String - Fabrication 5.3

The door to my workshop slid open and Sam was quick to follow me in before the door shut, automatically locking itself. The lights buzzed as they switched on as the rest of the room was filled with a constant hum. The 3D printers were still slowly progressing through some of my different projects while another smaller one churned out proto-bullets for my sniper rifle.

I strolled over to my laptop and woke it up before pulling up two seats for the both of us. Sam easily sunk back into the chair and crossed her legs, giving me a curious gaze.

“What?” I asked.

She shrugged harmlessly. “Nothing. I was just expecting a little more resistance than that. Old, baked in expectations I have for people. Doesn’t matter how close or how much I know someone, I’ve always found they dig their heels in when it comes to stuff like this.”

“You knowing who my source is hardly makes a difference. In fact, it would probably be more beneficial if we were in constant contact with her.”

I didn’t see the harm in her knowing who Alex was. If anything bad happened between me and Sam, Alex was half a world away and I felt like I was at a point where I could protect Mom and the rest of my friends easily enough. It didn’t matter though, Sam didn’t seem like the type to go and do something like that and she had more than earned my trust.

“Her?” Sam looked perplexed. Her eyes flashed Gold. “Your mother? No, wait. A sister. You have a sibling?”

Switching back to Blue, she had a dumbfounded look stretched across her face as if the notion of me having a sibling was completely alien to her. The dumbfounded look quickly turned into frustration with a slice of anger but I could tell it was directly solely inward at herself, probably for missing a detail like that.

“Yeah. She lives abroad. Mom and I video chats her every morning and every night. I sometimes throw her the occasional message to see how she’s doing,” I said, bringing up the private chat window I had with her. Sam could see the history of messages we exchanged, all the recent ones being about my current activities. “She figured out I had powers, not sure how but she tried to pretend she didn’t know up until recently.”

“Recently?”

“Our heist to save Mia.”

“Hmm,” a thoughtful look crossed her face but she didn’t say anything. “Alex, huh. Short for Alexis?”

“Mom liked how close the two names sounded,” I said. “You sure you want to talk to her? I mean—”

She was quick to cut me off.

“I just like to see what kind of tools she has at her disposal. Besides, we’re teammates. I was going to have to meet your family at some point,” she gave me a cheeky wink. As quick as the teasing came, it vanished in the blink of an eye. “Just to be clear, she doesn’t have powers?”

“No. She told me she’s friends with people that do. They give her stuff to keep her in the know,” I clicked my tongue as a realization struck me. “Huh, that’s probably how she figured me out. She did say she knew based on how I was acting but that could’ve been her deflecting.”

“Depends on who’s supplying her. She’d need some pretty sophisticated stuff to scry on what you were doing prior to meeting me.”

The implication was clear to me. Alex likely had access to stuff that wasn’t cheap. Certainly, nothing she could afford as a fledgling art student who was steadily on the cusp of her thirties. Like me, she had stuff worth millions, priceless Mechatech hardware and software. To make it even worse, she lived in France, which to my knowledge, had hefty penalties for possessing unregistered Mechatech.

“Well, I suppose the only way to know is to ask.”

My hand hovered over the button to call her and I felt a brief surge of hesitation. There was a part of me that wondered how Sam and Alex would get along. I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that if things went sour between them it would subsequently impact our relationship. I hadn’t thought of that before and it was only just occurring to me now.

“So uh, just before we do this, can I just ask you to keep a lid on Gold?” I tentatively looked over my shoulder to find her staring with a raised brow. “I think things would go better if you weren’t trying to psychoanalyze her. It can be a bit off putting.”

“I know how to talk to people, Max,” Sam replied, rolling her eyes. “But if it makes you feel better, I’m not asking to do this so I can pick fights, especially since your source is your sister.”

I wasn’t entirely certain that made me feel any better but I knew that was as good an answer as I was going to get.

With a nod, I started the call.

