House of Ill Repute

We got back to the car and I drove us to the hotel. It was not too late for dinner but we decided to order room service once we got back.

I parked the SUV in the underground parking lot beneath the hotel and we took the staff elevator to our floor. Many of the residents used the staff elevator, especially when heading out or returning from a mission in the City.

There were a few “normal” guests that booked into the Superior, but we tried not to weird them out too much. Seeing a blood covered guest carrying swords or large firearms back to their rooms would distress even the most seasoned of travellers.

As safe as we both felt the Superior to be, we stayed alert and ready to fight up until we got to our room. Once we entered, I checked that everything seemed secure. In particular I took both Ferro Mortis and Threadcutter and stood them in their scabbards near my side of the bed.

“Are we expecting that much trouble?” asked Penny, amused by my antics.

“Just stand back for a moment” I told her, “I am going to activate a Sanctification spell on the room. It will knock out residual charms that may be active as well as any hidden surveillance devices” I looked over at her standing near the bed. “It may affect your implants as well”

“Well, OK, thanks for the warning” she replied.

I took out a small white stone pyramid about two inches tall from my dresser. The upper faces were inscribed with a spell focus. Lifting it up on my open palm I willed power into it and uttered “Sanctus!”. The stone flashed with a pale green light, encompassing the room.

Penny screamed theatrically and threw herself onto the bed, clutching at her head with both hands. I dropped the stone in alarm and dived to her side, asking if she was alright.

She stopped her writhing about and peeked up at me, another of her evil little smiles on her face.

“Gotcha!” she announced. I punched her on the arm and sat next to her on the bed. She put her arm out and held me lightly.

“We make a good team, don’t we?” she said.

I nodded in agreement. I was not sure I trusted myself to speak right now. We were a good team, but I wondered if I would see her again after the mission was completed.

=====

November 13th

We rose early, having spent a little time talking before falling asleep in each other’s arms. I felt refreshed and Penny looked a million dollars as always. I may not age, but I still looked like hell in the morning. She woke up alert and gorgeous. Envy flared for a brief moment, but then I knew what it cost her. We all have our burdens to bear.

I kissed her warmly as she came out of the bathroom, half dressed.

“You are suddenly chirpy” she said in surprise.

“I want to check on someone before we chase down Rose” I replied. “She means to a lot to me and I just need to reassure myself she is OK”

We finished dressing. It was going to be day in the public eye so we could not gear up for anything too extreme.

Penny wore a black skirt suit, again paired with a jacket lined with armour weave. She wore a lightweight tactical vest under her shirt as well. It limited her mobility only fractionally but gave her some solid protection over her torso. The knee high boots and leather gloves completed her outfit for the day. She took her pistol and knife again, paired with an extendable shock stick that she carried in a jacket pocket.

Two spare magazines went into her purse for the pistol, one marked with blue painted crosses. I asked her what made that magazine different.

“Marked rounds” she said. “Created by the Vatican armourers. They are inscribed with Latin prayers designed to be effective against creatures from the other side. If we meet another Mare, these babies will hurt them very badly”

I was dressed much like yesterday. My jacket had been wiped clean and the bullet hole was not too noticeable. My hair was not behaving today as the outside weather was humid again. I started putting it into a long plait when Penny came and took the brush from me. She gently brushed out the tangles and deftly wove my long hair into a neat plait.

I handed her a long hair pin from my dresser and she examined it for a moment. It was silver plated steel and fine runes were visible along the length of it. She pinned it sideways through the top of the plaited hair.

“That is a very pretty piece” she said to me. “It won’t explode into a fireball will it?”

“Are you still upset about that?” I laughed and she gave me a sour look. The dagger in question was strapped to my forearm again.

“Just give me a little more warning next time” she said. Penny grabbed her metal case of equipment and I picked up Ferro Mortis in its scabbard. We would take them in the secure boot of the SUV, just in case we need some extra firepower today.

