MudMan (The Golem Chronicles Book 1) (23 page)

“Naw, I’m good,” Chuck replied, shaking his head. “I ain’t fixin’ to take no scan. Probably shoot me with lasers, that kinda thing. I’m good right here.” He pointed to the ground and nodded.

“I just have one more question,” Levi replied, “and then, yes, we will
all
be prepared to take this scan.” He glanced over his colossal shoulder and shot a grumpy look at his disgruntled guide. “Twenty grand, remember?”

Chuck flipped him the bird, crossed his arms, then rolled his eyes and nodded.

The Mudman turned back to the suspended orb. “You said several visitors accessed the facility,” he continued. “Who else has accessed this complex?”

“That information has been deemed restricted by an adjunct administrator. Adjunct administrator NAME REDACTED has flagged this question. Your party has been redesignated as
possibly hostile
. Proceed immediately for a
threat determination scan
or containment protocol AJ29-1 will initiate.” Around them the vines began to slither in restless motion, creeping down from the walls and pushing themselves across the floor, drawing closer every second. “Step into the golden circle located in the center of the floor. You have ten seconds to comply. Thank you.”

SEVENTEEN:

Containment Protocol

The vines littering the room stirred, the flowers unfurling, petals curling back to reveal an inner circle of serrated piranha-teeth. Each flower also sprouted a series of thin, withering tentacles covered in wickedly hooked barbs of bone.

“Ten …”
the computer said placidly. Pleasantly, even.

Levi pivoted, locking Chuck squarely in view. “Get in the circle, now.” He hooked a broad thumb toward the other room.

“Nine …”

“Naw, I’m good right here, bro. How’s ’bout you go first since this is your thing. I’ll just cool my heels, see how everything shakes out.”

“Eight …”

“I can do it,” Ryder offered, edging closer to the circle.

Levi lifted up a monster arm in response, stretching it across the doorway, barring her access. “No. I don’t know why, but whatever those Kobocks were up to—you’re a part of it. If something happens … well, we need you more than we need Chuck.”

“Seven …”

“That’s fucked up, man.” Chuck raised his pistol while slowly, almost imperceptibly, creeping back toward the way they’d come. “Doesn’t have to go down like this, Levi. We still good, but I ain’t gonna be the first one in there. My momma didn’t raise no dummy. You should go. Something bad happens you’ll survive it—you got that whole indestructible, rock-man thing goin’ on.”

“Six …
Warning, containment protocol AJ29-1 will commence in five seconds. Please proceed with your scan.”

“Listen, man,” Chuck continued, “I’ve seen some of the crazy-ass shit you’ve come back from, Levi. Me, though? I’m just a highly-gifted and extraordinarily-good-lookin’ halfie. But fragile, like. The wee folk—my people—we’re not all that physically resilient.”

“Four …”

“If something happens,” Levi replied even as he shoved Ryder out of the way and slid toward the slowly retreating halfie, “I’ll only be able to help if I’m outside the containment circle. And I
will
help, unlike you.”

“Three …”

“Oh is that right? You got something to say to me,
Dirt-Clod
?”

“Yeah,” Levi growled, taking a shambling step forward. “You’re worried about you. Only you. Something goes wrong while I’m stuck in there? You’re not going to stick your neck out to save me. Or her.” He glanced at Ryder. She was trying to slip past him. He placed one hand on her shoulder and shoved her back a few paces. “Mind me, Ryder.”

“Two …”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t no hero, man,” Chuck said. “You can’t pay me enough to step into that containment circle. Thing’ll probably toast my ass with gamma radiation. End up like the black Hulk—that shit’s no good with me. Being a leprechaun and a pimp is hard enough.”

“One …
Warning, containment protocol AJ29-1 imminent.”

Levi blurred in an eyeblink—the time for talk was over. Chuck’s gun roared; a blinding flash of light belched from the end of the hand cannon, but the shot went wide—though not quite wide enough. The round grazed Levi’s outstretched arm, tearing open a fresh slash along the outside of his bicep, before careening into the wall. Levi ignored the cut, bulldozing into Chuck, arms lashing out and wrapping around the man like a pair of pythons.

In a single smooth motion, the Mudman pivoted, twisting at the hips and flipping the involuntary lab rat through the air and into the golden circle. Chuck screamed, his arms pinwheeling in frantic circles, his legs kicking out. Despite his size, though, Chuck was quick and agile, tucking into a tight roll at the last minute, which quickly brought him back to his feet, injury free.

