Cell 10.1
WhoAmEye
Bunker-Dwelling Cryptid
- Location
- Vault Birb
- Pronouns
- She/Her
BEHOLD! behold gentle, like birb
extra large!
Special thanks to my lovely co-author and wife, @hellgodsrus, without whom I would never would have been able to take part in creating half my fics, and our girlfriend @SolarFlare for being awesome and also betaing! Also special thanks Prime Betas @Tamahori and @32nd_freeze and @Ganurath for being betas and feeding me validation and feedback between updates! And also new Prime Beta Lucky! Who is on Questionable Questing and writing most of the NSFW omakes~
Enjoy!
Cell
10.1
-.-.-
"So… you know all about me." Tammi said after a while. "But I don't know jack about you."
"Khanivore."
"Khani - wait a fucking minute." I almost giggled at it - I could hear the scowl of incredulity in her voice. "Khanivore. You're one of Lilith's monsters? Or - one of their pilots? Is that how you knew about what happened at - "
"Yeah." I nodded, though she couldn't see it. "I'm the big one -" I paused. Wait. Should I be telling her this? I'd already told the Protectorate so it wouldn't be news to them but if she got out - she… she already had bridges burned everywhere. Might as well go for broke. "Like, actually the big one."
"What… how does that work?"
"It's - trigger trauma stuff. Lilith's tech lets people pilot the Beasties, yeah? I'm just - the same in reverse. The body's like an APC for my brain."
"Hhhuuh. That's… honestly, pretty fucking creepy." A pause. "No offense?"
"I mean, I definitely started screaming when I first woke up in the basement with six eyes and claws and a maw full of super-sharp teeth." I shrugged. "But - yeah."
"Hey, speaking of that, remember when you fucking headbutted me into a car and nearly killed me?"
"Remember when you spied on the Society for god knows how long and attacked some random girl from it thinking she was a cape?" I glared at the wall. "I know the Unwritten Rules are kinda fucked right now, but you were going to get her killed. If not for being the cape you accused her of being, then for bringing Nazis to a gay girl's front door."
"Wait - for being - she IS -?!"
"No, you dumbass!" I slammed my fist into the wall. "You were going to get her killed regardless of whether or not she was the cape! Christ -"
I was startled by a buzzing alarm-like noise coming from the ceiling, and judging by Tammi's yelp, so was she. A voice came from above, saying, "Please follow the yellow -" "-red -" "-lines and press your hands to the east wall, an agent will be here to retrieve you shortly." "-member of staff will be here to retrieve you shortly." Figuring out which was which hurt my brain because I heard both at once. So… I put one hand on the red lines, and one hand on the yellow lines.
Wait. Which way was east?
My inappropriate musings were interrupted by… nobody that looked important? I shouldn't have felt so disappointed that a guy in a suit came to pick us up instead of someone in crackling electric armour or something colourful. Then again, I was a nullifier, so it was probably sensible on their part to send someone normal. Two people in suits outside the window - one gave a short wave then pointed to one of the walls. The east wall?
Then again with… whatever was happening with the soundproofing I could also hear them mutter, "Can't believe I'm stuck dealing with this fucking mess."
"Yeah, fuck you too!" I shouted back at him, moving my hands to what I presumed was the east wall. "It's not like I was expecting to wake up in a cell either, y'know!"
He startled at that, then opened the door. "You could hear me?"
"I'm assuming these cells are mostly Tinkertech for effectiveness reasons." I rolled my eyes. "And the reason you're here to grab me instead of someone capable of punching a hole through a ribcage is because I'm a nullifier."
"... right." He winced. "I should clarify, by mess I meant the situation with how you ended up here. Not you personally. If you want time to clean up before we try to clear this up, Officer Jocelyn and I can take you by the staff bathroom first."
"That would be appreciated." I'd been too nervous to use the cell toilet while being watched.
"You know, I can only hear one half of your conversation, but it's fucking hilarious imagining the other side of it."
"Oh, fuck you, Tammi!" I glared at the wall that did little to hide her cackling.
"... and of course you can hear into the other cells as well. And communicate with the people in them." He winced again and shot a helpless look at the second person in the corridor - a stocky woman with close-cropped red hair - who offered him a shrug. "Well, let's try and tourniquet this. If you would?" He gestured to the door.
I finally got to lower my hands and follow them out - it was kind of weird being almost as tall as he was. That distinction that I was most definitely not an adult yet, and this person was, but I was taller - than Officer Jocelyn, at least - was a weird feeling. "Bye, Tammi, don't forget what we talked about!"
There wasn't a response, but from the quick look Officer Jocelyn shared with Officer I-didn't-have-his-name-yet, the subject was clearly going to be bought up again later. Good. I wanted Tammi to have a second chance, because… well, not that she necessarily deserved it, but I'd rather have her learning how to be a decent person than just rot in prison, inevitably break out, and go on a killing spree or something. It was something I remembered Mom talking about sometimes when I'd been younger, about retributive justice vs rehabilitative.
Though I suppose neither of us had much room to talk on that front what with us both having killed. Some people just… couldn't be saved? No, that was just trying to justify it to myself. Maybe it was more that - that that kind of thing wasn't my responsibility in the middle of a fight for my life. Mom hunting ABB gang members down was… I couldn't blame her for it, even the thought gave me a kind of sick hum of joy at the thought, but I couldn't use the excuse of self-defence in the way I could about how I'd killed Lung or the Empire capes tonight.
The bathroom trip was quick and uninterrupted, thank fuck. Looking in the mirror - I was surprised to see bags starting to form under my eyes. What caused them? All the time I spent in my real body this one was as good as sleeping, I'd have thought. Might need to ask Mom or Amy about that sometime.
We were going down yet another hall when a thought occurred to me. "Hey, are the rumours true that you guys have Tinkertech elevators here?"
