I_L: Chapter 4

 

The varying rainbow lights dazzled the club in a never stopping shower of colorful rays, illuminating everyone at the Pixi Shiek to freely rave and rant drunk. Marching in was a small crowd of individuals that drew wandering eyes sizing up the seedy folk. Blackbox rubbed her sleek hands along her catsuit and turned a pose. "Looks like we're popular." She remarked. The Merchant was already eyeing the bar counter, plates of food seeming like a blessing to her at the moment. "Oh they hate Upper Realms. But they gotta deal with it, no one wants their dirty laundry looked at by making a scene. " She slid onto a bar stool and several other sitters. "Hey, can we get some privacy here? I'm onto you.." She reached from her pocket and slid a few coins there way, prompting them to take the money and leave the bar station. "Negotiating the merchandise. The easiest job this side of Xi."

Noelle was strangely somber, having barely made much chipper exchange since the ordeal back in the Martian desert. "Good to hear you're so attuned to your Responsibilities." she said, sitting next to her and eyeing the woman as if conspiring.

"Didn't take you as one to celebrate like this." Ragnor put up eight fingers to the droid tender and nudged her head.

"I know. I just thought it'd be best if I checked myself into somewhere I can breathe. This place isn't really the place I want to be right now." She said, her voice more serious. "Any luck finding the suspect I mentioned in my report?" She asked Blackbox, who refused to look at her.

"The Data analysis did show Tachyon energy signals. The luminaryian test is a work in progress. Luckily I've had lots of help from my old analyst team. They're processing things slowly." She paused. "Still doesn't explain the, wild inconsistencies in your story. But I've spared no expense to get to the truth."

Without being able to see her face or expression, Noelle couldn't get a good read on the slick gimped woman.

"Don't work yourself too hard, chief. You need to booze up and live a little somewhere!" Brick said, raising a glass before chugging.

Theabelle scooted close to Noelle. "Are you sure you don't remember anything from before, way back?" she asked.

The girl scratched her ears. Of all the very difficult conversations she'd had with her new crew, Theabelle always seemed to top her list. And there never seemed to be a good time to find out her angle. "No, amnesia doesn't really clear up so suddenly like that."

"How long have you been like this?" Brick asked, patting Thea. Noelle sighed. "Three years."

"You should hire a private investigator, Miss Noelle." The Merchant teased. The merchant slid onto the bar stool next to Theabelle and Blackbox. "Not here though. I have these two friends, they'll look the other way and just tell them to get lost. They won't get involved in shady business." She winked at them facetiously.

Meeks arrived, having been late prior. She joined the group and sat about three stools away, not taking her eye off Noelle.

"You sound like.."

 

⍟

 

She was a full hour out in the Green Swamp when her comlink buzzed. "Static."

The voice on the small metal speaker in her ear said. Noelle, the real Noelle moved along, the cliffside walls, spraying herself with the chemical agent she'd brought to keep off the simian bloodhounds. Her tele-bonded body a few planets away seemed to convince the rabble, she did her job. Noelle had to stay ahead of these schemes if she was going to get down to the truth. The blues and greens of the massive swamp grew oversized leafy fauna which created a dense network of Cattails and Lilypads, extending miles and miles over the atmosphere and thick crust, one of the few natural environments on Earth that was merely considered a wastedump.

She kept on going until she saw the familiar, blackened hulk of an augmented figure in the distance, guarding a circular gated tower towering above the mucky marsh.

The spotted her and she put both her hands up. "We've got a visitor," said a tiny, far away voice in her ear into his speaker. They raised their rifles at her.

"Hold on. Take me into the fold. You're with the P.F.A., right?" She held up the arrowhead

for him to see.

The suited figure came close and scanned her artifact with a handheld device and watched the

data come in. "The Oscine of Agent Pendergast? These old agents really get around.." "I've got an A grade specimen. Come on. Let me in."

He moved the device around and nodded as he read the data and then confirmed on his comm.

Noelle could see the gate being opened. The ground shuddered and the walls of the tower trembled.

"Do you know what they think you are?"

 

"What?" Noelle asked, leaning against the edge of the fence to talk with him, her left

 

hand

 

and wrist resting on the rough, damp brick. "Do tell."

 

"They think you're a god. That's what this place is, a sanctuary for god and devil worshippers," the soldier explained. She let out a breath and pulled out her Volt pistol, a cheap 55 gigavolts. He raised the weapon and she drew her own. "Are you really an Agent? What are you talking about?"

