She laughed. “I don’t plan to start one.” She winked again, playfully, and blew me a kiss. “Although I’d go to war over you.”
I laughed, my tension easing as she’d intended although I sensed that she was serious. “Okay, so that covers at least part of why Speaker Aerind wants me on this clandestine team. Seems obvious that he also hopes I come into my full powers—whatever the hell they turn out to be—fast enough to make a difference when the shit hits the fan. What else?”
Lumi shook her head. “Aerind plays his cards pretty close to the vest. I don’t know much more than what I’ve just told you although I will say this: whatever his other reasons are, you can bet they’ll be something you don’t expect. The man is beyond gifted when it comes to seeing patterns and how outside influences affect them.”
“Huh. I wonder...he mentioned my resemblance to someone he knew.” I shook my head and brushed the thought away. “A matter for another day. Now. About my powers and leveling up. Obviously, I’m getting a hell of a boost from sex with you and Sari, and some minor boosts from sparring with each of you, but it seems like there’s more going on here. What do you know that I don’t?”
Lumi fidgeted in her seat for a moment, then inhaled deeply. When she spoke, her words tumbled over each other in a rush as she tried to get them all out at once. “I think it’s because the three of us have started to bond in a way that’s true to your nature.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a wave of trepidation/anxiety/hope and—was that love? I wondered—swamped me. I closed my eyes as I waited for everything to settle, breathing steadily to stay calm. When I thought I had a handle on myself, I opened my eyes. “You sure pack a hell of a punch, girlfriend. Wow. That was the emotional equivalent of your right cross.”
She stared at me. “What?”
“That emotional stew that just hit me. You know, all the nerves about what you just said, plus hoping I wouldn’t laugh you out of here, and might even reciprocate?”
Her eyes widened as her hand covered her mouth. “Holy shit. You sensed all that?” Her words came out muffled but mostly intelligible.
“Yes. Which means my suspicion from earlier is probably at least partly correct—this isn’t a temporary expansion of my senses.”
Lumi dropped her hand. “That means you’re an empath. Receiving, at least. Maybe projective as well?” Her gaze turned speculative. “Or, possibly projective in the future.” She suddenly bounced in her seat, excited. “Check your stats!”
I tapped my wrist holo and pulled up my stats. Sure enough, they confirmed what I’d suspected.
Name/Moniker: Zahra
Gender: female
Level: [60] xi
Powers: light, receiving empath, others unknown
Notes: Do you wish to add a personal note?
I tapped in a quick note to research Lumi’s idea of being semi-bonded to the two of them and hit ‘Save.’
“Since we know you can sense emotions, try something else. I want to see if you can do more stuff now.” Lumi’s eagerness flowed over me.
I called my foxfire and wrapped it around Lumi and one of the nearby pillars. It was even brighter than the day before and far easier to manipulate. On impulse, I sent some to outline the rock walls and seats of our pool while maintaining what I had already done. A tingle ran through me as the light contacted the parts of my body that were underwater. I felt a similar tingle go through Lumi as well. Huh. That was new. Was it an upgrade? Or merely something I didn't know about because I'd never used it underwater before?
I called it back and thought for a moment. “Lumi, do you know how to shield your emotions, or throw false ones?”
“I can shield physically, but I’m not sure about emotionally. And I doubt I could throw false ones. Why?”
“I want to see if I can find you when you’re hiding, using my empathic sense.”
“Oh! Well, I can shield physically to avoid detection, so you’ll have to rely on sense to try and find me. That should be a good first test—we can scale up to bigger challenges afterward.” She paused. “Let’s make it a little more interesting. We’ll turn off the lights. Tag me with foxfire when you think you’ve found me. I’ll configure my holo to record everything since it's set up to pull target and area information from every possible spectrum. That way we have a record of what happens this first time.”
“Good idea. Let’s do it.”
Lumi hopped out of the water and hastily dried off with one of the towels Sari kept stocked in the cave. I did as well. I wasn’t sure if my foxfire would reach every part of the cave to tag her if I stayed in the water, so I needed to be mobile as well.
The lights went out, and Lumi vanished.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gavin
AS WE’D ARRANGED THE night before, I screened Sari as soon as I was up. We agreed upon a 10:00 a.m. meeting at her shop. She typically didn’t book fittings for the day after the Fête, since she never knew how late the evening before would go and what mess she might need to help sort out.
I finished my morning routine, washing down the last bites of my breakfast with a cup of salep. I’d acquired a taste for the thick, hot beverage during my time on Omanis Four, where it was a standard breakfast drink. Twenty minutes later I was clean, fully dressed in what I called my casual armor—a tightly-fitted white t-shirt paired with slate blue cargo pants that were anything but baggy—and had grabbed my reports for Sari. I'd also made backup copies and put them in a safe location.
Paranoid? Maybe, but I’d seen too much to ever trust critical information solely to digital storage systems. Not to mention, a few times that kind of backup was all that had kept my team and me alive.