“Zero …
Containment protocol AJ29-1 initi—”
the computer cut off mid-word. “Thank you for your compliance.”

“You son of a bitch,” Chuck shouted. “I’m gonna get you for this, Levi.”

Light and noise filled the air like a bomb burst, cutting off Chuck’s rant as an electric-blue wall ruptured from the floor: a circular holding cell trapping him inside.

“This is so fucked up, bro!” Chuck yelled over the low buzz of the machinery. “Seriously, Levi, how you gonna do me like that? How you gonna do me like that?! I thought we were cool.”

“Calm down,” Levi replied, keeping his voice as even as he could muster. “Like I said, someone needed to go first. And if something bad happens, I’ll have a much better chance of rescuing you than you would have of rescuing me. Mostly because you wouldn’t rescue me. When the Sprawl wolves had me pinned down, who came back?” He pointed at Ryder. “She came for me. Some Rube girl, while you hightailed it as fast as your legs would carry you.”

“Whatevs, man.” He folded his arms, eyes squinting against the harsh light surrounding him. “I’m a guide, not a bodyguard. Not that you need a bodyguard. What your chunky ass needs is a gym membership. I”—he thumped his chest with one fist—“agreed to take you where you wanted to go, not be a guinea pig.”

“Please be quiet and still while the scan commences,” Siphonei said, her orb drifting toward the closed off circle.

Chuck pointed at Levi, a scowl on his face. “We aren’t done talking’ about this, Mudman. This bullshit is jacked up, and you know it. You owe me.”

Levi stared, grinding his teeth, brow furrowed in thought.

“
Threat determination scan
commencing, now,” the orb said. The electric-blue walls shimmered and pulsed, the light a spastic strobe flickering on and off, washing over Chuck and leaving blurry afterimages tattooed on Levi’s eyes.

Ryder edged up next to him, a scowl marring her face. “He’s right,” she said. “You didn’t have any right to do that to him. Maybe someone needed to go first, but it wasn’t your place to force him. I volunteered, and despite what you think, I’m not some brainless, weak
girl
that needs protecting. I killed that Kobo on the road, remember?

“Slashed him open with a piece of broken glass. And you didn’t save me from the Sprawl wolves. I saved you. Not the other way around. If you really want to stop being a fuckin’ monster, start by treating people the way you’d like to be treated, asshole. Pretty sure that nugget’s in your Bible somewhere. And just so we’re clear, don’t you ever lay hands on me like that again, dick.” She turned away, refusing to look at him, instead watching Chuck through the pulsating light.

Annoyance flared through the Mudman, burning at the edge of his mind and searing his nerves raw. What right did this girl have to correct him, to rebuke him? After everything he’d done for her? Saving her from the Deep Downs, rescuing her at the hospital, trekking all over Outworld to find her some answers. After a moment, however, Levi realized that wasn’t really what bothered him. What really bothered him was that he didn’t know if she was right or not. Had throwing Chuck into the circle been a mistake?

The Mudman wasn’t sure.

Other than murder, morality was still something of a gray area for Levi. Most of the big commandments Levi understood, at least in theory: Don’t steal. Don’t commit adultery, remember to honor thy parents—both non-issues for Levi. Honor God, respect His name, and hold no other gods; these things, at least, Levi could do. With everything else, though, Levi was often at a loss. Pastor Steve’s voice rang in his head, the words of the Good Book booming, echoing Ryder’s admonishment:
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
.

True, he wouldn’t want someone to do to him what he’d done to Chuck, but, as he thought through the scenario again, he could see no other way. Despite her protests, Ryder was his responsibility and the least capable of defending herself against a physical or supernatural threat, so it didn’t make sense for her to go first. And if something went wrong, Levi could obliterate the machinery scattered throughout the room, likely saving Chuck—but only if he stood outside the containment circle.

Was it possible the smart choice wasn’t the right choice?

He just wasn’t sure …

The manic flashing finally ceased, and the blue light encircling Chuck faded and vanished. “The scan is complete,” the orb intoned. “Your bio-scan is clean and you have been classified as a
non-threat
. Visitor access is granted. Please wait while the rest of your party is assessed.”

