[REND] 16.2 - Fun Alone Time

Deen and I looked at each other. We were prepared for this question. Deen answered, “No, not yet. We… were concerned about their effects and wanted to talk to you first.”

This was a reasonable enough reason. Admitting that we didn’t trust the pills was a no-no. Lying that we took them was risky. We had to find out if Dario had a way to test whether we had taken them.

“There’s no need to worry,” Dario said. “I’m sure Myra has explained to you that they accelerate melding. To elaborate, they contain chemicals that enhance brain activity. Think of the common ‘study drugs’ like Adderall. You can view those pills as stimulants of sorts that operate on a more complex level.”

“I’ve taken one during hell week last semester,” Myra said. “My mind got hyper-focused. I demolished all the material in a day, non-stop reading for sixteen hours straight.”

“Then you crashed and almost missed your exam,” Reo said, laughing like a hyena. “What’s the use of studying that much if your brain is fried while taking tests?”

“I passed all my subjects.” Myra lightly punched Reo’s shoulders. “But, yeah… I forgot where I was going with what I’ve said. The pills are safe.”

“I’ve heard that from drug dealers behind bars,” Johann mumbled.

“Even if they’re not,” Myra continued, pointing at Deen and me, “you’ll just regenerate it. Don’t you want your powers to develop already, Erind?”

“I-I want to…” I hesitantly replied, eyes shifting to the side. Just keeping up with my timid face. They knew my superstrength was above average for the group, so I wanted to dissuade them from thinking there was a chance I’d use it against them.

Also, it sounded like it was possible for Dario to check if we’d taken the pills. Maybe a brain scan machine or something, if he had that. I was of the mind to try taking a pill or two later. If the Core truly had a part in reversing some of my bodily changes, I’d want to help it along, like sprinkling fertilizer on a plant.

“Yeah, it’s much better to have your power manifest soon,” said Everett. “On top of your superstrength, you’d be safer if the 2Ms tried to kidnap you again. You can definitely fight them off because they won’t expect it.”

“The 2Ms haven’t tried anything, so far,” Deen said. “Maybe they’ve forgotten about us?”

“I doubt it,” Dario replied. Of course, he couldn’t have that possibility. If we were safe, then melding with artificial Cores and leaving our humanity behind was for nothing. He’d turn out to be the bad guy. He was a dick, but he wouldn’t openly admit he forced us to become soldiers for a conflict we didn’t want to join.

But it all worked out on my end. This artificial Core thing—if it was actually what was advertised—was helping me. It’d be funny if the Core cancelled out Spooky Erind’s side effects while leaving me with a superhuman body and powers. Plus, this whole hero wannabe drama tied Deen to me. I couldn’t have wished for a better pawn to use. And I really liked the pastries she kept giving me.

“They’re lying low after we’ve attacked their compound,” Dario continued. “Also, the issue about the people they’ve kidnapped is spreading on the news. People are connecting it to the Adumbrae attack. But be sure that the 2Ms will go after you two after things have died down. Anyway, Amber, have you chosen a codename already?”

Dario, ever the master of changing the topic. He might even beat me at that sport. That said, I was quite invested in the topic of Deen’s codename.

Deen had a few ideas. We’d talked about this yesterday. Her top pick for a codename was, “Ambriel. There’s an angel of communication called Ambriel. It’s close to my name, Amber.”

“How did you know about that?” Myra asked. “I bet you followed Reo’s patented technique of searching for a name on the internet.”

“I did, yes.” Deen sheepishly grinned.

“The point of a codename is that it shouldn’t be close to your name,” I said, repeating what I’d told her many times last night. “And it shouldn’t blatantly give away what your powers are.”

“Tell that to Myra,” Reo said.

“I’m doing what my name says,” Myra said, “and the enemy can’t do anything about it.”

“Ambriel isn’t giving away anything,” Deen said. This was also what she told me last night. The others agreed that they hadn’t heard of an Angel Ambriel before. Everett mentioned that there was a character in a game he played called Ambriel, but he wouldn’t have guessed Deen’s powers from that. She gestured to the group as she nodded at me. “See? It’s safe.”

