Malleable chapter 3

[Emily]

What I have of chapter 3, so it doesn't take an age and a half to scroll through one thread with all 11,000 words. It's about 1,000 words longer than usual too.

I like to think of myself as a decent fighter out of necessity. Growing up on the less prosperous side of everywhere from the Capital to tiny towns unknown any further than fifteen miles outside their borders, I may or may not have found myself cornered by vengeful teenagers with only a metal pipe for company. It was an experience I had frequently throughout my formative years, and the only reason that today I'm anything more than a nasty stain on the pavement somewhere is because of tricks to get away from the bad guys I learned in action movies and lots and lots of practice throwing punches. And kicks. And occasionally the strategic use of a pencil or four. In my defense, a pencil or other sharp object shoved into the leg just above the kneecap is a great way to prep for running away. Eventually I even got the help of a grizzled martial arts master by the name of Hakuro that took pity on me or saw great potential in this young one or something. I took to the idea of the whole thing pretty well, and because he was completely against it I found ways to practice my skills with a gun behind his back. Holding my own in anything from a knife to a gun fight is not a problem.

But I have a point to get to. See, I've been stuck inside a not-quite-person's head for about a day now and I'm already trying to get out. Naturally my second time outside I get stuck being chased down by a bunch of goons on strings so obvious and direct I could practically see the ropes leading up to the puppet master. Then this ominous guy in all black starts a tense, cryptic conversation I'm obviously not apart of and pulls out a gun. Even unarmed I feel like tearing down the Left Path and taking control right then and there. But I don't, mostly because I wouldn't be able to do anything even if I was the one steering the proverbial ship. As each side of the conflict reaches for their weapons (I'm tossed a gun, which the kid catches with unease she instinctively doesn't show) they banter back and forth. Pretty much every person there was a thin line in the sand away from snapping and shooting up anything that looked like it was on the opposite side. That description even applied the creepy trench coat guy, even though he was doing an impeccable job of shoving that fact behind a mask of easy, cruel confidence.

Assessing the situation around the group for them because they seem to have been drawn into their own small world with this guy, I noticed something worrying. All of the soldiers from before had completely cleared out after the explosion. My instincts were yelling "trap," while a quick character analysis said that Trench Coat Guy was a high ranking officer that had sent them all away so he could handle it on his own. If the latter were the case it was unmistakable they'd all make it out none the worse for wear, but.... Preparation for the worst is always kind of my own thing, but there was no real was I could prepare except getting geared up for a huge battle. Do you have any idea how hard it is to gear up for a fight, then *wait*?

As the infinitely wise Spaniard from the Princess Bride said, I hate waiting.

---

The mood seemed to be the kind that could shatter at the slights provocation, an observation strengthened by the fact that no one had dared to so much as breathe so far. Stepping out of his concealed spot, the newcomer seemed to take the shadows with him. More than just his clothes were black, though the trench coat didn't hurt the illusion that there were shadows pulsating around him, wrapping around in spirals through the air. His hat hid his face, though he couldn't have been out of his mid-twenties at a stretch. Outwardly Samantha regarded him cooly and waited for someone to react first. Inwardly the ball of energy was starting to get restless, bursting at the seams like every other human being in the area. It was inconvenient, really. She didn't normally lose her head like that.

The first aggressor was Liam, naturally. There were only a few moments of quiet before he exploded like a dog let off a leash, and stumbled forward a few steps as he yelled as if to solidify the metaphor. "Dedrik! Get out of here right now or I swear to-" Then Alex was beside him, catching his arms in a move of desperation as if sensing he'd go for a concealed gun before he even tried to. Which he did, just after shaking her off. But he didn't fire, which was probably all Alex had been aiming for anyway. But the sudden and quick flurry of activity was enough to break the spellbinding thickness of the atmosphere, a fact that almost seemed to disappoint... what had his name been? Right, Dedrik.

