Witch of the Web

Chapter 14

Rose

Having been stuck in a wheelchair for years, I’m not really a big fan of being stuck in one place. Willow assures me that she’s almost done, but I’m quickly becoming more and more restless. 

It really doesn’t help that I can hear Felicia, Summer and Summer’s Aunt, this Matira lady, downstairs chatting. At least the monsters have stopped attacking. I wonder what drew so many towards my tower. I know they are eager to infiltrate any system they can, but I’ve never heard of so many attacking a location at once. 

Glancing at my familiar, it occurs to me that it might have something to do with Willow. I can just about feel a response from her, even though she’s still busy at work finishing up the final details of my meatspace body.

Wait. Shit.

They want her for the same reason LOG wants her. 

Fuck. That’d be bad. 

Just as that horrifying realization clicks into place, Willow announces she’s done. I can tell I’m on the right track as she’s refusing to even argue the point. 

“What would happen? Could they actually use your powers?” I press the issue. Willow lays down on my lap as I sit up to get a better look at her. She’s scared of the possibility, and really doesn’t want to consider it any further. 

At least she’s cleaned up my wards. Hell, I think they’re better than they were before.

I pick up the fluffy black cat and take her downstairs to meet with the others. As I walk in, I can just barely hear Summer whispering something to this tiny slip of a woman. 

Clearing my throat to catch their attention, everyone’s gaze snaps to me. “Thanks for your help Ms. Ironwood,” I say. I figure it’d be better if I stay on good terms with Summer’s family considering the fact that I’m dragging her into a global conspiracy. 

“Don’t thank me yet missy,” she replies as she marches over to me. Somehow, this woman who’s even shorter than I am, is more intimidating than even LOG’s knights. She pokes a sharp finger into my chest and looks up at me. “My niece has caught me up to speed on this whole fiasco you’ve dragged her into. I want to make sure you’re worth the trouble.” 

I’m frozen in place, like a deer in headlights. I’m not sure how to assure her I’m worth all this, when I’m not even confident I’m worth it. Summer lets out a heavy sigh and moves to stand next to her aunt. “Aunt Lonnie, please,” she pleads with her.

The tiny angry woman looks between us and then over at Felicia. She exhales deeply then lets her shoulders fall. “Fine. But you three will ne-” 

“Four,” I correct her and nod at Willow.

“Right, sure, four. Actually, is this cat actually what they say it is?” she asks.

“First of all, she’s a she. And yes. If it weren’t for Willow, I’d still be wasting away in a wheelchair, just waiting to die,” I state, my expression as hard as steel. “Plus, if the loggers get their filthy claws on her, you can say goodbye to any and all civil liberties you’ve enjoyed up until now.”

Felicia clears her throat to get our attention. “Rose is right,” she agrees with me. That more than anything makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. It’s so weird how far we’ve come in such a short period. Not even a week ago, Felicia and I would’ve considered each other enemies, and now there’s a growing… something between us. I hesitate to call it love. I’m not sure if I believe love is a real thing if I’m being honest. Though it’s clear that we all care about each other. 

I’m once more a little suspicious of whether Willow is nudging us mentally towards this budding relationship. She never actually denied the ability to mess with people’s minds, and as much as I trust her, I wouldn’t exactly put it past her to gently encourage us to get together. 

Willow looks up at me from my arms and very clearly explains that while yes, she could manipulate my mind if she were so inclined, but why would she let me worry about it if she could? Furthermore, while she has the ability, she finds it detestable. She’s also a little insulted that I would think so little of her.

Huh. That is a good point. I apologize for my assumptions by scritching behind her ears. She quite enjoys that. 

“Isn’t that right, Rose?” Summer asks. I’ve clearly missed some of the conversation.

“Uuuuuh…” I smile awkwardly. “Run that by me again,” I say with a weak laugh. “I was a bit lost in my thoughts.”

“Pfft,” Summer snorts softly. “The more I think you’ve changed since we were kids, the more I realize you haven’t changed that much.” She shakes her head. “I was explaining to my aunt that you wouldn’t abuse Willow’s power. Right?” 

I let out a little giggle before I can stop myself. Me? Not abuse power? “Sure,” I reply. “I’m not going to try and establish myself as supreme ruler of reality or anything ridiculous like that,” I say with a mischievous grin. “But I fully intend to use Willow’s power to do what I’ve always done.”

“And what’s that?” Lonnie asks with a serious expression. 

“Knock arrogant dickwaffles down a peg or seven.” It’s times like these, I am so glad I practiced an evil laugh. Admittedly it’s more of a cackle, but it’s great to make people a little uneasy at times. And when I indulge in a little sinister snickering, I’m rewarded with looks of mild concern from those around me. 

I better reassure them.

