by Palladian
Riss shrugged. “Sounds to me like it’s a new change that’s part of the event you went through. Lily warned us to be on the lookout for things like this. She said that if anything did happen, that it was important to test it out as much as you can, so you know what your limits are for future situations. She passed along a file for me to give to you in case you noticed anything new, so I’ll show it to you once we get settled.”
“Thanks,” Lex replied distractedly, looking out the front window at the traffic on the city streets. She began wondering if this was some permanent change, but shrugged the thought off, knowing that she had more pressing things to focus on.
“We agreed we’re going to head west, right?” Lex craned her neck to find out if she could see into the back of the van, but it was too dark to make out details. “Riss, can you find out if Lou can hear back there?”
Leaning over her seat, Riss shook her head. “No, I think he’s asleep. We can go over the rest of the plan later, maybe when we stop for the night.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Lex replied, suddenly having to put her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a yawn.
She remembered blinking slowly at the road in front of them, glad for her sunglasses even though the day had dawned cloudy and grey. The next thing she knew, the van had stopped. She looked to the driver’s seat, which now sat empty. Confused, Lex looked out the window. The day had cleared, but the sunlight seemed thin and far away. Not recognizing their location, Lex turned to the back of the van to see Riss sitting behind her. She looked up and nodded when Lex looked in her direction. Upon registering a sudden movement next to her, Lex rubbed her eyes and glanced out the window to see Casey waving.
“Hey,” Casey said after Lex had fumbled the door open. “Do you want to stretch your legs or anything? We’re south of Winchester now; I thought we probably shouldn’t stop until we got out of the DC area altogether.”
Lex nodded heavily, still feeling about half-asleep. “Bathroom?” she asked, struggling out of her seat belt and the van to go in the direction Casey pointed.
Later, after Lex had dashed some cold water on her face, she looked into the mirror. She felt glad it was still cold outside, because she wore a stocking cap to cover up her new red hair, but she took the hat off and smoothed her hair out, watching in the mirror. She looked up as the door to the outside opened and Riss came in, smiled, and then looked back at her reflection, still with a smile on her face, something her new hair color never failed to induce. Sticking the hat back on, Lex finished up and turned to leave when she caught her arm on something and wobbled.
A moment later, Riss was at her side, steadying her. “Don’t lose your balance and hit your head now that we’re on the road.”
Lex laughed. “No, now would not be a good time. Thanks, Riss.”
When they resumed their trip, Casey insisted on continuing to drive, but Riss and Lex switched places so that Lex could lie down. She had tried to argue, saying that since she’d had a nap she wasn’t tired anymore, but after letting out a big yawn in the middle of her speech, she’d had to abandon that line. Lex fell back asleep to the sound of clicking keys from the front of the van.
Waking up a couple of hours before they decided to stop for the night, Lex moved to the passenger seat so she could keep Lou company, since he’d now switched to be the driver. Casey sat in the back of the van now, and Lex could hear the murmur of the two other women discussing something.
“So,” Lex asked, looking over at Lou, “how are you feeling? I’m sorry we couldn’t get there any quicker. It looked like they were treating you pretty badly.”
He gave her a quick look and smiled before he looked back out the front window. “I’m fine. They just had me strapped down like that because I kept trying to escape. I overheard someone saying they don’t like to use tranquilizers on people like me because they have to use so much to have an effect. They had other people like Casey and I on staff and they overpowered me by numbers. Mostly, they were running a lot of tests on me, not giving me any weird drugs like the other people there. From what they said, I got the impression they took me in hoping that if Casey was still out there that she’d come for me. I don’t think they had any idea that something like this would happen.”
“Good.” Lex said with a nod, then sighed. “I hope a lot of those people got away. We were lucky: most of them were housed nearer to the guards. What a terrible place.”
He nodded, then fixed Lex with an intense glance. “So how are you? I know Casey was really worried about you.”
Lex looked up to meet his eye and sighed a second time. “Well, I’m glad to be free and not a lab rat anymore, but I just feel so weak. I sleep a lot, and I can’t do most of the things I’m used to. It’s really frustrating.”
Lou listened, then let a moment of silence stretch out between them as he considered. “Well,” he began, “from what Casey said, you nearly died, right?”
“Twice, unfortunately.” As she said it, she couldn’t help but glance into the back of the van, but she couldn’t see Casey or Riss.
“And your whole body reformed itself, I guess, according to some talk I heard at the facility.”
Lex nodded in response, listening.
“Maybe you should think about it like being born, or like having to relearn how to do stuff after a stroke. Figure your body’s new to you now and you don’t know what to expect. Try to be patient like you’re teaching a child, because being impatient with kids won’t help them learn any faster. It’ll take some time to build your strength back up, too. You’re not born a strong adult, after all.”
Smiling, Lex looked over at him. “Casey never mentioned how smart you are. Do you always give advice this good?”
Lou smiled in return, still looking at the road. “Hard to say. A lot of people don’t like advice.”
