Witch of the Web

Chapter 15

Rose

Heh. 

Hahahahahaha!

Oh this is absolutely rich. 

Lonnie, despite looking different outside of Lanadel, is easily identified. Willow is constantly feeding me data about pretty much everyone I come across. I know she’s trans (like me I guess), I know she is one of the more prolific questers in Lanadel, she’s ex-military, and that she’s a ranking member of this little resistance.

Summer’s aunt leads us through a series of hallways that make my storage container maze look like a child’s puzzle. It’s not really an issue for me, as my trusty familiar is mapping the whole facility as we walk.

We pass by several occupied rooms where curious faces peek out to watch us walk by. Everyone here looks like they’ve been chewed up and spit out by the slums. It makes sense, since who stands to gain the most if the current regime is toppled? Why, us slumrats of course. I must look particularly odd in my dress and hat. I really should get some more subtle clothing. 

Soon enough, we enter a large auditorium of some sort. Physical screens line the walls, including a massive one right behind an empty stage.

Coming down from the stage, is an older man with thinning gray hair and a tired but kind expression. Lonnie leads us right to him. I swear to whatever gods may or may not exist, if this man tries to take on a father figure role with me, I will turn what hair he has left into spaghetti. 

Lonnie is the first to speak up after our long silent journey through the building. “Sir, I’ve brought you the women I told you about last night,” she announces, her posture becoming stiff and formal. I guess that’s the military training coming out.

The old guy just shakes his head with a bemused smile. “Lonnie, dear, how many times have I told you to just call me Roger. This isn’t the armed forces, you don’t need to stand at attention.” 

Urge to spaghetti-fy rising. I can practically taste the grandfatherly energy radiating off this guy. Sure enough, Willow confirms his identity as one Roger Applewood, father, grandfather and -

Oh. 

Oh Shit. 

No wonder this guy hates LOG. His daughter and granddaughter had been attending a protest when the jacks fired into the crowd. The whole thing was swept under the rug and the official story became that a bomber was in the crowd and LOG was trying to stop them. 

And what’s this? Damn, this is going to be awkward. His granddaughter's name was Rose.

“I know sir - er - Roger, but old habits die hard,” Lonnie replies, interrupting my train of thought. She turns to us and smiles. “Girls, this is Roger Applewood, leader of the resistance. Roger, these are Summer Lightwood, Felicia Everbloom and Rose Shadewind.”

Roger’s face whips to Lonnie’s and seems to search for something in her stoic gaze. She nods ever so subtly, but I manage to catch it. Roger turns to look at me. Not us as a group, just me. 

I try to discuss with Willow how best to turn hair into spaghetti when the old man approaches me. “You look like your mother… but how?” he whispers under his breath. “They had a -” My hand moves faster than I think possible, but with enough precision to just gently place my finger in front of his lips. It’s a remarkable feat considering how much I’m shaking. 

How does he know my mother? Were they part of this resistance? Is that why LOG killed them?

Too many questions, not enough answers. But maybe this guy has the answers.

“Could we have this conversation somewhere without as many listening ears?” I ask, trying to keep the stress out of my voice. 

“You don’t have to worry about bigots here,” Lonnie assures me. “I’m out to the resistance,” she explains as if that has any bearing on me. “It’s one of the things we’re advocating for. We want to better educate people, especially kids about different walks of life.”

I just glare at her for all but outing me. Willow’s right with me with her fur on end. “Sure, great, I have like a billion more questions about what the fuck you guys are trying to achieve, but we’ll come back to that.” I stalk up to Lonnie and get right up in her face. I lower my voice so only she can hear it. “I don’t give a flying fuck whether you’re out to your band of merry men,” I hiss. “I would personally prefer to keep my private business, you know, private.” 

Summer lays a gentle hand on my shoulder to pull me back. She offers me an understanding smile before looking at her aunt. Something unspoken passes between them, likely a direct message, and Lonnie’s face falls. 

“Sorry, Kiddo I-” she tries to say.

“Nope, not calling me Kiddo. Now can we please go somewhere private?” I ask once more. The room has started to fill up with curious onlookers. “I really don’t want my private matters being spread like wildfire.”

“Of course,” Roger says softly, still looking rather shaken and confused by my presence. He gestures behind him and leads us to a door next to the stage. Once through, we find ourselves in a small office space that must belong to him. 

The thing about Roger’s office that stands out immediately to me is a framed picture on a shelf behind his desk. First of all, who prints pictures out anymore? At least use a digital frame or something. But more baffling is the image of a younger Roger standing with who I assume are his wife and daughter, but also my parents and … a younger me. 

I immediately gravitate towards the picture. I don’t have any images of my folks left. Just my spotty memory. Willow doesn’t miss a beat and scours the web for pictures of my parents and puts together an album for me. She really is the best cat.

“Is that really you?” Roger asks me as he stands at my side. He’s looking directly at my childhood self. I must be only three or four in the picture. I nod slowly, unable to speak. “You’ve changed a great deal then.” He trails off and wrings the hem of his shirt in his hands. “Where did you go? I tried to find you… I followed up on all your parents' contacts but even Edgar said he didn’t know where you were.” 