“People in positions of authority become too complacent,” I point out. “They get so concerned about maintaining their authority that they forget why they have the authority in the first place.” I look over at Felicia. “Tell me honestly, how long has the head of LOG been in charge?” 

My red-head companion looks thoughtful before a frown settles on her face. “Longer than I’ve been alive.”

“Exactly. It’s been the same guy since the start actually. He’s amassed so much wealth and power that he uses it to pay for top of the line life prolonging procedures.” I pull up an image of the big guy in charge. “This man here took payouts from private corporations and various donations and made his own personal army. And he’s not the only one who does it.” 

I pull up image after image of the people in charge of the biggest companies and organizations in just our local area. There’s thirteen of them. “These quote-unquote, people, have nearly all the power in Lanadey. They use their power to amass more power.” I wave my hand and all the images crumble like dust. “I’ve been thinking about what to do after LOG has been wiped off the face of the earth. And it came to me while Willow was finishing up with my body.” I take a deep breath. “I’m going to shake things up. I’ve thought small for so long because I had to. For the first time though, I have the power to actually accomplish some real change. To finish what my parents started.” 

“This is all well and good,” Lonnie interrupts. “But what about the people who are just doing their job? The innocents that are going to get caught up in the crossfire. And what’s to stop someone from just taking the place of these people you take down?” Her arms are crossed, but her expression suggests she hasn’t fully dismissed my plans.

“I’m with you on taking down LOG, Rose, but aunt Lonnie has a point,” Summer adds on. “Lots of the people working for these guys are just doing what they can to make it by. If you want our help, we need to ensure only those who deserve it get brought down.”

Felicia seems quiet, but I can tell she understands where I’m coming from. Still, the others raise good points. “Fucking over regular folks is the last thing I want to do. And it’s one of the reasons I’m going to need help,” I admit. “I’m only human, and I don’t want to fall into the same mistakes the people I want to bring down have. So I’ll need people I trust to keep me honest.” I look at Felicia with a warm smile. “I know I wasn’t super confident about our chances with just LOG, but seeing more of what Willow can do, I can’t help but think that we’ve been given the key to making some real change.” My gaze shifts to the others. “So are you all with me?”

Lonnie smirks and wanders over to me. She places her hand on my shoulder with a confident smile. “That’s reassuring, and refreshing,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve got some friends who have similar ideas to you lot, and I’d love to introduce you to them.” She hands me a card with a meatspace address on it.  “Come here tomorrow night at ten pm. There will be a doorman. Tell him you’re there for the Tuesday night special and he’ll let you in.” 

Ha ha. What the shit? 

“Are we spies now?” I snort in amusement. “That’s some late night spy thriller rerun type bullshit.” 

“Hey, old cliches exist for a reason,” she retorts. “Now, I need to go make some arrangements. Remember, tomorrow night at ten. See you there.” Like a flash, she dashes to the window and took off. She shouldn’t have been able to leave my wards without permission, but somehow she did just that.

“Something tells me your aunt isn’t just a high tier Quester, Summer,” I comment with amusement.

“Yeah, I think you’re right…” my blonde girlfriend agrees. “So, what should we do with the rest of the day?” she asks.

Felicia grins and moves over to tap on my chest. “Well, Rose’s changes should be complete yeah?” she points out. “We should go see how she looks.”

Summer grins excitedly and immediately logs out with Felicia hot on her tail. I sigh and sit in one of the chairs. “So how do I get out of lanadel?” I ask Willow. “Do I just -”

****

“- ask you to-” I blink as I realize I’m in my meatspace body again. It’s different though. Very different. It feels more like my proxy body. I look around and see Felicia and Summer have already returned to the bedroom to check in on me. They both have bright smiles on their faces, so I assume Willow did some good work. “Could I get a -” Anticipating my need, Felicia pulls out a mirror and offers it to me.

Gently I hold the reflective surface up and admire my new face. It’s similar to my proxy body, but there are some minor differences. In Lanadel I’m inhumanly flawless, but to ensure I don’t look like someone with an overpriced surgeon, Willow has made me have small little flaws to make me look more natural. 

Huh. Why am I crying? I feel great.

Within seconds, Summer has me wrapped in her arms. “I had a similar reaction the first time I got a full proper look at myself,” she explains as she strokes my hair. “I’d managed to save up for the full works all at once so it was like waking up to a new person in the mirror. It’s a bit overwhelming isn’t it?” she asks. I give her a weak nod which she returns. “It passes with time.” 

I lean into her embrace and just stay there for a while. It’s like something has flipped on inside me recently. Before reuniting with Summer, I hadn’t really had someone just hold me for comfort since my parents died. But now, these little moments are like a drug. I can’t get enough of them.

Fuck. I’m down so fucking bad. 

