Agents of the Demiurge by Brian Blose Page A

breach their security and create
a diversion. That means heavy explosives.” Elza clasped her hands
together. “But heavy explosives are kept secured.”
    “We could brew a batch of plastic
explosives,” Hess said.
    “You're not thinking big enough,” Elza said.
“This world never developed atomic theory. Consequently, it is
possible to buy large amounts of radioactive material without
alarming a government office.”
    “You want to set off a dirty bomb?”
    “Still not big enough, Hess. I have enough
money in my trust fund to buy over a hundred pounds of plutonium.
That should be sufficient to start a chain reaction without
enrichment.”
    Jerome raised a hand to her mouth. “You know
how to build a nuke?”
    “Why wouldn't I? It's just physics and
engineering.”
     
     

Chapter 15 – Erik / Iteration 145
    When Simone
entered, Erik was still giggling from his latest stunt.
    Instead of hanging him from the ceiling, his
tormentors now bound him spread eagle to the cold concrete floor.
Still naked, of course. The only times they placed coverings on him
were when they started fires.
    “You gouged a man's eye out,” she said.
    “He broke my hand enough for it to slip free.
I'd say he was asking for a friendly poke. His buddies nearly shit
their pants when I licked the eye juice off my thumb.”
    “I've seen videos of what they do to
you.”
    “Hot, ain't it?”
    Simone grimaced. “Distasteful at best. But
what I find most disturbing is how rapidly you alternate between
despair and lucidity. I am certain neither state is an act, which
makes me wonder if you are sane.”
    “Come on, chica, use that big brain of yours.
Why do normal people get fucked up from bad experiences? Cause
they're children terrified of the future. Even your grandmas only
got eighty years of memories to draw on. Shallow well, if you ask
me. And you're all obsessed with the possibility that bad things
will happen to you.
    “Not me. Cut off my cock and it'll grow back
before I need to piss. Light me on fire and everything's peachy in
five. Pain's a bitch, but it doesn't last. Neither will this
prison. I'll get out. And even if I don't, this world will end. You
all fade away like you never were and I go on my merry way.
    “You pathetic creatures are blips on the
radar, honey. I'm real. You are not. Nothing you do to my body can
stick. And despite your best efforts, there hasn't been a dent in
my mind yet. Some day, all of this will be a memory I dust off
every couple decades and say 'hey, I remember this one time when I
got caught.' The problem with trying to torture a guy like me is
you can't make me vulnerable.”
    “Ingrid hasn't been as resilient.”
    “Ingrid is a pussy,” Erik said. “Did he send
a message?”
    Simone folded her arms. “Ingrid maintains he
was a young woman last Iteration, living in a place called
Kyrgyzstan.”
    “Fucking liar!”
    “Watch your language, or I will stop carrying
messages again.”
    Erik stopped struggling against his bindings
and took a deep, slow breath. “He was a man in America. He bought a
farm in Sarver when Hess broke cover. Then he went rogue on us. I know it was him. Kerzon was with me a hundred percent and
Drake wouldn't mess with me. It was either Ingrid or Griff. And
action ain't exactly Griff's thing.
    “I know it was him. I fucking know. He
referenced the time we set off the fire alarm at a movie theater,
back in Iteration twenty. No one knew that story except the two of
us. And he had that annoying tick where he licks his lips all the
time.” Erik paused. “He did it the first day, at least.” He frowned
in thought, rushing through memories of the previous Iteration. The
man claiming to be Ingrid had never licked his lips after the first
day their band met up to take down Hess.
    “I have a new question for Ingrid. Ask him if
he ever told one of the others about the movie theater.” Erik
frowned. Himself, Drake, Kerzon, Griff, Hess, and Elza were
accounted for last