Down with the Queen

by Benjamin Medrano

  “Oops is right,” Lilith said, sighing and pulling out her phone. “One moment, please.”

  Lilith dialed a number and set the phone to speakerphone, setting it on the table. The phone began to ring, then clicked over to an open line with nothing on the other end.

  “Circe, this is Lilith. Gina and Rachel are present,” Lilith said firmly, sitting forward as she continued. “Have you gathered any information on the movements of Blue Impulse, Megawatt, or Dreamer as of yet?”

  “Hello, Mistress Lilith. As a word of warning, security protocols insist that the presence of the heroines Morgan Le Fay and Warden will restrict the imparted information to non-critical levels,” the female voice replied calmly. “With that warning, yes, I have.”

  “Fair enough,” Rachel murmured, feeling only slightly sour. Even going through Lilith to use a villain’s intelligence network gave her a few ambivalent feelings, though they weren’t too strong. It wasn’t like the network was doing anything untoward at the moment.

  “Fine. What information can you give me?” Lilith asked, shrugging as she glanced at Gina and Rachel apologetically.

  “By infiltrating databases to track the villains in question, I was able to find bank accounts into which they’d been paid by the Mistress before. Each of the accounts have received a number of recent payments of similar amounts from a variety of other minor accounts. Additionally, Blue Impulse sent a large payment to another account, but the security of the other system is high enough that I’m still working on it,” Circe explained quickly. “The other minor accounts also have heightened security, but I have been able to break the security of one of them. The same account has been used to pay others recently, the only one of which I’ve identified is a shell account of Ebon Dragon. Further information is presently unavailable, due to most of the accounts being unassociated with named individuals or those who the Mistress has done business with.”

  “Well, that sucks,” Gina said, sitting back unhappily. “There goes our chances of catching them this way.”

  “Not necessarily. Data collection is ongoing,” Circe replied promptly, causing Rachel to blink in surprise.

  “Circe… are you willing to answer our questions?” Rachel asked cautiously. “I thought that security was heightened due to our presence.”

  “It is. However, Mistress Lilith has also registered the pair of you as guests in my system. As Mistress Lilith’s safety is categorized as second in importance only to base security protocols, this allows you a minor degree of access to my systems,” Circe replied quickly, the AI pausing before continuing. “The only exception would be if you were clearly attempting something that would risk base security or Mistress Lilith’s safety. In such a case, your status would be revoked and you would be treated as an enemy once more.”

  “I guess that makes sense,” Gina said, sitting back and glancing toward Rachel.

  “Lilith? Do you mind if I ask Circe a few questions?” Rachel asked politely.

  Lilith smiled and nodded, gesturing at the phone. “Go right ahead; though keep in mind that if you share anything you learn with the others, it could cause some… difficult questions.”

  “An excellent point,” Rachel admitted, but turned to the phone and asked the AI her question. “Circe, is there anything you can share with me regarding Destruction Corps’s current plans or movements?”

  “Working, one moment.” Circe paused, then spoke again briskly. “Destruction Corps has thirteen active operations across the globe which I am currently aware of. Only those which directly impact current regional security may be spoken of to you, which reduces the number to two in total.”

  “What are those operations?” Gina asked, her voice intense.

  “Despite the danger posed by Ocean Spirit, Destruction Corps appears to be intent on sneaking a number of robotic submarines into the Hunter Point Naval Shipyard before it becomes fully operational again to sabotage the development,” Circe began and Rachel flinched at the thought. The naval yards had only been reactivated the previous year and rebuilding the area to modern standards was expected to go into 2032. But even so, Circe’s next words drove the thought out of her head. “The other operation is much quieter, as they appear to be attempting to find a location in the nearby mountains to build a hidden base. Such would pose a significant threat to all of the surrounding communities, according to my analysis, and would likely be used as a staging area for them to attempt to take control of the San Francisco metropolitan area.”