Liam looked like he was ready to shout an order or accusation or maybe just finish his curse, but was interrupted. Dedrik spoke in a low, calm voice that sounded like every statement contained a reason for him to gloat. "It's fantastic to see you all again. It really has been long." He smirked. "Cormac, you really should come around and visit an old friend sometimes. It just isn't the same without you around."

Cormac, on his part, looked like someone had just suggested that they kill his cat. "I won't dignify that utterly idiotic statement with a response."

"Tsk, you wound me. Here I was hoping for a warm reception, and that's all I get? A rabid dog, a gun in my face, and the suggestion that you're somehow better than I am? Why, if I didn't know better I'd have thought I'd gone and done something awful you, Cormac. Really, I'm the one being forgiving here. You know that!"

Growling, Cormac pulled out his own gun and trained it on Dedrik's face. "Cut the crap and tell us what you want."

"What do I want? Why, what everyone wants. World peace. A million dollars. A hot fudge sundae. One of those human-sized plastic hamster balls." Complete, cold silence. "Fine, if you really must rush things I'll get to the point. You really should know, though. I only want what everyone on *our* side wants. This silly one sided cat fight to stop before a lot of innocent, misguided people hurt themselves on all of those explosives that keep managing to find their way into our supply trains."

The expression on Cormac's face darkened, somehow, to something that would have made any normal person on the receiving end wither. "Don't get riled up, Cor! He's just messing with your head, so don't let him. Just calm down, please." Alex, having sufficiently placated Liam, had since taken a few halting steps towards the next of her volatile friends.

Felix, who had been mostly silent and brooding the entire time, spoke up long enough only to say one thing. "Samantha, catch." He'd pulled out two guns while the other's attention was trained on the threat, then tossed one to the only unarmed person in the area. She was grateful, but a mixture of pride, caution, and sheer situational awareness kept her from mentioning that she neither needed nor knew how to use a gun. Her expertise, in combat or otherwise, consisted of something else entirely. Nevertheless, the only person that reacted to the exchange was the one having the hardest time with the star of the moment.

"What are you doing? We can't trust her yet, Felix." Cormac ground out his protest in a loud whisper as if he was afraid his adversary would hear.

Liam spoke up in a commanding voice Samantha hadn't known he'd possessed, though his eyes were still narrowed furiously. "Leave it. We'll need all the help we can get."

"Look, I don't know why the rest of you are so comfortable around someone we've known for all of twenty four hours," he glanced at Felix, who shrugged, "but-"

"Oh come *on,* you four didn't forget about me already did you? Your attention span really surprises me sometimes, Cor. I expect so much better from you. See, this is why you should have never left."

"/Don't call me that./"

"Okay, okay, sorry! Didn't know nicknames were off the table. For the record, you're still more than welcome to call me Deed. Or Rik. Or Edri, if you want to, but I'm not sure why that would even cross your mind. Your thought patterns are so bizarre sometimes Cor, you know that?"

In response, Cormac shot his gun at Dedrik/Deed/Rik/Edri's face.

The bullet bounced harmlessly off a small forcefield in front of him, and the missing soldiers poured on cue into the small patch of grass with weapons held high. It looked like there was going to be a stalemate, or more likely they were simply going to have to surrender. /Our fault for falling for such a distraction while they regrouped./ The possibility of that was destroyed by Liam not three seconds later when he took a shot at the first target within range. The others followed suit without question, all turning their backs on each other to form something that resembled a circle so they'd have all angles covered. The position looked like it was second nature. Samantha was surprised to find herself fall into the formation as well.

Not that she was very useful. The restless, annoyed energy in the back of her mind had decided, for lack of a better word, to ambush her. From nowhere it... it *pushed* on something intangible, making all her limbs seize up. Her head and throat and chest pounded with something sticky and dark as it fought its way into... whatever it was trying to achieve.

Felix, the person closest to her, moved in front of her to block her from the firefight as she started to curl in on herself. "You okay?" he asked without looking back at her. Samantha tried to wave the bizarre attack away with a clipped word or two, but suddenly she knew what the energy wanted.

