The Spirit of De Soth, Part 3


    It took Hallie around three seconds to triangulate the source of the scream she detected in the Mansion, but comparing the average distance from multiple recording sources in the building.  She zeroed in on the source...it was just outside Lara Night’s guest quarters.

    Hallie appeared suddenly and found Flapjack unconscious.  She frowned and stepped over him, and then knocked on the door.

    There was a delay and some shuffling within, and then the door opened.  It was dark in the room, and Lara was in her pajamas.  She rubbed her eyes and stared at Hallie blankly.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Was Flapjack bothering you?”  Hallie asked.  “I heard a scream.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I heard it too, but it wasn’t me.”  Lara asked sleepily.  She tried looking around Hallie, even though her holographic body was semi-transparent.

    Hallie turned around.  There was no Flapjack anymore.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t understand.”  Hallie whispered, “He was here a second ago.”

    Lara fully awakened then, and she suddenly said, “Do you think it’s Marv?  Why would he take Flapjack?”

    The hologram frowned.  “Because he knows every inch of this Mansion.  If anyone could turn it into a huge trap--”

    Hallie never finished that sentence, as the power went out, leaving her holographic projectors without enough juice to give her a body or a voice.


---


    The Psychic Samurai was wearing a long red silk robe, and staring out from her penthouse apartment bedroom window.  She frowned when she saw the distant Lair Mansion go dark against the grey backdrop of morning fog.  Suddenly, she began to doubt and regret her strategy of keeping Hatman safe and out of the loop.

    She didn’t need to sheepishly explain herself to Jay Boaz, however, because as it seemed, Yuki was doing the job for her.  After all, Yuki needed a good excuse, first for being there in the first place, and second for sharing the limited space on the couch.

    Chiaki silently moved into the hallway silently to listen.  By that point, the chat had escalated into a debate.

    Yuki was saying, “Because you would have sent everyone elsewhere, and stayed in the mansion to fight Marv alone.  Even though you have no way to fight.”

    Jay hated it when Yuki was right, especially when he was trying to sound heroic and selfless at the time.  He sighed, and rubbed his hand across his face.  

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know.”  he finally admitted.  “But you’re talking about civilians trying to fight--”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“--a battle that you can’t win, or I, for that matter, without some preparation.”

    He smiled as he realized just where Yuki was headed with this.  “So we get prepared.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And then save the day.”  Yuki confirmed with a nod and a smile.  “Just like you always wanted.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where do we start?”  he asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I dunno.”  Yuki shrugged and squeezed his shoulder.  “You’re the big leader guy who knows everyone.  Where do we start?”

    Chiaki silently chuckled to herself and shuffled back to her room to take a shower.


---


    Anna whipped out a cord and plugged the hidden port in her upper neck into the nearest security panel she could find...and it was dead.  She unplugged, and raced off toward the command and control center. 

    She was very well trained in strategy.  This was to be treated just as any other hijacking - and as the only ‘personnel’ with the means, her primary objective was to secure the control center and reassert control.

    As she anticipated, the control center was dark.  Hallie’s main servers were still active inside their glass cabinet, but they were on standby power mode - and the battery would only last a few hours.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh, Hallie.”  Anna mused to herself sadly, though she knew the A.I. couldn’t hear.  “If only you’d listened when I talked to you about the benefits of being autonomous.”

    She switched to ultrasonic and checked the room for secret entrances.  There were the air exchange vents, on a system isolated from the rest of the mansion, and the entrance door - that was about it.  She closed and secured the door, and then quickly changed the security code.

    With that room secure - at least for a few hours, until the batteries went dead and rendered both the door security and Hallie useless - it was time to secure the utility vault, and re-establish power and communications.

    This, she knew, would be the hard part.  Deductive reasoning was something Anna was thankfully born with, thanks to her creator wanting her to be as human as possible.  

