Step 4.7
Seriously. What are they doing?
Veda slowed the van to another stop. The ABB truck sat at rest two blocks over, and one ahead, of us. The Haros kept it in sight, holding a hexagonal formation in the air while we followed out of sight.
Sitting in O Gundam, My hands busied themselves with a few diagnostics. Turns out following some gangsters through town without fighting them didn't offer much distraction.
Distraction from what my life might look like in a week.
Distraction from the fact Sohpia fucking Hess might still be a Ward by then. That one lingered in my head. How much time did I dedicate to dealing with it? Worrying about the lawsuit. Plotting to get someone to do something at Winslow.
I put so much energy into that, and rather than think of how much I wasted I found it much more exciting to think about what I'd do no—
My phone started ringing.
Right. Dad.
I have to tell him now. I can't hide it anymore.
And that's a conversation I just didn't want to have.
So.
Following ABB thugs.
Something nice and relaxing to kill some time.
So far though, they stuck to a rough pattern. Drive around and stop every other block or so. Sometimes they got out and made a phone call. Other times they started right back up after a few seconds.
It's just weird.
Veda and I reviewed our logs from ABB phones for the night, and what came from other sources online. The gang didn't seem to have anything planned. Exact locations eluded me, but Lung was in for the night, and Oni Lee went unmentioned ever since I removed his leg. The tinker, I didn't have a name, only got mentioned here and there but she only ever seemed to be in her lab.
Nothing big, or in Captain's Hill anyway.
Certainly nothing that involved the Maruba group. They seemed small time, even for the ABB. Way on the fringe of the Docks.
Then, they're doing something the rest of the ABB maybe doesn't know about? A bid for a better position? More territory? Captain's Hill didn't seem like a very ambitious target. The Empire barely cared about it, and such a small group taking them on seemed suicidal. Or maybe they thought the Empire would overlook them.
Perhaps, they simply didn't want to be noticed doing whatever they were doing.
And what are they doing?
I could fit my whole van in the back of their truck.
Hm.
Idea for how to transport the Tierens, whenever they got around to being built.
"Veda. Let's move a Haro in. See if we can get a sneak peek on the sonics."
"Deploying Green."
Green's dot broke formation on my mini-map. The other Haros rearranged their formation as he moved.
"Don't be seen," I ordered.
"Stealth mode stealth mode!"
I designed no such thing.
While Green went off on his mission, I did one last check on the GN Drive.
Depending on what the little hoodlums were up to, I might let them go. No point rocking the boat and setting any messes in motion when things remained so precarious. I only spoke to the Foundation a few hours ago, after all.
Someone will do something, eventually.
I'd rather it not be me.
I couldn't let everything slide though.
And, speaking personally, I did kind of owe them. They blew me up with a grenade. I don't appreciate being blown up with a grenade.
"Green in position," Veda said.
I watched the camera feed, and when it didn't clear up, "What is that?"
I leaned forward, not that it did any good. I couldn't "lean" to get a better look at my visor.
Green hung about fifty feet above the truck as it drove along. The sonic image looked like waves bouncing back and forth. Because density differed between even like objects, I normally got to make out shapes by looking at the way the waves rolled back to the camera.
"Video analysis inconclusive," Veda determined.
I switched over to other cameras modes, which all looked fine. The sonic camera though just returned a big blob where the truck should be.
They shielded the truck?
Or maybe whatever they carried gave off interference.
"Tinker parts," I guessed. "Maybe?"
They guarded the last batch.
Maybe the truck carried more?
"What do we do?" Veda asked.
"Stop them obviously…and there's still the question of what they're doing in Captain's Hill. If the ABB wanted to spread business out here, I don't see why these guys would be the ones to do it."
"An independent venture?" Veda suggested.
"Not if they're hauling tinker parts. There are easier locations closer to their territory, and I doubt the tinker has a lab here. Maybe a purchase or a trade?"
With a bomb tinker, I could see the ABB going into the arms business.
Actually, that sounded terrifying.
Terrifying and in the things I can't ignore category.
I settled myself into O Gundam's seat and laid down. I left my costume at the workshop, and my pants and shirt weren't bullet proof…Though they could be. Later.
"Keep following them," I said.
I'd have to use O Gundam to stop them, which I really didn't want. Others might take it as a sign that the unspoken truce was at an end.
Still. Lines needed to be drawn.
The truck continued on toward the edge of the city.
They pulled into an old warehouse at the foot of the mountains. The building's large doors were already open as they arrived, and closed as soon as the truck entered.
