Shadow Dragon
Dezuel
Ravion the Red
AtomicNut
Ariamis
Not a Sayan
FaithfulMuse
Iwannabeyours
Divorarel
I sure hope this debriefing doesn't take too long.
-Ashley Avenir
-Ashley Avenir
Another operation down, and another member too.
The briefing room was starting to feel empty. Just a few weeks ago, Angelie would be cracking jokes, Estelle would be spacing out, and Finn would be trying and failing to hold himself together. But they weren’t here anymore. They had replacements, but how long would they last?
The briefing room was empty. Only Mika was present. She hadn’t bothered to shower or change her clothes. Himiko’s jacket sat on her shoulders while she waited for the post mission briefing to begin. Her phone was in her hand, but she wasn’t looking at it.
Ashley, now back in her mundane form, slowly entered the briefing room and sat down a fair distance away from Mika, her face set in an expression of weary resignation. Even though she was out of her battered esper state, the Knight of Tomorrow still felt like someone well over three times her age. Her completely unharmed, actual body may have been in healthy, well-rested condition, but her mind, and, more importantly, her spirit, ached with a soreness so all-pervasive, it left her feeling as if she was about to collapse on the spot. Yes, this was a wound of the soul, one which threatened to pull her into the deepest depths of hopelessness and despair.
The high-tech heroine knew that she should have been relieved that the recent mission had ended with little to no damage inflicted upon the city’s infrastructure and zero civilian deaths, and a part of her was. However, another part knew with dreadful certainty that the events of the past few hours had served as the catalyst for the creation of several potential threats, none of which she or her team had been able to prevent. Indeed, one of them was a former teammate himself. Finn’s presence on the mission had been her call, and now she couldn’t help but wonder if anything would have changed if she’d refused to let him come along. Even though she knew second guessing her choices was pointless at this stage, the Knight of Tomorrow couldn’t keep herself from pondering all the myriad “what ifs”. She didn’t know for certain, but she was pretty sure Mika was probably doing the same thing, albeit while mentally berating Ashley for her poor leadership.
I never asked for this… I never wanted to have this kind of responsibility. After all, I know more than anyone how unqualified I am for it…
Still, as she glanced over at Mika, her attention was drawn to the jacket the young agent was wearing. The feline-themed girl had been wearing it ever since the conclusion of the operation, having caught it in mid-air as it was blown by the storm’s harsh winds. For some reason Ashley hadn’t been able to name, it had seemed somewhat familiar, although, as she continued to gaze at it, memories finally began to click into place. She had seen it before, on the freelancer Mika had brought in for questioning. Sovereign… If memory served, Mika had never thought particularly highly of the money-obsessed blonde, and Ashley couldn’t really blame her. Yet, now, here she was wearing her jacket like some memento of a cherished friend. Or maybe claiming the jacket was Mika’s way of taking revenge on the freelancer for all the humiliations and annoyances the blonde had put her through. Regardless, it didn’t really matter one way or the other, and Ashley’s gaze returned to the floor once more as she waited for Director Moller to arrive.
It would be a long wait though. Raven was getting looked over, and the miko twins probably were too. Dr Moller was usually punctual but tended to be lackadaisical when it came to showing up after an operation. Perhaps it was simply all the things she had to get in order before tending to her agents. It was rare for a scientist to be as interested in people as their craft.
Mika glanced at Ashley out of the corner of her eye. "We should have left him, huh?"
Ashley took a deep breath and then exhaled it in a long, tired sigh. “It certainly looks that way,” she replied, her gaze still fixed on the floor.
They really had needed the additional support and, at first, things had actually gone well. Finn had followed instructions and assisted his fellow teammates in a pleasingly capable manner. Indeed, Ashley had begun to hope that the many issues surrounding the troubled teen were finally beginning to sort themselves out. But then, as was so often the case, that hope had completely turned to ash. Now, the young agent was gone, and while the removal of a major discipline problem could perhaps be viewed as a positive outcome, such thinking failed to take into account the very real possibility that the liability they had lost might very well have become an asset waiting to be found…
"It’s okay." Mika looked at her phone. "I thought he would be a fun person to date. Turns out he just likes to trick girls. Guess he did the same thing with you in a way."
Ashley had to admit, she was a bit taken aback by Mika’s response. For a moment, the Knight of Tomorrow just sat wide eyed, her younger subordinate’s statement having completely shattered her dark ruminations. “H-How do you mean?” she finally inquired.
Mika sighed. She put her arm over the back of her seat and turned to Ashley. "He lies." She clarified. "We were showering together the other day. He told me he was going on a date with someone, but he didn’t seem to mind me tagging along. Then when I got there he was with two other girls. At least I think they were both girls. He got really mad at everyone, including me. I was calm and I even drove him there but it was weird." She rested her chin on her arm. "He’s kind of a jerk."
“He’s clearly been going through something,” Ashley replied with a sigh. “Something more than just being harassed by a dream demon. While I didn’t want to pry into his personal life, the effect it was having on his performance during operations was something that needed to be addressed. Yet, every time I tried to talk with him, or even suggest he take time off to sort things out, he would always get so aggressively defensive. And you’re right about the lying,” she added. “Each time he refused to follow orders he promised it would be the last, but it would just keep happening. I truly hoped that after seeing the disastrous results of his insubordination, he would realize why he shouldn’t act so rashly, but I guess it was always a lost cause from the start…”
"I see that on TV all the time. The good girl always wants to make the bad guy change, but he never does." Her head rocked into the crook of her arm, as if it was a pillow.
“Well, I didn’t exactly think he was a bad guy at the time,” Ashley noted pointedly. “He was obviously in trouble and I was just trying to help him.” She was more than a little exasperated by the younger agent’s attempt to find parallels between tv shows and reality, especially since life had proven again and again that such things weren’t even remotely the case. Still, Mika wasn’t exactly the most mature girl, so the high-tech heroine couldn’t really be all that annoyed with her.
"I think we should do something with his girlfriends, Mika declared. “They could be a problem later. The white one talks to Finn nicely, like nicer than you do, and the girl-boy would do anything to get back with him. I don’t want to hurt them.”
“Neither do I,” Ashley agreed. “What did you have in mind?” she inquired, while fervently hoping the other girl wasn’t insinuating taking violent action against the pair. The Knight of Tomorrow doubted that possibility was very likely, but after spending so much time with the violence-obsessed Finn, she didn’t want to take any chances.
“Don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I thought because you were the leader you might have an idea. I’ll have to talk to Frit-Z about it later.” Mika’s eyes hardened. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I don’t think you are very good at the leader thing. You were going to send me away to fight by myself, and I think we probably should have killed the monster that we were ordered to. Even if we failed, I know we could have killed one of those nuns.” She looked away. “But you’re not Finn. At least you don’t blame us for what happens out there.”
Ashley winced. “Look, I never wanted this position, and I’m painfully aware of how unqualified I am,” the Knight of Tomorrow confessed. “But I still do the best I can to complete each mission I’m assigned and ensure the safety of both the city and our team. That said, I don’t recall ever sending you off to fight by yourself,” she added. “I always ensured you had another agent as backup.” Even if that agent was Finn.
