Syd stared up at him, her big brown eyes filled with a swirling mix of fear, anger and resolve. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again, but she didn't say anything.
Patiently, Ryan waited for her answer.
Everything he'd told her had been true. Even so, he felt a little guilty about the high-pressure sales tactics he was employing. Not exactly my proudest moment, he thought. It's not exactly fair to her, either. If there was any other way...
But there wasn't.
Hey, Amy, he sent through his Implant's communication link, how are you holding up in there?
Kind of busy at the moment, she snapped, the neural network transmitting her distracted tone directly into his mind with pitch-perfect clarity. Those... what did you call them again? Blasters? More of them keep showing up, and I think they're trying to surround me.
The low, pulsing hum of a plasma beam sounded from inside the warehouse, followed by another dull boom that shook the building's brick walls.
Correction, she amended, they've already got me surrounded.
He glanced at his area map, the position of her yellow icon on the interior layout, and the half-dozen white pinpoints spreading out around her.
Check your nine o'clock. There's a gap between those two big shelf units that none of them can cover. It's a straight shot from there all the way to the back of the building.
Got it, she replied. Thanks.
At the corner of his vision, the status bar representing Amy's physical condition had dipped from green into yellow. Beside it, the timer showing how much longer she could remain in her transformed state continued to tick relentlessly downward.
You're doing great so far, Ryan reassured her. It wasn't an exaggeration, merely a statement of fact. For an untrained user, her performance up to this point had been nothing short of phenomenal. Focus on keeping them busy, and don't stop moving. I just need you to buy us a little bit more time.
Does that mean you've got a plan?
...I'm working on it, he hedged.
Ryan drummed his fingers on his thigh, watching his teammate's movements projected on the display and trying his best to keep the growing anxiety he was feeling off his face.
"Fine," Syd said at last. "I'm in, I guess. What do you need me to do?"
Should I be ashamed that she agreed, he wondered, or should I be relieved? Maybe ashamed that I'm relieved? Pulling another civilian into this war...
...no, he told himself forcefully, cutting off the unproductive line of thought. They're both going to get out of here in one piece. It's your job to make that happen, team leader.
"You don't have to do anything just yet," he told her. Gesturing at the Changer she was wearing around her neck, he added, "The first step is for me to turn that thing on."
"Turn it... on?"
"Yeah. You remember I told you that it was what all of those big scary guys were after you for, right?"
She nodded, and he gave her a knowing grin.
"Well, I'm about to show you why they wanted to get their hands on it so badly."
Establishing direct connection with Change Matrix... connection established.
Change Matrix is Attuned to user Forward-Commander-Two.
Change Matrix is not Bonded.
Type: Change Matrix Mark-II (Amethyst)
Class: Assassin
Effective Level: 3
Combat Data Collected: 0%
From firsthand experience, he knew that the Zorvax didn't hand out Mark-II Changers to just anybody. Being issued a Changer already at Level 3 was rarer still, a clear sign of favor. Most likely intended for some special assignment, he figured.
No wonder Keira had been so pissed off when he took it from her.
They hadn't parted on the best of terms, to put it mildly, but the woman had endured month after hellish month of Enforcer training alongside him. She'd saved his life almost as many times as he'd saved hers. Even though she'd apparently decided to throw in her lot with the alien invaders, Ryan found himself hoping that they wouldn't punish her too harshly. He was all too aware that Zorvax officers did not tolerate failure.
Through determination, planning, and more than a little luck, he'd managed to escape that fate... but there were still dozens, maybe hundreds, of other humans suffering in alien captivity. Ryan hadn't forgotten them. Soon, he'd vowed, he would return to free those left behind.
Before that, though, he had to survive the rest of the night.
Access granted to Change Matrix systems at Forward-Commander level. View available functions?
"Okay," Ryan said, clapping his hands together. "Halfway there. So far, so good."
Syd glanced down at the Changer, puzzled. The jewel-like device remained seemingly inert, lights on the front continuing to wink on and off in their usual indecipherable sequence.
"Did you do something?" she asked, tapping curiously on the object's face with a manicured fingernail.
Bond Change Matrix to new user?
Confirmed. Bonding Change Matrix to new user...
Change Matrix has been Bonded to new user.
Additional Change Matrix functions are now available.
CAUTION: No entry found for new user in local Enforcer database!
He took a few long strides, opening the distance between them. When she rose to follow, he raised his hand, indicating that she should stay put where she was.
"Before we go any further," he started to say, then paused, hesitating. "Hm. It would sound weird if I suggested that you should take all your clothes off, wouldn't it?"
"Dude." Hugging the expensive-looking leather jacket she was wearing tighter to her chest, she shot him a scandalized glare. "That has got to be the lamest attempt at a pickup line I've ever heard." Glancing away with a pout, she continued in a slightly lower voice, "You could at least offer to buy me dinner first...."
He was glad that she seemed to be recovering from the nearly-catatonic shocked state he'd found her in earlier. The look she was giving him now had some real fire behind it.
"Yeah, that's about what I expected." Ryan shrugged. "Whatever. Don't say I didn't try to warn you."
"Warn me? Warn me about what?"
