Along Came a Spider

by K. M. Robinson

  Fet filtered between people, making her way to where she could see a path into the building. Quietly, she slipped by, attempting not to be noticed with her loud outfit and eye-catching hair. Taking an elbow to the stomach, she pushed further, until she came to a less crowded area.

  “Stop,” a voice yelled. The weapon was raised at a child.

  “Don’t.” she warned, stepping between the guard and the boy.

  The boy flinched behind her. The guard lashed out, catching Fet’s arm, missing its mark. Fet fell to the ground, blood already pooling beneath her. She kicked, sending the guard crashing to the ground beside her. A second man ran to assist as a person in the crowd snatched up the child. The darkly clothed person hustled the boy away as Fet scrambled to leave the scene. Clutching her arm, she ran around the building directly into a Coat.

  “I’ll be needing that.” Fet said as her good arm darted out in front of her. She touched the man’s neck and he dropped, the pressure point knocking him out. Shrugging on the man’s coat, she forced herself to walk slowly into the building. Making sure she was alone, she slipped inside.

  The Hub was filled with Coats, all testing equipment and trying to right the situation. The low hum of technology filled the air as they used a generator to try to reestablish the connection. She took the stairs two at a time as she made her way to the remaining Irex system, hoping to make it behind closed doors before the blood started to show through the coat.

  Powering the Irex through her own device, she sifted through everything that had happened.

  “This makes no sense,” she mumbled as numbers filtered across the screen. After a few moments she gasped. “It can’t be. It’s the Wall job.”

  “You’re even better in person, Fet.” Spider’s voice grated against her ears, her shoulders hunching in disgust as he entered the room behind her.

  “I knew you had something to do with this. It was all too convenient.”

  “I saw what you did, Muffet. You protected those guards at The Lab and you took an attack for that child. Two men are dead out there. This chaos is getting people killed,” he said, hands in his pockets.

  “Who sent you, Spider?”

  “The Piper.”

  Color drained from her face as the name hung between them.

  “What does the Piper have to do with this?”

  “The Barrier was his design. The government took it over and forced him out. He wants it back. This is his escape plan. The Wall job was just part of it. He designed it to see if the Legends could handle it.”

  “To see if I could handle it,” she corrected.

  “Yes,” he nodded solemnly, giving her more information than she thought he should be, as her enemy. “He needs the leader of the Legends to finish this.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, still kneeling in front of the console.

  “People are dying now. I won’t be a part of that.”

  “Suddenly you’re working with me? I don’t buy it.”

  “I’ve known what was going on from the start, Muffet. I was the one working against you at the Lab. I’ve been working to bring down the Piper from the inside.”

  “You honestly expect me to believe you’re a triple agent?” her glare stopped him. “I get that spiders have eight legs, but not even you are capable of juggling that much. Careful, or I’ll start ripping those legs off.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ll do it for you,” he disregarded her warning. He took a dangerous step closer as he prepared to confess, hoping she would believe him. “I ruined the Wall job for you, but I gave you a way into the system. You’re going to need that. Piper thought I was doing as he asked, but I created a backdoor into your system so I could see what you were doing and help you work against him. That’s how I got in with the Legends to begin with. I knew your every move. I’ve watched you every day since that job. I know every keystroke you’ve made.”

  Fet stood, hands clenched at her sides, ready to attack if he got too close.

  “I know you’ve never hurt anyone. Piper has. My family has been working against him from the start. We worked against the Legends too, until I watched you this past year. We stopped fighting you months ago. Didn’t you realize when your life got suddenly easier?”

  Her blood boiled at his words. He had no right to watch her.

  How much time had he spent observing her every move? How much did he know about her? How much did she want him to know about her?

  He held her gaze, refusing to admit anything. She had no idea he knew so much more than she’d ever know. For an entire year he had memorized her every keystroke, every flourish, every movement. He knew every step she would take before she decided to take it. Her reactions were second nature to him.

  Stepping forward, she swung at him. Catching her wrist, he pulled her close, leaning her backwards just far enough that if she moved, they would fall.

  He held on to her, trying to control the situation and force her to listen to him.

  “I’m not fighting you, Muffet,” he growled, inches from her face.

  Fet tried to decide if she could believe him. The way her body relaxed suggested she could, but her head screamed that she was crazy for giving in so quickly. She charted everything he had done in between breaths. Her mind whirred through everything he could have interfered with since the Wall job. Had he helped her? Every coincidence suggested he might have been with her all along.

  “Then what are you doing?” She couldn’t look him in the eye. He was too close.

  “Helping you end this.” Righting her, he refused to let go of her waist, fingers lingering against her side. “Now finish disabling the Irex. Our next stop is the Wall.”

  “You mean it’s a real place?” she asked, relinquishing the last brain cells that held out against him, hoping she hadn’t misplaced her limited trust in him. She lowered herself to her knees in front of the wires she needed to manipulate and waited for the sound of a weapon against her skull as she turned her back to him to work, but nothing came.

