CHAPTER 7
“BROKEN MAN”
ONE YEAR LATER
NEW BROOKLYN
Cranes dot the strange skyline, glass and steel monstrosities that shoot high into the air. Gone are the street vendors and bicycles and cobbled together infrastructure, replaced by condos, yoga studios and Starbucks.
Construction workers are opening a boarded-up subway station. They enter the darkness to find the destroyed remains of Broken Land, with everything inside smashed or burned. Above there is a giant hole smashed through the ceiling. Snow drifts in, past shattered catwalks and onto the smashed remains of the Tower filling the dance floor. A beautiful red glow fills the room, emanating from the stalks of Vermillion that grow out of the Tower’s remains. The sole remaining occupant of the once-grand edifice is a strange metal bull statue on stage. The mechanical colossus sits slumped against the wall, a silent witness to the devastation.
NOW
THE LABYRINTH
MANNNY’S corpse hangs in the center of the room, as the last of his Aurum is drained into the tanks. Their work done, this part of the circuit powers down, as the energy flows up to the rest of the Magnum Opus above.
THEO and ARIA look on in shock, until a brief rumble snaps them out of it. Flexing his hands, Theo feels his Aura returning, with that pins-and-needles feeling of a limb that had fallen asleep.
THEO
You’ve got to get everyone out of here. Find Sharon, but do not let Deadalus see you. He’s more powerful than ever. I have to get up to the Tower and stop the broadcast before he kills everyone in New Brooklyn.
ARIA
How do we get up there?
THEO
Russ showed me once. There should be a a stairway that leads up to the stage… that way.
Theo checks his tattoo as they run out of the chamber, heading through the south portal. Aria senses when they are approximately below the stage, and sure enough, there is a small ladder heading up. They duck into the vertical tunnel and climb the stairs, new horrors awaiting them above.
BROKEN LAND
ARIA peeks out from the jeweled stage curtain to see DEADALUS standing in the booth, arms akimbo, channeling the incredible flow of energy. The entire dance floor is frozen in the Magnum Opus’ grasp, as the life force of the Rusted is absorbed into the speaker stacks. She’s hit by the painful waves of energy as she sprints toward the entrance, crouching as she goes.
THE TOWER
The heavy trapdoor slams open and THEO looks into the Tower. Waiting for him are MINUS, a mind-controlled CYRUS, and a ring of Minus’ dead-eyed minions.
MINUS
Ah, the fly in the ointment. Where do you think you’re going?
THE ROOF DECK
A scrum containing THEO and the mind-controlled BROKEN tumble down the stairs to the roof of the building below. The group beats him savagely, a repeat of his first encounter with Minus’ followers. The difference is, he knows these people now, some are his friends. He can’t handle losing another of those today; this place has taken too much from him already. So he pulls his punches. Soon, he’s covered in a pile of bodies as MINUS and CYRUS look on.
MINUS
You’ve been living on borrowed time, Theo, and now the bill is due. Eventually, the party ends and it’s back to business for us all. When this stupid bohemian experiment is over and this is all rebuilt, I’ll be ready for it. The king of New Brooklyn.
Theo struggles under the pile of bodies. It all seems so overwhelming. Fights like this didn’t happen under The Serbian’s watch. But he was dead now. The Serb was messed up, sure, but he dealt with things in his own weird way. And Theo realizes he could deal with this the same way.
Suddenly, the crowd is thrown off in a blast of Chrome. Theo multiplies his Aura, creating two, four, six Chrome duplicates to face off against the Broken. He gains the upper hand, tossing bodies aside or knocking them out. He’s got this.
MINUS
This fucking guy. Fine, I’ll do it myself!
Minus slams into Theo, the real one, carrying him over the roof’s edge. The two enemies plummet down the building’s central air shaft, and smash through the glass floor in the courtyard—
BROKEN LAND
— and through the skylights high above the dance floor.
They land hard on the club’s catwalks above the dancefloor. THEO takes the brunt of it, MINUS on top of him. Minus has wrapped his Chrome chains around his fists, pummeling his prone opponent. He leaves Theo lying there, dazed and bloody, and stands, fixing his clothes and straightening his tie.
