AA. 210

It came as no surprise when the revelations surrounding Shina and the connection to Wilson Luduses came to life. At first, he questioned the validity of Katherine’s lead, but then CIT and Layla shared the evidence they and other Nexus agents had recovered. Initially, chance meetings weren’t enough to go on, but then financial records came to light. Symbiotech received money from several sources. Many were shell companies linked to Pietro and other agents. 

It took Cara Sue’s incredible detective skills and Andrew’s backdoor into the Pits’ information network to uncover the final credible piece of information. Two recently shut down shell companies tied to the underground fights funneled funds to and from Wilson Luduses. It also sent significant amounts to Symbiotech. The link wouldn’t be obvious to most, but the team had enough clues to suggest that Wilson Enterprises was entangled in it all. They still needed solid evidence before bringing it all to the light.

The team and Layla suspected that governmental figures were also involved. Arthur and Adrian were of great influence, after all, and had already started affecting legislature. Even if they found sufficient evidence, the group didn’t know what to do with it without causing major upheaval or chaos.

Nil would've suggested moving to North America or Asia if not for the rapidly growing World Tree in the Forge. Wilson Luduses had branches on both continents but didn’t hold as much power as in Europe. There were other powerful organizations also with influential Gold Realm Summoned at the helm. Nil was sure they had their own plots and agendas. It wouldn’t surprise him if more people and parties had their eyes on him, his allies, and the Forge.

Nowhere is safe.

Selia’s body ascension took six days, two more than his four. Then, a week after their return from the Cleansing, the hunt for the symbiote began. CIT was already set up in the southeast corner of London where it seemed to reside. The couple arrived late in the evening, riding Nil’s Garuda Systems hoverbike. Cara Sue, and Susan met them at the rendezvous point.

“Skoll and Hati have found its trail,” Susan said. She nodded at a giant, abandoned industrial complex further up the road. It was the type of place that slowed business and occasionally fell during the market crash after aethertech took over most production and manufacturing fields. Several such properties littered the city's outskirts and now served as hubs for illegal trade, camps for the ever-growing homeless population, and the Pits’ event spaces. “The symbiote is somewhere in there.”

“Spectrum analysis says it’s been holed up for a couple of days now and hasn’t come out since,” Cara Sue added. “We hope your enhanced energy detection ability will have better luck than us.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry for bringing you into this, Nil, especially so soon after you’ve just been through something so challenging and draining. We’ve failed—”

“You’ve done enough,” Nil interrupted, looking between the two women. “Both of you. The fact of the matter is that I was the one who was supposed to resolve this from the start. We thought it best to keep me away thus far, but now we understand that it's no longer an option. This thing is slippery, and it wants me. Hopefully, I’m strong enough to handle it.”

“Body of Gold.” Susan snorted. “I swear you were Mortal Realm just yesterday. If you can’t handle the symbiote with your current strength, the entire city, if not the continent, will be screwed. Given the rate at which this thing has been gaining power, it won’t be long before its threat level surpasses Silver. I have doubts regarding whether Skoll and Hati can handle it.”

“Do we know what we’re doing?” Cara Sue asked. “A strategy to deal with this thing, perhaps?”

“It's fueled and full of Cursed Energy, right?” Selia conjured her soul weapon. The Sunmetal Staff gleamed under the flickering street lights. “Maybe we can trap or at least limit its movements with my chains. Then Nil needs to get close and destroy the body, then purify the energy.”

“Let's not underestimate this thing,” Nil said. He doubted the symbiote’s ability to take control of him exceeded the Glimmer. The chances of it being more powerful were also significantly lower. However, the symbiote knew him and his power seed intimately. A lot had changed since they parted ways, but he worried about the results of their short-lived physical bond. “Besides the biomancy powers, it might have some of my abilities or even those of everyone and all the corrupted soul weapons it's consumed.”

“We suspect it has one such ability that’s helped it hide from us that far,” Susan said. Her twin wolves joined them. They seemed to switch their core characteristics often. Skoll was pure white and emitted a soft glow, while Hati seemed to merge with the surrounding shadows and almost appeared two-dimensional. “I’ll ride Skoll and stay on the rooves. Hati will watch your back.”

“I’ll stick with Selia,” Cara Sue declared. She felt significantly stronger since her ascension to Silver Realm. Nil could feel the magic swirling and bubbling inside of her core. “Flashbang and laser traps seemed to do something the last time we almost got it. Maybe it will be the same this time.”

“Let’s go, then,” Selia announced. “It's about time we put this chapter behind us.”

CIT reported having spotted unmarked, armored trucks roving the area. The windows had an illegal tint which made it challenging to look in from the sides. Cara Sue claimed that the individuals within were geared far better than average drivers or security forces. Her electromagnetic detection abilities also sensed powerful aethertech within.

Others knew about the symbiote and were hunting for it. Nil and his friends had strong suspicions regarding who they were. Shawn accompanied the team to confirm but helped the rest of CIT with containment instead of directly taking part in the operation. Questions of him betraying the Forge for his old friends—Ateeq and Olaf, not Adrian—had come up, but Layla and Shawn didn’t think it was possible. Nil wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Whenever suspicions crept in, he thought about how Shawn had tried to ensure he didn’t feel bad about getting taken by the Glimmer.

He’s not a bad guy. Just fucked up in a way I don’t understand.

