Chapter 23

Freyja tried not to panic.

Which resulted in her pacing back and forth within the armory. Sprinkles weaved between her ankles with each step, purring like a chainsaw. She wasn't sure, but it seemed like the little shit enjoyed when she was upset. Sam, stiffly, pulled his vape out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth but froze to watch Freyja.

Other monsters had been seen months ago, which meant the Hive wasn't keeping a low profile at all. Sure, there were tons of cameras around. Many people had wireless doorbell cams these days, not to mention phones, and normal security systems. Odin's memories informed her that the Hive was capable of being much more discrete when preparing an invasion. They were aware the Earth had video recording technology and should have taken precautions to avoid being seen. Not to mention, Tradition basically required them to do things in predictable ways.

Their behavior didn't make sense.

"You said we didn't have as much time as you thought and then started to wear a hole in the floor. I can, uh, go...if you want," Sam finally said, still holding the vape loosely in his lips.

"No, you need to stay here. I just, gotta think," she replied.

"Are you going mad yet?" Sprinkles asked, a little too much hope in his voice for Freyja's liking.

"I thought you knew to drop that shit already," she said. Then she shook her head. "Sorry, Sam. I can read these things' minds and the one in my cat thought their little invasion had just begun yesterday. But, people have been seeing monsters like the one last night for months. Which means the two worms I've met were given even less accurate information than I thought."

Sam bit the end of his vape for a second, then spoke through his teeth. "I have no idea what any of that means."

Freyja ran her hands through her hair while taking a deep breath. "What I'm saying, Sam, is we are absolutely fucked."

He pulled the vape away from his mouth and looked at it. "Until today, I thought the monsters Chat was talking about were pranks or something. Like all those clowns that kept popping up around the country a few years ago."

"Chat?"

Sam's eyes darted to the side, in the direction of his house, just before he moved to awkwardly squeeze the back of his neck with his free hand. "Uh...I'm a streamer. It's my job."

"Okay, so, your viewers have been talking about the monsters."

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"Uh..." He shut his eyes as he thought. "About six or seven months? January or December or something."

"Yeah, we're fucked."

Sprinkles chuckled near Freyja's foot. She squatted to look the little furball in the eye fast enough to blow a cloud of dust off the floor. Sam stumbled back, nearly falling over, and bumping into one of the safes behind him. Meanwhile, Sprinkles peed on the floor from sheer terror. Freyja was thankful her stunt didn't split her pants.

"You do realize if humanity is doomed you are too, right?"

"Brrp?" Sprinkles chirped.

"Holy shit, what the fuck was that? You teleported into a squat? What the fuck, man? What the fuck?" Sam asked, his eyes darting to the door behind her.

"Just needed to remind this little shit who's in charge and what the stakes are. He still doesn't understand that his own people sent him here to die."

"Why would they do that?" Sam squeaked.

On the edge of her perception, she felt a familiar mind as Odin approached. It was like hearing someone trying to yell across an open field. She slowly stood up and looked in the direction he was coming from, as if that would help. His thoughts were faint but powerful.

THE LOCAL PROBE IS WITH ME IT KNOWS EVERYTHING!! Odin screamed faintly across the Link.

"Shit," Freyja said out loud.

"What are you looking at? Is this new shit or that previous shit? I've already emptied my bladder. I'm not sure I can shit right now," Sprinkles said, his ears swiveling like little radar dishes.

Sam eyed the door. "I can go..."

Freyja nodded. "Yeah, maybe you should."

He hesitated for only a second before easing around Freyja and Sprinkles to reach the exit and rushing out of the Armory. Freyja followed, albeit more slowly, with Sprinkles close behind as Odin's presence across the Link became stronger.

"Odin is nearby. Is that what you were reacting to?" Sprinkles asked. "How did you know he was coming?"

"I could hear him," she said. "I felt you before he did when you showed up last night, too."

Freyja continued around the Old Man's house to the front driveway. She spotted her car several blocks away as Odin stayed just within the speed limit, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. There was no sign of a probe or anything following the car, but thanks to Odin's memories she knew the entities were capable of hiding well. Better than the members of the Hive had been doing over the last few months. Sam had already made it back to his own house and shut the door behind him, so at least he would be relatively safe from whatever Odin had with him in the car.

The probe is with you? She asked when Odin was two blocks away.

Yes. It's in the car with me! He shot back, his thoughts full of fear and panic.