Other than seeing that the lights were on, Green didn't catching anything.
"Their route to this location is not optimal," Veda revealed.
She showed me a series of lines on our city map, namely a straight line from where we first spotted them to this location. Right next to it, the meandering line they actually drove.
"They don't want to be seen," I mumbled. "Or want to make sure they're not being followed."
You can't shake Haros by making a few odd turns.
Veda drove past the warehouse and pulled into an empty lot a block down the road.
The building didn't look rundown despite looking like the older ones in the Docks. Rusty sheet metal covered the roof, but the paint on the sides looked newer. The name and logo on the side looked only a year or two old.
"Search Turbines."
"Turbines," Veda repeated. "Shipping company incorporated 2005. The company contracts freight shipping services along the east coast."
"Any connection to the ABB?"
"Negative."
Like the Empire and Medhall?.
Green flew down, hanging low over the warehouse. The interference persisted, but it didn't affect the entire space. Another vehicle sat inside, long and large. A bus or another truck. A figure too, a person.
Not a tinker lab.
A sale then.
Seemed the most likely explanation.
"Do you see any security cameras?"
The Haros highlighted several. Fortunately they were the static kind. No rotation, limited fields of view. Gave good coverage, but with plenty of blind spots.
"Try a window," I suggested. "Avoid the cameras. Stay in the blind spots. I want to know what's in that truck."
Green moved, finding a second story window to peek inside. Unfortunately, the window was tinted.
The interference in the building began to move, shifting away from the truck.
"Anything else on the company or this location, Veda?"
"This location is not publicly listed by the firm," Veda explained. "It is possible the ABB are using it as a front."
Choices, choices.
Could fly in and smash up the place. I'd done it plenty of times so far. Why do this any differently?
Well, other than maybe setting off reprisals. Gangs going after exposed capes, or using them against me. But what if I was wrong? The interference prevented me from seeing anything specific. Though, only so many things might interfere in the first place.
"Are there any other entrances?" I asked.
"Three other ways into the building."
I nodded. Another set of doors on the back for vehicles. Two smaller personal doors. One on the side, and the other at the top of a flight of stairs.
Green circled the warehouse, Orange dropping down to search the other side. Pink, Navy, and Red circled overhead. With Purple still watching Trevor, the five of them were all I had, and three didn't cover all the outside angles well.
Most warehouses in the docks sported second floor offices, raised off the ground to give more floor space for loading and unloading.
"Just once," I mumbled, "I'd like to have a night where nothing complicated happens."
"That seems in conflict with your desire to be a hero," Veda pointed out.
Probably is.
Problem at hand.
Thinking.
I spent a few minutes on it.
It'll do.
"Green, Orange. One of you come meet me."
I climbed out of the van, taking a spare saber as I did. Adjusting the settings took only a few seconds. I narrowed the beam to a fine point, and shortened the length to two inches.
That should reach far enough.
Green flew to me, landing at my feet with his hands out.
"Use this to cut the locks on the second story door. Check the walls first. Make sure there aren't any traps." I shook my head. "And test the door first. In case they forgot to lock it."
Green nodded.
"Peak in, nice and slow. Find a way to get me some eyes inside. Okay?"
Green took the saber and flew off.
"Roger, roger!"
I got back in O Gundam's seat. "I'll just go in the front doors, if I have to."
"I shall contact the authorities," Veda said.
"Don't. If this ends up being something I don't want to interfere with I don't want word getting out that I'm spying on anyone. Let's not rock the boat."
Green ran the saber's small beam up the gap between the door and the frame.
Big point of failure. If anyone on the other side took a good look, they'd notice when the door opened. Maybe see some smoke from the saber melting through the locks.
The interference inside spread. A test of some type? I didn't like it, but I needed to know. No option but to keep going.
Green finished cutting and withdrew the saber into his ball. He waited a moment, and nothing happened. He moved forward, cradle slowly pushing the door open.
The office looked like no one used it. Dust covered the desks, and the computers looked ten or so years old. Dust covered the office supplies. Old mugs, staplers, stacks of browning paper.
The lights were out, but plenty made it through the interior windows from the warehouse itself.
"Take it slow, Green."
The Haro crept forward. The interference picked up, eventually blinding the sonic camera entirely.
"Just let me see what they're doing. Edge toward the window. The way the light is, maybe you can—"
His camera abruptly shook and Green spun around on his axis that's a fucking cape.
"Hi there," a voice said. Grinding static distorted the words. Some kind of voice modulator. "It's rude to butt into other people's business."
