Wilderness Hannah, page 23
part #3 of Damsel Series
So she shrugged.
“We can’t just let her go. We won’t. There are cells that can hold her, at Elysium Labs, right? Stop her from teleporting? We’ll use one of those. Hey, I need to talk to Wisp for a minute. We’ll handle this part. Could the rest of you give us the room? Maybe make some hot chocolate? This is the day for it, if ever there was one.” She gave a troubled smile, feeling her own stomach trying to crawl out, through her behind.
It wasn’t a thing she’d ever felt before. Frankly, she didn’t want to feel it again, if at all possible.
The Moore got it first. That or he really wanted some hot cocoa. That actually did sound good to her, now that it had been brought up.
“Certainly, Hannah. That is, not a grand idea perhaps, merely imprisoning her, but given the sensibilities involved, it might be the best we can manage, for the moment. This way. Wisp and Damsel have this now.” He tried to lead them away, which worked on everyone, except the Red Cape.
He seethed a bit.
“We will not be letting her go. That never works. They always escape and come back at us again. No, I’ll...” The man started to summon energy, into his chest. She’d never seen it, and wasn’t in that moment but he could, supposedly fire beams of incredible force from there. At that moment, she could physically feel the vibrations coming from him.
Hannah shook her head, then moved in front of the man, and crossed her arms, shaking her head.
“No. Go upstairs, now. We’re not breaking the law simply because a powerful person tells us to. Or do you want to fight about it? That won’t end well, if you push for that.” She gave the man a very hard look. One that was ridiculous on its face. She honestly couldn’t believe that anyone else in the room managed not to bust out laughing.
Still, she stood there, pointing at the stairs, her five feet of mighty herness standing front of a man who could, and had, defeated entire armies, by himself. He glared. He huffed. Then, for some insane reason, he left. Going upstairs with his family. To have some hot chocolate. When the door at the top of the stairs clicked, showing it was closed, Hannah let her breath out.
Wisp, sounding bland, blank and a bit tired, turned to her.
“To the labs, then? Her people there might not be on our side.”
Hannah shook her head. Knowing that Superion would hear her, even upstairs. That, super hearing, was a known power of his. At least she knew about it.
“No. To someplace no-one will stop us. We’ll need to hide the body, too.” She didn’t look at her friend. Wondering if they were going anywhere at all. The woman was her sister. She looked enough like her that it had to feel like she was killing her mirror image.
Instead, first Wisp and the woman in the chair both vanished, then a moment later, Wisp came back and Hannah traveled with her. To an open desert, with no-one in it except a tied-up woman, a man in all blue and her.
Wisp took a shuddering breath.
“I’ll do it. She’s my problem. Give me a second. This is...”
Hannah nodded. Her friend simply wasn’t a killer. To make it harder, Sendra, still loopy as a strand of spaghetti, woke up.
“Heh. You’re going to leave me here? I’ll live. You can’t stop us, not you, Katie. Not your little group of magic pals... We’ll own the world and you’re all too weak to stop us.”
She didn’t speak after that. Mainly because Hannah pulled her forty-four and shot her, six times, in the head. The tied-up woman simply died. The back of her head was gone and the chair was going to be ruined thanks to the blood on it. That, the condition of the chair, was her main concern. Not having just pulled the trigger and killed a woman who looked very much like her best friend.
She used to, at least. Now her face didn’t seem that similar at all.
Wisp screamed, in shock.
“Gah! Holy fuck. Holy fuck!”
When she went silent, Hannah took a deep breath. The air smelled of dust, blood and released bowels. That was a part of things they never mentioned in the movies. That the freshly dead often voided anything they were holding on to. How she knew that, Hannah wasn’t certain, in the moment.
She turned to Wisp, wondering if Kate would hate her now, for killing her sister. Wondering if that was better than letting her do it, even if it was what had to be the result of the action. Instead, Wisp returned to a slightly hard sounding state.
“One second.”
