The Outskirts: Thé Crystal Keepers (Jace x OC)

The Crystal Keepers: 9

We reached a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.
"Drop the stuff," Roulette advised as she opened the door.
Me, Cole, and Jace dumped the pads and paddles on the ground beside the door and followed the others through.
Roulette and Dazzle broke into a run, I sprinted to keep pace with them, the boys only a few steps behind. We passed through another door onto a sidewalk beside a street. A busy stream of levcars zoomed by.
Dazzle glanced over at Roulette. "You have an untraceable ID?"
"Always," Roulette said.
Dazzle put on a cap and a pair of sunglasses.
"Use it."
We soon got in a levcar. I found riding in one was even more nerve racking than I thought.
The ride was reasonably smooth, but I wasn't used to cars crowding so tightly at high speeds, nor was I accustomed to vehicles working together with split-second precision to narrowly avoid accidents.
Sitting in the back between Cole and Jace, I needed some time before I began to trust that the system actually worked.
Over and over I braced myself for impacts that never came. When I closed my eyes, the ride seemed surprisingly uneventful, but that felt like cheating.
Mira and Dalton had gone one direction get a levear with Dazzle. Me, Cole, and Jace had gone the other way with Roulette, who summoned a levcar using an ID without a face on it. We had now been in the car for at least ten minutes, and we had seen no sign of Bluff or the blond patrolman.
"Did we get away clean?" Cole asked.
"I think so," Roulette said. "We'll take extra precautions to make sure."
"Do you think Bluff fought that patrolman?"
Cole asked.
"As a last resort, maybe," Roulette said.
"Hopefully he found a quieter solution. Bluff will be okay. He knows what he's doing."
I tried to let her confidence reassure me. We rode along in silence for a few minutes. I studied the neighboring levcars for anything suspicious, but the windows were too tinted to see much. At least that same tinting would help them hide.
"What do you think?" I asked Jace, who had his nose against the window.
"This city is enormous," he said. "I was ready for big, but I still can't believe it. I didn't expect it to be so clean, with so many open spaces. I pictured it more cramped."
"What about the ride?" Cole asked.
"You can't beat it," Jace said. "They're so fast.
They blow away autocoaches."
I grabbed Jaces hand as levears swerved at them from opposite directions. Our levcar sped up and drifted right just in time to avoid disaster.
"Don't the near misses bug you?" I asked, squeezing his hand.
"They told us levcars don't crash," Jace said grinning.
"Not in over eight years," Roulette said. "And before then problems weren't frequent. They've been perfected."
"I can trust that," Jace said. "Can't you?"
I winced as we knifed through a narrow gap.
"There's what I know, and what I feel. Let's just say I don't love it." Cole nodded in agreement, looking just as uncomfortable as I felt.
Jace just laughed and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
"We're almost to the galleria." Roulette announced.
Up ahead, a complex of sizable buildings that looked like greenhouses came into view. The levear slowed and drifted over to the curb, coming to a gentle stop. Me, Cole, Jace, and Roulette got out.
"Greenhouses?" Cole asked.
"Stores," Roulette said. "It's a shopping mall."
"All the buildings must be crystal," I said.
Roulette gave me a puzzled look. "What else would they be made from?"
"Glass," I said.
She chuckled. "Seriously? Why would we build with something so fragile? Bonded crystal is the way to go. If you want glass, you'll have to look in some other kingdom."
"These are all stores?" Jace checked as we started walking. "Have you heard of Headgear?"
"Sure," Roulette said. "It's not here. I'm not interested in the stores today. We came for the crowd. I want to make sure we shook the CP.
The Zeroes have gotten too good at tracking us lately. We're taking a roundabout route. We can't risk compromising the base."
"Zeroes?" Cole asked.
"It's a nickname for the patrolmen," she said.
"The Zeroes have been on a roll lately. We can't be too careful. Let's wait to go into it until we're behind closed doors."
As we proceeded through the crystal mall, I saw a lot of people wearing leather and denim.
Many of the stores featured gadgets. Others sold clothes. A few had art. One shop showcased a variety of robots. They looked more polished than the robots back at Outpost 121, with brighter colors and more graceful contours.
We passed beyond the crystal stores and came to an open green area with a fairly tall hill on one side. A game of lacrosse was in progress on a large playing field. Trees shaded much of the hill, and paths gave access to the top.
