Chapter 38: The Olympians (1/2)

It ended as well as expected.

With Ryan naked and shackled to a bed, a maniacal Vulcan in a black nightgown on one side, and the plushie on another.

“It was all a trap,” the courier accused the mad Genius, straining against the shackles. “You only cared about the plushie!”

“Very good, Ryan,” Jasmine said, playing with her knife. The inactive plushie looked on while sitting on a chair. “Now, tell me everything you know about it.”

“I would, but I look down on short people.”

“If you won’t talk,” Jasmine put the knife against his chin, and her free hand on his chest, “I will make you squeal.”

“Don’t look,” Ryan told the inactive plushie, trying to avert its gaze. “Please don’t look!”

A phone called in the other room, interrupting the roleplay.

Jasmine let out a heavy sigh. “Gimme a sec,” she said, stepping over an empty condom box before searching for her cellphone among their clothes on the ground. Ryan whistled while she moved out of the bedroom to answer the call.

As it turned out, Vulcan didn’t live in a luxurious villa, but inside her own foundry. She had repurposed the upper echelons of the area into a spacious, soundproof apartment in an elegant steampunk style. Brass pipes and tin gears formed the main decoration, although Vulcan had also embedded a plasma TV in the bedroom’s wall facing the bed. It was rather cozy and she even included a litter for Eugène-Henry, although Vulcan clearly didn’t clean up the place often.

Jasmine eventually returned, rolling her eyes. “Was it Mr. Monsanto again?” Ryan asked.

“Neptune. He’s pissed about last night and wants to call a meeting because he’s a pussy.” She let her nightgown fall on the ground, raised the bedsheet, and slipped below. Her naked skin brushed against the courier’s own, though she didn’t undo his shackles. “Ryan.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t ever call me short again.”

“Come on, Jasmine, be the bigger person.”

Her knife hit the wall behind the bed, a few inches away from the courier’s face. Ryan didn’t even blink; by now, he had learned that her bark was worse than her bite. Though bite him she did…

“You’re lucky to be good in the sack, so you get to live another day,” Vulcan said, resting her head against his shoulder. “How many women have you had?”

“I lost count,” he replied. Practice made perfect.

“I figured as much. I didn’t know you could do that with a tongue.” Jasmine glanced at the rabbit watching them. “Actually, what is that plushie? Some pieces just don’t make sense, and I don’t know what to make of the energy readings.”

“I tried to use it as a probe to explore a higher dimension,” Ryan admitted.

“And?” Jasmine asked, not even questioning the sanity of it. “It worked?”

“Not really. All it did was allow something from the other side tohitch a free ride to our dimension. Now it won’t leave.”

“Wait, you’re saying that your rabbit is haunted?” Ryan nodded, and much to his horror, it made Jasmine even more curious. “That dimension, can you describe it?”

“It’s an area beyond space and time, but I haven’t been able to observe it much.” He frowned. “Why?”

“You know that Red Genomes can manipulate energy? From lightning to wavelengths?” Ryan nodded. “Well, Red Genomes, real Red Genomes, actually emit an energy field around them. Like radiation. This ambient energy, this ‘Red Flux’ can be captured, stockpiled, and then refined to make batteries. That’s how Dynamis makes laser weapons.”

“And you think this energy comes from another dimension?” Ryan asked, suddenly very curious.

“I think so, and Dynamis does too,” she replied with a nod. “The Firebrand knockoff Elixir alters genes so a Genome could perform pyrokinesis, but doesn’t create a link to the Red Dimension. So the body only uses the energy available, that of the human body.”

“That’s how your Fireman armor enhances their pyrokinesis,” Ryan guessed. “You take the batteries meant for laser weapons, and you transfer this Red Flux energy to the Genome’s body.”

“They become just as powerful as the original pyrokinetic Genome the knockoffs are based on, at least as long as the battery juice keeps flowing,” Jasmine said with pride. “Dynamis has been wasting fortunes in an attempt to create a bridge towards that hypothetical Red Dimension, though they haven’t managed to do so yet.”

“That Flux, do you think Genomes with other colors produce variants?”

“I suppose, but I haven’t been able to observe them. Red is energy, so it’s easy to measure it, and since almost all Red Genomes have offensive applications, my power has an easy time with them. But how do you measure life, like with Green Genomes?” She gave him a knowing smile. “Though, if you told me the truth about your power, we could work on it together.”

Ryan let out a shocked gasp. “You know about my true, true power?”

“Look, that bullshit you told Pluto? About how your power really works?” She looked into his eyes. “You were just pulling our legs.”

“I thought we did that this morning.” She chuckled. “Why didn’t you call my bluff?”

“Because I’m curious,” Jasmine replied, stroking his cheek. “You’re smart, funny, and the perfect gentleman, yet I can tell you’ve got your own agenda.”

