As Paige climbed onto the ATV behind her adopted sister, an odd thought struck her. She had spent so much time and effort worrying about what sort of trouble Cassidy was surely going to manage to get themself into, and now look at what happened. She was the one who had managed to trip over this ridiculous situation. They were dealing with all these heavily armed troops taking over an entire area like this, as though they were an invading army. Meanwhile, Cassidy was back in Phoenix spending their time running races and competing in events for those games they loved so much. They were actually enjoying the vacation in their own way.
Unless they weren't. Wait, maybe this wasn't a case of the roles being reversed and Paige ending up tripping into the worse situation. Maybe this really was the small, minor thing, and Cassidy had managed to get themself involved in something much more dangerous. What if this was just the distraction that the universe was using to keep Paige out of contact so she couldn't be called for help? What the hell was Cassidy going through right now if this was a distraction?
Looking back over her shoulder that way just as she started the engine and revved it a little bit, Irelyn asked, “Hey, are you okay? You just squeezed pretty hard. I know this is a lot right now.”
Paige snorted softly before raising her voice to be heard over the engine. “I'm fine, trust me! I was just thinking about something else! But we better go, neither of the others are exactly the patient sort!” Indeed, both Sierra and Haley had started to pull out already, heading deeper into the woods. The other Biolem was sending very prodding messages through their connection to hurry the hell up, and that it really wasn't time to be sitting around doing their nails or whatever.
Getting the point, Irelyn sent the ATV after the others. They left the disarmed and bound troops behind. Those guys could just stay there for the time being. When this was all over, assuming they didn't just manage to escape on their own, the real authorities could be pointed in their direction. What mattered right now was getting to that entrance and warning those people.
And then, when it was all over and these bastards were dealt with, Paige could find out how much trouble Cassidy had managed to get into while she had been completely cut off from outside communication. Even then, it was a thought that sent a heavy shudder through the girl.
Once they were underway and had the other two in sight just ahead of them, Paige asked Irelyn to hand her the radio attached to the front of the ATV. After a quick joke about whether she was trying to call for pizza, the older girl handed it back. Which gave Paige a chance to examine the thing, connecting to it through her finger wires to find out exactly how the thing was able to bypass the communication jammer. It took a minute, but she managed to work out enough to update her own system. Passing the update to Sierra meant their connection was improved enough to communicate within the jamming area. They still couldn’t reach anyone more than about ten miles away, but at least this way they would be able to maintain contact even when they were out of sight.
She also attempted to use the thing to monitor the mercenaries’ communications. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of the group was entirely too suspicious for that. It seemed that the radio itself had to pair with some sort of surgically-implanted device within one of people themselves in order to work properly. You couldn’t just take a radio and eavesdrop on them.
Once that was done, Irelyn spoke again. “Okay, so I know this might be a weird time to say this. Or maybe it's the best time, given who we are and all that. I'm not exactly sure. But I just-- look, I've enjoyed this trip with you and Sierra! And Haley! No matter what else happens before this whole bullshit with those armed bastards is over, this has been fun so far. I've enjoyed getting to know you, Paige, the real you! I know you still have things you can't tell me everything about, but I want-- I want you to know that I like the… you I've gotten to know over these past few days. I'm sorry it took so long for that to happen. And I'm sorry you had to go through three whole completely shitty parents and zero good ones.” She cursed darkly and rather creatively before giving a heavy sigh. “You deserved better than that.”
After a slight pause, Paige pointed out, “I mean, two of those shitty parents were yours too, so we're both kinda batting zero. And it turns out I got a good sister from one of those bad parents, and another from the remaining two. So I wouldn't say it's been a complete loss or anything.”
Chuckling while sending the ATV through a bit of thick underbrush, barely keeping Haley and Sierra in sight as the other two pushed the limits of their bikes as much as they could, Irelyn put one hand on both of Paige’s as they were wrapped around her waist. “Yeah, you’ve got a point there, we did more than make up for our shitty luck in parents with truly stunning siblings. And hey, bonus points, I’m pretty sure you can both hook us up with some free streaming services.”
