin.

“That worked.” Isaac said, not making a move to get out of Shir’s arms.

“It did. Now, I can jump you back down, or you can give me something in return. It’s only polite.” Shir said.

Isaac rolled his eyes visibly. “I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Says you. You might not have a choice, if you don’t do something else to make it worth my while.” Shir growled playfully.

“Make it worth your while?” Isaac asked.

Wanting to get a move on, Isaac needed to get this over with. He reached up and placed his hand on the side of Shir’s face, stroked through the fur. With closed eyes, Isaac leaned up and pressed his lips to Shir’s. It was a passionate kiss, forceful and lusty, as he ran his tongue over Shir’s sharp teeth, making sure to feel the long saber teeth fully. As they kissed, and Shir pressed his tongue into Isaac’s mouth, making it tingle, the tiger slowly lowered Isaac’s feet to the floor.

When Isaac had solid footing, he pulled back from the kiss and opened his eyes. To his surprise, Shir looked stunned.

“That’ll do.” Isaac said.

“For now.” Shir winked at Isaac.

Isaac brushed his hand over his lips, wiping away some stray saliva. Holding his hand up to wave at Shir, he made his way past the various lounges on the first floor to the elevator. They were still working, which was a surprise, since Isaac expected his day to be one of those that just wouldn’t stop being bullshit.

A good kiss, and the elevators still worked. Besides Miria being completely disappeared, Isaac’s day was going pretty well.

The day stopped going as smoothly when he stepped off the elevator into the reception room outside Canaan’s office. Leia, Canaan’s secretary, looked up from her desk without amusement.

Isaac looked at her, and then to the door to Canaan’s office.

“Canaan isn’t receiving visitors right now.” Leia said.

“That is unfortunate. I need to talk to him.” Isaac said.

“It’ll have to wait. I’ve got an appointment on Tuesday open.” Leia said.

“Sorry, no good. I’m not certain I’ll be alive Tuesday.” Isaac said. “I have to talk to him now.”

“I’m sorry, Tuesday is the earliest available appointment. Director Canaan is a busy man.” Leia said.

“I have information. About the thing that’s happening right now. The thing that all the Collars are gone at.” Isaac said. It was a gamble, a terrible lie, but maybe it’d work.

“You have information about ‘the thing’? Oh me, I’m sorry for holding you up. Director Canaan needs to know about ‘the thing’. Tell me and I’ll deliver it right to him.” Leia said facetiously.

“I can’t tell you. It’s very, very classified. Like, super classified.” Isaac said.

“I’m sure.” Leia nodded emphatically. “Well, I hope ‘the thing’ lasts until Tuesday. Because you’re not getting in there without an appointment.”

Isaac started trying to think of a fitting comeback when the office door opened, and Director Canaan stood waiting.

“I’ll see him now, Leia. I doubt if he’ll go away before then.” Director Canaan adjusted his glasses and waved Isaac into the office.

Isaac couldn’t help but stick his tongue out at Leia as he entered. When the door closed behind him, he was walking just next to Canaan through the large office, towards the desk at the far end.

“Where is she?” Isaac asked.

“I have absolutely zero idea what you’re talking about. Who?” Canaan asked.

“Miria.” Isaac said.

Canaan looked at him blankly.

“Miria. Dr. Miria Ross.” Isaac said. “She’s a doctor here at the Registry.”

“I apologize if I’m not personally familiar with every employee of this building. There are thousands. Now, start from the beginning. Why would you think I’m the person to come to about your missing friend?” Canaan said.

“She was more than a friend…” Isaac said. They stopped in front of the desk. Canaan leaned on the front of the desk. Isaac was too agitated to sit.

“I’m a busy man, Isaac. If you can’t explain why you’re here…” Canaan said.

“I was with Miria at her apartment, and she disappeared. All that was left was a...black mist.” Isaac said. When he mentioned the black mist, Canaan perked up visibly. He started listening.

“Don’t you have a problem with losing women?” Canaan said condescendingly. “Chase, will you check for me?”

“Check what?” Isaac asked, looking around for Chase, but he didn’t see him.

Canaan was clearly thinking something in his head, having an internal conversation with Chase that Isaac wasn’t privy to. Afterwards, when Canaan’s attention was back on reality, he nodded at Isaac. His face was grim.

“It’s time I told you a truth, Isaac. I would rather not, it’s not something I want getting out and about beyond the Registry. But I’ve gotten to know you, and I know you won’t let it go until you’re satisfied. That would be more trouble than it is worth.” Canaan said.

“A truth? Does this have to do with why you were at the InCorp meeting before the siege, the one about my sponsor?” Isaac asked. He’d been hounding Canaan for answers since they met, he felt on the verge of success.

“Vaguely.” Canaan said. “It’s sort of a tangential connection.”

“Why can’t you ever speak clearly?” Isaac asked.

“Because the truth isn’t a clear thing.” Canaan said.

“The truth is simple.” Isaac said.

“Far from it.” Canaan stood up straight. “What I tell you can go nowhere else. You can tell no one else. Otherwise, I’ll have to deal with you the way I deal with others who find out things that I don’t want them to know.”