“I’m just trying to help a friend in need, and find happiness.”

“I don’t think that’s all there is,” Jasmine said. “You joined this organization as a stepping stone for something else. It’s fine, I’m not particularly loyal to Augustus either. But I’m pretty sure your power is something world-changing. I don’t see why you would be afraid to reveal its true extent to Pluto otherwise.”

Ryan shrugged it off. “I think it’s a bit too early to talk about that.”

Vulcan sat on his chest, one leg on each side. “Then what will we be, Ryan?”

“I dunno, a summer fling?” Ryan needed to blow off steam after his last encounters with Len and the Meta-Gang, in more ways than one. “I don’t want to get too attached, and you’re probably going to forget me soon anyway.”

“You aren’t going to forget me, Ryan. I can promise you that.” Vulcan stroked the courier’s cheek. If only she knew. “I’m fine with a summer fling, but as I told you before, it’s an exclusive contract. Cheat on me and I’ll fucking kill you.”

“If you can do the fucking before the kill, I would appreciate it.” She lightly slapped him in response. “Hey!”

“You’ve got an attitude problem, but I’ll tame you, Ryan. I’ll tame you straight.” She put both her hands on his ears and ferociously kissed him on the lips, like a lioness marking her territory. “You know how to cook?”

“Yep.”

“Good, because I don’t. We’ve got enough time for one more round and breakfast before the meeting.”

“It’s Jamie who’s going to be unhappy,” Ryan pointed out. “I was supposed to help them clean up the house in the morning.”

“Well, I’m higher in the hierarchy, so that’s an order. Entertain me, minion.”

Ryan stopped time in response.

When it resumed, Jasmine was the one shackled to the bed, the two having switched positions. “Fuck,” she said. “You can actually stop time.”

“You are going to tell me everything about Ischia Island, Miss Sharif,” Ryan said, his body towering above her. “We have ways of slipping past your defenses...”

“Narcinia is fourteen,” Jasmine smirked at him. “She’s too old for you.”

“In this case, I will have to pump you for information.”

Vulcan tried to keep a straight face, but ended up bursting out laughing.

She was kinda cute that way.

After dressing up and eating a delicious breakfast, Vulcan carried the duo all the way to Mount Augustus with her mech. Obviously, Ryan had put on the cashmere suit, delighting in its glamour and softness.

Augustus’ estate had looked enormous from afar, but it was even more impressive from above; Ryan estimated it to be around fifty hectares. Located atop a heavily-defended hill, the complex included a vast amount of monuments, the most impressive being a copy of the Parthenon to the east. An enormous, multi-floor Roman-themed villa covered roughly a third of the area, a marble palace worthy of a Roman emperor.

Most of the land, however, had been repurposed into a vast park, including Roman-theme sculptures, flower gardens, Versailles-styled fountains, and even a freaking zoo. “They have giraffes,” Ryan said in ecstasy.

The sheer luxury of the place awed even the jaded time-traveler.

Vulcan ended up landing near a swimming pool close to the villa, though a private sea might have been a better term. The enormous body of water was separated into smaller basins, some with fish, some without.

A group awaited them on a marble terrace, relaxing under the sun. Livia was among them, sunbathing in a one-piece swimsuit next to Narcinia. Augustus’ daughter immediately raised her eyes at Ryan and Vulcan when they emerged from the mech, welcoming them with a warm smile.

Pluto was reading a novel on a folding beach chair near her niece, keeping a mummified head on a small table nearby. She looked oddly peaceful for a mass murderer, though the head’s eyes moving on their own made the sight look quite macabre.

Finally, a group of older people discussed around a table near the villa, drinks in hands. One was a priest in his fifties, with a receding grey hairline and a gaunt face. He was so lanky Ryan could see the bones below the skin, but his black eyes oozed a frightening, almost maddened intensity. His every movement was carefully calculated, and he drank water rather than cocktails.

The priest, whom Ryan suspected to be Bacchus, was talking with a man entirely covered in thick armor. His equipment was heavily inspired by a Roman centurion’s dress, though it covered every part of the body and included a crimson cloak. The helmet included a metal face mask, and the time-traveler couldn’t see the eyes beneath.

The only woman of the group was a blonde woman in her forties, straight out of a playboy magazine; she kept her hair in a bun and wore an ancient Rome-styled dress adorned with gemstones. Though he could see only the lower part of her face and sapphire eyes due to a gold-plated masquerade mask, Ryan noted a family resemblance with Fortuna in that woman’s jawline. She was probably the lucky girl’s mother, keeping her arm around the red centurion’s.

The last man around the table was clearly the oldest, somewhere in his sixties. He had dyed his hair and thick long beard blue, which complemented his eyes. He wore no mask except a golden diadem and dressed in an elegant navy blue business suit including seashells as part of the design.