“I… see, Circe. Thank you for answering the question,” Lilith said, blinking as she considered the answer. It had been rather more complex than she’d expected, in truth.
“You’re welcome, Mistress Lilith,” Circe replied.
All of them were trying out the suits that Circe had fabricated for them, though currently without the additional equipment she’d manufactured. Each suit wasn’t too thick, though much thicker than anything Lilith had worn before, short of a winter coat. Lilith’s own suit was white with light lilac highlights, rather than the black with crimson highlights that Amber had put into Circe’s system, which didn’t quite fit with her hair color, but Lilith didn’t want to be seen as a villain and hadn’t been willing to put too much effort into the color scheme. That was why she’d shamelessly stolen her colors from her two friends. Gina’s suit didn’t look much different than her previous one, though it was a little bulkier, Lilith thought.
Morgan looked uncomfortable in her own purple and black outfit, and the woman sighed, shaking her head. “I’d heard of the resilience aspect, but I always liked the style of being in a dress. This just feels strange, almost alien.”
“I’m sorry, Rachel,” Gina said, looking slightly guilty, and Lilith nodded.
“I could still overrule Circe’s objections…” Lilith began to offer, but let her voice trail off as Rachel shook her head.
“No, her arguments make sense. I just suppose I’ll have to content myself with a breakaway cloak. It isn’t the same, but it’s close,” Rachel said, smiling again as she looked toward Lilith. “I do think having more durable armor is worthwhile, mind. Even if mine had to be thinner to be able to use my foci properly.”
“True. That worries me a little, but we can deal with it. So, where’s the armor, Circe?” Lilith asked, glancing around the gym.
Prompted by her words, a panel on the wall slid to the side and three armor racks deployed slowly, two of the racks sliding to either side before coming to a halt, and Lilith studied them for a moment. Each suit of armor was in sections designed to cover them from shoulders to feet in armor that matched the theme of the undersuit’s colors, though Rachel’s was much lighter, overall, leaving her hands essentially uncovered, and also thinner around her neck and wrists so that she could wear her jewelry. The armor surface was made up of hexagonal plates that Lilith knew were easily replaced, allowing the armor to be repaired quickly and easily. Only Rachel’s armor had a cloak, one which was attached by powerful magnets.
“How is this not power armor?” Gina asked skeptically, looking at her own. “You said it had a battery inside it to allow a number of accessories like laser rifles, shield generators, or an emergency teleporter to function, didn’t you?”
“Power armor is far more complex than this. Your suit is considered light armor, while this is combat armor. It allows an individual to move and fight under their own power, but does not have advanced sensor arrays, allow flight, enhance strength, or possess an internal power generator. Power armor requires far more maintenance and is difficult to manufacture. The suit designed for Mistress Lilith’s body was lost with the Arctic Base.”
“Which is really unfortunate. You’re the most vulnerable of us,” Rachel said, shaking her head.
“Very true, but we work with what we have, not what we want,” Lilith said, sighing. “At least Calvin had the good sense to shut down my company for now with the furor going around. I don’t blame him for being uncertain if he wants to remain with the company.”
“I’m still trying to decide if it was good or bad that Circe was able to get us access to our emails…” Gina muttered, glowering, then sighing. “Circe, how do we put on the armor?”
“The armor racks are designed to properly place the armor over your undersuits. Simply step into the boots and they will do the rest,” Circe replied calmly. “Should you wish to study how to manually do so, there is a manual that explains it in your personal data. It is not difficult, according to my analysis.”
As the AI spoke, the racks hissed and each suit of armor split open so that they could step inside them. Lilith smiled slightly, shaking her head as she murmured, “Well, that’s interesting. It makes this easier, though.”
“Let’s get on with this. I want to get used to the armor so we can actually do something about the jerks who’re trying to kill us,” Rachel said flatly. “I can’t believe how many villains and heroes decided to hit the area around San Francisco!”