  “It’s a very real place. And you’re the only one who can finish it there.”

  “What does he want from me?” she asked as she carefully removed the wires from their rightful place.

  “Your code. When the program was developed, a code was put in by the leader of the Legends. You have that code and he needs it to gain control back.”

  She didn’t have the code. Peep had the code, passed down by the leaders of the group over the years.

  “Back when he was working with the Legends, he trusted them with the final piece, a piece not even he knew, in order to protect the system. But now, with the way the government is…he just wants to get out, and bring the government down in his wake.”

  “The same government who is willing to kill innocent bystanders if they appear to threaten their reign at the command of the Coats?”

  “Yes. Do you need help?” he asked, peering around her.

  “I eat codes for breakfast, Spider, and I certainly think I can handle some cords and Way.” She rolled her eyes, making him stifle a smile behind her back.

  He watched as she carefully unplugged every wire and shut the system down.

  “We’re coming back for that, aren’t we?”

  “It’s not like we’re running away when this is all over,” she huffed, brushing past him. “Now where is this ridiculous Wall?”

  “PEEP IS ON THE OTHER SIDE of the Wall, isn’t she?” she stared up at the tall, metallic barrier.

  “Yes.”

  The sleek silver glinted in the moonlight, a pale blue tone reflecting off of it menacingly.

  “How do we get in?”

  “You break the code,” he answered. “There’s a panel somewhere that we have to find. You need to plug in your code to open the door.”

  “Why exactly are you so eager to have me plug this code in? I thought you were working against him,” she whispered as she judged the distance from the tall grass to the Wall.

 
“He has almost complete control now. We have to break in and take control back. And Fet…” he paused, catching her eye. “My brother is in there with Peep. I have a lot to lose, too.”

  “You risked your brother to work against the Piper?” she asked, suddenly softening to him.

  “We need to end this.”

  “Peep is the head of the Legends,” she admitted, shock registering on Spider’s face. “I don’t have the code.”

  “Then we hack it. Together,” he collected himself. “Careful what you say when we walk out of here. He can hear.”

  Spider stalked out of the tall grass. Fet jumped up and raced behind him, boots pounding against the dirt. They separated ways, searching for the panel.

  “Here,” Spider called.

  “Welcome, Muffet. Break the code and you can have her back,” a taunting voice rang out. “Just plug your code in and she’ll be free to go.”

  “Arach too.” Spider shouted as he pulled off the panel.

  “You really want your traitorous brother back, Spider? He lied to you. He worked for the enemy. He nearly got you caught. If I hadn’t have saved you, you would have been tangled in his web of lies too. Unless…” the voice paused, as he realized he had been tricked. “…you’re one of them, aren’t you? Well. I didn’t see that coming.” He kept his voice even as he talked, refusing to show his feelings on the topic.

  “The Piper didn’t see that coming? What a fool! I thought Pipers knew all.” Fet taunted as she plugged in her device and started typing along with Spider.

  “Ridiculous girl. The world follows the Piper–” he started.

  “–right to their destruction,” Spider yelled, cutting him off.

  “Nevertheless, you have to use your code if you want your people back. Don’t think you can outsmart me; I have the Irex.”

  “Shut up if you want us to break your precious Wall.” Fet yelled, glaring at the blinking camera hanging above them.

  A panel slid away above them, allowing them to see the Piper’s face, piercing green eyes overtaking the screen as he grinned at them.

  “So feisty, Muffet. However do the Legends get anything accomplished with a leader like you?”

  “We don’t,” her voice mingled with Spider’s.

  “They don’t.” he said at the same time, revealing that Fet wasn’t their leader.

  Piper’s face fell as he realized his mistake.

  “You knew,” he accused.

  “Not until just now. The Legends did a great job of keeping their leader quiet…even from me,” Spider sneered as he typed, not bothering to look up at the screen.

  “You’d better pray you can figure out the code then, or your people are dead,” Piper threatened.

  “Spider, get out!” a voice yelled in the background, forcing Spider away from his work.

  “Pay attention!” Fet hissed as her fingers pounded against the keyboard.

  Spider’s head snapped back down. He moved closer to Fet so that their inside legs touched, making them a connected team. Whispering quietly, they tossed commands to each other. “Just like last year.”

  She nodded at his final idea, tied to the Wall job from the previous year. Code streamed out of them, attacking the system. The Irex backdoor allowed Fet to sneak into the system another way without being detected while Spider finished the assault that Piper could see.

  “Who is your leader, Muffet?” Piper called, demanding answers. “If you fail, I’ll kill them both.”

  “Not if we kill you first,” Spider replied, bravado overcoming him.

  “Tell me who it is!” he demanded.

  “Send them out first,” Spider retorted.

  “I have the code!” Fet yelled satisfactorily. “Send them out!”

  “System override in one minute,” the system’s digital voice penetrated the conversation, setting a timeline in motion they hadn’t realized they initiated when they attempted to access the Wall’s program.

  “Send them out or you’ll lose control of the system forever,” Fet said smugly at the camera.