Below them, the crowd is frozen in the deadly beams of the Opus as it absorbs their strength.
MINUS
See, Theo. That right there is the culmination of a lot of hard work. Finally, all the commoners paying their due. The Led and the Gold. Learning how to synthesize Rust out of the Aurum in an Alchemist’s brain was the first step, but the reverse? Using the Rust in everyone’s systems to power up Deadalus enough to make this wasteland livable again? That was all thanks to you.
THEO
Me? What are you talking about?
Theo struggles to his feet, as CYRUS, two bruised and battered ERINS, and Minus’ enslaved minions climb down after them. They advance on Theo from both sides of the catwalk. He’s trapped.
MINUS
That’s about all the explanation I’m gonna give to the “help.” It’s time to join the rest of the fodder on the dance floor.
THEO looks down at the DJ booth, seeing the energy of the Opus pour out of the monitors and into Deadalus. With a sense of deja vu, he thinks back to that night in the Tower. Of Aria in Russ’ mirrored hoodie. And of the virgin sacrifice falling into the cave in his dream. Only this time, this wasn’t the Pyrite Effect. This was the real thing.
THEO
For once, I agree with you, Minus. This ends here and now. Later, asshole.
Theo stumbles to the edge of the catwalk, where the silk from Aria’s last performance is still draped over the railing. He grabs hold and jumps.
THE DANCE FLOOR
THEO slides down the silk to the podium below, the Opus instantly beginning to strip away his powers. He knows he’s only got one shot at this. He pushes out hard with his Aura, knocking DEADALUS down and pushing the booth speakers back, facing the rear wall. Their energy hits the convex mirrored astrological clock, bouncing back out and across the entire club like lights off of a disco ball.
The fractured beams sweep across the entire dance floor, and everyone in the catwalks. THE BROKEN suddenly snap out of their trance, each one now glowing with a faint, new Aura. They are all Chrome now.
Minus’ lackeys, now suddenly free of his mind control, are very pissed off. The ERINS begin attacking MINUS, months of his sleazy manipulation erupting into ferocious payback. Suddenly CYRUS, new Aura shining brightly, grabs Minus in a rage and with the Erin’s help, lifts Minus him over his head. Minus screams in impotent protest as he is thrown off the catwalk. The King of the Broken falls screaming and lands on the edge of the bar. With a loud snap of his spine, Minus crumples to the floor, dead. ERYN, onstage and somehow still shooting photos, screams. She is quickly joined by the screams of the rest of the club.
The energy beams are pulled into the the speaker stacks on the dance floor, creating a feedback loop. The Opus starts short-circuiting, cutting in and out. The quakes intensify, as bottles of booze and elaborate crystal decorations come crashing to the floor. The newly freed crowd, witnessing the sudden violence and destruction, begins to panic. They were all gonna die.
THE STAGE
The stage curtain begins to glow, as ARIA steps out, followed by SHARON. The cavalry has arrived. Aria reaches out her Aura, trying to calm the panicked crowd, maxing out her powers, but they were all Chrome now, beyond her control.
Sharon, taking charge, gets their attention the old fashioned way.
SHARON
Alright people, this party is OVAH! Let’s go!
CYRUS and THE ERINS rush down to the stage and push their way past the crowd, demanding to go first.
ERIN
Eryn, you coming?
ERYN strides up to them, a new confidence etched on her face.
ERYN
Are you kidding?! Fuck off, all of you. I’m done!
She holds up a series of instant photos like a gambler with a great hand.
ERYN
I’m not gonna turn a blind eye to your bullshit anymore.
The photos are talented shots of Cyrus and the Erins, killing Minus. Cyrus goes to grab the pics, but Sharon steps in, grabs his arm and stops him cold. Sharon is strong. She addresses Cyrus and the Erins in a calm, dignified tone.
SHARON
You seem to have mistaken my beauty for weakness. This is your cue to leave.
Sharon pulls open the curtain, forming a glowing portal that dizzyingly looks straight down onto a packed patio of Chelsea’s brunching velvet mafia. The change in gravity pulls Cyrus and the two Erins through the portal. They tumble through a luminous tear in a giant rainbow awning and crash unceremoniously onto a long table packed with eggs Benedict, bottomless mimosas, and ten very pissed off muscle boys.
