A Day of Faces

Hypothalamus

Marv stood open-mouthed for a moment. "So much for the stealthy-stealthy," he muttered, and we both darted indoors.

The man and woman had both moved from around the kitchen counter to see what had happened and Cal closed the distance in a couple of leaping bounds. Just before he reached them I got a clear look at the two people as they saw what was approaching, and saw the abject terror as it rippled across their faces and through every bone in their bodies. The man's knees gave out and he slid to the floor, while the woman screamed and desperately tried to make it back to the kitchen. Not that anywhere would shield them.

Cal ignored the man initially, moving past him and swinging out a long arm to send the woman sailing through the air and into cupboards. She fell out of sight behind the counter as the cupboards emptied their contents onto her.

I saw my mother on the floor, reeling from my father's hand.

The man may have fallen at first sight of us but he was back on his feet almost instantly, scrabbling for anything which might serve as a weapon. He went in the opposite direction to the woman, heading into what seemed to be some kind of entertainment area, where he picked up a small black device and hurled it at Cal. It was a pretty good shot, but bounced pointlessly of his head. Snarling, Cal turned his attention fully towards the man.

All this happened while Marv and I were still in the doorway.

The man had stumbled again, and was now edging backwards, hands reaching for something, anything, and finding nothing useful. Cal followed him, slowly now, moving like a predator.

"Do you understand me?" he growled, his voice sounding like a whisper but having volume enough to fill the room.

The man looked startled, as if he didn't expect such a monster to be able to speak. "Yes," he stammered, "I think so."

"Good," Cal said. He reached out and grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him up such that his feet left the ground. "Who are you?"

"Wynton," the man gasped, clawing at Cal's hand, "Wynton Simons."

"That name means nothing to me." Cal drew his arm in, so that the man's face was up close. Cal's head seemed enormous in comparison. "Let me rephrase my question. Who are you people?"

"We-we're human?" The man still didn't really understand the question.

"That term is not unique to your world," Cal said. "Who are you to us? Where do you fit in?"

"You wouldn't understand," the man said hoarsely.

Marv wasn't happy. "He's going to kill him," he said.

"No, he won't," I replied. "Whatever you think of him, he's not just going to start killing people randomly."

"Whatever you say." Marv was moving into the room, keeping a wide orbit around Cal and heading towards the kitchen. I realised he was trying to see what had happened to the woman.

I headed towards Cal and the man. "Listen up," I said, "you should answer his questions, or he's going to get pissed. You wouldn't like that."

The man couldn't move his head but his eyes turned towards me and widened even further, which I hadn't thought was possible. "You're squamata," he said.

"Then you know what I can do." I moved in closer. Cal was still holding him but had gone quiet, waiting to see what I would do. "We're not here to kill you. We're here for answers. Tell us what we want to know and we'll be out of your hair." Cal glanced towards me. I guess that wasn't the kind of phrase a freedom fighter slash terrorist slash whatever would use.

As he clearly couldn't breathe properly, I signalled for Cal to release him, which he did, leaving the man crumpled on the floor. "We know you have some kind of connection to Locque," I continued. "We know you've cut a deal with the goons in the Aviary, and that you can jump through worlds like my friend. We don't know how or why."

The man rubbed his throat and knelt, gasping, for a few seconds. "People study this for years," he said, "how do you expect me to explain it in minutes?"

Behind us, Marv let out a sharp gasp. I turned to see him looking up at the ceiling. "There's someone else here," he said.

"I was going to mention that," Cal said. "I think it's a baby. Yours, I assume?"

Now more stricken than ever, the man tried to stand. "Please," he said, "don't hurt him. Let's just all stay calm. I can answer whatever questions you want."

"Start talking."

My attention was on Marv, who had moved again, around to the door leading into the rest of the house. He looked back at me and tried to signal something but I couldn't figure out his meaning. It was evident that he was angry.

Like I said, no good at concentrating on two things at once. The man was spilling his guts.

"We've been doing it for centuries. It was an unexpected consequence of entanglement. It really doesn't matter how it happened, or how it works. The point is we gained access to your dimension. Even though our worlds are in parallel, we were already centuries ahead of your civilisation. It changed everything for us. And it really changed everything for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you never stopped to think about how wrong everything is on Locque? A completely illogical and scientifically inexplicable genetic cycle. Cultural shifts and historical movements that defy explanation. Have you not noticed the contrivances?"

I stepped in. "It's hard to see something's wrong if you've lived with it your whole life. You just think it's what everyone does."

"Well, it's not," the man said, spitting blood from his mouth. "It's just what we did to you. This has been happening for hundreds of years. Whatever your world is now, it was made into that by people long gone."

"One big experiment," Cal muttered beneath his breath. "Not just me, but the whole world."

The man nodded. "But you're the interesting one," he said. "You're a mistake. They made you by accident. That's what happens with a random profile generator. Sometimes the combination of genes does something unexpected."

"If you made me, then everything's that's happened is your responsibility."

"I don't deny that, although if you're looking to lay blame it shouldn't be at my feet alone. What about yourself? Do your friends know about all the abilities you've gained? Do they know about the one you use at night, when they're asleep?"

Cal slapped the guy so hard with the back of his hand that his body slid a good couple of metres. I thought for a moment he must have broken his neck, but I could see he was still breathing at least.

My eyes locked with Cal. "What's he talking about, Cal?" My scales flexed. My muscles tightened. Marv was on the opposite side of the room, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the universe. Cal was close, too close, his bulk looming right over me.