Queen's Journey (Lilith's Shadow Book 5)
Page 20
“Yeah,” Gina said, pausing for a few seconds, then rolled backward, her head almost hitting the wall as she let out a sigh. Rachel’s eye twitched, but her friend spoke before she could snap. “I probably should have done that after everything with Blue Impulse, but I didn’t. I wonder how much of that was Shadowmind’s doing, and how much was me just… not wanting to.”
“I couldn’t say,” Rachel replied, looking down at her hands, anxiety swirling through her. She hated how the adjustments made her feel, and she forced herself to breathe slowly.
The one good thing about their trip was that, aside from the current situation where Gina was interrupting, Rachel had a chance to study her friend’s changes properly at last. It was still slow-going, but being in England also allowed Rachel to access a broader variety of magical texts as well, including Madison’s personal library, which was much more extensive than Rachel’s was. In fact, she’d found a few things that she thought gave her leads on how to untangle at least the physical changes that Ebon Dragon had imposed on Gina.
“Do you want to be changed back?”
The question slipped out without Rachel even realizing she’d said it, and she flushed in embarrassment, wishing that she had more self-control. Not that she was surprised that she’d asked it, since Rachel had been thinking about it often enough.
“I don’t know,” Gina replied, sounding particularly unhappy. “It’s… I don’t know how much of that is the fault of the magic, or just having gotten used to this, but I’m not sure what I want to do. Oh, my skin tone is a right pain in the ass for a lot of purposes, but I’ve grown a bit fond of my lip color, and I don’t think all of it looks bad. Heck, I’ve even had less back pain after the changes, so it isn’t all bad.”
Rachel frowned, considering what she’d been looking at for a few seconds. Eventually she spoke. “As much as I hate to admit it, Ebon Dragon is really, really good at this sort of thing. He melded different traditions of magic into a single whole, and he made it into a gradual, safe transformation. Even so, it is made from different traditions, and if what I’ve been studying is right, I might be able to put together something to undo each piece individually. Which means that if you want to keep anything, well… it’s mostly a question of whether I should keep researching or not. If you don’t want to change back, it’s a lot of wasted time.”
“I… think I want to fix at least some of it,” Gina said, rolling over so that she could look at Rachel again, looking conflicted. “I’ll think about what I want, okay? I’m just having a hard time right now. I miss Lilith.”
“I know.” Rachel said, looking down at the floor and letting out a heavy sigh of her own. “Oh, I know.”
With that, they both fell silent.
Chapter 30
Friday, September 12th, 2031
Final Countdown Redoubt, Kansas
“Are you mad?” Sabra demanded, her voice faintly lyrical even with as quiet as she was keeping it. For his part, Abasi didn’t look dismayed by her anger.
“Do you want to stay here forever? As slaves to these… these inferior, stunted creatures?” Abasi asked in return, his voice quiet.
“Of course I don’t! But these inferior beings trapped us, placed these collars around our necks, and are threatening our lives,” Sabra snapped back, reaching up to tap the collar around her neck pointedly. A collar which she’d been told was filled with explosives, and could be set off if she strayed too far or if Omega Code was feeling annoyed enough. “Or have you forgotten what happened to Masuda?”
Abasi’s smile faded at the reminder of their companion, and it was all Sabra could do to avoid a shudder at the memory of his death. She’d never been fond of Masuda, the man had been pompous and overbearing at the best of times, yet when things grew hard, he was the first to run. She was honestly startled he’d stayed in the battle long enough to be captured to begin with… but even if she disliked Masuda, he hadn’t deserved to die like that. Better to die in battle, or serve in captivity, than to be slowly ripped to shreds by someone who enjoyed making the experience as painful as possible.
That was why she was so frustrated with Abasi. If he was simply trying to plot an escape, she wouldn’t have been angry. Certainly, the odds weren’t good, with the mad genius of the man who’d made the collars, but at least it would be understandable. No, what she couldn’t understand was why Abasi thought that trying to kill Omega Code was a good idea. Not with that monster watching over them, and the very thought of Black Harbinger was enough to make her scan the room nervously, rattling off a few prayers to the gods in the privacy of her own mind.
