#ive hidden recording devices in my clothing

[sparkelingspectres]

God please make me less bitter I am so full of love at least I wanna be but I'm so used to dealing with manipulative abusive freaks I'm just not the person I want to be

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer IV: The Dentist

The sun was up and the remnants of the days breakfast remained in the stacked bowls on the table.

Chu Zihang sat on the floor with Ru’Yi in his lap, holding a soft cloth ball. He tossed it a short distance away and she flopped over to crawl to go get it. She sat up, nice and straight, looked at him, raised her arms and threw it back, laughing and clasping her hands together.

Zihang reached for it and grabbed it, placing it in front of himself. She returned to him and they did it over again.

Zihang was trying to enjoy this time he had, but feelings of melancholy reached me from our soulbond. He knew that once the tracking signal was found, then the time he would have with his daughter would be ended, perhaps forever.

Everyone in this world had forgotten him. If he died now, much like Crow, Ru’Yi would forget him too. So between happy moments, his mood would crash, only for her smile to lift it again.

I left him alone with her to go visit Mingfei, first taking a stop by the kitchen. He was out of the clinic and trying to adjust to missing his arm. My Release skill had saved his life but also crippled his ability to self heal. It was hard not to feel guilty about that.

Zihang had kept the severed arm. It couldn't’ be reattached, but he didn’t want anyone diving into the plane wreckage and getting it to use it for alchemical purposes. It was a gruesome detail that I didn’t tell him about.

Being in the monastery had thankfully removed Mingfei from his drinking habit. I picked up some baked barley grain balls mixed with plum fruit to bring with me along with some tea on a tray.

I knocked on the door to his room.

“Come in!”

Erii was there with him. She’d not left his side. Turned out, Crow’s words to Mingfei, that he’d refused her, weren’t true at all. For her own safety, he’d blocked her from contacting him herself. As soon as she heard of our plight, she was delighted to be back in his company and the feeling was mutual.

Erii sat on his bed playing an online game of Street Fighter. The guilt welled up in me again as I realized his gaming days were pretty much over unless he could somehow learn to play with one hand. “I brought some cakes!”

He smiled at me and said, “Yeah sit it over there.”

I hesitantly walked over to the table where he had pointed next to him and came to look over Erii’s shoulder. Her crimson eyes were glued to the screen of the television. Her opponent couldn’t get a hit on her. Her reflexes were too good. Just before she won the match, he disconnected and forfeited the game.

Erii hissed her fury at the screen and Lu Mingfei snarled. “Again! What is with these sore losers!”

He looked at me. “Hand me one of those cakes will ya?”

I realized I’d set them on the wrong side of him! “Ah... sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it.” he mumbled, taking a bite. “They find that signal yet?”

I shook my head no.

Mingfei sighed. “Do we have a plan B if that thing has decided to stop transmitting?”

Erii looked up at him, silent. Her eyes shifted up and down his face, then they lowered. She put the game controller down and then she reached for a notepad and wrote. “Stay with Erii?” and held it in front of her face.

We all looked at it, somber.

I would be lying if the thought didn’t cross my mind. So long as we stayed in the town, we would be safe from EVA. Sailor Moon would keep transmitting false information. We would be dead on the record. Cassell would be taken over by the Gattusos...

...Anjou would die.

I shook my head. “Zihang would never agree to it.” I said quietly. “Susie... was his best friend. He wants to save Lancelot. He can’t just hide out here.”

Erii sighed sadly but she seemed to understand.

“Has he come up with a plan?”

“Yes,” I said, “But part of the plan is that you don’t know about it.”

“What? Ah... fine. He’s planning on leaving me here isn’t he?”

“He’s concerned about the woodblock sound. Once the first phase of the plan is completed, that should be taken care of though.” I smiled at him.

“I’m a liability... aren’t I.” He grumbled.

“Not necessarily... Anjou didn’t think so To him, you were hope. You’re hope to me too.”

He looked at me, his expression unreadable. 

“You don’t believe me but... that’s how I feel.”

He looked away and laughed. “Anyway. How’s Ru’Yi?”

