Silverbird, p.40
Silverbird, page 40
Storm shuddered. The way he spoke was more terrifying than the concepts he was speaking of. If it were any other scientist, any other madman, she would have thought that they might have lost their mind, but she knew Rex and knew that he was trying to deflect.
“I am not here to argue about the morality of an organisation which made me. Yes. ARCDA has done…many shitty things, but so have you.”
“ARCDA was playing god with human lives.” Rex snarled at her. “I did what I had to.”
“So what? You think you’re some kind of fucking angel?”
Rex was still as a Pard waiting to pounce upon prey. Calculative and ready to strike out or retaliate. One hand was hovering over his side where Storm was sure he would have a weapon hidden. Watching her with an unsettling unblinking intensity as she paced and beat her wings. A scientist no more, just the spiteful and angry Rex that she had battled with for over a decade, but she was equally angry. Wings tensed and feathers bristling, she hissed raptorially at him, advancing closer along the edge of the barge towards him.
It was a standoff.
“Your move, doctor.” Storm growled.
Taking a deep breath, Rex stepped away from Storm, being the first to withdraw after a drawn out and tense silence.
“Storm. We’re supposed to be on the same side for this. You want to help Synths, I want to help everyone. Asena understands this, so why don’t you?” He spoke slowly, deliberately. “I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but Arcadia will be paying attention to what you’ve been doing. Didn’t you say yourself that they have new Elites who are there to investigate? If you’ve reunited with Swann and have been heading back to Mullardoch, they’ll probably figure it all out, just as you have done, and they’ll start harming people. Which is I would like your help in rescuing two ex-Mullardoch kids of your study.”
His expression was unreadable. Storm scowled. He was trying to deflect again and change the topic because she knew he didn’t have an answer for her, although she could probably guess it.
“Who exactly?”
“Nil and Zero Nemo.”
“This is sudden.”
“Storm. You really don’t want ARCDA to have this data, because if they have it then Hasekura, Freelancers, and every other company with even a modicum of interest in it will come out to play too. They’ll start attacking you, your Rogues, and any Synth and human who comes within a ten-meter radius of you until they get it from you.”
Narrowing her eyes at him Storm shook off her feathers as she thought to herself about how Wilny and Amell had returned home early because of something going on in New Zealand with Hasekura and ARCDA. Maybe Rex was right, (not that she would tell him that) maybe they were getting aware of what she was doing. Her stomach flipped as the chaos of thoughts washed over her. What if they started targeting her family? If ARCDA had data stolen from Hasekura and other companies hidden on the chromostorage tumour, what would they do to get it? Did they even know about it?
‘Focus,’ she mused to herself, ‘we got what we needed. We know where it all is now. Kind of. We can help people by stopping him. He’s going to go too far if we don’t…but…hasn’t he already?’
“Alright.” Said Storm finally. “I suppose we can call off our bi-weekly bitch slapping contests for the moment to get this sorted.”
Relieved, Rex exhaled and shook his hands off, relaxing them from the clenched claw position he had been holding them in. Beginning to climb up out of the barge and hop across to dry land on the riverbank, he paused as he landed.
“It would probably be best if Malana didn’t come with us.”
“Why not?”
“Hrimfald is a dangerous place, you can’t take a child in there.”
“She can still-”
He shook his head, deadly serious. “Storm. She can stay here with Asena and Roux and anyone else you wish. I’m not asking you to abandon her. I think of Imogen’s safety constantly, you should be doing so as well for Malana.”
“I’ll discuss it with Wilny to see what he thinks.” Said Storm, though she knew that Wilny would agree.
“Of course. And if you hear anything from Maira, please let me know.”
“I will.”
Satisfied, Rex gave her a little bob of his head and started back up the path. Sparrows scattered once again from the reeds as Rex left, and as the pair of crows returned to their tree, the tall grasses swayed and separated as a shadowy form emerged from its hiding place.
