The man they had come to find — David McIness — was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that the hotel clerk had assured them that he’d entered his room around three that afternoon and had never left.
But the room was far from unoccupied.
An old woman sat lotus-style on the floor. Her long white hair hung down in straggly clumps and her clothing was threadbare. She smelled like she hadn’t bathed in weeks and when she looked up at Lazarus, one of her eyes was milky white.
Morgan felt like he’d taken a punch to the gut. Something about this woman unnerved him and he’d seen things that would have turned most men into screaming little boys. “Lazarus, maybe we should….”
The old woman cackled, pointing a thin finger at Lazarus. The digit trembled badly but it was clear enough what she was doing. “You. I knew you would come.” She turned her blind gaze upon Morgan. “Death clings to this man like a funeral shroud. All who follow him shall know suffering. They will die alone and unloved. That will be the fate of Lazarus Gray and his Assistance Unlimited.”
Morgan looked over at Lazarus and he saw something very peculiar about his employer’s expression. It shifted slightly as the old woman spoke and Morgan got the distinct impression that Lazarus had heard these words before.
Lazarus moved forward and grabbed hold of the woman’s arm. He pulled her to her feet rather roughly and brought his face close to hers. The odor of unwashed flesh wafted off of her but Lazarus gave no sign of having noticed it. “I’m going to ask you once more: Where is McIness?”
“You want him so badly, don’t you?” the old woman purred. “Have you told your friends why?”
“He’s a murderer,” Lazarus retorted. “That’s reason enough.”
“Perhaps. But it’s not the truth, now is it?”
“Morgan, hand me some cuffs, please.”
A few seconds later and the old woman was having her hands drawn behind her back and bound together. She still looked amused by the situation.
“You’re coming down to Assistance Unlimited headquarters until you decide you’re ready to talk,” Lazarus informed her.
“Nothing could make me happier,” she said, throwing her head back and laughing. “The longer you and I get to be together, the better!”
Morgan trailed along after Lazarus, ignoring the curious stares of those in the lobby. After the woman had been put into the back seat of their car, Morgan cleared his throat and asked, “What’s really going on, Chief?”
Lazarus paused and Morgan knew that there had been a time, not that long ago, when his employer would have given a terse response that answered nothing. Lazarus had once held his cards so close to the vest that the members of Assistance Unlimited were frequently blindsided. But he had begun to genuinely try and open up more over the last year and all of them appreciated it. “I know him. I first met him several years ago, in my other life.”
Morgan didn’t need any explanation about that. Lazarus Gray had been born Richard Winthrop, a wealthy young man with a knack for the supernatural. His brilliance had led him into The Illuminati, a secretive society that sought nothing less than world domination. Though Winthrop had remained with them for several years, his innate goodness had eventually led to him rebelling against them. This had led to an assassination attempt by The Illuminati — one that had proved successful, in a strange sense. Richard Winthrop had been left for dead but he’d awakened, with only a dim memory of who he really was. He’d adopted a new identity and began a new life in Sovereign City… but eventually his old life had come roaring back with a vengeance. Now he had more than a smattering of his memories back but they were vague things, as if they had happened in a dream or to someone else.
“Was he a member of The Illuminati?” Morgan asked.
“No. He was a byproduct of an American experiment. He was one of the early failures, actually. The government was trying to create soldiers that were faster and stronger than normal humans. Eventually, they hoped to have an army of these super-soldiers. But their first plan was to produce an officially sanctioned hero, someone who could be used as a counterpoint to the vigilantes that were springing up around the country.”
“So they were experimenting on American citizens?” Morgan asked, a chill going down his spine. He’d seen human experimentation being carried out by rogue scientists and he’d heard rumors that the Germans were beginning to do the same… but he’d never conceived that the USA could be involved in such.
“Not quite. A man named Kenneth Butler came up with a way to grow artificial beings. They were grown in tubes and shaped to look human, though their flesh was far more dense than normal and they had redundant systems: two hearts, three lungs, that sort of thing.”
Morgan looked into the back of the car, where the old witch had fallen silent. Her chin was touching her chest and she looked like she was either sleeping or meditating. “Okay. So McIness was one of these fake people?”
Lazarus motioned for Morgan to get in the car and the two of them were silent until they were on the move again, slowly maneuvering into the busy Sovereign traffic.
“Yes. Most of the early creations were unstable. They were filled with information on how to be human but they didn’t really understand it. Most of them were overly violent, almost murderous. Each of those was euthanized — except for McIness, who managed to escape. He’s stronger, faster and deadlier than any man has a right to be: and he has no moral compunctions about inflicting harm on others.”
“How do you know about all this?”
“Before I left The Illuminati, McIness approached us. How he managed to find the group, I don’t know, but it goes to show how capable he is. The Illuminati protects their privacy to extreme lengths. I met him during his indoctrination process, when he told all about his past and was examined to see if he could be trusted as a field agent.”
“And?”
“He went rogue. Killed three members of The Illuminati and vanished.”
Morgan stared out the passenger side window, his eyes widening as they passed Daye Tower, the skyscraper that Doc Daye called home. Daye was Sovereign’s most prominent citizen and even though Lazarus carried a lot of weight with the community, it was nothing compared to the adulation that Daye received. “One more thing, Chief. That crazy stuff the witch was saying. You’d heard that before, hadn’t you?”
“Yes,” Lazarus admitted. ”But I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that it doesn’t come true.”
“Can I ask where you heard it before?”
Lazarus paused, his innate urge to internalize his problems warring with his decision to open up to his friends. “I’ve been having dreams, ever since we got back from Britain. At first, I thought they were related to how close we cut it during the Die Glocke affair but now I know it’s something else. A premonition of my own or a warning sent by someone else, I don’t know.”
Morgan saw Lazarus, normally so unflappable, turn his head towards him. He saw something terribly unfamiliar in his employer’s eyes and it filled him dread. It was fear, radiating clearly from his eyes.
“None of us came into this business because we thought it would be safe,” Morgan whispered.
Lazarus nodded. “I’m afraid I’m going to be the death of you, Morgan. All of you.”
Maxwell Schmidt moved through the crowded streets, his unflappable poise standing in stark contrast to the harried expressions of those around him. Sovereign City was one of the most fast-paced cities in the entire world and at midday, it seemed that everyone was headed in different directions. Schmidt, however, had a coolness about him that caused many to glance in his direction as he passed.