[Beginning of Part Two]
In the master control room her systems were housed in, just beyond the Xolchaportation station JOEL couldn't currently reach, a man was standing in front of the sophisticated consoles that housed the intellect and processing capacity of the sentient digital intelligence was housed in. He had been part of the alpha strike, and his part had gone perfectly, cutting off communications and taking out their base AI all in one go.
Which meant his work for Random Encounters was done -- all he had to do now was collect his reward. And he was well on his way to doing *that* all by himself.
The monitors were scrambled -- a woman's face pixelating and electronic shrieks blending into oddly human ones. His four-posted units were mounted in the precise locations to do their work, their energies and their vortices alike playing through the systems the AI called home. *"Stop it!"* the voice shrieked at one point.
"Oh, I can't do that," he said, smiling. His name was Doctor Unstable, and he was never one to ignore opportunity when it came along. "You see... your dear friend Mirror Maid... oh, I'm sorry... *Reflects...* well, she told Random Encounters that your sentience came about when Summer of Team M.E.C.H.A. fused with your systems and imprinted part of her personality on your expert systems. It's an *amazing* story. You're *very* special."
"*STOP IT!!!"*
Doctor Unstable adjusted the gain. "The thing is... a fusion like that... would only be possible thanks to your progenitor's nanotechnological basis. It's like no other nanotechnological matrix ever known. Even the Science siblings say that their brother Odd was mystified by what Summer became... but if she used it to turn you into a sentient being... she must have left nanites behind. Nanites that have become part of *you*. The physical part of the digital intellect. The ultimate First *and* Second Layer. Getting those nanites from Summer would be... prohibitively difficult... but you? You would have no *real* defenses to stop this. Which means I can extract them. Extract them *all*."
Jenny shrieked again, the screens scrolling between data and flashes of twisted faces in agony, all in yellow and green and blue....
"Of course... that means your sentience will be... consumed... by the process. Especially since I don't want you lurking in the extracted matrix. But don't worry. This is for *science*. Besides... you've been dead before, right? So it can't be too frightening. Just relax. Stop struggling. Let it happen." His smile was almost beatific. "It would be ever so helpful."
***
The woman in green was almost lying fetal on the field. The speedsters circled her like Piranha. And on the edge of the frenzy....
On the edge, a look of unholy glee on his face, stood Professor Watt.
Professor Watt had been the scientist doing illicit experiments on animals, trying to enhance their speed and reflexes through biochemistry. He had made great progress... but somehow nothing he did could compare to Alice, who was now called Momentum. Other subjects aged rapidly, or their nervous systems collapsed... or other complications arose. Not Alice. She was completely stable, and faster than any of his other subjects.
Of course, this latest group was *close.* Maybe a top speed of five hundred miles an hours instead of six? But as wide a gap as that was in theory, in an actual fight they would be close to her speed -- which meant that unlike that time in the courtroom, the sheer number of speedsters would tear down Alice if she fought.
Not that she was likely to fight.
"You've spent so long keeping me from the knowledge that is rightfully mine!" Watt shouted, his own voice accelerated. "But thanks to a few breakthroughs, I have a temporary version of my formula that should be safe enough for my minions and I... and thanks to your friend *Mirror Maid *I now know of your terror of telepathic contact! Thus do these psi-broadcasters keep you stunned and weak while my men and women get in position, Alice! We shall take you this time, and we shall bring you where none will find you! We shall dissect you and test you and learn what makes your treatment so successful! Your stolen speed will be paid for in full! And if you don't survive... well, we were going to do this the easy way but you didn't want that! Thankfully Random Encounters knew he needed me and mine to make sure you were as helpless as your allies! And now... we shall take you... just like *he* took *them!*"
"Hey, Boss?" Dave -- one of his lab assistants who he'd accelerated for this job -- said. "I thought she was... like, brown haired with, like, yellow lightning bolts down her green uniform's sides?"
"That's right, fool! What of it?"
Dave cocked his head. "That's a redhead. And there's only, like, a little red on that uniform. No yellow at all."
Watt blinked. "What? Well, she must have changed--"
*Red haired speedster in green with red trim.....*
"...oh no...." Watt whispered.