She wasn't in control of her own tongue. She wasn't in control of anything, actually. Not the way her posture suddenly straightened into something more casual than her usual ramrod straight but infinitely more upright than the way she'd been hunched over seconds before. Not the way she grinned, because it certainly wasn't kind enough at all to be a smile. Not the way Felix was pushed to the side as she began wielding her gun with practiced ease or the way she ignored his look that said he was too busy fighting to be baffled but would bug her about it later.

All she could really do was watch in horror as something else used her body in a way that didn't even pretend to be her. What had they done to her before she'd bolted, exactly? Even with everything she'd studied she had no idea what her symptoms pointed to, and that meant she'd been a guinea pig. Her body twisted suddenly to -take care of some jerk taking a pot-shot at Alex.- Had she the ability, Samantha would have blinked. That was rather... very unlike her.

-Get used to it, sweetheart.-

And thus it was confirmed that whatever they'd put in her, it was sentient.

-No dip! I hadn't noticed.-

Sentient and obnoxious.

-Oh, would you just shut up already?-

Gladly, if someone would stop reading her thoughts.

The... being obliged, and there was suddenly a very thick wall between her and the events of the outside world. Like she knew what was happening, but couldn't experience any of it. She knew, for instance, that no one had run out of ammunition yet despite them not being even close to conservative with it. She knew rather than saw when the opposition closed in and the fight became partially hand-to-hand. She knew rather than felt that her shoulder had been grazed with a bullet that really shouldn't have missed. The same went for when the police, and soldiers now too, were there in overwhelming numbers, making her wonder for a second time what the group of friends had done to warrant such attention. Liam almost throwing away his gun and attacking someone with his bare hands when Alex was knocked over and dragged to the side of the battlefield, Cormac running off to find Dedrik, and Felix by Liam's side with the appropriate provocation or verbal restraint when it looked like he was going to give out on one side or the other. Thankfully, it was still purely information when she was knocked out with the butt of an empty gun, and thus the pain was conveyed like text across a screen as her... possessor had to take the brunt of the damage.

---

Samantha woke up on the bench of a prison cell to the sensation of dry blood making her face itch. Sitting up was a slow process, done in careful increments to judge the exact extent of her dizziness and any injuries. It was certainly cold and damp enough to be underground, and the gray concrete walls with dirt crumbling out of the decaying edges did little to convince her otherwise. The contents of the cell... her metal, bolted down bench, a door betrayed only by the cracks in the wall around it, a vent in the ceiling that was probably not something designed to be taken apart, and Alex slumped in an upright position against the wall. She gasped a little at the latter despite herself, standing up and ignoring the way the room spun a little as she took the necessary, long steps to make it to her unconscious cellmate.

Kneeling, she shook Alex by the shoulders against her better judgement. The girl's now-tangled auburn hair covered her face fairly completely, so Samantha's first clue that she'd waken up was a noise. "Hm? Oh, you're okay!" She sounded sleepy, not hurt, to her relief and slight embarrassment. "I don't know how long ago it was when I came to in here, but I was so worried when I saw you and all that blood. But you are okay, right?"

Samantha nodded. "And you?"

"Oh, I suppose I just fell asleep again is all." A smile. "You can stop leaning over me like that you know."

Complying, the again-embarrassed prisoner shifted onto the floor next to her cellmate. "What happened? After I got knocked out?"

"I'm not sure either. I was drugged with something, so I wasn't awake for any more of it than you were."

"Ah."

"You know the guys are coming to get us out soon, right?"

"I don't see how, but they are more than welcome to try."

"We just have to wait for them to come, and then everything will be fine. I've never gotten stuck in a situation like this for long at all. I'm just sorry you got dragged along with me."

"I suppose that means you are kidnapped often?"

