–Helmut’s Base, 4:30 AM–
Helmut was not too annoyed at the orders Jose had given him, as he would have done the same thing if he had the chance. His orders were simple: find and kill Cybersix, but also capture the girl that had escaped earlier that week and inject her with a rather nasty chemical mix that had been provided to Helmut by a rather enthusiastic techno. According to the techno, the chem mix would cause the victim to enter a murderous rage, followed quickly by death in un-augmented creatures, or total mental breakdown in enhanced beings.
Jose had also given Helmut a steel-covered hypodermic with something inside it, but only said that he should inject the stuff into the girl’s lower abdomen. Helmut had taken that needle with a fair degree of trepidation, but agreed to inject the person with whatever was in the needle. However, that was three days ago, and now he had to deal with the knowledge that Jess’ base had been attacked and shattered, but the albino techno seemed to be the only casualty, by dint of disappearance.
Most of the survivors had straggled into Helmut’s base, thereby doubling the population of Ideas in the abandoned apartment he had taken over. However, as the AFI that was under his command was currently roving for CyberSix, Helmut’s only pressing need was to find the other one. A computer search on crime rates seemed to show several areas where the rate of Ideas being killed was through the roof, but the results had been skewed by the abortive assault that had killed more than a hundred-fifty Ideas at the park.
Still, Helmut had four ‘hot spots’ to check out, so he ordered three Ideas and a techno to each area, with orders to be careful. After that, all he had to do was wait.
–Mikae’s Apartment, 6:25 AM–
Mikae had just herself out of the shower, feeling much cleaner after she had managed to get the coffee grounds out of her ears. Using one of the extra-plush towels that was almost as tall as she was, Mikae dried off, then wrapped herself up into what could best be described as a human-sized, fuzzy cocoon that could walk.
Humming to herself, she went back into her room, and sifted through her drawers for some clean clothes for school. After she found some, Mikae quickly pulled on the somewhat oversized jeans, double-wrapped a belt around her waist to hold the pants up, then pulled on a rather expensive-looking shirt, seeming to have once been a tank top before the creator had sewn in mesh sleeves and collar. Sadly, the mesh didn’t cover the tattoo on her forearm that well, but Mikae didn’t care enough to get something with enough substance to cover the black etching.
After getting dressed, Mikae went downstairs and helped herself to a bowl of cereal, chased with a glassful of sustenance. By the time her mother had awakened, Mikae had actually decided to clean the kitchen up, and as such, the dirty dishes that had slowly accumulated due to Mikae’s laziness had disappeared. Soon, when Sarah went downstairs to try and wake up with a mug of coffee, she saw that the kitchen was clean, breakfast had been laid out on a plate for her, and a small note was resting in the middle of the table.
Picking up the note, Sarah read it and smiled. The note simply said, ‘Can you kill the grounding? I’ve learned my lesson...’ Sarah chuckled, found a pen, and wrote one word as a response to the question. She then sat down and started on the breakfast.
–Sentinel Hotel, 7:45 AM–
"Mom? Mom? C’mon, wake up! I’m hungry." Sebena stopped speaking when Sel rolled over, reached up, and hugged her. "Okay, you’re awake. Can we have some food now?"
Sel sat up, still holding her daughter, when she heard a knock on the door. Giving Sebena the evil eye for a second, Sel climbed out of bed, armed herself with a magnum hidden in the waistband of the shorts she was wearing, and walked over to the door. "Yeah, what’s up?"
"Room service, always with a smile." Sel grinned, looked through the peephole, and opened the door. Standing there, looking immensely odd, was Jenny, dressed in a french maid costume, holding a small platter of food. "Dammit, you’re awake."
"Poor baby. How are you holding up?"
Jenny entered the room, kicking the door closed with one foot as she expertly shifted the platter onto a nearby table. "Well, I’d be a bit better if you weren’t such a glory-hound, but that can’t be helped, can it?"
