2023
"Bianca, can you not do that?" Wyatt requested. "You're making it hard."
"I think you'll find you're the one making it hard," Bianca scoffed. "It's better this way."
"It's not right," Wyatt said. "It's not how it used to be."
"You can't be even a little creative?"
"Look, if I think it should be a little to the left, then it should."
"You're such a woman," Bianca sighed, shaking her head and moving slightly. "Any better?"
"Much."
"You know it would be easier on me if you helped, like maybe move it a little; or do you just like seeing me throw my back out?"
"It's quite a spectacle to see you strain yourself," Wyatt said calmly.
Bianca looked at him with annoyance. "Do it yourself."
Pushing herself away, Wyatt shrugged and waved his hand. The couch shifted towards her, almost into her but the skidding sound caught her attention and she shimmered away just in time. Reappearing near Wyatt, she lifted her hand and pointed forcefully at him.
"No running me over with furniture," she scolded.
Wyatt turned his head towards her, smirking, Bianca pulling her lips in tightly to keep from smiling with amusement back at him. A dark leather clad man flamed in across from her, the sound catching Wyatt's attention as his gaze shifted in the opposite direction.
"Sir, there's a disturbance down in the Underworld," he said.
"Well deal with it," Wyatt responded, lifting an eyebrow at the stupidity of the man.
"I can't, sir. It's…" the man trailed off, his gaze flicking cautiously over to Bianca before returning to Wyatt.
"Keep him occupied then" Wyatt remarked. "He doesn't have the power to destroy you."
"Very well, sir," the man agreed, bowing slightly before he flamed out.
"I don't see how we're going to get anything done with your commandos showing up every two minutes," Bianca commented.
"We're finished anyway," Wyatt said, dusting his hands as he looked back towards her.
"We are? What about—"
"It's done," Wyatt interrupted. Bianca settled back onto her heels. "Want me to show you around?"
Bianca gave a slight almost indiscernible shrug of her shoulders. "If you feel like illustrating how one little piece of paper means so much to you."
Waving his hand towards her, Wyatt orbed first Bianca and then himself up to the attic of the Halliwell manor. He looked more than comfortable in the room, surrounded in darkness, clutter pushed to the edges as the small tables and minor potions were neatly arranged in the centre. Bianca surveyed what she could in the dimly lit area.
"Looks like a bit of a mess," she remarked.
"This is how it was," Wyatt explained. "This manor means everything to me. It's my home, it's where I grew up, it's my family's heritage, it is the universal nexus of power."
"More than just a deed," Bianca mocked.
"Yes!" Wyatt snapped, insulted that she wasn't taking it seriously. "I want people to know where I've come from, what greatness was done here – don't you understand that? Don't you want people to have hope? To believe that they don't have to come from money to be able to achieve eminence?"
Bianca folded her arms, feeling slightly unsettled as she remembered the things she'd been given when she was younger, the Phoenix providing her and her mother with extravagant possessions bought using blood money. She didn't like it, and she hadn't kept any of it, the only things she owned now were a few items of clothing, and what Wyatt had given her as payment for helping him.
"I want people to believe that they don't have to submit to someone else's power," Bianca said, knowing she had trouble with that herself. Studying his face she could see he was passionate about this cause, everything that lay around her now, but the sole response she had given him had distracted him slightly as he eyed her closely, trying to work out in his mind the meaning behind her words. Quickly she looked away. "How are you going to 'spread the word' anyway?"
"I'm not, they're coming here," Wyatt stated. Bianca looked back to him with confusion. "I'm opening the place up. That's why I wanted everything to be perfect. I want people to see things as I saw them. I want people to recognise what I can do."
"Wyatt, you'll scare them! You've got your henchmen popping in and out of here every few seconds, then there's the risk of exposing magic, not to mention the fact that you're probably a wanted criminal by now."
"I'm not going to be here. I'm going to run it as a business – a museum – with real people working for me. Maybe a few demons as guards. We could even get some of those probe things just for old times sake."
"Five months ago, Wyatt. You remember what they did to you? You wouldn't be able to walk in here without them attacking you."
"Ever heard of reprogramming?" he asked casually, brushing past her as he headed towards one of the shelves against the wall to rearrange a few things.
