Chapter 20: Secret

This is…impossible. Why did Veta send Black Magic looking for him to help with the Static case, especially after destroying The Gravitas? Maybe she isn't after him—maybe she's just using him to take down The Splice Circle? If not, what is she playing at, pulling all these strings?

Travis throw water on his face and force himself to snap out of it—he's not going to let Veta ruin this night for him. No, he can sort this all out later with Jenny. Right now, he's going to enjoy his time with Black Magic.

Travis reach for a towel blindly, water still dripping from his face. His hand gropes against the wall and, to his surprise, he feel something click under his fingers. With a soft whoosh, a door appears in the center of the wall, swinging slightly ajar.

"What the-" Travis start to say, dripping water all over the floor as he stare at the opening in the wall. What could be inside? Black Magic clearly wanted to keep it hidden….

Unable to tame his curiosity, he peer inside and find a small closet leading to a teleportation door. Through the milky, fluid portal he can make out another room.

Travis walk forward to see if he can get a better look but as he do, an intense sucking feeling pulls him through and spits him out on the other side.

"What's taking you so- No!" Travis hear Black Magic scream and suddenly she sucks into the room next to Travis.

But it's too late—Travis already taken in the scene.

Travis stand in a comfortably decorated bedroom with no windows or doors, save for the teleportation portal he just came through. There are four large beds against two opposite walls.

The two beds to his right are occupied by twin girls with special needs. They both have long, blonde hair and wear pink dresses, wet stains of drool pooled on the collars.

Travis slowly turn to the opposite wall and find the third bed is occupied by a comatose middle-aged man. An elderly woman sleeps in the last bed, snoring softly.

His eyes stay fixed, however, on a large vat in the center of the room, which glows gold with shining liquid. The vat is attached to each of the bedridden occupants by some kind of organic umbilical cord.

Travis try to speak but are interrupted by the pink girls, who moan and clap their hands at his arrival.

"Oh no…" Black Magic chokes at the side, her eyes wide.

"What…what is this?" Travis whisper, a sick feeling creeping into his stomach.

"No one knows, not even Processor," Black Magic mutters to herself. "The protective enchantments must have…I let my guard down…wasn't thinking…"

"No one knows what?" Travis ask. "Lucia, what is this?"

Black Magic takes a deep breath and walks over to the nearest bed, parting the girl's hair and causing her to coo.

"They're given the best care here. I visit them every day," Black Magic says, looking at the girl instead of Travis. "They're as happy here as they would be anywhere else."

"Who are these people? Why are you…keeping them here?" Travis ask, still bewildered.

"They're all supposed to be dead, at least their families think so—not that they'd care enough to think otherwise. These people were unwanted, left for dead. I'm always careful when I choose-"

"Lucia, you can tell me anything."

For several moments, the only sound comes from the faint pumping of the strange, slimy vat in the center of the room. Travis try to breathe through his mouth since the room smells stale and…sick.

Black Magic finally looks at him.

"I need-" she starts, trying to find the right words. "My Powers let me do anything. I don't know if magic really exists but I think my Powers are what magic would feel like if it did. What my Powers really let me do is play with the laws of the universe, somehow. They allow me to harness life force itself, it seems…"

As Black Magic speaks, Travis start to piece things together. "Oh no…"

"But I can't create that force, I can only manipulate it. And my own life force is so little—it isn't enough. It keeps my abilities too limited. If I was ever going to make it to the big leagues, I needed to do more. I needed more Power. So-"

"So you keep these people here, against their will, and drain their life forces to fuel your Power?" Travis finish.

"It's not like that!" Black Magic shouts. "They're in comas or worse—they can't move or think, they're not alive, not like you and me. I give their lives value! I'd never use their life forces for anything other than good! I wouldn't!"

Black Magic's shrieks echo against the walls, causing one of the twins to cry. Black Magic tries to calm herself, stroking the girl's hair.

"I never take enough to hurt them." She speaks in barely a whisper. "I could take from anyone, but I don't. Do you know how tempting it is to lose control? To draw the life force out of everyone around me? To take all that Power and make the world how I want it? But I don't do that. I won't, ever. This…this is the only alternative."

