Tag Archives: Haley

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 8

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How do you answer a question like that? It’s not as if I could say the honest one, “About five minutes before you started having sex.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Haley’s hand reach out and turn off the monitor. Deciding she had a point, I turned off the roachbot controller.

“Not long,” I said, hoping Stephanie wasn’t one of those people who noticed lies as easily as breathing.

I supposed that technically I hadn’t been lying, but I’d want to start as soon as they asked what I’d seen, or if I had anything to do with what happened to the computers. Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 8 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 7

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I took a breath. It’s one thing to be worried about a possibility, and another when it’s there in front of you.

“They’re printing out everything Hal gave us. I don’t know what they’re planning to do with it, but they’re involved somehow. Do you know what to do? It’s not like I’m going to go over there in armor and beat them up.”

Haley took her eyes off the screen to say, “I don’t know either. Could you tell Agent Lim?”

“I could, but I think he’s home for the weekend, and anyway I doubt he’d be able to get anyone to do anything soon enough.” Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 7 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 6

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It had to be important. Think about it. You’ve got a couple. They’re young and in love. It’s the Fourth of July, a national holiday, and instead of going out and doing something or retreating to someone’s room to make out, they were here in the lab waiting for a print job to finish.

And also making out.

I couldn’t help but notice that they were being very… thorough about it. Clothes were on, but hands were under clothes, and some side effect of Amy’s spell gave the two of them a red aura, more of it in some spots than others.

I couldn’t know for sure, but I suspected that the strength of the glow meant something. More power maybe? Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 6 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 5

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Amy closed her eyes, said a few words and poked her arm. As she pulled the pin out, her face visibly paled–even in the light of a streetlight.

Haley frowned. “Are you okay?”

Amy nodded slowly. “It’s not a difficult spell, but I don’t have as much power to work with without transforming. Could all of you hold out your arms?”

Camille extended her arm halfway to Amy, asking, “What are you–”

Amy grabbed Camille’s forearm, and poked her with the pin. “This.” Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 5 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 4

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We stayed together. Even if Izzy and Jaclyn could have been there instantaneously, it was just safer.

The park was largely empty–not completely because there were stragglers and groups that were still talking. There were also a few police officers.

Vaughn sat on the grass, his face lit by his phone’s screen. As we came closer, he turned off his phone and stared at us.

“How did you do that? We were talking and now you’re all over–”

He stopped. “Something bad just happened. I wasn’t talking to you, was I?”

Jaclyn glanced around the park. “Daniel? Izzy?”

Daniel shook his head. “Give me a second. I’m trying something.” Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 4 →

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 1

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After the phone call with Larry ended, we all squished into the van for a kind of post event victory party. If it felt less like a victory than the beginning of a whole new problem, well, it probably was.

On the bright side, it wasn’t as if we had to do anything immediately.

The roachbots were set to record. The jet would be doing translation. All the humans had to do was provide direction.

By the time Saturday and Sunday were over, all we had to do was throw ourselves back into our normal lives which for the moment meant constant training. Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 1 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 10

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Vaughn shrugged. “It’s not like the Russians know it’s us. That’s the whole point of using the fake suit, right? Plus, even if they did, it’s not like the Russians are exactly friendly to the Turk… um… Turkmens? Turkmeni? Last I heard, the Russians weren’t saying anything nice about them at all. They’re not going to be sharing information. So no biggie.”

Amy shook her head. “Maybe, but you’ve got to think bigger. This isn’t just espionage. This is politics. If we had something their rulers wanted, I could easily see them telling us that they’ll tell the world that we were there.”

Cassie let out a breath. “Exactly. That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m worried about.” Continue reading Go Time: Part 10 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 8

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Who was the second glow? Russian Victory Jr.? Victoryboy?

The way I remembered it, all Russian superheroes were state sponsored. The ones that weren’t state sponsored were officially criminals no matter what their motivation.

A third glow appeared behind the two I’d already noticed, reminding me of something. Russian Victory was part of a group of three soldiers in powered armor. My grandfather had mentioned it was connected to Russian folklore somehow.

For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the group though. Continue reading Go Time: Part 8 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 7

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“What’s Izzy supposed to do with the Ferris wheel?”

Vaughn shrugged. “Maybe take a picture on it? I don’t know. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records. She should do something funny with it. Maybe pretend she’s going to throw it, or stand in front of it with her armor saying ‘All your base are belong to us?'”

“Better yet,” Jaclyn said, “how about you let Izzy know that everything works and that she can bug out of there before someone starts firing missiles at her.” Continue reading Go Time: Part 7 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 6

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“Marcus and Sydney are waiting in the jet. They’ll be taking off soon. They’re going to shadow her from a distance—far enough away that they shouldn’t be visible, but close enough that they’re in range.”

Jaclyn leaned toward the screen, probably noticing now that the camera display program’s current tab was labeled “Blue,” but the second tab was labeled “Jet.”

I clicked on the button that showed all cameras, and the program divided the screen between Izzy’s view of the sky above South Dakota and the League jet’s much less interesting view of the airlock between the hangar and Lake Michigan.

Jaclyn pulled up a chair and sat next to me. “I didn’t know Marcus could fly the jet.”

Then she frowned. “They can’t hear us from here, right?” Continue reading Go Time: Part 6 →