Omega(95)
I slowed as I grew closer, and halted about forty feet from the entrance to the building. I saw a lone body on the ground on the walkway. I ran to it and fell to my knees, rolling the corpse over and smothering the fire that was licking at it. It was scorched up and down it, the flames having had a good bit of time to work.
It was Doctor Sessions, I realized from the half of a face that remained. I had pulled him from the flaming wreckage of the last science building still alive and he had been healed by Kat. This time, I realized, staring into the dead eyes of the doctor, there would be no last-minute healing, no ultimate salvation. I took off my glove and held my fingers to his wrist, trying to feel for a pulse against the burnt and blackened skin; there was none.
I stood, listening over the sound of the crackling fire, my eyes searching the campus for movement and finding none. I flinched as another explosion echoed across the grounds, and realized that this time it was the gymnasium, the brick building consumed in another blast of flame and wreckage. Pieces of brick and flecks of glass and paper rained down around me and I covered my head to shield myself from the falling detritus. A moment later, another explosion came and I watched the training center, the place where I had spent so many hours honing my skills, vanish in an orange-red conflagration that streaked up into the sky under a billowing black cloud.
I stood there, the night air eating at me under my jacket, feeling my hands sweat and chill in my gloves. I tried to gather my thoughts. I had no idea what was causing the explosions, whether it was a meta or some sort of bomb, but so far they seemed to be hitting the most abandoned areas of the campus. Since I hadn’t seen motion between the buildings, it seemed most likely that a bomb was responsible, rather than a meta like Gavrikov. I ran a hand through my hair and thought about the quietest buildings on the campus, thought about Zack, and the cold consumed me. I ran for the headquarters building, my feet pounding underneath me as I ran faster than I thought I ever had.
I hit the lobby, throwing open the glass door and dashing into the foyer. The place was quiet, but a single door was open in the distance, emergency lighting washing out of it—the stairs. I cursed and drew my pistol. I ducked into the back stairwell, using my gun to cover the angles as I descended. There was no noise from above me, but below I could hear something, motion, voices. I came down, the eerie floodlights giving me enough light to see by. I pointed my weapon down the long hall as I came to the bottom of the stairs. I could see movement down there, and the conversation was clear now.
“Come down, Sienna Nealon,” came the voice of a shadow, standing in the middle of the hallway. “Yes, I know it’s you, I can see you in the light. Like a little angel, really.”
“So...” I said, and cleared the corners as I entered the hall, waiting to see if someone was going to attack me. I couldn’t see ahead very well, and it looked almost like there was only the one figure waiting for me, a man, older, but still just one man. “Are you Janus?”
“Ah, she already knows my name!” He sounded insufferably pleased. “No need for introductions, then, straight to the point. They told me you were clever, and I believed them, but this...this is exceptional, really.” His accent was European, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“It’s still considered polite to introduce yourself.”
“Ah, so right,” he said, as I closed in on him, stopping about fifteen feet away. “Where are my manners? My name is Janus, and I am here...to help you with a very difficult transition. Now, you need not be afraid, because I’m not here to hurt you, or threaten you or...any of that useless piffle you’ve experienced from Omega in the past.” He waved a hand, as if dismissing those thoughts. “I am merely here to have a conversation with you.”