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Pick a card, Any card
I managed to return to the apartment without any delay, safely storing Sting’s bow in my wardrobe. Only after the oak doors swung closed did my instincts start to go off. I was being watched.
"So this place is really yours?" a light voice taunted. "It's no wonder you move around so often."
I turned, spotting the small figure of a black fox hiding among the shadows, silver mask guarding her yellow eyes. Her lithe body wound its way up to me and she sat, the silver tips of her tail shimmering as she wrapped the bushy limb around her legs and waited.
I sighed, leaning back against the smoothed, polished oak and flashed the fox a smile. "Dawn. I didn't think I'd see you again."
A light laugh escaped behind a needle-toothed smile as Dawn's body began to shift. Her body was soon replaced with that of a young woman, as thin and frail as her fox form. She was all legs and arms, proportions stuck in the awkward stage of mid-youth.
Her body had been captured in a skin-tight uniform, a navy-blue stripe across the front of the black fabric making her curves seem more pronounced. Full, straight black hair was swept into a tight ponytail resting high up on the back of her head, swinging from side to side as she stood and stretched.
"You honestly thought the Keepers would let you off with only a warning after last time?" She asked with a laugh.
"Oh come on," I sighed, "It was Halloween. What was I supposed to do? Besides, I exposed the black market in the underground tunnels on the island and pointed them to the mob responsible for organizing said market. They could do with trusting people a little more."
Dawn began stretching from side to side, sputtering a curt laugh as she moved. "You nearly blew up half the island. You think they're not going to keep an eye on you after that?"
I shrugged. "I suspected a bug in the apartment, maybe. But they're so busy keeping humans out of the city and maintaining the magical bubble mirror that I didn't think they'd care once I was off the island."
She sighed with relief as she finished stretching, a sound of complete contentment. "Well," she said, sauntering towards me, allowing me to see the swing of the katana at her side, "it's not like they thought you'd actually listen to them. Once they figured out which apartment was yours, they sent me here to keep an eye on things. They probably wouldn’t trust you around technology, anyway."
"Such a pity when a group of peacekeeping lawmen wind up as technophobes."
She shrugged. "Not my department. I'm just supposed to notify them when you arrive."
“So why didn’t I catch you the first time?”
“I wanted to see what you were doing, dumb-dumb. When I couldn’t open the wardrobe by myself, I figured I’d wait for you to come back and ask you what you were up to.”
“And your ‘department’?”
“Oh, I’ve already let the Keepers know you’re here. They’re on their way.”
"What, no professional courtesy? No slack for old times?" I gave her a mockingly pathetic frown as she stared at me with solid yellow eyes. "I'm hurt."
"Sorry," she smirked, "but you know as well as I, there's no honor among thieves."
"True," I said with a shrug, putting my hands in my pockets and casually moving forward. Her hand went to her katana as she shifted her weight backwards. I smiled. "Then you can't really blame me for doing this—!” With a jerk, I pulled out a handful of flash powder and activated it, flinging it in her face. The black dust snapped through the air, the powder lighting up with a sharp pop as smoke erupted in a thick cloud. The room was engulfed by the smell of Sulfur, Dawn letting out a shriek as her more sensitive nose no doubt made the sharp smell more potent.
While Dawn was busy fighting her senses, I took off. Swinging the wardrobe’s doors open, I dove through the blank space beyond and slammed the doors behind me. I spun and slapped a hand against the wood, activating a locking spell of my own design. Only someone carrying my DNA could open the wardrobes now, and any relative I might have had in the past was long gone.
The benefit of having a wardrobe magically linked to other places was for limitless storage and quick escapes. The problem was the link itself; instead of it being a simple matter of stepping through the wardrobe on one end and out another end, the set I stole was linked by a zero-gravity void.
I drifted through the cold space of the link between, alone and nearly helpless. I held a deep disgust for this empty place. It always gave me the willies. You couldn't tell what was up, what was down, and how long you'd been inside until you came out the other end. If it took you too long to find an exit, the discovery of how much time you’ve lost can be brutal.
You try being lost in this place for years. You’d hate it too.
