Twisted

by J. L. Meyrick

  “Do you think people will even bother with it?” Liliana heard of new blogs every day, soon fizzling out to nothing within a month.

  “Why don’t you use Mr Victor’s servers and algorithms to boost it? You could push it out to everyone in the city.”

  “You have something like that here?” Liliana wasn’t sure if that sounded completely legal.

  “It’s proprietary technology, not something Mr Victor made public knowledge,” Yates explained. “You can’t use it to hack into people’s technology, but you can use it to send them information.”

  “Okay. So, ignoring the legality issue for a moment, I could use this system to give the public information that’s being suppressed about the Supers.” Liliana liked that idea the more she thought about it. “That’s something I can do. It might even help Max’s case. Get some public opinion behind him instead of Sentinel.”

  “That might be a bit of a stretch. Everyone’s saying that Mr Victor was the aggressor in the fight. That he’s blamed for all the damage and the deaths,” Yates argued. “It’ll take some hard evidence to prove to them he isn’t to blame, not just some articles on the internet.”

  “That’s true, I suppose. But it’s a start,” Liliana counterpointed.

  “Exactly. It’s better than nothing. If you can weaken the public’s love of the Supers, it might halt this new Taskforce in its tracks,” Yates said.

  Liliana thanked Yates for their advice and took her computer down the winding hallways to find the broadcasting room. Yates pointed her in the right direction. She felt like she had a purpose now, outside of training for the mission. She could distract herself with this now in her down time. She didn’t like to sit with her thoughts for very long, they weren’t very pleasant.

  She turned from corridor to corridor, trying to remember Yates’s instructions. She was still amazed at the depth of Max’s secret base. How long had he spent building it, tunnelling down into the hillside? The entire mound must be hollow by this point. She couldn’t help but be impressed every time she found a new section to explore, more rooms she didn’t know existed. How Max and Yates got around without a map, she did not know.

  Several minutes later, she finally found the room she was looking for. It wasn’t very large. A wall filled with technology, a couple of desks and chairs, and a couple of lamps lighting up the room. That was all. Liliana took it all in. She didn’t understand how all the technology worked, but Yates said it should be pretty straightforward to use. Just plug in her computer and switch the wall of tech on.

  She sat before the wall, flipped her laptop open and on, plugged it in to the nearest port and hit the clearly labelled on/off switch above her. Her laptop screen was mirrored and expanded on several screens around her, giving her more space to work with. She pulled up a browser window and got to work building her new website.

  It was important to remain anonymous with this website. She had to make sure it didn’t lead back to her at all. Otherwise, all the work she’d been putting into her public profile would be dead in the water. She could hear the tech surrounding her whirl to life as she began her work.

  *

  Several hours later, Liliana emerged from the broadcasting room, her eyes aching from the work she put them through. The website was complete, an introductory piece already live for everyone to read. She needed to dig back through Max’s research on the Supers and put the results into articles for the public to read. As she made her way back through the complex, she stopped in the research room to grab a handful of files to work on later that night.

  She entered the main living space to see Yates pouring over the mission plans on the coffee table next to the sofa.

  “Needed a change of scenery?” Liliana asked, for once happy that she sneaked up on Yates rather than the other way around. She was rewarded by seeing Yates jump a little as they heard her voice.

  “Yes. I was getting too cooped up in that room. I hope you don’t mind me taking over the table,” Yates replied, seeing the files Liliana was carrying.

  “No, that’s fine. Everything looking okay with the plans?” Liliana dropped her files down on the side table next to the sofa and sat across from Yates, glancing over the mission plans.

  “I believe so. We have the guards’ rota figured out now, so they are easy to work around. The only wild card is Sentinel. He still visits the prison occasionally. I can’t seem to get a handle on his pattern, though. I think it might be worth planning the mission for a time we know he will be unavailable,” Yates reeled off. Liliana nodded along with their ideas.

