Project: MI
Chapter 20

“Something is not right,” Daria Foster observed, a dark frown on her face as she watched the screen at the front of the room display the innumerable swarm of Guardians as they zeroed in on their target, presently an unknown source of a Q-Field. Red waves raced away from the center of the target. It led them on quite the merry chase, but now it was cornered with nowhere to go or hide. Yet, in spite of this success, Daria felt as though something were off. Next to her, Kelly Coleman studied her before tapping on her data pad.

“Target is entering visual range,” said one of the operators below them. “Contact in three… Two… One…”

The target abruptly disappeared off their sensors, causing Kelly to blink in surprise. Daria closed her eyes and ground her teeth in frustration. “Recalibrate sensors,” she ordered, feeling as though it were a useless directive. The target proved to be far, far too illusive. The sense of wrongness grew with her anger and she resisted the urge to pound the table to relieve the tension.

“Target has reappeared,” said one of the operators. “Three blocks down near the junkyard on East street. Q-Field continuing to radiate at 20 beats per second with a saturation of 10 parts per million.”

“What are your orders?” Kelly asked, glancing at her. “Shall we attempt to engage again?”

Daria glared at the screen for a moment longer, running the situation through her mind. Three times they chased after the target and three times it had eluded them.

There’s too much cat and mouse going on here, and the mouse hasn’t slipped up even once… What’s going on here?

“Kelly, bring up the Q-Field radiation field numbers.”

Kelly tapped her data pad a couple times and presented it to her superior, who took it and ran her eyes over the graph.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked, noting the single straight line that went across the graph with little deviation.

“The Q-Field is remarkably stable,” Kelly observed. “No deviation since the target appeared.”

“Not even by a micron,” Daria said, handing the data pad back to her and looking out over her operators. “Stand down everyone. It’s a false flag. Someone’s trying to lead us by the horn.”

Satisfied, but still frustrated, Daria tapped a finger against her lips, trying to work out what was going on.

“New objective,” she said after a moment. “Reposition all Guardians and scan for any transmissions not directly related to CHC frequency bands.”

“And if someone is using our signals?” asked Kelly as the operators immediately went about their tasks.

“One problem at a time,” Daria replied. “Do you have any other ideas about what’s going on?”

Kelly glanced down at her data pad. “None fully realized yet, but after the second evasion I’ve been taking a look at our flight patterns for any patterns.” Now it was her turn to frown. “There is the oddity that we’ve been largely on the eastern and southern end of the city…”

“Director!” called out one of the operators. “I’ve got two signals! Big ones!”

“Where and who?” Daria asked as both she and Kelly approached the operator.

“One is emanating from Romana Pax, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Very powerful transmission, and it keeps spiking. The other is coming from the junkyard.”

“Hmmm…” Daria frowned as she looked at the junkyard’s signal on the operator’s screen. “Deploy half of our Guardians to the junkyard and contact the yard master. Tell him that he’s to shut the area down. No one in or out. Get agents down there and seal off all possible exits.”

“What about Romana Pax?” asked Kelly.

“We deploy Guardians there as well, but contact them and ask them what it is they’re doing.” She pressed her lips together into one thin line. “Have your brother put together a team and go down there. Invoke the Heroi Protection Powers Act if you have to. I don’t want them worming their way out of this.”

Kelly’s data pad beeped as she received a message. Tapping on the screen, she read it over quickly before looking at Daria.

“It seems that we have another development now,” she said. “There’s a heroi battle going on at Adonis Street.”

There had been a time when the regular beat cop on the street would have been allowed to deal with a heroi battle. Indeed, for officer David ‘Davey Jones’ Dicciani, he could remember his grandfather telling him about how officers being assigned AI partners similar to Guardians in order to deal with the overwhelming difference in firepower. The anti-Q-Field specs back then weren’t picture perfect good, but they evened things out without losing the human element to law enforcement.

All that changed over the years as officers were killed in the line of duty and the costs of replacing fully sentient AI’s mounted. Now there were officers, but they dealt with situations like this after the CHC and its soulless, mass-produced Guardians were done. For the man on the ground, they had only one order: stand back, radio in the situation, and to not engage under any circumstances except where a civilian’s life is in immediate danger.

David’s fingers touched the hilt of his weapon, itching. Curling them against the palm of his hand he pulled back and adjusted his radio.

No sign of Guardians yet, he thought, scanning the skies. Anxiously he wondered where they were. The street was on the verge of becoming a war zone.

Deep breaths Dave, he told himself, trying to keep calm. Let’s not get crazy here.

Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the woman who slammed down out of the heavens like a comet upon his arrival did nothing to still his nerves. Even though he wasn’t a heroi, he could feel the power radiating off her. She didn’t appear like much, being thin and dressed in casual business attire, but he was at once reminded of all the times as a child when he sat in terror of a thunderstorm, waiting for that one explosive crash that would bring his whole house down around him.

Now here he was again, waiting for all Hel to break loose.

His fingers touched the hilt of his gun again as he waited with baited breath to see how things would go.

“Mama~!” exclaimed Ran-Thing from across from Kira. Amanda’s gaze fell on it, eyes narrowing.

“Who are you?” she asked, her mind turning as she looked the figure over. There was nothing familiar about it that suggested that she either gave birth to the figure or raised it. The voice on the other hand was another matter. Glancing down at the ground, she took note of the absence of a shadow. “Ran?” Amanda took a step forward, still cautious, but quickly starting to figure out what was going on. “Is that you? Where are you really?”

“That’s… That’s not Ran, Mom,” Kira piped in. “She… Her illusions aren’t solid and…”

“Hush,” Amanda said with a gentle, yet firm tone while raising a hand for emphasis. She’s right though. Kira looks terrible… Which is partly my fault. She turned toward the girl and gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry Kira, are you all right?”

“I…” Kira looked almost surprised by her mother’s concern. “…Yeah. I think so.”

“She tried to play with me,” said Ran-Thing. “I told her that it wasn’t her turn. She broke the rules.”

“Yes,” Amanda said, returning her attention to Ran-Thing. “She broke a lot of rules. Where are you Ran?”

Something’s wrong with her mind, Amanda thought. Her tone… A lot more childish than when I last saw her. Someone broke her. Broke her bad. Amanda’s fingers curled into a tight, shaking fist as a fiery wrath burned inside her. She felt a red haze float over her mind, but she pushed it back. Now was not the time to lose it.

Not yet anyway.

“I’m in the dark in a taaall tower,” Ran-Thing said in a sing-song voice, stretching her arms out to emphasize the size she was referring to. “I have a funny hat over my head that helps me do things with my powers. Makes my dreams real.” She gave a little spin. “Real, real, real. All my dreams…real.” She suddenly gave a choking sob and dropped her face into her hands. “Except one.”

“What’s that?” asked Amanda.

“They won’t let me out. Except to play…” She pointed at where Jamie Grey lay. “…with him.”

Amanda followed the figure’s finger over to the boy and grimaced. Another boy was sitting next to him on one knee, his face ashen and eyes wide with fright.

“Lady… I… I don’t think he’s going to… He’s…”

The boy didn’t finish, but that was all right. She knew what he was going to say. The way his head sat on his shoulders just then… The odd angle it was at…

Neck looks to be broken. He might be as good as dead right now.

“Kira…” she said carefully. “Call the hospital. You won’t be able to fly there right now. Not with me here. No questions, just call them. Tell them what’s going on.”

“I…”

“Now Kira!”

The young girl scrambled for her cell phone and pulled it out of her pocket. No sooner did she do so did it start ringing. Reflexively, upon seeing Malcolm’s number, she hit the reply button.

“H-Hey…” she began shakily, only to have the phone snatched from her as Amanda abruptly appeared in front of her, giving her a hard glare.

“Kira! I’ve got your sisters location!” she heard a voice—an all too familiar voice that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end—speak from the other end as she raised the phone to her ear. “She’s in a subbasement at the Romana Pax building. There’s a lot of heavy shielding, but I think you can get in the…! Oh shit! The CHC! They’re heading your way now! They’ve figured out what I was doing! Get out of there, Kira! Get out of there no-!”

Amanda hung up with a low click and passed the phone back to her daughter.

It seems like we have a lot to talk about…

“Do as I told you, Kira. I’ll see you later… Hopefully.”

“Mom…?”

Amanda ignored her daughter’s voice as she turned toward the shadowy figure—Ran—and faced her fully.

“Playtime is over, Ran,” she said firmly. “It’s time for you to come home.”

“Playtime is not over!” Ran shouted, suddenly angry, and with that the air began to warp again. Dark sores began to appear on the street, rotting the pavement and causing gaping holes to appear around the girl. “It always ends too soon! The doctors don’t give me enough time! I want to play! I want to be outside! I want to see the sun!”

“You will,” Amanda replied in a gentle tone, trying to remain cool. “But first you need to come home. Your sister and I miss you.”

“Not until I’m done playing with him,” Ran continued, stabbing a finger in Jamie’s direction.

“You don’t want to do that,” Amanda said, her Q-Field starting to rematerialize around her. Gods know if he’ll survive even if she stops now…

“Of course I do,” Ran replied chirpily. “How else is he going to learn?”