"Unfortunately people seem to think I have the word 'convenient hostage' written on my forehead. But hey, at least you're with the most experienced person possible now, Sam!" she laughed. The energy spiked sharply at the nickname, making her wince a little. Alex noticed and fretted, "oh, sorry. Not one for nicknames? Cor isn't either, but you probably noticed I call him that anyway. But then again, I *have* known him longer, so maybe I should wait a while before I earn the right?"

"I, uh, it isn't anything, really. I suppose working your way up-" Samantha was going to finish 'is rather silly.' Alex had other ideas.

"Alright then! When I finally know you well enough for you to be comfortable with it, I'll be initiated into the right to call you by the nickname 'Sam'!"

A pause. "Do you really think I'll be around that long?"

"What, is it Cor that's bothering you? Don't worry about that, you have no idea how long it took us for him to stop being that way with pretty much everyone we meet. He's just paranoid, and I guess he had a right to be. We all do, really. But since you were caught along with me this could knock a few doubts out of him?"

"Doubtful. He probably thinks it's a scheme to get me to earn your trust now, if I know anything about that type of person."

"Sam...antha. Don't sound so sad about it!" Had she sounded sad? "He's just so protective of us that he won't let anyone else close."

"I don't guess it's a bad thing."

"First I've heard anyone that doesn't know him that well say that. Why do you think?"

"It... seems like a balance, you know? If you were all like that I highly doubt you'd have any... connections? If you didn't have him you'd all be off task and shot in the back. No offense."

She laughed again, "none taken."

"You know cor is a Latin word?"

"Latin? Is this *another* language I've never heard of? Those keep popping up lately."

"Exactly. In Latin the word 'for' means 'heart.' It's... kind of sweet, if you think about it."

"I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but I never expected you to say something like that."

"Something like what?"

"An observation about someone that's positive. Using the word sweet. I guess you can't act all cold and scary all the time, right?"

Samantha paused, noticing her fingers had been playing with the hem of her sleeve all the while. That was a habit she'd dropped a long time ago, when she'd first started to really learn how to buckle down. "I guess not."

[Emily]

They sat in comfortable silence after that, Samantha too lost in her own thoughts to wonder what Alex was going in her own mind. Guilt gnawed at the pit of her stomach, and she stared at the door without blinking for an unguessed amount of time. One thing about being locked in a cell was that it provided plenty of time to simply think. The guilt was from a specific origin rather than a broad sense of /should have done something to prevent this./

In all honesty, she was perfectly capable of breaking herself and Alex out with minimal problems. They thought she was a normal human, after all.

All it would have taken was a little bit of energy expelled and the lock system could have been blown open, or maybe if she really felt like burning power the door could be disintegrated altogether. A trick to make the guard just open the door, or maybe a trip through the ventilation; any of it was perfectly within her reach. It was also very, very obvious. Anyone who knew what they were doing be able to tell what had really happened upon the loosest examination, and then they would look at the records and see that she'd been one of the two people held in the cell. It was a miracle she'd been overlooked once, and that was solely because of her status of a convenient, random hostage. They'd find her in a heartbeat, and she'd be dragged back. Not to mention the others would be dragged along with her.

It was an unusual feeling, having to account for other people in her plans. It seemed inconvenient to have to do similarly all of the time. How did they stand to rely on each other in a team like that? Then again, there were obvious upsides. For instance, she'd been assured that there was a rescue party coming to save the day, and if that was the case it would be a useless sacrifice to reveal herself in an attempt to break out. The energy in her she now knew to be an entirely different being sparked in protest to the idea of waiting to being saved, and prompted a different idea. Useless and risky like all the rest. Then again, if Alex could aim like she had before being knocked out with a slightly more crude gun....

Samantha voiced her query aloud.

"That's an odd question, but I've had to shoot at moving targets with my fair share of crappy weapons. As long as its usable I can work with a cheap gun, sure."

She turned this over in her mind. "I see."

"...Any particular reason why?"

"Not really."

"Okaaaay."

More silence.