Sabra hated being trapped in Omega Code’s base. The underground bunker was brightly lit, but the entire structure felt like it reflected his madness. The hallways were oh so simple, but if you went into the wing with the experiments, you were likely to die horribly. She had no idea how his minions could go there so blithely. Likely due to ignorance.
“Have you turned into a coward?” Abasi demanded at last, his voice a little louder. “They took us by ambush!”
“Black Harbinger took your most powerful spell head-on and laughed at you before shoving his sword through your shoulder. It took a week for me to heal you,” Sabra countered. “If you attack Omega Code, even assuming he doesn’t just remove your head, you’ll have to deal with him. If anything, I’d be looking for a way to get in contact with the rest of the Ascendancy, so we can get an entire circle of magi to fight them!”
Abasi scowled at her, his teeth grinding, but he didn’t reply as he shifted in place. Then, just as Sabra thought he was going to say something, anything, the man turned and stomped off, muttering something under his breath in Atlantean. From the tone, she was fairly sure it was insults, but Sabra didn’t follow him, instead leaning back against the wall with a sigh.
The one thing that surprised her was how… inept the villain was about his security. She and Abasi were prisoners, little more than slaves, yet they were allowed nearly free run of the compound. Only a few areas were off limits, which was just stupid, yet at the same time, Sabra didn’t dare do anything with that freedom, which was incredibly frustrating.
The room she was in wasn’t anything impressive. In fact, it was a janitor’s break room, based on the supplies in the closet, and that was a large part of why Sabra had taken to hiding in it. Not many people used the room, which gave her some privacy to pray. Certainly, the gods hadn’t answered her, but she didn’t expect them to. No, Sabra would have to figure out what she was going to do on her own, or wait for a rescue to come for her. And if not… there were advantages to where she was, anyway.
“I wonder… was she telling the truth, or lying?” Sabra asked softly, her gaze rising to the ceiling as she considered the outlandish claims that she’d heard Lilith Carpenter had made, about meeting Sabra’s gods. If Omega Code successfully abducted the woman, perhaps Sabra would be able to determine the truth of the matter.
If Lilith was lying… well, Sabra would not be amused. She didn’t like blasphemy from anyone, but especially not from an inferior human.
Chapter 31
Monday, September 15th, 2031
Guardian Compound, Paragon City
A sizzle and yelp distracted Lilith, and she looked up from what she was doing, still holding the fuser in her mouth. She raised an eyebrow at Emily, who looked vaguely dismayed as she quickly set down Lilith’s narc gun. Her brand-new narc gun, which had a few faint wisps of smoke rising from it.
Lilith considered for a moment, setting down the chest piece of her new armor, then pulled the fuser out of her mouth and asked. “What happened?”
“I, ah… was taking a closer look at this, and… well, I forgot I didn’t have my inhibitor active,” Emily replied guiltily. “Sorry!”
Lilith paused, taking a moment to reach up and rub her forehead, taking a deep breath, then let it out again. “Well, as that’s the case, let’s hope it wasn’t anything vital. And… wait, why’s the battery in it?”
“Disposal chute in the corner,” he called back from his desk, not even looking up from his project. “It’ll deal with anything short of a thermite grenade.”
“Good,” Lilith replied, taking several quick steps over to the chute in question, pulling open the hatch to toss in the battery, then shut it, hearing the machinery shunt the damaged battery downward.
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to see how it felt, holding it, and then I sparked,” Emily replied, shuffling her feet back and forth. “I didn’t mean to damage it.”
“I know you didn’t. It’s just that this is my way of defending myself, you know,” Lilith replied gently, letting out a breath as she took the gun and examined it. It was a little warm in spots, which wasn’t a good sign, but it explained the yelp. She looked at it, then began disassembling the gun as she continued. “I really like the idea of a gun which just puts people to sleep. It’s not as dangerous as a laser pistol.”