With that, a tremendous, reptilian foot slammed down on the pavement. Turning in its direction, Amanda craned her head upward and followed it all the way toward its owners head. It appeared to be some kind of dinosaur, but not one that she remembered seeing in a natural history museum. The creature was emerald green with vicious, long, hooked claws that curved away from its arms like sabers. An evil, red light burned within its eyes and in the depths of its mouth. Throwing back its head, the beast let out a tremendous, thundering roar that caused Amanda to wince slightly. It was almost comical in a way, but it was also no less of a threat.

Kneeling down slightly, Amanda’s Q-Field surged around her and she launched herself at the creature. A fist snapped outward, and before Ran or anyone else could react, the beast’s head vanished in a shower of sparkling light. Its body tilted to the side, as though half confused by the sudden loss of its most important limb and then began to topple, crashing to the streets and crushing a car beneath its heavy weight.

Amanda floated to the ground as the beast’s corpse evaporated.

“That’s enough, Ran…”

Howling, Ran brought her hands together and a burning fireball materialized between them. Thrusting her hands outward, she hurled the blazing sphere at the older woman who strode toward it unflinchingly. Her Q-Field flared briefly as it impacted her, dissolving into billions of shining particles, leaving her completely unscathed. Ran fell back, completely stunned by this development.

“Ma… Mama…” she whispered as Amanda came to a stop in front of her. Raising her hands, Amanda took hold of Ran’s shadowy form and pulled her into a hug.

“Go back to the tower,” she said. “I’ll be there to pick you up in a second.”

Giving a horror-filled sob, Ran disappeared from the woman’s arms, vanishing into a thin curl of dark smoke. Amanda stood there for a moment, blinking back tears, before turning toward Kira, who watched her with a mixture of confusion and wariness.

“The ambulance,” Amanda said, her voice cracking a little. “Are they…?”

“They’re coming,” Kira replied. She was tense, wondering what her mother was going to do… To say. She wasn’t sure at all what her intentions were. “Mom…”

“I’m going to get Ran,” Amanda interrupted. “Your friend Malcolm, gave me the information.” She looked up at the sky in time to see the first swarms of Guardians fast approaching. “That’s what you broke into Romana Pax for, isn’t it?”

“What? I…” She grated her teeth as her face flushed hotly. There was no point in denying it now. “Yeah.”

“I see.” Amanda swallowed, a hot lump in her throat. “Go home. I’ll see you later.”

“What? But…I can go with you and…”

“My powers are interfering with yours,” she quickly cut in over her daughter. “Two heroi with the same abilities have a tendency of doing that, especially when they’re related. The stronger one usually has the least trouble dealing with it but…” She frowned. “Go home,” she repeated. “Don’t make me drag you there myself. Not when we’re this close to Ran…”

After a moment of silence, Amanda’s Q-Field flared and she vanished from sight, shooting off into the sky at a rapid pace.

Kira stood there, fists shaking as she bit down on her lower lip.

“Leave you to rescue my sister?” she growled under her breath with bitter sarcasm. “Like you did before?”

Light materialized around Kira’s body… A faint light, causing the girl to lift into the air but do little else. Her body refused to budge from its spot as she was accustomed to whenever she desired flight. Setting herself back down she took a deep breath and let loose an anguished cry. Light still surrounding her, she took hold of her fury and let it all loose upon the street below her with the thunderous crack of her fist.

Pain shot up the length of her arm, but enough of her invulnerability was back that it quickly diffused itself and disappeared without her so much as flinching. Still seething, she looked in the direction that she knew Romana Pax lay in.

“You’re not leaving me out of this,” she grated before taking off at a run.

It was just then that an energy bolt struck her square in the back as the first of the Guardians swarmed in on the scene.

“Let me go!” Ran exclaimed, panicking and straining against her bonds. “Let me go! Momma’s coming! She’s coming! I’m in so much trouble right now!”

“Calm down!” Jones said, eyeing the giant monster that continued to tower over the young girl. “Ran! Just calm down! No one can hurt you while you’re here!”

“Just what is going on?” asked Beck, looking over at the remaining computers and adjusting his glasses. “Did she completely lose it or something?”

“I’m not at all sure. She says her mother is coming…”

“Her mother is Amanda Baker,” clarified Anderson. Beck rolled his eyes.

“Thank you for sharing irrelevant information. Do you have anything to add that’s useful?”

“Didn’t she say that a ‘real hero’ showed up just a second ago?”

“Her mother is a norm! We’ve got the records and…”

Beck was cut off as the room shook violently. A crack splintered across the ceiling and dust spilled down to the floor.

“She’s here…” whimpered Ran. “Oh gods, I’m in deep, deep trouble…”

The room shook again and the crack in the ceiling grew. Beck and Anderson took a step back, the former bumping up against the computer consoles.

