Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gauge
"If you stay out here you're going to get sick." Kevin tried, and the girl seemed to shiver even harder.
"The same goes for you." She answered, her teeth chattering. It was fall, and the rain made the night air freezing cold. Kevin wasn't too comfortable himself, with his favorite long-sleeved shirt sopping wet.
"True. So how about doing us both favors and coming back with me?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want…" She was staring off into space, curling her rain-flattened hair around her finger while she bit her lip thoughtfully. "I don't know what I want. I do know that I like the rain, but I hate the thunder. Does it, like, always sound like that?"
She jumped as another crash rained down, as if punctuating her point. She was scared of thunder? She probably hadn't heard it before…
"Not a problem." Kevin said, pulling his phone back out of his pocket along with a set of earbuds. He was glad, now, he had gone with the waterproof case… He liked to listen to music when working on his car, and sometimes the neighbors would complain if he just set up his old boombox…
He handed them to her, and she smiled. "Thanks." She said, putting them in her ears as Kevin set his music to shuffle. "This music is awful- just glarp, but at least I can't hear the world shouting anymore." She sighed, looking at him. "Sorry I, like, freaked out and stuff. You're right… I'll come back with you… as long as I can eat more food like that 'pizza' we had last night."
"Deal."
…
"I think I have something!" Gwen yelled. It had taken her a few days- they were close to one of Jari's homes, now. He claimed they would be safe there… but Gwen wasn't sure. No human was safe until Council Corp was taken down.
"What? You found a transaction record?"
"No, not quite… but I found come messages exchanged in relation to a deal. They talk about selling a mated pair… I'm thinking it's about humans."
"Huh." Jari said in his gravelly voice, suddenly sounding less than impressed.
"Jari, I have an address. The buyer was from Alpha Paldai- we're not far."
"Well, that's better then." Jari said, grinning. "But first, we stop by my home and pick up a few toys that I think will be useful in… persuading the buyer to help us."
"Deal." Gwen answered.
…..
The "toys" in question included a very well-stocked fighter-vessel. It looked pretty new and high tech, which caused Gwen to raise her eyebrows and give Jari a suspicious glance.
"What? Did I not mention I'm rich? I like to be prepared."
It also included a host of weapons and expensive suits made of some kind of Kevlar-like fabric with a metallic sheen, and protected by an outer shell of thermo-pulse force field. Nice. Very nice.
"Can we hire some guards to help us?"
Jari shook his head. "Not if we're in a hurry- we'd need to track down mercenaries. I don't have a private army just waiting around. Unless you consider this ship an army… and some people might."
Gwen nodded, thinking. "We need to be stealthy…"
"Naturally, this ship had untraceable light-bending and pulser applications… we can be completely invisible on all sensors. State of the art." He sounded immensely proud, and Gwen fought not to roll her eyes. Boys and their vehicles.
It took just two hours to reach Alpha Paldai- Gwen guessed Jadi was breaking several posted speed outputs, and every once in a while he would press "ignore" when the ship gave him notices about it.
Obviously, no matter what form she took in any universe, she had a "type." Jadi was reminding her more and more of Kevin as they traveled together, which helped reassure her that she had made the right decision.
"Warning. Planet security field in range." The ship called in a calm female voice.
"Oops, time to be stealthy!" Jari happily answered, pressing some buttons on his ship. It didn't seem to do much to Gwen, but they didn't receive any more warnings as they approached the planet.
"Ok, Emilio says this is the location on the address you provided." Jari said, landing quietly on the roof of a short, shiny, windowless building.
"Emilio?"
"That's what I named the ship. Pretty intimidating, right?"
"Uh… right."
The two exited the ship, armed to the teeth. Not that Gwen needed weapons… she was itching to use her magic on jerks who would actually buy a human being.
Gwen pulled out one useful tool Jari had given her, heading for a faint line in the bright silver roof the sensors had identified as an entrance. She felt along the groove of the hatch, placing the thin lines of metal she pulled out of her tool along them. With a few buttons, she popped open the hatched entrance with a soft grinding noise, giving them a wide opening to the building.
Gwen and Jari slipped in silently, dropping from the door in the ceiling to the floor of a long, brightly lit hallway. This was someone's house? Gwen knew rich eccentric aliens could live in weird places, but she expected a little more grandeur.
Or maybe the buyer didn't ship the humans to his home residence- the address was listed as residential, but this looked more like a lab of some kind, actually. Gwen shivered at the implications.
