Chapter 65 (Patreon)

There was a moments pause as she reflected on the thing in front of her. Her instinctive sense of uncanny began throwing up red flags. She considered drawing out Firestorm and just incinerating it. Kill it with fire. Yeah, that was a good idea. She straightened a little and her fingers twitched, the power slipping out of her warehouse. She was feeling better enough that she could torch this thing with impunity.

It-he seemed to notice the shift in atmosphere. The man’s arms flopped a bit for a moment, like a puppet on a string, before it entered a more dramatic bow. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Charon. I’m starting a business and you are actually my first customer, hopefully.”

Sonya’s nose wrinkled at the disturbing way the body moved and how, now that she got a better look, the voice came out even if the man’s lips didn’t move. Was it a… corpse? “What kind of business?” She asked hesitantly.

“A taxi service, for villains, miss…?” The dead thing said, trailing off in hopes of getting her name.

Sonya blinked, “...interesting,” She said, a small smile coming to her face behind the mask. “That’s not a bad idea. I take it you aren’t actually here?”

“Nope!” The body said, “This is just a puppet, a very talented puppet. He’s an excellent driver, I promise. I offer anonymity, privacy, and a comfortable trip in one of my taxis. Would you like a sample of my services?”

The way he talked, he sounded like he was trying to sound more sophisticated than he actually was. He kept slipping into a more casual tone before… Was this guy reading from a script? Her lip twitched a little. She’d seen the car drive just fine so it wasn’t like she didn’t believe that the puppet could handle steering well enough. Still, she hesitated, “You’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly trust you, Charon.” She said.

“No offense, lady,” The villain behind the puppet said, “But with a creepy voice like that and your spooky outfit, you don’t strike me as the most trustworthy person in the world either. Just saying.”

She pursed her lips, okay, that was a pretty fair point and it wasn’t like she felt threatened by some zombie. She also really needed to get home.  “Free sample huh? How far can you take me?”

“Anywhere in the city, once, and I’ll give you my contact information afterwards if you’re a good customer. I’ve had some bad experiences with villains in the back seat,” Charon admitted. “So what do you say?”

Sonya sighed, “Fine,” she rattled off an intersection near her apartments, she wasn’t stupid enough to give him her exact address. She’d watch him after he dropped her off, so long as he didn’t try anything stupid, and figure out where he lived or at the very least monitor his activities until she was sure he didn’t reveal anything. If he passed that little test, she might consider him to be something of an asset in himself, though she’ll need to pin him down for a contract for certain.

The zombified driver gestured dramatically into the taxi and she slipped inside, holding on tightly to her duffle bag. There was no fuss, just the sound of the door shutting silently behind her. The seats were… remarkably comfortable. She was a little surprised. She leaned back and let out a breath as the driver got back in and the vehicle began to move. After that, nothing happened. Not a word from the driver, not even a glance back in her direction. She enjoyed some peace and quiet until they arrived at the intersection and the driver stepped out to open the door for her. In his hand was a blank business card with a phone number written sloppily on it.

She glanced at it and took it, “That was… pleasant. Thank you, Charon.”

The zombified driver tilted his hat, “I aim to please, ma’am. Have a good evening.”

With that, he just left. She watched him go with no small amount of curiosity on her face. Very interesting. She thought and looked across the street, up at her apartment. There was a light still on. They’re waiting for me. She grumbled and slipped into an alley to change. Back in clean clothes she pulled hands of the healer out and to her relief felt no resistance. A few moments later, fully healed, she went home.

It was nearly daybreak when she opened the door. Amos was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating breakfast. Marta was asleep on the couch, Sonya could see her hair hanging off the side. Amos looked up at her and then down again, examining her without a word. He sipped the milk from his cereal bowl and set it down. “Got an alert that a dungeon closed a little over an hour ago,” He said simply.

“Yeah,” Sonya responded, setting the duffle bag on the counter. He glanced at it and up at her again, raising an eyebrow. “Took a few hits. Need my suit repaired. Helmet should be fine but might want to give it a look over as well.”

