be making it so that you’ll grow up in a world where horses have not gone extinct. Have you thought of that? You could ride them as a boy, and …” Afon trailed off when he realized the implications of what he had suggested. His friend’s whole family had died in the apocalypse of 2100. If the past was changed …
Nanook turned to Afon, “My god, they could live? Anaanaq … Ataataq … my mother … my father … they could live?”
Afon shut his eyes and took a deep breath, “Perhaps. We will ask Isi when we return to Detroit, but no false hope brother. Our road is a long one, and victory is far from sure. For now, let’s go and find our new soldier to enlist in the Earth’s cause, okay?”
Nanook nodded. “Where do you think we should start our search? Harland was certainly fond of his drink when we met, so a pub-crawl might be a good way to begin.”
Afon laughed, “And a drink might be a good idea for you as well, my man. Alright, I think the place that Harland took us to is just a few blocks from here.”
Afon and Nanook walked up the cobblestone street, looking every inch the picture of two proper English gentlemen.
A newspaper boy was hawking his wares on the corner of the street. “Only a farthing! Ripper strikes again! Read all about it! Bloody rampage continues! Jack the Ripper strikes again!”
Afon and Nanook exchanged a knowing, and horrified, look. Afon approached the boy, and handed him two farthings. Taking a pause in their search for Harland, they found the nearest pub and retreated with their copies of the paper, to a booth in the far corner of the room.
Afon’s face was planted one inch from the paper as he read, “The conclusion that the desire was to possess the missing abdominal organ seemed overwhelming,” Afon said, reading out loud to Nanook. “If the object were robbery, the injuries to the viscera were meaningless, for death had previously resulted from the loss of blood at the neck.”
“It’s him,” Nanook said. “Except for the weird thing about a missing organ, that sounds exactly like a report of a body that one of us has fed on. The missing organ could just be Harland’s way of trying to cover his tracks … making it look like a wild animal attack.”
“Exactly, Nanook, it is him,” Afon said. “But he’s not quite one of us, and he’s not trying to cover his tracks. No one believes that wild animals are roaming the streets of London. The newspapers are quite clear that this is the murderous rampage of a man.”
“Then what is he up to?” Nanook said.
“He has no idea what he’s up to, why should we?” Afon said. “It’s quite obvious that our friend Harland has gone stark, raving mad.”
Nanook nodded, “Just like some of the other Immortals that Mortterra showed off as prime examples of why we should all be executed.”
“I’ve always wondered about that,” Afon said. “The few Immortals that were guilty of murder, were all ones that had supposedly escaped from Thule Airbase, and they were all newly injected. If they were deliberately denied blood, and if they were kept deliberately ignorant of the injections that they had received, then, just like our boy Harland, they would probably go completely insane. Murder would be their only way to get blood, and with no knowledge of their powers, no way to restrain themselves, the murders would be particularly gruesome.”
“You think that Mortterra set those men up?” Nanook said. “Why? He was tied to Project Immortality in the public eye. Why would he want it to fail?”
“Ignis Mortterra only agreed to support Project Immortality, in exchange for Isi developing the Infinmachine for him,” Afon said. “Every scientist in the AmEur Alliance was approached to build a time machine, and every single one of them claimed that it was impossible. They had all figured out the simple physics, but they also all knew that the amount of power necessary to bring a large number of people into the
Nanook turned to Afon, “My god, they could live? Anaanaq … Ataataq … my mother … my father … they could live?”
Afon shut his eyes and took a deep breath, “Perhaps. We will ask Isi when we return to Detroit, but no false hope brother. Our road is a long one, and victory is far from sure. For now, let’s go and find our new soldier to enlist in the Earth’s cause, okay?”
Nanook nodded. “Where do you think we should start our search? Harland was certainly fond of his drink when we met, so a pub-crawl might be a good way to begin.”
Afon laughed, “And a drink might be a good idea for you as well, my man. Alright, I think the place that Harland took us to is just a few blocks from here.”
Afon and Nanook walked up the cobblestone street, looking every inch the picture of two proper English gentlemen.
A newspaper boy was hawking his wares on the corner of the street. “Only a farthing! Ripper strikes again! Read all about it! Bloody rampage continues! Jack the Ripper strikes again!”
Afon and Nanook exchanged a knowing, and horrified, look. Afon approached the boy, and handed him two farthings. Taking a pause in their search for Harland, they found the nearest pub and retreated with their copies of the paper, to a booth in the far corner of the room.
Afon’s face was planted one inch from the paper as he read, “The conclusion that the desire was to possess the missing abdominal organ seemed overwhelming,” Afon said, reading out loud to Nanook. “If the object were robbery, the injuries to the viscera were meaningless, for death had previously resulted from the loss of blood at the neck.”
“It’s him,” Nanook said. “Except for the weird thing about a missing organ, that sounds exactly like a report of a body that one of us has fed on. The missing organ could just be Harland’s way of trying to cover his tracks … making it look like a wild animal attack.”
“Exactly, Nanook, it is him,” Afon said. “But he’s not quite one of us, and he’s not trying to cover his tracks. No one believes that wild animals are roaming the streets of London. The newspapers are quite clear that this is the murderous rampage of a man.”
“Then what is he up to?” Nanook said.
“He has no idea what he’s up to, why should we?” Afon said. “It’s quite obvious that our friend Harland has gone stark, raving mad.”
Nanook nodded, “Just like some of the other Immortals that Mortterra showed off as prime examples of why we should all be executed.”
“I’ve always wondered about that,” Afon said. “The few Immortals that were guilty of murder, were all ones that had supposedly escaped from Thule Airbase, and they were all newly injected. If they were deliberately denied blood, and if they were kept deliberately ignorant of the injections that they had received, then, just like our boy Harland, they would probably go completely insane. Murder would be their only way to get blood, and with no knowledge of their powers, no way to restrain themselves, the murders would be particularly gruesome.”
“You think that Mortterra set those men up?” Nanook said. “Why? He was tied to Project Immortality in the public eye. Why would he want it to fail?”
“Ignis Mortterra only agreed to support Project Immortality, in exchange for Isi developing the Infinmachine for him,” Afon said. “Every scientist in the AmEur Alliance was approached to build a time machine, and every single one of them claimed that it was impossible. They had all figured out the simple physics, but they also all knew that the amount of power necessary to bring a large number of people into the
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