by Riker Kane
The people all pressed on regardless of what anybody else did or didn’t do. Honest folks made their living with regular tasks. Just like the baristas inside of the coffee shop. Late in the morning, there was still a line of people looking for their fix. Lattes and milkshakes and cups of coffee were poured and filled the area with an unmistakable aroma.
Jade sat just outside of the coffee shop. A tight pair of jeans and a short-sleeved red t-shirt didn’t make her stand out. But the familiar sheen of her dark hair made it obvious she cared about how she looked.
Her head down, she fidgeted with the lid of her latte. Her throat shifted with a swallow loud enough for me to hear. I could handle being nervous myself but I never knew how to tell others how to deal with it. No point in starting now.
“Never really got it,” I said. “All these people waiting in line. Spending money that would be better off on something else.”
“It’s coffee,” she said. “Everybody drinks coffee. I’ve seen you drink it before.”
“I drink coffee. I don’t make it an event. Look around. Everybody’s having a drink, having a snack, so eager to sit here and talk about nothing and waste time.”
She laughed softly. “It’s the caffeine. Back when I was…” She paused for a moment. “I used to go get coffee whenever I had a craving. Withdrawal symptoms are painful. I distracted myself with caffeine and sugar.”
“Trading one addiction for another.”
“I started craving coffee like everybody else here. But at least I had my faculties. No blackouts. No drowsiness. I had a few headaches every now and then whenever I went a few days without a cup. But I tapered it eventually and before I realized it, I was completely free.”
She smiled, her eyes still focused on her cup. Judging from the way she stared, there were so many thoughts running through her head.
“What made you decide to quit?”
She didn’t answer. She just kept staring blankly before finally taking a sip from her latte. “I don’t know. Tim pointed out how bad the stuff was but advice can only go so far… I just… realized that wasn’t what I wanted for myself. That I could do more than just be a slave to an addiction. I finally got my head clear enough and applied to the Legion to make sure I couldn’t be anywhere near the stuff. If I wasn’t an Omega, I don’t know if I’d be here now.”
“You would. You’re stronger than you think.”
Her eyes shifted toward me. The tiniest little twitch of a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth to mask her anxiety. “Maybe. I wouldn’t want to risk it though.”
I looked down the sidewalk and saw Tim walking toward us. I thought I just caught him at a bad time the first time I met him. But he didn’t look much different after a night of sleep. His head was still bald and wrinkled but his beard and mustache managed to look disheveled to make up for it. His baggy shirt wasn’t quite baggy enough to hide his stomach. His blue sweatpants had seen better days, stained with some type of sauce from his last meal. At least, I hope it was from a meal. Despite how ragged and pudgy he was, he walked with an undeniable confidence.
His confidence turned into a glare when he saw me sitting next to Jade. “What’s he doing here?” he muttered.
“He just wants to talk to you.”
“I got nothing to say to him.”
“Tim, please…”
Tim grumbled and plopped into his chair. We sat at the table facing one another. Even though we were out in the open, I was still suspicious about what he might be up to. The constant scowl on his face didn’t help.
He crossed his arms and stared hard at me. “Go on.”
“Jade’s her own woman. You know that.”
“Of course I know that. She’s free to do whatever she wants.”
“If you understand, why are you so upset about her leaving?”
He leaned forward as much as his hefty body allowed him to. His index finger extended out, jabbing at me. “Do you know what I did for her? Did she tell you how I found her? She was in an alley. Stoned out of her mind. If I didn’t take her in, the cops would’ve arrested her. Locked her up. I gave her a home. I gave her clothes. I fed her. I saved her. Where would she be without me?”
“She was stoned from the same shit you push.”
“She never got anything from me. I’m the one who told her how bad this shit is. That’s how much I cared about her.”
I looked over at Jade. The disappointment in her eyes told me he was telling the truth.
“Maybe she owes you. But you can’t expect her to be your slave.”
“Slave? I didn’t take Jade in to be my slave. Is it too much to ask for some gratitude?”
“How can she pay back something like that? She knows how much you did for her. That’s the only reason she’s still staying at your place. If you really cared about her, you’d let her go. Without getting upset.”
Tim moved back in his seat and huffed. He kept shaking his head in disgust. But he stopped when he turned to Jade.
She had her head down. Her eyes half-open, she was on the verge of tears. It was surreal. In the middle of broad daylight, I never thought I’d see it.
I had to say something. To save her from this obligation she thought she had. “You took her in. You saved her. Now you want her to pay you back. You know what that means?”
“You tell me,” he muttered.
“It means you were never her friend. You didn’t do it because it was the right thing to do. You did it because you thought you would get something back. She’s free from the drugs. She’s free from the obligation you have to her. She doesn’t owe you anything.”
Tim clenched his jaw so hard I could see his cheeks shifting. “Fine. She’s got no obligation to me. She doesn’t gotta be a customer. She doesn’t gotta be a friend. But I want restitution. For everything I gave her.”
“Restitution? What kinda—”
“Ten grand.”
