Queen's Move (Lilith's Shadow Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “No, that’s everything. Thank you for arriving so quickly, officer,” Lilith said, smiling back at the woman and her partner, both of whom blushed. It was a common reaction, whether they were men or women, Spark had noticed.

  “You’re welcome, ma’am. Just doing our jobs,” the man said, bobbing his head nervously. “We’ll be on our way, then.”

  The officers made their way out, and for a few seconds the area was quiet, aside from the faint sounds of whirring from inside the interior bubble and the clamor from the street. Lilith’s gaze turned to Spark, and the woman watched her thoughtfully for a few seconds.

  “Thank you for arriving so quickly,” Lilith said, nodding to Spark graciously. “While I was able to overpower Mountain Razor, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to initially, and if he’d been more powerful than me it would have been exceedingly unpleasant. I likely would have been able to manage in the end, but I prefer not leaving things to chance.”

  “I’m just doing my job, but you’re welcome. I’m mostly surprised you came here alone, rather than with your friends,” Spark replied calmly, crossing her arms in front of her. When Lilith had been hunted, Ocean Shield had initially shared her power set, or what was supposed to be her power set, so she wasn’t too worried about the woman. Not unless the list was wrong, or she got too close to Lilith, anyway. In the end, Lilith couldn’t hurt what she couldn’t catch.

  “Ah, of course. I suppose it is a touch foolhardy of me, but…” Lilith paused, tilting her head as she considered, then shrugged. “I like being around them. I enjoy their company, and love both of them, but they are not my bodyguards. I’m not going to sit in hiding, afraid to come out if I don’t have others to protect me. What kind of life would that even be? Not one I want, I’m certain. Besides, if I’m constantly keeping them as close as possible, it lends credence to the theories that I’m actually Shadowmind, and that is simply annoying.”

  Partway through the explanation, Spark mentally threw a gear as the woman in front of her casually admitted to loving Morgan and Warden, and she heard a soft choking sound through the com just before it was hastily muted. Fortunately, she managed to recover before Lilith finished speaking, and she looked at the woman in surprise.

  “Well, I guess that might be true. You just surprised me,” Spark said, debating what else to say. Then Lilith surprised her again as she spoke.

  “If you say so. Now, I assume that you were here to scout out the area, or to keep an eye on me?” Lilith asked bluntly, looking at Spark curiously. “I suppose you could have been guarding the area in case villains struck, but that seems rather unlikely. Most of the records indicate your team tends to stick to Paragon City proper, unless there’s a major incident outside of it.”

  “Er, well…” Spark sputtered, a little stunned the woman outright said that much. “I… yes? We wanted to keep an eye on you, at least somewhat.”

  “Spark…” Shade growled, only to be interrupted.

  “If you wished to handle this, you should have gone yourself, Shade. Leave her be,” Archon interjected at last, the Brazilian’s voice faintly accented, even after years speaking English. “I find this fascinating.”

  Spark ignored both of them, instead looking at Lilith, who didn’t seem surprised, but instead gave a wry smile as she stood, nodding to the robot.

  “Thank you for the treatment, Circe. I assume that you’ve already told Morgan and Warden about the incident?” Lilith asked, causing a bit more consternation from Spark, which simply grew more pronounced as the robot replied, with a beautiful voice that did not fit something that looked like a utilitarian box on treads with articulated arms.

  “Yes, Mistress Lilith. I also pointed out that interrupting at present was pointless, so they shouldn’t drop everything to check on you. Your injuries were superficial at worst,” the robot said in a primly precise tone.

  “Of course. Now then… would you like a tour, Spark?” Lilith asked, looking up at Spark with a smile.

  “What?” Spark asked, taken aback. At almost the same time, Decarin spoke as well.

  “What did she just say?” he sputtered, sounding stunned.

  “I offered to give you a tour of the house,” Lilith said patiently, then glanced at the robot as she added, “I’d have to ask you to deactivate your sensors first, as Circe won’t let you in with recording devices, but I don’t see the harm in letting you look around. The majority of the house isn’t anything that I’d consider classified.”

