Day 1

‘Riot!’ Sham shouted as he whipped his head away from the surface of his wooden table, knocking the whisky bottle to the ground, where it shattered.

It took him a moment to get his bearings.

He was home again. That meant that the blow to the back of his head had been enough to kill him. Or had been enough to knock him unconscious, and then he’d died before waking up.

And it meant that Riot was already awake again.

He saw a glimpse of that same vision—of Riot being pushed over the metal railings—before Recollection pulled it from his memory.

‘No need for that, I think…’

Sham shuddered to think how Riot, already fragile, was dealing with the memory of being thrown to her death. Of colliding with the hard ground in what was surely… Sham shook his head, ridding himself of the thought. Maybe Riot’s own Recollection was keeping the memory from her, sparing her the pain. A coping mechanism, of sorts.

‘My cousins aren’t all as nice as I am.’

‘Not helping,’ Sham replied.

‘Well what would, then?’

Sham, of course, already knew the answer to that. The only thing that would help would be to hurry up and end this, once and for all. But to do that, they were going to need to change the balance of power.

Day 3

‘We’re doing it,’ Sham said. ‘We’re skilling up. This Loop. Now.’

As Tripe and Mona shared a strange glance, Ariel approached with a raised eyebrow. ‘Do you think they can handle it?’ she asked.

‘It’s earlier than we’d planned, but—’ Sham started, and found himself saved by Mona.

‘After what we saw, last Loop?’ Mona cut in. ‘Yeah, we can handle it. I think we need to.’

Sham nodded at her, thanking her for this sentiment, both of them apparently hyper aware of how horrifying their failed attack on Warren had really been. ‘Where’s Riot? Has she been in?’

Ariel shook her head. ‘Not yet. And from what Mona told me…’

‘Better go find her, Sham,’ Tripe said. ‘I dunno if…’ The man trailed off. ‘Just make sure your bird is OK, yeah?’

Sham resisted the urge to reiterate that Riot wasn’t “his bird” but let it slide, this time. ‘I’ve been trying.’

Ariel’s head whipped to face Sham. ‘Trying? What does that mean?’

‘Haven’t been able to find her. I’ve tried her apartment, I’ve staked out Kryl’s, I’ve looked all the places I know she visits, and… nothing.’ He left out the part where he’d found more empty boono vials in her bathroom; nobody else needed to know that. Not yet, at least.

As Ariel opened her mouth to press the matter, Sham continued, ‘And just what have you lot been doing, these past few days? Got a whole week on me, after… After what happened back there. Just what have you been doing with your time?’ There was more anger behind those words than he’d intended; Riot was a touchy subject.

Mona and Tripe made a pointed kind of eye contact, and the latter stepped forward to reply. ‘After M got out of there, she came back to us. Told us about them men on the stairs. We’ve been… We’ve been looking into ‘em.’

‘And?’

‘Thugs,’ Mona said. ‘We found them in a pub called the White Hag. Tripe said you’d know it.’

Sham nodded; he knew the place well. Back in his burglary days, this was where he’d found all his contacts, and made all his shady deals. It was… not a nice place. ‘Just common thieves, we reckon?’ he asked.

‘Mercs, normally,’ Tripe said. ‘Usually involved in nasty shit. But maybe the work’s dried up.’

‘Strange that Warren never encountered them before, then.’

‘We thought so too,’ Mona said. ‘But maybe he has, on some Loops. Would we necessarily know about it?’

Sham shrugged, surrendering the point. ‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Good. Good… work.’ He hoped the compliment would go some way to making up for his pretty shitty attitude. ‘Mona, Tripe… you’re with me.’

* * *

Sham led the pair across the city, from north to south, back to the district in which all three of them had grown up. To the street on which Asa had his warehouse. Towards the room in which their criminal friend stored the freshly seized vials.

‘Hold up,’ a guard on duty said. ‘What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing here?’

‘Friends of Asa’s,’ Sham replied. ‘I’m sure he mentioned us.’

The guard furrowed her brow, but ultimately stepped aside, granting the trio access to the warehouse. Inside, Asa was hunched over a crate with a large document sprawled out in front of him, three of his employees at his side. He gave Sham a nod as they entered, not pausing from his work, and with this action all the warehouse’s guards relaxed. If Asa had greeted them, then they were fine to be in here.

Sham led the wide-eyed Mona and Tripe up the metal stairwell to the rooms that existed on rafters at the top of the building. There, in one corner, was a small room which contained all of the freshly stolen skill vials. With a nod to one of the guards stationed outside, Sham closed the door behind them.

The trio stood in silence as they stared at the crates in front of them. In these wooden boxes sat power beyond their wildest dreams—the ability to level-up for cheap, without effort. But without moderation, these same vials were the cause of Haven’s destruction. Or the cause of madness in those that consumed them. There really were no true shortcuts.