Paige snorted. “You know, something tells me we can afford to buy all the streaming service accounts you want. A different one for every television, computer, and phone in the house!”
“Sure,” came the sniffed response, “but it’s the principle of the thing. Have you seen the way they’ve been jacking those prices up? And then trying to say people can’t share accounts even if they’re family members. It’s just wrong. Those guys are crooks. I’m supposed to beat crooks and put them in jail, Paige. What sort of example would I be setting if I just start sending them money like that? I don’t want to be sending my very impressionable sisters any mixed signals.”
Paige knew the other girl was trying to distract her from the situation. Even though Irelyn had to understand by now that she could handle it, the woman obviously still felt guilty about the whole thing. She had brought them out here to relax, to take their minds off everything serious and dramatic back home. And now she was clearly blaming herself for trying to take a nice simple vacation and ending in the middle of something like this. As if she could possibly have known.
Still, her words made the girl snicker a little before she pointedly squeezed the woman's hand while leaning forward to make sure Irelyn heard her next words. “Hey, listen, I'm glad we're here right now! If you hadn't brought us out here, those guys would have found the Adherents without anyone to stop them. They would have walked right in that place and taken over! Those people don't deserve to have a bunch of armed mercenaries or whatever force them to do their building! I know what it's like to be controlled. I'm glad we can stop it from happening here! So don't start acting guilty. I'd rather be here to help stop these bastards than sit around and relax somewhere else while the Adherents were still being attacked!” She kept her voice as firm and direct as she could, wanting the words to be very clear for the other woman. If they were actually going to start properly communicating with each other and being some sort of real family from now on, she might as well start with not allowing Irelyn to take any sort of blame for this whole situation.
Irelyn seemed to take a moment to consider those words, even as they continued to race through the woods, the ATV kicking up dirt and tearing through the underbrush, barely keeping the motorcycles ahead of them in sight. Haley was definitely in a hurry, and Sierra would take basically any excuse to go as quickly as possible. Maybe it was something about being in a body that looked just like Cassidy. Could it be a genetic sort of thing? Was there really just something about that particular body that made people in it want to do ridiculous stunts on fast vehicles?
That was a line of thought that made Paige blush and duck her head a little, forcing the mental image away. This really wasn't the time to think about anything like that. They had other things to focus on right now. Things like that communication blocker. Now that she’d managed to use the ATV’s radio to upgrade her system, the girl had been trying off and on the whole time to get some sort of signal out past that jamming, any way she could. But there was nothing, no cell service, radio, satellite, nothing. She didn't even have anything like Cassidy’s special bag to try to get a message out through Wren. They might be able to communicate with each other more effectively now, but other than that they were still completely cut off. She would keep trying various methods, just in case something happened. It was possible that the people they were dealing with might need to lower that blocker at some point so they could send their own messages somewhere else, and if that happened, Paige didn't want to miss the chance. She'd already written up a full explanation of everything they knew so far. All she needed was a single second of a real working connection and it would be sent to the phones of everyone on Avant-Guard.
While she was running through the full set of possible connections yet again, Irelyn abruptly interrupted by speaking up. “I'm still getting used to the idea of what you are, what you both are, and what you're capable of. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing. You're amazing, and the fact that you were both able to become who you are despite who your father was, it… well, it proves a lot of things about free will, that's for sure. But still, it's hard for me to grasp the whole situation. Half the time I have to remind myself that you're not an ordinary, helpless teenager who needs me to protect you, and the other half I get lost in thinking about how your… uh, brain basically is a metal orb. I just-- it's like my own brain can't decide if it wants to forget everything about what you're capable of, or obsess about it. I have a lot of questions, but I just don't know how rude it would be to ask them. I want to know everything about you and Sierra, but I don't want to push too hard. I want you to know that I accept you. I'm just really curious!” There was a very brief pause before she weakly admitted, “And maybe a little freaked out by the whole situation, but only a little! I'm sorry, it's just a lot. But I do want you here. I want you with me. Don't ever doubt that. No matter how curious I might be about how you… are who you are you and how you… um, work.” There was an obvious awkward flinch in her voice by the end. “Sorry, is that going too far? Just tell me, and I’ll never bring it up again. It seems like it might be a bit too personal to get into.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Despite herself, Paige chuckled before giving the other woman a reassuring pat on the arm just as they cut between a thick cluster of trees with thin branches that smacked against them and made both duck their heads to avoid taking sticks into their eyes. “I get it! I do. I think I'd be more worried if you weren't at least a little freaked. And yeah, you deserve to be curious! When we get through all this and have a chance to sit down again, ask anything you want, no holds barred! I’ll show you my--uh, parts, my orb, all of it. I’ll show you, and I’ll answer any questions you have. You deserve to know everything if we're gonna make this family thing work!”