"We need a map of this place." Gwen whispered.
"We need an informant." Jari answered, ducking into the nearest room with Gwen at his heels. The room was empty. "Damn. Would have looked cool if I had followed that sentence with pounding some security guard or something…"
"Maybe we should head lower- this floor just looks like storage." And so it did. Boxes of various sizes and shapes filled the room. It was still immaculately clean, but somehow it felt as though no one ever came up- like it had been empty for years.
The two walked around until they finally found a clear glass elevator of sorts, suspended in the middle of the building, and reachable by a clear glass bridge. Below the bridge was a long drop into a bright white nothingness. Gwen blinked against the bright light. She had no idea what it was, but she knew an elevator when she saw it. The building must extend much further underground- a sunken skyscraper, if the deep space below the bridge was any indication
"Guy really has a clear-cut sense of style…" Jari muttered, shielding his eyes as he crossed the bridge in front of Gwen.
"Or a clear-cut lack-there-of." Gwen mumbled, pulling out her unlocking tool to use on the elevator.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jari asked, looking around nervously. "We're very exposed here."
It was true. The area they were in was so open, and they were so blaringly obvious against the shining white of their surroundings. And walking up and using the only elevator in the middle of the building they were sneaking around seemed very obvious.
"Well, we haven't found any stairs, and maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to get caught, actually… this place is a maze." A list of alien writing along the side of the elevator clearly indicated that there were at least 56 floors underground. Too much for them to sneak around. They needed a guide, even if that meant being caught red-handed.
She lined up the wires along the edge of the doors properly, pushed the right sequence, and popped open the clear double doors.
That's when the alarm went off.
"Took them long enough. Security here sucks." Jari yelled over the alarm, jumping onto the elevator. "Wanna guess a floor?"
Gwen ran her finger over the buttons lightly, thinking. Finally, she touched one that was on the 56th floor down. She guessed that would be the lowest floor, based on the writing on front, which would be where villains usually hid.
Swoop!
The elevator dropped so fast Gwen lost her balance, toppling to the floor. Jari helped her up, pulling one of his guns from it's holster as they sped towards the bottom floor of the underground tower.
It seemed to be taking a long time, despite the intense speed. Perhaps there was a lot of space in between floors? It seemed like the bottom of the building was buried as deep as possible, which meant there was definitely something someone wanted to hide. Illegal activities, here they come…
They could see each floor as they went down- the lower they got, the more people they saw milling around the bright hallways around their glass prison, and Gwen wondered if they would be completely surrounded when they reached their destination.
She hated being right.
As the elevator slowed, they could see the wave of hired men standing on all sides of the elevator, weapons raised. They were helpless as the box stopped, doors opening to make them vulnerable to the armed aliens.
Crap.
"Well… shit." Jari said, raising all four arms and dropping his weapon. Gwen mirrored his moves.
"No, this might be good. And at least they aren't shooting us. " She whispered as the leader of the men started yelling.
"You are trespassing on private property! Did you really think Gauge wouldn't have a security force protecting his collection?" He was a long, lanky alien, with a stretching neck and close-set beady eyes.
"See? Now we know his name, and I bet we get to see his collection." Gwen added enthusiastically to Jari, who frowned back at her.
"How?" Jari whispered back uneasily.
"Hey!" Gwen yelled. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a human! That's right, the real deal. It might get you into some trouble if you don't let your master know you've cornered me, or do something stupid like shoot me or my friend."
All thirty or so men froze, unsure of themselves. The leader spoke again, his weapon dropping an inch. "I, uh… take them to a holding cell! Human…hmm… bring them to B block with the others!" he barked, and Gwen let the others take away her weapons and lead her and Jari.
The others? They were about to find the other humans. Hopefully Gwen hadn't bit off more than she could chew. Usually it was Ben who got them out of impossible situations… without him and Kevin, would she be able to play hero and get them out of there?
She was sure going to try. It was better that they underestimate her, leave her alone in a cell… they didn't know she could control Mana, and this "Gauge" would be in for a hell of a surprise.
…
"Just put him in # 33- it's large enough." The leader was telling the soldiers leading them through a set of keylocked doors and into… hell, as far as Gwen was concerned. Hell, was in that room.
It was lined with cages, each about 8 paces wide and barely tall enough for an adult man to stand up.
And most of the cages had two people in them.
