"I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then. "
"Just stop, ok! Just put down the gun and let's think this through!" She backed away from Pete, holding up a hand trying to placate him.
Pete laughed, "Ok, but guess what? I'm still taking the artifact!"
She looked at him with a mixture of sadness and desperation. "I can't let you do that, Pete."
Pete snarled and shouted at her, thrusting the gun at her for emphasis. "You'll die trying to stop me...Alice!"
Instantly, her demeanor changed. She laughed, "Oh, clever boy." Alice leaned casually on the dresser, seemingly unaffected by Pete's anger. "So, Artie hasn't figured this out yet?"
The nonchalance did not sit well with Pete, and he scowled back at her. "No, not yet. But when he does, he'll set the real Myka free, and you will...POOF...disappear!"
Alice made a little mocking sound in her throat and looked at Pete almost with pity. "It doesn't work that way, Pete."
"Meaning what?" he huffed.
"Meaning nothing comes out of the mirror unless something goes back in."
For the first time, Pete began to feel a bit worried. "Really?"
"And I am done with that." Alice didn't seem to be listening, locked in angry memories of her mirror prison.
"Oh, I beg to freakin' differ...freak! Turn around." Pete pulled out his handcuffs. He'd take her back to the Warehouse, and Artie would be able to fix this.
Alice glared at him with a simmering fury that seemed wrong on Myka's features. "This is on you. You're the one who set me free."
"I'll be fixing that right now. Turn around."
Pete moved to place the handcuffs on Alice, when he caught a glance of her in the mirror. It rippled, and he saw her true face superimposed on Myka's features. Startled, he was distracted for a few seconds, and that was all Alice needed. She suddenly exploded into motion, taking Pete by surprise. The attack lasted seconds and ended with Pete barely conscious on the floor of the hotel suite. Alice snatched up the Tesla, moved to stand over Pete and sneered, her face contorting with rage, and a touch of madness.
"I am never going back into that mirror! Do you hear me? Never! I have a new body, your $10,000 to get me started, and this." She reached down to pull the static bag with the casino chip out of Pete's pocket. "This is my ace. You'll never catch me." She grinned tauntingly and then pulled the trigger to stun him into oblivion.
Alice fingered the casino chip and smirked down at Pete's unconscious body. She strode over to the nightstand to grab her purse. With one last giggle and glance at her "partner", she headed for the door to the suite.
"Time for a new adventure, Alice..."
Myka jumped when Artie's office phone rang. She had been sitting, listening to Claudia and Leena discuss the current situation while they waited to hear back from Pete. She climbed to her feet, anxiety and fear for her partner's safety jumping up to her throat.
Artie leapt to the phone, as Claudia yelled for him to put it on speaker. "Pete? What happened? Do you have Alice?"
Myka held her breath waiting for Pete's response...
"No...no, she got away."
Myka's heart dropped and she felt sick to her stomach. She worked to focus on the rest of the conversation.
"She Tesla'd me, so I know she has a little bit of a head start. Artie, she has the artifact and the $10,000 you gave us."
Artie closed his eyes and sighed. This definitely made things more complicated. "Where is she headed, Pete? Did she say anything? Give you any hint as to where she might go?"
"I don't know...she just said she was never going back in the mirror."
Claudia jumped into the conversation. "Wait, you don't think she'd come here, do you? Try to smash the mirror? Keep herself out of it for good?"
As much as that thought scared Myka, she held out a bit of hope. If Alice came here, they might be able to catch her or trick her back into the mirror, and then Myka could get out of this glass rabbit hole.
But Pete was already disagreeing. "I don't think so. She said she had a new body, cash, and the future-telling chip. That we'd never catch her." He sounded upset, and Myka knew he must be blaming himself.
"Artie, she...Alice said that nothing could come out of the mirror unless something goes back in. Can we...can we even get Myka out without the crazy lady?" Pete's voice was small, and he rushed through the question, as though he were afraid to even ask.
Artie looked troubled, and Myka noted that he avoided answering Pete's question. "I'm sure we'll find a way...Alright, come on back, and we'll figure out what to do from here. We'll keep an eye on any airline or other ticketing information. Maybe we can figure out where she's going next." Artie and Pete signed off, and the office grew quiet.
Myka knew they were all avoiding looking at her, and for the first time since this whole thing started, she was grateful for it. Right now, it was all she could do to keep herself from crying at the thought that she might be stuck in this mirror for a long, long time.
