FUGAE
ROBYN JOAN
Robyn Joan Clarke was the daughter of Doctor Isaac Clarke and Janet Gertrude. That was all that most people knew about her. It was a frustrating thing to be known for, but she figured it could be worse.
She sat on top of a skyscraper, not far from the entrance to the sewer the Paladins had dived into. She had a good angle from here, and could see everything clearly with her binoculars. But at forty floors up, no one would notice her unless they were looking very hard.
It had been over four hours, and she was starting to get worried. Cell service was virtually impossible to get in the sewers. You'd need to be right next to an opening to the surface to get any reception. For all Robyn knew, they could all be dead by now. But Derek and Akane were experienced dungeon-delvers, and Laura had a keen sense of direction. They should all be fine.
She had to admit she was a bit worried about Adam and Ling, though for different reasons. Adam could handle himself in a fight. Disturbingly well, in fact. But if they ran into a singer, it was all over for him.
Ling, on the other hand, was not a fighter. Oh, she did well enough against the screamers, but they were so stupid they hardly counted. The kind of monsters you ran into in sewers would take more than a few improvised soccer tricks to kill.
Robyn's headset chirped with the real MC's voice. “Robyn? You there?”
She tapped the device to activate it. “Yes, what is it?”
“Long story. Short version: Lizzy came out of the sewers two miles northwest. Find her, follow her, don't let her see you.”
The eye screen on her headset lit up with a map and a destination marker, indeed a little over two miles away from her current position. She guessed the lair was just a lot further underground than they thought.
She frowned though, disturbed at the unspoken implications of MC's statement. If she wasn't supposed to be seen by Lizzy, that almost certainly meant she was a sleeper, and anything she heard or saw would be reported back to the Composer.
That was by far the worst case scenario. Robyn wasn't the greatest of friends with Lizzy, but she still didn't want to see her brainwashed and forced to spy on the people she cared about.
She shook her head to clear it. That was something to worry about later. Every minute she delayed, Lizzy got farther away. The sun was already beginning to sink towards the horizon. Once night fell, she'd have a hard time finding her.
“Robyn Joan Clarke,” a voice called from behind her.
Surprised, she turned to see... Obould, the orc Power, standing next to the stairwell. Huh. That was strange. He normally preferred to stay home in his lab. He looked serious, more so than Robyn had ever seen him.
“Honored Devil,” she said smoothly. She racked her brain for a way out of this situation without revealing too much. “Wonderful to see you again. Ah... what are you doing up here?”
He met her gaze. “Don't follow her, Honored Paladin.”
Robyn cocked her head in what she was sure looked like a genuine gesture of confusion. “Follow who?”
“Elizabeth Greene. She is the Composer.” He frowned. “Or... she is possessed by the Composer. I'm not clear on that.”
This time Robyn didn't have to fake being skeptical. “Lizzy? The Composer? Where did you get that idea?”
“I began suspecting a few weeks ago, when Adam failed to get her blood sample,” he said. “That's when I realized she is significantly more careful about her words around Laura—almost as if she knew about her ability.” He shrugged. “And it was confirmed when I overheard the other Paladins telling MC.”
Robyn blinked. “You overheard them? How?”
He grinned, baring his fangs. “I hacked the network.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“YOU WHAT?” MC shrieked in her ear. Robyn had to rip the headpiece off to avoid being deafened. MC had switched it to speaker mode remotely. “When the hell did that happen?”
“Well,” Obould said, “most of it was Garona, with some help from Veronica and I. It was a group effort, really.”
“HOW DID YOU HACK MY NETWORK?”
Even though he was wearing daygoggles, Robyn could tell he was rolling his eyes. “Calm down. Garona snuck into the Cathedral. With a hardware access, she was able to upload a hack we wrote, and suborn one of your spy programs.”
MC cursed. “Which one? LS0099827? I'll bet it was her, she's been glitching on me for months...”
Obould cleaned his tooth with his tongue, thinking. “It was... I'm not sure. Little Sister... 17? No, it ended in a nine. Anyway, it was five years ago, right when you were starting up. It's been there for a long time.”
There was a long, long pause, and Robyn could easily imagine MC taking deep breaths and counting to ten. “Okay, I need to know exactly what this hack does.”
Obould shrugged. “Garona will have to tell you. I didn't contribute much.”
“You can do all this later,” Robyn said. “Right now, I have to go find Lizzy.” Despite what Obould had said, she was still skeptical. Lizzy, the Composer? It just seemed too silly. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to walk up to her and ask.
“No, Miss Clarke, you can't,” Obould insisted, stepping forward and grabbing her arm. “She's extremely dangerous, and we know too little about her powers.”
Robyn shrugged him off. “This isn't my first rodeo, Knight Obould.” She didn't like how familiar he was getting. Really, they only knew each other peripherally. “I've been scouting for MC since this whole thing started.” She snorted as the pieces fell into place. “Of course, you already know that.”
He shrugged a little helplessly. “Well... yes. Although I don't quite understand why you never told the others.”
She just glared at him. “Didn't see the need.”
He rubbed his horns and sighed. “Look... I realize I can't actually physically stop you. But you'd have enough trouble finding her during the day. By the time you get over there, it will be dark, and she'll be in a perfect position to ambush you.”
“I can take care of myself. Even at night.”
“Really?” He cocked his head. “I thought those red eyes were just cosmos.”
He was right, of course. Her eyes—and her hair, for that matter—were colored red, but were not improved in any way. She was as nightblind as any other baseline.
But she had gone too far to back down now. And besides, they really did need intel on Lizzy or the Composer or whoever.
Obould could clearly see the determination in her eyes, so he just shook his head. “I give up. MC, help me out here?”
“One sec,” she muttered in an annoyed tone. “I'm yelling at your sister-in-law.”
Robyn tossed Obould the headset, and he caught it by reflex.
“Don't follow me, Honored Devil,” Robyn said, as she stepped backwards off the roof of the building. “I'm a little better at this than you.”
She only fell a few feet before she activated her power, reversing gravity for her and her alone. Suddenly she wasn't falling down anymore, but rather up, head angled towards Lizzy's last known location. As she rose, she slipped on the gas mask Lizzy had bought her recently. It was designed for... well, gas, but it did the job for high-altitudes.
Once Robyn was above the clouds and comfortably away from prying eyes, she changed her angle to be almost completely horizontal. She also increased her speed, simply by stacking a few more gravities on herself, making her “fall” faster in the direction she desired. Her reservoir depleted very slowly, so she had enough for a little over an hour at this speed.
She knew most of the others had wondered why they had gotten their particular powers. Not Derek, of course—it was perfectly obvious why he got the power to protect people. But the others were more confused. What did Laura have to do with lies, or Akane with superspeed, or Ling with controlling earth and stone? You could see reasons for them if you squinted, but still, it was odd.
Robyn was confused as to why everyone didn't get flight.
Flying was the most exhilarating experience in the world. She had known that ever since she was a kid, when she snuck onto one of the airplane sims at the aerospace museum. It was primitive and clunky, but she went there every single day, at least until it burned down in a gang war.
But flying without a plane, with nothing between you and the air, seeing the clouds unfold beneath you like a white ocean... well. She could understand why the aves were going to such great lengths to get wings.
Obould had asked her why she hadn't told the others she was like them. She had lied. She had a reason. A very simple, very selfish one.
She wanted to keep flying for as long as she could. She wanted to feel empty air around her, taste the wind through her hair. She knew that when they eventually found out, she wouldn't be MC's mysteriously competent scout anymore. She would be a Paladin, with all the duties and responsibilities that implied.
Was it any wonder she chose flying over that?