August 1, 2025

Voidhearts Chapter 3: Motion

Michael and Alicia discuss Michael's new collection, and the mysterious goings-on in and around The Void.

As they walked through the streets of Thereafter, bathed in the golden light that made for a surprisingly decent simulacra of a sunset, Alicia, Michael and Felipe walked in silence. At first, Alicia assumed the silence to be intentional, some sort of power play from someone. It was perhaps a power play, but Alicia eventually figure out that it was more likely they were all feeling a little awkward now that the adrenaline from the plaza almost-brawl had settled.
“So,” Alicia said, seeing that it once again was her job to get this disaster of a social interaction back on track. “You moved pretty fast to intercept Twedeldee and Tweddeldum back there.”
“Oh, uh, not really,” Michael said .”It’s a trick, of sorts. I have a magical item on my person that… oh god this thing is so hard to explain…” Alicia noticed that Michael covered his left hand with his right as he spoke. It could be because the item was on his finger, or it could be an act of misdirection, Michael was unusually hard to read today. “It, uh, it’s like it induces lag in any attempt to perceive me. So you’ll see me moving, but only once I’m in full stride kind of thing, and it’ll seem like any attack I make comes out real fast.”
“Huh, I suppose that makes sense,” Alicia said. “To be honest I just thought that I hadn’t noticed you at first. The Deep Song can make you focus so intently on your target it gives you blinders if you’re not careful.” Much to her dismay, Alicia felt like she had given away too much. Back before the heist she’d shared thoughts and ideas freely with Michael, but now, she felt like she was leaking important intel at times. Michael wasn’t an enemy, but there was no saying that couldn’t change in the future.
“Yeah I would not have gone toe-to-toe with a Deep Song user without it. Hell, I’d rather not have to at all, but some times it’s about more than what I want, y’know?”
“Actually about that,” Alicia said. “You want to tell me why you’re going around breaking up street fights now?”
Michael coughed and gestured towards Worship, the odd fusion of a Helenic temple and an Egyptian pyramid that pulled double duty as Thereafter’s only nightclub and the de-facto headquarter of Michael’s organization.
“Do you mind if we take this discussion indoors? I consider it somewhat of a private matter.”
Alicia wanted to fight Michael on this, as a principle thing if nothing else. It was suspicious how secretive he was being; while she understood the instinct to be a little bit careful about what you say where, it didn’t exactly fill her with confidence that Michael considered this matter requiring secrecy.
"I should get back… to my perch.” Felipe said. There was an odd cadence in his words, like he was struggling to figure out what to say, and in some way was improvising. Felipe was a man who appreciated having a plan, but also the illusion that he was just a cool-as-ice improvising daredevil. A study in contrasts, Felipe was.
“Back to brooding, huh?” Michael didn’t exactly wink, but there was a playful lilt in his voice. He seemed to like seeing Felipe awkward and nervous. Granted, it was a rare enough of an occurrence that some schadenfreude perhaps wasn’t uncalled for.
“Someone’s gotta keep watch,” Felipe said with a disdainful sniff, before jumping to the closest roof in a series of tight parkour jumps up a stack of crates.
“He’s serious about that whole Vigilante thing, huh?” Michael asked once Felipe was out of earshot.
“Seems like it,” Alicia shrugged. “I guess he got tired of just sitting about while the Council decide what to do with us.”
Michael’s smile didn’t quite say ‘I know exactly how that feels,’ but it was damn close.

There were more patrons milling about inside Worship than Alicia had imagined. It wasn’t packed or anything, and the vibe was far from raucous, but there were a decent mix of various fantasy folk about. That wasn’t to say Michael had any trouble finding a private table in an unusually well-lit corner of the room.
“Busy afternoon in the club today,” Alicia remarked.
“We don’t run a soup kitchen here exactly,” Michael said by way of explanation. “But if anyone wants some fine food and don’t mind doing some minor labor for it they’re always welcome at Worship.”
“Minor labor, huh?”
“Cleaning and maintenance mostly, maybe picking up some supplies down at the scavenger yards.”
Alicia coughed. It was an open secret that Nih-Ka had been lining his pockets by skimming off the top of Thereafter’s scavenging efforts.
“No food or medicine, of course, I’m not a monster,” Michael said “but someone has to see to the distribution of luxury goods around here. That might as well be me don’t you reckon?”
“I reckon nobody has elected you to the position.”
Michael’s smile wasn’t hostile, there was a melancholy to it that gave Alicia pause. Whether he, like her, wasn’t entirely comfortable with the status quo, or just excelled at pretending to be, it was hard not to feel a smidge of sympathy with him. “Not a lot of electing going round these days.”