It was like drifting off to a different land...somewhere cold and lifeless. Somewhere an evil witch is out to get you because of who you are, and your only true friend is some sort of large predator.
Or wait. Maybe I was thinking of a book.
Regardless, I had no idea where I was and, even worse, I had no idea where I was drifting off to.
"Damn," I swore silently. My voice echoed out into the distance as I slowly began to spin backwards. I had hoped to take a minor breather on the island and repair some of my equipment. I needed time to decide how I was going to deal with the next environment and the next weapon holder. I had a few things in my apartment that would have been helpful, but the appearance of Dawn and the threat of sudden Keeper invasion squashed my plan flat. Don’t get me wrong, I could have fought them all off very easily. But it wouldn’t exactly help my reputation if word got back to the mainland that I killed an entire squad.
Dawn. Poor thing. She used to run on an old pirate ship with me before she was turned into a marwolaeth. When the Keepers got a hold of her, she got roped into doing volunteer work for them in exchange for her freedom. The way she tells it, she enjoyed the work so much she continued on as a full-fledged Keeper.
That is, as full-fledged as a marwolaeth could be, considering most of the Keepers kept that particular group of shape-shifters at arms length.
Regardless of how her fellow lawmakers treated her, Dawn would do her righteous duty and report my appearance. They'd try everything they could to get the wardrobe open, but nothing could get through a DNA lock. Almost nothing.
A gentle glow began to pulse out into the dark, shining like a beacon. I tilted my head to get a better look at it, my body shifting in the dark. It turned into a steady throb as I drifted, the light widening into a ribbon now bright enough to expose the only other resident in the wardrobe: my top hat.
Well. My second top hat.
Black metal gleamed, a ribbon of light coming from the band around the hat’s base. It blipped, a tiny hiccup causing the hat to jerk, and the ribbon became a steady band.
This one worked on mechanical power instead of magical.
Mostly mechanical.
An orb fell from the hat’s opening, jerking to a stop thanks to several thin lines attached to the brim. Tiny strings of light surfaced, sketching out ten cylinders and a pair of triangles across the orb’s surface.
The cylinders broke away first with a snap, leaving the pair of triangles behind. With a jerk, they broke away with an identical sharp snap. The cylinders came together, five to each triangle in order to take the shape of geometric hands. Two fingers rested on either side of the palm, and a thumb slid down to the bottom point.
The last edge of the triangle was left fingerless, a small silver thread glittering between the bottom of the angular palm and the empty remains of the orb, which now dangled as a shiny ring.
"Hello, Master!" the hat chirped, metallic voice as high and gritty as I remembered it being. A red line appeared against the white striped base and began darting back and forth as the hat’s sensor activated. "Are you well today?"
"I've been better, Rut," I sighed, "Been better."
Rut’s speaker emitted an electronic sputter as he bounced for a moment, hands bobbing comically.
"Master, please. You know my designation. I implore you to use it."
I rolled my eyes.
Rut's ‘designation’ was Recon Unit 00-T, but I preferred the shortened version. He was something I created the first time I got lost in this endless holding pit, using things that had gotten sucked into the wardrobes and never made it out.
He primarily operated as my guide, a navigational chip and internal motor allowing him free range of the magical expanse. Aside from the freedom of being directionally challenged, he was capable of holding infinite amounts of information and had a self-defense mode. Rut was essentially the final barrier against anyone tripping into my personal hellhole.
"Fine...Rut." I smiled as he let out a distorted sigh. "Think you can help me out of here again?"
"What else am I here for...Roddy?" My smile dropped as Rut let out a metallic snort. I should have never designed his personality chip. But he was so damn annoying before I created it.
One of his cold hands grabbed my ankle, his motor activating with a grating screech.
"Which community are we going to surprise with a random appearance today, sir?" he asked.
"Door number four, smarty-pants."
Eventually, I figured out having a navigator would be far more helpful if he had a specific destination and scratched numbers on the inside of all the doors. Turtle Island’s door was number two, and door number four led to an apartment in New York. It may not have been the magical hot-spot of the century, but I did have a couple of items worth grabbing before my next heist.