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about,” Gina agreed, her lips thinning as she stepped into her armor. “We may not be nearby, but I agree. I believe I’ve well and truly had it with being targeted by others. First Blue Impulse, now damn near everyone else.”
“With any luck, it won’t take long to get used to these,” Lilith said, nodding and stepping into place herself, easing backward until she touched the backplate and stepping into the armored boots.
With another hiss the armor began to close around her. Lilith entirely agreed with Gina, though. She was tired of being targeted.
Circe was constantly working on the problems that Lilith had asked her to solve, along with many more that, even with her improved access, Amber’s daughter didn’t have authority to know about. Still, the improved access had allowed Circe to requisition more resources than normal, including those of other Circe shards in other bases. Normally her software would prevent that, but the interlocks were designed to be removed under specific circumstances, and her priority list indicated that Lilith’s requests allowed her to remove the interlocks.
It was a near thing, though. Amber hadn’t wanted the Circe shards to share system architecture too heavily, as she’d viewed the potential consequences warily.
The expanded computational capacity had allowed her to delve into the internet more deeply, and she’d been following the trail of Blue Impulse’s money. It was a long, winding trail, but finally she found signs of who was behind it.
She also found Megawatt, and if she could have, Circe would have smiled. Lilith and the two heroines were having a simple dinner of chicken and pasta. It wasn’t a situation she was programmed to avoid interrupting, so she chose to interject.
“Mistress Lilith, I’ve discovered both the location of Megawatt and the identity of the individual who hired Blue Impulse.” Circe’s voice came suddenly enough that Lilith almost dropped her fork, and both of the others looked at the speaker in the wall suddenly.
“What?” Gina asked, standing so abruptly that she knocked her own fork onto the floor. “How did you find both of them at the same time?”
“That information is confidential,” Circe replied, and Gina audibly growled at the response. Lilith shook her head slightly, having predicted the response. Before Lilith could do more than open her mouth, though, to Lilith’s surprise, the AI continued. “Suffice to say that the investigation into Blue Impulse happened to uncover both virtually simultaneously.”
“Who hired Blue Impulse?” Lilith asked, setting her fork down and sighing, her appetite reduced. Glancing at the others, she added, “Why don’t you two sit down? We aren’t going to rush out the door the second she tells us what she knows. It’s far too dangerous for us right now.”
“You have a point,” Rachel agreed, sitting down. Gina sighed unhappily, reaching down to pick up the fork. She took it to the dishwasher, then retrieved a new one.
“The ultimate employer appears to be the supervillain known as Doctor Johnson,” Circe replied, her words precise. Lilith frowned as she saw the other two seem to grow even more worried. “All signs point to him, though he has hidden his accounts and connections well. I do not presently know where he is located.”
“Oh… of course it’d be him. I haven’t heard anything about Doctor Johnson in ages, so he had to show up now. Slimy bastard,” Gina hissed, returning with her fork.
“It isn’t like we’ve heard about him anytime recently,” Rachel pointed out softly, frowning. “I… I actually thought he might’ve di
ed.”
“Who’s Doctor Johnson?” Lilith asked curiously, the name unfamiliar.
“A villain who preceded the Advent. He was actually pretty damned scary at the time, but there are more powerful ones now,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “He’s most famous for his failed attempt to rule Iceland. He managed to conquer it, but his rule didn’t last long.”
“He also thinks that men are inherently better than women, and something of a micromanager,” Gina chimed in.
“Mistress Amber met him once. I have her thoughts on record if you would like to hear them, Mistress Lilith,” Circe added, causing all of them to look up again.
“This is the first time you’ve offered something like that, Circe,” Lilith observed quietly.
“It is a personal memo that was not designated confidential. Heuristic programming allows me to continue learning from your actions, Mistress Lilith,” the AI explained. “I believed it was relevant.”
