Somnus V - Chapter 11

Sunlight poured down on the picnic area, and Kat leaned back on the wooden bench while her sister, Michelle, frolicked in the large fountain that filled up almost a third of the open space. Hans, the domesticated dire wolf that Kat had somehow adopted ran by chasing after a softball while Penelope, her mother, hovered over a nearby grill covered in sizzling hamburgers.

Dorrik yanked one of his hands backward, and a purple glow surrounded the softball, jerking it away from Hans and sending it careening into the fountain. The big wolf followed it, jumping into the water.

Kat reacted instantly, planting one hand on the back of her bench and vaulting it in an eyeblink. A fraction of a second later, a wall of water hit everything in the picnic area. Steam billowed up from the grill as it soaked that hot coals, and Michelle stood still in the center of the fountain, mouth half open and drenched.

“That’s enough!” Penelope shouted. “No more horseplay. Dorrik, get over here. You’re stuck assembling the hamburgers and putting them on plates. Michelle, you’re clearing the picnic table. Kat and Whippoorwill, dry Hans off and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble. I don’t want him shaking himself dry next to the table while I’m trying to eat potato salad.”

 Somewhat sheepishly, Dorrik summoned the softball back to his hand. Penelope shot him a stern look. The lokkel tucked the ball back into the bag he kept at his side before walking over to where Kat’s mother was working at the grill.

 “How are the new psi receptive materials working?” Kat asked Dorrik as she jogged over to where Hans was splashing around in the fountain like a puppy. “Are there any hiccups in its control? Maybe some inefficiency in the amount of psi energy you need to hover the ball? The scientists said that it’s just a prototype so there’s plenty of room for improvement.”

 “It’s hardly anything next to the training tools I used back home,” the lokkel replied, opening a plastic bag filled with generic looking wheat buns, “but still it’s quite impressive for a world like yours. I didn’t even think that the stallesp bothered with psi reactive material research. It’s a miracle that you managed to develop even a halfway functional prototype in a matter of months.”

 Kat waved a hand, double casting Levitation as she chatted. Hans lifted off the ground, whining in confusion while he hovered in the air, legs kicking wildly.

 “The stallesp didn’t use psi reactive materials for training or industrial lifting like some of the other races,” Kat replied, watching as Whip jumped up into the air, shoving the dire wolf so that it began floating away from the water. “I don’t think they had enough psi users to bother with that. What they did use it for was armor. Apparently they were concerned that someone like you would be able to use mind control abilities through a wall or something. There was just enough exotic matter built into the warship’s armor that we were able to get the hang of making something that could interact with psi powers.”

 “Fascinating,” Dorrik remarked, his lower hands deftly setting out buns and layering them with lettuce and tomatoes even while his upper right hand cradled his chin. “Most of your species is about as trustworthy as a pit full of garr snakes in breeding season, but your ability to innovate and develop under pressure truly is something special.”

 “I’m not sure whether or not I should be taking that as a compliment,” Kat said dryly, “but I choose to take it that way. Better to maintain a positive attitude and all.”

 Hans whined a second time, and Kat lowered him onto the ground now that he wasn’t over the water anymore. Whippoorwill jumped at him with a giant towel, rubbing the struggling wolf down. He made a pitiful noise, shying away from the cloth but not actually taking a step away from Whip.

 “I wonder if the material could be used to make a shield or helmet that would protect a warrior against psi interference such as mind control?” Dorrik asked, before Kat could answer a spatula hit his shoulder.

 “No science,” Penelope scolded. “Michelle wanted a picnic so we’re going to have a picnic. If I let the two of you go, the two of you will ramble on endlessly about magic, mana, and corporate nonsense for eight hours straight without even bothering to touch your burgers.”

 “But-” Dorrik began only for the spatula to smack into his shoulder a second time.

 “But nothing,” Penelope cut him off. “Once lunch is served you can talk about business. Until then, keep conversation light and keep your hands moving. We have a lot of burgers to serve if we’re going to have a proper picnic.”

 “Don’t bother,” Kat said with a laugh. “Mom said that we’re going to have a proper lunch like a normal family so we’re going to have a proper lunch like a normal family. It doesn’t matter that you’re a literal alien, Hans is some sort of genetic abomination, and I’m a shareholder.”

 The image of a meadow on a summer day rippled and a door seemed to appear out of nowhere. A second later, Emma stepped through followed by Heather, each of them holding pies.

 “Dessert!” Michelle yelled, still dripping wet as she stood next to a decidedly still dirty picnic table. Kat couldn’t help but let herself smile as her sister tore off toward Heather and Emma.

 Penelope just sighed in defeat.

 “Is this what it’s like trying to get her to do her homework?” Kat asked with a laugh, grabbing a spare towel as she helped Whippoorwill with the whimpering dire wolf. “I remember how much of a handful she was when we were all living in the arcology together. I can only imagine how hard it would be to keep her on task now that she’s a little older.”