  “Mistress Lilith, I must voice my objections to allowing anyone inside before construction has been completed,” Circe interjected primly. “While the majority of the defensive systems would not be affected by others knowing their location, it still could reveal weaknesses to those looking for them. While the chances of this are low, they are not nonexistent, and your safety is one of the highest priorities for me.”

  “I’m well aware of that, Circe. I also refuse to live in a cage, and the only way to gain the trust of other heroes is to grant them trust in turn. At least those who seem reasonable,” Lilith said, climbing to her feet and stretching, which was a disconcerting sight for Spark. She had trouble keeping her gaze focused on Lilith’s face, which was very unusual with other women. Fortunately, Lilith spoke a moment later. “What do you think? Feel free to discuss it with your team if you’d like. I’m sure you’re communicating with them.”

  “Well, crap,” Decarin muttered unhappily, his voice uneasy. “I suppose I should’ve expected that, since most teams use similar coms, but it doesn’t make me happy.”

  “This could be a trap,” Shade cautioned, sounding suspicious. “I wouldn’t go in.”

  Spark thought briefly, then came to a snap decision, smiling as she spoke. “Dec, disable all the sensor feeds.”

  “What?” Decarin yelped, but Spark ignored him, instead focusing on Lilith, who’d raised her eyebrows marginally.

  “Will that work? They’re worried about a trap, so I’d prefer to keep coms active,” Spark asked, crossing her arms under her breasts.

  “That depends entirely on Circe,” Lilith said, smiling wryly at the robot as she added, “I’m afraid that overriding her decisions is a bridge too far for me. That is how the idiom is used, yes?”

  “That’s correct, Mistress Lilith,” Circe responded immediately. “You’re adapting far more quickly now that you’ve been associating with your new companions. It appears that my concerns were partially misplaced. However, regarding the inquiry, I will allow it. If I detect active scans, or data beyond what’s necessary for a locator beacon or verbal communication being transmitted, I will begin active jamming.”

  “Fine, fine… I hate having to shut the scans down, but if it lets you get a look inside, that’s better than what I’ve been getting,” Decarin grumbled, and there was the sound of more typing, as well as a switch flicking, before he said, “There, all shut off. They’d better not be trying to hijack the coms and pretend you’re fine.”

  “That would be quite difficult with us listening, wouldn’t it?” Shade asked, sounding a little concerned. A hint of dread ran through Spark, as she really didn’t like listening to the two go off on some tangent about the details of technology. Particularly when she couldn’t leave the room.

  “That depends, but… let’s discuss it later,” Decarin said quickly, to Spark’s relief.

  “He shut down the sensors, or at least said he did,” Spark said, looking at the robot dubiously.

  “I detected the reduced transmission bandwidth and cessation of scans. You will now be allowed into the construction zone. Be aware, this is an active construction zone, so watch your step and do not take flight or otherwise intrude into areas under active construction,” Circe said, turning in place to face the shield. “Welcome to Eden Manor. Have a pleasant stay.”

  “Eden Manor?” Lilith asked, looking at the robot in surprise. “I don’t remember agreeing to that! Were you talking to Gina again?”

  “While Warden made the initial sugg
estion, Morgan supported it, and it suits Mistress Shadowmind’s sense of humor, so I chose to accept the suggestion,” Circe replied promptly. “The designation has been set in my system.”

  Spark looked between the two, a little confused as Lilith put a hand over her eyes and sighed heavily. The soft laughter from her com, in Archon’s voice, of all things, just heightened her confusion. She didn’t like being left out of an obvious joke. Before she could ask anyone, though, Lilith lowered her hand again.

  “Well, nothing to be done now except deal with it. Not how I expected this to go, but so be it,” Lilith murmured, then smiled at Spark. “Shall we? I am rather happy with how the construction is going. Maybe I can even get a real inspector out tomorrow. I do hope he’s alright.”