In typical Alex fashion, she answered the call before the first ring could finish. The webcam lit up and revealed her to be in her usual place at her desk. Again, she was eating something, spooning some food from a bowl. It looked to be cereal, which was rather strange given that it was probably midnight where she was. The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the distance, along with the rest of the city.

“Heya Max. Unusual for you to call this late– er, early.”

“Are you eating cereal?”

She looked down at the bowl and spooned another bite. It looked like a mixture of oats, grains, and yogurt.

“Yep.”

“Isn’t it like midnight for you?”

“Yaha. So? I love cereal. It doesn’t have to be strictly a breakfast food, you know. Food’s food. You can eat it whenever you want.”

“I—” I stopped myself when I realized I was beginning to descend into another one of our pointless arguments for the sake of banter. It was so habitually ingrained in me to just respond without really thinking when it came to her. “Okay, going off track here. Sorry, I didn’t call to debate cereal.”

“I’d better hope not,” Alex snorted. “Because you’d lose every time.”

Sam cackled. “I like her.”

“Oh? Who’s that?” Alex leaned forward to get a better look. Sam waved, catching her attention. “Oh! Hey there, didn’t see you on the account of my brother’s big ass head taking up the screen.”

“No problem. I’m Sam.”

“Sam! Max has mentioned you,” Alex slouched back in her chair, a grin stretching across her face. “He neglected to mention how gorgeous you are though.”

I turned and saw genuine embarrassment on Sam’s face.

“Yeah, sure,” I dismissed, eager to move the conversation along. “She’s the one that saved me a couple of weeks back and, well, the topic of Splicer came up and she wanted to know where I got the name from.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Sam. I’m Alex, his big sister but I’m guessing you already know that part.”

“I do,” Sam replied earnestly. “It’s great to meet you. Honestly, I thought Max was an only child up until now. How do you deal with him all the time? I swear, it hasn’t even been a month yet and he’s driving me up the wall.”

Ah, the classic tactic of gossiping like I wasn’t even in the room. Abby and Lucy often employed this same backhanded strategy when they were upset with me, Jackson, or Chris. It was interesting to note that behavior wasn’t exclusive to just the two of them.

“Thousands of miles of open ocean, time zones, and an emergency bottle of baileys,” Alex reached down out of view of the camera and pulled a bottle of Irish cream into view. “Sometimes, even that isn’t enough, unfortunately.”

Sam chuckled.

I just groaned.

“If I knew you were going to do this, I wouldn’t have bothered to entertain this call,” I cut in, giving Sam an unamused glare. “Can we move this along, please?”

“Aw… look at you, sourpuss,” Alex mocked lightly. “We’re just having a bit of fun. Lighten up. It’s really your fault if you think about it. You’re the one that got suckered by a cute girl. I doubt it was even hard for you to win him over, wasn’t it?”

Sam turned to me and offered me an easy smile. “I’ll give credit where it’s due, he wasn’t as easy as you think. I had to do some work on him. We’re on the same page now.”

“That’s good,” Alex nodded. “Better that than a dysfunctional partnership. I’ve seen how those have ended.”

Sam’s expression turned curious. “Hm… we’re keeping things strictly professional. There’s no need to make things messy with the way things are now. I think it’s going to work out just fine.”

Alex’s grin returned with a vengeance. “Oh, that’s so cute. That’s what they all say.”

Sam wasn’t deterred. “Mhm. So, this supplier you’ve got, don’t suppose you’d be willing to divulge who they are? Max has told me some things and if they are to be believed, you don’t have any powers.”

“Nada,” Alex replied wistfully. “Some days I think to myself that things would’ve been easier but other times I’m grateful. It’s not an easy life to live.”

“No,” Sam agreed. “Which is why I’m curious why you have access to the kind of tech you do. This contact of yours is a Mechakinetic, right? They wouldn’t part with their tech on a whim and no offense but you don’t look like you're swimming in cash, unless you live a modest lifestyle.”

“Guilty,” Alex chuckled. “Nah, I didn’t buy his stuff. I met him in one of my elective courses and we hit it off. We dated for a while and we’re sort of off and on right now. Things are hard for him with everything that’s going on over here. He wanted me to be safe.”

