The Indestructibles (Book 3): The Entropy of Everything (31 page)

Chapter 63:

Beginnings

      What remained of the Indestructibles, both past and future incarnations, gathered and set up shop in what used to be an assisted living facility on the north side of the City.
It made sense after all—beds, leftover medical supplies, an emergency generator, all the things they needed to put themselves back together again. Although the facility had been evacuated years before, there were even nonperishable foods left behind as well.

      Whispering moved among his surviving people, laughing as they tugged at his long gray beard and teased him about how long it had been since they'd been able to see his face. A pale and weak Finnigan nearly coughed himself sick at the sight of the older wolf. Titus took all of this in from a distance, trying to ascertain how this other version of himself had developed into a leader, a chieftain, a just king. He wondered if this was to be his future as well.

      Kate spoke at length with her future self. The two Dancers did not share the details of that conversation, though they both knew that eyes were on them, and ears. Titus caught little snippets as he watched them walk arm in arm out into the overgrown garden behind the facility. Even while conversing they acted like dancers, moving in synch with the other, balanced, elegant, graceful.

      Emily and Jane sat together alone, not speaking much.

      A pall hung over them, a sense that they'd witnessed their own destruction and survived to tell the tale. It was a companionable silence, and they seemed comforted by each other's presence, but they were both quite clearly alone in their own thoughts. Emily found a box of unspoiled yellow snack cakes stashed in a pantry. She made a joke about Twinkies and the end of the world.

      Jane almost laughed.

      And that would have to be enough, a slight victory, a smile over junk food being one of the few remaining staples in a place still burdened and heavy with death.

      Annie disappeared and then returned several times. She told Jane that she was reviewing the time stream, checking to see if their actions had impacted other timelines, satisfying a curiosity about the state of things. She revealed nothing about what she saw, except to say that things were as quiet as they possibly could be in the time stream. No ripples appearing so far.

      Not long after, Doc arrived looking haunted and sad. He joined Jane and Emily in their silence. Emily, unusually affectionate, draped one of Doc's arms over her shoulder and napped. The aging magician looked down at her like a proud father might, a proud father who worries, as all dads do.

      Jane eventually joined them, sitting down on his other side, and the three rested together like a family cramped in a small room. The gray light of a battered world filtered in through dusty windows.

      And Billy Case glowed.

*  *  *

      We've got to fix this, Billy Case thought.

      Billy was trying to keep away from everyone he could at the assisted living facility. Entirely a self-conscious activity, part of him wanted to avoid anyone who might have been confused by his behavior when he found out Solar had died, because he had no interest in trying to explain how he somehow had fragments of the memories of himself from this timeline.

      But he also continued to glow like a lantern and felt ridiculous and annoying. People were forced to shade their eyes when he passed.

     
Agreed
, Dude said.
This is too much power. I'm afraid what the long-term effects will be on you.
I do not believe a single human body can sustain this level of intensity.

      I just meant I don't want to glow all the time, Billy thought. Are you indicating this might even kill me?

      There was an uncomfortably long pause before Dude answered.
Kill might be too aggressive a word,
Dude said.

      Do you have any plan, at all? Billy thought.

     
There is one possibility
, Dude said.
You may not like it, though.

      "What do you mean I may not like it?" Billy said out loud.

      "I don't care if you like it or not, if you can fix both of us, you do it," Jessie said, coming around the corner of the hallway where Billy was hiding.

      "Are you following me?" Billy said.

      "Yes!" Jessie said. "I'm following you! You stole my alien partner!"

      "Dude?"

     
We did not steal her partner,
Dude said.
This is unprecedented.

      "He says this is unprecedented," Billy said.

      "I want to talk to him," Jessie said. "Put him on the line or something."

      "I can't just put him on the line. This isn't a phone!" Billy said. "Come on, Dude. There's got to be a way you can split yourself back up again, right?"

     
I really do not think I can
, Dude said.
I merged with my alternate timeline self at a core level. We became essentially one being at that moment and I gained most of his sentience. All of his strength. You felt the effects. You were impacted also, with memories of your other self.

      Yeah, Billy thought. About that. Why didn't I get memories from the other hosts like that when we merged originally?

     
You have had glimpses,
Dude said.
You have said it yourself, that you have phantom memories from my past partners, from other times in history. In this case those memories were very close to your own brainwaves. They merged cleaner, because they came from an older, but otherwise identical host.

      "I hate that you're having a conversation right now and I can't be a part of it," Jessie said.

      "How could you tell?" Billy asked.

      Jessie sneered at him.

      "You really don't think I can tell when you're having a conversation in your own head? I was you six hours ago!"

      "Okay, fine!" Billy said. "Dude, you've got to have a suggestion."

     
You are really not going to like it,
Dude said.
But it might be our only option.

      "Whatever we have to do, Dude. I'm listening."

     
I can split off a portion of my powers into a new Luminae
, Dude said.
It will not be another me, but it will be nearly as powerful, and have much of my institutional memory. This will let us siphon off some of our excess power, and it will need a host right away—Jessie would be the perfect person for it to join with.

      "That sounds alarmingly like we're going to have a baby," Billy said.

