02.10 - Reconstruction

     More than a full day had gone by since Espy had gone missing and Jasper had gone beyond climbing the walls. Janus wasn’t answering his phone and Rika had locked her door after his tenth visit. She’d made connections she said, and that was it. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but watch the vids and hope for news. The news he got wasn’t what he wanted. It seemed the world had really started to unravel, and the people were finally noticing. It started with a news blackout in Overden. No news being news of its own, the bots made continual reports of Enforcers gathering, cordoning off every transit path into the district.
     Jasper couldn’t help but wonder if maybe they’d found Espy … he didn’t think they’d send an army to get her but… The story broke two hours afterward; leaving Jasper wondering but not so worried. He could recognize a war zone even if the common man could not. There was no way Espy could have caused that kind of damage.
     When the comm. unit rang he was all over it. Janus on the other end got an earful in the repeat style of his previous call, and when the raconid settled down their conversation started in earnest.
     “No, Rika still hasn’t found her. Not a word. I’m scared Shrike. What if…”
     “You’re worried over the wrong thing my friend. Don’t give up hope. The Feds were all out for her, and with that newscast, she’s gone to ground is all.”
     “You don’t think she really…”
     “No I don’t. Not at all. She was friends with that old man, and she doesn’t turn on a friend like that. Whatever the Feds are up to, you know she didn’t have that kind of part in it. You know them better than I do Jasp, that Lir stuff is just a crock to keep the public scared. Espy may be sharp, but she’s no Lir.”
     Jasper paused, noncommittal, but picked up the thread a moment after. “I’m not so sure Shrike. There’s more about the Lir than we thought.”
     “What do you mean?”
     “Let me tell you about Bartholomew Renslip.”

~

     “The One versus The Betrayer?” Janus was quiet as he mulled over everything that Jasper had shared concerning his meeting with the old man. And when the raconid asked the blueskin what he thought of it, there came an explosive exhale. “Bullshit.”
     Jasper nodded and kicked back in the cushions in the living room. “Yeah, I’ve thought that too. Bart had his story pretty well pat though. And don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence that O’Sama took a hit just now?”
     Janus replied without pause, “Coincidence sure. Your old relic didn’t get snuffed yet, and they had to know where he was hiding.”
     “But he told me not to come back.”
     “Do you believe him Jasp?”
     “All I know is some very strange things are happening; you really ought to pay attention to the news.”  As if to emphasize that statement the news bot on the vid screen made an update on the Overden story. Jasper turned up the volume to catch the it.
     “…to continue our ongoing coverage of recent events in the Overden district, Enforcer Services has released the following: At approximately two P.M. local dissidents in conjunction with previously identified Lir insurgents took part in an altercation with local Enforcer units, resulting in the destruction of Enforcer facilities and the loss of those troopers. Emboldened by their success, the Lir led forces turned their attentions to the lives and property of Overden citizens, destroying many private lots in the process. At this time no proper fatality counts have been released, though tentative civil reports have estimated the death toll in the hundreds.
     Enforcer Services were quickly mobilized to respond to the insurgency, which was reported contained at four P.M.  Greenshadows commander Nathan Lesicue has asked for a full investigation into the issue, promising that ‘Enforcer Command will get to the bottom of the agency failure to protect the citizenry that relied upon them.’ Commander Lukas Carlson has also vowed to complete the investigation, castigating his own Overden units for their failure to properly respond to the initial attack.
     Overden remains in military lockdown tonight, due to structural damage and populace unrest. We will share more updates as we receive them.”
     “Did you catch that Shrike?”
     “How could I miss it with your vid-set blaring in my ear?”
     “Oh, sorry. You don’t think Espy…”
     “No I don’t! Calm down. ‘Hundreds dead’ isn’t like her at all. Look, I got an incoming call. You keep your head down.”
     “All right.” Jasper cut the connection with a sigh, staring at the vid screen without paying attention. He was tired of sitting, tired of waiting, and tired of the talking heads. “Screw this!” Sitting still got him nowhere in the shelter and it was getting him nowhere now. He went to the bedroom and dressed for battle. His black synthetic biker leathers were comfortable friends now, more protective than the Enforcer uniforms had ever been.
     He left the apartment without a helmet; anything that interfered with his wire line was usually left behind. He jumped on his cycle and it came to throbbing life; a moment later he was rolling, leaning into the bike’s padding and watching the exit ramp slide by.
     “Where do you think you are going Jasper?”
     He smiled at the electric buzz in his ears.  “Rika. Have you found anything yet?”
     “No Jasper I do not have any more information yet. Where are you going Jasper? You promised Jasper that you would stay out of sight.”
     He kicked the cycle into a higher gear, pushing the machine toward the goal of his suddenly realized plan. “No Rika, I didn’t promise anything. That mess in Overden’s got all the patrols in a huff. They won’t be looking for me at all.”
     “Jasper if you go to Espy’s last location you will not be able to stay unnoticed.”
     The flat voice of the hacker was insistent but he didn’t care. Rolling to the exit ramps that would take him to the Overboroughs road, he replied with a smirk to Rika. It felt good. “I should have done this last night Rik. She got trapped in Stackton right? You keep searching your way. I’m going to start looking mine.”
     “Jasper please. You cannot get yourself caught because I need you.” That made him pause, the wheels of the combat bike spinning underneath carrying him to the bypass road, up onto the straight shot route that Espy had fled. If only she could talk outside the wire, he could know… But there was need, and there was need.
     “Espy needs me more Rik. Janus will be along soon to move us out of there. You just wait for him.”
     “Jasper Janus cannot do the things that you do. Janus does not know me like you do. I need you to remind me Jasper.”
     Again it took him a moment to answer. “Can you keep me away from Enforcer checkpoints Rika?”
     “I can keep you from checkpoints if I can find checkpoints before you reach them Jasper.”
     “Then you’d better start scanning, because I’m going out there.”
     “What about my search for Espy Jasper?”
     “Multitask damn it! And if someone calls patch them through to me.”

