Second Squad exits the military hospital, lead by Sergeant Callisto. Jericho and Eric bring up the rear, slinking along with their usual bravado. Thor is stoic as ever, towering over the jaunty Richardson on one side. Sandra is on his other side, idly rubbing her chest where the Glass Spider bit her.

  Not every scar is physical.

  “Glad to see you’re up and about.” I say.

  Sergeant Callisto gives me a casual salute.

  “Glad to see you’re still around, sir. Heard Palisade gave you the offer of the millennium. Is it true they offered you a billion dollars?”

  “Yep. Stake in the company and a private army on top of all that.”

  Eric and Jericho whistle in unison.

  “Holy moly!” Eric says.

  “Don’t get me wrong, sir, we’re happy to have you here,” Callisto says. “But why did you turn that down? That’s… more money than I can even think about. I don’t think I could say no to that.”

  I shrug.

  “Let’s call it ideological differences and leave it at that. I’m right where I need to be.”

  “Even after everything Redding did to you, to us?” Richardson asks.

  “Yes. I won’t let one scared, broken man stop me from doing good where the most good needs doing. Call that na?ve if you want. I call it choosing to believe in the best in people.”

  Thor thoughtfully strokes his long beard.

  “I hate to disappoint you, but history—both recent and otherwise—disagrees with you. Oftentimes people will betray the trust you give them for personal gain.”

  “So be it. I think people can surprise you. I wish the world was nicer, that we could trust each other. That someone who needs help could depend on getting it, even from a stranger. And I’ll be the change I want to see. I’ll take the first step towards that world, as shaky as the path may be.”

  Callisto claps her hands. “Alright Second Squad, enough yapping. Machina’s a busy guy with things to do and monsters to kill. Get in the damn trucks!”

  We all pile into a handful of vehicles, and we rumble off towards the Pineapple Express patiently waiting in a hangar.

  On our way there, we notice a flurry of activity around a few hangars near the Pineapple Express’ own hangar.

  We all hop out, and Callisto leans in close as we enter the hangar.

  “Any idea what that’s all about?”

  “Not a clue. I can tell you there’s a 5-Star in there though.” The fountain of Aura pouring out from whoever is as obvious as a wildfire. Whoever they are, they aren’t trying to hide.

  Callisto huffs.

  “Well, someone is either in big trouble or living the high life I guess. Maybe the President is flying out? Take a look through the building, I know you can.”

  “I have a little more discretion than that, you know?” I say, looking down on her.

  She only rolls her eyes before moving deeper into the cavernous building.

  “ALRIGHT YOU USELESS LUGNUTS, VACATION IS OVER! BACK TO WORK!”

  Second Squad scrambles into the back of the C-5 Galaxy we’ve been calling our home for almost a month. Before I can follow them in, an officer I don’t recognize stops me. Judging by his uniform, he’s an Airforce General’s attache.

  “Sir, if I could have a moment of your time, there’s some people who desperately need to talk to you. It’s important.”

  “What about?”

  “A Cat-3 Fracture is about to rupture off the coast of Australia. Please, sir.”

  I ping Captain Rains and Lieutenant McKinley, both of them already in the Pineapple Express, about the change of plans.

  “Lead the way.”

  I step into the hanger-turned-command center at Joint Base Andrews. The President is there, along with a few familiar faces. General Briggs is at the head of a long table, maps strewn all over it. Director Holden stands to his left, her impassive face betraying nothing.

  President Drayson greets me with a smile.

  “Machina, I’m so glad you could make it. I know you’re an extremely busy man and eager to return to holding back the apocalypse. Before we begin, I just want to thank you. You’ve saved countless lives with your tireless and selfless efforts.”

  He clasps my arm.

  “Again, thank you. You’re a shining star, a beacon of hope to those who so desperately need it. In fact, our goal here is to help you do what you do best.”

  He waves at the two dozen people scattered around.

  “Over the past 24 hours, we’ve been working on putting together a war plan. You’ll be clearing six Fractures a day, everyday.”