While me and Summer hug it out, Felicia attempts to step out of the room. I wave her over to the bed. Right now, I don’t give a fuck about her being a former logger. I know that she’s comfortable to snuggle with from the other night and I’m done avoiding pleasant things for stupid reasons. 

The red-head seems conflicted, but eventually relents and climbs into the bed on my other side. Willow joins us shortly after by crawling out of my chest and laying on top of it. If she wasn’t as cute as she is, it would be way creepier. 

All four of us lean into the embrace and wind up taking a long nap into the mid afternoon. It’s only nature’s call that convinces us to separate. When it’s my turn to use the bathroom, I’m faced with a little flare of panic.

Will it still be there?

I mean I haven’t been able to feel it. 

Will my new parts work right?

How would a cat AI know how to make genitalia? 

Willow nudges the back of my heel and I stumble into the bathroom. 

“Fine, fine,” I grumble as I hike up my dress and pull down my underwear. 

I really need new clothes.

At least things look… fine? I’ve never actually seen one from this angle. I may have just put permanent underwear on my proxy body out of fear of what I’d feel. 

Fortunately, using my new equipment isn’t difficult, it’s mostly the same general instincts after all. In the end, my first time using a bathroom with my new parts is almost anticlimactic. I suppose I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth though. With my business done, I head out to check on the others and see what they are up to. 

I find Felicia tinkering with what looks like a stun baton. When I get closer, she looks up and explains she’s unlocking the voltage dial so she has more control over the level of shock it delivers. She’s also considering adding an extending pull so it functions similar to her spear in Lanadel. It’ll make it easier for her to do non-lethal takedowns without getting too close to an opponent. Before I can question her about why she feels the need to make a stun spear, Summer calls out to me from the kitchen area. 

Following her voice, I find Summer busy working on dinner. We all skipped lunch while being busy in Lanadel, so the blonde chef wants to make a nice hearty supper. She asks for my help chopping up veggies that she’d bought the other day. 

There’s a bit of a problem with her plan. 

I don’t know the first thing about cooking. 

When I just stand there, staring at the cutting board and knife, Summer giggles and moves over to show me what to do. She patiently explains the very specific way she wants me to cut the carrots so they’ll be nice and tender in the roast she’s making.

Where the fuck is she getting all these ingredients? And with what money?

When I ask her, Summer just giggles and says it’s a secret. 

Fuck I hate secrets.

After I’m done, the carrots get put into a big pot with some roast beef, potatoes and other root vegetables. 

The other day, we didn’t even have a proper oven, and yet now she’s all set to make a pot roast? I call bullshit.

“Summer, where did you get all this stuff? How’d you even get an oven?” I ask her. “This is supposed to be a secret safehouse or whatever.”

Felicia wanders in after hearing my raised voice. “Wait, what’s this about an oven?” she asks.

Summer stretches out with a sigh. “Alright, I’ll tell you. Just promise not to be mad.” Both me and Felicia just level intense stares upon her. “Fine, fine, alright. So I may have had an oven and a number of food supplies delivered.” Felicia looks about ready to tear into her before Summer clarifies. “Not here. There’s a drop off depot down the street, so I was able to get it sent there.” She pats the oven fondly. “I had the idea after Felicia went in and ordered it for express with the last of the money I had squirreled away.”

“But I took that money,” I point out. “And I don’t think I remembered to give it back. And even if I did, this would’ve cost way more.”

Summer taps the side of her nose with a confident smirk. “Sure, but you act like that’s the only money I have saved away. I have a spare account I set up for emergencies. Like I said, I may have left the slums, but the lessons I learned there never left me.” She puts the pot roast into the oven and turns it on. “I made sure I wasn’t followed, don’t worry.”

With our concerns addressed, both Felicia and I are content to just enjoy the delicious dinner once it’s made. Not long after we eat, we all get settled back in for a quiet night.

****

The next day, the group of us slip out of the safe house to get some supplies for our meeting with Lonnie’s group of friends. Summer insists that her aunt wouldn’t sell us out like that, but both Felicia and I would rather be cautious. 

Once we’re kitted out with a number of anti entrapment measures, like force field disruption pellets and smoke grenades, we all make our way towards the address we were given.

The building we arrive at doesn’t look like anything special, just an ordinary warehouse like thousands of others in Lanadey city. We make our way to the lone source of light on the building, a small bulb over a door inset into the wall. 

I knock on the metal frame twice before a slot opens up, revealing a set of eyes. I can’t help but roll mine at how cliche this all is. “We’re here for the Tuesday night special,” I announce quietly. The figure behind the door grunts and the slot closes. Moments later the door opens revealing Lonnie and probably one of the biggest guys I’ve ever seen. 

Lonnie grins and gestures for us to follow her into the building. “Glad you could make it,” she says as she leads us into a large open room. “And welcome… to the resistance.”

End Chapter 14