The Permutation

Apex (Part 12) Jordan

Saturday, November 5th. 1:42 a.m.

Jordan had used a lot of The Surge that day, way more than she ever had before. Every time she used it, it was slower to respond, more sluggish, as if she were exhausting her reserves of the inexplicable force. While, Christopher and Michelle fought off the citizens of Lancet Falls and Vergil climbed to the top of the screen, Jordan concentrated.

The Surge wasn't seething around her, ripe for the picking. Jordan had to focus on gathering individual particles out of the air. It took all she had to coax the disparate motes of energy into anything cohesive or usable.

The particles in her immediate vicinity weren't going to be enough. Jordan extended her reach past the horde of humanity into the surrounding areas. Wooden power poles stuck in regular intervals on the ground had millions of The Surge rushing along their wives like a raging river. Jordan diverted the flow into herself. The particles rushed inside of her. Mental floodgates that Jordan had painstakingly tried to control were washed away like they were nothing more than a suggestion. It took all the concentration she had to not be torn apart by the violent cavorting of the particles.

She longed to be set free and become one of them, a being of pure, carefree energy, but Jordan had a job to do.

Jordan's eyes were closed, but she could feel the chaos around her. She could the empty spaces where Christopher and Michelle had once stood, but they were gone. Jordan was alone. She could feel the horde closing in on her from all sides. She could feel the ground tremble and crumble away from underneath her feet. Where there was once firm ground, there was nothing holding her up. Jordan's stomach dropped as she fell through the air. Arms and limbs flailed at Jordan during the descent. Nails raked across her skin, and an arm got caught in her hair yanking her downward and jerking her neck at a painful angle.

Her body landed on loose, shifting Earth. Dirt saturated the air vying for a position in her nose and mouth. Through it all, Jordan kept her eyes closed, but she could feel the predators stirring around her. It was only a matter of time before they were upon her, and when they were done with her, there would be nothing stopping them from escaping the pit and wreaking havoc wherever they went. Jordan wondered how many of them she could take with her, or if it would even be worth it as this point. She had expected too much of Derek. He was incredible, but even he couldn't lift an entire water tower.

Cold water washed away her misgivings. Suddenly, Jordan felt connected to all of them, every single predator in the entire pit. They went from having Jordan trapped to being trapped with Jordan. The electrolytes in the cold water created a clear path for The Surge and Jordan to follow. She could see it clearly along with a brilliant ball of violet light at the end of her winding road.

The Surge tore at Jordan. She let it free.

In its mad rush to escape, the force ripped Jordan apart. Jordan's body separated into countless frenetic pieces that scattered away in every angle imaginable. Jordan was no longer a little girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders; she was carefree at last. Worrying was for people, and Jordan had transcended humanity.

Billions of Jordan particles danced between tiny interconnected dots that each represented another predator. They were like an obstacle course that Jordan had been designed to traverse. She accomplished feats that her body would have only been able to dream of. Time was a construct that no longer had any meaning. She was everywhere at once.

All of the pieces of Jordan felt a simultaneous tug from the epicenter of the pit. The violet orb of light pulsed, drawing her in. No other option was left to her. The thing that was Jordan had exhausted all other avenues, and she was losing energy and speed at a rapid pace. She let the violet radiance overcome her.

Jordan was swallowed by pure brilliance.