“So if you form an army…” Jenna began, but she did not need to finish.
“And now even that option is being taken away,” Jack said, and he stared Breezer in the eye. “Because you're all dying.”
Breezer nodded, turning grim. “You saw Milton down in the street. Until a few weeks ago he was as strong as you or me, and now…well, he's mad, and fading fast. None of us knows what the illness is, where and when it will manifest. No healer can touch it. It's a mystery.”
“Do the Superiors suffer from it as well?”
“I don't know,” Breezer said. “There are so few of them, and they have little contact with us. Sometimes I think they view us as low as the Choppers.”
“But you have an idea of what it is,” Jenna said, a statement more than a question. Jack smiled secretly. She'd always been good at steering conversations.
“I've been studying it,” Breezer admitted. “Questioning as many Irregulars as I can.”
“Seeing through lies,” Jenna said.
“Finding the truth.”
“Which is?” Jack asked.
“Well, you know the basics. Evolve killed most of those it touched, and those who survived quickly developed a range of powers and abilities. Almost all of them were psychological. Some…almost supernatural. That's Evolve's first mystery. What I do think is that whether a person now calls themselves Irregular or Superior depends upon how dramatic the power they're developed. Superiors tend to have destructive, or more physically powerful abilities. Less human, some might say. The far more numerous Irregulars are healers, truth-seers, way finders. Other things, too.”
“I'd figured that one out myself,” Jack said, thinking of what his father had become—Reaper, a man who killed with his voice—and those accompanying him. “The woman who brought us into London wanted the Irregulars and the Superiors to unite. Force their way out, and expose themselves to the world.”
“I know Rosemary well,” Breezer said, nodding slowly.
“You don't agree with her?” Jenna asked.
“On the contrary, I was one of those who suggested the possibility in the first place. And I knew who she was creeping out of London to find. I'm convinced the only way anyone will leave London alive is if the Superiors join with the rest of us. It was a long, long shot, thinking that bringing Reaper's children in would change the way he is. Persuade him to cooperate. But now…” Breezer looked at Jack with hungry eyes, and Jack glanced away to Jenna and Sparky. They were tensed, more alert. Worried. They all sensed a change in the conversation.
“Now what?” Sparky asked.
“Now that you're changing, Jack, maybe you'll be the one to lead us out. And I truly believe that the only hope of curing what's slowly killing us is to appeal to people outside. There are amazing people in London, but we need doctors and scientists, not diviners and fire starters.”
“You need normal people,” Jenna said.
“Yes,” Breezer said. “The world has to know the truth, because we need their help.”
“Then our plan stands,” Jack said. “Escape London, expose the lie that everyone outside has been told. Reveal the truth.”
“Tell everyone that London isn't just inhabited by monsters,” Sparky said.
“Well, mostly,” Jenna said.
“We'll help you in any way we can,” Breezer said. “But the sickness is spreading, and more and more people are succumbing. Everything's against the clock now, Jack.”
“Not without my mother,” Jack whispered. “And not without my sister.”
“But you can lead us! No one has ever been touched by Nomad. Few people have even seen her, and most still consider her a myth! Your powers might be—”