Mod Superhero

Chapter 5.21 - Meetup / Athena 2

It was Tuesday before Athena heard from Lucy. She neglected to say how they'd gotten in contact, only that they'd agreed to meet in an abandoned building on the Eastside.

None of them were particularly thrilled about the idea. Even though the meeting place was almost half a mile away from the lab, this would be the closest the group had been to the lab since it was taken over. But as worried as Emmett and Clara were, Lucy seemed even more on edge—worried enough that she insisted on meeting underground and close to the Cabal's den.

They waited until the sun had set Tuesday night. Emmett and Clara had just finished suiting up and then engaged their basic "sweats and hoodie" disguise. Emmett had rigged a new shoulder strap for his fusion rifle—one that should keep it tight enough to his body for the nanites to cover it. Athena put on her jacket and waited near the fire escape window.

"You don't have to come," Athena said, a hint of apprehension in her voice.

Emmett and Clara shared a look. They'd already discussed the best course of action. Emmett and Clara would stay roughly two blocks away from Athena, following a parallel path. This way, the three of them could maintain communication and TINA could help all three of them stay out of sight of patrols and surveillance drones. And if they did run into trouble, they would be close enough to help each other. Then when they got to Eastside, they would give the lab a wide berth.

Emmett wouldn't have considered going if not for the mask protocol. TINA was confident that their disguises would be enough.

Going to Eastside was a risk, but it was one they had to take, eventually.

"We'll stick to the plan," Emmett said decisively. "We don't want you going alone."

Athena hesitated, but finally nodded. "Alright. Follow my lead."

~

Mod's group scurried across streets and skulked through alleyways toward Eastside. Even though Athena was on the other side of the block, Mod could still follow Athena through the buildings using TINA's location data. She looked like a yellow silhouette in his HUD.

Mod's brain-link with TINA was one of his newest upgrades, but it still surprised him how much he'd come to rely on it. Even something as small as seeing the highlight of his teammate brought an immeasurable amount of comfort.

TINA had a slightly harder time highlighting surveillance drones and biomech patrol groups. Since she didn't have access to the lab's network, she relied on one of their team spotting them visually. Then TINA could overlay data or relay it verbally to Athena.

Since leaving the apartment, they'd already avoided two biomech patrols, and that trend didn't show any sign of slowing down. In the distance, Mod could already see the bustle of activity in the sky above the lab. Drones came and went in a constant buzz, though TINA didn't bother highlighting them. They were too far away to be a threat to the group.

Mod was already wondering what it would be like to have all that data... How far would he be able to see? How many cameras could he watch? He thought back to Arsenal's small camera—how many video feeds could he actually parse and pay attention to?

Finally, he pushed aside the questions, resolving to ask TINA about it later. She would always be game for more upgrades.

Besides, Mod was too focused on the fact that power was being restored and people were coming back to Belport. There weren't many people out on the streets after dark, but Mod heard people talking inside buildings. They even avoided some blocks completely because the streetlights were on and almost all the buildings were occupied.