Bad Beat - Chapter 27 - Open (Patreon)

Mia stared at Nate, though her eyes kept drifting toward Gabriel every few seconds, as if she were silently asking whether he had any idea what was happening, because she certainly didn’t.

It was painfully obvious that she had questions, and probably several violent suggestions as well, but for the moment, she was letting Gabriel handle things.

That alone made him feel marginally better.

The fact that she was standing nearby with a weapon aimed directly at Nate’s head helped even more.

Gabriel took a slow breath, gave her a small nod, and turned his full attention back toward the intruder who had somehow inserted himself into their evening.

“Well, Nate...” Gabriel began slowly. “You do realize how unbelievably suspicious it is that you just showed up here out of nowhere?”

Nate had spent most of his time since arriving openly studying Mia, and even now, he didn’t bother looking at Gabriel when he answered.

“This was honestly the only approach that worked. I tried several other methods first, but most of those timelines ended with me getting shot.”

He paused thoughtfully.

“The rest somehow managed to end even worse.”

Mia let out a dry laugh that held absolutely no humor.

“I can still shoot you, if that helps.”

He smiled in a roguish way at her that should have looked ridiculous considering how scruffy and sleep-deprived he appeared, yet somehow it worked far better than it had any right to.

“But you won’t.”

It was a statement delivered with complete confidence.

Gabriel stared at him for several long seconds before slowly shaking his head.

“Alright,” he said. “So you want to join us.”

He leaned back slightly.

“You already told us what you want. Now tell me what exactly you bring to the table that makes all of this worth tolerating.”

“Trouble,” Mia muttered under her breath.

Gabriel chose not to disagree.

“Now, now... your gothic highness,” Nate said while glancing toward the weapon in her hand. “There’s really no need for violence. I’m completely willing to cooperate.”

He flashed her another grin.

“I promise.”

Mia stared at him in complete silence for several long seconds. Gabriel genuinely thought she might pull the trigger anyway, simply out of irritation.

Instead, she eventually scoffed loudly, shook her head, and lowered the weapon.

“Whatever,” she muttered. “My arm was getting tired anyway.”

She walked over and dropped onto the couch beside Gabriel with clear annoyance written across her face.

Nate let out a quiet chuckle and finally lowered his raised hands.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely enough.

He rolled his shoulders, flexed his arms, and leaned against the nearest wall before crossing them over his chest.

Gabriel and Mia continued staring at him.

Nate, unfortunately, seemed to enjoy their growing frustration far more than any sane person should have.

He dragged the silence out for nearly an entire minute, looking entirely too pleased with himself while doing it.

By the time Gabriel could practically feel Mia vibrating beside him from barely contained irritation, Nate finally opened his mouth.

“Well,” he said dramatically, “the first thing I bring is fairly obvious.”

He spread his arms slightly.

“The future.”

He somehow managed to say it like he expected applause.

Gabriel, deciding to be petty, activated the deck in his hand.

Nate visibly flinched.

His jaw tightened as he shot Gabriel an irritated glare that clearly communicated exactly what he thought about that little interruption, then he continued speaking.

“I can reliably see several days into the future, which means I can help guide whatever plans you two decide to make.”

He inhaled slowly afterward.

This time, Gabriel noticed the hesitation more clearly.

“Anything beyond that gets significantly harder,” Nate admitted. “There are too many variables. Too many moving pieces. Futures branch constantly.”

For the first time, some of his casual confidence weakened.

“But if you really want to know those possibilities too... I can tell you.”

Gabriel immediately noticed the tension buried beneath his casual tone.

There was pain there.

Real pain.

Whatever Nate had seen in those distant futures had clearly left marks.

Gabriel decided not to push, as this conversation was already complicated enough.

“A few days?” Mia asked skeptically. “That doesn’t sound nearly as useful as you think it does.”

His smile returned as he looked directly at her again.

“It’s significantly more useful than you think, especially when paired with people who know how to act on good information.”

Gabriel glanced sideways and saw Mia’s expression somehow become even less impressed.

Nate wisely continued before she could respond.

