by Skyler Grant
That was fine, it just meant I'd have to be a little bit smarter and a little bit better. It wasn't looking promising at first glance. They'd done a good job securing the building, which looked to be some kind of club. There was a small army of goons armed with submachine guns and just one me.
"You're not getting in there without a fight," Ismene said.
I agreed, and a fight was exactly what I wasn't prepared to give.
I could disable a guard or two with my brambles, but they were an army.
I was Persephone. I had a way. I had to move quickly, I was sure they must have someone streamed with me even now reporting on my activities. If they didn't already know I'd arrived, it wouldn't be long. With my agility I was quick leaping from rooftop to rooftop on the surrounding buildings. I did the same thing on each, I coated them in flowers.
Within the span of half an hour I had seven new fields of flowers growing. Then it was time to get to work. I charged the front doors of the club. It was the obvious way in and there were a good half-dozen goons guarding it. I got two entwined in brambles, dodging submachine gunfire until finally a blast took me in my midsection and cut me in half.
I sprang to my feet in the closest flowers, taking a moment to reorient on the club, and this time with a flying leap I dove through a second floor window. Shards of glass cut my bare flesh to shreds, but that was fine. I could deal with pain, I wasn't going to be staying alive. Barbed brambles ripped the throat of a guard apart even as his shotgun blast caught me in the face.
I heaved in a deep breath and sprang to my feet once again on a different rooftop. This time I made a try for the back door. I didn't even reach it as a stray bullet took me in an eye. That was fine. I had three days to get the boy. I was Persephone and they were only an army. I was an immortal force of nature.
They fought and they bled, and they killed me over and over again. At least, at first. It was the front door that broke first, the guards there had killed me three times. They probably had a good laugh about it the first time, their mission accomplished. The second time they killed me it was in grim silence. The third it was done with shaky hands. The fourth time I tried that door they broke and they ran.
The guards inside didn't. None died, not that time, but they bled. By the time morning came the streets were slick with blood, most of it was mine. It oozed under the door and over the steps, and the building stood empty. Guns, many empty of ammunition, lay abandoned. Here and there lay a corpse, the result of me getting lucky with my brambles.
I know that night must have been filled with terror from their side. It was hard to describe it from my perspective. Nothing blunted the pain of dying, the agony of being torn apart over and over again. My body was made of raw nerves that still vibrated with the last blows that killed it. Memories of trauma experienced. If it hadn't been for a lifetime training to be a soldier I don't know if I could have done it. If I wasn’t already used to putting that screaming part of me away in a box and hiding it.
I found the boy bound and gagged in the office of the Countess. I'd hoped to find out who was behind this whole thing, but she'd killed herself by the time I'd arrived. I'm sure she was real, I was sure it wouldn't hold, and it kept me from interrogating her.
I searched the office. I'd get the boy to safety soon enough, but any answers I could get Liberty they'd want. The desk was empty of any meaningful paperwork although behind a surrealist portrait I found a solid-looking metal safe. I tried to force it open, but my strength wasn't anything divine.
"Any chance you can help Ismene?" I thought.
"Working on it. This is actually pretty complicated. It's a virtual representation of a datalock guarding real assets," Ismene said.
I idly spun at the dial on the lock trying to listen for some sort of click. I couldn't hear anything. It was worth a try. If I was any better with my plant powers I could probably pick the lock somehow. I didn't even know how I'd go about that right now.
"The encryption on this thing is insane, but I think I've got it. Twenty-four right, fifteen left, thirty-seven right, two left, eighteen right, seventeen left," Ismene said.
That was one long combination. I tried it, carefully dialing in each number, and when I'd put in the last there was a satisfying clunk. I pulled open the door.
Account books written in some kind of code and neat stacks of green bills.
Ismene whistled. "I don't know what Liberty is going to pay you, but demand a bonus."
"That good?"
"Even aside from the information, it is a lot of assets someone devoted to this operation."
That was good to know. That was really good to know.
I cab ride got me and the kid to City Hall, which was just opening up for the morning. I walked past the receptionist and went straight to the Mayor's office.
"Persephone," Alfonso said, playing as if seeing me were the most natural thing in the world.
"Found the boy," I said.
"I can see that," Alfonso said, giving the lad a look—who had taken to hugging my leg with a distracting sort of fierceness. I had the contents of the safe in a sack slung over my shoulder and I emptied them onto the desk. It made a rather impressive pile.
"My," Alfonso said, giving a broad smile as he looked it all over. "You come bearing gifts."
"I trust you can see the boy gets returned to his father?"
Alfonso snapped his fingers and with a flicker the boy blinked out of existence. "Logged off and back to the family that cares for him with no penalty to Liberty."
"And Central Park?" I asked.
Alfonso was already starting to sort the contents of the bag into neat little piles. "A Preservation Act will be on file by the end of the week. You have my word. I am the honest sort of mayor."
I supposed that meant he was the sort that, once bought, stayed bought. I was certain most of what I'd just turned over would actually find its way back to Liberty. I'd have to content myself with that.
