//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Unwilling Recruit // by Starscribe //------------------------------// “You’re making a mistake,” Harley said, her voice quiet, pained. She stopped tugging on her sleeve, turning away. “Good luck! When they interrogate you, tell them whatever you want. If it will keep you alive.” She gestured urgently away, and Bruce gave them one last, backward glance. Then he turned to run as well. Katie looked between Jackie and the two of them, as though completely frozen by her indecision. The expression didn’t last long. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” “Always.” Jackie grinned down at her. “You’ll see. This might be awkward, but we didn’t do anything! We’re not going to get in trouble.” A few seconds later, and the elevator doors banged open. Four figures rushed into the room, their guns already raised as they ran. All four dressed in suits, one woman and three men. “On the ground, right now!” the woman shouted, demanding. Jackie complied, falling to the floor, and nodding for her sister to do the same. “Hands behind your head,” the woman said, slowing. “Where did they go?” Jackie pointed for the service elevator at the far end of the hall. “They ran there.” “Yorken, McElroy.” She pointed. “Get them.” They left without so much as a word. That left Jackie and Katie facedown on the ground in the service hallway, with a pair of government-looking agents standing above them. Not exactly her idea of a fun con. It’s okay. We’re not gonna get arrested for this. It’ll be worth it when we don’t get dragged into something awful. “What are you two doing in the service hall?” asked the woman, stopping just in front of them. Behind her, Jackie felt the male moving something made of plastic—a zip tie, by the sound of it. A second later he yanked her arms together with a jolt, and secured the zip tie around her wrists. Those wouldn’t be moving anytime soon, not without a sturdy pair of scissors or a knife to cut through them. “W-woman,” Jackie said. “Told us some crazy shit. Tried to get us to run to some helicopter, or… we don’t fucking know. It didn’t make any sense.” “I see.” The woman gestured. “Both of you, stand back up. You’re not carrying any weapons, right? Make any sudden moves, and my partner will shoot you.” “No weapons,” Jackie said. “We’re just going to the con. We didn’t do anything—we don’t have any drugs, or—” “I know,” the woman interrupted her. “We still have to check you. You might be carriers and not know it.” On her feet again, Jackie could see the woman remove something from her pocket. It wasn’t very large—a length of metal covered in feathery sensors with a bit of quartz crystal visible poking out from inside. “Clean,” she said, and something shoved her away. So hard that she smacked into the wall, and nearly fell over. The female agent acted as though she hadn’t even seen what her partner did, or else didn’t care. She moved the little device in front of her sister next. It lit up bright red, making an uncomfortable electric squeaking sound. “I was afraid of that.” She pocketed the device. “What’s your name?” “K-Katie… Kessler,” Katie croaked, a few tears streaming down her face. “What’s going on?” “Nothing you need to be concerned about,” the agent said. Yet in her tone, Jackie could pick out easy evidence of something her sister wouldn’t be able to see—this woman was lying. She sounded exactly like a doctor who had bad news they didn’t want to deliver. “We have a good hospital. We’ll take care of you. If we caught it in time, this shouldn’t even affect your quality of life. You’ll recover right away.” If. Even in her lie, this woman was speaking in vagaries. “I want to come too,” Jackie announced, rising again from the floor. She didn’t move towards the agents—even though neither of them was pointing a gun anymore, Jackie didn’t have a death wish. She just wanted to make herself seen. “My sister’s just a kid. Bring me along too, I’ll keep an eye on her. Even if I’m not affected.” The male agent turned to face her. His body was twice as wide as his partner’s, as wide as a restaurant refrigerator. With him in her way, Jackie couldn’t even make out her sister’s face. “Sorry,” he said, not even trying to sound sorry. “No room for civilians. You’re not infected, you’re not coming.” It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. There wasn’t an infection—it was a lie! Harley and the other had been manipulating them, spending tons and tons of money to trick them into getting involved with whatever illegal operation they were running