Chapter 34

It had taken Brandt almost four hours to get to his destination. When he realized he had left his phone on the table at the restaurant an hour into the drive, he had nothing but silence and Texas humidity to keep him company. The thought of turning back to retrieve his phone was not an option. He had made his choice and accepted that there would not be any backup. Smith and Beckett might not have been much help anyways.

Brandt stopped almost a quarter of a mile from the house. A single white pickup truck was parked on the dirt in front of the house. He began to wonder if it was even the right place; the town had seemed so wholesome as he passed through it. Did they not know who was living in their proximity? He pulled up closer, within one hundred and fifty yards of the house, to park his rental. The remainder of the journey was to be made on foot. While it would not allow him the ideal escape if things went wrong, it would give him the element of surprise.

He moved along the side of the house, Glock 19 in hand, staying under the view from the windows, occasionally peaking up to look inside. He couldn’t see anyone yet, but he knew someone was home. There was a sound of fabric rubbing against leather. It must be someone sitting on a couch. There were faint voices heard from somewhere in the house as well. He focused his hearing on the dialog. A television. The news reporter mentioned something about stock prices and the potential collapse of the world economy. Brandt moved closer to where he thought he could get a good glimpse of the living room. He gave another peek and, sure enough, a familiar face was revealed to him on the other side of the window.

Nyx looked at ease in the armchair. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was slightly open. The low volume from the television would’ve put anyone in a lucid dream state. Brandt did have to wonder how Jean even found this place. It looked so rural and disconnected from the rest of the world; he was amazed that it had electricity. He cleared his thoughts and focused on the task at hand. It was the perfect opportunity for a surprise visit. He made his way to the front door and tried the knob. It turned effortlessly. ‘That’s odd. Why wouldn’t he lock the door?’ Brandt had spent so much time in the city he forgot that small communities, especially in Texas, don’t always adhere to locks on their property. Perhaps it was just foolish to try and rob someone who likely had a full arsenal of weapons in their house.

Brandt turned the knob again, and let the door drift inward, keeping his Glock 19 trained on Nyx, who still appeared to be having a cat nap in the chair. He took a few steps until he felt a small blunt object pressed against the back of his head.

“I recommend handing it over,” Slim said in a commanding voice.

Nyx’s eyes opened as he grinned. “Welcome, Mr. Brandt. We’ve been expecting you. Have a seat, please.”

Slim retrieved the firearm from Brandt and secured it behind his back. He could sense that the wheels in his head were turning, trying to figure a way out of this predicament. There were none. Nyx kept a Sig Sauer P226 on his lap, and Slim would diligently provide overwatch. “The sofa will do.”

Brandt walked in defeat and under his own power toward the sofa and sat down ten feet away from Nyx.

“Quite the change in comfort from what you offered me, isn’t it? We are not as barbaric as you may think. I suppose the first real question, call it the elephant in the room, is anyone else coming?”

Brandt did not come here for conversation. He came here to see an end to a manhunt, preferably by putting his opponent in the ground. He kept his first answers short and to the point. “No.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been full of surprises lately. Maybe it just slipped your mind that you called someone on your way over here?”

“I do not have my phone on me. It has been misplaced.”

“The current location of Edward Brandt’s phone is at a Whataburger in Austin, Texas.” Avery’s voice sprang to life from the computer sitting on the kitchen counter facing the three men.

It was the first time Brandt had actually heard Avery’s voice. He expected something more maniacal and intimidating, but instead, he was met with something that sounded almost as relaxed as Jean, just more masculine in tone.

“Whataburger, eh? Sounds sinfully delicious. What did you order?”

Brandt stared back at him with a gaze that could’ve turned him into stone. He said nothing, instead looking back at Slim guarding the door for any uninvited guests.

“That’s alright. I don’t really care for small talk, either. You are all about the job, your duty, a protector of the innocent. I can respect that. Hell, there was a time when I had that type of devotion to the government.”

“Listen, Nyx. If you plan on killing me, you might want to just get on with it. It may be your last chance because I will never stop looking for you.”

Nyx smiled again and shook his head. “If the reason to bring you here was to simply kill you, you would already be dead by now. Echo had you in his sights from the moment you stepped out of your car all of the way until you set foot in this house. No, Mr. Brandt. We are here to have a conversation. And to demonstrate that I am not withholding the truth, you may call me Sorren. Jeffrey Sorren.” Even though he couldn’t visualize Avery smiling, he was certain that his decision had been pleasing to hear.

Brandt laughed. “Ok, Jeff. Sure. Echo, one of the cartoon characters for your band of thugs.”

“We’ve been through this before. I didn’t pick their names, and I don’t ask for their real ones.”