The two of them alternately talked and enjoyed the scenery as it rolled by. They decided to stop for the night around the time the light disappeared from the sky, and they found a tiny motel on the outskirts of a small town. Casey insisted that they find something with a kitchenette so that she could cook, to make sure Lex had something to eat. She made dinner for everyone though, and Lex began going through the next step of their plans as Casey cooked.
“All right,” Lex said, “before I begin, Riss, did you manage to pick up any information about what happened today on the news or anywhere else?”
Riss raised an eyebrow. “Nothing on the news, and I didn’t expect it. As I think you noticed before, they don’t like to talk about us on the news. I think it’s sort of an official policy of denial, I guess; if we don’t exist, they don’t need to worry about doing whatever they like to us. Anyway, from what I’ve been able to tell from police and internal MSI reports, they don’t seem to be too sure about what actually happened. They circulated our descriptions again, though, along with Lou’s, but mostly to law enforcement along the East Coast.”
With an expressive shrug, Riss continued. “They don’t seem to be doing any searching on their own anymore, although the first couple of weeks they had all their troops out searching likely spots all over the DC metro area. They’re not making a big deal about it now, though. It seems they still want to keep things quiet, even from the police, which makes me pretty sure they’re not in on the secret. At any rate, it seems we’ve made our escape, so we’re probably safe for the moment. I’ll continue to monitor police communications and the news. If you’re still worried, though, one of the nice things about all of the crap they try to sell to women is that it makes it pretty easy to change your appearance, as Lex demonstrated.” She finished talking with a raised eyebrow, playing with the fork in front of her on the table.
“Thanks, Riss. That’s great to hear,” Lex said with a smile, then continued. “I’m figuring our main focus now should be to stay free, and to figure out where we should go to recoup and plan our next move. I did as much research as I could in the couple of weeks before we came to get you, Lou, a
nd here’s what I’d like to propose.”
She paused for a few moments and spread some sheets of paper out on the small table the three of them were gathered around. Casey glanced over the tiny counter that separated the kitchenette and the table, but then nodded and went back to her cooking as Lex continued to speak.
“I printed these out on the library computer, so I apologize that there’s only some summary information. What I’d like to propose is that we choose a new place to live where we can think about what we want to do next. Lou, I already talked to Riss and Casey about areas of the country we should avoid, based on where people might recognize them, so I eliminated a few places right off the bat.”
“You shouldn’t need to worry about that for me,” he said after having glanced at the papers on the table. “My family is from northern New York, and it looks like most of these places are out west.”
Lex nodded. “I figured it would probably make the most sense to avoid anything on the East Coast, but I ended up avoiding anything east of the Mississippi, pretty much. Also, I figured avoiding the biggest cities was probably the way to go, since they’ll have more of everything, including police and possible publicity. I went with slightly smaller cities instead, figuring that in a city it’s easier to blend into a crowd. Anyway, have a look, and we’ll figure out between the four of us where we want to go.”
All of them looked over the papers Lex had provided over dinner, which consisted of summary information for a dozen or so cities all over the western United States. After they’d finished eating, they all discussed it for a while, and finally went with Riss’ suggestion to have everyone vote by ordering their top picks at the top of a list and their least favorite at the bottom, eliminating several agreed-upon bottom choices every round. After a couple of rounds, Lex announced, “It looks like Phoenix, Arizona, is probably the winner. It’s everyone’s top pick or second pick; nothing else seems to be as popular. Everyone else should look at the results, though, to be sure.”
Lex passed the pieces of paper to Riss, who looked at them and nodded, passing them along to Lou. After everyone had a look, Lex asked, “What do you all think? I visited a friend there once, several years ago, and I thought it seemed like a good place.”
Casey nodded. “I’ve never been there, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like a nice town.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Riss said.
“I’ve heard the country around there is beautiful,” Lou added. “I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
“All right,” Casey said, her hand in front of her face to hide a yawn, “we’ll get some maps tomorrow to help us get there. And we should see if we can find a health food store on the road, too, because I think I’m going to start dying my hair, too.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “What color?”
“Black, I think,” Casey replied, looking as if she was trying to stifle another yawn.
“Why don’t you two get some sleep,” Lex suggested, looking at Lou and Casey. “Riss and I can do the dishes.”
“Oh, we can?” Riss asked, folding her arms across her chest, but smiling the ghost of a smile.
Lou and Casey seemed happy enough to agree with that and went next door to the second room they’d gotten. Riss and Lex cleaned up quietly, putting the dishes away and straightening everything up. Once they’d finished, Lex turned to Riss.
“How tired are you? I know it was a long day, so if you’re worn out, just tell me.”
Riss shrugged. “I’m actually not tired. I slept a bit in the van, probably just because I got bored. I’m used to staying up most of the night anyway, so I’m feeling pretty awake about now. What’s up?”
“Well,” Lex began, “I wanted to go through the exercises that Mr. Chen put together for me, but I should have someone spot me in case my muscles get too tired. I still can’t quite figure out what my limits are yet.”
“Just tell me what I need to do,” Riss said, sitting on the floor as Lex did.
