Binding Foxgirls II

by Simon Archer

  “How is headquarters doing?” I asked Malthe. His face darkened.

  “They got in, and now there are people looting the place,” he said. “And there're no drones or security of any kind to protect it since everyone and everything came down here.”

  “And I stand by that decision,” I said decidedly. “We did the right thing. But how bad is it?”

  “Yeah, man, we totally obliterated that crowd,” Clem said, shaking his head. “I’m surprised there was anyone left in the city to riot, let alone break into our building.”

  “Who knows?” Malthe said, shrugging. “All I know is, more people showed up, mostly brawlers, I think, and started wrecking the place.”

  “There are always more people who just want to watch the city burn,” I muttered. “And TelCorp, for that matter, especially these days. We just got rid of the ones who were in the front row, who knew about it right away.”

  “So what’re we gonna do to save it? To get it back?” Clem asked. “I mean, that’s our home. Our workplace. We need to get it back somehow.”

  “We could make a new headquarters down here,” Malthe offered. “It would be easier for me.”

  “Hold up,” I said, holding up my hands to stop everyone. “That’s not necessary. This is all temporary, or at least we’re trying to make it that way. We can reclaim our headquarters and fix it up, but we need to prioritize for now. We need to know exactly what the conglomerate’s next moves are going to be. Do they have enough binders to make another attack soon? Were they crippled enough in the last battle that they have to fold altogether? We need more information before we decide what to do next.”

  Just at that moment, there was a loud, sharp knock at the door. Kira nearly jumped out of her skin beside me, and she clutched at my hand again. But it was just Avil. She poked her nose through the door, a worried expression on her face.

  “You guys had better get down here,” she said, her voice flat and worried at the same time.

  “What? What is it?” I asked quickly, dread welling up inside me.

  “It’s… well… you should just get down here and see what’s on the holovision,” she said, which did little to abate my fears.

  “Okay,” I said, already running down the stairs after her, the rest of my group following close behind me.

  Downstairs, the whole family was clustered in front of the holovision. They were watching so intently, and their faces all bore the same stricken expression. It looked like the medics had taken the badly injured binders away by then, probably up to one of the mansion’s many bedrooms.

  “What makes me feel like we’ve all been here before?” Kinley asked sardonically, no doubt referring to the previous night when news of the conglomerate came out, not to mention both fateful Parliament sessions from the past two days.

  I crossed in front of the holovision and stared open-mouthed at the scene unfolding in front of our eyes. Or in front of the camera, at least. Every single branch of law enforcement was proceeding down the main street of downtown Termina, marching their way right toward the south side. Right to us. An anchor was narrating, his voice faster than usual and slightly panicked sounding.

  “What we’re seeing right now is a full battalion of Termina’s police and military branches on their way to defend the north side. We’re told they will not make a play for the south side at this time after the brutal attack TelCorp launched on the new binding conglomerate, but they will be defending their own turf,” he explained.

  “Defending what?” Lin asked, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation. “We’re not doing anything to them. We’re not attacking them.”

  “And they’re making sure we won’t,” I said darkly. “They’re keeping us here, and they’re sending a message. A message that we can’t go back to the north side, not for anything, or we’ll have to face them. All of them.”

  “And we don’t have enough people for that left anymore,” Cindra said, finishing my thought for me.

  “Yeah,” I said. “That. Before, maybe. But not after so many people quit, and definitely not after losing so many binders in that battle. It’s just not enough.”

  “But what about your thing, Malthe?” Clem asked, turning to the hacker. “What about those tank things you made? Those would do it, wouldn’t they?”

  “There isn’t enough,” he said, shaking his head, never taking his eyes off the holovision screen. “There just aren’t enough right now. We need them to protect the south side, unless we want to lose that, too.”

  “Which might be part of their plan,” I mused. “If they draw us out of here, to meet them, they could use that opportunity to take the south side again.”

  “So yeah, okay,” Clem said, gulping audibly. “We’re not doing that. Got it.”

  “So, what do we do?” Lin asked.

  “Wait, watch,” Cindra said, pointing at the holovision. Halit was now on the screen. His eyes darted from side to side as he spoke, never looking straight at the camera.

  “We… want to send a message to TelCorp,” he was saying, though admittedly not very convincingly. “We want them to know that what happened today both in the financial district and on the south side of the city by the docks was unacceptable. Though they were blocked in by protesters at their headquarters, those protesters had every right to be there.”

  “Protesters?” Kinley scoffed, aghast. “Those weren’t fucking protesters, they were thugs, and they attacked our building!”

  “I don’t think they care about that, Kinley,” Kira said, her eyes wide as she stared at the holo-cast.

  “No, they don’t,” I said, glaring daggers at Halit as he continued.

  “Additionally, there is absolutely no excuse for TelCorp’s conduct on the south side this afternoon. They murdered in cold blood nearly fifty binders from the new conglomerate, hardworking men with wives, families, and lives to lead, men who should be going home to those wives and families tonight, but instead will be going to their graves.”

