I was playing a bit of good old X-Com the other day (great game, makes time vanish), and
noticed something odd- one of my better soldiers (high TU, Stamina, Strength, Firing
Ability, and Bravery) happened to be named Patricia Thompson. It rattled around
a bit in my head- it even randomly choose blonde hair. That's one heck of a coincidence.
Disclaimer: Or maybe it's not... ¤eerie music plays¤
Rise of the Silver Stars
Chapter 23: No-Good Sneaks
Life was good. Really good. Indeed, he couldn't ask for more right now, and just let his thoughts follow the course of events that led to this moment.
When the announcement was made to the crowd at the dinner table, congratulations raced around. Milly had jumped up and squashed Meryl for the second time that day, while Frank and Roy slapped him hard enough on the back to knock loose some of the bolts that held him together. Too bad Knives had to be such a stick in the mud about it- the look he had initially would have been just right for a third eye or extra limb spontaneously appearing.
The food vanished quickly under the relentless assault of so many mouths. For once, he was actually a bit slow on the intake, taking time to just look at the gathering. So many different faces, some familiar, some not, but all sharing a meal together. He was filled with the knowledge that they were his friends, his family. Such a wonderful feeling to have, and it hardly felt fair to keep it just to himself. Thus, he /shouted/ it out to any that could hear. It earned him a peck on the cheek from Meryl, which was greeted with general whooping. It also, for a small moment, caused Knives to appear somber and pause in his meal. His barriers were up as usual, but the expression on his face was easily readable. Humans had caused that wonderous feeling, and it had shaken Knives to learn of it. One feeling had done more than a month's worth of talk.
After dinner, the crowd split up. For most of them, that meant bedtime preparations- the day had been exhausting, both mentally and physically. Knives locked himself away to ponder what had happened. Rai-dei took to the floor, preparing a few spare sheets into a sleeping mat by the bedroom hall- some insistence on being 'unworthy' to be in a bedroom, and citing the need for a guard against intruders. Well, whatever made him happy. The Thompsons had wandered back to the kitchen, sporting larger than normal grins. He had a sneaking suspicion that they were planning something, and could hardly wait for the surprise they cooked up, literally or figuratively. Frank retired to his own room once he gave up trying to pry Rai-dei off the floor, and that left just three more people- Lina, Meryl, and himself.
Things got a bit rocky at the start. Neither lady wanted to be without his handsome visage that night, for reasons that were all to similar. Meryl pulled him off towards one room at the same time Lina pulled him to the room opposite. They started to bicker, which he had chuckled at once the sparks began to fly. His amusement was cut short, first by the stares of imminent painful retribution, and then by the unpleasant yanking of the limbs as he got tugged back and forth. When they both started to pull on an arm, he had to say something quickly before he got torn in half. Of course, it had been the wrong thing to say for his health. "Let's all sleep together!" didn't go over well, leading to simultaneous exclamations of "Pervert!" and a smack to the head at the same time as a kick to the shin. He had slid back under the combined force a good six feet or so into the main room, before the hurt registered and made him collapse in a heap. After accusing each other of being the cause of this, they glowered for a moment. One whispered something to the other, and their heads rotated his way. They had sported perfectly normal happy looks, which scared him half to death.
His fears of them and a giant cleaver proved unfounded. As it was, it turned out to be a pretty good compromise. They took to his idea after all, with a slight modification. They could all use the same bed, but while the girls were tucked away under the covers, he was exiled, fully clothed, to the air above. It was settled, whether he liked it or not.
At that very moment, he liked it.
Looking to his left, he could see Lina slumbering with a smile, absolutely glowing between the light from the moons, the plant, and Milly's expert scrubbing. The overall effect made her almost ghostlike, something that didn't sit well with him. A little longer on the road, and that might have been all that was left of her. His left arm hovered over her back, protective, ready to defend.
Looking to his right, he could easily make out the curves of Meryl's profile, silhouetted against the light coming in. All he could see were tantalizing shadows against the ethereal green and yellow glows far beyond. She breathed deeply as she slept, the constant rise and fall hypnotizing. His right arm was allowed under the covers, and his hand intertwined with one of hers warmly, sensually.
He figured it must be getting towards midnight, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. It was like just laying here was more than enough to relax his body, refresh his mind, and soothe his soul. It was love- two types, completely different in nature, but both falling under that same simple word. He did finally drift off to sleep that night, but did not dream- there was no need for them, when reality held so much more.
¤ ¤ ¤
Sleep. A period of time during which the body underwent various upkeeping cycles, while the mind would detach itself from normal sensory inputs to focus solely upon forming new connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information. However, sometimes the pieces simply couldn't be connected, even if you had seen, or in this case, /heard/ it.
