2.2 - Mage on the Run

The Sentry Mechs were the Ave Strata Police Force's answer to their own laziness. The fact that these guys were on active duty meant that whoever was on the current shift was either too preoccupied with another case, or they didn't feel like leaving the station to do their job.

The leader bot took a step forward. "I must insist you come with us now, Miss Elaina Yoshinaga."

Elaina tried to find her words. "Um, well I...uh..."

I glanced from her to the leader bot and stood up, reading the tag on its chest.

"Unit 23-7," I said, and the leader bot's head turned to me.

"Jacen Jacinto. Codename: Vector. Not a threat. State your inquiry."

"I believe you have the wrong suspect in your sights, Unit 23-7. Elaina isn't a threat."

"Wrong suspect?" the leader bot repeated, and it turned back to Elaina. "Initiating bio-scan...Scan complete. Incorrect, Jacen Jacinto. The suspect details and information communicated to us from headquarters indicate this female individual is, indeed, Elaina Yoshinaga—a person of interest."

"She is not who you should be looking for," I refuted its claim.

"Incorrect," the leader bot replied. "We are here for Miss Elaina Yoshinaga on the suspicion of: placing a destructive device, making terroristic threats, attempted murder, and endangering the lives of those in the Sunshine Apartment Complex. Were you not among the victims of her crime?"

"You could call it that, yeah."

"Then you would allow us to apprehend Miss Elaina Yoshinaga and escort her to the nearest police station for questioning. If you continue to resist..." The leader's bot's mono-eye turned from a blue glow to a red glow, and the other three Sentry Mechs walked in. "...We will have no choice but to use force."

"You would harm a civilian, Unit 23-7?"

"Only civilians who stand in the way of the law. Our code base is final. The law, as you know, Civilian Jacen Jacinto, is final."

"Then..." I turned back to Elaina, who kept silent as she stared at the Sentries, then to me. "...you leave me no choice."

Elaina's eyebrows went up, confused.

I glanced at the leader bot. "Voice Override Protocol 49.248. Codename: Snakeskin."

The leader bot suddenly straightened its metallic body and its mono-eye went from red to white, while the other three lowered their heads.

Elaina blinked. "What are...you doing...?"

I continued. "Initialize Reconfiguration. User Name: Vali Arschanva."

The leader bot's mono-eye pulsed a few times, before turning yellow. It lowered its head to look at me. Its voice sounded more upbeat and casual. "Greetings, Lieutenant Vali. How may I be of service?"

Elaina leaned forward. "Jace, what did you...do?"

"Reprogramming via voice control," I explained. "It's an emergency callout that only the top officers in the Police Force know. Guess all that scolding from Vali all these years paid off for something. Works like magic, huh?"

Elaina chuckled. "Very funny. How long will it last?"

"As long as it takes until Vali finds out." I glanced back to the leader bot. "Enter Defense Mode. Target: Unconfigured Sentries!"

"Command Received...Command...Acknowledged. Defense Mode engaged."

The leader bot turned to the other Sentries and attacked them, throwing punches and kicks with its titanium limbs.

I backed into Elaina’s bed. “You wouldn’t happen to know a Spell to get us out of here instantly, do you? Like, Teleportation?”

She swallowed. “I…kinda haven’t had the time lately to learn a Spell like that.”

I glanced from her to the fighting Sentries, then at the window.

There was no other option.

I sprinted for the window, dodging a few stray punches and kicks from the robots, and slid it open. I adjusted my gloves and sleeves to make sure I wasn't revealing any skin.

I thought about the times people touched my hands or my face. There was always a jolt, a recoil in fear, and an expression of pain or annoyance.

I could only hope Elaina wouldn’t be repulsed by my powers.

If her magic was real, she’d have to prove it some other day.

But right now—

I rushed back to Elaina.

"I'm sorry in advance!"

"Huh?" she blinked multiple times, clutching her Spellbook. "W-W-What are you—Aah!?"

I wrapped her in her hospital blanket and grabbed her in a princess-carry.

"Warning," one of the three other Sentries suddenly blurted out. "Unauthorized reconfiguration detected. Alerting Headquarters. Warning..."

The leader bot threw one of its subordinates back out the door, as the other two attempted to restrain it. They brawled again, crashing into Elaina's bed as I stepped back, still holding her in my arms.

My legs wobbled as I backed towards the window. I glanced outside—a five-story drop.

I set Elaina down and squatted to carry her piggyback style.

"Come on," I told her. "We gotta go!"

"Oh, no...No, no, no!" Elaina shook her head. "No way you're thinking of—…Wait, I-I thought you can’t touch—“

“I know what I said! Just—“

The leader bot tore apart one of its subordinates, as another jumped on top of it. But the third Sentry noticed us from outside the room and started to walk in our direction.

I gritted my teeth. "Ela! It's now or never!"

"W-W-Wait!" Elaina flipped through her Spellbook frantically, "I-I'm sure there's a spell that I can—"

I backed up, grabbed her from behind me, and held her legs at my sides, still mostly covered in the blanket. "Hold on tight, idiot!"

"E-Eh?!"

I raised one foot to lean on the windowsill, and launched us out the window with an arcing trajectory.

Elaina wrapped her arms around my chest and clutched at my jacket. "E-E-EEEEEHH!!??? AAAAAAAHH!!!"

I glanced around at the rooftops below as we soared through the air.

"Where's your house?" I raised my voice as the wind blew against my ears. "Where do you live??"

"AAAAAAAHH!!"

"Ela!"

"H-H-Huh? W-W-What?!"

"Your house! Where??"

"I...I live...on S-Spruce Street! B-Brown roof, slanted!"

"Spruce? Ok then...!"