Seeing her like that, leaning towards him with her hands on her hips and her expression set in a petulant frown, he realized that he'd never given Syd more than a cursory once-over. Now, the overcast sky had finally cleared, and under the bright light of the moon, Ryan got his first good look at her.
The sight took him by surprise, and he blinked, dazed.
Syd was absolutely gorgeous.
The dark-haired girl was undeniably petite, but he didn't think anyone would call her cute. Bratty, perhaps. Her outsize attitude, back on full display now that she'd calmed down, made it easy to overlook just how small she actually was. Syd wasn't delicate enough to be conventionally beautiful, either, but something about her striking, angular features drew his gaze like a magnet.
It was the sort of face that belonged on a runway model, he decided, taking in her unusual combination of high cheekbones, full lips, long eyelashes, and arched, expressive brows. He'd previously labeled her eyes as dark brown, but on closer inspection, he discovered they were actually a shade lighter, nearly the color of honey. On her small face, they looked almost disproportionately large.
"Hey." Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she'd stepped into his personal space and was now snapping her fingers impatiently in his face. "Hello? Warn me about what?"
He blinked again, then coughed into one hand to hide his embarrassment. Rookie mistake, team leader. Focus on the mission.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"In a few seconds, all the clothes you're wearing are going to be vaporized."
She rolled her eyes.
"I bet that's what you tell all the girls."
"I'm serious. You really ought to give me your jacket, at least."
Syd didn't take him up on the offer. Her loss, he figured. Hopefully he'd been wrong about the price of her outfit, or she was going to be really mad at him when they got out of this.
...if they got out of this.
Stepping clear of the danger area, Ryan activated the Changer.
TEMPORAL FLOW ADJUSTED.
COMMENCING TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE!
Time stopped.
Silence fell, the ever-present urban background noise becoming suddenly conspicuous by its absence. Bits of trash that had been blowing through the alley a moment before hung suspended in midair, impossibly still.
I can't move, Amy sent, breaking the artificially-created hush. Everything around me just froze, too, like when I transform. Ryan, did you do something?
Relax, he responded. I just activated Syd's Changer. Now that there's a link between two nodes in the network, we can take advantage of the temporal flow disruption to plan out –
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST ACTIVATED SYD'S CHANGER?
Holy shit, Syd's voice butted in, I'm totally hearing things now. That screech sounded just like Amy does when she's pitching a hissy fit –
Eleanor Sydney Townsend, Amy began, placing a worrying degree of emphasis on each word, so help me...
– and I bet that's exactly how she'd respond, too, Syd went on, blithely ignoring the warning. Dropping to a lower pitch, she sarcastically mimicked Amy's intonation. Eleanor Sydney Townsend, so help me...
Amy made an inarticulate seething noise.
Man, this is freaky. Am I tripping balls? Could I have hit my head on something while we were running away?
Uh, Syd, this is an open channel that allows the three of us to communicate with one another directly, mind-to-mind, Ryan interrupted, hoping to stop the girl before she could dig herself in any deeper than she already had. That's actually Amy you're talking to right now.
Oh. An awkward pause. Fuck me.
Language, Syd!
Ryan laughed. He couldn't help it. The whole situation was too ridiculous.
Don't think we're done talking about you dragging Syd into this, mister, Amy grimly promised once he'd finished. The two of us are going to have a nice long chat when all this is over.
...right. His tone grew serious. As I was saying before, now that you're both linked into the network, we can use the instantaneous communication system even during a temporal flow disruption. You follow?
I understood, like, three words of that, Syd complained.
Amy made a sound of agreement.
He considered how to simplify the explanation.
Time stops when you transform. To everybody else, the change seems to happen instantly. I can delay the start of the process, which lets us talk like this while things are frozen.
Why didn't you just say that to begin with? Amy asked.
Because the way it works is actually a lot more complicated than – nevermind. That's not important right now. Syd, the device you're wearing is a piece of alien technology called a Changer...
The explanation went a lot more smoothly than last time. Maybe it was because this had been his second rehearsal of the day, or maybe Syd's mental framework better prepared her to accept such a crazy story.
If anything, Ryan mused privately, she's almost prepared for this a little too well...
So when you say transformation, Syd excitedly interrupted him for the fifth time, are we talking like Ultraman? She'd pronounced it Urutoraman, he noted, using the correct Japanese intonation, and doing her best impression of the booming announcer voice from the classic show. Or is it going to be more Kamen Rider style? Ooh, or Power Rangers?
Closer to Ultraman, I guess, he replied.
The original series?
Yeah, but – hey, wait a second! You said Terminator was an old person movie. All those examples you used are way older. Original Ultraman is ancient!
We're on the clock, Amy cut in to remind them. You can argue about children's cartoons later.
***
Even with Syd's enthusiastic participation, he was eventually able to get most of the immediately-relevant facts across to her.
Now they just needed a plan.
We're outnumbered, and there's a lot of civilians around, so we can't risk the fight spilling out of the warehouse district. Our goal is to isolate part of their team, take them out quickly, grab as many of their Changers as we can, then break contact before the rest are able to follow. Here's what I've got so far...