  “Well, that’s melodramatic,” Kinley said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “We also want Nic Joch to know that, should he choose to stand down, we will offer his employees and associates clemency for their crimes,” Halit continued. “And we will strongly consider taking the death penalty off the table for the CEO himself. But this offer only stands for two hours. After that, TelCorp and all those associated with it are on their own. No one will be able to help them, then.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Avil asked, looking between Malthe and me. Then, when neither of us answered, “Well, what’s it supposed to mean?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, setting my mouth in a thin line. “But I’m going to find out.”

  The holovision panned away from Halit and back to the law enforcement force making its way down Termina’s streets again. I turned and stomped back up the stairs toward Malthe’s office.

  “Come on,” I said shortly, beckoning for the rest of my group to follow me. We couldn’t talk as freely as we had to in front of Cindra’s family, for fear of implicating them further in our plot against the secret underground organization.

  “What’s going on?” Cindra hissed, coming up next to me on the stairs. “What is it?”

  “We’ll talk in the office,” I whispered back and walked out in front of her.

  In the office, I let everyone else in past me and shut the door behind me.

  “I thought you said that Halit was with us again,” Clem said sharply as soon as we were safe and alone.

  “What do you mean?” Cindra asked, looking wildly between Clem and me. “You mean you were actually able to talk to Halit at Parliament?”

  “Oh, I forgot, you guys don’t know yet,” I said, genuinely surprised in spite of myself. “Half of you were already down here when I was at Parliament. Yeah, I talked to Halit and only Halit. Everyone else was gone already.”

  “They were gone?” Lin asked, her mouth hanging open with shock. “That’s… not how Pa
rliament works. They schmooze. They always schmooze after each session!”

  “None of this is how Parliament works,” I said darkly. “Or at least not how it’s supposed to work. These underground people, they have the members so freaked out that they’re afraid to even talk to each other for fear of saying the wrong thing and getting themselves killed.”

  “But Halit talked to you?” Lin asked. “The Prime Minister talked to you. And he’s the most important one, so that’s all that really counts, right?”

  “I thought so, at least,” I agreed. “But now….”

  “What did he say to you, though?” Lin pressed.

  “He told me that the underground people have intel on pretty much everyone in the city but me and the rest of the current TelCorp personnel, but they have it on everyone else, and they proved it,” I explained as quickly as I could. “And they really freaked him out. Must’ve done the same to the other members to get them on their side.”

  “But you thought you swayed him over to our side?” Lin asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

  “I thought I at least got him to not actively work against us anymore, but nothing was explicit now that I think about it,” I admitted. “But it really seemed like he was with us again. I told him that we broke into the tunnels and blew a bunch of this org’s goons up and that we knew about the burner phones. Once he was convinced we actually had a shot against these guys, he came right back to us. Halit was always with us ideologically, he was just afraid of the secret org.”

  “Of course he was, I know Lucianus, this isn’t like him at all,” Lin said, looking relieved.

  “But he’s still fucking us over!” Clem cried, pointing behind him in the general direction of where Cindra’s family was still watching the holovision.

  “Yeah,” I said. “There is that. And it’s not like we’ve given him any reason to doubt us since I talked with him. We’ve only racked up more victories since then. Malthe, see if any more calls have been made since we last looked at it.” Malthe pulled the map back up on his computer screen.

  “Yep,” he said, biting his lip. “One to him, another to the police chief, or at least I assume it’s the chief since that’s where the dot is. All in the last twenty minutes.”

  “Damn,” I said. “I really wish we could listen in on those calls. I guess I’ll just have to get it all out of him again.”

  “But you can’t go to Parliament,” Kira reminded me. “That’s on the north side. And they’ve got a virtual army preventing you from going there.”

  “Then I’ll have to call him,” I said. “It’s not ideal, but it’s the only way. I’ll get it out of him, one way or another.”

  25

  “You can keep my channel secure, right?” I asked Malthe once everyone else had cleared out of his study to give me room to talk to Halit.

  “Will do, boss,” he said. “They haven’t been able to catch us yet.”

  “How do you know?” I asked him darkly.

  “Well, if they had, they wouldn’t have let us take over TelCorp in the first place, would they?” he pointed out. “Plus, you said they only had intel on Elias Berg’s TelCorp when they extorted Halit.”

  “Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath and nodding. “Yeah, that’s right. I’d forgotten.”

  “That’s what I’m here for, boss,” Malthe grinned. “That and the giant shiny tanks that blow shit up.”

  “Right,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “You’re not going to talk this much when I’m on the phone, are you?”

  “Not a word,” he said, motioning across his lips as if to zip them shut.

  “I’ll hold you to that,” I warned him as I dialed Halit on my watch. Malthe had to be there to keep the line secure, where he had access to his gadgets. And I didn’t want to risk going to a room that might be less secure.

  “Halit, pick up the damn line!” I screamed at my watch as it rang and rang… and rang.

  When he didn’t pick up, I dialed again. And again. And again. And again. Apparently, the sixth time was the charm that day.