Tall with dark clothing, and a fancy looking gas mask over her face. Definitely a cape, but not Oni Lee or Lung—
The bomb tinker!.
She raised her hand, something held between her fingers.
I snapped. "Green! Get ou—"
She slapped Green's ball. The camera feed spun, shook, and crackled. I wasn't sure what happened until the image rolled over the floor end over end. He stopped with an abrupt shake, as if hitting something, and while the feed continued to come in, Green made no attempt to move.
"Still on?" the voice asked. "Damn. Pretty durable, aren't you?"
My heart sank in my chest. He might be a robot, but he was my robot. My robot who watched cat videos on YouTube when he should be working, and played Uno!
I couldn't say I had favorites, but Green was the first. H—Okay fuck. He was my favorite!
The remains of Green's cradle lay on the ground, the bomb tinker walking toward my Haro. She tossed something in her hand up and caught it as it fell. The short kid walked behind her toward the door, gun raised.
"Wonder what I'll find if I take you apart," she mumbled.
I choked. "I'm going."
"Be careful," Veda warned. "Deploying O Gundam."
The van rumbled, gravity shifting around me as my suit rose into a standing position. The vehicle opened up, mechanical arms loading my shield and bazooka. The GN Drive spun, but the rumble against my back was slow and soft. Only a few faint particles fluttered into the air.
The other Haros began to descend. Not sure what Veda intended to do with them, but I needed to retrieve Green.
The tinker crouched over Green, hands lifting him up off the ground.
I never considered a Haro getting captured, let alone by another tinker.
Stupid.
I didn't know what she'd find if she went poking through him. I could cut him off from the network sure, but you don't just wipe the hard drive like in a movie and call it done.
It doesn't work that way.
What data did the Haros store?
Connection and communication logs to Veda, for one. GPS data? Communicatio—
He was there the entire time Ramius and I were talking!
Green light burst around me, my feet throwing my armored body into the sky. The kid's reflexes surprised me. Not to mention his aim. A bullet pinged right off the armor as the GN Field took hold and the suit began to fly.
Not that a handgun would get him anywhere.
I surged forward, shield going up as I slammed through the wall. The boy rolled back, firing again as he came around. I ignored him, eyes set on the tinker who—
Is that a grenade launcher?!
"Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock, bitch?"
She pulled the trigger and a puff of smoke shot out of the stubby weapon. In a fraction of a second my shield was between us. The round exploded mid-air, a wave of force blasting through me and knocking the air from my lungs.
I fell back through my own hole, barely staying in the air as the shaking ran through my body.
No vertigo this time, at least.
I spun around, flying back through the wall, bazooka aimed.
She fired.
I fired.
Both our shots exploded, but this time I was ready. I pressed down on the pedals, my suit flying through the explosion while she—
Didn't look phased at all.
She fired another shot. The round pinged off my chest and spun end over end. A dud? I swung my bazooka across my chest, ready to knock her down and away from Green.
Then everything went white, and every inch of me burst into a searing hot agony dwarfing any pain I'd ever felt before.
I gasped, my suit veering off course, right past the mad bomber, and through the window. Glass showered around me, my suit arcing through the air and slamming into something. Material cracked under the weight, and more glass shot out in a wall of shards.
I gasped, my bones feeling like they were on fire.
What the hell did she do?
The round that bounced off of me?
I heard screaming.
Girls.
Lots of girls.
Three dozen or so, standing on either side of me in ratty clothes, or garments that barely qualified as clothes at all. They looked scared, some clinging to others.
The back door of the truck hung open. Empty.
What the hell?
Why were there a bunch of girls here?
I raised my head, my feet pushing on the pedals right as the bomber leaned over the hole in the wall.
I fought through the pain, forcing my suit into the air and charging.
The bomber leaped out of the way as I came through the hole. She rolled over her side, the grenade launcher coming out from under her and aiming at me. I swung my bazooka, clipping her side and knocking the wind from her lungs.
She threw something as she hit the ground. I got my shield in front before it hit, the explosion rippling around my suit and causing my visor to flicker.
The blast popped. Literally. It might be big enough to damage a Haro, but not even close to damaging my shield.
"Fucking figures," she grumbled
"Tough luck," I replied.
I took aim with my bazooka and fired. The round hit the floor almost as soon as it left the tube and burst. I felt the blast as the air rippled. Her gasp came out like a chortling sound through her voice modulator.
"Fuck you!" She snarled.
Her grenade launcher came up, and I threw my leg forward. She pressed something with her thumb.
