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whumpzone · 4 years ago

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Tomas and Rowe - Part 11

this chapter was tough, and I might never be totally happy with it, but I hope you all still enjoy it! I’m doing my best to keep to the fortnightly updates <3

Masterpost

taglist: @sola-whumping @just-another-whumper @misspelledwitch @looptheloup @briars7 @black-polarf @zipadeedooda-drabbles @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @rosesareviolentlyread @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @jazz-0307 @kestrelsparverius @whumpsy-daisies @whumpersworld @memoriesneverforget @sky-or-something-idfk @ghostcomit @cupcakes-and-pain @frankieswhump @ihaventwritteninsolong @mybrokenlittletoy @kiretto-laorentze @morelikepainsley @lave-e @tears-and-lilies @whump-me-all-night-long @newbornwhumperfly (just ask if you want to be added! thank you all!)

CW: pet whumpee, dehumanisation, hospitals

"Hey," came a voice. When Rowe didn’t immediately wake up, a slap landed across his face. It ground the muzzle deeper into his flesh and forced him awake, wide-eyed and cowering. He was lucky to be spoken to first, of course. Usually he’d be hit without any warning. "Wake up Mutt. You’re finished here."

. . .

"Why couldn’t he come meet me in the waiting room?" Tomas asked the orderly.

"The exit is just this way. We find that most Pet owners like to be discrete in this kind of situation."

The ‘discrete’ room was divided into small curtained cubicles. The orderly left without a word after pointing Tomas towards Rowe, and Tomas was grateful for that at least. Rowe looked horrific. His wrists were strapped into a wheelchair- like he had any intention of running away, given the splint fixed around his left leg. His head flopped to one side, eyes closed, and a thick muzzle was clamped over poor Rowe’s face. His Rowe, that someone had bound and muzzled and hurt. The surge of protectiveness scared Tomas. It felt too close to ownership.

He went to take a closer look at Rowe’s legs, when a hand appeared in his line of sight. Tomas shook it without thinking.

"Hello, you must be the owner. Mr… Grzegorzewski? I’m Dr Scarlett Easton, and this is Dr Jacob Clerval."

"Ah, pleased to meet you both," Tomas said weakly. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Rowe’s head twitch. He’s awake, then. "He was bad enough to need two doctors, then?"

Rowe flinched, ever so slightly, at the word bad.

"He? Aw, that’s quite cute," smiled Dr Easton. Tomas wished everyone would stop commenting on that. "Dr Clerval here is quite new, so he’s been observing. We thought he might be needed, but only one leg was broken, as it happens. We’ve put it in a splint. The other one just needed stitches."

"Right, that’s good then. And the restraints, I… was he being troublesome?"

Tomas chanced a glance in Rowe’s direction. His eyes were full and apologetic, and Tomas wanted to reassure him that everything was okay, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

"Spoke out of turn."

"Mm. But we could get the arms down without a problem. So there’s hope still," the young doctor said with a smile. Tomas realised a few seconds too late that he was making a joke. It felt too weird to speak about Rowe like he wasn’t even in the room. Discussing him without letting him have a say in the matter. Rowe, of course, looked completely used to it. He sat perfectly still, and it only angered Tomas more. It was normal! Rowe was on his best behaviour despite being muzzled like a bad dog because he’d be hurt if he wasn’t, and that was just normal and expected and understood. It made Tomas’s blood boil. He needed to get Rowe home.

. . .

Rowe’s heart jumped when he heard Master’s voice. The painful fog lifted. Master Master Master. He was here. He didn’t abandon Rowe. He was here and that was worth any punishment he’d give out when Rowe got home. He didn’t remember ever being so happy to see his old master, but he didn’t dwell on that. Master, they fixed my legs. Please take me back home. You said I can have wants. I want to go back home and serve you and let you do whatever you want to me.

The two doctors were talking about Rowe, and Master glanced over a few times, but not to look at Rowe’s legs. He was looking into Rowe’s eyes, staring at him from under his blond curls and Rowe couldn’t understand because that wasn’t where he’d been hurt. He wanted to survey the work the doctors had done, right?

"Okay, thank you," said Master, and his voice was so familiar, so calm and clear and measured, and even through his shame Rowe’s spirits lifted. "I don’t think this wheelchair will be necessary from now on, thanks."

. . .

"That’s handy, because we need it back anyway. And the muzzle."

Tomas tried to act like someone who didn’t care because he had one at home anyway. Rowe kept his eyes down as his mouth was released and again Tomas just wanted to scream at them, because for goodness sake he’s bleeding, and it was fastened over a barely-healed broken nose, and you’re all acting like it doesn’t fucking matter.

"Have you brought a cage for it?"

"If you haven’t brought a cage then he will need carrying, sir."

"That’s- I can get him home fine, thanks."

"Whatever," Tomas muttered, scooping Rowe into his arms without a second thought. He was still light even with the addition of the splint. Rowe didn’t react except to bury his face into Tomas’s neck as he turned on his heel and left.

"Hey, Rowe," he said gently as soon as they were outside. "How do you feel, pal?"

"M-Master," he said weakly.

"I’m here, I promise. Does it hurt?"

"It d-doesn’t matter…"

No Master for once. That was probably not a good sign, right now. "Can you tell me anyway?" Tomas was careful to avoid sounding like Rowe was being rude, or disobedient, or forcing him to tell him out of fear.

"U-uh, it hurts on m-my legs, M-Master. And m-my face."

"From the muzzle, right? Little bastards. I never said they could do that to you."

"I s-spoke without permission, Master."

"Well, I like it when you speak. I like hearing what you have to say." He kept his tone matter-of-fact. Rowe shuddered against his chest, and it could have been a laugh. Yes, I suppose that isn’t said to Pets very often. "And your poor legs. Well, we’re going to try this out, but let me know if it doesn’t work, okay?"

Tomas gently hoisted Rowe onto his back, climbing onto his bicycle very carefully. Rowe clung on; his frail arms hooked over Tomas’s shoulders and the brittle scabs forming over Rowe’s newest cuts tickled his jaw. This is fucking stupid.

"I’ll go slowly," Tomas promised, pushing the bike into motion and vowing never to go back to that wretched place.

. . .

Rowe savoured the last few moments, tucked protectively against his owner’s chest, before they got home and his punishment started. He had wasted Master’s time, he had spoken without permission, he had got blood everywhere upstairs, he was ugly, he was useless, and he was due a punishment. He was due more pain until he was a pitiful, twitching wreck, sobbing that he’d never trouble Master like that again. This was all he could think as he was carried into the house and- not dropped on the floor, as he’d expected, but placed onto the sofa. But- but- Pets couldn’t-

"You’re allowed on the sofa," Master Tomas said, like he’d read Rowe’s mind. "You’re always allowed. But right now, I don’t want any argument, okay?"

Rowe nodded nervously, and didn’t resist as Master unclipped the collar from around his neck. It was insolent and rude and selfish, but Rowe had got used to life without one. He tried to sit up and be pretty, but he was still faint and clumsy with pain.

"H-hurts, Master. M-my legs hurt."

"Rowe?" Master asked, and Rowe’s heart sank because of course, Master would notice immediately. Pets were too stupid to hide things from their Master. The truth always came out, eventually. "You doing okay?"

A pause. "They did… you got painkillers right, Rowe? They gave you anaesthetic?"

Rowe shook his head and immediately Master’s eyes darkened with rage. Wrong answer.

"What the fuck?" Master cried. Rowe flinched. He knew what that tone predated. "No, I’m not- I’m not angry with you. I’ll get you some painkillers."

"P-please, it’s n-not wasted on Pets," Rowe protested weakly, even though he knew Pets never argued with their Master. What was he thinking? Besides, he still opened his mouth obediently when Master approached him with two small pills and some water.

"Okay," he exhaled. Master crouched before him and took Rowe by the hand, ever so gently. Rowe still felt ice run through him at the contact, expecting him to clamp and wrench and pull, but he didn’t.

. . .

I have to do it, thought Tomas as he looked at Rowe. …but I don’t have to do it tonight.

. . .

"Rowe," Master began as he often did, and Rowe liked being reminded that he was important enough to be named. It made him feel wanted.

(made him feel like a person) (no it didn’t)

Master was looking at him so warmly that it made Rowe just want to shy away because he hadn’t earned this kindness. Why was Master even here? What did he want? Why was he here if not to get something from Rowe- to punish him for causing such a fuss?

