Angel approached the bus with Arte in tow, pulling the phone from her jacket pocket and tapping the familiar side button to bring up her ID Code. A white square filled with a pattern of black dots covered the screen, and she waved it in front of a lens by the door. A gentle tone sounded a second later, telling her she was clear to enter.
Inside, a man up front studied her picture on a large screen, then looked at her. “Nineteen eighty four!” He whistled. “Why, that score’s almost presidential. Never’d expect someone like that to be all dressed up like a servant.”
“The Senator allows only the finest to serve in his estate,” Angel said. She took a crisp turn by his booth and marched to an open seat up front. Her only experience with butlers and maids came from a handful of shows and movies, so she hoped she wasn’t overdoing it.
Arte entered a few seconds later, and the attendant whistled again. “Wow, and a seventeen seventy six. You two must’ve brought the average in here up at least a hundred points.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll finally be able to get away from that sadist who calls himself a dentist.”
Arte took a few stiff steps past him and into the seating area. He looked at Angel, then at the occupied seat beside her. Before he could search further back, the man next to her stood up and said, “Ah, excuse me, sir. You must want to sit beside your, uh….” He gestured vaguely at Angel, then quickly scurried into the center row and out of the way.
Angel motioned for him to sit, and after he planted himself down the pair shared an awkward look between them. Angel thought about trying for small talk to pass the time, but she was entirely too nervous. Plus, her friend had a bad habit of asking strange, and often far too revealing questions. A pair of stuffy butlers keeping to themselves wasn’t unusual anyway.
Their journey was not particularly long, a little over a half hour, although they were probably traveling in from further than any of the Senator’s real staff. They didn’t have the advantage of actually living in the area, of course, and instead had been dropped off by the Raptor in a secluded area and walked to the bus stop.
Angel wasn’t sure how their electronic comrade managed it, but apparently the two weren’t just posing as staff, but had actually been hired on. If she felt like it, she could easily make a whole new life for herself. The pay was outstanding, and by all reports Martel was a perfectly respectable employer. She felt more than a little guilty for how tempted she was. Still…
She glanced at Arte, and he smiled at her. She said, “You’re a good friend.”
He blushed. “T-thanks.”
They didn’t share more than a few words until the bus rolled to a stop in front of an ornate gate. The attendant said, “You two have a good day,” as they walked out, and he held the door until they were several feet onto the sidewalk. Angel guided Arte to the guard by the gate, who looked them over.
“New hires?” he said. “I wasn’t told to expect any.”
Angel shrugged, and held out her phone with the ID Code out. Arte copied the motion a second later, while the guard pulled out a scanner. He ran it over the two screens, then whistled.
“Wow, things are rough even above fifteen these days, huh?” he said, then coughed and stammered, “I mean, uh, anyway, I see you were brought on yesterday. Welcome to the team.”
“T-thanks,” Arte said. “Looking forward to it.”
Angel pulled him to the gate, which opened after the guard called them in. They walked up a scenic path, which meandered lazily though a beautiful garden and deposited them at a humble entrance behind the manor. The door led them into a small chamber, one wall of which was covered in a large mirror. Angel took a moment to look herself over.
She was wearing a men’s suit, though it was perfectly cut for her figure so she was unambiguously a woman in spite of the masculine attire. Not that she was complaining. In her mind female servants wore skimpy maid outfits. She wasn’t sure if she had the wrong idea, or if the Senator wasn’t enough of a creep to make that his dress code.
In any case, she looked good. Her long black hair was tied neatly behind her back in a pony tail, and a light touch of makeup added the perfect amount of definition to her face. If there was any chance of her returning to the cafe after this, she would remember the style.
A man walked into the room and glared at the unexpected pair. He was similarly dressed, and had a tiny pair of glasses sitting on his nose. Cybel’s briefing identified him as Herman Page, the Head Steward of the estate. “I don’t recall scheduling rookies today.”
Angel pulled out her phone and put the day’s schedule on the screen, then showed it to the man. He peered at it, then huffed.