The trigger pulled.
My armored foot hit her arm.
The round went behind me, the blast hitting me in the back. No burning pain, or at least, not more of it.
I raised my shield, ready to bring it down and pin her to the ground.
Except she was getting further away why is she getting further away?!
Green's camera feed caught the explosion. A wave of energy expanded from the ceiling where her bomb hit until it reached the floor.
Then it started to reverse.
The desks. The computers. My suit.
Everything lifted from the ground, pulled by the receding wave back to the ceiling. The burning in my body twisted around, turning on itself as I grit my teeth.
And the blast reversed, throwing me back toward the ground.
The tinker had enough time to curse and roll before I hit the floor, and then kept going down. And then reversed again, going back to the blast point before being thrown forward one last time.
The floor creaked and gave, wood splintering and shattering around me. The bomber reached out, but the desk she grabbed rolled back as she fell and went down with us.
Debris showered around me, and I managed to land on my knees and raise my shield to keep it from piling on my limbs. The tinker covered her head, and then scrambled. A few planks and beams continued smacking into the ground as I aimed.
The bazooka didn't fire.
Again?!
I quickly turned my shoulder her way.
With a few flicks of the controls, my bazooka ejected and struck the bomber in the back. She rolled, hand searching her coat as I pulled a saber from my back and swung. The blade cut on, going right for her sid—
Ping.
I froze.
One of the girls, no older than Dinah, glared at me.
"Trottel!" She sounded.
I turned my head towards her, and she grabbed an old stapler off the ground and chucked it at me.
The object didn't hurt. It bounced harmlessly off my side.
Mostly, I didn't understand why a little girl was throwing office supplies at me.
The bomb tinker moved beneath me, and I turned back to her to find a flare gun pointing at me. The glowing light of my saber burned just a few inches off her side.
She stared at me, weapon aimed.
I stared at her, weapon ready.
Fuck.
And the little girl threw an old "Best Boss" mug at me.
"Wait!"
A boy, a short pudgy one, ran forward and grabbed the girl. He pulled her back, another boy taking her and placing himself between us. Like he was protecting her. From me.
The boy raised both his hands, looking right at me. "This isn't necessary!"
"Not now Pillsbury," the bomb tinker snarled, flare gun pointed at me. "We're in the middle of a Mexican standoff."
He smiled, saying, "Sorry, Ms. Bakuda, but I think this has gotten out of hand."
I looked past him. The girls huddled against the wall. A woman in a suit stood in front of them.
…I thought Emma set a standard for beauty.
She wore a dark fitted suit, her hair tied back in a tail. Red lipstick contrasted against dark skin, the sharp features of her face turned into a strained smile. The suit seemed an odd choice given her wide hips and substantial bust.
I mean, no one wore a suit to show off curves, right?
The tall guy stood a few feet in front of her, watching me with the other ABB members arrayed on his flanks.
And there was a bus, a bus that looked like a big foot came down on it right in the middle. I crashed right into it. And that truck still looked empty.
No sign of weapons, or tinker tech. No money in sight. No drugs.
Just some thugs, a bunch of young girls, a woman in a suit, and two tinkers with tinker weapons pointed at one another.
What the fuck have I walked into?
The tinker, Bakuda apparently, waved her gun at me. Not very big, but considering what she'd already done I'd bet it did something. Size wasn't everything after all.
"Round two," she snarled. "Anytime, bitch."
I frowned. "You lost. Give it up." That's not going to work.
"Ha! Says the idiot who thinks no one is going to notice her little robots flying around!"
She tapped the side of her gas mask.
She's the interference? Figures.
"EM filter in the lenses?" I asked.
"Well duh," she replied. "Doesn't take a fucking genius to look up these days. Didn't see Voltron though. Where were you hiding the suit?"
But interfering with the sonic cameras? That had to be coincidence. No way she guessed I used sound to look through walls.
The standoff continued, pretty much everyone standing silently and staring, occasionally looking left or right to see what everyone else was going to do.
I turned my eyes back to the girls.
Damn.
Cutting off the external speakers, I said, "Veda"—I glanced to the girls, my hands tightening—"I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew."
I went after the Empire and Merchants first for this exact reason. Gun stashes could be destroyed, drug labs burned. A Gundam can crash through the wall and smash up a gambling parlor or fighting ring.
None of that could be done to a brothel, and given the way some of the girls were dressed, without even shoes or shirts, I thought that's exactly where they came from. Or were headed.
I can't move that many people, especially with a bomb tinker pointing something that presumably boomed at me.