Ryan laid out his assessment of the tactical situation, then his still-developing plan. Falling back into the role of team leader felt surprisingly natural to him.
...but, he concluded, even assuming everything goes right for us, we'll still probably need some improvisation towards the end. Thoughts?
It's better than nothing, I suppose. Amy's frown was evident from her tone. Risky, though. A lot is going to depend on Syd.
She can handle it.
I can handle – yeah, what he said.
A warning message flashed at the corner of his vision, reminding him that they were approaching the limits of how long he could delay the transformation sequence.
Time's up, Ryan sent. Syd, are you ready for this?
Hell yeah! came the instant reply. Bring on the transforming!
A deep, almost-subsonic rumble signaled that the sequence had been initiated, startlingly loud after the long stretch of unnatural silence. Around Syd, the air began to warp and shimmer, calling to mind the heat mirage over a desert road. The rising draft caught her hair, setting her chaotic mass of glossy black curls swaying, dyed electric-blue strands glinting as they caught the soft light of the moon.
Beginning with the fancy jacket she'd been so unwilling to part with, Syd's clothes peeled away from her, the material cracking and flaking to pieces like a time-lapse video of old paint. Her tight leather pants soon followed, coming apart in a wave that started at the waist and descended along the lines of her body. The knee-high black boots were the last piece of her outfit to go, disintegrated right down to the thick rubber of their platform soles.
Instead of falling to the ground, the clouds of dark particles drifted together, coalescing into lines of smoke that coiled around her body. The spirals accelerated, moving in time with the pulsing beat, and an invisible force drew her up off the ground. Suspended in midair, she too started to spin in place, the swirling haze revealing brief flashes of her pale skin with each rotation.
Any lingering concerns Ryan might have held about the girl's youthful innocence vanished the moment he saw her naked beauty on full display. Her nipples were pierced, the metallic glitter of the silver barbells drawing his eye to her small, pert breasts. Intricate tattoos covered her right arm, a tangle of skulls and thorny roses that crept up from her wrist all the way to her shoulder. Although her figure was slender, she wasn't as skinny as he'd thought, either. The ridges of her pelvis were subtle, framing a dangerously-enticing slope leading his gaze lower than was strictly proper. Bare, he observed, before the sight was replaced by an equally-enticing view of her unexpectedly round and toned butt.
With her clothes gone, the mist churned, gathering around her arms and legs. By degrees, the fog gradually became darker, less transparent, before finally solidifying into a form-fitting black undersuit that enveloped her body. Thin purple plates emerged next, reaching like arms for one another. With a series of clicks, they linked together, first forming bracers and greaves, then a tapered chestplate and backpiece. Articulated gauntlets covered her fingers one joint at a time. Boots with tall wedge heels assembled beneath her feet. The helmet, purple as well, appeared a moment later.
Beneath the transparent visor, Syd's eyes glinted with barely-restrained eagerness as she was lowered back down to the ground.
TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE COMPLETE!
TEMPORAL FLOW RESTORED.
Their surroundings lurched back into motion.
"Ho-lee shit," she cackled, staring down at the armored gloves that now covered her hands. "I. Am. A fucking. Magical girl! This is so fucking sick!"
It was probably a good thing, Ryan decided, that she was speaking out loud rather than using the communications channel they shared with Amy.
Flexing her knees, Syd bounced experimentally on her toes, then threw herself into a standing backflip. The metal heels of her suit made soft tak-tak sounds as she landed lightly, arms outstretched in perfect gymnastic form.
"I feel so light!" she turned to face him, revealing the wild-eyed, ear-to-ear grin she was wearing. "It's like I just downed a whole pot of coffee!"
She did another flip to emphasize her point, forward this time, demonstrating the same easy grace. It was astonishing how quickly she'd adapted to the enhanced capabilities provided by the suit. Ryan found himself wondering if she had some sort of prior training that she could draw on, or if it was pure talent on display.
Maybe both.
Analyzing... analysis complete.
Target Identification: War-Form, Human Assassin
Commencing Standard Attribute Evaluation...
Effective Level: 3
Strength: 13
Agility: 18
Toughness: 6
Endurance: 6
Abilities:
Decoy (Rank 1)
Prowler Mode (Rank 2)
Threat Rating: MEDIUM
"Alright, alright," Ryan began, hoping to stop Syd from attempting the kick-flip off a nearby wall that she was loudly contemplating. "I know this is all new and exciting for you, but right now we've got to stick to the plan. We just need some kind of opening –"
Whatever he'd been about to say next was cut off by a mechanical squeal of amplified feedback, loud enough to shake the windows around them. This was followed by the sound of a woman clearing her throat, projected at the same deafening volume.
"Ah-hem. Attention, intruders! This area is surrounded. By the authority of the National Security Agency, you are all ordered to lay down your weapons and surrender at once! Failure to comply will be met with lethal force!"
A glance at his map confirmed that the hostile Changers were spreading out in response, moving away from the source of the announcement. Seconds later, the street began to echo with the sounds of plasma blasts, quickly joined by the rapid pop-pop-pop of small arms fire.
"I think that's our opening," Syd said.
"...yeah, that ought to do it."