Chapter 15: The Call One can certainly do one’s level best to prevent people from making calls. The building you’re in may be shielded against transmissions for security purposes, you might have your minions cut all the landlines connecting to the outside world. You could even be killing everyone before they have a chance to react. All that can work to a point.
But the offices on the outside of the building still have windows, which don’t have as much shielding, and everyone has a cell phone.
Cybele had just about turned in for the night when her phone had gone off. She had briefly considered smashing the damned thing, and the load groan from her husband told her that she wouldn’t find disagreement from him. Eventually she grunted and grabbed the thing from her nightstand.
Before she could answer her husband’s embrace, tightened, “Do you have to Belle? There are other people they could call in you know.”
She sighed at let a feline purr roll over her and into him, “I know that dear” She said with a sigh, then brought the phone to her ear, “Agent, Nyx”
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The watcher stretched her arms and legs, trying to work out as many kinks as she could and get the blood flowing right to her muscles. She had been held, rather uncomfortably, immobile in the vice like grip of a stubborn piece of industrial equipment since yesterday after all.
The other two in the room vulpine guard named Sam and of course Atasi, were very pointedly looking in all directions other than at the watcher as she stretched her muscles back to operation, and both were evidently suppressing a blush.
“Next we get my stuff” The watcher answered, “So where is it? not in this room”
Sam offered his thoughts this time, “Well its in another lab, but… I mean a golden sword is nice and all, but against zombie hoards…”
“It’s a lot more than just a sword” The watcher interjected. She didn’t quite remember ordering her multitool to assume the form of a sword, but she also didn’t fully remember her capture due to the drugs, “It can change shape, whate..ver I need”
“Like a turret mounted machine gun?”
“Well no. No com..ple…cated insides.” The watcher was getting used to the whole talking thing, but longer words sometimes took more effort still, so simple speech was probably best, “Can shoot barbs. Pick locks…”
“Electrocute me” Atasi interjected, apparently getting her urge to blush and look away mostly under control, and had cycled back to the fact that the watcher was in fact quite the stalker too.
“Sorry. Stabbed, Power strip. To get away.”
“Still you were in my room for weeks, when I was studying.. when I was .. changing.
“Well fair’s fair I guess. You had me kid…napped, and now that you can see me it seems I’m as undress….essssss…sed as I can be” The watcher spread her arms and wings, and Atasi’s blush came back, “Sorry, but we have to get out right now. You can yell at me later, I promise”
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Agent Cybele Nyx knew she would regret taking the call. Just as much as she knew that she wouldn’t be able to ignore it. She wriggled out from her husband’s grasp and stood, briefly stretching and shaking out her long white hair over her black and silver feline body. Her fur was a bit ruffled by her husband, he was one of the only being allowed to do that, for a Lykoi, keeping her fur looking well kept and presentable was a challenge. She rose to it of course, as she had with her job.
Cybele was a fed. Working cases that crossed state lines, smuggling, trafficking, large scale fraud, and the like were her normal fair. The call that had interrupted her sleep was for an alleged hostage situation at Medical Mechanica.
The dispatcher said that the caller wasn’t making much sense but was clearly terrified and said that they were trapped in the building with some sort of dangerous group. She could tell by the tone of the dispatcher’s voice that they weren’t so sure how reliable the caller was, but they had to check it out. Regular cops would be called too of course, but given that Medical Mechanica was far from the usual place some robber would stick up. Some sort of prosthetics company from that she was told, helping put people back together after debilitating injuries, and fairly out of town. Someone would have to go out of their way to pull anything there, and there wouldn’t be large amount of cash just lying around either.
“I’ll be there” She said hanging up after getting the address and stretching, then strolling around the dimly lit bedroom slowly pulling clothes out of drawers and tossing them on the bed. She made a point of bending a bit more than she needed to for the basic purpose of retrieving the articles. She knew her husband would appreciate it.
The striped black and bronze, explosion of fluff was indeed smiling from under the covers. That man could certainly wear out a brush, but at least he never needed to worry about supply. “You think you’ll be back for breakfast?” He asked, with his eyes on her rump.
“Hard to say, depends on how real this is, I’ll be exhausted either way”
“You could use a vacation babe”
“You always say that” She finished collecting her clothes and came over to give her man a kiss, “But you know I have to.”
He returned the kiss running his hand down her side in a poor attempt to smooth out the fur he ruffled before, but it was still a nice gesture, “Oh my Belle. I know, and I’d say be careful, but you do have two goddesses on your side huh? ‘Cybele Nyx’.” He smirked as she rolled her eyes.
“yes, haha, ‘Hector’.” She smirked back. “you have enough to feed her when she wakes up?”
They both turned to look at the crib set up by their bed and the quiet snoozing puffball inside of it, “I think there should be enough, and formula if I need”
“Well I’ll give myself a pump on the way out so you have fresh. See you as soon as I can” She gave her husband another kiss then gently leaned into the crib to plant one on their daughter without waking her, before getting ready to head out.
