Free Spanners - The Fountain of Youth by Jonathan Maas Page A

incredible strength and endurance.”
    “I’m a single-eye -class spanner,” said Trey. “This is me and—”
    “This is—” said Trey 2.
    “Also me.” said Trey 3.
    They talked as if they were one person, and if Mayfly had closed his eyes he would have thought that only one of them had spoken.
    “In my lifespan I was born with one consciousness split between three bodies,” said Trey. “The world sees me as a triplet, but needless to say, I’m not.”
    “And you?” said Mayfly to Cattaga. “Are you immune to poison or something?”
    “Hardly,” said Cattaga. “I’m a manipulator -class spanner. I can control my lifespan on a molecular level, specifically my DNA.”
    Cattaga closed her eyes and concentrated. A thin strip of red hair grew from her scalp.
    “Before I took your pill, I turned the saliva in my mouth into a strong acid,” she said. “I denatured every last bit of the drugs before I took them down.”
    “Good thing you didn’t kiss me,” said Mayfly with a smile.
    “Are you ready to hear us out?” asked Cattaga.
    “I’m not on board, not even close,” said Mayfly, “but this is interesting at least. Tell me what you want from me.”
    Trey 2 and Trey 3 continued to look out the window, but Trey 1 focused on Mayfly.
    “Before we met Adam, we were just a street gang of spanners,” said Trey. “Adam took us in and taught us how to hide and defend ourselves against Juan Ponce de León’s crew.”
    “Juan’s been on everyone’s mind lately,” said Mayfly. “He’s got a compound full of spanners, filled with crazy experiments.”
    “He’s got the Fountain now,” said Trey. “Adam wants us to break into de León’s compound and free her. We can’t do it without you.”
    “Why can’t you do it without me?” asked Mayfly, looking at Trey 1. “You could pick a few pockets, have Brogg bust a few walls—”
    “We need you ,” said Trey. “We have powers, but they’re not enough. Adam’s made it clear that it’ll take more than just strength and a few tricks to get the Fountain.”
    “Then what can I do?”
    “Juan’s compound relies mostly on secrecy, not modern technology, so the computer systems are a decade old,” said Cattaga. “Easy for you to hack, impossible for us.”
    “You need more than hacking to open up a prison,” said Mayfly.
    “Precisely,” said Trey. “After you open the locks and turn off the alarms, we’ll use our powers to extract the Fountain, but we still need you for the first step. Adam’s made it clear that one way or another you’ll help with all the other steps too.”
    Mayfly sipped his coffee and then paused for a moment to think.
    “What you’re asking is fair,” he said, “but I’ve got a few weeks left on this earth until my heart stops. I don’t want to run the risk of being captured by Juan Ponce de León and dying in one of his cages. They love mayflies and—”
    “Look—” said Trey 2.
    “Out!” said Trey 1.
    Trey 3 ran in front of the table and pushed everyone’s head down. There was a crash as a metal trashcan filled with burning paper shattered the diner’s window. It rolled towards them, but Brogg picked it up and threw it back into the street before anything else caught on fire.
    Mayfly looked into the street and saw rioters, but they looked more like zombies than anything else. Their eyes glowed softly as they roved through the streets, destroying everything in their way.
    “Juan’s minions,” said Trey 1. “I’ll go up on the roof, scout for another way out and hide in the back alley with you. We’ve got to go through the back; it’s never good to take the populous head-on.”
    /***/
    The back alley was safe, but only for a few more minutes. At one end was the street where the rioters had massed, and the other way led to a dead end. It was only a matter of time before the mob traversed down and trapped them; the roving looters were already coming their way. Brogg found an empty dumpster, lifted