“In my case, I don’t think she had a choice. She got roped into being my guide since everyone else was gone,” his wry reply.
“It’s all-hands-on-deck. Everyone but me is out trying to contain the situation in Toronto. Although we might have to redeploy a few warriors, as some of the locations we thought cleared have had more aliens appear.”
“Why aren’t you fighting?”
Aquarius grimaced. “Because the boss has me researching. I’m what you would call the local tech. I’m gathering as much data as I can in the hopes we can get ahead of this problem.”
“I’ve heard they came from those meteors that crashed, but that seems hard to believe. I thought those chunks weren’t all that big? And those things I fought…”
“Yeah, that’s part of the riddle we’re trying to solve. My current theory is they must have contained eggs of some sort that went into rapid growth once they hit our ecosystem.”
“Leila says the sample she’s working on isn’t dead and that she even got it to grow.”
“Interesting. I’ll have to check the network and see if she’s filed a preliminary report on her findings. Regenerative capabilities might explain some of our issues. Could be killing them isn’t enough.”
“You saying we’re dealing with immortal aliens?” The query raised his brows.
“Everything can be killed, but some are tougher than others. I’m going to let Aries know we should probably start incinerating the bodies, in case they’re like vampires and can heal themselves back to life.”
“Vampires?” Grayson had a feeling he’d keep hearing things that surprised for the next little bit.
“Yeah. Nasty buggers, but not as bad as these aliens. If they’re capable of regenerating, even from catastrophic wounds, that would explain the resurgence in some parts and why we’ve not gotten a handle yet in Toronto.” Aquarius stood and laid hisnapkin on the table. “Cool to meet you, but unfortunately, I gotta run. This information is too important to sit on.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Start preparing yourself to fight.”
A suggestion easier said than done. The training room proved somewhat daunting. The far end held exercise equipment, which he knew how to use, but the wall of weapons? He grabbed a long sword and swung it a few times, only to make a face. Damned thing weighed a ton. He wouldn’t be able to wield it for long unless he got stronger. With that thought in mind, he hit the weights and noticed not only did he not tire quickly, but his usual bench press of 250 pounds seemed too easy. He added some metal discs, bringing it to three hundred, and found it slightly more challenging. So, definitely stronger than before. He noticed the same difference with his other regular exercises. All his weights had to be adjusted upwards, and when he went for a jog on the treadmill, he kept increasing his pace and not breathing hard.
When the tread stopped abruptly, it jolted his entire body, and he cursed. “What the fuck?” Had it lost power?
The lights flickered, and he glanced to the ceiling.Slam. The door to the training room opened, hitting the wall.
He pursed his lips. Ghosts or… “Um, hey, Tower, you trying to tell me something?”
The door waggled. Guess it wanted him to leave. He exited and did a double take because the staircase had changed. No longer did it descend, couldn’t since a smooth floor blocked the lower levels. Guess he’d have to go up. And up. The stairs turned into a moving escalator that zipped.
The floors he’d passed on his way down had been sealed off, leaving him with only one route. As he reached the seventh, he ran into Aquarius, looking just as puzzled.
“I see Tower summoned you, too,” the other man said.
“Does it do that often?”
“No, which means whatever it is must be important. Do you have a weapon?”
“Never even occurred to me to grab one. I thought this place was safe.”
“It is. But it never hurts to be cautious. I’ve got a dagger and a revolver. Come on. Let’s see where Tower wants us to go.”
Heading up with Aquarius reduced some of Grayson’s discomfort at being led around by a sentient building. As they got zipped upward, Aquarius muttered, “Not sure what’s beyond the twelfth floor. All of our stuff is on the first dozen levels.”
“How many floors are there?”
“An insane amount. Let’s just say the rooftop pokes the Earth’s upper atmosphere.”
Grayson almost blurted that was impossible but held his tongue because, hello, nothing about this place followed any normal rules.
Their ascent ended on the sixteenth floor with the moving stairs abruptly stopping and disappearing entirely. Guess they’d reached their destination.