  “Hopefully, but the locals do try not to kill mundanes. That draws more attention than they like,” Spark said, relaxing and nodding. “I’d appreciate that, though. I’ll admit to curiosity, though I’m sure the media would love to get a look inside.”

  “I’m sure they would. Perhaps I’ll even let them see some of it, once everything is complete, and the defenses are properly concealed. They haven’t precisely endeared me to them over the last few months,” Lilith said, reaching out to tap the shield, and the glittering barrier rippled at her touch, then fell. “Some of them were respectful, but many of them weren’t. I found it quite rude.”

  “I… think I understand,” Spark said, watching the robot move past the vanished shield and through the inner distortion field. She considered, then shrugged as Lilith followed the robot, proceeding as well. She really was curious about what was inside. But she took all of two steps inside the distortion field before stopping, her eyes widening as she looked up.

  The building in front of her filled most of the inner distortion sphere, and while Spark wasn’t sure exactly how big it was, it probably was close to eighty feet across. The exterior was largely what looked like blocks of finely cut granite which sparkled in the light, and the windows were elegant, somehow obscuring what was inside without reflecting too much light. There were two floors to the building that she could see, but it was how it was being built that shocked Spark, not just that the spire-like towers on each of the corners reminded her of a castle.

  Over twenty steel girders had been embedded into the ground around the construction site, and cables connected them to one another. That would have been odd, but it was the machine attached to them that drew her attention. It was massive, like a shipping container crossed with a vast mechanical spider, and it was holding onto the girders as it moved, machinery along its bottom rapidly doing something along the walls of the upper floor, slowly moving around the wall.

  “What is that?” Spark asked, her eyes wide as she looked up at the machine. Fortunately, Lilith had stopped, and the woman smiled in amusement.

  “That is a Mark Seventeen Rapid Fabricator. It’s capable of building most vehicles or structures in Shadowmind’s database from raw materials, from fusing stone to assembling the circuitry in the walls,” Lilith explained, shrugging as she looked up at it. “I don’t know exactly how it does it, mind you, but I’ve got two of them in the city. The other one is doing the reconstruction of the apartments I purchased, though it isn’t trying to construct something fit to survive a nuclear strike, so it’s making faster progress.”

  “Damn it, I wish I knew what you were talking about,” Decarin muttered, his tone cross.

  “It looks like a semi-trailer with legs, Dec,” Spark said dryly, looking at Lilith in bemusement. “It’s holding on to poles, and building the upper floor of the building somehow.”

  “Think of it like a giant 3D printer,” Lilith suggested helpfully, a quirky smile on her face as she glanced over at Spark. “I won’t get into it, but it can layer the materials quite well. I assume you understand why Circe didn’t want you going up there? Getting hit by that when it’s moving would be unpleasant, as it has a lot of mass.”

  “A 3D printer? For a base? No wonder Shadowmind has so many of them,” Decarin said, his tone growing thoughtful. “I wonder if I could build one?”

  “Dec, shut up if you’re going to listen, please. As for getting hit, I believe you, Lilith,” Spark said, watching for a moment more, then lowering her gaze to the front door, which was a nice white with an ornate glass oval in the middle of it, though the glass also couldn’t be seen through. “So why does it look a little like a castle?”

  “Well, buying the property took a bit of time, mostly because we were negotiating with Glendale at the time… in any case, while we were waiting, the other two asked me what sort of house I wanted and started pulling up other manor listings. I just picked out the examples that I liked,” Lilith said, opening the door and showing Spark in as she added, “Sorry about the lack of furniture, but that’ll be along soon enough.”

  The door opened to a large front room, one big enough to fit many apartments that Spark had seen, though the floor was polished wood stained a warm red, and the walls were a soothing beige. Across the room was a compartment which had an open door, and Spark saw the robot fold up its arms and trundle inside, then the door shut. A part of her wondered how it’d gotten inside, since she hadn’t seen it open the door. On the other hand, she’d also been rather distracted.

  “It’s certainly big. And spacious,” Spark admitted, looking around slowly. “More than I’d think you’d need, even with three people.”