SHARON
Hey boys! Take care of this homophobe for me, will you?
The Chelsea boys decend on Cyrus and the Erins as the curtain sweeps shut. They’d do anything for Sharon. Not because she controlled them. But because she was amazing. Sharon’s Aura surges as she reopens the curtain to reveal a new location, and she ushers the crowd through to safety.
BROKEN LAND
DEADALUS & THEO square off, staring at each other across the club. Deadalus, his powers amped to eleven, sends his triangular Aura through the booth and into the dance floor, turning it into a warped and twisted layout of walkways, stairs, and doors. Theo, weakened and in pain, pushes forward, slowly, through Deadalus’ constructs.
THEO
What did Minus mean, that I was the key?
DEADALUS
You are the first to enter the black in forever! We’ve known you were special since Russ and Sharon first saw you, a naive square but still in the red. You always have been special. Those migraines of yours? They were your brain straining to understand all the strange stimuli you were perceiving. Just like your brother.
Theo gets closer. The obstacles become bigger.
THEO
You did know him!
DEADALUS
He was a weekend warrior, but nice enough. And a talented musician. Shame he was collateral damage of the Breaking. But you’ll be joining him soon.
THEO
You maniac! Why train me at all if you were just going to sacrifice me?! It makes no sense.
DEADALUS
Why fatten a calf before the slaughter? I wanted you more powerful for the final sacrifice. And it turns out you were the key to finding the right combination of Broken Records for the Magnum Opus.
Did you know reel to reel tapes can record on one side while playing on the other? My Broken Records are recording people’s reaction to their energy while they play, and these three records contain the readings of all three stages of your metamorphosis. That’s all the Opus needed: the baseline reading of you as a square at GR€€D, your first Rust trip here at Broken Land, and the night of your transmutation up in the Tower. Three songs. Three phases of evolution. All played concurently. The blueprint to godhood.
THEO
You deluded hack! Aria gave me Vermillion, real Aurum. Not your bullshit Magnum Opus. She’s the one who got me to Chrome, not you. Your calculations are wrong, again! Why do you think the entire city is shaking itself apart?! You’re not a genius, you’re nothing but an egomaniacal mass murderer.
Theo pushes himself through the last of the constructs, leaps up to the booth and punches his mentor right in the face. Deadalus flies back into the wall, shattering the astrological clock.
DEADALUS
Ungrateful kid. I made you. I made all of this. And I can UNmake it.
Deadalus reaches his Aura farther out, and down, connecting with the evil equipment in the labyrinth below. A different rumbling emanates from underneath them, right before the floor explodes. From it emerges a colossal clockwork man, climbing up into the club. Theo has barely a second to marvel at its complexity: a body composed of rusted metal speakers, a network of tubing pumping liquid Rust through its veins, and a bloody, golden bull head sitting on top of it all. This was a pure expression of Deadalus’ madness and it was coming straight for Theo.
The machine steps over Aria’s podium and almost crushes Theo under its heel. Aura flaring, he holds it at bay, but just barely
THEO
Now you’re playing with puppets too? Manny would be proud. That poor guy just wanted to be big. I’ll show you big!
Theo emulates Manny’s powers, his Aura expanding into a massive version of himself, matching the golem’s giant size. They grapple, throwing each other about the room, adding to the devastation. But Deadalus bears down, the tanks pump harder, and the automaton gets stronger. That vampiric energy from the speakers in the machine’s chest hits Theo square in his. He can’t beat it like this. So Theo reverses, shrinking back down to size and running between the monster’s legs. He rips out the coil in its ankle. Liquid Rust spurts out in rivers of burning ichor, setting fire to the couches and tables on the dance floor, as well as Theo’s shoes. One more little kid game, thinks Theo: a deadly version of “the floor is lava.” Theo jumps back onto Aria’s pedestal for safety, sadly kicking the flaming shoes off. The automaton freezes up as its power source drains away, teetering like an oxidized clubber.