"Oh? You think it’s a coincidence you just ended up here? I'm just a security detail." She rolled her eyes. "Come on." She motioned. "Let me through."

The gate opened. She stepped into the complex, past a pair of soldiers who stood at attention and saluted her. They were both women, and their hair was short and shaved into identical buzz cuts.

The soldier in charge stopped and looked down at Noelle. "Welcome to this hallowed ground. Paramor Frontia United had been awaiting you."

⍟

 

 

 

 

"That one you get in a fight with your brother over scraps of canned nutrigen. And that one, momma gave me when I tried to join the lil ratpacks out in the wastepiles. Trust me, those boys went running like you wouldn't believe when she showed up and shanked our leader" The scars on his buff abs, pointed to one by one as if they were trophies only seemed to stretch when he flexed. "That's what you get for growing up as a scavenger among the poor and damned. You learn to fend for yourself pretty quick." Brick slammed his mug on the table, clearly hung over.

The Merchant laughed amusingly, placing large bills into his tanktop. "Ohoho my! Spare me no detail, I'm always fascinated by partners in crime." Her eyes turned to Ragnor.

Ragnor scratched her head, throwing her chunky well-built arms around Brick and smiling warmly. "We weren't really partners, just acquaintances with benefits. Sometimes he robbed me, this lug." She shook him and pulled his jaw from the table. "When the recruiter came and asked if there was anyone I recommended, there's no one I'd rather have by my side than this scoundrel." She looked a little closer. "Although, I haven't actually slept with this guy yet." She giggled and kissed him on the scarred cheek, letting him go.

"Well well, look who is alive and well and ready to go work on the rails again," the Merc said, placing a generous amount of bills into his mug. "But you know, when you're a woman of your stature, you don't need to be told that twice. I'm guessing you grew up same situation as him? A ragmuffin? Rags to riches to bulk and glitter?"

Ragnor took a seat opposite Brick and held up her cup. "Nah, I actually grew up a daughter of a Wastelot Patrol Officer. Little better off, not exactly wealthy tho. We were kinda playing cops and robbers since we were brat! But well, we still grew up the same anyway. We had each other's back and we'd do anything for one another. I mean, it's been twenty years since I put my pants on, if it wasn't for him I'd be shacking up the homeless or working to bust down the drug trade. He doesn't get what I did so I don't judge. I didn't mind what he did, so I didn't either. I didn't get to make friends until I was eighteen and he was just as alone as me. We grew up and we've been oddly on and off together since, running into each other at every turn." She raised her brawny arms as if celebrating. "And yet, here we are!"

Meeks sipped a milkshake, eyeing Noelle who seemed rather passive in the conversation.

 

Her antlers seemed to vibrate slightly, she never took her eyes off the Inspector.

 

⍟

 

 

 

 

The soldier lead Noelle through an elevator briefly, before guiding her across steel corridors. The berets of the other guards were never off, their rifles always pointed up perfectly perpendicular to the floor per their wielder’s stance. Her guard led her through it without a word, finally reaching a set of swinging doors.

"Floors look nice and waxed." Noelle said whistling. She found herself in a large, open hangar, filled with crates, pallets and all kinds of other mechanical devices. Everything a group of dissidents could want for starting an armed revolution.

"Stay here. We were ordered to accommodate your presence, but only if the right Pillar is in." He told her, before stepping thru the swinging doors. She could see a large foyer on the other side before it swung closed.

"Waiting is a terrible thing, ain't it chief." Noelle turned around to see a host in the guise of a pirate. "And you are?"

⍟

 

 

 

 

"Nyx Blackwater. Thee Nyx Blackwater, famed pirate of the Hadron quadrant? Didn't think I'd see you face to face." A woman in a black longcoat, purple partially-shaved hair, a fancy corsair's hat with a thorny bone out the top. She bit her fingers, teething the fabric of the mauve gloves and leaving her other hand on her crimson corset.

"You've been hired to do a private detective job for a very mysterious personage. She wants you to go get info on a mysterious person by the name of Pawn. Find out what she's doing and how she's doing it. If you don't find anything, kill her. All I know about you is the PFU wants you for some reason, even one of the Pillars." She folded her arms. "Not me though."

Noelle was startled, taking a step back. "Am I to interpret that correctly?" Nyx nodded.

