The Trial of the Ghost

Chapter 16: Find Your Allies...

The moment she got home, Kra, once again as the Ghost, woke Los and pushed him into Corla’s room as he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Los grumbled sleepily.

“I know who runs GodRAM Chips,” Kra announced, watching all dreariness fade from Los instantly.

“What?” Corla asked. “How?”

“A source. One that can be trusted but I would prefer not to name.”

Corla narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but she trusted her friend. “Okay? So, who is it? Who runs it?”

“Pakeldan Thuelar.”

“Fuck,” Corla and Allelosin said simultaneously.

“I hate my life,” Corla declared.

“I know,” Kra replied as she and Los took seats. “We need a plan to expose him. My source cannot go on record, so we need something else.”

“I can talk to Rox,” Los volunteered. “He might be willing to go on record.”

“It doesn’t work if he doesn’t already know what we need him to go on record about,” Corla reminded. “Which he doesn’t.”

“But if we could guide him to find it?”

“Like what?” Corla scoffed. “Have him hack into his dad’s accounts and read about it?”

“You could definitely help him with that,” Kra piped in, earning her a glare.

“I could, but Thuelar Incorporated’s entirely on a closed system. Their satellites and servers are private. I can’t get to them without a vulnerable access point, but their business is all done on well encrypted computers. If you got me one of them, maybe I could get onto their satellites and then work through that onto a more information heavy computer, but good fucking luck doing that. Especially since Thuelar’s computer’s protection is likely not something I can crack.”

“Could you make a virus to upload to his computer?” Los suggested.

Corla sighed. “Maybe. So much could go wrong, but I need at least a week to do this. At least.”

“Good enough,” Kra declared. “Get started with that when you can, alright Ms. Anvislu?”

“Alright,” Corla said. “Can you both leave then? I have a lot of work to do.”

Los glanced between her and the Ghost before standing and leaving. For whatever reason, he got the feeling the Ghost wasn’t leaving any time soon. He walked to his door and shut it, before creeping back to outside Corla’s door and pressing his ear against it.

“So,” Corla murmured. “Who’s the source?”

“Crow,” the Ghost murmured back.

“Well,” Corla mused, “she definitely can’t go on record.”

Los had heard enough. He snuck back to his own room. Corla was right. Crow could not be interviewed for an article. Or testify for the police or a court. That would likely be a disaster.

“Feyd?” Cebrua called from her bed.

They stopped rummaging through her closet and approached. “Yes, Ms. Cebrua?”

“I need to talk to Snake. Now.”

They blinked, confused. “About Chaos?”

Cebrua sighed. She wasn’t getting out of this without explaining. She hadn’t been able to keep Elyksan secret for a month before Feyd found out. “Yes. Can you please drop this off at our usual spot?” She handed over a sealed letter. “I’d go myself, but….” She gestured to the raw skin over where the bullets had once been.

“Of course, ma’am.” They took the letter. “May I ask what this is about?”

“If Snake has contacts in Thoghal’s underworld I don’t and if they can use them to find out what Chaos is up to, it’ll be a quieter investigation and we might actually get the jump on Chaos this time.”

Feyd raised an eyebrow. They didn’t believe this was it for a second. “And?”

“And if they can quietly watch Richie Row, then we can have up to date information about Chaos.”

“And they can make sure Jay doesn’t go back.”

Cebrua looked down at her lap. “That too.”

“You need to talk to Jay by the end of the week. You need to explain. She deserves that. I won’t deliver this without your promise.”

“Alright, Feyd. I’ll talk to her. I promise.”

They nodded. “Then I’d better get going. Rest, please, ma’am.”

Cebrua chuckled. “I will. See you later, Feyd.”

Feyd left, reckoning they had precisely one hour before Cebrua got bored and suited up again. That girl had no sense of self preservation. They thanked Astrakael that she now knew Kra. That girl was an Asasej sent blessing.

When Zaday came around again, they filled in Rox and Zrayt. Rox fidgeted with his shirt cuffs. He finally said, “This sounds dangerous.”

