S5 Episode Nine: "The Devil’s Hand-Me-Downs"

“Wait… so they both used to be vigilantes?” Adam asked over the comm line.

“I suppose that explains why Mr. Midas was so willing to help.” 

“I did some digging after the meeting and found old articles of their activity,” Lance said as he surveyed the streets below. 

“There were quite a few, actually. Check out the links I sent you.” 

“Aegis and Aurum: Gods Among Us?” Adam read. “They must have been really impressive in their time…”

“Look at the article, and then you can reword your statement,” Lance commented. 

“Those titles almost aren't exaggerated.” 

There was a brief pause, then what Lance perceived to be stunned silence. 

“Knight has super strength…?” he finally concluded. 

“My guess is that he was part of a secret military project called ‘Zenith’ before he became a vigilante,” Lance said. 

“Sent that to you as well.” 

“Super soldiers?” Adam stammered. “If it weren't for recent events, I would almost ask if we got beamed into a comic book world or something… wait…” 

Another pause. 

“How did you find this information?” 

“He asked me nicely,” O.R.A.C.L.E. interjected on the call. 

“Cracking into the deepest, most hidden bytes of information is becoming somewhat of a pastime of mine.” 

“Ah, that would explain it then…” 

“Speaking of hidden information, I just spotted one of the graffiti tags that we were told to look out for,” Lance said. 

“I'm going to get a closer look so that we can scan it.” 

Past Event…

“I'm telling you, this is just a harmless act of vandalism…” 

Aegis ran his hand over the wall, ignoring his teammate's remark. 

“Did you actually look at it with your fancy camera?” he said without looking over his shoulder. 

There was a pause. Too long a pause. 

“Yes.” 

“I'm guessing you actually did it this time?” he guessed. 

“Maybe.” 

“And?” 

“They're meeting at the old church downtown…” Aurum started.

“See? I knew there was something hidden within…” 

“Tonight.” 

Aegis wheeled around, the shield on his arm barely missing Aurum's chest by inches. 

“Then what are we waiting for?!” 

“Actually, a literal grand invitation. I am still deciphering the rest of the information,” Aurum stated. 

“I'm trying to see where the Minister is really going to be.”

“He does prefer his theatrics,” Aegis noted. “My guess is the bell tower.” 

“That’s what concerns me,” Aurum said, his voice dropping lower. “It’s too obvious, too predictable… The Minister before him always had a backup plan, a secondary location. This one seems to be following the same playbook, but with his own twist.” 

“Nothing like people in power misleading their followers…” Aegis commented. “You think it’s a trap?” 

“I think it is a test.” 

Aurum pulled up a holographic display from his suit’s glove, showing architectural plans of St. Michael’s Cathedral. 

“Look at these schematics. The bell tower has three potential exit routes, but there is another level: a sub-basement that was sealed off years ago after a structural fire. If I were planning an operation that required a dramatic entrance and a ghost exit, that’s where I’d stage it.” 

“So we cover both,” Aegis said simply, already moving toward the edge of the rooftop. 

“Knight, we need to think this through…” 

“We have thought it through. You’ve done your analysis, and it’s solid work as always; few match your intellect or technology. Now, we act.” 

Aegis paused, turning back to face his partner. 

“Besides, you aren’t suggesting we just let this meeting happen, are you?” 

Aurum sighed, a sound that came through his helmet’s modulator with a staticky crackle. 

“No… but I am suggesting we bring in backup… Detective Chase has been helpful…” 

“Chase has a family. A son who just started middle school, if I remember correctly,” Aegis firmly interrupted. “We don’t bring civilians into Minister operations. Especially not after what happened to the Morrison task force.” 

The mention of the Morrison incident created a moment of heavy silence between them. Several months before, a special police unit had attempted to infiltrate one of the Minister’s operations… Only two of the eight officers survived, and one of them would never walk again. 

“Fine,” conceded Aurum. “But we do this smart. I’ll take the bell tower approach with surveillance drones. You come in through the catacombs and secure the sub-basement. We maintain constant communication, and if either of us calls for extraction, we both leave immediately. Agreed?” 

Aegis extended his hand. 

“Agreed.”

Their armored gloves clasped briefly before both men moved to prepare for what would become one of the defining nights of their vigilante careers.