 

"You're a.. Pillar of PFU? The founder of the Larcenists Guild, wanted vagabond. You're one of the 4 leading PFU?"

"Of course, I'm perfect. Why wouldn't I be?"

 

"What I mean to ask is.. why you? Aren't you a criminal?" Noelle didn't feel coming here was the right decision suddenly. Nyx, from what she remembered was a violent warlord wanted for war crimes. Even if the PFU were made of unsavory types, the thought that the ones who stood the most to resist the continued reign of Xi were all crooks didn't bode well with her.

"No. Just the opposite. I'm the daughter of a war hero. My father was an upstanding member in the galactic militia. He's now one of the Upper Realms council members. He's the last man I know to try to get the PFU to leave this planet, and get me to leave this life. But I'd prefer to be a pirate if you didn't mind. It's more fun." She shrugged, pulling her hat to the opposite side for a bit. "But that said.. nobody ruled that pirates cannot be freedom fighters."

"Terrorists." Noelle corrected.

 

Nyx took out an electrical sword, the circuits dancing around the tip. She stabbed it into

the

 

wall, catching Noelle off-guard, eyes dilating. "All we all grownups here?" She asked.

Noelle rolled her eyes, she didn't even want to justify that with a response. "I've met people with no heart. They're the worst type. No ideals, no passion, no purpose. The Blackwater pirates provide plenty of weapons, manpower and resources for the PFU. It's not my fault you're on the payroll of our target." She put one hand against the wall, trapping Noelle within her personal space.

"So.. this Pawn. The mystery woman, how does she fit in?"

Nyx shrugged. "I couldn't say. Pawn is just an alias, as far as I know."

 

"Huh.." Noelle peaked through the crack of the Foyer-door. Noelle heard the guard say something to his commander, who nodded his head. The guard said something to a heavyset woman in a white tuxedo, and cloak covering her head and face along with slick bandages. By her side was a muscular woman with mechanical gloves, boots, belt-utilities and another with a beige-bodysuit and plague mask shaped like a bird.

"That's.. Dagda the Great Mother, of Dowel Robotics? And White Talon of the Osprey crime family? What's an A.I.M. entrepreneur and a Crime boss doing together here." She could see another group of individuals in the room, waiting with their hands folded. No one she recognized, but she took note of every one of their appearances, they seemed to be held up on leather couches as if waiting.

"My friends, my sistren. The Pillars that form the spearhead of the revolution." Nyx grinned, grabbing Noelle and pulling her back forcibly from the door.

"Three of the four heads of a resistance movement are just corrupt despots and petty powerseekers. That doesn't bode well for your organization."

"She's waiting out there." A guard said. He gestured to the door.

 

The two woman inside the foyer seemed to whisper to each other, and then the Pillars turned back to the guard. "Preparations aren't complete yet. Let her go." The guard nodded and started to head back towards where Noelle was.

She could hear the footsteps. "Looks like your time here is up. Remember, find Pawn." Nyx ordered her, slipping a digilink into her pocket.

"W-wait, they said they were expecting me. You weren't the one that put in that order?" Noelle asked.

Nyx smirked and started to slide back into another automated door. "Nope. And as far as everyone here knows.. I was never here." And promptly vanished as the door closed. The guards the next moment tapped Noelle on the shoulder.

The guards quickly followed her back to the elevator, taking her back to the first floor.

 

They escorted her out to a huge set of steel doors. "I'm not one for getting into another's business, but..." The guard stood silent. "Why did you need me then, just to get rid of me?" There was a pause, a nonresponse, and then the guard went the other way and pulled the hatch to close up.

The air smelled faintly of ozone, as it always did in the swamp Noelle was left with.

 

⍟

 

 

 

 

"You? A LAMIE?" Ragnor chortled, rubbing Brick's drunken passed out body as he lay on the counter. "You did the thing. The screen gawking, hunched basement dwelling treacherous dance of the ne’er-do-wells."

Blackbox folded her arms. She looked in a compact mirror and with a tap of her finger, the reflection turned pitchblack.

"I think that's kinda cool.. I heard those guys can doxx even company netchannels." Theabelle sipped a cup of hot cocoa, before throwing her head upside down on her stool and giving herself a spin. "They can do a lot more than that. They're pretty useful in the bigger

scheme of things." The Merchant said, leaning over the counter abit to eye Blackbox from the side.