“We can’t pretend it’s not,” Allelosin said smoothly. Kra flinched, but he refused to lie or downplay the situation. This is why they all hated you, he thought, but barreled on. “We’re going up against your father. He is not someone to be trifled with. Especially now. He’s planning something, which means he’s on guard.”

“But Rox,” Kra said, gentle in ways Los doubted he ever could be, “this is your choice. If you don’t want to do this, then you don’t do it and we’ll find another way.”

“This could be what we’ve been looking for though,” Los jumped in. “This could be how we bring down your father. Rox, we’ve been working towards this for years-”

“I know!” Rox snapped. “Goddesses, Alle, I know.” Kra glanced at Los, but he subtly shook his head. Not now, he tried to convey. “If I said no, what would be the next steps?”

“Um….” Los cleared his head. He and Kra had talked about this already, reporter to reporter. “Probably try to contact some of the workers in the factories, see if we can get them to talk to us on record and if we can make a case with what they know.”

“Which takes a lot of time,” Rox surmised. “Time we likely don’t have to stop him.”

“We likely would be getting the information too late to warn the public,” Kra agreed. “It’s a risk if we go that route, but it’s better to take it if you aren’t committed completely.” She reached across the table and squeezed Rox’s hand. “We’re not going to force you into something you don’t want, Rox. This is entirely your choice and now one will think worse of you if you don’t want to.”

She let go of his hand and Rox’s gaze softened. “I’ll do it, you know I will.” He glanced at Los. “I want my father exposed as much as anyone. It’s just….” He gestured vaguely into the air. “A lot. What is even his goal?”

“Well, what have you heard around TI?” Los asked.

“We’re talking about the ECPD’s weapons contract in the PR department,” Zrayt confessed thoughtfully. “Its renewal is coming up and we’re in the running. Actually,” Her brow furrowed, “we’re all talking about how to respond to the press when we get it. We haven’t been preparing for if we’re denied.”

“Wait,” Rox said, snapping his fingers. “What was the timeline of the factory again? The secret one on GodRAM Chips?”

“It started forming about ten years ago,” Corla informed him.

Kra gasped, putting together what he was thinking.

Rox nodded, saying, “The police’s weapons contract is renewed every ten years.”

Los whistled. “That son of a bitch.”

Corla looked between the three of them. “Care to share?”

“TI was denied the city’s weapon contract ten years ago,” Kra said slowly. “So? He’s engineering a scenario where the current company isn’t adequate and only his is. He’s now the best choice for the lucrative ten year arms contract.” Cebrua was right, Kra thought. Of course she was. “It’s about profit.”

“I stand by my earlier statement. That son of a bitch. It’s endangering millions of lives, potentially destabilizing the city for fucking money.”

“Dad loves money,” Zrayt added grumpily.

“I hate my life,” Corla muttered.

“Not helpful,” Los informed them both.

“He can’t get away with this,” Kra declared.

“We’ll find a way to stop him,” Rox assured her.

Rox reached for Kra’s hand, but Los put one on her shoulder. She turned to Allelosin and nodded. He nodded back before removing his hand and giving her a small smile. Her returning one was wide.

Neither noticed Rox’s icy expression, watching the exchange. At the head of the table, Corla did as well. What was she even seeing? Wasn’t Rox in a relationship? Why was he looking at Kra like she was cheating on him?

“So,” Los said, turning to the rest of them again, just missing Rox pasting a neutral expression on his face. “What are our next steps?”

“We can’t do anything until Corla is finished,” Zrayt mused. “When do you think you’ll be done?”

“She said she needed a week on Arday,” Los remembered. “So, six more days, right?”

“Um….” Corla said, her hands rummaging through her pockets. “So. Here’s the thing-”

“Corla,” Kra said suspiciously, “how much sleep have you gotten in the last three days?”

They examined Corla’s face. There were bags under her eyes. Her blinks were long. Her hair looked as if a bird had begun nesting in it.

“You said you’d go to sleep!” Kra complained. “You promised!”

“Okay,” Corla threw up her hands. “So, I might have lied. But you would do the same!”

“No, I wouldn’t. Corla, you need to sleep!”

