Mitosis: A Reckoners Story Read Free Page A

“That means no jackets, no tensors, no harmsway.”
    That was the truth. Prof’s Epic powers were the source of those abilities, which had saved my life many times in the past. But if he got too far away, the powers stopped working for those he’d gifted them to.
    “Maybe he won’t attack,” Abraham said, puffing slightly as he spoke into the line. He was probably jogging as he made for the government building. “He could just be scouting. Or perhaps he is not antagonistic. It is possible that an Epic merely wants a nice place to live and will not cause problems.”
    “He’s been using his powers,” I said. “You know what that means.”
    We all did, now. Prof and Megan had proven it. If Epics used their powers, it corrupted them. The only reason Prof and Edmund didn’t go evil was because they didn’t use their powers directly. Giving them away filtered the ability somehow, purified it. At least, that was what we thought.
    “Well,” Abraham said, “maybe—”
    “Wait,” I said.
    Down the way, Mitosis strode out onto the steel street, then reached back to take out a handgun he’d had tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Large-caliber magnum—far from the best of guns. It was a weapon for someone who had seen too many old movies about cops with big egos. It could still kill, of course. A magnum could do to a person’s head what a street could do to a watermelon dropped from a helicopter. My breath caught.
    “I’m here,” Mitosis shouted, “for the one they call Steelslayer, the
child
who supposedly killed Steelheart. For every five minutes it takes him to reveal himself, I will execute a member of this population.”

3
    “Well,” Abraham said over the line, “guess that answers that.”
    “His clones are saying it all over the city,” Tia said. “The same words from all of them.” I cursed, ducking back into my alley, gripping my rifle tight and sweating.
    Me. He’d come for
me
.
    All my life, I’d been nobody. I didn’t mind that. I’d worked hard, actually, to be precisely mediocre in all my classes. I’d joined the Reckoners in part because nobody knew who they were. I didn’t want fame. I wanted revenge against the Epics. The more of them dead, the better. Sweat trickled down the sides of my face.
    “One minute has passed!” Mitosis yelled. “Where are you? I would see you with my own eyes, Steelslayer.”
    “Damn,” Tia said in my ear. “Don’t panic, David. Music … music … There has to be a clue to his weakness here. What was his band again?”
    “Weaponized Cupcake,” I said.
    “Charming,” Tia said. “Their music should be on the lore archive; we’ve got copies of most everything in the Library of Congress.”
    “Two minutes!” Mitosis shouted. “Your people run from me, Steelslayer, but I am like God himself. I am everywhere. Do not think I won’t be able to find someone to kill.”
    Images flashed in my mind. A busy bank lobby. Bones falling to the ground. A woman clutching a baby. I hadn’t been able to do anything back then.
    “This is what we get,” Abraham said, “for coming out into the open. It is why Jon always wanted to remain hidden.”
    “We can’t stand for something if we only move in shadows, Abraham,” I said.
    “Three minutes!” Mitosis shouted. “I know you have this city under surveillance. I know you can hear me.”
    “David …” Tia said.
    “It appears you are a coward!” Mitosis said. “Perhaps if I shoot someone, you—”
    I stepped out, lined up a shot, and delivered a bullet into Mitosis’s forehead.
    Tia sighed. “I’ve got reports of at least thirty-seven distinct copies of him yelling in the city. What good does it do to kill one of them?”
    “Yes,” Abraham said, “and now he knows where you are.”
    “I’m counting on it,” I said, dashing away. “Tia?”
    “Sparks,” she said. “I’m pulling up camera feeds all over the city. David, they’re all running for you. Dozens of