Powerless by S.A. McAuley Read Free Book Online Page A

we rarely saw snow anymore. Neither Armise nor I had bothered to stop for any kind of a jacket and we both wore the black T-shirts and sweatpants emblazoned with the Revolution seal.
    The city around us was war-torn—the destruction of grenades, bombs, and bullet holes riddled the concrete walls. I led Armise down an empty alley, heading towards the gates of the Underground. I had to see for myself that it was abandoned.
    Where there had been heavily armed guards five months ago in this same spot, the gates to the home of the jacquerie were now left open and unprotected.
    Armise quickened his steps, taking position at my right shoulder, his demeanour immediately switching to that of a soldier. “Why didn’t we bring any weapons?” he growled in my ear.
    “There’s no one here,” I answered simply.
    We passed through the gates and into the tent city. The detritus of a hasty departure filled the dirty streets. Whole tents had collapsed in on themselves and crinkled in the weak, cold wind. Neither of us spoke as we moved through the Underground, working our way in a grid pattern so I could confirm there was no one who remained. With each step Armise tensed further, his boots thudding over cracked concrete even though I knew he could move silently when he wanted to.
    We stopped at the fringes of the tent city, where the PsychHAg headquarters had once stood, and only a pile of rubble now remained because of the order I had given for the buildings to be destroyed after Ahriman had killed the President’s wife, Sarai.
    “Talk,” was all Armise said.
    I put my hands on my hips and faced him, trying to figure out how to explain to him everything Jegs had told me. But instead what came out of my mouth was a continuation of the conversation he’d walked out on in the control room when he’d left me wondering what the hell he meant when he’d said if only it was that simple.
    “Don’t fuck with me, Armise. We don’t do simple,” I accused.
    Armise opened his mouth as if to reply then closed it. He swore under his breath and tracked away from me, kicking a piece of rubble into a pile and launching a cloud of dust into the air. “That was my point,” he finally replied with a scowl.
    And for some reason, his dejectedness made me furious. “In what world or iteration of worlds could you and I ever be ground down into something that isn’t complex? To wish for something we can never achieve is futile. This is our existence. Our histories and the wounds of our missions are the madness we will carry for the remainder of our lives, regardless of the number of days we’re granted. What aren’t you telling me, Armise? Within minutes, you went from trying to convince me that the remaining Committee members had to be next to die, to trying to convince me that Ahriman had to be the next to go. Maybe Jegs is right and I should just let you kill yourself going after him.”
    His brow furrowed deeply. “What does Jegs have to do with any of this?”
    “What does anyone have to do with any of this? Are you serious or just being difficult? We don’t operate in a void. You and I are tools in this war. A war that is about people and the right to freedom. It’s not just you and I that occupy this planet. We’re pawns but we are willingly charging into the front lines.”
    “I have no stake in this war. I am not a pawn to anyone. I willingly follow you and if that takes me into this battle then that’s where I’ll go.”
    I laughed, the rough sound echoing in the emptiness of the tent camp. “Says the man who just declared he’s leaving to go after a madman intent on killing anyone who stands in his way.”
    “How does this possibly end well? How do you not look around you and see that there is no way for us to ever survive this long enough to actually fucking live for once? There will never be peace on this planet. Humanity isn’t capable of it. And yet you still believe it’s possible. I can’t see the future you