There was absolutely no fucking way, Anne thought to herself, Denver actually needed this many new buildings. As she walked through the skeleton of a building while the wind blew around her through the open walls, she recognized that it definitely benefited her in the moment, but it was just fucking obnoxious. This whole development was probably just the result of gentrification, built on some culturally important site or a Native American burial ground or something. Although, arguably, most of the continent was a Native American burial ground - Anne shook her head. Not important.
One thing at a time, Anne reminded herself. All that there was left to do was get the conflux working and make it to the Way. Anne glanced to the currently hollow elevator shaft in the center of the building. Looked like hoofing it back to the roof was her only out now. Not like she ever really had an out, per se, but - damnit, stay focused, she reminded herself once more. It's just nerves. Everything went well. The Coalition and the Foundation dealt with each other just fine.
Anne figured she should just focus on the task at hand. She fiddled with the obtuse device as she walked, quietly cursing its unintuitive design. Not like there's really much need to make anything for Greens now, but after today, maybe, she thought. She'd never actually used the thing before - considering how much shit she went through to get her hands on it in the first place - but eventually she got the thing glowing and humming.
After a few seconds, things started… collapsing around it. Not literally, at least Anne didn't think so, but the world seemed to get pulled into taut threads which converged around the conflux in her hand as well as Anne herself. She focused on one of the threads and pulled on it like she did with other people's thoughts. It strained slightly, and Anne felt the presence of someone else. Down on the street, worried about missing something. Okay then, that was way, way farther than she would normally be able to read someone. The thing worked.
Anne breathed a sigh of relief. This wouldn't all be for nothing after all. Just a few more floors and she'd be home free.

Conflux [activated/empowered]. [Communication/Link/Telephone wire] clarity increased.

Iris clutched her head. Not only was that damn voice getting even more talkative, but the whole world seemed like it was swimming, twisting and aligning itself into threads. Jaqueline didn't seem to notice, but came to a stop when she realized she'd passed Iris.
"Sir? You alright?" she asked. At least she didn't try getting closer to Iris this time.
"Fine!" Iris waved the hand that wasn't clutched to her forehead dismissively. "I'm fine. Anne's doing something, we need to go find her."
Jaqueline pursed her lips. It didn't seem like she was buying Iris' insistence on pushing forward. "Look, I'm sorry, but she's gone. No way in hell of finding which way she went in this place," she said as she turned and gestured to the rows upon rows of indistinguishable support beams. "Let's just head back. Adams should have gotten to the car by now."

You need [help/me]. Help [yourself] by [reaching]. [Feel/Read] parts of their [self].

"…Sir?" Jaqueline leaned over a slight bit when she noticed Iris wasn't focusing on her.
"Shhh!" Iris held up her hand to get her to shut up.

Feel [threads]. They [connect everything/entwine reality/enmesh us/are always-online social media].

She figured that maybe if the thing the voice was saying actually worked, she probably wasn't going insane. Steadying her breathing, she stood back up and tried to focus on the threads.
"Jaqueline, do you see all this?" Iris asked.
"See what…?" Jaqueline looked over her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Iris didn't bother answering. If it was just her, then maybe… it was like her photographs.

Focus on [information/memories]. [Process/Assimilate].

She wasn't really sure what that meant, but tried focusing on the threads like they were her photographs. Maybe it was just because she was focusing on it, but one of the threads seemed to pull closer to her. After a short while, she felt that familiar tugging sensation behind her eyes… and the sense that she was looking at someone acting very smug.

[You/Me/We] [similar/same].

"Anne went that way," Iris said, trying to push the threads out of her head. She checked her revolver and began walking away
"What?" Jaqueline gawked, staying put. She seemed confused. Well, not like Iris had told her anything. Or that she had to, Iris thought bitterly.
"Just follow me," Iris growled. Jaqueline sighed, but followed Iris nonetheless as she started jogging to catch up.

Anne was fiddling with the supplies she'd left one story below the roof when she felt something. No, not something. Someone, or rather two of them, she realized as she focused on them more. She pulled the threads linking them to her a bit more. Seemed like they were looking for something. Some of the workers poking around? No, Anne wouldn't be so lucky. She needed their focus on her if she was going to be able to dig any more.
"Didn't expect you to get out of that! I guess that one's on me!" Anne yelled out through the construction site, her voice echoing off the steel skeleton.
The threads linking Anne to the other two snapped towards her and she recognized the feeling immediately. It was those the big guy and shrimpy from earlier. She smirked while rummaging through her supplies for the explosives she stashed. "Hey, where's your solidarity, guys? We're all weirdos here, right?"
Iris in particular was focused on Anne in a weird way, almost like she was pulling back on her thread. All the better to read her with. Anne felt her running up ahead to cut her off, while Jackie seemed to be slowly creeping up behind her. Iris would probably make it to the staircase before Anne, but…
Anne's brow furrowed. There was a room with exposed ductwork right before the staircase. If she could somehow get Iris in there and knock it down, she'd be crushed, leaving Anne free to move. There was scaffolding between this floor and the roof, too. So long as OSHA still had a place in the hearts and minds of hardworking blue-collar Americans, she'd be able to climb up that way without it collapsing. She just had to keep their attention on her while she moved to keep tabs on them with the threads. Anne gathered up as many explosives as would fit in her satchel and started moving towards where Iris was planning to cut her off.
She ran for about a minute in silence, just trying to cover as much ground as possible. Her footsteps echoed around the building's frame and back to her, illuminated by nothing but rows and rows of the same LED lights. No sound came from the entire structure but the soft creaking of the steel in the wind. No signs of life but her own footsteps echoing back to her. Anne gritted her teeth, clutching her satchel and jogging. It was unnerving, honestly, just how quiet those two were. She pulled their threads closer, and told herself that she was in control. Everything had been going great. She couldn't lose her nerve now.
Once the silence became too much and she felt her pursuers' attention moving away from her, she yelled into the wind again. "You guys are awfully committed to this, and I don't think it was even in your mission in the first place," Anne laughed, doing her best to project her voice. "Do you even want to be here?" Their attention shifted back. They were closer now, but Anne couldn't read them well enough to say for sure how her situation was looking. She decided to focus on each one individually.
Without slowing down her pace, she called out to the one behind her. "What about you, Jackie? You looked so fucking clueless I almost felt bad for you." Anne yelled into the empty corridors of the building. Jackie's attention shifted towards her. Anne could feel her nervous disposition, but also got the sense she was breathing down her neck.
"What about you, Iris?" Anne asked, rounding a corner as the staircase to the next floor came into sight. "I've seen men with micropenises overcompensating less than you." Anne pulled on Iris' thread, gently, so as not to tip her off, and felt her head swimming. Anne smirked. Seems like whatever happened with the Coalition did a number on her. Iris was trying to focus on Anne to cover up… fear? Some kind of concern? She could exploit this.
Anne ran up to the room with the exposed ductwork and stopped. She could tell Iris was on the other end of the room, just waiting for Anne to run forwards. "You know, Sir, I'd try to keep that temper under control. Leaders with that attitude tend to end up with all their buddies six feet under," Anne said with as much venom as she could muster.
Anne felt Iris' emotions flare up and smiled. She took the bait. Anne sidestepped behind the empty door frame as Iris pushed up on her through the room and fished for a smaller explosive charge. No need to kill another anomaly so close to getting what she deserved. Anne counted one, two, three steps, until she was certain Iris wouldn't have time to react, and tossed the explosive at the ceiling.
An almost resigned "Shit" was all Iris could muster before about twenty yards of air vents fell on her, trapping her in the room. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps behind Anne tipped her off that now would be a good time to make for that scaffolding and get out of here.

