“A shift in the currents will diminish a wave.”
“Only if the shift is strong enough. I’m one man.”
“So was he,” Mau said of his original self. “He could have become a variable they did not foresee. He lost himself only because the weight exceeded his capacity to understand.”
Putting it mildly, Trevor thought. Mau went mad and became a walking nuclear bomb.
“Why am I better suited?”
“Mau never agreed to the proposal. He left the Enzathi alone to fight the Void’s remnants. Three opposing currents are not tenable.”
“But as one?”
Mau nodded.
“The Enzathi wishes for nothing more, but it will not consume against the human’s will.”
Mau made the lifeform sound benevolent, even noble in its intent. Trevor suspected it could have consumed him at any time over the past seven months. Yet it played nice. Complied with his wishes.
A long game, perhaps?
“If I say no, will you leave?”
Mau closed his eyes and bowed as if in prayer.
“The Enzathi will seek another host though it has become fond of Trevor. It promises action not reaction.”
More of the sales pitch. Trevor tried a new tack.
“Prove it. Show me.”
Mau perked up.
“The Enzathi warns Trevor of pain and despair. It does not wish to harm, but to see demands payment.”
“Nothing’s free. I get it. Show me.”
“Close your eyes.”
Trevor complied.
His heart raced. A well of deep, lingering rage boiled his blood. And then, the anger transformed into an instant of immense satisfaction.
Trevor opened his eyes and stared at a red pill in his left hand. Then he saw Thomas Quinlan on the floor, beaten and bloody.
“It’s called CNZ-4,” Trevor said in Connor’s voice. “My team stores it in our superflex when we’re on the battlefield. It’s only to be used if we’re captured. We give the enemy nothing. Not even our bodies, bruv. It’s an acid specifically targeted to break down every component of the human body.”
Thomas gasped, pleading without words. His eyes ballooned. Trevor Connor refused to reassure Thomas of what lay ahead.
“I won’t lie. This is going to hurt. It will literally rip you apart. But the pain won’t last long.”
Thomas wriggled about like a fish thrown from the water. Trevor Connor did not take pity.
“The alternative is to arrest, convict, and execute you for treason. Too much trouble! No one will ever know.”
Trevor Connor wrenched Thomas’s mouth open and dropped the pill inside. He backed off, sat in a kitchen chair, and watched with curiosity.
As the effects began, Trevor Connor recited a mantra.
Purpose, order, execution. I am whole and true to myself. My purpose cannot be denied. I will show no mercy to my enemies. Leave no dream unfulfilled.
Thomas screamed through desperate gurgles and flopped about. His body spasmed. The chest cavity imploded. Steam rose from evaporated blood. The bodysuit emptied. Cheeks melted. Eyes sank. Hair charred to a crisp. Eventually, the skull dissolved.
Trevor Connor relished the small victory and searched his pockets for tools to cleanse the scene.
Trevor’s mind crossed a long, dark bridge, yanked along by an undefinable current. Trevor opened his eyes and stared at the traitor’s pom.
He dropped the device, stumbled to the toilet, and vomited.
“Payment is difficult,” Mau said. “Pain cannot be avoided.”
Connor, what have you become?
Trevor wiped his mouth and rested against the shower door.
“Humans lie and deceive. The bridge will allow you to see. From these observations, you may balance the weight.”
Trevor cried for his brother.