Chuck hustled out of the circle, eager as a high schooler darting away at the final bell, and hefted his piece, aiming at Levi. “Another five grand for that stunt, you hear me? Another five grand or I’m walkin’ away right now. I know you’re a weird son of a bitch, so I won’t hold that against you, but you owe me something.”

“You shot me”—Levi pointed to the thin line running along his arm—“seems like that should count for something.”

“Please, that’s a scratch. You walkin’ around without fingers on your left hand, dude. No fingers and you gonna come at me, talkin’ about how I grazed you.
Please.
You coulda killed me—”

“But I didn’t,” Levi offered.

“Coulda killed me. So I’m thinkin’ I might actually start shootin’ for real unless I get some compensation for my trauma. I think that’s fair, don’t you?”

Levi grunted and nodded his head. “Alright, twenty-five,” he replied. “And Chuck, for what it’s worth …” He hesitated, not comfortable proceeding. “I’m sorry I threw you in there against your will. Might be that wasn’t the most Christian thing of me to do.”

“Not the most Christian thing,” Chuck muttered. “Listen, you just make sure that cash-money hits my bank account and we’ll be straight.”

“The next member of your party must now proceed to the circle for scanning,” Siphonei said, implacable and unmoved by their personal drama.

“I’ll go,” Ryder offered, stepping forward.

Levi reached out and grabbed her arm as gently as he could manage.

She glared at him. “Thought we just talked about this? I’m not a glass bauble that needs protecting. You had no right to do what you did to Chuck, and you have no right to stop me from doing this. This is
my
choice. Understand? Now let go of my arm.”

Humans were so complicated. Couldn’t she see he was doing this for her own good?

“Let go, Levi.”

The Mudman sighed.

He’d made a mistake with Chuck, now it was time for him to learn from it. He released his clamp-like grip around her arm. Besides, chances were good the computer would pass her right through. If Chuck, a halfie, had gotten through, then it stood to reason Ryder would be fine, too. If the computer was going to flag anyone as a threat, it’d be Levi—he with his shady past and golden blood, with his murderous mandate and his soulless body.

The girl took a deep breath, straightened her back, and squared her shoulders as if she were walking to her doom, and knew it, but was going to meet that doom on her own terms. She moved with a confident step, but Levi was not so easily fooled. He could see the faint tremble in her hands and knees. Brave face or no, she was scared.

Ryder stepped into the circle and moved to its center, wrapping her hands around her middle. As with Chuck, the electric-blue wall snapped into place a handful of seconds later, and the strobing flashes began in earnest,
vump, vump, vump, vump
—

The blue strobes turned an angry red like an infected wound, while the teeth-and-tentacle-clad flowers raised their ugly faces into the air and offered a jarring blare of sound, which had to be a security alarm.

The orb zipped around, vibrating in frenzied spasms as if it weren’t actually prepared for whatever it’d found. “Alert! Alert! Alert!” Siphonei screamed, genuine, and very human, fear washing through the orb’s words. “A viable homunculus has been detected.” It rounded on Ryder, its internal light bursting into a vivid red. “You are compromised. Visitor access is denied. You have been reclassified as
threat, severe
. Containment protocol AJ29-1 will commence momentarily.” The ground trembled beneath Levi’s clay feet, stones grinding and shifting as puffs of ancient dust swirled into the air. “Lockdown procedure initiating. Repeat, lockdown procedure initiating.”

Levi wasn’t sure what was happening—the shifting ground disturbed his earth-bound senses—but he knew it wasn’t good. He needed to get Ryder out of that circle whatever the cost. She was the key to everything. He couldn’t lose her, not now, not when he was so close to unraveling his own murky past. He’d been denied the knowledge of his own creation for seventy years; he refused to be denied again. He burst into action, bolting toward the containment circle, still surrounded by a sheet of red light, and threw his bulk against the barrier, fists outthrust.

He slammed into the shield like a Mack truck.

His flesh sizzled and popped on contact, energy flowing into him like a blast of lightning, before batting him away with a renewed pulse of force. He smashed into the floor with a
crack
, the ancient stones beneath fracturing from his mass. What a punch. He lay on the floor, struggling to catch a breath, then pushed himself up onto shaky, unstable feet, his skin dry and smoking. His head throbbed and his body ached like someone had run him down with a bulldozer. Check. Wasn’t going to try that maneuver again.