It didn't take long for Alex to get restless and voice her thoughts. "So where did you learn your skills with a gun anyway? You... don't really seem the type."

"I'm not. I never learned to fire a gun." It was a mystery to Samantha why she was sharing that particular little gem.

"Please, I've been in... the business, I guess, long enough to know you don't just fall out of bed one day with aiming skills like that."

"Today was my first time ever holding one. A gun, I mean."

"Seriously? That's- it doesn't even make sense. I mean, when you were fighting you seemed like a different person, yeah, but-"

"I think I was."

"You think you were a different person." It was almost a question, but not quite. Deadpan was one tone of voice Samantha had never expected to hear out of Alex.

"I've been here before, actually." Sensing that the tangent wasn't the non-sequitur it appeared to be, Alex made an encouraging noise. "My skills are, um, a lot more... alchemic. Than using guns. But that doesn't make any sense. But yeah."

A few moments of thoughtful silence followed, then, "But doesn't that mean that you should be-?"

"Here? Yes. For the record, I'm fairly sure we're in Cellblock C, the only one underground. Under the northwestern corner of the building. 'No hospitals,' remember? They would've traced me to there."

"So that means you spent a while here, huh?"

"In this specific cellblock, occasionally. It's almost like home now."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you."

"I guess not."

"So that must have been tough. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I don't want to sound icy again, but I wasn't looking for pity. There was a point. Basically they did something."

"Your cough." Samantha could tell Alex was actively trying to understate how disturbing her disease, whatever it was, could be.

"That too. But there's something else, too. More like someone. I don't know what they did, but I do know that it wasn't me that did the fighting when we were surrounded. Come to think of it I really didn't feel like myself the first couple times I woke up, either."

"What do you think it is?"

"I have no idea."

"Well then," Alex shifted, her whole demeanor brightening without warning, "we'll just have to find out! Felix may not look it, but he can be really smart when he wants to be. I bet you anything that he could probably figure it out all on his own, and with minimal equipment explosions too." Samantha had to hand it to her, Alex could really force a mood to be upbeat.

"I've been meaning to ask. Why have there been so many explosions everywhere? All the time? Especially around Felix."

"With us barely a day and you already noticed. Felix is going to be upset," Alex laughed. "Things just tend to blow up around us a lot. It's dramatic, and I can't count the number of times I've had an exploding building push me through the air as I ran away from it. I mean, some of it's justified. We weren't carrying around that silly putty for its fun and child- friendly qualities when there are the government's information carriers to blow up. But for some reason one of two things happens with the things Felix makes or fixes. Either it's flawless in every way and works better than any other of its kind, or it explodes. Poor Felix gets put under so much pressure because of that sometimes. No middle ground with him."

Samantha laughed softly at the mental image of Felix desperately bent over a machine on fire. Somehow the idea fit him to a T. "Thanks for listening. I don't even really know why I started talking that much, but thanks anyway."

"Hey, what're friends for, right?"

"You've barely known me a day."

"What's your point? I met Cor and decided he was going to be my besets buddy ever five minutes later. Besides, we've officially been kidnapped together. There are some things you can't come out of without being friends afterwards, and I'm pretty sure being kidnapped is one of them. Hey, I'm the authority on the subject of being held against your will anyway."

And she hadn't even alluded towards Samantha breaking them out. Chances were Alex knew exactly why she hadn't done so yet, but the redhead was also being far too complacent with her situation. After all, she was essentially a portable alchemy set, Alex could wield a crude gun, and the bench attached to the wall at what was currently her eye level was made of metal.

She fingered the steel, deciding on the best kind of portable weapon. Something that could possibly be concealed, so small and probably quiet. It couldn't take too much metal either or the gaping hole in the bench would attract notice. Alright then, she could made a weak laser gun. In fact, Alex's aiming skills may not have even been required.