Money. It always came down to money. I would’ve laughed if I didn’t expect it from a pusher. If I was a rich man, I would’ve paid in an instant. But being a gym trainer didn’t exactly pay well.
Tim moved close to Jade, who still had her head down. “After everything I did—”
“Fine.” Jade’s head suddenly shot up. “Ten-thousand. You’ll get your money. I don’t ever wanna see you or your apartment ever again.”
“Done.” Tim popped up from his seat. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.” He looked down at Jade, his lips shifting like he wasn’t sure he wanted to smile. Slugging him in the mouth crossed my mind but that was too easy. “Nice knowing you, Jade.”
He spun around and waddled down the street with a bounce in his step.
Jade put her head back down as she fiddled with her coffee.
“Jade… You sure about this?”
She sighed a deep breath through her nose and nodded. “The darkest time of my life wasn’t when I was an addict. It was when my head cleared and I had nowhere else to go. Being an Omega… It made me realize I had something to offer. It’s more than just being alive. It’s about… doing something. Ten grand will be everything I earned with the Legion plus the missions we finished but if that’s what it takes…”
“You have a place to stay?”
She laughed. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”
“I’ve got some room. Maybe Alisa does, too. And if that’s not enough, I’m sure Redgrave will make a spot for you in the warehouse for the time being.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad it’s over.” She finally smiled again. Her hand reached out and moved on top of mine. “Thanks for being there for me. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Yeah… No problem…”
My communicator vibrated and nearly startled me. I raised my wrist to look at the display.
SYNERGY with ENZO DRAKE
Jade Conrad - Level 4: 10% power increase to all abilities
Alisa Bosworth - Level 2: +3 to Speed
“Something
important?” she asked.
It was a big bonus. “Something important. But nothing you need to worry about.”
Another vibration came through my pocket. I pulled my phone out and saw Alisa calling me. “Hmm…”
“Hey, Champ. You busy?”
“I’m with Jade right now.”
“Perfect. Something came up.”
“This got something to do with the mission?”
“Kinda. But I think we should meet up as soon as possible. Bring Jade along with you.”
“What’s going on—”
The call ended before I could finish. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat.
“Something wrong?” Jade asked.
“It’s Alisa. Something’s always wrong with her. She said she wanted to meet up.”
“Could be important.”
“If it was important, Redgrave would’ve sent us a message. You know he’s still busy trying to figure out what’s going on with that Herald we saw. Don’t think he’ll have an answer soon, even if he’s been working all day and night on it.”
“So you’re just gonna keep Alisa waiting?”
“We’ve got more important things to do.”
“We do?”
“Yeah. Drinking our coffee and enjoying our moment. Like everybody does.”
Jade’s grin grew. She shrugged and took a sip of her latte. “I suppose there’s no harm in relaxing for a little bit longer. Life doesn’t always have to be so stressful.”
“For just a little while, anyway.”
30: The VIPs
After deciding to take a day off from the gym, I figured I might as well go with Jade to deal with whatever Alisa was talking about. Even though Alisa mentioned how important it was, there was no telling if it was the big deal she implied.
A short cab ride north of town and we were up a few city blocks. The office buildings were a little fancier. There were some homeless folks on the street with the businessmen and women doing their best to ignore them as they walked by. It was a little more crowded on the sidewalks, too.
“I wonder…” Jade started. “What’s she thinking?”
“Don’t try to figure out what’s running through Alisa’s mind. For all we know this could be a trick and she’s turning us into Castleberry.”
“I don’t know how you could even think that.” Alisa’s voice suddenly came from behind me. She had her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised like she was about to give a child a scolding. “We’re a team. And I’d never turn my back on the team.”
“Or the money you’re getting from missions.”
“Well… I won’t lie about the money being nice.” The big grin she had didn’t make me feel any more comfortable. “But I still meant what I said about being a team. And I’ll prove it to you now. In here.”
She directed us to the nearby storefront. I looked into the windows and saw the mannequins with wedding gowns on display.
“Um… Is this what I think it is?” Jade said. “I don’t know where you got that idea from—”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that. C’mon!” Alisa practically pushed Jade and me into the store. Seeing the wedding gowns made me resist a little bit but I figured I’d wait until I got all of the details before making a break for it.
Inside, the small shop was as quaint as any storefront on the block. The walls were striped pink and white. A ceiling fan spun quietly, drowned out by the sound of a few sewing machines running. There was a scent of perfume in the air. More wedding dresses were on display. A few women were off to the side in their gowns, examining their reflections closely to find the tiniest imperfections.
I kept looking to make sure I was seeing things right but the view didn’t change. “Alisa… Why did you take us to a bridal store?”
“It’s not just a place for weddings,” she said. “They do men’s outfits, too.”
“That… doesn’t help.”
Alisa walked over to one of the seamstresses. The older woman got up then peered over at Jade and me. A smile came across her face as she walked up.