SHARON pushes the last of the Broken through the portal. ARIA, the last to go through, steps inside and screams for Theo to hurry up, just as the machine man collapses onto the stage. The crystal curtain is ripped off the wall. The portal disappears. Theo is trapped.
Deadalus crawls back in front of the booth speakers, absorbing their power. He stands, gaining strength. He attempts to get the rest of the Opus working again while he rants at Theo.
DEADALUS
I’m going to fix my mistakes, Theo. They couldn’t appreciate me as an architect, but I had a vision. A vision for the Magnum Opus, and a vision for Broken Land. The last version of my plan was flawed, I can see that now. The earthquake it caused was a small price to pay for all this power. Now reality is my plaything. I can fix Brooklyn. I can make it perfect!
Theo prepares to leap across to the DJ booth, when suddenly the skylight explodes, as the entire Tower crashes through the ceiling. It’s caught in the web of catwalks, which buckle and groan. Mirrored shards and crystal icicles rain down onto Theo and Deadalus below, cutting them and skewering their clothes to the floor. They are pinned like bugs, as the catwalks strain under the Tower’s weight. Theo reaches his Aura up to try to hold it in place.
Deadalus wipes the blood from his nose and laughs maniacally. Then he reaches his power out into the booth to crank the Opus back on. Energy pummels Theo. The real world slips away—
—and suddenly he’s at the bottom of a cenote, the familiar Mayan pyramid looming over the cavern’s edge above. A painted maiden walks to the edge of the pyramid’s peak, spreads her cloak, and jumps. She falls, into the cavern, a doomed sacrifice.
But at the last minute, an Aura explodes out of her, in the shape of a giant winged serpent with ebony wings. She swoops up in flight, sailing into the air and out of the cenote. Not a sacrifice at all, but a glorious rebirth—
Now he’s playing tug of war with his brother in front of their old piano. They are bathed in the red glow of the Vermillion that covers the cavern walls. Sheet music falls in slow motion from the trees around them. Above, an eclipse blots out the sky. Theo looks at Herc, past his Led Zeppelin t-shirt and its falling man, and finally sees his face. But it’s not his brother. It’s Russ.
But it’s not Russ. Not really. Theo knows this now. It’s the Vermillion, it always has been. This alien organism has been calling to him, beckoning him to its home, using his memories of his brother. But now it’s all over, and he can see clearly. Let me guess, he says to the Vermillion. I have to focus. Not now, it says. Now is the time to let go. Your brother is dead. Russ is dead. But you are not. There is a world out there that needs you. That needs US.
Little Theo remembers this now, the last kid’s game he played with his brother. And he does what he did then, just lets the rope go, as his brother falls backwards into the grass, laughing. Theo finally wins a game, not by being stronger. Or faster. But smarter. And letting go.
Theo is back on the podium, looking up at his reflection in the maze of cracked mirrors under the catwalks. He’s using all his strength, all his powers, to keep the massive Tower from collapsing. Aria’s silk sways from the catwalks in the cold wind, hanging over him. He pushes through the pain of all the beatings and all of the loss to tune out the world crumbling around him. Instead of the past, he thinks of the present, of the friends that still need him. Aria, Sharon, the remaining Broken. It was time to push past the negativity and through the curtain.
The effort causes his Aura to shine with a blinding glare, growing just as fast as the Opus can strip it away. He exhales, and releases the entire weight he’s been holding up, pulling his Aura in around him. The catwalks collapse in a deafening crash, as the Tower hurtles down towards Theo and Deadalus. The silk flutters onto Theo like a shroud just as the whole Tower smashes onto the podium, the dance floor, and the DJ booth.
Stillness and dust settle onto the wreckage. Snow drifts down through the gaping hole above.
THE WEST GATE
ARIA and SHARON stand around the gate, surrounded by a crowd of the evacuated Broken. They all stare at the curtain, hanging from the gate, now black with soot and smoke. Aria cries.
Suddenly the portal begins to glow. Dust and shattered wood fly through the rip in spacetime, as everyone backs up. Amidst the debris, Theo falls through and crashes to the ground, cut, bloody and barefoot. But alive. He lies on the ground, staring up at his friends.