“Fucking WorkTime app,” he said. “It better not be acting up again. I had more than enough of that last year.” He sighed. “Whatever. I guess you two are here in lieu of Smith and Marion. Normally I prefer to supervise new hires on their first day, but there’s two of you, and I’m busy regardless. For now you can handle the dusting. The supplies are in the closet, and don’t screw anything up. If you have doubts, just leave it be.”
“We’ll do out best,” Arte said.
Page frowned at him. “Well, aren’t you the peppy sort. I give it a week. Now get to work.” With that he departed the room. The pair shared a look, then retrieved a handful of cleaning items and moved deeper into the mansion. The staff room opened into a corridor which circled the property, lined on either side by a handful of nooks, alcoves, and doors. The hallway was sparsely decorated with a tasteful collection of paintings and sculptures, culminating in an elegant old world aesthetic.
Arte glanced at Angel and said, “Guess we’ll meet on the other side?”
Angel nodded, and the pair went their separate ways. Arte worked his route slowly, performing a mostly adequate job as he went. When he passed a window he muttered, “You still tracking us?”
“Transmitter Functional. Continue Sweep.”
“Right, okay.” Arte moved along, doing a quick pass in every room as he went. He reached the first corner without finding anything, and was about a quarter through the next hall when he heard a door open further down. He quickly made a show of working diligently on a nearby pedestal, then glanced at the person who entered.
Arte whispered a squeak and blushed, turning himself so no part of his face was visible to the man coming his way. It was none other than Gale, and he carried a bitter frown with his whole body. The CSA Admin stormed down the corridor, coming to an abrupt stop after walking a few feet passed Arte, who surreptitiously turned the other way.
“You, servant,” Gale said. “Are you proud of your work?”
Arte’s eyes flashed in alarm, but he kept his voice steady as he said, “Yes. I like having a job that helps people.”
Gale crossed his arms and pinched his face in distaste. “And what if your job needed you to do a little harm up front in service to a greater good at the end?”
“That’s stupid,” Arte said. “And I’d be very suspicious of anyone telling me I could hurt good into the world.”
Gale laughed, wild and perhaps a little unhinged, but relieved. He turned, slapped Arte on the back and said in a rowdy tone, “You might be right!” then walked away, still chuckling.
Arte sighed as soon as Gale was out of sight, stilling his trembling arms by holding them tight to his body. He skittered to a nearby window and said. “I saw Gale.”
“Indicates Solver. Investigate Origin. Return.”
He scooted down the hall until he approached the area Gale entered from. There were a few doors nearby, and after staring down each one like they owed him money, he took the middle option. It led into a small library, and after a quick loop around the periphery he returned to the hallway and ducked into a nearby alcove.
“Was there anything in there?”
“Rear Wall. Righthand Side. Middle Shelf. Photograph Panel. Return.”
Arte scampered back into the room and checked the shelf in the corner, pulling aside each book. Hidden behind an oversized tome, which insisted it was the complete works of some guy with a mean name, he uncovered a small keypad. He took a picture of it with his phone, then slipped out one more time.
The moment he had line of sight to the window, Cybel told him the code was nine six nine eight four. He turned right around and dashed back into the library, then punched in the numbers. The bookshelf slid out of the way, revealing a dim staircase leading underground.
He stared into the dark tunnel a moment, then took a deep breath and plunged inside. Two floors later he arrived at a narrow corridor. A handful of dim lamps provided meager illumination, enough to show the hallway led to a four way junction a short distance away.
Arte crept to the intersection and checked every direction. Each option offered a handful of doors, with little else to differentiate them. One of the doors on the righthand side had been left open, a sturdy but plain looking fixture made of wood. A muted voice echoed from the room beyond.
It took a minute of careful sneaking for Arte to arrive, after which he poked one eye around the frame then darted back. A second later he straightened up and walked in. The room was largely bare of furnishings, save a pair of chairs sitting in front of a bank of monitors attached to a large console.
On one of the screens was a feed from another room, showing Mae and Seig in the middle of a conversation. The Solver was tied to her seat, wearing a loose fitting white shirt and baggy half shorts. One of her eyes was bloody and swollen, but she had a gleeful smirk on her face. Meanwhile, the Admin paced nearby.