I walked to Sari’s shop, enjoying the cool morning breeze. Just before I arrived, she screened me with instructions to use the back door and go to what she called her war room. I cut down one of the many access alleys that surrounded the shops on Threadneedle Street and soon reached her door. A quick palm scan and voice ID granted me access to the cool, well-lit corridor that ran the length of her shop. I knew she also had another level below this where a lot of her R&D work happened, although I’d only been down there once.
I strode down the corridor until I reached the light gray door that marked the war room. The door hissed as it slid open, with Sari’s “Enter, Gavin,” coming through before the sound had died, and then slid shut as soon as I walked in.
Sari stood in front of a wall of monitors. Most were configured to show her shop and its surroundings. A couple showed what I assumed was the R&D area. One was dark, although brief flashes of a bluish-green glow lit the screen intermittently. I thought I caught a glimpse of a female silhouette just before she flicked that one fully dark. She turned and met me at the large table in the center of the room.
“Good morning, Gavin. I trust the rest of your night was quiet?”
“It was, thank you. And yours?”
“My night was excellent.”
A slow, sensual smile appeared on her face, which made me wonder just what had happened the night before. Whatever it was, Sari was well-pleased by the outcome. Then she shook her head and got down to business.
“What have you got, Gavin? Walk me through it.”
I laid the data chip on the table. “You’ll want to bring this up on screen while I do that.”
Her three-fingered tap on a hidden control deployed a set of holoscreens above the table. A small slot opened to my right. I inserted the chip, and the screens came to life as the data hierarchy appeared. A quick gesture from Sari brought up a holo control panel in front of me.
I swiped in silence for a minute or two as I opened several files and arranged them in sequence. Once everything was ready, I began my report.
“As you know, rumors of an attack on Stratis—specifically, one designed to overthrow the Tetrarchy—have been floating around for a while. Not too long ago, Pyrite risked his deep cover status to get me some information. He didn’t have a lot of details, but what he
had corroborates that an attack is imminent. I don’t think anyone has pinpointed the exact day and time, yet, only that it's going to happen soon.
“Three days ago, as I tried to come up with any new correlations or even guesses, I encountered Zahra in the park.” When Sari arched her eyebrow in obvious question about the supposed tie-in, I added, “It’s relevant, because I believe it provided the break I was looking for.”
She nodded for me to continue.
“When I got home, I realized that I had no idea who she was. A regular search didn’t turn up any results, so I tried a visual search.” I pulled up the screenshot of Zahra’s information. “This is what I saw when her results finally came back.”
Name/Moniker: Zahra
Gender: female
Level: unknown
Powers: unknown
Notes: Full powers unknown but genetic records indicate probable sigma [200] or tau [300] Master strength once manifested and trained. Requires certain elements present and full satisfaction from sex to level up. Strong emotional attachment a key factor. Subvert if possible, kill if not.
“Sari, there’s no way those notes should be available on an unclassified search. If I'd run it classified, even with my security clearance, I should've had to run multiples searches across several completely separate databases to pull that kind of information—and even then, I shouldn't be able to see what amounts to someone's particular notes."
I paused long enough to draw a deep breath. "The fact that Zahra's level and powers aren’t listed also concerns me since it could be an attempt to mask her true strength and abilities, although that’s less of a concern at the moment than what’s in the notes. Here’s why.”
I pulled up the other screenshots in quick succession.
Name/Moniker: Gavin
Gender: male
Level: [200] sigma Master
Powers: strategist, flight, strength, shields, amplifier
Notes: Suspected to be tau [300] Master although not confirmed. Clandestine operative for the Tetrarchs. Their top weapon. Neutralize him, the rest will fall.
_____________________
Name/Moniker: Pyrite
Gender: male
Level: [200] sigma Master
Powers: Earth Master. Can manipulate any material with earth components in it, along with the earth itself
Notes: Clandestine operative for the Tetrarchs. Currently on deep cover assignment.
_____________________
Name/Moniker: Sleight
Gender: male
Level: [200] sigma Master
Powers: illusionist and sleight-of-hand artist
Notes: Clandestine operative for the Tetrarchs. Currently not on assignment. Does not use Master rank.
“The same kind of classified intel also shows on the records for Charis, Obsidian, Moravio, and Zanzibar, although I didn’t take screenshots of them." I shook my head. "I feel like I’ve missed something obvious.”
Sari studied the screenshots for a few minutes, her brow furrowed in thought. A few quick gestures brought up the regular search interface on a separate screen, where she entered my name. The results displayed instantly.
Name/Moniker: Gavin
Gender: male
Level: [200] sigma Master
Powers: strategist, flight, strength, shields, amplifier
Notes: Does not use Master rank.
“What—”
Flashing screens interrupted me as Sari zoomed in and out on various areas of my screenshots and her search results, then stopped and highlighted the trace codes. “I suspect this is what you hadn't yet consciously realized you saw.”
Other than the section that indicated whether the search results were visual or text, the codes should’ve been identical.
They weren’t.
I stared at the screens for several moments while my brain raced, trying to fit this new information into the rest of what I knew. Sari finally interrupted my thoughts.