He stared at her, “You went alone?”

She tilted her head, “Yeah?”

He leaned back, bewildered, “Holy shit, I thought you couldn’t use your powers for very long.”

“I can’t use them at maximum output for very long,” She corrected, “And I’m fine with the bare minimum and a good knife,” She fished into her pocket and pulled out the dungeon reward, “Here’s the reward, figure out what it does for me?” She asked, setting it on the counter next to her bag.

He rubbed the side of his head, “Badass.”

She smirked, “Yeah, a little.”

“You feel better?” He asked, snatching up the item and turning it over in his hands. He didn’t even look up at this point.

“Loads, could use a little shopping therapy but that can wait. I’ll handle the press conference too,” She said.

“You haven’t slept.”

“So?”

“Marta will grumble,” He warned.

“Let her,” Sonya said with a shrug, “I’m doing this.”

He smiled, “Glad to see you’re feeling better boss,” He said and hopped off the chair. “I’ll get on your gear first thing,” He paused and frowned a little, looking like he was going to ask something.

She read his face and shook her head, “It’s not something I want to talk about, probably ever. Just let last night go, if you could, I would appreciate it.”

He met her gaze and then nodded, “Right.”

–

Marta grumbled the whole way to the venue. Sonya ignored it, humming to herself as she stretched out in the back seat of the limo. She’d almost forgotten to let Amos know about the mysterious taxi driver from the previous night and now he had his drones looking out for cars of a similar description. Sonya assumed that if the guy was using a puppet to control one, there was no reason to think he couldn’t be controlling more. They had barely gotten out of the parking garage when he told her that there were at least two on the streets.

Good enough for her. She’d have to set up a meeting at some point once he proved that his promise of anonymity and privacy was kept. 

When they arrived they were escorted into the space behind the stage, there were a few members of the local political scene but nobody important. The mayor had bigger fish to fry, or so he thought. Most of those present were members of the Pandora Committee and she was unsurprised to see Martin Fuller among those there to observe. Feeling a little cheeky, she walked over and extended a hand in greeting.

Martin turned her way and she was surprised to see that he wasn’t wearing his usual grumpy-looking detective coat. A clean suit and tie. He glanced down at her hand and frowned at it, “I thought I told you I don’t shake hands, Miss Chernovna.”

She smirked, “Oh right!” She chuckled and set her hand on her hip, “How are you, detective?”

“Chief Investigator,” He corrected her, “We’ve been keeping my promotion on the down low recently,” He said.

“Oh? Curious, I wonder why?” She asked, meeting his gaze. “Looking into something scary, Chief?”

He met her gaze, “You could say that.”

“Sonya!” A voice called out from behind her. She turned around and brandished her brightest smile as the Chairman approached.

“Chairman! How are you dear?” She asked, giving him a brief hug before stepping back. She glanced around, “Is your son not here?” She asked and sensed Marta tense a little bit behind her at his mention. She was still unsettled by his aura, not surprising, the guy was a killing machine.

“They’re in the audience,” The Chairman explained quickly, waving off the detail, “They aren’t officials of the Committee or local Politics so their place isn’t back here.”

Sonya nodded, “Fair enough. I’m surprised they even came, to be honest.”

“Hyunh said she had never seen an American press conference in person before and wanted the experience, my son was only too happy to oblige her,” The Chairman said, looking a little proud of his boy.

Sonya raised an eyebrow, I’m sure he was. “Good for her, then,” She said.

The Chairman glanced past her and nodded to Marta before looking around a bit confused, “Where is Doctor Carter?”

“Amos? Oh he’s back at the lab, not to worry, he’ll be able to help with the presentation from there,” She said with a playful wave of her hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me sir, I want to do a little bit of greeting and schmoozing before we shake the planet up again.”

He chuckled, “You do you, Miss Chernovna.”

–

Martin crossed his arms as he watched her walk up to the podium. He leaned against the wall, his eyes narrowed. She had tried to shake his hand again, he knew she wasn’t a stupid woman and that her memory was actually rather good. She could remember entire speeches without even prompt cards. Yet she’d forgot about their interaction at the Hero Day event? Sure, the event was a bit hectic, but he had a hard time believing it slipped her mind. He wasn’t sure if it was paranoia or not, but she seemed very keen on shaking people’s hands as her form of greeting. 

Just another detail to remember.

The press conference started and she opened with her usual theatrics and overdramatized smiles and greetings. He snorted out a breath and glanced away towards her bodyguard. Marta, also known as Handmaiden, stood off to the side as stoic as ever. She was another person that was more than a little suspicious and honestly his best lead. According to what he’d dug up about her, she was way younger looking than she should be. There was no way to prove it was as a result of encountering the same person who was going about handing out youth like candy, but it was still worthy of note. 

She glanced in his direction and gave him a curt nod before returning her attention to her charge. More like a soldier than a housewife. Her head is on a swivel. Is she a natural or are these trained skills? When could she possibly have gotten that kind of training? He shifted his jaw left and right and turned his attention back to the press conference. It was pretty much a rehash of the information that the Chairman had shared with him the previous night, giving him a heads up so he could watch for any suspicious activity concerning the dungeons.

“...as I said, dungeons are formed around a particularly powerful entity at the end that our team has aptly described as the ‘boss’. Slaying this creature causes the dungeon to collapse and the excess mana to dissipate harmlessly. More interesting, though, is what comes immediately afterward,” Sonya said and gestured to one of the screens above her. Throughout the presentation the screens had changed on their own as if directed by some unseen force, he guessed it was that ex-criminal, Amos Carter.

A few people watching let out a gasp as something came on that he couldn’t see very well, “As you can see, the rewards can be rather impressive. This weapon was found by Firestorm’s team and he is making good use of it,” Sonya enthused.

He grunted and turned away, he’d heard enough and he needed some coffee. He walked around back and marched towards the table where the refreshments were waiting. A few men were talking nearby, he ignored them and poured himself a cup.

“What a fascinating woman,” Someone said next to him.

He glanced up and met a pair of golden eyes framed by a pretty coif of hair. He frowned, Who let this kid in here? He thought as the young man smiled brightly at him. There was something wrong with this kids eyes. He’d seen something like them before. Whatever it was, it gave him the chills. “Who are you?”

The kid shrugged, “I’m nobody,” He said and then snorted, laughing a little, “That was a joke.”

“Right…” He said hesitantly, “Why are you here?”

“Oh! I just wanted to listen in on the press conference, that Sonya lady is really smart. Is it true her company is figuring all this stuff on its own?” He asked, looking genuinely curious but there was still that wrongness in his eyes that Martin couldn’t quite place.

“That’s how I understand it,” Martin offered, not wanting to commit too much brainpower to the conversation. He must be some politician’s brat or something.

“I wonder who her lawyer is, she’s got a lawyer right? I’m thinking about becoming a lawyer one day,” He said eagerly, glancing again at the path leading towards the stage.

Martin tilted his head, who was her lawyer? Oh right, “Colin Matthews or something.”

The kid nodded again, “Colin Matthews, got it,” He said as if that answered several questions for him all at once. “So what do you do, mister?”

“I’m an investigator for the Pandora Committee…” He trailed off, “Alright, where are your parents, kid?” He asked looking around for a moment and trying to spot someone with a similar look to him. He glanced back and the kid was gone. He blinked, a moment of confusion washing over him as he tried to remember what the kid had looked like to check the cameras later. His face just seemed to dissolve in his mind, gone, and even his impression of…

“Martin, you alright?” The Chairman asked, walking over.

Martin blinked and looked up, “Was there a kid here a second ago, sir?” He asked.

The Chairman glanced around, “Mm? I didn’t see one. Do you need a day off, Martin?”

Martin frowned, “Me? No sir,” He said and scratched his head, “That’s not necessary. It must have been my imagination.”