Marriage, to one of those... things? The very idea made bile rise, but to his brother it was happiness the likes of which he'd never felt. Anger flared - how dare the spiders sink themselves so deeply into his brother's psyche? When they turned, the wounds would reach deep... possibly even fatal. Simply speaking the truth wasn't doing anything, so more drastic measures were called for. He still held two aces, as the analogy went. Playing them would absolutely crush his brother, but the consequences if he didn't were almost too horrible to dwell upon.
Hybrid offspring... Assuming that there was enough of a genetic match, which he strongly doubted but couldn't rule out, that was what the ultimate end of his brother's dalliance would be. Which outcome would be worse, he could not determine. Human minds in plant bodies would guarantee the consumption and destruction of world upon world across the galaxy, whereas a plant mind in a human body was a cruelty he would never wish upon any of their advanced state.
Even though his room of choice was an interior one, he could tell the day was starting. The /noise/ was just beginning to pick up from an overnight low. Slowly but steadily, it was increasing. Pity- even though they tended to get /louder/ while asleep, it was so much less stressful to /listen/ to. Much more harmonic, indeed, there were certain parallels to musical composition that could be drawn. It was still a poor second to the masterpiece that was the communication network among his sisters. Given a choice, he would always choose them over the bleating of the human minds.
The thought returned a memory of a flippant remark from the small pet brother intended to ...marry. She had remarked that she had thought to find him, not Vash, inside the plant facility. It did hold a certain logic- the company was preferable. However, with his senses, merely being anywhere in the city was sufficient to /hear/ everything. Might as well stay put and save a little energy. And on the topic of pets... He should get up before they all roused. He didn't /hear/ any of the ones in this living space up yet, so he should be able to get morning meal in before the rush.
It was therefore with intense annoyance that he found the large pet already preparing food in the kitchen. He made yet another note to be sure to examine that brain of hers sometime- such stealth was dangerous. In any case, it was canceled out by her dim mental faculty. She kept turning her back on him as he watched from the table in the middle. It would be so simple for him to just reach over and slice apart the vertebrae in her neck, fast and painless. She was far too trusting, but it did seem to let her wander about in a state of neigh-perpetual bliss. It must be nice to be like that, at least until the truth breaks through.
At least the pet was wise enough to not babble uselessly. However, she was taking too long, and brother's favorite awakened and entered shortly. She was hardly alert- his presence probably hadn't registered yet, as she sat next to him. The large one placed a steaming cup of stimulant before the small one. Feh, morning cup of coffee indeed. More like a mild addiction to compensate for irregularities in her brain chemistry. She drained the cup quickly, and he could almost see the synapses beginning to fire as it took hold. She yawned.
"Good morning Milly."
"Morning, Meryl! Did you sleep well?"
"Best I've had in weeks."
"And Mr. Vash?"
"Sleeping like a big baby. I swear, I wasn't out for even a second before he took over the space I had been in."
"And Lina?"
"The same. There's definitely a family resemblance between them, adopted or not. Though from the way they look, they seem less like siblings. Vash just looks so, well, fatherly with her. Though if he said it I'm sure she'd break his leg."
"How wonderful!"
More like how disgusting. He did not need to be reminded of what brother was intending to try. She just cracked a grin.
"Yeah, though that would make me the mother in combat boots."
He found that amusing. Humans and their expressions.
"What're you smiling about?"
"Your ignorance. The 'Your mother wears combat boots' expression originated centuries ago, when females were considered unfit for military service. The only ones who wore combat boots were those that tagged along with the male troops. The camp whores, so to speak. It's quite the grave insult."
"Did you really have to explain it?"
"No. I simply do not like you."
"The feeling's mutual!"
The large one stepped in before further discomfort could be caused. Killing may be forbidden, but there was more than one method to dispose of unwanted pets. Enough prompting, and they might just leave on their own accord. One could always hope.
"Why don't you go change and I'll get Mr. Knives some breakfast while you're busy."
"Change into what? I had to leave everything back in December."
"But your luggage was waiting at the branch office when I got there. They said you had sent it ahead. It's sitting right over there."
"Huh, maybe Sara or Marianne sent it ahead. But why would they use my name? That's just asking for-"
"Stop."
The pets froze at the command. His voice was level, but still conveyed authority with effectiveness. They were good at following instructions, for all their other faults- some of which may be too hazardous.
"What now?" hissed the small one.
"There is inconsistency with regards to your luggage's origins. I suggest you not touch it."
Her eyes rolled as I approached the pink suitcase. "Fine! Poke at it until you're happy it won't explode, in the meantime I'm getting breakfast."