Meeks sipped through a straw, the strobelights bouncing an assortment of colors out her face. She only seemed to pay attention to Noelle, whose face was planted on the counter and acting as if in rest. Her ears and antlers flopped every few moments, increasing the look of scrutiny her face gave off. "Used to be part of L.A.M.E.R. Too." She slurped loudly, catching the others attention. "Not long. A few months. Picked up some tricks, found it wasn't for me." She sighed, going over and pacing back and forth around Noelle. "L.A.M.E.R was formed by grassroots Netboards and channels looking to hunt for digital traces of XIMAS, mostly by amateur hackers and computer nerds. Lotta gaming hobbyists too. They grew unexpectedly into an anonymous community. SLRRRRP. That kind of talent and utility doesn't escape authorities."

Thea scratched her head "XIMAS? I don't know much about that. That's like.. Pre-Xi history right?"

Meeks waddled over to Theabelle and huggled close, sharing a stool while warming herself by Thea's tiny body.

"So some say. L.AM.E.R. was looking for answers." She sniffled abit.

 

"They've been searching since 818 for clues, looking into the digital backstreets and the dark wifi corners. But everytime they get a lead, it disappears, or is erased by something or someone. They don't even know what or where XIMAS is anymore. Not for sure. Whatever it is now, it can doubtfully be said to have anything to do with its historical origin. So they sent in their top minds to try and find answers, and eventually formed their own group of nerdy

likeminded professionals, so they could help one another." She nodded to Thea. "They've been operating for over a decade, quietly, pretty sure Xi uses them to try to sniff out any artificial radical quotient that survives." She stroked Thea's head gently and thoroughly. "Not that I'd know. Never made it too far with those geekwads."

Meeks turned her attention back to Noelle, never taking her eye off her. Thea continued. "So they packed you out? They don't trust you or? Huh."

Fidgeting she nodded. "I mean, I have some contacts, but, a newbie dealing with XIMAS is like an eagle with fish. I don't even know where to begin. It's like the whole town keeps a blind eye. So.. yeah. I was just a teen, I didn't really have any place with a group like that. Denipol really only recruits the best and brightest among the anonymous group, it's not that easy to find someone with their skill level." The two gave pause, and everyone silently eyed Blackbox. "Unless.. you're her I guess."

The Merchant strut back from doing a short dance with some club patrons, no harm no

 

foul.

 

"Oh by the way, that's not at all. Gal used to work for S.P.A.R.T.A.. You ever seen a flamehog astral itself in a stampede up close? I bet that chic has seen a flaming ghosthog."

Thea propped up again from her seat. "S.P.A.R.T.A.??"

 

Ragnor patted her on the head. "The Never agents. They handle spooks, from what I can hear. The kind of stuff you only hear in ghost stories or rumours online."

"OOo, wait so Blackbox used to be some prodigy computer hacker and then they were, someone real spooky who hunted supernatural stuff?" The group went silent and turned towards her.

"She was just a geek, a regular computer-geek until some big-shot ghost hunter paid her to go ghost hunting with him, or something like that, and she got sucked in somehow." The Merchant added, raising her hand to the tender to refill her glass.

Blackbox sighed.

 

"You all do a lot of talking."

 

"You don't." The Merchant chirped.

 

"Who's your friend?" The gimped lady asked.

 

"Hm?" Behind the Merchant were three rubbery figures muffled still. Around them, projected a pigtailed girl shaking her hips and dancing to the beat of the club. "That's just Rosalita. Surprised you don't recognize her. Not into Popstars?" The girl in the pigtails went skipping and singing. Her body was covered in pink and orange flickering glow, and her outfit was mostly white. Underneath her right boot, a large heart-shaped logo was pinned to her leg.

Rosalita winked at Brick. He tried to nod. Brick's eyes rolled back in his head. He let out a snore and splayed out on the counter drunk, where he had slept for hours.

"Yeah, I've seen her on those ads, I guess." Thea said.

 

"That's her dance. It's her signature move. She came up with it for her commercials, or something. It's pretty cool.. Say Blackbox, why didn't you tell us you used to hunt spooks?"

Behind the Merchant, Blackbox was getting the gist of things. She took her attention away from the holographic idol AI and turned back to Thea.

"I just, I want to know if I'll get into trouble when the people I'm workin' for find out what I've been doin'."

Thea nodded and giggled abit. Blackbox glanced down at her boots, but decided to keep her thoughts to herself. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I was just tryin' to make a living."

 

Thea giggled and leaned into the counter.