Nil still remained wary. He didn’t think Shawn would go out of his way to do something malicious, but the man currently had blinders on. Nil didn’t want Shawn’s mistakes to hurt the people he loved.

The industrial compound spanned a couple of kilometers and contained several dilapidated buildings. According to CIT’s research, many were slated for destruction, but the owners were overseas and locked in an intense legal battle. It was a common story around Greater London.

Nil did his best to make it look like he was alone when entering the compound. It was more than likely the symbiote had some sort of detection ability—he couldn’t think of how else it tracked down so many Summoned and corrupted soul weapon users. Old vehicles, broken battles, drug paraphernalia, food wrappers, used prophylactics, and more littered the cracked tarmac. Weeds, grass, and shrubs grew out of cracks in the concrete. While other sections of the city saw regular regeneration, updating, and significant investment, the area mainly seemed forgotten. 

One With The Source came alive with warnings. Cursed Energy signatures surrounded Nil. It wasn’t one or two but countless of varying sizes, purity, and intensity. It reminded him of his time in Sable. Other presences mixed with the noxious energy. A basic Energy Instinct would’ve left Nil assuming that someone had dumped failing or broken aethertech around the area. 

The gauntlets solidified around Nil’s upper arms. He didn’t bother with the leg reinforcement. They felt unnecessary, and he didn’t want to ruin his new shoes. Several gift packages with new clothes, footwear, gadgets, and more had arrived while he was undergoing the body ascension. His sponsors and partners were all ecstatic about his Cleansing win, and Bunty was struggling with the overwhelming volume of calls, emails, and new requests. The chef, who had initially shirked off Nil’s partnership suggestion, was now calling several times a day, offering better and better deals.

Where is it?

“Are you feeling this?” Selia asked. They all wore simple earpieces for communication. They were quick, cheap, and disposable. Andrew had tweaked them slightly and linked them to a contact lens which highlighted who was speaking,highlighted what direction they were in and also told the time.

“Has it been reproducing?” Cara Sue sounded disgusted.

“Maybe it's trying to do something with the remains of everyone it's killed,” Susan said. “The scent here is rancid. The dogs can’t detect much over it.”

“I’m moving toward where the energy is densest and will try to flush it out,” NIl told them. “Be ready.”

“Are you sure—”

“My Body Is My Temple should do the trick,” he interrupted Susan. “If not, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

“I’ve got him, Susan,” Selia said. “Don’t you worry.”

Nil trusted Selia to pull him out of almost anything. She had his back no matter what, and he loved her for it. When the Glimmer took control, Selia took it upon herself to ensure Nil didn’t do anything he’d regret. She made protecting him and the rest of the party her responsibility.

The second Nil entered the warehouse-like structure closest to the entrance. Something stirred to his left. It was dark, and he relied on a dense knuckle dagger to provide light. The familiar black-glossy texture of a squirming symbiote caught the corner of Nil’s eye. Besides Cursed Energy, he also sensed regenerative magic pulsing within.

The creatures flashed red, leaping at Nil. He retaliated with a precise slash, cutting it into two. His attack proved fruitless. The two halves knit themselves together as he passed. More emerged, attacking Nil from every direction. He created another blade, electrifying both. Soft, metallic screeches sounded all around Nil as the energy disintegrated fragments of many. They were made of the same hexagonal pieces that formed Nil’s former suit and Fatima’s bloody arm blades.

“This place is full of them,” Nil said. “I’m going in deeper. Get the dogs in here. Sunmetal chains too. It should harm them.”

Nil dove into the fray, ripping, disintegrating, and blasting the creatures away. It wasn’t long before he was forced to destroy clothes as symbiotes leaped onto his shoulders and back. They didn’t do much harm, barely stinging him. However, Nil kept psychic fortitude and reflexes simultaneously supercharged, pushing deeper into the structure.

He was making excellent progress, destroying the creatures made of manufactured biomass and textured hexagons, when the floor gave out from under him. Nil fell into complete darkness and detonated his Source constructs, trying to disintegrate the entities swarming him. 

Nil landed in a pool of thick black fluid. It was viscous like tar but body temperature. The smell was horrifying, and he feared the worst, so he desperately clawed his way out. Nil desperately yelled and struggled out of the mess. He expected more creatures to swarm him and the strongest of them to appear. Instead, Nil found the world around him had changed. 

It was Hyde Park. In December. Snowflakes rained from above. Music played. People laughed and played. A delicate hand tightly held his interlocking fingers and pulled him toward the ice skating rink.

“Hurry up, Sunny,” Aisha said, speaking his name in the delicate, musical tone that he enjoyed. “You’re not getting away without skating this year.”

“You know I’m going to spend most of the time on my ass, right?” Nil asked, laughing. Her touch was like a warm embrace. The fact that he didn’t have much money in his pocket and an assignment to finish felt like a distant afterthought whenever he was with her. “Can’t we play some games first? The last time we went ice skating, I was sore for the rest of the evening and a couple of days afterward. Maybe we could—”

“You won’t learn if you don’t try.” Aisha pouted when Nil lagged. “Ma expects me home at nine, and I’m not going home without ice-skating. Are you going to come in, hold my hand, and have a good time, or should I go without you?”

“Fine.” Nil sighed. “But I better win extra points for this.”

“You already have the top score, Sunny. What more do you want?”