here. “No!” Jackie squealed, though she didn’t move. Even so, she saw the woman’s hand jerk up, aiming her handgun squarely at Jackie’s chest. “You will not move,” she said, her tone flat and emotionless. “We will get your sister the help she needs. This is not a discussion.” Jackie nodded, tears streaming down her face. It wasn’t as though she had the power to argue. “Harmon, take her,” the woman said. “I’ll go to the roof. And you.” She gestured one last time with the gun. “You will return to your room and wait for questioning. Understand?” Jackie nodded. She wasn’t resisting. Almost before she was out of sight, Jackie heard the service elevator chime, and the doors open. “Second Floor,” said a mechanical voice. One of the two agents who had ran ahead fell out of the elevator, clutching at a bleeding chest. He reached dramatically up towards the woman, blood dribbling down from his hands. “P-please god, help…” Jackie froze, something so strange cutting through the emotional strangulation of seeing her sister dragged away. Harley had acted like many things, but this looked like something out of a horror movie. She backed away even so, though probably not as fast as she should have. “Yorken, what happened?” the woman shouted, running with her gun ready towards the elevator. She seemed to have completely forgotten about Jackie. The agent crawled his way out, leaving streaks of blood on the floor as he went. “What happened to you?” the woman asked, her voice harsh. “Where’s McElroy?” Yorken remained on the ground, though he was still reaching out towards the woman. “G-god… you can’t imagine… I didn’t know they could…” Jackie was nearly back to the hole she’d came in through—the same one that her sister had been dragged through back to the hotel proper. But she didn’t quite leave—she wanted to see what happened. The woman bent down, taking Yorken’s offered hand with her own free one. Even so she was still watching the elevator. She said something quietly, something Jackie couldn’t hear. Something metal thumped onto the floor—a gun. Jackie stared in awe as the woman fell limply to one side. Not dead—her eyes were still open, staring blankly into space. But she’d stopped moving. Yorken wasn’t on the floor anymore, but rising to his feet and brushing himself out like nothing had happened. His outline flickered unevenly, and Jackie felt briefly sick. Was there a fog machine down the hall she hadn’t noticed? No—she looked again, and Harley was standing there, in a suit several times too big for her, covered in comically fake blood. She put her arms together, and the whole thing fell to the floor. She wore only black underclothes beneath—though at least they didn’t stain with fake blood like the suit had. How did she do that? “If you don’t mind.” Harley scooped up the gun from where it had fallen, before sprinting back towards Jackie. She seemed unconcerned by her near-nudity, or the absolute absurdity of what she’d just done. If anything, she seemed a little tired. “Where is your… sister?” “They took her,” Jackie said, pointing through the opening. “Please, help her! I should’ve trusted… They said she’s infected, but Katie isn’t sick! Whatever it is… it can’t be good if they won’t let me go with her.” “You should’ve trusted me,” Harley said, stopping less than a foot away from Jackie. Under the circumstances, Jackie couldn’t even feel attracted to her. Even though Harley was every bit as gorgeous as she imagined and currently barely dressed. But how did she do that? She didn’t look like a kid wearing a clown-suit! “Help Katie,” she begged. “Please.” Harley nodded, pulling the wand from somewhere Jackie couldn’t see, tossing the gun to Jackie as though she’d just asked for a coke. Jackie caught it, though very nearly dropped it again from how unexpectedly heavy it was. “Fine, but you’re helping.” Harley grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward into a run. She seemed completely unmoved by the floor covered in debris and broken glass, or by going into a public place almost naked. Jackie wanted to drop the gun and run for her life—and for a moment, that was what she almost did. But the thought of Katie dragged away somewhere, to be used for who knew what kind of government research—she couldn’t let that happen. That was the sort of thing that happened to other people, but not family. She tried to settle the gun into her hand as she ran, though she was too afraid to put her finger on the trigger. What if she pulled too hard and accidentally shot someone? “I don’t know how to use one of these!” she shouted, barely