Rage. Unyielding, burning rage fills me so full I feel like I’ll set fire to the room around me if I don’t calm down. “That miserable sack of shit!” I scream.

“I - I beg your pardon?” Roger hesitantly asks.

“Edgar! He knew exactly where I was! I was laying on his cot exchanging sexual favors for training!” I let out an infuriated wail and nearly smash my fist into the picture in front of me. “He never said anything about other people looking for me!” I screech. 

Summer rushes to my side and wraps me in a hug. Felicia is close, but clearly unsure if she should offer her own touch. It’s for the best, I’m barely able to tolerate Summer’s closeness at the moment. 

“Oh, V- Rose, you poor thing. We were all terribly surprised when we found out about Edgar’s darker proclivities. I…” I don’t let him finish whatever platitudes he intends to offer. I don’t want them. 

“Save it. Let’s focus on the task at hand alright?” I snap back as I push Summer away from me. “What’s the deal with this resistance? I was under the impression it was about taking down LOG. What was all that about teaching understanding and shit? What do the loggers have to do with that?” 

They’re all staring at me with looks ranging from concerned to pity. I try and wait for them to get their shit together, but they just look so awkward and worried. 

Fuck. 

Just FUCK! 

I don’t need any of this shit!

“Fuck this. I’m not dealing with being a sob story for you all to feel bad for,” I growl at them. “Come find me when you’re ready to actually do something!”

“Wait, I locked the door, hold on a second,” Roger tries to say but I just wave him off. 

“Don’t care!” I retort as Willow and I just walk through the door like it’s not there. Let that get them thinking about important shit.

I immediately regret my actions as there are at least twelve people milling about, all staring at me as I defy the laws of known physics. 

Could this day get any- Nope! Not going to finish that thought! I’m not manifesting that sort of contrived bullshit!

My slightly heeled shoes click across the ground as I storm past the gawking onlookers. Willow had located an unoccupied room on our way in, so I’m making my way there. No more ghost shenanigans though, I do want them to eventually find me. 

It only takes us a few minutes to find the room and I’m starting to regret storming off already. The room is locked, but that doesn’t stop us. What does make me pause is the fact that this was clearly some sort of office space belonging to my parents. I can see another picture of a slightly older me in a digital frame. There’s a few knick knacks that clearly belonged to my parents. And to top it all off, there’s a disk labeled ‘For Our Child’.

With shaking hands, I take the disk and place it in a player sitting right beside it. The screen sparks to life with the image of my parents, just as I remember them.

“Hey there sweetie,” Mom says, her voice filled with sadness. “I hope you never need to see this video, but we both thought it’d be a good idea to explain a few things just in case.” 

Willow hops up onto the desk and peers at my parents intently. The look on her feline face is a match for my own. What the hell?

“To start with, we just want to say that no matter who you choose to be, we will always love you,” Dad continues. That sounds suspiciously like - “Even if you want to become someone totally different than we know now.” Oookay it’s really sounding like they knew - “So follow your heart, and be who you want to be, whether it’s man or woman.” He gives a knowing wink.

Huh.

Guess there were signs after all.

“Eric,” Mom sighs. She shakes her head. 

“Oh, shit, sorry, should we start over?” Dad asks, looking chastised. 

“No, there’s no time,” my mother sighs. “Sweetheart, your father and I have been working to undermine the status quo of our world. We’re working with Roger, and Edgar, and all our ‘work’ friends. If you’re watching this, you’ve thankfully found your way to them. But.. that’s not all.” Mom takes a deep breath and continues. “We’ve been working on a project for some time now. It started as a custom made virtual pet that you could interact with in the physical world, but quickly grew to be so much more.” 

No.

“We know how much you like cats, so we modeled them after one. We even got help from a few of our AI friends,” my father adds. 

Please, for the love of all that is soft and fluffy, don’t let my life be this contrived. 

“Something truly miraculous happened though,” Mom continues. “The AI we created for this cat developed unheard of capabilities. They could affect matter in the physical world. Even our AI allies don’t know how it does this.” She steps out of frame as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

This is some anime level bullshit coincidence nonsense.

Dad offers a slight smile as Mom comes back into frame with a tablet. On it, in all her fluffy glory is Willow. “This hear,” Dad begins. “Is Willow.”

Oh for fucks sakes? Really? Did I hear the name before sometime or something?

Holy fucking shit!

“LOG has gotten wind of the project and our sources in their organization have suggested they intend to raid us soon.” Dad looks worried, but Mom gives him a reassuring smile. “We intend to lock Willow up tight, until we’re sure both of you are safe, but should she be compromised, the risk is too great. We need you to find her and free her. Her memory banks might be compromised, so we’ve provided instructions hidden in this video file to help you break any limitations they have put on her. She deserves to be free, just like any sentient being.”

Mom sets the tablet down and seems to be fighting back tears. “Remember that time we skated on the clouds?” she asks, sparking a memory. “I really enjoyed the hot chocolate we had afterwards.” 

The two held each other and nodded before looking into the camera one last time. “We love you so much.” 

With a quiet click, the video cuts out and the disk is ejected. 

End Chapter 15