Page 30 of Swamp Kings 2

Fin asked, “And if they try to overload it? Flood the system with backlash energy?”

Bishop reshaped the possibilities. “That’s where Zodak comes in. We link the containment field directly to his body—it becomes part of the firewall. If the demons surge, the energy bleeds off into the field without affecting the internal systems. No overloads, no collapses.”

“Bruh,” Harlow said quietly, on the edge of hope. “Adaptive polymers, shifting neural paths, emotional templates, and real-time containment.” He eyed Bishop for several seconds. “You just created a living trap.”

“Once they’re inside,” Bishop continued, “the firewall body will start rewriting them at a molecular level.”

“How long will this take?” Kaphas asked quietly.

Quantum’s exhale indicated too long.

“We can create two containments.” Bishop realized. “A smaller one now, like a prototype and then a larger one—the actual body.”

“A double firewall,” Handy said with glee. “Now you see why I picked him?” he said to Harlow.

“I’m not jealous,” Harlow said. “Much.”

“Thirty minutes,” Quantum announced. “That’s how long it will take to print the smaller containment.”Quantum’s eyes narrowed. “Wait,” he paused, eyeing Bishop, bringing all eyes to him. “I just realized my own solution as well. Since I don’t have the same emotional complexity as Celeste, we can isolate the corrupted neural signals within my system, and I can handle the purge myself. My core functions will kick in automatically once we map the intrusion and reject it.”

Bishop nodded, seeing it. “Right. Your system doesn't need the emotional safety net. We just identify the corrupted data.”

Quantum’s expression shifted into determination. “While you and Harlow work on Celeste, I’ll recalibrate my core systems to prepare for the purge. As soon as you finish with her, I’ll be ready.”

Every possible failure point raced through Bishop’s mind followed by solutions. He realized his own gifts possessed the same adaptive evolution—ableto change and adapt to whatever situation he was in. “We need to do this in steps. Fetch marks the first demon fragment and Fathom guides it into the containment unit. Kaphas will track her emotional state, and Fin will keep her from crashing. Zodak will absorb any backlash overflow and Quantum and Harlow can be ready to recalibrate the demon containment module on the fly.” He looked at all of them. “We ready?”

“Harlow, you get the module started,” Quantum ordered, hurrying into action. “I’ll use Stasis Lock to do the immediate containment for Celeste.”

****

Standing next to Fin was like witnessing a miracle. Bishop watched him close his eyes and hover his hands just above her body, his hemokinesis not only monitoring her blood flow and energy levels but regulating them without the need for external devices. He was a thousand times more accurate than any machine, his abilities allowing him to respond to the smallest disruptions before they could become critical.

“Her energy is fluctuating,” Fin said, his voice calm but focused. “I can feel them feeding off her life force.”

Fetch and Fathom stepped forward then. “I’ll mark them, brother,” Fetch said at her head, a hunger beneath his firm tone. “Then show you.”

“I’m ready,” Fathom murmured next to him, just as eager.

Fetch placed his hands inches away from her head. His eyes drifted closed for several seconds as he moved his near-touch around her skull in various patterns. A full minute later, he removed his hands and turned to Fathom, placing them on the sides of his head, again closing his eyes.

Fathom remained still as Bishop watched, wondering what they were doing and why he couldn’t understand it like other things his mind explained.

“I have it,” Fathom said, his voice barely carrying as Fetch released him and let Fathom take the spot at her head.

Bishop watched Fathom closely, again searching for what he was doing as his hands also moved around her head. He regarded Fetch, still finding a dense wall of nothing.

“It’s a shield,” Fetch explained quietly, not looking at him. “To prevent enemies from learning what must not be learned. A secretlanguage between me and my brothers.”

Fetch extended his hand toward Bishop, eyes locking with his, and without hesitation, Bishop took it. The instant their palms connected, a surge of raw data coursed into his mind, passed through a kind of electro-biofeedback loop. He saw Fetch’s tracking and demon markings. It was like touching the nervous system itself—a living map of energy pathways and cognitive pulses. He saw them now as Fetch did—dark tendrils of corrupted thought weaving into the deepest recesses of Celeste’s mind. Right as Bishop marveled at their symbiosis, his awareness shifted. He became acutely conscious of Fin's hemokinesis. How he held Celeste’s vitals in a delicate balance, manipulating her blood flow with effortless grace, monitoring every surge of energy and draining just enough to keep her stable without weakening her. It was a hum of life force, flowing under Fin’s control like an unseen current.

All the information vanished when Fetch released his hand, the abrupt disconnect rocking him. He blinked several times and looked at Fetch, finding the data he’d just been shown, hovering in the air surrounding him, only now it was written in codes he didn’t recognize. Their secret language.Fuckingremarkable.

He turned his attention to Kaphas who stood at her feet, confused at finding another brick wall where information was concerned. Were they able to hide this at will? He needed to understand that trick. Learn it, if it was possible. Whatever Kaphas was doing required his full attention and concentration.

“They’re contained,” Fathom said, stepping back.

“The system is locking down,” Quantum announced, only barely relieved.

Bishop hurried and joined him at the screen, needing to see everything for himself.

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