 Penelope snorted, flipping two of the burgers as she shook her head.

 “Not having to work really helps,” she replied. “I’ve tried to get a new job with your influence, but pretty much all employment that isn’t degrading or horrifying either requires a level of training and expertise that I won’t be able to match for four to five years, or its a cushy make-work position where I wouldn’t actually do anything.”

 “So long as I hover over Michelle’s shoulder, she gets her homework done,” Penelope continued, sliding a hamburger off of her spatula onto one of Dorrik’s buns. “I can’t help tutor her on the specifics the way you could, but we have enough money now that I can simply hire an expert to do that for me.”

 Kat chuckled, taking a step back from Hans. A quick application of Scald evaporated the last of the moisture clinging to his fur. She slapped the direwolf on the side and it galloped off toward Emma and Heather.

 Without slowing down, Heather slipped the pie in her hand to Emma and tackled Hans. Emma wobbled slightly as she struggled to transfer the new pastry to her spare hand while Heather and Hans rolled around on the ground, play-fighting over the dire wolf’s quiet growls.

 Kat tossed her towel over to Whippoorwill and jogged out to meet Emma, grabbing the spare pie from her before she could lose her balance and drop the food. On the ground, Heather rolled on top of Hans, pinning the panting and happy direwolf even as he tried unsuccessfully to gnaw on one of her cyber arms.

 “Apple?” Kat asked Emma, glancing down at the pie. The other woman shook her head.

 “Peach cobbler,” she replied. “Apple is fine but it just seemed a little too stereotypical for a picnic so we had the chefs make cobbler and a pumpkin pie.”

 Kat rolled her eyes, leading Emma over to where Michelle was frantically cleaning off the table so that there would be a spot for the pies.

 “How is the investigation into the gas attack going?” She asked more quietly, inclining her head slightly toward Emma. “Whoever it was, they were good enough to infiltrate Donnst security. That might have been easier during a wedding when hundreds of people were attending, but I’ve seen the work Belle put into securing that place. Sneaking in is top tier infiltrator work. I could have done it and so could about a hundred other people around the world, but that’s not actually a huge list. Whoever it is, I’m sure I know their name at the very minimum.”

“Shareholder Donnst sent over all of the security footage of the-” Emma began only for Penelope to cut her off.

“No burger, no business. Set your pies down and grab some food. Once you’re eating you can talk about matters of world shaking importance. Until then, everyone is on picnic prep duty.”

Emma shot Kat a sheepish smile. They set the pies down on the picnic table, and after Kat ran the remaining handful of empty ground beef trays and bun wrappers over to the nearby trash bin, she grabbed one of the paper plates complete with a Dorrik assembled burger. After slopping some potato salad and chips onto her plate, she picked a spot at the picnic table and sat down.

A second later, Emma joined her, almost immediately shoving a burger into her mouth.

“Ash I wash sayi-” the other woman began, chewing as she spoke, “God thash good, justasec.”

Penelope glared at her. Kat’s mother didn’t need to say anything. Emma quickly swallowed the food in her mouth before grabbing a soda off the table and cracking it open with a hiss.

Whippoorwill sat down on the other side of Kat with Dorrik seating himself across from the three of them as Emma began speaking again.

“Anyway, the Donnsts sent us footage of the event. It took a bit to upload all of the feeds from all of the cameras into the same file and transmit it, but our analysts have been looking it over for the last couple of days and we can’t find anything out of place.”

“Then how did the gas canister get in there?” Whip asked, a forkful of potato salad halfway to her face. “I’ve seen pictures of it. Someone managed to get their hands on a high end nerve gas produced by GroCorp's chemical research department. That isn’t even on the market yet.”

“That means the attack is probably internal,” Heather chimed in. “The lack of useful footage combined with using a weapon that no one should have outside of GroCorp itself is incredibly suspicious. Still, it's almost too simple. I could see someone inexperienced using the tools on hand to try and pull off an assassination, but this isn’t the sort of operation that a person like that would attempt. Anyone capable of putting together an operation of this caliber wouldn’t have any trouble sourcing nerve gas. It really feels like the lack of available evidence is a smokescreen, deliberately trying to draw us off course.”

“Just like in the Crytpocurrency Caper on Chrome Cowboys,” Michelle said excitedly. “In that one Doctor Gamma planted evidence to make Jenny think that her allies had betrayed her. That let him get away with all kinds of crimes while she investigated them.”

“I think it turned out that the bad guys were the waiters in the internet cafe,” she continued, eyes unfocusing as she tried to dredge the old episode up from memory. “Every time Jenny or one of her friends would visit or try and pass on a secret message, the waiters would change it. That led to a lot of miscommunication and distrust as they kept accidentally sending each other into ambushes. It finally ended with Jenny and Drake Diego realizing that Doctor Gamma was manipulating both of them. Drake confessed his love to Jenny, but she ended up turning him down because her heart could only belong to the cybercow herds and the open plains.”