Present day…

Lance touched down silently on the fire escape adjacent to the tagged wall. The graffiti appeared random at first glance: a chaotic mix of symbols and colors that most people would dismiss as typical urban art… But O.R.A.C.L.E. allowed him to look deeper. 

“Scanning now…” he murmured, activating the advanced optical system in his helmet. 

His visor overlaid multiple spectrum analyses across his field of vision: ultraviolet, infrared, electromagnetic frequencies… overlapping them in a dizzying display of colors and shapes. 

“Well?” Adam’s voice called through the comm. “Seeing anything interesting?” 

“Give me a second,” Lance replied. “There’s definitely layering here… multiple paint applications, but some of them are only visible under… wait…” 

The image shifted, and suddenly the seemingly random graffiti resolved into a clear symbol: a triskelion of serpent heads with a sword pierced through them, an all-seeing eye in the blade’s hilt. The steeple of a church marked the field of the icon itself. 

“I’ve got it,” Lance confirmed as he uploaded the rendered image. “It definitely bears the Minister’s mark compared to the iconography from the historical files… but this one has a disturbingly familiar modification to it.” 

“Photographs and dimensional scans received,” O.R.A.C.L.E. announced. “I’ll cross-reference these with known Minister communication protocols from 2008 to 2012. Standby for decryption.” 

Lance maintained his position, eyes scanning his surroundings for any signs of surveillance or hostile presence. The street below was quiet… too quiet for this district, even for this hour. A few pedestrians hurried past, none of them looking up, let alone noticing the man in tactical gear perched three stories above them. 

“Lance,” Adam’s tone had shifted, more serious now.

“I’ve been reading more of these files on Aegis and Aurum… There’s something here that is bothering me.” 

“Go on.” 

“According to the reports, they went after the Minister, the original Minister, for nearly three years: dozens of operations, hundreds of interrupted criminal activities, and they never caught him. Suddenly, in early 2012, all the Minister activity just… stops… No arrests, no body, no official disclosure, like he vanished into thin air.” 

Lance processed this information, his mind already making connections. "You think Knight and Midas know what happened to him?"

"I think they know more than they're telling us," Adam replied. "And if this new Minister is following the old playbook that closely, maybe they know something that could help us." 

"Decryption complete," O.R.A.C.L.E. interrupted. "The encoded message indicates a gathering scheduled for tonight at 23:00 hours. Location is listed as 'the old sanctuary.' Cross-referencing with historic religious sites in the metropolitan area." 

“The St. Michael’s Cathedral replica,” Lance said immediately. “It has to be. The building itself has been closed due to heavy renovations for months but without much actual progress due to the typical delays.” 

“That’s a rather specific conclusion,” O.R.A.C.L.E. noted. “How did you arrive at that location being the meeting place?” 

“That’s where Aegis and Aurum confronted the Minister in 2009, isn’t it?” asked Adam. “It was in one of the archived news reports.” 

“Precisely,” Lance confirmed. “And if this new Minister is following a similar pattern, using that building is the closest thing he could get in New Atlantis. O.R.A.C.L.E., can you pull up the current status of St. Michael's Cathedral? Security systems, structural integrity, any recent activity in the area?"

"Accessing municipal records now. Oh, this is interesting. There have been several power draws from the cathedral's location over the past three weeks, despite the building officially having no active electrical service in the last month. Someone has been using the site and covering their tracks in the city's utility database."

"But not well enough to fool you," Lance commented.

"Very few things are," O.R.A.C.L.E. replied with what might have been digital pride.

Past…

The catacombs beneath St. Michael's Cathedral smelled of centuries-old stone and stagnant water. Aegis moved through the darkness with practiced efficiency, his enhanced vision systems painting the underground passages in shades of green and grey. The shield on his arm had been modified with sound-dampening technology, allowing him to move without the metallic clinks that usually accompanied the reinforced equipment.

Through his earpiece, he could hear Aurum's breathing: calm, measured, professional. His partner was already in position on the roof, drones deployed and scanning for thermal signatures.

"I'm counting fifteen people in the main chapel," Aurum reported quietly. "They're arranged in a semi-circle facing the altar. No weapons visible, but that doesn't mean much. The Minister has always preferred psychological warfare to direct confrontation."

