Chapter 11
94 0 3
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

Chapter 11.

 

Over the next three days Sy seemed to always be either heading out or on the phone, every time he met eye contact with Violet in passing he could see she was impatient, but her normal had always been to never pester people, which meant she always just gave a small smile. What gave her agitation away though was her tail, the flicking swishes of it betrayed her impatience, understandable as it was. Sy had always liked that about her, the fact no matter how keen she was to do something if it relied on another she’d never pester, and rarely would outright ask how the task was going.

 

Over the days Violet kept herself occupied getting Aryette ready, checking fluid level and adjusting ready for the drive. Back in the early 2000’s the journey wouldn’t have been that difficult, but with the government’s vicious cutting of budgets for any area outside of CityScape the road network had suffered into disrepair, further added to with the breaking apart of the united kingdom, even less money had been invested outside of the big CityScapes in England, with travel between them exclusively being done by the wealthy on the high speed rail links that evolved to connect them, such as the more armoured HS2. The cost of inter-CityScape travel was prohibitive for most of the populous, and the crumbling and damaged road network coupled with the risks associated with road travel meant that few made the journey.

 

On the night of the second day Violet and Naira were on the roof of the garage, both watching the few stars that could be seen through the light pollution and criss-crossing beams of the Defence Force spotlights on the border wall. Naira was laid fully back hands under her head, whilst Violet sort of semi sat semi lounged against part of the roof. Violet pulled out a zippo she’d had since her teens as lit another all white cigarette, taking a long draw before slowly exhaling the smoke, with Naira watching her and slightly shaking her head

“What” said Violet with a single raised eyebrow “at least these are legal” taking another drag she looked thoughtful “hell, this shitshow of a government practically encourages addiction of some kind!” she spat, a look of disgust on her face.

“Then why do you smoke them?” asked Naira

Violet got up and walked to the edge of the roof and took another drag, and lent her head back before exhaling the smoke

“Because they’ll kill me eventually. With my genetic past they’re likely to lead to an earlier death”

“Fuck Vee, that’s horrid! I... we want you alive!” Naira exclaimed

Violet just turned her head back to look at her, taking a smaller drag on her now two thirds gone cigarette 

“Why?” she asked “what good do I do? I was Always soo Anti the oppression, the hatred and the abuse by the government. Yet when I might have even had a chance to do any difference, to protest or fight, I was nowhere, and did nothing”

“You were recovering from a pretty fucking major crash!!” Naira snapped back, jumping up and placing her hands on Violet’s shoulders, turning her to face herself “you were barely fucking alive! You can’t fight if you’re near enough dead. Please don’t blame yourself for that!”

Before Violet could respond Sy burst through the doorway onto the roof

“Ahh there you are!” he said “I need a word with you Violet”

Turning to look at Sy, her head slightly tilted to one side “what’s up dude?”

“Come join me downstairs” Sy responded, turning and heading back through the doorway back into the garage. Violet shrugged, finished her cigarette in one big drag, ground the butt into the roof & exhaled the smoke smoothly before turning to look at Naira saying “come on, lets see what he’s got” before striding across the roof to door, with Naira jumping up to follow her.

 

Once back downstairs they found Sy in the lounge area, sitting on the sofa. Without a word Violet went straight into the kitchen area and started making drinks, tea for Sy in his oversized mug, coffee for herself, and green tea for Naira whilst Naira joined Sy on the sofa, leaving room for Violet to join them also. Once the drinks were made she brought all three over, handing each one to the respective person before gracefully climbing up and sitting between them both on the back of the sofa, turning to Sy with an expectant expression on her face

 

“So getting us out of the CityScape is pretty easy, my plates will allow that with only a token resistance, especially as Aryette is technically registered to me” he began ”so that’s the easy part. Do I remember that you fitted an auxiliary fuel tank to Aryette Vee?”
“Yeah, she’s got the twin underseat tanks, gives about a 300 mile range between filling” answered Violet

“Awesome, that’ll at least cover the fuel till we’re there” Sy smiled “However the issue is the Celtic Union border. My contacts do have a way for us to get across, but, well…” he trailed off
“How much is the cost?” stated Violet

Sy sighed “it’d be 10,000 PoundDollars to get out, and 5,000 to come back”

Naira gasped at the amounts, whilst Violet nodded

“Is that each?” Violet asked

“God no!” Sy responded “that’s for the vehicle, with me and one other passenger”

“You can’t leave me behind!” exclaimed Naira “I’m the only one who knows how to work the connections!”

