Once the confirmation had come through on Cy and Miura’s safety Sierra thanks the owner of the cafe and rushes off towards the car. Cy had left her a spare key in case of Emergency which she kept in her purse, the car unlocked easily and she adjusted the driver seat for her smaller stature, she twisted the key to start the car and the starter motor stirred and whined but the car didn’t ignite.
“Come on car, I know I’m not your owner but thats no excuse to leave me stranded” she twists the key again and the compact rotary engine kicks into life, the rhythmic brap of the idle tone was music to her ears. Her first stop was to check on Cy’s apartment, the journey back to Hillchester was for the most part uneventful. All the police and whatnot were still crowded around the restaurant in a ‘standoff’ with no-one in particular. When Sierra came to that realisation she couldn’t help but laugh. The rescue had definitely foiled them and given Sierra good time to get herself and Cy’s car to safety.
She parked the car around the back of a takeaway restaurant near the apartment and made her way across the street to the apartment complex. She needed clothes for both herself and Cy, as well as at least some of the food. She quickly scampers up the stairs and opens up the apartment door, she quickly checks side to side before entering the apartment.
Sierra grabs a couple of bags and begins filling them with clothes and belongings, she makes sure to grab the Switch and its charging port too. The moment she zips up the backpack her ears picked up the sound of police sirens. She quickly shoves a desk in front of the door in an attempt to buy herself some time. The sirens cut off but she can feel the vibrations of cars entering the apartment complex’s lot. She piles her small collection of personal effects into a reusable bag along with the makeup she’d bought Cy for Christmas. She takes one more look around the apartment before she hears a knock at the door.
“Police! Open up!”
“Up yours” she mutters under her breath, she quickly slides open a window at the back and chucks the bag down before scrambling through the gap. She braves the jump down a storey and rolls over landing on her hands, she quickly clambers over a fence and runs away, taking a detour so as to not look like she came directly from the apartment towards the car. About five minutes of jogging briskly through alleys brought herself back to the car. She opens the boot and places the bags inside before getting in and driving off in the direction of the bunker, careful to try and not crash the older sports car.
***
Bridget had passed me a set of gloves which had some controls built into then and looked fairly complicated. ““These are shock gloves. They got a dial on the back for intensity. We’re going to hop into my van. We’re going to show up at this address-” she shows me a note written in a scrawl, something about someone’s mother and a theft. I assume its to do with this ‘collar of truth’ or whatever. “And we’re going to go in and bust the kid out. Gonna bring them over here while Clark and Šárka look for a place for them to stay”
I pull on the gloves and wonder how they work, the dial is currently set to zero so no current appears to be running through them. “And then we’re going to visit my mother.” Bridget continues, moving out of the room. She pokes her head back in ““Miura you’re not in as deep shit as Cy is so just hang out here for a sec” Miura turns to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.
“Cy be careful okay, I’ll probably be fine here but we don’t know really anything about this place” She looks worried and a little confused.
“I’ll be fine” I stand and go to join Bridget, I was very glad I didn’t wear any heels. Although I suppose still going out to raid some house in a dress isn’t exactly the ideal situation. Bridget had a lift system set up in her house, she hits a button and the lift descends down to the ground floor. I just follow her, taking a look around the house. It seemed quite normal for the most part, although there were some odd mechanisms strewn about. She led me to the garage where there was an old Volkswagen Transporter sitting there. I could just about feel the presence of it from upstairs. It was a fairly plain looking old van, it was a light blue colour and had some deteriorating decals stuck to the side of it that seemed to indicate it was some kind of delivery vehicle in the past, although even in a language I could understand it was clear to see it hadn’t been used for that purpose in some time. I climb into the passenger seat of the van and pull on my seatbelt.
“Alright Magda, you feeling okay to drive today? You alright with carrying us onto a noble quest to rescue a child?” Bridget cooes the van, petting the dashboard. I could feel that the van hadn’t been started in a long time so I try to give the starter motor a helping hand, it starts up and seems to idle steadily. Bridget turns to me “Don’t tell me you don’t talk to your tech miss I Sense Machines”
“I wouldn’t exactly have a conversation with my Switch, if thats what you were implying” I stifle a giggle. “Your van needs some work done to her I think” The paint had kept up well since it was stuck in the garage for so long but irregular use had certainly left the van needing some attention.
“Ma’am how dare you suggest sweet Magda isn’t taken care of? Sure I don’t give her as much attention as Grandpa Václav did, but that’s because she was his. I’m only looking after her for him, now that he can’t.” She put her hand over her heart, play acting like she was offended by the advice, she hits a button on a remote she had dug out of the glovebox and opens the garage door. I was used to faster vehicles so the van lurching forwards slowly felt almost unnatural to me, I had to remind myself not to get involved with the van so I tuck away my antenna. Once out on the road Bridget pipes up again, her hand rubbing her chin in thought.