"It won't take me that long."
"I'm sure your super competent plant butt can master the workings of a lady's suitcase in under five minutes."
"Actually, I have no intention of mastering its workings, or of even touching it at this point."
"Yeah, those cooties are real killers. Maybe you should run screaming out the door."
"I was referring to the large quantity of high explosives contained within in regards to my judgment on whether or not to touch it."
"What?"
Foolish creatures. Then again, they didn't have the benefit of magnetic field manipulations that allowed plants to see and change the positions of metallic objects. One of the few abilities that brother actually had an even greater command of, though he wasted it on trying to protect the spiders from themselves. At least it gave him plenty of practice. However, for a display such as this, even something as simple as a well placed magnet would suffice. Since letting the pets figure it out themselves would be foolhardy, someone responsible had to step in and explain in terms their minds could comprehend. 'Gripping' the trigger tightly, he opened the case and gave them one.
"This is the trigger mechanism, which would normally be activated upon opening if not for my 'super competent plant butt' as you quaintly put it. Those large bricks are the explosives proper, and these pins I just pulled out are the detonators. Can I trust you not to jab the explosives with electrical wires?"
Their heads bobbed in acknowledgment, so that ended the matter. Before food preparations could be started, the small one again interfered.
"I guess I owe you my thanks."
"I simply did not want to be injured by your incompetence."
"Why would they want to do something like this... And how could they have guessed I was here so quickly?"
"I consider it more likely that it was an attempt on my brother's life. Well planned for spiders, considering their faulty assumptions. First they separate my brother from you, the second in command, then use an expendable patsy to deliver the bomb. Without the leadership, the rest of the assumed gang would fall apart and be easy to clean up, of those not caught in the blast. Now be quiet and let me eat."
¤ ¤ ¤
"Why?"
It was a simple question, one easy to ask, but it beheld so many possibilities as to be legion in both reasons to ask and in answers that might come. It was the only question that bounced around her head while she stared mutely at the now open suitcase. They had been so nice... Nervous, yeah, but so was nearly everyone new in the city. She didn't want to believe what was down there was real, but there it was to see. Why had they tried to kill Mr. Vash and Meryl and Mr. Marlin and Lina and all the other nice people? Mr. Knives seemed to think they didn't care about who else might get hurt.
This hurt. How could they be so uncaring? Thinking about it was making her mad, and the more she thought the madder she got. She had to know why, and the people who knew would be back at the branch office. Mind made up, she snatched up the suitcase, bomb and all, ducked into the bedroom for her duster and Nicholas, and was about to leave when the funny man who helped Meryl stopped her.
"I heard what happened. I shall assist you in finding answers for this treachery!"
"You really don't have to Mr. Rai-dei."
"I must insist. Such cowardly tactics come from dishonorable opponents. You will need someone to watch your back."
"My back? It feels just fine, but if you think something's wrong you can watch it."
It didn't take as long to get to the branch office today. However, another problem crept up when they got there. The office wouldn't open until nine, and it wasn't even eight yet. They'd have to wait.
"We can go in now. There are people inside already."
"But they're not open yet."
Her stomach growled before he responded. "Oh my! I completely forgot about breakfast! Come on Mr. Rai-dei, let's go get something to eat while we wait for them to open." He must be pretty hungry too, how could she have forgotten something as important as breakfast? You'd never get anything done well without a good breakfast. Luckily, there were a few places open and she dragged Mr. Rai-dei into one.
"Are you quite sure about this?"
"Oh, I'm very sure. Don't worry, I have enough to buy for both of us, so dig in!"
The meal passed swiftly. Mr. Rai-dei turned out to have quite a lot of fabulous stories once she got him to talk. Fantastic tales of places from a really long time ago, all the way back on Earth. She was so enthralled with the stories that it wasn't until the clock chimed ten that she noticed how long they'd been there.
"Ohmygosh! They've been open for an hour! Come on Mr. Rai-dei, let's get some answers."
She grabbed his hand and took off running for the office. Bursting in, she could see that there was already a bit of a line. She sighed and got to the back of it.
"Forgive my ignorance Ms. Milly, but couldn't you just go ahead as a employee?"
"Er, maybe. I kind of forgot that part of the handbook, so I'll just wait. Didn't you say samurai value politeness?"
He appeared impressed. "You listen well. It is part of our code. I had not thought you were listening to it at all."
"But you told it so well! My big brother says that listening is easy if there's a really good speaker."