This time, the woman vanished, and Kate didn’t at all. She looked up, and after about ten minutes, pointed at a decently bright streak that crossed the sky.
“There we go. I sent her straight up into orbit. She came back at about fifteen thousand miles per hour, and burned up on reentry. No-one will ever find any of her. Even if they look in the right place. She’s just gone now.”
Hannah could see that working. It didn’t sound like it was the first time she’d done that, either.
Wisp took his mask off, showing the face of Kate, her best friend.
“That needed to be done. I would have done it. Eventually. I agree, we couldn’t make Superion X do it. Even if he was angry enough to. Of course, this way, I’ve turned you into a murderer. I should have...”
Hannah raised an eyebrow at the words.
“I’m almost certain I pulled the trigger, all on my own. It’s a shame we couldn’t get more information. You know though, there’s something I’ve never thought about, with Al and his moral code? I mean, he keeps people’s secrets. I get that and even if my life would be easier sometimes if he wasn’t so ethical, I can agree with the reasoning. Only, that’s for living people. Does he keep the secrets of the dead as well, do you think?”
Hannah honestly didn’t know that one. It made sense to her, not to give that kind of thing to the killer of a person, of course. Otherwise, they could just have him read people, murder them and then have him tell them what the hidden things were. That wasn’t exactly a trick that she wanted to support either, so wouldn’t blame the guy for not letting it happen.
Even if it was frustrating, in the moment.
Worse, almost anyone he told would let her know what it was, which would just be a back door into that same kind of thing. The only way that it might work would be if Alistair informed someone who could use the information, but who wouldn’t give it over to her, at any point. Not on purpose.
~That... Is rules lawyering to the nth degree, isn’t it? I guess. I’ll pass the information to someone. That... They have to be willing to never tell you. Let me think about this?~
She didn’t have to stand out in the desert, waiting for that to take place, apparently. They just went back to Lashondra and Debbie’s landing in the basement with a gentle pop. No-one came to join them, so they headed up the stairs. The regular seeming wood tapping gently, under their feet.
Hannah, being smart, wasn’t planning to say anything about what had happened. Wisp, being a better person than she was, simply blurted the news out as soon as they were in the kitchen.
“Sendra is dead. No-one will ever find the body. We couldn’t let you do it, Superion. The world can’t ever find out that you have that kind of thing in you. Even if you actually do. Al is willing to tell someone what Sendra knew. Not Hannah. Probably not me, either.”
The Moore, who was sipping from a heavy cup, nodded.
“Ah. Because the death came at your hands, Damsel? I wonder who our young friend will choose for that burden?” That the man had instantly worked out who had done the deed got her to tighten a bit.
It was interesting, that the man had looked at the two of them and picked her as the one who would be willing to kill the woman. A thing that was true, but still, Hannah didn’t know why he’d think that, in particular.
Shrugging, Hannah didn’t let herself sulk, even if she felt bad, suddenly. Not over the murder. Though, yes, over her having killed someone. She’d taken a life. Only, to her it felt normal. Like she did that kind of thing all the time. Which, thanks to VR, she did. Not really, since that wasn’t reality but inside her own mind, didn’t know that.
Not really.
She pulled the trigger a thousand times a week, leading to deaths. Occasionally, that many times per day. This was kind of just one more of those. Which, really, had been the major point of doing that kind of thing in the first place. So that she’d be willing to take a life, if the need came up. So that little Hannah wouldn’t be standing there, panicking, holding a firearm and not using it in time to save herself.
It had pretty much worked, she had to admit.
Still, she was working on the idea for a while, before the phone rang. That was for Debbie, interestingly enough.
The woman, her face still a bit damp from fear over the person being tortured and the stress of it, spoke, softly.
“Linear? I... See. No, we know that part. We’ll get together shortly, then. Can you be picked up there? At the food bank? Understood. I’ll ask Wisp.”
When she hung up the woman swallowed.
“Alistair gave the information to Linear. Apparently because he’s trustworthy enough not to let Hannah know. Anyone learning this has to agree not to tell her anything. That seems a bit mean, but...”