ARIA (laughing incredulously)
Holy shit. it’s you. It’s really you! How?
THEO
Your silk. And Sharon’s power. I finally found a way out. I just had to let go.
EPILOGUE
BROKEN MAN
ONE YEAR LATER
BROKEN MAN
A beautiful cenote sits at the end of a river, a Mayan temple half-crumbled on the edge of the cave. SHARON is spinning vinyl from the temple steps, old house and disco records from her personal collection. She is flanked by the SERBIAN, now just two overlapping ghostly halves, and ERYN, dancing with two massive paper fans. Familiar faces from the club dance freely around the temple and in the shallow lake. Black uniforms have been traded in for flowing fabrics of every hue, every reveler glowing with Chrome. Campsites dot the surrounding landscape in a familiar pattern, with set-ups that look like the old Brooklyn Bizarre.
THEO and ARIA stand in front of a small waterfall at the mouth of the cenote, swaying to the music. She’s in front of him, his arms wrapped around her with the calming strength of a good knot. They share a joint of Vermillion, the real stuff, and take it all in.
THEO looks at Sharon and her new tribe. He thinks about Cyrus and the Erins out there somewhere, starting theirs. Who knows, if the Serb’s Aura managed to survive the death of his body, maybe Russ and the other sacrifices are out there somewhere, too.
The mournful buzzing sound continues as Theo snaps out of his reverie. It grows louder, synching up with the music, surrounding them. Beautiful red lights begin to lift slowly up into the sky. Cicadas. They spill from three massive trees that surrounded them in a triangle pattern. Like the club’s speakers. Like the 2012 memorials. This was nature’s plan, perverted by Deadalus’ insanity, but the real version. Pure. Long dormant and feeding for untold years on Vermillion, the insects have undergone their awaited transformation and emerged from the underground, aglow with symbiotic luminescence.
The crowd marvels in awe at the breathtaking show above them, music and lights in unison, as the creatures carry the Vermillion out of hiding and out into the world. The planet was going to be very different soon: Vermillion was loose, to speed human evolution in terrifying, amazing ways. It was a Broken World now.
In response to a once in a lifetime photo op, Aria nudges Theo.
ARIA
What, no pictures?
THEO
You know I’m a writer now. I’ve hid behind a camera long enough.
He hefts his bag, a red journal in the side pocket with the photo of Russ and him taped to the cover.
THEO
We have a whole world to explore. And it’s about to get a lot more interesting. Let’s get lost, shall we?
He reaches into the waterfall and pulls the water open like a curtain, opening a portal looking out onto city lights glowing in the distance. As they step through, Theo stops and looks back.
THEO
Well, maybe one more pic.
He frames his fingers into a square viewfinder in front of his eyes. He takes one last mental snapshot of the glittering sky, the temple, and his old tribe. A photo just for him. He says goodbye, and follows Aria into the unknown.
FADE OUT
Theo’s Journal
Let’s give this a shot, shall we? They say writing about music is like dancing about architecture. All things other people know more about than me. And writing’s not really my thing. Photography is.
Taking photos makes sense to me. It’s a way to cut through the craziness, and focus on what matters. When I’m in pain, narrowing down the outside world into a tiny glass viewfinder is calming. And when the world is filled with things you can’t understand, or things that can hurt you, a camera is a barrier between you and the world. Makes it feel safer. But also lonely.
I love this city, this source of never ending pain. I’ve lost people here, people that loved it here too. And it’s changing so fast. And not always for the better. Sometimes if feels like this place is all about money. And looks. And connections. But other times I’m reminded it can be about art.
Isn’t that why we’re all here? To find some beauty in this world and share it with the people we love? Herc taught me about music from a young age, and goddamn if I wasn’t the nerdiest indie rock kid in school. But then you hear those electronic beats in the dark and your world changes. Clubbing is like photography in that way… you spend some time in a dark room, and see what develops. Things are hazy at first, but then the important things become clear. And if you’re lucky, you can see the big picture. But you have to be careful. Spend too much time in that darkness, and that red glow starts to fuck with your perspective. And if you open the door and let some real light in, well, it can just fuck everything right up.