"Iris! Iris, are you okay?" Jackie called out as she run up to where she heard the explosion, stealth be damned. She could take whatever that Insurgent threw at her.
"I'm fi-" Iris' response was quickly cut off by a series of hacking coughs and the sound of aluminum being shifted around. "I'm fine."
Jackie saw Iris on the ground in a cloud of dust, angrily trying to shove a length of air duct tubing off of herself, bleeding from the forehead. She swore under her breath and ran to help her, ignoring Anne as she shimmied up some scaffolding like some kind of rabid primate.
She easily threw off all the debris but stayed crouching down to look at Iris, concern evident on her face and in her voice. "Sir, you're bleeding. Are you alright?"
"Fine, I'm fine." Iris didn't seem to notice as she forced herself up, grimacing from her injuries but otherwise not acknowledging them. "Anne's right there. We've almost got her."
Jackie clenched her jaw. Just what the hell was Iris trying to do at this point? They'd already done their job, she was hurt, they were split up from everyone else, and Iris clearly wasn't fine. "Sir, we're out of our depth. We need to-"
Both Jackie and Iris were knocked over by yet another explosion. Iris yelped as Jackie pushed Iris behind her. Once the dust began to settle and Iris had finished yelling about the indignity of being dragged around, Jackie took stock of the environment. The scaffolding had totally collapsed, and the staircase up to the roof - already rickety-looking - had disintegrated, with Anne waving smugly at the top.
"Hey, hell of a try, you two," she jeered. "Ah, but don't worry about it too much! This'll really help us out in the long run, you'll see." She then practically skipped off. Well, at least someone was having a good time.
"You - You bitch!" Iris forced out the insult in between coughing fits, indignation from being manhandled apparently forced from her mind by the taunt. She stood up and took two steps towards the staircase, before turning back to face Jackie as she started rapidly pacing, muttering to herself about needed to get up. Jackie sighed. It didn't seem like Iris was going to focus on anything else but Anne. Jackie watched her weave her way through the construction equipment as she left through the glass ceiling.
The… glass… ceiling…
"Iris!" Jackie called as a lightbulb went off in her head. Iris jumped, clearly not expecting any form of enthusiasm from her partner. "Do you still have the photos of Site-17's armory?"
"What? Uh, yes." Iris was visibly confused, but at least she was focusing on Jackie now.
Jackie smiled, pointing up to where Anne ran off to. "The ceiling is tempered glass."
"I know, it looks stupid as shit. Pisses me off."
"Look, that's - not the point." Jackie shook her head. "You get some of the demolition charges from your photo and blow the glass. She'll fall right onto us. Give her a taste of her own medicine."
Iris considered it, but wasn't immediately swayed by Jackie's tone. She didn't reach for the stack of polaroids in her jacket pocket. "No. This isn't even a finished project. All that equipment could cause a collapse." She looked up at Jackie. "Boost me up."
"Sir, I know about these things. The building will be fine." Jackie had seen enough broken-down buildings on her expeditions to know the strength of them. A steel frame like this would be nowhere close to collapsing.
"Like hell I'll listen to that. Just because you'll be fine doesn't make it safe. Boost me up there," Iris scoffed
Jackie cringed. She knew her plan would work, but she didn't have time to argue. This would only put Iris in more danger. "Iris," she pleaded, "trust me on this."
Another moment's hesitation was all that won her. "No. Get me up there. Now." Iris walked up to where the staircase used to be and looked at Jackie expectantly. "That's an order."
Jackie groaned. She didn't know what she expected, but it was like Iris didn't even care that she was still bleeding. Still, there wasn't much Jackie could do with a direct order if she still wanted to get outside of her testing chamber much. She crouched down and offered her hand for Iris to step on.
Once Iris had pulled herself up to the roof, Jackie called after her. "Be careful, okay? I'll come help you when I find a way up."
As expected, she didn't get a response.

Iris gripped the revolver in her hands, focusing on her breathing to calm herself down while ignoring the stinging pains on the back of her hand and forehead. She had to peek over the equipment she was taking cover behind and scan her surroundings. She couldn't let her nerves get the better of her. All she had to do was focus on the here and now.

This [focus/devotion/single-mindedness] is [blinding/harmful/endangering]. Poor decision-making as a-

She banged her head against the metal body of the equipment. "If I need your help I'll ask for it," she spat.

You possess a head injury. Perhaps a mental irregularity as well. Unfortunate.

After hissing through her teeth, Iris finally resolved to poke her head up over the top. Maybe a bullet in the brain would shut this thing up, she figured.
Cautiously, she looked out across the rooftop… and absolutely couldn't see a damn thing. Whoever was working here had left all their lights on overnight, and the glare from them in the dead of night was absolutely blinding. Iris squinted against them for several seconds, but despite her best efforts, still couldn't see anything, least of all Anne.

Eyes are [unreliable/easily tricked/under an expired warranty]. Finding others using [threads] is reliable.

Iris lowered her head back down, though she wasn't sure if it was the result of simply deciding to stop looking or exasperation. "Why didn't you say that earlier?" Iris groaned.

…

Oh, now it didn't want to talk. Whatever. Deciding that she'd give that a shot before running in front of an Insurgent's gun, Iris once again tried focusing on the threads from earlier. They were a bit easier to get ahold of this time, either due to how close she was to Anne or from practice. Her attention snapped to the thread that was being pulled in a strange way and focused on that one.

Good. Perhaps the mental irregularity is not as severe as I had [feared/anticipated/betted on].

Deciding that she was above responding to that (she was not), Iris instead tugged on the thread. Sure enough, it gave way to another feeling - one that she was looking at a smug asshole. It was coming from about 11 o'clock, some ways ahead.
Crouching down to hide beneath all the exposed equipment, she made her way over, careful to stay focused on the thread. She'd always been good at staying quiet when she needed to be, and the winds whipping around her masked any sound her footsteps might have caused. As she got closer and closer to the endpoint of the thread, she slowed down. Taking cover behind what looked to be an unattached air exchanger, Iris took a peek around it to make sure the voice wasn't feeding her bullshit.
Sure enough, Iris could see Anne near the edge of the building. Well, some of her, at least - she was hiding behind a large metal box but left her legs visibly poking out, looking like she was kneeling. Pulling on the thread once more, Iris felt a sense of self-assuredness. Definitely Anne, then. Iris thought of the stinging pain on her head and hand and relished the thought of wiping the smirk off her face as she readied herself to confront her.

Senses of emotion from [threads] are [meaningful/useful/critical].

Hearing the voice pipe up at the last second stopped Iris in her tracks. Glancing around, she whispered "Well, what do you want me to do?"

You are the one with the gun. [Consider it/Act on it/Figure it out yourself].

Iris just shook her head. Not committing to a plan was asking for failure, she told herself, and approached Anne with her gun raised, still keeping quiet before she had the gun right up Anne's ass. Just a few more feet, and…
Anne's head poked out from behind the box. It looked neutral for a second, then changed to a… happy expression? Iris blinked. Anne then raised her right hand to wave at Iris, which looked a little odd as she was holding a… detonator. Hm. Okay. Well, uh. Fuck.
Her thumb pressed down on it, and a series of small, controlled explosions triggered in a line in front of Iris. She threw herself backwards, shielding her face with her arm as she heard a series of awful metallic groans and screeches. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that all the tempered glass between her and Anne had been shattered, with all of the equipment having fallen down to the floor below. The overall integrity of the building, however, seemed totally fine.

Judgement proven unsound. [Partner/Adversary] has proven more [stable].

"Iris! Iris, you still there?" Jaqueline's voice came up from the new hole in the roof. She had the gall to be sounding all concerned when she was probably just checking to see if she could still tell Iris she told her so.
"It's been fun, you two!" Anne called out as she ducked behind the box again to finish whatever she was working on. Iris didn't really know what it was, but she was sure it wasn't good. Her eyes darted down to the gap. Looked about six or seven feet. Pieces of the metal frame jutting out at odd angles. Probably wouldn't be able to do very much to defend herself if she jumped it, though…
An odd ringing noise pulled Iris' attention to where Anne was standing. The space behind the box looked like it was being pushed apart like fresh lava coming up from a volcano as a colorless void took shape. Anne glanced over her shoulder to look at Iris one last time before stepping through.

[Way/Tear/One-way ticket] is her [escape/egress]. Little time to act.

Iris cursed. She looked down at the gap. Chances were she'd probably slip right out of the window on the floor below if she missed. She took a deep breath. Guess I won't miss, then, she told herself. Ignoring the yelling coming from below her, she sprinted for the gap and leapt as far as she could.
Her hands caught herself on the other side, though she could still feel her feet dangling. Looking up, she saw the void rapidly shrinking. She tried to pull herself up in a mild panic, but felt her jacket get caught on the rebar. No, she wasn't losing her after all that shit. Not after everything. Iris hastily shook her jacket off and rolled onto the floor. Without giving herself a chance to breathe, she stumbled to her feet and towards the void.

[Ways/Tears/One-way trips] difficult to navigate without experience. [Good luck/Godspeed/Time to inform your next of kin].