“I know you’re trying to figure out why your sister was killed,” he said while looking directly at Mia. “And I can help with that.”

That instantly got her full attention.

Then Nate turned toward Gabriel.

“And you…”

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I still don’t fully understand what your thing is, man, but I can help you infiltrate the ninth floor.”

Gabriel blinked.

Then he looked Nate up and down again.

“Really?”

His skepticism was impossible to hide.

“You?”

Nate looked healthy enough.

That was about the nicest thing Gabriel could say. Nate certainly didn’t look like someone capable of sneaking into heavily secured corporate territory.

Nate shrugged.

“I’m not saying I’ll personally crawl through vents wearing black tactical gear.”

He paused.

“Though that would be hilarious.”

Mia snorted despite herself.

Nate pointed at her triumphantly.

“See? I’m growing on you.”

Her glare returned immediately.

“No.”

Nate sighed dramatically before returning his attention to Gabriel.

“Three days from now, there’s going to be an event in another district that’ll pull personnel away from the ninth floor. Security will be stretched thinner than usual.”

He leaned forward slightly.

“That will be your best opportunity.”

Gabriel committed the information to memory while keeping his expression neutral.

Nate saw their silence and unimpressed faces, uncrossed his arms, and clapped loudly once. “Fine. Still, not enough?”

He looked directly at Mia, then moved on to Gabriel. “If you ignore me…,” his expression became noticeably more serious. “…then Bombshell is going to kill both of you in a week.”

The room became completely silent.

Even Mia stopped moving.

Nate carefully watched their reactions.

Gabriel’s mind immediately began racing through possibilities.

Eventually, he spoke.

“On purpose?”

Given Bombshell’s reputation for collateral damage, Gabriel felt that was an extremely fair question.

Mia quietly nodded beside him but remained silent.

Nate rolled his eyes dramatically.

“Yes. On purpose.”

He gestured around the apartment.

“Don’t assume corporations ignore places like this because it looks like a trash heap. Places like this still matter.” He leaned forward. “And if you keep destabilizing gang operations, corporations are going to step in and restore a version of order they can control.”

“Which would mean eliminating the elements causing the chaos,” he pointed out. “You have no idea the resources they can call on.”

“Which means removing the people creating the disruption.”

His expression darkened.

“And trust me, you have absolutely no understanding of what kind of resources they can deploy when they decide someone needs to disappear.”

Then Nate sighed, his face going through a gamut of emotions before he smiled again. Though Gabriel could see in his eyes that there were still dark emotions swirling.

“And I still don’t know what your power actually is, Gabe-man.” He looked directly at Gabriel. “But based on what I saw…”

He stretched the silence, eyes alight with delight as he took Gabriel and Mia sitting next to each other.

“…it won’t save you from a supersonic lingerie model.”

Gabriel grimaced.

That sounded deeply unpleasant.

He turned toward Mia, and she met his gaze and subtly tilted her head toward the bedroom.

Gabriel immediately understood.

He rolled his eyes.

“Just shoot him so we can talk.”

Mia’s eyes lit up with alarming excitement.

She spun toward Nate as her watch instantly transformed into a sleek, futuristic weapon.

Surprisingly, Nate was already sitting in a chair and grinning.

“I knew you would–”

BZZZT

A pulse of blue energy slammed into him.

His entire body jerked before immediately going limp, slumping sideways in the chair, unconscious before he even finished his sentence.

Mia stood and stared at him. “So annoying…” she muttered.

She walked over, made sure he was really out of it and not pretending, adjusted his unconscious body so he wouldn’t choke on his own tongue, then brushed her hands together as if she had just completed an unpleasant chore.

Then she turned toward Gabriel.

All amusement had vanished from her expression.

“We need to talk.”

**

“What the hell, Gabriel?” Mia whisper-shouted, pointing furiously at Nate’s unconscious body out in the living room. “I leave you alone for a day, and somehow this happens?”

“This?” Gabriel shot back, equally outraged as he also pointed toward the insensate man slumped in the chair. “He literally showed up at my door uninvited. I had absolutely nothing to do with him being here.”

