Radioactive: Chapter Six

Radioactive

Chapter Six

~White Wolf Lounge~

Kaiba looked down at the shards of crystals on the slab. He looked over a Jekyll as he crossed his arms. Kiri stood beside him and tried to analyze the shards. There was a silence in the room that was as thick as butter. Kaiba sighed. He tried to calm himself to breath normally.

“What did you say?” Kaiba asked.

Jekyll looked at him, “You didn’t hear me? I thought I was perfectly clear. Maybe I could check your hearing. I said that there is no DNA in any of this crystal. It’s as if the young lady wasn’t even human anymore, like her entire essence was crystal the entire time. Of course we’re still doing some research but as of this moment, she is just a pile of crystal.”

“Crystal doesn’t scream or attack people,” Kaiba said.

“Unless you stand under it when it falls on top of someone,” Kiri said.

Jekyll nodded, “Yes, that would result in some screaming and attacking I would think.”

“How about the lizard’s DNA?” Kaiba asked, “Did you find out anything?”

“Nothing much,” Jekyll answered, “Right now, sadly, we are stumped. All I can do now is ask that if you find another odd Other’s please don’t split or shatter them and get them hear in more or less one piece.”

“So we’re stuck,” Kaiba sighed.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Jekyll said.

Kaiba walked toward the door, “Thank you. Tell me when you find anything new.”

“Right,” Jekyll rolled his eyes, “because I have to do everything you say. You are so bossy and demanding, you know?”

“Sorry,” Kiri apologized for Kaiba’s behavior as she went after him. Jekyll waved a dismissive hand.

Kiri ran after Kaiba. She missed the elevator that Kaiba was in. Annoyed, she turned into the stairwell and ran up the stairs. The blue dot in Kiri’s vision showed Kaiba headed for the lobby. She burst through the stairwell in the lobby and ran to the elevator. It opened as she approached. Kaiba strode out and walked toward the door. Kiri tried to keep up with him.

Bridget looked up from her work, “Are you going out?”

“Yes,” Kaiba said as he walked.

“Um,” Bridget stood up to try to get Kaiba’s attention.

“Forward all calls for Kaiba to my me,” Kiri said on the way out, “Please let Galaxy know we will be off the premise and that if he needs anything to contact us.”

Bridget nodded her head, “Right.”

The door closed and Kaiba walked down the steps. He walked toward the front gates. His pace didn’t slow down and he didn’t seem to care if Kiri could keep up with him or not. He reached the gates, showed an ID and walked past the guards. Kiri ran after him trying to figure out where he was going.

“Shall I borrow a company car?” Kiri asked.

“No,” Kaiba said, “I’ll take a cab.”

Kiri managed to catch up to him and walk alongside him, “May I ask where you are going?”

“I need a drink,” Kaiba said with a plain expression.

“May I remind you that it is against company policy to drink while in active duty with the Tower,” Kiri stated.

“You just did,” Kaiba was in no talking mood.

Kiri sighed and followed the rest of the way in silence. They reached the main streets where she hailed a cab. Kaiba got in and told the address of where he wanted to go. Kiri missed it as she entered the cab and closed the door. As all good cab drivers do, the poor man tried to make conversation. Being in an irritated mood, Kaiba said nothing. Kiri took on the responsibility to talk to the driver in his stead.

They drove into the downtown area towards an area known for its night life. Most of the clubs and bars were close to the alleys but still on the safe side of business. The reached a stretch of road that no cars could go known as State Street. The cab pulled over and Kaiba stepped out. He walked down the pedestrian street while Kiri hurried to pay the driver. She got out of the car and ran to catch up with him.

State Street was filled with the late afternoon crowd out shopping at the local stores or simply hanging out for a place to be. Some of the bars were starting to open, attracting different kinds of people. Kaiba walked through the street. He came to a small alley way that stemmed from the main street. At the end of the alley was the entrance to lounge bar and club called the White Wolf. A man stood up from a chair beside the door. He met with Kaiba and crossed his arms.

“And who might you be?” the man asked.

Kaiba stared the man down, “A paying customer.”

“We don’t open till later,” the man said.

Kaiba sighed, “Would you tell your boss to let me in? He knows who I am.”

The man touched a finger to his ear, “Hey boss, there’s a guy out here wanting to get in…Yeah…How’d you know he was wearing a coat? Should I let him in?... Alright.” The man stepped to one side, “He’s expecting you.”