"When people get hurt, it’s important to be extra nice to them. This doesn’t mean that you can only have nice things if you take pain first, okay?"

"O-okay, Master." But what does that matter?

"I want to do whatever you want tonight. Anything at all. I know having wants is still new, so this is a good chance to try them out." Master ran his thumb over Rowe’s hand. His fingers weren’t rough like old master’s were. They were soft. "Wanting something won’t make me angry. I won’t get angry, I won’t laugh at you, I won’t ignore you."

"I can want s-something?" Rowe timidly confirmed. "I’m not being punished?"

The worst case scenario flitted before his eyes, as it always did- Master’s grip turns painful and he smacks beats hits kicks whips burns hates me and it was all a cruel joke- but it didn’t linger, it didn’t make him seize up. It-

It passed. And all that happened was Master nodded.

"I want-" Rowe’s breath hitched. He knew what he wanted. He couldn’t believe he was even capable of wanting. And now that it wasn’t a dream, or a private thought, the desperation came crashing into him almost too fast to keep up with. It tore and wrenched and made him ache. "Please- please p-pet me, Master, please hold me and ruffle m-m-my hair. I want to b-be held so badly. Please."

. . .

Oh, Rowe, Tomas thought, feeling his heart break once again. I’ve really been cruel to you, haven’t I?

"Of course, pal, of course," he said gently, sitting down next to Rowe and putting an arm around him. "Why don’t you lean on me and get comfortable?"

It felt wrong, Tomas couldn’t deny that, it felt so wrong to let this small, traumatised human rest his head on Tomas’s chest and be pet like a- well, like a Pet. But he also couldn’t deny the way Rowe softened against him. Sure, Rowe went limp a lot, his training making him unresisting and pliable, but this was different. Tomas worked the fingers of his free hand into Rowe’s hair and stroked, all the way down to the top of his spine and back to his crown. Rowe let out a shuddering breath, like all the defences he’d had to keep raised since Tomas got him were being lowered, just for tonight.

The words kept dying on his lips, but Tomas promised himself that if Rowe didn’t respond then he wouldn’t say them again. "You’re- you’re a good boy, Rowe."

Another shudder, and a sniff. Rowe’s face pressed harder into Tomas.

"Such a good boy. You were so brave today."

And then- Rowe’s shoulders trembled, in the way Tomas had quickly learnt they only did when Rowe was crying silently.

"Th-thank you," Rowe whispered between sobs. "Thank y-you so much, Master."

"I mean it," he soothed. "You are so good, Rowe. I’m happy I have you as a Pet."

It was a confession to himself as much as it was a comfort for Rowe. The words sank in, for both of them. Rowe’s crying didn’t abate, and Tomas felt a few tears of his own drip down his face. They landed perfectly on the hand in Rowe’s hair. That’s for the best. Proper Masters don’t cry over their Pets.

Tomas couldn’t help it. All his anger at the hospital had settled into sadness. He wasn’t being selfish. Rowe so desperately needed to feel safe and comforted, even if by morning he would be back to his usual fearful servitude. But Tomas also wanted to drop the pretence, just for a night, and let himself be kind and gentle without confusing his poor precious Pet.

He continued stroking his hair until Rowe fell asleep, his head rising and falling in unison with Tomas’s slow breaths.

(ending loosely inspired by this post)

#tomas and rowe #whump #whump fic #pet whumpee #dehumanisation #master/pet #aftermath of torture #pet whump #aftermath of abuse #mine

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whispersafterdusk · 3 years ago

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Lost in Time - ch 19

"I'm sorry - I'm not usually forgetful, I'm just dumb today."

About halfway through his patrol Asher had the realization that Eli's story comment DID make sense -- she'd explained her religious beliefs at the memorial service weeks ago, which seemed to revolve around the idea of everyone being born with a story to tell. He was there, he'd heard it, and he was kicking himself for forgetting it.

Across the table Eli shrugged. "We're both running on zero sleep and had more important things to focus on, it's not a big deal. I can still explain it all again or more in-depth if you're curious."

The Round Table was mostly empty; they were a bit early for the lunch rush. A headache was starting behind Asher's left eye so he was glad it was quiet in here. "Only if you feel up to it. I'm still really sorry."

"I don't mind. So, like I mentioned before-"

She abruptly stopped and Asher could see her eyes flick over his shoulder toward the door so he shifted enough to peer behind him. Harrison had just come in and he had a girl following along behind him; Asher had seen her around town a lot lately. ((Continued below cut))

Eli watched the two of them for a moment then turned her attention back to him. "Well, that's a good reminder that I need to stop by the clinic for another bottle of aspirin."

"Man, I could use one of those at the moment," Asher sighed. "I've stayed awake way longer than this but it doesn't mean it's easy on the body."

She nodded, then abruptly stood. "Actually, be right back."

As she headed over to where Harrison and the girl were seating themselves at a booth Asher shifted again to give himself a full view of the room; it wasn't that he expected their suspect to waltz in through the door but knowing there was someone out there lurking with bad intentions had his paranoia cranked to the max, and no matter how farfetched a scenario may seem he felt he shouldn't ignore anything his brain spat out at him.

So he watched as Eli chatted with the two at the table briefly then came back and flopped back down in her seat; right as she returned Sonia came to the table with their food and drinks.

"What was that about?" he asked as he grabbed his fork and speared a chunk of tofu off his plate.

"Was asking Harrison to tell Dr. Xu that I won't be coming to my usual session tonight, in case I don't actually make it to the clinic today to let him know myself."

"Ah." He stuffed the tofu in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "-I hope you aren't planning on pulling another all-nighter."

She shook her head and downed half the lemonade in her glass in four huge gulps. "-I don't PLAN on it just yet but I want my schedule open in case I have to. Once I'm off the clock for today I'm going to help Selene get whatever transmitters she has the parts for assembled and ready to go."

"Need some help?"

Again she shook her head. "It'd take me longer to teach you how to put it together than it would for me to do it myself. I appreciate the offer though."

"If you...you know, need anything. At all. You can ask me, you know?"

She drained her glass and set it aside before finally starting in on her food. "I know."

They both ate quickly (a little TOO quickly in Asher's case - now he had a slightly queasy stomach AND the start of a headache) and paid their respective bills before heading toward the Corps building. As they passed the graveyard Asher could see one of the construction folks - it was the tall blonde man (that was who had designed that stone in the first place, he thought) - carefully examining the burnt surface of the tombstone. Since it was just polished rock Asher was certain the man could grind off and re-polish it without too much trouble; he was still mad that someone had defaced the grave but in a way thankful that it would be easy to restore. And, should the vandal decide to-

"--you know, I think we ought to post a person here for a few nights," he said as he slowed to a stop and then turned to backtrack to the graveyard's gates.

"You think whoever did it will come back that quickly?"

He nodded. "Darren's stone and the others for your squad mates all look sort of similar - if whoever this is is purposely singling you out they might deface the rest of these and might be brave or stupid enough to come back soon."

"I'd think they'd expect us to be keeping a close eye on the place."

"They might, they might not, they might not even care. But." Asher turned to point down the hill the way they'd come and then used his finger in the air to trace along the line of a stone archway they'd walked under. It was dotted with windows and had an old, iron-banded wooden door that was heavily padlocked; the inside area was used to store the furniture needed for festivals (he'd helped put the benches and chairs used at the memorial services away inside there). The windows were tiny and probably a little dusty but if someone took up a position at that middle window at the top of the arch they could probably see the entire cemetery from there, and it would be hard to spot them in the dark at that height from the ground. "If we hide someone up there, they wouldn't even know we're here."

Eli followed his hand and eyed the archway, then shrugged. "Right, so, another all-nighter then."

"You DID say you were keeping your schedule open."

"Let's check in with Arlo and see what's what before we pencil a stakeout onto the agenda."

-------------------------------------------

Her task today had sounded easy on the surface: cut open the flaps of seed sacks, arrange them in a wagon. They were heavy but not so much that she couldn't carry them, but the knife she'd been given to cut the sacks open seemed little better than a butter knife -- it was good enough to cut the thread sewing the sacks shut but not sharp enough to cut into the burlap itself, which was proving to be a problem because this last sack was sewn shut too tightly for her to get the knife in under the flap, and she couldn't saw a hole in the burlap either. She could sort of get the tip of the knife wedged in under each individual stitch and snip it loose that way but that meant cutting almost every stitch, by itself, one by one.

