“I think I'm going to need a shot of neuros,” said Joel.
“Is it that hard to believe, Glicker?” asked Wednesday, “So much so that your first reaction is to think about stimulants?”
“Damn it, Wednesday, what you just told me shits all over every known law of physics,” replied Joel.
“We live in a world where supernatural beings and magic exist, and you've witnessed this on multiple occasions... and you still believe that the laws of scientific order are nothing more than mere suggestions?”
“In Joel's defense, the idea that the firmness of reality can be shaken by a metaphorical sneeze is one of those things that can choke the minds of more than a few,” Taylor interjected.
Eneit nodded, “Yes, more than one has fallen into madness pondering the matters of the multiverse. Of course, madness is sometimes the preferable state.”
“Oh, I forgot I'm surrounded by Addams...” muttered Joel.
Wednesday smiled, her artificial ceramic face moving almost imperceptibly. “You wouldn't want it any other way,” she said, before refocusing on their surroundings.
The four of them were aboard something Joel had called a “hover.” To Taylor, it was a flying car, and Eneit considered it little less than a magic carriage, even though she was already familiar with the concept of automobiles from her travels to other universes. It was a fairly spacious vehicle, but even so, the tall werewolf felt a little cramped in the back seat with Taylor.
In the front seats, Wednesday held the controls on the right side of the vehicle, driving through the gigantic buildings of the futuristic city with astonishing grace and undoubtedly illegally, as she did not seem to be following any of the routes marked for the other floating vehicles. In the left seat, Joel fiddled with what appeared to be some kind of cannon while his mind was still trying to process that the multiverse was real, that the two people in the back seats were from other universes, and that his best friend and associate had been part of a rescue and assault operation in another reality almost a decade ago.
You know, the usual.
“So... what exactly will this heist involve?” asked Taylor.
“Well, it's nothing complicated. Joel and I have done it before on our own. You're basically extra muscle if things get complicated, but it's also to keep you close. I guess that's preferable for you, given your mission and all, right?”
“Certainly, Lady Wednesday,” said Eneit, “Safeguarding your person is imperative to our endeavor.”
“Cryptojesus,” Wednesday laughed, “No Lady, don't call me that, damn it. Just Wednesday. Or Addams if you really feel formal.”
“You can call her Chrome Bitch if you want,” Joel muttered with a half-smile as he made the final adjustments to the weapon on his lap.
“Only one person has the right to call me that, Glicker. Don’t make me get out the scalpel on your ass. Again.”
Taylor and Eneit exchanged glances. Despite the verbal bile, it was obvious that there was an old camaraderie between the two individuals sitting in front of them.
Taylor leaned forward again, still having doubts about the gig. “What exactly are we going to do? Steal something?”
“More like stealing someone,” Wednesday replied, nodding toward the outside. “See that?”
Taylor and Eneit looked out the window to their right. Between the buildings, they could see a sort of metal infrastructure snaking its way between the enormous towers of concrete, steel, and glass, supported by supports on the skyscrapers and floating platforms.
“Is that what I think it is?” asked the Hyde.
“Rails,” replied Wednesday, “They use them to transport cargo between the different levels of the city and the outlying areas using armored magnetic wagons.”
“And they also use them to transport prisoners,” continued Joel, “That's what we're interested in.”
§§§
Paul Struycken tried not to let a feeling of claustrophobia and isolation overwhelm him. It wasn't easy.
Only he and another guard, Hart, were in the armored wagon. It was one of the old ones, formerly used for transporting goods but converted into a prisoner transport in the last decade.
The increase in armor and automated security systems had resulted in a reduction in the already cramped interior space.
As if that weren't enough, instead of the classic configuration of transporting a group of prisoners in chains and with restraint collars to neutralize outcast abilities or signals from implants, the interior was almost entirely occupied by a portable cell fitted inside the wagon, leaving barely enough room for the two guards.
Add to that the darkness barely broken by the dim blue lighting inside and the infernal heat generated by all the electronic equipment keeping the cell running, and it was like being in a sardine can inside a microwave.
Struycken felt as if at any moment the walls of the wagon would shrink with a metallic creak and crush him alive.
“Stop being so scared, for fuck’s sake,” said his companion.
Struycken envied Hart a little. The other guard always seemed to be in a perpetual state of irritated indifference. And despite the exceptional nature of that transport outside of normal hours, that situation was no exception for him.
“I'm not scared,” Struycken protested, “It's just that... dammit Hart, this isn't normal.”
“Well, apparently the prisoner is a bit of a VIP for the little freaks,” Hart replied. “A big shot in the insurgency. That's why they've moved her out of the formal circuits and into clandestine custody.”