Alicia could argue with that, but that was a longer discussion, and definitely more fraught than any talk she felt like having today. Instead, she decided to stay on target. “So, now that you have me here, tell me. What’s going on with you breaking up teenage brawls?”
“I’m supposed to say I was just at the right place at the right time,” Michael said. “That’s how the narrative goes, you know?”
“Right, but you weren’t just passing by?”
“I was not,” Michael conceded. “I had been casing the plaza for a while now. That little lovers’ spat was a bit… bigger than what I was looking for, but I couldn’t very well let it play out, you know?”
“Lovers, huh?”
“Well, lovers is perhaps a bit premature,” Michael said with a shrug, “but those two have some things to Figure Out, I’m willing to bet on it.
“Could be,” Alicia said. She did see a nonzero amount of herself and Lia in the two kids, but she had initially dismissed that as her nostalgia doing weird things to her perceptions. “So you were just… what, cruising for a brawl to break up?”
“Something like that yeah,” Michael said. “It was partially to announce my presence, to, uh, promote myself, I suppose, as a trouble solver.”
“Building your brand?”
“Essentially. Also I need people to know about my cane.”
“Why?” Alicia couldn’t help but ask. “Isn’t the whole point with that thing that it’s hidden?”
“It is,” Michael conceded. “But let’s just say it’s part of a bigger bluff.”
“Huh?
“You see, I’m building a bit of a collection. I only have this one,” he nodded towards his cane, “with me, but I assure you my private quarters are wall-to-wall with the damn things.
“And?”
“And… most of them have some kind of weapon in them. I have one that turns into a segmented staff, one that becomes a bit of a thiefcatcher noose… thing, and at least one is basically an emergency magical nuke. Point is, this one is, so far, my only blade.”
“Ah,” Alicia said. “I see.” In truth, she was hoping Michael would elaborate. So far this seemed like slightly deranged trivia. Fortunately for her, Michael seemed eager to share the philosophy, such as it was, behind the derangement.
“I’m trying, I guess, to keep potential enemies guessing for as long as possible.” Michael said. “Someone comes at me thinking I only have a cane, they get a sword for their trouble, and I snicker-snack an ear off for the trouble. Next guy knows I have a blade, but I pull out a segmented staff to beat his ass. This happens a few times, and people realize that they can never plan for what I’m armed with because there’s no way of telling at a glance. All my canes look identical until I spring them, you see”
“Huh,” Alicia said, pondering it over. “So how do you tell them apart?”
Michael didn’t answer right away.
“That’s the hard part,” he said with a grimace. “Right now I just test it before going out in public and hope it doesn’t slip my mind, but there are minute differences in their weight and how it’s balanced, so I am expecting to know it by touch eventually.”
“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Alicia thought saying this felt like a veiled insult, but it was no denying that what Michael was doing was either some next-level strategy or some extraordinarily paranoid malarkey. It all depended on how called for it was and if it actually worked.
“It is a bit of a vanity project,” Michael said with a shrug, “But I like the thought of always having a weapon in arm’s reach. There are… some kinks in the command structure around here, and I have no interests in participating in a beatdown that could’ve been a meeting.”
“It’s a rough business you’ve taken over.”
“I am trying to make things a bit less… hostile, but it really is true as the ancient Romans said. If you want peace, prepare for war.” Michael grimaced. “That last thing was supposed to be in Latin. The translation field continues to be a pain.” ¹

“Oh, that reminds me,” Alicia said as she retrieved Michael’s phone from her pocket. “Lex fixed our phones. There’s still no service, but they’re working on it.”
Michael took the phone from her hand. There was a slight hesitation in it, like Michael wasn’t all the way convinced the thing wasn’t boobytrapped.
“I suppose it’ll be convenient to have a way to reach y’all,” Michael said as he finally accepted it. “I have been meaning to pick you guys’ brains on a thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on the Scavengers lately,” Michael said. “A lot of them had some sort of deal with Nih-Ka, and they’ve been squirrelly about re-negotiating now that he’s dead. I’m not looking to force anyone, of course.”
“Of course,”
“Turns out, though, it isn’t just the change in management that has ‘em riled up. I’m kind of limited in the kinds of information I can get my hands on since the association between Nih-Ka and myself looms so large over everyone involved, but I’m decently sure something is Up with the scavengers.”
“What kind of Something?” Alicia felt like she could remark how the ghost of Nih-Ka looming over the proceedings was perhaps a sign Michael was headed down the wrong path in life, but she struggled to find a way to phrase it that would not cause offense. Michael didn’t seem to be the kind of person to take offense, but he hadn’t seemed the type to take over a quasicriminal organization either, so one really couldn’t tell.
“I’m still working on that bit,” Michael gestured to the bartender. This didn’t strike Alicia as a place that had waiters, but the bartender came over all the same. “I’m going to have a coffee, you want one?”
“Sure, a small one, I already had my preworkout this morning.”
“Anyway,” Michael resumed once the order was placed. Alicia wondered if this meant she was in Michael’s debt now. “There’s a bit of a pattern forming, and I’m not sure I like what it looks like.”