“What I meant was with Gemini team mates. I only had Angelie because she insisted on coming with me, but the free lancers were okay I guess…”
“Oh, right…” Ashley replied with another, even more pronounced wince. Yes, the complete clusterfuck of an operation where they’d tried to help Finn with his “dream demon” problem that saw the young agent make things worse at every turn and ultimately ended with GEMINI gaining a new enemy and completely burning bridges with the Pounder and MDP. “Well, as for the behemoths,” the Knight of Tomorrow continued, attempting to change the subject with all the awkward subtlety of a tank driving through a tea party. “I fully intended to eliminate Crazy Train, as that was the one The Hand seemed to be most invested in protecting, but I think you already know why that didn’t work out.” Thanks again, Finn… “Finally, as much as I despise those fake nuns, that wasn’t the best time to engage them in combat, not with everything else going on. But… Thanks for the compliment,” she said after a moment, giving Mika a small smile. “It’s nice to know I’m doing at least something right.”
Mika stared at Ashley for the better part of a minute in silence before saying “sure,” and turned straight ahead.
Not long after, Raven came through the door and stretched her arms. "The miko are going to be arriving a little late. They wanted to look for Finn."
Though it seemed like someone new was going to be joining everyone. Faith tended to stay out of the briefing room, but she walked in while adjusting the sleeves on her jacket. ”Oh! Looks like everyone’s back! Well, no, not quite everyone. Did someone…”
“Worse.” Mika didn’t look up from her phone. “It sounds like he turned against us.”
”Oh dear!” Faith lowered her head and glanced at her empty hand. ”That sounds a lot worse than Shinji.”
In actuality, from what Ashley knew of Evangelion, Shinji had channeled his inner angsty edgelord and gone awol for a time, although it had taken the apparent death of a friend to instigate it. Finn’s reason seemed far more petty and nebulous. Of course, the reason for that was simple- Finn wasn’t Shinji. He was a real person, not a fictional character. He had his own agency, which was what made him so unpredictable, and that unpredictability was what made him so dangerous…
“As much as it may sometimes feel like we’re a bunch of superheroes, this isn’t a comic, movie, or tv show,” Ashley replied. “This is reality. It doesn’t have a scripted plot, and people can’t be fit into neat archetypes so easily.”
Faith turned her goofy, tilted gaze onto Ashley before batting her eyes innocently. ”Ah, sorry! You’re right of course. We spoke once and it was something of a running gag between us. Obviously I don’t know all the details of what happened with him yet, but I’m sure you’ll tell Fritzi when she shows up.” Her slight overbite caused her teeth to stick out like a cartoon rabbit. ”Hmmm...” The corners of her lips curled into a smile. ”Ashley, you know what Evangelion is?” Before she could respond, Faith clapped her hands like a seal and approached her. ”I guess it only makes sense! Your outfit kind of looks like a plug suit. There are obvious differences, like how it’s a leotard and doesn’t cover the arms and legs. That would obviously be a big nono in many mecha anime but then again it’s not like you have a mecha of your own to pilot! Wouldn’t that be cool? I bet if you get strong enough you could summon an evangelion of your own to pilot in battle! That would be really cool, and useful I imagine. You’re demeanour is very demure, which is kind of like Rei but also not really like her. It’s like you said, nobody really fits into an archetype perfectly. But you do have a white ‘plugsuit’ so I think you might share some similarities. You definitely aren’t as headstrong as Asuka and seem a bit better put together. Not that I don’t like Asuka because I actually think she’s a really fun character. It’s just unfortunate that nobody else here is really like her. Raven is the only other tech heroine we have and she feels more like your partner than a rival in skill and love, and while Mika can get a little sour sometimes I don’t think she’s like Asuka. Either way it’s kind of fun to think about you engaging in a battle with a behemoth from an EVA. Like two big kaiju duking it out in a city. Or maybe outside a city since I know we really don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Ashley blinked. Faith’s torrent of words was enough to rival even Olivia’s disjointed ramblings, and the Knight of Tomorrow found herself earnestly hoping that she would not be present if the two ever ended up crossing paths. Yet, despite the myriad topics mentioned, it was Faith’s last comment that stood out the most prominently. As it happened, the local G.E.M.I.N.I. branch had already fought what could very well be called a kaiju, and the irony that Faith herself had served as the creature’s living battery was not lost on the high-tech heroine. Indeed, she found herself wondering if that was the reason for the young woman’s various… idiosyncrasies, or if she had always been this way. After all, Mika was rather immature for her age as well, to say nothing of Doctor Moller herself…
“I suppose something like an EVA might prove helpful when dealing with exceptionally sizable behemoths,” Ashley conceded, having moved back a step to counteract Faith’s slight invasion of her personal space. “But, as you said, it would only really be viable in an area where collateral damage could be kept to a minimum. And, uh, yes,” she added somewhat awkwardly. “I am familiar with Evangelion. Someone I used to tutor back in high school was a big fan, and he lent me the original dvd set for the series and all the rebuild films. It’s an… interesting show.”
Raven shook her head. "I hadn’t realized this was how everyone behaved after operations concluded. Though I think I prefer it to being dour about everything." She turned to Ashley. "I’m sure Dr Moller will ask us when she arrives, but I’d like to know what you think of my performance."
“I think you performed quite admirably, all things considered,” Ashley replied. “In fact, I think everyone performed as well as could be expected, given the opposition we faced,” she added. “Aside from an obvious exception, of course…”
Raven’s lips almost curved into a smile, but with a nod, her face became firm again. "It was a good operation, all things considered. While we were unable to destroy either target, Pax Septimus was unmolested by either behemoth."
Mika leaned back in her seat. “Let’s hope Fritzi sees it that way…”
It wasn’t long before the doors to the briefing room swung open again. This time, it was Binky who entered. Mika balled her hands into fists as the green haired woman approached the podium Dr Moller usually stood in front of. ”Dr Moller is giving Estelle an evaluation, and requested that I start the debriefing on her behalf.” Her eyes wandered over everyone. ”I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that this operation didn’t go according to plan. We were unable to destroy a single behemoth, had an agent go AWOL, and allowed many high value targets slip through our fingers.” She looked to Ashley. ”Orion? The twins were unable to relay much, but they said you were able to negotiate with the enemy. While that may have seemed fortuitous at the moment, I think it’s more realistic to say you allowed Elroy to convince you that Peace Train was not going to be a problem. In hindsight, that was likely a lie. No ‘angel’ would heal a ‘demon’ that it is at war with. The Vatican and their espers are fools, and while I can see Elroy believing the honeyed words of a priest, I’m a little surprised to see you cast aside common sense. Were you afraid, agent Orion?”