    It made perfect sense to her that, while Marv couldn’t physically guard the power feed from a powerful android while in Flapjack’s body, he likely sabotaged it in a way that it would be difficult to repair.  And she also knew he needed the mansion dark, not just to keep Hallie at bay, but to make encouraging sleep among its remaining inhabitants easier.

    She screeched to a halt when she deduced an alternate scenario.  The power outage was a distraction, a choice.  Hurry to restore power and save Hallie, or save Liu Xi, Vinnie, Lara, and Kerry from death.  She wished at that moment humans were capable of wireless communication like Hallie was.

    Anna turned around and headed straight back to Lara.  She would need some power on her side...the type with a little finesse that could force Marv from Flapjack’s body without killing him.  And it was quite likely Marv would think of that too, and go after her first.

    The android burst into Lara Night’s visitor’s quarters, and was a little surprised that the blonde super-hero was so skittish about her entry until she realized that Lara probably came to the same conclusion she did.  

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Come with me if you want to live.”  Anna said.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have a sense of humor!”  Lara replied with a smile and a nervous laugh.  “That’s pretty cool.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m learning a lot, living among humans.”  Anna shrugged.  “I thought it might cheer you up.  I need your help--”

    She paused mid-sentence when she realized that Lara’s room had power.  She looked back into the hall in case it might have come back on, but the rest of the mansion was still dark.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.  I’m doing that,”  Lara quickly explained, noting the confused look from Anna.  As the blonde spoke, the lights in her room dimmed and went out.  “I’m not plugged in, it’s induction from a magnetic field.”

    An idea came to Anna then.  “How quickly can you teleport to Hallie’s control center?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“An instant.”  Lara replied.  “Why, do you want me there now?”

    Anna shook her head.  “No, I have to make sure Liu Xi, Vinnie and Kerry are safe first.  Then Hallie needs the power back on quickly.  I thought you could follow me to the infirmary.  If it’s safe, teleport with them to help recharge Hallie’s standby battery.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“To the infirmary then?”  Lara asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“My quarters first.  Right there.”  Anna pointed down the hall.  Her quarters were close to Lara’s.  Then the two of them went that direction, and then burst in.

    Liu Xi Xian looked confused at the sudden commotion.  She opened her mouth to say something, but Anna spoke first.

    The android said, “Communications are down, Liu Xi.  I need you to find Hatman.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Okay.”  Liu Xi agreed groggily, and she climbed off the bed to find her shoes.  “Why is the power out?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She’s not Marv, at least.”  Lara noted.  Marv would have already known the answer to that question.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Marv took control of Flapjack and disabled the power in the Mansion.”  Anna summed up quickly.  “I need you to contact Hatman while Lara and I find Vinnie and Kerry and restore power.”

    There was a sound outside in the hall.  Anna looked toward it suspiciously, and then said urgently to Liu Xi, “Go, now!”

    Liu Xi wanted to ask more questions, but she heard the noise and the worry in Anna’s voice.  She simply nodded and disappeared into the Void silently.

    Lara didn’t wait for prompting, since she already knew the next place to go.  With Marv possibly hot on their trail, there wasn’t time to confirm it anyway.  In a quick flash of light, she and Anna disappeared from Anna’s quarters and instantly teleported to the Infirmary.

    That’s when it was time to pause, as what they saw brought many questions came to mind.

    Vinnie De Soth woke at the sound of Anna clearing her throat, and he looked up at the android and the blonde.  He then raised his arm and looked at what was beneath it - Kerry Shepherdson, quietly and contently curled up next to him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s not--”  he tried to say.  But as he sat up, he realized the bed sheet was the only thing covering him.  Embarrassed, he crawled back under, and pulled the blanket over his head.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s weird.”  Lara Night mumbled to herself.

    Anna realized then that Lara wasn’t talking about Vinnie or Kerry.  It was the infirmary...it wasn’t the same room anymore.  It looked like the interior of a hotel room.

    And then Vinnie made a strained noise under the sheets.


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin