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I sighed, tapping my foot. “We don’t need another sales pitch, Loki.”
“Of course. Of course. You’re just here to complete a transaction.”
He was hiding one hand behind his back. I flinched when he brought it forward, then sighed in relief when I saw that it was just one of his precious Cubes. He lifted it to his face, its surface almost wooden and brown except for little panels of light that bathed his skin in an eerie, whitish glow.
“I’m just so proud of my little babies, is all,” he said, somewhat wistful. “I worked so hard on developing them, too.”
Sterling rolled his eyes and stamped his foot. “Fine. Tell me about the stupid things.”
Loki beamed excitedly. “The Cube is a home assistant, speaker, digital photo frame, alarm clock, and mini computer, all in one. It can do anything and everything. The dream is to have one in every home.” He sighed, smiling proudly at the single Cube cradled in his hands. “I’m not just about burgers and hotdogs, after all.”
“Great. Awesome.” Sterling folded his arms. “Bully for you. Now let’s just finish this exchange so we can all get on with our lives.”
“Oh, of course. All right.” Loki set the Cube down on top of a nearby crate, clearing his throat. He waved his hand, and a squat, solid block of wood with three slots along its top – one for every weapon – appeared at his feet. “Just hand me the relics I requested.”
I nodded, carefully unzipping my – sorry, Beatrice’s fanny pack. The zip itself felt warm, oddly, either from the container’s own magic, or potentially from the proximity of three ancient weapons being nestled so close together in such a limited space. One by one I brought out the three relics, standing them in the slots. I saved Laevateinn for the middle, almost awed by the bizarre, reddish hue of its steel as I stood it in place.
Loki smiled beatifically, stroking Laevateinn’s hilt like it was the brow of a favorite child, the back of a kitten. “Beloved,” he murmured. “You’ve returned.”
The warehouse around us – well, it changed. First came the humming, then the vibrations. Sterling and Florian closed in on me, our natural, wordless instinct to clump together in case of a scrap. Where the hell was that commotion coming from?
“What’s going on?” Florian looked around himself, eyes wild, and maybe even a little frightened.
“They’re waking up,” Loki said quietly.
The Cube that Loki had placed on the crate – it moved. It was just a shift of half of an inch towards the edge of the crate, but it moved all on its own. From my left, from among the stacked pallets, came a sound very much like dozens of dog whining – then growling.
“This is not good. Not good at all.” I looked between Sterling and Florian, then turned to Loki. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Oh, not at all, nephilim. On their own, the Cubes would have fed back to corporate with information about every household, every user they came in contact with. But because you brought my baby home, these little critters can do so much more.”
Florian tugged on my arm. “Mason? I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” I grunted back. “But we’re not running. Who else is going to stop this?”
Loki chuckled. “Stop this? How could you hope to stop the onslaught? These things ship tonight. Each little lovely is a living creature, hidden in the guise of a home assistant. Imagine that, the speaker sitting on your side table doing so much more than playing music.” He brought one hand up to his face, grinning madly, overwhelmed by his own genius. “The Cubes are there to siphon human energy. Trace amounts of life, not enough that anyone would miss them. But add up enough from the millions that sleep next to these things? Harvest the wealth of their dreams and the currency of their nightmares?”
“That’s insane.” My back bumped against Florian’s shoulder as I retreated, eager to find a more optimal position for when Loki’s monologue would inevitably lead into a huge fight. “You can’t possibly pull this off. There’s just no way.”
“Oh, can’t I?” The god of deception rose to his full height, spreading his arms as every Cube in the warehouse creaked and squeaked and rattled into animated life. “What’s the next step above ‘god?’ Imagine deposing the All-Father. I could be the All-Father.” I didn’t think it was possible, but the grin splitting his face went even wider. “I could be the father of all pantheons.”
“This was why Arachne was hiding the sword from you all along.”
“Meddling spider. I’ll squish her. End her.” He glanced around the warehouse, at his sentient Cubes, all of them glimmering and chittering. “I’ll end all of you.”
“Enough with this bullshit,” Sterling snarled.
Sparks crackled as he drew his katana, tiny arcs of lightning springing from sheath to sword as he extended it in an expert horizontal slash. The Cube closest to us shuddered, then slid into two perfectly sliced pieces. Black goo oozed from its insides like blood.
Loki’s voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Oh. You probably shouldn’t have done that.”
36
The entire building was shaking by now, the warehouse filled with a horrible groaning that seemed to emanate from the walls. Loki was cradling the two halves of the severed Cube in his hands, his fingers sticky with black blood. He looked up at us with a terrifying mix of horror and delight as he addressed Sterling specifically.
“You’ve angered its brethren.”
The crates were jerking across the concrete, toppling over, splintering at the seams. Sterling, Florian, and I tightened into a smaller circle, our shoulders practically touching. The Cubes tumbled out of their crates, wriggling free of plastic wrappers and packing peanuts, attracted, it seemed, to each other.