“Is that a threat?” Isaac asked.

“There are Collar abilities that are listed in public directories, and there are Collar abilities that are not. Just trust me when I say that you don’t want to run into the ones that are not.” Canaan assured him. “Isaac, for some time now, I’ve had some of my better agents investigating a series of disappearances. Everett, Darius, Riley. They’re a team that, on the surface, is an Internal Affairs department. But underneath, they secretly investigate these disappearances.”

“Riley?” Isaac said.

“That was why I sent him to Cliffridge. I believed there to be one of these disappearances there.” Canaan said. “That wasn’t the case, of course, it was just a Thrall. In the cases of these vanishings, the people are gone without a trace, except for a certain black residue.”

“Miria disappeared and all there was, was the black mist.” Isaac nodded.

“I’m sorry to say this, but we’ve never located a single one of the people that have disappeared in this manner. Dr. Ross is gone.” Canaan said.

“No, that can’t be right. Someone has to be taking them, right? This is a Vassal with magic that is taking them somewhere else. The residue must be a clue to that.” Isaac said.

“I’ve had Riley and Everett looking into it for a long time, now. We’ve never located any of the missing people or a culprit. All that is left is the residue.” Canaan said.

“No.” Isaac said. Miria couldn’t just be gone. People didn’t just disappear forever for no reason.

“I’m afraid so. I keep it a secret from the public to avoid panic. We don’t know what causes these disappearances, or how to stop them. People would be worried over a phenomenon that we know nothing about.” Canaan said.

“That can’t be...No. You should tell people.” Isaac said, but he could offer no reason why. Canaan was right, it would just spread senseless panic.

“I’m sorry, Isaac. Dr. Ross is gone.” Canaan said.

“What does that have to do with me? Isaac asked. “You said it was vaguely related to me.”

“While we can’t predict who will disappear, why, how, or when it happens, we have found a correlation.” Canaan said.

“A correlation?” Isaac asked.

“There are certain events that happen around the disappearances. Repetitions. Similar situations. There’s no telling who will vanish, but I can make a guess as to who they’ll disappear around. I’m afraid I can’t explain any more than that. But using a certain method, we can put together possibilities of disappearances. I was following you, I had you followed, because of this correlation. It seems to have proved correct.” Canaan said.

“This isn’t making sense, anymore.” Isaac said.

“I can’t explain it anymore. Just understand that I was following you to try and help people.” Canaan said.

“It has to do with me? I’m the reason Miria disappeared?” Isaac said.

“No, it’s not quite like that. Anyway, I’ve told you all I know about the disappearances. Dr. Ross will not be coming back, and she will not be found.” Canaan said. “Our methods of trying to track the disappearances that will take place in the future are proprietary and I can’t share that with you. Regardless, it would do you no good in locating your friend.”

Isaac looked at the ground. “There has to be some lead, something I can do. I can’t just let it go.”

“I know something you can do.” Canaan said.

“What?” Isaac looked up hopefully.

“It is possible the disappearances are part of a larger scheme by a Vassal named Freeman. He’s a radical revolutionary, and I’ve been at odds with him and his people for years. I believe he was behind the siege on InCorp, and he is up to something else now. There is no guarantee, but if you want to do something, I’ve got something I need done.” Canaan said.

“Name it.” Isaac said.

“I’ve received the location of Freeman’s base. I need someone to go infiltrate it and report back to me what they find there.” Canaan said.

“Do you think its possible Miria is there?” Isaac asked.

“Anything is possible.” Canaan said.   “Send me the address on my LINK. I’ll go right away.” Isaac said.

“Take a weapon, Isaac. If you’re going to go, are you sure you don’t want him back?” Canaan asked.

Isaac thought it over for a moment. “I need to save someone on my own. I’ve got to prove that I still can.”

“Foolish, but alright. Be careful, the building should be empty but there may be guards left behind.” Canaan said.

“I’ll be fine. Alkaid taught me how to fight, and I always sucked at magic, anyway.” Isaac said as he walked towards the door.

When he was gone, Canaan turned and leaned both hands on the desk. Chase materialized on the other side of the desk.

“Why did you tell him he might find Miria at Freeman’s mansion?” Chase asked.

“Because anything is possible.” Canaan said.

“Not that.” Chase said.

“Hope made him useful to me.” Canaan said. “Did you look for it?”

“Yes. It’s gone, as expected. Miria Ross’ file is gone.” Chase said.

Canaan nodded, having confirmed his suspicions. Miria Ross was gone.

And she wasn’t ever coming back.

When the chaos erupted, Roy Walker was in a meeting. Sera Walker was in the process of dotting some ‘i’s on paperwork for her transfer to their new home. The building turned into a warzone without a moment’s notice as Vassals began pouring in at street level and through windows from nearby rooftops. The first thought shared by both Walkers was why they hadn’t simply dropped everything and moved away at once. It was fitting that they would be caught in the middle of some such event just before they left the city.