“She’s upstairs playing with Daddy.” I took one of the cakes and took a bite.

He opened his mouth to say something but then paused. “You’re going too?”

“I can’ tell you about it.”

“Then I’ll take that as a yes. If anyone should stay here its you.”

“You know Zihang doesn’t leave chips on the table. He goes all in and he wins.”

Sailor Moon suddenly spun out of thin air, summoned by a holograph projector in the corner of the room. “I have detected and successfully spoofed the tracking signal.”

My heart dropped to the bottom of my chest and I jumped to my feet.

“The signal was coming from the one named Chu Zihang, he’s the one carrying the signal in his 31st Tooth, lower mandibular second molar.”

“He has a tracking signal in his tooth?” Lu Mingfei shouted.

I jumped up and hurried out of the room and up into the bedroom. I opened the door to see Sailor Moon delivering the news to Chu Zihang who was standing up, while a mewling Ru’Yi rubbed the ball on his leg.

He looked at me. “I’ll need the dentist to come here for the extraction.” He said.

“I will continue to transmit the signal per the parameters dictated in the signal -- Biweekly -- spoofing the coordinates requested.”

“The nearest dentist comes into town once a month. I’m afraid there’s a waiting list.”

“We don’t have that kind of time.” Zihang said, his eyes glowing with intensity. “Make it worth his while. Don’t worry about the cost. Once this is over, I’ll pay her back. Tell him to leave the anesthetic at home, I won’t need it.”

‘Contacting.”

“How are you just telling her what to do?” I asked, astonished.

Zihang crossed his arms over his chest. “I convinced Erii to give me Admin privileges.”

“You mean you can control the whole program?”

He gave me a solemn nod.

“What else have you done?” My eyes narrowed. 

He gave me a cryptic smile.

Chu Zihang was an agent who was frequently assigned tasks alone. He had a stellar perfect record of completion. Even when he was assigned to others, he ran off by himself and handled the entire assignment alone by his own ingenuity and skill.

The Gattusos had made a mistake the day they made an enemy of him.

Sailor Moon’s eyes refocused on us. “He’ll be here in two hours.”

“Once the tracker is extracted, I will put the tracker into you after reprogramming it to send its signals to my phone.” Zihang explained.

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

The Dentist arrived at noon. We met him in an outbuilding of the temple. He was short, thin, and a bit nervous when he saw that we were foreigners. He arrived in jeans and a t-shirt that said “Jump the World!” with a leaping platypus cartoon character on it.

Sailor Moon reassured him.

Zihang lay in an inclined chair under a bright light.  “Explain to him that the funds have already been transferred to his account. He should be able to retire in comfort. I’ll need to have the entire tooth extracted.”  

I glanced between them. “He is... licensed, right?”

“Are you sure you don’t want any anaesthetic?”

“No. I want to make sure this is done correctly. I can’t do that if I’m asleep.”

I sighed wearily and relented.

He dentist pulled on his gloves and prepared his instruments, all clean, stainless steel silver and wrapped in plastic. He pulled up a stool next to him.

I didn’t want to watch. I knew there was going to be blood and a lot of pain. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave him so I forced myself to stay.

The dentist opened up his mouth and braced it with a metal bar, stretching it so far open I winced. He then used a suction pump to dry the area.

He then began speaking in the Tibetan language, explaining something.

Sailor Moon translated. “There is actually an insertion in the tooth, a hollowed out cavity hidden by white amalgam. He should be able to use a local anesth-”

“No.” Zihang tried to say, though it was hard to with his mouth jacked open. I chewed my lip and the dentist flinched and then shrugged.

“Remove the entire tooth.” I said, firmly. I looked at Zihang. He would be the one able to extract the device without damaging it. It was critical to my safety. I wouldn’t leave it to others.

The dentist complied reaching for what looked like a silver chisel and started doing only what I could describe as digging into his mouth.

Zihang closed his eyes but other than that he didn’t move.

After a few seconds of that, he put it away, dripping bright blood on the tray, then he grabbed a silver pair of pliers, reached into his mouth with them and pulled.

I saw Zihang give a slight jerk. But that was all.