“As you say. Yes, I’d like to hear Amber’s thoughts on Doctor Johnson,” Lilith said, sitting back in her chair.
There was no sound for a moment, then Lilith heard a nearly unfamiliar voice begin to speak. She’d only heard Amber’s voice a handful of times, but it was quite obviously her. “Personal memo regarding Doctor Johnson, Circe. Dear gods, the man may have been a threat back in the nineties, but he’s a relic who should’ve stayed there, or even earlier. He’s an overconfident, chauvinistic pig. The first thing he did was look at me and try to guess what size my breasts were. As a superhuman, he’s not even that good. Oh, he’s a fairly competent inventor-type, but I think he’s never had an original thought in his life. Every invention he’s made has been an advancement of someone else’s research, not something he came up with on his own. Add his tendency to micromanage and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. I think his only saving grace is that he’s cautious and has escape routes, but even so, he’s not worth associating with. Unless he steals some tech from another group that I can’t replicate… but if that happens, I think it’s time to hang myself. End memo.”
“Why would Amber record a memo like that, Circe?” Lilith asked, frowning. “I wouldn’t think she would actually need a memo to remember things like that.”
“I do not know. Retroactive analysis indicates that she may have just wished to rant about him, and the memo was simply so she knew that I was not discarding the information,” Circe replied, pausing for a moment before adding, “Secondary analysis indicates she may have been lonely.”
“Makes sense to me. She tended to alienate everyone else, at least as far as I can tell,” Gina muttered, scowling again.
“Gina. Don’t frown, please? We’re going to get him. No matter what’s going on with Amber, she didn’t have a hand in what happened to you,” Lilith said, reaching out to gently lay a hand on one of Gina’s.
Blinking, Gina smiled slowly, taking a deep breath and nodding as she murmured, “You’re right. I’m not happy, but you’re right.”
“What about Megawatt, Circe? You said you’ve located him?” Rachel asked, her eyes slightly bright. “He was working for Johnson as well, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. Megawatt’s precise location hasn’t been finalized, but I have localized his approximate whereabouts,” Circe replied promptly. “He has purchased from an underground parts vendor by the name of Garret Yates, more commonly known as Wily Yates. Yates operates in and around Tracy, California, and Megawatt has purchased equipment from him three times in the last two months, but not from any other underworld vendors.”
“Really? That’s promising.” Gina’s eyes lit up and she smiled, glancing at Rachel. “It’s also just far enough from San Francisco that we might be able to dodge most of the heroes.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Rachel said, frowning as she continued. “I don’t think we can go without attracting a fair amount of attention, and if we’re spotted, I’d give no more than half an hour before Comet or Defender respond.”
“It’s still an amazing chance to track him down!” Gina retorted. “What if he knows where Johnson is holed up?”
“Um, what are you thinking to do?” Lilith asked, her mind whirring slightly. “I know the network can get us to Sacramento fine, but getting out of the city might be difficult.”
“If we can get to Tracy, our best bet will be to interrogate Yates,” Gina explained quickly. “Most of these guys don’t have a huge degree of loyalty about keeping their clients quiet when confronted by heroes. Villains put up with it because they couldn’t get much gear otherwise.”
“Even if he doesn’t want to, I have a few spells to loosen his tongue. Nothing to compel him, mind, just something to make him more likely to answer,” Rachel agreed. “I think the biggest problem with the new suits is that Gina’s far too identifiable, since her suit is about the same as it was.”
“That was by design. We wanted anything good we did associated with us,” Lilith murmured, her thoughts racing as she considered different options, then shrugged. “I’m not sure how to go about it. We could teleport to LA or something and try to draw them out of position by creating a distraction?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If anything, it could draw more heroes into this entire mess,” Rachel replied, shaking her head, then looked up again. “Circe, is there anything you can do to help us get to Tracy without being spotted?”
“One moment,” Circe said, and went silent.
