I wondered what it would have been like to be in their shoes.
Just like Alice had said, there were two watching TV, while another three were playing a game of poker. The fourth player had briefly paused the game to head to the kitchen when the door to the room flew off its hinges and collided with him hard enough to break several bones.
Startled, they all reached for their guns only for a blur to zip into the room and snatch every firearm from them before they could so much as lay a finger on them. The blur then solidified in the middle of the room having dismantled all of their guns.
The pieces of steel dropped to the floor at her feet.
With all their attention on her, they neglected to identify the second threat walking through the door, me.
I turned to one of the guys watching TV, aimed for center mass, and fired. A bright red light flash emanated from the man’s chest, his skin instantly searing while his clothes ignited. He dropped to the ground screaming and proceeded to roll around to try and put out the flames.
The other guy watching the game was quick to join him after I discharged my second shot. I turned to the three guys still at the table.
“H-Hey! Wait a sec—”
I fired thrice more, the first toppling over the back of his chair. Another tried to dive out of the way but I was quick to hit him. The last attempted to use his chair for cover. It didn’t do him any favors when my laser burned right through it.
It all started and ended in about three seconds.
It was shockingly easy.
Pink zipped to the nearest fire extinguisher and proceeded to blast the burning thugs before any serious damage could be done. It ended with them groaning on the floor but Pink was quick to silence them by bonking them on the head with the bottom of the fire extinguisher. Thankfully, she hadn’t used Red to do that, otherwise, things would have gotten messy.
Dusting off her hands, Pink tossed the red metal canister away. “See, that’s how it’s done, Uppies. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”
“Ignoring all the head trauma you just inflicted, I’d say that went pretty well.”
“A lil’ knock on the head isn’t going to cause permanent damage. Besides, I ain’t the one who was trying to roast them alive!” Pink shot back. “What’s tha deal with that anyway? I thought you said you had an anti-killing mode for that thingy.”
I frowned, examining the laser pistol. It was in the non-lethal setting. Whatever the lethal mode entailed would have definitely killed these guys without question.
“It is. I guess I just need to tune the settings a little bit.”
“I was expecting a whoosh! A flashy laser that knocks people around. I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda disappointed, Uppies.”
“That’s not how lasers work. It’s just super concentrated light,” I explained. “And stop calling me Uppies.”
“Well I’m not callin’ ya Upgrade. It’s waaaaay too serious.”
One of the thugs groaned, drawing our attention. He was clutching his shoulder with one hand and holding his forehead with the other.
“You didn’t hit that one hard enough,” I said. With a sway to her step, Pink sauntered over to the unfortunate man that had managed to endure being lasered and bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher. “Maybe we should just leave him. He’s not going anywhere and any more damage might just—”
“Lights out, bozo!”
Her foot crashed into his face and I heard a nasty crunch, his body going slack.
“I suppose that works too.”
Pink turned and flashed me a grin.
All the men in the room were incapacitated but strangely, the one I had run into a couple of nights ago wasn’t one of them. He had to still be in the building somewhere. I had heard his voice through the drone so he couldn't have gotten far. Pink seemed to be on the same wavelength as she strolled back to the middle of the room, eyeing up the one unopened door next to the poker table.
“Oh gee, I wonder what’s behind the door over there,” Pink placed her hands on her hips and began swaying back and forth on the balls of her heels. “You gonna make this easy on us and come out, or are you gonna play hard to get? I do love it when boys play hard.”
I grumbled and stared at the back of her head in disapproval.
“Classy.”
The door clicked open and the man of the hour strolled out casually surrendering by tossing his gun to the floor. He took one look at his downed comrades and rolled his eyes. I inhaled sharply as I took in his features. He didn’t even look bothered by what we had done.
“Little fish sticking their noses in my business,” the man said smoothly. He proceeded to mutter a string of what I assumed to be curses in Spanish. Pink just tilted her head innocently. Did she understand what he said? Maybe one of her powers was able to understand him.
“You come here for something, hm? I hate to disappoint but nothing here is for sale, my friends.”
The confident annoyance that oozed from every word had my jaw tightening. Even with the tables turned against him, he still acted like he was in control of the situation.
“That’s okay. We ain’t buyin,” Pink chirped. “But we are lookin’ for a lil something.”
He spread his arms with a smile that dripped with false bravado.
“How might I be of service, chica?”
Pink started circling him, giving him a wide berth as she kicked his gun across the floor toward me. He didn’t make any threatening moves as she started moving, her eyes scanning him to make sure he didn’t have anything else on him. As she left his vision, his eyes flickered toward me and I tensed.
He just gave me a playful smirk.
“A little birdie told me you made off with some serious cha-ching the other night,” Pink’s gaze flickered to me, her lips thinning into a grin similar to the man. However, once she had completed her inspection, his expression reverted back to a frown. “We’d like to know where it is.”
