“Not if they've been watching us,” I argued. “They may have stolen a bunch of relics and then waited for the trickster to make a move before they began stealing souls.”
They went silent, thinking it over.
Odin had yet to open his bottle of beer. He gripped the base, tapping his index finger on the glass. “Or maybe the trickster took Ty and those god items, and the missing souls are an entirely different issue.”
“Two gods attacking at same time?” Kirill asked.
I considered it. “They're not both attacking, but yes, they've shown up at the same time. As I said, someone could have been watching and waiting. This just doesn't seem like something the trickster would do. There's no reason for them to take souls.”
“Who knows with them?” Viper motioned in the air. “There may very well be a reason that we can't comprehend because it's nutso.”
“Or they've seen the future and are working under that knowledge. But you didn't talk to that soul, Viper. He was wrong. Missing parts . . . of . . .”
“Vervain?” Odin cocked his head.
“He wasn't whole.” I frowned, trying to work through it. “And that voice.”
“What voice?” Trevor asked.
“The soul said he was cold, then he was moving.” I spun my hand as if rolling forward. “When he stopped, he heard a voice that said, 'analysis complete.'”
“Like a computer program?” Odin asked.
I blinked. “Yes, and then the voice said, 'error.' That sounds like something a computer would say.”
“A.I.,” Azrael murmured, shifting his gaze around the table.
We all went quiet.
Not that long ago, we'd gotten trapped in a magical online game and had to battle a character inspired by the Faerie God. Talk about the rise of the machines.
“Could this be another game?” Trevor asked. “Not a game of the trickster's, but in the Internet?”
“Oh, my goodness,” I whispered. “The Inter Realm. That sounds more like it. Could we have infected the Inter Realm with Wild Magic?”
“No, that game was confined to a mainframe,” Odin said, even as he looked worried.
“Analysis complete,” I whispered. “A computer system is analyzing souls!”
“What about the error?” Re asked. “Was that why the soul reached Heaven? The computer malfunctioned, sending it where it was originally headed?”
“Yes!” I pointed at him. “That must be it! And if it is the Internet, it would explain the timing. The Inter Realm lies over the Human Realm. It would see everything, know everything, and it could calculate the best time to start its plan.”
“TheTerminator,” Viper whispered. “Whoa. The movie was a warning.”
“Shut up.” Re rolled his eyes. “Why would the Internet start collecting souls?”
“If it's infected with Wild Magic, there wouldn't have to be a reason. The magic could even make it sentient.” Azrael clenched his hands on the table. “I need to handle this.”
“These are only theories,” Odin reminded us. “Where would the Inter Realm put souls? In a mainframe?”
I gaped at him.
“Whoa,” Viper whispered. “Batteries. Humans are batteries!”
“Would you stop with theTerminatorcrap?” Re growled.
“He's not wrong.” Odin scowled. “We've used their worship to power us for centuries. If the Inter Realm is becoming self-aware, it may very well be hunting for its own energy source. Then it wouldn't have to rely on humans to feed it. It could take what it needed.”
