As much as we all wanted nothing more than to head straight for the freeway, things were a little more complicated than that. For one thing, it wouldn't be hard for the Breakwater people to call in ahead to others and have them watching the road for our vehicle. After all, the freeway was a pretty easy place to scan especially from the air. And I was certain they had air support. Hell, they'd probably get the police to help even if they had to explain a bit of what was going on. Or they would just lie. Whatever they did, the routes out of town would definitely be watched.
So, we had to do something else. Fortunately, we had a plan for that. Well, Paige and I did. The problem was that I didn't want to use my powers in front of Robert, and the plan depended on that. But that was when we hit another bit of fortune. As I parked the van in an out-of-the-way spot behind a grocery store, he announced that he had something to take care of that had to do with making sure we wouldn’t run into even more problems on our way back to Detroit. Making us promise not to leave without him, while making it clear that he would absolutely hunt us down and make us regret it if we did, the man walked off while already talking in a low voice on his phone.
I waited until he was definitely gone before looking back toward Paige, who was staring after him with an intense look. “You think he’s talking to the Ministry about all this?”
Before she could respond, of course, a small furry hand touched the side of my head. “Hey, what’s the Ministry? Is that like a religious thing? Is he one of those fire and brimstone preachers? Cuz he really didn’t look like the type to me.”
The voice made me jump a bit before I flinched. Oh, right, shit. I had somehow completely forgotten about Qwerty perched right there on my shoulder. Or rather, I'd forgotten that he wasn't really part of our group. I'd been so focused on what Robert was doing and what he knew or suspected that the fact that the parrot-squirrel was brand new and didn't actually know anything about what was actually going on had slipped my mind. God, that was sloppy. What the hell was wrong with me?
Exchanging a look with Paige, I reached up and held my hand out for Qwerty to climb onto, then lifted him around in front of me so we could be face to face. “Uh, hey, thanks for helping out back there. I don't think we could've gotten out of that the way we did without you. But you probably don’t want to keep hanging out with us. It’s pretty dangerous. If you want us to help you get somewhere, I think we could probably--”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” The TONI held up two tiny paws for me to stop. Seeing him up close now, he really did look amazing. The little guy was a real blend between bird and tiny mammal. Most of his body was covered in light, soft fur that was bright and multi-colored like a parrot, with those two feathery wings that he tended to keep tucked in against his back most of the time unless he was using them to glide. Or, as he was right now, gesturing with those paws. His wings followed the same motions, extending out like a second pair of arms with no fingers. His head was shaking rapidly. “Come on, you said I was helpful, right? You can't just toss me aside like that. I can totally stick around. I swear I'm not gonna go blab to the suit about what you just said or anything. I'm not dumb. You've got secrets, so what? Do I look like a guy who's got a bunch of friends I can go gossip to? You're the only people I found that would even talk to me since I woke up. I mean, there was one guy, but I’m pretty sure he wanted to trap and sell me or something so I got the hell outta there. After that I've just kind of been on my own. It's hard to know who you can trust out there when you’re this small, you know?” He gave a heavy sigh, almost too heavy for a tiny thing like thim. “Then I saw you guys and I thought you'd be exciting. And boy was I right. I’ve been following you around for like five minutes and this is basically the best day of my life.” Now he was vibrating cheerfully. “Please, don’t make me leave! I swear, I'll help out with anything you want. I won't tell anybody anything. Your secrets are my secrets, Boss! Just--just don’t send me away.” Beneath his excitement and hopeful energy, I could see definite fear. He covered it pretty well, but the little guy was obviously terrified of being alone again.
And, to be honest, maybe I felt a little bit of kinship with someone who would see a vehicle that much bigger than he was and decide to parasail off the back of it. Between that and his colorful fur that made him fit so well with the paint theme, it was almost like he was meant to find his way to us. Maybe that was silly, and my reaction was definitely questionable, but whatever. He’d already helped us, there was absolutely no way he had any connection to the Ministry, and just… I didn’t want to make that tiny, furry face sad.