---

It was small, and the central coil was partially sticking out of the side, and it wouldn't last long, but it was a functional gun nonetheless. Alex had watched Samantha in quiet worry as small, almost imperceptible sparks flew off her fingertips. She took the required materials from the underside of the bench, changing metal types as needed and molding the materials into various needed parts. As beads of sweat formed from the exertion it took more and more effort to remember the exact components needed for the weapon, or even the theory behind it as a suitable replacement was occasionally invented on the spot.

Alex's one and only comment was that Felix would have been proud of the final, messy result. Samantha's was that, for the record, Alex had it on her the whole time and the police that took her in just missed it. A finger pointed upward sufficed to stand in for the instructions to escape.

Alex started by melting the vent covering right out of the ceiling, the laser making an impossibly loud whirring noise for its small size all the while. It was no wonder that the guard outside left briefly to get the help of another before opening the door to investigate. Luckily by that time the vent was melted enough that a violent tug from Samantha was all it needed to finish coming down. Alex whirled around to face her aggressors the second the door started to electronically slide open, shooting at their throats with the melting weapon so they couldn't call for assistance. It was as crude a way to deal with them as the gun, but it was effective enough for Samantha to have time to solve the problem to climbing into a perfectly vertical vent. Whoever had designed the things knew what they were doing in terms of keeping prisoners from getting out. Any further use of her power was far too dangerous now the the door was wide open and cameras could see them, but the vent cover, still partially clinging to the ceiling, was in fact sturdy enough to support her until she could make the soles of her shoes dig into the sides of the tiny metal box. Defying gravity via sheer friction was almost exhilarating, in a way.

The redhead followed almost immediately, taking the same creative method of the upward climb. Still, it took more time and energy than either of them liked to reach the horizontal part of the ventilation system. By the time they were crawling through the unorthodoxly dirty and cramped space both looked ready to collapse.

[Emily]

The vent was just large enough for the two of them to move around in. Samantha was having an easier time than Alex, being considerably shorter than the almost gangly redhead, but both had to move at a worryingly slow pace to avoid making noise and thus giving themselves away. she heard echoing, distant- sounding chaos from far below and away from their silver rat's maze and assumed their escape had been discovered. Any obvious noise would have alerted the outside world to their presence and probably get them shot before they were even dug out of their flimsy cover, but they did have one thing to buffer their noise and the soldier's bullets. At no point anywhere in the compound did the vents run along outside or below an established, plastered ceiling. The perfect white aesthetic was never to be marred with something that obtrusive and gray. Or rather, showing the seams of the place would make the suffocating, sterile rooms and halls feel too human.

An interminable amount of time full of quietly and slowly crawling passed. Samantha had been operating off of vague memory to lead them to the general direction of the exit. Occasional openings in the bottom of the vent they made sure to cover quickly allowed brief glances at the world below, and a worrying trend presented itself. Every single exit was guarded. It shouldn't have been a surprise; there was no question their trail led their pursuers to the vents in a painfully obvious way. Obvious conclusion or not trying to devise a workable escape plan was going to be slippery at best, and just then they had to concentrate on working towards as close to the back exit as possible. Fewer guards to laser through, at the very least.

The tedium was eventually broken as all of its kind must be; this particular case with a siren. The mood was already tense, so the loud, high-pitched "BLEEEEP. BLEEEEP. BLEEEEP," sounding without warning made most girls tense up immediately. Alex let out a short squeak that was lost in the noise of the siren, and Samantha simply felt her stomach drop (horizontally) to her toes. Exchanging glances in the tight space took some awkward maneuvering, but they managed it. Alex threw her friend for a curveball when she smiled a second later, but the confusion was cleared up when, as if on cue, the faint echo of the source of the chaos bounced around until it reached their spot. It was, unmistakably, Liam's confident (and shouting) voice.

