Bug - 3

Once they were inside the district, Liberty could relax a little. Several massively famous criminals presumably were hiding there. It was a good thing. Since nobody was able to get to these guys, probably, finding her here wouldn’t be easy either.

She already got blisters on her feet due to wearing larger footwear. Liberty could not imagine how Pier felt, wearing smaller shoes. They could probably switch back, she decided; after all, they successfully reached the bug quarter. Pier was safe to release a video. And since the video of the pair leaving her apartment complex would eventually become available to people looking for them, it would make sense to change outfits.

Liberty noticed an alley that looked almost empty and pushed Pier to turn there.

“Let’s change back,” she said, already bending down to start taking off shoes,” and rearrange your outfit. We should probably, barter this jacket for something. Also, post that clip of me soon.”

Liberty covered her head with her jacket as well as she could and swiftly changed her tribal mask to the fox mask. If walking without the mask could be compared to public nudity, changing masks in the open was something akin to public sex. Change of role was both a sacred and secret process.

Now, Liberty was a different person, an important person. A person who she should not belittle by her actions. Keeping Pier near her while he was in an obviously compromised mask was not an option.

She took the right shoe off and, standing on one leg, looked at Pier, aiming to exchange the right shoes first, then the left. Pier didn’t take his shoe off yet. And he didn’t even start to; he was standing very still. Liberty couldn’t see his expression behind the mask, but his gaze was fixed on something behind her back.

Slowly, she turned around.

A man was pointing a gun at her head. The man stood no more than five steps away. He had a featureless mask like schreenheads did, but it was some made of some solid material, not a screen. On his forehead, he had a small plus symbol. Even if Liberty didn’t know the notations, this one was easy to guess. A medic. She checked instantly, and, indeed, this type of mask belonged to a small group of bug quarter’s verified medical professionals. A total of five to ten such masks existed. There was a link on a page describing physical abuse by people wearing these masks, but no warnings about them being dangerous or breaking the district rules. If the mask was not stolen, he should not shoot without a good reason, Liberty concluded.
She did not think there was a reward for killing her. Therefore if the mask had been stolen, the man would likely try to convince her to cooperate. His gun was a laser pistol, not something that could paralyze or otherwise disable her without doing much harm. A headshot would be lethal.

“What about that hypocritical oath?” Liberty asked.

“The Hippocratic Oath,” Pier corrected with a small voice.

The man chuckled. Then there was silence.

“We might be happy to help you, but you should say what you want,” Liberty tried to probe him a little more aggressively, “just pointing a gun at people does not work!”

Unless you want to delay us, she thought.

“Unless..,” Pier started to say but ended the phrase abruptly.

Revealing your thought process before a potential enemy. Sweet. But she forced herself to stand still without giving Pier any kind of disapproving look.

There was a silence again. Nobody moved.

“Let’s just ignore him,” Liberty turned to Pier, despite unwilling still picturing the gun in her mind,” I don’t think he has anything meaningful to say or do.”

Even though he was wearing the mask, Liberty could see Pier’s eyes widen. For a second, she thought it was a reaction to the man’s actions, and she was to die there. She held her breath uncontrollably.

But, apparently, Pier was just surprised by what she did.

She put Pier’s shoe on the ground and placed her right foot on top of it without putting the shoe on. Only by shifting her weight so that both legs were used was Liberty able to feel how tired she was from standing on one leg. She gestured towards shoes. Slowly, Pier started to take off the right shoe, still eyeing the man.

“Two kids, in each other’s shoes,” the man finally spoke,” I approached you to verify that you are not here to cause trouble. Some do it, you know. Thinking that the place of anonymity means a place where you could cause harm with impunity.”

Liberty refused to face him, still watching Pier. Calling her a kid. This geezer would have to try harder than that to get any reaction from her.
“How surprised I was when I saw you. So different from the time we last met. Even though you are among those known for not changing like that.”

Oh, so that is what this was about. It was not a full five minutes of having this face on, and Liberty had already caused trouble for the one who entrusted her with it. She should have bought another mask; she knew it and still...
Liberty exhaled slowly. She was not being effective; she was just whining to herself. Apparently, it was becoming a habit lately.

