Chapter 12: Slate

Kingston braced himself as he gently pulled his car off the road and onto a grassy area, killing the lights and putting it in park. Carefully, he stepped out to greet the setting sun, shutting the door as silently as he could. Despite the need for stealth, he still took a moment to stretch out his aching back, letting out a quiet groan and shivering against the dying light.

The scenic drive from Ascension to Maybell was well over four hours, and there was no guarantee the results would ultimately be worth the trip. Calling his plan a long shot would've been putting it too politely. Insane was more like it, he thought, dangerous was also quite apt. Stupid, shortsighted…potentially criminal?

Despite his misgivings, he pressed forward. Considering he lied to his wife and said he'd have to work late, he was only going to get one shot at this.

If I'm lucky, I can catch the final period of Amberley's game, he thought, spurring him to set off. If I'm not killed, anyway.

Alone on the far western edge of Maybell, hidden by a setting sun and swaying evergreens that lined the long, winding concrete driveway, Kingston crouched, exacerbating the ache in his sore lower back, and stalked towards the multi-million dollar mountain home in front of him. The sprawling residence stood in stark contrast to the rest of the mostly impoverished town, a sheet of fresh snow blanketed the perfectly manicured yard, a rarity in a place where it hardly rained. There were no cars in the driveway, but as he moved closer Kingston noticed there was one lone light in the upstairs, which sent his heart rate spiking.

Maybe I didn't make the trip for nothing, he thought, hope rising in his chest. Continuing forward, Kingston crept around the back of the home, peeking over the well-maintained wooden fence.

The home, situated on a slope, opened up to the wide, dry valley below. There wasn't another residence or business for a hundred miles in any direction, but the valley itself held an odd feature, one that brought a wide smile to Kingston's face. Where there should've been fresh snow, there were dozens of boulders dotting the landscape.

"Found you," he said.

"Did you now?"

Kingston whipped around, his heart racing. Wearing a green, oversized Lavender Mountain Park hoodie and black, ripped jeans, the woman stood in front of him, arms folded tight across her chest. He tried to project confidence, but suddenly Kingston felt vulnerable, acutely aware of how isolated they were, miles away from the next house far down the road.

"I'm guessing you're not the owner," she said, "or else you would've parked in the driveway instead of sneaking around the backyard."

"Astute," Kingston confirmed, nodding. He gestured behind him. "And I'm guessing you're the one who redecorated that valley?"

She was silent, but clenched her jaw tightly. Kingston smiled. Found her.

"You kill any cows with those things? What are there, something like ten times as many cows as people here? I'd imagine you'd have to have hit one by now, right?"

"Careful," she warned him, looking entirely unamused. She tilted her head, taking a few slow, confident steps towards Kingston, who suddenly felt like a mouse watching a viper close in. "All these boulders came from somewhere, and I just wonder what would happen if one of them ended up on top of your car," she told him, her voice even. She stopped, pausing to watch the sun set, letting the silence of the valley set in. Kingston swallowed hard. "It's getting awfully dark out, and I've found there's very little in the way of people all the way out here. How would you get home? You'd have to call someone, no? Does your family know you're out here by yourself?"

The smile fell from Kingston's face as he shifted uncomfortably as the evening slowly descended into purple dusk. He shivered, gesturing towards the house. "Right to it, then. I like that. Okay. Think we can take this inside? Sun's going down, and I didn't bring a a hat."

He was met with silence. Sighing, he gestured for her to ask away.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who thinks Ascension is living on borrowed time."

She hesitated, then inclined her head in apparent agreement.

"I'm Rainey," she told him.

"Kingston," he nodded. "I weld for Apex. Used to work on Apex's fracking rigs, but lately I've been working on something a little more indoors."

"Interesting. How did you find me?"

"Apex has eyes in places you'd never expect."

"Like Maybell?" Rainey asked.

Kingston nodded. "After the Surge, Apex was required to place seismometers along the path the Surge was thought to have traveled on its way to Ascension. About a month ago, while all the eggheads were out to lunch to celebrate a new scientist starting, I noticed a few patches of activity near Maybell, small enough to not set off any alarms, but large enough to register. Normally, this wouldn't be anything we'd pick up on, but the concentration of the activity…surprised me. I would've brushed it off, but after a few weeks of activity in the same exact area, I realized…it couldn't be a coincidence. Plus, over time, the readings began to increase in size and severity. You," he pointed to her now, "were very close to ringing a bell that would've brought the entirety of Apex's field team, plus a low-level Protector or two, all the way out here to find what the hell was causing this."

Rainey shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry," he chuckled. "I took care of it. Wiped the data during the shift changeover. Nobody knows you're here except for me. I couldn't have anyone finding out about you before I had a chance to speak with you."