"No. I mean, I don't think so - the maintenance would be difficult. Then again, I'd have said the same about the holding cells until just now, so." Officer not-Jocelyn shrugged, gave me a brief smile.
"I guess we'll find out if we try to use them and I fall through the floor or something."
As it turned out, we didn't, because for some reason the elevators were on the far side of the building from the cells - which were apparently in the basement level - and instead went up a couple of flights of stairs to something that made me think more of a business meeting room than a cell. Like, it even had a coffee machine in the corner next to a pot plant! Chairs that weren't bolted into the floor! Jocelyn waited outside the door while not-Jocelyn lounged into a seat on one side of the table and patted the desk gently.
I took a seat and relaxed. So much softer than the cot. I could almost imagine Mom's voice complaining about the horrible things my posture must have been doing to my back in there.
"So, firstly, I'm here on behalf of the PRT to apologise. You shouldn't have been taken into custody, not like that, not then. The troopers who did it acted of their own initiative and are being severely reprimanded. Maybe even fired - I don't know, things are kind of a jumble right now." He took a sip from a glass of water. "They knew that we needed to talk to you, decided that since you were in the van… well. That's how you got here."
I nodded. Understandable. Not exactly pleasant, but I'd killed in a panic. "So, do you plan to do the talking to me bit now since I'm here, or do I get to call my lawyer first?"
"I mean, you are here. Doing it now gets it out of the way, means we can clear this all up tonight, and we can both head home and forget about it." He gave a little, close-lipped smile.
"Unlikely." I scowled. "Armsmaster's actions in particular - not the troopers, surprisingly enough - are cause for some serious concern."
"Not the troopers?"
"I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The problem with Armsmaster is there wasn't any room for doubt. He had all the facts right there in his face and he still acted the way he did."
"Forgive me - tonight's been a mess and I still don't have all the information but as far as I can tell the troopers did what Armsmaster almost did and you're more annoyed with him?"
"There's a very key difference, actually." I leaned back and folded my arms. "You see, what the troopers did was take my human body," I gestured to myself, "A body that has a built-in method to communicate, into the PRT building - assuming that's where we are - for the purpose of - you guessed it - communication. What Armsmaster did was stuff my Khanivore body into the back of a van, and very deliberately left the only method I had to communicate behind. This was, mind you, after I had specifically grabbed it when he earlier asked me if I had any method to communicate with him. His excuse was that he was bringing me in for questioning. Do you, perhaps, see the problem there?" I leaned forward and gave him my best glare.
He scratched between his eyebrows with his thumb. "Yeah, okay. That makes more sense now why you'd be upset about that."
"Not to mention that both times I woke up in a place I wasn't expecting to be, I wasn't informed I would be taken into custody until after the fact. I believe I've already complained once about how I might have issues waking up somewhere I have no recollection as to why I would be there? Something about trigger trauma?" Which, by all rights, the Protectorate should know fucking well not to trip if they can avoid it.
"Again. Apologies are needed on that front. We were busy sorting out what had happened, how you'd ended up here and until we had worked that out - well, we didn't want to come down and tell you that we didn't know what was going on. Didn't think it'd be very cheering."
I sighed and rubbed at the bridge of my nose. "Yeah. Fair call. So now that I've aired out my most grievous grievances, what's next on the agenda?"
"Right." He rubbed his hands together and leant forward, elbows on the table. "So, as I said before, it is up to you. You can go home now, or we can talk about what happened tonight with - everything. If you do go though, you will need to come back within the next day for that talk. If you don't, well. Things'll be difficult. And I imagine there are people in your life who might be unhappy about that."
"I think it would be best if I went home ASAP. Not least of all because Mom can get a bit overprotective and if she finds out what happened, I can't imagine a peaceful resolution coming quickly." I winced. More like an un-peaceful revolution, to be honest. "You guys giving me back as soon as you can will probably at least show her you're trying not to be as antagonistic as possible."
He spread his hands. "Hey, that's totally fair. But we do need to talk to you. I mean… you killed people tonight. Not anyone I think is going to really be missed, but you killed people."
I took a deep breath. "Yes. I killed them because if I didn't, they would have killed me, my friends, and the civilians we were trying to protect. I don't know who released their IDs, hell, I hadn't even known about that until they showed up and told us this is why they were going to kill us, but… yeah. They set the rules of engagement." Tammi wasn't fighting to kill, so I didn't fight to kill her.
I narrowed my eyes at not-Jocelyn, who was frowning and making a face that was almost a Brandish scowl but more - something. Different? I was almost daring him to give me shit for it. Why wasn't he wearing a nametag anyway? "Okay, Taylor - it's alright that I call you Taylor? Just want to check. So the thing about this is that it's hard to judge lethal intent - especially in the field. So can you walk me through what happened, from your point of view, from the top."
"I could, but not right now."
"Okay. So what do you want to do then?"
"Go home before Lilith reacts to the PRT effectively kidnapping me? You did say that was an option and I'd like to do it sooner rather than later." I scowled. If he wasn't going to let me leave then I was going to damn well break myself out. Again. "Mr…?"
"Oh! Right. I'm Theodore - though most folks call me Tug." He smiled again, wrinkle crinkling by the corners of his eyes. "And sure, sure. I'm guessing you'd prefer to arrange your own transport out of here rather than take a PRT van?"
"A PRT van would be fine if I could call ahead to let Mom know what's happening first." I shrugged. Really, really couldn't wait to get home - where was home anymore? Eden? The Dallon household? - and collapse into bed surrounded by Amy and Victoria and blankets.
"Right - you didn't have a phone on you when you came in, though, right? It'll take a moment to get things authorised to use one of the PRT lines. I'll start getting that sorted, you grab a glass of water or something, alright?" He gave a quick wink and stood, loping to the door and sticking his head out to say something quietly enough I didn't catch it.
