16.x (Bonus Interlude 1; PRT Squad)

Worm, Chapter 16.x (Bonus Interlude 1; PRT Squad) Summary

The helicopter touches down, stirring dust and debris. Evan, the squad leader, checks in with his team and the other squads. They are part of the Parahuman Response Teams, equipped with containment foam and heavy weaponry. Their mission: Ellisburg. Their target: a high-level Changer named Jamie Rinke, suspected of being responsible for the town’s disappearance from the grid.

Ellisburg is a ghost town. No power, no communication, no people, not even animals or insects. Rinke is a changer-seven, trump-four, a former banker who triggered after losing his job. He’s been on a crime spree, and the Protectorate’s initial investigation went dark.

The plan is to move in a spiral pattern towards the town’s center, maintain radio contact, and use containment foam and incendiaries on Rinke. Evan’s squad moves out, finding abandoned cars and signs of struggle but no bodies. They spot a bloated, jester-like figure hauling a large sack, confirmed to be Rinke.

They wait for the other squads, planning to foam and burn him, following Changer protocol. They open fire as Rinke turns towards them, but he’s unfazed. Incendiary grenades light him up, but he keeps advancing. Rinke throws a net, which Lady shoots out of the air with foam, trapping him. He’s burned to a crisp, his stomach bursting open to reveal a slurry of bodies.

Distant gunfire erupts. Squad one reports hostiles. Bone spears kill two of their men. Evan realizes Rinke isn’t a Changer but a Master-class cape, controlling an army of monstrous creatures. They range in size and shape, pouring out from the buildings. The PRT suits are penetrated by the spines, which are stronger than bullets.

Evan’s squad retreats through a store, gunning down creatures inside. They fight their way through the streets, using flares to signal for evac. One creature, a pear-shaped woman, gives birth to more monsters. They realize Rinke’s power isn’t just creating monsters, but monsters that breed.

Choppers one and two are down, the capes have fled. Squad three is retreating to a landing point. The ground rumbles, a clawed hand grabs Tieu, who sacrifices himself with a grenade. Down to three, they run out of grenades and are low on ammo.

They spot Rinke, now a hunchbacked jester with a cloth crown. Evan shoots him, but he stands up again, claiming to be a god. He creates more embryonic sacs, birthing childlike creatures. Lady uses the last of the foam to create a barrier. A spine hits Evan, and he blacks out as creatures swarm over the foam.

“Lady” wakes up in a hospital bed, hooked to machines. A man named Thomas Calvert from squad three is in the other bed. He tells her she’s lost her kidneys, suffered muscle damage, and her career with the PRT is over. He reveals Rinke is alive, now calling himself Nilbog, and is wearing one of his creations, making him bulletproof. The city will be walled off, leaving Nilbog to rule his monstrous domain.

Thomas reveals he won’t be rejoining the PRT either, as he’s facing prison for shooting his captain to escape. Lady is offered a director position within the PRT, a desk job to keep her quiet. Thomas advises her to pretend to believe in the PRT’s ideals, even if she thinks capes and PRT members are monsters. The world has gone mad, and she feels like the only sane person left.