He nodded, his face the closest to a smile she had seen yet. He was really too uptight, just the act of smiling helped you feel happy, and he could certainly use some happiness. He was usually so serious, but he was a lot better than Mr. Knives- all his time was spent either serious or grouchy, and that was no way to go through life. They waited in line until their turn came, and the anger was back as if it had never left for a moment.
"What were you thinking giving me that thing!"
"Ms. Thompson?"
She brought up the suitcase and popped it open. The lady attendant yelped and jumped back as the bomb spilled out onto the counter. That didn't make sense- people would remember if they set a bomb. They must not have known.
"That's what was in there?"
Mr. Rai-dei spoke next. "How did it come into your possession?"
"Some deputies came in a few days ago and dropped it off! They said not to open it and to give it to you! That's all I know!"
"You lie!" Mr. Rai-dei drew his sword part way, then paused for a moment. In the next instant, he shoved her over the desk into the arms of the scared attendant, which made them both fall to the floor. Shots began to ring out, so she grabbed Nicholas and pulled out one of the Bola guns. Peeking out, she saw a whole lot of lawmen fighting with Mr. Rai-dei. He was very fast, and every time he got close to one he would slash through their gun then knock them out with his free hand. A sudden bang sounded to her left and a few strands of hair floated down before her eyes. She dove, twisted, and shot in one move. The bola bullet neatly split in half to entangle the shooter with the chair he had been using for cover not five feet away. Scanning the room quickly, she shot at anyone with a gun that would be hard for Mr. Rai-dei to reach. It was over in under a minute, with all the lawmen either out cold or too tied up to be a threat.
The floor under her shifted, and when she looked down she saw the poor attendant shaking in terror beneath her knees. The lady had a look of pure fear written across her face and sobbed softly as the gunsmoke and dust settled around them. She smiled at her as she scrambled off.
"I think the shooting's all over now. Do you think they'll take the damage out of my pay?"
The lady didn't seem to hear her. Of course, with all those gunshots just then it was hard to hear what anyone was saying.
"Please, take anything you want, just don't kill me!"
"But I'd never do that..."
"It was all the lawmen's plans, they thought they could get rid of the Stampede with the bomb! I had no choice!"
"But... why'd you send it with me?"
"You're one of his gang now, aren't you? They said you've been made into a top enforcer for him, someone who does his every whim!"
"Well, I do do him a few favors every now and then, but he's really nice."
The lawman stuck to the chair muttered "That bastard..." under his breath. Mr. Rai-dei shouted over the desk from the middle of the room. "Hurry up! There are more on the way!"
The lady curled up at his voice, shaking and sobbing and begging to not be killed. Everything was going so wrong... She placed the guns back into Nicholas and slid it shut.
"I'm really sorry for all this trouble everyone!"
She slung her burden across her back and walked out the side door. This was really bad. She wanted to just drag her feet and kick a few pebbles, but Mr. Rai-dei urged speed. Reluctantly, she brought herself up to his pace as they ran off through the alleys behind the branch office.
I'm promoting Legato to 'Squaddie' and giving him a PsiAmp- he'll make those Mutons dance the Can-Can. Wait, don't use it on the civilians! Stop that! No, not towards the Reapers! ...ouch.
Legato: ¤lips twitch upwards¤
Yeah, yeah, my fault for forgetting your "Humans must die!" policy. ...you did something else, didn't you?
Legato: Merely... brought a few friends.
¤slowly turns around¤ Chryssalids! Run, for the love of Bob run, as fast as your puny human legs can go!
¤darts into a room and locks the door behind him¤ Well, that was unpleasant. Poor Milly got suckered into bomb delivery. At this rate, Knives might just end up the only one without a Wanted poster. Curse that uncaring and quick to judge bureaucracy!
Reviewer Responses
Elektra3: Updates are sadly still only 'whenever' (which is usually once a week). And yeah, it probably would come down to minced plant once Bun-bun learns that Knives was responsible for the complete loss of all the ship recordings of Baywatch. Poor supervillain.
cjflutterbye: Well, Knives sounded like he didn't get much rest last night. Do try to remember that they're not built for nonstop use. Oh, and have a free toothbrush, it should help against the cavities induced by the first part of this chapter.
betsytheripper: As per the weather's usual "Whatever it feels like doing" policy, I did not get the expected biblical flood. It was barely enough to water the trees... Maybe Ivan will provide the promised destruction. I'll be sure to get that halo to Wolfwood, assuming the Chryssalids don't get him.
Yma: Vash may need to get a classroom set up- there look to be quite a few takers for Outlaw Life 101. Glad I'm keeping in with the characters, though it's far easier with some- Milly's a tough one to write.
Sorian: Everyone seemed to like the smoking angel. Just wait until he sets the carpet on fire.