Ashley took a deep breath. “Not at all,” she replied in an even tone. “I simply took into account that Peace Train was not harming Pax Septimus in any way, and I reasoned that, if it indeed wished to combat the presumably more aggressive Crazy Train, it would be to our advantage to allow it to damage said behemoth further so that my team and I could finish it off. As it happened, Peace Train unexpectedly healed Crazy Train instead,” she continued. “At that point, we didn’t have enough offensive power to eliminate it ourselves, and so I prioritized protecting the city’s infrastructure, especially after learning that Crazy Train had no intention of attacking Pax Septimus after it had removed its unwanted passengers. However, once The Hand made their appearance, and it became clear that they wished to protect Crazy Train, its elimination became essential. Thus, I instructed agents Paradise and Timekeeper to launch ranged attacks on the behemoth once the freelancers had sufficiently damaged it enough to expose a weak point, while I attempted to eliminate Big Tony. I am sure I don’t need to tell you why neither of those plans ended up working out.” She paused for a moment, before concluding, “It may not have been a successful operation, in terms of our assigned objectives, but at the very least, our overarching goal of protecting the city and its inhabitants was still attained nonetheless.”
”That was one of your goals. Your primary objective was to destroy Peace Train.” Binky dropped her hands onto the podium. ”All those behemoths have to do is destroy a building in another city to completely invalidate your efforts here. The issue is that you trusted the enemy and their intel was bad, either because they were ignorant or lying. You’ll have plenty of time to congratulate yourselves later, but right now Dr Moller wants to know why things went so far south, and if it was really completely out of your hands.” Binky folded her arms. ”Orion, you have had difficulty reigning in Timekeeper. Cerberus has made it no secret that you aren’t her favorite person to work with. What I’m wondering, we’re wondering, is if maybe Dr Moller overestimated your abilities when she decided to have you lead this unit. Blame the operation’s shortcomings on whoever you choose, but it’s clear you don’t even have your fellow agent’s respect!”
Raven huffed. "Binky, I think-"
”Quiet.” Binky didn’t take her eyes off of Ashley. ”She doesn’t need you to speak for her.”
Ashley clenched her fists. “I never asked for this position,” she replied, her voice quiet but hard as steel. “And I’ll be the first person to admit to how unqualified I am. All I can do is attempt to carry out this role I’ve been assigned to the best of my ability, because apparently, Doctor Moller thinks I’m the best agent we have left to fill it. I won’t blame anyone else for the mission’s failure,” she continued. “Timekeeper has always been a discipline problem, but perhaps a leader of greater proficiency could have handled his issues in a more satisfactory manner. Obviously, it was a mistake to trust his word that he would follow orders during this operation, and I take full responsibility for it. Of course, even without his presence, and under the command of a better leader, I still can’t say whether or not the team’s objectives could have been completed. All I can do is admit my failures and allow you to draw your own conclusions. If they lead you to remove me from command, then that is a decision I will accept without protest.”
”Fair enough.” Binky rolled her shoulders back. ”Then, agent Orion, what if the choice was up to you? If you were to step down now, who would succeed you?”
Ashley thought for a moment. In all honesty, there wasn’t exactly an easy answer to that question. Mika was obviously too young and inexperienced, the twins weren’t suited to combat operations, and even if Estelle wasn’t still recovering from the recent weretiger ambush, she’d shown no great desire to take on a leadership position. That just left Raven, and while the young woman had certainly seen her fair share of action prior to joining the Pax Septimus branch, she was still new to the city, and the action she’d seen had all been of a threat level far below what Ashley herself had already dealt with several times over the past month and a half. I really wish Samuel and Jacqueline hadn’t been transferred… Still, if there was no other choice in the matter, she would simply have to go with the best alternative.
“If I had to choose a replacement from out of our current stable of active agents, aside from yourself, then I would have to pick Paradise,” Ashley finally declared. “She may not be the most ideal candidate, but we’re suffering from a distinct lack of veteran agents at present, and I believe she’s the best option currently available.”
The green haired esper clicked her tongue. ”I see. Under qualified as you are, you still believe you’re the most ideal choice.” She tapped the corner of the podium. ”Everyone is dismissed, except for you, agent Orion. Dr Moller wants to see you in the simulation room when you are ready.” Binky pushed herself away from the podium and departed through a hallway. The other agents in the room looked at Ashley, but said nothing.
“Understood,” Ashley acknowledged, her tone remaining measured and professional despite the considerable trepidation she felt. “Try to get some rest,” she told the other agents as she headed for the door. “I have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse around here before they get better.” With that, the Knight of Tomorrow exited the room and set off for her impending meeting with the director.
But she was stopped when someone grabbed her arm. Mika poked her head over Ashley’s shoulder and looked down the hallway. Once Binky turned a corner, Mika turned Ashley around. “We feel the same way, leader.” Her face twitched when she emphasized the word, as if it tasted like bitter medicine. “Our squad has never been this weak. If our hunch about Binky is true, you’re going to want us nearby.”
Raven lifted an eyebrow. "A hunch? I don’t know Binky that well, but she does seem especially sour today."
”Oh that’s good!” Faith sighed in relief and placed a hand on her chest. ”I’m sure all you need to do is use the power of friendship to get her mood fixed up. I can’t see her staying mad at you for long.”
Mika didn’t take her eyes off of Ashley. “We can’t let her divide us.”
“Don’t worry,” Ashley told Mika with what she hoped was an encouraging smile as she placed a hand on the young agent’s shoulder. “I won’t.”
And with that, Ashley walked down the hall after Binky. With a sigh, the teenager turned to look at those nearby.
“I’m tired of being tricked. It’s time to do a trick of our own.”
…
…
…
The simulation room was presently offline. It had gotten some upgrades since operations started in Pax Septimus, but without the holographic machine active, everything was exposed for what it really was. Ashley could remember the first time she came in here. She had fought with a giant burger and tripped up a hamburgler to rescue the most dashing and underdressed version of Ronald McDonald she’d ever seen. Though at this time, the giant burger was a box with wheels, the burger village houses were shipping crates, and the swamp was an inside pool that was due for a cleaning. But what would be most unusual, Ashley would notice, was that Fritzi was not here. It was just Binky, who was sitting on a small crate just outside the “mission area.”
”Come to think of it.” Binky said while examining her hand. ”I think the real reason she had us use that silly practice program was because she likes vibrant hair colors. I have no idea why she insists that we color our hair like this. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had a fetish for it.”
“Well, my hair color is fairly natural and she hasn’t asked me to change it yet,” Ashley replied as she entered, her tone casual, despite the inklings of suspicion she was starting to feel. “Come to think of it, aside from you and Estelle, all the other agents have normal hair colors as well,” the high-tech heroine noted as her eyes scanned the room, taking note of every potentially suspicious detail. “More to the point, though, where is Doctor Moller? I thought you said she’d be waiting for me here.”
Binky didn’t look at Ashley, and instead continued to examine her hand. The seconds ticked by in uncomfortable silence before she finally decided to answer. ”I’m sorry, I was wondering if I should dignify that with an answer. Obviously I was talking about the administrative members of Gemini. Estelle only dyes her hair because she’s rotted her brain on japanimation. It really shows in how she fights, and is probably how she managed to finally get taken out by weretigers of all things.” Binky stood up and turned to look at Ashley. ”It’s really quite deplorable. Becoming a government agent just so that you can live out some foolish power fantasy. Not that the rest of the squad is much better. Cerberus wants revenge, Finn wanted to save his girl and quit when he realized he was no white knight. Why are you doing this, Orion?” She folded her arms behind her back and approached. ”Do you like the idea of being a leader? Is that why it’s so hard to let go? Despite you clearly sucking at it?”