“I could probably make a Back to the Future reference with this van. Where we’re going we don’t need roads, ya know?... Okay yeah that’s a genius idea, once I’m done with mom I could use your car expertise to convert her into a hovercar”
“A hovercar?” It was my turn to put my hand to my head in that stereotypical thinking pose. “Thats unlikely to be viable, could certainly help you make her faster and more efficient though!” Bridget snickers and pulls out a phone from somewhere in the dash, she unlocks it and hands it to me.
“Check the gallery, folder blueprints. Viable isn’t a thing I deal with” She had stored a lot of images of blueprints, some of the components that make up Dare, as well as schematics for a Jetpack of all things, it was pretty amazing stuff. ““I figure a hovercar is easier than a jetpack”
“The problem is making it so that one part doesn’t compromise the other, theres a reason amphibious cars are rubbish on the road ya know” I shake my head. “Tell you what I’d love a go on the Jetpack though, brings me back to those glorious GTA San Andreas days”
“Oh I didn’t build it. The moment I finished writing up the thing I realised how dumb it was. I considered the Vulture suit from Spider-Man Homecoming as an option though.” Sbe mimicked flicking a pair of glasses down off of her head and pushing them over her eyes. “And did you forget the legendary line I quoted? Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
“Roads are the best part! Nothing better than challenging a quiet nighttime backroad with all your skill, although I suppose a van wouldn’t be your typical go-to for that huh, Doc Brown turns the DeLorean into a time machine because it was a fairly hopeless sportscar” I wink at her, to which she rolls her eyes in response.
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“I’m not sure if it was Zemmecis or a producer who wanted to make the It Looks Like An Airplane joke about the DeLorean. Don’t call it rubbish it has nostalgic and nerdy appeal.” The conversation didn’t last much longer after that as we seem to reach the destination, Bridget parks the van neatly on the side of the road “Alright. We’re here” She gets out and opens the door for me. I get out, making sure to keep my dignity. Bridget leans in close “Listen. I looked up your description online, I read what you’re accused of. I wanted you to tell me yourself as a sign of trust.”
My brain immediately halts everything else. She knows what I’ve done, I begin to panic slightly but a few deep breaths and a shoulder rub from Bridget halt the panic attack before it commences. “I..” I have no idea how to put it into words. “I’m so sorry. Everything happened so fast, before I knew it, I was deeply invested into freeing people like me, people like us” I look to see what reaction Bridget has and I was surprised to see her smiling.
“This falls in the Unlawful but ultimately good category, Cynthia. You did good. I just figured you’d be more open about stuff.” I struggled my entire life with answering people and being open, I guess that part of me doesn’t change unlike the dysphoria. She releases me shoulder and walks up the pathway to the house we’d stopped outside. I follow her cautiously, she knocks the door whilst I lean on a small stone wall a metre away. A woman opens the door and I’m instantly reminded of the family I’d kicked out of the bunker, she was staring at us with the same equal mixture of fear and utter disgust that boils my blood. Bridget and the woman speak to each other in their native Czech language, I haven’t a clue whats being said but when Bridget barges inside I follow. I close the door behind me as to try and not let any sound escape the building.
Bridget has got the woman subdued, she looks even more pissed than she was when I didn’t tell her what I had done back in England. The woman was blabbering away. She turns to me and says in English:
“The kid is upstairs. Be gentle with them, I’m not sure how Mrs. Němec has been treating them.” I nod at her, moving past her and up the steep stairs, at the end of the corridor I see what looks to be the parents room, but I stop outside a room with a padlock on, I use the extra strength of my metal arm to crush the padlock, breaking it easily. I open the door and see a kid backed up in the corner, wearing a dress that was barely even rags. Her hair was bedraggled and her eyes sunken in. The room’s windows were boarded up and there was no sunlight peeking in at all, only the artificial glow of the ceiling light. I put on my best ‘nice person’ face and smile to the child.
“Bridget! I’ve found her, shes not in a good way at all” I yell softly down the stairwell. I gesture to them to come to me. Bridget appears alongside me, her glove smoking slightly.
“It’s them. Yup.” She walks over to the frightened child. “Hey Non, I’m Bridget Crackspanner, Aunt Adéla’s daughter. We’re getting you out.” Bridget holds out her hand to Non, they look at Bridget and me with a facial expression I don’t really understand, but she grabs Bridget’s hand so it must have been good. She leads Non out to the van. I wait by the door, not entirely sure what Bridget wants me to do next, she straps Non into the van’s middle seat and returns to the house. “Hey Cynthia, not sure how strong you are but could ya move Mrs. Němec from the floor to her bed? Make it look like she had a bad dream?”
“I can indeed” I turn to the prone woman and hoist her over my shoulder with my arm. It looked almost comical I imagine, a slight woman like me being able to lift another human with ease. I trot up the stairs and lay her down on the bed in the main bedroom. I toss up the sheets a bit to look like she had moved about a lot in her sleep, perhaps taking Bridget’s order a bit too seriously. I then return downstairs and follow Bridget out to the van. I sit down in the van alongside Non and rest my arm against the door. I couldn’t help but wonder at how I ended up here, and the police raid on the restaurant, theres so very few people I told about it. Not even Michael and Brad know about it. That means that...either Sierra or Miura let the police know, I shake my head, trying to dislodge that thought. Theres no way, they must have tracked me down somehow.