Sel laughed, following Jenny into the large main room. "I’m afraid it’s terminal. After all, why worry about what will happen to me when you have your own worries, especially as you’re now the boss of Beta."
Jenny’s smile faltered, but she noticed Sebena walking into the room, obviously attracted to the scent of food like a shark would be attracted to blood. "Hey kiddo, how are you? Last time I saw you, you were rather preoccupied."
Sebena looked at Jenny, smiled, and proudly rolled up her left shirt sleeve to show off the small cut that had been caused by one of the shards of glass that had somehow been blown into the room when the AFI had attacked. Jenny looked at the small gash, looked at Sel’s bandage-covered shoulders, and shrugged. "I’ll take that as a ‘could be better’. So, who wants some food?"
Sebena grinned, and everyone’s stomachs chose that moment to growl hungrily, prompting Jenny to speak. "Well, let’s eat before our stomachs leave."
Twenty minutes later, after having a rather hearty breakfast, all three people were seated around the table, at least for a few moments. Soon, Sel excused herself, leaving Jenny and Sebena alone in the large room. Jenny walked over to the bedroom, looking at the large sheet of plywood that covered the shattered window until a replacement could be placed.
"So, what happened there? Judging from your mom’s shoulders and back, she went through there at a fairly high velocity, and you have that nick on your arm, which was probably much deeper yesterday."
Sebena smiled, then grabbed the remote to the TV, flipping on a kiddy show that involved small furry animals having large heavy objects being dropped on them. Jenny sighed, then sat down beside Sebena and soon started chuckling.
Five minutes after that short attempt at conversation, Sel returned, looking fresh and mostly alive, albeit slightly soggy. Jenny saw her first, noted the damp strings of hair clinging to Sel’s neck, and smiled. "So, how was the water?"
Sel smiled. "Better than the stuff in Russia. It’s actually warm enough to make me feel alive, instead of frozen solid."
"So, you actually like it here. That’s a rarity of any variety." Jenny grinned at Sel’s chagrined smile.
"Hey! How do you figure that I like this place?" Sel carefully sat down in one of the plush chairs, letting the cushioning conform to her body before she put pressure on her shoulders.
Jenny grinned. "Well, first off, this is the first time anyone’s seen you actually use a base of operations that could best be considered posh. Secondly, I saw you walking through the open-air market yesterday, and you were thoroughly enjoying the place."
Sel smiled slightly. "Okay, you got me. I actually like the people here, as well as the fact that this place looks like it was bodily ripped right from the nineteenth century. However, before you start ranting at me about the dangers here, let me remind you why I like the people here. They’re a lot like that tribe of Africans we pulled out from under the guns of those slavers three years ago. Even though they live, quite literally, under the shadow of death, they still live as normally as possible. The only problem I have with this city is all the nasty shit that’s been going down."
Jenny sighed, then asked Sebena to go somewhere so Sel and herself could talk about adult maters. Sebena griped for a few seconds, but stopped when Sel gave her ten dollars and the request for something from room service. Sebena skipped off into the bedroom, leaving Sel and Jenny alone. Sel spoke first. "So, what do you wanna tell me?"
Jenny frowned, then launched into the mental list she had prepared. "Well, to be blunt, we’re worried. We’ve already lost ten percent of our strength on this mission, one because of injury, and the other because of, well, you know." Sel frowned and nodded. "Anyhow, we’re also worried about you. You just haven’t been your old self ever since that debacle in Russia, and I think you went too far in bringing your daughter along to this one. Sebena just isn’t trained in keeping safe, but she’s also distracting your attention whenever she’s around."
Sel broke in, somewhat heatedly. "What? You’re telling me that my own daughter’s a bad influence on my ability to put bullets into something? Riight. You should’ve seen me yesterday."
Jenny smiled slightly. "I did. You were all over the news, as well as most of that thug’s elbow. Let me get back on track, okay?" Sel nodded, still looking slightly peeved. "I know you’re tougher than most of us, but you’re still human, and you can be killed when a bullet hits you in the head. Now, I know you’re my boss, and you’ll probably fire me for saying this, but quit with the vigilante missions.
