Hero Stalker

Part Eighteen

Cypher was the only other Centurion in the Tower when we arrived. He sat before the bank of servers, which were numerous enough of them to fill a double-wide trailer. His fingers twitched involuntarily as lines of code flew across the screen.

Femme marched me over to the grid of blue squares embedded in the floor. "Get me the Shadowcat costume."

"You hear that, Benny?" Cypher didn't look up from the tower. "Initiate subroutine Hello Kitty."

"Who's Benny?" I said. Then giant silver-blue metal panels shot out of the floor, enclosing me and Femme. A floor-length glass case was attached to one of the walls. Inside stood a black leather leotard, a coiled whip with metal shards attached to the string, and boots wrapped in chains.

"Benny is a defective program that should have never left beta testing." Her cheeks turned a magnificent crimson underneath her V-shaped mask. "Wrong costume!"

Dominatrix's costume. That had been her alias in L.A., back in the nineties. It took a major scandal for a Centurion to retire an identity. Ratjaw had been a major scandal.

"My mistake," Cypher said from outside the walls. "This is why I should put comments in my code. Benny, initiate subroutine Kitty Sweater."

Femme's old costume shot into the floor. Motors hummed. Mine shot up.

My grandmother Adeline had always sworn the Holy Spirit had talked to her personally at least three times in her life and that every time it happened, the rest of the universe ceased to matter. My emotions now were probably blasphemy, but I finally understood what she'd meant.

I placed my hand on the glass. A light flashed purple inside the case and the front dropped into the floor. I gasped.

"I programmed your fingerprints into the Tower's database yesterday," Cypher said. "You've never been arrested. What a boring life you've lead."

"Keep your own panties on," Femme told me. "Ditch your bra. I've never found a bra that provides enough support for combat."

"What about sports bras?"

She glared at me. "This costume is layered with carbon-fiber wire and infused with diamond nanoparticles. It's both bulletproof and properly restrictive. Thousands of dollars have gone into the development of Centurion costumes. You'll find a twenty dollar piece of spandex will not improve on the design."

It took me five minutes to get the costume on and five tries for Cypher's computer program to correctly locate the wall that had the mirror on it. I shivered while I waited. The fabric wasn't exactly cold, but it was slippery and thin. The mask was hard and heavy plastic, and the hidden earpiece tickled. Tiny holes in the mask sucked in air, vacuum-sealing it to my face. So that's how they do it.

"There's the one," Femme said as the mirror rose up from the floor. "What do you think, Shadowcat?"

Three seconds passed before I registered that she was talking to me.

I'd worried that I'd look like a cosplayer in an expensive costume. Instead, I looked like a total stranger. Whatever kind of bra Femme had built into this, it made my C-cups look even bigger. They didn't budge an inch as I turned back and forth. Though my job rarely left me time to hit the gym, the tight fabric clearly defined the border between my hips and waist without choking me.

And it wasn't just that. I looked taller than normal. More like an adult. Intimidating. Strong. Someone who could tell Valerie Lavoie to suck it.

"Benny, drop the walls," Cypher said. The walls dropped. He spun around in his swivel chair and looked at me, fiddling with the ties on the back of his mask. "I like the design. Simple, but it gets the concept across. Plus, the scrunchie is adorable."

It took all my willpower and experience with hair disasters not to reach up and snap off the fluffy pink band holding my hair on the top of my head.

"Invest in some green ones," Femme muttered. She shoved something into my arms. It was the size of a breadbox and I couldn't see it at all. "Open it."

"What in the world—"

"It's a purse. Open it."

Is she joking? She didn't seem like the joking type. I fiddled for the invisible zipper and found it, though I could barely feel it with my gloves on.

"Put your mask inside," Femme commanded me. I popped the mask off my face and shoved it in the bag. A large black leather purse with green accents and straps appeared in my hands.

"Carry this with you at all times," she continued. "Do not let someone steal it. Store your gloves, boots, cape, and utility belt in here. It's made of the same material as your costume, with the same properties. If you're needed for an emergency situation, it will start to vibrate. That means you need to gear up. The leotard is the only piece of your costume you wear at all times. Yes, I'm aware it's difficult to pee. Despite how it looks, your glove and your sleeve are a single piece."

I slid my fingers under the hidden junction where my sleeve met my shoulder. All the fabric on my arm could be rolled off instantly. If I didn't wear spaghetti straps, no one would notice the leotard under my shirt.

Femme paced back and forth, her stilettos clicking. Thankfully, the soles of my boots had soles like sneakers. "When you change, you put your civilian clothes in the purse and don your mask last. Removing the mask activates the camouflage generator. If you suit up in a crisis situation, touch the top of your right ear to activate the radio and inform the Tower immediately. You'll be able to communicate with any other Centurion in costume. Touch above your left ear to switch to the PCD frequency. That's how you call in apprehensions. Remember—"

"Centurions can't legally make arrests," I said. "All they can do is restrain suspects."

 "Yes." Femme looked mildly pleased. "The purse also has a hover-plate built in the bottom. Find the remote in your utility belt. If you're like Pulse and lose it, don't tell me it was damaged during patrols. That belt is waterproof, fireproof, bulletproof, and impossible to pickpocket. As long as you keep the remote inside, we won't have any problems"

I fished it out from one of the little pouches on my belt. There were four buttons. Tower, Track, Stay, and Vibrate.

"Stay is the default setting. You can also have it track you or return to the Tower. Press Vibrate and it will vibrate with increasing frequency until you're standing next to it. That comes in handy if you're like Pulse and can't remember how to find things."

I removed my mask and pressed it back on, savoring the cool sensation of the plastic against my face. Femme stalked across the floor and threw my discarded work clothes at me. "Put these away. We don't have a maid."