Mae laughed. “You really buy that bullshit? You know they got nuked, right?”
“That the Chinese survived the destruction of their capitol is a testament to their resilience, and to the importance of standing strong against them.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Mae was still chuckling. “That zombified husk only managed to lurch on this long because you feds have been propping them up for decades, and even then they’ve done nothing but decline for the last fifty years.”
“Typical Class B delusions,” Seig scoffed. “It’s no wonder you lunatics were driven out of society. Only a madman would buy an idiotic conspiracy theory like that.”
“Conspiracy?” Mae was apparently genuinely stunned by the claim, as she settled into a serious, if somewhat confused state. “Where exactly do you think all that cheap junk you buy comes from?”
“A tedious breakdown of American logistics would be a waste of time,” Seig said. “And frankly I doubt you could follow along.”
“Yeah, fair.” Mae rolled her eyes. “After all, I’m still trying to grok how you chumps are spooked by West Taiwan, of all places.”
“Your flippant attitude reveals your ignorance. China is a sleeping dragon, ruled by a tireless machine that’s reduced every man, woman, and child into a cog for an engine of global domination.”
Mae laughed again. “Easy tiger, they aren’t going to sleep with you.”
“Who the fuck are you?” A voice interrupted Arte from his eavesdropping.
Arte yelped and turned to see Gale walked into the room with him. The Admin was standing by the doorway with a can of orange soda in one hand.
Gale’s eyes budged in shock. “You!”
“Ah… hi,” Arte said, backing away.
“I should have known those idiots from Thirteen would fuck up.” He glared Arte up and down, then snorted. “And I should have recognized you from that ridiculous answer.”
“I just say what I feel.”
Gale looked away and sighed. “Yeah, I bet you do.” The pair stood in silence a few moments, while Seig and Mae continued to argue in the background. Eventually, Gale turned back to Arte, a strange gleam in his eyes. He marched across the room, pushing Arte into the opposite wall and pinning him against it, then pulled a knife from his belt and held it between them. “What is that woman worth to you?”
“I… I don’t understand.”
“Would you keep trying to save her even if it might cost your life?”
Arte nodded. “Of course. It’s my fault she’s in trouble. It wouldn’t be right to leave her behind.”
Gale smiled. “You are such a fucking moron.” He flipped the knife in his hand so the hilt faced outward. “Head right at the intersection and all the way to the room at the end. Hide in there, and when you have an opportunity, take it immediately.”
“… Okay?” Arte cautiously accepted the offered blade, then darted out of the room when Gale stepped aside. He turned at the junction and ran to the far door then slipped inside, leaving a thin sliver of vision into the hallway. He crouched, careful not to disrupt the tightly packed brooms and mops crammed into the closet.
Minutes passed, and with every second the tremble in Arte’s hands grew stronger, while his eyes faded into a deadeye stare. His breath was slow, catching several times before shuddering to a start moments later. When a door finally opened in the hallway outside, he drew in a sharp breath and froze.
Seig emerged from the side room with a grumble. It was bad enough when Gale struck the Class B after she got under his skin, but now, after ditching the interrogation, he suddenly called his partner away for ‘an important matter.’ Whatever that meant. His old friend was loosing his edge.
Arte emerged from his hiding place after Seig took a few steps towards the intersection, creeping to the door the Admin emerged from. He slipped in a split second after Seig turned the corner, then immediately ran to Mae and started slicing the ropes that bound her.
“Arte!” Mae whispered. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you, obviously.” He finished the rope on her right wrist, then started on the other.
“A-are you out of your mind?”
“Probably, but I’m still doing the right thing.” He finished freeing her arms, then moved to her legs.
“How did you even make it here?”
“The same way you did, ignoring warnings from Cybel.” He cut away the binding on her left leg.
Mae laughed, then leaned down and took over for Arte, finishing the last rope and standing up. “You’ve got a lot more grit than I thought.” She grabbed his shaking hands and pulled him to his feet.
They stormed out the room and into the hallway, hand in hand, then towards the exit. As they passed through the intersection, Seig stumbled into the corridor, tangled up in Gale. He yelled, “The fuck are you doing, Simons!”