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Three sets of eyes peered out through a slightly cracked door.
“You think they’re gone?” Atasi asked.
“I don’t sense any nearby” The watcher offered.
“You can feel them?” Sam asked.
“Yes. they are demons. I can feel their malice, its all over the building, but none nearby.”
“They looked like zombies to me”
“They are possessed. Demons don’t normally have bodies, so they took the ones you made.”
“So no zombie plague?” Sam asked eyeing his bite wound from earlier.
“no zombie plague” The watcher assured him.
“Just a demon plague”
“If we can’t stop it then yes. Demon plague is possible.”
Atasi stepped in, “Can you two, like, not? I’m freaked out enough. Now where’s her sword?”
“Few labs over. If its really clear we can be there fast enough. I can get us in” Sam said
“Good” The watcher said, “lead the way”
“Wha. me lead? out there?”
“You’re the one who knows where it is! and you have a gun.” The watcher gave him a sharp kick in the rear pushing him out into the hall, “Lead”
“Ow ok I got it.” Sam’s hands were shaking a bit as he gripped his service weapon in a death slowly crept down the hall with the watcher behind him, and Atasi behind her. The lab really wasn’t far and a few minutes later the trio was by the door with Sam scanning his credentials.
“Authentication Error”
Sam tried again.
“Authentication Error”
“I thought you said you had access!” Atasi hissed.
“I DO, its not denying me, it says error, like it can’t tell if I’m allowed in or not.”
“Why would that be?”
“The phones don’t work either” The watcher offered, “could that be related?”
“Fuck” Sam exclaimed, “if the server’s down it can’t check my card…”
“So how do we get in? shoot the lock?”
“Solid steel”
“Hmm. let me talk to it” The watcher said and shoved up next to Sam
“Talk to it?” Both Sam and Atasi said in chorus
“ya I can... like… convince some machines to do what I want. With the server down it might even be easier” The watcher placed her hands on the sides of the lock and concentrated on it. “Just buy time”
Sam was about to reply but he heard a clicking growl sound at the edge of hearing, and it was growing louder. Atasi pressed herself against the door and Sam drew his gun in wait.
The first one around the corner wasn’t so big a deal. A half built torso of some exhumed body. It only took one shot to make it stop moving. The next ones took a bit more to stop, but the hall was long enough that Sam had time to shoot. “Oh hurry. oh please hurry.” He chanted squeezing off more of his limited ammo supply.
The watcher was working as best she could. The lock was complicated and more concerned with the nonexistent server than much else, but she was flipping bits and trying to calm it down enough to get it opened. At least Sam’s shots were buying her time. At least till they stopped. Risking a glance to the side she very quickly saw why Sam had stopped shooting.
It was Jamison. Very strong emphasis on ‘was’ Jamison. Sam’s fellow guard hadn’t made it too far it seemed, but was still standing, sans left arm and what looked like a modified signal repeater smashed halfway through is skull.
“Jamison. is tha…”
“NO The watcher, nearly screamed, “Its not. even if it says it is, just shoot it. I’m almost done!”
“Hey buddy” not-Jamison said, “How about you put that gun down and we can both get out of here”
“S-stay back” Sam stammered leveling his gun at his former partner.
Not Jamison didn’t try again, just charged. Sam squeezed off several shots. two went wild and some more hit, but Not-Jamison, while slowed, was still coming rather fast, and the next shot fired left behind a soft metallic click as Sam was now completely out of ammo.
“Fuck….” Was about all Sam managed as his not-Jamison bore down on him. Teeth bared and good arm up ready for an attack. An attack that was short circuited a bit by the bony joint of a large feathered wing colliding with the attacker’s jaw and sending not-Jamison tumbling.
“Try your card again. It should take any credentials now” The watcher shouted, putting her self between the others and the things. Not Jamison wasn’t the only one left and even punching with both arms, and both wings she would have a hard time keeping up, but not much else to do right now.
While Sam fiddled with the door a crawling monstrosity took a kick to the head hard enough to crack the glass of its cyberware. Another took a right hook to its neck and She kept whacking not-Jamison with her wing to keep him down.
“I GOT IT!” Sam called.
“Access granted”
Atasi was through the door as fast as she could, Sam was right behind her, and with one last sweep of her wings to slow down the pursuers the watcher rushed in as well punching the lock computer hard on the way, ensuring it wouldn’t work for any of their pursuers once the door was closed.
Luckily Sam was able to slam it closed as soon as the watcher dove in, sprawling onto the floor.
Sam was out of ammo and bleeding. Atasi looked like she was more than ready to vomit and or piss herself, and they had little if anything of a plan on what to do next, but a the other side of the room on a lab bench was a solid gold Claymore. It seemed as happy to see the watcher as she was to see it as it practically leapt off the table and flew into her hands.