One last survey of the room and we headed out. I locked the room behind us and we went down the service elevator to the basement parking lot. Another day in the big city awaited us.

=====

I drove our SUV in sports mode to the Pan City Little Angels Orphanage. We paused on the way to grab some coffees and breakfast from a roadside chain of drive-thru eateries. The food was cheap and tasty, loaded with fat and carbohydrates.

The sky was overcast and the humidity was high, but we were comfortable in the car’s air conditioning. I pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the fenced playground for the orphanage. We could see most of the grassed area from here and a number of the buildings.

Penny looked with interest at the facility while we drank our coffee and ate the breakfast muffins.

“So who is it you wanted to check on?” she asked me. A few children and one of the Sisters were moving across the grounds, talking animatedly about something.

“A child of a relative” I answered honestly. “Her parents were researchers here in the city and were killed in a terrorist attack. She had no other family that could take her in so she was sent here. I have been watching over her since she was just a year old”

“Tough to lose her parents so young” admitted Penny. “But some parents you are better off without” Some bitterness from her own life had crept in there. “Does this place look after the children OK?”

“Better than most” I acknowledged. “I help out here sometimes when I have time off from the Order.” I was looking over the children that had started to come out into the play area. They would have finished their own breakfast by now. The Sisters got them up and fed early, to give time for some play before lessons.

A familiar blonde headed girl appeared, walking with two taller girls. Millie was still shorter than most of the children her own age. The weight on my heart for her lifted a little when I saw her chatting to friends. She was often alone, her anger issues making it hard to connect with the other orphans.

Penny noted where my gaze had focussed, and I guessed she used her Enhanced eyes to observe Millie closely.

“She looks just like you, Vee” commented Penny. “I guess that relative was a close family member”. She swung her head towards me, gauging my reactions. “She can’t be your daughter, because I know you are the Maiden” she added.

I relented under her regard. “She is my niece. Her father was my younger brother. When he died, there was no-one to care for her. I really wanted to, I even contemplated how I could abandon the Order, but I knew it would never work. The lives we lead are far too dangerous”

“So you skulk about spying on her?” wondered Penny.

“I serve as a Sister here, just another servant helping raise the children. Millie and the others here don’t know we are related. A few of them would have guessed there is a connection but no-one speaks openly about it” I paused. “And I don’t invite discussion on the matter”

Penny took the hint from me and lapsed into silence. She turned back to watch Millie and her friends. Penny then stiffened in her seat as Millie began to show off for her friends.

Millie started whistling a sharp key, audible to us even from where we were. The scattered leaves and the girl’s knee length dresses were being whipped faster and faster by a small whirlwind in the midst of the group. Some of the more daring children ran through the vortex, screaming in excitement as their hair and clothes were pulled about by the air currents.

“She’s an Awakened!” exclaimed Penny, watching as Millie entertained the others with her Aeromancy.

“It happened just last year” I agreed. “She is self-Awakened. The Sisters had an absolute fit when it first manifested. Sister Agatha was convinced she had been possessed by demons. It was lucky I arrived soon after and was able to get her tested”

“So why is she not being trained at an Awakening Centre?” asked Penny. “It looks like she may have a substantial amount of power”

“Because I don’t trust them” I said simply. “And I made it very clear to the guiding powers of this City that they were to leave her be”

“Very clear?” smiled Penny.

“I threatened to use Threadcutter on every last one of them if they even glanced in her direction” I said with conviction. I still remember that day, threatening the great Archimedes AI with utter extinction. It was not convinced that my power could work on a machine based entity, but it seemed unwilling to find out for sure. It had stayed clear of me ever since.

“Do you ever look to see what her fate will be?” asked Penny, watching Millie end her little performance. Breathless children were being herded back inside by the Sisters as a light rain began to fall.

I saw Sister Adoracion cajole Millie out of the rain. My niece was quite stubborn at times, defiantly following her own inclinations regardless of whether it was in her best interest. Just like me of course.