Kaiba walked in. The lounge was spacious and was actually three levels high, the fourth level being the boss’ office. Several young men and women were doing some last minute cleaning. All of them were dressed in the black and red uniform and dress shoes. Beyond the lounge area, the floor dipped into a dance floor. There was a large enough area for dancing and even a stage for live performances. The place had enough class and style to draw in both the young and old crowd. During the day the doors were open as a hangout for family’s and teens where food and soda were served instead of alcohol. The doors closed around noon and opened again for the night life where one had to be 18 to enter 21 to drink.

Behind the bar was the owner of the establishment. His white hair was long though he didn’t long old enough to have all white hair. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. His eyes looked up at Kaiba as he cleaned a glass. A black woman sat at the bar, a guitar case was at her feet. Kaiba walked up to the bar and sat down at a stool. Kiri stood nearby and looked around.

“Anyway, I just want to say that it’s a nice thing what’chyou doin’, you know, hirin’ only Alley kids. Gives em’ somethin’ to do other’n get into trouble, know what I mean?” the woman spoke to the bartender.

“Most of the time, those kids are better workers,” the bartender said, “Most of them know that this is their one chance. You tend to work harder knowing you have everything to lose.”

“Mmhmm,” the woman stood up and looked at Kaiba, “Well, I’ll let’chyou get back to your business. I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

The bartender smiled, “You’re never a bother, April.”

April grabbed her guitar and headed for the door. She raised her hand in farewell, “Seeya, Fang.”

The door closed and Fang turned his attention to his other guest. He looked less pleased to see Kaiba. It was almost a 360 turn of emotions.

“What do you want?” Fang asked.

“Do you have any pure alcohol?” Kaiba asked.

Fang looked at him, “Yes, but we usually add it to other things so people don’t, I don’t know, die. That and it’s under lock and key. Could I interest you in something else?”

“A beer,” Kaiba answered.

“Aren’t you working?” Fang wondered.

“Yes,” Kaiba said

Fang pulled a soda can from under the table and opened it. He grabbed a cup with ice and poured the soda into the glass. Fang pushed the class toward Kaiba and threw the empty can in the trash. Kaiba looked down at the glass.

“This isn’t a beer,” he stated.

“I watered it down for you,” Fang explained, “I even added those carbonated bubbled that everyone loves. Believe me, you’ll love it.”

Kaiba looked up at Fang and took a sip of his drink. He set it down and got to business, “You used to work for the Tower, right?”

“I don’t recall,” Fang stated.

“Well, let’s say you did,” Kaiba said, “Did you ever run into anything unusual?”

Fang raised an eyebrow, “Unusual? That just defined that last few years of my life. I started out having black hair you know.”

“No, I mean other Others,” Kaiba sighed, “Others that just seemed odd or strange in their behavior or appearance.”

Fang stared at Kaiba, “You should stop by my place sometime. You are literally describing to a ‘T’ the people I have to deal with on a daily basis.”

“Mutants,” Kaiba stated.

“You’re talking about mutants that are more mutant than you or I?” Fang thought a moment then shammed the bar, “Nope can’t say that I have. Hypothetically, of course, if I have worked for the Tower. May I ask why you are asking that kind of question?”

Kaiba pulled out a file he snuck out and placed it on the table. Fang looked it over and shook his head.

“That is interesting. Certainly haven’t seen anything like this. Have you tried the circus?” Fang asked. Kaiba looked at Fang. Fang quickly got the message, “Okay, okay. All I’m saying is that place is a cesspool for gossip and information if you know where to look. I suggest looking for a black wagon to start.”

“And why would I do all of that,” Kaiba asked.

“Because it beats sitting on your butt feeling sorry for yourself,” Fang said, “Besides, the guy there tends to know things even though he’s bat crazy.”

“That nose of yours still work?” Kaiba asked.

Fang nodded, “It’s how I knew you were at the door.”

“You mind stopping by the Tower sometime?” Kaiba stood up and collected the folder.

“Is that a request or an order?” Fang asked.

“Take it whatever way you want,” Kaiba turned to the door.

“Hope you find what you’re looking for,” Fang said when Kaiba was at the door.

Kaiba turned, Kiri was just behind him, “So do I.”

Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Six

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Six

~Food Groups~

After the Fall

“Alright,” Zara sat at a desk, her legs propped up on the table, “let me get this straight. We’re going to the same place.”