“Gavin, I think you’re right that this is the break we needed. Unfortunately, neither of us are skilled enough at hacking to try and unearth who’s behind this without tipping our hands or getting killed. I can’t ask Aerind to do it—he’s already overextended. Do you know anyone we can trust to work with us on this?”
I snapped my fingers as a name came immediately to mind. “Nightshade. I worked with him a few times when Aerind tapped him for some undercover tech support. His skills are gathering and correlating information, and he’s excellent at both. What very few people know is that he’s a gifted hacker as well.”
“So, he already has the security clearance needed to do this?”
“Yes, unless Aerind rescinded it for some reason. Given that Nightshade’s travels are often at Aerind’s behest, I don’t think that’s an issue.”
Sari tapped something on her wrist holo then turned her attention back to the screens. “I assume the data chip is my copy of what you’ve found?”
“Yes. I have backups, in addition to my main file.”
She glanced at her wrist holo then brought up another screen from the table. A few quick taps later, Speaker Aerind looked out at both of us.
“Sari. Gavin. Good morning.” He nodded at us. “Sari, thank you for the update. I think you and Gavin are on the right track. By all means, bring Nightshade in. He’s got the skills you need to crack this piece of the puzzle and is trustworthy. Gavin, that was nice work uncovering the information—it's liable to break everything wide open. Both of you, be careful. And tell Nightshade I said to watch his back when he goes digging.” He lifted a hand in farewell then the screen went dark.
I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, although the familiar eagerness at being on a hot trail filled me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gavin
JUST THEN, ONE OF SARI’S wall monitors quietly pinged. We both glanced over, but it took me a minute to realize that the screen she’d previously turned dark now showed a pulsing bluish-green glow—one that slowly changed from amorphous to outlining a very lush female form, although I couldn’t see more than the silhouette. A muffled exclamation and laugh came from Sari’s direction as I stepped closer, wondering what the hell was going on.
She brushed past me, fingers flicking as she blanked the screen. Then she tapped something on her wrist holo and laughed aloud a moment later as she received a reply. I thought I heard a faint, ::Oops!:: in my mind but brushed it off as merely my inner voice reacting to the scene.
When Sari turned to face me, amusement lingered in her eyes although there was no trace of it in her voice. “I need to step out for a moment, Gavin, and see what caused that. While I do, would you be kind enough to screen Nightshade and ask if he’s available to meet with us?”
“Of course. Take care of your business. Meet back here?”
“Yes. I shouldn’t be long.”
She walked out as I tapped a quick message to Nightshade on my wrist holo. I kept it innocuous to the casual glance but worded in a way that would tell him the matter was urgent. He promptly responded that he was free right now and would meet us here.
With that settled, I advised Sari of Nightshade’s imminent arrival then sat in one of the chairs at the table to wait. I brought up another screen and checked for any news updates. A commercial for an upscale restaurant reminded me that I needed to contact Zanto’s. A few quick taps resulted in a confirmed 6:00 p.m. reservation for the table I wanted.
Not long after, one of the wall monitors showed Nightshade's arrival at the back door. Since he went straight to the security checks and then entered, I assumed that Sari cleared him from wherever she was. Moments after that, I heard faint footsteps in the hallway. A glance at the monitors showed him near the door to the war room. Sari stepped out of another door nearby, her footsteps silent as she waved open the war room’s gray door and ushered Nightshade in.
After we'd exchanged greetings, Nightshade immediately looked at the screens we'd left up. “Hmm. Interesting. Gavin, walk m
e through how you found this?”
“I ran a visual search on the central database to identify Zahra after I first saw her. I didn't access the restricted sections, only the public information. The screenshot on the top left is what came up.” I gestured to it. “The other screenshots were from a different search, also on the public access level. At no time did I try to access any of the restricted records.” I gestured again, this time to the screen on the far right, where Sari ran her search. “These results are from Sari’s text-based search shortly before I screened you.”
Nightshade studied the screens and the highlighted trace codes some more. “I think I know what they’ve done, although I still need to trace everything back to be sure. Before I start, would the two of you please pull up additional screens and run non-restricted visual searches on one new individual apiece? I want to see what happens.”
I pulled up a new screen while I decided who to search for, then projected the details to the interface. It was a little slower than doing it at home since these screens didn't respond quite the same way as mine, but it didn’t take long to pull Ember’s likeness and information. I whistled soundlessly.
Name/Moniker: Ember
Gender: male
Level: [100] rho
Powers: electricity and magnetic field creation & manipulation
Notes: Known friend of Gavin. Previous subversion attempts have failed. Weakness is Faraday cage.
Sari also had her search results up. Her choice surprised me.
Name/Moniker: Falyan
Gender: female
Level: [500] phi
Powers: combat tactics instructor, fire Master
Notes: Known for unorthodox specialized combat tactics. Only trains select, hand-picked students. Current whereabouts unknown.
“Falyan? What on—”
“A hunch, Gavin.”
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