Raegan inched closer and pointed to the floor. "Laser beams probably shooting up if we continue," she whispered.
The four women contemplated their next move in silence.
A deep male voice then crackled through a tiny speaker above. "You're correct. If any of you move toward the elevator or stairway, you will be disintegrated on the spot."
Mahira called up, "Well, thanks for the notice. How nice of you to let us know." Her sassy attitude didn't go unnoticed by their leader, who motioned for all her sisters to keep calm.
The voice above spoke again. "No need to worry, we have turned them off now. You may proceed to the fourth floor."
Zaey smiled and pointed to Mahira. "Go ahead, you're first."
Mahira grinned. "Oh, thanks so much!"
Raegan took the brave first step forward, closely followed by the other women as they headed up to meet the California State representatives.
Ella Von Stybeck was a tall blond woman, refined and rather bold in stature, wearing a bright yellow dress. Her partner, Brock Jones, was a silver-haired lawyer type with handsome looks for an older man. Today, he wore a grayish colored suit and tie. They both stood in the center of a large office that look immaculately clean and was furnished with black and white tables and chairs.
Ella was first to speak. "It was brave, in fact, very brave of all of you to come this far. We have so much to discuss. The liberation of California means everything to myself and all my partners involved. We have grown in numbers over the years, and with your help, we are certain we can be successful. Let it be known that we here, are no friends of the Y-Corporation."
The four sisters listened with great interest.
Brock Jones pulled out a seat at a long blackwood table and addressed the ladies.
"In case you haven't heard, Y-Wood is plying the population with chances to win a seat in the Corporation as a VP!" He frowned at his own announcement.
Brock cleared his throat and continued. "Six golden tickets have been placed in six of their so-called mega healthy, nutritional Bloom Bars. One million bars have been distributed countrywide, and the six winners will then join the president in Y-Wood's New York City headquarters. There will then be a sort of contest, about which I am yet to receive any details, and the one that wins gets the vice presidency."
All the women in the room looked taken aback. Before today, they hadn't heard all that much about these health bars or any contest for the vice president's seat. Rumors were rumors, and being so far west, no one knew much about anything yet.
Raegan was first to speak up. "We have heard very little of this, but if I do say so myself, I smell bullshit with this whole scheme of theirs." The other sisters nodded in agreement.
The silver-haired man at the table also looked in support of the beautiful freedom fighter's statement.
Ella Von Stybeck continued where she left off.
"Let's get to the matter at heart. Californians want nothing to do with the Corporation, so we want your help to make this break off happen. We will do whatever we can to help you."
Zaey countered, "I find it hard to believe all Californians are against the Y-Corp."
Ella was expecting such a remark. "You're right, but most are. Only we with the power can convince the others. And only with your help."
As the discussions on working together died out after almost an hour, Brock raised his hands to the four women in the room. "What say the legendary Mystical Slayers, can we work together? Can we put up arms as one and win the fight against the Y-Corporation?"
Mahira could not hold back. "I just don't see how we can openly fight off the Y-Corporation; we just saw tons of police bots taking out a load of people who were trying to stand up to them."
Ella agreed. "We were pretty certain you would feel that way, so let us explain. For one thing, the Corporation under Purcell has advanced greatly in military power, but who do you think funds them? The people have. And we haven't just sat here doing nothing; we too have been behind the scenes working on not only building our defense, but also an offense to fight off the Y-Corporation."
Chaya's eyes lit up, as did Raegan's. Both spoke simultaneously, "Well, that's music to my ears!" They both looked to one another and laughed, while Mahira simply shook her head at them with a smile.
The yellow clad state rep took a deep breath and went on. "There is so much more to discuss, but I'm sure you girls are all road weary. I want you to enjoy a night in the city, if you desire, or just relax until the morning. Let us plan an entire day of discussions, demonstrations, and planning for tomorrow."
Brock Jones leaned in closer to the women. "We have taken the liberty to provide you all with nice accommodation. The entire third floor of one of our corporate buildings is yours. There's a wonderful suite there, in which all of you can sleep and recover."
Chaya then asked, "So is that a place where we're supposed to just rest, or may I inquire as to what else is going on around here?"
The well-dressed male representative of California smiled at her question. "Why of course! You're in L.A., dear! The city has a multitude of things you could do and experience if you so choose. The suite is simply for a night's rest. And for your own safety, we have provided extra security there too."
Ella added, "There are plenty of casinos out there on the strip, and there are drinks, food, and entertainment right nearby as well. If you venture farther from here and go into the wild zones, the so-called crazy streets, your safety is in your own hands. I'll warn you it can get pretty weird out there."
As the women debated their evening's fate, Ella added, "Oh, I nearly let this slip my mind. I have to tell you that President Purcell has now put the word out. He wants to meet you all in person and has proclaimed the so-called Mystical Slayers are courageous women, ones he would prefer to have a truce with."
She looked directly at Raegan and continued. "He's put a notice out to everybody within the Corporation and all those working in unison with them across the country. He has stressed that this is not a bounty, it is just a friendly meeting, a get together, so he can try and find a way to work with you."