As she picked and struggled with the thread the barn door creaked behind her and someone's shadow fell over the floor; it was too beefy to be Sophie or Emily, and not wide enough to be McDonald.

"I don't have time to play tag right now," she called out without turning around.

"I prefer checkers."

That was one of the answers she'd been expecting so she turned around to face the man that had walked into the barn. He was...very muscular. Maybe all muscle, and the only hair on his head was a black mustache that was the same width as his lips. Lily hadn't seen him before but he definitely had to have been recruited solely for strength.

"I hope you're good at hide and seek." A phrase meant to ask 'were you noticed or followed?'

The man shook his head, pulled a folded piece of paper out of one of the multiple pockets on his shirt and dropped it onto the floor, then disappeared out of the barn as quickly as he'd appeared.

Lily grunted and with a yank that hurt her arms all the way up to her shoulder blades finally tore the loose stitches apart and the top of the seed bag was finally open; after a moment to let the tingling in her fingers fade she hauled the bag over into the wagon with the rest of them before she retrieved the paper and looked it over.

>FR, KA, WIN - STBY >PL, des pln. PK SEC. > 385. > Markest > 3t. Har wh ws arc n

Ah, good - everything was falling into place. There were three more operatives on standby, Harrison's family had been secured, and their escape pilots would be hiding out somewhere to the east waiting for their signal to move in and get them out.

She did have an immediate surge of annoyance though at the identity of their escape pilot: 385. Sky Sharks. Lily hated those damn pirates... They were paid an obscene amount of money to remain loyal to Duvos, and she knew without a doubt that if someone with deeper pockets came along then the Sharks would switch sides without even blinking. WHY did Duvos insist on relying on them? It was baffling, and all she could console herself with was it HAD to be more than money...it wouldn't make sense otherwise to have such a glaring weakness in their field operations.

That last line of the message indicated that a meeting was set up for tonight at the stone arch that was to the west of the harbor; this was good, as they all needed to meet face to face to identify one another, discuss any last-minute questions regarding their responsibilities and expectations, AND she needed to find out which of them had defaced the grave -- rumors had raced through town and she'd already spotted someone examining it to determine how to repair it. If it hadn't been one of the agents sent to help then it was one hell of a coincidence...and if it HAD been one of them then she was curious about how they'd learned about Summers and how much they'd learned, and what exactly they intended to do with that knowledge. Prior to finding those counseling records Lily hadn't really heard anything about the woman that would've pointed her out as something special -- Portians were not immune to gossip but they did seem polite enough to not include a ton of personal details and at the time none of it had seemed to be important enough to look into. Lily knew that if she'd known about Summers prior to her meeting with Xan then it was likely they'd have abandoned the plan to steal the AI and would instead be more concerned with snatching the woman.

Was that what they were hoping to accomplish? Lily hadn't received ANY orders from Xan regarding a change in their target, and it would be a lot more finicky to try and smuggle a woman out versus mechanical parts. It was an absolute certainty that if Xan had changed his mind on their target then she, as head of this operation, would have heard about it first... Maybe it WAS a coincidence, as impossible as it seemed. Or maybe whoever did it thought they were...helping? Spread the security out thin? That was more plausible than coincidence but ran a high risk of jeopardizing the mission instead since Lily already knew Portia had called on the help of the Flying Pigs and it wouldn't be hard for them to request a few more.

No... Whatever the reasoning, it had to stop. If they got a chance to grab the woman on their way out then fine, whatever. But she wasn't about to let this mission get sidetracked away from their ordered target -- not unless Xan himself sent her word to change the plan where she had that proof in her hand or heard it from Xan directly.

Outside the barn she heard hoof beats; quickly she stuffed the paper deep into her pocket and pretended to be fussing over the seed bags in the back of the rickety wagon. A few moments later and both barn doors opened wide as Sophie's granddaughter came into view leading a rather large horse by a rope - it wasn't proper reins but just a simple braided leather cord hooked to one of the rings on the halter and she had the loose end wrapped around her wrist with plenty of slack in the lead for the horse to look about.

"Hey there, Lily. I'm sorry - Granny didn't tell me you were out here doing this or else I would've come to help you."

Lily scoffed and leaned against the wagon's side. "Oh pfft, no worries! It was a little heavy but not that bad! Sort of. Do you have anything to sharpen knives here? The one Sophie lent me turned out to be dull."

Emily led the horse in further and walked it around the wagon so it's back end was close to the wagon's front; Lily came over and handed her the knife in its little leather sheath, and Emily in turn handed her the lead so she could move between the shelves and the wagon to get a few wooden shafts and a yoke into place. Afterward she maneuvered the horse into place and hooked everything up, then just as quickly freed the animal.

"...why'd you go through all that effort?" Lily asked as Emily started to lead the horse back towards the doors.

"Usually we use a mare named Sunny to pull the wagon but she's getting on in years. We're switching over to this fine fellow here-" Emily patted the horse's neck with a giggle "-and he's a bit bigger than Sunny. I wanted to make sure the yoke would still fit. Seems there's not as big a difference in size in the places where it matters so it shouldn't rub or be uncomfortable, and it also means I don't have to try and do all the measuring in the morning when there's not a lot of light either and too little time to get another yoke down from the attic."

"Aha. That makes sense. ...so we're starting tomorrow morning then?"

Once Emily had the horse outside the barn, but was still framed in the doorway, she slipped the halter off and the horse ambled away out of Lily's line of sight. "Yep! Right at sunrise, and we should be done by lunchtime."

Ugh. A late night meeting and now work at an unreasonable hour. "Ok!" Lily replied, struggling to keep her usual perky cheerfulness in the tone. "I'll see you at dawn then - hopefully I don't sleep in on accident."

"It's ok if you do but that'll just mean it'll take longer to finish."

Emily waited for Lily to leave the barn then closed the doors and slid the locking bar into place; Lily offered the woman a smile and a wave as she turned to head back into Portia but inwardly she was groaning in frustration. If she set an alarm and went to bed now she'd get at least a little bit of sleep before the meeting. She WAS supposed to have dinner with Harrison tonight but the naive little fool could wait -- more important things needed to come first.

----------------------------------------------------

The signal transmitter buzzed softly. It was like having a small insect flitting around his head.

But with it sitting in the storage area with him, hooked up to a temporary power source, it covered the immediate area and would let Arlo communicate with Sam, Remington, and Mali who were all hidden nearby in the commerce guild, the Happy Apartments, and the old, closed cafe down the hill.

So far there'd been no signs of life outside; Asher had come up with this idea and he and Eli both expressed doubt that they would see anyone tonight. Still, it was a good idea made even better by Selene suggesting they take one of the transmitters with them to temporarily let them coordinate through the Hi-Defs -- Eli and the builder had then both scrambled to get one assembled and re-wired for a power stone bracket, and they'd disguised it inside a crate that they carried into the storage area. All that was left to do then was wait until nightfall, carefully slip inside the storage area (Arlo was certain he hadn't been seen by anyone who was, themselves, visible at the time) and then plug in the transmitter's cord to the bracket and flip it on.

The moon was bright (not full, sadly) but it was intermittently cloudy; when there wasn't cloud cover Arlo was able to see clearly through the small, smudged clean spots he'd wiped in every window in the storage area. He did have to be careful to toss his jacket over himself each time he accessed his Hi-Def (the light from the screen would stand out in the darkness, after all) but other than that he was free to silently walk from window to window to keep an eye on the graveyard as well as the surrounding areas that he could see, and he'd been pacing in this manner for the last four hours with nothing to show for it.

'It might not be tonight,' he kept telling himself. It might not be tonight, or tomorrow night, or even any time soon.

But, not that long ago he and Remington had gotten the chosen security door ready for transport. Mint estimated they could have it in place and installed within a week; with the door in place they could stop worrying about someone getting into the facility, and once they reached that point they'd be free to focus the entirety of their attention on catching their spy and vandal. With all of that in mind the fact that they wouldn't likely catch anyone tonight was easier to swallow.

"Anyone seen anything yet?"

Remington's voice came through the Hi-Def - Arlo had the volume set to just barely above a whisper, to him.

"Not ye- Wait."