“Unless you need to take out a DC Reaper,” Emily said, frowning. “I don’t like the idea of you not having a good gun.”
“If I’m fighting a Reaper, having the biggest man-portable gun in Whispering Darkness’s arsenal wouldn’t do me any good. It’d just bounce off,” Lilith replied absently, organizing each component as she pulled the gun apart.
Most of the pieces seemed to be perfectly fine, but one bit was scorched, and she examined it closely, then relaxed. It was part of the sensor for the trigger, which would be easy to replace, as that was one of the off the shelf parts Whispering Darkness used. Well, not quite, since he built them himself, but he used a standard design. As he’d put it, if the design is good, why mess with it?
“She’s not wrong! Heck, that armor wouldn’t be much good in that kind of fight, either,” Decarin chimed in, turning away from his project at last, and pulled up his goggles. “That armor might be alright if you were fighting a Class A villain, depending on their power set, but much more than that and Lilith would be in trouble, even if other people are backing her up.”
“I’m not Class A, either,” Lilith said, shrugging as she disassembled the last pieces of her gun. “It means that if I’m in a knock-down fight against someone who’s up there, I’ll be in trouble. I had enough problems with Mountain Razor, and he was Class B.”
“Right. So… is that the reason you’re building in the shield system? It doesn’t look like it’d stop much, as small as it is,” Emily said, peering at the chest piece, and Lilith laughed.
“No, it won’t. This is… well, the problem is power, really. Even with the batteries I’ve come up with, the shields will only run for about twenty minutes,” Lilith said, gently patting the stack of batteries she was going to put into the backplate.
“Which is about fifteen minutes longer than any other non-supertech battery on the market.” Decarin said, shrugging. “I could probably do a bit better, but Lilith is trying to improve on her own, so I’m keeping my nose out of her work. I’ll look it over when she’s done, then give all my suggestions.”
“Okay, I was just wondering,” Emily said, watching Lilith pick through the parts for a few seconds, then she admitted. “I… I’ve never been fond of this sort of thing. Probably because I ruined everything I touched after I awakened.”
Lilith paused, looking at Emily for a few seconds, then set down the last piece of the narc gun. She spoke after a moment, her tone turning gentle as she did so. “I wouldn’t say ruined. You might have fried the trigger sensor, but that can be fixed easily, and hasn’t Decarin built a bunch of devices you can use?”
“Yes, but that puts all of the work on him. It isn’t fair to do that,” Emily replied, her expression turning slightly stubborn. Lilith glanced at Decarin, who opened his mouth, then shut it, obviously unsure of what to say. Which, of course, left the issue to Lilith, who was still working on her confidence. Just lovely.
“Is it fair that Gina and Rachel were mind controlled by Amber?” Lilith asked, sitting back in her chair as she looked at Emily, who looked a little startled.
“No, of course not!” Emily protested.
“What about Archon growing wings? Or Destruction Corps abducting an entire convention center with the intent of killing all of us?” Lilith continued patiently.
“I… no, they aren’t fair,” Emily replied, looking more confused than anything else.
“So, if Decarin chooses to build things that you can’t accidentally short out, why is that unfair? I’d say it’s only unfair if he doesn’t want to build them,” Lilith explained, hoping that she wasn’t completely destroying her argument as she looked at the man.
“Hey, I consider it doing my part. You know how few times I’ve actually been in danger, when the three of you are out in the face of some jerk with an ego the size of the planet?” Decarin said, frowning. “I build you guys stuff, and I rarely feel like I’m pulling my own weight. I’d rather help you out where I can, and I like tinkering with stuff. It’s why I’m usually in my shop to begin with.”
“Okay, okay, I get the point! I just don’t like to impose too much. It makes me uncomfortable,” Emily said, looking away as she shifted from one foot to the other. That amused Lilith, and she smiled at the heroine, shrugging.