The dentist applied gauze and pantomimed that Zihang should bite down to put pressure on the wound. He set the extracted tooth on the tray and went to change his gloves.

“Thank you.” I told him.

He glanced up at me but didn’t respond back. He put away his instruments, zipped up his case and walked back out.

“He left us a few pain medications out of sympathy.” I said.

“Not necessary. He was very good.” Zihang said, still clenching the swollen jaw. 

“It didn’t hurt that much huh?” I smirked.

“I’ve felt worse. The swelling and pain should be gone in the next few days.” He sat up. “Meanwhile, I can prepare the device.”

[justshamie]

Bob: The scar

It was raining. Hope never liked it. Everyone seemed to love rain, because it was calming or because it was a great weather to just stay at home. For her it just meant staying put and staying put was waiting. Waiting meant vulnerability. Waiting for a storm. That kind of calm before the storm just made her anxious. Anxiety led to rash decisions and she could not make rash decisions now. The tapping sound over her head made her count seconds in her head. Blood was slowly dripping down her arm. One, two, breathe in, breathe out. The small overhang didn't provide much cover from the rain. Her clothes were sticking to her, soaked and cold. Hidden, but for how long? The sun would start showing up soon. If she would stay there, she would just freeze to death. "Damn it," a soft sigh escaped her lips and she felt tears running down her cheeks. It stung, she could barely feel her face. Looking at her hand, covered in blood she saw it tremble. The bullet was still in her arm. She could hear shouts in the distance and a car starting up. The waves were crashing hard against the dock. She got back up to her feet, wanted to fight, but knew it wouldn't end up well for her. She needed to get out of here. Away from them. She got her gun out of the holster under her arm, groaning in pain. Pulling out the clip and safely tucking it back in in a quick motion, earning another wince. One last bullet. The first eight rounds were somewhere in the leg of one of the guards and the rest she couldn't even tell. She licked her lips, tasting blood and pain soared through her whole face. Wailing loudly she quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. "She's here!" someone shouted from behind the warehouse. She just run. No time for thinking anymore. On the pier, bullets whizzing past her head, she barely looked once at the black water. It was either trying her luck swimming to the shore, or dying from a bullet to the head. She shot blindly behind her and jumped.

"So Detective?" a low laughter came from Viktor Cavendish. "Is that what you call yourself? Private investigator? You see our operation is VIP only and we don't like you two meddling in our business." Viktor stood tall over Roberta's chair, while her pupil's head was hanging limply down. He wore a black suit and the only thing that stood out in the half lit room was his wide, crazy grin and blood splatters on his face. He stared down at the investigator with a spark in his eye, something that unnerved the old woman, but she didn't even blink. "So how about you tell us what you know, so I don't have to do more harm to the little one here?" he grabbed the blonde hair and tugged the young woman's head up. Bruised, bloody and unconcious, Hope didn't show any sign of being alive. "Get your dirty hands away from her, you swine!" Roberta growled in anger. "Oh you want to play hard to get?" he reached out to one of his grunts and a massive knife was handed to him. Placing the end of the blade right at Hope's chin, slicing slowly up. Hope didn't even move away. "I told you I don't have anything more to say to you!" Roberta shouted, looking right at her young apprentice. He plunged the knife slowly into the soft skin cutting right through it. Hope whined unconciously. "I told you everything I know! We didn't even know where your distribution point was! Leave her alone!" "Oh well" he shrugged and swiftly cut right up through Hope's lips and nose. "I guess I have no more use for you." he turned around to his men and barked some command, disappearing with them behind the door. They were gone for half an hour maybe more, before Hope coughed and groaned again. "Hope," she whispered. "please wake up. I need you to wake up." The young woman whined but opened one eye halfway. "Hope they are going to come in here in a moment and take us to the pier, to dump us into the water." Probably our bodies, Roberta thought, not us. "Honey, I need you to wake up. It's all up to you now." Hope groaned and brought her head up slowly, spitting blood on the floor. She could barely tell which part of her body didn't hurt. She looked around, half lit room, some old warehouse from what she could tell. Roberta was looking at her with concern written on her face. "Hope you still have your gun," she whispered. "I need you to shoot and run when I tell you." A low groan was all she could muster. A few moments later, men came in and grabbed both of them, cutting them away from the chairs and dragged them outside. They both ended up on their knees right at the pier. Looking at the black void beneath them. Hope couldn't even see where the pier started and where the water was crashing against it. "I'm proud of you. Always." Roberta whispered. "Now." What happened moments later, felt like images flashing in front of her. Her body reacted on instinct and adrenaline. Roberta in front of her covering her from fire. She grabbed her gun. Men shouting for her to get back on her knees. Bullets hitting Roberta's chest and one hitting Hope in her arm. She fired hitting one of them in the legs, barely able to keep the gun up. Men scattering behind cover. Her mentor's body falling limply into the water. Blank eyes and pained scowl frozen on her face was the last thing Hope saw. Then she was running. Just running.