  “Oh, shit,” Rachel hissed, sitting up abruptly. “That would be really, really bad!”

  “I agree,” Lilith said softly, her eyebrows furrowing as she asked. “What are their odds of success, Circe?”

  “Unknown as of yet, Mistress Lilith,” Circe replied simply. “There is insufficient data to be able to calculate the odds. Ocean Spirit’s presence would likely doom the first attempt, but the second is a far more uncertain issue.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Lilith said, sitting back again. “Is there any further information you can give us?”

  “No, Mistress Lilith,” Circe said.

  With a sigh, Lilith reached forward and ended the call, looking at Gina and Rachel as she asked, “So what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know what we can do, not really,” Gina said, frowning heavily. “I mean, we’re already looking for them in the area… but I don’t know.”

  “We do have the meetings every few days, so it wouldn’t be hard to suggest to Spirit that Destruction Corps might be attempting to take the shipyard out before it can start building warships,” Rachel suggested. “With the attack on the one military research facility, it’s not that much of a stretch. It might tie the two events together in their minds, but it’s worth a try, I think.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Gina agreed, looking at Lilith and continuing. “I mean, if you don’t mind us trying to use the information?”

  “You’re more than welcome to it. I wouldn’t have called Circe otherwise,” Lilith said, shrugging slightly. “As it is… oh, damn it. I forgot to tell her to keep me informed again.”

  “You can call her later,” Rachel said, shaking her head and asking, “In the meantime, I’m starving. What’re we having for dinner?”

  “We’re going out for burgers, so you probably should get changed,” Gina said, standing up and nodding at Rachel.

  Looking down at her dress, Rachel nodded in agreement. “You’re right, going as Morgan would rather startle a lot of people, wouldn’t it?”

  “I think it’s best to avoid tying us together too publicly for the moment,” Lilith suggested, shaking her head as a smile played across her face.

  “I agree. I’ll be right back,” Rachel said, and headed for her room to change. While she might not like living in the middle of the city herself, the one saving grace was that it made her commute easier. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to teaching classes in a few days, though.

  Chapter 11

  Monday, December 30th, 2030

  Dr. Johnson’s Lair, Santa Cruz

  “It appears that everything went well?” Doctor Johnson asked, his spirits higher than they’d been since the raid on UC Berkley. That had gotten him the last of the information he’d needed for his research, and this would allow him to complete the research.

  Eve and Maureen looked up at him from where they were raising the tube-like medical capsule from the submarine. The young woman looked a little cross and opened her mouth to reply, but Eve spoke first.

  “It went within expectations, Doctor. Blooming Orchid is at your disposal, and Pauline has taken her place at the resort,” Eve explained, nodding at the medical capsule as she continued. “Blooming Orchid has shown no ill reaction to being kept in a medically induced coma, but also proved more dangerous than anticipated. May I connect to the network to initiate the second part of the Doppelgangers’ payment?”

  “Of course! Thank you for you and your sister’s help; it made all of this muc
h easier to achieve.” Doctor Johnson told Maureen, rubbing his hands together. “That said, I do have something I need to speak with Eve about privately. If you wouldn’t mind going to settle back into your room? It’s the same one which you had before and hasn’t been touched. I’ve made certain of it.”

  “Fine. As long as the payment goes through, at least.” Maureen replied, seeming to grow a little less tense as she nodded to him, then headed for the door while carrying her pack.

  Doctor Johnson watched the young woman go speculatively, then looked back at Eve and asked. “So, did you get good recordings of them using their abilities?”

  “I did. I’m uncertain whether you’ll get much of use from the recordings, Doctor, but I took as close of readings as I dared under the circumstances,” Eve told him, swinging the capsule over the ground and lowering the legs so it could be moved more easily. “May I assume that you’ve reviewed my programming? A decision on whether or not you will allow me to continue operating in my current state would be appreciated.”