Sera and Roy both did the smart thing, and took hiding positions under desks that were an entire building apart. And then, simultaneously, both remembered that the building had locked them in and tried to murder them that last time this happened. Staying and hiding was not an option.

From Sera’s location, it was a bit of a walk to the elevator and stairwell, and she was on a low floor, so there was almost no chance of getting past the army of magic users that had just invaded the building. InCorp had a military-like security force, and they would be more useful fighting back against Vassals than Thralls, as Vassals were humans that would bleed and die on the wrong end of a bullet.

The building was echoing with blasts of magic and bursts from rifles as the security teams attempted to hold back the Vassals. Sera wasn’t frightened and frozen by this, and she was glad for the time she had spent at the shooting range since being kidnapped. If it came down to it, she knew how to fire a gun. There was Roy to think about, he would be on one of the higher floors. Hopefully the Vassals would take longer to get there.

But getting out would be more difficult, and if the building tried to lock them in again, he would be out of luck.

Sera needed to make a plan and get to it, otherwise she might end up trapped. Would she go for Roy or get herself out?

A bolt of colored light shot past the desk she was huddled under. More gunfire. From where she was, she couldn’t see anything else. She couldn’t see if it was safe to go out. In the distance, muffled noises. Explosions, bullets. Nearby, silence. Then footsteps. Sera tensed and swallowed, ready to spring out at whoever was coming her way.

She didn’t know why the building was under attack, but it was, so whoever was attacking was likely not friendly.

The barrel of a rifle. She flinched, but managed not to scream. Then the face of an InCorp guard. He held out his hand to offer her help up, which she took.

“What’s happening?” She asked.

“Vassals attacking the building. Nothing we can’t handle, ma’am. I’m going to escort you to the emergency meeting point.” The guard said.

“The cafeteria? No, I went there last time this happened. I don’t want to go there.” Sera said.

“I have to insist, ma’am. Protocol is to gather at the safe rooms. Letting you go off on your own would be dangerous.” The guard said, with a subtext that told her that he wasn’t offering as a courtesy.

“Alright, lead the way. I’m scared so I’ll hang back.” Sera said. She would slip away when she had the chance.

“Don’t stay too far back.” The guard said, and he held his rifle at the ready as he walked along the row of cubicles, clearing each corner and cubicle as they passed it. Sera couldn’t help but think he looked straight out of an action movie.

One of the extra characters who always died.

She kept her distance, as promised, and made sure to double check each cubicle, not wanting to place her trust in someone else. The guard was at least competent enough to get them safely to the end of the cubicles and to the hallway with the elevators. The cafeteria was up, so Sera would just make a break for it down the stairs and hope not to get shot.

“We should take the stairs up.” The guard said.

Sera nodded meekly.

She stayed back as the guard walked past the elevators towards the door to the stairwell. Then there was the sound of a chime. One of the elevator doors opened, and as the guard turned to aim his rifle at whoever was inside, he was thrown back against the wall by an invisible force. He hit hard, dropped the rifle, and fell limp to the ground. Sera could see a Vassal stepping off the elevator, and she moved at the same time as him.

Diving forward for the rifle, Sera knew she had to be decisive. The Vassal raised his hand at her, presumably to blast her with the same force that she knocked the guard out with. She scrambled for the rifle, trying to get her hands on it right to fire it. She got it, aimed it at the man with his hand held out towards her. His hand gave off a faint glow.

Then, in a flash, the man’s hand was gone. Standing next to him was a man that Sera recognized as one of Isaac’s friends. The man jabbed his sword back, Sera didn’t know what kind of sword it was, into the Vassal’s stomach, and the Vassal crumpled. The hand landed near Sera’s face, and she skittered backwards against the wall.

The man sheathed the sword at his side, and instead of going into a sheath, it disappeared in a silver light. He turned to Sera and held his hands up defensively. “Don’t point that at me.” He said.

She realized now that she had the rifle aimed at him, and worse yet, her finger was on the trigger. She placed her finger on the trigger guard and lowered the weapon.

“You’re Sera, right? Isaac’s sister?” Archer asked, crouching next to her.

“Yeah, that’s me. Can’t avoid trouble.” She said.

“Apparently a family trait. Don’t worry, the Registry is here now. We’ll get this situation under control.” Archer said.

“That’s great and all, but I really want to get out of this building.” Sera said.

“Understood. Let’s take the stairs down, I’ll get you out, and then I’ll rejoin the rest of my group.” Archer said, helping Sera stand.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Sera agreed. “My step-father, Roy, he’s probably on one of the upper floors. Any chance you could look for him? Try to keep him safe?”

Leading Sera at a safe distance to the stairwell, Archer took a similar role as the guard from moments before. From over his shoulder, he drew another sword, Sera again unfamiliar, out of a silver flash of light. Holding it ready in front of him, he looked down over the railing of the stairwell before leading them on. As with the guard before, Sera made sure to double check Archer, and this time she had a rifle in her arms. She’d only used handguns at the shooting range, but at least she wasn’t afraid of the gun in her hands. It went a long way towards making her feel safer.

As they made their way down the stairs, a voice came over the intercom.