“Whatever. What is it that you want to talk about while I sit here thinking of a way to get the upper hand and kill you?” Brandt then turned his head toward Slim, who was remaining vigilant by the front door. “And don’t think that I’ve forgotten about you. Just because you are not wearing that ridiculous gas mask anymore doesn’t mean I don’t recognize you.”

“Fine. I’ll be direct. We would like for you to join us on our journey. I know that you are not here in an official capacity. The Bureau has cast you out, and by disobeying their directives, you are now subject to the same treatment as the countless others you’ve put away in your years as law enforcement.”

Avery added to Sorren’s invitation. “Mr. Sorren is correct in offering you this opportunity. We have a chance to make a real change in the world. A positive change. To create a world where everyone can feel safe, whether in or out of their homes. They would no longer have to worry about corrupt politicians selling lies in the pursuit of power. The financial institutions and their greed can finally end, and the public can finally put food on the table without wondering if they’ll have a home the following month. The criminals in your prison system can finally become less of a burden and be forgotten. With my help, we can innovate and improve technology on a large scale, ending climate change, human disease, and wasted resources.”

Brandt had his mouth wide open while looking at the computer in which Avery’s voice had barked. “So, you want to create a utopia by destroying the lives of people, whom many are likely to be innocents?”

“We believe that by having you with us, we can increase our chances of success and the rate at which we can obtain it,” Avery replied.

Brandt looked at Nyx, who was nodding with affirmation. “You know, it’s no longer strange that you know all of this. You have Avery, whose days are also numbered.” He pointed back at the computer. “Hell. I’m sure you already know what I ordered and tried to enjoy before coming here. If you think I am going rogue just to join a bunch of vigilantes with a warped perception of justice. Then I think your computer friend might need an upgrade.”

“I don’t understand why you cannot see the logic in my plan.”

“Of course, you don’t. You are a computer. As smart as you think you are, there’s something that you fail to realize. You cannot unify humanity because most will never accept your rationalizations. Our differences in opinion and ability to choose how we live life make us unique from other species. Sure. Some will blindly follow you, but there will be others that will always be against you. That’s just inherent freedom, and it’s not going away for a very long time, no matter what you do.”

Sorren looked over to the computer awaiting a response that did not come. “Well, Avery. What do you say? I think we had given this an honest try.”

Avery sounded less enthusiastic. “Agreed. Do what you need to do.”

“I see. I guess that’s the prompt you were waiting for all along, right?” Brandt said in disgust.

“Not really. We hoped you would want to be on the winning side of things. Perhaps do some good in the world that has rejected your ambition for justice. It’s disappointing, to say the least, but we have to keep moving forward.” Sorren picked up the P226 from his lap and aimed it squarely at Brandt’s chest. “Last chance for a change of heart.”

“Go to hell.”

The sound of shattering glass was met with physical shards flying across the room. Sorren and Edward dived to the floor to protect themselves from the projectiles raining down on them. Sorren called out to Slim, “Slim, check out what the hell that was!”

There was no reply. Sorren looked over towards where Slim should have been, only to see a man slouched against the wall with a red hole in the side of his head, blood dripping down his neck.

The front door flew, knocking the remainder of the lifeless body entirely to the ground.

It had nearly been four hours since Dan almost gave Smith a heart attack by barging into the server room. He was there under the pretense of taking leave to visit some family down south. He was really there just to say hello to an old friend and check on how things were going. Hurst blindly signed off, still agitated by Dan’s past actions.

After being forgiven for the sudden intrusion, it was Jean who told Dan about the deceptive message that Brandt had received on his phone. Her attempts to warn Brandt about the setup were not acknowledged, and she started to understand why when the phone’s GPS failed to update. There was no hesitation in Dan’s next move. Smith had offered to go with him on the trip, but Jean preferred that he stay behind while she continued to pinpoint Avery’s location.

The journey was just as boring as Brandt had it. As an extra security measure, Dan had kept his phone turned off for the entire drive. If Avery was also monitoring him, he would need to try a lot harder to figure out what Dan was up to. Aside from a couple of necessary stops along the way, he arrived in what felt like excellent time. He couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes behind when Brandt arrived. He noticed the car up ahead parked along the side of the road. That must be Brandt’s. He also noticed something else; a figure going prone on the opposite side of the road. An overwatch? Luckily Dan had prepared for that particular concern.

He drove by the car and the property as if he were just traveling into town on an errand. Out of view from the house and where he had seen the figure, he parked his car to proceed on foot. Dan popped open the trunk, revealing a Bushmaster XM15. An Armalite style rifle chambered in five-point-five-six. He had no time to browse and be picky when he walked into the gun store two hours earlier. With his credentials, it was effortless for him to simply pick out what he wanted and continue on his way. His credentials had also allowed him a couple of extra items, an aimpoint red dot scope and a suppressor. He picked up the rifle and racked the charging handle, chambering a round for quick use.