  “Isn’t he scheduled to appear on panel shows at the end of the month?” Liliana asked. Sentinel liked the publicity of TV. He often made appearances to boost his rating amongst the public.

  “Yes!” Yates approved, pulling a sheet of paper from the bottom of a pile close by. “He’s going to be live on air for several hours, two weeks on Friday. Perfect.”

  “Two weeks,” Liliana repeated, suddenly feeling the weight of the task at hand. Her chest tightened as the anxiety settled in.

  “I’ll make sure you’re ready for it. Don’t worry,” Yates said, noticing Liliana panicking. “With all the planning we’ve put in and the tech at our disposal, this’ll be a walk in the park.” Yates smiled at Liliana, calming her nerves.

  “Okay. I trust you,” Liliana said, and she meant it. She could see why Max trusted Yates so much. They really were a wonderful person. “So, what else needs planning?”

  Together they spent the evening ironing out the rest of the plans for the prison break. It was daunting, but Liliana was finally feeling prepared for it.

  Chapter 21

  Liliana woke from what must have been the best night’s sleep she’d had since the fight. They had the plan nailed down to a T and she was well on her way to being physically prepared for it. Sentinel would not be an issue. It was just any rogue guards who might cross their path on the day she had to worry about. She could do it. At least, that’s what she kept repeating to herself. She could do it. She was prepared. It had become a little mantra she said to herself multiple times a day.

  Her little room in the complex was slowly feeling like home. She hadn’t filled it with belongings, but she felt safe here. That was the chief thing she loved about this complex. No one else knew it existed. No intruding police officers or superheroes. No one listening in. Just her and Yates. She and Yates against the world it felt like sometimes.

  She had a day of training and research set out for her. First her body was going to be beaten up, then her mind. It was exhausting yet rewarding work. After washing up and dressing in loose clothing, Liliana trekked down to the kitchen in search of breakfast.

  After making herself toast and coffee, she walked into the living area to see Yates standing in front of the TV, a deep frown marking their face.

  “Why so grumpy this early in the morning?” Liliana asked, trying to lighten the mood. Yates just pointed at the screen.

  “…known for the partial destruction of the city earlier this month. The Taskforce have made the decision to move Max Victor to a more secure prison complex. This is in response to news of a potential prison break being planned.”

  “Ay, carajo!” Liliana half shouted as she watched the news. “How did they find out? Are we in danger, Yates?”

  “No. They do not know who is planning the prison break. Only that it’s a possibility.” Yates switched off the TV as they looped the footage of the fight.

  “But what does this mean? Is Max stuck?” Liliana asked, unsure of her next steps.

  “They are moving him at the end of the week. Moving him across the country to the most secure prison they can.” Yates slumped down onto the sofa as they spoke. “If we don’t free Mr Victor before they move him, we won’t stand a chance. Even Mr Victor doesn’t have the resources to break out of there.”

  “So, we don’t have two weeks to prepare?” Liliana asked, sure she didn’t like the answer that was coming.

  �
��We have two days,” Yates confirmed Liliana’s fears. Two days was not enough time. Not nearly enough time.

  She felt the panic from the previous night return, her happy calm a long-lost memory. At least she had one good night’s sleep before this news came crashing down on them. Two days to prepare. Two days to learn how to fight properly. Two days to finish her research. Two days for Yates to finish her suit, otherwise she would be badly exposed. Two days. Crap.

  “We need to get to work,” Yates said, standing back up, their eyes darting from side to side, trying to catch up with their thoughts. “Go start your training routine. Get through as much as you can alone for now. I’ll come down and spar once I’m finished.”

  Liliana nodded. As odd as it was to get orders from Yates, she couldn’t help but to defer to their authority in this situation. She drained the end of her coffee and ate her toast as she made her way down to the gym, suddenly glad she was dressed in loose clothing already. She had run through the training routine enough times to have it memorised by now, but she was determined to push herself further this time. Hitting harder, running faster. She needed to be ready.