Hopeful Wings: Well, not everyone is destined to be a five-star chef. And welcome! You must be this crazy to read. ¤points at a line on the wall, just before a set of Heavy Plasma shots vaporizes the line¤
Disclaimer: Or maybe it's not... ¤eerie music plays¤
Chapter 23: No-Good Sneaks
Life was good. Really good. Indeed, he couldn't ask for more right now, and just let his thoughts follow the course of events that led to this moment.
When the announcement was made to the crowd at the dinner table, congratulations raced around. Milly had jumped up and squashed Meryl for the second time that day, while Frank and Roy slapped him hard enough on the back to knock loose some of the bolts that held him together. Too bad Knives had to be such a stick in the mud about it- the look he had initially would have been just right for a third eye or extra limb spontaneously appearing.
The food vanished quickly under the relentless assault of so many mouths. For once, he was actually a bit slow on the intake, taking time to just look at the gathering. So many different faces, some familiar, some not, but all sharing a meal together. He was filled with the knowledge that they were his friends, his family. Such a wonderful feeling to have, and it hardly felt fair to keep it just to himself. Thus, he /shouted/ it out to any that could hear. It earned him a peck on the cheek from Meryl, which was greeted with general whooping. It also, for a small moment, caused Knives to appear somber and pause in his meal. His barriers were up as usual, but the expression on his face was easily readable. Humans had caused that wonderous feeling, and it had shaken Knives to learn of it. One feeling had done more than a month's worth of talk.
After dinner, the crowd split up. For most of them, that meant bedtime preparations- the day had been exhausting, both mentally and physically. Knives locked himself away to ponder what had happened. Rai-dei took to the floor, preparing a few spare sheets into a sleeping mat by the bedroom hall- some insistence on being 'unworthy' to be in a bedroom, and citing the need for a guard against intruders. Well, whatever made him happy. The Thompsons had wandered back to the kitchen, sporting larger than normal grins. He had a sneaking suspicion that they were planning something, and could hardly wait for the surprise they cooked up, literally or figuratively. Frank retired to his own room once he gave up trying to pry Rai-dei off the floor, and that left just three more people- Lina, Meryl, and himself.
Things got a bit rocky at the start. Neither lady wanted to be without his handsome visage that night, for reasons that were all to similar. Meryl pulled him off towards one room at the same time Lina pulled him to the room opposite. They started to bicker, which he had chuckled at once the sparks began to fly. His amusement was cut short, first by the stares of imminent painful retribution, and then by the unpleasant yanking of the limbs as he got tugged back and forth. When they both started to pull on an arm, he had to say something quickly before he got torn in half. Of course, it had been the wrong thing to say for his health. "Let's all sleep together!" didn't go over well, leading to simultaneous exclamations of "Pervert!" and a smack to the head at the same time as a kick to the shin. He had slid back under the combined force a good six feet or so into the main room, before the hurt registered and made him collapse in a heap. After accusing each other of being the cause of this, they glowered for a moment. One whispered something to the other, and their heads rotated his way. They had sported perfectly normal happy looks, which scared him half to death.
His fears of them and a giant cleaver proved unfounded. As it was, it turned out to be a pretty good compromise. They took to his idea after all, with a slight modification. They could all use the same bed, but while the girls were tucked away under the covers, he was exiled, fully clothed, to the air above. It was settled, whether he liked it or not.
At that very moment, he liked it.
Looking to his left, he could see Lina slumbering with a smile, absolutely glowing between the light from the moons, the plant, and Milly's expert scrubbing. The overall effect made her almost ghostlike, something that didn't sit well with him. A little longer on the road, and that might have been all that was left of her. His left arm hovered over her back, protective, ready to defend.
Looking to his right, he could easily make out the curves of Meryl's profile, silhouetted against the light coming in. All he could see were tantalizing shadows against the ethereal green and yellow glows far beyond. She breathed deeply as she slept, the constant rise and fall hypnotizing. His right arm was allowed under the covers, and his hand intertwined with one of hers warmly, sensually.
He figured it must be getting towards midnight, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. It was like just laying here was more than enough to relax his body, refresh his mind, and soothe his soul. It was love- two types, completely different in nature, but both falling under that same simple word. He did finally drift off to sleep that night, but did not dream- there was no need for them, when reality held so much more.
Sleep. A period of time during which the body underwent various upkeeping cycles, while the mind would detach itself from normal sensory inputs to focus solely upon forming new connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information. However, sometimes the pieces simply couldn't be connected, even if you had seen, or in this case, /heard/ it.
