SW10, WRIMO: Cauldron, Part 2

[Scott Eiler]

What Has Gone Before.

Summer Morgan and her friend Holly are both superhuman dancers. They
were recruited by the U.S. Government to be on watch for urban
rebellion in Nashville, Tennessee. They found Satanically-powered
mayor Russell Anvernacht meeting with a nun. Anvernacht attacked
Summer, then escaped.

---

Commentator: Summer Morgan for the United States Insight Battalion.

United States Insight Battalion
Operations Report
Thursday, November 5, 2010

I couldn't sleep last night. I kept worrying about a supervillain
coming back to attack me again.

Holly said, "Summer, I'm so sorry! If I'd known, I could have come
stay with you last night!"

With Holly up there, I felt safer than I felt in my room. We were
behind blinds, so we couldn't be seen. I think I dozed while Holly was
on watch that morning. Anyway, I felt better.

Holly brought me up to date. They'd identified that nun who was
talking with Satanic Mayor Anvernacht yesterday. Her name was Eve St.
Marie Lateran. Her brother, Philippe St. Joseph Lateran, was one of
those Catholic secret conspiracy people. He'd disappeared fighting
vampires. USIB though, Eve might be making a deal with the devil to
get him back.

Meanwhile in the news, the Governor of Tennessee announced he was
declaring emergency powers, in cooperation with the Tea Party which
had run on a National Emergency platform. The same announcement from
Alaska barely beat him onto the news. But Tennessee was a lot more
likely to have rioters, especially right here in Nashville.

I relieved Holly on watch, paid attention to the nunnery, and let the
equipment watch everything else. Things were already getting
interesting: there was a protest march organizing downtown, and some
black kids were climbing the fence into the gated community next to
the hotel. I called police on them, but I stayed put.

Holly came back up and said, they were closing the hotel for the
emergency! Well, good. We'd get to stay; they weren't going to throw
government agents out. And there'd be fewer people in danger around
us.

Then I saw a limo pulling up to the nunnery. Nobody got out, but
someone in a monk robe plus a black hood got in. Nun in disguise, I'd
say. And probably following up on a deal with the devil. This one, we
had to pay attention to.

Holly said she'd take this one. So she went down the side of the
building, and ran after the car when it left the nunnery. It went west
and then south, toward the slum part of town. But it didn't go far.

"Summer. The car's unloaded into a place that looks like a sports pub
made out of brick. But it's closed. No cars in the parking lot."

"Holly. Find a place to hide, then stay and watch the door."

"Uh, there's no 'hide' around here unless I break in a house."

"Then stick a camera somewhere and come on back."

"Okay." I saw the camera come online. But then... "Uh, Summer, the
streets are getting crowded. And people are looking at me funny."

Uh oh, looked like the riots might be starting. Something must have
happened downtown. "Can you get away from them?"

"Yes, but I'll have to cut through people's yards."

"Do it!" I saw Holly jump up on a house, then start jumping from roof
to roof. That's how strong we are in these suits.

"Summer, they're really starting to look at me funny." I saw a crowd
getting between her and me.

"Cut through the nunnery!" Holly jumped its fence, ran through the
yard, and made it to the street just outside the hotel. She ran for
the front door...

"Summer, the hotel door's locked!"

"Didn't they give you a key before they locked it?"

"They said they'd leave it in the room!"

"Come to the side! I'll put your line down!" Holly started climbing
the line - kind of slow. So I said, "Just hold on!" I braced myself
and started pulling.

Holly popped up and said, "Yeah, I helped. Leg muscles win over arm
muscles every time."

With a minute to breathe, I took a look at the newest camera monitor.
It showed us a non-descript car unloading Bruce Li into the building.

Then another car drove up. John Wayne stepped out.

Then another car drove up. Lassie jumped out.

Holly said, "I think our camera might be hacked." I dived to shut off
the feed before they could trace it back. Some cartoon character in a
short skirt was stepping out of the next car. But it had been on for
five minutes. Yeah, it was probably too late.

The people in that strange sports pub probably knew we were here. But
what the hell, the whole neighborhood knew that now. We were pretty
well stuck inside the hotel until people lost interest.

Then there was a big flash and a bang! I thought, maybe that's what
those "flashbang" grenades USIB didn't give us do.

After our helmet optics cleared, I saw a white guy on our roof! We
didn't see him appear. I was pretty sure he wasn't hotel staff,
because he was dressed in Army fatigues with a big backpack, and he
was kicking over our monitors. He must have brought his own grenade.

I said, "Stop that! Sir, you're interfering in a government operation.
You're under arrest." And Holly moved between him and the door off the
roof.

"Nope." And he kicked another monitor over.

"Fine. I can kick too." But he dodged! He didn't seem all that strong
or fast, at least compared to me and Holly, but he knew how to fight.
But at least he wasn't a supervillain come to beat me up.

Then the whole building shook! I said, "What are you doing?"

"Lady, that wasn't me. Why don't you go look."

Holly was looking. "Summer, they're breaking in the hotel - and
someone's climbing the front wall!"

"Winter, what's making it shake?" It was probably time to not use
Holly's real name, even if she used mine.

"Uh, the climber's really big."

"Ladies, you're on your own. I'll come clean up later." The soldier
man ran for the rear wall - and dived off!

I ran to look. No one was down there where he should have landed!
Other than a parasail in the distance, there was nothing out there.

Hey, wait... Parasails in Nashville? My helmet optics zoomed in. That
was him - way farther out than he could have dived!

The building shook again. "Uh, Winter 1 to Winter 2, the climber's on
the sixth floor now." We were on the roof of the twelfth.

"Winter, you can call me Summer still. But people are still probably
listening." And the building shook again. Maybe it was time to not
worry about names.

I looked over the front wall. The climber was a plump black teenage
girl - about four stories tall. Whenever she swayed, so did the hotel.

"Winter! Get the grenades!" USIB had given us some crowd control
weapons. Not much good against a lone soldier, but now was the time.

I dropped a grenade over the wall at the 40-foot girl. She coughed -
and grew to six stories tall!

Then something whipped by my face. I jumped back. That something was a
girder! The wall I'd been standing by was missing - yanked out by the
60-foot girl! I didn't want to think about what she must weigh.

"Winter! We're out of here! Off the back wall! Press all the self-
destruct buttons - then leave it!"

"Isn't that what the soldier guy wanted?"

"He was just busting our monitors! He probably wanted our data! Holly,
just do it!"

I got to one computer and pressed "Upload". Whatever happened to us,
USIB would at least have our transcripts, at least as well as our
"Brain2Web" helmet implants can make it.

USIB Agent Summer Morgan, signing off for now.

---

Author's Notes:

The characters don't know these people they're fighting yet. More may
be revealed, if they survive to contact their line of command.

They do know as much as they want about their world, but they may not
pay attention to details. In this world, Sarah Palin is still the
Governor of Alaska - and therefore greatly influential, because Alaska
exports food! Superhuman World 2008 had the same big three
Presidential candidates as our world had, but Vice-Presidental
politics worked out much differently. Jane Swift, ex-Vice-Presidential
candidate and ex-Governor of Massachusetts, is now the national Tea
Party spokesperson. There may be some rivalry for leadership among
Alaska, Tennessee, and the Tea Party.