So, after nodding to Paige’s uncertain look, I replied, “Okay, fine. But you have to swear you’re not going to tell anybody about us, Qwerty. It’s really important. I mean life and death level important. You’re right, we have secrets. Really big secrets. I don’t--”
I stopped as his little paw came up to touch my face lightly. His eyes were almost strangely understanding in that moment. “Listen,” he started in a voice that was far more serious and reflective than I’d heard from him before, “I get it. Look at me, I fit in the palm of your hand.” His big fluffy tail shook from side to side. “You know how many predators both versions of me had to deal with while we were separate? Everything wanted to kill us. It was dangerous for both of me, and now we’re combined. I’ve got all those memories. I totally get how dangerous it is out there, and why you need friends, you know? I haven’t… I haven’t had any friends until now. I mean, not that we’re friends yet. But there’s a chance, and… and I wouldn’t screw that up by helping the predators. You need friends to survive out there, friends to watch your back. I’ll totally watch yours, Boss.”
What was I supposed to say to that? He had a point about all the predators both previous versions of himself had to deal with. The thought of being as small as his squirrel self was pretty bad on its own. Between humans shooting at him, cats, birds, snakes, and everything else out there just waiting to intentionally kill the little guy, to say nothing of accidental deaths like running into a car… yeah, he knew danger. And his bird self? Sure, it was probably a bit safer thanks to the whole flying thing, but there were other birds, and dangers waiting on the ground or in trees whenever he landed. To say nothing of how confusing it must’ve been to be a parrot all the way over here in the middle of the continental United States. I still had questions about that, but figured he must’ve been a pet that escaped or something. Either way, this area wasn’t his home. Which had to add to the loneliness thing that I’d sensed. If he didn't come with us, what would happen to him?
Coming to a decision in that moment, I nodded. “Qwerty, welcome to the team. I mean, if you want to come all the way to Detroit with us.”
The little guy cheered loudly (or as loud as someone his size could manage), hurling himself in the air before doing a backflip. He got some serious height off it too, enough that he could spread his wings and glide over to the top of the nearby van before turning to face us once more. “I love Detroit! It’s my favorite place! Wait, where is Detroit? Is that in Canada? Do I need a passport? Oh no, I don’t think I know my birthdate!”
Laughing despite myself, I shook my head. “It’s here in the US, don’t worry. But that reminds me, we probably do need to like… um, isn’t there a legal process to help TONIs register as people or whatever?”
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Paige finally spoke up. “We should probably worry about that when we get back home. It’d be… complicated to do it here. And it would slow us down.”
She had a point. Looking to Qwerty, I asked, “Do you mind pretending Detroit is your home city? It’d just--you know, make everything a lot easier.”
“Dude,” he retorted, “I’ll pretend Tijauna is my home city if it helps. Uh, assuming someone tells me where it is. Is that in Canada? I feel like it’s in Canada.”
Obviously there was a lot to talk about and figure out. But for the moment, I just looked around to make sure no one else was watching, then reached out to touch the van. Over the next few seconds, the color changed completely as I made it a dark green, then added a white stripe along both sides.
Naturally, Qwerty was surprised, jumping off the van to my shoulder before taking in the whole thing with a loud chittering noise that soon evolved into actual words as he asked how I did that. So, I quickly and quietly told him the truth about who I was. Well, about the Paintball thing anyway. We’d have to get into the rest of it later. I also told him that I was pretending to be someone else from our group because everyone was supposed to think that Paintball was a boy. I stressed the fact that Robert had to keep thinking that. I wasn't sure our new friend understood much of why that was so important, which was fair considering how little information we were giving him. But he still promised to keep quiet about it, including pantomiming zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Which he then had to dive after and unlock so he could ask if Detroit was far away. He seemed happy enough to hear that we had to drive for a couple days, even if I wasn’t entirely sure he had any real concept for how far that was.
While Paige set about changing the license plate again, and added a spoiler to the back of the van that hadn’t been there before, I focused on our new friend. “Okay, so, you know about my powers now. Which you're totally going to keep secret. But what about yours? I mean, what can you do?” It was awkward to ask, but I couldn’t think of any other way to broach the subject, and it was probably important for us to know.
Qwerty jumped to the ground before peering up at me. “Uhhh I can glide, I can count pretty good, I can fit like eight acorns in my cheeks, that’s pretty cool. What else… uh, I can speak English, that’s a neat trick for a squirrel-bird, right?” He seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Hmm, let me see.” Plopping down right there on the roof of the van, he started pawing at the air in front of him, fingers brushing through nothing as though he was using a touchscreen.
“Uh, what’re you doing?” I found myself asking curiously.
“Just checking my tags,” came the distracted response while he continued to flick his fingers at empty air as though scanning down on the screen. “No… no, wait is the ability to detect if Old Lady Farthers cheaped out and went with store brand peanut butter from a hundred yards a power?”