Ashley frowned, but didn’t allow the rising frustration she felt to enter her voice. “Personally, I hate the idea of being a leader,” she replied. “And I have absolutely no problem stepping down. Like I said before, I don’t know if any of our remaining agents are particularly suited for the role, myself included, but if you wished to replace me, I feel that Paradise would serve as the best alternative. As for my reasons for joining G.E.M.I.N.I.,” she continued. “Well, I don’t know why I was granted the power of an esper, but I do know that I want to use that power in the service of helping others. When a pair of recruiters approached me less than an hour after my first transformation and told me about how G.E.M.I.N.I. could provide training and an opportunity to use my new abilities to protect the helpless, I naturally accepted their offer to join. And since we’re on the subject,” she added after a moment. “Why did you choose to join G.E.M.I.N.I.?”
”Does it matter? It feels like forever ago. I was probably like you, some dumb kid that just went with the flow.” she started twirling her hair around her finger, though it was short enough that it slipped off after just a few twirls. ”When you’re a follower you forfeit your reason to do anything. Everything you do is just in service of the group. Hmm, maybe that was why I joined. I wanted to be part of something bigger. I wanted to be appreciated by the boss, admired by my colleagues, maybe fall in love with a co-worker and punch out a few babies before I get too old. Ahh, but that’s only because my parents wanted me to continue their bloodline. It’s hard to figure out where Gemini ends and I begin. Maybe I never do begin.” Her hair got tangled on the end of her finger. With a grunt, Binky tugged and a few green strands were ripped directly out of her scalp. ”You’re no different I assume? Just one of Fritzi’s dolls to pose and play with as she pleases?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Ashley replied. “While I’ll follow her directives to the best of my ability, I’m not just some mindless drone who obeys commands without question. I won’t do something morally objectionable simply because she orders me to.”
”You tried to kill a monster kid once. That seems morally objectionable to most people.”
“If I could have avoided it, I would have,” Ashley replied. “But that ‘kid’ was at least partially responsible for inflicting considerable mental torment on another, human, child, and that’s besides the fact that there was no way of knowing how old she truly even was,” the Knight of Tomorrow added. “It’s not outside the realm of possibility for her to have assumed that form simply to garner sympathy, to say nothing of inflicting even more mental anguish on Timekeeper.”
Binky struggled to suppress a smile, but she couldn’t. ”Right, a young girl runs out to her dead father, totally helpless, and your first thought is how she may harm Finn. If we’re going to use future events to justify past actions, then why did Finn’s daymares stop after Dante was slain?”
“At the time, we had no way of knowing that was the case,” Ashley replied in an even tone, despite Binky’s thinly veiled mockery. “And I shouldn’t have to tell you that she was far from ‘totally helpless’.
”Now we’re looking at past actions strictly in the moment? Predictable.” Binky rolled her head between her shoulders, and a deep crack echoed through the room. ”I’m getting bored waiting for Dr Moller. If we’re going to spar anyway, why only use words?” In an instant, Binky had transformed. Standing in her place was the bane of all monsters, and likely all espers as well. A mechanical spider with a human head and a lab coat. An abomination jokingly referred to as Dr Feelgood. None of the apparatuses hovering around her head looked like they would feel good no matter how they were applied. One of her syringes squirted just enough to expel the air trapped inside, and all of the saws began to spin. ”I hope you were able to get some rest. I’d hate to think you have nothing left for our sparring session.”
“So this is why the Director wanted to see me here?” Ashley inquired, doing her best to keep her breathing steady and her rising panic in check, despite remaining untransformed in the face of quite possibly the strongest G.E.M.I.N.I. esper currently in Pax Septimus. “Just to tell me I had to spar against you?”
Somehow, I seriously doubt that…
Still, brainwashed by The Hand or not, if this really was Binky, then the green-haired agent could only remain in the esper state for 30 seconds, meaning time was Ashley’s greatest ally here. Each second she could keep from transforming meant just a little more of her badly depleted mana would be replenished, and each second Binky wasn’t attacking was another second closer to a forced reversion. Of course, if this wasn’t Binky, then the Knight of Tomorrow was in far greater trouble than she cared to think about…
”I don’t know.” Binky pulled out her clipboard and looked over her writing. ”I think she was concerned that there was a spy undermining our operations. There’s been lots of bad intel coming our way, and agents keep winding up dead or missing.” One of her metal arms took the crate and slid it across the ground, and it left a red stain where it slid. ”Maybe it’s her? It would explain why she hasn’t shown up yet.” She flicked her eyes up and clenched her hand into a fist. Dr Feelgood’s eyes flared red, and the passageway behind Ashley filled with saws. From left to right, hallway height circular saws buzzed as they ripped into the hallway and peppered Ashley with debris. ”What would you like to practice first? Accuracy or evasion?”
Despite her best efforts, Ashley couldn’t keep her eyes from widening or her breath from catching in her throat upon noticing what looked for all the world like blood leaking out of the crate Binky had been sitting on. It was looking more and more certain that her green-haired mentor was indeed the enemy agent in their midst, but even if what she’d seen was merely some innocuous coincidence, it did nothing to change the Knight of Tomorrow’s planned course of action. Although the same couldn’t exactly be said of the hallway being transformed into a buzzsaw-filled death trap. Wincing slightly as the hail of debris generated by the saw blades’ activation pelted her, the high-tech heroine kept her attention fixed on her opponent. “Let’s try evasion,” she replied, before diving behind the closest shipping container. “You once told me how you beat this obstacle course with just a standard issue sidearm,” she added with an easy amiability she most certainly did not feel. “I’d like to see if I can manage something similar.”
Binky waited for Ashley to get into position and finish speaking. For someone with an esper form that burned through as much mana as hers, she was moving at a pretty reserved pace. ”I’m honored that you want to replicate my challenge, or are you mocking me?”
“Never,” Ashley replied. “I’ve always said how much respect I have for you, and none of that was a lie.”
Binky approached the container, but Ashley could only hear her footsteps as she drew closer. ”I wonder if you remember what else I told you in here.”
Once Dr Feelgood was in front of the container, Ashley could hear the sound of buzzsaws right beside her head, and when she turned to look, it seemed like they were spawning out of thin air. The cluster was growing, and it looked like it might explode any moment.
Ashley’s eyes went wide when she noticed the buzzsaws begin to materialize next to her. Even if Binky was using the slowest-casting melody type, the Knight of Tomorrow knew she only had mere seconds to act before being sliced into bloody stew. Using all the speed her recent training sessions had afforded her, she darted around to the opposite side of the container, reached into a jacket pocket and chucked her sole flash bang at Binky’s towering, multi-limbed form.
“Hngh!” Dr Feelgood flailed her limbs. She had clearly planned on pouncing on Ashley as soon as she left cover, but being directly hit by a flash bang had slowed her considerably. Even the strongest esper in Pax Septimus was not impervious to modern weaponry, but the effects would not last long. Ashley didn’t stop moving, instead racing over to the crate the greenette had been sitting on and dragging it with her behind the container farthest from her previous position.