Closing her eyes and shutting out the stinging from her wounds and the voice in her head, and the voice below her, Iris threw herself in after Anne and felt every part of her body get stretched apart.

« Voices Carry: Part 2 | Devil's Advocate Hub | Voices Carry: Part 4 »


Adams stood up, slowly, so as not to piss off either of the people pointing guns at her. "Well, it's been fun, but, ah, perhaps we should get going so you can attend to these new guests of yours," she said as she gestured towards the pair of people very clearly reaching for concealed handguns in the doorway.
"Wha… No, hold on." The man sitting behind the desk named… Murone? Moore? Something with an M, stood up as well. "Those two just said you're Foundation."
"Yeah, and they got a source for that?" She glared at Foxx, who finally seemed to get the hint and shot out of his chair, which only earned him two guns pointed at him.
"Ah, apologies, friends…" Foxx muttered as he raised his hands in an inoffensive gesture. Adams wondered how many bullets he would take before they noticed her making a break for it.
"Look, the money's good, right?" Adams pointed to the briefcase sitting next to Murray.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Good! So we're good!" Adams snatched up the flash drive with one hand and grabbed Foxx by the collar as she started inching backwards. "Well, it's been fun, but I think it's time we conclude our proceedings."
Nothing. Michael's face turned from confused to angered. "You stop right there. You're not leaving here with that."
"Ah, no we- we were just…" Adams looked over her shoulder. The only thing behind her was the door to the women's room. "I was just saying we should conclude our proceedings!"
Absolute silence. Everyone just stared at her, and Foxx seemed to be ducking down as much as he could while Adams was still holding him by his shirt collar. That was the goddamn code. Iris was supposed to start shooting. Where the hell was that girl?

Iris wound up for another kick between the legs, just to be sure he was really gonna stay down. Then another to be extra safe. Fuck it, another because he was weird yesterday.
If what that Asian woman in the photograph of the other room was doing was anything to go by, they were probably Coalition, so she couldn't just double-tap him without causing a diplomatic incident. Eh, he wasn't rolling around enough. One more kick ought to do it.
Alright, well, chances were everyone would be heading for the exfiltration point in the garage, if what Adams had said was anything to go by. Iris snapped her head to look out the window as soon as she thought of that. Shit, she hadn't been able to watch what had happened. She jammed her hand into her coat pocket, sifting past the photos she'd been watching that guy walk up to her through, and settled on the seventh one.
Pulling it out, she saw Adams pick Foxx up by the shirt collar and… throw him out of a window. Wow. Iris didn't take her as the type to snap first, but she supposed better Foxx than her, guy was a-
"My leg!" Foxx's voice came from the photograph as Adams jumped after him.
Oh, right, there was a terrace out there. Ah, well. Guess she was still stuck with them. Iris brought the photo closer to her face. "Adams?"
"Iris!" She sounded pissed as she yanked Foxx onto his feet and started jogging. "Where the hell were you?"
"Coalition agent tried to get the drop on me," Iris replied as she stared walking towards the emergency exit stairwell.
"Shit. Did you get him?"
Iris looked over her shoulder to the blithering mass rolling around on the ground. "Yeah, all clear. Did you end up getting what we came for?" Iris stuck her hand through the photo.
"Yeah, here you go." Adams took a moment away from making sure Foxx's bone would fit back into his leg alright to hand Iris a flash drive, which she then dumped into a picture of a lockbox in Site-17. "We might be a little late to the garage, someone forgot how to take a landing."
"My leg is in multiple pieces!" Foxx sounded more indignant than pained.
"It always is, dumbass. That's how bones work. That green shit'll heal up fine anyways," Adams said as she jammed a piece of bone back behind Foxx's shin in spite of his audible discomfort.
Iris groaned and tucked the picture back into its place, taking another one out as she pushed open the heavy metal door and started running down the staircase down to the sublevels of the building. probably a good idea to see if whoever was in the office was following Adams.
Fourth, fifth, and sixth photos. Looks like the office had been evacuated, so Iris missed them. She shoved the sixth photo into her pocket, then the fifth before she noticed movement on the fourth. A black-haired woman was fiddling with what looked like the door to a safe for a few seconds before she ducked away and the door blew open.
Iris slowed down. The office had been empty for ten, maybe fifteen seconds at this point? If this woman had gotten in so quickly, she must have been waiting for the opportunity beforehand.
The woman fished some metal cylinder out of the safe and tossed it up and down in her hand, chuckling to herself. Iris squinted at the picture. If this person knew exactly what was going to happen, there was a good chance she'd need to report her appearance…
The black-haired woman stopped, and Iris stopped walking as well. She slowly looked up to make exact eye contact with Iris, who nearly dropped the photo. How the hell…
No, she wouldn't have been able to see anything on her end. Probably some coincidence.
As soon as Iris had that thought, the woman bolted. Cursing, Iris smashed the photo back into her pocket haphazardly and began running again. She had bigger problems.

As soon as Spider got to the top of the stairs, she heard the door to the emergency stairwell to her right slam. She turned to look, but was pulled away by Skunkboy's moans. She felt her stomach drop as she saw him rolling around on the ground.
"Skunkie! Skunkie, oh gods, did you get hit?" Spider asked as she ran to his side. He only groaned in response.
"Muh… my… my balls…" was all he managed to get out in between breaths.
"You… oh my gods," Spider said as her face immediately changed to one of annoyance. "I thought you got shot!"
"It fuckin' hurts!"
"I was getting period cramps during our last op and I wasn't bitching about it!" The sheer audacity of Skunkboy to be rolling around on the ground in a time like this. Spider unthinkingly slapped him like she was used to doing when they were bantering - which hit him between the legs again. Okay, that one was on her.
"Spider, come in." Spider's hand jumped from Skunkboy, who was now rolling around even more, to her earpiece. "Get me a reading on where the TEs are headed."
"Right, one second." Spider threw aside the bandages that she thought she was going to need and reached for her tablet. "Looks like… ours is headed down to the garage, and the other two are still in your building."
A pause while Bullfrog considered his options. "Alright. We'll cut them off in the garage. Regroup on me, understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Spider responded dutifully. Skunkboy continued groaning.
"Is Skunkboy hit?" Bullfrog asked in the same tone of voice he used all the time.
"Nah, one of the Threat Entities just kicked him in the balls."
"Like SEVEN TIMES!" Oh, there you go. Looks like he finally managed to say something coherent. See, he was fine.
Bullfrog snorted. "Eh, tell him to get over it. Happened to me." With that, he disconnected.
"At least mine still work, I got something to mourn," Skunkboy muttered as he tried rolling onto his stomach to stand up.

