The Groupmind spoke through Corporal Gunn, “Just so you’re all aware, we’re relaying this directly to the Commander in Chief. This is the first time the Groupmind’s heard of the phenomenon, which means this is now vital information. John, please continue.”
John flushed. The President’s going to hear about this?! Holy shit!.
“O-okay So here’s what we found,” John explained his experience with the heart attack along with the changes he noticed after mana saturated his heart.
The Groupmind interrupted, “Stop. Were you able to replicate the experience? Can you return to this interior perspective.”
John glared at him, “I was getting there,” John looked around the room, “To the mages, you know the feeling when you connect with matter to manipulate it?”
The mages around the room nodded, while everyone else confused. The Groupmind clarified, “We’ve taken to calling that process resonance for the time being. It’s most recognizable when a mage grows still and their eyes glow, but not all mages exhibit that tell. John, continue.”
John nodded, “Right. Well, instead of connecting your mana – sorry, resonating – with something physical, try to resonate with your reserve of mana. To get back out of there, just retract your magical senses like you would when you’re done resonating. Oh, you fall over, so be careful.”
Several mages jabbered excitedly, eager to test the findings. One civilian man went so far as to lie down on the floor, but Colonel McGuire’s voice cut through the commotion.
McGuire was agitated, “Remember people, we are on a tight timeline. There are people out in the medical tents whose lives are on the line. John, what did you mean by ‘get out of there,’ does it send you somewhere?”
John shook his head, “You don’t teleport or anything, but the new perspective is disorienting. It’s kind of like piloting a drone inside your body, where the only thing you can see is your mana reserve and any cells that are saturated by mana. Those cells look like little motes of dust, the same color as your mana.”
The room buzzed, but John continued, “More to the point, we discovered that when your mana heals you, it replaces cells with ones saturated by mana. When I was shot in the heart, large portions of my heart were rebuilt with mana-saturated cells. The mana-saturated ones were different from the originals, causing a heart attack. While unconscious I found myself on the inside of my body. I had to deliberately saturate the remainder of my heart with mana in order to survive.”
The room was silent for several seconds before it erupted. Cries for clarification washed over John, but he was done. He sat back down and gestured to the Colonel and Groupmind.
The Colonel hummed, “Ok, that’s fascinating, but doesn’t change the tactical outlook for this operation. We’re departing in tee-minus twenty-five, so we need to organize escort groups. Mages without prior military rankings will be operating under Sergeant Cortez here. He’s our most experienced mage and will coordinate the civilian mages joining us.”
The bear mage John recognized from earlier stood up and waved to everyone. John noticed Cortez had switched into a service uniform with a different unit patch than he’d worn at the meeting. What’s the story there, I wonder? It was an army uniform earlier…
Sergeant Cortez sat down, silent as he’d been at the meeting. John noticed that his eyes flicking between the mages in the room who weren’t in uniform, taking stock. John hummed approvingly, then Colonel McGuire spoke up again.
“As a final note, the Raleigh Metropolitan Police will be filling in behind the convoy’s thrust across the city. Their job is to secure buildings and render aid to anyone in distress along the convoy’s route. With that, Commissioner DeFranco and I will take our leave. My staff officers will answer any questions and allocate resources appropriately. Best of luck to you all.”
Case huffed a sigh of relief, and John could only agree with him. John didn’t hate the cops like Lucy or Sam seemed to, but he was awfully relieved that they’d be playing second fiddle for this excursion. The Commissioner and his people seemed ill-prepared for the highly dynamic situation.
Colonel DeFranco’s staff officers expanded on the plans for what to do when the convoy arrived at the hospital, which were all largely irrelevant to John and his friends. John knew he’d be bundled inside the hospital immediately, to help with the critical trauma patients. It seemed like Case and Jen would be left to float and problem-solve, at least until the convoy turned around and returned to the redoubt. John wasn’t privy to the plan past securing this hospital, but he guessed they’d make similar maneuvers to secure other important places around the city.
When the briefing finished, John and the other mages in the room followed Sergeant Cortez out into the staging area where the APCs waited them. The mages wouldn’t ride along in the ambulances, but everyone knew what order the vehicles would leave.
Sergeant Cortez gestured for them to gather closely. John counted a total of seventeen mages standing to the side of the parking lot. National guardsmen and a sprinkling of ordinary police loaded vehicles and organized into fireteams. John wondered where all this equipment had come from. He assumed that the guard had brought most of it in while he slept.
“Alright everyone, It's time to decide on our tactical direction. We're going to go around the huddle and share what our magic does and our combat experience,” Cortez was gruff and no-nonsense.
John wondered where this personality was in earlier conversations they'd had. Maybe it was an infantry thing?
Cortez continued, “I'll start. I have bear mana. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can make giant magical claws, and I'm strong as hell. I've been in the army for five years. I've been in much scarier situations than this before and have all confidence that we'll be fine. Who's next?”
