Chapter 1: Serendipity
She slunk out of a filthy alley clogged with trash and homeless people huddled around fires smouldering in drums. Seven feet. That's how far she'd have to walk to have any chance of getting out of this. She could jump further than that, much further, but in that instant, hot coals might as well have surrounded the phone box for all she could bring herself to go to it.
Left. Clear. Right, clear. Rooftops, clear. Alright, Jondy, get it together. Get your money out before you go over there, lingering in plain sight is bound to be hazardous to your health, girl.
She passed one shaking hand over her hair, straightened her jacket, took a deep breath and forced her legs to take her to the phone box. Or, as she thought of it at that moment, the Flaming Pit of Humiliation and Defeat.
Deft fingers pressed the cold metal buttons corresponding to a number she probably couldn't forget if she'd tried, and a feeling of dread settled in her stomach as she waited none-too-patiently for the call to connect. She was tired, so tired. That in itself would be unusual for her – normally she had a minimal-if-at-all need for sleep. Drowsing into a daydream, she recalled the nights she and Max had sat together on one cot, whispering to each other about the world outside, about Jack's shakes and the Nomalies Ben told them about. But that was gone, now. Thank god.
"How can I be so tired?" Jondy sighed as her reflection contemplated a suitable answer in the dimly lit-up glass. You know exactly why. You should have gotten out of San Fransisco months ago, my girl, and you've been hunted ever since. But did you listen to him? No-oo.
"Shutup," she snarled at the Other Jondy. Thankfully, before she could fall into a full-on argument with the Other, the call connected.
"You know the drill."
She gritted her teeth at the sound of Zack's voice and paused for a second, thinking of how to word this. Why did he always have to be so damn cold? Did he even have a heart at all? You know the answer to that, the Other put in from the side of the phone box.
I didn't hurt his feelings, I pissed him off. There's a fundamental difference, she rationalised.
Whatever you say, the reflection mocked. But how about you prove your inbuilt instinct for self-preservation. Listen!
Oh God. They'd found her again. Jondy could hear the TAC teams pushing their way through the dirty alley behind her, firing shots to clear a path. She swallowed hard.
She cupped a hand over the receiver, hissing fiercely. "Zack! For chrissake help me! They've locked onto me and I can't get –"
Had she been able to, she would have yelped as the taser wires connected and jolted her into oblivion.
"We got her, sir!" one of the TAC squad announced with detectable triumph. They'd only been hunting down the little bitch for three months. Not overly remarkable, he decided, eyeing the prone figure slumped between himself and his comrade. Not tall, kind of scrawny, light-brown hair, blue eyes, hung with exhaustion and fear the last time he'd seen them close up. Pretty, in the way that all X-5s were. Didn't look exceptionally strong.
"Well why don't you announce it to the whole damn neighbourhood and that Hoverdrone, soldier?!" the CO snapped. He reached for a radio on his belt. "Alpha team. Bring vehicle to the corner of Harlem and 43rd immediately. Target has been acquired."
"Roger that, sir," an affirmation crackled from the radio.
They'd chased her out of a bar, and hit her with a taser outside a phone box. The receiver still hung loose where she'd dropped it as she fell. Wrinkling his nose in distaste at the lack of organisation, he hung it up. About time they'd caught her, too. Madame was fast losing patience with their failures, and the Colonel…he shuddered at the thought of the lecture he would have gotten had they failed again. He was nothing exceptional himself – a Sergeant of little note who always did as he was told, but never seemed to go anywhere. This, however, would be quite a feather in his cap. An X5. One of the '09 escapees, nonetheless. He brushed aside her hair to get a better look at her barcode, and felt a minor electric shock as he passed a finger over it. What the heck did they do those things with, anyway?
Shrugging it off, his radio crackled to life with the voice of the Colonel himself.
"Report, Sergeant."
"X5 target has been captured, unconscious but unhurt as per your orders, sir," he huffed, quite proud of his accomplishment.
"Excellent. Bring her back to base immediately. Over and out."
If he didn't know better, the Sergeant would have thought the Colonel sounded…excited.
He took one last look at the girl as the Hummer roared around the corner and two soldiers hefted her inside, securing her hands and feet, unwilling to risk losing her again. Poor kid. It's not Lydecker I worry about, it's the blonde bitch. What's she gonna do to you now she has you? Dismissing the wave of pity, he slammed the doors shut and locked them. She had been a worthy foe, and now she would be left to the devices of a woman whose intentions were less than saintly. Definitely, poor kid.