  Looking back at me, he beams.

  “Now, I’ll let the experts explain it. I’m afraid that military matters like these are out of my wheelhouse. I’ve got to get back to the White House. I’m afraid that on days like these, there’s always another fire to put out. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Mr. President, I haven’t decided if I want to work with the government yet. Not like this. I’m not a soldier to be commanded.”

  “Yes, yes, I know. Don’t worry, we aren’t asking for an oath of allegiance or anything like that. We’re just looking to see what we can do if we work together.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The smile falls from his face, a haunted look replacing it.

  “Let me be honest. The world is falling apart. People like you, with power beyond comprehension will rewrite or are in the process of rewriting human civilization. That doesn’t even cover the Fractures and the horrors they produce.

  “I’m sure you know more than most of the scale of what’s happening. If humanity, not just America, has any hope of surviving, it’s through people like you.”

  He waves at the crowd of military officers and diplomats behind him.

  “We are living in unprecedented times. We must take unprecedented actions if we wish to stay afloat. We’re doing all this, putting all this together not out of a desire for control. It’s a matter of survival. We have too few Empowered, and too much territory to cover. The cities we can defend with the military we have are overcrowded and only getting worse. We are building walls and fortifications as fast as we can, but even with magic there’s only so much we can do.”

  He sighs, deflating.

  “This isn’t geopolitics. You aren’t a weapon to be used against our enemies overseas. You aren’t a soldier to be ordered about in a war.”

  He spreads his arms wide.

  “Honestly, I don’t know if America as it is will survive. Just look at the Empire of the Sun, at South Korea. I may be the last President of the United States of America. I hope that isn’t the case. I hope you can save us.

  “I know we’ve done wrong by you, despite the heroism you’ve shown in the past. I know you don’t have a reason to trust us. But please. If not for the United States, then at least for the American people.”

  I turn to the assembly of officers and the one 5-Star Empowered. I don’t recognize her, which is extremely odd for someone with the power she should have. I see flickers of hope hidden beneath austere professionalism from the collection of National Guard officers.

  “Okay. Tell me what the plan is.” Dozens of grins light up around me.

  I was never very good at saying no to people.

  General Briggs walks me through the general details.

  “The current plan is to set you up for a blitz. You’ll be clearing Fractures in Germany, France, Canada, Sweden, and obviously, Australia. You’ll be starting there with the Fracture off the coast of Sydney.”

  “How long do we have before it ruptures?”

  “Less than a day at best. It was found pretty late, towards the end of a search for oceanic Fractures after Daytona.”

  Images of slaughtered beach goers race through my head.

  Curse my perfect memory.

  He gestures to the Empowered woman I don’t recognize.

  “This is Hale, a 5-Star sorcerer. She’ll portal you to Australia. There’s an Australian naval destroyer there waiting to take you to the aquatic Fracture. After you’re done in Australia, she’ll portal you to Sweden, where you’ll make your way south.”

  She gives me a jaunty salute.

  “G’day!” Her accent clearly indicates her Australian origins.

  “You can portal people as well? I didn’t know anyone other than Morgan could do that.”

  “Yep! Just to places I’ve been, and not many people at once. After I send you back to Sydney, I’ll be on a flight to Sweden and I’ll pull you there once I’m done.”

  “How many Fractures are in Australia?”

  “You’ll be clearing about a dozen of them. Most of them are Cat-3s. However, there are two Cat-2s underwater. You’ll be needed for those. You’ll be taking those ones first.” Briggs says.

  “What about the Fractal Shards from the Fractures? I’m sure they’re valuable, whatever they are.”

  Especially since they’re more or less magical nuclear fuel rods. Morgan used one to turn a laser pointer into something resembling a solar flare with one we got from a single Cat-2.

  “The Australian government has ceded all salvage rights to anything you find. Though, because you’re not working for the American government, whatever you find is yours to keep. If you feel like offering Shards or whatever else you find to them, that’s your business. I can promise that the US government is more than happy to take them off your hands, and is willing to properly compensate you in turn.”