Hannah waved her right hand in the air.
“It isn’t. He’s just making sure no-one is tempted to kill anyone for personal gain. This isn’t even really about me. It’s for everyone else. The rest of you. I mean, I get the idea.” After all, she’d pretty much handed it to him.
There had to be a cost, for taking a life. Even if it was a needed thing. Otherwise, it would become too easy. A simple way to solve annoying problems. That wasn’t the kind of thing good people did.
So, instead of making a problem, Hannah went home.
The guests stayed at Lashondra and Debbie’s, either to get in on the information, which they certainly had a right to, or because they didn’t need a safe house any longer. Most likely. It would depend on what Al told them, she had to figure. While it felt a bit lonely, being dropped at her place, so everyone else could find out what was really going on, she didn’t let that get to her too much.
It was late, by the time she got home. The desert had been hot and bright, meaning that it hadn’t been in the States at all. So, even if it were found out, some other country would have to try and extradite her. That probably wouldn’t be taking place, of course. No-one except Kate could prove that she’d done anything at all.
There was also no body left.
She didn’t feel good about it, but she showered the stink of the day off of her and she did smell a bit, mainly of dried sweat, and something a bit more acrid, and then crawled into bed. She didn’t really sleep, not easily, but eventually she managed a rough doze of sorts. No dreams came. Oddly, she was more worried about the other people involved than she was about being a killer now.
Which probably showed just how broken and bent her poor little mind was.
Still, she was up the next morning, with no-one else being there in her apartment. No-one called, but it was seven in the morning, so she did her normal daily stuff, and was a bit shocked to find everyone at the gym, at noon, ready to workout. Terry, Ty, Kate and Megan. Reese, obviously, was at school.
Megan jogged, slowly, and kept covertly eyeing Katherine, as if she might just pull a knife or tie her to a chair. A thing that both wasn’t fair and was, at the same time. Terry easily passed the soccer mom, and Ty did his best. She was actually leading that day. Only walking, but sort of not. It was actually different than that. A lot of things she was trying to do were like that. Slightly outside of what was normal, without being special in particular.
Not that it mattered. They all did their best and it showed. At the end, after she taught them the correct micro-stretches, she moved off to the shower room with everyone. Kate wasn’t lifting weights that day, so she was actually there. Showering. That wasn’t an open concept thing, since they weren’t in high school, meaning they got to have their own stalls for that, to preserve their dignity. Technically, there were four rooms, which for the first time Hannah had ever seen, were all in use over on the girls side of the facility.
Which wasn’t that cozy and not a great show, but was a lot less intimidating at the same time. Hannah was fine enough with her body, but showing it off to a room full of people had always been a little awkward for her. Mainly because women could be a little judgmental. Everyone probably was, but she hadn’t worried about the men doing their own showering.
Which was probably a bit narrow minded of her.
When they were all out, meeting with Tyler, in the front, Kate moved and kissed her boyfriend.
“This is fun. Getting together like this. How do you feel? All of you?”
Megan had only been introduced as herself, not connected to anyone else. What was going on with the others, knowing about Kate now, she couldn’t tell. Maybe nothing, to be honest. None of what they’d learned was actually her fault after all. She’d had a screwed-up family life and then had been adopted by a rich woman. Sure, the part where she was a clone of the woman who had adopted her was different, but it made some sense.
If you wouldn’t back up your own clone, then you probably weren’t a very good person.
The only issue that Hannah could see them trying to have would be the one where Kate hadn’t shared that she was a superhuman, and did the whole costumed thing. Which was actually true, but one that just had to be accepted. It was illegal to be a vigilante. Wearing a mask didn’t make that better in any way. That some of the groups were being run by the government, in secret, was a bit odd, but that didn’t mean Katherine could have come out to everyone she knew and not suffered backlash from it.