I turned to go and he cleared his throat. I turned back.
"Did we have something else to discuss?" I asked.
"I understand that when Liberty took you in, it was under strange circumstances. The powers that be assumed they were getting a great pair of legs and not much else. I thought little of you apart from your tits when you entered my office. We erred greatly, didn't we?" Alfonso said.
"Clearly," I said.
"Not everyone did. The orders placing a hit on you went out before you even got the assignment to come here. Someone wanted your newfound career done before it started," Alfonso said.
This was unexpected of him. This was brave. I was still on assignment and this was still going out in real time. He didn't have to say—this knowledge could only have come from inside Liberty. Liberty had a mole and they wanted me neutralized.
"Thank you, Alfonso. Next time I'm in town I'll let you buy me a drink," I said.
"I look forward to it, and to seeing what you make of yourself," Alfonso said.
I stepped from the office and reality faded around me.
100
I was beside a pool at what looked to be some sort of hotel. Columbia was stretched out in a red, white, and blue bikini, wearing sunglasses and catching some sun. It struck me as a particularly pointless sort of exercise in the Network.
"Persephone!" Columbia called excitedly as she sat up. "Holy fucking shit girl. We're off camera, by the way. That building and the just coming back again and again. That was amazing. I mean, I've seen it all and that was a new one. All that blood and you just kept dying and then all, wham, getting torn apart again."
I'm glad someone enjoyed it.
"You were watching," I said.
"Not at first. I mean, who gave a shit, am I right? Watch some washed-up Olympian loser go out and fail. I mean, you didn't even get gang-raped by the police or anything. Your numbers were terrible except for the perverts jerking it, but for awhile there you were leading across the board. I mean, all external stuff, who wanted to be
inside of you for that?" Columbia said, taking off the sunglasses.
I really wanted to punch her in the throat. I did what I'd been doing a lot lately in those situations. I smiled.
"I'm just glad I could make a good first impression. Did you see what I got from the vault?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah, internal security is going through it. Who knew you had a safecracker in you? We should totally team up some day. Rob some SantaFe banks and have some girl-on-girl action. Great idea, right?" Columbia asked.
It was a pretty terrible one. I just kept smiling.
"Sounds amazing," I lied.
"Right?" Columbia said. "So anyways. We do a post mission wrap-up like this when you're done with a job. I'm a sponsored hero myself, but I'm also kind of the face of the company."
I was wondering exactly what her job was. Columbia was the face of Liberty? Maybe this new face of entertainment would grow on me, but so far I was really missing the thinkers and engineers I'd known twenty years earlier.
"You seem great at it," I said.
Columbia beamed, taking the praise completely at face value. "So as you can probably guess you did a great job the first time out. Mission accomplished and in the time limit, and the contents of that safe were a big win. Loved the badass coming back from the dead stuff, do more of that. We'd like to see more sex. I mean, not like you're going to have a hard time fucking somebody, but overall good job."
"I welcome the feedback," I said. I didn't, much, but it was the right thing to say.
"Payment has been transferred to your account. Great bonus there. You gained two levels and you can assign anything there before your next run. We'll be in touch," Columbia said, before snapping her fingers.
I was dumped out of the Network just like that. I was back on the basement table strapped down, the sensors placed along my suit. Sparks was quietly snoring in a corner, Hammer was in a chair nearby with a shotgun placed across his lap.
"She's up," Hammer called out, starting to loosen the straps holding me down.
Sparks stirred himself awake as I sat up. My limbs were stiff and I was exhausted.
I'd put myself through a lot in the Network. All of that had to some degree been firing back to my very flesh and blood nerves, and my body was a battleground of endorphins and adrenaline.
Diva poked her head in. "I hear that right?"
"I'm back," I said.
"We've got a problem," Diva said, stepping in. I was getting quite the crowd around me, I was really glad I didn't go into the Network here like I would have had to in Olympus.
I wasn't ready for a problem. I felt like I'd been run over by several trucks. Problems didn't tend to care how you felt.
"What’s going on?" I asked.
"It's Masque. She went to collect for that job we'd done," Diva said.
The job where we thought collection might be a problem. "Why didn't you wait for me?" I asked.
"We didn't know how long you'd be and the client said it was urgent. We kept everything safe, a neutral location. They insisted on her going alone, but I went as hidden backup. We had a tracker on her, the whole deal. I lost her and the tracker is dead," Diva said.
This was getting worse and worse. "Sparks?" I asked.
Sparks was still wiping the sleep out of his eyes, "Sorry. Searched every camera I could. I didn't get anything. Files are tampered with, but they didn't leave a trace of who did it."
What a thing to wake up to.
"Can you help?" I thought to Ismene.
"Sparks is good, but I'm better. Give me a few," Ismene thought back.
"How did it go in there?" Sparks asked.
"You didn't get to see the show?" I asked.
"We've been kind of busy," Sparks said. Of course they had.
"Liberty seems happy. Lots of blood and gore, and the job got done. They thought I should have fucked someone," I said.
"Sounds like a Liberty production. Ever watched Columbia do a job? It's all guns and explosions, and humping everything that moves," Diva said.