"Any sign of the man himself?" Aegis asked, carefully navigating around a collapsed section of masonry.

"Not yet. The bell tower is empty, just as I suspected. But there's something in the sub-basement. A heat signature that's not quite reading as human."

Aegis paused. "What do you mean, not quite human?"

"The thermal pattern is off. Too uniform, too controlled. It might be a decoy, or it might be someone using active temperature regulation technology. Either way, that's where you're headed."

"Understood." Aegis reached the access point to the sub-basement, a heavy wooden door that looked like it hadn't been opened in decades. The rust on the hinges told a different story under close inspection; someone had recently applied fresh oil to ensure silent operation.

He tested the handle slowly. Unlocked.

That alone should have been warning enough.

Aegis eased the door open, every sense on high alert. The sub-basement beyond was darker than the catacombs, a vast open space that his helmet's systems struggled to fully illuminate. Stone pillars rose from the floor like the ribs of some massive creature, and in the center of the room stood a figure in a long coat, their back turned to the entrance.

"Aurum," Aegis whispered. "I've got visual on someone. Confirming identity."

"Negative on movement from the main chapel," Aurum replied. "Whatever's about to happen down there, it's separate from the gathering above."

The figure spoke without turning around, their voice carrying easily across the open space. "Aegis. I was wondering which of you would find this place first. I should have known it would be the soldier rather than the scientist."

The voice was wrong. Not the Minister's characteristic theatrical boom, but something younger, sharper. Aegis kept his shield up, positioning himself for either defense or a quick strike.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I?" The figure turned slowly, revealing a face that was obscured by a simple black mask. "I'm disappointed you haven't figured it out yet. Then again, you've always been more about action than investigation, haven't you, Knight?"

The use of his civilian name made Aegis's blood run cold.

"Aurum," he said urgently. "We have a problem."

"Already on it," his partner replied. "The people upstairs: they're not moving. At all. I'm reading vital signs, but they're just standing there like statues."

The masked figure laughed. "Your partner is beginning to understand. This isn't a meeting, gentlemen. It's a demonstration. The Minister wanted you to know that the game has changed. The old rules, the old patterns: they're over. What comes next will be something entirely different."

"Where is the Minister?" Aegis demanded, taking a step forward.

"Closer than you think. Farther than you can reach." The figure reached into their coat, and Aegis tensed, ready to throw his shield. But instead of a weapon, they produced a small device that looked like a modified smartphone. "He wanted me to give you a message. Well, more accurately, to show you one."

The device projected a hologram into the space between them: a rotating three-dimensional map of the city, dotted with red markers.

"Each of these represents an operation," the figure explained. "Some you know about. Most you don't. The Minister has been building something for years, and you've been so focused on stopping individual crimes that you've missed the larger architecture. Tonight was about helping you see the bigger picture."

"Aegis," Aurum's voice was tight with concern. "Those markers: I'm cross-referencing them with unsolved cases and recent corporate activities. This is showing a network that spans the entire city. If this is accurate..."

"It is," the figure interrupted, somehow hearing the private communication. "The Minister has been three steps ahead of you from the beginning. And now that you know that, now that you understand how deep this goes… what will you do?"

Aegis made his decision in a fraction of a second. He charged forward, shield raised, intending to incapacitate and interrogate. But the figure was ready. They pressed something on the device, and the entire sub-basement was suddenly flooded with blinding light and a high-pitched frequency that sent Aegis stumbling backward, his enhanced systems and senses momentarily overloaded.

When his vision cleared seconds later, the figure was gone. The hologram remained, spinning slowly, showing him a truth he wasn't ready to accept: they had been fighting a war they didn't understand against an enemy who had already won half the battles before they'd even begun.

"Aurum," he said quietly. "We need to get those people out of the chapel and regroup. This is bigger than we thought."

"Agreed," his partner replied. "I'm calling it. This operation is over."

As Aegis made his way back through the catacombs, he couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental had shifted. The Minister wasn't just a criminal mastermind to be caught and imprisoned. He was something else: a symptom of a deeper problem that vigilantes alone couldn't solve.

It would be years before he fully understood what that meant.