ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

“Gather around, everyone. Notice the trend in Chart A.” The grad student started his presentation without introduction. The eight robotics students pulled themselves away from their work benches and found folding chairs near the white board that stood in the center of the lab. Eric resigned himself to another dull lecture. The grad student was sent by the head of Robotics to explain why the “free association” AI algorithm devised by a pair of students last week could not be accepted.

This lab was called the Crosswalk as two hallways passing through it made it more of an intersection. A veritable maze of hallways spread out in four directions from this room. The basement of the university’s science building held countless labs. The concrete floor and harsh fluorescent lights made it an unpleasant place to spend time. The late hour didn’t help the students warm up to the lecture.

A man Eric didn’t recognize pulled a chair up to the rear of the group. His grizzled demeanor and long trench coat made him stand out but no one seemed to notice as he sat down. The newcomer kept scanning the room slowly. He didn’t look interested in algorithms.

“These concurrent patterns require a data infrastructure with a deviation below the threshold established above.” The grad student was going all out. Eric and his classmates liked the possibilities opened up by the new algorithm they devised but the department wasn’t having any of it.

As the talk droned on Eric felt increasingly odd. Although the project had been demanding a lot of hours he didn’t feel tired. His nerves felt raw. He noticed every noise, every nuance of the speaker’s voice. Eric looked at the newcomer now and then. The rough-looking man still scanned the room. Looking like a reject from an old detective movie he certainly didn’t belong here. Why was he the only person who noticed this guy?

As Eric tried to focus again on the speaker his distress only increased. Part of his mind was spinning and wouldn’t calm down. The part of his mind attuned to the lecture didn’t miss anything. He started to imagine he was two people. One followed the grad student’s every word while the other reached out with invisible fingers to search for something — something distressing. He couldn’t push the feeling of fear out of his consciousness.

The daydream stopped as Eric’s head snapped back to look behind him. From one of the hallways behind the group a big man with ragged clothes and an unkempt beard emerged. The man’s face was a mask of silent anger as he strode menacingly forward. His gaze was fixed on a student in front of Eric. The man in the trench coat leapt to his feet and reached into his coat. Eric’s mind was blank as he leaned back. Part of him knew the danger, part of him was unable to think.

The intruder disappeared in a black cloud of arms and legs that shot out in all directions. A nightmare of claws, eyes and limbs formed right in front of the now terrified students. This vaguely arachnid horror stood on four impossibly thin spidery legs and continued its advance. A claw slashed as it moved past Eric. He ducked to the side and fell sideways with his chair. His mind was blank as he hit the floor.

The man in the trench coat had a pistol in his hand and fired into the monster’s side. The sound of the blast made it stop. As the black creature turned a six-eyed head to regard him Eric found he could think again. The man’s pistol was huge. He couldn’t imagine anyone concealing it easily - certainly not from campus security. Eric rose slowly to his feet and watched what unfolded.

After a pause the black horror opened its mouth and crude words grated out. “You’ll die next. That thing won’t save you.”

The man with the pistol was defiant. “I always give warning first. The boy’s father is your enemy, not him. Leave here and forsake innocent blood. If you don’t I’ll kill you.” The students and speaker were frozen in terror. Eric sensed the immense beast was sizing up its unexpected enemy.

The creature snapped its four arms to its chest and issued a guttural noise. Inky shadows leaked out of its body and swirled around one of its arms. From there the wave of shadow leapt to the gunman. The man cursed as he crouched swiftly. Hisses sounded as cuts formed on his body. His shirt and trousers were suddenly slashed.

The man held up the palm of one hand against the creature as he barked out a word in what sounded like Latin. The black monster’s entire bulk slammed against the opposite wall with a crash. Eric saw as it struck the wall an ornate patterned circle in black disappeared on impact. It was the same inky shadow that the monster had called forth. The spidery limbs were pressed against the wall by an invisible force. Long cracks in the concrete block wall couldn’t conceal the fine pattern cut there. The traces of shadow from a moment ago had etched an intricate circle with arcane characters along its circumference.

“Whaat!?” The arachnid thing bellowed in its consternation. It struggled but couldn’t free itself.

The man who faced it pulled a long knife from a sheath at his side. “You’re not the only one who knows the shadows.” He flicked his wrist and the knife flew into the horror just below its head. Blood spattered against the wall. Eric saw the knife’s blade glowed softly. The six-eyed head dropped. It lolled to one side. Next the arms fell down and hung limply. The legs relaxed and the beast shifted slightly but remained pinned to the wall.

The grad student fell to the ground. Stark terror was etched on his face. The other students shared the same expression. Several slumped from their chairs, fainted away.

The man in the trench coat walked to the immense corpse on the wall. “I’m Gavin. Your name?” He looked at Eric as he wrenched the long knife out with effort.

Eric stepped forward, feeling the fog clear. He was unable to resist inspecting the etched design on the wall. “Eric. What… is that?”

The black corpse fell to the floor and changed. It melted, shrunk into the body of the large, bearded man it was initially. Gavin took hold of the body’s ankles and started dragging it. “Help me move it. It was one of the changing breeds. A spider. It was taking vengeance on your classmate.”

The two of them drug the corpse into a nearby lab. As the man arranged the corpse and placed objects for the police to investigate Eric noticed his trench coat was spotless and uncut while his clothes looked rumpled and cut in several places. He bled from numerous small wounds.

“You can keep your head in a fight. That’s the first lesson.” Gavin dropped a glass container on the floor. He stepped in the white powder.

“What’s the second?” Eric asked.

“Watch your ass.” The man didn’t smile.

Eric motioned towards the body. “How did he get past campus security?”

Gavin surveyed the scene to make sure everything was right. “He didn’t come in through the front door. The jumble of corridors down here connect to the Great Labyrinth at times. He came that way.”

Eric thought about the confusion of labs and hallways that had formed over many decades underground and started to see now that it was something more than he used to think it was.

“Your friends in there won’t remember what happened but they’ll be distressed. You’ll be the one to tell the police what happened. They’re probably already on their way.”

Eric tried to connect the dots. “Did you do something to them? To their memories?”

Gavin straightened up and gave Eric his full attention. “No. Wasn’t me. The changing breeds have their own magic.” He took off his trench coat.

“Look, you’re a mess.” Gavin held the coat out to Eric. Eric looked down at himself and saw the blood smeared across his shirt. “Wear this and close it up,” Gavin instructed. “Two vagrants snuck in and had it out in here. My footprints are the second one. The murderer. You didn’t get a good look at me.”

Eric noticed a security camera near the ceiling. “The security cams.”

“There’s a thumb drive in the coat’s inside pocket. It’ll come in handy for you, too.” Gavin fixed Eric with an intense gaze. “Your eyes were opened tonight. You have a right to wear that coat now. Keep a look out for others like me. They’ll get you sorted out. Well, as close to sorted out as we get. What you saw tonight? That’s what we do.”

Eric’s face was stern as he replied. “We protect them. The ones whose eyes aren’t open.” Gavin nodded.

Eric followed him out of the lab room and into the corridor. He saw the other students coming to life. He could hear them asking each other what happened as Gavin started down the hall.

Gavin stopped suddenly and turned around. “If you ever waver, remember the third rule: They need us.”

Eric watched him turn a corner and disappear. He found a seat and waited for the police. He knew the truth now. His dreams, his odd feelings, his suspicions. The veil had been lifted. He put his hands into the pockets of his new coat. But the feeling of fear was still there.

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Next: Trenchcoater History