"What?" Bianca inquired, turning to watch him. "What are you going to reprogram them for?"
"Threats," he returned shortly, picking up a rounded incense burner and inspecting it before placing it back onto the shelf.
"Are you that scared of betrayal?" Bianca questioned indignantly.
Wyatt turned back towards her, glaring at her, lifting his head to the side as he tried to get his own anger under control, his chest rising and falling as he tried to keep it contained.
"I'm not going to lose all that I've acquired. I'm not about to have everything I've worked so hard to get back taken from me again. I thought of all people you would understand that, that you would appreciate what I've been through, what we have done and fought for just to get to this point."
"So you're going to display it all here?" Bianca asked, taking on a much calmer tone as she looked around at his little setup, searching for things she recognised. Her eyes falling on the dais, she took a step towards it. "What's this?"
"The centrepiece of this room," Wyatt said, taking great strides towards it, placing his hand protectively on its wooden surface. "My mother and her sisters kept the book here for easy access. I'd often see them flicking through its pages to locate one demon or another. I took an early interest in its contents, from even before I could read myself. Just the illustrations inside were profoundly artistic."
"But the book's not here," Bianca pointed out.
"Of course not. I couldn't keep the actual thing here, not with the amount of people coming through. It would be far too dangerous to leave such a thing exposed to prying eyes, which is why I'm going to use a replica."
"A replica?" Bianca repeated. "Like a fake copy?"
"A holographic copy," Wyatt said, pride and joy creeping onto his face. "And we are going to collect it today. There's a holographics convention in town this weekend, with all the supplies we need to immaculately complete this place, cater it to its full potential."
Bianca sighed. "Haven't we done enough for today?"
"I haven't."
"I know you haven't," she grumbled under her breath.
"Besides this is the last day of the convention. This is when they pull out all the big stops to make certain their products are a complete success. We can't miss out. I'm not waiting for another year to pass by before this venture becomes operational."
"Why not another hour?" Bianca challenged. "We have to eat. If we go in on empty stomachs then we aren't going to be completely focused on the job. That's what you need to learn – a little patience."
"I have patience enough," Wyatt said, taken aback. "Anyone who cooks knows that patience is a factor. If you need some proof, then I'll cook us one of my mother's infamous lunch treats. How's that for a genuine offer?"
Licking her lips, Bianca's gaze shifted away from him momentarily as she thought about the possibilities of him cooking an extravagant meal for them, one that featured meat, and potatoes, and an array of vegetables; silverware laid out properly on the table, perhaps a large platter being carried from the kitchen with a wide selection of food. She'd never had anything so grand, even though Wyatt only said it was a 'treat' indicating something small, her stomach was crying out for more. Slowly her gaze found its way back to him.
"That would be nice," she said politely.
"Okay well we'll eat in the dining room, so meet me there."
As he followed her towards the doorway, he glanced back at the contents of the room, his hand fastened around the edge of the door.
"I'm going to have to rope this off too. Can't have people just traipsing around."
Taking Bianca's upper arm, Wyatt moved her steadily through the crowd. The over-filled exhibition hall held thousands of stands, some filled with books, some filled with crystals and other new-age looking objects, some containing geeky shirts that declared a love of science, but all had hundreds of people crammed in and around them, blocking the walkways as individuals pushed to get through. Not having any idea where they were going, Bianca let Wyatt guide her between people until they reached a large crowd gathered in a wide circle towards the back of the room. As he slowed his pace and dropped his hand away from her, Bianca decelerated also, taking the opportunity to browse over what she could see in front of her. A wide variety of heads all stared towards the centre. Bianca moved slightly but the only things visible to her were the faded blue beams of light jettisoning up towards the roof.
"We are the only holography lab in the world to specialise in true full motion imagery," the presenter bragged. "Everyone gathered here at this moment will be the first to witness this brand new technology. We've combined the elements of our decade long research and testing with a localised knowledge of how to reach the people. This kind of realism we are working to bring into every home across the state, and possibly in another ten years we may be able to do so on a much smaller scale."
Smiling at the idea of being able to reach more people on a larger scale, Wyatt looked towards Bianca happily. "My kind of deal."