Marriage, to one of those... things? The very idea made bile rise, but to his brother it was happiness the likes of which he'd never felt. Anger flared - how dare the spiders sink themselves so deeply into his brother's psyche? When they turned, the wounds would reach deep... possibly even fatal. Simply speaking the truth wasn't doing anything, so more drastic measures were called for. He still held two aces, as the analogy went. Playing them would absolutely crush his brother, but the consequences if he didn't were almost too horrible to dwell upon.
Hybrid offspring... Assuming that there was enough of a genetic match, which he strongly doubted but couldn't rule out, that was what the ultimate end of his brother's dalliance would be. Which outcome would be worse, he could not determine. Human minds in plant bodies would guarantee the consumption and destruction of world upon world across the galaxy, whereas a plant mind in a human body was a cruelty he would never wish upon any of their advanced state.
Even though his room of choice was an interior one, he could tell the day was starting. The /noise/ was just beginning to pick up from an overnight low. Slowly but steadily, it was increasing. Pity- even though they tended to get /louder/ while asleep, it was so much less stressful to /listen/ to. Much more harmonic, indeed, there were certain parallels to musical composition that could be drawn. It was still a poor second to the masterpiece that was the communication network among his sisters. Given a choice, he would always choose them over the bleating of the human minds.
The thought returned a memory of a flippant remark from the small pet brother intended to ...marry. She had remarked that she had thought to find him, not Vash, inside the plant facility. It did hold a certain logic- the company was preferable. However, with his senses, merely being anywhere in the city was sufficient to /hear/ everything. Might as well stay put and save a little energy. And on the topic of pets... He should get up before they all roused. He didn't /hear/ any of the ones in this living space up yet, so he should be able to get morning meal in before the rush.
It was therefore with intense annoyance that he found the large pet already preparing food in the kitchen. He made yet another note to be sure to examine that brain of hers sometime- such stealth was dangerous. In any case, it was canceled out by her dim mental faculty. She kept turning her back on him as he watched from the table in the middle. It would be so simple for him to just reach over and slice apart the vertebrae in her neck, fast and painless. She was far too trusting, but it did seem to let her wander about in a state of neigh-perpetual bliss. It must be nice to be like that, at least until the truth breaks through.
At least the pet was wise enough to not babble uselessly. However, she was taking too long, and brother's favorite awakened and entered shortly. She was hardly alert- his presence probably hadn't registered yet, as she sat next to him. The large one placed a steaming cup of stimulant before the small one. Feh, morning cup of coffee indeed. More like a mild addiction to compensate for irregularities in her brain chemistry. She drained the cup quickly, and he could almost see the synapses beginning to fire as it took hold. She yawned.
"Good morning Milly."
"Morning, Meryl! Did you sleep well?"
"Best I've had in weeks."
"And Mr. Vash?"
"Sleeping like a big baby. I swear, I wasn't out for even a second before he took over the space I had been in."
"And Lina?"
"The same. There's definitely a family resemblance between them, adopted or not. Though from the way they look, they seem less like siblings. Vash just looks so, well, fatherly with her. Though if he said it I'm sure she'd break his leg."
"How wonderful!"
More like how disgusting. He did not need to be reminded of what brother was intending to try. She just cracked a grin.
"Yeah, though that would make me the mother in combat boots."
He found that amusing. Humans and their expressions.
"What're you smiling about?"
"Your ignorance. The 'Your mother wears combat boots' expression originated centuries ago, when females were considered unfit for military service. The only ones who wore combat boots were those that tagged along with the male troops. The camp whores, so to speak. It's quite the grave insult."
"Did you really have to explain it?"
"No. I simply do not like you."
"The feeling's mutual!"
The large one stepped in before further discomfort could be caused. Killing may be forbidden, but there was more than one method to dispose of unwanted pets. Enough prompting, and they might just leave on their own accord. One could always hope.
"Why don't you go change and I'll get Mr. Knives some breakfast while you're busy."
"Change into what? I had to leave everything back in December."
"But your luggage was waiting at the branch office when I got there. They said you had sent it ahead. It's sitting right over there."
"Huh, maybe Sara or Marianne sent it ahead. But why would they use my name? That's just asking for-"
"Stop."
The pets froze at the command. His voice was level, but still conveyed authority with effectiveness. They were good at following instructions, for all their other faults- some of which may be too hazardous.
"What now?" hissed the small one.
"There is inconsistency with regards to your luggage's origins. I suggest you not touch it."
Her eyes rolled as I approached the pink suitcase. "Fine! Poke at it until you're happy it won't explode, in the meantime I'm getting breakfast."
"It won't take me that long."
"I'm sure your super competent plant butt can master the workings of a lady's suitcase in under five minutes."
