The Permutation

Apex (Part 8) Christopher

Saturday, November 5th 1:38 a.m.

The situation hadn't given Christopher enough time to formulate a plan. Everything had happened too fast. One event after the other had flooded him with a deluge of stimuli, and it was all he could do to hold onto his sanity. Besides, the altered Jessica Kinghorn had taken the collective effort of Christopher and Jordan just to hold her at bay. In a close quarters engagement, did not find their odds promising. By his estimation, they would be overrun in a matter of moments.

The black of night had hidden the symptoms of an impending meltdown from the others, but that didn't stop the edges of his vision from starting to blur. Not that blurry vision mattered in the absence of light. Christopher could hear their frenzied footfalls, but was unable to distinguish one individual from another. That was for the best, being able to discern facial features would make their job all the more difficult.

A tension was starting to build inside of Christopher's body. It was a feeling that Christopher was beginning to recognize. Originally, he had mistaken it for adrenaline during the policeman's pursuit, but now he had a better idea of what was occurring. Christopher's mind had scrambled to make sense of the disparate pieces of the evening. All of his mental capacity had been devoted to trying to make the puzzle make sense. From what he was able to gather, the citizens were afflicted by a parasite in the nematomorph family. In nature, they gained their nutrition from the cerebrospinal fluid of insects, but Christopher suspected that they'd upgraded to dining on human beings.

Along with the continuous combustion of Rachel Durant and his own startling changes, Mus Magnus' unexplainable physiology bespoke another science-defying transformation. Christopher didn't know the mechanism, but the pieces pointed to some sort of mutagen. He suspected they had all been exposed to something that propagated unpredictable and unexplainable mutations that spurred a different change in every host. Not that any of his observations mattered, he believed that his brain would be the feeding ground of a parasitic worm within the hour.

The feeling of tension building in his body seemed to arise in tandem with his meltdowns. While meltdowns were the pent up energy accumulated from the frustrations of everyday life, the energy building inside of him was closer to a spring being compressed, waiting to release a torrent of energy. The sensation was not a pleasant one. It felt as if every cell in his body was being tightened simultaneously.

The claustrophobia of being surrounded by other humans kicked in. A familiar wave of violet sprang forth, offering Christopher a temporary reprieve from the strain on his body.

This wave was different than Christopher's previous experiences. Instead of a cone-like wave, it spread from Christopher in concentric circles. The violet light lit up the night, depicting a scene that could have been pulled straight from a Tolkien book. Jordan was a hobbit, Michelle a ranger, and Christopher was a wizard, casting spells against a hoard of twisted aberrations of humanity.

The citizens of Lancet Falls were frozen in place. They wore savage, hungry expressions devoid of humanity. The purple light illuminated the contours of their faces, giving them sharp angles and crevices of deep shadow that enhanced the feeling of inhumanity.

Christopher peeled off his gloves and placed them on the ground with a solemnity that was almost reverent. He touched the shoulders of Jordan and Michelle and watched them come to life, freeing them from their fixture in time.

He did not have the first clue on how to fight, and Christopher's time wave was only a stalling tactic that bought them a matter of seconds, before they would be engulfed in the tide of inhumans. Despite the futility of the situation, he raised his hands in a defensive gesture and let his impending meltdown overcome him. Christopher didn't like the thought of having no control over his actions. With Gracie and Kate, it had been nothing but a curse, driving away the ones he loved, but now it was a boon.

Gracie

The tumultuous events of the evening had driven thoughts of his daughter from his mind, but the moment before his meltdown gave him a brief instance of clarity. He regretted that he wouldn't get to see her again, but in a dark corner of his mind, Christopher couldn't help but feel that his absence would be for the best in the long run. He had experienced that pain and anguish his idiosyncrasies had caused his parents as well as the ones he loved. If he were no longer in the picture, Gracie could at least have a semblance of normality in her life. The loss of him would hurt, but the young were resilient. Parents more suited to the task would welcome Gracie with open arms, and sooner or later, the memories of Christopher would be replaced by newer and shinier memories.

I hope they love her half as much as I do.

That was the last coherent thought Christopher had that evening.