Pushing forward, he delved into the thickened crowd, Bianca only glancing at them imprudently before curiously following him towards the front of the exhibit. Stopping as they reached the opposite end of the crowd, she looked at the large round black disc that sat on the floor before them, not only blue lights but green as well crisscrossing across its surface. Her eyes scanned the surface, looking for some way to tell what it could be used for. Wyatt glanced quickly at it before folding his arms and turning his attention back to the exhibit presenter.
"Everything is possible with this new technology. Video games are at the forefront of creativity, and we've developed some of the most popular games into this format just to display to you what we've been able to achieve. Deadly Pursuit is an audiovisual assault on the senses," the presenter started, turning to click on a small screen against the wall which ran a pre-programmed commercial featuring a motorcycle riding along a deserted road, many threatening looking pursuers not far behind the man on it, "where you'll have the opportunity to ride a motorcycle without any experience, be able to evade attackers with the kind of finesse that up until now you would need training for. But that's only the beginning. Now, through our developments, you can make things however you want them to be. The best prime example of this is our newest program Fight or Die which is a hand to hand combat style game. Could I have some volunteers to help me here?"
"Sure," Wyatt said, unfolding his arms, waving his fingers in the air as he nodded his head.
"Thank you, young man. Why don't you come up here? Give him a round of applause everybody," the presenter encouraged.
As the excited and enthralled people around them began to applaud loudly, Wyatt looked proud as punch climbing up the stairs next to the presenter, as if he'd finally received the recognition he'd been looking for. Bianca looked around nervously, shaking her head at him disapprovingly as he turned back to face her.
"Okay, we still need one more. Anyone else feel like taking up the challenge? Anyone feel like going one on one with this handsome fellow to my right?"
"What about her?" Wyatt suggested, pointing Bianca out. Shaking her head vehemently, Bianca took a step back, the crowd dividing slightly to let her through. "She's the only one who can match my skills."
Smiling broadly, the presenter made his way down the steps, microphone in hand as he seized Bianca's arm and pulled her back from the crowd towards the stage.
"No, I can't," Bianca protested as he yanked her forward.
"Don't worry. There's nothing to be afraid of. You won't get hurt; it's just a holographic representation of you. You don't have to have any skills whatsoever," the presenter said to her quietly, trying to ease her mind as he pulled her up the stairs and placed her next to Wyatt. He turned back to the crowd. "Just to inform you, I do not know these people, they are just ordinary citizens like each and every one of you, just because they look like models doesn't mean we planted them in the crowd."
Feeling uncomfortable, Bianca folded her arms as her eyes scanned the crowd, rolling them non-too-subtly at the presenter's suggestion. Turning to look at Wyatt, she glared at him for putting her in this position.
"I'm so going to kill you," she seethed.
"Looking forward to it," Wyatt replied cockily.
"What's your name, miss?" the presenter asked, his hand brushing against her shoulder.
Turning to look at him, she pulled away quickly. She couldn't answer his question. She couldn't reveal her identity in front of such a large crowd of people. It was already dangerous enough that they could see her. And Wyatt, the things they had done together, the laws they had broken just because they had the power too – because he had desired to regain his identity so much; they couldn't expose everything right here and now just because he had had an inclination to participate in a new development.
"Her name's Elisa," Wyatt said, indicating towards her. "And mine is Christian."
Surprised, Bianca looked back to him. Even though he wasn't so big on pre-planning things, he did think well on his feet. She had just presumed his spontaneity was finally going to get them into trouble, when Wyatt had simply given them new identities to participate in this little experiment. Doing little more than raising an eyebrow at her in response to her reaction, the expression so subtle and controlled that only the closest could see it; Bianca noted the smug look on his face and glanced back quickly to the presenter to see if he had bought the lie.
"Well, we'll just get you two suited up while I explain to everyone how this works? If you'll just follow these two people," the presenter instructed.
Glaring at Wyatt once more as a woman took her by the shoulders and led her to the right, she saw another man do the same to Wyatt and lead him over to the left of the black disc. Stepping into the glass booth with the woman, noticing it was possible to fit another six people in there which indeed gave you room to move if it remained empty, she again felt overexposed in front of the whole crowd staring at her. In the corners and on various points of the walls she saw tiny round sensors aimed towards the centre. Disinterestedly, she looked over the grey suit the woman had to offer her. It looked like it was made from some kind of lycra body-hugging type of material. Removing her shoes, she began to step into the legs of the outfit, pulling it up to her waist as she listened to the presenter's speech.