Debbie spoke up from Cortez's left, “I'm Debbie. I can control pretty much any polymeric petroleum derivative-”
Cortez cut her off, 'Sorry kid, what's that mean?”
Debbie gulped, “It means plastics, sir.”
“Ah gotcha. Carry on, but don't call me sir.”
Debbie did as told, “Throwing my mana at someone is about the same as throwing a billiards ball at someone, it just behaves like plastic for a little while then dissipates. I mostly work by manipulating the asphalt in the road. There's a layer of it under my clothes. I'm confident that nobody with normal strength could stab me, but I don't know if I'm bulletproof. I fought off another mage in my residence hall this morning, only minor engagements other than that.”
John thought about that. With John's healing in the mix, he could test Debbie's armor with a little ammunition and some time. Would it be worth it?
Sergeant Cortez had clearly thought along the same lines, “Good to know, thank you Debbie. Our first rule for this operation is to assume nobody's bulletproof or even stab-proof. We can't afford unnecessary risk-taking. Who's next?”
The man to Debbie's left raised a hand, and John flinched. The man's nails extended multiple inches past the ends of the digits and looked wickedly sharp. John figured he had to be pushing twenty-five, making him the oldest mage they’d encountered.
“Name’s Nick. I can control fingernails and toenails. When my mana effects flesh it rapidly keratinizes, rendering limbs immovable and cutting off circulation.”
Cortez nodded, “Alright, and what experience do you have?”
“I killed two men that attacked my family in our home,” the man sounded serene. John shivered.
Cortez took it in stride, “And what about your nails? Is that a physiological thing like John talked about?”
Nick shook his head, “No, my magic lets me fuse pieces of keratin together. It’s remarkable how many discarded toenails there are lying around. I’ve been adding them to my nails because it’s more convenient to carry them around. I can split pieces off to use as ammunition.”
Several mages in the huddle grimaced, John included. Picking up random peoples’ nails was gross, but John would take anything that kept everyone here safe. Case had a weird look on his face, likely scheming a way to discretely test fusing bits of crystal together. Jen seemed bored.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“I’ll go next!” an excited young woman rocked on her heels when she spoke, “My name’s Cassandra, but I go by Cassie!. I’m not sure what my mana is meant to control, exactly, but when it hits people they get a lot heavier! There was a guy on top of a car pointing a gun at my family, and when I blasted him he fell right through the roof and broke his leg!”
Cassie’s declaration raised eyebrows. The assumption was that Cassie controlled gravity, which seemed crazy to John.
The introductions continued apace. Officer Moorehead was a sunlight mage, apparently. One woman’s mana overloaded the human sensorium, just looking at it made John’s eyes itch before he averted his gaze. Another mage’s mana heated anything it impacted, and he claimed he could shift heat gradients between objects. One girl had shadowy mana, similar to Sam Sullivan, but instead of deadening flesh, she said it clung to people, blinding them and bogging them down. John noted one man with a coil of electrical cabling over his shoulder and figured he was the metal mage he’d sensed earlier.
All the mages in the huddle had seen combat that day, but John and his friends had the others beat when it came to number of mages subdued. John introduced himself first.
“Name’s John. My magic controls blood. I recover from damage absurdly quickly, have enhanced strength when I feed mana into my muscles, and my mana can alternately heal or harm. It seems to tear up living flesh pretty well but leaves inorganics alone. My friends and I’ve beaten five separate mages,” John kept the specifics of his capabilities vague.
Mages around the huddle whistled.
Sergeant Cortez leaned forward, “What types of magic did they have?”
John counted them off on his hands, “One had lightning, the next fire, then a sort of shadows, something I’d describe as sharpness, and a guy who basically threw explosions.”
Sergeant Cortez nodded, “Interesting. Any insights?”
“Mana fucking hurts, but it also helps keep us intact. We beat the hell out of that fire mage this morning, but her mana was taking care of her immediately. Don’t rely on it, but you can take more damage than you think.”
Case and Jen introduced themselves, then Cortez assigned them to the APCs. Cortez planned to ride in front with the shadow, copper, and sense mages. The copper mage was there to detect and move any downed electrical wires, while the shadow and sense would distract or blind anyone advancing on the convoy. The goal was to frighten most people off and keep moving without getting bogged down.
John and his friends would be two vehicles back from the lead elements of the convoy. Debbie and a stone mage rode in between. Their job was to repair the road. Cortez was keeping John and company close to the front because they were among the most experienced and, John suspected, among the most lethal. Colonel McGuire certainly would have told Cortez about John’s fight against Lt. Long, and John knew they could fill in the blanks. He really hated the idea of inducing a stroke, but he would if that’s what it took to survive.
Speaking of Colonel McGuire, John spotted her coming into the staging area. She clearly had a bead on him, so he walked forward to speak with her, gesturing for Case and Jen to stay back. Colonel McGuire wore a tight expression, but seemed impressed that John noticed her approach.