Gwen's jaw dropped, walking past people sitting in cages in the clean white room, all in matching gray outfits that looked like cheap jogging suits.
Gwen had been expecting the two humans she had found the record for. She had, maybe, been expecting a few more… she had no way of knowing that there would actually be close to twenty humans locked up in the room, a few of them holding small children.
"What the hell?" Gwen whispered.
Jari frowned. "He must be planning to open his own version of Habitat. Or maybe he's selling the offspring.
Gwen just looked horrified at his statement, staring at him with wide eyes. This was… inexcusable. Gauge didn't deserve any pity, even if he sold out Council Corp. She had to get these people out of here, and send a force of Plumbers to this hell-house as soon as possible.
Who knew what else this freak was involved in? What other sentient beings did he have imprisoned? What kind of person could sell someone else!? Or buy someone else!? It was insane.
But Gwen's horror slowly dissolved into white hot, blinding rage when she caught sight of the contents of one of the cages.
Familiar blazing green eyes looked up, staring defiant daggers at the security guard leader, fists wrapping around bars as if he wished he could tear them off and bludgeon his captors with them.
Ben. Ben was there.
Gwen could barely contain her murderous thoughts long enough to allow herself to be led to a cage. She had a plan. She would get him out, and everything would be fine, but she had to wait until the guards left. She took a deep, calming breath.
Jari was shoved roughly in a cage next to her, and she shot him a burning look. The minute the guards left the room, locking the door behind them, she whispered, "The boy with the green eyes? He's my cousin."
"Oh? I thought Gwen didn't have family?"
"Yeah, well, that was obviously a lie. It's Ben, and we are getting everyone out, and then I'm taking Gauge down." As if to emphasize her statement she sent out a whipping stream of Mana, moving her hands to pull it towards each cage at once. She ripped the front gate off of the cages violently, freeing everyone with one pink outburst.
She walked out of her own cage purposefully, and only one other human did the same.
Ben. He stretched his arms over his head, rolling his shoulders, then reached back to help another person out of his cage and over the twisted wreck of the cage door.
Julie.
Gwen was seriously ready to go show Gauge exactly what it means to piss off an Anodite. Shaking off her rage, she ran over to the couple, pulling them both into a hug. "I'm sorry. I know you don't know me, but I know both of you, and I'm so sorry."
"Well… thanks?" Ben said, hugging her back.
Other humans were coming out of their cells, slowly, hesitantly, as if afraid this was all a trick. Jari came forward, ushering everyone out to the middle of the room. "Come on, people! We don't have a lot of time. Gwen, you have a plan?"
"Yeah. You need to get these people to the ship. I'll provide a distraction and corner Gauge."
"Uh, no, I don't think so. How about we switch that around a bit…"
"We don't have time to argue! Trust me- you've only seen a little of my power. I can take care of myself, when it comes down to it, and right now I'm just angry enough I may tear this whole building to the ground, so just do what I say and get these people to the ship!" She was yelling, now, but she couldn't help it. Someone had imprisoned these people for years, and was possibly selling their babies!? Or someone was trying to recreate the horror of that human-zoo…that someone was Gauge, and he deserved to be in prison as soon as possible.
The doors opened, suddenly, and it occurred to Gwen that the cage gates may have had some kind of sensor on them. Sure enough, two aliens in security uniforms entered.
They didn't get far.
Gwen threw her energy balls at them, throwing them against the wall and knocking them out cold. Or at least, she assumed they were just unconscious. She was too angry to really care much.
"I'm leaving. Wait five minutes, then head for the elevator." Jari looked like he was going to protest again, and Gwen held up a hand. "Don't. They need you! Just trust me."
He nodded, and Gwen headed for the door.
"You're not going alone." Ben said, reaching to the floor and grabbing one of the fallen guard's weapons. It was a large plasma-gun, fully charged.
Gwen was about to turn him down when she saw the look in his eyes. She was certain that right then the two cousins looked very much alike- each furious and hungry for a bit of revenge.
She smiled. "Alright then; what're we waiting for?"
…
Gwen and Ben made their way down the hallway aimlessly. "We need a conscious guard." Gwen muttered, and Ben nodded in agreement.
It wasn't long before they heard footsteps, and the two ducked into a nearby room in wait.
The room was full of cages, too, these one's filled with odd skittery creatures that resembled many-legged rabbits. Seemingly non-sentient, but Gwen couldn't really tell. None of them were talking, at least.