~

     Janus C. Shrither got the call he was waiting for as soon as he was off the comm. with the raconid. He had been working with Clyde, putting the team’s rigs in order, doing tune-ups and other required things. The some-time acquaintance on the other end of the line was an old soldier gone mercenary. And in this age, that meant a corp sponsored Enforcer, or a man outside the law. There had been a time the heavily modded man known as Ripcord had been a legal player. Now though…
     “Shrike! How’s it going? How’s Thera?”
     Janus laughed at the easy camaraderie in his voice. “It’s all right on this end my friend. Thera’s fine, lovely as ever. You sound like I ought to be smiling.”
     “You bet you should my friend. You remember Adus Gray?”
     “That punk? How could I forget him? He charged me a year’s wages to put Clyde back together after our last bad dust up. What’s going on with intern Gray?”
     “For one thing, he’s Doctor Gray now my friend. He’s also elbow deep in lizard blood.”
     Janus nearly dropped the comm. unit in his haste to switch hands. “What?! You’ve found her? Don’t tell me she’s out of commission…”
     “I won’t tell you that. Gray couldn’t tell me much. He said he was pretty far into a special case, but he did mention he had your lizard girl.”
     “Was she okay? Did he say she was hurt?”
     “He didn’t mention it Shrike. Let me send your hacker Gray’s new address. He’s moved a few levels down since your last chop stop.”
     “No Rip, why don’t you send that on to the folks wanting to find her. Teammates you know. You’ll want to get the attention of Rika Blackpatch. That’s Espy’s hacker…”
     “Rika Blackpatch? Okay… wait a sec…” Silence ticked over the connection until Ripcord came back to the line. “All right Shrike. You’re keeping some sharp company these days. Slyph says he knows where to find this chick. You need anything else?”
     “Not unless you know anything about the Portal System.”
     “Portals? That’s some pretty heavy shit man. Still chasing the old dreams?”
     “You can say that. Thought I had something the other day, but…” The unspoken shrug went across the line clearly.
     “Nope, not a thing my friend. You know anything about that business in Overden?”
     “Can’t say that I do… Why?”
     “Well, it’s kind of close to home. We’re looking into it.”
     “I see. Well, thanks for the info. Let me know if you find out anything.”
     “Yep, you can be sure of it. We’ll get word out to your friends, don’t you worry.”
     “I won’t. Keep up the good work Rip. Yeah, I’ll say hello to Clyde for you. Goodbye.” He hung his receiver back in its cradle with a frown. Despite his words to the contrary, he worried.
     Clyde looked over from his position under the rig. “You okay Boss? Everything all right with Chrome Dome?”
     Janus’ laughter was hollow. “Yeah Clyde. Rip’s fine. They got Espy’s location. Jasper’s going to be happy. … Hey Clyde?”
     “Yeah Boss?”
     “Do you believe in the Lir?”
     The troll gave him a funny look, scratched his face with a greasy hand and shrugged. “Dunno Boss. Why?”
     Janus could only grin. Ask the simple-minded, get a simple answer? Hardly, he thought. “I don’t know Clyde. I really thought that portal was going to do something.”
     Clyde nodded. “Ian says it did.”
     “Yeah. And that’s what makes me worried. That big mess in Overden; newsbots say a lot of people died in there. Feds say a bunch of Lir did it.”
     The troll was absently picking his teeth with a screwdriver. He paused to reaffirm his leader’s suspicions. “Feds lie a lot Boss. Dey always make me wanna believe da other way.”
     Janus could only sigh. “Me too Clyde. Me too.”