I had no idea what the wink was about. I didn't feel thirsty and also didn't trust the water here. There were plenty of non-Tinker drugs that would be bad news for me with the feedback loops. But would they drug the water here?
I folded my arms and rested my head on them. Tried to shift back to Khanivore only a little bit. The double-vision was easier with one set of eyes closed, but it still made my head swim unpleasantly. Like neither body was completely mine. There was a weird echo as well, words I couldn't quite pick up on like this.
I made a noise in the back of my throat and tried to wave. It stung. The lab was - almost empty? Alexander was there puttering around in the back, Amy sitting hunched next to my tank, hair hiding her face.
I wanted to hug her. Bumping the glass next to her with my tail made her jerk upright and almost fall out of her seat.
"Taylor?! You're - Taylor where's your other body, is it okay?" Amy's eyes were wide and urgent.
I nodded. Also gave a thumbs up.
"Shit - I tried to tell them not to rush off but they didn't listen - "
They rushed off - ? Fuck. Fucking fuckity fuck. I crooned and curled around myself and shut my eyes again even as Amy told me to wait - lifting my human head, too panicked now to keep a stable connection in both and I didn't want to lose time or start seizing again.
And things back at my human body were already different. The white fluorescent lighting had a thick green added to it from flashing emergency lights and the howling of some sort of alarm, Tug was saying something into a communicator while Jocelyn was looking out the window -
I felt the urge to just slam my forehead into the desk until things were okay again. An impulse that was increased by the sound of some sort of rough, rumbling whale-song-shriek from outside.
"Do these windows open?" I asked, glaring out into the darkness outside. Shapes seemed to flit or crawl from streetlight to streetlight - Beasties, clearly, though I recognised some shapes repeating themselves. I recognised Knifehead and Seton, at least. Was this window facing the front of the building? It was hard to tell.
Tug was barely listening but Jocelyn gave me a terse headshake, muttering codewords into a radio clutched in her hand - "Eyes on four and eight, requesting permission from main office - "
Something much faster than the Beasties whooshed past the windows - where they'd been lurking, the streak of streetlight-tinted white and gold blasted past fast enough to make the building rattle.
… please, please, don't be Victoria - she would have stayed by Amy's side, right? Protect the real me?
The radio in Jocelyn's hand crackled. "She's asking for Armsmaster, we think - report from squads six and ten - " Jocelyn shut it off on seeing me looking, making a series of gestures at Tug he returned sloppily and unhurriedly. Sign language? Or PRT hand signals? I didn't know enough of either to know.
There was another rush as please-not-Victoria buzzed the building again.
"Look, if you take me outside, I'm pretty sure I can get them to stand down." I suggested with a shrug. Was I becoming narcissistic or just - used to the value people placed in me?
"Waiting for orders." Jocelyn's voice was terse and harsh.
"Look at it this way - we don't want to make the same mistake as the troopers who took you in and rush off half cocked. We'll get this sorted out in a jiffy, alright?" Tug's smile was tight, and his thumbs were a frantic blur on his phone screen. Something on it made him hiss and wrinkle his nose, sending another pair of gestures at Jocelyn, who jogged out the door.
I even believed for a second that you were competent enough -
Were these windows Tinkertech too? Maybe if I could smash one - unlikely - then I could say I'm okay. Or I could follow Jocelyn out the door. I was going to do that.
I hadn't taken two steps before Tug placed a gentle, but firm hand on my arm. It had been hard to tell under the suit, but while he was shorter than me he was far more muscular, his hands wide and heavy. "Please, Miss Hebert, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to sit down."
"My transport appears to have arrived." I jerked a thumb at the window. "I'm ready to leave now."
His smile was short and brief, his eyes blank. "Good for you. I'm still going to have to ask you to sit down, please, while we sort out what's going - "
"Bureaucratic soldiers of the PRT." The voice was hissing, sibilant, seeming like it came from right behind me, from the corner. It was almost a cliche. Would have been if I didn't recognise it as Mom's, even disguised by whatever she was doing to project it. Didn't recognise the sheer panic and terror behind the stone-wall-coldness of it. "You have betrayed what speck of trust I had in your organisation. You lied, and stole, and took my girl into your custody. I know you don't consider me… safe. You think me filled top to toe with direst cruelty. My blood thick, unsexed, rendered to gall by the murdering ministers you let crawl through the streets of my city."
"If you're going to insist I stay here and hidden, she's going to do more stupid shit. If that's really what you want to happen…"
Tug's smile was tight. His eyes were blank. He half-opened his mouth - and was interrupted by his phone dinging. He spared it a glance. "Right then." His voice was just as brisk and relaxed as when he'd entered the room. "Let's get you down to the front of the building, yeah?" He gestured to the door.
Fucking finally! "Thank you." I tried my best not to storm out into the hall, but seriously, seriously, what a fucking night.
Mom's voice continued. "Return to me my child and my shoulder-companions and I won't storm your hall and leave it a desecrated and bloodied Heorot, henceforth helpless against the carrion birds that will descend upon you and my own devilries."
"Oh my god, Mom, shut up!" I hissed, hurrying towards what I was pretty sure was the front of the building. Why didn't the windows open here? It would be so much easier to call her off! Another roar as definitely-Victoria - why was she here god damnit all! - buzzed the building a third time.
Fuck shit damnit vodka crap fuck damnit son of a - the litany of curses in my head steadily got closer to the things I remember Lacey using before immediately turning around and telling me to never let my mother know she said those things in front of me after stubbing her toe. The hallways here were too damn long. How many Beasties did Mom have with her? Who was she even quoting? Why could I even hear it? It had to be Tinkertech she was using - unless my power didn't count for her given I was her Tinkertech -
I wasn't a fan of the PRT, but even so, outright attacking them had always been a bad idea. Mom could skirt some rules and expectations as a Rogue, but after this - after this I had no idea if she'd still have that protection, as transparent as it may have been. I didn't want to lose her again.