  “Mr. Joch,” Halit said nervously when he picked up, not even bothering to greet me. “I really don’t have time to talk right now. If you would stop clogging up my line, I assure you that I will call you the moment I am able--”

  I gave Malthe a look as Halit blabbered on, asking him with my eyes if the line was secure. He fiddled some more with his instruments and then nodded.

  “Lucianus, the line is secure,” I said, interrupting the Prime Minister in the middle of yet another assurance that he would return my call at a later time. “They can’t listen in on us. And even if they could, you’ve got bigger fish to fry. But then again, you know that, right? Why else would you send all those machines after us?”

  “Mr. Joch, as I said on the holo-cast, you have some time to give in to our terms,” he reminded me, his voice shaking just as it had when we had spoken in person that morning. “The army and the drones will not proceed to the south side until that time has elapsed. Now have you given any thought to--”

  “It’s a joke!” I cried, interrupting him again. “You can’t seriously expect us to just fold. Not when we just won a major battle here. Two, if you count what happened at TelCorp headquarters.”

  “I would hardly count--” Halit started, but I interrupted him for the third time.

  “We got our people out of there and dispersed the conglomerate’s binders and the rioters,” I explained, defending my team’s victory. “If we’d wanted to, we could have taken the building back, but our priority was helping the foxgirls and making sure our drones got back to the south side. That’s a priority that you used to share, Lucianus, or have you forgotten since we last spoke?”

  There was a long pause.

  “Mr. Joch, we haven’t spoken--” Halit began. But just like before, I didn’t let him finish. I already knew what he was going to say, and I wasn’t about to let him try to pull one over on me. I was better than that.

  “We spoke this morning,” I reminded him, though I knew he didn’t need it. “In your office. I told you, Lucianus, this line is secure.” There was another long pause.

  “And if it isn’t?” he asked at long last, his voice hushed and trembling as if that would prevent anyone listening in from hearing or understanding him.

  “It is,” I assured him. “And if it isn’t, there’s not much to do about that now, is there?”

  Halit didn’t respond. I exchanged a smile with Malthe, who was sitting silently and listening in on the call as promised, making sure that it remained secure.

  “Now, Lucianus,” I began again, “I thought that you and I came to an understanding this morning, did we not?”

  Another long pause.

  “They’ll be able to see that I spoke to you, even if they can’t listen in,” he said, talking a bit louder now, but sounding no less panicked. “And if they can’t listen in, they’ll know they can’t listen in. And they’ll be angry about that.”

  “Then what’s the point in allying yourself with them now?” I asked pleasantly. “They’re already against you, according to you. You might as well join the side you actually want to be on. And we’re the safe side, too. Unless you want to end up locked in the Void for the rest of your life, that is. That can be arranged…”

  “They. Will. Kill. My. Family,” Halit said through gritted teeth, accentuating every word.

  “We can protect them,” I said, exchanging another look with Malthe to confirm. “We’re sending protection their way as we speak. They won’t be harmed.”

  “You said that most of your drones were on the south side,” Halit hissed. “How will they be protected from there?”

  “We have enough to protect them and the south side,” I repeated. “Plus, if it would make you feel better, we can house them down here, not a problem, but here’s the thing, Lucianus, if you allied with us for real this time, you’d have the full force of law enforcement behind you and us. That would keep us from bei
ng spread quite so thin if you will.”

  “I thought you said you already have the upper hand,” Halit said, growing angry now instead of just afraid.

  “But think how much easier it would be to take down these people who are threatening you with all the power of both TelCorp and every branch of law enforcement at our disposal,” I countered.

  “Law enforcement will not be helping you fight these people!” Halit cried, his voice growing higher and higher pitched as he himself grew more anxious and angry.

  “Fine,” I relented, “but you’d have to admit that it’d be a helluva lot easier for TelCorp to reach these guys if we didn’t have to go through you first.”

  “You still have to fight the conglomerate,” Halit pointed out.

  “The conglomerate’s finished, and you know it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We creamed ‘em twice today. We can do it again.”

  “Not with law enforcement--”

  “We can fight law enforcement, too, don’t worry about that,” I told him, “but it’d be way easier if we didn’t have to. Way easier.”

  “Well…” he said, his voice trailing off as he searched for an appropriate response.

  “Look, Lucianus,” I said, laying it all out for him. “We both want these people, whoever they are, out of our lives. You can’t deny that. And we’d both be a helluva lot happier if I got my way. You agree with that, too, right?”

  “I…” he started, his voice trailing off again, but his lack of response said all I needed to know.

  “We know you, Lucianus,” I continued. “Lin brought you to me herself. She trusts you, or at least she did. We all trusted you. And I know you well enough by now to know where your true allegiances lie. You’re just scared like you told me this morning, and I don’t blame you! You’re right to be scared. These are scary times, but we can help you. You can have it both ways. You can avoid being killed by these people and do what we both want for this city. You just have to trust me.”

  “I… I really…” he stammered.