It was good fortune that the leaves from the trees had not fallen. He needed to be as stealthy as possible, and at his age, that was an act that was getting more difficult by the day. It took him almost ten minutes to get a good observation point, where he could see both the house and the man providing lookout. Dan unslung the rifle and slowly went prone, trying not to make noise. As he looked through the reflex sight, he could clearly see the man lying prone with a similar looking rifle. The sight did not provide any image enhancement features such as zoom, but he did not have time to zero in a more precise optic in his haste anyways.

Dan did his best to control his breathing, gently squeezing the trigger until the tension would no longer easily give. Three, two, one. The round exited the barrel of the rifle at three thousand two hundred and sixty feet per second, directly into the side of the man’s skull. Dan tried not to get too cocky about the shot. He was prepared to take more shots if necessary, luckily, he was so precise that even a reflex sighted should be carefully zeroed. He stayed perfectly still for a moment and observed his surroundings for any response to the target’s demise.

He did not see any surveillance systems on the exterior of the house, but he approached just as cautiously as Brandt had done before. When he reached a side of the house that allowed for a view inside, he could hear multiple voices conversing. He counted three in total. One was Brandt, another seemed to be Nyx from what he remembered, and the last was unrecognizable. A few quick peeks through the window allowed him to see Nyx in an armchair and Brandt on the sofa. He could not tell where the third voice had come from, so he needed to move around the house to get a better view. This time he noticed a third person standing right next to the front door and a submachine gun in the ready position.

Dan needed to be quick if he was going to make this work. The front door was only a few strides away from him, but the window was the best chance to take out the man standing guard. He braced the Bushmaster XM15 into his right shoulder, took two steps back from the window and sent three semi-automatic shots into the man at the door. He hoped that Brandt would have instinctively thrown himself to the ground after the window shattered while Dan swiftly moved to the front door and kicked it inward.

Nyx didn’t dare get off the floor while the hail of bullets sprayed above his head. The sound was familiar, a suppressor. While it was not as silent as the movies would have you believe, it did a decent job masking the gunfire from being noticed at a distance. He scrambled around the floor, looking and feeling around for where his Sig Sauer P226 had flown just after taking the dive. Searching under the armchair he previously sat in, there was nothing but a device he had kept hidden in case of emergencies. A canister, much like the one Slim had previously used. He needed to get out of there before the party crasher got close enough to put him in his sights. Without a proper backup weapon, the canister had become his only chance. He ripped the tear gas from the underbelly of the armchair, the duct tape along with it. It took strength to remove the pin, but he managed and rolled it along the floor directly toward the armed intruder.

Dan had a slight pause in firing the rifle as he reloaded. He looked down to see the shiny metal canister rolling towards him, and then the pop followed by a steady stream of vapor quickly filling the room. He promptly lost sight of Nyx but knew where Brandt was positioned by the sofa.

“Brandt! Get up; it’s Dan We have to go now!” Dan shouted.

“Where’s Sorren? Where is that bastard?” Brandt shot to his feet just to notice the gas filling the room and Dan’s silhouette in the door frame. The coughing quickly overtook him as he stumbled and ran towards the door. “I’m coming.”

Dan grabbed Brandt’s arm and guided him out of the house. The brightness from the sun welcomed their arrival as they both tried to open their eyes and look for signs of Sorren. Brandt was the first to notice that the white truck originally parked in front of the house was now missing.

“How the hell did he get out so quick?” A frustrated Brandt asked while trying to control his coughing.

“A question for another day, I suppose. By the way, who is Sorren?”

Brandt was happy to have a friend with him but did not know where to begin with the answers he knew possessed. At least this one was a simple question. “Nyx. His real name is Jeffrey Sorren. Or at least that is what he wanted me to believe.”

“He gave you this information voluntarily?”

“Yes. But who knows what’s real. Everything said in there could have all just been bullshit.”

“Let’s start there. What was said?”

“A lot. But at the center of it all, they wanted to recruit me.”

“And what was your response to that?”

“What the hell do you think? No.”

“Easy, buddy. I just didn’t want to assume. Hell, you could have said yes and played the long con.”

“It never entered my mind. I’m curious, though. How did you find me?”

“Oh, I came down for a visit, and a friendly female told me what you were up to.”

“She knew from the message on my phone that Avery set me up.”

“Yes. It seems that technology really has gotten away from us. You can’t tell what’s real anymore.

“I know one thing that’s real.” Brandt turned around and shouted toward the house. “Avery. I’m coming for you! You can bring your buddy Jeff along with you, I don’t mind the two for one deal.”

There was no reply, and Brandt was in no mood to verify with the computer that his message was received. Dan stood there and let out a little laugh from the outburst.

“By the way, where did you get all of this?” Brandt pointed to the rifle that was slung in front of Dan.

“I did some shopping on the way here. It’s Texas, after all.”