"Any idea who the hell that is?" I turned my head to the woman, letting the cameras in the helmet get a good look.
"Results for facial profile, Amida Arca."
"And she is?"
"She is listed as an employee for Turbines."
Well, that's helpful.
What did I walk into? A buy? A sale? Maybe the girls started in the bus, not the truck. Sending the tinker though? Odd pick for something so mundane, to a gang anyway.
"This is a misunderstanding," the pudgy boy said after a few seconds.
Speakers on. "Looks kind of simple to me."
"If you're a moron," Bakuda sneered.
"Says the moron who got caught in her own bomb blast," I replied.
She scoffed. "Says the moron who came charging in like an idio—"
"We don't have time for this," Amida Arca said. She looked at me, asking, "You called the White Hats, I assume?"
And speakers back off. "Veda?"
"Dialing."
I didn't want to deal with the PRT anymore tonight, just on basic principle. But I didn't have room in my van for three dozen sex slaves in need of rescue.
I'd have to call them in.
Speakers on. "Here any minute."
The busty woman turned to the bus, and then to the girls on either side of her.
"Do you have another ride?" the tall guy asked.
"No," she replied. "Well, yes but not one that can get here before the authorities arrive."
The tall guy scowled, one glare shot my way for a moment.
Amida glanced to the truck, and then to the tall guy.
He shook his head. "It wasn't ideal for getting them here, let alone where you're going." He sighed. "But it's better than nothing. Take it."
No you won't
I ejected my shield abruptly, hand reaching back to grab my carbine. Only Bakuda stood a chance against my suit, and we had one another pinned. If I wrecked the truck, no one would get anywhere before the PRT showed up.
I took aim, Bakuda shouting something.
I didn't get the chance to fire.
Pillsbury stepped into my path, his arms held out.
"Don't!" He shouted. "If we don't move them, the girls go into custody and anything could happen. The ABB will get them or they'll be sent back!"
I hesitated, needing a moment to parse out those words.
One of the girls said something in a language I didn't understand, and Amida Arca said something back. The girls edged away from the rest of us. A few girls leaned into others, whispering with confused faces. Whatever answers they got didn't make them happy, because they started looking afraid.
Amida Arca said something again, and then they just sat down.
What? "What did they say?"
"They are speaking Swedish," Veda revealed. "The girl asked if they were still going to the shelter, and Amida Arca told her yes. She repeated the answer to other girls in Chinese, Japanese, French, and German. Amida Arca said everything would be fine and they needed to wait."
They were going to wait? Wait, what shelter?
The tall guy turned. His eyes swept past me and settled on one of the other boys. "Check outside."
A boy—light brown hair with a piercing in his ear—turned and ran across the warehouse to the side door. He pushed it open and looked around outside.
And their eyes were set on me.
The woman turned, saying, "Sorry sweetie. I know you're trying and it's refreshing to see a hero actually get involved in this kind of thing for once, but you picked a bad time to stick up for the team."
What? "Hold on—"
The light haired boy called from the door. "Still clear out here new boss!"
"Keep watching," the tall guy said.
"Now, how long until the police or the PRT show up?" Amida Arca narrowed her gaze, but the odd smile on her face stayed right there. "A lot of the girls here aren't exactly legal residents at the moment and I'd rather they not get summarily deported after the boys went to so much trouble to get them out of the brothels."
I blinked.
Okay hold up.
"Veda. Stop dialing."
"Why?"
"Because I—"
Why did I feel like the bad guy in this scenario?
The one girl, the one who liked using office supplies as ballistics, continued to glare at me.
"Just wait," I said. "Keep your finger on the call button while I figure out what the fuck is going on."
"Someone has already answered."
"What have you told them?"
"My name."
"Hang up."
Speakers on. "Someone tell me what is going on."
"Damn you're stupid," Bakuda said. "And everyone talks like you're hot shit. I'm disappointed."
"Not helping, Ms. Bakuda," Pillsbury said with a nervous smile.
"Stop calling me miss! Makes me feel like an old lady!"
Arca stepped forward. "The boys here are helping these girls out of the life. I'm taking them to a shelter in Hartford where no one in the ABB will find them."
"We still can," Orga said. "Put them on the truck."
"Ain't gonna go that easy, Skinny," Bakuda said. "Think the hero still wants to fight."
"You didn't have to blow her up!" Pillsbury protested. "We can still talk it out!"
"Yeah, might of popped the detonator on that," Bakuda admitted. "But this one can't talk, or haven't you been paying attention?"