“If you say so. That said… I had an idea,” Lilith said, amusement bubbling through her as she glanced at the parts of the pistol, then focused on her armor again, laying a hand on it.
“Oh? What kind of idea?” Emily asked, perking up almost immediately.
“Dec… do you think you could build a lightweight shield generator and power converter into Spark’s suit without weighing her down much?” Lilith asked, turning her head to look at him.
“Well, sure, I could do that, but it wouldn’t do much good without… oh. I’m an idiot.” Decarin’s expression turned from contemplative to chagrined as he shook his head. “Damn it, I’ve gotten so used to having her guns operate off her energy, but I never considered doing the same for shields. They used to be so bulky that it wasn’t an option at first, but now…”
Decarin sighed heavily, and Lilith resisted the urge to laugh at him, as that would be rather rude. Still, he looked so dismayed that it was hard. For her part, Emily blinked several times, looking at Lilith, then Decarin.
“I… well, defenses are always good, but isn’t the best idea to just, you know… not get hit?” Emily asked, frowning.
“Sure, but there’s always the chances of things like the incident with Acheron Dreadnaught and the trap Dreamer set up for you. If you’d had shields, he might not have hurt you as much as he did, or you might’ve been able to get through the explosion without getting knocked unconscious,” Decarin said, sitting back in his chair as he spoke, his mind almost visibly working as he did so. “Not getting hit is the best defense, sure, but all it takes is one stray bullet to ruin your day. Or are you objecting to the idea?”
“I didn’t say that!” Emily shot back, suddenly bristling. “I just didn’t understand why it was coming up all of a sudden.”
“Mostly it’s because of what happened in Las Vegas,” Lilith interjected gently, sitting back in her chair as their attention turned to her. “I got shot on the very first day, and I was saved by the shield generator built into the undersuit. Admittedly, I don’t have that suit anymore, but it was enough to block a single shot from the android that attacked me. However, then you powered the RV when we went to take out the satellite, and it stuck in my head. If we could combine both, you could get a shield to protect you in emergencies without slowing you down much, if at all.”
Decarin nodded slowly, looking between them, then he smiled. “Well, since I’ve got the schematics of her suit, I suppose that means it’s up to me to see how feasible it is. I’ll take a lo
ok.”
He turned back to his computer, and as he did, Lilith added, “I’d be happy to help if I can, though I know that under the circumstances that might not be the best idea. Who knows if Amber has done something to me? Not directly, but indirectly.”
“Oh, bullshit,” Emily said almost instantly. “If she was going to do something, she’d have already done it. Sure, she can be a manipulative bitch, but she’s really short-tempered. I doubt you’d have come back from your meeting with her if she wanted to do anything.”
“I don’t know about that, but you almost certainly wouldn’t have told us about the meeting. Her status being in doubt had to be useful to her,” Decarin agreed. “Besides, I can always look over the work you do and see if there’s anything wrong. The one nice thing about her not using super-tech is that it means that anything she changes has to be mundane.”
“True enough,” Lilith admitted, relaxing a little at their reassurances, and she couldn’t help a smile, considering her project for a moment, then said. “Anyway… maybe we should take a break for lunch. I need to get a new trigger sensor, and it is about that time.”
Emily smiled, practically bouncing in place as she replied. “Oh, that’d be great! There’s a place I’ve been thinking we could try out when you had time, and they make the best lunches! The only problem is that they can be pretty busy… but we could get on the wait list if we call them. What do you think?”
“Order takeout for me if you do. My usual,” Decarin said, causing Lilith’s eyebrows to rise.
“You’re not coming with?” Lilith asked, considering carefully. “And what sort of food is it?”
“Me? Oh, heck no. I don’t want to get zapped later for interrupting what she’s obviously hoping will be a lunch date,” Decarin said, looking away from his screen as he grinned sheepishly. “I’m not great with social stuff, but even I can pick up that sort of thing. Anyway, if Spark’s thinking of the place I’m sure she is, they have good pub food, despite not being a pub. Plus, I can manufacture you a new sensor while you’re out.”