Jackie calmly stepped out of the elevator and made her way through the sublevel tunnels at an even pace. Public operations were all about acting natural, or so she'd been told. Honestly, she hadn't been around to walk around in cities that weren't already destroyed for a little while, and it's not like she had much experience in clandestine operations besides. At least now all they had to do was make it to the car and drive away.
Although Adams and Foxx seemed like they were going to be a while with that leg injury. Was Jackie supposed to get the car? She hadn't driven since she'd gotten her augmentations in, but Adams had explicitly told Jackie that Iris couldn't drive. Apparently she'd tried teaching her, but Iris just managed to hit the only parked car in Site-17's axillary lot when she got behind the wheel, then demanded that Adams pay for the damages since she was the one who messed up teaching. Which did sound like Iris, but it's not like a skip could really make any money in the-
Jackie bumped into a black-haired woman, her imposing size knocking them to the ground. Ah, she should really be more careful. She must have gained a foot and fifty pounds after the augmentations were finished. "Sorry about that, my bad." She leaned down to help the person up. Being polite was part of not acting suspicious, right?
As soon as the person looked up, someone skidded around the corner of the hallway the woman came from, hopping on one foot as their inertia tried to slam them into the wall before tearing down the hall towards Jackie. They were blonde, wearing a dark blue suit, holding a camera - Oh god, it was Iris.
She looked surprised to see Jackie for a second before she started yelling "Jacqueline! Don't let her get out of here!"
The woman yipped and started to scamper away, but doing as she was told, Jackie grabbed her by the shoulder of her shirt and lifted her off the ground as her legs spun helplessly. It wasn't too hard, she wasn't much taller than Iris and about as stringy.
"Oh, oh god, please, I'll give you my money!" The woman Jackie's commander told her to grab was… hyperventilating? "Just let me go! I just got lost, okay? I have a family!" Tears were streaming down her face as she clasped her hands together as though praying.
"Don't you act dumb," Iris said in a stern voice as she pulled her revolver out of its holster and checked the cylinder.
"No! No, no, no, please! I'll give you whatever you want! Just let me go!" The fear in the woman's eyes compared to the coldness in Iris' was starting to concern Jackie.
"Iris, are you sure you got the right person? This doesn't look like a Coa-"
"Shut it, alright?" Iris spared three words and a one-second glance for Jackie before pointing her gun at the woman, who was furiously shaking her head as tears streamed down her face. Notably, she stopped several feet away so as to point her gun at both of them instead of walking up next to Jackie. Cool.
"God, look, I-I don't have a phone, but you can take my-"
"Cut the shit, alright? I saw you take something from the office as soon as it cleared out. No way in hell you just happened to be walking by with a shaped charge for a safe."
The woman looked at Iris, then to Jackie, then back to Iris again before letting out a long sigh and shrugging her shoulders. "Well," she said, with a bored expression as she wiped her face with her sleeve, "can't blame a girl for trying."
Jackie blinked a few times. She felt like she just got severe whiplash from what she just saw. "You can, ah, let me go now, big guy," she said as she gestured towards Iris. "I think your buddy's got me covered," she said as she tapped Jackie's arm a couple times and offered a wry smile.
Iris nodded to Jackie once, and she slowly lowered the woman down to the ground. Jackie was expecting her to bolt, but she just straightened out her clothes and ran her hand through her hair.
As soon as she did, Jackie felt a slight tugging sensation behind her eyes. Odd, as she didn't get headaches anymore, but even weirder was how it got worse when the black-haired woman looked at her. Just as Iris looked like she was about to say something, the woman snapped her fingers and pointed at the two of them with both hands. "I'd say Serpent's Hand, but you're dressed like narcs. So I'm gonna go wiiiiiith… Foundation?"
Iris gritted her teeth. She always seemed on edge, but this was… worse, somehow. Maybe she was feeling the same thing Jackie was? Jackie was used to stuff like this from all her trips, but it probably would set someone like Iris on edge. "Jacqueline, pat her down." Iris shifted her hand around the grip of her revolver. "She took something from the office, I saw her."
"Ah, I'll stop you right there." The woman held one hand out to stop Jackie, and grabbed something behind her back with the other. "Name's Anne, by the way."
She looked in between Iris and Jackie and gestured vaguely with her hands. "What, since you gave me yours. Only fair," Anne said as she plopped a metal cylinder in Jackie's hand.
Jackie turned it around in her hand. Looked a little bit like a battery-powered camp lantern, save for a lot of… what looked like pulsating electronics in the middle. Iris' eyes darted between Anne and the device almost faster than she could keep track of. Didn't seem like much, though, and Jackie had to make write-ups of technology native on her expeditions. Flipping it over to the other side, her finger pushed in on something in the paneling-

The sensation from before had felt like something pulling on Iris - not her body, but something that was her, somehow - but this one felt more like a gentle pressure. Lightly, almost politely pushing on her. Almost like a kind of osmosis, a small part of it came in.

[Hello/Welcome].

"You - what the hell was that?" Iris demanded. Anne looked bemused, and Jackie looked at her with a concerned look. Rich. "That - the voice!"
Anne blew air past her lips, which turned into laughter. "Wow, you good? They telling you to steal this place's copper wiring or something?"
"Quiet!" Iris pointed her gun at Anne… harder, or something.
"Iris, look. She's probably an infovore." Jacqueline looked around the hall they were in nervously. "Let's just take her in when Adams gets here," she said in a calm voice. Like she was talking down to her.
"Christ, you two really are cops. Calling mindbenders infovores is like calling a murder a… ten-forty-two or something, I dunno," Anne said while scratching her head.
Iris scoffed "Pretty shitty mind reader if you got caught, huh?"
Anne shrugged. "Never said I wasn't."

[Same/Alike].

Iris gritted her teeth. That had to just be Anne fucking with her. She hated it. Hated having a voice behind her own ears. "Shut up, will you? You're the one who set this whole thing up, aren't you?" She waved her gun accusatorily.
Anne put her hands up in mock surrender. "Well, duh. How else was I supposed to get that? Burned a lot of bridges with my old pals setting this whole things up." Anne rested a hand on her chin. "Though I suppose that won't matter much after today."
"Iris, can we all just… calm down a bit here? We shouldn't just be standing around like this," Jaqueline said in a pleading tone.
"Yeah, listen to your pal here. I didn't ditch the Insurgency just to get turned into a stain by some shrimp," Anne laughed.

[Clouding/Obscuring]. Other.

"Sh-Shrimpy? We're the same body type!" Once Iris was done saying that, she realized she wasn't really sure why she felt like she had to respond. Anne just laughed again.

Other.

"Wait, uh, Insurgency?" Jaqueline's eyes widened a bit once that finally clicked.
"Well, doy. How else was I supposed to feed both you guys and the Coalition the same bit? I will say, though, I wasn't expecting Alpha-Niner. I'm flattered," Anne said in a mock-appreciative tone.

Other.

Iris gnashed her teeth. Was that all that damn thing could say now? "And why the hell would you be telling us this, anyways?"
"Easy," Anne said as she pointed behind Iris. "I was stalling."
Son of a bitch. Iris whipped around just in time to see a seven-foot-tall woman down the hallway level a pistol at her.

Told. You.

She felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand as her ears started ringing from the sound of a gunshot in a closed concrete tunnel. Her legs moved without thinking, which was, in general, a good survival instinct for when a bullet takes a chunk of skin of your hand, but, due to the circumstances, only succeed in throwing her back into Jaqueline.
Both reacting to the gunshot and the impact, Jaqueline lost her grip on the cylinder - idiot - which Anne promptly grabbed and started busting ass down the hall with.
Iris threw her arms back at the unfamiliar sensation of contact, especially from her, only resuming her scramble when she felt a bullet smack her in the back. Her suit was made with ballistic fibers, and the bullet was hollow point, but it fucking hurt. She scrambled after Anne, who was rapidly rounding a corner.
"Got them, Spider! Tell Skunkboy to grow a pair and get down here!" Iris heard a man's voice from behind her but didn't bother looking back. There were at least two of them now, and Iris at least needed to make some space before trying anything smart.
Turning a corner, Iris saw Anne walking through a door - a door! - which she then started closing behind her. As Iris got closer to the door, she saw it was made out of thick metal, and that Anne was holding a ring of keys.
Uh oh.
Iris slammed herself into the door as Anne shut it, her hand shooting for the handle - it didn't budge. On the other side of the thick and narrow glass pane embedded in the door, Anne grinned at Iris and saluted her with two figners. Iris smacked the glass with the back of her hand while holding up her middle finger, but Anne turned and walked away. She walked. Spinning her keys around her finger and whistling. Bitch.

Outplayed. Disappointment.

Iris smacked her forehead with her palm. Yeah, that'll teach 'em.

[Me]. Unharmed.

Iris was considering more creative ways to hit herself in the head when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching and spun around to point her gun at them. It wasn't Coalition, though, just Jaqueline rounding the corner and pressing herself to the wall as though that would somehow make her invisible despite her height. "Uh, sir? Any ideas?"
"I told you not to call me that," Iris grumbled. She was getting really sick of Jaqueline's whole newbie schtick. "She got away with that thing that you were supposed to hold on to." Jaqueline's face dropped, but she didn't defend herself. Typical. Acting like she was just some poor little thing. "I need to get this door open, cover me."
"Uh, got it, sir," Jaqueline said as she peeked around the corner to see how close the two Coalition agents were. Luckily, she didn't have to look for very long, as the taller one absolutely fucking rocked Jaqueline's shit with her fist as soon as she stuck her head out around the corner.
Iris cursed and started leafing through her photos. From the back of the stack, she counted 27, 26, 25, and pulled out photo number 24. She could blow the door, but then she'd be shit out of luck for slowing down her pursuers, and she had shorter legs. Jaqueline better at least be good for giving me enough time to pick this, she thought.

Cornered. [Defeat/Surrender].

Pulling the lockpicks out and jamming them into the lock, Iris looked over her shoulder. Jaqueline was getting her fucking ass beat. Iris kind of assumed as much, with how much she liked to go on about how I'm a scientist by trade, but all that shit they put in her should at least let her eat the hits.
A particularly nasty haymaker from the Coalition agent forced Iris' attention back to the lock.