Raegan was more than surprised to hear this news, as were all the others. They had a lot to talk about over the next few days. The last she had heard, he wanted them all dead. This Purcell was kind of weird.
The streets in Los Angeles were, to say the least, a wild zone of entertainment, both Corporation controlled and not. The City of Angels, a long-standing namesake, was one of the most exotic places in all the country.
Here, as the women already knew, was one of the more difficult places to police for the Corporation. Most of the time, Purcell's metro police were here for decorative purposes and to add to the scenery, more so than the application of the law.
Oh, but they paid them well. These people were spies; eyes and bodies to do the Corporation's bidding, but only when it suited.
The reps wanted the women to learn more about the city, so they brought in a robot, a communicator, to tell them all about street life.
He was a blue metal droid, so not really a fully assembled bot, more of a half-bot. The droid's blue eyes studied the women as he spun to face them on a single wheel acting as his legs.
Brock said, "Meet Poland, ladies. He's our resident mind frame, so to speak."
Zaey looked at her friends. "Makes me think of Tyne."
Mahira frowned. "Tyne has legs, silly, not a wheel!"
They all shook their heads in unison, each thinking about how much they missed their blond cyborg sister.
Chapter Seventeen
Poland began his talk. "The coolest of the cool on the streets here, believe it or not, is a woman. Well, she is not an actual woman, she is an android who goes by the name of Dazzle. You can't miss her. Her most distinguishing features are her flesh-toned skin splattered with many black tattoos, and her white and pink Mohawk hair, which pretty much always gives her away."
Everyone in th
e room could only imagine her appearance after such an explanation.
The bot went on. "You would think she runs it all, but the Corporation has their hands deep in everything that goes on out there. Dazzle is just their pet.
"The inner goings on in the city are executed by Corp operators, and these people are collectively known as the watchdogs. The leader of the dogs is Spicy, a green-haired woman who's as tough as nails. Yet she seldom ever shows her face. Dazzle handles almost everything; she is the boss' puppet out there."
Raegan asked, "Does any of this really matter to us?"
Brock Jones cut in. "Oh, trust me, it matters. Keep listening!"
The rounded robot went on. "A couple of things in the city would stand out to anyone, even those without any knowledge. One is a major warehouse facility, which is a robotic construction zone…in other words, there are robots here in big numbers making more robots.
"Secondly, the nightlife is simply the wildest and craziest in all the land. One club in particular is the tops. If action and fun is your desire, your thing, well, take a chance and go there."
Chaya insisted, "We don't have a thing really. But we might just check it out."
Poland continued. "If you were looking for someone to work for you that was good at a certain craft, you could probably find them there. Then again, if you were looking for someone to help you with something illegal, they could be found there too."
Ella Von Stybeck added, "Things can get crazy there. That's why the watchdogs have created large robotic shooters that could be called in to engage if a riot went down in the streets. So you all have to be very careful if you go out there."
Brock added, "There are also other scare tactics that the Y-Corporation use. They have a siren that could go off at anytime, which is a pretty spooky thing in itself, but when that warning horn is blasted, something like a nuclear attack could be about to go down."
Everyone talked awhile more and discussed various thoughts about L.A.
***
The women had a choice to make. Stay within state rep grounds and go to the state rep run casino, or head out into the wild streets of L.A.
They all thanked Poland for his help and made their way downstairs.
In the lobby below, there was no shortage of paraphernalia describing some of the nightclubs on the main strip. The women hadn't paid any attention to them earlier.
Laws were loose, and these paper flyers held back very little. There were clubs for just robots, clubs for just cyborgs, clubs for humans only, clubs for men only, places for females only, places to watch robots fight with humans, and pretty much everything and anything in between.
All the flyers promised one heck of a great night out.
Zaey announced, "These places are crazy! Talk about loose laws. No one gives a care about any laws out in the streets."
One flyer announced that the death match games were back, and that L.A. was gearing up to host a big tournament. Chaya took that particular flyer in her hand and slipped it behind her back before Mahira laid eyes on it.
As the women discussed their options and reviewed more of the flyers, Brock Jones ran into them on his way out of the building. "So, ladies, have you decided what you'll be doing this evening?" he asked with a grin.
Raegan replied, "No, not yet. We're still deciding."
Brock nodded. "Well, I want to give you all a special little warning. Something new has been declared to us as representatives in the region here, and we're going to have to enforce it. President Purcell has put out a memo that has announced the plan of branding women. It's mainly for those that are attractive and could pose trouble, like during the past sisterhood attacks, I would guess. What he is doing is having women branded with a barcode on their backside. This barcode has to be checked wherever they go, like Corporation events and whatnot."
The Slayers looked disgusted to say the least.
Mahira was first to share her opinion. "This has to be the sickest thing these people have ever come up with."
Brock added, "This is all new to us as well."
Zaey looked at Raegan, shaking her head in disgust too.
Chaya shouted, "It's ridiculous!"