“Looks like it,” Chaud smiled at the room full of people.

Miwa sat beside him by the window. He shook himself.

Chaud continued, “It seems that Miwa downloaded the information was the same location where I was told Fang about. Northeast from here on the coast there’s a cove with a sub stationed there.”

“Is it still going to be there when we get there?” Shadow asked.

“It should,” Chaud shrugged, “I’m the only one on the Island who has the codes to start it.”

“Now the question is,” Crow started, “are you supposed to have the codes?”

Chaud just met his gaze, “I neither confirm nor deny.”

“Right,” Zara rolled her eyes, “of course you do.”

“Great!” Crane chimed, “Now we can head out there, right?”

“Not yet,” Fang said, “We have to deal with Chaud’s other issue.”

Zara looked over at Chaud, “What did you do this time?”

“Okay, I just want to go on record and say that I didn’t do anything,” Chaud crossed his arms, “kind of.”

Tempi scoffed, “Sure.”

“He’s being hunted by a group of bounty hunters,” Fang went on to explain, “It looks like this New Order really wants Chaud and his family where they can see them. The Hunters have been on our trail ever since Chaud joined up with us. I admit. They are pretty good at what they do. From what I heard, they almost killed him a few times.”

Zara looked at Chaud, “You almost got yourself killed without me?”

Chaud shrugged, “I wish I could tell you I had a say in the mater. But as it turns out, dying is unpredictable.”

“All right you two,” Tempi interrupted, “let’s get to the point. What are we going to do about those hunters?”

“We could just run for the sub,” Puppetmaster suggested. He sat alone in a corner. Shuppet sat on his shoulder.

“They wouldn’t let us get that far,” Fang stated.

“Then we pound them in to the ground,” Tempi slammed her fist into her palm.

Zara looked at her, “Can’t you think with your head? What about the people who don’t have powers? Couldn’t they get hurt if the hunters decide to attack? And then there are those who have powers. How many vials of Blue Gold do we have? Surely there isn’t enough for everyone and who knows how many the hunters have.”

“How many do we have?” Shadow asked.

“My group has eleven,” Zara said. Everyone looked at her. Zara shrugged, “Leader tendencies to take a mental tally of everything.” Zara looked at Tempi, “I guess only real leaders have that tendency.”

Tempi stepped forward, “Why you—!”

“Nine,” Fang answered.

Crow raised a hand, “Five.”

Puppetmaster smiled, “None.”

Tempi looked around. Not wanting to look incompetent she quickly counted the vials she remembered seeing in her bag, “Three.”

“Twenty-eight,” Miwa added up all the numbers, “We have twenty-eight vials.”

“Thanks, Miwa,” Chaud said, “I’m sure none of us could add on our own.”

“No prob!” Miwa chimed. The he thought a moment, “Hey! Was that sarcasm?”

“No, of course not,” Zara said sarcastically.

“Hey,” Miwa looked at her, “I was just trying to help.” He looked up at Chaud, “I thought we were friends! Why have you joined the enemy!?”

“Enemy?” Chaud was confused.

Fang sighed, “May we get back to the topic at hand. Kids these days…”

“Crane and I could take care of the caravan,” Crow said, “You know, get them away from here while you all fight it out. You can have our vials. We can’t use them.”

“I think that would be best,” Fang nodded.

Crow looked around the room, “How many of you are going to be staying to fight?”

Zara raised her hand, “My team and I are staying.”

“We are too,” Tempi said.

“Shadow and I will stay as well,” Fang said.

“I suppose I could help out,” Puppetmaster smiled, “I wouldn’t want to miss something this interesting.”

“Good,” Fang stated, “We should think of a place for you and the caravan to lie low for a while.”

“We could clear out one of the other hotels around here,” Shadow suggested, “The people in the area seem to be afraid of us. It shouldn’t be that hard to clear them out.”

“I think that would be a good idea,” Crow nodded.

“Do we have a plan?” Fang asked.

Tempi shrugged, “I guess so.”

“We’ll discuss battle tactics later,” Zara said as she stood up.

Fang walked toward the door, “Good. Let’s go get this over with Crow.”

Crow and Crane stood up. Crow followed after Fang and sighed, “Right behind you.”