A quick glance at the corridor beyond the training room had revealed that it was still filled with buzzsaws, but, as it happened, Ashley did remember what Binky had told her after her first attempt at the obstacle course. The greenette’s esper form only lasted 30 seconds if she didn’t use any melodies, with each one she cast lessening that already small window even further. That was why she mainly relied on her esper state’s prodigious physical abilities in combat and only employed melodies when absolutely necessary. Yet, in this “sparring match” she had already used two melodies, and fairly costly ones at that, considering just the notes Ashley knew they had to contain to manifest the properties exhibited. “Far too many recruits try to solve everything with melodies”, Binky had told her, and now here she was seemingly doing the exact thing she’d cautioned against. That meant one of several things.
First, most flatteringly, and also most unlikely, was the possibility that Binky really viewed her as that much of a threat, even out of the esper state. The second, and far more likely option, was that Binky was being controlled by an outside force, and whoever was pulling her proverbial strings either didn’t know or didn't care about her esper form’s time limitations. Finally, and most concerning, was that this wasn’t Binky at all, but rather someone or something that could mimic her up to and including the abilities of her esper state. If that was the case, then the weakness Ashley was banking on might not even exist, which meant she needed help, and fast…
Moving as rapidly as she could, Ashley looked over the crate and tried to see if there was an easy way of opening it up. She didn’t know who she might find within, but if her suspicions were right and the potential occupant was still alive, then they just might provide the advantage she was looking for…
The crate was not sealed too tightly. It had been pried open a long time ago and was held in place by a few strips of duct tape. When Ashley got the lid off, she could see Estelle’s blood soaked body. It wasn’t clear if she was alive or not, but if she was, she was in critical condition.
”Oh, that box wasn’t for you.” Feelgood clicked her tongue and slowed her approach. ”It turns out isolating you each one at a time makes you a bit easier to deal with. She was starting to catch onto me but ignored that simple fact. Her hubris was her undoing.” Binky stopped right in front of the box. As valiant as Ashley’s efforts were, a human could only do so much against an esper, least of all one that surpassed human limits like Feelgood could. ”I can’t help but feel like you’re waiting for my mana to run out. That would be rather silly of me, wouldn’t it? To let you run me ragged and then get the jump on me.” With a snap of her fingers, all of her weaponry dripped with blackish green slime. Some dripped off her rotary blades and burned holes in the ground. ”We’ve upgraded the simulation room, you know? I’m basically god here, and nobody escapes god.”
Ashley couldn’t keep from gasping in shock when she saw Estelle’s badly wounded body in the crate instead of Doctor Moller’s. In one way, it was a good thing the director was still safe, but in another, it meant that her potential ally was distinctly less powerful than she had hoped, to say nothing of the young woman’s current condition. Despite the danger of her situation, the Knight of Tomorrow’s compassion and concern for her fellow agents took precedence. Thus, in a flash, Ashley entered her esper state and began attempting to heal what appeared to be the most serious of the bluenette witch hunter’s injuries.
It wasn’t much, but a large gash on her stomach shrunk closed. She was still too weak to wake up, but maybe this would keep her going a bit longer.
All the while, Ashley could hear Binky getting ever-nearer, the greenette choosing this point to drop whatever remnants of a facade still remained. Before the high-tech heroine knew it, Binky was standing right in front of her, confirming her worst fears.
“All right,” Ashley conceded through grit teeth as she glared up at the agent she’d once thought of as her mentor. “I obviously don’t stand a chance against you, so can you at least tell me why you’re doing this? That is, if you’re even Binky to begin with.”
”Of course I’m Binky. Who else would I be?” She lifted a hand to her chin. ”As for why I’m doing this… I don’t know. It feels right though, doesn’t it?” She waved her hand at everything. ”Humans are not supposed to have power like this. If everyone was an esper, do you think the world would be a safer place? I don’t think it would be. You don’t have to look very far to see how easily power corrupts. Look at this faction war. None of us knows what’s best for the world, but we’re willing to kill each other over the fate of some trains.” She sighed. ”Hand me your grimoire and I’ll spare you. You don’t need to die needlessly if you can surrender your powers.”
“And you think just surrendering to The Hand will make the world any better?” Ashley asked pointedly. She knew she had very few options here, but she wasn’t about to hand over her sole means of protection so quickly. After all, it wasn’t a stretch to imagine this person claiming to be Binky would just kill her the moment she was defenseless. “You say you want us all to stop being espers, but then who will protect people from monsters? Or do you think humanity should just be wiped out by them?”
”The monsters do not want to wipe out humanity. They need our emotions to stay fed. If you cooperate with me, there will be a spot for you in the new world.” She held her saw under Estelle’s chin. A blob of acid nearly dripped onto her arm. ”This isn’t an interview, Orion. There will be plenty of time to talk later. If you won’t cooperate to save your own life, maybe you’ll do it for Witch Hunt.”
Estelle’s body twitched in Ashley’s arms. She was still alive.
Ashley grit her teeth before giving voice to a long exhale. “Fine,” she conceded. “But please just allow me to heal Estelle first,” the high-tech heroine requested. “Then my grimoire’s all yours.”
Binky stared at Ashley for a moment, then pulled back her blade. ”You have ten seconds.”
Setting to work as fast as possible, Ashley removed several Improved Techno-Arcane Reactive Bandages from her medical kit and applied them to the worst of Estelle’s wounds, before infusing each with a burst of healing energy. Once she had finished, the Knight of Tomorrow reverted to her mundane form and unclipped her grimoire from her necklace. “Here,” she told Binky as she held the green sphere out for the greenette to take. “I hope this proves I have no intention of fighting you.”
“It does.” A mechanical claw reached out to take the trinket. “You were a good student, and I’m glad you’ve decided to trust me.”
The claw neared the orb, its menacing shape reflected in the green polished surface. But a katana gently swung between the two objects.
”I hate working overtime.”
The badly wounded Estelle had been replaced with the fully healed Witch Hunt. She rose to her feet while keeping her katana in place.
“Are you serious?” Feelgood growled. “Stop this nonsense, or I’ll end you this instant!”
”Sure, why not?” With a flick of her katana, Feelgood’s claw was flung back. ”I won’t have to work overtime and you won’t have to pay my pension.” A metal arm pointed a syringe at Estelle and fired a stream of acid. But upon colliding with her sword, it was divided and fell on either side of Witch Hunt and Ashley. ”I think I can keep her busy for a few seconds. Now you’re working overtime too!”
Ashley couldn’t keep a small smirk of satisfaction from tugging the corners of her mouth as the transformed Estelle came to her aid. She’d known from the start that her plan was a long shot at best, so she was glad to see it had actually worked out.
“Right!” Ashley confirmed as she shifted back into the esper state herself. Placing a hand on Estelle’s shoulder, she imbued the Witch Hunter with a defensive barrier that would absorb, or at least mitigate all forms of damage Binky might potentially inflict, while simultaneously snapping off a quick energy bolt from her techno-wand at one of Binky’s more threatening appendages. Then, activating her comm, she called, “Attention all agents! Binky has been compromised and is attacking Witch Hunter and I in the training room! We require immediate assistance, but be advised that the corridor is heavily obstructed and Binky’s power level has drastically increased!”
"Sounds like we’re taking the shortcut after all," Mika’s voice answered back. "You guys hear that?"
