Alicia

“Sis?”

“Hmmm?”

“What’s life like outside the city?”

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“Sometimes, I get these dreams at night. There’s this huge desert. But instead of sand, it’s made out of water.”

“Haha! It’s called the ocean, silly.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“I read about it in one of Father Mahmoud’s books. It’s supposed to be this large body of water. And it’s all made of salty water.”

“Woah! That sounds gross! But still, I would like to see it someday.”

“Hmm… Tell you what? If we ever make it out of this city, I’ll take you to see the ocean.”

“Really? Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Swear on your pinky. Swear it!”

“Okay, fine. Pinky swear! Now, let’s get back before Papa finds us.”

“Sis?”

“What now?”

“I love you.”

∆∆∆

Alicia examined the mark on her wrist with a delicate finger. She recalled the pain from when it was first seared onto her body. She wasn’t even two years old. They’d called her a devil. Monsters, all of them.

The Merry Band, for that, was the name Trent had given to the team, arrived on the island of New Manhattan sometime in the afternoon. It was a short boat ride from Haven City. Alicia had been silent for most of the trip. She’d kept busy looking at the ocean in amazement, observing the soft crashing of waves against their boat. “Huh, it’s just like the books.”

Once on dry land, Trent gave them strict instructions. “We are smack dab in the middle of the home of the elites. The gentlemen on this tiny piece of land have more money than the rest of Lucidea put together. Try not to attract too much attention.”

That last part proved slightly challenging to put into practice. The youngsters, awestruck by the sheer scale of the city, stood out like sore thumbs. Alicia, in particular, had never seen such vistas as those found in New Manhattan. Each one of the four hundred and twenty-seven buildings on the island was a marvel of architecture.

They came across glass skyscrapers carved into floral patterns. Towering monoliths that took the form of magnificent creatures they’d never seen in their lives. Fanged beasts, humongous animals with tusks that looked sharp enough to impale someone. The Merry Band rode in a rental sedan past the buildings with nothing but their minds to capture the memory. Trent had warned them against using cameras.

“I’d expected Miss Miller to be surprised,” Trent initiated conversation. “But you, Miss Hastings? You’re telling me that in seven years of crime-fighting, you never happened across the home of the most corrupt men on the planet?”

“I did,” Hope answered, leaning back in her seat, and crossing her arms. “The Marcel disaster.”

Trent chuckled with amusement. “Oh, yes! I remember reading about it. The biggest failure in the history of the police department. Must’ve been an embarrassing time.”

Hope did not answer him.

“Well, worry not, for tonight will be different.”

“How so?” she asked, frowning.

Trent looked out of his driver's seat window at a building in the distance. “This time, you’re in the hands of a competent leader. Besides, as you probably remember, failure is not an option.”

“So, where we headed?” asked Alicia.

“Just you wait,” he said.

The moment their vehicle stopped, Alicia jumped out of the sedan and stretched in the middle of the street despite disapproving looks from her team.

Trent smiled, and pointed to the building ahead. “Behold, the headquarters of Raytech Multinational.”

Alicia craned her neck to fully comprehend the monument. The building was shaped like a man sitting atop a pedestal. His back was arched, and his arm was resting upon his chin in a thinking posture. When they walked past the towering figure, the man of glass seemed to come to life. Alicia gulped and swallowed. When its eyes appeared to follow her, she quickened her steps in response.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” asked Trent, guiding them away from the skyscraper.

“Gee, that’s one word for it,” answered Alicia, still viewing it with suspicion.

“They call him the Thinker. A favorite of Dr. Boon. His eyes are supposed to be the eyes of God. Do you believe in God, Miss Miller?”

Alicia felt a sudden rush of pain from her wrist. It’s the mark of the devil, they’d told her. It means you’re a monster. She hid the mark under the sleeve of her jacket and laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. There is no God.”

The Merry Band kept walking until they were out of its sight.

The hotel they checked into was located adjacent to the Thinking Glass Nerd, as Alicia called it now. All four of them were given separate rooms to avoid suspicion. Alicia, in particular, was told to ‘stay out of sight as much as possible.’ Even as they checked into their rooms, she received sideways glances from several disapproving customers. She bit her lip and elected to ignore them.

Trent called for a meeting at 6 pm sharp. Right on time, the Merry Band was gathered all around him. Everyone awaited his orders with eager eyes.

He gave them an approving nod and began. “We’ve discussed this at length already, but I’ll say it again. Stick to the plan. If something goes wrong, cut loose, and run. We will regroup at the hotel at 11. Miss Miller, what is your role?”

