Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 28 - Proof

Between a group of terrified thieves, an inside-man warehouse manager trying to escape, and a duffle bag of missing merchandise, it took the better part of two hours to finally 'finish up' at the warehouse and get back to Indigo base.

When the rover finally pulled into the garage, Athira was beyond ready to collapse. She climbed the stairs with the sole intention of spending the next hour under the cold water of a shower to soothe her stinging runes when Shift met her halfway to the prep room on the second floor.

"What happened?" he said. "Zoe and I just got back from HQ, and Kione said—"

"There was a Surge," snapped Athira, bracing herself against the wall with an arm. Talon was somewhere in the Below, keeping an eye on Rathe and any hint of the next Surge. "It was bad. Pretty sure my Black deleted a duffle bag full of valuables, but hey — now we have proof Reader isn't causing them, because he's still locked up in some damned prison we mere Keepers aren't allowed to—"

Athira cut off, slamming a hand over her mouth as nausea crept up her throat.

Not again — not this soon. Even with Zoe nearby to laser Rathe's fury into submission, Athira wasn't sure her body could handle the Black in a second Surge right now.

"Thira?" said Zoe, appearing from the prep room door and running over. Her suit was pulled down to her waist, leaving her in a close-fit tank top. "Are you okay?"

The closer Zoe got, the stronger the nausea became, and it didn't take Athira long to realise it wasn't coming from an impending Surge.

"Where'd you get that armband from?" said Athira, her gaze locked on the slim, silver band around Zoe's bicep.

Zoe glanced at it. "The Elites gave it to me today, said it was some new experimental Tech that was supposed to boost my Yellow. They want me to wear it for a week, even under my suit. Why?"

"Take it off," hissed Athira, barely able to stop herself from ripping it straight off Zoe's arm. "It's infused with the same energy that Sleeper was made of."

That's what the Surge had been. Whoever was causing them had drawn on Sleeper energy to infuse the armband — and it was the proof that Athira needed to confirm Reader was right.

There were Wardens within the ranks of the Elites.

"What?" said Zoe, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Raph made it up the stairs behind Athira, Talia close behind. He took one look at Athira and immediately slipped into Keeper mode. "What's going on? Is Rathe—"

"Elites gave me an armband," said Zoe. "Thira says it's got Sleeper energy in it, but—"

"If that armband has Sleeper energy in it, it means the Elites are the ones behind the Surges," said Athira, curling a fist against the wall. "It means Reader wasn't causing the Surges — that the Elites or the Wardens or whatever they call themselves are, and they've decided to shove that same energy in an armband and give it to Zoe without any kind of warning."

Raph held up a hand. "Isn't that jumping ahead a little? Why would they target Zoe?"

Athira forced herself to breathe before she answered. She wasn't angry at Raph. She wasn't angry at anyone in this room except herself and yelling at them wasn't going to achieve anything.

"Because they know she's Spectrum," said Athira. "And whatever this Sleeper energy is, they're hoping it'll help her fight Rathe." Her thoughts flashed back to the Sleeper — when it'd engulfed Zoe, and she'd resisted it. "They saw what happened at the station. Whatever this energy is, it's got side effects — like the comas — and they're thinking Zoe's regen negates it."