Microstory 2595: Renata Recognizes Her Mistake in Feeling Safe in This New Dome

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Renata recognizes her mistake in feeling safe in this new dome. Of course Libera would find them, and of course she would get ahead of them. They have a plan for this, though. This Provider guy knows everything about Osman. Nothing gets in or out without his knowledge. At least almost nothing. He is not aware of the meta-tunnel that brought the team here. It doesn’t help them now, because it only goes back to the Usona dome. If they were to use an out-of-game route, they would be able to travel to Huaxia or Ever. The former is a non-starter as they are a clear enemy, and everyone on the team would stand out like a sore thumb. While Ever is technically an ally, there are some internal sociopolitical issues that make it a complicated place to be right now. Renata would very much like to see a map of this planet, so she can get a real frame of reference. She’s been told that it’s three-dimensional, so parts of one country are actually up above the sky, making that sky fake. Obviously, she shouldn’t be thinking about this now, because her main problem is currently standing in front of her, enjoying her reaction.

The Provider reaches out with both arms, and lays them across the Grangers’ shoulders, gently but obligatorily guiding them through the room. “It’s important to note that I like a good catfight as much as anyone, but you’re presently in my home. Most of my guests don’t know what it is I do, and if they do, they don’t know the particulars. But they all know not to ask questions. And that only works, because from the outside, I look clean.” Someone waves at him, so he has to smile back. “Hi, how are you? Thanks for coming. Try my signature drink.” He goes right back to being serious again. “I don’t much care what the NSD is after, and which one of you is a genuine officer, and which is the traitor. What I care about is my business, and my business is mostly getting people out of Osman.” He lets go of them, and literally shoos them away with a low sweep of his hands. “So, please...ladies...get out.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Renata argues, holding her hand out before one of the Provider’s guards can take hold of her. “We need to get out of the country, and we need your help. We didn’t come for the signature cocktail.” According to Lycander, you can travel from any country to another using in-universe travel procedures, regardless of how the domes are situated relative to each other. And in-universe, those travel procedures are restricted in and out of Osman. They wouldn’t have come to this dome at all if they had had more time, but after Quidel was killed, they just needed to select the closest option. Now they’re trying to get to Elbis, and the Provider is the only way to do that while staying under the radar. “We can pay.”

“Yes, that sounds quite important, and I can always use a bit more money.” He places his index finger against his lips as if he’s considering her request. “Um. The thing is, I don’t need this kind of heat on me.”

“What heat?” Libera questions. She’s such a talker, it’s shocking that she managed to go this long without hearing the sound of her own voice.

“Why, haven’t you heard?” The Provider asks. He snaps his fingers twice at one of his men, who hands him a folder. “You’ve both been burned.”

Renata takes the file, and reluctantly lets her mother look at it with her. He’s right. A warrant is out for their extradition. The NSD thinks that they’ve committed treason. The front page doesn’t say much about it, because it’s what gets out to official governmental channels. The pages behind it are internal, and the Provider probably only has them because getting his hands on things that he’s not supposed to even know about is his job.

“They know you’re in Osman,” he reiterates what they’re reading on those latter pages.

“This says there’s a reward for capture,” Renata points out. She might worry about giving him ideas, but the guy is very put-together. That’s not something he missed. He must have some reason he’s not trying to cash in.

“Usona stays out of my business, and I stay out of theirs. I’m not interested in forming a relationship with your agency. Now you have all the information, so go.” He shoos them away again.

The guards take hold of their arms now, and turn them around. As soon as they do, a group of well-dressed thugs are walking up the steps. The leader holds his arms out demonstratively. “Provi, you didn’t invite me.”

“Who are these guys?” Renata whispers to Libera.

“Mercs,” Libera whispers back. “Mostly ex-NSD agents who got screwed over, but we believe they’re funded by the State Security Directorate.” Ugh, Sclovo.

“It must have been an oversight,” the Provider claims. “Please, welcome.” He doesn’t want them here, but he doesn’t want any trouble either.

“We’re just here to meet up with a few friends,” the head merc says to the Provider before deliberately adjusting his gaze to Renata and Libera. He points with two fingers on each hand, in the general direction of the Provider and his security team, like a flight attendant indicating the emergency exits.

The other mercs pull out their guns, and start firing at the guards. Chaos ensues. The party-goers start to scream, and run in all directions, not knowing where the danger lies. The guards who have survived so far start shooting back. Renata and Libera duck away from the bullets, but both of them get shot anyway. “Remember what you said to Polly!” Libera cries. “Do that to yourself! You can’t feel pain, and all that!”

“Why do you care what happens to me?” Renata shouts back, covering her head protectively.

“I told you, we’re not enemies! I still see you as my daughter, and I want us to work together! Goddammit, I didn’t bring a gun.”

Two of the mercs find them amidst the mayhem and confusion, and begin to drag them through the door, heading for the steps. They are very strong, because they’re androids. Wait, they’re androids, and non-emergent ones at that. Their lives don’t matter. Renata manages to reach under her dress, and retrieve Demo’s gun. She shoots her captor in the face, and then shoots Libera’s out of instinct. More mercs come out of the woodwork. She manages to shoot three more of them, but runs out of bullets, so they stand up and start to fight them off by hand.

“I can get us out of here!” Libera shouts.

“I can’t trust you!” Renata yells back.

“You wanna trust these guys?”

Renata looks around, but doesn’t see Quidel or Demo. And Lycander? Well, Lycander is gone. She growls, and begrudgingly follows Libera out of the parking lot, punching all the bad guys along the way.

