“And you say you shot them, Ms. Dazzle?” the police officer asked, looking at her with a glance of confusion.
Fortunately, Adagio already had that covered. Pulling out a pistol with an orange top, she said, “Airsoft. Have to be careful nowadays and I know how strict state laws are, officer.”
He chuckled. “Smart girl; wish we had ones like you a few months back, as it would’ve made life easier around here. Well, we’ve got your report. Should we be aware of anything else?”
Adagio shook her head. “No officer, thank you for your time.” As she escorted him out the door, she breathed a sigh of relief, pulling the orange cap off her pistol. That was close. I’ll have to ask Maddie to have our people break into SPD’s computer systems and see what we can find out. Don’t want to run into that situation again.
The first thing she did after that was to inspect the animatronics on stage; if one was malfunctioning, chances are they all were. While the company manual – from the original corporation until Shim and Sham could write new rules – stated that the bots were not to be touched, especially Freddy, but she figured that was due to people who had no idea of what they were doing. As part of her training, Adagio had to learn rudimentary electronics and wiring, so she had a much better grasp than the average person, she assumed.
Walking over to Freddy, she watched as the head looked at her, following her. Definitely creepy, but probably the motion tracking suite within the system; they were circa 1980s technology, so very rudimentary at best. Opening up his back panel, a noxious smell came that was akin to a rotting carcass, but given the construction of some earlier wiring, she’d smelled that before – the wiring systems on the HVAC back at base smelled like a graveyard in comparison.
“And there we go,” she said to herself, reaching into the upper part and pulling out the memory battery. The robot reacted at once, shivering before coming to a complete stop. Yeah, I was right: it’s a redundant system. She then did the same to both Chica and Bonnie, and would’ve went to the back to do so with the others, but then her phone’s alarm beeped 6AM, and the contractors working on rewiring the building for modern power systems would be here in a few minutes.
Throwing away the batteries in a nearby can, she walked towards the entrance, pausing only to walk to the Office and put her gun away.
If she’d looked back at the stage, she would’ve seen the enraged looks on the Mark I animatronics, a visage akin to being violated.
Adagio sighed. “Look, I know I screwed up,” she told Shim and Sham when they arrived at nine, having explained the events of the prior night, “and I—”
The look on Shim’s face was one of shock. “No! If anything, we’re glad you’re safe! Losing one of those old robots isn’t worth your life, Adagio!”
“Shim’s right,” Sham agreed. “Especially if those guys had a kid around – they were endangering both the kid and you! You made the right call, and I’m glad you did. Heavens knows what would’ve happened to Shim or I if we’d been there. But you’re clearly very tough, and scared them off. I’m sure they won’t be back.”
“So does this mean I’m not fired?” the teen asked.
“Of course not! If anything, this confirms we made the right call hiring you! In fact, once school starts in the fall, we’ll promote you on the afternoon shift as a manager.”
“Yeah. You’re smart, think quickly and make the right calls. We’d be foolish not to have you aboard,” Sham insisted.
“Thanks!” Adagio said with a smile. She knew that if she’d been a normal girl, this would be an achievement in and of itself. As it was, however, she could use this to make friends and the like once the school year started – if she’d stayed around that long – and wheedle her way into Mrs. Mix’s grandchildren’s circle of friends. It would be a step towards accomplishing her real goal as a SIREN operative.
“Well, you better go home and get some sleep. Be back again at the usual time, and stay safe – we wouldn’t want our star employee to be hurt!”
“I’m home,” Adagio yawned as she walked through the door, carrying a couple of pizzas.
“Morning, sis,” Aria said from the kitchen table. “Want some breakfast?” Then seeing the pizzas she joked, “Or did you eat to go?”
“Actually, breakfast is fine, Ari,” Adagio said, walking over to the kitchen and putting the pizzas in the fridge. “So, where’s Maddie and Soni?”
“Maddie had to go to Horseshoe Bay to pick up the rest of our false identities,” Aria explained, “and Soni’s still asleep – she was up all night working on a birthday present for Maddie, since that’s next week.”
