If they were going to kill him, the least they could've done was make it quick. Why prolong it like this?
Verin continued to close her hand until it was a fist.
At that point, the matter inside the floating sphere was no longer recognizably human—just a mass of bloody meat.
There was a moment of silence before anyone moved.
Even though he was now gone, Za'Fia could still hear Stone's screams echo in her head.
Then, Wren tossed Vicki a thick, non-permeable bag that Verin lowered the sphere into. Once it was inside the bag, Verin deactivated whatever ability she had just used, and the grotesque remains of E.J. Stone spilled into it.
"Take his remains back to your base. Let that be an example of what happens when they fall out of line or try to take what's mine. Remind them that most of them would be long dead if not for me, so should they defy my order, they, therefore, forfeit the gift of life I've given them," Avarice instructed Vicki. "After you do that, go visit Stone's family. I'll be there to offer them an acceptable story along with compensation."
"Yes, My Lord," Vicki said as she bowed. She glanced at Za'Fia before raising her head and leaving the building.
After she was gone, the room transformed back into its lab state.
"That's the third one this month," Trevor stated as he sat at the table.
"That's what happens when you have no sense of loyalty. They all deserved Father's judgment," Junichiro said.
Za'Fia was curious about this JANUS stuff. It seems three of Avarice's Holders have been removed because of it.
I guess it couldn't hurt to ask.
"So, what's this JANUS stuff you killed that guy over," Za'Fia asked aloud.
"A gift for the humans," Trevor answered as he got up.
He headed toward Za'Fia. When he got reached her, he leaned in close to the glass.
"You wanna know something weird that even Pops still doesn't have the answer to yet?" He asked. "We've tested it on animals, and they've all died; we tested it on ourselves, and it has no effect, but when we tested it on humans, so long as it's in small doses –"
"Trevor..." Verin called out.
Trevor met Verin's eyes and then put his hands up to say he got the message.
"Someone give me a report on Tymon," she ordered.
"When's it gonna be someone else's turn," Wren asked as she fiddled with an energy quantifier next to Trevor. "I've been the only one surveilling him since he first contacted the Watcher."
Verin didn't give her a response.
Wren sighed and continued to answer the question.
"Based on yesterday's observation, I'd say he's had some mental breakdown or something like he's changed somehow. He killed some guy in an alley last night. I think he was trying to save a girl; things escalated, one guy exploded from eating too many JANUS tablets, and Tymon took a vial from the guy he killed," Wren said nonchalantly.
"Does he know what the tablets are," Verin asked.
"Only their name and that someone with the alias, Prodi-G, distributed them. But since that guy's out of the picture now...."
Avarice chuckled.
"I won't be long before he figures out the secret behind them," Avarice told them. "I kept tabs on him myself yesterday morning. It's safe to assume he remembers how he died. It's only a matter of time before he puts two and two together."
"How could he remember?" Verin asked. "Our memories are wiped if we reincarnate."
"It probably had something to do with absorbing the power from his mark," Avarice answered.
"Hmm..." Junichiro said as he thought deeply. "Then he probably has a vendetta against us."
"Yeah, but he's not stupid enough to come after us," Avarice assured. "Especially with how weak he currently is. Knowing him, he'll focus on becoming stronger. Perhaps he'll figure out how to feed from humans too."
Avarice began to smile.
"I wish you wouldn't find so much amusement in this," Verin said to Avarice. "If a Supreme Primordial feeds from humans, it wouldn't even take a year for them to close the gap between them and myself."
"Relax," Avarice said. "I doubt he'll go on a killing spree. He seems to care about the human, and she cares about other humans. So he won't do anything rash. For now, he remains a potential threat. Any other news concerning Tymon?"
"Nope. He hasn't even figured out Za'Fia's missing yet," Wren answered.
"You hear that, Za'Fia? Three days and he still hasn't noticed," Verin said, provoking her. "I'm sure he'll find out soon, though, and what do you think he'll do once he does?"
"Die pointlessly," Junichiro inserted.
Verin and Junichiro found that amusing as they walked off to discuss something privately.
However, in front of Za'Fia, Trevor teased Wren for having a lower EQN than him.
When she glanced at the number displayed as he held it, she saw 11,400,000.
He leaned back in to speak to Za'Fia.
"I bet you think that, together, you and Tymon might be able to hold us off long enough to escape. Or maybe even long enough for some of the others to sense the commotion and come help. Well, you'd be wrong. If Pops or Verin step in, it'll be over before it starts," he said.
Trevor sees Verin walking by and says, "You wanna know what you're up against? Check this out."
Once he quickly got Verin's attention, he tossed the energy quantifier to her. When she caught it, it displayed:
Verin Dolores: TekTra Chief of Staff/Research Director
EQN: 1,310,000
Potential: 13,100,000
Trevor grinned.
"If you think that's crazy, Pop's EQN is 15 million in the state he's in right now. Even if all of you fought together, he'd still be more powerful," he said confidently.
Za'Fia tried to keep a straight face as he said this. Internally, she was thinking of how ridiculous that was. She wasn't about to disregard what he said, but if it was true....
She knew Avarice had to be powerful, but an EQN of 15 million without his hybrid form?! What are they supposed to do against that? Even Tymon and Michael, at their strongest, can't win against him. As he said, all of them together wouldn't come close.