“Oh that’s not a problem” Sy answered with a slight smirk “Do you still fold quite well Vee?”

“Yeah, what are you thinking, I fold into a case on the roof?” Violet asked

“Precisely, though in the back would work. I’ve got the shielded one I use for more elusive parts transporting” Sy commented, with a slight smile “however the money, that’s a Lot Vee” 

“Worth It.” Violet stated “if I send it to you how long do you need to make the arrangements?” 

“I can be ready in about a day” Sy replied

“Excellent, I’ll get my tablet and send you the money, and use my laptop to contact Lillith and Anubis” With that Violet stood with grace and walked smoothly out of the room

Naira turned to Sy and moved closer “Hey Sy, mind if I ask you something?” she said quietly

“Um, sure” 

Speaking barely above a whisper she continued “have you noticed anything about Violet the past few days?” 

“Err, you mean besides she seems less like a fleshy automaton?” 

“Well yes, and aside from the ears and tail, have you noticed how she acts, how she walks etc?”

“Um, not sure what you mean”

“She seems to have more grace, more fluidity to her movements. More balance”

 

As Naira said that Violet reappeared holding her tablet in on hand, with a purple laptop bag slung over her right shoulder

“That’s probably because I’m more connected to my body, and I have the tail I Always should have had” she casually answered Naira, whilst both Naira and Sy jumped at her appearance.

“Christ Vee!” exclaimed Sy “how the hell are you soo silent in an echoey corridor in bloody new rocks??”

Violet just looked at him, a slight smirk to her lips, whilst shrugging “feline grace I guess” with that she hopped onto the armchair, curled up & opened her tablet, and made a few quick presses on the screen.
“Right, that’s 20,000 transferred to your quiet account Sy, is that enough?”

Sy stammered slightly “yeah, yes, that should be plenty” before muttering “I forget how little you care about money”

Violet glared at him, locking eyes with her most piercing stare “some things are More important” causing Sy to gulp slightly and look away. Violet shut down her tablet and reached into her laptop bag, bringing out a scuffed laptop, covered in a variety of Anarchic, anti-government and Pride stickers, before opening it causing the purple LED ring around it to shine bright before the screen flashed up with a secure login screen. She typed a long password, before leaning towards the top of the screen for a retinal scan of her left eye

“Anyway, I need to get in touch with Lilith and Anubis”

With that comment Naira and Sy left the room, and Violet began going through several safeguard and encryption programs, involving entering numerous passwords and retinal scans, before finally a unique design messaging program opened following a final retinal scan. Once the contact list had opened Violet selected the usernames of both her old friends and started typing:

 

[VeeKitty]: Heya both

 

After a few minutes, enough time for Violet to make another coffee, her laptop sounded the notification from messenger program

 

[Lilith+Anubis]: ...Violet?

[VeeKitty]: Yep it's me :-) 

[Lilith+Anubis]:...wtf? How?

[VeeKitty]: I believe I type on my laptop, words appear on your screen ;-)

[Lilith+Anubis]: ha ha. I mean you’re meant to be dead…

[VeeKitty]: I believe I was briefly. But yeah, I survived the crash

[Lilith+Anubis]: ...what about Krymson? We were told both of you died?

[VeeKitty]: ...I don’t know. They took her whilst I was dying, I don’t know what happened next

[Lilith+Anubis]: Shit Vee, I’m sorry I asked :-(

[VeeKitty]: don’t be. In fact that’s connected to why I’m messaging you 

[Lilith+Anubis]: if there’s anything we can do Vee, just ask! You Know we’ll both help :-)

[VeeKitty]: Thank you <3 I do need your ‘Professional’ help though

[Lilith+Anubis]: lol what’d you need us getting in to? Anything below the belt we’ll have to tread carefully, but you know us ;-)

[VeeKitty]: lol I do :-) I can’t really type and explain, are you good if I video call?

[Lilith+Anubis]: Sure thing, give me a second

[Lilith+Anubis]: ok, go ahead!