  As she trained, she imagined she was fighting Sentinel. Only, she actually stood a chance at winning. Not terribly realistic, but it was mildly cathartic. Punching bags, treadmills, and weight lifting filled her morning. Yates was busy doing whatever they were doing, so Liliana ran through more drills than she originally planned while she waited. Being stationary felt wrong right now, no matter how tired her body was getting.

  “Stop. You’re pushing yourself too much. You’ll cause damage soon enough.” Yates’s voice pulled her out of her workout, breaking her focus. She dropped the weights to the floor, narrowly missing her feet.

  “But I need to prepare,” Liliana disagreed.

  “Not like this. This is counterproductive,” Yates admonished her. “We’ll spar later on. Cool off and follow me.” Liliana grabbed her water bottle from the side, downed half of it, and poured the rest over her face. Messy but helpful. She’d worked up quite the sweat during her workout.

  She grabbed a towel and followed Yates back upstairs into the living space, then through the corridors, back to the design room. Liliana figured Yates had locked themselves away for the entire morning working on a project. Liliana was almost excited to see what Yates had to show her.

  Liliana mopped up the sweat running down her face and neck as she walked into the design room. She was briefly lost for words once she saw the suit standing in the middle of the room. It was dark, slim-fitting, and gorgeous. It appeared to cover every inch of skin on the mannequin underneath it, showing how protective it was. As promised, there was no cape, but there was a half skirt that ran around the back of her waist.

  Liliana walked slowly around the suit, taking in every detail. There were some chunkier sections to it which Liliana couldn’t figure out around the lower arms and the hips. Were they compartments? Extra padding? She couldn’t decide.

  She gingerly held out a hand to feel the material. It was tough, like leather, but there was an element to it she couldn’t put her finger on. There were harder sections along the shoulders, on the outside of the arms and legs. They were definitely for extra protection.

  There was just one thing she couldn’t figure out.

  “How do I put it on?” Liliana asked Yates, who was standing back by the door, watching her reaction to the suit. Yates pulled a small controller out of their pocket and pressed a button. A seam appeared, running from head to toe of the suit, opening it up mechanically, giving her space to step in. It surprised Liliana to see there was no mannequin inside the suit holding it up, they simply made it strong enough to stand on its own. Liliana wondered just how much armour Yates added to it.

  “Okay. That’s amazing,” Liliana was in awe of Yates’s work. Holding back from bouncing on her heels, she turned to face Yates and stepped back into the suit. It closed around her, fitting her perfectly. She felt the suit lock around her legs, then her waist, before sealing over her head. It was dark briefly, but before the claustrophobia could kick in a light appeared in front of her. It was a view screen, showing the surrounding room with information overlaying the images. The suit scanned the room, reporting back no danger, but it did scan Yates to give her their vitals.

  “This is amazing. Yates, you are brilliant!” Liliana said, taken aback by the nondescript voice that came out of the suit. It altered her voice to protect her identity. This suit just kept getting cooler.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Yates replied. They moved over to the design table and pulled up a set of graphs Liliana hadn’t seen before. “The suit is reporting back okay. The scans are working, no bugs are being reported so far.”

  “You’re getting readings from the suit?” Liliana asked.

  “Yes. After the problems with Mr Victor’s fight with Sentinel I thought it best to be able to access the suit,” Yates explained.

  “I suppose that’s fair enough,” Liliana agreed.

  “I’ve included a comms system. It has a pretty decent range, so we will keep in contact. As well as with anyone else on the system in the future,” Yates said.

  Liliana heard a blip to her left as Yates pressed the comms button to show Liliana. She moved her hand up to the helmet to feel it. She found it weird, moving the arm of the suit so easily. She expected it to be heavy and clunky. Instead, it felt like she was just wearing a thick coat.

  She moved around, getting a good feel for the suit. Her feet felt heavy as she walked, but it wasn’t too bad. She walked around the design room, using the viewscreen to look around as she went. She walked back to Yates as she fiddled with the chunkier sections on her forearms.