Inopportune.

First pin came easy. Iris heard the second Coalition agent catching up.
Second pin. Sounded like Jaqueline actually got a hit in.
Third pin. The man from before shouted something about backup.
Fourth pin. The blood on Iris' hand was making it harder to grab the pick.
Fifth pin. There was a click, and the door handle came unlocked.
Iris opened the door, and stepped into the doorway to hide behind the metal door. Looking back, she saw… Jaqueline actually got the Coalition agent into a headlock. Whaddaya know. It looked like she wasn't used to losing hand-to-hand engagements, as she was flinging her limbs about with a look of pure, unbridled rage on her face, but was still unable to get Jaqueline to budge.
"Hey, come on, we gotta-" Iris stopped yelling as she saw the other Coalition agent reading his gun and aiming it at Jaqueline.
"Kitten, hold still!" He barked. The seven-foot-tall woman went totally limp.
"Shit. Hey! Get over here!" Iris yelled. Jaqueline turned to look at the man aiming a gun at her, and just… dropped the woman and took a single step back. Didn't even try to make it to Iris.
For his part, the man didn't hesitate. As soon as he had a clear shot, he pulled the trigger. Jaqueline's head whipped back from the impact, a spurt of blood coming out, and the space around her head looked like shattered glass. In less then a second, the distortion enveloped her whole body before collapsing in on itself, and then she simply wasn't there.

Escape. Both.

While the Coalition agents were trying to process what just happened, Iris groaned and shut the door. Just like her to leave Iris all on her own. Iris locked the door and ran after Anne, not once looking back.

"Who's there?" Bullfrog's voice echoed from down the hallway.
"It's me! I got Skunkboy," Spider called out as she turned down the last flight of stairs, finally leaving Skunkboy's poor limping ass behind as she ran down the rest of the stairway. "You guys alright?"
"Fine, yeah. One possible UTE liquidation, though I'm not sure. Seems to be out of the picture for now," Bullfrog responded as Spider ran up to him. He looked over her shoulder. "Skunkboy alright?"
"Yeah, he's coming." Spider pointed over her shoulder with her thumb as Skunkboy staggered into the hallway, one hand on the wall to balance and one hand on his crotch. "KTE-11971 actually fucked him up pretty good. Are you guys alright?"
"Kitten got manhandled, but other than that, we're alright," said Bullfrog. Spider glanced at Kitten, and somehow, despite her neutral expression, she seemed to be absolutely seething. "She did hit KTE-11971, though. Blood's still fresh."
"Oh! Do you need me to get a link off that?" Spider pulled out her tablet. As long as she had access to something that had been a part of a person's body, she could do anything from hex them to even influencing weaker subjects. Blood was the best link to someone's body, aside from… a fluid that was much harder to get your hands on from someone you didn't know intimately.
"Yeah, it's right here," Bullfrog said as he walked Spider over to a few spots of blood on the ground, Skunkboy all but forgotten. "Just try to probe its memories some. We get some intel on that Foundation assault force, and this won't all be for nothing."
Spider nodded, and set about preparing the ritual. It was a simple one, mostly already done by the computing on her tablet, but she needed to draw out the runes she needed with the blood before it dried out. She put on a pair of latex gloves and started running between every puddle she could find, finger-painting with the blood to draw a rune she'd practiced a hundred times. Spider breathed a sigh of relief and muttered the necessary incantation. Alright, she had enough blood. All she had to do know was take a quick peak in the KTE.
She breathed in, then out, then in, slowing down her breathing as she shut her eyes. Spider felt herself get stretched out of her body like mozzarella cheese as the ritual pulled her closer to her target. She reached out, or some part of her did, to find an opening in her target's psyche. Lots of things were exploitable, Spider reminded herself as she examined the KTE's disembodied self from the outside. Formative memories, impactful relationships, driving desires, they all left bits of texture on the psyche.
Spider focused her attention on a significant irregularity. Something that large had a lot built off of it, and it seemed like it was frequently thought of. Recently thought of, too, so it likely had something relevant to the Foundation's mission. Spider carefully tugged on it, like pulling a loose thread to unravel fabric…
The entire thing rippled. Every part of it, like the KTE was reacting to Spider's presence. No, that shouldn't be possible. Spider's not new to this, she knew she'd done everything right. Nothing normal should be acting like that, Spider knew, and decided to pull herself back. Something was wrong.
As she tried to retreat back to her own body, a part of the KTE's psyche that Spider had pulled on… stuck to her somehow. Six years of studying Applied Sorcery, and nothing like that was ever mentioned. This was supposed to be a one-way deal. Beginning to panic, Spider tried ripping herself away, but felt herself sinking…
Harry gurgled as his intestines slid out of him, having been cut clean in half. God, no, Iris felt like she was going to pass out. Part of her brain kept telling her that wasn't Harry. Harry had gotten her ice cream last time they went out on an operation. Harry had legs and his insides on the inside.
Throwing that photo to the side as Able tore down the hall towards the squad holed up in the boiler room, Iris picked up another photo to see Able rip a door off its hinges. She wanted to stop, but she knew, she knew she could do something. Avery emptied her assault rifle into Able as he picked Johnathan up by the face and slammed him into a wall. Iris wanted to scream, but she could only make a barely audible noise as all the things that used to make up her friend slid down the wall. Her brain ran through all the things he'd never do again as her eyes started burning. She was really only starting to process it.
Iris looked to her side. There was a gun on the table. Adrian's revolver. He had showed her how to use it before he almost died, and she knew she could put it through the picture and kill Able in one, clean shot. She heard a shriek and looked back down at her photo and while she could barely see what was happening in the picture, but she recognized Avery's voice. God, please, no.
Adrian had said to use the gun on bad guys. Able was a bad guy. But she'd eaten dinner with him. She'd gone on road trips with him. They'd helped each other, before, on the rare few times the two Omega-7 teams would cooperate. She couldn't… she couldn't…
Able laughed when another squad ran into the room and opened fire. The same laugh he had when dealing with anomalies. Animals. And he was looking at his friends. Iris' friends.
Able looked around the room, shrugging off the bullets like rain. His eyes settled on the boiler, and Iris felt bile come up from her throat. At least leave something to bury, Iris wanted to say. Even her own family got that much from her.
She looked at the gun again. She could stop him. Maybe even save that squad if she was fast enough. But her stomach felt like pressurized vacuum pulling down her whole chest. She couldn't move. All she could do was look back at the photo as Able smashed the boiler with his blade, the pressure ripping the container to shreds like a frag bomb.
Iris wasn't sure what happened next, but a stabbing pain came to her right eye. She'd later learn that a piece of the boiler had flown through her photograph. Iris felt her back hit the floor as she brought both of her hands to her eye and screamed-
Spider's ears were ringing from the sound of a gunshot. Her hands shot up to her eyes, feeling a sharp phantom pain in one of them. At first, she thought maybe she really did hurt her eyes, but when she started blinking, she realized those were just tears.
She was lightheaded. She needed to slow down her breathing, to focus on something else. Taking shaky, deliberate breaths, Spider looked back at her tablet, which now had a bullet hole in it. Damn. She was going to get her ass chewed out for that.
"-then it'll come out of my fucking paycheck, alright?" Spider heard Skunkboy yell as she finally found herself able to refocus on her surroundings.
Seeing Spider begin to wake up, Skunkboy diverted his attention away from Bullfrog to crouch down next to her and offer her a bottle of water. "Spider? You alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I…" Spider stopped mid-sentence to take a sip of water with shaking hands. "I'm okay now."
"Are you sure?" Skunkboy was visibly shaken. It took a lot for him to lose his composure. "You were, like, gnashing your teeth and sobbing. I… We couldn't reach you."
"I, it's just," Spider struggled to find words as she turned to address Bullfrog. "The KTE, I don't know. Something about it was wrong, it's like it dragged me down with it. Like- Like it-"
"Spider, just breath." Bullfrog crouched down next to Skunkboy. He just looked morose. "She's a Green. I shouldn't have told you to link with her when we didn't know anything."
Spider tried to keep talking, but Bullfrog held up a hand. "Alright. We're down one and a half men with unknown anomalies. I'm pulling us out. Mission's a wash."
Spider wanted to say something, but there was a lump in her throat forming now that the adrenaline was wearing of. Kitten led the way, and Bullfrog waited for Skunkboy to wrap Spider's arm around his shoulders to help her walk. Once they got going, it became clear that Skunkboy was still limping badly, but Spider decided to just let him have this one.

