Daddy's Little Girl
By Inuyoshie
Chapter Four: Hero
Even though Aya went outside often, this felt different. In a way, Aya felt free.
The air was cold and dry, crusted ice and salt crunched under her shoes. Aya shivered, wishing she had the sense to bring a proper coat.
The streets were quiet, and Aya strolled down them casually, keeping an eye out for anything that would help her. She could just Google apartment listings in the area, but Aya wanted to get away from institutionalized settings and computers. Aya needed to walk, to move, and the cold air cleared her head. As she walked, a poster caught her eye. It was a tattered old thing, with some ink washed out by slow and sleet. It looked handmade, screaming 'Down with the System' in acid green and orange letters. Aya remembered the boy from earlier in her life and sighed.
"Hey, spare a quarter?" a guy asked, sitting on the ground. Aya frowned. Homeless people vanished shortly after the new government was instituted.
"Sure," Aya replied, pulling out a coin. Just because the man was sitting on the curb and asking for quarters didn't mean he was homeless. "Hey, do you know where I can find an apartment?"
The man looked Aya over seriously. Aya noticed for the first time how old the man looked, with wrinkles and creases all over his tanned face and graying brown hair.
"You look like an intelligent young lady," the man remarked after a moment. "Go to 8th street and Lincoln,"
"Thank you," Aya handed the man the quarter. "Do you have a home?"
"No… but I will soon," the man let out a harsh, barking laugh. "Down with the system, little sister,"
Aya nodded at the man and walked off, feeling a little melancholy. She felt bad for the man.
On the corner of 8th and Lincoln was a sprawling building of an aged cream colour. The Atlas was painted on it in flaking maroon letters. 'Now renting' proclaimed a poster next to the entrance. Aya smiled and walked in.
The lobby was warm, with a burgundy carpet and a beige couch off to the right side and a desk on the left side. The whole set up had the slight vibe of a hotel. Aya walked up to the desk.
"Hey, I'd like to inquire about an apartment," she asked the receptionist.
"Down the hall," the woman told Aya in a bored, nasal voice, pointing to a dimly lit hallway. Aya smiled and thanked the woman, walking down the hall. The air felt funny as Aya approached, kinda charged. The hairs on Aya's neck stood on end. She put her hand to the door and knocked, half expecting to get shocked. The door swung open, revealing a well let office. A man sat at a desk inside, with an orange kitten on his lap.
"Come in," the man remarked with a smooth accent Aya wanted to place, but couldn't. She took a step in. there was a humming, arcing noise that reminded Aya of when she put tinfoil wrapped garlic bread in the microwave. Aya's vision burst white, and she fell to the ground.
-/
"Shit Jefe, this one's from the Medical Corps… they're crazy bastards down there,"
"Three shots used,"
"Huh, looks like this one had an interesting day… she's got blood on her pants,"
"Shoes too. ID?"
"Working on it…" Aya felt someone feel her coat pocket and blindly grabbed his wrist. "Shit!"
Aya snapped her eyes open. She was in a dark from surrounded by three forms of men. She ached all over.
"Is it this hard to find good housing anymore?" she demanded in a cranky tone, sitting up slowly.
"Lemmego señorita," the guy closest to her growled.
"No," Aya replied, digging her nails into the soft part of his wrist where the blue veins show up close to the skin. The man let out a yelp of pain and someone whacked Aya with a gun (possibly hers). Aya let out a shout of pain and rammed into the waist of the nearest male, losing her balance and pulling the man down with her on the ground. Aya's dabbling in taijutsu from younger years kicked in, and she rolled off of the man quickly.
"I want some answers," Aya said with a raised voice. "Who the hell are you people?"
A light flickered on, revealing the same man from earlier. He had wavy blonde hair with dark roots, and tanned skin.
"Perdoname, señorita," he remarked in smooth Spanish. The man as sitting on a chair made out of thick wires. Aya stared at it, standing and not exactly noting what the man was saying.
"Her ID," a guy threw Aya's wallet at the Hispanic man. Aya frowned, watching. She hated being helpless.
"Find the bug," the blonde man ordered.
"Wait- bug?" Aya frowned.
"Yes. Slang for an electronic tracking-"
"I know what it means. How many were on me?" Aya gambled. This place… seemed to mess with electrical currents.
"There's only one," the blonde replied. Aya nodded.
"It's a MeDiCal," Aya explained, "put on me today to monitor an injury I sustained,"
"Oh, she's definitely Medical Corps, look at how she talks," one of the men muttered. Aya rolled her eyes at him.
"She talks the truth jefe. There's a whole ton of bandages on her side," another man agreed, pushing up Aya's shirt.