“Sneak in, take out the security system, sneak out. Easy peasy,” she answered with a grin.

Sebastian placed his scrawny arms around his waist in an attempt to look intimidating and raised his voice. “Hey! Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Nah,” she chuckled with a shrug.

Taken aback, Sebastian spoke every word as slowly as humanly possible. “You’re supposed… to listen… to me... I’m… your… navigator… I… will get you… in.”

“What the hell was that about?” Alicia asked, taking a step back.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was going too fast for you. I’m supposed to guide you in. And then, and then, you’re supposed to make your way to the surveillance room, jam your drive into the computer and get me in. That way, I can have total control of the cameras when the real operation begins.”

“Yeah, right,” she answered in a deadpan voice. “Like I’m trusting your computer shit with my life. Trust me, loser, I can do this fine on my own. You weren’t even supposed to be here in the first place. So, take a hike and go jerk off to your camgirls or something.”

Hope stepped in with tightened fists. “Hey! Watch your mouth. That’s my friend you’re talking to.”

Alicia looked at her pitifully and laughed, “Oh, look everyone! Here she comes. Vega the Invincible - The defender of the downtrodden who won’t hesitate to step on the downtrodden if gets her another medal.”

“I don’t care about the medals. I-”

“Then, what do you care about? The money?”

“No!”

“Then, what is it?” Alicia smirked at her.

“It’s none of your business!” Hope yelled at her. Her fists were raised, prepared to strike at a moment’s notice. Alicia taunted her once again, daring her to attack.

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Hope didn’t do it.

Instead, she broke eye contact, gritted her teeth, and took a deep breath. “Just don’t, don’t talk to him like that. We’re on the same team whether you like it or not. And we’re supposed to be working together.”

“She’s right, Miss Miller,” said Trent, backing her up. “If you wish to see a single cent of the money you were promised, you will uphold your end of the bargain and listen to your orders. Are we clear on this?”

Alicia attempted to stare him down. She persisted, for a while, but the longer she looked, the weaker she felt in the knees. He did not speak a single word but even more than the silence, the lack of emotion on his face frightened her. I will not hesitate to strike you down at the first sign of mutiny, the eyes seemed to say.

She gave in.

“Fine,” she sighed and walked away. “I’ll be in my room. Just call me when you wanna begin the operation.”

“Now, that’s a good lady,” said Trent approvingly.

Alicia slammed the door behind her and shivered at the thought of ever confronting him again.

∆∆∆

7:30 pm

Alicia struggled against the zipper on her stealth outfit. It was an all-black jumpsuit equipped with noise-dampening technology, a utility belt carrying all the necessary tools, and one stubborn zipper that refused to go all the way up to her neck.

“Come on! You piece of shit,” she grumbled, trying to pull it over her chest. After several failed attempts, she crashed down to her couch in defeat.

“I bet it’s too late to get a replacement.” She shook her head and turned on the earpiece. “Yo, kid, you ready to get this done?”

The earpiece burst into life with a computerized voice. “All things in due time, stalwart warrior! For thy conquest is long but the night is still young.”

Alicia’s ears rang for a hot minute after that insanity. “What in the steaming cross-eyed fuck was that?”

“’Tis I, Altair, hacker extraordinaire, and I shall be thy guide for the evening. Now, stalwart warrior, onward!”

Alicia shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and muttered softly, “It’s for the money. It’s for the money. It’s for the money.” She exhaled and continued in a normal voice. “Okay, fine. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. But what’s with that stalwart warrior shit? I’ve got a name.”

“I wished to use ‘moody bitch’, but Sir Morningstar said that it was in poor taste.”

“I swear I’m gonna need therapy after this…” She groaned and drank her bottle of Blue. It wasn’t much worse than the food she had back home. She wiped her mouth and stepped into the street. Almost immediately, she was greeted by the cold wind.

It was half past nine. She looked to the Thinking Glass Nerd and recalled Trent’s instructions from the night before. “Raytech Multinational is one of the most secure buildings on the planet. Any other day, getting in would be impossible. But tomorrow night, Dr. Boon is hosting a party. Most of the security will be focused on protecting the VIPs. The megaserver will be at its most vulnerable. Your task is simple. Make your way to the surveillance room on the 25th floor. Take out the security, if any. And gain control of the room. Once you do that, Miss Hastings will be free to carry out the rest of the plan.”