  “Code first.”

  “People first,” Fet insisted, brushing her hands against her skirt in defiance. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

  The screen went blank, but Fet stared it down.

  A door to her left slid open revealing Peep and Arach being held by guards.

  “Code, Muffet, then you can have your pathetic friends back.”

  “You’re so willing to kill for what you want. Is it worth it?” she fired back, unwilling to move.

  “Fet,” Peep warned, glaring.

  “Gaining my freedom back? Yes. It’s worth it. After what they did to me…they deserve it.” Piper sneered as he lit back up on the screen. “They took everything from me.”

  “Says the man in a walled-in compound.”

  “My price for my silence,” he shrugged, glancing at his prize. “No matter though. It will all be over soon and I can live anywhere I like. I’ll control everything.”

  “You used to protect people,” Fet challenged. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it. Your little failsafe for keeping the system and people protected. What changed?”

  “They did. They took everything from us. So what if there are a few deaths along the way to taking back our system from them? I’m going to set everyone free.”

  “By ruling over them?”

  “I can keep them safe,” he answered.

  “By controlling them?”

  “By controlling you all.” He smiled as if he believed his words weren’t merely a cry for power. “Now finish it.”

  “Fet, don’t you dare!” Peep cried as she struggled against the guards. Arach locked eyes with Spider, trying to sense his plan.

  “System override in ten seconds.”

  Alarms shrieked. Fet was surprised there weren’t flashing lights to add to the drama of it all.

  “Now or never, Muffet.” Piper yelled as the guards raised their weapons to their captives.

  Fet nodded to Spider and they turned back to the panel.

  The code spun past the screen, falling into place as the system exploded across the interface. Fet pressed the final keys.

  Code sparkled as it fell down on the screen, regrouping at the bottom.

  “No!” Peep shouted, falling to her knees.

  Arach threw his elbow back, colliding with the guard. Peep forced her way free. She ran back toward the compound in an effort to undo the damage Fet and Spider had created.

  “Arach!” Spider yelled, indicating he should turn and catch her. The boy raced after Peep, wrapping his arm around her, pulling her toward the exit. Spider held the door open, bracing himself between it and the wall as Fet charged forward, keeping the guards back. Arach dragged Peep outside, leaping over Spider’s legs as he forced the door open with his body. Fet darted over him just as the door forced Spider to drop. Fet pulled him along behind her, forcing him out of the way as the door slammed behind them, nearly crushing him.

  “Run,” Spider demanded, out of breath from holding the door open.

  The four crashed through the tall grass, making their way away from the compound, anger rippling from Peep.

  “How could you?” she shrieked when they slowed.

  “Relax, Peep.” Fet looked at her in disgust. “You have so little faith.”

  “She set up a back door,” Spider said.

  “And just who are you?” Peep demanded, whirling to face him.

  “That’s my brother.” Arach announced.

  “The one who works for Piper?”

  “Worked.” Spider corrected. “Double agent.”

  “Triple agent.” Fet scoffed.

  “Wait a minute. I know you. You’re one of the recruits!” Peep scrutinized him.

  “Can we skip that and get to the part about the backdoor?” Arach cut in.

  “Fet used the Irex to create a backdoor,” Spider informed them.

  “Irex?” Arach looked shocked.

  �
��You went…?” Peep asked.

  Fet nodded, giving them a quick rundown of their missions.

  “Now we have to get back to the Hub and fix this.”

  “You’re sure we can take him down?”

  “Now that you’re here, I’m positive. You’ve got the real code, after all.” She grinned as Peep nodded.

  “Well then, let’s go run the Piper off a cliff.”

  They sprinted back to town, finding chaos still erupting between the people and the guards protecting the Hub.

  “Stay here.” Peep instructed, motioning them to remain in the shadows.

  Spider and Arach mumbled quietly to each other. Fet only picked up a few words as they huddled together a few feet away discussing what had happened while they were separated. She glared when Spider kept glancing over to her, more frustrated than when his brother checked on her as well.

  “What is she doing?” Spider eventually hissed.

  “How should I know?” she bit back.

  “Children.” Arach cautioned, sensing an argument.

  “Is that her?” Fet asked, looked beyond the brothers.

  They turned, squinting to see who was approaching.

  When Peep returned, she had a man at her side.

  “He can get us in,” she said, turning on her heels. Peep had contacts everywhere.

  Without questioning her, the three followed behind them, Spider terrifyingly close to Fet again. His hand brushed against her side as they walked up to the building. A door opened in front of them and Peep hesitated. Glancing at Fet, she made eye contact.

  Fet nodded and Peep turned to the man holding the door. Spider and his brother were allowed access, officially being initiated into the Legends, all ceremony cast aside. The light of the early dawn was their only guide once inside.

  “After you, Fet,” the man whispered as she walked by him.

  She froze in place before turning to him, studying his glasses.

  “And you are?”

  “You know me as Nim.” His eyes sparkled as he revealed his identity. “These people know me as Jack.”