Just an elderly woman with short, curly gray hair and wrinkled cheeks. Her eyes were hidden by some thick-framed glasses. She was hunched over slightly, probably from spending so much time working on her machine. The small woman seemed harmless. Seemed harmless. Not knowing what Alisa was up to, I had to assume anything.
“What do you think?” Alisa said to the woman.
She took a step toward me and looked up. Then she started walking around me, tapping the side of her face with her index finger. She had a look on her face like a woman judging a beauty pageant.
The old woman switched over to Jade, who was just as confused as I was.
“Interesting…” The woman moved back next to Alisa.
“Can you do anything?” Alisa asked.
“Certainly. Both of them have such perfect physiques. It would be a pleasure.”
“Um…” I scratched the side of my head in confusion, not sure if I was supposed to get mad. “You know, I’m standing right in front of you and I can hear you.”
“Just let me know what you’re looking for and I can get started.” The old woman shuffled back to her machine where a couple of other women were working next to her.
“I knew you’d be perfect.” Alisa’s grin grew even wider.
“I don’t know what you think happened this morning,” I said. “But this is the last place we need to be.”
“Cool it. I’m not talking about putting you two into wedding dresses. But you do need to be in something else.”
“What are you talking about?” The confusion on Jade’s face kept growing, her brow wrinkling as she crossed her arms.
Alisa’s smut attitude didn’t go away. “I got to thinking about the last mission we were on. When we were walking along the coast and then roaming through the jungle. How our clothes got soaked from the water and dirty from the sand. My outfit was so dank and dirty… it was gross.
“So, I thought maybe on the next mission we could wear something else. I’m talking about some uniforms!” Alisa threw her hands up into the air.
But all Jade and I did was look at one another. It was hard to tell if Jade was more worried or confused. Probably both.
“I’m not wearing a uniform,” I said.
“I don’t mean an ordinary uniform like some private school,” Alisa said. “I’m talking about an outfit. Something built for what we’re doing. Since we’re not LOD official and Redgrave has made getting us armor his last priority, I think we should have something else.”
“So you took us to a wedding dress seamstress?”
“That’s just it. Beatriz isn’t just some seamstress putting together wedding gowns. She works with all types of materials. She can put something together that would protect us. I’m talking grade-A stuff.”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Sounds perfect. Imagine me running into Anarchy in a button-up tuxedo.”
Jade put her hand over her mouth to hide her smirk.
“Ha ha,” Alisa said with an eyeroll. “It doesn’t have to be a tuxedo. And maybe uniform was the wrong word. But we need every edge we can get. Think about it. Imagine instead of wearing some jeans and going shirtless, you had a wet suit on the coast. You would’ve been able to wick away some of the water. You might’ve been fast enough to swim across before that octopus got to you.”
“Wait… Beatriz over here can put together a suit?”
“Duh! That’s what I’ve been telling you the whole time. I mean, she’s not a metal worker but you wouldn’t wanna be wearing metal anyway. Like I said, if it can give you an advantage, wouldn’t you take it?”
I thought it was a joke but suddenly found myself pondering the possibilities.
“She does have a point,” Jade said. “We need all the help we can get.”
“Exactly!” Alisa walked up and put her hands on my shoulders. “Think about it. You’re wearing a suit. It might not protect you from the Shadows but it mig
ht protect from the hazards of the environment. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with looking cool. We’re important. The VIPs. The Omegas but not actually Omegas. We gotta show these asshole Shadows who’s boss.”
I looked at the hands on my shoulders in confusion. I wasn’t on-board. I didn’t see how it would make much of a difference. But the enthusiasm in Alisa’s blue eyes made it hard for me to disappoint her. “I’ll think about it,” I sighed.
“Just let Beatriz take your measurements and she can put something together quick for you. A test run. If you don’t like it, you can scrap it. That’s all I ask.”
“I said I’ll think about it.”
“Thanks, Champ.”
“Just make sure—”
My communicator suddenly vibrated on my arm. The same happened to Jade and Alisa. I looked down at my touchscreen and saw the message from Redgrave.
“Meeting. ASAP.”
Jade and Alisa stared at me. I knew they saw the same message I did.
~ ~ ~
I don’t ever recall seeing a worried look on Redgrave’s face. Maybe his face was so wrinkled and his eyebrows were too thin for me to notice. The blunt tone of his message told me this was serious even though he was smiling politely as usual.
Jade and Alisa stood opposite from each other in the small warehouse room as we all waited for Redgrave.
The old man tapped and swiped on his tablet before nodding. “I’ve looked into the LOD databases. Searched for more information on the records. I realized my initial assumptions were correct. The Heralds have arrived and are aware of Earth’s resistance.”
“Resistance?” Alisa said. “Resistance to what?”
“To being destroyed. That is their goal. Simple annihilation. And stronger Heralds have been discovered. Just like the one you encountered.”
“Tell me you’ve got some good news for me,” I said.
“I searched more. Apparently, they were able to strengthen their weapons. In the Vegas District, an operation was performed with weapons tempered with Potent Mana.”
