Jesse, for all her preparation, buying guns, knives, a kevlar vest, was still caught unaware. She was asleep when Mau used her glass cutter to cut a hole in the window. Stupid child! Mau thought silently to her. Her room, because it was a Motel, was on the ground floor. A blind pig could have gotten in! Still, she crept silently through the room, using only the faint, ragged moonlight to guide her. Suddenly, her foot landed on a squeaky board. She jumped, cursed herself silently, and saw the figure in the bed sit up. She leapt to the girl's face, and smothered her scream. At least you did that right, damn you... The other girl, however, seemed able to fight. They wrestled, and fell off the bed. Mau snarled at her, and hissed, a strange habit of hers that assassin school hadn't gotten rid of. They rolled over to the door. This was an old, heavy wooden door, with a frame that stuck out about a foot, inside and out. Mau felt the other girl grab her head in one hand, her shoulders in another... Her last thought was No! How is this... CRACK!
Jesse stood over the corpse, its neck broken. The other girl looked, if a little rougher and more scarred, identical to her. She stepped back, horrified. She knew that she had little time. She found herself going through the corpse's pockets, trying to think what to do. She found a card that said something about "revenge coming on swift wings to whosoever kills the bearer of this..." At first Jesse felt hopeless after reading this, there was no escape. Then... They looked enough alike, it just might work. Quickly now, she stripped the corpse, put her own clothes on it, and put the other clothes on herself. Next, she turned the card over. Bastet-Mau, that must be her name. My name. This is the only way. There was a cell phone among the corpse's belongings, with a button marked "home". Well, she could just as well die there, wherever it was, as here. She pressed the button. A woman's voice answered, a mechanical one. DNA scan, pending... Complete. Welcome, Bastet-Mau. What? Thought Jesse. How could we have the same DNA? Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth... A real woman's voice spoke now.
"Mau? Oh, thank god, you're alive! Apoc is frantic, I'm surprised he hasn't given himself a heart attack! How could you?! Oh well, he'll want to hear from you, I'll put you through to him..." A man's voice now, and it did indeed sound frantic.
"Oh, Mau! How could you do this? What have I told you, time and again?! Dammit! Ok, look, where are you? I'll come pick you up, I'm on my way. Bloody hell... Oh well, you're alive, that's what matters."
"I'm, uh, at a motel. But don't come here!" If he saw the corpse... Wait. She didn't know anything... She needed an excuse... "I, er, got knocked on the head. I-I'm having a little trouble remembering..." Good.
"Careless, but fine, whatever. And Mau, lose the accent!"
Oops. The real Mau had no accent, apparently. Fortunately, she could drop it if she needed to. "Okay. There's an airfield sort of thing near here. Meet me there."
"Got it. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Whatever you do, don't let yourself sleep!"
Jesse didn't think she could sleep, but she told the man she wouldn't. She walked to the field, and waited.
Jesse stood over the corpse, its neck broken. The other girl looked, if a little rougher and more scarred, identical to her. She stepped back, horrified. She knew that she had little time. She found herself going through the corpse's pockets, trying to think what to do. She found a card that said something about "revenge coming on swift wings to whosoever kills the bearer of this..." At first Jesse felt hopeless after reading this, there was no escape. Then... They looked enough alike, it just might work. Quickly now, she stripped the corpse, put her own clothes on it, and put the other clothes on herself. Next, she turned the card over. Bastet-Mau, that must be her name. My name. This is the only way. There was a cell phone among the corpse's belongings, with a button marked "home". Well, she could just as well die there, wherever it was, as here. She pressed the button. A woman's voice answered, a mechanical one. DNA scan, pending... Complete. Welcome, Bastet-Mau. What? Thought Jesse. How could we have the same DNA? Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth... A real woman's voice spoke now.
"Mau? Oh, thank god, you're alive! Apoc is frantic, I'm surprised he hasn't given himself a heart attack! How could you?! Oh well, he'll want to hear from you, I'll put you through to him..." A man's voice now, and it did indeed sound frantic.
"Oh, Mau! How could you do this? What have I told you, time and again?! Dammit! Ok, look, where are you? I'll come pick you up, I'm on my way. Bloody hell... Oh well, you're alive, that's what matters."
"I'm, uh, at a motel. But don't come here!" If he saw the corpse... Wait. She didn't know anything... She needed an excuse... "I, er, got knocked on the head. I-I'm having a little trouble remembering..." Good.
"Careless, but fine, whatever. And Mau, lose the accent!"
Oops. The real Mau had no accent, apparently. Fortunately, she could drop it if she needed to. "Okay. There's an airfield sort of thing near here. Meet me there."
"Got it. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Whatever you do, don't let yourself sleep!"
Jesse didn't think she could sleep, but she told the man she wouldn't. She walked to the field, and waited.
