Starburst Jailbreak Part Five

Sara and Muse watched the show in awe. The former thought she had passed out from exhaustion, and was having a vivid dream. The latter was convinced this was some sort of new superweapon. She braced herself, wondering if it's brain was malformed. Nothing natural would attempt to strangle itself like that. It wasn’t until his arm disappeared and mask dissolved did she relax. Muse gazed down at the unconscious man, then over her shoulder at the smoldering guard.

Sara kept her eyes directly on the senseless savior. She didn’t know what that he was. Judging by those powers, he might have been like her. Or he was a failed experiment by Flynt Enterprises. It clearly had escaped some sort of containment, if that mask was anything to go off of. It must have knocked itself out in a fit of rage. Lashing out at anything around, even itself. There was no way she was going near it if that was the case.

Muse took a more practical look at the situation.

“Can you stand?” she asked her partner.

“‘Scuse me?” Sara replied.

“Stand. I need both hands to help him.”

It took a moment to register what had been said. Then Sara’s left eyebrow shot up.

“Uh huh,” she said. “And why, let me ask, should we help him?”

“Because he saved us from that soldier.”

Sara met the cold green eyes of her partner. The driver had to admit, it had adjusted its aim at the last moment. Even so, they had no idea what he would do once he woke up. Sara would normally say no to any other crazy who proposed such a thing. But this was Muse. There was no emotion to be found in those emerald spots. 

Only the cold logic of the concrete jungle: you scratch my back and I scratch yours.

"You sure?” Sara finally asked. "With no intel to go off of?"

She thought for sure Muse would take the bait. Unfortunately, no dice. The blonde nodded vigorously.

“I am,” Muse spoke softly. "And I will take responsibility if he does something that affects us negatively."

“Ugh," Sara sighed. "Raul’s gonna have my hide for this.”

Sara raised herself off of Muse and braced against the wall. Muse immediately ran to the fallen man. His pulse was extremely fast, despite being unconscious. The blonde peeled back one eye to find his pupils were dilated. She assumed that was in response to whatever just happened. Muse got her arms under her savior’s armpits and began to drag him back. Sara called up the elevator. Both women slipped in without any incident. Throughout the subterranean laboratory, alarms began to blare. Guards thundered down the hallways, all converging back on the Pinnacle chamber. Reinforcements found the casualties of the escape.

Nevertheless, the chamber's prisoner still doggedly pumped out power for all who paid their electricity bill.

Ψ

Erik left the meeting room with a sigh. Despite its importance to Flynt Enterprises, the space only took up a quarter of the top floor. Another quarter constituted a lush penthouse, complete with the finest trappings money could by. The rest was Erik's personal war room. Glass windows allowed a shaded view of Center. Low tables and chairs dotted the floor, several spaces ready for relaxation. What drew attention was the scale model of the city. Glowing holograms marked businesses entering their final days. Verdant daggers hovered over those that needed a bit of a push.

The mogul ignored the routine room. Instead, he wandered to the side. His hand automatically reached for an open bottle of whiskey. He hesitated, and instead grabbed a sealed vintage rum. The conversation had been long and hard. Erik's business partner was no slacker. Despite the mogul’s best arguments, he was nuked again and again. While he was thankful for the power granted to him, Erik still wished he was the only one running the show. After all, his name was the one on the building. The mogul sipped slowly and looked over to his secretary.

Friday was sitting neatly at her station. A lavish easy chair rested a few feet in front of the private elevator. The Lookalike's legs were crossed, hands folded on her knee. Several small wires wound their way into small ports on her temples. A single clear tube was located behind her neck, pumping directly into her carotid. The Queen of the Lookalikes was fed and watered while her eyes shone a bright emerald. Her mind was a lighthouse, directing and organizing dozens of systems throughout the bustling building.

Erik had drained his glass when Friday’s eyes grew blindingly bright. She grimaced and shook her head. The hologram of Center turned off for a few moments, then regained power. Lights went out all across the real city beyond. Erik noticed and put down a second hefty dose of liquor. Might as well get some enjoyment before the chaos. The Lookalike continued to receive report after report, eyes flashing like strobes.

“Several reports of something going wrong in the chamber,” she said. “A squadron is now entering to investigate that power outage.”

Erik could feel the cold sobriety reach him. Whatever the Pinnacle had just done, it would be hard to fix. Everybody was counting on Flynt Enterprises as their unfailing source of electricity. It might have only been the blink of an eye. But to a public obsessed with technology, three seconds felt like forever. Then the mogul felt something even worse. A new feeling that put a shiver down his spine.

A cold fear had taken hold of Erik’s business partner.

Ψ

The private elevator clanked open to reveal a lobby in secret chaos. Of course, any unsuspecting passersby would merely see a bunch more businessmen than usual pacing the lobby. These plainclothes guards were on the lookout for anything suspicious.

Lucky for the escaping intruders, the elevator released them behind the guards’ view.

Muse had placed herself under Connor’s right arm. His empty sleeve showed a nub of shoulder completely smoothed over. No openings for any former wires or implants. It was as if somebody had simply erased the scrapper’s mecharm from ever existing. Sara had gotten a second wind, and crept out of the elevator ahead of her partner and passenger. The driver held her breath as a Lookalike turned back to her. The woman’s eyes grew violet, then to green, then to violet once more.

“She's fighting me,” Muse said quickly. “We have to move fast.”

Sara nodded, grabbing Connor by the collar. She threw the scrapper over her shoulder and began to jog out. Muse focused her thoughts, then slammed her leg down twice. She sprang forward and followed right behind Sara. All the lobby Lookalikes streamed after the two women. Entering the lobby proper, the three immediately stood out among the finer dressed Suits. Even in a more casual setting, a passed out one-armed man would draw looks.

In the belly of the beast, Connor was a glaring target on Sara’s back.

“There they are!” a guard shouted.

Every plainclothesman darted for the trio. Despite their numbers, they couldn’t get close. Muse had dug deep and overrode Friday's all seeing eye. The Queen grimaced as a wall of static tore through her head. Each of the secretaries had been commanded to customer service the guards to no end. A wall of black suits met a deluge of sky-blue blouses. This made a hole just big enough for Sara and Muse to slip through. They reached the offset revolving door.

“Come on, come on,” Sara mumbled.

Behind them came more and more shouting, a cacophony about the escapees and the history of Flynt Enterprises. One plainclothes man almost grabbed Muse, but was instead pulled away himself by a Lookalike wanting to give him a tour. Finally, the door lined up. Sara and Muse dashed in, pushed as hard as they could, then broke outside.

Thankfully, their ride hadn’t been towed. Sara screeched to a stop, wondering where to put their new passenger. Muse solved this by popping the trunk. The driver shot her partner a glance. Then she threw the passenger in and slammed it closed. Both women jumped in and sped off, the stingray leaving vapor trails in the cold of the city.

Within the lobby, several Flynt employees were bombarded by the benefits they could have if they signed on today as lowly janitors.