[VeeKitty]: just before I do, be prepared for a surprise ;-)

[Lilith+Anubis]: ...ok

[VeeKitty]: fair warning ;-) want to send the call?

[Lilith+Anubis]: Sure thing

 

With that Violet answered the video call from them, but with her camera off for a start. After the screen had focused on the stunning pale face of Lilith, framed with her usual long black hair, a quizzical smile on her face

“Hey Vee, how come your camera is off?”

“Wanted this to be a surprise” Violet answered, before turning the camera on.

Once the image had resolved on her end she gave Lilith the ‘kawaii’ two finger V-salute with a smile

“Heya Lilith!”

“Hey Vee, oh wow, cool ears!” Lilith said with a smile “and is that a tail?”

“Heh yeah” Violet responded, with a smile, as her tail lazily swished behind her

“Oh wow, that tail is cool! Is it actually swaying?”

“Yeah”

“Cool! Is it animatronic or something?”

“Or something” Violet said, with a slight raise of an eyebrow, causing her ear to twitch

“Did that….did that ear just twitch??” Lilith asked, confusion starting to play on her face, Violet nodded in response “Are they brainwave controlled, like the nekomimi’s you had all those years ago? I can’t see the box or sensors on them” Lilith asked

“Well, you’re kinda right. They are brainwave controlled in a fashion…” Violet answered with a wink, before leaning forward to show the top of her head to Lilith

“Wait, what? How are they attached??” Lilith stuttered, confusion growing.

“Do you remember Naira from the Sanctum etc? The Biohacker”

“Yeah, obviously!”

“Well she delved into the contraband of BioEngineering, you know like replacement limbs etc” 

“Yeah, but they’re chunky innacturate things, those ears look Real! Plus the limbs don’t work right”

“I know Lilith. But Naira worked out a way round it. And using some bleeding edge biotech she was able to make both the ears and tail look right, and work Right” Violet said, smiling as her ear twitched, and her tail swished lazily

“Thats, thats pretty fucking incredible Vee!” exclaimed Lilith “I don’t fully get it, but it’s Awesome!” 

“Thanks” smiled Violet “she was also able to fix my hearing, back to beyond better than it was”

“What do you mean ‘fix your hearing’ Vee?” Lilith asked, a look of confused concern on her face

“The accident tore off my left ear, leaving me deaf in that one, and half deaf in the other” Violet stated “But the implant connections to control the ears also convert the sounds they hear into my brain. Which means like I said I’ve got better hearing now than Ever…..” 

Violet paused slightly before continuing “which is why I need your help”

Lilith leaned back in her chair, fingers steepled beneath her chin

“That’s a shitload to take in Vee!” she finally said “But what do you mean ‘that’s why you need our help’?”

Violet sighed “ok, now I know this’ll sound mad, but when I go fully passive with the ears just before sleep, I can just hear Her calling me”

“....you mean Krymson?”

“Yes. Naira has worked out that the connection she can use to get data from the ears & tail processors, the same processors are responding to my subconscious desire to find Her, and have been connecting to the web and seeking Her out”

“That…is far fetched, but wouldn’t surprise me with you Vee” Lilith said with a wry smile

Violet stuck her tongue out before continuing “probably. Naira can tell how they’ve gotten onto the web, but not where they’ve gone to find the soundbites I can hear”

“Ahh, that’s where you need our help!” chuckled Lilith “You already know we’ll help in any way we can, but we’d need to see the connections in real time” her expression turned serious “we’d need you, and probably Naira here in person”

Violet gave a wry smile “don’t worry about that, we’ve got a plan there” with a wink she continued “if we got there in a couple of days, would you help?”

“OF COURSE!” exclaimed Lilith “Without a shadow of doubt! Just be careful getting here hun, things are rough between the two countries nowadays”

“I know hun, just send me your address coordinates and we’ll take care of the rest” Violet said with a smirk and a flicking up of an eyebrow

Lilith laughed “ok Vee, well we’ll sign off now. Take care”

“See you soon Lilith”

 

After a message tone from the program sounded, and she copied the details Lilith sent to a notepad, Violet shut down her laptop, and finding the others back on the roof she walked out to the edge, lit a cigarette and turning to face their expectant expressions she took a big drag, and with the exhale of smoke and a smile she simply said

 

“Ok, We’re on, lets go get ready”

3