Jason Luthor - Floor 21

“Why? We solve that; we save the world. Or at least the Tower. But that’s basically the world, am I right?”

He just shakes his head. “The reason this cascade isn’t failing is because someone is keeping it going. Someone is causing it to continue. Someone in a lot of pain.”

“A person? Like, a human? One of us?”

“Well, sort of. They used to be.”

“Wait.” I look past him, down the stairs, then back up the hall. “Dad, where’s the source of the cascade coming from now?”

“Want to take a guess?”

“No.” I sigh. Naturally. Of course. Of course, this is my life. “Floor 16?”

“Right.”

“I thought… Dad, you told me Sally was just a bad story parents told their kids.”

“Would you have really been able to sleep well at night if I’d told you that living people could be infested under the right circumstances, and that for over a century, we’ve isolated the west wing specifically because she can consciously control the Creep?”

“Daaaamn it,” I cry as I drop my head. “She can do what?”

“Well, she’s awake now, so that means she can consciously interact with the Creep. Normally people absorbed into the Creep die—you know that. When they come into general contact with the Creep, it has psychological effects on them. In rare cases it grows on them, and they become a single being in a symbiotic relationship. Sally’s a little different. She’s still consciously aware of herself and her surroundings, sort of. As long as she doesn’t get emotionally agitated, she’s fine. Once she does, though, you have to get her under control.”

“And how do we do that exactly?”

“Last time it took a hundred men and a lot of firepower. This time I just need to get this into her,” he says, reaching into a pouch in his tactical vest and removing a needle. The fluid inside seems to glow slightly as he waves it around before putting it back in place. “We’ve been working on this a long time. When introduced into the Creep, it has a pretty significant effect. Unfortunately we don’t have the chemicals to make much of it, so we can only produce slight doses. This will be enough to put down Sally, though.”

“So when Sally goes down, so will the infestation?”

He nods. “She’s the only reason that it’s still going.”

I take in a deep breath, then tap the flame gun still hanging at my waist. “Guess I’ll need this, too.”

“As much as I’ll need this,” he replies, hefting his flamethrower. He pauses for a second when he does, then lowers it. “Actually, champ,” he continues as he pulls out the needle again, “you better take this.”

“Wait. Why?”

“Because I’m the one carrying the heavy-duty weapon. I can keep her down with this, but someone’s going to need to use that needle.”

“You… you want me to inject her?”

“Scared?”

Jerkface. That’s all he really needs to say. “No,” I scowl, scooping the needle from him and shoving it into the satchel at my side. “All right, well, c’mon, let’s hurry to the end of the world.”

See, now the plan is all set. We’re good. Really. We get down to Floor 16, everything’s fine, and then we open the door onto the hallway. What do you think we see?

Nothing but guns everywhere.

We just see nothing but Security, a whole row of them aiming at us. Then, in the middle, is a guy dressed in this blue skintight uniform. It’s kinda like the ones the people on Floor 1 wear, just a different color. Thing is, I recognize him.

My dad does, too. “Judas Abbott,” he says through his mask.

“Doctor Coleman,” he says with that smug look of his. His bone-white hair is really in fine form today, like he made sure to put extra conditioner in it. “We knew you’d be heading this way.”

Dad slips off his mask. “You knew we’d come this direction. How?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, we’re not equipped to deal with the Creep without you. You are, of course, the only researcher with your level of knowledge on the subject. Be that as it may, we’re not idiots. We analyzed your files and decoded your suspicions about where the emotional resonance cascade might be stemming from.”

“And you want my help.”

“But, of course, my friend.”

“What about my daughter?”

Abbott pushes his fingers to his face, squeezing at the bridge of his nose. “Authority is prepared to rehear her case.”

“I want her declared innocent, Abbott, or you can deal with Sally yourself.” For the first time in a long time, my dad’s acting really cool. Too bad it has to come during the Armageddon.

“You know I have no say in her verdict.”

“I know Authority is listening to us right now. Or aren’t you wearing a listener?”

Abbott looks really annoyed by this, and he taps at his eardrum, as if he’s listening in on a different conversation. After a second he looks back up at us, faking that gross creeper smile our way. “Congratulations, doctor. Authority will withdraw the accusation of Violation of Thought.”

“And the other accusations?”

“Doctor, they were accusations of the lower order. Surely this suffices.”

I look up at my dad. “What does that mean?”

He smiles. “They can’t afford to let you go without some form of punishment. If they did, Authority wouldn’t be Authority. They have to live by their code. But you can only be sentenced to Reinforcement for a violation of a higher order.”

“Wait. I remember when Danny was Reinforced. Why did he… ?”

Dad looks at me and takes a knee, wrapping an arm around me. “Your trial was broadcast throughout Floor 1. They all are. Normally everyone gets a sentence of a higher order because they always find a way. It makes for good entertainment.”

“What?”

“Now that Authority’s declared that you can go free, they can market it on Floor 1 as showing their great mercy. Believe me, it works out for them, too.”

I want to say, this is completely screwed up . Instead, I just nod. “Okay.”

Dad gets back up to face an eminently bored Abbott and says, “I concede.”

“Fantastic,” he says with a nod as he beckons toward his Security team. They circle us like wolves and push us forward, Dad leading the way as he guides us all deep into the maze that is the west wing of Floor 16. He replaces his mask back on his head as we go, his weapon clutched in his hand. As we move, large clusters of the Creep are visibly breaking through the floor or walls. Security fans out to drive it back, igniting huge patches of growth in flames.

Dad points from one guy to the other. “This is all being broadcast. Abbott’s wearing a listener, which does more than just listen. It records everything visual, too.”

“What? We have the technology for that? Why don’t the Scavengers wear them?”

“Who says they don’t?” he asks with a heavy breath. “They just don’t know it. We get constant feeds of the Scavenging. You know how everyone on the lower floors gets to play the games and do the tallies? How they celebrate when the Scavengers are out there?”

“Yeah, duh.”

“Floor 1 has a different way of doing it. Each person on a scavenging team has a listener they’re not aware of. Secretly, Authority enjoys it when a few Scavengers die. It keeps people invested in it, gives it high stakes. So they don’t necessarily give the teams all the best technology to survive with. Everything is divided in this tower, though, Jackie. The video feeds go through a central planner. He decides what looks like scientific material and what looks like good entertainment. If it’s scientific it gets sent to me. If it’s entertaining it gets sent to editors that cut it and make it look good for the broadcasts. After that he forgets whatever he saw by stuffing himself with Voluptas.”