Chapter 362
Nael knocked on the door thirty minutes later and slid into the small room. Before anything else, he moved to check the monitors set up around the room. “Hey, Shiro.”
”How’d you notice me?” My spine straightened in my seat.
“You may be able to make yourself almost invisible, but doors don’t open by themselves.” The medek chuckled and nodded to me. “I was wondering when you’d drop by.”
I rubbed my arms. Right… I didn’t have to worry about casting shadows like normal active camo thanks to the nature of Illusive, but nothing was full proof. ”Been busy… how’s the Foundry treating you?”
Nael glanced between Luna and me. He only proceeded once I nodded and gave the go ahead. “It’s good. Better than good. The chrome it pumps out is a step above the stuff I’m used to. Running low on filament, though.”
”Already?” I gave him enough to last for a long time. Several spools—enough that even I would be able to get by for weeks if I built one for myself.
”I had a backlog.” He rubbed a hand against the back of his head. “Thanks for adding so many size variants for kids.”
“Were there that many?” I just slapped those in as an after thought. I figured most of his client base would come from adults who had terrible accidents. The kid variants weren’t too complicated to make, though did require me to adjust the overall designs instead f just shrinking them
Nael sighed and his eyes grew a little distant. “Mutations hit kids harder, and some common cancer strains propagate in limbs. Amputation… its ugly, but better to sacrifice a part than the whole.”
“I get it.” I, thankfully, never had to deal with that stuff… Would Quick Healing even help me if I got some kind of cancer? Or maybe some kind of radiation poisoning? Or would it just speed it up? Not something I wanted to test anytime soon.
“Ahem.” Luna coughed lightly and pointed toward Iris. “S-Shiro, you were going to try s-something?”
“Ah, chek.” I glanced at Nael and hesitated for a moment before summoning out Crow’s Canteen of Chaos.
Nael eyed the coalescing shadows and his expression dipped. “Crow?”
”Chek… good guess.” So he knew the eidolons? Or, at least, knew enough to pick out where it came from. Interesting…
“It’s easy to put together. The feathers gave it away.” He nodded to the detailing covering the canteen. “You’re playing a dangerous game, kid.”
”I know. There’s a… healing potion in this, though.” I passed him the canteen and ensured it was set to reproduce my blood. “It might work.”
”Healing potion…” He frowned and took the offered canteen. His Cues were conflicting, but his distaste for anything magic was clear as day. “You won’t mind if I test it?”
“Be my guest.” It was just my… oh. “It might look a little strange.”
”I’d expect nothing less from something of the Aether.” He sighed and moved out of the room back toward the clinic. I followed behind him and we broke off into a part of the facility I hadn’t been to. It was lined with elaborate machinery, including the Foundry I’d given him.
Nael got to work analyzing the crimson liquid that poured from the canteen. Only a few moments passed before he pulled away. There was a slight hint in his face though, like he recognized it from some tests I had him run when I first exposed myself as a healing kinetic. “Who—what kind of blood is this?”
”I don’t know.” I smiled innocently and hoped Honest Face would do its job. “That canteen produces it, though.”
”Don’t show this to anyone.” He didn’t look convinced. He extracted another sample and tossed the canteen back to me. “Billions of people would kill for something like this.”
”So?” I banished the canteen back into the shadows.
“It’s a poor imitation of human blood, but it’ll definitely increase cellular regeneration. Comas are a tricky thing, though. As far as I can tell, Iris is completely fine, yet she still won’t wake up.” He sighed and cleaned up the traces of his analysis. “There’s no telling.”
”Then we can at least try, r-right?” Luna asked.
“If you want to risk it.” Nael turned around and leaned against the counter. “How much do you trust the source of this thing, kid?”
“With my life.” Literally. It was my blood that we were talking about here. If I couldn’t trust that, then what could I? “If you think it's a bad idea, Nael, we don’t have to.”
His expression twisted and he rubbed at his chin. “Are you still planning on taking her to Medtech?”
”Chek. Just got all the paperwork handled.” Luna flew through all of that while we were waiting on him to finish up with the other clients. I paid for it, ‘course, and bought her a temporary card with a thousand rayn while we were at it so she’d have at least some money.
“You might have to delay. Having this stuff in her system when she’s brought over will… complicate things.” Nael said. As a ex-Medtech doctor, he definitely knew best how they operated.
”It’s a non-issue. It’ll dissipate thirty minutes after leaving the canteen.” I waved the magical canteen lightly. The sound of liquid sloshing through it rang out.
“I don’t work with magic.” Nael stared at my Netrunner. “I can set up a transfusion, but as the next of kin the decision is entirely up to you.”
”Th-then we’ll try it.” Luna made the final call. Nael hesitated for a few seconds longer before leading the way back to her room.
— — —
My blood did not, in fact, wake Iris up. I wasn't sure what I was expecting in the first place. Her breathing grew easier and her vitals smoothed out, though, so it definitely had some effect. Just not the one we hoped it would. Just like Nael said, comas were complicated.
After that, we moved her out and called in a Medtech Medevac to come pick her up. It was covered fully with the tier of subscription I bought. I left the scene before they arrived and headed back for the Crusade HQ. Hope had given me some time off, but that was quickly coming to a close. ‘Sides, I was more than ready to catch our crook and find the armor so I could have my time back to myself.
I headed up the steps into the HQ—
“Zuku!” Hope caught just as I was about to enter and dragged me back down the stairs behind her. “Just in time. I was right about to call you.”