Mali's response cut off and Arlo tensed; she was stationed at the apartments -- she usually stayed there when she was in Portia so she'd appointed herself to that position because it wouldn't seem strange if she was spotted at an odd hour inside the building (though the point was, of course, for her NOT to be spotted at all). Arlo gave it several breaths, then several breaths more; the silence seemed to press in so he bent down, pulled his jacket over his head and arm, and prodded his Hi-Def awake. "Mali? Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine. But I just spotted our first concrete lead."

"What? Did you see someone?"

"Not exactly. But either our guest is staying here, was visiting friends here, or Happy Apartments has a ghost problem."

Arlo's eyes narrowed -- their target was INSIDE the apartments? How? For how long had they been there? "So you saw our spy."

"I heard a door open and close upstairs, and shortly thereafter the front door opened and closed on its own. I didn't see anyone, unfortunately -- the lights in the lobby here are heavily dimmed after ten o'clock. Whoever this was knows where to walk to avoid casting even a hint of a shadow in this light so I didn't see them pass me."

"And if you'd turned the lights on it would've been a dead giveaway." Arlo shuffled awkwardly in the dark, with his jacket still pulled over him, toward the furthest window that looked toward Peach Plaza. As expected he didn't see anyone, or anything, with the moon behind the clouds again.

"Should we try and pursue? Pick up their trail?" Remington asked.

"No," both Arlo and Mali said at the same time. Arlo waited a moment, then continued. "We already know this person will be nearly impossible to spot in the dark, even with the moon out, and we've got clouds in the sky tonight that'll make it worse. We have a starting point. In the morning we'll see who is staying at the apartments and go from there."

"I'll stay here and see if whoever that was returns," Mali said after a moment. "If they do, and I can see what room they go into, we'll at least know if this person has been staying here or if someone they're working with is."

"Don't try to apprehend them without help," Arlo warned. "We still don't know if the spy and the vandal are the same person and if they aren't we don't know which one of them is armed or how many people we may be dealing with here."

"I don't intend to because I think we stand to learn more if we wait. It might be glaringly obvious who our culprit is once we examine the occupancy, or it might not be. Either way, we make our list of suspects and monitor them. We'll catch our spy, our vandal, both, or more."

Arlo nodded. "As good a plan as any. I'm going quiet again - everyone keep their eyes peeled."

-----------------------------------------

It was a very long walk from the apartments out to the arch. The suit was getting a bit warm by the time she spotted the tiniest hint of a flame on the beach ahead of her; as she drew closer to the flame she could make out the silhouette of the man holding it.

He was tall and almost unnaturally thin; he had a lighter in hand and the tiny flame's light caused the surprising number of knives sheathed across his chest, hips, and thighs to glint softly in the dark. Next to him was a skinny (but not nearly as skinny as he was) woman who had long red hair worn in a pair of braids that fell forward over her shoulders. The muscular man who had delivered the message was there standing at the back of the group next to Evangeline and Marcus -- Evangeline was a large woman, close to the size of Marcus and the two skinny folk put together, with platinum blonde hair, and Marcus was a dark-haired man who was otherwise unremarkable in the scant glow of the lighter.

They were looking her way; the suit's chameleon abilities were still engaged but it couldn't prevent her from leaving footprints in the sand as she approached.

"Were you followed?" the muscular man asked when she came close.

"No. The entire town is asleep. They don't post night guards in Portia; only out at the facility itself. That might change when construction begins." She came to a stop and turned off the suit; immediately the heat she could feel began to ease. "Were any of YOU followed?"

They all shook their heads; it was good to see they had all been smart about this.

"Where do we stand?" Marcus asked.

Lily unfastened the clips at her neckline and gently slid the extra ventilation slits open on the suit's helmet - the wisps of cool air that immediately filtered in were a blessing. "Construction has been delayed - I'm not sure why. We should consider ourselves on standby and be ready to move at a moment's notice." Before any of them had a chance to speak further she huffed out a sigh. "Who here defaced the grave?" The muscular man crossed his arms and lifted a single finger; she turned to glare at him. "Stop it. I won't have you jeopardizing this."

The man snorted loudly. "Tell that to Xan. He's disappointed in you - how the heck did you miss something so--"

Lily jabbed a finger toward him. "-shut up. Stop it. Shut up. At the time I spoke to Xan it wasn't known what else was here. How did he hear about Summers?"

"You really think there wouldn't be rumors like wildfire in the scholar circles? They can't shut up about the fact we have a real, live Dubeian in our midst. Xan wants her and to hell with the AI."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you. Xan wouldn't so drastically change things without communicating with ME first."

The man rolled his eyes. "Shut your damn mouth, brat - you aren't special. I got my orders from Xan's mouth and I will not and DO NOT have to listen to your whining."

Lily stalked forward until she was nearly nose to nose with the man (or as close as she could get - his forearms were thick and he was taller than she was too). "I'M in charge until told otherwise. If there's been a change in the plans then I need to hear from Xan directly. If you don't like that then you're on your own, and no one here should feel like they need to stick their necks out for you."

As she spoke to turned to look at the others one by one; the red head's expression was stony so Lily wasn't sure which side she was taking on this particular argument, Evangeline seemed just as annoyed with the muscled man as Lily felt, and she couldn't get a read on Marcus or knife-man's mood -- they both had really good poker faces.

"And," she went on into the pause. "Should you think to sell US out if you get caught... I don't think I need to remind you what Duvos does to traitors. I might not be able to save any of you if someone squeals but you can bet I WILL get myself out and back to base to let everyone know who botched this and got us - got YOU - caught. And whoever did will pay for it, even if you get sent to prison. You know there's no hiding if Duvos decides they really want you gone."

An uneasy silence followed; the man covered in knives flicked the lighter closed abruptly but otherwise no one even moved.

After several tense minutes Evangeline rolled her neck; the number of pops that came from the motion prickled Lily's skin. "All right, I says we vote. Original plan, or switch to the new one? Original?" Lily, Evangeline, Marcus, and the red-haired woman raised their hands. Evangeline briefly glanced around and then nodded. "Good enough for me. Xan wants a change he'll have to tell us the usual way."

The muscled man opened his mouth and the man with the knives held up a hand. "Enough. I'M willing to trust you, because you're saying it's Xan, but they do got a point: Xan always gets word to his men through specific channels, come hell or high water. I don't see why he'd stop doing that in this case. If we're wrong then we're wrong but at least we got a damn AI out of it. And it's not like the woman is like to go anywhere anytime soon."

"Thank you...?" Lily said, gesturing for the man to introduce himself.

"Windsor," came the answer. "Franklin. Kara." He gestured to the muscled man and the red head in turn. "Ain't worked with Xan before now but man's got a reputation for doing it by the book and getting shit done. I don't like the idea of getting on his bad side by not carrying out his orders but without those orders in my hot little hand or having come directly from his face to my ears I'm not sure I want to make him mad by NOT doing what I'd been told the first time 'round."

Lily nodded to him. "I appreciate your good sense." She looked to Kara; her expression was just as crabby as it had been when Lily last eyed her. Whatever the woman's exact thoughts were they were hidden behind a deep frown but at the very least she wasn't objecting to Lily's orders to stay the course.

"...all right. Now. Just so we're all CLEAR-" Lily went on, stressing the last word and all but spitting it at Franklin, "-our next step is simply waiting for construction to begin. When they break ground we'll meet up again four nights later to plan out the doctor switch -- it's not going to be immediate. Anyone in regular close contact with the doctor is likely to notice even a slight change in behavior, and there's no way Harrison is going to know every little detail about the doctor's life if he gets pressed. When the servers and the AI are set to be moved over we'll make our move so there's only a window of a few days where the idiot has to keep up the act. When we leave, we leave him behind, we get home, Xan lets his family loose if he did everything we told him to. A good boy gets rewarded."

"Simple 'nuff," Windsor said. "I like a good, clean getaway."

"Any questions? Any issues with your cover stories we need to hammer out right now?"

Windsor shook his head. "Just a traveling performer here, miss. Staying over in South Block since I was led to believe the growth there would bring new audiences - since it ain't, I'm walking between there and Portia to earn enough to go home."

Lily flashed him a thumb's up and looked to Kara; finally the woman's stony expression broke into something that MIGHT have passed for a smile, if one was holding in a fart.

"Just a ruins delver," was her simple explanation. She had a voice like cracked glass so Lily was glad she wasn't a wordy person.

After a very lengthy pause Franklin grunted. "Fishing."