“They should hear my idea,” I said. “It’s better than ‘Garg-Owl’ for your pet.’

“No. Don’t say—”

“Fatalis. A Latin word that could mean ‘deadly’ or ‘fated’. Disclaimer—this is what the internet told me. I don’t know Latin; it’d be surprising if I did. There’s a cool play on the double meaning. Like, Deen can be deadly—”

“I’m not deadly,” Deen cut in.

“—or she can manipulate fate,” I said. “It’s a very fitting name.”

“That’s not why you want me to use that codename,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Tell them the real reason. Go on.”

I smiled. “Because… I can call you Fatal, for short. A little scootch and it can be Femme Fatale…”

Reo raised his hand. “I vote for that one!” He pulled up Everett’s arm. “Two votes!”

“I’m not using that codename even if the entire country votes,” Deen said.

We had a fun banter that went on for several minutes. Deen and I had planned this. The hero wannabes would think that we were adjusting to the group, that we were accepting being part of it, that we weren’t angry that they fucking forced us to meld with stupid artificial Cores. It was all a ruse. For our plans to escape the clutches of the secret organization someday, we had to do this.

I was going to bother them someday for bothering me big time—Rule #4 provided me with the biggest opportunity to super bother people with this. At the least, I’d target Dario. And whoever would side with him. For now, I’d have to see how the artificial Cores could benefit me.

I found it fun to have an accomplice in Deen. Scheming on my own was fun. Having a partner made it entertaining because I also had my own schemes to control her. Another entertaining thing was Deen being really uncomfortable about making me lie. As if she was forcing me to betray my own character. My best friend was a bad influence.

Might be too soon to call it, but the Adumbrae attack might be the best thing that happened to me.

In the end, Deen was adamant to be called ‘Ambriel’, and I vowed to call her ‘Fatalis’. I didn’t choose a codename because I didn’t have my Core powers yet. And that was about it for our team meeting.  

On the drive home, Deen wore a worried expression. Not surprising. It's game time tomorrow, and the team was relying on her to keep the hijacking safe. The docks mission hinged on successfully getting that truck. There was also the concern that they might strong-arm her into joining them at the docks, given how useful her future-sight-with-extra-steps ability was.

If that happened, it was Deen’s call to go with them or not. Rather, it was her Guardian Angel’s call. I wanted her to go with them to learn more about their powers. But that’d also put her in harm’s way, both from the 2Ms’ men… and me.

But that didn’t seem to be what was on her mind. “Erind, there’ll be workers at the docks, right?”

“I guess so. Since they’re going to unload and load stuff on the Red Island ship, they’ll need workers.”

“They won’t be Adumbrae, will they?”

“Don’t think so. Kind of weird to have workers be all Adumbrae. I bet most of them are just normal people in the 2Ms’ employ. They likely don’t know about what’s going on, other than it’s probably sketchy but they’ll shut up or lose their jobs.”

“Or their lives,” Deen said, shaking her head.

“That too.” I turned to her. “Wait, are you worried about the, um, collateral damage at the docks?”

“Many innocent people will be involved.”

“Ah, true… I don’t think you can stop that from happening.” What was Deen’s problem? Why was she worried about people she didn’t know? In movies, nobody cares about the randoms who die faceless here and there. The emotional scenes were only for the main character's death.

“I know I can’t prevent it, but if I can lessen it.”

“Lessen, how? Don’t tell me you’re joining the attack on the docks?”

“No, no! That’s not it. No…” She slowly shook her head while driving, letting her voice trail to drop the topic.

My weirdo best friend was going to the docks. Why did she suddenly care about the lives of innocent people? Putting it like that, I sounded like a bad guy. But most people didn’t care about others. That was just how things were. Right…?

Returning home, Deen and I trained for a bit. It was a clumsy sparring session in the living room. We pushed the seats and tables to the side to make space. Deen wanted me to attack her as fast as I could to practice her reaction time to her Guardian Angel’s instructions.

“Don’t hold back, Erind,” Deen said. “If you do, your attacks will slow down. Continuously strike. Don’t give me a break.”