Though, I wasn't exactly in a position to judge. I helped steal a van and total it after a joyride. All I needed were some tats to go with my scars and I'd be a bonafide trainwreck lesbian. And that's not even getting into everything with - no, now wasn't the time to think about that. I clattered down the stairs, low thuds behind me letting me know Tug was following at a steadier pace.
The Lobby was - different from what I remembered. Granted, I'd last been here years ago, and it was fuzzy, but had there always been this many turrets? Or armoured shutters? Definitely not as many troopers. The armoured shutters had some sort of viewscreen on them but my eyes weren't letting me see it properly. Fucking Tinkertech! "Open the door please!" I called out as I rushed straight for it.
The troopers by the door did not, in fact, open the door. Not right away. Instead, after a terse nod, and a look over my shoulder, one of them very gently - as gently as a burly person in body armour can - stopped my rush. This close to the door though, I could hear the conversation outside.
" - we are not in the habit of making deals with people threatening us." The voice was firm and calm - played over some sort of speaker? Sounded like a very tired woman. "Yes, bringing your daughter into custody was an unfortunate accident, and we intend to release her as soon as possible. An event made less possible by this display."
"I'M RIGHT FUCKING HERE, OPEN UP THE GODDAMN DOOR!" I shouted.
I could tell someone outside was talking - not Mum, so Victoria, maybe? - but I couldn't hear what they were saying clearly enough. I could hear a rumbling hissing laugh though - Mum backing whoever was speaking up by being creepy?
If I screamed loudly enough, would Mom bust down the doors to try and find me? I tried to get around the trooper in front of me - they moved again, continuing to block me.
"Because releasing an emotionally unstable young woman into your care seems like a good decision." Dry sarcasm had pierced the tiredness with which the woman was speaking. "There is a duty of care - "
An interruption, I assumed? There was also a set of rumbling growls, from beasties I assumed. And little chirrups. The snack monsters are here? Though - well, probably not snacks when I'm in this body.
I took a deep breath and put my hands together in front of my face in an attempt to calm myself down. "Look. We do this the easy way, where you let me out now like I was told was going to happen, or the not-so-easy way. Or if you really want, the hard way." The way where I break myself out, and likely flatten the building while I'm at it. "Please can I leave now?" I asked in my super-duper sweet voice that I refused to admit existed.
The trooper gave me a look I couldn't quite make out through their helmet, then said something into their radio - also muffled by the helmet. After a moment they nodded and hooked their arm through mine - not gently, but not forcefully either. They gestured to the door.
I let out a little huff of relief and strode forward - oh how wonderful, they kept pace with me - and pulled the door - "Is this thing still locked?"
The trooper just stared at me for a moment before pushing and the door opened.
"... oh."
Well there goes my mood. Welcome back, shame!
Outside was -
A mess, to be honest.
There was normally a little checkpoint thing in front of the building, with security and those barriers for cars from parking garages. This was the only part of the street that remained well lit. Crowded up against it, out of the darkness, was my mother's work. I think it was every Beastie I'd seen or heard of. Some still looked rather injured. Others were clearly half-completed, entrails shimmering in the low light as they dragged themselves forward using their arms. They were all shifting, moving. It created a kind of kaleidoscopic effect, a wall of shifting meat and bodies and chirruping noise. But I could see how thin the wall was, how often beasts repeated themselves throughout it. There weren't as many as it looked like there were.
At their head was a Beastie I didn't recognise, heavy staples pushing what looked like boat hulls into its spine. On its head was perched Mom, in full BDSM Lilith gear with the skin-tight scaly leather dress and the gloves and - yeah. With Victoria hovering beside her. Both saw me and instantly half-started forward, then stopped themselves before they broke the invisible line around the security checkpoint in front of the building.
I waved. "You guys know you've made Amy worried sick, right?" I called with a stupid grin. After being in a cell, a cell disguised as a meeting room, and being surrounded by people with guns that could be flamethrowers or foam-throwers… it was just good to see something familiar and good again. Though, BDSM Lilith was a new and… uncomfortable look. But it was definitely Lilith, not Mom right now. That made it slightly easier to process the things that outfit did to me.
"As you can see," said the woman's voice from before, now deafeningly loud without the wall in the way. "She is alive and in good spirits."
"Yeah, that's because I saw what was waiting for me." I glared at the speaker. "I got told three times I was free to leave before you followed through, only to get blocked at the door again. Not to mention that guy who wouldn't let me get my phone call to a lawyer in. I still don't even know why I was put in a cell, for fucks sake!" I threw my free hand up in frustration. "Right now I just want to go home and sleep for a week."
"Do you honestly believe that's a good idea given the events of tonight?"
"Let me put it this way - if I wake up somewhere I didn't fall asleep in, I'll be flattening it with extreme prejudice." I didn't have to yank my arm out from the trooper's, but it wasn't exactly easy either. "I get you wanted to talk and question me or what-the-fuck-ever, but you overstepped hard. I can't trust you not to pull other shady tricks - more than you already have - and especially not without lawyers and possibly some oversight present. So maybe tomorrow. If Kaiser wants to try his luck, then he can fuck around and find out what happens. But for tonight I'm just done." I shook my head, put my hands in my pockets, and walked towards the Beastie wall.
Silence as I stepped over the barrier, still a few feet away from the invisible ring of Declared Villainy. Victoria hovered closer, escorting me across.
"This won't be doing you any favours, you realise."
"I don't care." Mom's voice was quiet, her in a way her appearance wasn't. "You took her. I have her back now."
"You couldn't control your own people and kidnapped me. Try to sort things out in-house before working on the out-of-house problems." I gave them a little goodbye wave - I couldn't even muster up the energy for a dirty smirk or anything.
