27.x (Interlude, Eidolon)

Summary of Parahumans: Worm, Chapter 27.x (Interlude, Eidolon):

(Compression Goal: 5/5, Target Word Count: 1627)

I sense Scion’s return. The oil platform crumbles beneath me, but I feel a thrill despite the despair. I have a mission.

I’ve never been one for nervous habits. I release my sensory power, and a defensive ability takes its place, a teleportation bubble. I have other powers ready, but I’m reluctant to give them up. Flight, especially, is in short supply.

Glaistig Uaine offers to carry me. High Priest, she calls me. I hesitate, unsure of her allegiance, but eventually, I let go of my flight. A leap of faith. She asks why she calls me High Priest. It’s because I rely on a higher power, she says, the agents, not the individuals. She talks of leaders, of raising the faerie up as objects for worship. I’m the temple, she says. She calls me the High Priest of the stillborn faerie, but I could tap the living for strength.

My powers are growing weaker. She suggests I make better use of my power, or perhaps passing it on would fix things. I fall, tumbling.

■

Six months ago, I confront Doctor Mother about the booster shots. They’re getting less effective, she says. I argue that the Endbringers are attacking more frequently, that I’m needed. She wants me to leave it to others, to be more efficient.

I argue, plead. I’ve always been loyal, understanding the true goals, the experimentation. Contessa’s Path to Victory is limited around Endbringers, the end of the world, the formulas, she explains. I rage, smashing the desk with telekinesis.

I lament my fading power. I’ve made sacrifices, given up everything for this cause, my legacy. I want to be remembered at my best, not withered. The Doctor is sympathetic but firm. She can’t betray her promise for my legacy. I’d rather die in a blaze of glory than go out ingloriously, I say. She insists they need me, that the public hasn’t fully noticed my decline.

Contessa, silent as always, is a weapon held in reserve, an answer to every dilemma. I resent her a little for it. I’m a good soldier, obeying, acknowledging the greater good.

■

Now, Glaistig Uaine catches me. My new power manifests, a crystal exterior. Scion approaches. Tattletale tests communications, says the test is done, no need to fight. I want to try more, buy them time. She asks for a show, for morale.

Scion attacks. I teleport, and Glaistig Uaine creates a metal dragon construct. We’re the only ones left, I say, but she mentions the wounded and the dead. Scion attacks again, and I’m flung through the air. Glaistig Uaine catches me again.

Scion focuses on me. I create an expanding sphere of carbon in his ear canal. He’s unhurt. I try again, placing it in his nostril. He shifts direction. He’s adapting. I try again, and he dodges. The bubble is breached, the crystal wears down. I hold onto my powers, gritting my teeth.

My flight leaves me. Objects from the rig detonate near Scion. Glaistig Uaine is using spirits. I focus on the other ear canal. Scion turns to face me. I’m not strong enough.

■

Two years ago, after the Echidna fight, they’re quiet, lacking confidence. Number Man talks of odds, but Alexandria silences him. Doctor Mother discusses the impacts, the next Endbringer attack, the Protectorate. Legend asks if she’s sorry. Not in the slightest, she says.

Legend brings up the Siberian, Hero’s death, the disillusionment. Number Man argues that Hero became a martyr. Legend rages about Gray Boy, Siberian, human experimentation. Doctor Mother won’t lie. Legend wants to see the facility but doubts his conscience.

Legend questions Contessa, who explains they can curtail the information leak. He’s stunned by their callousness. Alexandria admits they lost power, leverage, trust. Legend mentions the memory-erasing slug. I admit my shame, my failure. Alexandria says they would have won years ago. I’m getting weaker, I say.

Alexandria says I worry I’ll be too weak to contribute in the final days. Legend asks about the final days. They reveal that Scion will end the world. They need Eidolon, Doctor Mother says. He breaks the rules, and they need that against the enemy who made the rules.

I lament my weakening powers. Doctor Mother suggests more experimentation, hoping for another Eidolon. Legend is stunned. Contessa will explain, Doctor Mother says.

■

Scion attacks again. I create matter, but he avoids it. My power recedes. I take on a new form, a field of distorted space. I swamp Scion, expanding into his wounds. It works, until he radiates light, destroying most of my body. Glaistig Uaine pulls me together.

We’re in a gray mist. A reprieve, she says. She’s more powerful than I am, I say. She denies it. I say the well has run dry. She tells me to open my eyes, to tap the living for strength. She won’t repeat herself a third time.

I cast aside my powers, praying for the ability to see. The barrier flickers. I banish powers, searching for something mental. I empty my mind. With the seventh power, I see the passengers. Glaistig Uaine is a mosaic of three spirits.

A cape dies, and I see Glaistig Uaine claim them. My power emulates, reaching for her. She’s angry. No, the living. I bring them closer, connecting to their agents. My power grows. I fill new powers with reserves. I feel a weight lift.

I use an erasure power on Scion, destroying his hand. I use another power to hold him with cliff faces from another Earth. He destroys them. I strike again while he’s still. He’s gone, slipped into another Earth. Glaistig Uaine grants me flight.

I banish a power, get another, feed off two more capes. I shove us into the next reality, then shove part of Scion into another. He retaliates. Glaistig Uaine creates a defense. Scion disappears. Running.

■

Twenty-seven years ago, I meet with a woman who calls herself Doctor. She knows I was turned down by the army, that I tried to take my life. She offers me something better than a desk job. I think she’s making fun of me, or that it’s a deal with the devil.

She can’t make promises, can’t say I’ll join the army. The army wasn’t the thing, I say. I wanted to do something of my own will, take action. She demands my assistance, my aid. A soldier. I agree.

■

I’m catching up to Scion. I hold my breath in a world without air. Glaistig Uaine provides a shield in a world of magma. We pass through more and more remote Earths. I attack, coordinating with Glaistig Uaine.

I sense distress from Scion. I ask if Glaistig Uaine will betray me. She talks about Scion losing time with each use of his power, about him needing to find his reflection. She won’t let him run out of time.

I redouble my efforts. We draw closer to Scion, then face him. He’s stopped, turned around. He speaks four words. It takes time to sink in. He has Contessa’s power. He’s defeated me. He raises a hand, and I don’t move. Glaistig Uaine flees. Scion fires the lethal blast.