Yes, part of Paige knew it was a bit odd to be talking about all this right now of all times. But given their whole situation, their very existence and everything tied to that--well, they should probably take things as they came. And she definitely shouldn’t have been the least bit surprised that they weren’t discussing it at a more reasonable time. Because what the hell even was reasonable in this case? She was a Biolem, an artificial being created by a monster and given a mind and personality drawn from his own daughter. Sierra was a copy of her that had diverged both through their father’s meddling and her own choices. Irelyn was a Star-Touched who had grown up under her own terrible set of parents, pushed into being one of the earliest and youngest Minority members at the time before being disowned for wanting to continue helping people. And Haley was a mercenary Touched with her own personal code of ethics and fierce loyalty to Irelyn.
Nothing about their situations, any of them, were in any way normal. So of course they wouldn’t have this sort of discussion at a normal time. And to be honest, maybe the truth was that it had taken the distraction for Irelyn to actually admit she still had a lot of questions, and that she was still a bit freaked out by the whole thing. Paige knew she was, but--well, Irelyn needed to say it. Being told that your adopted sister and her own sister, who happened to be an identical doppelganger with the daughter of the richest family in the city (and your own parents’ bitter business rivals), were both biological robots with computer core brains wasn’t something you just instantly accepted without any further question. At least, Paige assumed it wasn’t. She’d never been on that side of the situation before. But it seemed like it would take a bit more time, and involve more questions than Irelyn had actually been asking. Now, hopefully, she actually would.
Because the truth was, Paige didn’t mind questions, not from someone like Irelyn or even Cassidy. She wanted to tell them anything they wanted to know, because if they asked her those things, it would mean they accepted what she was enough to actually be interested in all that. Trying to avoid bringing up the subject, acting awkward about the whole thing, pretending she wasn’t a Biolem, none of that was helpful. None of it made her feel like they actually accepted who and what she was. It just made her feel like they were trying to ignore it, and that was… bad. She wanted Irelyn to prod her for every single question that ever occurred to her.
But that was all for later, when they had a free moment. They were a bit busy right now. A fact Paige and Irelyn were both very shortly reminded of as they came up on Sierra and Haley, who had parked their bikes at the top of the next hill and were waving for them to come to a stop too.
Quickly slowing down, Irelyn brought the ATV to a halt nearby, idling the engine while speaking up. “What’s going on? Are we near the entrance to this place, or did you guys see something?”
It was Sierra who answered, raising a hand to point off into the distance. “A bit of both, I guess.” The girl gave a brief glance toward Haley, who was still staring very intently that way, before continuing. “Turns out the spot we’re looking for is on a little island in the middle of that lake over there. But we’ve got company between us and that. Very annoying and heavily-armed company.”
Sure enough, when the other two looked that way they saw the lake in question. It was less than half the size of the one by the cabin they’d been staying in, but there were several boats clearly patrolling the area. Or maybe they were simply searching for the very same entrance that Paige and the others were actually heading for. Either way, between those boats and a couple flying drones that were hovering in circles about fifty feet above the water, it wasn't going to be easy to get to that island without starting a big fight that would just slow them down. Possibly enough to let that guy in the power armor and all his buddies show up. Which--yeah, that would be pretty bad.
