Cauldron Part 2

I couldn't sleep last night. I kept worrying about a supervillain coming back to attack me again. (Citation)

Holly said, "Summer, I'm so sorry! If I'd known, I could have come stay with you last night!"

With Holly up there, I felt safer than I felt in my room. We were behind blinds, so we couldn't be seen. I think I dozed while Holly was on watch that morning. Anyway, I felt better.

Holly brought me up to date. They'd identified that nun who was talking with Satanic Mayor Anvernacht yesterday. Her name was Eve St. Marie Lateran. Her brother, Philippe St. Joseph Lateran, was one of those Catholic secret conspiracy people. He'd disappeared fighting vampires. USIB thought, Eve might be making a deal with the devil to get him back.

Meanwhile in the news, the Governor of Tennessee announced he was declaring emergency powers, in cooperation with the Tea Party which had run on a National Emergency platform. The same announcement from Alaska barely beat him onto the news. But Tennessee was a lot more likely to have rioters, especially right here in Nashville.

I relieved Holly on watch, paid attention to the nunnery, and let the equipment watch everything else. Things were already getting interesting: there was a protest march organizing downtown, and some black kids were climbing the fence into the gated community next to the hotel. I called police on them, but I stayed put.

Holly came back up and said, they were closing the hotel for the emergency! Well, good. We'd get to stay; they weren't going to throw government agents out. And there'd be fewer people in danger around us.

Then I saw a limo pulling up to the nunnery. Nobody got out, but someone in a monk robe plus a black hood got in. Nun in disguise, I'd say. And probably following up on a deal with the devil. This one, we had to pay attention to.

Holly said she'd take this one. So she went down the side of the building, and ran after the car when it left the nunnery. It went west and then south, toward the slum part of town. But it didn't go far.

"Summer. The car's unloaded into a place that looks like a sports pub made out of brick. But it's closed. No cars in the parking lot."

"Holly. Find a place to hide, then stay and watch the door."

"Uh, there's no 'hide' around here unless I break in a house."

"Then stick a camera somewhere and come on back."

"Okay." I saw the camera come online. But then... "Uh, Summer, the streets are getting crowded. And people are looking at me funny."

Uh oh, looked like the riots might be starting. Something must have happened downtown. "Can you get away from them?"

"Yes, but I'll have to cut through people's yards."

"Do it!" I saw Holly jump up on a house, then start jumping from roof to roof. That's how strong we are in these suits.

"Summer, they're really starting to look at me funny." I saw a crowd getting between her and me.

"Cut through the nunnery!" Holly jumped its fence, ran through the yard, and made it to the street just outside the hotel. She ran for the front door...

"Summer, the hotel door's locked!"

"Didn't they give you a key before they locked it?"

"They said they'd leave it in the room!"

"Come to the side! I'll put your line down!" Holly started climbing the line - kind of slow. So I said, "Just hold on!" I braced myself and started pulling.

Holly popped up and said, "Yeah, I helped. Leg muscles win over arm muscles every time."

With a minute to breathe, I took a look at the newest camera monitor. It showed us a non-descript car unloading Bruce Li into the building.

Then another car drove up. John Wayne stepped out.

Then another car drove up. Lassie jumped out.

Holly said, "I think our camera might be hacked." I dived to shut off the feed before they could trace it back. Some cartoon character in a short skirt was stepping out of the next car. But it had been on for five minutes. Yeah, it was probably too late.

The people in that strange sports pub probably knew we were here. But what the hell, the whole neighborhood knew that now. We were pretty well stuck inside the hotel until people lost interest.

Then there was a big flash and a bang! I thought, maybe that's what those "flashbang" grenades USIB didn't give us do.

After our helmet optics cleared, I saw a white guy on our roof! We didn't see him appear. I was pretty sure he wasn't hotel staff, because he was dressed in Army fatigues with a big backpack, and he was kicking over our monitors. He must have brought his own grenade.

I said, "Stop that! Sir, you're interfering in a government operation. You're under arrest." And Holly moved between him and the door off the roof.

"Nope." And he kicked another monitor over.

"Fine. I can kick too." But he dodged! He didn't seem all that strong or fast, at least compared to me and Holly, but he knew how to fight. But at least he wasn't a supervillain come to beat me up.

Then the whole building shook! I said, "What are you doing?"

"Lady, that wasn't me. Why don't you go look."

Holly was looking. "Summer, they're breaking in the hotel - and someone's climbing the front wall!"

"Winter, what's making it shake?" It was probably time to not use Holly's real name, even if she used mine.

"Uh, the climber's really big."

"Ladies, you're on your own. I'll come clean up later." The soldier man ran for the rear wall - and dived off!

I ran to look. No one was down there where he should have landed! Other than a parasail in the distance, there was nothing out there.

Hey, wait... Parasails in Nashville? My helmet optics zoomed in. That was him - way farther out than he could have dived!

The building shook again. "Uh, Winter 1 to Winter 2, the climber's on the sixth floor now." We were on the roof of the twelfth.

"Winter, you can call me Summer still. But people are still probably listening." And the building shook again. Maybe it was time to not worry about names.

I looked over the front wall. The climber was a plump black teenage girl - about four stories tall. Whenever she swayed, so did the hotel.

"Winter! Get the grenades!" USIB had given us some crowd control weapons. Not much good against a lone soldier, but now they might help.

I dropped a smoke grenade over the wall at the 40-foot girl. She coughed - and grew to six stories tall!

Then something whipped by my face. I jumped back. That something was a girder! The wall I'd been standing by was missing - yanked out by the 60-foot girl! I didn't want to think about what she must weigh.

"Winter! We're out of here! Off the back wall! Press all the self-destruct buttons - then leave it!"

"Isn't that what the soldier guy wanted?"

"He was just busting our monitors! He probably wanted our data! Holly, just do it!"

I got to one computer and pressed "Upload". Whatever happened to us, USIB would at least have our transcripts, at least as well as our "Brain2Web" helmet implants can make it.

USIB Agent Summer Morgan, signing off for now.