“Bahh.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Sleep is for the weak.” She cocked her head, thinking. “We’ll need more coffee.”

“Ancients, Corla,” Kra swore. “You’re human, you need sleep.”

“But I did it!” Their hacker friend grinned like a maniac. “I got the virus ready in seventy-two hours! That’s my best record yet.”

“You are sleeping for the next twenty-four hours if I have to drug you to do it,” Kra muttered.

“I’ll help,” Los offered. He leveled Corla a glare. “You need sleep, Kra’s right.”

“But I did it.” She still had that stupid grin on her face. Los raised his eyebrows, however, was going to give up when Corla sighed and admitted, “Look, I know I’m obsessive, but it was eating at my brain. I couldn’t sleep.” She glanced to Kra. “I did try. I really did, but it was bugging me and this is more important than my health. So, please, don’t berate me. I know it wasn't my best choice, but I don’t regret it and nothing you say will change it.”

Only Kra knew how to read the look she gave her. Kra could practically hear Corla saying into her mind, You cannot judge me. You do the exact same thing, and I know, you don’t need to sleep the way I do. But when things get rough, you will neglect everything to solve the problem. You cannot judge me for doing the same. You don’t get to do that. You know we need this.

“Yeah, I know,” Kra told her. She tossed her friend a look she hoped Los wouldn’t be able to read. Los read it easily, read the ‘we’ll talk later’ as if she’d said it, but he knew this wasn’t a conversation for him. “So,” Kra continued, “what do you have and how does it work?”

Corla removed a flash drive from her pocket, handing it to Zrayt, who then passed it to Rox. “Just plug it into a computer and wait. It’ll work faster if you have it powered and are logged on, but it’ll still work if powered down or if you can’t log in.”

“How much faster?” Rox asked, examining the flash drive. Black. Small. Seemingly ordinary.

“Depending on the security, it could be the difference between taking five minutes and half an hour.” She shrugged. “Or an hour. If it takes more than an hour, the security is too good for me.”

“If it takes an hour, I’m dead,” Rox said deadpanned.

“Still, bring the drive back to me if you can, it’ll record information about security and I can try to improve it. If it’s safe to do a second try. Or maybe I’ll have enough information to try to hack the satellites and servers.” She sighed. “We’ll see.”

“Great.” Rox rolled his eyes. “This entire plan is full of maybes.”

“I did the best I could!” Corla snapped. “I didn’t have a lot of information to work with. Even working with my best sources.”

“Yeesh, I’m sorry,” Rox replied, his voice getting slightly shrill. “I know you worked hard. Thanks, Corla, I won’t fail.”

Corla nodded, and Kra interjected, “So, anything else plan related we need to discuss? Anyone?” They all shook their heads. “Great! What else has been happening in your lives?”

She’d been mostly talking to Rox and Zrayt, but Los cleared his throat. “Actually,” he said slowly, I do.” Kra motioned for him to continue, so he divulged, “I found a new place to live last week.”

“Ancients! That’s amazing,” Kra exclaimed. “Congrats, Los, Rox! Where is it?”

“Um… Rox hasn’t decided if he wants this place yet.”

“I’m just doing some extra research,” Rox clarified.

“Yeah, so nothing’s set,” Los went on, “but it’s in Mixing Village.”

“Awe, that’s near your mother! How lovely!”

“Yeah,” Los smiled softly, “that’s definitely one perk.”

“How many bedrooms? Bathrooms?” Kra asked rapid fire. “Does it have a dining room? How long until you need to make a choice? And why didn’t you tell me?”

“Astrakael, Kra, slow down. One bedroom, one office that could become a bedroom. One bathroom. No dining room. And we need to let them know by the thirtieth.”

Kra did the quick math. “Ten days, not bad. When do you move in if you sign the lease?”

“First of Dasdal-month.”

Corla whistled. “That’s fast.”

“Are you going to need our help?” Zrayt asked.

“No, I… I don’t think so,” Los said. “I don’t have much to move from here and Rox will hire someone to move in new furniture. Thanks for offering though.”