Is she talking about me?
The girls continued to watch, but they seemed to get antsier with each passing second. Amida Arca walked around the ruined bus and climbed inside. Through the windows I saw her grab something and stuff it into the bag.
"Someone tell me what the fuck is going on or I drop stun grenades on the whole building and sort it out later."
"Start it, Voltron," Bakuda dared. "I'm real curious to find out what this does."
She waved the gun agai—Curious to find out what it does?! As in, she didn't know?
"She's bluffing," pudgy said nervously.
"Am not," Bakuda replied.
The boy insisted, "This isn't helping anyone."
"Call them off." Everyone turned their heads to Orga. His eyes looked at me intently, and he repeated himself. "Tell them it was a mistake. Get them to not come."
Right. No one heard me telling Veda to hang up.
That worked for me. "And why would I do that?"
Orga tilted his head to one side, saying, "Because they haven't endured everything up to this point just to be recollected by corrupt cops and handed back to the ABB."
That did not answer my question.
"They're wharf rats," Amida Arca said. "The ABB helps them get to the states and throws them into the brothels to "repay" the favor. If you let the law collect them, some will wind up back in the life, and others will be stuck on a boat and sent back to the places they escaped."
I glanced to the girls, remembering the list of countries the Endbringers had destroyed. Japan. Sweden. Switzerland. Just to name the three I knew off the top of my head. One or two in Africa and South America too.
"Calling in the law doesn't help anyone here," Arca continued. "It just makes things more complicated."
I frowned. "And I'm just supposed to believe in the kindness of your hearts?"
"I won't peddle my own to make a buck," Orga answered firmly.
Peddle his own, as in he's a Wharf Rat too?
Of course, that might be true, or it might be a lie. Playing on my sympathy? "I think I'll let that get sorted out once you're all in cuffs.".
"Oh no," Bakuda sung. "The bad guys have a line they won't cross. Better look outside. The sky might be falling."
"Says the girl who tried to blow up her school," I retorted.
"That was a moment of passion!" Bakuda snapped her head to the side. "Get the girls out Orga."
The tall guy stiffened.
"I'll keep her busy," she said. "Besides." She waved her weapon again. "Worse comes to worse, we both go out in a big boom of glory."
"You're still bluffing," I replied.
"You don't know me very well."
Pillsbury frowned. "This is excessive, Ms. Bakuda."
"Stop calling me miss!"
"We're leaving!" Orga shouted. Heads turned his way, including mine. He looked at Bakuda, saying, "We'll get the girls somewhere safe and come right back."
"I'll be fine, Skinny. I ain't going back to a cell yet."
"Mika!"
I didn't recognize the word, but something moved behind me.
The short kid. I forgot about him. Had he been standing up on the remains of the second floor pointing a gun at me the whole time?
He lowered the weapon at the word, or maybe his name, and climbed down.
"Aston, start the truck."
"Sure," one of the other boys said.
Amida turned to the girls and said something. Some of the older ones got up, and the rest followed. They piled back into the truck, a few shooting me nasty looks.
"Let's go," Orga ordered.
And they all started to leave.
I started to move.
"Leaving so soon?" Bakuda pointed her flare gun at my head. "And here I thought we had something special."
I stopped.
No one tried to help.
The girls climbed into the back of the truck, two of the boys following them inside. The brawny one said something to Bakuda, Japanese I think, and she replied. He smiled and pulled the door down.
Pillsbury kept his position, looking between Bakuda and me.
Amida pulled out a phone, saying, "Darling? There's been a complication. I need another bus."
They're really going to leave?
"Get going Pillsbury," Bakuda said. "I'll be fine."
Pillsbury frowned.
He lifted his head to me, saying, "You could come with us. Maybe we're lying to you, and something bad will happen if you believe us. Or maybe we're telling the truth, and something bad will happen if you don't." He held his hands up. "You could stay and see for yourself. One way or the other."
"Bad call Pillsbury," Bakuda said.
"Why? Because she's a hero?" He raised his head. "We're wharf rats. No one looks out for us, because no one cares. Isn't that what heroes are supposed to do?"
…
Why does this keep happening to me?
Thinking back to what Veda said a few minutes ago about my choice to be a hero…Well, duh.
But fuck this was hard. In more ways than one.
Speakers off. "Veda."
"Yes?"
I inhaled. "Keep your finger on that call button."
She waited a moment, then asked, "You are certain?"
"Nothing stopping us from calling if things go south." Wait and see. "Let's see."
Could be a trick, but they were putting on a good show.
