Black Lightning

Chapter One: Disruption

"Just saying, this is a bad idea, Zhen."

"Yeah, well." Zhen grins, sharp and a little bitter, up at the woman leaning back against the countertop. "This 'bad idea' is your only way of getting the hell out of this mess, isn't it, Argent?"

Argent sighs. "You realize that if this were any other circumstance, I wouldn't be allowing this."

Victory. But it's not like Zhen expected any different when she walked in. The moment she made the proposal, she knew she was going to get her way, and they both knew it. Her grin widens. "Of course. Why do you think I stopped bothering you about access to the Palace for the last few months?" There's no point fighting a battle she was never going to win, after all. Something had to happen if Zhen was going to be allowed into the Glass Palace, walk in the Future's Halls.

"If you get in trouble, we can't help you. You realize that, right?" Argent runs her hand through her hair, pushing back dark, choppy bangs. The dim golden light reflects off her dark skin in a way that simulates sunlight. It's strange, walking here in the dead of night and seeing this. Zhen isn't sure she likes it. It's more real than anything technological has any right to be.

"Obviously." There are limits to Argent's influence. She may be powerful, but not even power can keep her from Riot and Mayhem's teeth if she gets too close to their hearts.

"God." Argent takes a second to close her eyes, rubbing the skin between her eyelids with one hand while the other reaches for the brandy sitting on the table beside her. Zhen just waits.

"Fine," Argent says, lifting the glass to her lips. Her eyes flutter open, and the cybernetics spin rapidly, readjusting after the brief darkness. It's strange to watch--people don't normally go for cybernetic eyes anymore, not when you can just go through the correction surgeries with a higher success rate.

But it's not like Argent was ever anything but strange, after all. Zhen stopped expecting normal the moment she became a Silvertongue.

Or. Well. The moment she sort of became a Silvertongue.

"Glad we've got that sorted out," Zhen says, propping her chin up on her palm. Argent just shakes her head, moving around the counter to get to the kitchen behind it. It's a nice kitchen, all clean steel and silver with the AI silent and unobtrusive.

No one knows why Argent doesn't Interface publicly when everyone knows she's a Techno, and despite the two years Zhen's known Argent, she still falls under that category. The AI remains unactivated, a slumbering, invisible agent in the air as Argent retrieves an orange from the fridge, raising it in silent question to Zhen. She grins and wiggles the fingers of her left hand, catching the orange effortlessly when Argent tosses it to her.

"Thanks, Mom," she snarks, and doesn't bother dodging when Argent flicks her in the side of the head.

"Shut up, brat," she responds. "Also, you're not leaving today, Zhen."

Zhen narrows her eyes. "Why not?"

Argent gives her a sideways smile, walking ahead of her to the couch sitting in front of one of the covered mirrors, another Argent oddity. "Because I'm not willing to lose another one of mine because I didn't prepare her for her mission."

Zhen blinks. "That's stupid," she answers, furrowing her eyebrows. "I am prepared. And besides, it's not like Riot and Mayhem can do anything I've never gone through, either."

Argent just sighs, collapsing onto the couch and reaching for a book. A real, physical paper book. Zhen lets her eyes linger on it before she drags them back up to Argent's face, half-hidden behind frizzy black curls.