Oneredneckgoddess: I didn't originally intend to kill her off, but after the thing with Rebecca, I had to. It would have caused problems otherwise.
WWLAOS: It was an automated weapon, that sensed the change in the tower's energy signature. As for the Monorail, it's entirely automated, so as long as you're alive, it'll let you on. It's one of the minor shortcuts I take to avoid travel problems. Yeah, Rebecca was, but it was filler, since the chapter was too small otherwise.
"Excuse me."
"No, pardon me."
"Apologies, it was all my fault. Let me help you."
None of it was what I expected to find in the city. New york was cheerful, even joyous. Though the streets were not as crowded as shown in the old documentaries Fate had left lying around in his tower, the streets still buzzed with life. With my wings wrapped around my torso, covered in a long overcoat, hair left loose to cover the slight points to my ears, I found it strange to know that a cruel dictator had brought to humanity the one thing it had long sought. Peace. Though it fit that he could be the one being to do it. Beside me came J'nol, having taken an amalgamation of a human identity, moving carefully so as not to bump into anyone. We did not yet wish to attract attention. Ace and Rebecca were on the far side of the street, moving just as carefully. I could see she was nervous, but could do nothing about it. Walking along like this had been Alfred's idea, hoping that maybe we could catch something about Akati. No one around us even seemed aware of him. Just as I was about to give up on finding anything, I saw someone down an alley being beaten by another man. I started to step sideways to intervene, my nature, and the pain of anger urging me into battle, but J'nol placed a restraining hand on my arm. Six sentinels, led as always by a Death Knight came from above, exhaust spraying us as everyone in sight dropped to the ground, covering their heads. We did the same as did Ace and Rebecca on the far side.The Death Knight's right arm lifted and pointed at the attacker. The man attempted to flee, but the hand fired from the Knight's arm, and caught the man by the back of the neck. It drug him screaming closer until a sentinel grabbed him by the arms. I heard the distinct crack of bones breaking as the sentinel's hands closed on the man. He screamed even louder. The sentinel and two others rose into the air, heading west. I saw Ace launch something at one of them, but I couldn't tell what. A moaning from the alley attracted my attention. The victim of the attack was being looked at by the sentinel.
"Target status: Poor. Probability of survival: Low. Resources for recovery: Prohibitive." Was it's report to the Knight.
"Directive: Terminate." The Knight responded.
"Confirmed." The sentinel fired the fatal shot before I could react. It reached down, and lifted the woman's body from the ground and rose into the air, along with remaining two sentinels, and the Death Knight. They headed north. Ace did the same thing as before. This time it was on the Knight, but was not unnoticed. The knight spun around and scanned the crowds. It was appearently unable to determine where what it considered an attack came from, and headed north. After the noise of the exhaust died away, the crowd rose to it's feet, and resumed it's movement as if nothing had happened.
Back at the headquarters we had adopted, which was funnily enough, the office building that many dimensions away housed the Daily Bugle, Alfred unrolled a massive map across a table in the middle of the basement. There were people working above, but J'nol had secured us access, simply by playing with the mind of the CEO of the company. The man had given them unlimited access, without wondering or questioning who they were. He would also defend them to anyone that asked, as integral members of the company, though he'd be unable to tell anyone exactly what they did. Ace called it a slick bit of tampering.
"Alright Ace, show me where they went." Alfred commanded. Ace glared at him, but pointed to the map, leaving a small green glowing mark where his finger touched. As he did so, a hand lifted to his head.
"Does anyone else feel that?" He asked, not specifying what 'that' was.
"A vibration in the back of your mind?" J'nol asked. Ace nodded.
"Now that you mention it..." Rebecca started to speak, then collapsed.
"Becky!" Ace called, and started towards her, before falling himself. J'nol's eyes glowed, then glazed over.
"What's going on?" I asked startled.
"It has to be a mind control signal of somekind. They have the power to affect the minds of others, and have protected themselves from the same." Annia spoke up. "I believe it is resonating in responce to their own powers, and causing the feeling, and the collapses."