“You two will have to have us over,” Zrayt insisted. “We want to see it! Oh, goddesses! We can make it a real housewarming party! I’ll talk to Kwoy, she’ll have some ideas for food and games…? Do people do games at housewarming parties?”

“Not when there aren’t lawns,” Corla told her, giving her a ‘drop it’ look.

Zrayt instantly understood. There were games for apartments, but Corla hadn’t wanted to do it so she’d lied to Kra.

“Please, stop,” Los interjected. “Stop planning events at my currently fictional apartment.”

“You’re no fun,” Zraytena grumbled.

Over an hour later, Rox and Zrayt argued over some sports team in the living room while Corla stared in horror. Los, helping Kra clean dishes, had long zoned out. It was painful to listen to.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the apartment earlier?” Kra asked quietly enough that only he could hear her.

“I….” Los grabbed a freshly washed pot. “I didn’t want to.”

“That makes no sense, Los.”

“Look, I just… I know this is temporary, but I like being here, okay? You and Corla are awesome. It’s different living with Rox. He…” never asks about my day. Always assumes I want to do what he does. I would stay out late to avoid watching his movies. “It’s different.” Sometimes I wonder if he would still be in my life if I didn’t need something from him. “I thought…. I thought if I told you, it would be more real and I’d be leaving.”

Kra put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, you aren’t leaving yet. Rox hasn’t even agreed.”

He turned to her, eyes wide, only briefly wondering if she saw the panic constricting his heart because he could see that she saw. He knew her so well.

“But I am leaving,” Allelosin whispered. “Even if Rox doesn’t agree, I’m signing that lease. It’s… it’s affordable. It’ll stretch my budget, but I can’t intrude on you and Corla anymore. I know what I agreed with…” He glanced to the wall separating them and the living room, but the Thuelar twins hadn’t let up. “You know. But it’s been almost three months.”

“You are not an intrusion,” Kra assured him. “We do not see you like that.” She lowered her own voice further, “And it would be better if you stayed. At least until we beat Thuelar.”

“I won’t get another opportunity like this again,” Los said. “Affordable on a junior reporter’s salary, close to my mom. It could be months until I find something like this again and I know Corla’s patience is being eaten up, even if yours is not. Come on, sunflower, you cannot deny that.”

Kra snorted and started scrubbing a tray. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t. She loved Corla, but there were so many ways in which they were different. Her friend was having trouble remembering to watch her words around Los. It would only be a matter of time she slipped up and Corla would hate herself forever if she revealed Kra’s secret before Kra herself was ready.

“I guess not,” she finally managed to say. She shot him a grin. “I’ll miss you.”

He wrapped his hand around her shoulder and pulled her in for a quick one armed hug. “I will too, sunflower, but we still work together at work, so it’s not like we’ll never see each other.”

“You still have to come every Zaday, blazing-heart.”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”

The silence as they continued washing was comfortable until Kra made herself finally ask, “What was with that Alle stuff?”

Los flinched.

“You hate that name.”

“I do.”

“So-”

“Kra, I… my relationship with Rox isn’t like the one I have with you or Corla. Or even Zrayt. I…. You know how we’re working together to bring down his father?” She nodded. “Well, when we agreed, we started talking as friends and he just started saying it. I didn’t know how to correct him without being rude and everything was so fragile back then that….”

“Years later, he doesn’t know,” she finished. “I could tell him, if you wanted.”

“No, it’s fine. He doesn’t use it often. It’s all fine. I'm fine.”

Once, Los would have believed himself. But Kra didn’t believe it, and now, neither did he.

Corla settled into her chair, powering up her computer and logging on. She scanned the city, picking up police radios, her programs analyzing the input for key words. She shoved her headphones onto her head, starting to go through the highlighted feeds. She focused on the ones marked red and starred the ones that weren’t a false alarm. She then tuned into the yellow feeds, doing the exact same thing.

A hand rested on her shoulder. Corla nearly jumped, but it was just Kra, still in her civilian garb. Kra removed her headphones and tossed them across the room. She watched them land on her bed with a thump.

“What are you still doing here?” she demanded.

“Cor,” Kra said softly enough that Corla cheeks heated. She’d been too loud. Allelosin could have heard, “we need to talk.”

“We need to get to work,” she whispered back.

“It can wait. Please, Cor.”

Corla nodded. The sooner this was over, the sooner they could get back to saving lives.

“Thank you,” Kra said, sitting on the floor. Corla joined her. “Cor, I…. You need to take the night off.”

“Absolutely not.”

“How much sleep have you gotten the last three days?”

“Irrelevant.”

“No, Corla. It’s not. You’re human. You need to sleep and eat. You need to take care of yourself.”

“Don’t lecture me on that, Kra.” Corla rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a hypocrite. You never sleep and only eat to put on appearances in front of Losin. And,” She held up a hand before Kra could start talking, “don’t bring up the alien thing. You need to eat and sleep too. The longer you go without it, the more magic you need to run your body. You need these things too.”

“But it’s not the same,” Kra pleaded, praying Corla would see it. “If I need more magic, I fly to the sun for a minute or two and I’m fine. You… you don’t have that backup. You spend too long without sleep or food, you will die, Corla. You will die and I won’t.”

Kra’s head hung, her eyes on her lap. “I know I need to work on taking care of myself. But please, don’t hurt yourself because you’re trying to match my work ethic.” She looked up, meeting Corla’s eyes. “I don’t know if I could live with myself if you did that and died.”

“I know.” It was Corla’s turn to look down. “I don’t want me to die either.”

“So will you catch up on sleep tonight?”

Kra looked so hopeful Corla couldn’t do anything but laugh. “Okay,” she promised. “I’ll sleep.”

Kra beamed. “Thank you. I’m sure my parents can deal with the radios for one night.”

“We can!” Ralehal said energetically, his voice coming out of Corla’s speakers. “We’re also locking you out of your computer for tonight!”

Corla watched her programs close and her computer power off. “Hey!”

“Now you can’t do work! You have to sleep!”

Corla glanced at Kra and they both dissolved into silent laughter. She leaned over and hugged her friend. Kra hugged her back. They both had things to do, but for a minute, the two girls, who never should have met, who should have grown up lightyears away, clung to each other, assuring the other they were there and always would be.

Jay had a plan, and goddesses damn her, it was a good plan. She wasn’t even going to break the stupid housearrest Cebrua had put her on during her non patrol evenings.

But still, Feyd stood there, glaring at her and blocking the entrance to the Nest.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” they asked coldly, clearly under the impression she was attempting some sort of escape attempt.

Which was ridiculous, she didn’t even know how to use the motorbike. And Cebrua had put the Nest on lockdown for her and Dae! She’d removed all their ability to go from inside it to the outside world. How would she leave?

“I… I left something in the Nest earlier. I just want to get it.”

“Really?” Feyd had that magical power of lifting only one eyebrow in judgment that, no matter what she did, Jay could never quite get right. “And, pray tell, what did you leave?”

“My social studies notebook. I need to take notes in it on the reading tonight! Please Feyd!” she begged. “I just need a few minutes.”

“Very well,” Feyd acquiesced. “Follow me.”

Oh no. She needed the Brain, the nest’s main computer–the one they used for research (aka hacking), for a few minutes! Was that too much to ask? Feyd would never let her go on it without asking questions that would ruin everything.

But still, she was in the Nest. Could she knock out Feyd? No, Feyd would never forgive her. They’d be passive aggressive about it for the rest of time. She’d prefer what Cebrua would do, glower at her for the rest of her life, silent, cold, and imposing, to that.

“Do you see it?” Feyd inquired.

Jay pretended to look around. “I… I don’t think so.” She couldn’t knock them out, that was out of the question. “I… Maybe it’s in my room? Do you think you could go back and check? I’ll keep searching here.” She put on a thoughtful air. “Maybe I left it in one of the vents.”

But maybe she could outsmart them.

“Why don’t you go back to your room and I keep searching here?”

Or not. Yeah, she should have known better than that.

Jay scoffed. “You’re going to check the vents? Please, Feyd, you know you shouldn’t do that with your back.”

“I have drones, young one,” they said mildly. “My back will be fine. I appreciate your concern however.”

“But I will be faster!”