Before I knew it we were back at Bridget’s house, I got out as to let Non leave the van. Bridget escorts Non to the front door where Šárka was waiting. I just stand by the van, knowing Bridget probably needs me help with other stuff since the van isn’t in the garage. Bridget comes back to the van, looking thoughtful.
“Let me check something first.” she gestures for me to follow her and we walk over to the backyard of the house, she picks up an old looking cinder block and places it on top of a pedestal. “Punch it as hard as you can.” I look at her curiously, then shrug to myself. I clench my metal fist and pull back my arm before slamming it into the top of the block, shattering it and cracking the pedestal. I wasn’t too surprised by this, I had previously battered the door to the bunker until it opened after all. Suddenly a tinny voice calls out from nowhere. I look around, confused. It didn’t sound like any of Bridget’s crew. I locate the source, there was a tiny little person peering out of a tree. We’re talking real tiny, with wings. Bridget responds in Czech again, and after some moaning and grumbling. At least I think thats what it was, the little fairy-like creature ducks back into the try like it wasn’t even there.
“Bridget….what was that?” I ask, the entire conversation leaving me confused.
“Either I have a dedicated LARPer squatting in a tree, or magic is coming back after like centuries or millennia and magic creatures are waking up.” Bridget shrugs. “Either way, her name is Amálka, which I find funny since that’s the name of a czech cartoon faerie. But, alright, time to go kick my mom’s ass for stealing from me.”
“I assume you don’t want me to punch her then? I have punched guys with it before, but they were like properly tough looking assholes”
“Oh my mother is the fucking Devil, you’d need a silver fist to properly hurt her. Wait no, that was rude to Luci. Sorry for likening you to her, Luci.” We return to the van.
“Luci huh?” I picture the devil going through a similar transition as I did. My imagination is boundless. I clamber up into the van. Bridget puts the van in gear and begins driving.
“The Devil is Genderfluid, why do you think we’re all going to Hell? They’re having a party there for us and The Cis are not invited.”
“Makes sense, uh. I...I was actually a guy, before the Emergence happened, not anymore...obviously” I put a hand on top of my chest. “Whatever caused the Emergence, I guess it knew something I wasn’t especially aware of. I’m much happier with myself now” She reaches out and pats me on the head, a lock of white hair falls over my eye.
“I was already post-op when the Emergence hit, so finding myself with mouse ears and no hint of testosterone poisoning on me was nice. Hell, I made a poll on Twitter when I posted my Hey I Emerged video the day it happened. So many eggs cracked from being turned into their true bodies.” Bridget had a wry smile on her face before falling quiet.
***
3 Hours earlier back in Hillchester
Victoria pushes through the door of the restaurant, They had the entire place surrounded by yellow police tape, there was a chunk of wall completely missing where she’d thrown her warning spear, which had thusly disintegrated. The operation had been a massive disaster, Eunos and Miura had escaped somehow, all they’d heard from outside was the smashing of what sounded like glass. A few scientists from the company Victoria used to work for had been brought down under contract for the government. The logo for DRF International patched onto the back of their uniforms, they had some sort of scanning machine in their hands.
The targets had seemingly vanished into the ether, they had the entire building surrounded and no windows or doors were broken or open as to suggest they’d escaped in that way. The only way they could have gone as if someone had teleported them out of there or something, Kaa had turned out to be one of DRF’s agents. Goff had briefed her that DRF had gotten into contact with him after they’d picked her up for employment, they had seemingly been losing out elsewhere and as such had sent some support for the Ministry of Power, this came in the form of Kaa and some other personnel. It was a sketchy looking deal and Victoria wasn’t sure she liked it, but the pay hadn’t changed so she is putting up with it for now.
She places the takeaway down on the table and sits down on the leather seat, peering outside at Colonel Goff, who was listening to an employee tell a policeman what had transpired within the restaurant at the time. He looked about to blow his top at the failure of the raid, they’d sent a couple of units down to the residence of this Cyrus Sutton but to no avail, they hadn’t gone there and they found nothing but some electronic stuff like games consoles. They had taken the computer there for analysis though, Victoria loaded up the database to take a glance over the profile of Cyrus. He’d not been in major trouble with the law before, only some speeding violations and a few fix it tickets for various mechanical faults with his vehicles. She scrolled down to the relations and notices something curious, Cyrus has a brother who appeared to be conscripted into the army. She signals Colonel Goff over and he joins her inside the restaurant.
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself” he scoffs, looking down at her meal.
“Its been a long day, sue me. I don’t want to show you my food Colonel, you’re not Instagram” She shows him the profile of Cyrus’ brother “Do you know who this is?”
“Private Sutton, I do”
“They’re related, Cyrus Sutton, Sylvester Sutton, they’re brothers. He might have an idea why this is happening...and how to catch Eunos”
Goff looks at her like she’d said where the Ark of the Covenant is.
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
Victoria very nearly answers him.