The Beastie Mom was riding lowered its head so she could pull me into her arms and almost crush me with a hug. It felt good.
-.-.-
extra large!
Special thanks to my lovely co-author and wife, @hellgodsrus, without whom I would never would have been able to take part in creating half my fics, and our girlfriend @SolarFlare for being awesome and also betaing! Also special thanks Prime Betas @Tamahori and @32nd_freeze and @Ganurath for being betas and feeding me validation and feedback between updates! And also new Prime Beta Lucky! Who is on Questionable Questing and writing most of the NSFW omakes~
Enjoy!
Cell
10.1
-.-.-
"So… you know all about me." Tammi said after a while. "But I don't know jack about you."
"Khanivore."
"Khani - wait a fucking minute." I almost giggled at it - I could hear the scowl of incredulity in her voice. "Khanivore. You're one of Lilith's monsters? Or - one of their pilots? Is that how you knew about what happened at - "
"Yeah." I nodded, though she couldn't see it. "I'm the big one -" I paused. Wait. Should I be telling her this? I'd already told the Protectorate so it wouldn't be news to them but if she got out - she… she already had bridges burned everywhere. Might as well go for broke. "Like, actually the big one."
"What… how does that work?"
"It's - trigger trauma stuff. Lilith's tech lets people pilot the Beasties, yeah? I'm just - the same in reverse. The body's like an APC for my brain."
"Hhhuuh. That's… honestly, pretty fucking creepy." A pause. "No offense?"
"I mean, I definitely started screaming when I first woke up in the basement with six eyes and claws and a maw full of super-sharp teeth." I shrugged. "But - yeah."
"Hey, speaking of that, remember when you fucking headbutted me into a car and nearly killed me?"
"Remember when you spied on the Society for god knows how long and attacked some random girl from it thinking she was a cape?" I glared at the wall. "I know the Unwritten Rules are kinda fucked right now, but you were going to get her killed. If not for being the cape you accused her of being, then for bringing Nazis to a gay girl's front door."
"Wait - for being - she IS -?!"
"No, you dumbass!" I slammed my fist into the wall. "You were going to get her killed regardless of whether or not she was the cape! Christ -"
I was startled by a buzzing alarm-like noise coming from the ceiling, and judging by Tammi's yelp, so was she. A voice came from above, saying, "Please follow the yellow -" "-red -" "-lines and press your hands to the east wall, an agent will be here to retrieve you shortly." "-member of staff will be here to retrieve you shortly." Figuring out which was which hurt my brain because I heard both at once. So… I put one hand on the red lines, and one hand on the yellow lines.
Wait. Which way was east?
My inappropriate musings were interrupted by… nobody that looked important? I shouldn't have felt so disappointed that a guy in a suit came to pick us up instead of someone in crackling electric armour or something colourful. Then again, I was a nullifier, so it was probably sensible on their part to send someone normal. Two people in suits outside the window - one gave a short wave then pointed to one of the walls. The east wall?
Then again with… whatever was happening with the soundproofing I could also hear them mutter, "Can't believe I'm stuck dealing with this fucking mess."
"Yeah, fuck you too!" I shouted back at him, moving my hands to what I presumed was the east wall. "It's not like I was expecting to wake up in a cell either, y'know!"
He startled at that, then opened the door. "You could hear me?"
"I'm assuming these cells are mostly Tinkertech for effectiveness reasons." I rolled my eyes. "And the reason you're here to grab me instead of someone capable of punching a hole through a ribcage is because I'm a nullifier."
"... right." He winced. "I should clarify, by mess I meant the situation with how you ended up here. Not you personally. If you want time to clean up before we try to clear this up, Officer Jocelyn and I can take you by the staff bathroom first."
"That would be appreciated." I'd been too nervous to use the cell toilet while being watched.
"You know, I can only hear one half of your conversation, but it's fucking hilarious imagining the other side of it."
"Oh, fuck you, Tammi!" I glared at the wall that did little to hide her cackling.
"... and of course you can hear into the other cells as well. And communicate with the people in them." He winced again and shot a helpless look at the second person in the corridor - a stocky woman with close-cropped red hair - who offered him a shrug. "Well, let's try and tourniquet this. If you would?" He gestured to the door.
I finally got to lower my hands and follow them out - it was kind of weird being almost as tall as he was. That distinction that I was most definitely not an adult yet, and this person was, but I was taller - than Officer Jocelyn, at least - was a weird feeling. "Bye, Tammi, don't forget what we talked about!"
There wasn't a response, but from the quick look Officer Jocelyn shared with Officer I-didn't-have-his-name-yet, the subject was clearly going to be bought up again later. Good. I wanted Tammi to have a second chance, because… well, not that she necessarily deserved it, but I'd rather have her learning how to be a decent person than just rot in prison, inevitably break out, and go on a killing spree or something. It was something I remembered Mom talking about sometimes when I'd been younger, about retributive justice vs rehabilitative.
Though I suppose neither of us had much room to talk on that front what with us both having killed. Some people just… couldn't be saved? No, that was just trying to justify it to myself. Maybe it was more that - that that kind of thing wasn't my responsibility in the middle of a fight for my life. Mom hunting ABB gang members down was… I couldn't blame her for it, even the thought gave me a kind of sick hum of joy at the thought, but I couldn't use the excuse of self-defence in the way I could about how I'd killed Lung or the Empire capes tonight.
The bathroom trip was quick and uninterrupted, thank fuck. Looking in the mirror - I was surprised to see bags starting to form under my eyes. What caused them? All the time I spent in my real body this one was as good as sleeping, I'd have thought. Might need to ask Mom or Amy about that sometime.
We were going down yet another hall when a thought occurred to me. "Hey, are the rumours true that you guys have Tinkertech elevators here?"
"No. I mean, I don't think so - the maintenance would be difficult. Then again, I'd have said the same about the holding cells until just now, so." Officer not-Jocelyn shrugged, gave me a brief smile.