"Summit Park," Roulette said. "Crossing open space can be a great way to make sure we're not being tailed."
"Are we close to where we're going?" Jace asked.
"Not yet," she said.
It took some time to navigate the park.
Eventually we passed under a street and came up to a wide pedestrian walkway. The apartments on both sides of the walkway possessed stately brick facades. Trees and sculpted hedges added a touch of nature.
Roulette led us along the walkway a good distance, passing under two more streets before turning onto a smaller walkway. She paused at the entrance to a building. "Nobody is following us. This way."
We entered the building and went down a hall to an apartment on the first floor. The big guy who answered the door nodded to Roulette and let us enter. We went to a bedroom without windows and found a stairway in the middle of the floor.
"I opened it up for the others," the man said, coming in behind them. "Go on down. I'll close it behind you."
The stairs descended a long way, flight after flight. Roulette was in no hurry.
"Nice secret entrance," Cole said.
"Let's hope it stays secret," Roulette replied.
"Otherwise we're all cooked."
At the bottom of the stairs awaited a thick crystal door secured by shiny steel hinges.
Roulette waved at the guards on the far side, and after a moment, the door opened. I entered with the others, and the door closed behind us.
The floor, walls, and ceiling had panels like in the P'Tang room at Axis. I sped up to walk beside Roulette. "Is this room magnetic?" I asked.
"We have some skilled tinkers on our side," she said. "Our magnetic defenses are tidy. Think of the balls in P'Tang, but imagine them sharper, faster, and targeted at you."
We proceeded through a sequence of doors and hallways until they were greeted by a middle-aged woman whose red hair was pulled back into a tight little bun.
"You must be Kendal, Jace, and Cole," she said, holding out a hand.
I shook it. "Kendal."
Jace did the same. "Jace."
Cole went last. "I'm Cole."
"Call me Highwire," the woman said. "Nice work,
Roulette. Report to the tank for debriefing"
"I was kind of hoping to see this through,"
Roulette said.
"You may have future involvement," Highwire said. "First these three must meet with Googol." Roulette gasped. "Googol's here! I want to see him!"
"I expect he'll want to talk with all the CKs who were involved today," Highwire said. "First head to debriefing. You'll learn more there."
"Whatever," Roulette said huffily. She left the room.
"I trust you three are all right?" Highwire asked.
"We're fine," Cole said. "We're worried about
Joe, though."
"Aren't we all," Highwire said. "This way."
She used an ID card to open a door. We followed her down a hallway to another door, which she opened with her card as well.
"Here they are," Highwire announced. "Barely behind the others."
Me and the boys entered a room that looked half laboratory, half office. One side of the room had work counters and shelves covered with diverse tools and materials. The other side had several chairs and a big desk. Dalton and Mira sat in two of the chairs.
The man behind the desk stood up. Dressed in dark blue, his bristly gray hair was clipped short and thinning on top.
The bulky glasses he wore resembled a set of high-tech binoculars. Tall, skinny, and slightly stooped, he looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
"Kendal, Cole, Jace, please join us. Nice to meet you. I'm Googol."
"Will that be all?" Highwire asked.
"Yes, Larraine, thank you," Googol said. She backed out and closed the door. Googol touched his bulky glasses.
"Please forgive how my vision gear hides my face. With it, I can see near and far. Without it, the world becomes overlapping blurs. Have a seat."
"Are you guys okay?" I asked Dalton.
"We just got here too," Dalton said. "We're
good."
"Googol was introducing himself," Mira said.
Googol nodded. "I gave Mira a code word reserved for those few who work with her mother, Harmony."
"Dalton got to hear it?" I protested.
"He whispered it to her," Dalton said.
"Googol is one of the good guys," Mira confirmed.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Googol said deferentially. "I can still hardly believe you're here."
"He's one of the leaders of the Unseen in Zeropolis," Mira said. "He's their chief tinker."
"We all have roles to play," Googol said. "Mine involves developing and implementing advanced technologies."
"Your name is Google like the search engine?" I asked.
Googol smiled. "It's spelled differently. My code name derives from a number. Ten to the hundredth power. In other words, a one followed by a hundred zeroes."
"That's a lot of zeroes," Jace said.
Googol's smile faltered a little. "My apologies.
I'm not always adept at small talk. I know you five have been through a lot, but we have some vital matters to discuss."