“The longer you argue with me, the more time we waste, Dostonjay.”

What now? Looked like she only had one option left.

“Please Feyd,” she begged, clasping her hands together. “I just need the Brain for one minute.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I’m not trying to break the rules! I just need to look up a phone number I don’t have saved!”

“Really?” Again with the eyebrow. How did they do it?

“Really! I made plans to meet with this friend tonight and we don’t really text so I just need to look up a number so I can tell her I can’t make it. Please, Feyd. Can I have five minutes alone?”

Feyd sighed, exasperated to the core. “You Kaenwes. You always think I can’t tell when you’re lying. Cebrua was just like you as a child. Dae too.”

“Dae and I are adopted.”

“Still. Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on without lying?”

Jay folded her arms. “I didn’t lie!”

“The full truth. Then maybe I’ll let you on the computer.”

There was no way out of this, no escape. “Promise you won’t tell Cebrua?”

“I’m saving my judgment until you explain.”

Trapped. All corners. Surrounded. Jay groaned. “Fine. I’ve been training a girl to be the next Fledgling. It’s why I’ve been going to that roof. She lives in the building.”

“Dostonjay Hurded-Kaenwe!” Feyd scolded. “You do not just train girls to be Fledgling! Do you know how irresponsible tha-!”

“I didn’t ask her!” Jay interjected. “She tracked me down and demanded it. I said no, but she’d memorized our patrol roots and kept showing up! She wouldn’t be convinced no. I’m not taking her into the field, I’m just teaching her to fight, that’s it.”

“Why doesn’t your mother know?”

“It’s… it’s a surprise,” Jay admitted, glancing at the concrete floor. “I… I wanted to do this. Choose my successor as Dae chose me. I wanted to prove myself. For when it’s time, have someone who can take up the mantle ready to go. No hassle.”

Feyd placed a hand on her shoulder then pulled her into a hug. “You know you don’t need to prove yourself, right?”

“I know, but-”

“No buts, Jay. Your mother, Dae, and I are all incredibly proud of you. You’ve earned this and do amazing work every night you put on the costume. You aren’t a burden. You are an integral part of this family.” They pulled back and smiled at her. “And if your mother has done anything to make you feel otherwise, I will yell at her myself.”

“No, Cebrua never does anything like that. Never.”

“If you say so,” Feyd replied conspiratorily. “Now, go use the Brain. I’ll keep your secret for now, as long as you promise you are only going to call this girl to tell her you can't come and not, goddesses forbid, invite her over to train. I will not let Orjel and Ralehal use a portal for this. That girl is safer off pretending to be normal for now.”

“Promise! That you Feyd!”

She gave them a quick hug then scampered over to the Brain. Logging on and finding Thae’s number was quick, easy. She jotted it down in her contacts and ran off to her room to make the call in private.

She took out her work phone, the one she was only supposed to use as Fledgling, and dialed.

Across the city, Thae looked at the caller ID on her phone. Unknown, it read.

Well, she definitely wasn’t about to pick up. But the number left a voicemail and that was relatively safe to listen to. So, five minutes after it was left, she hit play.

“Thae, hey, it’s Jay. I can’t come to train tonight. Or any night in the near future until…. Actually, I don’t know when. Crow has me on lockdown. Apparently, Colonel Chaos is active in your neighborhood, which is really unusual, and the theory is he wants to ambush me, so I’m staying at home. Neither Bluejay and I are allowed to go out on patrol without either each other or without Crow. Ridiculous huh? So, that’s what’s going on, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I’ll call you again from this number–it’s my work number–when we can get back to normal, alright? Please, delete this voicemail when you’re done listening to it, okay? Be careful. Don’t train in the open. Don’t be anything other than a normal girl if you aren’t completely sure you’re alone. Be safe. Hopefully this all gets resolved soon and I can see you again! So, yeah. Bye.”

It ended. Thae stared at her phone, quickly deleting the voicemail and saving the contact as ‘F.’

Thaekymrodti flopped into her bed. Looks like she wasn’t going to be leaving it anytime tonight. It wasn’t as if her parents would care. No, she doubted they’d even notice.