“Really?” said Struycken, looking at the cell. “Well, she doesn't seem that bad.”
Inside the cell, unconscious in an upright position and held in place by pure silver shackles, was a completely naked female figure. Or perhaps she wasn't naked... it was difficult to determine whether the metal was genuinely an artificial body or some kind of armor grafted onto her person. The only parts that appeared to be organic were her shoulders, neck, and head, adorned with a mane of tousled straw-blond hair.
“She doesn't seem that bad, he says,” Hart scoffed, “God, you really are new to this... that's Enid Sinclair, rookie. The Cutting Wolf.”
“Fuck me, the terrorist? I didn’t know we had her in custody!”
“She was captured two weeks ago. The bigwigs at corpo headquarters have kept it secret because the risk of turning her into a martyr is too high. And they don’t want to disclose her movements to prevent…”
Suddenly, the dim blue lights inside the car went out, plunging it into darkness for a few moments, before a bright red light came on and a shrill alarm began to fill the closed space.
“What the hell...!?” Struycken shouted.
“Damn it!” Hart exclaimed, examining the interface on his helmet visor. “Multiple system failures. Someone is slowing down the car and interfering with the security sensors.”
“But that's impossible. This thing is a closed circuit outside the Network, and even if someone could connect to it, they'd have to break through five barriers of ice to…”
“I don't give a damn, kid, someone did it!” Hart replied. “It must be those damn insurgents. They found out we were moving this bitch. You better get your gun ready because I don't think they're coming here to be nice.”
“Oh God...”
§§§
A few minutes earlier, outside, a hover car sped toward the armored wagon hanging from the floating rails.
“We can maintain this speed, but the problem will be maneuvering to follow the train car if the rails become convoluted or vertical,” Wednesday explained. “So let's take it step by step... Joel, it's your turn.”
The cyborg Addams positioned the car parallel to the train car. Joel opened the door on his side, and the drizzle and pollution gases surrounding them entered the vehicle, causing Taylor and Eneit to cough.
“Agh!”
“Sorry, I know it sucks for newcomers,” Joel said as he wielded the portable cannon he had been preparing. He adjusted a few elements while looking through a scope, aiming at the wagon. “And now… on three, two…”
“Just shoot, damn it!” Wednesday shouted.
Joel fired. A metal sphere erupted from the end of the cannon, fragmenting in midair into what looked like multiple metal discs that stuck to the side of the wagon like magnets.
“Anchors ready, Addams!”
“Very well,” said Wednesday. The dark artificial lenses that were her eyes flashed with an intermittent green glow. If one were to look closely, it might appear as if hundreds of lines of code were being written on them. “We are inside, we should notice it... now.”
The wagon began to slow down.
“What the hell just happened?” asked Taylor.
“Well, to explain it simply for the uninitiated...” Joel began, “Basically, I fired anchors based on a system of nanomachines that graft directly onto the target's internal components, opening a line of access to the Network. This allowed Wednesday to break through the walls of ice that make up the internal security of the host, bypass the sudo systems throughout the local control terminal structure, and gain partial domain over the transport software.”
Taylor and Eneit looked at him as if he had grown three heads.
“Lord Glicker,” said the barbarian princess, “We didn't understand a word of what you just babbled.”
“Never mind, let's move on to the next part,” said Wednesday, maneuvering the hover car around the wagon, descending and moving underneath it to rise again and position it on the other side where one of the wagon entrances was located.
The Addams pressed a series of buttons around the vehicle's controls, and some kind of chain or tether with something like a hook on the end extended from the bottom of the vehicle and attached itself to the underside of the wagon.
“Uh, you've turned the car into a giant metal suckerfish,” said Taylor.
“Excellent observation,” replied Wednesday, opening the hover car doors. “Well, there are at least two guards in there if I didn't mess the readings... What do you say, ladies? Fancy doing some muscle work?”
Taylor patted Eneit on the shoulder as she moved to get out of the vehicle and jump onto the wagon.
“Leave it to me, I need to let off some steam,” said the Hyde, her skin turning gray as her eyes began to grow as disproportionately as her claws.
NOTES
Oh, those poor two bastards... Taylor is going to vent some frustrations with them 😈
Sorry for the delay again, but life is still busy even though I no longer have a cold keeping me lethargic.
You may have noticed that this chapter is quite short, and that's intentional. I've cut out a part that will work better when we return to this side of the story, and also because I'm going to try to speed up the pace in the next batch of chapters, returning to shorter text to see if that way I can increase the frequency and sense of urgency that should be starting to take shape.
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