"I know you want revenge on the bastards that killed Wilson, but that’s no reason to throw your own life away. Besides, you still have a family, and even a daughter. Most of us lost our parents when we were younger, and some of us have seen our siblings die as well. Look, this is one of the nastiest missions we’ve ever taken on, and we’ve lost Wilson, and Tsier had a concussion for a week after he got his pistol stolen. When was the last time we ever got mauled? Hell, Gotham was a cakewalk, and that was in the middle of the aftermath of both the Ebola plague there and that damn earthquake."
Sel frowned, letting Jenny’s words free reign inside her mind. "Fine! I’ll stop the lone wolf routine, but you’re going to have to be ready at all hours for when I go out hunting. Now, I agree that this place is nasty, so maybe I should tone it down a bit. Remeber, Russia was nasty because we had to shut down a communist coup-d’etat, and I failed in trying to pop the leader’s head off. Gotham was nasty because of all the crazies going about, killing and eating others, including babies. Still the last time the team took this much punishment was when we were first founded as ‘troubleshooters’. Remember Kabul?" Jenny winced, and looked out one of the large windows. "After all, I’m sick of the wanton killings going on, and want it to stop as much as anyone else, but I’ll be a team player."
Jenny grinned and hugged Sel, ignoring her watch, which was beeping rather loudly. "Now that’s the one we remember. Look, I have to run, but I’ll try to talk to you later, okay?"
Sel nodded, so Jenny stood up, walked to the door, and left the penthouse. As soon as the penthouse door closed, Sel leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Sighing, she felt a small form move behind her, but kept her eyes shut, just to play along. Soon, Sebena tired of waiting for Sel to grab her, so she jumped onto her mother, causing Sel to actually lose her breath for a few seconds. After managing to regain her breath, Sel looked at the smiling face above her, grinned, and mentally sighed. She was going to have to do something soon.
–Undisclosed Location, 8:20 AM–
Lotos Abstraction, ex-meat puppet and currently a patient under Dr. Sorbie’s care, was most definitely getting better. Most of her memories had been restored, courtesy of judicious use of single-function nanomachinery to reconnect and restore the damaged nerve fibres inside her brain. Lotos still didn’t know her real name, or most of what she had done before being turned into an assassin, but she really didn’t care too much about her past.
Currently, she was sitting at a desk, trying to remember how to use a computer. After pecking away at the keys for almost an hour, she had managed to figure out most of the basic functions, but still couldn’t figure out the more advanced functions or the few games that had been put on the antiquated machine. Looking through the silvered window on one side of the room, Lotos smiled as she carefully went through the total shut down sequence, then leaned back, cracked her knuckles, and flipped the bird at the heavy screen.
She then stood up, letting her lanky frame stride to the door while her left hand slowly caressed the almost invisible scar running the length of her bare midriff. She sighed as the door opened, but didn’t let any of the inner turmoil of knowing what she had been forced to do show on her expressive face. The only response to Lotos’ actions was a small camera mounted in the ceiling tracking her as she walked down to her assigned room.
–Meridiana High School, 8:42 AM–
Classes hadn’t started yet, so Adrian was sitting at his desk, nursing a rather impressive bruise covering most of his right forearm. At that time, Lucas was sitting directly opposite of the smaller teacher, looking at the rather painful-looking bruise.
"Well, how did that happen?" Lucas was actually chewing on an apple as he spoke, gently probing the mass of swollen and purple flesh with surprisingly gentle touches. Adrian gritted his teeth as Lucas accidentally touched one part that was exceptionally painful, but he didn’t flinch too much.
"Well, you know where that bank robbery was last night?" Seeing Lucas nod as he pulled out a tensor bandage from one of the desk drawers, Adrian continued. "Well, I decided to see what was going on, and ended at a warehouse, which decided to try and end me by launching me through a window after being clouted by a crane’s hook. That’s about all I can remember, but at least my hat survived."