Shadow and Crane followed after the two men. They appeared to be great friends over the course of the past events. Tempi glared at Zara as she walked out. She paused slightly as she passed her. Their eyes met momentarily before Tempi walked off. Puppetmaster opened the door for the girl. Miwa walked off, muttering to himself about how his best friend had betrayed him and how life was so unfair. Chaud looked after him, wondering if he should go and talked to the dejected pup. He turned to Zara.

“Miwa looks pretty bummed,” Chaud voiced his concern, “Did something happen on your trip?”

“We didn’t blow up any building,” Zara spouted. She cleared her throat before continuing, “Miwa and I just don’t see eye to eye on most, no, everything.”

“Right,” Chaud raised a curious eye brow, “Did you blow up a building, Zara?”

Zara changed the topic, “Tempi seems to hate me.”

“Yeah,” Chaud agreed, “About that building—”

“It’s okay because I don’t really like her either,” Zara shrugged, “You hungry? I am. I’m going to find a bite to eat. After that we can tell the team the plan.”

“The building?” Chaud asked.

Zara crossed her arms. She remained silent for a few more moments before saying anything, “I didn’t have a choice.”

Chaud placed a hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay. I believe you. Now if we can forget this whole almost dying thing…”

“Fine,” Zara walked off.

Chaud followed her. They walked down to the resort’s kitchen. Dr. Jekyll sat in the kitchen. He barely gave the two a look. Zara headed toward the food supply while Chaud talked with Jekyll.

“Did you hear about the meeting?” Chaud asked Jekyll.

Jekyll looked at him, “I guess. Don’t see why no one invited me, thought.”

Chaud smiled, “I’m sure they thought you were busy being the doctor and all.”

“You could have asked,” Jekyll looked over at Zara. He watched her pull a certain of eggs out of the fridge, “To many of those will kill you.”

Zara looked down at the eggs and slowly placed them back. She pulled out some frozen waffles instead.

“If you want to gain weight in your thighs, those will be fine,” Jekyll said.

Zara put the waffles away. She closed the refrigerator and opened the pantry. There were a few stale rice crackers in there and she got them.

Jekyll sighed, “I guess those will do. You’ll be hungry in half an hour though.”

Zara walked past Chaud. Chaud stopped her a moment, “He’s just in a bad mood. You can eat something else if you want.”

Zara bit into her rice cracker, “Yeah, not while he’s sitting there.”

Chaud leaned in and whispered, “I’ll sneak you some pizza or something.”

“Thanks,” Zara took another tiny bite out of her cracker, “these don’t taste very good.”

Iridescent: Chapter Six

Iridescent

Chapter Six

~A Girl and her Dog~

After the Fall

Zara woke up feeling exhausted. She sat up slowly and leaned against the wall. Her whole body was sore; every movement she made sent pangs of pain through her body. Zara sighed as she sat there. She didn’t move for several minutes. She just didn’t feel the energy to move.

She turned her head toward her pack and just stared at it. Zara shook her head and started to move to get to her feet.

“That’s enough,” she said aloud, “Can’t sit around and feel bad about yourself for too long or you might never get back up.”

“An excellent statement,” a voice said.

Zara looked up ahead of her. She saw the faint outline of a cloaked object. Zara grabbed the gun on her belt and fired at the object. It ran across the room and jumped onto some fallen cement from the floor above. She spent three bullets and didn’t want to use too many more than she had too. Zara grabbed one of her katana and charged at the nearly invisible figure.

“No, no! Don’t kill me! Please I’m too young to die!” the figure declared itself, “Please! I have so many practical jokes to pull still!”

Zara scowled at the sight of the figure before her, “Miwa! What the heck!? You scared the crap out of me!”

Miwa shuffled his feet on top of his perch. He was still in his dog form. His thin segmented tail waved low with shame.

“Sorry,” Miwa said, “I really am. I thought you would kill me if you saw me.”

Zara turned her back on him, “There aren’t an overwhelming amount of K-nine units walking around.”

Miwa looked down at his massive and sharp paws, “Sorry.”

Zara gathered her things, “What are you doing here?”

Miwa stood up on his four legs and jumped down from his perch, “My sensor picked up a familiar vital signature. So I went to check it out!”

“Naturally,” Zara muttered.

“When I found you unconscious I wasn’t sure what to do!” Miwa stated, “If you woke up and saw me you might freak out and shoot at me!”

“And cloaking yourself was naturally a better option,” Zara continued muttering.