I knew how cops were in Brockton Bay. People died in custody all the time in the middle of big cases. People disappeared. Plenty of cops were on the take. If the ABB decided it wanted some of its prostitutes back I think they could get them back.
That's the part that worried me.
What if they were telling the truth, and these particular gangsters had a line they didn't want to cross?
I lowered my saber slightly, and in response Pillsbury stepped forward.
"Ms. Bakuda!"
Bakuda kept her weapon pointed for a second.
If they only wanted me to lower my weapon, then this would be the chan—
"Fucking pussy."
She turned the flare gun away and I backed up two steps. The bomb tinker got to her feet, and after dusting herself off, tucked the flare gun back into her coat.
And this is really happening right now?
"Retrieve Green," I said to Veda. Time is time. "Two Haros go back to the lab. Grab stun grenades. I'll stay right here and watch. Worse comes to worse, we knock them all out."
"Very well," Veda confirmed.
The Haros flew into the building.
I throttled the GN drive down, the light dimming slightly.
Speakers on. "You don't have to leave. I haven't called anyone yet." I pointed at the truck. "Where are you taking them?"
Orga and Amida glanced to one another, and Amida answered, "To a women's shelter in Hartford."
"I want an address," I specified.
She gave me one.
I looked it up.
Sure enough, a women's shelte—A shelter run by the Catholic Church? I pulled up some older files, looking up the abbey Laughter had been living in. Also Catholic, and both were operated by Benedictine nuns. An abbey in Brockton Bay with a wharf rat living in it, and a shelter in Hartford operated by the same group open to wharf rats.
Coincidence?
Turning my attention back to the woman, I asked, "And then what happens to them?"
"Then they put their lives back together," she answered. "Some might go to another country. Others could apply for refugee status here and get legal residence."
"And what's your stake in it?"
The woman smiled. "My husband has a soft spot for lost puppies and broken things."
"They're part of the Underground," Pillsbury said.
"Underground?"
"They help wharf rats. Most of the girls don't have any family left. There's no one to look out for them. We couldn't do anything when old man Maruba ran things but Orga's in charge now."
"And Lung isn't going to notice you're giving away his income?"
"Lung doesn't care how the money is made," the tall guy said. "Long as he gets his cut."
The short kid stood behind him, looking at me with something I'd almost call curiosity.
"But that doesn't mean he'll overlook us doing this," Pillsbury said. "He won't like the idea of anyone going behind his back, so maybe we can keep this between us?"
I turned my eyes to Bakuda. "And you?"
"I believe in women's liberation," she said in a sarcastic tone that sounded even more sarcastic with that ridiculous voice modulator.
"People might think we're helping Ms. Bakuda pick up some supplies."
"Stop with the miss already!"
Then she was covering for them while they moved the girls.
The pain continued to radiate through my body. It faded with each passing moment, but not particularly quickly.
Did I believe them? Disbelieve them? Could I afford either when the stakes were the lives of a bunch of girls barely or even no older than me?
My hands tightened against the controls.
"I'm going to stand right here," I decided. "If I see something I don't like, you all go down. If I find out later you've lied to me…I'll think of something worse."
"Scary," Bakuda scoffed.
Pudgy elbowed her and she shrugged.
I turned off the speakers. "Veda, this is what you need to do."
I read her through it step by step. The fabricators in the workshop put the device together in a matter of minutes, ready for a Haro to pick it up.
Meanwhile, Orga turned to Amida, and the woman raised her phone again.
"Darling, change in the change of plans."
Pink and Red rescued Green. He didn't look good. His ball looked like it lost a fight with a can opener. The internal components were twisted and warped by whatever Bakuda slapped on him. Some kind of vortex bomb, I guessed. The damage had a spiral to it.
I'll fix you soon.
Navy and Orange meanwhile made the long trip to the workshop to retrieve some grenades and flew back.
Bakuda stood across from me the entire time. She tried to get her grenade launcher, but I had lines too. Reactivating my saber got the point across.
"Make another one," Pudgy warned.
"I like that one," Bakuda replied.
The boys stood behind Bakuda in a line, save for Pudgy…I needed to get his actual name. They flanked Orga and Mika, save for the one boy watching the side door.
Veda translated as Amida talked to the girls, telling them they only needed to wait an hour for another bus to come and pick them up.
Having a standoff with a bunch of ABB while some claimed Samaritan saved a bunch of girls from that was not something I ever saw myself doing, but there I stood.
I throttled down the GN drive so as not to burn the field out too soon. An hour is a long time. Stretching it in terms of what I could do with the drive.