Stepping off the ATV, Paige moved to stand next to the bikes, making sure she didn’t step out far enough to be visible to those down on the water. She thought about it for a moment before offering, “Maybe the rest of us can cause a little distraction, just something enough to draw attention without making them call it in yet, while Haley gets underwater and then swims to the island. You’ve got an Echo to help with moving quickly through the water and breathing, right?”
Irelyn, who had joined them, shook her head. “Anything big enough to draw all their attention would be enough for them to call it in. And even if they didn’t, whoever caused the distraction would just have all those people to deal with. There’s a huge risk that we’d just be drawing all those eyes right to this area. It’s not exactly painting a bullseye on the entrance for them, but close enough. I don’t want to do anything that narrows their search area even more than it is.”
Grunting before giving a soft curse under her breath, Haley nodded. “Normally I’d be all for running straight in there and doing all the damage we can to those fuckers and damn any of the consequences. But I owe the Adherents too much to risk that. We need to get there quietly.”
“What if they aren’t being drawn to this location?” Sierra put in. “What if the rest of us go somewhere else, just close enough that these people would be the first drawn away to play reinforcements. Is there a good area we can convince them to focus on that’s far enough away?”
“There’s no guarantee they’d all leave,” Irelyn murmured, “but maybe enough of them would to create an opening. Especially if they send the drones. Still, I don’t think any of us should be alone.” She looked toward Haley pointedly. “You need someone else to play lookout and backup.”
“Sierra and I can draw their attention,” Paige immediately announced. “We’ll go far enough away that they won’t realize the lake is the right spot, and cause a big commotion. We can make it look like they spotted us trying to get into the place and then disappear so they throw all the drones they can into tracking us down again. Or finding the spot we were trying to get to.”
As soon as she’d finished saying it, Irelyn was already starting to shake her head. “Paige, I can’t just let you two go off by yourselves to be hunted down by a bunch of armed men. That’s not--I know you’re capable. More than capable. But that’s a bit much, I--I can’t do that.”
Paige blinked once. The idea that Irelyn would object to them putting themselves in danger hadn’t even occurred to her. She needed to--she should probably--what could she say that could make-
“So we’ll split up the other way,” Sierra cut in smoothly, giving Paige a quick nudge. “I’ll stay here and help Echo. You two go play distraction. That way you can get back here more easily anyway, with the whole jumping thing. Plus the two of us can communicate to get the timing right, and we’re each with an…” She hesitated, giving an appraising look toward Haley. “... adult?”
“Hey, I legally qualify,” the woman retorted before sighing. “Sort of. But that’s probably the best we’re gonna do if you don’t want anyone to be left alone, Ires. The two of us can get in there while you guys play distraction. Just like we did back with the Gamigin when they tried to--”
“We were idiot teenagers with a death wish,” Irelyn cut her off. “But--yeah, fine. Paige and I can draw them away. You two… be careful. Don’t be dumb, either of you.” She sounded like she was regretting agreeing to this already, but still couldn’t come up with anything better.
“C’mon kid, before Captain Responsible changes her mind.” With that, Haley grabbed Sierra by the arm to pull her off through the trees. “Let us know when you’re about to make your move. If you go about a mile northwest, you’ll find this little ghost town of cabins. It should be enough to make them think there might be something there if you lead them to it. Good luck! Hugs and kisses!”
Then they were gone, leaving Paige squinting at Irelyn. “So I guess we’re doing this? We should umm, take the motorcycles. They’re faster and more maneuverable, which might be important once we get them to chase us. I think we can--”
Before she could say anything else, Irelyn caught her hand and tugged her into an embrace. Then she nodded. “Tell Sierra to be careful, and that the next time she runs off without letting me give her a hug before we do something this dangerous, she’s totally grounded.”
With that, the two of them moved to the motorcycles, started them up once more, and headed out in the opposite direction than the way the other pair had gone. It was time to draw an entire mercenary army down on their heads.
Yeah, if this was how she was being kept busy, Paige was definitely terrified about what sort of trouble Cassidy had obviously managed to get themself into.