  The idea of being paid for all this work unsettles me. I’m not a mercenary. I’m here to help people. I’m fighting for more than money.

  “We can talk about that later.” I say uncomfortably.

  General Briggs nods, and gestures the slew of charts on the table.

  “Right. There’ll be heavy lift aircraft on standby at every stage. You’ll never have to wait for take-off, it’s already been cleared.”

  He looks up.

  “Any questions? Suggestions?”

  “This is a very regimented plan. How did you estimate how long it would take to complete a Fracture? What if it takes me longer?”

  “Thanks to the many reports you’ve provided on the Fractures you’ve cleared, our analysts have put together a pretty good analysis on them. There’s still flexibility built into the plan, and we’ll be constantly updating your progress. If we have to skip a Fracture, we’ll divert you to the oldest one. Anything else?”

  “What about the Pineapple Express and Second Squad?”

  “They’ll be here, undergoing training on some new weapon systems.” General Briggs says vaguely. “Don’t worry about them. I have no intentional of letting what happened before happen again.”

  “It’ll take me about an hour to set up the portal ritual,” Hale says. “It’ll drop you off at a naval yard, where the ship that’ll take you is waiting. It’ll take about thirty minutes after that to get the Fracture itself. Sound good?”

  “Yes, let’s get to it.”

  Hale leaves, heading to an adjacent hangar.

  McKinely calls me over the datalink I have with the Pineapple Express.

  “Sir, I’ve been relayed a message from the Republic of Korea’s embassy here in Washington. Someone wants to speak with you.”

  “Who?”

  “A Captain Hwang from the ROK’s Army. She says she has something of grave importance to speak with you about.”

  I meet Captain Hwang at the front gate. The first thing I notice is an empty sleeve, hanging loosely by her side. Her face is scarred on that side, jagged wounds barely miss her eye. To see Captain Hwang so grievously injured is…

  “Missile strike. I got lucky.” She says, noticing my gaze.

  I twitch, turning away. I’ve seen plenty of terrible injuries. I never stop seeing them, being hooked into the internet as I am. I even saw Second Squad on death’s door after they were sent into a Fracture.

  But to see Captain Hwang injured feels wrong on so many levels. We made it through the first series of ruptures together. We saved Seoul from a tide of monsters. We went through the beginning of the apocalypse, and came out unscathed. It’s all pointless now, wasted by human avarice.

  “I’m sorry. I…” I trail off lamely. What could I have done? I can only be in one place at a time. The thought doesn’t make me feel any better.

  “It’s war. It’s not your fault. But it is related to what I want to talk to you about. We need your help, Machina. Please. We will give you whatever you want. Please, we need your help. Fight for us. With us.”

  “I don’t want to kill people, Captain. I don’t want to be a soldier.”

  “Few people do, Machina. We never wanted this, never asked for this. Please. We’re under attack and we need your help. People are dying! We are dying!” She begs.

  People are dying!

  Her words ring in my head over and over, an echo of desperation and hopelessness. It’s from a woman, a nation, betting everything on one last shot. A Hail Mary to save everything they believe in, everyone they love.

  I never wanted this power. The power to change the fates of nations. The power to hold the lives of millions upon millions of people in my hands. I never thought myself strong enough or good enough to hold the weight.

  But I have been given the power to do it anyway. And to refuse to use it because I doubt myself would be worse than trying and failing. Ultimately, I do want to help. I will—have to—just not in the way Captain Hwang was hoping for.

  “Captain, my time is already spoken for. There’s high category Fractures on the verge of rupturing that need me. I can’t fight on the battlefield you want me to. But I can help. I will, just in my own way.”

  She straightens, and for a brief moment, the desperation is burned away like early morning fog.

  “Oh? How?” She asks eagerly.

  “It’s time to stretch my digital muscles. Let’s see what I can do.”