Lily sighed. "Fishing? That's it?"

"That's it. I'm here to fish."

She was all but certain now that if there was a weak link in the group, it was going to be this idiot. She looked to Marcus and Evangeline.

Marcus shrugged. "Handy man looking for work."

"Mining - already met Dana and got a position," Evangeline said. "Ought to be able to give a good report about what natural stuff is down there. Never know - someone might be interested."

At that Lily reached up to slide the ventilation slits shut again, then turned the suit back on. "Stick to your stories, stay out of trouble, and keep an eye on the clinic. We'll meet here, same time, four days after construction starts. Remember that."

She spun on her heel and left -- they could all figure out their own ways back to wherever they were staying and she had a long walk ahead of her to get back to her room-

...the sky was already beginning to lighten. She didn't think the meeting had taken that long but that time spent coupled with the long walk back to town...damn it. It took about two hours to properly clean and dry the suit out after she'd worn it awhile, and with how she was currently sweating it might take even longer; if she didn't show up to the farm on time people might go looking for her, and she couldn't just leave the job half-finished or leave the suit hanging in her room and risk someone finding it. She also didn't trust anyone she was working with to properly care for or hide it.

Where could she stash it...

There was that hot springs area that was near enough to the farm...she knew from poking around that no one seemed to use the attic in that tiny dock house. That would have to work for now - it would take even longer to clean it later but she needed to lay low anyway, and it was less likely someone would try snooping in her room if they knew she was in it.

When she got to the dock house she picked the lock to the building and climbed to the attic; thankfully she managed to find a loose floorboard that she pried up and stuck the suit under it before putting the board back -- while she really doubted anyone would suddenly decide to come up here at least now they wouldn't immediately see the suit if they did, and who would have any reason to go digging around in the rafters? It was risky but less so than leaving it out in the open.

As she came upon the fields she could see Emily was already outside with the horse and wagon, and there were a few others that Lily didn't recognize that were standing with her; they weren't anyone she'd seen in town before so she imagined they, like her, were hired on hands to assist. The farm girl was talking to the others but paused and gestured, with a smile, for Lily to come join them once she noticed her crossing the empty field.

"-and David, you'll take the cornball seeds. Lily, I'll have you helping Tracy and Bill with the wheat, if you don't mind."

"Sure!" Lily chirped in response, looking over to the two standing on the far end of the little line of farmhands -- Tracy was an average sized, average looking brunette who seemed like she was barely awake and Bill was a tall man in ratty clothing and straw hat. "I'm Lily - I've never planted wheat before so is there anything special I should know?"

Tracy didn't make any effort to answer but Bill shook his head with a warm smile. "Naw. It's easy. I'll show you."

"All right! Let's get to planting everyone!" Emily called out then. She led the wagon along the rows Lily had marked out and helped one of the other farmhands in setting down the sacks of seed next to their correct markers.

Bill handed Lily a little bag attached to a length of rope and showed her to how tie it to her hip so it stayed secure but also could be removed easily by tugging on a loop in a certain way; she then filled the little bag with wheat seeds and followed along with the man as he showed her what he called the easiest and most efficient want to get the seeds into the ground. Once she'd had her crash course in wheat planting they separated and worked in a line with each of them taking the rows to their immediate left and right.

While she was rather tired she had to admit that this wasn't all that bad, and in just a handful of hours she could go get her suit and figure out a way to sneak it back into Happy Apartments, then take a shower and crawl into bed. She might even grab something to eat at some point...or might not. It would depend on how exhausted she was once this field was planted.

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"Can I ask you something?"

"Is this related to how distracted you've been all afternoon?"

Arlo grimaced. "...yeah. It's..."

Their walk today (Eli never had them in one place for too long when she was teaching) had taken them along the river, passed the island that housed the Haunted Cave attraction, down to the ocean shore, and now they were retracing that path at a leisurely pace. He'd thought he'd done a decent enough job to hide the fact that his mind was anywhere but in the current moment but...well, considering that Eli was trying to teach him to absorb his surroundings and pick out all the little details in an instant, it was little wonder she'd immediately clued in to even a tiny change in his behavior.

What was bothering him was a proverbial rabbit hole he'd accidentally fallen down earlier today when he was going over their known information and current plan.

They had fourteen suspects staying in the Happy Apartments. That was a lot of people to keep an eye on, and they'd kept EVERYONE who wasn't a native Portian on that list -- since they couldn't rule out that someone had been hiding in the wilderness prior to renting a room they'd decided against eliminating anyone immediately based on date of arrival alone. Mali was confident that they could quickly strike people off that list and pare it down to a more manageable one, and he shared that confidence, but it had got him thinking about the general situation.

Arlo had heard and read a lot about the war between the Alliance of Free Cities and Duvos, and had also heard a lot of stories from Remington regarding the recent action at Lucien's border. Lucien had been nearly destroyed in the war and really, it hadn't known peace long enough to truly rebuild. It almost felt like the peace accord that Duvos had signed was only a pretense - a stalling effort to let them bide their time, build back up, and try to forcibly expand their borders again later. Portia was far to the south of Duvos so there had never been much fear over being invaded or having their resources abruptly taken from them -- all things considered, Portia had probably never been high on their priority list as there were ruins and other natural resources much closer to the Empire's border; the sink hole opening up into the remarkably well preserved medical facility had undoubtedly pushed Portia square into Duvos's sights and they clearly, desperately, wanted what was within it, and history had already shown how they went about obtaining what they wanted.

It seemed odd to make the jump from a snooping spy to a sudden declaration of war but where else would their current behavior lead? Things were getting tense in the north and just because they had no word of Duvos gearing up to march again didn't mean they hadn't found some way to keep it hidden. And while he knew any sort of technology in Duvos's hands was bad news it was a chilling thought to consider what it would mean if they got their hands on Stewart -- they might not be able to replicate old medical technology immediately but the knowledge was invaluable and could, in the near future, drastically cut down on recovery time for Duvos's injured soldiers while the rest of the world would have to scramble to learn what they could from those medical texts they'd found just to keep up.

How to even put all of that into words though...

"...if another war breaks out, what do you think you'll do?"

For a time Eli didn't answer; ahead of them the bridge that led over to the Haunted Cave came into view, and near it was a bald, mustached man who was struggling with the reel on his fishing pole.

"Not sure," came her answer. They walked on another few steps before she continued. "Fight, probably. It might sound selfish but in a way I'm glad I'm not in charge of anything or anyone anymore."

He looked over to her; her head was down, her gaze fixed on the ground just ahead of them, so he couldn't get a clear look at her face. "Why's that? I would've thought it would be the opposite."

She let out a huff of a laugh. "Maybe, if we were three hundred years in the past. This isn't my world anymore. I have no business being in charge of people - how could I order them around when I know less about this world and how it all works than they do? Like -- imagine if you were thrown into MY time period. How do you think you'd feel?"

"Overwhelmed," Arlo answered, momentarily surprised at how quickly the word had spilled out. "More than a little lost, as well. I've not really been far from Portia so the thought of being in a city where a single building holds more people than I've ever seen in my life is...a little daunting."

She nodded, lifting her head a bit to flash him a smile. "Now try to reverse that. Everything I knew is gone, or doesn't work or work properly, or is left like that-" she pointed way off to the west where you could just barely make out the top of a ruined building on the horizon. "If I had access to tools and tech from my time, we would have caught this spy in a matter of days. But I don't. And we haven't. And I feel like I'm flailing around trying to hold on to anything I can to sort of ground myself but...it's hard, you know? About all I'm good for is a warm body ready to throw myself on the metaphorical fire to keep it from burning others."

"Don't say that," he interrupted, shaking his head at her. "You're much more than that - to me, and to everyone else."

"LOGICALLY I know that," she replied. "Emotionally though... I have my good days and my bad ones; I'm just good at keeping the mask on and rolling with it."

"Well, whatever your brain wants to tell you, if it's negative it's wrong. You're a good friend, you're intelligent, you're tougher than anyone I've ever met," Arlo went on. "And if there's anything I can do to help, just ask."

She chuckled quietly and stuck her hands into her pockets. "You and Asher both have said that. It's appreciated."

He opened his mouth to keep going but paused, as he wasn't sure what to say next. They were even closer to the bridge now and Arlo could see the rat's nest of a tangle of fishing line that was around the mustached man's reel ahead of them. The man noticed them coming and offered a frustrated half wave, which Arlo acknowledged with a nod.

