Time, and other inconsequential things

Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

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Hayley sat and reviewed all that she knew. Her memory now photographic, she studied the remembered floor prints of the paths they had followed on the way out. Extending her senses, she mapped ways she could not see directly, by the people passing through them. Seeing each hesitation at a room exit or entrance as a door. The longer pauses, a coded or locked door. For two days she did little but meditate as she planned, all the while watching all the moving sparks, as they scurried about, unmindful of their every move being watched.

< Sister, it is time to open my storage and leave, get ready. There are things in there we will need now. >

Hayley replicated a shimmering red dress, and two shoes in low heels. Dressing, she entered the common room. Leaving a message, she set the active wallpaper to a blasted and desolate landscape

Stepping up to the box, Hayley dropped to her knees and placed her hands on it. Relinquishing control to Tyra, her hands flew across the box. Tapping here, swiping there, dozens of tiny gestures, some false to fool the watchers, some to cover other actions. Then with a nearly silent click the top popped up, letting Hayley swing it open. Her hand shot out to a square box the size of her palm. No sooner had she touched it than the power went out across the suite. Secondary and tertiary backups failed as well. The Power Jammer was related to an EMP in much the same relation that a mosquito had to mainline warship. Both moved and attacked, but there the similarities ended. Pulling on the ill-fitting stealth suit and tools belt she walked to the end of the suite nearest the exits and using the molecular debonding cutter she opened a hole and passed into a maintenance passage. The case, now hovering on internal lifters following behind. A few steps in she turned and cut again to enter a corridor. Passing people blindly hugging the walls, Hayley strode smoothly down the center. Coming to the main exit two swift cuts severed the main and secondary locks and Hayley strode out into the darkening gloom of station evening. The overhead column dimmed. Never truly going black at night, more like a full moonlit night.

She needed to get out of sight before they recovered and triggered the alarms. Walking through the entertainment district, Tyra's guidance in her ear, Hayley found an attractive but somewhat drunk man walking along alone.

< There! That one looks likely! >

Coming up to him, Hayley smiled brightly, taking his arm.

"Hey, need a hand getting home okay?"

"Shure, pretty girl!" and Hayley leaned into him, pressing her breast into his arm.

Just minutes later Hayley lay under him, trying to match his erratic strokes. The reek of cheap booze and bad breath filling her lungs as he arched over her. Finally, he came inside her and collapsed snoring, his nose and mouth next to her ear. Shoving him off she went and showered and then raided the dispenser for a good meal. Spending hours brooding, before she returned to his bed and slipped into sleep.

Waking the next morning, he was already forcing himself inside her, his strokes still erratic, his breath even worse. This time, when he came he climbed off her, tossed her dress to her and entering the shower, he turned and called to her.

"Be gone before I get out."

Hayley's eyes opened in shock.

< OK, maybe he wasn't the right choice for a first time after all. We'll do better next time Sister. >

Taking refuge in a vacant underground office building, built in anticipation of need. The debonder was down to 10% charge, the power jammer completely discharged. Both would need to be recharged before she could get off the station. The computer tap, lock-breaker, and weapon jammer were still fully charged, but of no use at all without being adapted to human interfaces and technology. The suit would need a lot of power before it could adjust to her sizes and anatomy.

Two Impact pistols sat there, fully charged. Able to fire twists of pure kinetic energy much like a slug, or plasma bolt, from a human weapon. Adjustable from a hard punch level to a blow that could pulp a person's organs. Those were useful, but scared her, none-the-less.

< As much as I despise the frivolous behavior of Tyra, her people made very efficient weapons. > M!Tekk chuckled.

Hayley sat and meditated. It would take longer for the bones, but for now, she moved muscle and tissue. Her triangular face, slowly rounding, as ridges gave her eyes a shift from rounded to a more oriental cast. Muscles sliding to give the impression of broader shoulders. A pad of flesh under each heel, gave her a slight gain in height, and changed her gait. Blood vessels shifting changed her retinal and under-skin patterns. Her internal organs shifting just tiny bits in their placement.

She kept on the move. Hitting a food dispenser here, a vacant apartment there. Twice more picking up men, one for a single night, the second she stayed with for a week. Enjoyable, but nothing she couldn't do better by hand. Dodging clusters of drones, some the size of dinner plates, meant to be seen and noticed. Others like tiny house flies, never seen or noticed by most people. Each evening working to adapt and recharge the tools. Hayley's hands growing surer as the knowledge filled her.

After a week in Alan's apartment, she had added significantly to her bodies mass, the computer tap sparked to life. Within minutes, she had access and turned a vacant apartment into a living haven. Not even staying until Alan returned home, to say goodbye, she left a brief note on her way out.

The new apartment gave her all the time needed. The dispenser spat out a full meal, the fresher now spewed unmonitored water in a half hour long shower. The power taps glowing as the suit drew long and deep, rebuilding itself to match her physique, and charging hidden accumulators to levels normally only used in combat zones. All the devices were soon recharged.

Her first action was to create a full identity, credit history and residence. Then she checked the drone's search and recognition parameters and saw that while she still fit the general markers, the specifics would be all wrong. Body mass, eye spacing, cheekbones, gait markers, all now pointed to someone else.

Once the suit was charged it started picking up beacons of Anori and Chel tech.

< Tyra? What do all these glowing points mean? >

< They... the Humans... they must be looting the old battle zones. The blue points are detected Chel systems. The white is Anori. The other colors, likely species I am unaware of, I never trained for those functions. >

< Would any of that still be functioning? Still useful to us? >

< Unknown. The beacons are just functioning Zero-point power systems. I have no way of telling from here if the source is a pocket generator or a working Dreadnought. >

Calling up a display on the apartments data-term they focused in the direction of the Chel and Anori beacons and found a second Asteroid colony trailing them in the same orbit, but 120 degrees behind. Then shifting focus, they found a third colony 120 degrees leading the colony they were on.

< We need to check those beacons out don't we? >

< The risk outweighs the likely return. The safe path is to avoid temptation. > Krrn grumbled in negation.

< I say we must. The potential of recoverable power presents us with a onetime opportunity. > came M!Tekk's response.

< I also say I think it is a good idea to see what might be rescued from history. That many sources still operating, something must be left of use. But you are the host and have the final say Sister. >

< Okay. I am up for trying, but how do we get there? I say we only try if there is a safe path. >