I sprinted after her to keep up. “What’s going on?”
”We just got a lead. The runners managed to backtrace remnant code left in Phyxaflame’s mainframe. We’ve got permission to strike before Lavender can give us the slip.” Hope didn’t even stop and just continued to run for the parking garage.
”Why are we in such a rush?” I followed right behind her.
Hope sprinted down the isles of the parking garage, and then slid over the hood of one of the cruisers. She dropped down and jumped into the driver’s seat in one smooth motion. “Because our runners managed to backtrace remnant code. Anyone with high enough permission could’ve seen it.”
I got her point immediately. The traitor could’ve also seen it. It was a race against time to get to Lavender before he could get out, or before the Crusade turncoat could get to him first. I slid into the passenger seat next to her.
Hope didn’t even wait for the door to close before screeching out of the parking spot and through the parking garage. Her lights flashed on, and the siren wailed from the top of the cruiser.
I buckled myself into the seat. “Where’s Dev?”
”He took a relief squad of Knights to Joshua in Sunderland.” Hope glanced at the rearview mirror and slammed on the gas. “Joshua ran into issues with a biofuel corporation while tracking the source of Lavender’s chemicals.”
“Just us, then?” Sunderland… If I never saw that town again, it’d be too soon. Or anything around there, to be honest. Bad memories haunted that place.
”And a couple trusted Knights.” Hope drove the Cruiser and roared down the streets of Aythryn City. Pedestrians and traffic alike pulled away, giving us the narrowest windows to fly through. “We’re strictly non-lethal.”
”Chek—look out!” I grabbed onto the oh-shit handle above the window as a box truck pulled out into the intersection ahead of us.
“I see it.” Hope pulled the handbrake to lock up the rear tires. Then she smoothly pulled into a drift through the intersection with tires screeching loudly. We slid right next to the box truck, momentarily went onto two wheels, and then slammed back down and sped away.
I felt my heart drop down into my stomach. The Crusade could definitely benefit from Roughriders. Blue Crusade Inc’s flyers were quite limited outside of the Waymakers, and the flying tanks weren’t deployed casually. It’d be much safer for the citizens if the Blue Crusade wasn’t on the roads, too. And me. I wouldn’t have a heart attack if Hope wasn’t on the roads.
I pulled out my phone and lifted it to my ear to hide my conversation with Luna. I reached out to the girl through the Packheart Rings. “You hear me?”
”Y-yeah.” Her voice came back a few seconds later. “I-Iris is all set… I’m stuck in the waiting r-room.”
”You free to help me out with something?” I pressed the phone to my ear with my shoulder and pulled out a Dragonfly with Hidden Hands. I subtly activated the micro drone and hid it just inside of my collar.
“Oh…” My HUD flashed, and the crescent moon symbol Luna liked to use appeared at the bottom of it. A minimap popped up in the top right of the HUD, and then faded to a more transparent tone. “W-why are we in a Crusade Cruiser?”
“I’ll explain later.” I glanced at Hope. She was totally focused on driving. Still, I dropped my voice to the faintest whisper I could. “Grab my bike and fly it to meet us.”
“Y-yeah, I can do that.” After a few moments, she asked hesitantly, “C-can I remote upload a copy of the auto-pilot and ICE while I’m at it?”
“Chek.” I totally forgot to get that set up. I checked my pocket—the drive was still there. I pulled it out and stuffed it into my bag to be better protected. “Thanks.”
”D-don’t mention it.” Luna updated my HUD once more, though this time with Hope pinged on it with vibrant blue. I dropped my phone back into my hand as our connection faded.
The rest of the drive was equally as chaotic, especially when another Cruiser appeared behind us. Hope’s posture shifted, and she dialed it up from eighty to a hundred without any hesitation. Sure, while she could use the excuse that we needed to get there first to make sure no accidents happened, the excitement pouring off of her while we raced the other cruiser was evident.
The speed demon behind the wheel finally started to slow and we pulled up to an abandoned water processing facility on the far north side of Little Yukoto. The large, blocky sign on top of the building was peeling and faded to the point I couldn’t read it. I knew the place though—I knew almost every place in Aythryn City thanks to Eidetic Schematic.
“Let’s rock.” Hope kicked open the door to the cruiser and jumped out of the car. She rounded the back to grab her gear, and tossed me a rifle. It was a KS Squire-14, the one with the ‘recoilless’ barrel. A quick swipe of Technical Expertise revealed this one had been modified with an internal suppressor.
”What happened to the nonlethal approach?” I checked the mag and pulled back the charging hammer to make sure it was ready to go.
”Gel rounds. Your report indicated a lack of chrome, so they should be effective.” She checked her armor, and then pulled out a pump shotgun. Just as the other cruisers were starting to pull up around the place, she slammed the trunk shut and moved for the front doors of the place. Her trench coat billowed out around her, and her brilliant silver inquisitor armor flashed in the ambient neon.
I glanced toward our fellow Crusaders and eyed each of them. Most of them were probably fine, but any one of them could be a traitor in hiding. I let loose a dozen Dragonflies. “You see me, Luna?”
”R-roger.” The Dragonflies spilled out and scattered. I checked my HUD—my bike was also on the way over. Once it got here, I’d have access to more cams and my lovely Fireflies too.
“Watch them too.” I nodded back to the Crusaders spilling out of their cars and quickly followed after Hope. Lavender wasn’t the biggest concern while we were in there. A knife to the back could come at any moment.