I held onto Elaina as we descended through the air, and I was thankful the city traffic down grew lesser and lesser as we moved further away from the hospital. I knew there was probably another scolding in my future with Lieutenant Vali, but finding out the identity of my would-be killer was more important.

I still had more questions for Elaina, and I wasn't willing to let Vali or the Police Force abandon my cases again like before.

This was me taking matters into my own hands.

Uh, quite literally.

"Did you think this through?!!" Elaina yelled as the wind kept blowing in my ears and face.

"Not really!" I answered.

"Great!" she said. "Do you even know how to land?!"

"Not a clue, but...I've got an idea!" We descended quickly onto the sidewalk in front of a colonial-style house. "Keep yourself off the ground as best you can! I'm gonna try something!"

"What?"

"Just don't touch the ground before me and hold on tight! Understand??"

"O-Ok!"

She wrapped her legs around my waist and, when I was sure she wouldn't fall off me, I let go of her and kept one hand pointed at the ground, and another pointed up at the sky.

I tucked my legs as much as I could to prevent them from touching the ground first.

I shut my eyes just as we were about to land on the sidewalk. There was a pause as my gloved left hand touched down first, and, in one sensation, I felt the momentum of what should have been our violent crash—and most likely our deaths—jolt through my entire body, up along my right arm, and blasted from my right hand. My right glove burst as the momentum's violent trajectory shot out and into the sky.

When it fully dispersed, Elaina and I tilted onto the sidewalk, unscathed.

But my arms and chest shook for a few minutes. I managed to raise my head to notice a street sign that read: "Spruce Street".

I exhaled and slowly pushed myself off the sidewalk, resting on my knees.

Elaina also got to her knees and felt her face, neck, and arms. "We...We made it! We're alive! Hey, Jace, you did it! We're—" She turned to me, opened her arms, and tried to hug me, but I instinctively leaned away from her.

I stared at her in silence for a few seconds, until—

"S-...Sorry," I mumbled, as I felt the last of the shaking leave me. "I...I can't..."

Elaina relaxed her shoulders. "Oh, s-sorry...Are you all right, though? That was some idea you had."

"Um, truth is, I...I'm actually kind of...thirsty."

Elaina stood up. "Well, come on in, then! Can't have you lying out here!"

This situation...

I had to be careful.

"All right," I said as I followed her to the front door. "If you'll excuse me..."

What probably shocked me the most about Elaina's house was how modern its external appearance was, but as soon as you stepped inside, it was like stepping into a completely different world.

Actually, strike that—it was like you were taking a step back in time.

A time when magic was the norm.

Or perhaps this was just Elaina's preferred style of interior design?

As soon as I passed through the front doorframe, I walked onto a smooth, mahogany floor that creaked a bit with every step I took. A sweet scent of strawberry and lavender made me feel at ease.

"Um..." Elaina began, "I know it may not be your style, but uh...feel free to make yourself at home. Tea? Water?"

"Uh, sure. Water's fine, thank you," I nodded.

Elaina disappeared through a wooden doorway.

I took one step at a time; my eyes wandered everywhere.

Along the living room wall to my left was a series of picture frames showing a younger kid Elaina with an elderly woman—her grandmother? Her parents were nowhere in sight, except for one photo that was off to the side and not displayed in a prominent way. Her parents smiled as her mother held Elaina as an infant.

On the opposite wall was a series of bookshelves with a large number of books, scrolls, and parchment on each tier. There was a grandfather clock that ticked silently next to the wooden stairs. The sofas were ornately designed and felt too regal for me to sit on. I felt as though this furniture belonged to royalty, and I felt unworthy to sit on their decorative cushions. The coffee table in the middle of the three sofas had an oval shape with legs that curved inward.

My eyes found a large painting depicting two figures—a young man and woman—outfitted in black and gold attire. The man had long, spiky hair, dark skin, and wore a dark gray tunic, a wesekh-like chest armor, a golden belt, and leg armor up to his knees. The woman had short hair that stopped just above her shoulders, a golden crown that seemed to levitate above her head, a lighter skin tone to the man's, and a black mantle with gold runes that covered her upper arms and chest. In the young woman's hand was a black staff with golden rods on its ends—each of them glowing with a yellow and orange aura. The same aura was around the man's fists.

Elaina returned a second later. "Here you are."

"Thanks, Ela."

She sighed as I took a sip. "You know, that was really reckless what you did back there."

I nodded. "Yeah..."

"And you know you could've gotten us killed? Well, you probably would've been left without a scratch. But I could've gotten killed!"

"Yeah..."

"But...it was really cool what you did," she smiled. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Jace. I mean it."

"I figured it was better to ask you some more questions myself than let Vali and the Police Force get in the way of that."

"Well then, I'd be happy to answer more of your questions whenever you want."

I glanced at the grandfather clock. "Maybe over breakfast tomorrow? Ever hear of Old Canal?"

Elaina's eyes lit up. "The breakfast diner?! I love that place! My Obaa-chan and I used to go there all the time! Sure, breakfast tomorrow. You and me!"

Not only that, but it was certainly “out-of-the-way” enough from any busy streets where the cops and Sentries might find us.

I nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

We kept silent for a few seconds more, when—

"Um—" we both said together.

"Ah, go ahead," I insisted.

"...You’re welcome to stay the night, if you want. Least I could do. I can get a room ready."

I took another sip of water, thinking about the long walk I'd have to do if I declined and left now. As much as I did not want to impose on her, the circumstances pushed me to accept this offer. Plus, staying the night would lessen the likelihood either of us would be woken up by a surprise raid by the Sentries. Knowing Vali, he’d definitely visit my new apartment to throw more questions at me.

“I…appreciate that. Sure," I said, handing her back the now-empty glass. "I...I can settle for the living room just fine."

Elaina sighed. “Well, at least let me bring you a pillow and blanket!"