“We must—” Old Man Winter began to speak but stopped, his eyes frozen as he looked past the members of M-Squad who were clustered just outside his office door.
“Hello, Eric,” a shadowy figure came forward out of the darkness, her greeting tempered by a heavy accent. There was a multiplicity of shadowy figures standing out in the cubicle farm that monopolized the center of the fourth floor, none of them visible in anything other than silhouette save for the one who had spoken, the one who stood in the aisle that led straight out Winter’s door. She stepped forward another step, and the explosions out the windows to her left lit her face. She was barely visible, even with the fading glow of the explosion that had destroyed the science building lighting her profile.
“Bastet,” Winter said, shouldering his way past Zack and M-Squad. “It has been a long time since Bubastis. I can only assume that this is not a social call.”
“Hardly,” she said with dull amusement, almost slinking forward, holding to the shadows. “We’ve come to destroy your Directorate, all the buildings, all the structures and, if you force us to, you as well.”
“And what have we done that has so provoked Omega’s ire, Bast?” I could have sworn I heard a little sarcasm from him.
“As if you don’t know,” she said, laughing. She didn’t act particularly venerable, the way I would have thought an old god would; she seemed more cautious. “Stealing Andromeda and allowing her to be killed by Century?”
Winter showed a flicker of emotion. “Century? I had thought them finished long ago.”
Bastet offered him a playful smile. “You are far behind, Erich. They’re a threat, rising in power, growing. They have new leaders—one them I think you’re very familiar with—what was his name when you ran across him in Peshtigo?”
Winter actually paled, something I wouldn’t have thought possible for the light-skinned giant. “He called himself Sovereign. A man unto himself.”
“Sovereign and Century,” Bastet said, smirking. “Andromeda was our hedge against them. Sienna was too, once we found out about her, but you’ve blocked her from us.” She gave a neat shrug. “That’s fine. You’ve annoyed and harassed us for far too long, Winter, hampering everything we do in America to try and protect our interests. Your moment to do that is done.” Her face hardened. “Century has begun wiping out every single metahuman that they can get to. They mean to destroy us all, and leave only themselves behind on the earth.”
“Who are they?” Zack said, and I sensed his sudden blush when the question crept out.
Bastet smiled. “They are a hundred of the world’s most powerful metas, united in a common purpose.” Her smirk vanished. “To be last one hundred metas on the face of the planet.”
“Extinction of the species?” Parks said. “I can’t believe the humans are just gonna lie down and let themselves get wiped out.”
“The humans will not be wiped out,” Bastet said. “They’ll be slaves.”
“Ridiculous,” Zack said. “A hundred metas against the armies of the world? Against guns, and bombs and nuclear weapons?” He snorted. “Good luck. Your age was over about a millennium ago.” He looked her up and down. “That cat … is out of the bag.”
Bastet laughed at his joke, a delicate, chiming laugh that was followed with something that almost sounded like the meow of a mountain lion. “I’m afraid that until fairly recently, you would have been right. The relentless march of technology has dissolved our advantage over the humans. That was made painfully obvious to us who believed differently by the chaos of World War One.” She turned her gaze to Winter, who had said nothing. “But with the addition of … Sovereign … at their head … you are now quite wrong.”
“He … “ Winter said, “ … has never cared to involve himself in the affairs of others. He has never desired to bother with anything he did not wish to … dabble with.”
Bastet’s eyes flicked narrow, like a cat, watching them. “It would appear that someone has changed his mind.” She waved a hand at them, Zack, Ariadne, who stood still, too stunned to speak, and M-Squad. “None of you need die right now. My orders are to destroy your facilities and warn you to remove yourselves from our affairs. Interfere with us again, it will become rather more than warning, but for now … every last one of you can walk out of here today, go on about the rest of your lives free from worry.” She smiled. “Other than the worry that should creep upon you at the thought of what Century is doing in this very moment. And the fear of what we will do should you come between us and our objectives again.” She looked them over with a smile. “Go on. Be about your business. Omega will take care of this problem.” She let out a slow breath that sounded like she was stretching. “Just as we always have.”