“No” I replied “I don’t want to know. I want to believe she can have a happy and fulfilling life. I have no desire to see whatever failures and heartbreak the future will bring her”

“Have you looked at my future path?” asked Penny.

“The paths we follow can be changed by the simplest of choices” I told her, avoiding the question. “Something as simple as choosing a muffin instead of a burrito for breakfast may be a momentous change in your direction or have no influence at all. What may feel like enormous decisions could be irrelevant to your destiny”

“So is that a yes or no?” laughed Penny.

“Do you want to know your future?” I asked her seriously. “It may not be something you want to hear”

“No, I don’t want to know” she answered, and glanced at me. “Please don’t look either. I don’t want our friendship to be burdened by that knowledge”

“I understand” I said to her. It was how I felt about it too. Ignorance can be bliss sometimes.

The playground was empty now. Time to go.

=====

The morning traffic was dense at this time of day, even when most of the vehicles were driven by dumb AI’s. I had surrendered to the majority will and let our car auto-drive us to the next destination. It was interesting to note how often the few manually driven cars were deliberately hedged in by the AIs, despite their frequent lane changes. Perhaps they were responding automatically to a perceived threat to road safety. I think they were just trying to annoy the human drivers.

We were headed to the heart of Pan City, where the soaring edifice of the Archimedes Tower loomed like a sentinel over every other building. Its many levels were home to the administrators of the Zone, including the primary offices of the six Governors.

Buried deep beneath the tower was the massive core of the Archimedes AI, surrounded by heavy layers of reinforced concrete, blast doors and Ceramite shields. It had its own nuclear power plant to provide power, augmented by the shimmering layers of solar energy extractors that lined the building surfaces on all sides.

This was the most exclusive piece of real estate in the Zone and likely the whole world. Businesses, embassies and lobby groups fought a never ending diplomatic and financial war to gain a foothold in the many spaces made available for lease. Despite the horrendous rental that was charged, there was never a single office left unoccupied for more than a few days.

At its base the tower was a circle nearly a kilometre across, rising up as a tapering cone to over a kilometre into the sky. At the pinnacle was a single floor fifty metres across, a private penthouse occupied by one of the Jericho Avatars it was claimed.

The sides of the structure were dotted with small landing pads for VTOLs and helicopters. There were also subtle bulges and projections scattered in a seemingly random pattern and these contained sophisticated energy weapons, railguns, missile launchers and point defence arrays. Nothing could attack the tower without facing a devastating response, and the Governors made it well known these were ready to be deployed if needed.

We were of such insignificance in the grand hierarchy of the city that we could not get parking any closer than a kilometre from the lower entrances. I parked the SUV in a public bay, charged the exorbitant parking fee to the Church, and Penny and I caught a shuttle train to the central station at the base of the tower.

Much to our mutual disappointment we had to leave our weapons in the car. The security around the Tower was substantial and we had no chance of sneaking anything past the scanners. As we sat side by side in the shuttle carriage, I asked Penny how she would get on with the scanners at the main station.

“My implants are configured to appear as standard medical grade enhancements for civilian use” she told me. “I carry documentation that justifies what they can see”

She looked at my tattooed hands. “What about all of that?”

“These are just religious markings to show my devotion” I laughed and waved my hands about. “Nobody outside of our own kind would have any idea what they are”

I looked at my hands, examining the patterns on my palms. Millie used to be fascinated by them, especially when I appeared with a new one. She just accepted them now and never seemed to notice them anymore. She had not seen me undressed though and would be surprised how many I had across my body I was sure.

The shuttle arrived with a hiss of brakes at the central station and we exited onto the platform. Penny led the way, looking about with tourist like interest. I followed close behind. We went up some escalators along with other new arrivals and came out onto the main station concourse.

