“I want everyone to listen to me,” Master George said. “And I want you all to listen very carefully. There’s quite a bit of anger in this room. And we stand on the ruined grounds of a castle that represents the bitterest of enemies to me and my organization.”
Mistress Jane’s mask shifted, suddenly and violently, to a look of outrage. But George held up a hand and, miraculously, Jane didn’t say anything.
“But,” the old man continued, “I’m asking each one of us to put all of that aside. Including—perhaps especially— myself. Jane, you know very well that you and I have countless reasons to despise each other. But this threat you’ve spoken of . . . I believe it’s real, and my good associates here have gathered numerous pieces of evidence. We all knew there’d be terrible destruction as a consequence of . . . recent events. But there’s something much deeper going on. And animosity toward each other will only increase our speed along this path to eternal death.”
Tick became aware that his mouth was hanging open. It’d been awhile since he’d seen Master George like this—so formal and full of speeches—but there was so much to process in the few sentences he’d spoken that Tick’s reactions couldn’t keep up with it.
The old man continued. “Jane, I don’t even need to ask my fellow Realitants this question, but I must ask you. Are you willing to put aside your grievances—and your personal aspirations—to work with us until we can solve this problem?”
Jane’s mask had smoothed back out to a neutral expression. “You insult me with every word that comes out of your mouth, George. Implying that I could actually say no to such a request. Implying that I could be so selfish as to—”
“Answer the question!” Sato suddenly screamed. He’d been still and quiet before, but now his face burned with hatred. “It was a simple yes or no question!”
Mistress Jane slowly nodded her head, and a little smile broke out on her mask as if she wanted to wound Sato by showing that she wasn’t fazed by his outburst. But when she spoke, her response was the last thing Tick had expected to hear.
“It’s not me you should all be worried about. We’re going to have a major obstacle to any plans we might have to stop this thing.”
“What are you talking about?” Master George asked.
Jane’s smile vanished completely. “Reginald Chu.”
Chapter 33
A Crossroads
Chu? What does he have to do with this Fourth Dimension problem?” Tick asked.
Mistress Jane sighed, a croak of a sound that reminded Tick of what he’d done to her throat and the rest of her body when he’d thrown the Dark Infinity substance at her in Chu’s palace. It seemed so long ago, and he never would’ve guessed that all of their lives would stay so intricately connected.
“I know him,” she said. “I know the way he thinks, and the way he lusts for power. I also know he’s a very, very smart man. I’m sure he’s back in the Fourth Reality, studying and watching and gathering data just like George has been. He’ll know about the breaches in Reality, and eventually he’ll come to the same conclusion we have made about the Fourth Dimension—that it’s been breached, unleashing the Void. And then there’s the final thing I know all too well about him: his arrogance. All of these together will spell our doom as surely as the mass of gray fog that churns atop my once-great home.”
“What do you mean?” Tick asked at the same time as at least three of the others. He exchanged quick glances with Paul and Sofia, both of whom looked as worried and as curious as he felt. Sato kept his angry gaze focused on Jane.
“You’ve witnessed yourself what Chu will want,” Jane said. “The power of the Void is massive, and Chu will see it as nothing but an opportunity. A chance to harness a new source of energy that could be the last piece to his puzzle that will allow him to rule us all. I won’t waste our time with defending my actions anymore, as noble as they are and as beyond comprehension for you as they may be, but we can all agree on Chu’s motives. He wants power, and he wants all of it. He wants to rule the rest of the Realities along with the Fourth. I find it ironic that his world is numbered the same as this . . . thing that threatens all of us. Chu will not fear it. He’ll embrace it until he figures out how to control its energy for his own use.”
For some reason, Tick thought back to one of his first experiences with the strangeness of his new life. The Gnat Rat that had been hidden in his closet. That creepy mechanical thing full of robotic gnats that had stung him and sent him to the hospital. Even though Master George had sent the robot as a test for Realitant recruits, Reginald Chu had invented the device. The man had been a thorn in Tick’s side ever since.