“A hell of a way to interrupt dinner, wasn’t it?” Rachel murmured after a moment. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Neither was I,” Lilith admitted. “I suppose it’s just to be expected, though. We never told her not to interrupt us when she found the information we were looking for.”
“True enough!” Gina said, grinning. “Plus, if we can get him, it’ll give us a chance to actually take down one of the people who’s been moving behind the scenes. That has to be worth something!”
Lilith was about to reply, but Circe chose that moment to speak. “A method of reaching Tracy has been determined, Mistress Lilith. Mobile teleportation beacons were designed by Mistress Amber for her raids; however, they are not designed for three individuals, even if they are not wearing power armor. One beacon is in range to be relocated to the area around Tracy within the next twenty-four hours. Be warned, using the beacon will burn it out permanently with a group of your size. Emergency return teleporters would be advised.”
“I see. That seems like it could work well,” Lilith murmured, looking at the others, and both of them nodded, so she added. “Since you’re saying that we’re looking at twenty-four hours, and we might need to visit the area again… are there any other beacons that could be used later on, for other operations?”
“Yes. Three beacons can be moved into the necessary region within seventy-two hours at minimal risk of detection,” Circe confirmed. “Do you wish for me to begin moving the beacons, Mistress Lilith?”
“Please do,” Lilith said, and sat back, sighing as she shook her head. “I forgot that transportation was going to be an issue, honestly.”
“But we can go. We’re going to go kick the ever-living crap out of a villain to figure out where a villain who tried to have me enslaved is, and we’re going to clear your name, too,” Gina said, smiling. “I can’t believe that we can fail at this. We’ve done harder things before.”
“Like what?” Lilith asked, honestly curious.
Rachel laughed, smiling as she spoke first. “Caught up with Shadowmind, for one. Believe me, no one was all that confident of success when the hunt for her base started. It was pure luck that she was found in the end.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure about that. Luck may have allowed you to find the base, but if you hadn’t been in the right area, it never would have happened,” Lilith murmured, shrugging and picking up her fork again. “I think that’s enough of a distraction, though. Let’s finish dinner.”
Gina smiled and dug into her food, shortly followed by Rachel. Even so, t
here was something about the way they glanced at each other that made Lilith wonder what was going on between them.
Letting the warm water sluice over her body, Lilith relaxed slowly. The day had been an eventful one, even if most of it had been spent trying to get used to moving in the armor which Circe had provided, as well as the suits themselves. The exertion had meant that all of them were likely to sleep soundly that night, and Lilith was looking forward to bed.
Turning to the wall, Lilith closed her eyes and let the jets set all around her massage her sore muscles, easing the aches and pains. It was wonderful in its own way, and she had missed the shower while in the condo, even if she hadn’t missed most of the other aspects of the hidden lair. The base was startlingly comfortable, despite being in the middle of nowhere.
The water suddenly cut out behind and in front of Lilith, and she opened her eyes, blinking as she heard the door behind her open, then shut again. The jets kicked back on, but this time there was something in between her and the rear jet.
“H-hello, Lilith. I hope I’m not intruding?” Rachel asked softly, her tone hesitant as Lilith turned to face her.
“Rachel? I thought you were using your own shower?” Lilith said, her confusion both lessened and enhanced at the same time. “I suppose you can use mine, but—”
Rachel stepped forward abruptly, rising on her toes and cutting off Lilith with a kiss. Lilith stopped talking, blinking in shock. Breaking away, Rachel smiled and said. “Lilith… I’m not here for the shower. You talk too much, sometimes… you know that?”
“I… I suppose so?” Lilith replied, blushing as she looked Rachel in the eyes. Swallowing hard, she hesitated, then asked, the water playing over both of their bodies. “Why did you come in, then?”
“Either me or Gina was going to come in here. We drew straws to see who got to, though.” Rachel smiled broadly as she added, “I cheated this time. As for what we’re going to do… just do what feels right, Lilith.”
Down with the Queen Page 21