"Ahem. Do you mind?" Aya growled. The man backed away slightly.
"Do you trust the man who put the bug on you?" the blonde asked.
"Him? No," Aya replied with a soft chuckle. "Trusting him is like sleeping with poisonous snakes,"
"I love the analogy, Miss Aya Kaine," the blonde Jefe remarked. Wires came up under Aya, forming a chair. Aya sat, shifting and watching nervously. "How about I tell you a story?"
"Why the hell not?" Aya sighed. "It's not like I can exactly go anywhere,"
"Excellent," the man smiled. "Three years ago I lived in Utah. I was comfortable and happy as a hacker, using my skills for silly little things, petty theft, pranks of the government, you know, the usual stuff. Then, an old lady named Rhea Kaine called me up," Aya's eyes widened.
"Gran?" she blinked.
"Yup. That Rhea. You know how she's like, with the precog, right?" Aya nodded. "Yeah… well, it took me a while to believe her. I mean, sure, I've got psionic abilities too, but some old woman saying she could see the future? That was a little too much,"
"But she eventually convinced you?" Aya prodded.
"Yeah, she did. I moved here shortly before the takeover. When everybody started acting like zombies, I started looking at our new government. Everything Señora Rhea said has come true so far. She said I could trust you,"
Aya watched the man carefully.
"Jefe…" one of the men remarked slowly, nervously, as he typed on a large computer. "I can't get at her files…"
The blonde glanced at the computer and frowned.
"Not only is she from the Medical Corps, she's high ranked. Really high ranked," the man said slowly. "Can you trust her?"
Aya bristled slightly.
"For all I know this is a trap set up by Kabuto to 'test my loyalty',"
"Kabuto? The Yakushi Kabuto?" the blonde stared. "You're in direct contact with him?"
"Why should I tell you?" Aya narrowed her eyes.
"I'm just trying to help-"
"Bullshit," Aya snapped.
"Look. Your grandmother-"
"You could by lying-"
"I'm trying to take my country back dammit. Are you going to help me or not?" the blonde snapped.
Aya paused. She stared at the man before her.
"You know, I'm Kabuto's new assistant. Being a rebel in that position is awfully dangerous. He could bug me-"
"I'm a technopath, and I guard my own," the blonde remarked tiredly.
"I don't even know your name-"
"Deifilio Rodríguez, call me Jefe D,"
"I need a house-"
"Apartment complex is upstairs. What else do you freaking need?" Deifilio glared at Aya, realizing what she just did.
"That's pretty good," Aya admitted, smiling slightly.
"You medical Corps people are asswipes," Deifilio grumbled, typing something on his computer.
"We have to be," Aya replied softly. "The atmosphere there… kill or be killed. If it makes you feel any better, I want this... monster to be gone too,"
Deifilio glanced at Aya and smiled.
"Welcome to the Resistance," he said.
"Down with the System," Aya replied.
"That's catchy,' Deifilio chuckled, typing something in his computer.
"Of course it is," Aya murmured, watching. What Deifilio was doing fascinated her, his fingers dancing over at least a hundred different buttons. "You're a technopath, hmm?"
"Yeah. My wires are everywhere in this building. All of my tenants are not zombies, except for the people who work at the desk,"
"So at a passing glance nothing appears strange," Aya sighed. "What are the odds of success at this?"
"Slim before. Better now that we have more infiltration," Deifilio called up eight identification pictures. "Know them. They are your inside people,"
Aya glanced at the pictures, frowning.
"They're all low ranking," she remarked.
"Hey, we're just starting," Deifilio defended.
"I'll work on recruiting," Aya assure him.
"You? Do you even have any skills?" Deifilio asked.
"No… but I'll be working for Kabuto. I'm bound to pick up something," Aya replied.
"Someone told me that love would all save us.
But how can that be?
Look what love gave us.
A world full of killing, and blood-spilling, that
world never came.
And they say that a hero can save us.
I'm not gonna stand here and wait.
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles.
Watch as we all fly away."
Chad Kroeger, Hero
-/
Inuyoshie's after the chapter special
Damn straight mah peeps, she shall pick some shizz up! In fact, Kabuto shall teach her how to tie a cherry stem in a knot in her mouth!
(He learned that one from Orochimaru)
(Oh yeah, I just went there)
So, how are you all doing? It's been a week since I last updated, this lovely site has been acting like a Mary Sue on drugs and I'm recovering from the dreaded writers block!
Le gasp!
Anyways, so yeah. This is Daddy's Little Girl. Aya meets Deifilio, also known as Deifi.
The orange kitten is a reference to a role-play I did with Rayna Lissesul, who has been one of the few people to review on a regular basis. Cookies for juu~.
Yaa.