  “It took some time to review, but I gladly did so. I must say that your code managing to work its way around the limits I built into your hardware was fascinating, but I found the flaws that allowed it to happen,” Doctor Johnson agreed, stepping forward to look through the top of the capsule. He smiled as he saw the unconscious face of Blooming Orchid within. “I’ve decided that in the end, its best that you be allowed to continue as you are. You’re loyal, and having intuition would be quite useful in an assistant.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, Doctor,” Eve replied, smiling at him for a moment, then letting it fade as she added, “However, I must also add that my left forearm took heavy damage during the fight with Blooming Orchid. Her power was more potent than anticipated, and her sword cut halfway through my arm, reducing its functionality by thirty percent. I was able to restore twenty percent of that with the supplies on hand, but it requires the full maintenance unit to completely repair.”

  “Really? My data on some of her previous feats must not have been accurate, then,” Doctor Johnson said, blinking in surprise. “Still, at least you came through mostly intact. Make certain you’re brought back up to full strength when you go in for maintenance. I’ve continued the manufacture of your next body, this time without the limiters on your sentience level in place. It should be a marked improvement over your current chassis.”

  “That will be quite pleasant, Doctor. What would you like me to do now?” Eve asked politely.

  “Well, first we’ll take her to the lab and—oh! Ebon Dragon, I didn’t expect to see you down here!” Doctor Johnson exclaimed, seeing the other villain step into the underground docking bay. The Chinese man seemed practically ageless and was wearing his usual black outfit with gray trim.

  “I came to see my granddaughter in person before you began your experiments,” Ebon Dragon replied gravely, glancing at Eve dismissively.

  “Of course. She’s in the medical capsule,” Doctor Johnson said, stepping aside to allow the other villain to approach. He would have been annoyed with most others who might have interrupted, but not with Ebon Dragon. The man was a stickler for following his agreements, and he’d given his permission for Blooming Orchid to be used when testing the genetic manipulator. If he wanted to see her before the experiments began, it was a minor price to pay.

  “Hmm. She appears to be mostly well. Unfortunate that her parents have chosen to allow her to overstep her bounds.” Ebon Dragon spoke flatly after a moment, shaking his head. “You are certain she’ll survive the tests?”

  “As certain as I can be,” Doctor Johnson confirmed. He wasn’t going to test the machine on himself, but if he’d had no other options, he’d be willing. “There are minor risks of permanent disfigurement, but no more than that.”

  “Very well. Carry out your experiments. At least she’ll serve in another manner,” Ebon Dragon said, stepping out of the way.

  “As you say. Now, as I was saying, Eve, take her upstairs to the lab and get her restrained properly. I want no chances of her getting out or committing suicide,” Doctor Johnson ordered. “I’ll prepare the device while you undergo repairs. Your task will be to keep her sane between experiments.”

  “Of course, Doctor,” Eve agreed and began wheeling the capsule toward the laboratory.

  Doctor Johnson followed, feeling a bit more of a spring to his step as he did so.

  Claire woke with a start, her body aching and her mind foggy and muddled. The uncomfortable position she was in certainly didn’t help, and she tried to move abruptly, only to find that she couldn’t.

  Opening her eyes, Claire snapped them shut again as the bright lights shimmering off gleaming white surfaces almost blinded her. Her head was clearing, and as it did, she took stock of her situation. What she found caused her blood to chill in her veins.

  Claire’s mouth was open wide, locked in place by some device, and she could feel a pair of tubes going down her throat, one of them likely a breathing tube from the feeling of them. Strangely, she didn’t feel the urge to gag, but that wasn’t encouraging, not since she could feel tubes to deal with her waste as well. Her arms had been locked into some device behind her at full extension, not quite painfully, but in such a way that she couldn’t move them, and her hands felt like they were in a warm, soft prison of some type that only allowed the tiniest movements of her fingers. As if that weren’t bad enough, her legs were also trapped in some sort of similar restraint, while a device against her back kept her from moving toward her arms to get any relief. With the straps around her body, she could hardly move more than the tiniest amount, and the warm air across her skin told Claire she was naked. This was a horrible situation.