“Activating security,” Beck said, his hands trembling as they numbly keyed in a series of commands. “Anderson, call Steiner. Give him the lowdown.”

“What about the girl?” he asked as orbs dropped down from the ceiling and rose from the floor, all with blue-glowing electric eyes and aiming directly at the ceiling.

“Jones? Can you get her to let us unplug her?”

“Ran? Will you let us?” Jones asked. “We can protect you.”

Rans voice quavered as the room shook again. “You can’t protect me. No one can protect me from Mama…”

The ceiling exploded and shining light flooded the room. Beck threw his arms over his face, shielding his eyes.

“Where is my daughter?!” thundered a voice full of fire and fury. Beck’s body trembled at the sheer force of will that hit him and he went down to his knees. Peering past his arms he saw a female figure clothed in golden fire floating down into the room. The monster that previously stood over Ran was gone, whether destroyed by the searing light or simply dismissed by its owner, he did not know. Lying unconscious on the ground, half buried by ceiling and with a bloody gash in her forehead, was Jones. Summoning the tattered remains of his courage, Beck staggered back to his feet.

“Security!” he shouted angrily. “Open fire!”

There was a whine as over a dozen Guardians powered up and cut loose with a burst of energy. Still garbed in her light, the woman slashed her arms upward. Beck cried out as a terrible wind slammed into him, causing the world to lurch and suddenly pain struck the back of his head, causing a new light to explode across his vision.

An eternity seemed to pass for Beck until he next awoke. An eternity it was not, unfortunately for him. Darkness was in the room, broken only by the dim illumination of a swinging ceiling light, sparking and flashing erratically. He heard the sound of something crunching beneath a shoe. Lifting himself up, he craned his head—an act that took far more effort and pain than it should have—and found a tall, lithe woman with flowing dark hair standing over him.

“Are you in charge here?” she asked, her voice cold, but hinting at the furious storm that lay behind her ice-blue eyes. Beck shivered, and in the back of his mind he wondered where Anderson was and if he managed to get word out to Steiner. He wondered about Jones and if she was all right. He wondered what the appropriate response was here.

“In lieu of anyone else,” Beck croaked, “yes, I am.”

“You have a young girl strapped to a device. How do I release her?”

Slowly, carefully, Beck rose to his feet. He took in the condition of the room around him. It was a wreck, to put it lightly. Rubble lay all over the place, Guardian Orbs littered amongst it in various stages of ruin. Ran, amazingly, remained completely untouched, as was the setup that linked her to Romana Pax’s systems.

This… This is the real thing, Beck swallowed. High level heroi, possibly Beta or Delta. This… I don’t… Her Q-Field must have been at least equal to Jamie Grey when he let go just a little bit. A monster like this was the mother of our girl? He almost wanted to break down and laugh hysterically. Of all the luck to be visited upon them. Really should have known. Karma always comes around in the end. We reap what we sow. Steiner… You idiot…

Impatient, the woman grabbed hold of Beck’s shirt and hauled him off the floor. “Answer me,” she grated. “How do I release her?!”

“The computers,” he coughed, pointing at the stations lined along the walls of the room. None of them looked damaged in spite of the rubble covering them. “The commands are there. All I need is access to them.”

Hopefully our girl won’t resist, he thought as the woman hauled him over to the nearest station.

Beck cracked his knuckles before setting about his task. Steiner, he knew, wouldn’t approve, but there was little choice in the matter right now. With the force and power presented to him… He shivered, keying in the last of the commands that released their charge into the care of her rightful guardian. He wanted nothing more than to be rid of her as quickly as possible.

“Ran,” Amanda whispered, running a hand over the girl’s face. Hollow-looking eyes looked up at her, and her heart cried out seeing the fear inside them as they sighted her.

“Momma…” Ran whimpered, struggling briefly as Amanda pulled her out of her chair.

“It’s all right,” she replied soothingly. “I’m taking you outside. There, there… It’s going to be okay.”

Amanda knew she was fooling herself. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. Lifting her daughter into her arms—the girl having now given up all attempts at resisting—her Q-Field flashed around her body once more and together they began to rise into the air and through the hole in the ceiling.

She feels so light, Amanda noted. And not because I’m just using my strength. She’s so thin… Were they starving her?! She resisted the urge to tighten her hold around her daughter. She could only imagine the horrors her daughter had to go through since disappearing. Anger flashed through her body, urging her to tear the whole building down around her—to bury it and everyone involved with this horrid building. But no… She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Her daughter came first, just as they both always did.

Touching down on the broken floor of Romana Pax’s main lobbey, Amanda carried Ran out into the light just in time to greet the flock of Guardian Spheres swarming into view.

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