Heirs to the Magnanimous

By Brett P. S.

500 years into the glistening future of Resonance, a planet protected by Fortune and guarded by Magnum and his Order has seen its tyrants toppled and its villains brought to justice. Magnum, the immortal son of Magnanimous, boasts a reserve of over 100,000 powers so oddly specific he forgets which ones he has half the time. For the man who has everything and more, something’s missing in Magnum’s life. The fire. The passion. The people who once feared and respected him. As Magnum plots to bite the hand that feeds him, an old enemy resurfaces for the final confrontation in the ultimate age of Resonance. Osmosis, the resurrection of a foe not truly dead and an epilogue to the bitter-sweet tale of the Architects and their mastery over resonance. Will Evelyn meet her destiny? Can Fortune buy the planet enough time? Will Magnum finally let go of his pride? All this and more in the climactic finale of the Resonance Saga, a story spanning nearly a decade of writings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brett P. S.
• Release date: Feb 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463815540

Brett P. S.

Brett Sawyer (1986), born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, is an indie author who writes short stories & novellas, from science fiction to heroes. He graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in education and currently teaches game design at Lake Land College.Short Change arrived at retailers in November of 2014, the start of a hero series where ordinary people gained powers over oddly specific domains, following the story of a shorter than average hero who can telekinetically manipulate small units of currency.Short Change is free on “smashwords.com/profile/view/BrettPS” and Barnes & Noble along with other samples and short fiction.Brett’s popular releases in science fiction include “Dark Station” and “Tales from the Colony: An Interstellar Saga.” Dark Station is a deep space thriller set aboard an abandoned orbital science station where Ben Gebbley and his crew secretly investigate the disappearance of the original staff before others come to claim the lost assets.

Book preview

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

EPILOGUE

Prologue

Man No More

Artifice Industries, Reims France

On the Day Dreamlight Fell …

Bioluminescent gemstones of olive shaded orbs lined the walls of Artemis’ pleasant home away from home.  His trusty workbench rested in the corner of the alcove, accompanied by shelves that contained extracts and tissue samples from some of his most powerful clients, or victims.  Really, the nomenclature was vague at this point. 

The face of Artifice Industries, purveyor of resonance and clandestine architect of the next era, stood atop his throne, or rather below.  In an alcove in the deepest basement levels of his research complex in Reims, Artemis rested his boot heel against the quivering soon to be corpse of Stone Keep while he licked his lips in just victory. 

Each man is mortal, no matter the power inside.  Each man has a weakness.  Pride, phobia, aversion.  He looked down at the body.  In your case, Mr. Johnson, let’s call it a ‘spark’ of genius.

High voltage currents flowed through electrified floor panels that charred the man’s chiseled body and flowed through Stone Keep’s intensified carbon composition.

It’s a shame really, Artemis said, removing the latex from his gloved hand.  Now about that power of yours.

Artemis cast a wide grin as he lifted free the first finger.  Osmosis worked in a most precarious fashion.  He’d lost more powers in the process than he’d like to admit.  He clipped the rest of the glove from his hand with his teeth and reached out with slender fingers.  A shock of this level would harm him, not nearly as much as Stone Keep, but he had to have it.  The ability to alter one’s own carbon density, a rare transmutation by itself.  Yet he could apply the art in more ways than this fool could fathom.

The real question, however, haunted him as his fingers leered closer.  Was Caleb Johnson’s reservoir of resonance greater or lesser than his own?  Had he cultivated the seeds for too long, only to have another prize pass him by?  Artemis felt a spark as his index finger grazed Caleb’s shoulder, saw the swirling tempest of raw resonance potential flicker through him.  Yes.  Yes!  YES!  God he’d forgotten how invigorating it … oh … oh, no! 

The pure green illumination that once filled the air glared in his eyes a sickening red that filled his stomach and leeched the oxygen from his lungs.  One.  Two.  Five.  They fled from him by the second!  Artemis ripped his hand free and staggered back.  His brow furrowed and he cursed under his breath, slipping the glove back on.

Lap it up, Stone Keep, Artemis said with a scowl.  I hope you choke on …

Artemis spun as the steel slab elevator doors to his alcove screeched open.  A ragged man with a long beard dropped in.  Artemis folded his arms and stroked his chin.  He recognized Magnum’s little rat from the stench.  Zhao ho Peng, Caliber’s hapless assassin.  He cocked his head.  Now what should he do with …

Zhao leaped toward him and with a gas bomb that enshrouded the next strike.  Artemis acted, summoned a resonance he knew could see through gaseous forms, grabbed Zhao’s arm and twisted it with enhanced strength.  He damn near snapped the fragile wrist in the process. 