“This is Acting President Parker, to all security personnel. We are currently undergoing an incursion by the Registry, though I can’t say I know why. While I attempt to contact Director Canaan and determine why we are under attack, please remember security protocols and act accordingly. Any Collar in the building without specific permission should be considered a hostile combatant. Meanwhile, top priority goes to protecting the employees and civilians in the building. Stay safe, everyone. I’ll try to get this sorted out as quickly as I can.”

Sera looked at Archer, and he glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Acting President Parker?” Sera said.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Archer kept skipping down steps. “But he is lying. Only half the magic users here are Collars. The others are Vassals. This just turned into a three way fight.”

Sera followed briskly.

They came around the corner at the bottom of the last flight of stairs and found a group of InCorp security at odds with a pair of Vassals in the lobby. On the far end of them was the security room. To the right, a short walk away, the doors to freedom.

“We should make a break for it.” Sera said.

Archer held his arm out to block her from running off.

Three guards, two Vassals. One Sera with a rifle, and one Collar.

“I could mow them all down with this.” Sera said with only a hint of humor.

“Let’s see who wins, and then try to slip past or take them out then.” Archer said.

All three guards were armed with the same rifle that Sera held, and standard InCorp armor. One Vassal was larger, so Sera nicknamed him Big, and one was smaller, thus he was Slim. Big had metal knuckles over his fists, which he slammed together menacingly. Slim had a pair of what appeared to be handguns, though they weren’t manufactured by InCorp. Slim chuckled and flicked his head back towards the door, ran a hand, still holding a gun, through his greasy, slicked back hair.

“We’re not supposed to let anyone leave.” Slim said.

“We’re not trying to leave. But you might want to.” One of the guards said.

Big slammed his fists together again, generating sparks.

Without an order, all three guards opened fire, and Sera thought she could almost see the bullets traveling in slow motion towards the Vassals. As the guards pulled their triggers, so did Slim. He pointed one of his guns at Big, and the other at the ground, and pulled the trigger on each simultaneously. From the gun pointed at Big, a mint colored light shot into the large Vassal’s body. The gun pointed at the ground made an effect that Sera was familiar with, as a blue shield of Lightglass, rectangular, tall, and narrow, emerged from the ground in front of Slim.

Bullets pinged ineffectively against Slim’s shield. Meanwhile, Big seemed to gain a mint glow from his skin and eyes, he leaned forward, suddenly appeared in front of the guards. One massive fist barreled into a guards head, knocking him out. The second guard turned his rifle on Big, who grabbed the gun and easily removed it from the guard’s hands before crushing his fist into the guard’s chest, knocking him violently to the ground. The third guard stepped backwards, eyes wide as Big approached him. Another single strike took him out.

“Good work.” Slim said, spinning his guns in his hands.

Big walked back over to Slim and took his position where he had been. The shield flickered out.

“Can we get past them?” Sera whispered.

“I believe so.” Archer said.

The situation changed in an instant. The lights shut off for a moment, and the emergency lighting took their place. Blast doors, the same ones that had kept them trapped in last time, began to close over the front of the building. Sera looked up, she didn’t see any doors closing in the stairwell. The stairwells were blocked last time, but the first floor was not. Why was it different now?

“This is the automated emergency response intelligence.” A computerized voice echoed through the stairwell.

“I thought our contact was supposed to shut off the building defenses.” Slim said, tapping his foot.

Big just stared at the closing blast doors that would trap them inside.

“Screw it.” Sera said, and she made a break for it. She wasn’t going to be trapped inside that building again. Archer sighed as she ran past him, into the lobby, and stepped out after her.

Slim raised a gun at her and shouted, “Hey, stop!”

Sera ignored him, running at full tilt towards the closing blast doors. They weren’t far, but they were closing fast. She wasn’t going to make it. She dove, held out the rifle, tried to wedge it under the metal sheet that was closing. She managed to get the rifle under the door, but it was crushed with ease, parts of it flying inside and out, the rest of the debris disappearing down the ridge in the floor where the door would seal shut.

The blast doors were closed. Sera was trapped. On her knees in front of the door, she began to slam her fist into the metal. “No! No! No!”

She turned around and slid backwards into the door. Last time, the ‘emergency response intelligence’ had tried to kill them all. It was only because of Isaac that she survived, and Isaac wasn’t here. It was always Isaac that helped her survive. When it was Edgar, Isaac would step in the way. When it was a Thrall, Isaac would give up his life to an Indicia to save her. When it was InCorp, Isaac would ignite an entire building. When it was Dominic, Isaac came for her. It was always Isaac saving Sera.

“Why didn’t I just drop everything and move right away?” Sera asked Slim.

“No idea what you’re talking about, lady.” Slim said, still holding his gun at her.

She had lost her rifle, and had no way to fight back. She laughed. “Because I didn’t want to leave without him? I was so surprised to hear him say that he wanted to die, that he tried to die to save me. Because I want to live so damn badly. He gave me that. I want to live.”

“It’s impolite to point a gun at a lady.” Archer said.

Slim glanced over and raised his other gun at Archer. “Ain’t ever anyone called me polite.”

