Social Order

Part 53

Matthew ran into the teleporter and reappeared on the first floor. Stepping out of the teleporter, he gasped and jumped to hide behind a piece of wall between the two front windows. Outside an unarmored child with pointed fairy ears and small white metal wings was fluttering around. A Cherub. He had forgotten about those damn things. Cherubs only activated when the Blackouts knock down the Valkyries. They mostly did repairs, but with their tiny bows... they could be just as lethal. They were stealthy. Meant to use the blackouts to their advantage to eliminate threats until the Valkyries came back online. He recalled Mark saying something about the Cherubs running on the Eros power source... but Eros was never in the same place. He moved around Valhalla to follow the sun. His solar power fed the Cherubs. He both admired and hated that Mark used his idea for them. He'd never actually seen them though. He was usually freaking out at home over the loss of power.

Matthew peeked around the side, watching the Cherub land and look around with bright gold eyes. Cradling the robotic heart to his chest, he tried to think his way through this. Crouching, Matthew rushed toward the backdoor. He wasn't sure whether he should be afraid of them or not, but he was positive that something was off with them. The Cherub out front was not being stealthy. It was looking for something... or someone. Reaching the backdoor, Matthew saw a leather messenger bag in a lost and found shelf on the wall. Snatching it, he huddled against the backdoor and stuffed the wrapped heart inside. Slinging it over his head to hang it securely to him, he lifted his bandaged arm to access his watch. He needed help or he'd never make it out of the city in time. He needed his City Spies. Pressing a button on the watch to activate them from their slumber, he counted to three and pressed the call to them. Over his watch voices began to say in different tones. "CatPat online." "Peepachu online." "Skip Online." "Yellow Peep Online." "Drama Llama Online."

Over his watch, CatPat's eyes came on to show that the backdoor was clear. Taking a deep breath, Matthew opened the backdoor and slipped out in a low crouch. Sitting outside was a robot white cat with a black ear. His cats looked realistic but were an invention of his own design. They had been his way of spying on the Slums safely, but they were also his secret friends. CatPat's face turned to one of animated joy as it saw him and purred. Matthew pet CatPat's head, telling him in a whisper. "CatPat, Observation mode. Target Cherub and Eros." CatPat rose casually, turning to run down the alley at a pace just ahead of Matthew. Peeking down alleys, CatPat scanned ahead for him. Whenever he saw a Cherub, CatPat would stop and hiss softly in the direction of the Cherub. As his other robotic cats showed up, they took positions around to watch his back and sides. They brisky dashed through the shadows and were making good time to the gate. However, he needed to move faster. He was just missing one.

As they came to a street where they'd have to run out into the open, Skip trotted around a wall to greet the others with soft purrs. Frowning at Skip, he mumbled out. "What took you so long?" Skip coughed out little white metal feathers, causing Matthew to utter out a little shocked. "Oh... That's a bug. I'll fix it later." Lifting his arm, he pressed a button now that they were all united. The eyes of the eyes began to glow a bright blue as they gathered together and constructed into one large white cat with a black ear. Matthew was a little impressed with himself. He'd never used this feature, he only did it for fun. After riding with Nate though, he talked himself into giving this a try. Grabbing the scruff of Skip's neck, he swung his leg over him to sit on him. Unlike the horse, Skip's back shifted like real skin and muscle. Steering him was even harder. Skip turned in a circle, until he told him nervously. "Go to the Slum, Skip. What are you doing?" Skip's ears perked up, then he straightened up and began to run across the street. Matthew had to almost lay over Skip's back to keep his balance.

A cherub suddenly entered the alley in front of them, causing Skip to hiss and change course. Matthew yelped as Skip leapt up onto a stone wall and then up onto a balcony. Matthew had no control of Skip. He was picking his own road. Clinging to him for dear life, Matthew regretted not giving him a collar. Skip sprang from the balcony to the roof of a house. Dashing over the roofs of homes and picking up speed. The Cherubs around them began to let out a beautiful musical note that alerted others to them. The Cherubs rose above the houses to shot little arrows at him that were laced with paralyzing agents. Skip was very agile though. His sensors telling him where the attacks were coming from. Dashing left and right, Skip avoided the arrows easily. At a large gap between the houses, a cherub rose up with its bow drawn. Skip only sped up to snatch the Cherub from the air as leapt the gap. Crunching the Cherub into pieces, Skip landed gracefully on the other side and kept running. Matthew did his best to hang on, his arms practically wrapped around Skip's neck now as he moved around faster and faster.