Bedlam

Brate seemed a bit put out by that. “That’s a … that’s a cynical way to view what happened, man. Warmth and harmony have always been part of what the Faceless Ones promised us.”

“Providing we worship them,” Skulduggery said.

“Well, yeah,” said Brate. “But that’s the same with all religions, right? Obey our rules, worship our gods, and you’ll be rewarded, and the non-believers will burn in whatever hell we imagine there to be.”

“I think we’re getting a little sidetracked here,” said Temper.

“Yeah, sorry,” Brate said. “My thoughts and feelings towards my religion are not actually relevant to what I have to say. I don’t think they are anyway. I dunno. I’m conflicted. But I have to do what I think is right.”

Temper hoped his smile was both patient and reassuring. “Why did you bring us here, Adam?”

“Arch-Canon Creed,” said Brate, squaring his shoulders. “He’s resumed his search for the Child of the Faceless Ones.”

Temper’s chin dipped to his chest. “Damn.”

“I’m sorry,” Valkyrie said. “The search for who?”

“The Child of the Faceless Ones,” said Brate. “The offspring. The heir.”

Valkyrie frowned. “The Faceless Ones had a kid?”

“Temper,” Skulduggery said, “do you want to take this?”

“I guess,” Temper muttered. He took a breath before speaking again. “OK, so, according to the legends, back when the Faceless Ones ruled the earth, before the Ancients rose up against them, they didn’t need human vessels. Back then, for whatever reason, they could survive in this reality in their true forms. But then the Ancients did something to turn the environment inhospitable, and, from that point on, the Faceless Ones needed to possess human bodies.”

Valkyrie nodded. “I’ve seen that happen. Continue.”

“The vessels didn’t exactly last too long, so most of the time the bodies would burn themselves out and the Faceless Ones would vacate them, move on to the next, and then the next, leaving a trail of burnt-out corpses behind. But sometimes they vacated the body before it burned out, and, if that happened, the person would return to normal.”

“I‘ve understood all of this so far,” Valkyrie said. “This is good. Go on.”

“So we’re left with a few ex-vessels getting back to their old lives,” said Temper, “and, for the most part, everything is the same – except for the slight alteration that has been made to their DNA. Nothing obvious. Nothing that changes their appearance or behaviour, nothing that changes their personalities. Nothing to mark them out. These ex-vessels have children, and pass on this particular strain of DNA. Generation after countless generation. We emerge from the mists of time, venture into recorded history, and still we go on. Generation after generation.”

Valkyrie frowned. “So there are people out there, in the world, with Faceless Ones DNA? Seriously?”

Temper nodded. “And Arch-Canon Creed wants to find them.”

“One, actually,” Skulduggery interjected.

“Yes,” said Temper. “He’s looking for one in particular.”

“To do what?” Valkyrie asked.

“Bring about the end of the world,” said Brate, eager to get involved in the conversation again. “Call the Faceless Ones back, man. Have them wipe the earth clean and allow their disciples to live in ecstasy for all eternity – while the rest of you heathens burn and die.” His smile faltered. “Which is, obviously, not cool.”

Valkyrie stood there with her hands on her hips – one of those hips cocked. “How many?” she asked. “How many people are out there who are, you know, actually descended from insane supergods?”

“It’s estimated that one in seven people carry this particular strand of DNA,” said Temper.

Valkyrie stared at him. “That’s … that’s, like, a billion people. There are a billion people with Faceless Ones genes walking around? Well … Jesus. I mean, how do we stop Creed from finding them?”

“Oh,” said Temper, “he’s already found them.”

“What?”

“He found thousands of them before his experiments were shut down. Tens of thousands. More, probably. He’d been conducting experiments for centuries. We didn’t have the terminology we do now, but essentially what he was doing, even back then, was Activating these latent genes. There’s someone out there, statistically there has to be, with a strong enough DNA strand to become the Child of the Faceless Ones. Once they’re Activated, they’ll be able to call their cousins home. Creed just hasn’t found the right subject.”

“And what happened to all the people he’s experimented on?”

“We call them the Kith,” said Skulduggery. “Creed Activated their genes, which led to a certain transformation. Their faces were … lost.”

“Lost?” Valkyrie echoed.

“They melted away,” said Temper. “They were left with, I don’t know, smoothness. No hair, no features, no eyes or ears, no mouth. And, from what we could tell, their minds were wiped. After they were Activated, they didn’t need to eat or drink. They didn’t communicate. They just … stood there. Some of my best friends are still standing in a bunker somewhere.”

“Your friends?”

Temper smiled weakly. “I was a Disciple. You knew that already, right?”

“Pretty much.”

“I followed Creed. I was young, and stupid, and I needed somewhere to belong. Out of all my friends, he said I was one of his favourites. This gene had been detected in us, and it was strong. We were prime specimens. Creed would Activate others, develop this technique or that approach, and then take what he’d learned and apply it to us, one by one. He failed, over and over again. Like I said, my friends … I watched them being led away, excited at the possibility of being turned into the Child of the Faceless Ones. Next time I saw them, they’d be standing in a row, without a face, and the Activations and the experiments would continue. So I left. I renounced it all and ran.”

“Years later, in order to take over the Church,” Skulduggery said, “Creed had to prove that he’d left his old ways behind. No more Activations. No more Kith.”

“But he’s doing it again,” said Brate. “This Religious Freedom Act that was passed last year? It’s letting him get away with more and more.”

“Where is it happening?” Skulduggery asked. “If we can catch him in the act, or at the very least find some of these new Kith, Supreme Mage Sorrows will have all she needs to have Creed arrested.”

“We wouldn’t arrest him ourselves?” Valkyrie asked.

“We could, but for something like this, something this big, it would be wise to have the support of the Sanctuaries.”

“I don’t know that I can be of any, like, assistance, man,” said Brate. “I don’t know where the latest Activations are taking place. It might be in the Dark Cathedral; it could be in a whole different country. The Church of the Faceless, they got, like, places everywhere.”

“Can you poke around?” Temper asked. “Nothing too aggressive. Just chat to people. See what they think. No one in the Church will speak to me any more, and they certainly won’t speak to these two.”

“He has a point,” said Skulduggery. “Adam, we need to make this quite clear – we are not asking you to put yourself in any danger. We’re not even asking you to be a spy. We’re asking you to have a few casual conversations with people who might know something. Do you understand?”

“I understand, man,” said Brate. “So do I need, like, a code name?”

“I don’t think you understand.”

“No, I get it, I do.”

“OK.”

“But …”