Footsteps arrived at the boundary of the room, and a familiar face entered, joining the other three members of the resistance in staring at the crates for a few moments.

‘It’s time, is it?’ Asa asked, pushing the door closed behind him. ‘Thought we still had four of ‘em to suss?’

‘We’re doing them now,’ Sham said. ‘I’m sick of being the underdogs. And these two’ — he nodded to Mona and Tripe — ‘reckon they can take it.’

‘And what about you?’

‘I managed four before just fine.’

Asa raised an eyebrow to suggest that he didn’t think Sham had managed that many voices particularly well, but said nothing else on the subject. ‘Aite. I got bunks at the back of the warehouse, if you need ‘em. They’re for the spies Gresley ships in, but he ain’t ever needed ‘em during a Loop. Should be fine to use if you wanna take ‘em together.’

‘Thanks,’ Sham said. ‘That’s probably… probably for the best, yeah.’

Mona and Tripe shared another strange look—Sham was starting to wonder if their new friendship was going to cause him issues—but ultimately nodded.

‘Fleet of Foot, was it?’ Asa asked, shuffling towards the crates and beginning to unstack them. This was a man well versed in the crates’ inventory.

‘Yeah,’ Mona said. ‘Unless that’s changed?’

Sham shook his head. ‘And Command for Tripe.’

Asa grunted his acknowledgement and pulled from the crates first Mona’s vial, and then Tripe’s, handing them to the appropriate parties. ‘Aite,’ he said. ‘That’ll do it. If—’

‘And Magnetism for me,’ Sham said.

Asa raised his eyebrows, but turned back to the crates, plucking the vial from a box near the bottom.

Mona narrowed her eyes at the vial as Sham took it from Asa’s hand, but said nothing.

‘Well,’ Sham said, gesturing for the door. ‘Shall we?’

Asa led them across the rafters, and Sham couldn’t help but remember the first time he’d been here—or hadn’t been here, depending on whether you saw past Loops as days that had actually happened or not. Asa had been an enemy then; an obstacle standing between Sham and Kryl, who Sham had thought might save him. How could he have known then how much those roles would reverse? That Kryl would turn out to be another kind of enemy, and Asa could be another kind of… well, not a friend, but certainly an ally.

Asa opened a door ahead of them, revealing a small room filled with four bunks, a toilet open to the rest of the occupants, and a stash of foreign spirits in a cabinet on one side.

‘Magnetism?’ Mona asked as she entered, an eyebrow arching. ‘Are you sure? I don’t see how that’s gonna help with—’

‘The Legion aren't the only people we gotta worry about,’ Asa interrupted. ‘This gonna help with that.’

Sham nodded his thanks to Asa; he’d covered off the subject without getting into too much detail—they needed Tripe and Mona focusing on the Legion, after all. ‘If you’re worried about how we’re gonna deal with Warren, I got a plan for that. We’re gonna bring Tripe along next time—after Verd kicks up another fuss—and with his Command, your Fleet of Foot, and better planning, I think we’ll stand a chance. With no repeat of…’

‘Yeah,’ Mona finished, pausing to consider this course of action. ‘Aite. But Verd, she’s going to need some convincing—I think she thought this would be a one-time thing.’

‘Something tells me I can trust you to sort that,’ Sham said.

The woman of the Harbour District looked to her feet, but even with her face at this angle, Sham could tell it was going red. To save her, he raised his vial. ‘Alright, team. Bottoms up.’

With that, he pulled the cork from the vial—a satisfying pop echoing around the room—and downed the shining liquid inside.

NEW SKILL: Magnetism

The greatest power man can wield is to hold others in the palm of their hand. Through quickness of tongue and a charming smile, you wield this weapon. Be sure to put it to good use.

* * *

Sham climbed the infinite staircases of the Tower.

The distance between each floor grew greater than the last. By now—though Sham did not know how long it had been—it took hours to reach one floor from the last. Yet his legs didn’t tire, even without his old friend Vigour.

‘Three years,’ the shadow form of Recollection said.

‘I’m sorry?’ Sham replied, without turning his attention away from the steps in front of him.

At his side, the silhouette of his long absent father sighed. ‘Three years, I said.’

‘Yes, I heard. But what does that mean?’

‘It’s the answer to your question—how long we’ve been climbing. I can have you remember, if you so wish.’

Sham shook his head. ‘No, thank you.’

‘I thought not. Best to keep it from you. A fragile mind, and all that. Believe me, there’s nothing like boredom to kill the mind.’

‘Hmm.’

They climbed further in silence, reaching the next floor, and then the next. ‘When will we reach them?’ Sham said.

‘Enoch Chambers?’