The two waited for the guard to get closer. Ben reached out, grabbed the alien, and pulled him into the room with them, a hand at his mouth. Gwen bound him in energy, and Ben pointed his gun at the purple tentacled alien's head.
"Where is Gauge?" Ben growled.
"I don't know…"
"Ok, let me be clear- I have been drugged, chipped, and eventually sold to a man who kept me and my wife in a cage for two years! If you think I won't shoot you and find the next guard to question, you are very much mistaken. I am way past the point of no return here-there is nothing I won't do to reach Gauge. Now, one more time: Where.Is.He!?" Ben growled, and even Gwen was surprised at the venom in his voice. Her heart ached to see her cousin like this… what a horrible life. She had to save them all. She had to.
Apparently the guard was just as concerned at the tone of Ben's voice, because he changed his tune quickly. "Uh, of course, at the first sign of trouble Mr. Gauge goes to his panic room. It's actually pretty close…"
"Good, because you're going to take us there."
"I will! Sure! But, uh… I won't be able to get it open…"
"Let that be our problem." Gwen said. "You just take us there."
…
The entire way to the panic room, Gwen and Ben made a point of taking out all cameras they saw and causing as much destruction as possible, knocking down doors left and right. That would, hopefully, bring the attention straight to them and give the escaping humans and Jari some time.
The door to the panic room, when they reached it, was obviously very solid and very locked. Gwen pulled out her unlocking tool, attaching the wires. She punched in some codes, and knew it was no good. This door wouldn't be fooled by cheap tricks- it could only be opened from the inside.
They dropped their captured guard to the floor, Gwen's Mana still enveloping him.
"Stand back." Gwen said, and Ben did as he was told, watching her curiously.
She balled up as much condensed Mana as she could muster and hurtled it at the door.
Nothing.
She did it again.
Was that a dent, she spied?
Again.
Again.
Again.
Finally, taking out all her frustrations on the door, she pushed at it with all her available Mana, her eyes glowing pink. With a strange sucking noise the door imploded, crumpling inwards on itself like it was made of tin.
Gwen, feeling extremely weakened but trying not to show it, stepped over the lump of metal and into the room, Ben at her heels. Her mind reeled, and moving made her feel a little woozy, but she was determined to stand tall.
"Nice." He muttered as he passed the wreckage, impressed.
In the room cowered a very tiny grey creature.
"A…. Galvin?" Gwen asked, flummoxed. "I would have expected a Galvin to devise a better security system. In fact, I would expect a Galvin to engage in more intellectual pursuits than selling rare species illegally."
"Oh, there were experiments." Ben whispered, his hot angry gaze blazing into the Galvin.
Gwen shivered. Of course, she knew exactly how terrible a Galvin gone wrong could be, such as Albedo, but still…
"Leave me alone! It's a captive breeding program! I did nothing wrong- I'm just trying to protect an endangered species!" The quivering alien said from his perch in an oversized chair.
"We have records of transactions. I dare say you've been making money off of these people, and their testament will be enough to prove their abuse… Selling and buying sentient beings is illegal, in case you didn't know." Gwen added matter-of-factly.
"Proof? For what? Let's just kill him right here." Ben said, grinding his teeth and training his gun on the alien's head.
Gwen, startled, put a hand on Ben's gun. "Easy Ben. We need him to free Habitat. Trust me." She gave him a pleading look, and he lowered his weapon marginally, nodding his assent.
"Ok then. He'll live… for now."
…..
The two made it to the roof, using Gauge as a hostage against any security they happened to pass. To Gwen's immense relief, Jari was waiting for them impatiently, his ship fired up and full of people.
"Hurry up! My cloaking devices will work on the ship, but if they know we're on the roof they can still choose to fire blindly!"
"Who are they?" Gwen asked, running up. She pointed at the Galvin tightly bound and held in Ben's arms, and grinned. The guards were hired muscle- they wouldn't act with their employer held hostage.
"Well I'll be… you did it!"
"Yeah, and if he knows what's good for him he'll confess everything to the plumbers and explain Council Corps involvement." Gwen frowned at the Galvin as Jari fired up the ship. "It may lessen your sentence. Afterall, we have about twenty witnesses and victims of your crimes onboard."
Ben found Julie in the crowded ship, and he held her tightly as they took off.
Gwen smiled. Everything would be alright…
And that's when the much-anticipated pink glow appeared before her eyes.
