Patchwork Magisters Supernatural enforcement for a superhuman world.

Kryptonite, Part Six

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Chad murmured to Roland, glancing around the room. “I’ll lay down a wall of covering fire. You leap through it, grab Yousef, and jump out the window. It’s only the second floor, so if you shield him, he should be fine. Then get help.”

“No way, man,” Roland said, shaking his head. “We never leave a man behind.”

“For heaven’s sake, I just asked if your friends wanted to go to the opera with us,” Turbine said, crossing her arms. For a moment, her eyes flashed the same silver colour as her jumpsuit, before returning to their more usual grey, and her black hair started to shimmer. Roland, Yousef and Chad had stopped by the mayor’s office to speak with her and Shatterdrive, and found that only she was in today.

“Oh, come on, it was just a joke,” Chad said quickly, putting an arm around her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I love operas. They appeal to my sense of drama.”

“You’re not just saying that to get out of trouble?” she asked suspiciously.

“Does that sound like something that I would do?” Chad pointed out.

Turbine considered for a moment. “Good point,” she admitted, the aura around her dying back down. “But it wasn’t a very good joke.”

“No, of course not,” Roland said quickly. “Very sorry.” Surreptitiously, he held out his hand, and Chad gave him a quiet low five.

“Well, uh, this is very nice, but I don’t think we have time to see any operas right now,” Yousef said. “We have to deal with the mirror, before anything else bad happens, and we don’t really know what’s going on yet, so anything you know would be good, Miss Turbine.”

“Please, call me Christine,” Turbine said with a laugh. She considered thoughtfully, and then shook her head. “Honestly, this whole thing is sort of a shock. We were all pretty sure that the mirror didn’t actually do anything.”

“Maybe you could start with why you told the SEA that there was no magic mirror,” Roland suggested. “Or, for that matter, anything.”

“Because there wasn’t anything! The mirror was a dud!” Christine snapped. She sighed, and shook her head. “Alright, maybe I shouldn’t have told off the Director-General, but really? The SEA just came barging in, like always, and assumed we couldn’t take care of ourselves. I got my back up.”

“Okay, that seems kind of reasonable,” Roland mused. “If it weren’t for Catherine’s flute, I’d think this whole thing was just a misunderstanding. But… flute. Gone. So, how’ve your battles with Sunderstorm been since then? It was a few days ago, now, right? Has he come back for another round?”

“Nah, he’s busy sulking,” Christine said with a shrug. “Actually, sad as it sounds that might have been my last run.”

“You’re thinking of quitting?” Roland asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Christine said with a nod. “It was just… I’ve been worrying for a while about this, you know? We had some real fights against Rex Mundi two years ago, and there was the whole thing with Evangel last year, but mostly what we do is pose for cameras. And after that farce of a battle last week, well…” She broke off, and shrugged. “I just don’t see the point anymore. It’s a game, not a career.”

“Uh-huh,” Roland said slowly. He glanced over to Yousef, who was nodding, and said, “And you don’t find the timing at all strange?”

“Not really, no.” Christine glanced over to Chad, who was listening intently. “I’ve been talking it over with Shawn - Shatterdrive. He’s actually feeling pretty similar about the whole thing. We’re thinking of going into business, getting out of the grind.”

“Shatterdrive, too,” Yousef said softly. “Hm.”

“Well, thanks for your time, Christine. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else.” Roland gestured, and started out the door. “Okay, now I’m getting suspicious. Chad, you’ve been pretty close with Turbine. Did she say anything to you about quitting?”

“She’s dropped hints,” Chad said, rubbing his chin. “Asked about SEA life, that sort of thing. I mean, I’ve only known her for four days, really.”

“But you guys hit it off pretty hard right away,” Yousef mused. “Chad, have you been thinking about leaving the SEA?”

“Not really,” Chad said. “I’ve always liked my work here. It’s nice to be part of something bigger than just me, you know? I mean, sure, it’s hard work, and there’s even money I’ll die on the job, but…” He trailed off thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it, actually… I mean, if something else came along that wasn’t insanely dangerous, I might look at it. Would have to be pretty cool, though.”

“Right.” Roland keyed his radiogem. ‘Blossom, we just finished a chat with Turbine.’ He quickly filled her in, and she responded with the details about what she’d learned at Sunderstorm’s base.

‘Jason says he doesn’t have any gaelic mirrors of that size and description in the registry, so it might be something new. He’s trying to call Minitaur to get more information, but it’s the middle of the night in Ireland. Catherine and I are headed back to the local base to see about sending Jason the inscriptions, and see if there’s anything in the translation that Sunderstorm and Minitaur missed.’

‘Got it,’ Roland sent, tuning out. He looked over to Yousef. “Thoughts?”

“Everyone’s happy,” Yousef said slowly. “Mr. Choi has a new ad deal, Christine’s quitting and following her dreams, Chad found love, Catherine never actually liked the flute. Maybe the mirror’s actually good?”

“I do not believe that, but interesting thought,” Roland said. “Chad, do you have dating problems?”

“Excuse me?” For a moment, Chad bristled, and then he stopped. “Oh, I see. Uh. Yeah, a little.” He sighed. “It’s been a while since my last relationship.”

Roland nodded. “Something that was worrying you got solved.” He paused. “What about you, Yousef?”

“What about me?” Yousef asked.

“Well, you got reflected. So, right then. When you were facing that mirror, what was worrying you?”

“Uh…” Yousef trailed off, biting his lip. “I don’t know.” Roland and Chad turned to look at him, wearing identical expressions, and he raised his hands. “Okay, okay, stop it. But… just, don’t tell Blossom, okay?” He sighed. “I was worried that the mirror was evil.”

Roland blinked. “I don’t follow.”

“I don’t like fighting, okay?” Yousef snapped, storming ahead. “I don’t like front line work!”

Roland snapped his fingers. “Ah-hah! So now you’re thinking of quitting, too…”

“I was always thinking of quitting!” Yousef yelled, turning around. “I’m not a field agent! I’m a technician! When we fought with Fenris last September, I was terrified! The last thing I wanted was to do it again!”

“Then why…?” Roland started.

Yousef stopped. He sighed heavily. “I didn’t want Blossom to think that I wasn’t good enough,” he admitted slowly. “But when we were standing in front of that mirror, the thing that I was thinking was that I desperately did not want this to be a real mission. I wanted it to be a false alarm.” He paused, and his eyes slowly widened. “And then my gear stopped reading it as magical.”

“Ah, hell,” Roland said, rubbing his forehead. “This could be a problem.”