 

"That's pretty cool. I like a girl with a mysterious past, myself." She jumped up on the counter and scooted her butt, clearing some of the glasses to lay back.

"What of yours?" Blackbox asked.

 

"..........oh... mine?" She pondered it for a second. "...I wonder.."

 

⍟

 

 

 

 

Noelle sat on a rock, watching the entrance. A flurry of thoughts breezed through her mind, and at this point had resigned to quietly listening to the metal piece in her ear, idle gossip from planets away playing from the underground. Details about Blackbox, the conversation Meeks and Theabelle were having, the gentle rustling of affection she could overhear between the two. She turned it down and picked up her pocket Compt, quietly watching the gate while connecting to another private office.

Dr. Dessner could be seen in her lab, broadcasted from the compact. With black hair in a smooth ponytail and brown eyes, she dressed elegantly in a skintight white labcoat.

"So," Noelle said, "You finally figured out what the strange gel I brought from the Mine

 

does?"

 

Dessner looked over her shoulder, holding her Compt away from her. She spoke carefully, "No, but I have an inkling where it came from."

Noelle smiled. "Well, that's good, right?"

The doctor paused, and gave Noelle a stiff frown. "You're gonna wanna sit down." "This is a scan," Dessner said, pulling out a small round projector, "it can pinpoint any

bio-spectra anywhere." Dessner pulled up a chart on her Compt.

 

"In the middle, you'll see a large dot. That's your bio-mech, that's you." Dessner said, holding it up to the wall. She then pointed to some other smaller dots on the chart. "These are readings of the Gel you brought. They're.." she looked away from her Compt, as if dreading to speak less the wrong ears hear. "The same. Whatever you brought from the mine, it's a perfect match."

Noelle felt lightheaded, "How is it possible?"

 

She typed in some numbers into her Compt. "I'm trying to find out how, but, I'm not really expecting to have to. The techs we sent in were unable to figure it out. So, we're just going to assume your mech's bio is the only one that could do it. We have several parts, and you have to let it take shape. All the information from that gel is in your Compt."

The inspector was speechless. "I'll update you more when I run some tests, this stuff is kind of fascinating. You know an X-Kompanie would kill for this kind of discovery."

Noelle got another contact messaging in. Her heart skipped a beat. "How did you.. know?"

"Noelle, what's going on?" Meeks said, full of concern. "Your doppelganger is a little preoccupied. Off on your own private ventures are you?"

She tilted her Comp, revealing the other Noelle carrying Theabelle on her shoulders and dancing on the club floor, making wavy arm movements as if she was in a Vedic Production while Roselita sang next to them. 'Damnit Penelope..'

Noelle got up, heading towards the gate which was opening up. "I'll let you know when I'm free to play."

"You're always free to play, Noelle, you can always get here. You can meet up with us instead of sneaking around. Or maybe I can have a word with the crew and they can meet you."

The individuals who stepped out were the ones she saw in the Foyer through the door cracks, the ones kept waiting while the two Pillars were discussing. A group of eight, whom she moved swiftly to stand in front of. If there was one thing Noelle had convinced herself of, it was that alliances are important.

Noelle felt her blood boil. "Excuse me? I'll come in my own time, not the time when your little girlfriend wants to be a pop star!" She disabled link.

Meeks far off, turned back to Theabelle. "..Girlfriend?"

A girl from the group Noelle was facing turned her head, shining leotard and long silken white hair flowing in a long mane. Noelle recognized her from the WL playbooks, Jennifer "Cutie" Pomeroy. A well-known explosive expert and terrorist, the rest of her group seemingly fitting the mold of miscreants. "Rough day?"

Noelle smiled. "Little softer. Inspector Noelle, nice to meet you."

 

Several of the members immediately raised their guns at her. Noelle was not looking for a fight. In her experience, such were not pleasant.

The girl with the red rubber catsuit and half-mechanized scalp looked annoyed, her head served along with her antennas. "Recently promoted Upper Realms servant Noelle, we know.

We've made sure of it. What do you expect from the likes of us?"

 

"It's cool, I'm good," Noelle said, waving a hand. "Though you could maybe get something for me, instead of shooting me dead."

It was an innocent enough gesture. But the red-suited girl quickly raised her pistol at Noelle. It wasn't clear if she was aiming or waving her arm. The other members all seemed quite calm, though several had already started aiming their weapons.

"What do you want exactly?" The catsuited individual asked. "Same thing you all do. An in."