clear to him. A small voice inside tried to dissuade him, but he refused to let it tame him. He would not waste this chance. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Lucas had known exactly what to do next.
Banishing his last misgivings, he had decided to kill the Messiah.
"You're telling me the perp saw a halo around the Cooley kid's head?" Bryson said. They were standing in the apartment, and Anderson had just relayed the results of her psychometric scan. "But that's just crazy..."
"Of course it is. He's a psych-case, remember?" Anderson replied. "If you want an explanation, then maybe it was a trick of the light or simply a hallucination brought on by the perp's delusions. Either way, it doesn't matter. All that matters now is that Lucas Verne believes the Cooley baby is the new Messiah. That's why he kidnapped him. He thinks by killing the baby he can prevent the Second Coming and stop the Apocalypse from happening."
"Grud..." Bryson shook his head in disbelief. "You were right when you said the Psycho Unit dropped the ball on this one. Even by the standards of MC-1, this drokker sounds as crazy as it gets."
"I wouldn't disagree," Anderson smiled grimly as she echoed the street Judge's earlier words. Taking her hand from the Bible before her, she began to pull her glove on once more. "The psychic traces he left in his Bible were pretty strong. At times it was like I was right there in his head with him. Believe me, it's not an experience I'd like to repeat anytime soon."
"What about new leads? Did you pick up anything that might tells us where he took the kid?"
"Nothing," Anderson sighed. "It was all about his delusions. Armageddon. The Last Judgement. The Second Coming. Wait a minute..."
She fell silent for a moment, trying to concentrate on the vague memory of a fleeting image she had seen during the scan.
"There was one thing," she said. "It seemed out of place among all the religious malarkey, but I caught a brief glimpse of something weird. It was some kind of cartoon character. It looked like a man wearing top hats and tails, with a burger where his head should have been..."
"Mayor McMunce's McMarvellous Burgers!" Bryson suddenly cut her off excitedly. "It's an old munce-burger factory, right in this sector. The place is derelict. It got closed down years ago. There's a big plasteen statue of the character you described on the factory roof! Grud... And you know what else?"
Bryson's voice went hoarse as he made the connection.
"Lucas Verne used to work there."
TWO
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
Maybe it was a sign he was as slow on the uptake, but Leonard had been in the sewers beneath Mega-City One for a full ten minutes before he noticed the smell. It was the lack of it that surprised him. He was wading knee-deep through raw sewerage, and it seemed to him the stink should have been strong enough to burn the eyes from his sockets and choke his throat. Instead, the smell was kind of damp and mouldy, but nowhere near as bad as he would have expected. It was another one of the city's many mysteries, he figured: like robots, and doors that talked, or any of the other wondrous magical things he had seen since he had come there from the Cursed Earth. Somehow, the people of the city had discovered a secret way to stop their shit from stinking.
"It's the germs that do it," his friend Daniel said. The little boy was sitting perched high up on Leonard's shoulders. Since they were alone, with no one around to hear them, Daniel said the words aloud instead of whispering them into Leonard's mind directly, his high-pitched voice echoing through the tunnels. "They put germs in the water to break down the sewerage and stop the smell. It only works at the top levels, though. If we were going deeper you'd need a gas mask, and a body suit, and all kinds of stuff. I saw it on the Tri-D once." The explanation over, he pointed at something ahead of them. "There's a loose stone in the roof over there,
Banishing his last misgivings, he had decided to kill the Messiah.
"You're telling me the perp saw a halo around the Cooley kid's head?" Bryson said. They were standing in the apartment, and Anderson had just relayed the results of her psychometric scan. "But that's just crazy..."
"Of course it is. He's a psych-case, remember?" Anderson replied. "If you want an explanation, then maybe it was a trick of the light or simply a hallucination brought on by the perp's delusions. Either way, it doesn't matter. All that matters now is that Lucas Verne believes the Cooley baby is the new Messiah. That's why he kidnapped him. He thinks by killing the baby he can prevent the Second Coming and stop the Apocalypse from happening."
"Grud..." Bryson shook his head in disbelief. "You were right when you said the Psycho Unit dropped the ball on this one. Even by the standards of MC-1, this drokker sounds as crazy as it gets."
"I wouldn't disagree," Anderson smiled grimly as she echoed the street Judge's earlier words. Taking her hand from the Bible before her, she began to pull her glove on once more. "The psychic traces he left in his Bible were pretty strong. At times it was like I was right there in his head with him. Believe me, it's not an experience I'd like to repeat anytime soon."
"What about new leads? Did you pick up anything that might tells us where he took the kid?"
"Nothing," Anderson sighed. "It was all about his delusions. Armageddon. The Last Judgement. The Second Coming. Wait a minute..."
She fell silent for a moment, trying to concentrate on the vague memory of a fleeting image she had seen during the scan.
"There was one thing," she said. "It seemed out of place among all the religious malarkey, but I caught a brief glimpse of something weird. It was some kind of cartoon character. It looked like a man wearing top hats and tails, with a burger where his head should have been..."
"Mayor McMunce's McMarvellous Burgers!" Bryson suddenly cut her off excitedly. "It's an old munce-burger factory, right in this sector. The place is derelict. It got closed down years ago. There's a big plasteen statue of the character you described on the factory roof! Grud... And you know what else?"
Bryson's voice went hoarse as he made the connection.
"Lucas Verne used to work there."
TWO
ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
Maybe it was a sign he was as slow on the uptake, but Leonard had been in the sewers beneath Mega-City One for a full ten minutes before he noticed the smell. It was the lack of it that surprised him. He was wading knee-deep through raw sewerage, and it seemed to him the stink should have been strong enough to burn the eyes from his sockets and choke his throat. Instead, the smell was kind of damp and mouldy, but nowhere near as bad as he would have expected. It was another one of the city's many mysteries, he figured: like robots, and doors that talked, or any of the other wondrous magical things he had seen since he had come there from the Cursed Earth. Somehow, the people of the city had discovered a secret way to stop their shit from stinking.
"It's the germs that do it," his friend Daniel said. The little boy was sitting perched high up on Leonard's shoulders. Since they were alone, with no one around to hear them, Daniel said the words aloud instead of whispering them into Leonard's mind directly, his high-pitched voice echoing through the tunnels. "They put germs in the water to break down the sewerage and stop the smell. It only works at the top levels, though. If we were going deeper you'd need a gas mask, and a body suit, and all kinds of stuff. I saw it on the Tri-D once." The explanation over, he pointed at something ahead of them. "There's a loose stone in the roof over there,
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