“I’ll have to show you how, then.” Archer said.

Slim and Archer stood still, as did Big. Three magic users, and Sera had only a vague idea of what Slim was capable of. She had no idea what Big’s magic might be, and was only aware of Archer’s weird silver-light-weapon thing. Archer only knew as much as she did. It was dangerous to go into a fight, especially with magic users, if you didn’t know what the enemy was capable of. Not to mention it was two-on-one.

Sera didn’t know why these Vassals were attacking InCorp. They didn’t want her to leave, and that meant they were bad. She wasn’t going to lay down and die. If they wanted to fight, Sera would give them one.

Waiting calmly for things to blow over, a few blocks away, Jensen sat playing a card game against a few other Vassals. On the TVs above the bar, they had hooked in camera feeds from cameras in the block around InCorp HQ. They paused their game to watch as the blast doors closed and trapped everyone inside.

Jensen took only a moment to gloat, as he had been proven right. What he had been up to since the Lance had been stolen was trying to rally as many of his Vassal friends as he could and convince them to ditch Freeman’s plan. Instead, he decided to throw them a party at the Vassal bar nearby InCorp. There were seven of them, including himself. Not a great turnout, but not the worst party he had ever thrown.

As they played cards, they placed bets on what they thought would be the turnout of Freeman’s plans. Jensen felt a bit of remorse, not warning the employees of InCorp about the plan. But he did warn the Registry, which enabled them to respond properly, and he spent the rest of the time he had rounding up his friends. Going public with the plans wouldn’t have stopped Freeman, it would have just gotten more people killed, most likely including himself.

It had been an argument with Sev, but he had won out. Sev wanted to go public, and a part of Jensen wanted to go public as well. They didn’t. But at least they had front row seats to whatever did end up happening. Jensen was a Vassal, not a Collar. It wasn’t his job to save lives, so the few he did save seemed to soothe his conscience enough.

He folded on his hand and stared at the camera feed on the screen. There were people trapped inside, and his unique ability would enable him to help them. With a sigh, the round ended, and Jensen dealt another hand.

Isaac moved swiftly, still able to work his way through the city faster than anyone else he knew. He had to carry his staff in his hand, since he didn’t have armor with a magnetic holster, which limited his parkour, and slowed him down more than he would have liked, but he decided the weapon would be worth the trouble. He didn’t know what he would find when he got to Freeman’s mansion, so he wanted to be ready.

The mansion butted up against the wall of the city in a wealthy district that Isaac had only delivered to on a few occasions. It was slower going through the rich area than the poor ones, not the least of which because there were less dark alleyways to use as shortcuts. Isaac stopped and took a breather when he reached the gates on the outside of the mansion’s lawn.

A mansion. With a lawn. In Bastion.

Isaac shook his head and stared at the gate. It was closed, presumably electronically locked. The fence was taller than him, and had pointed spires on the top, making it harder to climb over. Harder, but not impossible. The fence was made up of vertical black rods, and Isaac could slip his feet between the rods and climb to the top. It took a bit of upper body strength to pull himself up, strength he wouldn’t have had before he was a Collar, but he did it. When he reached the top, he did his best to swing up and vault over the pointed spires on the top of the rods. He landed in a heap on the lawn, but at least he wasn’t injured.

He stood and dusted himself off, getting his bearings. It was about now that he expected to be berated inside his head, but no such insults came.

He was the only one in there.

“Okay.” He said to himself, and he took a deep breath. The mansion was a short distance away, yet, and there might be someone watching him. A line of hedges ran along the fence bordering the neighboring property, so Isaac crouched and walked close to them for concealment.

The plants were fake, as Isaac found out when he pulled a leaf off of one compulsively.

As he approached the house, Isaac extended his staff to full length and tried to look at least a little cool. On his LINK, he pulled up the map of the house that Canaan had sent him. Their contact had apparently even marked the room where the plans were made, and where Isaac would be most likely to find what he was looking for. He hoped Miria was there, too.

The doors were likely locked, but Isaac saw one he wanted to try situated on the side of the house. According to the map, it let in near the room he was heading for. It was locked. A nearby window, also locked, didn’t put up much of a fight at the end of his staff. Clearing the broken glass from the sill with the staff, Isaac climbed through and looked around.

Finding himself in a garishly decorated sitting room, all of the decor was old fashioned and went out of style decades ago, he was only a hallway away from the small room he was aiming for. A Vassal, presumably left behind to guard the building, stood stupefied in the hallway, staring at him.

Isaac held up his hand to cast magic, forgetting he didn’t have magic anymore. The Vassal didn’t know that, anyway, and he flinched. It gave Isaac a chance to dive behind a paisley chair before the Vassal returned fire. The chair caught fire from whatever the Vassal did, so Isaac spun around the chair and out into the open. Using the length of the staff to his advantage, Isaac lunged forward with the staff held out, striking the Vassal in his chest. Continuing his move forward, gaining ground, Isaac swung the staff around, smacking the Vassal in the head, possibly knocking him out, but he continued the bring the staff around, knocking the Vassal’s feet out, as well. The man was on the ground, and Isaac held the end of his staff near the Vassal’s head, confirming he was out before dropping his guard.