"Told you they'd come," Alex whispered under the cover of the next siren. Despite all of her natural inhibitions against doing so, Samantha broke into a wide smile at the sudden unexpected warmth at the idea of being /come for./ It didn't even dampen her spirits a bit that they were really after Alex more than herself. She twisted herself back into a front- facing position, continuing towards the jubilant gunfire as her curtain of black hair fell just right to hide her bright face. Then the universe at large sensed she was happy and the floor dropped out from beneath her. Alex screamed, just a little.

On the upside, they no longer had to devise a plan to escape without being caught.

Technically it was the ceiling below them that had given out in one clean, rectangular chunk. The fact that the ventilation system was not meant to hold the weight of having people inside of it took care of the rest as the contraption gave way and sent them rolling out. Samantha recovered quickly as she could, immediately noting that if the circle of prepared soldiers in a ring around them and the fact that ceilings didn't have the tendency to give way at random, not even if they belonged to homicidal maniacs, they'd probably been pinpointed and forced out. As she scrutinized the situation Alex stood behind her, raising her hands in the air slowly. The makeshift gun was probably hidden in one of her pockets, and if there was luck, any luck at all, on their side it would remain forgotten.

"Put down the weapon and slide it away with your foot." /Yeah, well, screw you too Lady Luck,/ the voice in her head commented crudely. But she was using the term "voice in her head." Under any other circumstances at all she'd be seeking professional help. Alex, back in the real world, begrudgingly complied. To her credit and the lack of the soldier's notice, she slid it to the left. That happened to be the very direction in which the door leading to all of the excitement resided. A soldier, a young guy in a black and boxy uniform, picked it up and held it at his side like it might bite him. One of the others made a motion for Samantha to get on her feet as well, which she did while double checking her face had locked back down into an impassive mask. All traces of the previous bright spot were gone.

She regarded them cooly. "I assume this means we all stand here and get to know each other until the stars of the show break through?" Now the voice's comments were leaking into her own speech. Was there a way to contain it?

A middle aged man denoted as a low- level officer by his dark blue uniform, but a few shades lighter than the black uniforms surrounding him, replied, "If they make it this far at all. Which, I hate to crush your spirits, I find highly unlikely."

"I see. You're clearly the expert on these things." She stared at him without blinking and was rewarded with a poorly masked squirm. He recovered with most of his dignity in tact, continuing the staring contest with a patronizing smile. Alex laughed behind her. The battle of wills went uninterrupted, the tedium of it accentuated by gunfire and sirens and flashing red lights, until the calvary arrived in all its glory. By that time Samantha's eyes were admittedly extremely dry.

The door swung open with a bang, making the officer flinch, blink, and turn towards it. As she did none of those things, Samantha juvenilely considered herself to be the winner of the unofficial contest. She turned towards the door, lowering her hands as she did so only after Liam waltzed in and spoke in a surprised voice.

"Hey, you guys got out!" He glanced around. "Vent crawling's always been one of the classics." The previously in-tact ceiling now on the floor made no secret of how the two had been caught.

"Just thought we'd save you the trouble of having to go /all the way down/ into the basement. We were worried you'd tire out on the stairs," Alex quipped back.

Offset by being completely ignored all of a sudden, the flustered officer cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, well, it's amazing what an incompetently overlooked weapon in the hands of a child can do. I'm afraid their good luck didn't get them quite far enough though." So they'd made the assumption that Samantha had been hoping they would; Alex had had the gun on her the whole time and no one had found it before she'd been imprisoned. "These girls may be tragically shot if you don't kindly set down your weapons. They're not toys, you know."

Felix and Cormac drew attention to their presence for the first time with a perfectly in- sync "Not gonna happen." Then Felix looked at Alex and questioned, "What weapon?"

She picked up without missing a beat, "Yeah, you know that laser thing that you threw together? I sorta borrowed it. Hope you don't mind."

To Felix's eternal credit, he picked up immediately and the confusion cleared from his face. "Oh, right! Hope it didn't explode?"

"Nope! Not even a litte bit of smoke. It's still functional, actually." She glanced at the soldier that was holding it for a split second, which was plenty long enough for the others to take the hint.