The speedsters had incredibly enhanced perceptions. They could watch a hummingbird flap his wings in slow motion, if they wanted to do that, which honestly none of them did. And yet, the woman lying on the ground stood up in a literal eyeblink even from their perception -- her movement being measured not in tenths or hundredths of a second, but nanoseconds. She stood easily and relaxed, though even the small twitches of her muscle seemed to blur. Twenty minutes before she had been on the other side of the planet, but that was hardly a problem. Three trips from Boston to Austin and back to ferry the others had been no problem at *all.* Had the speedsters and Watt not been accelerated, the words she started to say would have just been a blur. As it was... they could *just* be made out....
"MyGodyourevilknowsnoboundsImeanyouretalkingabouttorturingawomanbecauseyou-
wanttostopherfromusingtheformulayoudevelopedandstudyingherwhichisdownrighthorrifying-
wellyoucanjustrelaxbecauseasitturnsoutIwentdownthepathyouveclearlygonedownforthese-
enhancementsandwhilethespeedformulayougaveyourminionsmaybetemporaryitwillcausea-
cellulardegenerationthatcouldaffectcognitionbalanceneurologycoordinationandsomany-
otherthingsfortunatelyforyouIknowhowtomitigatethedamageandfortunatelyformeIbothhave-
nofearofpsionicsandapowerfultelepathshieldingmebutyoudiddousasolidbyexplainingafew-
thingsstillyouprobablyshouldntcallmeAlicesincethatsMomentumandIdontthinkwevebeen-
introducedanyhowsohitheretheycallmetheDASH!!!"
Doctor Watts had twelve assistants plus himself. There were also random encounter monsters and enemies circling the estate, aggroed by the incursion. All the speedsters could go hundreds of miles an hour without trouble. The monsters all had powers of their own.
The Dash, however, could go tens of thousands of miles an hour with little effort at all, and very few monsters could meet her toe to toe. She began to move, weaving through and around the speedsters like they were statues, striking, hitting and kicking over and over again, alternating between using their inertia against them with throws and striking against them directly as needed.
A pack of giant spiders, six trolls and a street gang, all summoned as random encounters, all ran for the fight... only to have a sudden ripple of the environment on the lawn, where a telepathic illusion had concealed three women. One of those women was the selfsame Momentum. The second, naturally, was Healer -- whose telepathy had hidden them and whose ability to nullify superhuman abilities had let the Dash slow down to Momentum's speed and then wait for Watt to monologue for a few minutes.
The third, to the reader's complete non-surprise and the utter shock of everyone else around, was Dangerousgirl. She ran ten steps forward and exploded into a burst of nuclear fire and force that flung her twenty five feet into the air, flipping at apogee and raining impact and firebursts down onto the spiders and trolls. Momentum swung through and slammed into the street gang, each one screaming as they discorporated back into magical essence -- that was one of the things about Random Encounters and his beasties -- they all lacked personality or life. They existed to be random and give experience, and there was no XP system in the real world.
Healer, in the meantime, locked her thoughts onto Watt, twisting his perceptions around and doing a surface probe. }{Watt's throwaway line about Mirror Maid fits his understanding of the facts,}{ she sent. }{He seems to think she goes by Reflects now, and that she's willingly working with Random Encounters.}{
Momentum's thoughts growled in reply, her anger at the telepathic contact reined in by her having agreed to let Healer coordinate the attack since they had little intel. ((I don't believe it,)) she thought back. ((They told me about Random Encounters -- he's literally the man who froze her in silver!))
((It could be mind control or some other influence,)) the Dash's thoughts rippled out, filtered barely enough to be comprehensible. ((But we can't take the chance -- how dangerous is Mirror Maid?))
((Dangerous,)) Dangerousgirl thought grimly, landing in the middle of the troll pack with an explosion that sent five of them back to where they were going, then rolling onto her side and firing up at a giant Roc that was sweeping overhead, bursting it into nothingness too. ((She's immune to almost all of our attacks before we begin. Mo and the Dash can't touch her, I can't hurt her -- Doc, can she be stopped with telepathy?))
}{I honestly have no idea,}{ Healer sent back, running for the mansion even as she telepathically skewed the speedsters' sense of up and down, making them easier prey for the Dash. }{Assume not. Do we have a plan B?}{
((Yup,)) Dangerousgirl sent back. She catapulted herself towards the building again. ((Can you sense Roger and the others?))