“What do you want,” Liberty asked without looking at the man.

“Tell me your name, girl.”

“Anna,” Liberty said quietly, still not turning around.

There was a movement behind her. She forced herself to stay still, knowing that she could not win against a person with a pistol.

The man put a hand on her shoulder.

“Correct.”

Liberty could hear how Pier exhaled.

“I assume I could not resume our conversation from the point where we stopped the last time?” the man asked.

Liberty shook her head.

“Then let me briefly summarize. I am on your side, Anna. I was worried that something bad had happened to you,” the man squeezed her shoulder, “but if it is not the case, I will be happy to help you.”

And if it the case, I have a pistol, Liberty finished his phrase in her head.

Fortunately, he seemed to be interested in verifying that she had Anna’s permission to use the mask. And that was one of the very few things that Liberty did have.

“Are you opposed to leading us to my place?” Liberty asked and then realized that she used “us” instead of “me.”

She sighed but did not correct herself. Leaving Pier here would be easier in some regards, but he might prove valuable to Anna somehow. And he could back her story up. People of bug quarter accepted unconventional ways of looking at identities, but it did not mean they favored terrorists and kidnappers in hiding.

The man nodded at her question.

“And we should not be seen much,” Liberty added, “preferably not seen at all.”

The man turned his head a fraction and nodded again. With his mask not even revealing his eyes, it was difficult to guess his emotions.

“Give us a minute to get ready, then,” she said.

It was nice to have shoes that fitted, but the blisters were still there. Liberty changed the order of the multiple jackets she wore in layers. Pier was also wearing a different jacket; he also wore her tribal fighting mask.

“The boy does not look strong,” the man commented, “this mask is asking to be challenged to a fight.”

So the challenges were the thing.

“We’ll find him something later,” Liberty said,” and we should not be seen much anyway, right?”

She could not read the man’s expression. His face was literally blank.

“How should I call you? You are Old-Med, I see, but do you wish me to address you in a personal way?”

“Freeman.”

Despite being a really fitting name for multiple groups in the district, there was no one named that. It seemed to be his personal name. A surname, perhaps?

“We are ready to go, Freeman. Lead the way.”

They really weren’t seen much. Even before they left the alley, Freeman entered a combination of numbers and opened the door to the building. They entered some sort of storage space. There was a door to a vast ventilation shaft going through most of the building, and in a shaft, there was a ladder. They went several levels up and exited the shaft to appear in an empty office. Then they proceeded to an office parking.

He must have a detailed map in his lens, Liberty decided. She wanted one too.

They exited parking, and they walked a tiny corridor with lots of doors on both sides. There was an apparent smell of something burning. Freeman chose one door, and they entered it.Inside the room, there was a metal construction, on top of which a bonfire was lit. Two or three dozens of people, unmasked, were sitting around it. Liberty was the last to enter, so she bumped into Pier, who made a couple of steps back upon seeing them. Liberty used this opportunity to hide her face.

“Illegals,” Freeman muttered.

People in the room noticed their entrance. Several men came forward to face them, while one woman moved two small children to the other end of the room.

“Welcome here, dear guests,” the central man of the group spoke,” did you bring presents for us?”

Judging from an angle of holding face, Freeman eyed each of the men closing on them. For an extended period of time, Freeman’s face was turned to the man with something weird on top of his head, between a twin tails hairdo and horns that some oni wore. The strange man’s hairstyle, though, seemed to be twitching a little. Liberty found it unnerving.

“No,” Freeman turned to the central man,” but let us pass quietly, and we will not be causing problems for two weeks.”

“Not good enough,” the twitching hairstyle man half spoke, half shrieked, throwing himself towards Freeman.

Freeman shot him in the head.

Among other things, It surprised Liberty how noiseless the laser was. There was a bright flash, but there was no blast. The following sounds were the dull sound of a body hitting the floor, cries of some people in the room, and footsteps of everyone clearing out of their way.

“Close your eyes and loudly count to a hundred,” Freeman said.

They obeyed.

“You will not be seen much,” Freeman half turned to them, “you could come now.”

They passed through the area before the illegals finished counting to ninety.