The sounds of a struggle echoed through the basement as the pair approached the stairs. They charged up the dark tunnel, barged through the hidden door into the library, then seconds later out into the main hallway. Arte dragged Mae to the left, past a large window. A split second later a piercing siren wailed through the mansion.
“Take Right. Outside. Run West,” Cybel said into his ear.
“Cybel wants us to turn right at the end of this hallway,” Arte relayed to Mae. “Then exit through the west door to the outside.”
Mae laughed. “Our little robot stalker must have taken a liking to you. I’ve never heard of her getting involved like this.”
Arte smiled. “Actually, she thinks I’m a nuisance.”
As they reached the intersection they collided with a handful of staff members from the estate. The crowd pushed past them on their way to the door. The source of their panic could be seen clearly to the left. A great mass of fiery smoke billowed from a parlor door.
Mae took the lead, pulling Arte along the right path after the servants. “I think someone set off a smoke grenade,” she said. They reached the exit door and scrambled through.
Angel was waiting nearby, and she called out when they emerged. Mae threw Arte towards her, then bid them to run ahead while she took a position a few paces behind them. They continued in that arrangement, with Mae checking the door they left from every few seconds.
With her focus centered on the path directly behind, Mae completely missed Seig barreling towards her at an odd angle. He bashed her with his shoulder, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Mae rolled to her feet, grabbing the knife which flung away on impact, though Seig was just as fast. He stepped in, dodging a slash from Mae and knocking the blade from her hand as she jumped away.
“Not so tough without that fancy suit, are you?” Seig sneered.
“Yeah, no shit. What’s your point?” Mae answered.
Seig was totally unprepared for the dismissive quip, and it took him a full second to react when Mae sprinted away. He swore and bolted after her, but not before she gained a considerable lead.
“Besides,” Mae yelled back. “I have something better than a fancy suit.” She took a deep breath, then hollered, “Cybel! Raptor!”
“What the hell is that sup—“Seig bit off his shout when he saw an aircraft materialize in the sky above them. He continued his pursuit, but slowed so much he was no longer gaining. Eventually he settled into a stop, then yelled, “Don’t think this changes anything!”
The Raptor plummeted into position, lurching into a space a foot off the ground and hovering there. The side door folded open, in time for Arte and Angel to clamber up the stairs and disappear. Mae arrived a few seconds later, where she jumped onto the ladder and turned around, holding herself up with one hand.
“Better luck next time, fed!” She laughed and gave a derisive salute, then hopped through. The door slid shut as the craft soared into the sky, shrinking from view near as fast as it appeared.
Inside, Mae shuffled to a rear panel and grabbed something, then folded down a bench and slumped into it. She pressed a cold pack into her eye, then glanced at Arte and Angel and said, “Thanks for the save, kids, and you too Cybel. I knew you liked me.”
The word ‘Nuisance’ flashed on a nearby panel.
“Do… you know why Gale helped me rescue you?” Arte asked.
“He did?” Mae snorted. “Must of had a bigger impact than I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
She smiled softly. “I asked if he was proud of betraying the Night Owls. Apparently, he was not.”
“Could he have been… bothered by the data?” Angel asked.
Mae hummed. “That’s likely a part of it too. I bet he always knew the system was a bit rotten, but being confronted by how bad it really was would shake almost anyone.
Arte frowned. “He struck be as a big jerk, to be honest.”
Mae laughed. “I’m sure he’s that too, but that doesn’t stop him from having a sense of honor.”
“What do you think will happen to him?” Angel said.
Mae shrugged. “Hard to say. He doesn’t seem the especially crafty sort, so at the very least he’ll be losing his job as an Admin. Beyond that? Who knows.”
“I… hope he’s okay.” Angel had a pleased, if somewhat sad, smile, then shook her head. “But what’s more important now is what are we going to do next?”
“That is a good question.” Mae looked down and sighed. “And unfortunately also one which I drastically complicated.”
“What happened?” Arte said. “All I know is I went to bed, and when I woke up you were gone and Cybel said you’d been captured.”
“Ah, sorry about that. When I discovered Gale was working for Senator Martel I, uh, figured I could wrap this up right quick with a bit of shotgun diplomacy.”