One of the far walls burst open, and a mecha surged through. While many of the metal plates were scorched with flames, a “Steyr“ logo remained present on the upper half of the machine. Despite its outward appearance, it seemed to be in full functioning order. The mech was flanked on either side by Mika and Raven who charged towards Ashley’s position.
As awesome as Estelle’s defensive abilities were, she only had one sword that could deflect anything that touched it. Feelgood had six arms and each of them was equipped with something that had more reach than Estelle. Not only that, but Binky could cast melodies independently of what her exoskeleton did. While pressuring the witch hunter, Feelgood only needed to swipe her pen across her clipboard to send saws rising out of the ground near Ashley’s backup. They scattered to avoid the blades, but that couldn’t have even been a fraction of what Feelgood could have done. Most of her abilities were a closely guarded secret, and she never fought for very long anyway with her form’s high mana requirement. But if her mana was truly unlimited now, this was just a warmup.
"We need to weaken her." Mika shouted into her mic, still too far to be heard otherwise. "It’s the only way we can take her alive. Otherwise, we’re doing exactly what the monsters want."
Then Raven added: ”We just need to outlast her, right? A minute is tough, but we can do it."
“She’s not affected by time constraints anymore,” Ashley noted over her comm through gritted teeth. “She mentioned the training room being upgraded, and if it’s true, then that might be what’s feeding her so much extra mana. We need to see if we can locate the generators and knock them off line!” the Knight of Tomorrow instructed, trying to do just that while also keeping herself and Estelle safe from Binky’s attacks.
"I think Binky said a generator helped make the place change." Mika ducked under a flying syringe. "The projector is in the back of the room, just past the pool."
”If we all run for it, She’s going to jump us." A saw blade cut through the tail of Raven’s coat, but she didn’t slow down. ”Did you need any help, Orion? How many of us should assist you two?"
The reinforcements would be at Ashley’s position shortly. There was only so much Ashley herself could do against Binky. Only Estelle had any ability that could stop Binky’s attacks. But she wasn’t content to remain on the defensive. If there was even a fraction of a chance to get a hit in, Estelle would take it. She flicked her blade into an airborne buzzsaw and flicked it back at Feelgood, who caught and dissipated it with a despell melody. The bionic doctor retaliated by spraying the air with acid, trapping Estelle and Binky in a ring. Every moment that passed, the ring got thicker, but Estelle did not back away from her opponent. To do so would have invited Feelgood to fight someone who was worse equipped to deal with her.
“Cerberus, head for the projector,” Ashley instructed as she fired another bolt of neon green energy at a saw blade-tipped appendage that was descending on Estelle. “Paradise, you and whoever’s piloting that mech can help us keep Binky pinned down!”
"That’s Faith." Mika managed before hurrying off. Yes, Finn had accepted a mission to intercept a group of disgruntled tractor supply workers, who had repurposed several tractors into power armor and a mecha to attack one of the mayor elects. While the mecha’s pilot had escaped, Finn had suggested Gemini drag the mech to HQ so that he and Sharr could work on it. Ashley hadn’t been getting updates on it, but it seemed like it was in fully functioning order.
The mech had little issue running right over the ring of acid. Estelle jumped out of the reach of a wild swing, and planted her feet on the incoming mecha. She then raised her blade, and allowed herself to be shoved into Binky. Both the mech and Feelgood bounced away from each other. Raven pointed her gun and fired several rounds into Binky’s mid section. Most of them landed, few drew any blood, and her wounds started to close shortly afterwards.
“I should know better than to go easy on my students. Going for 100% output.”
With a flick of her finger, a beam of goopy acid soared past Mika and detonated. From the explosion emerged several spider-like robots equipped with scalpels, pillars covered in saw blades, and what appeared to be a few land mines. This only caused Mika to hesitate for a moment. She ran forth, determined not to let this slow her down.
Feelgood swiped her pen across the clipboard again, and her limbs grew longer. The hydraulic lines going to her bionic arms swelled, and the fittings looked like they could burst. Some of the lines developed pin holes that sprayed a green, corrosive mist. Faith and Estelle rushed Feelgood, but not before she reached over the mecha and took a swing at Raven.
”Hngh!" She was nicked by an incoming circular saw. As minimal as the wound was, the acid rapidly ate away at her coat, then her flesh. Binky continued to follow through with her swing right into Ashley.
Of course it was Faith piloting the mech, Ashley thought to herself, even as she raised her shield to block the incoming saw appendage, while simultaneously thrusting her twin-pronged techno-wand at one of the limb’s joints and firing an energy blast into it at point blank range. But even this failed to do anything. Perhaps the limbs were part of her instrument and nigh indestructible. At least Faith seemed to be doing well so far, despite, or perhaps because of her eccentricities, and the Knight of Tomorrow only hoped that would continue to be the case.
“Try not to get too close if you can help it,” the high-tech heroine instructed as she leapt away from the sinister surgeon. “She’s most dangerous at close range!”
"She’s dangerous at long range too." Mika called over coms while rushing past a drone. One of the pillars slid and rammed into Mika, but she harmlessly appeared on the other side of it. She had lost one life during the operation and one here, which meant this cat only had one left. Fortunately she was on the other side of Feelgood’s trap and only needed to cross the pool to gain access to the generator.
As Ashley had already noted, Faith was doing very well. She hadn’t fired any of the mech’s weapon systems, but she was making it easier for Estelle to move around. An energy shield covered the mech’s arm as half of Feelgood’s arms rammed into it. The shield flickered like a light that was about to go out, but it held. Estelle managed to reach in and touch Binky, sending a blue flame racing across her skin. It wasn’t her form that had caught fire though, it was her mana.
“I’m disappointed, Ashley.” Binky groaned. “You said you had no intention of attacking me. I think I should show you how futile your struggle is.” With a stomp, Feelgood activated a massive burst of acid right at her feet. It was enough to blow the mecha backwards, but Estelle was able to divert the blow to either side of her by using her sword. But she couldn’t do anything to stop Feelgood from racing to Mika’s position.
”Here!" Raven placed her hand on Ashley’s back, and the two of them were wreathed in light. ”Now we can catch up! She put everything into running after the doctor, and fired a few rounds at her for good measure.
“Thanks!” Ashley told her teammate as she employed the provided speed boost to keep pace and, ultimately, leap in front of Binky with her shield raised. “I hadn’t been planning on attacking you,” Ashley informed the gargantuan greenette as she fired an energy bolt into her legs. “But I won’t just stand by while my teammates are in danger!”
The Knight of Tomorrow knew getting so close was a massive risk, but she also knew that if they were to have any chance of stopping Binky, then Mika had to be protected at all costs.
Even with the acid filled robots and deathtraps at Ashley’s back, she didn’t budge from her defensive position. Feelgood continued to push forward. Maybe it was the adrenaline from before, but Ashley hadn’t realized how loud all of Binky’s equipment was. Between the spinning blades and hissing hydraulic hoses, it sounded like some prehistoric creature was bearing down on her.
“I know.”
Binky prepared to trample Ashley, then her entire body turned into a green dot and soared past her. It looked like a heart monitor: a neon light blipping from one destination to the other. If you’d blink you’d miss it. Feelgood reappeared beside Mika and lashed out.