The man had the audacity to look confused.
“Aha… you might have to be a little more specific. Money passes in and out of these hands frequently. It’s quite easy to lose track of it.”
Pink grabbed a chair and kicked it across the floor. It slid right behind the man at the same time she appeared in front of him to boot him into it. Clutching his stomach, he coughed as Pink blurred again. She blitzed out of the room in the blink of an eye and was back in a few moments. She was like a whirlwind around the man and before I knew it, he was bound.
Pink clapped enthusiastically. “How nice of you to keep some rope on hand!”
“Ahh… you never know who to expect,” he replied confidently, shifting in his new binds. “Very tight. An admirable effort.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, bub,” Pink replied without the usual chirp to her voice. “Now, it would be best to start talkin’ because I get excited when bones start breaking. You never know, I could get carried away and I’m not the type of girl to have a safe word!”
He laughed for a good couple of moments there. I wasn’t sure where the joke was so I had to settle for complete insanity. This guy had lost it.
Then he looked past Pink to me.
“What was it I said? Woman, right? Fuckin’ crazy.”
My blood ran cold.
“You know it’s me?”
He shot me a toothy grin.
“You’ve barely said a word since I walked through that door,” he tilted his head back to the door he came out of behind him. “And judging from how tightly you're holding that gun…” he made a tisk tisk sound with his teeth. “Trying to swim in the big, dark ocean are we? You think a little playmate is gonna stop the riptide?”
I stepped forward, moving past Pink until I towered over him. For the first time in my life, I tasted catharsis in its purest form. It was only a small victory but to see the man that had embarrassed, tormented, and stolen from me tied up like this and at my mercy was nothing short of euphoric.
“Who’s the one tied up now?”
He sneered back at me. “Funny how things work out. What will you do, kill me?”
“Kill you? No,” I aimed at his foot and fired.
The laser seared through his shoe and caught fire. Pink was quick to toss a rag over it to smother the fire but his pained cry was like music to my ears. I was a little concerned I derived such satisfaction from this but all I had to do was remind myself of the position I was in just the other night. Just like that, the guilt vanished.
“That’s for fucking with me, asshole.”
I checked the ammo display. Eight shots left.
“Got some balls on you,” he hissed out. I stared at him as he lifted his head. He was clearly in pain but he was smiling – enjoying all of this. “I had you pegged as a spoiled rich kid. Never thought you’d have it in you to pull the trigger.”
I gestured around him to his downed comrades.
“You thought wrong.”
“So you want to know where I took your money?” He asked. I nodded. He chuckled and leaned back in the chair, looking thoroughly bemused by the situation. “That’s unfortunate my friend, because I no longer have it. It’s property of the Cains now. As I said, money comes and goes.”
“But you must know where you took it, who you handed it to,” I glared at him through my visor. It probably didn’t have the effect that I wanted since he couldn’t see my face but I doubt it would have mattered. This guy would have met and faced down people far more imposing than a high schooler.
“Tell me.”
He stared at me, unimpressed.
“Why would I do that? Even if I did know, telling you would put me into some serious hot water,” he pursed his lips, his gaze flicking between me and Alice. “Do you really think you’re threatening? You might bark like an angry hound but your bite is no more dangerous than a fresh pup. The worst you can do is hurt me. Neither of you have the guts to take my life.”
He leaned forward and sneered at me like he was actually daring me to kill him.
“Wow! That’s a really convincing tough guy act. I got the heebie jeebies listenin’ to that,” Pink applauded, sounding genuinely entertained. “Buuuuuuuut, everyone has their breaking point. I’d know, and now I’m just dying to find where yours is.”
I shuddered.
The man only seemed to find Pink’s words amusing.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“You two are something else, eh? Bonesmith captured and Banshee injured…” he shook his head like a disappointed father. “The big boss knows about you now and he’s not the type to negotiate. You’ll be going to war with the big fish if you want your money back. If you ask me, this crusade isn't worth the effort.”
That was what I had suspected. Him still having my money would be too easy. Getting back the quarter million was going to be harder than I anticipated.
“Fine, you don’t have it. Not like I would expect you to know how to use a payload chip anyway,” I dismissed. He at least had the decency to look a little bit insulted. I considered it a win. I turned to Alice. “Do you want to bring Gold out to see what you can get from him? He doesn’t seem to want to talk.”
Pink narrowed her eyes before shrugging. “Nah.”
I blinked. “What?”
“He can wait. I wanna go look through their stuff, come on,” she turned on her heel and walked through the door our captive had come through. It led into an office that seemed stacked with boxes and other things. It was clearly smuggling because some of the boxes had the ECU logo on them, along with other companies.