"Actually, I have no intention of mastering its workings, or of even touching it at this point."
"Yeah, those cooties are real killers. Maybe you should run screaming out the door."
"I was referring to the large quantity of high explosives contained within in regards to my judgment on whether or not to touch it."
"What?"
Foolish creatures. Then again, they didn't have the benefit of magnetic field manipulations that allowed plants to see and change the positions of metallic objects. One of the few abilities that brother actually had an even greater command of, though he wasted it on trying to protect the spiders from themselves. At least it gave him plenty of practice. However, for a display such as this, even something as simple as a well placed magnet would suffice. Since letting the pets figure it out themselves would be foolhardy, someone responsible had to step in and explain in terms their minds could comprehend. 'Gripping' the trigger tightly, he opened the case and gave them one.
"This is the trigger mechanism, which would normally be activated upon opening if not for my 'super competent plant butt' as you quaintly put it. Those large bricks are the explosives proper, and these pins I just pulled out are the detonators. Can I trust you not to jab the explosives with electrical wires?"
Their heads bobbed in acknowledgment, so that ended the matter. Before food preparations could be started, the small one again interfered.
"I guess I owe you my thanks."
"I simply did not want to be injured by your incompetence."
"Why would they want to do something like this... And how could they have guessed I was here so quickly?"
"I consider it more likely that it was an attempt on my brother's life. Well planned for spiders, considering their faulty assumptions. First they separate my brother from you, the second in command, then use an expendable patsy to deliver the bomb. Without the leadership, the rest of the assumed gang would fall apart and be easy to clean up, of those not caught in the blast. Now be quiet and let me eat."
"Why?"
It was a simple question, one easy to ask, but it beheld so many possibilities as to be legion in both reasons to ask and in answers that might come. It was the only question that bounced around her head while she stared mutely at the now open suitcase. They had been so nice... Nervous, yeah, but so was nearly everyone new in the city. She didn't want to believe what was down there was real, but there it was to see. Why had they tried to kill Mr. Vash and Meryl and Mr. Marlin and Lina and all the other nice people? Mr. Knives seemed to think they didn't care about who else might get hurt.
This hurt. How could they be so uncaring? Thinking about it was making her mad, and the more she thought the madder she got. She had to know why, and the people who knew would be back at the branch office. Mind made up, she snatched up the suitcase, bomb and all, ducked into the bedroom for her duster and Nicholas, and was about to leave when the funny man who helped Meryl stopped her.
"I heard what happened. I shall assist you in finding answers for this treachery!"
"You really don't have to Mr. Rai-dei."
"I must insist. Such cowardly tactics come from dishonorable opponents. You will need someone to watch your back."
"My back? It feels just fine, but if you think something's wrong you can watch it."
It didn't take as long to get to the branch office today. However, another problem crept up when they got there. The office wouldn't open until nine, and it wasn't even eight yet. They'd have to wait.
"We can go in now. There are people inside already."
"But they're not open yet."
Her stomach growled before he responded. "Oh my! I completely forgot about breakfast! Come on Mr. Rai-dei, let's go get something to eat while we wait for them to open." He must be pretty hungry too, how could she have forgotten something as important as breakfast? You'd never get anything done well without a good breakfast. Luckily, there were a few places open and she dragged Mr. Rai-dei into one.
"Are you quite sure about this?"
"Oh, I'm very sure. Don't worry, I have enough to buy for both of us, so dig in!"
The meal passed swiftly. Mr. Rai-dei turned out to have quite a lot of fabulous stories once she got him to talk. Fantastic tales of places from a really long time ago, all the way back on Earth. She was so enthralled with the stories that it wasn't until the clock chimed ten that she noticed how long they'd been there.
"Ohmygosh! They've been open for an hour! Come on Mr. Rai-dei, let's get some answers."
She grabbed his hand and took off running for the office. Bursting in, she could see that there was already a bit of a line. She sighed and got to the back of it.
"Forgive my ignorance Ms. Milly, but couldn't you just go ahead as a employee?"
"Er, maybe. I kind of forgot that part of the handbook, so I'll just wait. Didn't you say samurai value politeness?"
He appeared impressed. "You listen well. It is part of our code. I had not thought you were listening to it at all."
"But you told it so well! My big brother says that listening is easy if there's a really good speaker."
He nodded, his face the closest to a smile she had seen yet. He was really too uptight, just the act of smiling helped you feel happy, and he could certainly use some happiness. He was usually so serious, but he was a lot better than Mr. Knives- all his time was spent either serious or grouchy, and that was no way to go through life. They waited in line until their turn came, and the anger was back as if it had never left for a moment.