"By the way," Rut’s mechanical voice whirred, "I picked up an electronic signal from outside Wardrobe Three. I could not understand the name, as the signal was not clear enough. But the voice was male and he was a bit distressed."
"Oh yeah?" I asked, watching small objects in the darkness pass us by. I reached out and nabbed a tiny memory stick, recognizing the casing instantly. I had been looking for this thing for months. "What was he upset about?"
"I am not quite sure. The message was unclear. Something about a possession of yours. A water bottle. And a promise."
My blood froze for a second. I craned my head around to stare at Rut. "He said what?"
"It is as I said."
"I don't need what you said, I need what he said. Play the message back for me."
We slowed as Rut hesitated, his white band glowing for a second or two as he scanned the area. A tiny beep echoed from his sensor and we changed direction.
"Are you sure, Master?"
"Of course I'm sure!"
"Very well. Hold, please." Rut's hat sputtered and groaned as he began to replay the conversation.
Hello?—ZzZt—Rod?
No sir, this is Recon Unit 00-T. Rod is not here at the moment; shall I take a message?
I had hop—ZzZzZt—alk with him—ZzZ—sonally. Thi—ZzT—ie.
I'm sorry sir, can you repeat that?
Jam—ZzT—ame—ZzZzT—mie.
I'm sorry sir, the connection must be bad. Please retreat to a stronger signal and try again.
Listen,—ZzZ—tell him that—ZzZt—tried to contact him. If—ZzZzT—his water b—ZzZzZzZt—the ti—ZzZ—f he—ZzZ—meet me—ZzZzT—graveyard, his promise—ZzZzZzZzZzT—illed. He—ZzZt—free—ZzZzT—But—ZzZzZ—etter ma—ZzZzT—oon; The clans are—ZzZt—restless—ZzZ—Danger is—ZzZ—oming.
Very well, sir. I have recorded the message for future relay, although I fear the message will not be clear. Are you sure you do not wish to obtain a clearer signal and try again?
—ZzZzT—
Sir?
—ZzZt—
...sir?
There was a click as Rut's recording ended.
"Shall I replay it for you, Master?" Rut asked, resuming his smooth course towards the targeted wardrobe door.
"No," I said, mind racing. "No, that's alright."
Damn. I wish I knew the whole message. The voice belonged to a wolf marwolaeth by the name of Jamie. I could assume what the message was about, but you know what making an assumption makes you.
To make a very long story short, Jamie and I met a while ago under very different circumstances. He managed to take something from me, something very important, and hide it. In order to get it back, I had to make a binding promise to take care of Olyvia until further notice. Since I had very little choice in the matter, I dutifully took on the role of babysitter and had been paying for it ever since.
Now Jamie was dangling freedom in front of my face. Apparently all I had to do was meet him at some graveyard. But I didn't have the whole message. For all I knew, he had another 'assignment' he would give me at said graveyard meeting. I wouldn't put it past him.
It's times like these having multiples of myself really helped. I flipped out my phone and began tapping out a group message before a thought hit me. I hesitated, my finger hovering over the keypad.
"Hey," I said, reaching up and tapping one of Rut's metal fingers.
"Yes Master?"
"What did you make of that message?"
"It sounded genuine to me, Master."
"And you could do nothing to clear it up?"
"I could try to supplement the incomplete words with possible substitutes and extrapolate the complete sentences based on the possibilities, but there would be no telling how accurate the information would be."
Better than nothing.
“Here,” I said, presenting the flash drive to the mechanical hat, “make a copy of the message and extrapolate the possibilities onto the copied message, then put both files on this drive."
"Certainly, Master," Rut said, a pair of fingers separating from his formed hand and pinching the flash drive. With a smooth motion, his fingers tucked up inside the hat, quickly returning without the drive and reattaching themselves to his palm with a firm click. A small blip from his sensor band told me he had attached the stick to his internal circuitry. "Would you like to be notified in the usual manner when it is complete?"
"What do you think?"
"Usual manner it is," Rut responded.
“One more thing,” I said, deleting my previous message and tapping out a new one. “Can you get a text out for me?”