She didn't see a Local Probe in the car. Odin was visibly terrified as he drove while a content looking Asian woman sat in the passenger seat. Freyja stepped out of the driveway as he pulled the car in and parked. Before he opened the door he sent a packet of thoughts and memories detailing his outing filled with so much raw emotion she got dizzy and had to take a step back. Freyja shook her head like a mosquito had buzzed her ear while flies had gone up her nose. It took her a moment to compose herself and purge Odin's panicked emotions from her mind. The last thing she needed was to be a mess because someone else was. Clearing her thoughts took long enough for both Odin and the Local Probe to leave the car.

"I see you've updated her," the Probe said.

"You didn't seriously think I wouldn't, did you?" Odin shot back. He turned his head to look across the street where Sam peered out of his window shades, phone in hand. "We should get inside."

The Probe shrugged with a sigh. "Very well."

"Right, so, follow me to the Armory," Freyja said.

"And me," Sprinkles added.

She looked down at the little cat. "You have to clean up that mess you made in there."

He flattened his ears before looking away. "I only did that because you scared me."

"Odin didn't pee when I scared him."

"He did not truly understand how dangerous you are," Sprinkles replied.

"Whatever, we're going inside, you're cleaning up your piss," she said as she picked up the small cat.

Compared to Odin, Sprinkles was still a kitten. Or, an asshole of a brainworm riding inside a kitten, at least. Either way, he wiggled against Freyja's grasp just like an unruly kitten, but not hard enough to escape as she carried him back into the Armory then sat him down. He scampered to the puddle of urine and spread out like a furry pancake over it before returning to his normal cat shape. She wasn't sure how he went about mopping it up, and had no plans to ask, but figured she should hit him with the water hose outside the first chance she got. It was in no way how Freyja meant for him to clean, but at least the floor was dry now.

"Ugh, okay. Come on, you two," she said while motioning for Odin and the Local Probe to enter.

Once everyone was inside, she shut the door. It didn't escape her that Odin still looked like a shabby vampire with messy brown hair and small feet.

"Okay, so, you're a robot," Freyja said.

The Local Probe tilted its head then smirked. "'Cyborg' would be a more accurate term."

"Sure, and for some reason you've made yourself look like a soccer mom," Freyja countered.

It shrugged. "I didn't make myself look like anything other than a Local Probe. This Host volunteered, but that's beside the point. Neither of the Hive members here are following Tradition."

Freyja didn't cross her arms. She needed them ready in the event she had to shapeshift to fight this thing. Instead, she looked the Local Probe in the eyes and held her ground. Odin, meanwhile, stood near the door, blocking the exit. Sprinkles sat under the work bench, licking his own butt, again. She wondered if the cat had worms beyond the one in his skull.

"That a problem?" Freyja asked.

The Local Probe smirked. "It depends. But first, my Host, Kira, would like to speak to you directly."

"Your Host?"

"Blood and Flesh, that human is still alive?" Odin breathed.

The Local Probes shoulders relaxed. It took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then smiled at Freyja, in a much more genuinely human way as it ceded control to the woman it was inhabiting.

"You took Odin to the hospital morgue last night, right?" She asked excitedly.

"I have a feeling you already know that," Freyja said.

Kira laughed a little. "You're right, we do. Two-Seventeen's been keeping an eye on y'all with bated breath. It's been eager to make contact and was surprised when Odin called first."

"Two-Seventeen?"

"This Local Probe's designation," Odin said. "You were surprised I contacted you. Why?"

She adjusted the strap of her purse. "Because you've already figured out this mission was a death sentence. Contacting the Local Probe would only speed up your execution. But that's not why I wanted to talk to your Spark, silly."

Freyja balled her fists. "What did you want to say to me?"

"Thank you."

That took her aback. "What?"

"I wanted to thank you for having Odin eat those bodies at the morgue. My ex-husband was in there. He deserved much much worse, but it really brightened my day to watch him being devoured by your cat."

Odin's grin was sharp and toothy. "Which one was he?"

"The one with the busted knuckles and multiple stab wounds," she said with a soft smile as if remembering a pleasant party she'd been to in the past.

"It killed him and took over your body?" Freyja asked.

She shook her head. "Oh no. Not at all. We killed him together. I'm sure you and Odin would have done the same to the Old Man if given the chance."

Freyja glanced over at Odin who leaned his back against the door while crossing his arms, then put one foot over the other. Smug as fuck. She would have used him to kill the Old Man if he'd lived another day. There was no doubt in either of their minds she would have taken Odin to his hospital room and let him eat the guy straight off the ventilator.

It wasn't even a question.

"So, now what?" Freyja asked.

Kira laughed pleasantly. "Now, we save the world, silly."