Lucas chuckled as he carefully wrapped Adrian’s arm with the tensor. "You know what? You’re more concerned with your hat than you are about yourself. Maybe you should take a break from the crime-fighting scene and relax for a week or three."
Adrian smiled slightly, then winced as Lucas pulled the bandage together so he could place the metal tabs that would keep it from unravelling. "Well, I am planning on a bit of a vacation in about five months."
Lucas’s right eyebrow raised itself as he finished his rough job of keeping pressure on the bruise, and he looked up at his friend. "Really? May I ask why?"
Adrian grinned. "Considering that you’re the cause of it, I should tell you. There’s going to be a new member of the family in about eight months."
Lucas nearly fainted, but grinned sheepishly as he looked at his friend. "Well, congratulations. I hope the munchkin will be healthy, and I’ll probably see him or her at the time." He stood up, wobbled slightly, and exited the room, leaving Adrian to sit there and study the placement of the bandage.
Adrian smiled after Lucas left the room and muttered quietly to himself "Well, I thought he would’ve dome something more like himself, such as squeeze me to death in a hug or something like that. Still, I’m betting that it was a great shock for him to hear that, so I’ll give him a bit of leeway to recover."
–Jose’s Mansion, 9:22 AM–
Mel was walking from the mess hall to the armoury, in order to collect his quad rocket launcher, when he heard something coming from Jose’s room. Moving quietly for all his bulk, Mel carefully pressed up against the wall and listened to the barely intelligible words that were unmistakably Jose’s.
Mel carefully snuck closer, and listened to some more of Jose’s ranting, but he managed to get the gist of the message. Slowly, he moved back to his original position, then started to deliberately clomp down the hallway in his heavy boots. As he passed Jose’s office, Mel stole a quick glance inside, just in time to see Jose stab at a few keys on the keyboard in front of him. Mel continued on, and collected his rocket launcher before continuing on his assigned rounds.
–Dr. Zack’s House, 4:30 PM–
Dr. Zack entered his house, and closed the door just in time to keep from letting the neighbours hear the loud, echoing, and pained roar that rattled the windowpanes all the way through the ground floor.
Hurriedly, he locked the door, dropped his briefcase on the floor, and headed down to the basement, where he managed to barely avoid cardiac arrest only by closing his eyes for several seconds and clearing his mind of the glimpse of the devastation he had seen before nearly fainting. After recovering (somewhat), Dr. Zack walked over to the very pissed off and irritable form that was slung up between two large hammocks, and looked quietly down on the heavily bandaged panther that still managed to glare at him.
"Well, it seems you’re in good health. Are you still pissed about my having to give you a bald spot to stitch your head wound? Trust me, it could have been much worse than a creased scalp." Dr. Zack carefully scratched behind Data 7's left ear, causing the feline instincts to come into play, and making the big cat start purring.
Dr. Zack smiled to himself as he remembered Data 7's total lack of co-operation when he had to stitch the wound, but considering that most of the warehouse’s supply of glass had landed on 7, much of it in small, sharp pieces, the scalp wounds were comparatively minor. Sighing, Dr. Zack stretched to his full height, then walked over to his firing range to collect his ‘peashooter’ from the relatively small worktable near the back of his cavernous basement.
"Well, you can stay put for a while, can’t you? I’ll try and scrounge up a Quaren or two for ya." Data 7 tried to look at Dr. Zack, and his eyes were asking the obvious question: ‘Okay, is he totally nuts, or just acting like it? Then again, a bit of genetically enhanced teen might cleanse the palate between mignons.’
After that silent comment from Data 7, Dr. Zack went upstairs and called up the police headquarters for some information. One hour later, he was standing, in the rain, just outside the Sentinel Hotel. He looked up at the penthouse, nearly hidden by the low clouds and the dull, iron-grey skies that continued to discharge its sooty payload onto both the squalid and the beautiful.
Sighing, he looked at the entrance of the hotel and made his decision. Steeling himself for another ‘conversation’, he walked into the lobby.