}{Yes -- Roger's in a separate wing along with Hellfire and some other woman. They seem to be in a lot of pain. The psi-shielding means I can't contact them but I know where they are ***[[FWASH]]*** and now so do you.}{
((Right -- I'll head there, because I'm going to rescue him and because getting a mage on our side is a really good idea right now.)) Dangerousgirl's inner voice was icy with rage. ((How about the others?))
}{Mostly in the main part of the building -- it's harder to get a fix. That's our target, Momentum. Dash--}{
((I'll take a few and nail the other exterior encounters, then sweep the halls before coming in to assist in the main. No sense in getting bushwacked over and over again. And for the record I have a *bad* feeling about this.))
((Join the club,)) Dangerousgirl returned, hitting the ground with another burst and hurling herself towards the wing of the building where Roger apparently was. They were nowhere near out of the fire.
***
"The Dash? The *Dash?*" Random Encounters was practically apoplectic . "What is *she* doing here? With *Dangerousgirl *no less! Why would they ever think to come here?!"
Reflects winced. "Dangerousgirl's kinda dating Roger Nobody. She must have--"
"She's *what?* Why didn't I know that?!"
"Because I didn't tell you," Sensation said, fairly seething himself. "I figured it didn't matter who the dead kid was mooning after. I mean, she's out of his league, real--"
"Everything matters, you malodorous buffoon! That's the essence of random encounters! Every additional random factor changes the adventure!" Random Encounters turned to Reflects. "I was going to demand your punishment, but it's clear it's not your fault. *This* time. But as for *you,* Sensation--"
"Dangerousgirl will go for Roger! I can stop her there!" Reflects's heart was pounding. If Sensation lost his powers--
"You? You can stop a woman who punched Satan back into Hell<tm>?!"
"Satan didn't reflect Dangerousgirl's power back in her face! I will!"
Random Encounters lifted his chin, looking down at the girl. "And the rest?"
"The Dash can't coordinate well with other team members because of her speed. Healer's Healer, but Alice isn't that experienced."
"Yes, well. A telepath isn't going to have much effect on my generated hordes. All right. You and Sensation get to the Library and stop Dangerousgirl. I'll double-down here. Though it would be easier if these damn kids would just get to *dying!*"
"So shoot them in the head," Sensation sounded annoyed. "They can't stop you. That'll get everyone in here but Mighty Dog, and he's not about to--"
"Oh no. They need to suffer as they die!"
Sensation rolled his eyes. "Then we'd better get to the Library." He began to run. "*Reflects!*" he shouted. Authoritatively.
Possessively.
And like a good possession, Reflects followed -- at least as fast as she could in the tall heels of her thigh boots.
***
Healer slid the window slowly open, then moved inside. She looked around with full perception, then nodded Momentum forward. The speedster practically teleported she moved so fast. Healer then turned and began to close the window.
((What are you doing?!)) Momentum didn't like think-talking, but it had come pretty naturally to her. She didn't like *that* either.
}{Never let them know how you got in,}{ Healer sent back. }{We know they know we're here -- if we don't leave evidence of our entrance then they have to actually find us to know where we are or where we've been.}{ She narrowed her eyes. }{I can sense nervous systems out there, but only one out of five has a mind connected to it.}{
((Random Encounters,)) Momentum thought back. ((I expected that after the monsters on the lawn.))
}{Me too -- that's why the Dash is clearing out the other levels and the surrounding acreage. We don't want to get flanked. All right. We need to do this quietly. Let me take point.}{
((You're a telepath. The constructs don't have real minds. How are *you* supposed to take point.))
Healer smiled slightly. }{I know you think I'm just a mind-witch teacher, Alice. By all means, let me call class into session.}{
Momentum wrinkled her nose. ((You read my mind? Got my opinions from--))
}{Alice. For someone with a great poker face in a card game? You're *terrible* at hiding your emotions. I don't need to read your mind when you make reading your face so easy. Come on.}{
Healer moved smoothly, letting her sense of the constructs' nervous systems guide her movements. There -- one group of them....
They were a street gang. Four of them. Generic and stereotypical. And all black or hispanic, thanks to the racist xenophobe who had summoned them. Another thing to hate about him. She could feel their sight, their sense of touch, but nothing on the inside. So much the better. She reached up, unclipping a barrette that she had put in her hair when she put it up before the fight. Oddly, none of the hair moved, as though it weren't a load bearing barrette.
