Jason walked casually up to Jonah, who could barely stand, let alone fight back. Jason walked around him, looking him over like a slab of meat in a butcher shop. Jonah lacked the strength to turn and face him again. Jason shoved him in the back and Jonah toppled into the mud. Jason stepped forward, pushing down Jonah’s head with his foot.

“I’ve never seen anyone drown in mud before,” Jason said.

* * *

In the viewing room, the window went dark as Jonah’s feeble struggling came to a stop. In the aftermath, there was silence.

68. Good News For Clive

68

Good News For Clive

The common room of Jason’s inn was a sprawling, luxurious space, with dining area, bar and lounge. Jason was in the lounge area with Rick Geller, who had sought him out in the early hours, eager to discuss their fight. Jason was quickly realising that Rick was obsessively dedicated to training, even compared to other Gellers.

To Jason's surprise, he bore no animosity against Jason for the loss or wariness over his tactics. Instead, he was excited to encounter a fighting style unlike any he'd encountered before.

“It was incredible,” Rick said. “Sometimes people can get lax in the mirage chamber because it isn't real. The way you got in our heads, though? You had me making rush decisions, panicking. I’ve watched the recording at least half a dozen times, and I just keep screaming at myself to do something different.”

“There’s a recording?” Jason asked.

“There certainly is,” Rick said. “It’s all from our perspective, so you’re barely in it until the end. You’re always this crazy threat, lingering just out of sight. That crazy laugh, that creeps me out. It really felt like you’d lost it.”

“A lot of guys ignore the laugh,” Jason said, “and that’s about standards.”

“Hannah thinks you’re amazing.”

“Isn’t she the one I ambushed, cut her throat and strung her up to use as a shield?” Jason said uncertainly.

“She saw most of it from the control room,” Rick said. “She had copies of the recording made and she’s been showing them off to people.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Hannah’s very spirited,” Rick said. “Always ready to go, ready to try anything. She’ll take almost anything, good or bad, as an experience worth having. She’s kind of amazing.”

“Oh?” Jason said, arching his eyebrows meaningfully.

“Not like that,” Rick said.

Jason shook his head. It wasn’t that long since he was a teenager himself, but it had been a hard exit, relationship-wise.

“Don’t let it just sit there,” Jason said. “Tell her and find out one way or the other. Trust a guy who didn’t for far too long.”