"Grah!” Mika used her last get out of jail free card to appear on the other side of the generator. While both combatants were near it, it was evident that Mika wasn’t sure how to shut it off. The thing was heavily reinforced, but had to have an emergency kill switch somewhere. It was just difficult to find with her former mentor trying to slice her up. Though with Binky standing right next to the generator, she made an observation to the others. "She must be guarding the switch. Mika looked for a way through the doctor, Feelgood attempted to box in her prey.
Estelle followed up by blinking in herself.
With a deft defence, she sent half of Feelgoods arms reeling before rushing in to further put space between Binky and the generator. Both espers stumbled backwards, and Mika raced to the other side of the generator. She threw open a panel, threw a lever, and the generator rumbled to a stop.
A spray of blood soaked the side of her face.
One of Feelgood’s corrosive saws had found purchase in Witch Hunt’s wrist and cut her hand off. She tried to hold her asian blade with one hand, but it was no match for Binky’s six. A stream of corrosive acid severed her shoulder from her body. Estelle refused to grimace at the situation, but a stone face wasn’t strong enough to prevent Feelgood from swinging her saw into her midsection. Before she could double over, Feelgood kicked her off to the side, and she slammed into the wall before falling in a heap. Without stopping, she turned her attention onto Mika, who was guarding the shut off switch.
Raven shouted something, and used another melody to hasten Ashley. She fired on Binky, but everyone knew it was futile.
The mecha wasn’t fast enough, and the flamethrowers it had been equipped with were ill suited for fighting a battle at such a range. Faith would never make it in time.
It was up to the Knight of Tomorrow to secure the future.
Ashley’s heart had stopped as she watched Binky blink to Mika’s position, and her horror had only grown as Estelle’s butchered form was slammed against the far wall mere moments later. The generator may have been deactivated, but Binky still wasn’t backing down. The Knight of Tomorrow knew with rueful certainty that there was nothing she could do for the wounded Witch Hunter at the present moment, nor did any of her attacks seem capable of seriously hindering the deranged doctor, at least, none she could employ at her current level of mana. The only option she had was to use the boosted speed provided by Raven to race to Mika’s aid.
Upon reaching the imperiled agent, the high-tech heroine used nearly all of her remaining mana to encase Mika in a neon green field of force, which would hopefully serve to shield the cat girl from any further physical strikes and reflect the damage of any melodies Binky might try casting on her. Meanwhile, and with no regard for her own safety, Ashley once more placed herself in front of her former mentor. This time, however, she was not just between the sinister surgeon and a fellow agent, she was also preventing the greenette from reaching the generator. “Get out of here, Cerberus!” the Knight of Tomorrow instructed, even as her techno-wand’s dual prongs began to glow increasingly brighter. “I’m taking this thing out of the equation permanently!” While her attacks had been mostly ineffective against Binky’s superlative defenses, she was pretty sure the same couldn’t be said for the generator fueling them…
Mika was clearly taken aback by the order, but while Ashley couldn’t see Mika, she could hear her. She hadn’t moved from the switch. "You have no idea what that’s going to do. What if it blows up and kills everyone?” But Ashley wouldn’t even have a chance to respond. She was quite busy deflecting all of Binky’s weaponry. While Feelgood was trying to conserve their remaining mana, Ashley didn’t have nearly the defensive capabilities that Estelle had. She got nicked in the shoulder, some of her hair was cut free, a swipe at her legs cut into her shin on one leg and severed her other foot. Who knew if Binky had fifty seconds left or ten? All Ashley knew was that her techno-wand was charged up and there was still an obstacle between her and the generator’s control panel. Then Mika’s voice got loud, and something erupted from under the knight of tomorrow’s feet. "I wanna see mom!”
A beckoning cat sprouted up under Ashley, and pushed her up and above the incoming strikes. Mika used her nails to slice the handle off before rushing to engage Feelgood. A challenge that the bionic spider doctor seemed willing to oblige. But this fight wasn’t purely between these three. Estelle raised her finger and pointed it at Binky.
”Not today, kiddo.”
Estelle’s body turned into a ball of blue flame and flung itself at Binky. She was engulfed, yet the blue flames did nothing to harm her. Other than momentarily startling Binky, it looked like the attack was entirely ineffective.
Then her form seized up.
Binky’s esper form collapsed to the ground before she turned back into her normal self. “Heh!” Binky chuckled. “She really loved burning mana, huh?”
That was all she managed to say before Mika tackled her to the ground. By that point, Raven showed up to confiscate her side arm. ”Are you alright, Orion?"
“Y-Yeah,” Ashley replied weakly, wincing from the pain of losing her foot. “I-I’ll be fine. Is everyone else okay?” she inquired, her weary eyes scanning the room for signs of her fellow agents’ conditions (a task made considerably easier by sitting atop Mika’s giant conjured cat). While the mech Faith was piloting was easy to spot, as was Mika pinning down the (finally) defeated doctor, Estelle was nowhere to be seen. “W-Where’s Witch Hunter?” the Knight of Tomorrow inquired, a worried frown beginning to form on her haggard visage.
“I wonder.” Binky responded with a taunting tone. “I think I feel something under me. Maybe it’s her?”
Mika looked to Raven, who looked to the mech. Faith used the mech’s hand to roll binky onto her back before securing her in the mech’s vice-like grip. There on the ground was Estelle’s business suit. No words were exchanged as Mika approached the clothes and lifted them up. "Second one this week.” She transformed back and shrugged off Himiko’s jacket. Then she slid her arm through one of Estelle’s sleeves.
”Um-"
"We had a nice walk together.” The suit looked a little weird on Mika. She wasn’t as slender as the witch hunter, nor as tall. That didn’t dissuade her from wearing it. "We talked about life and looked at some animals. I want to remember her.”
Ashley bit her lip before closing her eyes and bowing her head. So, she was gone, then. Another agent lost to the slaughterhouse that was Pax Septimus. I won’t let her sacrifice be for nothing, the Knight of Tomorrow vowed before exhaling wearily. “Where’s Doctor Moller?” she asked. “We need to inform her of what’s happened here.”
Raven nodded in response, and pointed her pistol at Binky. ”What did you do with her? Where is she?"
Initially, Binky didn’t answer. But a slight shift in how the mech was supporting its weight caused her to groan. “She was too important to dispatch. I sealed her in the prison and set her grimoire in the lab.”
Raven reached for Binky’s name card and pulled it off from around her neck. ”I’ll be back shortly." and with that, Raven rushed off to find the doctor.
Once Mika had Estelle’s dress shirt on, she placed Himiko’s jacket back over it. With that done, she turned around and looked up at Ashley. "Do you need any help getting down?”
“Uh, yeah,” Ashley replied with an uncertain frown as she took note of the distance between herself and the floor. “I think I might…” If she was in normal condition, and not missing a foot, things would be a bit different, but as it was, the Knight of Tomorrow didn’t want to risk exerting herself any more than necessary. “Oh, and speaking of grimoires, we need to separate Binky from hers,” the high-tech heroine added. The last thing she wanted to see was a repeat performance of this debacle…
Mika placed her hand on the beckoning cat, and its spirit-like form sunk into the ground. Once Ashley was on the ground, Mika picked up Ashley’s severed foot and attempted to heal it back on. The wound was great, and Mika’s healing magic was not especially strong. Hundreds of tiny spirit animals were able to stitch her flesh back together, but it was still going to be painful to walk on.