Turning to the side, another guard was at the end of the hallway, leaning out the door from the room where Isaac was heading. This wasn’t the stealthiest infiltration ever. This guard had a sword in hand. Isaac smiled, the sword wasn’t the best weapon against his staff, not at all. They moved towards each other, Isaac parried the sword with his staff as soon as it was in range, kept the man at a distance with his long reach.

Isaac spent a moment parrying the Vassal’s sword swings, but in truth, he was just fooling around. Magic slipped from his mind, and when the Vassal swung his sword and produced a blade of energy that rocketed towards Isaac, he tried to react on instinct, to block it using a magic shield. A magic shield he didn’t have. The blade whizzed past his shoulder, slicing through his shirt and cutting him shallowly. No playing around anymore.

Pressing forward aggressively, Isaac used the tip of his staff to parry any movement that the sword wielder tried to make, keeping him from slicing any more lasers through the air. The man backed away from Isaac, but eventually, he was cornered, and Isaac kept moving forward. First he used his staff to disarm the Vassal, knocking the sword from his hand, and then he repeated his knockout combo that he used on the other Vassal.

With two Vassals knocked out, Isaac expected to turn around and find a third, but the hallway was clear. He leaned into the dark room at the back of the hall, where the second Vassal had emerged from, and found it to be empty.

There was only minimal light inside, a large table at the center of the room covered in papers and maps, a computer terminal flickered in the back corner. Along the back wall, a bank of Lightglass screens displayed camera feeds from myriad places, but Isaac locked onto one in particular. It didn’t take him long to put together that the feeds were from inside InCorp, and one of the cameras was pointed directly at Sera, slumped against a blast door in what appeared to be the lobby.

“Again?” Isaac asked, but there was no one to answer.

No sign of Miria was present, but Isaac expected that Canaan was lying. He never trusted that guy. The computer terminal in the corner was logged in, so Isaac decided to give it a quick look. On it, he found an intranet database that logged and kept a record of all of the Vassals in the city.

“So the Vassals are the same as the Registry, anyway. What’s the point?” Isaac wondered as he clicked through the database. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a database of all Vassals in the city. Only those that were directly allied with Freeman. Additionally, it listed a few Vassal contacts in InCorp, the police force, and the Registry. It didn’t have names for many of them, only code names and pictures for a few.

The computer was, for reasons Isaac could not fathom, connected to the internet. With a shrug, Isaac uploaded the database to the internet. If it was just Freeman’s Vassals he was outing, it couldn’t really hurt.

Back to business. He needed to get to InCorp and save Sera. It would help to know what the plan was, so Isaac looked over the table at the center of the room. There was a stack of maps of InCorp, including one showing a hidden basement level, so Alyssa was right after all. She was going to punch him so hard if she saw him again. Various handwritten notes on the table gave Isaac an idea as to the overall plan. Send as many Vassals to InCorp as possible, draw in as many Registry Collars as they could. The security team at InCorp was supposed to fight on the side of the Vassals, and take out as many Collars as they could. Meanwhile, there was a vault in the basement. They had a weapon called a Lance, which they would use to open it. Alyssa was right about everything. Damn.

Except she wasn’t right about everything. That was only half of the plan. There was another map on the table. Isaac stared at the table as a whole, putting the entire plan together in his head. Slack jaw, wide eyes, Isaac understood it now. He had to act. He ran out of the dark room as fast as he could, and he set his LINK to call Canaan.

The attack on InCorp was only half of the plan, and Isaac couldn’t stop either half by himself.

“...Stay safe, everyone. I’ll try to get this sorted out as quickly as I can.”

Acting President Parker walked through his building with confidence. He was in control of the automated emergency system, so it wouldn’t do anything to harm him. It wouldn’t activate until he told it to, and it wouldn’t purge the building as long as he was inside. His security staff was loyal to him, so there were no worries there. The Vassals thought he was on their side, so they would leave him alone. That would turn out to be unfortunate for them. And the Collars, they were do-gooders. They wouldn’t attack a civilian. No one in that building would hurt him.

President Shaw left Parker in charge because Parker knew about Nova and the vault that contained it. This would allow Parker to better protect Nova and keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Shaw didn’t expect Parker to take advantage of the situation, but Parker had been planning for a long time, working with Freeman’s Vassals to set everything up.

Now all he had to do was wait it out for a while, and if things got too dangerous, he could activate the security system, retreat to the vault, and purge the building. Taking out most of the Collars from the Registry was enticing, and the Vassals were vermin, not worth thinking about. Parker wanted to be the tragic lone survivor of the attack only if he needed to, though, as it did raise questions he didn’t want to answer.

Bored of waiting for the siege to come to an end, Parker was on his way to his new office, Shaw’s office, to try to make it more comfortable. He’d get rid of the ash tray, no one smoked cigarettes anymore. The bar was well stocked, which was convenient. Parker continued to think about any changes he might want to make as he opened the door and stepped into the office.