“I was planning to keep myself cloaked and when you woke up, crawl out of the room and come in uncloaked through the front door!” Miwa said, “It didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.”

“No, really?” Zara’s muttering continued, “You spoke while you were cloaked. I think it’s a little counterproductive.”

Miwa walked around her, “I’m sorry!”

“You made me waste three bullets!” Zara said loudly.

“I’ll make it up to you!” Miwa sat at the door, blocking Zara from leaving.

Zara put her hands on her hips, “And how do you plan to do that?”

“I know where we can get supplies! And…and…and I might even know a way of the Island if you let me come with you!” he stated.

Zara shifted her weight, “A way off the Island? How?”

“The north east part of the—” Miwa stopped, “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to…”

“You weren’t supposed to what?” Zara leaned in closer, “What is it a big secret or something?”

“Kinda…” Miwa looked nervous.

Zara crossed her arms, “Fine. I’ll let you tag along if you promise you’ll take me to this way of the Island.”

Miwa’s ears perked up, “Fine! Do you want to go get the supplies now? I swear no one’s touched a thing! It’s full of great supplies!”

“Lead the way,” Zara motioned, “but I swear if you get in my way, I’ll cut off your tail.”

“You aren’t very nice,” Miwa muttered.

Zara walked after him, “I’m still mad at you.”

“Hey! I said I was sorry!” Miwa said loudly.

Miwa’s height was just around her waist. He walked alongside her through the streets. His bladed tail waved back and forth as he walked on all fours. He turned his head frequently as he would scan the surroundings. Zara looked up at the broken windows and buildings trying to find out where the android was taking her. It was hard to tell exactly in the city she was as everything looked the same, broken and tattered. But there were a few distinct landmarks that she recognized.

The duo came to a road block. Rubble blocked the road ahead of them. Miwa scanned the rubble and looked back at Zara.

“Follow me,” he said.

Zara rolled her eyes, “What have I been doing up to this point?”

Miwa shook his head and said quietly, “I do not see what Chaud sees in you?”

Zara narrowed her eyes, “What did you say?”

Miwa jumped on to a bolder, “Nothing. I just said you were great company.”

He jumped to another bolder higher up the rubble and waited for Zara to get on the first. Zara grabbed a metal rod and pulled herself upon to the bolder. When she had a firm footing, Miwa scanned again and jumped onto what looked like the hood of a car. Zara followed behind him making sure to step where he stepped. One wrong move and the whole mound could collapse.

Soon they made it to the apex of the mound. Zara looked out and shook her head.

“The Tower storage facility?” Zara breathed heavily.

“The main system may be down but the defense system is still running on generators,” Miwa explained.

“How much longer with the generators run?” Zara asked.

“Oh, until it gets flattened by a nuke,” Miwa stated, “or any other explosive really.”

Zara looked at Miwa, “You carrying any extra nukes?”

“I’ve got a few small missiles but sorry, fresh out of nukes,” Miwa jumped down to the next rock.

Zara followed, “I guess I could use my access code.”

“No, good,” Miwa answered, “The system went down with the Tower. The facility won’t let anyone in at this point.”

Zara thought to herself. Right when Miwa said that, she knew it wasn’t going to be easy getting in and out in one piece. She would make sure to bring up the issue of downed systems when the Tower fixed itself.

“Do you know what they have in there?” Zara asked to assess if it was worth going through with it in the first place.

“The last inventory check reveals surplus medical supplies for the hospital, foods stuff, small inventory of weapons and ammo, oh and a few cases of that Blue Gold stuff,” Miwa started the downward journey.

Zara sighed; looked like it was going to be well worth risking her life for. She followed Miwa back to ground level. The massive heap of rubble towered behind them. Miwa continued onward and they reached the gated fence.

There were we’re turrets visible on the outside wall designed to fire upon any unauthorized personnel meaning at this point it would fire at anyone. Flat robots patrolled the perimeter and were programed to detonate when it spotted an intruder. The roof was equipped with missiles to attack anyone who broke in. On the inside there was more. Lasers were scattered around and if they weren’t turned off by a certain code it would detonate a small explosive. Then the items themselves were monitored on pressure plates. If they were removed before a code could be entered the room would lock down. Zara often wondered how it was possible that no one working here had accidentally killed themselves.

Zara looked down at Miwa, “Do you have any ideas on how we’re getting those items?”

Miwa looked up, “Um, that’s why I brought you here.”