"No one drives four hours out of their way to do someone a favor without asking something in return," she told him. "So, what do you want with me?"

Kingston clicked his tongue. "I want," he told her, "what you want."

She raised an eyebrow, regarding him coolly. "Which is?"

"The Protectors Ascension has, the ones Amory employs, have no vision. They are content to keep the status quo, content to follow orders, have a flashy battle that makes them look good online, and then go home. The biggest problem facing Ascension? Despite what Amory tells everyone, it's not the Altered. Those guys couldn't organize their way out of a wet paper bag if you gave them knife powers, which one of them literally has!"

"Get to the point."

Kingston narrowed his gaze, training it on Rainey. "Right now, the city needs someone better, but Protectors are…in limited supply. So, I tried to make my own."

"It was you, then?" she asked, surprised, taking a tentative step forward. "You're the one who sent out the breach point locations?"

"Guilty," he smiled. "Some were guesses based on data that wasn't too promising, but I knew I just needed one success. The people that stuck with it, the people that kept searching, those people would have drive, initiative, purpose. You would know that Apex was lying about the growing threat of the Surge to Ascension, and you'd want to do something about it, unlike the rest of the stooges Amory employs."

Rainey seemed impressed, if a little disinterested. "And why do you think that's me?"

Kingston gestured to the valley, covered with evidence of her practice and growing control. "Usually, when people get powers, they run straight to Apex, trying to establish themselves as a Protector. We only let the strongest in, mostly to ensure we can control them, and cut the weaker ones loose. Failing that, people try to strike out with one of the roving bands of Altered who play outlaws, hoping to…rob a bank, or whatever unimaginative goal they come up with that day. You, though, are different. You stayed away, training yourself, and you clammed up the moment I mentioned Apex. You're not like them, you do not want to be like them, and you're strong, powerful enough to help me fix what's wrong with Ascension."

She scoffed. "That's where you're wrong."

Her eyes locked in on the mountains in the distance. Holding her palm up, her face narrowed in concentration. She flicked her wrist and ripped a boulder from the mountain, tossed it into the sky. Kingston gasped as it landed on top of another boulder, cracking it in two.

"Amazing," he breathed. "You're stronger than I ever hoped."

"It's still not enough," her gaze shifted to the snow in front of her. "I should've known. I put myself through the pain of gaining powers, but mine aren't like hers."

"Who?" he asked.

"Titan," Rainey spat. "Even if you want to fix something in Ascension, she won't let you. She stands in the way of every single plan you can think up. If you can't deal with her first, you won't get anywhere, and my powers aren't enough. Nobody's are. She can't be hurt, not even by me."

Kingston just raised an eyebrow. Rainey's irritation grew.

"What?"

"You know, after the Surge, I was devouring the news, like everyone else was. But, nearly lost in the shuffle of people gaining powers, I caught a story: two women were hiking on the night of the Surge. When it hit, the mountain underneath them ruptured, throwing them both off the side. I believe that was you and-"

"Stop," she growled, thunder again rolling in the distance.

Kingston took a careful step back, his hands up. "I went up there, after the Surge. Amory had me working with the scientists to figure out if this was something we could stop. I saw what it did to that mountain, and I can only imagine what it did to you."

Rainey laughed, humorlessly. "I knew it. Apex knew everything."

"Not only that," Kingston sighed, "but it's going to get much worse. For the past year, I've woken up almost every morning wondering if today was the day that the dam breaks and the radiation comes flooding through the city, devouring everything in its path. But what if we could save our families instead? What if we knew exactly when the dam would break, because we set the dynamite?"

"Did you listen to anything I said?" She shook her head dismissively. "Titan would never allow it."

The smile returned to Kingston's eyes. "Did you really think I'd drive all the way out herem and miss my daughter's hockey game without having a plan for that?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you know?"

"She can bleed," Kingston told her, folding his arms. "I've seen it. And, if you promise to see this through, I'll tell you how."

Starting imperceptibly, the rumble behind him deepend and grew. Kingston spun around as one of the boulders shattered entirely, then another, rupturing into dust. He nodded, impressed.

"I'll take that as a yes. Call me when you're ready to begin." He smiled, starting to walk back to his car, then stopped just as he reached her. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask. What should I call you?"

She stared at him, confused.

Kingston laughed. "Rainey, nobody uses their real name after they get powers. Do you think people would respect Titan nearly as much if she was called, like, Margaret?"

Rainey hated to admit it, but she did agree. Out in front of her, the sun settled firmly behind the mountains, casting the massive, jagged range of peaks in a blue-grey light that dominated the landscape. She smiled.

"Call me Slate."

Kingston nodded. "Better. I'll be in touch."