The lights were out, but something was wrong. Shaw’s desk chair was turned the wrong direction, facing the back wall. In the window, Parker could see a reflection of someone sitting in the chair. Not wanting to take any risks, Parker keyed a code into his LINK, activating the emergency AI. It would close the building off from any newcomers, trap those that were already there inside, and activate building defenses like the turrets in the stairwell. The lights shut off and were replaced by emergency lighting.

The person sitting in the chair held their arm out, waved a gun in the air.

“Who’s there?” Parker asked, still standing confidently in the doorway to the office.

“Someone dangerous.” Alyssa spun the chair around dramatically and kicked her feet up on the desk.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Parker asked.

“Holding a gun. I’ll go ahead and call myself a crazy bitch before you do.” She aimed the gun at Parker.

“You’re going to shoot me?” Parker asked. “That’d be murder.”

“I’m tired of watching over my shoulder and being followed everywhere I go. One way or another, this ends today, Parker. Where’s Shaw?” Alyssa asked.

“He’s out of town. I’m acting in his place until he returns.” Parker said.

“Good, then you can give me what I want.” Alyssa said.

“Not a chance. Whatever it is, it isn’t happening.” Parker said.

“Do you have the memory of a fish? Did you forget I’m holding a gun?” Alyssa said, put her feet on the floor, and leaned her arms on the desk. “Guns sometimes get people things they want.”

“It won’t get you anything today.” Parker said.

“Okay.” Alyssa said, and she pulled the trigger, shooting the wall on the other side of the room, just past Parker.

Parker jumped and yowled, Alyssa was amused.

“What do you want?” Parker asked, glancing to the side, wondering if he could get back out of the office before Alyssa could shoot him. He knew how good she was with a gun. Unlikely.

Alyssa stood up. “We’re going on a field trip.”

“Where?” Parker asked.

“There’s a secret vault under this building, and I think it’s the reason the Vassals are attacking. You’ve known about it all along. You’re going to take me down to the vault, and you’re going to open it up.”

Archer dashed forward, drawing his katana as he moved, slashing at Slim as he passed by. Slim shot another barrier from his gun, which Archer’s blade clinked against but didn’t cut through. Once past Slim, Archer had to roll to avoid a swing from Big. Slim shot another colored light at Big from a gun, and Archer was taken by surprise as Big appeared behind him.

No, it wasn’t ‘appeared’. It was just ‘moved’. Moved faster than Archer could see. He recognized the technique, a certain cat did something similar. Archer took a swing to his back, but he dodged forward and avoided getting smacked to the ground. He rolled and spun around in a single movement, readying his sword.

Slim could somehow give Big a boost to his speed, allowing him to move faster than anything his size should be able to. Archer was used to large, heavy enemies being slow, but the idea of a fast and large enemy wasn’t entirely unexpected. Thralls rarely followed the laws of physics, so a Collar had to be ready for anything.

Big, a behemoth of a fighter, moved to his right side now. Archer was beginning to understand what his opponents were capable of. They had no idea what he was capable of. That put him at an advantage. He repeated his dash past Slim, this time, instead of slashing with the katana, he sheathed it. In the same motion, he crossed his arms over his belly and drew a pair of swords out of silver lights at his waist. One sword clanged against the shield that Slim predictably fired. Archer used his momentum to drive the sword into the shield and pivot around it, slashing at Slim with his off-hand.

Slim hopped back, taken by surprise. Archer took the moment of surprise to step forward, bringing both swords up towards Slim. Slim blocked the blades with his guns and jumped further back. Archer kept pushing forward, but now Big was caught up with what was going on. He rolled to avoid a rhino charge from the large Vassal.

Fighting both would prove to be quite difficult after all. And he was less likely to surprise them with a new weapon swap the more he drew. As he recovered from his roll, he rolled again to avoid a blast from Slim’s guns. He assumed it wouldn’t make him faster as it did Big.

A deafening roar filled the lobby as a new combatant entered the fray. From the stairwell, a creature larger than Big stormed into the room, bending the frame of the doorway as it forced its way through. It looked almost like a tiger, but was larger, more monstrous, and brought confidence along with it. It was also naked, having torn out of its clothes when it transformed.

This would make Sera feel awkward later when she learned it was Rufus.

Rufus left footprints in the metal floor as he stomped towards Big, easily towering over the large human. The beast took a deep breath and screeched as it smashed into Big, toppling the Vassal over. The two tumbled on the floor, wrestling with each other. Rufus scratched Big’s flesh with his black claws as they rolled, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Slim was distracted by Rufus. No doubt he’d never seen anything like him. Archer couldn’t be more thankful for Rufus’ beastly transformation than he was then. It was a short step forward, and his swords were crossed at Slim’s throat.

Slim, who had an appropriate appraisal of the situation, and clearly knew that Big had no chance of besting the beast, decided to retreat. He aimed his gun at the floor and shot a barrier just between them. It rose up from the floor and pushed Archer’s swords up with it, moving them away from Slim’s neck. The Vassal took the opportunity to run, and he made it to the stairwell before Archer recovered.