“Don’t just stand there, Uppies. Come and help me here. He ain’t going anywhere.”
I grumbled under my breath.
Fine. He can wait.
The man cackled.
I lashed out and punched him in the nose before following Pink through the door. I took immense satisfaction in feeling the man’s nose break and his pained gurgles as I left the room.
“Alright, what have they got?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I spotted my old phone lying on the desk which sufficiently brightened my mood. “He actually kept it! Wow, didn’t think I was going to get this back,” I snatched it up and tried to power it on only to find that the battery had died. It didn’t matter, I could recharge it later. “What else have they got?”
“Hmm…” Pink hummed aloud, surveying the room “We got some grade 4 biogel so far but other than that, a whole lotta crap.”
We began sifting through piles of stuff. It quickly became clear what kind of operation they were running here. Drugs, drugs, and more drugs.
“Drat! No hard cash,” Pink bemoaned. “Looks like we’re going to have to look a bit harder in the future.”
“You can switch back now,” I said, giving Pink a blank stare. “There’s no one around except for the guy tied to the chair, but he’s probably too busy dealing with a broken nose to listen in.”
“Nope!”
“No?”
“Yup! I’m stayin’. Get used to me, Uppies. You’re gonna be seeing me a lot.”
“Can you at least call me Upgrade?” I asked, holding back a wave of annoyance. “Uppies is kinda demeaning.”
Pink pouted. “Uppies is cuter.”
“I’m… I’m not trying to be cuter,” I gestured to my armor, helmet, and gun. “It doesn’t really fit well with the image I’ve got going here.”
“Aw…” Pink blurred over to me and gave me a playful hip bump. “You’re all frowny-face under that helmet. Cheer up! Things are going well.”
I resisted the urge to sigh.
“Sorry, I’m just a little eager to get some more information out of that guy. He’s definitely holding something back and I’m willing to bet Gold can get it out of him.”
“Once we’re done here, I’ll switch. Now, quit standin’ around and help me look some more. There has to be something we can take,” Pink said eagerly, tearing through another crate of goodies.
We found a lot of biogel and other medical supplies amongst the copious amounts of illegal drugs. There had to be thousands of dollars worth of drugs in some of these boxes and it seemed like Alice wasn’t interested in any of it. The only items she was packing into a bag seemed to be the biogel. That stuff was expensive biokinetic medicine, so I couldn’t blame her for wanting that over everything else.
It would make healing wounds much easier. Hell, I could even try and upgrade the stuff later, assuming my power worked on it.
“Oooh!” Pink gasped. “What’s this?”
My eyes flickered to my partner in crime as she heaved a military-grade case out of a wooden crate she had pried open. She dropped it on the office desk and rubbed her hands together with anticipation.
The case looked heavy like it was carrying an expensive weapon or something. It looked big enough to hold an anti-material rifle or a rocket launcher. It even had a keypad and some very solid magnetic locks to complete the look.
“Jackpot?” I asked. Pink turned and gave me a mad grin. It was going to take a while for me to really separate Sam from the rest of her personalities. “Not a payload chip but with that kind of security it has to be worth a small fortune.”
“That’s the idea! Now, how do we crack this baby open?” Pink examined the small digital keypad. “Oh! I know, I’ll try every combination.”
I blinked owlishly.
“Hey, wait. I don’t think—” her hand blurred against the keypad. In a split second, the magnetic locks clamped as the emergency settings kicked in. The keypad shut itself off and blurred angrily at us whenever Pink tried to push another key. “Good job.”
“Aw crud! We’re locked out. That always works in the movies…” She stamped her foot angrily. “Ah, shaddup Gold! You dunno what ya talkin’ about!”
I stood back awkwardly as Pink suddenly shuddered.
Her body language changed and her shoulders became a bit more rigid. Like a ferocious animal, grunts escaped her throat as she began digging her fingers into the cracks at the side of the box. I watched, fascinated, as a girl – who seemingly didn’t have much muscle on her – tried to pry open the military-grade case.
“Uh—”
Her head snapped toward me, her eyes blistering red. “YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!?!”
“Nope,” I shook my head. “Carry on.”
I was not going to get between Red and the box. I still didn’t know Alice enough to truly gauge how much control she had over her different personalities.
Her efforts continued for another minute before she became frustrated by her lack of progress. It eventually devolved into her throwing the box against the wall and folding an office desk in on itself. I stared at the destruction.
When Alice turned around, I was met with Pink eyes again.
“Oops.”
“Mind if I give it a crack?” I asked with an easy tone, walking over to the box now resting at an awkward angle in the corner of the room. “I might be able to do something.”
“Like what?” Pink asked curiously. “We don’t know the code and I locked us out!”