Healer pushed on the metal tab, feeling a slight buzz, and tossed the barrette into the middle of the group as they passed Healer and Momentum position. It tinged once, metal on hardwood, drawing the attention of the group.
It then burst into light and sound -- a hard *crack* that caused the constructs to reel. Healer pulled herself forward using the doorframe to get to speed, body-checking one, wheeling and kicking into the chin of a second, punching forward into the third. She spun, catching the fourth into a sudden sharp neck lock and dropped to the floor, bringing the construct down with a crack.
And then the four gang members melted into purple and white light and were gone.
((You wear a grenade in your *hair?*)) Momentum thought, a little stunned.
}{A flashbang, yes. You don't want to know where the explody-kind are tucked away.}{ Healer was moving down the hall, her thoughts obscuring the sight of construct and sentient alike, Momentum staying on her six as they went.
((After you said that? I kinda do.)) Momentum smiled, very slightly.
Healer flashed her a smile back, then went back to work.
***
Dangerousgirl was many things, but a subtle spy wasn't one of them. Rather than sneak through halls or windows, she simply smashed in the wall closest to the library and jumped inside.
Her eyes grew wide as she looked within. Roger and some girl -- Melody somethingorother from when Rog was her, so what she was doing here Dangerousgirl had no idea -- were bound up on some kind of stone table, an orb in the middle holding a burnt trading card which had lashed the two together with some kind of energy. And there was screaming. Lots of screaming. There was also some kind of tub with amber syrup being poured into it--
And three faceless guys in robes and a one eyed giant with a club. The giant *roared--*
Dangerousgirl kicked off a detonation, flinging her straight at the giant. She slammed her fist under his jaw, an explosion blowing him off his feet and onto the floor. The explosion pushed her back which she turned into a backflip, firing nuclear firebolts -- all force and no radiation, the same kind that MeltDown of CalForce used -- into two of the mage-things, before she landed on the third with both feet, a concussive burst both shuddering through him and cushioning her landing.
All four melted into purple and white light and were gone, leaving her with--
Roger screamed again, shouting *"Dangerousgirl!"*
"Hang on, Nobody," Dangerousgirl said, running over, her field up. She felt irrational pride at Roger using the codename -- torture wasn't enough for him to break her cover. "Is there a problem with me just blasting the Hell<tm> out of this thing?
"You can't!" Melody screamed. "The backlash will deto--AUGH!"
"Right! Bad idea -- what can I do?"
*"The card!"* Roger screamed. He sounded tinny, like a bad speaker. Dangerousgirl could see his very ghostlike form was beginning to smolder inside the field. *"Organic material can penetrate the field! If you destroy the card--"*
"I'll be *pissed off!*"
Dangerousgirl had managed to whirl to face the new speaker, dropping into a defensive position, when suddenly every nerve ending of her body seemed to suddenly *burn* -- the pain excruciating, inside and out. It was like molten steel had poured through her veins while electricity fried her nervous system. Some man was at the side door that led to the hall, staring at her, the pain making it next to impossible to focus, and next to him--
A blur of silver that Dangerousgirl barely recognized as Mirror Maid, wearing some kind of black corset, panties and thigh boots, ran straight at Dangerousgirl, wheeling back her fist. She drove it forward, passing straight through Dangerousgirl's defensive field -- the field's energies splaying in every direction -- and doubled the One-Woman China Syndrome over with a hit to the midsection. Dangerousgirl felt the breath leave her body but the pain was so bad to begin with she barely registered the punch. She registered the next, though -- a backhand across the face that threatened to snap Dangerousgirl's head clean off and threw her half-way across the room into the rubble of the wall. The pain being inflicted on her by that guy hadn't stopped, so it was impossible to know how badly she'd been hurt. She just knew that she was already behind on points, and couldn't begin to take down Mirror Maid if she couldn't concentrate! Not if she wanted *anyone* to survive!
"Very good, Reflects! Now -- don't hold back! This girl isn't one of our targets -- don't delay! Just beat her to death!"
"R-reflects?" Dangerousgirl asked, shuddering with another wave of pain. "Little on the nose don't you thIIIINAUUUGH!" The pain intensified, even as Mirror Maid -- no, *Reflects* -- began hitting her... again and again and again....
***
The two guards waited in front of one set of double doors, which themselves were closed. A makeshift checkpoint, apparently.