Apparently thinking through his plan very thoroughly, Liam shot the guy's foot so that he dropped the gun then slid it over to Alex. From there Alex took a hostage of her own, pointing it at the laser at the officer. It took no genius to see that were were seven guards, and now five outsiders (four of which were armed), and somehow the odds had just become plenty more even with the new "shoot us and we shoot you" plan. Fear seized Samantha as she realized another fight was coming, and it was not helped at all by Felix tossing her a gun because he fairly assumed she knew how to used it. Her connection to the world grew hazier and less distinct, though she didn't fight it this time. Bizarrely, the experience of losing control of her own active body was one she might even get used to eventually. For now, though, it was nothing short of terrifying.

---

I finally got to be out in the open again, thank all that's holy. I guess that my taking over just then and not meeting all that much resistance sealed the deal on an unspoken agreement of some kind that the kid could do the normal interaction with the outside world thing so long as I got to do the fighting. She didn't want to "expose herself," as she so put it, and I could help put them off her tail by kicking slimy butt anyway. Still, I couldn't decide it that specific term was overly cryptic or just a really lame innuendo. Whatever it was, it was a convenient excuse for me to be able to feel something physical again, a sensation you don't appreciate until you lose it like most other things. I stretched casually, earning a knowing look from Alex, before the both of us jumped into the quick and messy fray.

My fighting consisted of some kid playing soldier who didn't even look like he had the guts to use a gun. One half scoffed, the other half demanded that it was wrong and he shouldn't look so hum- His oversized gun hit me in the gut and I scowled. Leaning to the right to avoid another blow, I grabbed the arm of a guy who was trying to go after Cormac's back and slammed him into my own opponent. Then they both had blown out kneecaps and were no longer a problem. Why weren't these people using their /guns/? One poor kid seeing his first real fight I got. But a whole room of them? Seriously? What the crap did that mean? But it was convenient, at the very least, and gift horses should never be looked at in the mouth. It would kill the golden goose or something.

By the time I looked up from my own fight the others had taken care of theirs. Like I said, quick and messy. Liam led the way back out into the door to the left without a glance back. The going was easier from there on out as a few soldiers had regrouped in that area to try and stop their escape. Obviously they didn't do much but join their buddies on the floor or this commentary would sound a heckuvalot less ambivalent than it does now. We practically waltzed out their front door. Well, back door really. The front let out into the most according courtyard ever to be conceived by man if the memories the kid were feeding me were accurate, and the place we'd gotten out at looked more like the dump at the fringe of the city. Actually, bonus points for me, the kid said that's exactly what it was. A few green hills were beyond, then a dull gray-green forest. Everything in this place was freaking gray, even the colorful landscape.

Felix sniffed the air loudly. "Nothing like a soul- crushing stench to offset the feeling of pure evil you get just by being inside that place. The others filed out behind him, and I noticed for the first time I'd been the first one to go charging out into the open. Well, it was technically my first time experiencing the outdoors in a while. I could be forgiven, even if they didn't know that. A couple of the team mumbled their amused agreement, unconsciously lining up before setting off into the woods at a very fast run. A question occurred to me, and I managed to pant it out in between fighting for breath. This body was out of shape.

"Not that it's a bad thing, guys, but why are all of you wearing really tight leather? And honestly Cormac, what on earth made you think you would be able to fight better without the hindrance of a jacket or freaking shirt?" The entire team looked up at me in surprise. Guess they weren't used to the kid being so... open?

Then Felix started to chuckle, followed by Liam and Alex, and as their controlled hysterics grew I'm pretty sure I'd gotten a chuckle out of Cormac too as he slipped back into his leather jacket. My best guess was that the material was standard saving-Alex wear. I swear that the camera following us zoomed out as the little black circle they ended cartoons with closed in around us, making sure to highlight the simplicity of running for your life from a vague evil office compound thing while laughing about what probably passed for mundane. This place was weird.

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And thus ends chapter 3!