Access into the central area, and the Tower lobby beyond, was controlled by security gates. Scanners monitored each arrival and any persons who did not meet approval were led to the side by armed Police Auxiliaries. Scattered amongst the throng were Guards, the clone soldiers linked directly to the Archimedes Network. These were in full body armour, their identical features concealed under combat helmets. They were also armed, carrying assault rifles instead of the pistols the Police auxiliary had. The crowds of people flowed around them without pausing and no one got close.

I passed the security gates without an issue. My hair pin was still fixed in my plait but it was not obviously a weapon so did not trigger a response. Penny set off a low level alarm and I could not help looking back as two Police men stepped up to her.

Without trying to seem too blatant, I stopped near the gate exit and rummaged in my pockets as though looking for something. I pulled out my phone and pretended to take a call while observing what was happening to my partner.

Penny was standing easily to one side of the barriers, chatting amiably to the two male officers. There was too much noise around me to hear what was said, but Penny was putting on the charm. She may be a lethal killer but she was also damned attractive and was working her curves on the men.

After what seemed like an eternity they nodded happily to her and opened the side exit, releasing her into the main hall. She smiled at my worried frown and linked her arm in mine, walking me onwards.

“Piece of cake” she said. ”Poor guys were so awestruck I did not even have to show my documents”

Our passage across the main hall was unobstructed and we left the Metro station by another set of escalators to the Tower Lobby itself. There were no more gates but still small patrols of Guards and Police Auxiliary.

“Wow” was all Penny had to say about the lobby. To call it a lobby is to seriously understate the scale and grandeur of this space. It had been built as the showpiece of the entire city, itself a testament to the grand vision of its masters.

Small aircraft could be flown inside its open space, and indeed once a year a festival was held for man-powered light craft to race in there. The open floor was terraced into different levels, dropping down like an amphitheatre to a central ornamental lake. Huge pillars were spaced evenly around the curve of the lobby, with glass sided elevators ascending to the upper levels. The centre of the structure was open for half its height, allowing for dizzying views down the central well to the water filled lake at the base.

I lead Penny towards one of the pillars that had elevators to the floor we wanted. A reception desk sat to one side of a clustered bank of the elevators, with two well dressed women looking up as we approached. Both were Enhanced, subtly but their artificial eyes were a giveaway. They were nowhere as expensive as Penny’s.

“Good morning, we are with the Council of Consolidated Churches” I announced. I produced an Ident screen on my phone for verification. Penny did the same.

Both of us have legitimate standing in the Council as a cover for our true roles. It is intended to give us access to many of the upper levels of the church. I doubted it would give us any chance of meeting Governor Rose but it was worth a shot.

Their eyes scanned the idents and the one to the right of the pair confirmed our identities.

“How may we help you this day, Sisters?” said the left one politely. I found myself glancing between the two of them, unsure which one I was meant to be addressing. I opted to look at the last one to speak.

“We are here to see Governor Rose” I announced “And no, we don’t have an appointment”

Both women adopted a blank face for a few moments as their internal processors accessed the appointments diary. The woman to my right responded, making me switch my gaze. Was this some game they played on visitors?

“I am sorry, Sisters, but the Governor is not available to see you today” said Ms Right.

“We understand” I replied. Time to force their hand. “We just wished to discuss with him the unfortunate passing of one our parishioners, a Ms Amy Truong. We understood she was a personal friend of the Governor”

I left them a phone number they could call me on. I told them we would be expecting a contact from the Governor’s office while we waited at a nearby café.

Left and Right watched us leave without further comment. We got out of earshot and Penny cackled with delight.

“Are you crazy?” she said to me, a big grin on her face. “You just painted a great big target on our backs”

“You know why I did it” I answered. “Somebody is going to come and see us. Even just some goons may give us the leads we need”

“Better hope they are not armed goons” she muttered. “I feel damned naked without even my 5mm”

“Just flash your tits” I assured Penny. “That seems to stop them in their tracks every time”

“That was one time in Budapest!” she said animatedly. I could feel her smiling at me as I led the way to a very overpriced café.