"This is what we call Integral Holography. It is a two step process that we only used to be able to produce in our labs, but now technology has allowed us to be more versatile and shoot on location. What will happen will be that the two people in the booths will first be scanned," he began. Bianca squinted, shying away from the light that suddenly blinked to life near her head, scanning the full surface of her body. "Usually we shoot first onto sixteen millimetre or thirty-five millimetre motion picture film, but for today we have sent it straight through to our computer systems so things can be magnified, altered and changed to the specifications that you require. After the initial setup is completed, we transfer it with a laser to hologram film, which is what this large black disc here on the floor is for. We use real-time technology to reproduce the actions of the people in the booths onto the main stage here. These images can be displayed flat, curved or cylindrical, and using the latter two, as we have done here today, makes it possible to watch the holographic images from a three hundred and sixty degree vantage point, making it more accessible to a larger audience such as yourselves."
Grimacing, Bianca could see directly across from her on the other side of the disc, Wyatt stood in his own grey suit. He wasn't even looking in her direction - too busy fastening his long hair into a ponytail as he stared at the ground in front of him. In-between them she saw something flicker. Blinking her eyes to adjust to the lights, she saw that nothing had appeared. Wearily she rubbed her hand across her eyes, almost jumping as she heard Wyatt's voice booming behind her.
"Can you hear me?" he asked.
"Yes," Bianca said slowly, her eyes darting around the booth, trying to determine where his voice was coming from. Finally she looked back across the disc and saw he was still standing there. Licking her lips nervously as she looked around again, her eyes settled back on the figure standing in the other booth. "They've got an audio setup?"
"They do. So we can communicate better," Wyatt explained.
"As you can see, both Christian and Elisa are now wearing our specially made motion detection suits. There's sensors on the glass walls that will pick up every movement they make and display it in holographic motion. There is no way that they can get hurt, and that's what makes this such a viable option for training or just having a bit of fun," the presenter continued, pointing out the various aspects he was speaking of behind him. "Inside these booths there is also an audio system set up. You can see from how far apart they are that such a thing is required for proficient communication, otherwise they would have to yell at each other across the room. This way they can focus less on straining their vocal chords, and more on the actions they are carrying out."
"Are you going to play fair?" Bianca asked Wyatt.
"Certainly. Why wouldn't I?" Wyatt responded innocently.
"We'll just run the visual up now," the presenter said. "As you can see, it is slightly different. You can alter things in whichever way you desire."
"Cause you're a cocky, arrogant bastard," Bianca replied.
The image flicked up between them – two figures. The one facing towards her was definitely Wyatt, only his clothes were different. He was wearing what she would have termed as street clothes, a brown hooded jacket thrown over the top, left undone with the hood hanging down. The one with its back to her was meant to be her, but she found it hard to believe it was her. She was wearing jeans and a dark jacket, which wasn't too out of the ordinary, but her hair wasn't tied back. She stared at the image with fascination, wondering how it was possible to fight, to kill, without every strand tied back tightly. It was at that point she realised how much of an effect Michael had had on her, how he had drilled everything into her so far beneath the surface that she'd never even consciously recognised she was still following his rules, she was still under his command without him even being there.
Suddenly she saw her image fly back, landing roughly on the ground, feeling the motion only slightly herself. Gasping at being caught off-guard, she looked up to see Wyatt with his hands outstretched, obviously retaliating to the comment she had just made. Forcing the image to climb back to its feet, she ran at him, throwing her hand forward to deliver a punch. He blocked it then delivered one of his own.
"What's the matter, Bianca? Did I work you too hard?" he taunted.
Glancing at him as he stood to the side, drawing her hand away from her stomach, she lifted her foot to deliver a side-on kick to his abdomen, self-satisfied that she'd made an impact this time as his image stumbled a little backwards while she righted herself.
"Not hard enough," she said.
Lifting her hands close to her body, she saw him slide forward, dropping down to try and take her legs out from under her. Expertly she jumped, missing the swing completely as she landed back on her feet and Wyatt stood once more.
"Missed me," she taunted.