Travis stare at Black Magic, who has now started to tremble.

"Please. Travis, you have to understand," Black Magic begs, "I had no choice…."

Travis continue to stare at Black Magic but all he can see is his own desire for success reflected back at him.

"I don't like this…but I just need time to process everything." Travis whisper.

He still aren't sure exactly how he feel about all of this, but he can at least understand why Black Magic has done it. And he's not willing to burn his bridges with her just yet, no matter what she has done.

"No one knows?" Travis ask, not sure what else to say.

"No one. And if they did…I'd be ruined."

Suddenly, it makes sense why Black Magic's origins remain so shrouded in mystery—she doesn't want anyone finding out about the secret source of her Powers….

Finally breaking, Black Magic begins to sob, clutching the bed-ridden girl tightly.

The sight sends a shiver through him.

"I have to go," Travis say, the smell of the room causing him to feel queasy….

Without another word, he move toward the teleportation door.

Black Magic doesn't stop him.

As he fly through his bedroom window, he's still having trouble processing what just happened.

The sight of Black Magic in that tiny room remains burned in his brain, no matter how hard he try to force it out.

"Is everything sorted with The Millennial Group?" a voice asks as he land, causing his heart to skip several beats. Luckily, it's just Jenny, waiting for him with her arms crossed.

"Fine," Travis say, "false alarm."

Travis speak a little too abruptly, causing Jenny to narrow her eyes at him. She wants to press for more details, but Travis just send her a look: drop it.

"All right, then," Jenny says, sounding annoyed. "When I couldn't get ahold of you, Tarana Rain told me what happened. This whole pool-killer thing is quite the development. I'm not sure what the connection is between Veta and The Splice Circle just yet…."

He probably should tell Jenny about Veta sending Black Magic his way on the Static case, but he doesn't have the energy to explain that situation right now. Thankfully, Jenny just keeps talking, already in mission-control mode.

"I did, however, look up the origin of those machines," Jenny says, pointing toward the bed…

Where a dormant pool-killer rests.

Travis jump back at the sight of it.

"How'd you-"

"Oh, come off it. You know how resourceful I can be," Jenny says. "Anyway, the design features match the basic profile of a large array of illegal weapons that have recently flooded the market. The MCPD knows they come from once source but no one has figured out what that source is just yet."

"I think Veta may be the weapons source." Travis say. "But why did she attack the splice circle herself?"

"And It makes total sense—Veta produced an array of advanced weapons during our fight," Travis continue. "And her name was on the deed for the warehouse."

"That's all well and good," Jenny starts, "but it still doesn't explain why Veta seems to have taken an interest in you."

"I definitely think Veta has it out for me, though I have no idea why." Travis say looking down on the floor.

Veta appeared in the Gravitas case, sent Black Magic looking for him, and might have supplied the pool-killers to Madame Vice—all the signs point to Veta messing with him directly.

But if she is coming after him, why hasn't she attacked him since the Gravitas case? And she hasn't taken credit for anything yet…it just doesn't make sense. Which is why finding Veta needs to be a top priority.

Jenny pauses, pinching her elbows—which Travis know means Jenny's about to bring up something uncomfortable.

"And why was that warehouse named The Artillery?"

"I don't know…."

Jenny just works on her elbow, not answering.

Travis start to think it through—how could anyone know his connection to Miss Artillery? It's too obscure. Someone would have to know not only his secret Sterling identity, but also the PFPP cover-up of his Fade identity as well.

And even after all of that, they would then have to make sure he received the right tip-off to break into the warehouse. That all seems too elaborate and far-fetched to be true.

Besides, The Artillery is a very predictable name for a weapons company. The connection must be negligible. But even if that is the case, he still need to make finding Veta a priority.

"Does this give us any leads on finding Veta?" Travis ask.

"Yes and no. If Veta is involved in The Artillery, we can find a way to make a false transaction and hope it leads to her—but that will require some deeply unpleasant undercover work."

"Sounds like a good place to start," Travis say.

"Travis, there's something else…" Jenny starts, taking a deep breath. "Now I need you to stay calm once I tell you this. Promise me you won't do anything rash?"