Mia let out an incredulous scoff.

“You seriously expect me to believe that Mr. I Somehow Keep Collecting Ridiculous Powers had nothing to do with the random precognitive lunatic showing up at his apartment?”

Gabriel opened his mouth with every intention of escalating the argument.

It would have been incredibly easy.

He was already frustrated, confused, and more than a little irritated that his evening had somehow spiraled into dealing with an overconfident future-seeing stranger who apparently wanted to join their increasingly dysfunctional little group.

Yelling would have felt satisfying.

But he also knew it would solve absolutely nothing.

More importantly, they needed to think clearly before their emotions completely hijacked the situation.

So instead of saying something he would regret later, Gabriel exhaled slowly, turned around, and began walking toward his bedroom.

“Come on…”

Mia blinked in surprise.

For a second, she looked like she wanted to continue yelling at him, but then she caught herself and hurried after him.

Inside the bedroom, Spark-1’s device immediately spun to life.

A familiar blue light filled the room as a projected screen appeared in the air.

Mia stopped near the doorway, keeping one eye on the bedroom and the other on Nate’s unconscious body in the living room as if she fully expected him to suddenly wake up and stab them.

[This unit remained silent and informed Mia about the intruder.]

[Did this unit do good?]

Gabriel immediately smiled. “Yes, you did great,” he said warmly. “Thank you.”

[Hehe~]

Despite everything happening around him, Gabriel felt some of his tension fade at Sparky’s obvious pride.

“Now what?” Mia asked, glancing toward the living room again before checking the windows.

She looked deeply uncomfortable, like she expected corporate soldiers to suddenly rappel through the glass at any moment.

Gabriel motioned toward Sparky’s screen.

“Well, first we figure out exactly who our newest problem is,” he said. “Sparky, what did you find out about him?”

An animated hourglass appeared on the blue screen.

A few seconds later, Nate’s extremely punchable face appeared alongside rapidly scrolling information.

[Nate Ross.]

[Age: 24.]

[Birthplace: Los Angeles Megacity.]

A series of social media posts began flashing past. Mostly nature photographs, several food pictures, and a few selfies thrown in the mess.

He even spotted an aggressively filtered sunset.

Gabriel couldn’t help but judge Nate. Hard.

[Education: Graduated high school.]

[Higher education: Unknown.]

[Employment: Unknown.]

[Known relationships: Unknown.]

[Known interests: goth women, video games, wine.]

Gabriel slowly turned toward Mia.

Then he smiled.

“Well.”

Mia narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t you dare!”

Gabriel’s smile widened.

“Apparently, he’s here for you.”

“Shut up.”

Gabriel burst into laughter.

[Would parental unit like additional information?]

[This unit can access confidential information.]

Gabriel stared at the screen for a few seconds longer than necessary, seriously considering it.

He was tempted – extremely tempted, if he was being honest with himself – because everything about Nate’s sudden appearance felt wrong in a way he couldn’t properly explain. The man had arrived at his apartment uninvited, casually revealed that he could see the future, knew far too much about both him and Mia, and had somehow managed to be smug through all of it.

Digging deeper into confidential records could potentially answer a lot of questions very quickly.

At the same time, Gabriel had no real understanding of what kind of digital defenses protected those corporate databases.

Sparky was incredibly capable, but he had no idea whether she was capable enough to bypass heavily protected systems without exposing herself in the process, and the thought of losing her because he acted impulsively made the decision far easier than he wanted it to be.

Maybe after another upgrade.

For now, he slowly shook his head. “Not yet,” Gabriel said after a long pause. “Instead, check whether someone matching his appearance has been active in the super scene. If he’s telling the truth, there has to be some record of him somewhere.”

[Understood.]

[Executing search parameters.]

[This unit is disappointed in parental unit.]

[Parental unit is a coward.]

[Humpf.]

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gabriel couldn’t help but smile at her antics.

Then he turned to Mia.

“What do you think?”

Mia answered immediately.

“I think I should shoot him several more times until his brain resembles soup, dump him in an alley somewhere, and make him someone else’s problem.”