"I guess we'll find out if we try to use them and I fall through the floor or something."
As it turned out, we didn't, because for some reason the elevators were on the far side of the building from the cells - which were apparently in the basement level - and instead went up a couple of flights of stairs to something that made me think more of a business meeting room than a cell. Like, it even had a coffee machine in the corner next to a pot plant! Chairs that weren't bolted into the floor! Jocelyn waited outside the door while not-Jocelyn lounged into a seat on one side of the table and patted the desk gently.
I took a seat and relaxed. So much softer than the cot. I could almost imagine Mom's voice complaining about the horrible things my posture must have been doing to my back in there.
"So, firstly, I'm here on behalf of the PRT to apologise. You shouldn't have been taken into custody, not like that, not then. The troopers who did it acted of their own initiative and are being severely reprimanded. Maybe even fired - I don't know, things are kind of a jumble right now." He took a sip from a glass of water. "They knew that we needed to talk to you, decided that since you were in the van… well. That's how you got here."
I nodded. Understandable. Not exactly pleasant, but I'd killed in a panic. "So, do you plan to do the talking to me bit now since I'm here, or do I get to call my lawyer first?"
"I mean, you are here. Doing it now gets it out of the way, means we can clear this all up tonight, and we can both head home and forget about it." He gave a little, close-lipped smile.
"Unlikely." I scowled. "Armsmaster's actions in particular - not the troopers, surprisingly enough - are cause for some serious concern."
"Not the troopers?"
"I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The problem with Armsmaster is there wasn't any room for doubt. He had all the facts right there in his face and he still acted the way he did."
"Forgive me - tonight's been a mess and I still don't have all the information but as far as I can tell the troopers did what Armsmaster almost did and you're more annoyed with him?"
"There's a very key difference, actually." I leaned back and folded my arms. "You see, what the troopers did was take my human body," I gestured to myself, "A body that has a built-in method to communicate, into the PRT building - assuming that's where we are - for the purpose of - you guessed it - communication. What Armsmaster did was stuff my Khanivore body into the back of a van, and very deliberately left the only method I had to communicate behind. This was, mind you, after I had specifically grabbed it when he earlier asked me if I had any method to communicate with him. His excuse was that he was bringing me in for questioning. Do you, perhaps, see the problem there?" I leaned forward and gave him my best glare.
He scratched between his eyebrows with his thumb. "Yeah, okay. That makes more sense now why you'd be upset about that."
"Not to mention that both times I woke up in a place I wasn't expecting to be, I wasn't informed I would be taken into custody until after the fact. I believe I've already complained once about how I might have issues waking up somewhere I have no recollection as to why I would be there? Something about trigger trauma?" Which, by all rights, the Protectorate should know fucking well not to trip if they can avoid it.
"Again. Apologies are needed on that front. We were busy sorting out what had happened, how you'd ended up here and until we had worked that out - well, we didn't want to come down and tell you that we didn't know what was going on. Didn't think it'd be very cheering."
I sighed and rubbed at the bridge of my nose. "Yeah. Fair call. So now that I've aired out my most grievous grievances, what's next on the agenda?"
"Right." He rubbed his hands together and leant forward, elbows on the table. "So, as I said before, it is up to you. You can go home now, or we can talk about what happened tonight with - everything. If you do go though, you will need to come back within the next day for that talk. If you don't, well. Things'll be difficult. And I imagine there are people in your life who might be unhappy about that."
"I think it would be best if I went home ASAP. Not least of all because Mom can get a bit overprotective and if she finds out what happened, I can't imagine a peaceful resolution coming quickly." I winced. More like an un-peaceful revolution, to be honest. "You guys giving me back as soon as you can will probably at least show her you're trying not to be as antagonistic as possible."
He spread his hands. "Hey, that's totally fair. But we do need to talk to you. I mean… you killed people tonight. Not anyone I think is going to really be missed, but you killed people."
I took a deep breath. "Yes. I killed them because if I didn't, they would have killed me, my friends, and the civilians we were trying to protect. I don't know who released their IDs, hell, I hadn't even known about that until they showed up and told us this is why they were going to kill us, but… yeah. They set the rules of engagement." Tammi wasn't fighting to kill, so I didn't fight to kill her.
I narrowed my eyes at not-Jocelyn, who was frowning and making a face that was almost a Brandish scowl but more - something. Different? I was almost daring him to give me shit for it. Why wasn't he wearing a nametag anyway? "Okay, Taylor - it's alright that I call you Taylor? Just want to check. So the thing about this is that it's hard to judge lethal intent - especially in the field. So can you walk me through what happened, from your point of view, from the top."
"I could, but not right now."
"Okay. So what do you want to do then?"
"Go home before Lilith reacts to the PRT effectively kidnapping me? You did say that was an option and I'd like to do it sooner rather than later." I scowled. If he wasn't going to let me leave then I was going to damn well break myself out. Again. "Mr…?"
"Oh! Right. I'm Theodore - though most folks call me Tug." He smiled again, wrinkle crinkling by the corners of his eyes. "And sure, sure. I'm guessing you'd prefer to arrange your own transport out of here rather than take a PRT van?"
"A PRT van would be fine if I could call ahead to let Mom know what's happening first." I shrugged. Really, really couldn't wait to get home - where was home anymore? Eden? The Dallon household? - and collapse into bed surrounded by Amy and Victoria and blankets.
"Right - you didn't have a phone on you when you came in, though, right? It'll take a moment to get things authorised to use one of the PRT lines. I'll start getting that sorted, you grab a glass of water or something, alright?" He gave a quick wink and stood, loping to the door and sticking his head out to say something quietly enough I didn't catch it.
I had no idea what the wink was about. I didn't feel thirsty and also didn't trust the water here. There were plenty of non-Tinker drugs that would be bad news for me with the feedback loops. But would they drug the water here?