“That guy is up to some shady shit.” Muttered Crow as he used his wings to help him crawl out of the reeds. He had been patiently listening to Rex’s ramblings the entire time, acting as Storm’s witness should anything occur, and he looked disgusted. With a little chuffing sound to the pair of crows they took flight after Rex to follow him.
Storm beat her wings and with a hop took off into a hover.
“It’s Rex, what do you expect?”
25
Richmond Park
It would be too easy to fly back home and relay everything to the Rogues, but that was too risky. She didn’t trust Rex, but Crow really didn’t trust Rex. His mind was in high gear. Plots and plans at the ready for a quick exit to protect the Daggers and several ideas queued up of how he would have liked to have dispatched the Rioteers. There was no calming him. Sending a quick text to Roux, Storm flew in an arc around the city with a fuming and still plotting Crow beside her until she received the reply.
Taking her time to make it seem as nonchalant as possible, they glided down to their meeting spot within a secluded memorial cemetery, being careful not to startle the heard of deer that rested close by into a panicked stampede.
Roux and Rai knew her well enough to not mess around with the pleasantries. As soon as Storm approached, Roux was ready with her head high and fists clenched, and Rai had his wings flexed and flared prepared to take flight. Friend and Free lingered behind upon the motorbike they had ridden over, heads cocked to one side and their ears flicking in confusion, though they were alert to the tense vibe of the Avios, realising that something serious was afoot.
“I need you guys to keep an eye on things here. I’m going on one last mission with Rex, and it will be the very last.” Storm said firmly, not breaking eye contact with Roux. “I’m going to be out of the country for a few days because of it but everyone needs to be ready to run.”
“Even us?”
“Absolutely. I’m going to leave Comet, Raoul, Malana, and Palmer behind here. Do you think you can protect them?”
Roux’s dark eyes narrowed, but she gave the Rogue a firm nod of agreement. Beside her however, void black wings beat sharply in protest.
“Storm-” Rai started, his tail feathers flicking wide into an arc of black. His yellow eyes were bright in the dim evening light and full of concern.
“It’ll be alright Rai.”
“Will it? A trip out of the country with Rex again? Is it really going to be alright, Storm?”
“I don’t know, and I can’t say for sure.”
“The last time you agreed to something like this…well…you know what happened in Japan.”
His feathers roused in agitation, and he gave her such a look of quiet disapproval that her stomach squirmed. She didn’t like upsetting her friends and family, Rai worst of all, but this was important.
“I don’t want that to happen again either, Rai. That’s why I’ve got to get this mess sorted.” Her jaw clenched as she bit her teeth together, trying to calm herself before she dwelt too much upon what had happened last time. “Please make sure that whoever stays behind…that you take care of them.”
Freeborn’s pale veined ears flicked forward, and he gave a little shuffle of his wings. Even without musing, Storm could see that he was straining to make a joke of some kind with the little smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. Staring hard at her his smiling expression vanished.
“Oh, shit she’s dead serious isn’t she?”
“Deadly.” Crow confirmed. “Rex is off the rails. If you had heard his rambling, you’d be running right now. He was batshit insane!”
“Wasn’t he always insane?”
“Not like this.”
The long digits on his wings flexed and clawed, as he mused, briefing the Noct team on what he had witnessed. Upset at the musing, Rai backed up and held his arms close to his chest, as Friend and Freeborn’s jaws dropped in bewilderment. The Bat and the Lion scoffed and snarked to each other beneath their breaths as Roux, calm and stern dipped her head.
“What can we do?”
“Get as many of the Synths without a group somewhere far away from the Rioteers, coordinate with Inks, Fen, Silver, anyone else that you can to do the same for their own areas. Warn them that something is about to happen. A raid, an attack, I don’t know yet. Get spare caches ready, get equipment ready. Stay in contact with everyone so we can act at the same time. We have to move fast.”
“What about Asena?”
“That…” Storm side-eyed Crow. His face was stony cold, and she knew why, sensing the twisting and coiling musing from his mind.
‘Asena understands this, so why don’t you?’