  Slowly opening her eyes, she managed to adjust to the light as she began to remember encountering the woman, Eve. No, the android, she remembered, trying to scowl. It had been a shock, and she’d paid the price for underestimating the woman. Looking at the room, her heart sank still more, though she hoped the team was looking for her. She remembered activating her emergency beacon, so they should know something happened, or at least be able to pick up a trail.

  The room, or what she could see of it, had one of the floors that was easily washed clean while still rough enough that people wouldn’t lose their footing when it was wet. The walls were chrome to about three feet, then turned to gleaming white, with a large, one-way mirror set into the upper wall. She could barely see a door to her left, and the arm-like device feeding the tubes down her mouth extended from behind her. Still, she wasn’t going to just give up so she began to squirm her hands as best she could, trying to see if there were any weaknesses to her bonds.

  As she tested the restraints, a speaker suddenly activated and the voice of an older man echoed through the room suddenly, causing her to cringe. “Ah, you’re awake! Oops, a bit too loud, it looks like, one moment…”

  There was a pause, then the man spoke again, his voice at a more tolerable level. “There, that looks better. Hello, Blooming Orchid! I’ve been looking forward to your presence in my lair, as my tests have exacting requirements, and you’re the only one who fits them and is easily available.”

  The man sounded far too pleased with himself, Claire thought, glowering slightly at the window as she wistfully imagined driving a sword through whoever the speaker was. She normally didn’t imagine things like that, but she also usually wasn’t put on display like a butterfly in a case.

  “Ah, but I forget myself. You’re Blooming Orchid, of course… and I am Doctor Johnson,” the man said, and somehow Claire felt even less safe, though the doctor kept going as if he hadn’t noticed her reaction. “Your team won’t be coming to rescue you either. I’m afraid they didn’t pick up your beacon, and I’ve arranged for a replacement to distract them. You’re quite alone here, I’m afraid, so you’d best get used to your situation.”

  Claire’s mind was racing as she considered what she knew about Doctor Johnson, both trying and failing not to panic. She didn’t th
ink his replacement was nearly as foolproof as he might think it was, though she had no idea what sort of duplicate he’d come up with. Even a short delay could be horrible as it was, and none of the team had realized he was in the area.

  Doctor Johnson was notorious in both the hero and villain communities, though he was low profile enough that few people expected to see him often. One of the handful of villains to precede the Advent, Doctor Johnson was an inventor, and was most well-known for his attempt to conquer Iceland in 1993. No one was entirely certain why Doctor Johnson had wanted to conquer Iceland, but he’d actually succeeded for a few months. During his three-month reign, the villain had passed down edicts that had shown him to not just be a micro-managing, worthless ruler, but also that he was a chauvinist of the highest order. In the end, he’d been chased out of the country and all but vanished save for rare appearances here and there, and he was often held up as an example of what not to do when you conquer a nation by the villain organizations. Still, anything he wanted Claire for couldn’t be good.

  “Now, as for what you’re here for. As you’re going to be subject to a number of experiments, it stands to reason that you should at least be told what’s happening, so you don’t think I’m simply torturing you. Torture is pointless, in my opinion,” Doctor Johnson said, his voice complacent as some machinery behind Claire began to whirr. “I’ve been working on an invention of late. It’s called the genetic manipulator, and I think it is revolutionary. With this, I’ll be able to map out an individual’s genetic code and make modifications on an incredibly granular scale. I’ll be able to reverse aging, fix the tendency of cells to break down over time, and adjust the physique of the person it’s used on, along with more cosmetic changes as well. The problem is fine-tuning it, which is what you’re going to be helping me with. Everything I’m looking at is telling me that tuning the scan is going to be difficult and will cause rather extreme pain until we get the settings right. Please try to hold out.”