The line in front of the Thinking Glass Nerd was nearly half a mile long. Alicia squinted to look at two individuals standing at the very back of the queue. “No way!” she exclaimed. “That’s Tony Vercetti and Amy Sorenzio.”

“You know them?” asked Sebastian through the earpiece.

“Well, duh? They’re the main actors on Love Me Now, the greatest show ever made. What the hell are they doing here?”

“It seems that they are associates of that dastardly villain Dr. Boon. Pay no mind to them, stalwart warrior! For thine duties are far greater.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alicia sighed in resignation. She shoved her hands in her pockets, whistled softly, and tip-toed over to the back of the building. Trent had taken care to ensure she left precisely at 7:45. It was late enough that her path would be masked by the cover of darkness but not so late that the streetlights would be turned on.

Luckily, the VIPs outside the building took no notice of her. Even the security was preoccupied with dealing with the sizable crowd. She reached the back alley without any trouble.

“Alright,” she exhaled, leaning against the back wall which formed the pedestal upon which the Thinking Glass Nerd sat in all his glory.

Sebastian jumped in with his audacious voice, “Look carefully upon the monolith, stalwart warrior. For that is the path thou must scale for thy conquest.”

Alicia craned her neck. Her gaze fell upon the shapely buttocks of the Thinking Glass Nerd. She recoiled in disgust. That was her way in. To reach the 25th floor, she had to climb through his butt cheeks.

She swore she could see a bird’s nest up his crack.

Perfect. Just perfect.

“What is the cause for thy delay, stalwart warrior? Grab the tool upon thy belt and reach for the soft and supple cheeks of conquest. Or glass, in this case.”

Alicia gulped. “They’re not actually soft, are they?”

“There is only one way to find out, is there not?”

“I fucking guess.”

Alicia ran her fingers through the various tools on her belt and grabbed the one that felt like a gun. The grapple gun was the first tool she’d learned to use under Trent’s command. One shot from this tiny pistol could launch a zipline over a hundred meters away.

She aimed the grapple gun at the left butt cheek of the Thinking Glass Nerd, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The zipline flew across the air in a burst of speed and embedded into its target with a sharp clank. She attached the free end of the zipline to her belt and put the grapple gun back into its holster.

Alicia felt the zipline in her hands. She was shivering. No. There’s no time. I cannot afford to panic. Not today. She closed her eyes to calm her nerves. “For the money. For Zaheera,” she exhaled and planted her feet against the wall.

She pulled the zipline and scaled the pedestal of the Thinking Glass Nerd. The winds were harsh that night. More than once, she’d felt her grip slipping away. Though the darkness was good for covering her ascent, it was terrible for locating proper footing. The higher she rose, the smoother the surface became. It got to a point that the walls became as slippery as a tiled floor.

“Thy skill is commendable, stalwart warrior,” Sebastian commented through the earpiece.

Alicia jumped and grabbed a loose brick to her left. “Just shut up and let me do my job.”

“Thy ascent to the cheeks of glass hast been most interesting to watch. Tell me, how didst thou become so skilled at the art of ascension?”

“I used to climb as a kid. A lot. Why do you care, anyway?” She grunted and leaped upwards to grab at a crack in the surface. She could feel the cold wind against her face.

“Folk hath the quality of becoming honest in the face of-”

“Look, kid! I know this is all a big game to ya but some of us got actual shit on the line here. So, shut the fuck up or start talking like a normal person.”

“This is not a game to me!” Sebastian protested. “I understand what’s at stake here more than you can contemplate, stalwart warrior. As for my voice, it is a part of the enigma that is the magnificent Altair.”

“You’re scared, ain’t ya?”

Sebastian did not answer her.

“Scared that folks won’t take you seriously. That they’d treat you differently if they saw the real you?”

“How would you know anything about that?”

Alicia took a deep breath. She was well over fifty meters from the ground. “Back in my country, I’m what’s known as demonspawn. The ‘normal’ folks, well, they don’t like talking to us or eating with us. Hell, we’re even not allowed to stand in their presence. That ain’t no way to live. So, I tried running away. Thought things’d be different in Lucidea. Turns out, nothing changed. People still look at me like I am a demon.”

“I’m sorry. I had no idea. So, how did you deal with it?” asked Sebastian in his normal voice.

“I stopped giving a shit. Folks gonna be folks. If they ain’t judging you for one thing, they’ll judge you for another. You just gotta learn to live with that. Can’t let ‘em get to ya. You take what you can get and stop worrying ‘bout the things you can’t change. Cause ain’t no angel from heaven gonna come and save yo ass.”