With some minor difficulty, I dragged the box out of the corner of the room where Red had thrown it and brought it back over to the center of the room. Crouching down, I placed a hand on the keypad. As expected, my head was filled with the different possible upgrade paths, but I quickly shunted most of them away and narrowed down my focus on the keypad.
I found the keypad was designed to select a different code depending on the time of day, changing every hour or so. That meant there were at least twenty-four different codes to figure out. Coupled with that, there were also fingerprint scanners built into each key. So even on the off chance Pink had managed to get the correct code, we wouldn’t have gotten in.
“Let’s see if this works.”
I dropped a point into upgrading its form.
“What’re you doing?” Pink narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You’re upgrading it! Isn’t that just going to make it harder to open?”
I chuckled lightly. “You might think so but if my suspicions are correct…”
The upgrade finished and the keypad was reformed to look a little bit more advanced. I placed my finger against the biometric lock. The display flashed green. I then proceeded to punch in an eight-digit code. The display flashed green again and beeped. All set, now I just needed to repeat the process.
After the second code, the magnetic locks clicked open.
“Huh!?” Pink exclaimed. “I don’t get it! What did you do?”
“When you replace hardware, the software needs to change as well. By upgrading the security, I just changed some code and reuploaded it, but while it was doing so I gave it a little nudge to change the password and fingerprints. Since the security is technically just as strong as before, it wasn’t too difficult.” I explained. “Piece of cake.”
What occupied the box wasn’t exactly what I expected. I had been anticipating a weapon of some kind, maybe a mechatech sniper rifle or something. However, what I found was anything but that.
It was a small black cube, no bigger than the size of my palm.
Pink reached down and picked it up.
“What’s this supposed to be?”
I tried to get a better look at it but it was just a featureless black cube.
“Can I see it?”
“Sure.”
The moment Pink handed it to me, there was a sensation like fireworks going off in my head.
[Charges: 1/25]
[Type]
* Distorted Space-time Dimensional Occupational Unit - Prototype Build 0.8234v12
[Durability 41/100 - Repair Unavailable. Cost: 3] (ERROR - Incompatible Component Detected)
I gasped and stumbled back as my entire world spun.
[Model]
[Materials]
[Computational Hardware]
[Software]
[Engines]
[Central Control Unit]
[Dimensional Stabilizers]
[Interior]
[Exterior]
[Time Dilation]
[Spacial Weight Distribution]
[Safeguards]
[. . .]
I had never seen so many unique upgrade trees. It just seemed so… endless. Then, I realized whose technology I was holding by gleaming one aspect of the device.
[Charges: 1/25]
[Engines]
* Dark Matter Generator
* * Dark Matter Generator MK II (Cost: 725) (ERROR - Incompatible Component Detected)
* * * Dark Matter Generator MK III (Cost: 1025) (ERROR - Incompatible Component Detected)
There were a few supers in the world who were known to mess with stuff as dangerous as space and time – all of them were considered too dangerous to cross regardless of which side of the law they were on. However, there was only one who could create technology with these capabilities.
That’s a lot of charges… What does it mean by an incompatible component?
I checked the other categories and found the same problem. I couldn’t select any upgrades. They were all grayed and crossed out with the same error message.
“This is Deadlock’s tech.”
I stared at the seemingly inconspicuous cube in my hand like I had just discovered the holy grail. Pink stared down with saucepan eyes. This cube could sell for millions– no, billions.
How did the Cains get a hold of something like this? Better yet, why wasn’t this thing somewhere more secure? The ECU worked with Deadlock. Was it being smuggled somewhere?
“No way, really?” Pink was gone and Alice was back to her regular blue. “What’s something like this doing here?”
“The better question is how the Cains were able to get their hands on this,” I murmured. “I thought the ECU was supposed to keep this kind of stuff behind their best security. Getting through that should be borderline impossible,” I looked back at the crate. It wasn’t ECU. It wasn’t even branded and the security on it had been lackluster to be holding something this valuable “And you’d think the Cains would put someone more capable here to guard something as valuable as this.”
Alice stilled as our eyes met. In the blink of an eye, her eyes changed.
I found myself staring at glowing molten gold.
Then, she turned and walked out of the room.
I followed her out, only to find the man we had strapped down to the chair was missing. There was no chair or ropes either. It was like he had never even been tied up in the first place. Instead, lying on the floor where the chair was supposed to be, was a note.
“What the hell?” I muttered, picking up the note. It was a single sentence and it was enough to get my blood boiling.
“It’s been fun but I got things to do, ciao – M.”
“How the hell did he escape? I didn’t hear anything,” I turned to Alice for an answer only to find her glaring at the floor, her lips thinning into a grim scowl. “Alice?”
“He didn’t escape. We never caught him in the first place,” Gold sneered. “We’ve been played.”