“You…” My voice faltered a bit as I struggled to come to terms with what I just heard. “You always said you were single.”

It wasn't betrayal, but I felt like I had been lied to. Alex was entitled to her own secrets and her relationships were none of my business but whenever it came up, she always said she was single and that she wasn’t interested in dating.

“Yeah…” Alex said slowly. “Whenever you ask, I was single, and I wasn’t interested in dating boys because I’m already seeing one. It’s what people call a situationship nowadays. I can be single, and be seeing someone at the same time. Isn’t that something?”

I frowned. “That sounds stupid.”

“You have no idea,” Sam snorted. “Anyway, does this guy have a super name?”

“Yeah, he goes by Counter-Striker.”

Sam went silent and for a moment, I thought she recognized the name. However, the look on her face showed anything but recognition. There was a sense of confusion as her eyes flashed back and forth between Gold and Blue, almost like she was glitching out.

“That… I’ve never heard of him.”

“I’d be surprised if you did. His whole speciality revolves around information gathering and suppression,” Alex explained. “If you had heard of him, then he’s not doing his job.”

“I suppose that’s fair. I can’t expect to know every single Super in the world, as much as that hurts Gold to admit,” Sam shrugged. “So if you had Max all figured out, how much do you know about me? I’m curious, because there’s no chance you haven’t looked me up.”

I resisted the urge to cough.

“I have,” Alex answered without hesitation. “I have to say, I liked the name Catelynn. The ECU has quite the dossier on you.”

Sam went quiet and I was worried for a moment that she was going to flip out and accuse us of digging into her past. She’d absolutely be right and I wouldn’t be able to fault her for it but from what I was seeing, she seemed to be taking it well.

“Ah, yeah. That makes sense,” Sam sighed. “I suppose I should have expected that. They have all my old files from my Rookie days. I should’ve broken into their systems and wiped those files myself when I had the chance, but at the time I was just in a hurry to get out. None of it really matters in the end, it’s all old data. I’ve made sure to keep my distance.”

“Smart,” Alex praised. “Couldn’t have been easy to slip out from under their thumb.”

“It wasn’t as easy as just upping and leaving. It took a month of planning. Had to make sure I had some backup plans in case things fell through, which they did, but that’s what contingencies are for,” Sam explained. “That’s all history now though. What else do you know?”

“Only what the ECU does, and what Max has told me.”

“Which isn’t much,” I chimed in, making sure to cover my bases. Sam turned and gave me a flat stare. “Only the important stuff.”

“Ahuh.”

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, which was unfortunate because I was telling the truth. I didn’t tell Alex much about Sam because I assumed she already knew all there was to know. Honestly, if there was anyone that Alex was interested in knowing about, it was Liam.

“So, is there anything else you’d like to know? I can tell this has been on your mind for a while,” Alex asked, giving Sam a knowing smile. “You seem like the type to crave information.”

“You’d be right. There’s more I’d like to ask but it’s not urgent.”

“Did you want Counter-Striker’s contact details? I’d be willing to share them with you guys if you want. He could probably even share some of his tech with you guys, which I can certainly guarantee would be a boon. Especially with Max’s powers,” Alex turned and shot me a sly grin. “You’re every Mechakinetic’s dream collaborator. He’d be thrilled to work with you.”

“What’s the catch?” Sam asked, her tone shifting to a more business-like demeanor. “Nobody works for free.”

“Oh, he’d want Max to send back some of his improved tech. Plus some other things. Like I said, his specialization is strictly information gathering and suppression but there’s no guarantee that he’s completely safe. Not in this world,” Alex said. “He’d want something to protect himself with.”

“A suit?” I asked.

Alex nodded. “And a weapon. Something hefty in case of emergencies. I have other contacts that you guys might be interested in as well, but I think we can hold off for now. You all seem to have your hands full with a particular shadow of death lurking about.”

“Yeah, we’re expecting that bomb to go off any day now,” Sam said.