Iris could feel the metal of the revolver in her hand now, pressing indentations into her skin from her uncomfortably tight grip even though she barely noticed. She had it. She had the gun now.

Illusion. Memory.

God, even the walls looked the same. Concrete and piping, just missing the red film. Iris could still hear the containment breach sirens as she staggered along. She had to move. She had to… Had to… get somewhere.
No, no, the sirens weren't real. That was years ago. It wouldn't happen again. She had the gun now. She always had the gun now. Dragging herself forward on the wall, she kept telling herself it wouldn't happen again.
Any rationalization she had was pushed out of her head by constricting fear when she heard footsteps approach. Iris squeezed Adrian's revolver even harder as she pointed it forwards. She had it this time. She'd pull the trigger this time.

Stop. Illusion.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Iris muttered under her breath. She knew what she had to do as she saw the face that rounded the corner. All smiles, but she had died. Iris had watched it. Just like Able. Just like him, just like him, people shouldn't come back. Nobody who deserved it did. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Her finger quaked around the double-action trigger, struggling to pull through. The fear constricted her stomach, her lungs, and her fingers.

It took Jackie a second to process that she had just been shot at, and another two to realize it had come from Iris. She turned around to see what Iris was shooting at, but there was nothing there. Not even the sound of footsteps down the hall.
A choking noise pulled her attention back to Iris. The hammer on her revolver was moving back, but the gun was uncharacteristically shaky in her hands. Her face was twisted up in a way Jackie hadn't ever seen before, but even worse were her eyes. She looked terrified. Her eyes were screaming and looking right through Jackie. Like she wasn't even there.
"Sir." Jackie tried talking in a low, nonthreatening voice. "Sir, it's me. It's Jaqueline."
Bang. Iris's whole body jerked along with the recoil of the shot, as though she hadn't been expecting it. Jackie felt the bullet pass through her hair.
"Iris. Please." Jackie felt her mouth start to turn dry. "It's me. It's Jackie. I just happened to get back faster this time, I promise. It's me." Iris seized up, finger pulling on the trigger again, hammer pulling back.
"I don't want to go back, sir." Jackie's voice broke a little. "It's really lonely out there."
The hammer stopped. Iris started blinking, then looking around as though taking in her surroundings. She lowered her gun, taking in rapid, deep breaths. Jackie felt herself relax a little.
"Sir, are you, um… Is that you there?"
Iris' head snapped up. "Yes. Yes. I'm okay. I'm okay now." She seemed to be talking more to herself than to Jackie, still shaking with a visible sheen of sweat.
Jackie saw Iris' gun, now held limp in her hand, had a layer of smeared blood on it. Jackie cursed when she saw the gash on the back of Iris' hand. She was in charge of first aid, she reminded herself while taking a cautious step towards Iris. "Sir, your hand-"
Iris didn't seem to really be paying attention to what was happening, but as soon as Jackie touched her hand, she jumped, yanking her arm away. "Don't touch me!"
They were both still for a moment, but Jackie stepped back. "Sorry, sir. Just… please try to at least dress the wound first.
Iris pressed her lips together, but nevertheless pulled bandages and disinfectant from one of her photos, trying to force her hands to stop shaking. "We need to catch up to Anne," she said, commanding tone covering up the clear discomfort she was feeling from cleaning the wound. "Only one way out of here, it opens up into a construction site. Should be deserted at this time of day, so we'll corner her there." She sounded like she was trying to force her words out as she jammed the photo into her back pocket.
Jackie balked. "Sir, clearly something happened back there." Iris scowled, but Jackie continued. "Adams and Foxx aren't even close, we should just-"
"Shut up!" Iris' voice broke. "Just do what I say."
"I…" Iris was unstable right now. Short of picking her up and carrying her away, Jackie didn't think she'd listen to her. She'd probably run off and get herself killed. "…Alright, sir. I'm with you."
Iris just nodded, and pushed past Jackie to continue walking, like she didn't want to let Jackie see her face anymore.
"I'm with you, okay?" Jackie called out. "Just remember that."
Iris paused for a moment, but didn't look back.

« Voices Carry: Part 1 | Devil's Advocate Hub | Voices Carry: Part 3 »


Spider shuffled into the debriefing room a half-step behind Skunkboy. Regardless of what it represented to her, the room itself was simply oppressive, what with its dim lights and overabundance of dense screens. She felt a little awkward seeing Bullfrog and Kitten already standing around the table in the center, looking up as she walked in like she was late. But no, she reminded herself, she was a full ten minutes early. Bullfrog and Kitten were just *like* that.
"Alright," Bullfrog started in a gruff voice once the two newcomers took their place at the table, "since we're all here, I think we're good to start early."
Skunkboy raised his hand. "Oh, uh, I didn't clock in. Since we shouldn't be starting for another, ah, nine minutes," he said as he checked his watch, timepiece situated on the inside of his wrist.
Bullfrog looked back at him with a half-annoyed, half-bemused expression. "Uh huh."
Skunkboy just nodded and jogged over to the punch-in machine. After looking back at him a few times, Spider awkwardly shuffled over to him, clocking in once he was done fiddling with the touchscreen that had become finicky after years of abuse.
Groove thoroughly ruined, Bullfrog tried to start again once everyone's attention refocused on him. "So, now that we're all ready-" Bullfrog took a long pause as he stared at Skunkboy, who flashed him a smile - "It's time to go over our newest operation."
"Is this an urgent scramble order?" Spider asked. She'd skipped her coffee on her way in and she really wasn't looking forward to busting her ass today.
"No, for once we got a break. So, you're good to grab your coffee when we're done here." Spider blinked. How the hell did he…? "We got some good intel on a deal going down in Denver involving some data scraped from a Foundation server. Our job is to secure it. Straightforward op."
"Considering it's in a city, I take it we'll be going in… sneaky-beaky-like?" Skunkboy asked. Kitten gave him an unamused look, which was, to be fair, consistent with all of her looks, although Spider snickered a bit. Bullfrog didn't seem to notice or care.
"Not even. Apparently, our source has us set up as the buyers in this deal." That little piece of good news was probably why Bullfrog wasn't biting on anything Skunkboy was saying.
"Ummm…" Spider narrowed her eyes as the gears turned in her head. "If it's just showing up and completing a transaction, then, I mean… why were we assigned to this?"
Bullfrog shrugged. "Insurance, I guess. We'll still get our hands on the target if things go tits-up, plus there's a good chance the sellers are linked to the Insurgency." Spider winced. Skunkboy looked over at her for a second, concern visible on his face.
"We've still got some work ahead of us. The more prep we put in, the smoother things will go. We can't be getting lazy just because we think something's going to be easy, got it?" Despite Bullfrog's stiff tone, Spider felt a little reassured that everyone was at least treating things seriously.
Bullfrog pulled up a floor plan for what looked like a skyscraper, circling a collection of rooms with a marker. "The deal's going to go down here, in this wealth management company. PSYCHE has good reason to believe it's a front for anomalous activity, but they haven't done anything yet to provoke a strong response from us. No reason to expect threat entities, but Kitten and I are going to be scoping things out first as potential clients. Kitten, anything to add?"
Kitten looked at the floor plan for a few seconds before bending down to even reach the table and poking at one of the circled rooms. "Room's small. If they try anything funny I can get to them first." Spider checked the scale of the map again - no, the room was still seven meters across.

