Daughter of Zeus ✔

18.2

Moretz lifted his hand from the grey electric box.

He had made sure to kill the power systematically throughout the building, section by section. Sammies were easily confused. The systematic shut down of power might distract them, enabling him and Phennell to reach Ada with little resistance.

The location was an easy one to find, owing to the fact Moretz had wrestled the information from a Sammie weeks ago. He wanted to know which part of town to avoid, but he was glad his need for self-preservation had been so forward thinking. Without that former selfish strain of his, he wouldn't have known where to look for his daughter.

Phennell watched his stepfather's display of electrical power without comment. When he said, "Dad," his tone stopped Moretz from walking through the door of the building. His son was a few feet from him, looking as if he didn't want to go inside.

"Yeah?"

They couldn't stall for long. Sammies would be moving to the exits, checking for the source of the power outage.

"What are we doing here?"

Moretz looked around the parking lot, then behind him. "Getting Ada out. I told you this."

"You've told me nothing!" Phennell threw his arms in the air to intensify his burst of animosity.

Moretz had rarely heard his son shout. It was unnecessary because he always got his way. At the moment, he was out of his element, and the discomfort seemed to make him irate.

"A couple of weeks ago, you told me to keep Ada busy 'til you were ready to get rid of her." Phennell paced. "Now we're gonna risk our lives for her? Doesn't make any fucking sense."

The reminder of his duplicity made Moretz cringe. "She's my daughter. I can't leave her to become a State pawn."

Phennell backed away. "I thought that was the plan. What changed for you, Dad?"

Moretz was unaware of why he changed or how. In fact, the change was taking over so completely he had almost forgotten what his personality felt like only a day before. The orders he gave Phennell to keep Ada busy were words he didn't remember saying. His life had been separated into before and now. He didn't have the vocals or the time to explain his new worldview to his son.

"Your grandfather inspired me to be better," was how Moretz put it, "and I'm gonna start on that path now instead of later. Can you understand that?"

Phennell took a few steps forward. His mouth opened to speak, but then it closed. He stared at his father. Moretz was confident his son would do the right thing.

Then Phennell backed away again. "No, I can't understand." He shook his head. "I just don't care that much. Good luck." He ambled to the car.

Moretz was confronted with fatherly disappointment handed down generation after generation. Phennell was his stepson, but after raising him for so many years, he thought of him as his own flesh and blood. For countless years, he had disappointed his own father, not only with his bad choices, but with his moral ambiguity.

He expected too much from Phennell tonight, a boy he raised to be a despicable man. One night was insufficient to redeem a despicable man---he could see that now. To repair the damage Moretz had inflicted would take years, decades. Ada herself might never forgive or forget.

A warmth filled up his hole of doubt. His own need for catharsis was irrelevant. Self-fulfillment was a selfish pursuit, and Moretz was done living for himself.

The sound of Phennell speeding away in the car spurred him to action. He went inside the unlit building to save his unforgiving daughter, even if she came to hate him more for it.

~*~

Inside the building, the dark was an oppressive force. Moretz had killed the power to hinder the Sammies, but the dark hindered him. He groped along the walls of a corridor, blinking rapidly. With every blink, he hoped to see light. Of course. Light.

He activated the flashlight feature on his wristlet, the one he hacked and made better just by touching the small machine. The interface then led the way. Light was a bad idea, making him a beacon in the dark. Yet, without the light, he would be lost, so he kept moving forward.

Soon he passed several rooms, all empty. Beyond the dark abyss was a small red light. Instinctively, he ducked. A thermal blast flew above his head, missing him by a slight margin. A plethora of other red dots danced up ahead.

Idiots. They brought electronic guns to the fight. Obviously, they had forgotten the extent of his power. He concentrated on the crackling sounds up the corridor. Four men convulsed from the overloads he sent to their weapons. He waited for their bodies to hit the floor, and he continued walking.

A voice from his interface halted him. "Congressman Moretz, what can I help you with?"

Erma Julane. He knew her voice from having spoken with her before. The first time, she had apprehended him and her superiors forced her to release him. That had been ten years ago. The second time, he brokered a deal with her, guaranteeing his safety in exchange for Ada's capture. That had been months ago.

Both of the meetings were losing their color in his mind. However, Erma's voice was distinctive, and it tugged at his memory.