Hope woke up in a white, synthetically smelling room. The hospital bed was brought a bit up, steady machine beeping next to her. She felt bandages on her face and something tugging on her lip and nose. Not even trying to open her mouth she looked down. Her leg was in a cast and her hands covered in small, halfway healed up cuts. The door to the room opened, with a nurse and a smiling police officer quietly bickering to eachother. "You should've seen her face, she thought­-" the nurse didn't finish her sentence seeing Hope's eyes opened. "Oh my- , Hank get me a doctor here right now. Miss, you're at Riverside Memorial Hospital. You are safe." Hope tried to bring up a hand to her mouth, but her muscles barely twitched. Tears fell down her face and she breathed in, feeling something tugging at the side of her nose again. The nurse smiled sadly and sat down next to her. "Miss, your face needed stitches and you might feel tugging. We will remove them soon. I would like to ask you not to open your mouth for now, not to tear them down." she patted her hand gently and got up to swich the IV bag. "The doctor will come soon to see you."

Staying in the hospital might have seemed like it took ages. The only thing that Hope thought about was the blank stare and pained expression she saw on Roberta's face, when she was falling. 'I'm proud of you. Always.' the last words rang in her ears. Her mentor, her only family, her home. It was gone. Her face was healing really slowly, even with the laser reconstruction. After ten days the surgeon came to take off her stitches. With that she could start speaking, with speaking came milions of questions. 'What happened?' was the one that popped up the most. They already knew who she was, from what they pulled out of her phone. The built into her bracelet device didn't get damaged at all. Everything they had on Cavendish. Recordings, photographs, documents, receipts, even their meeting was there. Police caught him three days later, when he tried to flee the country. His goons either disappeared or caught. Roberta was right for her to record everything too. Somehow the fact they treated her like she wasn't important made them lose everything. They haven't checked for the phone, for the gun. She was just a child that was collateral damage. 'Too bad Viktor' she thought. 'Thank you for underestimating me.' It saved her life, but at what cost. They found Roberta's body not long after. Ironically enough on the same beach that Hope was found by some early day jogger. She answered all the question police asked, gave full statements. Her throat on fire, but she gave them everything they needed. She didn't speak after, until they finished autopsy and it was time for the funeral. Someone came over to the hospital room, said she was Roberta's old friend. Hope only stared at the window outside. Blank eyes of her mentor still sharp in her head. She remembered crying soundly, the old friend, Diana, she said, call me Diana. She brought her clothes, food, sat with her all day, not talking, just being. When the day came she pushed the wheelchair, it was sunny during the funeral. Hope didn't cry through the ceremony. She didn't cry when everyone left. She sat there, Diana next to her like she was all that time. Just staring blindly. 'I'm proud of you. Always.' she wanted to get mad at her for saying that. "She called me not so long ago, you know, and told me if anything happened, to take care of you. She knew." Diana crouched next to the wheelchair. "She said 'she's like a daughter to me'." For the first time since she woke up in the hospital, recognition showed on Hope's face. Diana had wet cheeks from crying, her face slowly showing signs of heavy wrinkles. A kind, understanding smile on her face. "Thank you." Hope said and tears rolled down her face. "Let's get you home."