“Michelle,” Kat’s mom said sternly. “Your sister and her friends are talking about people who tried to kill her and Whippoorwill. Now isn’t the time for you to recite storylines from an entertainment vid soap opera.”

“But Moooom,” Michelle replied, affronted. “I’m trying to participate.”

Before Penelope could respond, Dorrik spoke up, each pair of his arms holding a separate hamburger.

“I remember that episode. It was part of Drake Diego’s redemption arc was it not? I seem to recall being quite upset that they tried to turn Drake into a potential love interest after he had betrayed Jenny at least twice in each of the three previous seasons.”

 “Dorrik Ahn,” Penelope scolded. “I just told Michelle not to talk about Chrome Cowboys during a serious discussion, and I will not soften my position just because you are an alien and the scion to some sort of huge all powerful corporation. Please do not undermine me in front of Michelle. She’s hard enough to control as is.”

 “Actually,” Kat interjected, tossing a potato chip to the eagerly waiting Hans. The big wolf’s tail thumped happily against the floor as he demolished it. “Michelle’s story made me think of something. What if the information we’re getting from Belle isn’t accurate because the information she’s getting isn’t accurate? Everyone is focusing on the possibility of there being an agent embedded in her organization, but there are a lot more options for the security breach.”

 “You’ve looked at the footage Emma,” she continued, “does it look like an actual recording of the wedding? Is there anything you noticed that looked out of place?”

 “Not really,” Emma replied as Kat took another bite from the burger. It seemed a little blander than before, like the flavor had faded from it as she focused on the aftermath of the murder plot. “Of course, I was busy talking with Jasper and Irene near the end of the wedding. That’s most likely when the gas canister was placed given how many people were passing by the coat rooms. Nothing looked out of place, but then again, I’m not sure that I would have noticed anything given how wrapped up I was in my conversation.”

 “Maybe you could let Whip and I look at the footage?” Kat asked. “We were getting ready to leave the party a little early so I was watching the crowds as we moved. I might have spotted something, but I was a little distracted because Whip-”

 “Enough,” Whippoorwill hissed. “I was being insecure and anxious. It was embarrassing. No need to get into the nitty gritty.”

 “Sure,” Emma replied, wisely not commenting on Kat and Whip’s brief interplay. She reached up and tapped the side of her smartglass. A half second later, Kat’s smartglass pinged, alerting her to the incoming file.

 She took another bite as footage from the wedding began to play. Another couple flicks of her eye switched the camera angle and fast forwarded the file until she saw Whippoorwill and her standing up from the shareholder table. There wasn’t any sound, and Kat almost immediately felt the absence of her enhanced senses.

 It had been a couple of days, but that time didn’t take the sting out of watching Whippoorwill’s argument with her. Now that Kat was looking in from the outside, it was easy to see the signs. Whip’s shoulders were tense and square, her face wooden as she stalked alongside Kat in the video.

 Part of Kat couldn’t help but notice how cute her girlfriend was when she was mad, but the far greater part of herself decided that self preservation was more important than making a remark of that nature. Even if it was true, some truths weren’t terribly welcome.

 A flick of Kat’s eyes fast forwarded the video, skipping past most of the awkward interactions that were to come. Luckily, she didn’t have to relive the painful conversation as she-

 Kat stopped, burger halfway to her mouth. She blinked and then flicked her eyes to the left, rewinding the video. Her expression tightened as she rewatched the scene.

 “Crap,” she muttered, rewinding it one more time before amending her previous statement. “Double crap.”

 “What is it Kat?” Emma asked. Kat wasn’t looking at her, instead rewatching the video for a third time to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating anything, but she could hear the worry in the other woman’s voice. “Did you spot something we missed?”

 Kat let the scene play itself out one last time before responding. The video was as plain as day. It showed her pausing next to Whip before they went to meet Belle and staring off into the crowd of guests. At nothing.

 “It wasn’t what you missed,” Kat replied, turning the recording off and setting her hamburger down as a frown blossomed on her face. “I remember making eye contact with a woman with blue hair. She moved like a player or a samurai so I took note of her. At the time, I thought she was part of some executive’s security detail, but she’s not in the video at all.”

 “Does that mean that someone went through all of the footage of the wedding and removed her and only her?” Whippoorwill asked with a low whistle. “I’m sure we’ve had some talented people looking at the recording. To do all of that without leaving any digital artifacts or clues that the recording had been altered is almost impossibly difficult. Especially on short notice and while logged in to a hostile network.”

 Kat stood up from the table, running a hand through her hair as she frowned.

 “Room, end picnic simulation.” Michelle groaned in response to the bright sunny sky dissolving into the silvery gray of metal and Hans cocked his head to the side, whining in confusion. No one else said anything, their faces dark as they thought over the implications of Kat and Whippoorwill’s statement.

 None of them felt much like a picnic anymore.

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