  Lilith shrugged and smiled warmly at that. “Oh, it is. On the other hand, we could have visitors at times, and… well, I grew up in a lab, if you can call it growing up. I like having lots of open space around me. Not that that’s what the open area around the house is for.”

  “Oh?” Spark asked, looking at Lilith skeptically, though a tiny part of her was slowly relaxing in her presence. Lilith hadn’t made a single move toward her, which was a relief.

  “It’s to keep people out of the line of fire,” Lilith said, gesturing around her as she added, “The fence is mundane, and there won’t be any defenses in the yard itself. I’m even having a sign put up, asking anyone who attacks me to try to keep the damage inside the fence. I figure that reduces the chances of anyone getting caught in the cross fire when I’m attacked next.”

  “You expect to be attacked, then?” Spark asked, tensing slightly more, only to be startled by the look Lilith gave her, and the amusement in the woman’s eyes.

  “Of course I do. No matter what, I can’t avoid the fact I was created by Shadowmind, and while the heroes and most governments have rescinded their bounties on my head, the ones in the underworld are quite active,” Lilith said calmly. “It isn’t a matter of if I’ll be attacked. It’s simply a matter of when.”

  Guardian Compound, Paragon City

  Archon sat back in her chair, listening in silently as Spark took the tour of Lilith Carpenter’s house. While not having visuals was a little disappointing, the house sounded surprisingly spacious to Archon, which was something she’d noticed was an issue with many places she visited. With her wings, not having an overly cluttered room was vital.

  “Which isn’t to say she won’t clutter it in the end,” Archon said, idly extending her wings slightly, stretching them as best she could. She’d muted the microphone, so it wasn’t like her comments would distract Spark.

  While Archon couldn’t say she wasn’t concerned about Lilith’s presence so near Paragon City, as Glendale was simply one of the suburbs, she also wasn’t as concerned as the others were. She knew what it was like to be viewed as something other than what one might be, with how many churches had tried to claim that Archon was a sign from God, so she felt an odd kinship with Lilith. Especially after the comment about the manor’s new name.

  “Ah, well. It isn’t something we have to worry about just yet. We can keep an eye on her, and if she causes trouble… well, we’ll deal with it as it comes,” Archon murmured, glancing over to her armor and sword, each of them resting on a rack against the wall. The one part she disliked about
being a hero was how reactive it was a lot of the time.

  On the other hand, it kept her in a home where she could stretch her wings, and out of the clutches of zealots. That made her life much happier.

  So Archon continued to listen, while simultaneously keeping an eye out for any reports of incidents. They were in Paragon City, after all, and there were a lot of villains who wanted to make their mark.

  Chapter 4

  Monday, April 21st, 2031

  Shadowmind Utah Lair Alpha-Three

  “No, you don’t need to hurry back and check on me. Mountain Razor barely cut me, and I can hardly tell that I was injured anymore,” Lilith said, slightly exasperated as she laid back on the couch, but amused anyway. “Circe made certain he didn’t infect me with anything, either. I’m safe in the lair.”

  “But Lil!” Gina protested, her voice tiny through the phone, only to be interrupted by Rachel’s laughter.

  “Gina, settle down. We’ve only been gone a couple of days, and Lilith made it on her own for months without us,” Rachel scolded gently. “We intended for this to be an initial test, anyway. While I may not have agreed with what Defender did, he had a point when he asked if we could handle being away from Lilith for long.”

  “Agreed. I don’t think I’ve done anything untoward to either of you, but that isn’t to say there isn’t anything else going on under the surface,” Lilith said, watching her feet as she wriggled her toes, admitting, “Oh, it’s boring without you, and I’m lonely, but I can handle it. There’s a world of difference between being alone because you don’t know anything else and after having company for so long. I’m looking forward to you getting back on Friday.”

  “You aren’t the only one. Though if something goes particularly wrong, I’m coming back, experiment or no experiment!” Gina said, not sounding particularly happy, even if she’d accepted the point.