The insult!  The outrage!  Heroes fight a god almighty and Caliber sends a dog?!  Artemis growled and slammed Zhao against a cold steel riveted wall with enough Newtons to snap bone.  Zhao’s back hit with a crack and a thud, coughing up spittle.  Artemis breathed deep the air of victory and smiled.

An interesting development, but useless, he said.  Really now, Fortune sends her finest to battle Dreamlight above, but Caliber offers Zhao to plunge the final nail in my coffin?  He laughed, cackled in the dim green glow that muddied the blood dripping down Zhao’s chin.  I don’t know whether I should feel insulted or lucky.

You should feel dead, he said, choking on the words.

What is this?  He can still speak?  Oh, we shall put a stop to this.

Come now Zhao.  I built an electric prison for the rock man, a floodlight complex for the shadow jumper and titanium sentries for the Metallomancer who can manipulate almost every metal, but they send me Zhao?  He held up a free hand, summoning a resonance too tempting not to use.  All I should need for you is a gun. 

His smile widened and his nostrils flared as the quintessential revolver materialized.  The metal, the weight, the form, everything about it was real, except that it was born of resonance.

How poetic, Artemis said, leveling the sights.  A magnum.  This should do just …

Artemis fired before he finished his own sentence.  The first shot ripped through Zhao’s arm, the second through the meaty tissue of his left thigh.  Know what, third time’s the charm.  The last round tore a chunk clean from Zhao’s shoulder.  Oh, that would leave a mark.  Zhao’s laborious screams filled Artemis with a warmth in his belly and catharsis in his heart. 

He slicked back his hair and eased his finger on the trigger for another go, but he noticed his hand tremble.  He quieted it with resonance, but the tremors only increased until he’d dropped his gun.  Artemis clutched his chest with rattling fingertips, the warmth inside turned to burning fire.

What …! He shouted, collapsing to his knees.  Bastard!  What did you … do to me?

Zhao said nothing and Artemis’ stomach flared.  He lurched forward, grabbed the peon by the collar and flung him again, this time without holding back.  Muscles gave out.  Chords inside his arms tore as he slung the body overhead.  Zhao skidded across the floor and Artemis dropped.  His insides more than burned.  They were liquefying.  How did … the gas!

Zhao rose to a knee, clutching his side.  You brought this upon yourself.  You’ll receive nothing less than what you deserve.

Come on, Artemis!  Pull out the power.  You can regenerate organs faster than this, so why not … oh god.  Oh, god he took them!  Artemis shot a glance to Caleb before the fires melted his stomach and fluid filled his insides, burning the rest.  In his last moments, he eked out a death cry. 

Blasted wretch!  You call yourself a hero?

The face of Artifice Industries, herald of the next age, genius like no man before him, creator of gods, a flesh and blood architect of resonance … shut his eyes in tears as the darkness took him.  Artemis trembled as a voice spoke so very far in the distance.

I’m no hero, Zhao said.  No heroes here.

Chapter 1

A Mother’s Love

Grande Fortune Plaza, Paris

430 Years Following Dreamlight’s Defeat …

Rebecca Adamson flew on wings of light, a tunnel through the vast empty space that lingered between worlds.  She closed her eyes for what felt like hours as the flowing maelstrom clad in resonance rocketed her faster than the laws of the physical universe allowed.  Resonance, the power of mind and imagination that surfaced only on planet Earth, both bent and broke the rules of reality. 

Alongside minds of science, resonance technology and supercomputers mingled into a tapestry of diverse and infinite application.  She could see the lights now.  Just a blink before she would land.  Millions of homes and cities lit ablaze with colors of gold while clouds circled the gentle blue and green giant of Rebecca’s nostalgic homecoming.

She touched down with grace in Grande Fortune Plaza, a metallic surface fifty meters in diameter cut into the stonework of her city, a place she’d not laid eyes upon in eight short years.  The blink of an eye for an immortal.  Lesser still for one who neither slept nor tired.  The plaza carried passengers between Earth and a number of colonies beyond with the help of resonance technology and a miracle of modern science. 

A tunnel of Hard Light particles that lowered physical reactions from outside forces and a combination of five cores for propulsion and internal physics negation.  For less than the cost of a transatlantic plane ticket, a blast of six resonance cores could send any man, woman or child to parts unknown before you could say petit dejeuner. 

Of course, math mattered.  Without accurate star charts and quality assurance probes every hour on the hour, some unlucky interstellar passenger might really reach for the stars.  The light cleared around her