Exchanging a glance with Paige, I pressed, “I-- hang on, what do you mean you’re checking your tags?”
He blinked at me. “You know, that thing where when you look at someone or something you get this information panel full of everything you know about them, and you can write in little notes and stuff?” Interpreting our stares, he tilted his tiny head. “What, is that a power? Jeez, next you’ll start saying you guys don’t have the ‘make better’ sense either.”
“The make be--” Stopping myself, I focused on the first part to start with. “Okay, no, we definitely don’t see information panels floating in the air. I mean…” I glanced toward Paige, who very well might have that sort of thing for all I knew. But best not to confuse the issue. “You literally see words in the air?”
Qwerty’s head bobbed. “Well, only when I open the panels. Otherwise it’s just a little dot right next to you. Or her. Or anything else I put a tag on. Like that.” He pointed to a nearby overturned milk crate, poked his finger toward it, and made a noise of satisfaction. “There, gave it a couple tags. Now when I look at it again and open the info panel…” His finger flicked the air again. “Presto!” He was clearly reading something that wasn’t visible for us. “It says ‘Crate’, ‘blue’, ‘tag example’, and ‘probably a good place to sit.’ Hang on.” Another couple flicks of his paw before reading his correction. “Probably a good place to sit unless you’re too small and fall through the holes. You really can’t do that?”
Paige smiled a tiny bit. “No, we definitely can’t. What’s that ‘make better’ sense you were talking about?”
“Ohhh you know that one,” Qwerty insisted. “The thing where when you watch someone making or fixing something, you can figure out how they can do it better.” Again, he looked confused by our reactions. “... you can’t do that either?”
“Hang on,” I quickly put in, “you watch someone working on something and figure out how they can do it better? What sort of things can you improve?”
“Oh lots of things!” The little guy started ticking them off on his paws. “I used to watch Mrs. Olsor bake through her kitchen window and there was all sorts of stuff she could’ve done to make her cookies better. She puts in too much salt, she adds the vanilla all wrong and doesn’t stir it in right, she should’ve used the milk with the red lid, not the one with the blue lid, that sorta thing, you know? Or when I watched this guy in a red hat fix his car, there was all sorts of stuff he could’ve done to make it work better. If I know what they’re trying to make, or fix, or build, I can figure out how they could do it even better. I just watch them work, think about what they’re trying to make, and then the stuff they need to do to make it even better just pops into my head. Is that weird? Now that I say it like that, it’s probably weird.”
“Weird?” Paige shook her head, looking almost maniacally gleeful. “You are going to be amazing for helping Trevithick build her stuff. And plenty of other things.”
She had a point. We were definitely going to have to talk to our new friend some more about these powers of his when there was more time. But right now there wasn't. Which became even more clear as Robert came back around the corner, putting his phone away. “Okay, it's been dealt with. If we can get--” He paused, squinting at the sight of the van. “You changed the color, and added a spoiler.”
“We changed the license plate too,” I replied. “You didn’t think we were gonna try to get out of town with a van that looked exactly the same, did you? We had a plan to get out of here if we ran into trouble. Just--that was maybe a little more than we were expecting.” Belatedly, I added, “Just don’t ask us to do it again, cuz that took up the entire color transfer tool Trevithick gave us. Still, I don’t think they’ll recognize the van at a glance, anyway.”
Paige put the wrench away while speaking up. “It'll help if we can get on the road before they have time to react too much and call in even more reinforcements. We need to leave.”
Robert seemed to consider all of us for a few seconds, weighing how to respond. In the end, he nodded. “I have a car around here. If you drop me off, I'll drive ahead and keep in contact over the radio to let you know what's out there. We can meet up again once we’re a few hundred miles away from these people and go over what's coming next.” He looked toward Qwerty then. “What about you?”
The squirrel-bird TONI jumped to my leg, then ran up to perch on my shoulder. “I’m part of the team!” he chirped cheerfully. “Right, Style?”
“Right,” I confirmed casually. “He’s staying with us now. Not like he has anything around here to tie him down.”
“Fair enough,” Robert replied with a shrug. “In that case, let’s go. And be careful. We might’ve given the Breakwater people the slip for the moment, but they’re not just going to give up. Now they’ve gone from wiping up evidence to potentially dealing with a group that could have a backdoor into their prison. They won’t take that sitting down. When their bosses find out what’s going on and get involved, they’ll be out in force, and they’ll be trying to identify who we are.
“And if they find any of you, something tells me they’re not the type of people who care that torture isn’t a good method of getting information.”