“That… does not seem like a great plan,” Arte said.
“In retrospect it was pretty stupid, but in my defense I wasn’t expecting a Senator to have his own power armor equipped bodyguards.”
“He did?” Angel exclaimed. “I… assumed that was a special Class B thing.”
Mae laughed. “Yeah, I did too.”
“Were they really strong?” Arte asked.
“Eh, not really.” Mae shrugged. “They were bulky and slow, but it’s hard to subdue a guy in an exoskeleton without killing him, and doubly so when there’s two of them. I was barely able to eject before my own suit self destructed.” She sighed. “In any case, I made our lives a lot harder by tipping them off, and losing the armor in the process.”
“Is that it, then?” Angel said. “They get away with whatever they’re up to?”
“I wouldn’t give up hope,” Mae said. “If we can figure out the plan there might be some way to stop it.”
“Did you get any hints while you were kidnapped?” Arte asked.
“Alas no. I didn’t expect a rescue, so I spent my time fucking with them rather than probing for information. Still, we can infer a few things,” Mae said. “For starters, they mean to act in the near future. It’s also likely Gale’s data will be involved.”
“That isn’t a lot to go on,” Angel said. “Is there something more specific.”
“Not exactly, but I do have a vague notion of how I’d carry out an attack like this. In particular, given what little I know about federal culture, and based on what Gale told me when I gave the drive to him, he means to reveal the data all at once to a group of influential people, or rather, he meant to use the chance to do that to lure Night Owls into his scheme.”
Mae shrugged. “Unfortunately, this is where my knowledge of the US is reaching its limits, and that’s assuming the attack is even going to happen there. It’s possible they meant to target some rival group of federals, you know, a two birds kind of thing.”
“I don’t think it would be outside this country,” Angel said. “Night Owls aren’t particularly concerned with the world outside our borders, and we’re rather skittish as well.”
“That’s a good point,” Mae said. “Which thankfully narrows down our options.”
“So, if we find an opportunity to share the data with a lot of people quickly, you think it’s likely that’s where they planned their attack?”
“That’s out best bet,” Mae said, then she smirked. “I don’t suppose you’ve been invited to any swanky parties recently?” Angel laughed.
“Sorry if this is a dumb question,” Arte said. “But wouldn’t it make more sense to post the data on the net.” He hummed. “In fact, why don’t we do that right now?”
Angel gave him a bemused look, while Mae shook her head and said, “The internet you’re used to isn’t at all like what federals use. Even if you could get it out there, the CSA would have it buried by the end of the day, then they’d train the filters so you couldn’t post so much as one word to a single site.”
“She’s right,” Angel said. “The Night Owls would need to get that information straight into the right hands all at once.”
Arte hummed. “Well, what about those other owl people, the ones you work for?”
“The OLS?” Angel said. Arte nodded. She sighed and shook her head. “As painful as it is to admit, the One Law Society is basically irrelevant. If we gave them the data it wouldn’t be any better than posting it online, and honestly, even if someone killed them all I don’t think it would have much impact. They aren’t likely to be the target.”
“It doesn’t sound like we’re making much headway,” Mae said, then sighed. “And honestly, I feel like stirred shit right now. You kids mind if I take a nap? I haven’t slept since yesterday.”
“Ah, uh, yeah, I think I could use a few hours to mull it over anyway,” Angel said. “Though, um, I am a little curious. Where are we going?”
Mae shrugged. “For now the Raptor’s set to loiter somewhere safe. We probably aren’t too far from Martel’s estate.”
“Won’t we have to land somewhere to refuel?”
Mae laughed. “Not for a few months, so I don’t think there’s any hurry. Anyway, why don’t you two hang out up front?”
Arte glared at her. “You aren’t going to disappear again, are you?”
Mae smiled. “I think I’ve been foolhardy enough for one lifetime.” She waved them away. “Now go on, shoo.”
Arte did not look particularly satisfied, but Angel pulled him into the forward cabin. They plopped themselves into the pair of comfy bucket seats and started chatting, though not for long. Neither slept much last night, and their rescue mission began at dawn. It only took them a few minutes to fade away.