No-one brought the topic up and really, there was no reason to do that with her. Sure, Hannah had a horrible nickname, but she’d been kind of open with her friends about her own life that way. They knew what she was learning and doing. At least if they wanted to know. At least she thought that was the case. They hadn’t just sat down and talked about it.
Even though she wasn’t a super freak at all.
Instead of asking them over for brunch, Hannah smiled at Tyler.
“So, when am I needed to help for the new project? I haven’t learned to use Blender well enough to do anything more than make a donut.” That had been the one practice lesson she’d worked on. It had looked decent, as if it might have been good enough to eat. Not perfect at all. That had been down to the lighting, but she didn’t know enough to fix it, yet.
Tyler, a bit damp and in clean clothing, seemed impressed, for some reason.
“Really? Great. You won’t have to do a lot of that. I was thinking we’d work on the mocap for the animations starting next week. I have some models for you to look at, and all that. It’s a little different, but I think it will still work for you. Well, some of them are different. I just bought the assets in a pack, since we’re focusing on animation and flow, in a way that’s pretty much never been done. So a lot of the things that bog people down aren’t going to be a big deal to us. On the other hand, we’ll spend ninety percent of our time trying to make sure the animations match up smoothly. I have a plan for that, but... Yeah. Next week, really? For coming in on that?”
She nodded, since that was both fast and was kind of a long way away, since she didn’t have a lot else left to do. She could, possibly, make some calls for the food bank project. Possibly practice playing VR games a bit more.
Megan was just going to leave, having called a cab, but Hannah and Kate moved with her, just standing outside, while she waited. So she wouldn’t be alone.
Tyler and Terry walked away, taking the subway. That wasn’t a thing that Hannah had done a lot, in her own life. A few times, slumming, but that was all. Terry was probably in the same boat, but it wouldn’t occur to Tyler not to use public transportation. He was just from a different world that way.
Things were awkward, for a bit, then Katherine Sinclair was mobbed by people. With cameras, like the paparazzi, but also without them. Reporters, real ones, all calling out at her. Hannah very nearly drew a weapon, before she heard what was being said. When that happened, it wasn’t actually nearly as bad as it could have been.
“Kate! Kate! Are you and Diaspora sisters? We have word that you and she are related. Are you an alien?”
Her friend froze and Meg seemed wide eyed and ready to do the same. That or run. Hannah stopped for a few seconds, and then smiled.
“No. Diaspora is an alien, last I heard. Kate is from here. No alien parents or anything. Who was saying that?”
One of the men, who was a short, but very thin man, who seemed to be about fifty and was holding a microphone, actually answered, even while the others screamed at Kate for attention.
“Doctor Henry Pond? He claims to be both of your fathers...”
Kate seemed ready to freak, but again Hannah laughed.
“I’ve heard of him... He’s a loon. I mean, actually not well balanced, mentally. He tried that with me as well, by the way. Claiming that he was my father? Also, that he has all four seasons of Life of Kate on video already. Time travel, no doubt.” She shook her head. “Just to be clear, I had a genetics test done and my parents are my parents. I was hoping for aliens, but no luck that way... I’m kidding. My parents are great people.”
The crowd started to ignore her, since she wasn’t giving them the blood or fear they wanted. Her pal grinned, however.
“That would be something, if Diaspora was related to me, wouldn’t it? I’ve never met her. Not that I know of. I mean, she could have a secret identity?” The words were questioning, not asserting that was the case at all.
As if she just didn’t know.
Hannah didn’t, so that made sense. No-one else volunteered that kind of information, either. So, if it was a thing, then the secret was actually a secret.
When Megan’s cab came, the woman waved a bit.
“We have to go. Our ride is here. Um, bye?” Then she tugged both Hannah and Kate into the yellow car, and gave directions to her place. She even paid, when they got there, no-one speaking the whole time. Not until they got into the high-rise apartment. Hannah didn’t know what Superion X did for a living, if it wasn’t just being him, but he, or Meg, could afford the entire top floor, which was a rather expensive option. The building wasn’t perfect, maybe, but the amount of space was vast, really.