     
It is completely different,
Dude said.

      "No, not completely different," Billy said.

      "You're pregnant?" Jessie said.

     
Think of it more like when a single-celled organism splits in two,
Dude said.
But much more complicated.

      "That is so not making this sound any better, Dude," Billy said.

     
Either way, it is the only solution I can think of that will work,
Dude said.
You are going to need a third person to assist, just in case.

      "Absolutely not," Billy said.

      "Absolutely yes we're doing this," Jessie said. "What's he saying?"

      "He's saying we need a midwife," Billy said, putting his head in his hands.

*  *  *

      In what would become the strangest conversation Billy would ever have in his entire life, he and Dude determined who they would seek out to help. The first thought, of course, was Emily, but best friend or not, there was no way Billy wanted to Emily to know about this before he was mentally prepared to be ridiculed for it. Jane was the most trustworthy, of course, but she was in bad shape and Billy was having trouble looking her in the eyes without picturing snow melting in her hair.

      Telling Doc about it felt incredibly awkward, and Kate terrified him by default. Which is why Billy sent Jessie to go get Titus.

      "You're going to have a baby?" the werewolf said, laughing so hard he choked on his own spit.

      "Seriously, Titus, I asked you to help because I believe you would not make fun of me," Billy said. "If I wanted comments from a peanut gallery I could have asked Emily."

      "Okay, okay, I'll stop, momma. Don't worry," Titus said. "I'll be your midwife."

      "Seriously man—"

      "Kidding," Titus said. "What am I doing?"

      Titus, Billy, and Jessie sat in a room toward the back of the facility, just a living area with couches and a dead television.

      "I think it's pretty straightforward," Billy said. "You're really just here in case things go weird."

      "Should I boil some water?" Titus said.

      "I guess I'm gonna have to start calling you Emily," Billy said. "It's not like that. Dude will basically break off a percentage of his energy. It'll become its own Luminae a few minutes later, and then it'll need a host. Jessie's right here, so . . ."

      "What are we going to name him?" Jessie said.

      "Don't do this to me," Billy said.

      They really are relentless, are they not?
Dude said.

      "I've got no friends, apparently," Billy said.

      "Junior," Titus said.

      "Little Dude?" Jessie said.

      "Look, I'm really glad you guys are having fun with this, but can we get it over with now? I'm sick of being nervous and fluorescent," Billy said.

     
Can I begin, or will your friends continue to mock us?
Dude said.

      "Let's get it over with," Billy said.

      He stood up, arms at his side, and felt a strange tug in his chest. His limbs got cold, as if he'd been hit with a wave of nervous energy. The room turned very warm, and his head swam. He felt one arm lift and then Titus slip himself under it to support him.

      "I got ya, bud," Titus said. "No worries."

      "Dude, tell me this isn't going to get any weirder," Billy said.

      And then a blue-white light appeared in the center of his chest and flew out, hovering a few feet in front of him.

      "Hey guys, what's going on up here?" Emily said, appearing in the doorway rubbing her eyes. "Oh my god it's a baby Dude!"

      "I hate my life," Billy said. His head spun and Titus held on tighter to keep him on his feet.

      The light grew brighter and larger, drifting in mid-air a moment. Then it plunged into Jessie's chest. She gasped, and her whole body lit up for a brief second, her veins gleaming beneath her skin. She started to fall, but Emily threw out her hands and caught her in a bubble of float, easing Jessie's limp body into the closest chair.

      "Billy, how dare you not invite me to the birth of your first child!" Emily said.

      "I hate every single one of you so much," Billy said.

      Titus sat him down in another armchair, and leaned in to look into his eyes. "Well, you're not all the way normal, but you're closer to it," he said.

      "What does that mean?" Billy said.

      "You're not a glow-stick anymore," Emily said, doing the same for Jessie, brushing the girl's hair out of her face. "You still look a little sparkly but you're a lot better than that human light bulb you'd become."

      Billy sighed. Dude, you still in there? He thought.

     
I would really prefer to not have to do that again anytime soon,
Dude said.
It felt like I cut off one of my own limbs.

      Are you okay? Billy thought.

     
I am whole,
Dude said.
I have all my memories, I hope. We are at full power. How is the new Luminae?

      "How you doing, Jessie?" Billy said.

      "She's new," Jessie said, smiling. "She's really new. She knows things, but . . . This is so cool."

      "She?" Billy said.

      "It's a girl! Can we name her after you?" Emily said. "Wilhelmina! Wilhelmina Case has a great ring to it."

      "You know what? I have no idea what really just happened here, and I'm perfectly happy to not understand it," Titus said. "You both feeling okay? Are we good?"

      "I think we're good," Billy said. "So now there are apparently two Straylights once again."

      Jessie shook her head at him. "I'm not Straylight anymore," she said her voice tinged with sadness. "I think I'm something else."

      "Well, you're gonna need a new name, then," Emily said. "Can I pick it?"

      "I think I should name myself after Solar somehow," Jessie said. "She was the one who found me after you—after the other Billy Case—died. It just feels right to do something to remember her by."

      "Would you call yourself Solar?" Titus said.