“What can I do for you, ma’am?” John asked tentatively.
“I’m here to give some final instructions and give you all well-wishes before you head out, but wanted to let you know that you’re on thin ice. Follow Cortez’s instructions closely, you hear? I can hardly fault you for what you did to Long, but we need to run an upstanding operation if we want to keep legitimacy.”
John nodded, “Yes, ma’am. I was wondering, what are the terms of engagement here?”
“I’m surprised you know to ask that.”
“My older brother’s a Marine, ma’am. We’ve had some discussions in the past.”
“Interesting. Anyways, we’re going with ‘lethal force begets a lethal response,’ we don’t have the time or stability to prioritize arrests or trying people right now. And yes, unknown mana counts as lethal force. Anything that’d be lethal for a conventional human is still considered lethal to mages,” the Colonel stopped surveying the staging ground to give John a heavy look, “for now, at least. The Groupmind told me to pass that along from the White House, so you’re the first to know.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
John caught the implication. If he went around mulching people’s brains just for plinking at him with a handgun, there would be trouble.
The Colonel turned to leave, but a thought occurred to John, “Wait! Sorry, but why doesn’t Corporal Gunn come with us?”
Colonel McGuire sighed, “Frankly, it’s because he’s vulnerable. The Groupmind can only do so much with one ‘node’ in the area, and it’s more important that we have their advice and communications support than this trip having one moderately more competent escort. Go get ready, I have to speak with Cortez.”
“Yes, ma’am,” John turned and walked back to his friends.
John’s parents stood next to Case and Jen, as well as Mrs Kenderson, Jen stood to the side, talking to someone on a walkie-talkie. John was willing to bet she was talking to her parents. He swallowed and returned to the group.
“Hey Mom, hey Dad, Mrs. Kenderson, what’s up?”
Case butted in before they could respond, “They don’t want us to go!”
John nodded, “I figured. What are you guys worried about?”
John’s dad replied, “Look, son. We went to a ton of effort to get here safely, and now you all want to go back out. You don’t need to leave to help out! You could stay here and run triage with your mom, Case can help me out with some of the engineering work that needs done, and Jen can keep making those walls. There’s no reason to go endanger yourselves again.”
“Except that we’re already deputized, and have to follow the Colonel’s orders. I know y’all weren’t in any of those meetings, but right now we do what they want or they sit on us pretty hard. To the tune of armed guards twenty-four seven, maybe with measures similar to what we did to Oliver and that girl.”
John’s mom protested, “Well that’s ridiculous! Don’t we get any say?”
John twitched, “Not really. The Colonel told me earlier that this was the first time people our age have any real agency. We saw how that turned out with Oliver. We’ve been deputized, but even if we didn’t have official backing, one of us could just disable you all and leave. It’s horrible, but I feel worse about one of my friends getting hurt out beyond the walls, just because we haven’t contributed. I’m sorry.”
Case lent his voice, “I feel the same way. We’re not doing a lot of good just sitting around here. Plus, the faster we help get Raleigh under control, the faster we can go help out at Camp Lejeune!”
John’s parents paled. His dad spoke, “What’s wrong out there?”
John winced, “Well, we heard that there’d been some sort of attack. It sort of slipped my mind to tell you, and Colonel McGuire wouldn’t confirm either way. She said any relief effort launched from Raleigh would have to wait until we get the situation under control.”
John’s mom was practically petrified, “Is that why we haven’t heard from Cameron?! Oh, God!”
Mrs. Kenderson patted her on the shoulder, “Cameron’s grown, Katherine. He’ll handle himself. John, I don’t have any particular issue with y’all going with the convoy to help out, just promise me that you’ll watch out for Case.”
John met Case’s eyes. Case had been his best friend since second grade, how could John not look out for him?
“I promise, ma’am. We’ll have each other’s backs.”
John’s dad had dark eyes. He’d watched his youngest son nearly die twice, and now his eldest was unreachable. John knew his dad was remembering Cameron’s deployment in Afghanistan and assuming the worst, even though Cameron had returned unscathed back then.
George Brisal gave a great, heaving sigh, “Alright. You all go out there. I know I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
John shook his head, “If you really wanted us to stay, I would. But this is the best way to get back in contact with Cameron.”
John’s parents conferred silently for a moment then nodded. John’s dad spoke, “Then go, but be careful!”
“Thanks, Dad. Case, let’s go.”
A quick round of hugs later, and John and Case walked abreast with Jen.
John looked at her quizzically, “What did your folks have to say?”
“Oh, they were fine with it. They know I can handle myself. They told me to keep track of you two!” Jen laughed, and Case and John joined her.
They reached their assigned vehicle and clambered in. They’d barely greeted the national guardsmen inside when it began moving. They clambered out onto the roof to maintain a good vantage point as the vehicle trundled through the gates of the redoubt.
