Chronos - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Chapter 2 – Meeting

Thankfully, I had no problems getting back to the library before my meeting. The subway was on time, for once, and there were no groups blocking the elevators. Even with my walking pace being slow thanks to my old injury, I was able to make decent time. Even had enough time to stop by a food cart for a hot dog.

Of course, I could have taken my bike, instead of the subway, when I went to the bank, but flight was restricted in the city, and finding parking, even handicapped parking, was not fun. It was actually quicker to just take the subway. Less walking involved, too.

I paused as I hobbled past my skybike to place a hand on the fender. It was a production model, though I’d made some modifications to allow it to go into space or underwater. Of course, it didn’t have the life support functions to allow someone to live like that, but I already had that covered, myself. The bike could reach 250 mph if I pushed it, in the air or on the ground, but, in the city, I was lucky to get 25 mph at times.

Thankfully, I could manage the marble steps with my cane, so I didn’t need to go the long way around and take the wheelchair ramp. I could walk without the cane, at least for short spurts, but over any kind of real distance I would have been crying, honestly. The six wide stairs leading up to the door were not a problem for me.

Inside the building, I said hello to Tracy, the librarian at the front desk, and headed to the elevator. I was on good terms with most of the staff here at the library, playing up the persona of a crippled academic who was perfectly harmless, really. Everyone trusted me, and they knew I even did a bit of fortune-telling, among other things. The talismans I gave out to staff every year to keep the flu and cold at bay were always well received, and there was a standing fund in the budget for materials now, and several of the staff had actually gone into their own pocket to get me to make permanent versions for them.

The Mystic Arts section was in the basement. Not because it was deemed unimportant, or anything like that. Rather, it was easier to restrict access to the tomes when they were, well, in an area with restricted access. And part of my employment mandated that I ensured that access remained restricted.

I smiled at the feeling of the wards passing over me as the elevator descended. The wards were tuned to keep out spectral entities, as well as completely negating fire, water, wind, and earth powers and effects. The vacuums the janitorial staff had to have a special talisman on them to work down here, and even the most powerful pyrokinetic in the world would struggle to so much as light a match.

A second set of wards covered the entire floor with a field that prevented physical damage to the books, but it also worked on the people down here. That set of wards was why the Mystic Arts section of the library also had two small conference rooms down here, that were often in demand for secure meetings on ‘neutral ground’. Everyone from gang leaders to supervillains had used the space to have talks, especially in the couple years since the Pulse, because it allowed them to talk without worrying about sudden violence.

My desk was by the stairs to the main floor, about twenty feet from the elevator. Of course, the stairs were much more than the six I’d climbed to get into the building. No surprise, since the ceiling of this basement level was ten feet below ground, and there were some tall ceilings in here.

Five minutes before the scheduled meeting time, I heard the clicking of high heels on the wooden steps heading down to my domain. I looked up to see three people descending the stairs, heading my way. I knew that these were the people I was meeting, since I recognized them immediately from their pictures online.

Skye Hunter was better known as Skytalon, leader of the Liberty Belles, a local hero team that focused primarily on street-level crime, since the Protectors were often out of town dealing with major threats. She was a flier and close quarters specialist, using her talons to decimate any gangers foolish enough to try and take her on. That had not stopped me from getting a taste of her, of course.

Captain Owen Lawson, on the other hand, was known as the Quartermaster. He was part of the Army, and, despite his lack of combat-related powers, there wasn’t a single special forces team on the planet that wouldn’t kill for him to be assigned to their unit for a mission. Having access to a dimensional pocket that could easily store anything a team could possibly need for a year-long deployment was worth more than his weight in gold to teams that often found themselves in hostile territory with no easy way to resupply.

And, finally, there was Tessa Stone, better known as the second Lady Liberty. When she was the former Lady Liberty’s sidekick, she had been known as Patriot Girl. Silly names, but they had symbolic appeal to many people. At any rate, I recognized her immediately, since it had been little more than an hour since I’d last seen her, up close and personal.

As the trio made their way to my desk, I saw a glimmer in the Army man’s eye, and smiled. I recognized that look all too well. “Go on, say it. You know you want to.”

The Captain smiled, and offered his hand. “Doctor Livingston, I presume?”

I shook the offered hand. “Yes, indeed. And don’t worry, if I was offended by the joke I would have changed my name a long time ago, I assure you. And, of course, I recognize the three of you from your profiles online. Would you like to call you by name, or your codenames?”

Lawson nodded once. “Standard protocol for superheroes is that names are fine, when we’re out of costume. I’m in uniform and not in the field, so ‘Captain Lawson’ or just ‘Captain’ works fine for me. I don’t expect civilians to call me sir, or anything like that. If I were on mission or in the field, then it would be ‘Quartermaster’.”

I looked at the two ladies briefly, and got nods from each of them. “Well, then, Captain, ladies, I have Conference Room 1 available, just over there.” I motioned to the door to the conference room, and picked up my cane.