I hadn't, of course. I didn't think I'd be indulging anytime soon.
"Is she actually any good?" I asked.
"You think you get to be the spokesperson of a Corporation otherwise? Columbia is a major badass in a world of major badasses," Diva said.
Huh. I'd underestimated her. Given how much people kept underestimating me, I didn't like that.
"Where is the search for Masque at now?" I asked.
"We've got word into our contacts to reach out, if they hear anything. We pounded heads and rifled records, and came up dry. We were hoping your corporate contacts might do something where ours couldn't," Diva said.
Possibly. After that performance I might have earned enough goodwill from Liberty to get a favor. I didn't want to collect yet, but for Masque I would.
"I've got something," Ismene said.
"Hit me."
"It isn't a physical location, but it is a Network one. Masque is on the other side," Ismene thought.
I didn't even know that Masque had a Network connection, but then I didn't know that much about most of my companions. Sparks definitely would, and if Diva was a Columbia fan that meant she did as well.
"Can you tap into her feed?" I asked.
"Negative. I'm pretty well blocked out apart from pinging her," Ismene said.
"Let’s get you some backup. Send what you have to Sparks," I thought.
"Masque is in the Network. The location is well hidden. My contact is forwarding you the information, Sparks," I said.
Sparks grabbed for his tablet and began tapping away at the screen.
Diva had her eyes narrowed. "That was awfully fast."
"I know it, and I know you find that suspicious. The information is good," I said.
"This is shielded. I'm going to need one of your Collective keys, Hammer," Sparks said.
Hammer extended his cybernetic arm towards Sparks, who attached a small wire into an outlet.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm still on good terms with the AIs of the Collective. They have doorways into most parts of the Network that often go hidden," Hammer said.
I guess some of those other AIs were better hackers than Ismene. That made sense, she was mostly a doctor and a combat medic, for all I'd been using my friend like a search engine lately. I'd have to find a way to make that up to her.
"Appreciate the sentiment, but Masque comes first," Ismene thought.
"I really don't like that you can read my every thought now," I thought back.
"Weird for me, too." I can see where it would be.
"Got it," Sparks said.
"You have a location?" I asked.
"No. But I've got an entry point that will put you down almost right on top of her" Sparks said.
"I'll go," Diva said.
"Can you get in more than one?" I asked.
"’Fraid not," Sparks said.
"I'll go," I said.
"You just got done and I'm her friend," Diva said.
"I'm Persephone. I've got abilities over there that you don't, and you know it," I said.
"You're a Goddess of shrubs," Diva said.
“Find a highlights reel of what I just did," I said. "Tie me down.”
Diva didn't look happy about it, but I was in charge. Soon enough the straps had me tied down once more and the world was going black around me.
101
I came to in a field near a town. There weren't many flowers, but there were enough to serve as my entry point, withered scraggly-looking things. The town looked the same, dirt streets and weathered wooden buildings. A sign tilted in the dirt nearby proclaimed it to be Crow's Gulch, population 103.
A spike had been set up and what had obviously once being a human being was roped to it. The flesh was dehydrated from the harsh sun. I set off towards town. I wasn't sure what Masque would be doing here, but the fact that she hadn't communicated with the crew suggested that caution was in order. I hoped perhaps it mig
ht just be some kind of lovers rendezvous, but that corpse wasn't exactly romantic.
Once I got into town I knew I could rule out that rendezvous option completely unless Masque had a side she really kept hidden. At one of the hitching posts a woman was tied naked on all fours, her back a mess of half-healed welts and bleeding wounds. The corpse of a man was slumped against one wall, an apple perched awkwardly atop his head and his face a mass of bullet wounds.
There was no foot traffic in the streets, although I heard a lot of noise coming from a saloon. I crouched up to a window and peered inside. A few terrified-looking women were serving drinks naked, and a man was gamely attempting to play the piano despite having knives plunged into each hand. Cowboys in black hats were scattered around drinking and looked to be having a great time.
"Ismene. Are you still with me?" I thought.
"Yeah. What did we walk into?"
"A nightmare. Can you find Masque?" I asked.
"Inn. Room seven," Ismene answered.
I had to get answers as to what was going on here. The inn was unguarded, a man that might be the innkeeper sprawled upon the desk, naked and tied down. He'd been gelded and had a bell shoved in his mouth.
I kept moving. I heard sobbing in most of the rooms I passed—and when I stopped outside room seven. I didn't want to go inside, but I had to.
Masque was barely recognizable. The bed was covered with blood and I imagined that much of it was hers. At least she was dressed, I hoped that meant she hadn't been raped. It looked like someone had taken a hammer to her knees and legs, a number of unnatural contortions had twisted the limbs in ways they were never meant to go. Both of her eyes had been blackened and her lip split.
"It's Persephone," I said.
Masque had gone so tense it looked like she might collapse as the door opened. "How did you get here?" she asked.
"I finished with my job. Diva said you went missing and I came to find you. Did you choose this, or do we have to kill a lot of people?" I asked.