Bullfrog stretched as he took a long look around the office's perimeter. Floor-to-ceiling glass, just as he had heard. Should make Skunkboy's job a little easier, though he almost had to laugh. Either the people on the other end of this deal were total amateurs, or they had no idea what it was they were actually handing off with this level of security. The room was just a big rectangle with a hallway leading to the rest of the offices and an elevator in the middle, a desk at one end and a bathroom on the other.
Frankly, the yuppie desk jockeys he'd seen working here made him think the former. Seemed like another upstart company overpaying for a downtown office with venture capital, except the founder here was probably subscribed to the MC&D catalogue.
Not like they were pulling in much legitimate business, if the fact that there were only two other customers in their office right now was to go by.
"I'm telling you, I don't think you're giving her enough credit," the man said, wearing a sharp black suit and speaking with a noticeable British accent.
"Nah, she was just being polite since she doesn't know what to make of you. She's an asshole to me, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one she actually doesn't hate." The woman was dressed similarly, in a grey suit, and also seemed to be looking around the office.
Bullfrog idly eavesdropped as he made note of if any of the furniture could stop hollow point ammunition. "God knows she treats Jackie like shit, and she's been nothing but nice to her," the woman continued.
"Uh huh." The man replied like he wasn't really paying attention anymore, and Bullfrog realized Kitten was staring the two of them down. "Can I help you?"
Kitten just continued staring, and Bullfrog groaned. As good as Kitten was in a fistfight or a shootout, she couldn't act inconspicuous worth a damn. Eventually, though, she pointed past them to the door they were standing in front of. "I was looking at the safe."
"Oh!" The man jumped to the side. "My bad, aha. Hope I wasn't slowing you down there, love." The woman he was with cringed, and Kitten looked at him with her eyebrows slightly raised. He seemed to shrink down from both of their looks.
Bullfrog didn't recognize the safe. Whatever it was, it wasn't on the schematics he had pulled. It stuck out like a sore thumb, bolted into the floor in the center of the room. There were two security cameras on it at all times. Probably installed to keep the company's merchandise, if its heavy steel construction and keypad were anything to go by. Maybe something to look into.
"Alright. Well, I think it's a good time to go." Probably sensing the tension in the air, the woman motioned for her partner to follow her as she turned to walk out the door. "I got enough pictures of the place to help her out, anyways."
"Oh! Right, the, uh, pictures. I took a couple too," he said as he hurried to catch up to her.
Once they had left, Bullfrog walked up to Kitten. "I think I got what I needed. You?" Bullfrog asked, careful to keep his voice down.
Kitten nodded. "Aside from the hallway, no means of escape except a two story drop onto the terrace from the women's restroom. Clear sightlines. Cheap furnishings," Kitten replied in a clipped tone.
"Then I think we're good to leave. One word of advice, though: try to act a little more… aloof next time," Bullfrog said.
"Mm," Kitten replied.

Skunkboy eyed the schematics on the table. "You mean this deal will be going down in a window office?" He seemed like he could hardly believe it.
"Sure thing. You can finally bring your piss jug along to an urban op," Bullfrog chuckled, followed by Spider.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up at the guy covering your asses." Skunkboy seemed indignant.
"Alright, well, as luck would have it, the building across the street from the meeting place is new, and most of the space is vacant," Bullfrog said, refocusing before Skunkboy could fire back. "I'm not here to debate the current real estate market, but since most of these things are empty, it should be easy to get a good line of sight on us."
"I take it I'll need to scope a good spot out?" Skunkboy was still eyeing the layout of the first room, probably imagining sightlines and where everyone would be standing.
"That's right. You'll probably be able to store a couple empty piss jugs there beforehand." Spider turned away, stifling laughter, and Skunkboy looked utterly betrayed.

Even if Skunkboy was one story up from the office in the building across the street, he could see into the whole thing, even down part of the hallway. The furniture looked pretty low, too, not likely to stop any of his shots if it came down to it.
Once he'd taken enough of a look, he put his binoculars away. It was probably a little suspicious to come to a showing of a rental property and spend the entire time looking out the window, even if the only other prospective buyers were also looking out the window. And arguing.
"Look, I'm not trying to be, ah, pushy here, I just think that so long as we'll be working together, we should try to get to know each other a little," the taller woman said, seeming to be struggling for words. "It's… been a few weeks already."
The shorter one didn't look up from her camera, except to glance sideways at Skunkboy, who quickly averted his gaze to the unfurnished room. "You're not going to be doing anything but sitting in the lobby in case something goes bad." She looked up. "And nothing is going to go wrong. I won't let it."
The taller one forced some air through her teeth. "Sir, all due respect, but what was the point in taking me on in the first place if you aren't going to have me do anything.
"You will be doing something," the shorter one snapped, blonde hair jostling as she whipped her head to the side. "You'll do as you're damn well told and that's it, understood?"
Skunkboy's attention was pulled away from the room to the drama going down, as much as he tried to hide it. Why was that woman with the camera being such an ass? Had the tall one done something to deserve it? Was she just like that? Now he had to know.
"And quit calling me 'sir.' You don't sound formal, you just sound like an asshole," she continued.
Sensing she wasn't getting anywhere, the tall one just shook her head. "Alright, then. I'll go wait in the lobby," she said in a defeated tone and walked off, the other woman's focus shifting from her camera only to look at Skunkboy again. Honestly, she seemed sort of paranoid. That only made him more curious. What was her deal?
Deciding he had probably done enough scouting out for now, Skunkboy moseyed closer to the woman with the camera, far enough away to not be too close but still close enough to start a conversation, maybe. From this angle, he could make out a nasty-looking scar on her face and an even nastier glare from her. Yeesh.
"So, you guys looking to buy this place as well?" Skunkboy asked in his most unassuming tone.
"Mm." The woman was stiff as a board. The hands gripping her camera looked like those from a mannequin.
Skunkboy flashed a smile. "Nice place, right?"
The woman turned her head slightly to face him. She looked like she was looking at two stray dogs going at it in the street. "You would know," she said in an unsure voice.
She was now mostly staring at him, save for her eyes darting around the room periodically. Maybe she actually was paranoid. Skunkboy figured he should break the ice if he was gonna dig. "What's with the camera?"
The woman just pursed her lips. "Birthday present."
Okay. Not like that actually explained why she was holding it. Maybe he should just ask the question straight-up. "Hey, uh, what was that with you and that other lady? Some kinda issue?" He shifted around, taking a half-step towards her.
In return she took a particularly wide step away from him. "I'm sorry, can I help you with something?" She was facing him head-on now. Jesus, if looks could kill.
"Ah, whu…" Skunkboy stopped. Thinking about it for a second, he probably looked a bit like a creep now. And it's not like he was being paid to be nosy. Not that he cared much about dicking around on the clock, but still. "I'll, uh… be on my way."
He turned and left, but the woman stood staring at his back with narrowed eyes until he was out the door. Geez, not only was she a crank, but he probably looked like a weirdo.

Bullfrog adjusted the schematics to show what looked like a parking garage. "Spider?"
Spider snapped up from the schematics at the mention of her name. "Sir?"
"The two buildings have a subterranean parking garage linking them together. You'll be in charge of setting up VERITAS scanners in the structure to scan the two buildings."
Spider's brow furrowed, and her posture shifted. "Got it, sir."
Bullfrog launched into explaining something to Kitten, but Skunkboy leaned over as soon as he noticed Spider's unease. "Look," he whispered, "it really is probably going to be nothing. You know how Bullfrog is, he's just pulling out all the stops because he can."
"Right, yeah," Spider whispered more to herself than to Skunkboy. Even so, Spider just didn't like having the team be so spread apart.
"Look, you can get all those set up way beforehand. You can hole up near where I'll be, just to be safe," Skunkboy continued.
"Yeah… yeah, alright. Thanks." Spider nodded. She didn't know why she was being so nervous. Really, she should just be grateful this operation would put her within walking distance of some working toilets instead of out in the wilderness of Bumblefuck Nowhere.