Then she turned to Binky. The mecha hoisted her into the air and clutched her between both hands. “It’s my pendant. Or you can strip search me if you prefer. I think my skirt might go well with everything else you have there.”
The feline esper reached behind Binky’s neck, and she turned her head. Mika fretted her brow and reached further, and Binky turned her head more. Then she grabbed a fistfull of Binky’s hair and pulled her head forward. There was a cathode-ray tube glowing faintly on the back of her neck. It was similar to the ones Mika had reported seeing at the church. The construction workers who had shown up had something like this sticking out of their eyes. Mika looked over her shoulder at Ashley.
“Is that your original grimoire, or did you get that one from The Hand after you joined them?” the Knight of Tomorrow questioned her former mentor. She still didn’t know if Binky had chosen to act against G.E.M.I.N.I. willingly, or if some form of mental control was being exerted over her, and any information that might point toward an answer was information worth learning.
“Oh, now that’s a scary thought. Do you think monsters have started making grimoires?” Binky smiled, or at least her tone of voice seemed to suggest it. Mika hadn’t let go of her head. “Maybe it’s a bomb that’s going to blow up and kill everyone if you continue to man handle me like this.”
Ashley sighed in annoyance. “I guess we’ll just have to ask the director to look into it. Until then, let’s be as careful as we can.” She was pretty sure the glowing tube wasn’t an explosive, but in light of The Hand’s ingenuity, coupled with how things seemed to keep going from bad to worse, the Knight of Tomorrow wanted to take as few risks as possible.
The loud speakers on the mech crackled to life with static, and then a voice came through. “That won’t be necessary.” A small, vice-like bionic arm popped out of the mech’s chest and closed in on the tube. “I’ve encountered a few of these in the field, and so long as you remove them carefully there’s no adverse effects on the subject, so long as they’re not replacing anything important.” The mech used its thumbs to hold Binky’s head steady while the vice hand seized the cathode-ray tube. “There’s going to be some blood, but don’t panic. Some of the circuitry is running into her skin.” The vice squeezed down on a spot at the back of Binky’s neck. Her body trembled, blood flowed out of the fresh cut, but the cathode stopped glowing. The vice seized the tube and pulled it off of Binky’s neck before releasing her. “That should work provided there aren’t any more.”
Mika slid the pendant off Binky before taking a step back. When the greenette lifted her head to look at everyone, she looked just as exhausted as everyone present. Then with a sigh, she hung her head. “Ashley.” Her breaths were labored. “Nothing I did, or said, was really me. But I remember all of it.”
So it was mind control…
“It’s okay,” Ashley replied with a tired smile. “I’m just glad you’re back.” Then, turning to the mech, she inquired, “So, I take it you were the one piloting that thing all along, Doctor Webber?”
“Ho ho! You can pick out my voice over the speaker. I’m impressed!” There was no shortage of pride in Sharr’s voice. Ashley had absolutely been able to identify her because of how important she was, despite having never really spoken with one another. “Faith is my co-pilot. We decided it would be best if I piloted it given that Finn and I were the ones rebuilding it. The walker’s creator was awfully inefficient, and we really updated the cockpit along with its other capabilities. I didn’t think any of that was important enough to clarify while we were fighting. Also, Faith’s access to the loud speaker seems to be inoperable. Or disabled, I’ll have to look into it later.”
Mika batted her eyes and shook her head. "Bink, do you remember everything?”
Binky nodded. “I do, from when I was captured to now. It was like I was sharing my head with someone else. They had all the control, but I saw everything. There’s this massive TV in a penthouse suite. It has a ridiculous name. Morning Dragon Fruit the ‘some-number-or-another.’ It was a really pretentious sounding title, and they made me say it several times. I’m surprised I forgot it.”
Mika narrowed her eyes. "So their plan was to use you as a mole, and expected us to rescue you from the weretigers?”
“Yes, but I know where that TV is. They couldn’t have moved it, and it was definitely calling the shots in a pretty big capacity. I think it might have been one of the leaders of the Hand.” She looked over her shoulder at the mecha. “Can you release me?”
“Once we’re sure you’re not pulling our leg.”
“You think I’m still being mind controlled?”
“Likelihood is low. What do you think, Miss Avenir?”
“I’d like to believe she isn’t, but I really don’t want to take any chances,” Ashley replied. The greenette indeed seemed to be back to normal, and while her story was certainly strange, such oddities were distressingly common in Pax Septimus. Yet even so… “If I had enough mana left, I could probe her mind with a high intensity finder beam, but my reserves are basically empty… Binky,” she asked after a moment. “Do you know what happened to your original grimoire? Does The Hand still have it?”
“Um…” Binky hesitated. “What makes you think I have more than one?”
“Well, the one we just removed looks like a piece of Hand technology,” Ashley replied. “So I figured it was likely that wasn’t your original grimoire, but rather, one they replaced it with.”
“I think there’s some confusion here. I’d be happy to enlighten you, Miss Avenir.” The mecha’s head pivoted over to Ashley. “The cathode-ray tube looking device is not a grimoire. It seems to be a device that facilitates brainwashing or mind control. The exact answer eludes me but Oros and I saw a fair number of punks sporting them. Sometimes entire organs are replaced by these devices, but that was not the case with this one. Though if you suspect it to be a grimoire, you could always try destroying it. I just figured Fritzi would like to study it. Perhaps it would be more productive to try and destroy the pendant to establish its validity.”
“Oh… I was under the assumption that the mind control device was the pendant,” Ashley replied, sounding more than a little embarrassed by her blunder. Still, with how physically and mentally exhausted she felt, the mixup was somewhat understandable. “Sorry about that…”
“You should say ‘thank you’ instead of ‘i’m sorry’ when someone helps you out, Miss Avenir.” The mech’s head turned to Mika. “Well?”
Mika turned the pendant over in her hand. At the end of a long chain was a coin that seemed to have Binky’s profile on one side. Mika took her sharpened nail and poked at the surface. Then she tried to scratch the surface, but her claw slid off every time. With one frenzied flick of her finger, she managed to slide off the coin and cut her palm. Her fingers coiled around the coin tighter. "Seems real.”
“Fantastic.” The mech spun around and strut towards the hallway leading out. With Feelgood defeated, the saws blocking the path had expired along with all the other things she had summoned. “I think I’ve earned my freedom, so I’ll be taking my leave now. I’ll be sure to drop Binky off in a cell so that you can decide what to do with her later.”
“All right,” Ashley acknowledged with a nod. Turning to Mika, she added, “Let’s head over to the detention center as well. Paradise and Doctor Moller should also be there, and if the director’s condition allows for it, I’d like to discuss these recent developments with her.”
Mika’s ears twitched as Ashley spoke, but her eyes were focused on the mecha walking out of the room. "Alright.”
Moller was rather eccentric at the best of times, but even so, Ashley fervently hoped that the director would be able to offer some valuable insights on all the troubling revelations they’d learned, as well as guidance on how she and her team could best respond to them.