Out of all of the groups, Asena’s pack was the closest aligned with the Rioteers, with members like Anthony being buddied and paired up with those within Rex’s inner circle. She had been with Rex ever since Storm could remember, being the diplomat and liaison between the Rioteers and Synths whenever things went wrong. Not only that, but Storm just could not shake the feeling that it was Asena who had told Rex that they had gone to Mullardoch in the first place. Sentimental as Storm was towards her family, experience had taught her better.
“We may have to not tell them about this.” Said Storm. “I love mum, but she won’t be on our side.”
Crow’s feathers bristled across his body. Unhappy, angry, it was hard to tell, but he nodded in agreement. They had to put their own families first.
-x-
Galvanised by anger and knowledge, Storm wasted no time in getting home. She dove through her balcony window and raced downstairs into the living room where the other Rogues were waiting and busy.
“I need you to call your mother.” She said to Wilheim, half breathless from her sprint.
“Storm?”
“Rex told me where the data is.”
Immediately, Wilheim, Beth, and Castor were all on their feet, Wilheim with his phone to his ear.
“I’ll call you back, Griffin. Urgent chaos.” He said, wide eyed and ready for the news.
From the kitchen, Raoul turned his head to listen, although his attention was still drawn to the baking that he was involved in with Amell, Malana, and Palmer. Swann had joined them, allowing Palmer to leave floury white handprints all over his arms and face. It was sweet to see that he wanted to be involved with the kids too. Like Raoul however, Swann was listening in to the conversation with his head cocked in focus.
“Where?”
“On twelve of us from the Type-Seven project. Or at least that’s what Rex says.” She gave a little dry laugh as she slumped down onto the sofa beside Kat with her wings limply spreading across the cushions.
“Merlo, Lihn, Nemo, Ilmatar, Ali, Swann. All the ones he deemed dangerous and who could defend themselves. Crow can back me up on it.”
She could feel the buzz of intrigued musing as Comet, Wilny, Beth, and Wilheim shared thoughts together. Most of them were frowning with different levels of confusion and suspicion. Wilheim was both excited and afraid with his tail feathers trembling and rattling. He gave a gesture with his hand for everyone to quiet down with the musing so he could think and talk.
“How?”
“Teratomas. Grown separately and coded with the data using chromostorage and then physically added in later.”
“Oh. Oh, that makes much more sense than any of our theories.”
“Your theories, you mean!” Crowed Castor. “I told you it would be separate!”
“Shut up.” Wilheim took a well-meaning swing at Castor’s head as he stuck his tongue out at the Avio. He ducked with ease and smirked as Wilheim began to laugh, however the laugh quickly died away.
“Oh no, Sabre had a teratoma removed. So did Freya. It was on her medical notes. In her abdomen, and they never sent it to pathology. Idiot barbarians!”
“A teratoma is a tumour made up of tissues.” Comet explained as Kat began to frown and quietly flick her ears back in confusion. “They’re kind of like cysts in some cases, depending on how they’ve formed. Usually they’re benign and don’t cause any problems because they’re their own separate little mass just living in the body. Humans get them a lot.”
Wilheim began to pace, his wings trembling as he thought to himself.
“No wonder they never found anything. They were looking in the wrong place entirely- well, the wrong people.” He pulled at his hair in clumps. “Only in selected people…and if the teratoma was small and somewhere in the body where you would have to dig right in to get at it…well…that’d be the world’s worst and goriest treasure hunt, yuck!”
“Heim. Heim, where would you put a teratoma on a female Avio?” Kat asked.
Her voice cracked unusually, and Storm looked at her. Her ears were flat back against her head and her hackles bristled across her neck and shoulders.
“Personally, I’d go with an ovary, or somewhere that you’d expect to find them growing like soft tissues or the brain. The brain would be difficult to achieve I think, so in their abdomen. They wouldn’t have put it anywhere that would have caused any biological issues.”