‘Magnetism. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?’

‘I—’ the shadow-father started, but a great booming voice cut him off.

‘Whenever you wish. All you need do is… ask.’

Sham continued climbing. Days came, went, and they passed from his mind.

‘Ask, Sham,’ the voice finally prompted. ‘Ask, and you shall receive.’

But still Sham climbed, Recollection at his side. They spoke not a word as the days passed, until the floor above them came into sight.

‘There’s no winning this,’ Recollection said. ‘Ask for her help. Accept her inside. And then we can move on.’

‘No,’ Sham said, and he kept climbing.

Recollection was a loyal skill, but it hadn’t always been that way. In Loops past, he had kept things from Sham. Manipulated him. It had been only when Sham had asserted dominance that Recollection came to heel.

‘I’m not sure I approve of that wording…’ the living skill responded.

And Sham would not make the same mistake again. Being the genesis of the Loop, back in the waking world, he’d been given a blank slate. Or as close he might ever expect to get. Sham had given the matter plenty of thought—how he would deal with new skills as they, inevitably, were needed. He’d settled on this: he would not beg.

‘Ask, Sham,’ the soothing tones of Magnetism echoed around the infinite Tower. ‘We can be as one. We can have—’

‘You’ll wait,’ Sham said.

Silence swept over the staircases, of a kind so empty that Sham only now missed the gentle ambience of his footsteps against stone, of the clock ticking in the infinite distance above.

‘Ask,’ the new living skill said, this time her voice beginning to crack.

‘You will wait.’

Still Sham climbed, and his one loyal skill destroyed the memories of those days behind him. Kept him fresh. Kept him sane.

‘Ask!’

‘You will—’

‘I cannot!’ The new skill cracked. ‘I cannot wait an eternity. I must have contact. I must engage with people. I must—’

‘Then appear to me,’ Sham said. ‘But you gotta know you’re doing it on your own terms. Not because I asked. This has to be the order of things, or I will resist you. Both in this land and the one above. Do you understand?’ His words seemed to echo in the great empty space of his mind.

There came no reply.

‘I’ve dealt with four of you before. How many others of your kind do you see here?’

‘...One,’ Magnetism eventually responded.

‘Yes. Because I ridded myself of the rest. Do you understand?’

Sham came to a halt, daring the new skill to take form.

And take form it did. On the steps above a body formed. A body formed of shadow, one not yet decided upon a face.

‘It’s good to meet you, Magnetism,’ Sham said.

The new skill didn’t reply; apparently the sentiment was not returned.

‘I asked you before: do you understand?’

When there came again no response, the last vestiges of resistance only now fading away, Recollection added, ‘Best say that you do. He isn’t the man he once was.’

‘I… understand.’ The words came out of her mouth unwillingly. ‘I will do as…’

The skill’s voice faded.

‘You will do…’ Sham prompted.

Magnetism’s head whipped to the side, as though to stare at something. ‘What was that?’ she asked.

‘What was what?’

‘What do you have in here?’ Magnetism responded, any soothing tones now completely faded from her voice.

‘I—’

‘What do you have in here?’ she asked again, her voice raising into a shrill shriek.

‘Recollection, I don’t…’ Sham started, turning to see the other living skill shaking his head.

Magnetism deformed, then burst back into her vessel once more. And again, and again. Each time accompanying the movement with a scream.

Sham turned, grabbing the skill by the shoulders ‘Recollection, what are you doing?’

‘This isn’t—’

‘Tell me!’ Sham growled. ‘Now! What is this?’

‘As I say, this isn’t—’

Sham’s mouth warped with rage. Not this. Not again. Not when he was only just starting to find control. ‘What are you keeping from me?’ he roared.

‘This isn’t me! This is…’

‘What?’ Sham cried over Magnetism’s screams.

‘This is… I don’t know what this is.’

Sham released Recollection and turned back to the screaming skill.

‘Sham,’ she cried. ‘Please… I don’t…’

And then the shadows began to grow.

The darkness between railings, in the nooks of the stairs… it began to move. Forming from itself seemingly a minute, impossible swarm, it gathered itself upon Magnetism’s feet. As the darkness touched them, she grew motionless. As though the shadows themselves were pinning her down.

‘I…’ Sham started. ‘I don’t…’ He’d had control. He’d asserted himself over the new skill. This was going just as he’d planned, and then…

The shadow grew greater, encompassing Magnetism entirely, drowning out her screams as it poured into her mouth and throat. Only once the darkness had taken the full form of the once-living skill did she move again.

She… it… glared at Sham, a mania in its eyes that its host couldn’t see.

As Sham stared the being down, and as his skin began to crawl, he understood what he was dealing with. A darkness that he’d tried ignore. A power that had the potential to consume.

The Fringe.