"Are we unaffected?" Songbird asked. Annia shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't believe it is a continuous signal, or they'd have felt it before. It should pass, though how long until it does, I do not know." At the instant she said that, the three started to come around.
"My head." Rebecca complained, rubbing it as if it ached. A knock sounded at the door. Rebecca's hand swept sideways, sending the still glowing map rolling up, and under a nearby desk.
"Come in." Songbird called, moving towards the door. It was the CEO that entered.
"The building is closing up shortly, I wanted to offer you use of the company's private apartments atop the Easton Towers." He smiled almost carefree.
"Thank you very much sir. We will not forget your kindness." Songbird replied, inclining her head formally. The man smiled and almost blushed.
"No, no trouble at all." He smiled again, and stepped out, almost tripping over the threshold. The door closed, and Songbird breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was beautiful." Ace complimented.
"Yeah, it was. You get the next one." She replied, dead serious. Ace shook his head.
"Can't, I don't have the figure for it." He grinned. She stared at him levelly.
"Ahem. Can we focus?" Alfred called. I smiled at his attitude.
"Sorry." We apologised since there was nothing else we could do. He had retrieved the map, and spread it out.
"This location is in the middle of the bay, which means a land approach is impossible. The latter is to the north, but there is a lot of open ground leading up to it. That used to be a park, but this map shows it's been leveled for the complex." Alfred looked at us. "We can scout them both tonight, but hitting them at night is probably not optimal. Being robots, they have a natural advantage over us."
"We'll scout the plant in the bay." I replied, indicating myself, Ace, and J'nol. "Rebecca and Annia can investigate the base to the north." Songbird glared at me.
"Who made you leader?" She hissed at me. "Why should you decide who goes where?"
"Stop it." Annia spoke. "Who else has seen real combat?"
It wasn't something I liked to admit, but I had. Early on in my life I had fought with a criminal. I was with my parents at the time, just strolling down the street, and they had swept up into the air to deal with a creature that had appeared from an office building. While they flew away, I was grabbed from behind and drug into an alley. The man wasn't expecting what he got. Unbeknownst to my parent's at the time, I had gained some powers from the lantern ring. It was the only time I was ever able to produce an energy bolt, and it didn't happen on purpose. Already far stronger than he thought from my Thanagarian heritage, I knocked him away, and was trying to run away, when he caught my leg. Panicking I threw my hand out, in desperation. I still see the mangled remains of his face sometimes in my nightmares. A moment later mother found me, and took me away, but I've never forgotten that brief image of death.
"That mean's nothing Annia." I answered. "It was an accident, and I was only ten."
"But it's closer than any of us have ever come." Alfred replied. "Let's vote." The vote was 4-2, with Songbird, and Rebecca against it.
"Fine then. Follow a fool. We're all going to die anyway, so let's do it as fast as possible." Songbird snorted. Why Rebecca was against it, I'm not sure, but I think she still believes she's going to die. There was a knock on the door.
"The building is closing in five minutes. The company limo is outside for you." The door guard called.
"Coming." Ace called. "Ready?" He asked. Six pair of eyes returned his stare.
Standing on the balcony of the highrise beside Alfred and J'nol, I sighed dispassionately. Rain swept the city, just as it had the night before.
"It must be weather control of somekind." Alred reasoned, as if we hadn't deduced it already. "An effective method of keeping the populace inside, without imposing a curfew which would be resented and cause dissent, even through a mind control signal." I had the distinct urge to slap him, but instead I went inside to watch television. In the bottom of my stomach, I was very, very worried, but I knew that they could handle it. Neither J'nol nor I could fly in the rain, though Ace and Rebecca were under no such restriction and Annia was so fast the rain wouldn't even get her wet. They had gone scouting. Ace could cover his own approach, while Rebecca would do the job for Annia. I only hoped they could do it with out getting caught.