“Really? Well, Maddie is her grande sœur, so I suppose that makes sense – I’d do the same for Mezzo. Well, I’m going to go get a few hours of shuteye, and then I have to plot out some tactics.”
“Tactics?”
The older sister nodded, then explained the events of the night before. “Whoever they are, they’re good,” Adagio explained. “Better than I expect for the average gang member. Maybe they even have military training.”
“Could it be Les Scars?” Aria asked.
“I doubt it. Not even those bastards are monstrous enough to use children.”
But Aria shook her head. “Sis…CSIS created the SIRENs. They would and have used children.”
Adagio’s agreement was said: “Yeah, you have a point.”
Later that afternoon, Adagio came down the stairs, rested and relaxed, carrying her backpack. Now to think of—
“Hey, sis, ready to go?” Aria asked. She was in her riding gear, and she carried a large gym bag.
“Go where?”
“To your work, silly,” the younger teen said. “I’m curious about this place, and…well, I microwaved a bit of the pizza for lunch, and it was great – I’d like to try a fresh pie.”
Adagio grinned. “Fortunately, they let me cook whatever I want there, so I could whip up more than just pizza. I was thinking about making a calzone tonight; found the recipe on my phone an hour ago and am really interested in trying it out.”
“That sounds great,” Aria replied. “Well, shall we go?”
A few hours later, and after meeting Adagio’s bosses, Aria had a chance to inspect the place. Several windows, probably have night shutters, but nothing that can really stop anything with heavy penetration power, she mused. Perfect.
“Hey, you want a calzone or a stromboli?” Adagio called from the kitchen.
“Surprise me!” Aria called back. “I’m going to look around for a bit, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, but don’t touch anything!”
But touch everything was what Aria did: walking around, she set up small motion sensors that ran on batteries, guaranteed to last a few days, but she’d just need them overnight. She set up all over the place, creating a small sensor net. She then went up to the robots on stage – Yeesh, they sure are creepy, she thought to herself, as she almost got the feeling she was being watched – and placed tracking discs on them; if anyone tried to walk off with them, they’d be identified and tracked in the network.
Now to put a friendly transponder on Dagi, Aria thought. If Adagio discovered it, she’d know that something was up; the oldest sister had a protective sense towards her younger siblings and hated when it was the other way around. But she’s both part of the Sisterhood and my sister, Aria thought. I have to protect her.
Dinner was quiet and subdued; the pair munched on calzones – Aria had to admit, freshly-baked food was superior to the already great reheated pizza she had earlier – and the two chatted.
“So what’s with the gym bag?” Adagio asked.
Aria told a half-truth, and blushed. “I applied for a job, an assistant at the local YMCA. They wanted someone for the self-defense class, and when I showed them my well-forged certificate for a first-degree karate black belt, they hired me, though I’m only an assistant because the teacher’s a third-degree.”
“You could probably beat him,” Adagio said, between bites of her food.
“Yeah, but a normal girl probably couldn’t, and we are pretending,” Aria pointed out.
“Good point.”
A few minutes later, and Aria made to take off, while Adagio went to go throw the used plates and cups in the industrial washer. That gave Aria the excuse to slip the IFF tracker onto the inside of one of the pockets on Adagio’s web belt. She’ll wear the thing, given what happened last night, so I can track her safely. Good.
Coming back with her gym bag, Aria set it down briefly on the table, then hugged her sister. “Well, off to my new job,” she replied. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need it, Ari. You’re the best.”
“Thanks, sis.”
With that, Aria walked out of the building, taking one last look back at her sister, who was wiping off the table. God, those things are creepy, she thought of the robots; she almost felt as though the bunny, in particular, was trying to bore his vision through her skull. Slipping her bag back on the bike, she headed off to her job at the YCMA…
…but not before driving around the block. Good, all the buildings are easily spaced together, and I should be able to make it across the street via the power lines in a matter of minutes. She’d be back by ten, park behind the 7-11 across the street from the restaurant, and then begin her plan.
She patted her bag as she gunned her bike’s engine, feeling the strength of her sniper rifle within. Stay safe, sis, and I’ll make sure you’re safe too.