“Please keep each other safe,” Alex asked, her tone turning more heartfelt. “Grim is a dangerous piece of work. I don’t think I need to say it but I’ll say it anyway. Don’t take any unnecessary risks, and… if you need to, don’t feel the need to stay and back other people up. That’s one fight where running away isn’t the cowardly thing to do.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Sam chuckled, reaching over and pinching me. “Max knows that too. We’ve seen it first hand.”

“Don’t remind me,” I muttered, shuddering. I could feel the goosebumps on my arms. “I don’t even know how we’re going to fight him. We talked about minimizing his influence and backing him into a corner but other than that, how are we actually going to fight him? Wildfire said he wanted him dead. How do we actually…” I trailed off a little. “...do that?”

“Grim has a weakness,” Alex said, instantly capturing my and Sam’s attention. She laughed weakly. “Which I don’t know. Sorry. Didn’t mean to get your hopes up, but he’s always rumored to have a weakness. I’d tell you if I knew, but nobody really knows. Even the best Mentalists in the world have struggled to figure him out.”

“Yeah, Gold feels like we’re close to something but we’re just missing something.”

“Follow that gut feeling you’ve got,” Alex said. “If you think you’re close, you really might be. Any thoughts?”

Sam was quiet for a moment. “Splicer.”

“Splicer?” I repeated, confused. “What’s he got to do with this?”

“I’m not sure but he’s working closely with Grim. If there’s a weakness to be known about him, then Splicer has to be our guy. We just need to find him first, but that’s easier said than done. He’ll be in hiding now, working in secrecy to finish whatever he was trying to do,” Sam aimlessly tapped the desk with her fingers. “We already know he was creating Artificial Awakenings but we don’t know for what purpose.”

“For… more Supers?” I suggested cluelessly. It was the first thing to come to mind. “What other reason would the Cains have? They were short on Supers before and now Grim’s the only one left now that the other three are working against him.”

“Eh, that doesn’t seem like Grim’s MO,” Alex disagreed. “I think there might be another reason.”

“As do I,” Sam nodded. “The only way we’re going to know is if we capture Splicer somehow.”

“I can see if I can dig up some more info on him,” Alex offered. “I’m not doing much right now. I’m just waiting for my semester results to come back and I have been pretty bored lately. It’ll give me a reason to flex my techie skills.”

“You’re offering to help us?” Sam asked with a raised brow.

Alex shrugged. “Of course. Like I’m gonna say no? Max seems willing to stick it out with you so the best I can do is offer help when it's needed. Anything to keep him, and by extension you guys, alive. Plus, you seem like a nice girl. It’d be a shame to see you bite the dust.”

“Aw, you're too kind,” Sam chuckled. “Well, I’m not gonna say no.”

“Good, that makes things easier. I’ll let you guys know if I find anything on Splicer,” Alex said, giving me a smile. “Thanks for calling, Max. It’s good to see you doing well. Mum’s been worried.”

“No problem. I’ll make sure to talk to her more. I’ve been a bit flaky lately. Distracted,” I explained. “Talk to you later.”

“Okay, you two take care. No funny business, okay?” She chuckled, waving. “Bye!”

The webcam went dead and I turned to Sam. Her expression was completely neutral, almost expressionless. It took a moment for her to actually register that the call had ended. When she did, she blinked and turned to me.

“She was nice.”

“I was worried that call would turn sour.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “You worry too much.”

She stood up and slowly strolled to the door. She looked lost in thought and it was slightly off-putting.

“You okay?” I asked.

She turned, seeming lost in her own thoughts.

“Yeah, why?”

“You just seem… off.”

“Just thinking about Splicer,” she replied. “Alex is right. It’s not really Grim’s MO to want more Supers, especially one’s he’d have trouble controlling. He’s after something else and I have a feeling Splicer knows exactly what it is.”

“So, we need to find him then, before the stuff with Grim goes off.”

“Yeah…” Sam nodded. “Yeah. We need to get him, and I might have an idea on how to do that.”