"-so, now that I've had my daily mini mental breakdown, why are you worried about war?" she asked, voice quiet.

"...the more I think about the spy, and what they're after, and where they came from, the more I feel like another war is on the horizon," he replied after a moment to sort his thoughts out. "And thinking about that made me think about what I would do in that situation."

She nodded, then held up a hand before he could continue; lengthening her stride she adjusted her path to head toward the man with the tangled reel.

"Everything all right there?" They were still far enough away that she had to almost yell for the man to hear her -- at the very least, the man wasn't within range to hear them chitchatting.

"Yeah yeah," came the shouted response - the man's tone was clearly annoyed. "Don't buy cheap reels."

She chuckled a bit; again she adjusted herself to go back to the path they had been walking along - they still had to pass by the man but there would be a healthy distance between them.

As they drew near and then finally passed the man Arlo could hear him swearing to himself as he yanked and tugged at the tangled fishing line...but he didn't really seem to be focusing on what he was doing. It was slightly hard to tell out of the corner of the eye and with how quick they walked by him but Arlo swore the man was trying his damnedest to watch them while looking like he wasn't paying them any attention. Arlo resisted the urge to look back, to check if the man was openly staring, and simply walked alongside Eli until the man was far behind them.

"You saw that, right?"

He nodded. "He was watching us."

"Any idea who that was?"

"No, I've never seen him before."

Arlo made a mental note of what the man had looked like (heavily muscled, bald, mustached) and resolved to ask Gale and Antoine if the man was one of those staying at the Happy Apartments -- he was certainly striking enough to be easily remembered.

As Portia's gates loomed ahead of them he remembered they'd been mid-conversation about Duvos and a potential war...he almost felt like he needed, and should, pick up where they'd left off, as the whole thing bothered him a bit more than he'd initially realized, but there was also a part of him that didn't want to think about it at all. It was that same part of him that hadn't wanted to consider what "shoot to kill" entailed either.

"Eli!"

Arlo looked up sharply at the shout; Toby was running toward them with Jack and the triplets huffing along trying to keep up with him. Beside him Eli smiled and shook her head.

"There goes the afternoon I guess. Unless you need me for something?"

He shook his head. "Your patrol is done, our lesson is over with, and we already did our morning training. So far as I'm concerned you're off the clock." He paused, looking again to where the kid was rushing toward them. "-unless you want me to invent a task so you can avoid being dragged into whatever Toby has planned."

"Nah, it's fine. I can handle a gaggle of kids."

Toby would be right on them within a few seconds; in those last moments of peace Arlo stepped just ahead of Eli enough to stop her, fixing her with a look. "Take tomorrow off. I'll have Asher cover your patrols."

She frowned. "Arlo-"

"No, I mean it. If you're having a rough time I'd rather have you rested and ready for action. Relax for a day - read a book, hike, visit with someone, just do something you like."

"I LIKE being active, and exactly how much relaxation do you think I'm going to get knowing-"

She cut off her words as Toby came to a stumbling halt in front of them, panting loudly. "Eli...Eli! Think you can...whew...think you can help me make a bow?"

"A bow? What for?"

After a few breaths to collect himself Toby stood upright, beaming. "I wanna learn how to shoot it! And then I wanna learn how to hunt! Mom told me about this stew thingy she liked that had fried sea urchin in it but you can't get near them without them shooting their needles at you - I want to surprise her with some meat but without getting turned into a pincushion!"

Eli blinked as all that came in a rush out of the boy's mouth; Arlo had to give the kid credit -- he was at least thinking ahead rather than rushing off for once.

"Well, seems you have a plan," she replied finally. "But it's not going to be easy to just MAKE a bow - especially not one that'll take down a target like an urchin."

"But...can we try?"

Arlo smiled a bit at the boy's earnest tone, then wagged a finger at him to grab his attention. "Just make sure you're not shooting it at anything just for fun," he warned once the boy was looking at him. "Don't damage any buildings or trees, and DON'T shoot it at wildlife unless you're intending to eat it."

Toby pumped a fist into the air a few times. "I won't, I promise!"

Finally the four other children caught up and, after a moment to collectively catch their breaths, they all headed back out through the gates with Eli in their midst. Arlo watched them go silently; he hoped that his impromptu orders for a day off hadn't upset Eli. Thinking back to her admitting she was looking for something to cling to, to ground herself with...at the moment, one could think that work was the only thing she was using to cope. Would his ordering her to take a day off do more harm than good? He certainly hoped not.

...bah. His stomach felt a bit knotted with the uneasy feeling from contemplating another war along with concern over whether he just made Eli's life a tiny bit more difficult. He quickly crossed the plaza and headed up the hill toward the Round Table; by the fountain up ahead he could see a small gathering of folks all watching as a skinny man juggled silvery knives. There was a battered flat cap laying on the ground in front of him with a handful of gols glinting in the sun; the man was yet another person Arlo hadn't seen before and out of curiosity he continued passed the restaurant to stand with the rest of the onlookers as the man juggled.

From here it was difficult to tell if the knives were actually real but the man was certainly treating them as though they were. As he watched the knives flip from one hand to the other, behind the back, under legs and around elbows Arlo had to admit the man was rather skilled, and there were "oohs" and "ahhs" and gasps from the people around them as they watched the display of flying metal. When the man reached the end of his juggling act he caught each knife in quick succession, sheathing them in identical, repeating motions, then gave an elaborate bow to a scattering of applause. A few folks in the crowd dropped more gols into the hat, and Arlo waited patiently until they'd dispersed before approaching the man.

"Quite a talent."

The man didn't reply at first, choosing to bend and pick up the hat and carefully deposit the gols into his pocket so he could shove the hat back onto his head. "Yep, sure is. Drove my mum nuts growing up - couldn't leave anything within reach or I'd end up tossing it around. You from here?"

Arlo nodded. "I am. Where are you from?"

"Born in Tallsky. Came north because my audience was bored with me and I heard South Block was getting busy. Dunno what folks's definition of busy is but I barely make enough to buy my dinner there. Figured I'd try my luck here to sees if I can make enough to head back home."

Again he nodded. "I see. South Block is a growing trade post but most people you'll find there are traveling through and rarely stay for more than a day or so."

The man snorted. "Tell me about it. -- say, ain't a problem hanging around performing is there?"

"So long as you keep your distance and your knives to yourself there shouldn't be an issue. Where are you staying? South Block?"

"Sure am," the man replied. "Hopefully I make enough to move on soon. Bus tickets might be cheap for some but not when you're picking between a bed, a meal, or a ride."

Arlo reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of gols; without counting them he held them out. "Here - at the very least try to get a meal for the evening. The Round Table has reasonable prices and great food."

The man's eyes lit up and he grabbed for the money, then quickly cleared his throat and tried to look a little more dignified as he stowed the gols away with the rest. "Thanks, stranger. It's appreciated."

With a curt nod Arlo spun around to head back to the Round Table, and made a mental note to walk to South Block tomorrow to get a list of motel occupants from Yeye. They hadn't noticed a lot of foot traffic from South Block lately but a singular traveler moving between the two towns could easily be missed.

It was crowded and busy inside the Round Table; there were a few empty booths but he didn't want to take up an entire one by himself so he took the only open seat at the bar which happened to be between Remington and Adam.

He gave them both a nod and then turned to look at Adam. "How's it going out at the facility?"

"Alls quiet. They started digging to place the door. Mali's out there now with Sam - I'm charged with bringing them supper when I'm done with a few errands here in town."

"You should see the thing now. It sure doesn't look as huge as it did now that it's out of that building," Remington chuckled.

Arlo huffed out a sigh. "That was a nightmare to deal with. Little wonder the Old World had robots to do that sort of thing - it we hadn't borrowed that winch and pulley we probably wouldn't have been able to manage disconnecting that door from the wall by ourselves."

Sonia hurried by and went to hand him a menu, seemed to do a double take and realize who he was, then stowed the menu back beneath the counter. "Hi Arlo! Your usual?"

"Please. With a glass of orange juice please." He waited until she left then lowered his voice. "Keep an eye out for a heavily muscled man, bald, with a dark mustache. He was eying Eli and I up, and I've no idea who he is."

"Will do," Remington replied. "-er, by the way - Selene's on the prowl. Party planning. Just so you aren't blindsided."