I folded my arms and rested my head on them. Tried to shift back to Khanivore only a little bit. The double-vision was easier with one set of eyes closed, but it still made my head swim unpleasantly. Like neither body was completely mine. There was a weird echo as well, words I couldn't quite pick up on like this.
I made a noise in the back of my throat and tried to wave. It stung. The lab was - almost empty? Alexander was there puttering around in the back, Amy sitting hunched next to my tank, hair hiding her face.
I wanted to hug her. Bumping the glass next to her with my tail made her jerk upright and almost fall out of her seat.
"Taylor?! You're - Taylor where's your other body, is it okay?" Amy's eyes were wide and urgent.
I nodded. Also gave a thumbs up.
"Shit - I tried to tell them not to rush off but they didn't listen - "
They rushed off - ? Fuck. Fucking fuckity fuck. I crooned and curled around myself and shut my eyes again even as Amy told me to wait - lifting my human head, too panicked now to keep a stable connection in both and I didn't want to lose time or start seizing again.
And things back at my human body were already different. The white fluorescent lighting had a thick green added to it from flashing emergency lights and the howling of some sort of alarm, Tug was saying something into a communicator while Jocelyn was looking out the window -
I felt the urge to just slam my forehead into the desk until things were okay again. An impulse that was increased by the sound of some sort of rough, rumbling whale-song-shriek from outside.
"Do these windows open?" I asked, glaring out into the darkness outside. Shapes seemed to flit or crawl from streetlight to streetlight - Beasties, clearly, though I recognised some shapes repeating themselves. I recognised Knifehead and Seton, at least. Was this window facing the front of the building? It was hard to tell.
Tug was barely listening but Jocelyn gave me a terse headshake, muttering codewords into a radio clutched in her hand - "Eyes on four and eight, requesting permission from main office - "
Something much faster than the Beasties whooshed past the windows - where they'd been lurking, the streak of streetlight-tinted white and gold blasted past fast enough to make the building rattle.
… please, please, don't be Victoria - she would have stayed by Amy's side, right? Protect the real me?
The radio in Jocelyn's hand crackled. "She's asking for Armsmaster, we think - report from squads six and ten - " Jocelyn shut it off on seeing me looking, making a series of gestures at Tug he returned sloppily and unhurriedly. Sign language? Or PRT hand signals? I didn't know enough of either to know.
There was another rush as please-not-Victoria buzzed the building again.
"Look, if you take me outside, I'm pretty sure I can get them to stand down." I suggested with a shrug. Was I becoming narcissistic or just - used to the value people placed in me?
"Waiting for orders." Jocelyn's voice was terse and harsh.
"Look at it this way - we don't want to make the same mistake as the troopers who took you in and rush off half cocked. We'll get this sorted out in a jiffy, alright?" Tug's smile was tight, and his thumbs were a frantic blur on his phone screen. Something on it made him hiss and wrinkle his nose, sending another pair of gestures at Jocelyn, who jogged out the door.
I even believed for a second that you were competent enough -
Were these windows Tinkertech too? Maybe if I could smash one - unlikely - then I could say I'm okay. Or I could follow Jocelyn out the door. I was going to do that.
I hadn't taken two steps before Tug placed a gentle, but firm hand on my arm. It had been hard to tell under the suit, but while he was shorter than me he was far more muscular, his hands wide and heavy. "Please, Miss Hebert, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to sit down."
"My transport appears to have arrived." I jerked a thumb at the window. "I'm ready to leave now."
His smile was short and brief, his eyes blank. "Good for you. I'm still going to have to ask you to sit down, please, while we sort out what's going - "
"Bureaucratic soldiers of the PRT." The voice was hissing, sibilant, seeming like it came from right behind me, from the corner. It was almost a cliche. Would have been if I didn't recognise it as Mom's, even disguised by whatever she was doing to project it. Didn't recognise the sheer panic and terror behind the stone-wall-coldness of it. "You have betrayed what speck of trust I had in your organisation. You lied, and stole, and took my girl into your custody. I know you don't consider me… safe. You think me filled top to toe with direst cruelty. My blood thick, unsexed, rendered to gall by the murdering ministers you let crawl through the streets of my city."
"If you're going to insist I stay here and hidden, she's going to do more stupid shit. If that's really what you want to happen…"
Tug's smile was tight. His eyes were blank. He half-opened his mouth - and was interrupted by his phone dinging. He spared it a glance. "Right then." His voice was just as brisk and relaxed as when he'd entered the room. "Let's get you down to the front of the building, yeah?" He gestured to the door.
Fucking finally! "Thank you." I tried my best not to storm out into the hall, but seriously, seriously, what a fucking night.
Mom's voice continued. "Return to me my child and my shoulder-companions and I won't storm your hall and leave it a desecrated and bloodied Heorot, henceforth helpless against the carrion birds that will descend upon you and my own devilries."
"Oh my god, Mom, shut up!" I hissed, hurrying towards what I was pretty sure was the front of the building. Why didn't the windows open here? It would be so much easier to call her off! Another roar as definitely-Victoria - why was she here god damnit all! - buzzed the building a third time.
Fuck shit damnit vodka crap fuck damnit son of a - the litany of curses in my head steadily got closer to the things I remember Lacey using before immediately turning around and telling me to never let my mother know she said those things in front of me after stubbing her toe. The hallways here were too damn long. How many Beasties did Mom have with her? Who was she even quoting? Why could I even hear it? It had to be Tinkertech she was using - unless my power didn't count for her given I was her Tinkertech -
I wasn't a fan of the PRT, but even so, outright attacking them had always been a bad idea. Mom could skirt some rules and expectations as a Rogue, but after this - after this I had no idea if she'd still have that protection, as transparent as it may have been. I didn't want to lose her again.
