Chapter 52 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 52 — Interlude: Minus; the key, the upgrades, and Chachi

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 51 — The Scavenger's Daughter blinks; Azra; heat four results · Next: Chapter 53 — The key to One Fine Pig's garage · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

“If the AI so much as suspects you’re anything other than a simple tourist, it’s going to

Summary

Interlude. Captain Fresh of Syndicate security hands Minus a datapad of five hundred hours of the fairy crawler and every post his brother made about her, to rapid-inject before onboarding tonight as a tourist; too much recall and the AI will 'pop you like a boil'. The corpse on the floor of the trash-filled orbital berth is Linus, Elle's superfan, wasted by the Syndicate — a lonely brother who made a fortune in biological license engineering for the Dream, cashed out, bought citizenship; 'I should have called him'; 'Mom is going to be so pissed.' The mission: half-corporeal, treated as a non-combatant, act the pervert, then a surgical kill of a primary and secondary target that looks like an accident. Fresh: a suicide mission; 'We are losing. That AI is stopping everything we throw at it and answering in kind'; a crawler kill should destabilise the group into systemic collapse, starting the Ascendency game early for the Syndicate's other assets; the idiots who will not stop watching are as culpable. 'Whatever it takes, sir.' Back in the garage, Hedy subdued: two Golden upgrades and a key to any lost house; consider the Onikuma, or Old Shuck — 'No.' 'It’s not like I’m lonely or anything.' Imani: Zhang and Tran at the Lollipop; Li Na meditating in her guild, health yellow, poisoned as Carl said; Louis's key won a gecko and an engineer in a hidden room, with mobs in the house. The bugbears dragged Dwight in, spinning outside the exit. Of 5,500 who reached the floor, fewer than 3,000 remain. Upgrades: Bubble Buddy to Golden (floats, molten steel), a heat sink, Sparkles' booster rockets, and the Golden Roller Limbo — inverted racing and slipping under any ten-centimetre gap. Samantha, now eye-level, sniffs Carl: why does he smell of Chachi — Chalchiuhtlicue, green skirt, cries a lot, 'a little cuckoo', who preaches saving children and sacrifices them everywhere she goes, once a whole village day care at a Yarilo party over cilantro in the meatballs; 'You need to stop dry-humping crazy.' The escaped goddess is in Lucia's head with the children. 'Holy fucking shit' 'I hope you got a coat for Little Carl.'

Characters

• Carl — 'Holy fucking shit' at what Chachi does to children.
• Princess Donut — 'No' to Old Shuck.
• Linus and Minus — Minus onboards as his dead brother with injected memories: a suicide mission for the Syndicate.
• Hedy — Subdued; two Goldens and a key; 'It’s not like I’m lonely or anything.'
• Imani — Zhang and Tran at the Lollipop; Na poisoned and meditating.
• Samantha — Sniffs Carl: 'Why do you smell like Chachi?'
• Li Jun and Zhang — With Tran at the bar.
• Tran — With Zhang.
• Li Na — Health in the yellow.
• Chalchiuhtlicue — A day care sacrificed over cilantro.

Locations

• The garage and the cul-de-sac — Roller Limbo and the Golden Bubble Buddy chosen.

Motifs

• The Syndicate — 'We are losing. That AI is stopping everything we throw at it.'
• The Celestial Ascendency — A crawler kill to start it early.
• The tourists — Half-corporeal, 'act the pervert'.
• The crawler count — Fewer than 3,000 of 5,500.
• The gods — Chachi is in Lucia with the children.
• The kinder facility — The children are with her.
• Sponsorship — Linus's yacht and posts as cover.