Alicia observed glass cheeks above. She could see the light coming from within the building. They were within arm’s reach. She retrieved a pair of glass cutters from her belt and started carving her way in. “Come on, come on,” she grumbled, not daring to look down.

The wind was getting stronger. A blizzard was upon them. She quickened her pace. The glass cracked under her arm. “Hey, kid! You there?” she spoke into her earpiece.

A moment’s delay later, the answer came through. “Yeah, sorry. What is it?”

“I’m ready to break in. From here on out, you’re leading the way.”

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “If you go in now, the cameras will see you.”

“Can’t you just hack it away afterward?”

Sebastian let out a contemptuous groan and left Alicia to ponder her own words for a minute before he replied, “No. I cannot just hack it away. It’s not magic. Gimme a sec. I’ll cause a distraction. Jump in when you get my signal.”

“Wait, what signal? We never agreed on a fucking signal!” she complained.

“Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.”

Before another word could leave Alicia’s mouth, the entire building fell black. She looked around in confusion. The building to her left had no source of illumination either. Agitated, she cranked her neck and looked behind.

The entire island was engulfed in darkness.

“Kid, what the hell did you do?”

“Temporary blackout. You’ve got… five and a half minutes. Better hurry. And umm thanks for that. I owe you one. But I guess this gets us even sooo… Yeah, just hurry.”

I should not piss him off. Alicia retrieved a pair of suction cups from her belt and placed them on the carved glass. With one swift motion, she pulled it clean off, let the glass fall to the ground, and prayed that no one was under it. She climbed into the darkened building with cautious steps and placed a finger against her earpiece. “I’m in. Where to now?”

“Go straight and then left.”

Alicia did as she was told. Her left hand was placed firmly upon a dagger’s sheath. She heard a group of men mumbling something in the distance. After that, she heard violent grunting and calls of ‘Over Here!’ and ‘Shoot!.’ Echoes of gunfire rang across the dark hallway. Her steps quickened.

“Now, go right and then left again.”

“Not bad, kid. How do you know the way?”

Sebastian chuckled proudly. “I memorized where everyone was standing before shutting down the cameras.”

Alicia froze in place as the realization dawned upon her. She whispered as softly as she could, “Kid?”

“Yeah?”

“People move.”

“Yeah, so?” His mic went silent for a minute. The silence was followed by a soft ‘oh crap.’

Alicia took a deep breath, crouched down on her knees, and continued moving. “It’s okay. As long as I’m careful, there shouldn’t be much tro-”

Alicia felt her head bump against a pair of legs. Fuck. She gulped and raised her head.

It was a woman.

From what Alicia could see in the dark, she was wearing a formal dress. She was tall, though not as tall as her, and engulfed by this mysterious aura that made her recoil in fear.

“Oh, my! What do we have here?” the woman spoke in a playful voice.

Alicia jumped back, ready to pull out the dagger at a moment’s notice.

“Don’t worry, little one. I’m not going to hurt you,” the woman reassured her. “I was just passing through on urgent business.”

Alicia squinted to get a better look at the woman’s face. She noticed what looked like blood stains on her dress.

“Who are you?” asked Alicia.

“No one, in particular,” came the answer. “The surveillance room is that way at the end of the hallway,” she added, pointing to the right.

“How did you know what I was looking for?”

“That, little one, is my business, and my business alone. Be on your way now. Chop-chop! Oh, and don’t worry about the guards. I took care of them on my way in. By the way, was the blackout your idea?”

Alicia stood in silence with her mouth agape.

The woman put a hand over her shoulders and giggled. “Of course, it was. Silly of me to ask. A bit reckless, for my taste. But impressive, nonetheless. Well, I’m off now. Take care, little one.”

Before she left, the strange woman stopped in her tracks, and whispered into her ear, “Don’t tell your boss you saw me, okay? He doesn’t like it when I’m watching his back. Bye-bye!”

By the time Alicia turned around to look, the strange woman had already disappeared into the dark.

Sebastian burst through the earpiece. “What the heck was that? Who was she? Was she your fairy godmother? How do you have a fairy godmother? She knows Trent! How does she kn-”

“Shut up! I don’t know, okay? We’re gonna have a chat with that bastard later. For now, let’s get this shit over with.”

Sebastian sighed, “Okay. Just let me know when you’re in, ‘mkay?”

Alicia mumbled under her breath, “Fairy godmother.”