When Rufus and Big stopped rolling, Rufus was still moving. Big was not. The beast stood up and walked over to Sera, who looked him straight in the eyes. She didn’t shy away. Rufus wasn’t the most frightening creature she had ever come face to face with. Archer checked Big to make sure he was out, and he was, before joining Sera and Rufus.

“We need a new plan.” Archer said.

“We need to get out of this building.” Sera said. “Can this guy bust through the wall?”         “I don’t believe so.” Archer said, and Rufus shook his head.         “Then we need to find another way out.” Sera said, and she accepted Rufus’ paw to help her up.  “I saw Vassals entering the building from nearby rooftops on certain floors. We may be able to make it out that way.” Archer said

“I think the rooftops are too far away.” Sera said. “You’d need magic to get across the gap.”

“‘This guy’ can jump pretty far. I think you’ll find he would be willing to carry you to safety.” Archer said.

Sera looked at Rufus. “That’s a better plan than anything else I’ve got. We should start heading up.”

“Same as before. Stay behind us, but not too far.” Archer said, and Sera nodded in agreement.

Their first obstacle would be the turrets in the stairwell, but they didn’t know about those yet. They would find out soon, as they started to make their way up.

Isaac ran as fast as his feet would take him. He shouted curses whenever Canaan didn’t answer his LINK. The things he had learned in Freeman’s mansion would be crucial to the outcome of the day, and the jerk wouldn’t answer his LINK.

Though he moved as fast as he could, he wasn’t sure where he was going. There was InCorp, where Sera was, where Roy was. Where most of his friends were. It made sense to go there.

But Isaac had no magic, and would be unlikely to help anyone there. Not to mention, the blast doors were closed on the front, barring him from getting in. There were more people there, though, all drawn into a trap.

InCorp was a trap. The plan had nothing to do with the vault under InCorp, which was just a stroke of luck. It was to draw attention from the real plan, the thing Freeman had been planning all along. The reason he needed the Lance.

Isaac stumbled, but managed to stay on his feet. He’d done a lot of running already, and he hadn’t slept since Miria disappeared. His heart hurt as he thought about Miria, but he took the hurt as a good sign. He still felt things like fear and pain, so all of this Collar business hadn’t broken him yet. And his legs hurt, his lungs hurt. He noticed a burn on his arm as he ran, he must have picked that up in the mansion and not even realized it.

He was coming up on an intersection, he would have to make a choice about where he was going. To rescue Sera, again, to save InCorp again. Or to follow Freeman, and try to stop what he had been planning all along.

It had been Freeman’s original InCorp attack that had caused Isaac to decide he wanted to learn to fight. It had been Isaac learning to fight that set Dominic off, that led to Sera’s kidnapping. Everything was Freeman’s fault.

Isaac stopped, catching his breath. It was a left turn to go to InCorp.

It was a right turn to go to the Registry.

Isaac knew he wasn’t a hero. He knew he had made mistakes, he had his own part in everything that happened. He couldn’t blame Freeman entirely. He had to take some of the blame himself. So did Tyloki. There was plenty of guilt to go around.

He needed to prove to himself that his life was worth something. He needed to do it without Tyloki. All the good he had done, it was because of Tyloki. Without him, so far, Isaac was nobody.

Isaac’s LINK vibrated, and he answered it without looking to see who was calling.

“Freeman’s real target is the Registry. He is bringing the Lance to destroy the Registry.” Isaac said.

“What?” Riley asked.

“Riley? I thought you were Canaan.” Isaac said.

“No, I don’t know where Canaan is. I don’t know where anyone is. I just woke up, I’m still in the hospital. What’s going on?” Riley asked.

“Freeman is bringing the Lance to the Registry. He’s going to destroy the entire building.” Isaac said.

Riley didn’t respond.

“Riley?”

“The Lance?”

“Yeah.”

“I need to get out of here.” Riley said.

“Wait, Riley, no. If Canaan isn’t answering, someone has to stop Freeman.” Isaac said.

“I’ve seen what that thing can do. I’m getting out of here.” Riley said.

“Riley.”

“Yeah?”

“Everyone else is at InCorp fighting. Sera is there. I don’t have Tyloki but I have to do something.” Isaac said.

“You’re going to InCorp?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Isaac admitted.

“Need Tyloki to give you a kick in the ass?” Riley asked.

Isaac looked left, and he looked right. The InCorp tower and the Registry tower. Both loomed in the distance. Both were in danger. Maybe Riley was right. Maybe he did need Tyloki.

He was scared. He started to move his feet, he needed to stop thinking so much. Miria was right about that. He didn’t know where his feet would take him.

It would be somewhere he needed to be.

Freeman approached the Registry, Lance hanging by his side from a thick Kevlar strap. He’d had a few changes made to its design, but it was relatively similar to the weapon used in Cliffridge by Shel and Renton. He looked at the building as he approached, yearning to see the skyline without it. With any luck, the Registry would be on a skeleton crew, most of the Collars would be at InCorp, if Jensen had told Canaan about the attack.

Calmly, he opened the door and stepped inside.