“So Rex did what Hasekura did? Like what you once said?” Kat asked, her ears flicking back. “Surgically putting cysts into people and making them carry it under blackmail?”
“Well…” Wilheim trailed off, face scrunching.
She got to her feet began to pace, her tail flicking from side to side. Storm watched for a moment before reaching a hand out to try and slow her down and get her to sit but Kat withdrew her hand and kept pacing.
“How do we take it out?” She asked, a snarl in her voice. “Can we take it out?”
“Not unless we knew where it was.”
“But-”
“Kat,” Comet said softly, “we wouldn’t want to hurt Storm accidentally. If we started trying to cut it out, we could hurt her.”
Kat looked at her. Angry, but not at Comet or any of the Rogues. Comet gave the Lioness a soft sympathetic smile.
“Eve Maira must have an MRI machine right?” Wilny asked, reaching out and pulling his brother back so that he was out of striking distance of Kat. “We could do that to find it right?”
“We do in Aura but…well that’d mean you’d all have to come to Aura.”
A heavy silence fell upon the Rogues as they quietened in thought. It was one problem after another. With everything they solved, a new issue arose.
“Well in light of that…” With a smile, Raoul got up from the kitchen presented a thick paper document to Storm. Each of the pages of the document had a base letter, a neatly copied out nucleotide structure, and additional notes on the side in a mixture of Wilheim, Raoul, Comet, Beth, and even Kat’s handwriting. Storm’s eyes went wide with glee.
“You remade the notes? On paper?”
“Like Beth said. You can’t hack paper and we’re assuming it was all lost in the fires or was destroyed by Rex.” Raoul shrugged. “You can thank all of us for this. It was a group effort.”
“All of you?”
“Comet and I have some medical training when it comes to Synth biology and were able to clarify a few things.” Raoul said with a proud smile to the Hummingbird Avio. Storm pawed through the papers. Chains of O-N-H connected and annotated neatly in large visible diagrams with numbers and chemical bonds about it.
“It was hard to see but behold: A B-base!” Wilheim held up a paper with a circle connecting the letters, N, H, and O together.
“No,” Comet shook her head, taking it off his hands, “that’s the rS-base.”
“I think I know what an isoguanine base looks like.”
“Clearly you don’t. That’s isocytosine. That’s RNA with some amendments to the original form. Did you never learn your Hachimoji table? P binds with Z, and B binds with S. Raoul? Am I right?”
“Yes, from what I remember, although your knowledge is better than mine on this.”
“I’d seen the S-base issue pop up a few times when working with Transhuman patients.” Comet admitted shyly, feathered cheeks rousing at the compliment from Raoul. “There’s a slightly adjusted form between the dS and the rS depending on if it’s being used for RNA or DNA. Sometimes if the wrong base form was used, it’d cause a lot of problems until it was fixed.”
Raoul’s tail wagged as he nodded along.
“We worked it out between us, but it was Kat and Amell who helped to write out the structures since they have the cleanest art skills and best eye for detail.”
“I’ve been moral support.” Said Wilny, smirking as he held his hand up to show his inclusion.
“And since they’ve been able to copy out what it says, Wilheim and I have been able to read it and make a rough translated code for how to read it. If we were able to get a machine that we could program to read it then we could test to see how well it worked.”
“We’ve not solved everything on it yet.” Kat admitted. She still bitterly paced about the room with her wings rousing and tensing. “We were still trying to figure out this last structure formation on the X-base.”
“Yeah, the photo that Mr Merlo took hides a lot of it, so we’ve made a few possible structures. I would want to confirm it, but it’d be a long process and we’d need the technology to do it. Finding a working Xochitl machine will be hard.”
“Unless…” Comet winced. “We got one from Aura or Mullardoch.”
They went quiet again. They were looking at Wilheim who was gnawing on his bottom lip, deep in thought and staring into nothingness. The faint buzzing and tingling across Storm’s skin let her know that he was musing with someone, and from the mirroring twitches of their long and disked tailfeathers, she could see it was with Wilny.