Shortly, we were all in the conference room, sitting in comfortable chairs around a table sized for four people on a side, and one on either end. Captain Lawson gave me a few nondisclosure agreements to sign, which I did. After all, I wasn’t planning on talking to anyone about this. Looking at the three other people, I smiled, and said, “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting so large a group to come and see me. I am afraid that Ms. Diaz did not give me much to go on to prepare for this meeting. Might I know what is going on?”

Skye began the conversation. “It is about that bastard, Chronos. I’m sure you’ve seen the name in the news before now. They made a big deal out of it after he attacked Miss Mysterious. We’ve managed to keep most of the details out of the press since then, but the last couple years have seen nothing but escalations from him. At this point, I believe he has raped every single female superheroine in the city, and we still have nothing to go on.”

Tessa nodded. “Bailey told me that you were at the bank earlier today. I was the last superheroine that hadn’t been… defiled by that bastard, and as you no doubt saw…” She trailed off, not wanting to speak further.

I nodded my head, faking understanding. “Of course, of course. You need not explain further. If this is something to do with this Chronos figure, I can understand why you might be here. But I am interested to hear the Army’s reason for getting involved?”

Captain Lawson coughed once, and said, “Well, Chronos is rumored to have some sort of control over time itself. We don’t know the full extent of these abilities, or how the Pulse might have changed them. However, even the limited abilities we’ve already seen evidenced by Chronos is enough to get certain parties interested.

“As you might have heard, the Pentagon introduced a program last year, with Congress’s approval, to provide superhuman criminals with an alternative to an extended stay in the Obsidian Gate facility. Properly monitored, the criminals are sent on missions for the military that may be too dangerous for normal troops, reducing their sentence for each mission they complete. This allows the criminals to work off their debt to society, and help protect the country at the same time.”

“And I’m guessing that the criminals don’t have much say in what kind of missions they’re sent on, or have a choice at all in whether or not they join the team?”

“I cannot comment on that. However, I can state that all participants do sign all the appropriate waivers and contracts to ensure that the team’s existence stands up to legal challenges. The law mandates that even convicted criminals have rights, after all.”

“Of course. And, from the context, I’m assuming that the powers that be want Chronos to be part of their team of unwilling heroes?”

“That would be a good assumption. Properly channeled, Chronos’s abilities could be put to good use safeguarding the country. Unfortunately, his abilities also make containment, capture, and control rather difficult.”

I looked at the other two ladies, and said, “And you are on board with this kind of sanctioned government hit squad?”

Skye grimaced, and said, “Not exactly. All three of our organizations wants Chronos off the street. The Protectors and the Liberty Belles want him to face trial for what he’s done, and rot in prison. Unfortunately, we’ve come up against the same problems the military has, finding a way to capture and contain him.”

Tessa sighed. “The Black Hat had been working on the problem for us. Unfortunately, just as he started to show some signs of progress, there was an explosion in his car. His identity was never made public, so we were able to say that he had retired, instead of admitting to the press that he was murdered, and we had no clues.”

“Forgive me if this sounds trite, but the Black Hat left the public eye almost two years ago. If you were working on a way to capture Chronos all this time, why are you coming to me now?”

The Captain sighed. “Because it took us this long to vet you, Doctor. You are widely regarded as one of the foremost experts on the arcane, but you have done nothing with that expertise, to most people’s knowledge, but secure your place as a librarian here in Liberty City. Your entire adult history, as far as public records are concerned, is so completely dull that several analysts were certain that large portions of it had been fabricated, even with corroboration.”

I winced slightly. I had made my public history unexciting, so that no one would look too deeply into me, but it seemed that had just made the government analysts more curious. I guess it was possible to be too bland to be believed.

Lawson continued, “Initially, the analysts believed that you were acting like most costumed vigilantes, and simply protecting a secret identity. However, when they checked things, they found no evidence of that. Would you mind letting us in on the secret, so I can get the analysts to stand down?”

I sighed, and said, “It really isn’t all that interesting, you know. When I was younger, I did have some dreams about being one of those costumed adventurer types. But you have to be in shape for that kind of thing. Lots of running, you know. After my injury during a training incident, back in ’04, I was no longer to run, or even walk for long distances unassisted. I could maybe handle myself against a couple goons who were more muscle than brains, but I certainly wouldn’t be able to handle a supervillain in a fair fight.

“No, captain,” I shook my head, “I’m afraid that any kind of combat role is past me, at this point. The only way I can contribute to society is through research, and helping others realize their dreams, which is why I am in charge of the Mystic Arts section. Maybe, one day, they’ll find a way to cure my leg enough that I can walk without a cane again, but I doubt it. It is past the point where even magical healing can help it, especially since it was botched magical healing that caused the extended difficulties to begin with.”

“No one is asking you to take the field, Doctor,” Tessa cut in. “However, we did come here to ask you if there was any way that you could help us catch Chronos, and end his reign of terror.”