Though, I wasn't exactly in a position to judge. I helped steal a van and total it after a joyride. All I needed were some tats to go with my scars and I'd be a bonafide trainwreck lesbian. And that's not even getting into everything with - no, now wasn't the time to think about that. I clattered down the stairs, low thuds behind me letting me know Tug was following at a steadier pace.
The Lobby was - different from what I remembered. Granted, I'd last been here years ago, and it was fuzzy, but had there always been this many turrets? Or armoured shutters? Definitely not as many troopers. The armoured shutters had some sort of viewscreen on them but my eyes weren't letting me see it properly. Fucking Tinkertech! "Open the door please!" I called out as I rushed straight for it.
The troopers by the door did not, in fact, open the door. Not right away. Instead, after a terse nod, and a look over my shoulder, one of them very gently - as gently as a burly person in body armour can - stopped my rush. This close to the door though, I could hear the conversation outside.
" - we are not in the habit of making deals with people threatening us." The voice was firm and calm - played over some sort of speaker? Sounded like a very tired woman. "Yes, bringing your daughter into custody was an unfortunate accident, and we intend to release her as soon as possible. An event made less possible by this display."
"I'M RIGHT FUCKING HERE, OPEN UP THE GODDAMN DOOR!" I shouted.
I could tell someone outside was talking - not Mum, so Victoria, maybe? - but I couldn't hear what they were saying clearly enough. I could hear a rumbling hissing laugh though - Mum backing whoever was speaking up by being creepy?
If I screamed loudly enough, would Mom bust down the doors to try and find me? I tried to get around the trooper in front of me - they moved again, continuing to block me.
"Because releasing an emotionally unstable young woman into your care seems like a good decision." Dry sarcasm had pierced the tiredness with which the woman was speaking. "There is a duty of care - "
An interruption, I assumed? There was also a set of rumbling growls, from beasties I assumed. And little chirrups. The snack monsters are here? Though - well, probably not snacks when I'm in this body.
I took a deep breath and put my hands together in front of my face in an attempt to calm myself down. "Look. We do this the easy way, where you let me out now like I was told was going to happen, or the not-so-easy way. Or if you really want, the hard way." The way where I break myself out, and likely flatten the building while I'm at it. "Please can I leave now?" I asked in my super-duper sweet voice that I refused to admit existed.
The trooper gave me a look I couldn't quite make out through their helmet, then said something into their radio - also muffled by the helmet. After a moment they nodded and hooked their arm through mine - not gently, but not forcefully either. They gestured to the door.
I let out a little huff of relief and strode forward - oh how wonderful, they kept pace with me - and pulled the door - "Is this thing still locked?"
The trooper just stared at me for a moment before pushing and the door opened.
"... oh."
Well there goes my mood. Welcome back, shame!
Outside was -
A mess, to be honest.
There was normally a little checkpoint thing in front of the building, with security and those barriers for cars from parking garages. This was the only part of the street that remained well lit. Crowded up against it, out of the darkness, was my mother's work. I think it was every Beastie I'd seen or heard of. Some still looked rather injured. Others were clearly half-completed, entrails shimmering in the low light as they dragged themselves forward using their arms. They were all shifting, moving. It created a kind of kaleidoscopic effect, a wall of shifting meat and bodies and chirruping noise. But I could see how thin the wall was, how often beasts repeated themselves throughout it. There weren't as many as it looked like there were.
At their head was a Beastie I didn't recognise, heavy staples pushing what looked like boat hulls into its spine. On its head was perched Mom, in full BDSM Lilith gear with the skin-tight scaly leather dress and the gloves and - yeah. With Victoria hovering beside her. Both saw me and instantly half-started forward, then stopped themselves before they broke the invisible line around the security checkpoint in front of the building.
I waved. "You guys know you've made Amy worried sick, right?" I called with a stupid grin. After being in a cell, a cell disguised as a meeting room, and being surrounded by people with guns that could be flamethrowers or foam-throwers… it was just good to see something familiar and good again. Though, BDSM Lilith was a new and… uncomfortable look. But it was definitely Lilith, not Mom right now. That made it slightly easier to process the things that outfit did to me.
"As you can see," said the woman's voice from before, now deafeningly loud without the wall in the way. "She is alive and in good spirits."
"Yeah, that's because I saw what was waiting for me." I glared at the speaker. "I got told three times I was free to leave before you followed through, only to get blocked at the door again. Not to mention that guy who wouldn't let me get my phone call to a lawyer in. I still don't even know why I was put in a cell, for fucks sake!" I threw my free hand up in frustration. "Right now I just want to go home and sleep for a week."
"Do you honestly believe that's a good idea given the events of tonight?"
"Let me put it this way - if I wake up somewhere I didn't fall asleep in, I'll be flattening it with extreme prejudice." I didn't have to yank my arm out from the trooper's, but it wasn't exactly easy either. "I get you wanted to talk and question me or what-the-fuck-ever, but you overstepped hard. I can't trust you not to pull other shady tricks - more than you already have - and especially not without lawyers and possibly some oversight present. So maybe tomorrow. If Kaiser wants to try his luck, then he can fuck around and find out what happens. But for tonight I'm just done." I shook my head, put my hands in my pockets, and walked towards the Beastie wall.
Silence as I stepped over the barrier, still a few feet away from the invisible ring of Declared Villainy. Victoria hovered closer, escorting me across.
"This won't be doing you any favours, you realise."
"I don't care." Mom's voice was quiet, her in a way her appearance wasn't. "You took her. I have her back now."
"You couldn't control your own people and kidnapped me. Try to sort things out in-house before working on the out-of-house problems." I gave them a little goodbye wave - I couldn't even muster up the energy for a dirty smirk or anything.
The Beastie Mom was riding lowered its head so she could pull me into her arms and almost crush me with a hug. It felt good.
-.-.-