As soon as Spider saw the last VERITAS scanner light up on her tablet, she breathed a sigh of relief. Things were going without a hitch, and with any luck she'd be able to leave the garage soon. It's not like she hated being in there because it was dark or anything, but she had a sneaking suspicion that there were perhaps a few too many particulates in the air because of the construction and she didn't know if the Coalition insurance plan covered Silicosis.
All that was left to do was to make sure she had a solid uplink to the scanners. Spider made sure all the hardware was in order, tucked away into a dark, rarely-trafficed corner of the garage. No all that was left was connecting with her tablet, cycle through some menus and… there. A 3D model of the surrounding buildings. Everything but the two they were going to be operating in was blurry, but they had neither the time nor resources to fill the block up with scanners. Now just to check for any abnormalities.
As soon as she got a closer look, Spider grimaced. Multiple abnormalities. She looked around the parking garage - as if just to confirm that there was, in fact, nobody there - before trying to adjust the scanner again. A few minutes later, she booted up her tablet again, and they were still there. They looked like people, but had irregular readings. Threat Entities.
"Spider, you there?" Skunkboy's voice in her ear made her jump a little bit, but at least nobody was there to see her.
Spider brought her hand up to hear earpiece. "Yeah, I'm good. Just trying to sort some things out on the VERITAS scanners."
"Oh yeah? What's up?"
"Well…" Spider was unsure of how exactly she should phrase it. It's not like she had any context for what she was seeing. "I'm picking up four… five humanoid anomalies."
"Anything serious?" Bullfrog's gruff voice butted into the comms channel.
"Not sure. I don't think so, but I haven't had the chance to analyze any of this yet." Spider squinted at the tablet. Which one was the office for the transaction again? She scrolled through a few different filters before settling on the ARAD readings. "Wait, hold on. I think I see a very faint Type Green signature near the office you two were checking out."
A few painful seconds of silence. Probably Bullfrog and Kitten discussing that between the two of them. Just before Spider was going to speak up again, Bullfrog responded. "Understood. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but we'll be on the lookout."
"What's the Freak Ratio?" Skunkboy chimed in, clearly trying to lighten the mood. Spider blew some air out of her nose.
"Five UTEs to about eight hundred people," Spider read from the tablet.
"Nothing above baseline in the region. Skunkboy. Use proper communications during operations." Kitten spoke for Bullfrog there, Spider figured. She sounded annoyed.
"U-Uh, yes ma'am," Skunkboy replied. Didn't he outrank her? Spider chuckled.
"Alright, if we're all good, let's take it easy until tomorrow. Spider, keep an eye on the VERITAS readings in the meantime," Bullfrog ordered.
"Will do. Heading up now." Spider tucked her tablet back into its case and made a brisk walk back towards the staircase, trying to breathe as little as possible as she disturbed the settled dust. She was probably just being overly cautious, she told herself. As much as her brain tried to trick her, she knew she was experienced. No point in getting into her own head before something like this.

"What's the situation?" Bullfrog was curt and to-the-point.
Skunkboy adjusted his scope ever-so-slightly to scan the length of the room. "Two armed guards, one appears unarmed holding the package. Spider?"
"No abnormalities in any of the surrounding rooms, though I'm still picking up similar readings to yesterday." Spider read off her report without missing a beat, but Skunkboy could recognize some doubt in her voice.
There was a slight pause before Bullfrog spoke again. "Understood. We're going in."
Skunkboy wanted to turn around to see how Spider was doing, but he had to keep his eyes on the office. Besides, Spider was more than competent. She just had a tendency to fret over things a lot.
"Oh, shit." Okay, that sounded a bit more serious. "Skunkie, above us."
"What?" He tried to call back over his shoulder to Spider. Now he really felt like he should turn away from the office.
"The room above us just started showing reality distortions. Type Green," she said both to Skunkboy and the rest of the squad. Well, he just couldn't get one easy fucking job, huh?
"Bullfrog, please advise." He could feel his hands starting to sweat around his rifle. Trigger discipline, he reminded himself. His back suddenly felt very exposed.
"Spider, you take watch. Skunkboy, go and assess. If that's a sniper you won't be doing us any good."
"Finally." Skunkboy rolled over, leaving his rifle on the ground and checking his holster for his pistol. Spider would only be good for spotting without sniper training.
"Goddamnit, this is why I didn't want us splitting up in the first place," Spider muttered as she hastily started adjusting a pair of binoculars.
Skunkboy checked his sidearm before turning off his comms. "Hey, anything happens, and I'll run back here, okay?"
"God… Just don't be an idiot." Spider could barely look up for a second as she had to readjust her tablet readings, but the concern was plain on her face.
Though he felt like he should say something else, Skunkboy jogged out of the room, careful to not let his footfalls make too much noise. Running down the barren hall, he stopped when he got to the staircase. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. "Spider, anything else on VERITAS?" He whispered into his earpiece.
"N-No, nothing." He could picture her fumbling with her tablet. "Shit! Two people just entered the room. Damn it, VERITAS is tagging them as UTEs… Recommend mission abort!"
Skunkboy found himself holding his breath waiting for the response. He didn't know what was waiting for him on the top of the staircase.
"What kind?" Bullfrog asked. Skunkboy exhaled and started climbing up the stairs. He was going in.
"Looks like two enhanced humanoids. No reality-bending or thaumatological capabilities." From the sound of her voice, Spider knew what Bullfrog was thinking too.
Skunkboy made it to the top of the stairs. On the far end of the hallway was a single doorway, flanked by a grey wall on one side and floor-to-ceiling windows on the other. Totally barren. Skunkboy felt exposed as he forced himself closer.
"We're going in." Alright then, now or never. Skunkboy ran over to the door as fast as he could without making a sound. He ducked near the door frame - the closest thing to cover he had - and checked the door handle. No lock. He let himself have three deep breaths to calm himself down. He didn't have anyone backing him up now, so he had to keep a cool head. He reached down for the handle-
And the door opened before he could touch it, just enough to see a face. It was the same woman from earlier.

Bullfrog checked his pistol and jammed it back into its holster as Kitten did the same. If things got bad their ballistic suits could shrug some damage off, but not for very long, or if an enemy landed a headshot.
"Breaching in 10." Kitten's face was mostly the same as ever, but her eyes were focused on the display showing the floor in the elevator.
Seconds passed in relative silence. Bullfrog had done this a hundred times, he reminded himself. He couldn't doubt his training. Spider had told him what was coming, and this was his decision. Three more floors were left as the elevator began to decelerate, the sensation worsening the feeling in his gut. Two more. One more. No more chances to duck out as the elevator dinged.
Nobody started shooting once the doors opened, but an indistinct conversation seemed to quiet once they heard the elevator ding. Bullfrog waited three seconds before motioning for Kitten to follow him in. Taking calm, measured steps, jacket covering their holsters, they entered the main office.
On the far side of a table, one confused-looking man and two agitated guards looked at Bullfrog. On the other end, a man and a woman looked over their shoulders at him. In the middle of the table was a single flash drive. The target.
"Um… I thought this was supposed to be a private transaction." The woman said cordially as she smiled, but there was clearly an undercurrent of worry.
"You two." The man between the two guards looked at Bullfrog and Kitten. "How did you get up here? That elevator was locked with a keycode."
"We have a deal scheduled for right now. You gave us they keycode." Bullfrog was confused. Honestly, he had been expecting bullets to have started flying by now. Kitten was just staring right at the woman sitting at the table.
"What?" The man seemed even more confused than Bullfrog. "We only gave the keypad code to one group of buyers, a man and a woman. What was it then?"
"49826," Bullfrog recited.
"49826," the woman said in unison.
Dead silence. Even the armed guards seemed to relax their grip on their rifles. Bullfrog was trying to think of a way out of this situation. Had they both been given the same info? Were they just going to have to outbid each other? Would that even be an option?
"Bullfrog, I know this woman." A lightbulb seemed to go off in Kitten's head as she broke the silence. "She's on a Foundation assault force."
"Foundation?" The man stood up halfway out of his chair, his voice cracking. His guards raised their rifles again.
The woman looked at Bullfrog, at the guards, then back to Bullfrog, then smiled ear-to-ear. "So, you know, I bet there's actually a really funny story here if we all just talked this one out."

"Ah. You again." The woman looked at Skunkboy with an unamused expression.
"You, ah… what are you doing here?" Skunkboy tried his best to adjust his coat so it didn't look like he was just holding his sidearm. Gotta play it cool.
"Same as I was doing earlier, looking at properties." Her head didn't move at all from behind her slightly messed up blonde bangs, but it looked like she was doing something with her arm behind the door. "I don't think you're supposed to be here."
"Me? This place is off-limits." Hell, there was still temporary ventilation on this floor.
"For you. I have a permit to be here." Her cadence didn't waver at all. It was like she was expecting to have this conversation.
"Oh yeah? Can I see it?"
The woman pursed her lips for a second before she responded "I don't have to explain myself to you."
What did she mean she didn't have to, she's the one who brought it up - wait a second. What were the chances she just happened to be here as a civilian, really? It's more than likely she was the one making those distortions in the first place.
"You know I-"
Skunkboy was cut off by Bullfrog's voice from his earpiece. "We got set up. Foundation contacts, get ready."
A muffled whisper came from behind the door. "Alpha-Niner actual, new contacts. See anything?"
The woman and Skunkboy looked out the window to what looked to be an awkward standoff in the office across the street, then back to each other in unison. Then she slammed the door in his face.
Hearing a light ting from behind him, Skunkboy turned around just in time to see a floating hand drop a flashbang on the floor right behind him before disappearing.
He heard a muffled voice from behind the door say "I can't just get one easy fucking job, huh?" Then everything went white.

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