Microstory 2585: Renata Has Grown Bored as They Wait for the Next Assault

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Renata has grown bored as they wait for the next assault. She and her mother successfully forced the first group of attackers off the road, and then another one once they reached the log cabin, but there hasn’t been a peep since. They’re still here, having already buried the bodies in shallow graves. The worry is not that someone else will come, but that they won’t. They are the decoy team, while Quidel and Lycander are the ones in charge of the real package. There is a procedure for meeting back up later, but that’s following 24 hours of no activity at the safehouse. It involves switching cars, and traveling to a small town farther east.

“Hey,” she says, holding her cup of tea. “Are you the strong, silent type, or can you talk?”

“I can talk,” the driver replies. “I just don’t usually say much.”

“That’s basically the definition of the strong silent type. Can I sit?”

“Be my guest.”

She sits down on the swing, still wrapped in her quilt. It’s funny, sitting here with a stranger, but she’s sick of being inside, and there is no other seating on the porch. She takes a sip. “What about your name? Is it a secret? Does my mother just call you The Driver?”

He chuckles. “It’s Polykarpos. Polykarpos Goldd. Everyone just calls me Polly.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Polly. I’m Renata, by the way. I don’t know if I ever said that.”

“Madam Granger speaks of you often.”

“She does?”

“Yes. She’s quite proud of you.”

“Did she tell you to say that?”

“I work for her, but I have my own opinions. She tells me what to do, not how to think.”

She nods, and doesn’t speak for a moment as they just enjoy the sunrise. “How long have you worked for the NSD?”

“I technically don’t. I work for a company that contracts to the NSD. Many low-level jobs like mine are like that.”

“I wouldn’t call it low-level. That was some smooth driving while we were being shot at. You didn’t flinch at the bullets. You must have some tactical training.”

Polly smiles. “Well, I wasn’t always only a driver.”

That’s when Libera interrupts. “Ren, could you help me with something? We need some more firewood from the shed.”

“I can do that, sir,” Polly says as he’s standing up.

“No, I want my daughter,” Libera discourages.

Renata knows this tone well. Libera doesn’t actually need help with anything, but wants to speak privately. She downs the rest of her tea, which has already gotten cold out here in the winter woods, and sets it precariously on the window sill. A metaphor for her and her mother’s relationship?

They head out into the shed, and Libera just stands there, not even pretending that the request was genuine. “You don’t need to be talking to him too much.”

“I’m a big girl, and I actually think he’s younger than me.”

“That’s not the point,” Libera contends. “He’s...irrelevant.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, that he’s expendable?”

“Look, some people in this world are simply more important than others. You could call them...exemplars. I’m an exemplar, you’re an exemplar. Polly is just...background. I have no plans for him.”

“Plans? What about Lycander, is he background too? I saw the way you looked at him, like you couldn’t trust him. Do you too have bad history?”

Libera smirks. “Lycander is something else.”

“And Quidel?”

“He’s very something else.”

Renata shakes her head, and consults her watch. “Let’s go find that small town where we’re supposed to meet up.”

“It hasn’t been twenty-four hours yet,” Libera says.

“We have to wait that long to make the call,” Renata reasons, “but we may as well get there. I would rather wait by a real bathroom.” She begins to leave.

“We have a nice bathroom here.”

“Get the car!” Renata shouts up to Polly as she’s walking back to the cabin. “I wanna get some real breakfast, instead of these MREs.”

“Yes, sir.” Polly hops down the steps, and heads towards the back, where they hid the car loosely under some brush.

Renata, meanwhile, picks her teacup up to prepare to wash it.

Libera starts walking up the steps as she’s watching Polly walk away. “He followed your orders.”

“What?”

“You told him to do something, and he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even look over at me for guidance. He just went off to do it.”

“Yeah, we bonded a little. He trusts me. I’m sure I was nicer to him in those two minutes than you ever have been, if you think he’s only background,” Renata says with airquotes.

Libera scowls at her daughter. “Go make your bed. We should leave this place looking like we’re trying to make it look like no one has been here for months.”

“Yes, sir! Commander, sir!” Renata replies sarcastically. She goes back into the cabin even though her bed is already made because she’s no longer a child. While she’s finishing the dishes, she hears the sound of gunfire. She drops the cup into the sink, letting it shatter. She grabs the pistol from the counter, and heads outside.

It’s another group of attackers, hoping to get their hands on their special device, not knowing that it isn’t really here. She sees three men a few meters from the cabin, pointing their shotguns at Polly. He’s sitting in the dirt, holding the right side of his chest with one hand, and trying to drag himself away from the shooters with his other.

“One more step, and he dies!” one of the bad guys says in a Javelotian accent. Javelot is one of their closest allies. “Gun on the ground!”

Renata drops her gun.

“Wait!” Libera is walking through the door behind Renata, her hands up in supposed surrender. In one hand, she’s holding the decoy bag. “You came for this, you can have it!”

“Drop it down the steps,” the Javelotian guy demands.

“Does that sound wise and safe?” Libera asks rhetorically. She sets it down on the porch, and begins to back away from it, as does Renata in the opposite direction.

Two of the Javelotians creep up to it, pointing their weapons at the ladies, but of course, it doesn’t matter. The bomb in the bag explodes them both when one of them tries to open it, and the surprise is enough to push the remaining Javelotian off balance. Libera pulls her own pistol out of the back of her pants, and shoots him dead. It was a short-lived attack, but they’re not out of the woods yet.