Party planning... Remington's birthday was coming up soon and they STILL hadn't had the little gathering to welcome Eli and Asher to the team. "Got it. We don't have time for anything extravagant sadly."

Remington wrinkled his nose. "Man, even if we did, I don't want extravagant."

Arlo chuckled and nodded to Sonia as she sat a chilled glass of orange juice on the counter in front of him; it was cold, tangy, and satisfying, and he had to will himself not to chug it down too quickly.

He would eat, pick up a few things from Total Tools, then head back to the Civil Corps building to-

"-has Eli ever mentioned to anyone when HER birthday is?" he asked then, looking between Adam and Remington.

"I...don't think so. Maybe to Asher?"

Arlo turned to Adam. "Has he said anything?"

Adam shook his head. "Not a peep, and I'm pretty sure he would have if he knew."

"Huh. We ought to ask her tomorrow morning then," Remington said into the pause that followed.

Arlo blew out a sigh. "I gave her tomorrow off so whoever runs into her first..."

Sonia came over with their food (Arlo had no idea when the other two had ordered but all of it came out at the same time) and all conversation was set aside in favor of stuffing food in their faces as quickly as they could before they all went their separate ways: Remington to the Corps building, Adam back out to the facility, and Arlo back toward the plaza where hopefully Mars still had his shop open and had whetstones available.

Tonight Mali and Asher would be staking out the graveyard; they were both insistent that the two of them could handle things on their own and didn't need a third. He didn't have much choice other than to trust to their confidence but as he picked up the whetstones and was heading up the stairs toward the Corps building he wondered if he should have asked Adam if he wanted another pair of eyes tonight out at the facility.

'If he wanted help I'm sure he would have asked,' Arlo found himself thinking as he pushed the door open to the Corps building and plodded across the sitting area toward his room.

That he was free to get a full night's sleep made him feel a tad guilty but, on the other hand, the better rested he was the more attentive he'd be, and that would only help them. Probably.

#Lost in Time #lit #Lost in Time - ch 19 #Arlo #Mali #Sonia #Remington #Toby #My Time at Portia

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theshatteredrose · 4 years ago

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Relic Keepers: Awakening of the Red Lily (Chapter 2) - Original Fiction

AN: Wow, two updates this week; I’m on a roll. Anyway, hope you’ll enjoy reading~

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FictionPress

Chapter 2:

Eishirou had expected Zayne’s demeanour to change immediately after learning that his new roommate was a Passive. And for a brief moment, it did. He looked perturbed; his eyes somewhat vacant as his smile slipped. He soon recovered that smile, however, and nodded his head surprisingly nonchalantly.

“Ok, cool. Anyway, looks like you’re going to have to escort me to Hanger 12. New here. Don’t know where it is.”

Well, he took it rather well. Although, that didn’t necessarily rule out the possibility that he would ask for another room later. So, it was best not to get too attached or interested in the guy.

Thinking about it, Eishirou hadn’t heard of an Elite rooming with a Passive. The administration preferred to keep the two classes separate. Why? Who knows. It was something they just did.

Maybe this was a test to a possible future change. Honestly, who knows what they had going around in their heads up there.

“Ah, makes sense,” Eishirou replied in a hopefully equally nonchalant way. “Just let me grab some things and we can take off. Mustn’t keep Ernesta waiting.” Not if they want to keep their heads.

They moved to their different sides of the bedroom after that. And worked in silence.

Eishirou grabbed the usual on-field gear; excavation tools (brush, hand shovel, etc), communicator, tablet to document findings, and more importantly his medical kit.

He was still classed as a rookie in regards to his Medic training, but he knew enough to heal minor wounds and injuries, and to fix a headache or two. He was still learning to do triage and hoped to eventually learn out to do out on the field operations. Though, he also hoped that he never had to use such skills!

With everything he needed in his carry bag, Eishirou lifted it up over his head and rested the strap across his chest. He then twisted the bag around so that it rested behind him rather than at his side.

“Right, ready to get going?” Eishirou asked as he turned around.

“Just a sec,” Zayne answered with his back to him. He took a moment to flare out his jacket and pulled it on.

White jacket with the Academy’s emblem etched onto the back, and it was over that emblem, stitched into the material sat a Wing Holster, allowing for Elites to concentrate their mana and take flight. The winged emblem of Elites was printed on the right leg of his black pants. The usual uniform for members of Elite Teams. Sat snug on his hips were two holsters. And he could see the stock and hilt of hand-held weaponry. Through the use of a mechanical devices called Mana Holsters, Elites were better able to manifest and manage their mana, turning it into physical manifestations of weapons.

Having two such devices was rare, even for Elites. The guy must be pretty good at what he did. Whatever that was. Well, that had to be a given, right? Especially if someone liked Ernesta hunted him down to get him on her team. If the rumours were to be believed.

After adjusting his jacket, Zayne glanced in his direction and gave him a quick grin. “Let’s go.”

The quickest way to reach the hangers was by jumping on the electric tram that intertwined throughout the entirety of the campus. The Academy sat smack in the middle of Araluen, and it was a town in of itself. To say that it would take an hour to hike from one end of the campus to the other was no exaggeration.

Thankfully, there was a tram station close to the entrance of the dorms.

The journey to the hangers was a relatively quiet one between Eishirou and Zayne. He appeared deep in thought, absentmindedly glancing at his surroundings. He was likely musing about what their assignment was going to entail. His role was far different than the one that Eishirou had, after all.

Finally, they reached the departing bays of the hangers. Despite the number, Hanger 12 was actually the closest to reach.

A group of people stood in the hanger, by the helicopter that would take them out to their assignment work site.

Professor Jacob Chryses was immediately recognisable. He was the tallest one there. Over six feet, likely nearing seven. Muscular man, with tanned skin that indicated that he had spent years upon years out in the field, getting his hands and boots dirty.

Jacob spoke with Ernesta. She was easily the tallest woman in all of the academy. She was also a rather practical woman. Blonde hair to her shoulders with a short fringe. Her clothing was sturdy, even around her rather large bust. She always wore a rather peaceful expression on her face. Even in the midst of battle. But that peaceful expression could turn dark at the drop of a hat. And she could be terrifying.

Eishirou, thankfully, hadn’t been on the receiving end of that dark stare. And he didn’t want to.

With her was the rest of Team 3.

Tatsu, the second tallest of the team. Short black hair, sharp green eyes, and a small grin that was oozing with confidence. Everything about him presented confidence, from his broad shoulders, to his wide leg stance. He, fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on point of view) he had the abilities to back up that confidence.

Next to him was the team’s other guy member, Leon. Short dark brown hair, square jawline, and light blue eyes. He was a fraction taller than Tatsu, and he did possess a strong sense of confidence. He was polite enough, though. Civil. Didn’t start any unwanted confrontations.

Finally, there was Rinka. Honestly, she looked completely out of place amongst the team. Short, quiet, meek in some ways. Her long hair was a light lavender in colour, and her eyes a vivid silver. By appearance, she didn’t look like she belonged on the team, yet alone out in the battlefield. But when she was in battled, her mana weapon engaged, her personality did a one-eighty. Still quiet, but lethally so.

Eishirou didn’t really like nor get along with Tatsu. He looked down at him. And he meant that figuratively and literally. He appeared polite in front of the others, but it was incredibly easy to tell that he just barely tolerated his presence.

He got along with the rest of them. He couldn’t necessarily say that they were friends. Acquaintances at best. Things were simply civil.

Ernesta was the first to notice their approach. A peaceful smile graced her lips as she turned her half-lidded, almost lazy eyes in their direction. “Good. You’re both here. We’re ready to board and leave.”

“Ah, Eishirou,” Jacob gave him one of his usual broad grins. “Just on time, as always. I see you’ve already met the newest member of Team 3.”

“Well, you see…” Eishirou was going to explain that he and Zayne were somehow roommates now when Ernesta interrupted.

“Jacob, best to board now,” she suggested as she folded her arms nonchalantly under her bust. “I need a moment to speak with my team.”

Her expression changed into that of realisation and she turned to face Jacob fully. “Before that, though. Professor Chryses, I must ask; Should the worst-case scenario occur, who is it that you wish for us to protect?”

Huh. That was a question Eishirou hadn’t heard asked before.

Jacob’s response was equally surprising.

“Eishirou.”

