Hydra Heart

Chapter Nine

Chapter 9: Stop Yellin'

"Oh, damn. Where the hell..." A feminine voice came from outside Vesta's window.

Groggily, she rose from her bed, spotting 02:11 on her watch. She peered out her window and saw the vague silhouette of a woman fiddling with a device. Just as Vesta was starting to get a good look at the lady outside, her target disappeared.

She activated her Oculo. She could see a fuzzy figure moving around when she covered her right eye, and saw nothing when she covered her left. The woman could only be seen with the special purple lens...

An invisibility device! Vesta realized. She slipped over to Molly's bed and urgently whispered, "Psst. Molly. Get up. Something weird is going on out there."

Molly softly said, "hhrrrghuuuggh." She rolled onto the floor.

Vesta helped Molly up. She kept an eye on the figure while filling Molly in.

"Only my Oculo can see her. I don't really know what this is, but it's suspicious. We should tail her and see where she's going."

"Inquiry agrees." She felt the multi-tool humming in her pocket. "Although, this does sound like the beginning of a surprise birthday party. Vesta, you didn't..." She playfully smacked the other woman's arm.

They carefully trailed after the cloaked woman, who was luckily moving slowly. She was likely trying to conceal the sound of her footsteps, and pleading that no one had seen her when the cloaking device had faltered a minute ago.

Molly and Vesta gave plenty of space, carefully avoiding detection. The target eventually stopped in front of the door to a building.

Vesta explained what she saw to Molly, who was hanging slightly behind. "She's struggling with a Digital Slipkey. Do you know where we are?"

"Yeah, my eyes have adjusted a little." Molly said, hushed. "This is a data storage facility. She could be after almost anything, if this is where she's trying to break in."

Vesta turned her attention from Molly back to the woman, only to see that she was gone, and the door to the facility was left hanging open.

The two moved inwards, carefully making the transition from dirt to tile floor that chilled their feet.

Vesta continued in the lead. All the different colorful lights in the data storage rigs were blinding to her Oculo. She was tempted to deactivate it, but steeled herself and continued leading Molly in.

They had taken about twenty steps, when they realized the problem. The countless walls of data rigs made a labyrinth. An informed intruder like their invisible girl would know where to go, but Molly and Vesta were clueless.

"You said you heard her talking to herself outside our hotel, yeah?"

"Yes." Vesta whispered back.

"Let's teach her a lesson about loose lips." Molly withdrew Inquiry, which produced two earplugs.

"Vesta, trade me one of your headphones for one of these."

"Why?"

"Because last time you backtalked me, I busted you out of jail. Fork 'em over."

Molly and Vesta now had one headphone and one plug each. With stuffed ears, Vesta shot her a questioning glance.

Molly leaned in and whispered. "Now, turn your headphones to tune out white noise, instead of generate it." Vesta began to see what Molly was planning. There was already a low vibration, a sound made by the fans of all the computers.

Then, Vesta had a realization. If the invisible girl can hear a bunch of white noise that we can tune out, she will definitely slip and be less cautious with her footsteps. Hell, she might even start talking to herself again! She stared in awe at the very smug Molly.

"Not bad for someone who just rolled out of bed, right?"

Vesta changed the setting on the headphones, and the effect was instantaneous: Molly and Vesta were both shocked by the near-silence of the building. But, it still wasn't enough. Molly motioned a finger in the air, implying, let's turn it up.

Molly and Vesta went down the aisle they were in. Black computers and hard drives were difficult to see by the light of tiny, colorful fixtures. These same parts were repeated hundreds of times in one massive storage facility. Molly started pressing buttons, putting the individual computers on standby mode, activating a number of small fans.

The equipment activated. By pulling out the earplugs, the two could check that it was working; in just thirty seconds, the noise level was already enough to muffle their conversation. Ever heard the parable of the boiling frog? Vesta thought to herself.

All of a sudden, they heard the voice, a whisper that thought itself safe. "Finally, got it. Now I can get out of this dump. Thank god this place is so loud, no one's gonna hear me now!" No way she just said that, Molly thought.

Molly and Vesta looked at each other. The invisible girl was approaching their aisle, on Molly's side. Then, they heard a scream, and Molly threw a punch at it.

She missed her target and stumbled into the wall behind. The invisible girl let out an "Eep!" and bolted for the exit. Vesta was locked on.

She spun past the corner in hot pursuit of the girl, right eye closed. They were almost to the exit, and Vesta saw the next move before it happened.

If she slams that door, it'll probably lock automatically and she'll get away with whatever she just stole.

Vesta buckled down and went from a run into a sprint, trying to beat the invisible girl to the door. She wasn't fast enough. The invisible girl was already outside, swinging the heavy door into Vesta.

Backlash, let's see what you can do. She noted the feeling of the metal boomerang tucked into her pajamas' waistband.

She leapt, diving towards the door, just barely getting in range. The quickly swinging door was stopped in its tracks. Vesta waved her arm.

Even faster than it was originally shut, the heavy door was slammed out of Vesta's way, almost breaking the hinges in its hurry to swing open. She felt the SOLE coursing through her, mixing with the adrenaline in her blood. Guess it does work on more than just bullets.

She kept chasing after the grainy shape she knew to be the invisible girl for three, four more paces out of the doorframe. Then, the target spun around and pointed a gun at Vesta.

Vesta didn't put her hands up. Instead, she said between breaths, "Try it. It will go well for you."

"I have a suppressor. I think I'll be fine," the girl spat.

She pulled the trigger and the bullet was caught by Backlash. In that moment, Vesta concentrated hard on the one suspended bullet. It was shining, and she could almost see herself in it's reflection.

She waved her arm again, and sent the bullet at the QuickSafe storage drive in the girl's hand. It instantly shattered, destroying whatever data she'd stolen. If it was currently uploading files, the bullet did a good job of closing the program, Vesta assumed. She immediately withdrew some rope and began apprehending the formerly invisible spy.

Molly's mouth was agape. "Oh, Vesta! Why do you keep all that rope on you? And how do you know how to tie up hands like that?" She winked.

"I promise, it is not what it seems," Vesta defended herself. "Just, my belt broke one time on a mission, and I... Well, I just do not want that to happen again. It was a hard night."

Molly snickered. "Sure."

She was holding the invisibility device in her right hand. It was a smooth, plain metal box that was about as interesting to look at as someone using it. In Molly's left hand, there was a comms device, one of the Hirudinean specials. It was shaped like a regular headset, but had some unlabeled buttons of unknown function

Just then, a transmission came in. "New line open," read a robotic voice.

"This is Head Operative Cavarie checking in. KCD-501 what's your status?"