A Question of Will by Alex Albrinck

about his past dealings with us. Secondly, if your Energy is back, and you’re Will Stark, why bother with deflecting knives and burrowing into the ground? Why not just teleport far away?”
    “The man had been beaten pretty badly. His Energy reserves were undoubtedly being tapped for healing. He couldn’t spare the Energy for something like a teleport at that point.”
    “And if he’d used Energy, even for healing, let alone his burrowing trick, I would have known immediately,” Porthos snapped. “Nice try, Aramis. Your theory only works if Athos and I are both simultaneously unable to do our jobs while you’re crying on the ground like a baby. Good cover.”
    “Shut up, Porthos!” Aramis snapped, turning red.
    “Make me, tough guy. Oh look, Aramis, there’s somebody saying they broke an Oath. Time to throw a fit!”
    “Ahem,” The Leader said, and the two Hunters were immediately silent, though they did stare daggers at each other.
    “We do need to consider Stark’s claim of fathering a child,” the Leader said. “Simply put, we have no direct, concrete evidence to prove or disprove the claim. There were no bodies seen in the house, and we’ll need to monitor the local news reports for the next few days to see if any bodies are located, or if they at least reference a child as missing or deceased. The humans will know the truth of his claim. We may hear reports of five or more bodies found in the house by the human authorities.”
    “Five?” Porthos asked, arching an eyebrow.
    “Stark. His wife. The alleged child. The Assassin. One or more Alliance members helping Stark.” The Leader raised a finger as he listed each individual. “We could hear of five or more, or we could hear of four presumed deaths if the human authorities conclude that the Starks and their killer all perished in the fire and burned beyond recognition.”
    He paused. “But I doubt that any bodies will be found, regardless of the state of destruction of the house. You see, The Assassin cannot be harmed by fire. If they find no bodies, it means the Assassin wasn’t in the house when you left right before that bomb went off. They’d find everything else in ashes, save for one man’s body, dead or unconscious, and unmarked by fire. If we hear reports of something like that, my opinion will change, but until then, my conclusion is simply this: the Alliance has everyone that was in that house, living or dead. Stark was pulled from our grasp, The Assassin hasn’t contacted us, and a body hasn’t been found. He wouldn’t hide from us, even if he thought he’d failed. No, the only explanation is that the Alliance has him. And they have Stark. More than likely, they have Stark’s family as well, living or dead.” He shook his head. “I’ve no ideas yet of what technology or Energy skill the Alliance used to make Stark seem so human , but it’s clear that everyone’s abilities here are still working correctly.”
    He pounded his fist into the table. “I don’t like this at all. It makes me feel so... human .”
    The Hunters shuddered.
    “Sir?” Athos said. “With this new technology...what do we do now?”
    “Continue to seek them out. You will need to travel more, move around frequently, and try to catch them unawares. There is no need for subtlety of action now. The order to avoid harm to fugitives is revoked; subdue first, harm to render unconscious as needed. We need our people to see these people return and admit to their wrongdoing, however it is that we get them back. We cannot sit back again and wait for them to make a mistake, or for our previous detection systems to work. We must seek them out, and stop them immediately. Their technological gains are troubling.”
    He glanced at the men, whose faces were full of determination mixed with concern. “Go.”
    They vanished from his sight.
    The Leader pulled out the scrap of paper he’d retrieved outside the Stark house and sat at the desk in the hotel suite. He