Eishirou was slightly startled at the lack of hesitation in Jacob’s response. “Come on, Jacob…”

“No arguing,” Jacob replied sternly and folded his arms across his chest to emphasize the point. “You are the only medic here. Besides, your skills are invaluable to the research community.”

Once again, Ernesta interrupted before Eishirou had to chance to say anything further. “Understood. Please board and make yourselves comfortable.”

The lack of scepticism in Ernesta’s reply was a little bit startling, too. But Eishirou knew he couldn’t argue against the both of them. Part of what Prof said was right; he was a medic. And appeared to be the only one on this assignment.

As Jacob turned to stepped onto the helicopter, Eishirou dutifully followed.

“Ground crew is already there,” Jacob explained as they took their seats. As Eishirou sat down in the seat in front of him, he pulled out a tablet and handed it toward him. “Here. Take this time to read through the notes.”

Eishirou rested his bag by his feet and retrieved the tablet. “Sure.”

He got himself comfortable in his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. He switched the tablet on and started to flick through the documents and photos.

First up was a photo of what he assumed was the stone tablet he was requested to help investigate. The stone was a rusty red in colour, and in many different pieces. Even so, there were visible etchings on the stone. Scrawling of patterns or words, it was hard to tell in the photo. Though, it did indicate that the stone had been weathered by the elements. So, it was safe to say it was old.

“So, an in and out assignment?” Eishirou asked as he flipped to a photo of the area where the stone was discovered.

“That’s what we’re planning at present,” Jacob answered as he leaned back into his seat, too. “Need to do a survey of the area before further investigation. ShadowDwellers are known to inhabit that location in particular.”

Honestly, the dangerous creatures were found everywhere outside the city. Sometimes inside, too.

From what the photos of the area indicated, it would be easy for a ShadowDweller or two to sneak up on them. The tall trees curled around the seemingly naturally formed paths. The bark of the trees was that of dark brown, but the leaves were a vivid green. The canopy appeared dense.

The assignment had better be quick if they didn’t want to contend with the darkness.

“What’s our work crew like?”

“Passives. Field researchers, mostly.”

Yeah, that made sense. From these documents, it appeared that they were planning to gather the remnants of the stone tablet and bring it back to the research facilities.

“Any thoughts?” Jacob asked him, something he usually did on their assignments.

“The etchings on the stones are unusual,” Eishirou replied. “But I should be able to work out what they mean when I lay my hands on the stones.”

“They don’t match those of the Main Land.”

Yeah, they didn’t.

Eishirou idly flipped back through the photos as Zayne and the other members of Team 3 boarded the helicopter. He was pulled from his research when Zayne surprisingly took a seat next to him, leaning back into it with his arm hanging over the back. The other members of his team sent him a perplexed look as they took their seats away from where Eishirou and Jacob sat.

“Finally,” Zayne practically whined. “I swear, no one warned me that the briefings were the most tedious thing about assignments.”

Eishirou made the small observation that Zayne’s arm was hanging over the back of his chair. “Tell me about it. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bodyguard assignments are also pretty boring. If everything goes well.”

“Still better than sitting there and listening to someone prattle on and on.”

A smile abruptly made its way to Eishirou’s lips. “Don’t let Ernesta hear that.”

Zayne winced. “Right.”

Just as those words left his lips, Ernesta walked down the aisle, causing Zayne to jump in his seat. Which, in turn, prompted Eishirou to snigger behind his tablet.

“Prepare for flight,” she ordered.

That simply meant ensure that your butt was fully planted on the seat while the helicopter manoeuvred from the hanger and into the air. Lift off and the landing was always the most troublesome of the flight. When in the air, the trip was smoother. Unless they encounter turbulence, of course.

Eishirou returned his attention back to the files in the tablet and idly flipped through the findings so far. Which honestly wasn’t much. It did detail notes on the surrounding area around the remains of the stone tablet. But little else.

As the flight smoothed out, Zayne leaned over in his direction to peer at the tablet, too. Making no attempt to hide his noisiness. “Is that your assignment?” he asked as his shoulder bumped against his.

Eishirou nodded as he returned to the photos. “Hm. A stone tablet was discovered. Seems that it might be pointing to a set of ruins that haven’t been documented yet.”

“C-can I see?”

The meek, feminine voice caused Eishirou to lift his head up. He lowered his tablet to find none other than Rinka before him. Her hands meekly fidgeting in front of him, a light flush to her cheeks, and looking rather shy.

“Hm? You’re interested?” Eishirou asked, surprise in his voice.

“Sure, why not?” Zayne was the one to answer, he having confusion in his voice.

Well, Elites had better things to think about. Usually. But it was nice that the two seemed curious.

Eishirou shrugged and flipped to the main photo of the stone tablet. “Alright. Here.”

He handed the tablet over to Rinka, who quickly received it. She then plopped herself down on the seat next to Zayne and rested the tablet on his lap. Zayne kept his arm hanging over the back of Eishirou’s chair as he leaned over in Rinka’s direction to look at the photo, too.

“Hmm, it looks like a pile of rubble to me,” he commented after a moment.

“Well, it is now.” Eishirou rolled his eyes. He leaned over, stretched his arm across Zayne to tap at the photo to enlarge it. “But there’s ancient writings on the stones. See?”

Zayne squinted his eyes. “Oh yeah.”

Rinka lifted her gaze from the tablet and looked over at Eishirou. “I-is it true that there are ancient relics that have been infused with mana?”

Oh, that was a surprising question.

“Yup,” Eishirou answered with a smile. “And some say that those relics had been infused with mana long before the Bombardment.”

“R-really?”

Hm. Rinka seemed genuinely interested. Better yet, Ernesta was letting her engage with him and his side of the assignment. For the rest of the journey, she allowed the three of them to chat amicably. Rinka meekly asked questions about relics and what it was that Chroniclers like Eishirou actually did.

She was very inquisitive. And Zayne seemed just as interested.

It was kinda nice.

But all good things had to come to an end.

“You two, time to prepare for landing,” Ernesta ordered, her tone surprisingly light. She seemed amused by the three of them, too.

Rinka returned the tablet to Eishirou, squeaking out a small ‘thanks’ before she got to her feet. She then made her way over to her teammates. Zayne uttered a huff as he pushed himself to his feet, too. He joined the others, too.

“The vegetation is too dense for the helicopter to land close to the investigation site,” Ernesta explained. “We’ll have to land in the nearest clearing and walk the rest of the way.”

With that said, Team 3 took on a defensive stance by the helicopter’s exit doors.

Eishirou took that time to return the tablet to Jacob and set about getting himself ready to disembark. The best thing he could do was to ensure that he kept out of the way of Team 3 and do his own job as efficiently as possible.

It took a few minutes for the helicopter to settle on a landing spot and to become still. Eishirou stayed in his seat, however. He knew the drill. The Elites would disembark first to secure the area. The other members of their quick excavation crew were already there, but better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, Ernesta gave them the all clear and Eishirou hopped out of the helicopter with Jacob close behind.

As he stepped out onto the green grass and out from beneath the helicopter blades, Eishirou took a moment to look around at his new surroundings.

The clearing of the helicopter landing was flat and green. A circle amongst a large, lush forest. The greenery was dotted with colourful flowers; reds, pinks, and blues. They stood out against the vivid green moss and golden bark of the trees.

The trees were tall, the trunks sturdy and thick. The roots spiralled outwards along the ground, intertwined with flowery shrubbery. The forest was quite old. Very old. It was likely that no one had trekked through those tall trees for a very long time.

But they were going in. The stone tablet wasn’t about to come to them, now was it?

“How far is it?” Eishirou asked.

Jacob pulled out his personal tablet and tapped at the screen. “Thankfully, it appears to be a ten-minute hike at the most.” A half grin appeared on his lips. “A two-minute return trip if we’re running.”

Well, he certainly hoped they didn’t have to run out of the forest screaming!

Ernesta took the lead once more. “I’ll take the lead with Professor Chryses and Tatsu will take the back. Zayne; take the left. Rinka, Leon, you take the right. Be prepared for ShadowDwellers. Everyone finds that acceptable?”

There was a chorus of agreeing replies, some of them begrudgingly.

Ernesta gave a placid smile. “Very well, let’s move forward, shall we?”

#original novel #original characters #Relic Keepers Awakening of the Red Lily #fiction #scif fantasy #young adult #gay romance

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