Brock understood how they were feeling. "We have been asked to install these branding devices right away, but it's all new at the moment, so you guys have nothing to be concerned about unless someone beats us to it."
With the news passed on to Raegan and her sisters, they began to discuss how humiliating and stupid it was while venting their frustrations at poor Mr. Jones right in front of them.
Brock held his hands up in defense and said, "I'm only the messenger, please don't hate me. I just wanted to let you know that there may be a few of these devices out in the city. Very soon, you'll probably start seeing them wherever you go."
Chaya noticed again the strange spaceship-like capsules at the other end of the lobby. They looked like small space flyers with a sleek aerodynamic shape but were only about six to eight feet long.
She looked to Brock and said, "May I ask what those capsule-like things are over there?"
The silver-haired state rep raised an eyebrow, knowing this was going to be awkward as well. "Those, ladies, are a Y-Corporation created set of suicide capsules. If you choose to use one, your oxygen levels will drop and drop until you eventually pass out and die."
Again, all the sisters were dumbfounded. Raegan blurted out, "What in God's name are these people thinking?"
Brock lifted his hands as if to say "who knows." He said, "The Corporation feels it's a humane way to allow somebody to take their own life."
"That's just friggin' ridiculous," said Zaey, as did the others.
Brock explained, "We know our role here, girls. Again, I must stress that we want Y-Wood gone just as much as you do."
On a large TV screen down by the odd capsules, a loud news broadcast started to play out.
We at the Y-Corporation have installed warning sirens throughout most of the major city areas. These are in case of an impending nuclear attack. They are for the good citizens' safety and awareness. If you hear the sirens go off, please report to a designated area by the Y-Corporation for your shelter and emergency protection. Keeping you safe is our priority.
Mahira banged her fist into her head as soon as the announcement finished. She looked to her sisters, fuming. "We need new leadership!"
Chapter Eighteen
The women did their best to look the part before they headed out to the more interesting rows of clubs in downtown Los Angeles. Each had their hair and makeup done nicely, and each played their roles perfectly.
Zaey wore a plaid pink and black mini skirt with a pink collared white blouse. Chaya donned black leather pants and a midriff cropped black and silver sweater with no sleeves. Raegan went with a chainmail design long sweater, gray tights, and thigh-high black leather boots. Last but not least, Mahira wore a leopard print cat suit and high boots of a brownish color.
There was a golden ticket somewhere on the streets of L.A., so they'd heard earlier today, and they were on a mission to find it. The representatives were kind enough to allow the women to have a driver and a large black Hummer for the evening.
They didn't need to worry about how to locate the hottest club on the main strip. With the four lovely ladies looking so amazing, someone directed them to the best club within minutes of them hitting the streets.
The place was a rave-type of dance arena, with a massive floor in the center and a row of huge stages risen up across the front, some at ten feet, others maybe at twenty feet or even higher. The lighting was a splashing array of various neon colors, including pinks, greens, blues, and bright reds shining and flashing with strobes all over the hall.
Patrons' weapons were taken at the door and placed in security lockers. Thankfully, none of the sisters were carrying anything too large, but the girls, of course, had hidden a few smaller weapons about their bodies. They were sure others did as we
ll.
Way up top was the largest of the private balconies, which was hard to see from below because the lighting threw the whole room into a swirling pattern of color.
In the back of the main dance floor, an island bar went all the way around in an oval shape. The place was full of the wild, the crazy, and those brave enough to venture into the neon lights of dangerous new America.
Raegan had to shout over the loud techno trance music as she spoke to the girls. "Don't split up. Let's stay in twos, okay? Mahira, you stick with Zaey, and Chaya, you're with me. Scope the place out and see if we can get some leads. We need to find out if there's a ticket anywhere on the streets, or maybe even in here somewhere. Let's meet back at the oval bar within a couple of hours." The others agreed, and each pair went their separate ways.
The crowd was definitely a mix of all races. These days, every combination under the sun existed. Every type of human, plenty of androids, robots, and other oddities made up close to a thousand partygoers out for the evening.
Zaey nudged her gladiator friend as they made their way to the dance floor and stated, "No sexual play tonight. You behave, you hear? This is about work and trying to find leads." Mahira, who was already grooving to the funky music beat, only smiled back at her.
She went ahead and waved for Zaey to join her on the dance floor. The other maniacs all about them were shaking to the crazy groove as strobe lights sprayed over the mass of bodies and laser shows flashed all around them.
It didn't take long for others to try to dance with the pair. They had figured such would happen, but Mahira loved the attention.
***
Meanwhile, Raegan and Chaya had already made their way to some of the various side tables at the far end of the dance floor. As they passed by a tall dark-skinned cyborg with eyes of silver, he tipped his top hat at the women and said, "Good evening, beautiful young ladies!"
They paid little attention to him and continued toward the back wall. They found a standing table with some space around it, which was a perfect spot to scope out the club.
HOPE BRINGERS (Strong superhero women) (Mystical Slayers Book 2) Page 10