Throwing his left hand forward, she used her right to catch him at the wrist, spinning back onto him and lifting the opposite elbow to deliver a hard knock to his face. She smiled as she glanced over her shoulder to see the image of Wyatt have his head knocked back. With some superlative strength, he threw her forward onto the ground and leant over her.
"You're going to play rough, are you?" he questioned.
"Only if you want me to," she bit back vociferously.
Hauling her back to her feet, Wyatt took a step back, bouncing from foot to foot as he waited for her next move. Smiling confidently as she stood there, unmoving, looking over his figure as if anticipating her next move, he spread his arms out wide and settled back onto his heels.
"C'mon, I'll give you a free shot," he said invitingly.
Rushing forward, she threw her fist forward, her eyes warily lifting to his face to ensure he wasn't going to sneak another attack. True to his word, her let her hit him squarely in the chest, but the impact wasn't as great as she had hoped. He barely flinched. Settling back onto the balls of her feet, she bounced lightly on them as she prepared herself and hit him again, not once but twice.
"Ow," he said mockingly before laughing. "Don't know how people find you threatening. You hit like a girl."
Seething, she put more power behind her punches, and actually managed to have a little more impact this time around, his face wincing slightly as he took a step back. Stepping back herself, Bianca moved her body into position before lifting her foot before her, aiming for his chest with her heel. She was quick, but not quick enough. Wyatt slammed his hands together around her ankle, wedging his palms underneath the base and lifting up as hard and fast as he could. Feeling herself growing unsteady, Bianca leant back until she felt her palms hit the ground, the momentum Wyatt created easily flipping her over backwards, her other foot following, clipping him unintentionally under the base of the chin.
"Want a little more?" Bianca asked, settling into a crouching position before pushing herself back to her feet as Wyatt rubbed his chin.
"I'll think about it," he mused. Glancing back out to the crowd and the presenter, he asked: "Anyone keeping count here?"
Bianca followed his gaze, her eyes locking on a spot just past Wyatt. A young brunette man stood in the crowd, his hair spiked, his face almost covered by the collar of his army green jacket. Pushing his sunglasses back up his nose, he quickly turned away and pushed back through the crowd as Wyatt glanced back in the same direction Bianca now seemed to be staring. Looking back to her with an inquiring mind, he put it aside as he realised he had another opportunity to attack again. Dropping down, he kicked her legs out from under her, standing as she fell back, almost onto her side as she pushed herself up with her hand, glaring up at him.
"You didn't wait for me," she complained. Reaching down he helped her up as a bell sounded, pulling her in closely.
"You have to keep your eye on the prize," he said.
The image flickered away, Bianca drawing back and blinking her eyes, realising she had been more focused on the image in front of her than where she was herself. It was only a matter of seconds before she saw Wyatt standing next to her, watching her with interest as he waited for her to remove her suit and climb out of the booth. His eyes flicked up towards the back screen. Turning she saw that they had actually been keeping score on the moves they'd employed, Wyatt obviously coming out on top but only by a handful of points.
"Is this why we came here?" she challenged. "So you could show off and prove how much better than me you are?"
"Not by much," he said, indicating towards the scoreboard. Bianca looked away from him, annoyed that he thought the game had been so important to her. In a minor way it had, it had showed her a few things about herself, about him, but she wasn't going to admit that. "No, that wasn't the reason we came here. That was a bit of fun. Next stop will be to order the book, then once we collect the pane we can go. I just want to put it up in the hallway, get out some old imagery of my family to display. It'll make the place more… exciting."
Quickly brushing off the presenter and the crowd, they disappeared back into the masses, heading for the stall Wyatt had intentionally planned on going to in the first place. Bianca looked around as they passed groups of people, trying to see if she could recognise the suspiciously acting young man from the crowd.
"Someone was watching us," Bianca said quietly to Wyatt. "While we were up there."
"Everybody was watching us," he said, smirking.
"No, not this person. He was planning something. Or he recognised us. We have to be careful."
"Don't worry, Bianca. I have everything under control."
Bianca peered at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed completely self-assured with his statement, but there was something about the way he was acting that indicated there was some kind of threat he was aware of, one he didn't want her to know about. Feeling his hand press lightly between her shoulder blades as he looked everywhere but at her, she saw the store they needed off to the left and stepped inside.