The conversation stopped yet again as the waiter came over with their coffees.
“You’re kind of talking in circles around this… whatever it is.” Alicia said once the waiter was out of earshot.
“That’s become a bad habit of mine I’m afraid,” Michael chuckled over his cup. “Ok, brass tacks. I think something’s happening to the Scavengers.”
“That’s… a bit more direct at least,” Alicia conceded. “But also what the hell do you mean by that?” She took a sip of coffee and immediately grimaced at the burnt taste.
“It’s a bit hairy today,” Michael motioned for his coffee. “There hasn’t been any fresh coffee found in a hot minute so we’re down to second gen simulacra. I hear it’s good for clearing grease stains at least.”
“Hooh, I can believe that,” Alicia said. “But as I was saying, what on earth is this “something” you’re talking about.”
“It’s probably not on earth,” Michael said in a voice that wasn’t smug, but just about. “In fact I suspect it’s in the void, whatever it is”
“Right, so something’s out there, what, eating scavengers?”
“No, or at least I don’t think so… ok, I’m going to start with the beginning, I think. Infosec be damned.”
Alicia motioned for Michael to continue.

“It all begun when I took inventory of the organization storehouses,” Michael said. “And I noticed that deliveries had all but stopped. Now these things happen, pickings are slim, or the council gets extra thorough about things so there’s not so much surplus to skim. The only reason I looked into it at all is because some times the deliveries stop because someone’s snatching them up before they get to the storehouse, and that’s not really the kind of thing one wants, you know?”
“Oh of course,” Alicia said. “Wouldn’t want to have someone purloin what you have rightfully stolen.”
“You get it,” Michael chose to not see the insult, it was the only explanation that Alicia could believe in. “Anyway, I started looking into it and I realize that like half of my contacts in the scavengers are gone.”
“Gone? Like how gone?”
“Gone gone. Some of them never came back from missions, which is a thing that does happen,”
“But not with all of your guys usually, I guess,”
“Yes, but it was the ones that actually came back that got me wondering. Short version is that a good bunch of them just… quit. No explanation, no excuses, just up and quit. Half of them I couldn’t even locate other than confirming that they’re out there somewhere.”
“That’s… weird.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. From the little I’ve figured out, it’s not just ‘my people’ either. Scavenger numbers are trending downward, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that’s bad news.”
“You do not,” Alicia agreed. “We’re not quite there on the hydroponics yet, and even when we figure it out there’ll be a transitional period where we absolutely need to keep up scavenging if we’re not going down a frankly inadvisable number of pants sizes.”
So far the refugee city of Thereafter had been relatively lucky, at least as lucky as a city full of people who had lost everything could get. They had manage to survive whatever the hell The Calamity was, the Sword of Lakes provided as much clean water as they needed, and although it was less predictable, scavenging the detritus clouds in the Void had managed to stave off starvation. It wasn’t without cost, Alicia for one was so tired of oatmeal she was about to go on a rampage; It beat starving, though, it beat it by a lot.
“I haven’t heard anything about this from the Council,” Alicia said. “But I don’t think they tell us much these days. Not since… you know.”
“Yeah,” it was Michael’s turn to grimace. “I’m decently sure they know about this, but I know nothing about what they’re doing about it.”
“So you want a spy, is that it?” Alicia couldn’t but leave a little barb in the question. She was nobody’s catspaw. The fact that she had been one once served as a grim reminder.
“Oh no, wouldn’t ask that of you,” Michael said, abruptly placating. “I just…” he sighed. “I figured you should know. If this turns into a problem, it’ll be a problem for all of us.”
“You’re not wrong about that,” Alicia agreed. “I’m… I might look into it. Can I rely on your cooperation in this matter?”
“Of course.”
“Even if the cooperation is all about staying out of my way and not beef with the council until we have a handle on whatever this is?”
Michael didn’t answer right away. Alicia didn’t get the impression he was hesitant as much as he was considering the implications. One could say many things about Michael, but he did not rush into things without considering them. It was, in a way, why it hurt so much that he left.
“Even in that case, yes. You have my support.”

Alicia had no delusions about this. Michael could be relied on to follow through on his word, but that didn’t mean he’d abandon his plans and plots, or the ambitions of this Organization of his. She was fighting for a continuation of the Status Quo, in a way, but considering how the alternative was famine and despair, it’d have to do as the lesser evil for now. Her cooperating with Michael wouldn’t be popular with the Council. Eltern, in particular, had shown little love towards Michael’s predecessor, and even though he’d had a hand in driving Michael into the position he was in now, Alicia suspected he wasn’t exactly psyched about it. This was all to say she’d probably have to be a bit discrete. Fortunately, she thought, she knew just who to ask and what to inquire about

Author’s Note: The main thing that motivated the choice for Michael to “divorce” the Council back in book one was setting up a new, more dynamic status quo. It’s bit of a bummer, but I’m not sure I could examine the city of Thereafter in a meaningful way without a second perspective like the one Michael is growing into. So, I suppose, this is my “sorry not sorry” to the nascent Crime Lord Michael Sørstrand. I’ve go this all planned out (approximately) and it’s going to get a good bit worse before it gets better for you buddy.

Catch you next time when we get suspense, homoromantic tension, and yet another perspective on what’s going on and why in Thereafter.

VSD