even managing to keep up with Harley as she ran. “Do I look like a member of the NRA?” “Do I?” Harley shot back, as they came out of the meeting room. There was a thick crowd of con-goers, all marching slowly towards their rooms. Jackie whimpered, searching in the thick group for her sister and the massive man who had dragged her away, but they were impossible to pick out. How much lead did he have on them? “When I yell, shoot the ceiling. Aim at something glass—real dramatic.” Harley leapt right into the air, and it looked almost like she caught there for a second, standing on a stool that didn’t exist. “Everyone on the ground right now!” she screamed. Only it didn’t sound like her at all—the voice that emerged from her throat sounded masculine, gravely, and fiercely angry. Not only that, but it projected loudly, filling the whole room. She looked back at Jackie, expectant. Jackie didn’t know what she was doing, knew that this moment was when she would transform from a victim into an accomplice. I’ll do it for you, Katie. We’ll save you. She put her finger on the trigger and fired several times straight up. Each time the pistol barked in her hand, though there wasn’t much recoil. Just a faint upward push, angling her further and further off-course each time. She hit glass once just by chance, and bits went flying down onto the crowd. “On the ground!” Harley yelled again. This time, people obeyed. Many screamed, a few tried to run, but most got right onto the ground, dropping right where they were. “Kay, don’t need that.” Harley gestured casually at the gun, then pointed. The towering man was on the bottom floor, one hand on Katie’s shoulder as he led her out. “Stay as close as you can!” Harley shouted, before flinging herself off the edge of the banister down to the lobby below. Jackie didn’t watch too closely, just dropped the gun and ran for the stairs as quickly as she could. People were on the ground, crying, covering their faces, and she knew she wouldn’t have long. Once they realize I was part of it… She made it to the stairs, shoved her way past several stunned con-guests, before sliding down the railing to the floor as quick as she could. By the time she got there, Harley was already through the front doors. Their target had shoved Katie into the backseat of a car parked right up on the edge of the building, a black sedan with the keys still in the ignition. They were behind a police line—though for the moment, the officers weren’t look towards them. Cars and cones were parked to separate the hotel from the rest of the streets. Their target went flying through the passenger seat as though he’d just been struck by a hydraulic ram. He bounced and rolled on the pavement, apparently without anything to propel him. Jackie stared, though not for long. “Out!” Harley shouted, and the back-passenger door ripped right off the car. Metal groaned as it tore, then the window landed on the ground and shattered. “Jackie, get her! She’s in spellshock.” Jackie didn’t have a clue what that meant, but looking in the back of the car she could see her sister had vomit running down her face. She didn’t stop to look, just pushed through the confusion, and wrapped both arms around her sister. She hadn’t buckled in, so it wasn’t hard. Katie wasn’t much lighter than she was, but Jackie didn’t let that slow her down. Half a dozen police had turned to stare at them. Many already had their hands on guns, watching with confusion and shock. “O-officer…” croaked the agent, who had pulled himself into a sitting position, spitting blood. “Officers, shoot them!” This order was not immediately obeyed. Harley stepped up beside them, grip firm on her wand. She was muttering something to herself, though Jackie couldn’t tell what. Please don’t be losing your mind. “Uh, Harley? We’re… what do we do? Harley?” A few more policemen drew their weapons, aiming at them. “Stand down!” One of them shouted. “Get on the ground!” The world jerked violently to one side. Jackie had never seen anything like it—not the way the policeman in front of her seemed to fracture into a dozen different colors. She would’ve vomited herself if there was anything left. She felt frost condense on her skin, something sharp tugging at her chest—then it was over, and the world changed. She was high up—standing on a helipad, only a few feet away from a plain white, corporate-looking helicopter. “Come on.” Harley strode forward, and someone inside threw the doors open. “We’ve got to get in. The venom I used on the other three should be wearing off about now. Let’s go.”