  “Don’t fiddle too much there.” Yates held out their hands to stop her from poking around.

  “Why, what are they?” Liliana asked, pausing in her tracks.

  “Weapons,” Yates answered. “I fitted several options, as a last resort kind of option. We shouldn’t need them for the mission. I hope we won’t.” Yates walked forward to show Liliana what to do with the weapons.

  Yates held Liliana’s arm and pointed to different sections on her forearms. As Liliana focused on each section, the option to view and use the weapons appeared on her viewscreen. She didn’t feel too comfortable having this kind of firepower strapped to her, but she tried to remain calm to be sure she didn’t accidentally set something off. She had guns, small explosives, and percussive weapons available for her to use.

  “This is all suddenly feeling very real and a little overwhelming.” Liliana took a couple of deep breaths as she took in everything that was happening.

  She didn’t have long to calm herself down. An alert flashed up on the viewscreen at the same time as it showed up on Yates’s tech. “INTRUDER” flashed across her line of sight before bringing up a live video of someone walking into the garage below them. Liliana and Yates barely glanced at each other before they raced out of the room and down to confront the unknown man.

  Liliana didn’t have long to think, long enough to realise that anyone who had found the complex was a threat. Only three people knew about it, and the only one not present was locked away. So she reacted. She jumped into the garage from above and tackled the intruder, her new suit allowing her to reach the man before Yates. Without thinking, she put her recent training to use and pinned the man down to the floor underneath her, restraining his arms behind him so he couldn’t move. He didn’t make a sound of pain, only shock at the attack.

  Yates threw Liliana a pair of handcuffs to secure the intruder, which she caught with her uncovered hand. They locked around the man’s wrists, lighting up as they did so. They weren’t your usual lock-and-key handcuffs. They required the fingerprints of the person locking them to open. Once the man was secure, Liliana pulled him to his knees so they could question him together.

  Liliana felt shock shoot through her body as she looked at the man. She paused, her hands still on his shoulders as he steadied himself o
n the garage floor. After a moment she stepped back and, before Yates could speak, she opened the suit up around her head only to get a better look at him.

  “Johnathon?” she asked, wondering how a dead man had found his way into their super-secret complex.

  Chapter 22

  “You know this man?” Yates asked, staring Johnathon down.

  “I used to work with him,” Liliana replied. “I was told he died when the office building was attacked.” She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Johnathon, alive and kneeling in front of her.

  “How are you alive? I saw you go inside the building right before it was destroyed,” she asked.

  “I was inside,” Johnathon replied, his voice showing his surprise and a bit of fear.

  “So, how did you survive? It reduced our entire floor to rubble,” she asked, needing to know the answer.

  “I escaped with the others. We got out before they hit the floor.” His answer didn’t quite ring true.

  “But Tanya knew who got out and who didn’t. She said you didn’t make it,” Liliana replied. Johnathon was lying, they all knew it.

  “She must have missed me. I’m alive, obviously,” Johnathon lied again.

  “Don’t move,” Yates ordered, stepping back to the other side of the room. Liliana followed them.

  “How is this possible?” Liliana whispered to Yates.

  “There is the possibility they simply missed him in the aftermath,” Yates said. “But why wouldn’t he have come forward by now?”

  “Exactly. It was his first day on the job, he was so excited to work for the paper. Why would he let people believe he was dead?” Liliana couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening.

  “Put your helmet back up, use the suit to scan him,” Yates suggested.

  Liliana turned back to face Johnathon as she activated the helmet again. The suit was very intuitive. It scanned him almost immediately. Slightly elevated heart rate, to be expected in this situation. No signs of any injuries, surprising given he was in the building when the fight started. In fact, no signs of any injuries, ever. No scars, no previously broken bones, no antibodies for any major illnesses aside from the vaccines he would have received growing up. Johnathon had somehow got through life with no health complications.