}{Okay,}{ Healer sent. }{They're real.}{
((So give me two to three seconds and they can be really unconscious.))
}{Not yet. When we're in the main fight, you're going to be frontline. That means holding you in reserve now. I can take them down easily enough.}{
((How? Brain blast?)) Momentum didn't manage to keep her nervousness out of her mental voice.
}{Not if I can help it. Telepathic attacks are almost always psychically traumatic. There's a reason I mostly use illusion and misdirection. If it's necessary then it's necessary -- but these two don't need that level.}{
((Then how do you get them? Invisibility and punching?))
}{Harder than it looks -- it's an open hallway, which means I'd have to obfuscate the whole way down. I can do it, mind, but it's better to get their brains helping out in the process.}{
((How do you manage *that?*))
Healer smiled a bit, kneeling down. She worked a hidden catch on her boots, and a concealed heel snapped out on each one. She stood fluidly, checked her balance, and nodded, before sauntering around the corner and out, her mind flowing even as their attention was drawn....
Momentum's own eyes grew wider as Healer approached the pair. She could *see* Healer's telepathy weaving around their perceptions, drawing them in... letting them fill in the details of what they saw... a lush girl in not much clothing and midnight black hair, holding two ice cold sodas as she walked down the hall in a practiced move that dated back to the first day heels were put on feet. "Hey boys," she said, grinning. "Who's thirsty?"
"Who're you?" one of the guards asked, eyes getting wider -- but he didn't lift his gun. In fact, Momentum could see the two of them unloading their submachineguns and slipping them to their back, even though she could tell they *thought* they were still holding them.
"Random Encounters sent me -- he wanted to make sure the *real* guards were... *refreshed.*" She smiled coyly. "And it turns out this place is practically drowning in RC Cola."
"That... sounds really good," one of the guards said. "So when did you get here?"
"Oh, the boss and I go *way* back." She handed the cans to the pair, and let them open them. "I'm glad there's something other than bug-monsters and dying teenagers here, though. Gives me the creeps."
"You and me both," the other guard said. "I can't say I'm happy about this job."
"You're here, aren't you?" the first guard said.
"Well, yeah. Cash does that, y'know?"
"Riiiight." The two drank.
Momentum watched the two, still smiling, slump unconscious to the floor. ((What... did you do to them?)) she asked.
}{Essentially a psionic roofie. They took it in willingly so it won't cause real damage. They'll just sleep in dreamless sleep for the next few hours.}{ Momentum saw her look at the two, her mind sweeping over theirs. A scan, but she could *see* Healer's scanning technique -- a ruffle through their thoughts, looking for surface knowledge for their mission. She shivered, but at least intellectually she could accept that Healer wasn't burrowing into them with her mind.
((So... I didn't hear them speak, at least with my ears--))
}{I'd pulled them into my mindscape. The whole interaction happened there, so they wouldn't warn anyone else.}{ She was collapsing the heels back into her boots as she spoke. }{You're in the circuit, so you must have gotten an echo of the interaction.}{
((So... why the spy-heel boot thing?))
}{Because doing an illusion of walking in heels to cover walking in sensible shoes is exponentially harder than just mapping over my own walk. There's no reason to waste strength or concentration when it's unnecessary.}{
((So... the actual walking was all you? Man, I thought *I* could walk in heels.))
Healer grinned. }{It comes up in the spy trade. A lot. No sign of anyone beyond the door.}{
Momentum joined Healer, stepping over the two comatose guards, and they stepped through the doors. Healer carefully closed them, then locked them with a 'thunk.' She reached up, withdrawing two bobby pins from her hair. She pressed the round ends of the pins into the lock, pushing hard enough to cause them to crack, followed by a hissing sound as metal deformed. ((What're you doing?)) Momentum thought back.
}{If there's reinforcements we missed on that side of those doors, they'll have that much more trouble getting through them to help their boss. And if they have a key, with a little luck they'll waste precious time trying to get it work on slagged locks or even break it.}{
((Is this really how you see missions?))
Healer looked at Momentum, smiling slightly. }{Every op can be reduced to two factors -- the objective and the opposition. If you can reach the objective while bypassing the opposition, so much the better. Otherwise, reducing the opposition through confusion, obstacle or elimination means the objective's easier.}{
There were the distant sounds of explosions. ((...is that--))
}{Dangerousgirl? Yup. Let's go.}{
[End of Part Two]