“Uh, sure. If that’s what you want.”

I must admit, it was really grating that I couldn’t land a single hit on Deen. She was getting better at evading by using the least movement to keep up with my faster speed. Nonetheless, it benefited me to practice attacking an actual person instead of just imagining a target on my own.

Two hours later, Deen’s Guardian Angel told us to clean up the place. It could only mean that Deen’s older sister was coming.

“Goodnight, Deen,” I said, closing my room’s door. I hurriedly undressed to check if there were any changes to my body.

Nothing! Wohoo!

I went to bed with a huge smile on my face. I liked it when things favored me. Tomorrow would be a very exciting day.

Friday finally came. Deen and I attended only our morning classes, cutting the rest of the day. We had a ready excuse—I had food poisoning during lunch, and Deen had to take me home to rest. We didn’t pass by the university medical center, obviously. We just told our classmates that was it and left the campus.

Deen and I returned to Poblacion Verde Hills to drop off her car, and we booked a cab to reach our separate destinations. Mine was a café a couple of blocks away from Eve club. Deen went to the group’s meeting place before heading to the area where they’d hit the 2Ms’ truck.

Coffee Bean Bag—that was the name of the café I was in. It had low tables and bean bags around.

“They didn’t go for Teabag as their name?” I wondered while checking the menu. Unlike most Americans, I preferred tea to coffee. Yep, I was being a colonial traitor.

Carrying my tray of milk tea and cinnamon rolls—sugar galore—I sat by the window. I could barely see the edge of Eve’s parking area from here. The plan was for a bomb to be planted under the car of an employee, probably a member of the daytime prep team for food served at night. The hero wannabes had observed the cars that were always parked at Eve during the afternoon and chose the appropriate target.

From what I understood of the plan, Myra would plant a bomb that Johann cobbled together from untraceable pieces he bought at Marsh Row. Correction—Myra had planted the bomb already. She had covered her body with rubber to fake her size under her clothes while she did it.

I checked my phone. No message yet.

My role was to watch for anything suspicious that might affect the mission, and to set off the bomb when they’d tell me to do so. It should explode around the time the truck passes the gates of the docks area. If it exploded before that, the docks might go into lockdown because goons would leave to check on Eve. Does that rhyme? Later than that, and it wouldn’t provide a distraction for the attack.

The problem was that it’d leave me no time to reach the docks from here. Around an hour. Maybe more, depending on the traffic. By the time I’d arrive, the movie would be over.  

My first idea was to explode the car and leave. I didn’t think whatever happened here would have much effect on the docks mission. But if it did, the hero wannabe group might get stopped, and I wouldn’t have any distraction for my own attack.

I could pay off a hobo to set this off at a certain time. Well, I wasn’t sure if I could find a hobo nearby. How about the people in this café?

The table across from me had a guy studying some stuff. He was handsome, but he used highlighters. Anyhow, I bet he would fall for me, and I could trick him into bombing Eve.

I’m stretching the powers of my feminine wiles. Also, he’d have seen my face if I did that. I didn’t wear a face mask because I wanted to eat cinnamon rolls—that was the priority.

I stared outside the glass walls of the café, wondering if I should just leave without doing anything. That was safest for me and the hero wannabes. But that’d mean missing out on an explosion. It was one of my dreams to press a big red button to make things go boom. The button on the remote Johann gave me wasn’t red, but he assured me it’d cause a ‘very noticeable explosion.’

“That looks familiar…”

I adjusted my position on the bean bag, sitting straighter, as a sports car passed by the café. Its pearly white color with golden accents glimmered under the afternoon sun. I felt that I had seen this car somewhere before. I didn’t know what model it was, but it was so low to the ground that it could get scratched by pebbles. Its mortal enemy was probably speed bumps.

The driver’s window was open, and a sleaze bag draped his arm over the door as he catcalled a couple of ladies sitting outside the café. His arm had an unnatural sheen; it must be an augment. As the car turned, I got a good look at his face.

“Overdrive? He might be on his way to Eve. Huh… He did say he wanted to help me last time.”