Bright side, maybe the gangs would get hazy on any time limit they might think I have.
When Orange and Navy returned, I had both fly through the door. The brown haired kid jumped back with a start, Navy swinging around the ruined bus long ways. For a brief moment no one could see him. He dropped a small cylinder on the ground.
The warehouse wasn't that big. If they wanted to bring in another vehicle, it would need to drive right by that spot.
The two Haros flanked me once they crossed the warehouse, quickly followed by Pink and Navy after they'd dropped Green and the remains of his cradle in the van.
Bakuda chuckled, saying, "Aw look, she has all the colors of the rainbow."
"You don't have to keep antagonizing her.".
"Killing my buzz, Pillsbury." She held up the flare gun. "And I still want to know what this does."
And the waiting continued. Which sucked, because it left me with time to brew.
Don't rock the boat.
Why did I start thinking that? Isn't that what the Protectorate did? What I'd explicitly decided couldn't be avoided, and trying to not do was just surrendering?
Because of Parian or Trevor I guess. I didn't want them to get hurt, but everyone gets hurt eventually. The gangs endure and people suffer.
How many more girls were in brothels right now? What had I done to help them? Even if I saved these ones one way or the other hundreds more suffered. Meanwhile I played shadow games with the gangs, or focused on protecting my identity. Maybe I did those things for good reasons, but good enough?
I hate brooding.
The bus arrived only forty minutes later, identical to the one my crash destroyed.
A woman leaned out the side window, waving to Amida as she brought the vehicle to a stop.
"I ran some red lights," she called. "Sorry for the tickets!"
"It'll be fine." Amida turned to the girls with a smile and waved them forward. Speaking in Swedish, she said, "Time to go."
The girls scrambled to their feet, piling into the bus one after the other. One of the older ones made a detour to hug Orga. The guy's cheeks turned red like a girl had never touched him before.
Her lips moved, saying something with a smile.
"What is she saying?"
"She is thanking him," Veda said. "And asking that he protect her sister."
I turned my speakers on, and waited for the girl to go join the others. "Her sister?"
Orga turned. No one asked how I knew what the girl said.
"I can't save everyone," he said grimly. "Even if I want to, Lung still has to be paid."
"We asked for volunteers," Pillsbury explained. "Older girls willing to stay and cover us while we shift our…interests elsewhere."
"I see."
Orga looked away, making it clear how little he cared about my opinion.
The girls all got on the bus and Amida shook Orga's hand.
"Thank you."
"Don't," he replied. "There's plenty more where they came from."
"Thank you anyway." She stepped away, sparing me a wave. "Maybe work on the entrance. For next time."
She got onto the bus, and it lurched forward.
With a flick of a control, the cylinder on the ground shot into the air. The magnet burned through it's battery in a matter of seconds, but still managed to attach itself to the bus.
The tracker appeared on my HUD. A simple device with a long range radio transmitter. No tinker tech required.
I'll take their word for it when I don't have to fly to Hartford and bust down some walls.
"We're done here." Orga faced me. "Are you?"
Right.
And now it was just me and the ABB.
Glancing around, I felt I could take them. Only Bakuda posed a threat, and she didn't have her grenade launcher. I could have my cake and eat it too.
I breathed deeply. "Get going."
But if they really wanted to help those girls, picking a fight with them for everything else didn't seem very heroic.
"I'm done for the night."
Navy and Red flew back, followed by my suit, and then Orange and Pink.
"Bye bye Voltron," Bakuda called. "Blow you up next time."
Way to make me reconsider psycho.
"Is the tracker working?"
"Yes," Veda said. "No irregularities."
"Make sure it actually goes where they said it would. If it goes anywhere else call the cops and the PRT."
I kept my flight low so as not to produce a light show. I shadowed the bus for a few minutes, but after it left city limits the van met me in an abandoned lot.
The drive back into Brockton Bay left me with more time to brood. Enough that by the time I got home the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and worry about all of this tomorrow.
Sucks to be me.
Walking back into my house, the back door slammed shut behind me.
"Taylor?" Dad stormed into the kitchen, his face redder than I'd ever seen before. "Taylor where have you been! I've b—"
I set my mask on the table and sat down.
Dad stared, glancing between me and the mask. His mouth formed words, but no sound came out. Maybe not even words. Just shapes, like he couldn't pick what to say.
Of course he couldn't.
Don't be bitter.
"Is this the part where you say 'fine' and we don't talk about it?"
Well…I tried.