Riss nodded as Lex explained and then helped her friend work through the set of exercises that Mr. Chen had written out. After what seemed like too quick a time, Riss tapped Lex on the leg, helping the other woman bring it back to the floor.
“I think maybe you should call it a night,” she said, studying Lex’s face. “Your muscles are shaking as you’re doing these. It’s been a big day already; maybe that’s enough.”
“But, I should–” Lex began, only to be cut off by Riss’ voice.
“You know, Lex, you don’t have to do everything all at once. Why don’t you just pretend you’re on vacation for a while and take it easy.”
Lex just looked at her mutely for a moment before finally relaxing enough to lie back on the carpet with her head on her arms. “I’ll try to relax. I’m just not very good at it.”
“I noticed,” Riss replied with a gentle snort of laughter, then reached a hand down to help her friend off the carpet as she stood up. “Do you want to watch some TV? I was going to go online for a while to see if there’s been any news.”
Lex sighed. “Not really. I’m not that tired, though.”
“In that case, here,” Riss said, handing the other woman a small laptop. “This is the file that Lily left for you. I think she said it’s some kind of manual. Even though nothing happened while we were at the apartment, I think Lily suspected that, since you came through your body event with differences, you might have some changes to your capabilities, too. So she left this with me and asked me to pass it along if you noticed any further changes.”
Riss showed Lex the file before settling on the floor surrounded by computers. Lex sat back on one of the beds and started looking at the manual Lily had sent. “Determining Your New Skills” the cover page proclaimed underneath the MSI logo, and Lex raised an eyebrow before reading on.
After reading for a short time, she realized that it seemed to be an instruction book for figuring out how to identify and use any new talents you were left with after a body event. Lex glossed over some initial chapters about adjusting to new limbs and body types to read in detail the first chapter that explained how to investigate changes that weren’t apparent from the outside.
“You have to think about this as if you were a child, exploring the possibilities of your body for the first time. Be completely experimental, because things you thought you could never do before you might be able to do now.”
Lex rolled her eyes and wondered who had written the manual. Maybe they have ex-patients working at the facility; I can’t see the people who run the lab farming this work out to anyone who didn’t know what goes on there.
As she read, she mentally discarded some suggestions but made note of some things that interested her (“Your new talents may manifest themselves at times of extreme stress.”) After a while, however, Lex found her head nodding as she read, and ran through a series of short dreams where she was doing all sorts of bizarre things, like shooting rays from her fingertips.
Eventually, the scenes in her mind resolved and Lex found herself sitting at the edge of the river again, shifting uncomfortably as she sat on a large rock but smiling as her breath showed in the fall air, and as she turned to the side, she saw her uncle sitting beside her, enjoying the sunset. He smiled at her in return.
“Congratulations, Lex. I’m glad you made it.”
Unable to help herself, Lex reached out and hugged him. He hugged her back as she laughed.
“I’m so glad to be here. I don’t look the same, though.”
“You’re as lovely as you ever were. Besides, whoever ends up looking the same over the years, anyway?”
Lex tilted her head from one side to the other as she considered that. “I guess you’re right.”
The scene melted away then, and Lex blinked, suddenly looking up into Riss’ eyes.
“Why don’t you get ready for bed and get under the covers? It looks like the file wasn’t too interesting.”
Lex smiled and stretched after handing the laptop back t
o Riss. “I think it’s going to take some time to go through it.”
After getting ready and tucking herself in, it seemed only moments later that she saw sunlight streaming in through the window and smelled breakfast cooking. As she sat up, Lex yawned and looked over at the kitchenette area to see Lou, Riss, and Casey awake and smiling at her.
“Good morning,” she said with a sleepy wave, then made her way to the bathroom to get ready for another day on the road. By the time she joined everyone else at the table, they had begun to eat.
They ate in companionable silence for a while, and then Lou asked a question.
“I remember when we talked about escaping a while ago, Casey mentioned that someone had worked it out so that our money could follow us. Can you tell me how? I want to be able to help out, but all I have right now is this credit card.”
Riss nodded as she finished chewing on some toast and picked up a cup of coffee. “It’s ready for you to use, with a $15K limit, but we’re going to have to make sure to pay on them in order to have them continue working. If everyone just treats them like normal credit cards, they shouldn’t set off any alarm bells. I have them all monitored, though, in case something weird happens.”
She drank some of her coffee, then continued. “I took the info you gave me and I have all of the money from your account held safely. It’s currently in a bank in Idaho with your new name on it. Once we settle in Phoenix, I’ll transfer it to a bank of your choice there under your new name. You should probably pick something available nationally, though, since Phoenix might not be our last step.”
Riss stopped then, and the three women looked at each other for a moment, as if they weren’t sure how to continue, but finally Lex nodded at Casey, and the blonde nodded back, then started to speak.
“Actually, we talked before we left about sticking together. We figured that we’d have a better chance of survival together, and I agreed at the time. If you want to do something different, we can move on by ourselves, but I’d like for all of us to stick together, if you can get behind that.”