"What were you thinking giving me that thing!"
"Ms. Thompson?"
She brought up the suitcase and popped it open. The lady attendant yelped and jumped back as the bomb spilled out onto the counter. That didn't make sense- people would remember if they set a bomb. They must not have known.
"That's what was in there?"
Mr. Rai-dei spoke next. "How did it come into your possession?"
"Some deputies came in a few days ago and dropped it off! They said not to open it and to give it to you! That's all I know!"
"You lie!" Mr. Rai-dei drew his sword part way, then paused for a moment. In the next instant, he shoved her over the desk into the arms of the scared attendant, which made them both fall to the floor. Shots began to ring out, so she grabbed Nicholas and pulled out one of the Bola guns. Peeking out, she saw a whole lot of lawmen fighting with Mr. Rai-dei. He was very fast, and every time he got close to one he would slash through their gun then knock them out with his free hand. A sudden bang sounded to her left and a few strands of hair floated down before her eyes. She dove, twisted, and shot in one move. The bola bullet neatly split in half to entangle the shooter with the chair he had been using for cover not five feet away. Scanning the room quickly, she shot at anyone with a gun that would be hard for Mr. Rai-dei to reach. It was over in under a minute, with all the lawmen either out cold or too tied up to be a threat.
The floor under her shifted, and when she looked down she saw the poor attendant shaking in terror beneath her knees. The lady had a look of pure fear written across her face and sobbed softly as the gunsmoke and dust settled around them. She smiled at her as she scrambled off.
"I think the shooting's all over now. Do you think they'll take the damage out of my pay?"
The lady didn't seem to hear her. Of course, with all those gunshots just then it was hard to hear what anyone was saying.
"Please, take anything you want, just don't kill me!"
"But I'd never do that..."
"It was all the lawmen's plans, they thought they could get rid of the Stampede with the bomb! I had no choice!"
"But... why'd you send it with me?"
"You're one of his gang now, aren't you? They said you've been made into a top enforcer for him, someone who does his every whim!"
"Well, I do do him a few favors every now and then, but he's really nice."
The lawman stuck to the chair muttered "That bastard..." under his breath. Mr. Rai-dei shouted over the desk from the middle of the room. "Hurry up! There are more on the way!"
The lady curled up at his voice, shaking and sobbing and begging to not be killed. Everything was going so wrong... She placed the guns back into Nicholas and slid it shut.
"I'm really sorry for all this trouble everyone!"
She slung her burden across her back and walked out the side door. This was really bad. She wanted to just drag her feet and kick a few pebbles, but Mr. Rai-dei urged speed. Reluctantly, she brought herself up to his pace as they ran off through the alleys behind the branch office.
I'm promoting Legato to 'Squaddie' and giving him a PsiAmp- he'll make those Mutons dance the Can-Can. Wait, don't use it on the civilians! Stop that! No, not towards the Reapers! ...ouch.
Legato: ¤lips twitch upwards¤
Yeah, yeah, my fault for forgetting your "Humans must die!" policy. ...you did something else, didn't you?
Legato: Merely... brought a few friends.
¤slowly turns around¤ Chryssalids! Run, for the love of Bob run, as fast as your puny human legs can go!
¤darts into a room and locks the door behind him¤ Well, that was unpleasant. Poor Milly got suckered into bomb delivery. At this rate, Knives might just end up the only one without a Wanted poster. Curse that uncaring and quick to judge bureaucracy!
Elektra3: Updates are sadly still only 'whenever' (which is usually once a week). And yeah, it probably would come down to minced plant once Bun-bun learns that Knives was responsible for the complete loss of all the ship recordings of Baywatch. Poor supervillain.
cjflutterbye: Well, Knives sounded like he didn't get much rest last night. Do try to remember that they're not built for nonstop use. Oh, and have a free toothbrush, it should help against the cavities induced by the first part of this chapter.
betsytheripper: As per the weather's usual "Whatever it feels like doing" policy, I did not get the expected biblical flood. It was barely enough to water the trees... Maybe Ivan will provide the promised destruction. I'll be sure to get that halo to Wolfwood, assuming the Chryssalids don't get him.
Yma: Vash may need to get a classroom set up- there look to be quite a few takers for Outlaw Life 101. Glad I'm keeping in with the characters, though it's far easier with some- Milly's a tough one to write.
Sorian: Everyone seemed to like the smoking angel. Just wait until he sets the carpet on fire.
Hopeful Wings: Well, not everyone is destined to be a five-star chef. And welcome! You must be this crazy to read. ¤points at a line on the wall, just before a set of Heavy Plasma shots vaporizes the line¤