Gabriel winced at how quickly she arrived at that conclusion, though if he was being completely honest with himself, part of him understood the appeal.

“Harsh,” he muttered.

“Efficient,” Mia corrected without missing a beat.

Gabriel let out a quiet breath and leaned back against the desk, folding his arms as he thought it through. As brutal as her suggestion was, it did solve a lot of immediate problems.

Nate was dangerous, unpredictable, and knew far too much about both of them. Removing him now would certainly make life simpler.

At least in theory.

“But what if he’s right?” Gabriel asked after a moment.

Mia stared at him as though he had said something particularly stupid.

“Come on, Gabriel.” She pushed herself off the door frame and began pacing around the room, frustration bleeding into every movement. “Don’t tell me you’re actually buying what he’s selling.”

“That’s one of the oldest manipulation tactics in existence,” she said, throwing her hands up in disbelief. “You tell people things they’re already worried about, act mysterious, sprinkle in a few specific details, and suddenly they think you’re indispensable.”

She turned toward him sharply.

“He knows I’m looking into my sister’s death. That isn’t exactly impossible information to dig up if someone has been watching me.”

Then she jabbed a finger toward Gabriel.

“And you’ve been causing chaos across this district for weeks. Telling you that powerful people might want you dead isn’t exactly a groundbreaking prophecy.”

Gabriel frowned because, unfortunately, she was making very valid points.

Instead, he turned toward Sparky’s floating screen.

“Hey, Sparky, any appearances by Helix-sponsored supers in San Bernardino in the next month?”

There was a brief pause as the screen flickered.

Then the answer appeared.

[Confirmed.]

[Upcoming public event located at the Thousand Flowers Hotel.]

[Event description: “A simple meet and greet with the valiant heroes protecting our fair city.”]

[Featured guest: Bombshell.]

[Scheduled date: Sunday.]

Gabriel’s expression slowly darkened as he mentally mapped the location.

“That hotel is only a few blocks from here.”

Mia frowned. “And?”

Gabriel rubbed his forehead.

“And for someone who can move at ridiculous speeds, that might as well be next door. If we cause enough trouble and someone calls for backup, she could be here in seconds.”

Mia opened her mouth to argue before stopping halfway through. He could practically see her working through the same implications.

Eventually, she let out a long, irritated sigh.

“I hate that this makes sense.”

She chewed on her lips for a moment before looking at Gabriel.

“So what now?” she asked. “Do we just let him join us because he showed up here with dramatic warnings and future predictions?”

Gabriel slowly shook his head.

“Not exactly.”

Mia narrowed her eyes.

“Then explain.”

Gabriel straightened and gestured toward the living room.

“He clearly knows things about us that we absolutely do not want getting out. That means killing him right now could easily backfire if he planned for that possibility.”

Mia’s expression tightened slightly. It was obvious she had clearly considered that as well.

“So we play along?”

“For now.”

“And if he turns on us?”

Gabriel smiled faintly and gestured toward Sparky’s projection.

“He doesn’t know about her.”

“You’re sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Gabriel said. “During his entire speech, he never mentioned Sparky once. And based on everything we’ve seen so far, Nate absolutely seems like the kind of person who would brag if he knew about somebody like Sparky.”

Mia reached up and tapped her cheek with her finger thoughtfully. “So we play along and leave Sparky as a hidden weapon if he turns against us?”

“Correct.”

“That could work…” she muttered.

Gabriel spread his arms dramatically.

“And who knows? Maybe he really is trying to help us and we all become friends.”

Mia stared at him with complete disgust before turning toward Sparky.

“Hack his phone.”

[This unit apologizes to Mia.]

[Device currently in possession of Nate Ross is a burner phone.]

[No meaningful data located.]

She clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Of course it is.”

Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, but both of them froze when a groan echoed from the living room.

A moment later, they heard the unmistakable sound of Nate beginning to wake up.

Gabriel and Mia exchanged a long look before silently nodding, and then they stepped out of the bedroom and quietly shut the door behind them.

Time for the second act.